3 little Miracles

3 little Miracles

Friday, July 31, 2009

Take a look at our New Fall Catalog
Beautiful new products and fun design ideas on every page.



Double Hostess Dollars for August
Southern Living at HOME parties!


HOSTESSES EARN DOUBLE REWARDS IN AUGUST!!!!





Show us Where you Live - Children's room

Love the Show US Where you Live activities posted by blogger Kelly's Korner, lots of fun.

For three years my husband and I battled to begin our family. Three years of tests, surgery's and shots in order to conceive. Then in 2004 God blessed us with the news of our first little miracle and we began the preparations. We were already in the middle of renovations to our home but as soon as we had the wonderful news I told my husband that the "guest" room had moved up on the list and would now be our little ones nursery. I knew that we would be cutting it close on finishing the house before my due date, and I wanted the nusrery 100% done to welcome our little bundle of joy. Of course I couldn't wait for the day we could find out if we were having a boy or girl, no surprises for me, the interior decorator in me needed to know so that I could decorate his or her room.


So when we saw the turtle three months later during our ultrasound, my mind went right to work. Inspired by my fathers love and career in aviation (this is my father at age 2 at an airshow),











and the fact that my husband also worked on helicopters for the Marine Corp. I knew that I wanted to build a theme on aviation. Then while in DC visiting my best friend and her family, we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and I found the cutest little poster of a young aviator and that motivated me to keep the theme going, so I purchased the poster and framed it for the first piece of artwork for the room.
My mind whirled with ideas and I remembered a hook rug that my mother had made that had hung on the wall in our home growing up in Connecticut, it was an image of a red biplane on an off white background and I knew if she still had it, that it would be perfect to hang above the crib. So I asked mom it she still had it and sure enough she did, she had it tucked away in a drawer and when we pulled it out it looked a little stained, so in hopes that modern cleaners would not do it damage, I put the rug on gentle cycle with some OxyClean and out came a beautiful new looking rug (air dried of course).



Continuing on the theme I set out to search the fabric stores for fabric that had airplanes on them and when I finally stumbled across a bolt of fabric with antique planes I knew I had found the main fabric that the rest of my color palate would be born from. I choose a wonderful green fabric (inspired by a green plane in the main fabric) that I found for $7 a yard to re-cover my grandmothers rocker and matched the paint to that. Then I placed the drop-leaf-table that my father sat at when he was a kid, against one wall and used it for a changing table. And finally we assembled the crib, so that I could begin measuring it to make all the crib linens. So, for the next 5 months I sewed curtains, a bed skirt, bolster covers for the bumpers, and finally the quilt. I did the quilt last because I wanted to hand stitch stars on each corner and I knew I could do that when I no longer could move around with ease toward the end of the pregnancy. The final result was a room that I love and was a perfect quiet spot in the early days of my young David's life.



Loosing Sleep

Tonight I am once again awake in the early hours of the morning due to a little one having a fitful night. I do not know where the wonderful rest filled nights have gone to, but for the past three days they seem to have disappeared. The funny thing is one would think that it would be Davey who is waking in the middle of the night due to being sick, but instead it is JonJon who seems to be so unsettled in his sleep lately.


I must say though, like when he was a little baby, these moments in the early hours of the morning when its just me and one of my little boys and I get to cradle him in my arms and rock him back to sleep . . . . . these are the moments that I LOVE and cherish.

Even now though in the moments after I have settled JonJon back into his bed and await the next moment he will awaken, I am thinking of another mother who worries for her little man laying in a hospital bed. I am grateful that prayers are being answered for Stellan and that for now there is hope of continued improvement. I know that our God is the great physician and that He will provide for Stellan and his family.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

FRIEND of my heart my life

When I was 7 years old our family was preparing to move into a home my parents had dreamed of for many years, one they had built according to their needs and provided plenty of space outside to run for us kids. During the summer months the house was still under construction and on this particular day while my parents worked in the house on Meadow Brook Rd., my parents sent me and my three siblings out into the neighborhood so we wouldn't be under foot and said "go make friends". Little did I know those three words would forever impact my life with the friendship I made at the brown house on the corner.


