A Walk With The Walkers

These are not my words. We do not personally call our daughter a "Baby Genius." To us, she is just our spunky one and a half year old that has brightened up this journey we call life. She is awesome, and we feel so blessed to be her parents. Other people. Other people have called her a "Baby Genius," and have asked what we've done to make her so smart. We are happy to share our daily routines and habits with you, but let's be real, each one of us is "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14), and that looks so different in each of our lives. Some of us are verbal communicators, some of us are physical communicators, some of us just plain don't like to communicate, and that goes for babies too. So, I will share with you what our life looks like right now, but please hear that I am not saying this is the perfect way, the best way, or the only way. We don't have any special credentials or degrees.What I am saying, is that this is our firs

Internet world, you are awesome. And sometimes intimidating. And sometimes, just plain creepy. But here's the deal, my best friend is out of this world, and she deserves someone as equally cool to date with the purpose of marriage. We're of an age that dating without that purpose, is honestly a waste of time. And even though online dating can work wonders for some, that really isn't her cup of tea. She's not into the games that can be played, or the potential catfishing that goes on, or whatever else some of you online daters do. You have ruined the idea of online dating for the good ones, like her. She is a gem. You would be lucky to date and marry her. Don't get me wrong, she has her quirks and baggage, but she is fiercely loyal and will never stop working on herself, or her marriage. Let me tell you a little about her. Because there are some weirdos out there, for the purpose of this post, we will call her Ray. Because she is a ray of sunshine. Her energy is cont

"Let's look at the calendar and pick a date for your shower," I said. "The last weekend in August would be perfect," I exclaimed. A small gathering of people in the warm sunshine on the back porch will be awesome, I thought. As the weekend was quickly approaching for the shower, I was checking my weather app every. day. Monday, Sun. Tuesday, Sun. Wednesday, Sun. Friday, Sun. Saturday, Cloudy. Then Saturday, Rainy. Then Saturday, Thunderstorms & Lightening. And then Saturday came. Because the weather app had told me that the weather was not looking promising, I had already planned to host the party indoors, but little did I know, at 12:45pm, approximately 1hr. & 15min. before our party was supposed to begin, the power went out. The power at our house almost NEVER goes out. Everyone else's power around us will go out, but ours will stay on. Not this day. Luckily, all the food was prepped and I had just finished blow drying my hair. The power will for s

This weekend I was blessed to be able to open our home and co-host a beautiful shower for my sweet cousin that is getting married in July. For this party, we did all things purple, gray, mason jar, chalkboard, and Pinterest. Even down to the invitations ! I used to be all about balloons. Balloons say, "Let's Celebrate!" But, as I've gotten older, they say "Children's Party." I still think you need a way for your guests to identify that they are at the correct house though, and these fun chalkboards definitely do the trick! Food is top priority in my book when it comes to parties. People remember bad food, not enough food, and good food. My cousin is all about Hawaii and loves pineapple flavored things, so I focused the food around that idea with some staples mixed in. We had between 35-40 people attend the party, so I wanted something that wouldn't take forever to make. I settled on these yummy sliders that I found on Pinterest  and then cre

Wedding season is currently in full swing for our sweet family. As of right now, we have 7 weddings to attend between now and January 2016. It's crazy! We were at a lull there for a few years with wedding invites, but they are back in full force now! The fun part for me when it comes to wedding season is to help host and plan showers. Showers are my jam. I like every little detail to be perfect and to fit the bride's personality. I actually put a lot of pressure on myself to help create a perfectly memorable day, so that the guest of honor feels absolutely loved and adored. It's all worth it at the end of day, because celebrating is worth it. Don't ask my hubby though. He might tell you that my level of crazy when it comes to parties is not worth it (love you babe!). Enter shower number one of this season... This was a great party! We hosted it at a friend's beautiful home and I was only in charge of a handful of things. Less pressure for perfection on my part = a

This post is a little late...  In January, my sweet baby girl turned one! In my typical party fashion, I went a little overboard into all things peacock. I'm not quite sure how I arrived at the theme, but I think it's because I'm really into the purple+teal combo right now. Even though I tend to go overboard, I'm all about being cost effective. The Dollar Store & the dollar aisle at Target are my best friends when it comes to party planning. And I can't discredit Pinterest for giving me some awesome party ideas! We'll start with the desserts, because let's be real, that's what we all love! I am not a very good cupcake or cake decorator, so I left the cupcakes up to the professionals. I purchased these beauties from the Orting Bakery  for only $1.15 each. Wanna hear the awesome part!?! They threw in the smash cake for FREE! You have to love local establishments! The second sweet treat, I baked and decorated all by myself! I combined three different

Traveling with a baby can cause some pre-trip anxiety. How do I entertain her on the plane? What toys should I bring? Is it worth it to pay for her own seat? How do I get her ears not to hurt on take-off and landing? What if she cries the whole time? Do I really need to bring little goody bags with ear plugs and candy for the people around me? Will I be able to warm her bottle? What if she poops?  But here is the real question. Just because I have a baby, does that mean I must be chained to my own community until she is of an age where I don't need to answer any of these questions? For me, that just won't do. We want to travel. We want our child to experience the world at every age. And as my mother-in-law said time and time again on this past trip, "It's her vacation too!" So to any of you mommas out there leaving on a trip sometime soon, here's the answers I have for you from our experience traveling 8+ hours with our 13 month old. For one, you know your