Two Down, Three to Go!

Of the five of us, Kara (far right) and Julie (between Kara and me) have now taken the plunge into motherhood. Both of my friends have beautiful baby girls now. Both of my friends had their beautiful babies early.

Finley Snowdon

born July 28, 2010

7 pounds 2 ounces

19 inches

Sarah Katherine

born July 30, 2010

7 pounds, 13 ounces

19 1/2 inches

I don't think that will be the case with me. The early part. Tausha and I are next, both of us due on September 14th. Six more weeks, it seems so far away. I've started having trouble sleeping and the heartburn is raging. I'm trying to remain positive.

We need these six weeks to get our renovation complete and move into our new master suite. Then we can clear out the baby's room of all the extra junk and shift closets around. Speaking of closets, the closet organizers came and installed our new master system. I'm in love!

I kind of wanted to go take a nap on the floor in there.

But I didn't. That would be weird.

Hopefully, next week I'll be able to give you some good reno shots. The bathroom is shaping up. Cabinets are in, but not the counter tops, sinks, mirrors or vanity lighting. Or the shower door. I think a new target date is next Friday. That's when the new sod will be delivered to the back yard war zone.

We'll see. My dad was amazed at my optimism. Quite frankly, so am I.

BUT WHAT CHOICE DO I HAVE?

Lovin'

Sisters having fun at the splash pad!

Introducing...

SJ!

We have chosen a name, but you'll know him as SJ.

I'm just trying to keep the feet elevated here in the heat of Central Florida. In actuality, it's been cooler here than all our friends and family in Atlanta and Nashville.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh! Don't tell anyone. They'll all want to move here!

Supposedly the bathroom vanity cabinets are to arrive and be installed tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it. We are so close to being done with the renovation/addition.

What I do know for sure is I paid deposits on our shutters for the windows and doors AND for the closet organizational system. The closet system will be installed THIS FRIDAY!

Wahooo!

Progress makes a pregnant lady happy.

Just like The Daddy is happy with his progress in the yard.

"Our" Lawn Man

Over the weekend, The Daddy spent many hours working in the yard. For the first time in several weeks, we did not have any plans on the docket, so he was able to start implementing "The Plan" for our yard.

After running a 5K Saturday morning, he mowed and trimmed the lawn. Our backyard had not seen the green machine in well over a month due to construction and travel and The Daddy's determination to kill it all and start over. He and I consulted, he trimmed bushes, ripped out roots and scraggly scrubs, I mean shrubs while the girls and I stayed indoors and created true art with Play-doh.

Sunday we got home from church and he went back at it again, trying to determine where all the new beds will be and to scare all the snakes away. I kid. Sort of.

While he was at work in the garden, the girls got to enjoy the silly sprinkler that Uncle C. gave them WAY back last December for Christmas. I sat on the porch and supervised.

The Daddy made a lot of head way this weekend, and this morning when I looked out the window I noticed "Our" Lawn Man. I say "Our" because we do not pay someone to take care of our lawn. There's nothing wrong with it. As a matter of fact later in life, maybe we'll be able to afford to do the same.

What's funny is, NO ONE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD MOWS THEIR OWN LAWN. I'm not saying their yards aren't taken care of, but THEY DON'T DO IT, someone else does.

You can't drive through our neighborhood; it's a no outlet, one-way-in-one-way-out kind of place. The most traffic we see on our street is truck after truck on Lawn Days, the days the lawn services come out to beautify all our neighbors' gardens.

So, here's "Our" guy:

He's working in our backyard on the extremely tall hedge between our yard and our neighbor's yard. You remember the one? Click back here if you don't remember!

He does four yards in our area, and he takes care of "our" side of the hedge.

I love his hat!

I took these pictures on the sly, so he wouldn't notice. I'd hate for him to never come back!

So, do you do the dirty work around your place? Or are you fortunate enough to have a Lawn Man?

Can You Imagine My Dismay?

Meet Blankie and Bunny:

They have been AE's sleeping companions for years now.

Can you imagine my dismay when The Daddy pointed out to me where they were last night as our firstborn slumbered?

There they were. Jumbled together in a heap behind the reading chair. Amongst the few other stuffed animals we keep. No longer needed. Sadly discarded.

