Life of BB

Most times, people will say they are happy the year that has passed is now over. Some years, I too, said the same. But I have to admit, this year was wonderful for me/us. It was Lil B's first year of life which proves to me that life is truly beautiful. Lil B makes my dark days brighter. This past summer as my family lost one of our shining lights, he did the same. As we became dim and life looked grim, Lil B helped me see the beauty in life. I know that Kim didn't get to meet Lil B in real life, but I know she has since come to see him. She thought he was beautiful and her comments that live on in our cyber world, will always warm my heart. 2013 had many reasons to be beautiful. I gained a sister in law, a good friend welcomed her first baby girl, my best friend got engaged, we dedicated our son, we celebrated 6 years of marriage, someone I love gave me awesome news about themselves, my mother in law celebrated a monumental birthday, one sister in law received her bachelors

  Little B turned one on December 6th, this by far, has been the fastest year of my life. And I have to say probably the best year too. Thought it would be fun to share the monthly pictures with whomever reads my blog =). Enjoy ! One to year two ! (or as me and one of my close friends likes to say, "year duece")  

that our bodies can do amazing things. Especially us women. It's also no secret that we are almost suffocated with the image of what the "perfect "woman should look like. Does that person really exist in life without a cook, maid, personal trainer, butler, life coach, plastic surgeon, etc. etc? Who knows. What I do know is this, I have seen beautiful women in my life, many of them. And guess what? They are not what are in those photo-shopped magazines. They are just simply beautiful. When we make the decision to have a baby, of course we wonder what is going to happen to our bodies? Will we gain 200lbs? We will get stretch marks? Will we be able to lose the weight we gain? And maybe some don't even worry because they are just happy with being pregnant. For me, I was happy to be pregnant. I was overweight to begin with and my first trimester was a doozie. I ended up losing weight then(don't worry I gained it back) But I didn't gain too much because I had

Lil B will be one on 12/6. Not sure how that happened but my gosh it makes me cry ! Lots of prep has been happening over at our house for his 1st birthday party. We can't wait ! Here are some sneak peaks

**Cory Montieth **July 17, 2013 **the farewell episode I watch Glee, I wouldn't consider myself a "Gleek," but I watch the show. Mostly for the singing but I do understand  the story lines through all that singing that I actually watch.  I have grown to like it and of course, follow the love story of Finn and Rachel.  I watched the farewell episode last night and I wept. I realized, my tears were not because of the character Finn or the real life actor who overdosed, but because it brought me back to the date I found our this actor died. July 17, 2013. A date that will forever be ingrained in memory for me and my family. I can remember that morning reading yahoo news on my phone and feeling shocked. I remember thinking how could this actor I knew nothing about, pass away? He seemed so "good" and so "normal." I was sad about since he seemed "good" but then that was that, off to get ready for church we went. I didn't cry last night

Figured I'd share some randomness about me, not sure who may be interested by why not. I cry at every wedding, I am just a true romantic Manners always matter to me. I love when people say "please" "thank you" I love snail mail cards. I get super excited when I get them in the mail. I love to see what stamp people used, what mailing label and how they addressed it. Let alone what's inside. I find NYC magical around Christmas time I love surprises, but it's hard to actually surprise me I am the youngest of three girls. My older sisters weren't that bad growing up, they were pretty kind I work at home, 9-5 M-F and raise my son at the same time I dream of working for a non profit agency one day I haven't taken a vacation on a plane in 6 years. (overdue much?) Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday

I do not think I ever shared this bit of information on my blog before, but did you know I grew up in the house we own? My mom left behind a book of pictures of how our house used to be way back when and I thought it would fun to show you a very very before and an after. Ready for some retro cool looks?   This picture is of our current guest room, which used to be my oldest sister's room. Where on earth is that crocheted quilt and dresser now, I'd love to have them !!! Here is what it currently looks like: This picture is what my room looked like when I was little. I am pretty sure this was my bed, I shared a room with my other sister, Melissa. And now it's baby B's room. Here is the same side of the room and what it currently looks like :   Here is an older picture of what our home office looked like when I was little And what it  currently looks like now: Working at home chaos !!                                Here is a picture of what u

A friend of mine said to me last week that she hasn't seen me happy in a long time. It hit to the core. Not because she was being mean, but because she was correct. I feel like I am in a bit of a slump lately. Things are at it's all time hardest point for me right now. Every avenue of my life, just feels hard. Our son hasn't mastered the art of sleeping through the night or maybe he doesn't want to, the jury is still out on that... leaving us terribly sleep deprived, going on 9+ months My job is very hard, we are all doing more work (like the rest of the country) but with less results, leaving us all stressed out, such a shame I work from home, 40 hours a week, raising our son, and it's just a constant juggling act with no down time. Some days I feel I am neglecting him by having my nose to the grind and other days I just feel like I am spinning my wheels with no results Money is something that has never been in abundance but now I feel like I need to watch

