zoo day

i hope you all had a fabulous memorial day! it was 90 degrees and sunny here and we had a ball. i'll post some pics of it later.

for today i thought i'd share some of photos of paisley's first trip to the zoo with her nina, poppa and cousin. 

we got to ride a camel but pais was a little too small so she chatted with this friendly guy till we were done. 

melt. my. heart. 

yep. i'm that mom that puts her kid on a leash. funny thing is she loved it. and i'll never definitely be leashing her up again. 

my nephew transformed into a super hero for they day. he's pretty cool like that. 

the kiddies were totally over walking by the end of the day. so we shoved them both into the stroller and they thought it was so silly and fun. 

we ended the perfect day with a ride on the train! 

so so fun. i love the zoo. have you been lately? is there a good zoo where you live?

what i've been up to lately

things have been so busy crazy around here lately. and i love it. last weekend we got to spend some time with our very dear friends from michigan and it was so wonderful! 

mom, jackie and me and all the kiddies who of course would not look at the camera if their life depended on it!

pais and i got super adventurous and rode a turtle. it was pretty insane. 

pais given her "thumbs up" approval on wearing her nina's sunglasses. very stylish. 

ok so this is something else i've been working on. remember how i was asking you to vote like crazy for the top 25 kids' style blog? well we made it which is awesome thank you. thank you. thank you! but i had to send in a picture of myself for an interview and i have absolutely no good pictures of myself. i had every intention of getting a professional one taken but like i've been saying we've been super busy! so the other day i took like a thousand pictures of myself {maybe that's a small exaggeration} with my awesome camera computer and i felt like this was the best one. i already sent it in so no changing it now but what do you think? is it ok? ahhhh i just don't know! 

it's been a while

wow. has it really been a week since i blogged last? we've had a lot going on in our little world lately and spending time with my family is so very much more important to me then sitting down and writting up posts for this little bloggy. however i have missed you all dearly! 

here's a little peak into what we've been up to lately. 

my parents came home from a cruise where they celebrated their 30th anniversary. wahoo! their skin is now golden brown and this picture show's how pasty white my little birdie is next to my freshly sun-kissed momma. 

we went rummaging through some neighborhood sales with some of our bestest friends. so fun and we found some killer items!

{and yes my daughter has a cheesy air brushed shirt on that says "daddy's girl". don't ask.}

paisley got to play in the water and learn how to use a hose with her nina {aka grandma}. and she also got a couple good scrapes on her knees. i'm contemplating putting giant bandaids on her knees every time we play outside to prevent getting scrapes! is that a little over the top?

we had bunches of more fun this past week and hopefully this week i can actually find some time to post the pics and details!

hope you all are doing marvelous! 

etsy finds

there are so many talented designers on etsy. i could spend hours browsing their genius creations. here are just a few i've been spotting lately. 

dress baby beautiful 

petal petal designs

{perfect for a birthday girl}

clementiny clothing 

christine my linh

i just can't get enough! 

happy tuesday! 

kids fashion

i have to say i am not typically inclined to the stylings of the guess brand. it's just not my thing. but i was pleasantly surprised with some of their kids/baby wear for spring and summer 2011. 

i'm loving the rompers for little girlies and the stone wash denim for the boys. check out more of guess's line here. 

happy monday! 

a picnic, sidewalk chalk and pizza

we have had some gawgeous weather around here lately. pais and i have been soaking up the sun 

aka getting our tan on. 

we had our first picnic ever . . . in our jammies of course. we wear those a lot around here. 

unfortunately the picnic didn't last too long. little miss was way too excited to sit and eat so we had to move this party inside. 

ahhhh highchair much better. 

we had bunches of fun playing with sidewalk chalk for the first time. 

isn't she brilliant? she's only 1 1/2 and already knows how to spell her name and draw circles and flowers and stars. {wink wink}

oh look we finally decided to get out of our jammies for the day. 

