Happy LOVE Day!

We woke up to some nice little treats this morning. Casey left me these chocolates and chocolate rose. Yes, there are already two missing in this picture. There might be three missing now :) The girls got some new books from me and Daddy and a new pillowcase (for Natalie) and some new bibs (for Layla), handmade by Granny. Not to mention the ice cream money. AND, the friends we had over for dinner last night brought them some heart cookies.

We also woke up so a big snow storm this morning, after 60-degree weather yesterday! I skipped Bible study this morning, since Layla's getting over a cold and because I did not have a chance to make my twenty valentines to pass out to the other ladies. The snow was the decision-maker. The effort to get out the door greatly increases where snow is involved :)

Thanks for the encouraging words about the potty training. We do have two more stickers on the chart, so we are making slow progress, I suppose.

I'm off to iTunes for the new Jack Johnson. Happy Valentines Day!!!!

Progress??

I know what you're thinking--I posted all those nice and time-consuming scrapbook pages and this is the best I could do for a potty chart? Okay, I just needed it quick, like right then. You can see it has one sticker. ONE. We've been at this gung-ho for a week and a half and she has pee-peed in the potty exactly one time. Then there was church, so she spent the day in a pull-up and today all that progress seems lost. If she gets all the squares filled up with stickers, she gets to watch the Cinderella movie we bought on Friday. She was very excited about it at first, but now she just wanders around saying dejectedly, "Now, I'll never get to see the Cinderella movie." Drama queen. What to do? Layla tries to get up on the potty using Natalie's stool. Maybe she'll be easy when the time comes. Maybe I should just train her now and wait another two years to try again with Natalie :)
I wish I had other things to blog about today, I truly do.

How Time Flies!

Here is another page I made for Natalie's book this week. This is a picture I took on the airplane to my sister's house last summer. As I was putting it in her book, I started looking back and got so nostalgic! I can't believe how little she was just a few short years ago. She was Layla's age in the pink page and I was barely pregnant with Layla in the last one. I can't believe she'll be three soon. Even more, I can't believe I'll be the mother of three-year-old! I still feel like such a kid sometimes.

My friend Jenn posted a really yummy cookie recipe on her blog here. It looks sooo good and I think I may try it today. Then again, my kitchen is so clean right now, I might enjoy that for the one hour that it might last :)

Yesterday's News

I made this scrapbook page yesterday for Layla's book. Angela took this picture when I was pregnant with her and I think it is my absolute favorite picture of Casey and I. (Can you tell I'm a little behind on the scrapbooking front?) Anyway, I have so many sewing projects to finish for others, that I needed a break and decided to do something for awhile that no one else benefits from. Selfish?? Maybe, but therapeutic too.

It snowed all day long yesterday and it looks beautiful outside. The *snow fairies* just pulled up and started shoveling our driveway. Gotta love the HOA :)

The second picture here is of Natalie coloring red lipstick with a crayon on all the girls in the Penney's catalog. My sister and I used to do this and I'm thankful now for all these creative ideas of things to do, when it would be so easy to let her watch Playhouse Disney all day long. I'm sure as she gets older, she'll progress to mustaches and boogies like Jana and I did too, hehehe ;)

I'm thinking of switching to cloth diapers. Any tips? Have you seen these newfangled things they have now??? I read that the average parent spends about $3,000 per kid on disposable diapers, as opposed to $300 for cloth. I'm also going to call today to request a recycling bucket, since I read they don't require you to sort it all anymore. Trying to leave less of a footprint, I guess. Speaking of diapers, Natalie is not wearing one today. We are trying yet again to potty train, since she turns 3 in a month and people are starting to comment. It's going much better today than yesterday, when she pooped first thing (having kids is so gross) and because I have tried to change my perspective a little too. Instead of saying, "she'll never get it!", I'm telling myself, "she'll get it very soon!" Psychological trick maybe, but I feel better about things :)

Spilling the *Bean*

Well, for those of you who haven't already heard, this coming August, we will be joining the ranks of the families of five. We are having a third little peanut! I hesitated to spill too early, since I have suffered a few miscarriages the past several months, but yesterday was my first appointment and as you can see, our newest little bean looks just fine. Can you see the little arms? Aw.

