New Monogrammed Things

I found a blogger who does great bibs, burp cloths, diaper cases, paci clips and more! They are cute and very well priced. I ordered them and she shipped them out in 2 days! Love fast shipping! Check out the fabrics, colors and monograms I chose. She has lots of options and the summer prints are currently free monogramming!

I just love how big the bibs are. As Abby moves in to cereal soon, I want to make sure I have some big bibs ready to protect her sweet outfits. These are perfect. This little diaper case is going in my car- perfect for the last minute errands I decide to run on our way home and then realize I have nothing in case of a problem. It holds 1 burp cloth, 2-3 diapers and a small case of wipes. Perfect!

Cheap Fun New Toy

Sunday night we discovered a fun new toy that makes Abby Lu smile, giggle and even laugh. It is cheap (was actually free with birth), doesn't require batteries, isn't bad for the environment, won't make you fat, and I bet every family owns one.

Whatever could it be that makes this smile occur?

Or causes this much of a laugh?

Do you see our new toy? It is in the upper right corner of the picture below?

Yep, blowing air from her nasal aspirator on her face is HILARIOUS to Abby Lu. We were trying to clean out her nose and I had heard to introduce things early on and make them fun so they are not as scary later. So, following that advice, I tried blowing it on her before putting it in her nose. She loved it. She still doesn't like it in her nose, but I'm working on it.

Abby's Dedication

This morning we celebrated Mother's Day by dedicating Abigayle at our church. The dedication service is not a baptism for that comes when she is older and can make her decision, but rather a vow to raise her in such a way that leads her to that decision.

Here we are before the ceremony. Yes, we planned the purple scheme. I know you would expect nothing less from me!Joining us this morning, were two of Abby's grandparents- her Grammy (Marcus' Mom) and Nana (my Mom). They celebrated and cried with us this glorious Mother's Day morning. Sweet sweet girl did a wonderful job of being still and quiet at the front of the congregation, but decided to "talk" to God loud and proud during the prayer afterward. We cherish her healthy lungs. :)

We entered as our names were called and received a prayer from Kyle Miller, on the pastoral staff.

After each family entered and received God's blessings from Kyle, we repeated our covenant and prayed together. The couple on my left are good friends of ours. Ryan and Marcus share many an experience and trial in becoming fathers and Amanda and I did a bible study together for believer's questioning God's word. His faithfulness was shown today as we have experienced heartache together, learned to wait patiently on the Lord, and today celebrated our children together.

God's Special Gift

I'll lend you for a little time, a child of mine, God said, I could have given you many gifts, but I chose this child instead.

This baby is a special gift, sent from Heaven above and will thrive at best in an atmosphere of patience and of love.

This little life is pliable like a piece of living clay to be formed and gently molded without ceasing day by day.

So that I see when years are gone and the time of molding is done, I will be pleased with this, your task, and this child I look upon.

Sleeping in Her Swing

Thank goodness we strapped her in!

Happy Mother's Day from Abby

What? Today is Mother's Day and I have 4 grandmothers to wish Happy Mother's Day too. Woah, we better get to work now! Daddy, get me some signs and Momma, grab the camera. I'll get my smiles on.

Whew, that was a lot of work! :)

Storytime

Across the world at the very same time, lots of Daddys are reading this very same back to their sweet little babies..... Goodnight Moon. I love it. She loves it.

My Tutu Model

Go Red Raiders!

Meet the newest Red Raider! Abby loved sitting in her new Texas Tech tutu and eating the tulle! Silly girl!

In case you want to make one yourself, here are directions. One difference, we used ribbon instead of elastic for the waistband. Just triple the amount of the child's waist and you can tie a big bow when she wears it. Also, we found 19" to be the best tulle length for a baby. You can lengthen it for older children.

Prayer Requests

I think blogs can serve many purposes and I have found many people use them to share their story of heartache. It is a wonderful way to communicate up to date information during a busy and stressful time. It is also a way to ask for prayer requests from people all over the world. I have come across a couple of blogs lately that I can't take my mind or prayers off of and would ask that you read their stories and pray for these babies.

As a new Mom, I am constantly reminded of how precious and fragile life really is. As kids get older and stronger you lose sight of the miracle of life. These families know it all too well and will likely never forget what a blessing a healthy baby is.

I warn you- reading further might break your heart, make you cry, cause you to hug your loved ones a little tighter, and just might even change your life.

