Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine Feature

A few months ago, I received an email from the editor in chief at Pregnancy & Newborn magazine about possibly featuring one of my bibs. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I submitted the picture she was interested in for print consideration and went along my merry way. Really I was just happy to have gotten a nod from them. 

Sunday night rolls around and I'm looking around instagram, and I come across a clothing line's page stating that they were in the August issue of Pregnancy & Newborn, I noticed that the page they scanned was cut off and I wondered what else was on this page. Could one of my bibs be on there? More internet searching ensued and sure enough, my pink polka dot collared bib is featured in the August issue! Seriously beyond excited and honored!

If you are interested in seeing more of the bib in my shop, here is the link. 

Have a great Tuesday!

Thrice Blessed

Life with three girls can definitely get hectic. Especially when one is a baby who constantly wants to be in arms and cries if she's not. Mariam has been the most difficult out of the three, but I know I'm just as attached to her as she is to me. Even at night when I throw myself in the bed exhausted and thankful that she finally went to sleep, a few minutes later I start to miss her and then I usually show H i-phone pictures I took of her and the other girls during the day. 

Sometimes I still find it hard to believe I made three beautiful girls with the love of my life, and I just gave birth to the third one a mere 8 months ago. If I could slow down the time I would.

Business Update

I haven't posted about the shop in awhile so I thought I'd give a little update today and share some pictures. Next month is my shop's first anniversary and I can't believe it's almost been a year. So many amazing things have gone on so far and I'm so thankful.

Currently things are pretty hectic right now as I'm in the midst of working on a few different things while keeping up with regular orders and working on a large one for my first international wholesale account. When you work only during naptimes and bedtimes your time is limited. That's the life of a mompreneur though. It gets exhausting at times, but it's also my passion and an outlet for me. I'm lucky to be able to do what I love and create beautiful things for babies and their parent's to enjoy.

My latest mini collection made it's debut this week and I'd love for you to check it out here!

 

Off on the right side bar is a thumbnail that will take you right to the shop. 

Have a great weekend!

Layla Oh Layla

 
 
 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to lock up all my girls till they are at least 30. Then again, I'm not sure I'm going to want them in the house that long either. ;)

Layla is definitely the most spirited of the bunch. Serena was such an easy baby and also an easy toddler. She really didn't get into many things and played quietly. Layla...well she's like a little bulldozer and is into everything she can get her hands on! Did I tell you about the time she kept getting into her father's cologne cabinet, or about that time she covered herself in butt paste, or that time she got baby powder all over the nursery? As much as I scour the rooms we are in on a daily basis, with two other children, I'm just bound to miss something. There's also Serena who is not as diligent and will leave something out and there goes Layla finding it. Mariam also has a knack for finding things. I swear that girl can find the littlest crumb!

It does get a little frustrating at times, but you also can't help but laugh! She's at the age where she is exploring and I definitely can't blame her for that. Layla is incredibly smart and inquisitive and sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to be her mom. 

So about that date night

It so did not happen. (womp...womp).

I last left off on Friday saying I needed a break etc, etc, and I had scheduled with my mom for her to come over, but as it turns out, Mariam decided she was not going to sleep through the night. She woke up 3 times Friday night! Needless to say I was sooo tired on Saturday. My mom also had a migraine and she said she would come anyways, but of course I wasn't going to let her with her feeling bad. So we ended up just going out to dinner as a family. I'm always a little scared taking a baby and a toddler to a restaurant, but they did pretty good....the first 30 minutes anyways. 

Sunday proved to be a pretty mellow day. H took Serena and Layla out for breakfast and bowling and I stayed home with Mariam. She took a 2 and a half hour morning nap so I was able to photograph some bibs and get some work done. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up a little, learning time with the girls, dinner and then bedtime. Even though the day wasn't terrible exciting, it was a good quiet day.  

 
 
 

It's not always rainbows and butterflies

You know that perfect mother and wife that always has her house clean, dinner ready or cooking when her husband comes home, works out, is perfectly made up, and when not doing the things mentioned, she's spending quality time with her children working on crafts, or teaching them "Für Elise" on the piano? The mother that never snaps at her kids out of frustration, yet quietly reprimands them--have they need reprimanding? The wife that never haves a headache and when her husband offers his unsolicited advice too many times, instead of giving him a piece of her mind, she just keeps quiet and seethes under her breath?

 I don't know her either, because she doesn't exist.

That doesn't mean I don't try to be that mother and wife. God blessed me with an awesome ability to juggle many things at once and my parents instilled the hardworking values I've clung onto all these years, but I get tired too. 

As I write this, I hear nothing but the rain drops hitting the window and the sound of washing machine running upstairs because despite being "so tired", I couldn't help myself and not throw a load of clothes in the washer. "Now wait just a minute, where are the children?" You must wonder. They are at my in law's house. I dropped them off about two hours ago because I really needed to step away. I'm really bad about getting some "me" time. I just hate to be a burden and I know three kids is a lot. I hated even asking while I was there and instead of the truth, I muttered something about needing to run some errands and taking care of some things at the house, when in fact I just wanted to get away and cry. As I left their house I called my mother but she was too busy to talk, so I drove on and then it stormed all the way home. Once I reached the driveway, I had to get off the car in the down pour to remove a huge branch that fell in my way.

