Trick or Treat

"Happy Halloween" from Emmalee Caroline! 



Goin' for the "Good Stuff"!





I think our lil' pumpkin is ready for some trick or treat'ing!



An Only Child

Today Kelly's Korner SYUL is about having an only child. 

The crazy thing is that I almost skipped right over it because I have never thought of Emmalee as an only child, but I guess she is. 

Brant and I have always wanted to have two children.  I have always wanted more, but Brant said he would be very happy with two.  I also never thought it would take us 2 years to get pregnant with Emmalee, so we got a later start than we anticipated...so maybe two is all we will have...or maybe just one. 

After I stopped nursing Emmalee I wondered how long it would take for my body to ovulate and for my hormones to get "back to normal", or at least what would be normal for me.  I talked to my doctor's office and we set a "game plan," if you can call it that, maybe the word "timeline" is better.  Anyways, after talking with to the office, I talked to Brant about if he thought I would still be "out of whack" after having a baby.  It was an interesting conversation but it also made me think...what if Emmalee is our only child?

It wasn't an easy thought just because I've always had my life planned out and, in those plans, I am always having two babies...a girl and a boy.  But you know saying:

"If you want to see God laugh, tell Him your plans." 

But after a few days of this weighing heavily on my mind, I cam to realize that I am happy.  My dreams of being a mom came true the moment they placed that little baby on my chest a mere 6 months ago. 

I have an amazing husband, and a gorgeous daughter, a fabulous family, a roof over my head and a job I like...what more do I need?   So I am content to simply trust in His plan instead of mine. 

I know one thing is for certain, if this little girl is an only child, its ok because this smile has absolutely stolen my heart!

Day 1 - 30D Photo Challenge

So I decided to participate in Tricia Nae's 30-day Photo Challenge...but you can't judge on the quality of my pictures because although my sister may be a professional photographer, I AM NOT!

So Day 1's photo challenge is a self portrait...and this is me!

Want to know more about me?  

All the cards out on the table:

• I'm 29 years old. I'm 5'7" with light brown hair and green eyes.
• I was born and raised in Texas, and don't ever want to leave...although I do love traveling to other places.
• I am a wife to Brant and we have been married 4.5 years.
• I am a momma to the sweetest lil' 6 month old, Emmalee Caroline.
• I am a little sister to Amanda, and Aunt Grabbie to her 4 babes: Mason, Connor, Kate and Ethan.
• I do work full-time as a corporate compliance specialist.
• I have a "side-job" as a custom blog and card designer.  Go to GreatGrabbieDesigns.com to find out more.
• I love to scrapbook, go on walks, swim, read, shop, play the piano, and I am learning how to sew.
• I have an amazing family that I love dearly.
• I graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 2004 with 2 Bachelor of Science degrees: one in Political Science, and the other in Sociology.
• After college, I felt the Lord calling me to go to Honduras for a 3-month mission trip at the Orphanage Emmanuel.  That experience changed my life.
• I love youth - especially high school girls.  I teach 10th grade girls Sunday School at our church, Walnut Ridge Baptist.
• I struggle with fear and worry, but know that God already has my life written according to His plan.
• I believe that Jesus Christ is my Savior.
• My biggest desire is fall more and more in love with Him each day, and show my daughter how to do that as well.
• I struggled for 2 years to have a baby, so I have special place in my heart for those who struggle with infertility. 
• I love to laugh and my goal is to live life to its fullest.
• My definition of "success" is entering the gates of Heaven and hearing "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Sweet Six {Months}

Growing little one, oh how much you have grown! You are now six months old and are the sweetest little girl  I know.  You are as beautiful as can be and always have a smile on your face.  Today we had your 6 months well-check and you weigh 15 lbs. and 10 oz (30th percentile) and you are 26 1/2" long (70th percentile).

You are still my lil' sleeper.  You go to bed around 8:00 and sleep through the night until I wake you up around 6:30 am.  You  have 4 6oz. formula bottles and eat solids 2 times a day.   So far the only thing you don't like are peas and green beans...everything else you eat up! 

You love being on the floor now - you get around by the army crawl and you roll all over the place.  Every now and then you pull your knees up under you and get on all fours...I think you might start crawling soon.  You can balance and sit up by yourself for a few minutes.  You still love your bath and love to splash.  As`always, you are my little social butterfly.  You love being around people, especially other children. 

You continue to be the light of our lives and make us smile everyday.

I love you more than you know baby girl, Momma

 Although Em is actually 6 months and 10 days, I still have to take our monthly picture...but it's hard to get a good picture when someone is always moving!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this sweet face!

A Sew-Sew Saturday

Well, It's more like a sewing weekend, not just Saturday!  

Saturday morning we got up and went to the JDRF walk in Trinity Park - it was fabulous!  I've got a whole different post for that one.  We got home around noon, had some lunch, then Emmalee went down for a nap.  Having some "free" time on my hands, I sat down at my sewing machine.

And this is my sewing maching - yes, it is over 35 years old, but it still runs like a gem and gets the job done!

