Let's Ride

Sadie had a very exciting day at school. She got to ride in the Bye Bye Buggy with the "big" girls. She thought she was pretty cool.

I wasn't sure it would buckle tight enough but it did. Yea.
At one point on the journey the buggy stopped to watch the school kids in P.E. Sadie was very interested in watching them.

Here's some of the gang! We had a class full of sweet girls today. Since I didn't ask their mommies if I could put their pictures on the WWW I decided I better cover up their cute faces.
Anyway, Sadie can't wait to get back on the buggy again.

Attention

Sadie received LOTS of attention this past weekend.

After my Nanny passed away in June my Papa told us he would come for a visit soon. He made the trip to Little Rock on Thursday to see us.

My Aunt Vicki and Uncle Danny came too (I didn't get any pictures of them and I'm so sad) and we had the best time. I'm pretty sure Sadie had a better time than anyone. She was held and loved on every second. She even got to stay some by herself with my dad, uncle, and Papa. I think she enjoyed herself.

She loves my Papa.


I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual.



As if attention from my family wasn't enough she also received lots of attention from my former co-workers. On Friday we stopped by so she could see my dad, Katie, and other people I used to work with. She had the best time.

Sadie Lady and Katie Lady

This is Sharon. She worked right next to me at my former job. She's hilarious and she LOVES babies. She made Sadie laugh so hard. I've never heard some of the noises that came out of her. It was so funny. She kept her going and going until she finally wore her out. Sadie was asleep in her car seat before we even got out of the parking lot.

Sadie is so blessed to have so many people, family and friends, who love her and like to shower her with attention. I'm very thankful.

And just for fun here is Sadie modeling the new dress she got on Saturday.

She's pretty excited the Hogs get their season started this Saturday!

WOO PIG SOOIE!

Pick Out A Book

I've been working on organizing and decorating Sadie's room and I realized she doesn't have many books. This saddens me. I know she's only 4 months old but she LOVES books. She likes to look at the different pages to see all the neat pictures. I think for Christmas she is going to get some new books (and she's going to "get" this too. I want her to grow up knowing how blessed she is and I want her to have a giving heart). She will only be 8 months so it seems silly to buy her things she doesn't need. At that age she'll be entertained by the leftover wrapping paper and boxes.

Ok, so, since I'm going to be buying some books I need your help. I know MANY of you have children or are around children so you probably know some of their favorite books to read. I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

And just for fun, here's Sadie Lady from earlier today. Gosh I love this girl.

And So It Began

I promise I won't do every "a year ago today" post that I can come up with for the next 7 and 1/2 months. It is fun to think back to how far we've come in a year's time though. I hope you don't mind but I am going to reflect back on August 23, 2010 for a minute. It was the day it all began for me.

Let me back up for a bit. After we got our positive pregnancy test on August 4th I was elated. Shocked but elated. It was definitely surreal. After a few more positive tests I called my OB like a good girl and scheduled my first Ultrasound for October 4. The next week I started having some pain in my left side. It wasn't severe but it was different. I wasn't too worried about it but since I was new at this whole pregnancy thing I thought I'd let my doctor know. Well now I know if you call your doctor with side pain early in pregnancy they take immediate action. I first called them the morning of August 13 and they scheduled me an US that afternoon. I was a little surprised because by my calculations I wasn't even 5 weeks yet.

Just as suspected it was too early to see anything. You could see there was something in my uterus but you couldn't tell what it was. You also couldn't confirm that there wasn't another problem.

They scheduled me another US 10 days later.

I was a little uneasy during those 10 days but my pain actually got better so I felt sure things were ok. Going into the US I prayed everything would be ok and that I could see a heartbeat. I'd heard sometimes you can see one that early and sometimes you can't. I was prepared for either.

When the tech started looking around the first words out of her mouth were

"There's a baby with a heartbeat."

I nearly passed out. Sure enough there it was. My baby.

