A Room For Two

Just a warning before I begin:  This post might be a little of an over-indulgence into what’s actually going through my head as regards nursery plans.  Why?  Well, the time I have on my hands to sit and type has increased as the weight of our two beanettes does…that’s approximately one hour of laziness relaxing per ounce they put on.  So, if you’re not particularly interested in exactly where our cribs are going to be placed or the color of our cloth diaper covers, skip on over to one of the many delicious blogs listed in my sidebar.  They’re sure to be much more engaging.  :)

So, a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we were tackling the oh-so-fun task of merging our guest bedroom and office to make way for the twin’s nursery.  Well, after a couple of missed personal deadlines, the rooms are now one.

We have yet to do some little things like hanging pictures and such, but it’s immaculately clean and fully-functional.

So onward we move to:The nursery.  However, before I show you the somewhat embarrassing mess that lies behind this door, I’d like to point out the cutest diaper wreath ever made by the marvelous Brittany at ‘Gifts From Above’.  If you’d like to indulge in the cuteness, you can contact her at giftsfromabove.diaperwreaths@gmail.com.  A warning though, they’re so darn cute you won’t want to actually use the diapers or other goodies on the wreath.  :)

Sooo…in we go.  Watch your step. I’d like to think of it as ‘organized madness’.  Each scattered gift bag contains the remains of my organizing – one has newborn clothes, one has three month clothes, one has towels, etc…

This is where I might be a little too over-sharing so read on if you dare.  First, the layout.  A couple of months ago I scratched out a few different options on how we could configure the room.  It’s not the biggest room in the world (especially when you’re squeezing in two cribs), measuring around 12 ft. by 12 ft., but it’s perfect for what we need it for.  Here were the three options: The winner?  Option numero uno…a.k.a. the one at the top.  Anthony didn’t like the idea of putting the rocking chair in front of the window which narrowed down our options pretty quickly.  I’ll give my ten cents, wall-by-wall, in a minute.  The next thing in the planning process was to pull out this shirt from high school:Random, I know.  It’s one of my faves because of the colors and I always thought it’d make such a great inspiration piece when designing a little girl’s room…and lo and behold, years have passed and God has blessed us with not one, but two little chicas to introduce this shirt to.  :)  Oh happy day!

So that brings the color scheme to light pink, lighter pink, peach, lighter peach, taupe, and white.  I want their room to grow with them and I feel like with this scheme, we can replace the cribs with beds one day and it’ll still work.

So back to the detailed plans.  When you walk in the door, the wall to the right will one day reflect this:

I’ve been scouring Craigslist for an old wood dresser I can reinvent (and found one, only it’s an hour away and I’m not that desperate…yet) on which dirty bottoms will be cleaned and in which clothes will be stored.  On the wall, a frame collage maybe?  Some sort of homemade architecture?  Hanging tissue paper puffs?  A stencil underneath some or all of these things?  Oh the options…

Also housed here will be our ultra-cute, cloth diapers:   These are the covers, the inserts (prefolds) have yet to be purchased.  I’m sure a post dedicated solely to our cloth diapering adventure will be in order after the twins are here.  For now, read about Farrah’s adventure.

Moving on…the wall across from the door will be transformed in this way: The desk currently in the rocking chair’s place is waiting to be purchased by a loving new owner on Craigslist and the frames above it will come down.  The lamps (one dismantled) on it were found at Goodwill many moons ago and have put my electric wiring skills to the test…one day I’ll have a whole post on those.  The blob of peach and pink are the tissue paper puffs mentioned above that were creatively constructed by my friend Jenn for the twins shower.  I’ll make new curtains and eventually a cushion for the window seat – curtains before the beans are born, the cushion as I’m nursing one and wielding my mad sewing skills (a joke for sure) at the same time.  Yes, I have standards that high…call me crazy cause I’m sure one day in the not-so-distant future I’ll be echoing your sentiments.  :)

Aaannndd to the left we have the cribs:

Only instead of Photoshop cribs (perfectly safe if you call the Disney Channel home), we will have two of these:  Oh, aren’t they just precious?  Graciously purchased for us by an angel, we can’t WAIT until they come in (ordered from Babies R Us)!  We were planning on using my old crib and my dad’s old crib (both of which I had big plans to paint) but my dad’s crib was deemed unsafe – shocker there – and both are 1000 miles away at the moment.  So, these came as a great blessing to us.

