SMILE! God has planned a week full of great surprises for us :)))))))))

Halloween First Birthday Dress made from scratch this weekend

The weekend is almost over..

I can tell we had a wonderful one. Isabella had some "grandma time" she spent the night at grandma's and went to the church with her. Brian and I had some quality time together and some time spent with friends.

I  beteween all the cleaning and fun, I have gotten a First Birthday Dress made from scratch. There is nothing that relaxes me more than working on my little dresses. You have no idea how a wonderful therapy it is for the soul. :)

Ohhhhh Cant forget to say that our plants got some water as well. We had some rain and I thank Lord for that. Our tree look so much happier :)

What is your plan for the new week ? My plan it to make no plans at all. Play it by ear, live one day at a time. I have realized that when we plan something, it never happens as we planned but sometimes, like this weekend for example, it turns to be a great one without any plans at all.

I have an idea about what is going to be waiting for me is God gives the  gift of living through one more week, Some stuff, I look forward to and others not so much but I will take it. As long as we are healthy, there is nothing we can face it if we ttrust that God will be with us.

Ok, Isabella just got in my room and she  is reading what I am typing, so she says that I should post on my diary like this, she is telling me this right now:

I should work as hard as I can to get all of my stuff done so that I can spend more time with her. She says I work too much and I have not spent a lot of time with her...

Ok She is gone now LOL, That little stinker, made sure I typed what she told me to. LOL

You all have a wonderful week ahead and dont forget to wear your best outfit everyday... YES, you best outfit is a SMILE,  yes, a smile never goes out of style... :))) Try it right now, SMILE very BIG :)))) With your soul and heart. SMILE! God has planned a week full of great surprises for us :))))))))) Let's be thankful for what we have and God bless our new week ahead!!!

Hugs
Zee
www.myfirstbirthdaydress.com

Yes this is our motto “True Course Ever”

Hi there :)

How was your day? Busy?

You tell me about it...I have been up at 5:00 AM working and right now it's 9:56 PM. At 4:30 I had to stop for a few hours so that I could attend my  Pilots Meeting. Am I a Pilot? Nah... Pilot International is this wonderful non profit organization that I am proud to be part of and serve as a board member. If you want to find out more about it, here is the link to the website.Pilot International It feels good to be able to help and raise awareness about brain related injures and diseases, adding to this mission we make  lot of friends around the country and the world at the same time. Friends that we can count on them during good and bad times, our motto is  “True Course Ever” :) My life, is much better better and makes more sense when I am able to help and donate some of my time to make this world a little better. I believe in the human being and I believe that if each one of us donate a little bit of our time, we can change the world around us. What a good feeling it is knowing the I am not only passing through this world, I have been trying to touch other peoples lives. Thank you Lord for giving me the desire and helping me to find the time to do this. Our Chapter in Springfield is still tiny compared to others but, we will find more member to join us . Today it's our Governor Holly Spirrison Baker 's birthday. She was supposed to be among us but her family needed her with them tonight,  Karla, from Jacksonville, IL, brought a tiny and delicious cake, we ate it in Holly's  honor :)  afte our meeting was over with. What wouldn't we do to put a smile on Holly's face :))) Happy Birthday Holly. God bless you always.

I am very proud of women like her who have two small kids at home, work and still find time and dedication to be a "Pilot" There is no better way in my opinion, to show our kids how to make a difference than making it ourselves.

Sometimes, when I lay in bed to finally rest, I thank God for one more day and I get amazed with everything I get to accomplish in a day. Lots of work done today. No My First Birthday Dress  embroidered though, too many regular orders to get delivered.

Tomorrow will be another day and I hope I will be able to have another beautiful and productive one. I want you to BELIEVE that you can do anything if you decide that you want to.

Blessings to you and your family. 

Zee

Sometimes I work with birthdays dresses, sometimes I work with goodbye pieces...

Today is Sunday evening. I have just gotten back from my bike ride. My legs are really sore, that is what happen when we get older I guess... LOL

I have always been working on First Birthday dresses, pretty garments, but, today I worked on embroidering the lid insert of a casket. Never thought I would do such a type of work someday. I never liked getting close to caskets, seeing one, or touching it, I don't like anything that is related to death, I have this feeling since I was a child. I was always  scared of walking on the sidewalk of a funeral home, it would remind me about losing my loved ones, not afraid of death  myself but, losing the ones I love, scares me so much. I know this is what life is about but, if I can, I'd rather not to think about it. Today, it was different though, I was doing my work with so much love and when it was done I kissed the piece and said: - Rest in peace young man, I pray that you find the light...

