Life In Dawleywood

Workin' Girl

2012-02-10T10:43:00.002-06:00

I thought it would be fun to link up with Kelly's blog today to connect with working moms. She was so right when she said that we are ALL working moms, so I'm not looking to get into a debate about which is better. At this season in our life, it's best that I work right now, although hopefully that won't always be the case. Just because I work doesn't mean I love my child less than you love yours, nor does it mean I love "things" more than I love my child.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let's get started =)

I really like to "meet" other working moms because sometimes I feel like I'm the only one out there. I know I'm not, but sometimes it just feels that way.

Before I went back to work 8 weeks post-partum, I wrote this post and looking back now it makes me really sad. It was so hard for me to come back to work and to be honest, I've just recently gotten to the point where I don't cry about it at least once or twice a week. Re-reading that post kind of opened the wound again, and I just remembered how awful it was. I don't mean to sound like Debbie Downer, because I am thankful that I have a job, and I'm so thankful they let me switch to 4 days a week instead of 5, for that I am grateful.

So you might be wondering what I do. I am a Human Resources Coordinator for a mid-sized company. We have about 150 employees. I am in charge of payroll, payroll taxes, benefit administration, benefit reconciliation, 401K, hiring {sometimes}, all fuel/fleet management, training records, training audits, work comp, safety coordination, and whatever else lands on my desk for the day. Does any of that even make sense to anyone but me?

I am so So fortunate that Gracie is able to stay with my mom and mother in law on the days that I work. And to tell you the truth, when I'm able to not work full time, I will probably find something part time about 2 days a week. I enjoy getting dressed and socializing when adults, and eating chick-fil-a without interruption. And Gracie LOVES the time she spends with her grandmas and cousins, and they love the time with her so that's not something I want to take away from either of them. I think 2 days would be perfect for me. I call about 2,347,123,660 times a day and check on her and they don't mind that either. Also, I get hourly video and picture updates which I love.

The thing I hate most about working is the long drive. I drive about an hour each way and it's awful! However, I have used my drive time to catch up on saying prayers or catching up on phone calls. When I am home, my phone is on silent in my purse and I don't care to be bothered. When I am home, I am very present with her. She has my undivided attention until she goes to bed.

I will say that my mindset about work has changed since becoming a momma. I used to always want more responsibility and want to do more and would work at home, and would get involved with office "politics". Now, I complete my work for the day and go home and don't think about it again until I walk back through the door. That may not make some people happy, but my family is the most important thing to me and I will always choose what makes them happy if I have to choose. I'm not involved in as much decision making as I was before and that's OKAY with me.

I can't wait to see what other working moms have to say!

**edited to add: I work for a wonderful company and have wonderful co-workers who are very compassionate to my situation and don't give me a hard time if I have to take off last minute for something. I'm super blessed for that**

A Day in the Life

2012-02-09T21:26:00.002-06:00

I have been wanting to do a “day in the life” post for a while now. Not because anyone will think it’s super interesting, but because I want to be able to look back and remember what life was like with an {almost} one year old.

Gracie woke up this morning at 5Am which is typical. Normal she stays awake, but I fed her and put her back to bed in hopes that she would sleep a little longer since I didn’t make it to bed the night before until 1AM. I had a while night of ~~partying~~ reading books. So anyway, she went back to sleep until about 6:30, then I brought her into my bed and we cuddled and played for about 30 minutes and then went into the kitchen. Miss G ate a banana and cheerios while I made my coffee and started the dishwasher:

After that I stripped her down because she was all messy from breakfast and we played for a bit. She is on a big kick right now of only playing with the dog. Our dog, Macy likes to take and destroy all the balls in Gracie’s ball pit, and Gracie just thinks that is the greatest thing and loves to chase her around with the balls that have been destroyed

I tried to put her down for a nap around 8:30, but my poor baby became inconsolable, which is REALLY not like her. She is cutting four teeth on top and I think they were really bothering her. I tried holding her, but that didn’t work and that always works. I finally gave her some tylenol and baby orajel . When that didn’t work I tried milk in a sippy and she threw it on the floor screaming, naturally. So I put it in a bottle and she drank 7 ounces!!! She doesn’t usually have a bottle at that time so I was surprised she even took it, and she NEVER has more than 4 or 5 ounces at a time. And on top of all that I had to swaddle her! I haven’t swaddled her in at least a month. I just couldn’t believe what a hard time she was having because she morning nap is always the easiest. She finally fell asleep around 9:30

While she napped I switched over the laundry, and cleaned out the refrigerator. Here is a little before and after. I am ashamed at how much food I threw away. There are starving people all over the world and I am disgusted about how much I waste. I know that is cliché, but it’s true. I told Eric today that we are making it a goal to not eat out for at least 2 weeks so we can make sure we use all our left-overs.

I picked up the house a bit and got a few chapters read in a book I’m reading before Gracie woke up at 11.

She was in such a great mood when she woke up. We played for a little while, I changed her clothes, and she “helped” me do laundry. She loves to help put clothes in the dryer, but she hates it when she sees folded clothes. She will take all she can in her hands and take them all to different rooms, LOL

While I was throwing her clothes in the washer, I remembered some things I bought for her the other day and got them out of the sacks to wash them too. I loved baby pajamas, especially the kind with feet.

I completely forgot about this adorable cardigan I bought at Target the other day for $4.00!! I couldn’t believe it! It’s a 2T so it won’t fit her until at least next winter, and probably not until fall next year but it was too cute to pass up! It has a really cute lace bow on it

After we did a little laundry, I put G in her bumbo on the the coffee table with snacks and the Sprout channel while I was finishing up my grocery list and menu for the next week {right beside her}. We left the house and decided to meet my Mom for lunch before going to the grocery store. We met at a pizza shop in town and Gracie really likes one of the women who works there and she really likes Gracie. I told her that Gracie was walking and she wanted to see so I got her out of the high chair and told her to walk for Miss so and so and she was so excited to show off and she was so proud of herself. She had the biggest smile on and kept looking back to make sure everyone was watching her. Such a ham! I wish I would have gotten a video of it…

We stopped into a few shops after lunch and then went to the store. Gracie gets really upset when she sees a banana and can’t have it so she totally freaked when I put some in the cart and didn’t give her one. She was about to make a scene so my mom went and bought one single banana so she could have it, such a good Nina. Of course this ended up with banana all over me, Gracie, her clothes, and the cart. I got everything I needed and high tailed it out of there before she could make a scene because she was getting really tired. Needless to say I didn’t get a picture of this.

On the way home my father in law called and said he wanted to come over and see Gracie. This was about 2:30. She normally naps from about 12-2 so he thought she would have just woken up, but today was a little different because we were on the go and she had a meltdown this morning. I tried to hurry home and hope that she wouldn’t fall asleep on the way home. Well, she did fall asleep and slept for about 10 minutes before I woke her up when we got home. She thought that 10 minutes totally refreshed her, which is what I was afraid of. Regardless, she was in a good mood for her G-pa and that’s all that mattered. He only stayed about 15 minutes so I put her right to bed after he left and thankfully she went down easily.

While she slept, I had intentions of finishing laundry, but I picked up my book to read just a chapter or two and ended up finishing the thing! Before I knew it, it was 4:30 and she was awake in a great mood.

We played some more

The FedEx guy dropped off a rug that I ordered the other day from overstock.com. Gracie was really excited about it and wouldn’t get off it for the longest time.

I am really loving this rug! I was afraid that it would be too green, but I think it will work well. I haven’t put it out yet, I just unrolled it a bit to look at it.

Eric came home about 5:30 and I started dinner. I made Chicken Enchiladas, here is the recipe I used:

1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 cups of monterrey jack cheese

10 flour tortillas

2 cups of chicken broth

1 cup of sour cream

1 can of green chilis

2 tbsp of chipolte seasoning

3 tbsp of melted butter

3 tbsp of flour

* Cook chicken and shred. {I actually put mine in a food processor to make it really shredded and add the chipolte afterwards, but you can do it however you want.} Add half the cheese to chicken.

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees

* In a sauce pan, melt the butter and add the flour after butter is melted. Add the chicken broth and wisk occasionally until it is thick and bubbly {about 5 minutes}. Add sour cream and green chilis. This will be your sauce

* Take the chicken and cheese mixture and put in center of tortilla, roll up, and place in cooking pan. Do this until you are out of chicken

* Pour sauce over rolled up tortillas and top with remaining cheese

* Cook for 22 minutes, and broil for 3 minutes to brown the top a bit

*Enjoy! We eat ours with spanish rice and beans

These are really really good. I make two different kinds of enchiladas and I will share my other recipe shortly {because who doesn’t like enchiladas?}

After we ate, I gave Gracie a bath and got her in her pajamas. Then she helped with dishes =) When I say helped, I mean she took the spatulas out of the dishwasher and chased the dog around with them

Around 7:30, Eric and I sat down to watch TV. Thursday night is the only night I watch TV pretty much and I am obsessed with The Vampire Diaries. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I love a good love triangle, and that show delivers!

