It's Friday! {and a GIVEAWAY!}

Happy Friday! I don't know about you all, but this was a crazy busy week! We had so much going on that I may actually go to bed when my kiddos do tonight! (Probably not, because-- Hello, grown-up television and ice cream calling my name!) Anyway, in addition to normal business; Bible Study, Dentist Appt, Trip to Trader Joes, Preschool, the Zoo, etc., WE BOUGHT A CAR!

This Mama is officially rocking a Mini-van, and let me tell you that I am not hanging my head in shame... it is SWEET! The storage and roomy-ness alone is awesome, but the remote control power doors... definitely sealed the deal. Let's hope that Liv loves it as much as I do, and ends her 30+min long screaming from the back seat. Amen?

Well I'm off to drive Miss Hannah to dance class in style, but make sure you stop by over at A + Life and wish Courtney a very Happy Birthday! I'm sponsoring again this month, and there is also an AWESOME giveaway with 3 of her favorite things (mine too!) Enter with the Rafflecopter below. Giveaway ends at Midnight tonight!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's the Little Things: Sister Love

My girls. It's funny how just saying that phrase lately leads me to a teary eyed sentimental feeling. I never pictured myself with girls. I'm not sure why, but when we were first pregnant with Hannah, I wanted a boy. I told myself that one of ME was more than enough for one household, ha. That feeling immediately melted away when I saw my sweet baby girl on that monitor, and now, I can't picture my life without these little ladies. They are at the most wonderful stage right now--their love for each other is such a gift from God. Sure I spend my days breaking up little arguments over toys and hair-pulling, but when they snuggle up or give each other hugs and kisses... it's pure gold.

Miss Hannah is still as sweet as ever-always wearing her feelings on her shoulder. She makes friends easily, and is just as polite and dainty as she has been her whole three years. She has an amazing memory and walks around quoting books and her favorite Disney movies all day long. We are always given a character to play in her little world, and we think someday she will be an actress or dancer. She's crazy smart, and I hear her reciting her bible verses from school from the backseat as we drive home. She can break my heart with her tears, and her sweet spirit reminds me to be gentle with the little souls I've been entrusted.

As much as my sweet girls surely look like sisters, they are as different as night and day. My Liv is has such a strong personality for someone who is only sixteen months old. She can be the sweetest, most loving baby, giving her 'Nana' a hug, and then push Hannah down three seconds later. She's got a will that won't be broken, and she knows exactly what she wants, when she wants it. I think that someday I will be so glad for her passion and her will, but as a toddler Mama, I am frequently brought to frustration when simple tasks become so difficult. I think that she is teaching me patience, and grace and that God gave her to me in order that I could grow and stretch and be humbled.

I love to watch Liv beam with joy when she sees that Hannah's outfit matches hers, or that her sister wants her to play with her and hold her hand. Hannah will say "Come on Sissy, we are going outside. Get your shoes," and Liv will run to the basket to try to put her shoes on, afraid she'll miss out on something great. My littlest love isn't quite sure what to do with herself with Hannah is at school. She gets very excited when it's time to pick her up. These girls say good night to each other with kisses and hugs and awake upset when one is not in her bed. I can see them years from now, sneaking in to sleep with each other when they finally get their own rooms. I am filing these happy thoughts away in the hopes that on the days when I feel worn out or when I have to break up another tug-of-war over a certain doll--I'll remember what a gift these sisters are.

Tunic Tops: Target // Shoes: Stride Rite // Bows: Sadie Sky Boutique



Linking up with Jess from Sadie Sky

Making our house a HOME {Our Bedroom}

Welcome to my house y'all. The lovely Miss Courtney invited me to show you around as a part of a tour through blogland. HERE's her super cute home here in Missouri.

We've lived here for 2 years in May, and we're slowly working through the house, painting and making it just-right. I'm pretty picky when it comes to decor and we like to do a lot of DIY projects as we go. We're currently re-doing our basement playroom/family room, and I'm really excited to show you all that, when it finally comes together. We also just got an IKEA here in Kansas City, so we'll finally be updating our living room, and other areas I've been waiting to finish.

HERE is an old sneak peek into our living room, kitchen, breakfast nook, and the old nursery.
HERE is our dining room--including the farmhouse table my Hubby built.

I decided to show you my favorite room in our house today, our master bedroom. When we moved in,  I really wanted to make our bedroom a priority. I wanted a room where I could relax, and retreat to at the end of the day. Unfourtunately, this room had ugly green roman shades, and a pickled-oak built in corner cabinet--yuck. My amazing Hubby ripped out the cabinet, only to reveal NO DRYWALL behind it. So he just bought some and put it up--LOVE that man. We painted the walls Blue Arrow by Valspar. It's such a calming shade of blue-grey.

