Holden's Hope Week 4 Paxten

 Look at that sweet little face of Miss Paxten. Isn't she just adorable?? Paxten is a sweet little 9 month old who is in for the fight for her life fighting leukemia. Here is a little info from her CaringBridge site:

Well where do we begin?  On December 4th, 2010 we received some news every parent dreads to hear. Our sweet baby girl Paxten Reede Pearson, born March 10, 2010 has leukemia.  Our world was turned upside down, however, we know that our God is a God of miracles and he made our sweet pea a fighter.  If anyone knows miss Paxten, than you know if anyone can beat this awful disease, it is her.  

Please remember this sweet little girl in your prayers! She needs as many as she can get! To follow along with how Paxten is doing click HERE

So yes this is going up later than it should have, but Mr. Holden was sick for the few weeks around this time. He is much better now and I want to make sure to get the word our about Miss Paxten! : )

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
From my family to yours!
Wishing you a wonderful day filled with family, friends and lots of love!

Holden's Hope Week 3 Asher

This Holden's Hope is an extra special one. That is because it is going to these two's little one who isn't even born yet. Meet Leslie and Josh. Aren't they just adorable?? They are waiting on the arrival of their son Asher who is due in January. Asher is an extra special little baby because he is being adopted by Leslie and Josh! : ) Here is their story:

We tried for over 2 years to conceive, and no luck.  We went through about 6 months of fertility treatments, loads of injections and hormones, and still no luck.  The stress and raging hormones almost broke our marriage before we decided that our destroying our commitment to each other wasn't worth it just for a baby.  So around January 2010 we started praying about what God would have us do...he had definitely placed the desire in both our hearts to have children some way, somehow.  We waited, and waited, and waited.  And in July, we both really felt like He was calling us to foster care. So, in August we started that process.  The first week of October, we completed our last home visit from the social worker, and were in the process of waiting for the state.  The nursery was ready, the house was in order, and the paperwork was done.  We even had a few baby showers planned in the month of November to help us stock up on all sorts of goodies for the kiddos we would welcome in our home.  Then I got the phone call...
 
A friend of our family is a pastor of a church back home.  He had heard we were doing foster care, and were hoping to eventually adopt from the foster care system.  After he said hello and introduced himself, he said "A couple in my church wants to give their baby up for adoption, do you want it?"  Of course I said yes!  Then I told him I needed to call Josh before I confirmed that for sure.  ;)  So, after talking to Josh and getting the okay, we set up a meeting with the birth parents the 2nd weekend in October.  We all immediately hit it off, and as we were leaving, they asked if we would parent their baby.  We are soooooooooo excited!  :)  Since then, the birth parents have met our parents, and we found out we are having a baby boy!  Asher Grant is due January 17, but will likely be induced the week before that.  The birth parents are both new Christians, and feel like they won't be able to give this sweet baby the chance he needs in life.  They have so much love for him, and want him to have every opportunity that they haven't had.  So pray for them as well!

What an amazing story that they have! I am so excited to be able to make this onesie for them!

Happy Birthday Holden!

Today this sweet little boy turned ONE! I can not believe that he has already been in our life for a year! Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you!!

Bayleigh and Gage

Bayleigh and Gage and promised! : ) How adorable are these two?? Bayleigh looks just like her Mommy did when she was this age!

 Bayleigh and her Mommy Kayla

 Sweet Gage

Bayleigh and Gage with their Nana Leisha

Keep the prayers coming! Thanks yall!

