::freckled pink::

{Project 52:4}

2012-01-27T12:40:00.000-08:00

{theme: unexpected perspective}

We got a new duvet cover, and she just kept telling me how soft

it was. "It yook nice, mommy. It so soft!"

I am learning a bit more about shooting in natural light, and playing with different aperture settings on my DSLR. I'm excited to keep learning!

{Linking with Paint The Moon and Styleberry Blog}

My First Freezer Meal

2012-01-26T07:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok, ok, so it wasn't exactly my idea. I found it, of course, on Pinterest. {The pin linked to this blog post over at Mom on Timeout.} We l-o-v-e breakfast burritos at our house. Whataburger taquitos, anyone? Those are a favorite here.

However, most mornings, we don't have nearly enough time to make them. They're usually a Saturday morning treat, or a 'Breakfast for Dinner' meal. I couldn't believe it when I found this crazy pin on Pinterest, saying you could make - and FREEZE - these delectable breakfasts!

So, I tried it out. My trial run was to make a large batch, eat them as 'Breakfast for Dinner' {another favorite around here}, and freeze what was left. After that batch was eaten by my hubby in only a few days, I knew I'd have to make more - and fast.

So, here's my recipe:

{Ingredients}

- 1 Package of Low Sodium Bacon

- 1 lb of Jimmy Dean *hot* Sausage (We also use turkey sausage a lot. Can't really tell a difference!)

- 1 Carton of Eggs

- 2 Small to Medium Potatoes

- Tortillas (I used full four tortillas this time, but I'd like to try freezing the whole wheat ones next time.)

I microwaved the bacon, cooked the ground sausage meat, and scrambled the eggs.

After the sausage was almost finished cooking, I added the 2 potatoes, diced into small squares,

so that they could cook in with the sausage. I covered the mixture for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally,

so that the potatoes would soften and the sausage wouldn't burn.

Here are all of my yummy ingredients before I assembled the burritos.

You can bet we snacked on that crispy bacon. YUM!

Here's my trusty {and adorable} assistant.

Our first burrito after our little assembly line. {I know

many people are probably thinking "Where's the cheese?"Well, I don't

particularly like cheese on mine, so Adam just adds his after it's re-heated.}

All that's left to do at this point is to place the individual burritos into a parchment-lined casserole

dish and flash freeze them for an hour or two.

After they're good and frozen, we put them in zip-lock bags for quick, easy access.

This batch made 15 burritos.

Whenever we're ready to heat one up for breakfast, we wrap it in a paper towel (to absorb some of the

juices that will come out when it thaws), and heat it in the microwave for 1.5 minutes. So quick and easy!!

Ok, so it definitely took me almost 2 hours to complete them the second time I made the large batch. I'm not really sure why, because it doesn't seem like it should take that long. Maybe it was all of Allie's bacon requests and "help" that slowed me down a bit. I'm sure I'll be making them again when this batch runs out, though, so I'll find out!

Fort Worth Stock Show

2012-01-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend, we got to take Allie to the Fort Worth Stock Show. I used to go almost every

year as a kid, so it was fun to get to go back! My awesome mom hooked us up with tickets,

and at the last minute, our good friends the McCarthy's decided to join us!

Eisley {L} and Allie {R} with their shades on,

ready to see "all the an-mulls".

The girls were super excited about the petting zoo. {I wish the lighting had been better, but whatever.}

They got to pet goats, cows, horses, and even a llama! {Sidenote: Right before it was our turn to go into the petting zoo, a little girl got bit by one of the rabbits, and her hand was bleeding everywhere! Needless to say, these girls did not pet the rabbits.}

I'm so glad my mom got to come enjoy the afternoon with us! Here she is with Allie, helping her

get a "kiss" from a very hairy cow.

The things parents to for photo op's...

This was probably Allie's favorite part of the whole day. She still hasn't stopped talking about it.

The "yittle baby chicks".

She just kept covering her mouth and gasping as if she couldn't believe how adorable they were.

It was so cute! Since then, she's been telling me she wants to rock the baby chicks in her rocking chair.

Our friend Daniel took his little girl (almost 3) on one of the giant "flour sack slides". {Not sure

why they're still called that, because they definitely don't use flour sacks.}

They loved it!

When we were ready to head home, the girls got to be carried

on their daddies' shoulders to the car. I used to love that.

Pretty sure Allie does, too.

Probably my favorite shot of the day:

We had so much fun! Maybe we'll brave it again next year with Allie and baby brother in-tow. Maybe.

{Project 52:3}

2012-01-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

Joining up with Styleberry Blog and Paint The Moon again this week for Project 52. This week, since I wasn't completely bogged down with sickness, I made some time to play with my Nikon D60. I've had it for over a year, and I confess, I've been using the "auto" setting for about 95% of that time.

This week, I used Aperture Priority mode, and I had so much fun! We have amazing natural light in our new house, and I took full advantage of it. Here are 2 of my favorite results:

{theme: learning}

I went with my own theme this week. Learning. I'm finally learning how

to use this camera, and I'm so excited about it!

Hello, 3rd Trimester

2012-01-18T18:28:00.000-08:00

The third trimester really snuck up on me this time around. With my first pregnancy, I think I counted down to the end of each trimester {maybe even the end of each week}. This time, with Baby #2 {name announcement coming soon}, life has been ten times busier. We put our house on the market when I was only 9 weeks pregnant, sold it in a week, house hunted, moved across town, then came the holidays, a birthday for Allie, and all of a sudden, here I am! I hardly realized how far along I was until I got my weekly e-mail from Baby Center saying "Your Pregnancy This Week: Third Trimester".

I'm sorry, what?!

When did that happen?!

I haven't even started taking a photo each month! Ha! Guess I'm

a little late for that one.

Have we done anything to prepare for this little man?

I'm thinking no. I mean, we have a {sheet-less} crib

set up, and a dresser {completely empty}.

If this baby were to arrive early, we would have

exactly 3 outfits for him. All of our baby

clothes are PINK!

{...deep breath...}

Since I saw that e-mail yesterday, all I've been able to think about are all of my well-meaning mommy friends who are mommies of 2 or more saying "Just wait! Life gets crazy when you have 2! 2 Kids versus 2 parents means the parents are outnumbered! Look out!"...Umm, fear.

So, these are the thoughts I'm intentionally putting into my head instead:

Lots of moms handle lots of kids every day.

God has given me everything I need

to handle whatever will come my way. This

is true whether I have 1 or 10 kids.

Some days will be hard. That's ok.

Some days will be really fun, and I'll get to watch my

two precious kiddos develop an amazing relationship with

each other.

Some days will be crazy with laundry going un-done,

meals consisting of boxed macaroni and microwaved hot dogs,

and me in pajamas all day. That's ok, too.

I absolutely, completely, whole-heartedly cannot wait

to meet our precious boy in a few weeks, and

see what amazing things he will add to our family!!

So, with excitement, here are a few of my favorite Pins for baby boy this week:

{I am dying to make a copy version of this pillow for our little guy's

vintage baseball-themed room!}

{Project 52:2}

2012-01-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

Joining up again with Paint The Moon for the 'Let's Do 52' project.

This week's theme choices were "responsibility" or "open". I guess I went with responsibility.

This week has been a little crazy. Sick toddler for a few days, then sick mama for a few days, and I'm sure my poor hubby is about to come apart at the seams from all he has done bending over backwards to take care of his girls. As sick as I've been, and as sick as my poor girl was, I am so thankful she is {for now} my #1 responsibility. (I apologize for the blurry iPhone photo. I really do want to use this challenge as a way to learn more about photography and get better week by week. This just wasn't the week to push myself.)

{theme : responsibility}

We are both finally feeling a little better today, thank goodness.

This is one of my favorite things to do with the iPhone's front-facing camera:

take "silly face pictures" with my girl. We have so much fun copying each

other's goofy faces! I mean, it's also my responsibility to teach her

to have fun, right?

Piano Makeover

2012-01-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

Since we moved into our new house last October, one of the things I couldn't wait to do was paint our piano. I'd seen these gorgeous painted pianos all over Pinterest (alliteration, anyone?), and had grand plans for ours.

We didn't have room for the piano in our old house, so some friends housed it for us until we made our move to Keller. Now, it sits in our front ~~study~~ sitting room, and I just love having it! Allie wanders to the front of the house at least once a day and "plays" what she thinks is Kim Walker's rendition of Happy Day. So cute.

So, here is our old, yellowish piano before the makeover:

(Excuse the mess. I was about to start painting when I thought,

"Ah! Before picture!")

...

...and...here's the beautiful icy/gray/blue piano after!

Isn't it amazing?! I am really thrilled with how it came out! The color is exactly

as I'd envisioned it, and I even found perfect coordinating fabric to cover the

piano bench!

Truth be told, I still have to get a tiny paintbrush and paint between the back part of all of the piano keys. That was just too tedious for me to accomplish before Allie's birthday party. I'll get to it...

Anyway, that was my big project last month! Next on the agenda...decorating baby boy's room!

This & That Tuesday

2012-01-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

So I know I haven't done this since last ~~fall~~ summer, but it's Tuesday, so it's time for 'This & That'! Today, my 'this & that' list is going to come in the form of highs and lows. {Sidenote: I've always loved the movie The Story of Us, and they did this at their dinner table. Everyone had to go around and share their daily highs and lows. So cute!}

High: Laying in bed, catching up on DVR'd shows, listening to the rain outside.

Low: My Allie girl is sick. Pitiful sick. Coughing up a lung sick. She turned 2 just a little over a week ago, and I'm blessed to say she's never really had a cold. She's not sure what to think. She keeps telling me, "Mommy, I all done coughin'. Mommy, I blow nose. I sleepy again." Bless her little heart.

Poor baby snuggled up with all of her minky dot snuggly's watching

endless princess movies and episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

High: Spending the morning with Adam.

Low: Our morning together was spent at the OB/GYN for me to have my glucose test. Whoopee.

High: I am SUPER proud of myself because I only gained ONE pound in the past month. That's right, people. ONE pound. Over Christmas. Over Allie's birthday. ONE. One. That has to be the biggest high of my day. I worked hard for it, and it was nice to see the reward (over my pregnant belly) on the scale.

Low: Missing out on the second of three nights of amazing worship and preaching at Milestone Church. So thankful they have had live streams of everything for us to watch from home!

High: Resting and movie-watching with my girl - even if we're both sick.

Low: Coughing. Seriously. Ugh.

Let's end on a high note... Chicken Express. Hubby picked up Chicken Express for me on the way home from the doctor, and it was so good. {It always is, isn't it?} Mashed potatoes, biscuits, and too much chicken for me to eat. So yummy.

Christmastime Recap {2011}

2012-01-06T19:25:00.000-08:00

You know how life is so busy all the time? Well, that busyness, like, quadruples for us at Christmastime. {And this is with ONE sweet little one. I can't imagine how busy it will get as our family grows!}

So, here are a few of the fun things we got to do over our Christmas break...

We put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Since I
was a kid, we always took a family photo in front of the tree after it was all
decorated, so I've continued this tradition with my family. This EXCELLENT picture,
in which we are all smiling and looking at the camera, was a Christmas miracle!

Allie was not Santa's biggest fan this year, but the
pictures are priceless.

Our beautiful girl dressed up in her
Christmas best!

Allie and I made Salt Dough so that we could craft some sweet
little handprint ornaments. Basically, they turned out AWFUL.
{But...I discovered the super easy alternative: Crayola Air-Dry
plaster in a bucket at Wally World. The Crayola ones turned out perfectly!}

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is that my little brother comes
and stays at our house for a few days. Allie sure enjoyed having someone else
to climb on! She loves her "Blakie"!

Memaw got Allie a tricycle for Christmas. Even though she can't quite reach the
pedals, she loves it.

I'm so thankful for all of the time we got to spend with family and friends this Christmas season. I'm already looking forward to next year, when we get to celebrate our little guy's first Christmas!

{Project 52:1}

2012-01-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

2011 was a very full year for our little family, and I can't wait to see all that 2012 will bring - especially welcoming our precious baby boy to the world in April!

I am joining up with Paint The Moon for the 'Lets Do 52' Project this year. (I first read about it on this fabulous new blog I've discovered: StyleBerryBlog.) I've tried doing the "photo-a-day" thing, and I simply can't keep up. I figure this plan, one picture each week, is a little more within my reach. Each week, on the Paint The Moon blog, they'll announce 2 optional themes for the photo that week. You can either use one of their themes or upload a favorite pic of your choice. (On the PTM blog, it says you can upload your images to Flickr, to their Facebook page, etc. I'll probably just post them here, and maybe create a Facebook album for them. Who knows.)

I'm not going to be a stickler for posting it on a specific day each week, so just watch for it when you see it!

...

{theme: sharing}

I snapped this last weekend when my sweet Memaw (84 years old)

came over for my precious little Allie's 2nd birthday party.

I love everything about it.

Birthday Prayer

2011-12-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

A birthday prayer for my Allie-girl. Happy 2nd Birthday, love!

Father who breathed life into this daughter…

I pray for this girl being formed into eternity….

May the wind always be in her hair

May the sky always be wide with hope above her

And may all the hills be an exhilaration

the trials but a trail,

all the stones but stairs to God.

God, clothe this girl in a gown of grace
Grace, the only dress that makes beautiful,
the style of Your spirit.

Nourish her on the comfort food of the Word,
Word, that makes her crave more of Christ,
have hunger pangs for Him.

Enclose her in communion with You
You, Love who makes her love, who folds her heart into a roof
that absorbs storms for souls,
that makes her tongue speak only the words that make souls stronger.

May her vocation in this world simply be translation

Translating every enemy into esteemed guest
Translating every countenance into the face of Christ
Translating every burden into blessing

When it’s hard to be patient… make her willing to suffer
When it’s ridiculous to be thankful … make her see all is grace
When it’s radical to forgive … make her live the foundation of our faith
And when it’s time to work… make her a holy wonder.

May she be bread and feed many with her life and her laughter
May she be thread and mend brokeness and knit hearts
May she be dead to all ladders & never go higher , only lower, to the lonely, the least & the longing
Her led of the Spirit to lead many to the Cross
that leads to the tomb wildly empty.

Oh, and raise me, Lord, from the deadness of my own sins to love this beautiful girl like You do…

In the name of Christ who rose

and appeared first

to one of His daughters…

Amen…

(borrowed from Ann Voskamp)

Pinteresting, Vol. 4

2011-12-17T13:08:00.000-08:00

Originally, it was my goal to do a "Pinterest Post" every Friday. Well, amidst the move to our new house, the holiday craziness, and Allie's birthday, I haven't quite kept up.

Chalkboard Art is one of my new favorite things, because I {finally} got

a chalkboard for my entryway! {Thank you, CraigsList!} I'll post

pictures of my beautiful chalkboard when I do my "house update"

post soon.

I'm pretty much determined to learn to make awesome chalkboard lettering

like this:

I desperately wanted to wrap all of my Christmas gifts in adorable

burlappy, neutral fabric, brown paper, and pretty twine and ribbon.

However, I felt guilty doing so, because I have approximately 15 rolls

of half-used wrapping paper from the past couple of Christmases

that need to be used up.

Maybe next year...

I am LOVING this circle paper garland. SO much. And it looks

so easy and cute! Cut circles, stitch them together, voila!

So, I went to the Hob Lob and bought a circle cutter. Eh, not so much.

The "circle cutter" just made random cuts, and didn't quite work out. I'll

try again one day...

Check out my Pinterest for more fun goodies!

What will I do with a BOY?!

2011-12-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

Well...this is probably old news by now (because I'm such a stellar, and on-top-of-things blogger), but we went to the doctor on Monday, November 28th, and found out we will be having a BABY BOY!!!

