The Three of Us

Well...we've officially survived 4 weeks.
4 weeks of being parents.

I've heard it only gets harder from this point on.
Thank you for that little piece of sunshine whoever you are

.

the two of us...soon to be the three of us


And now...introducing..

Liberty Grace Lancaster
October 25th at 2:46 am
5 pounds 13 ounces, 19 inches long

Hello Liberty


Perfect  
Wonderfully made by the Lord...

Dedicated October 30th

Changing everyday...

Love.

 What a wonderful journey we have been experiencing.

My pregnancy, delivery, & recovery...

I can truly see the Lord guiding and protecting us throughout.

A few days after learning we were expecting, the message 'Jehovah Jirah' came on my ipod as I was getting ready for church.  The last several days had been an up and down of emotions...mostly worrying about money and whether I was really ready to be a mother.  That message was exactly what I needed to hear...all about God's plan and how He provides for His children.

It was a turning point for me...I took a stand at that moment and said, 'Lord, I believe that this is all in your plans for us.  I know you're with us every step and will provide our needs.  I'm going to trust in you.'

From that moment on I didn't allow a negative thought to creep in...I stayed positive and claimed everything well.  And I truly believe that God honored that and blessed us with a wonderful pregnancy and delivery...He even provided for us financially.  Complete strangers gave us bags of clothing and boxes of new diapers...its just amazing how many different ways He has blessed us.

It wasn't me...or anything that I did...it was accepting His plan for us and His grace.

So thankful for all He has done for us...as well as everything He is doing right now.

Thankful.

A Pregnancy Update

Dear pre-pregnancy body,

First off, I want to sincerely apologize for taking you for granted the first 23 years of my life. I miss you and I hope you can forgive me enough to come back.

Love,
-me

---------------------------------------

To my readers...

I'm not a vain person. But somewhere between 36 and 39 weeks I finally realized that I was ready to be back. Back to...well...me.

Most of the time we can classify different body shapes with fruits..like pears and pumpkins and apples.

I am a fruit that has yet to be discovered.
A fruit that is probably hiding somewhere in the Amazon...
it probably holds the cure for cancer or bad attitudes
or something like that.

Nobody can really prepare you for how much your body is going to change. You think you know..I mean...there's pregnant women EVERYWHERE. It's not like..a secret.

but when it actually happens?
and you suddenly have a watermelon where your waistline used to be...
and its not going away...
and you're just waiting...
and eating...
and drinking..
and peeing...
and waiting...
and peeing...
and...yah

nobody can prepare you for it.
and at the end...when all you're doing is waiting...and peeing..
you start to wonder if you'll ever NOT be pregnant.

And then your husband says something about baby number two.

-breathes-

ahem.

I love Noah. really . )

and those bruises you may see on him at church tonight were probably work-related.
really.

Anyhow....as an update...I've had a really great pregnancy. I haven't had the problems with hormones and such that a lot of other women claim to have...then again...I was never a hormonal person to begin with. Noah hasn't gained any weight over any of my weird food cravings, of which I haven't really had any. And I haven't really obsessed over having the baby out of my body until the last week or so.

We'll officially be parents (yay! eek!) in less than a week.
My house is clean and the laundry is caught up.
My bag is mostly packed.
The sock monkeys are snug in their bed waiting for the grandparents to arrive.
And I am...waiting.
and eating.
and drinking.
and peeing.
and waiting.
and peeing.

(I hope people who read this aren't offended by the word 'pee' since I tend to use it a lot)

39 weeks this Friday...and they are looking to induce me this weekend or the beginning of next...I should find out today.
there will not be updates on my labor via facebook or twitter.
sorry to cut you out of the fun.
I guess I'm just weird that way.
-----------------------------------------------
Update:

D-Day is Monday, October 24th

here we go.

A is for Agitated Attacking Ants

On Sunday I almost amputated my own leg.

willingly.

I accidentally stepped into a nest of fire ants.

I blame this on pregnancy.

that may not make sense...
but I'm pretty sure you can blame
just about anything on being pregnant.

nausea, hunger, soreness, backaches, memory loss, loss of breath, high tax rates, major natural disasters, ant bites...

why not?

Anyhow...for all those unacquainted with the delightful little bugs...here are some interesting facts to note before making your next trip to Florida.

• Fire ants are so small that you really don't feel them on you until they start stinging you.
• Fire ants bite first, then sting you in a 360 degree motion around the bite by using a stinger in their abdomen.
• When one begins to sting you, it lets out a pheramone that signals to all the other fire ants that THEY should start stinging you too. (peer pressure)
• Fire ants are evil.
• Fire ants can best be avoided by staying inside laying out on your bed with a good book and your favorite beverage and snack of choice.

