I think of all the people who I admire that I’ve never met, Katie tops the list. A homecoming queen from an affluent town in Tennessee, she left home at eighteen not to attend college but to move to Uganda and teach kindergarten. By herself. And then after that? She decided to stay there. And adopt fourteen orphan girls. What? Yes, like really, legally adopt them. Forever. Which meant giving up her life of comfort here in the States. And the man she loved. And, well, a LOT of things.

And then she went and started a ministry. She feeds over 1200 children every day. But it isn’t what she’s accomplished that impresses me, although it’s an impressive list. It’s what she’s taught me. It’s how she lives out a life of service and grace. It’s how she genuinely loves her neighbor as herself, or maybe more. It’s how she gives. Her life is hard but amazing. Her story is beautiful but messy.

It’s beautiful because it’s right. It’s right for us to reach out our hands and serve. It’s messy because here is this 21 year old girl feeding 1200 starving children each week and what am I doing? It’s messy because it isn’t a story you can read and move on from. It’s beautiful because it isn’t a story you can read and move on from.

And aside from all that? Katie is a compelling writer and the glimpse into her life and the stories she has to tell are fascinating. It’s completely worth a read. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Seriously, you should see me on the uneven bars. Or, well, you should have seen me when I was twelve. I’m not sure if I still have an amazing back hip circle or not anymore because Jeff won’t let me try it on the bars at the park. He says they are for doing chin-ups or something. Lame.

But balance in life? Suck at it. If you’ve sent me an email in the last month, you are aware of this. The holidays totally set my inbox back a bit. I’m sorry.

Here’s a cute picture of my baby to make up for it. (She’s trying to sign “juice.”)

Does that only work on my dad?

Anyhow, it’s overwhelming, finding the balance in being a work-at-home mom. Wife. Mother. Writer. Me.

So this week is about housekeeping.

Specifically at my house, noting my absence here. Because I have a tendency to be a bit messy. You could say I might be a slob. You could even say it’s possible you might one day see me on an episode of hoarders. Not really. Maybe. Just kidding. Who else loves Kristin Wigg as much as I do?

I really want to create a calm environment for Scarlette. She spends all day with… me. That’s not calm. She spent yesterday driving her cozy coupe over to our wedding portrait and yelling at it. So I feel a need to make this space calm, organized and more efficient. I read some organizing books but they didn’t magically change me into a non-messy person so I need to take some time to actually tackle that.

But also here on my blog. I’m wanting to change up my advertising a bit. To be honest, I tried a secondary advertising network and the response was awesome. Except I kept denying the ads which was not so awesome. It’s important to me that even my ads are in line with my morals. It’s also important to me to find a good balance in selling advertising because I don’t want my blog overwhelmed with ads. On the other hand, go google Elecare. My baby is expensive. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I am able to live out my passion of writing as a means of helping contribute to our family.

Instead of repeatedly denying ads because they want to sell something that isn’t in line with my beliefs, I’d really rather use the space to support indie businesses and other bloggers/crafters.

So if you’re interested in a sponsor space, please click here and I’ll make all your dreams come true. Like I mentioned, I don’t want the blog to be cluttered with ads so space is limited. I’ve already emailed the people who have contacted me about advertising here so I only have a couple of spots left for February and March.

And that’s the story Morning Glory. It’s housekeeping time around here.

I’m on my third cup of coffee and the closet under the stairs looks AMAZING. The floor in front of the closet under the stairs is covered with all of the crap that was previously in said closet. This where everything unravels for me.

For the second page I used a Jenni Bowlin butterfly rub-on in the top left pocket. It wouldn’t rub on to the page protector so I just cut around it, removed the backing and slipped it in. I like that it is transparent, so that you can see it from either side.

I used a lot of photos from my cell phone this week. Also, I ran out of photo paper and so half the photos were printed at Walgreens and now it’s driving me crazy that my black and whites don’t match. Out of all of the photos my favorites are the the ones in the photostrip of Scarlette cuddling in bed with me for her morning bottle. I love that baby. Oh, and some people were asking about making a photostrip. I just use this 4×6 template + tutorial from Stacey Bishop. HTH!

