30 before 30

Hi friends! My friend, Lisa, posted her '30 before 30' list on Insta the other day and it inspired me to start my own list! The big 3-0 is around the corner and I feel like it's going to come up faster than I realize! I thought it would be a good idea to write down 30 goals that I want to accomplish by my 30th birthday. Some of the items I included on my '30 before 30' list I have already completed....at first I thought I was kind of cheating by having these already done....buuuuuut these items are on my 'bucket list' so I felt like it was safe to include them anyways. 

So without further adieu here is my '30 before 30' list!  

1) Get married (October 2012)

2) Have a baby (May 2012)

3) Earn a Master's Degree

4) Pay off half of my student loan

5) Visit a state I have never been

6) Go 'vegetarian' for a month

7) Learn how to make a 5-course meal really well

8) Buy a house (December 2012)

9) Find a talent I can make a profit off of 

10) Learn to use my DSLR

11) Learn how to use Photoshop and edit pictures

12) Learn how to do graphic design

13) Take a cake decorating class

14) Make a quilt

15) Go on a weekend getaway with just Noah

16) Donate time/money to Children's hospital

17) Get active in a local community group

18) For one whole month, get dressed up every day

19) Read a book every month until my 30th birthday

20) Get down to my goal weight

21) Go to a Jets game

22) Jump off a rope swing into a river

23) Grow a garden

24) Buy myself a David Yurman bracelet 

25) Write a children's book

26) Finish online scrapbooking from 2010-present

27) Start a workout regimen that I can stick to

28) Do yoga once a week

29) Get a tattoo

30) Run a 1/2 marathon

And even though I already have 30 items on my list....I am going to add one more item...

31) Celebrate my 30th birthday with my bestest friends...otherwise I WILL spend the whole day crying in my bed.

P.S. So I don't forget....I have three items that I wanted to put on this list but realized I would probably not be able to do them by my thirtieth birthday due to lack of time and money...so they are going on my 40 before 40 list! 

1) Throw a dart at a map and go there

2) Go to the Ellen show

3) Meet Jimmy Buffett

Do YOU have a 30 before 30 list? 

Trendy Tot Tuesday

This is our first link up with Megan over at Table For Three and we are excited to be talking about Hannah's style!

Specifically we are going to talk about Hannah's everyday wear. In short, I like to keep it simple. While we aren't in the stages of spit up anymore...we are in the stage of sippy cups and finger foods (i.e., things get messy pretty quickly). She is also more mobile than ever, and she needs an outfit that is cute, but also allows her to be comfortable and move.

So basically something that is cute, doesn't have a lot of buttons, zippers, etc so that she can move and be comfortable, and something that is inexpensive for those messy times.

Enter Carter's.

Carter's has complete sets for an awesome price. That means I can get a top and bottom for usually about $8. I know I sound like a Carter's spokesperson here....but it really is our go-to for inexpensive and adorable play time clothes! 

I usually buy all of Hannah's Carter's outfits at Target, but we are also lucky enough to be close to a big Carter's outlet that I like to frequent whenever we are moving up a size.

And here are some examples of Hannah's play ware :) 

(Is there anything cuter than a baby butt in jeans?) 

Weekend Update

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend, and a wonderful Mother's Day! 

My weekend started out a little sad. Friday, May 10th was the 11th anniversary of my cousin, Shawna's, passing. She was just a week and a half away from her 16th birthday when she died unexpectedly in a car accident. Shawna and I were the same age and did everything together, so her passing was very traumatic and a life changing event for me. It's sometimes hard for me to go through these "firsts" in my life, because I know that she would probably have been going through them with me. 

On Friday morning I woke up exhausted. Hannah has been having trouble sleeping and had woken up 7 times throughout the night. I was laying in bed surfing Facebook listening to Hannah whine in her crib...I was hoping she would fall back asleep so I could take a nap. On FB I saw my sweet aunt post a letter to my cousin. In the letter she talked about what she could see Shawna doing today, if she was still with us. She could see her walking arm in arm with her Husband, brushing her daughters hair, decorating her first home.....I immediately started to cry and was reminded how LUCKY I am to have my beautiful daughter with me. I might be one tired Mama some days...but I still have her here to kiss her everyday and tell her I love her. That's something I never want to take advantage of. 

