and olive, because she's so darn cute...

needless to say, this year has been FULL of surprises. i was thinking about it yesterday and how strange it is to think that this time last year...there was no thought of little max. i mean NO thought! we were definitely planning on having 3 kids, just not all right now, and so close in age. as most of you know, i was in denial for at least the first 15 weeks of the pregnancy. it was actually very hard for me to come to terms with the fact that i was pregnant again and about to have 3 kids. i was finally able to deal with it. however, i will say, being pregnant and having to care for 2 other kids...not fun or pleasant. and it definitely made for a difficult few months at the end. but then it all paid off as now we have little max!

i have still not completely adjusted to life with 3 little ones. it is most definitely the hardest thing i have ever done. i'm still trying to figure out what to do with them everyday and just generally struggling to make it through everyday without strangling someone :) i'm hoping to settle into some kind of a routine soon. i am thankful for my mom and mother-in-law for all their help with the girls. it is nice to have a break every once in a while so i can get some work done.

not only was max our big surprise of the year...but i've had a very successful new business this year! what starting me thinking about all this stuff was realizing that i joined etsy a year ago this month. i had absolutely no clue what i was doing and if it would even sell...but it did! to my surprise, things took off. way better than i ever expected. once i figured out how everything works and the best way to promote my items and when to list things and when not to...it started to really flourish. it definitely keeps me busy, especially with these 3 at home. i usually work on orders every night after they go to bed.

and looks like things are only going to get busier as i have a children's store that is going to start selling my prints! i will post more later when everything gets up and going...but for now, i'm just really excited! i have big dreams...and never really thought they'd go anywhere. i'm so glad i have something that allows me to stay at home with my kids, and i can still make some money. well, enough of all that. i'll update about my business as things change!

...okay, so not really. but his blog, www.beingryanbyrd.com, did make the list for top local bloggers in Little Rock Family this month. he was the one single dude amongst a bunch of female bloggers. although he is definitely NOT a "mommy blogger," he does blog about our family, as well as SO many other things. anyway, i was quite proud that he was picked and that so many people like his blog...because he has a lot to say...i should know. and he's not afraid to put up whatever he thinks...no matter what i think. i certainly am not brave enough to do that.

also a shout out to my buddy kat for also making the list. i love her blog...it is hilarious. i usually read it when i go to bed at night, and i usually end up laughing out loud at something. she has such a way with words :)

so, i had a kid last month...yeah, and i'm just now blogging about it. you try living with 3 kids 3 and under, and see how it works out for you.

so, i've stated from day one that i do not consider myself a "blogger." in fact, i told mr. ryan byrd that i would be terrible at this...and i've delivered. as you will notice, my last post was september 5, 2009!! yeah, i know. so now, i'm trying to take it back and get going again. now, this still may mean i only post once a month, but that's better than nothing.

so much has happened in our lives over the past several months, it's hard to back track and recap everything. so i'm not even going to try. instead, here is an update on EVERYTHING going on in our lives...

• most importantly, we are having a little boy in a couple of months! it's official that Max Ryan Byrd will be joining us soon, but not soon enough! i don't really know what to do with a boy, so i guess we'll just figure it out as we go along. i mean, he can wear pink, can't he?

• our church, that we've been planning the past two years has finally started! we are so excited about the start of EIKON, and everyone that is on this whole journey with us. we have made some wonderful friends and are so excited about the future of our church.

• my etsy business, BabyByrds, has really taken off and done better than i every expected it to. seriously, i can hardly keep up with the orders coming in! i'm being featured in several blogs this month and next and am doing several giveaways. it's so exciting that i'm actually making some sort of living at this. i'm also doing some freelance design work for my previous employer in kentucky. so, all in all, i stay pretty busy. just trying to find time to work on all of these things is almost impossible!

