Playing Catch Up

Wow. Life has been so busy lately! Everything is getting wrapped up in first grade as we go into our last week of school. We had our end of the year party on Friday - and it was hard to talk about being done with these little ones! I definitely cried and had to stop talking for a bit. Ha! :) I think a few of my first graders were worried about me.. they came up to me after and said they would come visit every day next year and it would be okay. Lol. :)

I've missed Em every day this year, but my first graders that I have taught have really brightened my day as well.

This has definitely been a difficult.. but rewarding year.

Our Little Lady is 13 months old! I'm going to post on that sometime this weekend - but it's just crazy. Time is going even faster now that her first birthday is over.

A lot of changes are going to be happening in our lives over the summer. I'll be transitioning out of the classroom into a part time job to have more time with Em. Instead of being a first grade teacher, I'm going to be a literacy specialist in the same school for 4 hours a day. It's definitely bittersweet, but I am excited about it. Hubby will be moving into an Assistant Principal Job at the High School. Ahh. Life is crazy and it goes by so quick!

Hope you all have an amazing Memorial Day Weekend! It's GORGEOUS here in S.C. so we're going to be spending a lot of time outside. :)

P.S.
Hubby and I actually went OUT last night! With out having family in town, this rarely happens. We had so much fun with friends {I'm also a pretttyyy cheap date.. especially after having Em!}
It was nice to have an adult night out.. and Em had so much fun at the Sitters. We picked her up around 1:00 and she slept in today until 9:00!! Best. Morning. Ever.

Happy Weekend! xo.

200 Fans & Free Shipping!

Hey Friends!

I'm so excited that we have 200 LIKES on Facebook! That was one of my first "goals" with this little Etsy shop and I'm excited we've gotten there. I've been having so much fun with this shop - and I've also loved seeing all of the little babes in my headbands. :) Sweet Em still doesn't have much hair, so I'm excited that she'll still be able to rock them for a while.

I'm offering FREE SHIPPING until Wednesday, and wanted to let my blog friends know.. and if you haven't liked PrettyLittleElm on Facebook yet.. you should! xoxo I am really thankful for you all!

www.facebook.com/prettylittleelm 

What's in There? 

We Dyed our Own Fabric! Ombre Style. {Ombre Headband}

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. xo. 

Why Prius's are Crazy

Hey Friends!

Wow this week has been crazy.

So here is my story...

I took a personal day from teaching on Wednesday to catch up on my life.
Side Note: How people are mamas, work all day, AND keep a house clean is beyond me. True Story.

SO.. that's why I needed a catch up day. I took Em over to the sitters for a half day because it's nearly impossible to clean with her destroying everything in her path..
{you definitely know this if you follow me on Instagra: brittmarie14}

Anyway. :) I went to pick her up around 12:30 because my sitter and her little ones had a dentist appointment. They weren't at the house - so I ran over to the school to catch them.

 I found them in the parking lot, but they were getting ready to leave.. so I parked the Prius in a FLASH, kept it running, ran out like super mom in my running shorts, no make-up and hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed yet that day because it hadn't (so classy, I know) and caught them before they left.

We chatted for a minute and then Em and I headed back to the car....... that wasn't there.

I seriously thought I had lost my mind. This was so much worse than when I lose my car in the target parking lot.

Finally, this man shouted from across the parking lot and asked me if the car by the curb was mine. #Shesaidwhat? Yes I did just hash tag... in blogger which doesn't recognize them. #sorrynotsorry

Anyway - I'm sure you've figured this out.. but my car literally rolled backwards through millions of parked cars and managed to NOT hit anything. It just rolled up on the curb right next to a tree, and then back down while a frantic man in a truck tried to figure out how to save my life and put the Prius in park...

And because Prius's are crazy - he couldn't figure it out. Because it's a button. Understandable.

I swear I pushed the park button.


But obviously I didn't.

Either way - Em and I had SO many errands to run - but I had just used up all the luck that I had left for the year...so we went home and played hide and seek instead.

Well there you have it. My crazy story.

Okay - also crazy - I'm ombre dying my own fabric for bows in my Etsy Shop! It's been fun so far. :) Can't wait to show you all the finished product!

ABEAUTIFULMESS App! My new favorite on Instagram. 

Have a great night! Put your cars in Park! xoxo.

Being a Mama is Sweet.

Hey Everyone!

What a wonderful weekend it's been. I can't tell you how many times I've caught myself this weekend just being in complete awe of my crazy little daughter. She is learning so much! She doesn't prefer the speed crawl anymore and is walking all over the place! Sometimes.. she doesn't even want to hold my hand when we're walking! Tear. Not really - I'm so proud of her! She is so proud of herself too which absolutely cracks us up. :)

Her new favorite trick is putting everything through the kitty door that leads into the garage. Earlier today we found the remote, my sunglasses, and her favorite stuffed animal. Things are getting crazy around here. :)

We went to the beach on Saturday and met friends - and let me tell you - I thought it was going to be a di.sa.ster. I was preparing myself for a 10 minute trip. I was so wrong! It went great. Em only attempted to eat sand.. 3 times. :) But seriously - she really wasn't all that interested after she tried it once. She didn't mind getting sand all over her.. and she had a lot of fun destroying little sand castles we made for her.
 She wasn't a huge fan of the water hitting her little toes.. but let's be honest.. the water was a little chilly and Mama wasn't either! :)

Instagram Pictures...of course - { brittmarie14 }

This morning Hubby and Em let me sleep in.. and it was ahhh mazing. A perfect start to Mother's Day. Then we went out to breakfast {my favorite.} and went to Magnolia Plantation in S.C. It's one of our favorite places to go when we have the chance on the weekends. partly because teachers get in free.

