Fun > Fashion

My daughter is obsessed with shoes and hats.
I know that eventually this may become a problem as she gets older.
My husband already thinks that I have too many shoes in our small house.
I can only imagine how it will be when Eloise is a teenager!
Assuming she keeps up this fascination!!

I have to admit though...
it IS cute (at this stage).

Just today she brought her black dress shoes to me.
She wore them with socks and jeans.
I tried to get a picture but she kept avoiding the camera!
I let her wear them to town... even if it wasn't necessarily "fashionable". :)

I'm not at the point of letting her pick out her own clothes...
though I imagine that will be next...
But I WILL let her pick out her shoes - and if she decides to wear a hat - all the better!
(We make sure she wears a hat outside since she still has barely any hair--but she likes to wear them INSIDE as well!)

All of that to show you these pictures of her from earlier this week:


She loves those boots.
If the ground is mucky, she wears them outside...
but mostly, she likes to wear them IN.


And the hat was a gift from my aunt for Easter...
It's so cheesey - but she likes to play with it...
and it has been quite the laugh generator in our house
as she tries to put it on our heads!



Again with that hat... and her "cow girl boots".
Love it!

Hopefully she'll develop her own creative flare...
Lord knows, if she follows in my shoes...
she will continue to be fashionably challenged as I have no clue!


My Shoe Blog

Who's Going for a Ride?

My parents bought Eloise a red wagon for Easter.

I know it's not Easter yet... but who cares!
The weather was so nice the past couple of weeks (though now it's cold again!)...
we had to bust it out on Friday evening!
(Thanks to my father in law for putting it all together!)

I wasn't sure if she was going to like it...
but now I can say that she definitely LOVES it!

Getting ready to roll!

Back in my high school days I had a belt that was a "seat belt"...
(I know, WEIRD!)
So we strapped her in with that... just as a precaution!
Knowing her, she would try to climb over the side!

And she is off!!


Can't wait until the weather warms up so we can go
out for another little jaunt around the yard!!

I have a feeling that this wagon is going to
be a big hit for a very long time!

Our Day at Grammies

Eloise is 14 months old today!

We had to have some work done in our attic,
so my father-in-law came over to hang out while the work crew was here.
Eloise and I went to their house to spend time with Grammie!

It was a nice change of pace!


Eloise raided a stash of stuffed animals...
(remember I have told you that Cory and I are crane game addicts?...
lets just say there is more left for her to get into at a future date! haha)



There was lots of coloring!


Lunch!

And after lunch we went for a walk.
There are no pictures of that because I was too pooped to grab the camera.
I really should exercise more!


Grammie and Eloise read...
and then it was time to come home!

We haven't seen my mother-in-law much lately
due to her crazy work schedule, so today was just what we all needed!

A great way to spend a Friday!

Have a great weekend!

Slow and Steady

We are slowly, but surely, getting better in our house! There are the lingering coughs and runny noses... but not NEARLY the horribleness that we felt late last week and over the weekend!

Eloise has been happily playing to her hearts content!


She loves her blocks! We only pull them out now and then... and
put them away as soon as she is done. So they are definitely a treat for her!

We didn't go outside for quite awhile... even though the weather has been
super fantastic around here!

Eloise wanted to go out... but since we wouldn't let
her... she settled on looking out the windows at the chickens.


Or as she would say, "Chi! Chi!"

She's quite enamored by them! Especially when the neighbors
rooster trespasses.... I mean, comes over for a visit to the girls.
Thankfully with this nice weather, the chickens have
been FINALLY laying eggs!!


Eloise has been using a fork for awhile... that is, when we can
get her to eat! But lately she has been trying to use a spoon.
It's slow going as she can't seem to keep the food on the spoon
by the time it gets to her mouth, but hey, she's getting in some good practice.
If she is anything like her mama, she'll figure out how to shovel food into her mouth sooner rather than later! haha

I love this picture... I just had to post it.


Also... Eloise got this adorable shopping cart for Christmas.
She wasn't quite ready for it then, but she is enjoying it now!


I'm sure that shopping cart will entertain her for years to come!

Oh, if you look on my right sidebar...
you can see the blog I started for the shoes I sew.
It's nothing special, but I wanted a
separate place to post pictures and such.
I hope you'll check it out!

Wow.

I was getting online to post about my early birthday present...
then, before I started typing, I remembered that I already did!

This cold that I have is obviously getting to my brain!!

Eloise and Cory seem to be getting over it...
I seem to be right in the middle of it!

Praying that it goes away soon!
BLAH!!

Our Sick Sweetie

It's finally happened... Eloise has caught a cold.

We have had brief stints of panic over the past year when her nose would run for, like, 2 whole seconds. We'd think she'd be getting sick, but THANKFULLY she never really did. This week has been different though. She woke up coughing on Monday... and it's progressed with a runny nose and a slight fever. Today was the worst (hopefully that means it'll start to get better tomorrow!). I spent most of the afternoon trying to calm her as she was crying and crying... she seemed soothed the most as I wiped her head with a cool wash cloth.

(No make up or hair-do for this mama today.. and you can't see it, but I'm wearing sweatpants... and so is El!)

