Christmas cards are ordered. . . FINALLY!

Ordered 5 minutes ago from Shutterfly! (Um, they have crazy amazing deals!!!) Rocks my world!

And we have Winston's cute face on the back!  It'll be the first time that anyone has really learned of his addition to our family, so that will be interesting!

I'm later than usual ordering these...not sure how Christmas is almost here already!

These pictures were my three favorites from the 41 acceptable pictures taken on my iphone!  All together, I took over 200, so yeah . . . that should tell you how successful I was.  Thank goodness for pop bribes!!!  They worked!  (Although they were in half the photos rendering them useless!  Shoot.)

Next year, it might be time to consider using a professional photographer!

It's our dating-versary!

In the kitchen BEFORE we painted!  We were such babies...

TEN YEARS AGO, Tyler and I were official!  Last August was our 6th wedding anniversary, but we've been together for 10 years today.  Although, we argue that I thought we were already dating back on Halloween in 2003, but he didn't quite see it that way.  Psh.  (It's very crazy to think that we've been together for 1/3 of our lives!!!!)

I definitely did well when I picked Tyler; he is an A-MAZ-ING father and he is the hardest worker I know!  I'm excited for the next 60 (or more!) years with him... and it'll be interesting to see what we look like then!  Finding older pictures for this post was hilarious!  And these are only 6 years ago...from my myspace.  Ha!  Our college years were so long ago that they're just hard copies.  OLD lady right here!

Happy 5th!

The Party

Twenty days later.

Anyway!

There are really not many pictures because I was busy socializing and taking care of a cranky birthday girl.  Tyler was in charge of photographing the gift-opening.  Bad thinking.  Tyler snapped a few of the first gifts and then he was distracted by Alyssa (there is an Alyssa video, too)...all without the much-needed flash!  Here is what I found hours later as I was excitedly looking for birthday pictures:

FAIL.

So, yeah, not lots of photos, but we did have a really great time!  (I feel a tad guilty because I have over 400 pictures from Scarlett's first birthday party, but what can you do!?)

Now for the decorations...they were not pinterest-worthy, but I'm just excited because I had the party at our house.  That never happens.  (It's a fixer-upper that we're not particularly excited to fix, so there ya' go.) Buuut it was just too much to plan a party, move everything to my mom's house, and then try to decorate there.  Too. Much.

It was amazing to be able to get everything done, so when Poppy woke up that morning, it was a party everywhere!  And then I could really focus on birthday fun instead of party decorating stress!

So here they are:

Who doesn't love streamers, pictures everywhere, and (VEGAN!) cupcakes?!  For the cupcakes, I used a pinterest idea and crushed rock candy on top of the frosting and it looked really pretty!  Decorating with frosting is absolutely not my thing, so the rock candy was perfect: easy and fancy!

Her birthday outfit is from Mud Pie; it wasn't monogrammed, but it was too fun not to get!

Poppy wasn't as impressed with my culinary skills as I was, but we got her with a birthday cupcake, in the same shot, so let's call it a win!

(See?!  I was great at documenting the party girls before the actual party...!)  The morning of the party was spent distracting the ladies with doughnuts and balloons to keep the house clean!  It worked!

Not quite sure what to think...

I went to get Poppy after she woke up from her nap wearing my glasses.  This is the face she made when she saw them:

So. Confused.  It was cute!

HA!

Sorry, Poppy Ballerina! ;-)

(Sidenote:  The irony that this was on North West's mother's birthday is not lost on me!)

Happy birthday to my Poppy Ballerina!!!

She's ONE!  What a fast year it has been, but so full of happiness!  We are so lucky to have little Miss Poppy in our lives!  She is always happy and looking for fun!  She is the lovey-ist baby in the world -- always ready to give us love and slobbery, baby kisses.  Delicious!

Bananas were not a hit with Poppy early on, but now, along with eggs, sweets (shhh!), and strawberries, they are her top pick for food! (I do hope that she is a vegetable-lover like her sister one day!)

She is not quite walking, but she can stand up by herself for a few seconds and she is the fastest power-crawler I've seen!  Babies, balls, Little People, cars, and her little front door are her favorite favorite toys, but really she loves everything!  She even takes swim lessons!

Poppy may be the sweetest, little thing, but she can throw some sass when Scarlett tries to steal her toys!  Her facial expressions are the best!  See?!

No thank you, fancy birthday outfit!

