Project Life

Have YOU heard of Project Life? If the answer is no please take a second to educate yourself. It may just change your life.

Im talking about SCRAPBOOKING!!
Project Life is this really cool scrapbook style that this lady came up with that makes scrapbooking super fun, cute and EASY! Ever since Ella was born I have wanted to make a baby book for her. I started but it was really hard for me to compose pages. Especially because most scrapbook pages you see have like 2 pictures on the whole page. I am not into that. I have THOUSANDS of pictures of this girl (...for real, I do....) and I didnt know how to include all the pictures. WELL Mary Cray saw this scrapbook page on this girls blog that had a bunch of tiny pictures on it, she showed me, I loved it (I even pinned it) and I thought "OK i want my stuff to look like that." But I still didnt know how she did it


Well Mary Cray was surfing that blog and she saw a link to "Project Life" she clicked it and VOILA. my life was changed forever. I got the kit for my birthday and it is amazing. This lady (Becky Higgins) makes these scrapbooking kits and pre-formatted pages (Hallelujah!) AND she even makes pre assembled papers and notecards that fit perfectly into those formats so ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ADD YOUR OWN PICTURES/WORDS. She made it that way so you dont even have to be crafy and it will turn out cute. Now for me personally, I like to choose my own paper and do my own thing, but it is still SO MUCH cuter than what I was doing before. and easy. and fun. Here is what I have done so far:
















Here is the website. I hope you love it as much as I do. and I hope I just changed your life
http://www.beckyhiggins.com/products/

how i know ella is my ella

Its pretty amazing knowing every single little thing about another person. I know i post updates on Ella but most of them are pretty standard and not terribly specific. I mean Ella is so much better in real life because of all the little things she does that makes her her. So i decided to list a couple:

1. When she is relaxing she puts her foot across her body and rests it on her other knee like so: It is so stinkin cute
2. When she is tired she loves to snuggle things on her face. which sounds weird but i think it is cute. When we have those days where she just will fight sleep sometimes i just cover her face with my silk shirt or one of her baby blankets and she is out in a matter of seconds... then i take it off so she can breathe better...
3. when she gets excited she bounces on her bum and breathes really hard
4. singing can get her attention no matter what. Even if she is throwing herself around in a full out fit, if i start singing, or anybody for that matter, she usually stops within seconds.
5. she sleeps on her side.
6. if she tastes something new and really likes it she will lick her lips over and over again
7. she loves to grab and pinch with her TOES. her father does that same thing and it drives me NUTS, but it is cute coming from her :)
8. She has a sweet tooth like her mama. When we give her a taste of ice cream she will grunt and slam her hands down until she gets another bite. This is what she looks like when we run out:
9. When she is tired she plays with her ears, specifically her right one.
10. she will only snuggle with me (head resting on my shoulder) when we are in the shower. Even when she is asleep and I try to carry her somewhere whenever I try and put her head on my shoulder she wakes up! but when we are in the shower she has no problem cuddling :) I LOVE IT.

and now you know you my little bean a little better :)

8 month pictures

I finally got them done!!! Unfortunately Ella was very tired so she is a pretty somber baby in these, but she is still so cute :) and the rocking chair she is sitting on was made by her great great great great grandfather. for real. Isnt that awesome?!























and my all time favorite:

confections of a closet master baker

Two thing have become abundantly clear to me since
1. i married michael and
2. i joined pinterest.
and that is i am a slave to the sweet goodness of sweets. Now I am not talking about anything with sugar sweets, I am talking about decadent, rich, desserts. The kind where you whip the egg whites, fold in, let cool, cook, let cool. crisp. The kind where there are 20 steps, and you have to do each one exactly for it to come out perfectly. Oh who would have thought that I found joy in baking?! I love learning how to make new desserts, I love that there are such things as delectable home-made brownies (not out of a box? what?) I love that there are home made graham crackers (SO much better than packaged) I love that I learned how to make creme brulee and i have the yummiest recipes at my fingertips (thanks to the family i have that share this obsession)
I name marrying michael because michael and his family introduced me to patience in cooking. that if you want it to be just perfect you have to put in the time, effort, quality ingredients, and love.
I name pinterest because i never realized how picky i was about quality until i started looking at pinterest. desserts in a crockpot? WHAT!? that's unnatural! do you want recipes on how to cook chicken in the microwave!?! yuck.
You want me to eat a chocolate peanut butter cookie dough cheesecake? WHY?!
How about you just focus on one thing and make that one thing divine. Sometime I think people get caught up in the "lets shove 5 desserts into one" kind of desserts. I am not into that.
It just needs to be simple.
It just needs to be sweet.
It just needs to be chocolate....ok not all the time...but sometimes...ok most of the time
To me desserts are supposed to be something that you cant get out of your head, the kind where you cant wait for special occasions so you can bake that chocolate cake with homemade chocolate malt frosting. or plan ahead so you can refrigerate that cookie dough for 24 hours (it really does make a difference)



oh is that a strawberry i spy? Now youre speaking my language


get in my belly

I pretty much refuse to buy hot fudge anymore (except Leatherbys - that stuff is straight from heaven) because you can make it at home AND IT IS SO MUCH BETTER.
For those of you who might share this slightly unhealthy obsession please read this book:



It is such a fun book and its Sandra Bullocks sister. CRAZY. but i loved it because when i read it I felt like someone really understood me when it came to sugar, to dessert, to baking.
I also loved it because she talks about how its ok to have dessert. There has been such an obsession with dieting and being healthy lately. what is up with that? Just kidding, it is important to be healthy. But I personally do not believe that means you deny yourself one of the most enjoyable things that life has to offer. dessert. I refuse to. I dont care if I never get rid of the 7 lbs pooch that insists on living off my ab muscles. I want ice cream, and homemade carmel popcorn, and chocolate mousse, and a butter cake with goat cheese mascarpone on top (straight up just had this one and it was AMAZING) All I am saying is that this is what makes me happy. so very happy. and if you are a person that feels this same way, dont be ashamed. EMBRACE IT. and then once you find that perfect dessert recipe please share it with me.


p.s. I did not make up this blog title. This was the original title of the book listed above. I just kind of loved it. a lot.

8 month ella

unfortunately this entry is about 2 weeks late and i have no pictures :( I have been super busy lately with school, but when I take her 8 month pictures I will post them!!
At 8 months:

- Ella weights 16.10 lbs
- is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING
- whenever she starts to play with something she is not supposed to I say her name in a stern voice and she ALWAYS turns around and smiles at me, which make me laugh and totally voids my serious voice. But I just cant help it. She is that cute.
-STILL no teeth! but she LOVES food and eats just about anything. Her favorite is definitely ice cream. but i try to limit her intake of that.
-loves to pull herself up on everything and is walking around while holding on to stuff
-fights her naps during the day
-is SO happy. I am so relieved she is such an easy going baby. I think it is a blessing because heavenly father knew i would need a lot of help from family/friends since i am going back to school.
- LOVES stuffed animals. Her favorites are bunnies for some reason. We always ask her where her bunny is and she goes and finds it and gives it a hug and a kiss SO CUTE
-when she gets in the mood she is a definite kisser. but she usually goes for the chin instead of the mouth

I absolutely love this girl with ALL my heart. She is so fun and I miss her so much when im not with her! she is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I cant wait to spend the rest of my life being her mother :)