toddler tuesday!

let's officially welcome my sweet baby Gee into toddlerhood! *round of applause* hehe :D after several days of going to pick her up from daycare and being informed of how much Gee would walk around there [which she wasn't doing it home], she finally decided to show me her skills. very proud mama right here! check her out:

and of course, tardy for the party as always, here's my list for what should've been yesterday's [not another] manic monday. which actually turned out to be a manic monday because of all the excitement surrounding Gee's new mode of transportation! anyways, here goes:

list#FOURTEEN: things i love about... myself. :)
***my hair, or lack thereof :D
***my height [being 5'0" is the shizz! most of the time, anyways!]
***my creativity, not to toot my own horn or anything. hehe.
***my musicality/love of music, which i hope to intentionally pass on to Gee.
***my crazy/wonderful mind and the ability to use it sanely. mostly sanely, that is. ;p

short, sweet, and to the point, much like myself! LOL, until next time!

-love elle&gee-

[not another] manic Monday! ---inaugural post :)

"It's just another manic Monday (oh-woe)
I wish it was Sunday (oh-woe)
'Cause that's my Funday (oh-woe)
My I don't have to runday (oh)
It's just another manic Monday." -Bangles


the chorus to this song runs through my mind just about every single Monday, especially since i've started working on a somewhat regular basis. i mean, really, whose Mondays are anything but manic? i know for Gee & i, it usually sucks having to get up early, run around making sure we're both ready to get out the door, think we're ready then forget that i still have to do *something* with Gee's hair [because it'd be a national disaster if she went to daycare with her hair all over her head, right Mom? lol]...yes, manic, manic Mondays are how we start off our week. in an effort to bring some order to counteract the chaos of this notorious weekday, i present to you "[not another] manic monday!", a concept born from two facts: today is Monday [and i was absolutely bored at work], and i have yet to finish my 30 Days of Lists. it's already been much longer than 30 days, so adding a couple of months won't hurt :) i will do my best to present a nice, orderly list with lots of wonderfully useless absolutely vital info about Gee & me. maybe next time i'll do it early enough for somebody to actually read it during the day on Monday... yeah right. anywho! here we go:


list#ELEVEN: "Date Night Ideas" [with Gee, of course!]
---> a stroll in the park. once Gee reaches the appropriate age, this will be followed by snow cones [weather permitting]. small watermelon with cream, please! :D
---> shopping! there is no age limit when it comes to retail therapy! ;)
---> at-home movie night. my Punkin loves TV; yes, i probably let her watch a bit too much. BUT, at least i'm getting better about reading to her at least once a day, so that makes up for all of the TV, right? at least Nick Jr. is commerical-free...LOL.
---> fro-yo while walking down Dickson St on a beautiful summer evening. ugh, can't wait to get back to Fayetteville, AR and THE University of Arkansas!
---> museums & mexican food. i love both, therefore Gee will, too. if she doesn't, well... she will! :)


do you have a special way of calming down your manic Mondays? let me know! until next time...


-love elle&gee-

that child of mine.

just a few of examples of how my child brightens my world on a daily basis:

+ when i picked her up from daycare today, she gave me that 1,000-watt smile of hers (and so did her cutie-pie classmate, which made me feel even more special!); as i went over to Ms. T (one of the daycare workers), she basically jumped into my arms, then turned around, looked at Ms. T, and waved bye-bye!! Ms. T and i looked at each other and burst out laughing. little miss Gee made it known that she KNEW it was time to go! SMH with a smile :)

+ while waiting for dinner to be ready, i let Gee play in the laundry basket. she entertained herself for a good long while, pulling up, standing, taking clothes out of the basket, chewing on pillowcases, etc. as i watched her play (and took pictures, of course!), i noticed that her diaper was looking kinda full. and it seemed that, as i noticed her diaper, she crawled her behind right into my lap as if to say "Ok, Mom, enough with the pics. Change my diaper already!" she may or may not have been thinking that, but it sure seemed like it at the time!

