Hi everyone,
I managed to get Violette’s new Academia outfit listed on Ebay. I had a crazy time trying to sort out all my pictures… I think I still ended up with 35 in my listing! Yikes! I just didn’t want to cull any of them. Good grief!
You can click on the picture at the right side bar or you can click HERE to be taken to the auction on Ebay.
Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of this set. I truly enjoyed this one, just like I did Samantha’s last dress.
Now I have a real life doll story to tell you… Karen, one of our Sofa Sisters gave birth to her fifth girl Tuesday! She sent an email with the story of her little girl’s arrival and some pictures!
Dear Jeanne and Sofa Sisters,
Here is the story of our new baby girl. I suspected during the day on the 26th that she might come in the night. (She was due on the 17th.) I went to bed, but don’t think I slept. I texted my oldest sister in California that I thought the contractions were the real thing, but wasn’t sure at first. So for almost three hours after midnight, my sister kept me company and helped distract me by discussing baby names while my husband got some sleep. Then, I wanted to contact the midwife to ask her to come (an hour plus drive to our house). She got started on her way and my sister said I could keep updating her as I wanted, but understood it was getting harder. I would text her “go” in order to sort of time how far apart the contractions were.
A little bit later my husband thought it was time to get up and he sat by me for most of the rest of the night, trying to help with the pressure. I was very appreciative of his help. He helped me to be more relaxed and not alone, although he takes this medicine that causes him to sleep at night. Some of the time he was very drowsy, but he stayed with me. I was very glad. There was another way that God seemed near. My husband is a Third Order Dominican and we have a friend who is also a Third Order Dominican from our Church. She had told me earlier to let her know when labor started so she could pray me through it. I sent her a message and I think she wrote back during the 4 a.m. hour that she had sent her guardian angel, St. Anne, and Mary to help me. She knew I was anxious about the labor pains. She also works at a convent for Passionist Nuns and sent them a message to pray for me. She said it is the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damien and that they were doctors, which I found comforting.
And so the night passed. Yet the baby remained hidden with barely any blood or water to speak of. How long will this take? My husband had to bring the girls to school. I didn’t want him to leave. (They were very grownup and got ready for school with not much assistance.) So they all went outside to the van and that is when I knew the baby was coming. I yelled “Help me, help me, help me!” and a midwife or helper got them and one or both came to me and my husband. The water bag came out with the baby (that’s why there hadn’t been water). The baby was caught and the girls were able to see her before they hurried off to school. I was very glad they hadn’t left yet and that Joseph was present for the birth.
She is my heaviest baby at 7 lbs 13 ounces. She measured 20 inches long. We are still deciding on her first name, but Carmelita is her middle name in honor of our Lady of Mount Carmel and her protection and Brown Scapular.
Here are some pictures of the girls, Marion, Rose, Lucia, and Avila. Both Avila and this baby are Rainbow babies (born after a miscarriage). Lucia just had her birthday on Saturday and tomorrow is the Anniversary of her Baptism. Rose’s birthday is October 4th. So we have three birthdays close together. Also, found out today would have been my Great Uncle Charlie’s 107th birthday and is my cousin’s birthday.
Anyway, thank you for listening if you made it this far. š Thank you, Heaven, for all your help! Thank you, Jeanne!
Take care!
Karen from Kentucky
Thanks for sharing your story of how little ______ Carmelita made it into the world! You look SO happy in that last picture. Your smile is so beautiful! May the Lord give you the perfect name for her! Please know we are all praying for you to have a quick recovery and that she is a good baby and will let you get “some” sleep! :o)
See everyone tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thank you so much for sharing, Jeanne! You are very sweet! <3. I think your auction will do very well. š Thank you for all your prayers!!
Dear Karen and family. Thank God for a safe delivery and such a lovely, loving family. Blessings upon you all, and thank you for the joyous pictures and narrative. Sending hugs and prayers,
Sally
Thank you very much, dear Sally!
