Hi Everyone! I’m super excited to announce that I have FINALLY relaunched my blog over at shopaholicandababy.com. Please check it out and follow me there!
xo
Trista
Blaire: 11 Months
It’s here! This is Blaire’s last monthly update before she’s a YEAR OLD! This update is the most emotional for me, and I think it must just be because she is becoming so independent. She sleeps in her own room, can feed herself, walk and she hasn’t used a bottle in a week! (We found the perfect sippy cup for her and she hasn’t seemed to mind drinking her formula out of those at bedtime.) It doesn’t seem like she should be this big yet! And I’m just not ready to let her be a toddler.
This month has been so exciting. Blaire got her third bottom tooth and second top tooth, within only five days of each other. Getting those two top teeth in has been rough. Poor kid! HUGE NEWS: She is also walking! If you follow me on Instagram, then you got to see those cute, tiny steps last week. She dances and has started saying lots of new words. My favorite has to be “uh oh!” It is just so freaking CUTE! She is also a stair-climbing pro! She’s our little mountain climber. ;)
One of the most exciting part about Blaire’s turning 11 months old today? It’s Jason’s birthday! I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in life. He’s the most wonderful and caring husband and father. I’m so lucky to have him here by my side, every, single day. Happiest of birthdays, JP, from both your girls. ;)
Taking this picture of Blaire for Jason’s birthday reminded me of one of my favorite pregnancy chalkboards. (These pictures always make me miss my baby bump!) I hope you had a great weekend! Ours flew by, as always. xo
Turning One
In just a few days, Blaire will be 11 months old, which means it’s time to plan her first birthday party! I’ve been working on some adorable invites and have putting together a fun theme. I love all things girly (think pink and glitter). So after lots of Pinteresting I found the perfect theme! (I’m not really sure how anything was ever planned before Pinterest.) We/I decided to go with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I LOVE gold and pink/coral, so I just fell in love with all of the photos below. I’m so excited to start crafting. We decided on a small, family birthday party. I know it’s hard to keep things small for a first birthday, but we’re going to try!
All pictures/links can be found on my Pinterest profile.
What do you think? What theme did you have for your little ones first birthday?
NYC
I’m back! I was in NYC for the past four days/three nights… It was fun, but I’m so happy to be home! I had been to NYC once before, for three days, to visit one of my good friends. She was the perfect tour guide and it was so much fun. This time, I went for work, with my boss/best friend and another coworker. (We went in search of new clothing lines for BB Children’s Boutique, in case you’re wondering!)
Anyways, it was lots of fun and I actually did better (being away from Blaire) than I thought I would. Jason sent me lots of snapchats and videos, and she looked like she was having so much fun that it didn’t make me feel guilty for being way. While in NYC, we spent a day at a clothing show, and two days shopping in the garment district. We met up for dinner and lunch with my friend Jackie. I haven’t seen her for over a year, since I went to visit her in October of 2013, so it was lots of fun to catch up. She’s getting married this October which means there was tons to talk about! While we were there, we had sooo much good food, including some New York pizza and Shake Shack. We did a little sightseeing, including shopping in Columbus Circle and Times Square.
While I was gone, Jason transitioned Blaire from her pack and play (in our room) to her crib (in her own bedroom). SCARY. My worst fear was that she wouldn’t let him get much sleep while I was away. Jason gets up early for work, and he had to get up even earlier to get Blaire to daycare. Between her cold and teething, she had been waking up for hours in the middle of the night, or would toss and turn for hours… Luckily, each morning I got a good report! She would go right to sleep and was only up for an hour, or less, each night. #success ;) She also had her third bottom tooth pop through while I was gone!
Blaire tried yogurt for the first time this weekend. We found this baby yogurt at Target. She LOVES it! We started with the apple and blueberry package and she seems to love them both equally. We are slowly transitioning her from purees to more solid foods, but it’s just not the easiest with only 2 1/2 teeth. Speaking of teeth… now that she has her two bottom teeth, and a top tooth that’s about half way in, she has started grinding them! It is the most terrible sound. Did your kid(s) do this? If so, was there anything you could do to get them to stop? I can’t handle it!
Last week Blaire had her first piece of cat food, and now we can’t keep her out of the kitchen! Any time she can, she makes a bee line to the cat bowls. So gross. Well, we’re halfway through the week… here’s hoping your last two days go by quickly! xo
New Year Ramblings
TGIF! It’s finally the weekend (woo hoo!) It’s been a long week here… Blaire was finally given an antibiotic for the cold she has had since the beginning of November. Thankfully it helped her congestion, but led to lots of lots of coughing and a very runny nose. I think she is finally starting to get over it the past day or so. We have had lots of sleepless nights the past few weeks…. One too many sleepless nights is actually what finally made me take her back to the doctor for the third time. I was convinced it was another ear infection. The poor girl has been battling her cold, getting in her third tooth and was way off of her schedule with all of the holiday festivities.
