Kommunicated

Packing up.

2009-09-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

And moving! Go to http://www.kommunicated.com to find me from now on.

How Romantical.

2009-09-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Brady and I celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary last week. FIVE YEARS! Holy crap, where did that time go?! To honor it, we passed the kids off on my in-laws (thank you!) and took a road trip. We went to Oklahoma City for one night and then got a cabin for three nights in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. I know, Oklahoma - not the first destination that comes to mind when you say romantic. However, it turns out that when you're starved for some adult time, it doesn't matter where you go! We had a blast together, totally reconnected and made some great new memories that don't involve babies and toddlers. It was fabulous.

So, I have tons of pictures to share, but I'll start with a short story. From OKC to Broken Bow, we decided to take the Talimena Scenic Drive, even though it was a little longer drive. The weather was awesome, the air felt and smelled so fresh and we cranked up the iPod and drove and drove. One of the first scenic overlooks we came to, we pulled off the road to check out the view.

Pretty, huh? Not sure if the picture does it justice. It was breathtaking. I think I said, "Are we still in Oklahoma?" So we sat and enjoyed it. And even thought it was incredibly beautiful, there was this one dead tree sticking up right in our view. Getting right in the way of perfection.

I mentioned it and before I knew it, Brady climbed down the hill and tore the tree down.

Ah, much better :) Now, that's love.

This is why I take so many freaking pictures.

2009-09-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

I fill my camera. And then I fill my back-up memory card. And then I fill my hard drive. And now my back-up drive is full. Plus, I print the pictures and organize them into page after page of albums, then line them up on shelves. Officially, having pictures is a hobby of mine. Not just taking pictures, but looking through them, editing them, sharing them, reflecting, etc, etc. All the things you do with them after the shutter clicks. Take a lot of time and energy.

So, why do I do it? Good question. I ask myself the same thing. Don't always come up with an answer, but this helps:

Luckily, Lilah (and Jak and Eva) love to look at photo albums. I let them each grab an album from the shelf and they get so excited as they turn the pages, recognizing people and themselves. As Lilah has gotten older, she actually seems to recall some of the memories - or at least I tell myself that. Before we go see friends or family that we haven't seen lately, I always pull out a book and we talk about who they are.

Lilah really appreciates looking at all these photos we snap, and I hope that never fades. I know that I still enjoy sifting through albums of my childhood and talking over them with my parents. Every photo means something different for them than for me. Like, I remember my incredible 5th birthday and the awesome bike I got, while my mom remembers slaving away on my Rainbow Brite cake up to the last minute before the party.

Mmmmmm, cake...

DIYday, Vol. 1

2009-08-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

As a far as crafting goes, I am a collector. I collect piles of fabric, jars of buttons, stacks (and stacks) of papers, drawers of thread and notions, rows of ribbons, piles of clippings, etc, etc. Actually, instead of "collect" a more appropriate word might be "hoard". I hoard all these things in hopes that someday I'll have time to do something creative with them. One of my favorite things to hoard is tutorials. Like, free online tutorials where somebody has come up with some cute little sewing or paper project that they explain in photos and tell you how to do it. I seriously have hundreds of these bookmarked on my computer. Hundreds. I know, silly, right? Please don't ask me how many I've actually used.

Anyways, in an effort to bring purpose to all that tutorial hoarding, I want to share some with you. I'm calling this DIYday. You'll see tutorials for sewing, crafting, cooking - just about any kind of making. So, here goes:

Pinwheels by Heather Bailey. My daughter loves pinwheels and I have been wanting to make one of these for her. Hmmm ... maybe with my new SAHM-status, we could do that together. Break out the safety scissors!

Poms by Martha (no last name required). My SIL has made some flowers similar to these, and I keep them on the window sill by my computer, so I see them every day! A little bit of color that never wilts!

Cowgirl Cookie Jars by Bakerella

Fun stuff, huh? I'm thinking those poms would be great decor for a baby shower, or even a baby's room? And I love that the cookie jars can be customized with a different color for another occasion. Not that the pink isn't awesome.

Okay, now I don't feel so guilty for hoarding all those fabulous ideas!

Even straighter.

2009-08-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, I wrote that I was "getting my priorities straight." Well, here I am, taking that one step further. Yesterday was my first day as a professional mommy. I'm out of the office and back in the house for 24 hours, 7 days a week of motherhood bliss.

Okay, who I am I kidding? Bliss? Pish. I know it's gonna be tough. I know there will be days where I will be calling the agency and begging to come back. I'm quite positive that I will long for adult conversation and advertising talk. And I'm sure that I will want to throw my kids at their dad when he walks in from work and jump in the car, head to the liqour store and never come back. But, the thing is, I think it's going to be better than dropping them at daycare every day and missing so much. Like today when I got to listen to Lilah sneak in to sing Graham to sleep. Or when Graham sat up on his own today for a full 15 seconds - and then Lilah had to show me she could do it, too.

So, it's a temporary tradeoff. I'll go back to work, someday. Fingers crossed, I make it past next week :)

Some random photos from the last month or so:

Digging potatoes with Brady's family in Clay Center. Lilah was pretty excited to get dirty and play with her cousins. As you can see, the adults did all the hard work. Me, I took pictures and held Graham.

My family's vacation to Beaver Lake - in Arkansas. We have friends that have a home there that we borrow and the whole trip is fabulous. We swam, boated, grilled, floated, took walks, toured a local hatchery and ate incredibly well. Tried some new recipes, including my families new favorite, Jalapeño Poppers. (Please note: I am not a fan of these, but everybody else who eats them is.)

Lilah's first French braid. As a child, my mother did this to my hair A LOT. And one day on vacation, while my mom had Lilah, I was surprised and delighted to come back and see this. I love it and have been trying to master it myself. Would be much easier if she wasn't so wiggly.

And, also on vacation - my favorite picture of Lilah and my dad. It just captures everything - she absolutely adores him. So much so that she would rather chill on a picnic table with him than go play on the beach with her cousins.

This little guy is growing up so much lately. So close to being able to sit up on his own. Plus two teeth now. And the jolliest little fart ever.

Check out those baby blues on my favorite little girl:

Going green. (A new reason to potty train.)

2009-08-04T05:06:00.000-07:00

Everybody's doing it, right? A few months ago, we started seriously recycling. We switched waste companies and started getting curbside recycling. In Wichita, you can now get a huge container that you can throw ALL your recyclables into. EVERYTHING. Paper. All plastics. Aluminum. Cardboard. Chipboard. Glass, etc. No sorting. No hauling it to your nearest recycle bin. It feels great and is super-easy. It has really cut down on our amount of waste. If there were no diapers in it, we'd hardly have any trash each week. (But we're working very dilligently to reduce the amount diapers that go into it!!! See photo below!)

I also even started collecting plastic bags to recycle (Not throught the same service.) - Dillon's takes all kinds of plastic bags, plastic packing, etc. Not just your grocery bags (cause now everybody uses those canvas bags anyways, right?), but all plastic. I've been really amazed at how much this has added up in just the few weeks I've been collecting. Seems like everything comes in a plastic bag.

If you're interested, Waste Connnections is who offers the recycling service. As a bonus, you get rewards for how much you throw away - they weigh your bin each week and then you get "points" for how much you've collected overtime that can be redeemed online. (We have over 1600 points already! Pretty sure those are going to a target gift card soon...)