I cannot wait to see what the next year brings...!  Maybe she'll start gymnastics?!

Purple Potatoes!

Thank you, Mary, for the idea!

Scarlett's FAVORITE color is purple, so when she spotted Lulu cleaning purple potatoes, she was insistent on also having some for herself!

They are actually delicious!  And not too crazy to eat...

We cleaned, boiled, sprinkled garlic, basil, and olive oil on them, then baked them for 20 minutes at 350 degrees and then finally, they were ready!

We each had a small taste, but are saving the rest for dinner with the other Smiths!

PS--Already rocking the Christmas jammies?!  Of course!  Especially now that Halloween is over, everything Christmas is fair game!!  ;-)

Happy Halloween!!!

This is the first year that I have TWO little ladies to dress up and I really love the idea of doing costumes that go together, but are still different, so when Scarlett became obsessed with Madeline, I started talking about Halloween and hinting about what she'd like to be.  Then, Madeline rescued a dog and the discussion for costumes was closed.  Hello, puppy dog, Poppy!  Good thing Scarlett was still really excited about the Madeline idea because it has been a few months since this whole fascination began...she's still trying to get me to be Miss Clavel.  "Mummy, when is your costume coming?!" was how she broached the subject this morning...smart lady, but it's not gonna happen!  (I have too much birthday planning to do [still] to worry about dressing up!  Maybe next year!)

So there we were, Madeline with her rescued pup, Genevieve!  Too bad Poppy was less than thrilled with the idea of wearing a costume.

SO crossing my fingers that trick-or-treating goes a little more smoothly!!!  Luckily, Scarlett was the perfect Madeline and even tried to make Poppy less of a grumpster!

We tried to include Poppy in our photo shoot, but Scarlett totally stole the show!  What a fantastic Madeline!!!

And just because I want to see, here is Scarlett in each of her past costumes:

CUTE!  I wish I had been smart and picked a costume for Poppy without something on her head!  Scarlett last 3 minutes with that cupcake hat...next year!!!

Have a Happy Halloween :-)

So What Wednesday

• I can't commit to strictly vegan, but Mary coined the perfect term to what we're eating, "Vega-tarian."  Works for us!
• Baby 2 has her baby book filled out until about 8 months!  Fail.  Buuut, Scarlett's baby book has 0 pictures, so look at me not playing favorites!
• I let Scarlett watch PBS while Poppy has a nap, so that I can facebook/blog/read clean. 
• For weeks before my hair appointment, I was psyched and constantly pinning different style/color ideas!  Never before have I been that excited for a new do'. 
• The $5 extra that Pop Sugar has added to their must have boxes is making me reconsider my subscription.  Just out of spite!  Hello, Julep!
• Tyler took the babies grocery shopping so I could get some more organization done around the house!  And I'm blogging!!!  Way more fun;)
• I want Scarlett to earn her stickers for sleeping in her bed every night because I am SO EXCITED to order her her first American Girl doll.  She will flip when it comes in the mail...! 
• I spent this afternoon buying all of our fresh fruits and veggies at Hannaford.  Then took the ladies to the health food store for our dinner ingredients and no preservative snacks.  After all that, on the way home, I went through the drive thru at Burger King (veggie burger, no mayo, but still.) because I was too drained to even think about cooking dinner!

New Hair!

I wanted a change majorly!!!  So after pinteresting a cute picture from Shannon, I was ready for my appointment!  I was looking for something darker for Autumn, so that I could wear my lipsticks that just look too severe with blonde hair and I also wanted something fresh!

I think I accomplished those two things:

(I usually wear my hair straight and was not a fan of the curls, even though they were my idea!)

I love, love, love the color AND the cut, but I wish I had done one at a time.  If my hair was this short and blonde, perfect, or longer and brunette, also amazing!  With so much change, I sometimes don't recognize myself!

That is my only gripe.  Now that I have this hair, it's been fun playing around with it!

...And it is way less maintenance!!!  

Sticker Chart

Oh yes, we're there.  I always thought charts were kind of silly.  With potty training, we just bribed Scarlett with gumballs and she was potty trained 2 days later.  To wean her from nursing, we promised a puppy stuffed animal.  Boom, done.  But then when came to sleep training, we were stuck.  She was sleeping in her bed.  That was right next to our's.  Most of the time.

