IKEA Adventures

Well,six months after it opened, I finally got to go to the new IKEA that opened in Denver. My sister and I took the day (with Baby J) and spent several hours in this super fun store. Instead of showing a bunch of pictures, I thought I would make a video of our adventures:





I looked at entertainment centers, but my good hubby talked me down from spending a BUNCH of money. We decided to really plan our living room and make sure we get something we will love for a long time. In the meantime, I picked up some storage boxes for the living room and closet, some drawer dividers, and bins for the amazing amounts of legos that are now in our home. We sure had a great time!

PS - I know the video is SUPER cheesy. My mom and dad gave us a great new video camera for Christmas, so be expecting a lot more super cheesy videos in the future.

Shoot and Edit - Week 49 - Bokeh Lights

There. How's that for Bokeh? :)   (PS - I just learned what bokeh meant earlier this week....)

Christmas Lights Photo Shoot (Shoot and Edit Week 49 - Bokeh Lights)

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This shoot has all three of my kiddos and my adorable niece. (Sorry, no actual bokehs today, just plain ol' Christmas lights) I love it!

Individual shots:

PS - this post has been linked up!

Four Months Old

Baby J is four months old! I think she is going to be a bit more serious than her big sister. She weighed in at 11 lbs. 4 oz (10th percentile) and is at the 50th percentile for length and head size. She loves to smile and laugh and SING, but she is pretty picky about when she does those things. Sometimes she is the happiest baby in the world though! She had her first cold and her first flu and went through them both very gracefully. She visited Santa twice and didn't cry either time, and she is getting stronger every day. She still hates tummy time but she rolls back and forth on her sides all the time. Her favorite person is her big brother and always has a smile saved just for him. Happy four months, baby J!

3am

This is what insomnia must be like. But does it count if I am able to sleep during the day?

Goodbye Hair, Hello Pixie!

Oh my, what a week. The sickies have traveled around my family, hitting me and Little Miss today. I think Baby J might be sick as well, she is super crabby when she is awake, but fortunately she is sleeping right now.

I have been working on SO MANY projects lately! I turned 30 cards in to the Cherry Lime Boutique to sell for Christmas. Hopefully they will sell, since I have yet to make enough to pay my rent in that booth so far. Last month I only sold one card! (sigh). I also tried having a booth at our church's first "Holiday House" to support single moms. Unfortunately, the event was pretty much a bust. I sold a total of 5 cards to a vendor. But we have a lot of ideas for next year to make it happen! Plus I have been knitting like CRAZY, but I can't show any of that because it's all for Christmas. So, expect lots of knitting yumminess after the first of the year to show up here.

In other news, I chopped my hair off. Yup, 14 inches of hair. Gone. In two ponytails, ready to be sent to Locks of Love after I get better and can drag my sick butt to the grocery store to get a padded envelope.

I loved my hair. It got super curly during this last pregnancy and I finally figured out the amazing thing that is hair product, so I was able to keep my frizzy curls under control. I got compliments on my hair all the time over the last few months and I definitely felt feminine and pretty.

Most recent pic, with product (and wind)

Sans product

Straight with no product

I could wear it curly or straight, up or down, and it was easy peasy to take care of. No time for a shower? A pony tail worked just fine. It was grand.

So why in the world did I decide to chop it all off and do a pixie cut? I have no idea. The idea came to my head, and it literally WOULD NOT LEAVE for a week. I texted my hair girl the first day asking to get on her schedule. The ends needed some touching up anyway, and I figured I would have a whole week to chicken out and decide to leave it long if I wanted to. But the idea would not go away, and I became obsessed. I read about 25 blog entries and watched countless youtube videos on people making the "big cut" and styling their new hair. And do you know what I found? Not a single person regretted chopping all of that hair off. Most of them looked much prettier and more mature after the cut. There are a lot of great styling products out there (product is my new best friend) and plenty of people willing to share how they make their poofs into attractive hair styles.

The night before I texted my hair girl a picture of what I wanted. She about lost her mind. Here's what I was going for:

When my hair girl finally started cutting I think she almost started crying. It was a traumatic experience for her. I just kept yelling "keep going! Keep going!" When she styled it I wasn't 100% sold yet, she kept poofing it and spiking it and spraying it with hair spray. But the next day I tried out my own hair products (which I got from The Body Shop, thanks to Aunt Pam for the gift card!) and I LOVE IT.

Post Pixie

I still have some work to do, this looks a little messy still. And I want to get a good flat iron. The Wet-to-Straight I have had for 9 years just might not cut it any more. But I have to agree with the other girls who chopped their hair off, I don't regret it. Besides, it's just hair and it will grow back eventually! So to girls who are considering making the cut, do it!

Thanksgiving SOOC and Edit

Happy Thanksgiving all! We had a quiet Thanksgiving this year, my immediate family (minus one sister, her husband, and baby), and my Aunt Pam. It was fun and very enjoyable, but I have to admit I really missed having the BIG family Thanksgiving with lots of noise and kids playing everywhere. Oh well! Here are my SOOC and edit for this week. (Mouse over to see the originals).