Holden's Hope Week 2 Bayleigh and Gage

This by far may be one of or the hardest post I have ever had to write. I'm not sure where to start so I'll start at the VERY beginning about 20 years ago. Yeah seriously. When I was 4, my two sisters and I stayed with the most amazing babysitters in the whole world! It was a mother {Bobbie} and daughter{Julie} who kept us. Well Bobbie came from a family that was very close and she was one of 7 girls! Her younger sister Leisha lived only a few houses down {and still does} and she has two daughters Amie and Kayla. Are ya still with me? I know this can get confusing. So anyways Kayla was just a little older than me and we were best friends. We spent countless summers and days after school together. Many slumber parties and family trips. And Amie was older so she would come over and babysit a lot of night when my parents would go out. So you see I have know them forever and have been very close to them for a long time. We have kinda lost being close over the years. I think it just happens in life sometimes. We run into each other and check up on each other often. Kayla and I even have boys just a few months apart!
On October 25th, I got terrible news. Their Mom Leisha had been in a terrible car accident. It was a single car accident and when the accident happened, she was struck on the side of her head and this cause her skull to break off and enter  her brain. From this injury, she had to have surgery and the part of her brain removed that controls her language and speech, vision and hearing. The doctors have said that she may never be able to comprehend language again. Never be able to say her children's names. What horrible news to hear. But she is proving them wrong a little at a time! Today she is still in the hospital. Every day all you can do is pray that the doctors are wrong and she will be ok!
Leisha as two beautiful grandchildren named Bayleigh and Gage. That are such wonderful children and need lots of prayers for their Nana to recover right now! So this week's Holden's Hope goes to them! I am sorry for not including any pictures of them today but will do so tomorrow with a picture of Oakley's shirt as well!
Please lift up this family in your prayers today! They need as much as they can get! To follow along with Leisha's progress click HERE.

I told ya they were cute.... : )

Dear Miss Kendra,

Thank you SOOO much for making me the invitation to my birthday party and my tags to put on my party favors! I LOVE them sooo much and Mommy and Daddy do too! Everyone out there in blogland needs to go over to Key Lime Digital Design and order something from her. She really does awesome work! Maybe one day I will get to meet her. And I heard she has a cute daughter my age too......

Thank you again Miss Kendra! You rock!

Love,

Holden

My Go-To Gal

When I considered starting my own little Holden's Hut shop I had a lot to think about to get the word out. Do I want to have a blog? A Facebook page? An Etsy account? How am I going to let people know what I do? These along with many other questions came to mind. I of course decided on a blog and Facebook page for now but who knows what the future might hold! : )

When I decided to start my own blog, I knew that I wanted it to be something extra cute and wanted something that I wanted. Not something that someone had designed and place on their blog as free backgrounds {not that I don't LOVE those because that is what I have on my Family blog} but something that no one else had. I had played around with designing my own background and whatnots in the spring but never really got into it. While learning about how to design backgrounds and whatnots for a blog, I somehow ran across Key Lime Digital Design and love everything I saw! I met the owner Kendra and she helped me big time when I made my own background. Well I decided designing backgrounds for me right now, so I sent an e-mail to Kendra to ask her her thoughts about if she could help me or even make one for me. And what do you know she said yes! And I LOVE my background here and blog layout better than ANY one I have ever seen anywhere!

A few weeks ago, I started thinking about Mr. Holden's first birthday which is coming up way too fast! I wanted again some super cute first birthday cards without paying an arm and a leg. We knew we wanted a rocking beach party theme and I couldn't find any picture invites that I just loved. So what did I do you ask?? I went straight to my Go-To Gal Kendra at Key Lime Digital Designs! She made the most adorable birthday invites EVER for me! {I will share them.. but not until after his actual birthday}

So stop on by her website now and check out her adorable cards that she as for sale for the holidays!

Giveaway!

First of all, I can not believe that it is already December! And even more that my baby will be 1 VERY soon! This year has been the best year ever! Anyways, right now I am giving away one free tee or onesie over at The Monogram Swap! The Monogram Swap is just what it says it is! : ) You take you old Monogrammed things and sell them! Isn't that just an awesome idea?! So head over now and enter to win! Good Luck : )

Holden's Hope Week 1

This month I am very excited to be sending out Holden's Hope shirts once a week! This special little boy was supposed to come up in November.. but.. well.. I just missed it somehow! But we are starting off December with him!

Meet Oakley. How precious is this little boy??  Here is a little about Oakley from his Mommy:

Oakley is a very ambitious 3 1/2 year old.  He was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in June of this year.  He started chemo in July and will continue with it until next year.  We're hopeful that between the chemo and radiation that we'll get to keep this special little boy around for a very long time.  He's strong willed and definitely a fighter (for which we are very grateful for).  Oakley LOVES the outdoors, anything that allows him to bask in the sun.  :)  He loves playing on the playground, camping, fishing, playing in the snow and anything to do with sports. His favorite color is green.  He loves his brothers (19 mos. & 5 wks) and sister (almost 5).  He's always good to remember them when he gets a treat or something that he can share with them.  

What an amazing and sweet little boy! I haven't made his shirt yet but am very excited to make it this weekend and fill it full of lots of prayers!

HERE is the link to his families blog so that you can follow along in this journey with them!

