annnnnnd the WINNER IS.....

I hosted my very first giveaway on my blog and it was super fun to be able to give something away! Tiny Prints is such a generous company to giveaway $50.00 off an order to some random person. Do you want to know who won????

The winner is.......

Kathryn Norman!

CONGRATS KATHRYN! So excited that you won and even more excited that you get to spend some money at Tiny Prints! I will email you details on claiming your prize! :)

Thank you to everyone who entered!

busy bee bristol

Bristol is almost 14 months old. I can't believe it. Some people say she is a toddler, well I have some news for you ... SHE IS NOT and WILL NOT BE a toddler in my eyes, never never never. She will always be MY BABY. It's been so fun to watch her grow and discover things the past couple months. She has really blossomed, especially after she turned 1. It was light a switch flipped on and BAM! ... she starts achieving all these milestones and fun things. 

She is VERY busy. Doesn't really play with her toys for more than 5 minutes because she wants to be crawling around and pulling up on any and everything. She is still not walking but by now, I have realized she will accomplish what she wants on HER TIME, not momma's time. Bristol is also quite the chatty kathy, more specifically when she is around people she really knows. You won't really catch her talking to anyone randomly. I can't get her to say any words to people in public, strange huh? :) 

Bristol is constantly on the go. She loves going to the dog water bowl and dumping it over, crawling to the TV cabinet and opening the doors. She also likes to crawl into the kitchen and pull off the towels on the stove handle annnnnd she likes to snatch my sunglasses and put them on herself. There are so many other things she loves doing which I will save for another post. :) My sweet girl is my pride and joy and I love getting to watch her accomplish so many milestones and be so proud of herself every step of the way. Yes, I am proud of her but she gets so proud of herself when she does a new trick, it's precious! 

My hip chick keeps me on my toes and keeps me laughing everyday.

christmas cards already? you betcha! and a GIVEAWAY!

Hi Friends! 

It's been quite some time since I last posted, but let's cut to the chase. The holidays are approaching, can you believe it? I can't. I'm still trying to wrap my finger around the fact that my not so newborn baby is 1 years old! It's that time of year where people are starting to take pictures for their holiday cards. Last year, I was blessed to get my christmas cards for FREE. Oh! and FREE shipping from Tiny Prints. Tiny Prints offered FREE holiday cards last year to those who blogged about their company. I jumped at the chance for FREE cards with FREE shipping! 

I was BEYOND impressed with the quality of last years cards that without a doubt I knew I was going to use Tiny Prints again this year for my Christmas Cards YOU definitely need to go to their website and check out their new style of cards, YOU WILL LOVE THEM! Also - I want to add a tidbit of how GREAT their customer service department is. Last year, I had created my card and one of the pictures I submitted was a little blurry. I received a call from one of the designers that one of my pictures was blurry and if I wanted to change the picture I could. UMMMM.. HOW NICE WAS THAT? I was actually surprised that they took the time to notice the blurry picture AND call me. They are super nice and have great attention to detail! 

 I haven't officially picked out my card yet but I am a sucker for red. :)

 I am also a sucker for chevron print lately. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. In fact, I am in the process of getting my photography website up and running and chevron print makes it debut on my site!

My cards always have to say " Merry Christmas" on them. It's a rule of mine :) 

So friends, when you are trying to decide what company you want to use for your family christmas cards, PLEASE consider checking out Tiny Prints. They offer a wide variety of styles and colors that you will love. Also, check out their special offers page. Lots of GOOD stuff going on there!

One last thing.... Tiny Prints is letting me host a giveaway on my blog! I've never hosted a giveaway but there is a first for everything right???? You have the chance to WIN a $50.00 off your total order from Tiny Prints ( does not include shipping and cannot be combined with any other promo). Basically, it's $50.00 to spend at Tiny Prints, UM YES PLEASE! :)

So here are the details to enter.... 

Contest starts today 10/8/12 and ends 10/28/12

* Comment on this blog and tell me what your favorite card is from Tiny Prints

*** Additional entries***

* "Like" Kellianne Barron Photography on Facebook and comment back here, telling me you did so.

