Done! This adorable shelf is the icing to top off the nursery owl fiesta. Isn't it cute? Please ignore the holes above the shelf...that's from my first shelving attempt...we'll have to take care of that at some point...
My birthday is tomorrow, and while I'm excited and love birthdays, it completely snuck up on me this year! I wonder why...
Ruined birthday surprise #1:
Last week, I ordered the white side table to put in the nursery by the glider. I'd been on the hunt for a while, and was having a hard time paying $80 for a small white table! Everywhere I looked they were between $70 and $80...even WalMart! I'd searched on the Internet, every furniture place I could find! I'd, of course, been complaining about it to Jeff, so he knew my frustrations. One night while looking on line, I finally found one for like $54 and went ahead and ordered it. It's cute and I actually like it much more than the other more expensive ones I'd been looking for. It has a drawer and a door, which will be perfect places to hide messes. :) So, the next day, after Jeff gets home from work, I mention that I had finally found a side table and ordered it! He has a kinda sad look on his face...well, that's because earlier that morning, he had ordered the one from Target that I'd been looking at! Really? What are the odds. He's too good of a listener.
Ruined birthday surprise #2:
So, Thursday the FedEx guy comes to the door with a box addressed to Jeff. I take it inside, and it looks like one of those tall stand up air purifiers, which didn't surprise me too much. Jeff has allergies and while we have an air purifier, I thought he maybe wanted a serious looking one. I didn't open a box or anything, it was sent in the actual box that the thing came in! Like you would pick up and take to the check out lane at Target. Strange, because we usually tell each other when we orders things, but whatever.
So I text him at work: Your air purifier is here! He texts back: What? I text him: Your air purifier... He texts back: You mean fan? I text him: Oh, I guess it is a fan, it looks like an air purifier! He texts back: Happy Birthday!
Well, another birthday surprise out the door!! But I'm ecstatic to get a fan. Like I've said, my body is like the furnace. I'm always hot, sweating, and poor Jeff is under a blanket! Our bedroom is the absolutely hottest room in the house, so while I'm sleeping with no covers on, Jeff's under 2 blankets...so I put the fan in the bedroom and it's great!!!
Ruined birthday surprise #3:
I've been harassing Jeff about getting a video camera for Jack. He's been dragging his feet and I've been so frustrated with him! I want to video Jack and I didn't understand why he was not wanting to video our child!!
He has all of these videos from when he was little, and they're so fun to watch. He even has some of him, his brother, and cousins doing a news cast! His cousin, Erin, was the anchor, his other cousin, Grant, did the commercials, his brother, Andy, did sports, and of course, he did the weather. They're hilarious to watch! They have videos of Christmas, birthdays, and they're hysterical! One of my favorites is when he opened his teal, black and pink wind suit! Does it get better than that? He didn't think so at the time!!
Anyways, I've been harassing him. Yesterday, I was getting mad. I mean, Jack could be here any minute and we won't have a video camera to see his first everything! I was in the middle of forcing him to sit down at the computer so we could look at video cameras and just order one, when he finally says, "I'm getting you one for your birthday!"
Really?
For all practical purposes, the nursery is done!! I can't believe it. I just can't! I'm probably like 99.5% done. Although, I know me, and I know I could come up with a craft every few days between now and when Jack arrives, just to keep me busy!
So, here's the bench that I covered...I love the way the owl material turned out!
A sweet grouping of pictures on the wall by the door. The gold cross was my baptismal cross...so sweet! And the adorable owl picture, my friend Hannah made. She's crafty beyond everything.
Here's the changing table area, complete with the necessary diaper pail. The white shelf is actually going to be gone. It's one of those "magic" shelves that have no support...well, it's not straight and every time I try to put the wipes or any other changing supplies I was planning on putting up there, on the shelf they slide right off! I can't have that! So I ordered another one that will be so cute...it even has an owl on it! I love Etsy! Anyways, it should come in this week. That's the 0.5 I'm lacking...
His cute bed with the matching mobile...
I love this glider corner...it's so cozy! I can't wait to rock Jack! I just got this side table yesterday and put it together, and it's just perfect for that area. And did you notice the lampshade? It matches!
And here's the fab bookshelf. I decided it looked empty above the caterpillar, so yesterday I made this little banner to put above it. It's kinda hard to read in the picture, but it says "Perfect Gift". I really love it. It might be my favorite thing I've made for the nursery! 
And here are some pictures of the room in general. I basically in love with it. Over half of my phone converstations in the last few weeks have been in that glider! I can't help but to walk in every day and turn the lights on, open the blinds...you know, check on things...I love it. And I can't wait until Jack's in it! Expecially since currently his favorite place is up in my ribs. 
I went to the Dr today and...wait for it...I only gained a pound! Wow was I nervous about that one. I've consumed more than my share of cheeseburgers these past 2 weeks!
Is it a little scary that before I agree to go eat somewhere, Jeff and I have to look up the menu on line and see if they have a cheeseburger on the menu? A little out of control.
And by the way, I'm not picky about my burger. A burger at Lili's on Magnolia, which is an gorgonzola burger that will knock you over with happiness and makes my mouth water as I type, will pretty much conquer the craving as much as a burger from McDonalds. I have to say, I tried the new Angus burger at McDonalds last week and it was pretty darn good. I mean, I'm a fan of McDonalds, and I'm not ashamed! But this burger was more like a sit-down-and-eat burger than an eat-it-in-the-car burger. Jeff keeps telling me that meat at McDonalds isn't really meat...but then I show him the part on the bag that says 100% beef! I mean, it's on the bag! It has to be true!
