Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Exciting News on the Business Front

Most of you know I've been dabbling a little bit with tutu outfits and tutu's. I've had pretty good success with selling to friends/family/word of mouth from friends, etc... I recently sold an outfit to a friend from high school who happens to be an Arbonne (I have linked Amy's Arbonne page in case any of you want to check it out) consultant. So what does Arbonne have to do with me making tutu's?? Ever year Amy has a Holiday Open House to showcase her Arbonne product to customers she already has, and to people in the community who want to find out about the product as well. She rents out a local place to host the even and this year she also has consultants with Cookie Lee, Gold Canyon, Longaberger & Tastefully Simple. That's where I come in... She asked if I would be interested in joining the Open House to get my name and product out there. Also because they don't really have anything there that is geared towards babies/toddlers/kids. Amy said a majority of the people are there doing their Christmas shopping and she really thought I would be a hit. I'm SOOO excited to take on this new adventure and hopefully get my name out there!

I've created business cards, a website (a blog for now) and have been making hair bows for the event every chance I get. I've decided I'm not going to make up a bunch of outfits to sell at the event because its too hard to guess the sizes/styles people will want but, I will have plenty of outfits on display for people to see them in person. I also plan to bring a portfolio of all the outfits I've made for people to get an idea on themes and color schemes that I've done. I'm hoping by making up a bunch of hair bows those will sell at the event. I'm making quite a few Christmas bows which hopefully will be a hit since the event is December 5th and still plenty of time for Christmas. I want to take this opportunity to thank Amy for including me in this event!! I'm really hoping its a success for me, to get my feet off the ground and continue to do something I love!

I decided to name the business 'TuTu Cute by Molly'. What do you all think of it? I linked my blog as well so you can check it out and tell me what you think! I created a PayPal button so people can securely check out and purchase the items without worrying about their personal information going any further! Thank you all for the sweet comments on the outfits and for continuing to read my blog :) Here are the 2 newest outfits I made last week... a Christmas themed outfit for a baby shower gift and the outfit I made for Amy's goddaughter to be a Princess!





If you live locally and want an invite to this event, leave me a comment here and I'll make sure to get you an invite when Amy gets them to me!

Much love!


Monday, October 19, 2009

Family Pictures

This weekend we had family pictures taken as many of you know. They turned out SO good and I'm so excited! We went to Ward Meade Park for our photos and I think my dad did wonderful with capturing our smiles and personalities. See for yourself!!
















Thursday, October 15, 2009

Show Us Your Life- What Do You Make??


This week on Kelly's Korner the theme is 'What Do You Make?'... Kelly wants to showcase all the talented ladies that make all kinds of fun homemade things from clothing items, to blog design, to embroidery, etc... As most of you know I make TuTu outfits and hair bows. I LOVE crafting and have developed a real passion for it.

Here are just a few of the outfits I've made. I charge $35 for the 3 piece set which includes the tutu, custom shirt and matching hair bow. Please feel free to email me or comment with any questions or orders!

Halloween theme tutu set, I actually purchased the shirt from Target since it matched so well so I can't take credit for this one shirt... the rest is my work!

Orange, purple and black tutu with zebra print bow

Hot pink and black tutu with hot pink zebra print ribbon

'Miss August' hot pink and black tutu

Light pink and black tutu

Green and baby blue sparkle tutu, butterfly shirt and polka dot ribbon

Ladybug theme tutu set, VERY popular!

Cupcake tutu set. Pink and brown tutu with polka dot ribbon

Again these are just a few of the outfits I've made. I can pretty much make anything you'd like and am full of cute ideas! Feel free to contact me!


Thanks for stopping by!!


Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day



"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb" Psalm 139:13-14

It is the National Day of Miscarriage and Infant Loss so I thought I would write a little something on this topic. For SO many women this is so real to them, the feeling of miscarrying a child or losing an infant... so heartbreaking and so real.
Gerrad and I decided in the summer of '06 that we were going to try to have another baby, around the time that Macie turned 4. We knew by the time we got pregnant and had a baby that the girls would be about 5 years apart which is exactly what we wanted. We started trying in July of '06 and became pregnant late September '06, it seems like yesterday when I took the test and saw 2 lines. I had no hesitations about making our first appointment as I never imagined in a million years that anything would go wrong since my pregnancy with Macie was perfect, I guess no one ever expects or thinks these things will happen to them.

