Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Its been pretty slow around this blog... But next year I promise more posts.  The month of December is a hectic one for me.  My son's birthday is this month and also my sister's, brother's, and niece's.  That's is besides Christmas and all the parties that come along with it! 

 

My photography also picks up at this time.  I have been working on some photography sessions that I can't wait to share and post.  I also have to share my son's Star Wars birthday party pictures.  It was pretty awesome! 

 

For now, I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday season! 

 

Thankful

Another year to be thankful for has come.

I am thankful for a roof over my head, food on my table, and the health of my family.  There were times this past year where we weren't sure we would have food on the table, but God always made a way.  I am thankful for my parents who have helped us TREMENDOUSLY this year.  Too many ways to count.  I am thankful for my husband who works hard to provide for us and loves us hard!  I am thankful for my crazy boys that seriously and definitely keep me on my toes!!  But you gotta love them and their crazy antics!  I am thankful for my brother and sister and their families who have also been there for us in however way was possible for them.  I am thankful for my church family and my pastors who love us like their own.

I hope you spend your day surrounded by the ones you love and love you.  Its a constant struggle to remember to be thankful for what we have, but we are human after all and thank God for his mercy that is forever and his grace that is sufficient for me.  Otherwise, where would we be today? God bless y'all and enjoy your turkey, mashed taters with gravy, cranberries, and stuffing!  I know I will!

Hall family session

Around this time my photography picks up again and I am ever so grateful!  Christmas card pictures and senior sessions.  This is the perfect time of year for pictures since the weather is gorgeous!

This past weekend I got the chance to photograph some good friends of ours, the Halls.  We met through our sons who go to school together.  They are some sweet and awesome people!  I look forward to our years of friendship!

WWWW

Hey, look what I did!  I did WWWW two weeks in a row!  :)  So lets get to it!

This was this past Sunday after church, so we are in our Sunday best.

On Christian is a plaid button up from JCPenney and some khaki's you can't see.  This child will hardly let me take pictures of him anymore, so I got one good picture.  You can't see the pants or shoes.

On Liam is a my favorite thing, a romper!  This cute little romper is from Carters and its navy with red little crabs on it.  The weather has been cooler in the morning and warmer in the afternoons, so its hard to choose what to put on him lately.  His shoes are from Robeez.

On myself is a wrap type cardigan.  Its not sweater material though, its like t-shirt material.  I got it at Francesca's Collections.  Its a favorite piece in my closet.  And then just a plain black tank and skirt.  My shoes are from Target.  My favorite nudes.  And then my broach from NY & Co.  Which I believe isn't around anymore…?

So that's us!  And that's a wrap!!  Go check out C & her crew at a {A Life From Scratch} to see what they're wearing.

WWWW

Guess who's back?  Back again?  No, not Slim Shady.  Its us with WWWW!  Its been a couple weeks.  I'm soooooorey.  Literally I feel like the weeks are just melting one into the next and before I know it its WWWW again.  I think I might just do once a month cause ain't nobody got time fa dat!  I do love doing it, its just life man.  Life is busy!  Church, school, family get togethers, laundry, groceries... Life man.  Life.  Anywho!  Here is what we wore this past weekend for church.  In case you're not aware WWWW stands for What We Wore Wednesday, but its not necessarily what we wore ON Wednesday, but sometime that week.  Cause we keep it real and know that we don't always have time.  So pick a day and post your outfits too! 

So on my little Liam is some dark red "skinny" jeans from Old Navy.  First off they're too big still, lol... But I really wanted him to wear them.  I even washed them to see if they would shrink first.  They did not.  Haha!  But he still looks adorable.  Then he has his chambray button up from Target.  I love chambray it goes with ANYTHING.  And of course his little mini shoes from Robeez.  I love that I was able to stand him up and take his picture.  He literally stood there for me.  He had just seen Christian so he, of course, does whatever his brother does.  Its cute!  :)

On Christian is a gingham red, blue, and white button up from Target.  Which will probably be the last time he wears it cause the boy is growing.  Make it stop!!  His pants are skinnies from JCPenney's.  I love skinnies on this kid!  And shoes are from Old Navy.

