mother's day and embroidered canvases

so mother's day was like 10 whole days ago. but i love my mama so so much and so i just want to give her one more shout out and also share with you the gift i made her [so maybe you can do this for someone special, too!].

my mama is probably the best there is. i know i bragged about her on her birthday, but just a few more things to add about wonderful, loving, sweet, beautiful mother:

she used to sing me to sleep every night. i always got to pick the songs. i missed that when i got older, but then i had to share a room with my sister who is 9 years younger than me. mama sang to her, too... lucky me! i wanna be a mama that sings to my babies. 

girls night always meant chick flicks, ruffle's potatoes chips and ranch dip. man, could i ever use a night like that with my mama right now. sometimes the chick flicks were blockbuster rentals, other nights they were old musicals that we would sing along to. but there was always chips and ranch dip. i'm feeling a little nostalgic now. so glad i will have a little girl to have girls' night with. 

mama's hugs are unbeatable. mama's tear-wiping, boy-fighting, it's-gonna-be-ok, pep talks kept me together on a lot of days. mama's strength gave me strength. her determination gave me determination. and her love continues to feed mine every day. what a woman!

and now for a special gift. hand embroidered canvas.

this was a really simple gift to make. so simple, i will not provide a tutorial because i suck at them. but if you are interested in embroidery and have never tried, try it on fabric first, because this was kind of tough pulling the needle through. this is a great tutorial on getting started. and if you want to learn a bajillion stitches, this lady knows her stuff! i'm excited to try some. i'm totally getting back into embroidery after the project because i really love how it turned out. [and she said it made her cry, so there's a bonus!] the outside of the canvas is saved for little grandbaby thumbprints! can't wait to add paislee's when she gets here!

helpful hint: when embroidering on a canvas, keep a balloon handy or a something plastic or rubbery to help grip the needle and pull it through. it really is tough.

little lady has a name

i know in the last update, i told you i wasn't going to share for fear of jinxes, but i think it is time. mainly because the only thing that will change our little lady's name at this point is divine intervention and i'm pretty certain he liked the name, too.

so are you ready to hear it??

i can't hear you!

paislee renae

boom. what do you think? [pst. only tell me if it's good. hehe]

let me tell you how we came up with this. we have been trying since we knew she was a she to find a name. we tried family names after my mama and after brock's, but nothing stuck. brock mostly hemmed and hawed over everything and i like all of it. frustration.

on our little babymoon we took to texas, we had plenty of time in the car to discuss. but we didn't even really discuss a lot. as we listened to the radio, eric pasley's name scrolled across the screen. my mind read paisley. [long a, short a, if you didn't know, paisley is not how you pronounce his name.]

i said it out loud and brock actually liked it. we asked little lady and she kicked me. ok... she was already wiggling, but whatever. it wasn't until the radio announcer came on that i realized i didn't even say his name right. which just goes to show that this little one wants her own name. not a family name, not a country singer's name. she is just pretty unique already.

we called her paislee the whole babymoon and it just felt right. another week passed and we were still calling her paislee. that was a gooooood sign. all other names lasted mere days.

as for renae. well. i really like rae for a middle name. it fit with all the other potentials, but with every one of those names, brock couldn't say rae after anything without sounding like a redneck. sorry. i couldn't have it. so it grew into renae.

and now our little lady is paislee renae holland. doh! i can't wait to meet her.

6 weeks and counting, guys.