Guest Post: Ashley from Pencilled Daydream

Hi! I'm Ashley, the wife and mama behind the blog Pencilled Daydream.

I love writing and sharing our life through my blog...where you can expect to find my perspective on life as a wife, the ups and downs of mommy- hood, the Christian life, and my fun daydreams. I started a blog after having my first son Elias and have had so much fun sharing our journey. Now that I've had my second son Owen, I'm in full fledged mommy mode.

Recently, at my house, it looked like a grenade went off in the middle of Owen’s nursery floor. Baby clothes somehow managed to explode- which by the way seems to be a weekly occurence. And what's worse is that most of the clothes don’t even fit him anymore. I was left cramming baby clothes into an overstuffed drawer when I contemplated throwing them all out the window in hopes that I would never have to see them again. All that to say, I usually don’t have a lot of time to think about decorating the nursery. But the unthinkable happened, I actually found time to gear towards decorating Owen's nursery.

Here is a fun little DIY project that I did.

 

I found the idea to frame the letters in Owen's name on Pinterest. It was really easy to do. It was as simple as buying wooden letters, and an open frame at Hobby Lobby. All I had to do after that was paint them. 

After everything was painted, I hung it on Owen's baby blue wall.

 

When it comes to decorating, I've found that it is great to choose something that is easy to do but that makes a big impact on the room. That is why I loved putting a frame around the letters of my son's name. It was easy, cute, and made a big difference in the room.

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you around!

Don't forget to vote!

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Hello friends!

Just wanted to let you know that the lovely momma, Ashley, from Pencilled Daydream will be stopping by on the bloggie tomorrow to share a fun DIY and a little about herself!
Don't forget to check it out!

Also, they have reset the voting on Top Baby Blogs so I really really need your votes!
It takes like 4 seconds, seriously, I timed it.

vote here!

memorial weekend.

here at the Baker household we were thankful for the extra long weekend.
it's a funny thing though how we spent our extra day: grocery shopping and cooking extravaganza!
can't believe this momma didn't get any sunshine!
guess we're getting a little 'old'. ha.

Friday was spent doing yard work and hanging out with some friends and their two little ones. yes, I said two. and no, I don't know how they do it.

Saturday we got some shopping time at the outlet mall in the city with my mom and sis. after our retail therapy session was over, I was then forced into the grungy place that is Buffalo Wild Wings to give it another try. let's just say the honey BBQ wings are my new friends.

Sunday I missed half of the sermon at church due to baby boy falling asleep in my arms and me not wanting to put him down in his class because I just wanted to watch him sleep at the risk of waking him. 

Monday we did our huge monthly grocery shopping and cooking day. We like to buy almost everything we need for the whole month and start cooking and freezing a few meals right away. It really helps us save time and money. I also made my first batch of homemade baby food. More to come on that later!

p.s. we moved little man to his crib and he is doing awesome.

Hope you all had a great Memorial Weekend!

Here's a picture of my dad. It's an old pic and a new one blended together. In the old pic he's standing third from the left.

Thank you to all who have served and are still serving our country!

i'll love you forever.

i'll love you forever,

i'll like you for always,

as long as i'm living

my baby you'll be

These sweet words are from the book, Love You Forever. As I read them tonight, the night before you turn 5 months old, my eyes filled with tears. I'm not talking about just a few tears. No, more like a constant hot flow streaming down my face, only to be followed by more with every blink. 

Where these tears came from I'm not for certain. All I know is what I felt. I was overcome with emotion from a love for you that is impossible to describe. A love that I never want to change.

Your grandma (Gram) gave your daddy this book when you were born. She left a sweet note for him in the front cover: 

Sugar Man,

Today with the birth of your son- your blessings have just begun. You are now feeling what I felt 26 years ago with the birth of you. Now and forever you will feel and see so much joy and pride with every little (or big) thing Rylan does. Rylan is a wonderful blessing to you as you are to me.

