Gratitude again

When you exist in the great state of gratitude, you become a person who only wants to give. You become so grateful that it takes over your life, and you can't find enough opportunities in a day to give. You give joy, you give love, you give money, you give appreciation, you give compliments, and you give kindness. You give the best of yourself in your job, in your relationships, and to strangers. You will know when you have really found true gratitude, because you will become a giver. One who is truly grateful cannot be anything else.
-Rhonda Byrne

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Gratitude

Wow. Just when you start to think you've got things figured..your hubby goes back to work. I. Am. Exhausted! BOO HOO! He was helping with Pepper's feedings during the night, we would trade off so that we each only had to get up 2 times with her, but now it's all me.  Don't get me wrong, I do it very lovingly and willfully, but I have no energy left for the daytime. There are SOOO many things I want to do, but just have no soup left to do it! I am feeling a lot better today, because, frankly, instead of laying in bed all morning being a complete loser, I got up and carpe diem'd!! Yeah, I'm still tired, but I feel so much better. I think it's because I stayed up until 2:00 so I could feed her, then she slept until 6! I can stay up with no problem, but once I'm in deep sleep and I have to get up, no bueno! Now I'm just whining. 

So, I've been thinking pretty negatively lately and it is manifesting through my words, actions, and health. Bad momma! I really took a step back yesterday and decided that if I was going to start feeling better, I need to start thinking better. Love and gratitude. So I made up this list in my head while I cleaned my house.

I'm grateful for housework, because it means I have a home. 

I'm  grateful for the laundry, because it means my family has clothes on their backs.

I'm grateful for dirty dishes because it means we are well fed. 

I am grateful for our noisy muffler on our car, because it means we have a car, and it runs!

I am grateful for bills, because it means we have electricity, water, and heat. 

I am grateful for bad days, because they make the good days so much better. 

I am grateful that I am exhausted, because it means I have a healthy little baby girl who needs my care.

I am grateful to be missing my husband, because it means he has a job.

I am grateful for a messy house, because it means we are having fun and making memories.

I'm grateful for pain, tears, because it means I am alive!

Happy Easter!

Jared

Go ahead, make my day!

I just got a package on my doorstep from a good friend and it totally made my day! She made these things herself and she's so incredibly good at it! She has an etsy shop HERE and a blog HERE. She doesn't currently have anything in her shop, but this summer she will. I'm so gonna be all over that! Thank you so much Jessica!! She is going to look so cute for Easter Sunday, I will take pics!!

 Another of my friends made the bunny hat which I ADORE!! Pepper looks so cute in it! I'm doing a shoot of her today or tomorrow(waiting for sunshine, but its not quite happening!) and the hat will be used, I'm so excited!! Thanks again to both of you! 

Rainy Days

With all this spring rain/snow we've had, we've had to get pretty creative inside the house. I have been brushing up on my domestic skills..sewing, cooking, crafting, laundry, laundry, and more laundry. Did I mention laundry..because I cannot believe how much LAUNDRY a tiny little baby can create..especially one who tends to spit up often. But I don't mind, she's just so damn cute. She's been really constipated and having some sniffles so I took her to the doctor. Yes, with a preemie, you really do just go to the doctor for EVERYTHING. I'm glad I did. She has an upper respiratory cold, which is good, her lungs sound great, she just has a hard time breathing through her nose, even after we suck it out. (ew, gross! I know) The doc had us get hooked up with a monitor for nighttime. I was so stressed about it, but it really is no biggie. It's nice having that reassurance that if she were to have an apnea episode(quit breathing) during the night, we would know about it and be able to go in and stimulate her to breathe. Sounds scary, huh?..it is. 

I had her weighed on Wednesday too, she's already 9lbs 7oz! She still seems so tiny, but with a double chin and chubby legs:) Her newborn clothes are getting kinda tight!!

 I found the cutest pattern online  for a baby dress, so I decided to try it. I've never made anything more complex than pillow cases, curtains, or straight skirts, but I figured that a baby dress might be small enough that if I ruin it I won't waste very much material. I bought a fat quarter at Joann fabrics for around a dollar..and the pink is from some material I already had. I didn't have any piping or bias tape so I just used  some fabric and sewed it to do basically the same thing. Total cost for this dress: $2 

When I went to put it on her, it wouldn't go over her head. She was crying, I was crying(just a little bit) and then I added some fabric to the sides so that it would fit her and it BARELY did. I'm not so good with measuring, no. She will most likely not fit into it for Easter Sunday, but that's ok. We're not going anywhere, at least she and I aren't..and I figure she can use it for her dollies later on. I WILL be trying this pattern again, this time measuring correctly. I didn't have a measuring tape, so sue me!

There was a nice day last week(in Utah, a nice "warm" day is anything above 55 degrees and sunny!) so we went to the park at the end of our street. Pepper loved it! When we got back and went to take her out of the stroller, her beanie had fallen down over her eyes..so cute!

