My Favorite Bloggers

I have a few bloggers that I have been following along with for a few years now. I truly feel like I know these ladies and have loved following their journeys. I always love hearing about other peoples favorite blogs that they follow so please feel free to share your favorites after you check these lovelies out! Who do you love to follow along with?

Little Baby Garvin A fellow Hawkeye and super creative fun loving Mama. I have been following her since her first pregnancy when she created the most adorable weekly chalkboards to document her pregnancy. I think she just has the cutest style! 

 Cait's Cozy Corner I have been following Cait's blog for years. This is a blogger that I actually know in real life as we both went to the same high school together. Cait recently moved from our hometown in Illinois to Georgia with her sweet family. She has such great style and I love following her adventures! 

Veronika's Blushing This is another blogger that I have been following along with for years. As a fellow jcrew lover I love seeing the outfits she puts together. She also has two cute littles of her own. 

The Midwest mommy This is another blogger that I know in real life. She has two of the cutest little boys and such great style. I have loved following along with her blogging journey!

My Top 10 Favorite Photos: Facebook Profile Picture Edition

I love taking pictures. There is nothing better than looking back at some of your favorite images and being able to go back to that time. I find myself taking so many photos and videos of our little girl these days. It has been so fun looking back at the ones from her first few weeks of life. I thought it would be fun to choose some of my favorites to share. In no particular order here are my top 10 favorites from my most recent facebook profile pictures... 

I love these little moments. Snuggling my sweet tired girl at the end of her 6 month photo session. As I have said we legit have one of the best photogaphers around. If you're a local check her out! Lindsay Mcgowan Photography

Because who wouldn't want to ring in the New Year with the happiest baby on the planet!

New parenthood bliss. So much love and happiness captured in one photo. 

Our first photo as a family of 3 on the day we brought our tiny little peanut home. 

Smiles on smiles on smiles

One of our favorite days ever!

This picture still takes my breath away such a magical image.

Engagement celebration!

Just moments after getting engaged. This was one of those beautiful fall days that we love here in the Midwest. The sun was shining, the air was crisp, and the leaves were breathtaking. 

Our first vacation together. Tom's first trip to the magic kingdom. Everyone needs a cheesy picture while riding on Dumbo in Disney. 

Master Bedroom Face Lift

For the last 2 years my husband and I have opted to combine our birthday gifts to one another and get one large gift we both can enjoy. With his birthday in March and mine a month later in April it was a fun way for us to justify a bigger purchase. Last year we ordered our Pottery Barn Glider for our  nursery. Although it was going in Ava's room we knew it would really be more of a gift to ourselves since we knew we would be spending so much time in it. 

This year we discussed what we might want to do and we decided to upgrade to a king bed. We looked around online and found a great deal on a bed that we couldn't pass up. Now we are just waiting for it to be delivered. I have been searching the web for the perfect bedspread to go with our new grey headboard. I found this duvet set from anthropologie that I am just drooling over. I just don't know that I can take the plunge with such a high price tag. I  will just be stalking their website in hopes of a sale while I search for a look alike on the web. 

Anthropologie Textured Chevron Bedspread

Are you more of a splurge or save person? 

Nursery Tour

When I found out I was pregnant last year I spent lots of time imagining what the perfect nursery would look like. I knew that I didn't want to get anything started until after we knew if we were having a boy or a girl. I however had a little girl nursery planned out perfectly in my head. When we had our ultrasound to confirm little baby T was indeed a girl I got to work. I am so happy with the way everything turned out. Ava's room still is my most favorite room in our entire house.

We are so lucky to have found fantastic local photographer who comes to your house to capture your families memories. If you are local to the Iowa City area be sure to check out Lindsay McGowan Photography for all of your photography needs. 

I made the pom poms out of tulle. The ivory color tulle was recycled from our wedding decorations. 

 A baby shower project that we love! Each person who came to our shower painted a letter for the alphabet with colors that coordinated with Ava's nursery. We love the personal touch it added!

I found these gold foil prints at home goods and was in love with the phrases. We painted the frames white from the original black color. 

We love it all even more now that Miss Ava is here to enjoy it with us! 

 I can't believe she was this tiny at one point! Such a peanut!