I had all the normal pregnancy symptoms... sore breasts, nausea and vomiting, etc... I made it to my 10 week appointment without any issues and was SO thankful. I went to the restroom before my appointment and noticed quite a bit of blood, I stayed calm and went back into the waiting room until my name was called. As soon as I got into the exam room I explained to the nurse what had happened and she quickly went and got the PA that I was seeing. She did a pelvic exam and saw the blood, took a swab of it and then tried to listen for the heartbeat... with no avail. (To preface this appointment, Gerrad had been working out of town and I assured him he didn't need to go with me and that it was the first appointment that was pretty quick and routine and there was NO need for him to miss work to accompany me, I'd been through all this before remember. I also turned down my mother who offered, and my sister and mother in law I believe as well... I was certain it would be fine and I didn't need anyone with me). She immediately ordered a sonogram and I quickly found out that I had miscarried the baby. The ultrasound tech was not allowed to give me an 'official' diagnosis but could at least tell me that I miscarried. I had to wait for a Dr to get into the office for about an hour and a half. I called Gerrad right away, he was stranded with no way to get home but was able to figure something out ASAP, until then my mom and dad both came and sat with me at the Dr's office until I could get the 'official' news from a Dr. By far the longest 1 1/2 hrs of my life, hands down!

I ended up needing to have a D&C done that weekend. I was SO emotional and just couldn't understand why this would be happening to us. You immediately start blaming yourself when you find this has happened, its almost a given. I heard so many people say 'I've been where you're at, etc, etc....' For some reason that didn't make me feel better. I appreciated everyone sharing their stories with me but that didn't make me pregnant again; that didn't allow me to have my baby back in my womb. My own mother and mother in law shared many words of encouragement with me that have stuck with me to this day and I think a lot of that is what got me through.

The pain healed in time and we got the OK from our Dr to start trying for another baby again. We got pregnant with Addaline very quickly after miscarrying. I was SO grateful, blessed, on cloud 9, terrified, cautious, worried... you name the emotion, I felt it! Everything obviously turned out great with Addaline and she is now our precious miracle baby. Gerrad and I made the agreement after the miscarriage that we would give it 1 more try and if it didn't happen for us, we would know that it was not meant to be and was not part of God's plan for us. Neither of us could fathom feeling such pain and heartache twice in a row. God definitely knew what he was doing with the overall situation. There were so many things that worked out perfectly with the timing of Miss Addaline's arrival; I see it all so clearly now looking back.

This is a day to remember the loss of a baby whether it was in utero, birth or of an infant. Please say a prayer for all the women out there who have been struggling with infertility and are so badly wanting a child of their own. For all the mothers and fathers who have lost babies during birth, to SIDS shortly after, health problems, etc...

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him" (I Samuel 1:27)

"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord" (Psalm 127:3)

"Every good and perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17)




Dishing Divas

So here I am again, failing to blog for almost a week... WHOOPS!

This past Friday night the Dishing Divas and I all got together to go see a production of 'Evil Dead: The Musical' at one of our local theatres because a VERY special friend and fellow Dishing Diva was one of the main characters of the show. Lindsey did a WONDERFUL job in her roll as Shelly and I couldn't have been more proud to call her a friend. We laughed SO hard that night and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the show. If you live in Topeka and are looking for something to do over the next 3 weekends, I HIGHLY recommend you go see that show! Its definitely for adults as it has some mature subject matter and language, but hilarious none the less.

Here are just a few pictures from the night out... I only got a few pictures taken shame on me! Next month we are staying in where its warm and doing a fall theme with casserole and cobbler recipes, YUM!!


Kela, Katie, Chelsey and Jenna waiting for the show to start

Kela wanted to snap a picture of me

The Divas minus Lindsey! This is us before the show, we were SOOO excited to see it!

