59/365

Let me introduce you to Mr. Ducky.
He is Leila's favorite bath toy. 

The second she sees Mr. Ducky she grabs it, stares at it for a second, and in the mouth it goes.

Stays in her mouth while we dry her off and put on her PJ's.

P.S.
I FINALLY washed my hair today. I can't even describe how amazing it felt. I washed it 3x just to make sure I got all the greasiness and keratin product out and was DYING to see the result.

At first I was a little disappointed by what I saw...CURLS. My curls didn't go away. I wasn't that surprised but was hoping they'd be gone. Although, they are more tame and the frizz is pretty much no more! Hello soft, fine, manageable hair. This treatment changed the texture of my hair and it feels like I have fine hair.
I noticed that the hair underneath is straighter than the hair on top of my head.
I think I may have ruined the outcome because there was a light snow/rain mix out and my hair might have
gotten a little wet. Oh well, I still love the result!
Pictures to come.

58/365

Our power was turned off AGAIN so the house felt like it was 50 degrees.

We dressed Leila in her warmest outfit...the bear suit. It was hilarious because she couldn't move. Every time we tried to sit her up she'd fall right over. Eric and I couldn't stop laughing. She was not happy and hated it.

We ended Eric's birthday week with the traditional birthday dinner at his parents house. Speaking of traditions, whenever its someones birthday they get to eat on the "you are special today" plate.

I'm glad that Leila knows her Great Grandfather Fuessel and that he is in her life. He's cute with her. Eric and I both only have one grandparent living. 

I hope that Leila can one day meet my Papa. He lives in Alabama and I haven't seen him in a couple years. He has poor health so hopefully we can see him soon. We named Leila's middle name after my Grammy...Leila Mae. I just love my Papa so much and have the fondest memories with him. He is the sweetest little old man and has a great sense of humor. When he and Grammy lived in Mesa, AZ we would visit them at least once a year on our yearly drive down to Mexico to see my mom's side of the fam. He had a little red scooter and would always take me out for a ride. Those were the good ol' days.

57/365

Today will change my life foreva!

Ever since I heard about the Brazillian Blowout treatment I've been DYING to get it. The blowout is supposed to straighten my hair - like I get out of the shower and it air dries straight, yeah, AH-MAZING! The catch: it only lasts UP TO 12 weeks. Of course, it has a pretty price tag too...a whopping $300. I know once I get it I'd be hooked so I don't think my wallet can afford me to spend $300 4x a year (let alone once a year). I've contemplated whether I should get this treatment for quite some time. 

Until...

Groupon saved the day...and my wallet. For $99 buckaroos I could get something similar, the Kerafusion Keratin treatment (this keratin treatment is popping up everywhere). The second I saw this groupon I bought it. It claims to be better than the Brazillian Blowout because it's FDA approved (the only one of its kind so far) and lasts 3-6 months. Sorry Brazillian, I found something a lot better. To top it off, since I purchased it on groupon, the salon will honor the $99 price EVERY TIME I want to get it done. SCORE!

There's been a lot of talk going on in the news about this Brazillian straightening trend and how it can be harmful to your health. No worries ya'll, I did my research and the Kerafusion has less than 1.3% formaldehyde (Brazillian has 4-12%). California even sued Brazillian Blowout for having too much formaldehyde. I feel good about it and if I don't like, well, then I just have to deal with my uneven curly frizz forever.

Side note: When I buy new clothes, I sometimes like to save them and not wear them right away (depends on the item). Eric is the complete opposite. The second he buys something new he wears it that day if he can. Well, I purchased the groupon back in January. I've been "saving" it until I get closer to summer so I don't have to worry about my frizzy hair at the pool. I decided I couldn't stand my hair anymore and was getting it done NOW. I made an appointment and now I'm on my way to shiny, sleek hair. 

Here are some photos of my curly frizz. Sometimes I can have a good hair day but for the most part it's just not cute. Like the LAST pic, oh my was that a BAD HAIR DAY! It might help if I put some type of product in my hair.

