Wow, it's been a while!

Sorry for the huge lapse in posts. As you can imagine, it has been a little crazy! We are totally moved and getting into a groove. And, Bubby's on Etsy has reopened! This is my little plug, the Bumble Bee Dress from Bubby's was just featured in an Etsy treasury.

Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c3666e8cc446d91fda38b5f/the-miraculous-bee#4c3666f7cc446d9188a58b5f

I promise that more posting will happen!

back in the ATL

we've been back home for a week and it has been pretty great. we went to see old work friends and networked the first few days. riv is already booked up next week (yay!) my mom and I are working on the basement for us ( basement gives a bad connotation, it's really the first floor, windows and everything!) aiyden loves being with oma and opa every day. we have been going to the pool every afternoon. the pool here is great because it's a walk in. the first day was crying and yelling "huggie!" and by this afternoon he was floating in his blow up car like a champ! so, life is good here. i still think it was a good move to make. my bro and his wife are visiting next week, good times! riv and i will be driving to cooperstown, ny at the beginning of june for my oldest friend's wedding and hopefully Bubby's will be back up and running in a couple of weeks. here's a few pics and video for your viewing delight...

almost there...

so much for blogging every night of our trip! i guess that was a little ambitious. the wireless hasn't been too reliable and getting aiyden to sleep without a crib can be a bit of a challenge. it's been a pretty good road trip. we are in jackson, tn tonight and should be in atlanta tomorrow night. aiyden and jasper have done really well, thank goodness for the car dvd player that oma sent aiyden! the grand canyon was cool, we went to the meteor crater outside of flagstaff. new mexico was not all that impressive, amarillo, tx smelled like poop, oklahoma has the nicest welcome center ever and was insanely windy, we will never go to arkansas again if at all possible (it was like stepping back in time and not in a good way), we stopped in downtown memphis and it is really nice, riv and i didn't remember memphis being so pretty...then we drove 2 miles down I-40 and saw the memphis we know (they've done a good job with downtown but might want to work on the rest of the city!) the southern accent is so amusing, i guess i haven't heard it in a while and i must say i didn't miss it!

i'm excited to go home. however, i'm glad to have the influence of the west coast that is a part of me now. i quickly forgot how different these two parts of the country are but driving across gives you such a visual transformation. from the bible thumping billboards that started in oklahoma and the dirty looks we got in the walmart in arkansas to the sweet lady at the old hickory inn saying to me "you's surely is a lowng way firm home" (my finest phonetic translation)...that being said, we truly believe there are good people everywhere; it's just a little harder to find them in some places.

living in california and making the friends we have, had such a strong impact on me and i hope to never lose that. i learned to love cooking healthy meals and going to farmer's markets, that riding a bike is so much better than driving, that it's not how much you have but that you have what you need (because let's face it, housing in the bay area is tiny and expensive!) that it's important to get to know your neighbors, because they can quickly become your family. and probably the greatest thing i experienced (i don't want to say 'learned' because i already knew this in theory but i don't think many people honestly experience this) is that at the core, we are all the same. no matter what our race or religion, gay or straight, big or small, young or old. we are all just trying to make a living, do right by our kids, and have a little fun along the way.

now, onto some pictures! i didn't mean for this to be such a long-winded post!

our friend gina took this pic of aiyden the day we left alameda and i love it!

and there she is...gina!! (and aiyden)

there have been some casualties along the way, how do these bugs even survive in the desert!?

for some reason the flash went off when we took this which is kind of appropriate because we where about to see the meteor crater and here is looks like we are about to be hit by a meteor!

the crater...

a fake astronaut

aiyden, so excited to be in the crater!

trying to climb out of the crater!

riv, posing in the crater!

jas, wondering how the hell he's supposed to go to the bathroom with no grass!

leaving cali and our roadtrip

i really have so much to say about the last couple of weeks but i am crazy tired and don't have it in me but i really wanted to share some pictures.

leaving was hard, much harder than i thought it would be. we ended up leaving around 5 am sunday morning. i think it was best to sort of slip out early because if i had to say good bye one more time i wouldn't have been able to leave. i have never second guessed a decision like this one. we met some truly great people in alameda and each one holds a dear place in my heart.

the driving has gone well, getting out of california took a lifetime, i was ready to turn around by the time we got to modesto! the mojave was very deserted, we stopped in kingman, az the first might. went to the grand canyon today. only made it to flagstaff tonight but the detour was worth it!

these are pics of our great friends and the beginning of our next adventure.

ch-ch-ch-changes...

