Look Whoooo's 1!

I realize I've taken a seriously long break from blogging. It's been a crazy busy summer, between my job, magazine deadlines, mommy-ing, Geoff being gone and time away. Not to mention, I haven't been in the best of health, but more on that later.

Anyway, my beautiful little girl turned 1 on Sept. 4, and one thing that kept me going was planning her birthday party. I must say, it was a lot of work, but I had blast planning it. I started falling in love with owls and birds when I found out I was pregnant and was planning Paige's nursery. She has owls/birds as an accent in her bedroom, so it only made sense to make them the theme of her first birthday: Look Whoo's 1!

We thought for sure Geoff would be gone, but luckily, he was able to get his leave extended to Sept. 5. We had both sets of parents and town, which made this a triple blessing! :)

Here are a few of my fave photos from the party!

Family Photos

Geoff, Paige and I had our first family photos taken while we were in D.C. Stephen Elliot of Mud Productions took them for us, which was fitting as he did our engagement and wedding photos as well. It was so special for us, and they turned out great. Here's a few of my faves:

Us outside of Union Station.

Love, love, love my family.

Having fun on Capitol Hill.

This little girl is my life's greatest blessing.

So sweet.

Future senator.

Goodbye D.C, again.

After nearly three weeks away, we finally flew back home to California on Saturday. It was tough to let go and say goodbye to the city we love yet again, but at the same time, it was nice to get back to all the luxuries of home and to my sweet puppy. Not to mention, it's ridiculous how difficult it is to not have all of the little baby luxuries around -- i.e. a changing table, high chair, swing, exersaucer, bathtub, etc. Life with Paige is far more easier here at home. I just wish home was still in our beloved D.C.

Nevertheless, we're back, and it was such a memorable trip. D.C. was the first trip I took as a baby (no wonder I love it so much!), so it was special being able to take my own daughter there for her first vacation. I know she'll never remember it, but I hope she too comes to love it as much as we do someday. Here are some of the most memorable photos from our trip:

Geoff & PEA in front of the White House.

Sweet feet on Capitol Mall.

My fave photo. I love how they are both making the same face.

G & P at the Library of Congress.

I think I got a decent shot of the Capitol rotunda.

She adores her daddy.

Ragtime - at the exact spot where Geoff & I met.

Cooperstown

My parents took us to Cooperstown during our visit to PA. Geoff’s a big baseball fan (Go Angels!), and it was really exciting for him to see the hall of fame. Cooperstown is only a couple of hours from my hometown, and the car trip worked in our favor, as Paige napped most of the way! 

By far my fave photo of the day.

A Few Photos

We had a wonderful time visiting Geoff's family in Riverside, Calif. It was perfect timing, as his aunt and uncle from Atlanta and sister Laura and brother-in-law Carl, who's been deployed and has never met Paige, were all in town. It was a full house, but what a blessing to have all of that family together at once. I bought a tripod and managed to get a few nice photos in my in-law's backyard. Enjoy!

The Anderson clan.

Laura & Carl

The faces in this photo are classic.

Carl, Laura & Denny dog

Getting Away

Geoff arrived home from this trip early this morning, and we're in luck, as I booked last-minute plane tickets yesterday to visit his family in Riverside, Calif., before we head off to PA and DC for a couple of weeks. This is what I love about military life (sarcasm): unless you have the rare chance to have actual leave, it's nearly impossible to plan anything. I can't believe this plan actually worked out, although it still was very last minute. With the C-5, which breaks all the time, it's never certain when he'll make it home. This is going to be such a special trip for the three of us. It's our first family trip, and we're actually going to get to see both families and close friends back-to-back. It's also a much needed vacation, as life has been absolutely crazy lately with Geoff's missions, 14-hour days here at home, and countless hours of work on his master's degree each week. I don't know how he does it, and at the same time, I don't know I manage to keep everything balanced here at home. This trip is exactly what we need. I just hope we're both able to relax. I also hope we don't have too many tears leaving the city we both love so much (D.C.) to come back to California.

Anyway, we leave tomorrow for nearly three weeks! SoCal/PA/DC here we come! :)

My first photos

I took a few photos of Sweet PEA in our backyard today. Paige gave me only a couple of minutes to practice before she started to fuss, but I got a couple of cute ones. I have so much to learn!

My new baby

After months of prayer and saving up, I finally caved and bought a brand new Nikon D7000 camera. As a journalist, I've long wanted to pursue photography, but at the same time, it's an expensive hobby. Also, with my husband gone almost around the clock and me functioning practically as a single mom, it's rare that I find any time for hobbies. But photography is a passion I can pursue with Paige. I'm so excited to get started. It will be great having my new camera for our upcoming trip to PA & DC.

I have SO much to learn, but I'll be sharing photos as they come!

Too Much Fun @ Mealtime!

I shot an adorable video of my little gal eating dinner. I was a bit disappointed in the video, as she was extremely goofy until I picked the video camera up. But the video is cute nonetheless. My favorite part is when she cries out after I mention missing daddy. She also tries to imitate me waving bye, or at least it seems that way. Enjoy!

Creative Couponing

I've been working on my own personal Happiness Project, thanks to the bestselling book by Gretchen Rubin. One of my many happiness resolutions has been to get more creative with coupons. I've always been amazed by moms who can get products ridiculously cheap or even free! There's a learning curve with it, but I think I'm finally beginning to master it.

For example, I bought everything in this photo for just $8.57!

The regular price for all of this would have been $30.13, meaning I saved $21.56!

