To My Sweet Two Year Old

Another year has gone by and I wonder if I'll not feel that it was just yesterday that you were born. Looking back at your newborn photos and videos is a recipe for tears but I can't help myself because I need to always remember that time is fleeting and I need to soak up every second because it's so true when I hear people say the days are long but the years are short.

This has been a year of growth for all of us. We have a year under our belt as Floridians and are finally getting into the swing of our life here. We've spent countless days at Disney and you absolutely LOVE meeting the characters. You cry and throw a fit until it's your turn to meet them...but I do need to mention it's only love for fur characters because the face characters give you a big case of stranger danger. 

You are talking more and more every day. Your favorite words include: momma, daddy, Google, RuPaul, Poppa, yes, no, and saying that you are TWO! You are so agile and as much as I'd love for you to be a prissy ballerina I honestly think you're going to be a stellar athlete.You can shoot baskets, run super fast, climb, jump, and swim like a fish. You seriously have zero fear of the water which dad loves and I have crazy anxiety about. 

You still like MMCH but it's definitely on the back burner compared to your love of Peppa Pig, Word Party, Moana, and still Boss Baby. You love to color and draw on you chalkboard table and easel. You are so incredibly sweet...and far more maternal than I ever was...with your Bitty Baby named Vanjie from the Brankamps and mini Cabbage Patch kid doll from Mim. You are totally your mother's daughter when it comes to your sweet tooth...you beg for popsicles every evening. You could be in the worst mood but the second something is present you smile ear to ear...I'm trying my best to teach you moderation with sweets but am failing miserably. 

You are so sweet 90% of the time but man do you have a raging temper the other 10%...I have no idea where that comes from lol! My favorite part of my day is when I get home from work and you bolt to the door to greet me with the biggest hug, kiss, and pat on the back. Two years ago I was scared and felt so unready for you but that's the great thing about life...it gives you exactly what you need exactly when you need it. Thank you for making me a mom and for teaching every day how to be a better person. I'm so glad you entered my life exactly when I needed you. Happy Birthday Mouse, I love you. 

All photos courtesy of Faison Anne Photography

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Eight Months of Brynn

I know I say it every time but I can't believe how fast time is flying! This month feels like the most you've grown and here's why...

You've gone from kind of crawling to full blown crawling like a champ
You are far too active for your swing and it has officially been retired
You are pulling yourself up to stand every chance you get
You love jumping in your JOEY JUMPER and now ever know what the word jump means
Your teeth are finally popping through your little gums
You love eating baby food and can hold your spoon (and bottle) all by yourself
You recognize the "Hot Dog Song" from MMCH and start dancing when it comes on

and my favorite...

You are so close to saying your first word which sounds a whole lot like "Momma"

Even though you have some amazing toys you prefer playing with the baby wipe box, tv remote, and "petting" your dogs. We got you your own BABY PHONE but you would rather play with the real phones. You celebrated your first St. Patrick's Day and I think you're going to be the life of the party because we tried to put you down for bed at your normal bedtime and you wanted to stay up and play.

Your "8" is made from bows made by momma. This month we opened our shop TheBraveBow Company and if it wasn't for you there would be no shop! You are becoming such a big girl and I can't believe we're already starting to make celebration plans for your first birthday! I can't wait to see what new things you learn to do next month. We love you so much Mouse!

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My Fellow Millennials...Print Your Pictures! {Free Shutterfly Photobook and Chatbook Code}

Listen y'all, I get it...we've been incredibly spoiled when it comes to capturing memories and communicating with our loved ones. When we were kids our parents had to use up an entire roll of film that they then had to take to be sent off to be developed and a few weeks later would finally be ready. Well until one hour photo was invented which was still annoying in my opinion. The worst part? You couldn't see if the pictures were actually good until you got them back. I can definitely see why someone got so frustrated that they invented the digital photography we know and love today.

Since everything is so instant now our wonderful pictures just sit on our phone or social media never to be printed and put in our homes. Well I'm here to help you out with some easy, no excuse ways to finally make those memories a little more tangible. First up is...

Chatbooks

 The spine has the Series name as well as the timeline which I love!

This is the absolute best option for all my fellow lazy AF people. You have a couple options with this as far as what pictures you want in your books. The books can be soft back (still very durable though) or hard back. You can take the time to custom build a book or you can set up a subscription, which is what I have. I filtered my book series to pull only the photos on my Instagram with a certain hashtag (the one I use for my daughter's pictures) and it makes a book automatically for me. Each series book has 60 photos that show both the caption and location if you tag it in the photo and sends out once the book is full. I love this because I still have the freedom to remove and add pictures to my books but if I want to be lazy I can. I picked the soft back book and basic shipping so each book costs me a measly $10 total. They make great coffee table books and are small even to fit in my purse to take on trips with us to show our family that don't use social media our pictures. If photo aren't your thing you can order just prints from them too! I highly suggest using Chatbooks they gave me an offer for my readers right HERE {FREE CHATBOOK}!

Next up...Professional Photobooks

You've taken the time to seek out a professional photographer that you like, you've picked out the outfits, found a beautiful location, and now you're just going to let those photos disappear on your Facebook timeline until your flashback notification reminds you of them?! Pure craziness y'all! See if your photographer offers photobook services. Our beloved Arastasia Photography does and she knocked it out of the ballpark with Brynn's newborn book! It's so high quality that I feel like I should wear gloves while looking at it. The design and layout is impeccable and we love it! Here are a couple iphone shots of it.

 The beautiful leather cover makes it feel like it's right out of Hogwarts to me.

Last but not least is a longtime favorite of mine...

Shutterfly

Unless you've been living under a rock for several years you know that Shutterfly is one of the most popular places for all things photo related. They have everything from mouse pads, magnets, wall decor, invitations/cards all of which can be customized by you super easily from your computer or even your phone! My favorite though are the photo books. They have an insane amount of templates ranging from vacation, wedding, guestbook, adoption portfolios, and family yearbooks.  

I recently have been on a photo book kick so here are some of ones I created...

Our Honeymoon Album

Brynn's Birth Story...because some pictures don't belong on social media

I left two pages empty so that I could paste in cards that we got in the hospital and her little bracelet.

2016 Family Yearbook

This is an idea from my friend Lauren, owner and creator of Ren Ott Events, who has been making these since she and her husband got together. I'll admit that putting the 2016 one together was a bit of a task for me but I've already started on our 2017 one. I carve out about 30 minutes a month to make a page for it so come next January all I have to do is order it. It will be so fun to look at them as Brynn gets older. All of us gathered around a book looking at old photos seems so much more special than being gathered around a computer screen or phone.

As promised I have a promo code for a FREE PHOTO BOOK for you from Shutterfly so now you really have no excuse not to make one. Make sure to send me pics of your books when you get them!

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