9 months, baby!

can't believe the little man is 9 months old today. from his slowly but surely growing head of hair down to his carpet-clenching toes, i just love him to bits and pieces!

there hasn't been anything too monumental to update on, but here are some things i did note on james' agenda...

TODAY'S TO DO LIST:
- compete in cheerio-eating contest against myself
- take a ride on the alphabet train
- star in iphone video to send to daddy at work
- pretend to read, then start chewing on books behind mom's back
- get mom to sing "itsy bitsy spider" 10 times in a row
- clap at random times throughout day to make mom smile

GOALS FOR THE MONTH:
- stop army-crawling and learn to crawl foreals
- figure out how to lessen the gaping hole between front 2 teeth
- overcome gripping fear of the vacuum and magic bullet
- find a pool and master drifting in a floatie
- stop being stubborn and finally sign "please"

THINGS TO TELL MOM TO DO:
- start planning my 1st birthday party
- get me into a convertible carseat, already!
- make some prints for etsy instead of watching korean dramas
- refold that blanket sticking out of my bottom drawer

the last month

so, we are just about one month away from the arrival of el niño!

my gut says he's going to be early, but i may very well be wrong and just wishing it so i wouldn't have to see my gut keep growing with each extra day.

here are a some things i'm hoping to do before then:
- find my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe
- eat at some new and old LA eateries (suggestions?)
- get back into the etsy world
- host a dinner pahh-tee or two
- do a photo session for someone
- learn how to use a sewing machine
- go to a dodger game

i had written the above thursday night as a draft, but oh what a difference a day makes! friday morning, i went in for my 3rd trimester ultrasound where they found my amniotic fluids were measuring lower than normal. at first they rushed me to labor and delivery to make sure my water hadn't broken [insert panic here], and then did a bunch of tests to monitor the baby. in the end they told me i didn't have to deliver the baby after all (whew!), but have to be on almost bed rest and go back twice a week until i do deliver to do all the tests and make sure baby's ok.

i know, being told to just rest might sound like a welcomed order, but not if you are crazy like me. it's probably a combo of my control freakedness and being in nesting mode that's put me in this high-productivity cooking, organizing, shopping/returning, cleaning (this one not aaas much, hehe) mode. like this morning, i woke up and felt determined i needed to juuust sort! the! laundry! so i started, joe told me to stop, i said okokok, and then secretly finished sorting it in super speed silence. sigh. this will be a good thing for me, to just let go and remember it's God who holds all things together. and He's taking care of our dear baby in my womb until it is the perfect time for him to come and meet us.

and thankfully i have joe to constantly remind me to take it easy AND make me banana chocolate chip pancakes on a saturday morning :)

happy cool hooray!

i love when you're sorting through the mail - your bills, the multiple macy's ads, the oil change coupons, someone else's bills that came to the wrong address - and you spot something pretty and personal that you open and finish reading even before you make it back to your front door.

i used to send snail mail, just because, more often but sadly i've gotten so lazy in the age of text messages and emails. goal #13: send more snail mail. goal #12: don't be lazy.

here are some postcards for summer to get me started. it's funny, i don't have summer break and we don't have any big vacations planned, but i'm still so super stoked it's summer!

you can catch them over at the etsy shop.

it doesn't have to be this hard:

goal #11: don't get featured on regretsy

did you know there is a site dedicated to all those weird things you stumble across amidst all the heart-worthy delights on etsy? i hate to be critical of someone else's work, but i'll admit there have been some postings that really make me scratch my head in wonder. so when i came across this site via remarks from sparks, i had myself a nice little chuckle.

it's refreshing to be reminded not to take all of life so seriously - especially the things i'm given by grace to just enjoy! so my new goal is to simply enjoy what i do, without feeling pressure to wow the world, without becoming puffed up with pride at my accomplishments, to just create something some lovely person might be inspired to pick up...without any regretsy. 

here's some postage to send you to the shop! (now i just have to figure out how to get this thing up there /`).

ps - father's day cards are done and needing to be photographed...hopefully will have them up by tomorrow!

best lunch ever! cards

what, it's thursday already?! it's been such a busy week that seems to have flown by without any notice, to which i have no complaints considering it leads into the long holiday weekend. woo hoo! this morning as i was leaving for work, joe called out to me not to forget to eat a real lunch. seems like a weird request at first, but it's because he knows too well on days i don't pack our lunches i will easily opt for my favorite kind of brown bag lunch...


the flavor of the moment at sprinkles happens to be salted caramel right now - so delicious (and dangerous)! goal #20: find a salted caramel cupcake recipe with slightly less sweet butteriness so yellow kitchenaid standing mixer will know it's loved for more than just its good looks.

but in the meantime, here are some yummy cards inspired by the cupcake with milk i wish i was eating right now.

have a sweet day!

{eye} try : everyday container vase

with so much fabulous stuff out there in the blog world, it's so easy for me to get intimidated or revert to pure stalker status. but i remember reading somewhere that "originality is overrated!" which totally inspires me to dig up all those saved jpgs and tutorials to try concocting my own versions, no matter how awkward or weird it may turn out.

this DIY project from design sponge caught my eye a couple months back and got me looking for my own everyday containers to use as vases. here's a sugarbowl from the thrift store that seems to fit the bill quite nicely...

ps - goal #36: find a vintage globe with an interesting history. (interesting history optional or can be made up, depending on how cool the globe looks).

goal #9: friday crossword puzzle

one of my goals in life is to finish the la times friday crossword puzzle. i don't really know what #1-8 are, but #9 seems about right for now until i figure the rest out. also in there somewhere is to be a contestant on wheel of fortune, but i'll save that exciting topic for another day haha.

my thing for crossword puzzles started back in freshman year of college with the good ol' daily cal when it was the only thing that separated my forehead from the cold desk in those 8am bio classes where the prof had to dim the lights to use his projector. then a couple years later when i realized i wasn't going to grow up to be a doctor, i switched majors to mass communications where my credits were earned analyzing radiohead songs and writing about the political workings within "the godfather" - i even took a whole an entire class about the history and power of food in media! anyways, the courses changed, but my love for crosswords stuck and to this day i try to sneak in the la times' puzzle whenever i can at work. the feeling you get when you figure out the puzzle's theme and those other clever clues, especially at friday's difficulty level, is what i could imagine it feels like to finish a marathon. my version just goes better with cupcakes.

happy friday! do you have any goals for today?