New pile of fabric. . .

I purchased a bunch of fabric last night to be turned into bloomers for the girls over the next few days.



Hopefully I'll actually have time to whip them up!

As easy as I expect these will be—I hope I've done more complicated things than bloomers!!!—they are presenting something new for me: sewing with elastic thread. I'm kind of looking forward to learning something new as I can see many applications for that method of sewing.


From Heather Ross's book Weekend Sewing

I'm also making plans to purchase a bunch of fabric and patterns for myself. Desperately need some new summer clothes. Oddly, most of my "good" clothes seem to be maternity clothes. . .I wonder how that happened? Oh yeah, I've been pregnant most of the last 2 1/2 years!!

I'm really bad about walking into a fabric store and just feeling completely overwhelmed by all the beautiful fabric and possibilities that I just can't decide and wind up walking out with nothing. (If I were rich, this wouldn't be a problem as I would just buy at least 3 yards of everything!!) So I'm using the internet to my advantage and am planning out what I want, making a list and actually thinking about having it all shipped to me. There are 2 fabric stores that carry the lines of fabric that I like around here. 1 of them is very proud of said fabric and charges much more than anyone else for it and the other is on the other side of town and for some crazy reason, is just really difficult for me to get to at this point! Plus, they never have what I wanted when I want it, so it just messes my plan up and then I get overwhelmed. . .you see where this is headed.

I found an online store that seems to have EVERYTHING and will ship for free on orders over $50. I may be in love. No more strollers in fabric stores that don't have aisles wide enough for us to fit through! No more fitting in a trip between naps! No more being disappointed by the fabric I had my heart on not being available! Hopefully, this relationship will work out.

One last photo:



When did this little lady get so skinny? She used to be a chubby baby like her little sister.
Plus, she used her potty for the first time last night!! Surprised her a little. I don't think she realized THAT was what was supposed to happen. Aww! My little girl is getting so big!

New Boots & Pigtails

I bought some new rain boots as well as tennis shoes for Charlie yesterday. Loved the boots. Didn't want to take them off. I think she likes that she can put them on by herself. It's supposed to rain today, so perhaps she'll get to break them in.

As for the tennis shoes, I bought 2 pairs with plans to return 1 after I tried them on her. One pair were still "baby" shoes and the other toddler. As far as the sizes go, barely any difference, but the baby shoes have a wider, flatter toe while the toddler version more closely resemble an adult shoe with a pointier toe. She might have heard me call the one pair "baby shoes" when trying to explain the difference to Nate, because she quickly latched on to the other after that, even though she was preferring the other before. The fit was unoticeably different, so toddler shoes it is!!!



Nate also requested that I "do something" with Charlie's hair before I left, so a few minutes and tears later, pigtails are in place. Better get used to it kid, cuz I think this is your new summer hairstyle.

Any ideas, suggestions on other ways to keep her hair out of her face and off her neck for the summer heat? (or even more gentle ways to get pigtails that won't fall out!!)

on the plus side

Even though I would rather my husband were not unemployed right now, there is a definite upside. Mornings are no longer a crazy, stressful mad-dash to the door just to get the girls to daycare on time.

At lunch-time, weather permitting, I can spend an hour with my 3 most favorite people at the park.

And when I get home I am greeting by cheerful squeal of "Mommy!!!" through the open living room window.

Then, instead of rushing around trying to get dinner on the table, the house picked up, baths and bedtime in, we have time to do a little bit of this:





some of this:




and just enjoying the great weather, the green grass and some quality time together.


Sort of makes me think about staying home once Nate goes back to work. . .

Lunch at the park

What is it about ice cream and a warm sunny day?

I've just finished up a very yummy Snicker's ice cream bar after meeting up the girls and Nate at the park for lunch and some play time. Hopefully lunchtime and the park will become a habit, but the ice cream will not!

It has also been decided that I need to make a bunch of Heather Ross' Ruby Bloomers from her book Weekend Sewing as Charlie and Peyton's official summer uniform. Yeah for pretty fabric and an excuse to pull out the sewing machine!! The sad/funny part is I think Miss Peyton (at 8 months) can probably wear the same size as her 2 year-old sister! She needs to start crawling so she can balance out her healthy appetite! Oh, well, she's just being economical in the clothing department.

But regardless, where did my monster babies come from? I'm 5'2" and Nate isn't much taller. I spent most of my childhood under the 25% on the growth chart and my girls have never dropped below 75%!!!! How very strange. . . .

Pictures of Zoe!!!

I can't wait to share some of these, so here's a few! I haven't edited them or anything, but wanted to get them out for you to catch a glimpse of the adorably sweet little Zoe Mckenna.

She was such a sweet little dear through all of these, and if I just knew how to better use my camera, could be very tempted to take pictures of babies all day!











Why, oh why do they have to get big!!!

baby zoe!!

So I'm in Memphis getting my baby fix!!!! I cannot believe they start out so tiny. . . .and get big so quickly! Gotta be honest. . .I want to take one home!!!

OK, so not really. Only if it could stay itty-bitty forever and never cry and let me sleep through the night from day one. Since not a single one of those criteria are remotely possible, I think I'll stick with my 2 little lovies at home. (and visit Zoe as often as I can manage!!)

Creativity has possessed me since I arrived and I am going to take a stab at photographing this little sleepy bundle. My plans are big, so hopefully at least a handful with turn out for Katie and Jared to look back on fondly.

I've torn apart their guest room and have it all staged and ready to go. Right now I'm just waiting for the sweet little thing to finish her bottle. I'll post pictures as soon as I'm able!!

are you kidding??