Anyways, the whole point of this post came from this letter I got in the mail today. It was one of those fabulous credit offers where they say you have some crazy amount of credit line available to you and they'll give it to you at some insane pseudo-low rate. I get a ton of these, don't you? What a waste of paper and postage and stuff! I was about to toss it into the recycling bin when I read this at the bottom of it:

You can choose to stop receiving "prescreened" offers of credit from this and other companies by calling toll-free 1.866.567.8688.

Sweet! Five minutes later, Brady and I were both opted-out for the next five years! Even better than recycling! Let's call it pre-cycling! (The process online was super-simple. It recongnized our home phone number and had all our info already. All I need was SS#'s.) Okay, no excuse, go do it now, if you haven't already!

Uneventful and lovely.

2009-08-02T20:14:00.001-07:00

Just a few photos from a quiet weekend at home. I can't get over how much I love to just stay home! We spend last week on vacation with my family, so it was greatly appreciated to just hang out in our house and be anti-social.

Right after bath time, which is a favorite for him. And, if I'm being honest, doesn't happen as often as it should, unfortunately. (All you mom's out there with more than one kid understand, right?? RIGHT?)

That's my man. Suckin' his thumb. See, he gets rid of his own germs :)

This evening we took the kids and our nephew Jak to Buffalo Park, which has been recently updated. A great place for the kids to let out some energy.

Say cheese.

2009-07-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

I am officially signed up for an online photography class today! And not just any photography class. One that I am super excited about. It's taught by my dear friend, Karen Russell. Okay, not my dear friend, but a blogger that I've actually never met before. But because I keep up with her day-to-day life on her blog, I feel like we are buds.

Each 8-week class she teaches has 100 openings - and when she opened registration today at 11AM, it filled up in FOUR MINUTES! But thanks to my lightning-fast typing skills, I got enrolled during those minutes. Kinda dorky, but my heart was pounding so hard while I typed! I guess that's what it feels like to be competitive??? (I don't have a competitive bone in my entire body.)

The class doesn't start until January, unfortunately. But that's okay, cause I don't even own an appropriate camera right now. (But I'm working on it!) I'm really looking forward to learning how to take some better shots of the fam.

Thought I'd share some of her photos. She has the cutest little girl that always reminds me of my daughter. (Wonder if there's a lesson in the class on how to get your toddler to look at the camera and smile?) I think one of the reasons I find her so intriguing is that she is a self-taught photographer. Before that she was a self-taught designer. And before that she was a dental hygenist for 10 years! And this chick isn't even that old. Pretty inspiring to come so far and find what it is that really makes you happy.

and one of my absolute favorites:

Sidenote: I've had many friends discuss with me which camera is the right camera for them. Well, I have no idea, but this blog post that Karen wrote is going to help me decide. Lots of money, so you better choose wisely!

So, until January, I apologize for the lack of skill in my photos. Know that they will get better!!!

Happy birthday to me.

2009-07-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my 27th birthday. I think the older you get, the faster time flies by. Especially when you start watching your own kids grow.

Anyways, I always try to stay positive when my birthday comes around. I've got a lot to be thankful for, so why should another year make me sad? I decided to compile a list of 27 things that make me happy:

1. Catching a great smile from my kids on camera. Sadly, this doesn't happen often enough.

2. The song Sideways, by Dierks Bentley + the fact that Lilah calls it by name within the first few beats.

3. The BBQ grill. It can make anything taste good. And how fun is it to hang out on the deck while your man is cooking you dinner?

4. Diet coke.

5. My big, gigantic king-size bed. I love being a grown-up and having such a great place to rest.

6. The three days in July each year when I get to be three years younger than my husband.

7. Etsy.com

8. Jumping in my car and being just minutes away from the home I grew up in. Feels so right.

9. Lynchberg Lemonade.

10. The notes my husband leaves me on the counter in the morning before I even wake up. Simple and sweet.

11. Lakes. Swimming, boating, skiing, floating, etc. Such a great way to spend some downtime. Water is so soothing.

12. The fact that my husband and I share a dream of living on a lake someday.

13. Stationary. Love the tradition of handwriting notes on beautiful paper. Makes me sad that it is a lost art.

14. Medium-sized styrofoam Sonic cups. Perfect for a wide range of drinks (see #4 and #9). They don't sweat all over the table + they keep my drink super cold.

15. Sunflower seeds - a lifelong weakness. When we were kids, my brother used to tell me that I'd never find a husband because of all the sunflower seed chewing/spitting I used to do. Good thing he was wrong!

16. Dropping my kiddos off to daycare at their Aunt Jenny's. They love it and I know she loves them. What a blessing. (Hope she feels the same way!)

17. My Mac. When it's behaving.

18. A good sunburn. I know that one's kinda weird, but I just love the way you feel after a day in the sun. Isn't there a vitamin you get from the sun? Vitamin K or something? Maybe they named that after me :)

19. Fabric stores. I love all the colors and textures in rows and piles. I could shop all day. Usually buy some just for the hell of it. Leaving me with stacks of fabric at home and no time to do anything with it.

20. The feeling after a good workout. Or even a not-so-good workout. When have you ever left the gym and thought "man, I wish I hadn't done that"?

21. The blue eyes that my husband has, and my children have inherited. (It's why I married him.)

22. The hot dog dance. If you know what this is, you would get along with my daughter. And when Lilah's happy, I'm happy.

23. A Lot Like Love. Or any good romantic film. But this one in particular always leaves me with a smile.

24. The way that Graham's smile gradually appears on his face. I love the transition. Seems so honest.

25. Bud Lime

26. Traditions. For instance, my family's annual trip to Beaver Lake. Bunco on the second Tuesday of every month. Grey's Anatomy every Thursday night with my friend, Linds. Burger Binge at work every Wednesday at lunch. There is something about that predictability and commitment that feels so reassuring.

27. And of course, this blog! A great place for me to air my thoughts and feel like somebody's listening. Thanks!

Hope something on that list left you with a smile!

Here's to 27 more years.

What has chocolate done for you today?

2009-06-30T10:49:00.001-07:00

Every girl needs a little chocolate in their life. But I am not every girl. I need more than just a little chocolate in my life. Like, truckloads more. But since truckloads aren't feasible (where would I park a semi?), I'll have to deal with a couple of doses each day.

And when trying to lose weight, chocolate is (contrary to previous beliefs) NOT a girl's best friend. Darn it.

In my opinion, there are very few truly yummy, slightly lite chocolate foods. One of which is the Reduced Fat Oreo (thank you, Nabisco!) and the Skinny Cow (if you haven't tried these, now is the time). And yesterday, I added one more to my chocolate-you-can-have-while-losing-weight list.

I was doing some weekly grocery shopping at Aldi, my cheap-store-of-choice, when I happened upon these little gems:

Pretty freakin fabulous. Three dollars worth of pure, chocolaty, creamy heaven. I've had these before by other brands, but had forgotten them (probably because they were overpriced?) In the dorms at K-State, they used to serve these and would would hoard them in our mini-fridge.

My advice? Fill your freezers now, gals. These things won't last long with me in town!

Babies and paper.

2009-06-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Had some free time this weekend. Free time? What? What is that? I can't seem to remember. Anyways, I wanted to do something crafty and just for fun of it. But after the 10 or 15 minutes I spent trying to decide what to do, I decided I was wasting my precious "freetime" and had better just get to it. So, in an effort to be productive AND creative, I started working on some invitations for an upcoming baby shower I am helping host.

