Mourning???

If fashion was my passion I would definitely make my fortune in maternity clothes. Those of you who have been pregnant before know that finding appropriate clothing is not only difficult it is almost impossible. I have had spring fever recently and long to wear colorful, cool clothes. Most of the hand-me-downs that I have been given were fall and winter fabrics and just make me feel blah. Therefore I set out Wednesday morning to find casual, work and church apparel, especially an Easter dress. Hah! I must be crazy. Motherhood, having the largest selection, had approximately three dresses that were not black! I guess we are supposed to be in mourning over the loss of our figure that we cannot wear anything but black. JCPenney's has three racks for maternity, none of which have any dresses.....three racks?! So today I plan to surf the web with the hope that I can find some thing. If you happen to see me and I look like I'm on my way to a funeral just know that I am trying!

On the upside, I was able to register this week! I couldn't believe how fast time is flying and I really needed to get it done because my church shower is coming up next month! Thankfully I was able to call on Carrie to be my expert shopper and she, Allie and I met at Target on Wednesday. Let me just start off by saying WOW! I can't believe how much stuff there is out there for babies. Without Carrie, and of course Allie, I would have been lost for sure. It was a lot of fun though and I am so excited! I can't wait to see what Gus' receives from our family and friends. Carrie and I decided that after all of our hard work we needed some reinforcement and MaCalister's was just down the street. On a side note we both learned that you cannont leave broccoli in your car over night and half of the next day!! I'm not sure how Carrie and Allie made it back home unless the windows were down the whole way. Anyways we split a delicious slice of cheesecake, right in front of Allie, bless her heart. I can't wait until she can nibble on goodies.

If any of you have suggestions for maternity clothing, by all means, please share! And if you have a favorite item you received as a gift that you think I should have I would love to here about it. Hope you all have a great weekend.

At Last!

Finally the nursery is begining to take shape, at least in my mind, but that is better than the complete mental block that I have had. I have found, ordered and received the baby bedding which I just love and can't wait to see in the crib. The crib and changing table have been ordered and are hopefully going to arrive within 4-6 weeks.


This is the set!!

We have big ideas for decorations and I am going to have to get with Ms. Cindy Jo and have her help with a valance for the windows. I am also picking up things as I find them, like a small canoe paddle from Wal-mart this week!

I have a doctors appointment today so keep me in your prayers, that my blood pressure will cooperate and be low.

Spoiled Already

This weekend, a group from our church went to Orlando to attend a concert and on our way we just had to stop in at the Bass Pro Shop! Knowing I didn't need anything for myself, some friends and I headed straight for the kids section. I fell in love with the little camo clothes so of course Gus had to have some. I am pretty excited that he will be around 6 months old during hunting season this year, he will be so cute dressed up to match his daddy!! I started picking out all of the things he will need and the girls that were with me all pitched right in too. So Gus, from his Grammy, received a camo hat, a camo jacket and a christmas outfit complete with corduroy pants and a sweater with moose; from his soon-to-be aunt Lynsey he received a camo onsie, (in which will look cute under the overalls J and I bought him!); from Kalyn Jerrels he received a camo pacifier, bottle and shoes; and from J. and I he received the overalls previously mentioned, a camo sock hat, and a cute outfit he could wear at Halloween!

Aren't they cute. I love the little deer outfit that we bought him. It is complete with antlers, a white tail and hooves, as you can see. It is super soft and I can't wait to take his picture in it.

I can tell that from here on out it won't matter about J. and I, Gus is definitely center stage and spoiled already.

On a side note, home ownership has turned out to be a barrell of fun thus far! And yes I am being sarcastic. From no phone service, no satellite, a leak in the foundation, hot water in a toilet, a burner on the stove and the light over the stove, and frozen pipes, we have had issue upon issue. Currently the satellite has been fixed and J has drilled into the blocks of our house (and my bathroom cabinet has a hole in it under the sink) and fixed the leak in the pipes. We discovered the a nail had been driven thru the pipe and it has had a steady leak since we moved in. So on his birthday, J had to fix that one. I have purchased him a huge steak and am preparing a no-bake cheesecake (his favorite, I made the mistake the last two years of making a real cheesecake only to find out he prefers the fake stuff! Go figure!) for supper tonight since it was too late last night and he was too frustrated. Thank goodness J. is a true handy man, because we would have paid a fortune by now to have things fixed!

