Orange, Blue and Brown Set

I didn't post the back of this onesie yesterday and it's my favorite part, so I'm reposting it with both sides again. 

And here's another gift set. I'm loving the trio of orange, brown and blue for little boys. 



Boutique Baby Items

I have lots of photos of completed orders over the last several weeks so I'm just going to start posting them en masse. These are all in the "boutique baby" category. Just a heads up, tomorrow is the last day I will accept chocolate bunny onesie orders for Easter.

This is the front:

and the back:

More Name Pillows

I've been cranking out the name pillows again like crazy. I love the rustic red and brown on Zeke's.

 I've had a lot of requests for grays - gray and yellow, gray and pink, gray and turquoise...

and this gray chevron is my most prized fabric right now. I had to special order it, so it's REALLY hard for me to cut into it but I really do love it on the back of a pillow.

 I used it on the back of each of these pillows too.

I just sent out a ton of invoices today, so as I receive payment I'll get to work on my current lineup. If you've emailed me about an order you should have received a reply from me. I had to take a step away from The Chocolate Zebra today and just be a mom for a while because Tatum had a minor surgical procedure this morning. She's fine and 100% recovered already, but I didn't get any sewing done so I could cuddle with my baby. On a different note, the "giggle juice" they give little kids to help them relax makes them say some hilarious nonsense.

Personalized Shirts

I had a customer contact me to make her almost-7-year-old daughter a special shirt for her birthday. Being the veteran mom that she is, she foresaw the weeping and gnashing of teeth that would inevitably occur when the 2 younger sisters saw big sister's new shirt so she ordered custom shirts for each sister too. Wise woman.

Sledding and Other Death-Defying Activities

We had a memorable spring break in New Mexico with some of our dearest friends. The people you are in community with when your kids are born just have a special place in your lives, even when you don't live close together anymore. These 3 other families honor the Lord with their lives and share the same values we do. It doesn't hurt that they are some of the funniest people I know too. Our kids are all friends and we know each other inside and out. There were 10 kids and 8 adults sharing one house and we laughed and played non-stop. Great times. However, I was completely unprepared for the mortal danger and sheer terror I felt as we participated in the "fun" winter activities. I am a cautious person by nature and careening down a slippery mountainside on a small plastic disc without a steering or braking mechanism is not my idea of a leisurely activity. Who thinks this is a good idea?! We did have some cute little snow bunnies, though.

On the first day we got to the mountain, we took the kids sledding. We found a fun snowy hill, bought a couple of discs and let them go. I was still organizing snacks and applying sunscreen at the car when I heard a blood-curdling scream from Ava at the base of the hill. I saw her lying facedown in the snow on the wrong side of a tree, with her face scraped up and her lip bloody. We had been there all of about 4 minutes! She had come down the hill faster than she anticipated and couldn't avoid the tree in her path. After dusting off and getting a pep talk from Dad, she decided to try it again. She moved further over and tried again, this time colliding hard into an unsuspecting 2-year-old being pulled on a sled by her mom. The little girl screamed her head off and Ava burst into tears while I apologized profusely to the mom. At this point I told Tye, "Okay, I hate this. It's a head injury waiting to happen." I sat down on a picnic bench and tried to avoid a complete panic attack. There were several sledding paths converging into one giant collision course, so Tye and some other dads took it upon themselves to play traffic cop and provide some safety and organization to the chaos. They indicated when each sledder could come down and probably prevented more collisions and injuries from happening as small children came hurtling enthusiastically down the steep hill. Here's Ava's face after her brush with the tree:

The second day was spent skiing. The weather was perfect, in the 60s, and the scenery was breathtaking. I tried to remember every piece of skiing advice I had ever been given, but it had been a LONG time and I am a few years older than I was the last time I skiied skied? went skiing. Tye was patient to stay with me on the easy courses when I know he would have rather been on the more challenging slopes. We checked in on the girls frequently in ski school and they seemed to be having a blast. Ava and Gentry even got to go up on the lift and come down the mountain a few times. And apparently, the helmet really comes in handy when the lift chair hits you in the back of the head. Thanks to the kind stranger who offered to take our picture because she knew I couldn't juggle my poles, my phone and get both of us in the shot all at the same time.

