Friday Fun

Wow, I'm really behind on posting some of these pictures but better late than never!

August has been a fun month, despite the relentless heat.  We started it off with a wedding in Downtown Fort Worth. 

Before the wedding Matt and I had drinks at Reata.  I just love this place.  Maybe someday he'll take me there for dinner.  hint hint..

It was really nice to have a date night and spend some time together, just the two of us.  

Our friends Tyler and Lauren are the cutest couple and we couldn't be happier for them! I am sad that I didn't get a single good picture of the happy couple.

We had a great time hanging out with friends - all of us kid-free for the evening!!

This past weekend we went to the Rangers game with Matt's family.  It was a great game and getting to enjoy it from the air-conditioned comfort of a suite was even better!

And because I can't resist posting a few pictures of my favorite little girl...

Avery is very interested in shoes right now.  She is constantly going in our closet and picking out her daily favorite.  She's a little frustrated here because she is tripping over dadda's size 14 shoes :)

 Sprinkler fun. She'll hate me for this one day.

Helping dadda mow the yard

Gotta have the matching pink bow when you wear your new broncos jersey!

Avery and Cash

These two always manage to brighten my day. No matter how stressful work was, how long my commute was, or just the happenings and stresses of everyday life.

Whether it's Avery's gigle and sweet innocence, Cash's constant happiness or they way they "play" together, they always make me smile.

Of course they both have their moments when they just wear me out but then I walk into the office and see them just staring out the window, without a care in the world.  Cash is probaly looking for bunnies while Avery is looking for birds. 

Their lives are so simple and carefree. 
In our house, children and dogs were made to be together. 

Avery loves to try to throw his ball, she pets him, lays on him, and has developed an unconditional love for dogs because of his sweet nature and personality.  Cash is always in her room when we go to wake her up, trying to stick his muzzle through the slats in her crib. 

I'm so thankful for both the calm and crazy these two provide every single day.

Somewhere buried deep in my photo library of thousands of pictures I have this same shot from when Avery was about eight months old.  She was crawling and often came to the office looking for Cash.

Of course I can't find it now but I did come across a few others that made me smile.

Happy Thursday!! I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday!

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Guess who finally got over her fear of the pool???

My Etsy Shop - Petit Cadeau Boutique

I don’t think I’ve been so nervous and excited about something since Avery was born!! I’ve been delaying the inevitable for a few weeks now, trying to get as many products listed as possible before I hit the “publish” button on this post.

As I shared here, I developed this desire to learn to sew not long after Avery was born. I borrowed my mother-in-law's sewing machine for a few months before she kindly gave me my birthday present, a Singer sewing machine. I quickly turned our formal dining room into a make-shift sewing room and found a great site that carries hundreds of styles of designer fabrics. After making many baby shower and birthday gifts, along with various items for Avery, I finally felt comfortable in my sewing ability.

I’ve found that I just love creating. I love fabric, I love giving personalized gifts. I love coming up with new ideas and patterns. It is one of the few things I do for me. After spending all day working my day job, I come home, spend time loving on my family, and try to get the house clean. After all of that it is very therapeutic and rewarding for me to sit down and sew. Even as I write this, I find it hard to believe. I never imagined sewing would be relaxing, fulfilling. Yet it is.

So, while I am still getting started and hopefully will someday have a much larger Etsy shop, everyone has to start somewhere. This is my somewhere.

Introducing: 

Petit Cadeau Boutique

Please check it out at this link it would mean a lot to me. And if you see something you like, please use this coupon code SAVE15 or if you see something a friend may like, please pass along this link and the coupon code.

Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me and offered support in getting this up and running. 

My good friend, Nicole, is currently offering a giveway on her blog which features numerous wonderful items you can win by simply leaving a comment on her blog.  One of these items is a set of my custom dish towels.  Please check out her blog and leave a comment for a chance to win many great items!!

http://mrshutchison.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/celebration-giveaway-for-10000-views/

Lindsey

15 Month Update

I've missed doing these monthly updates since Avery turned one but I can't keep doing them for the rest of her life. ha! So I'm thinking every three months until she's two will be a good compromise for me :)


Baby girl,

You've changed SO much since your first birthday.  Some days it feels like you are learning new things each day and I can't even keep up with all of the ideas you have, words you understand and "Averyisms" that make you you. 

