Mini-Adirondack

I came across this precious little Adirondack chair at Lowe's for right under $10 & just had to get it. I initially was focused on using it as a prop for my 18-month old's summer photo shoot. I chose coral because it's girly & so 'in' right now (haha) AND it complimented her lime-green swimsuit which is also oh.so.cute. She LOVES this chair & our pictures turned out

beyond precious, thanks to our friends at Cozart Photography.

She looks like such a big girl!

I decided to add a little more pizazz to the chair by adding on some simply cute glitter stickers by Stickabilities from the scrapbook department of Hobby Lobby. Kennady loved having her name on the chair so much (sarcasm intended) that she decided to peel them off one by one while mommy wasn't looking one afternoon...so, to prevent such a disaster from happening again, on the second round I plan to seal it somehow. I'm looking for suggestions from you fellow crafters for a product that would seal stickers to plastic really well. In the meantime, it's still so.stinkin.cute. This is what it looked like after a little love & before little monkey fingers went to work on messing it up.

For a very reasonable $13, you too could have this sweet little chair

personalized & lookin' chic for your little one. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy 4 Years to my Hubby...

I can't believe that myself and the Captain (I've never called him that, so I just giggled while typing that, ha) are already at the 4, yes FOUR year anniversary mark. It is unreal how time flies when you're having fun. And yes, even after four years of marriage, I can still say that we are having TONS of fun. We've had our ups and downs over these years, with most of the downs stemming from physical separation from each other due to the very nature of being in the Air Force. When we actually get time together, we try our best to take in every minute & spend it doing stuff that enrich or fulfill us.

This anniversary will be the 2nd that we have spent together because of 3 consecutive summer deployments. Luckily, I visited him while he was deployed to Germany & we were blessed enough to spend our special date in Paris.

We LOVE to travel, so over the past 4 years, we have traveled the U.S. from New York stretching the entire east coast, covered the complete southeast, & stretched all the way west to Las Vegas, Nevada...mostly done by driving. Time spent in Germany, France, & Switzerland gave us some of the best memories we've ever created and the cruises to the caribbean make me all warm and cozy to think back to. We've visited family & friends, settled into a new home, brought a beautiful baby girl into the world, & can't be more thankful for every bit of it.

I married the most handsome, thoughtful, intelligent, loving man I have ever known. I am so lucky that he allows me to be a stay-at-home mom to our sweet Kennady & honestly wouldn't have it any other way. We have dreams for our future, to grow our family, & to continue to nag each other to no end, because that's what we do. That's how we like it & neither one of us would change a thing (well, he probably would but I'm gonna act like I'm really not

that bad of a nagger, ha).

You two are my favorite...

Thank you, Chad, for being the best husband, father, and provider for our little family. You are what every girl dreams about having someday...and I was lucky that my someday came on July 28, 2007. Happy Anniversary babe! I love you more with every day that passes.

Sweet Daddy Realization...

So sorry again for my lack of posting. How boring am I...seriously. I haven't forgotten about you, I've just been crazy busy driving through 7 of our lovely 50 states. I am happy to say I am finally taking a moment to sit down and take a breath. In a quick couple of sentences, this is what we have been up to.

Kennady & I traveled by car to GA for Chad's cousin's wonderful wedding. It was beautiful and Kennady had a blast tearing up the dance floor and coloring with the girls. We got back to AR and 2 days later we headed by airplane down to Texas to visit my aunt from Alaska. She comes down to visit every summer and we had a laid-back blast with her by going swimming, eating, making desserts, shopping, & playing games. We then made our way to another wedding, this time in Addison, TX near Dallas. It was my best friend's little brother's wedding and it was beautiful. The chapel was gorgeous & the reception was a great time of catching up with friends we haven't seen for months and some good eats. Chad & I made it a 3 day weekend and spent our extra time by getting a pedicure (I did, anyways :)), shopping at the Frisco mall, & chillin' with some of our besties from A-town. I got to top things off with a wonderful stroll through Ikea which is such a fun store to walk through. If you've never been to one and enjoy anything related to home decor & organization, you will be in heaven. Although you must allow at least a 2 hour window to be able to really see the place in it's entirety. It's amazing. I didn't get much, but I did find some super-cute fabrics for really cheap and that makes me happy. We drove home yesterday and it is really good to be settled again.

