full term, baby.

Let's recap, shall we?

Here I am when I just found out I was pregnant.

20 weeks later.

And now.

Butta-boom, butta-bang. Full term, baby. Even though my due date isn't for another three weeks, when you get to this point in the pregnancy, it's like, okay, baby, you may come out. Of course, I want what is best for Miss Naomi and have her come out when she is ready. But that's not to say, I may be sayin' a little prayer, that she comes oh, let's say September 16. [Don't burst my bubble, I know that is in two days.] September 16 is my mom's birthday and I just think that would be really, really cool.

So, I'm feeling pretty good right now. The hard part is not expecting her to go early like Audrey did. If I went into labor the same time I did with Audrey it would be in just five days. Hey, I do finally have my hospital bags packed and her room is ready. (I'm hoping to share pictures this week of the nursery.)

 I'm ready. I think.

a moment in time.

I was busy finishing up dishes and packing lunch to bring to the husband at work. Audrey comes into the kitchen with her baby in tow (as always).

Hi Mama. (Seriously this phrase does not get old, I love it when she tells me hi in her little voice.)

Hi Darlin'. (I bend down to give her a hug and she proceeds to place her baby on my lap.)

Baby sit on you, Mama.

I smile and start to play This Little Piggy with the baby's toes. Audrey laughs and tries to say the words with me.

My turn. Shoes off. Piggy on my toes.

I was in the middle of trying to get multiple things done. We were getting ready to walk out the door to visit daddy at work. But she wanted her shoes off and to play This Little Piggy. And so we did. We sat on the kitchen floor for a good ten minutes and played.

It was so worth it.

getting there.

I can now say I'm less than a month away from my due date which may cause for a preggo dance, watch out. Sleeping is pretty much out the door. And if you saw me yesterday, you would have laughed (I surely did at myself), because just going up and down our basement steps four times carrying small loads of books, I had to take a break and was breathing heavily. The good news? I don't have k-ankles. This may not sound like much of a celebration, but at this point in my pregnancy with Audrey I was swollen like a water balloon on the verge of bursting. I had to wear support hose and have a cane. Okay, fine, I didn't have a cane, but I definitely wore those funny hose things to help with circulation. This time around, I can still see my bones in my ankles, and overall feeling pretty good.

Our bags are half-packed for the hospital. Naomi's room is still filled with tools and other random things. I have a dozen of things still left on the "to-do-before-baby-comes" list. But I just keeping thinking to myself, it's okay, the things that need to be done will and the rest won't matter because you are going to have a precious newborn soon.

Then my brain thinks about Audrey and how she is going to react. I think that's what I'm most nervous about. I mean, Audrey LOVES babies. She always has one with her. She talks to them with a sweet voice, pats their backs, shares food, asks them if they are okay when they fall, and sings songs to them. And lately she has been into wearing her babies and nursing. [Two things I have been talking to her a lot about with Naomi coming.] Which is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Okay, yup, she is going to be an awesome big sister. The only thing I might be slightly worried about is the fact that she likes all of her babies naked. Sorry, Audrey, but your little sister is going to have to wear clothes.

[Little sister will be here before we know it. Tuesday, I'm considered full-term. Whoa.]

come on in. {our living room}

I'm finally doing another home remodeling post. Slowly but surely, I plan on sharing with you our progress.

Here is a little background info on our place: In August 2009 we purchased a 1150 square feet fixer-upper for uh, dirt cheap. Really, cheap. We knew we had to put a lot of work into it. But my husband is a handy-man and I love to decorate and design and stuff, so we knew we could do it. For the past year we have spent crazy hours fixing it up, and the project list still isn't done. But, we have come along way- it's actually very livable, which it wasn't at the time of purchase. The majority of the work we have done ourselves, with hiring out only a few things here and there.

And even though our home isn't big, I truly love it. It was built in the 1930's and has such charm and character. We plan on living here only for a short while (bought it as an investment), but right now, I'm really happy with where we are at.

Okay, on to the good stuff. Pictures.

I already shared with your our front porch make-over here. Time for the living room.

Here are some before shots:

Don't be deceived by this picture. It makes it look not too bad. The flooring appears to be nice, right? That is what we thought- ooooh, we could just sand it down and refinish the original floors. But once we realized all the spots that needed replaced, the crazy air that came up from the floor in the winter, and how unlevel the floor was, we decided that in the end we would have to cover it up. [Don't hate me for covering original wood floors, trust me, we wanted to save them.]

This is what it looked like after I primed the walls and trim.

 Getting closer. Painted it a hotel vintage blue. But that door had to go. Ewwww. Along with the windows.

