Ellie's 1st Baseball Game

On Monday night, we had the good fortune to get free tickets to the Rangers game. My company sponsored the game that night with a give away of FREE Rangers hats with our Progressive logo on the back. They always do it up BIG so for the first hour of the game, in a picnic area on the 3rd base line we enjoyed free hotdogs, burgers, cokes, and beer. Unlimited. It was a blast!
I was a little worried about how Ellie would do since the game didn't start til 7pm and she's normally asleep in bed by 8 or 830. I took my Moby Wrap just in case and sure enough, before 9 she was passed out cold wrapped up on my chest. She was a trooper!
And Jackson, of course, loved the whole thing! They always have a kids area with games that he (although failing miserably at) loves. He won a calendar, a hat, and 2 tattoos.
I couldn't tell you who won but we all had a great time! Here's some pics from the game!

I did it..I created a Crafting Blog...

So here's the story...About a month ago, I told Brendan how much money I was going to need to throw Ellie the 1st Birthday Party I had envisioned. He laughed in my face and said $50 was all I could spend. I laughed in HIS face and got him to go to $100. Which is still RIDICULOUS if you know anything about me...Heck, that's ridiculous for any birthday party, I think. But whatever. I decided to take matters into my own hands and posted some of Ellie's baby stuff on craigslist. I also put a post on facebook that I would sell my appliqued burp rags and onesies/shirts for cash money for Ellie's party. $15 for a set of 3 burpies and $10 per shirt/onesie.
I had NO idea I would get as many orders as I did and almost $300 later, I have a pretty good party going. I can't wait to see it all come together. But that, my friends, is a different post.
So a few weeks ago, I decided that I needed to come up with a name for my super tiny, pretty much friends-are-my-only-clients, sewing business. I even made up these little tags to put on my burp rags and onesies. The name... "Kari'd Away." Which is fitting because with most things, I tend to go a little overboard and get carried away. Brendan teased me at first but when I told him how much I had sold, he shut his pie-hole. Haha...love how I can sometimes make my man silent. I even have the prospect of putting some items in a boutique here in DFW. I'm pretty stoked!
I decided to start back up on our family blog and to keep me motivated, I started a crafting/sewing blog to give me a creative outlet. I'm sure my friends on facebook are tired of seeing my sewing projects there anyway. So now, they will all be combined at...you guessed it...

http://karidaway.blogspot.com/

So come follow me over there as well if you are interested in where my arts and crafts fever takes me!

It's been over a year...

I can't believe it's been over a year since I blogged. So much has happened: I switched offices (again), Brendan turned 34, we had a baby, Jackson turned 3, we found - fell in love with - and joined a new church, had a year of holidays with 2 kids, Brendan turned 35, (notice how I left out my birthday?!) and a year later, I decided its time to get back to it.
I think I might also start a blog for my sewing and crafts as well. But first I wanted to see if I could keep this running for a few weeks at least. Let's see how it goes!

2nd Day of Spring?

So it's the 2nd day of Spring in McKinney, TX and as you can see,

it feels more like Christmas.

True Texas weather -- Friday was beautiful with 70 degree weather, Saturday and Sunday snow, Monday shows a high of 61 degrees and sunny. Regardless, the boys had fun playing in the snow (for about 5 minutes). Jackson came in in tears with frozen little hands. Kid gloves are not made for snowball making! But we're getting him warmed up and settling in for a day of cartoons and movies. I'm sure glad we (by we, I mean Brendan) went to the store yesterday! Stay warm!

Baby Girl Heatherly's Room

So this blog is dedicated to my high school friend - Megan Minkel Schneider - who decided to stop blog stalking me because I stopped posting blogs.
So this one's for you, Megan! :-)

We (almost) finished Ellison's room tonight..just a few things missing -- a lamp for the side table, a curtain/valance for the window, and the adoreable princess piggy bank I saw at Hobby Lobby yesterday and talked myself out of buying for the shelf.

This room started off a lovely beige color and quickly became a catch-all room until last month when we finally started working on it becoming a nursery. Thanks to my DH, it has a fresh paint job and a mural that's girly but not TOO girly. Brendan found a cute chandelier in one of our rent houses a few years ago and we set it aside "just in case" we had a girl. He took it all apart, cleaned it up, spray painted it pink, rewired it and now it's the perfect light for BGH!

He also spray painted the pink shelf and re-assembled all of Jackson's baby furniture and wha-la -- the room is done! 2 months to spare! Hope you like it as much as we do!

The only thing is now Jackson's room looks a little plain. He's next on the list (after we clean the office/new guest room and get our room unpacked and ready for a playpen/cradle). So 3rd on the list...poor kid! I did buy some cabin-y type stuff for his walls but I want to paint before I hang anything else on the walls..
Pics of his room to come in a later blog.

So, back to the subject at hand -- Photo's of Ellie's Room:

Painted tree mural with faux Gerbera Daisies wired into the wall

The outfit is what my niece, McKenzie wore home from the hospital when she was born.

The feather boa wreath I made -- still need to find a way to attach her name in the center. I think we may hang it on our door at the hospital too!

The chandelier Brendan found at a rent house and refurbished.

Big brother Jackson trying out sissy's bed for the last time!

Today, Brendan and I are celebrating our 3rd anniversary!

We'll probably celebrate a little more this weekend but tonight we are going to spend the evening at home with our little man.

In 3 years we have moved 3 times, had a baby and have one on the way, had our ups and our downs, and I couldn't ask for anything more!

I have the best husband a girl could want!

Happy Anniversary, Brendan!

Jackson's Big Secret

So...not what we were planning or expecting but then again, our life never tends to work out that way anyway! We found out a few weeks ago that Jackson is going to be a BIG BROTHER! We were trying in June and then when we found out in July that we were moving we decided we would wait a while...but God had different plans for us. We just can't ever do one thing at a time...moving, buying a new house, trying to find Brendan a job, me starting at a new office with Progressive, trying to find Jackson a new daycare, and now we preggers!

We are truly excited though! Not near as scared and worried as we were the first go around when we were pretty much in this same spot in life. I go to the doctor on Tuesday but my guess is that I'm right around the 8 week mark. I am nauseated at almost every smell...peeing all the time...and can't seem to get my head on straight! I flew out to Tampa this past Monday for a class for my new job -- a class that lasted until Friday. I however, booked my flight to leave on Monday and return on Tuesday...yeah, so when I got to the airport on Friday I had already missed my flight -- by 3 days! I am LOSING IT already! So $200 later I made it home last night..haha! Good thing my boss likes me and just laughed it off..

So yeah, there's our news...I've been holding it back for about 3 weeks or more and am so excited to have it OUT THERE! I'll keep you posted after we see Dr. Hurst next Tuesday...if I show up on the right day..haha!