Turned out pretty fun, huh? Hard to tell from the photos, but these are stitched together on my sewing machine.

This is just the prototype. Now, the fun part is finding the right papers, etc and getting to work on production! I'll keep you updated on the finished product.

While I was brainstorming ideas for the invite, I started thinking of all the others I had made in the past. And all the other cute ones we had recieved over the years. (Yes, I do keep them. I'm somewhat of a pack-rat when it comes to unique paper things.) Went digging and decided to share some of them with ya. [P.S. Some of these are baby announcements]

Maybe someday I'll have some more free time and I can share the collection of wedding invitations I have stored away...

And a shot of Lilah and me, before we went on a hot and sweaty walk on Saturday morning.

Best part of the walk was about 10 feet away from the house when Lilah said "Mom, I love walks! Thanks, Mom!"

Man Life Vol 1

2009-06-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

In order for all of the female readers out there to better understand the life from a man’s perspective I am going to be a guest writer on the blog. I have made a pact with Kylie that if I write once a week she will try to “learn” how to fish and give it a try. Feels like a win/win for both of us.

So out of this pact I have created Man Life. A look into my life as a man. The name came to me last week as a vision when I was mowing in glorious Kansas sun. The vision had corporate sponsors and a cult following and then eventually having Kylie become the guest writer. The vision may have been something like a mirage since I was dying for water or freshly squeezed lemonade that day (which Kylie never brings).

So this takes us to one of my last projects. Building my daughter, Lilah, a playground set for her birthday. Sounds pretty easy, right? I could have done the easy thing and purchased a kit and built it in a day, but in the theme of doing things the tough way, I decided to build one from scratch. I felt like I had looked at enough of them to know what to do.

Just deciding where to place the playground took me 3 hours and 4 beers. About 3 weeks later and lots more beer, the playground was finished for Lilah’s birthday party. It did require some finishing help from my bro-in-law, father-in-law and dad. The playground is equipped with 3 swings, double-swing, rocket-fast slide, and a military-style rock climbing wall. I almost forgot to include the lookout tower that sounded real easy in my head, but was a pain to build. It seemed like every time I went to work on the playground it started raining 10 minutes into getting all of my tools out. All and all it went pretty well. If I had to do it over again I might have just bought a kit, but what fun would that be.

The fruit of my labor:

Stay tuned next week to the Man Life view of “Gardening” or as I like to call it Landscaping.

-Brady

Goals.

2009-06-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

It's good to have goals, right? And to be accountable. So that is what I am doing. I'm giving myself some goals to drop some LB's. And by telling you, I'm making myself accountable. So, here we go.

Goal: Drop weight by 17 pounds
Method: Eat healthier + be more active.
Reward: Milestone rewards!
Deadline: Vegas, baby! (A group of friends and I are planning a girls getaway to Vegas in September)

With each milestone, I will reward myself with some of the stuff that I've been wanting, but never buying because it's a little too self-absorbent.

FIVE: this beautiful bracelet.

TEN: an embroidered pillow that I've been eying at Target. I'd better act fast, cause this may not last long on their site!

FOURTEEN: Now, a dishtowel may not seem that exciting, but I am in love with this one. All the beautiful stitching just makes me melt. And I'm not the type who would buy it and never use it. I actually think it would look even better with a little wear. So, really, I'd be doing it a favor, right?

SEVENTEEN (the end!!!): this magnificant piece of equipment!

I have been wanting a new camera for a while, but always felt guilty for spending the money. I've read a lot about this particular camera and even hope to take a online photography class taught by one of my favorite bloggers, Karen Russell. I'm not so sure that the class will work out, cause her courses fill up within minutes after she opens them. But, a girl can try, right? I guess if I can't get in her class I'll have to find a different one - cause I definitely will need help learning how to work this thing!

THE KEEP-IT-OFF-REWARD: now, everybody knows that keeping weight off is almost as difficult as losing it. For this reason, I am giving myself incentive to prevent that. At six months, if I haven't gained more that 2-3 pounds (we gotta be realistic, the holidays are in that window of time :), then I am buying some big, new, fabulous lamps. Again, something I have been wanting for a while, but never indulgent enough to buy. Don't have these picked out yet, but they may look something like this.

Okay, so there you have it. Now I've put it out there. There's no turning back. I'm really hoping this rewards system is the ticket to geting me to the end! So, next time I'm craving a chocolate Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard, I can just think of all my "prizes".

I've never really lost any serious weight in my life - besides the lbs. I naturally dropped after having babies. Other than that, never more that five or so pounds. So, if anybody has any tips, please share! I've also been considering setting up rewards for working out. That is actually the hardest part of this commitment. I always have about twenty things to do, so getting the gym to the top of my priority list is always a challenge.

Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday to Daddy.

2009-06-22T23:29:00.000-07:00

So, it's not actually Brady's birthday, but Lilah kept getting confused when we'd mention that it was Father's Day. So she sang Happy Birthday to him instead. In honor of the holiday, I'm sharing a few recent shots of Brady with our kids.

We spent the weekend in Clay Center with Brady's family. Saturday afternoon was rainy, but that didn't stop us from boating, tubing, grilling and playing at Milford Lake.

All these activities left my kids like this:

This shot was taken about thirty seconds before Lilah accidentally dropped her sippy cup on Graham's forehead. Very tragic - left both of them crying for quite a while. A big dilemma I now have - which child do you comfort when they both need you??

And, yes, that is my oh-so-graceful daughter :)

I can't even count how many times I've found Lilah sitting in her crib like this. Just waiting to get out after her nap. Usually, I am greeted with a "Hi, Mom. Whatcha doin'?"

Graham has become the king of sucking his thumb. He is such a self-soother. If he wants something to suck on, he pops his thumb in his mouth. He has started teething, so now he just chews his own lip. If the kid didn't need to eat, I'm not sure he'd have much of a use for me!

First time in the big high chair! We also sampled some rice cereal, but that went nowhere. Exercise in frustration.

And for my final kid story of the day:
Lilah loves to wear sunglasses. She has several pairs and loves to accessorize with them. (I just hope that she doesn't end up with the raccoon eyes that her Mommy gets every summer.) Anyways, whenever she really is looking at something, she always has to lift the glasses. Like, if she wants to look at me while I'm talking to her. Very hard to discipline a little girl when she's doing that.

Milk and cookies.

2009-06-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

I find humor in this and relate to it in a couple of ways:

1. As a lover of chocolate. Especially my Oreos. With milk of course (+ one ice cube). What a way to end a day. Oreos and milk are for me at the end of the day what a cold, frosty beer is for my husband. The perfect mini-celebration of getting the kids to bed.

2. As the mother of a milk-addicted 4-month-old baby boy.

Need I say more?

And the winner is...

2009-06-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

Baby Graham!

I entered Graham (and the quilt that I made him) into a cutest kid contest that was being held by Jackie Clark Designs. AND WE WON!! I am super excited (because of the prize) and super proud (because of all the work that went into the baby AND the quilt)!!

I've never really won much of anything before. My dad won a truck once. Seriously, a no-strings-attached brand new Dodge truck. All he did was buy a $10 raffle ticket from some kid! That was a few years ago and he still drives it to this day! The most that I can claim winning was a t-shirt from Hank's Brewery in Cheney. All I had to do was walk in the door and drink a beer (or seven). Then they drew my ticket number out of the bowl - and I was pretty excited, let me tell ya!