Hanging from the ceiling above them, I really want to construct some simple canopies but with the intent of moving closer to Anthony’s place of work in the next year and popcorn ceilings (hard to patch), that may or may not happen.

But anyway, on to the left and last wall. Obviously, the microwave is out of place and it’s home is being prepped for landing at the moment so unfortunately, our kids won’t have the option of making smores in their bedroom.  However, the mirror behind it will be tacked to that little expanse of wall after I get my crafty fingers all over it.  Curtains will be made to match the window curtains and the closet will be organized and filled with tiny things in pink, purple, and other girly hues.

Other ‘hopefuls’ on the plan list include DIYing a large round rug to lay smack dab in the middle of the room and constructing a faux capize chandelier or other fixture along those lines to dress up the ceiling fan light.

And that’s that.  The twins will actually sleep in a co-sleeper in our room until they’re six months or so, so I’ll have time after they arrive to work on baby-fying this room while they lounge in swings and such before they officially move in.  I might also mention that my budget for this room is low, very low, so I’m excited to get some brain-power back after they’re born cause I’m gonna need it.  Progress will be slow and documenting it will be like watching a fishing show, so in the meantime I’ll be sure to post some quick updates but I’ll have some other project happenings to tell.

Happy weekend! 

Twins: 29 Weeks

I’ve got two three-pounders this week which, as you smart people have probably already figured out, means six pounds of baby and a few more pounds of fluid, placenta, and all that good stuff.  AND, on top of that, at least a month to go.  Twins lungs are fully developed and functional on their own at 34 weeks so the doc says if they happen to want to come anytime after that, he won’t stop ‘em.  However, he won’t let them lounge in utero over 38 weeks so we’ll see.  One month?  Two months?  Who knows?  I do know that we’ve got a complete disaster of a nursery still (of which I’ll share my plans/vision Saturday) and currently have just half of their cloth diapers.  Cest la vie, right? 

As promised last week, here are yesterday’s ultrasound pics:

Top of their heads…twin a’s face is pointed towards twin b’s ear.  Telling secrets?  Whispering sweet nothings?  Giggling about all the random stuff mommy eats or that daddy says?  I guess what is said in utero, stays in utero…

Beach Bums

Spending the day at the beach…

 (Image of wee Anthony and wee Sheena courtesy of Photoshop.)

Twins: 28 Weeks

 

Actually measuring 34-36 weeks, it’s needless to say it’s getting a little tight…for me and my two little pals.  Honestly, it’s really a hair short of a miracle that stretch marks haven’t yet made their mark…any day now, I can just about feel it.  On the bright side though, life is swell (no pun intended).  :)  We’re about to move our efforts from an almost completely organized, super-clean guest room/office to a currently disastrous nursery.  Don’t worry family, I’m not doing any heavy lifting, super-hard work, or straining myself in any way…everyone freaks out at the slightest mention of ‘cleaning’.

Next week you’re in for a treat as the twins have another photo shoot!  One of the last two before we get to have outside the skin shoots!  Have a great rest of the week!

Guest Bedroom + Office =

A full week of decluttering, newly formed Goodwill piles, and the tedious melding of two rooms in order to give the twins their own space.  This has been my self-imposed project for the past week…me thinking we’d have a fully functional, picture-perfect guest bedroom/office by today.  Well, using the easy excuse of slower functioning due to pregnancy and the fact that my better half has been away more than home this week, I’m having to extend my deadline.  But, we did make quite a dent over the past six days.  Let me divulge.

