My New Loves

Ever since Little Britches (aka Tinsley)  was born, I have dreamed of having an embroidery machine. I would see monogrammed onesies and cute appliqued outfits and fall in love. I so badly wanted one of those machines, but knew I would have to save up for it. I didn't want just any machine, I wanted one that would last me years and would serve its purpose well.

Well....exactly a month ago my life changed forever!!! We were in Kansas City for the wedding of one of my besties, Natalie. It was Sunday after the wedding and we were at Natalie's parent's house eating lunch.  It was getting time for us to leave as we had to drive half way home that afternoon. (It's a 12 hour drive total) We were sitting around talking and dreading the goodbyes when Natalie's mom, Julie told me she needed to show me something upstairs. Julie has what every girl dreams of, a bedroom turned craft/sewing room. It is glorious!!! She quilts the most beautiful quilts you have ever seen and sent me the cutest monogrammed burp cloths when Tinlsey was born. I say that because I just assumed she was going to show me a project she was working on until she asked me if I had a certain amount of room in our car and told me she knew I had wanted an embroidery machine. I think at this point my mind was racing and I was speechless. She had inherited a Baby Lock machine from her aunt that was just sitting in her closet and she wanted to GIVE it to me. I was in SHOCK to say the least. It was at that moment the 12 hour drive instead of flying made it so worth it. I will never be able to thank her enough for her generous gift. So, the past month I have been getting the machine serviced, reading up on the machine, collecting free downloads from the internet for applique and trying to figure out software issues. Hopefully, this time next week I will be able to applique something. I did manage to practice a monogram last weekend. Maybe it will turn into a little side business one day. Ha! There is so much that goes into it and it makes me appreciate those hefty price tags on some of children's clothing now. You have to have this and you have to have that. Needles, yarn, fabric, backing, stabilizer, spray, etc. etc. etc.

Not only am I learning to embroider, I decided I wanted to learn how to knit. We have a knitting ministry at my church and the sweet ladies there have gotten me started with the basics. I completed my first project last night. I made Little Britches a hat for the winter. It took me about 5 sittings to finish the knitting part of it. Now I want to add a little ruffle at the bottom of it. At least it is Little Britches approved!  Sorry for the poor photo quality!

It is probably against most "crafting rules" to try to learn two new things at once, but hey, I'll roll with it!

I found the perfect blog for knitting, so if you ever want to learn and don't have anyone to show you, I highly recommend Lisa over at http://purllin.blogspot.com/ She has some awesome tutorials! So check her out!

What are some of your favorite crafts or projects???? Leave me some love below! Until next time....

And Then There Were 3

Since I managed to avoid my blog entirely throughout my entire pregnancy and the first 19 months of my precious child's life, I decided I would write a post on our "birth story".  I am one of those girls who has always felt a calling to be a mama. It just came natural to me. I grew up always loving babies and when I was just 11 years old I began to babysit my neighbors little children. I continued to babysit throughout my pregnancy every once in a while. Having Tinlsey put an end to that. It was somewhat bitter sweet.