Jared loves his baby sister and is constantly baby talking to her in jibberish..even when she's asleep.

This little lady has Daddy wrapped around her little finger. She wimpers, Daddy comes running. We are in TROUBLE. 

 She loves baths, and the boys love to help..er, watch.

 I've been trying new recipes..my favorite sites for recipes are AllRecipes and Paula Deen.

These are a variation of THIS amazing recipe from Paula..I used lemon cake mix instead of chocolate, and they were really good. I had used devil's food cake mix for them the week before and oh my holy goodness...who cares about your figure when you can eat this good? I like what Elizabeth Gilbert said in Eat, Pray, Love about food..

I don't recall her exact words, but it was put it very well here:

"Liz convinces her new best friend Sofi that life is about indulging pleasure, in this case, a craving for pizza. After musing over their inevitable muffin tops & both worry about bulging over the waist of their jeans, each succumbs to an entire pie with double mozzarella. Afterward, Liz orders each a second pizza. For dessert, they float down the streets of Naples in search of Italian pastries.

As for her tight jeans, Liz declares, 'I'm going to eat and then buy some big lady pants.' "

You really have to put this cream cheese filling in between two cookies: 

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2-4 C powdered sugar

Jared and I made finger puppets from felt last week. We had so much fun and just kept coming up with more and more..We made 12 total. Then Dave and I had a contest to see who could make the best alligator, the kids being the judge. I spent a total of 5 minutes on mine, Dave spent about an hour, putting every little detail into it. I love that man. (It was a tie by the way, we decided mine was a croc and his was a gator)

This is Ashton's latest hobby. He loves jigsaw puzzles. And video games..Lego Indiana Jones is his favorite..or "Indian Jones" as he calls it. I have to turn on a timer for him or he will play all day. Sigh. I very much dislike video games. I think they are a waste of time. I know, because I've spent a good amount of time playing them myself!  I definitely encourage the jigsaw puzzles.

Pepper's Room

So today was appointed as "Unplugged Day" (by me). That means one day of no TV, no video games, computer, or cell phone games. Yet here I sit, blogging. Unplugged day was cancelled due to rain. That's how I roll. Nobody's complaining.

So anyways, here are some photos of Pepper's room, the room I've been putting together in my mind for the last 7 months. It has finally come together and is *almost* complete. This is now the cutest room in the house, I love sitting in the rocking chair at 3 am snuggling with my girl. Obviously I've lost my mind because I'm bogging about a bedroom, but they say that crazy people are happier than most..so let's just say I'm finding joy in all this girly-ness.  The accent wall was painted by Dave, he chose a flat paint which I wasn't quite sure about but I LOVE it. The color is Lily Creek by Valspar Seaside  Collections. We also have it in our room but it doesn't match ANYTHING in there. Redecorating is in order...later. The boy's room is next. Just waiting on Jared to decide between Sharks and Dinosaurs. 

I've been doing a bit of crafting and sewing lately, in between taking care of my family. It feels SO good to be Mom again. Really it does.  I enjoy it so much!

Here are the photos of the room, I took them at night so the lighting isn't the best. I also don't have a wide enough lens to capture the entire room (which is actually really small) all at once so it's in pieces. The crib isn't done yet, it's just light wood and I'm going to either paint it to match the dresser, or stain it really dark. Haven't decided yet. 

The two smaller frames are actually the frames that canvas prints were wrapped around. I had a screw up on my nieces canvas order a while back and I had to buy new canvases for her, so we ripped the canvas off and alas, nice frames. The middle one my mother gave me a few years ago. I painted them all pink and distressed them for that vintage look. 

 This dresser was also given to me by my Mom. It is from the 1960's and I sanded it all down, painted, sanded, distressed, stained and polyurethaned. It was a process. I did it last summer while we were trying to get pregnant. I'm pretty sure I had a little girl in mind when I did it:) It is my favorite piece I own. It reminds me of vintage Paris. I sewed the cover for the changing pad (which was FREE!), the basket holds diapers and wipes(came from my photography props when I used to do newborn pics) and the bird I purchased at Hobby Lobby for $4. 

I made these curtains and the flower and butterfly came from Hobby Lobby. Gotta keep me outta there!!

 The shelf and frames I already had, just painted them to match the room. 

I made this car seat canopy, and I made one for my sister too. I'm getting addicted to sewing! If anybody wants one, hit me up. I'll totally make one for you:) I also covered the rocking chair pads using a flat sheet because I couldn't find the color of fabric I wanted. 

You don't think I'm spoiling her at all do you?

I also made the pillow, inspired by something I saw at..you guessed it, Hobby Lobby.

I also painted this little thing last summer. I bought it about 4 years ago at a yard sale for $5. 

And that's that. I will post pictures of the crib as soon as it's finished!