Stop by next Thursday and meet Bayleigh and Gage!

Are you ready?

25 days until this guy comes to visit our house! That reminds me I need to start finish some shopping. Have you started shopping for the holidays??

This also reminds me that in 16 days my baby will be ONE!!

Cyber Monday

Happy Cyber Monday everyone! I hope that you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! Can you believe that we are only FOUR weeks until Christmas and a few days from December??? That is crazy to me! It is also THREE weeks until my sweet little one turns ONE! So today for Cyber Monday 

Buy 1 shirt, Get 1 for half off! 

This would be great for your little one or a little one that you know for the holidays! And yes, I must confess I missed the November Holden's Hope shirt announcement but it is going to come on THURSDAY of this week so stay tuned for it! We also will have one EVERY Thursday for the month of December! That makes me sooo excited! So Happy Monday and Happy Shopping!

what would you like?

In the next week or so I am going to be working on getting some Super cute designs up for the holidays. Anything that you would like to see?? Also I am looking for a few more little ones for the Holden's Hope shirt for December! I have a few already but need a few more so we can do one every week! You guys rock!!

Show us your life Fridays

Every week on one of my favorite blogs, Kelly's Korner, she has a thing that she does every Friday called Show Us Your Life. Well this week she is doing Show Us Your Life- What You Make So I took this chance to link up with her! So if you are stopping by from Kelly's blog then welcome! Just a little about me. I am a Mom with a 10 month old little boy named Holden. { The picture above was my first onesie that I made for little Holden for the 4th of July} I started making shirts and onesies after I wanted a cute personalized shirt for Holden to wear for the 4th of July. I had so much fun making it that I ad friends wanting shirts like crazy! So I opened my little shop and the rest is history! I love making these shirts, onesies, bags, bibs, burp cloths and whatnots so much! I hope that you are enjoying checkin out everyone's shops and please feel free the ask any questions if you have any! We are also on Facebook. Thank you for stopping by! And happy shopping!

So excited!

I am VERY excited to say how wonderful all of yall are as well as my family and friends! You guys rock! I have had so many of you e-mail me names for the Holden's Hope shirt for the month! Keep the names rolling in! At this rate I think I am going to do A SHIRT EVERY WEEK IN DECEMBER! Thank you all SOO much! You guys rock!!

Coupon Winners!

Congrats to Rachel and Mrs. Spice for winning the two $10 off coupons! Ladies e-mail me and I will fill ya in on everything! Congrats again!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Holden the Hotdog!

It's that time again

It's that time of the month again. As the month comes to an end, I am starting to think about the Holden's Hope shirt for the month of November! {October where did you go??} I LOVE doing the Holden's Hope shirt every month but I couldn't do it without all of your help! If you are new to Holden's Hut, Holden's hope shirts are a shirt or onesie that I give away once a month on the 16th to one little boy or girl who is in need of a little extra prayers. This will be the 5th month to send one to a special little one. In July, I sent a shirt to a little boy named Jed with cancer and a little boy Cooper who's Daddy has cancer{but he is doing wonderful now! Both of them!!}. In August, Brianna a sweet little girl who was about to have surgery. September went to sweet little Wyatt as he waited for his new heart and GOT IT!! And October went to little Larkin who's sweet Mommy just adopted him from Ethiopia. So do you know a special little on who would be perfect for November?? And since December will be our 6th month sending a shirt, we will be sending TWO Holden's Hop shirts out! So send in your names! I couldn't do this with out all of your help! So thank you so much!! 


To send me a name e-mail me at Holdenshut{at}yahoo{dot}com

Sample page

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have finally updates the Samples page! Don't forget to stop but and enter to win one of TWO $10 off coupons!!

I'm Back

Ok so I know that for awhile I have been here and there and not posting nearly as much at all as I would like. If I do at all. But today that is all changing for me! With the year coming to an end and almost a new year in front of us, it's time to get busy! And lucky for you that means that I am going to give away Two FREE $10 off coupons {good on orders over $30- hey a girls gotta work : ) }. So who would like one?? Here is a few ways that you can get one of these for yourself....

• Like us on Facebook. 
• Follow this blog and suggest this blog to your friends
• Leave me a comment here about what your favorite item is and how you would use your $10 off coupon!
• Add our button to your webpage and leave me a link where I can find it.