Here’s where we started circa last weekend: With Anthony’s muscles, we managed to move the bookshelf and desk over from the future nursery, beginning the process.  We thought this was the layout we’d stick with, but then I had second thoughts.  You see, we were planning on selling the desk that was previously in this room…the one I had primed and thought I’d get around to painting someday but I just couldn’t do it.  It was so much more attractive than the one we planned on keeping: Super-functional but super non-appealing in my opinion.  So, putting my best persuasive skills forward, I convinced Anthony we should sell the above desk and chair in lieu of the other…me still thinking I’d one day get to repaint it.  I even souped up my argument with a new room layout.  It took a little convincing, but he was sold.  Off I was to craigslist to sell a desk and chair. 

So that brought us here: I single-handedly and once again emptied the entire bookshelf of it’s contents so that Anthony could more easily move it and created this new mess:

This is where Anthony disappeared into the busy world of being a Director of Religious Ed during the spring and I began pregnancy-safe jobs like paring down the contents of the closet and dresser.  And the Goodwill pile grew, and a trip to ReStore to drop off unused lamps came.

As of yesterday morn, here’s what the room looked like: A mess, but an organized one…in my mind anyway. 

Then, after a Saturday of more sorting, decluttering, and organizing, I got us to here:You can’t see it in this picture but the bookshelf now resides, fully stocked, on the right wall next to the chair.  The bed, while still not habitable, is at least a little more visible and mainly covered with pictures from each of our pasts which I refuse to just stuff into a drawer like they were before – I’m working on filling up albums during my sit-down breaks based on which era they’re from…fun, fun.

So, in case you’re still here reading about the boring process of converging two rooms and the mess we’ve made doing it, you must have figured that, yes, it’s the most interesting thing going on in our lives right now.  Even though it’s not near as exciting as spray painting stuff and sewing creations, it feels so good to get rid of stuff we haven’t used and don’t really need.  We’ve got an entire section of closet in the future nursery full of picture frames and mirrors that we’re finally going to put up around the house too in the next few weeks to get these bare walls looking more normal and homey.  I’m really excited about that.  :)

Anyway, I promise I won’t bore you with more progress pics of this bedroom but I might share a pic or two of the picture-perfect completion.  Then it’s on to the nursery, waiting to be used in two short months…can you believe it!  Cray cray. 

I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

New Look

You  may or may not have noticed that I, once again, switched up the look of Bean In Love.  Why?  For kicks and because it's like decorating...for FREE!  I absolutely love making backgrounds - they're like fabrics to me that I can use without paying for - headers, and just changing up the color scheme to reflect my mood, the season, or even a color fad.  Honestly, if I had time, which many moons into pregnancy and then nursing two might afford me in a couple of weeks/months, I'd put a new face on the blog every week.  So we'll see what happens. 

In saying all of this, which you probably don't care about anyway, I was thinking about posting a little itty-bitty tutorial on web design and then got cold feet about it.  I'm no pro by any means and just putting up this little facade I've got goin' on now took me a good six or so hours of work only because I ran into a few glitches I didn't know how to fix until my genius-in-web-design brother-in-law swooped like a knight in shining armor and helped me fix them.  So, I realized I probably shouldn't write about how to do something like web design that I still am so rusty with myself.  So, I'll just pass on some good places I've found to go if you'd like to learn more.