We replaced the awful shades with white wood blinds from Home Depot, and the iron hardware, clips, and sheer curtains are all Pottery Barn. I have a love/hate relationship with Pottery Barn. I love that they sell exactly what I'm usually looking for, but I hate their prices. Anyway, the sheers let lots of amazing light into the room, but the blinds block it out when Mama needs to sneak off for a Sunday nap!

The iron bed, lamps, duvet cover and pillow shams are also from Pottery Barn. The nightstand on the left is an antique my Gramma bought and was my little sister's growing up. I wanted something similar not the other side, but not matching. I also wanted some storage of some kind, since we don't have a dresser. So Brian built me one. Like I said--LOVE that man.

This rocking chair sits in the corner to the right, and was in the nursery before we put up Hannah's toddler bed and Liv came along. I have sat in this chair and rocking and nursing my babies for hours and hours and hours in this chair. It is incredibly comfortable and has a matching ottoman too. We chose white because I could strip off the slipcover and bleach it when needed--that was a GENIUS move. Did y'all know that babies like to spit up? Well they do and this chair has held up wonderfully. Oh--it's from Pottery Barn Baby--shocking I know. The adorable pillow is from For the Love of Joy. 

Here's a close up of the book shelf Brian built me. It's currently holds my macbook, cookbooks and baby books. I bought the box and basket from Target to hold chargers, cords, etc. Anyone want to come style my shelves? I haven't quite figured out how to make them look pretty enough for all the hard work my hubby did, but gosh I love the paneling on the back! The magnetic frame on top is vintage Lisa Leonard. 

To the left is the door to the master bath. Someday, when I get the walls painted and the silver/gold combination hardware out of there, I'll show you that too. It has amazing natural light, a big jacuzzi tub and a stone stand alone shower. Heaven is what that bathroom feels like after my girls are in bed at night. 

I had the idea to do a chalkboard print wall for a long time, and slowly gathered these prints from all over the handmade world. Top to bottom they are Katy Girl Designs, Lindsay Letters, Recipe for Crazy, Rooted in Paper, Frenchpress mornings. The frames are all from Hobby Lobby and were 40% off--yay! This wall is full of truth and it encourages me every time I walk by. 

The shelf above our bed is from my late Grandmother's house. It holds one of my favorite wedding pictures, a lovely print from Little Light Prints, and some antique Ball mason jars that I collect. All the frames are from Hobby Lobby. 

I love that this room has a vaulted ceiling, and a fan with 2 dimmer lights. Unfortunately, sometimes the light/fan becomes possessed and comes on by itself in the middle of the night--scared me to DEATH the first couple times I woke up to the fan on high and both lights on at 3am, but now we just laugh about it. I forgot to tell my parents when they stayed with my girls and slept in there--and maybe I had a good laugh at their expense too.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour! I hope you'll follow along as I post more rooms in the near future. Have a great day!

Sunshine, sunscreen and babies on the boat.

Last month, we took our annual trip down to Lake Pomme de Terre with my family. You can read about last years trip HERE.  Since Hannah was a little (a LOT) apprehensive about the lake last year, and Liv was too little and stayed at the house with my Mama, I was so excited to see how my girls would do out on the boat.  I LOVED the water as a kiddo, and I want my girls to enjoy it too.

We eased them into the weekend by having them wear lifejackets around the house, which went over well.  Then, it came time to get out on the boat.  After Hannah's first response of telling my uncle to drive "SLOW!", they were just fine!  Liv needed to stay close to Mama, but that's always the case.  She mostly got mad when we wouldn't let her walk around on the boat while we were moving.  She watched us all ski and take turns on the tube--content as long as someone held her, or gave her a snack to munch on.

Then I was beaming with Mama pride as I watched Hannah ride on the "Taco" (tube) with her Daddy!  I was so incredibly proud of my brave girl.  We worked all summer on being brave and trying new things, and to see her step out of her comfort zone was amazing.  When we got in the water to cool off (a crazy hot Missouri weekend, that water never felt so good!), she even worked on her swimming with Daddy and Papa!  She'll be a little fish before we know it.  My big girl is growing up so fast, and I think I love her even more each day.

Hannah also provided lots of comic relief throughout the weekend, when she referred to my sister's boyfriend as "MY Ryan" and said things like "All aboard, everybody on the ship!" and "Captain Uncle Kirk will vroom us in the boat!".  I think she may be watching too much Jake and the Neverland Pirates, ha.