You can get up to FOUR chances to win of of these Two $10 off coupons! Maybe you can use it for one of your sweet little ones or for a start to Holiday shopping!

** Please make sure that you leave me a comment here for each one of these 4 things that you that you do! : )

 This giveaway will end Friday, October 29th and the winners will be announced Monday, November 1st! Good Luck!

Holden's Hope October

Meet Larkin! Isn't this little boy just beautiful?? This little boy has to be one of the luckiest little boys in the whole world. Do you want to know why?? As of September 18, 2010 not only did he officially become a American citizen but he was adopted from the country of Ethiopia by his wonderful Mommy!

Here is a little about how Larkin's Mommy Shay went about wanting to adopt and getting her sweet little boy!

I went to Ethiopia in 2008 on a mission trip and worked in orphanages for two weeks. After the first visit to an orphanage, I knew that I wanted to adopt. I knew that God was calling me to adopt. As soon as I returned home, I began looking at the different agencies and chose America World. After two long years of fundraising and paperwork, I got a call about an adorable two year old boy. I immediately fell in love with his chubby cheeks and big brown eyes. I traveled back to Ethiopia in August of this year for a court appointment and got to spend almost two weeks getting to know my son.  And I was able to travel back again a month later to bring him home!!!! Larkin Elam Sanderson became an official American citizen on September 18, 2010.

I am a fifth and sixth grade Language Arts teacher in a small town outside of Nashville, TN. I have been a teacher for seven years and love every moment spent with my students! I like to read, watch television, and spend time outdoors on the river. Over the past two years, my heart has developed a soft spot for Africa and its wonderfully loving people. I am very lucky to have a supportive group of family and friends who love Larkin as much as I do and are always willing to help with anything I need!
 

Larkin turned two in May and is very smart! He loves to play with his tool set and cement truck, making as much noise as possible! His favorite television show is Glee. He loves the dancing and singing, and usually joins in with his own dance! He has already learned a few English words. His first word was Mommy, and my heart completely melted! He never goes anywhere without his Elmo doll. So it's no surprise that Elmo was his second word. He loves to explore and check out his new world.

We are so lucky to be able to share this special shirt with so many amazing families! This month I thought that Larkin's story was just so amazing and so uplifting! Welcome to America Larkin! I hope that you always know how much you were wanted and prayed for!

New stuff and a sale!

Hey everyone! I am excited to show you some new things that I have been doing lately! {If you are a fan on Facebook then you have already seen these : )}

New long sleeve shirts for the fall $20
This was the Holden's Hope little boy Wyatt's shirt

Pumpkin onesie $20

Bibs $15

Initial bag $20

{These will be PERFECT for Trick-Or-Treating!}

And this is the initial bag with longer straps and tie closure $25

{Perfect for overnight trips or even a diaper bag!}

Also going on this week, if you are a Facebook then you know we have been trying to get to 100 fan and since we are there we are having a 50% off sale! This sale is going on thru Saturday night!

Tees and oneies $10

Ruffle butts $12.50

Pillow case dresses $10

Crayon holders $5

Bibs and Burp clothes $7.50

Initial bags $10

Initial bag w/ longer straps and tie closure $12.50!

So hurry and shop now to get some great deals!

{ This sale does not apply to high chair/grocery cart covers}

Holden's Hope September

Meet Wyatt. Isn't he just beautiful!?! We have been so lucky the past three months to have the sweetest families and kidos for the Holden's Hope shirt! Wyatt is a super sweet, playful and active 1 year old little boy. You would never know by looking at him that he has Congestive Heart Failure.

Wyatt is one of three boys in his family. He has one older brother named Aubrey and a younger one named Cohen {I love all three of their names : )} When Aubrey was 4, his Mommy and Daddy {Kevin and Jessica} started trying to have another baby. They had a hard time conceiving and even had a miscarriage so when they found out that Jessica was pregnant with Wyatt they were beyond excited! At 15 weeks, they found out they were going to add a sweet little boy to their family and at 20 week they found out something may be wrong with his heart.

After seeing many specialist, Jessica and Kevin learned their sweet baby did have something wrong with his heart. He has a very rare and serious heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. This means the left side of his heart is very undeveloped and this makes it useless. His heart could not be fixed but something would have to be done. If they decided to do nothing then Wyatt would only live a few days. They doctors decided to do they they would need to do a series of three surgeries to reroute the blood flow and extend his life only to get his to adult hood where he would need a heart transplant.

