Projects

I love getting projects done. Here are a couple I've worked on for the nursery and just things I wanted to accomplish for a while (helps with my nesting!).

A shelf I picked up from work (I asked first). Painted then decopaged
with Papersource wrapping paper. If it's a girl, I'll put in the nursery. Otherwise I will use for my sewing stuff.

The chair I finally covered after sitting in the garage for a year.
I used this tutorial to cover and it was very helpful. I had uncovered it over a year ago and thankfully kept the old
pieces and labeled them. The binding was the most challenging, but not bad. 

These prints from Lay Baby Lay I got from Society6. I almost got
one other about dance parties but decided maybe this baby doesn't like dance parties or that I don't need 3. 

Bed skirt I made basically copied from the one my mother-in-law made from
Dalton's crib with a box pleat. Much easier than I thought, not perfect, but came out the way I wanted it. This fabric
and the mint crib sheet below is Arizona by April Rhodes.

I made a crib sheet for the first time! It was really easy and I used this tutorial.
If I can make one, anyone can! The first two fabrics are crib sheets and I got the navy crib skirt for $5 at Target. I figure I can swap them out and if it's a girl, add more pink or coral in with the design.

I got this basket from All Seasons (one of my favorite shops!) for a plant. I'm also making
some sort of yarn ceiling decor-similar to the one at Las Paletas here in town. My grandmother had
a huge collection of yarn and I'm happy to put it to use.

I wanted to make one of those mounting animals I've seen all over the blogosphere. I got a wooden mount thingy and a zebra (29 cents) from Michaels. I painted the wooden mount and Jack cut the zebra in half. I spray painted it with metallic spray paint, then glued with gorilla glue. The paint did start to come off with the glue, so be careful. Otherwise, pretty easy!

My quilt for baby. Simple design. I'm slowly moving up in the quilting world. My goal is to be a speck of the talent Anna Verner has in her quilts. 

One thing I know about myself is that I'm good at using others ideas for inspiration, not so much original ideas... except maybe for party decorations.

Blessing of being pregnant

I still pinch myself to believe I actually am pregnant again. It's been amazing, you guys. Before I was pregnant for #2, I would imagine the little kicks and feelings of having a sweet baby grow in my belly and now it's here. I just didn't know if I would ever get to experience again and it's here. I've really tried to consciously be thankful and take in every symptom and kick. It truly is a blessing I'm not worthy of, but so thankful that God has blessed us with it. He is so good. I hope it points to his glory and nothing else. Not luck or good timing but his power and glory.
I've been back in BSF with the start of school year and I needed it so much. To be honest I hardly did a lick of bible reading and ignored God in certain areas of my life that are painful. To be back is refreshing. It's exactly what I need. We are studying the life of Moses, which seems a little snooze fest but it's been coordinating with my life quite closely. Last week we discussed the discouragement of the Isrealites after 400+ years of slavery and Moses' lack of faith in himself to speak to Pharaoh. I really identified with their discouragement, although I'm pretty sure they were more discouraged than I ever was. He delivered them and he always hoped for Moses and his people to focus on what He could do rather than their own shortcomings. This week, we studied the Exodus. God continued to give what he promised and did it all for his glory. It was so appropriate as we are coming up on the birth of our second child.
"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still." Ex 14:13-14
I have loved sharing this journey with you guys.

16 weeks

15 weeks (okay you can't see anything b/c of baggy shirt but
aren't my friends cute?)

18 weeks

18 weeks

20 weeks

23 weeks

28 weeks

30 weeks

32 weeks

34 weeks

34 weeks-don't you look belly line from the pants? Dork

I don't want it to end... I mean, I am ready to be free of heart burn and big varicose veins, but I also love it. Of course, I would miss the best part, meeting the little bambino. Make your bets now, kids.