I'm low maintenance. What you see here is au naturale...no product, no brushing, just blah. Although I should, I don't like using product in my hair because I feel like it leaves it greasy. So I just wash n' go.

Just imagine the images below in black and white like you see in the infomercials.

We always want what we can't have. I wish my hair was straight or that my curls were more defined and not so uneven. So I get to the salon and the girl doing my hair says she wished she had my hair, ha, are you kidding?! Gross! She said this treatment won't give me straight hair, it will just eliminate the frizz and make it easier to blow dry/straighten. Hey, I'll take that. 2 1/2 hours later I walk outta the salon with straight filmy hair. Yeah... filmy from the product. They put the product in my hair, blowdry it, and straighten it. I can't wash it out for 24-72 hours.

To add to the torture, I can't wear it in a ponytail or do anything that will put a kink in my hair. These next couple days will be fun. Can't wait to see what it does. Oh, and there were no harsh fumes, my eyes didn't sting, and we didn't need a ventilation system. The product even smelt good. My hairstylist said it's less damaging then dying my hair or getting a perm.

56/365

It snowed today. I left Sandy this morning with half an inch of snow on my car. When I arrived home there were at least 6 inches on the ground...was not expecting that at all because I was wearing flip flops. So I put on my boots and shoveled the driveway...couple hours later it melted. Gotta love that about February snow. Melts in the blink of an eye. Excited for Leila to be old enough so we can play in the snow and build snowmen together, carrot nose and all. 

It was pretty slow at work today so I started messing around with my new camera. I love it, I'm addicted. I can't stop taking pictures because everything looks so much more crisp and bright through the lens of my Nikon. I'm still learning.

Playing peek-a-boo....love how Leila's peering over waiting for me to pop out. That Nikon is pretty heavy...no more self portraits for us so we improvised with the mirror. Hope to get a remote soon.

We had our neighbors over for dinner and ended the night with homemade cookies.

55/365

Every year we take the day off from work on our birthday. Eric feels he's getting a little old for that tradition so he went into work.

Leila and I still needed to make his birthday special so we met him for lunch at Tsunami. 

The BEST sushi ever!

Grandma and Grandpa Fuessel gave Eric the ultimate date night package: gift card to Olive Garden, Megaplex theaters, and free babysitting. Sweet! We dropped off Leilaloo, opened gifts from moi, and off we went. We spent the night so we wouldn't have to worry about putting Leila to bed past her bedtime.

I gave Eric a sushi making kit, sushi book, shoes, and a new watch. Spoiled brat!

Service at the OG was great. Whenever we go out to dinner I'm always the annoying indecisive customer who asks the server what's their favorite thing on the menu. Most of the time our server will say, "it depends what you're in the mood for" DUH! I'm asking what YOU like to eat. Or they'll rattle off the most popular dishes. Well, this server went above and beyond and talked about a handful of dishes and was HONEST. I love honesty. She was very personable and even sang to Eric...by herself. 

We saw Just Go With It with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. It was hilarious. Recommend it!

I hope you had a fabulous 28th birthday ya old man.

twenty8

Happy 28th birthday my love!

We did in fact stay up well past midnight. At exactly 12:00am we welcomed his birthday with his favorite key lime pie.

You are now officially in your late twenties. Ah...we're getting old.

I'm proud of the person you have become and what you have accomplished in your 28 years of life.

You have completed a 4 year degree, are in a career that you love, and we've started a family together.

I love you my sweet husband.

Cheers to you!

54/365

I'm beat and ready for bed. It's been a long day. I wanted to stay up until midnight to welcome Eric's 28th birthday. Don't think that'll be happening. Sorry babe...actually, I doubt you'll last that long either. Right now I'm sitting on the couch with my laptop and Eric is calculating his calories for the meal I just made (teriyaki chicken bowls). He will soon join me with his laptop too. We have become so disconnected with technology. 

