Thursday, January 27, 2011

Pictures are worth a thousand words





















Saturday, January 22, 2011

Brrrr.

Winter & I always used to have a hate/hate relationship. I was never a huge fan of going to play in the snow as a kid. Sure, I did it once in a while. But I never had that URGE.. the kind of urge that I get when I wake up on a sticky summer morning and think, "I need to go stick my toes in the ocean today". If I could spend every day of my life on the beach, I would be happy as a clam. But alas, I live in New England and that just doesn't happen.

Now, I know that I had Aubrey relatively young - I was 21 when I peed on a stick and two pink lines appeared. But I did have a couple friends who had babies before me and I never ever understood why they would be excited for a cold, snowy (or rainy!) day. Then, Aubrey's first Fall came around and it suddenly clicked one day when it was cold and rainy. It was the first time in months that I had to shut all the windows and grab a blanket. I took my little 3 month old bundle of joy and snuggled up on the couch and watched movies all day. That's when I fully understood. Cold weather = awesome baby snuggles.

Now here we are again, a year later. I now have an 18 month old who happens to love playing in the snow. I bundle her up and we play outside til her heart is content. We come inside, I heat up a nice, warm bottle of milk for her and we have snuggle & nap time (which is always extra-long after spending time outside!). She is no longer the 3 month old that was SO easy to entertain. I have to keep her busy at all times, otherwise I'm subjected to her favorite DVD - Dora's Pirate Adventure. There's only so much you can do inside with a 1.5 year old, so I decided to break out the finger paints..



Why hadn't I done this before? Santa brought her them for Christmas and I guess I've been kind of afraid to use them. Afraid that her beautiful blonde hair would be a mess of blues and reds. But something I had said to Keith just 24 hours prior crept into my head. "She's a toddler. She needs to make messes and explore her surroundings. Let her be little.", when he nearly had an aneurysm because she was pulling all the tupperware out of the cabinet. They're only little for a short time. Before I know it, she'll be too cool to hang out with her mommy. So until then, I'll be happy to give her multiple baths a day when she gets finger paint (or whatever she's eating, for that matter) in her hair.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Birthday: Part 2!

Today was day 2 of my birthday celebration! Since Keith was at the playoff game with his buddy, he made it up to me today by cooking dinner and baking me a cake! He made kielbasa & pierogi (Polish food! Yum!). This was also his first attempt at baking a cake and he did AWESOME.


Isn't it the cutest?


Aubrey enjoying cake in her new Dora jammies! This was right after she was trying to feed her Nana cake.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

:)

Happy 24th Birthday to me!

It was a nice day. Aubrey went to hang out with her auntie for a while, Keith went to the Patriots game. I spent the morning lounging around and playing Animal Crossing: City Folk. Even my animated neighbors acknowledged my special day :)



I had plans to have lunch with one of my best friends, so I hopped in the shower and lathered up using the special birthday gift I got from Sephora (if you aren't a member of their beauty insiders club, I highly suggest it!) I scored this "Happy Birthday, Beautiful!" cake-scented body wash for free!



Laura wasn't due to get here til around 1, so I had a light breakfast..


We celebrated by going to TGIFridays, where our server's name was "Juice". Then we went and walked around the mall for a bit. I got some sweet pea scented hand sanitizer at Bath & Body Works (LOVE that stuff!)

I spent the rest of the night cuddling with my sweetpea. It was a really nice, low-key birthday and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

I really apologize for the cell phone pictures! I've been looking all over the place for my camera and I can't find it anywhere. :(



Today we spent all morning/afternoon switching our bedroom with Aubrey's. We set up her new bed and she LOVES IT.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Big girl bed



Today was a big day! We got up, ate breakfast, then went off on a little trip to find Aubrey the perfect bed set to help with the transition to a big girl bed! You see, Aubrey has had the master bedroom since she was 2 months old. Her crib wouldn't fit through the door frame, so Keith & I ended up taking the smaller bedroom. We've been talking lately and decided it's time to get our room back. In order to do this, we're going to have to take her crib apart. It's one of those 4-in-1 ones, so we figured "why not just convert it now?". We were going to do it for her 2nd birthday anyway.

So anyway, Aubrey & I go off to the mall and go into any store that would have bedding. We had no luck finding ANY toddler bedding at all, so we decided to go down to another local Target and lo & behold, a whole display of toddler bed sets awaited us. As soon as she saw this one, she wouldn't stop pointing at it. It has the alphabet written all over it with animals/objects associated with each letter. She insisted on holding it instead of me putting it in the basket part of the carriage and she kept pointing at "K" for Kitty. She cried when I gave it to the cashier. This new bedding is serious business, you know.

Original plans were to switch bedrooms today when Keith got out of work, but he ended up staying home and getting sick all day instead. Hopefully we'll find some time in the very near future because Aubrey is head over heels IN LOVE with her new bedding! She cuddled with it as soon as I took it out of the dryer.



PS: If you were my camera, where would you be? These cell phone pictures are getting old. :(

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Why?

So I've been thinking the past couple of days. Why did I make two totally new blogs to fulfill two of my goals for my 101 in 1,001? Why do I need a separate blog for my 365 project, and a new one for the new recipes I try? Why do I feel that I can only post -related things here? This is MY blog. I'm not just a mommy. I'm not just a wife. I'm a best friend, a sister, a daughter.. I'm my own person. I need to break out of my shell and start blogging about everything that runs through my head.

I changed the name of my blog. This Love We Share is now Nifty Momma. As soon as I get the posts from my 365 blog exported over to here, it will be deleted. I'm excited for this change! :)

Tea (or coffee) party!

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011







Today was spent inside cuddling, watching movies (and Dora, of course!) & having tea parties while a nor'easter took it's course outside (it still is, as a matter of fact). I got this fabulous new kind of coffee yesterday and was extremely excited to try it. With hints of butterscotch, caramel & hazelnut, it did NOT disappoint! Pair that with my favorite coffee mug and a red velvet whoopie pie and I enjoyed my 7 minutes in heaven.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Mommy & Me

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE coupons? The last time Aubrey & I saw Goldie, we got coupons for a free picture collage at Sears. I made an appointment and we went today! I didn't want to do super formal ones.. and I got another coupon today for the same thing so Aubrey & Keith can get some done. I chose the one of me kissing her as the main picture, then the one of her snuggled all up to me and the one of her looking away with the smile are in the left corner and it's adorable. Then I got ANOTHER coupon a couple weeks ago for a free 10x13 and we're going to get one of the three of us. Then we're going to put them in our bedroom with the two collages on either side of the family photo. Or maybe we'll replace the family photos in the living room and move those into our bedroom. We'll see :)














Things have been busy lately. Things are finally starting to slow down from the busy Holiday season, though Aubrey was sick a couple days ago so that wasn't fun. She has also developed a new obsession..



Wahhhh. Of all things for her to obsess over, the top 2 things I was praying NOT to happen were Dora & Barney. She stands at the tv and cries if it isn't on. We've probably watched the Dora Pirate Adventure DVD Santa brought her for Christmas about 20 times over the past few days.. but seeing her face light up every time is worth the constant yelling that watching a Dora episodes brings.. and I won't lie.. it's a nice distraction for her when I'm trying to get something done or just need a minute to myself!

Work has slowed down a bit but every time I go in, I see another new piece from the Spring collection that I *have* to have for Aubrey and I have slowly started filling her closet with her new-season wardrobe. So far it's mostly shirts, both short & long sleeved, but I've also scored a couple skirts and some skinny jeans for her. I wish I could see why I don't mind spending money on HER wardrobe when I know she'll outgrow it in a few months, yet I always hesitate spending money on myself. I guess shopping for her is my guilty pleasure.. though the past couple days, I HAVE gotten myself a few things with the money Keith gave me for my birthday and it has felt REALLY good to get something for myself for the first time in forever.

Hope you all are having a lovely week <3

Pictures



(Don't mind the Santa bib, it's what I had in her diaper bag haha)





Today, we met up with Goldie & did some shopping. We had lunch at Pizza Hut and Aubrey discovered her love of dipping breadsticks in marinara sauce. We also got our pictures taken for free. I love coupons.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Sick babies are no fun :(





The day started off great. Aubrey slept til about 8. We got up, had some breakfast, and put on Dora. She's happy as a clam.. then before I knew it, she's getting sick all over my couch. Then all over the rug. Then all over the kitchen floor. Yikes. She spent a majority of the afternoon sleeping in our bed. Thankfully, when she woke up, she was back to her old self. I hate when my little sweetpea is sick :(

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Brunch!





I woke up this morning to Keith crawling into bed and putting his arm around me :) With Aubrey still at Grampy's, we decided to go out for brunch. I decided on an omelette, fresh fruit, homefries & a mimosa. Delicious.

Friday, January 7, 2011

A year and a half? Seriously?





Today was Aubrey's 18 month check-up. We went out for breakfast before her appointment and had fun coloring while waiting for our food. Her stats from her check-up are 24.3 pounds and 31" long. I can't believe how much my 7.11 pound, 20.5" long baby has grown! <3

Thursday, January 6, 2011

:)



Today we went to the Mall of New Hampshire. Aubrey looked gorgeous with her hair done & pearls around her neck :)

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Hello, I love you



Does this really need words?

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Ruh roh





Today, when I was in another room for seriously just 2 minutes, Aubrey discovered that her legs fit between the back of the couch & the wall. We need to keep a small amount of space between the two since there is an electrical outlet that we use. It took her a minute to realize that she was stuck and was yelling for help. I, of course, had to take pictures before helping her. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't?!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Crackerbarrel & tea parties

We are huge Crackerbarrel fans in this house (well, besides Keith), so needless to say I was very excited when we got a gift card for Christmas. Keith told me to take my mother since she really likes it too, so we did just that.





When we got home, we decided to have a tea party with Aubrey's new Olivia tea set. We served crackers & "tea" (water) and she was LOVING it.