Container Park

 Our last afternoon in Vegas Jakob and I headed out on a much needed date. (Thank you Mom and Dad for watching the kids!) We headed down to Freemont Street to check out the new Container Park. Jakob and I haven't been down Freemont Street since we first got married and it has really changed since then. If it was a bit warmer I would have liked to go explore some more. Next time we are back home we will be going back.

 I love the lights! Oh Vegas, how I love thee! 

 They have a love lock heart in front of container park. Next time we go back I want to add a lock to the collection. Such a cute idea!

 Conatiner park was really neat to look at. The Grasshopper shot fire out of it's antennas!

 I think next time we will bring the kiddos too! They had an awesome park and Jakob and I had fun riding down the slides! There were also blocks and lots of things to climb on. Duke would have a blast!

It was a fun adventure and it was great to go out just Jakob and I. We need to date more often! Perhaps the next place we live we will find a sitter that is closer than 20 minutes away! We were so spoiled with Briton & having Mom and Dad in Vegas.

Just Something I Threw Together... Not!

I have been wanting to make this dress since before E was born. Do you know how difficult it is to find 1/2" red dots on white fabric? Almost impossible. We found some while we were in Wal-Mart one day and bought the 3 yards that they had. Not thinking that was enough we continued the search. Fast forward to 2 weeks before Christmas. Mom and I were in Jo-Ann and I came across some navy dot on off white fabric. As soon as I saw it I was in love. We bought 5 yards and headed home to begin designing the dress. (Turns out I had enough red fabric the whole time. I'm glad I didn't make the red one though, I love the navy so much more!)

I'm not sure why I insist on designing every dress that I pick but I usually do. I used a separate pattern for the bodice, sleeves and skirt. I also had to design the sleeve (which was Mom Tobler's vision, she always thinks up the cutest things.) One day I will make a dress by following the pattern, one day! Aside from all of that mental labor, three muslin's later I finally had my pattern. I am actually really proud of myself. I made this dress almost entirely on my own. I needed Mom's guidance while we fit and worked on the collar but I almost flew solo, which is a big deal! 

Once my dress was done I had a TON of fabric left over so I decided to make a matching dress for Ethnie. Looking back there were a couple of things I wold tweak but the whole thing came together in a day and that is with having to redesign the pattern as well.

E was really excited that Mommy was making her a dress to match hers and she wanted to help. She was really good at pushing the back stitch button, lifting the presser foot and cutting the threads.

I love having a little helper!

Voila! This final product! Here are way to many pictures of us all matching. I even made a little doll dress out of the same material. Yes I was seeing spots by the end of it!

I {love} the back!!

For Christmas Grammy made us some matching aprons! They were so stinking cute and E was beyond happy to have an "apin wid a skirt!" (apron with a skirt!) She loves the little ruffle, the big bow in the front and the cupcake pattern! 

Thank you for the super cute apron's Mom!!!! 

My favorite blooper from our picture session! Hehe!

I couldn't hardly wait to wear our dresses to church, but the boys had to match us too! So I got Daddy and Duke matching contrasting ties. We looked pretty fancy!

The back of E's dress with her bow and hair up so you can see the flaps. If I was doing it again I would drop the neckline in the back WAY down. 

This was such a fun project and I am beyond ecstatic with how they turned out! I'm going through sewing withdrawals now that I'm all done. I think the next project will be designing a princess quiet book!

Simply White

My mother sent me a pin on Pinterest of a little girl in her mother's wedding dress. Such a cute idea and since E is totally into everything princess I thought it would be a fun shoot. The lighting wasn't the greatest but I think we still captured a few good ones. Here she is in my wedding dress. 

My dress was terrible to photograph. The bodice had boning and was stiff and the neckline came down to her belly button. I love the glitter but as far as "fit" went it was a bit tricky. 

I love this in both black and white and color.

Then E put on Grammy's wedding dress. It was perfect. I love the way it was perfectly too big. 

The winner!

By this time E was finished posing but we tried on Great Gramma Palmers wedding dress too. It is beautiful.

I couldn't let E have all the fun, so I put on Great Gramma's dress. It was stunning. She was super tiny when she got married! I had to suck it in!

I was a fun mini photo shoot! Who doesn't love trying on wedding dresses?

Baking with Grammy

Grammy decided to whip up a batch of muffins. E was more than happy to help her in her fancy new apron that Grammy made! This girl loves to bake!

 

   

 

 Ready to put them in the oven! 

 Waiting was really hard! 

 

 

 

 All done! ready to taste! E was a bit disappointed that they were "healthy muffins" and not "cupcakes."

 

 

 As per usual Manfred didn't seem to mind. Delicious!

Resolutions

I really enjoy writing down my resolutions even though (if I'm being honest) I very rarely look at them. I always have such high hopes to be improved and while I do think I grow every year, I usually fall short of my resolutions. So this year, they are going to be small, because let's be serious, some days small is all we can handle when you have children.

1. Be happy. This may seem strange to some but to me it is a goal that I would love to achieve. This might include smiling when I want to scream, dancing out frustrations or simply letting things go that are irrelevant. I have been battling depression for the last year. Lame, I know. While most of it was postpartum, I now find myself getting into these states of "the blues" where I am just sad and lonely. This year I have resolved to be happier. Enjoy the moments. Make messes, play dress up and just live.
2. Be a MOM! What does that even mean? In my mind it means STOPPING so I can be with my children. Too often I get caught up in cleaning, blogging, crafting, and so on, and I really miss those moments where an opportunity comes to bond with my children. Yes all those things I listed are great, but I want to try and maximize precious moments with my children.
3. Serve my husband more. Lets face it, my hubby gets the short end of the stick. By the time I've had a full day with the kids, cleaned, did my many callings, made dinner, washed dishes, picked up toys changed bums, did bath time, and folded laundry I am done! My poor husband comes home to a wife who is a little tattered and torn and some days that is okay. I really want to serve him to the best of my ability (by making lunches and not complaining when his clothes aren't hung up for example.) I'm not talking monumental things just the small and simple things to make his day easier.
4. Improve my relationship with my Heavenly Father by saying more personal prayers. Yup, I've fallen off the band wagon. Family prayers, no problem, family scriptures, check. Personal prayers and scriptures.... need improvement!
5. Have at least one FHE a month! That doesn't seem so hard right?! Jakob has a morning class so this might be more like morning seminary. 
6. Continue to expand my culinary skills. I have been actually really good at this as of late. I have started to enjoy cooking so I want to keep at that.

I think that does it. Be happy, be a MOM, serve my Hubby,pray and read scriptures, FHE once a month, keep cooking! I've got this!