Thursday, May 30, 2013

The Livingroom (FINALLY!)

It's been a long journey redoing our livingroom. I mean, a really long journey.  We started with some pretty nasty sights ...



Notice the UGLY colored walls (we didn't do that! that was the mud color the previous owners used, yuck).  We were pretty clueless as to what to do.

SO ... we made a few changes:


And we really improved things on that first one.  We lightened the walls a lot, we put the curtains up, and brouhgt in a chair.  We liked the changes.  But we still knew we hadn't found the "it" factor.

So over the last few months we've made changes.  BIG changes.  And we are IN. LOVE.  I mean, I love our livingroom.  And while it's not TOTALLY done (when are rooms totally done?) we are 95% done.  For now, I am so happy with that.  It is by far my favorite room in the house.  BY FAR...


TA DA!

 See? Told you ... big changes!  We bought new chairs at Kirklands, the stool at Pier 1, the rug at TJMaxx, the cushions at TJMaxx, the lamps at Target, the tables (aside from the coffee table) at Target, the coffee table at Overstock, the throw & gray vases on the mantel at West Elm, the frames on the wall at Target and Michaels, the TV console we already had and just painted blue, the mirror from TJMaxx, and the chevron ottoman at Walmart (I know, who would have thought?)  As you can see, we went to a ton of places to find our new livingroom.  We did it with time, with coupons, and with a lot of smiles.  We REALLY enjoyed redoing it.  Our favorite thing, by far, is our new coffee table.  It's so comfy to put your legs up on it.  It's just a comfortable, modern, totally us room.



We debated whether to do a gallery wall or just 5 frames around the TV but finally decided on the gallery wall, and while it was probably pricier, I'm so glad we did it.  I designed some of the prints and then printed out great pictures of all of us for the rest.  Whenever we're watching TV, I look at the wall and just smile.



so what's left?  We want to lower the curtains and get some other ones, we want new decor for the ottoman and some baskets in the TV stand.  That. is. it!

YAY!!!  So what's next? Finishing our master bedroom.  But we'll have to wait until our budget allows for it and that's gonna be a while (damn you taxes).  In the mean time, I'll keep sitting in our livingroom grinning constantly.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

My Three Year Old Daughter

Liliana:  yesterday you turned three years old.  Three years old!  I simply can't believe it.  I can't believe the incredible girl you've become.  I always thought we'd have special, wonderful kids, but never could I have imagined how kind, amazing, brilliant, gorgeous, and inspiring you'd be. 


Your Dad and I have so much fun with you.  You crack us up on a daily basis, talk constantly, sing all the time, and still continue to love hugs and kisses.  I figured I would go in to more detail for all those above:

(1) just last week you yelled to me from the bathroom: "Mommy come here hurry!  I did a tiny little poo poo and it looks like a dolphin!" Two days ago you were in a daze when I opened the car and I told you to get out.  A few seconds later you told me "I'm sorry Mommy, I don't know what I was thinking!  Where does my brain go sometimes?  I'm acting like a grown up already!"  A couple weeks ago we were leaving Target and a guy on a motocycle drove by.  You got scared and told me "Mommy those are dangerous!  Hey Mommy, I've been thinking ... I should drive home!"

(2) look above.  You talk ALL.THE.TIME.  Mommy and Daddy have had to start telling you that we need seconds of silence.  We don't even venture for minutes.  Just seconds. HA!  A typical conversation with you "hey Mommy ... hey Mommy ... hey Mommy" " YES LILIANA?  WHAT LOVE?" "what's he doing? that boy over there?  what's he doing?" "THE BOY ON THE BILLBOARD? HE'S SMILING" "Porque Mommy? (why in Spanish) He's so super silly.  You know what else is super silly? ... "  ... and you see how that goes.



(3) you've been in to not only singing every song on the planet, but you make songs up about everything.  On Mother's Day you told me you made me a Mother's Day song and it went something like this "need to go to the store to buy strawberries.  Mommy needs to go buy Liliana applce juice.  Liliana needs to go buy Gloria diapers!" It's a billboard hit already.

(4) while you talk and are active all the time, you still love love love to be loved on.  You adore being in people's laps, you give a million kisses to anyone that looks at you, and give the best bear hugs in the world.

I typically don't get sad when my girls get older b/c I love seeing who you're becoming.  But this birthday was particularly tough b/c I realized we went through the "terrible twos" without one tantrum on your part.  NOT. ONE.  You've gotten time out, sure.  But never a tantrum.  Never a melt down.  You are so easy, I can't believe it.  Your Daddy thinks it's because we were strict when we needed to be.  He says putting in the hard work early on is what did the trick.  I think it's just your sweet soul.  Because you are my sweet soul.  You are the kindest thing I have ever seen --- never mean to your sister, always wanting to share with everyone, and always excited to spend time with your Mommy and Daddy. 



I am so proud to be your Mother.  You inspire me to smile every day.  Love you always.

Mommy

Sunday, May 19, 2013

A Fiesta Birthday Party

This Saturday we threw Liliana her third birthday party.  It was by far my favorite party yet. Last year we did a Dora and Elmo themed birthday party.  For her first birthday we did a cupcake themed party.

This year?



It started out with cute invites that I designed telling people that the kiddos were gonna get dirty! :)  I even printed on the envelopes and got tons of compliments from Mommy's out there.

(invite can be found here for any other fiesta parties out there!  I've sold this ranging from 1-70 years of age for the party!  I've done surprise parties and even a rehearsal dinner layout change and they all came out awesome!)