Here's how I did it:

Target:
Purex Crystals: $2.99 (reg.) - $2 mfr. coupon - $1 Target coupon = FREE
Soft Scrub: $2.49 (sale) - $0.50 mfr. coupon - $1 Target coupon = $0.99
Shampoo: $2.84 (sale) - BOGO FREE mfr. coupon - $1 Target coupon =  $0.92/each
One-A-Day Vitamins: $6 (sale) - $2 mfr. coupon - $1 Target coupon = $3
Pacifiers: $4.80 (sale) - $1.50 mfr. coupon - $1 Target coupon = $2.30

CVS:
Shave Gel: $0.99 (sale) - $0.55 mfr. coupon = $0.44

Basically, the gist of getting these great deals is by "stacking" your coupons. Target allows you to combine their store coupons with manufacturer's coupons to get great deals. I clipped coupons from our Sunday paper as well as online (Target.com, RedPlum.com, SmartSource.com, Coupons.com). The idea is to only use the coupons for items that are on sale. I scoured the ads for sales and planned out my shopping trip accordingly.

I'm also learning that the best deals are not always at the commissary. The commissary charges you a 5 percent surcharge before coupons are deducted to pay for things like staff and maintenance. It's like paying a 5 percent tax on groceries!

Anyway, part of my happiness project is not only to shop smarter using coupons, but also to put the savings generated from those coupons into a special account. After a few months, I'll assess how much I've saved and put that money into some new investments for our family, whether it's retirement savings or college savings for Paige. I'm proud to say Geoff and I have started up quite a retirement nest egg over the past few years, so it only makes sense to supplement that good work, especially now that we have a daughter in the mix!

Clipping coupons is time-consuming, but I'm beginning to learn that it's more than worth it. It's also fun, now that I've discovered that I can get products needed for the family for cheap or even free. It really does feel like you're robbing the bank :)

So, does couponing bring happiness? You bet!

Blowing Raspberries

Paige changes every day. One of our favorite changes came just last week: she started imitating us blowing raspberries. I've been blowing raspberries at her for months, but just last week, she finally caught on that she also can do them back at me! I couldn't help but share this cute video of her the day she figured this out. Enjoy!

Baby Bow-tique

I've fallen in love with making headbands for Paige. The ones in the store and online are ridiculously expensive, so I figured out how to make even cuter ones on my own that I can coordinate with her outfits. They also make great gifts. Here's a set I made a couple of weeks ago for my friend Jenny's beautiful little girl Olivia:

I made the headbands using womens' nylons. You can find them in standard colors (black, ivory, navy, brown & tan) for $0.33 at Walmart. You simply cut off the ends and hand-stitch the ends together. I covered up the stitching by hot gluing coordinating ribbon on top. Then, you can hot glue a cute flower embellishment on top. I often make my own flower embellishments, but I'm also a big fan of Prima's fabric flowers.

You can also buy silk flowers at your local craft store. Cut off the stem, hot glue the different layers together, and then hot glue the flower to the top of your ribbon. I made this headband for Paige's Christmas photos using a black nylon, black ribbon and a silk flower for $0.99 at Michael's.

Isn't she pretty?!

Happy headband making!

New Milestone: Sitting Up

Paige's half birthday brought with it a new milestone -- sitting up on her own. This is now her preferred position. If I lay her down to play, she gets mad. She's also starting to crawl backwards; I have a feeling the forward crawling is in the very near future! Anyway, here's a few photos of my big, beautiful girl sitting up on her own! Could she be any cuter?!

Rozzi got in on the fun.

She loves her learn & crawl ball.

Too cute.

Playtime with Daddy

I love this video of Paige rough-housing with her daddy. Geoff is such an amazing father. Paige and I could not ask for more!

Celebrating 35 Years

My in-laws celebrated their 35th anniversary last month. Since the birth of my daughter, I haven't had much time to scrapbook, but now that Paige is more on a schedule, I've committed myself to creating at least one scrapbook page per week.

Anyway, I used Paige's bedtime a few weeks ago to come up with a special gift for the in-laws, whom I love dearly. The traditional gifts for 35 years are coral and jade. I had a hard time coming up with an actual gift to match the theme. Instead, I bought a coral shirt for Paige and took her to get some special photos done. I then used coral and jade papers to create a scrapbook page in a special memory box. Here's what I came up with:

I also created this gift card envelope using my Cricut Expression and matching paper:

The papers are from Michael's. The hearts, letters and envelope were created using my Cricut Plantin Schoolbook and Accent Essentials Cartridges. The stamps and ribbon are from Close to My Heart. The frame is from Aaron Brothers.

:: takeoffs & landings ::

Welcome to takeoffs & landings, my personal blog about my beautiful family, friends, military life, faith, home, scrapbooking, cooking, crafts, etc., etc. I'm a professional, but I also pride myself on being a homemaker, wife and mom.

It pains me that it's taken this long for me to start my own blog. After all, I've been a journalist for more than five years now, and I blog every day on federal management issues for Government Executive magazine/NextGov.com. Now it's time to talk about all of the other things I love in life!

I'm the wife of an active duty C-5 pilot who also happens to be my best friend. In September 2010, we welcomed our gorgeous daughter, Paige Eloise, into the world. She's now six months old, and I can't imagine a single day without her. Geoff and I met in D.C. in 2006 while he was stationed at Andrews AFB and I was working as an associate editor for National Journal Group. I moved to my staff correspondent job at Government Executive a few months later, and I've been with them ever since. Geoff and I were married on D.C.'s most beautiful day in 2008 -- April 19, and nearly one year later, we packed up everything we owned and moved to our new station in Northern California. Life here just isn't the same, but we're content. The main goal is to someday land ourselves back in D.C.

I hope you'll visit often! I'll mostly be sharing some of my crafty projects, thoughts on faith and family and insight into my own happiness project. Enjoy!