You rarely walk anywhere... running is definitely the preferred method of transportation... or mommy's arms.  You still love to eat and sometimes I wonder if you will ever get full. ha!! All kidding aside, I'm so glad you are a good eater and enjoy healthy fruits, veggies, fish and whole grains. I still think that one day you and I will have a great time cooking together.

You know so many words... mama, dada, dog, belly-button, nose, sit-down, bird, night-night, bye-bye, drink, sip, bite, kisses, outside etc.  It just amazes me.  You aren't saying much yet, but I know you understand more than we realize.

You are such an observer.  Time to think about each action and move we make.  You are always imitating things we do, from putting the keys in the car ignition to trying to put on your bib, you don't miss a thing. 

You still love bath time but hate the pool.  In the bath you try to drink the bath water and splash as hard as possible.  This often ends in BOTH of us getting a bath and laughing hysterically the whole time.

You love being outside, this ridiculous heat has been torturous for you.  Every time I open the door to let Cash out you make a mad dash for the door and let me know your displeasure when I close it behind him.

Your facial expressions crack me up.  You have a naturally pouty face and don't have any problems giving just about everyone (including mommy and daddy) the "stink eye".  See below...

You love to read books but only if you can sit in my lap.  You back your little butt up until you are in the perfect lap-sitting position and then plop down.  Makes me laugh every time. 

We had your 15 month check up last Friday morning and you are doing great!! Doctor says you are developing wonderfully and that you, my dear, are in the 100th percentile for height (33.25 inches) and the 70th percentile for weight (24.4 lb).  You are the size of an average two-year-old.  You seem to have gotten daddy's blue eyes and height.  In fact, you seem to have gotten quite a few traits from him!

Monkey, we love you so much, you light up our days and every evening I can't wait to get home to see you.  You are super busy and full of energy but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Love you so much!

Mommy

Blogging Advice / Tips

Do you follow Kelly Stamps @ Kelly’s Korner?? She is one of a few people I “blog stalk”. Every Friday she hosts a “Show Us Your Life” link-up party. This week’s topic is blogging advice and tips. Well, I’m definitely not a super blogger who has hundreds of followers and thousands of hits each week but I am interested in reading other bloggers' tips and thought that for the few people that do follow my blog and have recently started (or are thinking about starting) a blog, you may be able to get some helpful insight and tips.

For what it’s worth, here is my two cents:

1. Blog about something you love. Whether it is your family, fashion, food, travelling, religion, etc. make sure you are passionate about it. If you are just blogging to try to attract followers or gain AdSense revenue, it can become a chore instead of a passion.

2. Get your blog printed once or twice a year. Blog2print is the best resource I’ve found. I just love the feeling of holding a book and having the little stories of our life printed.

3. Try to set a realistic blogging schedule. For me, I know that if I stopped blogging for a few weeks I would start to feel overwhelmed about catching back up. This would cause me to procrastinate and continue to put it off. So I try to keep up with it once or twice a week. This works best for me and I know everyone is different. But if you have a schedule, whether it is every day, once a week or once a month I think it is easier to keep up and not feel overwhelmed.

4. Take lots of pictures!! I know my hubby sometimes gets annoyed when I want to bring our large SLR camera with me everywhere we go but, hey, most of the events I want to remember and have pictures of don’t happen at home. So I try to bring my camera with me as often as possible. If this isn’t realistic for you, snap away with your camera phone!

5. Be real. Your blog readers are most likely be a mixture of people you know and strangers (unless your blog is private, obviously). The people in your life know you and love you (otherwise they wouldn’t want to read your blog!) so be yourself!!

6. Please, please don’t have music playing. Don’t get me wrong, I like some of the songs I hear on blogs but when I’m reading this at work (don’t tell) it can be a little awkward when Bieber comes on.


7. One last piece of advice. Don’t compare your blog to other blogs. I’m not saying you shouldn’t enjoy reading other peoples blogs (both friends and strangers) but I know when I started blogging I’d look at certain blogs and think, wow, she is so talented, she has so many followers, her pictures are so incredible, and on and on. It didn’t make my blog and better and it actually made me resent blogging a bit. It took me a little time to realize my blog is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less. It is just right for me. And that is exactly what it should be.

