PillowCase What?

I'm so in love with this little shop on Etsy.  Baby girls look so adorable in pillowcase dresses!!  There are a ton of pillowcase dresses out there but these are less expensive as most and the shop is peppered with fabric by Amy Butler & Heather Bailey.  My favorite fabrics - not that I'm crafty - but I LOVE their designs.  Kiersten's quilt is all Amy Butler fabric and it's gorgeous!!  I've already order Kiersten's Birthday dress, now I'm shopping for a Christmas dress.  Shop the sale section - they're not too salty!

 

Sell it to Me

Last week I had my first resale experience.  Oh. My. Word.  I had no idea what I was in for.  My moms church had their first resale, so I thought I'd stop by and see if there was one or two things I could pick up.  I try to garage sale but kind of struggle with used things for my baby girl.  Not any longer.  I could not believe the deals.  I spent $90 - which is a lot of scrilla.  But for that $90 I got...
4 coats
2 pairs of shoes (one was stride rite)
1 pair of boots
3 pairs of jeans
1 Halloween costume
1 Christmas dress
1 Easter dress
2 hoodies
2 sweaters
2 pairs of jammies
1 Chicago Bears shirt
1 tutu
5 American Girls books [Which I may or may not have read as soon as I got home :)] 
1 Toy telephone
1 Baby swing for her babies
1 cute hair bow
...and a few other things that I'm drawing a blank on. 
I had a blast.  I had no plan but came home with some goodies!  They're doing it again in March, so mark your calendars.  Like them on Facebook here.

 
 

Toms for Your Face

I'm probably late to the party, but if you wear glasses check out Warby Parker.  This has rocked. my. world.  They are like Toms for your face, when you buy a pair of glasses they give a pair away.  I haven't gotten new glasses in over 11 years just because I haven't had an extra $400/$500 laying around to spend on myself.  Then my hubby introduced me to Warby Parker.  No matter which pair you buy the total cost is $95.  That's it.  Buying glasses online can be kind of scary, so they send you up to 5 pairs to try out at home for 5 days.   Here's my home try-on kit:

I had a blast playing dress up with these little gems, but it was very hard to pick a winner.  I've ordered my pair and now I keep lurking on UPS.com waiting for my tracking number to say Delivered!  I'm so patient, ha! 


Drum roll for my final choice...










Also want to document my fist pumpkin spice latte of the season.... 










Also, a beautiful baby.....











Still drum rolling??............

[They're Sibley in Amber]

Walkie Talkie

A little Kiersten update...
She's almost a year old... yikes!
She has become a great furniture walker and "hand-holder" walker.
She loves to push her little walker all around our apartment.
She loves to talk.  Loves it!
She's our little walkie-talkie. Not quite a walker or a talker, but almost there :)
She loves to wave hi and bye.
She loves to dance.
She loves music.
She loves to shake her head when we yell out "SHAKE IT!"  That's a fun game to watch!
She loves to play patty cake and to tell you how big she is.... Soooooo Bigggggg!
She loves to give hugs.  Loves it!
When you tell her it's time to pray she folds her hands.
Such an angel baby!!

Greaseball

I think I want to start straightening my hair again.  Gasp.  It's been at least one year since I've tried it.  I'm thinking it's time to stop hitting snooze and ignore the waking baby and spend a few hours with my flat iron friend first thing in the morning (j/k about the ignoring K-dawg... kind of).  I just need a little help... if I invest the hours it takes to straighten this MOP (insert reminder to register for MOPS here - Ha!) I want to make it last.  But this MOP turns into a grease ball real fast if it isn't washed.  So I need some dry shampoo recommendations.  Does it really work?  What's the best brand to try?!  I've heard Beyond the Zone is awesome... but is that true?  Can I really get away with not washing my hair everyday?!?  This are the problems I'm facing today... rough, I know.  :)

MOPS

Attention all moms of children 6 & under!!!  MOPS is coming to GCC this fall!
I'm soooooo excited for this!!

 
Could you use a few hours twice a month to hang out with other moms to laugh with, cry with and well, just enjoy being together while your children are being lovingly cared for?  If so, join us as GCC launches MOPS this October. 

Head here for more information and to register:

MOPS on GCCwired.com

 

Shock

Yesterday was a sad day. A very bad day. 

Late yesterday afternoon I found out that one of my co-workers passed away.  

I'm still in shock.  I'm very sad.  

We just had lunch together will all of the girls in the office last Monday.  She was just playing with Kiersten last Wednesday when I had the brainy idea to drag her into my office to get more work done.  I'll miss bumping into her at Meijer and all of the squeezes she'd give my baby.

Now, she's gone.  

Now, she is cancer free.  

Life is short.  

I'm getting ready to head back to the office.  It's going to feel so different.  My friend and co-work passed away peacefully in her sleep after many years of battling breast cancer.  

She was told 6 weeks ago that she was in remission.  There are a lot of unanswered questions.  
 
Tell everyone you love that you love them and smile at everyone you see.  
That's what Lynne taught me.

July

I cannot believe that July has come and gone!  Here's a snapshot of our month...

• We started with Kiersten's first trip to the Fair.  Our church met for one service together at the grandstand.  It was awesome.
• My office moved... again.  A lot of work for a little move.  It took days and we're still not settled.  So is life.
• Had several 4th of July celebrations to cram into one day.  It was hot.  It was awesome.  Kiersten loved her first 4th and it maybe her favorite holiday, next to Christmas, just like her momma.  :)
• It was back to work for a few days then STAYcation.  My hubby doesn't like that made up word... but I LOVE it. 
• We started our time off with my birthday.  We spent my birthday having family pictures taken.  It was 90+ degrees.  It was also 9:00 a.m. It was awesome.  Kiersten was amazing and had a lot of smiles to share.  Then we had Nedderman's for lunch. A-mazing.  Then it was off to church and Macris for dinner.  I loved every minute of it.  I also gained 8 pounds in one day.  [Not true, but very possible.]
• The next day we headed to Tim's staff party where Kiersten experienced her first fireworks.  We sat in the front row.  The fireworks were shooting into the sky from only 40 feet away.  You don't have to tell me, I know I'm the #1 Mom.  :)  Everyone else had their babies inside the house.  I just let her stay outside and play with all the peeps.  She fell asleep, so no harm - no foul.  :)
• We had an awesome week of sleeping in-ish, laying low and spending quality time together.  We went to Shipshewana, the beach, the park, Notre Dame, hanging with our small group and staying cool!
• Once our week was over, Tim was off a college near Boston for a week of training for work.  We missed him.
• He flew home a few hours before his little brothers rehearsal dinner on Friday and Adam & Kaylee were married on July 21st.  Yay for another sister!!  Kiersten & I hung out with Riley before the wedding so everyone could get ready and boy is he a great big cousin!  He was so helpful with her!
• We woke up early Sunday morning and headed to Milwaukee for a few days.  We spent a lot of time eating, walking, learning, hanging, laughing, missing our baby girl and watching Maroon 5.  Booyah. 
• We came home Wednesday and left early Friday morning for Bloomington.  We spent a few days haning out with my family, eating and BOATING.  Bubba took us on a tour of a little school he's atending right now, IU.

Boom.  There was our July.  We spent more than half of it living out of a suitcase.  August is proving to be a much calmer month.  Here's a little photo dump from my phone...