+ on G*DAY, she started the morning by slobbering me with kisses before we got out of the bed. baby kisses are one of the absolute sweetest (and slobberiest) things everrrrrrrrr...

can't say it enough: love that girl!

and now to catch up on my 30 Days of Lists, finally! here we go:

pics of lists 5, 6, and 7:

annnnnnd here are 8, 9, and 10. hopefully i'll FOR REAL get caught up tomorrow!

List#OCHO: What's in your bag/pocket/purse?

1} BOOK: "Vanishing Acts" by Jodi Picoult [LOVE her books!]

2} PAPERS: deposit slips, check stubs, and other random stuff...

3} COUPONS: mostly for Huggies :)

4} PENS, Pens, and MORE pens!

5} HAND SANITIZER: it's a must!

List#NUEVE: Fave Websites/Blogs :)

Facebook... of course.

The Young Mommy Life

My Brown Baby

Gee-mail :o)

Best School Ever!

List#DIEZ: i wish...

+ to love and be loved.

+ for my daughter and i to have good health and happiness.

+ for wisdom, strength and courage, no matter what situation i find myself in.

+ for success in whatever i set my mind to do.

+ an eReader. hehe.

and that's all, folks! look out for another "Day in the Life" soon; this time, Gee will be experimenting with telling her story with a series of pictures...such a creative baby, she is. ;o) until next time!

-love elle&gee-

lists 5, 6, 7 and some thoughts...

observation: more than one person has asked me "what about the baby?" when i tell them my plans of going to grad school. i say, "what about the baby?"
"aren't you going to leave her with your parents?"
huge PAUSE.
umm, no! i didn't decide to bring Gee into the world, only to dump her on my parents while i go and do my thing. for me, that's not how motherhood works. where i go, Gee goes. period. i guess it would be "easier" to leave Gee here and go to school, in that i wouldn't have to worry about getting her to school and playing with her when she's not ready for bed, even if i have a test the next morning...but motherhood is not "easy". and since Gee is MY daughter (not my parents), she and i will be going down the "non-easy" road together. if i were to leave my baby here, i'd be broke for trying to come see here all the time!! :) so no, i'm not leaving my baby anywhere besides the daycare around the way from campus. and that's that. hmph.

now, on a brighter note, it's time to catch up (once again) on my 30 Days of Lists!! i'll just jot them down here, for now; the cutesy journaled lists will come (hopefully) tomorrow... :)

List#CINCO: Weekend Goals
1| Rest
2| Relax
3| Hang out with G :)
4| Rest
5| RELAX!!

List#SEIS: Least Favorite Words/Phrases
1| "No Homo" :-/
2| "Swagger"
3| "No Homo" (really REALLY hate that phrase)
4| #winning
5| "i think she needs her diaper changed..." (LOL)

List#SIETE: BLOG GOALS!
1| Post 3-4 times a week/on a regular basis.
2| Be diligent about weekly features like "A Day in the Life", and start another one (probably music-related).
3| Quit going on post-hiatuses (is that how you pluralize "hiatus"? probably not...oh well)
4| Post more snippets/stories about Gee ("quit being selfish, Mom, jeez!")
5| Keep enjoying it! ;)

tomorrow, hopefully you'll see lists 8-10, plus it will be the 10-month G*DAY!! well, technically, it's already G*DAY, but that's neither here nor there. there'll be updated info on Gee's sophisticated palate (lol), hair breakthroughs (YES!), and movement. love that girl! nighty-night :D

-love elle&gee-

a day in the life: video exclusive :)

before we get started, let's have an "awww" moment at how precious Gee looked today:

rock that outfit, girl! and i promise, i won't make you wear that bow anymore this week...LOL!

tonight, Gee decided that, instead of doing all of that writing, she'd rather show you what she's been up to lately [with narration by me, of course]. the oldest Uncle C is the videographer, and all three of the uncles co-star in this video tid-bit which all five of us find quite hilarious!

and, in an effort to just do one list a day [instead of five], here's list number 4:

enjoy!

