Cute as a Bug

I just had to show off the cute dress my mom made Chloe! It has blue flowers with big, smiling bumblebees all over! I love it.

Our Little Mermaid...

Chloe started swimming lessons. I meant to enroll her last summer, but we just never seemed to get around to it.

She's had three lessons and she HATES it. She likes the water. She hates the lessons. It's safe to say that my child has a mind of her own. She will not be bothered with another's agenda.

When we start the lesson, she is eager to get in the water and she greets the teacher happily. The teacher tells the children to "Say good morning to the fish" and we all put our faces in the water and blow bubbles. This is the moment when Chloe begins her fit. She cries from that exact moment until we leave 30 minutes later. She's not even putting her face in the water. She's mad because I'm putting MY face in the water.

We plan on pushing through these temper tantrums and continuing swimming lessons until she starts to enjoy them. I don't want to force her to do something she doesn't like, but I believe she is secretly enjoying it. As soon as we get home, she tells me all about the lesson. "Kick, kick, kick. Say fishes. JUMP!" I think it will be good for her to learn that we don't always get to do what we want. She doesn't have any real structure other than our home routine because she doesn't attend preschool yet. She needs to start learning to listen and follow instructions.

In the meantime, swimming lessons sure wear this mom and her eardrums out. At least she looks cute in her swimsuit?

Kitchen Chaos

I just wanted you all to see how I run my kitchen. I found this humorous. I'm not sure if my kitchen looks like this when I cook because (a) I have no idea what I'm doing or(b) it's the nature of cooking.

I do clean as I go or this would look much worse. It is complete chaos in my kitchen when I'm behind the stove.

A Texas St. Patty's Day

A couple of weeks ago, Mark's cousin and his wife came to town. They live in Portland so when they come to town we try to show them the best parts of life in Texas. They are pretty good at having an idea of what they want to do and they have good taste so it makes it pretty easy. For instance, we always eat way too much our weight in BBQ when they come to town.

This year we all lucked out because their trip was smack dab in the middle of the Austin Rodeo. So on St. Patrick's Day, we celebrated Texas style by heading out to the BBQ cook off. The pulled pork tacos from our friends' team "Here for Beer" were the best! Chloe's clearly a fan.

Scott and Stephanie

St. Patty's Day fun!



After all the BBQ, we went to go see the livestock. Chloe and Mark had never been to a livestock show, fair or rodeo.



Already got a glimpse of the critters and ready to go see them!

Finally getting to see all the farm animals we talk about when we read.

Very excited about the chicks.

Can we take one home?

Looking at a goat.

She's pretty sure these rabbits are cats.

Not happy about leaving. I'm laughing be cause I knew this would happen.

Ice cream makes everything better.

Where Did Spring Go?

It is cold today. Cold and rainy. Ugh. Just as I was getting used to 80* weather...ha. Oh well, we have an indoor project that must get finished TODAY. I'll post the completed project someday.

In the meantime, I thought you all could use a Chloe fix. It's been a while since I posted some cute pictures of her.

As you can plainly see, my neighbors have a yard full of 'wishing flowers.' Chloe cannot get enough of these. She picks them one at a time and brings them back to our yard to blow the seeds everywhere. Nooooooooo. Did you know that dandelions last about a day and new ones spring up overnight? That means we get a fresh patch of 'wishing flowers' every. single. day. Hooray!!!

She is so happy she found a new wish!

Love this face!

Probably my new favorite picture.

I looked over at Chloe and she was sitting there eating a cookie with her Easter bonnet on...And this is the look she gave me. Does it get any cuter?!?

Minnie Pearl look alike?

This just cracks me up...

Hope you're enjoying whatever weather you are having today! ;)

A Shower for the New Princess

I previously mentioned that we ,7 of us, threw a shower for our friend, Katie. Nobody could resist the temptation to throw a pink and sparkly shower for Katie's soon to arrive daughter, Charley. Here are few pictures from the festivities.

Wishes for Charley.

Cute diaper cake.

Erin, the hostess who let us use her beautiful home for the shower.

Some of the yummy food.

More of the spread.



Favors I made.

The ideas for these favors came from Pinterest. They are baby food jars filled with Hershey Hugs and Kisses. I turned the lids into magnets. See how to make them here.

The gorgeous door mum that Stephanie made.

 Stephanie made Chloe a door mum, too. She does an amazing job on these and I think she should start selling them!

The loot.

The beautiful mommy.

Lauren, who did a fantastic job picking out the cake!

The baby blanket I made for Charley.

Get with It!

I seriously need to sit down and blog. I find myself pretty pressed for time these days.

Chloe and I have been hitting the gym really hard the past few weeks. In the morning, we wake up and eat breakfast. Then we rush out the door to go to spin, Zumba or kickboxing. I spend an hour playing those 'games' while Chloe plays in the nursery. Then I spend 30 minutes lifting. As soon as gym time is over, we head home and spend 30-60 minutes in the yard. I usually mow, weed or pick up after the dogs. Then it's lunch and nap (I get cleaned up while Chloe naps).

This week has been particularly busy because Mark's cousins are coming to stay with us for 7 days! That means I've been frantically trying to tie up loose ends on our bathroom projects and clean the entire downstairs area's grout (on hands and knees with bleach!)

