Hello, everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. Ours was quite busy, but a lot of fun and so hot I thought we were all going to melt (it has been between 100 and 105 pretty much all week!). It was an exciting weekend because Lillian Annabel said her name for the first time. We all call her something different from Lillie, Lillian, Lillabel and Lillie Belle and even the occassional Lil. Her vocabularly has considerably expanded the past couple of weeks and I thought I was going to be able to get her to say Lillie because I thought that would be easiest for her, even though I prefer to call her Lillabel because it means “beautiful lilac” which has great meaning to me. I am in a hurry now so I won’t explain it, but I will at another time. Anyway, my sister, Dana, was watching her and they were in a candy shop that Lillie had dragged her into (yes, thanks to my sweet tooth Lillie knows where every chocolate shop in town is – haha) and the girl behind the counter asked what her name was. Dana was about to answer for her, seeing how she’s never said her name before and Lillie chirped out “Lil Belle”! Haha! Dana said that she said it twice and then she said it for us about 5 times later that night! It is amazing how much pride you can feel as a mom over such a simple thing!
The rest of the weekend was quite hectic. We have been busy getting ready for our July plans. My hubby is a college basketball coach and that means that every July he is basically gone for the entire month because that is their biggest recruiting period. He has a pretty crazy schedule most of the year and is gone a good bit, except for May and June. That is why those are quickly becoming my favorite months!
Last year when he left, Lillie and I went to New Hampshire to be with my family for the month and that is where we finally got Dear Lillie off the ground. We are going to do the same thing again this year and head up there this week. I already have my sewing machine up there, now I am just running around trying to figure out how to pack all of my supplies and making lists, all while finishing up all of the orders that need to go out before I leave. I hate that Jon has to be gone for so long. It is going to be so much harder this year because Lillie is older now and is really going to miss him! They have so much fun together. I am looking forward to doing more Dear Lillie brainstorming, though, getting some new products made, refilling some of our in-stock items and I am really excited about our professional photo shoot with Pizzuti Studios. Anyway, that is just a little tiny update on what is going on here. I have lots more to share especially about some changes coming to our blog and a few other things but I really need to get sewing if I am going to get all of my orders out before I head out of town, so I had better get working, but first:
The winner of the Annabel Tank Giveaway is:
Alisha!!!!!
(I may be blind but I can’t find your e-mail address anywhere and when I click on your name I can’t find one on your blogger profile either – so PLEASE e-mail me at dearlillie@hotmail.com tonight to let me know what size you would like and your address! ) Thanks so much! And thanks again to all of you who entered!
I plan on doing a few more posts before I leave and then as soon as I get settled in up in NH we will be hosting another giveaway so keep checking back!
And last, here is a link to a gorgeous post I just read on Urban Farmgirl’s blog! You definitely should check it out! How incredible is this:
I cannot believe this…. I won 🙂 I am sitting here on the couch and I just started yelling "I won, I won, I won"!!! My husband is just looking at me {hehe}… How did I get this lucky to win one of your beautiful tanks?? I am SOOO thrilled {if you couldn't already tell LOL}.
Thanks again Jenni, I am emailing you right now 🙂
Oh and I almost forgot to say that I love that picture of Lillie…she is too cute.
YAY Alisha! So excited for you! Congrats on your win!
Jenni – LOVE that picture of Lillabel! She is a beauty! And of all the places to say her name, the candy shop, too cute!
Must be super hard with the hubby gone so long, but being with family is the best and I bet you are going to get so much done! I can't wait to see what's new! I love reading your little updates! It is like we have to hold onto those until you reopen!
that house/room – so beautiful!
Thanks Jenni R. 🙂
I was so excited about my win I completely missed the part about Lillie saying her name…. That is so exciting 🙂
LOve the pic! She is a beauty! I love when they start talking! YAY! I will miss you! Hee Hee! I feel like I see you daily! I am crazy! Congrats Alisha! I am sooo jealous!
Jenni, I love the new pic! That's so cool Lillabel said her name! Awesome!
Miss you!
That is so precious, Lillabel saying her sweet name for the first time. That had to be such a special moment for her Auntie Dana too.
Jenni, the traveling must be so hard on you all. Thinking of you…hope you have a fun time with your family dreaming up new designs for the shop.
Yay Alisha!!! SOOO excited for you! Congratulations!!
Woohoo! Congrats Alisha, you lucky duck you!!=) I'm so jealous!!!
That is so cute about Lillie saying her name!!
Can't wait to see what you have in store for us!
LOVE that little shack!!How cute is that?!?! I've been seeing it all over blog land and I'm in love! One day I will have my shabby chic white home!!!=)
Lucky you! Going to New Hampshire!! I'm sure the weather is far more agreeable than it is here!! Goodness! I can't take much more of this + our AC is still broke 🙁
Jen, what a cute story! And can I say, I bought the same hat for my Mia! I've been wanting to take photos with it, but we are planning a professional family shoot in August w/Pinkletoes and I might save it for then.
Anyhow, I'm so glad I read this b/c your items are done and I was about to ship them. Should I send them to your address or your p's? Let me know? I adore that last photo. I need a bed like that in my studio! ha! For now, the red velvet fainting couch will have to do 😉
Thank you for your kind comment. Most of my furniture either comes from my Dad's ranch or thrift stores. I love thrifting and old things. Look forward to reading your blog. My niece is named Lillian and we call her Lilly bug. I loved your post.
Ok, potty training muddled my mind and I don't know if I ever entered in this?!? ACK! But Alisha you lucky duck! Now we can be twinkies at church and wear our Dear lIllies hehe…We will be the most stunning ladies around! ha!
I too love that pic of LIllie and that little story is precious!! congrats on her sayingher name. That's such a big deal! xoxo
That last picture is my dream room. Stunning!
Love Love Love this blog, it's beautiful in every way. I came accross your blog because I was searching for things for my daughter Lillie Arabella, it seems to me we were in the same name pool when naming our daughters. Thank you for all your lovely posts, your daughter has a lovely name to match a lovely face, she's adorable.