"mom, look how awesome i am playing outside in the graaaass!"

and we rounded up the day eating our {well her} first vegan pizza. 

it's supposed to rain for the next five days so we had to suck up as much sun as we could! 

happy thursday to you all!

what i love wednesday

i know what you're thinking. "you're just now getting into pinterest?" i think i've mentioned before that sometimes i feel as though i am living under a rock and that saying rings true once again.

i had heard of pinterest a few months ago and thought "uggghh not another social networking thing to suck up my time." i continued to put off even visiting the site despite the fact that all my bloggy friends were raving about it. 

well i finally gave in and it had me at "hello what would you like to pin today?" 

for those of you who are much like me and have no clue what pinterest is here is the lowdown from their site: 

"What is Pinterest? Pinterest is a social catalog service. Think of it as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can post collections of things you love, and "follow" collections created by people with great taste." 

 pretty much it's like a giant pin board where you can pin any awesome thing you find from any website. 

amazingness.

here are some images from my pinterst finds for the tiny loves . . . 

linking up with lollipops! come on over and link up your loves too!

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just wanted to say a big thank you to all my readers, friends and family that voted for love. life. babies. in the circle of moms top 25 kids' style blogs! we made it! and i am so excited. but i couldn't have done it without you! 

so thank you. thank you. thank you!

muah. 

paisley's dedication

around this time last year our baby birdie was dedicated to the Lord. since i didn't have this little bloggy back then i thought i would share some photo's with you of the meaningful event.
 {oh who am i kidding i just wanted to go through the pictures and relive this day for myself hehe.}

we were so thankful noah's mom and dad {pictured behind us} were able to fly in from wisconsin for the weekend. we love having them with us and so does paisley!

all the babes were rockstars for the day. they all got their pictures up on the giant screens along with mommy and daddy's favorite scripture verses. 

there was a long line of babies that morning. the entire alter was almost full. so we patiently waited for paisley's nina and papa to come pray over her. {since my parents are also our pastors they decided to pray for paisley last since it was kind of special to them.}

could she be any cuter? i think not. 

{side note: yes that is a splint on my husbands pinky. he injured it playing softball and due to the lack of staying faithful to rehab his pinky now looks like it got stuck halfway through a werewolf transformation or something. 

i'm so not joking.}

paisley wasn't sure what was going on and mostly wanted to play with her feet but it was a special day indeed. the day our precious babe and our family was dedicated to the Lord. 

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so today is the last day to vote for love. life. babies. to be in the top 25 kids' style blogs. you know what that means? no more of me bugging you to vote every day! i'm sure you're pretty excited about that. 

vote by clicking the thumbs up here.

thank you so much! i really really appreciate your votes! you all are amazing.

much love to all mommas

happy mothers day to all my wonderful readers and all the lovely mommas out there. you ladies are uhhh-mazing! make sure to give your mother and all your babies lots of kisses and extra love today!

{christmas 2009}

also this is very important so listen up. {in my stern mom voice} don't do the dishes, don't vacuum the carpet, no laundry or cooking, eat some chocolate, don't work out and take a bubble bath while reading your favorite magazine. 

in short enjoy your day!!!

xox

oh and i know some of you are thinking hmmmm what can i do for steph to make it an extra special mothers day? shucks, you all are so sweet . . . hehe. you can vote! that would make my day! only two more days to vote!!!

vote by clicking the thumbs up here.

thank you so much! xox

my mom's better then yours . . .

j /k  j /k  j /k  omg  lol.  

i don't really think my mom's better then yours, oh wait a minute yes i do . . . 

she's super hot . . . 

she used to be a flapper . . . 

she shoots guns! hello! if that's not hot i don't know what is.

she is best friends with all her sisters . . . 

she's a devoted wife, a caring mother, and the funnest nina {aka grandma} in the entire world!!!

most importantly she is a lover and disciple of Jesus Christ, a compassionate pastor and preacher, and a true example to me and all women around her of how to live a pure and Godly life. 

i love you momma. i have learned so much from you over the years. you have forever been my rock and i know i can always talk to you about anything and you will never judge me or turn your back on me. you have taught me how to be a tender mommy to paisley, a loving wife and a true follower of Christ and i respect and love you more then you could ever know! now that i'm grown {and i don't have to get my bottom spanked anymore} i treasure the friendship we share.

happy mothers day!!!