I found out I was pregnant soon after my post in July 2012. We were over the moon! I was so sure from the beginning that I was having a girl. (I was ecstatic my 1st motherly intuition was correct! ha) I had a very easy pregnancy. I never had morning sickness. Sorry for those reading this that were plagued with that :( The only bump in the road I had was gestational diabetes. For those that have not ever been pregnant, that is diabetes that you have only when you are pregnant. It can sometimes lead to diabetes down the road, but not always. I was able to control the gestational diabetes through diet alone, which at the time seemed awful since I was not able to satisfy my sudden sweet tooth I had acquired. I had always been a salt girl. I could eat popcorn EVERYDAY. When I became pregnant my hormones decided that I was going to take on a sweet tooth and that sweet tooth still has not disappeared. I can count on one hand how many times I have had popcorn since August 2012. It would take several hands to count the amount of sweets I have consume. ha! I'm a very petite person, (5'0" tall) so from the beginning my doctor told me she was not sure I would be able to deliver the baby and I might have to have a c-section. I was devastated because, believe it or not, I had wanted to experience labor and delivering the baby without having to have a c-section. When the time came to start checking me, the baby had not dropped and never dropped. My doctor gave me strict instructions that if I went into labor to get to the hospital immediately because they would have to do a c-section. She was not going to let me labor for fear of the baby getting stuck in the birth canal. Fortunately for me, I guess, I never went into labor and had a c-section on Good Friday, March 29, 2013. (My due date was April 1, 2013.) She was 6 pounds, 15 ounces and 20 inches long. She was sent straight from heaven. It was an instant bond and love that I never knew possible. She was an angel! She was the perfect baby. We never experienced colic or any of the other hard baby things. Yes, it was an adjustment and exhausting in the beginning. but it was well worth it!

This was soon after she was cleaned up. 

The one and only time she would take a paci.

After having the c-section, I changed my mind on having to labor. Ha! It was nice to go in there and have a baby in 2 minutes! Unfortunately, the day I went in to have Tinsley, I had developed pre-eclampsia. Which is just pretty much high blood pressure. After having Tinsley, I had to have a magnesium drip for 24 hours (it was the devil) and take blood pressure medicine for 6 weeks. Ugh! It was a pain, but my body finally regulated it back to normal.

Newborn portrait

The first year was so fun and hard at the same time. You learn to roll with it. I went back to work when she was 12 weeks old and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I cried for days. Finally, I got used to the "new normal". She stays with wonderful nanny who is a good family friend. It makes it easier knowing that my child is loved and being cared for by someone I have known for 25 years. I still miss her during the day, but that makes the nights and weekends that much more special. 

Tinsley has brought so much joy in our lives and it is hard to imagine life without her. She makes us laugh every day. God has truly blessed us! 

4 months

Ladybug - 1st Halloween 

7 Months Roll Tide Roll!!! 

1st Christmas

9 month Portraits

1st Birthday!!! 

12 month Portrait

I PROMISE I"M STILL ALIVE

Ummm.....I have a blog?!?!?!?!  I can't believe it has been over 2 years since I have posted on my blog! Well.....life happened and I had a baby on March 29, 2013. Her name is Tinsley Elizabeth and she is 19 months old today. She is the joy of our lives. Here is a picture of her when she was 6 days old!

I can't believe that she is already 19 months old. It seems like just yesterday that I found out I was pregnant. Which I found out soon after my last blog post. Ha! It has been an awesome 19 months. She was and is the best baby. She started sleeping through the night at 5 weeks old and has been a good sleeper ever since with the exception of a few nights here and there.  She has managed to be a happy, healthy baby with only a cold here and there. I credit this to her being a breast fed baby!!!! It was hard work at times, but we made it 15 months!!!! Whew! 

It has been so much fun to see her grow and become an active little toddler. She is a little chatter box these days. Her most common words are Mama, Dada, Bella (our dog), dog, thank you, car, and......ROLL TIDE. Here's a little video just to prove it and her love for Alabama football. Her mommy and daddy are so proud! (Excuse the outfit...she was in her jammies and LOVES her shoes, especially her boots).

This fall we have been enjoying the weather and fun family activities. We recently went to Boo at the Zoo and the Pumpkin Patch with some of her buddies. She had a ball. Here are just a few of the cutest pictures you have ever seen! 

First time to ride the Carousel 

Playing in the Corn Maze

With her buddies Garrison and Will

Hay Ride

Posing for Mommy in her Halloween outfit

I think she found the PERFECT pumpkin. Just her size! 

I know the holidays are going to be so much fun now that Tinsley is older and is more interactive than she was this time last year. It's amazing how quickly they grow at this stage in life. 

God has truly blessed us with Tinsley and we couldn't ask for a better little one!