She went on to say the heart had just started beating because it was only at a rate of 107. I knew God had done that just for me.

The instant I saw the heartbeat I was changed forever. My heart began to swell with love for this baby. I appreciate that at 6 weeks and 4 days pregnant the tech doing the US referred to it as a baby. Unfortunately not everyone in this world thinks that way but I won't get into that right now. The moment I saw this baby was also the moment the miracle of life began to hit me. Inside of my body was a baby with a heartbeat. I was barely even pregnant but could already see it's form. It began stirring many different emotions within me.

This baby would make me a momma.

And so it began.

Weekend Recap

We had a very exciting weekend. Ok, not really. It was a good weekend (for the most part) though.

Sadie rode in her big girl stroller for the first time. It's still too big but she loved it.

We ate at Sweet Treats in Josh's hometown.

We love getting to eat there. So yummy.

Sadie had quality time with her daddy.

She took lots of good naps.

She watched Praise Baby (and spit a lot)

She played in the jumperoo

She took a bath and loved it.

Josh got sick (me too but not as bad)

We all spent Sunday in our pjs.

Like I said not the most thrilling weekend but I always love being with my family.

Finished Projects

Ok, so I admit it, I'm terrible about getting almost finished with things and then leaving them. The problem is I DO NOT like slip stitching by hand. If my machine can't do it then it shouldn't be done. That's how I feel about it. Unfortunately, most things will need a few hand stitches to complete them.

This past week I finished up two projects.

A long time ago, before we were even talking about having a baby I made these in my sewing class.

I finished them so that Sadie Lady could wear them. She actually wore them on Thursday then had a diaper blow out first thing and had to change clothes. I was sad.

Another project that has been almost finished is Sadie's bedding. I feel awful that it took me almost 4 months after she arrived to get it done and put in her crib. She slept in our room for 5 weeks so it wasn't that bad. The thing that makes it so bad was all I had to do was add some velcro to the skirt and slip stitch the bumpers. Probably an hour and a half worth of work. That's all.

Oh well, at least it is finished now.

I'm still working on a wall in Sadie's nursery so I won't show you the entire room but I will show you the bedding.

I posted the fabric swatches here. I ended up adding a polka dot fabric that went with the others.
And of course, like always, the lighting makes it hard to tell the true colors but it is called "candy pink" if that helps. :) Also, please ignore the bows. The fabric is so stiff. I'm going to re-tie them and try and make them look much prettier.

The painting Caroline did for Sadie looks SO GOOD above the crib. It makes me smile every time I see it. It totally makes the room. It's by far the focal point. I'm trying to make sure the other wall is more neutral and toned down so that it doesn't take anything away from the painting. I LOVE it so much.

I should have fluffed it a little before the pictures but I didn't. Sorry.

I wanted all pink and white bedding so I could accent with other colors. I love how her room is turning out. It is almost complete. Sadie really likes being in her room and that makes me very happy.

I will share the rest of the nursery in a couple weeks when I get the other wall decorated.

Ok, so I still have a few more projects to complete. I have a bedroom pillow to stuff and stitch and a bubble to smock for Sadie. I better get busy.

Jesus Loves The Little Children

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Earlier this week a friend on
Twitter posted a link. I don't always click things I see on
Twitter but I I clicked the one she posted.

Wow.

After reading and seeing what I saw I had no words.

I still don't know what to say.

Here's the website.

Please read and pray for all the children of the world. So many babies are aborted, abandoned, abused, neglected, and so on. Orphanages are filled with children who have been deemed unwanted and unworthy.

I've always been touched by stories like this but after having a baby of my own it takes it to a new level.

All babies come into this world the same way. It doesn't matter if they are red and yellow, black and white, they all arrive completely vulnerable and completely dependent. They need love, food, warmth, comfort, protection, and so many other things they can't give themselves. Unfortunately not all babies receive these things from the ones responsible for them.

