Vegas? Why Not?

Clint and I had a "plan" from the day we got together, that can be found under the tab at the top of the page "Our Life Together"; here is a portion of it:

My "hubby guy" and I met on a blind date on September 14, 2006 and basically started dating immediately and we moved in together about a month later. We both wanted children and didn't want to wait forever, having them sooner than later was our plan! A wedding will follow one day, it's not our priority in life, it's not our goal - it's the marriage that we are interested in and not the wedding itself. Don't get me wrong we still look forward to the wedding, but we feel people put to much emphasis on the party, get carried away and spend way to much money. We feel like we are married anyway, we don't necessarily need that piece of paper to make us a "proper couple".

Now that Clint has a really great job, well being away sucks but the money is nice, we can actually afford a wedding and not feel like we need to be spending that money elsewhere. We aren't really the "traditional" couple, we don't want to get married in a hall (we aren't religious so a church is out), and we don't want a hall reception...so Clint suggested Vegas! Yes, why not, that is an awesome idea...it will probably cost about half of what it would here. We aren't planning a "cheesy Vegas wedding", but it will still be fun and definitely memorable! We have been looking into a couple of different options and are hoping to book something within the next few weeks!! Exciting!!!

Online Shopping & Shopping In General!

Well, we have finally broke down and ordered some "big girl" things. This past Thursday I ordered a highchair, and yesterday I ordered a carseat. The carseat since Makayla is outgrowing her infant bucket seat, and the highchair since the bumbo and booster seat just aren't cutting it anymore! I will post some pictures when they arrive!! :)

This past weekend, Makayla, Grandma Linda and I drove to Red Deer to meet Auntie Cindy for the afternoon and to go out for supper! Makayla was very spoiled by her Auntie! Here are some pictures of what Makayla received! THANK YOU AUNTIE CINDY, WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT!

Brooklyn's Birthday Party

Well...Brooklyn's 1st birthday party was today, you know what that means...Makayla's will be here VERY shortly! Wow, where the heck has the past year gone? I remember this time last year sitting around, very large, and waiting for my little monkey to arrive!

Here are some pictures from Brooklyn's party, Makayla was right in there "helping" Nicky unwrap all the presents. She was even more interested in it than Brooklyn was :)

First Time To The Waterpark & The Dreaded Return To Work

I took Makayla to the waterpark today for the first time! She is such a water baby and we honestly haven't been swimming for a while, so I was unsure of how long she would want to spend in the pool...well she lasted two hours, the only reason we left is because she was actually shivering and her lips were blue. I figured it was time to go!! We are already planning to go again in a few weeks!! I only got one picture of us, but I thought it was a good one!




So...the return to work is soon approaching! November 15th is the day. I like my job and everything, but honestly I just do not want to leave my baby! We have found a wonderful dayhome, but it doesn't matter the thought of it still doesn't sit well with me! If only we could afford for me to stay home, or even if we had a big enough place I think that I would start a dayhome. Well I guess I need to look on the bright side of things...having a full paycheck will be nice; oh right...I have to pay for the dayhome...there goes my paycheck :(

Date Night!

Clint and I went to Jubilation's the other night on an actual date, without Makayla!!! Wow, when does that ever happen? It was nice! The show was Night at the Museum of Rock and Roll. Clint has now gone back to work and will be home two days before Makayla's first birthday!!! Where the heck does time go??

What a big girl!

Full of Surprises!

I have the best hubby guy - he told me tonight that he was going out for a car wash and he actually went out and bought me a new laptop because mine has been acting up!!!

Makayla decided to flip her carseat over and sit on it! What a funny little girl!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had two dinners this weekend, the first was at our house. It was a combination of people making and bringing stuff but it actually turned out really good! The second was at my Dad's house.

Makayla and Uncle Michael enjoying dinner at our house

Mommy, Daddy and Makayla enjoying dinner at Grandpa Dave's

A Surprise From Daddy!

Clint was suppose to be home on Thursday, but his boss had asked him to stay a few days longer as they are very busy! He said that he would, which I didn't really mind, except for the fact that I am sick and could really use him around, not to mention that it is Thanksgiving weekend! So he was suppose to be coming home next Monday instead. Tonight, after being gone for 23 days he showed up! He told me that he got caught up and knew that I wasn't feeling well so he decided to drive home instead of waiting till Monday to fly. I love you Daddy!


A year ago today was my last day at work, check out my post from then!

I'm Getting Sick!

I had a Graffiti party tonight, and everyone there was talking about how their kids were sick, one had an ear infection, one had bronchitis, one had this, one had that....and on and on! Well, after being there for about an hour my throat started to hurt, I figured it was in my head after hearing them all talk...well here I am and my throat is killing me!

