Strawberry Lovin'

My sweet girl eating her first strawberry.As you'll see, she loved it and didn't want me to take it away at all.She kept grabbing my hand and pulling it towards her.Oh, and she kicks my phone out of my hand part-ways through. Oops. Like my blog? If so, please vote for me! It only takes two little clicks.

Snapshot Sunday

This sweet girl with that sweet face has my heart.

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Fear

I have a confession to make. And it's a pretty highly embarrassing one at that. Are you ready? ....I have Coccinellidaephobia. What, never heard of it? I'm shocked. Not really though, because it's the fear of ladybugs. Yes, you read that right.  I'm afraid of ladybugs. 

I have absolutely no idea where this came from, but it's true. And now that it's Summertime I'm condemned to being freaked out by the little creepers every time I take Kaetana to the park, or downtown, or anywhere outdoors for that matter. And I'm not even really sure what it is about them that scares me. Most people seem to think they're "cute" and wonderful, and they do seem to adorn a majority of little girl's items everywhere. But I persevere because little girls love ladybugs. Which means Kaetana will most likely love them too, so I'm really trying to get over my impulse to scream and run away whenever they're in my general vacinity. (Which reminds me of a funny time a couple years ago when an old friend and I were drinking - well, actually I was drinking and she was pregnant - inside. We were sitting at the dining room table and I look down to find a ladybug chilling happily on my arm. I basically sprinted to the living room waving my arms screaming "WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!" and having a mini drunken panic attack. Ha.)  

 Anyways there you have it. My biggest fear is ladybugs. 

Followed closely by driving off a cliff to my death and elevators. Ack.

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the week according to my cell phone

I'm spending tomorrow at my Aunt's house having a family yard sale (and hopefully selling all of Kaetana's old stuff!) so I won't be around. I thought I'd go ahead and post some photos off my cell phone from this past week, seeing as I always take a ton. I might even try to do this at the end of every week. :)

sittin' pretty ; new glasses ; attacking the phone!

spending the morning with grandma ; my view from the front seat ; brunch

first sippy cup experience ; nap time with daddy ; helping with laundry

fajitas for dinner ; playing at the park ; first time in a high chair

 These aren't really in any particular order. Maybe next time I'll do it that way, though!Everyone have a fun, and safe, Memorial Day Weekend.♥Like my blog? If so, please vote for me! It only takes two little clicks.

sears portrait studio

As everyone is aware by now, I take about a million photos of Kaetana a day. I love that I can go back and see how much she's already changed (as though it's not obvious!) and that I've kept such great documentation of her life thus far. That being said, despite the many photos I do take of Kaetana on my own, I still head over to Sears once a month to get a "professional" portrait done of her. I bought a year's membership for $10 which gets me a free 8x10 with each visit, no sitting fee, and buy-one-get-one on any other sheets I decide to get. This, my friends, is an awesome deal! And our Sears is actually really great which is lucky because I know some of their studios have the worst photographers. Anyways, I thought I'd go ahead and show you her 4 month photos we just picked up yesterday.

I got that top photo (3 panel collage - 8x10), middle (8x10) and bottom (5x7 plus 4 wallets - 2 sets) for $20 total. So really I'd totally suggest any Mom to go check out their local department store studio (not walmart) and see what kind of work they do. It's affordable if you know what you're doing, and the results can be really great. Plus, who doesn't want cheesy studio portraits of their kids?


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Mama Must Haves v.1

Hello, and welcome to a new weekly feature here on Smiles Awake You - Mama Must Haves! I get asked a surprising amount what I consider a "must have" as far as baby stuff goes, so I thought it would be fun to post one up on here every week. These items will range anywhere from practical items to fun toys and accessories I like. I'll post the item and a small description of it, then tell you why I like and suggest it! Hope you enjoy! ♥

Must Have #1: Freezable Gel Teethers

I'm sure most mamas know what these are, and how they work, so I don't really feel much need to get in to it too much. Basically they're rubbery shapes that usually have different textures on them, filled with gel that is freezable. And they are a god send when you have a teething baby, let me tell you. I have that pink flower one pictured up there, along with a few others, and am constantly pulling one from the freezer and putting the other one in. It's insane. Kaetana gets really excited when I bring one to her, and the cold doesn't bother her hands really. She sucks and chews on them 'til they're warm and then cries for another. It's a great way to stay away from stuff like orajel (which we've used before) and still ease the pain of a cutting tooth.


