Bulk quantity orders

I have a custom order to make a bulk quantity of these for someone. I will discount when items are ordered in bulk. What can I custom make for you? :)

The latest projects and such

Here is how my desk turned out.  It was painted black and I painted red over it and distressed it. Then finished it off with a dark glaze that I wiped off.  I'm really happy with it!

While my parents were visiting, my dad and husband tiled the top area of the shower stall in the master bathroom.  The water has been causing paint and drywall to come off, so we figured tile was the way to go.  I just need to post an "after" picture yet. :)  Maybe after we get a new shower curtain I will do that.

My mom brought me a vintage print that belonged to my grandma Evelyn Mae.  I am going to paint the frame a different color, perhaps the teal blue that I painted the kitchen desk?

I finally set up the Jenny Lind crib in the girls room.  Callie still sleeps with me at night, but she is doing well in her crib for naps during the day.  And I just love the spindles!!  It looks so vintage, almost like an antique crib would look.  The cute crib bedding came from Target three years ago when Elise was born.  I still love it!

A bittersweet visit

My parents were just here visiting with us a couple weeks ago.  They came while my husband was out of town for work, and stayed long enough to spend time with him when he got back home as well.  We were able to celebrate Elise's birthday with them (and Ronnie's too).  Those were the sweet parts of the visit.  The bitter part was learning that my mom has Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  We found out on Elise's birthday.  The doctor wanted to meet with them in person, but when he found out they were out of state, he told them over the phone.  Talk about a huge blow to the stomach.  The reality of it all did not really sink in for me, until the morning they left to go back home to Michigan.  I hugged my mom and started crying, and I didn't want to let go of her.  It is going to be very hard for me emotionally to go through this living 600 miles away from them.  But I know God has a plan in all of this, and I will lean on Him through this journey.  I would appreciate your prayers for my mom too, its a whole new way of life for my parents right now.  Lots of changes and adjustments and things she will need to be cautious of in order to keep herself healthy and well during her treatments.  She starts chemo this week.  Here are some photos from our visit together a couple weeks ago.

Elise turns 3 and Ronnie is turning 5!

My big girl turned 3 last week.  My parents were down for a visit, so they were able to celebrate it with us, which was a very special treat!  And since they won't be here for Ronnie's birthday next month, they gave him his gifts too.

The sand and water table and sand toys were a combined birthday gift for both of them from Papa and Nana.

Girlie Legos!  Ronnie is really into Legos, so we thought Elise needed her own. :)

I love the Melissa & Doug products!  This is the wooden pizza kit.

Papa and Nana got her the wooden cupcake kit.

And some nice clothes.  She loves Mickey and Minnie Mouse since we visited Disney World last year.

Snacks and a couple of wooden Thomas trains from Papa and Nana.

The birthday cupcakes are made with almond flour from a recipe that my friend adapted from a recipe she had.  It turned out great!  I will use the same recipe for Ronnie's birthday party in June.

Callie photos

Just some photos of Callie and our family in the last 6 weeks. :)

Callie's birth story

It was March 31st 2012, a Saturday afternoon, around noon or so that I started to feel what seemed like “real” contractions.  I was 39 weeks 3 days pregnant with baby #3.  We were just hanging out at home and the contractions started out feeling very deep inside.  It felt like I was opening up.  So I just paid attention a bit more closely as I went about my household duties.  I mentioned it to my husband, and after about a half hour decided to call my midwife to let her know I felt like I was in early labor.  I didn’t want to wait too long to contact her this time around, my 2nd baby came in just three hours and my midwife was still 20 minutes away when baby arrived. (I caught her myself in our bathtub, it was amazing!)

