2009 The good, the bad, the ugly

I know for a lot of people that 2009 has been a really tough year. Quite frankly, this year sucked for a lot of people. Im sure we all know someone who has lost family members, lost jobs, lost homes... the list goes on. There is no shortage of suffering and it makes me realize how truly fortunate I am because we were blessed with a pretty great year. Sure it had its ups and downs, but we are healthier and happier than ever.

I think that 2009 has taught me a lot about myself, about my family, and about life. Here are some of our ups, downs, all arounds in the form of one liners.

My on going Twilight obsession

The passing of my father in law

Taking up blogging

Hoping our house sells

Being newly weds

Started Sewing

Craft nights with Missy

Going to Savannah

Hoping our house sells

Beach trips

IM PREGNANT!

My 25th Birthday

Warm days on the lake

Getting back into Photography

An AWFUL UGA football season

My BFF moved to Romania =(

New favorite show.... The Office!

ITS A BOY!

1 Year Anniversary!

Finally preparing our wedding album... 1 year later

Boston

STILL HOPING OUR HOUSE SELLS...

Having to give Titan away but knowing he is healthy and happy!

500 year flood

Missing sushi and red wine

NEW MOON!!!!

My niece started saying my name correctly, and that makes me sad because she is growing up so fast.

RAIN... LOTS OF RAIN

CHRISTMAS TIME!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

HELP!!! Im nesting and I cant stop!!!

I think I need to be committed. It is 12:41 (WAY past my bedtime) and I just finished cleaning out our entire closet.

I had the epiphany that our closet had a lot of wasted space today.... Wasted space that would make the perfect new home for my sewing/ crafting area! Wasted space that I needed to take care of, immediately!

You see, my sewing and craft room is being kicked to the curb for Keating's room. The sacrifices we make for our kids! =) So I had to find it a new home.

Messy closet before

2 hours later... AFTER!

I think I'm going to move or get rid of the bottom shelf and put my sewing table there. Then use the shelves to store my crafty stuff and fabric scraps.

This still may look messy to some, but it is so much more consolidated now. If only I can keep it this way!

I am like the Energizer Bunny on crack... seriously!

I'm here

Im back! Not that I went anywhere, I have just been enjoying some time off of work and getting things accomplished!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did! I am sad it flew by so quickly.

So, on Christmas night I was woken up with contractions. I was pretty sure that I wasnt in labor and that they were most likely just really strong braxton hicks contractions, but it still freaked me out! I probably should have called my dr, but I figured it was due to being dehydrated and turned out I was right. Good thing I didnt head to the hospital. Its really scary thinking "this could be it!" I nearly crapped my pants, Im not ready yet!!! =)

Today I had my 32 week appointment and an ultrasound. Keating is measuring right on track, actually 3 days ahead. He is head down and his butt is up in my ribs. He is weighing about 4.5 pounds. She said that if he continues on this track that Im looking at a 7-8 pound baby. So much for hoping he is born little like his mama was! I have his father to thank for that. Little porker.

I have been making lots of progress on his nursery while I am home this week. Last night I got his quilt all put together and tried out my new sewing machine! Today I caulked the walls. Hopefully tomorrow I will get the desire to prime them. My goal is to have the walls and quilt finished by 2010. We will see how that goes!

Christmas Eve-Eve Hodge Podge Post

Im really wondering why Im working today... seriously, who does that!? =) It gives me a chance to brag on my AWESOME husband though!

Last night I got home from work expecting an empty house (he was supposed to be working)

Instead I found this...
What is it you ask??

If you dont know what you are looking at... it is the beginning of a very beautiful thing. A thing I have been wanting to add to our house, to make it more of a "home" and less of a cracker jack box.

It is BOARDS AND BATTEN! WHOOOO!!!!!


I originally got the idea while watching the movie You, Me and Dupree. See the pretty siding in their bedroom?

I started researching and found it with a picture ledge, which I absolutely loved. I thought about it constantly. I knew I definitely needed wanted it in Keating's room, but I didnt think we would have time to add it before he was born.

Well, low and behold, my husband is amazing!

Here is a tiny sneak peak of my "craft room" which in a month's time will be the nursery.