On moi is a lovely navy skirt from who knows where.  It was given to me.  :)  The pink tank is from Old navy, chartreuse cardi from Target.  And the pièce de résistance, my infinity scarf.  You guys, I love my scarf.  It ties it all together and it's from.... Walmart!  Heck yeah!  They have every color and some more flowery patterns!  Run, don't walk -- cause they're only like $7.  Sometimes you find little gems at Walmart.  Oh, and my lovely peep toe platform heels are Nine West.  I've had them for like 5 years...?  I love them.  I hope nothing ever happens to them.  I will cry a thousand tears. 

Ok, so don't forget to head on over the head honcho who started WWWW>>> A Life From Scratch.  Leave us both some love below!  Till next week... or if I post a REAL blog post.. haha, sure...

Belated WWWW

Sorry guys! I'm a day late and a penny short, BUT I am here!  :)  I didnt have my own outfit picture until today.  One week just seems to run right into the other and I was super duper tired last week so I didn't get any pictures of myself.  But here we are! 

First on Christian...  He has on some awesome skinny chinos by Shaun White for Target.  I guess he's a skater guy designing his own jeans now.  All I know is I got them clearance for $9.50, so YAY!  I love the dark teal color.  His shirt is from Crewcuts.  A nice cerulean blue. (Yes I am specific with my colors because I am a girl.).  I love just mixing and matching colors that semingly don't go.  It seems anything goes these days anyway! And his shoes are from Old Navy.

On Liam... he has on a some adorable green jeans that he got for his birthday.  I am not sure of the brand or store.  Sorry! But I love them!   And his shirt is from Target.  Shoes from Robeez.  I love this chambray style shirt with the green jeans.  It maybe be fall, but these colors still rock! 

And finally on my boring self, haha...  A chartreuse colored cardi.  My favorite, favorite cardi!  I love this color!  It mixes with everything believe it or not. I got it at target like 3-4 years ago.  My skirt is a maxi skirt from I can't remember.  (wow doing great on that today, huh?)  And shoes are from Target from a few years ago as well.  I'm wearing my glasses because my eyes are being wonky and getting irritated with my contacts.  I am not a fan of wearing glasses. 

What are YOU and YOURS wearing???  Share! 

p.s. sorry for the crappy pics.  I am such a slacker this week.

WWWW

I snapped a couple pics of my boys as we went out to get family pictures this past weekend with my mother-in-law who was visiting.  I didn't get a good outfit pic of my outfit, so its just the boys today.  They're way cuter anyway! 

 

I feel like these are old news because I posted them on my photography page, on my facebook cover picture, etc.  BUT what I'm showing off here is their outfits. 

 

On Christian is a button up from JCPenney's.  I love the color scheme of coral, peach, and navy.  And of course the token khaki pants from Target. His shoes you can't see but they're like boat shoes from Old Navy.

 

On Liam is an adorable romper that our pastor's wife gave to him for his birthday.  SO cute!  I believe its Carters... One of my favorite outfits of his that I will be so sad when he outgrows.  Its got sailboats on it!  For shoes he has some navy Robeez that I scored while they were having a sale. ;)

 

 

 

 

Fall Pumpkin Pie Croissants

The other day I posted on facebook that I wanted to make something pumpkin'ish and the suggestions started pouring in!  The one that won in my eyes was a recipe for Mini Fall Pumpkin Pie Croissants.  If there are 2 foods I love its pumpkin pie and croissants!  And this was the best of both worlds!  Here is the blog recipe that was recommended to me: Mini Fall Pumpking Pie Croissants. 

4 oz. (1/2 block) of softened cream cheese
1 cup of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1-2 T pumpkin pie spice (adjust to taste)
3-4 T sugar (granulated or powdered: adjust to taste if you want the filling sweeter)

Beat the above ingredients together until fluffy and creamy and spread about one teaspoon of filling over each triangle of dough. Mix together 4 T sugar and 1 T pumpkin pie spice and roll each pumpkin pie croissant in it! Bake at 375 degrees for about 13-15minutes (this time is for on a baking stone) —-you want them to be lightly browned and the dough baked through.

And here is what I did. :)

So the recipe called for 2 tubes of 8 croissants and to cut them in half for 32 mini's.  I didn't want anything mini.  I wanted a full size croissant, so I did that.  Also I only bought 1 tube of croissants just in case there was a small chance I didn't like them, but then I wished I bought 2 tubes cause I LOVED them!  Please excuse my sugar, ha!  I ran out and used the canister we use for coffee, but it only called for a few Tbsp so I was good! 

