Happy List time again my friends!
I’ll get straight to it this time.

Blow dried hair makes me happy. Even if it does get extra frizzy when the wind blows, no matter how many different “anti frizz” products I use.

Having lots of “Mommy & Me” Photos with Dazlynn makes me super duper happy. With all my girls, of course, but these baby phases fly so quickly ya know?

Having another GIRL makes me happy. This is little lady #5 for us! Crazy huh? No little guys in this family, na-ah! This sono session also made me happy. I’ve never seen such detail in a sono before. Look at those little feeters? Love at first sight, I tell ya.

When I think about it, it’s kinda weird to post sono photos. I know, everyone does it. And I’ve done it with my last pregnancies too. But think about it, it’s like “Hey! Here’s a picture of my uterus and it’s contents… inside my body!”…. not weird to you? I don’t post baby’s genitals, because you should be fine taking my word for it that she is a she. I wouldn’t post her genitals if she were outside the womb, why show them to you in the womb, huh? I’m just sayin’….

We also got this little gift package with the sono. Cute cute cute. Came with a onesie and a pair of shoes.

We also picked out (agreed) on a name for our newest addition today. I am not ready to announce it yet, but we love it. And having a name for her makes me love her even more. Is that silly? Maybe it makes it more real, “naming” her and all. Whatever it is, it makes me happy.

My girl’s getting along and behaving for decent periods of time makes me happy. Wait… makes me EXTREMELY happy. Not having to referee every 5 (or 2) minutes is super exciting. It means I can get things done. Like laundry, or dishes, or a chapter in a book. Ok, maybe half a chapter, a whole might be pushing it a little. But you get my drift.

Check that out. They are not fighting! They are even sharing the SAME coloring book… I had to document that. I have seen them do this before but using their own coloring books (large ones!) but never with the same, itty bitty coloring book. I don’t even care that they totally trashed their room (which I spent a decent amount of time picking up earlier) because – well – just look at them! Awesomesauce….

The idea of moving in a few weeks (well, more like 10 weeks or so) makes me happy. I loved this apartment when I first moved in, but now I hate it. Hate being here. Hate cleaning it. Hate having to see the maintenance guys on a weekly basis because something broke, or sprung a leak, or whatever the issue may be. Hate it! Maybe if they looked like Channing Tatum or Taye Diggs and smelled like expensive cologne I wouldn’t mind… but they don’t, quite the opposite in fact, I will let you let your imagination run loose on that one… Can not wait to be free of this. Never again will I live in an old complex again. NEVER I SAY! No matter how “cute and quaint and roomy” it is… This girl has learned her lesson, for sure.

That’s about all I’ve got today. Not that more things don’t make me happy, just that’s all I feel like sharing. Because you see, the girls are all passed out for the night, and I am gonna lay down on my bed (which is amazing, it makes me happy) and try to finish the book I’ve been reading for a couple months (don’t you hate when you enjoy a book all the way til the last few chapters and get bored with it? hmmph) and then get some shuteye myself. Oh, and my nightly quiet reading time makes me happy. Helps me unwind from the craziness of day-to-day life, ya know?

What makes you happy?

As you can also probably imagine, lately I have been sort of limited on my “free time” so I wanted to do something quick and simple. Not including taking photos (lol) this probably took less than 15 minutes. I grabbed an 8×10 photo frame, some ribbon, some scrap fabric, and my handy dandy glue gun. I recommend gluing or taping a white piece of paper to your frame back if you have thin fabric, it makes the colors stand out brighter. You can also glue the fabric to a piece of cardstock or cardboard. But I decided to glue it directly to the back of the frame.

Cut your fabric to at least 10 inches wide by 12 inches long. Mine was a little small, it was already 9″ and it worked but it woulda been nice to have another half inch on either side when gluing it down. If you want it ironed, you should probably iron it now. I didn’t iron mine because I can’t find my stupid iron (don’t judge me) and like I said – I wanted this to be a quick project. Arrange your fabric how you want it to lay – I used clips to hold it down where I wanted it. You don’t have to do that, I just wanted to. If you dont have blank clips use your bows! Lol.

Glue down the fabric to the BACK of whatever it is you are gluing it on. Don’t glue on the front that will be showing. I say this because sometimes the glue kind of sticks out, you don’t want it to show lumpy through the fabric, ya know?

