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introducing a new hashtag to the world

4/18/2015

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on october 5th, 2014, my husband and i welcomed yet another spectacular human being into the world. toot! toot! (thats my own horn) since then, we have had the honor of getting to know her a little bit and here follows my account of the person of hannah julie lima:

back when she was the tiniest little thing i've ever seen, i thought she looked just like emily only close to 3 pounds lighter. she was this oddly familiar person always reminding me of my first baby and so skinny! i felt like i'd break her and we actually got to use many of the newborn clothes that barely fit her older sister. both of these things quickly changed. 

now she is 6 months+, a much less fragile 15 pounds and completely her own identity both in my heart and in the world of hashtags. its hard for me to find a resemblance now between my two girls. i figure hannah looks just like Ricky's side of the family except with my blue eyes and fair skin. even my mom said, straight out of the womb, that she looked like lisa (ricky's mom).


it's a little unfortunate that with the second you tend to define them by every way they are not like the first. but that is why we have determined that she is such a sweetie. when she learned to smile it was as if she was just waiting for the next opportunity to practice this new skill. all you had to do was look her way and you would be greeted with absolute sunshine. emily was not like this.  we had to put in a little more effort for her and if we wanted emily to laugh, forget-about-it! hannah IS ticklish! particularly, the arm pits :). its one of my favorite things about her that she laughs almost every time i change her clothes. it makes the experience, which happens almost ten times a day, less tedious. 
some other notes on hannah:
- we have confirmed with the doctor that she is, and i quote, "very coordinated for her age"! i say this was great pride that she takes only one swipe to grab a toy where others may take two or three. this is both exciting and sometimes frightening. she was the quickest roller-over in the west, no really, a quick double take and bam- that's not the way i left her! Ricky claims her to be his golfer. (she may not have a choice in that matter). 
-along this line, she is so squirmy, wiggly, and bouncing. much more than emily. i both love it and not so much like it. she also does the cutest tilt of the head to the side thing that makes your heart melt. as if she's saying "yeah i know, but how does it look from this angle?" maybe thats a sign of an out-of-the-box thinker. i hope so!
-she is so very contented to talk herself to sleep. what a joy that has made naps for me! i kept waiting for her general "easy" personality to be just a phase. i was waiting for the proverbial "other shoe to drop" and have yet to seen it. 
-she has lima lungs. this girl can yell! (currently she is "ay-la-la-la"ing about something or other and its down right loud). my voice does not carry and ricky's family can hardly hear me sometimes. this won't be the case for hannah, who i predict will make her opinions heard. 
-her latest trend is to tap, tap, tap her hand when she is excited. i take it as a greeting and its adorable. she ponders her hands a lot (deep thinker). 
-sometimes i call her hannah bear because she likes to growl and gurgle. 
-oh and she has her own theme song. lyrics "hannah banana" and "cha-cha-cha"
 -she has a rare smile where she adds a tiny, bashful, scrunching of the shoulders. this action pushes her cheeks up, producing the most squishy, qum-toothed, cheesin' face i've ever seen. consequently, it is my most cherished smile of hers and i alway savor it and therefore have no photographic proof of its existence. 
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so, you be the judge on whether or not these things are developmental or truly parts of her blossoming personality. as for me and my house, we take everything to be a sign of greatness, cuteness, and a sign that we have the best hannah in the whole wide world. 
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before i forget

9/18/2014

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Things Emily loves at the moment:
- to go on walks. she walks by herself (no stroller) and they often take 45 mins or more because she likes to stop and pick up leaves or talk about flowers or whatever. oh, and she often talks for most of the time. 
- she likes to hold hands when its her idea, especially
- stuffed animals. i can't say enough how much i love this but she loves all things stuffed. her favorite is "mee" which translates to "monkey". she needs to have at the very least monkey with her when she is sleeping and is often accompanied by upwards of 3 or 4 buddies. 
- she loves to repeat things and is trying new words all the time. 
- she loves to take her grandparents dogs for walks
- she loves to sing and dance. her favorites right now are 1. "deep deep" which is code for any frozen song and originates on the first line she ever sang in one of the songs 2. wheels on the bus and that entire cd of which "wheels on the bus" is the first song(requested with hand motions of the song)3. shake it off- the new single by taylor swift (she's a hip baby ok)
- she loves the pool "POOOOL!!" and slides. she just mastered going done the chick-fil-a slide by herself. 
- she loves books and having mommy read them to her and picking them out and recently takes a book to nap with. 
- she loves to color. or i should say she loves to tell you where to color and to have you color for her. 
- she loves taking pictures with mommy and daddy's camera which is labeled "cheese" since we tell her to say that when we take her picture. 
- she is obsessed with the ipad. we refer to it as the "object of desire" since we can't mention it without ten requests to go on it. i need a sign that says "this child has gone without screem time for ___ days" 
- she loves the movie frozen and really any movie i think if we let her watch it. 
-she loves cell phones and constantly requests "re! Re!" which means to call grammy and since she has two we aren't sure who she is referring to. 
- she loves going to her friends house and playing with them, although, at the moment she's not the best at it (aka: what 19 month old does share well? i mean seriously people)