We are overjoyed to be adding a little guy to our family! I admit, I am pretty intimidated at the idea. I mean, I can do princesses, tea parties, and hair bows all day long, but I have no idea what do with a boy! Cars? Super heroes? I don't really know where to begin!

Everyone keeps telling me it will be so much easier than the drama of a little girl, but I'm not so sure. All I know at this point, is that I can't wait to meet him! Only 16 weeks to go...guess we should find him some furniture or something?

Joyful Parenting

2011-11-13T05:04:00.001-08:00

This morning, I want to share something that I try to read and pray through every morning as a mom. As I've {been lazy about keeping up with, but} written about before, I am still reading through Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts. It is teaching me a gratitude to God I never knew could exist.

As a free resource on her website, she has offered a printable of the following list: 10 Points of Joyful Parenting. I love each one of them.

{10 Points for Joyful Parenting}

1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer. I will pray at set times. I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.

2. Today, I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.

All things into beauty = Stopping to photograph my girl going "night-night"
in the laundry hamper instead of griping that I need to put the clothes away.
Look at the smile I could've missed...

3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies. Only amateurs hurry.
*This one is hard for me! If I am not checking off items on my "to-do list", I am rushing to do so. This reminds me to take time to enjoy the moment with my little Allie, and even the little one growing inside.*

4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude. My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling!

5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only strong words. Words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.

Only strong words. Even when Allie is digging in drawers, playing with make-
up, and wearing eye-liner as lipstick.

6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I will create daily ceremonies, because every day we are celebrating the gift of now.

7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child's behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child. *One of the most challenging - and most rewarding - on the list.*

Allie's "mad moment" the other morning, because I
had to take a shower instead of laying in bed to watch
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with her.

8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals. Because children's hearts feed on touch. I'll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible - the taller they are, the more so.

9. Today, my priorities will be all things unseen.

10. Today, I will laugh. And I will let the little children laugh. I will create a culture of joy!

I am going to challenge myself to focus strongly on one of these things each day for the next 10 days. I'd like to think I will blog about my experience daily, but I know that's unlikely. I hope this list encourages your heart as much as it has encouraged and challenged mine.

Doing Life Together

2011-11-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

We have been in our house for just over two weeks now, and it is finally feeling like home. Though most of the walls are still bare, we are well on our way to being officially "settled in". The past couple of weeks, we have had so many wonderful opportunities to do so much with our church family! We are so close now, and can enjoy spontaneous meals with friends, take classes at church, and be involved in ministries in new and exciting ways.

For months leading up to the sale of our house, God spoke over me that He had great blessings waiting for us in Keller if we would take the step and move. Those blessings are written all over these past 2 weeks, and it is so exciting to think there is so much more to come!

I cannot imagine trying to walk out my life as a believing wife, mom, friend, sister, daughter, or even granddaughter without the community of believers in our church. Scripture states over and over how important fellowship is with other believers, and this has become more and more evident in our lives.

Psalm 55:14 What good fellowship we enjoyed as we walked together...

1 John 1:7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals...

Acts 2:44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.

Hebrews 10:24-25 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

I love that last verse. Scripture even warns us not to neglect meeting together. Meeting together and spending time with friends who encourage me, love me, listen to me, tell me what I need to hear (even if it's what I don't want to hear), and who pray for me during the times we're not together...it feeds me. You know why? Because that's how God made me. That's how He made all of us. With a need for one another. That's why one of the first verses in Genesis says that "it is not good for man to be alone".

So grateful that I've learned that God wired us this way, and that because He did, He has people in place all around us just waiting for us to see our need for them (and their need for us, too!) By secluding ourselves, all we do is rob ourselves and others of the joy that "doing life together" brings. I've attached a link to a video from our church, showing how we've "done life together" over the past few years. So thankful to be a part.

The Milestone Church Journey:: Final Lap Video

Goodbye, Benbrook...Hello, Keller

2011-10-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well, we survived the move. This week has been filled with nothing but chaos, but we made it through. We closed on our new house Tuesday, scheduled movers for 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, and had our first successful night in the new house Wednesday evening. {Successful = boxes everywhere, fast food galore, and just glad we were able to have sheets on the bed and find toothbrushes.}

Thursday brought a bit more settling. We got almost all of the kitchen unpacked and semi-organized. Somehow, having the kitchen unpacked makes it feel like home. If I know where my pots and pans are, and can cook a meal, it's home. {Granted, the meal I "cooked" included Campbell's chicken noodle soup and some oven-baked chicken nuggets, it was still better than Mickey D's.}

In the spirit of transparency, here's where we stand now...

Miss Allie is starting to feel at home. Here she is
laying in our bed watching cartoons yesterday. {Of
course, not without her baby.}

The semi-organized kitchen. We're getting there...

Allie has already successfully demolished the living room. Juice has
already made its way on to the floor, and there are crayons, toys,
and tiny bracelets everywhere. {I secretly love it.}

I am seriously in love with the archways in this house. I cannot wait to
decorate them at Christmas with garland. {Assuming my pregnant self
can climb on a step-ladder to do so at that point.}

In the midst of all this, I have been throughly enjoying my amazing new furniture, especially this awesome accent chair:

My new favorite place to sit. LOVE it.

We were also able to get an awesome new stainless steel fridge. You know, the awesome kind. With the freezer drawer on the bottom. And the side-by-side double doors on top. And it can hold 2 gallons of milk in the door. Come on.

I feel a little like I'm living in a hotel at the moment. New furniture, new fridge, new house...it's all pretty surreal. I am so humbled, grateful, and dumbfounded at the ways God has gently led us through this season, and into a new one. I can't wait to see all the new relationships, ministries, and exciting things He has for us in Keller!

Pinteresting, Vol. 3

2011-09-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

It's 'Pinterest Friday'! I am loving the new styles I'm finding on Pinterest for fall. Pregnant or not, I still want to look cute! :)

LOVE this new Bow Necklace from James Avery.

I worked at James Avery for awhile, and still miss

getting that good discount!

This short sleeved sweater is SO me.

I can't wait for it to get cooler out, so I can wear

lots of fun layers like this!

Scarves, sandals, and comfy jeans. Yes.

LOVE pearls. These are only $18, too!

This and That Tuesday

2011-09-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

So, I'm just diving right in today.

We are potty training our precious girl. It started out extra brutal, but it's getting a lot better. I'm sure I'll probably post more about this later, because I'm thinking I'm going to be a huge advocate for the materials we used: Three Day Potty Training.

...

I'm unreasonably excited that it's 'Premier Week'. I definitely can't wait for all of my shows to come back on this week! {I watch way too much TV. The invention of the DVR has only made this worse. I should really cut back.} I'm probably most excited about Parenthood, The Good Wife, Modern Family, and I'm really interested to see this new show PanAm. {Even though it took the place of one of my favorites, Brothers & Sisters.}

...

Countdown to closing on the new house/moving in is currently: 3 weeks, 6 days. We should really start packing.

...

Our little Baby Rieger #2 is as big as a Prune this week! :)

...

That's really all I've got this week. The "potty train" has worn me out!

Pinteresting, Vol. 2

2011-09-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

It's "Pinterest Friday"! I started this several weeks ago, before chaos ensued in our household, so I'm picking it back up today...

This week's topic is my future living room. We move in 4 weeks, and I am SO excited to have a fresh palette to work with in the new house! (Hubby even said we could sell our couches and get some new living room furniture! I can't wait!) These photos are inspiring me in choosing my color schemes and designs...

I SO want to find a soft, gray couch like this one. I am also

a huge fan of the trio of mirrors hanging together.

Are those curtains cute, or what? Understated,

but still a bit funky.

I want every single one of these pillows. (Realistically, I'll

probably make my own new sofa pillows, but if I could find these

fabrics, I would copy these in a heartbeat.)

I love the warmth of this living area. Not

a big fan of the mirror/window things, but

everything else can stay.

New Baby, New House, New Season

2011-09-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

The past few months have been just plain CRAZY in our house. And today...resounding peace and gratitude for exactly where God has brought us. This is me being transparent, and giving ALL glory where its due - to God alone.

Early this summer, we knew two things: 1. We were ready to have a second baby 2. With the second baby would come the need for a bigger house.

Now, remember that I am probably one of the most impatient people you'll ever meet when it comes to big things in life. So basically, as soon as we got these directions from God to move in this new direction, I was ready. Let's do it. No waiting. Just go. Sell the house. Move to a new house closer to church. Have a baby. Boom. Done.

Yeah, so, it wasn't quite that simple.

We began our summer with an early miscarriage. Thankfully, I've never gone through this before, and I pray I never do again. It was a very difficult time, and gave me a deep, deep compassion for women and families who struggle with infertility issues. Through that process, I was told that some of my hormone levels were not what they should be. Though I was very hesitant to do so, I went on some prescription hormones for a short time, convinced this would help us to have a healthy pregnancy. After a few weeks (and some frustrating misinformation by my doctor's office), I elected to stop taking the hormones, and pray for healing. That week, on the {35-40 minute} drive to church, with a sleeping baby in the back seat, a strong, silent husband next to me, and Hillsong United playing on the car stereo, I heard from God. "I have healed you. Move forward." A peace washed over me. I didn't share this with anyone for several weeks. Through different seasons of life, I've learned that sometimes, when God whispers, it's such a peaceful, intimate thing to keep that between me and God for a season, as he gives me faith to believe the promises He is giving. Soon after that, I found out I was pregnant again.

Through everything that had happened with my supposed "hormone imbalance", I had decided to move to a new doctor's office. I went in 4 times over 3 weeks for blood tests to check every level and make sure this pregnancy would be a healthy one. Talk about fear. I have never known fear like I had for those weeks. Waiting on test after test, phone call after phone call. I would wake up in the middle of the night in thick spiritual battle over these fears. The Enemy was constantly calling out to me at night. "Something is wrong. This isn't a healthy pregnancy. Don't get your hopes up." Many nights I retreated to the bathroom with my iPhone and read scripture on my Bible app. Other nights, to be honest, I laid in bed and cried in fear. When we finally went in for the first sonogram, I was a basket case. They even noted that my blood pressure was high, which never happens to me. Though I was much earlier in my pregnancy than they'd thought (only 5 1/2 weeks along), we got to see the little speck on the sonogram screen. The doctor graciously zoomed in until I could barely see the flickering blue heartbeat in our tiny, tiny baby {so small, it was much too faint to hear}. It took everything in me not to burst into tears at that moment. {Don't let me fool you. As soon as the doctors and nurses were out, I was a crying mess of happy, happy tears.} To top it off, I overheard the doctor and nurse talking, saying that my hormone levels were "perfect". Oh, thank you, our good God, for healing and protection. Baby Rieger is due April 17th, and we already can't wait to meet him or her.

As if that weren't enough, we had decided, in faith, to go ahead and put our house on the market. After several weeks of hard work getting it all put together and ready, we listed it. The listing went live on a Thursday morning. By the following Wednesday afternoon, we'd already had 6 house showings and had an official offer on our house. What?! Yes. God. Only God. Within two days, we had already put an offer on a new house.

Our new house! :)

So now, we walk into this new season. We are moving about 30 minutes down the road. We will be {much} closer to church, and farther from the little neck of the woods that Adam and I have both lived in all of our lives. It's really bizarre to think of not living in this area anymore, but we are so ready to walk into all that God has for our family in this new season of our lives!

Messy Girl

2011-09-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

So, back again with the same old story about another week without posts. This "keeping the house totally spotless for house showings while still wrangling a toddler and running an online business" stuff is work! In the midst of it all - Allie has kept us laughing. Here are a few of her messy antics lately...

First, we have the "I thought this eye-liner

was lipstick" incident...

Quite possibly the best expression ever.

Secondly, I was a crazy person, and ordered

finger paints for Allie girl. She LOVES them.

She's clearly an artist.

A Picture Post

2011-08-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

Aren't they all? Picture posts, I mean. What fun is a blog to browse without pictures, anyway?

So, I basically stunk at blogging last week. I didn't do it once! Things are CRAZY in our neck of the woods. We are in the home stretch of getting our house ready to sell, house hunting, and just doing life in general on top of all that. It's a lot! Add in chasing our recently-active-climber, miss Allie, and we're exhausted these days! Here's a bit of what we've been up to...

We've been visiting the museum more lately, since it's air conditioned, and
it's a ZILLION degrees outside {still}. Allie's favorite part? the fountain
out front...in the heat...of course.

She's a little timid about it, but she loves watching it "make bubbles".

Bubble Excitement.

Not sure if she was waving, saluting, or what...but the smile is killer. :)

Tiny girl next to the giant fountain. Playing in bubbles.

Allie's favorite activity lately is ~~playing~~ jumping in her crib.
Baby-in-tow, of course.

It FINALLY rained!!! As promised, we went outside and played in it.
It was glorious.

"What's this, mommy?" Rain!!!

Pinteresting

2011-08-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

It's official. I. Love. Pinterest. Like, more than Facebook, more than blogs, more than pretty much any other site you could name. I mean, it's like a stunning web-haven for all things pretty. If you're a crafter, like myself, even more so! Not to mention how nice it is to finally have all of the craft ideas I come across logged in one spot for my browsing pleasure. Yes, that's right - I'm convinced Pinterest was invented just for this girl. I'm obsessed. My husband even looked into buying stock in the company - not even joking - because I spend so much time on it. {I should probably be embarrassed about that, but I'm not!}

The kicker is - for me, at least, putting the amazing, beautiful ideas I find to good use! I spent a few weeks on Pinterest before I attempted my first "Pinterest Craft". I made some rolled fabric roses. They turned out great! {After a great many burns to my fingertips.} I'm making it a goal to do a new "Pinterest Craft" once every couple of weeks. At least 2 a month.

Since we're getting our house ready to sell, and looking to move soon, home decor is one of my very favorite Pinterest searches. If our new home looks anything remotely like the things on my Home Decor or DIY Home Decor pin-boards, I'll be pretty stinkin' happy.

I think I'll try out 'Pinterest Fridays' on my blog. I'd love to have any friends link up with me and post your favorite Pinterest finds of the week!

Pink rainbow cake? Yes. Considering
asking my mom to make this for Allie's
2nd birthday in December. LOVE it.

LOVE this gorgeous lettering.

This would be on my front door already
if it weren't too "personal". {We're trying to
de-personalize since we're getting ready to sell!}

Photographs. I'm addicted to 'em. I love this
concept for a gallery wall when we move, and
love all the black and white pictures. I think I'd like to
use more decorative frames, though.

Lastly, this beautiful print from
Designs by Abby Lynn's blog. I just pinned
it today. Goes perfectly with my eucharisteo
season of life right now. Thankfulness.

This and That

2011-08-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

So....it's 'this & that' Tuesday....and I let it get all the way to the end of the day before I sat down to think about what "this & that" would even be about. Now, I'm tired, and my brain is like mush, so don't expect a well-penned novel this evening.

To start...does anyone know how to keep your countertops clean? I mean, really. Our back door (coming in from the garage, where we always enter the house) enters our kitchen, so the countertops are where our...um...everything end up. There are checks, unread mail, purses and diaper bags, coupons, keys, sunglasses, sippy cups, you name it. It drives me nuts! I mean, where does all the stuff go that doesn't have a place? {In the trash, I know. I used to be a severe pack rat. I'm getting better - I promise.}

That said, if anyone has any tips for de-cluttering the "catch-all" countertop, I'd love to hear 'em.

...

Pinterest. I'm obsessed. There will be an entire post devoted to this

subject very soon.

...

I chopped all of my hair off last week. I'd been considering a short cut for months, and

finally got up enough nerve to go for it. Everyone said I'd cry and hate it.

Guess what?

I LOVE IT.

I stinkin' LOVE it! It's so nice and cool, and I just love it.

An even bigger bonus was getting to donate 10 inches of my hair to Locks of Love!

