Well, this just isn't going to work...

My new machine is here... but she doesn't fit on my table! 

I've got a few ideas...

(ikea)

(ikea again)

(aw man can't you just see the serger sitting on that little sliding table? *wistful sigh*)

...but it's looking like we're gonna have to do some MAJOR reorganizing to fit a bigger table in a room that already houses a train table, expedit with toy baskets, easel, fabric cabinet, and cutting table. Yikes. 

Anyone out there have a great table that they love for sewing (pretty sturdy/no bouncing) that isn't a $1k or higher Arrow or Kangaroo table (not that I wouldn't love one- that's just a BUNCH of money!)? I would LOVE some recommendations! 

oh, and to make up for all the missed Wordless Wednesdays

Why is my kid suddenly, like, 15?

hurry up and wait AND slowing down a little

hurry up and wait
In an incredible, God-can-only-be-responsible-for-this-answered-prayer turn of events, we found out in March that we were suddenly- shockingly- financially prepared for the adoption. Once finances were no longer an issue, we went on rampage of paperwork, recommendation letters, online seminars, portfolio-making and talking to Noah about his new brother or sister. Since we have decided to adopt a child of color, we explained to him that while we won't look alike, our hearts are the same/all families are different and that's ok/God is creating our family in a special way. We've talked with him about sharing his room, his toy, his Nana, his Mama and Rufio as well as the fact that while Mrs. Meaghan, Mrs. Erin, Mrs. Ashley H., Mrs. Ashley O., Aunt Rebecca, Mrs. Allison and Mrs. Amber are all currently growing babies in their bellies (that's right- SEVEN of my friends are currently pregnant.), I'm currently growing one in my heart. 
Within a few weeks, we had attended our last meeting, signed our last paper and were officially "waiting" (dun dun duuuuuun!). We've been waiting for about a month now and I have to say it's weird to not be dropping by the agency office multiple times a week! :) Now we just keep on truckin' as a 3-person family and wait for that life-changing phone call. In the words of our agent "It could be 18 months from now, or it could be tomorrow." I have peace knowing that our child, and his/her birthmother are already chosen for us and they will not enter our lives one day earlier or one day later than God has planned... though I can't lie- there is a part of me that just wants to know when it's going to come! :) 


slowing down a little 
In light of the imminent change around here, as well as a finicky home embroidery machine that's been just about pushed to its limits (4 million stitches put on that machine in less than 2 years? YIKES!) and two sudden realizations that I can't be good at everything AND I've got too many irons in the fire, I've decided to take a short break from the embroidery and applique "business" (ahem... again). We're thinking that once we are settled into being a 4-person family (what's that? 2030?), I will invest in a multi-needle machine and pick up the "business" again. For now, I'm focusing on quilts and sewing for myself, Noah and this new little person that's going to enter our lives. So, Friday Joe and I took the trip to the store that makes his wallet cry and I upgraded from my Brother 1250D to this lovely lady:

What do you think? 

Does she seem like a "Large Marge" or "Big Bertha"? 

This girl needs a name ASAP!

The old machine and I have a few more shirts to do together but this Friday we're headed back over there to complete the hand-off and I will officially be on embroidery hiatus! (which, honestly, after my busy last few months seems like a major relief!)

Those are the not-so-thrilling (yet EXTREMELY busy!) updates in my life after almost a month away from blog-land. I've got a lot of blog-reading to catch up on- and baby projects to plan!  

Happy Easter... from the beach!

We've been having a great time at the beach for spring break!

Noah's not such a fan of the sand... 

 but he's loving chasing the "Easter babbit"! 

 and he DEFINITELY loved everything the Easter Babbit brought him.

It's been nice to relax and just do nothing for a while- especially when you consider the insane amount of stuff we're going to head back to on Wednesday! :) Between the auction (which started tonight! Woohoo!), mailing out Superman shirts, our last office meeting with our adoption agent and rehearsals for my spring musical- it's gonna be crazy! Fun and awesome crazy, but crazy nonetheless! 

Happy Easter everyone!

Handmade Auction! (including my quilts!)

If you are interested in some cool handmade items (including some quilts of mine!), check out this awesome fundraiser that will be taking place April 9-11th! 

All proceeds go towards our adoption fund!

Here's a preview of some of the items:

Happy browsing! 

life updates- and a pretty fantastic shirt!

Sewing:

Whew! Between quilts, shirts and sewing lessons, I've been busy busy! My latest finish is an shirt for a sorority sister that I worked tirelessly on... 

... and then my child danced all over it. 

Ah well- it turned our great and she loves it! 

The shirt orders have been steady too- I am loving creating unique shirts for little guys and gals- especially for birthdays! Is it just me, or is everything cuter with a bow on it?

Life:

As you may have noticed before, Noah wears "underwears" now. 

*thunderous applause*

Homeboy keeps us cracking up with his crazy antics. After I put him down for a nap this week I went in to check on him and found this:

I guess he wasn't tired at first, so he started tearing his room apart, got bored and fell asleep with his head wrapped in a duvet. Whatever tickles his fancy, I guess. 

In what started as a nerve-wracking phone call and ended (oddly enough) in a sigh of relief, my OB has officially given a name to what's going on with my crazy uterus. I have been diagnosed with MTHFR gene mutation - which stands for a bunch of huge words that won't effect me day-to-day, but it explains why I haven't been able to carry a baby to term since Noah (who is apparently a freak for making it outta there alive!). Basically I have blood clotting issues, and so my miscarriages were most likely caused by blood clots between the placenta and the fetus(es). 

As weird as it is to be relieved by this information, I am. I'm glad to know that there is an actual thing that is different about my body and that it's not something that is my fault. It also just confirmed in our hearts our decision to adopt- God's plan for our lives started long before my (somewhat faulty) body was created and I'm just so excited as each little part of that is revealed to us piece-by-piece. 

Which leads me to... 

Adoption:

We have officially applied, paid application fees, paperwork is finished, we have been fingerprinted and our homestudy is Monday!  Woohoo!

We're not 100% financially ready to be checked out by birth-mothers yet (we definitely don't want our scrapbook looked at until we have the last payment- which won't be due until after the baby is in our custody- sitting in the bank. Until then, we're doing everything on a "do what we can, when we can, with what we have" basis!), but we are sitting on go and doing the best we can to earn and save as much as possible! 

On that note, some AMAZING friends of mine heard that I was making some quilts to sell to raise funds and they offered up a TON of awesome items to put together an auction! It will be running on Facebook from April 6-8th and I will post more information and a link to the auction as soon as everything is up and all the details are finalized! 

My contributions to the auction will include these quilts 

(only, they'll obviously be finished by then!):

As well as 4 others! Whew! 

Another project that I'm SUPER excited about is a shirt fundraiser:

(click to enlarge!)

Never really thought about it, did you? Superman WAS adopted, and- let’s be honest- he’s pretty fantastic! Adoption is an amazing gift that our family is planning to take part in this year!  

Our dream is to bring another SUPER child into our home and we could use your help. How? By choosing your favorite “Superman was Adopted” shirt for the SUPER price of $15! All proceeds from these sales will go straight toward our adoption fund, to help bring our new baby home and into our family!

Shirts are available in black, red, blue, light pink, hot pink, light blue and charcoal in:

Toddler: 2T, 3T, 4T, 5/6, 7

Youth: YS, YM, YL, YXL

Adult: S, M, L, XL

If you are interested in a shirt, please comment below with your email address and what size/color you would like and I will send you a paypal invoice for $17 ($15 + $2 shipping no matter how many you buy!).  Make sure that the address associated with the paypal account is the address you’d like your shirts shipped to!

Orders will be taken for the shirts until March 31^st and shirts will ship sometime around April 10^th.  If you have any questions, or would like an additional size, please email Laura at laura.d.phillips@gmail.com

Wow... is anyone still reading? Sorry to write a novel, it's just been a while and there was a lot to update! I hope to post more pics soon of finished quilts and projects! 

Krazy Straw Valentines

My goal for this Valentine's Day was a no-candy valentine for Noah to give to his classmates (he has 9 classmates on Mondays/Wednesdays and 9 different classmates on Tuesdays/Thursdays, so that seemed like a reasonable amount to make).

Oh, and to not be up til the wee hours of morning working on them the night before.

 I think I figured out a way to combine the non-candy element with Noah's first valentines - 

Krazy Straw Valentines! 

I'm just shocked that I got him to make a fist. 

(confession: he's clutching a green skittle in that fist.)

(... which actually worked awesome with the green krazy straws.)

So Valentines are done! 

His class doesn't address them, just hand them out, so I'm done! Wahoo! 

The outtakes are pretty awesome, too. 

(umm... what?)

Happy (early!) Valentine's Day!