love on a budget

For the last couple of years I have been in charge of Valentines Day and my husband our Anniversary! I always like to go all out to illustrate my love for my Valentine! This year I wanted to see if I could do it on a budget.  I wanted to make my husband proud that I could touch his heart without touching deep down in our pockets !

1. I made him a Valentines breakfast ! Fruit presented in a heart and bacon and pancakes in the shape of a heart! 

                    

2. I found this great card at the Dollar Spot! It really was perfect. My husband knows that I love me some coffee! God and Coffee gets me through the day!

3. I made these roses out of Hershey Kisses, craft sticks, and green colored tape!

4. I purposely saved gift cards we got from Christmas! These provided a great Date Night. The Crusted Catfish and the Safe House was the bomb.com!

5. I arranged a free babysitter i.e.Grandma

6. I personalized and packaged some Heart Candy!

7. I told my husband I thought is was raining and to open the blinds in the bedroom....

it was raining everything I love about him!

8. I dressed up in his favorite outfit for our Valentines Date and gave him a free kiss!

9. I presented him with a Valentines Photo shoot of our baby Girls 1st Valentines!

10. I told him I love him(like I do everyday) and told him we only came out of our pockets $ 20 for EVERYTHING ! Hopefully he did not do much damage in his gift for me.....

9 Months old!?!

JoJo you still are the sweetest baby EVER! You rarely cry and can produce a smile at any moment. You love to be around your family and just people in general. When we leave you alone then we hear a cry! Baby Girl, in the profession that Mommy works in I see and hear about sick babies all the time. I do not take it lightly or for granted that you are accomplishing each milestone and that you are healthy!

You have moved on from the wounded solider crawl and now use your hands and knees! We leave and we can bet that you are following fast behind us!

You have also mastered standing up with the assistance of an object or a person!

You had your 9 month appointment this week! 

You weigh 17lbs and 11 oz(32 %) and you are 27.25 inches(43%)! 

You got one vaccination and cried for a moment and then turned to the nurse and smiled. It was so sweet, just like you!

Dr L was very happy with your verbal and physical skills! You are saying both Mama and Dada. It makes me and your Daddy smile all the time! You also babble, clap your hands, and wave a whole lot!

Dr L. was not worried at all that you do not have a single tooth, unlike your father who wants you to get 1 soon!

No teeth does not keep you from tasting everything you can get your hands on! Baby girl, you also have no shame in showing off your pretty pink gums!

This pictures makes me realize that you will be running around the corner before we know it, like your big brother does 24/7! This picture also makes me sad, because once again I am seeing you grow-up too fast. It also reminds me that it is time to start planning your 1st Birthday Party!

Gratitudes and Gifts




 The 30th birthday as we all know is a very special birthday. My Best Friend that I have known for 15 years is 30! We live about 500 miles away from each other right now. My entire family will be traveling and joining her for her BIG birthday party and giving her a gift next week! Despite distance I wanted to give her something special on her actual Birthday!


I am so grateful for my friend and sometimes I wonder if she really knows exactly how much . I decided to show her my gratitude through this gift!  Here were my steps:         
1.   I  printed out a letter(posted above) explaining the gift...

20 Gratitudes + 10 Friendship Gifts= Happy 30th Birthday LaDonna.

 



2. I found  a pretty card stock of butterflies to fly my Gratitudes! I then typed 20 gratitudes to place on the front of the  butterflies. It was not hard to think of 20 things..at all!

 


3. I then found 20 pictures to place with each Thank You note. I placed the pictures on the back of the butterflies! Finding pictures was easy also(the majority of the pictures I  found I was pregnant )...we have taken so many pictures over the years!

 




4. In college me and the BF would randomly by each other gifts and give them to each other with a note that said "Happy Friend Day!".  I decided to buy my BFF 10 random friend gifts i.e her favorite cookies, fruit, workout shirt, lotion, jewelry, cute socks, and more!

 




5. I placed all the gifts in a cute gift bag and wrapped all the Thank You notes together!

 

7. Lastly, my Lil Helper and me taped it up and sent it to the Post Office!

ChildHood: Shower Faces

How many shower faces do you have? My Boy has many! He has recently stepped into the shower world(supervised 100% of the time and assist is strongly needed). My husband and I get a kick out of how animated our Son can be. I did not know that so many different faces could be produced in the shower. I was able to capture a few to share!

This 1 photo above is what I submitting for:

My Camera's 1st Wedding

Last week we traveled to southern California for a wedding. Our friend Chris was marrying his beautiful Bride. Chris is a great guy that is now married to a wonderful woman! We became friends with Chris in college, he was once my Husband's housemate, and was the videographer for our Wedding. We were so excited to get an invitation to his wedding and be able to make it! I was also thrilled because it would be the 1st time my camera was in attendance at a wedding! Here are some pictures to enjoy from the beautiful union!





































































Congratulations Chris and Bernadette! We are so happy for your beautiful union!