Showers of Love in April should bring a May Flower Right?

I LOVE APRIL! I think because it has all of the components I love. Its never too ridiculously hot but there is always a chance of rain. Rain is so soothing and I love to just open the windows and listen/watch. Random fact. But Matt loves April because this means his yearly man vacation to Medina, Texas to spend time with his ATO brothers. This year I may or may not have given him a hard time about leaving his pregnant wife. So the day before he left he came home with candy, a card, and a beautiful bouquet of purple lilies. It was like the Valentine's we never had :) So this is what inspires the title of this blog. My other inspiration is that we have been so blessed with so many supportive family and friends who are helping us prepare for Baby Paisley. So April showers will hopefully bring my May flower safe and sound. ... side note... you'd be surprised at how many people ask me if Paisley is a flower... no that is a Posey, Paisley is a fabric. Yes I'm unusual.

We were so fortunate to find a fabulous deal on a car for Matt. He's so excited to have something of his own again! This is Matt's shiny new Jeep Compass. (PS Matt took these pictures and said, "here you can blog about this"... I think he wanted to show off but let his wife do it because its more manly that way. :)

Paisley's Room- In Progress

 Ok but like I said we have been blessed with so many gifts to help us prepare for Paisley. Here is an update on her room. Please don't judge me. I know I am only 32 weeks (33 on Monday!) but decorating/sewing/organizing is just such a love I can't stop myself! So this is just the work in progress... you can't tell in the pictures but there is a massive amount of junk still sitting in the middle of the room from when this room was previously our storage/guest room. We also have a ton of stuff scattered throughout our apartment. This little girl is small but she has so much! I love the dots on the wall! They

are embroidery hoops with extra fabric! Thanks Pinterest! I also have one last room to show you and that is her closet.... This is still very much in progress. I need to stop shopping/making clothes and see where I'm at. My latest purchase is the zebra boots, four tutus, petticoat skirt and a lace romper... they were just so ridiculously cheap on www.alwaysunderpay.com . So its semi-okay? I have a small obsession but girls need clothes and bows! Sometimes I think Matt understands. :)

PINK Break!

So as my Spring Break is coming to a close I thought I would have a recap of my productivity to prepare for our baby girl :) We started our break with a trip to Mesquite to visit Matt's parents. His mom and two sisters threw an amazing shower for our growing family. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the cake minus the plastic cover.... but here is the adorable cake with the glare. They made an adorable frosted teddy bear with a little rattler in the center. Too cute! We were so blessed to come home with some amazing items to help prepare us to be new parents. I'm loving all the cute dainty items that come with a girl. 
 After we survived the torrential down pour we came home to set up our crib. This of course meant that I must complete her bedding set to make sure it all fit.... and then once it was all set up why waste time taking it all down. So there it sits.... waiting. But its such a bright addition to the room that makes me smile every time. Now to just make the rest of the guest room match... its a work in progress. I have several things left to hang up but it will all happen with time.

The rest of the items that we have prepared for her room include the adorable teeny toy box. This was a $4.99 find from Michael's clearance section. With some paint and modge podge its girly and fits in her room. I've made the very important decision that once that toy box is full... its full. (We will see how long this lasts.... but I can dream right?) Then I made a super cute frame for above her bed. I'm in love.

 This is the onesie Matt purchased for her. The adorable part is he has the matching t-shirt. They are going to be just too precious together.





Also on Spring Break I was feeling crafty so here are my creations.



This is a pillowcase dress made from two fat quarters. It came out longer than I thought but now maybe a diaper cover isn't necessary.







 

 Ok so I may have drafted this pattern because I had a vision in my head. It is supposed to be like a romper. I took a diaper cover pattern and mixed it with a pillow case dress pattern and VOILA. I think this may be my favorite. But I need a baby model to see if it actually works since I made it up. But I don't see why not? We shall see soon enough.

 This is my sailor inspired dress. Its blue and white seersucker which I have always wanted to use. Then I may a small ribbon flower for the bottom. I also made ruffled red capris to go underneath. :)

 My first pillowcase dress made from a dress that no longer fit me. I think this print will be much cuter on her.

First attempt at a pinafore.It came out way larger than I thought. I know its small but in the center of the hanger (dark brown) is the diaper cover for this pinafore. Its open in the back with a criss-cross. We shall see when this fits...



