This is a sponsored post with a discount provided by Label Daddy. 

It's been a little while because it's currently my busy time at work! But after September, I will finally have more time to get back into blogging/keeping up with this Violet memory book :) Speaking of her, she is starting a Mother's Day Out program in a few weeks and I'm nervous, excited and totally terrified. She's been in an in-home daycare before but that didn't go well. I think because there was no real structure, she had too much time to realize we weren't there and miss us! lol I'm optimistic about this one though, we've heard great things and she's just so much different now than she was early this year. She's grown up a lot, become more outgoing and doesn't miss us nearly as much. ha Expect a longer post about MDO SOON!

Now, I need to get her prepared. Like we  have an actual Back to School thing going on here, it's exciting! I'm not gonna lie, but I'm excited for me too because I have always LOVED shopping for school supplies.

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hello, june!

To be honest, I dread Texas summers because the HEAT. Oh, the heat. However this year's weather so far has been unseasonably cool and not bad at all! The fact that today is June 2nd and it's only a high of 90 (yes, ONLY), is actually kind of wonderful. The month of May was downright cool in comparison to the years past and it was just really nice. So hello, June! I'm actually happy to see you! And since I haven't updated since Easter (typical me), here's what went on with me + us during the month of May.

(Ronnie and I both upgraded our phones to Samsung Galaxy 5s in May and I'm finally loving the pictures it takes (I was iffy at first) and I've also been using the crap out of the VSCO Cam app after I discovered it had finally come to Android!)

We're Spurs fans in our house so them making it to the playoffs has totally taken over our lives! // We've been eating much healthier and grocery shopping is actually more fun now - I love this picture of us at HEB :) // The cutest Cinco de Mayo babe! // A client sent me and some of the work girls to a playoffs game and it was awesome to see the Spurs win and to run into Spurs Jesus! // We had a much needed date night and celebrated Ronnie's birthday, Mother's Day and our 1 month wedding anniversary (that makes me laugh) all in one. We went to the Luxury for dinner and beer, Rosella for coffee and ended the night at Target ;) // Mother's Day was wonderful. Landa Park in the morning with his mom and then the afternoon with mine. // Violet has taken off this month and become the most talkative, outgoing little thing ever. We're so proud! // Mama got her first haircut since last September!

Violet's not only more outgoing but she's become even sillier, if that was even possible. I'm totally in love with this age. // I painted her toesies for the first time! I used Piggy Paint and highly recommend it for the littles. // I went on my annual spring work trip and this one was at a Disney Resort. Holy gorgeous!! // We hired these 3 celebs for our conference attendees to get a photo op with and you know I took advantage of it too! // Returning home was the best! What a difference from the last trip I took. She was sooo excited to see me and loved all her Disney presents. // Ronnie has taken off with his landscaping hobby and our yard looks great. We've been making many trips to garden stores. // Could she look any bigger here?! // We had a ton of rain last month and I actually loved it. I hope June brings more of it!

That's that for May! 

I've totally slacked on blogging but I'm always on Instagram (where all these pictures were posted) and I also spend a ton of time on Twitter because it's fun and because none of my nosy family hangs out there (ha) so follow me there!

Happy June!

easter and stuff.

I can't believe it's almost May! I also can't believe Ronnie and I have now been married two weeks! I'm hoping we get to at least celebrate our one month anniversary in a couple weeks. It may seem silly to be getting excited over such "small" milestones but we've been together sooooo long and married so little of it that I think it deserves a celebration! ;)

Last Thursday, I took V to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. She hadn't been since she was a teeny sleeping newborn and we honestly forgot about it last year. She's always hated Santa but I was optimistic (stubborn/dumb/naive?) and thought "Well, she loves animals, so maybe she'll love him too!" and I was almost right. In line she was pointing at him, talking about the eggs all around him - she was happy! The moment we get up to him though all hell broke loose. It was an all out scream fest and she was clinging to me for dear life. I half expected it though so I wasn't too surprised. What I was surprised by were the looks on the faces of the moms in line behind me. One lady even was shaking her head - as she held her sleeping, maybe two month old son. I've gotta say, I've never felt more competition or more judging in my life than I have as a Mom. It's just awful. I truly thought when I was pregnant that it would be a fun gang of women all going through the same thing but somehow I feel many moms didn't get that memo. While I'm happy to befriend other moms, I sometimes feel like I get the side eye from many who are judging ME by my wild child of a two year old. What I wanted to say to those moms was "Just you wait. You'll understand one day". But I wouldn't because that's the exact judgey behavior I'm talking about but in that moment, that phrase felt so true. Yes, we're all moms but we're all in different stages and I wish all moms acted like they understood that. You may have it easy (during the day at least) with your newborn but it only gets harder - which I've heard as well from moms of kids older than mine. Yes, being a mom is amazing but it has some really trying times and those trying times only get tougher so if we're all gonna go through the same stuff eventually, why is it so hard to get along?!! Ya know? 