So in honor of my Aunt and Shawna, I went in and got Hannah ready for the day, packed the diaper bag, left the piles of laundry and dishes where they were, and headed out to the zoo. We had a super fun day looking at all the animals, and we were exhausted when we got home...but I was SO glad that we went out and celebrated being together rather than staying at home and catching up on chores. I miss my cousin a lot and May 10th will always be a reminder for me to never take anything or anyone for granted and to cherish the precious moments we are given. 

On Saturday, we made a last minute decision to head over to Montesano to spend some time with the Cavanah side of the family. It's hard for us to pack up everything we need for Hannah AND Hudson, so they have been doing all the driving and coming to us, but we decided to switch it up this weekend. 

Hannah was so excited to see her Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Pua. She loves showing off her new "tricks" and it was fun to watch her ham it up for everyone.

Sunday was my very first Mother's Day and I was so excited to celebrate it with my sweet girl in my arms. We had a delicious brunch and Hannah got her very own apron, chef hat and oven mitt set to help me out in the kitchen. She's really into "accessorizing" with headwear now, so the chef hat was a huge hit and we had to hide it from her when it was time to get in the car. 

We headed home and spent the rest of the day relaxing with take out dinner and a new season of Sons of Anarchy. 

It was the perfect relaxing weekend, and I am ready for this next week to fly by since Hannah and I leave for New Mexico on Saturday! I am SO excited to get my hands on little Keira! And then it's officially less than 2 weeks away from Miss Amy's wedding! So many fun things next week! 

Posts for this week include: 

Trendy Tot Tuesday

30 before 30 list (inspired by my gorg friend, Lisa)

*Hopefully* a SPD link up (fingers crossed I get it done on time)

Friday Favorites?? Maybe?? I seem to always forget this one ;) 

Have a great Monday friends! 

11 months!

Hi baby girl! 

You turned 11 months old on April 27th; which means Mommy is in full force planning mode for your 1st birthday party! You are still my little baby, but you are turning into a toddler before my very eyes! Sometimes you do things that reminds me of something a 5 year old would do, and it makes me want to slow down time because you are just growing up too fast! 

We started sleep training this past month. I have to admit, it was one awful night of a lot of tears (you and Mama both, baby girl). But by the 2nd night, you had it down and it gradually got better every day. Now I can just lay you down in your crib and you will play in there or just lay there until you get tired enough to fall asleep. Gone are the HOURS of trying to rock, bounce and sing you to sleep! I do miss our nightly cuddles, but I think its important that you become an independent sleeper. 

As part of your sleep training, we needed to find some sort of "lovey" for you to be comforted by in your crib. Previously, it was Mama's hand. You loved grabbing my hand and snuggling it to your face, or holding my hand and fingers until you fell asleep. So we needed something that would comfort you on its own. That came in the form of a cheap-o WalMart Minnie Mouse blanket. :) As soon as I discovered that you were getting attached to that blanket, I called your Grammy and she drove right over to WalMart and picked up 3 more! That way, we can have a couple Minnie blankets in the wash, car, etc and still have one ready for nap time! You are so cute about it. Instead of holding it or putting it over you, you prefer to squash it up into a big ball and then flop down directly on top of it. You sleep on your tummy, with your knees up and little bottom up in the air...so I think the blanket ball provides a little extra comfort for this. :) 

Since Mama has finished student teaching, we have been able to attend our Mommy and Me playgroup again. We've discovered that maybe we need to do a little more socializing. ;) You are a little hesitant and overwhelmed by all of our baby friends and are less than thrilled with sharing toys or other babies being too close to you. I'm not too worried though; I think it will just take a few more meetings before you are comfortable again. 

