A New Little One To Love

Well if you've been wondering where I've been or what's up with the spotty blog posts here and there, this is one reason why.  This adorable, little, snuggle muffin was born!  Can you tell I'm just smitten?   I'm one of those people that just loves newborn babies!  I could hold them for hours.  I love their smell, their soft skin, and all the funny little facial expressions and noises they make.  I can't stop kissing those chubby cheeks!  Oh, my goodness!  Newborns are a gift from heaven!

Elisha John was born while my husband and I were vacationing in North Dakota.  That explains week one of my absence from the blog.  We were at the end of our vacation, so we finished it and came home for a few days to unpack and get some things done.  It's harvest season, so you can just imagine all the vegetables I had ready for me to be canned and processed.  Hubby of course had to go to work and take care of a few things since he was gone the week before.  Then we left on Saturday to see our newest grandson!  My husband had three days of vacation left that we were saving for Thanksgiving, but we decided to use them up now to see the baby.  Alethea, our granddaughter, was so overjoyed that we were coming to visit that she cried.  Oh, it melts my heart to be loved so much by my grandchildren.

I took these newborn pictures just using my iPhone in Elisha's nursery.  

Elisha John arrived right on his due date at 40 weeks.  He was 9lbs 12 oz and 21 and 3/4 inches long.  My daughter has big babies!  

The names Elisha John are from the Bible.  In my daughter's words:  "Elisha means "my God is salvation." We chose the middle name John out of admiration for the humility and faithfulness of John the baptist.

Our hope and prayer is that Elisha would lead a life in humility and zeal, declaring the saving power of our God!"

And here is the happy new family of five.  The other children, Atticus and Alethea are just loving their new baby brother.  And we are all very grateful Elisha is such a "good" baby (I hate using that term, because all babies are "good" but everyone knows what I mean by it) because he can sleep through all the noise and racket the other two children make.  He rarely fusses, and he sleeps pretty good at night already.

Ashley is feeling very well already, so we were able to get out and do a little something every day we were visiting.  One of the things we did was go to downtown Zionsville to take some fall pictures.  It is such a cute little town, and there were plenty of fall displays to choose from.

Isn't this little guy just the cutest?  

Alethea and I both wore purple so I was so excited to find this unique purple house to use as a photo backdrop.  And oh my goodness, you should have seen the garden of this home!  An artist must live here, because they had so many quirky, fun art in their garden and the cutest potting shed I ever did see...also the color purple.

I couldn't help but use this pretty store display for a photo shoot.  Here I am, my arms completely filled with love!  I couldn't be happier!

We still haven't figured out who he looks like, we all have different opinions and of course everyone on-line who sees the pictures has their opinion.  But as he grows, we will soon see!

Now I am the grandmother of two grandsons!  Such handsome, sweet boys they are.  My prayer is that they will grow up to love and serve God all the days of their lives.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Grandma & Me: My Two Favorite Presents Under The Christmas Tree

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I had a wonderful week having all my children and grandchildren home.  We spent most of the week indoors as we had several winter storms move through the area but we did get out once to see a local park's Christmas Light show.  Alethea loved it!  I never saw her so happy.  But I wasn't sure what she enjoyed more:  the fresh fallen snow or the Christmas lights.

We took some time during the week to take our Christmas photos.  Since I now have an all-white-living room, I can decorate my tree any color I like instead of trying to match the colors in the room.  I love that!  I was going to do a red and white tree, but I didn't have any really bright red ornaments (I will be purchasing some AFTER Christmas!) so I went with white, cream, and soft gold.  You will see more pictures of my homes Christmas decorations in a later post.

And here are my two favorite presents under the Christmas Tree, my grand babies!  I would rather see these two under my tree than any other present in the world.

Alethea is now two years, five months and Atticus is five months.

Alethea is still my spunky, sweet, full of life grand daughter.  She was so excited to come to my house.  She hadn't been here for over a year (we always went to their home)  so she didn't remember it.  She had so much fun exploring all the different levels and rooms of such a large home.  She lives in a small apartment in the city, so it was quite the novelty for her.

Atticus is such a sweet baby.  All you have to do is look at him and say one word and he bursts into a huge smile.  He has such a sweet spirit.

I felt super blessed to have my beautiful grand babies home with me for a full week.  My birthday ended up on Thanksgiving Day so we threw a little Birthday Party for me.  I feigned to be tired from cooking all day and I went into another room to "rest".  While I was pretend "resting". Alethea and everyone else got out a cake, party hats, banner, and party horns.  Then Alethea came and got me and everyone blew their horns, and shouted and sung "Happy Birthday".  I don't know who enjoyed it more, me or Alethea.

My daughter Ashley wanted some Christmas Stockings for the kids this year. At first I was going to make them but when I saw these cute ones at Hobby Lobby for only $2.00 I thought "Why make them?"  I did hand make a burlap tag for each one.  Post on that coming soon!

I decided on what we would wear for our photo shoot after I saw Alethea's dress.   Alethea's Christmas dress is a hand-me-down gift from a couple in my daughter's Bible study group.  I believe Atticus' cute outfit is also used.  Once we decided on the children's attire, I started looking for a black or red Christmas outfit.  I usually don't buy new Holiday clothes, but I've been wearing the same Holiday attire for years so I thought it was time for something new.  Plus, after all the sales, rewards discounts,  and coupons, my dress was practically free.  So all three of us are looking pretty nice for almost nothing!

Atticus has such a curious nature.  He is always watching people, especially his sister.  I love how he is watching her open this present.

I wanted to get one good "Brother/Sister" photo but it was so hard.  It is such a challenge photographing a baby and a toddler together.  Someone is always moving!

I just love Alethea's dress!  The top and hem are black velvet.  The white skirt is taffeta with a black velvet design, and the dress is even more festive with the pretty red bow.

We wondered if we should put Baby Atticus is something more formal to match our dresses, but I just really liked this "Baby's 1st Christmas" outfit.  I thought it was so cute, plus I prefer babies in soft clothing for comfort.  And by the way, isn't he the most handsomest baby boy?  He is going to be quite the heart breaker when he's older!

Now if you're looking for a new holiday dress, I highly recommend this one.  As of Sunday, it is still available in both red and black, and it's half off!  My favorite thing about it is that the material does not wrinkle.  I ordered it on line and when I pulled it out of the plastic bag there were no wrinkles.  I also love the black piping and bell sleeves. And, it's a good length for my 5'7 frame.  Most dresses are always too short on me.

I paired my dress with all black accessories...everything is old other than the dress so I have no links for you,

The dress is by Liz Claiborne and you can find it HERE!  I'm wearing a size 6 for your size reference.

Oh my precious grand babies, how I love them so.  They are my two favorite presents under the Christmas Tree.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Grandma & Me Easter Outfits

My granddaughter Alethea and I are excited to show you our Easter outfits today.  Alethea came to visit me for four days last week and we had so much fun together.  We had a tea party, watched movies and ate popcorn, and played in a fort that Grandpa built out of a big box.  

Since I just got my new runner installed the day before Alethea arrived, I thought what better place to take pictures than the staircase.  Alethea doesn't have stairs in her apartment, so she was tickled pink to climb up and down the stairs.  

I love pastel colors for Easter, so I wore a mint embroidered top with cut outs in the sleeves with a white skirt and mint heels (all old).  Alethea wore a pretty white dress with pastel stripes and white shoes.

Alethea is 21 months old now.  She is starting to string words together to make sentences.  She remembers me even though she may go a month or two without seeing me.  Alethea and her parents met us at a restaurant when they first arrived, and when I saw her walk in I ran to her squealing with delight all the way.  I reached out my arms to her and she just so sweetly smiled at me.  I said "You remember me!" and her dad said "Of course she did, she talks about you all the time.".

I'm always so amazed at how beautiful our pictures turn out, because our photo shoots are always a challenge.  Even though it was a great idea to photograph on the stairs, she didn't want to sit still for a minute;   she just wanted to climb the stairs.

I just love these feet pictures!  So cute!

Because Easter and Mother's Day are only two weeks apart,  I won't be spending Easter Sunday with Alethea this year.  We will meet up in the Milwaukee area for Mother's Day.  It was nice to see her in her Easter dress while she was here.

She is such a little pumpkin.  She makes me laugh and smile all day! Her expressions are priceless!

Like most toddlers, she is a bundle of energy.  She is constantly exploring, opening drawers, cabinets,  you name it, and pulling everything out.  Every room of my normally tidy home looked like a tornado went through it when she was visiting.  I think I spent all day Friday putting everything back where it was.  I still haven't reorganized the Tupperware cabinet nor glued a rhinestone back on a vase that she yanked off.  Ah, children,  no wonder they are for the young.  😄

We made a game of peek-a-boo through the stair spindles.

One part of being a long-distance grandparent is seeing how much they have changed since the last time you saw them.  Kids grow so fast, and so many changes can happen in a month or two.  In February when I saw her last, she was only saying one word at a time.  A month later, and she is making sentences.  Amazing.

I am so grateful I can still pick her up and hold her in my arms, if only for a little while.  Such a cutie pie she is.

If you're wondering what the mark is on my leg, it's what is left over from the severe burn I got at Thanksgiving.  I'm hoping it's not permanent.  I just started putting Mederma on it, but I realize bad scars can take years to fade, if ever.

Of course, whatever is going on outside is always more interesting than smiling for the camera. 🤣  But, as always, it makes the cutest picture!

She actually did such a great job climbing the stairs and was so proud of herself.  Of course, we never let her climb the stairs alone, and we barricaded the staircase off so she couldn't climb them when no one was watching.

Children teach us how to find joy in the smallest of things, like climbing a staircase.  Alethea also taught me how to be proud of myself for even the smallest accomplishments.  She was so proud she could climb the stairs like a big girl.  She giggled with delight every time she reached the top.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!