Normally, I would try to sew something {or at least think about sewing something} but tonight I am worn out so I think I will just go take a shower, try to start a new book, and go to bed hopefully by 10:30 or 11.

I started writing this blog post about 8PM on commercial breaks, it’s now 9:45 and I realize I probably WAY overshared our day. But I really do want to remember every little detail of our time together because to me it’s so precious.

Operation Get Skinny

2012-02-08T09:41:00.002-06:00

I am ashamed to say that I haven't worked out but once or twice since Gracie has been born. I have been enjoying the weight loss benefits of nursing and now that that is coming to an end, I have found that I really need to start watching what I eat. Like... in a major way! Y'all, I'm not even kidding when I say that I ate Chick-fil-a three times last week!

I found a couple of good articles on pinterest that I added to my "Get Skinny " board on Pinterest:

Who doesn't want Carrie legs

Source: ahlanlive.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: womenshealthmag.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: t-tapp.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: lovelyfragile.tumblr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

I also need to start eating healthier since Gracie grabs anything that is on my plate. It just tastes better from momma's plate.

Source: lifewithnature.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: gethealthygetsexy.tumblr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: tanandtoned.tumblr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: termlifeinsurance.org via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: laceyinloveblog.blogspot.com via Andrea on Pinterest

I have heard wonderful things about this monster smoothie. I need to give it a try

Source: singforyoursupperblog.com via Andrea on Pinterest

It's so hard to find time to work out and cook healthy meals. What do you do to stay healthy? I would love to hear some tips!

2012 goals revisited

2012-02-07T16:11:00.000-06:00

Okay, so in order to keep myself accountable, I will have to repost these every once in a while to make sure that I'm staying on track. Let's see how I'm doing since I last posted these:

1. Color my hair at LEAST every 8 weeks. I'm seriously seeing grey, y'all! You would gasp if you saw my roots up close **well I last colored my hair in October and I just colored it last week again for the first time since then, so I guess this is a major FAIL. However, if we're basing it just on 2012, then I'm on track. **

2. Use up all my gift cards for massages at the spa. I have got to learn to make "me" time, something I haven't even thought of since I've had G **win! I went a few weeks ago for a massage and signed up for a membership so I will get one a month until April. We will see after that **

3. Get pedicures once a month **FAIL! and this should really be moved to the top of my priority list. It's not looking pretty. **

4. Stick to my to-do list and actually DO WHAT'S ON IT! (this really should be #1, makes my life so much easier) **yeah, still working on this one. I ALWAYS make a list. I just don't always do what's on it. I get sidetracked too easily. So not a fail, but not a win yet either **

5. Print the pictures I take and not just leave them on the computer ** No comment. Does anyone do this anymore? **

6. Do a load of laundry every day from start to finish. Easier said than done ** FAIL. I had high hopes **

7. Get birthday cards for everyone I know ** Yay for me, I have done this if I'm aware it's their b-day **

8. Study Scripture every day. I love the learning bibles rather than just reading a verse and moving on for the day without really thinking about it. ** I really haven't been good at doing this daily and this is the one I most wanted to stick with. Does anyone have a good devotional they like? I get a devotional e-mail every morning, but I'm normally reading it as I'm flying out the door on my way to work **

9. Look for at least a little bit of positiveness, no matter the situation ** I think I have been better at this **

10. Have NOT ONE bad thing to say about anyone. I need to make Ephesians 4:29 become my life verse **I think I have been better at this too. It doesn't make anyone feel better to think mean thoughts or say something bad about someone. I rarely said too many mean things before, but I probably gave my opinion on a situation a little more often than necessary. I'm working on banishing all mean thoughts **

11. Pray together before meals ** No, I actually forgot about this one **

12. Take more vitamins **FAIL, And there is no excuse. I even carry them in my purse**

13. Work towards paying the house off so in a few years I will be able to stay home with my babies ** This we have been doing very well at and are right on track. **

14. Make the bed every day ** Neutral. I have been doing better, it's probably made 75% of the time. **

How are you doing on your goals for the new year?

Misc. Monday

2012-02-05T19:41:00.002-06:00

Hi friends! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Instead of doing a weekend recap post, I'm just going to do a list of a few things we did this weekend along with a few random thoughts because these totally don't flow together well!

1. Saturday night my sisters came over and watched Gracie so Eric and I could go out for a friend’s birthday. We never get out, this is maybe the 4th or 5th time since G has been born {over 11 months ago} that we have been out. It was one of my best friend's birthdays so we decided to go. I only took one picture the entire night and it was before we even left the house. We are such old people, we made it home by 11PM.

2. I am obsessed with Grands wheat biscuits. Has anyone tried them, they taste SO much better I think!

3. I have a ton of these hair clips available in my shop for only $4.95 with free shipping!! {shameless plug}. They are located in the hair accessory section titled "Her Crowning Glory"

4. I have GOT to get more organized. This is one of my goals every year and I fail miserably every year. I have so much on my plate right now and feel so chaotic when I don't stick to a routine. I found a website called Just Mommies that has a great cleaning schedule that I think I will be able to stick to. It has a printable calendar that I can keep on the fridge. It outlines small daily tasks, and larger monthly tasks. I swear, I clean my house like every 30 seconds, but we have a little tornado running around.

5. I was always so sad about Gracie getting older every month, but I am LOVING this stage with her. She is such a funny little thing. She can walk and "talk". She will carry an entire conversation with me, I just have no idea what she's saying. We got her a bunch of outdoor toys for her birthday and I can't wait until it's warm enough to play with them. She really started to enjoy the pool at the end of last summer, so I'm hoping she still loves it this year because I already have a ton of cute bathing suits for her. I need to make her a little personalized sun hat and beach towel to match her suits.

6. I am on the hunt for the perfect homemade body lotion. My skin is so dry and sensitive and needs extra care and any scented lotion won’t work because it just dries my skin out more. My friend gave me her “recipe” which was coconut oil, olive oil, and beeswax, along with whatever scent you like. I tried it out and it was just awful. I had an old bottle of body spray that lost the sprayer top so I decided to poke a hole in it and pour some scent in the lotion. I thought it was genius. Well friends, I will not lie, the lotion smelled like vodka and I could not stop gagging. Maybe some people don’t mind smelling like vodka, but I’m not one of them. It was an epic fail. Does anyone have any good lotion recipes, or a store bought lotion they love? I have already made the perfect homemade body scrub that I’ll share shortly!

7. We went to my parents house tonight to watch the Super Bowl and my poor baby fell and busted her lip AND got a bloody nose. I just about died. I think it may have traumatized me more than her! We gave her an ice pack and she thought that was the coolest thing, This is our little trooper after the accident

She had story time with Papa afterwards and felt much better

8. G is going through some major teething right now and has been walking around with a sock in her mouth non-stop. I t’s a clean sock, so you don’t have to worry about that, I just thought that it was funny that she wants a sock of all things

9. I am on a really big kick right now of wanting to sell our house. Eric pretty much has to talk me out of it every day.

10. Gracie can tell you the sounds of a cow, a bear, and a monkey and it’s so cute. Not like I’m biased or anything

I think that’s all I’ve got for now. I hope y’all had a great weekend!

Playing Catch Up

2012-02-03T11:56:00.000-06:00

Hi friends! I feel like I am so behind and need to play catch up. Here's a bit about what's been going on with us.First of all, this is my pile at work. I have SO much to do and have been taking some home so that's why I haven't had much time to blog

Sweet Gracie is such a good little eater. I am so thankful that she'll eat just about anything. Carrots are not her favorite, but Eric and I don't really like them either, so it will never be an issue of her not eating her carrots since we probably won't ever have any. She is all about independent eating, so it takes like..an hour.. for her to eat, then a substantial amount of time to clean her and the floor, and the high chair, and sometimes me depending on what she smears on me.

I ordered this book for my niece's birthday from I See Me and I am just thrilled with how it turned out. I bought the deal on Plum District, but I would definitely pay full price for this, and y'all know I don't pay full price for anything! It's so cute and personalized. I think I will get Gracie one too. They have several different options like princess books, and things like that.

I made this little classic A line dress for Gracie, but several like this will be up in my shop soon. This picture is obviously not finished, I just wanted to give you a little sneak peak. It's fully lined, I just need to add my label and buttons. I really love this fabric.

This is an awful picture because it's from my iphone, taken from my camera. It was too cute not to share though. I let gracie run around naked the other day after her bath while I was getting her pajamas and diaper out. I found her sitting here "reading" her book. To me, this picture is precious and I'm glad I had my real camera right there. However, about 30 seconds later, she stood up, pooped on the floor, stomped in it, and tried to pick it up. I turned around right before she picked it up, thank God. That, I do NOT think is precious. I was gagging cleaning it up, ha!

Speaking of my mischievous little girl, the other day I walked away for like 10 seconds ~~(you would think I would learn NOT to do that by now)~~ and she wasn't in the living room when I came back. I found her sitting in the hall way with a box of girl scout cookies licking them all and then feeding them to the dog. I asked her what in the world she thought she was doing and she just grinned, got up, and waddled off. WITH the cookies. haha. I swear, God must make babies so cute so you can't get aggravated with them.

Girlfriend loves to eat

Here is a pic of what her b-day invites look like. It's in 16 days and I haven't mailed them out yet. I am adding that to my to-do list for the weekend. Y'all have left so many sweet comments about how cute you think Gracie's party will be. To be honest, I don't feel like going over the top and I don't know why. I mean, I'm going to have decor, but believe me when I say it won't be pinterest worthy. haha. I hope I don't disappoint anyone.

Gracie is at my best friends house today playing with her handsome little boy who is 3 days younger than her. I hear they are having a blast!

Okay, I think that catches me up for now. I planned to participate in the photo a day challenge and I think I still will, I might just be a little behind, but I'll try to get the pics up by Monday. Hope y'all have a fabulous weekend!

Reasons to Smile and What I'm loving

2012-01-31T19:20:00.000-06:00

I'm linking with Emmy Mom for 10 Things to Smile About

1. Yesterday was Gracie's first day of NO bottles!! I am so excited because for several weeks she refused to drink out of a sippy and I was really trying to cut out bottles 100% by her 1st birthday. I thought this was a long lost dream until I decided that momma and Gracie would have a battle of wills. And momma won!

2. Speaking of my little girl and her strong will, although it sometimes drives me crazy that she is fiercely independent and has such a strong will, it makes me smile thinking of all the wonderful things God will be able to use her for in the future. I pray every day that it can be put to good use.

3. FULL fat, FULL sugar Coffeemate Hazelnut Creamer. I never realized how much better it tasted than the fat free, sugar free kind

4. L'Oreal Bare Naturale Mineral Makeup. I really love this stuff. I was in the market for a new foundation and was going to use liquid, but this had good reviews so I tired it and I'm in love:

5. This 60 and 70 degree weather we've been having makes me excited for spring.

6. Emily Maynard is the new bachelorette! I loved her on Brad's season and thought she was so genuine and sweet. I really hope that she remains classy and doesn't partake in trashy hot scenes. I am REALLY not into Ben's season of The Bachelor. He is just really not my type, which I don't even know why that matters because obviously I am married and NOT on the show, but I just can't seem to get into it. Also, I'm not a fan of the girls this season either.

7. Vampire Diaries is new this week! Get excited!

8. My sweet husband has been sending me sweet messages and e-mails all week. I love that guy. You can read more about him here

9. My baby is almost one. This makes me smile, and it makes me sad. I hope I can enjoy her party and not have to be sedated for it.

10. Hot rollers!! I have had the same hot rollers forever, and to be honest, they're kind of the old school kind, but I LOVE them! My love for them was reignited this weekend after I tried to do the sock bun curls. It totally did NOT work in my hair and left it all frizzy. I usually wash my hair at night, let it air dry overnight and run a brush through it in the morning, tease the top layer, and put in the rollers. I leave them in for about 5 or 10 minutes while I do my makeup and drink my coffee and then voila! They seriously make beautiful hair!

I have no creative title

2012-01-29T21:11:00.005-06:00

This weekend I had big plans to create a lot of crafty projects for Gracie’s b-day and I hardly got anything done. I cut out the base for her happy birthday banner but that’s about it. I’m a total procrastinator so I’m sure I will be rushing around an hour before her party trying to complete everything.

I also had plans to complete at least one of the chairs I’m reupholstering, but I wasn’t really “feeling it” so I decided to wait until the mood stuck so I could make sure I was in the right mindset to complete it. Does anyone else do that? If I’m not “feeling it” it will end up really crappy because I won’t put forth that much effort. So we moved a chair back into our living room because it was looking kind of sparse. I moved them out in hopes I would complete the new ones and move them in quickly. It didn't really work out for me =)

Anyway, I did read this book by Julie Garwood and it was pretty good. I have read all of her contemporary books and love them all. This was the 2nd time I read this book.

I decided that I’m not even going to pick up another book until I finish those chairs!!! I get so into the book that I spend hours a day reading and end up getting nothing done.

We had really nice weather so Gracie and I decided to get outside and play in her wagon

I love my little baby and her expressions. She’s always so curious. I saw a commercial this weekend for Dreft laundry detergent and they said “You will have a child forever, but you only have a baby for one year” and I just about started bawling. I’m sure my husband will need to call Dr. Phil for the mental breakdown I will have on her birthday

Friday night we watched Courageous, The Help and Something Borrowed. They were all great. Courageous started out kind of slow but had a great message. And I bawled like a baby during The Help. I'm such a baby!

Also, since Gracie started walking, she is into EVERYTHING. I know I have said this about a hundred times before when she was crawling, but it has reached it’s peak (hopefully). We were playing Saturday morning and I walked into the kitchen to refill my coffee and when I came back, like 20 seconds later, she was GONE! I would really love to get inside her head and hear what she’s thinking. I think lately it’s along the lines of “I’m outta here!” I just follow the trail of disarray and it leads me to her.

And I found her in her room, throwing all of her pants out of her dresser…

I didn’t get a chance to sew anything this weekend, but I did cut fabric out 4 or 5 different outfits that I will sew throughout the week. Measuring and cutting out the pieces is half the battle, so it won’t be as overwhelming just to sit down and sew it.

Also, I did a little work on my Shop. There still isn’t anything listed because I need to make something cute for display, but I did get some pages made and have my fabric choices listed. Hopefully within a week or two I will have some items listed!

Tonight I made crock-pot chicken enchilada soup. I didn’t follow a single recipe, but combined a few that looked good. Here is my recipe:

2- 10 oz cans of cream of chicken soup

2 cups of milk

1 pound of chicken – cooked and shredded (or chopped, just however you like it)

1 can of corn (undrained)

1 can of black beans (undrained)

1 small can of green chilis (undrained)

1 can of enchilada sauce (I used mild)

8 ounces of shredded cheese ( I use some variety of Mexican cheese)

1 1/2 TBSP of sea salt

It’s so easy, all you do it throw everything but the cheese in there, mix and cook on low for 6 hours. I added in the cheese when there was about 30 minutes left. I leave all the corn and beans undrained and mix their liquid in with the soup. I have also made this on the stove top in a big stock pot, but to me, it just tastes better in the crock pot because the flavors have longer to mix together. This makes about 8 servings and I serve it with flour tortillas.

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Weekend Plans

2012-01-27T10:41:00.000-06:00

Y'all know the drill. I have to post my weekend t-do list on here to keep me accountable! Surprisingly, I got tons of laundry done yesterday and even sewed a quick and easy dress for Gracie that I'll post soon so this weekend will be dedicated to crafting for G's b-day and sewing, all during nap time of course =)

Tonight we're going to have supper at Eric's dad's house, but on Saturday, I have several things I need to do.

First of all, I need to create Gracie's birthday banner. I have something like this in mind:

Then, I need to create a high chair banner, something like this:

I'm really cheating for the rest of the decor. I bought paper lanterns in lieu of pom pom balls because the pom pom balls would be too time consuming. I bought a few other things for food decor but you'll just have to wait to see that =)

Also, I need to buy the outfits that I want G to wear for her 1st birthday pictures, and also make the hair pieces. I have something in mind but I want to see if I'm actually able to make it look decent before I let y'all know!

Also, we have a new short bible study in our women's discipleship training class at church. I can't even tell you how excited I am to be getting back into bible study. The last one I attended was right before Gracie was born and I am yearning to do another one. We have them in Sunday school too, but sometimes it's so hard for me to make it to Sunday school with Gracie's naps, so Sunday nights for bible study work much better for me.

My weekend is going to be so exciting I know you just want to live vicariously through me right?? =)

I'm hoping to get these crafts done this weekend and post pics. Does anyone have any fun weekend plans?