Eric is testing out the new camera...everything looks so crisp!

It's almost 9 and we just put Leila down for the night. We got a late start because I brought her to the enrichment activity with me (recipe swap) to give Eric a chance to play some xbox. Our normal night is as follows: bathe Leila around 7:30/8, feed her, swaddle her, sing to her, put her down. Then its time for out alone time, we cuddle on the couch and watch the tube (The Bachelor, HGTV, Food Network) and are in bed by 11ish (could be asleep before then because we are so exhaustpiped...we really have become lightweights).

For the past 3 nights Leila has slept from 8pm-7:45am straight! A full nights rest feels amazing, but somehow I still feel sleep deprived. She used to wake up at 2am and 5am for her feeding. A month ago I started weaning her off the 2am feeding. It took about 3 weeks off and on (I wasn't super consistent). Last week she only woke up at 5, and this week at 7:40. Leila is finally learning to sleep thru the night. I never thought the day would come because she is a stubborn girl and doesn't like change. Hope I'm not speaking too soon, it's only been a few nights.The past 2 nights I have woken up around the same time waiting for her to wake up... and nothing. I find myself going in to check if she's still breathing. I hope this lasts, I will be one happy momma. Once she starts sleeping thru the night I'll start weaning her off being swaddled.

It's late. I'm out. Peace. 

53/365

We received a package today.

The Nikon D7000 baby!

Eric's always wanted a DSLR. He currently owns a 35mm and is a pretty good photographer. He's even placed in some photo contests. Owning a DSLR has never been on the top of my list until...we had a baby. I take pictures of Leila everyday and my point and shoot isn't cutting it. My photos are either too blurry, too bright, or too dark. Now I'm the one that wants a  DSLR more than ever. We've been doing our research for some time, Nikon v. Canon. Eric's talked to his fellow Best Buy coworkers and we decided to go with the Nikon.

Isn't it sexy? Yes. But it also looks intimidating. It's time to get my Groupon on. A couple weeks ago there was a Groupon that offered $39 for a 4 hour photography class - valued at $495. I can't wait to take the class, it'll teach me how to use my DSLR and other helpful tips.

The second it arrived I opened it up and unwrapped everything. I couldn't figure out how to put the lens on so I had to wait for Eric to get home...yeah, I need to take the class ASAP. We played with it and it takes AWESOME pictures. We're STOKED!!!

52/365

One of our frequent trips to Best Buy. We're always finding ourselves here for 

one reason or another.

Imagine that.

51/365

The City came by our office on Friday and said they were shutting off the power from 8am-5pm on Sunday. Of course, it snowed that day. 

No electricity, no heat, no thank you. 

We packed up for the day and went to Grandma and Grandpa's. 

We offered to make chicken enchilada's. Delish!

Ended the night by doing the usual: playing cards.

50/365

Got my hair done. It took ALL DAY! I was kinda bored with my hair a couple months ago and wanted to go as light as possible without bleaching. It resulted in a whopping 2 shades lighter (no one really noticed, but it was a big enough difference for me). I'd love for my color to be a lighter brown but it's too much work. I'm pretty low maintenance when it comes to my hair and don't like to spend BUCO bucks. Paul Mitchell the School is my go to place. I always leave happy and its light on my wallet. Pay $35 and I'm out the door with a  new color, new cut, and styled. Sweeeet! 

My roots started showing recently so it was about time to get it redone. Didn't like that one bit so back to my natural color I went. Low maintenance. Easy. Cheap. Shouldn't have dyed it in the first place.

Ok, I take the easy part back. I love Paul Mitchell but it's honestly a 3 hour ordeal. I know, I get what I pay for. Students...sheesh! This time it was 4 hours before I was out the door (they got a late start because they forgot about me but it resulted in a 25% discount). My hairstylist was so sweet and very personable, she was just uber slow. Had to go to phase 1 this time...I'll never do that again! 

