Don't miss this Easter!

Last year I almost missed Easter! I am not kidding! Let me explain. The day before Easter...last year....my somewhat type A personality went into a little overdrive. I decided that it would be so special if I made ella's first Easter dress (I know you are all thinking I am crazy...and don't worry I soon figured this out!) I had a smocked dress that I had been slowly working on for months. (Let me add here that I am no smocker. I have made 4 dresses all of which were somewhat train wrecks...one I wouldn't even let ella wear because of how tacky the buttons on the back look!) So I decided I would get the dress done and she could wear it for her very first Easter. I worked and worked amidst...nursing, changing diapers and caring for a 5 month old. When she went to bed for the night...I worked and worked and anything that could go wrong did. I got the smocking done and still had to put the dress together. Well, I can sew a little with my machine when it does what it is supposed to do...but of course it wasn't...major issues. The bobbin was messing up, the needle broke...and on and on! Finally at 3 am I went to bed with the dress almost complete, realizing that I am no Martha Stewart! I was physically unable to finish it. I felt so defeated. (It's funny how I let this get to me.....it's not like ella didn't have several beautiful dresses to wear for Easter...but I did!

I overslept...like way overslept...probably because I was delirious from staying up too late. I was panicked trying to get us ready for church...not wanting to miss the Easter service....(In my heart I really wanted to be there...to worship...to celebrate Jesus! ) Kevin was ironing as he often does at our house (he likes to iron and does a much better job than I do!) Well, he forgot to turn the iron down when ironing my brand-new silk Easter shirt from Ann Taylor (that I had just paid way too much for!) Yes, it was scorched and had many holes throughout! Poor guy he felt terrible! That was it...I demanded that I was just going to church today and I would just stay home! Nothing to wear on Easter! I know...so superficial...and it's not like it even matters! I guess this goes back to my childhood and always having the perfect new Easter dress each year! Anyways, after being furious and pouting for a bit I couldn't stand the thought of not going to church...we are not ones to just stay home....and it was Easter for crying out loud. So we managed to get ourselves together and get to church. We did miss all the music and drama but we did catch most of the sermon. I felt like I'd missed out!

The day continued to unravel...I left my camera at the restaurantwe ate at and thankfully an honest person turned it in and we eventually tracked it down. I also did not get any of the cute Easter pics of ella like I'd planned on getting. You know the ones where we are outside standing in front of a blooming azalea bush! I think at about 7pm I put her dress back on her and tried but this was the best I could get!

So, what is the meaning of all this! This year I am focused! No making dresses, no staying up too late (better get this done soon), no worrying about my clothes (I will be wearing my Easter dress from 4 years ago tom.), no sleeping in...the alarm clocks are set for 6:30, no last minute preparations for church (my diaper bag is packed andthe sippy cup made and in fridge)! Tomorrow I want to focus on Jesus and not Julie. I want to praise Him for dying such a terrible death for me. I want to honor Him as the King of Glory who left his throne and came to this world to die for me. I want to not let satan get a foothold in my day and distract me with the cares of this world. I have my armor ready....don't you miss this Easter!

Fashion Tips from my little Fashionesta!

First of all...accessorize, accessorize, accessorize! A girl can never have too many!

Secondly, a wrapped belt is a great way to turn a smocked dress into something more...modern!

Thirdly,Who said the croc was out??They are comfy and chewy! (ewww)

Don't forget...A longer shoe will always make you look taller, just be careful ladies!

Go for the sporty look! It pairs great with jeans!

Try this new way to wear a belt! It will accentuate the positive and looks great with a pair of PJs!!

Once again the sporty look is back! Get you a baseball cap for all those (just taken your piggy tails out) crazy hair days!

Finally, ladies...if you can't find the right bracelet just go with several ponytail holders...their colorful, cheap and no one will know!

(In conclusion, my little 18 month old loves to dress up...constantly! Can you tell why I cannot seem to keep my bedroom clean anymore! So much fun!)

Bless You!

Ella's favorite new saying is "wess you!" It is so sweet and she immediately says it upon sneezing and is getting lots of practice with all the allergies and colds we've had lately! Unfortunately she is also saying it when she "toots!" Sorry for a lack of a better term! We are now working on excuse me!

Sunday School Picnic

"Hi friends...I'm here!"

Mommy trying to catch her for a pic!

Daddy's Girl!

We did a lot of this!

And then a lot of this!

And then a lot of this!

So cute!

Not so sure about getting my hands dirty!

But it looked fun!

I really think I could jump by myself!

Oh no..my capris fell down...I told mommy they were to big!

And daddy..don't just stand there...help!