On a better note, here are some pics of Makayla from this morning!

11 Months!

Yesterday my "little" girl was 11 months! We spent the day with Grandma Linda, went to the clinic and had Makayla weighed, she is a whopping 15lbs, 9oz and 27in long! After that we went to The Children's Place where Grandma spoiled Makayla and bought her a few outfits! Then we went to Babies R Us and picked out the carseat that we will need to buy soon as Makayla is about to outgrow her bucket seat in length. We finished off our day going out for dinner to Joeys, it was delicious! Then Grandma spent the night, it was a good day all around!

Makayla has now starting "spitting"

Makayla and Grandma Linda in their pj's

A Potato For Me, A Potato For You

Within the last few weeks Makayla has really started to increase her intake of food, which is a good thing, maybe she will start growing. She is still on pureed baby food (she only has two teeth), but she is also eating the 12 month jars which is quite chunky and there seems to be a lot of pasta ones, which she really enjoys! About two months ago Makayla tried mashed potatoes for the first time right off of my plate including the gravy, which she loved.

Tonight Makayla and I joined my Mom at Swiss Chalet for dinner and I ordered Makayla her very own plate of mashed potatoes. It is the first time I have actually ordered my little girl something of her own off the menu, usually I will just give her some of mine. WOW she is growing up! She did really well, probably ate about half of it, along with some baby food (prunes) and a few pieces of chicken. I think she likes Swiss Chalet!

Last night we joined my Dad and Sylvia for supper. Makayla did an awesome job over there too! She ate lots of Sylvia's yummy pasta, some baby food veggies and finished off her meal by eating two whole slices of homemade canned peaches! It may not sound like a lot, but for her tiny self it really is.

We finished today off by doing a little shopping at Babies R Us. I have been letting Makayla eat off the tray of the restaurant highchair (if it has one) or off the table, and every time I just cringe thinking about all the germs! I had seen this place mat when I was pregnant and it was actually on my registry for the baby shower, but we didn't receive it, so today I went and bought it!! Now I can worry about one less thing...

Busy Day

Today we ran all over the place, to a home shopping expo where I bought some cute clips for Makayla's hair and a new toy, looked at show homes to get an idea of what I like, Starbucks for a yummy frappuccino, Babies R Us to buy a leash for Sophie haha, my Dads to borrow his printer since mine isn't working, The Children's Place to buy a gift. Wow, what a busy day!

The gate that I had bought a while ago for $129.99 just went on sale for $79.99 so I took my receipt back to Babies R Us and hoped that they would give me the difference back as it had been 37 days since I bought it, they did, apparently I had 45 days to do it! $50 back in my pocket is a good thing! I love looking at show homes, it seems like I fall in love with a new one each time we go looking, how on earth are we suppose to choose which one to build?! Speaking of a new home, we are *hoping* to be in a new home within a year, max two! I really hope we can do it!!

Makayla has really progressed on her furniture walking the last few days, now she just cruises! I also have had to remove our tray that we keep on the ottoman with coasters, tv remotes, etc. in it as she is now able to reach it all. I also had a glass of fruit punch on there two days ago which she decided to reach up and spill all over our white carpet! I guess I can't have a drink in here anymore! Hmmmmm what else? Her new favorite thing to do is to yank all the DVD's off of the shelf. She sure keeps me on my toes now!

Cleo (our cat) had enough playing with Makayla

Turning her tongue upside down

Eating cereal

Playing with her new toy from Kidsmart

Makayla's new hair clip from My Creations

Favorite Photo Friday

Wow...Where Does Time Go?

It has been over a month since I last posted...unbelievable! So what have we been up to? Lots!! My return to work is quickly approaching, November 15th is the day! We have found a dayhome and given a deposit so that is great, one less thing to worry about! I have been trying to enjoy my last little while at home with my monkey, but it is also nice to have a few mins away. On August 30th I went out for "Girls Night" to Milestones, with some ladies from the mom's group, that was really fun!

I am still trying to get Graffiti "out there" and I have come across Vistaprint and have fallen in love! I ordered a banner, 250 business cards, 25 magnetic business cards, 100 postcards, 3 car magnets, a shirt, a calendar, a mug, a mouse pad, a pen, a stamp and 140 return address labels for $46.16 (including shipping)! The best part...it only took 5 days to get here! I've done a few parties over the last few weeks and I have done one trade show. We have launched a new website for Graffiti; check it out here.

