candy.corn.&.ella

It's Fall! I'm so excited and so happy for my favorite season of the year! The evenings are just beginning to cool off and I so look forward to sweaters and boots, pumpkins and lattes.

We've been sick in the Atkinson house for awhile now. Why is Wes a teacher?! At least while I rest I can think about everything crafty that I want to do. I'm thinking about starting an Etsy shop. I definitely have plenty of ideas. This morning while I watched Ella play on the floor, I grabbed some yarn and made a little candy corn hat for my baby girl.




I kept putting it on her while I was making it to be sure it was the right size, but she fell asleep before it was all done. I can't wait for her to wake up and try it on! Now all she needs is a cute sweater to go with it. Hmm...

I've been busy with life [of course] and I haven't posted in quite a while. Here's what's been going on:


Ella is pretty much a musical genius. She can play Chopin. Or at least she likes looking at the music.



She turned 6 months old! How in the world did that happen so fast?!



She's eating solid foods now. She loves avocado and carrots!

I love being a mom and I love my baby girl! It's so much fun and so rewarding. God has truly blessed me.

Ella's.nursery

I love to decorate. Everyone knows that. When I found out we were having a girl I was so excited! I couldn't wait to decorate the nursery for my little princess! I started out on Pinterest of course to get some ideas.


It was obvious I kept going back to that light blue/green aqua color so I knew I had to start there. I went to Babies R Us to register, and I searched the entire back wall for the right crib bedding...and I didn't like any of them! To me they were just too matchy-matchy and busy. I don't really like "cute" animals or things dancing around on everything. Butterflies, flowers, Winnie-the-Pooh, just not my style. I considered making my own everything but after the carseat, I really didn't need another huge project. I was very discouraged and a little upset until I walked down the last aisle...and there it was! The perfect bedding set! It was all different bright colors, and looked perfect with the wall color.

Once the walls and bedding were in place, furniture was pretty simple. I bought a white couch cover to go over the hideous couch. Now it looks great! My mom brought my old-fashioned white dresser with a big mirror when they came to visit from PA. We found the changing table at a garage sale for $25 - not bad and it's solid wood. Thanks to some awesome friends, we got the crib for free from a church that was upgrading theirs.

And for the final touches, Hobby Lobby came to the rescue. They had the cutest artwork! I bought tissue paper there, too for the masterpiece in the corner. I covered letters that spell 'Ella' with yarn and put those on a white shelf from Target. And ta-da! A perfect little nursery for my pretty little princess.

special.sunday.events

Yesterday was a very special and beautiful day. It was my 1st Mother's Day and the Baby Dedications at our church. I loved sharing my special day with Ella.


God is so good. Just one year ago, Mother's Day was so hard for me. I had just gone through the miscarriage and wanted more than anything to be a mom. And look at our little family now! Our precious little Ella is the light of my life.

Wes made my first Mother's Day so special. He took me out for breakfast and Ella gave me a little present. It's a necklace with a letter 'E' and her birthdate engraved on the side. It's precious and I love it so much! I put it on the same chain with the diamond Wes gave me the day before our wedding. They complete each other and I love it!

Then we went to church for Ella's baby dedication. She looked so cute in a brand new dress and huge pink flower headband, of course. But it wasn't just a fashion show. It was the commitment Wes and I made as her parents to raise her in the Lord that really mattered. We wrote Ella a letter an read it aloud:

Dear Ella,

You are the most beautiful blessing that God has given us. We have been praying for you since the moment we found out you were coming and we will continue to pray for you throughout your life.

In front of our friends, our church, and God, we dedicate you to the Lord. We promise to raise you in a home full of love, respect, and integrity where you will learn to honor us, but more importantly, to honor God. We promise to be Godly examples through our actions, our words, our relationships with others, and our relationships with Christ. We promise to actively teach you to follow God's word and pursue Him above everything else.

We can't wait to see the person that you will become - your personality, your talents, and your interests. We will help you find God's will for life. We love you and promise to love you through everything - when it's difficult, when it's tiring, when it's awkward, and when it's embarrassing. We are honored to be your parents and with God's help we will raise you the best way we can.

We love you,
Mommy and Daddy


It was the most beautiful perfect Mother's Day! I am so blessed.

the.carseat.project

I promised awhile ago to share Ella's car seat project. It only took me just about all 9 months to complete. But I am so happy with how it turned out and she sure looks cute in it!

Before:



After:



For anyone who wants to ever take it upon themselves to recover a car seat let me just say - you're crazy! It took a lot longer than I ever dreamed to finish this project. But it was worth it in the end.

First I ripped up the old seams so I could use the pieces as a pattern. I made sure to take lots of pictures so I would know how to piece everything together again. That part was the most tedious and time consuming.

Then, I cut out the new fabric pieces and reassembled them. The sewing part went pretty fast overall and was a lot more fun. I guess I just don't have a whole lot of patience for huge projects.

But it turned out so well in the end. And Ella loves it!

i.am.back...finally

Even though it has been forever since my last post, I will not make excuses because I have good reason - our little baby girl was born on February 28, 2013! A gift from God and so so so precious!