This is Aidan and his Mommy. About three weeks ago, Aidan fell through the screen of an open window of his home. He fell three stories and landed on concrete. He has an unknown amount of brain damage at this point and is currently awaiting insurance approval to get him into a rehab center. Depending upon what insurance says, he will go to rehab, stay in ICU or be sent home to be cared for by his parents. Pray that he will be sent to rehab where studies have shown his best chance of recovery lie. Read his story here.






This is Noah. He is five months old and is currently hospitalized with possible brain damage and loss of his vision. He was shaken by his daycare provider. His story hits home as we drop off Abby each day. I know his parents did the same homework we did and trusted his provider as we do. Pray for his full recovery, for people to be educated about Shaken Baby Syndrome because of his story, and for justice for him. His story is here.










This is the fragile little arm of Kayleigh who was born weighing only 1 pound. I have been following her for months through surgery after surgery. She is now 10 months old and was declared brain dead after her last surgery due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. Her parents are keeping her comfortable and fighting to bring her home to a nursery she has never seen so that they can allow her to die at home. In a set of recent pictures of her, she is on a covered boppy just like Abby has with an outfit on that Abby has. It is heartbreaking. Pray that their wish will come true and they will bring her home in whatever form God chooses. Here is her story.

Tutu Fun

Last night I hosted a tutu making party for some of my girlfriends that have daughters, baby girls, or little girls on the way. We met at Hobby Lobby to buy our supplies and then started tutu-ing. They were super easy and cheap to make! Plus, we were done in under 2 hours!

Here are Juleah and Jessica and their tutus for Baby Madelynn (due in September) and Sydney who is 7. This is Carrie and I sporting our little tutus for Abby Lu and her Baby Addison who will be here in 70 days! Abby Lu's tutu is made for football season in her team's favorite colors! We just need a sparkly Texas Tech onesie to complete the ensemble.Finally, Natalie, Lauren and Amber modeling their beauties for Blythe, Dorothy and Ellie. I love how they all turned out. Everyone's is a little different- colors, ribbons, sparkles, lengths, poof, etc.
I'll try and schedule another night to do this as I know many of you wanted to come and your plans didn't allow it! We'll do it again because I have a million tutu making schemes now- orange and black for Halloween, tutus for presents, a Christmas tutu, etc.

For now, I'll leave you with this priceless image- our baby model Michael sporting a beautiful pink shimmering tutu! He doesn't look too pleased. I can't wait to see what his Daddy thinks!

New Shoes

While buying diapers and formula at Walmart yesterday, I purchased pink shoes in newborn size and they fit. Can you see how happy new shoes makes her? hehe!
Her shirt today says, "I'm having a no hair day!" Love it!

Sleep Training

Look at this sweet baby girl WHO SLEPT THROUGHT THE NIGHT! I know! So Exciting! Last Friday at Barnes and Noble I looked at the books you all recommended and decided on Alison's trusted source- Sleeping through the Night by Jodi Mindell. I wanted to do Ferber since my pediatrician recommended it and Alison described Mindell as "Ferber lite" which I appreciated. I want Abby to sleep through the night, but I also want to do it in a way that eases us all into it. I don't want 4 nights of crying to get there.
So, we started doing a bedtime routine on Saturday night. She is pretty clear on what is good to do and what is bad. Marcus and I had some bad habits forming and didn't realize it. Abby has taken to the new rountine nicely. We also made her bedtime much earlier. We were putting her down around 8:00 and now it is around 7:15. The book recommends putting them down awake and chosing a time to come back and check on them. At that point, you don't pick them up because it would be like going backward, but you do comfort them. So, I set the timer for 3 minutes. I would go back in and rub her back and sshh her. The book tells you the first night is likely to last 45 minutes and the second night an hour and then it will get better. Our first night was 4 minutes and the second night got worse- it was 6 minutes. Last night I was out and Marcus put her down. It was less than 3 minutes.

The purpose is teaching babies to put themselves to sleep so that when they wake up at 2 AM they can do it themselves without you coming in and rocking them or feeding them. Our goal is to eliminate the middle of the night feeding. Last night, she slept through it! Very exciting for Marcus and I to sleep all night. I'll keep you posted if last night was a fluke or the beginning of the next step for us.

Old Friends New Office

Last night I celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a mojito and good friends at Z Tejas. Brandi, Laura, Andrea and I worked together for over a year at Keller Williams. Although I didn't like the work I did at KW, I love love the friends that I made. Each of these girls inspired me to be better as a planner, a wife, a mother, and a friend. We had great conversation for 4 hours! They are just a couple of the wonderful people I met there.

