The last month

One month from today, my sweet baby doll will be turning three years old.

 

THREE

 

There's one thing I can say for certain about that...

These have been the best three years of my life.

 

 

Oh me oh my I'm so incredibly blessed.

 

Now, please excuse me as I get a bit verklempt thinking about all this.

 

 

 

sharing some love

Even though Fall just started and I'm absolutely, madly in love with this time of year, it's never too early to start thinking about the upcoming holiday season... especially given the fact that Lovie's birthday is a mere 4 days after Christmas. It's like I have to start thinking about it early.

So, me? I'm pretty much done shopping for Lovie already. True story! I love me some good bargains and I don't have the funds to buy for Christmas and her birthday all in December.

I've also pretty much narrowed down which holiday card we'll be sending out this year.

As in the years past, I'm most definitely going with Shutterfly again. They always have an awesome array of Holiday Cards to choose from, their customer service and production is always spot on, and I'm always super happy with the end result.

I've been ordering from them for years now: photo cards, photo books, calendars. In fact, I'm currently waiting on the arrival of a photo mug that I'll be giving my husband for his birthday in a couple weeks. They've got such great photo products, some even have special offers attached to them.

Yes, this is a sponsored post from Shutterfly, but with or without the sponsorship, my opinions still stand: I love Shutterfly and can't wait to get my holiday cards in hand to send out.

Long Live Summer Photo Contest

In case you haven't figured it out by the 100 degree temperatures invading some parts of this country, it's Summer. And that (most likely) means BBQ's, beach trips, ice cream, catching fireflies, running through sprinklers, getting pummeled by water balloons... Hopefully you're capturing all of these fun Summer moments on camera!

If so, you should definitely check out Shutterfly’s Long Live Summer Photo Contest on Facebook, which launched on Monday July 9th (and runs for 5 weeks): http://bit.ly/sweepS

Long Live Summer Facebook Photo Contest details: July 9-August 12, 2012. Multi-week summer themed photo sweepstakes with instant win prizes. http://bit.ly/sweepS Win a trip for four to The Bahamas and a professional photo shoot so you’ll remember your vacation forever. 

All you need to do is upload your favorite photo and caption based on the theme of the week.  Get a gift from Shutterfly just for entering! You can enter at any point during the 5-week sweepstakes period.

PHOTO THEMES
•       Week 1(7/9): Americana
•       Week 2 (7/16): Great Outdoors
•       Week 3 (7/23): Water Fun
•       Week 4 (7/30): Sports & Activities
•       Week 5 (8/6): Parties & Celebrations

PRIZES
•      Instant win prizes just for submitting a photo!
•      Weekly prizes (contestants can enter one time/week)
•      Weekly featured photos: up to 5 weekly entries will be selected from the gallery and featured on the Facebook fan page and awarded a $500 gift card on Shutterfly and a copy of the new Lonely Planet travel photography book.
•      Grand prize: trip for 4 to Bahamas, 4 nights, family photo shoot
•      Shutterfly Sweepstakes - Official Rules


in exchange for posting about this contest, i'm getting a promo code for a free 8x8-20 page hardcover Photo book(plus free shipping). squee!!

Things I've learned this week.

(Last week I did this and I kind of liked it so I think I'll do it again.)

After a fantabulous visit with relatives over the weekend- and more importantly, with my BFF/cousin- she and I have decided on a location and month to go on our Fabulous (just added heh), Fierce, and Forty trip: Naples, Florida. Specifically, The Ritz Carlton in Naples, Fla- right on the dang beach!!

The plan is to go in early August- like the first weekend. We’ll probably meet up there (she’s in NYC, I'm in Chicago) on Friday and go back home on Monday. Originally I thought to go back Sunday (mainly for cost... this is the Ritz Carlton, eh. Not cheap.) but after looking at the resort and reading all the reviews and thinking more about it, I realized I deserve at least two full days in paradise, damnit. It will be hard to leave my Lovie. So hard. I’m actually trying not to think about that part of all of this because I start to well up. Yeah, yeah, yeah everyone needs a break from their kid. It’s good to get away. For both of you. Blah blah blah. I’ve heard it all before. And while I’m sure it will be nice to get away, I have absolutely no problems getting away with my Lovie. Maybe it would be different if I was a SAHM and with her 24/7- literally. But I’m not. I have plenty of time away from her. ANYWAY...

I can’t wait. I really can’t. I’m not a beach person at all. I hate hate hate the heat and humidity and summer. Hate it.   But for some reason, I really want to do exactly this: go to the beach for a couple days with the sun beating down on me and just lay around doing nothing more than eating and drinking and maybe, just maybe even get a spa treatment. That’s it.

Ahhhh I can’t flipping wait.

 

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Spending hour upon hour for weeks and weeks in any “spare” time I have perfecting a baby book is so friggin worth it in the end. Especially when your order is half off* and the end result is pure gorgeous. God I love Shutterfly.

*Shutterfly has no clue I'm writing about them and sharing my love for them. They didn't compensate me in any way. Their half off deal on photo books was given to everyone paying attention, but has since expired. I'm sure they'll have another great offer up and running soon, if they don't already. Cuz they kick ass like that.

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I have surrendered to all things pink. I still hate the damn color but I’ve given in to it. For her.

 

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Thanks to blogging pal, Jennifer, and her Journey to Motherhood story, I’ve discovered a new outlet to occupy my time: BlogHer. (Of course I've heard of BlogHer many moons ago, but I just never wanted to get that involved with blogging.) And I’ve been working on perfecting (haha) my own Journey to Motherhood story… fulfilling one more of the things (writing more) I want to accomplish before 40. Woot.

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10 years is a long time… and enough time to make all my dreams come true.

