2015: Here We Come!

2014 is on it's way out (& will probably be officially gone by the time you read this)!
It's been a great year filled with love and laughter. I finished my second year of teaching and then became a stay-at-home mom. Dylan and I celebrated our one year anniversary and welcomed our sweet baby girl into the world. While there have certainly been some rough patches in the year, it was absolutely one of the most amazing years of my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world! Unfortunately we're ending this year and starting the new year with all three of us being sick. (Stupid germs!) But I'm confident that it's not a sign of how the rest of the year will go and that this year will bring its own new adventures and little miracles.

I've been thinking for the last couple of weeks about new year's resolutions and my goals in this next new year. For the first time in quite a few years, weight loss was not even on my mind when it came to my list, and I'm honestly a little proud of that. While some things on my list were "whole family" goals, some were more for me. At first I didn't want to include goals that didn't involve helping the rest of my family, but honestly, I've come to realize since having a baby that if I don't take a little time for myself every once in a while I can't be at my best to help take care of everyone else. So, I give you

Emily's 2015 New Year's Resolutions

• Make one new recipe a week.

• Blog twice a month.

• Read at least one book a month.

• Organize and declutter. (I know this goal is less measurable, but it needed to be included.)

• Become more "money smart." (Again, less measurable, but eventually it will become more measurable once I can break it down. Ultimately this goal comes down to budgeting better so that we aren't living paycheck-to-paycheck and can get a little more in savings.)

Well, that's it. Some of them may seem a little silly, but I feel like they take my family and our health into account as well as giving myself some more personal goals.  Once upon a time I would have laughed at saying I was going to read "at least one book a month," but anymore I'm lucky if I get one finished in two or three months. That one will definitely give me some built in "me time" aside from trips to the grocery store.

Well, 20 minutes until midnight. I think I'll go check on my sick sleeping Hubby and get in some more cuddles before having a New Year's toast with my parents and siblings.
I'd love to hear your New Year's resolutions. Feel free to share below!

Happy New Year's!!!

Christmas Day 3: a Christmas Wish List

So, did you think of anything for your wish list? Something you need? Did you think of anything someone else might need from you?

I think the thing at the top of my list this year is time spent with my family. And while I always enjoy that time, I'm especially thankful for it this year. I'll get to see my brother and his wife. We haven't seen them since June and most likely won't see them again for a while. And I've loved spending time with my grandparents on both sides of my family. Not only do I get to talk to them and hear stories, but I get to see them interact with Lissy and see the joy that she brings to them. This is especially true of my time spent with my Papa while Granny was visiting her family. With some health scares these last couple of years we are so lucky to still have him with us. Now, as he finishes up chemo, I feel like getting to see the great grandbabies is one of the things that has kept him fighting and made it worth it.


I think something I can give others is patience. All too often we get so caught up in our own lives and the things we're trying to get done that we sometimes forget to be patient with others. I find this to be true in my own life as well. To be perfectly honest, the people that I have the hardest time being patient with are my family. Sometimes I forget that they can't read my minds and that they have things of their own to get done and I get frustrated. Later I'll think back on it and say to myself, "I shouldn't have gotten upset there. That wasn't fair." And so, one of the things that I'm going to try to be more aware of this Christmas season is that I am patient with people.

I also thought about the physical things people might need from me. I'm not talking about putting presents under the tree, I'm talking about the things that I have that someone else could use. For me this shows up the most in my closet. My closet is full, but I often find myself looking at my closet and thinking, "I have nothing to wear." Why is that? To be honest, there are probably a few reasons, but there are a couple that stand out the most. First of all, I have plenty of clothes that don't fit any more, so why not donate them? Second, I have clothes that I don't wear. These clothes may fit size wise, but maybe they don't look good on me, or I have too many of a similar outfit that I like better. So, why not donate these as well? I'm sure there are other things I could clean out and donate as well, but the closet sounds like a great place to start for me. So I challenge myself (and you as well) to clean out some aspect of your life and to donate to someone in need! For me it'll be the closet. (Though you shouldn't expect to see the fruits of this challenge by my next post, because it won't happen that quickly.) You can choose anything! Maybe your pantry needs gone through. Maybe you want to get the kids involved and clean out the toy room! Not only will you make someone else happy and help them out, but you'll be happier because you're helping someone, and you'll feel better with less clutter!

Happy Advent!

Christmas Day 2: a Birthday Party for Jesus

At the end of my first post I left an open question: How would Jesus want us to celebrate his birthday?