Saturday our Sunday School class had a cook-out at a local park...and sure enough it was cloudy and rainy (which happens each time we have an outside event). Thankfully we were able to be under a shelter and the rain held off long enough for us to enjoy the afternoon. Ella was quite a mess. At events like that she has a one track mind that says GO! It's like she cannot even focus on anyone or anything but running and playing. We spent most of the cook-out chasing her...while the other one socialized and then we'd switch. She had a fun time and crashed just in time for the ride home. I must admit my little baby is looking much more like a toddler these days. Enjoy!

A Yummy Dinner

For the past few weeks I'd fallen back into a cooking slump...meaning I really didn't want to cook at all. This is a bad pattern to get into because it means eating out and eating not so healthy meals. I may have mentioned this before but just as I am not a wash and go kinda girl.... I am not a throw a meal together kind of cook. I wish to one day aspire to my mom's meal cooking (she can whip a meal together large enough to feed all 13 (plus titus and andrew who aren't eating yet) in no time. But as of now meal preparation takes a little time and effort for me. I also get tired of eating the same few meals over and over. It has to sound appealing in order for me to want to cook.

So this past week I was searching the Internet for recipes and found some great ones from Kraft foods. I have made three of the meals so far and they have all been yummy. Last night we had

Bruschetta Chicken Skillet (sounds fancy)! It was easy and yummy and I love skillet meals because you have less pots and pans to clean. Here is the recipe for those of you like me looking for new cooking ideas. It was pretty tomatoee(is that a word??) so if you don't eat tomatoes you probably wouldn't like it!

Bruschetta chicken Skillet

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/bruschetta-chicken-skillet-108621.aspx

We also like the Tiramisu! It was easy, yummy and supposedly low-fat! Can't beat that!

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/fast-easy-tiramisu-52890.aspx

Let me know if you try them!

Being a mom on sick days

I think my least favorite part of being a mommy is having a sick child. I know that getting sick is a normal and natural part of this "life" but it sure does make life harder. I hate to know that ella doesn't feel good. I do have to say that I do love the extra snuggles I get when she is sick!

On Friday night Kev and I went to dinner and then shopping around at the outlets. Kevin's parents wanted to watch ella so this was a good excuse for us to have a little time to ourselves. We ate at FATZ (what a terrible name for a restaurant) and left feeling...a little fat. Their poppy seed rolls with that cinnamon butter are sooooo yummy! We headed to the outlets for a little spring shopping! I tried this the other day but only made it to one store before ella was done....so I decided that this is what we should do on our date! We found some great deals on some PJ's for ella at the Children's Place outlet. I love their footed zipper pjs! We racked up because they had a sale on some of them for just 1.99! Can you believe that! They are normally like 3 for 25.00 so we stocked up on her size! I figure once she is potty training these will no longer be the best option ...but for now I couldn't pass up that sale! I also found a cute shirt at Banana Republic for 50% off. Oh course as soon as we left I realized I had an additional 20% coupon I'd received in the mail that I could have used at both stores! Oh well!

Back to my title! When we got home I thought ella felt warm and when I took her temp. sure enough 101. We did Tylenol and Motrin through the night and took her to Peds Plus on Sat. morning. (So much fun!) I wanted to go ahead and take her in and Kev thought we should wait it out a while. I have normally done pretty good about not rushing to the doc at the first sign of sickness....but she has had no other symptoms...no cough, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, or anything. I always worry about ears and throat...the parts I really can't check. So I convinced him that we should have her seen. By the time we got there her Tylenol had kicked in and she was literally bouncing off the walls while all the other poor kids were sitting looking so sick holding their blankies and sippy cups. We were chasing miss e all over the waiting area! After being checked...all areas of concern were fine and it appears to be yet another viral infection that will run its course. So still today we are fighting higher fevers and hoping that it will soon run its course.

All the while I am trying to keep things in perspective. While a sickness like this really seems like an inconvenience to our routine, ella's sleep, and our weekend plans I am thankful that it's just a fever. I have to remember that this is minor and we have so much to be thankful for. All the while, our sweet neighbors are dealing with a malignant brain tumor with their 7 year old. Please pray for them this weekend if you think of it. Forester will begin a very long 6 weeks tomorrow. He will have chemo and radiation 5 or 6 days a week for 6 weeks. This is going to be a really tough stretch for them. Please pray for him and his mommy and daddy. You can follow their blog from my sidebar. They are the Bradburns.

Bouncing Fun!

Saturday we took ella to a birthday party at a local bounce house! To be honest I was a little apprehensive...I mean to me that just says major germ infestation and I could just see her getting tossed around by some big kid! But Kevin of course thought it sounded like a great idea so we went. Ella loved every minute of it as most kids do! Kevin and her did every side and jump castle and believe me that she was not interested in attending the party when it was time for cake and ice cream. It ended up being lots of fun and I was glad her daddy was there to participate with her. (I've done my fair share of climbing through the Chick-Fli-A tunnel already!)

Can you tell she is playing hard...no bow! She looks like a chunky monkey here!