Like Finding a Diamond in the Snow..

This happened over vacation.

I went to show Ben the dry skin I was getting under my ring and 

BAM.

It was gone.

Forever. 

The whole finding a needle in a haystack....kind of like finding a diamond in the snow.

Near impossible.

No loose prongs.

Not caught on anything.

The whole thing.

Popped out.

Gone.

We didn't have insurance on the diamond, Mr. B was only 19 and the ring was expensive enough.

This is actually a new setting I got almost a year to the day. 

I never went to my 6 month inspection.

They wouldn't cover the diamond anyway.

I am so thankful for this face  

She has helped put it all into perspective for me that it is just a "thing".

Of course, a special "thing".

A beautiful "thing".

But it is replaceable. 

It's hard to cry about something like that when you see those sweet eyes, big cheeks and dimples looking into your watery eyes. 

There are much greater and important things in life. 

I am also thankful for the support and kind words from Mr. B, I thought he was going to be really upset and he wasn't!

I am extra thankful it wasn't really my fault. I don't have the best track record of keeping jewelry safe {with the exception of my wedding ring!} so it's a relief that I didn't lose it/misplace it or something. 

There really was nothing I could have done.

I don't even remember hitting my hand hard, or at all, on anything!

Although there far greater things in life, this girl does love diamonds and it's still a 

big bummer. 

period. 

Never Again

Ignore the stains on the couch.

It's Roxie drool and needs to be cleaned.

Ignore the fact that Rawhide is bad for dogs.

It keeps her busy and quiet.

Let's focus on the mess, shall we?

{never mind the drool stains on the window- that's a free and I am willing to sacrifice}

You see, this clearance 97 cent treat is so not worth it.

If I could go back in time I would say do not do it!!!!!

It's not a good deal.

It's a scam.

What's the point of keeping them busy if you have to clean up after the fact therefore creating more work for yourself??

This 97 cents is not worth the 10 minutes of sanity that it gave.

You are actually spending 97 cents on yourself to vacuum the living room again. 

The rug.

The couch.

Trails through the kitchen.

Our bed.

One treat.

This is obviously not the one she ate.

I bought 4 of these.

Oh yes I did. 

So not only did I pay 97 cents to vacuum again.

I threw away a few dollars, too.

The rest of those darn treats are finding a new home in the trash.

We will be sticking to peanut butter in the Kong.

Who me?

Yeah.

Never. Again.

And here's a better question...

What is so unappetizing about all those little pieces?

Why can't she eat those??

Seriously, never again.

100

Today our little Smelly Bean is celebrating her 100th day!

I can't believe it!

Each day that passes we fall more and more in love.

Every single day has been a complete blessing filled with so much joy.

'Peaks' of CO

We have been enjoying our family vacation in Colorado despite the cold temperatures and the strong desire to be laying on the beach with a pina colada and a tan. 

A winter vacation seems so bizarre to me, but Mr. B, Papa G and the sibs are enjoying their time skiing.

And the grandparents are enjoying their great granddaughter! 

We made it through Adalyn's first flight.

I was a little nervous because it was a nonstop 5 hour flight.

I wasn't sure how her ears would be, if she would be overtired, if she would want to be walked around, gassy, screaming etc.

You know how people can be with a crying baby!

I changed her diaper right before the flight and sure enough as we are sitting on the plane and the other people are finding their seats...she poops.

Because that's what babies do.

It's like they know. 

I wasn't able to change her, I needed to wait until we were in the air and the seat belt sign was off. 

Awesome.

As we were taxing and preparing for take-off she started to fall asleep.

By the time we were in the air she was fast asleep and I didn't know what I wanted to do-

do I leave her sleeping in her poop, knowing she is peaceful and quiet or do I wake her and change her not knowing how she will be??

There ended up being quite a bit of turbulence and I wasn't able to change her until about an hour in and at that point she woke up.

We made our way into the teeny bathroom where they have a foldable changing table and she hated it.

Can't say I blame her. 

I hate those bathrooms too. 

After that she did great!

She slept some more, watched some Baby Einstein {the miracle movie- they're seriously magic} and played on the tray table. She did a great job!

{Sidenote: my hair has already grown too much and I need it shorter!}

We weren't sure how her ears would adjusts to the altitude here in CO, so we took it slow before heading right to the mountains with the rest of the family. 

Thankfully she has adjusted really well, has been sleeping great and has been a happy girl when meeting new family! 

That is her 98.5 year old great great GREAT Aunt! She is amazing and still going strong!

