We bought a new couch!  I’ve been stalking grey couches at ikea for about a year now and FINALLY we got one.  Our living room is not the biggest and we had this GIANT sectional.  Although it was comfy and could seat an entire army comfortably it really limited what we could do with our space. I’m one of those people that likes to move furniture around to change things up and with that giant couch we had only one option.  it drove me CRAZY.  Our little yellow chair was actually free.  I found it on the side of the road like 4 years ago and it will probably remain in our home in some way for the years to come.  its one of those rare freebies that you actually want to keep around.

Brett and I have had some really awesome things given to us during our first couple years of marriage, but its so nice to actually go to a store and pick something out that you both want.  Its just a couch, but it has made our home feel SO much more like us.  There is a TON of other stuff I would like to buy, but we don’t have an extra 10,000 laying around (cuz seriously that’s how much id spend if I could), but we’re thinking of every few months investing in a piece of furniture or home item that we love and would like to have in our future house.  Ive got my eye on our couches matching ottoman.  : )

I hope everyones thanksgiving was awesome!  This year was my familys turn for thanksgiving which worked out perfectly because we got to spend some time with our new NEPHEW!  Ethan Henry was born November 23rd! He is so tiny and so freakin cute and squishy!  I love our growing fam bam! : ).

I cannot believe that it is December and that Christmas is 22 days away! Brett and I have already done all of our Christmas shopping for our family and I just finished wrapping them all (before we even got our tree!).  We are so on top of our game this year!  Also yesterday I made cyber Monday my biz and got all of Bretts gifts done.  I might be a little too proud of myself.

VIVALACHRISTMAS!

okay okay okay.  im one of THOSE people.  I LOVE Christmas.  I get my Christmas feeling pretty much as soon as October hits and I have this theory that it starts smelling like Christmas November 1st.  Christmas has a smell…trust me on this one.

Now let me clarify.  I also really love thanksgiving.  as an intense lover of food and friendship, its one of my faves.  I do not ignore thanksgiving completely but I do get a bit prematurely excited for all things festive.

My husband is really intense about “No Christmas before Thanksgiving…give thanksgiving the respect it deserves!”  He actually said this phrase to me the other day when I began singing a Christmas carol in the car.  he had no where to turn and he avoided my joyful tunes by blasting rihana in my face (or whatever was playing on kiisfm at that time).

Anywho…since ive been “banned” from decorating until November 28th (after all the dinners) I’ve decided to get a head start on some Christmas craftin.

while penny was a nappin, I squeezed out a couple of projects including this little fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la banner and a little sparkly Rudolf.  I was inspired by all the little sparkly buck silhouettes ive been seeing all over pinterest.  I love the little sparkle it adds and I thought why not take it a little step further and give that good ol reindeer a big red nose.  like a light bulb!

im sure there are more projects to come : )…I cant wait!

In case your curious about the reindeer silhouette…I just hunted one down online and printed it out.  get some glitter all up on that bad boy and cut it out then paste it on a canvas! boom!  that easy.

what are some crafty creations your eyeing this holiday season?  id love to get some more ideas : )

you guys.  being a mom is freaking hard.  not only is just the sheer responsibility of keeping a tiny human alive mind blowingly difficult.  the pressure we put on ourselves is unreal.  I know im not alone in this.  I mean…if you end each day saying to yourself “wow, im amazing and I did everything perfect today.  my baby is so lucky to have a flawless mother!” more power to you…and if you have any tips…don’t send them my way because I don’t want to feel worse than I already do!

personally, I put a lot of pressure on myself.  if I cant do things well…I tend to avoid them.  cant fail if you never try right?  well, here I am a mother.  this is not something you can skate through or avoid.  everyday.  every moment of the day.  penny needs me.  and the questioning starts to kick in.  is she eating enough?  does she sleep too much?  is she getting enough tummy time?  is it okay to sit her in her boppy while I make a sandwich and have some lunch?  SERIOUSLY!

Today, Penny all of a sudden got ravenously hungry and started freaking out.  She was doing this really awesome crying thing where she runs out of air and then screams with all of her might.  I at the time was pumping and not in a position to feed her.  So I periodically gave her her paci and tried to calm her down.  When I finished pumping (way before I was done) her crying was a bit out of control.  So while I made her bottle I laid her in her crib and shut the door so that I didn’t lose my mind.  When I finally got her to feed her (maybe a total of a minute and a half after putting her in her room) I found her with tears streaming down her face.  My little one was crying big ol tears of sadness and this rush of failure just flowed over me.  I should’ve fed her faster I should of had a bottle ready just in case.  I cant believe I made her cry.  I even texted my husband telling him that today I was the worst mom on the planet.  I just felt so incredibly bad and was convinced that I was now at the top of pennys list of least favorite things.

I fed her and when she was finished I set her in her boppy and asked her “are we still friends?” She replied with the biggest smile I have ever seen.  my daughter was not scarred forever by me making her bottle too slowly.  she loved me.  and in that moment I was forgiven.  I wasn’t the worlds worst mother…my daughter was just really hungry.  I wish that I could give myself the same grace that penny unknowingly offers me everyday.  im never going to stop trying to be the best mom I can for her…but am not perfect.  that’s for sure.  and that is totally okay.  i’m going to love the crap out of penny every day of her life, I may not always make dinner on time, but she will be fed.

I cant remember the last time I dressed up for Halloween, but now that we have Penny, I could NOT wait to do it!  We were definitely inspired by this cute little fam bam over at Jen loves Kev.  We got together with some of our friends with littles and took them around town for a little trick o treatin.  Of course Penny had NO idea what the heck was going on…and was looking at me like “mom, what the eff is this thing you have put on my head…and why do you keep laughing at me?”

Its amazing how having a little one breathes new life into things.  I remember how much fun it was to dress up all ridiculous and run around getting candy and getting to see all the fun costumes.  No “adult” costumes all up in yo face and going out to parties…just good clean childlike innocent fun.  Penny makes things magical again…I like it : ).  As if the day wasn’t magical enough…Penny slept from 10pm to 5am!  She was probably tuckered out from all the fun she didn’t know she was having.

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!