Ready for baby

My toosh will thank me when baby comes:

Pillowcase Dress

So, I made this dress at least 3 months ago...and just finally put the ribbon in it--and just in time! It's almost too short. Guess we'll be adding a ruffle to the bottom soon!

From LA Projects 2010

Life in Color

Some days are just rough.

Master Room Completed

The valances are finally hung!

Now the pillows have company.

Living Room Makeover

We're slowly eliminating red from our living room. Here's the before:

And here is the current state:

Jason reinforced & painted the futon frame (it was drooping & bent), painted the coffee table & is planning to add doors to & paint the entertainment center espresso brown.

This will give our mis-matched furniture some semblance of togetherness...for a minimal cost. It's amazing what a few dozen cans of spray paint can do! I dyed the futon cover, recovered pillows, and sewed a futon skirt. I will most likely change the futon skirt to a more simple, plain brown & hang this living room valance above the futon instead:

Yes, this pillow was formerly a shirt. It's super soft & comfy--and much cuter as a pillow. Yay for donated clothing & recycling!

Hopefully we will soon slipcover the large red chair...anyone know of a cheap, yet good espresso brown slipcover option? I'm going to check amazon & Target, any other suggestions?

Jason plans to stain the beautiful wood toy box Jason's dad made us & I'll make a seat cushion we can strap onto the top so it will multi-task as extra seating & toy storage.

Here's to hoping we can finish before baby decides to come!

Blackberry Wednesday

A few weeks back Jason spied some blackberry bushes growing wildly beside one of our church buildings. Today, Ivory & Jason went blackberry picking and returned with...

Blackberry stains. There was an entire 4 blackberries un-shriveled & edible. Ivory found them to be delicious.

Rice anyone?

Rice socks are pretty much amazing. Loved having one last pregnancy & labor. Problem = lost it. Solution = made a new one. It is now neatly packed in my recently packed labor bag. 16 days...give or take a few. Recognize the fabric Mom & sisters? (My mom generously made/gave us aprons from this material)

Problem: running out of clothes that fit. Solution: made stretch, custom fit prego dress. Cost: $0. Pattern on hand. Fabric provided by my all-so-generous Shauna; leftover from a foreign missions college presentation. Makes a great, lightweight, stretchy prego dress. Thanks, girl! And it looks better on then in the picture. But no self-portraits of this prego lady. I've decided to take a break from all photo sessions until post-pregnancy. My self-esteem can only handle so many photos of this growing body...

State Bible Drill 2010

All of the Bible Drill students who competed in Bible Drill at our church qualified for state this year! 6 of our 8 teenagers qualified for the finals at the State Drill in Orlando, FL. 3 had perfect scores at every drill. To say we were proud would be an understatement. Praise God for the diligent work of these students hiding His Word in their hearts. The excessive amount of pictures is for the benefit of these teenagers--having facebook problems. So, bear with me.

April Sunshine

My baby left. She went on a trip down south with the teenagers & her daddy where she met up with her grandma, grandpa & cousins. I looked with great anticipation to alone time & no cooking (I've dedicated this weekend to fruit, hot pockets, box pizza, salad & cereal--a well-balanced diet, no?), but I nearly couldn't let my little girl go when it came down to it. I know she's in excellent hands, though, and I will welcome her home with great joy tomorrow evening. Until then I enjoyed a fabulous girls night with Cassie & look forward to a day full of sunshine & sewing today! These are from yesterday. We spent some time together outside before she had to take a 6 hour bus ride.



Before nap she found these wood pieces (for the roman shades) and was playing with them. Next thing I know I hear her excitedly yelling, "H, H, H!!! A, A! Triangle!" I glance over to see this:

And all I could say, "Yes. Wow." My child's a genius! :-) And yes, she gets it from her mother, of course. ;-) Did I mention the other day she pulled out 3 pretzels in one handful and declares, "Oh, 3." Then, with the other hand she grabs 3 more in one swift motion & says, "Oh, another 3. 3. 3. Two 3s." And if she'd said 6 my heart might have failed me then. Did I mention she's only 20 months and speaking in short sentences, repeating nearly everything she hears, sings most of the alphabet, finds shapes in windows, food, glasses, bathrooms, counts to 20 & signs almost constantly? Heaven help us!

Park by The Bay

I finally completed another sewing project.

