Holiday Family Fun

I found this adorable gingerbread house at Wal-mart so Steve, Makayla and I enjoyed out Taco Tuesday dinner and then spent some family time building a gingerbread house. What a fun and easy project for a family. We never really made these as kids but it was a lot of fun and I think it will become a new Tradition here in the Bower house. As long as they keep making these east kits. LOL

The Layout

The construction

All the pretty details

The finished Project!

We all had a great time. Now if we could just find time to put up our tree!!!

Adoption/ baby shower

Recently I had a adoption/ baby shower here at my house. I wanted to share with you a few of the cute things we did.

These were the favors! We did Chicago style Pop Corn and chocolate covered pretzels.

Thanks to Devine Doodles for making the tags!

Aren't the precious!

We filled little pumpkins with bright colored flowers.

Lots of fun treats.

Along with Chicken chile, apple Carmel dip, "Ryan's mom's Dip" (the best dip ever)

mini quiche, veggie tray, apple cider, and a few other goodies!!!

Lots and Lots of Cupcakes!!!

All the kids colored mini white pumpkins for the guest of honor to take home with her.

Everyone had a ton of fun. My friend Jen and I pulled off a great shower and the guests of honor really enjoyed them selves!!!

A little Marker never hurt anyone!

For halloween my sister bought Makayla markers that you can write on the windows with! (That's what Aunts are for right?) Makayla gets the biggest kick out of drawing on the windows and since it wipes right off I don't mind. I had to get some work done from home today so I asked my sister to come over for a little bit and when I came out this is what I found......

Makayla had decided the marker might look nice on herself instead.

She was so proud it was hard to be upset...
"Here go Mama....."

Posing with Nenny

Sorry the pictures are so bad it was hard to get the right lighting being by the window!

Bowtastic

The lest few weeks Makayla's hair has gotten out of control but it is not quit ready for a cut just yet. I have been trying to find "good" hair clips to hold her hair back but none seem to stay and the ones that do are kinda of expensive. My solution? Of course make them myself. The last few days I have been busy making bows and Makayla has been busy playing in them. Some of them are bows I bought and redid on clips that stay! What do you think?

Below are the ones I made!

What do you think would you want to buy these for your little girl?

Even Grandmom got into playing with the bows. Don't they look just beautiful?

I had a bunch of ribbon and bought clips from Sally's (100 for $5) and a few folds and twist of some ribbon mixed with a little hot glue and there you have it! Hair clips that stay for cheap.

What have we been up to?

We have daily visits by a Heron that we named Blue. And yes I know he is white. He shows up in the late afternoon and hits his beak knocks at the door. I started by throwing him blueberries, and cheese which he didn't eat. After throwing him a few other things he didn't like he now settles for hot dogs or tuna fish. Makayla stands at the door and says "quack quack" the entire time he is having his dinner.

It is really cute to watch her get so excited when Blue shows up.

Makayla plays in her new water table.

Sometimes she plays shirtless, just because it's easier that way.

She is now taking a music class on Tuesday mornings. Which she enjoys so much. She goes and gets the sticks or bean bags when prompted and brings them back. She dances to the music and gives the frog high 5's. It is so much fun to watch her interact with the other kids and follow directions. She is really becoming a big girl and it is so much fun watching her grow and develop.

We finger paint, color, play play dough, and use markers on rainy days.

We play in her ball pit.

Now that I am working I seem to have so much less time in my week. I know I am only working 2 days a week but it seems like Monday and Tuesday I am playing catch up and Friday through Sunday I am spending every moment with Makayla. I really like my new job and I am settling in nicely. The being the "new girl" is already wearing off and I am into a routine. It is really nice to get out of the house a bit and have some adult time. I miss Makayla like the crazy all day but I know she is in good hands and has a blast with My mom, sister and Steve. She is really starting to become a daddy's girl which I love.

We have also been spending Sundays in the park having picnics, dinners and Grandmom and Grandpa's and swimming in the pool. We have been doing a lot of family activities and finding things to let Makayla expel her energy.

Not to mention it is Big Brother (BB) season and that takes up my evenings 3 nights a week. For those of you that know me, know I am obsessed with BB.

I hope all is well with everyone. I am trying to get better at staying on top of the blog. Thank you for understand as I am adjusting to our new schedule.

So that is about it for us. What's new with you? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Time out

Recently Makayla has found her rebellious side. She knows what NO means, she just decides when to listen and when to do whatever she wants.

She has finally found Molly's dogs bowls. This has become a major fight. She plays in the water and then spreads it all over the floor. She also likes to pick them up and throw them down. Why is this a problem you ask? Well they are ceramic and cute and she throws them on the tile. They have not broken yet and I hope they don't.

So how am I going to get her to stop playing with the dog bowls? Why TIME OUT of course. I started by sitting her against the wall in the hall way but she fought back by banging her head against the wall. I needed a special place for her to sit that she knew she was in trouble. So I had my mom Make this.

I sit down on the floor with her and hold her hands and tell her she is in time out and why. I make her sit for about 45 seconds right now. That will be increasing as she gets older. She sits pretty well for the most part.

She knows now that when she touches the dog bowls she goes in time out. She even put herself in time out after touching them this morning. Ohh My little trouble maker.

Do you have any behavior suggestions for a 12 month old? Leave me a comment I am open to suggestion and need them!

Fun, Free, Friday

Today was supposed to be a day of beauty for me....(I saved up all my birthday money for today! I was going to get my hair cut, eyebrows, waxed, and a pedicure FINALLY. I haven't had one since July 3rd. (I got one because I was going into the hospital to have a baby and because I stopped seeing my feet at about 7 months (I think) I wanted them to look nice.)

Well at about 9:00am I got a phone call...the girl who cuts my hair is sick... appointment cancelled. CRAP! REALLY?

So I told my Mom to stay home and enjoy her day.

So what did We do all day? While Makayla took her nap I spent the morning cleaning! I got our spare bedroom looking more like a spare bedroom and less like a tornado stricken room. I cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, changed Makayla's crib sheet (those of you who have kids know what a task this can be), laundry, blah blah blah. Defiantly not a day of beauty for me, but the house looks great!

When M woke up she had some lunch, and played with her new Handy Manny tool box (thanks Mom) she loved it!

Then I decided to let her finger paint! She had a blast, and only licked her hands a few times. Don't worry is was toxic free and washable, and she discovered it was nasty.

Look at her beautiful work!

Now that is art!

Needless to say when you let a 10 month old finger paint they tend to need a bath!

I put her in the kitchen sink. She played for 20 minutes! She likes her bath but for some reason the sink was way more fun! It was also alot more fun to slash. She covered the kitchen with water and bubbles, but hey she was having fun.

Then she was hiding from me. Makayla where are you?

I found her!

I tried to take a picture of her new blanket but she didn't want you all to see it and want to cuddle with it. She is very excited about her new blanket. She did pick all the fabrics out herself.

We went outside for a bit and sprayed some ant piles with soap and water (thanks Dad). We walked up and down the side walk with the walker, until it got a little to hot.

She played with Molly who seems to be back to her old self, and went the entire day with no pain medication. This was the first day since the attack.


For those of you who want to see Molly, she let me take a picture of her wounds. These are the the places the vet shaved the others you can't see through her fur.

Poor Molly. She is doing good though, the scabs will have to fall off and the hair will have to grow back and then she will be back to normal.

We played a little more and then she was very excited to show Daddy her art work when he came home. He was very excited to see it. We had dinner and enjoyed our Friday evening at home. We had an awesome day. With the summer coming I won't be working so I am trying to find activities for us to do at home that don't cost much if anything. If you have any ideas please pass them along!