snow days

we have had a lot of self imposed snow days around here lately. i say self imposed since i don't really have to go anywhere to get to work........and it's not like levi's preschool is going to be cancelled. we just decide not to go anywhere, enjoy snuggling, playing and drinking lots of hot tea. (i'm drinking so much of it, whenever levi sees my coffee mug he says "hhhhhhhot") here's a peek into our days the last couple weeks. :)we stand :)
we read LOTS and LOTS of books (big red barn 3 times today!)

we do a little blackberry-ing ;)

we stand in the chair and watch it snow.

we practice flushing the toilet (and turning on the dishwasher....little goober)

we finally figured out "touchdown" during the superbowl :)

we figured out how to open the cereal cupboard and help ourselves to kix

we chill

we play in the magazine rack

i love this littel goober. he makes me laugh all the time. and sometimes i laugh so loud, he starts laughing. so funny.

{mostly} wordless thursday

determination defined by a 13 month old. precious

valentine

Heartstrings Valentine's Day Card

Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

exciting

i have been prayerfully considering and thinking a lot about giving back, doing something more with my time, and blessing others. at christmas our pastor talked about "C.O.A.L.- Christmas On Another Level" which he expanded to simply be LIFE on another level. Meaning Christmas shouldn't just be a day or a week in our year, but a way of life, a manner of living, and state of mind in which we constantly think outside of ourselves and to others. he handed out stickers, 12 of them, to put on our calendar every month to remind us of our "COAL" commitment. he suggested putting them on the 25th of each month......you know, like Christmas. well......that's tomorrow. since Christmas, i've been thinking about what i can do to make a different and do something more. my first thought was children's hospital. i SO take levi's health for granted, i am so greatful that he is a happy, healthy, developing toddler who, thus far, as escaped any serious health issues. i know that not every family is so lucky. and i want to do something to help those families, and those babies. i know what i can do won't make much of a difference, it won't help pay their medical bills, won't heal the kids, and won't make the things they are going through any easier, but i want to at least provide a little blessing, a small ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark and scary time. i have been prompted and lead to make and donate one lovee blanket for every sale in my shop. that's right, for every sale that i've had or will have in the weeks and months to come, one infant in the NICU will have a snuggly, cuddly lovee blanket to help in whatever small way it might help. i pray that God will do something bigger with these blankets than i can do. i pray that God will use these blankets in a monumental way, to speak words of life, peace and comfort into the scared minds and hearts of the parents, and that he will use the simple gift of a lovee to........ i don't know, just bring a little joy into their hearts. i know that God can do bigger and better things through just a simple act. i humbly ask you to be with me in this, to be praying for the families that will get the blankets, and for the kids who will be fighting for their lives.
thank you in advance for your prayers, support and encouragement. if you want to donate a lovee, pick something out of my shop, or email me to donate one without a purchase!

wordless wednesday

sad

i got no entries in my giveaway.
i'm trying really hard not to take it personally. it seems so junior high-ish to say "no one likes me or my shop or my blog. why doesn't anyone like me?" i'm trying not to get sucked into this as a popularity contest or anything...... but i'm frustrated. and, to be honest, all those thoughts are running through my head. i'm not sure what i can do to make people care about what i'm writing and what i'm doing........

intentional

inspired by my dear friend heather, i have decided to choose a word for 2011. a word to remember and try to live my life by. a word that will hopefully give my life, my days, my activities, my mothering, my wife-ing.......direction and purpose. the word that i'm working hard to remember this year is INTENTIONAL. i'm trying hard to be intentional with my time, my money, my food, my choices, my attitudes, my activities, my talents, my attention, my heart, my energy. i'm trying to make intention the cornerstone of this year. no more half-assing things. no more laziness. no more wallowing.

"There is an eagle in me that wants to soar,

and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud"

-- Carl Sandburg

baby lovenotes and whimsy hair notions GIVEAWAY!

hello to all my readers, both old and new! i have some exciting news!
My dear friend Colleen at Whimsy Hair Notions has partnered with me for another GREAT BIG giveaway! This is going to be big. If you haven't checked out her page, either on Facebook or Etsy, go. do. it. NOW! Her flower clips are beautiful, and her hand knitted hats are awesome! Levi has one of her newsboy style hats, and even though it doesn't stay on his head for longer than 15 seconds, it's adorable. And I have high hopes some day he'll wear it ;)
For this giveaway, Colleen has sent me a whole box of beautiful deep purple flower clips, with plenty of sparkle, sass, and style! And for my part, I will be making a personalized, custom fabric covered initial hair clip holder. (This is a BRAND NEW product for my shop. So new, I've only made one and I don't even have a picture to entice you with! But trust me, it's good!) This package will be perfect for any little lady in your life. Unfortunately, it won't be over in time to be an in-time for Christmas gift, but it could be a great gift for a birthday, shower gift, or even a late Christmas present ;)

So, you want to know how to enter? There are several ways to enter. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry (up to five entries)
1) become a fan of baby lovenotes AND Whimsy Hair Notions on facebook (and write on our walls to help us feel the love!)
2) follow my blog
3) visit baby lovenotes AND Whimsy Hair Notions on Etsy and tell me what your favorites are
4) make a purchase from either of our shops
5) share this giveaway with your fans or followers on your blog or facebook page

Have fun with this giveaway! I will draw a name on the 26th. That gives you TEN days!
Ready?
SET!
GO!

christmas 2010

Funky Christmas Wishes Christmas 5x7 folded card

Visit Shutterfly.com for classic photo Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

vintage love

i love the vintage pearl. my dear friend mysha got me this lovely necklace for christmas last year. it's amazing, i wear it almost every day. and every time i'm wearing it, levi grabs it and loves on it too. it's like he knows it's all about him :)

i would love to get a personalized charm with his name on it to go along with it. i had an "L" but levi tugged on it one too many times and it broke. but seriously, they have so much good stuff.

if you check out their blog, they are giving away LOTS of goodness.

some of my faves, in no particular order:

christmas 2010

Holly Frame Christmas Card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

shutterfly lovin

i adore shutterfly. i have made levi two photo books in the past year, both of which were free. i won one from a blog i follow, and the other one was a perk from the formula we use for levi. so while i didn't spend money on his books, i would have. the pictures are printed so beautifully, the covers are so sweet. i just love them.
another thing about shutterfly i love is their christmas cards. there are so many great ones to choose from. we've had a big year, with our little monkey turning one tomorrow, and i have so many great pictures i want to share with our christmas card list. even though i thought i had it nailed down as to which pictures i would choose for our christmas card, just in perusing shutterfly's christmas card options.......suddenly i'm doubting everything! one big family picture? several smaller pictures of things we've done throughout the year? a timeline of levi's growth and changes over the year? or, oh my gosh, the best of both worlds.......a christmas photo card AND christmas letter, all in one??? oh my word, this one is cute too!!
regardless of what decision i hope to make soon (inevitably i'll let mat pick something out, since he's usually more "i don't like that one" than i am. i'm usually so wishy washy.)...... i know i will be happy with my selection. anything i've ordered from shutterfly, be it the photo books, the custom notepads levi sent his grandma's for mothers day, or just my pictures printed at target, i've been elated with. and i truly think that this years christmas card will be my favorite. thanks to having two handsome men in the pictures with me, and thanks to shutterfly's (50 free photo card promotion) help :)

a couple of my favorite shutterfly goodies (other than the christmas cards and photo books!)
* these photostrips. ADORABLE!!! such a good idea for levi's thank you cards for his party!
* this mounted wall art. this would make great gifts for grandparents! i'll have to keep these in mind!
* these desk calendars. again, a great gift idea for grandparents who want to see levi's picture every month of the year :) i might have to take some "seasonally appropriate" pictures throughout the year for this one!

one thing i wish shutterfly made....... a photo address book. really i'd just like to put a family picture on the front of an address book. i'll keep my fingers crossed that this is in production :)

bobbin winder

i have become an excellent bobbin winder. and an excellent seam ripper.

which means........i've been sewing up a storm!

