Looking out the window...

Brighton watched Dale mow the lawn this evening. She loves to look out the window and have him wave at her. She stood there knocking on the window for quite a while.

I also wanted to show you how cute Brighton looked today. I recently pulled out all her 12 months + clothes so this is a new outfit for her! Yay! Notice the whale sweater and the totally fashionable baggy pants- very gangsta chic.

Trunk or Treat

This is Brighton and I at our ward's trunk or treat. I decided to go as a mime and Brighton went as a cute little lady bug! Aren't we the cutest? Dale's not in this picture because he's not fun enough to dress up.

Brighton's had a few bites of cookies and cakes here and there, but in very limited quantities. She's on a very strict diet! But we went a little crazy last night and let her have half of a Three Musketeers bite size bar. She was so excited about it!

I just love this picture because of her cute little toes pointing together. Oh, and her cute chubby legs and awesome little wings, too.

Take a look at this video of Brighton walking around at the trunk or treat!

Brighton Walking

Well, Brighton's been working on walking for a little while now, and we just wanted to wait until she was a little bit better at it (read: not taking two steps and face planting) before we shot some video and shared it with you all. Well, here it is. I couldn't decide between these three videos, so you get to see them all! These were taken on Monday night and ever since then, she is pretty much walking all over the place now.

I like this one because she's just so excited about the camera. You can hear her say at the very beginning "what's this (high unintelligable squeal)?" She's gotten really good at saying that and pointing at things.

Now this one is not of Brighton walking, but playing with Sawyer. Sawyer likes to run around like a crazy dog every once in a while and Brighton just thinks it's the best thing ever. We have to kind of encourage him to keep going crazy but it's worth it. Don't you just love her little laugh!?

Brighton's First Drawing

I was in the kitchen on Saturday (working on I don't know what) but I had to keep Brighton occupied. So I gave her a piece of paper, wrote her name on it to show her how to use the pencil, and then let her go with it. She was entertained for a good 30 minutes, and her inner artist is being allowed to bloom!

She did all those squiggles by herself!

Look at me mom, I'm coloring!

Don't even think about taking this pen and pencil away from me!

The Green's Pumpkin Party

We went to the Green's Pumpkin Party last Friday night and had a ton of fun! I didn't get any pictures of Brighton, but they did so check out their blog here. And of course, a special party requires special clips! Brighton wore these awesome pumpkin clips to the party.

On the invitation we were asked to bring a sinister snack. Besides my red velvet eyeball pops, I also made this awesome kitty litter cake for the party. It was so realistic looking, even though I made it, it was really hard to dive into eating it. Let me know if you want the recipe and I'll put it up here.

We carved our pumpkins while we were there too! And because Dale knows how carving pumpkins is my favorite part of Halloween (well, besides dressing up and candy), he watched Brighton so I could work on my pumpkin uninterrupted! He's so awesome. The above picture is of Brandon and Bri's behinds, while they're working on lighting them up.

All the pumpkins! Mine is the top right, and the only one that matters in this picture.

Oh, here's mine again, up close.
For more info about the party, and more fun pictures check out Brandon and Laura's blog here. Be sure to check out their online album, too.

The Pumpkin Patch

Last Thursday, we went to the pumpkin patch! We had a lot of fun with Brighton, showing her the animals and letting her crawl around in the pumpkins. It wasn't a real pumpkin patch, so it was a lot cleaner than it could have been.
We were a little afraid to let her get too close to the geese, but she was just fine to watch from a safe distance.
This goat has to be the ugliest thing alive. I don't know what kind of goat it is, but it's eyes were pink and went off in different directions. Plus it had a really weird curly coat. Not normal for a goat, at least in my experience. But Brighton was still excited to say hi.
The sheep were pretty cool. They kept "baa-ing" at us, which freaked me out more than it did Brighton, who in turn got freaked out because mom did. But they were nice and woolly.

Daddy and Brighton holding the little pumpkin that Brighton wanted.

Brighton went crawling around trying to find us the best pumpkin. She drummed on them and tried to pick them up.

Daddy was playing the pumpkin drum in this picture and Brighton just thought that was hilarious.