Oh, and last month at Bunco, I won a prize - a cool pair of socks and a nifty note pad, which still makes me proud to write on. (And believe, winning Bunco is nothing to be proud of. There is ZERO amount of skill involved.)

Why is it that winning prizes is so fun??

Passionate.

2009-06-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

My husband, Brady, loves to fish. So much so that I've caught him sneaking to the pond in our back yard at sunrise on his day off just to throw a line in. So much so that he hauled the boat out to Cheney lake three times this weekend. So much so that when he fishes, he holds multiple poles at once to increase his chances of success.

Now that's passion. And I love him for it. Do I love it when he comes home smelling of lake and beer and slimy fish? No, but I love that he's truly exciting about this. Life is too short to not have that feeling.

I tagged along to Cheney lake once on Friday afternoon. It was the kind of weather that you only dream of. The kind that you wish you could bottle up and pour out during the cold winter months. Or during the steamy summer months. Or anytime really. Weather like that is NEVER inappropriate. We went minus kids and plus a cooler full of Lynchberg Lemonades. A big bag of sunflower seeds and a good book is what I brought along to keep me entertained while he was "passionate". It was a great day, despite the lack of fish we brought home.

Wishin.

2009-05-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

A weekend of fishing. Not my favorite hobby, but combined with beautiful weather and an awesome lake, I can tolerate it. My dad always refers to it as "wishing" - and I'm guessing that's symbolic of his fishing skills. We did some wishing AND a little fishing at Milford Lake this weekend with Brady's family. Most of them are pretty hardcore fisherman (especially compared to me), so I mostly hung with the kids, soaked in a little Vitamin D and took some pictures.

This is Brady and his dad, Chuck tormenting our nephew Jonas with slimy fish. He takes it pretty well.

Our neice, Corinne, was also more interested in other activities like me (i.e. eating graham crackers)

Graham did decent on the boat, considering how bad it must suck to wear a life jacket when your body is proportioned as his is. All that foam up in your grill cannot be comfortable. And, to add salt to the wound, we forgot the poor kid's pacifier back at shore, so in a moment of desperation, we let him suck on the nipple from his bottle. He didn't seem to mind, but from then on we got to listen to a high-pitched squeaking/sucking sound. Cute and irritating at the same time.

Towards the second half of the day, the kids started dropping like flies:

Silas slept on the floor.

Jonas in a chair.

And Graham and Lilah got the two best napping spots on the boat.

My favorite part of this trip is a bowl of fresh fish in my fridge right now just waiting to be cooked and eaten. Not that I had any hand in that. But I guess my wishin' paid off.

Now for a couple recent shots of my cuties. Pretty crazy that the picture of Lilah in a stocking hat and sweatshirt was only taken a week ago, and this weekend she had her swimming suit on. Gotta love Kansas weather.

A Mousey Birthday.

2009-05-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my Lilah's second birthday and we have spent the weekend celebrating. We started her day with pancakes at iHop, a gigantic Minnie Mouse balloon at Party City, and many hours of playing on her new swingset/playgym that Brady built for her. He just finished it yesterday, so the timing was perfect. She happily went up the ladder and down the slide a million times, each time saying "one more time!" Today we had some family over to celebrate the occasion. In honor of her favorite person in the entire world, Mickey Mouse, I attempted a Mickey-themed cake.

I am by no means an experience cake-decorator, so be warned. I'm sure could have been improved in the technique category, but I had fun making it! (Kinda sounds like an American Idol contestant after Ryan Secrest asks how they think they did.)

Anyways, here are some pictures from the party.

The below three photos show three separate times that Lilah was caught attempting to get into the cake/candy.

Graham was a trooper throughout the party. Such a good baby these days. (And how cute are his little plaid shorts? Not many people can pull of stripes and plaids, but he does!)

Brady's labor of love:

More handmade.

2009-05-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

Reading the Sunday paper, I came across a listing for this:

I think I'll try to go! Hafta support local handmade artists ya know!

Talented hands.

2009-04-28T11:48:00.001-07:00

Since Graham was born, he has received many wonderful gifts. Of course, we love and appreciate them all, but the ones that will always hold a special place in my heart are the handmade ones. I love to make and give handmade gifts and am even more delighted to receive them! We have some really talented friends and family that you can always count on to bring a little handmade something to Christmas and birthdays, etc. Totally unique and usually custom or personalized, the handcrafted gifts my kiddos receive almost always end up in their keepsake boxes after they outgrown them, etc. I still have some of my handmade quilts and blankies from when I was a child and Lilah even sleeps with an old quilt my Grandma made for me.

Below are some of the highlights:

This "G" onesie was made by my husband's Aunt Mary Kay. She actually made him several monogrammed items, including a super-soft blanket and a couple burp clothes. She made similar gifts for Lilah and we still use the blanket every day, two years later.

The above four images are of a set of onesies that my sister-in-law, Micah, made for Graham. A fellow designer, like me, she has talent coming out of her ears! These personalized onesies are some of my favorite clothes Graham has! Each one is painstakingly hand-stitched. (She has made Lilah a few personalized shirts as well that you may remember.)

Not the best photo of it, but this is a quilt that was made by my mom, my SIL Jenny and my Great Aunt Nonie. They all worked together to make this for Graham and my favorite part is that it is signed on the back by all three. When Jenny was pregnant with Eva, we decided to start a tradition of all working together to make each baby a quilt. (This is Eva's.)

This quilt was made by my very talented BFF, Michelle. She just learned to quilt in the last six months or so (with me as her fearless leader, so she deserves a lot of credit) and surprised us with this beautiful KSU quilt. She has become a quilt-making fool these days, which works out perfect since we have so many friends having babies lately!

This sweet blanket was crocheted by another sister-in-law of mine, Casi. This is the second blanket that she has made for us, the first was for Lilah (see below). Casi is another on the list of my über-talented family. She also made Lilah this great pillow that we keep in front of the big TV for her to snuggle up with. Casi is pregnant right now with her first child (a girl!) and I am looking forward to making the little sweetie something as well...

This shot shows the other blanket Casi made (for Lilah), plus the adorable hat that I bought off Etsy. Not familiar with Etsy? You should be!! A perfect place to get handmade gifts if you are not so-inclined.

And this shows a simple little pillow that I stitched for Graham before he was born.

The two shots above actually show the blanket that I made Graham. It's a super-simple pattern by Jackie Clark - perfect for anybody just getting started in quilting.

And what would be a blog post without this chick? I am counting down my maternity-leave days that I have left with her and Graham. Next week marks 12 weeks and I am back in the office.

:)

2009-04-20T11:43:00.001-07:00

Can't get enough of this:

Tummy time.

2009-03-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

I put him on the floor yesterday to have a little tummy-time. (I read somewhere that this is important so that they can build neck strength - which makes me wonder: have I ever heard of a child growing up with a weak neck due to not getting enough tummy-time??) Anyways, there he is, doing his tummy-time thing, and all of a sudden he's snoozin'. Too cute. I'm so used to seeing him sleep on his back that this was extra precious to me.

On my fridge.

2009-03-24T05:50:00.001-07:00

Randy Rogers tickets! I am super excited for the upcoming concert. Not sure if my excitement stems from the great music, or the idea of a night out!?! I've got over nine months of pent up energy here, ya know! Anyways, if you haven't heard of the Randy Rogers Band, and you have any appreciation for country music, you will surely enjoy these guys. And I'm no talking about radio-country. Randy is red dirt country (although I have heard them on the radio more and more recently.) Hope you all can come out to support!!

