Being Mom

Big Changes

2014-01-15T19:41:00.003-05:00

First and foremost, Happy New Year! I know I have not been around, but there have been some things going on in life that I just don't wish to talk about. as a result I will be taking a break from posting for a while. Thank you to those of you that have been following my little blog. Hopefully I will return but I need to get some things in order first.
Chonte'

Mickey Goody Bags

2013-11-24T19:26:00.000-05:00

I told you I had some cute DIY's to show you guys and I'm gonna start with our goody bags, well goody boxes is more accurate. For these I uses colorful gable boxes and Mickey Mouse journaling cards from Amazon and left over letter stickers from last years Sesame Street Party. I'm really focused on keeping this party on a budget so I purchased almost everything from Amazon. (Thank you Swag Bucks) let's get to it!

This was a super simple project was really quick to finish. The Journaling card actually open so I was able to get 2 Mickey heads from each card. I used 2 on each box but you really don't need to put one on the backs. That way you could get 12 boxes from one pack of cards.

I just glued a Mickey head to the front and back of each box and then used the letter stickers to spell out each child's name. I really like personalizing the favor containers so we can tell them apart. The kids are different ages and sometimes the older ones will get different treats in theirs that the smaller kids can't have.

That's it! Super easy, super quick! The next project is a little more involved (and messy) so I'll share that with you later! See you next time!!

Where's Mom?

2013-11-17T15:20:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone! Hope you had a fun Halloween! I'm out of the state on a mini vacay right now (Sometimes mommy just needs a little break) so I don't have an actual post to share. I head back home tomorrow and then I'll get started on some DIY posts for Bailee's birthday party. We're doing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse this year so I've got some cute Mickey themed things to show you guys! Have. Great week!

Chonte'

Pumpkin Pickin'

2013-11-03T00:18:00.000-04:00

I want to preface this post by explaining the lack of pictures. I managed to lose my phone on the hay ride so I was unable to capture the pictures of things I had planned. I hit a little patch of bad luck over the weekend but it worked out OK in the end. so please, read on :)

I got some of my gal pals together for a trip to our local orchard so our kids could spend the day together. They do a Pumpkin Festival every year and the kids love it. In addition to the pumpkin patch they have pony rides, corn mazes, giant slides and pedal tractors for the little ones to ride. I decided to have everyone over for lunch first, that way we wouldn't have to deal with the crazy long lines at the food vendors (and the high prices) The plan was to make fried chicken wings, mac and cheese and broccoli. Unfortunately the night before as I was making the mac and cheese my oven went on the fritz. It turned itself on and wouldn't turn off. it was actually REALLY scary. It just kept getting hotter and smoking. All the smoke detectors went off so finally I just flipped the breaker and cut the power. Bailee still wanted everyone over for a "party" so we just ordered pizza before heading to the patch. I like to give the kids a special treat when we do things like this, I think it helps make memories. I made a goody bag for each kid that contained a Halloween sun catcher kit, 2 stampers, swirly lollipop and a light up LED bracelet. I was gonna do glow sticks but I have a friend that sells fun LED accessories and they will last longer than a few hours. I figured they could wear them when they go trick or treating! I also made some chocolate covered oreo mummy cookies. These were a little more involved that the pumpkin cookies but worth the extra effort. I got the mold at Michael's but I can't find them on amazon. You just melt the candy and put it into the molds. put the cookies in and then fill in the gaps on the side. you can cover the backs of the cookies as well if you like. Just a note though, double stuffed oreos will work but they are taller so you may not be able to cover the backs. I like to stick the mold in the fridge for a few minutes so the candy melts can harden faster. Then I just put 2 in a snack size zipper bag.

One of the few pictures I got before I lost my phone.

The kids had a great time so that all that matters, I just wish I hadn't lost me phone. I guess that's a sign that I need to finally buy a new camera. I have the Find My iPhone app on my phone so when i got home I was able to track it. Thankfully it was still on the farm, I called and let them know I was going to come back the next morning to look for it. When I got there everyone was so helpful. It took about 2 hours but one of the guys had an iPhone so we were able to use it to pinpoint which hay wagon my phone was on. So my phone is back safe and sound, and in between the oven fiasco and the lost phone we managed to at least get out pumpkins carved and painted.

