i'm back!

Wow, has it really been almost a year?! Saying I neglected the blog would be an understatement, I dropped off the face of the blogging world. Here we are almost the end of 2013 and my last post was Halloween 2012. A LOT has happened in the last 365ish days. LOTS and LOTS. I guess you could say that life got "busy." I'll recap my year MIA with the three biggest things.

1. I got pregnant and had a baby. YES!! I told you, a lot really can happen in a year. Starting the beginning of 2012 we started trying to have a baby. Ella was 18 months old and we thought it was time to starting thinking about another addition to the family. We didn't put to much pressure on ourselves thinking it would happen quickly, but month after month went by and the tests came back negative EVERY MONTH. After 3 or so months of negative tests I started using ovulation prediction tests to better our chances...still not pregnant. Spring and Summer came and went and several close friends announced their pregnancies along the way and still we tried and tried and it just wasn't happening. Ella turned two and my hopes of having kids 2.5 years apart went out the window. I was discouraged but knew that in God's timing we'd have another if we were supposed to. Then just two weeks before Christmas 2012 we got the best gift ever, a big fat POSITIVE test. I could barely contain myself. It had been a LONG nine months but finally we were having a baby! So this summer we welcomed Maci Evelyn to the family (I'll share her birth story soon). The little sister Ella had hoped for, and the baby her daddy and I prayed for.

2. Ella turned THREE (hello! stop growing so fast!) and started preschool. When they say don't blink, kids grow so fast, they really mean it! I can't believe that Ella is not only three (which we celebrated with a Doc McStuffin's themed party) but has started 5 day a week preschool. We placed her in a montessori program and to say she is enjoying it is an understatement. She loves her "work" and is thriving tremendously!

3. For the first time since Ella was born I started working outside the home. I suppose this is the largest contributing factor to the blog being neglected. When you're pregnant, have a toddler and work outside the home there isn't a lot of extra time for keeping up on the blog. Like most families in the last few years, money was getting tight so this SAHM had to look for work outside the home. I found a job working part time at night after the husband came home. While in the first trimester of my pregnancy I was actually working two jobs. Let me tell you, there was a bit of mama guilt at times and it felt like a "break" being around adults and having someone besides a 2 year old to talk to at other times. Verdict: I love being a SAHM at this point in my life. Kids grow so fast (see #2) that I really cherish being able to be at home with them during their early years. I'm still on maternity leave from Maci's birth and I hope that I can keep it that way. Of course, i'll do whatever I have to for the family.

Well I hope that explains my absence. And I hope I can jump back into posting more regularly too. It was nice logging into Blogger and seeing that even though I haven't touched the blog in almost a year I still average 100+ views a day and looking back at the stats some of my posts had thousands of views (thank you Pinterest). One thing that I haven't neglected is my Instagram account. I post everyday so if you'd like to follow along there, please do! (click HERE to follow or search username abstractgrace)

It feels good to be back. Happy Fall!

where does the time go?

Wow. Where does the time go? Ella June is 18 months old today and I can't believe it'll only be 6 more months until her 2nd birthday party. She is a doll. The most perfect, beautiful, snuggly child. I love her to pieces. 

 Of course this is how I find her most days. Pulling everything out of baskets and every toy she owns out of bins. She's into EVERYTHING these days. 

She loves Minnie Mouse, watching Yo Gabba Gabba, Barney, Kipper and The Backyardagains, going to the park, riding the swing, and going down the slide, and always asks for a bow after we get dressed in the mornings. She also had her first trip to Chuck-E-Cheese and loved every second of it. 

She also loves to say "no" to me then close her eyes real tight when I scold her as if she can't see or hear me. Then when I try and keep it serious she cracks a smile. Lovely, huh? I think we have a jokester on our hands. 

Happy 18 Months Junebug!

I love you!

{free download: owl cupcake toppers}

Recently I shared about designing a suite of invitations and decorations for a friends baby shower, with the theme being owls. I thought I'd share how everything turned out with you. I'm not by any means a graphic designer, but I've been having a ton of fun lately designing invitations for friends. In fact this is my 4th! 

The invitation is sized to fit the Costco postcard when printed (4x6). The postcards are a great heavy card stock and are glossed. They really look beautiful and are a great option for inexpensive invite printing. Plus, you can put additional information on the back side (think clothing sizes, or registry information) and you always have the option to put them in envelopes if you don't want to send them out on their own as postcards (which I think is a darling idea). 

Here is the invite:

The details have been changed so don't think about crashing the party. :)

The water bottle labels. I printed these out on full sheet sticky paper and cut them out. They stick right on a standard sized water bottle. 

The cupcake toppers!

As promised, you can join in on the owl goodness and download the Owl Cupcake Toppers for free by clicking HERE. If anyone is interested in purchasing the invites, water bottle labels, and cupcake toppers customized with your child's info please feel free to send me an email and we may be able to work something out. Otherwise enjoy your download, and get to baking some cupcakes!

{baby shower, from far away}

During the short 6 months that I was in Southern California I had the immense pleasure of joining a MOPS group. It's a moms group for Mothers of Preschoolers (children 4 and under), and let me tell you it was a LIFESAVER! 

I met a group of amazing women and we had a great time once a week leaving our little ones in childcare while we listened to a speaker, did crafts, ate brunch and sipped coffee (mostly decaf). Although all of us had kids there were a few special ladies expecting little ones during the time I was there. 

I offered to help design a suite of decorations for a baby shower honoring one of the ladies. I'm sad that I had to move before the shower happens, but I know that i'll get pictures of how everything turn out, and i'll be sure to share them!

This included the invites (they turned out soooo cute!), cupcake toppers and water bottle labels for the shower. I'm going to do a full post soon so you can see how everything turned out and i'm thinking of doing a free download of the cupcake toppers as well, but until then here's a sneak peak the party goodies. Oh, and the theme is everyones favorite, Owls!