New Launch

Please go check out my new and improved Cake blog. Please notice the new name as well as the additions to my cake business. I am really excited about this next step and have been really looking at a way to incorporate all my 'craftiness' into a business and blessing others with my skills. Thanks.

I so LOVE my new toy......

I also got to get a die cut machine last week. I am slowly using my coupons to Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Joann Fabrics to build up my embossing and die cut inventory. Here is the card I made to go with the baby book I made a few weeks ago. Gabe and I are seriously talking about being able to extend my cake business to include handmade crafts such as cards as well. Please keep checking the cake blog to see what and when we get everything decided. I can't wait!!!

A day to be unplugged

So, as I was checking the blogs this morning, my friend Shannon had posted a challenge to be 'unplugged' today and be creative. To turn off the tv, phones, computers and be creative. At first, I wasn't sure when we could do this challenge, but as I was commenting on her blog, I realized we could do it today. To help us out with staying home, Perryn didn't get dressed. She has just been in her panties only all day....we stayed home for sure.

Anyways, first off this morning, the children did some painting, I still had to get the laundry done and lunch cooked before I could really get into my creative day. Once I got going, I took off. I got 20 thank you cards done as a baby gift. I still need to go get the envelopes and take care of them, but the thank yous are done. Here are some pictures of our fun creative day....

Perryn and I both working on our new die cut machines!!

A weekend of friends and family

So on Saturday evening we went to South Austin to see my great-aunt and uncle and their two children and one granddaughter. They had come in from Huntington Beach California for a few days to visit with my great-uncle's mother. Rebekah and Mark had Addison in May, they are expecting a new baby in June of this year. This was the first time any of us got to meet Addison and see everyone since Rebekah and Mark's wedding 5 years ago.

Perryn and Addison.

Sam, Stephen, and Jake having a jam session.

Do we have a drummer in our future?

Perryn with one of her favorite cousins, Parker.

Then on Sunday afternoon after church we were invited to lunch and fun at some very dear friends of ours in Leander. Donnie and his son Matt, sang in our wedding. Donnie was also our College and Career Sunday School teacher right after we graduated high school and before we got married. I keep joking with Gabe that Donnie and his family are treating us like the 'prodigal' children who have returned home. They have been so gracious and loving to us for the past 13 years and we are so grateful to get to see them more often now.

Perryn and the girls on the tire swing. Perryn wasn't too sure about this.

Donnie and Gabe playing a 'horseshoe' type game.

Matt and Tim

Perryn and her new friends on the swing.

I've been tagged....

So, my friend Shannon has tagged me to let you know a little bit more about myself. So here it goes....

10 years ago:
We had just moved to Dallas on Valentine's Day. So, I was busy unpacking and working at Foley's (aka:Macy's now). Our first apartment was off of Royal Ln on Manderville Ln. We did NOT live there longer than 6 months....we were what one would call living in the ghetto!!

Things on my to-do list today:
Wash, fold, and put away ALL the laundry, grocery store, a run to Joann Fabrics to use my President's day coupon on some clearance Cuddlebug die cuts and embossing templates, run to Walmart to get meds, gym for spinning class, bathe my children, cook dinner.

What would I do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
We would tithe the first 10%, pay off the debt, fund the college funds, buy a house, put some in savings, and help the 'building' fund at The Village Church, and then give some away to be determined at a later date.

Three of my bad habits:
I am a bit of procrastinator...I think I am getting a bit better though. I have a hard time with follow through when it comes to reading some books, sticking with a specific 'discipline game plan' for the children. And not fretting or 'worrying' about things that are not in my control.