• i am also excited to announce that my friend, cara beth, and i have finally started our own business!!! it's been a long time coming...but we did it. studio|2B is our new project, which offers wedding planning services and photography. we are so excited about the possibilities that are to come. so if you need pictures or have a wedding to be planned...email me at christen@studiotwob.com.



okay, so i promise i will get better at the blogging thing. while i'm at it, i should probably take a few pictures of my children. i mean, they are growing up...and i'm slacking...

as promised...here's a blog about the girls. miss lucy and miss olive are growing up so fast! we've had such a good summer, and though we don't go to school (or work, for that matter) i still feel like we should by school supplies, new backpacks, and new shoes right now...but we won't. so here's a not so quick re-cap.

1. OLIVE is now 9 months. (i know, can you believe it!) in the past months she has started crawling really fast..and gets faster when she knows she's going somewhere she's not supposed to. i am blaming her friend nate for telling her about the little caps on the base of the toilet and how fun they are to put in your mouth (GROSS!!!) and play with...thanks nate. btw, baby gates are from hell. i am so tired of them already and they've only been up for a few weeks. at least i'm not really pregnant and trying to step over them like last year.

olive also now has 5 1/2 teeth. that's right...three and a half on top and two on bottom. she's an excellent biter. i'm thinking of getting one of those step counter things...but have it changed to count how many times i say "what did you put in your mouth" in a day. oh wow...it's insane...lucy was not this bad. she is also, pulling up on everything. she'd rather stand at the coffee table all day and dance than do anything else. she's so funny. she's started waving and trying to blow kisses, and even doing this weird winking thing. she is also making lots of sounds...which mostly sound like "mama," of course :)

we had a little scare last week when olive woke up, trying to breathe, was kinda purple, face swollen. and i totally freaked out. it was about 11 at night, so we woke up lucy and ran out the door to the ER. by the time we got there, of course, she was mostly fine...but she was barely breathing...and i wasn't going anywhere till we found out why. so after a fun night in the ER with two sleepy girls (and a sleepy daddy, who fell asleep at one point) we found out she had croup. which is usually taken care of in a steamy bathroom or by going outside. that would have been a lot cheaper than the bill... jk, she had to take a steroid to reduce the swelling of her airways. so it's all okay. and she was better off than the guy who came in who had just been stabbed...wah, wahhh.

2. LUCY is as crazy as ever. she's totally obsessed with the grinch and watches it maybe once a day or at least once every two days. yeah...it's a problem. her new favorite things to do are: stealing olive's pacifier, eating desitin (well, that's not new), not want to sleep in her bed....you know, the usual. her most recent favorite sayings are "i need that," as in "i need olive's pacifier i just stole from her." and "I want take it," for when she grabs anything in site to take in the car with her every time we go somewhere, or when she needs to pick up 5 sticks to take with her in the car. apparently she's a very needy and greedy child... not really. she really is sweet. she is picking up on everything and saying so much.

she loves going to library storytime, a small cherry lemonade from sonic, and long walks at the park. ha. she is very adventurous, meaning she's taken off up the climbing things at the park...and i've got to crawl up in there and get her down. not fun or pretty. or she'll just hang on the bars and i have to rush over, while holding olive, and save her from crashing to the ground...she is very brave. and i cannot even express how much she loves dressing up. i know she gets it from her aunt ann. it is absolutely ridiculous.

3. I am currently staying busy with the girls. And with my etsy stuff. I am coming up with new ideas and actually making a little money at it...not bad. i've also done a few cakes here lately. i really enjoy it, even though i have A LOT to learn. I'm enjoying figuring out how to do all this fun stuff...and they taste pretty good too! sad note...prepare yourself...don't cry...my iphone is dying. and very slow and painful death, well, at least for me. it has gone crazy and will only work when it wants and then just randomly shuts off all the time. it's so frustrating. i think lucy is having a hard time with it as well..she had at least 10 games she loved to play on it...

most exciting right now...i am getting ready to start a new business with one of my dear friends, cara beth. i am not going to give too much away just yet...but our website should be up in the next couple of weeks! we've already got business cards and all...super exciting.