Kela, Me, Katie, Chelsey and Jenna all awaiting the start of the show. I took a few pictures during and after the show but they didn't turn out too well because it was dark!
Stay tuned for pictures from our upcoming weekend. We are having some family pictures taken this weekend and I couldn't be more excited! I might post later today about the outfits we're going to wear and ask for help on what Gerrad should wear. We're also taking the girls to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend so I'll definitely be posting those pictures as well.... so stay tuned!!



Friday, October 9, 2009

Flash Back Friday

So I've been using my dad's laptop so I can be more mobile and stay connected a little better while doing daycare since our desktop is in the office in the basement... anyway onto my point... I found a bunch of old pictures from Addaline's birth and from Halloween which was the month after her birth so I wanted to share the pictures as my flash back Friday!

Here is the proud new big sister Macie and her precious new little sister Addaline. She was SO proud and was the VERY first person to hold Addaline after she was born. We brought Macie into the room after I was all cleaned up and let them bond for a while before we let anyone else in the room, it was such a special moment for our new family of 4!

Tired mommy with her new baby

One of our first pictures as mommy and daughter


Their first picture together, they are forever bonded as sisters!!

Getting ready to go home from the hospital with our newest addition. Daddy got to pick out her 'going home' outfit so of course he picked out a Texas Longhorns outfit, I made the hat for her to match her pink onesie

First picture after birth with her eyes open

Here are a few pictures I also found of Macie from Halloween of '07. Gerrad wanted her to be a Texas Longhorn Cheerleader so that's what we went with, I guess sometimes I have to humor him and let him pick things out, since relationships are a give and take thing ya know. I'm a Kansas Jayhawk fan but have let my girls don Longhorn garb once each ;)

The cutest Longhorn cheerleader you'll ever see!

My little cutie and I before 'Boo at the Zoo' trick or treating

Thank you for going back in time with us (2 years ago to be exact)! I would go back in time for Macie's birth too but that was before we owned a digital camera, we were super young and just starting out so that wasn't something we had the luxury of owning... my how times have changed, I'm SO grateful!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We've got lots of stuff planned so I'll make sure to take TONS of pictures. I have my 'Dishing Divas' night with the girls tonight and am SOOO excited. We are going to see a production of 'Evil Dead: The Musical' since one of our 'Divas' is in it, also one of my besties so I MUST go and support her! Break a Leg Linds!!



Thursday, October 8, 2009

Toddler BFF's and Dabby the Baby Doll

Let me introduce "Gabby Baby"... this doll goes pretty much every where with Addaline and has been her faithful companion over the past few weeks/months. Its the cutest thing to hear her call for her, only it doesn't come out as Gabby, it comes out as Dabby, which makes it even cuter! Its funny to see a 2 yr old love a sweet baby doll so much. My daughter is fascinated by all things baby related, she feeds 'Dabby' all the time and gives her drinks. And not to mention real babies, that's a whole other topic for a different day, that girl is relentless!

Now to introduce Addaline's real life BFF Miss Emma! These two girls are hilarious. They are only 6 months apart (A-2 yr and E- 18 mos) and are totally inseparable. Gerrad and I have formed a bond with sweet Emma's parents and 2 other couples from church and have been getting together pretty much every weekend to socialize and hang out. When the girls first see each other any time we get together they immediately have to hug like they haven't seen each other in ages, its adorable. This past weekend in church they probably spent a good solid 5 minutes sitting next to each other hugging every 20 seconds or so, HILARIOUS!

Most of our friends have kiddos already or soon to have, but Emma is closest in age out of all our friends kids for Addaline (outside of family) so I think that's why they have that special bond. Any time we go anywhere Addaline always asks "Emma coming?", so cute! I just wanted to share this special new friendship that I find absolutely adorable with all of you, and of course to include a special BFF picture of the girls from church last night!

Wow just think about about 10-15 years I will be posting about my daughters' first dates/boyfriends instead of their best friends... AHHH!! I need a pause button!!