 

First thing is first - ORGANIZE!  I really had no organization in my sewing space and it was making me a little crazy.  So, I organized! 

All of my "Stuff"!

Threads and bobbins

Ribbons, Scissors, Measuring tape, scrap fabrics and other "stuff".

  

All of the current fabrics I'm working with. 

Once that was finished, I got to work sewing!

This dress is actually for a friend but I still have plenty of fabric left over, so I'm sure Emmalee might have something made out of it as well!  

Dress#2!  When I saw this fabric the other day, I just fell in love!  I love all the colors in it - so perfect for fall. 

Now sometime between starting dress #2 snd beginning my new project, lil' bit woke up, so I just plopped her down in her excersaucer in the sewin room and just played.  We had fun together! 

So after getting the dresses down and feeling more comfortable with what I'm doing, I decided to tackle something other than a dress...a cute little top!  I loved this fabric and I got a great pattern here at Prucdent Baby...which has become an awesome source of information on sewing and making infant clothes! 

It definitely took me much longer than I ancitpated (as in it wasn't finished until Saturday night - like 10:30 at night - but I still got it done!)  But now that I've done it once, I'm certain I can do it again... and much faster next time! 

Sunday, we went to church and I let Emmalee wear hew new dress.  How precious is she? 

Love this toothless grin!

My perfect little model! 

And here is a sneak peek of Emmalee's Christmas outfit!  I found these fabrics and knew instantly that I had to have them! 

Sally the Seamstress

Ok, so my name isn't Sally and I'm no seamstress, but I want to be!  Several months ago, actualy it was before Emmalee was even born, I saw this fabric remnant at WalMart for only $2 - seriously, how could I not buy it?  I had inteneded to give it to my friend Kristen (who make the Em's Halloween dress) for her to make something cute out of it but I never got around to giving it to her.  So last night, I decided that I would make something out of it! 

So Em and I ran to Hobby Lobby so I could pick up a few sewing necessities...like thread!  We came home, Daddy gave Em her bottle, I rocked her for a few mintues, then she went to her bed.  As soon as she was in bed I started my master plan!  Within an hour and a half, this was the result! 

I'm not going to lie - I was totally proud of myself!!!!!!  Of course, I did take a bit of a shortcut because I just used Stitch Witchery to attach the ribbon and then just sewed the ribbon where it met the seams.  I'm not a perfect straight-line seamstress yet, so I figured this would work! 

And this morning, here is my darling girl! 

Just love, love, love this sweet face!

LAST DAY!

Ok y'all, so far my company has raise over $350,000 for JDRF (Juvenille Diabetes Research Fund) and the JDRF walk is this Saturday!  I still need to rasie about $50 to reach my goal...so will you help me? 

Today is the last day to order your discounted custom card design and/or custom blog design! 

• Custom card orders are $10.00 (printing not included)
• Custom blog designs are $25 for a basic design and $30 for a deluxed design! 

Help me reach my goal of $250!!!

More information here!

Weekend of Memories

 This past weekend we went to Texarkana (the AR side) to visit Nana and GrandBob!  Friday morning I asked Emmalee if she was ready to go and she squealed with delight - I think she knew that she was about to be spoiled ALL weekend long!

Saturday we all slept late and pretty much just had a fun, lazy day.  I still can't believe that Emmalee was 6 months old on Saturday - where has the time gone?  Saturday afternoon GrandBob took Emmalee on a little nature walk in the backyard. 

Everytime Nana would hold Em, she kept bending her knees and trying to bounce - I'm not quite sure why she thought Nana was her excersaucer, but she did.  So, we ran to Target and found a Johnny Jump Up.  We thought we'd see how Em liked it.  It took her a few minutes to get the hang of it, but she seemed to enjoy herself.  

While Emmalee played, my sweet MIL gave me a few sewing lessons.  I remembered some of the basics from Home Economics (8th grade), but I definitely needed a refresher course!  So we started with something quite simple - a pillowcase dress.  It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be!  Here is my finished product!

Y'all, my MIL is so sweet that she gave me her sewing machine to bring home - the machine, the table, and extra supplies!  I am so excited!!!  I cannot wait to make some more dresses for Em!

Saturday night we took a walk - before the Rangers game, of course!  Had some delicious spaghetti, then watched the Rangers kick some Detroit Tail! Our Texas Rangers are, once again, World Series Bound!!!!  

On our way to church on Sunday, we found a little garden center that had all sorts of great fall decorations and pumpkin arrangements outside.  So as soon as church was over, we headed over to get some pumpkin pictures.  I really wanted to get some 6 month pics of Em in her Halloween dress! 

 Em was quite impressed with the pumpkins - so impressed she thought would be a nice treat to eat!  

Crazy girl!

Since we wouldn't let her eat the pumpkins, she thought she'd try the hay!  

 My little angel!

Emmalee and Nana

Sweet Lil' Grin!

  This little girl loves her daddy!

 Our Pumpkin Princess!