Ok, I'm done. I had to vent since I never vented to anyone that day when it happened. ha! Except to Ronnie. Poor guy, has to hear my bitching and honestly, he doesn't get it. I don't feel like dads deal with that kinda stuff. I could be wrong though :/

Easter morning - I wonder how much longer she'll love a bunch of little things from the Dollar Spot? I hope forever because her mama sure loves it! I got her an owl cup she's been pointing out every time we go to Target, a couple books, a puzzle, socks, necklace and sunglasses. I also put some cookies in little plastic eggs, too. She loved it!

I didn't get many pics the rest of Easter because she was all over the place and I wasn't feeling well at all. But she did get super spoiled by both my mom and Ronnie's mom. She was worn out at the end of the day! She still didn't quite get the Easter egg hunt thing but I'm sure will love it next year. 

One of her favorite gifts from one of her many Easter baskets. ha! 

Future neighborhood watcher. She pulled her chair out to the front on her own, it was adorable. Also - isn't the ribbon hanging pretty that my mom made? Perfect for Fiesta!

And this face. Seriously?! 

Two may be stressful sometimes but this makes it all worth it.

Ooh and some fun news! I'm legally a C.a.s.h! I'm so excited! I finally got everything updated at the Social Security office last Friday (only took an hour - woo hoo!) and then got my new Drivers License this past week (only took 10 minutes - unheard of!)...I'm such a procrastinator and take forever on things but I also knew my work trip was coming up and I wanted my name change reflected on plane tickets and to get my ID in time so I HAD to get this done. Fun stuff! :) Oh and TGIF! Have a great weekend!

So far this week.

Last weekend, after we got back from our failed trip (still bummed about that one), we did some fun stuff in town. Saturday, we went walking around one of our fave parks, Brackenridge and took V on the Zoo Train. The last time we went on it was months ago and we had to hold her tightly on our laps - this time she sat by herself (next to me, of course) and she was just such a big girl about it. Made me proud :) 

The weather all weekend was windy and cool and totally perfect. That night, Ronnie was fiddling around in the yard (his favorite) and I finally joined him on the front porch. We had some beer, talked about the future and I was freaking out the entire time that I was hanging out with my HUSBAND. Oh, it feels so nice to say that!!

Sunday, we went looking for bluebonnets. I'd read online that there were some good ones at McAllister Park (right down the street from our house) and while there were some good patches, it wasn't anything very lush. I think we're already late in bluebonnet season - which is typical of my procrastination every year, which is why I've never gotten a picture of Violet in them until this year. I just can't handle this picture. So big and so sweet. Love this girl!

Monday, I was surprised at work with a little wedding celebration! One co-worker made cake pops for the first time because she knew I loved them and they came out so good! We had chips and dips, champagne and those big, fake wedding rings you get for bachelorette parties. Such a fun afternoon and I'm seriously so grateful to work with these people. Drinking on the job never gets old either.

Monday night, this is the only picture I got but you can tell why it was a must. Girlfriend only got one bite of chocolate pudding and while I was behind her cooking dinner in the kitchen, she made the biggest mess of her whole life. I guess it's good we got this far without huge messes. ha It was hilarious, she was squishing it between her fingers and loving life. She got a goood bath after that!

Last night, I took this picture because now every time we get home, she has to sit in her chair for a bit before we go inside. It's so cute and I'm glad she got the relaxing gene from us ;) And if you're wondering, the chair is from Walmart. FIVE DOLLARS! Get your kids one stat!

 

A wedding story.

In case you missed it, Ronnie and I got married last Friday!!! :) About time!

I apologize in advance for this novel... Ok so for anyone who's new here or forgotten, in early 2011 we cancelled our "big" November 2011 wedding. I was actually relieved (I haaated wedding planning) and then a few months after cancelling - I got pregnant. I felt a little guilty that we wouldn't be married by the time we had our baby but it didn't bother either of us all that much. We already FELT like a family and marriage was never really a necessity for me. I was also relieved that I wouldn't be getting married that November, 6 months pregnant! Not drinking at my own wedding was not an option. ha!

