Big Changes

So much has changed in our family over the last couple months. Joey interviewed for a new job and after lots of praying, he got an offer! WOOHOO! God is so good! Not to mention, we now have two cars! YES, two cars! It's crazy how we take things for granted until you don't have them-- but we survived with one car for almost two full years. Now that Joey has a new job and since he won't be working from home anymore, it was definitely time to get a second one. Also, I wasn't about to have a second baby with only one car and Landrey is coming very soon! It definitely saved us a lot of money though, and made sense since he was working from home.

We also have been really diving back in to church and have finally settled into our favorite place, 12Stone, which is right down the street from our house. Hartley loves going to her class now and is learning a lot and meeting new friends. It makes me super happy to see her enjoying something new. We even joined a couples small group to meet more couple friends and it has been wonderful so far. I've never been in a small group, so I"m really looking forward to how it changes our relationship as a couple and in our marriage.

Some other changes in our family have to do with my bow business! I'm so proud! It started out really small and very slowly when I opened it in February of this year and finally I have made huge progress! I made my very own Georgia Bows that are now being sold in a store in Athens, Georgia, called The Clubhouse. It was so exciting to get an offer from a family friend to have my bows sold in her own store. I have been one busy, busy mom! Every chance I get I'm working on a big order for the store or for items to sell on my Etsy shop, not to mention just managing to keep up with the housework and my crazy, little, terrible-two, Hartley. She has been so funny lately, with everything she's saying now. Her favorite thing to say as of late is, "why?" after every single thing I say. That's fun! It's incredible the things she has picked up. It blew my mind the other night when she said "because!" Oh parenthood. It's full of surprises.

Last but not least, I'm now 32 weeks pregnant with Landrey! I'm so ready for her to be here that I can hardly stand it. I can't believe she'll be here in less than two months! It seems so unreal. This pregnancy has flown by, but by no means has it been as easy as Hartley's. I was horribly nauseous and tired the first trimester, but luckily never got sick. This time, I'm sleeping hardly at all and getting up a bagillion times a night to go to the bathroom. The best thing about this pregnancy has been that I'm a lot smaller than I was with Hartley, but I think I may be the only one who says that's a good thing. She is a very, very active little girl! I just cannot wait to meet her and see what Hartley thinks of her new, little sister. =)

Until next time....

Sew in love with Sewing!

I've recently fallen in love with sewing and everything that goes with it. I mentioned that in my most recent post about Landrey's nursery. Well...I'm super excited about my latest project: recovering my extra infant carseat carrier. It's not hideous or anything but just worn out and not really my style. Right now I'm working on the outer fabric which is gray and white Suzani. For The inner part I'm going to use gray Minky which is super soft! I'm ecstatic! Here's my progress so far-- the old fabric is that pink floral stuff. 

-Sarah 

Landrey's 3D/4D Ultrasound

Today we went in for Landrey's 3D/4D ultrasound at 28 weeks. We enjoyed it so much with Hartley's pregnancy, we decided we must do it for Landrey's. I'm definitely so glad we did because there is nothing better than seeing that sweet face before she's actually here. We managed to get only a handful of good face shots because she was so active and snuggled up on her side. It reminded me so much of Hartley and how she seemed to hide her face. It was such a fun experience, I couldn't stop smiling. I can't wait for her to come in less than 3 months!!! 

-Sarah

Landrey's Nursery

It's been forever since I've written, so of course a lot has happened. I actually have three other drafts that are saved, which kind of irritates me that I never published them. I'm now 26 weeks pregnant with our second baby, another sweet girl whom we are naming Landrey. Long story short, I spent hours searching for baby bedding for her, but couldn't find a single thing I liked. I even bought a set from Target and then returned it because it just wasn't good enough. I came to the conclusion after learning on Etsy and EBay, that people make custom bedding---however, at a large cost. Luckily, I found a lady on EBay who was willing to make some for me for the average price. I had to wait 6 weeks to get it, but for the most part, it was worth it. I just made a few minor adjustments. I've also been very into sewing lately, so I ordered some fabric and created a matching curtain valance, lamp shade, pillow, mobile and comforter to go with the custom bumpers and bed skirt I had made. Here's how it all came together. :)

Top Chef Citti

I'm most definitely not a top chef, but I just really wanted to use that title. haha. I've mentioned in recent posts, or should I say, many, many months ago (ughhhh I wish I could make myself update this more often..) how much I have enjoyed cooking lately. I think cooking is my new favorite hobby since becoming a mom. I always liked cooking, but I pretty much always cooked out of a box and threw on some extra flavor. Joey has become my number one fan, rooting me on and telling me he loves how I have been trying so many new things, which of course, is very nice to hear.

When I say that I love my crock pot, I mean I absolutely LOVE my crock pot. Some may think it's lazy cooking but I just think it's super fun! My favorite place to get crock pot recipes is from crockingirls.com. I definitely recommend checking it out. Other than that wonderful recipe site, I pretty much google only five star recipes. haha...I'm just afraid that if I don't look for those, they won't be any good otherwise. Luckily, pretty much every recipe I've tried has turned out great. Although, I must admit that half of the time, I don't follow the recipe exactly, I end up adding in my own things here and there. My most recent recipe is one very similar to a chicken and mushroom with white wine sauce that I posted a while back, but with Pork Chops and White Wine (I substituted white wine with cooking sherry).

Here's the link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-pork-chops-i/. It turned out absolutely delicious, except, I've found that pan frying meat, especially pork chops, is a rather quick process, so there's no need to bake them afterwards (unless you want to)....I just added the sauce on top in the frying pan. =) I served it with mashed potatoes and carrots. MmmmMmmmMmm!!!

I also recently tried an excellent steak marinade that a friend shared with me and it was AMAZING!!!! I think it's my new favorite marinade for steaks. I thought I'd share that too! Here it is:

Steak Marinade:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 T of garlic powder
3 T of dried basil
1 1/2 T dried parsley
1 tsp ground white pepper (I used black pepper)
1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper (I omitted this)
1 tsp minced garlic

I let this marinade sit for about 3 hours and it was so flavorful and just right!

Until next time.....(I will be writing about our complete bedroom makeover..woohoo!)

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