Introducing Ella Joy Atkinson:


She weighed 6lbs.10oz. and was 19.5 inches long. My labor was relatively painless and I was so thankful that I was able to have her naturally. I loved her so much during my pregnancy and even more the moment I saw her for the first time. She is beautiful!


And 2 months old already! I have no idea where the time has gone! It's crazy how fast she is growing up. Pretty soon it will be time for Atkinson baby #2. But for now I'll enjoy every moment with my beautiful girl. It won't last forever.

fall.is.here

Fall is here! My favorite time of the year! Cold evenings, hot chocolate, butternut squash soup, orange colors, falling leaves, pumpkin pie, sweaters and mittens. I love it.

A few weeks ago for our Life Group, we had a "soups and chili" night since it was rainy and cold. Perfect weather for our meal. I made butternut squash soup and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Yummy! I'm mad now that I didn't think to take a picture. Oh well. It was delicious though!

With the whole pregnancy, I've been feeling so out of the loop. Normally, I would have been thinking fall in September, but somehow it just slipped by me until it started getting cooler outside. Then it just hit me, and I got really excited. So to go with our soups and chili and the colder weather, I finally got around to decorating for Fall.

Last year, I didn't really decorate the front entryway since we lived in an apartment. This year, though, I decided to buy a few mums and a pumpkin to put on my front porch. And it looks so cozy.

My sister, Jess, and her boyfriend, Leo, on my front porch.

I'm still debating on how I should decorate the mantle. I've been looking for ideas on Pinterest and found a few that I like. We'll see....I'm not set on anything right now....maybe I'll start thinking Christmas.

                                                     *                          *                          *

On a side note, I'm at 24 weeks this Friday. Over halfway to seeing our little girl! I cannot wait to meet her! She's been so active lately, kicking and moving all around! It weird to watch my whole stomach shift as she moves. I can usually see exactly where her head and feet are. So exciting! I registered last weekend and found the perfect bedding set! I finally know what color I'm going to paint the nursery, so now it's just a matter of getting the paint. And if I think of it this way....there's only 8 weeks til Christmas, then only 8 weeks after that until my due date!!! She'll be here before I know it!

21 weeks

baby.prep

There is so much to think about when you're getting ready for a baby. It's almost overwhelming. I guess the trick is to just take it one day at a time. Baby names, nursery ideas, pregnancy symptoms, nauseousness (still...sometimes), registries - there's so much to be done! But now that I'm in the second trimester, things have gotten so much easier. I have more energy (I say that while I yawn, HA!), I'm not nearly as sick, and I actually want to start planning and preparing. I definitely couldn't say that just a few weeks ago.

So here's what I've done so far:

Garage sales: Wes and I spent one recent Saturday morning garage saling specifically for Baby. :) It was so much fun! We spent about $25 and came home with a baby carrier/car seat in great condition, a monkey bouncer - also looking brand new, and several onesies and cute tiny baby girl clothes. Yay!

Window Shopping: I've been to Babies R Us, Target, and Buy Buy Baby. There's just too much to take in. I still haven't figured out just exactly where I'm going to register. But we still have time for that.

Nursery: Since I had a whole day off on Monday for Labor Day and we decided to stay home this year, I took some time to gather my thoughts and ideas for the nursery. I'm trying to be as frugal as I can and still make it adorable! After all, diapers are NOT cheap!
So here's my nursery in box:

And the best part? Everything you see in the picture cost me under $15. Here's the breakdown:

Crib quilt: My mom had it at home. Maybe it was mine when I was little. I don't remember it, but
yep, it was free.

Curtains: $1 At a garage sale awhile ago, I found these pink flowery curtains. There are 4 large panels, and we only have one window in the nursery, so I'm going to take the extra fabric and make a crib skirt. It matches so perfectly!

Tissue Paper Pom-Poms: I already had these ones lying around the house, but I'll make a bunch more to hang in the corner somewhere (and use some brighter colors). Each pom-pom will cost about $2.

Cardboard Letters: Once we pick a name, I'll buy some letters from Hobby Lobby ($2.50 each) and wrap them with yarn or something like that. I'll decorate them somehow.

Bunny: Bunny was mine when I was little. Just a little something sentimental.

Half-circle Banner: I bought a package of assorted scrap fabric from Hobby Lobby for $10 and sewed it up. It's not quite finished yet. I'm going to use some bright yellow bias tape to sew them all together. I'll probably hang it from the dresser. And I think I'll take it to the hospital to decorate her bassinet. Hospitals need some cheering up for sure.

                                                  *                                     *                                    *

In just 2 weeks, I'll be at the halfway point of my pregnancy. What?! It took so long.....but it went so fast! I think I'm just confused. We got to see our little girl a couple days ago, and it's amazing how much she changes from one appointment to the next. She has a spine now! I'm really excited for next month's appointment. We'll really get to see her up close. It'll be the level 2 ultrasound where they check all the organs and all that. How fun!