Update! ;D

Hello Lovelies!

I have been working on lots of stuff for EMarie Designs this week. I received some beads and stuff in last week, took pictures of some of it this past weekend, networked all of my social media's; Blog, Artfire Studio , Twitter Page, and my Facebook Page. I've been working on some cosmetic updates also. :) My Morgan Monster is officially 1 year old as of Saturday, November 13th. Things are going swimmingly. I will be adding the new goodies to my Artfire Studio within the next few days. I'm so EXCITED! This is just the beginning of my plans for EMarie Designs. It has been a work in progress for several years, and it feels like it's starting to come together, slowly. So don't go anywhere, stick around, and enjoy my adventures!

<3 EMarie

New Items Coming Soon to EMarie Designs!

Hello My Lovelies!!

I have awesome news! I will be adding several new items to my ArtFire Studio! I should receive everything by the end of November, early December. And plan on having everything listed before Christmas! There will be some beautiful glass lamp work beads, pearls, steam punk supplies and more! So stay tuned to EMarie Designs for all the new goodies!

Oh and here's a new picture of my Monster, Morgan! ;}

She will be a year old in less than 2 weeks! Can you believe it?! Here she is enjoying her Halloween candy. Yes, we let her eat some of it, and she loved it!

Enjoy your day!

<3 EMarie

Make way for FALL!

Hello Lovelies!! I have lots to catch you up on!

Fall is just around the corner, YAY! I love this time of year! Now to make it the last few months and endure this humid heat just a little longer! UGH!

For starters, Morgan took 5 steps on Friday, September 3rd! She's almost walking! The last time I posted, she was just starting to crawl, wow! She knows what the word NO means now, and she doesn't always like it when we tell her no. She's starting to get a rebellious streak every now and again. :) She's a blast to be around. She likes to feed mommy and daddy her food too. She will hold up a piece of food until we eat it from her hand. Lol. She has  a best friend stuffed animal, named kitty, it's a white, long haired stuffed cat. She loves it so much that she squeezes it and throws it around by it's hair! She has a hard time catching the cats at home and at Nana's so this one she can abuse! :)

I'm throwing around the idea of starting an online bead shop. We'll see, I have oodles and oodles of research to do before that idea even feels like a winner. I've been throwing around alot of ideas for a home/online based biz lately, this one sounds like it could work. Hubs is even wanting to start his own biz one of these days too. He's got to start by getting an online presence though. I have a small presence, but a presence, none-the-less. :)

I must give a HUGE THANKS to my few followers! I really appreciate you hanging with me, even though I don't post very often. I will work on this one of these days. Morgan still takes up alot of my time, but that's ok, I'm loving every second! I have had a chance to work on some goodies, but haven't had a chance to photograph anything yet. One step at a time!

To close, here is a picture of my Monster. :) Hope everyone is doing well!

Time Flies

Hello Lovelies!

Sorry it has been FOREVER since I last posted. Alot has been going on. I got rear ended sitting at a red light, not serious, just a little bump. I'm going to get a new bumper next week. Work, heh, has been exactly that, work. It's been crazy busy in the office lately. Whew! I'm so glad today is my last day until the 13th, WOOHOO! I'm going to be on vacay all next week and I can't wait! I'm going to try, TRY, to work on some projects. :) Morgan Monster has started crawling as of a few days ago. She's officially mobile, so our hands are even more full at the moment. :) But it's all good. I'm actually glad she's able to get around on her own now, she's a little less needy now, so I am able to work on house chores a little easier! Dinners around our house consist of Hot Pockets, Sloppy Joes, Hamburger Helpers, freezer meals that you just throw in the skillet for 10 minutes and take out. :) Haha! Morgan loves to sleep in our bed, between us, every night. :) I'm having a very hard time getting her to sleep in her crib at night. Naps, no problems. But at night, she cries and cries and cries, and I give in. The way I see it, as long as we are all getting sleep, it's ALL GOOD! :) She will eventually sleep in her own bed, right?! I hope so! I can't imagine having a 10 + year old sleeping with their parents. Lol!

I am having a blast being a parent. She amazes me everyday with what she learns from us and stuff she learns all by her lonesome! Before I know it November will be here and it will be time to celebrate her 1st birthday! I have already picked out party supplies. :) I'm even looking around at Halloween costumes! Well, I must be off. I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

<3
EMarie*

Morgan Monster is 6 months old today!

Wow! Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday that I was headed to the birthing center because little miss Morgan was telling us that it was time for her to make her debut! I made sure that I wrote down the events of the day she was born, I will have to blog about that all in itself one day. But wow! It's been an amazing journey... Becoming pregnant and going through natural childbirth is truly an amazing experience and I feel grateful to have been able to do it. She amazes me everyday with what she's learning, not only from us but on her own! It's as if children have an internal timer, when they are ready to display a new ability, it just happens, out of nowhere!

I work full time at the moment, and don't have much free time for my blog. I like to spend what free time I do have, aside from working and taking care of household chores, to spend time with her. Sometimes we play tickle monster, sometimes we just sit and "chat", and others I sit and just watch her. She's rolling over like a pro now. She wakes herself up because she's rolled over from her back to her tummy! She's babbling now, mamama and bababa.

I am going Sunday to get her 6 month pictures done. :) I'm so excited! My little girl is growing up fast so I had better freeze this moment in time. I will post the pictures when they come in.

Thanks for stopping in and reading about us!

<3 EMarie

Reviving yourself

I'm just in the midst of coming out of some strange funk. I can't explain it really. I just found myself in this state of mind one day and didn't really feel like myself. Have you ever experienced this? It's part of life, I know, but sometimes getting out of a funk is not easy. Since doing some personal changes; ie getting a spiffy new hair do, and making some decisions about the future, I feel renewed in a sense. I have a new ambition to flaunt my talents, tastefully mind you. :) I also have a beautiful almost 6 month old daughter. She brings new perspectives to everyday life. I am excited about leaving work to see her and to see what new thing she's started doing, or not, and to give her hugs and kisses! She's amazing!

                                                                        Josh MacPhee-Rebirth

I think it's time to throw a little bit of my originality out in to the world. In the words of Marcus Aurelius, The universe is change: our life is what our thoughts make it. I've made a few changes, now it's time to share my thoughts and ideas with mankind.

<3 EMarie

Poo Troubles

We are still battling constipation! She does good for a week and then wham, poor Monster gets it again. Grr! Since switching her from breastmilk to soy formula, this has been a constant battle. She's also eating first foods which has changed the purpose of her digestive system. She seems to be in a good mood, but struggles to "go" sometimes, and frankly it sucks!! Everything I have read and heard, formula will cause constipation. It's basically just a waiting game for her system to work it all out. Honestly, I'm ready!

<3 EMarie

Hello lovelies!

Wow, it's been several weeks since I have posted. Bad me! We've been trying to figure something out with Morgan's diet and have come to the conclusion that she is lactose intolerant. Her daddy was as a babe; he grew out of it. Hopefully she will too! So, we have switched her over to soy formula and she's doing much better now! I was disappointed that I didn't even make it to six months breastfeeding, but hey, atleast I was able to do it for a little over 5! I wanted to breastfeed up to her first birthday. Ah well, she's so much better off, and I'm happy now that Morgan is happier. :)

I am now engorged! I feel like someone has blown up balloons inside of my boobs! It's so uncomfortable, but, it could be worse! I just wonder how long this will last and when will the engorgement go down. I'm taking ibuprofen and have some cabbage chilling in the fridge at home for me to use tonight. :)

Morgan has been eating first foods for several weeks now, we gave her a jar of 2nd food chicken and brown rice this past week. She's pretty much sitting up on her own, she falls over every now and then, but has the hang of it for the most part. She can successfully maneuver things to her mouth by herself now. Yay! She's teething, not yay, she has her good days and bad.

We planted our garden this past weekend. 4 tomato plants, 2 bell pepper plants and some onions. Keeping the garden small this year.

That's about it for now folks! :) I have some new pictures of Monster and will post a few up soon.

TaTa for now!
<3 EMarie

Happy Easter!

Hello to my few followers! I hope to gain more one of these days. I just have to get off my butt when I have free time from Morgan and advertise and strategize! But with that aside, Happy Easter! It was a beautiful weekend down here in South Texas. Couldn't have asked for better weather. Saturday we went to a fish fry with my Mom, Dad, Uncle and Cousin and her family. It was lots of fun. Sunday we went to my parents house for dinner. Here are a few pictures of Morgan that my mother-in-law took last week in honor of Easter.

I hope you guys had a wonderful weekend! 

<3 EMarie

Wink Flash 5 Cent 4 X 6 photos!

I have recently discovered WinkFlash. They are running a great sale on 4 X 6 prints, only 5 cents each when you used their coupon code 510PRINTS. Hurry and act now, offer ends on March 31st!

 http://www.winkflash.com/

 Happy Picture Printing!

<3 EMarie

Learning your baby

As a new mom, you never really know what you are getting with your new bundle of joy. They could be calm, colic, active, alert, not so active, sleepy, cranky, happy. The list goes on! No matter what type of baby you have, you have to "learn" your baby.

When you first bring baby home, some parents are terrified, excited, nervous, happy, depressed and proud, to name a few emotions. The first few months are all about learning. Learning what your baby's cries mean, your baby's temperament, habits, comforts and dislikes. YES even a 2 month old has dislikes, atleast mine did!

I have had 4 months of learning so far. And I must say, I've been an attentive pupil of baby learning. So far I have found out that  Morgan LOVES to stand, gripe, loves things that light up, loves the baby channel (and some other channels we watch), LOVES bath time, finally sleeps in her crib (figured out she was gassy), is the star of the show when we go places, loves breastfeeding, hates when I trim her nails, doesn't like to change clothes, has diaper explosions daily, loves to stomp, loves to gnaw on our fingers, has discovered the mirror and loves it too. She's been a pretty easy going baby so far. Since "learning" her a bit more, life has become, well, easier! When I learn and figure out something new, it's like cracking a code! It feels awesome!

Oh, but the learning doesn't stop here. No matter how old they will get, they will still be your baby. There's years and years of learning to be done, well into adulthood. So Happy Baby Learning to all you parents out there! It's a gratifying, satisfying, frustrating and humbling adventure!

<3 EMarie

Work, work, work....

I'd rather be at home with my little monster!

<3 EMarie

Reflection

Ever wonder why we are here and what our mission is? I have always had this feeling, deep down, that we are all here for a reason. If only we had an answer to that aged old question. But then again, what would be the point in just knowing the answer, because I think the point to it all is to find out what it is. I don’t know if anyone really knows though. You can ask lots of people and they all will probably have a different answer. I really wish it were an easy answer though, like Deep Thought's answer of 42 from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But even still, if you were to ask this question and get an answer like the number 42, I would still be baffled beyond measure and just go out and seek my own meaning of my own life! I do not believe in God, but I do believe that we are all connected somehow in the chaotic mess we call LIFE. Life has a way to make you humorous, humble, sad and loved; to name a few traits.

Is there an organization to it all, among all of the daily chaos of the world? Or is every action like a dandelion seed floating in the wind landing in a random spot when the wind stops? Will we ever know? I would hope so, one day.

<3 EMarie

Got Milk?

Deciding to breast feed was a no brainer for me. I'm just glad that nature has let me continue with it. Some mothers run into issues with supply, latching issues or lifestyle conflicts. The first few weeks for me were tough. I needed to feed her every two hours to ensure that my supply would come in properly; plus breast milk digests quicker than formula, so she was hungry more often. When I started to have sore nipples, I started to question my ability to continue breast feeding, it was excruciating at times. I would cringe when she would latch on, thankfully that feeling goes away after a week or so. It's been smooth sailing from then till now. Morgan will be 4 months old on March 13th.

I returned back to work on February 1st and have been pumping at my desk. I must admit, the first time I had to pump at work was the weirdest feeling ever! To have to get my boobs out at work is something that I didn't think I will ever do, until I got preggo and decided to breast feed. I don't have any problems letting my co-workers know that I'm about to go pump. :) They all know that I pump now, and don't seem to have any problems with it at all. I didn't even really discuss it with my boss, I was going to pump, and if they had a problem, which they don't, then I would have had to quit. Luckily that didn't have to happen!

And with today's economy, breast milk is a free food for baby. Aside from maybe changing your diet to produce better milk, you really won't have to invest in any type of food for baby until about 4 to 6 months. I had to play around with my diet, because something I was eating was bothering Morgan. I think I figured out that it's dairy, so I eliminated dairy from my diet as much as possible, it was giving Morgan bad belly aches and gas. This doesn't mean she won't be able to eat dairy herself when she gets older. My hubby was the same way as a baby and he's fully grown out of it. My point in telling you this is you might have to adjust your diet according to baby's reaction to your milk. Some women decide that they don't want to change their diet, and switch to formula. This is perfectly fine! Formula babies turn out just as healthy as breast fed babies.

Breast feeding is an art. It takes some time to master. I had moments where I wasn't sure if I could handle it. It's very demanding because at first, you are your babies food source. Hubby couldn't help feed, so I had to get up every two hours and it felt like I was doing all the work, which I was, but there was no way around it for a little while. Once I started pumping and got Morgan to take a bottle, it became alot less stressful and more enjoyable to breast feed. Just knowing that my body can produce food for my child is an amazing feeling that I cherish. Because not every mother is able to nourish their babies with their breast milk for various reasons, and they should not feel guilty.

<3 EMarie

Hello lovelies!

Well, this week has been a bit of a rough one so far. The past few nights Morgan has only wanted to sleep on me, all night. We are not to the point where we are going to be doing crib training yet. I am currently sleeping with her bedding pieces so we can start that soon. With the room being so new, I think she has trouble being comfortable in there. I will update once crib training starts. We'll see if sleeping with her bedding is going to pay off.

She tried peas for the first time last night and she loved them! I have sweet potatoes, pears and peaches to give to her in due time. I'm going to stick with peas for a few more nights and see how she does.

All in all, parenting has it's mountains to climb and it's wonderful special moments. The special moments far outweigh the mountains. The smiles and the laughter that is starting to show up in Morgan's personality is priceless. I have grown into a better person. I've gained patience and I definitely see the future in a whole different way. So here's to all the hard working parents out there, I raise a glass to you! A toast to all that you do!

Custom Fabric?!

For you aspiring sewers, you can now get custom fabric! Take your design and put it on fabric. Neato! Just think, you could upload some of your kids artwork and make it into fabric and make something neat out of it like maybe a handbag or a scarf, or even a wall hanging? Oh, my mind is whirling with ideas for gifts galore!

http://www.spoonflower.com/welcome

Enjoy!

<3 EMarie

Free Coloring Pages

Fisher Price has a page set up for FREE printable color pages! Morgan Monster isn't old enough to color right now, but I am definitely going to print these off for her later!


http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=30&e=coloring

Happy Coloring!

<3 EMarie

Calling all Creative Moms!

Go check out this new book coming out soon for all of us creative mothers at An artful life and you have a chance to win a copy!

<3 EMarie

Becoming a Mom

Hello Lovelies!

On the day that Morgan Monster was born, life no longer was just about me. Life became richer, more vibrant and more meaningful. That is why EMarieDesigns blog is no longer just about me. I am turning my blog into a real life account of motherhood. Life is meant to be "Designed", right? We as humans have the ability to design our own lives, for the most part. There are things that happen that are out of our control, but it's how we live with these happenings that help us to "Design" our lives. My inspiration now comes from places that I never knew existed until I became a mom. So from now on, here, I will share with you my victories, wisdom and daily adventures! I hope that my stories will inspire you, make you laugh and make you love life even more!

<3 EMarie