winners!!

I've got some winners to announce!
The winner of the Brilliant Lenses cleaning supply is (the only one to enter):
In His Arms said...

I would like to try their Brilliant Screen Cleaning Wipes. It seems like it could be helpful to clean the screen of my laptop and cellphone.

The winner of the $25 gift card to Kiki's Maternity Fashion is comment #13:
Lucy and Murray's Mom said...

I'm a follower :)

Congratulations!!! I'll email you with details!

tie shirt tutorial

Tie shirts are all over the internet, etsy stores, boutiques you name it.
But if you're crafty and would love to make your own I've got a quick and easy tutorial for you. I think tie shirts are one of the easiest, fastest things to make that make a big impact. My son LOVES his tie shirts and keeps asking to wear them. But it may be a little formal for the playground :)

I realize that everyone has their own way of doing things.
One is not more right than the other, just different...
this is just how I do mine, how I figured out on my own how to do it.
So if it's not right or if it's different, oh well, it works for me.

I start with a piece of cardboard from a cereal box...
find a fold and draw half a tie shape on one side of the fold.
Then cut it out. You've now got a perfectly symmetrical tie.
I draw the bottom of the tie and the knot separately just in case you were wondering.
(This photo is kind of step three but I wanted to show you the cardboard templates)


Then take some of the amazing steam-a-seam 2
peel the paper off one side and iron it onto your fabric.


Then trace around the cardboard template on the back of the paper.
HINT: If you are using stripped fabric or fabric with an obvious pattern do a 45 degree turn of the knot template so the pattern isn't going the same direction for both the tie and the knot, thus making it appear more real!
Then cut it out.


Cut a little curve into the top of the knot piece so it is more "form" fitting to the curve of the shirt. Peel off the second piece of paper, then position it on your shirt and once you're happy with the position of the tie iron it down.


You could just leave it at that, but I like to sew close to the edges just for more stability and to add to the cuteness factor!


Whenever Micah wears his tie shirts to church the men comment on how they wish they could wear a shirt like that!!

If you don't want to make your own I'd be more than happy to make one for you!

Can't wait to see all your little men in their tie shirts! Make sure to link back here if you make one!!

are matching outfits okay for christmas cards?

I LOVE to make things for my kids.
I LOVE when little kids match.
I know as a photographer I should love diversity in outfits...
and I do, but I also love a well-coordinated/matching outfit too.

I made this dress before, for Naomi to wear to my cousins wedding.
So, I knew it would be easy...and I figured out a way to make the dress
REVERSIBLE!!! yay me!
I also decided that I would make a cute little dress for Hannah,
so I totally winged that one and it just barely fits her!

Since the girls were matching I decided to make a tie shirt for Micah.
Then I decided this would be perfect for our family Christmas card photo.
NO, Greg and I will not be matching them, but we will be well coordinated.
So here are the cute dresses I made for the girls, the tie shirt for Micah
and a sneak peek of them wearing the outfits!

There are three combinations we can do with these dresses.
Option 1:


Option 2:


Option 3:


I also made some little fabric flowers for the girls hair.
It's a good thing I made them too...
No, I'm not trying to be all trendy and stuff,
just needed a flower to cover up the mistake I made when sewing.
The little ruffle part at the bottom of Hannah's dress was totally uneven!
So, I improvised and added the little flower to the short part!




Here's Micah's tie shirt.
I took photos during the process so I will post a tutorial
of how I do my tie shirts, hopefully this weekend!


Sorry about the coloring on this next one.
I know photographers aren't supposed to share bad photos...
but this is the only one I have of all three outfits,
it was taken late at night with no flash...
and because I have small children one of which is 6 weeks old
I have an excuse for not being able to get a good natural light photo.


And here's a sneak peek from our little
"Christmas Card" photo shoot!

silhouette

I've told you that I'm going to be doing some reviews and giveaways...
well, I REALLY wish I could review this product for you...AND give it away.
But I have not been fortunate enough to do so.
But if the NICE, KIND people at Silhouette would like for me to review
and giveaway this product I would be MORE THAN HAPPY to do so.

