What Is On My Phone

What have I been snapping pics of these past couple of weeks?  Well.....

 Miss A has is such a little fish.  We are at the pool all the time and she just swims all over the place. 

 You never know when you will find the inspiration for a birthday party....

My mom bought this massive armoire from Wisteria, yet it was too big for where she was wanting to put it.  So, I rearranged some things and it is now in our study.  I wish I could decorate my entire house with Wisteria furniture. 

My next furniture refinishing project will be to repaint the piece of furniture that our tv sits on in the game room.  Normally, I go for white, but this time I think I am going to paint it this beautiful teal / turquoise - Galapagos Turquoise.

Isn't this runner great? I saw it on Designer Bags and Diaper Bags blog and I have been obsessed with getting a huge rug like this for our living room.  If you have seen something like this, send me a link!

I had an Erin Condren planner last year and while it goes until the end of the year, I was ready for something new.  And smaller.  And cheaper.  And smaller.  I just ordered this ikat planner from May Books and I am excited to start using it.  I really wish that I had known about this company when Baby N was born - I would have loved the baby diary feature. 

I am about to do a post on what we do to pass the time when it is 115 degrees outside.... one of the things is mall walking with Kate and Baby L. And if you've ever been to North Park in Dallas, you know that no kid can walk by the turtles and ducks and not slide down this huge planter.

Baby N is also a huge fan of the water. 



 Sweet sisters at the pool.

Miss A loves to play with the camera on my phone and it is always funny to see what all she has taken pictures of.  

While working on this post, I was watching the Rogers/Dalhausser beach volleyball match.  That young girl is Rogers' daughter, but what I am more interested in is what is going on behind her.  See that bottle of wine and plastic cup?  I guess the Olympics is BYOB.  Awesome. 

What Is On My Phone

Here is another installment of What Is On My Phone.....

Do you all watch Parenthood? If not, then you should. Anyway, last week they had a beautiful version of It Is Well with My Soul and I tweeted about the song, asking if anyone know who sang it. Jenn came to my rescue!

We were at storytime and Miss A volunteered to go up and touch an African Hissing Cockroach. Brave girl!

36 weeks - 10/2/11.

I think this lipgloss looks like a shade I would like - Loreal Le Gloss Peach Fuzz.

Do you ever take pictures of things on TV? I liked this dining room buffett setup.

This Old Navy top is added to my list of shirts I want to get after baby.

I think these fabrics would make a cute spring table runner.

Rice Krispie Treats made with Captain Crunch. Yum!

I was at a conference a couple of weeks ago and Amy Grant performed. She took a couple requests from the crowd and I was crossing my fingers that she would start singling 'Grown Up Christmas List' or 'Mary, Did You Know.' No luck.

Five for Fall

My friend AEOT just tagged me to do a post on my top 5 goals for this Fall. So, here we go....

1) Have a baby! What, that isn't also on your goal list?

2) Stay caught up on making photo books for the family. I am not good at getting pictures printed for albums - instead I prefer to make photo books. I just finished making our most recent book and now I am caught up! I know we will be taking hundreds of pictures in the coming weeks, so hopefully I will be able to keep all of these images printed and organized. Side note - I started making these about 2 years ago and so far I've made about 20 different books.

3) Make meals to freeze. I usually cook about 5 meals a week and we often have leftovers. Either I want to just make half recipes and freeze the other half OR specifically make meals to have on hand.

4) Finish Miss A's baby book. Actually, I should say start and finish her baby book. Back when I was pregnant with her, I had the hardest time finding a book that I even liked and then somehow I ended up with 3 or 4 books - all of which are sitting completely blank. Oops. So, not only is my goal to finish her book, but it is to stay on top of Baby #2's book.

5) Pick a baby name. Yeah, I know the majority of these goals pertain to the baby, but oh well. That is what happens when you are about 20 months pregnant. I have about 6 weeks to go, which means we have about 6 weeks and 30 hours to pick a name. For some reason, we have a much easier time agreeing on girl names vs boy names. Last time, we did not have a boy name picked out until I was at the hospital, in labor. And I have a feeling we are headed in the same direction this time.

Bambi does Dallas

Growing up, my brothers were always rescuing stray animals. Dogs and cats were the norm, but they would also rescue birds, squirrels, ducks, etc. My parents probably had the animal rescue organizations phone number on speed dial. And our backyard --- a graveyard of random animals. Family pets, as well as the random rescue animal all ended up receiving a proper backyard burial. Keep in mind, we lived in the middle of the city, not the country.

So, given my childhood, my evening last night seemed pretty normal.

