Busy busy busy

The past week has been the busiest week ever!! We went to San Diego last weekend for my step-sisters wedding, which was a blast!! Alyssa had her first plane ride and was such a big girl! She slept half the way there and the whole way back!! I have to give her credit for the way back because it had been a very long weekend for her. She was up late every night and it was warm and humid. So we were very proud of her! She also went in the ocean for the first time!! That was fun. She sat in the sand and just loved it!!

2 days after getting back from San Diego we went to Sacramento for the night. Alyssa had another hard night there, but she had a great day! I took her swimming at my aunts, she met her first horse, goat, turkey, duck, rooster, and hen at my other aunts farm, and she finally met Bryson, our good friends Brent and Katrina's little boy who is just one and a half months younger!! Joe has the picture of Alyssa and the horse on his phone so I will have to post later. She also got to ride a rocking horse at the farm.

So as you can tell we have been busy!! But things ate slowing down now so I have to get into birthday planning for the little princess!!! I have all sorts of things to do...staring with working on the guest list...which is daunting since my family is SO big!! I feel bad inviting too many friends since my family is so big and the party will be at my dads house. But what can I say...Alyssa is a popular girl!!! But I will make sure ALL if her little boy friends are there :)

I am going to rest as much as possible this weekend, Joe is working the raider game today so Alyssa and I are going to the mall, hope we don't get into too much trouble, then just hanging out the rest of the day. Tomorrow- church, backpack shopping with Cameron and BBQ with my mom and family!! It has already started off as a great weekend (baby is napping!!) and will hopefully continue to be grand!!

Now Open!

It's official! My Etsy shop has opened! Check it out at Kate and Aly . It has been something I have wanted to do for a long time, like since I first discovered Etsy and bought my apron years ago. Alyssa was just the inspiration I needed to get myself going! I am so grateful for her and all the blessings in my life! Alyssa was my inspiration and Joe is my support. I would be NOTHING without the two of them!!!

Now I know everyone reading doesn't have a baby girl, but I am sure you all know someone who does or will soon! My shop doesn't have much in it yet, but I am just starting! Just you wait!!!

Etsy? Yes Please!!!

Whoa...it has been quite awhile since my last post! Having a (soon-to-be) 10-month old is a rather busy job!! But summer (at work) is finally over as of today, so I will have MUCH more time on my hands...well hopefully not...since I am in the process of opening an Etsy Shop!!! It is something I have wanted to do for a LONG time and am finally doing it! I am SO excited!!! And Joe has been very supportive which is a big help and burst of encouragement. Hopefully my shop will be open tonight, but it is taking FOREVER to upload the pictures...so it might not...but either way it will def happen before Alyssa's first birthday, which was my goal!! GO ME!!! 

In other news...Alyssa had her MRI last week and we go get the results tomorrow...I am very nervous...but I know it is in God's hands and whatever the results, it is his will!! I just want to know, but it has been a great test of patience and faith. My sewing has been a great distraction...and Alyssa having a little tummy flu has also been a distraction (very fussy and not sleeping well, which lasted 1 week, and is over now...) 

We are excited and looking forward to my step-sister, Melinda, tie the knot with her fiance Rolando in San Diego this Friday. We are flying down on Thursday (Alyssa's first plane ride!!) and will come home on Saturday. I am excited to enjoy some time with family, time to relax, and time to have fun!!! 

Lastly...I uploaded the pictures for my Etsy shop earlier today and found these pictures I took of Alyssa a few weeks ago...

Isn't she adorable?!?! I just love looking at her! And these pictures turned out so perfect!!! She is such a musician...and she looks great in her cute dress mommy made her! 

Pictures finally uploaded...I am  now going to open my shop!! YAY me!!!

Coloring Apron

One of my girlfriends text me a picture of this the other day...

 As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make one!!! So she came over tonight and I made it...

Mine isn't perfect, but i had fun making it! I need to make a few changes, mostly with the straps, I need to do it how they did, I was just being lazy, but it will work much better if I did it like the one on top and make the crayon holders go all the way across. But I am pretty happy with mine for the first try. Just means it can only get better next time! I will have to make another one and post a tutorial so you can make one too! 


Have a wonderful night :) 


Katie

Personalizing Blog!!!

Just have to share that I just figured out how to add the pin it button and add my customized header!!! I am so excited!!! Check out these websites I used...

For the header: http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2007/06/how-to-create-custom-header-in-blogger.html

For the pin it button: http://www.bloggersentral.com/2012/02/add-pinterest-pin-it-button-on-blogger.html


Love the internet, especially google, you can find anything with just a search!!!!!

Teething baby and Baby Fried Rice!!!