50 plus fire ant bites later...my foot was on fire...go figure.
The only relief came 20 minutes or so later
when we were able to find ammonia to pour over them, which neutralizes the poison.

I either had an allergic reaction to them
or there were just so many bites that they were on top of each other.

Either way...my foot ended up swollen and very very very unattractive.

I didn't take pictures because...well..
I'd rather not remember how bad it looked.
I liken my swollen foot to a blown up latex cleaning glove.

It took two days for the swelling to go down and now I look like a small pox victim.

I'm glad I could educate you on fire ants.

The end.

--------------------

In other news...

I am officially 33 weeks along...with few complaints to be heard of.

Tho Noah may protest on that last note..-cough-

I still can't eat eggs or green beans.
I also really enjoy root beer floats and milkshakes as often as I can get them.
I am not, however, fat.

(repeat to self)
(look in mirror)
(repeat to self)

I'm anxious for the return of my slender waist. I miss it so.
It may sound vain, but I don't care.
I don't care how "cute" people may say you look.
What they don't see is you in the morning...
staring into your closet for 20 minutes
as if something magically flattering will appear.

In the end you grab the same thing you wore yesterday and the day before.
because let's face it...you're not getting any smaller
and you're just too darn cheap to go buy anything labeled maternity.

I considered going into hiding for the last 3 months of my pregnancy...that way I wouldn't have to worry about finding something to wear out in public. I could live in my husband's white Hanes t-shirts and be perfectly content.


I told Noah we could strap a couple bags of sugar on his stomach so he could feel what I'm feeling.

He said no thank you.
And then he rubbed my back for an hour.

N is for Nesting

So over the weekend I was pretty sick. Poor Noah had to deal with my incessant whining and tossing and turning all day/night. I felt bad..really I did...in more ways than one.

While my body ached everywhere except my earlobes...I also felt bad that Noah had to wait on me hand and foot
and lose sleep
because I couldn't find a comfortable position with the
4 pillows I had on the bed. -cough-

But I was definitely feeling better yesterday.

I had hemmed 6 curtain panels by the time he got home.
My bedroom finally...FINALLY has curtains.

I'm actually pretty excited about this.
You see, I haven't had curtain in my bedroom since mom redecorated my room with Martha Stewart pastel blues and greens and daisies back after Anna got married...12 years ago.

That's a really long time.
Not that a person can't survive without curtains. I'm obviously proof of that fact.

But lately I've had this incredible urge to finish decorating my house before the baby comes.

I believe they call this syndrome 'nesting'.
And let me tell you...I've got it bad.

It's so bad that I woke up around 4:30 this morning...and proceeded to lay in bed while I:

-repainted my kitchen and dining room
-finished painting/antiquing the baby's dresser
-decided to move the baby's dresser to the dining room
-bought a new baby's dresser from craigslist
-decorated the now 'dining room dresser' with burlap, candles, and a really cool mirror that I'll find...somewhere.
-finished decorating my bedroom with small accents of twine and starfish
-planned thanksgiving dinner

All in under 2 hours.

gosh...if only I could work that efficiently when I'm not laying in bed.

-sigh-

So here I am...not even 6:30 in the morning...ready to rush out to Benjamin Moore, Goodwill, JoAnn Fabrics, and Walmart. Too bad the only one open right now is Walmart.

Besides...I GENEROUSLY left the bedroom so Noah could sleep without me fidgeting back and forth while I tried NOT to mentally 'nest'.

Well...that is...I left after I asked him if a half-gallon would be enough for the kitchen.

To which he said, '....whaaaat??'

poor Noah.

5 am and his wife is asking him about paint quantities.
In my defense, he was already awake from having made a trip to the bathroom.

I really am sorry, Noah. But I just can't help it.

I know I made you hold pictures and shelves all over the bedroom today
while I stood back and said...
'up...no, down. 2 inches to the left. Hmm. Now...let's try the other wall'.

...sorry.

Moving on..

Here is a picture of the bedroom basically right after we moved in. I had painted it that blue because I didn't have any clue how I wanted to decorate in there.

And below you can see the recent improvements to the bedroom. We repainted it about 2 months ago...and added carpet before that. Laminate is nice but it was really hard to keep clean. It was a cheapo laminate so I didn't feel bad at all when Noah offered to tear it up and put in some carpet he got free from work. I still have a pillow or two to sew, a lampshade to recover, and some odds and ends to finish decorating but I'm really happy with the progress we've made.
I just noticed that I have a headboard and footboard in this photo. I owned those before we bought the house...but we hadn't set them up til earlier this year. Amazing how much of a difference that makes.

Yesterday...after I hemmed my 6 curtain panels...I made these nifty cool shadowbox pictures. I really didn't know what I was doing...they just kind of evolved. If I had planned ahead I probably would have had some more items to work with...but..oh well. As it is, I made do with the burlap, linen and leftover wedding shells.



