Life Happens...

Holy Moly Batman! It has been 2 months since my last post!

When I started this blog, my sweet baby was napping twice a day, sitting by herself, and allowing mommy a plethora of opportunities for mid-day blogging. Welp, times have changed my friend! I now have a coo coo crazy 15mo old running around, climbing on things, teething molars and fighting naps. (Umm, those molars are no joke folks!)  I'm super psyched to be back to the blog this afternoon. I have so much to catch up with! We've had a hospital stay for a baby butt pimple gone awry ( yep, you read that right!), a family photo shoot, words are being spoken, steps are being taken, daily mama drama and a family trip is coming up! Where do I begin!?

I'd love to share our latest family pics with you - A windy day in the Kansas City West Bottoms. I loved the urban setting and the easy breezy pictures we captured with the help of Wendy Cantwell.
Tallan has officially decided she is over the adorable hair accessories we've gotten away with in previous photo shoots, so her hair is a little wild, but I love it. If you would have told me 15mo ago, that a gorgeous, fair-skinned, blue-eyed, red headed child would be coming out of me...I wouldn't have believed you. Oh, but Miss Tallan Hope, with her silly mommy faces and perfectly drama free attitude, has made me cherish the little silly things about myself that I see in her daily.

Enjoy the pics! Butt pimple stories, cloth diaper tips, and silly mommy stories coming soon to the blog. Promise I won't stay away so long next time!

In a Texas State of Mind

Five and a half years ago, Matt and I moved to Kansas City to embark on our first adventure as a married couple. He was accepted into pharmacy school here, and through the years I have grown to love this city and what it has to offer. After pharmacy school graduation, we decided to stay here to grow our family and experience life as a new pharmacist and a new stay at home mom. I am grateful daily for the life we live here; but from time to time, I reminisce about a place I hold very dear to my heart. Just a tiny little place called Texas...have you heard of it?

Born and raised in the Texas Panhandle, then relocated to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, I like my hair high, my belts sparkly and my music country. My roots have cowboy boots and my occasional curse words have a slight Texas twang. I don't miss the Dallas traffic, or the Panhandle cell phone reception....but the food and the fine people are constantly on my mind. Most importantly, a piece of my heart is in Mansfield, Texas, where my immediate family still lives today.

About a month ago, Tallan and I sneaked onto an airplane and headed to Texas to surprise Mimi (my mother) with a special visit. We had such a great time, and she was so shocked to see us! With family time in the works and good Tex-Mex in my belly, I had one more thing to check off my list during our stay.

From the moment I learned I was pregnant with Tallan, I hoped we would one day have the opportunity to take pictures in a field of bluebonnets: Texas springtime personified. Lucky for me, I have a friend that could make that happen, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Tamera Lewis, with Snap'd Photography, helped us capture sweet Tallan in one of the most beautiful settings: a Texas bluebonnet field at sunset.

We had such a great time visiting family and are so thankful for the relationships Tallan is building with her grandparents. My visits to Texas always have a funny way of  allowing memories of my past to meld with my present...and give me a glimpse of the future.

Smooches for All!

Last year on Valentine's day, my hubs and I fancied ourselves up and headed to Capital Grille here in KC. By fancy, I mean we had a gift card, Matt wore a dry cleaned shirt, I sported a sexy little maternity number and squeezed my plump water logged feet into some 6 inch nude platform pumps baby! I was 8 weeks from giving birth and we cherished our last date together as just "Matt & Tara."

This year....I have a hair appointment  That's right. This sexy mama is throwing on some yoga pants, grabbing a cold one (decaff frappacino that is) and getting my ombre on at the hair dresser this V-day! The romance of it all is that my dear hub will be watching Tallan, giving me some mama time, and that's the best present I could ask for... a man who understands a good hair do means a happy, sexy, confident wife...and you know where that leads! He's not stupid! If he pays for my hair appointment and I put out, does that make me Julia Roberts? Anyhooooo.....

