Fair Parade

Monday afternoon, Livy got to ride in the fair parade with her dance friends. The theme was luau, so naturally, she dressed the part. I was a little worried about letting my 3 year old ride across town without me, but she did great! Of course... Miss Social Butterfly has fun wherever she goes. 

 

Halfway There!

 OR

 

I am 20 weeks pregnant! And although I haven't gained any weight yet (I swear I'm not lying!) I look like I'm about to pop! Or at least I think I look that way. Somehow I'm still 3 pounds under my starting weight. I guess I can thank 16 weeks of being sick for that!? 

 

I can't believe I'm halfway there! I was telling my cousin the other day that the weeks are actually seeming to fly. It feels like it takes no time at all to check off another week that's gone by... but there's just so many weeks! That's ok though, I'm enjoying my time being pregnant.

 

Not knowing the gender of our baby hasn't really bothered me. Not totally anyway. I'll admit, it would be nice to call "it" by he or she. Like when the baby's rolling around, I could say, "Here she goes again... or... he sure is active today!" But I just keep picturing the moment when the baby is born and that anticipation of "What is it? What is it? A boy or a girl?!?!" That's what I'm holding out for. All my friends think I'm crazy and that's fine with me! Ha! Also, our baby will be rockin' some yellow and/or green footed pajamas because it seems that the world is convinced those are the only "gender neutral" colors.

 

I keep thinking about that little face and what he/she will look like! Is it Cameron Elliott in there? Or is it Charlotte Emily? Secretly, even if it's a boy, I sort of want to name him Charlotte just because I LOVE that name so much! I'd never really do that to my son... but I do love the name Charlotte. I guess it's just easier to picture myself with another girl because I've been down that road before. A boy is unchartered territory for me, which is a little scary.

 

I'm hoping cooler weather and all the holidays around the corner will help the time pass by even quicker. Just 20 weeks left... Can't wait to see our baby!

 



Almay Lip Gloss

It's no secret that Livy has been loving her lipsticks and lip glosses lately. She likes to sneak in my bathroom and put on my Bare Minerals lip glosses... all over the region below her nose. Then I have to watch her because what ever she puts her face against (couch, pillows, recliner, clothes, etc.) will be stained with lip gloss! So I've been trying to limit the amount of lip gloss I let her wear.

This afternoon, we were watching Full House when a commercial for Almay's new Liquid Lip Balm came on. It showed about a million different shades of pinks and reds and I could tell Livy was in a trance. Then Kate Hudson said, "You gotta try it!" Livy immediately looks at me and said,
"See Mom? She said I GOTTA try it! Because it feels so good on my yips!"

All I could do was laugh! The toy commercials may have no affect on her, but make-up commercials?? She's all over it!

Bridezilla

You know, sometimes I have the best of intentions and things just don't turn out the way I want them to. If you're on Pinterest, you've probably seen these pins of the little girl in her mother's wedding dress...

 

 

Adorable, right?! Normally it would be one of those things where I think it is super sweet, but way too much trouble. However, I just so happen to have my wedding dress sitting in my bedroom right now because 1) I just cleaned out my closet, and 2) Drew hasn't put it up in the attic yet. So I just thought what the heck, let's do it! Might as well because once that dress goes up in storage, it's not coming back down for a long, long time! 

 

So I tell Livy my idea, and of course she's excited! She never passes up a chance to get all dolled up! We curl her hair, put on a little blush to satisfy her make-up craving, put on her pearls, and head outside.

 

All was going great until she bumped her head on the way out the door. Disaster. Tears were falling left and right! I get her calmed down and as we're walking across the yard, the grass starts itching her feet and she thinks ants are biting her. Meltdown. We finally get situated, I'm ready to take a few pictures (very quickly because I know this won't last long!), and she can barely contain herself! Poor thing was so sleepy. I snapped a few shots, and then the sun got in her eyes. End of the world.

 

I realized I had gotten all the pictures I was gonna get, so we came back in. I sent her to bed while I put my dress back in the bag. Then I went to check on her and she was out like a light! Bless her, she just really needed a nap.

