A New Look

Hey All –

If you’re a frequent visitor to my site than you’ve noticed this little bloggity blog of mine received a makeover {courtesy of Mr. Wonderful}. I was wanting a fresher look so I relayed my ideas and voilà! The hubby did his thing. As you can see, I added in some new elements and removed some old ones. I’m still tweaking things here and there.

So…did you all have a nice weekend!? Early Friday evening I got out for a few hours and met up with some of my old coworkers. It was so nice to see them again and boy did we laugh!! The babe stayed with the hubby - it was their first time alone together, hence, it was also my first time out without them. If you’re curious, no, I wasn’t nervous. Ilah was in the hands of her loving, and more than capable, daddy! Saturday and Sunday were both restful days – they were quiet and uneventful {which was nice} – we stayed in, ate to our hearts content and actually napped a few times when the baby did!

FYI, I set up a new and separate email account just for this blog. I try my best to get back to my readers as soon as they write me, but these days doing anything “immediately” {other than tending to my baby} just isn’t feasible {unless I happen to be on the computer at the time that a new email comes in}. So I apologize if you’ve written me and I still haven’t responded. Admittingly I’ve let some emails “sit” in my inbox and now they are “somewhere in there”. If you’ve written me and I haven’t gotten back to you, shoot me an email to marriagetomotherhood@yahoo.com and I will get back to you hopefully sooner than later. On another note, it would be nice that if I’ve taken the time to write you back that you please acknowledge that you’ve received it. Thank you!!

I have a to-do list that’s about a mile long {I’ll spare you the details} so I have lots to tend to this week. My girlfriend refers to herself as the CEO of her household and I think that’s a suiting title for a stay-at-home mom/wife to give herself!

I hope you all have a great week!!

Where To Put All These Bows!

There are two things that you probably notice when looking at the below picture of our sweet girl...

1.) She's adorable!! As in...really, really adorable {doesn't every mom say that!? Ha!}

2.) The pretty bow on her head!

Boy, does this girl have LOTS of bows for being just 6 weeks old! They were starting to consume her drawer space so I needed a solution.

When I was buying things to decorate Ilah's nursery, I purchased the below plaque to go on one of the walls in her room but I ended up hanging other elements in the space where this was going to go. However, I didn't want to return the plaque because I really liked it - it matched her nursery decor and and I especially liked the wording on it....

So I had a thought to take all of Ilah's bows and make a bow holder out of it! So yesterday I took all of the bows out of her drawer {this doesn't include her headbands!}....

I always have ribbon in the house for wrapping gifts so I went in "the ribbon bag" and pulled one out that I thought matched nicely....

I equally measured out two strips of ribbon and hot glued them to the back of the plaque....

Then I lined up all the bows in the order that I wanted to place them in [on the strands of ribbon] {I'm anal like that!}....

After my little project was complete {which took me all of 10 minutes} I hung the plaque on the left side of the wall inside of Ilah's walk-in closet....

Having the bows on display in this way is so much better than having them inside of a drawer where they were stacked on top of eachother. Now while I'm in her closet picking out her outfit of the day, I can just turn around and match the outfit to a cute bow more easily : )

Considering that I already had everything on hand {plaque, bows, ribbon, hot glue gun, nail and screwdriver!}, this was a great, cute, and FREE little project that I had a fun time doing!

It's Almost March?!

I have no idea where the month of February went. Do you? Just another week and I'll be flipping the calendar to the month of March where a very important date is highlighted - our one year wedding anniversary! I can't believe that our first baby will also be sharing our first anniversary with us! How wild, but absolutely beautiful...

On the actual date of our anniversary, we will be having a romantic night out, just the two of us - and the next day we leave for our first family vacation! {a little hint is that passports are required and we will be gone for 6 days! More on the vacation soon!}.

Dele and I knew that becoming parents would be an exhilarating time in our lives. We are enamored by every little thing that Ilah does. It’s true that along with the bliss comes sleepless nights, foul smelling diapers, extra laundry, and all the daily {and many} routine tasks that caring for a baby requires, but I gotta say…we've been adjusting wonderfully.