As far as the baby room goes...we've painted, added curtains, and some furniture, but it's not finished either. I'm hesitant to share pictures because I know what reaction I'm going to get.

'...it needs more color.'

ya think? I KNOW it needs some accenting. I'm working on it! Well..here are some pictures to show what I'm building on.


Here's a close up of the crib skirt I made. I tried to copy one from Restoration Hardware and while its not perfect...I'm pretty happy with it.
Especially for not knowing what in the WORLD I was doing.

See that dresser? That's now the dining room dresser.
Shhhh..don't tell Noah.

I opted to put in curtains across the closet rather than closet doors. They aren't hemmed in this picture..but I completed that...yesterday (6 panels..remember?) So they look better now.

OBVIOUSLY I still have to put pictures on the walls,
finish the crib bumper, make some pillows, blahblahblah...


Nesting.
I'm sure it's every husband's nightmare.
The time when his wife finally discovers all the
things that "they" can do to improve the house.
Things that require levels, picture hanging kits, drywall screws,
paint, power tools, and lots and lots of time and patience.


I don't think I'll mention repainting the kitchen and dining room to him again until I've bought the paint and done it myself.

It's probably safer that way.

To Mom, with love.

Originally I hadn't intended to post about my Mom.

it just kind of happened that way.

You see, I went Garage Sale'ing this morning.
And I wanted to show you what I found.
But...I just can't say the word 'garage sale'
...without thinking of my Mom.

----------

Ahhh...garage sales.

yard sales.
junk sales.
Whatever you tend to call them.


I grew up going to garage sales.

If Garage-Sale'ing were a professional sport...
my Mom would be the Tiger Woods of it.
...the Big Papi
...the Michael Jordan.
the....Peyton Manning


Mom rises early. REALLY early.
She's out at the mailbox waiting for the newspaper guy to get there.
She then rushes inside, lays out the classifieds
and ATTACKS the newspaper
with a red pen.

My mom doesn't have the best memory, and she'll be the first to tell you that.
...but somehow she manages to remember where all the good sales are year after year.

In fact, she can recall what items she bought years before at what house.

I'm not sure if that's really cool...
or just really weird.

But it comes in handy.

So after she circles all the sales she wants to go to with her red pen...
she then maps out her route according to these important factors:

- neighborhood: golf course? ritzy subdivision?
- previous sale by that owner: now what did I buy last time?
- what time they open: should I go there first?
- location: how far away are they from the rest of my route?

All of this precise calculation in under 5 minutes.

no joke.

because after that 5 minutes is up she is out the door and if you ain't ready by then...
...she's leaving you.

Garage Saleing ain't a game for sissies ya know.


So...at 5:45 a.m. my mom begins her Saturday.

And if what I've told you so far isn't funny...
then think about this..

My mom never speeds.

well...hardly ever.

When it comes to Saturdays at 5:45 a.m...
that whole speed limit sign thing really just gets thrown out the window
and ran over.

Most days I have a hard time getting my mom to reach the posted speed limit in her minivan. Let alone exceed it by ten to fifteen miles an hour.

But Garage Sale'ing is a tough game to play.

yesiree.

You better NOT get in momma's way when it comes to garage sales. She knows the regulars by their vehicles. She knows if they're heading to the same sale she is. She KNOWS they will take every single item she wants if she doesn't get there first.


My mom doesn't think she's very athletic.
...she just hasn't seen herself run up to those sales.


Yep...that's my mom.

I could write a book on her ya know.

--------

So today I went on my own garage sale'ing venture.
I figure SOME of that intuition has to be in my blood, right?

WELL...I don't get a Saturday newspaper...so I relied on craigslist for the most part.
I picked out a couple that sounded like they were in good neighborhoods and had stuff I was looking for. Funny thing is...I was looking for good deals on baby stuff and didn't find a thing for the baby. The one place I went that had nice baby stuff was waaay too expensive. And I AM my mother's daughter so you know I'm lookin' for a bargain.

I almost felt a little of my "garage sale'ing with Mom" coming back...
this one woman seemed to be following me to every garage sale.
it was a little freaky...so I figured she probably looked at craigslist too.
THEN I thought...maybe she's been doing this awhile and knows where all the good ones are! So I thought of following HER around...
and then I shook myself awake and realized that I was starting to scare myself.
So I kept to my original route.

Which ended up being a good thing...
because I ran across a few really good ones that were only advertised by signs...

Ninety Minutes and Six Yard Sales later...


My first purchase at a major junk sale: a solid wood crate
(which Noah sneered at..psssh. He has no vision)
But seriously..these are all over the pottery barn catalogs!!

Second purchase at a random sale: 4 wood frames
I could do tons with these...fabric...baby room...sigh.