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Wordless{ish} Wednesday

 {I was being lazy a few mornings ago and decided to feed Kaetana breakfast on the living room floor.  She was munching happily on some whole wheat rice cereal with apples and pears when she noticed her Daddy sitting on the couch. Needless to say, she loves him! She breaks in to that smile every single time she sees him and it's the best. As is that beautiful gummy smile and those adorable dimples.}Like my blog? If so, please vote for me! It only takes two little clicks.

Update & Photo Dump

I've been in a funk lately and haven't felt much like blogging I guess. I'm still looking for a job and it's total bullshit in this town. Nowhere is hiring and the places that are either think I'm too qualified, or under qualified. So far I've had zero luck and it's really really starting to stress me out! We just can't survive on John's salary alone for much longer. Oh and Kaetana has been sick, too, which doesn't exactly help in the whole 'having spare time' department. I'm basically here to dump a bunch of photos on you and leave, but I'll be back tomorrow with a new feature I'm starting (and will actually keep up with past a few weeks, I promise!)
Here are some photos from the past couple weeks :)

left - out for a walk ; right - playing with a new toy

top left - blowing raspberries ; top right - another new toy ; bottom left - being a goof in the jumperoo ; bottom right - caught mid-yawn

left - wearing the pretty headband I made her ; right - can't get over those chubby legs

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Cirlces

My entry for Shutter Love Tuesday over at Trendy Treehouse

I mean, really? Those eyes!

& just for the hell of it:

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Link Ups

I've been neglecting my blog again! I'm kind of experiencing blogger-block I suppose - I just don't know what to write about, and am definitely not feeling too inspired these days. I almost always post about Kaetana and although she is the very best topic, I feel like I want to expand my horizons a little bit! And I want to start improving my photography so I think I'm going to start participating in some of those link ups I see all over the blog-o-sphere. :)
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Handwriting

So, Emily over at Girl of a Thousand Faces tagged me in this fun handwriting exercise post. I'm supposed to answer a set list of questions:

1. What's your name/your blogger name?
2. What's your blog's name/URL?
3. Write "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
4. Favorite quote?
5. Your Favorite song?

6. Your favorite band/singers?
7. Anything else you want to say?
8. Tag three to five other people.

on a sheet of paper then take a photo (since I don't have a scanner) of it and you'll be able to see what my handwriting looks like! I think it's kinda cool because here we all are hiding behind our keyboards, using whatever fonts are there. I was being reeeaaaallly lazy and uncool towards the end there because I didn't tag anyone. My  bad, but Kaetana was freaking out and I couldn't think of anybody! I might mosey back over and tag people, but to be honest I doubt I will. If you wanna do it, though, please let me know and link back to me! I wanna see people's handwriting. :) Anyways here are my answers:

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Wordless{ish} Wednesday

{I love getting shots like this - it's the little things, ya know?}

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The Best Day

I am really having the best day today, so I thought I'd pop in and tell you! John has the day off, so he got up with Kaetana this morning and let me sleep in for a change. Guess I needed it because I didn't get up until almost noon haha. It was amaaazing. When I got up they were out in the living room playing and being merry. Kaetana has been a fussy lady these past few days, and actually spent last night in bed with us because she couldn't sleep. We couldn't really figure out why, until we took a little looksie in her mouth and boom! There was a little bit of white peeking out for the world to see!! I'm so excited, but it means a miserable baby until that sucker comes all the way through. I checked this morning and it's still there but seems to be receding a bit. Hopefully soon, and I hope that everyone is having a really great day. :)

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top six so far

I take a lot of photos of Kaetana. I mean, really, a lot. I have almost two thousand saved on to my computer as of today and she's only 5 months old. If I keep this up, I'm going to have to buy an external hard drive specifically for photos of her. Actually, I think I have one of those somewhere...hmmm...

