I'm not fancy!

Have you seen this video? If not, you should take a few minutes and watch it! It is absolutely hilarious and definitely something any parent can relate to! I wont go on forever, just thought I'd share something to make you smile today! Have a lovely one!

7 months of fabulousness.

 

Can y'all believe that my winter baby is now over 1/2 a year old?! I swear, it honestly feels like just last week I was rocking her in the nursery with Dillon, scared to death that we were going to mess something up. I can't even begin to explain just how much my life has changed since becoming a mother. Some days I don't even want to leave the house alone with Opal, because I don't want to do it all by myself. Little things are actually tough to do! Things like, loading/ unloading her stroller and carseat, opening a door to a building WITH the stroller, paying/ getting gas, grocery shopping in general, etc..

It has been especially harder the past 2 months, because Dillon is still in DC, while I am here in California. My family gets annoyed with me, because I tend to ask for help a lot (not really, they're just not quite used to it all yet). It was much easier to hand her off to Dillon, because that's her daddy! Its his job to love on her while I hide in the bathroom! (haha!) But- good news- (fingers crossed and prayers welcome) is that Dillon, Opal, and I may be living under one roof again as soon as January 2015! That's only 5 months from now! Woo-hoo!

Wait, 5 months!?!?!? Holy cow, do you know what that means? That also means that Opal will be turning 1 in 5 months! (begins sobbing*) My younger sister Reyna, is already pinning away on Pinterest for her birthday party ideas.. It is that serious around here. 

Here are a list of some of Opal's milestone achieved this past month:

1. she began crawling forward this month.
2. that led to sitting. I walked away for 30 seconds, came back and found her watching tv sitting up on her own! I nearly cried I was so proud.
3. Its been 5 days of sitting and she has already mastered balancing and doesnt fall over much either!
4. She is beginning to wave to us.
5. She is also learning ways to communicate to us, such as asking for someone to grab her, no, yes, more, etc.
6. She has decided that she is NOT a fan of pureed food. So, I just feed her mashed up vegis/fruits and she also eats what I eat. She's actually pretty great at mashing/"chewing" her food.
7. She also LOVES the apple juice/ water mixture. 
8. We're still breastfeeding, and she still prefers it over everything :-)
9. Oh, she also is trying really hard to pull herself up while in her crib.
10. Wait, did I mention she has transitioned successfully to a crib! Yep, that too!

My $4 manicure.

 

$4? Yes! $4! I have been obsessed with Maybelline's "Color show" nail polishes for a while now, but I think I may have just bought my favorite combo of them all! 

The pretty blue/green is called "green with envy" - such a sweet minty summer color!! I love it. The gold glitter (probably the prettiest and most efficient glitter polish I've ever purchased is: "gilded rose".

Aren't they just soooooo dreamy? I'm in love with my hands right now. Seriously.

As a mama to a 7 month old baby who has been crawling for a month now,

I never ever get time to cook myself food, let alone paint my nails...

Thankyou Maybelline for creating such a great polish line!

Now, to the $4 part.. There's a coupon online for $1 off of these online

(normally $2.99 at target) so, go snag yourself a bottle of this and fall in love! :-)

(P.S. I am ACTUALLY obsessed with these and this is all my honest opinion. Totally in love.)

Sitting like a big kid never looked so cute!

I can't believe how big and strong Opal is now! She is growing so fast into such a beautiful little genius! She amazes me! This Sunday she will be 7 months old, ain't that somethin'!! 

Just this month alone she began crawling, sitting in the big girl seat in the cart, wanting to pull herself up to walk, sitting on her own, and eating textured foods! 

She has been pretty crazy about NOT wanting to sit in her car seat (which doubles as her stroller,) so having the cart as an option has been a life saver!!

Here are some snaps from earlier at Home Depot!

Also, note that she never wears shoes... She despises them.

FINALLY!

I finally decided it was time for a makeover for "datgurlChels". I decided to try to cram it all in nap time.... Well it took 3 nap periods, but Thankyou nap gods for letting me get it done! I was getting reallllllly frustrated with it all after a while.

I was unsure of which way to go with it, but then I caught a glimpse of my first Mother's Day card the hubby and babe gave me and decided that would be my inspiration! I also have been drawing and paint for Opal, so I wanted to incorporate watercolor into the design also. 

I was talking to my sister about my anxiety and some other things I need to work on and put focus on, including being a mother and wife.. So I am planning some posts on how I am working on those things.

I would love to hear your thoughts on my new blog design ;-) Dillon says it is very "me" as in me, Chelsea, not him.. (Hahahaha!) 

Gardening.

My mom's garden is so big. Usually my uncle takes care of it, but lately I've been the one watering it. 

I haven't had to pick anything because he picked a couple days ago, but I needed some tomatoes!!!! There were sooooooo many, I will have to go back out later when I have more time to get the rest.

Anyone in Fresno need tomatoes?

This is just from 15 minutes of picking, half a bucket!!! I also picked some strawberries, squash, and okra.

I've learned:

- that gardening is pretty relaxing.

- I need to buy some gardening boots or my cute ones will be ruined.

- that gloves are definitely required when picking squash.

- to ignore the frogs.

- be gentle with the plants. Be consistent with watering them. If you take care of them, they'll take care of you by providing the juiciest gifts ever.

Embracing love.

I have been battling really dark thoughts for a while now.

It is really frustrating and really hard to communicate these things to my husband, who happens to be the complete opposite.

I hate how my mind is always against me.

I am trying to love myself and everyone around me, but lately it has been tough.

Dill, if you're reading this, just know I love you so much. You and Opal are the best things to ever happen to me. I love you both, so so so so much.

I'm really trying to be a happy lady.

Papa.

So, I moved home to help my mom out for a while this month.

Life here is bananas.

My mom had shoulder surgery a year ago, and they hadn't let her go back to work until this month. She can't lift anything over 10 lbs, and has lots of pain still with her left side. Doing everyday things is pretty tough, and takes her so much longer to do them. It's hard for her to even do things like laundry, dishes, and sewing. It's pretty heartbreaking to watch her not be able to sew, because that is her most favorite thing to do. 

In December, about. A week before Opal was born, my papa was driving and blacked out (from his heart medication) behind the wheel. His truck went into a tree and was totaled. Had he been in a smaller vehicle, he wouldn't be here today. 

Well, he's been rehabilitating his new hip and learning to walk again since then.. Up until 2 weeks ago. 

He was using his walker to walk in front of the house and lost balance, fell, and fractured the same hip again.

SO, now he is back in a rehabilitation facility learning to walk again.

And me? I'm here helping my mom with housekeeping, watching my younger sister, and waiting for papa to return home. Once he is home I will taking him to his physical therapy and doctors appointments at the Veteran's hospital.

Hopefully things here will be back to normal before I leave again. I really hate being away knowing that my mom and sister need my help.