A little Christmas crafting...

I finally broke down and created a Pinterest account! It has been a love/hate relationship. I love the ideas and the organization. I hate the tech problems and the inherent desire to create something else...

As a family, since this is little bugs first Christmas, we decided she would get one present from us along with stocking stuffers. We would open these together Christmas morning. I never really had any family traditions so I wanted to be sure Jorja grew up with some. We have already made some salt dough ornaments with her hand print and footprint!

Since we didn't have any stockings before, I decided I wanted to make some and I was inspired by this lovely photo on Pinterest (imagine that).

Source: cottageinstincts.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

The sad part is that there wasn't a tutorial :(
After searching around, I found this tutorial from Cluck, Cluck, Sew. She did a great job explaining how to do a cuff on the stockings. I also used this site for a template since I didn't have any stockings that I could just trace.
Well, here is what I created!

I used "Life is Good" font. I printed our initials out (mirrored). Then traced them onto some wonder under and ironed that onto the fabric then cut out the letters and ironed them on. Such an easy way to monogram!!

We are looking for a small Christmas tree to put up this year since Jorja is crawling and pulling up everywhere.

On other great news!! We decided that we will be adding on to our house in the spring. We'll add on a master bed and bath and another bedroom. That will give us 3 bedroom/2 bath! YAY! Plus we are going to take out a wall to create a big living/dining room. I can't wait. I have been collecting tons of inspiration on Pinterest. This will all be documented, of course, and it tie into our before and after posts that you can find here.

Mr. Magnificent's Baby Shower Cake

Not too long ago, I posted about Eric's pregnant belly cake. You can find it here. 

Well, Eric was able to make the follow up cake for the baby shower.

People are surprised to find out all of our little talents. 

(sewing, crafting, taxidermy, baking, decorating)

They assume I am the one who makes the cakes. 

They can't believe it when I tell them, no, Eric (Mr. M) does make them (with a little help of course...).

A little weightloss update...

Not too long ago I posted about our weight loss journey. Click here to read all about that.

Just as a reminder, here is where I started.

I can't believe I am actually admitting to this...

On May 24, 2011 I weighed in at 176.5 lb.

Today, October 6, 2011 I weighed 140.0 lb.

Just so you don't have to do the math... that is 36.5 pounds!!

I have also lost 48 inches. 10 of those inches were in the last month since I stopped breastfeeding.

I went from a tight size 16 to now getting into a 7/8. Some 7/8s are tight and some are fine depending on brand of course. I can wear a medium shirt.

So, how far do I have to go? Another 10.5 pounds. Did I mention high school was the last time I was this size?

How am I getting there? Sticking to my menu. Doing some Pilates and 30 day shred from Jillian Michaels. I have done one day of each in the last two weeks. I am not going to beat myself up about only doing one thing a week. Afterall, I have a 9 mo old. I am proud that I even did something.

I don't have any before/after pictures of my whole self yet. I'll save those for the big finale :)

I did get my hair cut yesterday and can share that picture with you along with one about a month before we started with Metabolic Research Center.

 February

October

Thanks for stopping by. If you are new you can check out my About page to get to know me and the rest of my "Magnificent" crew. 

I have to take a minute and give God some glory. I would not have been able to do this if He had not been my strength. I was seriously addicted to foods and was emotionally eating. I still fall into that from time to time. The great thing is that God loves me how I am (imperfect) and wants to see me grow. As I grow, His glory is magnified. With His power, that is just what I am doing (growing). I don't want my little one's growing up with an unhealthy diet and it is up to me to provide for them. First, I had to get my diet under control.