I was soooooo super excited this morning to find a link to my blog on this post on A Round Unvarnish'd Tale!!!!! And as a sewing reference, no less!! I'm pretty sure this is the first time someone has linked to my blog, (that I know of) except for Sew Mama Sew, so I was probably a little over-thrilled, hehehe. I even called Casey to tell him.

Anyway, I'm also excited to announce that my good friend Angela, of Angel Photography LLC has started a blog to showcase some of her photos. She's the one that takes many of the beautiful pictures of our family and kiddos that I post here so often, so drop by and congratulate her if you have a chance. And give her your business too, I promise, you won't regret it!!!!!

There is a very encouraging post for young mothers on Femina today. Oh so true about the attitude thing! I suppose this is not just true for mothers, but for every stage of life.

Happy February everyone! Let's make it extra lovey this year :)

New Addition

I added this bag to my Etsy shop today. You can look here to see more pictures and details. I am mighty proud of this bag because it is my first ever completely original design. I've adapted patterns and added to patterns before, but this is the first time I've drafted a pattern from my own idea. So, take a look if you want!
I also renewed some of my expired listings, so in case you were wondering, no, I did not permanently close up shop. I have plans for several other new listings over the next few weeks, but first I have a huge bag of alterations to finish up (I've decided to exit the alterations business altogether after this) and whip up a bag that my sister's mother-in-law graciously requested from me.

In other news, just as I was pondering ridding my storage closet of a few tubs of yarn because there are no cool crochet patterns out there anyway, and I have decided I am just not a knitter (I think it's so cool-looking, but it takes forever), I came across this website. There are some great patterns for kids' toys there and some of them are even free. The for-sale ones are only between 2 and 5 bucks, though, and no shipping charges are necessary because they are emailed to you in a pdf file! So, if you like to crochet, go check it out.

Also, I was asked for the Sangria recipe I mentioned in a previous post, so I'll just put it right here for all to enjoy. You can make this virgin or not, ingredients for both are included:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup orange-flavored liqueur or orange juice
1 cup vodka of lemon-lime soda
2 medium peaches or nectarines, thinly sliced, slices cut in half
1 medium orange, thinly sliced, cut in galf if desired
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 lime, thinly sliced
1 bottle (750 ml) dry while wine or white grape juice, chilled
1 bottle (1 liter) club soda, chilled

Instructions:
In half-gallon glass or plastic pitcher, stir sugar, orange liqueur and vodka until sugar is dissolved. Into another half-gallon glass or plastic pitcher, pour half of vodka mixture. Divide fruits and wine evenly between pitchers. Refrigerate until serving. Just before serving, pour half of club soda into each pitcher; stir gently to mix. Serve immediately. If desired, serve over ice.

For a Special Little One

My dear friend Jenn and her hubby have recently been blessed with the 19-month-old sister of the now 7-month-old baby they adopted when she was born earlier this year. I was so thrilled when I found out and wanted to make something special for Kayden Grace, so I made her this little pillow and case. It was so much fun and even more so since I'm so happy that God saw best to put both these baby girls in a godly home, where they have the opportunity to be nurtured in His love and raised with the wonderful knowledge of Him. Praise the Lord! As you can imagine, adopting two little ones in six months has been a challenge for Jenn, so drop by and offer up some encouragement if you can. You can find her here.

This, That and the Other Thing

Here is a picture of the lovely apron I made for Becky for her b-day on Wednesday. Her hubby was at school, so we had a girls' night here. Melissa made amazing fondue, I made some non-alcoholic Sangria, (since half of us are pregnant) and a chocolate pound cake and we watched the new Hairspray movie, which I really love.

Second, here's a picture of Layla, since someone complained that she has not appeared here for a little while. And, third is a picture of Natalie, when she fell asleep face-down on the floor yesterday at nap time, after making quite a mess of her room, as you can see. She rarely takes naps these days, so it was pretty funny.

Last, but NOT LEAST, there is a very inspiring post here about a girl and India and sari blankets that is a must-read. Follow the links there to get the whole story, it is pretty amazing.

Happy Friday!!!