The day before the party, I started decorating.  I bought most of my supplies on May 8th when I knew the party city cinco de mayo stuff would be 50% off.  Then I got a 20% off coupon, so needless to say, that all helped a ton! (that saved probably a good $70!).



The birthday girl and Gloria had to look the part! :)  My Mom bought the girls attire in San Antonio at El Mercado and I just loved it!!!  I thought they looked adorable.

After attire, the thought is " what to do at a fiesta party?"


A sand and water table with buckets and toys was JUST the trick!  It was MESSY.  VERY messy, so just warn parents.  But the parents were SO happy that their kids were entertained for over 2 hours without any issues!  That's a miracle!


Then I set up an art table that said "use the tape or maybe not, just give it all you've got!  Take this home for all to see what you painted when Liliana turned three!"  The kids had a blast with it and I bought most of the materials at Michael's (think 40% off coupons when they come in the mail and just get a set of 10 canvases (or more depending on how many kids are coming)).  I bought washable paint so that before we ate we all did a bathroom run and it was good as new!


The pinata was a big hit!  All the kids took their turn at it. Liliana, as you can see, had fun.  I probably should have bought a pinata with a pull string for this age b/c it was TOUGH to demolish.  But they still had a blast and then I just hit it once and all the candy fell out.

Now the fun part ... DECOR and FOOD!!!


The set up table.


Agua fresca and three year old mojito!  (these are just the crystal light packets and I bought the pitchers in the dollar aisle at Target!)


The streamers in the back are from party city (that was $2 total) and the circular paper things (don't remember what they're called!) are from Target!  The birthday sign in the background is in my etsy shop!  This was SUCH a fun touch b/c Evan and I wrote our favorite things about Liliana.  All the parents were reading it.  I think I'll do one for each party until they get embarrassed.


I did bean and cheese tacos with queso and chips!  I LOVED the idea of putting the chips around the sombrero! :) haha.


All the kiddos gathered around the table (all 10 of them!) and chowed down!  They were stuffed!


For dessert I had fruit skewers, dulce de leche cupcakes, and a sopapilla bar was her cake!  I put out strawberries, bananas, honey, and chocolate to drizzle on them.  YUMMMY!

Liliana was in love with her party and wanted everyone to have a sweet favor as they left:


I bought favor boxes and put bubble supplies in the middle.  Then I made a personalized sign for each kiddo.  Yes, I went a little crazy (not like some, but still time consuming).  However, it was BY FAR my favorite party to date.  Some kids stayed for 3 hours!  When you're having fun, no reason to leave early!  And you know what?  I'll keep throwing these parties b/c I love it, Evan loves doing it with me, and ... this girl ...


is so. absolutely. wonderful.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

She's 10 Months Old ...

Gloria:

My darling.  My sweet sweet darling.  You're 10 months old already.  And I just can't believe it.

This month we took you on our Texas rodeo road trip -- we flew in to Lubbock, Texas (you ROCKED on the flights and people told us later that they had no idea two babies were on the planes), drove to Garden City that night (where you slept in the same room as Mommy, Daddy, & Liliana like a pro), and then drove to San Antonio the next day.  Like I said, a rodeo roadtrip.  And you were a ... HIT!

People continue to tell us the same thing that we knew all along, how EASY going you are!  You're still sleeping like a total champ, except this month we decided to stop having you nap like your sister.  We were having issues with you getting fussy around 6:30 pm and realized it was ridiculous of us to ask you to be on the same sleep schedule as your nearly 3 year old sister!  Since then we've been putting you down to sleep around 7:15 and then I wake you up around 7:45 the next morning!  You poor thing, you just needed that rest.

You're moving ALL OVER THE PLACE but now pulling up yet!  Your sister was a big time cruiser by now so you're a bit slower in this department.  However, you're speaking up a storm!  You've said SO many words already it's tough to even keep count.  For the most part, if I tell you to say a word, you'll say it.  My favorite thing you do is say "HI Mana! (hermana)" when Liliana comes in a room.  SO cute.

Your giggle is probably your biggest feature that people comment on.  If people even LOOK at you, you immediately start giggling.  You're our giggle machine.

Speaking of machine, you're also our sippy cup machine.  This month you made the full-time transition thanks to Daddy.  Daddy (I guess it's the Doctor in him!) is big on babies not being on bottles at all by their first birthdays (Abu was telling me that back in his day they said to be off it by age 3!  MY how times have changed!).  You, similarly to your sister, transitioned no problem.  You do like that bottle, but more than anything you LOVE food.  It's the only time you whine, while we're feeding you.  We can't get it fast enough to you!  You like EVERY THING we've given you.  I wouldn't even say you have a favorite and least.  If it's food, you want it! :)

You only have two teeth still and I don't feel any others, but we'll see how that goes.  You're still a BIG gal.  You're already in 12 month clothing and couldn't squeeze in to 9-12 month stuff anymore either.  Daddy weighed you last week and you were about 21.5 pounds!  BIG gal!

While this age is such a blast, I'm starting to get READY READY to know who you are as a person!  If I had to guess I'd say you're going to be our dare devil.  You love going down slides, you love swimming and being dunked in a pool, and though you're our quiet sweet girl, I have a feeling you're going to be a little more of a wild child in that sense.  But only time will tell, and I can't wait to continue this journey with you!

LOVE YOU!

Mommy