However, you are SO darn cute around the 3 month old baby, Lorelai, that we get to play with during the week. I can already tell that you have such a nurturing nature and are going to be an amazing big sister someday. You love giving Lorelai kisses and hugs, sometimes you randomly go over to her and give her a kiss and then go about what you were doing. The other day you went over and picked up her hand and held it, and then gave her hand a kiss. Melted my heart. You also are very observant and love helping me with the baby. You help me burp her, by patting her back. You love rocking her bouncer and recently you have been getting her burp cloth and randomly going over to her to wipe her face. Mama and Daddy can hardly wait to make you a big sissy! 

Since you are turning the big 1 in a short month, we have really picked up on the finger foods. You've been eating whatever we have for dinner and love it! Last night you had chicken, quinoa, and applesauce! You love it! 

This past month you also had your surgery and you did amazing! It broke my heart to see you in that position, but you did so great and your recovery has been going relatively well. 

You've done a lot of new things this month! The most exciting for us is that you started walking! It seemed like it came out of nowhere! You were standing on your own and would slowly walk along if we held your hands, but one day you just stood up....and took a few steps and looked at us! It was too cute! In the beginning you would take about 12 steps and then topple over....but now you are practically running everywhere! It seems that you have learned to balance better and when you feel like you are about to lose balance, you just go faster instead of topple. We love just watching you! 

You are also pointing and laughing at everything! You've been doing this for awhile, but its so much more deliberate now. My favorite is when you are playing by yourself and start laughing. It makes me wonder what you were talking about with your toys that was so funny. :) 

You have also been mimicking our facial expressions. I think I must squint my eyes when I smile really big at you, because recently you have been squinting your eyes back at me when you smile. I also sometimes wink at you and you "wink" (more like blink) your eyes back at me. Its so funny. 

You love giving kisses and hugs and will randomly come up and give us kisses while you walk by. I can't even describe the feeling I get when you do that because I feel like you are really showing us now that you love us too. I know that you have always loved us, but you are just now being able to show it back and its just amazing. I can't even imagine how good it will feel to hear you say "I love you" someday! 

You are officially a genius baby. You have started really playing with your toys more and know exactly what to do. You put the balls where they go and can match up shapes that go in certain spots. It honestly amazes me sometimes. Mama has also started "school" time with you. Every day, we spend a half hour or so working on our flash cards and other development activities. So far you just seem interested....you kind of look at me with a funny expression on your face like you are waiting for the punchline of the joke. But I know that someday it will just click, and I'll be so happy that we started introducing you to colors, shapes, and letters at this young age. You have started showing an interest in reading and look forward to story time every night before bed. Sometimes during the day you will grab a book off your book shelf and carry it over to your chair and start patting your chair for me to come sit and read it to you. Its so cute....and makes me laugh because even though you aren't talking, you are definitely able to communicate with me and get your point across by your gestures and actions. I love it! 

Speaking of gestures....you communicate to us by pointing, waving and making the "come here" motion. When you want to leave a place you come over to me and wrap your arms around my neck and start pulling up (like you want me to stand up with you) and start waving. It makes me laugh because its like you are saying "okay, I'm done here, lets go". When you want us to come to you, you will yell "Mama" or "Dada" and then start motioning "come here". When we get to you, you get excited that we understood you and start pointing at your toy or whatever you wanted to show us. 

You have started dancing this month and its maybe my most favorite thing in the world. You have this elephant toy that plays some really fun music and when you feel like dancing you will go over and push through the button to change the songs until you get to the one you are "feeling" and then just start swaying and bobbing your head. Honestly, your Daddy and I have tears in our eyes from laughing because its so funny. 

While you are definitely a Mommy's girl....you LOVE your Daddy. You get SO excited when he comes home. When you see him in the window you start flapping your arms and yelling out and telling him to "come here". Your favorite game with Daddy is playing "chase". You love it when Daddy crawls around on the floor with you and chases you from room to room. You get SO excited and happy. You also love it when Daddy tickles you and picks you up super high. 

You've started noticing Hudson more and like to share your toys with him, give him kisses, and yell at him through the window when he is outside. You will just stand at the window and watch him while he's outside and then start knocking at the window and yelling to him and then motioning "come here". 

