2014.

Can you believe it?!

I graduated high school in 2000, y'all. Excuse me while I go vomit. 

How in the heck did this year fly by so fast? I feel like I was just planning Violet's 1st birthday party and here I am, thinking about her 2nd. Slow. Down. Time. 

Definitely the most notable "memory" of 2013 was watching our baby girl turn into a full-fledged toddler. She started 2013 as a 10 month old and ended it as a 22 month old. Insane. I'm sure you can imagine how hard my mama heart is taking it but I know we enjoyed this year with her to the fullest and that's really what it's all about. I will always hold these memories with her close to my heart. She's just such an amazing little girl and I'm truly excited (and maybe a little broken hearted) to see her turn into a KID this year. It's already been such an amazing journey with her and I know next year at this time, I'll be shaking my head in disbelief again!

As for me, I've grown plenty too. Weight wise, well that's been up and down, but mentally, emotionally, professionally, I've seen so much change in myself. I have worked every day to become a better and more present mother, better organized in all aspects of life and much more focused on and excited about my career. All of those things need continued work and focus in 2014 and I also have a few other important goals for myself and my family.. and really, that's a whole post on its own!

Ronnie had to deal with some setbacks this year when it comes to school and his graduation date has unfortunately been moved a year (oh, another post for another day) but I think truly, it's been a blessing in disguise. He needed some time to recharge. He was stressed and some breathing space from school has been good for him. He ended the year by getting hired on as a part-time FedEx courier and we're SO excited! Great pay, great benefits and it'll work with his future school schedule.

In 2014, Ronnie and I will celebrate our 8th anniversary (!!), Violet will turn 2 and we'll celebrate 3 years in our home. Tons of good stuff and we have a couple of major things to work on this year. Details coming soon :) (and no, baby #2 isn't one of them, you insane people ;)

Here's a good chunk of our 2013 wrapped into 15 seconds. Kinda crazy.

I love my little family, our life and 2013.

It's been an amazing year but I'm ready for you, 2014!!

a roller coaster week

I haven't talked about it much on social media but last Friday, my uncle (my mom's oldest sibling) passed away. He was her much older half brother and was 85 years old. He had Alzheimer's and dementia and had been in failing health for a couple years now. I think we knew he might go soon but not this soon so it was a bit of a shock. I wasn't super close with him but as a kid we spent many holidays at his and my Aunt's house and I have many fond memories of him. My aunt only wanted his life celebrated and for that reason, I chose not to splash the news of his passing everywhere, to garner sympathy and what not. But thank you for any prayers and thoughts - we are at peace and I believe he is too; that's all we could want for our loved ones.  

Because of his passing and the funeral falling during the work week, I had to cancel attending an important conference in Houston with the rest of my team. It was for unfortunate circumstances but I was almost relieved to not have to go. I figured I'd get to work in a really quiet office and possibly have some flexibility to my schedule all week and I was good with that. But I got the best surprise e-v-e-r when my boss called me Saturday night and said because I'd be the only one in the office, to not worry about coming in and to just work from home as needed. ALL WEEK. Seriously? I couldn't believe it and could have peed my pants from excitement, y'all.

I really have made sure to take advantage of this unexpected week off, too. We've done a ton of sleeping in, started our Christmas shopping and of course spent a lot of time being silly with and loving on V (when she wasn't throwing yet another tantrum, that is. Oy.) I bought some paint samples to try in the kitchen, a guy's coming today to refinish our counter tops and the tree trimmers will be here shortly, too so lots of progress at the house! It's just amazing what a week it's been. Bad news early on but we're ending on a high note, thanks to so much extra time with my little family. I hope y'all have had a great week too. HAPPY Friday! (the 13th! Whoa.)

she might finally be liking her hat and it's the cutest ever.

//

terrible twos and public tantrums require wine. 

//

my new $3.99 mug from marshalls. I sure do love a good deal.

//

big girl ready to shop with her parentals.

//

being embarrassing is a requirement of momhood, right?

High Five For Friday

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth today!