We bribed her with cheese to get her to sit in her highchair and eat some dinner. But after dinner, she was again in my arms and very, very tired. I held her and read to her as Cory wiped her head with the cool cloth. We played some lullaby music and eventually she fell asleep in my arms.

She is now tucked away, all snuggled in her crib with Minnie Mouse.
I anticipate that she'll be up again in a couple of hours or so... but I don't mind. At least I'll know that she is still breathing! And I want to comfort her as much as I can.

Cory went to the store to get some OTC baby medicine in case we need it. I am kind of hoping he will bring some sort of junk food home. I try to eat healthy as much as possible, I really do... but when I'm stressed... I just CRAVE sugar and JUNK! I'm crossing my fingers for a Shamrock Shake... but even just a cookie or something would help! haha

I know that kids get sick all of the time, so I shouldn't be stressed...
but what can I say! No one likes to see their child suffer!

Oh.. and to top it off, yesterday she hit her chin off of a little end table we have... and now she looks like this:


It's not a scrape, it's some weird bruise.
I hope it goes away soon!
And her poor little runny nose and glassy eyes.
I wish it were me and not her!!

If you think about it, please say a little prayer for Eloise!
It would be much appreciated!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

It's not my birthday for another few months or so... but my aunt got me my gift already!

I don't know if she was just too excited and wanted to give it to me early...
or if she didn't want to store it at her house until July! (I like to think it's the first reason!)

No matter the reason though... it is now displayed proudly in my living room!

WOOT!


Cory thinks it's weird... but that's OK!
I think he secretly likes that fact that it has a "night light" feature...
which is the original small bulb on the sewing machine!
(Pretty nifty, if you ask me!)

So, THANK YOU to my Aunt Ginny....
your note is in the mail!!

Think Liz. For Sure!

So, I am working on a project for a baby shower...
I can't say too much because I don't know if the certain someone will
read my blog between now and then...
HOWEVER, I did want to point you to this awesome site I found.
I was googling to try to find a free tutorial for my project...
and came upon THINK LIZ.
There is a plethora of turtorials for you to try...
I mean, seriously... SO MANY!
If you want to turn a maternity shirt into a regular shirt...
a pair of pants into a skirt...
make your own dress in an hour...
re-purpose old sheets...
make your own bra
(not sure how that works... but hey, it might work for you!)
...the list goes ON!

I just HAD to share it with you!!
Happy Project Hunting!!

Oh Books, How I Love Thee.

I am a reader.
I don't know that I've always been...
I mean, back in school I can remember reading books like "The Babysitter's Club" and "The Boxcar Children"...
I never really got into "Nancy Drew" or "The Hardy Boys"...
and other than those few series I just mentioned, I can't even think of any young adult/kids authors that I'm familiar with.
I never liked to read for school but I always did it because I had to.
They always had us read such weird books though... weird.

As I got older...
(mostly when I had to work and was too pooped to do anything when I came home and didn't have anything but a couple of snowy channels that came through my rabbit-eared TV)
I would curl up with a book in the evenings.
Especially right before bed.
I always liked to have a little reading time to "unwind" before I'd fall asleep.

Before Eloise was born... I would read, read, read.
Looking back, I wonder why I didn't use my time more wisely...
so sue me!

When Eloise was a few months old and we had nursing down to a science...
I used that time to read. It was quiet and calm.
We had a good 2 or 3 months of those peaceful moments.
THAT doesn't happen anymore! :)

But to this day... I am a "before bed" reader.
I just can't help it... it's in my blood.

There is an AWESOME store that sells books pretty cheap in my town.
I HATE paying full price for a book... which is one of the reasons why
I refuse to buy a kindle. Who wants to pay $10 or more for a book that you can
get for $3 at the store!? Plus - there's just something wonderful about
having a BOOK in your hands and not another computer screen!

Anyway--my mom will pass books onto me.. or I'll get them from
my favorite store (mentioned above). It's always been kind of
hit or miss as far as authors and titles... but we've found some gems!

One of our favorite Author finds was
Jamie Langston Turner.

If you are looking for some GREAT reads...
buy her books. Try to start at the beginning... they all
weave together in some way - but starting at the top always makes
things flow a little better!!

Our current favorite find... is Charles Martin.
I think I've read every one of his books so far...
and I am SO pumped about his new one coming next month!

It's on my list to buy ASAP!

source

Charles Martin books (and Jamie Langston Turner) are
ones you hate to part with. You want to keep them on your
shelf (or in my case... box under the bed since I have no shelf to display them at the moment) forever.
I suppose I COULD see if they are available at the library...
but it's just not the same for me as owning them.
Plus--our little library has very little to offer for my tastes!

A few of my other favorites are:

Ted Dekker
Frank Peretti
Erin Healy

Do you have a favorite author?
I would love to hear!
Maybe I could check out something you suggest!

This girl already loves books... you can never start too early!

And the Winner is....

This morning at breakfast...

my little helper chose a winner for my Soft Shoe Giveaway!

Before I reveal the winner...
I would like to thank everyone who entered!
I wish I could give away shoes to you all...
but then I'd probably be broke!
haha!


And the winner is....

Did you get that?

Maybe this will be easier to read....
since that one was upside down.


TIFFANY!

Congratulations!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!