That little smile though!

Our Weekend

We got to enjoy a relaxing weekend with beautiful weather. The countdown to Spring Break is officially on! 5 more work days. I always enjoyed a little break before the final push to the end of the year but this year I live for the extra time with my little girl. I am lucky to work as a teacher and have these extended breaks to look forward to. It has made going back to work after having her just a little bit easier!

We celebrated my husbands 28th Birthday this weekend. Unfortunately he had to work on his birthday/birthday weekend for the second year in a row. We made up for it by celebrating a day early. I came home to find 2 boxes of Portillos waiting for him on our doorstep. My Dad is just the sweetest and loves his son in law like one of his own kids. Tom was pretty excited. We went to a local place called Red's on Thursday night for happy hour to enjoy some drinks and appetizers.

Ava and I hung out at home for the rest of the weekend. I love getting to spend quality time with her after a long week. She is getting so interactive and is at such a fun stage right now. We spent some time drawing with chalk on her chalkboard toy box. She made her first piece of artwork. So stinking cute!

Sunday we got to enjoy some mild temps and sunshine which is always appreciated after the long Iowa winter. Ava and I headed out to enjoy some fresh air in her swing. I think she enjoyed chewing on the straps as much as the swinging part. Teething problems.

Weekends like this make me so excited for all the fun Miss Ava and I will get to have this summer. I hope you got to get out and enjoy a little sunshine this weekend!

Teething Problems

We are in full blown teething mode over here. Little girl finally had her first tooth break through on Monday. I swear she is covered in more drool each and every day. I have been on the hunt for some remedies that will help soothe her pain. We have LOVED these mesh feeders. I have been filling them with frozen blueberries or frozen mango. She will sit in her high chair and chew on it for a good 20 minutes. The relief it provides is well worth the 20 minutes I get to spend scrubbing down the juices from every nook and cranny of her high chair after she is finished.

My pre Mommy self use to walk through the baby section and see the coveted Sophie the Giraffe and roll my eyes. Who would spend 25 dollars on a rubber chew toy I said. Sophie ended up being a shower gift so we kept her. I still couldn't buy into all the hype and I worried that Sophie would become a very expensive chew toy for our dog Kinnick. Fast forward a few short months and I am officially a believer. Ava loves Sophie. We take her with wherever we go. She often can be found in her car seat grasping onto Sophie for dear life while she naps. Full disclosure: I may or may not have found Ava really going to town chewing on a textured rubber ring that did indeed belong to her puppy the other day. Oops.

The only way for this Mama to make it through this teething business is with lots of coffee. Please bring on all the coffee. Ava has been waking up 6 times a night just screaming in pain. There is not much we can do to soothe her. It just breaks my heart. I hate the feeling of not being able to make it all better. Of course this has all fallen during conference time when we get to work 8 AM- 8 PM days at school. I keep telling myself this too shall pass but until then cheers to sleepless nights, loads of caffeine, and Sophie the giraffe.


What did you do to help your little one cope with teething?

Teacher Talk Thursday: Birthday Wreath

To help narrow my topics I've decided to come up with a little blogging schedule. I figured I'd limit the teacher talk to Tuesdays and Thursdays. With that said I've been working on lots of fun little projects over the summer. Yesterday I put together this beauty...

I have been seeing these pop up all over pinterest. I'm so excited to be able to put it up in my classroom for each kiddies birthday. A necessary project? No. Super cute? You better believe it.

To make your own special birthday wreath you will need...

2 packages of 72 balloons

Pipe cleaners

Straight pins

A straw wreath (leave the plastic on to avoid a huge mess) 

Once you've collected your materials this wreath is super easy to put together. Take 1 balloon and fold it in half. Place one pin through the balloon and then press firmly into the wreath. 

Continue adding your balloons to your wreath... This is a great time to turn on the tunes or one of your favorite shows you've been waiting to watch on dvr :) 

Once your wreath is completely filled twist your pipe cleaners around your finger to make them swirly. Stick them piper cleaners into the wreath to add a little extra flare. 

I can't wait to put this up in my classroom. You could keep it put away until someone's birthday or you could put this up on the birthday bulletin board for a little added flare. Either way it will be completly adorable and super fun!