Sew Sweet Giveaway!

In case you didn't know, I have an etsy shop (Sew Sweet for Baby). Don't go looking for it though because there isn't anything in it right now :D

I've been busy sewing like crazy lately! Not on projects for myself though. There seems to have been a baby boom around here lately! So, I've been doing what I do when friends have babies...making blankets!
Here's a sneak peek at one:



Since I'm in the sewing mode, I thought I would let you know that I'm going to be doing my VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY!! My next post will have all the details, so be ready! You could win your very own personalized blanket like this one!

See you soon!!

Fresh Air!

Two weeks ago, my husband and I found ourselves with only two out of our three kiddos (Reagan was at YaYa and Poppy's house). We wanted to take full advantage of the man-to-man defense (and of course the gorgeous weather) so we packed up our youngest two and hit the trail. Literally.

We googled "easy trails" in Idyllwild (since he would be wearing the baby in a backpack for the hike). When we found it, we set off for our family hike. Along the way we learned a few things:

1. Hikers walking UP the trail have the right of way.
2. Bring snacks (there's a reason it's called "trail mix").
3. Easy is not easy (turns out we ended up on a moderate trail so that explains a lot)
4. Going down is a LOT easier than going up.
5. Buy a map.
6. A 20 pound baby feels a lot heavier at 6,000 feet up and carried on your back (I have to take my wonderful husbands words for it on this one)
7. Three year olds will walk a lot if you keep them busy "looking" for things.
8. There's a reason they are called 'hiking boots.' Sneakers just don't cut it sometimes.
9. The first weekend in October is also the Wine Festival in Idyllwild. Who knew?
10. God made our world so beautiful and often we forget to just take it all in and breathe.
(The world is also a small place. The ONE family we asked to take our picture on the trial was actually from Philly, just a few towns away from where B grew up!)

It was invigorating and peaceful all at the same time. The pictures don't do it justice, but we have agreed that it's something we need to do more frequently. So, we'll have more pics in the future. For now, enjoy! I know we did!

This is NOT my first NOT ME MONDAY (but really it is)

Ok, so I'm caving. I've been reading others for months and now it's my turn to join the ranks. It was created by MckMama as a way to admit what we most certainly did NOT do during our week. You can go to her blog if you want to read about hundreds of others that didn't do anything this week.



Most weeks I simply forget what it was that I did NOT do, but this week I have actually been writing them down. I am a list-maker, afterall. I almost wrote my first "Not Me" a few months ago after I totally did NOT misread a pregnancy test and think that we were expecting a fourth child (after my sweet husband's 'procedure'). And now I totally do NOT giggle every time I hear the ClearBlue Easy Pregnancy Test commercial that says "Three out of ten women can misread a pregnancy test." Who does that?!

But on to THIS week!

I definitely did NOT hit the "panic" button on my key fob by accident while trying to hit the automatic door button. I always know which button to push, even with my hands full.

My youngest daughter did NOT continually remove her clothing and her diaper no matter how many times I tried to convince her otherwise. Then I most certainly did NOT try to scotch tape the tabs on her diaper to keep her little fingers from lifting them. Not me. I also wouldn't ignore every sign that she is sending at 19 months that she wants to use the potty. I always let my children dictate when we start potty training.

I did NOT spend over an hour last night, freaked out because I thought I heard a mouse in our bedroom, chewing on something. I finally did NOT get up out of bed and "face my fear" only to find out that it was the string on our blinds, blowing in the breeze and 'clanking' against the metal window frame.

Since my stomach was NOT bothering me last week (and thus making me feel all around icky) I definitely did not convince my children that they wanted quesadillas or microwavable mac n cheese for dinner. I always cook organic, healthy meals, from scratch.

I also did not scrap two bags of Amish bread "starter" because I keep making the "cake" and eating most of it myself and then wondering why the scale is not moving down. Not me. I don't eat sugar. Ever.

So there it is. My first (but not my last).

Sneak a Peek

A couple weeks ago I was "inspired" for my kitchen and family room curtains.