After Poppy was born and co-sleeping/nursing, things got even more "interesting."  I almost felt like I had to over-compensate for rocking the world as she knew it by introducing a new baby into the mix, so I let her sleep in "our" bed.  It turned it "our" meaning Scarlett, Poppy, and me,  Sees ya' Tyler!

I drew the line when she AND Poppy began waking each other up multiple times a night and brought in a toddler bed.  Scarlett slept in it next to my bed for a few months.  Then it got real.

Scarlett was going to sleep in her own bed.  In her own PRINCESS bedroom.  It was happening.

We made this chart and talked all about being a big girl and sleepovers and telling her cousins :

It was working well, but then after over a week went by and no American Girl doll was earned, Scarjo started getting confused, followed by disinterested, SO I added mini prizes and gumballs.  Every yellow box that earns a stickers also comes with a treat (lippy, pez, etc.) and the red box is the real deal: Saige!!!

Easy peasy, right?!  Except that yesterday, after I scolded, "No sticker!  No gumball!  You woke up 2x last night!" Scarlett replied casually, "That's okay!  Tomorrow I will, right?" and continued off to play in her toy room.  Yeah, she'll be 15 by the time she reaches the red box.

Ehhh...wish me luck!

Nursery School Pictures

(after Instagram)

I stressed out over making sure that Scarlett had the perfect outfit for her first ever school pictures; probably a little too much, but I think it worked out!  She looks sweet and innocent, while also put together and preppy.

Good thing I listened to everyone and decided not to go with the purple background/white shirt route!

Sisters.

Here in the first picture, Poppy is posing so proudly with her babies in the stroller.  Happy, happy!  Then rotten Big Sister realizes what is going on, swoops in, steals baby Tiana, and leaves Poppy with that face!

Poor Popsters -- this is what life is like 50% of the time.  The other 50% is spent being man-handled walked around the house by Scarlie Jojo!  Obviously being baby 2 is hard! 

Don't worry, though, I took control of the situation...until Big Sister strikes again!

Every. Single. Night.

And breakfast.  And lunch.

Can't think of a title. It's a post about all kinds of stuff. Yay for actually blogging!!!

My number one thing that I care more about than 50 Shades of Gray: Okay, BA.  She rocks my world.

I have been birthday planning list-making 24/7 in my head...time to actually make it happen!  (How fun that I get to do it again!)

I went to volunteer in Scarlett's nursery school classroom...and stayed the whole time.  Suffice to say, I miss teaching.

The Blacklist.  Scandal.  There goes my weekend.

I HAVE A HAIR APPOINTMENT SATURDAY MORNING!!!!!  Getting a cut and going brunette...my mom is going to think I'm in a funk, but really I'm just looking for some fun, a change, and a little bit of perk!

Staying home with my babies is amazing.  AMAZING.  And I want to do nothing else, buuuut...it never occurred to me that I needed to maintain hobbies that interest me.  ???  Clueless.  But then my mom "interventioned" me AND I read Kelle's post.  I have made walking, tanning, reading, volunteering more of a priority and I feel more like myself now.  Loves it!

I am tanning again.  Gross, I know.  But prettiessss x100!  I just need to make sure I don't look like I tan.  Just vacation lots in Mexico.  ;-)

Scarlett sleeps in her own bed.  In her own room.  All night, every night!  Now I have to buy her an American Girl doll...more on that later!

Have you seen Julep's new lippies???!!!  Because I have and I want them. all.

Halloween is coming...strange to think of where I was just one year ago...!  Always with this little piggy and about ready to have a second baby girl!!!

Here she is...

11 months.  Already.  If Poppy wasn't getting so fun, I might be a little more upset about the past (almost) year flying by.  But 11 months is working for me!  Poppy is a little spitfire, but still sweet at the same time.

She's not quite walking, but is a speed-crawler and loves to push her dinosaur walker.  If Scarlett starts to do her gymnastics tricks (yikes!) off of her walker, Poppy starts squawking until she gets it back!  At least I know that she'll be able to hold her own against her willful big sister!

An entire month of blogging in one post.

Well, September has been an eventful and fun-filled month, so far!  First of all, Louisa Violet Francis turned THREE on the 10th!!!  (Ahhmmm...since her mother hasn't blogged about it yet, I feel like I'm safe...!)  Here is Lulu's special day in pictures:

Laughing??  And no fights?!  Scarjo must know it's her birthday!!!

Lulu S-L-O-W-L-Y dragged that kitty away...she is a smooth one!