In the mean time, I'm entering to win this beauty
at the AMAZING blog...Giverslog.
If you've never been by there you really need to check it out.
And while you're there go ahead and enter to win...
or don't thus making my chances of wining better.
But if you do enter and end up winning you better let me borrow it,
or feel free to enter to win it just for me...I wouldn't mind a bit!

date the alphabet "d"

It's been a little crazy around here...
Greg and Naomi were supposed to have their
"D" Date on the 1st but since it didn't happen then
they were finally able to squeeze it in today.

Greg took Naomi to the Lutheran High School Basketball game.
She was able to help the cheerleaders...
and I'm sure she loved EVERY SECOND of it.
Greg took this photo on his phone

Then he took her out to dinner at Dairy Queen.

She eats slow and had to finish at home because
Greg got to go to an advanced showing of the new Chronicles of Narnia movie!

While Micah, Hannah and I were home we watched some Mickey Mouse,
ate some mac and cheese and stared at this beautiful face.
(took this with my phone)


Quick funny story. When Micah found out that daddy and Naomi
were leaving he was upset, got his shoes and insisted that he go too.

He was crying and crying and trying to go out the door with them.
I was in the living room feeding Hannah so I couldn't really get up
and stop Micah from leaving...so I did what any logical person would do.
I found a DVR'd episode of Mickey Mouse and turned the volume up loud.

As soon as he heard it the tears stopped, he came running
with a smile on his face saying Mickey Mouse and was
a happy camper the rest of the night.
Mickey Mouse saves the day again.

My friend Rachael rightly says, "Mickey Mouse is like crack for two year old boys"
Seriously what is it about that mouse?

a piece of fall

Fall is by far my favorite season.
When we moved to Texas I realized how much I really love fall
because we don't really get to experience a "true" fall down here.
The weather does change...it just takes longer to do so,
but the leaves don't really change colors much,
especially not right where I live.
I'd have to drive an hour or so to go see some colors
like my parents see in their front yard.

I've got two fall babies but really missed the opportunity
to take some great fall photographs with both those little girls.

I noticed that Greg's cousin Rachel (who is a photographer in St. Louis)
had some great photos of a baby lying in a basket surrounded by fall leaves.
We had a "conversation" on facebook about the leaves and I asked
if it would be okay to take photos of Hannah in a basket of acorns
(because we've got plenty of those) ...
she told me it might look okay but could be painful for Hannah.
Then on Friday the mail came and Hannah had a big box sent from Rachel.
Inside the box was a bag filled with beautiful fall leaves.
There were red ones, orange ones, yellow, green and multi-colored leaves.
Small ones, giant ones (bigger than Hannah's head) and medium sized ones.
It made me smile...still makes me smile
to consider this great, thoughtful, kind gift.
Rachel probably just thought she was sending some leaves for a little photo shoot...
which we did use them for.
But it was more than that.
She sent me a piece of home.
A piece of fall that I truly miss.
She sent me a gift that was more than just leaves in a box.
So, THANK YOU Rachel, for the truly thoughtful gift.
It means more to me than you think.

And here are a few of the photos from our "fall" photo session.

kikis maternity fashions review and giveaway

I LOVED being pregnant....well, that is until I got very
impatient at the end of this pregnancy.
I was just over it by the time I got to 30 weeks.

One thing I love about being pregnant is the clothes.
I am a big fan of maternity clothes....now I realize that most people
hate this aspect of being pregnant, but I love a good excuse
to wear stretchy waisted pants and tight shirts.
You see, I am not a little person. I've never been one of the little girls.
But I'm going to work on becoming one of the little girls.

Anyway,
so when it comes time to put on the stretchy waisted pants
and have a GOOD reason for it I'm all about it.
I do not like tight shirts when I'm not pregnant,
I want to hide my muffin top in a serious way.
So, when I am pregnant I don't mind showing off
my belly with a tighter shirt.
That all being said, I love to find cute shirts that not only
show off the cute baby belly,
but that are comfortable, stay put ON my belly and look good.

I've found a great website with great maternity clothes
that are not only cute, comfortable, and look good
but they are also affordable, and since you're only wearing
some of this stuff for a few months it has to be affordable.