Since then I have been on a mission to find the right "hankies" to applique onto my curtains. This is what I have thus far.



I have discovered that this process is going to take longer than I originally thought, but the search has been fun, so I don't mind!

Right or Left

I've talked before about how different our first two girls are; not only in looks, but personality as well. We have often wondered where Bailey will fit into that spectrum. Will she be more like Reagan? Will she be more like Skylar? All I can say is that thus far, she is keeping us guessing.

Her hair is blonde, like Reagan. But it's straight, like Skylar. She is talking early like Reagan, but is shy like Skylar. She likes to climb things and jump off like....well all of them have done that, so that's not a fair comparison :D If her stats are any indication, she is shaping up to be the shortest of the three. Poor thing.

Lately, I've been trying to figure out if she is going to be right or left handed. Reagan is right handed. Skylar is left handed. Bailey eats with her right hand, but draws with her left (most of the time).

Sometimes she will even start writing with her right,


and then switch,


to her left.

Our God-given traits just amaze me! Each is truly unique and created for a purpose that we can only pray about and wait for the Lord to bring to fruition. Right or left, each a blessing.

Melting Moments

You know those moments. The ones you want to freeze in time. The ones where you wish you had your camcorder, or camera, or mental tivo so you could rewind and replay it over and over. Not the ones where your kids are "melting" in a store and you need to hightail it out of there in a hurry. But the ones where your kids or husband does something super sweet and it makes YOU melt. This morning was one for me.

Bailey has started to speak in broken sentences more frequently. After taking Reagan (Deedee) to school, we pulled back into the garage. I opened Baileys van door and her bottom lip was out. It's really pathetic if you've ever seen it. I asked her, "what's wrong bug?" She said (as sad as could be), "mommy, miss deedee." So sweet.

*sigh*

And I melted.

It warms my heart to see my girls love one another.

The Middle Child

I am not one. Nor am I married to one. But we have one. Our own little Jan Brady, if you will.

So far we have not been introduced to the more negative side of "Middle Child Syndrome" and we are praying that we never are. But it's not like she doesn't have enough ammunition. If you look at our pictures, there are FAR less of Skylar. We have albums full of photos of Reagan. One whole album is her first week home. But, she was our first. Bailey has a ton because I knew she was our last. (And because I had a new digital camera and a new computer on which to download them).

She gets a lot of hand-me-downs from her older sister. Her bike, her clothes, her shoes, her toys, her carseat. Some of the items don't make it to Bailey so we have to buy new things for her.

She seems to get less attention on here because she's not the baby, and she hasn't started school.

The great thing is that she doesn't seem to mind. She thinks that hand me downs from Reagan are special (for the most part). This is not to say that she is a mini version or a replica of her older sister. In fact, they couldn't be more different if they tried.

But I want to get in the habit of making sure each of my girls feels special.

Here are a few of the reasons why Skylar is so special to our family:
She is the only one of the girls with brown hair (and subsequently her daddy's olive skin that tans ever so easily)
She has the biggest, bluest eyes
She makes us laugh with the way she says things ("Pretty Sun" for Capri Sun, "Mackyroni" for Macaroni, "Yogrit" for yogurt)
She also doesn't say her 'r's so she sounds like she is from Boston sometimes :)
She's VERY affectionate and loves to snuggle, cuddle, hug, have you scratch her back, play with her hair, etc.
She is so loving, and tells me often how much she loves me. "I love you to the moon and back."
She will try ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING, food-wise; and actually ends up liking most of it.
She has a great sense of humor already and likes to tell "jokes." Some of them are even funny.
She is NOT a princess (most days). While she loves to dress up and play with jewelry, she is just as happy with a ball, riding her bike, or playing with dirt or climbing onto things (and subsequently jumping off).
We know that she will probably be our Emergency Room child at some point.

There are a thousand more reasons why she is special, but we will leave it at those for now.

We are so grateful that the Lord blessed us with three very different girls. Each special in her own way.