A Day at the Ballpark

Earlier this week, Matt, Allie and I got the chance to go to Will's baseball game. We've actually gone to several this season but this was the first one that I remembered to bring my camera. Although Chaparral was playing my alma mater, Horizon, I did cheer hard for my brother-in-law and his teammates. They had a great start to the game, struggled in the middle, and fought a good fight at the end but unfortunately they got defeated. Yesterday was the last regular season game and they are off to the playoffs so GO FIREBIRDS!!!
Allie showing that Chaparall is #1!

Allie and daddy

Allie and Gammy

Sporting her very own Chaparral Firebirds shirt, a little big, but she had to be the cheerleader (please excuse the dirt and rocks on her bottom in the second picture-this girl doesn't mind playing in the dirt!)


I can't believe that this is the last Abram that will play at this ballpark, we've all spent a LOT of time there the past 12 years!!!

A Little Weekend Project

Remember the chair cushion and bulletain board that I made from a shower curtain for my new sewing area? Well, I had so much leftover fabric that I wanted to use so I bought my first tutorial online to make these fabric balls. They were super easy to make (a little time consuming but simple) and I think they turned out really cute. I definitely want to make more in the future. They added the perfect last touch to this area.

She...

...is almost 22 months old, can't believe she's going to be two in July!

...is going to be a big sister also in July. Boy is her world going to change!



...is totally anti typical kids food, she won't touch macaroni and cheese, pizza, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc I can't even get her to eat an otter pop or fudgesicle!

...is a self proclaimed vegetarian. The only meat she will (sometimes) eat is a single thin slice of turkey or ham that I put in between two smashed pieces of bread so she really just thinks she is eating bread. Yes, I am sneaky like that, but am not always successful :)

...can count to ten and say her abc's



...is doing an amazing job in her big girl room and sleeping in her big girl bed, we still have not had any issues at all

...can sing the whole 'Jesus Loves Me' song which seriously makes me cry everytime I hear her. Yes, she leaves out a few words as she sings but you can totally tell which part she is on. It's adorable.

...has light, bright blue eyes just like her daddy

...loves to look at pictures of her family and kisses each one after she says their names



...says hi to just about every single person that we walk by when we are out, most of the time she asks to 'hold hands' (yes, she even asked the man at Home Depot who was mixing our paint to hold hands!)

...makes the 'muah' sound every time she gives kisses

...calls her blanket her 'b' and will not sleep without it



...says hi to EVERYthing when she wakes up in the morning and yes I mean everything. This is how it goes..."hi mommy, hi light, hi fan, hi bay (our dog bailey), hi bed, hi diaper, hi chair, hi stairs", etc

...says 'bless you' whenever someone sneezes

...knows all of her rainbow colors plus pink and white

...knows pretty much every animal noise, I am at a loss of what to teach her next, does a giraffe make a noise???



...loves to pray at meals. When we sit down at the table to eat dinner she sticks out her hands and says 'hold hands, pray'. Then she will bow her head and make the funniest face (it's very serious) while we say the prayer. It is hilarious.

...makes me smile every time I look at her sweet face and makes me thank God every day for bringing her into our lives. I just love this girl to pieces!

Allie's Big Girl Room!

We finally finished it! After several weeks of painting, shopping (for deals), decorating, putting together, etc, Allie's big girl room is finished. And I absolutely love it! Welcome to Allie's shabby chic cottage...
View from the door...there are four stripes on the walls so each stripe is pretty big, we used the same color but two stripes are in a flat paint and two are in semi gloss. It's hard to tell in the picture but the result is really cool. (if you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see the stripes a little better) My wonderful husband (who is not handy at all!) painted the whole room by himself and did a great job. I'm so thankful to him for doing it all since the baby and I prefer to stay away from paint fumes right now :)

Close up of the bed

I made all of the decorative pillows in Allie's room, here's a close up of three of them

I found these really cool 3D like flowers that are up in each corner

Matt's parents wonderful friends gave Allie this vanity (they have an 'Ali' too who this belonged too, she is in college now)

Cute toy bins I found on clearance at Homegoods, LOVE that store!

Another pillow I made

Allie's dresser. Another set of wonderful friends gave us the dresser, headboard and footboard when we moved into this house. I sanded each piece, painted them white and then distressed them. Thank you so much Bri and John for this furniture, it is EXACTLY what I would have picked out if we had to get some ourselves!

Close up of the dresser with the cute glass knobs that Lindsay found for me super cheap

There are a few more things that I am looking for (like a nightstand and some more accessories) but for the most part the room is done. Allie spent her first night in there on Thursday and let me tell you, she has done AMAZING! I'm completely shocked. I know it's still a little early to tell, but two nights and two naps down and not a single tear, no climbing out at all and no waking up early or not going to sleep. It's literally like she's still in her crib. She's always been a wonderful sleeper so I was worried this would really mess her up but there hasn't been a change at all, it's just wonderful! It still makes me a little sad when I walk in that room because I feel like this is such a huge step from the baby stage to the little girl stage, but my little girl is just amazing and I am so thankful for her!

