A Very Messy Before and After

When the Mommy is sick...

 the messies move in...

 Oh my. Is that a dinosaur hiding under that pile of pillows?!  

 Enough already.

I'm taking my house back.

 Starting with the lil messies' room.

Ah, I can breathe again. 

Of course, I'm exhausted and my back is killing me, but I can breathe again.

But, next time I do this, I'll wait till both the cowpokes are GONE. Both of them are major hoarders. You would not believe the things I found under beds and in closets...shivers....

These guys may be needing some therapy after this purge.

Carson informed me that I had "ruined" his room. ;)

Progress at the parsonage...

I've wanted these shades for the dining room for a looooong time, and I actually bought them for myself with some birthday money. Um, yeah...my birthday was back in October. So it's been a rough couple a months...

I'm thrilled to finally get them all up! 

I'm loving the added texture =) 

But let me tell ya, when the description on the web site says "privacy" don't believe it. We got these babies all hung up, then realized there was ZERO privacy, as in you could see right through them. Soooo, after refusing to pay 25 buckaroos apiece for liners, I decided to make my own. It made for a rather stressful day, but now that I'm finished I'm glad we did it! It took forevah. Remove shades, remove strings, cut fabric, hem edges, attach to shades, rethread the strings, and then hang them all back up. Let's just say I had to sleep with the heating pad that night! So glad to have that lil project DONE! 

Now if I could just get enough energy to refinish the leaves for my table...

14 Weeks

Today marks 14 weeks...so supposedly, things should get better and better from now on. Here's hoping! The nausea has been some better, and I'm trying to avoid taking the medicine. So maybe when I get my mind all out of the dopey feeling fog, I can get back to blogging! 

I have been so thankful for the good days I've had, at least it gives me a chance to recoup a little bit. But I have ZERO energy. I'll be glad when I get some of that back - there's lots of things I want to do! 

Dave took a few pics of my bump the other day - so there it is, if anybody's been wondering how fat I'm getting. I always show early...it's a curse of the short people.
When you're 5' 0", there's just not enough room to stretch it all out. Soooo, I've already had to break out the maternity clothes, because not everybody wants to see me in Dave's sweats and big ole tee shirts. 

I promise this isn't gonna turn into a baby-only blog. I'll give updates every now and then, but as soon as my mojo comes back I want to get back to some projects. Thanks to everybody for being so patient! And thanks so much to all of you who've sent well-wishes and prayers - I appreciate it so much. I'm hoping to be up 'n at 'em real soon!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

Hello?

tap...tap...

Anybody out there?

Or did you all give up on me...

Thanks so much to all of you who have left me messages, emails, comments, etc! It's been a rough few months, and I'm reeeeeeally hoping that the worst is over. I'm still having to take the nausea meds every day, and I will be quite happy when I don't need them anymore. The best way I can describe being on phenergan is, it makes you feel like it's always about 3 o'clock in the morning. And I don't do mornings.  

I haven't felt well enough to do much decorating for Christmas, so the living room was the only room that got "decked".

And I'm so glad I finally got some lights up! There's just nothing like snuggling up in a blanket, sipping hot chocolate by the glowing lights of the tree. I think it has some medicinal value - it makes me feel a little better.

Lookie there, I even got a few presents wrapped! Had it not been for amazon.com we wouldn't even HAVE presents this year. Thank goodness for online shopping.

I love this little birdie ornament...

Oh yeah...almost forgot - I got the living room painted ages ago, then I got too sick to care about showing it to you. Sooo...here's a sneak peak of the new look.

It's much more toned down, and I'm enjoying it soooo much better. 

I did toss a Christmasy wreath up on the old window. Because it was looking kinda sad and lonely. 

And that, my friends, is the extent of my Holiday decorating this year. Now you know I must really be sick, right?! I think last year I had 7 trees. 

Ugh, I don't even wanna think about it. 

Now if I could just get well enough to do some baking... It's killing me. I neeeeed some oreo truffles, and frosted cookies, and toffee, and turtles, and....phooey. It's just not happening.

I hope to be back to my regular blogging self soon, if the little one will be nice to mommy and cooperate! Thanks again for all the prayers and notes of encouragement - y'all are awesome. 

A very Merry Christmas to every one of you peeps!

Surprise??!!!!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while! The fact is....
I am Sick. As. A. Dog.  

But it's a good thing.

We're expecting a new little one! And boy, were we ever surprised! After 12 years of marriage, and 2 in vitro babies, we didn't think a "surprise" was possible. We're super duper excited, but sooooooo sick. I get this way every time. I just hope it goes by quickly this time. Oh, and I've pretty much tried everything...ginger ale (YUCK!), ginger snaps, tea, saltines, etc, etc.... I'm on zofran, but can't seem to notice any improvement. Nothing tastes good, and nothing takes the nausea away. Popsicles seem to help for a few minutes, so I'm existing on those! 

I really hope to feel up to blogging soon - I've missed you all! Right now I'm in survival mode. Please help us pray that the sickness goes away quickly - I'm having a very difficult time keeping up with my 2 lil guys! They need their mommy back. 

Finished Object Friday

I've had this trusty little mixer for years. Looking at it the other day, I just got to thinking...

I wonder what it would look like to 50's it up a bit, maybe with a new seafoam green paint job...

I LOVE it!! 

Hi, my name is Brittany, and I love spray paint.

"Hi, Brittany"...

But honestly, doesn't it make life so much more interesting?! I always find it amazing what a little color can do.  And I am now more convinced than ever, you can paint anything.

Happy Friday, y'all! And be sure to check out the other Finished Object Friday projects at the Chari Tree =)

More fall pics...

I'm finally finishing up our fall "photo shoot".

 I thought I'd share a few of my favorites :)

I think this one is my favorite, I love those little smiles and chubby cheeks! =)

Love my lil buddies!

A Tale of a Table...

This table was given to me about 8 years ago, after a family had let their children completely ruin creatively use it for a "craft" table. They did a super job of leaving their mark on it. I'm ashamed to say, we've used it like this all those years, covering up the mess with tablecloths that hated me. 

Here she is in all her glory, covered in glitter, glue, and total gooeyness. 

 It may have taken me 8 years, but finally, I. HAD. ENOUGH. 

First, working in smallish sections, we sprayed it with stripper, scraped most of the gunk off, then sanded.

And sanded.

And sanded some more...

See that pretty wood hiding under all the gunk?!

Then, after searching the house in its entirety for some rubber gloves, and finding none, I tied a lovely blue plastic bag on my hands and applied a light coat of dark walnut stain.
Whatever works...

After the stain was good and dry, I put 5 or 6 coats of satin poly on it, then we promptly went on vacation for a week. I planned it that way, in an effort to save it from little fingers, cheetos, and dinosaurs, before it had the chance to "cure". 

It took several days from start to finish, but I'm Sooooo glad I ventured out (waaaayy out...) of my comfort zone and got 'er done. I've only been too happy to 

kiss those tablecloths good bye!