On another note, Valentine's has given me the excuse to dress Tallan Hope up for yet another themed at-home photo shoot. This time all we needed was a tube of lipstick, our favorite head band, and a nakey baby. I love they way they turned out! This girl is a HAM!

We hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day, whether you're out with your main squeeze, or staying in and squeezing your main...wait, that doesn't quite make sense. You know what I mean ya'll! MUAH!

                        

I think my kid might be a vampire!

My husband reads for knowledge. Doctor Jarvis stimulates his brain with non fictional tales of disease states, pharmaceutical studies and all sorts of medical intellectual mumbo jumbo. Me? I read for fun! A lover of fiction and fantasy, I enjoy transporting myself into other worlds of make-believe. I have come to realize however, that my flare for fiction has jinxed my child.

Harry Potter, Edward & Bella,  and Sookie Stackhouse have gotten together to punish me for my reading exploits. My child, Tallan Hope, just might be a vampire! Let's review the facts shall we?

Pale skin, light eyes - vampire. Sleeps all day, up all hours of the night biting people - vampire. Will NOT eat  people food - vampire. Has only 2 upper teeth that are NOT the front teeth but the scary side ones....OMG VAMPIRE!

All joking aside, I have noticed as Miss Tallan has been teething, that the order of which these little pearlies appear is not the norm! Terrified by my vampire-esque imagination, I did some research on the American Dental Association's web page.

Per chart above, the lower 2 front teeth should come in first...CHECK! 

Followed by the top 2 front teeth...umm nope! Tal has decided to sprout her upper lateral incisors (the two flanking your big front teeth) first, leaving her looking curiously like our famous vampire friends. 

I have been reassured by Tallan's mimi, a registered dental hygienist  that this could be normal, and that one day soon my baby doll will expose her two front teeth. Gosh, here's hoping! 

My life is not ready for a vampire baby! My husband might look a bit like Edward Cullen, (have you seen him?,) but we have no werewolf friends that I know of; and I really would like to get some sleep during the nighttime hours sometime in the near future. 

Cloth Diapering Mama

I was given the wonderful opportunity to guest blog today for Miss Terri over at Rambling Momma! Seeing that my guest post was about one of my favorite subjects, I'd love to share it with you as well - Cloth Diapering!

Before getting pregnant, if someone would have told me I'd be one of THOSE cloth diaper moms, I would have laughed in their face. The concept, at first, conjures thoughts of pooped stained white cloth, safety pins, and sloshing around elbow deep in a toilet. Noooo thank you.

After some research, however, I found my above assumption to be one of the past. Today's cloth diaper speaks to a multitude of mommy styles. Cloth diapering caters to the green mom, the organic mom, the cost saving mom, and in my case.....the "I love the adorable cloth diaper prints - I gotta have the cuteness" mom!
While I like to consider myself all of the above, let's face it - they were just so darn cute I couldn't resist!

There are a plethora of cloth diaper options to choose from, and all have wonderful qualities! I found a local diaper store/web site that allowed me to research my options and make a decision on what worked best for us. Itsy Bitsy Bums and Cotton Babies are amazing research and purchasing resources! We have opted for pocket diapers and all in one diapers in our household.

If you clicked on the links above and got overwhelmed....join the club! Take a breath, soak in the knowledge, and choose a few to try! You don't have to cloth diaper 24/7, even 3 diapers a day can significantly reduce your nursery waste! Check out some great financial and environmental stats here.

How to get started?
Once we decided on exclusive cloth diapering, we checked the following off our list. Although an initial investment is necessary, it was nowhere near the up to $2000 the average household will spend on disposables per child! Plus, after potty training, you can resale your cloth diapers and make a portion of that moolah back! Score!