{Sorry about this being a phone
screen shot. I didn't realize it at first, and like
I said: brain is mush, and I'm tired. Therefore,
too much work to upload a new pic.}

...

We are getting our house ready to go on the market. SO excited about this

process, and even more excited to see the

wonderful new house God is going to lead us to. I have loved

living here, and I know

I'll be sad to leave our first home, but I am seriously excited about

what's next! {One regret: I didn't take photos of the house as-is before

we started taking family photos and things down off of the walls.

Wish I'd done this - just for my own memories.}

...

Aaaaaand that's it.

eucharisteo

2011-08-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

My continued list...

28. Allie kissing me four times at bed time

29. Snuggling my 10-year-old puppy

31. Friends with a pool

35. Nachos for lunch

38. A successful new recipe

40. Seeing my lifelong best friend's little sisters and nieces hold Allie

42. DQ Reeses Blizzard

44. A good work-out

46. HGTV

53. Watching Allie learn how to nurture her baby dolls

54. Warm, just-slept-in sheets before getting up

58. Spring Creek BBQ sauce

62. A hand-written letter from my dad

66. Allie's little lisp when she says "thinner" (zipper)

76. The smell of fresh paint

77. Organized fabric on mini fabric bolts

79. A "v" of birds flying against a pink sunrise

81. Short hair

82. Pink toddler toenails

90. Nose kisses

95. A B.L.T. with crispy bacon

Smoothies

2011-08-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my best friend (yes, I'm 27, and I still have a "best friend" - since we were 2, actually) gave me an amazing recipe for something she called 'Green Drink'. She claimed it had all these amazing benefits, and was so healthy, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Now, this was a pretty big deal for me. I basically hate trying new foods. Seriously. {I went to Greece once, on a mission trip, and ate McDonald's every single day. Disgusting, I know.} So the thought of tasting something called 'Green Drink' didn't sound too appetizing, but I pushed past it. {In other words, I drank it through a straw, so I'd taste the least possible amount before swallowing it.}

Surprisingly, it was good! Not only did it taste good, but ager drinking it for a few mornings in a row, I could tell a significant increase in my energy level, and felt great! Over the next few weeks, I changed up the recipe to make it suit my taste a bit more. Now, Allie Joy and I have smoothies at breakfast every morning! They're our fave!

So...since many of my Facebook friends have asked...here is the recipe:

{Base 'Green Drink' Recipe}

1 sliced, frozen banana {You don't have to freeze it, but it helps the texture of the smoothie a LOT if you do.}
1 cup of Orange Juice
A "splash" of 100% Cranberry Juice
A pinch of ground flaxseed
Fill the remainder of the blender with spinach

Sounds yummy, yes? {Ha!}

Here's my tweaked, berry-filled recipe:

{Ingredients}

1 sliced, frozen banana
4-5 frozen strawberries
1/4 cup frozen raspberries
1/4 cup frozen blackberries
1 cup Orange Juice
1/2 cup 100% Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice
Fresh Spinach

I add the frozen bananas first.

My little helper always wants to push the

buttons on the smoothie maker before we're done

adding the ingredients. Shocking, I know.

Allie sometimes helps me add the berries. One slow

berry at a time...

Then, I add the raspberries...

Then the blackberries...

Then the strawberries...

It looks like a lot of fruit, but it shrinks

down quite a bit when it's blended up.

{This is the reality of having a 19-month-old assistant. I was

pouring my cranberry juice into the measuring cup, and she

decided to "help" by lifting the bottom of the juice bottle

way up over her head. Thanks, Allie!}

This is what I have after I've blended the fruit

and juices.

Allie wanted to stir it, but she couldn't quite reach.

Lastly, I add the spinach. All the way to the top of the blender.

After adding the spinach, this is

the finished product.

~~Sometimes, I still use a straw~~ I always drink it through a straw, because I can't handle the texture the spinach adds, but the flavor with all of those berries is amazing!! I didn't add flax seed, because I don't do that every day, just a couple days a week.

I hope this inspires you to try it out! It's our favorite breakfast treat - especially today, when it's 110 degrees!

This and That

2011-08-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

First things first, let's all just note that I picked J.P. to "win" the Bachelorette a few weeks ago! He was the perfect choice, even if Ashley's fame-hungry sister didn't think so.

...

Now that that's over...

I have a new obsession: HGTV. I'm not sure how or why, but for the past 4 years, I thought we didn't have access to this wondrous world of home decor and remodeling. Last week, I discovered channel 229!!! Adam and I have been watching it nearly every time the TV is on. It's kind of ridiculous. It doesn't really help the situation that we're in the middle of cleaning up and making some minor repairs on our house to put it up for sale.

We even nerded out and download the HGTV iPhone app, so we can watch tv episodes on our phones. Lame, I know.

...

I'm really wanting to order some of this "Chalkboard China" today.

Isn't that the cutest stuff you've ever seen?! I wonder if I could make my own with chalkboard paint? Probably wouldn't wash very well...

It would be cute to do on paper plates for a party, though! Hmm...

...

Well, my little one is protesting nap time yet again, so I'd better see if I can get her to sleep. Happy Tuesday!

19 Months

2011-08-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

So, instead of babbling on and on about how I can't believe my baby girl is 19 months old {I really can't believe it}, I'm just going to dive into my new little Allie update: Favorites. Hopefully this will allow me to give a sweet little synopsis of what's going on in little Allie's world month to month over the next few, until she gets old enough for us to stop counting months. {Sad face.} So...here are...

Allie Joy in her {favorite} yellow pj's.

Allie's 19 Month Favorites:

Favorite Foods: Strawberries, Peaches, Hot Dogs, Meatloaf, Ketchup, Smoothies
Favorite Songs: ABC's, How He Loves, Bushel & a Peck, Do Re Mi
Favorite Movies: The Sound of Music, Enchanted, Cinderella, Baby Einstein Videos
Favorite TV Shows: Imagination Movers, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Favorite Time of Day: Watching for Daddy to get home, Bath time
Favorite Game: Being tickled, Spinning around in circles, attempting to jump up and down
Favorite Toys: 2 baby dolls (especially wrapped in blankets),
Favorite People: Mama, Daddy, grandparents, Blake
Favorite Clothes: Absolutely obsessed with a pair of hand-me-down yellow footie pajamas. She wants to wear either those PJ's or her swimsuit. She doesn't often win either of these battles.
Favorite Animals: Birds {"cheep cheep's"}, Scout & Jack {our dogs} - especially scout

Best Friends/Playmates: Eisley McCarthy, Joel Knight

Some New Words: "thipper" = zipper, {Can you tell she's the daughter of a seamstress?} "Bway" = Blake, "hus" = hush, "hot, hot hot", "pity, pity, pity" = pretty, pretty, pretty, "yeah"
New Skills: Using a napkin to wipe her own hands, cleaning up small spills by herself, obediently cleaning up toys when asked,

Firsts: Pigtails, Ranch Dressing with chips, Climbed up the ladder and slid down a small slide alone, "Swam" with arm floaties

I love my 19-month-old girl!!!

eucharisteo

2011-07-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

So I started a new book last weekend. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I'm barely on chapter 4, and it is already joining the ranks of my top favorite books ever.

The basic idea of the book is {understatedly} all about cultivating gratefulness, and how this cultivation draws us closer into who God is and how deeply he loves and blesses us each minute of each day. Because I could never articulate it as beautifully and poetically as the author, here are a couple of my favorite little passages thus far:

"And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it

to them..." {Luke 22:19 NIV}

I read it slowly. In the original language. "he gave thanks" reads

"eucharisteo". The root word of eucharisteo is "charis", meaning

grace. Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks.

But it also holds the derivitive, the Greek word "chara", meaning

joy. Ah...yes, I might be needing some of that.

That has always been the goal of the fullest life -- joy. And my

life knew exactly how elusive that slippery three-letter word,

joy, can be.

Deep "chara" joy is found only at the table of the eucCHARisteo--the table

of thanksgiving. ...Is it that simple?

"whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup" {1 Cor. 11:26}

Whenever. Like every day. Whenever we eat. Eucharisteo--whenever;

now. Joy--wherever; here.

The challenge of the book is, ultimately, to start {and keep} a list. A day-to-day, moment-to-moment list. A list of every little, tiny gift of grace that God gives and I notice. A list to make me notice. To help me become aware, to see through my dissatisfaction, discontentment, and greed, to all of the blessings of joy and grace that our good God generously pours out in my life every minute of every day.

So, periodically, I'm going to be posting {and tweeting} bits and pieces of this list {which I hope to compile in both photos and word form, like Ann does in her book}, and hopefully sharing the ways it is drawing me in closer to the God I love, as I learn to love Him more.

Here are a few things from my "Day 1"on this journey to eucharisteo:

1. A day set aside for just Allie & me

3. An elderly man at the children's museum laughing admiringly at Allie's pigtails

6. A husband who picked up dinner

8. Ice water on the 25th day of 100+ temps

9. The noise of the box fan

11. The weight of a sleeping toddler on my lap

15. A chance of rain

20. A plan-less day

21. Allie gently patting the window, thinking she's "patting" the birds on the power line.

...more to come...all the way to 1000.

{{P.S. You can find Ann's amazing blog here at A Holy Experience, and more info on the book - and even read the first chapter - here at One Thousand Gifts.}}

This and That

2011-07-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

It's time for my second installment of "This & That Tuesdays". Here's what's floating around in my little brain today...

Besides the fact that I am typing this on my brand stinkin' new MacBook Pro {which just arrived about 2 hours ago}, not much is new in my world. Pretty excited about the computer, though. The keyboard on this thing is nearly completely silent. It's amazing. Like there are pillows under each individual key. Seriously. It's amazing. I'm so grateful.

...

I guess I'll continue my 'Bachelorette' commentary from last week. So it's down to Ben or J.P. for the final 'final rose'. I like them both, and I hope whoever "wins", that the relationship is successful and healthy. However, may I just state how *lame* it was that they brought Ryan back last night? I mean, I love that the producers have him act like he just up and flew himself all the way to Fiji just to talk to Ashley. So. Lame. Then, she let him hang out for nearly a week before telling him she {still} wasn't interested in him. As annoying as the situation was, I admit, I felt sorry for him in that pitiful moment.

It will be interesting to see what comes out in the "men tell all" special this weekend. Can't wait to hear what gems ol' Bentley has waiting for us...

...

{Seriously. This keyboard is amazing. Let me just reiterate that.}

...

Being a huge tech nerd, I am unreasonably excited about starting fresh with this new computer. I can't wait to transfer over my recent photos, documents, work stuff, etc., and get it all organized. Organizing is one of my favorite things to do!

...

Somehow, in my love of organization, my sewing room is in complete shambles. This is true, probably....oh...95% of the time. {That was embarrassing to say out loud.} I'd love to blame it on my sweet girl. She loves to pull the drawers completely out of my fabric storage dresser. She has "reorganized" {completely destroyed any semblance or order in} all of my fabrics over the past few months. Before she became so mobile and inquisitive, I had all of my fabrics organized by color, yardage, etc.. Not anymore. I did just invest in a few of these fabric organizers, though, and can't wait to start using them!!

...

Lastly, I started reading a {wonderful} new book this weekend: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I couldn't find it locally, so I actually downloaded it on my iPhone {through the iBooks app} for only $2.99! It is challenging me in ways I could never have imagined. I'll be writing more on this soon...

Happy Tuesday!

Hebrews 12:11

2011-07-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

It's around 1:00 on Thursday afternoon. At our house, that means it's nap time. From {pretty much} the day she left the womb, Allie has protested sleeping during the day. {I realize what a blessing and gift it is that she has slept through the night since she was 5 months old, and doesn't seem to ever have issues with that. I do not take it for granted, and I *love* my night time sleep.} That said, a day in which a 6-month old, 1-year-old, or now 18-month old does not take a nap is a very looooooong day for mama. (Read more about my nap time battles in this previous post.)

As I sit and type, I can hear my little one crying in her crib across the house. It's one of those awful "mommy situations". Like dropping them off in their nursery class when they kick and scream and don't want to go, but you know they have to. Like giving them a spanking when they're hugging and kissing and "I'm sorry-ing" to try to get out of it. Like putting them in time-out when you really want to keep playing with them and hearing their cute little giggles. Letting Allie cry at nap time has worked well for us, and she usually falls asleep fairly quickly. {Staying asleep - that's another story.}

When I put her down today, after reading a few books, singing, and rocking with her, she immediately began to cry. Let me tell you - this kid can go from no tears to a full-on sob within a matter of milliseconds. She's good. So she started to cry. Only this time, she didn't just cry. She reached up for me and cried, "Mama!" Oh. My. Goodness. How am I supposed to ignore that?! Hard and heart-breaking as it was, I walked away, and closed the door behind me, nearly welling up with tears myself.

I suddenly pictured God, my Abba, my daddy, going through that same scenario with me.

You see, I've been going through a season of some serious impatience in my life. There are lots of big things around the corner for my little family, and I'm tired of knowing they're "around the corner". I'm ready to be at the corner, or just whatever it takes for these changes and blessings to take place in our lives! I don't want to wait on God's timing. I don't want to be patient. I don't want to pray "Your will, not mine".

So, leaving Allie's room, I pictured the Lord just putting me into that crib. A waiting room of sorts. I can't get out until he picks me up and lets me out. I just have to sit there. Maybe I'm supposed to rest. To sleep. To know that being right there is right where He placed me, and He knows far better than I do. Maybe He knows that I will enter into this new season much healthier and more joyful if I have this time of rest first. The same way that I know the rest of Allie's day will go far smoother if she will take time out to sleep before jumping back into her afternoon of spreading endless toys all over the house.

Why is it so difficult for me to remember this little truth? That He knows better. That He is good, and He is for me, and He has me in this season of waiting for a reason. A reason I may not see, but a good reason none the less.

Hebrews 12:11

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful;

yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it

yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Though I feel, now, as if blessings are being withheld, I trust that God is bringing me into a season which will "yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness".

{Baby girl is still crying, standing in her crib...He knows better. He knows better. He knows better...}

This & That

2011-07-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

So...I'm starting something new today. "This and That Tuesdays". Basically, just a hodge-podge of whatever is floating around in my head, or what's happened in the last week of my life as a homemaker, mama, and crafter...

Yesterday was my Memaw's 84th birthday. She's one of my

very favorite people. Ever. She taught me to memorize scripture,

to sew, to craft in general, to love Jesus in all circumstances.

She taught me a zillion little songs and rhymes, and now she

is teaching them to my little Allie. She still teaches the same

Sunday School class she's taught since I was little (and even before).

Sunday, my mom, brother, and I surprised her by coming

to her little class and singing a few verses of Amazing Grace/My

Chains are Gone. It was so fun! {We win - she totally cried.}

Me with my Mom & Memaw on Mother's Day earlier this year.

...

We finally took the plunge and got miss Allie a "big girl" car seat

yesterday. {She still fit in her infant seat until now! Yes, she's

18 months old. She's tiny.} I feel like we should get a parenting

award for resisting the temptation to turn her front-facing.

We did good. She's still rear-facing. At least now, she can sit up

straight, and doesn't have to stare at the back seat. She can now

successfully look out the window and see the world. Or at least

see Fort Worth. We went with the Graco My Ride in the

black/gray combo so that we can use it with {Lord willing}

our future kiddos.

...

So, the truth is, we watch the Bachelor/Bachelorette. Did I

just say that out loud? We really just love to laugh at how

utterly dramatic the whole thing is, and how crazy most

of the people are. Just a couple of notes on this season {that

is finally wrapping up}...

Ashley's skirts just keep getting shorter. Like

I need another reason to turn the show off.

Ames. Bless his heart. He's just weird. And

what was up with his saggy pants during the

hometown date? Eew.