After I tasted the creamed ingredients I felt like it as missing something so I added a ½ tspn of each: vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Then it was perfect (to me)! 

Since I was doing the regular sized croissants I added a good Tbsp of the delicious filling!

 

Filled, rolled, and ready to bake!

 

 

It was SO good, SO easy, and a hit with the family!!  The trifecta!  Happy baking people! 



Fall style

Basically go through the Ruche lookbook and.... I WANT IT ALL!!!
That is all.

For the complete lookbook go here --> Ruche Fall Lookbook

WWWW

Hey guys!  I took last week off cause it just seems the weeks run into the next and I don't barely have time to sit and relax.  But we're back this week!  And here I am with my boys.

First off on me is my favorite top ever from Francesca's Collections.  I usually wear it out with a short skirt, but I changed it up today.  My gray pleasted skirt is from another favorite online store Ruche.  I adore all their stuff and they're pretty affordable!  My shoes are Forever 21 from forever ago.  :)

On Christian is one of the shirts I got him from JCrew with the gift card I won through A Life From Scratch give away.  Can't wait to show the rest of the stuff he got in future WWWW.  I made $50 go a long way with sales!  :)  His pants are from Target I believe.  I can't remember exactly.  But you've seen one khaki, you've seen them all.  Finally his shoes are from Old Navy that he got for his Easter outfit.

On Mr. Liam is a romper I got him for his birthday from Target.  I love it!  Its red & gray gingham.  Oh how I love gingham print on boys! His shoes are Robeez soft soled shoes that my mom found at a consignment shop for $2.  I mean you can't beat that anywhere!  Also I want to point out that this is his first STAND ALONE picture!  The boy is walking and standing on his own!  Make time stop!!!

{Like always linking up with A Life From Scratch.  Hop on over there and check them out!}

Frymier family pictures

Its been a while since I posted some of my photography sessions.  Here is one I did recently for the Frymier family.  This family is super sweet!  Awesome family with great things in their future!  And they have a cutie of a 1 year old boy named Levi.  This little guy loves music and his books!  As soon as mom started singing, he looked up and smiled.  Of course dad knows how to make him laugh with some good ol rough tickling fun!  I had fun taking their pictures!  These pictures are for his 1 year shots.  I picked out some of my favorites!

Week in Pictures!

Been a while since I did one of these!  Just a little round up of our week in pictures.

Some notables...

First picture is Liam going to town on a pizza crust!  It kept him entertained for a good 30 minutes as we walked around Costco.

Third picture, first row - Liam was standing on the kitchen table as they were feeding him.  He stood for a good 10 minutes.  The things Liam will do for food! 

Third picture, second row - Christian... he's getting SO BIG!  Just a few months shy of 7...

Second picture, third row - Awesome fish tacos my mom made when we got together at her house on Labor Day!  Accompanied by some delicious guac, pico de gallo, and salsa verde.

WWWW

Hey guys, another week, another tired mama.. :)  I feel like the weeks are going by so fast one after the other.  Before I know it another WWWW is here.  But I managed to snap a few pics amidst the comings and goings of our life. 

As far as labor day weekend, we didn't do much. Did a tiny bit of shopping since its the best weekend for sales. On actual labor day we sat around the house all morning and then my husband had to leave for work. After Liam woke up from his afternoon nap we headed to over to my mom's house where she made some delicious fish tacos complete with guac, pico de gallo, and some salsa verde. Pure deliciousness!


{Linking up with A Life From Scratch... go check them out!}

On me is a cardi I got at Kohl's.  All their summer/spring stuff is on sale now, so go!  Get some good colorful stuff for CHEAP!  My black skirt I've had for a while.  Its from JCPenney's.  I love the back split because its closed off with a pleat.  You can't see it in this picture though. My shirt is from Macy's and I've also had that for a few years.  Although you can find these ruffle shirts everywhere now a days.  And the shoes from Forever 21. 

On Christian a shirt I just got for him at JCPenney's.  I love the soft colors of it.  I seem to buy him 1 of 2 things: plaid or stripes. haha!  The pants are also from JCPenney's and as always my boy looks good in a pair of skinny's.   And the shoes are bootie type shoes from Old Navy.