Well baby girl, I could go on and on about you at this stage. This has been my favorite stage so far because I have felt like you are more capable of communicating with us and are showing more and more of your little personality. You make us laugh every day and I can hardly wait to see what else you have in store for us. I love you! 

Love, 

Mommy

10 months!

Yes, Hannah is already 11 months...but I just FINALLY uploaded her 10 month pictures from the camera...so here is her 10 month letter. ;) 11 month letter to come later today! 

Dear Hannah,

You are 10 months....only 2 months away from being a big 1-year old! 

You are doing so many amazing things now! 

You have started standing on your own. You walk when Mama or Dada hold your hands...but you haven't quite tried to take a step on your own yet. 

You love to play games...you like to pretend to give something to Mama and then pull it away really fast and laugh your sweet belly laugh. You also love to be chased. Anytime you are crawling and someone is walking behind you, you speed up and laugh so hard! It's the funniest thing to watch. You are so playful! 

You are getting more ticklish. You love to be tickled on your belly and under your arms. Sometimes you also really like to be tickled under your chin. It's Mama's little trick to make you happy again when you are throwing a tantrum. I just tickle you under your chin and you are all smiles again. :)  

You have 6 teeth! Your most recent two really gave us a tough time; you had a slight fever, throwing up and were a little bit clingy and wanting to be held by Mama and Grammy only. 

You are in a weird stage with clothes. You are in 12 months clothes, length wise....but aren't quite filling them out yet. We had to pack up all your 9 month clothes because they were just too short on you.  So you are officially in 12 months, they are just a little baggy. You are one tall baby, pumpkin! 

You are very vocal about what you want. You yell "Mama" when you want me, and you have started throwing tantrums when you don't get your way. Your tantrums are kind of funny....you throw your head back and throw your arms up and just yell. Sometimes you put your hands over your face and just cry. They are so cute (but I'm pretty sure only a baby's Mama can think their child's tantrums are cute). I like to call you my little "drama queen" when you do that. 

Recently, you have started pointing to things you want, or places you want me to take you. Sometimes we just take a tour around the house going all the directions you tell me to. You love it! It's fun for us too, because when you point to something you want and I hand it to you, you get so excited and I feel like we are really communicating and understanding each other. 

You had your very first Easter. A lot of our family came over to share the holiday with us. We didn't get around to visiting the Easter bunny this year, but he brought you a lot of gifts anyways. :) 

The weather has been getting nicer so we made another visit to the park. You loved the swings this time around (your first time on the swings you just sat there with no expression). You were smiling and waving and laughing to all the other kids at the park. 

You love nature. You love looking out the window and pointing to all the trees. We could spend all day outside just looking at trees if I let you. I've started taking you on more walks during the day to get you outside more...we even tried out your Kokopax for the first time. You loved it and kept resting your head on Mama's neck when you were tired. 

You also love helping Mama with the laundry. You crawl right up to the pile and start pulling laundry out and throwing it over your head. It's pretty cute because it's definitely something you learned from watching Mama...although we made need to work on your technique. 

You are loving Minnie Mouse. You get so excited every time you see her. You have a Minnie Mouse blanket that I think is quickly becoming your "lovey". You love snuggling up with it and rubbing it on your little cheeks. I really wanted you to be a Disney baby, so I'm pretty excited that you are a Minnie Mouse fan. 

My favorite thing about this age is that you are all about the kisses and snuggles. You will randomly come up and give Mama a big open mouthed kiss, and it warms my heart. Sometimes you like to attack Mama with kisses and its probably my most favorite thing in the world. You also know how to give kisses when someone asks for one. I will say "give Dada a kiss" and you crawl over and plant a big kiss on Dada. It's pretty darn cute. 

I'm not sure of your height and weight, since you haven't been checked since your 9 month appointment. But I would guess your weight is about 21 pounds and your height is about 28". 

Well baby girl, you are already 10 months old....I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I love you more than you will ever know. 

Love, 

Mommy