Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Random

CHRISTMAS CARDS Canon T3 12.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens - (Google Affiliate Ad)
So...I've been working on Christmas cards. Why do I always feel like I have to do these on my own and do them handmade? Oh my. I have spent hours today, just me and the Cricut and the paper cutter, and I'm not even a quarter of the way done. Regretting not going the Shutterfly route! Oh well...if you get a card from us, please appreciate it!! :)

DISNEY
A week from Monday, we head to Disney! So excited!! We are surprising the kids. I want to have a bunch of little "hints" wrapped up to give to them every hour or so ( a Mickey coloring book, a new Disney movie, a t-shirt, etc) but my husband just wants them to see the entrance when we drive in. What do you suggest??

 
 I am seriously like a kid when it comes to Disney. I am sooo excited!!! This is where we are staying:
Can.Not.Wait!!! I have heard the animals will just walk up to our balcony. AHHH!!!!

 If you have any tips or advice for me, please share!!

ELF ON THE SHELF

This morning, my daughter came running in to my room declaring she couldn't brush her teeth because Eff had her toothpaste!! Good try, sister!

And here's what ol' Eff is up to tonight:
Silly Elf!!

MY BABIES

They are getting so big!! I had my sweet photographer friend take some pictures of them by themselves when we took Christmas card pics. Thought I'd share some with ya....
Sam, 7 years old
Meri Hobbs, 5 years old



Eli, 3
Noah, 2





I am SO blessed!!!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Just Call Me Scrooge

Y'all, I love Christmas. I do. It is a wonderful time of year and I love the spirit and excitement and wonder. I love talking to my children about the birth of Jesus and how much He loves us. I love drinking hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies snuggled up on the couch. I love looking at all the lights and decorations. I love hearing the Salvation Army bells being rung at the stores. I love buying Christmas presents. I love getting Christmas presents. It is an awesome time of year.

But this year...I have not wanted to decorate. GASP! I know. It's terrible. I want my house to look pretty. I LOVE the way it looked last Christmas. (If you didn't see it, you can see it here.) But every time I decide to climb up in the attic to pull the decorations down, my next thought is, "Eh..." How terrible is that? My children keep asking when we are getting a tree. But I have no desire. I don't want to spend several days putting it all up. And I SURE don't want to spend several days taking it all down. We will be gone out of town twice between now and Christmas. So we wouldn't even get to fully enjoy it. Am I the worst mom ever if I don't decorate? Can we just buy a tree and put it up undecorated? I need some serious motivation here!

I am also stalled out on my Christmas cards. I bought the supplies. We had the picture taken. I even made the list. But that's where I stopped. I have a serious case of the lazies this year!

On the other hand....I am still rocking out the Elf on the Shelf! Here are our last two nights....


Saturday, December 1, 2012

The Magic Continues

So, as you know (because of my bragging on myself), Eff came back last night. If you don't know, read this post. And keep up, next time!

As expected, my kids were really excited. And asked way too many questions. I had to threaten to send him back to the big guy if they kept asking me questions about him.

  • Why doesn't he close his eyes?
  • Why does he like to keep his arms crossed?
  • Can he talk to Santa?
  • Does he lose his magic if adults touch him?
  • How does he know my name?
  • How does Santa know his name if we named him?
  • How does he get back and forth from the North Pole?
Man...I said the word magic more times today than I did in my previous 34 years combined.

So, before bedtime tonight, we planted the magic seeds to see what would happen. Only half of my kids participated in this....my oldest is spending the night with a friend, and my youngest went up to his Daddy when we were about to start this project, held his arms up and said "night, night Daddy." So we took that hint and put him to bed!

But here are the 3 & 5 year old enjoying planting the seeds...











And here's what they will find when they wake up in the morning......



If you have any great elf ideas for me to do, leave me a comment and let me know!!!

Friday, November 30, 2012

Return of the Elf

So, I have a confession. We have had an elf on the shelf for probably 5 years. I have been a bad elf owner. First of all, his name is Eff. Eff the Elf. Horrible, right? In my defense, my then 3 year old named him. But it still just puts a bad vibe out there for the elf.

Also, our elf has never seemed to move around a lot. He kinda likes to get in one good spot and stay there. When my kids question this, I tell them it's because they have been so good that he doesn't have much to report back to Santa.

And he has NEVER done anything fun like I see on Pinterest. He just sits. And watches. It's kinda creepy, really.

