different perspective

Seriously.

Sparkly

OMG was this challenge hard for me. I'm so not a sparkly type of person so I don't really take sparkly type of pics. That I know of, at least. Plus I didn't see the challenge until a day or so ago and I've been busy at work and blah blah excuse excuse. That up there is the best I can do and that's after some serious tweakage.

toys

I took some pics the other day of some of the toys that have invaded our home lately. These are not all of them, but more than not, they're the important ones in some way, shape or form. (In no particular order whatsoever)

Monchichi = Momma's favorite. Ha! :) My BFF/Cousin got this for Lovie for her birthday. My BFF/Cousin and I are 6 months and 3 days apart in age and we both loved our Monchichi babies when we were like 6. Ack, I nearly cried when I saw she got one for Lovie... I wouldn't have even thought to do that and here she is rocking the gift!



Hokey Pokey Elmo. This was given to Lovie from Grandpa Nick (my dad) for Christmas. I didn't think she'd care for it because she's never even seen Sesame Street but she really loved it. Her little face lit up when she saw it- and then when she was shown that it sings and dances?? Oh boy was she smitten- and she, of course, dances along with it. It's been over a week now that she's played with it and it's definitely no longer a favorite. Poor Elmo. He's gonna eventually end up on a shelf somewhere collecting dust, I just know it. (and I'm OK with it because it's kind of annoying and loud but shhhhh) 



Baby Doll. This is THE Baby Doll (the cat on its shoulder is no longer attached as of last night). This is THE gift of the season, apparently. See that blob of brown there at the bottom of the picture on the left? Yeah that's Lovie trying to get to the Baby Doll! God forbid it be left alone for a minute! This ugly, creepy looking thing is by far her absolute favorite thing in the world right now. She got it for Christmas from my sister and her family. Lovie's voice transforms into this soft and high pitch squeal when she sees it or "tells" me about it. And, on the rare occasion Lovie's crying, if you show her the Baby Doll, her cry automatically turns into a laugh because she sincerely gets SO happy when she sees it. Honestly, it's the most endearing thing I've seen in a long time so creepy or not, this Baby Doll will have a place in our home for as long as Lovie wants.
 


this is an electronic drum that's also a shape sorter. When you touch the drum part it does the alphabet after each tap. It also plays music therefore it's a hit to Lovie. She doesn't play with it all the time, but she likes it enough and got it from my BIL for Christmas.



This is one of her Christmas gifts from us (or Santa?). It's one of those gears toys that comes with colorful pieces that can get placed onto the colored nobs. Lovie likes taking the pieces off (which is why you don't see any pictured, duh) and putting them in her mouth, of course, and ever since I showed her how it works (press the PLAYSKOOL button and it plays music and lights up and moves), she plays with it often, trying to stop it from moving and/or dancing along to the music.

stupid ugly PINK mega block jeep thing. she hasn't even LOOKED at it and i sincerely believe it's because it's pink. WHY OH WHY do they make gender-specific toys? and WHY OH WHY do people give in to it and buy it?? i realize some of it is hard not to give in to but really? PINK FUCKING LEGOS/MEGA BLOCKS??! i will leave it out for now- because i know Lovie (usually) loves playing with cars, but if she doesn't start playing with it soon, i'm getting the pink shit away putting it away for awhile, at least. she got this for both Christmas and her birthday, along with a big fugly bag of PINK mega blocks, from my cousin who's youngest went through a liver transplant a couple months back.


h look, a NON GENDER SPECIFIC Mega Blocks table set. We actually gave this to Lovie for her birthday. She loves climbing on top of it, banging the blocks together, and stuffing them in her mouth. This toy is actually very cool... the legs (the blue pieces- this pic was taken from above) actually fold into the back of the table top, the four pieces on top there come off and you can put the other pieces under it (storage). It all then snaps down and you can carry it around. We like it and this NON GENDER SPECIFIC toy will probably be left out for some time.


h another Fisher Price Laugh & Learn toy. Seriously, I really have grown to love this line of products (I got the L&L Home off Craigslist for $30 several months ago and it's been a big, big hit). This CD Player is no exception. Lovie adores it and is always playing with it at some point every day. She got this from her G-ma (grandma on daddy's side) for her birthday along with this really creepy looking singing stuffed bear, which I should try to remember to take a pic of. The bears mouth actually moves (creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy) as it sings Happy Birthday. We have to play it every morning and every night. :)


Vtech bus. She got this from her daddy's aunt and uncle and kids on her birthday. This thing is pretty cool but it's FREAKING SO MOTHEREFFING LOUD. i finally had to find some packing tape to tape over the speaker on the bottom of this thing because it was just too loud. but it's a cool toy that will probably stick around for some time.

Wordless Wednesday: Favorites

memories

I really love the idea of having something tangible for Lovie to have when she's older about when she was a baby...Something she can really touch and see. So when I saw that I could get a customized (somewhat) book for her, I snatched it up.



first customizable page- click to enlarge



And since I got it for her 1st birthday, I figured what would be better than using the book as a sign in for all the guests at her party. It worked out awesomely. Sure I've got the cards people gave with their gifts but a) not everyone gave cards and b) I suck at scrapbooking. So I told a couple guests that I had the book with markers and asked that they signed the inside front cover or inside back cover and pass it along. And they all did so while eating and while we opened gifts.



inside front cover

close-up inside front cover: "...most beautiful girl...", "...best granddaughter..."

inside back cover- even has some pizza stains! :)



close-up inside back cover: "...most gorgeous..."