• diaper stash of 25 diapers (approx $20ea) = initial $500 investment in diapers
• diaper pail for dirties
• cloth diaper safe detergent 
• anti-bacterial diaper spray

That's it. Really. We even registered for cloth diapers from our favorite sites and decreased our personal investment by receiving some as shower gifts! Yay! Now, I can't promise this won't turn into an addiction. You MAY love diapering so much, you spend a little extra on new designs/prints, and fun accessories. (Don't tell my husband, though. He thinks I'm the "cost saving" mom!) To be honest, we have waaaaay more than 25 diapers now...but haven't I told you how cute they are?

I have learned throughout the process, that cloth diapering is not anything based on strict formulas for success. In a very low key way, we have found what works for us and stuck with it; as well as added a few new tricks along the way. I am a testimony to the easy breeziness of these things. If it was hard girls, I would not be talking about them! We've converted friends, taught the grandparents the ropes, AND traveled multiple times using exclusively cloth. A decision, that was initially made for fun and eco-friendly reasons, has morphed into one of our proudest parenting accomplishments thus far.

We have absolutely ZERO nursery trash at all (we use cloth wipes too, but that's a whole 'nother blog), no diaper rash, no chemicals on bum...and one adorable bum at that! Check out our sweet Tallan Hope, sporting her fluffy butt.

I would love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you have! Happy diapering ya'll!

Tallan sporting an Applecheeks pocket diaper

ER Plight & a Texas Flight

Well, I made it 8 months before having a scary mommy story to tell. Thank heavens this story does not involve sweet Miss Tallan, but yours truly.

Before the Christmas holiday, Tal and I had planned a trip to Texas to see my family. A couple days before departing  however, I awoke feeling terrible nauseous. I spent the better part of a morning and an afternoon fighting the inevitable...and finally gave in a couple hours before hubbo got off work! It's one thing to worship the toilet gods by yourself; but leaving a screaming baby in her crib while you do so, is heart wrenching! With a very sour tummy, I set out on these very small, yet important daily tasks:

• Nurse Tallan all day - Success!
• Feed myself - FAIL (too nauseous)
• Google search "Pregnant with IUD" - which is waaaaay too common for my liking people!
• Puke again - SUCCESS!
• Push fluids - eh, somewhat successful

Hubs came home, and took over with Tallan (have I mentioned she won't take a bottle? Boob only? Well now ya know.) With Matt home, I could now focus on some quality toilet time. Noticing my hands were cramping after my most recent upchuck, I started to get worried. Hand cramps turned to arm cramps, turned to calf cramps. LOOOOOONG story short: Mama had to get to the hospital for some high quality muscle relaxers and fluids before the night was over. (No, the end to that story was not that simple, and YES the wait in the ER with total body cramps was horrible...but I'm tired of typing this story.)

Mucho thanks to my MIL & SIL who rushed to help with Tallan at home so Matt could be with me! Apparently nursing a baby all day literally sucks the life out of you. (Now, why not the fat? COME ON!)

Scary story accomplished, and still a bit weak tummied, Tal and I made it to Texas a day later! Cue happy music now! No melt down, fun new Picalo carrier used & no throwing up for either of us. We had such a great time in Texas with family. Tallan got to see her Mimi & Grumpy, Uncle Whiskey, & Great Gma. We were so thankful for the opportunity to visit!

A wonderful part about our Texas trip, was I got to catch up with an old friend; and was so excited for her to shoot pics of Tallan in the fall foliage. Local Texas peeps, Tamera with Snap'd Photography is flipping amazing, super speedy and affordable! I could not be happier with our photo's! Thanks Miss Tamera, for making our Texas trip not only great to see fam, but a wonderful time we marked with your photos. See a couple shots of Tallan Hope below, as well as a candid iphone shot of her and her Mimi. Adorbs!

All photos above courtesy of Snap'd Photography

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Vegas Baby!

Last week was my 27th birthday. (I'll pause while you gasp in shock at how old I am!)
Well, happy birthday to me - my hubbo took me to Vegas for a long weekend! This however, was not the "SURPRISE! - I'm whisking you away for a romantic weekend," type of sitch. Oh no no no, mommy needed a few weeks to wrap her head around this.