SPREAD THE WORD AND SEND YOUR FRIENDS TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY!

*** this post is officially sponsored by Tiny Prints***

Bristol is ONE!

How is my baby ONE already? Time sure does fly and that has been a phrase that I have said many times over the last year. I can't believe I had a baby a year ago. She is the biggest blessing, greatest joy and the brightest light in my life. Over the past year I have learned so much about being a mom and I am continuing to learn about being a momma and learning about Bristol everyday. We had so much fun together over the last year. There are many moments that I can remember that stick out in my mind. I remember when we gave her her first bath and during the bath she pooped everywhere, all over the side of the tub, I just laughed and laughed. OR the time that she cried and cried for hours on end in the middle of the night. I tried everything to calm her and nothing worked. At about 3am I took her to get a bath and that calmed her. I thought I was super mom. I remember the time that I gave her oatmeal for the first time, she did great. And the times when we went to physical therapy every friday, she did great there too. I anticipated Bristol getting teeth for almost her whole first year of life and then just over the last couple weeks 2 have popped through. There are so many sweet memories that I have stored in my brain that I will never let go of. I can't wait to make more memories with my sweet girl over the next 12 months.

 First family picture since she was a newborn, can you believe that? And by family picture, I mean professionally taken. It's hard for me to take our own family pictures :) 

 The cake table turned our great! We had the big cake, smash cake and 3 pictures on display. One picture was of Bristol, the next picture was of myself at my first birthday and the last picture was of Brandon at the age of 1. The cake was fantastic too. I HIGHLY recommend the company I used to make her cakes. She was BEYOND reasonably priced and it was very YUMMY!

 The cookies were made by Jolie Delights. They were a big hit with the guests, every single one was eaten. Bristol loved to look at them, I even gave her a little bite too!

 Big girl sitting on the pool table with all her gifts. I am so glad we thought about putting her on the table with all her gifts. Don't worry, there were at least 6 other adults there ready to catch her if anything happened. My aunt bought Bristol that minnie doll, it was a birthday minnie. She is holding a balloon and it sings happy birthday. Bristol loved it!

 Bristol was interested in every.single.present. She would smile every time I opened a new gift and showed her what is was. Precious girl got a lot of clothes ( yay for clothes! I LOVE clothes, especially for Bristol) and lot of "minnie" stuff.

 She dove right into the cake except she wouldn't put the icing in her mouth. She kept sticking her hand in the icing and would act like she was going to eat it and then would pull her hand away. I got the biggest laugh at her. FINALLY, she decided " what the heck! let me see how this tastes!" Once she got a good taste, girlfriend kept going back for more. I had to pull the cake away, I didn't want her to get sick. She hasn't really had any sweets until the week before her birthday for her birthday pics. But she loved it all!

 Can it get any sweet than this? Of course she wouldn't smile for us, but that's ok. Afterall, she is her mother's daughter. I wouldn't smile for ANYTHING. She smiled for all the inside pics just not outside pics. I guess I don't blame her, it was HOT HOT HOT and humid outside that day.

I love this collage, it highlights some of the decorations from the party. I seriously could have looked at all the decorations all day long. I think I told my mom that 56 times that day. 

Bristol's party went GREAT! Better than I expected to be honest. I loved every single thing about it. I worked so hard on her decorations and putting it all together. It was worth every late night, shopping trip and internet surfing to find the "perfect" idea/decoration, etc. She was so happy during the whole party. She had no nap and was not feeling well due to cutting more teeth. We had a great turn out and are so thankful to everyone that came and spoiled our sweet girl. She was showered with gifts but more importantly love. She is so blessed to have such awesome friends and family that love and care about her, more than she will ever know.

I am so thankful for this past year I got to share with my Boo Boo. I love her so much and can't imagine my life without her!

Happy 1st Birthday Boo!