My cat on a window sill and Bailee's pretty scary pumpkin!

Easy Halloween Cookies

2013-10-25T03:12:00.000-04:00

Halloween is just a few days away so if you need a quick treat for classroom or an easy activity for you little ones to do this is it! This project is so easy a 3 year old can do it.... mine did! Ready? Let's get to it!!

Refrigerated cookie dough and sprinkles.

That's right, store bought cookie dough! I used the Aldi store brand because that's just where I was shopping at the time but Pillsbury also makes it. (I think they may have bats or cat shapes as well.) The sprinkles I already have on hand but most grocery stores sell seasonal sprinkles for all the big holidays. I have a box full of all shapes, sizes and colors. I like to buy them after the holiday is over because they go on clearance. all you do is slice the dough either in chunks, or individual cookies (I did it both ways) pour some sprinkles on a plate and roll the dough in them, slice the dough if needed and bake as directed. Allow Bailee to show you!

Mommy did the cutting

Look how cute!

Bailee hard at work.

slice um up!

What did I tell you? SO easy. The best part is that you can get this cookie dough almost year round for all the different holidays! Hearts for Valentines Day, Bunnies for Easter, Flags for the Forth, and of course there are Trees and Santa's for Christmas. Just change up the colors of your sprinkles and you have a super fast treat for all your holiday parties.

Kid tested and approved!

A Girl's Gotta Have Accessories

2013-10-13T20:01:00.001-04:00

This post is just a quickie because I wanted to show you Tinkerbell's fairy candy bucket! Bai has more buckets then we know what to do with. Between past Halloweens, birthday parties and pool trips she has a whole shelf in her closet devoted to buckets so I refused to buy another one this year. So I had the idea to re-purpose one. I didn't have a plan but I knew I wanted flowers and a little sparkle.

This lil beauty started out at a hot pink pumpkin bucket. I think we got it for $1 at Walmart or Target. I covered it in fabric from Walmart. They sell little squares for $1 and cut 1 into 4 long strips and hot glued it to the bucket. arould the top is just strips of leftover tulle and ribbon and the flowers are actually paper. I got it from Michaels, I got it a while ago, I think it was $12 but I used a 50% coupon. you won't need the whole container for the bucket so you'll have plenty left over for another craft.

Oh! before I forget I made my hat for Peter Pan! I just free handed the shape on some green felt, cut out 2 pieces and sewed them together. Next time I'll use a pattern because I made one and it was way to small and a lil lopsided so this one was take two.

I have a couple Halloween treats planned in the coming weeks, Bai is excited to make them and I'm excited to show you!

See you next time!

A Disney Update.

2013-10-06T20:49:00.001-04:00

Back in May I said I was going to plan a trip to Disney World. Well, in case you were wondering.....

My Planning Binder

It's still happening! I booked the trip in October as soon as they opened up the dates for next year and we will be going in May! if you look over to the left, I added an adorable lil countdown timer. Im. So. Excited. As I said before I have been using Swagbucks to buy all the things on my list for the trip and since May I've have earned over $250 in Amazon gift cards. Seriously! I was able to buy lanyard for the whole family, a cooler, even a set of the cutest luggage. All for free! Really, if you haven't checked it out yet you totally should.

Planning this trip has been so much fun. I love having a project to work on and this one is HUGE. There's the hotel, the tickets, the flight and then all the little extra things like dining reservations and reservations for special activities. I have looked through several blogs to help make some of the decisions but by far my favorite is WDW Prep School. Shannon is amazing. Her blog is a treasure trove of experience and knowledge. Perfect for first time planners. She even has a podcast!