Can’t wait to see what you pick for a first name for your new wee one. Carmelita is such a lovely name finding something to proceed it won’t be easy. But maybe by now you have. Whatever you pick your baby will have an amazing name.
Thank you, Barbara! I am glad you like Carmelita. It is hard to find a name we both like for the first name, but we need to hurry up because Baptism is set for Sunday! Thanks, Barbara!
Good luck, Jeanne, on your latest auction, although I don’t think you will need it!
That is just the most darling ensemble!
Oh, what a beautiful baby, Karen! I can’t believe the picture of her was right after she was born! Her big sisters look so adoring and happy to have her as I am sure you all are!
You mentioned that your husband is a member of the Third Order Dominican. My great grandmother was a memeber of the Third Order of St. Francis, and I remember her dressed in that habit when she died. St. Francis has always been my favorite saint, and I have a statue of him in our garden.
What an amazing grooup of people you had helping you out while giving birth! Your husband sounds like a saint! It was so sweet to see your daughters all dressed in their school uniforms, able to see their new sister before leaving for school. It looked like a good day for everyone, and espeically for you! Thank you for letting us all share in your good news, and Jeanne too!
Congratulations Karen and Joseph and family. The baby is beautifulā¦those chubby cheeks and round face ā¦so adorable. Her big sisters will spoil herā¦.she will be cuddled all the time. Give yourself time to restā¦let the girls helpš We had Dominican nuns as teachers from K-12. Lovely ladies and teachersā¦.never liked uniforms thoughš
Violette premiere outfit is stunning. She will not want to send it off but some RRFF will be very happy. Iām sure you have the next dress in mind if someone doesnāt give you another task to došµāš«š¤
Hi Linda! Thank you! We took pictures of the girls with her after they came home from school in the afternoon since they didn’t have much time in the morning before school.
That is neat that your great grandmother was a Third Order of St. Francis! It would be interesting to hear what she had to do for it. Rose, our daughter, was born on the feast of St. Francis (October 4th). We have his statue in our front flower bed. (We also have a St. Fiacre by the road. He reminded me of St. Benedict when I first saw him.)
Yes, I feel very blessed for all those who supported me during the birth process. Heaven seemed very close. Marion said her most favorite days are when her sisters are born.
Thank you, Linda!
First of all, good for you, Jeanne, getting the school outfit posted. You are right, all the pictures are wonderful, and I can see why you included so many of them!! Violette is very photogenic!
Congratulations to Karen, Joseph, and daughters on your new addition! Your baby is beautiful! And what a lovely family you have. It’s so nice to see all your faces, so now when you talk about them, I can picture you all in my mind!
I have to say, I think a family of five girls is wonderful. My best friend was the third of a family of five girls, and you could not find a better family anywhere. Her parents were like second parents to me, and I thought she was the luckiest girl ever, to have so many sisters!! Time has passed (we met in first grade) and the age ranges are now from 67 to, I think, 83 (June and I are 76). Such dear people!
Thank you for your kind words, Charlotte! You are very sweet. I remember you talking about your friends before. They sound like a wonderful family to know. I hope our girls will always be close and look out for each other.
Congratulations Karen!! Thank you for updating us on your sweet baby girl. Iām glad her older sisters got to hold her before school.
May God bless you all!!
Thank you, Paula! They had to wait until after school to hold her, since they didn’t have much time, but at least they were able to see her for a little bit before they left. May God bless you as well!
Great that Jeanne, was able to get Violette’s outfit listed. She is so cute.
And a big thank you to Karen for sending the newborn photos to Jeanne. What a great story as well. So nice to see the whole family and Karen, who by the way, looks adorable after being up all night. From Karen’s note at the top, it was 2:45AM. Guess that sweet Carmelita, is ruling the roost. Hope both are able to catch a few winks today.
Thank you, Joy! Yes, I was able to rest a lot today.