1. I think this kid loves the water :) Considering she haaated her bath for nearly the first year of her life, this is a welcome change. I don't even care that now she wants to sit and play in the bath every night for at least an hour.

2. Love this color, but hate the polish. Say what? Ok so it's a neon and dries as a matte (how I'm currently wearing it) BUT slap a top coat on and it only looks gorgeous for as long as you don't touch anything. I had entire nails popping off! Not literally, but the entire polish! Even as a matte, it chips immediately. However, it's top 5 worthy this week because I'm obsessed with the color. So much so that I've resorted to carrying the bottle in my purse and doing touch ups as needed (it dries super fast so that helps).  FYI: the polish is Sinful Colors - Dream On.

3. My baby brother turned 27 yesterday! And Violet finally sorta kinda likes him! High five for that! Not sure why she's so shy around men sometimes (I honestly think it's because she's so daddy obsessed that she just doesn't want any other guy around but him. ha). but slowly but surely, she's getting more comfortable. Except in this picture when she just wanted more yogurt and ain't nobody got time for pictures when there's food around ;)

4. You can't go wrong with anything Strawberry Shortcake. I get my hoarding tendencies from my mom and she's kept tons of our toys, clothes, papers, art and anything else she felt was memorable from our childhood. It used to be annoying and I'm sure my dad hates their full garage and attic but I love being able to see these things and hopefully I can pass them on to Violet one day. Whenever I can trust she won't ruin them :)

5. Now that it's the summer, my sister comes in every few weeks from college and I love seeing her with Violet. They love each other like crazy and I'm happy they at least get some time together. SHe came in last weekend and we got to spend Sunday together. We still need to make some plans to go visit her - she does live near the beach!!

So, that's been my week! We've had a whiney teething child (we're at almost a full week of awful sleep. Send help.) but we've survived. Tomorrow we have plans for another day at Sea World and I'm SO excited. I had no idea I'd love going there so much!

How has your week been?!

Late in the day Birthday wish!

My sister doesn't read my blog. Hell, she doesn't even know about it. (As most of my IRL friends and family don't. Crazy, right?)

But I have to say it anyway because I love her...

Happy 19th Birthday to the cutest baby stister EVER. Love you!

seriously. cutest babe born in '94.

why my child looks shocked half the time, we'll never know. but she's cute anyway.

Also, GO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY NOW.

It's for $50 worth of jewelry. That's what they call a no brainer, friends.

See ya tomorrow for a post about my child's 1st and quite possibly last birthday party ever ;)

Just one more month.

Today, our girl is 11 months old!

Exactly one year ago today, I was being showered with all things pink and basically having zero clue just how much my life and OUR lives would change forever. Definitely a naive newbie mama :)

Today? (Well, these were taken yesterday) 

We have a wild child on our hands! (with bumps and scrapes to prove it ;)

She's crawling up a storm, loves cords and scaring the hell out of her mama (ha!), she's babbling 24/7 (and is close to saying "baby"!), she has 4 teeth on top, 4 on bottom and goes to bed by 10 most nights (that's early for her, believe me). She still wakes up a couple times a night but also sleeps in late if our schedule allows. She stands on her own for a couple seconds at a time and shocked us the other night when she squatted down to get something without holding onto anything. She bends over all the time and I swear she's gonna tumble one day. She is obsessed with the dogs' crates (which is where she got her big forehead scrape from), obsessed with standing at the patio doors (where she got that forehead bruise from. ha) and loooves seeing herself in the mirror. She eats so much and so well and is definitely slowing down on the amount of bottles she drinks. She's turning into a big girl every day :(

I can barely scroll through the pictures on my phone or on Facebook without tearing up over just how much and how quickly she's changed and grown up. We're always so proud to see her reach milestones but it all happens so dang fast!! I know it's just life and we're "doing our job" in raising her and teaching her new things but someone please tell that to my crazy Mama heart. ha I just want to cuddle her and keep her out of harm's way forever!