So this was my Spring Break. I'm terribly sad to see it end. A little more than 24 hours left. I plan to soak up every minute. I hope you have enjoyed my show-n-tell. Next Saturday is my baby shower with friends and my family. So this means I MAY have more to show.... little girls cannot have enough right?

Marching into March

Well its official that I am now a quarter of a century old. My 25th birthday came and went on the 27th. It just doesn't seem as exciting anymore to turn a year older.... sigh....

However on a happy note I have officially entered trimester three when I hit week 27 on Tuesday. I guess 27 seems to be working for me :). I'm so excited to be so close to the end of this pregnancy. I saw my doctor and she told me that my belly is a bit big in measurements which is so depressing. But she said it may be due to where the baby was positioned that day. Fingers crossed. Well but on the upside I'm getting to be a mom through this whole experience.

We are currently in the process of decluttering, organizing, and cleaning our apartment. We've decided to stay here to be able to save money for the future. Smart decision but man we have a lot of junk. My goal is to have everything clean prior to the start of Spring Break. Because this marks the beginning of baby showers which is so exciting but it also means more stuff!

Now as Matt's birthday approaches I must think of a great gift for him... hmmmm....

Kats, A Camel, and my Tigers

Ok I need to start updating more frequently so I don't have to combine so much randomness! However my delays have all been because of my fancy new camera and the missing USB cord. But good news! Its been found and now I can chronicle my life again. So here we go since the last post...
   Matthew and I traveled to Frisco, Texas to cheer on our Bearkats! Unfortunately the game did not go in our favor but it was still fantastic to see amazing old friends and witness history as SHSU played in its first National Championship. Pretty amazing. I did get to see my bestie Melody who was creepily/casually holding onto my arm during tailgate. I also let her touch my belly and for those of you who know this is not in my comfort zone at all! But we saw tons of other amazing friends and I couldn't be more blessed to have my degree from such a fantastic university :)                 

Pictured here is the beautiful presentation of the flags by a guy who jumped from a plan with the flags attached to him. So they just floated down to the field so beautifully. Totally unexpected!


 Needless to say I love SHSU and I couldn't be more proud to be a Bearkat. Hopefully we return next year for another chance to win the championship!

Last weekend Matthew and I met up with our amazing friends, Jon and Stephanie who are just too far from us! I love having that couple who we just mesh so well with and I wish they didn't live quite so far away! But anyways... we traveled to Medina, Texas. Here is why.

Last April my husband called me and said he had exciting news. He was elected to the board of directors for his fraternity. Big deal for Matt. The exciting news for me was that in January I could travel to this mysterious place with him. One of the alumni for his fraternity owns this amazing ranch in Medina and Matt is so excited to attend the reunion held there every April. Before we got married he informed me that he would be attending every year and if this was an issue our marriage would not work. So to actually see this place that makes him so happy I believe made me help to understand him more.  When we arrived we first saw kangaroos, exotic deer and a bison. Then we rounded the driveway to his house and I thought I saw a moose. But after talking to the owner we were soon told it was just an elk. He told us that his elk was not quite so people-friendly yet but that if he put his head down to just walk away. He also shared with us that recently this new elk had dug his horns into someone's suburban... made me feel great since we drove my car. But luckily we survived with no incidents. We also were greeted by the guard dogs AKA his new turkeys.

 The turkeys definitely protected the yard. We saw so many amazing animals but the most famous hid the first day and then came out to play on the second day. I finally got to see RJ the famous camel who has appeared in so many alumni composites. I had such an amazing weekend and met so many great alumni and their wives. We enjoyed so much great food too! I tried duck for the first time (yummy) and had amazing crawfish bisque. So much more than I was expecting. When I asked Matt for the itinerary for the weekend he said "well we will get there, have dinner, have breakfast in the morning, lunch, another big dinner, breakfast and then we will leave". But after having the amazing food I can see why his focus was on the food. I'm posting more pictures of the beautiful animals on Facebook :)

My last update was traveling to Galveston this weekend with my FCCLA students. Last year I took ten girls and had such an amazing trip. This year I traveled with two other advisors, 23 female students, 1 male student, his dad, and a bus driver. Even though the number of people was almost tripled I still had such a great trip. It makes my day to see my students so successful and be able to share their successes with them. I am so proud to come from such an amazing school district who supports their students and loves to see them compete. We came home with an Attendance Award, 11 gold medals, 2 silver medals, 2 first places, 3 second places and a 3rd place. I cannot complain! I am one happy lady!

