It's fun to make people smile (O:

I emailed my Aunt Emilia a couple days ago to tell her that we have decided to name our baby girl after her and my Grandma Hilda (whose middle name is also Emilia). I just received a response from Aunt Emilia and she was so excited. She also told me that Emilia was my Grams' mother's name too- so it's more of a family name than I realized!

She told me that my dad used to call her Mia when he was learning to talk. Jason and I both really like that for a nickname, which is neat since Dad used it too. We want her to go by Emilia and have Mia just be our nickname for her. But, we also decided that as she grows up, if she decides that she wants to go by Mia, we are OK with that. But, for now, she is Emilia (O: J and I just aren't big on picking a name because you like the nickname for it, so we want to call her Emilia and just use Mia as our family nickname. We'll see what happens. (O:

Anyway, it was so fun to share this excitement with my Aunt. She is one of the most loving, kind/warm-hearted, wonderful people that I know and I really hope our little Emilia grows up to be like her. My Aunt has already put in a request to be called either Auntie Em or Aunt Emmy. She said they used to call her grandma Emilia 'Grandma Emmy', and that's why she asked if our Emilia could call her Auntie Em. I suggested Aunt Emmy because Auntie Em reminds me of the Wizard of Oz, so we'll see which she picks.

I just wanted to share my happy afternoon happenings. (O:

Emilia is already making people smile and she isn't even here yet! (O:

Does Emilia have enough quilts?? (O:

Hello friends!

I know it's been over a week since I've posted anything (which, I want to say, I don't think it *that* bad...seeing as I used to go a lot longer between posts!) But, Jillian brought it to my attention that I suck at blogging. (That's Annie's paraphrase). (O: So, I'm going to remedy that right now.

I guess there has just been a lot of great stuff going on that I haven't had time to sit down and share it all! But, here I am, so let me fill you in on my latest exciting news. (I'll also post about all our lovely Christmases, but in a different post...too much for one!)

I have officially decided to sew my very own baby quilt! This is a big deal for me because I don't think I've sewn anything since I was in the 5th grade. My mom taught both Clare and I how to sew when we were young. Clare really took off with it and is awesome at anything she decides to try. (In fact, I was really trying to steal a baby blanket she has at her house last night, but didn't win that battle...yet.) I, on the other hand, always thought it was so cool how Mom and Clare could make anything they wanted/needed, but never really took the time to do it for myself. I don't always have the patience for all of it and because of that, never really got all that good at it.

But, last Saturday, after meeting Jason on his lunch break from work, I decided to check out the "Going Out of Business" sale at Jackman's. I should tell you that me walking into a cloth store is always overwhelming and it takes me a while to remember what I should be looking for. But, once I adjusted to the rows and rows of potential fabrics, I did just fine. I picked out 2 REALLY CUTE patterned fabrics that I'm super excited about. One is brown with pink paisley (?) design and the other is light pink with 2 different colors of pink polka dots. They go so well together and I can't wait! I also picked out a plain pink fabric that matches the other 2 perfectly.

I had to call Mom and ask how much I needed to do a 9 Patch quilt. She, so impressively, figured it all up in her head while driving home from Kentucky and told me how much I needed. I couldn't decide which fabric I wanted to use on the back, so I ended up getting extra of each. (Now, I've been told, I have enough for probably at least 2 quilts, maybe more!) So, I spent the rest of Saturday looking up different 9 Patch patterns, and I had "the one" all picked out. I made my own graph paper (this was tedious and made me a little cross-eyed) and started drawing out my design. I colored it in like Mom always does, and it looked so cool! I was so proud of myself that I packed up my fabrics and designs to take to my sister's apartment last night for our family Christmas.

