Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Okay. So I am still alive. We're doing great and baby Reese is already a month old (and is one of the cutest baby girls I've ever seen - - if I don't say so myself). Ava's a great big sister and we've enjoyed my husband being home more during the holidays. So . . . now you know why I haven't been blogging.

But, I'll be back blogging probably the first or second week in January.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!!

Thanksgiving baby!

So . . . our little one decided that she wanted to make a Thanksgiving debut (which was fine with me!).

Introducing . . .

Reese Della Smith

Nov. 25, 2010

9:48 a.m.

8 lbs. 11 oz.

20.5 in.

We're both doing great! I might be MIA this week or I might not. We'll see. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love this video. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have a lot to be grateful for!

What will I be doing tomorrow? Well, we'll watch the guys play in their turkey bowl, I'll have a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with family, eat lots of yummy pies, and hopefully then go into labor. Wish me luck!

Giveaway results!

A big thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!

And the winner?

Heather Demke

Heather likes to shop at outlets and DownEast Home. Uhhhh. Heather. We could be BFFs. DownEast is my favorite place to shop. For those of you wondering and who asked, the place I bought the dress above, was from the DownEast Clearance Outlet in West Valley City, Utah. I don't have the exact address, but I'll get it and post it soon. Love it!

Crafts: freezer paper stenciling

This little girl can't wait to meet her little sis. 2 more weeks left . . . and counting. She's ready. And so am I!

One of the projects I wanted to finish before having this little one, was to make big sister/little sister shirts. I'd always wanted to try out the freezer paper stenciling and thought this was the perfect opportunity.

Made has a great tutorial on freezer paper stenciling. Go here to check it out.

-I don't have a fancy program and just made my design off of Microsoft Word. The owls were part of the clipart.

-I was able to print it off right onto the freezer paper (you want the ink on the dull side and not on the shiny side).

- Then you have the really fun part (definite sarcasm coming through - - if you couldn't tell). You get to cut it out with an exacto knife. This is the longest process (if you have words - - tiny words).

- Iron on the freezer paper (shiny side down) to the shirt.

-Use fabric paint (I used the Tulip brand) to blot the paint on the shirt and let dry for 3-4 hours.

-When you're done, you'll get something cute like the shirts above. (this was my first time and I did have some bleeding through - - especially with the name Reese. Need to figure out what to do next time.)

Ava absolutely loved her shirt. She couldn't stop looking at the finished product on herself. I can't wait to get a picture with the girls in them together.

I'll be linking to some of the parties below.

Refashioning: christmas dresses for the girls

I absolutely love refashioning clothes. Mainly just for my little girl (soon to be girls). The other day, I received a free $10 card in the mail from Kohls. And now I know why I don't ever shop there. We would be there every day, all day long, and in some major debt! I couldn't stop looking at those clearance aisles.

I was trying to find some type of outfit that I could make the girl's Christmas dresses out of. And I think I found it. I found this cute Lauren Conrad skirt. A little too tiny for me but could be perfect for what I have in mind. It was on clearance for $13 and so I was able to get it for $3. Amazing. We'll see how it turns out. I'll keep ya posted.

Will you be making any Christmas dresses this year?

Blogoversary Giveaway

Don't forget about my blogoversary giveaway! You have until Thursday morning. Enter here.

Organization: free organization list printables

A while back I'd found these free printables through the wonderful land of blogging and saved them on my computer. Well, my world is going to be a slightly bit hectic in the next 2-3 weeks so I thought I'd finally print them out and start using them. The free printables are from Vale Design and can be found here. Aren't they perfect?! So print them out and get organized. (And there are other free printables you should check out too.)


Oh, by the way, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. {Don't hate me.} My goal was to have it all done by the time the little one comes so that I can just focus on her, my little cute family, and of course the true meaning of Christmas.

Photography: embrace the camera - Nov. 11

Last Saturday evening, Ava had a mild case of croup. Well, mild, meaning waking up every hour while coughing and crying. It was awful, to say the least. And of course it happend the night that we gained an hour of sleep. Uggghhh.

