Us & Firedaughter

Sacrifices

2009-07-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

I'm so bummed to be typing this, but I'm sure you've noticed I haven't blogged in like a month. I was on a 2 week vacation (which was HEAVEN and everything I needed it to be, thank you Mom & Dad & Gabby & Mickiala:), and then when I got back I was waaaay backed up on orders, and now my Munchkins, who have TOTAL immune systems of steel are both sick, and I'm starting my marathon training up again and Firedaughter is insane, and well...I need to give something up to make my life less hectic, and I'm afraid that regular entries in my blog are what it has to be. Between my website, my Etsy shop, and my Facebook (which I CAN'T give up, I am an addict) I'm on the computer way too much and Big Daddy is feeling a little like he's getting the short end of the stick. Alas I am sacrificing my sweet little blog, though I will keep it online and ocassionally when something MAJOR happens or I have a Mommy meltdown and need to vent I'll hop on and type away, and I'll just hope that I'll still have some readers that are interested LOL!! Amy Hodge, Dell, and my other girls who I communicate frequently with on here, look me up on Facebook so we can stay in regular touch, k? That goes for you too Sara Buford!
XOXOXOXOXO,
Samya

The Queen of China

2009-06-30T15:00:00.001-07:00

This is Autumn's new thing- she refers to herself as The Queen of China, and she totally plays out the roll all day, um...everyday basically ;) Her job as the Queen of China is to find charms, and if she doesn't find charms the bad people will want to be the Queen of China. Here she is in all of her Queen of China glory!

Not even tempted by Juicy!

2009-06-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm getting ready for a huge vacay extravaganza in about a week and a half, and of course I'm getting all prettied-up and planning my vacay wardrobe, etc. So I was like, I need something crazy fabulous-sexy to wear that I haven't worn before, and I know Shauna won't have time to make me something in the next week, so I thought "hmm...it's been a while since I checked out what's new at Juicy Couture." Actually, it's been since I discovered Poor Pitiful Pearl, I haven't bought any other clothes...but okay so I went and looked at Juicy's new dresses they've come out with...oh poor Juicy, poor people who are buying Juicy dresses...I used to LOVE Juicy, I mean LOVE it, and I do still love their velour for the winter, so comfy and yummy, but their dresses, now that I know PPP- now that I have like 10 custom one-of-a-kind pieces of vintage-y yumminess in the form of Hybrid dresses...I cannot imagine paying THREE TIMES the amount for a Juicy dress that isn't half as pretty, that a zillion other people have the exact same dress...it is SO NICE not to even be tempted to drop 250 bucks! I should also add that this blog post is NOT a backhanded slight to people who might read this blog who love and live in Juicy (you know who you are), I'm just really, really giddily happy that I have PPP in my life to fill the fashion void that was here for so long!!! AND it's not just me- I was at a birthday party in PV today in the front yard of a house and a gorgeous Playboy-meets-athletes-wife type walks by with her nanny and baby, and she actually turned around and came back to ask me about my dress- so of course I told her all about PPP and she ordered two custom Hybrid's and a few off the shoulder tubes this afternoon :) I'm just sayin...that type of thing doesn't happen when you're in cookie-cutter clothes...alright enough rejoicing about how thrilled I am to have PPP in my life, just wanted to share this little victory!

My Girl is 4!!

2009-06-21T20:53:00.001-07:00

Okay SERIOUSLY I can't believe that my baby girl is 4! Today was her actual birthday, but with it being Father's Day we had her birthday party yesterday, at Imagination Avenue. We usually have her parties at our house because we are so blessed with such a great house for kids and the hugest yard ever. This year though I just wanted to not have to stress about the house being clean and renting a waterslide bouncey and getting the food, plus cleaning up after, etc., so after talking about it quite a bit with Autumn, she chose Imagination Avenue. We chose the party plan where you have the whole place to yourself, and they take care of everything. Literally the only thing I had to do was wake up and get us all dressed and go! My mother in law made the cakes and brought those, so I didn't even have to worry about that. Now I sometimes wish that I was the kind of mom like my friend Stacy Altiery, who goes all out and thinks of every detail and is very Martha Stewart-ish about her son's parties- you should have seen the pics from his last Thomas party! But alas I am not that kind of mom, and I guess I'm okay with it because my kids seem pretty happy too :) But I'll always dream of being more Stacy-like... :)

Okay SO if I were to sum up Autumn's party in one word it would be...PERFECT! All of her little friends came, and they played like there was no tomorrow and ran around shrieking and laughing and all of the parents were able to relax and talk, since IA is the greatest place on earth for moms- the only place you can truly gab with your girlfriends and know your kids are safe and having fun, and you can see them and they can't get into trouble...I adore IA, and on a side note if there are any rich people reading this, if no one buys it by July 22nd it is closing b/c the owner is moving out of state. She said 89,000 and the rent is only 3k a month...so PLEASE I can't bear for this place to be gone, rich bored ladies, c'mon, this is your chance!! Okay back to the party: my daughter could not possibly have had more fun, no one wanted to leave, we could have all stayed all day...it was perfection. I think Autumn will remember it forever- I know I will. And now my baby is 4. FOUR. What is up with that?

What It's All About...

2009-06-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

Oh heavens I am SORRY to my friends and family that my blog has been sooo boring the last few weeks- especially this last week. I have been so busy working that I have literally not even had time to have a clever thought or take a cute picture or...well, anything except make some fabulous tees! It was especially nuts this whole past week with all of my orders for Team Daddy, what with Father's Day being today everyone needed them before today- I think I made about 60 of them in 4 days, all different burnout tee and american apparel tank colors and sizes AND ink colors, which is what is the most time consuming. I wouldn't have it any other way though, that's my deal- custom custom. I get bored making the same thing after the same thing. It's my saving grace when I get to change it up and make them all different and yummy :) AND all of those late nights and full days of working were SOOO worth it when people started posting pics of their families in their Team Daddy's on Facebook today! Here are a few pics to share of some of my clients who suprised Daddy this morning! Makes me sooo giddy!!

Cutest Shots

2009-06-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

I got the cutest pictures this week of my Munchkins modeling my Team Daddy's, just wanted to share- I think you can totally tell how awesome their relationship is through these pics :)

Brady's Love

2009-06-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

My sweet boy, who is SUCH a boy- he's a bit of a brute, tends to barrel his way through all situations- most times I pick him up from the gym he's in a time-out for being rough- he is just who he is, and I LOVE my big tough boy. BUT there is one little girl who has melted his heart and peeled away those rough boy layers to reveal a tender, sweet, nurturing Brady. Her name is Miranda, and she is 5 months old, and OMG all he wants to do is hold her and feed her her bottle and touch her face tenderly and kiss her gently. And he talks about her every single day, and now he is carrying one of Autumn's dolls around all the time, calling her "baby Miranda", and just today he shared his smoothie from the gym with that dolly "Miranda". I cannot even explain how tender he is with all things Miranda...it is so lovely and unexpected and OHHHHHHHH I love my boy.

A Few of the Customs I Made This Week

2009-06-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

It has been a CRAZY work week, and going into this next week it is already crazier...this is all good news of course! Here are some pics of some customs I did this week! This week was a nice mix of custom bling and custom screenprint work...when I do one too much I really start to miss the other. I also did a few pairs of flip flops this week (Dell, are you reading this?!!:), something I don't particularly enjoy but I do for just a few friends who help Firedaughter out in huge ways, like Denise from Studio 360 and Stephanie from Power Performance. Flip flops pretty much make me go blind, but I will NEVER forget the people who helped Firedaughter get where it is today, and so for them I will make flip flops until the sun don't shine. Alrighty, off to make some fabulous custom Team Daddy's!

Autumn's New Obsession Part 2

2009-06-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

My silly girl Autumn has a friend named Emma who broke her arm and was wearing a sling- well Autumn has empathy pains I guess, and her new "thing" is wearing a sling um...pretty much everywhere we go! We went to the fire station the other day and daddy got her a real sling to use as opposed to the dishtowel sling she had been wearing! So we're out at Target or wherever and people are always like "oh poor little girl has a broken arm...what happened?" And Autumn just smiles and says "tell them Mommy". And I'm like "um...uh...she just likes to wear a sling." Kids are so funny with their "things"!

My Twins :)

2009-06-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

My fave thing ever is when I look in my rearview mirror when I'm driving and I see these two pretty much identical faces with identical expressions on them! Autumn and Brady are 22 months apart, but I love how alike they look and how they are each other's best friends (and at times worst enemies!) It was not/has not been easy having two so close together, having them both be so young and demanding at the same time...but I honestly and firmly and with all my heart feel that the best and most rewarding things in life are those that you have to work hard at...and all of this hard work the last two years is paying off in droves, as I have what I always dreamt of now- two children who love to play together, who love each other fiercely, who have each other's backs so to speak. I can't even imagine how cute these two are going to be in high school :)

Running Fool!

2009-06-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

SO you know how I ran that marathon the January before last and it wore me out so majorly that I pretty much haven't run on a regular basis since...sure I'd do a 6-miler here and there, but nothing regularly. WELL last week something came over me and I was like Forrest Gump and I just started running...and running...and running...and by the end of the week I had run 42 miles, which is kind of crazy- even when you're way up in your marathon training mileage I don't know if we were running that much in a week- and if we were, we had built up to it, which I did NOT do last week- went from oh, running not at all the week before to 42 miles. Smart Samya! I ended up having to take Saturday and Sunday off of working out I was SUCH a zombie- like pregnancy zombie exhausted, it was actually kinda funny, cause I knew I did it to myself but OKAY there is a point to this story, actually two points! ONE- HOORAY HOORAY for me, I finally lost the last two baby pounds I have been trying to lose for TWO YEARS now, and I am kind of loving having my old body back.

Second and most important point: DANG my body is amazing...not amazing-looking but truly amazing in what it can do. I was born with both shoulders and both hips dislocated AND clubbed feet. My mom's teeny teenage body just didn't have enough room in there for me to grow right, so my torso took up all the room and my poor extremities were sacrificed! Which is not a surprise if you know me, everyone makes fun of (in a loving way) how freaking long my torso is and short my legs are- I am 5'5" and have the same length legs as my friends that are like 5'2". lovely.) So anyways I'm born all deformed and funky and have to undergo many surgeries to "fix" me AND on top of that my nose was BITTEN OFF , yes BITTEN OFF completely by a Doberman Pinscher when I was 1, and of course I had to undergo several plastic surgeries as a baby/toddler to reconstruct it...I have the greatest picture at my moms house of me after a surgery in the hospital wearing nothing but a bandana around my neck and some little underoos panties and my nose is all raw and my arms are bandaged to keep my from touching my nose- when I go home in July I'll have to scan that picture in and post it, it is seriously the cutest thing you've ever seen :) So anyways I was also sick enough as a baby to have my Last Rites read to me by our Priest, and then in high school I had a spontaneous pneumothorax, which means out of nowhere my left lung got a hole in it and collapsed- well it collapsed against my right lung which means I had two collapsed lungs, and I was in the hospital and out of school senior year for about 7 weeks...AND in May of '02 I had a fall hiking on Squaw Peak and fractured my femur and had to get helicoptered off by Phoenix Fire (and it was an A-shift and my husband was working!)...and in between all of those events I smoked and drank and partied and did all of those damaging things to my poor body...AND DESPITE all of this- the things I was born with and the things I did to my own body- it still continues to be STRONG. It will still run 42 miles in one week if I ask it to...even after being cut open twice to have babies pulled out...it heals itself, and allows me to do what I want to...when I want to...how is that possible? How am I so blessed with amazing health as an adult when I was so sick as a baby- how can this be? What a blessing, this STRONG STRONG body is. Thank you Lord, I know I don't deserve the physical strength you've given me, but I am hoping You are proud of the way I am stewarding the body you blessed me with.

TEAM DADDY!

2009-05-31T08:52:00.000-07:00

Oh I LOVE this one- inspired of course by Heather of AFDesigns, who had me custom make her some TEAM MOMMY tanks for Mother's Day for her and her daughter...I changed up my design just a bit here to make it more sporty for Daddy, but still soft and sexy (but not sexy- you know that's my whole vibe...sexy but not sexy) for mommy to feel girly and pretty in. And you can choose it all- your tank type (burnout or gauze), your color tank (from turquoise to white to salmon), your ink color (hot pink to purple to peacock blue to white...) AND you can get matching TEAM DADDY shirts for the kids- boys AND girls! Wear your TEAM DADDY all year-long, because you're his biggest fan :)

Sad News for My Mom...

2009-05-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

I talked to my mom last night, she was so sad- she's flying out to Chicago today because they're taking her brother Eddie off of life support. This will be the third sibling my mom has lost. Her brother Joe died when he was 16 of Leukemia, and about 13 or 14 years ago her brother Jerry was murdered. Now Eddie's liver cancer is taking his life, though it could be argued Eddie has been slowly taking his own life the past 35 years or so...I don't say that to be callous or insensitive- I probably shouldn't say it at all but...I have such a hard time making heads or tails of my mom's family in Chicago, it's weird, I guess they're technically my family too, but the last time I saw any of them aside from my Grandma Bea who has since passed away was in the 8th grade, at Christmastime.

My mom is so amazing. She was 15 when she got pregnant with me, and 16 when she had me, and at that young age she knew that if her baby girl was going to turn out right, she had to get me out of there...and she did. With nothing- NO money, NOTHING, she got me out of there- away from the severe alcoholism and physical abuse and neglect that her and her siblings were subject to every single day...away from LITERALLY no shoes in Chicago in the winter and watching her mother getting beaten and having to ask neighbors for food...circumstances I cannot think about without sobbing for her and getting angry all over again at the people who put her in that situation...my mother has long since forgiven her father and late mother and late stepmother for all of that she was put through, but I can't...when she talks about her family I instantly feel a guard go up around me, like I have to protect her or myself from even caring about any of them...and for me the ill feelings extend even to her siblings, which is stupid because they too, were victims, but unlike my mother they are continuing the cycle of alcoholism and drug abuse and physical abuse...jail...they have almost all been in jail on a pretty regular basis, and it's normal to them- and I know that the life they live is common- poverty breeds ignorance breeds poverty breeds ignorance- vicious cycle. And I KNOW as my mom often points out that I'm a Scottsdale snob, and I KNOW that I'm only where I am because of the choices my mom made as a teenager...I could be there- in Chicago, getting beaten by my husband, sleeping on floors...dying of liver cancer. But I'm not, because of my mom. Who is so smart and so funny and so giving and so amazing and so STRONG. HOW DID SHE DO IT? I have a hard time getting my kid to swim lessons on time- and at 16 my mom took me across the country to Washington BY HERSELF and from scratch built a life for us. With an 8th grade education she got a job working for King County in the Involuntary Treatment Mental Health department- where she met my dad :) Technically my stepdad, but sooooo my Dad. And then my sisters, the loves of my life...I have a glorious, beautiful life, and who would have thunk it to see where my mom came from. And that she loves her family fiercely, despite what she went through...I know this blog is all over the place, but it is very cathartic for me. I have a hard time dealing when my mom is in Chicago...I worry about her the whole time she's gone..but I'm glad she could be with her brother as he passes to the other side, where hopefully his soul will finally be able to rest and his pain will be eased...I'm so sorry Mom, that you have to lose another sibling, I love you so much and I wish I could ease your pain...

A Few of the Customs I Made This Week

2009-05-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

I LOVE MY JOB! This was a super busy custom week, I think I had about 9 or 10 custom tees this week, all of them so fun and different- being able to do my own screenprinting from home is SO FREEING for me- if I want to work at 3 am, I can work- I can work on projects in pieces...just so so so great for Firedaughter that I now have this capability. Here is a pic I snapped this morning of some customs I'm sending out tomorrow- I LOVE the one that says Team Maleah- there are two sisters, Maleah and Miranda, and Miranda is super girly and Maleah is more of a sporty girl, so their mom (who is FABULOUS and whom I LOVE) gave me carte blanche to do whatever I wanted for them- so of course Miranda got the whole Swarovski treatment, in my fave funky color mixture- fuschia, hyacinth, and citrine Swarovski are my absolute fave to mix! And then for Maleah's I went for straight sporty tomboy by doing Team Maleah in a fun sporty design BUT using SPARKLY bronze screenprinting ink to girly it up just a bit! I thought about adding a little bling but after experimenting with it, I decided it was perfect just how it was, and it will match EVERYTHING. There are also two tanks I made this week for a stylish little lady in Cali who is going to Disneyland next week and needed some FABULOUSNESS to wear!! Have so much fun Leila, and say hi to Tinkerbell for me!!

The Sistas

2009-05-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

Finally, together! These two shirts belong together... sometimes they can be kind of snarky to each other, and deep down they're just a bit jealous of one another, each thinking the other is prettier, smarter, funnier...but their bond can never be broken, they are SISTAS.

Last Day of Preschool!

2009-05-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it - already - Autumn's first year of preschool is over. It was AMAZING. It sooo surpassed all of my highest expectations of what it was going to add to her life. Of course I cried like a baby (again) saying goodbye to her teachers, which is kind of dumb considering summer school starts in one week and she'll be in the same classroom :)

So Thursday one of the moms had a goodbye preschool party at her house for all of the kids and parents, and these adorable pictures are from there- one of the coolest things about having a firefighter for a husband is that he can come to stuff like this, when most dads are stuck at work at 10am on a Thursday! It's so funny, I was realizing yesterday how much James and my dad have in common...when I was growing up my dad was a mental health professional for King County, and he worked a similar schedule to James'- often gone overnights but home a lot during the week...I have SO many happy memories of him chaperoning my field trips, and I love that Autumn will get to have those kind of memories about her daddy too!

Wrinkles. Ugh.

2009-05-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Ugh ugh ugh. We took a couple of pics today of my new What a Feeling tank, which is SO COOL, but I had a hard time celebrating the coolness because all I can see in the pictures are my wrinkles. Kids, wear sunblock! I am only 32 and I am so wrinkly and I am seriously bummed about it. Like down in the dumps totally bummed. This is nothing new, I know, but I'm finally starting to get back down to my pre-babies weight, and when I get thinner my wrinkles get uglier- no fair. AND *confession alert* a few months ago I got Botox (Shauna, please still love me- I'm just so NOT a natural woman), and I have to admit it made me feel GORGEOUS, I've had a good few months- BUT now it's wearing off so I'm even sadder because now I know how (relatively) pretty I looked without wrinkles! Okay PLEASE if you're going through something really hard right now, like if your husband just lost his job, or you just found out you have cancer, please don't hate me- I know this is really quite trivial, but still- it is my blog, and it's what's bugging my right this second so I need to talk about it. I KNOW it's silly and vain, but I'm a little silly and vain, so bear with me...I know in the big scheme of things, NOT IMPORTANT. But still, I really hate my wrinkles...

YUM YUM! Peace Love Daddy

2009-05-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

Oh I want to eat this shirt it is so yummy!! You know I make so much Mommy stuff, because hey, that's what I am :) But my Munchkins and I are so lucky to have such a fabulous hand-on daddy- since Firedaughter took off and became pretty much full-time- daddy is almost always in charge of the kids when he's home, and considering he is NOT a stay at home dad, I think that's pretty awesome of him to do without making me feel guilty. So here is a tribute to the wonderful daddy's out there- and there are so many of them!!

This design is entirely handmade- I create my design, burn my screen, hand screenprint, heat set- embellish with the Swarovski crystals- so much time and love goes into it, and I hope you all LOVE it! GO DADDY'S!!

I Don't Get It

2009-05-16T21:22:00.001-07:00

So yesterday afternoon we were at the train park and totally out of nowhere Brady started vomiting. And then late last night again, total vomiting all over his entire crib, poor baby- so I had a sick boy, and I was up really, really late working- so rough night, not really restful sleep, I went to bed hoping for a better day today. So a few hours after I went to sleep I woke up this morning and after getting the Munchkins all settled, I checked my email, only to find a nasty, vile email that someone had sent through my website Contact Us page. Not a good way to start the day. I just DON'T GET IT. What the hell is wrong with people? Seriously- you know what the first thing that came to mind is? Who the @*!! raised this person????? I am 32 years old, and for those of you who have known me forever, you know I've had my fair share of drama in my life. I was a bit of a drama queen well...basically until I met my husband 10 years ago. He brought me to Christ, and no lyin'- since I fell in love with Christ, I have had NO NEED for drama. Sure when I was pregnant I reverted just a little, since I had no control over my emotions whatsoever...but that's a whole nother story :) Anyways I am just this pretty boring wife and mother and just trying to live my life well and happily and kindly- and I don't understand why some jackass wants to mess with me- pick on someone your own size, SERIOUSLY. geez.

My FAVE. Ever.

2009-05-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to make a shirt that says this FOREVER- I don't know what took me so long. I've even had dreams about it, and when I sat down to design it, I already knew what it was going to look like- feel like...I'm kind of wierd about this shirt I think, but it was calling to me, and I am in love. I hope you love too. Entirely designed and printed by hand with LOVE.

Ooh ooh, can you imagine it with a PPP wrap skirt...I'm drooling now...

What I've Been Up To!

2009-05-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

So a few posts ago I told you all that I was up to something...something exciting and fun and great for Firedaughter. SO I am now doing my own screenprinting, by hand, out of my home!! To some of you that may not sound very dramatic, but trust me: it is! As Firedaughter has grown and expanded in ways I never even imagined, the number of custom print tee/tank orders I'm getting is CRAZY, in a really good way. Now, professional screenprinting outfits won't do single tees (or if they do, they charge about 60 dollars for them), and for the last several months my girlfriend Heather of MSK Wear has been MORE THAN GRACIOUSLY sharing her Direct to Garment printer with me, which is so far beyond what she ever had to do I can't even express... but I had been getting so many lately, and I hated taking up her time...SO I found seriously the coolest Etsy shop, called Willow Wren, and she does a lot of work with burnout tees just like I do, but she hand dyes hers, and then handscreenprints them. Her stuff is very, very cool- I LOVE her work, I ordered Brady the hot wheels burnout which she dyed dark blue and screenprinted in bright blue- LOVE it. Anyways, she totally inspired me to learn how to handscreen and to do it out of my home, and so I've been reading and learning and practicing and practicing and practicing- let me tell you friends, screenprinting by hand is NOT EASY. There are soooooooo many ways to screw up each and every screen, each and every ink pull- it's HARD but it's SO FUN to see the results!! And I love it because if I get inspired to make a shirt, I can just make it- I can make my design, burn my screen, pull ink, heat set- and my shirt is JUST THERE! Then I can remove my emulsion and I've got a blank slate to work on! All right friends, I have to run THIS SECOND, but I have so much more to tell you about this, about how it affects YOU, etc.!! Here are some quick pics of a few of the tees I've made...

The top one is my marathon time: I always wanted a shirt that said I ran 26.2 miles in less than 4 hours (-when my son was 8 months old, thought I'd throw that in- so I thought it would be cute to design it like a mathematical sentence...I love it :) sorry for the no makeup in the picture, I know that's cruel to do to you...the bottom one- it has gotten HOT quickly here in Arizona, and my son is always saying "hot. mommy. hot. hot." So I made him a shirt to help express himself :)

Mother's Day Tea at Preschool

2009-05-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Oh oh oh, have I mentioned how much I love and adore Autumn's preschool?? Last Thursday all of the Mommy's were invited to preschool to enjoy a Mother's Day Tea with our children. It was in the church auditorium, and it was all decorated with all of the projects the kids had made us for Mother's Day. There was tea, apple juice, and cookies, and we sat at pretty tables and the kids showed off the manners they had been taught for fancy parties :) The end of the school year is in two weeks, so it also served as a kind of goodbye party, and the teachers had made a DVD of pictures of our children they had taken throughout the year set to music. If you are a Mommy, I'm sure you can imagine all of the blubbering Mothers as we watched our precious children on the big screen. It is so amazing how their teachers were able to portray our children exactly how they are- they captured the essence of each child to a T- they also gave each one of us a DVD of it, and every single time I watch it I cry...I can't believe how Autumn has grown, and how AMAZING she is...not just to me...to her teachers, to her friends...she is so beautiful...

My fave part BY FAR was when some of the kids got up during the "movie" and started dancing with each other- I got some great pics! And I know I say it over and over, but I can't stress enough how proud I am that Autumn has such a fun and solid life away from me. You should see her with her friends- they all have the coolest relationships- relationships that THEY chose, not that I forced on them because of playgroups we were in, or playdates I chose for her. Those were great when she was younger, just the social aspect of them alone, but now that she is older and has her OWN personality, it's the least I can do for her to give her wings and watch her fly....

Can I also say I LOVE the mix of Poor Pitiful Pearl and Firedaughter bling the girls are wearing!! A very well dressed group...

Watch Firedaughter on Fox 10

2009-05-07T10:50:00.001-07:00

Here is the segment we taped...

NEWS SHOW

2009-05-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

I am just trying to decompress from this morning, but I don't think I'm doing a good job. I can't stop eating and I'm NOT hungry, not even enjoying what I'm eating...just eating. Maybe typing this all out will help. Okay so this morning was our shoot with Fox 10 Arizona Morning to promote Firedaughter- specifically Mommy tees and such, what with Mother's Day being on Sunday. SO the shoot was originally going to be in my neighbor's backyard, but they had to change the location so they could be closer to their next live shot. So they chose Kiwanis Park in Tempe. I live in Scottsdale, and all of my friends who were modeling live in Scottsdale, except Heather who lives in Mesa. So we were all supposed to be there by 7:50 for the 8:20 shoot. So my mother-in-law came over this morning to go with us and help with Brady and Autumn, and she got here about 7:15, then my girlfriend Kelly got here on time with her girls Carly and Courtney, at 7:25, and so we left in a caravan and on the way my girlfriend Diane and her daughter Olivia met up with us and they all followed me. So we get on the 101, cool- no backup, things going well...then we get on the 60. UH-OH. Cars totally stopped, construction- ugh, Samya's stomach starts getting tied up in knots and the f-bombs begin (I know, I know.) THEN what do I see up ahead? A sign that is flashing MILL AVENUE EXIT CLOSED.. oh my are you freaking kidding me?????? I have NO IDEA what to do- my exit is closed and it's been A LONG time since I went to ASU, and I don't remember Tempe at all. So I frantically call my girlfriend Heather who is already at the shoot location with her twins Sam and Kennedy. So she tells me how she went, and I try to go that way, but there are conflicting signs saying 'detour' and I have NO sense of direction, and have to make like three u-turns with my two girlfriends following...oh DID I MENTION MY PHONE IS BEEPING 'BATTERY LOW'? Okay so finally I am sweating and freaking out, and we were supposed to be there like 5 minutes ago, and I pull into this parking lot and thankfully there was a garbageman driving thru- and they're like firefighters, they totally know their way around, so I'm running towards him flailing my arms and I'm sure he thinks someone is having a heart attack in my car or something, and he was so sweet and he gets out of his truck and starts rushing toward me to help and I'm like "DO YOU KNOW WHERE KIWANIS PARK IS???? We're supposed to be on the news in 7 minutes!!!!!!' And as it turned out Kiwanis park was right behind the parking lot we were in, so I thanked him profusely and thought we were golden...so I drive into Kiwanis park, which is HUGE. No Fox 10 News truck...no Heather's big white fancy SUV....so I call the cell phone of Diane Ryan, the interviewer, and the cameraman answers and tries to tell me where they are, but I can't find them and my cell phone is literally dying as we're talking. I managed one more phone call to Heather, who explains that she went in a different entrance from another street, so frantically my caravan of cars makes its way back out to the street and...finally, we see everyone! Then it was a mad rush to change all the kids and mommy's into their clothes, and do the segment. It was actually really, really fun to do the segment- Diane Ryan is REALLY good at making it up as she goes along, she interviewed almost all the kids and moms, and then I thought it was over, I thought I wasn't going to be in it b/c it had already been a few minutes, but then she came over to me and had a whole conversation with me, too about Firedaughter. At first I was really nervous and I said the phrase "ridiculously fabulous" three times in less than 20 seconds. I wish I was exxagerating. But then it got more fun and I think it will be a really great segment. We all thought it was airing live, but it turned out that they lost power to the van at 8:00, so it ended up being a taped segment, and will play tomorrow morning- something called a "look live", where they'll act like it's happening live. I can't wait to see it, all the kids looked soooo cute, and my girfriends are of course the prettiest :) I was sad Brady won't be in it though, he just refused- we were at a playground so he just wanted to play, and then Autumn was the only kid not interviewed, so I don't know if she'll be in it- I hope so! WHEW I do feel better now. This blog is very cathartic, and I think good for my waistline.

Cinco de Mayo FIESTA

2009-05-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

...ha, yeah right! Okay so last night we had the news on and they were like "tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo", and James and I looked at each other and we were like "it is?" It's so funny how when you have little kids you are so far removed from the partying ways of the general population! I remember when I was in my young 20s and waitressing and we LIVED for nights like Cinco de Mayo, although really we didn't need an excuse to drink, smoke, and just generally commit total debauchery. BUT THAT WAS THEN, and this is now, and I am spending my Cinco de Mayo running to preschool, playing at the train park, working working while Brady naps, running back to preschool, more playing...the gym...more working. You know, the usual. Maybe I'll make quesadillas for dinner, as I AM three-quarters Mexican, I should celebrate in some way, yes?

Ooh well at least tonight I'll be getting ready for tomorrow morning's Fox 10 Arizona Morning broadcast which is doing a segment on FIREDAUGHTER CLOTHING at 8:20 am! I'm sure I'll say or do something stupid, so you should watch just for that reason alone. I'm VERY excited though, and so grateful to Fox 10- I LOVE their morning show, and I'll be able to link the video from the broadcast to my blog so if you're not local you'll get to see it too. Wish me luck friends that I can represent my little company well!

I'm Up To Something...

2009-05-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

I'm a little crazy, I realize it...but I'm up to something...and it's EXCITING and I can't wait to show you all...coming soon :) P.S. I'M NOT PREGNANT.

A Very Etsy Week

2009-05-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday night and I'm sitting here trying to decompress from the week. It started out um, rough- with my Mommy meltdown, but just like all Mommy's do, I got over it! For now anyways. So this week was very much a special week for Firedaughter Clothing on Etsy. Etsy admin has me in 3 Gift Guides right now- New Mothers, Classic Gifts for Mom, and Best Friends :) AND this week for THE FIRST TIME EVER I had one of my items on the front page!! For those of you unfamiliar with Etsy, it's a BIG DEAL and very, very exciting! I woke up that morning to a convo from OhFaro, telling me that my yellow Mommy tee was featured in her treasury, which is just freakin' COOL as it is, to be chosen for someone's treasury, it's such an honor. Well...later that same day I got a convo from AmyHodgePodge, one of my most favorite Etsians in the wide world, and a dang cool chick, telling my that FIREDAUGHTER WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE. Oh I wish I could explain how exciting that was, and I'm sure it sounds way dorky to those of you who don't Etsy, or who don't have their own small businesses. It's just major, major exposure and really it's a much fabulous pat on the back from the Etsy community :) THANKS ETSY and here's a screenshot of the front page if you missed it!

Another Gift Guide!!!

2009-04-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

I just went to the Etsy gift guides, and another one of my tees made their Mother's Day guide! And this time it's on the first page and it's the first item so you actually see it right when you go to the Gift Guide page! SO COOL! Thank you Etsy :) I needed this today.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!! BUT IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT, YES?!!

2009-04-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

What was it like- forever ago I had the giveaway on my blog where I asked for ideas for a new tee that would "fit in" with my line- and you guys gave the best ideas!! THANK YOU! But the MINUTE I read Heather from AFDesigns entry- TAKE YOUR PASSION AND MAKE IT HAPPEN- we had a winner! I loved it so much because I already had my WHAT A FEELING tank, and so this was like a continuance of that tank- it's sister :) So I knew what it was going to say, then I needed to come up with the design- the perfect shirt to put it on- and then actually make it! That's the part that takes forever, but MAN OH MAN I think it was worth the wait. Sorry but I LOVE THIS SHIRT. Totally 80's throwback mixed with what we want to wear TODAY. Happy happy Samya!

About Last Night

2009-04-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Okay so last night was NOT a good night. After I wrote my blog post I was pretty upset so of course I called my mom and got hysterical. Here is what she said : Samya, GO TO BED. She said Samya go to bed the next two nights when your kids go to bed instead of staying up to work or spend time with James, just go to bed as soon as you put the kids down. Do it for two nights and you'll be ready to face your life for two more years! ...I know she's right- I KNOW that I burn my candle at both ends, and apparently the end result is...well, a Mommy Breakdown! So I may take her advice, though I don't think I can start until Thursday night because I have a Mother's Day Boutique on Thursday to get ready for...anyways, THANK YOU for listening and hopefully not judging too harshly. Off to my day....

Mommy Burnout- and I Don't Mean the Tees

2009-04-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

I really want to cry right now. I would want to pound my fists on the floor and kick my feet and scream but I'm just too tired. I am suffering from a serious case of Mommy burnout. I literally do nothing all day long but give to my kids- at least that's how I feel. And I know it's my job but I don't know- is it asking too much that I sit down for TEN MINUTES and watch a snippet from the news...or even is it asking too much that i sit down TO EAT? I eat all of my meals standing up at the kitchen counter because I don't have time to sit down- the next request (demand) is always on its way. Today I took the kids to church 40 minutes early so they could have some playtime on the playground before service. And then they had Sunday School which is play play. Then we came home and Brady napped while Autumn and I played. Then he woke up and I took the kids to the zoo for two hours of playtime. They wanted to do the water play, so we did the water play. They wanted snowcones so we got snowcones. They wanted to do Monkey Village so we did Monkey Village. and so on. Then we got home and it was still DEMAND DEMAND DEMAND. Mommy cut this shape out for me, Mommy read me this book, Mommy Brady is hitting me with his carrot, Mommy wash my owie out...Autumn, there is nothing to wash out, it didn't cut you...Mommy wash it out!!!!! OMG seriously, I am SO SORRY to vent like this but I really think I'm losing my mind. I did NOTHING for myself today- well aside from church- I didn't shower, I didn't work out, I didn't watch one second of television- I can't even go to the bathroom without having to explain to my kids 10 times why I need to extricate myself from whatever they want me to be doing at the time that MOMMY HAS TO GO THE BATHROOM. I desperately need some Me time. I'm so jealous of my friends on Facebook whose updates say "so and so is having a day at the pool!" and "so and so is playing in a tennis tourney with her girlfriends!" I am even sometimes jealous of my friends who are divorced and have every other weekend without their kids. DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW HARD IT IS TO EVEN HAVE THAT THOUGHT LET ALONE WRITE IT FOR THE WORLD TO SEE????? My children and my husband are my life, and they're the life I always wanted and dreamed of, but I feel like I'm really going to lose it. I need my Mommy so bad...so badly..

Brady is 2!

2009-04-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

Okay seriously I am so exhausted I can hardly function right now- so if none of this makes any sense, I swear I'm not drunk. I wish. So yesterday my baby boy Brady turned TWO! I had been out shopping all week with him in tow of course, for all of the Thomas stuff for his new surprise train table (courtesy of the Koepke Family!) He woke up earlier than normal yesterday which was actually good because it was a work day for daddy so at least daddy got to see Brady's reaction to the train table which was PRICELESS. First Brady didn't see it, he was just excited to see daddy in the morning, so he ran to daddy and then suddenly he caught a glimpse of it and he stopped short and got the HUGEST SMILE EVER and looked at us like "is this for me??????" Seriously it was the greatest thing- totally made it worth staying up until midnight the night before setting it up and HELLO do you need a doctorate in engineering or something to be able to figure out how to layout all of the tracks and bridges and stuff...we have tons of tracks that just END because we can't for the life of us figure it out right now- I think we will have to bring in a more experienced Thomas mommy to help us with that...

So anyways daddy was off to work and then it was bringing Autumn to preschool and THEN we went to Imagination Avenue and met all of Brady's best buddies there to play play play! It's really cool- I have this great group of girlfriends and we all have daughters that are in the same class at preschool and then all of us have younger children who are boys all just a few months apart- except Karina, her younger is a girl, Alexa, but Alexa doesn't know she's a girl, so it's all good :) So all of our younger kids got to play to celebrate Brady's birthday and us Mommy's got to somewhat relax because Imagination Avenue is way easy to watch your kids in. The highlight of Brady's day was the M&M's at IA, and as you can see from the pictures, he has them in a little Dixie cup, and he is protecting them to no end!!

James had to work again today so tomorrow is our family celebration with Grandma and Grandpa, which should be fun and yummy and give us some more time to celebrate my big boy! I really can't believe it was two whole years ago that he was born...it's been a really challenging two years...two kids 22 months apart, a business that took flight in a major way...priorities changing...friends changing...I can honestly say I'm completely exhausted. But even though I'm beat and don't really resemble the Samya of two years ago...still, it's flown by. It truly seems like yesterday he was born, he was so small- Autumn was so small, she was only 22 months- SUCH a baby, but at the time she seemed like a big girl.. Now I look at pictures of then and I'm like WHOA she was a baby. And my little baby boy- it was SO different from having a baby girl, a whole nother species it seemed. I will tell you, I HAD to be the mother of a girl. I am so glad my first child was a girl, because if my first child was a boy I would have been stressed out during my second pregnancy wanting a girl so badly. I HAD to have a girl, and thankfully I was blessed with one. That being said, I can honestly say THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A SON. My love for Brady almost scares me- I totally "get" the whole "no woman will ever be good enough for my son" thing. He is totally insane, he is SUCH a boy- he still isn't even sleeping through the night (not even close), but he is MY BOY- and he is PERFECT and his kisses and hugs are the things dreams are made of, and when he says "Uv Oo Mommy"... and now I've gone and started crying...Thank You Lord for my son Brady...thank You.

For Your BFF!!

2009-04-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

So this month Shauna asked me to custom make her and her best friend BFF tees, and I had sooo much fun designing and making them! Could she be ANY MORE super fab in her white burnout with a Sweet Valley High inspired BFF on the front??!!! I don't know about you, but for about 5 years of my young life I ate, slept, and breathed SVH- not the tv show, it was before that- just the book series. I swear everytime I see a black porsche I still check the license plate to see if it's Bruce Patman driving around with his 1Bruce1 personalized plate! If you were a SVH diehard, you know exactly what I'm talking about. So anyways the instant Shauna requested her tee, I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like, and I LOVE the way it turned out! So does she, which is always a good thing... So THAT tee inspired my new Swarovski crystal BFF, for those who want a super luxe BFF tee for their more fancy BFF :) I will not lie- it was semi-brutal making it, but I LOVE the way it turned out- I wanted a way funky BFF, it's kind of similar to my Mommy burnout design- very 70's modish a bit, yes? Love it!!

Braggin' on My Man

2009-04-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

So today was James' yearly physical at work- he's a captain on the Phoenix Fire Dept if ya don't know. James' cardiovascular score was in the TOP 2 PERCENT OF 20 YEAR-OLDS. Did I mention that James is 43?!! They weren't even able to score him in his own age group- there was simply no one to compare him to... :) I must admit, as all my friends know, my one gripe about my husband is that he is a workout freak. It didn't bug me until we had kids, because before we had kids we were workout freaks TOGETHER. But then the Munchkins came and my whole life had to reprioritize, and working out is now a luxury for me as opposed to a norm, like brushing my teeth daily. I do b*tch sometimes, about how James didn't even miss his workouts the days our kids were born...or EVER (not exxagerating- we've been together 10 years and in that 10 years he's never missed working out 2 days in a row AND he only takes a day off about every 3 weeks...this man is ADDICTED. So all the b*tching aside, you take your partner how they are, and my man is HEALTY and HAPPY and I'm so grateful for his health and that he'll likely and blessedly be around my whole life, which is saying something since he's 11 years older than me. SO HERE'S TO MY HANDSOME, HEALTHY 43-in-a-20-year-old's-body! GO POOKIE!

Mama's Guilt BE GONE!

2009-04-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

I just read the newest blog entry on my girlfriend Shauna's blog, and I just HAD to address her situation. Please go read her entry before you continue reading this.

Okay welcome back! Shauna's situation that she is dealing with is so very close to my heart, and like most mama's, whether SAH, WAH, OR work out of the home, we ALL feel Mama's Guilt at some time or another. Shauna's case in particular I really feel the need to comment on- I have stayed away from controversial subjects on my blog, because a lot of my readers find me through Etsy, and really don't know me personally...I don't want to "scare them away" from Firedaughter because of my own personal beliefs, but in this case...hey, it IS MY blog ya know :) Before I start expounding, let me explain my credentials so you know I'm not just talking out of my a** (because NOTHING annoys me more). I have my B.A. in Elementary Education from ASU, I was a professional full-time nanny for 2 years as an adult, I am the mother of a three and a half year old daughter and an almost 2-year old son, and I like Shauna am a work at home mom as well as a dedicated Christian. Okay so we've established I've earned this soapbox I'm standing on...

Shauna- you are right honey, you have been incredibly blessed to get to stay home with McCoy the last three years...you got to a stay at home mom, you got to play and bond non-stop, you got to keep a clean house and look pretty for your (handsome) hub, and make yummy organic meals for the both of them...all while keeping Poor Pitiful Pearl going, but not thriving...it wasn't the right time for PPP to be a full-time gig, your little baby needed you. You got what you all needed. Now suddenly PPP has BLOWN UP (as well it should and YES I will take some credit :) and you know what? You're not a stay at home mom anymore, you're a work at home mom now. And you feel guilty that when McCoy is coloring you're sitting with her cutting out fabric squares BUT SHAUNA the thing is- you're teaching McCoy by example. She is old enough now that she is starting to make sense of the world around her- you're teaching her that everyone- daddy's, mommy's- we all do work. And this is a GOOD thing. Your work is with your hands- your gift is designing and sewing...she's picking up on that...you're not out at the mall shopping all day with her- you're teaching her actual values when you're taking care of her AND tending to PPP.

All of that being said, your business has grown to the point where you're right, you need some chunks during the day without McCoy so you can straight tend to PPP without the guilt of "neglecting" McCoy...and Shauna, again- how PERFECT is God's plan, that right when PPP blows up, McCoy is at the exact perfect stage in her development where preschool is completely and wonderfully appropriate. Let me be clear about one thing: I TOTALLY get that working mother's rely on daycare, but daycare is NOT preschool and preschool is NOT daycare. A daycare may also have a preschool for when the children get to that point in their development, but what I am talking about for McCoy is PRESCHOOL. So please Shauna, get the notion that you're a stay at home mom putting your kid in daycare out of your head. That's just not reality. You're a work at home mom whose child is ready for preschool.

Oh preschool!!!! Glorious fabulous preschool! Autumn started preschool last August, she goes to the preschool at our church and her classroom also happens to be her Sunday School room. She goes twice a week for two and a half hours each day. I think she was ready for preschool several months before I started her, so by the time her school year started there was NO HESITATION on either of our parts. Here's the thing- I do not FOR ONE MINUTE believe that our children should get all of their information from us (their mother's). I don't want Autumn to be a mini-me- God created her to be the person He wants her to be, not to be a carbon copy of me. So to let our children form their own personalities instead of taking on ours, we have to let them experience and be around other authority figures. We have to let them have experiences outside of us. Are we really so egotistical as to think our children only need us? Come on PUH-LEASE. Truly the coolest things EVER are when Autumn pulls some nugget of wisdom out randomly- like recently she has declared that "Mommy, I know everything about nature. Do you want me to teach you about nature?" Oh you bet your buns I do Autumn!! I LOVE that she has a life away from me- and that I get to share in her life- do you understand how valued that makes her feel- that she gets to teach Mommy and Daddy and Brady things that she learned at school? If we're together non-stop and she's only learning things from me, how can she gain confidence in her own self and knowledge and abilities... Shauna, your baby girl is not a baby anymore...and being with a teacher for a few hours a day... it doesn't replace you. It doesn't even attempt to. I was a full-time nanny for two years until Autumn was born- the Mother worked full full full time as a news anchor here in Phoenix, and I was with Christian about 9.5 hours a day, 5 days a week. I LOVED him like he was my own, and he LOVED me- I mean Love, love. I have two of my own now and I can honestly still say that yes, I loved him and he loved me. But you know what? He still knew who Mommy was- and she was Mommy, and I was Dapa. And that was being with him 50 hours a week.. McCoy is going to be in school the teeniest fraction of that....you're Mommy. No guilt. THIS IS ALL GOOD NEWS.

And here's the best part- while McCoy is at her Montessori preschool (I love Montessori preschools by the way) having fun and learning through play, you will have a quiet home in which to do what you love- create the Earth's Most Fabulous Clothing. You will tend to PPP and then when it comes time to pick up McCoy from preschool, you will be ALL HERS and when Donny comes come, you will be ALL HIS. Sure you still may have to pull some late-nighters, that's the nature of being a working mother, but for the most part you will get to concentrate on your beautiful family... I'm confused now- what was the downside to this notion of McCoy starting preschool??? You're at a new stage in life Shauna, relish it, WITHOUT guilt, Sister...relish it.

The Best Anniversary Card EVER

2009-04-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

Oh Happy Day :) Today is our 6 year wedding anniversary...we went to Vegas the week before last for a few days to celebrate, but today is the actual day. I just opened a card from my Pookie, and it is the best card I've ever read...the one that fits our relationship like no other, I wanted to share...
The front: Happy You & Me Day
The inside: That's how I think of it. Today doesn't belong to family or friends or jobs or anything that can't fit inside the circle of our arms around each other.

Oh I love that man... Happy Anniversary Pookie.

Silly Girls!

2009-04-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

I am SOOOOOOO full of banana cake right now. Hopemade Koepke Family banana cake- YUM YUM! As always I'm about to brag about my neighbors. This morning was so fun, we had our church Easter egg hunt and then went straight to a 4th birthday party in the neighborhood- Olivia and Autumn have been friends since they were in mine and Diane's bellies :) Well after our morning and early afternoon festivities I came home with the kids and put Brady down for a nap and set about cleaning house since we're hosting (though not cooking) Easter dinner. KNOCK KNOCK at the door, it was Penny and Viv, and they came in and Viv and Autumn played while Penny and I chatted while I cleaned, then Autumn headed over to their house to play. After Brady woke up we headed over there (Penny has my Ultimate Dream House- you should see her laundry room, I covet it) and played played. I got the stinkin cutest pictures of our girls- ENJOY!

THINGS I LOVE: Inkspot Workshop Lollipop & Farm Stationery

2009-04-08T22:24:00.001-07:00

Okay um- do I even need to say anything??? Do you want to just die because these notecards from Inkspot Workshop are THAT STINKIN CUTE!!??? Of course I have a soft spot for Inkspot Workshop, as she was my Etsy mentor, but C'MON- are you kidding me???? I MUST HAVE THESE.

Firedaughter is in a GIFT GUIDE on Etsy!!

2009-04-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

Okay I'm sorry I'm a huge dork but I'M SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!! I was just browsing through the Etsy gift guide for new mothers and I'm in there!!! *squealing and dancing all over the room* So so so cool!! In case you don't know what a Gift Guide is, it's a section in Etsy with different categories where admin chooses items that they think are cool and fit into the category well :) Right now there is a large gift guide section for Mother's Day, and in the New Mother's section, I was just looking through and on page 2 I saw my Mommy tank!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA this is so cool! There are 150,000 shops on Etsy and just to know that admin has even ever seen my little teeny shop let alone thought one of my product was good enough for them to promote it :) I am just so high right now- I kind of hope no one buys it so it will stay in there!!! :) :) THANK YOU ETSY!!

100 Hearts :)

2009-04-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

So I'm relatively new to Etsy- I set up my shop right before Halloween with the much needed help and advisement of Stacy from Inkspot Workshop-she's an Etsy all-star :) I've had my website for almost three years but I saw her success on Etsy and thought it would be a really cool way to introduce the coolness that is Firedaughter to a whole nother audience. At any rate my Etsy shop is pretty little and while I haven't had an enormous amount of sales, the ones I have had have been pretty substantial- 4 or 5 shirts on orders, etc, and I've also gained a few wholesale accounts for my flippin' awesome Vintage Age Tees, the only shirt I wholesale. So I'm really really happy with Etsy, and can I say OMG I've met the MOST AWESOME WOMEN on Etsy- Shauna, Heather, Stacy, Amy...the list is so yummy! Well today I hit a little landmark number on Etsy- I just got my 100th heart today! Someone hearts your store when they find it and think it's something really special, something they want to remember or come back to. And today my 100th person hearted me! I think that's pretty cool and YES lots of stores have thousands of hearts, and compared to that my 100 hearts may seem paltry, but considering Etsy is just one teeny but important facet of Firedaughter Clothing, I'm pretty proud of my 100 hearts! It's nice to be loved :)

Vista Bonita Annual Easter Party '09!

2009-04-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

So I know I've mentioned a billion times, but I seriously cannot brag enough about how cool my neighborhood is. It is a really cool neighborhood in Central Scottsdale, about a mile north of Old Town Scottsdale, right off of Scottsdale Rd. We are literally in the middle of everything cool in this very cool city. Well our homes have all been here since the 50's, so despite being in Scottsdale Arizona, we all have really huge, established trees and lush yards- everyone has at least a half an acre, going all the way up to 2 acres- we even have our neighborhood chickens and bunnies and three horsies :) It is a PHENOMINAL neighborhood to grow up in- everyone literally knows everyone and takes care of each other- whenever a neighborhood kid falls or crashes on their skateboard we get a knock at the door to have Firefighter James take a look at him, and when I was pregnant I was sooooooo sick and would open the door only to find care packages of ginger root to help ease the nausea. These are GOOD people, we are so so blessed. For every holiday a different neighbor takes that holiday and throws a party for the whole neighborhood- Thanksgiving morning is at the Torrance house, Christmas with Santa is at The Koepke house, and so on. Easter is usually at the Matthews house, but this year they handed over the reins to the Huber house, and IT WAS PHENOMINAL! I've talked about Tina before and her amazing organizing and beautifying ability, and she went all out for the Easter party/egg hunt. We're talking centerpieces she make herself with bunnies made out of um...don't even know, something green that is a plant...she carved bunnies doing different things out of them. See? I can't even explain them I'm soooooo not talented in that way. Anyways the food was delish, the games were so much fun, the amount of eggs she had hidden...seriously I think it had to have been in the thousands! It was just one more amazing Vista Bonita party to add to the memories of my lucky children!!

*Doncha just love mine and Autumn's matching Easter dresses too?!!!!! Shauna of Poor Pitiful Pearl made them OF COURSE and she knew they would be our Easter dresses, and I LOVE the lion symbolism she used on the front of Autumn's dress- lions often represent Christ in movies, books, etc., and I love her for thinking of stuff like that.

VEGAS BABY!!

2009-04-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

Every year for our wedding anniversary James and I take two days away from our Munchkins and take the quick flight to Vegas to celebrate! We just got home on Thursday evening- my mom flew here to take care of Autumn and Brady and we had two days and nights of craziness and wonderfulness and massages and gambling and bowling and bingo (yep!) and um......you know :):) We used to stay at the Wynn which is FABULOUS and has seriously the best yogurt parfaits in the entire universe, but last year for the first time we stayed off the strip and tried out the Red Rock Resort, which is about 25 minutes from the strip, and we fell head over heels for it, so we stayed there again this year. It's a destination resort- no reason to ever leave, it has a fab pool, great spa, great fine dining and casual restaurants, of course a huge casino, but it's also more family friendly- it has the hugest, funnest bowling alley in Las Vegas, and a ginormous movie theatre, and even a 5000 square foot children's day care area thingee. Not that we would ever take our young children to Vegas, but if we did, it would be to the Red Rock. But we wouldn't. Anyways. It would not be overstating it to say our trip was PERFECT. Plane arrived on time...room was ready to check in as soon as we got there...perfect weather...lazy lazy lazy by the pool...swedish massages...FOOD FOOD FOOD (4 pounds in 2 days- DANG)...LOTS of cocktails...LOTS of well...you know ;) And our trip was the perfect length, we just enjoyed being husband and wife instead of mommy and daddy, and then the day we woke up to come home we couldn't wait to see our little Munchkins, and although I already know it and I thank God for it on a daily basis, it once again brought me to the realization that I really have the most blessed life- a husband who after 10 years I am more passionate about than ever, and children that are so well adjusted and amazing that I don't have to worry about being gone from them for 2 days, and that I can't wait to get back to...I kind of think I won the life lottery, and I'm so THANKFUL.

Heidi's Visit

2009-04-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

So one of my closest girlfriends that abandoned me last year to move back home to Green Bay so her and her hubby could raise their son Brycen near family, visited last week. Her name is Heidi and we have been friends for 12 years- we met while working the funnest job ever that we both worked at FOREVER. We were servers at the pool at The Phoenician, a 5-star resort here in Scottsdale. Heidi met her husband Michael when he too began to work at the pool with us many years ago...we were all so young! Well Heidi is from Green Bay and like I said last year the Conrad family up and moved to Green Bay I think about 9 months ago now, and this was their first visit back here to the Valley of the Sun since. They left Brycen at home with family and came to PARTY. Unfortunately for me, my life is not so much where I get to go out and do a whole lot of partying, so I only got to see them one night, when a whole group of us went out to dinner at the White Chocolate Grill (which, by the way, in case anyone hadn't noticed, is just Houston's with a different name). I loved the night, and was sad when it ended early for James and I. I would have much preferred to continue the evening with the rest of the group at the club they went to, but like I said...that's just not my life right now. At any rate I LOVE the group picture of the girls (click on it to see it better)- my Sara is in it, which always makes for the prettiest pictures, and my Heidi and Susan and Kim and Sarah...and of course you know the star of the picture is my PPP apron dress- we were getting ready to leave and I was really sad and my Sara said "it's okay Sam, you're the prettiest girl in the room", and even though DUH ya right I don't think so, I appreciated her saying it and love her for it. Kisses Sara, Heidi- I miss you so much sister...

THINGS I LOVE: AFDesigns "Mom" Hand-Stamped Necklaces

2009-03-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

One of the very first purchases I made when I joined Etsy was an adorable hand-stamped necklace with two circles that each had one of my children's names stamped into it from AF Designs (Angel Face Designs). Then Heather, the owner and artisan of AF closed up shop for a bit while her family transitioned to a new home- well just this week I discovered that AF is ba-aaack! And I am MAD for this fabulous Mom 2 design- perfect for the proud Mommy of 2! Since Heather does all of her stamping by hand herself I'm sure if you're a mom of 4 she could do Mom 4, etc... I love Heather's jewelry even though I am so NOT a jewelry girl- because it's simple and pretty- it doesn't wear you, you wear it, and you all KNOW how fond I am of proclaiming my mommy-ness to the world! Heather lets me do that in a very pretty, inexpensive way, and that's why I LOVE AFDesigns!

Just Braggin': Part Whatever

2009-03-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

I have to show off this new shirt I dreamed up three nights ago and brought to fruition! Okay so you know I have been making a super cool shirt for MSKWear for several months now that says Peace Love Baseball...or football or hoops...you get the idea. Well The Athletes Child has also been carrying that shirt, and the other day they got a few orders for it and requested that I put a little peace sign, heart, and baseball after the words out of crystals. Well you know I'm very protective of my designs and I won't make anything that my heart isn't in, so I told them that those additional little symbols on the shirt just wouldn't "go"- it wouldn't add to the awesomeness of the shirt. BUT I got to thinking that a shirt of ALL symbols might be really fabulous- I knew immediately it was going to be way expensive- of course I have to take cost into consideration of everything, I am first and foremost a Firefighter Wife and I understand budgets. However in this case knowing that the target audience for this shirt would be baseball wives, I knew I had a larger budget to work with than on my average design. So of course I couldn't sleep AT ALL that night, I was just thinking up different motifs and sizes and proportions, and thinking of crystals sizes, colors, etc that would work. So over the next two days I experimented and ended up coming up with this UNBELIEVABLE shirt- I'm so proud of it, it's about 700 Swarovski crystals, all laid by my hands- no machines or technology used! This is the definition of handmade for all you Etsians who found my blog! So this morning I had a meeting with Alison from The Athlete's Child, and she LOVED it- and they along with MSKWear are going to be exclusively carrying it! It's such a blessing and wonderful opportunity for Firedaughter Clothing to have this kind of exposure from boutiques that caters to a different client base, and it's great for MSKWear and The Athlete's Child to offer a shirt that is so original and freaking AWESOME, it's just win-win for everyone, and it's just one more blessing in my already blessed life :)

I Suck at Keeping Up With This! But for Good Reason!

2009-03-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

I know I've been really bad lately about updating my blog, but I will tell you- I've written a hundred blog entries in my head over the last week or so, and they were all witty and brilliant, but I need to get some sort of tool where my thoughts go straight to my blog because I just have absolutely no time to translate those GENIUS thoughts to my blog! Let me start with the results of my first-ever blog giveaway: I HAVE CHOSEN THE WINNING AND FABULOUS AND ORIGINAL saying that is going to go on my next shirt BUT I thought it would be more fun for the winner and everyone else to find out which saying/person won by actually seeing the shirt on my blog SO I'm not going to reveal the winner until late next week when I have made my new shirt! Isn't that so much fun?!! And it'll keep you coming back for more just to find out- I have learned a lot from American Idol and their teasers they do before each commercial :) SPEAKING OF AMERICAN IDOL: Does anyone else (besides you Shauna- I know you're with me!) think that Adam is like FREAKING AMAZING. He is my The Beatles. When he comes on to perform I am transfixed- he can do no wrong. I never thought a dude in makeup would make me swoon but DANG I was wrong!

Okay off to other updates: Let's talk about some blessings! So you all know my trunk show was last Thursday (a week ago today), and I'm still kind of floating from it. It was so beautiful- my neighbor and friend Tina Huber of Tiny Baubles hosted it at her beautiful home. It was her with Tiny Baubles, 9Stork, and Indigo Imports (rich lady fabulous hats and bags), me with Firedaughter and Poor Pitiful Pearl, photographer Alison Tyler Jones, my girlfriend Kelly with Drama Curlz (the blingiest yummiest hair accessories for little girls), and three Scottsdale boutiques, Twig & Twill (all organic clothing- very very very pricey), Olive Annie (indie label very very very pricey clothing), and the most darling shop ever called Fleureish, which had lots of outdoorsy gardening and decoration stuff and flowers, topiaries, just yummy! Well Tina is the queen of making everything look amazing and she set up all of my things in this fab little vignette, with burlap and chairs on tables and all this amazing stuff 0F COURSE I didn't get any pictures because I suck, but I wish you can have seen it. Beautiful! So doors opened at 10 am, and at 10 am women just started flowing into the house- tons of women, beautiful, stunning, happy women who were there to laugh, shop, and be merry. It was so much fun- so many many details, but my 20 minute battery on my laptop is about to die so I must pick up where I left off tomorrow........

Celebrate Your Sisters!!!!

2009-03-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited, I'm so excited! I've been forever wanting to make a fab Sisters tee, and with the success of my Girlfriends tees, I figured there would be a lot of happy people to have such a radical no-brainer and YUM YUM gift to give their sisters. I can't wait to give Anjelica & Gabby (my super fab sisters) theirs!! Well anyways I just finished making my first run of them on Wednesday night like LATE LATE Wednesday night, the night before the trunk show. And I'm so glad I did- they were a mega hit! All sorts of people bought them- for themselves and their sisters, for their daughters, one woman even bought them for her sorority sisters. Since this was the first run I decided to do a few different colors, I chose the dark black burnout and the washed pink burnout from Alternative. I am super madly for the black version, I don't so much love the pink, so probably I won't make those again, though over half the pink ones I made sold that night. I just have a hard time making things I don't myself love. At any rate, just wanted to share my newest tee and give a shout out to my two little sisters who inspire inspire inspire me!!

Why Do I LOVE This Picture So Much??

2009-03-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

I just took this picture of Autumn today modeling my new pink Vintage Age Tee- and something about it- I don't know what it is, but I am madly in love with it. She was in a super good mood while we were in the alley taking pics, she gets to pick all her own poses and where she wants to stand for each picture, and I guess I just caught this picture in between smiles- something about it is very major to me. It kind of reminds me of that one picture, I think it's called American Gothic with the farmer and his wife and the pitchfork. I take tons and tons of pics of my kids, just like all moms do, and of course they look darling and beautiful in (almost) all of them, but there are a select few pictures that I call "pictures of a lifetime". I think this one will go in that category now. Am I crazy? Does anyone else think it's just cooler than cool? Knowing she was in a really great mood but catching her like this- I feel like if this was American's Next Top Model her picture would have definitely been chosen as the digital art to be displayed in the Top Model house that week. (How LAME am I that I just referenced that? Lame but funny, lame but funny.)

Emotionally Hungover

2009-03-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was our huge Spring Fling Bling & Bloom trunk show at the home of Tina and Jeff Huber- I am kind of still emotionally and physically and mentally hung over from it, so I think maybe by tomorrow I'll be able to articulate about the whole experience a little better. Just typing this is exhausting me right now. I feel like every ounce of strength I have has been beaten out of me, but in a really awesome way- does that make any sense? Maybe "beaten" isn't the right word, but remember I said I'm kind of still out of it. Here's the gist: no, you know what? Can't even come up with a gist- there's just so much- I think I'll end your suffering by having to read this right now and try again tomorrow. I am so blessed and so happy and life is pretty lovely, isn't it?! Nighty night.

THINGS I LOVE: babyKAMP Buckets & Pretties!

2009-03-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

I'm so so so so excited- hands down my favorite gift I ever received when I was pregnant with Autumn was the super sweetest, prettiest personalized bucket with filled with SUCH a girly personalized onesie and burp cloth and other various adorableness. The gift was made by the sister of a girlfriend of mine, who owned a company called babyKAMP. Well about two years ago babyKAMP just disappeared, her website was gone and I was SO sad- I asked her sister and she said that Amy had gone back to work full-time as a therapist and just didn't have the time to run babyKAMP anymore. I thought that was such a travesty and such a loss- I remember like it was yesterday the joy that her gifts brought to me, and the fact that they weren't available anymore...it really made me sad. WELL GUESS WHAT???????? babyKAMP just opened up shop on Etsy! I'm so excited for her and I'm so excited for US, the general population, that we get to buy her stuff again :) I am so NOT exxagerating- her embroidered burp cloths and tees and her little vintage-y skirted onesies...SHEER YUM. Welcome back babyKAMP!

GIVEAWAY!!! What Saying Do YOU Want to Wear?

2009-03-16T08:47:00.001-07:00

So clearly I am in love with inspirational and fun and funky but DIFFERENT saying shirts. This division of Firedaughter has pretty much taken on a life of its own, which is soooo fun for me! BUT one thing I'm huge on is NOT making shirts that I've already seen made- I have a girlfriend who's always like "you should make this- it'll sell really well," But most of the time it's shirts she's seen before and I'm just not interested in making things others have already thought of and done. I'm honestly in this business because my creativity button doesn't ever turn off, and I get no joy out of copying others. SO anyways I know I have a ton of creative readers and customers who maybe have a great saying they've always wanted but haven't seen before and I thought it would be fun to have a little contest and GIVEAWAY!! So here's the dealio: Leave a comment with your idea for a cool saying to put on one of my shirts! Keep it clean b/c I actually intend on making this a new shirt in my line. The winner will get a complimentary shirt with their saying for themself and one for one of their friends :) Let's see, let's make the cutoff for the contest March 22nd at midnight. Have fun with this, be creative, be ORIGINAL, be inspirational!!

*P.S. In two weeks I have another fun giveaway coming in partnership with Inkspot Workshop!

Tomorrow

2009-03-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

Ugh, tomorrow at 12:30 I am having surgery to remove my massively wierd lypoma from my lower back. I just have to have local anesthesia, so it's not a super huge deal. They're going to make a 4 or 5 inch incision directly over the lypoma, remove it, then remove all the excess skin it's caused to grow over it, then sew me all back up. James and I keep laughing that I'm going to look like Frankenstein, what with my existing c-section scar in the front and now a matching one in almost the exact same location on the back! I'm really looking forward to it being gone- laying on my back to do abs or even just to lay at all on any hard surface has been pretty uncomfy for a while now. I look forward to the relief. I'll be semi out-of-commish for two days, but Sunday I should be back to full throttle. If you remember maybe throw up a prayer for me that all goes well and they don't find anything unexpected when they get in there. Thanks friends!

New WHAT A FEELING!

2009-03-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Okay so I still massively love my What a Feeling saying, so I made another batch of them, but this time I made the words BIGGER and BOLDER because heck- when you're feelin' it, don'cha want to shout it from the rooftops?!!!!!!!!

Gettin' Ready for the Trunk Show!

2009-03-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

So I'm getting ready for my spring trunk show, which will be a week from tomorrow, and I'm getting so excited! I just finished making a ton of new Mommy burnout and tanks, as well as a couple of new designs that I call my "because I want them" line. You know, I have a particular saying that I want really bad on an awesome shirt, so I figure if I want them, other people will too- so far I've only had hits, so I'm gonna keep goin' with it :) I'm slowly getting some of my new shirts photographed (my fab husband James is my photographer- he doesn't particularly enjoy it, so I only get one or two shirts a day out of him) for my website and my little Etsy shop. Here's a few photos of my new Spring-y ALL I WANT IS TO FEEL THIS WAY yellow burnout tunic- it is SERIOUSLY so yum I can't even stand it, and my famous Mommy black tank- so simple and trendy and fabulous, this needs to be a staple of every fabulous Mommy's wardrobe! I hope you love, and hopefully I'll have more photos soon of some of my other new yumtastic-ness!!

LUXE LUXE Custom Bling!

2009-03-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

In case you ever wondered what a $120 kids shirt would look like, here it is! I just finished making this custom big sister shirt- it took 7 gross (each gross is 144 crystals) of Swarovski crystals, each one individually laid by my little hands over a 4 hour period, on this black American Apparel cap sleeved shirt. It's a size 8, and Autumn is only 3 and a half, so it doesn't quite fit (THANK GOD it's not her shirt!!), but you get the idea of how fabulous it turned out- I hope they LOVE it!

Brady's 1st Haircut!

2009-03-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

Today was so exciting! FINALLY Brady's first haircut! I don't know why I waited so long- he's 22 months- but it's been getting pretty straggly for a while, and some people had started to comment on how shaggy it was getting, so I decided it was time. We went to Snippety-Do-Da, where some of my girlfriends take their little boys. Brady sat in a red car, which he did not think was as cool as I thought he would. He picked out a Thomas movie and held onto two Thomas trains, and a lollipop, but he still wasn't super pumped about the whole thing. He tried a few times to escape but the seat belt worked! So despite a few protests on his part, he made it throught the whole cute AND LOOKS SOOOOO STINKING CUTE! He looks so different though- not like a baby anymore, definitely like a little boy. Oh he is YUMMY.

How Have YOU Changed?

2009-03-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

So on Saturday we had the BEST time at the Phoenix Childrens Museum. It's been open for a while now, but we had never been until Saturday. We met a bunch of friends there and Autumn and Brady were in heaven in about a zillion square feet of wonder and amusement with their bestest friends! I always say that one of my favorite things about motherhood are all the new, amazingly awesome women I get to be friends with as a result of our children being friends :) When we were all getting ready to leave we were down on the bottom floor where the big crawl-thru maze thingee is, and us moms were tired and a little cranky and our kids were close to meltdown, and my girlfriend Karen turned to the rest of us and said "Haven't your lives changed so much since you became moms?" Instantly all 4 of us made loud groaning-type noises, and I said "EVERYTHING in my life changed. The only thing this new life has in common with my old life is my husband!" That got us off on a tangent about our husbands and how we met them and how long we had been together, etc, but after I got in the car I started thinking about Karen's question again, and I guess I haven't stopped thinking about it since. How has my life changed in the last three and-a-half years? How have I changed? I guess there's the easy answers: I don't go to a workplace anymore, I don't spin 6 classes a week anymore, I fear grocery shopping trips now, I don't see movies anymore, my husband and I don't get much (meaning any) alone time anymore, etc... So the things I do have changed, but what is profoundly different now is who I am. I've been thinking about this for two days now, and the most dramatic change in me since I entered Motherhood is my COMFORT IN MY OWN SKIN. Now I'm not saying I don't worry about how I look- if you read my blog at all you know I care deeply, maybe too deeply. What I'm saying is I no longer come up short when I compare myself to any other woman whatsoever. Before I was a mom I would compare myself to other women at spin class and I'd be like "her abs are more cut" or I'd look at another woman's diamond ring and think "hers is bigger than mine", or I'd look at a girlfriend's ginormous house and be like "she has so much more". When I'd think those things, I would be judging myself against them, and I'd be coming up short. Now I still may notice those things, but instead of being jealous I just appreciate those things for what they are. Because when it comes down to it- that woman with the cut abs, and the huge ring, and the big house DOESN'T HAVE MY KIDS. AND SHE DOESN'T HAVE MY HUSBAND. And there is something so comforting about knowing that only I get this life right here that I'm living. It makes me feel the Most Beautiful and the Most Loved and the Most Valuable. I am just so comfortable with myself now- I am able to appreciate the beauty in other women so much more, I'm able to appreciate MY OWN beauty so much more...does any of this make sense? The responsibility that I have been entrusted with in raising these two human beings is so overwhelming and empowering- I am RESPONSIBLE for making sure that two of God's children are raised to be happy, productive, contributing, God-loving people- if the Lord trusts me that much, how on earth can I NOT be comfortable in this skin? He thinks I'm worthy- and now I believe Him. Praise God for my two little Munchkins, for all the gifts of Motherhood. Life is Good.

In a Funk Update: Making a Comeback

2009-02-27T07:31:00.000-08:00

Alright so I STOPPED taking Yaz (see previous post if you're like- what?) I wish I could say I stopped taking it for a noble reason such as to preserve my health, but um...the truth is I just really can't live in this bloated body any longer. So it's been two nights I haven't taken in and I lost 1 pound, so hopefully I'll have my own body back soon! And I am sooooooo excited getting ready for our HUGE HUGE HUGE trunk show on March 19th, and my son has snapped out of his 22-month grumpiness and is suddenly seriously the BEST sleeper and so much fun and so lovely and cuddly and hilarious, and business is BOOMING (I love the Spring- everyone needs their new bling in the Spring!), and yay, the funk seems to be on its way out! *Photos have nothing to do with the post, I just love the pics from church last Sunday :)

In a Funk

2009-02-24T14:22:00.000-08:00

Uck. If you don't feel like listening to someone complain about relatively trivial things, I suggest you skip this post. I am just feeling ugh. So after my son stopped nursing 4 months ago, my body kind of went crazy- I had been either pregnant or nursing for four years straight, and now suddenly my hormones were like- What do we do?? So they decided they were going to make my face break out. I will tell you, I did NOT enjoy being pregnant, I did not enjoy getting fat and getting horrendous varicose veins, and being a HUGE ass to my husband. But the one thing I did love was how flawless my face was during all that time. Well anyways that's gone, and I was breaking out so I went to my doctor and she put me on Yaz, which is a birth control pill (which I don't need b/c my husband had a vasectomy)- to help with my face. I'm almost all the way through my second month on the pill, and it has TOTALLY cleared up my face, which I am happy about, but in the meantime it has made me put on weight, and so now THAT is killing me. I am a person for whom exercise has been a gigantic part of my life since I was about 22. I even met my husband spinning, and on our first date we went running. I ran a marathon (26.2 miles) in under 4 hours (3:58:00) when my son was only 9 months old...you get the idea, I work out. NOW of course, I can't work out like I used to. I have two active young children, I have a husband and a house and friends and a succesful business...ya know what? Sometimes I just don't want to work out. If it's 74 perfect degrees out and I'm out front playing with my kids, sometimes I don't want to pack them up in the car and go to the gym. If I have four shirts to make and I'm super into it, I don't want to stop working to go running. I HAVE A LIFE. Back when I did nothing but work out, I really didn't have a life- I had my husband, sure, and I had a job- but I also had a lot of spare time. Now I don't, and so I'm only working out 4 or 5 times a week, and sometimes less than that, and my workouts aren't nearly as hard as I used to make them, AND I LOVE FOOD and now this pill is not helping, and ARRRGGGGGGGGGGGG. I'm sorry, I'm just so frustrated, and I know there is NOTHING worse than listening to someone bitch about their weight, but I just had to get this out. And it's my blog, and I'll bitch if I want to (but not too often). Thanks for listening.

Autumn's New Obsession

2009-02-20T07:42:00.001-08:00

Isn't it so funny how our kids go through these stages where they are just obsessed with something- some of her stages have been 1) her Bunnies by the Bay bunny blanket 2) Old Navy, her trusty pink bunny sidekick 3) The Wonder Pets-specifically Linny the guinea pig, who she thought was a bunny 4) Thomas the Tank Engine movies and trains...you get the idea, normal toddler stuff. Well her newest obsession is a little more...unusual I think. I went to pick her up yesterday from Lunch Bunch after preschool and I walked out to the playground and I saw her just sitting there looking so sad and I ran up and said "baby, what's wrong?" And she BURST into tears, started sobbing sobbing sobbing. I'm thinking someone hit her or hurt her feelings, and she cries out "I WANT MY ARMWARMERS!!!" Like sobbing sobbing sobbing for her armwarmers. The teachers are like "what?" (They weren't her classroom teachers, so they were not aware of her beloved armwarmers). So I guess what had happened was since it had warmed up since the morning she had taken her armwarmers off but then she decided she wanted them back on and no one understood her since it's not that common I guess for the words "armwarmers" to come out of a 3 year-old's mouth. So I ran in to her cubby and we put back on her beloved armwarmers and all was good. She literally would not take them off the rest of the day at home or at the gym or at the grocery store, and she tried to get me to let her sleep in them last night but I drew the line there, and this morning she has already asked for them. It's going to be 80 degrees today though, so I'm thinking...no, but I may give in :) I've attached some pictures of Autumn in her armwarmers and I can't wait to tell Amber at Knotty Baby Wear what a hit her 8-dollar armwarmers have been :)

New PEACE. LOVE. GIRLFRIENDS. In The House!

2009-02-17T15:01:00.000-08:00

So excited, so excited! Here is my latest incarnation of my beloved Peace. Love. Girlfriends. tee! I had forgotten how much I LOVE the color black and then last week I got a new tube from Poor Pitiful Pearl and it was black and I put it on and I was like "Dang, I look good in black!" So I decided it was time for a Peace. Love. Girlfriends. on a super black, super fab destroyed tee! And here it is, and I will tell you it's even comfier than it is sassy and fabulous and yummy. I have THE WORLD'S GREATEST girlfriends- they are far away, in Green Bay and Virginia and Seattle...they are nearby, just on the next street and spread out all over the city. Each one of them means something different to me, I've had one of a kind, once in a lifetime experiences with each of them...they've all changed my life and added to it in one important way or another. They are the inspiration. Even the ones who are no longer in my life but while they were added so much that can never be taken away...they know who they are, and this shirt is for them too. Love you Girlfriends.

Pretty in Her Little Pretties

2009-02-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

I just can't help myself- I have to share how unbelievably beautiful my clients are!! This is Shauna from New Braunfels, TX. Isn't she just the most beautiful, natural chick ever?!! She had never experienced a burnout tee before I introduced her to them, and now she's a bona fide addict :) Here are some pics of her in her Firedaughter burnout tees! And please to my beloved clients: keep the pictures coming- I LOVE to see and share how amazing you all are!

Polar Opposites

2009-02-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

I think it is SO amazing that two children who came out of the same body with the same mom and dad and same living circumstances can be soooooo dramatically different. If you read my blog regularly you probably know that Autumn is um, about the sweetest thing on planet Earth. She is like sunshine and rainbows and fresh air and flowers and All That Is Good. My son Brady is...um...WELL, he's really, really cute. And he makes James and I laugh so hard we cry and sometimes pee our pants. He is just his own person- he is ALL BOY. He is rough, he loves to wrestle- which is kind of sad because he genuinely loves wrestling, but no other kids will wrestle with him so gets super mad about that! He's usually crabby (because he doesn't sleep), and will NOT smile at people out in public when they try to play with him or engage him. Heck, he usually won't smile at me either! He makes me work for his smiles. Oh this little boy! At the end of every trying day after I put my Munchkins to bed, I usually settle in for 20 minutes or so in front of the TV with an ice cream bar and think about how hard the day was and how blessed I am to get to have two such completely different experiences as a Mommy every single day :)

THINGS I LOVE: Annie's Powder Room

2009-02-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

Okay I will admit it- my favorite part of being a mommy is NOT the sleepless nights, the tantrums at the grocery store, or the inability to shower daily. No, what I live for are reliving the activities that I remember and love as a child through the eyes of my children. My daughter started preschool in August, and I cannot even begin to express the joy I feel everytime she has a class party to celebrate a holiday :) I love everything about her class celebrations- I love making her a new outfit to wear that fits the theme and is one of a kind, and I LOVE giving her hard-working teachers the sweetest, funnest, most original gifts! For Christmas I made each of them one of my ABC shirts, which they each wear at least once a week and LOVE. Well I wanted Autumn to give them something super sweet for Valentine's Day, but since it's not the most major of holidays, I didn't want to over-do it. I didn't want to do cookies or cupcakes or candy because those are so common- I wanted it to be something really special, but inexpensive. I searched Etsy and as soon as I found Annie's Powder Room on Etsy, I instantly saw the perfect gift for them! How adorable and sweet are these fabulous soapsicles she makes????? I had seen other soapsicles on Etsy before and I always thought they were a really cool and fun thing, but the thing that made me order from Annie's Powder Room was that she offered custom labels on her soapsicles to personalize them. So on one of our soapsicles the label said "Will you be my Valentine Mrs. Hayashi? Love, Autumn", and other one said the same thing but with Mrs. Geis' name. That totally alleviated my need to spend extra money on a card, and she wraps them so pretty in the clear wrapper with ribbons that I didn't need to spend money on a bag or wrapping. It was a fabulous, complete, original, inexpensive gift all wrapped up on one beautiful, fantastically-smelling package! They also arrived very quickly and the shipping was way cheap. Autumn was so proud to give her beloved teachers their soapsicles, and I got to experience one more of the most wonderful things about being a Mommy :)

Just Braggin'

2009-02-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday on the phone my mom was complaining because I hadn't done a new blog post in a few days, and MOM I'm sorry, but I've been busy as heck making pretty things!! I have to say the last several months have been exceedingly good to Firedaughter Clothing, and for that I feel very blessed, but what excites me the most about getting tons of orders is the fact that I get to make such beautiful things and have so many people enjoy them :) I think I'm super cool, like THE COOL CHICK but when it comes to my clothes I am a super DORK. They make me so happy. So you guys know I work really closely with a fabulous gal named Heather who runs her own clothing line named MSK Wear. Well I have one shirt that I make exclusively for her, it's a sports-themed shirt that is a takeoff on my Peace Love Mom shirt. So today she got a few orders and I made them for her- one says Peace. Love. Baseball. and is for someone from the Cleveland Indians, so I used their team colors, red, white, and blue. The other says Peace. Love. Hoops. and is for a Phoenix Suns fan! The picture kind of sucks because it's um, almost 11 o'clock at night and I just took it on my kitchen table under the chandelier, but still...you get the idea. You're telling me you can get something like this ANYWHERE ELSE????? I don't think so. And for that, I am proud. Tomorrow I'll be proud of something sweet your grandchildren did Mom, and I'll do a posting about it, I swear. Love you.

I Hope I'm Not Jinxing This!

2009-02-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

...But oh my goodness, it has been FOUR nights in a row now that Brady has slept for 8 hours straight at night! AND he's slept until 7 am all of the mornings following the sleep AND he's taken 3 two-hour naps and one THREE hour nap during the days on those days! So hopefully me putting this down on paper (or computer, at least) won't jinx it, but maybe just maybe he's turned a corner and decided that sleep is GOOD. YIPPEEEEEE!!

Feel Like Makin' Love VALENTINE'S DAY PRETTY!

2009-02-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

I just made this new shirt- I only made a few, I thought it would be perfect for Valentine's Day either for a husband to get for his wife as a fun little surprise, or for a woman to get to wear to surprise her man! It's adorable and trendy- a creme colored American Apparel 100% tank which we printed in dark blue with "FEEL LIKE MAKIN' LOVE". I embellished the word LOVE with aquamarine Swarovski crystals to add some fun and depth and girliness! Like I said I just made a few and they're all one size, but these tanks are super stretchy and they also shrink a whole size if you put them in the dryer. I love this little pretty, I hope you do too! It'll be up soon on my site and probably my Etsy shop too. Enjoy!

Here is My Theory on the Octuplet's Mother

2009-02-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

I watched part of her interview this morning on the Today show. Here were the first things that popped into my mind: 1) She looks like Angelina Jolie. 2) She has clearly had plastic surgery on her face (probably to try to make herself look more like Angelina Jolie). 3) Angelina Jolie has tons of kids. 4) This mother now has tons of kids, every single one of them due to IVF. So my theory is that she is obsessed with Angelina Jolie and wants to be just like her- to look like her and to have tons of children like her. So that's my theory. What do you think?

Every Preschoolers Dream Come True!

2009-02-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

In high school it may be cooler if your dad is a lawyer or a doctor, but in preschool nothing BUT NOTHING beats having a daddy who is a Firefighter! This week was Firefighter week at Autumn's preschool, and yesterday daddy brought the truck to school and did a lesson for her classroom and then let all the kids spray water from the hose and play on the truck. It was so so so awesome! When I was at ASU doing all of my interning and student teaching, James used to always bring the truck to my classrooms and do the same thing, but when it's your own child, the pride factor goes right through the roof! Not to mention I NEVER get to see my husband in his full turn-outs, and DANG that effect never wears off on me. He is the YUMMIEST. Oh oh, snap out of it Samya. Sorry, I was just visualizing it again and I got off track. I'm back. I must say that I was so extremely proud of Autumn and her behavior during the whole lesson yesterday. She didn't try to play the "this is my daddy I'm special it's all about me" card that I am certain some children would have played. She just listened intently and was totally focused on "Firefighter James". What a great little girl she is. Oh and let's hear it for her dress- complements of Firedaughter Clothing of course, she was all decked out in her Minky Firehat dress and totally looked the part of the proud Firedaughter she is! And Brady was ALL ABOUT the fire truck and the fire hat and the whole shebang. He must not know about the future as a pro athlete I have all laid out for him. I guess I could settle for second-generation Firefighter though :)

The Perfect Day

2009-02-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

Oh man today was a cool day. Brady woke up at 6 am, and I went and got him out of crib and put him in bed with me (daddy was already off to work) and turned on The Wiggles. At 7:45 we woke up when Autumn came in looking for us- 7:45! I haven't slept that late in um...wow, can't even remember! My little man had fallen back asleep with me, how sweet! We went to swim lessons at 9:30 where I watched my little angel girl swim across the pool several times like a little fish. She's so brave now, such a far cry from this time last year when we started lessons and she SCREAMED the entire half hour for the first 6 lessons. The other moms weren't super happy with us. But that was then, this is now, and she's swimming! After swim we decided to take advantage of our amazing 80 degree weather and we headed to the train park, where we ran into my girlfriends Ali and Sandra with their boys and girls (all the girls are the same age and in the same preschool class, and all the boys are the same age, within a few months). We played played played, good old all-American suburban mom & kid fun was had by all! I LOVE the train park, and the only thing better than the train park with my kids is the train park with my kids and good friends :) After the train park we came home and Brady napped while Autumn and I feasted on duncan eggs (hello Putts!). After our lunch we checked the mail and my new Poor Pitiful Pearl package arrived! That is instant happiness. Then Autumn's best friend since birth Zoe came over and all the kids played in the backyard- we made our famous mudpit and ate popsicles, and life is good :) After Zoe left I had two of my little babysitters come over and I went for the best run during the most beautiful sunset...just a quick 6-miler where I reflected on how stinkin lucky I am to live the life I live, in the place I live, with the people I love...it was a really, really good day.