Clare and Mom both agreed that I had done a great job picking out my farbrics and even liked the design I had drawn. BUT, in the corner of Clare's work area something pink and green caught my eye. It was this adorable baby quilt that I instantly fell in love with. That is when all my hard work and ideas went out the window because I knew I wanted my quilt to look like that one. So, I took pictures, had Clare and Mom measure it all out so I knew all the measurements and even started drawing it out on my *graph paper*. I also found out that this quilt pattern is a lot easier than the one I was planning to make, so that was an added bonus. I'm not good at explaining this stuff, so I'll post pictures later of what it looks like and of my fabrics, because I'm so excited. (O:

A side note to this blog (and the reason for the title)- Clare has been telling me that she is planning to make a baby quilt but doesn't know if I'll like the fabrics or the idea. So, I bugged her all night until she gave in and showed me the idea. I cannot wait for this one either! She found patterns to embroider all the old nursery rhymes, like Little Miss Muffet, Jack and Jill, etc. Each one will be its own square, on a nice tan colored fabric and the embroidery will be in pink. She also has a super cute pink paisley (?) fabric to coordinate, and then a green and a brown for borders. It's going to be so much fun, I can't wait!

I am going to continue to try and talk her out of the one that I found last night too, I keep telling her Emilia can never have enough quilts/blankets. Which, better be true, because this girl already has 1 that Aunt Mimi (Amy) crocheted for her and gave me as a Christmas gift. Then, she's getting one from me, at least one from Clare, and TWO from my mom. I know about one of them, Mom has shown me the pattern and it's so cool, I'm really excited. But, she's also got a surprise up her sleeve (sneaky little thing!)... She keeps telling me that I'm going to love it and Clare agrees. I love surprises, but I'm so bad about waiting for them. I keep asking about that one too, but Mom's a lot tougher to crack than Clare. So, I might just have to wait until my shower. Mom has high hopes of having at least the surprise one done by then. Everyone cross your fingers for me please! I can't take the suspense! (O:

So, what's the baby blanket count so far? 5-6 hand made with love quilts and blankets. Love it.

(Sorry, I just realized how long winded I am...)

Great weekend!

Even though I can't really remember parts of this past weekend (due to pregnesia), I have to say it was a good one!

Friday Jason and I didn't really do much, which was nice. I really enjoy just getting to stay home in our pj's and hang out with Zeke. It's so relaxing, and it's nice to just be mindless for a while.

Saturday, my Momma came over to finish up the curtains for Emilia's room (I plan to do a photo blog to show all the new stuff in there very soon...I just have to remember to take pictures!). The curtains look great, and it's so fun to have Mom help with all that sort of stuff. It makes that room so personal- Jason painting such a cool design on the walls and Mom helping with the curtains. This little girl is so loved and she isn't even here yet!

While Mom was working on the curtains, I was making approximately 9 dozen "Fudgy Fantasies" for our work Christmas Cookie Exchange. I will say that while I love the brownie part of my cookies, I think the recipe called for too many M 'n' M's. So, these aren't my favorite cookies, but for people who love M 'n' M's, they should be a hit! (O: (Oh, and let me just say, I have a CRAP LOAD of cookies now...we just got done exchanging all our cookies, so I have 102 cookies...anybody hungry??)

That night, Jason and I went with my mom to see Clare perform in the Christmas play at church. The message was really great and Clare did a good job. Afterwards, we all went to Applebee's for dinner. It actually wasn't that bad. It's been a while since we've all gone out together, and it was a fun time.

Sunday, ahhh, Sunday. How I Love Sundays! I went to church while Jason was at the Blue's game. I really thought the worship time was fantastic this week. I don't think they did anything different, I think it's just that it was exactly what I needed.

I did have to hold back tears sitting behind my friends Jon and Jaime. This was Jon's last Sunday at church before deploying, and I could tell that it was an emotional service for them. My heart broke just thinking about how much we are all going to miss him. Jason and I have grown pretty close to them and it's going to be weird to not have him around. Even though I'm partially "dead inside", the one time my heart always aches is when a friend is hurting. I know I can't do anything but love on Jaime and Jax while Jon is away, but I wish I could do more. I've been praying for them so much, and I know God will comfort all of them.

After service, we went to Outback Steakhouse by majority rule. I think everyone else enjoyed it and my cheesy fries weren't that bad. Except that they attacked me all night and gave me heartburn this morning... (Note to self, no more cheesy fries for a while!). Jason actually made it in time to eat with all of us, so that was good. Our group always has fun at dinner- lots of stories and laughing, it's just a great time. (O:

And that's it, that was my fabulous weekend. Nothing extraordinary, just our regular lives. I'm so blessed to have such great people in my life. (O: