one|sunny.nine

Now, that I'm pulling back from my hectic life I decided I wanted this blog to have a personal touch to it. I wanted to put more of myself on here since it is my  blog. Starting this segment with my ramblings, thoughts and everything else in between so I can sit here and write to my hearts content. How silly is it that I usually don't do that in the first place?!? The title says everything you need to know about me and the blog all in one. Now let's just hope I don't get too carried away. (;

001.This week I've been battling the fact that my baby is no longer going to be a baby in 30 days. She will offically be one and there's no stopping her from growing. Sometimes I wish I could stop her just for a little bit just so I can enjoy her as a baby a little longer, but I know I can't. That reality hit me quite hard when I realized that I needed to  start shopping around for her car seat. Safety reviews, 5 point harnesses, size, color all came to mind at once. Waymon and I have been hunting/dreading our next carseat purchase. Those things ain't cheap! And thanks to our schedules we each have to buy one car seat for each car. Our wallets  were not happy that each car seat we loved were around $200.00-$350.00 range. YIKES! But because I'm a bargain hunter at heart ( more like cheapskate)  I know that a lot of people sell their used brand new car seats for a steal in alternative places. In the end, I got Haidyn 2 car seats pretty close to brand new for $150.00 ( queue high five here). Yup, we paid for the price of 1 car seat and got 2 of them. Waymon gets the Graco  because it's "cooler" looking and I get the Britax one because well I just love everything about Britax.

002. Haidyn's birthday is around the corner and I don't know if I should buy her a cake to save me time or if I should just make it myself like everything else at her party. If I haven't told you all yet, the theme to her party is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" . We chose the theme since it was the first book she kicked while I was reading it to her in the womb--sometimes I really miss being pregnant. I haven't decided what I want to do, but Waymon is pretty convinced that we can make a mean cake by ourselves. I'm really indecisive so I still have no verdict.

003. We decided that we would always get her 2 presents for her special occasions; one from Daddy and one from Mama to keep things personal. And thanks to a fellow blogger she turned me to these wonderful handmade dolls. Thank you Brenn!  Friends of Suzy has such a wide variety of dolls that fit everyone. Needless to say, they are perfect for B. She is always lugging around Mowglie that I figured it would be nice if she got to play with Daddy and Mama too. I customer ordered dolls to look like Waymon and myself. I can't even tell you how anxious I am to see the finished project. I emailed the shop 2 -3 times because I was so excited. I will update once they arrive.

004. I photographed my first wedding this past week. I was honored being there to share their special day with them that I even cried!

005.I was featured on Skinnymom's IG this past week. Now, being featured on a IG account may not impress you, but it impressed me because of the account itself. I love Skinnymom's website because it shows you that don't have to sacrifice taste to be healthy, which is what I'm all about. Little tweaks make such a big difference in trying to become healthier. With all the junk out there readily avliable I'm glad that a website like this can curb my husband's taste for god awful food ( he would eat out for his meals all the time if I let him).

006. I am a bit of a Netflix addict. I can't help it! When I want to sit an unwind I want to get lost in a series. It's bittersweet that I finally finished SOA. I can't tell you how much I love this series. Kurt Sutter did such amazing job writing the entire series that it keeps you wanting more . And seriously, Charlie Hunnam? Yeah need I say more? I have a mug with this guy on it because I love him so much. Don't worry, Waymon already knows ;)

Now that it's over I have to find a new series... which I did and then I already finished it in a week. Whoops... In my defense it is a fairly short series and addictive. Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt took over my life this past week and rocked it! I'm a sucker for anything written by Tina Fey. She is a genius. If you haven't watched the series, please do! I promise you will not regret it.

Haidyn Eleven Months

LENGTH: 28 inches

LIKES: 

-Dancing to her music. It's probably the cutest thing I've seen ever. 

-Trying to eat Cat food. She loves Sassafras so much that she just wants to be exactly like her. She will try to eat and drink from her food bowls. She's just a little weird. haha 

-Having conversations with everyone. She doesn’t necessarily say much of anything but she does enjoy talking to you about just about anything you want to talk about.

- Her schedule. She is definitely my child when it comes to sticking to what she is use to on a day to day basis. She keeps us in line with her 7:30 p.m. bedtime.

-Walking around the living room. She will grab onto the coffee table, couches, toy bins, etc just to get around the room. She is very determined to walk.

- Remotes and keys. I don’t know what it is about a remote that makes her so happy, but they all excite her. I’ve even tried to buy her fake keys and remotes and they just aren’t the same apparently .

-Going to the store. She loves sitting in the carts and people watching.