On another side note, I have been looking at possible cribs and this one is my current favorite. It is shown in coffee but I want it in Cherry, since the floor in our house is Cherry. Let me know what you think!

Best Friends

Amy and I have often referred to our relationship as an arranged friendship. Our parents practically set us up from birth to be friends and lucky for me it stuck. Through thick and thin, we have been together and I consider her the sister I never had. (And John always thought of her as his second sister too!) How she has put up with me through the years I'll never know but I am so thankful that she did. When Amy and I found out that we were both trying to get pregnant it really wasn't a surprise to us. We have been around each other so much we are practically twins. I am so happy that I have been able to experience this stage of my life with Amy right along beside me. Today, I found out the best news of all; Gus is going to be able to have a friend like me, Amy and Brent are having a boy! Noah Brent Owens, as I believe they are planning to call him, had his picture taken this morning and much to his Mom and Dad's joy he is a healthy baby. I know that Ms. Kathy and Mr. Bill are super excited, Amy and I have already said that Mr. Bill will probably buy him his first set of craftsman tools any day now! Like Annie and Carrie and Allie and Belle, I am excited about our two boys growing up together and having each other to pal around with. God has truly blessed us and I am so ready to meet both of them!

Pictures from Appraisal

Deen Lancaster just forwarded me our appraisal and it had some pictures attached. This is last Thursday before we moved in but it gives you an idea. This is the front and back.

Here is a picture of our bathroom and the guest/Gus' bathroom.

I'll post more later of the furnished rooms!

Home Sweet Home

Praise the Lord, we are finally in our new house! We are officially homeowners and spent the first night, thanks to much help from friends and family, on Friday night. I realized this weekend that we are so blessed to be from big southern families and a small community because without them we wouldn't be anywhere near to being moved in. We had plenty of volunteers with muscles and moved all of the big heavy stuff with the help of Dad's cow trailer (I know we are definitely from the country). Not only is there a lot to move but being pregnant puts limits on what I can and cannot do. I was constantly being watched to make sure I didn't pick up too much because honestly I am so used to just doing it that I forget! As of this morning I have only one bag that hasn't been put away and J's cedar chest needs to be cleaned out but other than that everything is in it's place! That is amazing to me. I never thought we would be this far along. Let me tell you Saturday night, (Mom took us out for steak!) and I looked like a pregnant women trying to walk across the restaurant parking lot. I could hardly move, my hips and lower back were screaming. Needless to say mom watched me like a hawk yesterday and made me take it easy.
This week we will receive phone service (hopefully), the alarm system will be hooked up and the Dish people should set up the satellite. Personally I plan to clean because there is nothing but dirt surrounding our entire house and it all ends up on our hardwood floors. Being a person who likes to walk around barefoot this will not work! J and I also want to work on the yard because the FFA plant sale will be this month and we can pick up some plants.
I know that things aren't going to slow down for a while yet but it is such a weird feeling to finally be in the house. J and I feel like we are just on vacation at some hotel and we'll have to leave eventually. Our favorite thing about our personal retreat is the shower. It is huge and has two shower heads!! Absolute heaven! Anyways, it is odd to think that we no longer have to spend all of our time working at the property only to go to a different house and fall into bed and do it all over again the next night. Tonight I will be able to cook a complete meal, something that I haven't done in a while, and just enjoy my new home. I will try to get some pictures posted for you guys but I'll have to find my camera first!!

Windows

Ok so I am getting to the point in the house process where I need to purchase window coverings. If we are able to move in this weekend, like we have planned, I wouldn't be able to step out of the shower without passerbys on the road taking a peek! So I am off tonight to search for the perfect thing to do the trick and I am stumped as to what I should purchase. I was wondering if any of you have favorite coverings that you would recommend? I really like the roman shades but I have never had any so I don't know much about them. We have three windows that are on the front of the house and I think that the window stuff should match so it looks good from the outside. The down side is that one room is our bedroom, one is the living room and one will be Gus' room, so they will all have different color schemes!

On the upside I have been able to move dishes and cups and towels and sheets and we set up my old cast iron bed in the spare bedroom! Progress is wonderful. Keep your fingers crossed that we pass the final inspection today. I am hoping that we can move in before this really cold weather sets in this weekend.