Little mittens...

...for little Callie hands.Used up the leftover yarn from this sweater.
Super easy (since they're thumbless) and knitted up in less than an hour.

Knitting is so much more fun now that there's a baby involved. I've begun to explore the world of patterns beyond the typical scarves and such. It's a bonus that baby items are so quick to make, since they're so small. :)

Pattern found here via Ravelry.

Cincy/Columbus trip

Our anniversary trip was a success! We had a great time exploring both Cincinnati (which we have visited several times previously) and Columbus, OH. Callie is (thankfully!) a really good traveler...otherwise we would probably not have been able to do as much as we did. I think she's used to it by now though with the number of times she's been to St. Louis, MO and back. Here's the breakdown:

Day 1: Drove from Louisville, KY to Cincinnati, OH. Checked into the hotel then had dinner at Brother's Bar & Grill. It was located right on the riverfront and we both had some great burgers. After that we walked around Newport on the Levee and across the pedestrian bridge called People Purple Bridge. The bridge was pretty neat and had a couple of bars set up on it with seating and live music. After that we went back to the hotel and took Callie for a swim in the pool.

Day 2: After breakfast and checkout we drove from Cincinnati, OH to Columbus, OH.
Went to IKEA!!! Later we had burgers (we love burgers!) at 5 Guys Burgers & Fries and walked around outdoor Easton Town Center. This place was pretty awesome...lots of shopping, food, drinks, movie theater, etc. Here's a picture to give you an idea of how nice this place was:Day 3: We had lunch at Z Pizza...Braden totally didn't want to eat here because all of the ingredients were "organic" and vegan/gluten free options...he thought "healthy" pizza would be gross...we tried it anyways and the verdict was two thumbs up! Next we took a walk and explored North High Street which had lots of restaurants and shopping and also Goodale Park:

Dinner at Northstar Cafe, and off to the hotel pool again! :)
Day 4: Drove from Columbus, OH to Louisville, KY.

The End. :)

Year #4

Celebrating 4 years!This year we're going low-key (Callie in tow) and spending the weekend in Cincinnati and Columbus Ohio. Nothing big, but we still wanted to get away for the weekend and celebrate.

From Great-Grandma:

"Don't blame me, I was born awesome!"

I just might be getting carried away with taking pictures to document just about anything! But can you blame me with having a new camera and a little model always on hand!? :)

Just finished:

Trying to get a head start on warm wear for the cooler months to come.

Pattern found here via Ravelry.

Thank you PW!

Thanks to Pioneer Woman, I made this lovely cake today:Strawberries, cream cheese icing, pure yummy-ness...well, I hope so...I'm being good and waiting 'til after dinner to cut into it! :)

Recipe here or here.

Camera Strap Cover

Last night I hung out with friends (and fellow bloggers) Beth and Alicia; each showed me sewing projects they have been working on lately. It made me want to get my sewing machine back out and finish up my quilt! That may take another trip to the fabric store for some batting, so I'll have to wait...BUT in the meantime I made this handy-dandy-super-cute camera strap cover to add on my new camera! :)

Tutorial found here via Design Sponge.

NEW CAMERA!

I finally broke down saved enough money to buy a DSLR camera! There are so many opinions and so much information out there that it took me a while to figure out which one would be best for me to buy. BUT thanks to the help of a wonderful friend, I made the purchase! I am (so far) very happy with my Canon Rebel XS. I have read through the manual and still have ALOT to learn, but I'm so glad I spent the money. Here is one of Callie that I just took this morning:

Quite a step up from the pictures I have been taking with my point-and-shoot camera, wouldn't you agree? :)

8 months!

Ty & Krystal's Wedding

July 10th, my brother (Ty) got married to his longtime girlfriend Krystal! The wedding was beautiful, the weather was gorgeous, and overall it was a great day! Here are a few pictures that I stole from my mom's camera:My sisters and brothers were all in the wedding party...and a good friend of ours made Callie's dress from the extra material from hemming Miranda's dress!Ty and Krystal had the biggest smiles on their faces all day long! I'm so happy for them to finally tie the knot! :)

Our little family all dressed up!

The reception was held at an outdoor park/gazebo and was so much FUN! We had the best BBQ ever, ultimate frisbee, washers, music/dancing, and CAKE!
Some of us made t-shrits that read "Game Over"! LOL!

Sweater for Callie

Back in February, I posted a picture of the beginnings of a sweater I was knitting for Callie. Well, today I finally finished! And here's the end result:Unfortunately, I don't think it will still fit her by the time it gets cool enough to actually wear it out. Too bad, cause it ended up being so cute :)
Pattern found here.

25th B-day

Yesterday was my Birthday and that usually means that Braden has a secret day-trip planned. This year was no different. Braden took us to Bernheim Forest in Bardstown, Kentucky...well, I like to call it Bernheim "Forest"...emphasis on the quotation marks. I know what a forest is...like in Colorado or in the Smokies...it was more like a Busch's Wildlife (for my family and friends in MO)...too much open space to be a forest. Regardless of the discrepancy I have with the name, it was a beautiful park and there was plenty to see and do.

We "hiked" (is it really considered hiking if you can take a stroller with you?) several trails:...and checked out the "Tree Canopy" overlook...pretty fun stuff.
Bonus = working out on my Birthday...and being able to do it with two of my favorite people! :) Side note: If I would have known about this surprise trip in advance, I would totally have borrowed a baby carrier! haha! We had a great time regardless and I definitely want to go back this fall when the trees start to change color :)

On our way back to Louisville, we stopped by the Zappos outlet! What girl doesn't love a good shoe store...especially if the shoes are discounted!?! I (finally) found some heels to wear to my brother's wedding that is coming up in a few short weeks...and only spent $18.00!

The day ended with a late dinner of pizza (it's tradition to have pizza!) and a piece of cheesecake, Brownie Sundae, from Cheesecake Factory! Yum!

Side-story...my mom had given me a $75.00 giftcard to Cheesecake Factory last year and instead of using it to get a couple of nice meals out, we used every cent to go there at least a dozen times to get cheesecake! Mind you, I was pregnant and we would only get one piece at a time and split it...haha, yeah, that still doesn't make up for the fact that I ended up gaining 40 pounds during my pregnancy!

Overall, my 25th Birthday was splendid! Oh, and I didn't die from just typing 2 5! Ugh, yes I know it's not "old", but it's one year closer to 30...and 30 is old in my book.

Father's Day

Happy 1st Father's Day Braden!It's amazing to see how having Callie has really brought us even closer together...it may be because we cherish our "alone time" much more...or it may be that Callie just rounds us out as a little family...or maybe something else that I just can't put a finger on...but whatever it is, I'm thankful for my husband and father of my little girl. He's the best! He works so hard each week to provide for us and comes home each day excited to see his girls. On another note, Callie is now 7 months old. She's still as sweet as ever and I think she looks alot like her daddy and will take after his personality as well...but I'm sure we will soon find out. She is learning and growing as each day passes and I'm soaking it all in.

Nothing cuter....

...than a sleeping baby. Nothing will ever change that. :)

swing, swing, swing...

serious:serious:ok, now we're having fun: