Perfect Christmas Card This Year!

I now have the perfect subject for Christmas cards this year...Stella! I joined the "now married" population and assumed the role of Christmas-card sender-outer-after Matt and I got married in '07. Now that we have dogs AND a brand new baby, we must continue the tradition (though, I must say, no dogs have graced our Christmas cards:) and what better way to wish friends and family than sharing a picture of us with our prized possession, Miss Stella at 6 months old!

So I am thrilled to pick out our Shutterfly Christmas cards this year! They've got a wonderful promotion going on for bloggers, so if you're interested in sharing the Shutterfly love in exchange for free Christmas photo cards, check out the promo here. Look at how many options I have to choose from here. There are so many precious options - I know it will be a tough decision! Here are more Christmas card options from Shutterfly here. And lets not forget how fabulous Shutterfly cards have been for us in the past..remember Stella's thank-you cards? We even used Shutterfly's photo cards BEFORE she was born by using one of her sonogram images! I remember saying "well, if we don't have a name yet for our butter bean for her thank you cards, at least they will have include her picture! Hopefully you can see the finished project here... Once Stella was born, we took this picture at 7 days old and replaced her sonogram picture with this one - I hope the links work!! We were so happy with the finished product for her thank you cards and received so many compliments...we've already run out and are ordering more soon!  Thanks, Shutterfly!

We've been faithful Shutterfly users for years now. For our first Christmas together, we used a great card from Shutterfly that pictured us in front of St. Louis Cathedral in NOLA - how apropos, right?? We were commemorating our first Christmas in the Big Easy! To be honest, I don't remember what we used in 08 and 09, but none will compare to this year's card! I am so excited to get started!

Here are the picture options we will choose between for this season's card - one of the whole fam from Candace's wedding:

 or one of Stella by herself looking precious:

 ...I can't wait to get started testing them out in photo card designs at Shutterfly.com! 

Life Changes

Many things have been going on in our lives over these past few weeks. I am no longer working for Kelly's Kids and am currently staying home with my sweet Stella. We are unsure what the future holds as far as being a working mother versus a stay at home mother, but I am trying to enjoy this time at home with Stella first and foremost. I am keeping a sweet couple friends' new baby girl on Mondays and Tuesdays, which I love! Sweet McKenzie and Stella love playing together:) I also just had an interview with a pharmaceutical company who is looking for a sales rep in this area, as well as taken steps to become a certified Pilates instructor. Both of these are dream jobs for me so we'll see how they play out in the coming weeks:)

In other news, we bought a HOUSE! We are so excited to now be official homeowners in LA after living here for 2 1/2 years as renters! We bought a lovely, historic home in downtown Covington that needs some TLC and updating....a new project I am DYING to begin...but we have a wonderful canvas to work with!

We have agreed on a price contingent upon an inspection and appraisal, so while I say we "bought" this house, it is, of course, not final until we officially close on December 27. Until then, I will have to dream about my projects for this house. For those of you who know me, you know that "planning" is not one of my strong suits. I get a bit excited about potential ideas/plans/projects and tend to jump in full force rather than planning them out methodically...this is where Matt comes in. He's much more practical and thoughtful when it comes to projects like renovating a home:) I already have a folder on my desktop filled with ideas for the kitchen and bathrooms - I'm channeling my energy into finding the exact style I want rather than going out and buying paint and light fixtures ASAP!

We've got a fabulous wedding this weekend and Thanksgiving next weekend, so we are gearing up to be on the road quite a bit over the next 2 weeks. My best friend from college (Candace) is getting married this weekend and I am so thrilled to be her matron of honor. Wedding festivities begin in Mobile this Thursday so we'll head over after work for a fun filled weekend! Then next week its off to Columbus for 2 days and Hattiesburg for 2 more days so we can show off Stella to family members who haven't met her yet and enjoy Thanksgiving with family! We are so looking forward to this time with family and friends! We'll have lots to post more about in the near future! Happy November until then!

Stella Vetos Oatmeal

Stella tried oatmeal this past weekend and we didn't like it....see her reaction on the video below....hilarious! I think we'll stick to rice cereal for now!

FYI here are our stats:
5 months, 1 week on Monday, November 8
15lbs 7oz (November 1)
24 inches long (November 1)
can lay on tummy and lift head and torso to 90 degree angle
can smile and laugh like crazy
can sit up with assistance
can reach and grasp for things like her paci, Sophie Le Giraffe and my hair
eating her weight in rice cereal
still nursing exclusively (yay!)
sleeping through the night most nights - except for the past 2 nights where she's decided to wake up from 3-4am - I look past it, seeing as how she's been sick for 2 weeks!

Stella, 5 Months Old and Our 3 Year Anniversary!

As we approach Thanksgiving, we have TONS to be thankful for...one being our sweet, happy 5 month old Stella...

(...don't be fooled by her scowl...this is just too funny of a picture not to share. She cracks me up! She was all smiles 2.2 seconds before this one) and second being our third wedding anniversary!!! We celebrate three years of marriage tomorrow! Happy Anniversary, Love!

In other news, we had a blast trick or treating with Stella for her first Halloween. We joined MC, David and Millie on Algiers Point to trick or treat - Stella was a woopie cushion...and don't worry, she provided the sound effects herself! She got great compliments on her costume!

...and I'll just leave you with this hillarious picture of Stella's Who Dat uniform, courtesy of Aunt MCat and cuz Millie (the onsie, that is)...you don't have to tell me how ridiculous that headband is, I fully understand...but it was black and gold so I HAD to buy it. She ONLY wears it when we watch the Saints...and when I want a laugh!