We spent New Year’s Eve at a friend’s house, for a parent/child party. It was fun to get out of the house and Blaire loves playing with/watching all of the other kids. Blaire actually made it past midnight… and then slept in until 9AM. It was an amazing way to start off the new year! On New Year’s Day we had some friends over for pizza. They brought Blaire her Christmas gift and she was SO excited to get to open another gift.
Our first family photo of 2015!
Blaire is really starting to get back to her funny, crazy little self now that she’s feeling better. She has started “dancing” now whenever she hears music, clapping or whistling. It’s adorable. She is also quite the little waver. Sometimes it’s with both hands, sometimes it’s only with her fingers (so it looks like she is casting a spell. HA!) and sometimes it’s just a normal, one-handed wave. She LOVES being out and about and seeing people, especially kids. She’s pulling herself up on everything and will even take one step from Jason to me, or vice versa. I don’t think it’ll be too much longer before she’s taking steps on her own!
I’m heading to New York tomorrow for work and will be gone for three nights. Here’s hoping Blaire wants to start sleeping through the night while I’m gone. I know Jason would appreciate it! ;) I’m so worried about being away from her and I know I’m going to miss that little face so much while I’m gone. I always feel guilty whenever I’m away from her. Does it ever get easier?
Well… I guess that’s all for now! Happy Weekend! xo
More Family Photos… (A little late)
Looking through my “Draft” posts last night, I realized I put this one together back in October and never actually published it! Since I LOVE these photos so much, I figured I may as well share it now. :)
To say I love our family photos is an understatement. If I had the time to sit and stare at them all day, trust me, I would. They turned out so amazingly, and they just capture Blaire’s little personality so perfectly. I just had to share a few more.
Hopefully she doesn’t want to kill us for those last two someday. Her baby rolls are just the cutest, how could we not document them?!? I actually went in to this shoot with the mindset that I was against “naked” baby pictures. But then our photographer found the amazing spot with the long grass and asked if we wanted to try some with just the crown. Seeing how happy she was and how adorable she looked in the crown made me change my mind and I was down to do whatever we could to document our adorable little girl. The floral crown was custom-made to match the little dress she was wearing. My friend Tiff at Tied in Twine did an amazing job and she had such a fast turn around time. With Blaire growing and changing every day (or so it seems), I wish we could get them taken every month. I know that’s extreme. So, how often do you get family photos taken? I’d love to hear which milestones you schedule your photos for. xo
9 & 10 Month Must Haves
Well, time has gotten away from me and every time I sat down to put together Blaire’s 9 month must-haves, I just couldn’t seem to get it finished up. Once I was finally getting it finished (after Blaire turned 10 months old) I realized that she really has been drawn to the same things the past two months, so I’d just combine them. At this age Blaire is curious about everything! She loves putting things into another thing (a ball/doll/anything into a cup), she still loves chewing on EVERYTHING and she’s learning how to walk and use those legs to push herself when sitting. Below are our must-haves for 9 and 10 months.
Wooden Puzzle // Stride & Ride Elephant // Stuffed Elmo // Sippy Cup // Elephant Ball Popper
Hape Color and Shape Sorter: Blaire has a little wooden puzzle that she just absolutely loves! She basically just likes to chew on the pieces because they’re colorful and easy to carry around. Hers is a hand-me-down, so it’s not made anymore. This puzzle is very similar.
Stuffed Elmo: Blaire has really loved stuffed animals the past few months. She’s always dragging one around with her and cuddling up to them. This Elmo is the perfect size for both! Plus, she LOVES Elmo on Sesame Street. She likes to take this guy everywhere.
Fisher Price 3-in-1 Bounce, Stride & Ride Elephant: At this age, Blaire is constantly on the go. She’s been crawling for over a month now and spends the majority of her day pulling herself up onto anything she can, and she loves standing on her own. She likes sitting on this elephant, but doesn’t quite get that she can bounce on it yet. But her favorite thing to do is push it! She loves being able to “walk” by herself and she could push this thing around the room all day if we let her!
Rise and Shine Sippy Cup: We have some “fancy” sippy cups that Blaire just doesn’t get the hang of yet. I picked this one up at the mall one day and she loves it! Plus I love it because it’s clearly a baby Starbucks cup.
Poppin Park Elefun Ball Popper: Okay, so Blaire doesn’t quite get how to put the balls into this to get them to pop out, but she LOVES the balls. She carries them around and chases them around the room (so do the cats!). And she knows how to push the button to get it to turn on. She loves the music so much that when it stops, she’ll crawl back over to it and push the button to get it to turn back on. It’s SO cute!
Happiest of New Years
HAPPY 2015! Every year keeps getting better and better, and I just know 2015 will be the best year yet. I have the Timehop App on my phone and I just LOVE it! Today it popped up with my photo collages I’ve made the past few years, documenting Jason & I’s amazing memories that we’ve shared together. This is our fourth New Year’s together and each year I’m not sure how we’ll top the year before.
2012 Highlights: We took two trips: one to Las Vegas over Valentine’s Day, one to Mexico with my family over Memorial Day. We got engaged in September and had our engagement photos done in October.
