sick boy...

So it caught us.  We were completely unsuspecting.  On Sunday, two weeks ago, Noah woke up super sick.  He'd had a little cold that we didn't think anything of, but that morning it was bad news.  By midday, he was looking better.  Playing, running... a little slow, but running.  But by dinner time it was really bad.  We ended up in the doctor's office until midnight.  Diagnosis:  pneumonia!!  I really thought I was going to burst into tears as they are telling me they may have to admit my little boy into the hospital because it's so dangerous when they're this young.  Thankfully, after a traumatizing breathing treatment, his breathing got better and we were ok to take him home.  I just had to count his breaths-per-minute every half hour through the night to make sure he was ok.  Not that I would have slept anyway.  So we kicked Abe out to the couch and Noah slept with me. 

Here he is the next morning:

Amazing how easy it is to get a smile out of this kid!

And by that afternoon... couch jumping!

We had to give him 4 breathing treatments a day for a week, not to mention antibiotics for his DOUBLE ear infection!!  Poor kid.

But by Friday, he was nearly back to normal.  Almost full speed.  We babysat Noah's cousin (once removed??), Jonah, and they had a blast!  Jonah is just 4 months younger than Noah and doesn't let Noah bully him (Noah can be mean).  So they were a great pair!

Look at these buddies!

We had to do the diaper shots since they were changing into jammies.

I call this Chocolate and Vanilla.

I think Jonah is trying to escape.

So a happy ending to a scary week.  We are so blessed to have our healthy, happy little boy back!

another GIVEAWAY!!!

All right PP readers, there is another GIVEAWAY being hosted on an awesome blog that you should be following anyway! 
Sara Boulter Photography!
  She is such an amazing photographer!  She makes EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE look beautiful!  And she's super silly funny.  My favorite kind of gal. 
After you see her work, you will want more.  I promise! 
She's the one that took these fab shots of Noah at 1 year old:

Seriously.... need I say more?  She is amazing!  So go to her blog for details and to get in on the drawing AND a discount!!

http://saraboulterphotography.blogspot.com/2010/02/women-who-rock.html

sweet, sweet V-Day

There was so much love around my house this Valentine's day!  First of all, it was my Abe's 30th birthday on Feb. 12th.  Yes, my husband Abraham L. Carlsruh was born on Abe Lincoln's birthday.  His parents promise a coincidence.  And... I'm totally a cougar.  He's a full 6 months and 1 week YOUNGER than me.  I know, I know... cradle robber.  So we made him these:

But the love that went into making these... my my my....

I watch my little 4 year old niece, Della, four days a week.  She is the youngest of 3 brothers, but she has absolutely taken the big sister role with my little Noah.  She loves him so.  She is his protector, his comforter, his punching bag. 

And I was so excited to catch this moment:

Yes.  He climbed up on her "baking chair" to hug her.  And hug and hug and hug her.  I don't know what he'd do without his Della. 

Then she helped him with the cookie cutters:

Aren't they cute?? 

But for the decorating I put Noah in his high chair so that Della could concentrate on her designs:

Noah just ate his designs:

And last, here's Noah coloring his valentines for his cousins:

He worked so hard on this little project (got it on video too!).  And yes, I bought Noah some Dr. Seuss valentines because he liked those better than the ones I created.  Can't win 'em all!

I hope everyone's Vday was as fun as ours!

the GIVEAWAY!!

Just to clarify... the GIVEAWAY goes through Valentines Day!  I think I may have confused a few of you by making it sound like it was only one day.  If you go to lassie girl's blog and comment on this GIVEAWAY post, you are entered into the drawing!  She won't be closing the comments until midnight on V-Day Feb 14!  So what's everyone waiting for??  It's totally FREE! So go check it out!

The cow says... "Moooove!"

a GIVEAWAY!!

Hi everyone, I have good news! A fellow crafter and all around fun gal is hosting a giveaway today! It's a GIVEAWAY of one of my prints, but you have to go to her blog to get in on the action.  You should check out her blog anyway, she makes the cutest little girl pinafores ever!  So fun, makes me wish I had a little girl!  She is the creator of Lassie Girl and you will fall in love with her fabric choices and designs!  So so cute!