Now, while we know I love planning things after I booked our trip on the Disney website I contacted a Disney Travel Agent. There are lots out there but I recommend Skye at Mickey Travels. I could of course do all the planning myself but there are advantages to using an agent. First, It's completely FREE . You read that correctly. Free. Disney pays it's authorized agents a commission on their booking at NO cost to you. Second, they can book all your reservations for you. Disney lets you book most reservations 180 days before your check in date. (dining, barber shop, Pirates League and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique) letting your travel agent do this for you means you are not sitting on the phone or online for hours trying to find openings. And third, they can help you save money! Once your trip is booked your agent will monitor for special discounts to apply to your account. For instance since I booked our trip so early we are paying regular price (rack rate) for everything but Disney often releases these discounts throughout the year. Rumor is that one will be released in October. If a discount is released for the dates of our trip the travel agent will automatically apply it to our account if it will save us money. How awesome is that?
So, thats it. Disney is a go, Swagbucks gives me gift cards and my travel agent is awesome !

Tinkerbell's Wings!

2013-09-30T01:41:00.001-04:00

Remember when I said I had an Idea for Tinkerbell wings? Well it was great in theory but didn't quite work out how I planned but I want to show you anyway because I'm gonna try again. Tink's wings are very distinctive in their shape and I knew that I didn't want to tackle making them on my own. So I searched Amazon for some. They had an amazing pair that light up but they were over $40. Even with my Swagbucks that's just to expensive for me (I'll Link to them at the end of the post) so after searching a little more I found a set that even come with a tutu for $13! Now that price can work with.
So my awesome idea was to make the wings glow in the dark since they don't light up. Bailee was excited about it so I picked up some glow in the dark fabric paint from the craft store to paint over the designs.


Before and after paint. I taped the flower petals down so they wouldn't get painted

Pretty right? I thought so! Now, I layered the paint on in 2 coats so that there wouldn't be any gaps in the paint. Wanna see it in the dark?

Pretty cool right? Unfortunately these wings are clear so they have no wires in them. While they look beautiful, no wires means not extra support. Sadly all the paint made the wings to heavy so they wont stand up. So now I either have to figure out some sort of support for them or I have to start from scratch and order new wings. This time only doing a few thin lines of paint. I'm going to look in my craft drawers and see what I can find, I'm thinking maybe a couple of dowel rods.

In other news I got to do a little more sewing! Hancock Fabrics is having a BIG sale on all their fleece so I told Bai she could pick out some fabric for a new blanket and pillowcase! It was alot of work and I ran out of purple thread before I could finish so I had to switch to blue. Thankfully you can't see it. Im REALLY happy with how it came out it's really cute and the fleece is so warm and cuddly! I think I'm going to make a couple more for Christmas Gifts. Only I won't make the pillowcase out of fleece. It was to thick in some places and my sewing machine did NOT like that so had to hand sew it. Oh, well at least I'm learning lessons right?

Pretty pretty princesses!

If you want to make your own, I found a easy tutorial on YouTube: Double Sided Fleece Blanket

Sewing : Finding A Machine and First Projects!

2013-09-23T04:47:00.001-04:00

My Uncle Joe used to make me the most beautiful dresses when I was just a little girl and I would like to make something for my little girl. something that I can take complete ownership of. My Nanny has a sewing machine that has been sitting idle in a box for about 6 years. It is a retired Brother model but it is basically brand new. She has always said that that it was broken and would be too expensive to have fixed so it sat, until last week when i asked her if I could have it. I have a friend that went to fashion school (Hi Chrissy!) so I figured that maybe she would be able to help me troubleshoot the problems and hopefully it would be something I could fix cheaply. If not, then I would just have to look into purchasing one. Thankfully there was absolutely nothing wrong with the sewing machine except it need a good wiping down. 6 year of dust is kinda gross.

So I hit the fabric store for some basic supplies and searched Pinterest for a tutorial that I could follow. I forgot to take pictures of the process because I was so excited to finish. I made a few mistakes the first time but thankfully I bought 2 shirts so I made a second dress. I DID remember to take pictures while I was making her shoes so I'll show you that too.