I cant give away too many secrets! I have to save something for my big reveal!

See the wonderful grey color on the walls? I LOOOOVE it. All of the new trim will be painted a warm ivory, not the builder white that the trim is currently painted. It all still needs to be caulked, primed and painted. Looks like I have a little work cut out for me over the break!

So I have a question to all of you decorators out there. When we paint the boards and batten in our master bedroom, we are going to go ahead and paint everything. We are tired of the whole brown thing in our room.

So what colors to paint it?The bedding is a natural color with black details... The curtains are going to go, because I just got new duvet and they dont match. Excuse the semi made bed, I didnt do it =)

If you remember, about a month ago I painted our bathroom this cream on cream stripe. So the bedroom needs to coordinate with that.
Im thinking something neutral, but I dont want all of the siding to look the same in the bedrooms. Would black boards and batten be too much?? Maybe with a natural color up top?

Decisions, Decisions...

Oh yeah, here is my 30 week picture from last week.

My sister and I getting corny. Keating's auntie is very excited for him to be here if you cant tell!

And just for laughs. While shopping the other day, I spotted a "mustache gumball machine." For real, the thing only sold stick on mustaches... so we had to buy one and made Reece wear it. We are cruel, but we got a great laugh. Reece is obviously not a fan of the facial hair!
Happy Christmas Eve-Eve!!

2 months and counting! Nursery Update!

Wow, I really cant believe 2 months from today (possibly sooner, possibly later) our lives are going to drastically change. I feel like we still have SO much to do before Keating gets here. I've been so busy, I havent even updated a bump pic. For those of you on bump watch... its coming! I promise!

This weekend I did some serious budget shopping for Keating's little nursery. The space is pretty small so I want to maximize on storage and space. Despite what my husband thinks, babies take up much more room than a corner, and require quite a lot of stuff!

I recently painted the bedroom a wonderful grey. I've had a hard time not painting the rest of my house the same color. It's a glorious color called Mombasa Mist by Ralph Lauren. I LOVE Ralph Lauren paint!

If you remember, here is the crib we chose.

I didnt want to go with a typical baby changing table, so we decided to get a dresser that would be able to transition as he gets older. His grandparents lovingly bought him the crib and this dresser. Thanks Shonnie and G-Paw!
I hope they match close enough because we havent even taken the dresser out of the box yet! It looks more cherry in the photo, but it SHOULD be espresso like the bed.

This weekend I bought these drawer organizers from Ikea. I figured they could help organize all of the tiny little things that a baby needs. Im not the most organized person in the world... so I need lots of help in the organization dept.
Keating's Auntie bought this to go in his room. Im thinking that it will be a tight squeeze, so it may go in his closet. It was only $25 in the last chance dept at Ikea! I had to guard it while she went to get a bigger cart... people were eyeing it! A real bargain!
I also got two Ribba frames from Ikea for prints that I made for his room. I will share them once I get them in the frames. Im a little proud of them!
His auntie was feeling quite generous and also bought him a stuffed "Jasper" for his room. Jasper is B's dog that lives at his mom's house. He is much too big for our tiny shoebox. This one is much less smelly too!
Speaking of dogs... here is Lola trying out the new carseat/ stroller combo. She is starting to get a little bit jealous of all of his new toys!
I have a lot more to show in the nursery, but I dont want to spoil anything! Yall will just have to wait and see the finished product!

Mac N Cheese Recipe!

I dont know if I have mentioned it before, but my father in law was the GREATEST cook. Everything he made was delicious and full fat. He was never afraid to use cream or buttah... much like a male Paula Deen!

This recipe is fast with few ingredients and its oh so delicious and creamy! Make it for any get togethers or Christmas parties that you have. It will be WIPED out because its always a hit!

16 oz box of Rigatoni Noodles
8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese
8 oz Monterey Jack Cheese
8 oz Parmesan Cheese
2 cups Heavy Cream


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. (The rigatoni noodles get really big so the bigger pot the better) Add pasta and cook until just tender

Transfer pasta to a large bowl. Add cream, and half of all of the cheeses. Stir to combine.
Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a large casserole dish.

Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, and bake until golden bubbly. About 30-45 minutes.

Variations and suggestions:

You could use smaller noodles if thats what you have on hand.

I have also spooned the noodle mixture into lightly greased muffin tins and baked individual portion sizes. It bakes much faster this way, and you could use a smaller noodle size to do this, because the rigatoni gets a little crammed.

Also, I buy the cheddar and monterey jack combined bag of cheese. Shredded monterey jack is hard to find in an individual package. If you do this just buy two bags of combined cheese.

Enjoy!!!

Attention SAHM's and good bargainers

Once Keating comes I will be working part-time. As excited as I am to get to spend lots of time with him, Im also wondering how this will affect things financially. We are very used to being DINK's (double income no kids), so it will be quite the change.

My question is this...
For those that stay at home... what did you learn to do differently to save money or cut costs? For those that are naturally really good at budgeting and bargaining, what are some of your savvy tips?

All tips are appreciated!
Thanks!!

*Celebrity Crush* -John Krasinski

As Im curled up with Lola in our favorite chair, I realized that I have been holding out on all of you. I have a new celebrity crush, that I have not yet divulged...

We have recently begun watching the seasons of The Office from the very beginning. It has spurred my newest show obsession, (because its simply HILARIOUS) and also my newest celebrity crush. Yes, I realize that I am way late to the game, but John Krasinski is my new favorite star.

There's nothing better than a guy with a good sense of humor!

It helps that he's also pretty cute!

The Office just would not be the same without him.

He may or may not have also made a cameo in a few of my crazy pregnancy dreams... just sayin'.

;)

Is that weird to admit??

Its okay, Im not ashamed!

He is just precious and seems so down to earth.



Happy weekend! Its FREEZING here!

Sweet Christmas Treats!

Last night I made one of my favorite quick and easy treats. These are simply little peanut butter filled ritz crackers dipped in white chocolate bark coating.

I use bark coating and not bakers chocolate because you get more of it and its a lot cheaper.

Melt chocolate in microwave in about 30 second intervals. Stirring each time.

I pour in a few crackers at a time. Then I use a fork to poke the cracker around and make sure it is completely covered. Next, tap the fork on the side of the bowl to make the chocolate smooth.

Set each cracker out on wax paper to let cool.

These make great quick gifts or theyre perfect to take to a party. Best of all, theyre always a hit!

Be careful, they're addictive!

Christmas Gift Wrap

I love Christmas! Giving gifts is one of my very favorite things! I love to pick out the perfect gift for each person on my list. I think special gifts deserve special wrapping.

What is more fun than opening a present that looks as pretty on the outside as it does inside the box?

Here is my gift wrap for this year. I went with red and silver polka dot paper and coordinating bows. (The red is really bright in these photos due to the flash.)
While Christmas shopping, I saw similar initial ornaments at Pottery Barn, that I thought would make great gift tags. Except I wasnt paying $4 a piece for them. Of course, I decided to make my own. =)

I printed out initials on heavy card stock paper. Then traced a circle around each one and cut them out. I used craft glue to draw a border around each tag, and then dusted each with my favorite Martha Stewart glitter in White Gold.

In hind sight I should have used plain old elmers glue because it is a lot thinner. I think they turned out pretty cute though!

Note to self:

Drinking a rootbeer float was a bad idea for a few reasons.

1. You will get up at least 10 times tonight, while a 16" baby is jumping on your bladder

2. This is going to go straight to your butt

But at least you enjoyed it!

Weekly Updates!

29 weeks!

John Wayne loves being in my weekly pictures

* How far along?: 29 weeks
* Total weight gain: we will see today when I go to the Dr.
* How big is baby?: 16 inches long! WOW I cant believe he's all curled up in there!!
* Sex: Baby boy!
* Maternity clothes?: yes and no
* Stretch marks?: nope
* Sleep?: Pretty good, enjoying it while it lasts
* Best moment this week? Finishing painting his nursery and finding an AWESOME glider on craigslist! Pics to come!
* Movement?: Yes, he's quite the wiggle worm!
* Food cravings?: Things I shouldnt be craving like cookies...
* Labor signs?: nope
* Belly button in or out?: It depends on how he is resting in there, but most of the time I have a little outie now.
* What I miss: My sense of balance, my brain and being able to think of anything non baby related, my normal appetite (I used to never down two strawberry poptarts late at night!)
* What I'm looking forward to: Getting the nursery finished up. Its looking so great! I cant wait to share pictures!!