On September 1st I took Makayla for her 10 month check up with the pediatrician, he has finally said that Makayla's size is a bit worrisome. She was weighing in at 15lbs 2oz and 26.75in. So after the appointment we proceeded to the lab to get some blood work done. When we got there the nurse said that she hates taking blood from babies, oh great! She also told me that she didn't feel comfortable taking the amount of blood that the doctor had requested since she was so small. He had requested 4 of the large viles, she said that she was only going to take 3 and hope that would be enough! My poor little monkey! Before we started I felt like the worst mother ever, having to hold her down, but you know what - she was amazing! Makayla sat on my lap and I held her one arm and her body while a nurse held her other arm and a second nurse actually took the blood. She didn't even make a peep...I was so proud and actually shocked. There I sat almost in tears and Makayla sat there just watching everything that they were doing! The good news - everything has come back NORMAL!! Woo Hoo! My little girl is just going to be small.

I made my way down to the police station a couple of weeks ago to pick up some new screws that I had seen on a news broadcast that you can screw on with a normal screwdriver but you need a special tool to get them back off. Apparently there have been 3-4 thousand licence plates stolen this year already...and mine was one of them! Lets just hope that doesn't happen again because it was a pain in my butt, and not to mention expensive!

Even with Clint working away he is still able to "talk" to Makayla and see her. I always put the phone on speaker when we talk, on the screen is a picture of him so Makayla can see him and hear him. I am always taking pictures and emailing them to him as well! Makayla is sure developing quick now. She helps with eating, she always wants to hold the spoon so I usually give her one and then I feed her with another, she loves to "play" with her food! She is crawling all over the place now and instead of having a carpenter over I was able to find a custom fit gate that works with our stairwell so I had my dad come over and install it. Just a few days ago Makayla figured out that she can pull herself up on the couch or the ottoman and she is trying to "furniture walk", but she is still too wobbly to actually move around. It is so hard to believe that it has almost been a year already!

What else has been going on? Well Clint and I just celebrated four years together! Maybe next year on our 5th anniversary it will be extra special.....!!!! Just yesterday I booked a photo session for some family pictures and some 1st birthday ones of Makayla! We have booked a family vacation and I'm pretty pumped! We will be spending a week in Orlando then driving down to Fort Lauderdale and going on a 7 night cruise - I can't wait!

Graffiti Stuff

I have been busy trying to get Graffiti out there more. It is really difficult; I'm not sure what else to do. I have created a facebook page, I tell everyone that I meet about it, I'm trying to get friends and family to spread the word, but it is still hard. I printed a bunch of flyers, but honestly I am not even sure where to post them, they will just get torn down, then it's a waste of money for me. I hung one on the bulletin board at our community hall, and one at grocery store (but they will only keep it up for a week), other than that I'm not sure where to go...suggestions???

I have had a few parties in the last few weeks, but it is proving difficult to get people to book parties, I'm not sure if it is because it is summer and people are just busy and want to be outside or what. I am also looking into trade shows, but wow are they ever expensive! I will just keep trying...

Here are a few pictures of things that I have made recently, and are for sale, so please let me know if you are interested in anything! Remember that I can ship across Canada and into the States!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I feel like I have been on the go non stop for a long time and summer is almost gone already, and yet I feel like I have done nothing!

I have been trying to get more things on the go with Graffiti. I've had a few parties, yesterday I went to a baby/kid sale that the organizer decided to have some business tables at as well. I don't really think it was the right "crowd" for my products. I guess that is the most polite way of putting it, if you know what I mean.

While I was inside the hall for the four hours doing my thing, someone stole the license plate right off my vehicle, then proceeded to use it in a gas and go! Of course it was Sunday so the registry office wasn't open so that was a pain in the ***! Thankfully someone at the craft sale had an old expired plate from one of their old vehicles; he ran home and got it so I could at least drive home and hopefully wouldn't get pulled over! Today I had to deal with that.

I have been looking at bringing Graffiti into farmers markets, trade shows and craft fairs, but it seems they are all so expensive! Come next month it looks like I will be pretty busy, I've already got three shows booked and a trade show. I am still looking for more leads though. I've created a facebook page, so it seems like that is starting to get the word out more too!

Makayla is now becoming quite the little girl. She is sure trying my patience, by pulling on cords, grabbing CD's, hitting me or spitting in my face. No matter how many times I say "NO" she laughs and does it again. She doesn't understand it isn't a game. I usually laugh right back at her; I know I shouldn't, but wow how can one resist!? She just figured out how to crawl last Thursday, right before Daddy went back to work so that's nice, so she is now into everything. I can't even go to the bathroom or load the dishwasher without wondering what she is up to. Also, I need to get a carpenter in here to figure out what we are going to do about a gate. We've got a nasty staircase with walls that just don't work for attaching a baby gate.

Anyway, I'm tired and need to get to bed, here are a few pictures of Makayla tonight.