For the dress I used this video to Turn a T-shirt into a Tink dress and this tutorial to make the skirt overlay
here is the first dress.

I made the overlay out of sparkly tulle instead of plain fabric and i whipped up a tutu for hr to wear under it. I expect it to be chilly on Halloween so she'll be wearing the long sleeve shirt and white tights. As I said, I made this dress to short. You can't tell from the picture but the tutu is actually around her thighs. I will not be sending my little girl out with her cheek hanging out the back of her dress so I grabbed the second t-shirt and cut it longer.

Here is dress number 2! I made a few changes this time around in addition to it being longer. I added some straps made from the same ribbon that makes her belt and I actually sewed some small pieces of tulle to the underside. Since the tutu was to short and she said it was itchy. Overall I'm quite pleased with my first sewing project and Bailee is excited to wear it.

I picked up these shoes from Walmart for $6-$7 . I painted them with regular green acrylic paint. It took 3 coats to get that coverage and I used a blow dryer to dry in between coats. Once they were dry I sprayed them with green glitter spray paint. I wasn't happy with the way it looked after the spray paint, it wasn't glittery enough for my liking so while the spray paint was wet I sprinkled green glitter on them they gave it one more coat of spray paint to seal it in. Once it was dry I used hot glue to attach the puff balls. I picked them up in a pack of three from Michaels for $1!

The only thing missing now is her wings. I have an idea in my head so I'll show you that next time.
What is you're little one going to be for Halloween? Let me know in the comments!

A New Purpose

2013-09-14T19:22:00.001-04:00

I have been trying to come up with a purpose of sorts for this blog. Sure I could talk about my kid all day everyday, but I want a little more substance sometimes. Bailee is 3, almost 4 now and I'm finding myself with more free time. she is a lot more independent now and is quite content playing on her own without me. So what's a stay at home mo to do when her little one doesn't need her 24/7? Of course I could always bake more but then I would have to eat all those delicious cakes! So I have decided that now is the time to try out some new hobbies, learn some new skills. And with that my new quest was born. I am going to learn to sew, can and make bread....at least that's the goal anyway. Why these things in particular? Well I feel like they are becoming lost arts. The are things that our ancestors did on a regular basis and yet most of us don't even know the basics.
Sewing will be the first thing I tackle. I plan on making Bailee's Tinkerbell costume for halloween this year along with a Peter Pan for myself. Canning will come. As we we heading into apple season I thought why now make apple sauce. As a bonus it gives me a reason to take Bai to the orchard and pick insane amounts of apples. I have a canner on my Amazon Wish List and im just waiting for my gift card to clear through Swag Bucks so I can order it. Lastly will come bread making. This is last because im not sure how often im actually gonna do it. I'm also thinking I may try my hand at candy making. I have my eye on a apple cider caramel recipe on pinterest.
I hope that you all will follow along with me as I take this journey. I'm really excited about it and I can't wait to share my successes and my sure to have failures with you!
How bout you? is there something you always wanted to try? Maybe now is the time! let me know whats on your To Learn List in the comments!

Always, Chonte'

A Dream Is Wish Your Heart Makes...

2013-05-11T07:13:00.004-04:00

SO I'm not sure when it happened but 3 or 4 days ago something just struck me. I NEED to go to Disney World! Disney wasn't even an option when I was growing up, but it's something that I really want to do with my little girl before she gets to big. Now of course I want to go a few times because I know it's impossible to experience the whole park in 1 trip and i have read some blogs where people say that you should wait until your kids can remember it but fooey on that! To me, Disney is about the Magic and you lose some of that magic as you grow up. I want to see the look of wonder and awe on Lil Bug's face when she sees Cinderella's castle. And lets face it, you won't get that same awe from a 10 year old. So friends, it has been decided that next year we are going to Disney World. We haven't quite decided when we are gonna go tho, I'm thinking September. I hear that the crowds are a lil thinner then.
Now I know that this is going to be an expensive trip and I'm starting my Disney Fund from $0.00, I'm following a few great blogs to find tips and trick to save money and make every dollar count. I'll be shopping grocery sales and consigning Lil Bugs old clothes and toys and I have a few more fundraising ideas up my sleeve but I'll share those as they come. One thing I will share right away is that I'm using Swag Bucks. It's a cools site that lets you earn points for surfing the web, playing games, watching videos and even getting coupons. (double win!) you then use those points to buy rewards. I'll be saving all of my points and using thm for Amazon gift cards. I know there will be things that i need to buy before hand, this way I can get them for free.
I'll leave you with s few links to the Disney planning blogs I'm in love with right now. Check them out and let me know if you have any tips or tricks? What's your favorite park to visit?

