Birthdays, Haircuts & Aquariums

We celebrated Hayden's First Birthday last week. It was simple but special. He loved the mini cake I made him (which was really just a cupcake with icing all around it) and gobbled it up! He of course made a mess, but we knew that would happen. And besides, it's only cake!

He got a lot of presents from everyone. A wagon, a jogging stroller, a trip to the Georgia Aquarium, his first haircut, a Smart Trike tricycle, a savings bond, some toy cars, a sock friend, 2 cakes, and some other items we have not yet received from family members (but we know we are getting because they told us about it). All in all it was a very lovely first birthday. Next year though, we party!




























I have been spending the last few days in Atlanta with Sam's dad, visiting the Georgia Aquarium, and getting Hayden's first haircut! We have been having a blast. I like this place. It's busy near the city but I am city girl at heart. I love all the eclectic shopping and easy access to all things awesome! Especially the exhibits and events that happen when your near a big city. I haven't had the chance to enjoy Atlanta too much, we are on a budget this month and what with me going down to West Palm Beach for a visit with my family, I need to be careful where I spend my money. Sam couldn't stay past Monday, unfortunately. He couldn't get the time off of work. And we have a HUGE family reunion to attend in just a few weeks, where he did get time off. I will miss the hubs for the next 2 weeks, but I will enjoy being with my family for that time! I can't wait.

Here's Hayden getting his first haircut. He did so great!:







Before














During














After














Prize!









And here's the Aquarium pictures:







Mommy, daddy and Hayden!












Hayden and his Dan Dan!

Stuff we will (one day) get for our home!

I've been thinking a lot about the place we might live in when we move to our new base location. Depending on where, we will either be renting or staying in a house on base. Since I have a 3 person family, a larger house sounds nice! I thought about all the stuff we will bring and all the stuff that will inevitably be sold off or given away. I realized that, though some things we could live without, other things that we need we don't even have! I am making a list of the stuff I would like to aquire, if anything for future reminders, so that I can begin working on this new goal ASAP!

1. Coffee table and matching end tables for living room.
2. A dining table (I have one in mind, it has a wine rack underneath!).
3. A dog. I think I want to try a breeding business... have to figure out which dog I want to breed though. But the first will be strictly for companion purposes.
4. A professional set of pots and pans, preferably Calphalon but a decent set would still be better than the hand-me-down, beaten-up, crusty, rusty, mismatched set (if you can even call it a set) that I already have.
5. A professional knife block set. Wüsthof comes to mind!
6. A chest of drawers for storage purposes, maybe even a hutch? I'm too domestic for my own good.
7. His and Hers computers.
8. Via toy boxes for Hayden's room. They are too adorable, I want them all!
9. Display cases for our abundance of odds and ends.
10. A Cedarworks bunk bed for Hayden's room. This is the créme de la créme of all the things I want to get. Just look at it... you would so want this if you were a kid!

I'm sure there is so much more to add to this list. But I am a realist. And realistically, unless by some miracle we win the lotto that we never play, or inherit some money from our relatives who aren't rich, then these things will only come to us with time and diligent savings. We don't expect to have everything we want in the first few years of being married and having a baby, but we can hope! And the goal is to get these things one day, even if it has to be one pot or knife at a time!

Yard sales during summer? Whew!

The air base my husband is stationed at has an annual yard sale for anyone willing to get rid of some junk. We participated this year and sold $80 worth of free items we received over the years as gifts (shhh) or for baby stuff, nothing real expensive or anything, but we made a tidy profit. We sold a jumperoo, a high chair, a swing, a dvd player, a photo printer, a beat to all hell jogging stroller which I'm surprised even sold, a capacitor for a stereo amp and some speakers. Those were the big ticket items. Everything else went for a buck or two. We didn't do too bad for 2 hours in the blistering hot, sweltering heat and sunshine. At one point I had to leave with Hayden because he was just pouring sweat out of him, regardless of how much water I gave him. And while my knee is killing me and clothes are drenched, I feel good that I wont have to pack any of this stuff with me when I head back home for a year!

Weelicious.com!

In my search for amazing and simple recipes to feed my tot, I was actually pretty stumped when I thought about practical meals that I can assemble quickly and on a budget. Being a stay at home mom means I have plenty of time to think about what to cook and how, but life does have other factors to consider like dishes, laundry, vacuuming, etc... and well I needed inspiration on my kids menu plan.

So voila! I present to you Weelicious.com! I did a search on google for toddler meals and this was at the top of the list. I clicked and "BAM", tons of advice for making healthy food for the kiddo and nothing seemed too complicated. I wanna try so many things on here, they all look so delicious, especially the waffle sammys. Mmm. So thank you Weelicious for providing me with a healthy menu for my precious little one without bruising my wallet! Cheers!

My goals are layed out

Along the side of my page is a list of goals I plan to achieve. It's so aptly named: Goals to achieve! As time goes by some will be completed and some will be added. This is a perpetual list. I intend never to stop reaching for my goals and learning something new everyday! Thanks to my friend James, through a post on facebook he wrote, I learned about absolute truth. This is just an example. It's not like I researched it until my fingers bled and my eyes stung. But I did learn something new...

Today I started a blog

I am attempting to focus on my writing skills and blog about my adventures (if those actually ever happen) about being a Stay At Home Mama! I am excited about this because my main focus for the last year was simply getting through each day so I could start the next. I didn't have a real goal or activity to occupy my time, nothing constructive anyways. And I don't want to pass that on to my son. These days he's like a sponge, absorbing every detail of his surroundings and learning about the world from a knee-height perspective. If all he does is see mommy sitting at the computer playing games, then he's going to think that is what people do all the time. So in light of my sudden realization that in less than a month my baby becomes a toddler, I have decided that now is the time to get my butt into gear and be the best mom I can be for my little punk rocker.


I'd like to introduce you to Hayden! He will be 1 years old this month:

This is me and my Husband:

We have come a long way in our relationship together. Every day is a new challenge. He goes to Korea in January for a year and I won't be going with him. Before he volunteered to go to Korea, we decided this would be the best time to just do it, get it out of the way, and move on... after all, Hayden will be too young to remember his daddy being gone and I wont have that second child we plan on having, on top of this one, to take care of all by myself. Well I wont really be by myself. I will be staying at the loving mercy of my parents with them in their home. Thank god! Being alone with a toddler for a year sounds terrifying. I have few friends where we live right now. All of my closest friends are back home in West Palm Beach, FL. I can't wait to see them again, but I can wait not to see my husband for a whole year. Such is the life of the Air Force wife.

I'm in the process of completing a bunch of goals I've made for myself. I don't know where to start but at the top of my list is getting organized. First, I'll try to organize my goals and then go from there. Seems reasonably simple enough. ::crosses fingers:: I'll work on that tonight and update next chance I get. For now I can cross off starting a blog.

That's a glimpse into my life. Maybe you'll get to know me better as the days progress or maybe you'll just see a million posts about activities, food and crafting goals. Whatever the case I hope you enjoy it!