4. RYAN is really busy with all the new church stuff. we've had our first few gatherings and are planning for this month. he did a fabulous job designing the website and i am so proud of him. we have a lot of exciting things happening with the church and are so excited about the people who are coming on board with us. it's so great to actually have others who share our vision for what we moved here 2 years ago to do.

he also is the best husband ever (i meant to blog about this, but haven't had time) because he planned a surprise anniversary trip for us! we celebrated 6 years on august 16, and we went to eureka springs for the night and had a great time! it's so nice to get away and spend time together...which we never get to do. we had a great room at the basin hotel (which is apparently haunted...we didn't see any ghosts though, i was disappointed), and spent the day walking around taking pictures and going into quirky little shops. it was a much needed break from life.

well, that's all for now. i will post some pictures soon...i promise. a little at a time, please. i would add a few iphone pics...but again, my phone is dead.

I'm back...yeah, i know. I've been so behind on my blog. trust me, i know. however, i have been busy! you know, two little girls named lucy and olive. my real baby byrds. and cakes, and etsy, and new etsy ideas...i'm about to explode! i have new pictures of the girls i need to get up here soon, don't worry, they're still here. they are the reason i can't find time to blog...about them. anyway...

so please take a few minutes and check out my new etsy pieces. I'm really excited about them! I had three orders within the first 30 minutes they were up! i am getting the girls and myself ready to start going back to church for women's bible study mornings. i work in childcare and they get to go socialize with other little people...which they love. as i was thinking about getting back into the routine of things and being there by 8 am, three mornings a week...and them possibly having different teachers every day...i got this brilliant idea!

we've had moms in the past bring a chicken scratch little note about "what to do with my kid if he freaks out"...which we never find, or can't read it, or whatever. so i thought about creating a simple, easy to access way of letting caregivers know what the heck to do with my kid. i mean, it can get a little hairy with 10 babies, or 16 two year olds. i've created a diaper bag tag with your child's name on one side...and "directions" on the other side...brilliant! why didn't i think of this sooner. the "direction" cards are interchangeable and can be switched out depending on when and where your baby is that day. there are 12 different designs and the colors can be changed to match your diaper bag. you can also request custom orders. and, shipping is FREE!!!

these are great gifts for new moms or yourself! you can let your nursery worker or daycare teacher know if your little one is teething, potty-training, has a special blanket, or has an allergy...anything you want.

Click here to order.

I'm excited to announce that I have started up a babybyrds etsy shop! For those of you who don't know what that is, it's an online place for people to sell their handmade crafts and designs. I have been working on several designs for quite a while now and i finally have them up for sale. I have several designs in the works and hope to add them soon, so check back often. Feel free to email me if you have and order, you don't just have to order through etsy. christen@christenbyrd.com

A while back i designed these LOVE letters for my sister. I had so many compliments...it made me start thinking about this whole etsy thing. I hung them up in her new apartment, and I just love them!



These are a few of my children's series. Each design is meant to be customized to your child's name. And if you have any other animal or character requests...I can make a custom one for you!

today my blog is dedicated to my friend rob. (please forgive me if i get some of the details wrong, rob...i'm not up on all the medical jargon:) it is hard for me to even approach this subject without getting emotional sometimes...but here goes. rob and stephanie toon are some of our very best and closest friends, not to mention family, and leaders in our new church. they have four beautiful kids, michael, jack, lily and averi, who are some of lucy's favorite people! over a year ago rob was diagnosed with leukemia, and underwent all kinds of chemo treatment to get rid of it...which he did...until around december. they found out it was back and started the search for a donor so rob could get a bone marrow transplant. they've found a match and he has already had one transplant, a few weeks ago. however, it didn't work, due to a viral infection. after a few very rough days for rob and steph, they finally got word that the donor was willing to donate again. this is very time sensitive and has to happen immediately. they are currently having people donating white blood cells to hold him over until the transplant. hopefully everything will work this time. they will get more cells this time and the viral infection should be gone, so they can do what they need to do. this transplant will take place august 11.

i must mention that this whole process is taking place in houston. which means that their kids are back home with stephanie's parents in bryant, ar. on top of the sadness of not getting to see their kids for months, stephanie is not able to work so she can be with rob in houston. thus...no income. this is obviously a very stressful situation for everyone involved...rob and steph, the kids, grandparents...you get the idea. and now that rob has to have another transplant, their stay has been extended into mid november at least. the whole situation just makes me sad...