The longest post ever

2012-01-26T19:15:00.001-06:00

No Lie, y'all, this is really going to be the longest post ever. I was recently tagged with a little "blog award" by Erika, Michelle, Joeylee, and Kelly. Here are the rules:

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

4. Tag eleven people and link them on your post.

5. Let them know you've tagged them.

Okay, let's see if I can think of 11 fun facts about me, I know you're just dying to know **sarcasm**

1. I am addicted to sweet tea and coffee. Like, if I don't have coffee within an hour of waking up, I start shaking and get really nauseous. I guess you could call me a "junkie" =) I really am trying to cut back though

2. I'm a monogram freak. This quote describes me perfectly! It's too funny because I think I said this exact thing to a friend the other day and then I saw this:

Source: hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net via Andrea on Pinterest

3. I could honestly do without my cell phone and most of technology. If I forget it at home, I totally don't stress over it. Honestly, I love not having to answer my phone/text/email. If I'm at home, chances are it's on silent in my purse and I'll get back to you the next day.

4. I am a total nerd/bookworm. I could spend hours upon hours in a book store. I get really addicted to the book I'm reading, usually fall in love with the characters, and actually miss them when it's over, maybe I'm delusional. This quote is totally me:

Source: bookfessions.tumblr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

5. I graduated high school early. Kind of. I didn't have to go at all the 2nd semester of my senior year. I started college early and came back to do graduation and all the activities with my class.

6. I cheered all through high school and was offered a cheerleading scholarship through UCA. I didn't take it because I was sick of cheering at the time. Fast forward to student loans and I'm really wishing I would have just sucked it up and did it!

7. I taught myself to sew by making my doll clothes when I was little. Before my mom let me play with her sewing machine, I would cut out the clothes and hot glue them together. ha. I thought I was pretty cool, I was going to be a fashion designer.

8. Before I was pregnant I really only drank red wine. After I had Gracie, I only like chilled white wine. I think that's pretty weird that my tastes changed like that. Did that happen to anyone else? I really miss red wine but it's just not the same

9. I absolutely hate horror movies and refuse to watch them.

10. I could eat Mexican food every day

11. I cannot stand anything "Jersey" related. AKA Jersey Shore and Real Housewives. No offense to anyone living in NJ, I'm sure you're super normal. But the only thing I know about anything Jersey is what's on TV and I absolutely cannot stand it. I cannot stand the accent and everything these characters do is tacky. My momma would slap me if I ever acted like that, let alone on national TV. It's like a whole different world.

Okay, wow, so I'm really surprised that I could think of 11 super exciting things. Maybe I should add #12 in there and say that I am full of super dry sarcasm =)

Here are some questions that Erika asked me:

1. Favorite book? It's so hard to pick! Julie Garwood has a series about the fictitious Buchanan family and I have read each book probably 3 times.

2. Favorite thing to cook? I really love making enchiladas, not sure why...

3. Sports fan? Favorite teams? I like college football and that's about it

4. Favorite vacation spot? I haven't been to a ton of places, but Playa del Carmen has a little piece of my heart. Also, new Orleans was pretty amazing. I loved the culture and would go back in a second

5. DisneyLand or DisneyWorld? I haven't been to either, but I think I would be more of an East Coast girl rather than a West Coast girl, so I'm saying Disney World based on that

6. What color nailpolish are you wearing? au natural

7. Have you ever broken a bone? Which one(s)? Yes, I actually broke my foot on the side. I was picking up a golf ball several years ago, threw it over the fence, turned, and FELL IN A HOLE. I'm graceful, let me tell you! This was when we were in college and I was going to Eric's apartment and he lived on a golf course. I was so embarrassed I RAN up the stairs to his apartment, broken foot and all where he proceeded to tell me to "walk it off". I think that, and the combination of me running up the stairs probably broke it where it would have only been fractured before.

8. iPhone or Droid? I have an iphone, but I seriously don't know what to do with it. I was looking at my friend's Droid and I think I prefer that though. Mostly because the font and screen are bigger. Gaw, I sound like my grandpa!

9. Most visited website? Probably Pinterest

10. Favorite lip balm? I use plain Vaseline

11. Best dressed female celeb? I will have to think on this one

michelle:

1.) What Is One Thing You Can’t Live Without? Chapstick

2.) Where is Your Favorite place to shop? Target

3.) What is Your Favorite Nail Polish Color? I usually like something pale like nude or pale pink. I'll do red around the holidays.

4.) Do You Prefer Coffee or Tea? I would die if I had to pick

5.) If you could only pick one blog to read a day which would it be? I can never choose

6.) Best Vacation You Have Ever Been On? All were fun for different reasons. I have taken many trips with my friend Heather to Vegas, Cancun, and Los Angeles and they were fun girl trips. I love alone time with my hubby on our Mexico trips, and New Orleans was great with Eric and my parents.

7.) Do You Have a Bucket List? If So, What Are 2 Things On Your Bucket List? I don't have a list, maybe I need to make one

8.) Something You Are Afraid Of? Whales. Seriously. I pray to God that Gracie never wants to watch Free Willy

9.) If You Could Only Eat One Thing For The Rest Of Your Life, What Would It Be? Mexican food

10.) Favorite Movie? The Notebook or Walk the Line

11.) What Is The Last Item You Bought? Probably something at the grocery store

joeylee:

1. Where is your favorite place to shop for clothes? Target

2. What kind of car do you drive? Nissan Altima

3. What chore do you hate the most? Unloading the dishwasher

4. What is your dream job? I would love to own an antique store with new and old things mixed in. Like old furniture, and maybe a few boutique things mixed in. And maybe throw a flower shop in part of it.

5. How do you punish your kids when their bad (if you don't have kids how would you punish them if you did)? Well Gracie is still pretty young, but she will get spankings if she needs it

6. What is the first thing you do when you wake up? Get Gracie because she is the one who wakes me up =)

7. How many kids do you want? 3 or 4. Don't tell my husband

8. What is your favorite activity to do (whether with your family or friends)? Maybe this is weird, but I really love to go on walks, especially in the summertime in the evenings as a family. I love that neighbors are sitting on their porches and wave, I love when kids are running in the yard playing in sprinklers or eating popsicles

9. If your significant other had an accent - what would it be? He has a southern/hick accent if I had to name it LOL

10. What is your most searched thing on Pinterest? I don't even know what this means

11. What shows do you HATE watching TV? Anything Jersey. See above

kelly;

My Questions for you guys:

1. If you could meet one famous person to sit down and have a conversation with, who would it be and why? Carrie Underwood because I am borderline obsessed with her

2. If you had a day off with nothing that you HAD to do- how would you spend it? I would find something to do I'm sure. I hate just sitting around the house.

3. What is your favorite fashion item that you own? I love my BCBG shoes. I have a few pair

4. If you were to paint your nails today, what color would you paint them? See above, I've already answered this

5. What was your favorite cartoon growing up? I loved The Popples. Did anyone else watch that?

6. If you were given $500 how would you spend it? I would probably put it in savings or pay extra on the house. Because I'm exciting like that...

7. What is your least favorite chore to do? Unloading the dishwasher, I don't know why but I hate it.

8. What is your favorite website to visit? Blogger or Pinterest

9. Do you prefer lipstick or lipgloss? I like lip stick with vaseline over it. Gloss is too sticky for me

10. What is your best childhood memory? I don't have one in particular, but I loved going on family vacations with my parents and two brothers. We did this for several years and I cherish those times.

11. Where are you going to vacation this year? I wish!

I'm having issues

2012-01-26T13:37:00.002-06:00

Since changing the URL of my blog to a custom domain I have had some issues. Hopefully it will work itself out in a few days. In the meantime, if your feed is not updating, you might want to remove my old blogspot.com address and re-add this new one. Thanks for being patient and hopefully it will work itself out =)

Gracie: 11 Months - LATE

2012-01-26T08:10:00.000-06:00

I really wanted to get this out on time but since my blog was in "transition" (whatever that means) I had to post a little late. Gracie was 11 months old on 01.22.11. I cannot believe my baby is almost ONE! It is so fun to see her little personality come out and boy does she have one. Here is Gracie at 11 months:

* Started taking steps on 01.16.12 and walks about half the time now. She does it mostly when she's not realizing what she's doing

* Loves to see pictures and video of herself. She also loves to look in the mirror and give herself kisses. She's such a ham!

* Feeds herself most meals by hand. We are introducing the spoon but so far she has no interest in it

* Nurses in the morning and takes a bottle or sippy cup at noon and at dinner. She really REALLY does not like sippy cups. Right now she takes one about 25% of the time but it's a real battle

* Can say Mama, Da-da, Layla, Bye, and No * Can splash, dance, give hugs and sugar when asked. She also points her finger in the air and says "no no no no no" quite a bit.

* LOVES babies, real one or toy ones. She loves to hold them and love on them, it's the sweetest little thing

* Loves to run into things and people with her push toys. She literally falls down laughing when she thinks someone is hurt. We'll have to work on that

* Is SOOOO ticklish and has the cutest little belly laugh

* Loves when I help her do flips

* Weighs about 18 pounds and is about 25 1/2 inches

* Is in a size 3 diaper, size 2 shoe, and 6-9 month, 9 month, and some 12 month clothe. She can still wear some 3-6 month dresses. I think 9 months probably fits her best right now, and sometimes that's even a little big

* Hates to change her diaper or change her clothes. Hates to have her hair brushed

* Loves to play with cell phones, remotes, or anything electronic

* It's hard to say who her favorite is. She definitely loves her daddy and likes to keep him close, but she's attached to me most of the time, especially when she's tired .

