while we wait....

i've been sewing like crazy!!!

her crib skirt is finally done: as is her room!
i made some low budget art work for her walls:
some rec'g blankets:and burp cloths:we've also been putting in some hours with the Wii:

Sep. 9th was Daddy's birthday, and what better way to celebrate than with the awesome Batman cake he always wanted:

and one little batman especially enjoyed the cake....

2 weeks and 5 days left.....

but who's counting?

We went in for our last ultrasound this week and everything looked as it should. The tech said she could see hair sticking up on her head! And the bubble looking thing below her mouth is the umbilicol cord, but Elliott got a kick out of the fact that she looked like she was blowing bubbles.

lots of other things have been happening around here while we wait for our little girl...Elliott finished up his first set of swim lessons at the YMCA and is very proud of his ribbon he achieved:

and we've been spending a lot of time in the baby room, making sure everything including her glider is working properly:

And, most importantly, the begining of the new year of prechool is next week! Elliott is in the 3 year old Giraffe room this year. We went to his meet and greet this morning, and I think it is going to be a great year!

and here is my almost 38 week belly:

one month left!!!!

One month left until our baby girl is due. She has dropped soooo low, I honestly feel she could pop out any minute! But hopefully we will make it into September before she makes her grand entrance. She was 5lbs at her 35 week ultrasound.

The house is slowly coming together and the garage door is finally on!

which means we can finally start clearing out the dining room and den of stuff!

And the baby's room is just about complete...I still need to get a longer curtain rod, finish the crib skirt, and hang things on the walls....oh and fix the book shelf I broke a couple of weeks ago.

and hand the mirror above the dresser...

We had a blast at my cousin's wedding in Detroit last weekend:

my cousin Chris, the groom...Josh, me, Chris, and his new bride, Jessica:

we have a chair....

and pink walls!

next up: crown moulding!!

And after our looong overwhelming search and debate for a new glider or to reupholster our existing chair, I came across this one on Craig's List. I have never done anything on Craig's list, but when I saw this glider, I knew it was the one! It had white wood, pink cushions, and looked very new. The previous owner said she hardly used it. I am so excited with the deals I've been scoring recently...and speaking of deals....I guess Babies R Us is getting hit by the recession, because I got a coupon in my email for $15 gift card if I purchased 2 boxes of diapers. And I had another $2.00 coupon that was about to expire that day. So I made the long drive over to get my $17.00 in savings...and for some reason, I was awarded a $25 gift card instead. That is a $27.00 savings in diapers!!!! Our baby girl (hopefully) is stocked up with diapers for awhile....

Consignment Sale Success!

so I got lucky and was accepted as a first time mom to the All 4 Kids sale out at the JR Miller Park last night...which means I got to shop early, before the sale opened to the public; and boy did we make out.....we got a bassinet, a sit and stand stroller, a power wheels F-150 (for elliott's big brother gift), a buzz light year costume that he has been bugging me about AND most importantly a nice little suit just his size to wear to my cousin's wedding next weekend....look how cute he is:

he should really be able to cut a rug in this get up:)

and.....

I've been wanting one of these sit n' stand strollers for awhile too: Elliott is testing out the baby seat to make sure it works properly.

this is the much desired Buzz suit we have been wanting:

and we've been needing a bassinet....i got this one for $10!!!!
and check out the easel we picked up for our little artist...

Progress!!!

The curtains are finished and hung! YAY...but the little bookshelf unfortunately did not survive the installment.


I have no idea what led me to believe that this cheap little particle board bookshelf would hold my pregnant self while stretching to reach something!!!


ouch!

"We're having a Baby" Sale

I have just re-opened my shop for the next month just to sell off some remaining inventory. This is part of my closet organization kick I have been on lately. I realized that I have a lot of inventory just sitting around. Soooo, I thought I would offer the last of my items that are already made at a GREAT PRICE for you. Please stop by my shop to check it out. One important note: all items only come in the size indicated in the title/ description.

