Hair Bow Holders

Look what I have made recently:

I was really wanting one for Carmen and then two of her friends (Lily and Kate) had birthdays so I thought it would be a great accessory to try and make. Who doesn't love a cute personalized hair bow holder?! I get a little better each time I make one - Lily and Kate - I still love yours, there's nothing wrong with them. :) See how great Carmen's is? It actually works! I can now keep track of all her hair bows and easily pick one out to match her outfit. Anyone want one? Send me $10, I'll send you this. I have lots of ideas for new designs. Look at me, a peddler. See ya wedding planning business! Just kidding....

On to Year 2

Carmen is 1 years old!!!

We celebrated her first year of life and our survival of the first year of parenthood last week. Or maybe two weeks ago now. It was so awesome. I will share highlights once I get the professional pictures back.

I'm also very grateful for those of you aunties who gave her new clothes for the fall. Chilly weather has set in - anything under 85 degrees is chilly as far as this summer lovin' gal is concerned - and Carmen would have nothing to wear if it hadn't been for you all. Thank you!

All the mommies out there should be glad I decided not to enter Carmen into the Gerber Baby search. She would have won, I'm sure of it. ;) Here's a picture when she was 8 months old:

See? Tell me that's not a true Gerber baby. Don't be jealous. (However, my friends Lindsay and Michelle have pretty gerberish babies too. 3 way tie.) She's even doing something funny with her mouth here and it's still adorable. I don't even have to say the whole "I may be biased but" deal because I know it is what is. A lot of our friends have cute babies right now and that's a good thing.

Talking about Carmen that way isn't prideful right? RIGHT??...The Lord is always humbling me. If I look super great in a picture my BFF takes, then in the next 5 pictures of me are disgusting faces that are just natural shots but I remind me to deflate my ego because that's the real me. Or when I bake these fantastic, amazing, super perfect cupcakes from scratch and think to myself, "wow, I'm so good. I'm a fabulous, healthy cook. AND I can bake like nobody's business when I try," then the next thing I bake is like poop and I wonder what went wrong. Or when I'm so happy because all my clothes fit me so well and I think I look good, the next day my pants are too tight. Or when I think I have the house together and garden all pretty, food splatters and all the plants die. The Lord humbles me, almost immediately. Which is a blessing. I want to be more like Him. I want ugly pictures of myself hung up on a spaghetti stained walls with poop flavored cupcakes roasting in the oven. Cutest baby or not, my identity and hope is in the Lord and nothing else. He is so faithful to teach me His truths and it is most rewarding to rest in Him and His goodness alone!

11 Months

Hands down, fastest year of our life. Michael and I find ourselves saying that a lot these days. As Carmen's first birthday approaches, we can barely seem to keep up with the changes and developments she's going through.

Our girl can walk now. She's super cute on her feet. Time to buy some shoes I guess. Can you believe she's almost 1 and I still haven't bought a pair of shoes for her? Aunt Heather, you might have a cow.

She's got 6 teeth. We've added brushing her teeth to our bedtime routine...and morning when I remember.

She babbles the sweetest little words and loves to say "mama" and "dada" but usually in triples: "mamama and  dadada." Carmen also says "woof woof woof" when you mention doggy or puppy.

Why is her favorite thing in the world dogs?! I NEVER trained her to like them. She can't get enough of them. She wants to chase them, pet them, ride them, hug them, feed her hands to them. Gross. I don't know what to do with it. Although, I generally bark every time we're out walking and we see a dog on a leash - maybe that's why?

Her favorite toy is her pillow pet. Her cocker spaniel pillow pet, of course. She wakes up and first thing, "woof woof woof." She is a major snuggler! Give her any stuffed animal and she will cuddle that poor thing until there's nothing left. I love it.

She loves a good beat. Music is front and center in her daily life. She pauses to dance a little jig whenever she hears music. Now that's my girl.

She jumps and climbs. I'll have to capture it on camera soon.

She can wear hair clips (!!!) now and only pulls them out when she reaches to twirl her hair and finds one.

We are so thankful for her. She is the best.

A Must See

I know a lot of you have seen this on Facebook already, but if not, it's definitely worth 55 seconds of your time. Carmen was so funny driving this boat:  

First Beach Trip with Baby

Last month we joined my parents and siblings for a short week at the beach. Michael was able to join us for most of the time even though it was a wonderfully busy week at work. Carmen loved the beach. The sand, the water, the kiddie pool - she's definitely a beach girl. She and I didn't spend much time on the beach this trip but when she did, her gorgeous skin soaked up those rays just like her daddy! 

Aunt Heather and Uncle Matt took most of the great pictures from this trip....maybe some day she'll send me some? But here's my little goose on her first beach day:

Doing What We Can

Somehow we've gotten to be involved in a couple Romney Campaign activities. It's been pretty cool actually. Michael is always inspirational when it comes to being involved with politics so I blame him for sharing that excitement with us.

Carmen and I got to be in a campaign commercial they are producing. I can't tell you much more about it because I haven't actually seen it nor do I know when and where I would see it. But we were selected by some agency in New York who liked our head shots...I mean, we all know Carmen's a winner.

Then we got to host and participate in a press conference. Yep. A real live press conference in our home. Former Congressman Artur Davis, Alex Schriver the National Chairman of the College Republican National Committee and yours truly all gave statements regarding the national debt crisis. It was really cool to see how they work - reporters, questions, campaign managers and all.

We'll see what else we end up doing to help with the presidential campaign this year. I know we'll at least vote in November! Carmen is already such a good citizen.

4th of July

 Happy Birthday America!!

While Michael is at work today, Carmen and I are preparing for our 4th of July Celebrations. I hope she learns to love this holiday as much as I do. I've got big plans for the years to come!

Last night our little family drove to Waterford, VA for their big fireworks show. It stormed 30 minutes before the start time so we ended up parking our car in a lot and watching from the front seat. It was actually perfect because we had the comfort of our car and the noise was a little buffered making it much less alarming for Carmen. Carmen loved the fireworks - a girl after my own heart!

Today we are celebrating with our fabulous neighbors who we are loving more and more every time we get together with them. We just threw together a BYO block party real quick and we'll meet at the playground pavilion right next to our homes. Should be fun and simple! (The above picture is my controlled attempt at decorating. It was really hard not to go all out and throw together a themed party, but again, big plans for the future.)

Tomorrow we are participating in something totally random and pretty cool so I need to go prepare for that. I'll write more about it later on!

I love America. Best Country Ever.