Mid-October, after confirming my mother was available to stay with our dear Tallan, Matt had told me about this birthday trip. First of all, because we needed a game plan for bottle/sippy cups, neither of which Tallan had ever taken before. (Who could blame her, have you seen my boobs!?) Secondly, my sweet hubbo knew, though I love the romance of a getaway, that I would need to prepare myself for my first night away from baby. For his thoughtfulness, I am so grateful. Muuuuah!

After confirming with the pediatrician that my daughter would not starve, typing and notarizing a Medical Emergency Form, and creating a Mimi cheat sheet, we were off for Vegas baby!On the agenda - a fancy dinner out, some adult beverages, sight seeing, and a Cirque du Solei show all in 48 baby free hours.

We had a fantastic time! I am so grateful to make new memories with the man I have known for over a decade, and still find silly, funny and oh so charming. The adult beverages took the edge off the little pangs of homesickness felt throughout each day. How sweet it was to realize the hubs felt the same way when we both shared a couple tears over sushi on our last day there.

Headed to dinner @ Bobby Flay's MESA Grill

Reaching the milestone of "weekend away from baby," has sparked some reflection. Here goes:

• Yes, I can still look presentable and talk like a grown up!
• I am so excited to be able to get away with Matt. Thanks pharmacy school!
• The "pump n dump" concept is the most unnatural thing EVER.
• My mom is a saint. Tallan is now a sippy cup pro after ZERO meltdowns.
• Sending a man through airport security with a breast pump to explain to TSA is the best way to get a good chuckle. 
• Whoever said "home is where the heart is," must have had children.

Needless to say, my birthday trip was a total success! Husband and wife time will never, ever be overrated.

Our Little Hoot Hoot

Yesterday marked our first holiday with Miss Tallan. We were so excited to dress her up! Keeping trend with our current obsession, Tal dressed as an owl. She was the most adorable little owl we'd ever seen. (We aren't partial...at all.)
Of course, mommy had to glam up her costume a bit with a homemade bow, duh!

 She will be 7 months in a couple of weeks, and we have learned out little pumpkin is a whopping 19 pounds 2 ounces (90th percentile,) and 27.5 inches long (95th percentile.) Ummmm, is this my child? Proof that these boobies are more than just for show people!

We have photo shoots galore scheduled this fall, along with family visits and a hub & wife only trip to Vegas (yea, don't get me started on the anxiety I feel about this...that's a whole 'notha blog!)

I'll leave ya'll with a few shots from our Halloween spent with Tallan's grandparents (Hub's side.) Can I get a hoot hoot for this little cutie!?

Much love to you all,
Tara Faith 

Mommy Hobby or Hindrance?

I've spent countless minutes browsing Etsy, and just a "couple" of bucks on cute little baby hair bow bands. I have grown obsessed! Nothing seems to scream "I'm a bald baby GIRL" like the hair bow, right?

I like to think of myself as a creative type...nothing too fancy, but I can accomplish the occasional DIY task.
Inspecting my latest bow band purchase the other day, I thought, "I can do this!...maybe." So I set out to try!

Inspirational Pinterest instructions in hand, I have been experimenting with fun fabrics and sufficiently burning the crap outta myself with the glue gun for a couple weeks now. I am loving the results! I've made hair bow bands for friends, placed floral flowers on ear warmers, and pinned them to my favorite scarf! The accessory options for these cute little guys are endless! I'm thinking of buying canvas totes and dressing them up too!

The hubbo sparked a question last night. Etsy shop? Hmmmmm, will this turn a fun little hobby into a burdensome hindrance? It would cover the cost of supplies. Decisions decisions. Any thoughts?

Enjoy a quick snap of my latest florals to attach to bands or beanies or ANYTHING. Also, check out Miss Tallan Hope sporting a mommy creation.