Dear Santa,

This year, this little girl 

got to sit on your lap and tell you all the wonderful things she wanted for Christmas. It began with her asking for a big, big present filled with

Yup! Applesauce.

Then after a little more prompting and a Candycane chocolate.

She bashfully told you exactly what she wanted

The Mermaid Ariel princess doll from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse store!!

So Santa, if you see this, please remember Katelyn's on vacation this Christmas and don't forget to drop down her chimney there. Don't worry there's a big one and we'll leave the flu open for you!

Love,

Katelyn's Mommy

Is it Just Me

or does is seem like boys seem to get hurt more than girls? Brayden is a little dare devil and if you're not watching him he thinks he's invincible. For example, earlier this week he decided he could run and jump off the edge of the couch. All I heard from the kitchen was Katelyn yell, "No, no Buddy, " then thump.... and then Brayden's cry. After rushing in the living room  found him face down on the floor crying. Poor guy cut his little nose on one of his toys. I know boys will be boys, but this takes that theory to a whole new meaning. 

Update on Brayden

First off, Kyle and I just want to say how much we appreciate all your prayers this last week. We are having a much better week, this week, with Brayden. Last Saturday night, after going almost a full hour coughing non stop, which resulted in him throwing up, Kyle and I decided enough was enough and at 12:15am, I took him to CHOC in Orange. CHOC is a really great children's hospital and they have a pediatric wing in their ER so we knew we would finally get some answers by taking him there. Since it was so late Kyle wasn't able to go with me, he stayed with Katelyn. We were at the ER the entire night, seriously, B and I got home at 6:30am, but we came home with answers. After a through exam the doctor decided to do a chest x-ray. It was t.e.r.r.i.b.l.e!!!!!!!! They had to put him in this contraption called the Papoose

See I told you it was awful! He cried, tears streaming down his face and his cry was beg for his Mommy to rescue him. At this point it was 3am and I was tired and exhausted and the tears just began to fall as I tried to calm him down. Finally they got what they needed and Brayden was released. When we got back to our room, Brayden passed out. Poor little man was so tired and was loosing his voice from all the coughing. The doctor came in not too long after to tell me that the x-ray made it look as though Brayden had an enlarged heart.... WHAT?! .... and so they wanted to repeat the x-ray to be certain. So here I was laying there, Brayden fast asleep, waiting for them to get us for the next set of x-rays. I'm loosing it at this point and wishing Kyle was there with me. The 2nd time in the x-ray room wasn't as bad as the first although having to get back in that contraption woke him up, but the tech was a pro and had him in an out of there so fast. I was so grateful. 

After what seemed like an eternity the doctor came back in to let me know that B's heart was fine but that his trachea looked narrow due to inflammation and diagnosed Brayden with Tracheal Bronchitis. Finally, an answer! Brayden is now on antibiotics  and doing so much better. He's not coughing at all during the night so he's sleeping better and the last couple of days we could count on one hand how many total times he coughed throughout the day. This is truly an answer to prayer and we hope that the cough will soon be gone forever.

Please keep Brayden in your prayers. We really want his cough to go away completely!!

Love, 

Alissa

Brayden....is... ONE!

I know that Brayden is just shy of being thirteen months, but it took me a couple weeks to get his 1 year wellness visit scheduled, and then after some unexpected news, another week to post about it. It's still hard to believe he's 1. My little pudgy, cutesy, baby boy is turning into my handsome little man. 

Here's Brayden's stats:

Weight: 22.6lbs

Height 28 3/4 in.

Developmentally Brayden is doing great. He is walking like a pro now and has even started chasing Katelyn around. He can say "Mama, dada, and baba" so he's on target with his language development. Here are some other things he's doing:

- Can stack and pull apart his legos

- Push his vacuum cleaner around the house

- slide down the slide all by himself

- can climb up stairs

- drinking WHOLE milk

- Almost weaned from a bottle

- Almost sleeping through the night. He only wakes up once between 5-6am for a bottle

- Using a fork and a spoon to eat

- Loves to dance

- Loves his Choo Choo Trains

Now to the unexpected news we received at his appointment. Brayden has his a concerning growth plateau. He was in the 90th percentile at his 6 mo. appointment and has not grown more than 3/4 of an inch since then therefore putting him in the 20th percentile. This caused the doctor some concern and they had us take Brayden in for some blood tests {6 viles of blood drawn} to test for everything under the sun and then he had to have an x-ray done of his left wrist and hand. The x-ray is meant to show the bone age growth. The tests came back yesterday and after speaking with the doctor, Brayden and I returned for a follow up visit today. While the results showed that Brayden's growth is on track for a 1 year old because he's been above the 50th percentile up until recently they want Brayden to see an Endocrinologist to make sure that his plateau is not due to a more serious issue. It takes time to see this specialist so in the meantime we will continue to monitor his growth, or lack there of I guess.

The other thing the tests showed was that Brayden's carbon dioxide levels are low. Normally they should be between 20-30 and Brayden's is a 14!! His pediatrician said that a child with the flu that is severely dehydrated usually is around a 17 so 14 is not so great. They want to run the blood panel again in the coming weeks to see if it's improved. Brayden will also need to see a Metabolic Specialist to make sure that everything is ok.

Brayden has also been suffering from a nasty cough ever since he got sick almost 2 months ago. The pediatrician wants to do some allergy tests as well as a Whooping cough {she heard him cough and says she's confident it's not, but need to rule it out} swab.