• For a TON of free background patterns that you can change to any color you desire, http://www.patterncooler.com/ is the place to be.  All you have to do is find a pattern you like, switch up the colors and/or size using their background editor, save it to your computer, and upload it as a background in Blogger's template designer.
• For thousands of cool and free fonts, check out http://www.dafont.com/!
• To make your own header or blog graphics, especially if you don't have access to Photoshop or other computer software, http://www.pixlr.com/ works just as well.  We do have Photoshop but lately I've found myself using pixlr more often because it doesn't take my old computer as long to launch and use it.  Pixlr even uploads all of the fonts you have saved on your computer so you have access to all of those cool fonts you've downloaded from dafont...bonus!
• For really great tutorials on everything from the basics to the more advanced ways to make your blog more attractive, a few good websites are http://www.bloggersentral.com/, http://www.puglypixel.com/, and http://www.makincuteblogs.com/.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to comment or to email me and I'll try my bestest to answer you or to at least point you in the right direction as regards web design.  But remember, I'm faaaar from being a pro.  Also, like I mentioned above, I love creating headers and backgrounds and I'm going to have lots of relaxation time in the next couple of months before the twins get here so, instead of making myself a new header everyday with all that spare time on the couch, I'd love to help whip up some headers for anyone looking to get a new one.  Of course I'd do it for free - heck, you're doing me a favor by a) giving me something to do while I rest the weight of the beanettes on any surface that'll have me and by b) giving my blog a design rest.  Just send me an email with your ideas and I'll get my pixlr on.

Anyway, I need to get off my tush and go wrangle the chaos that is currently invading our guestroom.  I hope to be back later today with a post of my progress so, if you're in the virtual neighborhood, stop by.  :)

Twins: 27 Weeks

Feelin’ it in my bones people.  The past two mornings it’s taken me approximately seven minutes to roll over and out of the bed and once I get to the out part, the weight of our two little pretties makes itself fully known to my hips and knees.  Oh the joys.  :)  

Hey Shorty

Among the plethora of hand-me-down maternity garb I was given were some snazzy white bermudas…only they took their name pretty seriously… 

…in that they were close to the size of Bermuda on mwah.

After much deliberation, I decided to tighten them up a little by putting an extra seam down the side.  You see, taking in the inside of the legs just wouldn’t remedy the loose situation but taking in the existing seams meant working with/eliminating the pockets I liked having.  So, first I pinned them, making room for my new seam directly in between the existing one and the back pockets,

and then sewed to get these more fitted shorts:

I like the stripe detail created just by sewing in an extra seam.  :)

As for the house and our diy crazed minds, we’ve got nothing going on but a little bit of a mess.

We’ve managed to start the process of converging the guest bedroom and office to make way for the nursery during our spare time.  So, right now it looks like a twister blew in a storm of baby stuff in one room:

 

and just a plain ‘ole case of unorganization in the other.

So, I apologize for the lack of interesting posts lately but am afraid to say that I might be a boring blogger for the next couple of months at which point the twins will come and liven things up a little.  I’ve got a ton of projects on the horizon but they’re all low on the priority list after de-cluttering and organizing the craziness we’ve got going on in the two rooms above.  However, I will keep on keepin’ on with the belly bump posts so you can continue to watch the twins grow on the inside.  :)

Have a great Saturday everyone!  I’m off to tackle the clutter!

Twins: 26 Weeks

Well, the belt worn in the above pic is actually a "former" hip belt...it's now graduated to a new level, quite literally, that of "waist belt" courtesy of an ever-expanding rib cage and midsection...which is actually courtesy of the two twinlets.

Other than that, not much has changed except for the excelling stretching and enlargement of the belly and babes.  I am really and truly blessed to feel pretty darn good at this point.  :)

Just for kicks, here's another timed shot:

It actually isn't too too bad and you wouldn't know unless I told you but as I was taking it a vehicle carrying real people was passing by and I took my eyes off the lens for a split second to stare at them and think "they must think I'm an idiot, standing in my driveway whilst holding my bulging midsection and smiling at my car"...obviously my eyes didn't make it back to their focal point before the timer went off and the camera shot.  Yes, the point and shoot itself was resting on the hood of the new Twinmobile, unknown to any passersby.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

 

Speaking of the new money hog, here's she/he is (I'll have to convene with Anthony on that one):

