Last night, we were supposed to do our weekly Dexter night with Stephen’s family.  Everyone comes over, bringing a food or drink item, and we all potluck it up and watch Dexter since Stephen and I have Showtime.  Unfortunately, due to all sorts of different reasons, everyone bailed.  Yeah, I was disappointed.  The house was clean, laundry done, the baby was in a good mood and super cute in her butterfly long johns.  And Stephen and I had dug out our Indian cookbook, planning to make Indian Butter Chicken from scratch.

So, after receiving phone call after text after phone call from folks saying they couldn’t make it, we sighed at each other.  Then Liv started to get a little fussy.

Then my back started to hurt.

Bad.

Stephen went into the kitchen to start cooking anyway since there was no reason we couldn’t have our super awesome Indian dinner to ourselves.

When my back is spasming, there’s really not much I can do other than stay off my feet and try to stay relaxed.  A squirming baby who wants to walk around and be carried doesn’t mesh well with this scenario.

Stephen poked his head into the living room, saw the situation, and said, “Show me how to wrap her on my back.”

Yes, he did.

I offered to show him the rucksack but he opted for a cross carry like I do with her on my front.  She’s a little too low on his back but she was secure and snuggily.  He turned on his iPod, danced with her in the kitchen, and cooked some badass awesome Indian food.  It was wonderful to see him wearing her.  I hope to see it many, many more times.

So my happy for today?

How did you Find the Happy today?  Link up your pictures!

For more info on the Finding the Happy Project, including the rules, read all about it here.

Don’t forget to grab the button and come back every Monday to link up your Happy!

Finding the Happy: Our Happy Collection of Links

Here we are!  Day 31, the final day of this project.  I must admit, this project was a lot harder than I’d originally thought it would be.  There were many days that it was a struggle to come up with something happy in the midst of all the stress.

But I did.  Every day.

And that’s my final happy and the close to this project - The month of March and 31 Days of Happy (clicky for a larger version):

As we leave March and move into April, I hope to take with me everything I learned from this project.  I learned that it doesn’t take much to make me smile.  Don’t sweat the little things.  Remember friends and family.  And, above all, keep a positive outlook no matter what the circumstance.  Stephen and I have had to do a lot of problem-solving this past month.  Thankfully, it’s starting to look brighter and clearer on the other side.

So, here we go – 42 days and counting…

What’s your happy for today?

Many wonderful thanks to @tami_moore for the awesomely cute bunnies in the banner!

The nursery is slowly coming together.  I have about a week and a half until the baby shower (squeal!) and I want it as put together as possible before we have guests here to see it.  So, those of you coming to the shower will get an advanced peek at the nursery!  After the shower, we’ll finish putting it all together and take tons of pictures and then do a big revealing.

But my happy?

It’s not organized and everything we have so far is just shoved in there so we could build furniture but this makes me smile.

Hard to believe she’ll be here in 6 weeks…

What’s your happy for today?

Many wonderful thanks to @tami_moore for the awesomely cute bunnies in the banner!

Every girl loves her shoes.

Granted, my little girl will be wearing socks and booties when she does have anything on her feet for a while, but, when pediped footwear had a campaign that donated money to Make-a-Wish, I couldn’t resist.

Can you imagine, as a girl who loves her shoes, how excited I was to receive these for my little girl to one day run around in?

They are tiny and precious and flexible and cute and so much fun.

I want an adult-sized version of these…

What’s your happy for today?

Many wonderful thanks to @tami_moore for the awesomely cute bunnies in the banner!

35 baby outfits.

40 dollars.

True story.

Consignment sales rule.

Consignment sales with a 50% off day rule even more.

What’s your happy for today?

Many wonderful thanks to @tami_moore for the awesomely cute bunnies in the banner!

When I was little, I could be read to for hours.  When I learned to read, I constantly had a book in my hands.  When I turned 12, I wanted to become a writer and wrote my first book in a spiral notebook that my mom still has.

I’ve already started a little collection for my girl in hopes that, she too, will love reading as much as I and her father do.

The two books on the far left are actually books from my stepdad’s childhood.  Yes, written back in the 1950′s – how cool is that?  It’s a little piece of history passed down.  We’ll see how long it lasts!

