The Little Princess

It's official! I am published. Yep - I said it. I may have paid for the book to be published myself, but that is neither here nor there. There is still a book with a story that I wrote out there!

While my cousin was deployed, I made up a story for Lainey about the Little Princess and her Sailor Princess.

Over lunch one day, I was talking to my friend (and one of my favorite designers), Carly Reed, and mentioned the story to her. 

 So we teamed up and made a book!

For Christmas, I gave Lainey and Jeffrey each a copy of this book since it is about them and the relationship that they have together.

Even though it is a personal story of our lives, I think it's a story that anyone can read and enjoy.

It was such an awesome experience to see this through from start to finish.  It's amazing to see something like this evolve and then arrive at your house as a tangible product!

For a preview of the book, or if you are interested in sharing the story of the Little Princess and her Sailor Prince by buying a copy, check out my bookstore on blurb!



xoxo,
Linda

Choosing a daycare

The time has come to make a huge decision for our family. 

Here is what conversations have been like at our house this past week...

Do we need to go ahead and pick somewhere? 

Where should Lainey go to school?

Where is good?

Is she ready?

Are we ready? 

Can we even afford this?!

The answers have been sort of like this...

Yes...errr maybe... ok, yes.

Sure... if you think so...what do you think?

No....errr ok yes...

I sure hope so...we are gonna' have to...

Holy shit this is happening?!

Red Team...GO!

Not even going to lie - this has been one of the most stressful adventure of parenting yet. And while it may not be all school-related stress, it's all been lumped together.

It has taken us close to a month to make a selection.  I have made lists of what is important to us in a school, made tons of phone calls, read welcome packet after welcome packet, scoured webs sites, run numbers, compared prices, compared curriculum plans, gone on tours, conducted on the spot interviews with teachers, and asked all of my friends with kids where they sent their kids.

Finally. A choice was made this week... Lainey is going to attend Primrose starting in February. 

My biggest piece of advice, through all of this, is to be thorough! 

Do your homework.

Decide what is important for you and your family and find it.

Convenient isn't always the best choice and cost isn't always the best factor.

We chose Primrose because it has an outstanding reputation, came highly recommended from some friends, teaches through a curriculum that is tailored to Lainey's age and includes sign language (rather than just keeping them contained in a room).  We left their feeling "good" about what we saw and the opportunities for Lainey.

But had we not done all of this research and tours, we would not have even thought of this place. It has very reasonable rates that were almost the exact same as a nearby facility that didn't offer even half of what this school does.

Now, we've just got get ready for our first day of school!

xoxo,

Linda

{the derrs}

Before the holidays, I had the pleasure of taking photos of a wonderful brother/sister duo.  Ok... yes... I know I am biased - they are my cousins!

This was an awesome opportunity to get some extra time behind my camera and it was quite the adventure!  We had to climb all through a soybean field and then found an amazing old truck and a barn to use.

Here's just a few of the shots from our session!

If you are interested in a session with {not so perfect photo} feel free to contact me!

xoxo,
Linda

Slowing Down aka Life with a Toddler

I know what ya'll are thinking...
"Slow down with a toddler?! Yeah right!"

Well, that's sort of true.

Life with a mobile toddler is definitely always moving! Whether we are playing, coloring, bouncing on the couch, or doing the "Hotdog Dance," we are always moving!

But...

Have you ever tried to getting out the door and into the car with a toddler?! Or the reverse -- getting from the car and back into the house?

Well, let me tell you -- it's a slow process! So many things to look at, places to explore.

Or how about getting ready for bed?! "No Lainey, your arms don't through the same hole as your head."  Or how about "No, silly girl - your pants are not a scarf!"

Oh! And let's not forget the STAIRS! One.stair.at.a.time! And of course, I can not carry her - because that would be too fast. 

I have always been on time...ok, most of the time I am on time... but it is always a race to get somewhere.  My entire life, my mom has always yelled at me for running down the stairs because "it sounds like a bunch of horses" coming down the stairs.

I have always been on-the-go.

As someone who has lived life as habitually running behind and timing my mornings literally to the minute as I race out the front door, this is a huge adjustment.

So, yes.  Life with a toddler is fast and
there is a lot of chasing going on.

But...

It is still slow.  Goodness gracious is it slow!

xoxo,
Linda

18 months + {family} photos

Lainey is now a few weeks past 18 months old... holy hell, where is time flying?! She didn't have a lot of stats taken at her check up, though.  I guess as you get older, there are less numbers to calculate and it turns into height and weight only.

Well leave it to my child to dance on the "big kid" scale so it couldn't get a true weight and then throw a tantrum about laying on her back to get her length measured.

Best guess on her stats... 

Weight: 19.6 pounds? (My scale at home stays pretty true at 20.3-ish)

Height: 30 inches 

Keyword: "guess"

So a couple months (yes, I said months) ago, we did family photos and Lainey's 18-month photos all in one session with Pyle Photography.  As usual, I worked closely with Caiti and styled much of the shoot and of course, I brought an arsenal of vintage and antiques props.  

Sorry you haven't seen the photos yet... they were Christmas gifts!!

But without further ado...

 

During this shoot, we also took a minute to get some Christmas photos. Literally, it wasn't much longer than a minute.  Lainey was so over it by the time we made it to the outfit change!

Thanks to lovely ladies of Pyle Photography for these great shots! It's always a pleasure working with ya'll!

xoxo,
Linda

Welcome to {2013}

Coming off of a wonderful vacation... You would think while on vacation, one would post more often.  However, my vacation was the opposite. 

I spent every morning sleeping in and snuggling with Lainey and pretty much did whatever she and I wanted to do.  Over the last week and a half, Miss Priss and I enjoyed Christmas with our families, spent a couple gloomy days in PJs, had brunch with Santa, and spent one day shopping with NeeNee and the gang.  

Then we rounded out the vacation by taking advantage of Daddy's long weekend.  We spent a couple days of cleaning and organizing. Side note: I hate that when you do these big cleans, the house looks messier than when you started until it's all done! 

OH! And we also converted Lainey's bed into a toddler bed... now if only I could bribe her into sleeping in it!! 

Here's the photo recap of our holiday vacay!

Second year in a row with this special Santa

What a difference 12 months makes!

Sorry the spacing is off on these photos, I am beyond frustrated with fighting with them!

I hope your holidays were filled with lots of love and laughter.  We are looking forward to seeing what 2013 has in store for {the nuthouse}

xoxo,
Linda