* Loves anything to do with water

* Loves to play peek-a-boo. Especially in her crib right when she wakes up

* Is very independent

* Loves to watch Pajaminals and read a book before bedtime

Last Weekend Recap

2012-01-26T06:45:00.000-06:00

I didn't do a recap post of our weekend. One because my blog was broken, and two because nothing too interesting happened. Friday we over to our friends house for dinner and to let the girls play. Erin just started her blog and does really awesome custom distressed furniture. Check out her blog here: 2 Blessed to be [di]stressed. Logan is only a few months younger than Gracie, and Kennedy is about 3 and a half years older. Gracie loved playing with both girls, but I think she thinks she's a lot older than Logan because she kept giving her kisses and she normally only does that to her baby dolls, LOL. I can't wait to see how these girls interact as they grow.

Saturday we didn't do much of anything besides grocery store/housework/etc. I really need to buckle down and sew some things. I ordered a new rotary cutter that will make cutting out things way easier and quicker so I'm excited to use that once it arrives. Remember the romper I posted about here, I finally had a chance to put it on Gracie and she looked adorable! It was a little long so it was kind of hard for her to walk in it, but still cute, nonetheless.

Here is my sweet girl before church on Sunday, I just loved getting her all dressed up:

Also, I made this over the weekend. It won't fit her for a while, probably fall, so I think I'm going to make some matching ruffle pants:

Gracie is having a hard time keeping a bow band in her hair. Her hair is a little long for a band anyway, so I decided to try a pony tail-pebbles style. I think it's too precious for words. Also, it helps keep her bangs out of her face. Not completely, but somewhat. Here is my sweet girl with her pony:

Here she is without her pony. If her hair is not out of her face, it is sticky and stiff from some kind of food because she cannot keep her hands out of it. I think this particular picture it was yogurt that was her styling product of choice:

BIG CHANGES

2012-01-24T21:11:00.001-06:00

Notice anything different around here??? I wrote a few days ago about wanting to have a blog where I can showcase all of my "creations" and the consensus was that that I should just have one blog that combines the two because it would be easier to manage. I went ahead and just took the plunge and designed my new header and navigation bar. I did this all by myself, y'all. If you know me at all, this is amazing because I know NOTHING about computers and honestly have no desire to learn. However, it did take me a while.

Anyway, I PROMISE that this isn't going to be a blog where I beg you to buy my stuff =) I have just had several people ask if I sell things so I decided that I would add a tab where you could shop if you wanted. If you click on the "shop" tab you will obviously notice that there is nothing there. It will take me a while to get things on here, I just wanted to move forward with switching everything over so it won't be so overwhelming to do it all at once. Although I changed my header, in blogger it's still called "Life in Dawleywood" and I'll probably leave it like that until I move further along with the shop.

Also, I updated the "about" tab with bits and pieces about my family if anyone is just bored and wants some reading material.

I have a super long post I'm trying to finish. I was tagged in several "blog awards" so I'm off to finish that! I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on the new look.

I hope y'all enjoy the rest of your week!

A bunch of nothing

2012-01-18T09:45:00.003-06:00

I really haven’t had too much going on to blog about. Gracie was a little sick last week, then Eric and I started feeling it over the weekend so we just hung out and did a bunch of nothing. I hate that! I felt more blah after relaxing. I did read two books over the weekend though, so that was nice.

I did still get my massage because I didn’t want to cancel at the last minute because I still would have been charged for the massage. My back feels a lot better now, but a few hours later I started feeling really nauseous. Is that normal after a massage? I have heard that it is because it releases toxins or whatever, but I haven’t had one in forever before that so I couldn’t remember?

In other news… my sweet girl took SIX steps this weekend!! We were so proud of her, but to be honest, it was a sad day for momma. My baby is growing up. I had her b-day cards designed and somewhere on it is says “our little girl is turning one”. I just about started bawling that she’s not a baby-baby. I’m sure many of you can relate.

Gracie has started to LOVE LOVE LOVE her little riding car toy we bought her for Christmas. But instead of riding on it, because her legs are too short, she pushes it across the room and she like… SPRINTS… holding on to it. It’s the funniest thing! She is so proud of herself when she makes it to the other side of the room. Also, she has never in her life laughed so hard as when she runs into us with her car. She literally falls down laughing when we pretend to fall over from the crash. That girl cracks me up! She has started having this HUGE open mouth smile when she is amused by something. Of course I think it’s adorable.

Also, she is loving her playroom and so am I. It is so much easier to keep the house picked up when I can just throw everything in that room:

Also, I was thinking about changing the name of my blog. I decided to open an Etsy store and start selling some of the things I sew along with custom and monogrammed boutique items, and I really just want ONE blog that combines the two. I would still blog about my usually day to day randomness just like I always do, so really nothing would change but the name. I already put what I make on here, I would just add a separate tab to “shop” for those who wanted to. What are y’alls thoughts? Or do you think I should have two separate blogs? I’m hoping for some feedback on this before I proceed either way =).

Am I the only one that thinks non-stop about spring? I am so over winter at this point. I am SO thankful that we haven’t had major snow or ice. **knock on wood**

I think that’s all I have for today!

Gracie's B-day Inspiration

2012-01-18T07:40:00.002-06:00

Source: lovelylittlepartiesky.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: cakeeventsblog.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: southernmommas.ning.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: whimsyandwise.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: frogprincepaperie.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: hatterandhareevents.blogspot.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: hwtm.com via Andrea on Pinterest

linking to:

Last Minute Christmas Craft

2012-01-17T08:13:00.002-06:00

While I am aware that Christmas has come and gone, I couldn't help myself so I went ahead and completed a Christmas craft for next year. I bought bulbs and wreaths last year (2010) after Christmas and never did anything with them, so they just sat in my closet this Christmas. So I decided to do something with them before I put them up for the year so they'll be ready for Christmas.

Okay, you will need some spare bulbs, a wreath, and some twine/ribbon/wire ( I used twine)

Cut a piece of twine and string your bulbs onto it. I used 2 gold and 2 red.

Put the bulbs where you want them on the wreath and pull the twine through the back of the wreath. Tie in a knot. Be sure not to pull too tight or the tops will pop off the bulbs

When you flip it around, this is what it will look like

I added three more of these and this year I will "fluff" it up some more, but at least it has a good head start.

This way, you don't have to mess with messy hot glue, and also, it's more secure to tie it off rather than hot glue it.

Let me know if anyone does this, I would love to see it!

A little bit of random…

2012-01-14T09:43:00.000-06:00

1. I made this hooded towel for a friend’s daughter a few weeks ago for practice. I made Gracie and my niece Layla one before that, so they really didn’t need another one. And I used a different method on this one that was SO much easier and I think I’ll use it from now on. She is going to be my practice run to see how it holds up. I will need to make the font bigger next time:

2. Gracie is cutting her two top teeth and one on the bottom, poor thing! She has been periodically waking up at night and just wants to be held. I’m such a needy momma so I’m always happy to oblige. Usually. However, the other night at about 3AM I found myself praying to God for a patience pump where I could just go fill up when I’m running low. ha. This is a true story y’all. I think I’m majorly sleep deprived.

3. I am having so much fun planning G’s birthday party. I still can’t believe that I’ll have a one year old next month. I’m sure I will be hysterical. I am going with a mod monkey theme and the colors will be hot pink, green, yellow and brown. There is an obnoxious bow and outfit in the works.

4. I was supposed to have my wisdom teeth taken out, every year for the past like 8 years, but I always chicken out. 2012 was going to be the year, but I was going to have it done in the office instead of going to an oral surgeon until my co-worker told me it was the worst thing in the world. I immediately chickened out *again* and decided that 2013 will definitely be the year. My reasoning was that I can’t come home on pain medicine and take care of a 1 year old. I’m sure coming home on pain med and taking care of a 2 year old will be so much easier, right? **sarcasm**

5. I have had the same Netflix movie for like, 6 months. At least! I’m ashamed.

6. I am getting a massage today and couldn’t be more excited. Eric bought me a gift card on my birthday in September and I have yet to use it.

7. Back to the not sleeping thing… Coffee is my very first thought in the morning. Eric says that before I even hit the snooze button on my alarm, I’m usually mumbling something about coffee. I think I would benefit from a coffee maker on my nightstand…

8. Gracie has decided that spinach is her new favorite food:

9. I have a couple sewing projects I need to finish up this weekend and I bought a new pattern that I’m hoping to try out. Hopefully I’ll post pics if I finish them. Also, I plan on going through Gracie’s closet looking for things to monogram. I haven’t embroidered in a few weeks and I’m getting withdraws!