WDW Prep School
Couponing To Disney
Cheapskate Princess

Sunny Days Pt. 2

2012-12-05T16:25:00.001-05:00

Bailee's Party was a total success!! Everything came together like I wanted it to and all our little guests (and their parents) had a great time. In my last post I showed you some of my projects, this post I wanna show you how things came together starting with the decorations! Rather than buy everything Sesame Street I went with solid colors. This way there wasn't a character overload and it helped keep costs down because I got the plates, napkins, cups, cutlery, streamers, and balloons all from the dollar store. I set up the kids table with all their crafts and a party hat at each place setting.

I hung the Scene Setter behind the kids table and framed the area with streamers and balloons. The pass thru in my kitchen held the goody buckets and placed 2 Elmo balloons on either side.

Elmo balloons also guarded the food table. The "Ernie's Rubber Duckie Punch" was more adorable than I had hoped and the buffet cards looked great on the table. The cupcake tower was the perfect center piece!

Even though the party was alot of work and I was beyond exhausted when it was all over, it was all worth it to see my little girl so happy at the end of the day.

Oh, see her tutu? I made it my self with a tutorial on The Busy Budgeting Mama

Sunny Days Pt 1

2012-11-27T05:28:00.002-05:00

3 whole years! I can't believe that Bai is 3 already. Her party is in 4 days!! She has really been into Sesame Street this last year so naturally that's what she chose for her party. There is a lot of DIY going on so I'm gonna split the post into a few parts. Part 1, I'll show you how I'm creating the party elements and later I'll show everything in action. Ready? lets get to it!

First off I got a great party printable set from Etsy seller Photo Designz. Lori offers 'Instant Downloads' so as soon as payment is confirmed the printables are sent to your e-mail. The best part? She's running a 50% sale!!. There are several different Sesame Street/Elmo theme sets. This is the one I purchased.

This set has so much stuff included That I didn't even use them all. The only thing missing from this set is an invitation. So I picked that up on Etsy as well from TwoTinyLoves.

the two work well together. Same color scheme and same polka dots and stripes design. Most of the projects are from the printables.

That's the basics, now I'll show you how I used some of this stuff. I found some Sesame Street chipboard pieces at my local Michael's and I used a roll of adhesive tape to attach a character face to it's corresponding buffet label. I named all the foods after a different character. "C is for Cookie" has Cookie Monster, "Big Bird's Eggs" (deviled eggs) has Big Birds face etc. Cute right?

For party favors I found some plastic buckets at Target on clearance for $0.33 each. They had 10 red ones left so that's the color I went with. You can find different colors for just $1 each at Party City. I got the foam letters to spell each guest's name from Michael's. You can buy them in small packs but I went for the bucket so the kids could use them for their crafts. I got the "Thank You" signs from Carley over at On One Hand for free!! What a sweetie! They are meant to be used as toppers for a favor bag, but I had other things in mind. I filled the buckets with Elmo color bath tablets, some fruit snacks, candy, a Sesame Street sing along book and CD that I found at Family Dollar and a pair of sunglasses!