So off we set to explore our new world and to see if we could make new friends. At the end of the street up on a hill sat a large brown ranch house, in front was a small fenced in garden and a mother and 2 boys were working on weeding the flower beds. April, my older sister, suggested that we go up and introduce ourselves since the boys looked about my age. I didn't want to go up the drive because I didn't want to make friends with boys, I wanted girl friends ;-)


But on that day, I met a friend that God wanted me to have, one that would be a part of me for the rest of my life. My sister and I walked up to the fenced in flower garden at the front of the house and introduced ourselves to the mom . . . . . . . . much to my surprise she said "these are my daughters". Standing behind her were two children whom I thought were boys because of their very short brown curls and the fact that they both were wearing overalls with no shirts. I was so shocked, but once I truly looked at their faces I realized that they were both beautiful girls and I was already a little jealous of their small frames and cute features.


Very quickly the girl my age and I became the closest of friends and we were seldom seen apart from one another in the neighborhood. Her sister was 2 years younger and she too became my friend and would often hangout with us, but my new FRIEND and I seemed to have a special bond. There are so many moments on Meadow Brook with her that I am still trying to hard to bring forth in my mind but after 33 years it is sometimes hard to remember the details, especially with the things that happened in the after years clouding my minds view of the past. It may seem odd that I am writing about a childhood friendship (and not sharing her name, but some things have happened in her life that belong to her alone and so for her privacy I will not share her name), but she has always been a part of me no matter where I lived or how many years separated us. Over the past 33 years we have lost touch often and with great sadness our friendship drifted apart when we were in our teens due to some circumstances that I will talk of later, but even though we drifted apart I still loved her deeply.


I tracked my FRIEND down in 2000 just before I got married, when I was planning our wedding I knew I wanted her to be a part of it if I could track her down. I wanted the ladies that stood with me on that wonderful day to be a scope of my life from childhood up to the moment that David and I fell in love. So I called her mom and she gave me all her contact information. I can tell you that the moment I heard her voice on the other end of the line, tears filled my eyes and the joy of finding her filled me.


My FRIEND had a very difficult childhood, the funny thing is that MY view of her life looked really good. Her family always traveled to a family cottage every summer for about a month and always came back brown little babies darkened by hours spent in the sun along the water. Her family was always taking special trips to concerts, to see extended family, and to just spend time together to make up for time apart from their dad who traveled a lot for business. It always seemed to me that whatever was popular at the time Poppy and her siblings had it, and more important her family seemed close and happy in each others company. Don't get me wrong, I loved my family deeply, but you know how you are as a child the view on the other side always looks better. Sadly my child's eyes missed so much and so when she suddenly changed when we were around 13 and seemed to want to drink with the neighborhood boys, it scared me and I didn't know what to do other then to back off from our friendship. I remember one incident in particular when she was drinking with two boys who were about a year younger then us, she kept asking me to drink to, I left. Later that day we got a call, Poppy had to be taken to the hospital, turned out to be alcohol poisoning, I had no idea what as going on with her and NO IDEA how to deal with it. What seemed to finalize the separation between us was that she ended up going to a different high school which meant we saw each other even less and deepened the wedge that had come between us.


Several years after David and I got married her sister contacted me and asked for prayers for her, she told me that she had disappeared and that she had lost her children. She didn't go into many details but I knew that more then likely she had returned to old habits. I cried and prayed, asked friends to pray, and put her on our church prayer list. I still felt the guilt of not doing something for my dear FRIEND back when we were teenagers. However, I knew that God could take the seeds planted all those years ago when she had gone to church with my family and touch her life now where ever she was and whatever she was doing. Another year or so passed and I got an email from her sister, she said Poppy had returned and that she was living with her mom. My FRIEND had been diagnosed with bipolar disease (which explained so much) and she was getting treatment and doing better, she gave me her contact info and said I could call if I wanted to. We talked just before Christmas this last year, our conversation was very short but she seemed to be going well and happy to finally have some answers for why things happened in her life.


My FRIEND and I talked but our conversations were stilted and difficult. I loved her so much and the past didn't matter but I didn't know what to say and I still didn't know how to help her, and I think in many ways she was ashamed and afraid I would judge her. A week ago her sister contacted me again and told me Poppy was in the hospital, she said she had asked Poppy's permission to contact me first, and Poppy said "Yes Laura loves me no matter what". I called her right away and was so heart broken to hear how weak she sounded. Sadly the years of chemical abuse to her body had taken its toll and the medications to fight her disease were making her even more sick. I truly feel God has kept me in her life for all these years for a reason, and I pray that even now I can bring her comfort in His name and that she will be able to call His name and draw strength from the Heavenly Father. I don't know if my FRIEND will win this fight this time and if she doesn't it will tear me apart, but the greatest thing I can do is place my dear heart at the Master's feet and trust Him with her and pray He gives me and her peace in what ever happens.