On one of the nice days lately, we got out the sidewalk chalk. Aside from her thinking that the best place to draw is on Daddy's truck (timeout!!), I am certain that there is a budding young artist inside her :)

Whew!

2009-03-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

Baby announcements are done! Well, mostly. I have a few stragglers, but most of them are out! I had lots of fun making them and recruited my friend, Linds, to help with the labor. Projects like that are such a reminder of how much I appreciate hands-on creativity + design vs. on-screen. Sitting at the table with a friend and a bowl of (Starburst) jelly beans can be so much more enjoyable than sitting in a corner with my nose to a computer screen all day. Too bad it doesn't pay the bills...

Bipolar.

2009-03-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

When you ask Lilah to smile for the camera you either get this:

or, this:

And, is that a smile from Mr. Graham???

I'm counting it :) Write that one down is the baby book.

One month. One year.

2009-03-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Baby Graham turned one month old yesterday. Pretty crazy how time flies when you're having fun (or when you're sleep-deprived). He couldn't say so himself, but I know he's pretty pumped to be one month old. Life is pretty great for him. Not a care in the world.

Here's some recent shots of him. I think he looks more and more like his handsome daddy every day :)

And here's Lilah doing what she does most lately: reading.

And the other exciting birthday in our family is my niece, Eva Mae. She turned one on Monday and we celebrated by eating lots of yummy, girly cake!

The Abbey-Kadabby Cake was made my Eva's aunt Kathleen - way to go, girl!

The sweetest Valentine ever.

2009-02-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

Valentines was very special for us this year - romantic in a very different way! We spent the day together as a family (except for the second half of the KSU/KU game - Brady had to get out of the house for that). Like I've done for the past few years, I made heart-shaped pancakes (and eggs) for Brady and Lilah.

Baby Graham

2009-02-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

Our little guy is here!

Graham Patrick Rott
Born February 11 (my Grandma's birthday)
8lbs. 7 oz., 21" long

Handmade.

2009-01-21T20:09:00.001-08:00

Wanted to share a couple of the great handmade gifts that Lilah got for Christmas:

This is from her Aunt Micah - and she loves to wear it. Next to Mickey Mouse, ducks are her favorite animal. She loves to stand at the back windows of our house and quack at the ducks she sees there.

And this soft little bunny was made by Lilah's Great-great Aunt Nonie. Very sweet. Lilah snuggles with it at night. I'm sorta jealous and want an adult size one to snuggle with too ;)

Yes, I am still pregnant, and here's some recent proof. As of midnight tonight, I am at 37 weeks. Not quite 40, but I guess it will have to do. Hopefully we will have baby news SOON! Seems like I have lots of buds popping up pregnant lately, so ours will be in good company soon!

And, I am officially done with the baby's quilt! He/she can come any day now and we are 100% prepared! (Okay, that's an exaggeration) This quilt is a Jackie Clark pattern and made mostly with scrap fabrics I had left over. This is my second quilt to make gender neutral, so I had lots of leftovers from the first that fit right in.

This is a shot of my Bunco group, which celebrated its one-year anniversary last week! We were sad to be losing two of our members. One of my best buds, Michelle, broke the news that she accepted a job in Topeka and is leaving us! I will miss her very much - and she is darting off very quickly, not even sticking around to see the arrival of baby no. 2.

And, last but not lease, thanks to this nice weather, we have been able to take Lilah on a few walks and to the park lately. She had forgotten how fun that is and is totally into it. I'm pumped because she is tall enough to climb the stairs by herself now, which means less bending over and picking up for uber-pregnant Momma.

Christmas 1.0

2008-12-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas with my husband's family this past weekend and Lilah got her first real dose of holiday. She was excited about opening the gifts and even more excited about playing with them! We took her to see Santa and I think she was more into it than he was! And as a bonus, one of her favorite foods is turkey, so she had a great time all-around.

Her aunt Kimbrey made a huge platter of chocolate covered pretzels and peanut butter balls that she couldn't keep her paws out of. I don't know how many times we caught her at the dessert table reaching up for a couple more. She's pretty sneaky, too!

And these are some adorable little Santa cookies that my SIL Micah made - might have to try that soon. They are made with Nutter Butter cookies.

Lately.

2008-12-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a little bit of Christmas crafting and baking and wanted to share:

These are pages from some books that I am making for my neice and nephew for Christmas. Each page features a letter of their names and an animal/word that starts with that letter. I got the idea from Etsy and fell in love with it. One book is done an the other still needs quite a bit of work...

And Lilah and I made some sugar cookies tonight - well, mostly she just licked the beaters and ate the cookies with her bedtime milk. Still, a sweet partner for sure :)

And this project isn't for Christmas, but in preparation for our newest little one, we've been trying to reorganize rooms, etc to give everybody their own space. Lilah's toys are all downstairs in a spare bedroom/toyroom now. Anyways, I made some canvases to tie it all together. I probably should have taken a shot of the rest of the room so you can see how it all came together (plus see the great quilt that my aunt made us as a wedding quilt and is now on the bed in that room) - another post sometime... Oh, I must say that I did not come up with these all on my own - they were inspired by these.

And, last but not least - I had to share this because I think every woman should know this recipe. It's the easiest, quickest way to get a couple dozen warm cookies on a plate in a pinch. Just three ingredients:

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter

350˚ for 10 minutes.

Made some for my thanksgiving because my brother-in-law always appreciates them. And when it's that easy, why not?

And, I leave you with this:

I cut Lilah's bangs myself today. I decided that they grow way too fast to be running her into a salon to keep up with them. All in all, it didn't go too bad. She sat pretty still (because of the handful of M&Ms) and it came out pretty straight. But, I don't think I'll be quitting my day job any time soon!

Say Cheese.

2008-12-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

For my folks' 30th wedding anniversary, we gave them a photo session to have a family picture taken of all of us. Besides the weddings four years ago, we had never even done that! So, we finally got into the photographer's schedule and just got the proofs back.

Made for walkin'.

2008-11-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

Lilah's new pink boots. Can't get enough of her wearing them. Whenever she sees them, she immediately wants them on her feet and lets us know by repeating "butz" over and over. Pretty stinkin' cute.

And here she is looking through photo albums. One of her favorite activities - which she refers to as "wread-ing". She absolutely loves seeing herself in photos, even baby pics. She thumbs through the album of the day of her birth over and over. Do you think she really understand that the tiny little baby is really her? She sure seems to. She points to the the little swaddled sweetie and says "Li-lah!". Wonder what she's going to think of this new little baby...

Trick or treat.

2008-11-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

How much would you love to open your door up to this?

Lilah was a candy corn for Halloween this year - and boy was she sure sweet. No pun intended :) I actually made her costume, which turned out to be no big deal. Pretty simple.

We finally got to carve our pumpkins a day or two before the holiday. My creative juices weren't flowing that night, so the designs were pretty simple.

Lilah was not too sure what to think of the pumpkin guts. I couldn't even get her to stick her hand in.

And a couple cute ones to top it off.

Sweet Punkin Pie.

2008-10-28T19:15:00.001-07:00

Along with my brother and SIL, we took the kids to the pumpkin patch this weekend. The guys complained because I told them to get used to it because two years in a row means that we are starting a yearly tradition! Anyways, we took lots of pic while the kiddos played around in the piles of pumpkins and I couldn't help but look up last years photos to see the difference.