So in just one month we'll celebrate the craziest, happiest, BEST year of our lives! I'm not sure if I should just smile about it or go hide under the covers and cry about it some more ;)

Happy 11 Months, toots.

family picshahs!

Life's been busy as heck lately and starting this weekend, it will only get crazier. I'm TIRED. And I need SLEEP. Thank goodness I'm off from 12/24-1/2! Mama needs it.

I just wanted to stop in and say HI! I also wanted to share a few of the pictures from our Family/Christmas photo session this past weekend with my way-too-awesome friend Elizabeth. We all love the Pearl Brewery so when she recommended it for pictures, I was all for it! (I've talked about the Pearl before here when we double family dated with Elizabeth :) It was around 4:30 and V had JUST fallen asleep in the car on the way over so needless to say, she was pretty grumpy at different times during the session. Yeesh. But Elizabeth is a pro and got some good ones!

Some of the pictures were taken in the book store just for something different and to kill some time until the Christmas lights got turned on around the Pearl. We had a good time with the shoot even if I kept on begging her to not take a shot of me with full on double chin or bent over. hahaha. She's patient though and understood :) We used four pictures on our Christmas card so I'm not posting those yet but here's a few of the rest. Elizabeth sent us like 30 images! She's amazing, to say the least.

This candid shot just makes me laugh. I have NO idea what we were doing here.

weekend update

This weekend...

• We coffee tasted at the SA Coffee Fest. It was so fun to go downtown and do something different! Things can get stale when you live in the same city your whole life so we're always up for fun, new outings! And how often do you get to do coffee tastings, right? It was free admission and just $5 for a four-cup tasting! I could only handle 3 cups so my big strong man took one for the team and had a total of 5 cups ;) He wasn't even wired afterwards! The fact that it was 80 degrees out was kind of annoying but we stayed in the shade and had a good time!

• I took V to her first wedding. I wasn't in the mood to go but I went anyway and even let Ronnie off the hook so he could stay home and rest after a long week at school. I was glad we went when I realized many of my out-of-town cousins were there and hadn't met V yet! She did ok for a while but as it got later and she got more tired, combined with loud music, hoards of people in her face and teething - so long to my quiet kid. We managed though and had fun spending a little time with family. Since I forgot my good camera at home, you get these 2 crappy pics of my mom, sis, me and V ;)

• V said "dada" for the first time and of course, it made his entire life. I put her in an I Love Daddy onesie yesterday to commemorate the occasion ;)
• I put up my little DIY Christmas letters that I made last week and it finally put me in the Christmas decorating mood. (mini tutorial on the blog later this week!)
• I got to spend some cuddle time with the dogs. Poor guys are starving for attention since V came along :/
• I did get some time alone when Ronnie took V to the grocery store and I organized her mountain of clothes. Her room finally doesn't look like an episode of Hoarders.

Mondays get here way too fast, man. I could use some more time at home. How was your weekend?

Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving was definitely extra fun this year, sharing it with the babe for the first time.

It was also extra exhausting.

That 4-day weekend seriously FLEW THE EFF BY. Did yours too?

On Thanksgiving, we had lunch with Ronnie's family then an early dinner with my family.

I learned my lesson after the past few years and paced myself at the first lunch ;)

Ronnie's mom (aka Maw Maw) // Showing off her Thanksgiving outfit // Being silly with Paw

Ronnie, two of his beautiful sisters, his mom and step-dad (whistling to get V to smile :)

Oh, she ate so much food for the first time. Including cool whip :)
(Which I can't even say anymore without thinking of this! ha)

Then at my mom's we ate some more, then did some Black Friday ad browsing.
(We didn't do Black Friday shipping after all. I was not in the mood to fight people!)

We took an ok family picture (V wouldn't stay still) // So happy to have my sis in town // Wine.

Grandma and Grandpa // Long day = naked baby // Water bottles and light up Santa hat were hits ;)

So that's that. A good first Thanksgiving for the little one and way too much food was consumed by her parents. Bring on, Christmas! 

carb coma weekend

I had enough beer, carbs and sugar to last me a while, this past weekend. Not good for my ever expanding waistline but oh, it felt so good.