Arrange your ribbon how you want it. If you do it the way I did it, cut 2 pieces 12″ and 2 pieces 10″. To be honest though, Considering the size of my bows I think it would have been better to just make 3 vertical rows (so 3 12″ pieces), and I still might change it later (that’s the nice thing about hot gluing, it will pop off if you want to change it up a little).

Once you have those glued down (in the back only, do not glue the front because you want the front to be free to slide your clips under) it should something like the above.

Put your pretty creation in your frame, and tada! You have yourself a little bow/clip holder!

Now I just need to find all her bows (some of them seem to have grown legs lol) and decide if I want the 3 vertical lines or leave it how it is… hmmm…

Pretty cute, eh?

Also, if you like those bows shown above, I got them at Walmart for less than $3 a set! (not sure if it was $2.97 or $2.50) Considering how much time these stupid things take to make (I used to be all about making my own) that is quite a steal, and super duper cute!

Oh My Dazlynn
How is it possible that you are 6 months old today? Not a concept I am a fan of having to grasp. I adore this stage you are in, I just wish you hadn’t reached it quite so quickly, because just as quickly as it came, it will be gone. Tear.

Today you weighed 18.8 lbs. You have your 6 month checkup in 10 days, we will see your “height” and percentage then.

In the last 10 days, you have reached 3 major milestones. You rolled over from back to tummy, then tummy to back, then you found your feet. Most little ones reach those around 4 months, but your sweet little self was a bit behind from being so awfully sick the whole month of January. I wasn’t worried though, I knew you would catch up. You love tummy time, which I love. Makayla hated it, so it’s nice not to feel like I am torturing you with it. I love how proud you look when you hold your head up super high. Cutest thing ever.

Let’s go back to those little feet. Since you have found them, you can’t get enough of them. I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to love your little feet more than me, but I do believe you just might.

Apparently they are quite tasty too. You always stop eating them as soon as you notice me watching though, so I have to catch you on the sly

I absolutely adore your belly button. It’s an “inny”, like mine. Your sisters have “outties”, like your Daddy. It’s nice that our belly buttons match, I don’t care how weird anyone thinks that is.

You’ve got a few nicknames. Darlin’ Dazlynn, Cuddlebug, & Bright Eyes being the most used ones. Bright eyes because, well, this photo pretty much sums it up.

“You are my Sunshine” is still your favorite song. Your whole face lights up even at just the tune of it. The rare occasion you get fussy, your sisters start singing it right away to calm you down. It’s really quite cute.

This last month, You had your first Valentine’s Day.

And your first trip to the beach. It was a bit chilly for us so we did alot of cuddling while your (crazy) sisters played in the water, and sand, and built sand castles for us.

You’re hands are quite ticklish. If I want an easy giggle from you, tickling your hands will never let me down. Your feet are ticklish too, but not nearly as much so as your little hands.

You have 2 main toys that you seem attached to. The main one is your ball. You LOVE this thing. As soon as I shake it you get super excited and reach out for it.

It boggles me how long you play with it and don’t ever seem to get bored with it. You just shake it, and shake it. And try to eat it, but get upset sometimes that none of the parts are really able to be grasped with your little mouth. Lol.

Your next favorite is your “Kitty Doll” as it’s called around here. You’re Aunt Sue gave it to you for Christmas. She is lots of fun.

She has “crunchy” sounding ears, and fun little tags. And is apparently quite chewable…

As far as eating goes, you are still on 6oz, sometimes 7oz, of formula every 3-4 hours or so. You still do not like baby food at all. I thought you liked Bananas, and were just having a problem with your tongue reflex pushing it out, so for a little while I was “tricking” you with your binky. One day we went to the little cafe down the street after a walk and I had some oatmeal. Randomly decided to give you a taste, and you know what? You swallowed that stuff just fine! You little stinker! Another day I gave you little pieces of pancakes, and you did fine. So I guess you are just saying “no” to babyfood, huh? Your favorite snack is the Gerber banana fruit puffs. You’d eat them all day if I would let you.

You’ve got a smile that lights up the room. Well, I sure think so anyways. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just nuts. There are still no teeth in that little smile, even though you have been drooling like crazy and teething for 2 months. You have some hilarious facial expressions, this being one of my favs-

You have been in size 3 diapers for 2 months. The box says they fit thru 28lbs but I do not see that happening. Pretty sure 4s will be in the near future. You started “growling” at us the last month, and you are super duper vocal. We love it. You love to stand on your little legs. You love it when your sisters give you lots of attention. You actually seem to like it when Jazereigh shares her pictures with you. She loves it that she thinks you love it.