What’s your happy for today?

Many wonderful thanks to @tami_moore for the awesomely cute bunnies in the banner!

Today’s happy  is probably one of the cutest things I’ve seen in a while.  As most of you know, the general theme of the nursery is Classic Winnie the Pooh.  I love all things Pooh but Classic Pooh holds a very special place in my heart.  Imagine my delight when I heard there was a whole nursery theme tailored to Classic Pooh.

I recently found out that a lot of the line is being discontinued for whatever reason (sad panda…) BUT, between my mom and I, we managed to scoop up pretty much everything in the theme. What I ordered started coming in the mail this week!

So, my daughter’s room now has window valances.  I don’t even have valances or curtains or a draped bedsheet in my bedroom, but my daughter has valances.  She’s already hot stuff…

They really are so adorable.  I love the moon and stars theme that they integrated with Pooh and Piglet.  I’m trying to find other decor that goes with that idea.

6 1/2 weeks!

What’s your happy for today?

Many wonderful thanks to @tami_moore for the awesomely cute bunnies in the banner!

Every morning when I roll over to get out of bed, I see this:

It’s the only thing I haven’t moved to the nursery, mostly because I didn’t want it in the way while we’re putting together all the furniture.  I also really like the little “hi” we exchange every morning.  Liv kicks me and rumbles around, I say hi to the rocking horse and trundle my way to the bathroom to start officially waking up.

It’s a little thing, yes.  But it’s my little thing and I love it.

What’s your happy for today?

Many wonderful thanks to @tami_moore for the awesomely cute bunnies in the banner!

So I had this really cute picture of a rocking horse my mom bought Liv all picked out for today’s happy.  That’s being postponed.

Why?

I am so tickled and happy to announce that a friend of mine, Elizabeth Alford from Baby Alford, had little mister Tristan Cole Alford yesterday evening!  Apparently, he didn’t want to wait until the 29th and decided to make his debut six days early!  Mom and baby are doing fantastically – she looks fabulous and I hope I look half that good after having a baby.  Dad is pleased, happy, relieved, etc.  Tristan popped into the world at 5.21pm, 20″ and 8.8 lbs – nice and healthy.

Needless to say, I’m really impatient now to have mine after hearing this news and seeing the pictures and hearing how overwhelmed with happy love and emotion she is.

All in good time.

In the meantime, we’re all wishing them speedy recoveries and many healthy days ahead of them.

What’s your happy for today?

Many wonderful thanks to @tami_moore for the awesomely cute bunnies in the banner!

So many happy’s in the past day or two!  Well, instead of showing all of them in this post, I will spread them out over the next few days.  We’re winding down to the end!

Speaking of “end” I spent some time compiling a master packing list for the hospital last night.  I know, I know, I have 7 weeks still to go.  Plenty of time to figure that out.  But, I wanted to and Liv was keeping me awake so I figured why the hell not.  It was actually kinda fun.

In the list, I wrote down 2-3 outfits for Liv because we don’t know how long I’ll have to be in the hospital and I want to make sure she has extra clothes in case she spits up or soils what she’s wearing.  Besides, baby clothes are so tiny, you can pack five outfits in the space that one men’s T-shirt would take up.  I have some clothes for her already from gifts and things I’ve bought on clearance.  But I’m looking for a specific style when it comes to her hospital clothes and, basically, her clothes until her umbilical is healed.  I’m really drawn to the side-snap/kimono-style shirts with matching pants.  No pulling anything over her head and the shirt/pants combo allows breathing room and no rubbing on her little umbilical stump.

I have two outfits on order and one of them came today!

Happy!

I fell in love with Under the Nile a few months ago when I discovered them.  Now that I have an actual outfit from them, I’m even more impressed.  The clothing is really well-made, stretchy, and incredibly soft, even before washing.  It’s 100% organic Egyptian cotton.

Oh yeah.  My girl will be stylin’.

Yeah, I want pretty much everything they make now…

What’s your happy for today?

Many wonderful thanks to @tami_moore for the awesomely cute bunnies in the banner!