For my girls

One night as I was perusing through Pinterset I ran across this pin that put a few things into perspective for me! You see when I was pregnant and had Lindsey I was 24 years old. Little did I know I was in the process of a complete makeover on the inside! Faster than I would have liked I was growing out of college girl and becoming a wife and a mom. The wife thing was not too hard but becoming a mom was a whole different story. I was not ready! I was still selfish. I was just out of school, I just started a job, I was still young, I just got married! So when the first stretch mark appeared at around 30 weeks I was devastated. I was too young to have stretch marks. I mean I had bikinis to wear!!! It seemed like overnight my abdomen was covered in these silvery marks. To make matters worse after I lost all the baby weight and then some they were still there but now my abdomen just hung and was saggy! I was 24 years old with a abdomen of an old lady! I allowed my view of beauty to be all wrapped up in the way my belly appeared. I have spent the past 3 years shedding that selfish self and becoming a mom my girls deserve. Any who, as I saw that pin my perspective changed almost instantly.  Here is what I am coming to know as truth:

Each mark reminds me of each month God allowed me to carry my girls. Every line is a reminder of each breath you took, each kick you kicked, and even each punch to my bladder. Each mark is a reminder of the nights I prayed for your healthy arrival. Each line reminds me of God's love for me and you. Each mark reminds me of the love your father and I share that created you! Each line is proof of God's grace and mercy. The belly that now hangs and sags was your home that kept you safe and nourished you until the time came that I could hold you in my arms and make you feel safe and warm.

No longer will I allow myself to look in the mirror and be disgusted. I will now stand in the mirror with pride knowing that each stretch mark and the saggy skin is a reminder that God allowed me to be a mother to 2 beautiful girls. Those marks are an outward sign of the inner change my sweet Jesus has been doing in me.

***A special thanks to my sweet friend Cheryl for taking this picture for me! She is by far the best photographer and friend I could ever ask for!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . .

In case you have not noticed Christmas is approaching at record speeds this year! Traditionally we put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving and this year is no exception! We have spent 5 Christmas' together now and our tree is not exactly showing it! I don't have enough ornaments to decorate the back and I refuse to spend any more money on ugly balls to fill the spaces! Classy I know! 

This year to try and save money, add a personal touch, and most importantly keep my 3yo busy I decided homemade ornaments were the way to go!!!! Some of my favorite ornaments from growing up are the ones that were made by me or my great grandmother! My great grandmother made for my mom ornaments out of egg shells and they are so beautiful! I love pulling an ornament out of the box to hang on the tree and all these sweet memories come flooding in. Trimming the tree becomes this precious time of recalling the past.  

Since I do not have a creative bone in my body I turned to Pinterest and searched for ideas. I ran across a pin for Salt Dough and thought this would be great opportunity to create new memories with my favorite toddler that she can pull up each Christmas! (Side note a 3yo has a hard time understanding that these are not cookies to be eaten had many hard conversations with her about that one) So recently we spent the morning making memories! I decided to show you through pictures how easy and fun these ornaments are to make. 

Ingredients:

1/2 c. Salt

1 c. Flour

1/2 c. Water

Bake in 250 degree oven for 2 hours (Should be hard all the way through)

Combine salt, water, and flour and stir. 

This is the perfect dough for Lindsey to stir up as it is not too heavy!

Knead the dough a few times and the flour you surface and rolling pin and roll out to 1/4 in thickness.

 

 Lil miss EC loved watching Linds roll out the dough! I happened to have a ruler out so Linds made me measure every time we rolled out the dough!

 

Once the dough is rolled out cut with cookie cutters and placed on a parchment lined cookie sheet. (to reinforce colors I had Linds sort all the cookie cutters by color while I fed EC)

Make sure that your dough surface is smooth and even as those cracks will show in the final product.

Once the cutout is placed on the cookie sheet poke a large whole at the top for ribbon when done. A straw works great.

 Once you pull your ornaments out of the oven let them cool and then decorate! We used homemade glitter made from food coloring and salt (tutorial coming soon) and then coated them in modge podge and glitter. You could paint with acrylic paint or dye the dough before you cut them out. There are so many ways!!!!

Umm love plastic wrap and duck tape mats. I can throw away the mess at the end of the project!

 

Once dry I would coat with some form of spray on clear coat to protect the glitter for a long lasting ornament. 

Tie a ribbon on the end an you are ready to go! I do not recommend curling ribbon but it was what I had on hand at the time.

Okay now it is your turn to make sweet memories!!!