Poppy loving the birthday shopping!

Captive audience...just waiting to get their hands on her goods!

Lulu loves her some chocolate!!!

Oh, Alyssa!

Lulu, the Ladybug Girl!

And then, the 13th marked ONE YEAR since Scarlett stopped nursing.  Just one.  How crazy is that?!  At the time, it wasn't a bizarre thing for me to nurse her to sleep, but now she's such a big girl, that I can't believe how much she has changed in such a short amount of time!

Poppy had her first visit to the Apple Farm!!!  Parties!  It was a quick visit and perfect because it was a Wednesday at noon -- no one was there!  Tyler, Mary, Brian, and Lulu met Scarjo, Poppy, and me there after our MOPS play date...very spur-of-the-moment!

Another eventful change that's going on in our family...we're following my crazy mother's lead and going vegan.  She watched Forks Over Knives and that was it for her!  Then she read Skinny Bitch and that was the end for the rest of us; she converted us all to at least vegetarianism.  One by one.  Molly was the first to convert and the easiest because Mum buys all her groceries and makes most meals.  Mary and I have been open to the idea, but harder to turn because we (okay, mostly me!) just struggle at cooking in general.  Now we have to find substitutes??  Too much.  But it's happening and I'm excited to make my babies into healthy eaters!  Goodbye, Splenda (no, thank you, luekemia!), half & half (sads forever.), and buffalo chicken (hardest. thing. ever.) and hello, tofu, "princess" (forbidden black) rice, and soy milk in my coffee!  So far, so good!

Also, I went to the Ulta Benefit Brow Bar and had my eyebrows done!!!  After Poppy was born, my eyebrows fell out.  For reals.  Sooo, off to Ulta I went, after very badly trying to fill them in myself for the last 11 months.  The wax girl there was a miracle worker!!!  Totally worth the $12/per eyebrow (what!!!) wax job.  Totally.  Here is the evidence:

Clearly, I'm psyched!  

And now that September is quickly coming to a close...I need to order Scarlett's Halloween costume SOON!!!  I have had it planned for a few months, but keep forgetting to actually buy the costume.  Struggle.  Here she is last year...two days before Poppy was born!  I am not sure if I can come close to this cuteness, but I'm certainly going to try!

Poppy is a CRAWLER!

On the eve of her 10 month mark, Poppy started to crawl, confidently!  She has been scooting her boot for about a week, but couldn't get her legs to move in sync with her arms.  Chiquita has got it down now!!!

Nursery School.

This saying is exactly how I felt the night before sending Scarlett off to her first real day of school. It may seem a bit dramatic and smushy, and I knew that Scarlett would be okay, but it still is the hardest thing to do to trust someone else to look after YOUR baby. So. Hard.

Anyway, so...

Yep, already, Scarlett is a STUDENT.  It feels like three seconds ago I was leaving my job at school to stay home with her and now here she is old enough to attend school.  Crazy.

I mean, it's really crazy, but I know that everyone says that.  It really doesn't seem like time goes by so quickly until you have kids, I think.  They just grow up SO FAST.  And while it is exciting to watch, it is heartbreaking at the same time.

So here we are...nursery school.  I am so proud of Scarlett.  She is ready and excited for school.  Wicked excited!  She has been talking non-stop about her teacher, Mrs. Harding, staying in school by herself, telling her teacher about getting her ears pierced, and packing and re-packing her new horsey backpack for the last couple of weeks. It has been really sweet!

When the moment of truth came, the first day, Scarlett was more than ready!  I was less ready...

It was a bit too early for Miss Poppy!

Flowers for her teacher!

"Mummy, will my shoes grow because they have flowers on them?"  

Ready to go, but I was still snapping away!

We walked in, just the two of us, hung up her bag at her cubby, found her picture card for the plan of the day, and went to the carpet area where the other kids were playing.  I helped her find toys that I knew she'd like (babies, obv.) and said, "Okay, I have to go now.  Are you all set?"  She looked at me and nodded nonchalantly while picking out a prime baby doll.  That's when my eyes started to sting, so I said, "Give me bu-bye love!  I'll see you in a little bit!"  She gave me a hug and kisses and I was dismissed.  There were definitely tears in my eyes as I made a beeline for the door!

It was a looong three hours for me, but I'm sure as we get used to the new schedule, that time will fly!  In the meantime, I had this lady keeping me company: