Shabby Chic

So here are my inspirations for this baby's nursery. I wanted to stay away from too much pink- but there is a little bit that has crept in. I think I will buy a used dresser that can double as a changing table and paint it that antique-tiffany blue color. I might even attempt the birds and branches accent on it. I already have a crib that looks just like this one (natural wood) and I bought the bedding I loved the most! We are probably going lazy-boy shopping when we get back too. I think that will be our biggest baby purchase- a nice rocker recliner to put in the nursery :) Too bad my big square cream chair doesn't rock. Now I just need to find a place to live in Idaho and start the REAL nesting when I get back!

Have this crib thanks to my mama saving Emily's for me!

The bedding I bought at Target online. It now sits in a box labeled "Baby." It wants to be in a crib- not a box :)

If I can find a lower dresser to be the changing table I want to paint it this antique blue color.

Someone free-hand painted this. So pretty...

This is the same baby bedding I have!

Growing Belly

Felt book #2

Finished my 2nd felt book as far as I can. It was quite a challenge compared to the first one I did because I wanted to make SO many modifications to the original pattern. I even renamed the book and wrote my own story for it. It turned out pretty cute I thought. Someone asked what etsy shop I bought the patterns from- it is called copycrafts. She is based in Boise, ID. I keep finding more projects that are made with felt. It is scary...I might get into a felt frenzy!

I'm not bored

When I tell people I am unemployed and Abe is working so many long hours out here, I often get asked "What do you do all day?" Well- just because I don't work, have a car, or kiddos to take care of yet doesn't mean I am bored! I work on projects! I bake and cook for my hard working man (you wouldn't believe how much you miss that when you don't have a kitchen of your own for a year!) One of these fun projects I have been enjoying is these quiet books for the baby. I found them on etsy. Ordered a few patterns I liked and started to sew...by hand. They are a great way to feel productive when I am sitting in the nice air conditioned apartment all day. This is the first one- almost completed. (The pages need sewn together and bound with rings)

Surprise! It's not a boy.

I will never trust the Chinese Gender Calendar or my psychic abilities again. I was sure we were having a boy. I dreamed about it -multiple times. I hadn't even considered the possibility of it being a girl. When am I going to learn I have NO control in my life?! We are still in shock. I am glad I have 20 weeks to get used to the idea of having a girl first. We wanted both eventually, just thought starting with a boy would be easier and cheaper for some reason...
The good news is: I have begged my mom to save ALL of my little sisters baby clothes- so we have a TON of baby girl clothes and stuff already!! I can buy expensive girl clothes as splurges because I don't need that much! I am SO looking forward to lots of coloring, tea parties, mani-pedi's, and dollies.
I am afraid of all the PINK. I am not a pink fan. Pink is way overdone with little girls in my opinion. And animal prints. And any Disney clothing. Just not my thing!! Also- I need to take a course in fixing little girls hair. Wow- it looks like a daunting task with all the braids and elastics. Don't even get me started on those giant hair bows and flowers!
I have already started shopping for books on how to raise girls. Names are impossible!
Since we couldn't be there in person to tell our families- I ordered gender cakes and had my brother deliver them with a card and DVD of our ultrasound while he is on leave in Idaho. I think the parents got a kick out of it :)

The Belly

Virginia Beach + Tides Game

We made it out to the beach a few weeks ago. It was nice to lay out in the sunshine and watch Abe swim. I attempted getting in the water but the closer I got to the waves- the dizzier I felt. So I kept my bootie planted on solid ground.
Abe was offered some box seat tickets at work for a local minor league baseball game. So we joined up with several guys from Dome and watched our first box seat game. Pretty cushy sitting in AC, with free food buffet and drinks, cushioned lounge chairs and a view directly behind home plate!! It was way fun. The Norfolk Tides played the Charlotte Knights and the Tides actually won! The stadium was bigger than Melaleuca Field but it had the same feel to it. The game was followed by a "fireworks extravaganza" - which was a total of 15-20 minutes of fireworks. We were lucky to watch those in our comfortable seats because the next day, Independence Day, it rained SOOOO much all over the area that most of the fireworks displays were cancelled.
For the 4th, we joined up with some people from our ward to play at the beach and watch fireworks there but the downpour didn't stop for a few hours. We watched a pretty intense thunder and lightning show instead! We still had a good time. We got to play beach volleyball and Abe swam with the guys for a bit before it started to rain. Yes- I finally did something active! I even dove for a ball or 2 and my team totally dominated the tournament. I am bummed I didn't get any pictures from that activity because it was basically us sitting under a porch watching the rain with a bunch of people we had just met. And most of the people are from IDAHO! They are selling pest control out here for the summer. They were hilarious- I hope we get to spend more time with them soon...

A little jaunt to Chatanooga, TN

Abe let me go to work with him for 2 days on a drive to Chatanooga, TN to deliver 2,000 lbs of spray foam to the Dome job there and pick up a concrete pump trailer. It was super exciting! I think he found me very useful when I told him how to properly strap down the 2,000 lbs of foam barrels he had loaded onto a flatbed truck and had to stop twice before even leaving Chesapeake to re-attach his tie downs. I was also master navigator and decided that I am smarter than GPS and I can use the map to get us to our destinations on a shorter route. Shorter MUST be faster, right? NO. It is not. On the way there we drove some 560 miles- in 13 hours. On the way home- we drove some 400 miles- in 13 hours. All I can say is if you love kayaking and river rafting- there is a beautiful and very popular park to do those in the southwestern corner of North Carolina!!
I took a few pics of Abe at the job in Chatanooga. The dome there is going to be a mosque eventually. Right now they are still building the walls. They haven't even filled up an airform for the dome yet. Abe is expecting Dome Tech to send him to this job eventually to help tile the top of this dome because he did similar work on a school Dome built in Idaho Falls. Guess we will see- we never know with Dome!

These pics crack me up :)

Cherokee National Forest- rafting heaven?!