Love you forever, 

Mom

A love between a mother and a son, impossible to describe and thankful to have.

love you forever baby boy,

momma

5 months with you.

sometimes i just look at you and can't believe you have come this far. growing and changing. you are becoming more of a little man. i see him growing in you every day, but you are still more baby than anything (which i kind of like :).

right now you are really bouncy. you love to jump in your jumper and getting your legs reps in is your favorite pastime. just recently you started rolling from your back to your tummy so now you are a full fledged roller. when i put you down for tummy time you turn into a rolling machine (by the way you just started laughing in your sleep as i was typing this-cutest.thing.ever). tummy. back. back. tummy. i can no longer leave you resting on the couch unattended because you took a dive to the floor the other day. don't worry you were fine.

you are grabbing anything and everything and it all goes straight to your mouth. i now have to be careful to make sure i don't put you near anything you can swallow.

you love eating your rice cereal and we will be starting veggies soon. i'm thinking sweet potatoes??!

lately daddy and i have been making fools of ourselves to get you to laugh. it's quite the show. you also think it's pretty funny when i'm exercising. jeez buddy, give your momma a break!

one of the sweetest things you do is feel our faces. it's like you are seeing us with your hands. i love it, until you get a good grip of my skin and start pulling!

we still haven't moved you to your crib. i know, i know. shame on us. we will get there. eventually.

i love spending my days with you, watching you grow, but please take it easy on me. don't grow up too fast little one.

love you,

momma

mouse in my house.

yep.
you read it right.
ugh.

we have a mouse and supposedly when there's one, there's not just one. a couple of days ago i noticed my dog start obsessively searching around the house. i have seen this behavior from him before. then it hit me. nooooooooooooo. we had mice one other time and this is exactly what he did. so i thought i'd look around myself for signs. sure enough there were droppings in the pantry. i still haven't found any food that has been gotten into, but the proper measures are about to be taken.

let's just say i'm not too thrilled about our evening plans. we will be hitting up target for food/pet food containers, mowing, cleaning behind/around the fridge, stove, washer and dryer, setting a live trap and filling any holes as we go.

i don't know what they are coming in my house for. i'm so OCD, i make sure all the kitchen counters are clean and all the dirty dishes are put away every night. the only thing i can think that might spark their interest is the dog food and water. stupid moochers. hopefully we end this quickly.

--makes me miss living in the country under the protection of outside cats!

any tips?

The gift of Motherhood

is a joy and a blessing.

something incredibly sacred and impossible to define.

it's crazy how being a mother has come so naturally for me. yes, there are still times when I feel like I don't have a clue what I'm doing, but for the most part I have just been sailing right along. never mind that you fell off the couch the night before our first Mother's Day together.

I'm pretty sure God knew what He was doing, creating us perfectly for one another, you for me and I for you, little one. You have already taught me so much about myself and have helped me find the real me. Momma.

I have loved getting to know you and figuring you out. I have loved learning your cries, the way you like to be put to sleep, things you like to do. It's so much fun when we get things right. Together. We fit. Like a glove. Perfect for me and perfect for you. 

May we continue to help each other grow.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

Life is sweeter and brighter with you by my side little man.

Thank you God for the gift of motherhood.

Mother's Day

To celebrate our first Mother's Day together we took a little stroll out by the lighthouse and had dinner on the lake. I also got to eat at one of my favorite Chinese cafes and got a yummy caramel frappe with boba. I'm still waiting on my gift from little man. Mr. Baker says he ordered it on time, but it hasn't got here yet. Can't wait to see what it is!

Hope you mommas had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Lessons Learned: Working Momma

Last week I went to work for the first time since becoming a momma.

It was only temporary as I was just working for a girl while she was on vacation, however, I did learn some things that I thought I should share for those mommas that are planning on going back into the working world.

1. Start back in the middle/end of the work week. This allows more time to adjust and figure out what works and doesn't work for you and baby.

2. For those still planning to breast feed start pumping/storing up milk now!

3. Get your baby used to a bottle. My little guy had only eaten from a bottle a couple of times so his bottle feedings while I was at work weren't very fun for my mom! He HATED it!

4. Prepare yourself emotionally.

5. Have meals planned/prepared for the week. 

Hope these help!
Happy Friday!

Don't forget to vote!

Meet & Tweet

Meet & Tweet Twitter HOP!

Follow your host:

Laura @ Our Reflection

This week's co-hosts are:

Kristine @ The Foley Fam

Jessica @ The Velarde's

Ashley @ Flats to Flip Flops

Katlyn @ The Dreamy Meadow

Samantha @ The Peanuts Gang

Hailey @ Baby Baker Love

The Rules

1. Mandatory you follow your hosts

{They are the first 7 in the linky.}

2. Follow at least 5 new people via Twitter

{Or more! Introduce yourself... Its a great way to make new friends!}

3. Spread the word!

{The more the merrier! Grab a button and add it to your blog, 

Tweet or Facebook about the link up.}

<div align="center"><a href="http://our-reflection.blogspot.com/" title="Our Reflection"><img src="http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g383/_laurahernandez/MeetTweet-2.jpg" alt="Our Reflection" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

One lucky link up person will WIN a FREE

solo guest post on Our Reflection blog!