Between our crazy schedule, my sinus craziness, exhaustion and the extremely lengthy hand-sewing process of the Romans shades my sewing momentum came to a near halt. I decided to vaca from the shades just long enough to enjoy the feeling that comes after completing a project. I also finished the matching valances...just waiting to wash them before hanging them. The fabric came from a shrunken shower curtain donated by a good friend. Thanks, Melissa! Oh, and I did recover the rocking chair cushion to match the rest of the nursery...only no picture yet. Other projects in the works...maybe I'll actually finish them before this baby pops outa here! 21 days--3 weeks. Yay!

April Sunday

Micah's Baby Shower

We are blessed with the most generous, loving, precious church family ever. This was demonstrated yet again in their outpouring of love, gifts, food, and precious prayers on Saturday at Micah's baby shower. We were so glad Jason's parents could join us for this special time.

Strawberry Patch

We had a blast picking strawberries on Saturday with some of Ivory's favorite people. Along for the trip: MikeMike, Bobo (Robin), Chaki (Cassie), Meme, Gandaddy, Nana, Momma & Dadda. Not sure what Ivory enjoyed most--the animals, strawberries, or people!

Surprise Visit

Yesterday afternoon we were ecstatic to receive a surprise visit from my big brother, Jeff & his son, Cameron. Ivory hadn't met them so we were especially delighted that they took time out of their boys camping trip to come see us!

We enjoyed looking at pictures of the gorgeous yards Jeff plants for people with his exotic plants. He & his wife have quite the gift--and their training Cameron to help! He also has fascinating pictures of terrariums & exotic dart frogs he raises. Ivory especially loved the pictures of all the brightly colored frogs. Jeff has always been very bright--and also very goofy, which is why I especially love the above photo. We enjoyed showing him our home and a little bit of our town. It's always nice to see family and I happen to love a good surprise!

Today we look forward to receiving Jason's parents into our home for a little weekend visit! Yay--family back-to-back!! They're coming in to visit with us, well, especiall Miss Ivory, and they'll be coming to our pot-luck diaper shower this weekend that the church is graciously hosting. We're also hoping to get in some good strawberry picking on Saturday. Anticipate some great pictures!

Water Fun

Ivory went outside to help water the garden...it turned into this:

Spring Fever - Take 2

Here are the results of our painting endeavor (living room--natural light):

Living room + lights

Natural light

Lighting
Since taking these pictures Jason painted the door frame--looks SO MUCH BETTER!!

Kitchen: Frosted Jade




Current countdown on Saturday, the day we painted. Today: 29 days!!

Found some fabric I liked at Jo-Ann's on Thursday. Took a few samples home to test them out. Fell in love with this for the kitchen:

Went back Friday night--gone. It had been there two weeks prior at least--now, gone. Seriously, all gone. No promised shipments. No match on-line website. No match in store catalog. No match at Hobby Lobby. The phantom fabric. Of course, not expecting it to be GONE I didn't get the designer's name, fabric name, sku number--nothing but the sample!! I am crushed. Trying to fall in love again is hard. I have found something suitable, but it's definitely not love at first sight. So, goodbye dear fabric, perhaps we will meet again.

Now to hang pictures & make window treatments. As anxious as I am to see you, Micah, hold out a little longer--the house isn't quite ready! And, of course, you're not due for another 29 days. I don't have any diapers. This will be solved after your baby shower this Saturday! Stay healthy & grow strong, little guy!

Farewell Visit

Monday, Ivory & I spent the day with these precious girls (Sarah & Shauna):

Shauna & her husband, Jason, are moving away from us. :o(

So, we decided to have one last visit before the big move. We helped pack a few boxes, Ivory entertained with her tricks & we enjoyed delicious Chinese food & blueberry cake! Jason & Shauna were gracious enough to share their 2 year Anniversary day with us girls--thanks ya'll!
Ivory made a new buddy:






Who she wore out...

Me? Exhausting?

Ivory & I came home tired from our adventure...okay, so maybe it was just me--but so glad we went. Thanks for driving, Sarah!

How I love these girlies. 2 of the 3 world's best college roomies.

When I got home Jason arranged everything so I could take a late afternoon nap & Ivory would be cared for--what a sweetheart my husband is. I'm afraid I'm on the downward slide of my nesting high. Sadly, I still want to accomplish just as much, but the energy to match my desire is fastly diminishing. That or it could just be this pesky sore throat business my body's fighting...go away--I have a to do list!