Two Teeny Tiny Years

I.Cannot.Believe.She's.Two!

Our sweet Little Miss is now 2 years and 3 months old. For this year's party, I actually went with a character theme. I had practically sworn that I would NEVER do a character theme for our birthday parties', but she's been obsessed with Dora the Explorer for a while now, so I just went with it. Hey, you're only 2 once, right!? I scoured the internet for cute Dora parties, and not just one's that come straight out of the box. I like things personalized, and don't we all to a degree?

I had a good friend bake her cake, and my mother and I also made cupcakes:

Instead of paying someone else to make cutesy little cupcake toppers, I just made them myself. Cute enough. It's not like our party will be mentioned in "TOPS in Lex" or anything! Hahaha.

Some of Ava's "auntie's", hahaha. (Only child here.)

We had wonderful family and friends share this special day with us...and I'm already planning her birthday party for next year! :)

Another 6 month update

Well...let's see...let me try to pick off where I've left off again...I swear, one day I will be a GREAT blogger! Ha!

As of May 7th, I am officially a Master in the Art of Teaching! :) After 18 months of long nights, long papers, and short patience, I have graduated with my Masters degree. (*happy dance!*) Perhaps that is why my sickly little blog has been neglected for so long! :) I had a incredible student teaching experience. The program I enrolled in allowed me to hand-pick my supervising teachers. My mother is still currently teaching in our local school system, so I knew exactly which school I wanted and the teachers I wanted to work under. My first placement was with a 3rd grade teacher who has been teaching for over 25 years...She was amazing. She also happens to be my mother's best friend, and her daughter and I have been best friends for 20 years. We met in pre-school. :)

Here's a picture of us at her wedding in September 2009:

Anywho, my next placement was with 5th grade. This was also under a wonderful Reading teacher who is just awesome...I can't believe it's all over...so now I'm working at home! LOL When Ava was born, I wanted to be a SAHM more than anything...and now I have my chance! It's definitely been an adjustment these past few weeks...being home all the time now and seeing the Mister everyday, instead of just on the weeekends, due to his work schedule. But I really love being home with Little Miss all day. I think it's made me a better mother, and hopefully my hubby can see a small difference in my attitude! LOL

Now that I'm home during the day, I have a completely different agenda and mindset. My home has never been cleaner and more organized! Still have a ways to go though! Hopefully I can document the madness on the little blog here.

Another thing that's really been on my heart lately is just to live simply. Now I love my "stuff" as much as the next person, but I really just want to get "back to the basics." I want to grow in my walk with God, I want to grow closer to my husband, and I want to be the best mother I can possibly be to Little Miss. I want to purge my home and heart of the "extra stuff" that isn't meaningful to myself or my family. I honestly believe that this "career change" is God's way of letting me take a deep breath, and clean the dust bunnies off heart and soul. It's a new season of life for me, and I am so looking forward to the work that lays ahead. I want to be a Proverbs 31 wife, a woman that my husband and daughter can be proud of. I hope I can accomplish that in this lifetime.

In closing tonight, any readers I may have out there, I must say thanks for sticking with me...as touch and go as it's been these past couple of years, I still keep coming back! LOL

Night ya'll!

Uh oh, oh no!

Well ladies, we've been hit with a case of the pneumonies. My poor hubby who was initially diagnosed with strep, (don't EVEN get me started on THAT!) has now officially been diagnosed as having pneumonia in his left lung, as of Thursday night. He initially went to the instant care center on Sunday evening because he had started feeling bad...they LOOKED into his through and said, "Oh, you must have strep."

By Thursday, he had been in bed all week, progressively getting worse. I rushed home after school (the babe was with her Nana all day) and took him to a different Instant Care. THESE good, kind, INTELLIGENT doctors did the appropriate bloodwork, chest x-ray, etc, and properly diagnosed him. A shot, new antibiotics and two days later, he is feeling somewhat better.

These have been my new best friends all week:

I'm off to continue playing nurse...hope everyone has a great weekend!


PS-I'll be watching this tomorrow evening! I'm a sucker for made-for-TV Hallmark movies! Hey-it's got Betty White in it! It's GOT to be good! ;)



XOXO

Killed Off...

Out of all of the snow days we've missed this year (Over a weeks' worth!) today was the one that was most-needed. Well, in my household at least! Hubby has a bad case of the strep and since he is our caregiver during the day, I was really worried that school would be in session today...Luckily for us, they did cancel and I've been able to be home all day with baby girl...