-love elle&gee-

let's play catch-up!

somebody PLEASE tell me why my daughter is trying to stand by herself now!? i mean, she just got the hang of crawling; i thought that, perhaps, she'd be satisfied with that for a while, but nooooo. she hasn't forgotten her original goal of walking [rather, running around with her uncles, i'm sure]. my Grandmother will be visiting for Easter. during a phone call with my mama, she said that Gee would probably be walking by the time she gets here. looks like Grandmother just might be right! i'm. in. HUGE. trouble. where's the childproofing stuff again? oh yeah, and the next G*DAY is only a week away... <flava flav> woooOOOooow </flava flav>. #EnoughSaid.

so as i mentioned here, i'm challenging myself to do 30 journaling lists in 30 days; meaning, i have to actually put some effort into the look & design of the lists, not just jot a few things down every day. mind you, every list won't be some fantabulous scrapbook page, but there'll be some element of my sparkling personality in each one [LOL]. procrastinator that i am, i'm just now starting today, so here are my first 3 lists (and captions, in case you can't read my lovely handwriting; click to enlarge):

List #UNO: "a few things about yourself"
1. height: 5'0"
2. current obsessions: daughter :); grad school [hopeful] acceptance :-O; blogging/social media; scrapbooking/crafting; iPHONE!! (and photography apps on the iPHONE!
3. my eyes are really big, but my glasses press prescription is so strong, they make my eyes look small...
4. i'm usually an AWESOME speller [in re: the strikeout in #3] LOL!
5. i HATE writing in print; cursive = <3

List #TRES
I AM Looking Forward to...
1| Getting my own place!
2| Getting a REAL job!
3| Moving back to Fayetteville!
4| Being in somebody's wedding/being an auntie (in the not-so-near future)!!
5| Being an Official Grownup! [MAYBE...]

note: i placed the lists on my zebra print planner to give them a not-so-blah background. so now, after my first three entries into my 30 Days of Lists, you probably know more about me than necessary. prepare for more. :D

also, i promised the result of my finished hair bow holder today. i mean, i think it's pretty freakin' cute, but of course i do...i made it! lol, here it is:

you'll have to excuse the dirty mirror; just look around it :) i still have to figure out a cute and functional way to hang it up on the wall, but for all intents and purposes, it's finished! my next project: decorating wooden initials for Gee. gotta get stuff like this done before i don't have time for it anymore... o_O

-love elle&gee-

PS: another "Day in the Life" is coming soon, promise! here's a pic of my punkin to hold you over :)

lists, lists...and more lists!

i discovered 30 Days of Lists midway through March, and fell in love. i have a bunch of lists in the Notes app on my iPhone: lists for books i want to read, quotes i read or overhear and want to remember, things i need to get from Walmart, etc. so when i discovered 30 Days of Lists, i thought it would be a perfect creative outlet for this off-and-on scrapbooker/crafty crafter. however, i didn't want to just start in the middle of the month; i'm sort of weird that way. therefore, i'll be starting my own 30 Days of Lists tomorrow! yes, i'm low-key excited; i recently went crazy at a Michael's sale, so i have plenty of supplies to make some pretty lists with. :D i've also been working on one of those hair bow holders for Gee, kinda like this one:

i don't do the whole handpainting thing, but i think it looks pretty good thus far. i'll post a picture when i finish. anyways, enough about my lists and crafty crafting. i'll leave you with my "awww!" moment of the day:

you know how, when you hold a baby, a lot of times you pat the baby on the back? well, my parents and i do that all the time to Gee, and what does she do? she pats us back! as i was carrying her little sleepy self to our room to get her ready for bed, i patted her on her back, and she patted me on my shoulder with that precious little hand of hers. i mean jeez...can you overdose on life's precious moments? i sure hope not, because Gee gives me like, a million of them every day. i can't say it enough: LOVE THAT GIRL! :)

-love elle&gee-