We stopped for lunch in Georgetown on our way to the mountains to meet up with Mr. B and the rest of the family. 

She sat in the highchair for the first time! 

I get to sit in the backseat with her and it's been a special treat with all those big smiles.

She adjusted well to the high altitudes of the mountain as well! 

I am so thankful.

On Sunday we met Mr. B and the fam for lunch at Vail Mountain.

She's becoming a pro at the high chair. 

I didn't realize she would be using it so much or I would've packed our cover.

The non-skiiers :)

The skiiers come back home in the afternoon and they are completely wiped out so we have been hanging out and going to bed early.

Yesterday we met up with everyone at Breckenridge and they took a little swimming break. 

It was Adalyn's first time in a pool and she seemed to enjoy it just like we thought she would. 

She played in the water for about 10-15 minutes and then quickly passed out. 

Mr. B and Papa G went back for some more skiing and the rest of us enjoyed the pretty views and took a gondola ride. 

We are having a great time and still have almost a week left! 

Quarter of a Year

Yesterday I woke up next to a smiley 3 month old.

How is it possible that our little Smelly Bean is already a quarter of a year old?!?          

                                                      

This has been the most difficult month, but also the most fun.

It seemed like she was doing something new every day.

                                                               

And there's my queue that we've taken enough pictures...

As Mr. B would say " I know where she gets those looks from..."

Obviously him.

I never give dirty looks.

I'm hoping to get her 3 month recap in before vacation, but we will see!

Pinterest {I can't think of a more creative name}

So yesterday I re-organized my boards/pins and whew do I feel good!

I feel like there should be a limit or something on how much you pin {but not really because that wouldn't be fun}, but it can get overwhelming! 

And you pin so much you forget what you've pinned! 

Anyways, while doing this I think I found what my username is.

You're never going to guess.

thesmellylife.

Super creative, right?

I wonder how I came up with that one...

So....if you're on please follow me so I can follow you!

I love following people.

Following people=less work for me. 

Because you know, it's a lot of work to really search for something to pin. 

Plus, the last few times I've tried searching something hardly anything comes up and if it does it barely even relates to my search!

Super lame.

But I think it might be fixed..

So I hope that works! 

If not leave me a comment with your username and I'll find you! 

Crib Conundrum

Currently Adalyn's crib is in the closet.

A closet crib that Mr. B and his dad made.

I have a post in the works explaining the details of that.

It has worked out so great in her small nursery!

I am a little bit sad to have to re-do her nursery.

I love how it turned out and I am hoping I will be able to make her new one just as cute/good!

Her new room will be a lot bigger which is a plus.

It's a weird shape, but long enough that I can have a sleeping area and a play area. 

And it's big enough for....a crib!

So now we are on the hunt for a new crib.

Babies R Us is having the trade in event and it ends this weekend. 

{You can bring in any baby item super old or super new, doesn't matter, and you get 25% off a new product}

So we will be purchasing a new crib for her this weekend!

The question is....

are the convertible cribs worth the extra money??

{via}

I don't really like that it jumps from a toddler bed to a full size bed.

I didn't even sleep in a full size bed until we bought one for when we were married!

What if when we buy a house the extra bedrooms aren't big enough for a full size bed, toys, bureau etc. 

Is it better just to have one crib and use it for {hopefully} other babies in our future?

Or is it better to buy a new convertible crib for each child?

So....please share your thoughts!

What crib do you have? 

Do you love it? Hate it? Is it convertible?

Busy Bees

Well I give myself props for having one consistent week of blogging, ha!

I always intend on writing a post, but then...

I don't.

This time around I feel like I have some legit excuses though.

We've been busy bees around here.

1. We are getting ready for our family vacation.

I could really go for some sun, pina coladas, warmth and a tan...but we are going somewhere where this type of apparel is needed...

{btw, found this at a thrift store for $4.99! Excellent condition and from Macy's!}

it's a good thing she looks so cute. 

It eases the pain of a wintery vacation a little bit.

We are excited to see my grandparents though and to have them meet Adalyn for the first time!

Mr.B, Papa G and the sibs are looking forward to skiing too!

2. Getting ready for the big move

We've been busy doing some of this...

as well putting all the crap valuable items inside the boxes.

We will be moving the following weekend we get back from vacation, so we need to pretty much have everything packed and ready to go before we leave! 

And for those wondering what hair style I went with..

that will have to hold you over until I can get a good/not awkward looking self-portrait.