I actually think the kids were less squirmy and easier to get to pose for pictures last year. You could just plop them down on a pumpkin, make a goofy face and poof - beautiful photo. Not so much this year - we had to work much harder for them.

Big difference = none of this last year:

Miss Eva Mae Krehbiel

And definitely no girl-on-girl action last year. Lilah's favorite thing to do with Eva is give her kisses. If Eva has her pacifier in, Lilah pulls it out, kisses her, and plops it back in. (She learned that from Jak.)

Greens and yellows and browns, oh my.

2008-10-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Went with my friend, Michelle, to a great quilting store, called The Button Hole, in McPherson, KS this weekend. She has never quilted before and was very curious. I am a beginner who pretends to know what she is talking about. We make a funny combination. Anyways, she bought an awesome bunch of fabrics to make a friend a baby quilt, and I, as usual, bought a few mismatched, but beautiful fabrics - and an overambitious quilt pattern. Mostly just came home with some inspiration and motivation to actually get something made.

Also put together a cover for what will be a baby book for the new baby. Kinda boyish, I know. But don't the floral patterns help girl it up a little?

And, on the family front - here are a few pics of my nephew, Jak's, 2nd birthday party.

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The Cars cake was made by my SIL's sister, Kathleen. She has quite a knack for cakes and gets more impressive ! So pretty we had a hard time cutting into it.

And one to prove that I am truly pregnant :)

Hello in there.

2008-10-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

Say hi to baby number two. Before you get too excited, we decided to keep the gender a surprise yet again.

We are right on target. 17 weeks left and everything checks out normal. Wonderful news, but not near as exciting as the gender, huh?

Here he/she is looking straight at us :)

First.

2008-10-11T08:48:00.001-07:00

First Haircut that is. Lilah got her first haircut :( Little stinker won't keep her hair clips in, so her long bangs were always hanging in her eyes.

For example:

We took her to a salon by our house and she got her first trim. I can't believe she's old enough to have her hair cut! Anyways, she did a great job (with the help of a handful of Skittles) and looks very pretty now :)

Babies and chocolate.

2008-09-15T18:39:00.001-07:00

No sonogram pictures to share :(

Brady and I went to the appointment and decided to wait another month for the sono because we couldn't agree on whether or not to learn the gender of our unborn child. I am dying to know (although I've always said I wanted surprises) and Brady is a rock - he doesn't want to know, and he's not budging.

Now, Mommies back me up here if you agree. I am a pretty firm believer in the theory that the person carrying the babe has more pull in the decisions made regardhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifing it. Right? For instance, if a name cannot be agreed upon, Mommy gets final decision. Or, if Mom and Dad can't come to terms with the gender-revealing issue, it's up to Mom. OR, if Mom wants chocolate Frosties for dinner while Dad wants burgers, you better bet that the baby is getting some brain freeze :)

And speaking of chocolate...

How awesome does that look. Anybody want to make my day?!?! Now you know how! Recipe here and Bakerella's version here. WIpe the drool from your face!

Whew, that was a long post.

2008-09-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted lately cause I've been extra busy. Last weekend, we threw my folks a surprise party in honor of my Mom's 50th birthday and their 30th wedding anniversary. Lots of work to get it all pulled together without them finding out, but in the end, we did it. We had about 100 people show up to surprise them, and it definitely worked!

Anyways, the point is, I've been busy lately, but not busy blogging! So, this is going to be a very long run-on post. Sorry :)

Ok, where to start? How about here:

So, this is probably old news for many people, but I had to include anyways. This sonogram is very old - we are having another tomorrow, and maybe I'll update soon. Baby is due February 12 which makes me almost halfway there!

Here are some photos from our Labor Day getaway we took to Grand Lake. Went with some friends - Kelly, Sarah and Bo Kaiser.

A weenie-roast we had with my family a while back. The kids loved being outside by the fire and, more importantly, the swingset :)

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For the party, my sister-in-law, Jenny, and I made 's cupcake bites. So fun! I would recommend this project to anybody who loves chocolate, sprinkles and has a little patience :)

The party was a blast to plan and even more fun to enjoy. We had hor'doerves and drinks and a dance. I think everybody had a great time - I know my feet were sore the next day! I had just started to be able to feel the baby move - and the loud music and dancing got the little one going!

My parent's - 30 years ago!! Check out that suit on Rick!

Table decorations.

My brother gave a very emotional (ha) speech and we all toasted to 30 more years!

My parent's wedding party! How cute is that?!?

Me and my brother.

My nephew enjoying one of our cake bites.

I didn't have many great pics from that night because in typical Kylie-fashion, I took my camera, but no batteries!

I'll wrap this up with some pictures of Miss Lilah, who is doing all kinds of cute things these days like dancing to "Ring around the Rosie" and wearing her hair in a ponytail!!! She also did something really crazy this weekend - she slept until NOON yesterday! That made 16 hours of sleep in one night! We couldn't believe it and kept going in to check on her, but she was snoozing away.

Okay, I promise not to get so behind again! (Ya, right.)

Something to blog about.

2008-08-12T08:55:00.001-07:00

ade another sale on Etsy. A baby book for a little girl named Sailor Mae. How sweet is that. Her nursery is decorated in black and white damask and pink - so I made the book to match. Fun to get back in the creating world.

And for those of you who just visit my blog to see pictures of Lilah, here ya go:

Getting my priorities straight.

2008-07-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I'll start with my latest big news: I have cut back my hours at the agency to part time. I now only work 3 days each week - Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Why is this awesome? Lemme tell you: Four days each week to be a mommy. Less days to endure the job stress. AND, one little switcheroo of days in and out of the office, and I've got a four-day-weekend.

And I did just that this weekend. Went with the fam to Beaver Lake (in Arkansas) and stayed at some friends' lakehouse. It was FABULOUS. Just what we all needed. Only, we were so sad to leave and felt like there was not enough time there. Oh, well. Hopefully we'll do it again.

It was a great opportunity for us to put our new boat to use, and a great opportunity to spend some quality time together/with the kids, play some board games, get some sun, do a little shopping, eat some delicious food, etc. My nephew, Jak, loved the water. Lilah, on the other hand, prefered to stay ON the boat. Guess that's to be expected. Here's some of the highlights in photos:

Lilah in one of the rare photos where I caught her smile. Anyone have any tips on how to deal with the delay that digital cameras have? I ALWAYS miss the smile!!! (But not this time :)

Miss Eva Mae in her bikini (which was Lilah's last summer and it makes me a little sad to see her in it. Good thing she's so darn cute!)

Eva's contagious smile. She was such a champ on the boat.

Also a champ, Jak rode on the tube with his daddy. His curiosity and fearlessness kills me.

Lilah's two favorite places. With Daddy and in control.

Another couple of favorites - with Papa and ice cream :) This came right before the smile you saw earlier.

Trever and Brady had to show the boys how its done. The most entertaining part was watching them climb onto the tube...

And this is the whole crew before we loaded up to leave today. Sad but smiling. From left to right: me, my brother, Trever, his son Jak, Brady, Cole (my brother Garrett's friend), Garrett, my sister-in-law Jenny, her daughter Eva, and that's my parents sitting down.

And one other completely unrelated photo, but I love it so I had to share. I got to spend a day with all three kids last week and had a great time doing it. Oreos are always a good way to keep them sitting still!

