Baby Love and Thank You Cards

Thought I'd share this pic of the centerpiece from this past weekends baby shower. Too cute! Those ladies totally blessed me...a nice way to celebrate baby girls upcoming arrival! 

I'd thought about ordering some thank you cards, maybe something personalized from Shutterfly, but decided against it after looking at the price...more than I wanted to spend and not personal enough; and since the packaged thank you cards I saw in town just weren't gonna cut it, I decided to make them myself.

I was doing this on a budget, so I decided to use supplies I already had on hand, and came up with a design I could put together without using adhesive (clever and thrifty).  After a little brainstorming and sketching a few different ideas I came up with this:

Freedom From Fear

Being just a few weeks away from having our daughter, I've had lots of different thoughts running through my mind, and a mixture of varying emotions that come and go.  Ahh the roller coaster of pregnancy hormones!  For me the best way to deal with these is to find out what God says.  So I did a little searching, and happened upon this on Joyce Meyer's  website, so good I had to share it!  Here's an excerpt:

Picture Day

I don't have a very good memory, especially of my school years as a child, but one of the things that helps is looking back at some of my old school photos.  Picture day for me was always so exciting!  Making sure I looked just right, with my outfit and hair just as I thought it should be...I would even practice smiling to see which 'look' I liked best. : ) Silly, I know (did every little girl do this?).  Now that I'm a mom picture day for me is just as exciting.  I love doing what I can and helping to make sure my kiddos have good memories of those childhood experiences.  I may or may not decide to order the school photos depending on how they turn out (leaning more towards may though, since I can't help but think my kids are the cutest things since sliced bread!), so this morning we took a few photos to capture the moment for each child.  Hopefully when they grow older they'll be able to look back at these photos and remember this part of their school experience fondly. I know I will!

Josiah ~ 2nd Grade

Yakima and the Columbia River Gorge, WA

Towards the end of August Matt and I took a trip up to Washington to see Keith Urban and John Mayer perform live at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA.  Along the way back we made several stops and photographed the landscape, which was stunning!  Here's a few photos I've edited from that trip.

One. Two. Three.

A few photos I got this last week, completely capturing the spirit of my little boy.  I caught a glimpse of these couch acrobatics and knew I had to get a shot, and of course he was obliging.  I love my boy.

One...

...two...

...three!

Get Comfy

It's funny how something like a warm coffee (oh Starbucks, how I love your fall flavors!) can make me feel all comfy and peaceful.  It seems like a lot of my time lately has been focused on getting comfortable.  36+ weeks along and I've been nesting like crazy.  Washing baby clothes, picking up little things here and there for her. ♥   Organizing. Cleaning.  Decorating.  Making the little nooks and crannies of my house (yes, my tiny little house)  feel homey and warm.  Getting settled into fall, or at least what is the end of summer.  Doing my best to accept where I am at this moment, and not worry about the future and it's uncertainties.  Reminding myself of what I need to do to stay centered, and just take it one day at a time instead of trying to jump to a place that I won't be ready for until later.  Good things come to those who wait!  This little saying is so true.  So...here's a few scriptures that are really relevant for me right now, and a few photos capturing this last week.