In Nashville for the Weekend!!

I am so glad to be sitting here blogging this early Saturday morning. I was afraid that I was not going to have internet access this weekend. I cannot survive without the laptop! We are staying in a hotel in Nashville while Big E has guard duty this weekend. We figured since we had to be up here for a funeral yesterday, we might as well stay all weekend. It's exciting for me to get away from the house and to get to visit with my friends. The only thing that is difficult is traveling with a 1 year old. Her pack and play will be where she sleeps, snacks, and plays!! I am not fond of her crawling around on the floor in a hotel room..Yuck!! Hopefully we will get out and find lots to do since it is supposed to be 70 degrees all weekend!! YAY!!! I think we might find a park and we also have to go to the fabric store and I must go to Opry Mills. The sales there are awesome at Children's Place and Gymboree outlets. I can honestly buy both of my kids an entire wardrobe for the next winter season for like $50 right now. Everything goes on clearance at the end of each season and most of it is like $1.99 per piece at the Children's Place. I love to shop, but being a one-income family doesn't really allow me to do so. I have to just enjoy it when I am getting really awesome deals! Well, I think I will head down to the free hotel breakfast and grab something to eat and start my day! Happy Saturday!!

Here are some pictures of Princess E this morning in the pack and play:

CHEESE!

With her toys and cheerios

This is her way of playing Peek-A-Boo

She is just to dang cute!! She is talking up a storm and can already sing H, I, J, K of her alphabet!

Lots of Laundry Tuesday!!

Well....I am proud to say I am on load of laundy #5 and it feels great! Piled up laundry is the worst!! I decided yesterday that I would accomplish some cleaning and cook a good meal for my husband and kids for dinner. I did do a little (by little I mean I made the living room look nice) cleaning and I made Chicken Spinach Fettucine Alfredo. Man, it was AWESOME!! I have started trying to feed the fam a little more variety that is on the healthy side. We have learned that A-man likes Parmesan Crusted Tilapia and will eat anything leafy green you put in front of him. I made a strawberry and feta cheese salad with balsamic dressing that he just wanted to keep eating more. I think he was impressed with the strawberries being in the salad. Tonight, I have no idea what I am cooking, but need to figure it out in the next half hour or I will have a bunch of hungry unhappy people in my face! What's for dinner? Can we order a pizza since you haven't cooked yet? I am trying my darndest to keep us from eating out as much as possible. Now, I promised pictures of my latest work, so here you go! What do you think? I love making diaper bags! They seem to just keep getting better everytime!

The Diaper Bag

The Changing Pad

The Whole Set

Ahhh....It's Monday Again!

Even though I am a stay at home mom, I still dread Mondays. It seems the weekend family time with my husband and our sweet babies goes by too fast! My sweet husband always lets me sleep in on Saturdays even though he gets up at 4:30 am every morning for his 1.5 hour commute to work. I know he loves me lots to get up even on the weekends just to allow me a few extra hours of uninterrupted rest. I always get up during the night with Princess E. She still doesn't sleep all night. I think she has been cutting teeth for about 6 months straight! So, I am always walking around like I haven't been to sleep in a month..lol. I guess it's just Big E's way of showing his appreciation for me. There is no sweeter gift to me than a NAP!! My weekend was a good one! I finished up a sewing project on Friday. It is a diaper bag, with coordinating changing pad, burp cloths, and a bib! It turned out great, but I can't post the pics until it gets to my friend since she reads this blog! I will post them as soon as I hear from her! Now that I have completed that project, I am going to spend this week on a crayon bag binge! I have promised 3 bags to my nephews and my cousin's little girl, so keep watching to see the finished products! Also, I am totally excited....I ordered a new Amy Butler Book- little stitches for little ones. It has lots of cute patterns for baby items! It should be here in a day or two!

Also, I got my new EnV2 phone last week and ordered the cutest pink leather cover. My husband laughed and said he loves my teenager phone..lol!! What can I say...I am a PINK fanatic! I gave up a PINK Blackberry Curve to get this phone. Verizon just charges too much for that Blackberry data plan and I am always looking to save us money!

Well, since I cleaned NOTHING this weekend and did NO laundry... I better get to work! Happy Monday!

PRAYER REQUEST- Please pray for my sister S. She is having some liver trouble and is undergoing some testing to determine the cause this Wednesday. Please pray for positive news and her good health.

