I love me some Matilda Jane

I was browsing ebay one day and ran across the most fabulous childrens clothing line called Matilda Jane. I immediately became obsessed with the feminine ruffles and vintage looking outfits! I did a little more research and found their website, unfortunately they are REALLY expensive. I splurged on ebay and bought this dress for Riley when she was about a year old. It probably is the cheapest item that they sell, besides leggings. Luckily she is two and this dress still fits, so I am sure I got my money out of it!

They also make the most adorable ruffle pants, again, these were really expensive so I went out and bought the pattern and have been making them for Riley since last year! I made these ruffle pants after I copied a Matilda Jane look.

The woman who started Matilda Jane has two boys and the reason she named her company that was because she said if she ever had a girl, she would name her Matilda Jane. I told Jim, if we were having a girl, thats what I wanted her to be named, I just think it's so cute!

The place we use to call home....

Yesterday afternoon I spent about 5 hours cleaning our condo getting it ready for our tenant to move in on Thursday. This was actually the 2nd time I had been over cleaning, the first time Jim and my wonderful helper of a brother were there with me. I am easily distracted and didn't get a whole lot done. So I ventured over yesterday after Kite Day and got to work!

As I moved from room to room I was reminiscing about all the memories that were made in that home. It was the first property Jim and I purchased together and it was Riley's first home. Jim and I put a lot of work into our little condo, we had such pride of ownership and although it was small, we loved it. We redid the kitchen cabinets, put up the backsplash in the kitchen, redid the floors, hung new light fixtures, painted, etc, etc. Jim actually learned alot of what he knows from experimenting on our condo, which has definitely paid off in our new home.

I love our new house but it's double the size with the same amount of furniture so it doesn't really feel like home yet but we are starting to work on putting things up on the walls this week and redo some wicker furniture for the patio. Riley and I spend SO much time in the backyard that I want it to be an extension of our home. It's so cute, we drive up to the house and Riley stills says, "Yay mommy, new house!" It warms my heart.

$2.00 and Some Elbow Grease

These old bench was sitting to the side of our front yard and I thought it looked so cute in between three birch trees but I knew it needed a little TLC. My original plan was for it to be red but after I scored this red and white striped fabric for a $1.00 at a yard sale, I knew that I should go black on the bench. So off to Lowes I went and bought a .99 cent can of black spray paint. I came home sanded the baby down, put a light coat of stain over it, sprayed it black, sewed up the pillows real quick and VIOLA! I put it back in it's origina place and it looks so cute next to our black and white house! All for $2.00 and a little elbow grease!

Daddy's Girl

A couple of days ago I was doing the dishes while Jim and Riley watched Enchanted, which is currently Rileys favorite movie. It was towards the end of the movie when they call go to a ball and dance the night away.

I looked up to find Jim and Riley dancing together. He was holding her in his arms and dancing around the living room. She lightly had her eyes closed and the biggest smile on her face. I could see from her expression that he was doing something very special with her. At the end, he dipped her and kissed her. It was one of the most joyous moments of my life.

My husband has invested in our daughter more than I could have ever imagined. She definately is a daddys girl and I am ok with that. When I found out we were pregnant with her I knew that she would be a well taken care of little girl. I know she will always know that her daddy adores her and loves her more than she could have ever imagined. I feel blessed that she has my husband as her daddy.

Making Progress

This is our formal dining room. I tried to find a BEFORE picture of what it looked like when we moved in but no luck! You can see at the bottom of the picture that one wall was red and the other two were orange. I knew we were going to use this as a formal living room instead and really wanted it to be a peaceful space for adults to go. Although, I think the kiddos will spend time in here too.

This is the progress we have made so far. We changed out the light fixture, painted all the walls,

put up wallpaper on one wall and added the weinscoating with the square/rectangle detail in the middle. We still need to caulke and paint the weinscoating and moulding so they will all be the same color, then remove all the tools and pull the extra old carpet piece that is currently in there and we are in business! I still don't have any furniture for the room yet but thats ok, the hard work is done!

Living a Miracle

This is DJ and his two beautiful sisters! Whenever I think God is not big enough in a situation I am quickly reminded of the relationship that our family has.

When I met Jim he had been divorced for about two and a half years. He and his previous wife had DJ together and unforunately their marriage fell apart. It was really hard on my husbands side of the family but what came out of it is only short of a miracle.