This morning, I caught up on some DVR action. Besides frou frou shows like RHOBH or RHONY and such, I do like other shows with some depth. One of these is TNT's "Southland." I first started watching this show when it was on NBC...then they dropped it before the 2nd season aired, and TNT snatched it up...It stars a face many will probably recognize, Ben McKenzie, formerly from "The O.C." (And he's still as cute as ever!) The 3rd season just started a couple of weeks ago...and this morning it was on my "to watch" agenda.

(SPOILER ahead)

Imagine my horror and shock when at the very end of the episode, they kill off this guy! Kevin Alejandro starred in Southland as Detective Nate Moretta...and I LOVED him! He's been a show regular since season 1! I'm still distraught. I couldn't delete the episode off my DVR b/c I just can't.let.it.go!

Isn't it amazing how we get so attached to some of our favorite characters...(I'm like this with books too!) I've read several post-killing-off interviews w/ Kevin, and he says we'll still be seeing his pretty face as Jesus on True Blood. Just won't be the same though. *dang*. I hate it when this happens.

Anyone else watch Southland and want to sound off on this? It's going to take me a while to get over this!


Have a great Wednesday!

Two Years...

First off, let me reiterate: I'm a self-professed horrible blogger! I have all of these fun and cute ideas for this little 'ol blog, and then...well, life happens. I'm Type A and have all of these to-do lists and things I want to do, but I'm a Gemini and get easily distracted! Ha! Sorry for such a long absence, if I have any readers out there! If not, well, it's fun for me, anyway! :)

Little life update: I'm no longer employed! Well, I'm working, but for free! I'm finishing my Masters degree for Elementary Education. My Bachelor of Arts degree is in Communication Studies. After working in a corporate setting, I just wasn't satisfied. About 8 months after Ava was born, I was so unhappy and frustrated. I decided to go back to school to be a teacher. My mother has taught for almost 30 years, so I've kind of been raised in it! It's one of those life things where you think, "Why didn't I do this 7 years ago in undergrad!?" But sometimes it takes living a little to really decide what you want to be when you grow up! So, I've been working a full-time job, taken on a full load of classes, and have tried to balance both of those with being a wife to my husband and a mommy to our little girl. I hope I haven't let either of them down.

I'm now almost finished with my Master of Arts in Teaching degree. In January, I started my student teaching requirement! I am having a BALL, let me tell you! I'm currently in a 3rd grade classroom in a public school in KY. The kids are sweet as pie, and I have the best supervising teacher I could be working under. With all of the snow days and holidays we've had this month, I've only been in the classroom for about 9 days...but I already feel like I've learned so much! She's just amazing! I'll graduate in May and hopefully find a full-time position in the fall.

Now, that little baby girl that convinced her Mommy to completely change her career will be turning TWO in just a couple of short weeks! Here's a little recap from her first birthday party! I LOVE planning her birthday parties, and have a little stash of ideas to pull from in these next few years when she's still young enough to let ME plan it all! Ha!

Her first party was a little ladybug theme. I made almost all of her decorations, and with the help of my cousin, and her nifty Cricut, even made the invitations!

Take a little looksie:

Homemade banner...Found a LOT of cute banners on Etsy, but thought I could make just as cute of one as I could buy!

Banner for her highchair:

Ladybug cake & cupcakes! :) Made by a dear friend.

My little lady at her first birthday party...Bib was ordered from Etsy.

For this year's party, I really wanted a cute Candyland theme...however, in this house, it's ALL about Dora the Explorer! So Dora it is!

I've been a little busy here lately with all of my lesson planning for school! So this year, I skipped the homemade invitations! I actually went with (gasp!) store-bought invitations. I know, bad DIY Mommy. Oh well. She won't even notice! Ha!

I do still want to make a banner for her highchair, and I've got several other cute ideas for the decor...more of that to come later!

I'm home today on another SNOW day, so I'm catching up with my blogging and the Real Housewives of Atlanta on another Bravo marathon! LOL

I really can't wait for the RHOBH reunion. Kim and Kyle's fight broke my heart. It really was like watching a train wreck. I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen. I really felt that they were genuine, and that the whole scene wasn't just for reality TV. Camille on the other hand, dirves me up the wall! Her voice alone is like nails on a chalkboard...ugh. That I could do without! But I love Kyle, Lisa, and Adrienne! Thursday will be a big night for sure!

That's all for now, ya'll! Have a wonderful Monday!

PS-Can someone please help a girl out with my blog header? I have tried several templates, made my own in Photoshop, and finally just ended up with this plain 'ol thing...and it's still fuzzy and out of proportion...I want a CUTE header! Not a happy girl right now!