More Random Tidbits...

There is a fun giveaway at Cherry Blossoms and it is for YoBaby. This is my favorite yogurt! Yes it is for babies, but so yummy for any age. Although they are all delicious, I highly recommend vanilla and banana. Soo good!

In other ramblings, I believe I've fallen in love with this sling/wrap. It is from Moby Wrap.

I do not have a sling/wrap, nor did I register for one. This is because all of the ones in the stores are stiff and uncomfortable. I have yet to find a sling that feels or looks right. Now granted I haven't exactly felt this sling on, but it just looks comfy and is very much ME. Great colors, too. The sand and sky blue are gorgeous. I love that they sell them for little girls and their dolls.
How sweet!

PROGRESS!

Apparently I made comment to my husband regarding the progress being made in attic, that he did not appreciate. I don't recall it, but I'm pretty forgetful these days.

(The view facing the front of our attic/the street. I hope to have my desk in the middle of this area to face directly out that window.)

Anyway, I want to be clear. He and my brother have been working their tails off up there in the blazing heat and there is progress being made. I can't imagine how much it has sucked having to go up there and work constantly and I really do appreciate all of their hard work. (The right storage closet.)

So here are some pics of the PROGRESS. (Craft space)

(The landing of the stairs.)

(The left storage space.)

I am so anxious for the day the dry wall is prepped and ready for the painter. But for now I'll continue to appreciate the PROGRESS being made!

This is a shout out to Alexandra Hancock from Mommy's Got Green. You left a comment on an old post about the mason jar mugs. I just noticed and would love for you to have them. I've sent you a couple of emails, but I'm not sure you're getting them because I have a weird address. If you are still interested let me know in the comments of this post or email at my address on the sidebar. I'd love to know that another blogger ends up with them and gives them a good home!

Finally, my good friend Siobhan brought this adorable dress today for BGM. She had little Gianna in September and Gianna was never able to wear this one. I'm so glad she thought of us. I just love it! Hopefully it will work out during the holidays. It looks so tiny to me, but then again everything does! Thanks Siobhan.

Cousins

Here is a photo from our doggy date a few weeks ago at the park. My brother and his wife got a puppy not that long ago and Danny had yet to meet him. As had Lucy (Danny's girl). We had a camping trip planned for last weekend and we thought it best to get all of the dogs together before hand...just in case. The play date turned out to go very well as far as the dogs getting along, but very stressful in other ways.

Calix, my bro and sil's pup (in the photo above), doesn't think much of listening at the park so he needed several reminders not to go home with others. Danny ran off a cliff into the water (fairly normal for him) but was then caught in a current and couldn't get back out. Josh had to lay down and hang over the cliff to rescue him while my brother provided back-up. Danny was so upset, he refused to get back into the water. Then another dog tried to fight him. He was a real bully. Danny was just minding his business when this dog, George, came up and started slamming his chest against Dan's. The owner thought it was funny or cool and just watched and smiled. It was turning out to be the worst trip to the park we've ever had. Lucy refused to stop barking as she begged for Nicky to throw the ball again and again, despite her bad back legs. Ahhh!

We headed home earlier than we normally would have, but the good news is that all three dogs got along and Danny loves his new cousin.

Two great giveaways you may be interested in...

This one from Grosgrain and this one from My Little Life. Go check them out!

Test Run

Today I added my signature and opened the etsy shop back up. Just trying things out here!

Spoiled or Blessed?

A lot of both I'd say!

I have some really sweet friends.... and students.

My friend Carmen, a para from work, bought BGM all of these outfits.

How cute are they?

And how sweet is Carmen?

And how spoiled is BGM? Already! I've been meaning to show you her closet. It is officially full and there is room for no more clothes. It is for this reason that we must buy that armoire I've been dreaming of from the start. It's so costly though. But I just know the people who love her already, are not nearly done buying her clothes. Too bad clothes are all that we have with only a little time left. Well, that's not true. We also have a crib and a dresser and hutch but they are in storage at the store until we're ready for them. I'm hoping one of these days we WILL be ready for them!! But that really is ALL we have! The clothes and a place to put them! She'll surely look cute, but her mama will be in jail for neglect when she has no car seat!

This coat has to be my favorite - also from Carmen.

And I really love this outfit. She was smart too and bought sizes for later on. Although, I cannot complain. This girl is set until age two. So we have plenty of cuteness in all sizes here!

One of my students knitted her this sweet little skirt.

Another student knitted her this hat. And a third student worked on a blanket that she'd show me everyday, but was not able to finish before school let out. They are such kind, giving children. It's so cute to receive things from them. It makes their day as much as it makes mine!

My friend Leslie from work shares my love of old things but is down-sizing her collections and gave me this fun vintage baby bottle with a verse from Mary Had a Little Lamb on it. Isn't it great?! I think it will stay in the guest room for now though. I want to put fresh flowers in it and there happens to be much more red in that room than there ever will be in the baby's.

Another friend from work, Vanessa, brought me a brand new nursing gown and robe. Pink with cream lace. Very cute. It should come in handy in just a few short months.

I can't wait to put all of these gifts to use. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of my sweet friends! Baby Girl and I are both blessed and spoiled!

You asked for it....

...and you got it!