2013 Highlights: We got married in March and took our honeymoon to Antigua. On Father’s Day, we found out we were expecting Baby P, and we bought our new house in October.
2014 Highlights: I enjoyed the last few weeks of my pregnancy, and we welcomed Blaire Elizabeth in February. We took a trip to Colorado in July and have made so many amazing memories as a family of three.
In 2015, we are looking forward to many more firsts for Blaire! Her first steps, her first birthday and maybe even her first vacation! We’re planning a trip to Georgia in October for a friend’s wedding, so that’s very exciting! I plan to focus on setting a better example for Blaire when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle! More exercise and better food… especially now that she’s starting to eat off of our plates.
Here’s hoping 2015 is your best year yet… what are your resolutions to make 2015 an amazing year? xo
Christmas Festivities
I can’t believe it… Christmas has come and gone! We spent so much time preparing and it was over in the blink of an eye. Between our families, we spent three days celebrating four Christmases. Talk about craziness. While I’m sad that it’s all over, I’m so happy to be able to get Blaire back into her regular routine. Traveling means either shorter naps at odd times, late bed times and less sleep for everyone. And no one likes less sleep!
We spend Christmas Eve celebrating with my family and my mom’s dad (at their house, an hour away) with a huge lunch! Blaire was sooo excited about the first gift she opened, a stuffed Elmo. I am SO excited about Jason & I’s gift… a new Canon T3i. I’m so excited to learn how to use it and start taking some amazing photos! Later that night, we changed gears to celebrate my birthday with my family and friends at my parent’s house with pizza and cake. We tried something new this year and rushed back to town so we could go to mass at 10PM. Blaire made it through until communion, and we had to leave right after to avoid a giant meltdown.
Christmas morning, Blaire was SO excited about the stuffed pig Santa brought her. In her stocking was the “holiday version” of her beloved dolly. She actually screamed when Jason pulled it out of her stocking for her. I’m SO glad we got it on camera because it was so sweet. We spent the morning and early afternoon with Jason’s parents and brother, before heading an hour away to my grandparent’s house to celebrate with my dad’s side of the family. My cousin has a daughter, Elaine, who is almost two months old. She is so cute. We were able to get a photo of Elaine, Blaire and our Grandpa (their Great Grandpa) together on the couch and it’s so cute. We also got a group photo of the great grandkids. It was so fun to see them all together. We played lots of games, and stayed there pretty late. We got lucky and Blaire slept the whole way home!
We had a Christmas party with some friends on Friday night. Their son is just two months older than Blaire (his name is James and he is Blaire’s boyfriend), so it makes it much easier for us to stay there past Blaire’s bedtime. It’s usually as easy and putting her in his swing, somewhere away from the crowd and she’ll sleep until we’re ready to go! ;)
Saturday we drove a few hours to Jason’s Aunt & Uncle’s house to celebrate with his dad’s family. Blaire got to meet lots of cousins! She loved making the rounds with everyone and provided quite the entertainment all day! This is usually the only time of the year when all of the family is together with some of them in Florida and some 3-4 hours away from where we live in Iowa. It was nice to get a picture of Blaire with all of her second cousins. While we were out of town, we finished off our night with a trip to the mall and dinner. I was SO excited because we stopped to eat at the same place we ate two years ago when we were there for our marriage prep class! And it was just as good as it was then. ;) Blaire partied so hard that she slept the entire way home.
Blaire is now a pro at opening gifts! got SO many toys, so now we’ll spend the new few days getting everything organized and put away. …Like I said, I’m sad it’s over, but I feel so much less stressed knowing that we made it through and that Blaire can get back to her regular routine. It’s rough when she only gets an hour nap at a random time. How were your holidays? Are they crazy and hectic, or easy and relaxing? xo
Blaire: 10 Months
Our little girl turned 10 Months Old on Christmas! Only two more months and this little girl will be ONE YEAR OLD?! AHH! Blaire now has three teeth and is just a babbling machine. Her two favorite words are still dada and mama. We also swear she said Elmo when she opened up her Elmo on Christmas Eve. She is the sweetest little girl and smiling is her favorite! She loves to wrinkle up her nose all the time, and it might just be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!
Headband (C/O Aubrey Charlotte Co.) // Top (Carters) // Moccs (C/O Freshly Picked)
She loves to do “sooo big” and “patty cake” and she has finally started waving with just one hand (it was two-handed for awhile!) She also has started doing the cutest thing with her fingers. She likes to wiggle them all around at the same time and it looks like she’s trying to tickle you. Blaire slept through the night for the first time just a few weeks ago and is really only waking up once per night. It’s usually between 5AM-6AM and we just bring her into our bed and she falls right back asleep until about 8:30AM. She has been using those three teeth to try out lots of new foods! Cheesy hashbrowns were a huge hit at breakfast with Santa.
It’s so hard to get this girl to sit still these days. She’s always trying to crawl away! Not a day goes by that Jason and I don’t wonder how we got so lucky, or what we’d be doing without this amazing little girl. We love you SO much Blaire Elizabeth.
Shopaholic & a Baby 