In Blankie and Bunny's place:

Complete with AE's name, just like Andy in Toy Story:

And her cheesy grin:

Now AE runs around the house shouting, YAHOO! YEHAW! and I'M A COWGIRL! YIPEE-YI-YAY!

And I'm left wondering. What happened? What happened to my little girl who snuggled and hugged and loved those bedtime friends?

She said she didn't need any animals anymore.

She's a big girl now.

Oh, my. Oh, my.

My Art Project

The inspiration:

More inspiration:

Sort of inspiring:

Supplies:

• 3 sheets of white tissue (cut into 1-inch squares)
• Shimmery metallic paint
• Paint brush
• Pencil (to tap down squares)
• 22 x 28 stretched canvas (buy it on SALE! Got mine at Joann's)

Step One:

Paint a solid coat of metallic paint on canvas. Make sure you paint the edges as well.

Feel free to wait a month or two before step two.

Step Two:

Paint a thin coat of the same paint across the top of the canvas. Begin applying squares of tissue. Use pencil to tap down the tissue onto the paint. Paint next section. Continue until you've covered the entire canvas with squares.

It will look like this:

Don't worry if your squares don't meet up perfectly or if they overlap some. NOT PERFECT is better!

Step Three:

Brush another light coat of metallic paint over tissue squares so you can't see any white. Some of the tissue may rip or move. That's good. That's ok. Just tap it back close to where it was.

Step Four:

Go back and randomly place more squares until you've used all three sheets that you cut up.

Step Five:

Admire the shininess. Admire the modern look. Admire the imperfection.

Step Six*:

Find a nice place to hang it. Light candles underneath it. Woo husband.

*Alternate Step Six:

Find a nice place to hang it. Plug in lamp to shine unromantically on it until further notice.

*Alternate alternate Step Six:

Lean on mantel because the mirror you bought (this one at the outlet for $50) to put there was just a touch too big.

I'm joining Wendy at The Shabby Nest and Chris at Just a Girl today! Check out some more frugal ideas over there.

With Bad News Comes The Silver Lining?

With the delay in our renovation completion, you may be wondering, what is done?

The flooring, the tile, the painting, some lighting, the half bath, the tub (oh, my word THE TUB!).

I've been meeting with people to cover the windows and organize our closet. Good news: we have time to get these things DONE before we move into the space.

We also ordered furniture for the bedroom while we were in Atlanta. We took advantage of the outlets in Dawsonville and found some pretty bedding, too.

Here's the headboard that lays in waiting in our foyer:

(not what our duvet cover or shams look like)

The slipcover and bed skirt is made of this pretty, natural linen:

I love that the headboard is a slipcover, so if we ever change our minds or need to clean it, we're set.

We also ordered a tall chest:

A bedside chest:

And a nightstand:

I feel pretty good with our decisions. The Daddy and I spent the day at Scott's Antique Market, but decided to go with brand new furniture instead. I enjoyed spending the day with him admiring all the pretty things and seeing what kinds of stuff he was interested in at the market.

Of course we only went antique shopping after indulging in his favorite BBQ at Fox Bros. in Atlanta. Their fried okra is reason enough alone to go. They fry the whole okra instead of cutting it up into segments and it will leave you full and happy. They used to have deep fried mac n' cheese, but it wasn't on the menu anymore. My man got the tater tots and regular mac n' cheese with his pulled pork. I indulged in the cole slaw and okra with mine.

But before the carb fest began, we ate the jalapeno poppers, stuffed with BBQ pulled pork and served with ranch. LIKE. NO. OTHER.

After that kind of a meal, a day of walking through aisle after aisle of antiques was in store.

And I didn't feel one bit guilty. Especially since we didn't buy anything.

Nothing To Do

Because the girls are with Nana and Papa for the week, it would seem to most people that I have nothing to do.

Well...no.

So far this week I've been working on AE's 5th birthday party. It's in September, but will be held a mere two weeks after Baby C arrives. That said, I've completed all the shopping and most of the planning for the party. I've found great deals and even made something cool. Ten somethings.

Here's a hint:

I've gotten the invitations, the plates, napkins, decorations, serving dishes, tablecloths, half the favors and the guest list done.