 

Although it didn't turn out quite like I had planned, I still got some really cute shots. And I know one day many, many years from now if her dad ever lets her date when she gets married, these pictures will be priceless!



 

Hopefully she gets a nap on her real wedding day!

 

 



Pinterest Projects

I like to think that I'm a pretty patient person, mostly laid-back and easy going. But when it comes to things I want to get done, I want them done yesterday! I think the pregnancy might have a little to do with that... Maybe a little early nesting? Lately, I find myself wanting everything clean and organized.

And Pinterest is only adding fuel to the fire! 

Drew and I have a long term list of things that we want to redo around the house: the back porch, our master bathroom, the front door, etc. All of these are super expensive so that's why they're on the long term list (aka... they'll probably never get done, but they're fun to think about). So I came up with a quick fix for the front door... Just repaint it! 

The door was originally the same green color as the entire house. It has diagonal wooden panels on it, but that green was doing nothing for it. I picked a couple of tan colors that coordinated with the rocks on the house, and now it really pops! I also added our house number... Thanks for another great idea, Pinterest! And the fall decorations are just wonderful... I almost love them more than my Christmas decorations!

 

Another recent project was our master closet. I forgot to take a before picture but take my word for it... It was a disaster. There was only one rod on each side of the closet so there was absolutely not enough room for all of our clothes. Therefore, we constantly had to switch out our clothes every time the seasons changed. The bulky Rubbermaid containers sat at the bottom of our closet barely leaving enough room to walk in there. Needless to say it was a pain getting dressed everyday... As if trying to just find clothes that fit wasn't enough of a problem!

 

Drew brought home some new rods so we could have double the space on each of our sides! And it has been wonderful getting dressed everyday. I actually almost enjoy picking out my clothes. 

Livy cracks me up in this picture! 

 

 

The third project I've got on my list is the buffet in the dining room. Who knows when it will get done because I can't do this one myself. So this one is all up to Drew. I told him I'd love to have it finished by Thanksgiving... We shall see! 

Here's what I want done... 

And here's what it looks like now...

I found a neat idea on Pinterest to store all my hair products on shelves instead of stuffed in the drawers. I love it. It's like getting ready in my very own hair salon. 

Here's what I found...

And here's what mine looks like...

This one is not a new change. I actually did this one a long time ago, but it was a Pinterest project so I thought I'd include it. Instead of cramming all my makeup in a bag in the drawer, I have it all organized on the counter. Then when I need to go overnight somewhere, I just put what I need in a makeup bag and go. So nice!

Here was the idea...

And here's my version...

There's just something about fall being right around the corner that makes me want to make everything pretty! 

A Little Bedtime Reading

Livy had been tucked away in bed for about 10-15 minutes tonight, and I figured she would've been asleep by that point because I knew how tired she was, but I kept hearing a noise coming from her direction. At first I thought she was trying to sneak down the hall, but Drew said he was pretty sure it was the sound of pages turning, like she was reading a book. I laid in bed watching TV for a while, then I decided to go check on her. When I walked in I found her almost hanging off the bed (hence the drool spot). So I just scooted her over, and when I did, I noticed the book she had been reading... the Bible.

 

She has a basket full of her favorite books beside her bed that we read over and over, and out of all of those options, she chose her Bible. It made me so proud of her... but so ashamed of myself. I don't do nearly enough when it comes to teaching her the stories of the Bible. And I could certainly do better about studying my Bible too. It's so easy to let other things take priority. Tonight made me realize what I already knew... I need to be a better example for her!

 

My, what our children unknowingly teach us!  

 

Dr. Olivia

This afternoon, Livy was playing with her baby dolls when she discovered that one of them one was sick and needed a check-up. She ran to get her doctor's bag and set up her office on my bed. I watched her give the baby doll a full check-up, then she began writing her diagnosis in the Big Book Of Boo-Boos. She looked up at me and said,

"Lots-of-stuff-osis... Yep, that's what she has!"