When Wyatt was born, the doctors watched him very closely and monitored at Children's Heathcare of Atlanta where at 4 days old he had his first surgery. He came thru the surgery wonderfully and was hope in two weeks. His next surgery came at 4 months old and he did so well he was home in 5 days! Wow! After that surgery, Jessica and Kevin went home with their two sweet boys and planned on living their life as normal as they could since Wyatt wasn't due to have another surgery until he was 2.

When winter came, Wyatt continued to stay sick over and over for 6 weeks. After many rounds of antibiotics and nothing seeing to be working, they took Wyatt back to the hospital. While at the hospital, they found out that his heart wasn't as well as the thought and they were going to keep an eye on it.

The following month after a visit to the cardiologist, they Wyatt was sent back to the hospital so that they could figure out why Wyatt had been getting so sick. It turned out that Wyatt had not been sick at all. His coughing and other symptoms were actually symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure. Wyatt's heart was failing him and no surgery could help.

Kevin and Jessica's only options were to put Wyatt on a heart transplant list or do nothing and enjoy the time that they had with him.

On March 10, 2010, Wyatt was placed on the heart transplant list listed as a stage 2 transplant candidate. As a stage 2, he can wait for a heart at home, but the wait is longer since he is not in critical condition.

In May, he was moved to stage 1B since his heart is causing him to no longer grow or develop. And that is where he stands today.

I think this may be the hardest shirt and post that I have ever had to make. This little boy needs out prayers and thoughts as much as we can give! He is such an amazing little boy and I can't wait to see pictures of him in a year, two, three and more of how well he will be doing! So lets lift him up and pray for that new heart that Wyatt needs!

Wyatt also has a new website called Wyatt's Heart and you can also follow his story on his Facebook page by clicking HERE.

Today only!

Today is my husband and I's 3 wedding anniversary! And I wanted to share this celebration with you... So..... today only buy a tee get a FREE crayon holder!

And don't forget this week Game day tees are $15!

Happy Shopping!

Come one, come all!

Come one, come all! So I had this post all ready to go up all weekend and it never made it!

This little guy in my life has caught on the the whole crawling business and he is everywhere! And not only that but he is also pulling up on everything. This past weekend I just soaked it all in since I know he won't be this little forever!

So here is the sale I have going on this week! It's now football season so come on out {to the blog :) } and get your Game Day shirts! This week they are going to be only $15 and if you buy 2 you get another 50% off! These two cuties are one of my best friends kids and they are rocking out their Holden's Hut shirts!
And of course here is Holden's house divided onesie!

So stop by and order yours today! HERE is the link to the team fabrics that I have! Happy Shopping!

Sale!

Hey everyone! I hope that everyone has had a great week! This week was over before I knew it! I have a sale for this weekend! One onesie with matching birp cloth for $25 dollars!

{Ruffle butt onesie $ more}

This I made for someone who ordered it for a baby shower.
These are great for a new baby in your family or a friends. And with the holidays coming up this would make a great present for a new baby or Mommy to be. This sale will go all weekend and end Sunday night! I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!

This is why...

Just in case you were wondering what made me want to start Holden's Hope, this is why. Look at the smile on sweet little Brianna's face when she got her shirt in the mail! Her Mom Tiffany said that she loved it so much and wanted to put it on right away! She is even going to wear it on Wednesday when she goes to have her surgery. Her shirt is covered in lots of prayers and I just ask for all of you to pray for Miss Brianna too! HERE is a picture from last months Holden's Hope little boy Jed in his shirt! These kids are so cute!

New Crayon Holders!

Yesterday I got a surprise and got the day off of work. The little boy I keep during the day wasn't feeling well so his Daddy stayed home from work to watch him. I had a great day spending the whole day with my sweet little {now} 8 month old! During his nap time I came up with this cute little idea. Crayon holders! I have always loved kids and I can't tell you how many times I have from crayons rolling around in the bottom of my purse! HA! But a solution is here! New crayon holders are so great! They hold between 15 and 17 crayons {Because each is done one at a time and sometime one holds more than another}. And they can roll up and tie so you can just throw them in your purse or diaper bag and go! These are perfect for restaurants, the car, on the go, or even just at home! And I am now taking orders! They are $10. These would even be wonderful birthday presents! So get your orders in now! I hope that you are having a wonderful Tuesday!