I have to say I'm pretty amazed that my friend Carrie got any decent shots of Blair for her 18 month pictures. Not because she isn't amazing (she is) but because my child was such a baby. I mean who doesn't want to have a tea party in the park? That's fun, RIGHT?! I tried ridiculously hard to convince B of that. She wasn't buying it. Thank God I brought her favorite book...otherwise we really may have been outta luck with any good photos! And a HUGE thank you to Carrie for sticking through it with us...see you Friday! ;)

If You Give a Pig a Party... she LOVES it!

see, tea parties in parks ARE fun!

she really did just plop down and decide to play with this flower. such a sweet pea!

those cheeks!

Oh, and M will probably never let me live these photo shoots down.

M: "Who really has a tea party in the park?"
me: "It's cuuuuute! Who cares?"
M: "B is miserable, maybe we should be done?"
me: "NO! I did my hair AND make-up."
M: insert huge eyeroll and huff here.

Blair: yellow dress: Carters, pink dress: Baby Gap last year, headband: Georgia and Jane, shoes: saltwater

Me: t shirt: jcrew years ago, skirt: ann taylor loft years ago, shoes: Born

Matt: just kidding ;)

I just realized that I forgot to give B's stats from her 18 month check up last week. Because I know you are all chomping at the bit to know. ;) Sweet girl is 23 pounds (40%), 30 inches tall (30%) and still has a huge head...19 inches (95%). She really does get the big head from her Dada...no pun intended! 

We really don't need a lot of baby gear anymore because, well, B is a toddler now. :( However there are certain toys, food, items that we still use all the time! 

{squeezies} {crayons} {bubbles} {bib} {straw cup} {cutlery} {baby} {moccasins} {meals on the go}

When we don't have any home made squeezies on tap these are great in a pinch! She also digs the toddler bowls for days when she's hungry for dinner at 4:30 and we haven't made it yet!

I'm still loving the Momma cup. No leaks! B still doesn't quite understand the spoon and fork thing but I am to blame for that mostly. She just gets so darn messy that I probably help her too much. What can I say? I don't like to give her a bath after every meal...which brings me to the bib. This bib covers it ALL and has no velcro for snags...I love it!

Lately she has been loving her baby. She pushes that little doll around in the stroller and feeds it, changes the diaper etc. It's SO cute. She has also been loving coloring and bubbles. Clearly I have busy days as these are not super clean activities! ;)

Finally, moccasins. I am obsessed with these shoes and B always gets complemented on them. They are soft and easy for her to walk in. Not to mention they come in tons of colors and are pretty unique!

What are your 18 month favorites? Tell me what you love and what I missed!

PS I'm running a half marathon to provide clean drinking water to people in Uganda. If you are interested in supporting me or praying for me I would greatly appreciate it! Even $5 would be awesome!

Last Friday the inevitable happened... B turned 18 months! What?! So we celebrated with a doctor's appointment. : / Not her idea of a party but she was a trooper none the less. She at least enjoyed the dogs and balloons on her gown (so cute!).

checking out the critters on her gown

looking for her "bay buh" (belly button)

she knows...

 This age has been seriously so much fun. Blair is talking up a storm and I love it! Here are some of my favorites:

Happy
Mama, Dada, BahBah (bella) while pointing to the appropriate person
poo (pool)
buhbuh (bubbles)
baby
more

There are more words but they all kind of sound the same and I can't think of them all right now. I think I officially have permanent mommy brain. I also love that she will randomly come up to me and hug my leg. And sometimes at night I creep into her room and get her out of bed just so I can snuggle with her in the rocker. Straight out of "I'll Love you Forever." I also die over how sweet she is with her baby doll. Hoping this means that someday she will be a good sissy! Of course along with all the sweetness comes raging tantrums but you win some and you lose some! Our sweet moments together totally make up for her outbursts. 

This weekend M had a lot of baby duty but I did manage to get up on Sunday and make some organic wheat pancakes...lucky Matt. ;) B and I thought they were delicious though!

what's not delicious in syrup though?