There is no tired like a just-spent-all-day-on-skis-trying-to-stay-upright tired. There's a reason the first thing the ski instructor teaches you is how to get up after falling over. Tatum gave it up on the way home.

We had a fun dinner with our friends and the kids enjoyed making s'mores in the outdoor fireplace.

Saying goodbye was hard to do. These kids have known each other all their short lives. We don't get together as often as we would like, but they always pick up just where they left off. They are all exceptionally great kids and we love them as our own.

These sweet girls are 5 days apart. They've been best friends since birth.

There is nothing I treasure more than friends who cherish my kids and recognize their unique qualities.

This one made me cry.

We were glad to cross the state line back onto home soil again.

It's good to be back home with all of our limbs and skulls intact. The laundry is done and I'm ready to face the week. I have a lengthy pending order list, so I will contact everybody when I get to your order. Have a great Monday!

The Chocolate Bunny

I'm back to the land of wi-fi and consistent internet connection! We had an amazing ski vacation and while there were no bones broken, each of my children suffered minor injuries and Tye and I are walking around like old people. Winter sports are dangerous! I almost had a heart attack on several occasions, but we had fun and made memories with cherished friends. I'll be back soon with more but I want to get the chocolate bunny design posted now. I'll be accepting Easter orders for a short time so get your order in ASAP for this adorable onesie or shirt. It's one of my personal favorites, with chocolate brown minky and a dainty ribbon bow. Name is optional.

Birthday Boy Shirt

This birthday boy is celebrating his big day with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse-themed party. Lots of bright colors and bold patterns make it easy to spot who the guest of honor is!

Here's the front:

and the back:

Happy 1st Birthday, Ian!

Hot Pink and Zebra Towel

Sisters

I think one of the most precious blessings a girl can have is a sister. I know this because I have one of the greatest big sisters ever, and my own girls think their sisters are pretty special (ahem...most of the time. Let's be real here). Tea parties, dressing up and shoe shopping just aren't the same with a brother. (Of course, brothers are priceless too - I have one of those as well). A sweet little girl named Kate just became a big sister last week to baby Ellen and I had strict instructions not to post a word about Ellen's name until she arrived. I was scared to death that I would "accidentally" announce it somehow and ruin the surprise, but I got confirmation this weekend that baby Ellen is here and her name is now public. Her mom sent me photos of both girls' bedrooms so I could create some fun custom pillows for them, and each room is a whimsical display of textures, patterns and vibrant colors. I tried to reflect that in their pillows and their sister shirts. Welcome to sisterhood, Kate and Ellen! You'll be best friends for life.

Name Pillows and a Diagnosis

My plans for a productive day just took an immediate left turn when our trip to the pediatrician this morning "just in case" resulted in a strep diagnosis for Gentry. She looked perfectly fine to me and I told her to get ready for school because she would probably be headed to class after the appointment. No such luck. Why is it that when I have strep I feel like death warmed over, but she can bounce around with a slight fever and a "little" sore throat? She came back home, selected her DVDs for a movie watching marathon, and declared, "Let my weekend begin!". I guess if you have to be sick, this is the way to do it.

Now that she's comfortably situated in the media room upstairs, I'm sewing up a storm. Here are a few pillows I've completed recently. I'm loving the gray and white chevron.

Karsen's mom requested Ravie font for her pillows, and I like the chunky, whimsical-ness of them. Feel free to ask for a different font other than my standard Times New Roman. (FYI, I'm still closed but you can place your order for after Spring Break).

Now I'm going to check on the poor sickly patient, bless her heart.