Saturday morning we took breakfast over to my parent's house for a late birthday celebration for my dad and he was so happy! We spent a lot of our day there, just chit chatting, listening to Christmas music (of course my mom had it on - where do you think my obsession came from? ;) and lots of playing with the babe.

That afternoon we left to do some last minute shopping and some quick cleaning before Ronnie's dad and step-mom came over to BBQ. There's no shortage of beer and food when hanging out with them so of course fatty here was looking forward to that. I just love hanging out with them and we don't get to do it enough! With them, we did pretty much the same as we did with my parents - eat (drink!), play with the baby, chit chat...Just replace Christmas music with college football :)

Sunday was my favorite day of all. The day was full of baby entertaining, napping, leftover eating and just relaxing the eff out! Ronnie didn't have school work to catch up on so he was able to let go and just relax which was so good for us. We had some good conversation and really felt like we  got caught up on things. Which made us realize we need to make date days a priority and try to get those in on the weekends more. We're both so busy but I'm excited to make US a focus again :)

1. The pups // Love these two // Fun at Grandma's house
2. Needy baby but I didn't mind // Necessities for the BBQ // First taste of guacamole and she's hooked
3. Daddy walking her around (he's asking for it) // She loves her pups // Ready for the Texans game

How was your weekend??

the time i cried over a half birthday

Six months ago today, I became a mom.

Some days I still can't believe that I've been given this precious child to take care of and love forever. I don't deserve her! Even all these months later I still have moments when I think to myself, she's MINE. I'm a MOM. She's my DAUGHTER.

Everyone told us time would fly by and I wish I could say they were exaggerating.

I'm a sentimental person normally but who knew how much worse it would be when I became a mom. Sometimes I really would like to curl up in bed and sob over just how quickly time is flying by. Who am I kidding here? I've done that a few times.

I cry out of happiness because I can see that we're doing our job (we're trying our best!!) and that she's learning and growing as she should be but I also cry because I'm mourning. I mourn the loss of the baby she was six months ago, a month ago, even just the day before. She changes so much each day and more heartbreaking, it's as if just this past weekend she grew and changed more than we've ever seen! The six month mark is a pretty big deal apparently. It's like we're dealing with a mature infant all of a sudden! ha

In my pre-baby life I felt like I was just going through the motions and Ronnie would get on me for not living in the moment more. Thank goodness I snapped out of it and can understand the magnitude of this time in our lives and how it won't always be this way because I really do cherish every snuggle, every sound and face made, every scent, and every little giggle. I can only imagine how fast her 1st birthday will get here and just typing that gives me the biggest lump in my throat.

Being a mom was never at the top of my life's to-do list but it happened and I'm so grateful it did. I wouldn't give up this life with my amazing fiance and our precious child for anything.

We love you so so much, tootie pie! Just cool it on the growing so fast thing ok? ;)

A Picture of Us

 

Look at me, TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY! I'm practically a professional blogger!

 

I just had to share this picture Ronnie sent me a few days ago. I find myself staring at it every day.

 

EVERYONE and their mother tells me that Violet is my mini-me.

Yes, she has my dark hair, yes she has my little nose, yes she has chubby cheeks.

 

But holy crap. When I saw this picture, I realized just how much this little girl is growing and changing and how much she's finally starting to look like her daddy too! Just with my coloring ;)

 

She's basically the PERFECT mix of both of us.

 

Hello, you see that second picture of Ronnie? Then look at her. Whoa.

It's about time she have more than just his forehead ;)

Easiest DIY e-v-e-r

Y'all, I am dying to be crafty. One of my first ever DIY projects was my preggo skeleton shirt from last Halloween and that nearly killed me. I blame my attention to detail and the need for everything to be neat, straight, perfect...and if it's not, I feel like I might literally explode from the stress. Having said that, I know I need to start small before I get into the serious projects! And this one is obviously super simple and something I'm sure many of you have done before. But humor me, I was excited that I actually pulled it off!