Lessons learned.

2008-06-23T21:19:00.001-07:00

Stumbled upon this great artist on Etsy that makes the most fun little series of prints that address all the things our parents told us a million times (and, now that I am a parent, I say myself!) I love these because it makes light of all the words we use as parents. Lately I have been feeling like my words mean nothing to Lilah. However, tonight we had a breakthru moment: we were playing on the floor and she somehow found the TV remote (for like the millionth time) and I immediately said, "No, no Lilah, give it to Mommy" and she toddled over to me and stuck out her pudgy little hand that clenched the remote! So there it was, she listened :)

Couple other things.
1. I'm a single mom this week, for eleven days to be exact. My husband went on a marathon fishing trip and won't be back until next sunday! (Hmmm. probably not the safest info to be put on the internet, huh?)
2. I am a pink, single mom this week. Went to the community pool yesterday with a friend and my brother and the kiddos and came back lobster-like. Makes me feel like I am young again! Why young? Cause I used to be able to fry my skin playing in the water at the lake/pool and never think twice about it. Now, we're always trying to prevent getting too much sun, which is healthy and makes sense, but just doesn't feel as good.
3. Brady took my camera to Canada on his fishing trip. Seriously, who in their right mind would want to miss eleven days of Lilah pictures just so they can take photo after photo of grown men holding up squirmy, slimy fish? Anyways, no new photos for a while - especially bummed that there are no photos from our day at the pool :(
4. Went to the Prairie Quilt Guild Quilt show this weekend and had a GREAT time. Incredibly inspiring and very beautiful artwork on display. Makes me wish I had more time to quilt...
5. Lilah has a new boyfriend. His name is Blankie. He is brown and she is in LOVE.
6. Some big changes coming my way soon with my career. Don't have all the details worked out yet, but should be all in good directions... very excited and ready for a change in our family lifestye.

Ok, I leave you with some summer photos of my girl. We're loving the sun and enjoying being one-year-old more and more every day!

Celebration.

2008-05-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

Seems we've had so many reasons to celebrate lately. My folks' 30th wedding anniversary. Lilah's 1st birthday. Mother's Day. Celebration = lots of yummy desserts :)

We've been very busy with work lately, and all the other tasks of life. Preparing for our upcoming vacation to Boston, spring gardening, birthday prep and festivites, etc, etc. Anyways, those are some of my excuses for why I haven't posted in a while.

I had a tramatic experience while making/decorating Lilah's cake this weekend. It was late Friday night, after I had worked 12 hours, when I finally got around to it. I woke up the next morning and had to laugh at my efforts - and then start over. See for yourself:

(The first one is the cake in the back. Shameful, I know.)

Don't have much time to write, but here are some photos from the party, and the party preparation:

These are me working on the cupcake picks and the chocolate chips that were to decorate the cupcakes. To make the chips, I just dyed white chocolate and dropped out babyspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Tip: You cannot color white chocolate with your average liquid-style food coloring. You have to buy the professional, paste-type stuff.

This is Lilah on the morning of her birthday. Pancakes, syrup, balloons = happy one year old.

This is the table that was sitting on our deck when we woke up on Lilah's birthday. My (very talented) brother made it for her - isn't it great?!?! (He also sells them, if you're interested.)

The party:

What a difference a day makes.

2008-04-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

I was beginning to worry that if Lilah didn't start walking soon, I would have to start patching holes in the knees of her jeans. Alas, I can sleep well at night know that won't be a problem.

Yesterday, she was doing things like this:

And today, this:

Funny how you can feel so many emotions at once. Proud that she has learned such a huge skill. So sad that she is growing up. Terrified that she'll fall and get hurt. Nervous that I won't be able to keep up with her. Excited to tell everyone I know.

Weekend craft.

2008-04-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

Worked on another canvas I thought I might try to sell in my Etsy shop.

I listened to a very inspiring Podcast interview of Anna Maria Horner today - what an awesome story she has. Her fabrics are gorgeous and listening to what she had to say about breaking the craft/handmade industry was very interesting. Plus, she's adorable and is also busy raising FIVE kids! Holy cow, how does she do that, you ask? Guess you'd better listen to her interview. Below is a sample of her colors/style - this shot is her studio.

And, here's what Lilah's up to:

Being EXTREMELY curious.

Lovin' pancakes, syrup, her cousin Jak and when Jak feeds her pancakes and syrup.

Helping Momma in the kitchen.

...sure ain't where I began.

2008-03-29T14:04:00.001-07:00

Jewel came to Wichita! And my friend, Linds, and I got our hands on two of the 100 tickets that were available! How cool is that? We decided that it was definetely on our top 10 list of very cool things we've done. The concert was at a little club in downtown Wichita and was a very intimate setting - which was the best part. My friend and I have been big fans since we were like 11 years old. Crazy that that is almost 15 years ago!! As we waited for the concert to begin, we reflected on our memories of those years. I can still remember sitting on the bus on a youth trip, getting my hair french-braided by Joellen Muyskens, when Lindsay brought me her Discman (which I thought was SO cool), and told me I had to listen to this new CD. And there she was, singing about things I hadn't heard women sing about and doing it so purely. It was love at first listen.

Jewel is a very inspiring person, having come from poverty and worked her way to success, all while maintaing humility and a respect for life. All the proceeds from the concert went to a local homeless shelter - which was pretty cool.

While I've listened to all her music many times, hearing it live made me listen to the lyrics closer than I had in a while. And I fell in love with this song, Stevenville, all over again. This lyric really hit home for me: "I'm 31 years old - that ain't the end, sure ain't where I began."

As Linds and joked about how we're "getting old" and I wonder all the time where my life is headed, this lyric just resonated with me. Life is such a journey - and everything we do is part of that. I don't have to have all the answers right now - and that's ok.

I love this!

2008-03-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

This place, Relish, basically takes your preferences, budget and needs into consideration and generates a menu each week for you, complete with a shopping list and recipes/instructions.

What an AWESOME concept. What more can I say??? Who has time to plan, shop for groceries and cook every night after work??? This is an awesome service, with a low price tag. And I always get in a rut and get frustrated when I get home and have to think of something to make. Plus, I enjoy cooking so much more when I am trying a new recipe. I guess I just feel like making the same thing over and over again doesn't do much for my mind. And I love the planned shopping list thing - I am SUCH an impulse buyer at the the grocery store, which doesn't do much for our budget.

I think I'll try the one-week free trial next week and see how it goes...

Tricky, tricky.

2008-03-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

Lilah is learning new things every day and I caught some of her latest ones on video.

If you want to fast forward to the best parts: 0:50, 2:20

Took care of a little craving for some hands-on creativity this weekend and made a patchwork cover for my very ugly, old address book.

I was able to use up some of the scraps I had kept from Lilah's baby quilt, which always feels good. What also feels good? Making something and keeping it for MYSELF! Seems I'm always satisfying somebody else's need - a handmade birthday gift, a client's rush job, my boss' direction, and on and on.

One of my online crushes, Karen Russell, is offering an online class for photography, which I am SO wanting to take. Her stuff is beautiful. I love that it's so real and the colors are always beautiful. She really knows how to capture the moment. I'm so tired of trying to get everybody to look at the camera (and failing at it), guessing at which settings are right for the lighting I have, and ending up with crap for pictures. Seems like I only get one good one for every 30 or 40 I snap! And that's not an exaggeration!

