Introducing....

My Etsy Shop

Have you wondered where Lily gets her bows?? Well, I started making them long before she was born in hopes that I would someday have a little girl to wear them! 

With tons of help and support from my sister, I decided to open an Etsy shop! I'm not just selling hairbows, but also cute pins for grown-up girls. I'm planning to add some other items in the coming months! 

I'd love for you to grab my button {from my right sidebar} for your blog. You'll also find me on Twitter @kellyjoydesigns and you can "like" me on Facebook at Kelly Joy Boutique.

I hope you will go check out my shop and let me know what you think!

Lily Found Her Tongue!

Within the last few days Lily has figured out she has a tongue! It's so funny to see her sticking it out and pulling it back in. Everytime I've gotten the camera out lately, she's stuck her tongue out when I tell her to smile. ha!

She's a mess, for sure!

Hopefully this stage will pass before too long . . . if not, I'll have to convince her that sticking out her tongue is not ladylike! Ha!

Sweet baby girl, you are my JOY!!

This post is linked to just for the JOY of it at Good, True, and Beautiful.

My Husband, the Prodigy

This is the first of two videos my crazy hubby made. It was after a full day of teaching kids who think they are prodigies and don't have to practice. Hope you enjoy!!



He is playing on a 1/8th size violin if you were wondering. Ha! Stay tuned for the second video next week!

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom and Extraordinary Mothers.

To Love Their Husbands Tuesday

This week I could really post about all the ways my husband has made me feel loved. Like how he gave me an amazing back massage when I was stressed . . . how he washed the dishes one night while I fed Lily . . . how he went to Lowe's and bought special stovetop cleaner for me . . . and while I was out running errands, he scrubbed the stovetop clean! Yes, he has done an amazing job this week!

So what did I do for him? Well, I have done a lot of things, but sadly I can't remember many of them. I really need to write them down so I can remember them when it's time to post. I know that's terrible of me, but I think we can blame it on Mommy Brain!

Last night Jacob left to go conduct his youth orchestra. A little while later he texted me and said he'd forgotten his bottle of water. I told him I would bring it to him. Well, I decided to stop by McDonald's and get him a chocolate shake {I know, I know, not the healthiest thing treat in the world}. Anyway, I took it to him and I could tell it made him feel super special! He told me later that it had really made his day. I just love when he says that!

Ya'll head over to Living By Faith to get some great ideas on how to show our Husbands love!

We Are SO Blessed!

Our weekend started with the celebration of my bro-in-law's birthday. We headed to a catfish restaurant for supper with all the family and then to my in-law's for cake and ice cream.

It was a fun evening. We were especially happy that Jacob's PawPaw could join us for supper. He has really weakened physically since Nanny's passing in December.

Lily spent a lot of time exercising and becoming more mobile. Yes, she started out on the play mat and about 10 minutes later she had scooted herself that far off! Crazy girl. She's going to be running around before I know it!

I'm most of you probably heard about {or experienced} the horrible storms in the south this weekend. It was really rough in Mississippi with many homes destroyed and make lives taken. The same tornadoes were headed straight for where we live in Alabama. I have never been fond of tornadic weather, but ever since I've had Lily, I feel so much responsibility to keep her safe! Myra shared some about that in her post yesterday.

Anyway, our house doesn't have a basement or a safe room, so we always head to our church when there are bad tornados. My Mom, Myra, and I were all on our computers watching to see if we were going to be hit. Praise the Lord, most of the bad stuff went north and south of us. We did have some pretty strong wind and rain, but thankfully no damage! We are so thankful for the Lord's protection!

I made this delicious cheesecake on Saturday night! Mmm, was it so good! For the last 3 or so weeks, I have been off sugar during the week, but allowing myself sweets on the weekends. This little change in my diet has worked wonders on the scale! I'm down 1lb less than my pre-pregnancy weight with Lily!! Woot!! Of course I've been exercising too, but I know sugar was playing a big role in why I wasn't losing the last 7ish lbs!

We ate Sunday dinner with Jacob's family. They also invited my family over as well. This is my sister-in-law, Katie having fun with Lily.

Luke and Joseph were still at home this weekend too. It was so nice to spend some more time with them before they head out to work away from home for several weeks!

I found this precious little dress in a bag of old clothes this past week. It turns out that my Mom smocked it and Myra and I wore it when we were little girls! It was so special to have Lily wear it yesterday.

We ate supper at my parent's after Sunday night church. Lily is very intrigued with her Papaw! He makes all kind of funny animal noises, so all little kids love him!

It was a great weekend! I've been thinking about how blessed we are, with wonderful family nearby, an amazing church, great friends, and safety and protection. God is so good!

Hope ya'll had a wonderful weekend! Happy Monday!

just for the JOY of it- photoshoot

Yesterday a bunch of our family met at the park for lunch. It was a gorgeous day! My brother-in-law is a super photographer, so he did a little photoshoot for us. Myra posted some great pictures on her blog today too! Hope you enjoy!

Love Lily's face in this one!

The azaleas were beautiful!!