Five jobs I have had:
1. Waitress at the Olive Garden.
2. Assistant Bridal Consultant at Foley's.
3. Special Ed Teacher in LISD...ick
4. Childcare worker at Lifetime Fitness
5. Bagger and Checker at HEB grocery store

Five things people don't know about me:
1. I got a 64o TOTAL on my SATs...I know what you are thinking, "Surely that is just the math section or the verbal section", but no it is the TOTAL SCORE.
2. My elementary PE teacher is now my mother-in-law.
3. I have received the Gold Award in Girl Scouts, which is equivalent to the Eagle Scout award in Boy Scouts. I removed 6 ft of concrete at my high school and put in a wheel chair ramp. The ramp is still there, but they moved a bit when they remodeled the high school gym.
4. I gained 60 pounds each time I was pregnant! I am still working on losing the last 15 pounds I gained with Perryn.
5. I helped my dad one fall umpire a high school baseball game. I think I was a senior in high school and he passed me off as a college freshman because the other umpire didn't show up. My dad had to put his hand on his head and point to the actual position I needed to stand in before the game could go on.

Ok, so now I tag Kristen T., Caroline, Lauren, Rebekah, Natalie, Kristyn H, and Keri

Another new business adventure???

So I don't know if this will do justice to my newest creation, but I thought it would be the easiest way for me to show you all the pages without having to take individual pictures of each page.

Anyways, this is a baby book that I constructed for our friends and their new baby, Miles. I still have the gift, so I am taking a chance that she won't see it here first. I tried to take some of the cute baby pictures off her blog , but they did NOT come out very well at all, so I was only able to use the one my godparents emailed to me.
So, again as with the cake business...would you purchase this item or something similar for a friend or loved one? I am also thinking about making cards like a 'box set' of cards that you could get at Current that would have some sympathy, birthday, anniversary, just because, thank you, etc. Just let me know what you think. Thanks.

Downstairs

So, here they FINALLY are, the pictures of our new digs. This is just the downstairs, because I keep forgetting to take the camera upstairs and take pictures up there. I will get to it eventually.



Yes, I have an ISLAND in my kitchen!! Woohoo. I am doing very well to keep our new place picked up and tidy. Seems weird that I had such a hard time to do that with our smaller apartments. oh well.

Just so you know the apartment we left in Lewisville was 1075 sq ft and this one around 1400 sq ft. Both bedrooms and a built in desk are upstairs.

Happy Valentine's Day

So here is what Perryn and I came downstairs to this morning:Perryn got the monkey and a note, I got the red card. They were so delicately propped up against our centerpiece on our dining table. I know that Gabe and I sometimes have a hard time seeing eye to eye on all things of this world, but we have never doubted our love for each other.

My dad took me on a 'date' last night. It was the first one I think I have been on with him since before we got married. We would go on them all the time when I was in high school and college. And true to his nature, he only gave me a couple hours notice that the date was taking place. I enjoyed the time I had with him, my mom babysat, and I got to hear about his passion for his area food pantry that he heads up in Giddings.

But this morning, to find a sweet and silly Valentine's card on my dining table from Gabe made this a very memorable and good way to start the day. My love language is gifts and as much I LOVE to GIVE gifts, I also like to get them periodically and the more sporadic and unpredictable when they come the more I feel loved. So, on this insane day that has been commercialized for everyone to 'show' their love, I feel the most loved just by getting a sweet card from my handsome husband. It's hard to believe that in 5 weeks we will be married for 11 YEARS!!!

Happy Valentine's Day aka: Happy LOVE day!!

A love story...

For those of you who don't know, I am a romantic at heart. As I watch in awe of how God is continually showing his presence to Nate, Tricia, and Gwyneth Rose I find that the love story that Nate and Tricia are telling everyone is one of true love and God's ultimate grace and beauty for us as humans. I think I will have to get mine composed so that I can share it with you in the next month as Gabe and I celebrate our 11th anniversary.

I am not sure how long Tricia and Nate have been married, but they are in the fight for her life right now. Please go check out their story and continue to lift them up in your daily prayers. To really understand how fragile life is, but really know God's great and awesome power is to relate to this lovely family.

Perryn's Birthday

So today is Perryn's 4th birthday and we celebrated in official Little Mermaid style. She was very worried once we moved to Round Rock that she would NOT have any friends at her party; however, little did she know that Gabe and I still have some friends here that now have children of their own. I think she had a blast!!

We hosted the party here at our new apartment and we were able to have everyone in with a little space to spare!!! It was fun to host our first big thing in our new place. Check out the fun. Of course, I did make the cake. Go here to see it! I think it came out REALLY good.

