Trendy Tot Tuesday: Valentine's Day

I have been following Trendy Tot Tuesday and its beautiful mommy hosts for quite some time now. I always look forward to seeing how Kelly at Modern Camelot and Megan at Table for Three style their adorable daughters each week! 

Personally, I am fashionably-handicapped. I mean... I like fashion, in the sense that I like to follow other fashion-forward people. I love seeing people put together outfits and style the whole look. I have been obsessed with Project Runway since the first episode of the first season (I may even own some seasons on DVD). I am very fascinated by it, but for the most part, I suck at it. Jeans and sweaters are as fancy as I get. It's mostly a confidence issue. I am too self-conscious to bust out a unique or trendy look. Also, as a SAMH, I rarely go anywhere that requires me to look presentable :) 

All that to explain why I have been following this link-up for so long, but have never joined in. I love putting Myles in fashionable, little man clothes, but I am by no means a fashion guru. I buy second-hand and clearance and am not sure he is very 'trendy'. However, I have been loving how my little man is looking more like a big boy these days and ever since I got my 'big girl' camera, I have been able to get Myles to pose for some adorable photos during my all too frequent photo shoots. So this link-up is the perfect way for me to show him off :)

I have been playing around with photo editing lately and these are the results from Valentine's Day:

Jeans: Carter's Straight Leg | Top: Circo from Target

This is the photo I sent to some friends and family.

I only got these shots by bribing him! I really wanted him to stand in front of the fireplace decorations, but he was not having it. So I let him hold on to a couple of the pink plastic hearts that were in the glass bowls on the mantle. He was so excited, he actually stayed still long enough for me to get the pictures!

 

 

 These pictures I took earlier in the day with my iPhone because I didn't have my Canon near me. My iPhone takes really crappy pictures, so this was the best they came out:

Thank you Kelly and Megan for hosting and letting me link-up!

What is your go-to outfit for your littles? Mine is always jeans and a tee!

Countdown in Style {Co-Hosting}

Welcome to Week {11} of Countdown in Style!

You can link your funny stories, best recipes, parenting successes, parenting fails, DIY projects and tips, photo bomb posts and more! PLEASE DO NOT LINKUP OTHER LINKY PARTIES OR GIVEAWAYS AND ONLY ADD UP TO 2 POSTS. We want to learn more about the people we connect with daily through their favorite posts. Then...come back for Feature Fridays! Brittnei and I choose our favorite links from the link up and feature them on our blogs and in the weekly linkup email! *We have the right to remove any links that do not adhere to the rules.

Please grab our button and help this link up grow :)

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It's the Little Things: Photo Books

Today I am linking up with It's the Little Things. It is a fairly new link-up on this here blog-land and I am excited to have found it. I tend to be very long-winded... probably something you have noticed if you are a regular reader :) I always think I need to write some in-depth profound post, but really the 'little things' are just as important. It's the little things throughout our days that make us smile and reflect on what life is really about. 

As I was trying to figure out what my first "It's the Little Things" would be about, I started looking through pictures I had recently taken with my new big girl camera (a Canon rebel T3i). I still don't really know what I am doing with it, but I try to take it out once a day to snap a few random pictures. I love the quality of the pictures and how easy it is to use, yet I still feel like I am a professional...haha. I feel pretty cool, but need absolutely no knowledge because it does everything for you ;)

Anywho, when I came across these photos I knew they were the perfect fit for this post. I snapped these a couple weeks ago and I can't stop looking at them. I guess they need a little explanation as I suppose it's not super obvious what they mean to me. As some of you may know, our little family moved from Illinois to California about seven months ago. California was a place I always dreamed about living in, so yes, part of me was super excited about the move. Not many people get the opportunity to move to such a beautiful place. And while I am extremely grateful, it hasn't been easy on me. My family means everything to me. I owe everything I have and everything I am to my parents and family. I find my comfort and strength from my family, and without them around, life is hard for me. And as if it wasn't hard enough leaving them myself, I now have Myles to think about. It was a super hard decision to make knowing that Myles would not see his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends on a regular basis. It kills me to think he will not have them around enough.
But the thing is, I did not want Myles to grow up and go to school in the city I am from. I also did not want to be there anymore. I think as parents if we have the opportunity to enhance the lives' and futures'  of our children, we should at least give it a try. I'm not sure we will always be here or even stay away from Illinois, but for now we are trying to give Myles the chance to be something better than us. 
I have learned that you never know where life will take you. My hope is that one day we will all be together again. Until then, we have Skype dates and picture books. When we first moved, I made a family/friends picture book. He loves to look through it all the time and I never deny him the chance to spend time with his loved ones :) 

Below are a few pictures I captured while he was hanging with his loves... They also got a lot of smooches from the little man this day!

The first two pages are of Mama and Daddy.. even though he sees us everyday, I want him to know how much we love him too. The other pages are filled with grandparents, aunts and uncles, extended family, and friends.

The friends page:
On the left: Ryan and Angela | On the right: Megan and McKenna

Myles' Aunt Jamie, Uncle Matt, and cousins Ryann and Ayson
Giving them kisses on the right :)

Giving kisses to Aunt Katie, Uncle Charles, and cousins Charlie and Lexi

We have tons more family in this book that Myles loves to look at and remember. I make sure to take this out as much as possible, so Myles never forgets all the wonderful people in his life! It's the little things :) 

What are the little things you love about your babes?

Tunesday Tuesday: Weeks 9-11

 It's music time people! I'm back for another edition of the Tunesday Tuesday link up with The Patchwork Paisley, Drinking the Whole Bottle, Momma Candy and MrsTeeLoveLifeLaughter. In typical Julia fashion, I have missed the last couple of weeks. I was trying to think up my excuse while I am typing this, but darn it, I really don't have one. It was probably either tired or sick... getting old sucks! So anywho, I am going to be tackling three weeks in this one post! Exciting, right?!? Well here goes:

Week 9 Theme:  "Your Car Jam"

Every week, these are so hard for me to pick just one. When I am sitting at my computer writing, I can never think of my choice. It always comes to me at some random time in the middle of the day. I had been thinking about my 'Car Jam' for a couple of days, then I heard JT's "My Love" come on the radio and it instantly came to me:

JT "Summer Love"

He never made a video for this song, so this is a crappy recording of a live version. But man, do I love me some JT! Whenever I hear this song all I can think of is riding around in a convertible during the summer time, with all my best girl friends, just singing our hearts out! Perfect summer time car jam!

Ridin' in the drop top with the top down
Saw you switchin' lanes girl
Pull up to the red light, lookin' right
Come here, let me get your name girl
Tell me where you from, what you do, what you like
Let me pick your brain girl
And tell me how they got that pretty little face on that pretty little frame girl
Let me show you 'round, let me take you out
Bet you we could we could have some fun girl
'Cause we can do it fast (fast), slow, whichever way you wanna run girl
But let me buy you drinks, better yet rings
Do it how you want it done girl

 

Week 10 Theme:  "Favorite Oldie"

This one was super hard for me to choose. Up until about an hour ago, I had no idea how I would pick my absolute favorite oldie. I didn't even know what my parameter was for an 'oldie'. Typically, when I think of oldie, I think of classic rock. I have been racking my brain for the ultimate classic rock song for over a week and I just couldn't pick one. I am a classic rock fanatic, so it just isn't possible for me. So tonight as we were pulling up to a restaurant for a family dinner, the answer came to me; literally just randomly popped into my head. I decided to take a different route with the term 'oldie' and pick an all-time classic rap song. The 'oldie' part is certainly debatable, but every song is going to be old at some point. This song is now 20 years old and by today's rap standards, I would definitely consider it an 'oldie'. I also have to preface this song choice by saying that I am, and forever will be, a Tupac-er. This is one of the very few Biggie songs I like. This song is my jam, but I am, at heart, a West Coast woman!

Notorious B.I.G. "Juicy"

 

Week 11 Theme:  "Best Love Song"

This was actually a no-brainer for me. I think this was the first time I didn't have to think for days to make my choice. When I saw the theme for this week, I instantly knew what I would pick. I have tons of favorite love songs, because R&B is my absolute favorite music genre. Honestly, for this theme, I would love to be able to pick a favorite song from each one of my top R&B artists. I could pick at least 20 favorite love songs. Even right now, I have a dozen floating around in my head that I want to share! But I am going to go with my initial choice because it is truly an R&B classic for me. Also this isn't a happy love song; I don't know if that was what this theme was going for, but I am not too much into happy love songs :) My favorites are the break-up/broken-up ones.

 Brian McKnight  "Anytime"

Still have your picture in a frame
Hear your footsteps down the hall
I swear I hear your voice, driving me insane
How I wish that you would call 

To Say

Do I ever cross your mind, anytime
Do you ever wake up reaching out for me
Do I ever cross your mind anytime
I miss you 

This song gets me every time. I could be the happiest I have ever been in a relationship and still cry when I hear this song. The conviction in this song is amazing; he really makes you feel what he is feeling. Cue chills and welled up eyes :(

 What would be your picks for these themes? What do you think of mine?