Fast forward to late 2013. Ronnie and I decided we just needed to do it already. We just felt like it was time for us to legally be a family and for me to finally share my daughter's last name. I hated not sharing that with her! So we decided to just elope and planned on December 30th since I was off work all that week. We'd get married and then go on our honeymoon! But then, Ronnie got a job in early December so we had to forget about him taking off any time to get married! When that didn't work out, I didn't choose a second date. I'm sure my friends were tired of hearing about my plot to elope but I kept putting it off - mostly because of nerves. Ronnie's parents knew it would be happening at some point and were thrilled. My parents however were not and that's been stressful. Finally, my good friend/coworker said "I'm going to help you plan this and you're gonna make it happen." That was April 2nd. The week before I actually got married! 

So there I was, making calls, making an appointment with a JP, ordering a dress online. That weekend we bought Ronnie's clothes and Violet's dress. The week OF the wedding, we ordered our rings on Amazon (yay Amazon Prime 2 day shipping!), I bought shoes and accessories and booked a photographer. The night before my wedding, I painted my nails, colored my hair (probably shouldn't have done that one. ugh.), made a couple props for our pictures, and made my bouquet! It all happened so fast and I was sick to my stomach nervous! ha

Then, Friday morning. THE WEDDING DAY :) We rushed all morning to get ready, ran late and even forgot the wedding license and had to turn back for it...But we finally made it to New Braunfels, in time for our 11 am wedding! NB is an area we've spent a lot of time in as a couple and Ronnie grew up near there and his grandfather's picture is even up in the courthouse so it's always meant a lot to him. We were married in the adorable gazebo in their Main Plaza. It was windy and cool and just a totally gorgeous spring morning. It was just me, Ronnie, Violet, the JP and our photographer - and it was perfect. The ceremony itself lasted maybe 5 minutes and then we were married! After that, we took some pictures then walked over to our favorite bakery across the street where I surprised Ronnie with a small wedding cake I'd ordered. We ate cake, took more pictures and by 11:45 or so, our little wedding was over. Aaaah! We headed to the coast afterwards for a quick family trip and had fun for a bit but the two year old wasn't having it so we cut the trip short and just had a really quiet weekend at home. It wasn't our honeymoon anyway so at least we have a fun trip to look forward to later this year. ALONE! haha

I'm just so excited we finally made it happen. I should have our pictures from the photographer next week and will share some then! Thank you again for all the sweet comments on IG and here on the blog. It feels good to finally be a Mrs! 

We're official!

9 years after we met.

8 years after we started dating.

4 1/2 years after we got engaged.

2 1/2 years after we bought our first house.

2 years after we had our baby girl.

We finally did it.

We got married yesterday!!!!!

// mr. and mrs. c.a.s.h. 4-11-14 //

I can't even tell you how happy I am that we made it official. We really have felt like a married couple from the moment we moved in together and felt like a real family the moment I found out I was pregnant but THIS, this makes it official and we are so so happy. I finally get to share a last name with my now HUSBAND and our daughter! Marriage wasn't a necessity for us but I'm glad we made it happen. Yay marriage!

Whoa, it's April already.

Where has the time gone? I swear I forget I even have a blog sometimes and then it hits me and I feel awful for not updating it in so long! So what have we been up to?

Well, last I told y'all, Violet turned 2! And since then, she has been very. much. a. two. year. old. People weren't kidding with all the talk about terrible twos ;) The tantrums have been upped, her stubbornness is holding strong (Thanks, Ronnie for passing on that gem! ha) and she is just totally fearless! But it hasn't all been terrible, not even close.

She's sillier than ever and has so much more energy! She makes the funniest faces, learned to stick out her tongue (because I showed her how I curl my tongue one time and it stuck!), talks so so much, laughs at eeeverything as if she even understands our jokes, dances constantly and she wants to hug and kiss us all the time. She loves hugging and kissing so much that she's even started her dolls on doing that with each other and it melts my heart. Violet has really taken after me with the feistyness and bit of attitude (whoops) but she's a total sweetheart, too. We're amazed at how smart she is and she leaves Ronnie and I looking at each other like "Did she really just do/say that?" nearly every day. Two really does have its terrific moments as well :)

On the Ronnie end, he's doing SO well at his job and is even considering taking a full time position. It would be great for him but it's also a huge bummer because it means putting off school yet another year. (He's having a ton of issues with his school. Of course it's not the case but you would swear they've chosen him out of their 30,000+ students to pick on and make it difficult to get back into school after his last year off. Don't even get me started.) On the weekends he's been spending a ton of time on our yard and it looks mighty pretty, I must say. We still need new grass and some other landscaping but he is well on his way with that! We had a date night a couple weekends ago and that was our first one since September! I cherish that alone time with him and hope we can make date nights happen more often. We so need it!