These onesie or bib/ burp sets are marked down to just $8.00!!!!and many more.....so stop by!

oh and does anyone know of a baby boy whose name starts with the letter "h"? haha, i made this just to advertise the personalized letter onesies, and now I am stuck with a random "h" onesie....i've priced it at only $6.00!!!

the Baby Nursery...

so we've already cleaned this room out once, but I swear, I think this room has some sort of magnet on it. Things around the house just get sucked in and find a new home here. I hope this is not the case once the baby arrives and it is officially "her" room.

If you have been following our progress, then you know about the garage in the back yard that was built to store all these odds and ends. Well, we aren't able to move anything out there until garage door is installed......sooooo....here is what our dining room looks like after the first clean out of the nursery:

and here is what the nursery looks like after cleaning Elliott's closet out this past weekend: But, don't worry! I am not panicking yet, because we went and bought all the supplies for her room this past weekend, including the pink paint, which I am absolutely thrilled about! It is called "Sleeping Beauty Pink" and I'm hoping this name serves as a premonition of how good a sleeper she will be;)

here is the fabric and paint color for her room:

I plan to make the curtains, dust ruffle, and bumper out of this fabric.

I also already have a pink sheet on her bed, and the bumper that I am going to add the fabric to is installed. (i feel i am making some headway in the sea of baby stuff that seems to be taking over our house right now):

AND I also have this great pink basket, that I don't know what I'm going to do with yet, but isn't it great? Most pink stuff for baby girl's is so pastel pink, that I was excited to find something more vibrant. It will probably hold her diapers and whatnots near the changing table:
Ohhh....and this green chair has also been causing me some problems right now. I LOVE the chair, because it was my Grandma's and Aunt Carol's, and holds a lot of sentimental value; and was the chair that I held Elliott in for so many years. But the green is just not going to fly in my pretty pink nursery. So I am trying to decide whether to re-upholster it, or get a new chair for her nursery....decisions, decisions!

And last, but not least, I had this FABULOUS diaper bag made, by a fellow etsy seller, Watermelon Wishes. So when the room starts to get on my nerves for still being brown, and messy, I just look over at my wonderful diaper bag, and I feel sooooo much better:) Isn't it funny how a great bag can make you feel that way?

ALSO, this dresser, that the diaper bag is hanging on, was my dad's old dresser that I painted and added the decorative knobs too. The knobs were painted the color of Elliott's nursery, so I plan to do the same for her. Her knobs of course will be pink!

Baby preperations are....

underway!

We live in a 3 bedroom ranch house, and right now our third bedroom multi-functions as storage, junk room and josh's home office. So we ran into the problem of where to put all this stuff when we found out we were pregnant with our second child. That is when our "garage project" was formalized. We bought the house four years ago with this slab of concrete already installed in the back yard:(the leftovers of the previous owner's unfinished project), and for 4 years have been talking about building on it...so now we are! and I keep saying "we", like I am out there swinging a hammer....haha...and we all know that is not going to happen. That's when Josh enlisted the help of his dad and two brothers. We are very fortunate to have a family member in the construction industry who is a very gifted builder. Check out our wall project from last year. (you can also see some better finished pictures of it here and here)

after 2 days worth of work:

break timeand look what they have built after one week's worth of work in the hottest week Atlanta has had in a looong time:

I am so proud of them!
now Josh's weekends will be filled with the finishing touches, such as installing the garage door, the siding, and moving everything from our third bedroom out to the garage.

other prepeartions in the works:
Work on the Nursery is to commence soon...and I have a ton of ideas and things I want to do...

Also, we will be trading in the pick-up truck for a more suitable family vehicle. I'm sure I will be blogging about our search for the perfect family car.

I'm closing up shop....

I've made the decision to close up shop this week. Elliott and I are about to go to Virginia and Destin, FL for 2 weeks. I thought about just putting my shop on vacation and re-opening in July. But to be honest, I'm just getting plum burned out! Trying to keep up with the orders, my 3 year old, my growing belly, and getting this tiny house sorted out to make room for our baby girl; is just getting to be TOO much. The closing will be indefinite, as our lives adjust to a family of 4 instead of 3. Who knows...maybe I will be ambitious enough to open back up for Christmas....but if not, definitely sometime in 2010! Thank you to all my customers for keeping me in business, and to all my friends and Mom who continuously support me through all the side orders. I truly do appreciate it!


