Jackson’s 1st Birthday Party

Jackson celebrated his first birthday with family and friends. It was a great success (I only had one Mom fail with the video camera, and we did a take 2), and I am so grateful for everyone that helped us celebrate.

We didn’t truly have a theme, but we went in the direction of Baby Einstein. Lots of solid, bright colors and a fun party scape. Jackson adores Baby Einstein so I had the cake decorated with the caterpillar from Baby Einstein and called it a day.

He was a little weary at all the people at first, but he really warmed up and had a lot of fun. Mostly, I think it was the sugar high from his cake, but he stayed awake the entire party with no major meltdowns!

Here are my favorite pictures of the day:

Oh, and did I mention that my baby (who is now officially a toddler!) can walk??? He was a pro at his party, walking all over the house! He is learning how to climb over little obstacles and he’s working on turns. His favorite thing is to walk in circles in the living room. I can’t believe he is already doing this so well! It makes me miss the days where he was so tiny in my arms and barely made a sound. Oh boy am I in for a crazy year!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

I absolutely cannot believe that my little nugget is a year old today. I can still vividly remember the day that I found out I was pregnant – June 18, 2010. How incredible the journey has been since that day!

Skiing

I went skiing for the first time ever this past weekend. Say what - you live in Colorado and you aren't into winter mountain sports??? You heard correctly. One time, about 8 years ago I went snowboarding and I wasn't really into it. Plus skiing/boarding are incredibly expensive hobbies and we couldn't afford it when I was younger, or in college, or even two years ago. 

Trevor is an awesome skier, like he is with pretty much everything. It's almost annoying how athletic he is. We played tennis in Palm Springs and I felt like I was playing Andre Agassi on a mean streak. And the kid never played tennis on a team or in a club. Ever. So even though he hadn't skied in forever (like more than 10 years), he was right back on the slopes. 

Thankfully, I convinced him to allow me to take a full day first-timers lesson. He tried to talk me into letting him teach me, but I shot that down immediately. Have any of you tried to learn some new skill from your spouse and have it FAIL? As most of you may know, I am an extremely competitive person (mainly with myself) and I get so frustrated when I can't pick something new up right away. Like yesterday. Combine that with my husband telling me what I'm doing wrong and it's a recipe for a pouty wife and a lot of bickering. 

I was kind of freaked out that I would be the oldest person in the lesson, but I was totally wrong. There were people of all ages and backgrounds. My group included people from France, China, Atlanta, and Brazil. And me. Snow Barbie. 

I sort of love live for the color pink. Okay, I'm obsessed. So when I bought my jacket and pants I naturally chose pink and white. And then came the accessories. Pink, pink, and more pink. Heaven!

Here are my accessories:

  

Notice the ink tag on the shirt? The checkout person forgot to take it off and I had to go back :(

Here I am about to take my lesson - happy as can be!
So all in all it was a great day. I didn't fall once - not even getting off of the chair lift, which is freaking terrifying if you haven't done it. And, no running into children (who were all absolutely fearless and pretty good for being 4 years old). My instructor was amazing and I can't wait to go again in a few weeks when life allows it. 

I think I can definitely become a little ski bunny!

Playing Grown-up

Sometimes I have these weird moments where I think/realize, "I'm an adult now". It's usually during some silly moment like when I'm running around my bedroom with my husband and it hits me that this is the life I used to "play".

All the girls I knew played house when we were little. We all had our ideas of what our perfect lives and men and houses would be like. As I got older I would fantasize about the differences in my future grown-up home compared to my home life.I would have a man that loved me and respected me and that took care of me, and I would take care of him. I wouldn't have to worry about every penny I had, and I would be able to do fun things that I never really got the chance to do  when I was growing up.

So here I am now, 26 years old, and I'm an adult. I can't say that I am all grown up because every day I learn something new and I am constantly growing and changing. What I can say is that I don't miss being a child, I don't crave to be in high school again where I didn't have control over my life.

I feel lucky and I am grateful every day because so many of my dreams and wishes have come true. I have the most amazing and incredible (and sexy) husband - even better than I could ever fantasize. I have a beautiful son who continues to amaze me every day with his personality and development. My love for these two humans grows exponentially every. single. day. of my life. I even get to throw parties occasionally and dress-up, just like I used to pretend to do.

I do miss the days of my childhood where my friends and I were so innocent and naive and believed that everyone was good and everyone would grow up and meet their Prince Charming and live happily ever after. The reality is that there are struggles and hardships and mountains to climb over and not every day ends with a royal ball and love's true kiss. Most of my days end with a collapse into bed wearing very unattractive (but SO comfortable) pajamas, a quick kiss to the husband, and a prayer that my child will allow me at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep.

And I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Gift Swap

At the beginning of January, I decided to participate in this gift swap with another blogger. The premise is simple - gifts totaling $15 in value and you get partnered with a random person.
I got partnered with Meghan from The Struggling Cyster. What a sweetheart! She is in school and super busy and I might be a little busy with a certain bitty. Because of this, we are about three weeks late on posting. Good thing I'm not alone in this!

