I'm still alive!

****Side Note: In the midst of typing this last night first our wireless router went out and then to top it off our electricity went out! That's why this is just now getting posted. ***


Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! I wish I could say that I've been super busy, unfortunately though I've just been lazy. Let me give you a quick run down on everything that has happened since my last post....

Rob & I were able to get home to Cincy for the 4th of July. We stopped at his parent's house in Kentucky and stayed with them for a few days before continuing to the Nasty Nati. While there we were treated to many delicious meals. Then Rob's mom wanted to take me shopping for baby clothes....this baby now has a fully stocked wardrobe! You would not believe how much stuff she bought us. In addition to this very generous gift his parents also decided they wanted to pay for the baby crib. But that's not all....Rob got a very exciting surprise as well....they gave him their old '95 Corvette! He is thrilled to have a sports car again. There's just one problem...he's scared to drive it because he doesn't want to leave it unattended in a parking lot!

When we finally got to Ohio we had a great time there as well. We again ate tons of delicious food including all of our Cincinnati favorites. My sister gave me a box full of baby items including some more clothes. My mom also had a stash of clothes she was saving. Then to top it off we made a trip to the Carter's outlet where she bought us more, plus I couldn't resist and bought a few adorable outfits myself. Then to top the trip off, my mom bought us our travel system...a Chicco stroller & car seat!!! I was so excited to get our first official piece of "gear" for the baby!

We were also able to spend the 4th at "the cottage" where we have spent the last 8 Fourth of July's (minus last years'). "The cottage" is owned by the parents of Rob's friend Tommy who always make us (plus the 100 other people who show up) feel welcome....as well as feeding us all! I wish that I had some pictures to post, however, it was very rainy this year and I was worried about getting my expensive camera wet!

Since we've been home we have sold Rob's junky Blazer (yeah!) and now have my old Alero for sale. I am sad (not really) to report that our kitty Tiger is no longer with us. She had been having some major behavioral issues for quite some time now which I am certain would have continued to get worse once the baby arrived. I finally got fed up when I caught her pooping on the guest bathroom rug (for the 20th time) and decided she could no longer live with us any more. This combined with her random biting and clawing attacks on me and every stranger that entered our door told me she wouldn't be a good fit with a child. I think about her every day and pray that she will be adopted by a new lovable family. 

I suppose that I should let you in on my new "hobby" since I currently don't have a life....digital scrapbooking! I am already addicted! This is something that I have been wanting to try for a very long time. It is actually what I had in mind when I convinced Rob that I needed my MacBook and my new Canon Digital Rebel camera. Before I spent any more money on software though I wanted to "try" it to make sure I liked it. I then learned that you could download a free 30 day trial of Photoshop Elements from Adobe.com and there are various "free" digital kits you can get from 2peas. It is taking me a little bit of time to figure out the software, but so far I am loving it. It is so much faster, cleaner, easier, and cheaper than "traditional" scrapping. I discovered 2peas in a bucket about 4 years ago when I first became interested in "traditional" scrapbooking. They have many different forums and information available for photography/scrapping. I love looking through their member galleries for inspiration. Here are a few layouts that I have created this week...

Currently I am sitting in an 80 degree house because our air conditioner decided to go out this afternoon. We're pretty sure it is still under warranty so hopefully it will be getting fixed very soon. We 're hoping someone can come to fix it tomorrow or Tuesday because we will be leaving to go back to Ohio for my baby shower on Wednesday morning. Otherwise our house will be stinky and miserably hot by the time we get home :(

At least my excitement over the shower will keep my mind off the fact that our house will be slowly rotting in 95 degree Alabama heat! I am really looking forward to this. My sister & mother have been planning it and it sounds like it will be really nice...they're even getting me a Chick-fil-a nugget tray and a cookie cake! Now, that's my kind of food! It's also going to be really fun to visit with a lot of old friends, neighbors, and family. I can't wait to post pictures of all the goodies we get! I'll also post a pic of our travel system and all the adorable baby clothes courtesy of Grandmas A. & C.

Nursery Progress & other randomness

So I know that originally I had talked about ordering our nursery furniture from the Land of Nod. But after receiving the crib and being disappointed in the quality we went looking for more options and found this line of furniture (Cocoon) in a local furniture store. We place our order 9 days ago and were told that it would take 5-6 weeks before it arrived. Imagine our delight & shock when they called yesterday to let us know it was here! I could not be happier with our purchase. Even though the crib was nearly double what the one at the Land of Nod was it is definitely worth every penny. 

Our new crib does have a *small* issue - there was a knot in the wood on one of the side rails which caused a small split in the wood (about an inch long). So I called the furniture store and they are ordering a replacement piece for us. Thankfully they can just send the one piece and not an entire new crib (transportation is a hassle). Other than this issue we are so pleased. The crib is VERY sturdy as are the dresser/hutch pieces. And the drawers on the dresser....oh, how they glide so smoothly! Here are a few pictures of the progress we have made in the nursery so far...

This is the corner where we will put the glider/ottoman 

we ordered.

In other news.....I did make the Chicken Farfalle dish that I mentioned previously. And it was DELICIOUS!!! Click (here) for the recipe. I was so proud of myself. Normally Rob despises pasta dishes so I wasn't sure if he would enjoy it or not, but he LOVED it. When I asked him if he wanted me to package the leftovers so he could take them to work for lunch his reply was "Yes! Hell Yes!" It kinda made me feel all warm & fuzzy inside :)

Here's a pic of our leftovers - again we were too excited & too hungry to wait around while I photographed our dinner before we ate it. 

Right now I am preparing for our trip to Cincy. I even took the time to bake some peanut butter cookies to snack on while we are in the car. Now I just need to finish some laundry & get the pets ready. I am LOVING being out of school - now I actually have time to accomplish all these things, whereas before I would be running around like a crazy person right before we left. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I finally graduated from college with a pseudo "real" degree? Monday, was officially my last day! I now have a BA in History - what will I ever use this for? Probably nothing. Actually hopefully nothing - I pray that I remain fortunate enough to never need to work outside the house and can be a career homemaker - because I am loving it so much:)

Our New Toy!

Rob & I have been searching for a new vehicle for a few weeks now. Originally we were looking at the Saturn Outlook, but were getting really frustrated because we couldn't find one with a second row bench seat that wasn't tan leather (we were wanting a darker color). Then the salesman that we had been working with emailed Rob to let him know that he had just switched dearlerships and the new one he was at had an (almost new) GMC Acacdia (basically the exact same car) on the lot. I say "almost new" because it only has 3,400 miles on it. And since it is technically "used" we got it for MUCH cheaper :) It has everything else that we were looking for...yea for us! Here are some pictures...

Goodness, I'm getting big!

Now we just need to find someone who's willing to buy Rob's old Chevy Blazer and we'll be all set. So if you know anyone who wants to buy a piece of crap, let us know...we'll sell it to 'em real cheap!

Good Recipes!

Everyone who knows me in "real life" knows how big of a picky eater I am and understands how exciting it is for me when I find a new recipe that I actually like. My friend, Britni, told me about another fun blog (Kevin & Amanda) where Amanda has some really neat fonts & good recipes posted. 

Last night for dinner I made her Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken which was excellent. And get this - the recipe included Teriyaki sauce AND ranch dressing. Thats right....I ACTUALLY ate something that had two foreign substances on it - and I liked it! Maybe I'm ready to be an adult after all. This morning I made her breakfast casserole and it was very yummy as well. Here's a picture of the one I made (I cut the recipe in half).

I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of the Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken, but we were too excited and ate it before I remembered. You can find a picture (and recipes for both) by clicking on the names above. 

