my big day!

In light of my 25th birthday I thought I would share twenty five randoms about me..

1. walking into a lilly pulitzer store makes me instantly happy.
2. i still go on spring break with my parents. this year its costa rica!
3. i married into an italian family and i don't eat pasta.
4.. i hate being woken up. there is nothing worse than being woken up when you weren't ready.

9. i need more sleep than the average person. 10-12 is a good night. 

5. i watch wayy too much real housewives. an embarrassing amount really.
6. i get rid of stuff constantly. i always have a bag for the goodwill.
7. when i was 17 i wasn't allowed to get my belly button pierced. so i got a tattoo.
8. my parents found out about said tattoo 4 years later while i was coming out of anesthesia.
9. organized chaos is how i tend to live.
10. i was born in Colorado, but i am so not a fan of winter and the snow and mountains.
11. i despise working out. so i just don't do it.
12. my best friend, liv's god mom, knew i was pregnant before chris did.
13. i am an admitted air conditioning princess, i like it cold.
14. my drink of choice is blueberry vodka sprite. soo good.
15. i hate trying clothes on before i buy them. result? i am always returning things
16. if i'm hungry and tired, i will choose a nap over eating every time.
17. i am extremelly indecisive. i had painters repaint our living room 3 times before i liked the color.
18. if it's pink and green or monogrammed, i can't not buy it.
19. before olivia, i spent at least $20 a week on trash magazines. and i miss them.
20. i couldn't give up my people though. my mother in law and i split a subscription.
21. the employees in nordstrom know my daughter by name.
22. i don't by ice cream or potato chips at the store. i will eat the whole pint/bag in one sitting.
23. one of my all time favorite memories is driving around the beach with my bff as the bars closed,      with the windows down blaring "it's a party in the usa"
24. i love to bake cookies. and eat the dough instead of the actual cookies.
25. i bought a lilly pulitzer nightlight for my the daughter i'd have one day. little did i know that i was already pregnant with said baby girl.

now i'm off to eat one large piece of cake...

sunshine is good for the soul

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. 65 and as sunny as could be. So outside we went and stayed until nap time.

First up was the park..

..and then we headed home for some backyard fun

that sticking out the tongue thing?
she totally gets that from me

daddy's little helper

what would a spring like day be without a cute pair of flats

a moment to brag

Lately Olivia has been the best. Yes, she still can throw an epic temper tantrum. She has her daddy's temper mixed with my patience, so they are bound to happen. But this week they were few and far between. She has been a joy. She makes Chris and I laugh regularly, she is too damn funny.

She has developed a real pension for wearing a tutu and she has one on nearly everywhere we go. As soon as she wakes up that tutu must be put on. She would wear it in the shower if I would let her. And her bows! Girlfriend loves her a good bow. Bows get worn to bed and bath time. Her stuffed animals need bows, I need a bow, even Chris gets to join in the fun. I personally love it. But, I'm pretty sure I am creating a monster.

Liv is officially understanding and remembering what I say to her. No more days of saying "we'll watch Mickey after breakfast" and getting away with it. Now as soon as she takes her last bite of oatmeal she's all "Mickeys" "Mickeys" until that damn mouse is on the screen. She absolutely adores being the center of attention, she is a little ham. She loves to sing and dance on put on a show whenever someone stops by. She has so many people that love her and she knows shes special. I love this. She brings a smile to so many faces, and she loves doing it.

We started seriously potty training this week and Liv took to it like a bee to honey. She is soo proud of herself! She has been going all day without accidents and even waking up from a nap dry. I never knew someone saying poop and then performing could make me so happy. We were at the mall one day this week and she looked at me and said "POOP mommy" so off we ran to the nearest bathroom (I had no idea Loft had bathrooms) and sure enough she went. So off we went in hunt for a treat which ended up being a box of animal crackers. She walked around that whole mall carrying those animal crackers like it was gold metal and told each and every person we passed "I POOP". She was beaming, she was so proud.