Meghan sent me a lovely package of incredibly useful stuff. She included a notebook, glitter polish, a cold compress for Jackson (too cute!), ad a travel pharmacy. I'm especially excited about this because I have a few trips coming up and now I won't have to take a bunch of medicine in different containers. It's all right there!

It's been so special getting to know Meghan and I hope we can stay in touch. Go check out her blog and say hi!

Our Valentine's Day

 

It was easy and simple. Gymboree class for the baby, and dinner at home for us.

We bought Jack the book 'Love You Forever' and he also got some new shoes from great-grandma and pa.

Our dinner was delish - all from Whole Foods. We had a NY strip, spinach salad, truffle mashed potatoes, crab cakes, and asparagus.

Dessert was chocolate covered strawberries and lots of cuddling.

Perfect :)

Pepperoni Rolls

Pepperoni Rolls – My favorite appetizer ever are the Pepperoni Rolls at Old Chicago. At 900+ calories per plate, they are a big splurge. I decided to make them at home and they turned out amazing.

Here’s what you need:

• 1/2 Package of Low-fat Cream Cheese
• 1 tsp. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Low-fat Mozzarella
• 1 Package Reduced-Fat Crescent Rolls
• 1 Can Tomato Sauce
• 10 Slices of Pepperoni
• Olive Oil Spray
• Salt, Pepper, and Italian Seasoning

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Start by softening the cream cheese in the microwave – about 20-30 seconds. Then mix in the hot sauce and the seasoning to taste.

 

Next, set up the remainder of your ingredients in an assembly line in this order: cream cheese, sauce, pepperoni, cheese.

Unroll your crescents and begin to layer in that order. 

After you place the cheese on top, roll the crescent from the biggest side to the smallest.

Spray each roll with a little olive oil spray and place in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Friday Brain Dump

Blair (or Beth Anne or BA or Harrison’s Momma), my all-time favorite blogger ever (like EVER), has been hosting a Friday Brain Dump Link-up for a while. Until this point I have been too chicken to post a link-up to it because I’m all, “well what if she actually reads it and thinks I suck”, and I just think I would pee my pants if she commented on anything I post. She could probably tell me I should stop blogging because I’m a lunatic and no one cares and I would still rave to my husband (and let’s be honest, post it all over Facebook and Twitter) that the author of The Heir to Blair actually spoke to me directly.

So anyway… here’s my Friday Brain Dump:

• I had a moment this week where I vomited in my mouth a little because I found my child with the grossest thing ever (besides poop) in his mouth – a piece of my dog’s nail. So disgusting. I’m just happy I found it in his mouth instead of when he started choking on it.
• I cannot seem to kick this head cold/virus 100%. I feel like I am almost better and then a new wave hits me. I now have a bad sinus headache and a runny nose. Not to mention I feel so run down. Lame.
• I am so excited to go to Vegas in a few weeks. It’s going to be so fun and I can’t believe that this couples trip is actually going to happen. I feel like I have been putting a bug in everyone’s ear about this for years. Now I need to start planning my wardrobe and activities. And get my tolerance level up :)
• Why does Starbucks have to be so expensive? More importantly, why I am so addicted to Starbucks? Why do I go there all the time? I never get normal coffee so you can’t tell me to make it at home, and you are crazy if you think I am going to learn how to make a tall vanilla latte with extra foam and a petite vanilla scone from scratch. Ha.
• I think my child is officially a toddler. Just this week we have crossed the threshold into temper tantrums and he is trying to break the world record for how fast he can destroy a room. Not to mention he loves to push my buttons. No joke, he laughs when I tell him no. He thinks it’s a game when I pull him away from something he isn’t supposed to touch. I keep trying not to smile and laugh back at him. Is it wrong that I sort of love absolutely adore his rebellious personality??
• I watched Smash this week and I was horrifically disappointed. Stupid grown-up Glee. Get over yourself.
• I keep having these dreams where I’m 8 again and I am acting out Annie with my childhood friend Heather. I think it’s because I keep playing Words With Friends against her as I’m going to sleep. And maybe because we actually did that when we were 8. Bet you’re impressed we were so into Annie and not so into Cinderella or Aladdin. Cause we were awesome like that.
• And, my name is Tabitha and I am an HGTV addict. I lived without it for over a year and I don’t know how I survived. I’m obsessed. It’s my Pinterest.

So there you go. Nothing super interesting, but that’s okay. My life has been pretty full of crap and drama lately, so I’m good.

