Hey Girl

This is Odell. She will be turning two in August. She is our third born.
She almost didn't make it here. When I was 14 weeks pregnant with her, I woke up one morning with really painful cramps. Within the next couple of hours I started bleeding heavily (this pregnancy was after a scary miscarriage where I had to go to the hospital because I was bleeding so bad)- my husband was at work so my mother in law drove me to the doctor's office. During the ultrasound I saw a healthy, rapidly beating heart and a perfect little baby on the screen and I fell in love. Then my doctor told me that I had a large blood clot in my uterus, my cervix had shrunk to 2 cm and that I was probably going to miscarry within the week. That was heart-wrenching for me, especially because she was just fine on the ultrasound, there was nothing wrong with her, she was perfect, but there was nothing they could do.
Well the week passed. And then another week. And then another week, and although my cervix was on a roller-coaster, lengthening and then shrinking, then lengthening and shrinking again, she just kept being the perfect little baby that she was and refused to leave. With lots of prayer and lots of rest, God let us keep this beautiful baby girl. In fact she made it to 38 weeks, full term, and has been just an angel since then.
Well, sort of. I just found her with one of our unzipped and halfway unstuffed couch pillows. We love her anyway.
So to Odell, I say, "Hey Girl. Thanks for being here and making me the luckiest Momma in the world."
Hey YOU. Go look at some more beautiful girl entries this week at I Heart Faces!! Celebrate all those girlies in your life (and don't forget your MOMMA! Only a few days left- have you checked out the Vintage Pearl yet? Get some great ideas over there!)
...(PS, I'm not sponsoring them, I just really like their stuff...)

Scarf Winner!

SOOOO, life of a college student wife, my husband has our laptop with him at school, which means I don't have the "snippet" tool to prove to you that I randomly chose the winner on random.org, you're just going to have to take my word for it.
Of my seven lovely entries, number seven won! Thanks to the beautiful Lisa who I had the privilege to work with at school, this is what she had to say about Spring:

I think my favorite thing about Spring has recently changed. Since having my son, the whole world has changed. I always enjoyed spring, but now, watching him see the world through those beautiful innocent eyes-the bugs, the birds, Dad mowing the lawn, are all AMAZING things to him. Well, that is what Spring should feel like to ALL of us!

So true, I love how excited my kids get when the grass starts turning green and the tulips sprout up in Grandma's garden.
 Enjoy the sunshine, everyone. AND, I think it's safe to announce now, that I will be going on an actual vacation in a few short weeks to Hawaii. While my gut sinks and I get all clammy when I think about being away from my family for almost two weeks....uuuuuuuhhhhhhggggg...., I am looking forward to taking some beautiful pictures and trying to tan my legs. Wish me luck.

Exploring a little/ Scarf Giveaway!!!

First of all, I love this tree in Spring. All the freakishly big crab-apples it drops all over our yard in the fall are worth these beautiful flowers in the Spring. I know everyone else in my family would love to either chop this thing down or freeze it before it buds, but I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!!
Second of all, gettin' my craft on lately. Here and there. I'm still utterly confused as to where the time goes at the end of the day, but once in a while I'm able to do some things that don't involve...well, whatever it is that I do all day. Like this upcycled beauty:

 Sorry, I had to be my own model today. I took the upcycled scarf idea and just added a few things, like a snap and my most favoritist material of all time....

You KNOW, the item I just LOVE more than anything else in the world....
.....

YARN, it's YARN that I love. 

So here is another one I made that I'm going to GIVE AWAY!!!

One lucky blogger will get this tee shirt scarf by JUST COMMENTING BELOW and telling me your favorite thing about Spring! One comment per person, and I'll end this giveaway lets say, Monday night at midnight.
Tell your friends! :-) And have a wonderful weekend!

Undeniable Love

Happy Easter everyone!
I have no excuses for my absence from this blog. Oh wait, actually I have three of them, and I've discovered exactly what it means to be a stay-at-home mom to the fullest. You don't really get the whole experience until you survive the winter months...but I'm happy to say we survived. And Spring is here to stay!! Enjoying the warm sun and greenery sprouting all around.

Working on a lot of things, one of them being this little treasure. She was amazingly patient and precious through the whole shoot! And I was sweating like a dog. I know, gross. I only share those particular details with you because you are my friends, and you know...like to keep it real.

Eat lots of cadburry eggs!!
Or don't. Just eat one. Lots of them would feel not good after a while.

Happily Ever After

 

Now, I don't advertise myself as a wedding photographer. As much as I love the magic that happens on a wedding day, my husband keeps reminding me of the times I've attempted it and come home at the end of the day completely discouraged and ready to give up photography all together. Oh yeah. STRESS CITY. However, I am known to help out on an occasional family wedding, which I enjoy. Much less pressure. I'm finishing up this wonderful couple this week, my gorgeous, sweetest girl in the world sister-in-law and her new lucky man. The day they got married couldn't have been more perfect for December. Here's just a sneak. Don't they look happy? Ah...sometimes I wish I could plan my wedding all over again just so I could get happy pictures like this of Craig and I. Craig might agree to it if we get another wedding cake in the mix. :-) 

Happy Tuesday, y'all. 

Treasured Little Creations Giveaway!

Happy Heart Day!!
I'm excited to announce another giveaway for you all. Treasured Little Creations is a BIG inspiration for me, I love all her hats and everything she makes! Well they hit 5000 fans and so they are giving away a LOT of amazing things, including another custom made hat from Chelsea's Attic! In order to win, head on over to her blog by clicking on the picture or link above and follow the directions to get as many entries as you can. :-) 

Wishing you the best of luck and the happiest and loveliest of Valentine's Days.

New Winner!

Sorry Candida, but I needed to draw a new winner since I didn't hear back from you! And the new winner of a free custom designed hat from Chelsea's Attic goes to....

Comment #8: Annie Jane Photography! Congrats, Annie Jane, please email me at chelseas_attic@yahoo.com to claim your prize and let me know what I can make for you! Same rules, in 48 hours if I don't hear from you, I have to pick a new winner, but let's hope that doesn't happen this time. :-)

Hope you're all having a lovingly wonderful Wednesday. Less than a week until Valentine's Day!!