There have been multiple times since Alyssa was about 5 months that I have thought she was teething. Never was. But I SURE hope she is this time. Not because I want her to be in pain, but because I don't want something else to be wrong with her. She was actually surprising good and happy today. She even stayed with my cashier and the lifeguards for a while so mommy could work. But still usually in the evenings, especially when Joe isn't home, she is very clingy and just wants mommy to hold her and nurse. She wasn't today. Well she was at first, but then I remembered something I did when we were out at a restaurant for lunch a few weeks ago. She was chewing on everything so I held a piece of ice for her to suck on. Of course she loved it. So I looked in the diaper bag for a rag or something that I could put the ice in so she could suck on it. I didn't have a burp rag, but I did have a pair of her socks! I put the ice cube in her sock, tied it in a knot, and gave it to her. She LOVED it!! It was amazing! It kept her occupied and kept her happy. So this evening when I wanted to cook her dinner I went in to drawer and got one of her mismatched socks (not sure when I keep them even though the washer and dryer have eaten the other one...I bet your thinking, she's only 9 months old, how many mismatched socks could she have...out washer and dryer get hungry...) anyways...I got one of the socks, put an ice cube in it (wll 3 ice cubes, our ice maker makes small ice cubes) and gave it to her. She just crawler around and played while sucking on it. I think she likes it so much because  it is cold and she can suck the water out of it. I usually can never leave her in the living room and cook in the kitchen (I can see the living room from the kitchen, no worries...) But today I was able to make her dinner (see below for Baby Friend Rice) and clean up in the kitchen. It was amazing. She just crawled around sucking on her sock laughing and playing. It is my new favorite thing. And the best part is, when she is done I can just toss it in the wash. My (and Alyssa's) newest favorite thing...

Testing it out

Awwww.....

Look mom, no hands!!!

Just playing, sucking on my sock <3

We don't usually use the baby gates too often, we are usually right there with her at all times, but today since she was being so good I wanted to put the gate so she couldn't go in the hall and I wouldn't be able to see her, especially since it was hot in the house so I wanted to keep our bedroom windows open to get the breeze to cool our rooms down. So I out the gate up in the hallway. I HATE it. We have the super cheap like $10 one from target. We got it for Mack a while ago, and just never got another one. It takes me forever to get it to fit. So once I fianlly got it to fit I decided to mark which little groove it goes in for the hallway. Look...

"H" is for hall, in case we use it somewhere else...

I was so proud of myself I just had to share. Not sure it other people have done this, but I thought it was pretty awesome!!!

Ok...now on to Alyssa's dinner tonight...something I will call Baby Fried Rice. I made her some rice yesterday, its kind of hard for her to eat it, but she is getting better. And I made a little to much so I have been thinking about what I can do with it. I decided to make her some Fried Rice, well not fried rice like you would normally think of but here is what I did.

I scrambled 2 eggs with a little bit of pepper and paprika. Then I grated a carrot and added some tiny cubed chicken from last night. I let it all warm up (wanted to carrots to get a little soft) then I added about 1/2 cup of rice. I let it all mix together to heat up the rice. I was thinking I wanted to add some flavor, but I didn't want to add soy sauce (she hasn't done too well with salt). I remembered I had put the water I used to steam her pears and apples from lunch in the fridge (I am saving the apple and pear flavored water to use when she has to have her MRI and can only drink clear liquids for 5 hours before). So I added about 2 tablespoons of the water to the rice and let it simmer.

Doesn't that look yummy?!?

Once all the liquid was gone I let it all cool a bit. Then it was dinner time...

She enjoyed it quite a lot! She made quite the mess with all the little tiny rice, but she appeared to like it!


So today was a good day. Even though she is teething, we are working through it and find things that help. I love her so much and hate to see her in pain. But I know it is just a stage, that she will continue to go through for the next few years, and now is the time to figure out what works for us!!

Thank for reading :)

Katie

Clothing tags and "new" clothes!

Joe had to work this weekend so my little princess and I got to hang out just the two of us! Today we got all out shopping for the week done- Costco, Trader Joe's, and Safeway! It took a while but feels good knowing I don't have to worry about it! 

Before dinner tonight we went on a bike ride! Her seat was on Joe's bike and I didn't want to ride his bike (his seat is uncomfortable!!) so I figured out how to put it on my bike. I was rather proud of myself! We had fun! 

Isn't she adorable with that little helmet on?

We rode to the Marina so she could swing! 

She loves the swing!

Then she had pasta, chicken, broccoli, and cheese for dinner. She ate it up FAST! All that swinging wore her out! She is quite the little busy bee! 

Once baby went to bed mommy went to work! I got my clothing tags in the mail this weekend!!! I am so excited about them! I had to sew something tonight so I could use them! I decided to add them to the dresses I made the other night. I ordered the tags from the Etsy shop Mommie Made It. She was very helpful, nice, and prompt with all correspondence. I would highly recommend.  Here is the first Kate and Aly tag being sewn on...

It was so exciting to sew the first one on!

Don't they look so official now? Not that I need to be official, but it is fun! And it looks SUPER cool!!!

I decided that Alyssa needed a new outfit so I made her a pair of leggings from a tank top I got at the thrift store for 99 cents and a dress which I made from a t-shirt I also got at the thrift store. I used tutorials from the blog I was talking about yesterday, Make it and Love it. I am pretty proud of them...

Cute summer outfit!

And a couple close-ups of my fun tags! 

Glad I had such a productive weekend, but even more GLAD (and relieved) that this was the last weekend Joe has to work! Starts his new schedule beginning of August and has next weekend off! The weekend is the hardest time for me when he works because at least during the week we go to work and everyone at the pool wants to play and hangout with her so I get somewhat of a break...but the weekend is just me...all day...even when she doesn't want to nap and is super grumpy...so I am very happy! 

Thanks for stopping by :)