We’ve also been finding a great balance between time with Ilah and time alone together – whether at home while she’s asleep, or when we’re able to have a date night. We’ve had three outings without her {once for dinner, once when we went to church, and once again on Valentines Day}. We’re thankful and blessed that Ilah has grandparents that live close and adore her just as much as we do {that’s putting it mildly!} and love staying with her while mommy and daddy go out for a bit. Once our little girl gets her immunization shots {in just a few weeks}, we will be able to take her out with us – something that we’re looking forward to!

I recently had the below picture framed for Ilah's grandparents, and made a copy for us as well {which is also framed}. Dele took the photo and we think she looks adorable in her cute little crochet hat!

Ilah is 6 weeks old and she's already grown so much and is really coming into her own little personality! She does so many sweet things that melt our hearts - and other things that make me us laugh out loud at her! We're cherishing every single moment.

Lovin' the Look. Lovin' the Idea.

I was browsing through the blog of Lollipop Events & Designs and came across a wedding reception that was set on a dock and I just loved the "easy breezy" look of it....

Cozy white throws served as chair backs and gifts for the guests to take home. Pretty costly {unless they got an unbelievable deal}, but what an idea! {Although, I'm not too sure how many men actually wrapped themselves up in the throw - so maybe not every seat should have been adorned with one; maybe just the seats that had seating cards with women's names on them *I'm sure every woman appreciated that throw, wouldn't you!?*, and perhaps a separate favor should have been given to the men. What do you think?}

But this got me thinking. I love outdoor dining. And this look would be perfect for friends gathered around a lovely table on a lightly brisk evening. If you have the outdoor space at your home, and a sizeable patio table, consider an all-girls evening get-together comprised of a pretty tablescape, yummy food, and great desserts {and whatever else you'd like}. How memorable would it be for your guests to get to take home the comfy throw that they talked and laughed away the night in!? Everyone could get the same color throw or perhaps each of your girlfriends get a different color...and at maybe $6.99 ea {hello, Ross!} times {x} 4-6 friends, this would be a cheap, yet chic, gift!

Lovin' the look. Lovin' the idea!

Event Design & Coordination: Lollipop Events & Designs
Photography: Mike Larson

Happy Friday!

My little Miss Wonderful wants to say Happy Friday to all of you!!

We hope you have a great weekend!!

Heart Shaped Yummy-ness!

I wanted to make one of the below treats on Valentine's Day but then I decided to end our day by going to our new favorite ice-cream spot {as I posted below}. But I sure saved the below recipes to use in the future, and thought I would share them with you....

Decadent cupcakes topped with chocolate brownies...

Recipe here.

Thinly cut chocolate brownies with layers of vanilla ice cream nestled in between....

Recipe here.

Brownies made in ramekins and then dusted with powdered sugar in the shape of a heart...

Recipe here.

Valentines Day Recap!

So I'm a bit late recaping how our Valentine's Day went but better late than never, right?!

As I posted here, I started the tradition of overseeing Valentines Day. It seems that in our society, the pressure is put on the man to make sure that the day is special - but in our relationship, I reversed it. It's a day that I will always take on. I really enjoy planning out a fun filled day full of surprises - something that Mr. Wonderful looks forward to...and I love delivering!

This year, we started off our day with breakfast...at The Ritz Carlton! We enjoyed a lavish buffet that was comprised of every breakfast item you can think of! It was a good thing that I had made reservations ahead of time - the line was out the door! I felt so bad for the people who had gotten there way before us and were still waiting after we left!

Enjoying a fabulous breakfast together was a great way to start the day!

After we left The Ritz Carlton, we went to the next surprise on my list....
The High Museum of Art. I took a chance that Dele had never been there before {and he hadn't - phew!}. The museum was featuring original works by Leonardo Da Vinci and also had some other neat exhibitions and collections on display. In this case, it paid that I didn't make reservations in advance {I kept checking online to ensure that reservation slots never filled up!}. There was a looong line when we arrived. After we took our place, Dele noticed that there was a second line {that was short and moving fast}. He went to check it out and then motioned for me to come over. It turned out that the long line that we were initially standing in was for advance ticket purchases. The short line {that we may have spent 10 minutes in} was for walk-up's!!