I just love this outfit and if I hadn’t added so many new dolly daughters to the family lately, I would bid furiously on this one. Good luck! I know the auction will go great. What’s not to like!
Oh, Karen, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a beautiful newborn and you look great for a night without sleep. I thought my children were beautiful, of course, but they were both difficult births (one posterior, one like he was sleeping on his side) and my poor daughter had a cone shaped head for a few days because she was delivered with forceps. I never noticed but others said. Your other daughters are lovely and I know in love with their new sister already. I can’t imagine having to sit in school all day after that early-morning experience, but what a tale they have to tell their classmates. I remember I was in second grade when my second sister was born. My teacher saw the birth announcement in the paper (they published that all the time back then) and announced it in class. I remember my classmates all clapping.
Speaking of adoring siblings. I am totally amazed at Skyy and Jaiden’s response to their little brother. There is such a gap in their ages that I wasn’t sure how they would respond, but those two are amazing. They have totally embraced Azure into their lives and, aside from his bouts with teething which would cause anyone angst, that kid is all smiles all the time. And even now at 21 months we can see his incredible sense of humor. Both Skyy and Jaiden have always had a great sense of humor and now Azure too. I think they got that from me because when I’m watching something funny I’m rolling on the floor laughing and I can’t understand why the other adults in the family aren’t even smiling. They agree it was funny, just not that funny. If laughter is the best medicine, I’m good to go.
David and Sean made it back early last evening with the windows for my laundry room. I breathed a sigh of relief. It has been a long haul trying to find them and with the trip to Kansas they ended up being some pricey windows. At first I was willing to lower my expectations on finding exactly what I wanted but it turned out the alternatives weren’t available locally either (and that’s in Houston) and a trip to Kansas ended up being necessary to get any windows at all and so we went with the type we originally wanted because they were available there. The store is Menard’s and I sure wish we had one. The closest ones to us were Wichita, Kansas, and a couple places in Missouri. They told David the stores were privately owned and it was felt that competing with Home Depot and Lowe’s in Houston wouldn’t work. I can tell them if their service here would be like it was in Kansas, they’d do quite well. David ordered something from Home Depot the other day to pick up at the store in Katy and when he got there they couldn’t find it. David finally made a few suggestions for looking it up and then they could find the item. If you are lucky enough to live near a Menard’s you are very lucky.
Looks like our temps are finally coming down. Some 50s in the morning and 80s during the day. Finally!
Thank you, Barbara! That picture was taken in the afternoon so I probably had some time to rest before it. That must have been exceptionally painful to have a posterior birth!
How special for your teacher to read the birth announcement to the class!
Life needs a good dose of humor.
We used to go to Menards in Cincinnati, but they built a closer one to us, so my husband goes to that one instead. When my parents built their house when I was about 7, they would go to South Dakota to the Menards there for things. They live in Minnesota. I am glad your windows have arrived safely. Hopefully gas has gone down by where you live. It is cool out here, too.
Hi Jeanne, what a sweet outfit. Linda is correct, no luck needed to sell this one, its a winner for sure. I wonder who’s up next? Jeanne, thanks for posting Karen’s email. A few days ago she was on my mind and wondered if she had had the baby yet, so Congrats and Best Wishes to Karen, her hubby and the girls. What a sweet baby girl and what a lovely middle name. I’m sure the perfect first name will come to you Karen.
Sorry I haven’t been around. Life happens and it’s been busy and a little stressful.
Still waiting for Mom to agree to move in with us. As long as she refuses there isn’t much I can do. My Dad needs an Echocardiogram test, it was scheduled but he decided to call and cancel it. He didn’t tell me he canceled until the day before his scheduled test. Without the test I don’t think dad will get approval to have Cataract surgery. sigh! Danielle my daughter has had an health issue arise (autoimmune hepatitis) and I would like to ask for prayer for her. She is also seeking custody of little man due to her ex’s third DUI car accident. She’s stressed and could really use all the prayers possible.