I tell Sadie all the time that not all babies are loved and cared for like she is. That's certainly true but something more important is true as well. JESUS loves the little children. ALL the children of the world.

Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:13-14

Back At It

After Sadie was born I took 12 weeks off for my maternity leave. I'm so thankful I had that much time off from work. I honestly don't know how anyone takes less than 8 weeks off. It took me at LEAST that long to feel somewhat normal again (I still don't feel totally normal). I know not everyone gets to take that much time off and so I certainly feel blessed.

As you already know, after my 12 weeks were over I gave my two weeks notice at my job. Working those two weeks seemed to drag on. I was not a fan of it at all. I much preferred to be home with Sadie. Lucky for me after those 2 weeks were over I got another 4 weeks at home. Wow. Talk about really blessed.

Well those 4 weeks ended last Friday and on Monday I started my new job. I was actually excited to start my new job. I wanted and needed to have some adult interaction during the day. It also helped because I knew my new job would be less hours and more laid back. The best part of all though is I knew Sadie would come with me to work. How great is that??!!?!

I am now working part time at a local church. I work 4 days a week and 4 hours a day. It's perfect. I help with the Mother's Day Out program so Sadie gets to come with me. As if that wasn't good enough I am actually in Sadie's classroom. That's right. I'm with her the entire time. Talk about awesome. I've had the best week so far and I am so thankful for this new job.

Sadie loves it too! She's the youngest by far. She's four months old and the next in line (so far) is 10 and 1/2 months old. Sadie is so entertained by the "big" babies though. She could stare at them for hours. She would much rather watch them than nap. We're working on that. Overall she does really well in there and for that I'm thankful.

I'm just thankful for everything right now. I'm thankful for this job and I'm thankful for being able to spend so much time with Sadie. God has been so good to me and I don't deserve it.

This House Is Home

When I was in college I was fortunate enough to live in my sorority house on campus. I loved living there and I certainly thought of it as home.

This House Is Home is a neat new business that sells fine art prints of different sorority houses on college campuses.

I'm excited to be able to giveaway one of these prints.

Visit my giveaway blog to enter.

4 Months Old

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Sadie, you are 4 months old. There is no way this is possible. It really does seem like yesterday we were waiting on your arrival at the hospital. You have changed SO MUCH this month. These pictures don't even look like the same baby.
You were my skinny-minny at first and now you have the BEST rolls on your arms, legs and of course under your chin.
We don't know your official stats because your well visit was moved back a couple of weeks.
We weighed you on our scales though and you were 15 pounds even. I was actually expecting you to be 15 and a 1/2 but you surprised me. I tried measuring your length and as best I can tell you are around 25 and 1/2 inches.
You wear size 3 month and size 3-6 month clothes.
You wear a size two diaper.
You get 5 bottles a day and each are 5 ounces.
You're still on Nutramigen formula and you still take Zantac for your acid reflux.
You sleep like a champ and we are so thankful. You go to bed around 7:30 or 8pm and you wake up around 7 or 7:30am. You are about to have to go to bed a little earlier since our morning schedule will be changing because of work.
You've been taking 3 naps during the day with your one in the afternoon being the longest.

You know your name...although you probably think it's Sadie-Lady because that's what we call you. Anytime we say it you turn and look at us.
You laugh all the time now and it's on purpose. Your daddy can make you laugh the most. You get so tickled at him. You are really a happy baby. You still only get fussy when you're tired.
When you get really tired now you talk to try to keep yourself from falling asleep. You hate to fall asleep when something is going on so you'll do almost anything to keep yourself awake.
You are finding your voice in a big way. You've have a few very loud screams that even scare you. You try hard to recreate them and sometimes you succeed and other times you don't.
You chew on everything, your hands, fingers, clothes, bibs, mommy, daddy, anything you can.
You are putting your hands to good use. You like to help hold your bottle, hold our fingers, grab your toys. pull mommy's hair, rub your eyes when you're tired, etc. Sometimes I find you just looking at your hands in amazement.