Daddy was glad when I finally arrived home. We had some spending to do. Express was having a sale. Everything in the store was buy one get one half off. I had giftcards and coupons up the wazoo. It was time to spend it. I loved working at Express. It's hard to pay full price now so we shop the sales. Express has the best sales ever!

Later we met up with Eric's old mission companion, Danny and his wife Cathy. We've all become good friends. We got married and had a baby around the same time. They live in southern Utah so it was good to catch up at our fave restaurant Goodwood. Honey Stung Chicken Sandwich is our staple. Danny is a pilot and we've been meaning to take a trip together for the longest time. They were so close to joining us when Eric and I went to the Philippines. We tried for a trip again this month but this time we couldn't make it. We're hoping it'll happen SOON.

Notice how Leila is ALWAYS reaching for other kids? Leila gets so excited around other babies and always wants to touch them. Watch out Ashlynn...here comes Leila!

49/365

Eric received a birthday package in the mail from Alaska today! His brother Greg and fiancée Shasta have lived there for a LONG year and a half. We used to hang out all the time and miss them like crazy. Looking forward to this fall when they come home for good! They are to be wed on our 5 year anniversary. March 18 can't come soon enough!

Greg and and Shasta are entrepreneurs and started their own clothing company called Flake.

They hooked Eric up with a slew of their slouchy beanies (you know I'll be rockin' them too) and die-cut stickers for his birthday (beanies are only $10 on their website, check check check it out).

Um...how adorable does Leila look? She rocks the slouchy beanie well.

Date Night:

Don't look so excited Eric. He's either very hungry or not so happy that I'm taking his picture. Probably the later. Around our home we like to celebrate birthday's for a week. So here's the start to Eric's birthday week.

Can you say free birthday meal at Tucanos? Meat fried meat with meat sauce here we come.

We stuffed ourselves to the max with our good friends Laura and Guthrie.

They left little Violet with her grandma.

Leila was sad her little buddy didn't come and fussed the ENTIRE night.

Leila...you can be such a handful sometimes. I really think those chompers are coming in because one minute she'll be totally fine, and a second later she'll be crying at the top of her lungs and tears rolling down her face. It kills me to see her so upset...I wish I knew the reason. Teething is my only explanation. My poor baby. It's so unfair that my little innocent baby girl has to suffer. If only I could suffer the pain for her.

I'm still trying to remember to take pictures of everything for Project 365. Tonight, I didn't remember until we were almost out the door. This is the best picture we got. 

Laura and I are grabbing a handful of Pao de Queijo (Brazillian cheese balls) and fried banana for the road. Sometimes I'm tempted to line my pockets with ziploc baggies so I can stuff it with food. Eric would never allow it! What can I say, it must be the Mexican in me (and I get it from my mom - she'll always put food in her purse for later...hey...we paid for it right?!?) 

Eric and Guthrie must have pounded like 30 of those delicious cheese rolls combined. Well, they'll be happy to know I found a recipe. My friend made them the other day and said they were the easiest thing to make. I'll need to put my Brazillian cooking skills to work. 

48/365

We busted out Leila's highchair this week. She looks like such a big girl.

So she's still not diggin' the veggies.

When Leila wakes up from a nap, I'll usually feed her milk then solids once or twice a day. I was told to feed her milk first by someone I trust (pediatrician, friend, website...ha, I don't remember). The reason being is that she won't be beyond hungry and refuse to eat her food.

Well, I needed to try something different today so I offered veggies FIRST. I don't know why I haven't tried this earlier.

She still made her funny faces but swallowed about 7 bites!

Way to go Leila, I couldn't believe it.

It usually takes this girl 3-4 meals to finish a 2.5 ounce jar of veggies, and
most of it gets on her face.

To think that in 5 months Leila will start eating the foods we eat is mind boggling.
I hope she'll be ready.

You need to get in the habit child. I know you'll come around, I just didn't think it'd take this long.

I can't get over her facial expressions...is it really that bad Leila?

