Friday's Fashion Wrap Up - vol. 8

My apologies to all those out there who enjoy reading these posts every week...I haven't done away with them completely, I was merely taking a break.  Yes, it's true - even I get worn out trying to put new outfits together every day.  Perhaps in the future this feature will morph into something different, where I extensively feature one or two outfits a week...really focusing on the details.  Something more along the lines of Love Maegan, which I love (whose latest fashion entry was the inspiration for my Friday look).  Although she definitely has better pieces, aka more money, than I do!  And if you haven't checked out the images of her closet...do so! 

So, for all my fellow fashionistas out there, here we go!

Monday

Pants: Express
Tank:  H&M
Vest: Charlotte Russe
Shoes: Jessica Simpson (which are so desperately falling apart, I'm sad)
Earrings and Cuff:  Aldo Accessories

Tuesday

::gasp::  I left my camera at work...my bad.

Wednesday

Skirt and Vest:  H&M
Tank: Pacsun
Belt and Earrings:  Charlotte Russe
Wedges:  Target
Bangle:  Gift

Thursday

Pants:  Charlotte Russe years ago
Tank: Express
Cardi:  Target

Friday

Jeans, Blazer, and Jewelry: Charlotte Russe
Tank:  Express
Shoes:  Shoedazzle

So there you go...another week of fashion fun!  I have to admit, I dress way better when I know I will be taking these pics, so I really should just keep up with it.  Sometimes life gets to be a bit much, and taking those extras minutes to match something (or not match something if that's the look I'm going for) just doesn't seem the best use of my time.  But not to fear!  FFWU is here to stay!  So thanks to all of you who took notice and said, "hey chick, where's my fashion?" 

Side note:  Let me know what you think of the new blog design!  I'm playing around with a few new things, but I'm open to suggestions/tips/tricks, etc...!

Wordless{ish} Wednesday - Baby Love

My Army job recently purchased the same camera I have, along with the 75-300mm lens so that I wouldn't have to keep using my personal camera to capture all our Army adventures.  The sweetness about this is that I have been able to play around with it (I haven't committed to buying another lens yet...), so I've pulled it out a lot these last few weeks.

Like this day.  We started at the beach.  Then we headed over to the in-laws to lay by the pool while Nash took a baby nap.  Bliss, I tell you.  Sunnies and fruity rum drinks sure make a girl happy.

And when Nash woke up, I got to play with the camera again.

Always biting things!

The neighbor girl always plays with him and he l.o.v.e.s it.

I just love this one.

15 Months

I can't believe how late I am with this post.  Admittedly, it's because I just haven't remembered to sit Nash down and take the darn pics.  I also wanted to do a video each month, but have been so busy on the weekends that it's never the right time.

Here are the details:

Height:
Weight:
Teeth: 16 in and/or coming in right now
Diaper Size: 5
Clothing Size: 18-24 months
Shoe Size: 6
Hair still dirty blonde and eyes still a gray blue with hazel center
Sleeping: 9 pm to 7:30 am plus a nap from 1 pm until 3 or 4.

He's still not forming too many words...just Mama and Daddy...but he talks all the time.  I'm fairly certain I've heard him say "itty" (kitty) and "buh" (ball), but Joe thinks I'm crazy (he still doesn't always admit he's saying Mama and Daddy).

When we say "let's get your shoes on," he knows it means we're going somewhere.
When we ask him if he wants milk or juice, he runs to the fridge.
When I ask him if he's ready for bathtime, he heads to our bathroom and tries to climb in the tub.
He gives kisses on command (if he's not wrapped up in some funny toddler game).
He pretty much understands most of what we are saying, so we think we're tracking a-ok.

He's still the best eater in the world, but some days are better than others.  Some days he will literally wolf down anything you put in front of him as if he's been starved or something.  Other days, he'll barely pick all day.  Growth spurts?  He can drink from a cup pretty well now and has even shown some serious utensil-using skills lately!  I often just give him a fork or a spoon at mealtimes and he just tries and tries and tries.

He continues to amaze everyone with his dexterity.  He throws a ball overhand - far and straight.  We can actually play catch with him now (we hand him the ball as he can't catch yet).  He can/will kick a soccer ball across the room.  He "plays golf" with any club-like item and ball-like item whenever he sees them together. And he's figured out how to open just about anything...anything with a hinge or lid.  He even opens up my little makeup/lotion bottles (and occasionally squirts them into his hands...which he promptly rubs together just like Mama does).  He will color for short periods of time now, but still hasn't taken much interest in some of the craftier things I've tried to do with him (example:  letting him help me make green muffins on St. Patty's Day = toddler fail).  He's obsessed with his "friends" (stuffed animals) and squeals everytime he sees the kitty or his blanket lying around.