Sleeping Soundly

Makayla would not go to sleep last night in her crib so I put her in the swing, and she drifted off...she is ever so sweet!

Favorite Photo Friday

She Can Crawl

Oh lord help us all! Makayla is a crawling machine! She has been trying to crawl for a long while now but she always ends up going backwards, then sitting up and that's about it. Well this morning she decided that she was going to get Cleo's toy (our cat) and off she went. As Clint was packing to go back to work tonight, he actually saw her first, then called me to come to the living room and watch. We moved the toy away from her, and off she went again! I'm so proud of her, but in the same time I wish she didn't figure it out because now she is into EVERYTHING and we need to get a baby gate! Gosh, she is growing too quickly! Soon she will be walking, going to school, driving and dating....I have to keep reminding myself not to think about this and just enjoy her now!

We Found A Dayhome

The search for a dayhome has really sucked! I have looked at 7 or 8 different homes and 1 daycare. It is actually REALLY scary to see some of these places where people bring their children. I'm not going to get into detail, but there is NO WAY that Makayla would EVER go to most of these! I am happy to announce that we have found one that we feel very good about! Actually we found two!

On Monday we went to one, it was ok but not great. Tuesday we went to three and we really liked two of them. The first one has been open for four years and we went during the day so we were able to see the lady interacting with the children and she was really good. She had an older house, but it had been well kept and renovated, a huge yard with a trampoline, swing set and many toys; they also had two dogs, a lab and a dachshund. The next one we saw was run like a military boot camp, it was awful! That's all I have to say about that! The third one, the one we chose, actually isn't even open yet. She will be opening in September (we don't need it until November), but she showed us around her house (brand new - they just got possession on June 28th) and it is beautiful. Of course because it is new there is no landscaping, but they have great plans of doing the yard and finishing the basement. For the time being she plans on having the kids upstairs in the bonus room (huge house) for most of the day. She is a 47 year old grandma of three who is actually an accountant right now. She is quitting that job to start up the dayhome. Her Hubby works for the city in the transportation department and has for 30 years. We met him as well and he seems great too! You can really tell that they love kids and will be a great fit for Makayla.

I actually called the references for both the first and third; of course the first one was parents of kids who go there now, and the third was personal references since it isn't even open yet. But either way I got a good feeling! When I called the first one to let her know that we had chose another dayhome, she was wonderful and even told me that if we need a backup plan or even need to drop Makayla off for a day here and there that she is more than willing to help us out! Now that is awesome!

Daddy Is Home

With Clint working away he misses a lot. I don't really think about it, cause I try not to as it's hard being the mom and dad all the time, and if I think about missing Clint or him missing us and the things that go on here it makes it even worse. So now that he is on days off it is fun to watch him doing all the little things...like feeding her, things that I don't even think about.

Silly Monkey

Makayla is getting stronger by the day! Today she was playing on her floor mat and decided to pull the entire thing over on herself! I was waiting for her to start screaming, instead she looked at me and started laughing. What a goof...

Favorite Photo Friday

We were watching a movie tonight and we happened to glance out the window to see this beautiful sunset and the most perfect rainbow going straight up and disappearing into the clouds, and it hadn't even been raining!

Bye Bye Boob; For Good This Time!

Makayla's Doctor recommended a few months ago that I start supplementing her with formula since she wasn't gaining weight at an "appropriate" rate with just breastfeeding. I started with feeding her a combination of boob and bottle, then slowly moved to feeing her formula all day and boob during the night and first thing in the morning, to now just formula!

Actually it was a combination of her not gaining weight and also having two teeth that made me stop breastfeeding all together! The last day I actually breastfed was July 28th! Makayla had already started to bite me REALLY hard and on the 28th she bite me just a little too hard! She had made me bleed prior to that day and it had been hurting, but this one time was hard enough to make it the last time!

I can honestly say I miss breastfeeding....is that weird? It just seems so different, like my baby doesn't "need" me anymore, and I find that she doesn't like to snuggle like she did before. Maybe it's just me....

First Goose Egg!

I know it is a first of many, but today Makayla got her first goose egg on her forehead! She can't crawl yet, but she can get up on her knees and the she try's to pull herself up on furniture. Well tonight we were over at my Dads house and Makayla was trying to do this, but my Dad has hardwood floors, so between pulling and turning to look at something she slipped and fell flat on her face! I know the picture isn't great, but it is there and it is pretty big! My poor baby girl!

Time For Another One.........??????

My friend Barb came over today for a visit and brought her new baby Zachery for us to see! Makayla seemed to enjoy kneeling infront of his carseat, "talking" and rocking him back and forth. Maybe she was trying to tell Mommy something.....