-Cooking with Mama. I love how she will stroll into the kitchen and destroy the cupboards while I’m cooking. She wants to smell the food and watch me cook as much as possible.

- Taking baths! The more she grows the eager she is to take a bath. When I let her know she has to take a bath in Tagalog she will scurry to the bathroom and pull herself up to stand next to the tub. She means business!

-School. She loves seeing all of her friends at school as well as Ms. Pattie. She doesn’t have separation anxiety when we drop off, which is something that I’m so thankful for!

-Seeing her grandparents. She loves seeing all of them. Each time she tries to show off something else she learned and each time they are all so impressed and love her a little more than the last time they saw her. She is very spoiled with her grandparents’ love and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

DISLIKES: 

-  Being put in the car seat. Oh man ! Believe me Haidyn if we could take you out of the car seat and into a booster we would… girl is heavvvvy!
-Missing her 7:30 bedtime. Waymon and I decided to have a family date night and we missed her bedtime by 5 minutes and she was not having it. She let us know that we messed up. Lesson learned: NO MORE WEEKDAY FAMILY DATE NIGHTS.

MILESTONES: 

-pulling herself up
-Says “Dada, Daddy, Mama”

-Follows along with nursery games.

-Follows simple commands ( doesn’t like doing it but she does)

- Gives kisses ( Mmmmaa)  

EVENTS:
 -First Valentine’s Day
-Lola's birthday! 

-lowering her bed all the way down :( 

Lately.

I don't think I've ever sat down to write about myself or how I'm doing other than when I was pregnant ( but does that really count since I was with child). I'm thinking no. And let me tell you how weird it is to see my face all over this blog post.  I'm already missing pictures of Bean on here, but here it goes...

I’ve been feeling like an overworked mess.  I feel like I've probably ( most likely) stretched myself too thin with my current workload at home and at work. Waymon and I work almost opposite schedules so I try my hardest to keep up with his schedule i.e. sleeping at 1 am. That doesn't always work out for me since I work a lot earlier than he does, I work at 6 am to be exact. I fall asleep more often than not while we are spending time together after Haidyn goes down for the night. I have fallen asleep sitting upright on the couch right next to him all while our TV is blasting Sons of Anarchy- I really don't know how I do it. I feel awful when I do just because I don’t get to see him as much as I’d like to, but we work with that we have. We make the most out of our weekends together since we don’t have the work week together and for that I will forever be grateful. We both get to spend equal time with Haidyn since we alternate picking up and dropping off at school. Haidyn spends her mornings with her Daddy and afternoons with her Mama. She doesn't seem to mind, even if I would just love to spend all day cuddling with my chickeedee.

Work has taken over my life, but I couldn’t be more blessed with having a booked month with my clients. I am overwhelmed with the joy that the bookings I've gotten me as well as overwhelmed with a hectic workload. Striving to be a top performed in your own business isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I am my worst critic when it comes to judging my own work, but I can’t tell you that I don’t enjoy reliving each and every one of those sessions. I do however; miss the sleep and my family time. I do plan to pull back from photography to hang out with my family more as well as blogging a lot more. I don’t want to miss anymore weekends with Haidyn and Waymon. I feel nothing but guilt when my favorite 2 get to hang out together and I'm working. Don’t get me wrong I love what I do and will still pursue it, but in a lower key. I don't expect to be the world's famous photographer. I started the business for the small clientele base that I had wanting me to take the pictures of their families and I'd like to keep it that way; nothing crazy.

Now I’m trying to find a perfect balance between being a mother and a employee all in one. I think my search for the perfect balance will always be a constant for me.  What helps the most is that remembering that I am human and I can’t possibly do it all. ( I will always think that I can do it all). On the days that I got everything and anything that I had to do that day done I feel like supermom- a very sleep deprived supermom, hidden under very good concealer. I don’t know why I must jam pack my schedule with things to do, but I hope that in the upcoming months I learn how to relax and let go just a smidge to enjoy everything around me especially time with my growing girl.

Greek Yogurt Alfredo Sauce

In my efforts to convert my unhealthy favorites into healthy options this Alfredo sauce came out perfect! The only difference was that this sauce was a lot thicker than the typical sauce. The entire recipe from start to finish takes about 5 minutes. I don't think it gets easier than a 3 step recipe. This recipe was effortless  and I had no guilt going back for seconds. We paired this sauce with garlic spaghetti pasta and tuna cakes!

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup greek yogurt
• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• ½ tsp garlic salt
• ½ tsp pepper 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat up a sauce pan to medium-high heat
2. Pour all ingredients into sauce pan
3. Bring sauce to a boil , stirring continuously. 
4. Serve while hot and enjoy :)