For activities im all about arts and crafts so the kids will decorate picture frames and cups. The plan is to take a picture of each child in front to the Scene Setter and mail it to them with the Thank You cards. Then they can display it in their new frame. The frames come a plain tan color. I grabbed a bottle of white paint and gave them all a quick coat so their decorations will stand out better. I have a bowl of crayons, sesame Street stickers, letter stickers, the foam letters and the rest of the chip board pieces for them to use. I'll use that handy adhesive roller instead of a glue stick. Yay for no sticky messes...at least until cake time. The cups come with inserts that can be colored but I want to keep with the theme so I construction paper cut to size and they can use the same stickers and crayons to personalize their cups. This way no one will get their cup mixed up with anyone elses and we're not making as much trash.

The last projects were easy. I just wrapped the candy bar wrappers around mini hershey bars and used double sided tape to hold it. The water bottles are just wrapped with the labels and covered in packing tape so the ink won't bleed if the bottles start to sweat. I used the mini water bottles because well, they're cuter the full size.

I wanted to make the cake myself but Bai decided that she wanted cupcakes. Since I'm doing most of the work myself I decided to let my grocery store handle the cupcakes. I'll pick them up Friday and then I'll add little toppers to them and display them on this cute cupcake stand I got on sale at the party store. I am making...well attempting to make some Elmo and Cookie Monster pinata cookies. Wish me luck. I'll be back after the party with the food and games and decorations!

If you wanna pick up any of the products I used and can't find them locally, here are some links on amazon!

Family Vacations

2012-03-21T02:52:00.000-04:00

The last time I took a vacation was back in high school with my dad, his girlfriend and her daughter. Now that I have a little one of my own I'm taking all the vacation time I can. Bailee is 2 now and she LOVES Sesame Street so in June we are taking a family trip to Sesame Place!!! If you don't know, Sesame Place is a theme park based on Sesame Street. Think Disney World but with Elmo and Big Bird. I am SO excited I don't know what to do with myself. I booked our trip through the Sesame Place Website. several of the local hotels offer package deals but NONE of them are cheaper then booking through the park it's self. Plus when u book through the park you get access to some great deals. I was able to grab the buy 2 nights get one night free deal for the hotel and got our park tickets upgraded to season passes. We probably won't go back this year but with the season passes you get 30% off food and merchandise purchases in the park, it's like having a coupon I can use over and over again. We are taking the Mega Bus to Pennsylvania. I don't do air planes and the bus tickets were SO much cheaper than train tickets ($48 for 3 round trip tickets). Ive's never ridden Mega Bus before but the offer WiFi and power outlets on board. some of the buses even have tables!! I can't wait to see Bailee's face when she sees Elmo and Abby live!!! Are you taking a vacation with your little one? Where are you headed? what are your tips for traveling with tots?

Going for a Visit

2012-03-13T14:43:00.000-04:00

Today I would like to send everyone over to I am baker. She can do amazing things to the inside of a cake and this post is no different.
I Am Baker mini shamrock cake

My Daughter The Diva

2012-02-19T23:43:00.000-05:00

Bailee is a sweet and loving child and usually very well behaved, but boy oh boy can she throw a mean temper tantrum. It's like she becomes a completely different child. Usually these tantrums happen because she's sleepy but the other day I ran into Rite Aid to pick up a few things and she started screaming for candy. Now usually I just tell her no and that's the end of it but something about that day and that time, she just wasn't having it. I guess she really wanted some candy because she got down on the floor and kicked and screamed and flailed and cried something terrible. It was one of those moments when you say "I am THAT mom, with THAT kid". She was rolling around on the floor and bumping into shelves. I was worried that she was going to hurt herself but I was not going to give her candy just because she cried for it. I don’t want her to think that this type of behavior is ok and will result in her getting her way. I tried the whole "mommy's going leave you if you are going act like that" but she called my bluff. I tried just letting her cry thinking she would just move on…nope. Finally I just picked her up paid for my things and left the store.

She cried all the way home and once we got there I sent her straight to bed for a nap. I explained to her that the way she acted is not ok and while I love her I’m not going to tolerate it. When she woke up she was over the whole candy incident. Obviously it would be great if kids came with an instruction guide but since that is not the case what do you guys do? How do you handle the Tantrums?

Are You Ready?

