Life via i-phone pics

I keep trying to blog this week, but something always comes up. The afternoons to myself have been far and in between, since the girls afternoon naps have not be in sync like they used to be. At night after the girls are put to bed, I'm usually sewing so there's that. Tonight, however I'm taking the time to share some pictures I've taken with my phone this week. :)

A good hair day. Lol

New bib design for boys.

Mariam at the doctor for her 6 month check-up

Laying in the nursery playing with my girls.

Mariam and daddy playing candy crush. What is it with this candy crush? I don't play so I'm wondering what is so addicting about it.

My Layla.

Bought eos chapstick for the first time and woah! I've been missing out. This one is sweet mint and it smells so good, I could just eat it up.

Skirt I whipped up for Mariam today. I'll make another post on it once she's wearing it. Confession--I spend so much time making things for others, that I haven't made too many things as you would think for the girls. Sure they are my models, but they don't have one of each of everything I make. I need to make more things for them.

The age gap between siblings

People often wonder what a perfect age gap between siblings is. They question themselves whether to have them close in age, a couple years apart, or years apart. Serena and Layla are 8 years apart. It wasn't intended to be that long, but I believe everything happens for a reason and for whatever reason, it is what it is. Having them 8 years apart has been a blessing. Serena is such a great big sister and she loves her "little boo-boo" as she calls her. She is also great with her new baby sister Mariam. Serena and I have our moments were things can be tense since she is nearing 11, but I'm so proud of her and she is such a help. Really I don't know how I'd get dinner made some days without her playing with the girls, because for whatever reason--that is the time that the kids...and mommy start melting down. Another unintentional occurrence was the time frame between Layla and Mariam. They are 16 months apart and a newborn and a toddler is no easy thing. However I have heard that it will get better after the first year because they will be able to play together. It will be nice for them to be super close. A built in best friend. I guess you can say, there is good things to be found in whatever age gap between siblings.

The striped maxi: postpartum

So remember this post, where I talked about how by mid-may I wanted to have gained 5-6 lbs and get toned. Welllll...I should have given myself a longer time frame because I didn't count on catching a cold like I did, or having dental work which affected me being able to eat solid meals for a couple days. Nevertheless, I have put on some weight. Hurrah! The last time I checked at my in-laws house. (my scale is broken), I had gained 2 pounds. Hey! I'll take it. I haven't been exercising much to work on my toning. I've just been so busy and believe me I know that all it takes is at least 15-30 minutes of the day, but I guess I just haven't made it a priority. I will again though. 

The dress is much longer without a 32 week baby bump. It's also a tad too big. I bought it pregnant and it's a medium so I'm going to have to alter it or else I'll be stuck constantly hiking it up on the bust.

Ps. I think I'm going to have to turn my moderate comments on. I keep getting all these spam comments. So annoying! I also don't want to turn on captcha because that can be aggravating for a person trying to leave a comment. I know sometimes I don't want to leave a comment on other people's blog posts, because it takes me at least 3 times for me to get the captcha right on my phone due to auto correct or it just not reading it. 

Have a great Wednesday!

Stop! In the name of love!

.....before you break my heart. 

That song just popped in my head because I look at these pictures I took of Mariam over the weekend, and I can see how much she's grown since the last time I photographed her in February wearing this same baby bandana head covering.

Just look at my little mooshy doll face. I can't get enough of her! It's almost midnight as I type this and I almost want to creep into the nursery just to pick her up and hold her. I won't do that though. Are you kidding me?! I'd be nuts to wake up a sleeping baby. ;)

Layla Wear

{Shorts: Target / cardigan: Kohl's}

I'm not wearing anything special today other than a pair of shorts and sandals, but I wanted to show this pretty necklace that was recently given to me by a family friend. It's not something I would have normally picked out for myself before, but I love it! The different stones makes it very versatile.

I'm very sleepy today. H and I stayed up till almost 1 in the morning last night watching a movie. We had a date night last night which was nice. It's rare that H and I get to hang out with just each other--where it's just us. I dropped off the girls at my in-laws and then headed to a restaurant where H met me. He was just getting off work. Poor guy has such a long commute. He amazes me because despite having a long commute to and from work and managing a staff while having his own deadlines, meetings, etc, he somehow manages to leave everything at the door before he gets home. He hardly ever complains and only occasionally mentions work.

How does he do it?

He has the patience of a saint and I love him for that. Have a great weekend everybody.

Friday Fancies

So glad it's Friday, however it's rainy and gloomy outside and the girls and I will most likely be spending all day inside. I've got some things to do around the house and I'm hoping the girls take a long nap at the same time in the afternoon so I can get some work done. I've been getting a few inquiries about making custom bibs for birthday parties. I recently did first birthday party bibs for a set of twins. Their theme is "pink lemonade." So cute! Love that theme.

I've also got some new designs/prints coming out each week and something big I'm working on for the summer. It's all very exciting but there is much work to be done and research. I'm hoping I reach my deadline but it all depends, because I can't move as fast as I'd like. My girls come first. I don't let my work cut into being with them and I have a system that works..for now. So we'll see. Since I'm already talking about the biz, I'll go ahead and share this little beauty which will be available online Monday. Love.

Layla's Birthday Party Pics

We had Layla's birthday party this past Saturday and everything went great. I'm so glad I kept it small and family only. In total there was 15 people so definitely less stress! I got so behind on things I literally bought some decorations and presents the night before and threw my ideas together. Serena helped me decorate and it all came out cute and simple. Initially I was going to do a minnie mouse theme since Layla loves minnie mouse right now, but I ended up doing just pink and whites. A girly slightly shabby chic theme. 

The party started at 4:00 pm but half of the family didn't show up till 5:15 pm. We had a simple menu of veggies, cheeses, fruit skewers, fried chicken, potato salad, corn and salad. The only thing we had to do was cut up the veggies, cheeses and put the fruit skewers together. Everything else we bought already made. With three girls, one being a baby, I definitely need to keep things quick and easy right now. 

Putting together this photo banner was a lot of fun and super easy. I simply uploaded photos to Walgreens.com and then picked them up an hour later. I also bought some card stock and ribbon later and just taped them on the ribbon.

Happy Birthday Layla!

Today my baby turns 2. I just can't believe she has been in our lives for 2 whole years! Where did the time go? It certainly doesn't feel that long. I can't help but think about how it all began. 

There's an old post about the difficulty we had trying to conceive her and there were plenty of tears, sometimes some bartering and many prayers. I feel so blessed God answered our prayers, has kept her safe, and on top of that surprised us with baby Mariam when Layla was 9 and a half months old. I'm happy today. I am, but I'm also sad. Sad that my baby (now middle child) is growing up. She has truly been a joy. As a baby she was pretty easy despite being a bad sleeper and still now, she is a good toddler. She is so silly and funny and so lovable. Sometimes she'll look up at random people in the store and scrunch her little nose just to get a reaction out of them, or she will stretch her hand out so someone will hold it. She loves minnie mouse, her blanket, being outside and juice. I can't get enough of hearing her talk. I love her little chipmunk voice. 

So happy birthday my Layla. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. I love you.