Seven months pregnant in all it's glory!! She's a peanut! Or she's 18 pounds and I haven't really gained an ounce?! Ha!! I think my only complaints {size-wise} may be the thickening of my already gigundous thighs and the same gross thickening on my upper arms. What's with that?! These are two areas that make me insane on my body, or any body I'm ashamed to say...

A white tshirt is as close to a bare belly as we're going to get right now. I didn't realize how see-through this shirt was until I looked at these pics. I'm beginning to wonder if my "friends" from work are really that??? I would have told them!

I made this shirt yesterday morning before going in for the last day of work. You'll have to click on it to enlarge, but then don't say I didn't warn you!! The decals were on clearance at Joanns and i couldn't resist them, even though it's not normally my style - bling, decals, cutesie-cutesie, any of it. I grabbed a tshirt at Walmart on Monday and threw it all together. Not bad for about $7.

Edited: My belly is not so cute and round as most pregnant women are. Instead it's square and seems to have a huge dimple around my naval. I was just noticing that it almost looks like her butt cheeks are pressed against there. Ha! I'm told that the most likely reason is that she is in a posterior position. Yikes! Oh well, I may just stick with the butt theory instead!

Third Trimester...94 Days To Go...And My Heroes!

Welcome third trimester. {Sorry my pictures do not apply!}

This week is the 27th week of pregnancy for me. I am grateful to the good lord for getting me here and pray that he continues to bless me this way. Things have been going so well, that the doctor has not required an ultrasound since month 5. Prior to that we were having one every visit to monitor for any concerns. Yesterday I had my glucose test and anemia blood work. Yuck, yuck, yuck! I'm pretty sure I'm anemic...again. That will be the 2nd time this pregnancy. I mean how much spinach and beans can one girl eat?! The exhaustion is beyond words, but if it is the only problem I'll take it. While the doc was listening to BGM's heartbeat, Baby Girl kept kicking the monitor. She must have done it five or six times. The doctor was going crazy! She commented, as they do every visit, on how wild she is. Her Daddy swears this comes from me. I need more convincing! I put the remote on my belly last night and just stared at it as she made it move. It's amazing to me that she's really in there. I was reading that in the last month of pregnancy it will feel like I have David Beckham in my belly. I told Josh it already feels that way, so I can only imagine what kind of damage she'll be doing by then!

Things have been busy here. Less than 100 days to go before Baby Girl gets here. Nobody told me that my emotions would go from crazy to institutional at the end of the second/beginning of the third trimester. I know now though, after going ballistic several times in the past two weeks over various things - some very significant and warranted and others notsomuch!

Work is stressful. Our school is relocating to a building that is said to be contaminated. My job share partner no longer wants to share the position next year, due to this. I am high and dry, praying for things to change. I really don't want to work in a place that has toxins in the soil and air which are said to cause reproductive problems among a zillion other issues! Can you imagine why I'd prefer not to be there?!

Now we have an outbreak of the swine flu at our school and in our district. I flipped out when I found out and refused to stay at work. I've calmed down since and I'm back now, but wish all day everyday that I wasn't. The place is miserable.

Packing boxes is not fun. I seem to be unable to escape it though. Not only are we moving at work, but Baby Girl's room has got to get going. It is currently the office/craft room - aka: the disaster. So bad, I'm embarrassed to be sharing a picture of it. It's not purposely fuzzy, but I'm glad it is! I've known for a long time that we would be moving the office to the attic, so I began tossing anything and everything in there and figured "I'll deal with it all later." Problem is, later has been on my doorstep for weeks. I have tons of things to pack and move upstairs, but in order to do that we must first finish the attic.

This is where my heroes come in. Josh and Brett (my favorite brother!!) have been working very hard on the attic. Josh goes up there several nights a week. Brett comes on weekends and he came over tonight to help. My Dad comes up often to help with it, as well. I am grateful to all them for their work and am thankful to have family that helps us out when we need it. I went up tonight to take pictures of the progress. Slow but steady. We have some problems in our 102 year old home with levelness (is that a word?), which doesn't help and we first had to replace the ancient windows that were up there. All seven of them. Costly. When it's done, it's going to be beautiful (if you had seen it before, you'd think it already is) as will BGM's room. I just can't wait until we get there. Soon. Very soon. I hope!

In addition to the big things going on around here, we went to Wisconsin for the first baby shower a few weeks ago. I have no pictures, but am hoping my SIL, Jonelle, will share some with me. This past weekend we had a garage sale to make some room around here. It went well, felt cleansing and the weather was gorgeous. I did get a bit of a sunburn, but at least now I can't be mistaken for Casper - The Knocked Up Ghost as I walk down the street. This weekend we're heading camping in Letchworth. I love camping!!!!!!!!!!! I'd spend every summer weekend pitching a tent and sitting around a campfire if I could. I'm just not sure how I'll like camping 7 months pregnant! We are about to find out! I'm heading in there with a positive attitude and high hopes for beautiful weather and no rabid raccoons. I am also hopeful that our new bed-like air mattress will keep me comfy. I may just bring my Snoogle for extra support.

I'll be back to show you pics of our doggy play date {STRESSFUL} and the Baby Bump I've grown. My husband needs to learn to take a picture that doesn't make me look like a whale first, though! He seriously finds the worst angle and quick snaps the pic. I refuse to share...