Okay, I guess that’s it. Nothing too Earth-shattering here. If you do want to start a blog though, I’d highly recommend clicking on the link to Kelly’s Korner, there is sure to be someone out there with much more insightful advice. Ha!!

http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2011/08/show-us-your-life-blogging-tips.html

Have a great weekend!!

Colorado Trip Part III

 I absolutely love going up to my parents' cabin.  It is so peaceful up there, we always have a great time, eat way too much food and just enjoy getting away from the city.

I had a really hard time narrowing down the pictures I wanted to post so there are a ton!! Lots of pictures, not much text this time :)

 We had only been at the cabin for 10 minutes and Avery tripped over the rocking chair and ended up with a nasty little cut above her eye :(

 Playing with her best buddy Cash

 Not so excited about bath time in the sink

 Much happier to be playing with dada

 LOVE

 Shootin' trap

A few cousins, me, Stef, Carly and Rachel

 She really wanted my grandpa's fried chicken!! Poor thing, like she doesn't eat enough. ha!

Reservoir about 20 minutes from the cabin

Hanging with Aunt Stefanie at the reservoir

 We learned that Avery LOVES jeeps and big trucks.  Things may get interesting during her teenage years...

She loved "driving" Brady's truck.  It was a huge struggle to get her out. ha!

 She looks so little in his truck! 

 

 Matt and the boy.  He looks pretty miserable but he really had a great time :)

 Love her :)

What are sons-in-law for?? Throwing you in a mountain lake, of course!

All of the girls. Seven cousins, three friends and on cousin-in-law (not sure if that is a real thing) :)

 Saturday night we had a pig roast!!

 Hanging out, relaxing, waiting for dinner

Still waiting for dinner. :)

The whole crew

As always, we had a wonderful time.  It went by way too fast and I was definitely not ready to leave.

Until next time....

Colorado Trip Part II

I feel like we did so much in one week and were constantly on the go but thankfully we did have time to just hang out at my parent’s house, enjoy the cool(er) weather, and enjoy each others company. Times like this are really my favorite part of being home. Yes, I enjoy our day-trips and staying busy but it is so nice to just relax and be with family. I love watching Avery play with her grandparents and aunt and uncle. I love the relationship my dad and Matt have. I love helping my mom cook dinner. These are the things I really miss living so far away and these are the things that make each trip so wonderful.

Tuesday afternoon Matt and I left Avery with my parents and headed to Fort Collins to have a date night with Brian and Stef. On our way up we were talking about the last time we left Avery overnight and realized that we hadn’t been away from her (overnight) for almost a year!! We definitely needed and enjoyed our time together. We started off the evening at the Rio. Oh, I loved this restaurant so much while we were attending CSU. They don’t have the best Mexican food I’ve ever had but their salsa and margs are just about the greatest indulgence ever. We sat out on the back patio and had a great time laughing and planning for future trips at the beach, Vegas, etc.

After dinner we walked around Old Town Fort Collins for a little while and then played mini golf. I hadn’t done this in year but it turns out Stef and I are a pretty good team. We (barely) beat the guys!

Wednesday morning we got up early (even though we were supposed to sleep in – strict orders from Stef) enjoyed waffles and fresh fruit at Stef’s Café and then headed back to my parents’ house to pick them and the munckin up for a day at the Denver Zoo!

Avery was a little young to really appreciate the zoo but she pointed at most of the animals and said, “a da” or “a dog”??? She was certain that all of these wonderful animals were dogs. Including the elephants, giraffes and monkeys :) Oh how my little girl loves dogs. Too cute! 

It was a long, hot day because we got a late start but we had a good time and I’m glad my parents got to take Avery for her first trip to the zoo.

Thursday afternoon I got together with some friends I hadn’t seen since college. Two of the girls I have known since we were in kindergarten. We lived in the same neighborhood, were in the same girl scout troop and attended all of the same schools. Most of us have children now and it was fun to see them after such a long time!! We even watched embarrassing videos from college that I’m pretty sure need to be burned or locked away forever :)

 Okay, that’s all for today… next up, our family camping trip!