Typical family picture! Ha.

That's better!

Head over to Good, True, and Beautiful for more Just for the JOY of it!

WW: Teething??

Those fingers must taste like chocolate! ha.

Stop by 5 Minutes for Mom and Extraordinary Mothers for more 

Wordless Wednesdays!

Have a fabulous day!

To Love Their Husbands Tuesday

Lauren over at Living By Faith is starting up this great meme today! We're supposed to share things that we do to show our husband how much we love him. I think it's a great idea to help us consciously do special things for our husbands.

Jacob loves to have cold drinks in the refrigerator so he can grab a quick drink when he comes in from working outside or while he is teaching. Since we don't buy canned cokes, I try to keep sweet tea or lemonade {his two favorites} made up in the fridge at all times. I hadn't made lemonade in several months because lemons have been so expensive, but when we were at the grocery store on Friday night, the bags of lemons were $1.99. You can't beat that!

So yesterday I made him homemade lemonade! It made him so happy.

It was a big reminder to me that the little things matter! I don't have to do huge extravagant things to show my husband that I love him. It's the little, thoughtful things that matter most to him!

Weekend Fun

We had beautiful weather this weekend so we spent a lot of time outside. Lily loves to be outside. I put her in the bouncer alot and set her where she can watch the dogs. She also likes to play on a quilt in the shade. It's nice because I can take my computer outside and get some work done while she plays.

On Friday night we had a family night since Jacob was gone all week. We went out for supper then went to buy groceries. Lily's carseat won't fit in the normal spot of Kroger's buggies, so we have to set her in the back. She loves going shopping! I think it's because of all the attention she gets. Ha! After we got the groceries put away and Lily in bed, Jacob and I watched a movie. I fell asleep partway through it, so I don't even remember what it was about. Oops.

Saturday morning Myra and I headed out early to find some yardsales. We found a few things, but not too much. One mistake we made was that we didn't check the paper to see where the yardsales were! We just followed signs. Um, lesson learned! ha.

We went to Panera to feed Lily and Ridley their breakfast. Then we hit Target and Hobby Lobby. It was fun, but definitely different than our yardsale outings last summer! Having a 15 month old and a 3 1/2 month old makes a huge difference!

I made these brownies on Saturday afternoon. They are Pioneer Woman's recipe and they turned out really good, but next time I think I will use a 9x13 pan instead of the 8x8 it called for! Ha!

I cut off about half of the brownie so that they would be more even with the frosting! Speaking of frosting, that mocha frosting is to die for!!

Lily started out on the play mat and wiggled herself all the way off! We thought it was so funny. Please excuse her nakedness, we had just gotten home from church and she was getting ready for her nap. Ha! Oh, this weekend, she also rolled over from back to tummy!

My brother, Luke, and Jacob's brother, Joseph were home this weekend. They work for a lighting company and are out of town for weeks at a time. This is Joseph and Lily. Joseph really loves kids and can't wait to get his hands on Lily whenever he is at home!

We went over to my parent's after church Sunday night. This is my beautiful Mom and sleepy Lily.

I hope ya'll had a great weekend!

Fails as a Single Mom

Jacob was at a T4G conference in Kentucky from Monday to this afternoon, so I got to experience life as a "single mom." Whew, it was not easy! I had many fails throughout the week.

Fails like:

• forgetting to water the dogs in this 80+ degree weather. Oops!

• not draining Lily's little bathtub for a whole day so now it's all slimy.

• leaving cool whip sitting out on the counter all night. Gross!

• not letting the chocolate covered strawberries for Mom's birthday party harden before arranging them on the platter. They were so stuck by the time of the party that when we picked one up, all we got was a strawberry- the chocolate "shell" stayed on the platter. 

• nearly losing my debit card.

• not remembering Lily's bottle when we went to run errands.

• Lily's major clothes crisis. She is wearing 3 mo size, but most of the 3 mo clothes we've been given (or we're borrowing) are either heavy winter clothes or they are pants and shirts (and most of the pants are stretched). Poor girl is so skinny, pants will not stay up so she wore dresses most of the week.

Be sure to check out Friday Fails at My Blessed Life! Ya'll go ahead and join in the real-life confessions fun too!

Hope ya'll have a great weekend! 

My Crazy Husband & Child

The other morning Jacob was getting ready and Lily was playing on the bed. He remembered he hadn't fed the dogs, so he was goofing off in that silly voice and telling Lily that "I forgot to feed the doggies!!!" In that high pitched voice you hear in the video. She just thought it was the funniest thing. :-)

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Today is my sweet Mom's birthday! 

Mom, I'm thankful for you because...

...you've been a wonderful example of a godly woman to me all my life.

...you are always there for me.

...you are supportive of me and Jacob.

...you are faithful in your walk with God.

...you are a wonderful Ya-Ya!

...you milk goats so Lily has food! Ha.

...you always have an encouraging word for me when I'm down

...you are a Proverbs 31 woman.

...you are the BEST mom in the world!

I love you and hope you have a wonderful birthday!!