Overall, he's a sweet, happy boy who just loves a good giggle.

And that's our little muffin!  Can't believe he's growing up so fast...he appears to be such a little man some times, I can barely stand it.  Slow down, Nashie!

Sunshine and Sweethearts

I just love my little family.  They truly are the one thing in my life that I count on to bring me up no matter what.  When my job sucks and I feel like I can't escape, they are there to redirect me.  When I think I can't make it through a particularly rough day, Nashie gives me a huge smile and runs towards me when I pull in the driveway.  When I'm exhausted and stressed out, my hubby says lets order pizza and gives me foot rubs.  I'm so lucky.

Weekends are precious with said family...and last weekend we headed to the beach.  We initially were just going to go for a walk, but decided to let Nash play around since we don't come to the beach that often (crime, I know, considering we live less than 10 minutes away).  I sat back most of the time and tried to snap some sweet moments with my little loves.

Daycare Dilemma

Last weekend, we all piled in the car (me, Joe, his parents, and Nash) and headed over to Orlando so I could show them how amazing Chipotle is.  His family is considering buying a franchise, or some other kind of business, so they are shopping around ideas.  I immediately said, "you should put a Chipotle in Brevard County!" 

Since they had never been to one, we faced the hour drive to get some delicious burritos and bowls.  The verdict:  they liked it!  Then we had to decide what else we were going to do since we couldn't just drive to Orlando for food.  So we headed across the street to the mall to get some ice cream and walk around.

We knew Nash needed some time to run since he was cooped up in the car, then cooped up in the high chair, then in his stroller, so we located the Kid Zone on the directory and popped on over.  What happened next can only be described as unbelieveable. 

Waiting his turn at the slide

Nash was beside himself with joy.  He was running around, screaming, squealing, talking to kids, running back and forth to take turns on the slide.  It was just so awesome to watch my little man be so completely happy.  We laughed, took pictures, and just stood back and let him do his thing.

Chillin' in the spaceship

Leaning on Grandpop

Plopped himself in the middle of a house full of kids

Ecstatic

After we left, we decided it was time to put him in daycare.  We've been using his parents, my mom, and our next door neighbor Susie to watch him for the few hours that Joe is at work...and all that has been working out fine.  But he never gets the chance to socialize...so it's time we left him mingle with his people.

So, we met up Thursday at lunch to check out this place that I found online.  They had a really great website, good prices, and were open extra late.  Not to mention, they took drop ins, like if something came up, or you just wanted to go out to dinner or whatever.  Flexibility!  We dropped in to see what it was like on the inside and nearly stopped dead in our tracks.

It was awful.  Dirty.  Smelly.  Too many kids.  Kids with snot crusted to their faces.  Caregivers I would not ever think to leave my kids with. Good god...what have I gotten myself into?!  I'm not exaggerating, as I know one would expect a mother to be overly critical of those she expects to take her place, but seriously.  It was bad.  We spent five minutes there and said our goodbyes.  I quickly promised Nashie I would never leave him at a place like that.

So, now we are back at square one.  We need a daycare.  I want to enroll him in this Montessori school that seems really great, but he has to be 18 months old.  So, we were thinking we'd do just a day or two a week at a normal daycare until then, but definitely not that one.

Nash's First Year

I stumbled upon this cool site Paint the Moon on Pinterest...they were advertising free Photoshop templates and actions, so I thought I would go check it out.  Even though I am fairly good at Photoshop, it's always awesome to have new things all set up and ready to go for me! 

At first it was a bit tricky to find the actual download...they seemed more interested in you sharing the site than actually helping you get to the download.  This immediately made me question its validity, but I pushed on.  Once I found the file, I had to share the site on my facebook in order to actually download it (talk about making you jump through hoops), but the end result was worth it.  I now have some snazzy new collages and actions to play with!

Here is the first fruit of my labor:

I could have added more photos instead of the words, but I didn't want it to be too busy.  And I wanted to show him in different stages of his first year: birth, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and then one year.  Looks pretty good!

So if you are interested in some pretty sweet photoshop stuff (they have even more stuff that you can buy), check out Paint the Moon.  Definitely going to be doing something like this for if/when baby #2 meanders its way into our life plan.  ;-)

Steppin' Out Saturday - Twinsies Style

We haven't done one of these in a while, but our outfits today were just too cute, so we had to snap some pictures.

We were just one our way to Publix to do some grocery shopping...

Nash always brings along some snacks to keep him occupied. 

Daddy stayed home and tried to sleep off working late last night. 

 

What a face!

Searching for the Words...