Really world? I mean c'mon! In retrospect I can look back and laugh but I was so not in the mood at that time. Today I'm tired. I've been staying up late tending to the kids and then working on the business and Mariam is still very high needs, and there's always a mess to clean up or somebody that needs tending to, and I felt like I had reached the point where I had nothing left to give. As a mother a feeling like that is only temporary I believe. The ability to give is an endless supply. I just need to recharge. It's babyville from sun up to sun down and I need a break. Which is why tomorrow I'm also stepping away from them and going on a date with my husband. I'm almost never away from the girls and that's not good for anybody. I need to stop feeling guilty, whether it's toward the kids, or H because he works full time and I know he gets tired so I don't want to ask. To be able to take care of everyone else, I need to take care of me too.

If you are a regular reader than you know this blog is mainly filled with happy snippets of my life and it is a happy life, but I am also an open and honest person and whether we admit it or not, there is always going to be a storm that occasionally rains on our parade. I hesitated to post this, but I needed to get this out. Whether it's for validation that it's ok to feel like this, or a "hey you're doing a good job", I don't know, but I needed to vent to someone/something that can't talk back and just listen. 

My girls

I can't help but photograph my little angels. They are just so sweet it melts my heart. Sure Layla makes huge messes daily, and Mariam cries a lot and is a high needs baby, but time goes by so fast. I know I'm going to look back and miss baby cries, baby voices, and even those constant messes.

It's going to rain

...and it did because I finally painted my nails for like the second time in my adult life. I love just fine pedicures, but I don't paint my fingernails because I'm afraid that they will stain or yellow. My nails grow long and shiny on their own, but I couldn't pass up this pretty little L'Oreal nail color in "tangerine crush".

Have a great Monday!

Mariam wear

Normally I'm not a fan of dark colors on the girls, but this little rosette tank from Old Navy (handed down from Layla) is too cute. Perfect for summer combined with a white skirt and a colorful headband made by my friend Morgan over at The smores life blog. 

Mariam is starting to grow aware now of things I put on her head. Hopefully if I continue with the hair accessories she'll get used to them and won't try to take them off like her sister Layla. Most of the time you see her with her hair down because she won't keep clips or ponytails in her hair for very long. 

Decor: Mantel help

I think it's high time I update my mantel. I've changed it a little bit over the past 4 years we've been in this house, but it's time for an overall new look. I've stuck to a gold tone because of the pictures flanking the mantel and because it flows. I tend to match most things, and I really need to step out of my comfort zone more when it comes to mixing up colors and patterns. 

I admit  house updates really took the back burner with back to back pregnancies and just trying to stay sane raising the children. Between them, just maintaining the house ,, H's job and me running a business, decorating the house just hasn't been a huge priority. Little by little we are starting on it again because we would like to move within the next 2 years. This house is charming and there are so many wonderful memories, but it's an older house that we have outgrown, and you know what they say about older houses. "If you aren't working on a project every week, you're behind."

When we first bought the house, this was my inspiration for the living room

The first thing I did was paint the walls a color similar. I went with toasted almond. Then I went on the hunt for a chandelier. I checked craigslist first and found an awesome iron one that actually once graced one of the conference rooms in the University of Texas. Originally it was an awful brown shade, but nothing a little can of white spray paint can't fix!

Next came finding somewhat victorian yet modern sofa's. The style of the house is victorian so I wanted to sort of stay with that throughout the house. The sofa's and then a lovely little tapestry chair was found through two different furniture stores and the Hooker TV console was found at Dillard's. The two paintings are Slava Bradinsky we acquired on our honeymoon. 

Over time we added a custom cigar humidifier my husband refurbished from an old radio console, a Jaipur rug, and an antique mirror to hang over the fire place.

So I ended up straying from the original inspiration as you can see, but I'm happy with the living room...aside from the giant mound of toys hidden in the corner, or the princess tent that has now taken residence along another wall, but such is the life with small children. What I need most help on is the mantel. Here is an up close mantel picture from Layla's birthday party. I only had the collage up that day.

Another picture of the mantel in the background and more of the living room

Do you all have any suggestions as far as what decorations, picture frame choices would look good? I'm off to find some inspiration too and I'll make a separate post.

Love

"Whatever else is unsure in this world, a mother's love is not." ~ James Joyce

July 4th Pictures!

I hope everyone had a great July 4th. We went over to my brother in law's house and just spent some time outside feeding ducks, enjoying the weather and then popping fireworks. I missed some of the fireworks as I had to be inside since Mariam fell asleep on me, but that's ok. The other girls had a good time outside and it would have been too loud for Mariam's ears anyways. I caught a little bit of the show when my mother in law offered to hold Mariam while I darted outside for a little while. 

We got home around 10:30 pm and while I could still hear fireworks going off all the way to midnight, and I spent a good few minutes muttering under my breath to please be quiet, thankfully they did not wake up the sleeping babies!