It's July!

Bad blogger, it's July and this is a crazy month...here are my top things of this month:

1) This one is a big one.  My baby turns one! Gasp.  I don't know how that happened but it is 12 days away!  One minute you have this newborn and the next a small boy, plain crazy.  I see other babies and I think  if I can remember what is was like to have him that little. (I have revisited a lot of my iPad videos just confirm it.)

2). 3.0. Yep I turned thirty.   It's only five days in so I might have to relive this topic later.  It didn't feel to bad, although I liked the term twentysomething.  Two nights before hubs took me to a fresh seafood place where I splurged with the two lbs of king crab legs.  Damn they were good, not too much-I shared but couldn't help asking for a picture of me holding two of them up.  :) (to be added later once I upload some photos)

3) A FIRST birthday party.  We invited a lot for the first one.  I am decorating with the same colors as his nursery: bright blue, orange, and lime green.  It is next weekend, guess I should get a cake?  I bet it will be super fun then followed by a big nap.  I cant wait to see what he will do with a smash cake.

4) Remodel blues. I was in my last semester of college two hours away when the hubs built this house in 2005. Not being married or engaged at the time, I did not have a say in anything.  The top floor of our house was painted two types of beige- I failed to notice there was a difference in the colors at all until I tried to touch up a couple spots two years back.  A friend and I painted our master bathroom green and I wanted more.  Having a one colored living room is so boring and with the party coming up I want something to look more different.  I bought the paint, photos to share later but chocolate and brighter blue will be making an appearance.

5) Organizing/cleaning, I need to be better.  With a lot of people coming over, this will be a must.   I keep thinking if I had what I wanted, I could just get rid of the rest then less clutter and less cleaning.  Right, new pan set and I can get rid of the two starter sets the hubs and I merged.  Or making that dryer top ironing board (pinterest) then I can get rid of the big one.  It plays out in my head what I want to do, getting there is a whole another story, do I really need a shoe shine kit?

More to come on it all!

As always thanks for stoping by....  Holland

Just look at my little boy....

Photo tips

  I have had the idea for my little one's first birthday invite with my little one going for the cake and the tag line to say "to be continued" or "come to see what happens next come to the party" for a while now.  Here's the problem- 11 month old plus colorful cake and me yelling "no touches!"  Yeah, I didn't see that working out to well but I wasn't ready to give up on my idea--Not one that I found, one that I thought of so how could I make it happen?

Sometimes I think I am damn smart and after the baby, those days are few and far between but I thought somehow I would make it work.  I got a mini cake for six bucks, not bad if the whole thing went to #%!*... When I got home, I started planning where I would take the photo and how to set up a background then the kid got crabby and I knew tonight wasn't the night.  The next day I had plans so now what?!  I had the idea to put the cake in the freezer to save it.  It took a moment to sink in but there it was.  If the cake is frozen, there will be no mess!!!!!!

Two days later I made a plan, created the backdrop on the neighbor's fence, and got out my frozen cake.  Placing the baby five feet away from the cake and snapped photos as he walked over to it.  The first couple times were a game seeing just how close he could get and 10 minutes later the cake was doing great in the 90 degree heat.  15 minutes in and the cake was nabbed, I had the baby wipes ready and only the back edge got swiped.  

Without knowing what I got on the camera, I threw the cake back in the deep freeze and started the computer.  With minor editing the photos below where born, pretty damn good I think!  

First birthday photo

Wanted to do something creative for the first birthday invites so here is the photo I did at home.  Yarn and strap paper made the banner, pretty pleased with myself on this one.  The inside will say come and see what happens next at grant's first birthday with the details.

Blog challenge Day 11: Sell yourself in 10 words or less

Day 11: Sell yourself in 10 words or less

Professional loving mamma doing my best

Day 10: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill.

Day 10: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill.

Oh, I have plenty!

I have one that was so embarrassing at the moment I swore I would quit the 3rd grade and I barely tell anyone about 20 years later.  Think back and remember your first crush, mine was a blond hair blue eyed future football player son of a doctor.  I went as far as craving his name in my dresser (sorry parents) and sadly I never was the best speller, I spelled it wrong and it came out Brain instead of Brian.

Anyway, in third grade those standardized test appear for a week which are named after my home state- Iowa test of basic skills (sorry everyone.)  My crush sat a seat or two in front of me and after my first round I filled in the blanks and passed my answers forward when required. We were told to fill the basic information prior to starting the testing period and one of the questions I had never seen before so I marked an answer and never asked about it.  I after passed my form forward, it stopped with Brian and he raised his.  When he was called on he said, "Mrs. P. Holland put she is a male!"  The whole class roared in laughter and I had no idea why.  I could have died but I just had to sit there.

Now my rant, how in the hell was I suppose to know what male or female was at that age?! So formal for names, what happened to boy or girl at that age.  My little one will be getting that lesson sooner than later-prior to any stupid standardize tests!

Day 8: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

Day 8: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

TRAVEL

I love traveling and seeing new things.  It means more to me than a closet full of shoes, the latest iPhone, the sports network, or lots of eating out.  I have seen such a small corner of the world and I want to see more.  There is so much to see both close and far, for whatever price range you wish.  I grew up 7 miles from a Danish Windmill, actually imported from Denmark (and I am Danish!) but can only remember going there once.  I have a goal of getting out and about more often, like touring the state capitol building that I have lived 20 miles away from for the past 8 years. 

I have gotten so many travel memories and stories (no judgment) that I would not trade for anything:

  honeymooning European cruise
  trying to navigate the train system in Africa
  two week girlfriends get away
  school trip through Japan
  falling asleep on a train nearly getting lost in Ireland
  cave tubing in Belize
  hitch-hiking a ride with bikers in
  getting kicked off of the subway in London
  stealing a pint glass from a bar in Ireland
  watching the 2006 Olympics from a hotel room in the Bahamas during Hurricane Charley
  getting lost in Disneyland Tokyo
  watching my Iowa Hawkeyes from the op deck of a cruise ship floating in the Caribbean

I am itching to plan something new just thinking about these memories, where to go next?
 

Blog Challenge Day 7: The thing(s) you're most afraid of

Day 7: The thing(s) you're most afraid of....

My dad was an auto mechanic and growing up we spent a lot of time on the side of the road.  He felt the need to fix any cheap vehicle that would come his way and sometimes they needed further adjusting in some random parking lot or on the side of the road.  Since his passing 10 years ago this upcoming summer, I have been afraid to be left alone-stranded on the side of the road without a working car.  This fear goes a little deeper to what caused my being on the road in the first place.  Since my dad was a mechanic, my three sisters and I got the car talks as well..."don't forgot to change the oil-you don't want not having any to burn up your engine" or "watch the temperature gauge, you don't want to blow the engine."  Although I better fully understand what each of those phrases mean today, I couldn't help but picture huge flames burning the engine or one of those stunt car movies while the whole car blew up for years.  Having a cell phone and my first new car (already 2 years old), decreased this fear but driving around a little baby has increased it!



Piece of cuteness for you to enjoy...