Miss A and the Mr. were on an evening walk and all of a sudden a baby deer appears from inbetween 2 houses and starts to follow them. Keep in mind, we do not live by an wooded area or in the country ... we are in the middle of Dallas. The only non-domestic animal I have ever seen roaming our neighborhood is the stray bunny or dirty possum. Never, ever a deer.

Mr. calls me outside and this little baby deer is just hanging out in our yard. Not trying to run away, not spooked by us and definately not scared of the 2 year old that is directly on its level. So, we do what anyone with a deer in their frontyard would do - take pictures! We thought it was going to run away any minute, but it just stands by us and does not show any signs of running away.

By this point, I was worried that when the baby deer decided to leave our yard, it would get hit by a car. We decided to put it in our backyard and then tried to call a wild animal rescue group. The baby deer simply followed us as we walked back to the backyard and walked right through the open gate. It was the strangest thing. At this point, I start to think that maybe it is a family pet. But, a baby deer as a family pet?

By now, it is past 8 and every single animal organization we can think of is closed. Miss A is loving the fact that there is a "baby deer at our door!" Or, "the baby deer is drinking Jake's water!!" "Momma, look at the baby deer!!!" I knew that as long as baby Bambi was in our yard, there was no way of getting her in bed.

Finally, I ended up calling 311 and they put me in contact with the Department of Wildlife. They decided that as long as the baby was not injured, we should just open the gate and see if the deer would leave on its own. After a while, it did just that.

As I was putting Miss A to bed, she was still talking about the baby deer. She wanted to know if she could see it in the morning.... I had to think fast on this one, so I responded with "no, the baby has to go home to sleep with its Momma and Daddy." She was happy with this answer.

So, this morning as I am leaving the neighborhood, I was on the lookout for the baby or momma and I could not find anything.

Just a normal Wednesday night.

In the middle of the night ...

Your mind goes crazy places in the middle of the night.

For instance, last night our fire alarm went off around 4am. It only lasted for a couple of seconds and then it stopped. But, it was enough to wake us up from a dead sleep. The Mr. inspected the house and found nothing, but as I was trying to fall back to sleep my mind started churning......

First let me say, I am not a worrier. I don't always think about the 'what ifs' and I never have any problems sleeping. But, there is something about the middle of the night that makes you insane.

Here is an example of how being awake at 4am makes you delusional..... Part of our AC unit is up in the attic, so I started thinking that there was a possibility the unit in the attic could have sparked a fire. And if it was on fire, how long would it take until we started to smell smoke? Our neighborhood is right behind a fire station, so that was reassuring..... especially at 4am. I knew that the second I smelled smoke one of us would run upstairs and grab Miss A. But, what about the animals? Jake (the dog) would be easy to find, but would it be easy to find his leash? What about Steve (the cat)? He normally sleeps in one of the living room chairs, but what if he was not that easy to locate? And then what would we do with him while we were outside? I decided I would grab a tote bag, toss him in it and zip it up! And then, what all would I have time to grab as we were running out of the house?

Please tell me I am not the only one that does this. Surely the middle of the night has claimed others?

What Is On My Phone

Goodness.... I have not posted anything in almost 2 weeks.

I am trying to figure out the balance between posts that are kid and baby related vs personal stuff vs the rest of what I normally post about. I have never been one to post too many pictures of Miss A and that is not going to change. But, when all of my days revolve around her and our activities, sometimes I feel like that is all I would be posting about. So, this means I just need to start cooking more, do more home improvement projects and crafting more. Basically, start to cross of everything that is on my "TO DO BEFORE BABY" list that is on the fridge.

Testing out this bracelet trend....

I love the pom pom trim on this skirt.... You can count on Miss A having a couple of these in her fall wardrobe.

I love Brie cheese, but never seem to eat the entire thing before the rest of the wedge spoils. I found these the other day and they are wonderful solution to that problem.

One of my dear friends has the best eye for furniture deals and steals. She used to have a booth at a local antique store, but now she is selling directly from her house. (Which means lower proces!) I fell in love with this dresser she posted on her FB page. Go check her out - she has some GREAT things. GypsySoulInteriors

I am in the process of refinishing twin beds for Miss A's big girl room. I have been sanding and sanding and sanding some more.

Miss A loves to put bracelet earrings on Steve. Most of the time he is a willing participant and lets her do whatever she wants. He is a good sport.

After 6 attempts at finding the perfect light pink for Miss A's big girl room we fianlly decided on Benjamin Moore Elephant Pink.

"Look Mommy, I feed Jake."