Kiki's Maternity Fashions asked me to pick something out to review
AND
they are giving one of my lucky readers
$25 to spend in their store!!!

It took me a while to pick out what I wanted to review...
since I'm no longer pregnant I wanted to make sure
I got something that I could use next time around
(if/when there is a next time around).
I also wanted something that I could use now
on my post-pregnancy body...which I'm still trying to hide.
There were so many great things to choose from
that I needed to look everything over,
sleep on it and then look again.

I love this little striped button down sweater.
It's perfect for the cool Texas days,
it's RED...my favorite color,
it's comfortable and just cute!

The people at Kiki's were very kind and helpful
and shipping was super fast!
I was happy to work with them,
am happy to recommend them to you
and would be happy to work with them again in the future
(if/when we have more kids).

I can't believe I'm going to show you all my
post-pregnancy body...it's just me being self-conscious.
But you've gotta see this cute sweater.

So how can you win $25 of free money to spend at Kiki's Maternity Fashions?
I'm so glad you asked!

Mandatory Entry:
Just go to Kiki's Maternity Fashions and pick something out,
come back here and tell me how you'd spend your money
(don't worry I won't hold you to it)

You MUST do the mandatory entry first
before any other entries will be counted.

Extra Entries:
(1 entry) Become a follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect
and leave a comment (or let me know that you already follow)
(2 entries) Enter the SAME yet different giveaway at Trendy Treehouse
and come back here and let me know you did.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.
Please leave your email address of make sure its visible in your profile
so that I can let you know if you've won!

Yes, you can enter this giveaway for someone else!!
Hint: this would make a great Christmas present!

I will use Random.org to choose a winner on November 28th.

Disclaimer: Kiki's Maternity Fashions sent me the sweater for me to review, all comments are my own, I was not compensated in any other way.

brilliant lenses giveaway

Remember the review I did last week of this great cleaner for lenses?
Well, Brilliant Lenses has a agreed to give one of my readers
their very own Brilliant Lenses cleaner!

What do you have to do to win.

Mandatory Entry:
Go to the Black Diamond Cleaners Online website
and tell me what other cleaning product of theirs you'd like to try. (1 entry)

Additional Entries:
Become a follower of Pure Joy through Google Friend Connect
or let me know that you're already a follower (1 entry)
Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link to your post (2 entries)
Please leave your entries in separate comments.

I will use Random . org to pick a winner on
November 27th
Make sure to leave an email address unless you are sure
that yours is visible in your profile.

Sponsored by Tomoson.com

daylight designs

Sometime this summer I won a giveaway at Heather's blog.
I won 25 custom prints from Daylight Designs.
I contacted Mel and asked if I could wait until October to order my prints,
so that I could use them as Hannah's birth announcements.
Mel was totally cool with that and when the time came she made some
awesome birth announcements for me to send to my family.

Mel was so fun to work with and she didn't mind me changing my mind
a BUNCH of times.
She worked VERY quickly and efficiently and I was so happy
to get these sweet little 5x7 announcements in my hands,
so I could get them in the hands of my family.
(I did save one for Hannah's baby book).

Check out Mel's shop for all your card needs.
She's got some GREAT Christmas card designs, along with
birthday party invites, stationary and of course baby announcements!

halo sleepsack swaddle

Mom Magazine sent me another great box of items about two months ago.
In that box was this amazing Halo SleepSack.

I was so excited because I have a SleepSack that Naomi used,
but it's a heavier fleece fabric and I knew that would be
too warm for Hannah to use.

This SleepSack is made with a lightweight cotton material
and feels like a comfy t-shirt.
The other thing I LOVE about this new updated
SleepSack is the Swaddle portion of it.
Hannah LOVES to be swaddled and really only sleeps well
when she is actually swaddled tightly.

The swaddle portion can be taken off
for when baby is totally over being swaddled.
It zips from the top to the bottom making diaper changes easier
and it doesn't have sleeves so that the little ones don't suffocate.
These were created to help prevent SIDS.
You can read more about them on the Halo website.

They sent me the newborn size and it works great for Hannah.
The only problem is that she is almost too long for the newborn size.
I don't know what I will do when she doesn't fit in there anymore.
I call it her straight jacket...and well, she loves it.
It totally calms her down when she's fussy
and her arms can't startle her awake...it's a win win!

