an unwelcome visitant

We found this in our front yard a couple of weeks ago. I thought it would make an interesting post. I was headed to the grocery store and was a little surprised to see this in our front yard. James thinks I backed over it and that is why it was there like that. He hit it with a broom stick into the neighbors yard. We didn't see it anymore after that day. I wanted him to take it to Noah's Ark (a refuge for hurt animals), but he wouldn't.

Bookshelf makeover

The project that I am currently working on is helping my mom makeover her house. She has spent the past 20 years raising me and my older sister and now taking care of her parents. Her house is stuck in the early 90's. A lot of the colors are shades of pink, burgundy, and light green. We are changing it up to shades of brown, blues, and gold. She is using what little free time she has now to start bringing it up to date and cleaning out. We are looking at a very large yard sale coming up in the next month! Here is the first thing she did (with my help). It's amazing how a little project like this will make you feel so good about your whole house. This is the first thing you see when you walk into her house from the garage and it's a really good first impression now. There's many more postings to come about this makeover.

BEFORE

AFTER

There's just no words...

Pregnancy pics

I love the rain. I always have. I would get so excited back when I was in school when there would be a tornado drill! Bad weather is so much fun. Today I woke up to a quiet house, only dim light from outside, and the sound of rain. Just what I needed. Today is my due date and like anyone would feel I'm a little disappointed that I haven't gone into labor on my own. I wanted my water to break. I always have. Tomorrow morning I will be headed to the hospital to be induced. I have an array of emotions flowing through me right now. Joy because I will soon see my Jacob. Sadness because I am leaving behind a part of my life and turning a new page. Fear because I have never done this before and know about everything major that could go wrong. I also feel like my life could be about to end. Anticipation for the new life I will have and what it's like when two becomes three. I could go all day really coming up with all the things I'm feeling at this moment. One thing I can't wait for is when I see his face for the first time. I've heard people try to describe to me that feeling of when they see their baby for the first time and the love that they feel for them and they always stop trying because they say they can't describe it.

I've taken several pictures throughout my pregnancy to show my growth. I did well until week 25 and I guess I just got distracted with other things. My goal at the beginning was to do one picture a month. I will regret not following through with that, but I took one last pic the other day. Here are all of them.

4 weeks (just found out)

8 weeks

13 weeks (wasn't feeling too hot)

16 weeks

22 weeks

25 weeks

39 weeks and 5 days

Now here's the complete before and after pics!!!

Sunshine go away today...

I might just be the last person to realize that hanging curtains above and beyond the window makes it look like you have bigger windows and actually makes the room look bigger. There's another good reason for doing this. If you work the night shift like I do, the curtains being further away from the edge of the window keeps more light out when you close them. Good for sleeping during the day. It also creates a relaxing environment for naps even if you aren't nocturnal. I also changed the curtain rods and painted the room blue. I'm typing this ahead of time and scheduling it to be posted. When it goes out I might just be having a baby! Here's my before and after.

Any day now!!!

With my due date being on the 29th James and I are very anxious. If I don't spontaneously go into labor I will be induced on 7/30 at 7:30. I don't mind that at all. I like to plan things and it is a huge weight lifted off me to know that there is an end and the date and time of it. As each week has passed I get so excited about being in a new week. When I was 36 1/2 weeks I would let people know that it was "thirty six and one half weeks". Just like when you hear kids say "I'm six and one half years old!" or when your about to enter a new grade in grade school you feel so grown up that first day of school. That's how I feel every time I enter a new week of pregnancy. It almost seems like the week I just came out of is for losers and old news! haha! Today I bought milk with an August expiration date and it really hit me that I will be holding my baby soon. Seeing things planned on dates past my due date make me feel so good... and scared. I have no idea how I'm going to push this baby out! My sister-in-law Christina took some really good pictures of me that I will cherish for the rest of my life. here are a few of them.

This belly picture is of me and Sarah and it's one of my favorites!
I've finally got my nursery done pretty much the way it's going to be. The only thing is the top of the shelf has become somewhat of a storage area for toys (I'm in the market for a really cool wooden toy chest) and I plan on doing something really cool up there. If anyone has some good ideas for the top of it let me know. I'll have to post about it once it happens. I got the rug at Garden Ridge and it is soooo comfy! I got down on the floor to lie down on it because it's just sooo fluffy. I LOVE it! I got the crib on craigslist and it is from Bratt Decor. I got it for less than half what it is new and it looks like new. The chair and changing table I painted black and distressed to match the crib and you would never know they weren't a set. Especially the changing table and crib. My next project is my kitchen table and chairs. There might even be a chandelier involved! There's no telling when this will be finished though. I plan on posting about my delivery and Jacob next!!!

Mystery item in my "laundry room"

I'll go ahead and warn you, this post is not for the faint!

My house was built in the 1950s time when for some reason architects didn't think anyone would need a laundry room inside their house. My "laundry room" is in a storage room off my carport. Here is a pic...

It also doubles as a tool shed. Oh, and it's also a junk room. My husbands tools and stuff are out there and he isn't at all an organized person. Truthfully I'm scared to death to do laundry after dark! There's all kinds of bugs that are attracted to the light of our house. I hope after y'all read this post 1 you will not stop reading my blog and 2 you will at least feel a little better about your laundry rooms :)

Last night I was nesting and HAD to do laundry!!! HAD to! I'll go ahead and tell you that at night time our carport turns into a slug convention. I don't know why, but they are kinda everywhere. I have this rug in front of my washer and dryer as you can see and I love it. It helps me keep my sanity because if you just look at it and the washer and dryer it isn't so bad. You just have to block out everything else in that room. Well, I looked down at the rug and it looked like a slug was crawling on it. I started putting things into the washer and was contemplating going in for the salt! I looked down at it again and realized it didn't so much look like a slug, but a little present. A mystery gift left for me by whatever is LIVING in my "laundry room"! I can already see the dirty clothes piling up. James gets the privilege of finding who our secret santa is.