This is the year that all changes, folks! I am about to be THAT mom! Yes-siree, I am. I will over-achieve with my Elf on the Shelf this year. And I will take pictures of it. And I will put it on facebook. And I will blog about it. And I will ignore the eye rolls and snickers I get from you whilst I'm doing it. (I won't, however, ignore Snickers, capital S, that I get from you. Those, I love.)

So, tonight's the night Eff comes to our home. And he comes bearing gifts. I shamelessy copied word for word and idea for idea from this creative mom right down to the free stationary she used from here. But no matter, it's the thought, right?

Drumrolllllll please.......

Here is Eff with his goodies from the North Pole
Here is the letter he brought with instructions from Santa.

He brought us some snow from the North Pole. (It's actually flour...shhhh)

And our magic seeds. I meant to buy Christmas tree sprinkles, but forgot. Guess I'm an under-over-achiever! 

I know my kids will be SO excited to find this in the morning! And I'm thankful for all those moms who come up with these ideas that I can borrow!! I love watching the wonder and excitement of the season in the faces of my babies.

Stay tuned for more elf awesomeness!!!
 (SPOILER ALERT...After they plant the seeds, it will grow into Christmas cookies)

Monday, November 12, 2012

Good News/Bad News

Hey y'all!! Guess who finally got a new computer?? Need a hint? It's me!!! Hopefully I can blog more now! I have missed y'all!

Things are good in my little world. Busy with kids and church...same old!

The bad news...Blogger hates me? Or changed while I was gone? I dunno, but my list of blogs I follow is now empty. :( Boo!!

So, if you are awesome and think I should follow your blog....leave me a comment with a link so I can check it out!

Friday, August 24, 2012

HUGE Announcement

Ok. I lied. I'm sorry. I just wanted you to read this, really.

So you may (or may not) have noticed I have been MIA for a while. So what better reason to venture back than some shameless self-promotion?! Why not?

I have updated my etsy shop and added an awesome new product!! Burlap door hangers! Here's the one that's currently on my front door:


So, if you haven't checked me out lately, go do it!  My Etsy shop

In related exciting news, I created a facebook page for my little shop o' crafts. Please go like it so you will nary miss a new item I am selling!   Click here now to make my day!

Also, tell a friend or two to like my page! My oldest son is needing braces, and they ain't cheap! :) I may even do a giveaway or two every now and then!!

See y'all soon!!!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Hey y'all!

Just wanted to let you know I am alive and well. And I am missing the ol' blog. And man, do I have lots to tell you!

But, my computer stinks! A piece inside where I plug the battery in broke off. So now, if I'm on the computer and so much as breathe the wrong way, the cord falls out and the computer cuts off. I know, bless my heart. But it's frustrating! So I don't get on the computer so much anymore!

But I'll be back! Don't give up on me!!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Birth Story....Eli

Oh, this birth story is quite the shocking one! Both Eli's conception and his birth were definitely not what we expected.

If you have been keeping up, I was pregnant and miscarried, I was pregnant with combining fertility drugs and and IUI procedure, and had a healthy baby, Sam, and I was pregnant with only using 2 types of fertility drugs and had a healthy baby, Meri Hobbs. So after our experiences, we knew we needed help getting pregnant, so once again, we didn't get back on birth control.

That was our first mistake! One night, right after Meri Hobbs had turned one, I realized I had been feeling weird for a few days.  We were having Bible School that week, and our local pharmacist/BFF was at the church helping with Bible School. I told him and his wife what was going on, and they convinced me I needed to take a pregnancy test. He ran up to his store and got me one...the digital kind that tells you either "pregnant" or "not pregnant". No squinting at lines and trying to determine if there was really something there or not.  So, I went home a few minutes early to take the test. I was shocked when it was positive. I didn't think we were able to get pregnant on our own!

Eddie got home a little bit later and I met him at the door and showed him the test. "Is this a joke?" was his question! Umm, yeah...I got some random pregnant lady to come tee-tee on this stick for me so I could freak you out....of course it's not a joke!!

We got over the shock that we would have two babies nineteen months apart, plus a 4 year old, and we started getting excited! When we found out it was going to be another boy, we got busy turning Sam's room into a room he could share with a brother.
The big brother and big sister

Nothing out of the ordinary with the pregnancy. I had gestational diabetes again, but there wasn't too much to it.