I Survived the Birthday Party!

Let me just say the birthday party went very well! I am so grateful to everyone that attended and made such precious memories with us! We had great food, lots of family and friends, and took lots of pictures! Princess E got a lot of cute clothes and fun toys! I dressed her in the shirt that I made her, a hot pink tutu, blue jeans, and a happy birthday hair bow! She looked adorable! This is the first picture I have gotten of her standing all by herself. Doesn't she look cute?

We had a great time and I think the best part is the wish book I am making for her. I made cute little scrapbook pages and asked everyone to write a wish for her future on them. I will add a photo of each person to their page and give it to Princess E on her 18th birthday! I think it will show her how much she was loved at only a year old and give her some insight on the people that wrote to her that will no longer be with us when she is 18. I have read them all and I am so touched and we are so blessed to be surrounded by such loving people! I will put it all together and snap some pics of it so you get the idea a little better when I complete all of my sewing projects on the table right now. I spent all day Sunday trying to recover from my exhaustion and it was back to business as usual yesterday. I ran 3 loads of dishes in the dishwasher, worked on laundry, and did some sewing. Today, I ran out of laundry detergent, so I am sewing and blogging! Well, I will keep you updated on all the projects as I go along! Happy Tuesday!

Why Can't There Be Two of Me?

I am in birthday party planning chaos! I need to be scrubbing toilets and wrapping presents here at the house and I need to be out in town finishing grocery shopping and covering last minute stops. This is crazy because I started planning this party as soon as Christmas was over. I think it never clicks how much needs to be done until the 24 hours before the party is supposed to happen. I love having parties, especially birthday parties! I like being able to choose a theme and get all the cute stuff to go with it. This party is Princess E's 1st birthday so I chose Abby Cadabby. I know she is only one and she doesn't care, but she will go back and see pictures and know that Mommy went all out for her because I love her to pieces and it makes me happy to do it! It makes me happy after the fact, but making it all happen may be the death of me this week! I have family coming in to town and I am giving them my house because the economy has raised hotel room rates through the roof! Me, Big E, A-man, and Princess E will be crashing at Nana's since she is close and has a spare bed! I know it sounds stressful, but having my family drive 3 hours to my daughter's party means so much to me! I love having my family visit! Big E's family is from here, so they get to see us more often. Anyways, back to this party planning business...I need another body to mind these munchkins that need drinks, diapers changed, and want someone entertain them 24/7!! A-man is so excited about the party, but he thinks it just happens without any effort. He says to me this morning "Mommy, are you gonna do this housework all day?" If he only knew that is the last thing I wanted to hear after not going to bed until 3:30 am this morning! He thinks he knows it all, but this statement only shows how innocent his little mind truly is....he is precious and I love him! As for all of the sewing projects I wrote about yesterday that I needed to do...YEAH RIGHT!! I just decided to hang them up until after the weekend is over, except for Princess E's birthday shirt! I made this for her to wear with her hot pink tutu! These shirts are available on my website if you are interested in purchasing one, please contact me here and mention my blog for a 20% off discount. These shirts can be personalized many different ways for your child's special occasion!






Well...I guess I need to get back to my toilets....Yay!! Tomorrow is the big party day, so I will post lots of cute pics of our little Princess E!! Happy Friday!

Happy 1st Birthday Princess E

I have been gone for a few days- working hard on all things that need to be accomplished before all of the family comes in to town this weekend for the birthday party! But, today is a very special day in our lives. Princess E joined our family and stole every ones heart at 5:50 p.m. one year ago today!

Here she is only a few minutes old:

I have only cried once today, but I have been crying on and off all week because my sweet little baby is growing up so quickly. I do not intend to have anymore children so its bittersweet for me! Princess E is the most beautiful little girl in the whole world. She has made us laugh a lot and cry some too. She has made us worry when she has been sick and exhausted when she refuses to sleep all night. Most importantly, she makes me smile every time I look at her knowing that she is a true gift from the Lord. We have been so blessed and are so thankful. As we sat at the dinner table, eating birthday pizza, Big E asked A-man if he was happy to have sister with us or if he liked it better when it was just the three of us. I expected my 4 year to wish her away since he used to be the center of attention and now he has to fight for his own toys..lol! My sweet little boy said " I am glad we have sister. She is fun to play with and I love her." He is such a sweet and loving little guy! You know after the pizza we had to have a little cake to practice for the big party on Saturday! Check out our little princess:

Happy Birthday To You!!

