Unicorn Amaya...The Way She Was.

Halloween is this week and I seriously can't believe this time of year is upon us. Let's be real for a minute and admit that once the jack o' lantern candles are blown out Saturday night, that the Christmas season is unofficially upon us. We can debate this in another post (which I plan on) but seriously, the end of October is upon on us and we're saying goodbye to another great holiday.

With the coming and goings of the holiday, it has me feeling all the feels and growing nostalgic of the itty bitty baby I had last year at this time.

A little magical unicorn named Amaya...

How freaking cute was she?!?
Don't answer that, I already know.
THE FREAKING CUTEST!!!

She was a tiny little bean last year who barely had any motor skills and was just a little roly poly of love. Gah, I can't take it. I apologize for being a gushy mom and I promise I will stop talking about my kid one of these days (ha.) but I love this age where there down for anything and she isn't protesting me on her costume just yet. I'm sure all of that will change over the next couple years as her interests grow more and more and she becomes more assertive in her preferences....but....right now I get the free pass to dress her in ridiculous unicorn outfits and have myself a mini photo shoot.

She has a Halloween party at baby school this year and she will wear one of her costumes there (a hand me down) since I know she will be a stained mess by the time she comes home and then Saturday will be her 2015 Halloween debut. I'm pretty excited about this years costume too. It's going to be a hoot and might rival the cuteness of last years costume.

So what are your babes going to be?
Do you go homemade or store bought?
I would love to make a homemade costume one of these days, but mama has to work on her sewing skills first.

Either way, Happy costuming friends.

Magical Amaya

It looks like I'm starting a little blogging trend for myself. If holiday is upon us expect this little lady to creep up your way. After this, sayonara suckas...see ya at Thanksgiving. 

Okay, just kidding but that really is how things have been panning out lately. I've been quite content living life and enjoying Amaya but the fall season has graced us (and is going a little too fast for our liking) and we've been out and about doing all the fun things we can find. I love looking back at old blog posts and I really want to make a concentrated effort to document these fun times with the Amaya and all her 'first' adventures, even if they are somewhat sporadic. 

In capturing her firsts, let's take a look at little misses first Halloween...

Before we headed out to our trick or treat festivities at night, we stopped by Nannies to hang out for a bit before going to collect ourselves some candy. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to take some pictures of my little miss, we had an impromptu photo shoot on my moms porch while Amaya was decked out in her 'boo-tiful' onesie and tutu.

Before I even had a kid, I dreamed about the days and holidays we would get to do fun things together. Halloween was always one that came to my mind, since you got to dress up and go to trick or treating and to parties and such. So when it came time to choose a costume for Amaya, I wanted it to be something fun and special. I knew that there were tons of ladybugs, bumblebees, flowers, and of course Elsa's but we (more so, I ) wanted something different. So to the internets I went, and after a few clicks and questions to Bry, we found and decided on this majestical costume for Amaya.

MEET AMAYA, THE FREAKIN' UNICORN!!! 

Gahhhhh....I freaking love it so much. She was one of the only baby unicorns we saw on our travels and she rocked it in our costume. We were a little worried she may try to pull her hat off but she chilled for pretty much the entire time. In fact, she was asleep for the earlier part of trick or treating...

We had fun trick or treating with our cousins and now we can't wait to show her how to grossly overindulge ourselves at Thanksgiving. Baby girl has a greedy little appetite like her Daddy, so there should be no problems there.

Till next year Halloween!!!

'Merica Baby

Can I tell you the truth and tell you that the whole 'Merica thing kinda irks me? Bryan has shirts that say it and I catch myself letting it slip from time to time but whenever I hear someone using it like it's an actual proper word, I want to stab myself in the eardrum with a pencil. One would think you'd only use that slang in a joking manner but you'd be surprised when you live in the sticks and people actually do talk like that.

Enough about my rant though, my original intention for this post was to share how are Fourth of July festivities went. I'm feeling pretty accomplished with getting a few posts up this week so I want to keep the ball going and today is a throwback to our last passing holiday. We had a pretty low key Fourth this year and while B had a boys night, Amaya and I went with my sister and nephews to see fireworks. I wish B got more into the holiday spirit but his motto is pretty much that once you saw them once, you saw them all. He doesn't get the rush of the holidays like me and my sister so to each their own. In true Amaya fashion this year, baby girl fell asleep during the fireworks again so it's not like he even missed her reaction. I am in no rush for the months or years to fly by but I look forward to next year in hopes that she'll stay up and enjoy them then and we can do sparklers and poppers. I know she'll still be an itty bitty and will only be a year and half but I honestly can't wait to be the mom to fix festive holiday breakfasts and to start traditions that she'll remember years down the road.

She's my little love muffin now and while she can barely protest, I will dress her up and have mini holiday photo shoots before she begins to whine....'No more pictures Mom....not again' and that is exactly what I did. I scored the tutu and headband at a yard sale a month ago and it has been the best $5 I've spent in a long time...

My little patriotic princess.
If that doesn't scream America, the beautiful....I don't know what will ; )

Oh, Sweet Summertime

Summer seems to be flying by this year and I can't wrap my head around the fact that we are halfway through July already. How are we halfway through the year already? How is my little bean already six months? I'm usually one who gets over summer quickly and longs for the cool crisp days of fall but having Amaya here makes me want to freeze time and soak up each and every moment of her ever changing days. It seems like just yesterday she was an itty bitty newborn giving me chest snuggles whenever I pleased and now she is a active baby sitting up by herself and wanting to jump and bounce all over the house.