 The sad part is, it is for the casket of fourteen years old boy who killed himself over a girl. The entire time I was working on it I was praying that God give strength to the parents of this kid. I didn't know him,  just an embroidery work that I had to get done for the funeral home but it touched my heart. There is no way in the world that one could do this job and not wonder what this family is going through...

It made me feel like holding my kids close to me and never letting them go. It made me think so much about that mommy and daddy...We hear all kinds of stuff happening out there but, we never think that it can happen to us. We parents, never imagine our children passing away first than us.

I guess when we need to get something done, God give us the strength we need to. It was just like when my grandma passed away.

Last time I saw grandma Virginia Pecanha

My grandma and I were very close, sometimes I would get myself thinking, grandma is over 90 years old and how will it be like life without her? I was always scared.

But it happened. I knew my grandma was getting weaker and very sick. My mom told me, Zee, if you want to see grandma  still alive, you should come soon because I have the feeling she wont be here for too long.

So, I decided we better plan a trip to Brazil soon. I got there late afternoon, it was a tiresome trip, over ten hours in an airplane, I was exhausted when we finally got to my parents home. Some cousins were visiting, one of my cousin told me that grandma had been asking about me the whole day, she wanted to see me when I got in Brazil. I told my cousin I would wait until the next morning, when I would be more rested. She said, you should not wait Zee, grandma wants to see you as soon as you got here. So, there I got to my grandma home. She was so thin, sad expression but her eyes brightened up when she saw me. We talked a lot about all kinds of stuff, but for some reason grandma kept asking me what I thought it would happen to us when we die. Do you believe we will be born again? I didn't like that type of talk with my grandma... So she held my hand and told me: - Zee do you remember that vacation when you were fifteen and we went to Sao Paulo to spend couple weeks at your uncle's home? I said: Yes grandma, I do, why are you asking me this?

She then said: I never forgave myself for shortening the trip and wanting to be back home earlier than we planned before. I remember how mad you got about me, you had planned having a lot of fun with your cousin... I always wanted to ask you to forgive me for that, I felt like I ruined your vacation... Can you please forgive me in the name of God?

I was so weird, I said: -Grandma, that was a long time I go, I never hated you for that, I got over it next day, I cant believe you held that in your heart for all these years! There is nothing to be forgiven grandma. I always loved you and was thankful for you...

I couldn't believe the relief feeling that she had on her expression: _ Oh thank God you were never mad at me, I have always thought about that and couldn't forgive myself for doing that to you. I can die in peace now....

We talked some more and my daddy took grandma to her bed.  That same night at 3:00 AM we were called that my grandma had passed way...

Grandma had nine children of her own and raised two nephews, eleven children total. Guess who was the one who took care of all arrangement for grandma's funeral?  Yes, you are right, it was me, the one who is afraid of cemetery, caskets and everything related to death. I even took care of all my grandma's burial place and picked the clothes she was buried with. I was so strong... After all was over with, I couldn't believe all the stuff I did. I was telling my uncles and daddy what to do and how, like a pro. I will always love you Grandma... I know you are resting and enjoying a better life now...

I've learned that when we have to go through something difficult, somehow we are given all the strength we need.

That is what I thought it happened today. It was a sad work but somebody had to do it. The kid used to go hunting with his grandpa and daddy, they wanted to have a deer embroidered on his casket inside. I did it. I am so glad I could do my best, work on a Sunday for a teenager who has ended his life so early...

God bless you...

Zee

Just stopping by to say Hello :)

Hello :)

I've been so busy with so many things going on that I haven't stop by to say "Hi" and let you know how things are at #My First Birthday Dress place.

Life has been pretty hectic lately.. I no longer have my helper. Debbie, just like me has her own dream and also wants to have her own Embroidery Business a success. I thought I would let her go I can be her friend and Mentor only. I think my place is to small for two ladies trying to get around this table, plus, you know, I am Brazilian and like the hot weather, Debbie is American and wants the cool air. Too many differences LOL. I have realized that while I am working out of my own home, I cant have helpers. I like my privacy too much, I like doing whatever I feel like doing, plus many other stuff.