Anyways. I thought I'd challenge myself and post my 6 most favoritest photos of Kaetana so far from this year. This was freaking hard to do, but here you have it - in no particular order:

 

 

I'm never doing that again, because it was definitely one of the hardest things ever!

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Happy Mother's Day ♥

 

On Mother's Day last year I was 12 weeks pregnant and just starting to tell most people. John and I were getting used to the idea of being parents and excitement was just beginning to kick in for me. I remember I was so happy because John got me flowers and a card even though I wasn't technically a Mama yet and the thought was so sweet. He took me out to dinner at Outback and we talked and talked about all the great things we were going to be able to do as parents. We talked about whether we might have a boy or a girl (John said boy, I said girl - guess we all know who won that!) and what he/she would be like. It was a truly great night, and now this is my first Mother's Day as a bonafide Mama. Neither of us could have imagined the impact Kaetana would have on our lives, she truly is the very best thing that's ever happened to me. I couldn't have asked for a better life.

I hope all you Mamas out there are having a beautiful day and soaking it all in. ♥

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Kaetana - 5 Months

I know I say this with every monthly update, but I seriously can't believe Kaetana is 5 months already! I mean really, where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday I was holding her for the first time, and here she is rolling from here to there, grabbing at everything, and trying to sit up. Blows. My. Mind.

Kaetana has learned a lot this past month! As I mentioned above, she's learned that she can get from one place to another by rolling along. It's hilarious to see the look of determination on her face as she picks her target and just GOES. She often gets distracted and stops to play with whatever is around her but she always gets to where she wants to be. She is a stubborn little thing!

This month Kaetana:
 - rolls back to front, front to back
 - eats solids twice a day (her favorites are sweet potatoes, carrots and sweet peas)
 - is quick to smile at everything
 - loves to stand and sit up (supported, of course)
 - gets really excited when you sing "if you're happy and you know it" & b-i-n-g-o because of all the clapping
 - officially grew out of all her 0-3 month and 3 month clothes
 - might be starting to teeth, but I'm not 100% on that one yet
 - is getting better at vocalizing and making more distinct sounds
 - started sleeping on her tummy even though it freaks me out!
 - upgraded to 6oz bottles
 - loves to read

This past week, Kaetana went through a pretty large growth spurt. There were about 3 days where all she did was eat and sleep. She'd maybe play for an hour in between but mostly it was lots of sleeping! In that time she grew out of all the clothes she had been wearing and I had to go through the stuff I had stashed away and fish out bigger things. It was insane. I tried putting her in a onesie she had worn a few days before and it wouldn't button. We also had to take her to the doctor because she is losing her voice. It's the saddest sounding thing ever. We were told it's a virus swelling her vocal chords and it'll come back as soon as she's all better but honestly it's been like a week and she's showing no improvement. It's got me a little worried, not gonna lie!

 I am so in love with that little girl my heart feels like it might burst. Every day is a new adventure, and I learn so much just watching her grow. Really, I couldn't have been blessed with a better baby.

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An afternoon stroll...

Yesterday Kaetana and I went on a little stroll around the neighborhood.

 

She really enjoyed herself, looking around at all the random stuff. We kept getting stopped by people wanting to see her and chat. I guess it was just a friendly kind of day.

 

I don't live in the best neighborhood, I'll admit. It's kind of the "ghetto" of Prescott haha but I'm happy I live in more of the hippie filled area instead of the drugs and grossness area. In fact, we saw an old man walking two goats on leashes and letting them eat from trees they passed. Awesome.

Kaetana is getting better at letting the sun into her eyes (she used to freak out and shut them!) so I really get to get a good look at those purdy blues. :) 

We were crossing a bridge and saw that someone had spray painted a city sign and etched an owl into the paint. It's AMAZING as you can see, and I kinda sorta wanted to take it home. Don't worry, though, I didn't.

I'm glad I live in Prescott. I used to hate it when I was in high school because it was "boring" but the older I get the more I appreciate it. It's a lovely little town, and that was a pretty great walk.

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