Cousin Faith, Perryn, new friend Faith and new friend Serah.

Perryn opening gifts. If you look REALLY closely you can see that my brother used duct tape to keep the paper together!! Whatever it takes, right?

Happy Birthday, Noodle. Daddy, Teagan, and I love you a lot!

In Honor of Perryn....

With Perryn's birthday coming up on Saturday, I thought I would let you know what took place around this time 4 years ago. I wrote out her birthing story as soon as we got home from the hospital and it's now in her baby book. Here's what happened, enjoy.

Due Date: Feb. 3, 2004

We went to the doctor on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 for a biophysical profile of Perryn. The doctor wanted to know about Perryn’s size, the position of the placenta, the amount of fluid, her heartbeat, and her breathing rate. At the doctor’s office, everything measured fine except the breathing rate. Perryn would not take the necessary breathing actions needed to pass the test. Therefore, Dr. Valenti sent us to be observed in the hospital for 3 hours with a repeat of the sonogram. I got to eat dinner and the sonogram was repeated. Again, looking for the same criteria Perryn would not breathe. Dr. Valenti felt that both of these sonograms were wrong because everything else that was being monitored was good. He, therefore, did the sonogram himself only looking for breathing. Perryn would still not breathe, so he put a vibrating mechanism on my belly. This woke her up and she took the necessary breaths that he was looking for. He sent us home. He also checked me to tell me I was 2 cm dilated and still 50% effaced. He stripped some more membranes.

We got home about 8:00 pm, at 10:00 I had a couple really good contractions. They went away. I had some more at 3:30 am, so I decided to not go back to work. During the day on Thursday, we ate at IHOP and went walking the mall. The contractions would come for a couple of hours and then leave. On Friday, we walked the mall with the same problem – the contractions would come for a couple of hours and then they would leave.

Early Saturday morning around 4:00 I started feeling consistent contractions. They were sporadic in their length and duration. We called Kecia and the doctor. Kecia came over and helped me with my breathing, the midwife on call told us to stay home. The contractions left again.

On Sunday, February 8, 2004 we decided to go to church instead of just hanging around home. Contractions started at around 11:00 am while we were at church. We decided to stay and even go to lunch afterwards, because they were going to leave us anyway. I would have 4 – 5 contractions in an hour with having to pay attention to 3 out of 4 them. The contractions continued through lunch and the afternoon. Gabe played X-Box and I watched Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. After the movie, we went walking and the contractions stopped for 2 hours. We came back watched “The Bourne Identity” and the contractions came back. I was able to go to sleep from 11:00 pm until 3:00 am. I got up to go to the bathroom and the contractions came back very strong. Gabe called the doctor at 5:00 and they returned the call at 5:15 we told them we were going to the hospital.

On Monday, February 9, 2004, we arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am. I was 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced. The contractions were strong. I was able to get into the bathtub of water and they eased up a little. I had to get out of the tub for them to put the IV port in my hand and get another strip on Perryn. The nurses checked me and I was 5 cm. They let me get back in the tub where the water was not taking the intensity off of my contractions. I was unable to regain my composure and get myself under control – I asked for the epidural. I really wanted to have a natural child birth, but could not. I was taken out of the tub and checked again where I was 7 cm. I was given the epidural and when he was finished I was 8 cm. It was now 10:00am. Dr. Valenti came to check on me and told me I waited until the last possible minute to get the epidural.

At 2:15 pm, Dr. Valenti came and informed me that he needed to do a C-Section and then he would come deliver me. He said he would be gone for 45 min. He came in at 3:00 pm and stated he was just now going in to do the delivery. He turned and walked out the door and I informed the nurse that I needed to start pushing, I couldn’t wait until 3:45 pm. I started pushing sitting up, then laying flat on my back, then on my side, and then on my hands and knees. We had to try these various positions due to trying to get Perryn’s head to turn face down instead of face up. None of these positions worked. I had to get more epidural medicine because the pain was becoming too intense. Dr. Valenti had to put his hand inside and turn Perryn’s head manually. Once this was done within 13 minutes Perryn was born – at 4:58pm.