On Liam is a cute little brown overal and orange/white striped shirt he got as a birthday gift.  That picture is as good as it got for him.  He is mobile and doesn't want to stay still for anyone! 

Wishlist: Fall style

Fall is around the corner and the stores are already selling fall clothing. And I start dreaming....

So here are the items I found all on Old Navy, Gap, and Piperlime (my favorites!) and put these little fall outfits together. I die for that little orange sweater for Liam! Who says dressing boys isn't fun?? :)

Boys - fall by jannira on Polyvore

 

WWWW

Hey guys!  Welcome back to another WWWW.  I have some good and bad news for you.  Bad news: YOU did not win the $50 Crewcuts gift card that A Life From Scratch was giving away for linking up to her blog in last week.  Good news: I DID!!!  See?  It pays (sometimes) to link up!  ;) I was so excited, because I truly never win anything.  The last thing I won a couple years ago was a gift certificate from my job for a restaurant that was almost expired and only good if you spent a certain amount first.  Umm.. that's not a prize.  So after you're done here, make sure and go to A Life From Scratch and also Toronto Mama to see their adorable families and what they wore. 

Well, anyway, we are back with some more outfits.  Mine is pretty much a repeat of a couple months ago, except for my shoes.  I got those recently at www.shoemint.com.  Side note: I was boasting their praises just a couple months ago when I got 3 pairs of shoes on sale for $50'ish.  I need to clarify that they are a shoe "club" and if you buy from them you are joining their club and agree to spend a certain amount per month or they charge your account.  I learned this the hard way.  You do have the first 5 days of the month to pass on them charging your account and you can do this every month.  I did not know that.  They say its in the fine print, but who reads the fine print on everything?!  I called and argued, but they refused to refund.  So anyway, they charge your account and it becomes your credit that you can use at anytime for a year.  I think they have great shoes and great deals, but need to be A LOT more up front about how it works.  Back to the outfit.  So I love these shoes and their color!  Great for when you want a pop of color.  I also love this shirt. Aztecs prints are in! 

On Christian is one of my favorite Old Navy shirts, Old Navy shorts, and Old Navy shoes, haha!  Do you think we like Old Navy??  They just have the cutest and durable stuff for boys.

And finally Liam has a cute little v-neck (my favorite part!) he got for his birthday.  I believe its from Target.  Its a greenish yellow, but looks just yellow here.  His pants are hand-me-down's from Christian.  I love them because they roll up and button to become shorts.  He just woke up before this picture so he has sleepy face and some slight bedhead. :)  And yes that's a PS3 remote he's holding.  Whatever makes him happy for my picture. 

An InLinkz Link-up

WWWW

Hey peoples!  (Do I have peoples??)  I almost didn't do this WWWW post because I forgot last night to have the post ready to go, but my lovely husband sent me the pictures and I was able to do them here on my lunch break. :)

So these picturse are from this past Sunday.  It was HOT.  Lord have mercy!  And humid.  I have to give credit where credit is due and let you know that Christian took the picture of Liam and I!  A budding photographer??  Maybe...

So on me is one of my favorite tops because its my current favorite color (coral) and its light and best of all was $7.  At walmart y'all.  WALMART.  Ain't no shame in my game. I bought it back in February because we had couple's night we were going to be going to that night.  I said "let me stop into walmart and see what I can find.  You never know.."  And I found this on the clearance rack!  Its a soft rayon on top (1/3) and cotton on bottom (2/3).  I love the mixed materials. My skirt is from Old Navy bought around the same time.  They probably still have some.  And my shoes are from Target  I got those when I was pregnant because I knew I would be giving up my 5 inch heels and wedges are better than flats for pregnant backs. I still wear them all the time.  Very comfortable and cute.

On Christian is a cute plaid shirt from Target.  It was going to be his Easter shirt and then we found something else. The pants from who knows where.  Probably target.  No shoes because the boy takes his shoes off as soon as we get home.  He just got a fresh hair cut for back to school!  Looking all dapper and grown up!

And on Liam is a couple of new pieces he just for his birthday.  Some adorable green pants and a plaid shirt.  Its Chaps.  I love Chaps!  And his adorable sandals from Babies R Us (Truly Scrumptious brand from Heidi Klum's baby line).

