Wordless Wednsday: Pure Joe

I started to label this as Pure Joy, and wrote Joe as a typo.  I left it, "Pure Joe" is more accurate...

9 Month Pictures

I look at our baby girl and I can not believe she is 9 months old.  Seriously, where has the time gone??  We had a 9 month pictures on the agenda and I turned to Pinterest for inspiration.  Let me just say that I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest.  In this instance; however, I was pleased with my inspiration and the end result!  You see I found THIS and while I knew I didn't have the money to make little Evie's photo shoot near as grand, with a little ingenuity it definitely turned out every bit as delightful.  So delightful, in fact, that I really wish I could post all 50 pictures for you.  Instead, here is my favorite from each setting in the session:

The first two are from the "Story Time" part of the session.

        

Then we headed out to the park with our German Shepherd for the Little Red Riding hood pictures.  Evelyn was really not a fan of sitting on that grass!  I made the hood using THIS tutorial, and the little black dress with red cherries was a hand me down.

Once we were back inside it was on to Snow White.  I found a solid BLUE onesie in the boy section of our local consignment shop for $1, and the yellow dress for $3.  I added three strips of red ribbon to each sleeve.  The hardest part of this costume was tying that ribbon to her fidgety baby head!

...and then Cinderella.  Nanna bought the Disney store Cinderella costume, a beautiful BLUE ballgown.

We set up a proper, little girl, tea party for Alice in Wonderland.  I used to collect miniature tea sets and still can't resist the occasional, pretty, thrifted tea cup.  So it was quite the "mad" assortment! I made the pinafore myself with a square of white fabric, and white ribbon.  It was a bit of a hack job, but hey, it worked!  The little BLUE dress was a very lucky find on consignment!

Then we were off to the beach!  The BLUE water looked too inviting in the heat!  Evie was nice and cool though! I had a good friend knit me this photo prop mermaid tail before she was even born!  We just used a crochet headband for her little purple top.

Our AMAZING photographer, Brittany: BLP Photography, created this mosaic as part of the session.  It will be a big hit come the holiday season, I would imagine...

This was oh-so-fun to put together.  I had a couple of stressful moments cursing my sewing machine, but overall.... very well worth it!!  Linking up to Blue Monday!

The thing about summer is

... it goes by fast!  Like, lightening speed fast.  I'm going to post a few times this week, because the things I want to blog about are all deserving of their own due attention.

I've had 4 different people tell me "That's so cute/amazing!  You should blog about it and then put it on Pinterest!" this week alone.

But, here's the thing y'all, I'm a crap blogger!  I'm serious!  I ALWAYS want to, I really do.  But there's this thing called life and it gets in my way, and then I think, well I keep up with all my friends on Facebook anyway.  But I really, really, do like having the Blog, it's like this amazing journaling opportunity I feel like I'm not taking advantage of.  So I have a plan.

3 days a week, that's the plan.  The kids nap every day, so on the days we eat leftovers and I don't need to cook I'll blog.  Ideally. For now, here's a mosaic that pretty much sums up our summer:

 I'm also gonna give this thing a makeover, I want it to look "seasonal"  It is Fall now isn't it?  That's what Labor Day and Football mean in this house anyway....
 

God Bless Evelyn

Saying I worked my butt off for my daughters baptism is an understatement, but I don't mind because everything turned out beautifully.  My parents in law, one of her cousins, and my brother in law/her Godfather, were all able to travel for the occasion.  We were surrounded by friends, and family, and the weather was absolutely PERFECT.

Here is the blessed event actually taking place...

...and some shots with family and the deacon. (Naked baby pictures are pre-immersion)

I ADORE this photo of her with her Godfather.

My concept for the reception went through several different evolutions before landing on pink, white, and pearls.  I was very happy with all the little details...

It was such a happy day.  We love our little Evie-Roo!

My Mom Thinks I'm Crazy: The Conclusion

This lady, right here...

...she's an absolute GOD SEND y'all!

I may or may not have had a minor panic attack as I looked at the shreds of what used to be my wedding dress, a pattern that wasn't coming together, and delicate fabric that my sewing machine was ripping to shreds. (Memo: I don't care what Pinterest says, sometimes there is absolutely NO way you're going to get around the need for a serger)  I remembered a conversation I had about 2 years ago with this wonderful church lady friend of my in which she mentioned she made ALL of her kids clothes.  All of them.  Herself.  I was in awe then, and I'm grateful now.  She taught me an absolute bucket load about sewing apparel, and she made my vision for Evelyn's gown a reality.

So, without further ado, I give you the finished product!

A convertable gown, made from my wedding dress.  The long skirt slipped on and off over the shorter dress.  The satin and all of the bead work were from my wedding gown.  I purchased the organza for the overlay and the lace trim.  In the picture of me holding her up you can see a bead applique peaking through the split in the organza.  When the skirt was pulled off, the other beading around her waist was revealed with the cute little sundress.  This is what success looks like!  And I'm so glad I pulled it together and asked for help, because it is now a durable, properly made, heirloom garment we can always cherish.  I'm so very pleased.

More pictures of the actual baptism and reception in a future post...

Easter 2013

Evelyn's first Easter was oh so fun, even though it rained and all festivities were forced indoors.   We started the day at Mass, and then had friends over for a luncheon with egg painting and an egg hunt for the kids.

I found the super stinking cute Easter outfits on consignment for $16... that's for both kids, including my sons shoes y'all.  Setting up the party was a snap, thanks to free printables from Amanda's Parties To Go.  Love her super cute stuff!  The kids had so much fun too!

The thing about winter is...

...it sucks the freaking life out of you!  Seriously folks, I feel like Phil

And I want to kill Phil

So I haven't been around the bloggersphere for a bit because I've lost all motivation to do anything as I sit here freezing my butt off and trying desperately to keep my very active 2 year old happy.  Baths are our saving grace!




This is bathtub paint, and it's so easy.  Spend $2 and have a world of color for at least 5 or 6 bath times.  Shaving cream and food coloring.  That's it folks and you can get both at the dollar store :-)

Then there's the polka dot bath.  Craft foam, when wet, will stick to the sides of the tub. Did you know you can buy a whole stack of it for $1.  Yup, the dollar store is a very close friend to this family.  And then why not add color to the water, just, ya know, because.

We also got Evelyn's 3 month pictures back, and they turned out ridiculously cute!  Behold, a mosaic!

I'm going to work on the ever intimidating baptism gown again this week, so I will most definitely be updating the My Mom Thinks I'm Crazy series soon :-)  Also a blog about Easter will make an appearance as we slowly get our groove back.