To my love…

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death."

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Happy Valentine’s Day!

XOXO

February Birthday Wishes

Aunt Emily – February 2nd

Great-Grandma Buchmiller – February 20th

January Birthday Wishes

Great-Great-Auntie Dee – January 19th

December Birthday Wishes

This is a little late… oops!  Better late than never, right??

“Uncle” Steve turned another year wiser on December 1st!

We sure had a FUN time with Uncle Scott celebrating his birthday on the 12th this past week in Arizona!

And, our big boy, Connor, turns 3 TODAY!!! 

My, oh my, how time does fly!

 

To you and yours…

These are our Christmas cards for 2011.  I am in love with how they turned out – I think I love the back as much as I love the front.  :)

I used Vistaprint again this year.  I had a discount coupon and free slow shipping – and my order in hand just 5 days after I placed it.  (Kinda helps that I had it done in early November, but still.)

Oh, Connor… I love the stage he’s at right now… just want to bottle him up!  He’s growing up WAY too fast!  See what I mean?  Here are our Christmas cards from 2010 and 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season so far...

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of my ancestors, Thomas Rogers, was among those who traveled here on the Mayflower.

An excerpt from the Thomas Rogers Society site:

“Governor Bradford says in his history of the Plymouth settlement that on board the Mayflower were ‘Thomas Rogers and Joseph his son; his other children came afterwards......Thomas Rogers died in the first sickness but his son Joseph is still living (1650) and is married and hath six children. The rest of Thomas Rogers' [children] came over and are married and have many children.’ Therefore we know that Thomas and his son Joseph arrived at Cape Cod aboard the ship Mayflower and on 11 November 1620 according to their calendar, or 21 November on ours, Thomas was one of forty-one signers of the Mayflower Compact. Thomas did not live through the rigorous winter which carried off half the group but young Joseph, like so many of the children, did survive.”

I’m so grateful for Thomas Rogers’s convictions…  for being brave enough to leave everything behind to seek the freedom to worship as he pleased.

I’m also grateful for and humbled by the many blessings that I enjoy – family, faith, shelter, food, health, friends, freedom… the list is never-ending.  I am unbelievably fortunate and blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

World Prematurity Day

In the United States, 1 in 8 babies are born premature.  Worldwide, 13 million babies are born too soon.  Today is World Prematurity Day.

No mother should ever give birth and have to leave the hospital without her baby.  No parent should ever have to watch their child struggle between life and death.

We feel so fortunate that our outcome with Connor has turned out the way it has… we are beyond lucky and blessed.  Like any toddler, he’s a handful, but he’s an absolute JOY – and we thank our Heavenly Father every day that he’s ours.

You can read more about Connor’s amazing story here.

November Birthday Wishes

Dr. Andi turns another year wiser on November 30th.

Just because (41)

It’s almost here… just 26 more days until Halloween!

This is Connor’s third Halloween.  (Here’s my favorite Halloween memory!)  We’ve been coaching Connor for several weeks now… “What do you say on Halloween?”  Brian’s even been doing a little role playing with him.  This year is going to be his very first trick-or-treating experience… I think he’ll have it mastered by the big day!

Sunday is his NICU reunion, and we’re so excited!  (See past years’ – 2009 A&B, 2010)  The NICU staff does a fantastic job of organizing a “carnival” for all the past babies and their families, and the kids have the opportunity to dress-up in their Halloween costumes a few weeks early.  It’s a can’t-miss event for our family, so I’ve had to do some advance planning.

When I first asked Connor (back in August) what he wanted to be for Halloween, he said “ELMO” (of course!).  So, I promptly ordered him a costume… which ended up looking nothing like the picture in real life.  He hated it, and I did, too.  (And there is still red fuzz scattered randomly throughout my house.)

Then he said he wanted to be Buzz.  Have you seen the Buzz costume in the stores?  IMO, not very cute for a 2-year-old.  In the meantime, I fell in love with this year’s Old Navy costumes… and settled on the robot.  Thankfully, he loves it (!!!) and calls it his “Buzz Robot” costume.  Knowing how fickle a 2yo can be, I’ve got the hamburger and the skeleton (yes, he is still that small) in reserve.  Whatever he doesn’t wear to the reunion will be returned.  :)     

Truth be told, Halloween is not my favorite holiday… at least not the creepy, spooky side of it.  (The house next door takes the cake on that one!)  So, I’ve been collecting more cutesy décor lately for Connor’s benefit.  And, making some, too! 

And for you, here’s another 5x7 installment of the Just Because series – there are 2 colorways in 9 different patterns.  I sure hope you have fun with this one.  :)

To download the 5x7 image(s) for printing, simply click on either collage image above, and a new window will open to the download locations in 4shared.  Save the image(s) to your computer, and they’re yours!  Just print it out yourself, or upload to your photo printer of choice.  (Wondering how to download from 4shared?  Please read more here.)

I’ll be posting this project to some of the link-up parties listed here:

Under the Table & Dreaming	Kuzak’s Closet	I Heart Naptime
Heather Lynne/Raising Memories	The DIY Show-Off	Keeping It Simple
Sew Can Do	The Girl Creative	Sumo’s Sweet Stuff
Making the World Cuter	C.R.A.F.T.	Skip to My Lou
Mad in Crafts	I’m Topsy Turvy	Sugar Bee Craft Edition
Tip Junkie	Oops! I Craft My Pants	Crazy Domestic
My Delicious Ambiguity	Today’s Creative Blog	Hope Studios
Lucky Star Lane	Someday Crafts	Blue Cricket Design
Sew Much Ado	Bargain Shopping Paradise	Night Owl Crafting
Somewhat Simple	My Backyard Eden	Creations by Kara
House of Hepworths	Fireflies and Jellybeans	Beyond the Picket Fence
Everything Etsy	Tatertots and Jello	6 Inches of Ribbon
Fingerprints on the Fridge	A Few of My Favorite Things	It’s a Hodgepodge Life
Fun to Craft	Tidy Mom	The Shabby Nest
KojoDesigns	Chic on a Shoestring Decorating	Just a Girl
Seven Thirty Three	Beat Until Fluffy	A Little Lovely

If you would like to blog about this free printable, please accompany any images from my site with a credit and link back to this post. As a courtesy, please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to this page. Thank you!

I always love to see the creative ways you put my freebies to use.  Please be sure to send me links or pictures!  I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with them.  :)

Enjoy!

P.S.  I’ve placed a handy-dandy “Pin It” button on the bottom left for your pinning pleasure!

Pin It

October Birthday Wishes

 

Grandma Sprik celebrates her big day, TODAY, October 1st.

Uncle Dan gets another year older on October 4th.

Cutie-pie niece, Ally, turns TWO on October 7th.

 

Way to go!

Uncle Scott has graduated with his degree from ASU… and we’re so proud of him!  Though it might have taken him longer than he planned, he completed it all while building a career for himself, working full-time. 

Congratulations, Scottie!

September Birthday Wishes

“Aunt” Mary turns 29 on September 20th.  We sure hope she’s loving Minneapolis!

 

Let Brian consider this his notice that it's officially MY BIRTHDAY MONTH
(he's off the hook after the 28th).