Just call them Hansel and Gretel.....

Hayden started calling me the other night..... "Mama, you have GOT to see what the babies are doing!" Now, I see the babies all day long everyday, so I'm not easily surprised. This was the exception..... Here are my babies... INSIDE their stove loving every minute....

I adore my almost 13 year old who still climbs in the crib to play with his sister. That isn't a tatoo on his arm ;) just where some girl wrote on him......

I am one blessed mama! It's crazy, but I'm blessed!

Total randomness......

The more I think about it the more I'm leaning towards not sewing for others for a while. I KNOW I will here and there, otherwise AP and EK will have 765 outfits apiece. I do LOVE to sew... ;) Anyway, I still have a couple of things I've committed to, but I have been enjoying life! Taking my girlies to the park, cleaning up my house, cooking here and there, and just being away from the sewing machine has been fabulous. I made my girlies those Tea for Two sets, and it was so much fun! I'm really enjoying having time to be creative........ The girls have been loving their mommy time, and I have to.

I miss Daisy. I miss Maggie. (I miss Lukie and Wyatt too.) I NEED to see my girls!!! I am going to make sure we have a play date soon.....

I am liking my short hair but kinda miss my darkness.....

I just ate one of the girls' chocolate bunnies while I worked on this post......

I'm running again. Well, jogging, but I am moving some......

I warned you. This was way random.....


This is the Tea for two set.... LOVE it.

Just a cute (although blurry) picture of Ek and Bella..

Good thing this child is this gorgeous. She has been SO TWO lately. Whew. She's wearing me OUT.

These are some of the flowers that were blooming around my yard over the last month or so.... Why can't they do this all year long??

Anne Pearce after church this morning...

Essie after church this morning.....

I heart sewing.....

I really do..... I fall asleep at night thinking about my fabrics and what I'll do next.... I DON'T like it when I take too many orders and overwhelm myself. It's hard to enjoy it when I feel rushed. I'm going to try something different for a while. I'll only be offering 1 or 2 things at a time..... That way I can still sew but it not take over my life.... I plan to start that back up in a week or 2..... For now, I've been playing with pillowcase dresses made from REAL pillowcases. I love the dainty stripes on this one paired with that pink damask and polka dots. After I made the dress I made Essie a pillowcase for her bed..... I love the way it turned out. When I added the initial this time I placed it over a circle of coordinating fabric, and I LOVE the way it turned out! I plan on making some inital tank/bloomer sets soon.
Happy Friday!!! Have a great weekend!

Happy Easter

This child is hilarious.....

It's so hard to get both of them to look at the same time....

CHEESE!

All four of my Easter Blessings..... Happy Easter to you all.

Happy Anniversary Little Guidant Pacemaker.....

Thank you so much for forcing my heart to beat for 5 years today..... You never bother me.... You're only a pain when I go through airport security. Thanks to you I've had body patdowns all over the place......I'm also alive thanks to you :)...... The scar where you were put in has faded some with time. Someone actually asked me one time if it was a scar from a boob job. Funny, huh? You've also lasted a lot longer than I thought you would.... You're still going strong with no sign of having to be replaced. I may get a few more years out of you before they have to put your little sister in. It is of no small significance to me that I was saved on a Good Friday.... the same day my Savior died for me. He died. I lived. I'm thankful to Him for letting you save me. He evidently had more work for me to do.... Anyway, thanks for the beats. You rock.

Easter dresses, sunshine, and exercise.....

I am ALMOST finished the sewing marathon.... I have about a mile left to go, and I am DONE..... I am so ready for a break and to make some of these lovelies for MY girlies..... Kennedy and Bella are about as close to mine as you can get, and I just finished their Easter dresses. I made Bella's first, and Kennedy surprised us by wanting a matching one.... How could I tell that sweetie no?? SO, these are on their way to Utah tomorrow..... I have one more set and a few pillowcase dresses to do, and I'll be finished.... Whew. I'm ready for a break.

The sunshine has finally come back to Alabama along with some COLD April weather..... We took these this weekend. The girls were so happy to be out running wild in the yard. We were all stir crazy from being trapped indoors from the weather..... My girls are just so beautiful they take my breath away..... I can't claim any genetic link, so I can brag on their beauty all I want! They are gorgeous though and SO sweet. Here are my 2 favorites from the weekend:

My sweet Anne Pearce..... I don't know why I love this picture so much, but I do.......

Essie Baby Cakes..... She is the sweetest little baby ever. She really melts my heart. God has blessed us so with all 4 of our kids. Spring Break is next week, so I should be able to corner my gorgeous boys for some pictures. They look like men.....Until then, if you figure out how to freeze kiddos please send me an email ;)

I forgot to mention this when I published earlier. I have been researching a lot about my health condition (dysautonomia) looking for ANY ways to help with my symptoms. I have read about several people who are in complete remission through exercise. When I think back over the years and how my illness progressed I see how it all started to go downhill when I stopped running and working out. I started experiencing some exercise intolerance and just stopped. That was probably the worst thing I ever did.....As soon as I wrap up all the sewing getting back into shape is going to be the biggest priority after my family. I am so motivated! Knowing I can change how I feel all the time is driving me to whip this 38 year old body back into shape. I know you guys have heard this before, but I'm really ready to make myself a priority. My goal is to run again. I KNOW I can do it. It will take a lot of time and patience, but I am committed. I'll let you all know how it goes....