The Cutest Easter Dress

I have to say, my mom sure did outdo herself this year. Do you remember Allie's Easter Dress last year? Well, this year I asked my mom to make her an Easter Dress this year as well and I think it turned out amazing. I absolutely loved it and I think Allie looked adorable in it. She even made her a matching headband which to my surprise, Allie left on the whole morning while we were at church (no small feat for a one and a half year old!) I think I may have found my new Etsy business partner! (Do you see where I get my craftiness genes?:)

Back view

Details

A Day at the Zoo!

Since Matt has had a really busy past couple weeks he decided to take today off (which I am sooooo thankful for!) We decided since the weather is amazing right now that we would go to the zoo. Both of Matt's brothers, Brittney and Matt's mom came with us too, we had such a good time. The zoo was Allie's heaven, she wasn't too interested in all of the animals but she just loved walking and wandering around. She barely sat in her stroller but she was so good just following us from exhibit to exhibit. She literally walked around the entire two hours that we were there (hence the VERY long nap she is taking right now allowing me to write this! :) Here are some pictures of our fun day...
On our way I gave Allie one of her Easter presents early which were these sunglasses, she is now obsessed with them

Uncle Greg and Aunt Brittney

Feeding the giraffes with Gammy


Lots of special time with Daddy



We kept asking Allie to hold hands and she would cross her arms like this and say 'no hold hands', it was so funny

Our sweet, sweet girl

Family picture

Little Flower Shirts

I have been wanting to do this project for a long time and finally had the chance to sit down and do it today. I have to admit, I LOVE how it turned out. For those of you who know me well know that I am a total bargain shopper. I rarely buy anything full price and I get such a high when I find things on sale and/or on clearance. Target sells these great Cherokee t-shirts for girls that I just love. The cotton material really is great and they fit Allie so well. Regular priced they are only 5 bucks but every time I am in Target, I scour the sale rack and oftentimes find them on sale. Last week I found a black and purple shirt for $1.19!!! Seriously, I would have bought 10 of them but these were the only colors that they had. If you look in my closet, I am a bit of a plain jane. Bri has been trying to break me of my solid color habit (which I am doing better on!) so I did want to dress up these plain shirts for Allie. So this is what I did...

Before


After



Before


After



I used just plain white cotton fabric for the flowers so these shirts cost less than $3 together! I love a bargain, especially when it's cute!

My New Little Sewing Corner

I finally completed my sewing corner, I'm so excited. A few months ago after lugging my sewing machine in and out of the closet so many times, I decided that I needed a place to set it up permanantely. We have a perfect little area at the top landing of our stairs so I decided to claim it since it was empty. I found a desk on sale, painted an old kitchen chair, made a chair cushion and bulletain board and found some great accessories at IKEA. I just need a couple of baskets for the shelves and then it will be totally done but I'm holding off on those for a little while. Here are some pictures...

My little nook


Canisters from IKEA to hold buttons and thread


A silverware tray that was 99 cents! Perfectly fits in the desk drawer for thread, sissors, etc


Chair cushion before


Chair cushion after (the fabric is actually from a fabric shower curtain that I found on clearance)


Bulletain board before (Goodwill frame that was $1.99)


Bulletain board after


I have already done so much more sewing since my machine is always out and ready to go. Stay tuned for some more projects!

20 Weeks! Halfway through!!!

Well, actually, I am hoping and praying that I am MORE than halfway through! Allie was 10 days early and was such a chunk that if this little girl is similar at all, hopefully I will deliver early again! I cannot believe though that I have officially hit the halfway mark. I feel like it has gone by soooooo fast. Probably everyone would say that with their second child since this time there is another little munchkin already taking up all of your time. I am feeling great which I am so thankful for. Sleeping is getting a little hard, with frequent position changes and trips to the bathroom but I'm actually finding I'm not too tired so that is a good thing. And for some reason I am so much smaller this time too which is weird because everyone says you show faster and are bigger with your second but I guess that's not the case with me. I'm not complaining because I KNOW that I will be huge in a few months regardless. :) The best part of being pregnant right now is feeling my little princess move inside of me. I would say that is my favorite part of pregnancy in general. I love feeling (and even seeing on the outside) all the kicks and stretches that our little baby is doing. It is the best and I NEVER get tired of it! I think it makes it so much more real for Matt too, he can't keep his hands off my belly and always asks me if she is moving. I love it and I continue to pray every day for this incredible blessing that God is forming inside of me!

Ruffle Scarf

I've been meaning to post this for a while but of course, at this point I haven't been very on top of things lately. (I think I have a good excuse though!) If you've been reading my blog lately, you know that my passion for sewing has been growing. I'm definitely still a beginner but I'm getting a lot more confident and the best part is all of the AMAZING tutorials out there on the internet. Seriously, I think I really could make just about anything because somewhere out there, there are step by step directions. Well, a little before Christmas I found a tutorial on this blog to make an adorable scarf. I made two for Christmas gifts for my mother-in-law and future sister-in-law and definitely plan on making more. I should have taken a picture of it on an actual person, but you get the idea... :)