Check it out here:

...have fun!

and another shop is opened

Ok, it's open!

The Pickled Pantry

Named as a spin off of my main store, Pickled Pumpkins.  This new one contains products of my craft "pantry" (if there is such a thing).  And this is to feed the aforementioned addiction I have to paper.

So come check it out!

I will be adding new stuff everyday until it's overflowing!

Here's a peek:

the Valentines are in

Come check out the new Valentines at the shop!  There are 6 different sets to choose from!  So cute, I love these little cards so much!  They are 2x3.5" and come with little envelopes.  They come in a set of 12 for only $5.50!!  Here are the sets:

Farm Friends

Kitchen Friends

Laundry Day

A Good Pair

Robot Friends

Sweet Friends

And who says Valentines can't be year round?? 

Some possible uses for tiny Valentines include (but not limited to):

-Classroom Valentines

-slipping in a lunchbox

-tucking in a purse or wallet

-leaving around the house (ie: computer, mixing bowl)

-inlcude with other letters as a fun little extra

Have fun with them!  Check them out here!

what have I been up to lately?

Not that anyone is asking ;)... but... I have been painting again!  I go in spurts with it.  I'll paint for a while, then I have to take a break and do something else for a while.  Then I come back and paint some more.  So here's what I've been working on lately... aside from the Valentines (which are almost ready to put in the shop):

a robot

a train set

and some tiny, mini paintings of

kitchen appliances

These ones match some of my valentines.  I enjoy small kitchen appliances.  So they are all works-in-progress and will all hopefully be finished in the very near future.

But...

I've also been feeding my addiction to paper.  This is what I've been doing in the painting-off times:

gift tags

I know... it's weird.  I truly have an addiction to paper.  So.... I'm opening up a second Etsy shop in hopes of feeding my paper addiction.  More news on that later.

 Well it's dinner time now.  But before I go, just want to say thanks to everyone who reads my silly blog.

a sneak peek at the Valentines

Thought I'd share a sneak peak of the Valentine's Day cards that will be in the shop any day now...

I know you can't see them very well, I'm not the best photographer.  But there are a few of the illustrations on my shop banner.  I draw them on paper, scan them in, color them digitally, put the design together and... voila!  I'm so excited to get them printed!  They are so fun!  I love them. :)

the Sweatheart Sale starts today

A sale in my shop starts today!  It's Buy One Get One FREE for all PRINTS and prints ONLY.  In order to get your free print, you must select a print to buy, then specify which additional print you would like in the "Message to Seller" section of the checkout process.  I will send both prints to you with no additional shipping charges.

Enjoy shopping for your loved ones!

I love being a mom... so much!

I have tried not to make my little Noah the center of my artwork blog, but...  he IS the inspiration for most of my artwork.  He IS the focus of most of my day.  He IS the sweetest, cutest little boy I've ever known.

The other day while playing with Noah, I squished my cheeks together to make a face at him.  He laughed, then came up to me and squished my cheeks together with his big, clammy hands and kissed my puckered lips, then hugged me.  Then.... be still my heart.... he did it again... and again... and again...  For about seven minutes he did this over and over again.  My cheeks were sore, my lips were raw, I had things to get done...  But this little moment in time... it is times like these that you forget everything else around you and live in that moment.  Just soak it up because it may never happen again.   And you say, "I love being a mom".

seeing the lights.... post Christmas

We wanted to take Noah to see Layton's crazy display of "Christmas" lights, but didn't want to fight the crowd so we waited until after Christmas to go.  Now what I mean by "crazy display" and my quotes around the word Christmas is that these lights are downright silly.  You've got everything from mermaids to dinosaurs, monkeys, dragons, airplanes, flowers, bears, dolphins, butterflies and yes... even a unicorn!

Silly.

Speaking of silly... luckily these snow pants are hand-me-downs because of course by the time Noah can wear them, they are a wee bit small.  But he LOVED them!

It was PAINFULLY cold that night, but Noah didn't care at all.

There he goes...

He so loved the silly lights...

All in all, we were only there for about 15 minutes because of the single digit temperature.  Needless to say, Noah was very upset we were leaving so fast, so we drove around the park a few times so he could see the lights from the warmth of the car.