My pick? J.P. I guess we'll find out after

they drag it out for another few weeks of

totally ridiculous skydiving, waterfall-jumping,

sunset-watching dates.

...

I'm listening to some old school Amy Grant this afternoon.

And kind of loving it.

...

Alliebean

Last week, I dressed little Allie up in a dress that was mine

when I was around her age. I couldn't find any of the photos

of me in the dress, but just seeing her in it brought back

memories. I saved those things for so long! It's so fun to see

her dressed in my clothes.

Luckily, my mom came across one of the old photos, and

was able to send it to me! I spliced us in next to each other

so I could see the "me vs. Allie" shot. Love it.

Sorry it's a little blurry. It was an iPhone import...

...

Speaking of blurry, I've noticed that my photos don't seem to

come out as crisp and clear on my blog as they are on my computer.

I know there has to be resizing and such, but they look so fuzzy!

I {hate} don't like blurry. I'm uploading them as JPG's. Anyone

have any tips? Should I be converting them to a TIFF? I have no

knowledge on the subject. Clearly.

...

Lastly, I am really excited about the possibility of

getting a brand new MacBook Pro in the next couple of

weeks! My current little white MacBook is starting to fall

apart {from overuse, no doubt}. It sure is doing great to be 7

or so years old! {Not quite sure. We bought it on CraigsList

with a broken screen, and my hubs fixed it right up for me!}

I want to clean up and organize all of my computer files for

the new one. We'll see if that actually happens...

...

Cooling Off

2011-07-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

So, today is, I believe, our 15th day in a row of 100+ temperatures here. It. Is. HOT. Hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. Hot enough that by the time I get Allie buckled into her car seat, I'm already sweating. Hot enough that we leave a bowl of ice out back for our dogs every day. {And hot enough that it makes me pray even more that God is going to provide us a house with a pool when we move in the next few months!}

To keep cool, we've been staying inside. The only thing that can lure us out is water...

Adam decided to wash his truck the other day, so we pulled the kiddie pool
into the front yard and cooled off - old school.

Baby Girl {loves} to be in the water.

Dripping wet, and oh so happy.

Hope it's cooler than our 102 wherever you are this weekend! :)

Renewed Rocker

2011-07-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, the hubs pulled something out of the attic for me. Something that had been in our attic {and my dad's attic before that} for several years. It was my favorite little rocking chair from when I was little. I have all these memories of sitting in this chair at my Nana's house, rocking my baby dolls in it, and probably fighting over it with my little brother. Pretty sure the dusty, gross, scraped up piece of wood that came out of the attic was not what I had tucked away in the "fond childhood memories" folder of my brain! The poor rocking chair looked terrible! I couldn't touch it anywhere without getting a good half inch of dust on my hands. Nas-teee.

After cleaning it up the best I could, we let Allie try it out for awhile, to see if she liked it. I recently pulled it from her room into the living room, so she could sit in it to watch her latest favorite movie, The Sound of Music. To be honest, it grossed me out. It looked so old. Not even old in a cool, vintage sort of way - just icky and old. So I decided...

The rocking chair would be my first spray-painting venture. Ok. Now I wasn't grossed out, I was just super excited. I figured it would take me like 30 minutes, I'd spray on some pretty paint, and it would be a new chair. Not so much. Two coats of primer, 2 coats of paint, and a clear top coat later, this is finally what I ended up with:

I had fun taking my Allie outside and letting her enjoy her bright new tiffany blue chair on the porch...

She was a little more interested in her Dr. Seuss books
than the chair at the moment...

I am pretty stinkin' proud of the way this came out, and I can't wait to find some more fun spray paint projects to tackle! In the meantime, my next project will be making a little seat cushion for this awesome "new" rocking chair.

The 4th

2011-07-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

So I'm late on my 4th of July post, but here's a short synopsis of our festivities. As I'm sure you've learned by now, I write best with pictures. {I'm a visual learner. I love that we can attach photos to everything with all of our technological devices these days!}

Our tiny girl wore the same dress she wore last year! Who'd have thought
she could wear the same dress at 6 months old, and again
at 18 months old!? {It was definitely pretty short, though.}

We went to a friend's lake house, and got to spend some time
with some of our favorite people before we shot off fireworks. {I use the term
"we" loosely. I am not a "firework shooter". I am a "stand far away at a safe
distance and watch fireworks" kind of girl.}

Before we went to the lake, we enjoyed dinner
with friends at our favorite restaurant, Joe T. Garcia's.
Alliebean loves to play in the fountains on their
enormous patio.

Adam showing Allie the water at Eagle Mountain Lake. Sweet
daddy/daughter moments.

Coolest thing ever. We got to send up paper
lanterns! {Mine actually fell into the water, because
it got too hot, and I let go of it too early. Sad!}

We have one brave daughter! She LOVED the fireworks. She wasn't scared
at all! Here she is with our sweet friend Meghan, watching a roman candle.

Ok, so I hate blurry pictures. Hate 'em. But I
couldn't resist posting this one of Allie with
my brother, Blake. They are like two peas in a pod.
Both ready for lots of explosive fireworks!

It was a fun day with family and friends. We stayed out at the lake house until 10! For this type A, scheduled, routine-oriented mama, that was a big stretch! Allie was a pro, though. She cried when we left the fireworks, came straight home, and went to sleep just like it was her normal bedtime. That's my girl!

{Market Yourself} Monday

2011-07-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

I'm linking up with Sumo's Sweet Stuff today for Market Yourself Monday. It's seems a little senseless to be marketing myself when my Etsy shop is closed, but hopefully my wonderful little sewing machine should be out of the shop this week, so here goes!

So...this is my FAVORITE new design in my Etsy shop:

The Custom Bunting Banner Embroidery Art.

I love how many possibilities there are within this one little project! Different frames, different color schemes. I'd love to see what one looked like with solid fabrics, too. I can't wait to sell more of these and see the designs, fonts, and colors people pick out!

New England Vacation, Part 3

2011-07-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

The grand finale of our trip was our tour of Fenway Park. {No worries, Texas friends. We aren't Red Sox fans or anything.}

First impressions of Fenway...

Definitely the highlight of the tour. We got to go up to the top
of the 'Green Monster'!

This photo pretty much sums up the trip,
and our life lately. Allie wants Daddy. All
the time. Day or night. It {totally} melts
my heart.

Allie & Daddy

Me and Alliebean on the Green Monster

Love my little family!

View from the roof seats!

We had so much fun! {Except that when we got back to our car, we had a parking ticket. Way to ruin the grand finale of our vacation, Boston P.D..} Until next time, New England...

New England Vacation, Part 2

2011-07-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

Odd as it seems to be kicking off my "new", combined blog with a "Part 2" post, let's just go with it...

Once the wedding was over, it was time for everyone to head over {I'm the world's worst at directions, so I'll just say "over", because I'm really not sure if it was "up" or "down"} to the Boston, Mass area. Since downtown Boston was on our route to Adam's uncle's house, we spent a good part of our day there.

Probably my favorite part of Boston. One of the locals told us
they refer to these flowers as "Horton Hears a Who" flowers. So gorgeous!

Allie saying hello to the ducky statues at the 'Make Way for Ducklings'
area in Boston Commons Park. {We don't have the book yet, but we
are planning to order it on Amazon soon!}

I wanted a family picture {with our little hollywood star} with the flowers.

At the Quincy Market. Crazy busy, but really fun place to eat and shop!
{If you can't tell by the chocolate on Allie's face, we'd just finished a big
bowl of ice cream!}

My baby - who hates nap time - fell asleep in her stroller in the crazy
outdoor marketplace. Who'd have thought...?

The following day, Adam's aunt and uncle took us to Rhode Island to see some of the East Coast beaches! It was such a different view of our God's creation, and so beautiful!

Little Allie near Second Beach in Rhode Island.

Adam, Allie, & Adam's Grandma Rieger. Love making memories
with Allie's great-grandparents.

...sigh... We have one beautiful baby!

We visited a couple of 18th century mansions on the coast. The regal
atmosphere obviously didn't affect my daughter's desire to pick
this lion's nose...

We left New England the following day. Tired, and ready to be home...but not before a visit to historic Fenway Park! Part 3: Fenway Park...

Two Blogs Become One

2011-07-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

I've gone back and forth about this for awhile, and after weeks of indecisiveness {very characteristic of me}, I've decided to condense my blogs into one single blog here at Freckled Pink.

I've fallen in love with blogging all over again these past few weeks, and can't wait to be able to share about every aspect of my life in one spot. Previously, I'd been writing about new Freckled Pink designs on my business blog, and my home and family at Rieger Reflections. It just got to be a bit too much to keep up with for this busy mama! I wasn't posting nearly as often as I'd have liked to here, because of my preoccupation with my personal blog. Needless to say, combining them will solve all this. {I've imported all of my posts from my personal blog into this one, so now everything is in the same place. Fewf!}

All that to say... Change your bookmarks, and follow me here, on my Freckled Pink blog if you like. Thanks!

New England Vacation, Part 1

2011-07-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

I always thought the definition of a vacation was something like "rest, relaxation, no responsibilities, and sleeping in as late as you want". This is actually the definition of vacation *before* you have children. Vacationing with a toddler is, as one of my friends put it, like traveling to Europe even if you're just going down the street, because of all of the baby stuff you have to tow with you!

When we arrived at the airport to leave on our New England adventure {adventure = going to see Adam's cousin get married}, we had with us:

Giant Suitcase containing all 3 of our clothes
Rolling, carry-on suitcase {because I am paranoid about checked bags getting lost}
Backpack containing the computer and a half million baby toys and snacks
Purse containing the other half million baby toys and snacks
Allie's stroller
Allie's car seat and car seat dock
Allie

Keep in mind, there were only 2 of us, and 4 hands to carry all of this onto the shuttles to and from the airport - all while attempting to keep Allie quiet, happy, and safe. SO. MUCH. WORK!

After we were able to check the car seat, car seat dock, and giant suitcase, the "vacation" became much more enjoyable.

Allie was a rock star on the flight to Boston. She played with her new toys, ate breakfast, and even fell asleep while watching her fave - Imagination Movers - on my iPhone. {Thank you, God, for headphones and iPhones!}

We arrived in Boston, fought with the GPS for awhile, and finally made it to New Hampshire, where we would spend the first 2 nights of our trip. {Wedding was in NH, the rest of our trip would be spent outside of Boston in MA.}

Alliebean - brushing her hair, watching some 'Enchanted', using
her awesome panda headphones.

My little family after the beautiful wedding in the NH countryside.

The wedding was beautiful, and the scenery was amazing! To our surprise, it was in the 60's and rainy the first two days of our trip. I even had to make a Target run to get some dress pants for the occasion, because I am far too cold-natured to have spent the day of the wedding freezing my legs off in the "little black dress" I'd planned to wear.

Allie and her Grandpa Chuck at the wedding reception.

Allie and her handsome daddy.

I bought new shoes and a cute new dress for this sweet girl, but I had to
change up her outfit because it was so cold! Instead of cute new sandals, she
sported her warmer Keds and leggings.

It was so fun to get to spend some extended time with Adam's side of the family. I love to see them loving on little Allie and enjoying her as much as we do! Part 2 of our vacation coming soon...

Saturday Snapshot

2011-07-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

I decided to take part, for the first time, in this lovely little weekly tradition over at Yellow Songbird's blog. The "Saturday Snapshot". This week's theme: around the house.

This is what, or more appropriately who, makes me smile around the house. We were on vacation this past week, and my little Allie was so glad to be home. The morning after we returned, I found her in a quiet, secluded little spot behind the curtains, watching the birds outside. (With her beloved blankie in-tow, of course.) Love this kid.

18 Months

2011-06-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Baby girl,...ahem...toddler, you are 18 months old today! I can't believe you're so big!

Over the past month, and especially the past couple of weeks, you have started trying to mimic more word sounds. One of your most often used words is "bubbles", which you use to refer to just about anything with circles on it. You is a great little retriever, and love to go get things for me and Adam. Another new word you love to say all the time is "whoa" or "wow". You always say these with great enthusiasm, and it's just stinking adorable.

Current Favorites:
- Headphones. We bought you some headphones to use on the plane for our recent trip to Boston, MA. You love headphones! You will sit for 30-40 minutes watching a movie when you have your headphones on! Amazing!
- Imagination Movers. Allie, you love all music, and tv sing-alongs, but especially the Imagination Movers these days. We wouldn't have lasted on our 4-hour plane rides to and from Boston without these guys.
- Strawberries. You love them as much as I do!
- Blanket. Nothing new here.
- Pony Tails. If I ask if you want a pony-tail, you usually gasp in excitement and show me the back of your head.
- Daddy. You can't get enough of your sweet daddy. (Not that I blame you.) On our trip, since daddy was always with us, you chose him to hold you about 99.9% of the time. You wanted him to put you to bed, to play with you, to feed you, you name it. It breaks this mama's heart a little, but I love seeing the way you reach for him and love him with all of your little heart. He is your ultimate favorite thing as an 18-month-old.

People continue to tell us that you are one of the most expressive babies they've ever seen. You have such a variety of adorable facial expressions, and don't hesitate to use them. You are mastering

I love watching you grow. You are strong, observant, loving, and you are learning so many new things every day! God has great plans for your future, and your daddy and I are so excited to see them unfold.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

Adam doesn't get many days off of work, so when he does, we think it's a pretty big deal. We celebrated the holiday weekend (which I realize, was 3 weeks ago now) with food and friends...and fire, actually, but that story is for another day.

Sunday afternoon, we met a big group of friends for dinner at Joe T. Garcia's - our favorite spot. I'm pretty sure it's "our" favorite spot, at least. It has been my favorite for as long as I can remember, and I hope that after being with me for 7 years, Adam has adopted it as his as well. There were 3 little toddling girls at dinner. One fell asleep in her high chair, one wanted to walk around throughout the meal, and our little Allie did a good job of sitting in her high-chair and eating her tasty (and oh-so-healthy) cheese nacho. I was only able to get a couple of good shots of Eisley and Allie after dinner. Lily was a little more interested in roaming.

Monday morning, Allie and I went to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner at the McCarthy's. I do what I can to keep her entertained in the shopping cart...

After a restful day at home, we got ready for our mini pool party. (Adam picked up a little plastic pool for the girls to play in at Wally World, and they LOVED it!) I was *finally* able to pull Allie Joy's hair into a tiny little pony-tail, and she thought it was pretty funny. Love this shot of her little pony-tail and her sweet smile in the mirror.

Allie and Eisley had fun splashing around in the little pool, and even splashed some water on one another.

17 Months

2011-05-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

Seriously? 17 Months?! That seems impossible. I am l.o.v.i.n.g. this age, Allie Joy. You are busy, boisterous, dramatic, and did I mention busy? You never, never stop moving! From the moment you wake up, until we rock you to sleep, you are in constant motion.

An average day in your almost 17-month-old life looks something like this...

You are sleeping in!!! Your Daddy and I have waited many months for this. Last weekend, for the first time, all 3 of the Riegers slept in past 8:30 on Saturday AND Sunday! It was awesome!

Generally, you wake up around 8:15 or 8:30 these days. You don't cry, you just stir around in your crib, play with your blankie, and wait for me to come get you. When I come in, I turn off your big box fan, and your eyes immediately go to the door - looking for the dogs. Scout and Jack almost always join me in greeting you in the mornings. Jack loves to stick his wet nose through the slats of your crib to greet you, which you think is particularly funny. Some days, you wave to them and say, "Hi J..."! You've got the first sound of "Jack" down, but haven't really mastered the rest of the word, haha. It's adorable.

You love to play in your crib!

You are generally good about putting your blankie back into the crib before we head to the kitchen for breakfast, but some days, you cry a little when you leave it behind. It melts this mama's heart that you love that blanket so much. I worked a long time picking out those fabrics and even longer choosing the *perfect* lettering with which to monogram your first baby blanket. I'm so glad you love it. (So much that I've already had to make two "little blankie" imitations, and a second full-sized blankie.)

For breakfast, nearly every day, you have a waffle. ("Wah-foo", as you refer to it.) You love to put the frozen waffles into the toaster and wait for them to "pop"! After the waffle, you and Mama have a "Green Drink" smoothie to start our days now. It's so good, and you wait anxiously for it each morning. You drink almost as much of it as I do! You've learned, through loving these smoothies, to drink through a straw, which you think is a pretty cool trick.

Bubble Beard! :)

After breakfast, we head back to your room to get dressed. Some days it takes me forever to pick out your clothes - I love it! Dressing you up is one of my favorite things about having a little girl. You are even quick to let me know if I've forgotten your hair bow these days!

Once you're dressed for the day, you usually follow me down the hall to my work room, where we listen to music or watch a movie while I stitch out a few monograms. You also love to make the work room as messy as possible on a daily basis...pulling out all of my fabrics, showing them to me one at a time, and emptying as many spools of thread as possible. Just recently, you love to sit in my lap and watch the sewing machine work. Sometimes, you prop your tiny feet up on the sewing desk like you've had a long and taxing day. Melt my heart, little one - I love it.

Sweet Grins

After getting some work done, you often "help" with a few household chores. Your favorite is sweeping. I don't know how this is possible, since just about anything having to do with cleaning the floor is my least favorite chore. Hate sweeping, Hate Swiffering. Hate mopping. But you...you love it. We have a small, half-sized broom that we use for sweeping up the dust piles into the dust pan. It has become 'Allie's broom'. You carry it all over the house, chase the dogs with it, and think you are big stuff.

You *love* your baby dolls more than any other toys. They go
everywhere with us!

Lunch is usually around 11 or 11:30. Your favorite lunch time foods right now include hot dogs (the healthiest we can find, I promise), Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets, sliced deli turkey, macaroni and cheese, ground taco meat. strawberries, peaches, pickles, tortillas, rice, and "veggie sticks". You eat like a horse, and we have absolutely no explanation as to why you are still such a tiny girl!

After lunch, we usually spend some time sitting on the couch together and playing or reading. You can almost climb up onto the couch by your self, but not quite. Much of our couch time is spent practicing this skill lately. Looks like you are going to be an adventurous climber! I better brace myself if that's the case.

Your nap time is around 2:00, and you sleep 1-2 hours. Truth be told, most days, when you wake up, I go in and snuggle you in the rocking chair for an extra half hour or so. I love this time with you, and know I'll never regret it. I can't get enough Allie snuggles!

After nap time, you have a little snack, and wait anxiously for "Da-tee" to get home. You get SO excited when you hear the garage door - the tell-tale sign that he has arrived. Sometimes you gasp, other times you just run and point toward the garage door. It's so sweet, Allie. You have really become Daddy's girl more and more over the past few weeks. When Daddy is here, you don't usually want a lot to do with mama. It blesses my heart so much to see the special relationship the two of you are already building!

After Daddy gets home, we eat dinner together, spend time watching TV and playing together, give you a bath in your little inflatable tub, and tuck you in for the night. You love bath time. You love to splash, play with your little rubber duckie, and you often protest getting out of the tub. The most adorable thing - you love to pull your little hooded towel down over your face to play "peek-a-boo" after your bath. So cute!

I love my days with you, precious girl. I know that as we add to our family, I will always look back on these days with just the two of us with sweet memories and fondness. Your are my best little buddy, and I am so grateful to God to get to be with you all day, every day. I am living out the dream God placed in my heart as a little girl - to be a mommy. I love you, my precious girl!!!

Silly Willy Girl

2011-05-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

Allie is just that: a silly willy girl. She has been so entertaining lately with all of her little 16-month-old antics!

Allie, all of a sudden, LOVES to play in her crib. Sometimes she even
cries when I get her out in the mornings!

(I really believe it's because I rarely let
the beloved "blankie" out of the crib, and she gets
to snuggle it just a bit longer if she stays in.)

Add caption

She wanted just a few more minutes *after* she
got dressed on this particular morning...

Allie Joy L-O-V-E-S to slide. This is a serious work-out for mommy
and daddy, since she's not quite big enough to walk up all of the
steps to get back up to the top.

...on the slide...

Happy Girl!

I love these grins! I also love that I can see her little tiny feet through her
clear jelly sandals. :)

Her not-so-little personality is showing up a little more every day. It has become very clear that she isn't going to be a passive wallflower! She makes her opinions, wants, likes, and dislikes very clear to us these days. It is not out of the ordinary for her to ask for something, hear a "no", and throw herself onto the floor in a fit of what we affectionately call "squawks". She doesn't like for other kids to invade her space, and tends to "squawk" if they enter her bubble. It is not a cute sound, but we're working on it.

This parenting/guiding/directing/shaping business is more challenging than we thought! And I'm sure it will only become more so...but I consider every challenge a privilege!

Mother's Day Lunch

2011-05-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

Adam and I are blessed in that both of our moms aren't sticklers for celebrating Mother's Day on the day of the event. They want me to be able to enjoy Mother's Day with my sweet little Allie, and I appreciate that more than they know.

Last Saturday, (Mother's Day eve, if you will), was cray-zee around the Rieger house. Adam had made plans to get an upgraded air conditioner installed in the house. The installation guy was supposed to be here between 8-9, and didn't show up until around noon. So. Frustrating. Because of that, Adam wasn't able to go to lunch with us.

My mom, Memaw, Aunt Carolyn, Blake, and I all met at at Joe T.'s to celebrate all of the moms. It was such a gorgeous day! We were able to beat the crowds, get a table outside, and my mom even fed Allie so that I could enjoy my lunch! (Who am I kidding, she loved feeding her.) It was such a sweet time. A couple of weekends ago, my mom stayed with Allie Joy so that Adam and I could spend an evening away for the first time since before Allie was born. While we were gone, she and Allie did a special project for me for mother's day. They made me a beautiful stepping-stone with Allie's little footprint in it! So cute! I love it! I haven't snapped a picture of it yet, but it's outside near the front porch, and it brings a smile to my face every time I see it.

Mom, Allie, and Me after Mother's Day lunch

One of my favorite new pictures! Love my family!

Allie, Blake, and Me

Standing between two of my favorite ladies!

Sitting on Grammie's lap for lunch.

Alliebean and Uncle Blake!

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

Since I was old enough to say "baby", I couldn't wait to have my own. Motherhood is something that has made me - continually - feel so blessed and humbled by the good, gracious God I serve. I still cannot believe that God saw fit to give me the ultimate dreams and desires HE placed in my heart from such a young age. The fact that I get to be a stay-at-home-mama to my precious Allie, to care for my husband and my home day in and day out, is quite literally a dream come true for me. I am blessed beyond words.

New Linen Towels

2011-05-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

I love learning more about different design styles. Colors, textures, decorative styles. It's always changing and evolving, and so fun!

I recently came across the Emily Jones Design Blog and fell in L~O~V~E! Her style is very different from my own, but there are so many elements of it that I just love! The clean lines, the use of silvers and grays (two of my all-time favorite colors), and her love of lettering. I can certainly identify with that!

All that to say...I'm excited to be expanding my primarily child-focused line of monogrammed goodies to include some new household items (a few of which will be great for wedding gifts)! Here is the first of a few new designs that will be popping up in the 'housewares' section of my Etsy Shop over the next few weeks. I'm excited!

These 100% natural linen towels are some of my favorite new kitchen accessories! I love them!!

View these towels in my Freckled Pink Etsy Shop now!

16 Months Old

2011-04-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

Allie,

You turn 16-months-old tomorrow, April 30th. I keep expecting time to slow down, but it's just speeding up!

You are so very active these days; a full-fledged toddler, no doubt. You rarely ever walk anywhere anymore, you just run. Your little feet make the cutest pitter-patter on our wood floors! You are learning more every day!

You L-O-V-E your baby dolls. Melts my heart!

Activities you enjoy:

You love practicing letter sounds with mama. Several times a day, we go over what each letter is, along with the sounds they make. By the second or third time, you'd already mastered the "H" sound! I think it's because you think the "huh-huh-huh" noise is funny. :)

You are beginning to enjoy coloring. I give you a few crayons and some paper on your high-chair tray, and you do everything from eating them to picking at them with your finger nails, and occasionally, scribbling a little something on the blank paper.

Hiding behind the couch (or shower curtain, or kitchen chair, or around the corner), peeking out, and saying, "Boo!" is probably your favorite game right now. You just barely open your little mouth to say it, and it almost sounds like "bzz" instead of "boo", but it's adorable.

All of these faces happened within about 90 seconds of one another. Drama!

Favorite foods:

Strawberries. You LOVE strawberries. In fact, today, you ate so many that I had to cut you off. When I did so, you threw a big fit in the living room floor - tears and all - because you wanted more "berries".

Peaches. These have been your fave for months now, and you still rarely turn them down.

Flat-bread Pizza. I make one of these for my lunch. Now, I make one for my lunch, and one for yours. You can eat this stuff like a horse! You love the cheese, the sauce, and especially the pepperoni. (Pepperoni, by the way, is one of the words you try to repeat every time you hear it. SO stinkin' cute!) It's one of your messiest meals, but definitely a favorite.

Smoothies. About a month ago, I started making "Green Drink", a morning smoothie, every morning. It has frozen banana, sometimes raspberries or strawberries, orange juice, cranberry juice, flax seed, and lots of fresh spinach! You asked me for a taste of mine, and just kept wanting more, so we got you some special sippy cups with straws, so that you can have your own cup of green drink!

Waffles. "Wah-foo", as you call them.

Cheese. At the grocery store last week, when we approached the dairy section, you said, "Hi cheese!" and waved to all of the cheese. I think you're a fan of the stuff.

Such a beautiful girl!

New words you're saying:

Boo Boo

Da-tee (Daddy)

Car

"BC's" (ABC's)

...and others I know I can't think of right now, because it's nearly 11:00, and I'm exhausted.

I love you more every single day!

Busy April

2011-04-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

This month is f.l.y.i.n.g. by so fast! I can't believe in another two weeks it will be May. Seriously. Ok, I'm sorry. Sometimes I think I start every blog post by discussing how fast time is flying. I'm just consistently surprised when I sit down and reflect! Our time on earth is truly a breath.

We're having such a busy Spring around here! Adam has run in 2 races in the past few weeks, & Allie and I are enjoying days at the zoo with friends in the beautiful spring weather. I had a big sale at Freckled Pink to help my brother raise money for a mission trip, & I've been working daily on filling orders placed during the sale. So busy - but all fun things!

One of the most fun events lately was Allie's first Easter Egg Hunt. We were invited to our sweet friends', the Carey's, for an egg hunt and a visit with the Easter Bunny himself. It's so fun to watch Allie in these new situations. To see how she interacts with other kids, and to see how she's learning to follow our instructions for simple little things like picking up Easter eggs and putting them into her little white basket. My Memaw hid Easter eggs for me and my brother until we were well into our 20's. (By then, they were always "money eggs", which were awesome!) I can't wait for Allie to get to have her first Easter egg hunt at Memaw's next weekend on Easter Sunday. It means so much to see her enjoying so many things I got to do as a child. It melts my heart, and makes me so thankful for the very few things in my life that have remained the same all these years.

She wasn't a big fan of the Easter Bunny.

My little pink bunny!

Her ADORABLE ruffled bloomers. These were a baby shower gift, and I
was so excited to finally get to use them after waiting so long!

Picking up eggs like a pro!

Adam, being such a sweet daddy to hold Allie's
little white basket and pink eggs. Love it.

Happy family after the egg hunt!

SALE

2011-04-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

‎***BIG SALE THIS WEEK*** To help my brother raise funds for his upcoming mission trip to Singapore, use the code SING2011 when making your purchases in my Etsy shop, and get 15% off!!! ALL sales for the next week will go toward funding his trip, helping him to reach the nations for Christ!

A Day in the Life, Vol. 2

2011-04-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

Ever just have 'one of those days'? Well, today (Tuesday, I started this draft before bed) was one for me. Fewf! It's 10:57, and I can't even believe I'm awake to type this (except that I had a monstrous glass of tea at dinner, so I'll probably be awake much longer than I'd like to).

Today is Adam's birthday. I'm big on birthdays. I love to do fun things to make them extra special. I celebrate the birthday, the birthday week, and yes, the birthday month. It was my goal today to make the day as fun and care-free for Adam as possible, even though he'd spend most of it at work. (I'll wait to post this until tomorrow, because I just posted my heartfelt birthday note to Adam, and wouldn't want to taint that with the "realities" of my day.)

Not to brag (ok, to brag a little), but I've been working very hard on being disciplined and working out every weekday morning for the month of March. After being at a baby shower until late last night, I decided that this week, I was going back to 3 mornings a week. So, today would be my first day to "sleep in" (until around 6:45) on a weekday in almost a month. Here's how my day began...

Alarm goes off. I knew Adam and I had set our alarms for the same time, but I didn't hear his. I figured he'd changed it - wanted to sleep in a little on his birthday - so I didn't wake him. I got up, went to the closet, and started picking out clothes for the day. After looking around a few minutes, I glanced up at Adam's bedside clock: 6:25 a.m.. My first thought was, "Nooooooo! My alarm was supposed to be for 7:00!!!" I'd set a later alarm, but neglected to turn off my earlier alarm. Ugh, how frustrating. I climbed back into bed - just because I could - and tried to go back to sleep for the next half hour without any success. Then, I had to kick it into birthday gear.

Though Allie didn't wake up in time to wish Daddy a happy birthday before he got out the door, I had fun giving Adam his birthday gifts. He saved his card from Allie to open that afternoon.

Allie was in a fair mood in the morning, but hasn't been eating well at all, and got crankier (and I'm sure hungrier) as the day went on, and her hunger strike continued. I could tell she was very tired, so I put her down for her nap at 1:30 instead of 2:00. Sure she'd sleep awhile, I settled in to watch some Netflix and catch up on monogram designs. 30 short minutes later, she was up. Knowing she was still tired, I went in to rock her for awhile and see if she'd sleep a little longer. After another half hour or so, one of our dogs came to Allie's closed bedroom door and began scratching and clawing as if there was a dangerous intruder in the house. Scared me to death, and woke Allie up crying in fear. Thanks, dogs.

Upon exiting Allie's room, I was punched in the gut by the smell of dog poo. Awesome. Maybe someone should teach my dogs to scratch on the door *before* they poop on the floor.

After cleaning up that mess, I decided to give Allie her evening bath early, so we could enjoy Daddy's birthday time when he got home. After I got her in the tub, I guess all of the running water got to me, and I was dying to go to the bathroom. No big deal, we're in the bathroom, right? Yes, my friends, but without toilet paper. Ahhh!

When Allie was cleaned up, (and I'd retrieved a roll of t.p., praise the Lord), I dried her off, lotioned her up, and reached for a diaper. NO DIAPERS! After a momentary freak-out, I remembered there was a new box of diapers in her closet. I placed my naked baby on her bedroom floor while I dove for the diapers in the closet, had to get scissors to open the box, all the while repeating, "Please don't pee, please don't pee!"

After the bath time fail, I decided to make brownies (to cover the poo smell, of course). I managed to spill some brownie mix, but hey, what are dogs for if not cleaning up my spills?

Brownies were finished just in time for Adam's arrival, the house smelled great, and Daddy's girls were ready to spend the evening celebrating his birthday. Fewf!

Happy 28, Adam!

2011-03-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

Today is my amazing husband's 28th birthday. Our 7th birthday to have celebrated together. I never thought I'd say, "We met when we were both 20," and feel like that was such a long time ago.