Over the last year

Over the last year I have had my ups and downs, smiles and frowns and laughter and tears. Over last year, it has been a whirlwind of new life experiences - failures to triumphs and "let's try this again". Over the last year I have gotten to do a lot of things that "working" moms would love to do with their baby. Over the last year I have had to watch my spending and become "frugal". Over the last year I have had to completely give myself to a little baby in order to put her first. Over the last year I have had to learn how to juggle being a first time mom, wife, daughter, sister and lover of God. Over the last I have had to put me second and Bristol first. Over the last year I have had to learn how to take a 5 minute shower, apply my makeup in 1 minute and throw my hair up in a bun. Over the last year I have made many first time mommy mistakes. Over the last year I have realized that motherhood is a tough job, it's not for the birds. Over the last year I have realized that it is so easy to get wrapped up in to comparing your child to another child. Over the last year I have realized that finishing my degree is probably one of my biggest and most proud moments of my 28 years of life. Over the last year, that it takes a village to raise a child. 

Over the last year I have opened my eyes to so many things that I never knew before. I just named a few, but trust me, there are so many more things that I have learned over the last year being a stay at home mom. I am forever grateful that I got to spend the last year at home with my sweet baby. 

A new chapter begins August 13th. I start my new job. 

life lately

 Life is booming at the Barron household. We've been busy busy busy. We are trying to spend as much time together as a family of 3 before we both go back to work and Bristol starts school. We took a trip up to the hill country a couple weekends ago because my parents are looking for property to buy and build a house on in Canyon Lake. We had a great time with my parents, as usual. They spoil us beyond words and we are so blessed to have them in our life. 

The picture above is a little pallet I made for Bristol to play on at the hotel. She is definitely a mover and shaker now a days. She loves to crawl around everywhere. Just the other day, she crawled to the dog water bowl and poured it all out. I couldn't help but laugh. 

 Bristol sure is Grandaddy's girl. She loves him and her face lights up everytime she sees him, it's precious. This was our first stop on the "property search". Of course I had to take a picture of 2 of my favorite people.

 We rented a boat on Sunday to cruise around Canyon Lake. This was Bristol's first boat right. She refused to wear the life jacket, but don't worry, we had 2, yes 2 jackets for her if anything happened. She wasn't so sure about the boat at first, she was very fussy and cranky but she warmed up to it about 30 minutes into the ride. Bristol sure does love her "da-da" and "da-da" sure does love her. He calls her pee-wee, peanut and many other names that are too cute.

 I have realized over the last almost year, I don't have many pictures with Bristol. I have been in a rut with my apprearance and I haven't been wanting to be in photos, which is unlike me. But I have realized that being in a picture with my boo-boo is so much more important to me than "looking perfect" in a picture. Sounds to petty, I know. But I am facing some silly demons right now about myself and slowly but surely, I will get there. 

 Snack time! Bristol loves strawberries, well, she pretty much loves any food. I mean, look at her belly in this picture. You think she has missed a meal? I think not. :)

 Hello cheeks! Oh and double chin! i love it. LOVVVVE IT! Precious girl has grown so much over the last several months, makes me happy. She struggled to gain weight for the first 2 months of her life. In fact, she didn't gain any weight the first 2 months, well maybe 1/2 pound. So to see her thrive makes me so happy. I am still a "control freak" when it comes to what she eats and drinks but I am happy I am this way. She loves every thing healthy. She doesn't turn away much, the only foods she has turned away have been watermelon, cantelope and avocado. 

 Remember how I said she was fussy and cranky at the start of the boat ride? Well, that was partially due to her being extremely tired. Believe it or not, she fell asleep on me while on our cruise around the lake. I was shocked actually. She isn't the type of baby that just falls asleep anywhere, which can be frustrating to be honest. But she was so tired that she conked out on me and then I layed her down on the bench in the boat and she slept a little while longer. I went for a swim while she slept. 

 This sweet face just got a bunch of "prizes" from her Grandaddy. He went to Orlando and the hotel had a disney store. Can you guess what he got her? Of course she got another minnie and a fun placemat and plate. Spoiled? You bet. 

 Bristol has definitely taken her time to hit milestones such as sitting up by herself, rolling over, crawling and bearing weight on her legs to stand up. I work with her everyday and she is improving drastically. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried about her attitude about putting weight on her legs. She didn't want to do it at all, not one bit. I have slowly introduced new ways for her to stand up and it's been helping, a lot.

 Getting ready for her birthday party with her minnie mouse ears. She knows exactly who minnie is and it's so cute to see her reaction when she sees something minnie. 

 Bristol wanted to help me get the favors ready for her party. I hunted high and low for the favors we got for the boys and girls who come to her party. Her party is a minnie theme, but we weren't going to give the boys minnie stuff, so we got a few mickey things too :)

 She loves to get into stuff, especially when she knows she is not supposed to. She loves pulling stuff out of bags, She hasn't quite grasped putting the stuff back in the bag but nonetheless, she loves bags and things in bags. 

 Yep, she is trying to put a plastic bag on her head. 

She is a mess, a sweet precious mess. She is so nosy, busy and always wanting to get into something. I definitely let her explore and figure things out but there are boundaries. I love seeing her grow and change everyday. 

I can't believe she will be 1 in less than 2 weeks. My sweet girl will always be my baby no matter her age. I am thankful for her and thankful I am her momma. I can't wait for her party on the 18th to celebrate the life of my Bristol Elaine.

Dear August ...

I am totally and completely not ready for you to be here. You have snuck up on my little family and I don't like it one bit, you hear me? Do you realize what August means? It means my baby turns 1, summer is over, daddy goes back to work, momma goes back to work and I have to take my beautiful sweet baby girl to "school". 

 

I am so not ready for this. 

I'm not ready for change. I'm not ready to set my alarm clock. I'm not ready to hit the snooze button. I'm not ready to wake up at dark-thirty to get myself ready and then my baby ready. I'm not ready to leave my baby 8-10 hours a day. I'm not ready to give someone else control of taking care of my sweet girl. I'm not ready to drop Bristol off at her first day of "school". I'm not ready to anticipate sad tears coming from my baby when she realizes momma is leaving. I'm not ready to not wear my pajama's almost all day long. I'm not ready to sometimes put on a happy face when sometimes I'm not happy. I'm not ready to not be able to make random trips to Chick-fil-a for my dose of diet dr. pepper. I'm not ready to give my a lot of my freedom. I'm not ready to give up my title as "stay at home mom". I'm not ready to "leave" the playgroup Bristol and I are in and have grown to love. I'm just not ready, ok? 

I am praying that these feelings of "I'm not ready" will go away, sooner than later. I am praying that my feelings of anxiety and worry with disappear. I am praying that a peace of understanding will cover my body in the upcoming days. I am praying that I will accept that going back to work is the best choice for my family right now. I am praying that the spirit of the Lord will help me transition into this "new normal".

I'm hoping my next post I can share with you about my new job and some other happenings going on like Bristol's first birthday theme. 

Until then....

peek-a-boo!

I went to go get Bristol from her nap and I walked into her room and saw this sweet little face peeking through her crib! Precious right? 

Sweet baby turned 11 months old yesterday. Can't believe it. 

Hope ya'll are having a great summer! We sure are!

10 months

Bristol turned 10 months on June 15th and boy, her 10th month might be the most exciting yet! She started to crawl this month which has been so exciting! It's the most precious thing I have ever seen. At first, she wasn't so sure about it. She would start to crawl and then stop and roll over, get frustrated and then try again. That next day, she was a whole new baby. I think she realized that if she kept at it, she could really get to where she wanted to go. Now, she isn't fast, which is OK with me, but it's precious nonetheless. Bristol also pulls up on things with help. She isn't a fan of putting a lot of weight on her legs, which worries me a little. It has been a concern of mine for quite some time, but she has shown progress, baby steps right? She definitely is on her own schedule and likes to do things her way which I am ok with. 