I began to write a posting on July 17, before we knew what God had planned for our sweet Kim.... Kim was taken home that evening to heaven. My entire family is in shock. As I am writing this, tears are running down my face.... Please sweet Jesus watch over Kim, she is safe now with you and is in no pain. Please watch over our family, heal our hearts as we keep Kim alive within ourselves.: "I don't have a very large extended family. Some may think it is, but in reality, it's truly not. I have a few aunts, a few uncles and a few cousins. Most live in different states and many times, communication is sparse. But we are all bonded, in an unspoken way. When one of us is in need, we all speak up and rally. My cousin Kim lives in North Carolina. I have not seen her in "real life" in many years. Maybe the last time was my wedding ? ! But we keep up on each others lives via Facebook. When she recently visited my mom, I was able to see her via Facetime.... Love techno

Yesterday was my birthday. Nothing fabulous. At this point of my age, it's just another year older. Nothing monumental, not a new decade, nothing to go crazy about.... But it got me thinking about when my sisters and I were younger, (and anyone else who may have lived here from time to time) my mom would write lipstick messages on our bathroom mirror. Most of the times it would say "Happy Birthday" to us. And if I was having a terrible week , it would be something encouraging like "I love you, have a great day." Well, I definitely miss my lipstick messages. I wish when they were written, we had Facebook or Instagram. What a cool thing to have captured. Here is a picture of what one may have looked like, not ours, but similar.

A month later and I've finally gotten around to posting about this amazing day. Originally Mr. B and I wanted to have the dedication at home, but we opted to have it in a restaurant instead. Less clean up, less set up and less stress ! We went to one place and fell in love with it. We booked it on the spot. Here is what it looks like inside, if you know me in real life, you know this is 100% my style. I looked online for a while to find the right invite. Most websites are pre printed invites that all said "Baptism or Christening".... it was hard to find one that actually said or allowed me to write dedication. I went with the good old staple, Vistaprint. I also designed labels there as well. Below you can see both. The cake was something I wasn't 100% sold on since we really didn't need one because there was a dessert buffet. But I figured for picture use, it would be good.... hindsight, I have one picture of it !!! Waste of money, although the cake was del

as did my friends, relatives and everyone else that spoke with me about this topic... They all told me you would not know true love until you had a child. That simple statement really could not hold any more truth. Sure I love Mr. B., and he loves me, but the love we feel for Lil B is something we can not begin to measure. I simply look at him and can bust. This past weekend was his dedication. I think this picture simply shows you exactly how we feel. We love him so very much. Happy Friday people, hope you have an amazing weekend !   PS Photo credit from the one and only Jennifer Bennett Photography !!!   http://www.jbennettphotography.com/

Strange title right? Let me explain. Over the weekend we put our a/c on in our bedroom and it smelled disgusting. We call for service, being the planner I am, we of course have a service contract... So they come to service it and they tell me it needs to be taken out of the wall for two week to be cleaned etc. etc..... LONG story short we need a new a/c, this one is shy of three years old and the old service contract I paid in full for, is now gone with the unit. New a/c = new service contract =  more $ spent.... So this stressed me out. We also have a lot of things happening in the next few months. We have three monumental birthdays coming up for loved ones, a bridal shower to celebrate, a baby being born, a wedding, our son's dedication, Father's day, Memorial day and house guests coming to stay with us ... all which we need $ to purchase gifts, outfits or items for... So this stressed me out. Then, I sat back and thought about it. I realized how truly BLESSED we

It's like it happened overnight. Some how, some way, I learned Lil B's non verbal ques. A friend once told me that I would get to know them soon enough, I believed her, but really had no idea what she was talking about in the beginging. But now, I now can tell you what each cry, fuss, or laugh mean... Yes, he has different laughs ! And he gets the hiccups just like his momma when he laughs a lot.  It is pretty mind blowing when it happens, it really felt like it was overnight. Lil B is 5 1/2 months and every single day he amazes me. I just love him so. Here is a pic from our weekend. Love these two so much.

It was nothing special, but amazingly relaxing and shared with our moms too. Here are some pictures from my day.   Someone has a prezzie for me !!!!   It's his birthstone !!! How did he know I wanted this lol ???!!!   Here was my original plan, because of this pin on Pinterest... Clearly I could not wear them all, I couldn't bend my finger  !!! So back to be re sized it went for my right hand. Not a big deal, live and learn ! Here's my love giving me my card on Mother's Day... and he wrote in it. Do you see that "capital A?" The kid is a genius !! I received tons of cards from everyone. So blessed ! My mom got me this super cool book. So many great ideas in it. I have saved tons of the pages. My mother in law peaked my blog and purchased me this pillow with our wedding date on it. She also got me crystal salt and pepper shakers I had wanted. So awesome ! Mr. B was going to cook for us, but I said no way, just order pi

  I just love dressing Lil B. I can not handle it. Here are five of my faves... He is so stylish When he was a wee 1 month old !    

 Our home was originally a ranch home that was then dormered. Our  downstairs hallway has always felt like a long hallway to bedrooms, because, that is what it used to be ! I have wanted to make a cut out "window" since we purchased our home 4 years ago so it was long over due. This past weekend, we finally did it ! Here is a picture frame of the progression of the hallway. First picture  (top left) was with carpet, second (top right) was when we installed tile, third (bottom left) a different piece of furniture at the end of hallway and then the fourth (bottom right) the fabulous cut out (and different furniture again lol.)   The transformation over the years... Here are some views of the new and improved hallway   I love it so much, it makes me happy every morning when I come down to make my morning coffee. Seriously, it's the little things.