the matts:

Before I began the journey to Africa to bring our boy home, I weighed 124 pounds and was the smallest and most fit I had been in my adult life (or whole life, probably). Africa brought ten pounds, the settling period afterward five more, and then pregnancy twenty eight-ish more… Since the baby came I have had the hardest time getting it all off again. I exercise and eat very well, and after Presley was born a good diet and exercise took off a total of 55 pounds including preggo weight.

This time around it seems to be a little stuck…

Before I got pregnant with Elikai I was training for a half marathon but I wasn’t really far along enough in the training to safely continue through pregnancy, so my doctor advised I hold off and just run recreationally in my exercise program. When the Saints won their game a few weeks back by 55 points, the Rock N Roll half marathon was discounted by $55 and I just couldn’t pass up that deal so I signed up! I’ll be doing my first 13.1 mile race on March 4 in NOLA and I am stoked!

Training for the race has forced me into the gym four days per week instead of three, so I am hoping it pays off on the scale, too. It’s my goal to be back down to 125 pounds when I hit my 13.1 in March! I have been taking pictures of myself at the gym the last few months so I could see my progress when I felt like a chub. Now I can show myself that what I am doing is making a difference… just slow and steady! (Though I totally wish I had taken all my pictures in that bright pink top because wow, it’s super flattering! )

So, in obligatory-weight-loss-blog-post fashion, here are the pictures of my progress:

Side view: August 18 (top left), September 19 (top right), October 24 (bottom left) and November 15 (bottom right)

Front view: August 18 (top left), September 19 (top right), October 24 (bottom left) and November 15 (bottom right)

Now keep me accountable!! I am finally starting to feel like myself again, and I am bound and determined to hit my goals! If you know me at all, you know I am stubborn and when I set my mind on something I do it. So here it is….

13.1 and 125… Here I Come!!!

It seems like more and more people I know are battling death and disease. Their loved ones are left fighting for them, praying, believing for the best.

It could be us. It could be any one of us. It’s my worst nightmare, but one so many people experience and deal with on a daily basis- something happening to a spouse or a child.

It’s true… Life is a vapor. I remember hearing an awesome word at a funeral once about what you do with your “dash”, the time in between when you are born and when you die.

I pray that I’ve made a mark on the world somehow, but most of all I hope those I loved know how much I loved them. I pray that the dumb little fights are squashed sooner than later, petty things are forgotten, big trespasses are forgiven.

Life is short.

Life is hard.

Love harder.

So, there’s a church with a pretty good size pumpkin patch right down the street from us that would have been fine for taking pictures. BUT then there’s a farm about 40 minutes away with way more fun stuff to do, so we drove out there today with the whole fam… And so did about 2,000 other people. Literally. You would have NEVER known there was an LSU day game today- it was CRAZY!

But we walked around, picked out pumpkins, took pictures, played in the hay, pet some animals and had a picnic, and it was a fun little family day. (Until Presley accidentally threw a big jug of water on her baby brother’s head… that wasn’t so fun for anyone.)

And it made for some cute pictures, though Elikai slept on me most of the time so he didn’t make it into many shots… Anyway, enjoy

In my last post I told you guys about my new little venture into the world of at-home-business. Today we are kicking off a brand spankin’ new promotion that I hope you will take advantage of.

If you refer any customer who makes a purchase of over $20 from us, you will get one item 20% off! That’s huge!
And remember, if you are local you are always eligible for free delivery!!

So get your little booties over to http://www.etsy.com/shop/loisandlouiseand check out the merchandise! Scoop up an awesome fall or Christmas wreath, painting for your kids’ room, or another one of our handmade pieces. We are adding new items constantly and custom creations are always available!

To order locally, email shoploisandlouise@gmail.com so you won’t get charged shipping on etsy.

Here are a couple of our most recent pieces. Happy shopping:

No, not that kind of baby…

I have started a little Etsy shop… I’ve talked about it for a long time, so I finally went for it. Long term it will be home decor and paintings, and right now there are lots of holiday items with more are being added every day.

Check it out here. You can read all about how my business got its name and see everything we are currently selling! And check back frequently- I am listing about one new project per day.

Here are some of my faves:

Hoping the creativity flows so I can get some fun, unique ideas and some items sold! What are some things you are always looking for and can’t seem to find?

And check out the special discounts on those ornaments! They make great office presents for Christmas

The above picture in hanging on a bulletin board in Presley’s classroom… At her pre-school… My baby girl is going to school!

Ok, she’s only going 2 days a week for 4 hours a day, but it counts. This will be the first time she’s ever been away from me for this long on a regular basis, and it means my baby is growing up.

But goodness gracious, she is so excited! She has several friends from church in her class, but I’m sure by the end of day 1 she will have made 5 more buddies and know everything about them. I cannot even believe how social she is sometimes… It blows me away. I always remember being shy and scared to talk to new people. As I got older that turned into people thinking I was a snob, but really it was insecurity.