Imagine a birthday party for a six year old boy. A Ninja Turtle cake depicting Mikee, Leo, Donnie & Ralphie jumping into action. A sign hangs in the doorway proclaiming "Happy Birthday!" Maybe there are gift bags on the table waiting for his friends. A stack of presents sit in front of the couch, the colorful paper and bows begging to be pulled open. All of this is exciting, and I'm sure the little boy will be thrilled, but what's missing?... The people! What fun is the party if there are no friends and family there to celebrate with? That would be a pretty sad party if no one where there to share it with.

So, how do you imagine Jesus might like us to celebrate his birthday? The thing that comes to mind for me is the Gospel reading Matthew 25:31-46, particularly the following lines:

"Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me [...] Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me!"

Wow! SO in summary, Christ is in each of us. We are all Jesus. and in turn, so is each person we meet. Think about that. Essentially, each person we meet is about to celebrate their "birthday." But rather than asking yourself what gift you can buy them or what toy or knick knack they might want, maybe we could each look a little deeper and ask what do they really need? And when it comes to our own Christmas wish list, what do we really need?

Christmas Day 1: the Beginning of Advent

Today marks the first day of Advent. The countdown to Christmas, the birth of our King, officially begins! This holiday season is my favorite, but it has nothing to do with receiving gifts, or the tree and decorations, or even the catchy songs and lovey dovey movies that started long before Thanksgiving had even arrived. No, it has to do with the people. Family--Friends--Acquaintances--Strangers. The holiday season brings out the cheeriness, the thankfulness, the love.

Of course, with the way we've commercialized Christmas, as well as all of the violence and hatred going on in our country and around the world, it can be hard at times to remember what Christmas was meant to be about. Christmas is a celebration of joy and love, of people and giving, of Jesus and God and the miracles of life.

So this Christmas season I'm gong to try my hardest to keep Christ and the joy and people front and center, and I challenge you to do the same. I thought maybe a good way to keep this focus was a daily reflection. And what better place to reflect than right here?

The best place to start, I suppose, would be the Bible and the original story of Christmas. Matthew and Luke both give an account of the story. This particular version comes from Luke 2:4-20. (The wording varies a little based on which Bible you use, but the following is from our family Bible.)

And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazereth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had be told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. 

 Jesus. Jesus is the "reason for the season" as people like to say. This sweet little baby, who would one day grow to be the man who gave his own life to save us from our sins.

When we celebrate a child's birthday we generally throw a party. We let them choose how we celebrate: a specially decorated cake, gifts they ask for, maybe a special activity like swimming or skating. Christmas celebrates Jesus's birth, so how would he want us to celebrate?

I think I'll leave this post here. A question for us all to ponder. A great question to consider as Advent begins and we move into the Christmas season. How would Jesus want us to celebrate?

Sew It Sunday: Belle Dress

This year for Lissy's first Halloween I decided that she was going to be Belle. This stemmed from a combination of my love of the movie Beauty & the Beast and a picture that I saw on Pinterest. For more pictures and a recap of Halloween you can see my post here.

My inspiration for making this dress was a little dress that we got for her right after she was born where the top of the dress was a little onsie that they had sewn a sack to the bottom of to make a little dress.




Supplies

Here are my supplies:0-3 month onsie-I got this on clearance at JCPenney & loved that it had the little ruffles at the top.
Yellow Satin-My mom got this for me with a coupon at JoAnn's. I didn't end up using anywhere near the whole yard, but I kind of played my measurements by ear so I couldn't tell you for sure how much I ended up using.
Flower & Headbands-The flower was on clearance for $.50 at WalMart. The headbands are the child's size from the craft sections at WalMart. I only ended up using one of the headbands. They came in a three pack and I included them both in the photo because my original plan was to use tulle (which I bought in two different tones of yellow/gold) to make a tutu to go over the dress. I ended up deciding that I liked the simpler look without it.



Pinned ruffles: top view

To cut my satin I tripled the width across my onsie at the point where I wanted it to sit. I ended up deciding to put it at about her belly button so that I had the option to put leggings under it if it was chilly. (It did end up being chilly, but we didn't end up going out, so we never had to use leggings.) By tripling the width I allowed for the skirt to fit all of the way around plus have some ruffle to it.

This was my practice pinning before I was actually ready to cut or sew. This was how I know that tripling would be enough. (Originally I was going to do four times the width but that was just too much ruffle.) You can see from the next picture (below) how exactly I folded it to get my ruffles. I tried to mock the soft ruffles of Belle's dress from the movie, which is why I folded it rather than gathering it.