So with all of my burger consumptions as of late (yes, I had one today after the Dr's appointment) that one pound weight gain is amazing.
And did I mention there are just 19 days until I'm due! Wonder how many hamburgers I can consumer in those 19 days?
Hope Jack's not allergic to dog hair! And it might look like torture, but Vincent sat in that bouncy seat for a good 5 minutes!
Jeff's grandparents are wonderful. Since the first time I met them, they made me feel like family. His grandpa (Paw Paw) is a WWII vet and had about a million stories to back that up. He is a fabulous story teller, and whether it was a story about banking on Iwo Jima, the war dogs, or men in his company, his stories are captivating. He didn't mind re-telling stories either! Sometimes his stories even start with "I know you've heard this story before, but..." He is a very proud Marine. He also tells stories of his days at Georgia playing football, growing up in Clarksville, TX, and being a soil conservationist. No, I didn't think stories about soil conservation could be very interesting, but you don't know PawPaw!
The family moved his grandparents to an assisted living center about 4 months ago because it just wasn't safe for them to be in their house alone anymore. Probably about 3 weeks ago, Paw Paw had to move to a nursing home because he was just requiring more medical care than they give at the assisted living center. Since then, Paw Paw hadn't been doing very well. He was tired. On Saturday, the people at the nursing home took him to the hospital because it was sounding like he had fluid in his lungs, probably pneumonia. Turns out that he had actually had a heart attack.
Jeff and I went down to see him on Sunday after church, and thankfully we did. We arrived at the hospital at about 11:15 and PawPaw passed away at noon. I'm so glad we were there to be with him and say goodbye. The family had gathered around PawPaw's bed to say a prayer and when we closed our eyes and Jeff started praying, he was still hanging in there. By the time we said Amen, he was gone.
It's so hard to lose someone who's larger than life, full of generosity, humility, and love. Everywhere he went, people knew PawPaw and were drawn to him.
Jeff did a short tribute to him this morning on the show:
http://cbs11tv.com/video/?id=45214@ktvt.dayport.com
How does this relate to the bath tub? Well, with the funeral coming up, I'm thinking that we might have a few guests staying in the guest room. Not a big deal, that's why we have a guest room and I'm glad to use it!! But that means I have to clean...not have to, but need to.
I'm not a super clean person. I don't mind cleaning, but it's usually started begrudgingly by looking around the house and thinking, shoot, this house needs to be cleaned. Jeff would probably like a house that is a little cleaner...he would NEVER say that (and will probably be mad at the accusation) but truthfully, I'd like a house that was a little cleaner! Who wouldn't!!
With the tiredness of the first tri-mester, I didn't clean. Literally. I hadn't cleaned the floors in the kitchen for so long, that there might have been a minor bug problem...maybe. Second tri-mester, I probably cleaned a little but not much. Now, I'm huge and I'm cleaning...the minimal amount. I can find lots of excuses not to clean...being pregnant is just one of the more reasonable ones...
We decided that with a little one on the way, it might be nice to have some help cleaning. You know, so Jack doesn't get attacked by dust bunnies while he's sleeping. We looked around and found a very nice lady who cleans another woman's house on our street, so thank goodness, Gwen will be coming to clean every other week starting September 7th. Woohoo!
Like I've said before, I've been working at Van Grow this summer, and when I work in the summer, Jeff and I decided that the money made then is my money to spend on whatever. Last summer, I spent it re-doing the dining room/den...money well earned and spent, let me tell you! This summer, I've been working for Gwen...at least working for money to pay Gwen! And again, I know it will be money well earned and spent!!!!!
So, my latest excuse to not clean has been, "Well, Gwen's coming soon!" But now that we're having guests and those guests are arriving before September 7th, I need to clean! I keep most things tidy, and generally clean, but the thing I hate the most in cleaning the bath tub. I hate it. It's awkward and I never feel like it's really clean! And that's a lot of effort to put into cleaning something that doesn't really look that clean when I'm done.
This morning, I had to tackle the tub. No guest would be able to get in that thing and come out thinking I'm any type of housewife!! Now, I hate cleaning the tub, hate it with a passion. I worked in Colorado at a bed and breakfast for a summer and the worst job was cleaning the huge jacuzzi tub in one of the cabins. Gross. There's no good way to do that! You have to get in it to clean it! And when doing that, you don't want to think about why it's so dirty and if there's a reason they call it the "honeymoon cabin". Thankfully, ours is just a 1950's plain ole' tub. But even cleaning a regular tub 8 months pregnant was quite a task!
I wish someone was there to video it, because I was like an acrobat with a beach ball under their shirt! I was maneuvering like no other, scrubbing until that tub shined!! I had on my rubber gloves, window open to avoid the fumes, my Scrubbing Bubbles spray in hand...I was quite amazing, if I do say so myself. I have to say, my tub shines right now. And I know that Gwen will be thanking me on September 7th.
I had another amazing shower on Saturday! Wonderful friends, perfect gifts...this baby is so blessed by people who love him even before he's here. And I am so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people!! I don't have as many pictures to share on this one...I forgot to designate a photographer. I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures!
The hostess went all out with the fun games and baby decor, she is amazing! We took our hospital tour on Saturday right before the shower and Jeff noticed that some of the recovery rooms had wreaths on the doors and he asked, "Do we have a wreath to put on our door?" Random question, considering we're seeing the rooms where I'll squeeze out our first born son, but whatever. We didn't...until the shower! So cute!
And the family picture!
