A look Back at 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, I can't  believe that another year is already over. It seems as if it takes me nearly a year to sign and date with the appropriate year and then in an instant it gone. I remember doing a project in 4th grade and they had us write about what we would be doing in the year 2000. In my project I was married to a man named Wayne and had 4 children ( Siscely and Corey were two of their names) and I was a veterinarian by profession. Now its 2012 and I have  one 16 month old and am married to Ben, not wayne ( LOL and sigh) 4 is TOO many and I love Ben. I just wanted to reflect on the past year and share some of my favorite things. I have noticed a trend that  some of my daughters best moments are also mine! I love experiencing life through her eyes. I am so excited to see what 2012 will bring! AND the very last thing I want to do for New Years is stay up til midnight. Yes I will b happy to be in bed by 9. I will wake to 2012 alert and ready!


(The pics below are in random order)

My SIL's bachelorette party that I was so excited and appreciative to be the MOH in

The day of the wedding

I miss when D's hair used to stand straight up like this

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Went to san Luis Obispo with Ben for our 5 year Anniversary!!!!

Ben finally joins the 30 club!!!

D turns 1 and burns her finger on candle at party

family reunion in Woodland ( Ben's side)

Lots of cute moments at Caper Acres park with Doodlebug

Watching D interact with her first cousin Boston

Spending time with Ben's family for Christmas

Doolittle Design is in business

My brother and Brianna welcomed baby Boston into the world on July 31st

Christmas with the Doolittle's

At the park Christmas Eve!!!! I  finally got to take a pic next to Humpty Dumpty!

   This year was so much fun! Christmas really is SO much more exciting when you have a "little" in the house.  We went big this year with the festivities. My mom and dad came for a visit from Hollister a few weeks ago and watched the baby all day at our house while Ben and I did our christmas shopping and ran errands, mainly for DoolittleDesign. We have some of our prints in 2 local shops and another shop really wants to buy some of the Beardo prints ( Woot, Woot). Anywhoo, when Ben and I got home my mom had put up stockings on the mantle and had wrapped gifts out for all of us that taunted us all till Christmas. One of Doodlebug's gifts was so big that she would climb on it just for fun on a daily basis.
    The Friday before Christmas we went out to my in-laws home and celebrated early. D was out of sorts due to teething pain. We then spent christmas eve at our house with just us three and D woke up in the best mood. She opened the giant gift from her grandparents first. It was really a quite a scene to watch her by sitting on it and tearing away the paper. Her favorite thing to say and look at right now is " Babies." when she finally ripped  a large enough chunk of paper off the box there was a pic of a baby in a little car and she yelled, " Babies!"  It was hylerical. She got a few other smaller gifts and after we were done she put all her small toys that she received on top of the box and climbed up and played with them. That night we went on a christmas light tour in our town. There is a small trailer park (of all places) that has a jawdropping display of plastic lite up figurines all over this one man's trailer. He also usually dresses up as Santa and greets you. We were hoping D could meet him and get a pic vs. the Santa at the mall who costs $21 ( What?) I like that is unconventionally located in a trailer park too when all the other displays are in the more ritzy well to do neighborhoods. The light displays in general were not as grand as previous year as the paper had reported. This must have something to do with the never ending recession.
  Christmas day was very fun. We went back out to my in-laws for homemade waffles and they presented D or "boo boo" ( as my FIL calls her) with a toddler size climber set that includes a slide and basketball hoop. She went banana's on that thing and was even able to climb and slide unassisted by the the time we left. Later that day we went to Ben's grandma's house and had our big Christmas with his extended family. D has a second cousin close in age so it is fun to watch them interact. D got a little doll that came with a stroller  and she was pushing it around so fast that she was  running into people. Her cousin Parker also kept trying to take  it from her. Ben's grandma wanted me to get pics of all the individual families and the entire family because she knows that I love to take pics. However, the family is getting SO big now that it was quite an ordeal, but managed to work itself out.
  I am sort of done with all the holiday eating. I went back to work relieved to be back into normalcy and also a little sad that my time with my family was over. When I got to work I was taunted by a giant red velvet cake and  lemon bars ( my fav). Some people aren't ready to let go. However, this time of year I expect lots of food and such and haven made it a personal mission not to be weak and to be even healthier. The average American gains 5-10 lbs over the holidays and I feel like I have lost weight. I say this because I do not own a scale and actually do not like them. I just measure how my clothes fit me and they are loose. Take that Holiday food!!!

Testing out D's new car on Christmas Eve

AMAZING!!!!!!

D and her good looking DADA

 Trailer Park Christmas Awesomeness

D was totally into it

Look at that BIG pacifier smile

Me and my lovely

Boochies, Check out my MIL's kissy face. LOL

Sometimes its impossible to get a good pic with baby and you just got to roll with it

Mommy dressed up too

Christmas dress

Giggling cousins

Our family

Ben's grandma put me in charge of organizing all the ind. and group photos this year. Here is everyone!

DIY no sew fleece blanket!!!

I am making a blanket for my nephew for Christmas. I have been wanting to make him one for awhile and finally got up to it while Deedles was taking her late nap today. I don't know how to use a sewing machine, so this is easy and fun for me. These blankets are AMAZING! I have made several as gifts before and have a few lying around my house as well. They are  very cozy and warm.


what this requires:

• A good pair of scissors for cutting fabric
• fleece 
• ruler/ tape measure
• open floor space
• about 30-40 min of time, unless someone is helping you then maybe 20 min.