I saw this throw a couple weeks ago on a blog and fell in love. And only $19. Even better.

Booked!

Right now I am counting down the days until I will be here....

Ahhhh... the beach.

I love everything about the beach. The sound of the waves, the smell of the ocean, the wet sand on my toes and most of all - the tan I will get. Normally I would say having a cocktail on the beach, but this summer I will have to skip that little luxury.

I know the blog world is full of people that have vacationed in this part of FL/live here/of have houses here. Therefore, pony up some information!

Where do you like to eat? Where should we shop for groceries? Any fun things we have to do? What are toddler friendly activities around the area? We will be there mid-August.

Happy Birthday to ME

Happy birthday to ME!

I have always loved having a summer birthday. When I was younger, I never had to go to school on my birthday and I could always spend the day doing whatever. I always had pool parties and spent the day outside in the sun.

Well, on my last twentysomething birthday, I will be doing the exact same thing.

Started the day off with a huge fountain Diet Coke...spent all morning playing with Miss A in the pool...Chick Fil A for lunch and now I am headed back into the pool. Tonight we are having a birthday dinner and hopefully my annual birthday cake.

Not such a bad way to start off the last year of my twenties.

And on the subject of turning 30... at least I have 1 more year until I have to face that reality.

Goodbye Oprah

I have always loved Oprah.

She came on at 4 and everyday after school I would watch her while I was working on my homework or having an after school snack. Granted, not all of her episodes were right up my alley, but I still watched them. I now tivo each and every episode and usually watch them at night as I am falling asleep.

Her show has been on the air for 25 years. Granted, I have probably not been watching her all of those 25 years, but she has been on the air most of my life. And she will be missed.

The Mr. thinks I am silly for saying that I am going to miss her, since she now has her OWN network..... But, it will not be the same. Yes, I am an emotional pregnant sap that loves Oprah.

Round and round

Designers hate them.
Homeowners love them.

Ceiling fans.

I don't know about you, but we have them in almost every room in our house. They run year round and they help me sleep each and every night. The hushed whisper of the blades is wonderful, as is the cool It it pushes down into you.

You know what really stinks? When the fan in your bedroom is not working correctly. URGH! It is driving me crazy. "High" is not very high and it is making a crazy ticking sound.

So, this is now things have been playing our for me... I fall asleep with the TV on (because the noise of the TV cancels out the annoying ticking coming from the fan) and then I sleep for a couple of hours. Until, the crazy dog wakes me up to let him outside. I take him outside and then come back to bed and try to fall back to sleep. Most of the time I am able to pass back out. BUT there are those times that I am in bed - just listening to that annoying ticking. Counting the ticking. Imagining that the ticking talking to me. It is making me crazy. (Because anything normal can make you crazy in the middle of the night)

I then head up to the guest room - turn the fan on HIGH - and quickly fall back to sleep.

This damn fan is making me lose my mind and we have to get it fixed. Soon!

What is on my phone

I was reading the latest InStyle and thought this was interesting.... Baking Soda as a facial scrub... will definitely be giving this a try.

We went to the park last week and we were surrounded by these beautiful wildflowers. Love them!

Last week I got my hair cut and I asked the stylist to give me big, beachy waves. And, the above picture is how my hair ended up. Ugh.

This is what I had in mind. Big, beachy waves.

Someone loves to read.

I have been taking prenatal vitamins for years, for my hair, but my hair lady suggested these pills. Not sure if they really work, but might be worth a try.

Steve has become a fan of playing in the crib. Crazy cat.

The Mr. made berry shortcake (from scratch!) for Mother's Day and it was delish! He should make this more often.

I think I need to get this ponytail holder thing.

16 weeks.

I snapped this picture on a walk the other day. I am in LOVE with this orange front door. And they grey trim - perfection.

"It is a real princess ... and pretty horses"

Amazing. I got up at the crack of dawn and watched it all happen live. Everything about it was magical. The tree lined church. The veil. The dress. The love Prince William has for her. The list could go on and on.

But, this one picture right here.....

Love it. William and Catherine looking at each other. And then her dad looking at his baby girl. This one picture brings it all back down to earth for me. Royal Wedding craziness aside, it is his daughter's wedding day and all he wants for her is happiness.

Once Miss A got up she and I watched wedding reacaps while eating breakfast. There was no way on earth I was going to wake her up at 4:30AM to watch it live. I am not that crazy. I let her wear her princess pj's and I told her she was going to get to watch "a real life princess on tv." So, the entire time she was watching it, she kept saying, "Momma, look... it is a real princess. Momma, look at the pretty horses." So sweet.