Project Life In Progress: Title Page, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3

I’m linking up with Jess over at The Mom Creative today b/c I love seeing everyone’s pages. If you did week three, link me up, I love to get ideas to pin!

supplies: project life clementine kit, design c page protectors, american crafts precision pen, studio calico stickers, smash date stamp, jenni bowlin studio vintage number set, jenni bowlin studio butterfly rub on, jenni bowlin studio butterfly stickers, jenni bowlin studio mini bingo cards. Everything else is old. Oh and I bought the doilies at publix! *some affiliate links included

Remember how when I read The Hunger Games, I was all “I don’t read this genre?” And then how after I read The Hunger Games, I was all “I LOVED THEM GIVE ME MORE TO READ IN THIS GENRE!” That’s when I read these two books:

Divergent by Veronica Roth. Several people recommended this one and I think it is almost as good as The Hunger Games. In Divergent, society is divided into factions based on virtues and each person is required to choose the faction in which they will spend their lives. They have to make the choice on their sixteenth birthday. I thought this sounded like a terribly boring premise for a book but the story was excellent. I ended up finding it incredibly compelling. It moved forward quickly and I liked the subtle love story and the mystery playing out in the background. I loved Beatrice and the realness of her character, she’s both immensely strong and intensely vulnerable without being stereotypical. It’s well written, creative and sometimes a bit hold-your-breath-while-you-flip-the-page.  And the best part is that the sequel is coming out in May, so you don’t have to wait forever and three days for it.

Variant by Robison Wells. The book focuses on Benson Fisher, who thinks he is going to a private prep school called Maxfield Academy. He’s pretty stoked about this until he gets there and discovers that no one ever actually leaves. And also that if you break the rules, you die. Which would make anyone a bit uneasy about boarding school I think. Obviously there is a secret at the school and Benson attempts to uncover it.  But the intrigue and relationships between the characters keep the story flowing well. And the ENDING. Oh my gosh, I’ve never hated and loved an ending so much. Thankfully the sequel to this one is coming in the fall. Because it’s definitely a cliffhanger, one that made me go back and reread the entire book to see if I somehow missed THAT coming.

If  I had to pick one, I’d recommend Divergent. Both are first time authors but Veronica Roth’s writing is a little more polished and little bit more realistic. Plus, the ends wraps up well so that it could serve as more of a stand alone book, so while I am eagerly anticipating the sequel I do feel as though the first part of Beatrice’s story has been told. Whereas with Variant I’m all “WHAT?! WAIT WHAT?! I NEED TO KNOW MORE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!” and it’s driving me crazy.

Any other recommendations? I’ve put my love of Amish Fiction on hold for some YA dystopian thrillers. They are really similar genres. No they’re not. Also, thanks to Swagbucks for funding my kindle e-book habit, I lasted exactly three days on the wait list at my library before I gave in and bought Divergent. I have no patience. See above paragraph.

*affiliate links included if you’re feeling inclined to use them, in which case thanks!

BE MINE: There are Cadbury eggs on sale. Correction. There were Cadbury eggs on sale. Until I bought them. ALL OF THEM.

BE MINE TAKE TWO: If you like Tiny Prints on facebook today, you’ll get a code for a free personalized valentine’s day card. I like to take advantage of these deals because a) I like free stuff and b) my baby looks super cute on the front of a greeting card.

MAKEOVER: I tried Loreal’s True Match foundation and it is the best foundation I have ever used. My skin is all sensitive and blotchy and after twelve odd years of foundation frustration, I am in love. If they ever discontinue this stuff there will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth. The only sad part of this story is that I am SO pale, I had to buy the shade called “ALABASTER.” Alabaster, y’all. Alabaster. That is so sad. Also, Loreal didn’t ask me to endorse this foundation but I would appreciate it if they would because I’m out of coupons.

LINK LOVE: If you’ve ever worked retail, notalwaysright.com will crack you up. If you’ve ever been pregnant or liked pictures of Ryan Gosling, this post will make you snort your drink up your nose. Ask me how I know that. And in serious-but-excellent things I’ve read this week, Don’t Carpe Diem is one of the best asides I’ve read on parenting.

Happy Friday everyone! SOMEONE was all “I don’t WANT to take pictures, I want to watch my video” this morning. So then Jeff was like “Fine, whatever” and left me alone with my Sesame Street DVD.  Just kidding. Although I do have a cranky baby cutting teeth today and if I had any idea what a “wit” was, I’m pretty sure I’d be at the end of it.

Honestly my goal with Scarlette was just to have a stimulating activity to do with her. Being a micro-preemie, there is very little to measure her development against. While the rule of thumb is to adjust her actual age down three and a half months, even that doesn’t give us much to go on since milestones vary wildly depending on the amount of trauma a preemie encountered. One one hand, Scarlette didn’t have a single brain bleed (not even a grade one!) which is incredibly rare for a baby born at 25 weeks. On the other hand, we signed consent forms for certain life-saving treatments that carried a risk of cerebral palsy or autism, in addition to the risks she carries just from being born so prematurely.

So I knew we had no way of knowing what Scarlette’s cognitive development was going to be like for awhile but I just wanted to give her the best start by doing whatever I could to stimulate her mind. I knew she couldn’t really LEARN sign language that early, it was just something she could focus on and track my hands with her eyes. It seems counter intuitive but sign language actually helps to develop verbal language skills. So I would sign as I sang the alphabet and as much as I could while we read books and played with toys.

And to be totally honest, after all that effort what actually made us see progress was the Baby Signing Time DVD*. I didn’t think we really needed it because we were already signing but my friend Erin recommended it and so we decided to try it. Within about two weeks  of using it she started signing “milk” and “doggie” consistently, saying “mama” and she’s just started signing “eat.” Scarlette really loves music and so I think combining the signs with song is what helped. I sing the songs from the video now when we’re signing during the day and she seems to be more attentive that way. So basically what I’m saying is: I can’t take credit for it. 

I am really happy with our choice to do sign language though. For Scarlette, she wants to do more physically than her body is ready for and you can tell she is easily frustrated by that. So I’m pleased to see her be able to communicate her needs more. Jeff and I watch the videos and do the signs with her and while I know it isn’t for everyone, it really works for us. I hope that answered some of the questions. If you have others, leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them there!

She’s not signing in these pictures. She’s just enamored with her toes.

*amazon affiliate link. Not a paid endorsement, just something that has worked for us.

I adhered a lot of elements over the top of the page protectors this week. The only thing I don’t like about the PL format is the lack of dimension and putting some of the stickers/brads on the outside of the page protectors helped with that.

Project Life In Progress: Title Page, Week 1, Week 2

I’m linking up with Jess over at The Mom Creative today b/c I love seeing everyone’s pages. If you did week two, link me up, I’d love to see!

supplies: project life clementine kit, design c page protectors, american crafts precision pen, studio calico blue&cream stickers, amy tangerine fabric brads, jenni bowlin studio banner stickers. Everything else is ages old. *some affiliate links included

1) Leg warmers for little ones. If I allowed words like “adorbs” into my vocabulary, this is where I would use it. And also, the company donates an article of clothing to a child in need for every one bought. I am all about supporting companies who do good.

2) I love these free printables for organizing the pantry. Have I mentioned that I’m organizing like it’s 1999 over here?

3) The free 1000 Gifts app on my phone. I’ve talked before about the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Of everything I read while Scarlette was in the hospital, this is the book that helped me find my way back to hope. The app lets me keep my journal of thanksgiving on my phone and I love the ease of use as well as having the visual recording of God’s love in my life at my fingertips. I’ll be honest with you: mine is flooded with ordinary moments spent with my daughter.

4) Organized Simplicity. I read this book last month on the recommendation of Money Saving Mom and it is fantastic. The Kindle version is free today so if you’re in the midst of January organization like me, I would grab it while it is my favorite number: zero dollars.

5) Lavender Oil from Nourish Organics. I ended up using this for Scarlette’s cradle cap because so many of y’all suggested baby oil or calendula cream. This was the only baby oil I had on hand and as it turns out, it has calendula extract in it so I thought it might be the best of both worlds. I put it on in the bath and let it sit under a cotton cap for awhile – many of y’all also suggested the hat and let me tell you, Scarlette is not a fan of wearing a hat in the bathtub! I washed it out with some shampoo we have that has tea-tree oil in it and two treatments of that combination made a big difference. Thanks for all your advice!

6) I think this etsy print would look great in a kid’s room. Especially Scarlette’s. Which is almost finished. Really.

You can see more of my favorite things here. What are some of your favorite finds lately?

2) Jeff was on a business trip last week and his flight kept getting delayed because of bad weather. Then they had to drain fuel from his airplane because of something about something about the plane being too heavy. This worried me a wee bit because fuel seemed, you know, incredibly important. It seems like maybe they should try removing something else from the plane first, like say people or luggage or pretty much anything that doesn’t help keep the plane in the air. Feeling sincerely worried about this turn of events, I texted my concerns to my husband. Who texted back “If I die young, bury me in satin.” I feel as though perhaps he was mocking me.

3) Remember that time there were ants in my iron? Right. The interwebs says that when the weather changes sometimes ants like to find a water source. And that is the story of what I found when I opened my dishwasher the other morning. Ants. BLEEPING ANTS. First the iron. Now my dishwasher. Apparently the ants have decided to wreak havoc upon all of my good intentions of housewivery. My good friend Google says that dishwashers are a common place for ants to gather in the winter time. You know where I think a better place would be for ants to gather? AN ANTHILL. Or a fire. Or an anthill that is on fire.  I poured a bunch of vinegar down the drain (yet another thing I learned from the interwebs) and so far so good except that now my kitchen reeks of vinegar. Bleeping ants.

4) I finally finished the title page for my Project Life album, which isn’t all that unfortunate except for the fact that I re-did it three times before I was satisfied with it. You’d think someone with that level of perfectionism could cut a straight line but nope. I don’t understand. I own a paper trimmer. Why are all my cuts crooked? Personally, I blame Justin Bieber.

p.s. our family photo is from our 2011 christmas cards courtesy of Sherri’s Portraits. so yeah, it’s not technically from 2012 but let’s be honest: we’re not getting one as good as that anytime soon.