You loved to be swaddled until about 2 weeks ago. Sometimes I will swaddle you if you seem over tired, but normally you fall asleep just fine without it. I am a little sad, but happy that it lasted as long as it did. You are sleeping pretty well thru the night. Sometimes wake up once to be fed, and sometimes you don’t wake up at all between 10pm and 7am.

You are still such a happy, easy to please, sweet little lady, and we are so glad to be lucky enough to have you in our family. Happy 6 months baby Dazlynn, you are so very loved!


(all photos in the post were taking by myself, even though logos are different)

I am happy that today marks 9 years since the date the hottest boy in school (I would have sworn to it) asked me to be his girl, at 2:23pm. Yes, I know the time – because I had to keep checking my watch to make sure I wasn’t late walking home. I hesitated before saying yes, which he said scared the *ish* out of him. Funny stuff. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Well sorta… Just some random photos of us haha. Excuse the crappy quality of some. These are uber old, ya dig?

August 2003. (I was 15, he was 17) Yes, oh yes – those are playboy bunnies in the background. Were we cool or what?

March 2004. Favorite “imageshots” ever. Wish we had gotten larger ones. Phooey.

September 11th, 2005 – Not an awesome photo, we both look miserable, don’t we? Haha. But I still love it. This was actually taken an hour before we took a taxi to The Birthplace thanks to labor pains and I gave birth to our sweet Jazereigh the next day! I actually sat outside the mall waiting for the taxi while he ran in to get the prints. Haha.

Spring 2006. Jazzy was probably about 5 months here, so February/Marchish? I can’t believe my hair was that long… sheesh. If you haven’t noticed I’ve had it just about every color possible (other than blue, or pink, or weird stuff that is)

March 2008. During his tour in Korea… he was gone a whopping 14 months with absolutely NO leave or R&R, so all our communication was web-based. Ain’t that crazy?

Summer 2008, after he returned from Korea. I swear this man has a hard time not playin around when it comes to photos. I always have to take several to get a “normal” face from him… sigh. I act like it irritates me (cuz sometimes it really does) but in all honestly, I guess I kinda love his goofiness… I guess..

October 2008 after getting my hair done. No way could I do that to my hair myself…. haha.

November 2008. Gotta love webcam shots!

January 2010

January 2011

December 2011

He’s blessed me with 4 gorgeous little girls.

& I am happy to announce (since this is supposed to be a happy list) A SURPRISE! Another little blessing expected to make his/her (probably her lol) arrival mid-September…

Yes, you read that correctly… no, this is not a joke.

There’s been good times. There’s been (alot) of bad times. Which is (I’m sure) what many of my close friends and family are thinking about right now as they read this. But you know what? There’s been alot of good times, too. It took a long separation and a few obvious pushes – that I have truly felt are from the Man upstairs Himself, for me to decide (well, we, but ultimately it was my decision to make, he’s just been waiting for me to make it) that this is not the time for me to throw in the towel. Maybe someday, who knows. None of us know what the future will hold. Life’s crazy like that, ya know? If I had known where I would be standing today I would not have said “yes” 9 years ago. But look what I would be missing if I had done that.

I really don’t need to justify my relationship – my marriage – to anyone. I know I am going to be burning some bridges with this decision, and it’s unfortunate. The one bridge I know I am not burning is with God, and with Him having my back what else do I need? Nothing. I am honoring the vow I made October 17th, 2005 – for better or for worse. That vow has kept me sticking around much longer than many would. It saddens me how lightly our society feels toward marriage.

I am happy… that I finally got that out…
I am happy… to be expecting another little miracle. Being a mom is such a blessing, and I have lots and lots of love to give. I hope you can be happy for me, too =)
I am happy… that I already know that a few people will stand by me & support me and my decisions. After all, this is my life, they are my decisions to make.
I am happy… that the idea of burning bridges doesn’t really bother me as much as it did a month ago. If people can’t accept me for me, flaws included, they don’t need to be in my life, right?
I am happy… to know that I am the kind of friend that would never make a friend or loved one feel the way I myself have been feeling the last few months.
I am happy… and honored, that you actually made it to the end! Thanks for stopping by =)