ITS A GIRL! Crafts & a Name :)

Yes I know I'm like a week late on this post but with family and friends visiting and ringing in the new year... o and of course crafting, I just haven't had the time to sit down and blog!

We found out Tuesday, Dec. 27 that we are having a baby girl due on May 30! Woo! We were so excited. The ultrasound process was very long and unexpected. I've always thought I just would go in and they'd say boy or girl. But of course I was wrong, they had to take a bunch of measurements for my doctor. Well our beautiful bundle of joy is apparently not the most cooperative and made the technician work for her pictures. We did not get a DVD because she would not stay still long enough to really see much. I think she may be camera shy. So since we have found out its a girl I of course had to get straight to work...

 Sorry these pictures our sideways! I got a new camera for Christmas (YEAH!) and I haven't quite figured everything out once I transfer the images.

Here is my first attempt at embellishing a onesie! Pretty proud! I even used the scraps to make a fabric flower. Love the colors!

 Outfit #2 I think it looks kinda like prairie-esque. This is another embellished onesie with an added skirt. I used the scraps from this outfit to make a fabric bow with an added button to match the outfit. I'm in love! I'm going to have to continue making these this afternooon :) We are going to have one fabulous little girl!

 Here is our "Greeter Deterrent". I got the idea from Cluck Cluck Sew. This is basically a lightweight car seat cover to hinder strangers from wanting to touch your baby. I think that is slightly important. I made my a little different by making it into a quilt like style because I had a bunch of fabric squares already cut and waiting for a project. Now I just need a car seat so I can attach the straps. But its more fun to sew than to buy the big necessities.

Last Show-N-Tell I promise. Well at least for today! This is the Petal Pillow also from Cluck Cluck Sew . She has some awesome tutorials! This is for our baby girl's room. I thought it would be super cute in a glider. We are doing her room in a fuchsia/grey/pearl/black combo. Fuchsia is such a difficult color to find the exact shade I want. Still working on finding the right color for the crib bedding.




Ok thats all I have to show off today! But I still have plenty of vacation to craft! No work until January 9th! I love being a teacher! O and of course the most important news other than that we are having a girl is her name! We've decided on Paisley Jaiden :)

Holidays are Coming!

 I ADORE Christmas time! It is my favorite time of the year. I love family time, decorations, vacation, and celebrating the reason for the season.

So I told my students about my obsession with Christmas and having everything match with a theme of colors. Last year we had a Cowboys themed tree. This year upon Matt's request I included a smaller mini tree that was Mavericks themed. My students thought I was insane as I explained that only matching ornaments can go on the big tree and all other family, gift, etc. ornaments must go on the smaller tree. I think it works for me and it makes me happy which is most important! I also have always had a small obsession with having solid brown wrapping paper. Matt says it looks like cardboard. I say its gorgeous. But then a few days ago we ran out and apparently everyone in town agreed that brown is beautiful because it

 was all sold out! Frustrating so we had to add solid white wrapping paper. Its okay...


This is not the best picture but my awesome mother-in-law gifted to me this pair of salt & pepper shakers. She received a set and so she wanted to pass on the tradition. I love them because they are so darn cute!

 So Matt is not a huge Christmas fan. Which is why I compromise on the sports themed Christmas trees. He does however love Nutcrackers and Snowglobes. So he has started a small collection of Nutcrackers and it wouldn't be in Matt style if they were German and Irish Nutcrackers. Of course...

I did have a student gift me a snow globe this year! It was a little snowmen family. I was so excited!

This is my show-and-tell time! My co-workers have been making these sprocket pillows and I have been itching to go to the fabric store to make some! SO as soon as school was released I rushed to the quilt store and found this adorable Sock Monkey Santa print. The side is brown and looks knit. So adorable! Anyways I'm just pretty proud! I have a few other projects in the works so hopefully I can finish and show them off soon!

Most Bright, Most Famous

Who knew my name was from a Latin origin and meant "Most Bright and Most Famous" made popular by a novel written in 1748. I know I certainly did not. But these are the things I'm learning as I search for names for our little avocado. I am loving this process... but I'm also feeling a bit overwhelmed. Not quite sure what direction to go in... classic, unique, or something in between. I can't wait until we find out boy or girl so I can get some serious crafting done this holiday break :) It is all I can think about because it is quickly approaching!