Norah's Outfit Part 3

The Onsie...I appliqued her name onto the onsie in the same fabric that I did the "N" on her blanket.

Now, keep in mind, this is the first time for me to try out appliqueing anything so no one is aloud to look real close at the stitching! lol

The "N" was not nearly as challenging as the whole name because I had to shrink the letters down in order to get it to fit on the onsie. Lots of little bitty curves + a new appliquer = lots of jumps and uneven stitches.

I will say, that for my first attempt, these didn't turn out all that bad!

Eating With A Spoon

She's eating yogurt here with a spoon all by herself! I know it sounds trivial, but I was so impressed at how neat she was with it... at least until she dumped the bowl on her head... lol

Where's Your Nose??

I think she's digging for gold! lol

Norah's Outfit Part 2

The banket....I thought this would be the easiest part of the set I would have to do... wrong!

Since I do not own a ruffling foot for my sewing machine, I had to make the ruffle by hand. Holy Moly was I wrong when I thought that wouldn't take long to do!! I did the calculations on how much ruffle I needed which ended up being 114"; which meant I had to make a 208" strip of fabric that would "scrunch" down to that size. It took me forever to get it even ruffled and then to try and keep the ruffle consistant over the whole strip didn't make it any easier. Several nap times and evenings of ruffling has ended up with a ruffling foot on my long wish list, lol.

All in all, I think it turned out great and I decided to applique a "N" to the bottom corner just to give it a little something extra.

Next, on to the onsie...

Norah's Outfit Part 1

I found this zebra print hat and a onsie at the Strawberry Festival and thought it would make an adorable outfit for Norah to come home from the hospital... It only needed a little embellishment :).

So, I have been working on a matching blanket and I am going to applique her name onto the onsie (pictures to come as soon as I am done) in the same Periwinkle fabric I used to make the flower on this hat. I really wanted a bright purple but this is the closest I could find in a paisley print.

I love it and I can't wait to have it finished and ready for her arrival (which is less than 12 weeks away, by the way!)

Happy Mother's Day!

First, I want to say a special "Happy Mother's Day" to my mom and mother-in-law. They are two terrific woman whom I am thankful to have in my life! (Is it "who" or "whom"? I can never get that one right, lol)
Next, I would just like to say that I am so thankful to be the mom of these two little munchkins!

They have made my world a better place and I am a better person because of them. I thank God every day for giving me the chance to raise these little bundles of joy :)

Here's to all of you other moms out there! If you want a laugh, listen to this song, it is so funny and true!

Source

Awesome Mom
Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.


Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom

Another Birthday Present

Since my sisters and I are celebrating all of our birthdays at the same time, I decided that since I was making Emily's present this year, I would make Hannah one too.

**Hannah, stop reading right now if you are! Spoiler alert!!**

Hannah is getting married in January and she is using peacock feathers as her inspiration for her colors. Emily and I found this beautiful fabric in her wedding colors at JoAnn's a few weeks ago and thought she would love a bag made out of it. So, I looked through my book of purse patterns and decided this one would be great for her.

It took no time for me to throw it together but the handles sure fought me! I need to find something better to use than plastic tubing (as the pattern calls for) to use because it is really hard to form just right. Plus, you can alsways see where the two ends meet and it bothers me!

Can't forget my signiture tag! ;)

{hand sewn french knots in the shape of a paisley}

I had enough fabric left over to make her a makeup bag to go with it!

I sure hope she likes it!

Sources

I've had a few people ask me where I go to get my coupons. First, the best place is your newspaper. If you find some good coupons in it, go back later in the week and get some more copies for even cheaper!

I also made a list of links on the left hand side of my blog to online printable coupons that I have found. Some are local but you can probably find something similar in your area... just google! My favorite link is Coupons.com and the coupons at Target. They seem to have the most useful ones for me. Most of these sites also have links to different kinds of coupons like groceries, retail, restaurants, etc.

If you know of any others, please share! Thanks! :)

Bluebonnets

I bet you thought by the title of this that I was going to be showing pictures of Avery in the Texas Bluebonnets... Nope! We missed out on that this year, unfortunately.

Actually, I am going to show you the painting I finally finished for my sister's birthday. She requested a "Jessica Gribnau original" for their new house that they are building, so I thought a Bluebonnet would be perfect.

**Emily, if you are reading this STOP NOW! Unless you want to ruin the surprise!**

I think it turned out pretty good. Of course, I only see all of the flaws when I look at it, but that comes with the territory, I guess. I hope you like it too!

*Just and FYI... the picture doesnt seem to show all of the detail or how bright the colors really are.

Coupon Excursion #1= success!

Avery and I made our trip to the grocery store to catch some deals that I mentioned earlier. All-in-all it was a success but there were a few bumps in the road that taught me a few lessons.

**Let me just pause here and say that I know it sounds like I have never grocery shopped before. That is obviously not the case! lol I also know that most of you probably could care less that I am couponing, but I am just super pumped and motivated to start some serious saving so why not share what I find just in case anyone out there wants to too??**

Lesson #1: Don't let your 15 month old chid get ahold of your coupon binder! Right as we got started shopping I was digging out the circular and she knocked my binder on the floor. It flew open and coupon sheets went EVERYWHERE! So, the remainder of my shopping trip there were coupons in a big pile, unorganized sitting under the cart. What a way to start; breaking #2 of my obstacles to overcome. oh well!

Lesson #2: Reorganize my binder. I had it all divided out but I needed to divide it even further. I have 5 dividers with 7 under each of those. This way I know exactly where to flip to when I know I have a coupon

Lesson #3: Pull out the coupons as I find the item. I actually figured this one out as I went. I first thought I would pull them out before I went in the store but if you can't find the item you want or need based on the coupon (or if there is a better deal by buying a generic brand) than you will want to hold onto that coupon

Taking advantage of so many sales the store had, plus using my membership card, and coupons, I was able to save over $70! I got enough meat to last us the whole month (if not more) and some other items that were on my list. I did really good at getting only the items I had listed and even decided that I really didnt need some of them when I got to shopping. I have also racked up 50 cents off per gallon of gasoline! Yay!! I signed up for the baby program so that for every $25 I spend on baby items I get another 5 cents off per gallon. I know it's just pennies, but it adds up fast! The same goes for coupons. If you are able to stack them on an item, just 25 cents off something can add up fast and get you some real savings.

One tip that I found out through researching coupons is that most grocery stores will match certain coupons every week which means even more savings!

I hope I haven't bored anyone! In fact, I hope I have only motivated a few. I just hope that I can keep it up! :)