2012-02-08T03:18:00.001-05:00

Doomsday Preppers premiered on the National Geographic channel on Tuesday night. I only got to see one of the episodes but I'll catch the other later in the week. I thought now would be a good time to talk about prepping. Now i know that when most people think of preppers they think of crazy people living in underground bunkers with a bunch of guns but it's not just about that.
Our government advises that we all have a 72 hour kit for our families. Basically that kit includes food, water, fire, first aid and basic things you would need to survive on your own for 3 days because they acknowledge that it may take time for help to come.. We all saw the devastation that followed Katrina. people with out food, no clean water, no means of normal hygiene. Just think about it, after Katrina if everyone had a couple bottles of water, a few canned goods and a hand full of granola bars think of the difference it would have made and that would be bare minimums.

Even if you don't think there is going to be some huge nationwide disaster EVERYONE should have a kit. Every region in the U.S has it's own unique weather patterns. Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Earthquakes, Forrest Fires, Floods, Wind Storms, Blizzards. All of these natural events could cause power outages. Do you have candles? flashlights? extra batteries? What about food? can you feed your family with no power? And what if you are forced to leave your house. If your area was devastated by a tornado where would you go? What if the roads are blocked?

These are the questions I asked myself and I realized I didn't even have a flashlight. Life is unpredictable and things happen that are beyond our control. all we can do is be prepared to the best of our abilities. Visit http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit to get started on your family's kit. If you wanna delve a little deeper then head over to The Survivalist Blog and look around. Tell MD Chonte' sent you.

Do The Potty Dance!!

2012-01-29T15:20:00.000-05:00

This is a big moment people! Bailee just used the potty! I know this is an up hill battle and there are going to be lots of accidents along the way but we have been trying for months and finally success!! I don't even know how to express my elation about this. I am SO over changing diapers!! Lately she has been telling me that she needs to go which would be great except she always tells me right after she goes. Those of you out there taking the potty journey with your little ones, hang in there! It can be frustrating but we can get through it together. If you haven't purchased a potty yet and are in the market, Bailee was given a really cute potty for her first birthday. it's a Fisher Price Cheer For Me Potty

This thing is adorable. It has a toilet paper roll holder on the side and has a censor in the bottom so when it gets wet it sings cute songs of encouragement. They say positive reinforcement is the way to go. Also the entire lid comes off and can be put on top of a regular toilet seat when they are ready for the next step.
How did you start the potty training process?

Time flies...

2012-01-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

It's been about a year and a half since I posted anything on this blog. as I'm sure you fellow moms can agree, life just got to be to busy with working and raising Bailee. Now however, things have changed. Bailee is no longer a baby, but a full blown toddler! (Terrible two's and all) I am no longer working and am now a full time stay at home mom, so i figured why not give this another shot! I plan update at least once a week so everyone thanks for riding the mommy coaster with me. We're all in this together!

Party Time!

2010-12-14T02:27:00.001-05:00

Bailee's birthday party was this past saturday and it was fantastic. the days leading up to the party were a lil stressful since there was so much to do but everything came off without a hitch. I finished her cake and it was a hit! It looks intimidating but with this great kit from Wilton it is SUPER easy!

Bailee enjoyed the cake too!

Her favorite part? The presents of course. However she was more excited about ripping up the tissue

paper then anything else but hey, it was her day.

and if you are looking for an activity for the little ones , this was a huge hit... even the grownups wanted to make them.

I got some cardboard crowns from Michael's and put out some crayons and Foam Letters so everyone could be a prince or princess for the day I ven threw in some sparkly Shapes. The best part is that they are all stickers so there was no need for glue. I'm all for avoiding a mess.

In the end all that matters is that your Birthday baby has a great time. my advice is to have the party early, before nap time. By the end of her party, bailee was ready for a bottle and a nap. But she had a great time anyway!