This was a super last minute idea, done Sunday before my sister's going away party! I had already put together a little care package for her that included some make-up, candy, etc. but I also wanted to give her some framed quotes for her desk. At first I wanted them to be inspirational but then I figured they just needed to be sassy and cute like her :)

So by just Google'ing "free inspirational printables" and searching through Images, I found a few that I just loved (among MANY others!) and even though I only planned to do 2, I found 3 just to be on the safe side. You know, in case I screwed up something at the last minute. These were the three I chose:

 1. // 2. // 3.

I didn't have any card stock at home but I did have this postcard stock which is only 4 1/4"x5 1/2" so I knew I was in for it since I wanted to put them in 4"x6" frames. But I went for it anyway, I kinda had no choice ;) Our printer isn't of the highest quality either but I knew it would get the job done. See? 

I just opened up Microsoft Word, used the template for this size postcard and pasted the images in. I printed the pink card on a seperate sheet because that was at the point when I decided I should have a backup.

At this point we're already running late to the party but we made a quick stop at Target for frames. This is where I found the PERFECT set. Four frames for just $5.99! The set came with two black frames (just what I needed!) and one silver and one white. Major score.

Crappy picture of one of the frames but you get the idea.

When it came to framing the pictures, since the size was off, I had to cut the sides down to 4" to fit. As for the other end being only 5 1/2" that meant I was left with empty space at both the top and bottom. I didn't have any black paper with me (this was being done in the car! Agh!) so I grabbed the next best thing - pink tissue paper! Since I was going to be wrapping this gift in the car, I had some extra.

So I framed the silhouette image, put pink tissue paper behind it and voila! Next came the turquoise print and I didn't like the way it looked but luckily, Jessica had prepared for a situation like this! ;) I had a back up! So I popped the cupcake print into the frame, placed some tissue paper behind it and DONE.

All pictures were taken with my cell and I kept getting a glare no matter where I took the picture but again, you get the idea. They weren't perfect by any means but for a last minute project, I think they came out pretty cute!

Besides, my sister loved them and that's really all that matters :)

This project cost me just $5.99, the price of the frames, since I already had the printer paper and the tissue paper. Of course, the printables were free. Plus I get to keep the two extra frames for myself. Major score!

Not half bad for a last minute, done in the car DIY project, no? ;)

my thursday thoughts

Oh Friday, you are so close I can taste you!
(What does Friday taste like? Like pure goodness!)

-So I finally bit the bullet and changed my Twitter handle. I'm now @colormejesss. Yeah yeah, I had to do the triple S thing but I wanted the name so badly, y'all!

-I love my daughter more than words can say but dang she is hard work. I daydream about the day when I'll sleep again. zzzzz...

-Have y'all seen that Secret Starbucks menu floating around on Pinterest? Well, according to every article I've read about it, DO NOT TRY AND ORDER THEM BY NAME! You will look like a dumb dumb! Instead, know the ingredients and ask for those specifically. You're welcome.

-I have an awful zit on my chin that will not effing go away. Help, please! I need ideas.

-I'm so jealous of a girl who works in my building who always has the best outfits and knows how to color block like it's her job! Yesterday she had on all kinds of blues and purples with awesome purple heels just like these. Girl was rocking it!

-Why is it that right when you think you're gonna have a little extra money, you have to spend it on something boring like new tires and tune ups? Ugh. I'm selfish and wanna spend my money on myself, ya know?

-Do any of y'all watch Dallas?? Holy finale twist, man! Please tell me if you watch it so we can chat. I don't know anyone who watches it!

-I've already started listening to this. Don't judge. It makes me happy :)

-Not making me happy? My baby sister leaves for college in Corpus Christi next week. I'm so excited for her but I'm being an overprotective big sis who doesn't want to see her go. She was just a chubby, giggling baby! :(

Isn't she gorgeous? I just love her and I'm already missing her so much! :(

What's going on with y'all today?

Thankful Thursday

I've seen this topic floating around in blog world but is there an actual link up for it? Who knows. I'm gonna talk about it anyway!