Em absolutely loved looking at all of the animals in the petting zoo and called every single one of them that had 4 legs... a Dog. :)

Since we've been home - we've just been enjoying each other which sometimes we forget to do on the weekends with all of the things we are trying to cross off our to-do lists.

We've made a pact to do it more often. Messy houses? Dishes in the sink? All might stress me out tomorrow morning when we're running around like crazy getting ready for school - but for today - it's just fine. :) xo.

She has insisted on taking those two stuffed dogs everywhere today. :) 

xoxo.

12 Month Baby - One Year Old Toddler

I still can't believe I have a one year old! A friend of mine told me that between 1-2 years of age.. crazy things happen in the life of a baby and I should jot things down as much as I can.

Well.. this post is the opposite of a quick jot and more like a crazy way too long documentation.

 I just. can't. help. it. 

{And FYI.. I'm still refusing to say Toddler..}

{Weight} 20 pounds

{Teeth} 6 - but more are definitely on their way!

{Food}

• Milk - I Breastfed Em up until around 11 1/2 Months and then started to wean. (another post on this for sure..) She's been doing a mixture of formula/whole organic milk since. She drinks out of Sippy Cups and Bottles. She still has a bottle in the morning and at night. Sippy Cups in between. She isn't a huge fan of Cow's Milk. I'm not sure if it's the taste or the temperature.. but she does like saying MOO when she sees a cow, so I'm sure she'll warm up to milk soon enough. :) 

• Food - So far - Em isn't really that picky. She loves treating Avocado like play-doh, spitting green beans out while waving her arms in the air like a crazy lady, and dropping things on the floor over and over and over again. She also loves being a detective and finding ALL of the cheerios that she's lost in her high chair and eat them. Saving them for later I guess.

• All in All, Em is pretty easy going. Ha. We're feeding her basically everything that we eat. 

{Play}

• Em LOVES hugging every stuffed animal she can get her hands on. Like squeezing it so hard she almost knocks herself over.
• We love playing hide and go seek. She mainly does the seeking and it cracks me up because she's so proud of herself when she finds me. She loves getting chased by her Daddy. When I say "I'm going to get you!" she chases me instead. It's amazing. heart melting. perfect. 
• She loves being outside.. she gets cranky when the screen door isn't open and bangs on the window like we're holding her in baby jail. She loves playing in the dirt from our planters and the water table.
• She absolutely loves books. 

{Words}

• Em is a pretty vocal baby. She's always babbling about something. :) She's doing pretty well with words and lately Dan and I look at each other and say, "Did she really just say that?" then we cheer for her like she just won the Olympics. 
• Words - Hi, Mama, Dada, Ball, Dog, Ozzy, Boo (In Peek-A-Boo), Night Night, Baby
• Hi, Mama, and Dada are just perfect.. but seriously - I would love to translate the rest for you. Bah, Daw, O-yee, Ba, Nigh Nigh, dayday. 

{Skills}

• Em took her first steps around 11 months. She's walking more and more each day, but if she's really trying to get somewhere (Like to the stairs when I leave the baby gate open) she speed crawls. 
• Clapping, Peek-A-Boo, Chasing Ozzy, Putting Cheerios on her head, opening cabinets that have baby locks on them, unrolling a whole roll of toilet paper in approximately 30 seconds, making everyone in the grocery store say Hi to her because she'll say it over and over again until they break...Hm. I could probably go on forever. Ha! 

{Moments}

• I had my sweatshirt hood up and I was holding Em. Out of nowhere she grabbed my sweatshirt hood and pulled me in for the biggest baby kiss I've ever had. It was the cutest thing ever. Ahh. That little baby. not toddler

Well.. this post has been entirely too long. Sorry not sorry. Well actually. I am kind of sorry. I also fully admit that I'm probably forgetting 20 things. Oh well! Happy Wednesday! xoxo.

My favorite look lately. She is such a little mess. :) 

New Toy. She loves it. 

First Birthday Treat Table

I had so much fun baking sweet treats for Em's treat table @ her first birthday party. Below is a {Treat Table Breakdown} and links to the blogs that gave me the recipes! 

Oh Pinterest.. How I love you. 

1. Neon Cupcakes - Food Coloring from H.L. and {DIY cake toppers} made from washi tape and striped paper straws. 

2. {Bunny Bait} - So easy to make...and seriously I couldn't stop eating it! 

3. Smash Cake! No link here.. just used neon food coloring to make the different layers.. and an extreme out of control amount of icing.

4. {Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows} - SO easy and probably the biggest hit at the party!

5. Chocolate Dipped Animal Crackers (do you see a theme? Chocolate..Chocolate..Chocolate..) 

Pretty New Headbands on PrettyLittleElm

Hey Friends!

Wow. We've been spending all week trying to catch up from the weekend and Em's first birthday bash! And when I say we.. I really just mean {I}. Please don't judge but we still have half of Em's decorations hanging up.. I can't help it. POMS make me smile. :)

Now that Em's party is over.. I've had some time to add some brand new headbands to the shop! I would LOVE to hear what you think! xo.

Based on my current color choices.. I Clearly have one thing on my mind and that is S.U.M.M.E.R.

Check back in for my {breakdown} of Em's First Birthday Treat Table! I can't wait to share all of the D.I.Y sweet treats.

Hope you all are having a wonderful week! xoxo.

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Mint - My Favorite. 

Lavender & Gold

Headband {DUO} Deal