10. Back to the birthday thing… I was so stressed out about when to schedule her birthday party. Everyone is either out of town or I have a baby shower or another birthday party to attend. To tell you the truth, I’m a little annoyed about the whole situation. I called Eric’s mom last night almost in tears and felt so much better after talking to her. Without going into too much detail, I just decided that if this one particular person has to be left out, it will be ok. I have been trying to pretty much force a relationship between Gracie and this “particular person” for a while for Gracie’s sake. But if it was important for “particular person” to be there then they should have checked with me before deciding to leave the country 3 days before her birthday. Anyway, Gracie is certainly not without love or people who want to share her birthday with her. DON’T MESS WITH MY BABY’S 1ST BIRTHDAY! =)

11. Back to the not sleeping thing.. ( I told you this is completely random and all over the place) Gracie woke up the other night with a croupy cough. She has never had that before and it was pretty scary because she couldn’t catch her breath. We spend the night in a steamy bathroom to help loosen it. My baby is such a trooper though. She just wanted to play like nothing was wrong. She is feeling much better today:

12. There is nothing sweeter than a baby sleeping in momma and daddy’s bed:

How I save money without couponing

2012-01-12T19:26:00.001-06:00

Hi friends! Let me preface this by saying that I am a chepo! I'm not even lying, I'm so cheap and hate to pay full price for anything. That said, I SO don't have the patience or the time to coupon. I live in a small town and we have an IGA and a wal-mart supercenter so it's not feasible for me to go to several different stores to get the best price. Saving money is also a huge importance to me. Not necessarily saving, although we do have savings, but making it a priority to pay off our house and cars all within a few years so that I can stay home with Gracie and future babies. Obviously, this requires throwing a LOT of money on the principle of these loans. We're following Dave Ramsey's plan and he's a big advocate of snowballing. I want to share a few ways that I save money without couponing. These are so easy that anyone can do it!

1. Amazon mom: I think there is currently a waiting list, but when I joined, it was free and I received a year of free prime 2 day shipping. I am able to save 30% on diapers, every single time I order. We use Luvs diapers now and for one month of diapers, I only spend $24. I know those who coupon get free diapers, but we've already discussed me and coupons. $24 for no time spent but logging on and clicking "purchase" Also, I am on subscribe and save so it automatically sends me a new box each month without me having to log on and re-purchase. Gracie wears size 3 diapers now, and up until then, I used Pampers swaddlers, just because they were so soft, but Luvs are cheaper and work great for us. I never liked using huggies diapers, they just didn't work well for us, although I know you will find the most coupons for Huggies.

2. I make my own baby food: This honestly doesn't take much time if you only do a batch every week or so. I wrote a post on my process here, but I didn't go into price breakdown. The day I made my post, I used the following:

fryer chicken: $3.00
oatmeal: used about $.50 worth
1/2 bag of brown rice: $.44
4 apples: $1.25
2 sweet potatoes: $1.76
2 green peppers: $.88
bag of whole carrots: $.88
2 zucchini: $.96
bag of frozen fruit: $2.00

total: $11.67

This is how much food it made:
Apples and oatmeal mix for breakfast: 104 ounces
Chicken/pepper/rice/zucchini mix: 72 ounces
Sweet potato and carrot bite sized pieces: 12 ounces ( I didn't puree these so it made less)
fruit cubes for yogurt: 36 ounces
2 mason jars full of "apple juice
total: 224 ounces

That equals to between $.05 and $.06 per ounce! Compare that to about $.25 per ounce and you will see substantial savings. If I would have bought packaged food at the store, it would have been over $60 for all of this.

3. Meal plan: I like to go to the grocery store about once every 2 weeks for bigger trips, and I usually stop in about once a week for fresh produce and it never fails I always forget one thing from my list. I usually find my recipes from Pinterest, and make sure I have a detailed list of everything I will need. If I have ingredients left over that I will not use that week, I make an extra batch of the recipe and put it in the freezer for later. Sticking to the shopping list requires that you leave your husband at home and never let him do the shopping. Just saying'.

4. Credit Cards with points: I know I said earlier that we are following Dave Ramsey's plan and he does not like credit cards. However, we do have one that we use daily and pay off the balance EVERY.TIME! We have never paid any interest on this card. We put every single little thing on it. Gas, groceries, electric bill, internet bill, cell phone, etc. If I could pay my mortgage and car payments with this card I totally would. The particular credit card we have has 1% cash back on all purchases, 5% cash back on special categories that change quarterly, and anywhere from 3-15% back at certain retailers. On the quarterly categories, this quarter it's amazon.com and gas purchases. This is free money people. I will say that we started using this card in February, and we already have over $500 that we could cash in or request gift cards. We didn't do anything special or buy anything out of the ordinary to receive these points, it's just from every day purchases.

5. Buy clothing ahead of time: I have bought about 90% of Gracie's clothing out of season. And have saved anywhere from 50-90% by doing this. It's true that with kids you don't really know what size they will wear, but G has stayed consistent so I haven't had that problem. Target, Dillards, and The Children's Place is where I normally get these deals.

Here are some of Gracie clothes for Spring and Summer. (ignore the coats on the right side, those are obviously for Winter, that's just where I put them). I also have a lot of size 18 month summer clothes that are still in the grey tub.

I bought the following three items at Target.com in October for less than $3 each. You can't beat that!

I bought these next two at Dillards for less than $10 each. They each have cute little matching capris too.

It really does save so much money to buy ahead of time when things are on sale. Most of what you see G wear was purchased at rock bottom clearance, or I made it myself.

And **I can't believe I'm actually saying (typing?) this out loud**, but a lot of what you see me wear is from....
Goodwill! I'm not even kidding. There is one not far from my work and a co-worker talked me into going with her. They have **BRAND NEW** Target, Ann Taylor Loft, J Crew, American Apparel, Banana Republic, and White House Black Market. I seriously feel like I hit the lottery every time I go in. I usually walk out with bags and bags and bags full of goodies and spend less than $30. I would show you a picture of my closet but I'm entirely too embarrassed. I have way too much stuff. BUT, all the Goodwill proceeds are for a good cause =) Here are some of the things I have found at Goodwill:

I will go ahead and admit I have way too many cardigans. I’m totally a cardigan and tank girl. The last pic is only a fraction of the cardigans I have picked up from there

6. I buy my make up and shampoo from **gasp** the drugstore! Or Wal-Mart or Target. It doesn't matter where I get it, I buy the cheap stuff. Let's get real, when is $40 mascara better than $5 mascara? NEVER!
These are a few things that stick out in my mind for how we save money. I know I could save more by couponing, but I usually don't even use the stuff that I find coupons for. Wal-mart does price match though, even groceries, so if any other store has a listed price, Wal-mart will match it. Also, Becky from Mrs. to Mama always has really good Totsy, Plum District, Zulily and more deals listed on her blog at least once a week. I always check there to make sure I'm not missing anything good I need.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't coupon, What are your strategies for saving money?

Mom Style

2012-01-11T08:40:00.002-06:00

I know a lot of moms fall into a style funk after their babies are born. And believe me, I would totally be like that if I didn't have to get dressed for work every day. Luckily for me, I am able to wear jeans to work. I try to keep it to only once or twice a week, and it's always dressed up. Here are some looks I'm loving right now. Linking to The Vintage Apple

Source: polyvore.com via Andrea on Pinterest

What Miss Gracie is up to

2012-01-10T20:08:00.000-06:00

1. Teething. Major, major teething. She is cutting two on top and one on the bottom, my poor precious baby. She has really been a trooper though, except for a few episodes of bi-polar behavior. She can go from laughing and smiling one minute, to throwing a fit the next. See examples below...

Daddy can always make it better =)

Example 2:

Example 3:

2. In the above pic she was my little laundry "helper". Helper meaning that we put all the laundry in the wagon WITH her and pull her around while I put it up. She loves it, but usually all my folded towels end up strung along the wagon trail

3. She loves to look outside and under things for her cousin Layla. They love each other

4. She is such a happy little thing and brings us so much joy!

5. She has discovered my eye lashes and wants nothing more than to rip them out. But she's still such a sweet girl!

6. Standing independently and can walk holding on to one of my fingers:

Lots more but I have to save that for her 11 month post in a few weeks!

Blast from the past!

2012-01-09T13:30:00.002-06:00

I was going back through my old posts to check out some of the craft things I have done and get inspiration for more craftiness. I came across this post and decided I would post it again, 1. because I still love these and they are still and great condition, and 2. It had a ton of views and comments. I'm just going to post some pictures from the original post and add the link.