But Pres, gosh she is confident, and it’s my deepest prayer that she stays secure in who He created her to be. That as she gets older and the pressures and ideals of the world weigh down on her, that she stands tall and remains full of mercy, grace and love.

So next Wednesday-whether I am ready or not- Presley will begin her school days. She is going to do amazing… The first day of dance class she marched in, introduced herself to the teacher, approached a couple little girls and commented on their shoes, and in less than 30 seconds was completely independent of me. Now she walks into dance class and never looks back… And preschool will be the same. She will love it and they will love her.

And I will love her even more with each minute she’s gone, and I will likely count down the seconds until I pick her up.

Ok, I’m ready… I think.

Natalie stuck around after the birth to capture the first moments between Elikai and his brother and sister, as well as his grandparents and aunt Lauren. Get ready for the sweetness!

(Moses was scared because he was in a hospital and has had very traumatic experiences before with medical stuff… So Chris was comforting him and explaining what was going on. Awesome Daddy )

Is he an angel or what?

One thing God has blessed our family with is great friends who are also amazing photographers. I invited one of my best girls, Natalie Landry (of Landry Photography), to be in the labor and delivery room with us to capture the most special moments of our experience bringing Elikai into the world. She did such a beautiful job and gave us almost 200 images that we LOVE! Here are some of our favorites…

Tomorrow I will post some of Moses, Presley and the rest of the family meeting Baby E for the first time… There are some very special images in that bunch, too. Get ready

Our beautiful, sweet baby boy Elikai was born on Monday morning at 9:05am, weighing in at 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long… He was a few days “late” but right on time. After what we thought was a false alarm trip to the hospital Sunday afternoon, we went to some friends’ wedding to try and get labor going. Apparently all that Footloose dancing worked, because by the time we left I knew it was time to go back to the hospital!

Labor is a long story, but the end result is that I pushed for an hour and had a very successful VBAC, which was my greatest dream for this experience. God is so good to give us the desires of our heart! My doctor is absolutely incredible and I couldn’t have been happier with him after all was said and done. He was so supportive and kind and wonderful and I am so grateful for him. And my hubby was the most amazing birth coach ever and was there for me every step of the way. God reminds me so often how blessed I am to have Chris and what an amazing partner he is.  And getting to see him with a teeny tiny baby again pretty much melts my heart

And now, meet our boy…

(Click on the pictures to make them bigger)

Coming soon will be the pictures taken in the delivery room by my great friend and photographer Natalie Landry… I can’t wait!

For most of my childhood, I believed I would end up a professional dancer. Dance was the only place I felt really, truly free. I loved it as much as any human could possibly love any activity. But at age 13, it got competitive and caddy, and I got bored so I switched to cheerleading. My grandmother died and dance was kind of “our thing,” and I just wanted to try something else. Quitting dance one of very few regrets I have in my life. I’ve taken some classes as an adult, but I could never reclaim those glory days.

So of course, when I offered dance lessons to Presley and she got super excited, I got super excited! I would never force any sport, activity, subject on my child but if she ends up loving it I will definitely be thrilled. And if not, we will find something else she loves.

But today we went to get all basics- leotards, pink tights, tap shoes, tap ties, ballet shoes, a dance bag, and a bow … And inside the store I almost lost it. She was SO excited to try it all on and twirl and tap her toes. It sounds crazy I’m sure, but it felt like time stood still and I was looking at a little me. A flood of emotions came over me- and these hormones weren’t helping either.

For the rest of the morning she begged to try everything on again, so I told her after her nap we would have a big fashion show. Of course that meant she took a very short nap because she was way.too.excited, but seeing her in the whole outfit, running to pose so I could take her picture..

Oh, my heart.

(And those tap shoes didn’t come off for three hours, and it took bribery.)

She will start dance classes in about four weeks, and shortly after that she will start preschool. And the world of Presley being my tiny baby girl will end… She is about to be a big sister, and every day she’s becoming more of a “big girl.” No more pacifier at sleeping time, praying over people’s needs without me even telling her to, doing so many things on her own…

How do I even deal with this? It’s just going by way too fast.

I always loved art classes growing up, and the idea of painting and creating art has always enticed me. But to be honest, I just kinda thought I would be bad at it. In high school and college I shifted my creative focus to writing which I felt much more secure in.

In working on Elikai’s room, I decided to paint/distress the hodge podge of furniture we had to make it better coordinate. Though it took a long time to get the look exactly perfect, I LOVE how it turned out.

Here’s my favorite piece… It has very sentimental value because it was in my room for most of my childhood.

I found some really cute little prints on Etsy that I am kind of obsessed with to add some non-generic flair to the room…

…And then the other day I had this “wild hair” to paint a big piece of art to go behind his crib that would be super bold, a la David Bromstad from HGTV (who we love). So, being the determined (and OCD) person that I am, I went out the next day and borrowed and bought all the materials I would need and got to work.

So, in a day I went from this

to this

to this…

And now it hangs here, and looks fabulous with the bold owl crib sheet and teal and orange bed skirt.

Not bad for my first ever painting project- well, at least of my adult life.

Hoping this artsy side sticks around for a while