Annual Edison Festival of Lights Parade

Dancing on a major highway with a cute boy...check

Princess wave...check. Ridiculously over priced light up toy... check.

The corny lightbulb honoring Mr. Edison...check.

Confiscating of Mommy's hat and yelling "yee-haw"...check.

Great time, lotsa laughs....check.

Can I get some cheese with my w{h}ine??

I know it's my job. It's my utmost priority, but being a mom can be...exhausting. These past few weeks have been particularly challenging. Here they are in photos with captions...please momentarily indulge my need for pity.

It all started with a night of profuse vomiting, then...

...diagnosis of Pneumonia {!!} and an antibiotic shot...

....after alot of complaining about her "mouth hurting" on Garret's specially planned date day, another trip to the pediatrician...

....where his diagnosis was strep throat {!!}....

...the next day, a rash appeared all over her face and her torso and legs were itchy....

...allergic reaction to the antibiotic.....

then, Mommy has the worst headache of her life (later diagnosed as my first migraine ever)....

....Maddie, for no apparent reason wakes up at 3am and stays in Mommy's room until 5am (wide awake), no rest for the weary....

Maddie's bed Mommy's bed

I'll be in my padded room. Please bring wine and a ticket to...anywhere. Thank you.

Best. Fusband. Ever.

This Valentine's Day was, well...different. Garret was out of town for work and Maddie and I were missing our Valentine. He, however, planned ahead and left us each a goody bag and a sweet note on our "I love..." board. I am so grateful to have a man full of such sweet gestures. I get a romantic text every morning, to start my day, he does laundry and dishes. He is an amazing Daddy. He plans date nights and always makes our family a priority. And, I'm ashamed to say, I often take it all for granted. This week away has taught me to never forget how amazing he is and cherish him as he should be. We are the luckiest girls in the world. My hope for my baby girl is that she hold every man to the standard of her Daddy.

With her bear from Daddy....

Crafting, biking and hoops.

It all started with a little mailbox and a dream. Or...another stolen idea from Pinterest :) I thought this would be a cute place for all their school Valentines. Any excuse for a little crafting and these girls are happy!

The girls personalized them with stickers and markers...and love, of course.

Bella was excited to teach Maddie how to ride her bike...nevermind that she pushed her into the bushes. Maddie's steering could use some, um, work.

After a spirited and competitive game of hoops, it was time to part...always the difficult ending to fun days....

"Super" Weekend

Before the big game, we took Maddie for a quick trip to Lakes Park. Doing our usual swing/slide/monkey bar rotation, we realized we had never taken her on the train ride. It's kind of legendary around these parts, so I figured it a right of passage of sorts. To the train we commenced. Maddie was probably most excited about giving the conductor her ticket. The open air, miniature villages and whistle certainly didn't hurt!

Stupid Superbowl. I can't express how little I care. I watch for the National Anthem, commercials, half-time show and food. The actual football part, I could totally do without. Ooooph...I sound like a total downer. I'm not a huge fan but it was a pretty great game, and heck, any excuse to have great food and spend time with loved ones is a good day in my book.

Our friends, Trisha and Jason are HUGE Patriots fans so they hosted a party (it was also days away from Jason's birthday so double the excuse to party!). It was pretty awesome...they had this huge projection screen and well, their kids have all the fun toys, including a buggy. Maddie took her first ride. My little daredevil loved every second (sitting next to my friend Morgan's handsome son couldn't have hurt either!).

It was a great weekend. Family, firsts and fun! Maybe I don't hate the Superbowl as much as I thought...

Firsts on the Third

Today was the first day since starting daycare that Maddie didn't cry when I dropped her off! YAY! She just blew me a kiss and waved goodbye. I am beyond grateful for this little milestone.

It has been breaking my heart, literally.

She was also happy at pick-up to show me her paper sack whale (the school mascot is a whale). Of course, just after this picture, she "whaled" me with it (sorry, couldn't resist).

She then put her little shoes on herself (with a Velcro strap) and proceeded outside where she jumped on her big girl swing on her own, also for the first time.

She also suggested Meatball "fix the computer" after it was randomly shutting down so she's got a ways to go before she's a bonafide grown-up but man is time moving fast these days...

January recap

As predicted, I did not stick to my resolutions. Well, kinda. I said I would post the pics of my organization/projects weekly and that didn't happen but I did accomplish a few things that I either A: didn't have the moolah for before or B: didn't have the ambition for, so I'm calling it a small victory...very small, but a victory nonetheless.

Project #1: a new desk.

Our house is oddly laid out-there is a long, narrowish room as soon as you walk in, then a step down and then a similarly shaped room. We certainly don't need a living room and family room so I christened the first room as an office/play room. I wanted it to look nice, as it is the first room you walk into from the front door. I wanted a desk, but something with storage for fabric/crafting materials etc. I found this on on Pinterest. It's basically two small bookshelves and a hollow core door. I liked that I could use the shelves as storage.

It still needs some work, but here she is:

I bought these cheap bookshelves that were an ugly dark wood particle board. I painted them white, stained the door a walnut shade and voila! I also repainted and re-upholstered the existing chairs. This is what they used to look like:

I am pretty happy with the overall look of the room (although I think it desperately needs a rug!...next month's project :) I also think the lamp looks blah...needs some color.

Project #2: a wreath for my front door.

Let me preface with I despise all televised sports. You take me to a game, I'm having a blast but my Type A nature will not allow me to sit in front of a TV for 4 hours watching, well, anything. My love, however is obsessed, and I don't use the word flippantly with Florida State Football. As an Alumni in the State and National Championship days, he is a die-hard fan. Being the supportive future bride, I painted our front door garnet, got him a huge FSU flag and made this to adorn our door (I've been dying to try a yarn wreath):

Lastly, I did organize the under the counter and over the sink cabinets in both bathrooms (but I won't bore you with photos, you're welcome).

Bring on February! My goals: a hand-painted rug (gulp), a wine cork monogram (eeek) and an art display frame (pppfft). Oh, and cleaning out my disgusting car! Wish me luck!!