we really do have furniture...

for some unknown reason, libbi has loved sitting in boxes (and other tight spaces) since she was a baby. i have no idea why. it looks extrememly uncomfortable, yet she will squeeze herself into a box, basket, or tupperware container and "relax" right in the midst of an actual chair, recliner, or couch. what can i say?? she is her own person....and i love that about her!

it all started out innocently enough. she first learned to perch herself atop the book box in the living room....

and soon realized that there just might be something more to it....

so she got a little adventurous and decided to get INTO the book box....

and it's safe to say, that there was no turning back.

from there, she began to experience with different venues....

a plastic container (which is obviously a perfect reading spot)

a tupperware bowl. (despite what it looks like, we did not need a crowbar to get her out of here)

video evidence seen HERE

the laundry basket (both with and without laundry; though if you knew what's good for you, you'd empty it out before she did it for you!)

she even shared her passion for "compact sitting" with mawmaw and made herself at home in one of her trays.

how could i have possibly known when i bought these polka dot boxes while pregnant with a sweet baby girl that they would be used for SO much more than just storage?!

a recliner....

a play space...

a reading nook....

and a place to rest while staring at THE CHAIR that we bought!!!

to this day, i can not get out any kind of box or tub without libbi inevitably ending up in it....

whether it be to eat a snack (while wearing 3-D glasses)

listening to a story being read...

or just straight up chillaxin' (while wearing an old christmas leg warmer)

if there's an empty box, she's going to sit in it. and if it's not empty, she'll take care of it that, too.

although, i have to admit, it never ceases to freak me out when she pretends to be asleep in one...

i can't tell you how it thrills my heart to see her sitting in a box with her head propped up against THE CHAIR that we bought for her

or better yet, watching TV while wedged in between TWO CHAIRS!!!! while choosing to sit in a box instead...

and i'm not really sure if i should be worried or proud, but it seems that she has decided to share her passion with her sister...

we are so proud ;-)

project 365: week 12...

i'm a little late with this week's project 365 post, but better late than never, right? ;)

project 365: week 12

sunday, march 18 - saturday, march 24

Lastly, I wanted to mention two things:

1. I still have a few things left from my baby girl blog sale (and i added just a bit more, too). check it out HERE if you want and email me if you're interested in anything!

mrsamytippins {at} gmail {dot} com

2. If you text "Easter" to 827438, Target will text you back a link with some GREAT coupon codes! (50% off fisher price, 50% off disney princesses, 25% off disney movies, and lots more for items that would be PERFECT for easter baskets!!) *i was not asked to say any of this, i just love a good deal and thought i would share!* But hurry, it's only good until 3/31! 

Happy Monday, Friends! :) 

the voice

libbi has been into singing lately so we bought her a microphone. i know, i know...what were we thinking?! unfortunately, it's been confiscated more than it's been in use (for improper handling, screaming, and overall misuse - ha!)

and i think it's safe to say that after four days in concert, the microphone has bit the dust. once you watch these videos, it won't be hard to see why. i don't think it was made for her kind of singing/performing.

a few notes before you view:

*these were filmed with my phone, so not the best quality.

*i have no idea why "jingle bells" is her 'go-to' song.

*she ends the abc's with, "next time won't you sing with me...tomorrow!" she has finished it like this ever since she learned to sing it. and it's just too cute to tell her that's not actually how it goes. :)

*when we sing, we don't usually rap, beat box, or scream like a heavy metal band. she came up with that all on her own. it's all natural talent, y'all.

*she brings a whole new meaning to the term "joyful noise"

see also: you may want to turn your volume down...

i just love that girl and her joyful noise!

i have a few more videos of her "concerts," but i think i'll save them for when she makes it big. ;-)

Top 10

Laney James, you are 10 MONTHS OLD!!! I am so proud and yet so sad all at the same time. It's always so bittersweet writing these monthly updates. It's amazing to see how much you grow and change, but most of the time it seems it's happening all too fast! I love that you are learning new things and becoming your own little person, but there are days I just want time to stop so you'll stay little forever. I feel the same way about your sister. Both of you are growing up way too quickly! I absolutely cannot believe that in just two months we will be celebrating your first birthday. It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating Libbi's first birthday and now here we are preparing for yours!