I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far....
here is a pic of Elliott making a new friend down in Panama City last week:

"let's use our super hero powers":

and then they busied themselves the rest of the afternoon digging this trench. The bigger kid in red was the ring leader. Josh and I were cracking up because he was shouting out orders to the yournger kids the whole time, and they surprisingly were listening to him and having a great time. And it was a nice break for Josh and I to be able to just lay there and read our books:)
and, last but not least, my 26 week belly:

Great Memorial Day Weekend

We drove up to North Carolina for Josh's Family Reunion, and stopped in Wilmington for 2 nights along the way. We played at Wrightsville Beach on Saturday, did the family reunion on Sunday, and drove the long drive back on Monday. But we topped the whole trip off with a stop at the ultra tacky "South of the Border" in South Carolina for lunch.

What a great weekend, I hope everyone had safe and happy holiday weekend:)

Wrightsville Beach

look how big my belly is getting...yikes!downtown Wilmington, complete with a historic sail boat tour

and icecream, of course:

onto the family reunion, where Elliott made a new girlfriend: (i've lost track out how many he has now)

and what family reunion in the country wouldn't be complete without tractor and golf cart rides?

lunch at South of the Border

(and, yes, Elliott is wearing his Batman pajamas and a Plastic Thor Viking Helmet....he fit right in:)

Happy Mother's Day...

to all my fellow mommies out there. I hope everyone had a wonderful day...we did!

I started the day out pretending I wasn't on my diet, and had a donut at church, and it was SOOOO worth the sugar and carbs:) Then we had a brunch in sunday school, then Josh and Elliott took me out to lunch to my most favorite lunch spot, Moes!, then we headed down to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and finally finished the day up with the All you can Eat Crab Legs at Vinings Grill....what a delicious Mother's Day!

notice the pretty shirt I am wearing. My husband is really good at picking out things that I like, but would never buy for myself...thank you Josh, I love it!

here it is from further away. It is made up of all these flowy layers...I don't even think I look that pregnant in it...

and this past Saturday was the last soccer game of the season. It is amazing how much E had improved from the first game to the last....check out his moves....

look at that determination in his face...i'm so proud of him...even though i recently learned that it is vain to say you are "proud", but I don't know what other word to use....and of course the game was followed up with a party and snacks!!!and look how proud he is of his trophy...

i guess it is true....

what they say about not taking as many pictures of the second pregnancy and child. I hadn't taken any pics of my belly up until last night, and with Elliott I took them every week. Just thought I would share my growing belly:

the shirt I am wearing is the first of MANY pink things I plan to get:) I just ordered a Pink Baby record book and pregnancy book. I want to make sure the second child does not feel slighted, I will start filling those in as soon as they arrive.

it's a.....

GIRL!!!

I am so beside myself that we are having a girl!!! I was really expecting another boy, so much so that I cried when the ultrasound tech said it was a girl. I don't think I realized that I wanted a girl so bad. All my visions of dresses, frilly little bloomers, bows, and the cutest pink nursery ever are finally going to come true!!!

no boy parts in sight:

little button nose just like Elliott:

Tomorrow is the day we've been waiting for....

We finally get to know what Baby #2 is!!!

Which will be some exciting news in the midst of finding out that I have the Gestational Diabetes again with this baby! I did the refresher class yesterday and looks like it is protein and fiber for me for the next 20 weeks....ugh!