Emily is exactly 19 months and 14 days old at this point and i've never sat down to write a mushy detailed description of just who she is at this moment in life. I'm taking it upon myself to do this now for multiple reasons which are as follows: 1. isn't 19 months and 14 days like a big deal? 2. ricky and i was just saying how are we going to remember all the little things we love about her and 3. pretty soon she won't be the center of our world anymore - she will have to share it with this mystery being we call hannah (or at least thats how i imagine emily sees it). So even though i kind of wish i had been doing this all along and it erks me now that this isn't apart of some "series", i know i'll never regret doing this. 
Here is our "State of the Emily" address or more like "everything i can think of i want to remember forever" list:
-Emily is a complete mix of her father and i. not just physically, which is to be expected, but personality wise. She is such a first-born, like ricky, and yet manages to have a lot of my spunk too. For example, she will put things away and in the right place with out being asked or coached (ricky swoons when she does this). She used to not continue eating until her sippy cup was placed back in the circle thing on her tray. one time i told her she could have what i was eating (a cookie or something) but she was holding this letter magnet thing. Before she took the cookie, she had to put it back on the fridge BUT then she realized it was upside down. She paused, fixed it first, and then took the cookie. Who does that? Answer: Emily. She also is very curious about everything like her dad. She will "help" her dad do anything, from building her new crib to a little yard work here and there. 
Ways she is like her mommy: she is a snuggle monster (or should i say mauler).And she loves being wherever we are no matter what(i think she is an extrovert). If we are working in a room and have the gate up because she can't be in there, she will bring toys to the gate and play NEXT to us. 
- Emily only has one volume (or so it seems) and is becoming very verbal. she also does this hilarious thing where she will copy our tone and imitate us. For example, if i am getting very passionate about something and my voice is raised and my arms are waving around in animation of my point- she will most likely be found doing the exact same thing only in baby babble. 
- she says "yeah" and your heart melts. 
- she also very clearly knows the word "no" and uses it with abandon 
- she makes the best faces and is very expressive. 
- she is very feminine and dainty and careful when she plays. 
- she picks up on everything! she is always listening and we can't get away with mentioning much food or anything she knows about without a chorus of "hon-nee!" (hungry) or "pah!" (ipad). 
- speaking of the "pah", she is a master at all things having to do with the ipad and can deftly go back and forth between apps and plays her games like a champ. (i'll put this one in the category called "like her father" since it has to do with technology) 
- i wouldn't consider emily to be a "sleeper". This is also something i blame ... i mean attribute... on her father. while her friends nap for 2+ hours or even 3 at a time, emily only goes for an hour and a half most days and wakes at the very early hour of 6 every morning. 
- she is very friendly and loves people and will say hi to anyone and i'm convinced everyone thinks she is adorable because they often tell me so... so there!

Really, emily is just an absolute joy to be around. she is full of life and funny too. she just started laughing with us when we are laughing as if in on the joke. so many times in the day i sit back and think how amazing she is. i think thats how god designed it- for us to think our kids the best thing since sliced bread! (speaking of sliced bread- emily pretty much eats a peanut butter sandwich with the crust pulled off every day) as for the struggles? who needs to remember those! all i know is i'm in love with this kid and everything about her (her father is too). 

the. end.
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let go my logo... or something like that

9/16/2014

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hopefully you're feeling my eggo waffles reference up there because apparently i can't title things in a professional way. anyway, i've recently completed the logo/header design for an up-and-coming fashion blogger's site. here it is for your enjoyment:
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and here is a mock-up of the design on a fake blog set-up 
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watercolor works for me

8/26/2014

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a good friend of mine sent me an email with the subject line: "art project $"(<-- teehee). he wanted me to take this picture (below) and do some sort of drawing or charcoal. it's of his girlfriend and her much beloved dog that may not be around much longer. sweet, right? i was SO glad he left it open ended enough for me to decide to NOT do a charcoal drawing or any kind of drawing but instead do a loose watercolor. so freeing! i really enjoyed doing this and i think it makes it a little more special then an exact replicate precise drawing. besides, i'm out of practice for that so it might have ended up looking just off enough for you to say "oh thats nice" instead of "incredible!". i've done this once before for my parents and their dogs and i loved how it came out. i wish i had a picture of that to throw up here too. 
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the original picture from which he asked me to tastefully edit out the poop bag...good idea, good idea. ............. oh and i heard she loved it! what a great boyfriend, right?!
just for fun i'll add a drawing i did for my mother-in-law as a present for mother's day two years ago... yes, two years it took me to do this. to be fair it did take a while to get a picture but still i'm pathetic. i guess my motivation for drawing got lost somewhere in the mix of being a first time mom (yes i will take advantage of that excuse, thank you very much). 
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kind of what i was mentioning before about that "oh thats nice" reaction... not for the whole thing though. i think everyone turned out great except i look a bit akin to frankenstein... oh well.
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that thing called nesting

