HAHAHA! Look at her!! I can’t believe how much she has changed in a year!

And I obviously don’t have a picture of Sadie a year ago,

but about this time I was still feeling horrible, barely able to get off the couch

b/c the waves of nausea made it unbearable to move.

And now?

Well, I’m not gonna lie. She still gives me waves of nausea sometimes.

Like right now…not feeling so good on four hours of sleep.

I feel like babies are horrible sleepers when they are around 6-7 months old.

Teething? check

Growth Spurt? check

OBSESSED with trying to crawl, getting up on her knees and rocking and grunting and crying and NOT SLEEPING? check.

If you would have looked in one of my windows last night around 2 a.m, 

you would have thought I was a completely crazy madwoman.

I was rocking Sadie and bawling. 

And she was bawling and looking at me like “WHAT IN THE WORLD????”.

And then I thought “GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF WOMAN. THIS IS RIDICULOUS.”

and I pulled myself together.

No feeling sorry for yourself in the Howell household.

That includes you, Miss Harper.

You are not allowed to come to me 

ever

single

time 

Sadie cries

and say in your whiniest voice 

“oooooooooh, HARPER BE SAD. SADIE DRIVE ME NUTS”.

honestly, i think we are all going a little nuts right now!!!

I actually have been scrapping a bit, I just can’t show any of it yet…

But soon, I promise.

Talk to me, girlies…

how was your weekend?

Let me live vicariously through you b/c mine was…

well, I hesitate to even call it a weekend.

xoxo

s

The Backyardigans concert was today and we left 30 minutes into it

b/c Harper was scared.

Bless her heart, it was just too loud.

But I spent quite a bit of money to go,

and we’ve both been looking forward to  going for so long,

that it just made me sad.

She’s been so fiercely independent lately.

She wants to do everything on her own.

And if I try to help her, God forbid..

“NO THANK YOU MAMA!”

At least she finally put the “thank you” in there.

She is so very strong-willed.

And very stubborn.

Not only does she look exactly like her daddy, she also has his heart and soul.

And it hurts sometimes b/c I don’t have him here to help me,

and honestly he is the one that really “gets” her.

He is so so wonderful with her.

I came home today just feeling down. And tired. And HOT.

But then I uploaded these photos I took before we left this morning,

And my breath caught in my chest.

She is so very fearfully and wonderfully made.

And I cannot believe that this beautiful girl came from ME.

That her daddy and I made her.

I simply cannot believe it.

Happy Friday, friends.

xoxo

s

P.S. The dress is on sale HERE.

 

I’m not creating as often, so I don’t have much to share,

And I have been in a slump.

I refuse to complain or moan, though…I realize how blessed I am and I am concentrating on the good things in life.

But that doesn’t leave me with much desire for blogging.

I was thinking about how I don’t have anything to blog about and I thought 

today I’d give you my back story. 

If you find it completely boring, I don’t blame you.

But sometimes I realize I’ve been reading someone’s blog for years,

and I don’t really know them.

Sure, I know their scrapbook pages, their kids’ faces, the image they project,

but not much about them.

So here goes.

1. I’m adopted. It’s the coolest thing about me. 

One of the first things in a long series that makes me believe in the Lord. 

It’s not just a random fluke that I’min the family I’m in.

 

2. I grew up in Houston. I went to private school until high school, 

and then I went to public school. It was the best decision my parents

could have made for me.  I came out of my shell in high school.

Acting, Student Council, Choir, Young Life, 

Lacrosse, you name it. I loved the new world I 

discovered when I left my old school behind.

 

3. I went to Baylor University and pledged Chi Omega. I

majored in Telecommunications. I was going

to be the next Diane Sawyer. Unfortunately, it took me three years to

discover that that wasn’t going to happen.

 

Changed my major to Early Childhood Education.

 

 

4.I’m a teacher. I taught 2nd grade up until the day I went into labor 

with Harper. I miss it, but I don’t. I miss the kids, but I don’t miss

the other stuff. The “teach to the test” stuff, the stress my SECOND graders

had over grades, the red tape junk.

 

5. I met Jimmy when I was 23. We never really did the “dating” thing. We were

just together from the first night we met. 

 

6. He had me convinced he wasn’t ready to marry me.

The night he went with my dad to ask my hand in marriage,

My dad came home and acted mad. (I learned later, he wasn’t mad, he just couldn’t look me in the eye b/c he’d grin and give it away).