Tomorrow I'm trying her Becky Higgens' Garlic Chicken Farfalle, which she describes as "the most amazing, most flavorful pasta ever". I'm trusting her on this since she was right about the other two recipes. I'll let you know how it turns out. 

Rob & Frank's New Game

Just thought I'd share some photos of Frank's favorite new game. I think Rob likes it also. Frank is in "ball heaven" while Rob gets to practice his golf swing....keeps 'em both happy!

Weekend Recap...and Happy Father's Day!

I'm sitting here typing this when I should be in church right now. Rob had to work today so Britni & her hubby, Justin, were going to pick me up this morning so I could go with them. I got myself all prettied up and was sitting on the couch waiting for them when suddenly I got the most awful stomach ache ever. I felt terrible but I had to call them and tell them I wasn't going. Of course 5 minutes later it went away and now I feel fine again. Figures.

I had a really good weekend, although not very productive. On Friday night Britni & I went to the movies expecting to see the new SATC movie. By the time we got through the never ending ticket line though it had been sold out. So we decided to go see What Happens in Vegas starring Cameron Diaz & Ashton Kutcher instead. I really didn't have high expectations for the movie, but it turned out much better than anticipated.

On Saturday I planned on going to the gym to exercise my fat pregnant self, but something came over me, and Frank and I fell asleep on the couch after Rob left for work and we slept till 11:30! Shame on me! I haven't slept that late in years. Then Rob called and told me we were going out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Felix's, with Justin & Britni, and another couple - Chad & Melissa (Chad is a good friend of Rob & Justin's from Pharmacy School @ Auburn) who were in town for the weekend. This made my day...did I mention it is my favorite restaurant in Mobile? But now I didn't have any time to go to the gym since I also needed to go to the mall and buy some more clothes that actually fit me. Until recently I was still able to wear some of my "regular" clothes, but I have now graduated and am fully in maternity clothes now :(

Anyway, dinner was excellent and we had a great time with our friends.While at the mall I also picked up this adorable Auburn baby gift set (t-shirt & bloomers) for our little man for Rob's Father's Day gift. Now our little one can be decked out when they watch the Auburn/Alabama game together!

In other news....we painted the nursery (pictures to come) last week. We did a light blue above the chair rail and a brown on the bottom. I'm not used to seeing so much color in that room, but I think it will grow on me. It also looks funny because we've still got the double bed set up in there to be used as a guest room. The crib also arrived from the Land of Nod and let's just say I'm not that impressed :( The first one they sent us had a broken side rail, so I called and they sent a new one. It's now fixed and I like the Jenny Lind style (I was going for a vintage

 theme), however, it doesn't seem as sturdy as I'd like it to. We plan on using the same crib for every child we have (3 or4) and I'm concerned about the quality. We found a great baby store here in town that we found a dresser/hutch piece and upholstered glider that we plan on ordering and they also sell an incredibly sturdy crib that matches the dresser/hutch which we're considering purchasing and sending this other crib back. The problem is that this new crib is $700! That's nearly double what the LON one cost. And it's not the style that I wanted, however, it is still beautiful - and like I said incredibly sturdy. Now, I'm not sure what to do :( I'll update you later when we decide.

Here's a picture of the new one we're considering

Oh and here's an updated picture of my baby belly, taken last week at 21 weeks (please ignore my dirty painting clothes!)

Well, I'm off - I've got a monstrous cleaning to do list for this afternoon that I've been putting off for too long. Our house is a mess!

Ooops!

In my attempt to be really cool and change my blog design (when I don't have a clue what I'm doing) I made a huge boo-boo and now all my links to other websites/blogs/etc. have been deleted along with my cute pictures :(  And now dumb Blogger won't even let me upload the new template, so I don't even have a cute design to show for it :( I am very unhappy. Since I'm still new to this thing called "blogging" and me and technology really don't get along very well, it might take me a little while to get this issue resolved. The good news is that I believe only one person, maybe two (hello Britni & Britni's mom - thank you for your comment) read this thing, I won't disappoint too many people :)