Brighton didn't want to put her face through the ghost cutout but it works for now.

FINALLY!

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

It's finally happening! Grosgrain Kathleen is finally opening an online store to sell her fabulous things! I'm so excited! I first stumbled upon her blog when she was giving this same skirt away and I have been a hugely devoted fan ever since. She's my idol, and she is just so amazingly talented! Now, I can continue trying to win the giveaway every week, but I can also wander aimlessly in her online store! YAY! This is the BEST giveaway ever! Not only do I have another chance to win this awesome skirt, but Kathleen's also including the two other versions, as well as all the reversible tops to match! How awesome is that? She truly is the most generous crafty person out there! If you win, I'll be really mad at you...

A New Dress For ME!

Brighton is always getting the new dresses, so I decided that it was time to try to make one for myself! While it has its imperfections, I'm still really happy with the way it came out. I learned so much! I have a lot to learn when it comes to sizing the patterns and finishing details, but it was still a lot of fun. I bought a bunch of dress patterns from Joann's because it's so hard to find modest dresses that are stylish and that don't cost a fortune (read: not in my budget).

I am completely in love with the fabric. It's has weird birds all over it and what makes it even more wonderful is that it only cost me $2 total. I found it at a second hand store! I don't know why anyone would want to give this away! Maybe I just have awful taste, I'm not sure, but I think it's fabulous! The zipper was $3 (it's an invisible one, and trust me when I tell you that I'm a zipper PRO!), and the pattern cost $1. So my total cost for this dress is $6! You really can't beat that! I added a little belt with it because there's no waste line which doesn't flatter an hour glass figure. I think I'm might have to go and buy one that matches better, but it'll do for now. And notice my incredibly awesome shoes! I had been eying them at Target for a while now, and then they went on SALE last week! With just one left in my size! It really was fate, so I bought them for my early anniversary gift. The traditional third year gift is leather, so faux leather from Target counts, right?

YOU MUST CHECK THIS OUT!

Besides having a really cool back drop on her blog, Now Entering Momville has a great giveaway going on! It's a dress from Shabby Apple. If you've never heard of it (I hadn't either, and I don't know how I survived this long without it!) then you must go and check it out, here. The above is my new dream dress and I will love you forever if you buy it for me. Please leave a comment and let me know when you'll be sending it! (PS- I'm a size small.)

Sorry I Forgot!

Well, I know some of you have been gripping your seats for a few weeks now wanting to know Brighton's stats. I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting for so long! Brighton went to the doctor a few weeks ago for her first birthday check-up. She's healthy as a horse, which we already knew. She is 28.5 inches tall which puts her in the 30th percentile. That means she's only taller than 30 percent of one year olds. Maybe she's taking after mommy? She weighs a wopping 19 lbs and 5 oz, putting her in the 25th percentile for weight. Though my little girl is growing up, she's still trying to stay a "little" girl. We're hoping that she'll break 20 lbs in the next month! She had some shots to get, too: measles-mumps-rubella, chicken pox, and her flu vaccination. Isn't it amazing how far medicine has come in the last 20 years? I had chicken pox, and now they have a vaccine for it! So awesome that our children don't have to go through all that, or if they do, that it won't be nearly as bad as it could be. I love science! Anywho, she cried for about 20 seconds and then was fine. She's so tough! Enjoy those 6 pearly whites, which we brush twice a day (honestly!).

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Oh my gosh, this dress is FABULOUS! I'm going to cry if I don't win this time, for reals. It is amazing! I want it so badly for Brighton! I sometimes wish that I was a 3T-5T so I could fit into these dresses that Kathleen makes. Serisouly stunning. As always, if you want to enter into the contest, I won't be mad. But if you win this time, I'm going to hunt you down and make you give it to me!

Noggins On 30 Days

30days: Noggins

Check out this cool giveaway- beanies! If only Brighton didn't have so much hair then she would actually NEED one, but I'm going for it anyways!