Click HERE to see the transformation on these chairs. This was really fun and really easy to do. I also noticed that these pillows were pinned on Pinterest. They were so easy to make. I posted a semi-tutorial on the original post, but didn't get too detailed. I will tell y'all that ANYONE can make these whether you're crafty or not! I didn't even sew them, I used hot glue! I wrapped the burlap around the pillow, tucked the edges in, poked two holes for the ribbon and that's it! Super easy

Also, I debuted my new front porch. I didn't really have a front porch originally so when we added on, we decided to make a front porch. I am longing for hot steamy weather where I can sit on my front porch all day. I know when the hot steamy weather gets here, and I know it will, I will be regretting saying this =)

You can read about this HERE

I completely re-did my garden last summer, I'll have to post pics as soon as everything is blooming. Can y'all tell I have spring and summer on the mind?

Also making it to the list are my shower curtain tutorial:

And my coffee table turned bench:

There is a tutorial listed for this

And this cute little sign. I really need to make one of these for Gracie:

tutorial listed for this as well

There were a couple more posts throughout my blog that made me really want to head to the junk store and re-purpose some things. I'm pretty sure my husband will kill me if I bring home anything else =)

Thank you for reminiscing with me!

Relaxing Weekend

2012-01-06T22:46:00.001-06:00

First of all, I want to say thank you so much for the encouraging words on my last post. I really was just going to write it all out and NOT publish it. I was just going to keep it to myself because I really don’t like putting that all out there. But it was so refreshing to know that I’m not alone, although I hate other people struggle with it as well. I want to tell each and every one of you how sweet your comments were and I would love to reply back to everyone, but some of you don’t have your e-mail linked to your comments so I’m not able to tell you how much I appreciate you! There is a so simple tutorial on how to do that here.

Okay, so on to my weekend. In my mind I always start my weekends on Thursday because I have off then, even though I go back for Friday. But it’s my post so I’ll go ahead and start on Thursday =)

Thursday I had big plans to get a few sewing projects done, but nevertheless, it turned into a typical housework/grocery store day. Of course Gracie and I played while she was awake but there was tons to do once she napped. She started looking underneath everything recently, it’s the cutest thing.

Please ignore all the stuff you see under my dresser. I put it there so she would look under it

I also went ahead and cleaned out my closet. AGAIN. I did this back in September when we had a garage sale and got rid of seven huge trash bags full of clothes then. This time, only 3 1/2 months later, I got rid of 2 more big bags.

Before:

After:

Much better. As you can probably tell, I didn’t get a chance to go through my shoes. All the shoes you see in there are sadly mine. There are two whole rows on the right you can’t even see in this pic.

My not so secret obsession The Vampire Diaries came back on after being gone for a month so we pretty much made an event out of that!

I made a hooded towel for Gracie, I attempted to get a picture of her in it, but she wouldn’t cooperate, it just has her monogram on it, nothing too fancy, I’ll try to get a better pic when she’s not using it:

Friday I worked, came home to a nice duck dinner. If you have never had duck you really should. I didn’t think I would like it at first, but I almost prefer it over steak now. Anyway, after dinner and putting G to bed I made this:

I have been wanting to make Gracie a ruffle romper pants set for a while now and never got around to it. I’m hoping to make a few more this weekend. My good friend and I decided to rent a booth at An affair of the heart in October. She does custom distressed furniture and I do baby stuff so we’re going to display it together. I think it will be pretty dang cute. I’ll give more details on this later.

Saturday we just relaxed around the house, caught up on laundry, and I made this while G was napping. It’s so easy and I have a tutorial for it coming up:

Saturday night, my mother in law came over to watch Gracie and Eric and I had a date night and ate yummy mexican food.

Today we didn’t go to church because Eric didn’t feel well so we just laid around the house, and you guessed it….LAUNDRY. I swear I don’t know how I always have so much.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Living Proverbs 3:5

2012-01-05T14:21:00.001-06:00

I hope you don't get the impression from the title of this post that I'm going to tell everyone the secret on how to "trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding..." because I am certainly not qualified to do that, nor have I figured out the secret.

Last night, I was nursing Gracie before bed. She stopped, reached for her paci, laid her head on my shoulder and fell soundly asleep. This is not too uncommon her her to fall asleep this way. But for some reason, tears just started running down my face. I said a prayer before I laid her in bed that she will always be as carefree as she was in that moment. Not carefree because she's lazy, not carefree because she has no ambition. But carefree because she will trust in the Lord.

I have so many prayers for her, and I want so badly for her not to struggle with what I do:

FEAR & WORRY.

Maybe you can relate, maybe you can't. The truth is, we are all fighting some kind of battle with our enemy. I have a personal fear of disappointment and what others think of me. I think it's common for a lot of women to try to hold ourselves to a standard of perfection. Perfection in other people's eyes, when all we should really focus on is pleasing God.

I have a fear that Gracie's life will somehow be incomplete because I'm not able to stay home with her. I fear something happening to her when I'm not there. I fear her not being chosen to be on the team, hurt feelings, broken hearts, and the rejection of the world. I want to shield and protect her tender little heart.

Let's just get real for a minute and call it what it is:

Disbelief

It's me not believing that God's word is true, and not believing this His plan for our lives is perfect. I KNOW His word is true, I KNOW He is good, and I KNOW that His will for our lives is even better than anything I can imagine. But I don't always believe it.

When Gracie was born, I knew I had to get it together. I knew if I carried on and let my decisions be based on fear and worry, then my stronghold would be passed on to her. I have always been a believer, but something in me clicked after my child was born. Trusting God was taken to a whole different level when I was trusting him with the life of my child.

I will tell you that although I still fail every single day, I am getting better. I pray that even with my worries, I do not hinder her. I don't want to prevent her from growing, learning, feeling and learning from her mistakes. I know there is not a shield on this earth made for the challenges she'll one day face. But one thing I can do, is share with her the strength and truth of God's word:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path" Proverbs 3:5-6

"Do not be anxious about anything. But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" Phil 4:6-7

"She is clothed in strength and dignity, and laughs without fear of the future" - Proverbs 31:25

I pray that her heart will be wrapped in words of God's promises. I know he will use each and every rise and fall in her life to prepare her for the future. The future is definitely not without uncertainty, but it is open to opportunity to glorify our God.

I pray every day that I can be the mother she needs me to be, and make the right decisions for her. All I can do is accept the free grace that He offers me in parenting her.

The rest of her story is with Him.

Congratulations if any of you actually made it to the end of this post. I know it's kind of all over the place, but this is what's on my heart today and I want to be able to look back and remember this.

Am I the only one out there struggling? What are you struggling with lately?

linking here

New Recipe

2012-01-04T19:44:00.002-06:00

So this isn't so much a "new" recipe, but it's one that I haven't shared before. It's one of my favorites for supper so I though y'all might want to give it a try too. I used to use the Zatarain's brand for this recipe, but it was a little too salty for me, so I switched to the generic brand and it was a little better. But then I found this recipe and to me it's perfect and so easy to make!

Stove Top Red Beans & Rice:

2 (16-oz.) cans light kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 pound turkey sausage, thinly sliced
1/2 pound pork smoked sausage, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 lb bag of brown rice

Okay, the first thing you want to do is start the rice, because it takes like 45 minutes to cook.

After you have the rice going, you will add the sausage to a big pot and brown. Once that's browned, add the garlic and mix together for about a minute

Then, you'll add in the onions, peppers, beans, seasoning and chicken broth. I like to put the onions and peppers in my food processor until they're really really chopped so I can't "feel" them in there, like this:

Also, I use Tony Chachere's for creole seasoning because I think it's the best

Once you have that going, bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for about 20 minutes. Then, once the rice is finished, I mix it all together in a big pot

And serve with a side, I used corn bread

That's it, you're done! It's so easy and so so good! This made about 8 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Homemade Baby Food

2012-01-04T08:35:00.001-06:00

When Gracie started eating solid food, I decided that I would try to make it myself, just to see how it goes. It turns out that I love making it and she loves eating it so that's what I've been doing for the last several months. I cook for myself and Eric so it just made sense that I would do the same for Gracie. Plus, I didn't want to have to worry about all the recalls and such. I DO, however, buy store bought baby food when we are going out somewhere because it's just easier because I don't have to heat it up and can throw away containers. So I don't have anything against store bought, it's just not what I do most of the time. And, my child eats A LOT and I don't have the room to store all the baby food jars and I don't have time to be at the grocery store all the time buying it.

First of all, I started off slowly just trying to see what she liked and what she didn't before I bought and made a big batch. Well, G is a natural eater because there has not been one thing she won't eat!