A work in progress

We are renovating the garage. Crazy? Maybe, but it's going well and I haven't quite had a breakdown yet. Jack has been very busy from Friday at 3:30 pm to Sunday 5 pm. I try my best to entertain and keep little man busy (that's why we've had so many activities) so I won't loose it either. He's been a trouper and although we desperately miss time with Jack, it's just what has to happen right now. This is not a problem... ebola is a problem.
We are turning the garage into the master bedroom, bath, closet, and laundry room. We've also finally framed out the mudroom in the existing big room. If you remember, I had covered the exposed insulation when I threw a shower for Lindsey's baby, who is now 1! So I was pretty excited to complete this project and maybe we can even finish the floors that have been undone since moving in. Jack really should be thankful I'm so laid back, shouldn't he?! Ha. Seriously, if I hadn't been through this before and learned to have low expectations, I may be on the crazy train  right now. I actually was making notes in my pregnancy book for baby #2 and read that right before D was born we were finishing up the laundry room/office in the old house. There's always a project. Am I right?
HV/AC, electric, plumbing, and framing have all been passed so drywall starts tomorrow. Jack had said our projects would be done, but I have not had that in my mind at all. Not that I don't think he can because if anyone could, it's him. But like I said, low expectations are much better for me... other examples: my birthday/party celebrations, child birth, etc. If it's not done, no worries. The baby can sleep in the basement! Ha, I kid, I kid. Maybe.

Garage before. Dalton loves making construction material into
"obstacle courses" for his cars

framing starting

Mudroom and new outside door

Looking into the bedroom

Closet

Bathroom

Hard to see, but looking out of bedroom. Left, closet. Right, bathroom.
Middle doorway hallway

Looking out of bathroom to laundry room on far side

old door from garage

siding replaced! Dirty, construction driveway! Don't worry, the
yellow color is the siding, it will be painted our old house color.

Summer Days

I've been trying to put the internet to the wayside guys so this blog has been sad. So sad. I'm not even sure anyone even reads it anymore except maybe three people. You are worth it.
We've had a great summer-baby growing, Jack starting a new job, and being adventurous. We spent lots of days at the pool and Dalton slowly went from being timid going under to all the time. It was fun to watch him evolve. By the last day, he went down the water slide about 30 times in a row and he didn't want us to catch him.
Jack started his new job as a project manager. He is much happier and he can look back, be thankful for his accounting experience, but look forward, hopeful. I can see how it was good learning experience and helpful in his present job. I'm not sure if most people would be really upset about the whole thing or not, but I'm not in the least. I saw how he struggled, searched, and attempted. This is something I did years ago and understand his search. I'm proud of him and can see him thriving already with his challenges in his new job. I pray he finds continued happiness there.
Dalton had a lot of "firsts" this summer:

First bowling

First Fair and Faris wheel. 

First roller coaster with his friend, Jane

First dinosaur exhibit. This didn't go over so well.

First carousel

First fast boat ride and driving it!

And we got to see some of our cousins

John Mac, Caroline, Hannah, William, and Henry. A fun day of hiking

Dory in town from Texas

I, of course, threw a luau:

Dalton helped me decorate and he enjoyed it. This made me really happy :)

And we got to take a trip to the beach, thanks to my in-laws. It was fun having Jack there this time and Dalton had the best time. I was skeptical of my in-laws who kept talking about the ins and outs of building a sand castle. I'm a different kind of beach goer... I like to lay there and relax. My mother-in-law asked us to bring a shovel (not a play shovel, a big regular one) for the castle and I thought "oh no". But I have to say, by the end of the week I was the only one working on the sand castle. I got really into it and enjoyed making them. I ate my words.

Chasing the seagulls. A big favorite

Instructional video we watched. There's a theme song in it and it's pretty catchy!

Dalton's favorite part was getting to destroy the castle at the end of the day

Our favorite part was taking a dolphin sunset boat ride. Dalton loved "going fast" and the adults (minus me, blah) got
to indulge in endless alcohol. We saw dolphins and Garth Brook's house where we think Tricia was out on the dock. I love me some Tricia Yearwood! Come on- "She's in love with the boy" so good.

Like a dream, there just happened to be an air show right as we were coming in and at sunset. It was magical.

Summer was good to us. Now bring on the fall (and baby :))!