Drum roll please....

Last weeks Meet & Tweet winner is Kim from The Sassy Life! 

Congratulations!

Please link up your Twitter account, not your blog.

Want to be a future co-host? Email me at momsgonnasnap@gmail.com.

Heard about Elevate Blog Conference?

The Elevate Blog Conference was designed to provide an opportunity for bloggers to meet together in an uplifting environment to get to know each other, build relationships and be inspired to take their blogs and businesses to the next level.  The day will be spent hearing from speakers, attending workshops, networking, working on a service project, crafting and enjoying one another's company.  

Lunch and dinner will be provided as well as all crafting supplies. We are blessed to be working with The Shine Project to assemble school supply kits for local elementary schools in Orange County as well as Arizona. We would appreciate any donations that you would like to bring and contribute, but it is not mandatory. If you would like to gather items from friends, family or local businesses to bring that would be wonderful. If you are unable to attend, but would like to donate items to the service project please contact us via email.  We are looking for items such as: glue sticks, markers, pencils, pens, erasers, scissors, crayons, colored pencils, highlighters, & pencil boxes.

When: June 9, 2012
Where: Huntington Beach, CA
Want more details? Click HERE or email ElevateBlogConference{at}gmail.com

a hygienist's pinterest

In honor of working last week

                                                                       Source: businessinsider.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

                                          Source: zazzle.com via Noma on Pinterest

                                                 Source: scrapbookofduke.posterous.com via Anna on Pinterest

              Source: etsy.com via Deanna on Pinterest

      

         Source: socialmediadentist.com via Mariah on Pinterest

         Source: boredpanda.com via Onne-Floris on Pinterest                                 

   Source: thebrickhouse.tumblr.com via Cristie on Pinterest

   Source: flickr.com via Chibi on Pinterest

   Source: Uploaded by user via Chantal on Pinterest

   Source: Uploaded by user via Lauren on Pinterest

                                    Source: etsy.com via Stephany on Pinterest

                  Link up: The Vintage Apple!

i was made for this

Sometimes I can't even believe how much I was made for this, 

                                      to be a momma.

I mean seriously there is not a single job in this world that fits me better or brings me this much joy. And when I think about the importance of this job of mine I realize the depth and severity of it all. As a Christian the task of raising a child inherits additional meaning and another title: "discipleship".

I am in no way a teacher, but I hope to live my life with purpose by exemplifying how to follow Jesus to my children. So I will teach regardless of my weakness.

"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is One! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

-Deuteronomy 6:4-9

May Your words always be present on our hearts, in our minds, on our tongues and in our home.

And for the first time in my life, (minus a mission trip halfway across the world), I feel like I'm actively doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

"O mothers of young children, I bow before you in reverence. Your work is most holy. You are fashioning the destinies of immortal souls. The powers folded up in the little ones that you hushed to sleep in your bosoms last night are powers that shall exist forever. You are preparing them for their immortal destiny and influence. Be faithful. Take up your sacred burden reverently. Be sure that your heart is pure and that your life is sweet and clean. The Persian apologue says that the lump of clay was fragrant because it had lain on a rose. Let your life be as the rose, then your child as it lies upon your bosom will absorb the fragrance. If there is no sweetness in the rose the clay will not be perfumed."

-J.R. Miller, The Family

I'm baaaack

whew!

Feels good to be back to "normal" life again.

Back to morning cuddle time with my baby boy,

tummy time,

bath time,

feeding time,

play time,

nap time,

lunch time whenever I want (or whenever little man will allow),

spit up,

clean up,

and

watching my baby learn and grow.

I'm so glad that going to work last week and leaving Ry for the first "real" time was only temporary.

I don't know how you working mommas do it.

Today I'm just focusing on my baby boy and getting us rested back up.

Happy Monday

sad face...

Just thought I would let you guys know that I am working Tuesday-Friday this week so you probably won't be hearing from me for a few days.

I am just filling in for a girl I used to work with while she is on vacation.

This is the first time I have really left my baby and I am already physically and emotionally worn out and cannot wait to be back at home with my little one.

If you have a spot in your prayers say one for me!

Thanks!

I'll be back soon.