As for me, I'm still on the forever hunt for a fun hobby (besides drinking and social media). I'm just not creative and not sure what I can get into. Things at work are the same (good!) and I'm now prepping for my annual Spring work trip. We're going to Orlando at the end of May and our event will be held at a Disney Resort! I'm pretty excited about that! Can you believe I've never been to Florida?! I've been to airports there but that doesn't count. I wish Ronnie and Violet were going with but it's not currently in our budget and honestly, I'm not ready to spend a ton of $$$ on taking my 2 year old to Disney. I'd rather save that for when she's 4 or so. Ya know? Plus, I'll be so busy during the event, it wouldn't be fair to leave them on their own. 

So that's that! This is actually a really exciting and hectic week for us with something super fun coming up but I'm being super secretive and no one will know until it's happened. I'M EXCITED! Stay tuned ;)

All of these pictures were posted on my Instagram. Follow me there if you're not already! 

We have a TWO year old.

You know how sometimes you daydream on your drive home, pull into the driveaway and then wonder how the heck you even got there? That. That is the past two years.

WHAT.

Violet is a real life toddler now and I can't even begin to tell you how mind blowing that is! From her new "no no", with finger wagging and all to her hearty, raspy laugh that sounds like she really GETS your joke, to the way she pats me on the chest and says "Mama?" as if she needs reassurance that I'm really there, she is just a little ball of perfection. Her short little life has made such a huge impact on our lives and I'd be lying if I didn't say I get choked up nearly every day at the thought of how we have such limited time with her just as she is now. A year from now, she'll be a much more talkative, (probably back talking), more adventurous, opinionated KID - more so than we could've ever imagined! So, I'm going to cherish everything about this two year old stage - terrific twos and terrible twos, all of it.

To my TWO YEAR OLD Violet. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was worried about you not moving much in my belly so I rushed in to the doctor, only to be told you'd be making your entrance that day! And just a few short hours later, there you were! It's been a whirlwind ever since and you have completely changed our lives. But as I always tell your daddy, I can barely remember what our life was like before you. Last year at this time, you were a month away from walking and now, we can barely keep you by our side. You've grown so much in just this one year and I can't wait to see how your little personality continues to blossom over the next year. You have so many new things to learn and understand, a ton of new words and sentences to conquer, songs to sing, foods to try, books to read, more paper (and probably walls) to draw on...and I can't wait to experience it all with you. You're my girl and I hope you never forget just how loved you are.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Violet Malynn!

big day success!

What has two little thumbs and rocked their first day of daycare?! 

This girl!!

And apparently I crashed her fun when I showed up yesterday to pick her up because that's the look I got - the "Already?!" look. Honestly though, I'm ecstatic about that! I don't even care that she didn't squeal with delight to see me. I'm happy she did well and was content to be there!

Sarah (our daycare lady) asked me again if she'd ever been in daycare before because she would've sworn she wasn't a newbie, as well as she took to it! She played well on her own as well as with the other kids, took a while to go down for a nap but eventually knocked out (and on a little mat which she's never done!) and while she refused lunch (typical Violet), I found her eating her snack like a champ. I'm so proud and SO relieved to know she's totally fine being left with other people. Makes me wanna leave her with all kinds of strangers now so Ronnie and I can just get out for a date more often! (Kidding. Sorta.)

Last night she was just the sweetest and in such a good mood. And you see that face on the end? WHAT. Is that not the cutest little smile EVER? That's her "new" smile and she breaks it out every now and then and it just completely melts my heart.

Her big day was a success!

a big first.

We've been lucky that Ronnie's school schedule allowed him to be a SAHD for most of Violet's life and that his mom has been able to watch her a lot too, as needed. Now that Ronnie's working though, we needed something more consistent and didn't want to put that on his mom either so we found a daycare! It's an in-home daycare in our neighborhood, just a few blocks away! It's Violet's first time ever in daycare and it's the first time she's ever been in the care of "strangers" so I've been pretty emotional the past couple of days. Such a sappy mom. ha I am really excited for her though; for all of us!

We thought this would be a good start for her before we eventually put her into a preschool type of program. I'm so excited for her to get some good socialization and also have more of a schedule. It's hard to keep to a schedule when she spends her days with Ronnie, then his mom, then me and then on the weekends with just us. It'll be good for her to have a real routine!

When we dropped her off, she totally forgot all about us. ha! She went right in and made herself comfortable playing with all the toys! As soon as we left, I cried like a baby and Ronnie had to remind me that we are just normal (albeit overprotective) parents. ha. We know she's in good hands and I've already texted the lady to check on her - she said she's doing great! She didn't want to nap or eat lunch lunch but that's typical stubborn Violet. She assured me that they've seen this plenty in some of their newbies and that they all eventually caught on when they see the other kids doing it. Here's hoping!

I pick her up in a couple hours and can't wait to see her little face!!