In order to make sure that the skirt fit onto the onsie correctly I first sewed the edges of the satin together to make a tube. I then slid it over the onsie. To make this work I put the onsie right side out and the satin wrong side out. Then I slid the tube over the top of the onsie so that the snaps at the crotch were sewing. 

 

Before pinning the ruffles to the onsie I placed three other pins: one to hold the seam in the satin to the center of the onsie and one in each side seam of the onsie to make sure that I had the skirt centered around the onsie.

Once the ruffles were all pinned I sewed around the onsie using a 1/2" seam. I rolled the bottom hem and sewed that as well. And that was it! Easy peasy!!!

Pinning the sides and center

Pinned ruffles: end view



My beautiful princess in her dress!

The book pictures were inspired by some pictures I saw on Pinterest.



Happy sewing!!!

Halloween Recap 2014

I've finally made it back to the blog! I've had so many things I've wanted to blog about and projects I've wanted to share, but I have yet to make it back here to post any of them. We'll see if I can remedy that, but seriously, if you had this little one to snuggle, you'd have trouble getting anything else done too!

Our first official holiday has come and gone! We didn't get out to actually see anyone for Halloween, but I still couldn't pass up making sure she had an outfit and taking a few fun pictures!

Mommy's Beauty

Her dress was super easy to make! (Tutorial to follow shortly. I'll link it when I get it done.)

She kept lifting the rose up. We weren't sure if she was trying to smell it or eat it. Silly girl!

 

Happy Halloween!

I almost caught this smile!

I also couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a few pictures of her in my first Halloween costume. This little ghost outfit was made by my mom back in 1990!

She likes to chew...on her hand...on her clothes...on my clothes...whatever she can get a hold of!

 

 My happy baby telling her stories!

Back to work! I should probably get some laundry done before naptime is over!

New Arrival!

Baby has finally arrived!!! (Actually, she arrived almost a month ago...I'm just really behind at updating this blog. Ha!)

Our sweet baby girl the day after she was born.

Annalise (aka Lissy) was born Sept. 10

For all of the books I ready and "preparing" that I did, it was nothing like I thought it would be, and yet, I wasn't really disappointed. I thought I would have her with no epidural or drugs of any kinds. I was very set on this and had read all kinds of books about coping with the contractions etc. without it. However, my body had other ideas and I found that I have absolutely no pain tolerance! Honestly, for as long as I was in labor, I'm glad I ended up deciding to get an epidural, and I have no regrets in doing so. I think it ended up being the best decision for all of us because not having that time to relax while my labor progressed would have cause problems for all of us!

I found this Batman onsie (in a set of three) along with two little pink Superman sleepers at Kmart before she was born. (I got Batman bibs to match too, but I haven't figured out when/why put a bib on a baby this size...I feel like it would just get in her way?) While it certainly wasn't expensive (I think I paid $5 for each of the two sets) it is one of my favorite outfits, I think because you rarely see superhero stuff for little girls.

We spend a lot of time cuddling during the day. (Though as I type this she is sleeping contently in her swing.) I love that I am able to stay home with her right now. As to whether or not I'll go back to work: that's still up in the air. I would love to be able to stay home with her and not go back to work, and hubby is all for it, but figuring out how this budget works is still a work in progress. We'll see how it goes, but in the meantime I'll take all of the snuggles I can get!

We've decided that she has her daddy's nose and mouth, and my eyes and face shape. Her eyes were a grey blue when she was born, but they seem to get brighter every day! As for her hair, it's still a toss-up as to what color it will be. Sometimes it looks blonde, sometimes it looks more strawberry-colored, but it is for sure getting some curl to it!




Daddy reads her bedtime stories at night. I think she was about 5 days old here (so, our second or their day home). This is her favorite way to sleep, with her head on your chest and her legs and arms all tucked in. Such a sweet little thing!

The first night we were home Daddy took her down to get ready for bed and as I came down the stairs I heard him talking. I walked in the room to find him sitting in the rocking chair reading her Beauty and the Beast. So sweet!

I had planned to cloth diaper her since well before she was born, but we had trouble finding something that fit well, and then when we finally found one that fit she was such a heavy wetter that it didn't last more than 5 minutes. But I'm still set on it and we're still working on it!

And here is some more cuteness, just because I can!

 

 

 

We'll see how getting back into blogging goes! Hopefully we'll see you back here again soon!