I continued to go about my business at home just cleaning up and organizing things, and paying attention to the contractions. They weren’t real strong or regular and I wondered how long I would be laboring since each labor and birth is different. Just because my 2nd one came fast didn’t mean my 3rd one would.  A bit later (I have no idea exactly what time everything occurred) the contractions felt a bit stronger, so I called my midwife back and told her just to come.  All I wanted to do was walk around, I did not like sitting down, it was uncomfortable and made the contractions feel stronger.  My older two children were still at the house with us and I was ready for some peace and quiet.  It was hard to focus on my labor with them running around and playing loudly.  I kept retreating to my bedroom as I walked around. 

My midwife Mary Anne arrived around 2:50pm, and shortly after that my neighbor came over as well.  She was going to take the kids to her house to play while I labored. I rubbed some essential oils on my feet, hips, and neck.  Some Peace & Calming and Valor.  My midwife’s assistant Lindsey arrived shortly after Mary Anne.  Things started to pick up after they got here and after the kids left.  The contractions were getting stronger and closer together.  Lindsey had the doppler on my belly to listen to the baby during my contractions.  I remember her saying “this baby is loving labor!”  LOL!  I was standing in the master bathroom and trying to text my husband’s phone number to my neighbor so she would be able to contact him, and I remember it took me forever just to text her back because the contractions just kept coming.  At that point Mary Anne asked me if I would like to get in the tub.  So she started to fill it while I continued laboring on the bathroom floor.

I got in the tub and the contractions were just coming one on top of the other.  All I could do was breathe through them and hold on to the sides of the tub.  Mary Anne asked me if I wanted them to call my friend Melissa to come since she was going to take photos.  I told her that was fine.  We had the video camera set up on the tripod and my husband had started it while I was laboring in the bathroom.

Lindsey continued listening to baby with the doppler while Mary Anne added more hot water to the tub.  My friend Melissa arrived and started taking photos with our camera.  Labor was intense at this point.  I remember Mary Anne would ask me to try and take a drink between contractions, but I just couldn’t!  And at one point when Lindsey had the doppler on my belly I just pushed it away.  LOL!  She wasn’t at all offended and just stopped using the doppler. :)  I was getting a bit more “grunty” now during some of my contractions.  Baby was just about ready to come.  I remember during one grunty contraction I heard and felt a “pop”.  I said “I think my water just broke” and sure enough it had.  Now it was on!  I started pushing with my contractions, it was an overwhelming urge to push, and I really just wanted the pushing part to be over with!  I was on my knees and and I remember what felt like one giant push and baby's head was out, then body and it was done!  It was 4:10pm, just one hour and twenty minutes from when my midwife arrived, and 4 hours from my first contraction. I yelled pretty loudly while I was pushing, it was just so intense!  Lindsey caught the baby from behind and then had me lift my leg and pick up the baby while I sat down.  The cord was short so I couldn’t pull the baby up too high. The first thing I said when I sat down was “I’m glad that’s over with!”  LOL!!  Mary Anne asked “so what do we have?” and I looked down and it was a girl!  My husband got the whole birth on video, which is so awesome to have!  And my friend Melissa took lots of great photos as well.  We have no video or photos of the actual births of my first two, so I am very grateful to have them this time!

We sat in the tub for a bit, then got out to deliver the placenta on the bed, and get settled in together and start nursing and bonding.  My neighbor brought the kids back and they were very excited to meet their new baby sister!  My four year old son was very interested in learning about the placenta, so Mary Anne brought him in the bathroom with her while she inspected it, and she let him wear a pair of gloves and he touched it while she explained it to him.  I thought that was so fun!

It has been 6 weeks now since our sweet Callie was born.  We have all adjusted well and just love her to pieces.  And I am thankful for another quick labor and beautiful homebirth with my midwife, family, and friends.

Sweet little owl

After I gave birth to Callie (baby #3) six weeks ago, my friend and neighbor Rachel asked me what she could make for her.  I told her I really liked owls, so she had been looking at owls and patterns online but didn't like any she saw.  So she created her own pattern and used scrap pieces of material to make it.  I absolutely love it!  And I told her she should sell them on Etsy. :)  If she ever does I will share her shop with you all!