I'm so very thankful that Adam is the complete opposite of most every boy I ever dated before we met. He's completely dependable, punctual, steady, predictable, and any other word that could be synonymous with 'security' for his wife. I didn't always have that. Security. Predictability. Dependability. Someone who was on my side no matter what. Adam is all of those things.

I so enjoyed our laid back celebration of him today. Gifts before he left this morning, 'Happy Birthday' texts throughout the day, and a relaxing dinner out for our family of 3 tonight. Predictable. Dependable. Secure.

Happy Birthday, love of my life.I pray God gives us many, many, many more birthdays to celebrate with one another...even if the thought of me turning 28 later this year gives me the heebie jeebies! :)

Love One Another

2011-03-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks, we have been reading Tom Holladay's Relationship Principles of Jesus as a church. I have learned and relearned some amazing and applicable truths about how important relationships are to Jesus. By far, the most life-changing truth I learned, and really began to understand, was the simple commandment Jesus gives: "Love one another."

Love one another. I've heard these words probably since before I could understand them. They've been taught by Sunday School teachers, preached from the pulpit, and read over and over in a thousand devotional books. It was always easy for me to think I knew - and lived - what those words meant. I mean, loving others is easy, right? You don't go out of your way to be mean, don't talk about friends behind their backs, etc. I think my definition of loving others was more like a "what not to do" list.

Through reading this book, I began to really see and understand what it means to love others. To act in love. To be loving. To really, sincerely, genuinely apply the Golden Rule. To actually "do to others what you'd want them to do to you". To think of others before I think of myself, and to do so with a genuine love for them, and concern for their well-being, and their walk with God.

I have been deeply encouraged as I've walked through this learning process over the past few weeks. I've seen so much undeniable evidence that it truly is God's kindness (and His lovingness) that brings people to repentance. Why have I not been quicker to show such love and kindness to those around me?! I'm saddened to think of all of the opportunities that I've missed, but SO excited to move forward, walking in this new Jesus-empowered-love toward those He places around me!

15 Months

2011-03-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

I ask this every month (really, every day), but seriously, "How did we get here?!" How am I already the mommy to a 15-month-old?! Allie has changed in SO many ways over the past month. We have really watched her turn from a baby into an active, busy, inquisitive, opinionated toddler. Here are just a few of the things she's doing these days.

Going outside. Allie stinkin' LOVES being outside. This doesn't bode well for her mama, who is a tried and true "inside girl". It is really nice to be able to take her out in the afternoons, though, and let her roam the yard for awhile.

Carefully walking in and out of the back sliding door. She's just mastered climbing over the raised door frame, and loves to do it over and over again.

Baby Einstein DVD's. She is specifically mesmerized by "Baby McDonald", the animal video, and "Baby DaVinci", which is all about facial features and body parts. She loves the part when they sing, "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes", and loves to point to her shoulders and toes. I love to hear her sweet, high-pitched voice say, "shuh-durs?"
She now knows where eyes, ears, nose, teeth, hands, and feet are.
She gets super pumped when we sing "Happy and You Know It", and especially loves to "stomp her feet".
Her favorite gadget is still the remote control. I keep finding things on the DVR that she's recorded...
Our technologically savvy girl has already figured out how to unlock our iPhones. She can also double-click them to make them play music quicker than I can. What in the world, I feel old.
Instead of the "little blankie", she now sleeps with her full-sized blankie. I will be making a replacement blankie soon, so that we are never without it! (And, so that we can wash the current blankie without the little drama queen throwing a tantrum.)
Words She's Saying:

"Wah-foo" - waffle
"Eye-sis" - Eisley's (One of your sweet little friends left her hair bow here the other day, and Allie would walk by and point to it, saying "Eye-sis bow" a zillion times a day.
"No"
"Ah-sis" - What's this?
Animal Sounds - "Ba-ba" - sheep; "Wooh-wooh" - dog; A very short "moo" - cow; "chi-chi" - bird; an occasional "doodle-doo" - rooster
"Bye-Bye" (always accompanied by a wave)
"Ah-Cheer" - high chair

"I don't know!"

Things she can identify/point to:

Eyes
Nose
Mouth
Teeth
Ears
Hair
Toes
Feet
Tummy
Belly Button (sometimes)
Shoulders (thanks to 'Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes')
Hands
Dogs
Birds
Airplanes
The moon
Various specific toys (her baby, baby stroller, blocks, piano, ball, books, etc.)

Signs/Cute Ways She Communicates:

Holding her hands up to her face, shrugging her shoulders means "I don't know" or "where did it go"?
Clapping her hands means "I want that" or "More, please"
She loves to blow kisses. Big, open-mouthed, open-handed kisses.
One of my faves: she waves to the dogs about a thousand times a day.
If Adam or I are laying on the couch, and she spots bare feet on the sofa, she grabs the bare feet, smells them, and makes a squished up face, showing how stinky the feet are. Too funny!

I was so excited, a few weeks ago, that Allie finally made the connection that her Uncle Blake was singing on stage during Sunday morning worship. She kept pointing to the screens when he would come on. Now, she always looks for him, which I love. :)
Whenever she falls, bumps her head, or hurts herself, she takes Adam and I to the scene of the crime, and points to whatever it was that hurt her. I'm loving that she's able to communicate these things now!
If she even hears the word flower, she immediately wrinkles up her cute little nose, and begins to sniff. She loves to smell the flowers. :)
Our smart girl helps mommy by putting everyone's socks away on laundry day. I open the drawers, l put all of the socks in a pile next to the drawer, and she puts all of the socks away!
Allie waves all the time. Everywhere we are, at anyone and everyone we see. If she leaves the room and walks back in, she waves at me. Too stinkin' adorable.

Allie Joy is our little "observer". Any time she finds herself in a new or different situation, she takes a good while to warm up, taking everything in, and sizing everyone up. I love this about her. It makes her sound cautious, but unfortunately for this mama, I don't think she's going to take after me in the caution department. At 15 months old, she's already had her first trip to the E.R. after diving off of the kitchen counter (where she was firmly planted in her Bumbo chair at 9 months old) on to the hard tile, head first. (Read more about Allie's First Emergency.) Just a few weeks ago, she took another dive. This time, she fearlessly leaned over the edge of her changing table, face first, and was planted on the floor before I could catch her. She's a quick one! A "first bloody nose" later, she was just fine, and wanted to go play outside and blow bubbles.

Daddy & Allie - Can you tell it's early in the morning by their
cute, sleepy eyes?

One of my favorite things about this little toddling girl is how much she's fallen in love with her daddy. Can I blame her? She, somehow, knows when 4:45 rolls around, and it's time for Dada to be home. Sometimes, we wait on the front porch to see his truck drive up. As soon as she sees it coming down the street, she points, puts on her biggest grin, and says, "Dada!" She then waves, waves, and waves, until he makes it up the driveway and into the garage. Occasionally, he stops in the driveway, puts her in his lap, and lets her help him "drive" into the garage the last few feet. Honestly, I don't think she'd care what they were doing at that moment, because she's just so excited to have Daddy home. I love watching their relationship grow and change. Her Daddy loves her more than she knows, and is so ready to show her off whenever the opportunity arises. He's so obviously proud of her, and I know she knows that.

Mommy & Alliebean

I love my girl so much, and I can't believe how fast she's growing! This is such a fun season, and I have never, ever felt so blessed. (Aaaaand, I apologize for the extreme wordiness of this post!)

The Great Outdoors

2011-03-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

So, Spring is here!!!

Allie has decided that she *loves* being outside. Front yard, back yard, morning, afternoon, evening, it matters not. She just wants to go outside all the time! It's been nice enough this week that I've been able to leave the back door open and let her wander in and out while I work in the kitchen or at the table. She has enjoyed this so much - and so have I! (Being a self-proclaimed "inside girl", this came as a surprise to me.)

Allie Joy loving her back yard freedom.

(Sorry this one is out of place, but she SO enjoyed spending the afternoon
outside with some friends a few Sundays ago...& of course, her uncle B.)

Beautiful girl playing on the porch.

My little observer. She loves finding little twigs, sticks, and rocks in the yard.

My view, sitting outside with Allie to watch Dada mow the lawn.

I love this. I am so glad I finally caught it on camera. She stands like this, in
this adorable "girlish" pose, all the time! No idea where she picked it up,
but I think it's stinkin' adorable.

Waving to Dada as he mowed the lawn. She was stoked to be outside watching!

Dada & Allie waving to one another from across the yard. I love how much
they love each other.

A Grown-Up Dining Set

2011-03-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

Our AMAZING new dining set! :) :) :)

Two weeks ago, I feel like I became a "real grown-up". Adam and I bought a brand new dining set!

In 2006, when we were engaged, we went to Ikea and bought a dining set. I remember being so excited about it. It was a table and 4 matching chairs, purchased for $100. Seriously. We have used that poor table and chairs absolutely to death. Our dogs chewed the top of one of the chairs, the $6.00 cushions were stained and cushion-less, and our family of 3 could barely fit our dinner on the table without it spilling over. It was a good little table, but it was time to *upgrade*! I've been dying to do this forever, so I was unbelievably (maybe abnormally?) excited when Adam gave me the go-ahead to start looking for a new dining set.

It was such a sweet God-thing the way it worked out. I had looked on Ashley Furniture's website, and just fallen in love with one particular set. It was just the color scheme I wanted, and just the right size. Unfortunately, Ashley's doesn't publicize their prices on their website. (Dumb.)

When we went to Ashley's to look around, the set I'd seen online was the very first one we came to. It was so pretty! Not only that, but it was within our price range! We were able to get the table (and extension leaf) and a set of 6 chairs! To go from the world's tiniest table to a table that fills our dining room has been so exciting! It has also made it much more apparent that we are outgrowing our current home...but that's an entirely different jumbled bunch of thoughts for another entry.

The good ole' Ikea dining set. It looks SO tiny now!

Allie's last snack time at the old table :)

NEW TABLE & BEAUTIFUL CHAIRS! (This is without the leaf. With the leaf,
it will seat 8 with room to spare.)

Allie enjoying the view from waaaaay down at her end of the table.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-09T12:48:00.000-08:00

Quints!

2011-03-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

So, it's March. March! When did that happen?! Ok, it happened today, so it's not like it's already Spring Break or anything. I can't believe I haven't blogged in this long! Let's start the updates with a super fun order I had the privilege of putting together for the Jones Family last October...

Last October, I had the pleasure of making some custom shirts for the adorable "six pack" from 'Quints By Surprise'! (I know what you're thinking, "six pack" and "quints" don't exactly add up. The adorable quints have a beautiful big sis, Eliot!) It was such a pleasure to work with Casey, the sweet mama of these beautiful kiddos, on this order.

I was able to design some simple, classic monogrammed shirts for these little beauties to have their family photos made in. Such a fun order, and the pictures turned out so cute!

Miss Eliot, the beautiful big sister!

The beautiful Jones family, with the girls all dressed in their
Freckled Pink shirts!

Are they cute, or what?!

I can't wait for their show to return to TLC later this year! They are a precious family who are a blessing to many. They consistently talk about and demonstrate their trust in God, and their desire to live for and honor Him in all they do. New favorite show? I think so!

These cutie-pie little shirts are now available in my Etsy shop! :)

10 Years Later

2011-02-26T12:28:00.000-08:00

Today, we went up to Western Hills' Tower Field and watched Adam play in the Alumni Baseball Game. It's always a little weird to revisit the place you spent 4 years in high school! I couldn't believe it earlier this week when Adam told me they were being recognized for the 10th anniversary of the state championship. (Honestly, it took me a few minutes to realize he was talking about HIS state championship! I couldn't believe it was 10 years ago!)

As it does every year, a cold breeze showed up just in time for the game, so that everyone had to bundle up just a little to watch. There was a great turn-out this year, and lots of players with young babies, which made it more fun for us spectators.

Allie's latest obesession: steps. Up, down, up, down...

Cutie-patootie in all of her ruffles!

Allie & her sweet friend Lily!

Adam & his best friend Jordan with their beautiful baby girls. So fun!
Also, Jordan wouldn't look at the camera. I have like 3 versions of this shot.

The 2001 Alumni who attended this year's game...and some cute babies.

The alumni team played hard, and beat the current varsity team 7-6. (Can I also just take a moment to state how child-like and little the current varsity team looked?! They were children, for goodness sake. I don't feel old often, but I did that day.)

Wordless Wednesday (after a very wordy Wednesday post)

2011-02-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

Ah-Sis?

2011-02-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

At church, we've been going through a book together. (The Relationship Principles of Jesus, by Tom Holladay) Everyone is reading the daily devotionals, and learning, together, about Jesus's interaction with others, and how He did relationships while He was here on earth. (By "everyone", I mean "everyone but me is staying on track with this". I've been sick, Allie has been sick, and I am currently feeling caught-up on my readings, because I'm *only* 3 days behind. Sigh.)

Last week, one day's focus was on prayer. Now, I've been a believer for 20+ years, so I've heard/read a lot about prayer in that time. Increasing the time I spend in prayer, especially for my family, is one of my goals for 2011. (Ok, I said it out loud now, so I've created some accountability, right?)

A few things I read, last week, on prayer:

Jesus taught that our job is to pray with confidence.
God is answering many of your prayers in ways you can't yet see --in ways you may not see until you get to Heaven. To acknowledge this doesn't provide an excuse; it recognizes our limitations and expresses confidence in God's perfect plan and power.
Pray until one of two things happens: God changes the situation, or God changes you.
Your persistence is instead an indicator of your desire and your dependence on God. Unless you truly depend on God, you will not persist in the conversation.

That last one has to be my very favorite. As the mommy of *gulp* a toddler, I am learning that repetition is the name of the game. If Allie loves to do something once, she loves to do it over and over and over again. She loves the same Baby Einstein video over and over, the same one baby doll to play with, the same 'hang me upside down and tickle me' game over and over, and thanks to her picky mama, the same foods all the time. Sometimes, let's be honest, it's just annoying. I don't want to see the episode of Special Agent Oso I've already seen 50 bazillion times before today, but she is just as excited about it now as the first time she saw it. The most annoying thing would have to be "ah-sis" (what's this). At only 13.5 months old, Allie already points at seemingly everything in her little world and asks, with an adorably inquisitive look on her face, "ah-sis?" The thing about it is, she will point to the same object 10, 20, 50 times in a row, and ask "ah-sis" over and over and over. My logical brain says that she's trying to learn the words, and learn how I'm saying them by listening to them repetitiously. My emotional self wants to just say, "I said it's this!!!"

So back to the quote, "Your persistence is instead an indicator of your desire and your dependence on God. Unless you truly depend on God, you will not persist in the conversation." Sometimes I feel like I've said the same prayers a million times. Like I've asked God for the same protection, provision, healing, and grace as many times as Allie has asked me "ah-sis". At times, I start to pray something, and stop myself, because I think, "That's the same thing I asked for yesterday, and the day before that, and the month before that..." I love that I'm finally learning that this asking over and over is not an annoyance to my generous God. Instead, it is a sign that I'm depending solely on Him to provide what I'm asking for.

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-19T20:41:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day, this year, turned out to be pretty crummy for this mama. Allie generously shared the stomach bug she had all week last week with me, and I came down with it in full force on the 14th! No fun! I was bummed to be sick, and unable to do lots of the fun activities I'd had in mind for Allie that day. Thankfully, Adam and I had already had our Valentine's night out the previous night. We got to eat at yummy Saltgrass, and even got dessert at Sweet Sammie's!

(Quick note: Sweet Sammie's is one of our very favorite new places in the area. It's one of those "simple, but genius" ideas that has really taken off. They bake fresh cookies, then make you a custom ice cream sandwich using two warm cookies and your choice of ice cream! They're huge, delicious, and extremely high in calories, I'm sure!)