Love and hugs,

All good things must come to an end (or at least a slow down).....

I love to sew. Really. I do. However, I have become overwhelmed lately with the amount of sewing that I'm doing..... In all my free time I am sewing. Sewing all. the. time. I have decided to take a break from sewing for others for a while.... I want to be a good wifey and mommy for a while without distraction. I want to get creative and make some really beautiful things. I don't want to rush.... I want to go to the library and the park with my babies.... clean my house..... have a long phone conversation.... LOVE on my hubby..... As of today I am taking no new orders. I'm not saying that I won't sew at ALL for others, just not in the capacity that I was doing before. I love all you guys and appreciate all the support..... I realized today that I worked too hard to get my 2 babies here to miss all the fun of them..... I'm getting out from behind those machines and living life. Well, I will as soon as I finish my orders....

love and hugs....

Back from the mountains......

I had a great trip to Utah..... It was COLD! I left 75 degree weather and was greeted by snow when I arrived that afternoon. Essie was a champ on all the flights and charmed everyone she met..... She loved her Utah family and had a great time. Kennedy was baptized while I was there, and I was honored to be a part of it..... It was such a beautiful ceremony..... I cried like a baby. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Mormon religion the child's daddy actually baptizes them.... I'm telling you it was an amazing thing to see. Kennedy is such a special child, and you could just feel the Spirit in the room. AMAZING...... Nat and I just hung out with the kiddos most of the time. We had plans, but it was too cold to do most of them. We did manage to visit my favorite Utah eating spots.... YUM.....

Essie did well most of the time, but I quickly realized we would have to rethink our honeymoon plans. Essie just isn't close to being ready to be away from us..... She had a horrible time missing Andrew and Anne Pearce..... Anne Pearce also had a hard time without me..... Oh mommyhood. Never a break....... I am ashamed to admit that we didn't take many pictures. Nat's camera died, and my camera battery konked out....... I'll share what I do have over the next couple of days......

Here I am with the girls before Kennedy's baptism.

Trying to use the camera timer before we left for the airport....

Man, am I fat or what??? Isn't my NatNat beautiful??

I couldn't resist this one..... Nat's 2 week old nephew had just spit up..... It rolled right down the cleavage which Natalie quickly informed the entire room (full of good Mormon men). I said, "Excuse me Dennis (Nat's father) and went in for the clean up......

Honeymoon, here we come!

Ok. So, Andrew and I have never had a honeymoon or anything close to one..... Everywhere we've gone since we've been together has included the kids. First, we took Logan and Hayden with us everywhere..... We wanted to be a family. Our next trips were to Guatemala! over and over and over and over.....wonderful times seeing the babies but not very romantic. Our 5th wedding anniversary is July 8, AND WE ARE FINALLY GOING ON A HONEYMOON!!!! WHOOO HOOOOOO!!!! We think we are going to Cancun to the Sun Palace..... It's a short trip for us from Alabama, and we can be back in 5 days......close but oh so far away at the same time...... I can't imagine having my honey to myself for 5 whole days..... Can you say smooch, smooch, smooch????? Oh, I can't wait!!!! Just wanted to share....

Another thought: OH CRAP! I have to walk around in a bathing suit for 5 days.... Operation lose 20 pounds begins tomorrow. I want to wear a bikini!

love love love and hugs,

Happy Birthday, Sweet Andrew....

This man means so much to me..... More than words can describe. He is my everything..... my best friend, my companion, fabric folder, diaper changer, food cooker, laundry washer..... Above all else he is my one true love.... I don't know what I ever did to deserve such a blessing. He is such a godly man and is the best husband and father to all the kiddos and me. We are all better people for having Andrew in our lives..... I love you, darlin'....... Happy Birthday.


How gorgeous is this man of mine??

Cute Essie with snotty nose and all.....

This is probably mean, BUT I couldn't resist....

These are the only pictures I took at the Art show today except for Anne Pearce eating a chicken on a stick.... It was TOO hard to pull the ol' camera out while pushing a fussy Essie.... Anyway, when mama and I came upon this dude by himself, in the middle of the road, trying to get people to dance I HAD to stop and click.....

Can you guess what song this is from his action????

A far off shot to show you that NO one (besides those 2 preteens by the blue garbage can) were paying him ANY attention. I ALMOST went to dance with him..... I promise to take more pictures tomorrow when we go back.... I want you guys to see how fabulous this Art show really is!

Kiss kiss kiss

These are what we call Kissy Lips around our house. Anne Pearce is the originator of the kissy lip. When we want kisses she's happy to oblige..... She is so cute I can barely stand it!

Essie's Kissy Lips aren't quite as poochy as AP's, but we're working on it..... They're still sweet though!

Side view of kissy lips

This is usually what we get from Essie......

"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Essie... You call THOSE kissy lips??"

Sometimes the babies like each other for a few minutes.....

Anne Pearce likes to take her pj's off every chance she gets....

Night night, folks!

Hello all,

I couldn't help it..... I had to share these pictures of my sweet girlies. Their daddy took them tonight before bedtime..... It's been a very rainy weekend here in Alabama..... no going outside..... we all have cabin fever. Here's hoping for some sunshine tomorrow....

Hugs,

Loulou