1 whole year

2010-12-03T20:38:00.000-05:00

Today. Bailee turned 1!! I can not believe it has been a whole year already!! so many ups, and downs, and diapers, and bottles and diapers and diapers, don't even get me started on the diapers. We are going to have her birthday party next saturday when all the family is in town, but since today was her day I baked her a little cake and we went out for pancakes... baby girl LOVES pancakes! everything is all set for her party except for the food. Since my current list is 35 people I will be hitting sam's club next week. I have already started working on her cake, i'll post pictures after it's done but I can tell you... its aCastle ! a lil over the top for a 1st birthday but i couldn't help myself! what did you do for your childs first birthday. was it a big party or just a small affair? what did you feed your guests?
With Love
One Love
Much love
Chonte'

Gobble Gobble

2010-11-25T10:05:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! This is exciting, It's Bailee first! We are having dinner with my family and im sure she is going to LOVE all the food. I missed dinner last year since i was in the hospital being induced (unsuccessfully ) What are you doing today?

slacker, lollyagger, layabout ect...

2010-11-22T23:31:00.002-05:00

Once again I have let this little blog slip away from me but with good reason. In addition to working again I have also started my own small business!! I have loved to back for as long as I remember and I *ALWAYS* bake the cakes for family birthdays, well I posted some pictures on my Facebook page and someone asked me how much i charged for the cake. Charge? What? You mean I could get paid for this? So I ordered a few business cards and sent cupcakes to work with everyone I could and the rest was history. I'm SO excited about this because It's something that I have always wanted to do! I hope you don't mind if I have a few baking related posts every once In a while? I mean, It's kinda related. Have you ever tried do bake, ice and decorate with a 1 year old running around?

Anyway that's whats going on with me... whats going on with you? Are you a stay at home mom? Do you work full time? I stay at home with Bailee during the week and I work on the weekends. Have I mentioned that Bailee will be ONE next month?!?! oh where has the year gone? It was just a month ago that I found out I was pregnant and 2 days ago that she was born. Where does time go? can I get it back? Do I really even want it back? Well the upside to Mini Me growing up is that I get to plan a party!! I love to plan parties! Don't you? What do you do for a 1st Birthday party? I'll save that for next time!

Where has the time gone?

2010-03-04T06:55:00.004-05:00

My little angel is 13 weeks old. It has been 3 months since I last posted on this blog. My intention was to update it EVERYday...HA!! I'm not really sure what I was thinking with a newborn baby needing to be breastfed every hour or two, not sleeping, hardly eating, nursing a fresh C-section incision, Bailee getting her first cold,cooking and cleaning and not to mention ... a BLIZZARD! Again, HA! I say. Now, 3 months later, I have settled into a nice little routine and have started to work again. Now that things have settled down quite a bit I think I can handle Blogging as well.

So where should I begin? Being a mommy is a full time job I have a new found appreciation for the women that have raised children before me. Sleeping is the hardest part. the past few weeks Bailee has had her days and nights mixed up. She wouldn't go to sleep until 6am, would sleep all day and then be awake all night again. it was a horrible vicious cycle. I have been working on trying to keep her awake during the day which was no easy task.. there were lots of tears, hers and mine. However it has all paid off. The last two nights she has slept between 7-8 hours. usually going to bed between 7pm and 8pm and waking up between 2am and 3am. she'll usually stay up for a few hours then go down for a nap on her own around 7am. This ladies (and Gentleman?) is my finest accomplishment! There is nothing in the world like a sleeping baby. My advice? try not to stress to much. Sleep when baby sleeps. I know everyone says that but i also know it's hard sometimes with a household to run. Trust me, put the cleaning aside for a day or two and just be mommy. play with baby during the day, make sure to get in some tummy time (baby needs her work out too!) make sure you are eating regularly and drinking enough fluids. especially if you are breastfeeding, but more on that later. Until next time mamas!! Remember, You are not alone in this crazy world be parenting. I'm here for you!

...And Bailee Makes 3.

2009-12-09T16:44:00.009-05:00

This is Bailee

She was born December 3rd 2009 at 7:04am by C-section

She weighed 5lbs 11 ounces and was 19 inches long

She makes faces

And does cute things while she sleeps.

Her daddy loves her.

I don't know what I would do without her.