The little girl is my wing man. She's my helper in everything I do. My favorite is when I am scrubbing the floor, on my hands and knees, and she stops what she's doing to find a rag and come down and join me. It  warms me to the core to know she wants to do everything I do. It is now a mission of mine to make sure everything I do is something I would be proud to see her copy.

I could go on and on. I am constantly reminded by how lucky I am to have this little mini me in my life. I am truly loving being a mommy to her.

and my heart melts

I'll have trichophagia for 1000 please

So my daughter may or may not have trichophagia. Whats that you ask? Someone who eats hair. Can you saw eww. She doesn't really eat it per say and it's not just anybody's hair. She more sucks on my hairs that she finds all over the house. that deserves another ewww. I shed like a dog losing her puppy hair, so I'm basically an enabaler.

How do I  break this nasty habit? Short of shaving my head I'm up for anything. 

livvy loves the park

Our Love Story: From Mrs. to Mama link up

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Chris and I have been together for seven years this June. June 13th to be exact 

(don't you just love the wallpaper?)

2. What's your love story?

Christopher and I met Memorial Day weekend our senior year of high school. A week before graduation. He and his friends had gotten a summer beach house that he weekended in. I was living at my parents beach house, a town over, working at a souvenir shop. 

(the night i met my man)
{i would be the hot mess in the front}

We met at a party and the next day I was happily surprised to hear from him. From then on, we were inseparable that summer. August came and Chris was leaving for his first year at the University of South Carolina and I was staying home and going to school in state. We both decided that the long distance thing would be too hard and that we should both start school without any expectations. We talked almost daily and for fall break that October, I flew down to see him.

my first usc visit

Within minutes of seeing him at the airport, I knew that our "just friends" pact was a mistake and we fell right back in sync. I flew home on Monday his girlfriend again. We had decided to try the long distance thing. Somehow we made it work. 

That Christmas break I truly fell in love with him. That was when I knew this was the real deal. We had spent all break together, and it was the night before Chris was leaving to go back to school.He called me in the middle of the night, and said he is in my driveway. He wanted to say goodbye in person one more time. We sat there, in his car, just holding hands and he cried. A whole body cry. He told me how much he loved me and how hard it was to say goodbye. A man that isn't afraid to show his emotions? He was the one for me.

Fast forward 4 years. We had done the long distance thing for so long by this point, it was our normal. We hadn't really known any different. We had summers, winter and spring break, and a long weekend every other month together for years.We had our routine down.I called him every morning to wake him up. He called me every night before he went to bed. And we texted each other constantly throughout the day. We skyped a few times a week. It wasn't perfect but it worked for us. 

And then I got confused. I was 22 and had never even dated anyone else. I don't know why, but much too everyone elses's disaporval, I told him I needed a break.

I broke his heart.

He flew home from school to try and make things better. But I'm an incredibly stubborn person and had made up my mind. I needed to find myself. We were apart from February to September. I went a little crazy those seven months, but I learned a lot about myself. Most importantly? I relearned what I had somehow forgotten along the way.Christopher is the one for me. I have always loved him. I missed him desperately but was afraid to admit it to anyone. Especially myself.

That September his dad needed heart surgery and he flew home for it. I picked him up from the airport and poured my heart out. And Chris found it in him to forgive me for hurting him and we picked up where we left off. We feel right back in sync like we had so many times before.

In October I flew down for another fall break.We had a great time. Some may say too good of a time. Because at the end of the month I was calling Chris and saying "guess what...we're pregnant".

God sure does work in mysterious ways. 

Our family and friends were wonderful, and supported us the entire time. Chris was able to come home for every ultrasound but one. Never missed an appointment. (thank god for my dads frequent flyer miles)

He graduated from the University of South Carolina May 2010.

We packed up his house and he drove home.We bought a house and moved in. He got a job as a business banker.

And then we welcomed our precious Olivia Jo. 