You Know What Stinks About...

making your gifts for Christmas 68 days in advance? There is a total lack of closure when you finish a project. I spend all this time making something wonderful. I show Dale who, bless his heart, tries to act like it's awesome, even though I've shown it to him like 50 times during the creation process. I look at all the fun things I've made, and as they sit in a pile on my craft room floor, I can't help but wish that Christmas was a bit closer. I've even been tempted to send them early, just so that I can get the satisfaction of an ooh or ahh from the giftee. It's purely selfish. I can't even post them on my blog for friends to see because my family checks the blog on a regular basis, sometimes even reminding me that I haven't put up anything new in 24 hours. So, I will continue to work and wait patiently for the wonderful feeling of joy when the giftee opens their handcrafted gift and thanks me for the time and love that went into it. It's only 68 days, 12 hours and 5 minutes until Christmas, but who's counting?

Until then, enjoy this picture from Dale's mutual activity a few weeks ago. They had a photo scavenger hunt, and they're in front of my house, doing who knows what.

Crafty Daze

I've been taking a break from making family Christmas gifts (are you honestly surprised I'm working on them this early? There's only like 75-ish days until Christmas!) and making some things that have been on the back of my mind forever! The above picture is a growth chart that I made. Props to Dale, he thought I bought it. I was very flattered. I figure it's about time to start tracking Brighton's growth and having my own personal way to display it. It's hanging up in the kitchen right now (hence, the green wall, which I actually think looks really nice- I might have to make something else for the kitchen with this same stuff). I'm not sure what to use to mark the heights. What do you guys think? I want to use this for all of our children, not just B, so I want it to last. I got the idea from here, and you can see she used tags or a clothes pin. I'm looking for something a bit more cute- and permanent. I DO NOT want the things falling off.

And it's getting colder and I've been thinking that Brighton needs a NEW Sleepy Sac. I really didn't want to buy a new one, they can be almost ridiculously pricey- if you want a cute one anyway- and I DEFINITELY didn't want one with puppies, clouds or ducks all over it. So, I dove into the remnant section at the craft store, and while they didn't have anything I loved, they did have this hideous zebra print. Hey, it's not ducks, ok? And it was only $5 for a yard of it, so I have plenty of extra to make something else out of this amazing fabric! I just used one of her smaller ones as a reference for how/ how big to make it. Oh, and I had that amazing red zipper already- so it cost me only pennies to make! Yay for saving money to spend it on other stuff!

I had to distract B with a hanger so I could try it on her. She crazy!

I also am working on making tutus! I'm not completely happy with it, but it's fine for dress up! Brighton hates it right now, but she'll soon learn to love them! She was actually starting to cry and rip it off as I took this picture. Ok, enough procrastinating on the Christmas presents, I'm ready for another couple days of crafting for others!

Brighton Eats An Eyeball

Since her birthday cupcake didn't really go as planned (read: she didn't dive into it and get all messy like we all hoped) I decided to stage a little cake eating. I have a few leftover balls of cake from the eyeballs I was making and thought I'd let Brighton have one and take some fun "eating and getting messy" pictures. Enjoy!

This is so yummy!

Mmmmmmm, so good.

What?! It's already all gone? Man, that was tasty!

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Another great giveaway from Kathleen. She's awesome. I want to win everything so that everything she makes can make up Brighton's wardrobe. Man, I need to keep practicing so I can make this stuff, then I won't have to be so bummed out when I don't win the giveaway every week. One of these days though, it'll be my turn!

Check this out!

30days: Just in time

I am IN LOVE with the 30 days blog, as I'm sure some of you are as well. So if you haven't checked it out in a while, there's this cute quiet book giveaway. The lady she's featuring is amazing! You've got to check out her cute stuff in her ETSY shop. I wish I was that amazing. But at least I'm amazing at stealing people's ideas and being able to make my own. That'll come in handy if I don't win the giveaway.

A Scary Treat!

Some friends of ours are having a Halloween pumpkin party in a few weeks, and we're supposed to bring some treats. While Dale and I immediately thought of a special cake, I was also thinking I could make some eyeballs to eat! Yummy! I've never made this recipe before, so I'm making some ahead of time, just to see how they turn out. And I think they're looking pretty fabulous for a first try! The above picture is of the "eyeball insides" and then below is the after!

Tasty, no?