Really. How friggin sweet are people to make comments like that knowing that my baby doll will sit down and read this for years to come? I about cried when I read all these.

We're really so blessed.

the video- for real!!

OMG thank you SO much Sara!! I totally forgot about Vimeo!

Here's Lovie's 1st birthday video... the thing I slaved over for months and months. Ack, I love this thing so much- especially when played with the perfect song.


Happy 1st Birthday, my love. from finally Mom on Vimeo.

the birthday video

I spent months working on this thing. Months. Many a tear was shed working on this video. Not out of frustration or anything like that but out of... love and admiration and amazement.

When I first thought I was done with the video, it was about triple in length. And I realized that while I'm ultimately making it for my daughter to have one day and that she (and I and her dad) wouldn't mind 10 minutes of photos, others might get bored. And really, I thought, this is a documentation of one year, not one hundred; I should be able to get it down to fit into the song I wanted to play in the background.

Oh the song. Oh how I hated this song when I first heard it. And then, while driving to Lovie's school in the morning and back home in the late afternoon I kept hearing it- and it sorta stuck after a while.  And soon the tears welled and I was a hot mess!  This song will always hold a special place in my heart because it's a song that represents Lovie's first year of life... and it fits her beautifully.

Unfortunately... I have no clue how to get youtube not to disable the song. *pout* I was able to upload it to Facebook and the song does play, but youtube is not allowing it. And I'm sorry Strange Internet Weirdos People, but I'm not about to open up my Facebook account to the world.

So here it is. The video excluding the sound. Ugh. I'm pissed about this because the song really really really goes so perfectly with the video.




"Just the way you are" by Bruno Mars

Oh her eyes, her eyes
Make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair
Falls perfectly without her trying

She's so beautiful
And I tell her every day

Yeah I know, I know
When I compliment her
She wont believe me
And its so, its so
Sad to think she don't see what I see

But every time she asks me do I look okay
I say

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

Her nails, her nails
I could kiss them all day if she'd let me
Her laugh, her laugh
She hates but I think its so sexy

She's so beautiful
And I tell her every day

Oh you know, you know, you know
Id never ask you to change
If perfect is what you're searching for
Then just stay the same

So don't even bother asking
If you look okay
You know I say

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

The way you are
The way you are
Girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

the goods

this is probably not a big deal to a lot of folk, but to me it is.

i created that there invite. completely on my own. i scoured websites looking for the perfect invite to lovie's 1st birthday party, but didn't see anything perfect. but looking at all the different designs definitely inspired me to come up with my final. and i really freakin love it. especially the NONpink colors- and the fact that i was able to get 50 of them printed at Costco for $15!

but not as much as i love the thank you's below.

omg. how perfect is this? that face, those eyes, the cake, the shirt, the colors... pop, pop, POP! eek, i really love em! and printing them to vistaprint enabled me to get 20 for a mere $15 because of some coupons. i don't even think i could buy those generic THANK YOU cards prepackaged for that little money.

cheap and adorable. just like me (cheap) and my lovie (adorable). ha! a new blog, perhaps? i wonder if it's taken... cheapandadorable.blogspot.com. just checked and it's not... until now! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

happy monday!

Party One One

Yesterday was New Years Day, 2011.

More importantly it was Lovie's big birthday bash with family. And it was really a great, fun party. The food was good, the cake was really good, and everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves- especially the star of the show, 1 year old Lovie!

Picture overload below. Fortunately for you, I had someone else take pictures with my camera and the majority of the pictures came out super shitty. It's OK. There were plenty of decent shots to get the gist of what kind of party it was...

Yes, there's graffiti on the walls. That's part of the charm of this Chicago pizza chain. Mmm, look at all that goodness!!

This is her THIRD damn Seahorse she's been gifted- and she still loves getting it!! : )

Sesame Street Chatters Cookie Monster- big, big hit with Lovie... and she's never seen Sesame Street. It's just that cute of a toy. I'll be remembering this for any future 1 year old parties we may be attending. Super cute!

Lovie's looking at me and my fat arms are wrapped around a beloved Monchichi doll. When I was about 6, Monchichi dolls were all the rage and I loved mine so stinkin' much. I still have it (in storage)! This was gifted from my BFF cousin. It's going to be hard for me to let Lovie play with it. ; )

 

The cake. Honest to god, this is what I got the most compliments on - next to Lovie's adorableness and good nature, of course. I got the cake from Costco. It serves 48 people. I think there were 50 at the party. Everyone had at least one piece and so many people expressed how great it was and asked where I got it from. The best part (because I'm a cheapass) is that it cost $16.99. (Let's not discuss that apparently the cake decorator thought Sabrina is spelled with and "e" and quickly added a dot above the "e" "i".)

My girl. She loves her some cake.

Lovie had a blast and made it through three hours of complete chaos without any type of crying or screaming. She's seriously a rock star baby. There were several people there that hadn't yet met her and so many of them commented on how "good" she is and asked if she was always like this. "Yes," was my reply. "She's a great kid; we're very, very blessed."

And that girl. She's very very loved. It really and truly warmed my heart so much to see the turnout of all our family. And the love they poured over my Lovie. I ordered a customized book for her 1st birthday and I had every guest sign the covers. Today, I read over what people wrote and ... wow. My Lovie is a really lucky girl.

Not as lucky as I am thought cuz I get to be Her Momma- the best title ever stowed upon me.