8/19/2014

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so most likely you know we are expecting another baby girl in october. therefore i am currently pregnant and meet the qualifications for "nesting". whatever you want to call it, we are in the process of making way! we (i) decided to move emily into a new room and keep our nursery the way it is for our new darling hannah. why? because it's a lot of work to redo something and its a lot of fun to plan a girly room for emily and she just needs to move OK! even now though, when theres no turning back, i think about how emily gets TWO new rooms and hannah gets emily's old one and feel... i dont know.... (insert sad face emoji). BUT its for the best and i still haven't ruled out a redo for the old room too (don't tell ricky). so heres the plan: 
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^ heres my inspiration board filled with pins i found and the actual design i created for emily's accent wall (top triangle thing). i also bought this fabric that has little gold sparkly triangles on it to make into curtains...needless to say i'm excited. here is the progress so far:
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before
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progress
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happy belated, bailee!

8/15/2014

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belated: happening later than should have been the case. late. overdue. behind schedule.
but its better late than never right? i think so! this baby girl had to wait awhile for her birthday chalkboard which her parents requested after she turned one. but honestly, its still going to be a nice way to remember this special year in her blessed little life. 
so a very happy (belated) birthday to bailee! 

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when they gave me the chalkboard they also gave me this little lady and said "because we call her bug"...
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its always fun to add little details like the dumb bell, ruler and especially the tooth. they deliver the information in a more interesting way and fill in some gaps. i happen to know (wink, wink) there is a giraffe in the mural in her room so i used that to fill in some awkward spaces too. 
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(ahem) dinner will now be served

8/12/2014

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please, read the title of this post in a snooty accent. recently, i finished two chalkboards for a wedding and i'm in love with them. mostly because because working on a real chalkboard is so much better then working on anything sprayed with chalkboard paint. also- i loved all the blueberries in these designs. the wedding had a "Maine style with a little classy prep feel". i never knew there was a style for the state of Maine but i think i got the gist and it was just so courtney - it was perfect. these were really fun and aside from having my sister-in-law point out about 10 spelling errors (errrrr, but i love her for it) it was a very smooth process.  
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these were some of the biggest chalkboards i've done - 20 x 20 inches on the right and 20 x 34 on the left. phew!
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some blurry blueberries for you, ma'am?
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sorry about the strange angle here - there was glare
i also design the programs, name cards, and wine label table numbers ...
i loved her idea for incorporating their two home states on the programs. some may say quirky but i think its adorable. also- the tiny name cards she got in two different designs to help the caterer distinguish which meal each guest ordered (super smart and convenient). 
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ugh, i hate the way the colors show up on the internet. i promise the blue was more navy than royal, much, much darker... but i digress.
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napping just got more fun

8/10/2014

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pretty sure we didn't have anything this cozy growing up
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a giraffe for abbe, a zebra for alex, and a monkey for elsie = perfectly "awww" worthy
my sister and her husband had been able to watch their cutie of a niece for close to 2 years before deciding (with a third baby on the way) that it was time to give up babysitting. what a blessing it is for family to be your watch your babies for any amount of time- MY! all the genuine love and attention they got to give their niece! so, it only made sense that they would send her off to day-care with a special present: enter the "nap mat". basically, it's a sleeping bag, kiddie sized, with a cushy pillow and a soft blanket attached. they got it embroidered with her initials but still wanted to go the extra mile and asked me to do a little something, too.
here is what i came up with based on their request: 
hand stitched, ironed on, felt animals and her name. the animals are even cuter when you realize that each one represents little alex and her cousins.
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sam & shane

7/31/2014

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our friends sam and shane recently tied the knot and now i can reveal the invitations i designed for them!
 a word on these two people: they have captured our hearts because not only are they fun and easy to hang out with but they love on emily so much! so, i kind of think of them as her unofficial god-parents. the two of them are so genuinely nice and we love everything about them. shane used to be a guest at our dinner table quite often and we are sad to see them move so far away (30 mins is more than you think with a toddler). 
i also got the honor of not only designing their programs but also handing them out at their wedding! thats right- ricky and i were guestbook attendants, baby!(or guestbook attendants with baby... emily came too) check out the matching programs below. 
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kaila & joey

6/16/2014

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once again i realized what a privilege it is to attend the weddings i get to create for. i get to see the vision described to me months ago come to life! i have to say that i think the invitations matched perfectly. this was such a beautiful wedding and it was so great to see two friends from high school tie the knot and hang out with lots of friends and family too! (actually we've known them since elementary school) every time we get to spend a little time with kaila and joey we end up saying how we wish we could see them more often. if only PA was not so far away...
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