I assumed J had told him we weren’t 

getting married anytime soon.

 

I was SO mad. He proposed to me that night.

In my pajamas. And those socks with grippers on the feet? Lovely.

 

 

7. We have lived in upstate NY, Washington State, Georgia, and Texas.

 

8. Harper was a little bit of a surprise. Sadie was a TRUE surprise.

 

9.I have 2 brothers. Andrew lives next door to me!! and is a builder and 

general contractor. Jonathan is a nuclear submariner in the navy.

 

10. I have worked many jobs– Guess you have to if you want to be an

army wife.  Wine store clerk, Book Store, Hostess, Substitute,

boutique salesperson, babysitter.

 

whoa. holy randomness, right? 

but that’s me. can you even believe i played lacrosse? i can’t.

those girls are TOUGH.

So, I’m starting another day here. Thursday will be one MONTH since

J left. Feels good to hit that mark. 

The girls are sleeping and it’s drizzling. I have hope that today will

be a good day.

Love you all!

xoxo

I used to hate them b/c it meant J had to go back to work,

but no more.

Now it’s just the same as any other day of the week, ha!

So Monday, you are back in my good graces.

As a matter of fact, you are on a level playing field with Saturday.

The two of you seem exactly the same to me.

I wanted to show you guys a couple of photos of what I’m doing with the built-in shelves

in my (our?) bedroom.:

Above is an urn from Sadie Olive and bird cards from Cavallini. 

John Derian post cards.

Speaking of John Derian and my obsession with him, 

I almost had a heart attack this weekend when I saw that he is releasing 

a limited edition collection to Target this fall.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

I’m operating on the assumption that most people here won’t know who he is,

but don’t you think I won’t be at those red doors the second the store opens that day.

One more thing, I’ve been slowly building a collection of antique botanical prints.

I collect them at the flea market and online:

I’m not sure what I am going to do with them, but oh, how I love them.

Before I go, I’m going to leave you with a couple of new pages.

I’m guest designing for Paper Trunk this month.

Here are a few things I’ve done.

A. I know there is a rip on the first page. I rip my papers all the time (accidentally) by moving them around after I’ve adhered them. This time I decided to let it go and just act like I meant to do it. 

(shhh- i didn’t mean to! hehe)

B. I feel like the 2nd page is super clean and simple for me, but I kind of like it!

xoxo

s

Because I went through the entire day yesterday thinking it was Saturday.

Even though I took the trash out yesterday (trash comes on Thursdays)

and watched Project Runway the night before

(tim gunn saying holla at your boy almost made me pee in my pants)…

I still thought it was the weekend.

Nice.

I guess that’s what happens when your weekends aren’t any different than your weeks.

But I’m glad it was Thursday, b/c I would have missed the fee farket

And I’m so needing a flea market run.

I think I’m in withdrawal from missing a week.

Sad but true.

Speaking of the fee farket, I got a stack of 8 or so plates

a month ago for like a dollar.

I looked them up online last night just b/c I love them and was curious

about them…

and they sell for like 30 dollars a piece.

WHAAAA????

see, this is why i love the fee farket!

I will be putting together my class kits next week

 for the class I’m teaching on August 16 at Crop Paper Scissors.

I’ve been having nightmares that no one will come.

Well, as of now, three people have signed up, and one of them

is one of my mom’s friends.

Wonder if she is bribing people.

Heheheh.

Anyway, please come if you live in the Waco Area!

you can call at 254-751-7020.

Yes, I ain’t too proud to beg.

I really don’t want no one to come.

Can you tell that concerns me? heeee!

She is also selling class kits, FYI.

Look a few posts before this one and you can see the project.

It is also on the store website.

Look at these two:

I sometimes get concerned that h is going to smother s with her love.

She’s like a puppy…she gets so excited to see her.

But she isn’t exactly…um…tender? with her.

She is however, very tender with treats..

God forbid you try to talk to her while she is eating one.

Very serious business.

And S,,,well i’ve come to the conlusion that she is a ham.

And a bit of a nut.

See what i mean?

But oh my goodness, she makes me laugh!

I am dying to scrapbook this weekend,

maybe I well squeeze it in ????

Have a beautiful, blessed weekend!

xo

s