Best thing about planning and buying now is, the expenses of a party will be dispersed over a couple of months. Once September rolls around, our only expense SHOULD be food.

Another thing we planned on getting done while the girls were away was moving into our new, renovated and completed master suite.

Bad news came today.

The bathroom vanity cabinets will not be ready until July 26th.

Yes, the cabinets that were ordered in MAY.

Without the cabinets, the countertops can't be installed, nor the mirrors, nor the sconces, nor the shower door, etc.

I cried.

The Daddy told the contractor that any news like that should definitely go to him first. Smart man.

I joked when we started this project that as long as it was done before the baby gets here (sometime in the first week of September) I would be happy.

And I will be. I'm just not right now.

Missing The Girls

On day three of my "vacation" I am missing my girls.

AE was not afraid of the fireworks on the Fourth. Unlike her mother, she has no qualms about holding fire.

HJ and The Crazy Dog

Thankfulness

After being out of town for 10 days, we had an extremely large pile of mail to go through. What do you open first?

Anything personally addressed and handwritten, of course!

I was delighted to find a thank you note from my friend Emily regarding her and her husband Clay's recent visit to our new home. Having visitors helped me see all the positive aspects of where we live and gave me a glimpse into the future as we hope to host more and more friends and family here.

In Emily's thank you note, she included a few pictures from their visit:

I scanned these in, but I love this first one!

Cute of us dressed for church!

This one is hysterical!

I think it is a great picture of the guys, but...

who is the crazy lady watering the plants in the background?

Tip for mom: send pictures in your thank you notes. For a child's birthday party, a picture of your child enjoying the present would be great. Or how about a picture of the party guest?

Thanks, Em! And if you haven't stopped by Emily's blog to experience her experiment into the life of a 50s housewife, go there today! She is a published author AND an incredible writer!

Take Two

It's been quiet down here in Florida because we've been in Georgia since the beginning of July.

I took a little break while we enjoyed some time with The Daddy and his family in the north Georgia mountains.

You may remember last year when we attended the festivities in Elijay. HJ got to wear the same outfit that AE wore last year. I have a feeling HJ will be in that situation for a few more years!

This year was made more special by The Daddy joining us. He used to have to work every 4th of July with NASCAR related events, but now we have him all to ourselves on the holiday.

These pictures are his eyes of the day we spent in downtown Elijay to celebrate our country's birth.

Ready for the parade to start

Downtown is small and remnants of the past remain.

HJ heard the sirens coming and assumed this position!

AE with Papa

Uncle Sam came and stood next to us after his part in the parade.

Elijay hosts an apple festival every Fall; she's the queen. The girls noticed her silly bands.

While the Apple Queen rode in a convertible, any kind of transportation will do for a parade in Elijay.

A golf cart

Your own motorcycle

These guys laid some rubber, literally. HJ's hands went up to her ears again.

Ride your tractor,

or your handsome steed.

Directly after the parade, the girls got beautified.

I've never seen her more still or patient.

She requested a butterfly!

HJ wanted fireworks:

We walked around after the parade and waited for the fireworks to get underway.

I love these girls.

I was there, and so was our nameless baby boy.

Then the fireworks began.

We spent the whole weekend up in the mountains and returned to The Daddy's hometown of Marietta last Monday. The week flew by as we visited with family and friends, shopped for furniture, picked blueberries, watched movies and tried to stay cool. And then there was the eating. Lots and lots of eating.

I think it was just as hot in Marietta as it was in Florida! We did enjoy cooler temps while we were in the mountains.

Yesterday, The Daddy and I took the girls to our "home church." I miss our church and all of our friends there. The Daddy had a hard time pulling away as he and I headed back home to Florida yesterday.

Yes, just he and I. And The Crazy Dog.

We left the girls in Georgia. I think a summertime week in Georgia with Nana and Papa may just become a tradition. So while the girls are having fun with the grands, I'll be working on a certain girl's birthday party (which isn't until September, but a mere two weeks after Baby C arrives) and getting the house ready for guests.

We have three sets of guests this weekend, and our renovation project is almost complete.

I got word this morning from our contractor that the master bathroom won't be done, but we can have our bed delivered and use it in the new space. Baby steps.