Well, at least I tried and now I can tell for sure that I am not ready yet...

Today has been a good and busy day at Embroidea, got a lot of embroideries done and I even found a time to take a nap during my lunch time lol,  the beauty of working from home :))

Amelia and her Mommie

Today, more dresses went out to Virginia and I got to see the little face of Amelia who wore one of my First Birthday dresses on her special day! How cool is that? :) I love when my mommies send me pictures of their little ones :)) I pray that our Lord protect every little kids in this world. So many sad things going on lately. The tornadoes in Oklahoma was a catastrophe, God bless and be with all those people who lost their loved ones. Houses, cars, personal belongings we can get another one but they will never get back the loved ones they lost... My prayers and thoughts are with them..

Well kids... It's getting pretty late here... Tomorrow will be another day and a much better one :)

Have a great evening :)

God bless

Zee

What is the right price for what we want?

Last Friday, my husband Brian and I, went to   pick up Isabella, out daughter, who was playing at her friend's home, we noticed the next neighborhood was having a  garage sale, so, we decided to drive around and check them out. I love garage sale :)) Don't you?

We went to one of the sales and found Isabella a nice little table for her playroom, then,  I saw this bicycle, it looked brand new, it was complete with the helmet and everything else. I have been wanting a bike for quite a while but, haven't had the time to go buy one, it is always one thing or another and  I always end up forgetting. My husband told me, you should buy this bike, it looks brand knew it's $125.00. I looked at him and told, this is a garage sale, how can I pay $125.00 for an used bike, no matter how nice it looks? As, it was the first day of the sale, I didn't have the heart to bargain. As we kept driving around, the more I thought about that bike, the more seemed like it would work perfect for me, then it got late and we came back home.

Next day, first thing in the morning I told my husband, I want to go there and get that bike, I really like it, so, we got dressed and left, I knew exactly where that house was but, when we got there it was too late. The lady had sold it and I got really disappointed. Why didn't I get it yesterday? I thought that as it was already almost 6:00 o'clock in the evening, they would be closing the sale soon and I would have the time to come next day in the morning and buy it. Yesterday it was too late.

I learned a very important lesson losing that bike. I've learned that if we see something that we really want it right in front of us, we have the money to buy it, so why not? why to wait until tomorrow? Tomorrow may never come...

I know it was just a bike and I can find many others out there but, I have learned that from now on, whenever I see something that there is only one and I have the chance to get it right at that moment, I will do it and period!

It reminded me from  last year when a lady saw one of my first birthday dresses on my website, she loved it but, she didn't buy it. As I always say, my little dresses are not the kind of dresses you will find any place else, I don't keep stock of dresses, I buy a few at a time, unless you print a picture and have somebody else embroider it exactly like mine. That is the only way you could get it, but, it wouldn't be unique no more, it would be a copy.

That lady, some days later emailed me telling that she saw a dress on my website and she wanted  one exactly like that one. I wish I could have helped her with any other dress but, she had her heart set on that one dress and it was gone. I felt so bad for her when I read her last email, 'I REALLY WANTED THAT DRESS" she said. I know now, exactly how she felt.

My advice to you is, if you are looking for something, you can afford it, it is right there in front of you, BUY IT, somebody else might grab it first and then, you will be wondering for a while "what the heck was I thinking?" I have learned that the price of something is not the price that it has on its tag, it is how much you really want it... I have seen and have done that already, seen something that I don't really want it, or need it, but the price is so cheap that "I just couldn't pass it"  Isn't that ridiculous? We bring a product home because it is to cheap to pass on it, and we end up selling it  at our garage sale for a quarter. What a big profit we make when we do that huh? LOL

We human being are very complicated... Its so hard to understand why we act like that sometimes.

I have learned that one already, when I see something that I think I should buy because it is to cheap, I put that money aside for when I see something that is expensive but I really want or need.

Just wanted to share my thoughts. Sometimes It's so much better when we learn with other people's mistakes than our own :)))

Have a great week ahead kids...

God bless

Zee