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**you guys have been the best voters ever! you can keep voting once a day until may 9th!**

vote by clicking the thumbs up here.

thank you so much! xox

my 100th post!!!

can you believe it? today is my 100th post!

 yay. 

the funny thing is what i am blogging about for my 100th post. it's positively silly. 

today's post is about hair. yes, you heard me right, hair. ever since i was a small fry i've had curly hair. 

and i'm sure when i was a child it was darling but as i grew up it became the thorn in my flesh. uncontrollable, frizzy, whacked out curly hair. 

below is one of the ways i regularly wear my hair. 

blown out with a round brush for the roots and a flat brush for the ends and then straightened with a flat iron. 

this is how i mostly wear my hair. {sorry for the awesome awful pic.} 

blown out again and styled with a curling iron.

now below my loves is what my hair does when i get out of the shower and simply let it air dry . . .

hello crazy 80's hair. it's actually a lot less curly now since i had my babe but still looks like something straight from a heart music video. 

{side note: i also have been dealing with a sinus infection for the past week, i have no make-up on and i'm still in my pajamas. sorry for all the grossness.} 

anyhooo . . . i know women always say we should embrace the natural beauty God has given us etc. etc. but is it ok that i just don't like my curly hair? that i would rather straighten it every day if i have to? am i a disgrace to women all over the world? {just kidding about that last part.} 

what do you think? and do you have a hair dilemma? please doooo tell. 

happy cinco de mayo!!!

what i love wednesday

restoration hardware 

baby & child 

restoration hardware is in a class of it's own for nursery and children's room décor. i wish i had twins just so i could replicate this nursery and i've never wanted twins. ha! they have so many timeless furniture pieces and accessories, you should must check it out. 

**also don't forget you can vote for love. life. babies. once a day until may 9th!**

vote by clicking the thumbs up here.

you guys are the best! xox

weekend wrap-up

it was a really lovely weekend despite me and the birdie feeling a little under the weather. and speaking of weather we finally had some semi-decent weather here in the heartland. thank ya Jesus.

friday i got to hang out with my handsome nephew. last week we saw the new flick "rio" in 3d so this week we just laid low playing some old school mario {sooo much fun}, drinking smoothies, and a quick trip to toys r' us {of course}.

i accommodated lots of snuggles and cuddles and i didn't mind one bit since this little girl is normally all over the place.

after reading through 86 emails that accumulated over 3 hours {sheesh} i had to make one of the most important decisions of my day. which opi shade?! it was a strenuous decision but i went with the far left color appropriately called "too hot pink to hold em' ". 

little birdie started feeling much better by saturday and we rocked out to the tunes of "itsy bitsy spider" and "i'm a little tea pot" in the living room. microphone check one two, one two. is this thing on?

i randomly made this striped flutterful piece. pretty sure i just made up the word flutterful and i like it.   

i was privileged to help lead worship at my church on saturday night and sunday morning. one of my favorite things to do. nothing like worshiping with my church family! and my preacher hubs shared a timely message on grace. it was so real and moving.

the rest of the day was spent relaxing at home, eating chipotle and watching yo gabba gabba. except for when pais accidentally changed the channel to sponge bob square pants and naturally got scarred of a of a talking sponge and starfish. 

to top the weekend off my insanely amazing and good looking hubs went to the store to get "diapers and wipes" and came home with a brand new shark vacuum and the shark 2 in 1 vacuum-steam mop! hello! i've been wanting this steam mop for a while and let me tell ya it works! my floors are gonna sparkle and shine without my back having to suffer! 

so yeah, like i said, a really lovely weekend. 

how was your's? 

**also don't forget you can vote for love. life. babies. once a day until may 9th!**

vote by clicking the thumbs up here.

thanks everyone! xox