Regardless of my frugality, I'm so excited to have it and to put some miles on it with two baby girls in tow.  It's what I'd like to think of as a diy buy because we got it for $4000 less than it's Kelly Blue Book value all because it was a little dirty inside (which I already took care of courtesy of a toothbrush, a rag, Pinesol, and some Resolve) and had these two unflattering stripe decals (one red, one silver) along each side which we peeled off at the dealer before we bought it.  We walked away with a steal of a deal, so much so that I actually felt like we were cheating the dealer...but not bad enough.  :)  I guess the main point is that when you know the Big Guy, He pours down His blessings even in the form of SUVs.  :)

 

Over and out!  Hope to see you Saturday!

Money, Money, Money

Sorry peeps!  No interesting post today.  I had all the plans to write one up for ya but bright and early this morn we went SUV shopping (twins + Toyota Corolla = impossible), found an SUV, and drove 'er home and now I'm completely brain dead after searching, searching, talking, bargaining, and finally writing a big 'ole check to top it all off.  Frugal Franny here gets very overwhelmed spending this kind of money.  I even opened my mailbox to reveal a glossy, new Better Homes and Gardens awaiting me when we got home but upon opening it and seeing all of it's glorious inspiration, got nauseous thinking about what that inspiration could make me wanna buy...so anyway, you get the picture.  I just can't think right now so I can't write.  I will say though that we've got a sweet ride that we scored an excellent deal on - Merry Christmas twins - in our driveway that I'm quite happy about but that has given me a little sticker shock/bank account wound which will hopefully pass once I lay my curly head down on my satin pillow tonight.  :)  Adios!   

Twins: 25 Weeks

Not much to say but lots to show.  Even though the twins are 25 weeks old (technically it’s been 23 weeks since conception), big momma is measuring in at 30-31 weeks!  I still look in the mirror upon passing though and stare in awe and wonder at the belly they’re giving me…I’m so thankful to have them, so thankful they’re healthy and growing, and so thankful for the God who’s blessed us with two little souls.  :)

As far as fashion and pregnancy go these days, I’m getting my creativity on and it’s working out quite well.  My “new” dress in the shot above is actually a skirt I found while scavenging with my sis five years ago at a thrift store which I pulled up waist high.  I’ve actually been meaning to hem it up forever but turns out it works great as a dress at the moment!  The under shirt is a simple white top (Charlotte Russe) I’ve had since college and the whole shebang is cinched together with a thrifted boys leather belt (such a great alternative to over-priced pieces of plastic they call waist belts) I found for 75 cents.  :) 

  

I’ll be sure to post some more maternity outfits I’ve concocted in the past week soon!  My sewing machine has been on my dining room table getting some use and I love it!

.           .           .

Now for the grand finale:  the twins latest photo shoot.  We had an ultrasound this morning showing our little morning glories in all their cuteness.  Finally, they let us get a glimpse of their profiles:  They weigh a pound and half each and are both head down at the moment…in which position they’ll hopefully stay until d-day.  Towards the end of the scan they were kicking each other and I was hoping and praying it was playful…so funny to watch.  We also made sure to have the tech do a discount double check on the feminine anatomy just to make sure we weren’t in for any surprises at birth and once again, there’s no mistaking we’ve got two little princesses in there.  :)

I’ll leave y’all with one last picture.  Twin B was very interested in having her pictures taken today and, scary though it kind-of looks, she made sure to look right at the camera, although whether or not she was mouthing “cheese” is debatable:

Have a great day!

Take It In

And pull your hair out while you’re at it.  That’s how I felt while trying to take in some maternity tees I was given that just didn’t fit my frame.  I had this great plan to resize all these hand-me-down pregnancy tees I was given according to the directions on how to take in a regular tee I found here via Pinterest.  Well, I hate to divulge the obvious (because apparently it wasn’t obvious to me…naive or just plain hard-headed, I don’t know) but previously worn maternity t-shirts (or maybe just maternity t-shirts in general) have more fabric in front than in back to accommodate baby, or they’re just plain stretched out in front which naturally happens…duh.  So this method of simply using a tee you like as a stencil for the tee you plan to sew in doesn’t quite work and therefore may cause you to want to poke your eyes out with pins.