You are officially in "double digits" (as of 3/11...this post is a few days week late because you've been sick, we've been busy, and then you were sick again!)

You are 22lbs and 28.5 inches of sugar (and muscle). :) You wear a size 4 diaper, but sometimes I just use Libbi's size 5's and they work just fine. You are a solid 12 month in clothes and a few 18 months fit you, too. I've been buying mostly 18 months for the summer figuring that you'll "slim out" a little once you start walking. :)

Speaking of walking, I have a sneaking suspicion that it won't be too long before you are officially a "walker" aaaaahhh! You pull up on everything and try to stand without holding on all the time. You can push items across the room and cruise around the furniture like it's your job. You are THE fastest crawler ever. Especially when you know I'm coming after you. You take off and it's all I can do to catch up with you. (it's usually when you are eating something you shouldn't be - ha!)

You still nurse 4-5 times a day. We're working on dropping a feeding or two. I give you a sippy cup of water at every meal because I am bound and determined for you to master the sippy cup! Our lives would be a lot easier if you would. please. i'm begging. :)

You love your veggies! You are your daddy's child - ha! You would rather eat green beans, carrots, or sweet potatoes any day over apples, bananas, or pears. You will eat purees, but you are getting better and better at feeding yourself small bits of "table food." But to be honest, you'd prefer to nurse. I think you would nurse 24/7 if I'd let you. You do not have much interest in solids, but we're still practicing.

It's amazing to me that you can struggle with picking up carrots off your tray, but you can find a minuscule crumb or piece of paper on the floor and have it in your mouth in no time.

You LOVE your sister!!! You watch every little thing she does - although sometimes I think it's because you're interested and other times it's because you're protecting yourself - ha! She loves you...sometimes a little too much. Her hugs can quickly turn to headlocks and her hand holding can cause a loss of circulation if we're not carefully watching. But she means well. You love to chase her (which she loves!) and to be chased. No one is more proud of your accomplishments than Libbi. We hear, "Look at Lay-Lay!!!!" no less than 50 times a day. (most of the time this is an excited statement, but every now and then it's a "Tattletale"...so watch out baby girl, she's on to you!)

You are still not a great sleeper. You go to bed around 7pm (At the latest) and then you usually wake up at 11, 3, and sometimes 5.  I'm sure you're probably playing me like a fiddle, but what can I say? I'm just a sucker for crying babies.

You have (almost) four teeth on the bottom and almost six on the top! You have the sweetest smile and can melt hearts left and right when you flash your little grin. You've started doing this cute little thing where you put your cheek to your should like you're all embarrassed. It's precious...and you know it!

Laney James, you are pure joy and make each day of our lives sweeter than the one before. We are all so blessed by you day in and day out!! Happy 10 months precious girl

(and happy 10 months of being a big sister to this silly girl that found your sticker and decided she should wear it) ;-)

project 365: week 11...

unfortunately, it looks like "the sunday night sickies" are becoming a trend for my project 365 posts. laney is down and out with a fever (again!) so we had a low key weekend at home. i'm not positive, but i'd be willing to bet that her ears are to blame (again!) i guess we'll know for sure after our appt in the morning. but, until then...here's a re-cap of week 11 of 2012:

project 365: week 11

sunday, march 11 - saturday, march 17, 2012

The weather was BEAUTIFUL so we enjoyed ice cream outside at Bruster's. Libbi has asked for "Boo-ster's" every meal since. And subsequently pouted when we've said no. That girl has a sweet tooth like no other (except maybe her momma!) ;-)

we met our sweet friends davis and amelia and their momma, laura at the mall to play. libbi has been tentative lately when it comes to crowds. there were a too many kids for her liking on the playground and she didn't want to play at first. she finally warmed up though and had a great time! :) 

laney and I enjoyed our morning together while Libbi was at school. We ran some errands and then just played...a lot! Laney is in a very "busy" stage, but oh so much fun! Tuesday nights Jeffrey and I have our couples small group (that we LOVE!) so buddy and mimzy came over to watch the girls. 