Last night while we were watching tv, Kennady thought it to be a good idea to climb on top of the hotel coffee table to get attention. Chad & I always think it's kind of funny when she pulls stunts like that, but we're always scared someday she's going to hurt herself. It was kind of a sweet moment when she started to jump off into her daddy's arms. On about the 6th very trusting fall, Chad heard himself say, "I guess it's my job to catch you." This statement hit him, as he realized that that really is how a great father-daughter relationship can and should be. Daddy's are special people. They love unconditionally, they provide all things necessary for happy living, they kiss boo-boos & protect their little lady from all things evil, & are always there to catch their little girls under all circumstances. It was a good moment of realization that brought just a little bit of magic to a really silly sequence of events.

I promise more posts will come soon...pinky promise. :)

Over to GA...

Well, in the past week or so, we have found a lot to be a part of. My friend Cassandra celebrated her birthday on the 4th, so on Saturday night, we had a cookout, dessert, & awesome hangout time with friends. All of us 'oldies' with babies stayed up talking until midnight (that's late to still be out and about) after we all got our kiddos to sleep in pack'n plays. It was a night of great conversation & stuffing our faces; can't be mad about that. :)

Sunday rolled around & we slept in until 10:15...AWESOME Kennady, good work! :) It was a much-needed night of rest. We relaxed during the day and found ourselves at a friend of a friend's house for an early 4th of July celebration. They had briskets, burgers, hot dogs, & FIREWORKS GALORE. $1200 worth of firework fun, to be exact. It was quite the show, though we were ready to hang ourselves while the roll of 1000 firecrackers took 5 non-stop CRACKING minutes to pop off. Sounded like the machine guns from The Godfather. It was great hanging out & surviving the heat with the crew again though. What a great firework show too!

Yesterday, the real July 4th, was a completely lazy day for us. We didn't get out of our pajamas until 6pm when we decided to go swimming downstairs. Ha. Don't judge us. Ridiculous, I know, but we had a busy weekend. ;) They also offered us ice cream & warm M&M cookies downstairs in celebration, so we had ourselves some yummy dessert after swimming. Kennady was a huge fan.

The other day I learned how to shir using material and my sewing machine. I made Kennady a high-waisted skirt & accidentally made myself a shirt as I (too late) realized that I had mis-cut my material. I have never really thought about making myself clothes, but maybe that would be fun someday. It's way easier and more fun to make them in small sizes for Kennady, but the occasional piece might be nice. Or sometimes I could just rely on my occasional stupidity to give myself something new to wear. That seemed to work this time. Ha.

Tomorrow, Kennady & I are hopping in the car and pointing our vehicle towards Georgia. Chad's cousin Travis is getting married Friday night, so we are going to join in on the festivities. Unfortunately, Chad is stuck staying here as they scheduled him for something on Friday & left us going without him. I considered not going at all, but we have promised his family for months that they would get to see Kennady at the wedding, & because a couple of them haven't seen her since Christmas, I deemed it a necessity that they see her NOW. So much happens between months 12 & 19. She is a little human now that speaks words, makes small sentences, dances, runs, talks non-stop, giggles, sings, throws tantrums & all kinds of fun things. They need to see this & get to love on her too, so we're headed that way until probably Saturday. It should be a lot of fun seeing as how we will get to be a part of the rehearsal dinner, bachelorette party, & wedding. I am sure to have pictures galore when we return. I will try my best to keep you updated while I am there, too.

Well, that's all for now. Hope your 4th of July was spent with friends & family & that we all remember that freedom doesn't come free. Thank you to all of the military members & people who have given all that they could give for our rights to be had and may God continue to bless the U.S.A.!