oh suga suga

Cant deny that Hubs and I have a huge sweet tooth

we are serious dessert fiends 

our pantry always has a variety of at least 3 different kinds of cookies, chocolates, muffins.

&& lets not even talk about our freezer...its ice cream galore in there...from cones, to bars, to homemade...you name it...and then there are Trader Joes lava cakes...my all time favorite dessert and always in my freezer... if you haven't had one, you're missing out.

 I cant even tell you how many times I've said to Danny, 

" we are not baking anything for a while I have weight to lose"

who am I kidding 

 one pintrest visit and I'm done, 
will power is gone and my the post pregnancy belly pooch is not 

5 more lbs to go & its all in the poooch

this is what we baked this past weekend, as you can see I'm really sticking to my "lets not bake for a while" plan ( evil pintrest )

it was so so good and I just had a slice for breakfast...I'm so bad.

raspberry-dark-chocolate-banana-bread

weekend scene

Time is moving far too quickly for my likings these days, Aug is just around the corner which means we'll be packing for NY in a couple of weeks, did I mention how much I'm dreading the whole packing thing? knowing me, I'll pack her whole nursery up and I'll be the crazy lady in the airport with 20 bags.

 On a brighter note, End of Aug brings an end to 3 digit temperatures in AZ which means September till June the Leifs will be spending most of their time outside enjoying perfect weather in the 60s,70s,80s.....so worth the brutal 3 months.

Anywho, our weekend flew by as usual....but it was a good one none the less with the exception of making the mistake of going to IKEA on a Sunday afternoon, what were we thinking? seriously. I must have said "excuse me" more times than ever in my life, trying to get by swarms of people with a stroller, but we did get what we went for (book shelves for Siennnas room) so it wasn't a complete waste.

few photos from our weekend

Sienna enjoying a snack while people bumping watching in Ikea

We had lunch with our fellow foodie friends, we tried English food at the Cornish Pasty it was definitely different, but good. Sienna's face in this picture cracks me up, she wasn't thrilled about her  little friend Liam...I think this is her one only crying picture.

Look at his thighs compared to miss petite Sienna 

We made plans to meet at our community pool with the next door neighbors who have a little girl but a storm kicked us out after 10 mins...it poured out of nowhere! gotta love monsoon season in AZ but Sienna loved used a floatie her Auntie got her for the first time!

weekend July 27-29th

Hope you're all having a good weekend

here is a teeny glimpse of ours :)

From baby to little lady

July 27th 2012 

Dearest Princess,

I keep staring at this picture of you that I took yesterday realizing how much you have grown & changed and it seems like it happen over night, I see more and more of your Daddy in you every day...except for that sweet dimple..you got that from your mama...and I've been told that mine only shows when I'm really happy and smiling reallly big...which since you've been born is all the time....you melt my heart, brighten up my days and even bring out a dimple I never knew I had until you came into my life.

Each day as you grow,

so does my love for you

-Mommy

I need to vent...

At Sienna's 4 month check up, her pediatrician made me feel like a bad mother because her weight isn't up to par with other babies her age...well guess what? shes an idiot, and I regret wasting time being worried about this

this article  says it all -

(best I've read in a while - the 4 month section is Sienna to the tee)

 The percentiles comparing babies include those who are formula fed who are 'chubbier' than breast fed babies due to the unnecessary water weight and crap that formula contains and since most babies arent breast fed those percentiles are very off.

You know what else makes me angry? the mothers who don't even try to breast feed, off the bat they just go straight to formula...why wouldn't you at least try? its the best thing for your baby and its FREE.


and its one thing if a mom just cant produce milk or doesnt produce enough, so of course formula is perfectly ok

Do you know how many times I've cried when it was really hard? how painful it was in the begining, how annoying and frustrating it can be? do you think I enjoy pumping every 2 hours and washing pump parts?  not being able to be out of the house for too long because I have to pump

well guess what? I HATE IT, but I would never give it up

 because its the BEST thing for my baby and what kind of mother would I be if didn't chose whats better for her because it was just too inconvenient for me?

I know a mom whos baby is a month older than Sienna 

 He is sick constantly! ear infection, fevers, you name it.
(formula fed) need I say more?

oh and here is my favorite statistic of them all,

low income moms who are on food stamps formula feed most!

are you kidding me? I swear if I made the rules those mothers would not be getting free formula unless there was a medical reason they couldn't breast feed

http://www.thealphaparent.com/2011/12/timeline-of-breastfed-baby.html

Friendships

Those that come, those that go.

Lately I find myself pondering friendship

why a friendship that lasted years just drifts apart?

what was it that held it together in the first place? 

sometimes you just cant help by ask yourself what you did wrong?

and sometimes the answer is 

NOTHING

you did nothing.

It just happens, our lives pull us in different directions....generally & geographically speaking

and some friendships just aren't strong enough to endure it, sad as but true.

I guess the point that I am in my life right now, "grown up"  and "seattled down" I really just long for realness in the realationships I have with people. 

And life, well it happens...you cant avoid it or stop it. 

People change, lives change

Friendships are suppose to last a lifetime aren't they? If they do,

Cherish them, 

Love them, 

WORK HARD AT THEM

 and most of all

Hold on to them for dear life

As for the other "friends" that go 

well, sometimes...

we just have to let them.

This song is what inspired this post,

 I cant get tired of it & its meaning.

3D Butterfly tutorial

I finally completed a little project I started weeks ago for Sienna's room, upon request I'm sharing the tutorial.

I got the inspiration  from this project I saw on pintrest, 

I found a simple butterfly shape & printed it out on thick paper in 3 different sizes, I omitted the antennas as it would be impossible to cut around them.

I used song lyrics to Siennas song 

Rascal Flatts - My wish

I chose a pretty font and had the lyrics repeated on whole page avoiding too much spacing

 ( the thicker the paper you print it on the more durable and easier when tracing)

I also used a sheet of pink scrapbooking paper so that not all butterflies were white 

the blisters I got from cutting these out one by one were no fun but worth it

Fold the butterfly for a 3D effect

This is what I used to stick it to the wall - other things work too I just happen to have this laying around

My little helper ;)

 sweet girly accent to my girls nursery :)