Yikes! Well we have a lot going on with our little man. As a mom it's hard not to be worried, but I know that the Lord knows what's going on and I'm looking forward to getting some answers in the coming weeks. Please keep Brayden in your prayers. We've heard a lot of information in the last week and hope to have some answers soon.

New Pictures of the Kids

Today I took some pictures of the kids because Katelyn told me Daddy needed pictures for his new office. I was shocked that I actually got them both to cooperate for 15 minutes so I could try and take 100 pictures in hopes of getting one. Here are a few of the shots I got.

Today we visited Santa....

Katelyn loved him! She told him she wanted a big, big present. A big present with a pink princess in it. Then Santa started listing off all these wonderful things that he was going to bless her with for Christmas and I stood there thankful that we had already crossed all but the pink princess off our list. 

Brayden on the other hand... was not a happy camper. To say the least.

Thanksgiving 2010

Ok I know I'm a little behind. Forgive me!! Things have been crazy around here with me being in the middle of Rags to Stitches for the Holidays: 14 days of giveaways. This Thanksgiving was amazing!! Our family gets together every year, but this year was especially special because we had everyone in the family there and we had 2 new special additions: Brayden and Ashtyn. It was so wonderful to welcome Ashtyn into our family earlier this year and equally special to watch Brendan and Ashtyn enjoy their first Thanksgiving together this year. We truly love her and are so blessed to know her. Katelyn and Brayden love their Auntie Ashtyn!!!

Then on Black Friday Kyle and I had a great day spending time as a family. We put up Christmas light on the outside of our home. It's still surreal to say that!! Some days I still have to pinch myself when I think about the fact that we are finally home owners. The kids helped me put up the tree and our decorations. It was so much fun! I love having quality time with Kyle and the kids. And I love spending the day in my jammies because there's now where I need to be.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

If you're reading my blog. I've been really good this year, just ask your elves. =) I've been drooling over a few things this year and wanted to share them with you. You know, in case you're wondering what they are. 

Here's my Christmas wish list:

Disneyland Passes because Katelyn asks me daily if we can go to Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse

Gift Cards to Anthropologie so I can buy these comfy jammies and some new clothes

Uggs because my fake ones are falling apart... fast.

I'd love new Macbook Air, but that can wait till next Christmas.

Love, Alissa

14 Day of Giveaways

Exciting things are happening over at Rags to Stitches for the next 2 weeks. Yes you read right, 2 weeks. Tomorrow begins what I hope is going to be an amazing annual tradition

I'm going to be spotlighting some amazing handmade companies that will make great Christmas presents for friends and family. I hope you will stop by and enter. You'll have 1 week to enter each giveaway. Thanks for all your support!

Tis the Season!!

In honor of Cyber Monday I have some exciting new items for my store. I've had this fabric lying around for a couple of months. Usually I put all my new fabrics to great use right away because I'm so exciting. But in this case I was excited about the fabric so I bought it and had no idea what I was going to create. When I began putting together Rags to Stitches for the Holidays I knew what the fabric was going to be used for. Christmas Stockings!!!! 

Once a upon a time they were just going to be part of my Christmas present to some of my family members, but after showing them off to my husband he insisted they go in the store. Hope you love them as much as I do. You have 2 color options Red Ruffled Holiday Stocking and Green Ruffled Holiday Stocking. 

They are $27 each, $50 if you purchase 2.

Even better Rags to Stitches Cyber Monday has begun. Use the code CYBERMON10 at the checkout and you will receive 15% off your purchase. 

Email me to order.

Johnny Cupcakes Birthday Celebration

Saturday we had a birthday celebration for Brayden. I picked a Johnny Cupcakes theme. Johnny Cupcakes is a clothing company that Kyle fell in love with a couple years ago and we thought it would make for a great 1st birthday theme. I had so much fun putting all the fun elements together and baking all the cupcakes, cupcake cakepops, and Brayden's birthday cake. Even though the weather didn't cooperate - it poured - everyone had a great time!! Even me, who spent the whole week stressing out about all our friends and family being stuck inside our house when we have a big backyard. Kyle and I feel so blessed by all the people who came to help us celebrate Brayden turning 1. We love you all!

The docorations

Family & Friends

Cake & Presents

Friends

Happy 1st Birthday Brayden Micah Circle

This past Thursday was Brayden's 1st birthday. 1st birthday... I can't even believe it!! My little baby who was born 1 year ago weighing in at 7lbs 10oz is now my walking, talking, toddler. We had a fun filled day starting with MOPS in the morning, then a lunch time family celebration and presents. We spent the whole day singing "Happy Birthday to you" and every time we sang Brayden would clap and give us kisses, it was too cute!! Here are some pictures from our day.

Happy Birthday Handsome!! We love you so much!

Rags to Stitches Boutique Updates

There are so many exciting things going on with Rags to Stitches right now. I was part of 2 amazing boutiques in October and did really well, and am getting ready for a boutique next week at Crossline Church in Irvine. Here's the flyer if you want to stop by and say hello.

I'm also going to be a part of a boutique at Oso Grande Elementary School in Ladera Ranch on December 1st. More details to come soon.

As I'm writing this I'm working with Laura Jane Designs to give my Rags to Stitches blog a whole new look. I can't wait to share it with all of you at the end of this month.

But...

the most exciting news is that I've finally opened an Etsy Store. I've gone back and forth for the last year about doing it, but I'm finally at a place where I feel this is the next step in getting my name and business out there. In fact I received my first Etsy Conversation today. Very exciting! I'd love for you to check out the new store by clicking HERE. I'd love to hear what you think.

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for and supported me and my little venture. I'm a blessed woman and mom.