Joy To The World!

The "halls" are decked...


The tree is lit...


Prayers for a peaceful, joyous season have been lifted up...


From our family to yours! We wish you all a beautiful CHRISTmas season. May your homes be warm and cozy, your tummies be full of scrumptious goodies, and your hearts be home to the King of Kings!

Love,
All of Us

The Birthday Girl!

Our sweet Olivia turns 1 today! And we had a great birthday brunch with family yesterday!










Daddy's turn!




Not sure what we think of those balloons...


...but the presents are pretty fun!


Olivia is still on a no-wheat, no-dairy, no-egg diet, so I made her this yummy rice crispy treat flower "cake" using vegan "butter". It actually tasted just like regular rice crispies; you'd never know the difference.


The rest of us enjoyed a yummy brunch, thanks to everyone chipping in with a dish!

Home Sweet Home

Welcome to our new home!! We finally got everything mostly put away, and this house will probably never be quite this clean again, so I thought I'd take you on a little virtual tour of the new digs. As you can see from this picture and the one below, I FINALLY got my fabric shelves organized!

And this has now become my favorite room in the house. We're calling it Mommy and Daddy's play room.

I have plenty of room to sew and craft.

I am envisioning some very girly and very fun craft gatherings around this table. I can't wait to invite some friends over and make good use of this space!

Our office space is no longer in our bedroom, which feels great.

The books are no longer within Patrick's reach, as he is not generally allowed in this room. One less temptation for those curious little hands.

The living room and the studio/office through those double doors.

The apple painting made its way out of the kitchen and into the living room. Also, I recovered the piano bench in a really fun, bright fabric from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden line.

Our "quaint" little kitchen and dining area. I really do love this space. It has so much character. But I say "quaint" because we're a bit lacking in storage and work space.

It could quite possibly be that I just have way too many kitchen items, but what can I say? I love to cook. Speaking of which, you can see two little herb plants sitting in the window. I bought some basil and some rosemary and I tried them out this week in a homemade pizza.

Here's the new island in use, providing some much needed counter space.

I used some of the fresh rosemary leaves and mixed them right into the dough.

I brushed the crust with olive oil, then sprinkled with parmesan and garlic powder, topped with sauce, fresh mozzarella, and sliced tomatoes...

...then threw on some of that fresh basil for the last couple minutes in the oven. Yum!

We finally have a usable backyard, which has been so nice for Patrick.

It's divided into a front and back section, which means less to take care of. We're thinking we might get a swing set to put out in the back part.

More of the saltillo tile that's laid throughout the house.

The kids' very cute little bathroom.

Olivia's sweet room.

Patrick's room.




Our bedroom.

And a peek into...

...the smallest bathroom in the world!

And that's about it. We are loving our little home and are so excited to have all of our friends, new and old, over for fellowship and of course food. So feel free to invite yourselves :)

Musical Furniture

As many of you now know, plans fell through on the new house for reasons beyond our control. So we are making do for the moment with this one. My parents came over last weekend to help me rearrange some furniture to make a spot for Olivia. I found this sweet 1930's dresser at an antique store in north Phoenix, called Not Too Shabby. After Olivia is born, I plan on moving the changing pad out of Patrick's room and on top of this dresser for easy middle-of-the-night access.

The glass office desk that was in this corner is now in our bedroom. Perhaps I will post pictures of the new set-up in there when it is a bit more presentable. It looks a bit like an explosion went off in a clothing factory right now.

The crib that Patrick had been using is now in the studio as well, where the futon used to be. The futon is also now in our bedroom. I also rearranged the canvas collage to work in this adorable "Olivia" sign I found at TJ Maxx. And in case you're wondering, no there is not a mattress in the crib as of yet... it should be arriving sometime this week!


The room is now half nursery and half studio. I was a little nervous at first about trying to make it all fit together, but I am seriously in love with this room now. It all looks like it was meant to be together. I can't wait to bring the new baby home to this beautiful room (minus the mess... sorry 'bout that).

We also got Patrick's new bed assembled, and by "we" I mean my dad and my brother, as I am not much help at this point and Luke was busy working from home all day. Eventually, the side will come off and it will turn into a toddler bed, and then somewhere down the line, it can also be a full bed. And a side note... after a couple people mentioning it, I am now aware that perhaps the "i" is actually a "j". I always knew something didn't look quite right, but I couldn't figure out what. So in case anyone is wondering, no, I am not one of those weird people (no offense if you are one of those people) who chose to make life difficult for my child by spelling his name with a "j" instead of an "i"... I just couldn't tell the difference apparently between the two when shopping for cardboard letters for the wall. So, for the moment, if only in this room, Patrick's name will remain Patrjck... In case anyone was interested.

Walking away from the computer now and sparing anyone who has actually read this far from any further pain...

...It is sooooo time for me to have this baby now...

Stitches & Stems

I hosted a bridal shower this weekend for a gal from my church. The best part was, I didn't even have to do anything; I just got to enjoy the party. The bride's sister brought all the decorations and food, set everything up, and pretty much hosted. I'm just glad I was able to open up my home to such a lovely bunch of ladies. I did provide the beautiful flowers above. I'll take any excuse to buy fresh flowers.

As my gift to the bride, I made this quilt... a bit of a last minute decision, and one that had me tied to the couch all week. Poor Patrick is probably in need of therapy or at least a little sunshine after being confined to his playpen all week while mom sewed.

I quilted it together with little ties inside each of the diamonds and then embroidered their initials in the corner: Mr. & Mrs. D. and A. S.

And here it is all wrapped up and ready for the party. Congratulations guys! May God bless you abundantly!