** I am finding that the more stuff I add to the nursery, that this is all starting to become more realistic. I can picture myself rocking him in my little glider, and putting him to sleep (hopefully) in his little cowboy crib. I guess its a good thing that Im getting excited about these things, and not scared to death! I only have 11 weeks left! Where does time go!?!?!

TGIF!

Random thoughts Friday!

1. Im so glad that the week is over and went by relatively fast!

2. Tonight I'm going to a tacky Christmas sweater party, and B is actually going to dress up! This is a rarity.

3. Tomorrow it is supposed to snow here in GA. Now realistically, I know this most likely wont happen. People will clear off the bread and milk shelves for no reason and it will probably end up being 70 degrees outside... but I still have hope!
Also the last time it snowed, I was horded up in my house addicted to the Twilight sequel, so I kind of missed the whole thing! Edward kept me quite cozy though!
4. I have a to do list this weekend. It entails painting the nursery and finishing the crib bumpers. I better get a move on! ONLY 78 DAYS TO GO!!!! AHHHH

5. I hate when people are supposed to do something, they dont do it, and then they ignore you. I did a study for a free Teutonia stroller in October, and I was supposed to receive this last month... it is a $700 amazing stroller/ infant seat combo. My contact now wont return my emails about its where abouts and I better get it STAT or Im going to pitch a HISSY FIT!

And a slice of Southern wisdom to leave you with for the weekend...
Someone is as dumb as "durt" Unbelievable!

Awesome Giveaway

Not by me... by my friend at Prepperoni

She's awesome and sometimes she bakes such amazing cupcakes that I catch myself licking my screen. Check out her awesome give away and tell her that I sent you over there!

Also! Ornament Swappers! Get your packages out ASAP if you havent done so already!!!

Night on the Town!

So I finally decided on a festive dress to get me through the season. I decided on this cute little number from Target! Its twice as awesome because it isnt maternity and Ill be able to wear it again. The top is a pretty velvet and the bottom is nice and flowy, leaving plenty of room for a growing belly. =)

I'm going to pair it with these earrings

and my pretty red wedding shoes.

We are going out for dinner with friends and then to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Fox Theater! I love getting dressed up! I will be sure to post pictures!

Note to self

Dont watch childbirthing videos online...

That is all.

Pottery Barn Decor on a Dollar Tree Budget!

Back in This post I mentioned how I was going to recreate a lot of Pottery Barn Christmas looks, for a lot LOT less. Well here is my take so far!

Theirs - Bosphorus Bowl: $39.00 Bell Vase Filler $19.00 Total: $58

Mine: Dollar Tree 9 pack of bells $1 ( I bought 3 packs) Total= $3 and I like my bells better!
Theirs: Large Arches Lantern: $69.00 Pottery Barn 3x6 Candle: $6 Total $75
Mine: Pottery Barn Lantern: $11 at the outlet, gumdrop vase filler: FREE from the yard! Candle: Left over from our wedding Total: $11
Theirs: Metallic Pinecone Vase Filler: $8.00 Total $8.00

Mine: Metallic Pinecone Vase Filler: $FREE

I took last years cinnamon scented pinecones and gave them a quick spray with metallic silver spraypaint. I dusted some of them with a little of my favorite Martha Stewart white gold glitter

Theirs: Faux Snow Vase Filler: $12.00 for 5 oz.
Theirs : Beaded Snowflake Ornament: $10.00
Mine: Faux Snow Vase Filler: FREE I bought it last year for about $2.00 (I bought a big bag from Hobby Lobby and reuse the same snow) Glittered Snowflake Ornaments: 2 for $1 at The Dollar Tree I have these all over my house! Total: Approx $3 I could have at least cleaned the snow and glitter off of my table! Sorry y'all!
*
*
*
Pottery Barn Grand Total: $163
My Grand Total:$17