Today...and pretty much ALWAYS...I am thankful for MY FAMILY.

Ronnie. He is my rock and my best friend. He makes me laugh like no other and I hope our daughter gets his goofy personality. I truly can't imagine my life without him!

Baby Girl. I'm already so in love with her and we feel even more like a family knowing she's on her way :)

Frasier, Niles & Sibley, our first babies. I cried this morning on the way to work (yeah I'm pregnant, remember?) just thinking about them not being around one day. I know pets are only here a short time so I cherish every single moment with them and every single slobbery kiss.

 

My parentals. They may drive me crazy sometimes but they are good hearted people who always put family first. Without them allowing us and our animals to take over their house for a few months, we wouldn't have been able to buy a house so soon!

My siblings. Again, our parents drive us crazy sometimes so what's better than having these people to lean on, right? :) I would pretty much do anything for these two.

I won't post all of their pictures of Ronnie's family (because there's so many in his immediate family!) but I'm always grateful for them. They've welcomed me into their family from day one. No drama, no questions asked. They've been extra supportive during this house buying experience and I love them for that!

I'm sure for most it's a given that you're thankful for your family but sometimes you just need a reminder to tell them just how much you love them! We're moving out of my parent's house next week and while I'm excited to get into our OWN house, I'm a little sad over not being able to hang out with them every day. Some days it was too much and some days it was just what I needed. I'll forever be grateful for all of these crazy people in my life!!

Don't forget to enter my Tiny Prints Christmas card giveaway! It closes on Sunday!

And if you joined our Fall Swap, tomorrow's the deadline for sending out your partner's package!

Have a great Thursday :)

A Heritage Weekend

I just looked at my Google Reader and I have 60+ unread items and that's only since Saturday. Dude, y'all have been busy!! But I guess I was busy too because I haven't had the chance to sit down and catch up on y'alls blogs. I promise I will be getting to that this afternoon. Work can wait - blogging is important!!

So Saturday, I went to my cousin's bridal shower and that was a lot of fun! We played the usual silly games which made for a good time and my cousin and his future Mrs. got a ton of cool gifts. It just made me sooo impatient for my showers..and our wedding of course! ;) After that, I headed on out with my man for some errands, a yummy dinner and some late night coffee! We heard this great acoustic band at the coffee house and it was just a super chill, perfect night.

Then on Sunday...Oh, Sunday...the day Ronnie had been looking forward to ALL YEAR. The day of the San Antonio Highland Games! He was like a kid on Christmas morning, no joke. Ronnie's family is Scottish so he was beyond excited about this; it was actually kinda cute. We got to see the strong men games {and oh yes, they were in kilts!}, some viking role playing, ate some Scottish food and heard some Scottish and Irish music. It was fun!

{Ronnie used to power lift and wants to start again so he can join in the games next year...
I think my strong man would fit right in ;)}

{Talking to the people from the Scottish Society of San Antonio}

{the bagpipers}

{me and my love!}

{I swear we don't wear the same shirts every day as this blog might imply :p}

{and i just thought this was cute..."A little kindess goes a long way". Agreed!}

It ended up being a really cool event and Ronnie got to feel like he was at home with his Scottish peeps! ;) He'd already done a lot of research on his family history before and was able to trace his family right down to the exact village that they came from in Scotland. That's super cool, right??

It got me to thinking though that with my family, I've just always gone with "My grandparents were from Mexico so I'm Mexican American"...but I just wonder what happened before them? My dad seems to think we have Spanish roots just a few generations before his parents but there's no one around to confirm that. My grandmother {his mom} is my only grandparent who is still alive but she's sick and unable to give much info. I've tried ancestry.com and that was hard because the Mexicans back then didn't keep good records and while I was able to find my grandparents on there, I couldn't find my great grandparents. It's pretty sad that I got stumped so early on. But I would love to know more about my history so I was actually thinking about visiting with a genealogist to see if they're able to help me. Any of y'all tried that or know someone who has?

Where's your family from? I'd love to hear your stories!! Hope you're having a good Monday!