Third: A Sign.
I really don't have much on my walls...and its amazing what these little accents can do to make your home homee homie.

I bought these with the other sign. Still new..and they match my paint.
yesss....

And last but not least...
my favorite.
Perfect condition Pottery Barn shelves with the tags still on.
Originally 29.00 but I snagged em for 2 apiece.

woof.

I spent well under 20 bucks so I'm feeling pretty thrifty.

And I owe it all to my mother..
for flipping my mattress on Saturday mornings..

Juice on Jeni

I didn't even know there were such things as blogging awards. I mean, I've seen them on larger 'sponsored' blogs...but I didn't know normal people like Maria, Stephanie and I could give and receive them.

I guess you learn something new every day.

However, I really think Maria and Stephanie were just trying to politely remind me to update my blog.

You see, I tend to treat my blog as a major event announcer for my close friends and family, which is why it doesn't get updated every day. I'm just not that interesting.

Hey, some people like to share their "big news" on facebook...
I just like to pretend I'm more private by sharing it on my blog.

Because she gave me this 'award', I'm supposed to comply by relating 7 facts about myself. I'm also supposed to pass the award onto 7 others...

I've never liked chain mail though, so I'm selfishly refusing to award anyone this honorific award.

(my spell check didn't check 'honorific'...apparently its a real word)

Facts:

1. I am with child. As in pregnant. As in due in October.
As in, yes, there are still a lot of people who don't know.
And yes...I'm slightly nervous...but also excited.

2. I listen to Adventures in Odyssey every night.
And I'm not embarrassed to admit it.
(ok...maybe a little.)
In my defense, Noah does too!
We both did before we got married...
What can I say? We're just meant to be together.

3. I'm not shy nor do I have a problem starting a conversation with complete strangers. A lot of people mistake me as such because I stay away from large groups and tend to avoid being the center of attention. The truth is, my personality doesn't really flourish in large crowds and groups, but I do enjoy good conversation with a few people at a time.

4. I love to read. I used to dream of having a huge library room with a roll around ladder. Like in Ducktales or Beauty and the Beast. Its funny though, as I've gotten older and grown in my relationship with the Lord...I've put away most of my novels and books. My old collection just keeps getting smaller and smaller...it seems like all I have left are the children's books I grew up with.

5. ...its getting more difficult to come up with facts I think people might enjoy...
Oh! I play guitar...I have for many many years. I was even our 'church musician' before I got married and moved to a galaxy far far away.

6. I love sock monkeys. Particularly THESE sock monkeez.

I think I have 4 of them so far
...but there's still the kiddie collection!
with elephants and alligators and hippos
for the baby of course...

7. I didn't know how to cook until I got married.
I was actually quite pathetic
...in fact, I think Noah knew his way around in the kitchen better than I did.
But I was bound and determined to learn
because I just refused to fall short in my duties as a wife
when there's no good reason why I can't do it.
So I did.
Annnnd...I have yet to send anyone to the emergency room to get their stomach pumped.



The end.

Kitchens, Cabinets, and non-concrete floors, oh my.

Well...we finally redid the kitchen.

Finally.

In fact, I've been gloriously enjoying my new cabinets for almost 10 days now.

Sometimes at night Noah wakes up to find me in the kitchen, leaning against the new glossy countertop whispering sweet nothings to the new sink.

It's disturbing but he gently leads me back to bed and assures me the cabinets, counter top, and sink will still be there in the morning. At which point I'm more than welcome to continue my rambling of sweet nothings as long as I do some dishes while I'm at it.

I'm telling you...that new sink is a thing of beauty.
A work of art.
Poetry even.

This picture really doesn't do it justice because...well...i hadn't actually cleaned it yet...so there's still some sawdust residue and such. Overlook that.

But compared to the old sink???

It's beautious.

We still have yet to do our tiled backsplash. I haven't found a tile we like yet.


Here's another view of the countertops...

A view from the dining room. Oh so purty.
You can also get a view of our vinyl here.
Wonderful. WONDERFUL flooring.
So soft. So non-concrete feeling.


A closer view at the other side of the kitchen.
If you've seen what the kitchen looked like before we started doing work...you know there's a huge difference. We still have yet to purchase a microwave that goes above the range.

In fact, our current microwave is on our dining room table.
It looks more ginormous everyday.
I'm slightly suspicious that its growing...but Noah thinks its all in my head.
-glare-

He'll believe me when the microwave reaches the size of the dining room and takes Frankie hostage. But I say we can prevent all that by just buying a new microwave.

Can you believe he rolled his eyes at me?

no respect. just no respect.

Well..my bed is calling me. It is...after all..almost 10 o'clock.

Slap me with suspenders and call me old but yes I enjoy going to bed early.


One more view of our beautiful cabinets.
-happy sigh-
its a beautiful thing.