Growing up is Hard to do

Yo, yo, yo!! 

Just to let you all know - this blog post is kind of a way for me to put off reading German lit. So... you should probably all just yell at me right now.

In other news... Elsie turned three months on Saturday! I seriously can't believe it's been that long already (I know, I know... I say that all. the. freaking. time.) So... here's a little letter to my little girl!

Dear Elsie bear, 

I still can't believe you're mine to keep forever (well, until some handsome dude decides to sweep you off your feet, but let's not talk about that). I look at you and I see a beautiful, smart, curious, and strong little girl. You're always so happy - I'm not really sure how I ended up so lucky. When I wake up in the morning, there you are, ready to greet me with a big, toothless grin. When I tell you I love you, you smile up and me and growl (I'm convinced it's Elsie-language for, "I love you, too, Mom"). When your dad and I sing to you, you look up at us with those big blue eyes of yours and start to coo along. I can't wait until that cooing becomes actual singing - if you're anything like your dad, you will have an amazing voice.

Every day I fall more and more in love with you. Sure, there are days where I wonder what the heck I'm doing, but for the most part, you and I make a pretty good team. I love absolutely everything about you, and I am so excited to watch you grow and progress. Part of me wishes you'd stay little forever, but then I wouldn't get the opportunity to teach you, and that would be pretty lame.

Elsie, you are the best thing that has ever happened to your daddy and I, and we thank God every day that He brought you into our lives. I love you, you little turkey!!

Love, 

Mom

Sunday Confessions Link Up

Happy Sunday! 

You all know how this goes - grab a button, write up some confessions, and link them up at the bottom of the post.
  <center> <a href="http://itsalyx.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6701442513_4c7153a301.jpg" width="200" height="200" /></a></center> 1. I lost my lens cap while at a shoot yesterday. Holy oops!!! I proceeded to crawl around on my hands and knees trying to find it. No luck. I promptly drove to Best Buy and bought another. Good thing the next shoot was for a friend who was very understanding and didn't mind moving her shoot back a half hour.

2. I lost my cell phone at the mall on Thursday. I don't know if I set it down somewhere or if it fell out of my pocket, or what. All I know is that if you don't have the "Find My iPhone" app, then you should download it now. Otherwise I would probably not have my trusty little phone right now.

3. I forgot to put the diaper wipes in Elsie's diaper bag the other day. Are we sensing a pattern here? Mommy brain is real, people!! Anyway, I definitely cleaned her butt with a wet paper towel. Ha!

4. I ate seven apples yesterday. They were small, okay?! So freakin' delicious. Om nom nom (and you KNOW I had my JIF).

5. I really need to shower. Like, seriously. I'm disgusting. Five photo shoots in super hot, super humid weather. I am gross, gross, GROSS!!!

What do you have to confess? 

Junk in the Trunk

... of my car. And my house. I swear, the longer I live in a place, the more things pile up and the more junk I accumulate (is anyone else like this? Bueller.... Bueller...)

(Oooh.... This is a sponsored post, by the way. Everything in here is my opinion, blah, blah... you know, the good stuff)

Anyway. You wanna know the number one item of "junk" that I have somehow managed to acquire plenty of? CDs. I have hundreds of CDs just laying around the house. Sometimes I swear I hear them when everything else is quiet. They're whispering, "Play me, Alyx. Listen to my horrible mid-90's songs. You know you want to shake it to 'The Thong Song.' Or 'Wannabe' - that's a good one, too!"

Do I ever listen to them? No. Instead, I just try to find some little nook or cranny to shove them into. Basically... my house is full of nooks and crannies, and those nooks and crannies are filled with old CDs that will probably never again see the light of day.

You know what I should be doing with these poor, abandoned discs, though? Giving them a new home. And because I like money (who doesn't?!), I feel like I should get some kind of reward for taking these CDs out of their misery. 

Enter Music Magpie. You guys, this site is brilliant!! Not only can I sell those poor, poor CDs... but I can sell my husband's old games (you know, the ones he just HAD to have, but then played once or twice?) and DVDs. The best part? It's free. Free money, people!! It's like money is growing on a CD/DVD/game tree of junk that's made your home its growing space.

I kid you not - they will even offer you money for this gem:

It's okay, I danced, too. 

That Time We Took a Roadtrip

Okay, okay, Courtney.... this one's for you. :)

Once upon a time, we took a road trip to the grand ole state of Utah (that's right, not only the Mormon motherland, but also the blogging motherland. Coincidence? I think not, but we'll get into the whole Mormon blogger thing another time).

Anyway. Where was I? Oh, right... we took a road trip to Utah. This was like, ages ago. And you know what?! I had my camera, but I did not take one. single. picture. How's that for rockstar blogger status? I know, I know... I'm the next "Daybook."

Okay, I keep getting off track here. So I was in the Mormon/Blogging motherland, and you know what?! I only met ONE blogger. I'm a disgrace, I know. In my defense, we were only in Utah for four days and (because we are Mormon) approximately 92.6% of our relatives live there. You all know what that means, right? Nonstop family visits. Like, we pop in, say, "HI! How are you? Great? Great. I'm good, too. Welp, gotta get to my great aunt's sister's cousin's house to see how she and her family are doing, so see ya!"