our new canvases came in the mail - woohoo!!! i had bought some groupons back before christmas and finally used them. :) libbi's canvas came last week and laney's came today! libbi loves looking at them and will talk to her portrait every chance she gets - ha! now to decide where to hang them....

libbi took these cute little treats to her friends at school today. the exterminator came this morning and we had to be out of the house for 4 hours! we ended up making it back home just in time for naptime - whew! priorities, people! :-)

we ran to the mall to make a few returns from our 4 hour excursion the day before...(and as i'm typing this i realized that we went to the mall THREE times last week - oops.) laney fell asleep while we were shopping, sweet angel. libbi spent the night with buddy and mimzy and had been asking me to pack her bags since monday. to say she was excited is an understatement. i texted this picture to my dad of libbi waiting by the door with her bags packed (about an hour before he came to get her). jeffrey and i went to a surprise party for our sweet friend tammy from small group - love her! nana k came over to keep laney, but unfortunately i don't think laney was the life of the party. i think she passed out around 6pm. :) 

i met my mom and dad to pick up libbi and we did a little shopping before we headed back home. project "spring wardrobes" is in full effect! when we got home from shopping, i noticed that laney felt a little warm so i took her temp and sure enough, she had a fever! :( she felt a little better after some ibuprofen and a nap, so we loaded up the girls in the jogging stroller and walked a few miles to the park. libbi and laney had the best time playing and crawling/running all over. we celebrated st. patrick's day by wearing green and going to bed early - haha! :)

We don't have too much planned for this week outside of our normal activities, except for a visit to the pediatrician in the morning. :( 
Hopefully, by my next post all the Tippins Girls will be feeling much better!
Have a great week, y'all! :)  

To see more project 365 posts, click HERE.

baby we're the lucky ones...

with st. patrick's day right around the corner, i've been humming amy grant's song from way back when :) "...baby we're the lucky ones..." anyone remember that? :)

anyway, i know st. patrick's day isn't really that big of a deal, but we've been making a few green things around the tippins house. we made a fun little treat for libbi's friends at school and i thought i would share. 

it's a "leprechaun hat" for st. patrick's day!

here's what you'll need:

The first thing I did was paint each container with the green paint. i chose to sponge paint them. that was the most time consuming part, but it honestly wasn't that bad. I did it during naptime one day and they were dry by that night. I know that I could have spray painted them, but A) I liked the way they looked when i sponge painted them and B) sometimes spray paint carries that "spray paint smell" for a while and I didn't want all the preschoolers suffering from a second hand high on my watch. :) 

Once naptime was over, I had to make sure my assistants knew that there was wet paint on the premises. Which basically meant they had to be barricaded in the den, because we all know that a toddler with wet paint is like a moth to a flame.

So we waited....

and waited...

did a few puzzles....

tried a few new tricks....

waited some more....

and then the paint was dry!

After the paint dried, I hole punched a small hole in each lid and hot glued black ribbon around each container.

I filled each container with Rolos (aka "Gold")

I tied these precious little tags on each lid and attached them to the containers. These printables were made by my sweet friend Sarah and they're FREE! You can find them HERE on her blog.

I added a back to mine (with Sarah's permission) with a Bible verse on it. 

Once the containers were filled and sealed, there was one final step...the gold buckle on the hat. I added the gold square using the glitter paint and voila! a leprechaun's hat! :)

for libbi's teachers, i found these cute buckets in the dollar section at target. i just slapped on some chalkboard paint,

added their names and filled with gold (candy).

(i added in some of the green crinkly paper as filler b/c these buckets were kind of deep)

i put the same printable in each of their buckets and they're ready to go!

we are so lucky and BLESSED to have wonderful friends and teachers in Libbi's life that this is just a small way to say, "thank you."

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"

Matthew 6:21