This is a picture of us at DJ's sisters birthday party. His mom remarried about 6 years or so ago. We have a great relationship with her and her new husband. It really feels as if all three of them are true siblings. DJ had his first baseball game of the season lastnight and Riley and Jenna played together the whole time. It was such a testimony to what God can do in any relationship if you trust in Him and led Him lead.

By no means has this been easy on any of us. But what I have always had to remember is doing what is best for our kids. When we can come to my husbands ex-wifes daughters bday party I can't help but remember HOW BIG GOD IS!

Fun in the Sun

Just like the past 2 weekends, this weekend is a work weekend. We have so much we want to get done and we are willing to work our tails off until it gets done. Obviously Jim has been doing a lot more of the work than I am. My brother came over today and helped me transform our front flower bed. I had been working a little bit each day to clear about leaves and dead plants that had been there for years I am sure.

I really wanted to keep the ivy that was growing to cover our gutter but unforutnately we could not salvage it. So my brother cute it all back and I repainted the lattis ( or at least I think thats what it is called!). Hopefully now that I am giving these little guys some TLC I can get the ivy to grow back.

Yesterday I planted 1/2 a flat of annuals, they are so little you can't really see them in the picture. I can't believe how much I have been enjoying gardening! Riley came outside with her plastic shopping cart and helped me get some "yuckies" out of the bed, it was so cute!

A Before and After of sorts!

This currently is our master bathroom. This room I would say is the most important room to me besides the kitchen. My vision is that we move away from the hopsital feel and into something warm and inviting. Especially after the upcoming birth of our boy I want to have a space that helps me truly relax after a long day of taking care of the kids. Every night since we have moved in I have tried to relax in the bathtub and do my devotions. I really believe this time has helped me to be a better wife and mother.

I had painted the bathroom the color it is in the picture but have since decided that it's not warm enough. So yesterday I spent all afternoon while Riley was sleeping repainting this bathroom. I painted it a warmer color. I am hoping our friend Brad will come this weekend to hang the chandelier above the bath tub. Also, on the list of things to do is change the light fixture above the sinks and change the faucets. I am thinking brown and bronze accents to warm it up. I still need to get towels and towel bars and personalize the space a little more. Stay tuned for the after pictures, this may take a while so be patient!

Thing 1 & Thing 2

Meet my new bestfriends! Jim and I had shopped around for some washers/dryers but unfortunately everything was WAY out of our price range in the front loader category. I searched for weeks on craigslist with still no luck! We ran across an add for the Sears Outlet store in Sacramento. Jim just happened to be taking a trip to Sacramento to look at some properties and stopped by the outlet center. They carry appliances that are either slightly dented or returned, but all have been checked to make sure they are in working order. These run about $1200-$1400 A PIECE! Whew, that sounds exhausting to pay that much.

The outlet center is lined with different appliances at different prices. Also, if you are willing like we were, you can get a mismatched set for cheaper. We were able to purchase the pair for $1000 total! You do the math! They also offer a 1 year warranty and a 90 day no hastle return (except the hastle of driving to Sacramento

I couldn't be happier with my new friends. Our clothes have never smelt so clean and did I mention, they are energy efficient?!

Ribs..And I'm not talking about what's for dinner!

Something new that I am experiencing earlier on this pregnancy than I did with Riley was soreness in my rib cage. I have been complaining about this for the past couple weeks to Jim but I just filed it away as another annoying part of being huge!

So lastnight about 3am I rolled over in bed and felt the worst pain I had felt since giving labor to Riley. Jim said I screamed really loud and began crying. All of the sudden I couldn't breathe very well and I was hunched over. Jim started rubbing my arms telling me to take slow breaths but I couldn't seem to get it together! I was about 2 seconds away from literally asking him to call 911. I was so scared, 1. Because I was in a lot of pain 2. I couldn't breathe! After a couple of minutes of moving around it went away.

This morning Jim and I talked about how freaked out I was. I went online and googled rib dislocation and the only thing I can think that happened was something called, subluxation. It is when there is a minor dislocation when joint surfaces still touch, but not in normal relation to eachother.

Per husbands orders, I have been pretty lazy today, besides church, cleaning a couple of windows and soaking up the rays in the backyard. Luckily I have a midwife appt this week and I will talk to her about what happened. 3 1/2 more months and then I will finally be able to hold my little one, can't wait!

Mantle Love and Nonsense

I have always wanted to have a mantle so when I saw this "Happy Easter" sign at TJ Maxx I knew I had to have it! I am a huge fan of buying decor after the season is over so I can get a huge discount on it, so I have a beautiful Christmas garland for next year.