47/365

Leila is mesmerized by my flowers.

Since they have bloomed, all she wants to do is touch, touch, touch. I let her get a little too close and she knocked them over so now we hold her little paws back.

Looks like Daddy needs to bring us flowers more often.

"Ahh...I gotta have them!"

46/365

My wonderful friend Rachel dropped off this delicious homemade granola on Valentine's Day. 

Hands down it's the best granola I have ever tasted!

That's why I just had to blog about it.

Rachel said I can put it over yogurt, etc.

All I want to do is eat it straight outta the jar with a spoon. 

I had Eric try some and he said he just wanted a small bite, granola isn't his thing.

2 seconds later he said, 

"This is phenomenal!"

"This is spectacular!"

"You need to get the recipe from Rachel."

Eric rarely uses those adjectives to describe food, it really has to be ah-mazing.

We've just been munching on it since she brought it over and can't stop. 

Thanks Rachel for lovingly making us this delicious goodness.

And I just love how you decorated the jar. 

So crafty!

45/365

Best. Date. Ever. Period.

The surprise:

That night, we bypassed the Valentine's day rush and crappy service for an intimate dinner for two at "Grandma and Grandpa's Restaurant" aka Eric's parents house. 

Eileen did all the hard work. She made us a fabulous meal complete with a table decorated to the nines. She LOVES decorating tables, its her specialty and always goes above and beyond. 

It was complete with candles, bouquet of beautiful fresh flowers, Hershey's kisses, and heart shaped confetti...you couldn't get that at a restaurant!

The menu: chicken and plum sauce (amazing), asparagus, salad, rolls and sparkling cider (gotta have the bubbly). Everything was divine.

This was much more intimate than going out to dinner. I loved it. Everything was perfect.

Thank you Mike and Eileen for a wonderful meal, gorgeous table, and for entertaining our little one.

Grandma gave Leila a cute valentine cat that sings.

Grandpa playing with Leila.

   

The night didn't end there...oh no it didn't!

For dessert we went to the Grand America Hotel for 

"An Evening of Chocolate and Jazz".

This is where we spent our first night as Mr. & Mrs. Fuessel. I married such a romantic.

We had the BEST seat in the house.

Close to the band and right next to the fireplace.

We had a three course dessert:

Strawberry caviar.

Fondue.

3 trays of delicious goodness.

We felt like important people because the service was AMAZING and we were treated like Kings.

We listened to awesome music played by a live band.

It was quiet, intimate, and warm. 

We had great conversation and learned new things about each other. 

Great ambiance, and even better company.

Therefore, dubbed the best date ever!

I love my hubby.

Thank you for the best Valentine's yet.

Valentine's Day

This morning I woke up to this:



Inside it said:



A knock at the door to this:

With these beauties inside:

They will be beauties once they bloom.

*Warning: this post gets slightly mushy*

I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting flowers because they instantly improve my mood. These lilies smell wonderful (and so does our kitchen). The smell reminds me when we were dating. You lovingly sent them to me when I was home for the summer and we were apart.

There's something extra special about having flowers delivered. I think it takes more thought than just stopping for flowers on the way home from work (which is still always lovely). It lights up my day when I get a knock at the door and see someone hand deliver a package just for me. Reminds me that Eric is thinking about me even when we are apart. Thank you Eric for romancing me and spoiling me TODAY and EVERYDAY! It means the world to me. I can't wait for tonight! I have no idea what you've got planned. I just love surprises. Now...what to wear??

Eric, you light up my world. I couldn't be married to anyone but you. You are my other half, my soul mate (even though you don't believe in soul mates I know you're mine). You are my best friend and make me so incredibly happy. I love the simple moments we share. Snuggling, holding hands, having simple conversation about our day, making dinner together, and playing with our little girl. Thank you for all that you do for our family. You work so hard to support us and I admire you for that. Thank you for sharing your life with me. It's such a blessing to know that we get to spend forever together. I love you Eric, know that you have my heart.