I tell this story because she is a part of who I am and who I have become, and so in telling you will hopefully begin to understand me and my life journey so far. Also if you are a praying person, you will pray for my FRIEND and I at this moment in our lives, that our connection will grow stronger in these days that we talk and she needs me most, and prayerfully God will provide me the His words and strength.

Monday, July 27, 2009

David's Swim Lessons


Today David Jr. started swim lessons with Ms. Vivian. Poor little Davey and many of his swim mates, were so afraid of getting into the water until Ms. Viv showed them that most of them could touch the bottom of the pool in the shallow end. My heart is always with my boys and I was fearful myself that I would not be able to sit quietly by the poolside as Ms. Viv DUNKED my poor little man under the water even though he screamed. But I did as I should, and I sat by quietly letting the instructer coax him through swimming in her arms, laying on his back, and going under about a dozen times. This is only day one, nine more to go and hopefully my mother's heart will be able to take it and will be swollen with pride at the end of these two weeks.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Get the Savannah Beverage Server for FREE!


Get the Savannah Beverage Server for FREE when you host a $500 party in August. The Savanah Beverage server is a $129 value and will be yours for free along with many other wonderful hostess benefits. Contact me now to learn more and schedule your wonderful rewards in August.


Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Adorable new Christmas decor with Southern Living at HOME, Fall 2009

I love Christmas, the lights, the ornaments, the cards, but most of all the meaning. I love hearing hearing the story of Christ and sharing it with my children on Christmas Eve just before we tuck them into bed. But one of the biggest things I love about Christmas, is decorating my home for the warm cozy season as we draw closer to the day of celebrating Christs birth.

This season Southern Living at HOME has added these beautiful brightly colored metal decorations to our Christmas decor collection. WHAT FUN these ornaments will be to add to your shutters, doors, gate, garland on the mantel or fence, just about anywhere your imagination can go these beautiful metal ornaments can go. In addition, they have added a matching stocking hanger to the collection. I don't know about you but I can't wait for Christmas in August, to buy add these adorable decorations to my Christmas decoration collection.

Southern Living at HOME, Fantastic Fall 2009 Season



So excited about this falls Southern Living at HOME selling season. Southern Living at HOME has come up with so many fantastic new products and exciting new style ideas for the Fall Catalog. Learn more at my Southern Living at HOME webpage about how to be a part of my team and get tons of FREE PRODUCT, and about the Hostess and Customer Specials for July and August. New fall catalog launches August 1st.


Why I started this blog


Why did I start this blog? I started this blog for several reasons, for myself, for my family, and I hope for God's glory. I have been His child since I was 8 years old, and truly came to know Him and understand laying my life at the Master's feet when I was 18. But it is the journey of my adult years that has created the most mile markers along my walk with Christ. I hope my story helps to touch, inspire, and bless you as you read.

As for the specific reasons for this blog:

First, 4 years ago God gave my husband and I a miracle in the form of our first son, and two years later our second son. Learning how to accept and receive God's grace and mercy along the three year journey toward becoming a family, is something that I know many other couples have or are going through and I feel our story might help encourage and uplift.

Second, I have discovered that the very thing I prayed for "a family" brings the most amazing roller coaster ride into my daily life. I am a mother of two boys, David now 4, and Jonathan 23 months. Each day my very active boys find new adventures to get into and the stories of these adventures have made so many of my friends laugh when they read about them on facebook, that they said I needed to be more consistent in writing them.

Third, Although I am richly blessed to be able to stay home with my boys, my education and career background is architecture and interior design. So, I miss being a part of the design world on a daily bases and hope that the projects I share from around my own home (which are inspired by my own crazy constantly working mind, magazines, books, TV, and of course other design blogs) will also inspire your creative energy.

And Finally, I wanted to blog, because 6 years ago God brought a company into my life that enabled me to stay home with my boys, still have my hands in the design world, and make plenty of wonderful friends with beautiful ladies. Southern Living at HOME helps me to share incredible home decor, organizational, and entertaining products with ladies who also love creating a home that is warm and inviting to all who come through their doors. Helping to create a home of "Southern Hospitality" ANYWHERE in the country is what it is all about. I love my Southern Living at HOME products, I love my Southern Living at HOME family, and I love my Southern Living at HOME friends!

Hope you enjoy learning more about Me, my life's journey, my family, my design style, and about Southern Living at HOME.