And I just want to gripe about something that has been bothering me....I am so SICK of hearing the word "failed". I got a phone call informing that I "failed" the 1 hour test, then a follow up phone call confirming that i have "failed" the 3 hour test. It's not anything that I can control or study for!!! Please stop saying I failed! Like it isn't bad enough that I have to be on a diet for the next 20 weeks, I also have to keep hearing the word which is starting to make me feel like the biggest failure of all! It's not like I am an over weight person, or eat a ton of sugary junk food; but if you insist on pumping me full of some sugary orange drink and then stick a needle in my arm and are surprised to find the sugar still coursing thru my veins, then just state the facts and tell me what to do to keep the baby healthy....don't say I failed some test that I didn't even sign up for or was given a feasible way to pass it.

Sorry about that....I just had to get it off my chest. I'm done, and on to more important things like Wednesday, April 29th, when we finally get to know if Elliott is going to have a baby brother or sister. Please let me know what you think it is:)

and i hate posts without pictures....so here is what we have been up to lately:

soccer season is still going strong, although the snack at the end is Elliott's favorite part of the game

this duck was purchased with the $5.00 Grandma and Pop-Pop sent Elliott for Easter, and has surprisingly provided hours of enjoyment....can you see that smile on his face?
and here is my big boy and I after the Smyrna Jonquil Festival this past weekend, which was a huge success by the way:
I'll be eagerly awaiting to post tomorrow what our Baby #2 is going to be:)

Smyrna Jonquil Festival...

is this coming weekend, April 25th & 26th!

Located on the beautiful Village Green in downtown Smyrna, the festival will showcase arts and crafts by more than 150 artists/crafters; including ME. The event also offers fun for the entire family to enjoy with continuous entertainment, a children's section, and a wide selection of festival foods. so come on out....weather people are focasting a BEAUTIFUL weekend!

Don't forget to stop by the Easy Edges Studio Booth!

April

April has been a whirlwind for us so far...with trips, and many other things going on; but I want to do a quick post on what's been happening in our little part of the world.

On April 3rd, Josh and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. I am so proud of this! We have come a long way in just 5 years. It makes me excited to think what the next 5 have in store for us...

April 3, 2004

1st year anniversary ~ Charleston, SC

2nd year anniversary ~ was quiet because this little guy had just been born
3rd anniversary ~ a weekend away to Callaway Gardens
4th year anniversary ~ we took a trip to Europe later in the year

and this year, we went out to dinner and then on to Jamaica!!!

which was just fabulous!!!!

beautiful sunsets....

plenty of beach time...

we even got to swim in these caves...

oh yeah and Easter was somewhere in the midst of all of this....

it's potty time....

so after clocking many, many, many hours of sitting on the potty, Elliott has finally decided he is going to use it. True to form, Elliott had to do it on Elliott's time. For the past few months we've been talking about the potty, reading books about the potty, and sitting on the potty (in every room of the house)....but no pee-pee! Then all of sudden on Wednesday, after sitting on the potty for oh close to 2 hours while watching cartoons (i know that is a lot of tv time....but i was determined), something miraculous happened....he PEED on the potty!!!!
So of course, I praised him endlessly, picked him up, spun him around the room, and he was finally able to open his Batman toy (aka: the " if you pee-pee on the potty" bribery toy that has been sitting on top of the refrigerator for a few weeks now).
I was afraid that bribery wouldn't last long, but I was amazed at the progress my little boy made in one day. By that night he was sitting on the potty, and pushing his pee-pee out within a few minutes. He now gets rewarded with m&m's every time he pee-pee's.

Day 2, of pee-peeing on the potty, he pee-pee'd at school, at home, and on a restaurant potty while out to eat AND, woke up this morning with a DRY diaper, ready to put his pee-pee on the potty. Now, don't get me wrong, we've had a couple of accidents along the way...but I am ONE PROUD MAMA!!!


I know I've rambled on about pee-pee, and for those that don't have kids this may sound a bit excessive and gross, but you just don't understand the stress and pressure of potty training. The pressure for your child to perform is unbelievable!

Family Placement shirts

new items listed for March: Family Placement t-shirts and onesies

and look at how happy my cutie pie looks out on the soccer field....

this is great news!

I had to share this photo, because I must say, I am absolutely thrilled that my 3 year old shares my same passion for great fabric; so much so that he couldn't help wrapping himself up in it's greatness!!!