For play time you love your jumperoo, bumbo, laying on your play mat or the blanket. You like tummy time at first but then you get tired of it. You can roll over but sometimes you choose not to. You also like to sit in the Jeep and Jules and Big D's house. You can't quite move it but you are close.

You love to play during bath time. We are moving your baths from the kitchen sink to the bathroom because you get wild and splash water every where.

You also love T.V. I let you watch it sometimes and you act like you know exactly what's going on. For some reason golf always gets and keeps your attention. Your Big D is proud of that.

You are so sweet at night. We've develop a routine of reading a book, singing songs, and rocking. I happen to love it. You love to look at the pages of the books while I read. You don't take your eyes off them. When I sing you smile so big. I know it must be love because I have a terrible voice. Your favorite song is You Are My Sunshine. I also sing you Jesus Loves Me a lot and The Razorback Fight Song.

Sadie, you discover new things each and every day and it is so fun to watch. Your personality is really starting to develop. I know this is only just the beginning. As I've said before and I'll say again you bring so much joy into our lives. We are blessed to have you for our little girl.

You really are our Sunshine.

We love you!

We Have A Winner

We have a winner of the Thirty One tote giveaway.

Check out my giveaway blog to see if you won!

Love At First Sight

**Update: One Kings Lane has some great Erin Condren deals right now INCLUDING an e-card. Spend $25 get $50. You can use it for a planner (most are $50) or other Erin Condren products. Click here to go shopping.**

It's HERE!!! My Erin Condren Life Planner has arrived.

It's even more than I could have imagined. It's perfect.

I love that it has all of our names on it.
And the tabs. Oh the tabs. No guessing and flipping through pages to get to the right month.

A must-have in a good planner for me is a pocket. There is always something I need to tuck away somewhere. So happy there is a pocket on both sides. Double the room.

Check out the clear pouch. How great is that?!?

The inner 8 year old in me is giddy about the stickers. I've always been a fan of stickers. These are for different events and occasions.
There are even stickers for a mani-pedi. I told Josh I'll just have to get those from time to time. My life planner says so.

Don't worry though, if the pre-made stickers don't meet your needs there are blank ones for you to enjoy. Glory.

If you can't tell I'm beyond excited about this planner. A little too excited. I'm not sure I can write in it though. It might mess it up.When I do decide to write in it I'm going to have to use my best handwriting. I think I might buy special pen for it too. It deserves at least that.

Oh wait...there's more.


Look what else came with it. Inside was a sample of personalized gift tags. They are stickers so you just put them on a gift or goodie and you're set. Oh I need to get me more of these. She knew what she was doing when she gave me sample.

I think it is only fair to say that Erin Condren and her team are AWESOME. They had some unfortunate trouble last week when someone selfishly decided to hack into their stuff and mess everything up. They handled everything perfectly though. They have amazing customer service. No one asked me to say all of this. I'm just very impressed with Erin Condren and everyone who works with her. I imagine this will be the first of many things I buy from her.

*Last day to enter the Thirty One tote giveaway on my giveaway blog.*

Two Years

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REESE!

Thinking of you today and of all the ways you've touched my life the last two years. You left behind an amazing legacy.

We love you and miss you!

Tuned In

I know, I know, I'm not supposed to let Sadie watch too much T.V. It's hard though because she loves it. I do turn it off a lot or face her away from it to play at times but sometimes I just let her watch (no comments on how this is going to stunt her growth or cause her to have behavioral problems or some other random side effect).

She likes watching Praise Baby at home. It's her favorite.
She REALLY likes watching T.V. at Jules and Big D's house...

...because they have cable and NICK JR.
Sometimes though she's just happy watching whatever Big D is watching.

I assure you though she doesn't watch T.V. all day long.

She eats.

She sleeps.

She plays.

She loves playing about as much as she loves T.V and

so I think she'll turn out just fine!

*Don't forget to enter the Thirty One tote giveaway on my giveaway blog.*