Look at that Smile!

Here is a little look at a couple of the pictures!!! They turned out sooo good! 

All photography by Inspired and Enchanted Photography

I can't wait to see all of them!! We have been waiting patiently to see the whole gallery.. I think that's the worst part of getting photos taken...the waiting :)

Mr. Southbay has left for his final mission hopefully! I am so proud of him and all of his amazing accomplishments. He is currently working on an unmanned aircraft system. It will be the first to take off and land on an aircraft carrier. It has been so awesome to watch it fly around the navy base and knowing that there isn't anyone in that plane! 

We are also in the works of figuring out where we will go next! The program he is working on will be ending this summer...ahhh it never ends! I am hoping our next move will be our last move.. Ya never know :) 

 

Ribbon Love!

When I took a look at his highchair..I had to figure out how to jazz it up a bit and then I saw tons of ribbon! So, here is 1 picture from his birthday party!!!

I absolutely loved the ribbon banner.. Made it fun and festive! After sewing all the pieces together..on a machine.. I just used velcro to attach it to the highchair and it worked perfectly!  If you are thinking about making something like this.. just a heads up that ribbon isn't cheap! Look for sales...deals and coupons! The ribbon was pretty heavy too!

Yes, I snatched up some "A" ribbon..couldn't resist! I did lots of layering too! 

Happy I was able to use it again for the hot air balloon..now what can I do with it? Any ideas?

I'm becoming so crafty :)

Hot Air Balloon!

I finally did it! I think considering the amount of time I had..and all my driving back n forth from MD & PA.. it turned out pretty good. I'm sure many of you saw this idea on over Pinterest. It wasn't as easy as I thought.

Andrew's hot air balloon! 

I just started to put green tissue on the 42" beach ball...which I could only find off Amazon.

Close up! My Father got dowels over at Lowes and we used green string to bring them together. We didn't know how long the dowels should be...If we had time, I would have stained and cut down a few inches off the dowels. We used plastic ties to attach the dowels to the basket. Pretty good thinking Dad!

The finished product!

I originally made a ribbon banner for Andrew's birthday party cake smash and attached it to his highchair. (party pictures to come) I really was hoping to use it again. I thought the basket was perfect. I used velcro to simply attach to the basket. 

Things to keep in mind. If you are using this during fluctuating temperatures..keep in mind the ball will deflate when taken in the colder temp. As we found out during pictures!!! It didn't even occur to me....Also=Our photographer said she may photoshop out the dowels around the ball... I hope she does! I also wish I had ribbon to put around the base of the ball..to hide the string..

Andrew looked super adorable standing in the basket..Oh I hope we get the pictures back soon! :)

I also did up a chalkboard with facts all about Andrew. I can spot one letter done incorrectly! I changed it just before pictures! I'm not very artistic..unfortunately but I think this came out okay. Andrew was sitting in a "hippo" Honest Brand diaper aside of it... Yes, we have a little guy..as you check out his stats! Though, he has a ton of teeth!

Soon as I get all his party pictures together I will do a post on his 

Very Hungry Caterpillar 1st birthday party!!

A Quick Year in Review of Drew!

My little Darling...Wow time goes by sooo fast! He has been such a sweetheart this past year!

The door is helping him stay up! :)

Month 10 is on another camera! Gotta get it!!

I'm really glad I made myself take those monthly pictures!! Towards the end..it was getting really hard keeping the sticker on him...making sure his hands were not pulling on it... oh and then getting him to look at the camera! ahhh i was going crazy for months 10 and on!!  Whew! But worth every minute!! I totally recommend it!

Oh Andrew you have my heart!!! Love you!

Easter Pictures!

I am a bit late posting these.. I think they turned out okay... I was definitely having a bad hair day :) It was really windy outside and I tried to salvage it! We went to a new photographer who was very affordable for Easter pictures. Not sure If I'll go back again but we did get a couple of cute pictures!

He absolutely loves balloons!

And of course our favorite shot from the session..

We do celebrate Orthodox Easter! Looking forward to Sunday May 5th!

This coming Saturday we are having his 1 year pictures and oh wow I think I under took too many projects for his photo session. Not sure why I do this to myself :) 

Drew's 12 Month Update!

I can't believe my Little Darling....you have turned 1! Where has this first year gone? It has flown by so quickly. I have enjoyed every second with you and I can't wait to see what our 2nd year has to bring! I am soo loving you at this age. Yes, you are always on the move and starting to test your boundaries :) but your personality is starting to bloom. 

*Eating just about everything! 

*Weight 20lbs 7.5oz   Height 28.75 inches  

*Going up all the stairs at our house. Going down..not yet :)

*Whenever I eat...you want some of it.

*Growing out of your baby infant tub. :(

*Down to 1 morning bottle of formula and starting whole milk. The rest of the day you eat food :) 

*Total of 6 teeth

*Going poo poo in the toilet.

*Had your 2nd cold ever so far on your birthday unfortunately. Doing breathing treatments but over all we lucked out!

*Haven't spoken any words ...continue to babble and say Dadadadada

*You love women...not too sure about men

*Sleeping at night is getting better!!! you typically only wake up around 5:30am. Then sleep with me till 7am on a good day! But- going to bed has been getting harder.

 *Wearing size 9 and 12 month clothes! 

*You are LOVING all your new birthday toys. Riding your Thomas the Train and yellow cab. 

*Now that the weather is getting nice..we have been out taking tons of walks again and shopping. You love to sit in the cart and look around. I hope that doesn't change for a while :)

*You would rather crawl than walk holding onto my hands..

*When you see Daddy come home to get soo excited and make this high pitch noise. Ohhh I love it and it makes Daddy soo happy. 

*When everyone at your birthday party was singing Happy Birthday...you looked up and smiled. It was as if you couldn't believe everyone was singing to YOU!

Daddy and I love you so much cutie!!

Ups & Downs!

I am such a horrible blogger.... but to be honest..It's hard to blog with a baby! Plus, I'm always on the go or traveling back and forth from MD to PA.. I always have such good intention of doing a post on this...that...oh and this would be good to document.. but in the end. POOF...nothing. I sometimes find myself starting a post but never finishing it. I am very good at that.  

Something else has also been keeping me from blogging.. Which is my health. Ever since I gave birth almost a year ago I haven't been given any breaks. I'm constantly dealing with something. First it was my thyroid..(which is all taken care of), then my TMJ..and recently diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis. Which is something that I will have for the rest of my life. It has changed my life in such a huge way. No, it is not cancer. I keep telling myself. 

Since being diagnosed and have completed some treatments etc.. It has really made me think about what kind of Mom I will be able to be with Andrew.  How is this going to effect my relationship with my Husband. How do I handle vacations...Going out with the girls...  ?
I know I will get thru this..and figure it all out. But in the mean time..I'm trying to allow myself to grieve over this. Because it is sad..it isn't fun and this is how I am feeling.

So, I have been trying so hard to focus on Andrew and all the upcoming FUN events!! Easter, Andrew's birthday party and his 1 year pictures...and that the sun is starting to shine outside.

Turning 1 already!!! So, yes The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the theme of Andrew's 1st birthday!! I have made just a few decorations for his birthday..Trying to keep it simple! I found his invitations over on Etsy of course! It's so easy...click type click done. I had them printed at Walmart and they turned out super good ...got free envelopes too..I also did a ton of email invites. No idea if that is classy for a 1 year old. Don't really care :)

This post was much needed...therapuetic to say the least! It does feel good to get it all out there..no matter what you are dealing with! Big..Small.. So I thank you for listening.. I came across this picture..and it was just perfect for today!