So, we were all set to be induced on January 6th....had to be at the hospital at 5 am to get started. At this time, we lived in the middle of nowhere, so that meant we had to leave our house at 4 am. So I had to get up to shower, etc at 3 am. Fun times.

We get to the hospital and I'm ready to roll at 5. I am being monitored and my Pitocin is flowing. Everyone has told me how fast this will go since this is my third baby. I should have a baby by lunch, no problem! Well, that's not quite how it happened.

When it was finally time to get my epidural, the anesthesiologist came in to do her thing. Let me first say that getting the epidural is not a fun experience. You have to arch your back like a cat and bend so far over that you can't breathe. Hello...I have this basketball in my belly...I can't touch my toes! So they are telling you to bend over...farther, to be very still, and not to move when they jab you with this humongo needle. Not an easy feat, I tell you. So, all 4 times I have gotten an epidural, I have been crazy nervous. Like, crying almost to the point of hyperventilating nervous. The idea of a tube being thread up my spine just weirds me out big time. So, epidurals - I don't like them. But I like the alternative even less, so here I was arching like a cat and crying like a baby.

OK, so she started inserting the needle. Oops, that didn't work. Let me try again. She tried inserting the catheter three different times on two different needle pokes. None of it worked. On the third needle poke, when she drew back her syringe, she drew back blood. That didn't work. I was hysterical and Eddie was about to pass out. Thankfully, the nurse noticed his state and told him to switch places with her so she could hold my hand and he could sit down. Unfortunately, no one offered to switch places with me. Hmph. Then the anesthesiologist tried again, and thinks it's a success. She asked the standard questions about if I felt dizzy or had a ringing in my ears...which I couldn't hear because of the ringing in my ears and I couldn't answer for feeling so dizzy. So, she declared it a loss and said it just wasn't gonna work. She wasn't able to try again. She had reached her limit.

Oh. My. Word. I was terrified. OK, I had changed my mind. I am not ready to have this baby. Take all these tubes out of my arms, I am going home. There was no way I could have this baby without an epidural. But that was exactly what I was about to do. Looking back now, yes, it did hurt, but I think more than the pain was the fear of not knowing what it would be like. I remember I kept telling Eddie that I couldn't do it. This was the absolute scariest moment (well, hours worth of moments) in my entire life. The contractions weren't as bad as I would have imagined. Having the monitor there helped because Eddie could tell me when it was going back down. So I could at least tell myself I was about to get a break.

I asked the nurse if I could at least have a Tylenol. She went out to get a local block but by the time she got back I had started pushing. OK, have you seen those Lifetime movies where the women are screaming like maniacs and you are thinking, "whatever...nobody really acts like that." Umm, I acted like that. I screamed louder and longer than I thought I would have been capable of. It was crazy. I was crazy. (In my defense, I DIDN'T scream "You did this to me" to Eddie. I especially hate that part in the Lifetime movies!) But I had also never felt pain like that. Wow. I'll skip over that part! :) And ps...no epidural also means the clean-up after had no pain relief. That was bad.

And the consolation that it was going to be so much quicker since it was my third? Nope. Didn't happen. It was longer. 19 hours. My other two were 12 and 13. He didn't even come on the same day I was induced. 12:09 am the next day. Little stinker!

After Eli was born, he had some blood issues (something was low? or high? I can't remember), so he was kept in the special needs nursery for close monitoring. He also had jaundice and was under the light. This also was not too big of a deal. He didn't have too many tubes...just an IV, and we were able to go in every three hours and hold and feed him. He was sent home with a biliblanket  and all was well soon.

For all the trouble he was to get here, Eli is such a sweet-natured little boy. I will take 19 hours worth of pain any day for another Eli! I am having so much fun watching him grow and learn. Our verse for Eli is John 1:16, "From the fullness of his grace, we have received one blessing after another." Eli is one of our greatest blessings from our Father!
Sweet big brother!
Eli today

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Stacy Lately....


Hey y'all!! Whew it's been a while since I've been here! What have I been up to, you ask? Ohhh...I've been making cookies, rearranging my bedroom, reading, cooking, painting, going to 5 Easter egg hunts, cleaning out closets of all 4 children, and spending 3-4 nights every week at the ballfield. Man!

I'll show you some pics of my recent activities...

Paintings...
Cookies....
Easter stuff....

And the ball field....
Our friendly neighborhood pilot drew us a picture at the ball fields!