Finally, the company I work for is participating in SXSW (South by Southwest) and even though I haven't been doing a whole lot for that project I have had a few things here and there to get done for it.

See. Busy, busy, busy. And I didn't even mention the baby shower we threw last Sunday for my friend Katie. I'll post pictures later.

The two pictures included in this post are of a power washing project that I helped plan for Loku and our bathroom project. We are putting up beadboard in our powder bath.

Please excuse any errors in the post. I know they are always there but I'm typing from my phone so they could be worse this time.

Eleven...Once'...Onze...Undici...Elva

I'm totally ripping the format for this off First Time Mama - First Time Blogger. Mostly because I'm too lazy and pressed for time to think about being creative right now...ha.


Why Eleven? 
I got tagged by Skye at "First Time Mama - First Time Blogger" - I've got a lot of posts that I need to catch up on, but this sounded fun! I have to answer 11 questions, create 11 new questions, tag some friends to do the same, and mention 11 random things about myself. 

There are 6 rules: 
1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself & 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them.
6. No saying, "If you are reading this, you're tagged."


11 Random things about me

1. I've lived in eight different cities. We won't even try to count how many houses/apartments. Amarillo,TX - Albuquerque, NM - Temple, TX - Lubbock, TX - Orlando, FL - Spring, TX - Austin, TX - Cedar Park, TX (Did I forget anything, mom?)
2. I met my husband working at a liquor store in Lubbock, TX while attending Texas Tech University. I know a lot of people judged my decision to work there, but turns out God's plans are bigger than human judgements.
3. I wish it was sunny, 85 degrees and windless EVERYDAY. 
4. I ran a marathon. You guys probably already know that, but it will be in my top 10 facts and accomplishments for the rest of my life. So get used to hearing about it! ha.
5. I was bit by a snake when I was little...like before elementary school little.
6. I love traveling and wish I could do it more. 
7. I have very vivid dreams and remember a lot of them. I believe it's a gift and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with it. Maybe write some strange science-fiction novel?  
8. I have a bit of social anxiety and am an introvert. I'm still trying to learn that both of those things are completely fine and normal. I learned pretty early on that you sometimes have to pretend to be an extrovert to prevent making other extroverts uncomfortable. For a while, I even had myself fooled into thinking I was an extrovert.
9. I worked at Disney World's All Star Sports Resort for a few months during college.
10. I sometimes wish that I lived a simpler life. You know: grow my own food, sew my own clothes, no t.v., share everything I have with others, etc. Did I just say I want to be a hippie? I think I did. I think I'd be good at it...
11. I won't ever do that, because I'm a people pleaser. That wouldn't please the people I know and love very much. :) 

11 Questions from Skye to me: 

1. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? I was outside today chasing Chloe and her friend, Rocco, around while they played. 
2. What is the last film you saw? I rented 'One Day' on Friday. I read the book and enjoyed the concept. The movie was not as good. Story of a reader's life...
3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? Probably a marketing document from work. *shameless plug alert* (Check out Loku!) 
4. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? I would take away selfishness (including my own). Wouldn't it be nice if everybody thought about other people before they thought of themselves?
5. What was the last thing you bought? Grocery's today at HEB and a bathing suit for Chloe.
6. Seen anything weird lately? Are you kidding? haha I live in Austin, TX. My neighbor drove by my house the other day with a sailbike, a three wheel bike that uses a sail to drive him around the neighborhood.
7. What's under your bed? Maybe a stray toy of Chloe's. Other than that, it's free and clear.
8. What are some of the different jobs that you have had in your life? bank teller, communications manager for a property management company and office manager for a startup
9. What's your favorite indulgence? Other than ice cream, probably travel. I think I could go into debt traveling. What's worse is that I don't think I would mind that much.
10. Favorite sports team? Texas Tech Football
11. Do you collect anything? Not really. Do pictures count? I have Precious Moments from when I was younger, but I don't collect them anymore. It takes up too much room to collect stuff. Plus, I don't like being attached to material things. When I collect things, I start caring about them too much. 

Here are my 11 Questions for my tagged friends

1.  What is your earliest childhood memory? Is it a good memory for you or a not-so-good one?
2. What is your favorite book? The Bible doesn't count for this answer.
3. What is THE ONE thing you would do if you knew you were going to die tomorrow? Have you done it already?
4. If you could live anywhere, where would you live?
5. What is the one thing you would want your children to remember you for?
6. Would you rather be able to run faster than a cheetah, fly or breathe under water?
7. What is your favorite song?
8. If you could travel time, what are three points in time you would visit?
9. Would you rather have a full-time housekeeper or personal stylist? 
10. Would you rather be smarter or prettier?
11. What is the strangest thing about yourself that you're willing to share? (Keep it PG-13)

Here are my tagged friends. Don't let me down.

Diane at Life is an Adventure
Tori at Busy B Family
Shelby at Everyday a New Day
Heather at Life with Little H

Hope you guys have as much fun with this as I did...

Mobile Blogging on my iPhone?

I just found out that Blogger has an iPhone app. I thought I should test it out and see how blogging from my phone will work.

As a result, you get to see a few iPhone pictures. If you are friends with me on Facebook, you've probably seen these.

The picture of the dog with stickers covering it is Mark's parents' dog. Bentley, the dog, is such a trooper. He tolerates Chloe's nonsense pretty well.