If you're about to have a baby I HIGHLY recommend
this Halo SleepSack Swaddle,
lightweight, strong velcro, safer way for babies to sleep!

reviews and giveaways

Hey there friends,
I hope you are doing great and getting ready for all the festivities that are coming up SOOO quickly. I have so many things I want to get accomplished and I just hope I am able to do HALF of what I have planned in my mind...that would be a success for me!

I wanted to let you know that in the coming week or so I'm going to be posting some reviews of our favorite products in order to give you some ideas for Christmas shopping. I've had some great experiences with some awesome companies and I want to tell you about them. I will also be sharing some of our favorite gifts, books, websites and other items that might help you out.

Not only that but I've got a few giveaways that are coming up soon as well. So stick around and hopefully you'll find something helpful here.

Happy Holidays!

one month old

My little lady is already a month old...she was on Friday.
I can't believe how fast a month can really go.

I can already tell she's getting bigger
and her hair is starting to get lighter already too.
She's such a GOOD baby!
She's slept from 9pm till 6am a couple of time for me already,
and otherwise she just gets up once in the middle of the night to eat occasionally.
She's starting to smile, which just makes my day.
She's an amazing blessing to our family and
I can't wait to see what God has in store for her!!!

Here is her calendar shot for the month of November.
Weight: 8lbsish
Height: 21.5 inches

you are more

After a somewhat challenging day...sometime last week
I was in the car when "You are More" by Tenth Avenue North came on.
I had not heard it before, but it is exactly what I needed to hear.

The chorus:
"You are more than the choices that you've made
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You've been remade"

I know in my heart that God forgives me.
I know that He loves me regardless of how I treat Him and others.
I know that He's always got my back
and that He doesn't hold my short comings over my head.

But sometimes, okay, a LOT of the time
I need to be reminded of these things.
I need to be told that it's okay
that I screwed up,
when I let my kids watch too much tv,
when I lose my patience,
when I'm lazy and selfish.
I need to be told that it's okay and I'm forgiven for
not reading my Bible consistently,
but that it's not okay to KEEP doing that.

I am more than my mistakes,
but I need to learn from my mistakes
and change the things that need changing.
I have a God who loves me for ME
too much tv not enough Bible and everything else.
But he refuses to leave me that way!

I've been remade.

I've been forgiven.

I've been redeemed.

I am LOVED.

Now I need to live that way.
For the God I love,
and for the people who need to know about HIS love!

It's not about me.
It's not about

my trials,
my problems,
my mistakes,

it's about Jesus Christ and what

HE

has done for me...

and

for you!

This song is from their new album called "The Light meets the Dark"
Check out the official music video here...it's very powerful.

brilliant lenses

I was so excited to learn that I had been accepted to try out this
Brilliant Lenses product.
I used to wear contacts, but they weren't working very well for me,
they were costing too much money, and they were uncomfortable.
So I decided to stick with my glasses.
After summer was over I finally got around to getting new glasses,
my kids had really done a number on my last pair.
But I was finding that I could never really get them
REALLY good and clean...

Enter Brilliant Lenses...
it is just as its name says, BRILLIANT!
This stuff really works.

"Brilliant Lenses Cleaner and optical microfiber cloth.
A premium eyeglass cleaner with SR-8 that adds a protective barrier to
lenses to resist scratches and soiling from water, sweat, dust and dirt.
For ALL types of lenses."

My lenses were pretty dirty...and I tried to photograph that for you...
so I sprayed them with the special spray and wiped them
with the great microfiber cloth and what a difference.
I don't think my lenses have been this clean since
I picked them up at the eye doctors office.



Before:



After:



I know it's a little hard to tell from the photos but these were
some really dirty lenses and now they're really clean.
And they've stayed clean for two days.

I also used the microfiber cloth on my cell phone screen
and on my camera's LCD screen and it's amazing how clean it is.

I would highly recommend this great product for anyone with glasses,
or really anyone with a cell phone and a camera!

Check them out on facebook too!

[Product review & giveaway disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."]