I've been so lucky as a mama, I tell you.  Despite what the doctor's initially said about a bright spot on his heart, and he's too big, and blah blah blah...he turned out fine.  Despite all our sleep troubles in the first four months and the challenges of breastfeeding, we're all here, relatively unscathed.  And he's growing, growing, growing and learning so much.  He walked early, he ran quickly, and now I dare say he's awesome when it comes to throwing a ball (watch out, Cliff Lee).  He's been either with the pack or out in front on almost everything since day 1, so I know I don't have much room to complain.  And I'm not really complaining...just worrying more than anything.

Nash hasn't really said much.  Don't get me wrong, he "talks" all day long.  He babbles full blown conversations with you (and everyone) endlessly.  But other than "mama" and "daddy,"  he hasn't said another word.  So, I did the worst thing I could have done...I googled.  According to Babycenter.com, the average 15-month old can say an additional 3 words.  3?!?!  I'm like, oh my...  We're not even close.

Even so, I think no big deal, we'll wait and talk to the doctor about it next week.  So, we had his appointment on Monday and she asked us all the usual milestone questions...running, throwing, etc...  And then she asked about the speaking...and we were honest, of course.  She told us that most toddlers his age can say 4 words (including mama and dada).  Ugh!  I told her that was my main concern...and she said not to worry.  That he's extremely social and very talkative....she would be worried if it wasn't doing those things.  But that he just needs a little more time and then it will all come out.  And don't get me wrong, he definitely understands the words, and responds to them (like when I ask him to go get my the ball or runs to the fridge when I ask him if he wants some milk)...he just doesn't vocalize in return.

Here's a little video of tonight's bath...of course, he didn't say anything, but he did try to communicate.  Hopefully soon I'll get a good video of his really gabbing away.


And each day that goes by and I don't hear a word, I'm getting more nervous.

I'm worried we didn't read to him enough.  Worried he watched/watches too much tv.  Worried that because I'm not here, he's not learning enough (no dig on my husband or anything, I'm just way pushier with the learning thing).

Again, I hate to complain, but it's getting me down lately.  I just want to here something...anything...

If you have kids out there, what was your experience with talking?  Did it happen gradually or did something just suddenly click for them?  How old were they?

Growed Up

I'm reaching an interesting post in my, ahem, career as a blogger.  Although I have yet to really take off (like I don't get that many visitors or have sponsorship offers flooding my inbox), I feel like I'm growing and learning and might even end up making something of all this.

You see, I just ordered my first set of bloggie business cards.  I have cards for my full-time job, my Army job, and for when I network with other mommies, but I never really pinned down a concept for my self-employed professional cards.  Since I do a number of different things (i.e. blogging, graphic design, photography, writing, etc..), it's hard to bring all of those things together as one professional venture.  Basically, I didn't want to have a half dozen different business cards - one for each project.

Then, along came about.com.  Not the about.com that has all kinds of DIY information...as in the site you can publish how-to articles for.  No, about.me.  It's a site that basically just creates a page for you that houses links to all of your other sites...be they Twitter, Blogger, Flickr, or your own personal page.  I thought, GENIUS!  Now, I can have a landing zone for all my inquiries...and create a business card directing everyone there.  Even better, when you set up an about.me page, you get an offer for 50 free business cards from Moo.com!  And those cards come already equipped with a handy-dandy little QR code that leads potentials right to your about.me page.  Pretty freakin awesome, if you ask me.

image via moo.com

So I took some time to find an image (via Shutterstock), uploaded it, entered in all the deets, and BAM!  I've got 50 cards en route to my house...  Plenty of time left to beta test them before ordering a bunch in preparation for BlogHer 2012, which I am attending!

So, I've got websites, I've got business cards, I'm networking...

The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.

Friday's Fashion Wrap Up - vol. 7

Crazy week, as usual.  Except that I got sick right in the middle of the week, immediately following a teeth cleaning.  Has that ever happened to you guys?  My throat is killing me, my whole body hurts, and my head is pounding.  Thought I might have the flu for a bit there, but I'm slowly getting better.

Here's the fashion:

Monday

Totally late leaving for work, so no picture was taken.  It was a boring outfit anyways, since I was still super sore from the Princess Half Marathon I ran on Sunday (post on that to come!).

Tuesday

Dress: Forever 21 (I think)
Cardi: H&M
Flats:  Target
Earrings:  Charlotte Russe
Bracelet:  Express

Wednesday

Pants:  Express
Shirt:  Charlotte Russe
Shoes:  Jessica Simpson

Thursday

Pants and bracelet:  Express
Top:  H&M
Shoes:  Jessica Simpson
Earrings:  Charlotte Russe

Friday

Jeans:  Express
Tee: Target
Blazer:  Charlotte Russe
Shoes: Shoedazzle

That's it, folks!  Gotta run...sorry for the lack of witty commentary!  More next week...