as some of you may know, we have been thinking about moving back east. California is beautiful, great weather, good people but it's just too expensive! not to mention 2600 miles away from family and friends! so, after much deliberating we came to the conclusion that we will never be able to buy a house in alameda ( which is an awesome little beach town) and we can't make aiyden a big brother without living closer to oma & opa (no, i'm not pregnant, just trying to plan this one!) therefore, we are moving back to atlanta. don't know exactly what we are going to do yet, it's kind of scary and exciting and i think it is definitely the best thing for our family. and i can't wait to see everyone that we never see on our short trips out there! i'm so glad that aiyden will get to see his grandparents everyday, a two bedroom house won't cost $700,000, and i'll actually get to go to my 10 year college reunion!
and you know what else this means...roadtrip, baby! i'm already planning the route and possible stops. Grand Canyon is at the top of the list!! I'm in the process of getting moving quotes, it costs an insane amount to rent a uhaul and drive it across country so if we can find someone to do it for us for a reasonable price that will be great! not to mention driving two vehicles would just suck because i would be the one stuck with the two year old and the dog! so if anyone has any experience with moving companies or advice on driving 2000 miles with a two year old or job openings in atlanta...please let me know!

p.s. sorry for the lack of pictures lately. i do plan on blogging about our road trip as we go across so look for lots of posts in about a month!

check out this giveaway!

there is an awesome giveaway going on at Tangled and True Check it out! She also has some great tutorials, I followed her tutorial for Aiyden's freezer paper stenciled shirt.

aiyden's 2nd birthday!

aiyden's birthday was a huge hit! we could not have asked for more beautiful weather and everyone in our complex came out to celebrate. i have many more pictures to post but i thought i would get a few on here. he's a lucky little boy to have such a loving family and great friends and neighbors!

i set this up the night before so he would have a great surprise in the morning! the birthday banner was a great little project out of craft paper and letter stickers and i finally made the drawstring backpack out of a pair of riv's old pants (huge hit, he carries it everywhere!)

king for a day! the craft store had this foam crown and packages of stickers...

a picture of the three of us is rare, and of course aiyden had to pick his nose for this one!

about to blow out the candle...

i still have to load all of riv's pictures onto the computer. it was such an awesome day! i feel like i have been planning this day for months. i totally admit that i go way overboard for special occasions, completely aware that he will never be two again and it's going by so fast! today meant so much to me...and it was perfect, he had so much fun (and only one breakdown!) i am so blessed that sometimes it's overwhelming. i'm just lucky to be aiyden's mom!

Handmade Birthday Invitations

I made some birthday invitations for aiyden's upcoming 2nd birthday. they were really easy and cute so i thought i would post a little tutorial.

Supplies needed are the invite printed on photo paper ( i made mine in photoshop), foam sticky dots, craft paper, ribbon, scissors, and a hole puncher.

i got double sided 12x12 craft paper and cut it into 6x12 strips. this one had a cute animal print on the outside and polka dots inside, usually about $.69 from the craft store. put four foam dots in each corner of the back of your photo

stick it fairly center on the craft paper ( the foam dots add a nice bit of dimension but photo squares would work just as well)

fold each side in, they should overlap. (my photo was 4.5in x5.5 in which works well)

punch a whole in the bottom and top of both flaps and tie together with ribbon

and that's it! a cute, inexpensive, and unique invite!!

Birthday Panning...

so, aiyden's 2nd birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, and of course, i want to make the best, most fun birthday possible. we ruled out doing the whole chuck e. cheese thing and are going to have a party in the courtyard with sidewalk chalk and bubbles... anyhow, below are the invites i created. they took a ridiculously long time but i think they are so cute!

i don't know what we're getting him yet (probably something thomas the train related) but i saw this awesome tutorial at Noodleheads for a kids drawstring backpack made from old khaki's. sooooo cute!

decal mania

i got a roll of contact paper a while ago to make some wall decals for aiyden's room. it is so easy and instantly gratifying. they are also completely removable.

did a lovely little silverware set for the kitchen

and aiyden got some birds on a wire

the next one will be a shel silverstein quote for the long wall in his room. nothing better than cutting out letters! but i'm sure in the end it will be great.

some pics...

sorry i haven't posted anything lately! time has flown by since christmas! it's been quite rainy in the bay area lately but aiyden and i were able to get out to the beach last week in between storms and took some pics. the light was awesome because the sun was shining over us but we could see the next storm rolling in...

aiyden waving to the airplanes...

he's very advanced with his handwriting! j/k...