I felt Charlotte’s pain when she was having plumbing issues. We too were and or having issues. We need our septic system replaced. We put a new system in when we moved into this house 13 years ago and now it needs to be replaced again. Evidently the sand that was used in the sand filter was the wrong size (to small) this has caused it to seize up like cement. It does not allow the water to flow through properly and it’s pooling in two area’s of our yard. Our hope is to replace the sand filter with a regular septic system that uses a leach field instead. So for months we’ve been waiting on the Town to do a Perc test. They told us they are backed up. All we can do is wait. It’s now the rainy season so if they get around to drilling the hole for a Perc it may not pass. In the meantime we had four large trees removed in the area we hope will be the septic field. The tree guy is here today to grind tree stumps. We ended up taking out 11 trees. Many of our trees were old and at the end of their life so we decided to just get them all taken care of. My yard is a mess which makes me feel sad. I need Calgone to take me away! LOL Oh gosh TMI but thanks for listening!
Hugs
Ingrid
Ingrid you definitely have my prayers, both for your issues and your daughter Danielle’s health and ability to gain custody of her son. I don’t know much about autoimmune hepatitis, but I do know that things like multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases are worse when a person is stressed so I pray that she can resolve the issue with little man and that might make her health issues easier to manage. In the meantime, y’all (that’s Texas talk) are definitely in my thoughts and prayers.
Thank you for thinking about us, Ingrid! I am glad you like Carmelita for a name. I like it a lot. I wanted to honor our Lady of Mount Carmel with all our kids’ names. She has given me much hope. I will pray for you and Danielle.
You’re so sweet Karen! Thank you so very much. I really appreciate your prayers… and let us know what you decide for a first name. Inquiring minds want to know.
Hi Barbara, I love your “Texas talk” and appreciate the prayers. I agree with your thought that stress plays a roll. How I wish she had no stress in her life!
I’m happy to hear you’ve got your windows. How excited you must be. I wish I had a room just for laundry, color me jealous!
Congratulations Karen, Joseph, and your precious daughters. What a beautiful baby little _________ Carmelita is. Her sisters look totally smitten with her. It was so nice that everyone was still home when she made her grand entrance. May God bless you and your lovely family. It was so nice to see photos of everyone.
Thank you, Laura, for your kind comments! Yes, I think we are all in love with her. Marion thinks her favorite days are when her sisters are born.
Congratulations Karen on your new baby girl. She is lovely and so are your other girls. Have a good rest while you can.
Violette’s outfit is wonderful Jeanne, I can see why you have so much trouble choosing photos to use. She really is very photogenic.
The sleepouts are just about finished, still need more coats of paint but basically all done. Just waiting for the new cable to be connected to the street but that isn’t booked in till 31st October. Jono is finally in his room, now I can get my workroom back. I plan to go out there and start on some cleaning and putting stuff back in that had to be stored in the garage. Kai can’t move into her room yet. It is still spring so can be very cool sometimes especially at night and she can’t use the heater as that would overload our power too much until the cable is done. Jono won’t be using any more than he did before so as long as I don’t use the heat pump in the workroom we’ll be fine. As soon as we are finished I will send photos but Ingrid I feel your pain, my garden and deck are a complete mess so need to tidy them up before I take any photos.
Thank you, Anne!
Hi Anne, Hope you are feeling well… It’s so exciting that everyone has their own space and you have your work room back! I’m sure your garden will soon enough be lovely. You have the rest of spring and all of summer to get it back in shape.
Congratulations to Karen and welcome to her beautiful — Carmelita. What a nice family you have. Let us know when you choose a name. I can imagine all Jeanne’s dolls saying, “Name her after me!”
Violette’s outfit is wonderful. You did include my favorite picture — it looks like it was yours too. I thought the outfit was wonderful, but then the black hat put it over the top.
Thank you. Marilyn! That is funny about Jeanne’s dolls. š
Please thank your friend for sharing. So exciting!š„° and congratulations.