thanks to my favorite blog, Little Bit Funky, I was inspired to make a TON of ornaments this year. Most of them will be headed to Iraq shortly for the Cav 1-9 division. My darling friend Joy's husband is deployed there, so she asked me to make ornaments for all the soldiers in his division. I do have a few left that I'm hoping will be Christmas presents, and maybe give aways for some fans of my shop. This took up a boat load of my time, but I'm so glad I could bless the soldiers in this way, the men and women who are fighting for our freedom, who are away from their family for such a long time.

it's truly the least i can do for such amazing people. it warms my heart.

belated big announcement

another thing that has been keeping me so busy is my new etsy shop!! that was my big annoucement that i failed to announce here..... whoopsies. i launched my new shop the middle of june, and it's been keeping me busy this summer. i've been making mostly baby decor and such; my cards have not been as big of a seller, unfortunately. but i'm still staying busy, being creative and blessing those who order things from my shop.

things i need to be productive

this,

this, and one of these on in the background....

pictures from our summer

just a few of my favorite pictures from the summer. i can't understand why blogger can't put them into my post in the order i upload them in, and i don't have the time to reorganize them, so they are a little random...... but still cute ;)

first camping trip, with cousin cayla.

first four wheeler ride....a HIT!

first bath in the sink..... he only liked it a little bit ;)

me and levi enjoying the yard

levi and papa

yellowstone national park

monkey at the zoo

4th of july with nattie

colorado springs zoo....full size sophies!!

end of two long days of sod laying

our memorial day adventure to red rocks and dinosaur ridge

it was a hot summer

toes taste so good

heckuva

wow. where the heck has time gone? and where the heck have i been? i've been debating whether i wanted to post-post and pretend i haven't been MIA all summer......but the longer i thought about doing that, the longer i delayed in actually posting. SO....... i've decided to actually be honest and post from the real date. there'd be too much to update, and it's too hard for me to write as if i'm living in the past. ya know?
here's our summer in a nutshell:
* our lawn is now landscaped, and wonderful. our water bill increased by over 200% which was a little shocking, but it's fantastic. we didn't do the fence this summer, but we have a wonderful underground sprinkler system and nice green grass. ah-MAZ-ing
* mat played another season of baseball. it was a dismal season, not much winning by his team. and, honestly, he's getting sick of losing. the jury is still out as to whether or not he'll play again next summer.
* several rockies games, levi does so good considering most of them happen right during his naptime. same to be said for levi in the nursery at church. he does great, but falls asleep in the car before we are out of the parking lot. he just loves playing with the other kiddos.
* several trips down to colorado springs to see our friends, the mcclungs. they are moving in a few days, so we tried to soak up as much time with them as we could. we spent the kid's first 4th of july together, taking fun pictures and laughing. it was amazing. i'm going to miss them.
* a week long visit with auntie katie. rockies games, shopping, and the zoo. just lots of fun times together. her trip was nicely bookended with a road trip up to montana!
* a monthlong vacation in montana (two weeks for mat, a month for me and beezus.) a trip to yellowstone national park, mat and i running another 5k, an ear infection for levi, a sinus infection for me, a 4 day family reunion in big sky, a four wheeler ride.....our trip was jam packed. levi and i flew home, and he did fantastic! i was so nervous, since he was still recovering from his ear infection, but he did great! played with the barf bag the first half of the flight, and slept the second half. wonderful!
* levi's first college football game. we went down to the springs to see AF play...crap i can't remember who they played. it was a HOT, windless, sunny, HOT day, but the kids did really good. nicole and i sat under the bleachers (the only place there was any shade to speak of) for most of the game, but we still had fun.

whew........NOW do you see where i've been? it's been a busy summer, but so much fun. and we've got lots of stuff to look forward to:
* spending some more time with the mcclungs before they move! :(
* a long weekend trip to texas for levi and i to visit my dear friend joy. she's preggo and her hubby was just deployed to iraq for a year. i can't wait for her to meet levi, to spend some good girl time with her, and help her in any way we can!
* planning levi's birthday parties. we will have one in montana and one in colorado......what a spoiled little boy! and on that note,
* we are going back to montana for thanksgiving, so that's something else to be looking forward to! i can't believe that levi's almost one. what a whirlwind of a year, but so amazing. wow.