Update

I've been lacking in the blog department lately. 

Not that anyone seems to mind.

But I'll catch up a bit by posting about our little family and how it's currently growing.

Kinsey is almost 2 1/2 years old! She's turned into a VERY outgoing little lady, she says 'HI' to almost everyone she sees, especially kids. If another kid doesn't respond to her first attempt to be friendly she will literally follow them around saying "hi, hi, hello, hi" until they respond. Silly girl. She's definitely got her daddy's need to be social. She's talking up a storm, even if some of it is in her own secret language, counting to 5, knows her colors and shapes, and is quite the budding dancer and artist. That part comes from me :o)
She's almost 30 lbs and right at 3 ft tall, and we're sorta, kinda working on that whole potty training adventure. We have our good days, our great days, and the inevitable bad days, too.

Roy is working long hours with his company, in this economy we can't complain about an abundance of work and plenty to keep him busy. He works really hard for me to be able to stay home with Kinsey, and I love and appreciate that so much.

As for me, I'm being crafty as usual. My current endeavors have been all about baby....which prompts me to explain that I'm currently 5 months pregnant with our 2nd daughter! Things have been going smoothly and hopefully the heat of the summer won't get to me in my final months too much, baby is due August 3. I'm itching to try and sell our current house, so the girls won't have to share a room and we can have more space for our growing family overall. That may or may not become a reality, for now it's just a goal/dream/idea.

Overall we are happy and healthy and looking forward to warmer weather and the growth of our family from 3 to 4!

Oh, and I hope to get better at this blogging continuity thing ;o)

Roy and Kinsey enjoying spring by flying a kite

Her first try at flying it by herself

She's very proud and excited!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Breaking the Blog-strike.....

.......for a link to a great Giveaway!


I was planning  (or not planning) to blog-strike for the month of November. Not as a boycott to NaBloPoMo, not as a reflection of my attitude towards my few readers, but just because I'm in a bit of a funk and don't feel up to creative (or not so creative) writing. 


But I'm here with a quick post about a great giveaway! I'm reluctant to share because really, I want to win, but posting this gets me another entry (wahoooo), So....
The Busy Budgeting Mama CSN $65 Gift Voucher Giveaway


Go check it out, or don't so I can win, Later!

My Little Girl is 2!!!

Two years ago today this is how I looked when my day began.......

 And this is how my day ended.....at 11:38pm, Kinsey Sarai Herrera was welcomed into our world!

 Daddy was instantly smitten.

 She weighed 6lbs 14oz, 20.5 inches long

 2 weeks old

 One month old

 2 months old

 4 months old

6 months Old

11 months old

 One Year Old

 Wearing Daddy's Boots

 13 months old

Silly little cheese ball!

 Pretty PonyTail, 15 months

 Little Driver 17 months

Playing at the Park 17 months 

The Birthday Girl at her 2nd Birthday Party!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, silly, super cute girl! It still amazes me that I could create such a beautiful human being and that you call me Mommy! I'm looking forward to the future because of you, not only to watch you grow and learn and become a wonderful person, but because you make my life richer everyday and make me want to be a better person for you! Your daddy and I love you very much!

XOXO Mommy

Kinsey's Second Birthday Party

 This Saturday we invited family and friends to a local park to help us celebrate our daughter Kinsey's second birthday! Her actual birthday is October 5th, so we will get the chance to celebrate again Tuesday with just our little 3 member family.

The weather was great, the food was yummy, and the kids and adults all had a great time! I made just about everything you see, from the food and desserts, the cake, Kinsey's outfit and all the decorations, including the cutouts of Buzz & Woody! My little girlie just loves Toy Story, so we had to have that as the theme! Instead of posting a million pictures I decided to cosolidate them for easier viewing....so enjoy!

Playing Catch-Up

It's been a month since I've posted much of anything on my blog, and aside from the day to day stuff that keeps even the most faithful bloggers away from a routine posting schedule, I've had a whole lot of life going on.

Next weekend is Kinsey's big 2nd birthday bash! There will be more to follow about that after the big event. I can't believe my baby girl is going to be 2 in a few weeks! Time really does move too fast.

Just this weekend we returned from a week long trip to the Seattle area, a place by the name of Poulsbo where my husband and I lived for almost 2 years right after we got married. I haven't been there in over 4 years, and it was like a blast of memories I had forgotten all came back to me like I was there yesterday. Isn't it amazing how memories can be lost and then found again so easily? I really miss the area, water around every turn it seems, how the fog settles deep into the tall trees in the morning, the moss that grows on everything, it's just a beautiful place that everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime!

Before that trip I had been hustling to get some new jewelry pieces up in my Etsy store and together for a jewelry show in Washington. Check them out here.

I've also been getting a website up and running for my photography. I was able to get a few more shots of family for my portfolio, but I'm looking forward to working with some real clients soon.

I also had some great news to share at the beginning of August, but held of due to my intuition and it proved, sadly, to be right. Our family was really excited to add a new bundle of joy next spring, but I suffered a miscarriage at 9 weeks. I recently found this poem and it really summed up all the feelings I have had in the past 3 weeks, so I'll share it here, too.

Just Those Few Weeks

For just those few weeks

I had you to myself.

And that seems too short a time

to be changed so profoundly.

In those few weeks,

I came to know you...

and to love you.

You came to trust me with your life.

Oh what a life I had planned for you!

Just those few weeks...

when I lost you,

i lost a lifetime of hopes,

plans, dreams and aspirations.

A slice of my future simply vanished overnight.

Just those few weeks...

It wasn't enough time to convince others

how special and important you were.

How odd, a truly unique person has recently died

and no one is mourning the passing.

Just a mere few weeks..

And no "normal" person would cry all night

Over a tiny unfinished baby,

or get depressed and withdraw day after endless day.

No one would, so why am I??

You were just those few weeks, my little one.

You darted in and out of my life too quickly.

But it seems that's all the time you needed

to make my life richer

and to give me a small glimpse of eternity.

~S. Erling

I'm a list maker

Do you write lists? Not just simple grocery lists and to-do lists, but every detail of life lists and future goals lists?

I do.

I can write the same list over and over so it is just right. I think it may be a little OCD? Maybe it's just a quirk?

Either was it's a type of release for me.

Sometimes (more often than not) my thoughts, goals, plans, and ideas tend to accumulate inside my head right as I lay my head on the pillow hoping to drift off to dream land. I just can't sleep until these precious thoughts are safely written down on paper, so as not to be forgotten by morning.  During the course of the day so many thoughts build up inside my head and writing lists helps me empty my head...if only for a few minutes.

You'd think I would wise up and put a pen and paper on my nightstand.

Instead I often find myself wandering down to the dining room table, a place that is the closest thing to an office desk for me. Sitting there in the soft light with a still and quiet house I can think, write, and clear my head. I can picture very clearly the "desktop planner" that sits inside my brain.....it's too small for my ideas, and far too messy to be trusted to hold the important stuff and keep track of everything. Sticky notes, highlighted areas, smudged ink fingerprints, meaningless junk, important dates and all the creative hullabaloo that is constantly running loose in my brain.

I think I need a school room sized dry erase board in there instead.

So last night as I laid in bed with a restless mind full of clutter I tossed and turned until I realized it was a writing things down kind of night. So I climbed quietly out of bed and crept downstairs to my peaceful "office", sat with pen in hand and wrote a few lists.