Happiness. This photo will make you smile.

Here's a picture that I took last weekend.  I was just looking at one of the photo challenges I like from The Paper Mama and saw that the week's theme is  happiness. I knew I had to submit this photo.

Buddy and I visited my grandma last Sunday and, as we always do, had a great time. The two of them were looking at photo albums together and I snapped this shot.

It's such a special photo, and it is bringing tears to my eyes because it's so beautiful.

Happiness

I love how happy they are together. I love how they are touching hands and smiling as they enjoy looking at the pictures, with her calling out people and him pointing to those people.

They are 97 years apart.

They are two of my favorite people in the world.

I am so happy they are able to get to know each other. And I am so happy that Buddy brings so much joy to my grandma.  And vice versa - he adores spending time with her.

P.52 photo challenge: week 17.

This week's theme is green.  Usually Buddy is my subject, and he does have some green shirts I could have him wear, but....

1) visitors might want some variety
2) that's not what comes to mind when I think of green (nature and sports come to mind)

Before I had the wonderful pleasure of taking photos of my baby boy, I spent a lot of time taking photos of nature and sports (ie, baseball).  So for this week, I'm going with good ol' baseball.

I like how the lush green field brings a nice pop of color to the game.  And, it was a big week for White Sox baseball.  Paul Konerko hit his 400th home run and Phil Humber pitched a perfect game.

So - in honor of those two baseball accomplishments, this week's photo is of Paulie and Humber. Taken by me at a game this week.

Phil Humber and Paul Konerko

Congrats to both!

Online sale at myhabit.com. Colette Kids!

I love Colette Kids.  I did a whole post about their adorable shirts a few weeks ago.  Well, today on My Habit, there is a sale on Colette Kids.

(For those unfamiliar with My Habit, it's the exclusive sale site for Amazon).  So - it makes your buying easy as can be if you've ever bought on Amazon (who hasn't!).  Just enter your Amazon log-in and shop away. Plus, you get free Amazon shipping!

So go. Now. Hurry. The t-shirts are $9 and $14 (comes with a bandana)* and they are going fast.

*Some shirts are sold only with bandana

I personally have no interest in the bandana - but it would help keep Buddy's shirts drool free. And he does love wearing his cowboy hat and riding on his rocking horse.  So, on second thought - perhaps a wonderful accessory for in the house.

Anyways, purchased three shirts for Buddy:

Panda

Frog 

Seal

Super cute tees. Love them! Enjoy.

Free printables that are super cute.

Just came across some adorable printables featuring from the website Q.A. Design.  These downloadables feature different states and countries and there are a ton to choose from.  And they are colorful, fun and free! Take a look at some:

California

Wisconsin

Nevada

Aren't they so cute?  I just printed this one for my desk at work:

Illinois

And it would be really cute to frame a bunch for your house. You could do a collection of states you've lived in or locations you've visited, etc.

Thank you to Jenna at Q.A. Designs to offer these for free.  After I found these printables, I took a look around the rest of her site and saw that she has a blog design business.  Very talented - nice work and at a very reasonable price.  Take a trip on over to her site. Maybe searching for sesame street should use some of her services!

Ok - time to go. Evening snack time beckons. Out of Joe-Joe's, out of ice cream - looks like Cocoa Pebbles it is!

Top ten in google search results.

Another milestone for the site.  I'm appearing on the FIRST page of a google search!  Organically! In the top ten results!

And the search was NOT me typing in "searching for sesame street".  Nor was it me trying out different words and phrases, hoping to show up.  It was a wonderful random person looking for new shopping websites.   Below, a re-creation.

Slowly but surely, traffic continues, comments increase and now - appearing in google search results NOT only when (I'm) typing 'searching for sesame street blog'. Yea! Thank you for stopping by - keep on visiting please!

P.52 photo challenge: week 16.

Things that Grow is this week's theme.  Naturally, my go-to is buddy.  And since baseball is in the air and we just went to our first game of the season, let's make it a themed theme - got that?  

Ok - here we go. Same shot (pretty much), three years in a row.

2010 - Buddy in the belly

2011 - Buddy at six months (Spring Training)

2012 - Buddy at 19 months

I think it's inevitable that Buddy will be a White Sox fan. After all, he's gone to dozens of games (many in utero). Going to the Cell probably feels like home to him.

This also makes me want to formalize some sort of yearly photo/project of Buddy.

A lot of people do that during their baby's first year - you've probably seen those monthly t-shirts or decals.  Another great idea is to take a photo of your child next to/in/near the same item/object every month, three months, etc.  I've seen some really fun ideas on Pinterest - a baby in a laundry basket, next to a favorite stuffed animal, in their rocker chair  -

And here are a few really cute way to track the ever changing size & looks of your little one as he or she grows year by year.

Favorite Things
Every year on your child's birthday, create a photo print with their picture and a list of their favorite things. Make a memory book.









Yearly Interview
Every year, ask your child the same questions - see how they change from year to year.

If anyone has any other good ideas, I'd love to hear them! 

Pinterest: ever revisit your pins and boards?

It's like going shopping in your closet. Well, your virtual closet.  And more like browsing your virtual closet to see what you might want to actually turn into items in your real closet.

I've pinned so many things, I've forgotten what I've pinned.  I've even pinned the same item twice accidentally.

This morning I went back and looked through some of my boards.  Pinterest has made some changes that make visiting the site even more visually appealing.  Here's a glimpse at what awaited me when I went to my boards.