Adam came home Sunday afternoon with FOUR, yes four, bouquets of flowers for Allie and me! He also got us each a sweet card, which I always love. It was so thoughtful of him to get a cute little card for Allie Joy, too. Allie and I have been enjoying a house full of flowers all week long, and they appear to still be going strong. I love flowers in the house! So fun and beautiful!

This is the "skill" Allie learned on Valentine's Day. She
thinks it's pretty funny, as you can see. Blech.

Even though I felt icky, we managed to get outside for
a few minutes to blow some bubbles, which Allie LOVED.

Stickers are one of Allie's faves right now, so I had to get her some cute
little hearts for V-Day! She's had fun "wearing" them on her hands
all week long.

Allie Joy's V-Day stash from Mama & Dada: Pink Ranger's onesies, a zillion
heart stickers, and a fun new bath toy.

Oh! Adam also completely detailed my car for Valentine's Day. It needed to be done so very badly, and I am still enjoying a very clean ride! My hubby knows me well!

Allie Update

2011-02-14T07:50:00.000-08:00

So, I recently realized I've been doing a pretty terrible job of doing the monthly updates on Allie's skills and things that I intended to do. I did them for awhile, then sporadically, and lately, not at all. I want to be able to have all these little details to refer back to with our future kiddos, so here's an update for our 13.5 month-old!

Allie "yodels" ALL the time. "Lo-del-lo-del-looo-deeel-lo-del-looo." I have no idea what she may be attempting to say, but it's adorable, whatever it is.
She is walking all the time, everywhere by now, and starting to attempt running a little bit.
She had her first "real" sickness last week, when she got a tummy bug, ran fever, and slept on mama's lap for almost 4 hours in the middle of the day. It was so sad! I'm so glad she's finally back to her energetic self!
She thinks it's pretty funny to crawl from time to time - probably because of the reaction Adam and I give her.
She loves blueberry yogurt, which only started about 2 weeks ago. She never would eat it for me, but then Adam tried, and she ate an entire container!
Special Agent Oso is her favorite cartoon on TV. She also really enjoys Baby Einstein DVD's - especially Baby McDonald (all about farm animals).
We spent some time in the last few days learning about stepping up and down on our front porch. She loves practicing that!
Her tiny feet are still only a size 2. She's been in the same size since she was about 8 months old! That's almost 6 months of size 2's!
Most of her clothes now are size 9 months or 6-12 months. She still has several things (especially bloomers) that are 0-3 months that still fit fine.
She claps her hands together to "ask" for things. (The sign is actually for "more, please".) She asks for EVERYTHING using this sign now.
At her 1-year check-up, she weighed 16 pounds, 12 ounces. The Dr. said, "She almost made it on to the chart." Such a tiny girl!
We went to the Museum of Science & History last week for the first time. She loved pushing buttons and making lots of bubbles appear in the Children's Museum.
Her "little blankie" is easily her prized possession, and she can't sleep without it.
Naps are still unpredictable, but have gotten better since we put up a black-out curtain in Allie's window. She takes a nap at 9:30 a.m. for 20 minutes to an hour, and another nap at 1:30 or 2 for about an hour.
She loves to walk up behind Scout (our cocker spaniel) and scare him. Jack, our terrier, is another story. She walks right up to him, opens her mouth, and waits for kisses. (Yuck!)
"Nose Kisses" are some of her favorite things right now.
Allie loves to play with stickers. She sticks them all over her hands, but thinks it's funniest when I put them on my face.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

Snow Week

2011-02-05T11:13:00.000-08:00

So forget snow days, we are wrapping up a 'Snow Week'! Oh my goodness, it has been the craziest weather ever!

Last Monday, Allie and I spent the day with Memaw eating out at Joe T.'s and playing at Memaw's house. It was so nice, especially after Memaw had an E.R. scare last weekend.

Memaw and Allie

Memaw & Allie playing Patty Cake

We measured Allie Joy in the door frame where Memaw measures all of her
kids and grandkids. Such a special memory! I love it!

Tuesday morning, we woke up to temperatures well below freezing, and a blanket of white sleet and ice. No snow to be found, but lots and lots of ice. The noisy sleet even woke us up around 2 a.m. when it first started. It was so heavy and loud! Now, usually, when we see snow or ice, it is gone within 24 hours or less. The difference this week was that the temperatures weren't supposed to get back above freezing for FIVE days! Tuesday, we were awakened by a power outage. When the wind chill is around 10 degrees, this is not good. We did some quick research and discovered that the electric company had been forced to implement rolling blackouts. They were turning off the electricity for different areas all over the metroplex to "ration" the power. Crazy!

Allie Joy (and her adorable mittens) in the snow and ice.

Mama & Alliebean freezing our noses and toses off!

Daddy & Allie

Allie and I spent the whole rest of the week indoors. I came down with an upper respiratory infection starting Wednesday, and declared it "chicken soup, ice cream, and cartoon week" for the remainder of our snow days. Friday morning, after days on end of watching cars slide around on icy roads on the news, it finally snowed. Five inches! At least by then, if it was going to be brutally cold, it was pretty to look at.

Now, I can't wait to get well, so I can get out of this house!

Schedule-Obsessed

2011-02-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

...that's me. I'm schedule-obsessed. I love a good schedule. And by "good", I mean "a manageable, realistic schedule I can actually stick to". Currently, on my fridge, I have 3 weeks of planned meals printed nicely (in pretty fonts, too), and a brand new cleaning calendar. In my work-in-progress Home Management Notebook, I have schedules for Allie's day, my day, our week, my Freckled Pink work, and more. Eventually, I'll hopefully have everything down to such a great rhythm, I won't have to be working on updating these schedules so often.

When Allie was born, I knew I had to get her on a good schedule and routine to help her sleep patterns, eating habits, and waking patterns. As you may have seen in my 'Naptime: My Nemesis' post, I became a little too obsessed with these routines, and was getting extremely discouraged when my poor baby wasn't following the schedule in place. God has taught me, though I've pushed back every step of the way, that I am not in control. Making a schedule, setting a routine - these things do not define the events that will actually take place in my days. That's up to God.

Anyway, I've asked for help from Facebook friends lately in making a new cleaning schedule. They sent lots of good advice, and I've taken it all into account in making my own, new schedule. (You can click the image to see a larger version.)

This is what I came up with. It is color-coded to tell me, each day, what tasks I need to do. These tasks are divided into 4 categories: Weekly Cleaning, Bi-Weekly Cleaning, Monthly Cleaning, and Quarterly Cleaning.

Using iCal, I was able to create a weekly cleaning list that will recur weekly, a bi-weekly list of tasks that will automatically recur every other week, and so on. I'm so excited about it! There are a few things that didn't make the list (like daily tasks of dishes, straightening Allie's toys, making beds, cleaning the kitchen table, etc.). I didn't include those, because to me, they are implied. I love having just 2-3 things on my list for each day, so that I can spend time playing with Allie Joy and working on Freckled Pink orders and designs! This list lets me know that everything has been/will be done within a manageable time frame, so that there's (hopefully) never a time when I look up at the bathroom mirror and think, "When was the last time I cleaned all of these toothpaste splatters off this window? Looks like it's been months."

I have only been using this system for about a week. Truth be told, this week is pretty crazy since we are having a deep freeze in DFW, and we are stuck home. You'd think that would make it easier to stay on top of this, but with Adam here, the last thing I want to do is check things off of my list! Hopefully I can catch up once I'm feeling a little better, and these rolling blackouts are over.

Links I found helpful in creating a schedule that works for me:

Allie's First Birthday Party

2011-01-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

A month late, yes, but I'm finally posting about Allie Joy's first birthday party. Looking back, I feel like I should say that Adam and I 'survived' throwing our very first birthday party for Allie. What a whirlwind!

Since Allie's birthday is just 5 short days after Christmas, it is very important to us to make sure Christmas and birthday are two very separate and special events. For the first time, this year, we decided to adopt the tradition of taking down all of our Christmas decorations as soon as possible after Christmas. By the evening of the 26th, the Christmas season had ended in the Rieger household, and it was Birthday Central!

My mom was such an awesome help in putting together the vision I had for my baby girl's first birthday party. I'm not really into characters or themes, so we just put together some simple decorations while the house underwent a MASSIVE, wonderful, deep cleaning. It was hard to decide whether to host the party at our small house, or elsewhere. We opted to have it here at home, and squeeze as many friends and family in as we could. It was tight, but we made it work! Since her birthday is the 30th, we couldn't plan the party for the weekend before, because it was Christmas. It couldn't be held the weekend after, because it was New Year's. That made it pretty tough! The best option seemed to be having her party on her actual birthday, Thursday the 30th, from 5-7. All of these details are really just for this mama to come back and read someday. Here's the part most everyone is interested in: the pictures.

Some of the beautiful tissue-paper flowers my mom made!

Ballons = Party!

Super fun banner that I embroidered for the party :)

Smash cake, Cupcake Cake, and Cake Pops. Do you think this girl had enough cake?!

Cake Pops. Sheesh. They were a fun idea, but a lot of work! I secretly can't wait for an excuse to make some more and get more practice! :)

Allie's 'almost full' First Year picture frame...*tear*...

Allie Joy enjoying all of her birthday attention.

Not sure what to think about the fire on top of her smash cake, haha.

Ohhh, yeeeahhh!

Memaw & Allie. This makes my heart smile.

I think she likes it!

The Birthday Princess

Happy Birthday, baby girl!

All in all, it was a great first birthday for Allie Joy. She got so many wonderful, fun things! We still have many toys still in boxes, so that we can get them out over the next year, and she'll always have something new! (This is also a big treat for mama and daddy, as these fancy new toys keep miss Allie occupied and entertained!) So thankful our baby girl is so very loved!

What's on my DVR?

2011-01-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine recently did a post about what you could find on her DVR. I think it's a fun little idea, so here goes...

We watch a lot of TV. I know, it's probably more than we should. It's something we really enjoy, that's relaxing for Adam and I. We love picking out TV series' on Netflix to watch together, too. It isn't often (anymore) that we get a night out at the movies, so sometimes we lay in bed and eat popcorn (and M&M's, if it's up to me) and watch our favorite shows together. Date night at home :). Lest you assume otherwise, most of these are MY picks, not Adam's. He watches crazy boy things like UFC fights, and action/adventure shows. Me? Not so much.

Ok, so this is a bit of a cheat. I'm watching Felicity on DVD, but it's definitely what fills my TV screen a lot of the time. I love to have it on while I'm working on monograms or designs.

We (yes, we both watch this one) started watching this show last fall via Netflix, and are now finishing up the final season as it airs on DirecTV. LOVE this show. I love that it's about a real, Texas family who is loyal, honorable, and respected in their community. Sounds cheesy, but it's awesome. All this from a girl who really isn't even into football. Blasphemy in Texas, where we are hosting the Super Bowl a week from now, I know.

Grey's Anatomy. I've watched it from episode 1, so I can't stop now. It's really funny, actually, because I can't stand to watch bloody, shooter movies that Adam picks out, but somehow I can make it through an hour-long medical drama each week.

The Good Wife. LOVE this show. It hasn't received much attention, but it's really good. It's a legal drama about a woman whose political husband was unfaithful to her. It goes through the ups and downs of the choices she has made to stay by his side and keep their family intact, and also follows her cases as a Chicago lawyer. It's a very clever show, and I am almost always surprised by a great twist at the end of each episode.

Brothers & Sisters. Wow - I didn't realize how many dramas I watch! I love this one - especially the matriarchal figure played by Sally Field. She's amazing in this role as Nora Walker, watching over the lives of her 5 grown children and their families.

Modern Family!! We LOVE this show. It is SO stinking hilarious! I don't even think I can single out a favorite character. They are all so funny and quirky! Phil is probably my favorite, because he's a very typical "thinks-he's-super-cool" dad. It's basically awesome.

We love The Office, Parks & Rec., making fun of The Bachelor from time to time, and I'm also a huge sucker for red carpet specials before award shows. Love those! So, these are just a few things you'll find us watching from week to week - along, of course, with 'Special Agent Oso', 'Jungle Junction', 'Miss Patty Cake', and lots of 'Baby Einstein' DVD's!

What's on your DVR?

Nap Time: My Nemesis

2011-01-20T19:01:00.000-08:00

Since Allie was tiny, she has struggled with taking consistent, good naps. By "good", I mean "an hour or more". Being a 'Baby Wise' mom, and someone who thrives on predictability, routine, and schedules, this has been a real challenge for me!

I have so many friends with babies around Allie's age who tell me, "Oh, my child takes two two-hour naps every day, I can hardly wake them," or at the least, "Just drop the morning nap, and she'll sleep for hours in the afternoon. Mine does!"I have read books, sought advice, rocked her, read to her, let her cry it out, let her sleep in my chest in the rocker, and she still just sticks to her own personal nap schedule. She prefers about 20-30 minutes in the morning, and, if I'm lucky, 45 minutes or MAYBE an hour in the afternoon.

As a stay-at-home-mom/work-at-home-mom, this makes it very challenging for me to accomplish the things I need to during the day. Not to mention the fact that it is exhausting!

I regret saying that I have only recently started praying through this frustration I have with Allie's nap schedule, or lack thereof. I want to learn whatever it is God is trying to teach me through this, and I don't think I've caught a glimpse of the lesson yet. I crave just a few minutes of solitude and rest during my days that are otherwise spent cleaning up sticky fruit juice off of the high-chair (and floor), trying to design monograms while Allie pushes the computer buttons to "help" me, rotating loads of laundry, printing shipping labels, packaging monograms, reading '1, 2, 3, Count With Me' a dozen times in a row, snuggling Allie Joy, cutting up every meal into tiny, 1-year-old bites, giving Allie a bath because she rubbed chicken and fruit in her hair - again, and picking up leaky sippy cups from every room in the house. Please don't misunderstand me. I am unbelievably, amazingly blessed to get to spend my days in my home with Allie. It truly is living out a dream I've had since I was a little girl. I love every little snuggle, watching cartoons with her, teaching her to blow kisses, answering every little "what's that" she asks, and getting to be the one to comfort her whenever she's upset. I do not take it for granted, I am grateful every day to have the title of 'Mom', and pray I will always be able to be home with whatever children God entrusts to us. That said, 'living the dream' of being at home, is not an easy job. It is full to overflowing with responsibilities.

These aren't responsibilities I take lightly, either. I want to be "that mom". The one who really does have it all together. Dishes done. Laundry put away. Prayers said for each family member, and time spent in the Word. Floors swept (and steam-mopped). A child who naps. I know this woman doesn't really exist, but she does in my dreams and aspirations! :) I am learning, daily, that I have to constantly surrender my 'post' to God. I want to stand strong in the post He has placed me in, and thrive in it. And it looks like I'm going to have to do that while learning how to manage my time and energy with a child who is awake for most of the day at only a year old. That is the task before me, and I want to grow, learn, and draw closer to God through it. Ultimately, if that's the greatest struggle in my everyday walk as a mama, I'm a blessed girl!

So, here's to a new season - not just standing strong in my post, but embracing this season of my life that I know I'll, one day, long to have back.

A Crazy Start

2011-01-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

Well, 2011 is off to a crazy start! When this week, and this year, began, I had great expectations for a week of rest. Sitting around in my pajamas, watching Allie play in her footie sleepers, watching the recorded Christmas movies I'd yet to catch up on, and working on my taxes from time to time. It did not turn out that way.

The craziness ensued when my mom had eye surgery. Poor thing, she had all these awful, painful complications with it. She's spent her week going back and forth to doctors offices, putting eye drops in, etc. I have spent my week praying for, encouraging, and helping her in any way I could, though I feel like I didn't do much. Tuesday, I went to pick up my sweet Memaw for a lunch date with some precious friends of ours, and she was too sick to come. After getting Allie up, dressed, skipping her morning nap, giving mom a ride home from work, and going to pick Memaw up, we rescheduled for the following day. Fewf! It was Tuesday around noon, and I was already exhausted!