Well, she came into bed with us and wouldn't stop crying. As soon as I suggested that she and I have a sleepover in the livingroom while watching "Barney" all night long, she immediately stopped crying and jumped off of the bed. She was so excited. The last thing we needed was for the hubby to get sick during finals, so he stayed in bed. He came out and took a picture of us and had a look of jealousy. He really wanted to hang out with us night owls. But to tell you the truth, I'd rather get sick than have to take care of a sick husband. Am I right? Well, after watching the third episode she was still wide awake. What was I thinking?! I thought she'd fall asleep during the first episode, but I was wrong. She finally did fall asleep and then woke up every hour after that due to the coughing. I'm just glad this happend before the baby came. It could've been much worse.

I'm grateful for moments like these - - not the sick part, but being there for her - - even in the middle of the night. I hope that at this young and tender age, she understands and knows how much her mama loves her.

Did you embrace your camera this week?

Blogoversary Giveaway

Whenever I go to Utah to visit family, there's an outlet that I always have to stop at. They have Pottery Barn items that either haven't sold, have flaws, have been returned, etc. I love going through those clothing bins. Usually it's just me, because some family members think it's gross - - like a thrift store. Hello?! I love thrift stores. So it's perfect for me.

Anyway, I love going through their baby clothes bin. The clothing has never been worn and is usually in perfect condition except for monograms that weren't sewn on correctly, maybe the wrong monogram, or the person who bought it didn't like it and just sent it back. That's where I come in. I buy them and then try to refashion them. I love it.

So, with the cute baby dresses that I do have, I've made fabric rosettes and have hand sewn them on top of the monograms. I think they turned out pretty cute!

So, here it is. The giveaway - - for this cute, never worn, Pottery Barn Kids baby dress (size 3-6 months). And if you don't have any babies, grand-daughters, etc., then give it to someone for a christmas gift or baby shower gift.

Rules:

This giveaway starts Wednesday, November 10 @ 9:00 p.m. (PST)

and will end on Thursday, November 18 @ 7:00 a.m. (PST)

the winner will be announced Friday, November 19 on this blog. (one winner will be chosen randomly)

Can enter this giveaway three times by:

1. telling me where you love to shop to get great deals (leave a separate entry with name and e-mail)

2. become a follower (leave a separate entry also with name and e-mail and if already a follower, let me know in the comments)

3. post it on your blog (leave a separate entry also with name, e-mail, and blog where you posted)

Saving Money: Daily Worth and LearnVest

So, if you're obsessed with saving money and trying to be debt free, like me, then you'll love these websites. I've signed up for their daily e-mails and they have great tips - - generally geared toward women. Check it out here and here.

Edible Cornucopias

I had posted this last year, but since I probably had 10 followers and since I posted it a few days before Thanksgiving, thought I'd post it again.

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If you've ever been to my family's Thanksgiving Dinner, I'm pretty sure you've seen these. Ever since I can remember, we've had these at our Thanksgiving Feast. They're edible cornucopias that we make for each place setting. And . . . the best part is that they're really easy to make.

You first want to go to your nearest grocery store and buy waffle cones and any type of candy you want to put in the cornucopias when finished (we usually do nuts, candy corn, m&ms). Also if you have any gorgeous colored leaves you've picked (my mom, usually collects them during the fall and stores them in the refrigerator until thanksgiving - - just for this little place setting), they look great underneath the cornucopia and makes your table very colorful and festive.

You want to fill up a pan of hot water and place a steamer inside (make sure the water line is below the bottom of the steamer or else you're gonna get soggy cornucopias - - out of experience). Then boil.

Once boiling, place the waffle cone inside, place lid on, and count for 30-40 seconds.

Then take it out using a tong and bend the end of the cone so it looks like a cornucopia. Leave the tong in place for about 10-15 second so it stays like that. And you're done! Well, okay, maybe not completely done. You just have to add the best part which is the candy. (parents beware . . . your children might eat this before their Thanksgiving feast . . . I know I do!)

Hope you enjoy them for your Thanksgiving Feast! I'll be linking to the parties below.