So, once we cleaned the walls, primed, painted, fixed parts of the ceiling, had new electrical installed (thanks to my dad), installed new windows and front door (hired this out), installed new flooring ourselves (which this just happened over the weekend), this is what our living room now looks like.

Uh, ignore those empty frames. I plan on hanging fall plates in them, eventually. Oh, and that's a string to a balloon hanging down to the left, that's Audrey's decorating touch.

So there it is folks, our living room. Is it exactly how I want it? Of course, not. I'm always changing things around and it is never a finished decorated room. But, when I sit in that room, it makes me happy. Most everything in there was purchased from a second-hand store, garage sale, or was on major clearance. I want a home that is inviting and relaxing. Not cluttered, but filled with things my family loves.

[I really appreciate lovely comments on my blog. I don't get a lot of them (and that is totally okay with me), but each one makes me smile. So thank you. And if you have any happy words to share or even questions for me about remodeling or home stuff, please feel free to leave a note. You make my day, friends.]

peachy keen.

Just checking in to say hello and I hope you all are having a beautiful Labor Day weekend. Our weather is about as good as it gets right now. [I even wore a light scarf to church this morning. You know, because I have been wanting to whip these out now that it is fall to me.]

One of my favorite moments from the weekend so far was at the Farmer's Market when we were given a peach to eat from two sweet Amish girls no older than 10. I was going to buy it, but they insisted on us having it. I plan on paying it forward to someone else. Even though it was just a peach, it made my morning, and I think I will keep those Amish girls close to my heart as a reminder to myself.

A Farmer's Market morning.

waddle waddle.

The hormones are raging. I'm 35 weeks along (or I like to look at it as 35.5 weeks because every.single.day counts) and one minute I may be happy as a clam and the next, well, I might need a tissue. [Hey, at least I admit to it, right?] I'm not sleeping well, even though I try to get a lot of sleep, it just doesn't work when I have an escape artist in my belly trying to get out in the middle of the night, and I have to pee, and I have a rash that itches like crazy. Folks, I am one of the lucky few (.8 percent of pregnant women get it) that developed PUPPS during this last week. It is basically a really irritating rash that only pregnant women get, it is on my belly and makes my arms and legs itch too. BAD. The good news is it doesn't harm the baby or me. Just makes me go crazy. That's all.

Today I am having one of those days. I have been short on patience with Audrey and if I see one more ant in our kitchen I am going to scream and catch it on fire. Or not, but so very tempted to. The pile of papers laying next to our desk is about to go into the trash, no matter how important they are. The laundry in the dryer may just sit there for a couple of more days as I pretend it is already folded and put away.

And right when I am about to lose it, a beautiful breeze comes in thru my windows and it sends the aroma of my fall candle right to me. And I feel better. Then I look at my kitchen and ignore the ants and think about how blessed I am to have lots of counterspace and food to eat (both of which the ants love). I look over to the pile of papers that need sorted and think about how thankful I am to have money to pay my bills. And then I think about the laundry in the dryer and think how fast Audrey is growing and how Naomi will one day wear her clothes. And when my patience runs dry with Audrey she will say or do the cutest thing and I just melt for her love.
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Now I just need to take down my hallway mirror so I can stop watching myself waddle. And then I will feel much better.

[Aren't pregnancy hormones, great?]

september first {is here}.

To celebrate the first of September, which in my head, means fall, even though it doesn't really, but to me it does, I put out my first fall-like decorations. [I know I totally don't make sense. Just keep reading. I like to be all confusing like that.]

On Monday we went to Menards (I'm really a Lowe's gal) and I was sucked into the autumn decorations. Actually, I was forced to go over there because Audrey wanted to turn on the evil witch thing and make the scarecrow kick it's legs. I was telling Audrey how lame all of those decorations were and we needed to go to buy mums and pretty fall stuff someplace else. And she agreed. Okay, maybe she didn't. Nor did she really get what I was trying to tell her. She just wanted to hear the funny noise over and over again. Then I spotted it. A fall candle. After my nose became raw from smelling every $5 candle Menards had to offer, I picked one and put it in the cart with every expectation that when I actuallly went home to light it, it would smell like dirt. Because it was from Menards and it was only $5. But, friends, to my surprise, the candle rocks. And I'm lighting it every second I can.

Here's my fall wreath I made, hanging on our front door. Sort of like this one I made for my sister-in-law.

Next to our door, I made a welcome sign out of an old window that used to be on our house, burlap cloth, and paint. It states "welcome" and I truly do mean that. Come on over, friends.

And to add a touch of yellow to our kitchen, I bought a bouquet of sunflowers that make me really happy every time I see them.

I'm holding off on putting out my white pumpkins and buying mums. But probably not too much longer, I just can't stand it. And watch out, you may see me sporting a light scarf!