Kodiak Seashells

This morning it was low tide so we went to the beach. It was simply AMAZING!!! The tide was so low it seemed like you could walk forever. There were tide pools and little rivers running all over the place. The sand was covered in shells. Addison and I had fun hunting for the perfect shells. Our dog Angel had a blast running all over the beach chasing seagulls and jumping in the ocean. It's a good think she didn't spot the otter running around the beach because she would of been in for a surprise. Joe had his metal detector and was on the hunt for hidden treasures. He found a coin, some old rusty stuff. When we got home I cleaned up all of the shells we collected and put them in a vase for display. They look perfect in our downstairs bathroom. Next time we are taking a bucket so Addison can have even more fun finding beach treasures.

Potty Training for Jelly Beans

We are in full force potty training mode! Addison loves her potty but she seemed to need some motivation. Jelly beans were our answer! She gets one every time she goes potty in her potty. We do a little song and dance and clap when she goes. It's all very exciting. A friend of mine did tic tacs for her little one as a potty reward. Addison didn't seem to like tic tacs so I went with jelly beans. We also found if we keep her potty in the living room she has a tendency to use it more. When she has to go she has to go right then so having the potty in the same room as us has helped. I was slacking in the potty training department because we were all sick but now we are really focusing to mastering this task! It's a fun new adventure for our little one.

My Website

I've been working on changing my website with my mother's help. She is so talented on the web. I have designed the pages and she has put them online for me. I am trying to generate more work now. Now that Addison is becoming more independent and doesn't need me to entertain her every second of the day it would be nice to work more. The money would be nice and just getting my creative juices flowing always feels good. My mother is a very talented author and has published many books. Most of her books are offered as ebooks, which are selling like hotcakes. I'm so proud of her. She has given me the idea to branch into doing more cover designs for ebooks. With her help I hope to get in touch with all of the creative writers out there that are in need for covers for their books. I feel like this would be a great opportunity for me.

Check out my website! It's a work in progress but I think it's looking pretty good. I wanted simple and to the point and that is what I feel I have created. 

www.elizabethmackey.com


Also, feel free to check out my mother's website!

www.mid-journey.com

Maternity Photo Shoot

I recently had the pleasure of taking some maternity photos. I have always enjoyed taking pictures and have dabbled in photography. I took several photography classes in college and have purchased a nice camera since the birth of my daughter. I am always looking for things and people to photograph.

It was raining the day we chose to take her photos so we ended up doing them inside. I think they turned out pretty well. We hung a burgundy sheet up in the living room and with all the nature light from the large windows we got some great shots. The big challenge was convincing daddy to be in the pictures and getting their toddler to listen. I had a great time editing these pictures and was very excited to show them to the expecting mama. You'd never know she was 9 months pregnant in these pictures. She is so tiny.

Owl Themed 2nd Birthday Party

Addison's second birthday party was yesterday. Hard to believe she will be turning 2 in just a couple days. Where did my baby go? The party was a huge success. Addison had so much fun with all of her friends. We are so blessed to have such a great group of friends in Kodiak.

I decided this years theme would be owls. I found an owl design online that I liked and went from there. I bought party favor boxes and made everything else. I made a pinata, stuffed owls for party favors, a banner, cupcake toppers and the invitation. I found some really cute cupcake liners from Target in their Easter section and a red two candle. I decided to just make cupcakes, which was a hit with the kids. I made yellow cake cupcakes with chocolate frosting and chocolate cake cupcakes with lemon frosting and I topped them all with sugar crystals. They were yummy!

I made an owl pinata to match the party theme. It was very easy to make! I blew up a balloon and did paper mache over the whole balloon leaving just the tie out. I used glue, water and newspaper for the paper mache. I mixed half water half glue and dipped thin strips of the newspaper in the glue water and then placed them over the balloon evenly. Then I tapped paper in the shape of ears and and wings on the outside of the balloon and paper mached them. After the paper mache was dry I cut the tie of the balloon so the balloon sucked out of the pinata (make sure it is completely dry before cutting out the balloon or the whole thing will be ruined). This will leave a little hole on the top of your pinata which you can cover up with more paper mache. I then painted the owl to my liking. When it was all done and dry I cut a little flap in the back of the pinata and filled it with candy. It was a huge hit with the kids!

I was having a hard time deciding what to put in the party favor boxes. I didn't want to spend money on junk that would probably end up in the trash so I decided to make little owl stuffed animals. I had a bunch of felt so I cut the shapes I wanted and sewed them together. I think they turned out pretty cute! I also put some candy in the boxes with the owls.

I created the banner and cupcake toppers on the computer and printed them out myself. I used my trusty hot glue gun to glue the cupcake toppers together with toothpicks and ribbon to tie my banner together. All in all I think all the decorations turned out great.

I was worried our house would be too small for 20 plus people but it turned out great! It was raining so we had to stay inside but there seemed to be enough room for everyone. We had tons of food, from barbecue chicken sandwiches (done in the crock pot), smoked brisket, pasta salad, fruit and chips. Everyone seemed to have a great time and Addison had a blast! This will be a tough birthday to beat! Guess I better start planning for her 3rd birthday! 

It's been awhile...

I can't believe how much I've slacked off on my blog! What a crazy past month and a half. We survived Christmas! It was a blast! Our first Christmas just the four of us (I'm counting Angel, our dog) in our new home in Kodiak. We were all spoiled rotten this year. I got an iPad, diamond earrings and everything else I asked for! Joe got more guns which thrilled him (don't mess with our house) and Addison got a bazillion toys including her very own kitchen. She was overwhelmed with new toys! It was wonderful just being together. I am so very blessed.

New Year's Eve was quiet. We didn't even stay up till midnight. What old people we are becoming. With the New Year came lots and lots of snow! I'm talking record breaking amounts for Kodiak. We are starting to get cabin fever and our looking forward to warmer weather. Addison and I will be traveling to California and Arizona to visit family while Joe is in Florida for Engineer school. We are very excited for our vacation but wish daddy could come too.

Addison and I did some finger painting today. Trying to pass the time inside while the snow continues to fall. I will try and get better at posting on my blog and be less of a slacker.

Poor Baby Girl!

My poor baby girl has been so sick. She randomly woke up with a 102 fever from her nap last Thursday. It seemed to come out of no where. The next day she seemed so miserable. Daddy was gone for work and had taken our truck to work. My car does not have 4-wheel drive so I was without a means of transportation. There is a huge patch of ice behind my car so I was unable to get out of the driveway even if I wanted to attempt to take my car. Luckily my good friend lives two houses down and offered to drive Addison and I to urgent care Friday night. It turned out both of her little ears were infected. They gave her a shot of antibiotics to help her feel better faster. We filled her prescription and then my friend took me to get our truck from the base. That way I could have a car until Joe got home. We spent 3 days snuggling on the couch watching Christmas movies and cartoons. I enjoyed the snuggle time but wished my little one felt better. Sunday Addison began having extremely bad diarrhea and this morning she woke up with a rash all over her little body. I called the doctor and we took her in right away. It turns out she is allergic to the antibiotics they put her on. Poor thing can't catch a break! So now we must wait till her rash goes away to start a new round of different antibiotics. I sure hope she feels better soon. We are planning on seeing Santa this Saturday so I hope she is healthy by then. I hate when she doesn't feel good. It breaks my heart.