Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad People

Hello Lovely Readers! I want to thank you all so much for the time you take to read Grits & Giggles and the wonderful comments you leave for me to read. They really do brighten my day!

 

I love sharing with you my love of crafting, sewing, and most of all, being a wife and mommy.

 

Unfortunately, some horrible people have taken advantage of my sharing. Some people who Hubby and I are familiar with have stolen pictures of our children off the internet, and have chosen to use them without our permission in a publication. These people have threatened the safety and security of our family in the past, so this new information has been particularly disturbing.

 

It's annoying enough when someone borrows your tutorial pictures, or finished product pictures without giving proper credit. But to steal the pictures of someone's children, the people we treasure the most, takes a disgusting person.

 

It will be difficult to share day to day happenings with you without including my babies. If pictures of my babies are included in a post...they will be heavily watermarked, probably over their beautiful faces to keep these horrible people from using them again.

 

Thank you all again for reading, and your sweet comments, especially about my babies. So many of you have told me that you love seeing them in pictures, and have shared with me about your own babies. They truly are a blessing.

Freezer Cooking

I've been trying to be WAY more organized around our house while I've been home on maternity leave. We've rearranged some rooms, done some cleaning out, and been working on budgeting better with our now larger family.

 

One way I've been trying to help with our budget is paying even closer attention to our grocery bill. I'm already a couponer, and always shop with a list, but I've added freezer cooking to my new agenda as well!

 

Freezer cooking is where you spend a morning/afternoon/day washing and chopping meats and veggies to make pre-assembled packages of meals to throw in the freezer. Then when you're ready to cook, you just thaw them out and throw them in the skillet or crock pot. I made a batch of 7 meals with just a couple of hours of chopping. Aren't they colorful and pretty??

 

These first few were experiments and I'm looking forward to making a lot more. This batch included packs of barbeque chicken, fajitas, beef stew, and stir fry. All of the spices and marinades have been included as well, so they're ready to go when we are! I made sure to throw in lots of veggies too, hoping that Hubby gets tired of picking around them and just eats them.

 

On top of saving time with prepwork, and allowing you to throw the food in the crockpot and forget about it, these meals save money too! When you make large batches of food, you can buy larger cuts and packages of meat and save LOTS of money by buying in bulk!

 

I'll keep you updated on how these meals turn out, and add some recipes as I make more bags!

Sewing for Springtime

Have you started sewing for spring yet? Me neither, but it's time to get started. Gray's dresses from last year aren't going to fit, so it's time to get that little girl a new wardrobe of colorful things to wear! She LOVES dresses (not my child) so I'll make sure she's got plenty to twirl in.

 

One of her favorite things to do with me is to pick out fabrics at Hobby Lobby, because they have the brightest colors. I'll let her pick two or three to make her dresses with. Sometimes they're a little funky, but as long as she loves them, I'm happy.

 

To get you started with spring sewing, all sewing patterns are 15% off with coupon code "Bloglove" at checkout in the SHOP.

 

There are several to choose from, with new ones coming this spring!

(Maybe even something for little boys...now that I have one to try things on)

 

 

 

 

There are also patterns for bags and clutches if you need some sewing for yourself or an older girl in your life!

 

All patterns are in printable, PDF format, and include color photos of step by step instructions.

 

Click HERE to go shopping!

 

 

Here's What I've Been Doing....

Spending time with our sweet little boy!!

 

It was quite the surprise when he decided to join us at 37 1/2 weeks. We always thought he might come early, but we weren't expecting him that soon! Fortunately we were all ready to go, with a finished nursery and all of our new baby supplies.

 

He arrived January 26 at 12:14am after an lightning fast 5 hour labor. For those of us who were there, it was more like a 30 minute labor....but that story will come later.

 

I was determined to have him naturally, med-free. Everyone said I was nuts... but it was the most amazing experience, and if I did it again, med-free is the way to go!

 

Gray stayed with Papa, and they had just settled into bed when we called and said that he was coming NOW! Gray wasn't quite sure what was going on in those early hours...but here is our first family of 4 picture.

It was love at first site holding my little man. Gray was fascinated by this new little person.

She loves to hold and kiss him, and tells us all the time what she will teach him when he gets bigger. So sweet.

 

In Daddy's Hands

 

This picture melts my heart into a million pieces.

He wanted to make sure everyone knew that he was a birthing expert...

I will never get tired of kissing that sweet little face.

 

Our family is complete. Perfect.

I can't wait to continue to share my adventures in Mommyhood with you, now as a mother of TWO.