happy birthday miss madalyn!

my daughter is two today!

We got her a LaLaLoopsy "LOOPY" named Jewel Sparkles and she LOVES LOVES LOVES it!

Here she is hugging her "Loopy":

and trying to open it:

We also got her some little pajamas for her. :) I am glad she is happy with it. We also got her a wooden play kitchen a few weeks ago, and a hello kitty table and chairs. We're taking her out to lunch and having a cupcake today, and going to dinner with my mom, stepdad and little sister tonight. Madalyn shares her birthday with her Nana, isn't that sweet!

valentines goodies!

Check out the Valentine's Day treats at caite&kelly!

We were featured in a treasury too! See it here: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d36351aed836d91048a1f8f/conversation-with-my-heart

sneak peek

Here is a sneak peek of a project I have been working on behind the scenes:

Yup, I am making a blog/website for my photography! :)

*sigh* the joys of parenting, and some lessons for today.

Above is a photo of my beautiful daughter. Below are photos of my beautiful daughter plus half a container (the big one) of Vaseline.

Lesson number one (probably the important one): If possible, avoid putting the changing table and crib next to eachother. If this can not be avoided, do not leave easily opened containers of anything on said changing table, or any surface for that matter. They will likely coat themselves with it instead of actually sleeping during their nap.

Lesson number two: In case you are unable to follow lesson one, cornstarch is said to remove vaseline from hair. I am to pat it on her hair then shampoo it out with warm water. Cold water will make it worse and simply shampooing it will do nothing (I tried twice--and I tried dawn handsoap too) I have not tried it yet, but I will update this post after I do. Just got to wait for some hot water. LOL

Wish me luck.

ATTEMPT ONE: unsuccessful. :( will try again in 12-24 hrs.

design services!

We have added a new shop section to our etsy!

It is to promote design services, like blog button design! I will create buttons for YOU like these:














for only $5! Just click here to find out more!

watch my heart melt

for this is the most perfect camera bag:

click the image to go to the site and see the inside! :) I want one SO bad. I think I have chosen my Valentine's Day gift...oh and wouldn't it just be perfect if it had an i-TTL external flash in it as well?

i just joined bloglovin!

Follow my blog with bloglovin

new blog design!

I hope you all love the new blog design, I've been working on it all day!

Check out:

*the pages in the Nav Bar
*my different links
*the sites I support!

Do you want to be featured on the side bar? It's easy, and free! All that I ask of you is to please share my blog, or my etsy with your friends, and provide the link here in the comments!

You may use these buttons to share on your website or blog.

<a href="http://caiteandkelly.etsy.com/"target="_blank"> <img src=http://i53.tinypic.com/27yy97k.jpg width=150 />

<a href="http://caiteandkelly.etsy.com/"target="_blank"> <img src=http://i53.tinypic.com/27yy97k.jpg width=150 />

down the rabbit hole, go until you get to the end, then stop.

FOR MORE IMAGES FROM THIS PHOTO SESSION PLEASE CLICK HERE.

bokeh bokeh bokeh!

So, in the past few months I have been seeing a lot of circulation about bokeh filters; and I am undertaking this "challenge". It is so neat, basically, you use construction paper or cardstock (I think it has to be black, but I am not sure) and punch a cool shape in it and it will manipulate lights in the background of photos. I plan to share a tutorial post after I try it to give you a better idea, and PS I am pretty certain this only works with SLR cameras. But here's a quick run through (like I said, I will share my step-by-step after I do it):

This is what the filter will look like:



This is what the photo should like like:


I can't wait to try it, I will probably do it umm TODAY after work. :)




IMAGES COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES. THESE ARE NOT MY PHOTOS.

cliche, but personally necessary.

Happy new year, blah blah blah and all that jazz. I am generally not incredibly stoked about the whole new year thing. But this year is different for some reason, maybe it's the fact that I am settling into my life as a mom, or maybe it's the fact that I turned 21 in this year...last year I mean, and I am really settling into my life as an adult. Maybe it's both. But this year, I have resolutions, and I have every intention of following through with them, as I have chosen plausible resolutions. I overly organized them and realized that by my categories, I have made it a lot more possible to actually complete them!

There are different kind of resolutions, there are overall goals for the year, deadline goals, and actual habit changes--the most important, in my opinion. I have several from all of these categories.

Consider this my self-agreement, because I will continually update you all on these goals as the year passes, and keep a checklist! I feel that by making this agreement publicly I will be held accountable. Today is 1-1-11.

In 2011 I plan to:

*RENEW, REUSE, and RECYCLE as much as I can because it is not only incredible for the environment, it is good for my soul, and a great money saver!

*Complete the Slim in 6 video series, and adapt to a healthier lifestyle. I get lazy and quit diets and work out regimens regularly which is why another one of my goals is to:

       *BE MORE ORGANIZED--I am a great organizer, I just need to use that skill more in my overall life.

*Save money in an organized manner.

*Make lists! LOTS OF LISTS! My fiance and I have agreed upon actually using a grocery list, because it will save us a lot of time and money, for obvious reasons-plus I am a shopaholic. But we will also keep running lists of things we WANT and things we NEED. 

*Give myself a monthly "planning day" to check up on myself and get plans, schedules and such together.

*Take more photos and videos (I will soon be writing a blog post about this goal separately to share my passion for the importance of this goal to me)

*Do a weekly dinner (and maybe a movie-I want to watch more movies)

*FINALLY finish making our apartment a home by

     -decorating

     -completing a guest area and an art space

     -reupholster furniture that needs some TLC

*Write stuff down in a notebook! I make a billion notes to myself, and I always lose them. I want to keep notes of different events, quotes, anecdotes, ideas, etc. to reflect on later.

*Be a better bookkeeper

*Pay it forward.

I am not so much excited for the new DATE year as I am for a fresh slate. Happy 2011.