A beautiful array of colors and products!

Items that made me smile.

Items I wondered why I had pinned.
(turns out they were from my very early pinterest days, and I didnt' know about changing the descriptions then either)

Stuff I forgot I pinned.

And tons of great stuff I still coveted. Some of my favorites that I rediscovered:

   

Source: piperlime.gap.com via Julie on Pinterest

Amazing Marc by Marc Jacobs bag. I love it. This is the item I pinned twice I loved it so much. Maybe something for my birthday wish list?

Source: fab.com via Julie on Pinterest

"Carry On" carry-on bag. Cute. Like the play on words.

Source: fab.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: shopthetrendboutique.com via Julie on Pinterest

Very cute t-shirt. More than I'd spend on a t, but I do like this. Totally forgot I pinned it.

Source: etsy.com via Julie on Pinterest

LOVE this bracelet. Capital letters.  Found it at an Etsy shop, The Lucky Elephant.  It is so pretty, vibrant, fun and ... expensive.  Another item I'd love, but more than I'd spend. Another item to add to the birthday wish list?

Source: bellabyte.com via Julie on Pinterest

Cute and sweet print for the house.  Would be a nice addition to our walls.  Quite reasonable.

If you like any of these items and want to see  more, I welcome you to visit my boards. And remember to take a walk down your pinterest memory lane too. You never know what you'll rediscover.

ps - Another interesting exploration - seeing what has been pinned. I think that will be part 2 of my pinterest posting. Stay tuned for more.

Mini versions of big people items.

Little boy clothes and shoes are so cute. Especially when they are miniature versions of big people items. You know - like these:

Chuck Taylors

Adidas Gazelles

Little Converse gyms and baby Adidas Gazelles. Are they not the cutest?

I just bought both pairs for buddy. 20% off at Piperlime. Love me a discount. I can't seem to buy clothes or shoes full price for buddy. But throw me a coupon, 20% off or more (preferably more of course), and I'm on it.

TOMS are the next item on my purchase list.  They are adorable (and never go on sale). However, One for One. Buy a pair and a child in need will get a pair. That is sure a good cause to me.  I think it's fantastic that TOMS does this.

We'll probably will get the black canvas Tiny TOMS classics:

Tiny TOMS

Buddy had a pair of navy blue corduroy TOMS, but unfortunately we didn't get much wear out of those.  Between leaving them at my brother in law's for a month and the sitter shrinking them in the dryer, he only wore them three times.  We'll be more careful this time.

Thanks for shopping with me!

Sweet boy. Sweet treat. Sweet photo.

Here's a sweet photo for the Sweet Shot Tuesday photo linky blog hop.  Also linking up with Tots and Me.

Sweet boy. Sweet treat.

Sitting on the front steps loving his ice cream.

1,000 page views.

Yea! Celebrate.  My blog has had 1,000 page views according to my blogger stats.

Now the number is quite different when I go to my google stats, but that's analytics for ya.

Thanks to everyone who's been reading my blog so far. I hope you enjoy your visit. I truly enjoy all of your comments and I welcome any feedback, suggestions, tips, etc.

So go forth, read, enjoy, comment and read some more. then come back again. and again.

Thank you!

Julie (the big reveal at 1,000 page views - my name!)

P.52 photo challenge: week 15.

Sacrifice is this week's theme.  Tough one.  Luckily, Darcy of the p.52 photo challenge expanded the theme to include any pics from last week's Passover or Easter holiday weekend.

Excellent. I have some options.  It was a big family weekend - my brother and sister in law, niece and nephew were in town and we had a great time with them.  Buddy had so much fun spending time with his cousins.  Naturally, with the three little guys together, many pictures were to be had.

So we had ourselves a little photo shoot.  I'm sure everyone knows how tough it can be to get multiple people all looking at the camera, smiling, with their eyes open and hands down at the same time.  Well, when the multiple people are multiple little kids, you have yourselves a party.

It was pretty funny - very cute and comical.  Here  are the results.

WINNING SHOTS

First pic. Very cute. All looking at camera. Cousin O wants his shoe off.

Super cute. Looking elsewhere but adorable.

OUTTAKES (for your enjoyment)

Um, where you going Cousin O? Cousin Z is getting smushed!

Buddy, what are you pointing at?

Home Alone face from Cousin Z.

Things are getting chaotic.

Photo shoot over.

P. 52 photo challenge: week 14.

Foolin' Around.

I have two great scenes that capture this week's theme.  I love them both.

No descriptions needed.


Scene 1:

Scene 2:

Not only do they show foolin' around, but they show pure happiness and joy.  Like I said, I love them both.

Kids clothing: another great brand.

Super cute brand that I can't believe I haven't talked about yet.

Colette Kids. It's perfect - you'll love it and your little one will too.

Why will you love it?

• Simple
• Colorful
• Cute designs
• Adorable, but not babyish
• Fairly reasonable prices

Why will they love it?

• Cute designs

So - what are these cute designs that appeal to both you and your child?

Animals.

Most of the time clothes with animals are not my style at all. I either find them too babyish or too tacky. But these - these are neither. They are absolutely charming. Take a look at some of the designs:

We have two of the shirts, and I'm eyeing more.  I am in no way involved with this product, but would LOVE to be sent samples (hint hint to Colette Kids) to promote!!!

As always, our model showing the shirts "in action".

You can buy the shirts at the Colette Kids website, and a couple of retailers and online shops carry the brand.