LA Originals Knitted Baby Hat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

LA Originals Knitted Baby Hat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Thursday's Wish List

Today I'm dreaming of a new handbag. I stumbled upon a great little Etsy shop today called ikabags. Their bags are so reasonably priced I'm thinking I could use several of these bags to carry around all of the stuff that I "need" in my purse (aka junk)! I do love a nice big slouchy bag! A few of my favorites:

Happy Thursday!!

I {heart} Chick-fil-A

The Chick-fil-A in our town is having Daddy Date Night tonight. How precious is that? They are giving the adorable couples limo rides to the restaurant from a nearby hotel. They made reservations for them and will have a wait staff - dressed in appropriate waiter attire :) Daddy and daughter got all dressed up for this special night and what kind of mother would I be if I didn't stage a mini photo shoot before they left?

I was so happy to send my little girl off on a date with her prince tonight. I wanted to be a mouse and hide in my husband's pocket so I could enjoy the moment with them, but I guess I'll save that trick for later...maybe for Emma's first date!

I seriously think Vance is trying to prevent Emma from ever HAVING a first date by teaching her tricks like this! Like-father like-daughter, I guess!

Thursday's Wish List

I've been a big fan of the adorable dresses that the Etsy store RockerBaby creates for quite some time. They're so cute and I love their use of black. I personally feel that more children's clothing should be made in black. Too cute.

A few of my RockerBaby favs along with a few other little girl's dresses that would fit perfectly in Emma's closet...

I've been admiring this adorable black "Little Audrey in the city" dress for too long! Emma needs this dress!!

Love the red dress paired with the green shoes!

How cute is the yellow sash?!

This one would have been perfect for our beach trip!

I love the marriage of vintage fabric with a little girl's dress.

This one is by LittlegirlPearl.

Also loving this cute blue and yellow dress by Sweet Gracies.

Hmmm...I seem to be obsessing over polka dots lately!

You gotta love Etsy! Happy Thursday!!

Graduation Day

There were days when Vance and I swore that our little girl would never learn to use the potty. Even when she started peeing successfully the issue of #2 was still a great concern for us. But then one day - she just GOT it. No more holding #2, now she goes almost as much as she pees. She tells us when she has to go - she's an official big girl.

Even with all of her success, I've been holding off on officially saying she's "potty trained." I felt like if I said it she would then pee all over her carseat - or worse. But yesterday, while I was making a phone call in the office, she apparantly had to go really bad. She went in my closet and found her potty (I had cleaned my bathroom the night before and moved everything on the floor in my bathroom to the closet). She pulled it out, peed in it and then came and found me. Success! I was so proud of her.

So, yesterday we had a graduation ceremony for our little girl. She was proudly walked down the hall to meet her dad who was singing a lovely graduation tune. I crowned her, handed her a scepter and gave her a graduation certificate. We also gave her a little gift - which she loved and exclaimed "what the heck is this"? I suppose that's a whole other issue we now have to deal with!

Anyway, it was a really exciting moment. A moment, that at times, I had lost hope would ever come. But it did - just like most things in life. If you work hard and are patient, you will see the harvest!

P.S. Please excuse the bad photography with the pictures - horrible lighting in the house yesterday. But, I think they still manage convey the wonderful moment Vance and I were so happy to share with our little girl!

Emma being "interviewed" by her daddy before she was "crowned"!

We were so proud of our little girl we decided to give her enough candy to rot out her little teeth!

Insert caption "what the heck is this?!" above her head here!

Pretty much no graduation connection with this photo, but how could I resist posting a good "baba" picture. One of the few reminders still around that she's not all grown up just yet!

Little Reminders

I'm constantly thinking that my little girl isn't just here for me to take care of her and to have fun with. There are so many lessons and reflective moments that happen while watching my precious daughter grow. I'm reminded about the simplicity of childhood and how I was and felt as a little girl. It's strange to me that I can watch her play and somehow still feel so connected to the little girl that I once was. I'm reminded of silly fears I held onto as a child when I see Emma screaming because she thinks there are tarantulas in the blue bonnets (I was terrified of black widows for a good portion of my childhood)! I see her in her happiness and sometimes in her sadness and want to protect her. I want to shield her from all of the things that I remember hurting me as a child.

But then I have to stop and wonder...who would I be right now if all of my bad memories were gone, if nothing hurtful had ever happened to me. Would I be a strong woman and mother? I can only imagine that the answer is a definite "no." I think that we are so much more connected to the bad things that are a part of our past in a "good" way than we can even imagine. Bad things are bad...but if we trust in the Lord and allow Him to work in each situation, they turn into good things in our lives. The experiences change us and make us stronger. I know it must be so hard for Him to allow certain things to happen to us, His children. I can feel only a glimpse of that as Emma's mother - but I'm thankful for motherhood and the ability it gives me to see life and the world around me in a clearer and more Jesus-like way.

I'm constantly praying for the strength to LET life happen to Emma. I pray for the wisdom to be able to protect her when I need to, and let her experience some pain along the way too. I have to let go. That's hard for a control freak. Really hard. But no matter how much control I THINK I have - it's all a sense of false security. God is in control and I have to learn to trust Him more.

I'm thankful for life's lessons in the everyday and I'm thankful for friends - far and near. There's something so natural and sweet about watching young girls become friends. I love the way they hold hands and hug like there's no tomorrow! I love how they giggle and play. It's so sweet and it reminds me of all the good times I've had with dear friends. I'm thankful that God has blessed me with some amazing people to share life with. I'm also so very grateful for the little reminders to laugh and giggle a little more than I do.

New things, finally!

I finally did it! I worked all night on editing my shop photos and getting some new items in there! It felt like it took forever editing each and every photo. I wish that the pictures were perfect when I shot them so that they wouldn't need any editing! Not my favorite part of the process, for sure.

Anyway, there's lots of new thank you cards and personalized notecard sets. I still have so much more to add, but I think I'l have to save the rest for another time!