Unfortunately this is the only Easter decoration that I have but it makes me feel good every time I walk by it. I am going to plan a small Easter egg hunt for the kids this year in our backyard and was even thinking of having our family over for a brunch that day too.

Riley and I spent some time weeding in the backyard this week. She was so confused as to what I was doing. When I was all done, I couldn't believe how much I had pulled out. Jim got home and told me he thinks I pulled out some bushes! Whoops! But I have to say, I was pretty proud of myself that at 25 weeks preggers I could pull out a bush with my bare hands! Well, actually I had gardening gloves on, but still!

Lately I have been thinking, if my midwife was a fly on the wall, what would she be thinking about what I am doing. This has helped me slow down a little bit. The baby is doing great, we have a check up this week and I cannot wait to have another ultrasound but I don't think that is for a while. I keep daydreaming about going into labor (yes, I said daydreaming!). I can't wait to kiss his little face and learn how to change a "boy" diaper!

A Sneak Peak!

Bless my sweet husbands heart! He knew how much I couldn't wait for the wallpaper to go up so late the other night he went to work. My husband is pretty handy at many things and has put up wallpaper before, unfortunately he has never put it up on a textured wall. When the wall is textured per my mother in laws advice we should have put some sort of "mud" on the wall. We didn't do that! So the seams won't stay together and it looks horrible. I will have to go back and order two more rolls and wait a week for them to be delivered. This really has been the only set back in the process of making our house a home. I am very thankful for that. On the agenda for this weekend is putting in all the new baseboards and hopefully hanging a couple of things on the walls so that it feels more "comfy" around here. I still feel like I am at someone elses house but I hope that soon I will feel like this is our home.

P.S. The light fixture is from my new favorite place, overstock.com and there will be weinscoating under the wallpaper all around the formal living room. I can hardly wait to see the final product, now we just have to find some affordable furniture for the room

I'm Lovin it!

We are all moved in to the new house, painting is all done, new flooring throughout, flowers planted (thanks to my SIL!), some wallpaper up, new light fixtures! It has been the craziest couple of weeks for us but so worth it. I have to admit, there were times when I thought, if I don't slow down I am going to go into early labor! Luckily I have an amazing family that was there to help.

This is our new breakfast nook, I purchased the chandelier at overstock.com and the table is the only new furniture we purchased for the house! We got it at a local antique store. The chairs are covered in a maroon and creme toile. I love it! I knew we were having a white on white kitchen and dark floors so when my SIL saw this at an antique store I knew it would be the perfect pop of color!

Many more pictures to come! I am leaving today for a "mommy" day in Sacramento. I am thrilled to be getting out of the house for a bit and so thankful that my husband is taking a half day so that I can go have a little me time!

And just like that....

And just like that...I went from a house that anyone would be happy with to ripping it all apart! I have wondered why my husband and I just HAD to make all these changes! Luckily the floor was paid for in escrow by the seller so that was not out of pocket and this was a HUGE expense! Sunday night the boys started ripping out the tile floor and didn't finish until Tuesday night!

I talked to the guy putting in our wood floors today and he said that most people don't do that job themselves! I kind of chuckled and thought, "well, you don't know my family!" It has been amazing to see my husband and I come together as one during this process. I have cried alot and Jim has been the calm one, which is typical in our relationship. If I wasn't pregnant this would be a lot easier. Everyone cannot believe how much we have gotten done in one week but we could not have done this huge project without our friends and family! We are so blessed to have the people in our lives that we do.

My sister in law is on her way today to help me redo the kitchen cabinents and do some finishing work. She has done 3 different sets of kitchen cabinents (I think) so she is considered a pro at this point and I am thrilled that my kitchen will be number 4 for her!

I feel we have gotten through the hardest part in this whole process and I just have felt overwhelming love from our friends and family! We love you guys!

Beyond Excited!

I received my proof for Rileys silhouette today! This was a much needed surprise to boost my energy level after a LONG two days of demo work on the house! I can definately see how couples can argue during these times but luckily it has only brought Jim and I closer thus far! Thank you God!

I approved Rileys proof and should be receiving DJ's soon! They cost $7.99/each and I was able to choose everything that you see. They also come framed! I may change the frame but my goodness, what a good deal!

I can't wait to get these hung on the wall in a couple of weeks.

P.S. I soaked my feet in my new jet tub today and even though it was dirty and I was covered in paint, it felt glorious!