Week 28!

Twenty Eight weeks down!!! I'm finally in my third trimester and I am thrilled to be this much closer to meeting my little Laney-girl. I had a doctor's appt this morning and all is well. Her heartrate was a beautiful 150 bpm. Outside of terrible back pain, I'm doing good as well though sadly, I've gained another 3 lbs. That makes my weight gained to date 19lbs. I had only wanted to gain up to 25 this time. That's not going to happen. Oh well. I lost it once and I can do it again. 82 days to go!



95 Days to Go! So much to do!

Wow!!! I only have 95 days left to prepare for Miss Laney's debut, and that's if she were to come on her due date. There's so much to do and not a lot of time left to get it done. This month is just rolling on by and I expect next month to do the same. The next few weekends will be fairly busy with holiday parties, Christmas, and New Years. Then, in January, we have a little ski trip planned to Banner Elk. Of course I won't be skiing but the time I will get to myself will be much needed since my life is about to change dramatically. Being a mommy of two is going to be much different than a mommy of one I believe. I barely have any time to myself now so I really need to take advantage of what freedom I have left! I also need to take advantage of the time I have left to be with just Jareth. I hope he accepts his sister well. He isn't used to sharing mom and dad with anyone. He is pretty easy going and change doesn't seem to affect him too much, but then again we're talking about another human being in the house!
What do we have left to do to prepare for Laney? Lots. I still don't have her bedding made yet. I found the fabric here at Carousel Designs. The bedding is fairly expensive there but I can order the fabric and my grandmother has offered to help make it. I am starting to waver a little on my fabric choice though. I'm thinking of changing the lilac and green damask to a black and white damask with the same purple trim. I'm feeling very drawn to black and the mobile and lamp I made have black in them. I did pick out a paint color though. It's called Crocus by Benjamin Moore. Its a beautiful purple and goes great with the bedding. You can see it here. We clearly have to get to work on the nursery asap. Another thing we have to tackle is the closets. As I've said before, Jon uses the closet in the nursery. He is working on a plan to take better advantage of the closet space in our bedroom. I hope it works because we could use a lot more space! I don't know how we are going to fit two wardrobes in that tiny closet, but I have faith in the hubby. He will figure it out....He has to!
I also hope to have a shower for Laney. There hasn't been any talk of it yet, but I'm sure after the holdays it will be brought up. If not I may just plan my own! Mom and I have already bought a lot of clothes for her but there's still more things we need. We have a lot of boy stuff and I'd like Laney to have plenty of girl things! 
What else is there? I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting about but I will just have to take it one item at a time. The closet may come first! Wish us luck!

Laney Girl Update

My appointment on Tuesday went great. I passed my glucose test and Laney is doing growing perfectly. She is still measuring about a week ahead which is fine with me. I'd rather have her a few days early than a few days late. She weighs in at almost 2lbs putting her in the 60th percentile. Last time she was in the 90th! She is in frank breach position but I was assured she still has plenty of time to move to where she needs to be for her grand enterance. It was quite funny seeing her little feet up by her face. I wish I were that flexible! I'm feeling good. I did gain 5lbs since my last visit. I blame Thanksgiving vacation of course. The only problems I've had are headaches and restless legs. I had both with Jareth also. I'm glad to say however that the heartburn hasn't been as bad this time around. I can't believe I'm 25 weeks along! It has absolutely flown by this time around! I hope the next couple of months go by just as fast. Then everything can slow down. I can't wait to see my little Laney!

So much to tell!

I haven't been doing a good job of writing lately. There's just been so much going on. Here's a re-cap of the last months events.

Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Panama City with some of my family. Going to Florida for Thanksgiving was a tradition my grandma started in 2004. First we went to Destin, where Jonathan proposed on the beach : ), then the next two years we went to Navarre. That's if I'm remembering correctly. It seems like there was another trip to Destin somewhere in there...hmmm.... Anyhoo, that tradition stopped when my grandmother passed away in 2008.
When my aunt Dana called and asked if we would be interested in going back this year I was thrilled. Not only did I need a little sunshine but I was really happy to do something that I know my grandma loved to do with her family. And we had a wonderful time!
We couldn't have asked for better weather and the condo we all stayed at was beautiful. It was right on the beach with a huge balcony that spanned three rooms. Every room had a bathroom which was really nice and it slept up to 11 people. It was really nice.
Jon, Jareth, and I were the first to arrive so we had a full first day there. After unloading and a little unpacking we got in our bathing suits and went to the beach. Once Jareth's feet touched the sand, it was all over! He LOVED it! We couldn't keep him from rolling around in it and throwing it everywhere. Needless to say we were all pretty sandy every time we left the beach. I was really glad he liked it so much. He got super excited everytime I asked him if he wanted to go outside and play. He would point from the balcony and say "ocean!!!" He has always loved the water.
We cooked our Thanksgiving meal which comprised of two turkeys, a small ham, what seemed like a dozen dishes, and two desserts. And of course Jon made egg nogg. It was yummy! We also went out to eat a few times. My favorite place was Hunt's Oyster Bar. I think it was Jon's favorite too. He had 3doz oysters. I had crab legs and maybe one or two oysters.
We had a great time with our family. It was us, poppy, chad and Dana with the kids, and Shane and Cheri with Jake. It was a great group of people. I really enjoyed it and hope we get to do it again. Here are a couple of photos from the trip.