Then we did a little bubble action on Sunday and B was jammin' in her shades. We're doing ANOTHER 18 month photo shoot on Friday and I'm getting serious and bringing my A game. Bubbles, balloons, balls...you name it. This kid better smile! And if not...well then she wins because I'm not putting my friend through a third naughty toddler session...

I have some serious weather envy over here. All my blogging friends posting pictures of their Pumpkin Spice Lattes, boots, scarves, and crisp fall air are driving me crazy! It's over 100 degrees here and I'm planning on cranking the air up and playing dress up in these lovely clothes...

white pants after labor day...a must with these items

my go-to fall outfit...skinnies, boots, flowy top

 Not only am I dying to get into these fall frocks but I'm eagerly waiting to put Blair in some of her fall attire as well! I picked up a couple things at Old Navy yesterday and am contemplating a few more items...

the dots are a shiny gold...so festive!

you know i have a lime obsession this fall

a baby anorak?! cuteness overload!

i love the gold buttons with the bright colors

be still my heart

Yesterday we went to Riverside's zoo Petco on our way to the car from Old Navy and checked out rats, mice, snakes, birds, fish, and kitties! B seemed to really like all the animals and I didn't mind the frigid AC along with some uninterrupted Instagram time. ;)

yup. blankie had to come along

maybe a fish tank in her room would help her nap? :P

Today B has her 18 month check up...wish us luck!

Yesterday we had the biggest Pinterest fail of all times for Blair's 18 month pictures. She was SO grouchy that we had to schedule a re-do. I'm sure we captured a few good shots but the girl refused to smile and cried most of the way through the tea party I so naively thought she would love. I was that mom who was forcing her kid to "have fun" so I could get a good picture. Proud Mom moment # 4,937. I for sure lost that battle. 

winning

I've also been losing the battle of the nap lately. The girl refuses to sleep more than an hour at a time lately and that is not enough for an entire day! Hence, the big grouchy attitude we encountered. I'm going to try and be more consistent with her naps. I've been trying a new thing everyday and not giving it time to marinate. So with that said I'll be putting that girl down everyday at noon after lunch and slowly pushing her back to a one o'clock nap. That may mean she needs to go to bed a little later which is fine but I've got to re-kindle her love of the 2-3 hour nap! I'm desperate! Any advice is always welcome...

somethin's cookin' in the kitchen!

Britney Spears called...she wants her snake back.

 If you follow me on Instagram then you're probably never surprised by what I blog about but feel free to laugh at my captions twice. ;)

Yesterday I mentioned that I had the pleasure of attending an adorable party for a sweet one year old girl on Labor Day. Daniel at Balboa Photography captured the party beautifully and I'm excited to share his images with you! Happy pinning! ;)

Happy 1st birthday Grace! We enjoyed sharing it with you and your awesome parents. Thanks again to Daniel for letting me use your images...so much better than my iphone shots! Be sure to check out more of Daniel's work on his blog.

I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! We didn't have any big plans but did get to spend a lot of time with family and finished off the long weekend with friends at M's fantasy football draft party (insert huge eye roll from me here). I used to have a hubby who never watched sports...it was glorious! Then one thing led to the next and I have a totally OCD hubby in several leagues... but on the bright side if football season is here that means FALL is here! Yippee! I just wish the weather knew that...

straight ocd in action... his draft board

singing swinging in the rain (and thunder!)

she had to sit in the big girl chair for dinner...um what?

a successful attempt at banana cream cheesecake

reading her favorite book "if you give a pig a party"

more reading...the kid seriously loves it

sweating to death enjoying a lovely afternoon at a friend's birthday party (but seriously look at B's cheeks!)

I am eager to show you a darling birthday bash we went to yesterday for Blair's friend, Gracie. She did such a great job! Oh, and I would not be doing Blair justice if I didn't document her latest piece of art...

Oh, and why yes that is a steaming turd! So glad you noticed! Complements of my brother for adding this to B's artwork when I wasn't looking...Brothers. Gotta love 'em.