 Bristol's blue eyes are by far one of my favorite things on earth. I love them so much, not only because I "gave" her blue eyes, but they are stunning.  :) She is constantly complimented on her pretty eyes. Now, daddy gets credit for her shape of eyes and long eye lashes :) Her hair color is still a mystery. Although, lately, it has been more strawberry blonde - but one some days it's blonde. Bristol's skin is very fair, which she gets from me as well. Still no teeth! I can't believe she still doesn't have a tooth, it blows my mind. I feel like she has been teething for months and months. Crazy.

 Bristol loves to make this face now, it's pretty funny. Do you see her little curls popping out on either side of her ears? LOVE LOVE LOVE! Her daddy had little curls like that when he was little, I on the other hand, had a head full of curly ringlits. Her hair is getting longer each month. She has more hair in the back then any other spot. The side of her head are lacking some hair, there is some, but definitely not like the top and back of her head. We transitioned from wearing headbands with bows to wearing a petite little bow clipped on her head, it's so cute. 

 Bristol loves to make this face and we love seeing her make it. She loves sitting in her bumbo in the bathroom with me while I get ready. She loves to look at the mirror and see herself and me getting ready. She still loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the mornings right after her bottle. She laughs and smiles during the whole episode. Bristol loves any toy that makes music and loves books. She lovvvvvvvves to turn each page, close the book and start all over again. She has an alphabet book that has pictures of people for some of the letters and she will kiss each person. The letter Y has a mirror and she will kiss herself in the mirror, melts my heart each time she does that. She loves to clap for herself and will clap on command. She gives the sweetest open mouth kisses you will ever get. Bristol will go to anyone for the most part. She will reach out to strangers if we are shopping which is cute but scares me at the same time, hahaha. 

• 

 Bristol went swimming for the first time this month. She really enjoyed it. She is a busy body so she would from sitting in her float to swimming with momma and then dada and then start the process all over again. It got very tiring for Brandon and I but we loved watching her explore and enjoy the water. She would kick her legs and splash the water with her sweet little hands.

She loves when Daddy comes home from work. She hears the door open and immediately looks towards the kitchen because she knows that he is coming that way. She still says "da-da" quite often. She has says "nonna" which I think she is trying to say "momma". She babbles and laughs all the time. One of her favorite things to do is throw toys out of her carseat while in the car. It drives me nuts but she loves to do it. So when I go to open the door all the toys come tumbling out and all over the ground.

I still think she is a momma's girl, although she will go to anyone, she usually wants to come right back to me. People still say that she looks both Brandon and I. It's so amazing to see what features she has of mine and what features she has of Brandon - God truly is amazing when creating such a perfect gift like a child.

Bristol LOVVVVVVES her cousin Maddy. She goes crazy when she sees her. She wants to touch her all the time. Of course we make sure she is gentle when she touches her. I love this picture. Bristol has started to "kiss" us when we ask for a kiss. She is kissing Maddy in this picture and it's soo cute. Don't you love my face and my brother's? haha Since Maddy has arrived, Bristol has taken a liking to babies and little people ( toddlers, kids). She gets so happy and excited when she sees someone her size anywhere we go, it's rather cute.

She loves her Uncle Ste-Ste ( Stephen). When I was little, I couldn't say Stephen so I called him Ste-Ste :) She thinks he is funny and well, he is. He can be a little rough with her, but I know it's only because he loves her and likes to make her laugh and smile. 

 Uncle Stephen gave Bristol water out of a bottle for the first time and now she is obsessed with water bottles. She would rather drink it out of the bottle than out of a sippy cup. She loves water too, which makes me happy.

Sometimes, Bristol doesn't like to be crawling for very long and this is the face she will give you. She gets frustrated and will fuss and whine and then start crawling again. It's a cycle. But this precious little girl tries to hard to get to where she is going and it's beyond cute. We have to put something in front of her to crawl to and it's gotta be something "good" too.

Once she gets the item she crawls to, she grabs and rolls over with it. Often, she will bonk her head with whatever she grabbed, it's funny. She loves this little turtle in the picture. It sings and she loves anything that makes noise or has music.

I realize that this post probably makes no sense and that's because I am going on little sleep and because this post has been written over the span of several days. I am pretty sure this will be the last time that happens because my thoughts are all over the place, ha.