We started with sweet potatoes, oatmeal, carrots, squash, and bananas, then moved on into mixing fruits together and veggies together. A few months ago, I started adding spices to her food, just the regular ones that I cook with such as garlic pepper, so she can get used to the taste of our food. She had no problems with any of this.

Okay, so this is what my kitchen looks like at any given time:

Apples boiling: I like to add cinnamon and a bit of brown sugar. I'm not trying to deprive her of flavor =) I do leave the peel of because it has a lot of nutrition it in. Also, this will make your house smell amazing!

An assortment of veggies with chicken and rice in the crock pot. In here, I have whole grain brown rice, meat from half a chicken, green peppers, zucchini, and carrots

Carrots and sweet potatoes. I normally will mix carrots with something because although she'll tolerate them, they are not her favorite.

So what I do after they are all nice and soft is put them in the blender with a bit of water from the pan they were cooked in. So with the apples, I added a bit of the water they boiled in into the blender and just mixed it up. It's kind of a trail and error thing. I added too much water to this batch and it was really runny so I made a batch of oatmeal and mixed it in with the apples to give it a consistency she likes.

Then when it's at the desired consistency, I pour it into these ice cube trays. I have the Fresh Baby brand because they have a lid, but I also use regular ice cube trays as well.

And then I just pop them into the freezer and I'm done. Each cube equals one ounce. It's seriously so easy! Because it does involve clean up, I usually only cook about once every other week and make enough to last that long. When they're frozen, I take them out and put them in zip lock freezer bags and they are good for up to 6 months.

Also, on the sweet potatoes and carrots that were in the steamer, I cut them into chunks and keep them in a jar or container and let her practice with finger food.

I find myself doing this more and more often since she is older and wants to self feed. It's a lot less messy than her trying to feed herself with a spoon. Also, I very rarely puree meat. She just doesn't like the texture because it never is smooth. I just cut it into chunks for her and she picks them eat and eats them.

You can do any combo of food that you want and get your baby used to an assortment of produce and your cooking. I also like to keep pureed fruit on hand to add to plain yogurt. This is strawberries, peaches and bananas blended together and I just add one cube to about 1/2 cup of plain yogurt for a snack.

Also, with the left over water that the apples were boiling in, I just poured some into a mason jar for "apple juice". Obviously it doesn't taste just like apple juice, but it does taste like water with a strong hint of apple and she really loves it and it doesn't have all that added stuff and HELLO! It's FREE!! =)

Is anyone else on the homemade baby food wagon or are you strictly store bought? I would love to hear what swayed your decision!

"She is clothed in strength and dignity, and laughs without fear of the future" - Proverbs 31:25

10 things to smile about

2012-01-02T21:21:00.000-06:00

I'm linking with Emmy Mom today for 10 Things to smile about.

I have way more than 10 things to smile about. I try to make it a goal to count my blessings daily and not take one of them for granted. That's not always the case, but it is what I strive for. Here are 10 things that are popping into my mind today, in no particular order

1. This girl, can make me smile no matter what. Duh!

2. This guy, can usually cheer me up as well. I have the best little family in the world. I woke up at 4:30 the other morning and went into the living room because I couldn't sleep. This is what I came back to. #swoon

3. This box of fabric that I purchased, for about 50% off from fabric.com. I'm loving the prints and have all sorts of cute ideas in mind. Unfortunately, Gracie's closet is already stocked with a lot of spring and summer clothes so these will have to be for future seasons.

4. I am smiling that I was able to devour an entire chimichanga meal in QUIET at work! As much as I hate being away from Gracie, I have to think that there must be a reason for me still working. Maybe God just knew I needed a meal in quiet sometimes =)

5. Speaking of work, I am smiling that I have a job. I know I complain all the time about having to work, but I am so thankful that I do have a job and job security, because I know a lot of people don't right now, and I don't want to take that for granted. Plus, it enables me to make some extra cute things that I normally wouldn't make, like these stockings we hung up.

6. I am loving that my good friend is giving new life to this piece of furniture for me. I told her to surprise me. This is the before, she's not done with it yet. I think she might be doing greyish-green

7. I am loving these inspiration pictures I found for my living room. I'm doing a semi-makeover. I ordered new curtains, bought chairs that I'm reupholstering, and am purchasing a new rug. Also, I want to get rid of my coffee table and make a tufted big square ottoman.

Source: houzz.com via Andrea on Pinterest

8. SPRING is right around the corner, which means, Spring clothes!!

And other pretty things...

9. I am smiling because it's a new year and I have new goals. Somehow it doesn't seem like they can be put into place and "started over" until Jan. 1. I know it's a psychological thing, but whatever, it makes sense to me

10.I am still loving Baby G's nursery. I want to keep it like this forever.

also linking with Jamie

that's all..

Moving along

2011-12-31T07:51:00.000-06:00

Yay for another three day weekend and 3 day work week! I ended up working last Thursday because I had piles and piles from being off the entire week before, but I plan on taking off this Thursday, and we're closed Monday anyway, so yay!

Friday was a really long day at work and I was just worn.out by the time I got home. Have I ever mentioned that I have about an hours drive to and from work? Well I do, and that just adds to the worn-out-ness. We were planning on going to my BFF's surprise b-day party Friday night (which is another hour drive, both there and back). Instead, Eric and I just ended up going to dinner in town and when we got home, this is what we found:

My poor baby was so tired that she passed out in her wagon while her aunt Yaya (not her real name, that's just what we call her) pulled her around the house. This was just too cute for words. I could just eat that girl up!

Gracie is cutting two teeth and I was up from 1-4 with her. I'm ashamed to say this, but I just burst into tears! I was so tired and all I wanted to do was sleep, haha. I know this sounds so stupid because a lot of babies never sleep through the night and on the rare occasion mine doesn't I totally freak out. Eric was already awake because he was going hunting and he tried to cancel his plans when he saw me crying. He was really scared of the consequences he would face later in the day if he actually went, haha. Maybe I need to add being nicer to my hubs so he's not scared off me to my list of 2012 goals =)

Being the good wife that I am (hehe) I told him just to go hunting. Gracie and I did some things around the house, she took a nap UNSWADDLED, yay!

It was NYE and we didn't have big plans. We went to dinner with Eric's dad and step-mom, made it home by 7 and spent our evening hanging and ironing curtains, haha. I'm a hot date, let me tell you!

This is the before:

Ignore my messy house please. I wanted to lighten up a bit, so this is the first step. Here is the after. I would have taken a pic from the same angle, but Eric said he wasn't getting off the couch since he helped me iron curtains on NYE

Sunday we had plans to go to church, but G and momma had another rough night, so we slept in (until 6:30) and then Eric and I started reupholstering the chairs (you can read that story here) and we got a little further than this:

We went to Eric's mom's house for lunch. Here is my sweet girl who loves her big girl carseat still

We went over to my parent's for supper, and then headed home and crashed. Gracie got lots of grandparent time and loved every bit of it.

Monday, our good friends came over a play date, we had lunch and let the babies play:

Gracie is still cutting some teeth and she's happy as long as she has something to chew on.

After they left, we headed out to do some shopping to spend some gift cards we got for Christmas, came home and geared up for the week. I am so not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Do I sound like a broken record? ha! I did some sewing and embroidery projects that I hope to get posted later this week.

In other news, all my shows come on this week again, and I watched The Bachelor tonight. I don't know why but I always get sucked in! What is with all the crazies this season? Eric walked during a particular dramatic scene, and his response before he walked out was "You watch some stupid sh*t". ha!

I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

2012 goals

2011-12-30T20:42:00.001-06:00

I have so many goals for 2012. I don't want to call it a resolution because I don't really feel like I need to "resolve" anything. These really should be more like everyday goals I started long ago, but you know how that goes. I feel like I need a fresh year to start. I'm going to list these for myself to keep me accountable, and check back periodically to make sure I'm behaving =)

1. Color my hair at LEAST every 8 weeks. I'm seriously seeing grey, y'all! You would gasp if you saw my roots up close
2. Use up all my gift cards for massages at the spa. I have got to learn to make "me" time, something I haven't even thought of since I've had G
3. Get pedicures once a month
4. Stick to my to-do list and actually DO WHAT'S ON IT! (this really should be #1, makes my life so much easier)
5. Print the pictures I take and not just leave them on the computer
6. Do a load of laundry every day from start to finish. Easier said than done
7. Get birthday cards for everyone I know
8. Study Scripture every day. I love the learning bibles rather than just reading a verse and moving on for the day without really thinking about it.
9. Look for at least a little bit of positiveness, no matter the situation
10. Have NOT ONE bad thing to say about anyone. I need to make Ephesians 4:29 become my life verse
11. Pray together before meals
12. Take more vitamins
13. Work towards paying the house off so in a few years I will be able to stay home with my babies
14. Make the bed every day

That's all I can think of for now. I'll add more as I think of it

linking here