 

 

My Beautiful New Ride!

We've been talking about a needing a new family car since we found out we are expecting. We really wanted a third row SUV. Between two adults, two kids, and a dog we can use all the space we can get. But a van is out of the question. I'd like to think of myself as a modern soccer mom ; ) My dream car has been the Buick Enclave ever since the first time Jon had to drive one home from work. It's so sleek and pretty, not to mention spacious and comfortable. But it's a luxury SUV and we couldn't find one in our price range. We also really liked the GMC Acadia. That's actually what we drove to Florida this year. We had all but decided on getting one until we got a phone call. Our great friend, JP Moser, who works in car sales at Enterprise called and told us he had a sweet Enclave that they were running a deal on. But it was going to sale fast so we had to make a quick decision. So after crunching some numbers and looking at photos of the vehicle online we took the plunge. We met JP at a Waffle House in Cookeville at 8:30pm to do the paper work and exchange keys. Goodbye Tina! You were amazing but it's time to move on. I am now the proud owner of a gorgeous, white Buick Enclave that I think I'm going to name "Edward."

Crafting, Simple Flower Mobile

This was a very simple project, which is what I'm all about! I didn't take pictures of the process but I will give you a quick recap of what I did. I bought three packages of silk flowers in different colors and sizes and a bridal headband from Hobby Lobby. I already had the scrap booking decals and needle and thread at home. I measured out four different lengths of string and cut three of each size. I knew I wanted a cascading effect. Then, using a needle I threaded the flowers onto each string spacing them out. I had to make a stitch in each flower at the place I wanted it on the thread to make it stay put. Then I added little sticky back rhinestones to some of the flowers and sewed each strand onto the head band. Easy as instant pudding! Just be careful not to tangle the strands up. They can be difficult to separate. Here it is!

Crafting, DIY Ribbon Lamp

I've started on Laney's nursery! It's a small space so I'm a little limited on what I can do and how much furniture I can put in there. Right now the furniture consists of the crib, changing table, and a little window table. There's also a large quilt rack on the wall that has some of her clothes hanging off of it but that isn't staying in there. She is using Jareth's crib and changing table and the little table was my grandparents so, so far we haven't bought any furniture for her except for the bassinet in our room. I did update the little table with a can of silver spray paint though. I wonder how my grandmother would feel about me painting her antique table silver... I also added a little decoration to it and the crib using scrapbooking decals.
Yesterday, after looking at Pinterest, (my new obsession) I decided I needed a craft day. I had been wanting to upcycle an old lamp shade for Laney's room and make a flower mobile that I had seen on the craft and DIY boards. Three hours and a trip to Hobby Lobby later, Laney had a new ribbon lamp for her pretty room. I decided to take photos of the process. It was quite easy!

It was cheaper to buy 6" cuts of fabric than spools of ribbon. I only spent $2 on the whole project!

Cut fabric into strips and remove fabric from lamp shade. I left the boning around the top and bottom for more support.

I found it easier if I cut the liner out first.

Tie at either top or bottom depending on the look you want. I ended up cutting the ties down and stuffing them in the top for a cleaner look.

Edge of fabric will be rough. Use ribbons if you want it cleaner.

I threaded the tulle through the ribbons to keep it in place and tied it into a bow in the front.

All Done!

Thankfulness

I'm thankful for the people who raised me. Their love, discipline, and even their mistakes molded me into who I am today. There are so many people that are responsible for me.
I'm thankful for my parents.  They love me more than anyone possibly could. They watched me grow and took care of me and guided me through life.
I'm thankful for my brother and sister. They are the ones I share my favorite childhood memories with. They know me at my best and at my worst and love me anyway.
I'm thankful for my husband. We've stood the test of time and grown up together. We test each other and we make mistakes but our love has proven to be unconditional. He gave me my greatest gift in life. He made me a mother.
I'm thankful for my son. Being a mother is my biggest accomplishment and I know I will never surpass it. Jareth is literally my night and day. He's shown me how big my heart can be and that the most important things in life are found in your home.
I'm thankful for my daughter. I've only met her through her tiny nudges and I've only seen  her via ultrasound but Laney has already given me such joy and happiness. I am grateful to have a daughter.
I'm thankful for our furbaby, Jack. Since he was a puppy he has been the most loving dog anyone could ask for.
I'm thankful for my friends. I deem myself to be very lucky in this department. I have some of the best people in the world to call my friends, people I can call at the drop of a hat and they are there for me in a second. They never judge me but when they need to they aren't afraid to tell me how it is.
And last but most importantly I'm thankful for a God who loves me so much that he sacrificed his own son so that I can have all the things that I'm thankful for today.