 

 

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My kid is a lot like her daddy. A lot. Not only does she look a lot like him (thank goodness for his big eyes), but she’s so incredibly smart like him, too. And a bit of a smart ass. Oy, I’m going to be in trouble.

Yesterday when I picked her from school and got her into the car seat, I noticed she had some... gunk … on her face. It kind of looked like glue or something so as I’m trying to wipe it off, I said, “What is this all over your face?” I wasn’t really wanting an answer, I was just talking, you know? Anyway she looks away from me for a second, looks back at me and says, “Nose!”

 

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What have you learned this week? I'd love to hear about it... if you post about it, come back and hit me up with a link so I can check it out.

Tick tock!

It’s 43 degrees right now; it’s cold, it’s gray and rainy, it’s autumn. And it’s a fantastic reminder that the holiday season is fast approaching. What better time to start thinking about what holiday cards to send?

 

Last Christmas, we sent out photo cards from Shutterfly and I’m sure we’ll be doing the same again this year- especially after the excellent experiences I’ve had with Shutterfly since first ordering (Lovie’s birth announcments) through them.  

 

They have such a vast variety of holiday cards to choose from and offer up a lot of customizing, too. Here’s a few of my favorites this year:

(I tend to like the more simple and flat cards because I think they’re easier to spot Lovie’s cute face on amidst an array of other cards, and they’re easy to pop onto the wall or fridge.)

In addition to holiday cards, Shutterfly also has some pretty neat calendars and other gifts that family is sure to treasure.

Tick tock, people. Halloween is in 11 days, Thanksgiving is in a little more than a month, and Christmas… will be here before you know it!!

Are you a blogger interested in getting 25 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly? Then click here.

ABCs

I'm beyond elated to share the fact that I just placed an order, minutes ago, for an ABC book made with pictures (and most of my own wording) of Lovie! And all for the cost of shipping and handling ($8) since Shutterfly* is offering a FREE 8x8 photo book (per an email I received) until Wednesday (thank you sweet daughter of mine for waking up late and taking a 4 hour nap yesterday so I could get this done for you), August 24th.

I have yet to make a book of her first year, but at least this is a small step toward that.

Back Cover
Pages 0 & 1
Pages 2 & 3

Pages 4 & 5
Pages 6 & 7
Pages 8 & 9

Pages 10 & 11
Pages 12 & 13
Pages 14 & 15

Pages 16 & 17
Pages 18 & 19
Pages 20 & inside of back cover

In case you're wondering, here's what her ABC's stand for:
A is for Adorable
B is for Baby and Bear
C is for Cake (and cute and cuddly)
D is for Dada
E is for Eagle and Eat
F is for Family and cute little Feet
G is for Gorgeous Girl
H is for Hat
I is for Ice Cream
J is for Jeans
K is for Kisses
L is for Laughing and Lots and Lots of Love
M is for Mama and Me
N is for Napping
O is for Oma
P is for Pizza
Q is for Quack
R is for Reading
S is for Secret name ;)
T is for Tree
U is for Us
V is for Very excited
W is for Water
X is for XOXO
Y is for Yawn
Z is for Zoo

The layout was all set up already with the letters and photo spots, I just plugged in photos (but, because I'm an anal control freak when it comes to this shit and have to be as perfect as possible {virgo}, I changed a lot of the wording and some layouts and even some of the art work). It really was super easy- the hardest part was finding the right photos!

I placed the order today and it's expected to arrive within 2 weeks(ish). I cannot wait to see the in hand results! And, more importantly, I cannot wait to see Lovie's reaction when she sees this book of her!

*Shutterfly does not know I've written this entry and pimped them out this way. They are in no way compensating me (though it would be rad if they did). All opinions and images are mine and all mine, tyvm.

So... what do you think?? How does it look on screen?!?

who wouldn't love this?

check out what i just ordered to send to the grandparents:

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

the inside looks like this:

i'm super excited because i think they're super cute. and what grandparent wouldn't love getting a random card with their grandkid plastered all over it? score 10 points for us, methinks.

Holiday Cards

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Yesterday’s temps sure made it feel that way, at least. That, along with the time change and I couldn’t be happier. Love winter, love the holidays- and it’s mostly because of all the cards people send. 

For years now, the husband and I have been sending cards- except for last year. We decided that since our daughter was due around Christmas/New Years, we’d forgo the Christmas Cards and send out New Year’s/Birth Announcement cards. The original plan was to create and print our own but little did we know that a newborn baby does sort of put a kink into some ideas- and takes up some time that you once had oodles of.  And that’s where Shutterfly entered our lives!  

The whole experience was so easy and took so little time! I just created my account, uploaded the pictures, found the announcement we wanted, loaded the picture, typed in the text (wordy due to announcing the birth of our baby and wishing everyone a happy New Year), ordered and paid… and within a week or so, I had these gorgeous announcements that doubled as New Year’s cards. 

And I know they were a huge hit because I see them framed when visiting family and friends! So you best believe we’ll be going this route again for Christmas this year! I’ve actually got quite a few in mind already, though it wasn't so easy since there are seriously GOBS of awesome ones to choose from!

The first one shown is the one that popped out to both of us at first. But then I realized it was a flat card and I thought that we should do a folding card so we could write inside. And while the two folded ones shown are cute, I think we’re going to save us some time this year (goodness knows I can use some extra time!) and go with the one that we first were attracted to the most! Eek, I'm so excited now to find the perfect picture of us as a family to include... in our very first Holiday Card as a Family. Can't wait to get these ordered! One less thing to worry about and one more picture to see framed when visiting family!

Want to get your order on, too? Check out shutterfly! And, if you're a blogger and do a little post like this one, you can get 50 free holiday cards! Eek! Click HERE to get all the details.