All we said was "Bite" and this is what she did

Mmm....Good Cake!!!

On a sewing note: I will be working on a diaper bag, 3 crayon bags, and a birthday shirt for Princess E to wear for pictures and party day. I will post pics as I complete these projects! I am off to bed! Goodnight!

Wow... What A Day!

Unfortunately, being a stay-at-home does not allow for any day to be uneventful..lol. Today, I was going to clean the house, take down the Christmas tree (Yes, I am aware it is the middle of January), do at least three loads of laundry, and finish up an order for my cousin. I know it sounds like a lot, but I woke up ready to conquer all- between meals and diapers, of course. All that I accomplished was two loads of laundry, took the ornaments off the tree and jammed up my sewing machine. Luckily, it only took a few hours of internet research to fix my machine. I just decided to let go of the rest and wait for Big E to come home and take over the kiddos. He arrived just as I was starting dinner. Ahh... perfect timing since Princess E was sitting in the kitchen floor whining at my feet and A-man was asking if he could have a snack for the 100th time! We made it through dinner and the dishes. Big E got the baby ready for bed. And now for the best part of my day for today....uninterrupted Grey's Anatomy! Better luck tomorrow!

Let's Get Started!

I am so excited that I have finally made it to the wonderful world of blogging! I think blogging can be very educational and very inspirational. It just depends on what you are looking for. The purpose of this blog is to hopefully accomplish both of those aspects. I want to share my life and thoughts with you- the days in the life of a working stay-at-home mommy.

My Beautiful Family

My life is crazy and exhausting, but I love it! I am 26 years old and I am the owner and designer of Baby Goodness Boutique. I have an amazing husband, we will call him Big E. He works hard to support our family and he is a wonderful father. He is a member of the Air National Guard. He is my best friend and supports me in all of my endeavors. I love to be creative, but I am sometimes afraid to try new things. He is always there to give me that extra nudge to make it happen. I have two small children, A-man (4) and Princess E (1). A-man is the cutest and funniest little boy on the planet. He spends his days looking to catch me off guard with his jokes and adult-like antics. Princess E is exactly that-our precious little princess. She is beautiful, smart, and spoiled to the core. She knows just when to wimper or just when to smile to get exactly what she wants. Even though being a parent is trying at times or even most of the time, I wouldn't trade one second of it. They are such a blessing. I thank the Lord everyday for giving me the gift of motherhood, not once, but twice. It is an amazing adventure!

Now, let's talk about the career part I mentioned earlier. After I had Princess E, I wanted all of these cute little personalized baby items. My cousin ordered me a monogrammed boutique style diaper bag for my shower and I fell in love with it! It came with two little matching burp cloths that were so adorable I couldn't bring myself to use them. I know that sounds ridiculous, but they were keepsakes. Precious items for Princess E that had her name on them to remember those moments of her being such a tiny little person. I had to have more of them! I wanted onesies, bibs, and anything else I could find to stick her name or initials on. I had ideas just stirring in my head every time I looked at my adorable diaper bag. Then, I realized, I could do it! I was creative-right? So, after a few talks with Big E about me needing an embroidery machine and all of the things I could make for our baby without having to buy them, he was sold. So, we purchased my first sewing/embroidery machine. I started with bibs, onesies, and burp cloths. My friends loved them and I got a lot of positive feedback which was very exciting. But, I knew that if I wanted to go into business for myself, I had to learn to actually sew something from scratch.

I bought a diaper bag pattern, loaded up my machine and headed down to visit Big E's grandma, Mama L. She sewed all the time and told me she would help me figure it out. What I really wanted was for me to watch Mama L make me a bag to see how it all worked. I couldn't read a pattern or sew a straight line! Mama L did not have the same plan in mind. She laid out the pattern, showed me how to read it and we started cutting. Then, she sat down at the machine and starting showing me how to get that straight line, but she made it look so easy. After a few seams had been sewn, she got up and told me to get going. So, I did. That is what lead to the beginnings of Baby Goodness Boutique! I have been designing and creating "adorable personalized items for your baby" ever since. I am so glad I am able to do what I love, while being a stay-at-home mommy. I hope you enjoy reading my blog as this beautiful, crazy life unfolds.