Hope you enjoyed and make sure and link up with us down below!  "Us" being Toronto Mama and A Life From Scratch who I link with.  There's a bonus today!!  If you go to A Life From Scratch and link up with her, you get entered for a chance to win a $50 gift card from Crewcuts (JCrew)!!  Go now!  :) It doesn't necessarily have to be what you wore on Wednesday, but whatever day, whenever.  I know everyone's schedules are packed, especially with school starting up.  Just fun to share our cute finds and outfits. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Liam turns ONE!

If you haven't read my past blogs, then you might not know that Liam is our miracle baby. Of course every baby is a miracle, but God truly gave him to us as a sign of His promise. We tried for 3 years for him and after 2 years and 2 miscarriages later, I got a diagnoses of fertility issues (won't go into details, but its in a past blog) and I should not have gotten pregnant on my own. I was about to start fertility treatments and then in November 2011 prayed for healing and a month later God blessed us with Liam. So he is truly special in his own way and not a day goes by that I don't thank God for him. I am still amazed when I look at him and think of how long we waited for him and he's here. And now he's 1!!  I can't believe a year has come and gone.  My littlest man has turned one.  It has been such a FUN year with him.  Watching his little personality develop and, let me tell you, he has quite the personality!  He loves to laugh and make others laugh.  He literally will do something over and over if he sees you're laughing at him.  He has a bit of a temper too, but I'm trying hard to get that under control.  As much as you can with a 1 year old. "Be nice... don't hit... BE NICE!!" haha!  In one ear and out the other.  But its gotta be sinking in there somewhere!   He is also SO curious and busy!  And the thrill-seeker his older brother never was.  They said the first child is born into an adult world and second child is born into a child's world.  It is so true!  In short, he's making up for what Christian didn't do.  Haha!  We love it and we love him! 

So about a week ago we had his first birthday party.  We did a sock monkey theme because he truly is our little monkey!  Crazy and curious!  So I wanted to share my party pictures with you. 

But first!  A couple of things to note...

I made the bunting for his high chair myself.  It was super easy (thanks to a friend, Alanna (Toronto Mama) who pointed that out!)  Just bought some scrap book paper and ribbon at Michael's.  $2.50 folks!  Easy-peasy!  I don't think I need to do a DIY on that.  Right??  haha..

Also the Hershey bar wrappers I made myself as well.  What I did for that was look up the dimensions of a Hershey bar wrapper and I found this website: www.candywrapperstore.com and they had a template there for the 1.55 oz Hershey bar.  I printed it out, measured it and went to my favorite site PicMonkey and designed my own wrapper.  It took like 20 minutes and I printed them out, cut them out, and wrapped my candy bars.  Done! 

Our smash cake was done by my brother Josue and his wife Linda.  They're so awesome at making cakes and I knew they would come up with something cute and good!  So I gave them an idea of what I wanted and they ran with it.  I absolutely loved the finished product!

I made the cupcakes myself, but that was a live & learn experience.  They were just ok for me.  I should definitely do a trial run next time.  Especially for the piping of the icing.  I wanted the perfect moutain of icing and it looked like a wiggly worm, haha!  I needed a bigger tip for it.  So I just ended up spreading the icing on with a knife. Oh well.  Like I said live & learn!  The monkey cupcake sticks I also made myself.  I bought stickers and cut out each and every circle.  48 of them.  My advice, spend the money for the sticks.  That was no fun.  The money for that is worth it. 

Now this one you guys are going to think I'm crazy for doing...  My cupcake stand.  Its 3 cardboard cake circles.  I bought 3 different sizes for like $1.50 each or something like that.  And then I took 2 cans of food and wrapped them in papaer and hot glued them to the cake rounds.  Voila, cupcake stand!  It was super sturdy too!  haha!  Ghetto?  Maybe.  Smart?  Definitely! 

One last thing that everyone was raving about, my "chalkboard" of Liam facts!  I absolutely loved it.  I did not make it myself though.  My friend Kayla has her own etsy shop and she designed it for me!  Please go over to her site and check out her stuff.  Alabama Angle Designs.  Custom made invites, chalkboards, you name it!  I just emailed her all of Liam's info and she designed what you see.  I LOVED IT!!  You would think that I was getting paid to sponsor all these websites, haha!  Just wanted to point out that you can have a fabulous party for cheap. 

And now without further ado, here are the party pics!