A couple of months ago I moved into a different office and work and since coming back from maternity leave I have tried to decorate it a little. If I have to be at work, I at least want to have fun new things around me! This is the view when you enter my office.

And this is my view sitting at my desk looking out.

Keep Calm and Carry On is my new work motto. This is nothing to get worked up over. There are much more important things in life and 99.99% of the world do not care about what is causing me stress. I'm learning to just let it go!

Grow Little Feet Grow

I love shoes. I love any kind of shoes- new unscuffed brown loafers for Marcus, bright sandals for me, and sweet baby girl shoes for Abby Lu. I have so many shoes for Abby Lu it is embarrassing AND SHE ONLY FITS INTO TWO PAIR!

She owns so many because I keep thinking I have found a small pair that she can wear now. Each time I am wrong! She is 4 months old and still swims in the 0-3 month shoes. We looked closely last night and she has her Daddy's feet which isn't the ideal situation. His feet are narrow in the back making slip on shoes easily slip off. In addition, they are skinny from top to bottom and flat.
I thought these looked tiny in the store-less than 4 inches total and they are huge on her. So, she'll continue to sport the silver Gap shoes and white patent dress shoes until we hit a foot growth spurt. I kid you not, she will have 10 pair to chose from when that happens. Grow little feet grow!

Her First Belly Laughs!

Abby has been super close to laughing for us- she was just letting out a light squeal without following up with a laugh. I knew we were so close that I put together a combination I knew would lead to laughs-

1. Turn on her mobile. She can stare and squeal at it for ages.

2. Let her be naked. Girlfriend loves to be naked!

3. Await the appropriate digestive time. She is always happy while filling up her diaper!

4. Find a toy to shake and rattle in front of her.

Let the video camera roll! I could listen to this for hours. Must not play it at work! I will surely find a reason to go and get my laughable little loveable lady.

All Natural

I know I dress her up all the time, but I do admire her God-given all natural beauty and snapped some of it today with my camera this afternoon. I played with all of the settings to try them out. Love the new camera!

Four Month Photos

This is a picture of a picture :)

We took Abby's 4 month photos at Picture People Saturday afternoon. Look at our angel holding her head up like a pro! Her sweet little dress was a baby shower gift from fashion godmother Johnna and will be her dedication dress next Sunday. I am so excited about Mother's Day and Baby Dedication. She will look so sweet in purple.
Here is the other favorite we bought. I have needed a big photo for this frame since I bought it in October 2007! Finally, a baby girl blesses it! Side note, the photographer did touch up on our photos- not for baby acne or splotches or even scratches from untrimmed nails. She had to remove crusties from Abby Lu's nose. That is a treat!

Care Group Olympics

It takes a lot of stuff for 40 plus people to have a picnic outdoors! Saturday morning our class had Care Group (our 4-5 couples put together within our big Bible Life Group/Sunday School class) Olympics. It included all of your favorite classics from track and field day. The boys hula hooped. It took less than 3 seconds so no action shots!
The girls had to pop a bag full of balloons by sitting on them- one by one!

There was also crabwalking, spoon races, three legged races, sack races, egg tossing and more! I hung out in the grass with Abby Lu. I wish I had packed a matching sun cover :)

Silver Platter for Me and Abby's Teachers

I was on a blog the other day and she made a chalkboard platter in her kitchen that I just loved. So, I ran over to my trusted friend eBay and found a large silver platter for $4.99. It arrived on Friday and my platter was made!
This can be used for notes, scriptures, or even to show a menu when entertaining. It can be hung with a plate hanger or sit on the counter with an easel. It was super easy to paint- a sponge brush and chalkboard paint. It took about 4 coats allowing them to really dry in between. I just love it!

On Friday at school there were signs up letting us know that next week was Teacher Appreciation Week. I have never participated in this before, but know apples are not cool! So, Abby and I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out 2 more silver platters and easels to make these for her teachers. These plates were only $1.99 each and are plastic. I hope they like them!

Pretty in Red!

I'm so glad I can control Abby Lu's wardrobe. I realize that will change in the blink of an eye and she'll be requesting something I will refuse to buy. It is too grown up or too expensive will likely come out of my mouth. For now, I love dressing her, especially in red, my favorite color.
Last night we went to a local Mexican food restaurant. When we walked onto the front porch to put our name on the list, we saw another couple with a little boy in the same carseat Abby has with the same frog toy across the handle. Funny!