After months of me patiently waiting nagging him, he proposed on the beach in August 2010. We got married this past October. Our love story is by no means perfect. But that imperfectness, left me knowing with every fiber of my being that I am married to my perfect man.

(and we don't talk about those seven months)

{we call them my moment of stupidity}

3. How long have you been married?

We married this past October. 

October 14, 2011

4.  Tell us about your wedding.

 We had a full Catholic mass at our parish, St. Joseph's on the Brandywine. And although I am by no means a very religious person, it was my favorite part of the whole day. The church was full of so much love, you could feel it in the air. It was the place where we became husband and wife. It was just how I'd imagined getting married to be like. Our reception was at White Clay Creek Country Club and it was a party like no other. We had just under 200 people and they all boogied until they kicked us out. My dad even extended the reception and open bar an hour, that's the kind of crazy it was. It was an uh-mazing day!

5. Do you have any nicknames for each other?

I'm not sure when or were along the way but at some point we started calling each other FBE and FGE. Favorite boy ever and favorite girl ever. Since we were so far away for so much of our relationship we texted A.LOT. and our last texts back and forth were always ily fbe/ ily fge other wise known as i love you favorite girl/ favorite boy. we are soo cool. 

6. Three things you love most about him

1. He can make me laugh like no other. Even when I'm mad as hell, and just want to be mad, he can make me laugh. 

2. He's everything I'm not. 

He's OCD, I'm a hot mess. He forgives and forgets,  I can hold a mean grudge. 

I've never known anyone to not like him, and I have a few haters. 

He's a saver, I'm not so much.

He's an athlete, once again, me not so much.  He hates gossip, I've never heard some I don't like. 

He's the ying to my yang. 

3. He is the most amazing father. Seeing him with our little girl makes me fall more in love everyday. 

7. Tell us how he proposed. 

We were at the beach, and actually on the beach which is very unusual for us. But my family from out of town was with us so I didn't think anything of it. My cousin and his fiance were with us and I was reading her wedding magazines when I came to a part about finding the right ring. I told Chris I was going to rip it out and circle the ones I liked so he could get the move on. 

{not the first hint I'd dropped. that morning in bed I had actually said I was just going to start planning the wedding with or without a ring}

He grabbed the magazine away and said come on let's go get in the water. I protested, but he insisted so I went. Once we got down to the water he dropped to one knee and pulled the ring out of his swimsuit pocket. I couldn't believe it! I of course said yes and the beach erupted into applause. It was so great. And he pulled of a surprise which is hard to do when your nagging for a damn ring. 

8. Flowers and champagne or teddy and chocolate?

Neither. He's not big on the whole holiday but I'm not either so it works well. That being said, I'm not gonna turn either down

9. Sunset dinner on the beach or movie on the couch?

For the most part I'm a glass of wine and movie kind of girl. But, we did do dinner at night on the beach in Jamaica and I could probably get used to it. 

10. One thing you'd like to do together someday?

I want to go to Fiji and stay in a hut over the water. It looks like my kind of heaven. 

11. What are your plans this Valentine's day?

Like I said above, we don't really get into v-day. That being said, if we didn't do anything I'd be very disappointed. So we will be putting Liv down early and making dinner at home and sharing a bottle of wine. 

12. What are you hoping for this Valentine's day?

This year we are doing a $5 limit on our gifts. I have pinterest on my side, I don't know what he will come up with. 

13. One peice of advice for keeping a relationship strong

Because of our long distance past, Chris and I understand the importance of doing your own thing every once and a while. Needing your space. We both try and maintain strong friendships and try to do things separately with our friends. When your away from each other, even if its just a dinner out, you appreciate time together that much more. 

14. Show us what love means to you

Just a small glimpse of what love means to me. 

january in iphone pics

January 2012 

 If there's one thing I've learned as a mom it's that the days can be so long and yet the weeks fly by.

I love that the project 365 app on my phone helps me to remember all that we've done