Maybe not quite that extreme, but you get the idea. So yeah. Anyway, I got to meet this super awesome blogger and her super adorable baby (seriously - cutest kid in the world besides Elsie). My darling daughter was covered in puke from altitude sickness (the grandpa took over and shooed me out the door because I was in tears that she was losing weight and spitting up everything she ate), so she didn't get to come with me, but Courtney, Mia, and I had a blast. We ate frozen yogurt, asked a random dude to take our picture, then asked a bored cashier to take our picture again because said random dude was a really crappy picture-taker, and had an all-around good time.

Picture or it didn't happen.

BOOM. It happened. 

Sunday Confessions Link Up

Happy Sunday!! 

You all know how this works, so get going!!
  <center> <a href="http://itsalyx.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6701442513_4c7153a301.jpg" width="200" height="200" /></a></center> 1. Right when I thought I was getting back into the blogging groove, I lost it. Yeah... that'd explain why I haven't blogged in forever, right?!

2. I've decided I have the cutest baby in the world. I mean, really. I just can't get enough of her (and I believe that every mommy thinks her baby is the cutest - it's just natural).

3. I'm NOT ready for school to start. I have orientation all this week, and I'm sort of freaking out a little bit. What was I thinking?! Going back to school to get a master's with a 3-month-old? I must be on crack.

4. I finally figured out what my favorite animal is! I've never really known what to say when people ask what my favorite animal is, but after going to the zoo yesterday, I finally decided that I love giraffes. They are the best!

5. My brain is totally not functioning right now. Like, it's a huge pile of mush. Mushy gushy mushy gush mush.

What do you have to confess? 

PS: I haven't read more than 5 blog posts in the past two weeks, and I don't think I've commented on any, so if I haven't visited you lately, please don't be offended! My life is a big ole pile of crazy trash right now!! 

Why I've Sucked at Blogging Lately

Hey guys!! 

So.... I don't know if you've noticed, but I've gone back to that whole sucking at blogging thing. That would be because I started this whole photography business thing and it has kept me SUPER busy. I decided to run a mini session special for the month of August and I guess I underestimated the amount of people who would be interested. As in.... I've booked almost 20 shoots and we're not even halfway through the month. Holy guacamole. Anyway.... here are a few of my favorite pictures from recent sessions!

Yo. Yo. Yo.

HIIII!!!! 

It's Tuesday. I'm SUPER excited because my photo backdrop came, but I'll blog about that once I've taken some adorable test pics of Elsie in her tutu. Anyway, it's Tuesday. The day where I keep myself accountable, blah blah blah.

Tuesday: 
- 30 Day Shred
- walked 3.6 miles

Wednesday: 
- Dude. I broke my toe.

Thursday: 
- My toe REALLY hurt.

Friday: 
- I decided to suck it up and do 30 Day Shred.
- Walked 2 miles

Saturday: 
- 30 Day Shred
- Painted house

Sunday: 
- Lazy bones

Monday: 
- 30 Day Shred

Measurements: 
Waist: 29" (down .5" from last week)
Hips: 40.75" (no change from last week)
Weight: 158 lbs (down 1 lb from last week, ONLY 10 LBS TO GO!!!!)

I hear the last ten lbs are the hardest. If I only lose five but can manage to squeeze into my jeans, I'll be happy. I'm SOOO excited to start T25, I can hardly stand it! This time next week, I will be DONE with the shred and I will update with my 30 day pics (because, yes, I forgot to take the 20 day ones. Oops!).

Sunday Confessions Link Up

Happy Sunday! 

You all know how this works, so get to it! :)
  <center> <a href="http://itsalyx.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6701442513_4c7153a301.jpg" width="200" height="200" /></a></center> 1. I'm in a funk. A blogging funk. Seriously - I mean, what in the world should I write about? How many times I get poop on my hands on any given day? Or maybe spit up is a more favorable topic? Or how about how I wandered around Sam's Club and Gordman's with a friend today, cherishing the hour without a baby in tow?

2. I still can't handle baby poop. Like, I'm way better than I was a month ago, but I am still NOT able to just brush it off and act like it wasn't a big deal that THERE WAS POOP ON ME!!

3. I am sick of the shred. I get bored doing the same workout day after day. Yes, I changed levels and progressed to level three, but I'm still missing variety.

4. Because of #3, once I'm done with the shred, I'm done with Jillian Michaels for a while. I've loved my results, but I'm gonna go back to good ole Shaun T and try HIS 25 minute a day workout (T25).

5. I obviously have a workout problem. I'm one of those people who will buy/try all the workouts out there. This is a very expensive problem to have.

I support YOU.

Guys.

I've totally sucked at blogging this week, but I'm just stopping in to say one thing - I know a lot of you aren't mommies, but a lot of you are (and a lot of you will be one day). For some reason (one that I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around), people like to judge each other. I've noticed a lot of judging going on in the mommy crowd. In fact, I saw a facebook status the other day that said something along the lines of, "I have no respect for women who choose not to breastfeed their children." 

This seriously pissed me off. I'm sorry, but who are WE to judge other mommies? Why does it matter how a woman chooses to feed her kid? Answer: It doesn't. 

So today, I just wanted to tell you all that I support you. Whether you breastfeed, formula feed, or do a little of both, I support you. 

No judgment here, yo.