Happy Birthday Carter!

I have this cool picture frame at work from Artifact Uprising that holds 12 pictures.  Each morning when I come to work I move the picture from the day before to the back of the stack to reveal a new picture.  How fitting that our first family picture taken shortly after you were born is the picture of the day you were born.  

This was hands down the happiest and proudest moment of my life.  You made me feel stronger, more important, and more loved than anyone else had ever made me feel in a matter of seconds.  And I never knew how much love I had in my heart until I held you for the first time and the you looked at me like you had known me and loved me for a lifetime.  Powerful stuff.  

I remember where I was this exact moment 365 days ago.  I was still pregnant on my way to the hospital.  I had been feeling mild menstrual cramping and thought you would be coming in the next few days because, let's be real, latent labor can last for days and the first baby is on average 10 days late.  But no I was 4 cm, really feeling the strength of the contractions at this point, and off to the hospital I went.  And a few hours later you made your fast and furious appearance.  And not to brag, but my doctor did tell me how amazing I was.  Ok I had to brag a little...

This last year has been amazing.  You have grown so much.  You continue to be sweet and curious and make everyone around you crack up with your belly laughs.  You are starting to take "baby steps", walk run with assistance, and can stand on your own.  You say dada, mama, baba (bottle), hi, bye, and I'm convinced something along the lines of "I ruv youuu."  You blow kisses, wave, high five, and give hugs.  Probably my most favorite thing you do is stare at strangers and as soon as they look your way give the biggest, two bottom toothed grin and wave hello.  Clearly I'm going to have to start giving you the stranger danger talk! 

I've also grown so much this last year.  You've taught me unconditional love, patience, and made me reevaluate what is important in this life.  I'm at such a good place and I have you to thank for it.  Thank you for inadvertently making me better and I will continue to try to achieve my best potential for you.  

While I wish I could have stayed home with you I know you are at daycare having a blast with the other little swaddlers.  I'm sure right now you are either playing outside "weather permitting", having another snack, or getting into shenanigans.   I hope you have an amazing, fun filled day and can't wait to celebrate you tonight. You are the best son already. I love you forever and wish you endless joy and happiness. 

Happy 1st Birthday Carter!  I love you!

The life of my agenda

I have had a planner for as long as I can remember.  I have also had a smartphone for as long as I can remember, but I do not "write" anything down in my smartphone.  In fact, as long as I have Internet access I could probably have the dumbest smartphone and still function quite well in a technology standpoint.  There is something about being able to visually see what I have to do for the day, the week, in October (bridesmaid) etc. that puts me at a sense of ease.  And better yet, that feeling when I check off that little box next to a task makes me feel such a sense of relief.  Perhaps I have turned a little OCD over the years, but hell it keeps me organized in my little world of chaos.  The problem I have when someone invites me to put an event in my google calendar is that I am going to miss it.  In my world, if it is not written down, it does not exist.  Like the old adage, out of site, out of mind.  

So why all this talk about planners?  Two posts back I showed off my new Louis Vuitton splurges.  I decided to upgrade from my Moleskin 12 month weekly notebook agenda to the Louis Vuitton Medium Ring Agenda Cover.  Initially the Small Ring Agenda Cover caught my eye because I am obsessed with the agenda in the monogram vernis.  Only a Virgo would think a planner is sexy.  Issues...  After seeing the small agenda in person, however, I realized that the small size would simply not work with my needs.  I need to be able to visually see a year layout and have a weekly calendar so I can not only have personal calendar appointments, but also my school assignments and requirements.  Unfortunately there is not room to do both with the small agenda.  There are a lot of great youtube videos that go into depth on Louis Vuitton small agenda reviews if you are still interested.  Part of me was tempted to buy it to have an agenda, for my personal calendar, but let's be real, I'm not a baller.  

One thing I chose to do thanks to all the great youtube tips is fill my agenda with filoFax goodies.  After spending a small fortune on a the agenda, I could not rationalize spending another small fortune on gold line paper even though I wanted to.  So again I had to remind myself that I'm not a baller.

Anything filoFax in personal size will fit perfectly in the medium sized LV agenda.  I purchased the:

• Zip Lock Envelope 
• Assorted Sticky Notes
• Month on Two Pages Diary
• Week to View Yearly Calendar (from Amazon)

Personally I prefer the Week to View Yearly Calendar, which was no longer available in the personal size from filoFax, because it has a spot each week for notes.  

I'm starting to realize that I am way more of a Virgo than I ever thought.  The Week to View Yearly Calendar filoFax refill I purchased from Amazon was authentic filoFax and was comparable in price to the filoFax website.  

 For anyone that still has a written agenda I highly recommend Pilot Frixon Erasable Pens.

This video explains how Pilot Frixon Erasable Pens work, but I can assure you, they work.  Justine tested, Justine approved.  Before these pens I wrote everything in pencil since life changes and I don't like to cross things out.  Now I don't have to.  I can roll with the punches and simply erase what I wrote and no one has to know, but me because frankly no one else should be looking in your planner!

Note: picture of the dividers in the first picture were posted on my instagram here, here, and here.  I bought them from etsy seller glitteryjem.  I absolutely adore them and they bring a little bling to my everyday normal.  Her shipping was fast, communication was great, presentation was so cute, and she included some free treats.  Check out her page.

A photo posted by J$ (@justineelise13) on Apr 1, 2015 at 8:16am PDT