The lake seriously makes me feel 20 years younger.  (The fact that I can remember how I felt 20 years ago is a little scary.)  I watch Bri try crazy tricks, crash hard and do it again--the lake keeps you young.  There's nothing like being out on the water--it's so calming for me, and I feel so much joy.  My sister and I never laugh as hard as we do when we're on the tube together.  I pray my girls still love to play together 20 years from now.

Until then, we'll continue to make great memories.  Eight adults and two small kiddos are a LOT for one house (and two bathrooms!).  Hannah keeps my sister up late, chatting away, and Brian and I get a little bedmate that thrashes around in her sleep.  But the fun is so worth it.  The girls loved exploring a new place, watching movies together, and having dance parties.  We are so grateful for weekends full of sunshine, babes covered in sunscreen, slow evenings, and family.  Such a great way to end the summer.

What we're loving for Fall...

The weather is cooling off here in the Midwest--actually it cooled off a LOT sooner than it usually does! I'm not sure what it is about Fall, but it makes me want to do a WHOLE lot of shopping--usually with a Pumpkin Spice Latte in hand. These days, I do most of our shopping online. It's a lot more convenient with two small kiddos! I thought I'd share what we are loving right now.

It's no secret that we love Sadie Sky Boutique! The girls have quite a collection of her adorable bows and headbands and Jess is just the sweetest person too! The radiant orchid--gorgeous!

THESE classic books illustrated by Anna Bond from Rifle Paper Co, are simply gorgeous! With two little girls, who LOVE to be read to, we are definitely adding these our wish list!

THIS sweatshirt from Loved by Hannah and Eli is amazing and definitely on my list of things to cuddle up in this Fall!

Of course, I couldn't be more in love with THESE Moccs from Freshly Picked--can you tell I'm loving the orchid lately?

It wouldn't be Fall without the scent of baked goods, am I right? I've been eyeing THESE all natural soy candles from Candelles--yum!

We are also getting pretty excited about Halloween over here, and THESE Jammies from Carters are just the CUTEST! FYI they are selling like hot cakes, and I may have snagged a couple sets at 40%off!

So what are you loving for Fall? Any amazing sales I should know about? ;)

New Items: The Party Shop and Your Feedback!

I'm so excited to show you a little of what I've been working on for the shop! I am loving the new colors for Fall this year--orchid, mustard, navy and turquoise. I also love the geometric prints that are everywhere as well.

I've also got some glittery fall garlands that will work wonderfully for Thanksgiving get-togethers or add some sparkle to your Fall decor!

I really love all the arrows/chevrons that are all over right now, and had fun making these hand-sewn felt garlands.

I've added glittery name banners too!

Most importantly, now that The Party Shop has been up and running, I'd LOVE your feedback! What would you like to see more of in the shop? Bunting and Garlands are my true love, but I want to help you all throw a GREAT party, and I want to know what you'd love available.

I'm SUPER excited to show you what I've been cooking up next! EEEK (super excited) so stay tuned for that!

Have a wonderful week y'all!

When RESTING is enough.

It's iced coffee o'clock in the Edwards house, and this Mama is feeling bone tired--not from anything out of the ordinary. I've had three days of normal 'Stay At Home Mama' work. Sending Miss Hannah off to Preschool early in the morning, grocery shopping with Liv, toddler melt-downs, cleaning, planning a Disney trip, running to the Mall with friends and an epic toddler meltdown in the middle of a store, get the girls down for naps, etc. You know that stuff.

This is the point in my day where I usually grab a big glass of iced coffee and head to my craft room to sew for The Party Shop or work on any projects around the house, check my to-do list, send emails, do laundry, work on digital photo books, etc. Today I am just TIRED. I find myself wondering, is it OKAY to rest? Why when I think about putting my feet up and reading a book do I feel guilty for not keeping busy or being PRODUCTIVE?

Resting has not been a part of my day as a Mom. Every single second needed to be used up DOING something. Even in the evenings when the kiddos go to bed--Bri and I want to watch a movie together, I'm constantly pinning projects to do later, reading blogs for ideas, recipes, working on finishing our playroom, redecorating other rooms, DIY projects, new ideas for the shop, materials, sending emails, planning activities, making shopping lists... it goes on and on and ON.

Now, all these things can be GOOD things. I ENJOY being a creative person that needs to funnel that energy somewhere. But being a Mom is a FULL time job. I needed to remind myself today that it is MORE than enough to get through the day and I hope that if you needed to hear that today, this will encourage you.

Sometimes resting is enough.

***If you need a source for daily encouragement, head over to THRIVE MOMS! I can not tell you the number of times that a post there has encouraged, and left me feeling refreshed. Also- I'm really enjoying the SHE READS TRUTH app! It's a wonderful way to read a quick bible study (even on your iphone while you're pinned by a sleeping babe!) and it always leaves me feeling glad that I took the time to read!