It's much easier to look silly on purpose then trying to look good and looking silly.

Get my drift?

ok, great.

Made From Love...

I Did It.

Thursday's Ten

{one} I am so so so excited that The Vow comes out tomorrow! I kind of have high expectations for it which will probably be a bad thing, but with Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams it can't really be bad. 

{two} Roxie was driving me nuts this morning. She has some days where she wakes up and decides she's not a fan of Adalyn. Today was one of those days. She wouldn't stop barking/"talking", she started biting Adalyn's toys, biting my socks, ringing the bells over and over and over. She just needed to play and let out some energy, but I was busy with the baby and oh my goodness...could not stand her.

{three} I am sometimes mean to Roxie during the day and then I feel guilty at night when she is cuddling with us and then the next day...rinse and repeat.

{four} I think Adalyn is going to have blue eyes. I know she still has time for them to change, but I feel like they might be here to stay! Mr. B has bluish/greyish eyes and since brown eyes are more dominant I thought for sure she would....

{five} Baby smiles never get old. Especially when it comes from a little someone that you've made.

{six} I am so excited to move! I bought some moving boxes today and I can not wait to start packing! And possibly getting rid of somethings. I am a borderline hoarder though so we will see what happens. It's times like this when you realize just how much crap valuable belongings you have. 

{seven} I am also excited to whip up some Pinterest DIYs in our new place! And I still don't really know how to find people to follow on there so if you're on it {who isn't?!?} could you find me and follow so I can follow you back? I don't really know how you would find me...maybe jpsmelser?

{eight} I cut Adalyn's nails all the time and she still manages to scratch her face off. This has been a new thing since her hands have been attempting to find her mouth and it's not always successful. She took a little chunk out of her forehead on Sunday and then she scratched her nose twice yesterday and then she woke up and her cheeks were scratched this morning! I'm thinking I might need to cut and file them- so I did that today and I hope it helps! 

{nine} I am trying to blog more again- I have been pretty successful this week! I think the key for me is to plan ahead/have "themed" days. 

{ten} I had a cute idea planned {thanks to Pinterest!} for Mr. B's birthday from Adalyn and she didn't really cooperate like I had in mind...shocking right? This new love for her hands was really messing with my pictures. And then I realized that I wouldn't have enough time to erase and re-write and have her smile for a picture- it would take way too long. So after the first one I decided to make it blank and then just add the text on Picnik {which is a post for another day!}. So I did what I could and in the end it still came out cute{how could it not with that little monkey??} 

and Mr. B loved it!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Today I am linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday! 

These are so helpful and easy in keeping up with the little ol' blog.

{one} New Condo!

I'm loving that we found the perfect condo for us to rent for another year or two in order for us to keep saving for our "forever" home. We were looking again, but we weren't finding too much in our price range that we loved. Obviously a house is a big decision and something we really wanted to be confident in. Adalyn was overtired {the happy kind, thank goodness!} on Sunday night and she just wanted to talk and play. I decided to check craigslist real quick to see if there was anything good to rent in the area {there's usually not}, I found this condo in a great area, in our price range, just what we were looking for- we were the first ones to respond and we got it!! So thank you God and thank you Adalyn! We move in a few weeks! 

{two} My hard worker

I'm loving his determination and perseverance to provide the best he can for his girls.  Between the long commute to and from Boston, working and getting his MBA-I appreciate him more and more each day that I am home with our little girl. I am so thankful I get to spend each moment with her because of him. 

{three} My dream

I'm loving that I get to live my dream of my being a SAHM

{four} My Baby 

 I love this girl so so much. She makes my heart melt everyday.

{five}New Milestones

I'm loving watching Adalyn reach new milestones. Currently, she is obsessed with her hands in her mouth. It's so hard for me to get a picture of her these days without her hands in her mouth-I don't love that part, but I do love the new milestones!

{six}Mild Winter

I'm loving that this winter has pretty much been non-existant and we have been on multiple walks outside!

{seven} This Picture.

I'm loving this picture that Ellen posted on twitter.

I sent it to everyone and posted it on fb.

It makes me laugh every time. 

And it also confuses me every time.

As well as grosses me out every time.

So many emotions in just one picture. 

A Special Day

We are so excited about this special day...

it's almost scary!

23 years ago today our favorite man was born! 

He's an amazing husband.

A wonderful daddy.

And a great provider for his girls.

We are still in shock that the Lord has blessed us with such a fantastic guy.

When God created him he had us in mind. 

And we are so very thankful!