I just rounded out my 2 week vacation (summer shutdown) from work and as you read this today, I will be sitting in a 5 hour 'safety college' boring myself to death and wishing that I was still soaking up all the summertime fun without having to worry about a 40 hour work week.

There was lots of summer walks...

There was visits to campsites to visit my sister and roast s'mores...

And lastly, company picnics at the amusement park...

Father Time, feel free to slow down at anytime.
I'm not in any rush to end the nights out on the patio or pool days in the warm summer sun.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!!!
Anybody doing anything excited this summer?!?

Daddy's Girl

I like to think that I'm my daughters favorite, considering I gave her life and you know, give her nutrition on a daily basis but sadly that is not true. It seems as though my daughter has chosen her favorite and she is pretty damn smitten with her Daddy. I don't blame her, I'm pretty fond of him too....but c'mon kid...throw your ol' mama a bone.

This may be late in recapping but since I had a couple weeks off from work, I wanted to get a couple posts up to get these moments captured and remembered here on the old dusty blog of mine.

Since Bryan spoiled me rotten on my first Mother's Day with a french toast breakfast, a pedi, and a mommy's day out...I wanted to make his day just as special. I'm not a crafty mama by any means but I made him a man bouquet (you can check it out on my IG: @lwlh) and decided I wanted to make a little picture keepsake to show B how much Amaya loves her Daddy.

I bought these cute glittery foam letters at Wally World and grabbed Amaya and her polka dot chair and headed out on our patio to catch a couple of pictures. These were just a few of the dozens that I took but I just love her little expressions in each of them. She is so much more expressive these days and I just eat her up.

She's pretty cool with me having my camera in her face all the time but a little one can only take so much and this mama even caught a few of these gems.

She was O-V-E-R it.
That little side lipped cry face is how she got nicknamed Rocky. If you ever seen the Rocky movies where he's yelling 'Adrienne!!', you'll understand. Crying face and all she's still a cutie and after Bryan saw these, homegirl has her Daddy wrapped her tiny finger even tighter now.

Memorial Day

I've always been one to celebrate holidays and decorate my house to celebrate each passing holiday but now that I have a little bambino of my own, I want to celebrate the holidays even more than I already did. As I mentioned in a previous post, Amaya was born on the last day of the year last year...December 31st, so literally right from the first day of the year, everything has been a new beginning and new first for her. I always thought I'd be the mom with self control and who wouldn't go crazy and spoil their child but I'm here to raise my hand and admit my guilt that, I give this girl whatever she pleases (or whatever Mommy thinks she needs) and holidays have been no exception.

So what if I bought her 3 different patriotic themed outfits with matching hair accessories so far...
I justify my purchases to myself (and to B haha) that she can also use said outfits for upcoming holidays such as Flag Day and the Fourth of July. BOOM!!!

But yes, homegirl was rocking her first patriotic outfit this Memorial Day to honor those who served and dedicated their lives to our freedoms. We went down to visit my sister since my nephew was walking in a few parades and of course I had to go support my handsome godson.

This is my nephew Jameson nom-ing on his puffs and my sassy sister Tara who had a little 'photo shoot' while I had my camera out. She's ridiculous and I love her.  

Now onto the parade. 

It was a fun parade even though it was hot as hell out.
When Amaya and I went home that night we even had a little photo shoot. I can't take the cuteness that is a baby in festive holiday outfits. Ooooh this girl is in trouble for Halloween and Christmas.

I just want to eat her up. 

I know it's probably getting old how much I profess my love and adoration from my child but she's the absolute cutest. Those curls, those eyes, that nose, those lips.....I just kiss her apart on a daily basis. I'm lucky to be an American and to be this girls momma.

Summertime Sadness....Err Gladness.

Though the weather is still a tad bit on the cool side for what I would consider summer, I'm still going to soak up the rays and declare that our summer has started at the Little Home. Memorial Day Weekend was beautiful (and another post for another day) and really hit the nail on the head for how I wanted to start our summer off. Bryan and I still work until July when we have our actual vacation but we've been enjoying some cold drinks on our patio and have been taking in every last bit of sunshine that stays in the skies these days.

I love this time of year, ya know, until it gets super freaking hot and I start bitching about it being too hot. What can I say? I'm a woman and I'm never pleased. ; ) But sure enough, our signs of summer have been pleasantly popping up.

This is my nephew Gavin, and he has been rocking at minor league this year. It's so much fun watching him out there hitting and trying to catch rather than last year when he was spinning in circles and playing in the dirt on t-ball. He's growing up so fast and as his auntie I can't be anymore prouder of the young little man he's turning into. 

Last weekend after Gav's games we also decided to hit up Knoebel's for the first time this season and welcome Amaya into the wonderful world of our favorite local amusement park. 

Amaya even got to enjoy her first amusement ride in the form of a small ride along train. She sat with Daddy and was a little frightened by the tunnel but other than that was pretty indifferent to the whole thing. Hopefully she'll grow to love amusement parks as much as her mama.

I'm so happy to kick start summer and to finally be back into a world without below freezing temperatures and snow. Hey summer, feel free to stick around for a little....or atleast until I long for the sweet cool days of fall.