Friends Help Take the Sting Out.

2009-02-03T11:36:00.000-08:00

You know how you have those certain friends in your life that you don't see that often, but when you do it's like you just saw them yesterday and you just want to kick yourself that you don't see them more often? You know how you have those friends in your life who are really more like family than friends- you know, your kids call them "uncle" and "aunt", and feel totally comfortable doing so even though they only see them a couple of times a year. You know you have those friends in your life who you know would drop everything and help raise your children if God forbid- anything ever happened to you? Well I am so blessed to have friends like that in Sara & Damon Buford. We spent the Super Bowl at their fabulous ginormous house- daddy had to work, so it was just me and the kids, and we had so much fun and ate so much good food and just were so comfy and happy that it helped take the sting out of the Cards not winning the Super Bowl. I think the giant cookie from Paradise Bakery with the Cardinal logo in thick frosting on top also helped take the sting out. At any rate it was a wonderful evening, it reminded me how much I love my friends and how stinking blessed I am to have them. AND AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL?!!!!!! Cool shirts too. Sorry Autumn, couldn't resist the booger-picking picture :)

Daddy Helps Out!

2009-02-01T07:04:00.000-08:00

It is the morning of the big day, THE SUPER BOWL!!! I'm so, so, so, so excited for this afternoon! I finished my last Cardinals Couture tee yesterday about 4 o'clock- there was a while there I wasn't sure I was going to be able to finish them all in time (I had guaranteed them all to be done by last night), but alas my white knight (James) totally took over the kids the last two days so I could focus on my work. I can't even tell you how awesome it is to have a husband who is the kind of father he is- totally and completely devoted and hands-on. He took the kids to the opening of the new Paradise Valley fire station yesterday and they had so much fun- Autumn wore her minky firehat dress with her fabulous Knotty Baby Wear armwarmers and she looked so cute! She played with the Fire Chief's daughters and their puppy and is now asking me when the next "fire station party" is :) Brady ran wild and dumped cupfull after cupfull of water from the water cooler all over the floor of the station. I only found this out after I asked why he was soaking wet when they returned. What can ya do?!! At any rate THANK YOU daddy for making it less stressful and for making me feel less guilt at having to work all weekend (although we should probably talk about the whole sugar-cubes-as-breakfast thing). And during the Super Bowl keep your eye on the fans in the stands, because there are about 10 fabulous women at the Super Bowl wearing their Firedaughter Cardinals Couture and I'm sure the camera will find them because my clients are the Yummiest!!

Behind the Scenes

2009-01-29T17:34:00.000-08:00

I am officially going into hibernation for the next two and-a-half days to get all of my super-fab Cardinals burnouts made, as I've guaranteed them all by Super Bowl Sunday. Orders were due Sunday evening, Monday I ordered all of the shirts from Alternative, they arrived yesterday (Wednesday), this morning I went out to MSKWear HQ and did all of the printing with Heather, and this afternoon I had a few hours of crystalling when my in-laws came over to keep the kids busy. I'll stay up most of the night tonight crystalling, then all day tomorrow and probably most of the day Saturday. This is where a Firefighter husband comes in VERY handy, as he's off the next two days, so he'll be in charge of the Munchkins while mommy makes tons of beautiful shirts! The pictures are of all the printed shirts that are waiting to be blinged out with almost 300 Swarovski crystals each! And that is what 10 gross of light siam Swarovski crystals looks like (most of them are upside down). I'll be using that many times 3, plus that many black diamond Swarovski crystals too. Each and every crystals laid one at a time, by these little hands. I better get back to work!

How Are My Kids This Grown Up Already?

2009-01-29T17:27:00.000-08:00

I don't know exactly why, but it hit me yesterday when my kids were swinging in our backyard- they're just so...grown up. I remember when we were trying so hard to get pregnant with Autumn just like it was yesterday. And I remember the first time they laid my son on my chest- I had a SON. That was yesterday too. And now they are not only swinging on a swingset- they are both on big-kid swings and they both can hold on by themselves and...how did this happen? And can time please just slow down. Who do I talk to about this??

Is It Dumb This Bugs Me? Because It Really Does!

2009-01-27T19:46:00.000-08:00

Okay so I drop Autumn off at preschool and Brady & I run some errands (I got the prettiest Juicy super-long pink belted hoody at Puddleduds for $25!) and then we go to Safeway to pick up some milk. Okay and a donut, but that's beside the point. So we walk in and right in the front of the store is a big beer and chip display and tons of Super Bowl promo stuff. And there are tons of balloon tied to everything- and there are just as many Steelers balloons as there are Cardinals balloons. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I can't even tell you how taken aback I was- that's like all I saw, were Steelers balloons everywhere. The manager was standing right there and I couldn't help myself, I was SO annoyed, so I said "what's up with all the Steelers balloons?" And he was like "uh-uh-uh well we have to show support for all teams, there are Steelers fans here too- uh-uh-uh". Okay I'm sorry but that's crap. I said "well can you maybe thin them out a little bit so there's not just as many Steelers balloons as Cardinals balloons?" He started to say something but I walked away before I said something inappropriate. You know what- I DON'T CARE THAT THERE ARE STEELER FANS THAT LIVE HERE. This is Arizona, and I am so stinkin proud of this football team- not just because they've won games but because they've made me- NO- they've made US believe again that the impossible is possible. Suddenly we're all being called "bandwagon fans"- and I suppose if you look at it on the surface that's true. I've never felt what I feel in my heart for our football or ANY football team what I feel now. It transcends football- it's David vs Goliath, it's I CAN DO WHAT EVERYONE SAYS I CAN'T DO. And this is OUR TEAM and this is Arizona and when I walk into my grocery store dammit I want to see NOTHING BUT CARDINALS. It's the principal, people. Now I'm even more mad. I think I may sneak down there with a pin and do some damage to those Steelers balloons. Anyone care to join me?

THINGS I LOVE: Poor Pitiful Pearl

2009-01-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

Metaphorically speaking, I worship at the altar that is Poor Pitiful Pearl. I have gone 32 years knowing that somewhere out there existed clothing that was just waiting for me, and I've searched and searched and always just settled for clothing, but never, never had I found what I only had before dreamed of wrapping around my body...until a month ago, when alas, I found my Utopia. And perfection in clothing my dear Friends, goes by the name of Poor Pitiful Pearl. Actually my first encounter with PPP was in November, when I was in our church fashion show. Firedaughter had four or five outfits in the fashion show, and so us Mommy's who were accompanying our kids in the fashion show got to go to Mombomb and pick out whatever we wanted. My eye instantly went to these amazing vintage-y boho hippy-chic dresses they had, and the owner of Mombomb said how cool they were, that they were made from totally recycled materials, that the owner would just like find pieces of scrap and sew them together, essentially to "upcycle" the scrap into high fashion. So I got to wear one of the dresses in the fashion show and I felt soooooooo beautiful, and it was so comfy and I was so sad when I had to give it back. Okay, cut to two months later I'm checking out all the people who have "hearted" me on Etsy, and I see a shop called Poor Pitiful Pearl. Intriguing name, so I click on it and it takes me to the PPP shop, and OMG I totally freak out because ARE YOU KIDDING ME- SOMEONE ON ETSY MAKES WHAT I HAVE ONLY DREAMT OF??? It took me like three days though, to realize that it was the same maker of the dress that I had modeled from Mombomb- it wasn't until I went to the PPP website and saw under the stores that carried PPP that Mombomb was listed. DUH! So it was just meant to be that Samya and PPP were to find one another :) I am now the proud owner of one "I Heart My Hybrid" dress and one vintage Guinness Stout tee that Shauna (she's the genius of PPP) turned into a FREAKING AMAZING tube top with little off-the-shoulder sleeves. I also have another Hybrid dress and a bright orange vintage tube on the way! People, these clothes are amazing. I honestly do not know how PPP isn't way famous- it should be, and I have no doubt it will be. Have her make you one thing and you will be a believer. It is pretty tough to make this Mommy feel beautiful and sexy these days, but in my PPP you couldn't convince me there's a more beautiful, sexy woman in the room. Thank you Shauna. PPP was worth the wait.

Why Won't My Son Sleep?

2009-01-25T11:58:00.000-08:00

Oh it was another one of those nights last night where my husband I lay there for two hours straight feeling sorry for ourselves and shrieking "WHYYYYYYYY?????" Autumn was not a very good sleeper either, but by 18 months she was pretty much sleeping through the night, and now at 3 and a half she is Super Champ Sleeper of the World. Brady is now 21 months though- nearly two years old, and still he refuses to sleep through the night...or really even for more than 4 hours at a time on most nights. So last night he goes down at the usual, 7:30. In the middle of the night I hear him stirring...I pray that he goes back to sleep but know from experience he won't. So he starts wailing, I look at the clock, it's 2 am. So he's been asleep for a good chunk, but still, it's 2 am, and James and I have only been asleep for like three hours. So I go in there and rub his back and hug him (I don't take him out of his crib) and tell him I love him but that's it night-night time and he needs to lay back down, and he SCREAMS BLOODY MURDER. So I say goodnight and leave the room. Most of the time this works and he lays back down and goes to sleep for at least another hour. But NO he proceeds to scream SCREAM SCREAM for the next two hours. I go in there periodically so he knows we haven't abandoned him, and I know all he wants is for me to take him out and sit with him on the rocker and feed him a bottle, but I've already given him a sippy cup of milk and NO, you are almost two years old! I just don't know what to do- no, ya know what? The most frustrating thing is that I know that it doesn't matter what I do. I will never be a mom that just lets their kids cry it out without going in there and attempting to comfort them, that's not who I am and I never will be. But it's so hard because our house is small and our room, his room, and Autumn's room are all like one foot away from each other, so I'm stressing that he's keeping Autumn up, I'm thinking about how exhausted I'm going to be in the morning, and wouldn't you think that with him being up crying for two hours straight that he would want to sleep in? NOPE. 5:45 am. RISE AND SHINE!! Oh man he is lucky he is the cutest thing ever and that he gives great kisses and is the light of my life, or he'd be OUTTA HERE! *Okay it's an hour after I posted this entry. I've been agonizing- should I go back and delete it? It sounds so negative towards my son, I don't want people thinking he's not amazing, etc. But I decided that it's MY blog, and my life is so far from perfect, and if I have a bad day with my kids, that just makes me human right? You know I love my son more than life itself- you know that, because chances are you're a mother or at the very least you HAVE a mother, and you know how hard it can be sometimes to be Mommy. But it's still the greatest joy on earth. Amen.

Exciting Day for Firedaugher!

2009-01-24T17:50:00.000-08:00

Yay, I'm so excited! So my limited-edition Cardinals shirt is selling like CRAZY, I'm so excited that people love it as much as I do, AND it's going to be featured on Channel 5 news during their Super Bowl party show Wednesday night at 7:30! They will even have a link on their website to my website so people will be able to find it. What a blessing this is! Okay gotta go, I have two naked babies to get clean! GO CARDINALS!! AND THANKS FOR THE INSPIRATION!

I am Ridiculously Excited About my New Shirt YUMMY LOVE LOVE

2009-01-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

Okay so I'm out for a run a few months ago and the Toad the Wet Sprocket song comes on, All I want is to feel this way to feel this close to feel this saaaaaaafe. I don't know if those are the right words, but the part that struck me and made me run FAST were the ALL I WANT IS TO FEEL THIS WAY. Oh man I am a passionate chick, and if you know me well, you know that my "thing" is drop-saddle spinning. I never had a passion in my life before spinning- something that lit my soul on fire (to borrow a phrase from my pastor, Woody). The first time I got on a drop-saddle spin bike was at Velocity, a teeny dark dirty smelly studio in Arcadia, in April 1999. I had no idea what I was doing, I didn't even know the object was to hit the beat, I couldn't clip in and out of the pedals, I was clueless. And I was madly in love. THIS was created for ME. And as it turns out, spinning truly was a gift, as I ended up meeting James, the HOT FIREMAN, my future husband and father of my babies, in that very studio. Life happened and drama happened and spinning went in and out of my life for the next 9 years, but as all important things in our life do, it has come full circle for me, and I am now back spinning at Studio 360, which is the studio that Velocity became a few months after I started riding there. It was so so so crazy to be back there after literally 9 years. As I pulled into the parking lot, which happened to be the first place James ever told me he loved me, it just felt right. And when I get on that bike and a song with a crazy strong beat comes on, and it just magnetically pulls my right foot down, left knee up on that beat, and my heartbeat rhythm changes to coordinate with the beat in the song, I cry out ALL I WANT IS TO FEEL THIS WAY. All of that, that indescribableness (yes I know it's not a word) is what inspired this shirt. WHAT'S YOUR THING THAT MAKES YOU FEEL THAT WAY? Wear this shirt when you're doing that thing.

My Beautiful Sisters

2009-01-22T20:55:00.000-08:00

Oh I am going to cry. I love my sisters so much. They are Anjelica, 21, and Gabby, 18. I am so proud of them both- they both moved from Spokane to Portland in the last few months, and are doing so awesomely building their lives on their own (well, with constant phone support from our mom:) Anjelica has worked since she was 15 for Albertsons, she started as a bag girl and is now a bigwig manager making more money than I ever did. Gabby is living her dream- waitressing and doing promotions for Hooters, and grooming herself to be discovered by Hollywood. As you have probably figured out, there is a huge age difference between me and my sisters. I was 10 when Anjelica was born and 13 when Gab was born. I am the proud mother of two children but I can honestly say that the day Anjelica was born still ranks in the happiest days of my life. My Little Putt, as I called her. And my sweet, sweet Baby Putt. Gabby NEVER ends a conversation without adding "I LOVE YOU!" ever. Oh more tears. Because I am so much older I really missed out on most of their lives- I moved out when I was 18, Anjelica was only 8 and Gabby only 5, and I moved to Arizona the next year. Okay that's all I can make it through right now- I hope they know how much I love them even if I haven't always been there...I pray they know what they mean to me and their neice and nephew. Love you Putts.