i am asking anyone who reads my blog...to help, if you can. here's how:

1. please pray for this family and rob's transplant and recovery.
2. if you live in houston, rob may need more people to donate blood for him before or after his transplant. he needs more white blood cells. i'm not sure when, but if you are interested in giving, let me know and i can get you the details.
3. if you would like to donate any money, i know they would greatly appreciate it.

thanks for reading this and helping in anyway possible. rob and stephanie mean so much to us. we are hoping to go visit sometime soon and maybe even donate some of our blood, if they need it. which terrifies ryan...ha. you can keep up with rob on his blog. please email me if you have any questions about anything or want to help, christen@christenbyrd.com. here is a picture of their family i took right before they left for houston.

for those of you who do not know, ryan is an amazing writer. let's be honest...what is he not good at? okay, i know i could come up with something, but i won't. he is an advertising art director at arkansas business publishing group, and was recently asked to write a little piece for little rock soirée. i have heard this story many times, yet i was so drawn in while reading it...i've read it maybe 4 times now. i know you will enjoy it too. and i'm so proud of him! also, check out ryan's blog.





The city is full of strangers. Well, maybe not strangers, but people waiting to cross paths. To engage. To enter the other.

So it was with Charlie. A Jesus-like figure. Not the triumphant Jesus, but the frail, broken Jesus. Scruff beard, gaunt, but with a focused look about him—like a man on a mission.

Beyond the occasional sputtering car or the screechy pack of girls chasing the lone neighborhood boy, our little midtown community was still, waiting for its break from normalcy. From my front porch, I observed this strange figure, this break from normalcy, who—sweeping his wiry broom through the nearly-clean sidewalk in front of our home—looked like the type my wife warned about: “You keep talking to people like that and I’m gonna find you dead one day.”

I approached.

Like a low man’s scepter, he hoisted his broom in the air pointing toward our house, “It’s Charlie. Like the Peanuts kid. I used to jam here.”

“Come again?”

“The name’s Charlie. Yeah, this house, you live there? (Never ceasing for a response.) We used to sit up ‘til we couldn’t sit up no more, just jammin’. There’s soul in them walls. And probably a couple tears. And maybe a couple spilled beers,” he concluded.

I baited his most-assuredly tall tale, sure to only grow taller.

“Sounds like quite the time you had. Did you used to live here?”

“No, no, no. I ain’t got no place. Not since the band broke up down in New Orleans. Nah, I used to come jam here. Hell, we coulda been somethin’, but we just liked to jam and have a couple of beers. Phil played the guitar, and I played that old piano he had. Phil’s brother, Mark, would slap his leg or beat on whatever the hell we had layin’ around just so we had somethin’ to keep the beat. I ain’t never stepped back in that house since maybe ‘88. I’ll tell you, that old piano could play, and I knew how to play it. I ain’t never forgot that old thing.”

Little did my new friend know, but that old, dusty piano of Phil’s still sat in our living room, just waiting to be reunited with its supposed long-lost homeless messiah named Charlie. So, I couldn’t help but to—like Satan testing Jesus in the wilderness—invite him in so I could shake the proverbial finger, showing Charlie just how tangled his tale was woven.

Abandoning his dutiful quest on the sidewalk, Charlie skipped behind me, up the steps and through the doors. We rounded the corner and faced the piano. I turned, “Here she is. Is this what you remember?”

In that moment, Charlie changed from a dirtied storyteller into a beaming prodigal, newly reunited with his father. Without saying a word, the worldly Jesus-man opened the hinged piano cover and began to play.

With tears in his eyes, his broken and calloused fingers glided over the keys, playing the most sweet and palpable bluesy riffs, as if Ray Charles himself had inhabited the diminutive body and hands of this new friend.

That day, in my own home, I was the stranger, quietly observing two old friends renewing their bond.

I simply sat. And listened. And believed.

Charlie was a stranger, in a city full of strangers. On that day, though, Charlie and I crossed paths. Jesus-like. Not the broken, frail Jesus, but the triumphant Jesus. Like a man on a mission.