The perfect example: Easter weekend. There we were with an ADORABLE little girl with an ADORABLE little Easter dress on and I end up with some half-baked photos. Even after I played with them in Photoshop, they still aren't anything to get excited about. They just don't do the day justice.

So, maybe I'll save up my $250 and get in line with the other 400 people that are dying to take her class (which only has room for 50). I had better luck getting the Jewel tickets than I will have at that!

A new life.

2008-03-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

I have a new neice! Baby Eva Mae was born last week on March 9th. She is beatiful and wonderful and everything a baby is supposed to be. I am so excited for Lilah's new BFF.

And for a special baby, there must be some special burp clothes. In other burp cloth news, I sold my first set on Etsy! Within the first day of listing, a woman ordered a set with the letter 'D' for her twin nephews that were on the way.

Lilah has just been busting at the seems with energy lately. Brady and I think that her cheeks must just ache from all the grins and smiles she shares.

Etsy-fied!!

2008-03-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

It's official! I have an Etsy store! I'm not quite sure why I'm so excited about this, since it was pretty simple to set up, but I am.

If you don't know much about Etsy, well, YOU SHOULD! It's an awesome place to find great handmade art from across the world and also, a great place to market your own handmade things. I must confess - I'm an Etsy-addict. It's like my morning coffee - I check it each day to get a little hand-on inspiration.

This has been a busy week with several projects going on, including a fun new craft that I haven't done in quite a while - beadwork. Nothing is complete yet, but when it is, I'll share.

Also, I am pretty excited because today I met with a friend with whom I am going to be doing some design work for: Jackie Clark. She is a very talented and interesting woman who designs textiles and sewing patterns, among many things it seems. I've mentioned her before and I am really looking forward to what is to come. Her current pieces are composed of beautiful colors and photography, which sets the stage nicely for me. She even gave me a little package of some of her patterns and fabrics!

Blessed.

2008-02-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

Welp, it's official - Lilah is baptized! And it was awesome. I just want to say that I LOVE the baptism sacrament at our church! Rev. Cindy did a wonderful job - my favorite part is when the entire family and congregation take the vows with the parents.

And the vows that Brady and I took were just perfect. "Do you believe that Lilah has God-given talents that are unique to her?"

Yes! Yes!

"Do you vow to bring Lilah up in the Christian faith?"

Yes again!

I don't think I stopped nodding through all the questions :)

Anyways, Lilah was an angel, of course - and the party went well. We had a great turn out of mostly family and a few friends. The perfect group to share such an occasion with.

Lilah got some great gifts - among them a handmade necklace from my folks, a personalized "Lilah" pillow from her Great-Aunt Mary Kay, and the SWEETEST bib set ever, made for her by her Aunt Casi. My favorite bib was the little weiner-dog with the bell on his collar.

Stitch and Bitch.

2008-02-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

Another week, another night of quilting with the fam. As you can see in the second photo - we are nearing our deadline. But, we only started this project about three weeks ago, so we're not doing too bad.

As an update to the pending delivery of this baby - Jenny is dilated 1.5 and 50% effaced and feels several contractions a day. Hopefully Baby Jill will be here SOON!

In the name of the...

2008-02-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

This upcoming weekend is Lilah's baptism and the celebration of it. After much discussion between Brady and I regarding when we should baptize Lilah, we have finally come to a conclusion. The date is set. We've met with the preacher and sorted out all the details. I bought her an adorable little dress (okay, TWO adorable little dress - I just couldn't decide).

For weeks now, I've been practice-singing the traditional baptism song to Lilah:
Lilah, Lilah, God Claims You
God helps you, protects you, and loves you too.
We this day do all agree, that in God's eyes, you'll always be.

Ok, now don't quote me on those lyrics - but I LOVE that song. And, conveniently, so does Lilah! I think she likes hearing her name in it. Plus, it's better than the "I see you're hynie" tune that I was singing before this.

Anyways, in preparation for the celebration, I've been having some fun. It all started with these great damask paper plates/cups/napkins that I picked up at Wally World a long time ago on a great discount. I thought some day I'd use them when one of my girlfriends needed a bridal shower, but alas, this came first.

I loved the colors mostly, but also the pretty pattern. So I decided to make this a theme for the baptism party and have been working on some fun decorations to match:

These little picks are for the (chocolate, or course) cupcakes that are yet to be made. Found the idea on flickr.

And I'm not quite sure where the garland is going to go, but thought it seemed fun anyways.

Anyways, we are getting very excited for the festivities this weekend - especially because we get to see all our nieces and nephews from out of town. We've been telling Lilah what a special day this is and even took her to the church service last week instead of leaving her in the nursery. I think she's excited too :)

What a doll.

2008-02-10T18:06:00.000-08:00

What more is there to say? Today, we put Lilah in a dress for the first time in quite a while. We don't usually do it very often. Not because we don't want to, it just isn't practical. Too messy at daycare and what a pain with all the layers of tights and bloomers and stuff. But anyways, today we had an excuse - it was my Grandma's 84th birthday party. Party = party dress. Party dress = A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E. Don't trust me? See fo' yo' self.

And here's a couple more shots from this weekend. I love weekends because we get to hang out with Lilah in the DAYLIGHT. Which means that photos turn out better too. I took a couple self-portraits of Lilah and I and was really happy with one of them. Not very often do you capture her smiling AND looking at the camera. Kudos to me.

Yet another project STARTED.

2008-01-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

It seems I always have projects started, but rarely do I ever wrap them up! I could start a whole blog just dedicated to the crafts/projects that I have in the works. I guess it's a good sign I'll never get bored!

At least today I wasn't in it alone. My mom, great-aunt Nonie and I began to work on the next baby quilt for my neice who's still in the oven. She's due March 17 (Yep, St. Patty's) and we call her Baby Jill, since big brother is Jak. Cute, huh?

The work we did tonight was one of my favorite parts of the quilt-making process: cutting all the fabric out.

Oh, and I finally found a solution for all the ribbon I've been hoarding. Ok, not all, but most of it. What's a girl to do?

Plus, for any of you who need your "Lilah Fix" as my friend Adriene calls it, here ya go. Nothing too exciting, but I love the end of the video when you can see her little mouth doing all the work.

On a roll.

2008-01-17T06:37:00.000-08:00

Needed a thank you card for my aunt, who made the most ADORABLE little Jackie Clark jacket for Miss Priss. Anyways, figured if I was making one card, why not make six?

And here's the jacket:

A little paint under my nails.

2008-01-15T08:48:00.000-08:00

Finally had some time to get my hands dirty. I started these over the weekend and put some more layers on last night. Of course, I was inspired by something. I've been needing some art for the walls of my studio at home - so need breeds creation. This was VERY fun to do - just might find an excuse to make some more soon. I'm most excited because it appears I might actually finish a project I started!

Cheers!

2008-01-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

A new year means trying something new, so here I am - new blog and all. I haven't exactly figured out what this will be for me yet (or what it will be for you!) So bear with me! It just seems like I've got some kind of energy bottled up that needs poured out - and I'm hoping this is the outlet.

Speaking of bottles, my little girl has started holding her own. Ok, so she's been doing it for several weeks now, but I am still having the hardest time with that milestone. She's come such a long ways from needing her mommy to nurse her every two hours! Such independence is scary for a momma, but yet I am so proud of her too. I can already see this as a theme for years of parenting to come.

So, cheers to a new year and a new blog!