Wednesday, we tried again, and succeeded. We enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship and fun with the Critz/Boswell crew, and brought Memaw home in time for her afternoon classes. Allie and I were both pretty tired from our day-o-fun, so we rested that afternoon. Wednesday night, I went out to dinner with my sweet friend Tori! We went to Joe T.'s (after poor Tori finally figured out where it was - it's a tough place to find)! Being directionally challenged myself, I understood her dilemma completely. I ate an embarrassingly large number of chips, we stuffed ourselves full of fajitas, and had a blast. We also saw a crazy lady celebrating her son's birthday. She had bobby-pinned a single piece of pink curling ribbon in her hair as a fun birthday accessory. Weird, much? I had so much fun, but didn't make it home until close to 11:00! For this girl, who is usually tucked in no later than 10, and asleep no later than 10:30, this was a late night.

Thursday was a whole new brand of "crazy". My mom had an emergency with her eye, and had to be rushed back to the doctor's office to make sure everything was ok. (It was, thank goodness.) Allie woke up around 7 a.m. that day. She usually sleeps until at least 7:30. She started crying, whining, and was just generally upset from 7 until her nap time around 9:30, when she slept for a whopping 15 minutes. Then, the crying continued until noon, when I finally remembered we had teething biscuits. Praise the Lord for teething biscuits!!! I'm not exactly sure what was happening, but she finally calmed down, ate some lunch, and went down for her afternoon nap. I was so bleary-eyed and tired from the cry-fest, I was ready for a nap, too! Oh, wait...she woke up less than 30 minutes later! What a day! Poor baby, something was just off. She wasn't feeling well, obviously. My girl is a happy one on most days! To top it off, I knew I wouldn't be relieved any time soon. Adam had plans to help my brother move all of my dad's stuff into a storage facility that night. That's another story in itself.

Friday, thankfully, was a little less crazy. I was exhausted from the rest of the week, but I'd almost made it to the weekend, PTL! I made plans to go visit my dad Friday night in Grapevine where he is in treatment. I was far too tired for that 45-minute drive, and the emotional meeting I knew would take place when I got there, but I made it through. At least Friday I made it home by 10:00 instead of 11!

Today, I'm so thankful for a good night's sleep, and a day to spend with my husband and daughter! Allie even slept until 7:45, so I got to sleep in a little! So hopefully, that's the grand finale of my super-extremely-crazy week. I'm looking very forward to the next few days, as we're kicking off the New Year with our church, and doing 3 evenings of awesome services/worship and prayer. I can't wait!

"Goodness Gracious"

2011-01-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

I was given a devotional book for Christmas this year. It's not your run-of-the-mill devotional, either. It's HILARIOUS. It keeps my attention whether I'm reading at 5:50 a.m. before I go to the gym, or at 10:45 p.m. before I go to bed. I love it, and I love the amazing little truths it's reinforcing in my life as a wife, mom, and a child of God. It's called "Out of the Spin Cycle", and it's by Jen Hatmaker. I'm only on the 7th or 8th little 2-page devotional, but I am already ready to go to LifeWay and buy every book this girl has ever written. Love it!

I have been meditating on one entry that I started reading about 3 days ago. I haven't been able to move on to what's next, because this one hit me in a new and fresh way (PTL). I just keep going back each day and re-reading it, and I will continue to, because it's a truth that's important for every day of my life. I wanted to share it, especially with my young mommy friends, because it has encouraged me so deeply, and given me a new desire to spend time with the God who loves me so much. It will seem a little long typed out, but it's only 2 pages in the book, so please take the time to read and be encouraged! :)

"Scanning my bookshelves, I see about a billion books on parenting. I read eight books on babies before I ever gave birth to one. I've taken Lamaze classes, Baby Wise classes (don't start), and parenting classes. I've joined discussion groups on raising tweens and facilitated book studies on balanced motherhood. I've downloaded helpful sermons and read countless websites. I've made lists and plans on how to manage summer/chores/homework/discipline/sleepovers/house rules.
   And then there is real motherhood, which knocks out half of this stuff.
   Because sometimes, despite your careful strategizing and planning and reading and organizing, your two-year-old takes his diaper off in the middle of Target and runs up the cereal aisle while you scream at him like a mental patient. And sometimes, after you've planned the perfect playdate, your daughter bites your new friend's baby and flushes her phone down the toilet.
   And sometimes, when your precious firstborn son - the one you read all the baby books for and raised lovingly for ten years - opens a fresh, sassy mouth to you when you are already idling high, you accidentally tell him to get a shovel, go in the backyard, and dig his own grave. This, I don't have to tell you, is behavior Ted Tripp would frown upon in Shepherding a Child's Heart.
   Not surprisingly, when I made that shockingly horrible statement to my son, I was exhausted, stretched thin, out of the Word, and in a prayer slump. I was running on spiritual fumes. My only intake was whiny children, mountains of laundry, a Suite Life of Zack and Cody marathon, and four hundred thousand pieces of correspondence from Elm Grove Elementary to attend to.
   There is a simple explanation according to Jesus:

For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man brings good

things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of

the evil stored up in him. Matthew 12:34-35

Motherhood is like a pitcher with a hole in the bottom: a constant drain on our energy, patience, and tolerance. Every mother who is telling the truth would attest to that. Add something like a child with autism, single motherhood, a financial crisis, or a crumbling marriage, and it's a wonder we have anything left to give.

Our only hope to speak with kindness, to lead with patience, and not to threaten our children with homicide is to ensure our spiritual reserves are not bone dry.. Moms are the middle of the flow chart; the arrows of exertion flow constantly out from us, but when no arrows of strength, grace, and peace are flowing in, the whole mechanism is in danger.

Goodness in equals goodness out.

No goodness in equals no goodness out.

This is a simple truth recognized by Jesus and every other parenting expert, but one most moms fail to take seriously. We're too busy for the Word. We're too tired to pray. We have too much going on to join a small group. Under the banner of selflessness, we neglect our own spiritual health and sabotage the very service we want to render.

When God's word is flowing through my life, my baby can spill his fourth drink of the day, and I can say, "It's just a drink." When I'm spiritually dry, I could literally lie on the soggy floor and bawl over it. When Jesus has spoken peace into my life, I'm able to discipline consistently when my toddler pitches her third tantrum of the morning. If my pitcher is empty, I might lock myself in the bathroom and scream at the top of my lungs.

Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

If nothing good is stored up, where are we possibly going to draw patience? Grace? Longsuffering? Young motherhood is too demanding to attempt without a deep connection to Christ. I literally don't know how women do it without Him.

No, you don't have to spend an hour a day in the Word.

No, it's not necessary to look up Greek definitions and create outlines.

No, you don't need to build a prayer shrine with candles and worship music.

But a simple space at the beginning of your day before anyone needs to be attended to in any way, a moment just for you and God and His beautiful Word - this is essential. This is where goodness is stored up for the day, and you'll need it; it's perishable. This is when Jesus reminds you, "You can do this. I'm right here." It's how you become centered and remember that spilled drinks and tantrums are a blip on the timeline of your life. It's when God can whisper, "I have all you need."

Goodness in, goodness out.

Take care of the first, and the second is covered.

Happy 2011!

2010-12-31T22:30:00.000-08:00

2010 was one busy, crazy year for the Rieger family! Our God has been so faithful through every bit of it, and I am so thankful He is always constant!

The new year is always a time of reflection for me. I tend to need to reflect on the past year before I'm able to really look ahead to the new one. I love to see all that's taken place, all that's been accomplished, all that's been gained and lost in the past, and see God's hand in all of it. This is really all just for me - processing, thinking aloud, and taking a look back at the year, so that I can wake tomorrow ready to move ahead into ALL that God has laid out for me in 2011!

2010...
*I've never been more proud of myself than I am for nursing Allie for the first year of her life. This was one of the most challenging things I've ever done, and I am thankful to God for placing encouraging mommy friends around me to tell me it would get better - and it did! So thankful I was able to give her this gift.
*I rang in 2010 by bringing Allie home from the hospital.
*We went on our first ever family vacation to see my one and only cousin get married on the beach in Florida. It was so fun and memorable, and we're so blessed to have Mary as a part of our family now!
*Adam and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary and 6th year together - Praise God!
*The iPhone 4 came out (I know this seems lame, but it's allowed us to document SO much of little Allie's life - such a fun blessing!)
*I've watched my dad go through lots of struggles this year, and learned a lot about trusting God through this process. We are continuing to pray for complete healing in his life, and that God will have victory over Dad's addiction.
*This year, I enjoyed shopping for my daughter much more than for myself.
*We had so much fun watching the Texas Rangers play in the World Series!
*We experienced our first (and hopefully last) trip to the E.R. with Allie, when she fell off of the kitchen counter-top out of her bumbo seat. I am still so thankful to God for protecting her from any worse injury than a goose-egg on the head. Thankful, thankful, thankful.
*I didn't teach, help with, or attend a single sewing lesson at Memaw's house. For the first time in my life. I think 26 years was probably enough, but I do miss being with my precious Memaw daily.
*I got beautiful diamond earrings for my first Mother's Day. Shortly after, I got my ears double-pierced so that I could wear them always.
*God drew me closer to Him through many late-night prayers when I was up with Allie.
*I watched my little brother grow and mature in Christ, and become a true leader in the eyes of our family. So thankful for him, and the healthy relationship we have.

I have lots of "I wonder"'s about 2011. I am praying that God will keep my eyes fixed on Him as He leads me through this year, drawing me closer to His side, and working in and through all of the relationships He has placed me in. I have a few small, hopefully attainable, goals for the new year.

*Calorie Counting for all of January at least. This helps me be more attentive to what I'm eating. It's not a weight-loss plan, just a "mindfulness" plan. Doing this ever so often is always eye-opening to me.
*Being better about meal/grocery planning and spending. I know that planning ahead saves both time and money, and I need to purpose to do that.
*Seek opportunities (and TAKE the opportunities) to bless and encourage those around me, showing the Love of Christ. I want to be intentional about encouraging others - whether by cards in the mail, notes on Facebook, phone calls, or face to face time together.
*Pray with Allie more. Sounds simple enough, but this is a lifetime habit I want to root in her from a young age. I want to build more prayer into my life, too, and why not do it together? :)

I am so grateful that, whatever this year holds, God holds all of it in His careful, big-enough hands to carry it all.

Happy First Birthday, Allie

2010-12-31T21:58:00.000-08:00

I know I've said it before, but I really, truly, cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by. Everyone warned me that it would, and I didn't believe them.

Our baby girl is 1!

We had so much fun celebrating her last night! Needless to say, it was an absolutely crazy few days going from Christmas Eve, to Christmas Day, then preparing for Allie's birthday just 5 short days later. It was worth all of the exhaustion, though, and everything went so well! (And by "everything", I mean "everything except the fact that the only available toilet in our house broke about 20 minutes into the birthday party, and our house was packed to the brim with people). Those are the moments I've just learned to laugh about, because really, what else can you do?!

A few of my favorite pictures from Allie's big day..

Balloons on the mailbox = Party Time!

I got to make this fun banner for the party, and it turned out so cute and fun!

Decorating for this girly party was so much fun, and so much work! My mom was an amazing help in crafting all the fun decorations. They turned out so pretty! We used lots of tissue-paper flowers all over the house in different sizes, and they made it so festive!

Smash Cake, Cupcake-Cake, and Cake Pops!
I made the cake pops, and was so excited that they turned out (especially since I am NOT a stellar baker).

Allie wasn't too sure what to do with her cake, as is the case with most 1-year-olds, I'd think.

Becoming a mother has changed, challenged, blessed, and grown me in ways that I never could have imagined. I am constantly surprised by the new things Allie is learning, and I am so proud of every single little skill. She's amazing!

Several friends of mine write letters to their children on their birthdays. I completely love this idea (because I'm horribly sentimental), and I'm excited to begin that tradition with Allie's first birthday letter.

Allie Joy,

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet baby girl! I cannot believe a year has passed since I first laid tearful eyes on you in that hospital room. You were - and still are - the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Getting to know you this year has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Watching you grow from a tiny, helpless (and sleepless) infant into the toddling, inquisitive, smart little beauty you are today has been an amazing adventure, and I am so excited to know there are many more years, Lord willing, in store for our relationship to grow!

This year, I have watched you turn my husband into a loving, tender-hearted, gentle Daddy. His eyes light up when he sees you, just as yours do when you see him. Over the past few weeks, you have become especially attached to your 'Dada'. As soon as you hear the garage door begin to open in the afternoons, you begin to clap your hands and excitedly say, "Dada! Dada!" as you move toward the door. I love watching your love for him grow. He treats you with such tenderness, and I am amazed by his sensitivity to you. He knows you don't like the sun in your eyes when we're in the car, and he is so attentive and concerned if you're bothered by it. When he washes your face and hands after you eat a messy self-fed meal, he always uses warm water on a soft wash cloth - never cold water or paper towels. He takes care of you like every good daddy should care for his little princess.

A year ago today, I thought it wasn't possible to love you any more than I did when we finally met for the first time. Today, I know differently. Next year, I'm sure my love for you will multiply exponentially yet again. Several times this week, when I was rocking you (and your 'little blankie') at nap time, you picked your sleepy head up off of my shoulder to lean over and give me a kiss before falling asleep. I am so blessed to see this gentle, loving spirit beginning to develop in you already! I hope and pray that I am doing a good job of teaching you what it means to be a girl after God's heart, precious one. I love that any time I turn on music, you love to raise your hand in the air and praise Jesus. I pray you will learn at an early age what the significance of that praise is. This has been the most amazing, exhausting, challenging, emotional, wonderful, fun year I've ever experienced! I will never take for granted how blessed I've been to spend the first year of your life at home with you, watching all of your "firsts", and enjoying every single second.

I can't wait to see the things God has waiting for you in 2011, beautiful girl! Your Dada and I love you so very much, and are so thankful God entrusted you to us! Happy Birthday!

::freckled pink::

{Project 52:4}

My First Freezer Meal

Fort Worth Stock Show

{Project 52:3}

Hello, 3rd Trimester

{Project 52:2}

Piano Makeover

This & That Tuesday

Christmastime Recap {2011}

{Project 52:1}

Birthday Prayer

Pinteresting, Vol. 4

What will I do with a BOY?!

Joyful Parenting

Doing Life Together

Goodbye, Benbrook...Hello, Keller

Pinteresting, Vol. 3

This and That Tuesday

Pinteresting, Vol. 2

New Baby, New House, New Season

Messy Girl

A Picture Post

Pinteresting

This and That

eucharisteo

Smoothies

This and That

19 Months

eucharisteo

This and That

Hebrews 12:11

This & That

Cooling Off

Renewed Rocker

The 4th

{Market Yourself} Monday

New England Vacation, Part 3

New England Vacation, Part 2

Two Blogs Become One

New England Vacation, Part 1

Saturday Snapshot

18 Months

Memorial Day Weekend

17 Months

Silly Willy Girl

Mother's Day Lunch

Mother's Day

New Linen Towels

16 Months Old

Busy April

***SALE***

A Day in the Life, Vol. 2

Happy 28, Adam!

Love One Another

15 Months

The Great Outdoors

A Grown-Up Dining Set

Wordless Wednesday

Quints!

10 Years Later

Wordless Wednesday (after a very wordy Wednesday post)

Ah-Sis?

Valentine's Day 2011

Allie Update

Wordless Wednesday

Snow Week

Schedule-Obsessed

Allie's First Birthday Party

What's on my DVR?

Nap Time: My Nemesis

A Crazy Start

"Goodness Gracious"

Happy 2011!

Happy First Birthday, Allie

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