THINGS I LOVE: Chenille Chef Ice Cream Cones

2009-01-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

Okay I'm sorry but are these the flippin' CUTEST THINGS YOU'VE EVER SEEN????? I found the "Chenille Chef" on Etsy while I was searching for play food. I am so sick of plastic cheesy playfood, I was looking for something special before Christmas, and I ordered a set of four ice cream cones from her. I got to choose what flavors I wanted from a list of 15 or 20 I think. It was so fun! I expected them to be cute, but when the package arrived and I opened it, I literally shrieked and jumped up and down because they're so fabulous!! They're huge and they look just like real ice cream cones, and the kids LOVE them. Chenille Chef is a grandma who makes all of her playfood herself. You have to check out her shop! I have my eye on her breakfast food set next! They're beautiful and they're amazing quality and they're soooo fun to play with, and that's why they're SOMETHING I LOVE.

5 in 3. Now THAT'S Havin' a Good Time

2009-01-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

I think the true measure of how much fun one has can be directly linked to how much weight they gain from the event. My parents were here for three days and I gained FIVE pounds, so you can imagine how much fun we had! My parents live in Spokane, Washington, and the kids and I go there like twice a year and my mom comes here 3 or 4 times a year, but my dad owns a resturant, so he can rarely get away. This was only his third time here in the almost 13 years I've lived here. So when he's here, it's beyond special. The highlights were of course the train park and THE BIG GAME and going for wonderful walks around the neighborhood. It was about 77 degrees every day they were here, and considering the snow at their house is over 9 feet tall, they were feeling quite blissful :) As a mother, there are few things that make me feel as warm and fuzzy as seeing my children interact with their Nana and Papa. I don't understand how, because they don't see them often, but the moment they see them, they just know that Nana & Papa are well...Nana & Papa. The love there going both ways is really overwhelming. I am so so so jealous of people whose parents live near them and their children. Just plain jealous. They were looking at condos while they were here though, so that's a good sign! I apologize for all the photos of me, but I'm usually never in any photos, AND I was showered, so these may be the last photos you see of me ever, because that rarely happens!

THINGS I LOVE: MSKWear Sports Fan Minky Dresses

2009-01-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

Okay so this is the first in what will be my regular installments of THINGS I LOVE. Kind of like Oprah's Favorite Things, but slightly less prestigious. So MSKWear is an independent designer that is based in Mesa- the company is run by Heather Christiansen, whom I am so so lucky to collaborate with on a regular basis. MSKWear's niche is clothing for the children of athletes, as Heather herself is the wife of a retired player. So the dresses featured today are among my very favorite pieces that Heather makes- they are her Littlest Sports Fan minky tankdresses and OH MY OH MY are they not the sweetest things you've ever seen???!!!!! The three dresses here are Yankees baseball, ASU Sun Devils football, and Phoenix Suns basketball. Heather can do pretty much any team and any sport you want (including Cardinals football!), and your little girl will be the hit of the game when she's wearing her Littlest Sports Fan minky dress! You can order through her website or mine. You will seriously flip when you see how cute these are, and that's why they're SOMETHING I LOVE.

CARDS IN THE SUPER BOWL! Should I get some credit for this?

2009-01-19T06:59:00.001-08:00

Okay I'm not saying I'm COMPLETELY responsible for the Cardinals going to the Super Bowl, BUT let me tell you this little story and then you decide. So this great woman from my church Cheryl Ann Shaff, asked me to bling out two shirts for her this football season. She bought a really cool Cardinals t-shirt at the beginning of the season, and I full-on blinged it out for her with Swarovski crystals. She LOVED it, and then a few weeks later she had me do a Florida Gators shirt for her daughter, who lives in Florids. Well, in case you don't follow football- guess who won the college National Championship this year??? UH-HUH UH-HUH. The Florida Gators. And guess who just made it to the Super Bowl for the first time? UH-HUH UH-HUH. The Arizona Cardinals. Coincidence? I don't think so! But YOU be the judge. GO CARDS GO CARDS!!!!!!
p.s. I'm working on a super fabulous new shirt as we speak for our little girls to brag about the Cards in style!!

TRADING BOTOX FOR A SANDBOX

2009-01-17T07:27:00.000-08:00

So you think you're a good mother??? Well prepare to be humbled. Okay, so I've been either pregnant or nursing for 4 years straight, right? Well my goodness, all of this mothering has wreaked havoc on my poor little body and my formerly lustrious hair & wrinkle-free face. So of course I have my days, many days, where I look in the mirror and I'm like "who is that woman?" I just don't recognize myself. So I had been looking so forward to the day Brady stopped nursing so I could get Botox, right? I've never had it before but I desperately have been wanting it, just as a little pick-me-up. I knew I would never keep it up on a regular basis, it's way too expensive (and plus I like to spend all extra money I have on crystals- I know, I'm lame), but I wanted to get it just once so I could feel pretty for three months! Okay so when Brady was like 10 months old I even considered weaning him early so I could get it, I was feeling soooooo bad about how I looked. Of course I didn't, but still I prayed that he would stop nursing on his own before Autumn did (at 13 months). Okay, fast forward to him being EIGHTEEN months old, and FINALLY he is done nursing. So the stage is set for my Glorious Botox Adventure. I have received the green light (begrudgingly) from my husband, my body is finally my own again, and I've started getting recommedations about what doctor to go to from my girlfriends...it's going to happen, it's going to happen...And then we go over to my neighbor's house for our annual neighborhood Christmas party and they have the world's coolest sandbox in their backyard. I mean this thing is like the Rolls Royce of sandboxes! My kids play in the sandbox for literally three hours. I've always known they like playing in sand, we have a little mud pit in our backyard that they love, but this was like LOVE LOVE. Right then and there I knew we must build a sandbox in our backyard. But I also knew that I wanted it to be huge and glorious like our neighbors' sandbox, and that it would likely be several hundred dollars to build it and fill it with sand. *sighs* It was at that moment I realized that if I really wanted this sandbox for Autumn & Brady I was going to have to trade my botox in for it. Since we aren't the Rockefeller's two several-hundred dollar extra expenditures were not going to happen. So yes, I made the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE. Does anyone know if there are any Mother-of-the-Year contests going on right now with extravagant prizes? Because you might want to enter me...

Fall Comes a Little Late to Scottsdale

2009-01-17T07:18:00.000-08:00

So I guess it's because it's so warm here, but we don't actually experience "fall" until January! Many of the neighborhoods in Scottsdale are newer developments, and they don't have big grassy yards or mature trees, but we're lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where all of the houses have been around since I think the 50s, so we have HUGE beautiful trees, and we are double lucky because we have this super cool tree in our front yard that sheds all of its leaves and the kids LOVE it. Well so do I actually- there is nothing like the crunch of leaves under your feet on a beautiful sunny day. I know most of the U.S. is experiencing record lows right now, but today it's going to be 76 degrees & Nana and Papa are here from Spokane to visit us this weekend, we plan to do much more rolling in the leaves while they're here! I love these pictures of Autumn and Brady playing in the leaves- isn't this what childhood is about!!

Hero of the Hudson / Miracle in Manhattan

2009-01-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I could do nothing all day long but sit and watch news reports talking about the miracle that occurred yesterday with that U.S. Airways flight. I literally start shaking and the hairs on my arms stand on end, and my heart becomes so full it feels like it's going to burst. You know what? The United States with the state it's in right now- we needed to witness a miracle, and we did. Expert after expert is saying that in no realm of reality whatsover could those circumstances ever have been predicted or anticipated, or trained for, and yet that pilot, Sully (I feel like I'm his friend so I can call him that) had the wherewithall to protect the lives of 155 mother, sons, daughters, and fathers under unimaginable circumstances. That my friends, is a Miracle, and we are so blessed to have witnessed it. PRAISE THE LORD. God Bless you Sully.

What is Etsy?

2009-01-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

So for those of you who don't know, Etsy is simply the most fabulous marketplace to buy and sell all things handmade. I first read about Etsy over a year ago in Parents magazine, they had a little snipet about it with a picture of a cute baby hat or something. I didn't think twice about it, but then about a month later my girlfriend Penny asked my if I heard of Etsy, and that she had a girlfriend who handmade stationery and sold it in her shop on Etsy. Again I just brushed it off- I was VERY positive that I didn't need to sell my clothing anywhere except on my website. People just should just be flocking to me, shouldn't they??!! So I just went off on my merry way, and I don't know why, but a few months ago in October I went to the Etsy website and started poking around, and I seriously FELL IN LOVE with Etsy. There are something like 200,000 little shops within Etsy, and everything in every shop is handmade (there is also vintage on Etsy). When I say handmade, I don't mean like Etsy is filled with people selling the ashtrays their kids made in ceramics class. Some of the most beautiful clothing and toys and art and stationery I've ever laid eyes on in my life I found on Etsy. You have to set up an account to buy or sell on Etsy, and it takes like ten seconds- it's well worth it. I set up my account back when Penny told me about Etsy, but I just set up my shop right before Halloween. It has been so so so much fun, and before Christmas I sold a TON of my Peace. Love. Girlfriends. tees to people who would have NEVER found me if I hadn't been on Etsy. So go check it out, and I'll often feature things I've found or bought from Etsy shops that I think are extraordinary. WELCOME TO YOUR NEW ADDICTION!

The Family

2009-01-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

So my family consists of me,Samya, I'm the Mommy! James is Daddy, he is a Captain and 15 year veteran of the Phoenix Fire Department. He is YUMMY. Autumn is our three and a half year old daughter, you'll see TONS of pictures of her because she's my main model for all of my little girl clothing. She's the best model ever- you want to know my secret? CHOCOLATE. She's a chocoholic like her mommy, so I just say "sissy, do you want to model a new shirt for mommy?" and she runs to her room to change into it! She gets one small piece of chocolate after each photo shoot. Go ahead, judge me! Have you seen how freakin' awesome my pictures are?!!!!!!! Brady is our year and a half old son, and he is the stereotypical "boy". He is ALL BOY and he is quite a challenge. There are many a day when I wonder why we didn't stop after one child, but then I look at him and he's so so so so so yummy, and we figure one day he'll be a pro athlete and take care of us financially and it'll be all worth how high maintenance he was as a baby. So that's the plan with him.

The First Post is the Toughest so I Hear

2009-01-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first posting of my new blog, Us & Firedaughter. My husband wants to know why I need a blog. He says "you already have a website and an Etsy shop, not to mention three different e-mails." And he's right, I do have probably way too much space on the internet devoted to me :) But both my website and my new Etsy shop are all about Firedaughter, my business, and this blog is going to be about well...whatever I want it to be about that day! Sometimes I'll get super personal about my life, sometimes I'll share amazing new pretties I've found on Etsy. Sometimes I'll pat myself on the back about what an awesome mom I am, and sometimes I'll ask for your prayers for my children because they have such a psycho mom. With Us & Firedaughter, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll get hungry (because I will talk about food A LOT). I'm so happy you're here.

Us & Firedaughter

Sacrifices

The Queen of China

Not even tempted by Juicy!

My Girl is 4!!

What It's All About...

Cutest Shots

Brady's Love

A Few of the Customs I Made This Week

Autumn's New Obsession Part 2

My Twins :)

Running Fool!

TEAM DADDY!

Sad News for My Mom...

A Few of the Customs I Made This Week

The Sistas

Last Day of Preschool!

Wrinkles. Ugh.

YUM YUM! Peace Love Daddy

I Don't Get It

My FAVE. Ever.

What I've Been Up To!

Mother's Day Tea at Preschool

Watch Firedaughter on Fox 10

*NEWS SHOW*

Cinco de Mayo FIESTA

I'm Up To Something...

A Very Etsy Week

Another Gift Guide!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!! BUT IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT, YES?!!

About Last Night

Mommy Burnout- and I Don't Mean the Tees

Brady is 2!

For Your BFF!!

Braggin' on My Man

Mama's Guilt BE GONE!

The Best Anniversary Card EVER

Silly Girls!

THINGS I LOVE: Inkspot Workshop Lollipop & Farm Stationery

Firedaughter is in a GIFT GUIDE on Etsy!!

100 Hearts :)

Vista Bonita Annual Easter Party '09!

VEGAS BABY!!

Heidi's Visit

THINGS I LOVE: AFDesigns "Mom" Hand-Stamped Necklaces

Just Braggin': Part Whatever

I Suck at Keeping Up With This! But for Good Reason!

Celebrate Your Sisters!!!!

Why Do I LOVE This Picture So Much??

Emotionally Hungover

THINGS I LOVE: babyKAMP Buckets & Pretties!

GIVEAWAY!!! What Saying Do YOU Want to Wear?

Tomorrow

New WHAT A FEELING!

Gettin' Ready for the Trunk Show!

LUXE LUXE Custom Bling!

Brady's 1st Haircut!

How Have YOU Changed?

In a Funk Update: Making a Comeback

In a Funk

Autumn's New Obsession

New PEACE. LOVE. GIRLFRIENDS. In The House!

Pretty in Her Little Pretties

Polar Opposites

THINGS I LOVE: Annie's Powder Room

Just Braggin'

I Hope I'm Not Jinxing This!

Feel Like Makin' Love VALENTINE'S DAY PRETTY!

Here is My Theory on the Octuplet's Mother

Every Preschoolers Dream Come True!

The Perfect Day

Friends Help Take the Sting Out.

Daddy Helps Out!

Behind the Scenes

How Are My Kids This Grown Up Already?

Is It Dumb This Bugs Me? Because It Really Does!

THINGS I LOVE: Poor Pitiful Pearl

Why Won't My Son Sleep?

Exciting Day for Firedaugher!

I am Ridiculously Excited About my New Shirt YUMMY LOVE LOVE

NEWS SHOW