Mornings

My son is NOT a morning person, much like his momma. You do not even think about interacting with him until he has had his morning bottle and diaper change. He goes from a cranky, crazy little monster to the precious child I know and love. It’s pretty amazing to me some days to see his dramatic morning shows, but I quickly realize he may be mirroring someone else who isn’t too happy until she has her morning coffee and breakfast.
It looks like our children pick up a lot more than our eye color and nose shape. Makes you wonder what other personality traits he will pick up from us in the future!
As an angry little guy:

And as a happy little clam:

He loves to hide under the counter by his highchair and thinks it’s hilarious. I love it!

Randoms and A Recipe

Happy Tuesday all! How about that Superbowl? I am extremely sad that my boyfriend (Tom Brady, duh) did not come out victorious. At least he still has his good looks and his supermodel wife. I won’t cry for him too much.

This morning I have so many random thoughts running through my crazy head and I need to get them out!

• I watched 5 minutes of I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant this morning and I am now thoroughly convinced that I am most likely 8 months pregnant and about to go into labor at any moment.
• I have no willpower. Baking brownies this weekend was a bad choice. My breakfast this morning consisted of Lucky Charms and a buttercream brownie. Diet fail.
• I am in a style rut. I have decent clothes, but no where to wear them and I don’t spend a lot of money on the clothes I wear all day every day – workout wear. I think I may have to save some $$ for cute workout clothes. Because I either look like I’m a 14-year-old girl or a 40-year-old man. Yikes.
• I can’t watch violent movies because I have terrible dreams. I just watched Drive the other night and this morning I had a dream that Trevor and I got into a bar fight with another couple and had to flee the scene. We won the fight though.

 

For the Superbowl I made a layered dip. I can’t call it 7-layer dip because it’s really more like 9-layer dip. Anyhow, it was delish. Enjoy!

9 Layer Dip

Yummy… I love layered dips. A lot. What’s not to love about cheese and guac? I’m not giving you measurements because it really depends on how much dip you want to make. I eyeballed everything based on how thick of layers I wanted. Sorry for going all Rachel Ray on you and not measuring.

Ingredients:

• Sour Cream (I used low fat Daisy)
• Cheese (I like Kraft 4-cheese Mexican blend)
• Refried Beans (I love Bush’s black refried beans)
• Guacamole (Wholly Guac is the best!)
• Cream Cheese (I use a mix of 1/3 less fat and non-fat)
• Shredded Lettuce
• Diced Tomato
• Diced green onion
• Salsa
• Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

Here is the order I layered in:

Beans, cream cheese, salsa, guacamole, lettuce, sour cream, hot sauce, tomato, cheese, green onion.

Refrigerate until serving time and then go crazy.

 

Valentine’s Day Decor

I am still working on getting a stash of holiday décor for every holiday, so this year I decided to make a few items to decorate with.

I got everything from the craft store and it was super easy!

Love Frame

Super easy to make. Here’s what you need:

• Piece of scrapbook paper
• Wooden frame
• Wooden heart
• Alphabet stickers
• Glue
• Mod Podge

Position the scrapbook page on the frame how you want it and glue it on the frame (you can also use mod podge for this is you want).

Cut the excess off with an exacto knife, and cut out the middle. I glued the middle part onto the back of the frame to look like it was all one piece, but you can put a photo or whatever in there. It would also look cool with a contrasting piece of scrapbook paper.

Paint a coat of mod podge on the frame and allow to dry.

Take your wooden heart and place stickers on it in any way you wish. Paint a coat of mod podge on the heart as well.

Then glue the heart into the middle and you are done!

Hanging Heart

This project is even easier than the frame! I bought the heart at JoAnn for 50% off ($6, woohoo!) and then decorated it.

Supplies:

• Heart
• Heart Stickers
• Alphabet Stickers
• Felt
• Hot Glue Gun

First, I made some rosettes using red felt. I hot glued them to the heart.

Then I simply decorated with stickers and that was that!

Total cost of both projects was about $15.

Linking up with:

 

,

Tabitha

Decisions, Decisions

I have been contemplating for a long time quitting my job and being a full-time stay at home mommy. I feel like it would be easier for me not to have the stress of the part-time job I have. Stay-at-home-mommas – I am NOT saying that staying at home is easier than working. I’m saying that it would make MY life simpler.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my job – most parts of it. I love coaching the girls, I love helping them improve, and I love it when they leave the program in a positive way. I love taking them to competitions, and I absolutely adore my assistant coach (I would have left already if she wasn’t in this with me).

But……. I hate the stress. And the drama. And I keep thinking, this complaining isn’t worth me taking so much time away from my child and husband.

I would have so much more time to do things for me, more crafts, more sewing, maybe take a dance class for myself.

I feel lucky that we don’t need the money (because it’s basically like a volunteer position). I do worry that I may get bored (ha, with a one-year-old?!) or regret my decision or miss it a lot.

I’m so conflicted between liking the majority of my job and being sick of the nonsense. I keep bouncing back and forth about staying or going.

What are your thoughts working and stay at home mommas? I know the grass is always greener, but I do value your opinions. What do you think?

 

Tabitha