 

So, I finally scrapped that plan and started anew.  And, I’m alive and well, eyes and hair intact, to tell you that I finally figured it out and my wardrobe is happily expanding.

Here’s how it went down.  First things first, I hate maternity shirts with ruching on the side.  I feel like they make your widest part, already wider due to baby, appear even wider.  So, I was bound and determined to try and remove them without harming the tee I was working on.  I was happy to find out that all I really had to do was take a seam ripper to the elastic making the ruching and that was that.

Yay!  Easy as pie.  I threw it in the wash to smooth out the wrinkles left behind, tried it on, and…

still a little frumpy.  So, armed with a renewed motivation to try again, I tried a new approach.

Instead of using an existing fitted tee as a template, I worked on one side first, then the other.  First, I laid the tee out flat along the first side I’d be working on.

Side Note:  See how when the right side is laid out flat, you can’t even see the left seam?  That’s what cause me so much distress in the beginning.  You can’t lay the tee out flat with both side seams perfectly aligned without having extra fabric in the middle to contend with.

Then I figured out much I wanted to take my tee in by making marks all the way up the side.  In this case, I wanted to take two inches off each side so I made marks at one inch all the way up the side of the shirt.

When I got to the sleeve, I simply continued making my one inch marks but then connected them with my marker just so I’d have a guiding line to sew over.

After that, I pinned the sides together to make sure they wouldn’t move while sewing.

 

Foot pressed and hands guiding, I sewed a straight stitch along my dotted line guide, making sure to reinforce my stitches at the top and bottom by reversing my machine and sewing a few stitches back and then forward again.

Then, I moved to the next side and followed the same process.  For each side, I made sure to start my sewing at the bottom of the shirt so I could make sure the sides lined up perfectly.  Next, I took a deep breath and tried the shirt on.  It worked!  After jumping for joy, I used my pinking shears to cut off the excess fabric.

Here’s what the tee looks like now:

 

Happy as a gopher on a spring day, I moved on to the dreaded tee I had previously tried and failed on, used this same technique and took it from this:

to this:

Easy peasy, especially for a semi-beginner seamstress like me.  I’ve got a pile of maternity tees about a foot high just waiting for a similar fate.  In between tees though, I’ve explored and conquered taking in a couple of pairs of maternity shorts which I’ll share soon.

It’s such a great feeling to know that looking cute during pregnancy doesn’t have to cost a lot, especially when you’ve got great friends who gladly pass on their old maternity wear to you AND you’ve got a sewing machine and little motivation to use it.  Rest assured, as I am, that as long as I can reach the sewing machine (at least another month hopefully), that I won’t be lacking as far as maternity clothing goes.  :)

Have a great weekend!

Twins: 24 Weeks

I took full advantage of the mix and match fad at the beach over Easter by putting together my new maternity swimsuit consisting of green bottoms (belonging to a green tankini that obviously will not work at the moment) and a black tube swim top borrowed from my sis covered by a "tankini" top - a $5 microfiber tank from Charlotte Russe purchased solely to be my swim top for the rest of the summer after which it will probably be so stretched out that the trash can will see it next...or the next summer pregnancy.  :)

Onto more important things though...I got to see my sister's little girl, Claire, for the first time this Easter weekend.  I could not get enough of her.  Those cheeks.  Those huge, blue eyes.  The wispy blonde hair that curls in the back.  How she screams loud enough for neighbors a mile away to hear her when she's happy.  The way she holds her blankie up to her face and mouth when you put her to sleep in her crib.  And best of all, her beaming smile that shows her pearly whites peeking out underneath those rosy lips.  How I wish she, my sister, and her hubs lived closer.       

It was such a great Easter gift to be able to make the drive to see them along with seeing my mom and brother.  There was lots of reminicing, laughs (a few times when I was sure that I had smashed the twins with my abs from laughing so hard), candy (Cadbury cream eggs...mmmmm), and probably more dessert than food because that's how we roll.  :)  Such a great way to celebrate the life we've been given over the most holy weekend of the year.  Thank you Jesus!

Kitchen? Painted.

   Yes sir, this is what I walk into every morning nowadays, usually to scope out my first breakfast and plan for my second, third, and fourth.  No, it’s not done in the full sense of the word, but the hardest part – painting the cabinets – is.  We have yet to hang the new over-the-range microwave, build the shelf above it, and install a subway tile backsplash until we call it quits with our mini-reno.  Then of course I’ve got a few little things to do to keep me busy until Twin A and B come like taking some paint to a runner that will anchor the floor and hanging a picture collage on the wall between the dining area and the kitchen.  All in slow pregnancy time my friends. 

However, while waiting for Anthony to finish a couple of grad classes so we (more like he and a strong friend) can install the microwave, I’ve been taking advantage of the sweet southern weather and spending a good amount of time outside lounging and even putting in a little sweat equity.  As I mentioned in the twins 23 week post, I had enough energy to sustain a small army last week so I used some of it to improve our love-lacking landscaping.  In particular, one of the beds in the front of our house was looking a little shabby.  You might remember that a few years ago we overhauled our curb appeal, taking it from drab to fab, except since then, a couple of plants we chose had to be replaced.  I was in charge of buying the replacements last year and thought I scored a really good deal when I got a few plants for under five bucks.  So, I planted ‘em, thought they looked good (they always look good at the store) but this year, they grew back looking like weeds.  I should’ve taken a picture but I didn’t.  What I did do was, armed with a little more cash and sense, grabbed a few hibiscus (which are perennials down here) and a few annuals and went to work.

First, I set them in their soon-to-be spots just to make sure I got the spacing right:

  

And then I defied the probable wonderment of every passer-by thinking “look, it’s a pregnant lady with a shovel!” and dug, dug, dug until I got here:

All of the landscaped beds around our casa need a new layer of pine straw (which we use as mulch down here) and some grass seed needs to be sown throughout the yard, but at least our curb appeal isn’t a ‘lack of’ anymore.  And, if I've made the right plant decisions, the only tweaking of landscaped beds we should have to do in the following years is adding some annuals and maybe pine straw.  Fingers crossed. 

 Anyway, I’ve got a rather long list of to-do’s today before Easter that includes making some nips and tucks on some maternity wear, basking in the sun, and possibly some spray paint, so off I go.  I need to keep my mind busy to improve my mood – I found out last night, after finally doing our taxes, that the federal government was bound and determined to swoop in on my parade and take every last cent we had saved up for a new dslr camera.  Lovely.  Sometimes it’s harder to live on a budget than others but, we’ve got blessings galore and for these I am thankful.  :)

  I hope to get some more substantial Saturday posts in the form of tutorials and such on this here blog soon so stay close!  Oh yes, and most importantly, have an incredible Easter!  Thank you Lord Jesus for the sacrifice you made on the cross for us, that we might live and one day be united with you!

Twins: 23 Weeks

Not sure what I ate or what got into me this week but I literally felt like I could conquer the world - every square foot of my house is immaculate, I tackled the twins future room and consolidated everything they currently own into their closet, completely redid an entire landscape bed in front of our house (all by myself), took up pages in my "thoughts and ideas" sketch book writing and drawing diy ideas and plans, and still had energy left to run 10 miles (which I didn't do, but just sayin') despite the lack of sleep I'm getting due to the awkward belly.  Here's to hoping week 24 will bring me the same crazy energy cause I've got lots on my to-do list!  :)