We've passed by The High Museum countless times and always said we wanted to go - we spent a few hours there and loved it!

Next on my list...

After the museum, we went to Kilwins {a place that sells handmade chocolates, confections, handmade fudge, truffles - and the most delicious ice-cream that we've both ever had!}.


Mr. Wonderful got a double scoop {of vanilla and chocolate}....

I followed suite and got a double scoop of pralines and cream and cake batter ice-cream, in a waffle bowl!...yummm!!

Presents were waiting for Mr. Wonderful at home!....

On the way home from our fun-filled day, we stopped and rented The Time Travelers Wife. I had been wanting to see this movie - but given the story line, I didn't want to watch it while being pregnant! Now that my hormones are {mostly} back to normal, we cuddled up and ended the night watching it....

Hmmm...what will next year hold!?!

Monkeying Around

Last month, my awesome friend Jen shipped these blankets that she had made for Ilah! I just looove them!! She also included a little book in the package {The Going to Bed Book} - it ended up being the very first book that daddy read to his little girl!

Ilah recently played in her room, with her monkey friend, on one of the blankets that Jen sent to her....

Do you notice that the monkey {we call her Francesca!} is also wearing a big flower on her head!?!

I'm so excited that I will be seeing my girlfriend Jen soon!! She just booked a ticket to fly out to Atlanta to see me and the baby in a few months!! I'm already thinking of yummy eateries that we can go to - where we can sit for hours and talk in person!!
The above picture was taken of Jen and I the day before I left California to make Atlanta my new home {in May of 2006}. Despite the fact that we are now on opposite ends of the coast, our friendship {of 11 years} remains just as strong. I'm so blessed to have her in my life!!

Sweet Idea

I came across the below picture and thought,"What a great idea!"....A designated place for your little one to put her/his backpack...and low enough for the kiddo to get it all by her/him self. This sure beats a backpack being thrown on the floor, eh?

Even though Valentine's Day has officially passed, I was drawn to the hearts in the photo {on the hanging elements and on the rain boots!}.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Valentines Day!

Every year I plan out Valentines Day for us. Why? Because Mr. Wonderful is romantic all year through and he more than deserves a day full of surprises. This will be the fourth one that we have celebrated together and each year I look forward to lining up the fun memories and showing him just how much he is loved and appreciated! Our Valentine's Day plans, and surprises, are all lined up for Sunday!! Even Ilah got her daddy a little somethin'.

Each year, I emphasize to Dele that I don't want him to do anything. Yet he just can't help himself. That's the kind of guy I have. When I was working, a dozen roses would always arrive to my office. He just had to do something to show me that I was loved on V-Day {and I think that he didn't want me to be the only woman in the office who didn't have roses on her desk from her boyfriend/fiance {we were courting at the time; this is our first Valentines Day married!}.

My bosses would always joke that Dele had to have owned a flower shop because it seemed that aside from Valentines Day, I always had flowers on my desk from him. They would arrive on my car, by delivery, or in person when he came to the door to see me...or as a surprise spelled out across my bed in my old apartment...

I told you. He's romantic!

He's always loved to give me flowers to let me know that he was thinking about me and loved me...

I no longer have an office in a tall building, working in corporate america. Now I'm a stay at home mother who tends to a little baby and a house that I aim to impeccably maintain {some days are better than others}. But I still have a man who is romantic...and despite emphasizing again that he wasn't to do anything for Valentines Day, he just had to...as evidenced by the package that arrived this afternoon:

I about cried when I opened the door and received the Pro Flowers delivery. Mr. Wonderful made sure that his wife {who was home wearing a faded sweatshirt full of baby spit up, with her hair pulled up in an imperfect ponytail that is long overdue for a wash} - felt beautiful today.

I can't get enough of this kind of love.