Be warned. This is bordering on inappropriate—but it really happened.

I'm not sure whether to be offended or to just laugh.

This morning I stopped at my local gas station to purchase a coke on my way to work. I set the coke down on the counter and the lady proceeded to tell me my total and then looked at me and said, " That shirt sure doesn't do anything for your titties but mash 'em flat."

Now really, how's a girl supposed to take that? Not to mention, in what universe is that an appropriate thing to say to a complete stranger?

The sad thing is, it isn't the shirt that makes my "titties" (how crude is that word!?) look small. It's the two babies and breast feeding. They just are that small, thank you very much.

(oh, and sorry to be the one to break it to all you new mommies reading, but it happens. Just be prepared.)

obsessing. . .just a little

So, I know what I want this blog to look like, well, to start anyway. But I'm much too rusty with my html skills (it's been a few years since those multi-media classes in college) and don't have the time to dig back and refresh myself!!! I'm having to be very disciplined to not spend all my hours at work pouring over the code! Sad. very sad.

Yesterday, after Peyton's surgery, I had to go to Target to fill a prescription for her. While there I found little pink tank tops for each of the girls and decided to embellish just a bit.


Not sure when I'll get them to the sewing machine as I'm heading to Memphis this weekend to meet my best friend's new little lady, Zoe. She was born this last Saturday (I like to think of her as my birthday present!!!!) and I cannot wait to see her! If I didn't have my own family, I would have been camped out at her house just waiting for her to go into labor.

I will have photos of the sweet little baby on Monday!! I'm so excited!!!!!!

Bubble Birthday Party

Last month was Charlie's 2nd Birthday. I swear, I started planning at least 2 months prior! I went with a bubble theme, so bubbles and circles showed up all over the place:






Charlie in her birthday dress that I embellished just for her special day.


I must say, I pretty proud of the cake—even though we wore Charlie out so bad that by the time we were ready to cut the cake, she didn't even want to blow out her candles!!!! Instead, she went upstairs and took a very long nap. (We saved her cake and she had it the next morning, complete with candles and another round of "Happy Birthday.")



I stressed out quite a bit a few hours before when balloons started randomly popping all over the place, but Charlie had so much fun playing with all her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents that I found it to be well worth all the effort. Besides, who am I kidding? I couldn't repress my crazy party planning madness even if I wanted to!!! (I started thinking about Peyton's 1st birthday party about 2 seconds after the last guest left from Charlie's party. . .)

Peyton gets tubes

What a morning! Peyton got tubes this morning. . .which with her, I'm actually very relieved about. She has had a non-stop ear infection since December. (I wish I were kidding!!) We went in for the consultation 2 weeks ago and discovered that she had a really bad infection. Today when I took her in for surgery, she still had an infection. Not fun at all!!! So I'm hoping that this will work things out for the poor little miss. Cross your fingers and send up prayers for her!!

Nice to meet you!

I figured now would be a good time to introduce my family as they will undoubtedly pop up from time to time. Well, most likely ALL the time!

This is my beautiful family: everyone in the pjs, sassys in place, watching TV.


Peyton Grey is just about 8 months old and an absolute angel. Sweetest, chubbiest baby you'll probably ever see. And I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom. This kid doesn't cry. . .unless she's sick. Unfortunately, she gets lots of ear infections and has reflux, so she does cry, but once we get that under control, all we'll ever hear from her is squeals of joy!

Charlie Reese is one rough and tumble girly girl. She wants to do everything for herself and her favorite song is Happy Birthday. Very funny, and so so sweet. Never stays clean for too long, so though future pictures may not reflect it, she is bathed regularly!!!


Nate is my husband of 5 years and the reason I stay afloat. He's one of those guys who grew up playing football, soccer, and roughing it out in the woods, but goes against the "norm" and is our resident cook and probably does more than his share of the household stuff.

Right now, as the economic situation has hit a whole lot closer to home than we would have liked, he is staying home with the girls during the day. Yesterday was his first day and so far, so good! He said he had a lot of fun and was joking about starting a Daddy Daycare. I told him to give it a little more time before he started making those plans. . .but then you never know!!

I honestly couldn't find any photos of myself. I tend to be the one behind the camera, but I'm sure I'll pop up sooner or later. I'm a full time Mom with a full time job. I am a graphic designer, working in the marketing department with Griffin Technology, as of last week. Prior to that I was in the packaging department which means that if you go to the electronic section of your favorite store and look closely at the Griffin products, you may see Charlie's and Peyton's name pop up on the iPods from time to time. Silly but fun.

I love to sew and I love to create from my own head instead of patterns. The downfall of that is that I've never been trained how to make patterns, so slowly I'm learning. I hate buying stuff that I KNOW that I could make. However, I don't have the time to do all that I wish—nor the money, for that matter! I prefer to create things so that I know I have a one of a kind piece instead of following the masses. I try to be a sponge and draw inspiration from anywhere and everywhere! I really can't "name" my sources because they are too diverse and ever changing.

Well. . . that turned out sort of long! Especially considering I wasn't sure what topic to cover today! I look forward to meeting new friends and learning more about old ones over the course of this blog. Hope everyone has a lovely Tuesday!!

It's about time!

I did it!! I finally have started a blog. The sad part is, I have no idea when and if anyone beyond myself will read it. Oh well! For me, the hard part is starting and as they say, if you build it, they will come.

So, if you are reading this, welcome! I hope to make this a place of inspiration and commiseration for both creative pursuits and the craziness of life!