Step One:

Pick out  2 fleece patterns ( I go to Joanne's) that compliment each other. I chose monkeys for the front and polka dots for the back.  For a baby blanket get 1 yard of each pattern. I made mine a little on the larger side so he can use it when he is bigger ( 1 1/2 yrds of each).

Step Two:

Find a large area on the floor to work on. Before you lay the two pieces of fleece directly on top of each other, make sure you put the side of the fleece that is softer and more vibrant in color facing out. So the more vibrant side on top will face the ceiling and the piece underneath will face floor ( get it)

Step Three:

On one corner cut a 4 in x 4 in square out. Then use this cut out square as a template to cut the other three corners.

Step Four: Figure out which two sides of the blanket are more stretchy. You can tell by just giving them a little tug

Step Five: Start cutting, the stretchy sides you can cut up 4 inches. You can use the edge of where you cut out the square as a guide, but don't worry about being too precise.There is room for error.

Step Six: Next cut the two opposite sides that are not as stretchy. These sides may need to be cut about 4 1/2 inches or a little above where the line for the cut out square was. This is because you will eventually have to tie these in knots and it is difficult if they are not long enough.

Step 7:  Start tying the top and bottom pieces in knots all the way around the blanket. This goes way faster if someone is helping you tie.

This blanket is Quincy approved

Ta, da!!!  Easy Peasy

                                                        
After you are done tying, you may need to do some back and hand stretches, but then you are DONE!

ENJOY!

Fun, Fun, Fun, The Holidays Have Begun!

   Here is just a glimpse of what we have been up to this holiday season thus far( and not even half way through yet) Yikes. So far we have been to 2 friends homes for dinner, a house warming party, a post-thanksgiving dinner with friends and Ben's work Christmas party.  D has both joined in the festivities and stayed with a sitter. Thank you auntie Bekah and Uncle Dan!!!! Delaney has been a trooper through it all. 
    With all the frenzy of shopping, wrapping gifts, cooking, sending out cards ( I sent out 60 this year), decorating and eating, eating, eating comes fun too! and lots of wonderful memories.  
    This year I am looking forward to, going on a light tour with my family to see all the fancy houses that spend triple what I do on my PG&E. I also look forward to watching D play with her cousin Parker. She is finally big enough to be fun and playful enough for him. I am also still on the prowl for Santa.  I look forward to D finally meeting him. My prediction is she will: Freak out and cry while lunging toward me or daddy with arms fully extended. Every parent has a story or two about the fears their munchkins experienced. As a child I remember my father dressing up as yoda for a Halloween party and me being SO terrified. Then after he revealing himself to me along with some playful interactions with the yoda mask I overcame that fear.I am sad that we didn't get a tree this year, but I did not want to play referee between baby and the tree all day long.If I had a room with a really high vaulted ceiling, I would do like my cousin Adam does every year and unconventionally hang the tree from the ceiling. It's actually way cooler and less wackadoo than it sounds. I would LOVE to hear about what you look forward to this year as well as any family traditions that you partake  in or have started.
Remember the real reason that we celebrate Christmas is to celebrate our God. If you don't know him, check this out:
4 Steps to God

Ben and I getting ready to go to his work Christmas party. I was really excited to try this RED lipstick on.

Hubby on right  with his boss and co-worker at the party

Check out this random gift that someone gave us of Jacob from Twilight. I guess he was the last one on the shelf

Had a blast at her  and her hubby's home for post holiday meal.

Thanksgiving Highlights

1. Went to Hollister to my mom and dad's house. Ate pumpkin pie, turkey and mashed potatoes (The best thanksgiving food items) besides ambrosia.
2. Came up with a genius idea to eat off of a small plate to save on calories and overeating.
3. Got lots of cute pics of D with her cousins
4. Dropped off more baby equipment at my parents house for them to store.
5. Stayed up late with mom, grandma and my aunts reminiscing and speculating about when their other childless and unwed kids would settle down. 
6. Hit up a movie the day after. My choice this time ( Breaking Dawn) and it was AWESOME! I am team Jacob all the way!
7. Avoided black Friday like the plague. Saving a few dollars on ridiculous sales is not worth battling the masses.
8. Went to Starbucks for  their seasonal coffee (pumpkin Spice, yummy)
9. D went to bed extra early and I got to watch a new show, storage Wars (not bad and kind of addicting).
10. On the drive home stopped at Babies R Us to use the restroom and finally found D a child size couch on SALE( it even converts into a bed). 
11. D tried french fries for the first time and liked them too much. 
12. Witnessed my mom putting D in one of my baby dresses then had her pose for pics on my old baby rocking chair.
13. Spent quality time with my dad.

( Clockwise, top to bottom) our family; D and her cousin Boston; Cousins Madeline & Olivia with D
                  These two girls are the CUTEST things ever and loved on D so much!

Kit and Kristen ( More of my favorite peeps)

D's cousin, who is an absolute sweetheart

Some of my favorite people ( Aunt Mary, Aunt Michal, Mom and me)

D's cool new couch that converts into bed