Christmas Decor

We did finally get decorated around the house, but I'm just now getting around to taking pictures. Pardon my laziness, but these are from my phone.

Here is a daytime picture of the tree. Just imagine all the twinkly lights :)

I can't believe Christmas is 5 days away!

I love Christmas at Work

Christmas Carols playing through the Muzak... Christmas trees lining the hallways....

One MAC DADDY tree in the atrium!

Decorations everywhere!

This makes up for the fact that our house is treeless at the moment :(

We hope to remedy that this weekend!

The Fire

Wednesday was a day that will be etched into our minds forever. Husband and I left for work at 6:30 thinking that it would be a typical routine kind of day. Then as I was getting ready for a 9am meeting, he called to say that the family's Glass Studio was on fire and we needed to head home as soon as possible. 

That morning, the stove pipe that goes up into the ceiling came off sending sparks into the building. My father-in-law and Linda, the candy chef, thought they had put it all out not realizing that some of the sparks had gotten into the attic and spread. Thankfully they were both able to make it out of the building without harm!!!

That was the longest drive back home ever. Nothing could have prepared us for what we would see once we arrived. The smoke was so intense that the highway in front of the studio was blocked and you couldn't even see across the street. We just sat in the car in the driveway for the longest time trying to process what was happening. We were in shock to watch over 50 years of family business burning right before our eyes. It is literally like losing a family member. There were 12 firetrucks that responded from 4 different fire stations. If this was 'under control' I couldn't even imgaine what it must have looked like during the hour it took us to drive home.

Several news stations were there to report the tragic event. Here is a link to one of the reports.

picture from here

The original store was built by Husband's grand dad and added onto over the years until it morphed into the Glass Studio that everyone loved so much. Husband and his brothers and sister were raised at the store. They all say that they could sell fireworks and peanuts before they learned to walk and that artshows were an everyday part of life.

After a few short hours all that was left was a shell of a building and even that was still on fire. All the fire trucks pulled out that afternoon but by that evening some of them had to come back for round two. The middle part of the store was so hot that it had caught back on fire. The tin roof that covered that part of the store was keeping the water from reaching the flames to put them out.

This was the view from Husband's parent's house which is right next door. We are so thankful that the fire fighters were able to keep their home safe from the fire!

Those guys stayed and worked till around 9:00 that night.

A DeWalt drill was pulled from the ashes. Even though it was severly melted, it still worked. Pretty impressive, DeWalt!

They were also able to rescue the old peanut roaster.

While this is a terrible thing to have happen, we are still counting our blessings. We are so thankful that no one was harmed during the fire. We appreciate all the fire fighters  and rescue workers that responded to the call and helped to keep the flames under control and the family home safe. We are overwhelmed by the response of family, friends, and others in the community and all of their support during this time. Before we left for the night, I heard one of the family friends say that God will use this to His glory and that this family is too creative to let a fire stop them. You know what? She's exactly right. Please keep our family in your prayers as we begin to move forward and decide where to go from here. Thank you.

Speaking of Doors...

I just remembered that I never posted pictures of the door unit between the living room and outdoor living area. Shame on me!

I still haven't figured out the best way to photograph stained glass so that you can see all the details of it, so I'll just share all the different angles that I did take.

We had gotten so used to not having glass there and being able to walk through the doors that, once the glass went up, we put up blue painter's tape to keep us from walking through the doors!

Next on the list is to actually get some furniture for the outdoor living room.

...but I'm afraid that's taking a back burner to the nursery for now. We'll get it done eventually :)



 I can't wait till the weather warms back up (next year) and we can close off the house and open up the outside doors to the pool! I have a feeling this will be quite the hang out spot...since it will be our only shade!

I do love our new doors and I know sweet Husband is thankful to have this crossed off his project list! Thanks, Love! You're the best!

27 weeks

Greetings from the third trimester. I've officially been horrible at taking pictures of myself, but here is my attempt to start doing better. Week 27

Old clothes are officially out of the question and I'm in full swing pouch pants.

(Which are ugly as sin but as comfy as pajamas! I might keep them around as long as I can!)

For the most part I feel great! Getting around is a little more difficult than I'd like for it to be and my sense of balance is non-existent...but I'm not getting sick, and for that I'm thankful!!! At my 7 month appointment I had gained 5 more pounds. Now, I'm not sure how much of that is baby and how much is Thanksgiving dinner, but the nurse was proud of me so that's all that matters!

I have also decided that I'm carrying a little break dancer and his/her prime rehearsal times are in the weeee hours of the mornings! I guess that, along with my frequent midnight trips to the bathroom, are preparing me for my new schedule after the arrival of this little Crumb Snatcher.

Nursery Doors

Husband has been working super hard on the nursery doors...in order to meet a December 1st deadline given to him by one of his employees. Well, this weekend not only did he finish up, but he also got them installed!

 I'm so excited with how they turned out! I know I brag on him all the time, but I am so thankful to be married to such a talented man! I'm sure this little baby will appreciate all the hard work his/her Daddy has done to make the nursery perfect for him/her!

Nursery update

Before the nursery update, I wanted to let you know that I got a call from the nurse this morning and my glucose test came back normal this time! Praise the Lord!!!! Thank you all for your prayers!

My parents came down this weekend for a visit and to help us get some things together for the nursery. I'm not sure that they were quite prepared for all the work we had planned! Sorry guys! Saturday, while Mom and I went to pick up the crib, Dad and Husband painted some furniture. By furniture, I mean a large armoire and the rocker.

It was a bit windy outside (and chilly), so they set up a spray booth in the garage. They also attempted to paint this toy chest to match the crib too, but it would not cooperate and turned a nice shade of pepto-ish pink. (Could that be a sign that Its A Girl?)

So, while Mom and I were picking up the crib, we also got this little bouncy/swingy contraption. I know you love my technical terms for baby stuff.

I was a big fan of the colors and the little birds in the pattern. :)

We came home to put together the crib, which was way easier than I was expecting, and started putting the furniture in place!

The bedding also came in last week so we were able to try that on for size too!

I'm so excited that everything is slowly starting to come together. We've come a long way since my minor melt down a few weeks ago!

Husband found a small tree that he has claimed for his own personal project. Here is our first (very small) hint as to what the 'tree project' will eventually be.

Sunday the paint had dried so, after church, we Dad and Husband moved the furniture into the nursery. The toy chest, on the other hand, will take another coat!

A while back Husband got this old magazine table with plans to redo it in chalk paint.

Lots of elbow grease later...we have a new magazine table in the color duck egg.

I think this table will have a home next to the rocker! I love how it turned out! We are slowly getting the nursery put together piece by piece. I think I can start the holiday season now, knowing that we do actually have a place for the baby should he/she decide to come early.

Next on the list....nursery doors!!!!

Baby update

I forgot to tell you guys here, but earlier this month I had my glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. I've been a great eater...I mean, now that I can eat...so I wasn't worried about this test at all. I wasn't looking forward to it, but I was confident that I would pass.

I fasted, took the morning off from work, drank the mysterious beverage that tasted like a flat Fanta, had my blood drawn and was on my way to lunch with Husband in no time. Piece of cake. I was told by my sweet nurse that no news was good news, so I was prepared not to hear from her again for a month. Oh, how wrong I was. The very next morning I got the call that I would have to go back for a 3 hour glucose test the next week! My sugar levels were too high.

This was the worst news ever! I almost starved to death  at  this first test! There is no way I could go for 12 hours with no food or water! This is a type of punishment, not a test!

Friday morning I went back to become the human pin cushion. I had asked for prayers from so many that I was convinced the baby and I would be okay. Armed with a good book and toothpaste/toothbrush, I was all set to take on the flat Fanta and 3 final hours of starvation. THEN I got to the doctor's office and found out it was not the Fanta...it was a more intense version of a flat sprite. I wasn't prepared for a change up on the flavors. I knew I could handle the fanta! I was so afraid of getting sick right there in the middle of the doctor's office. However, I did not. Other than my arm looking like that of a drug addict, I survived the ordeal.

My friend 1L picked me up from the doctors office and whisked me off to get a juicy hamburger! We wait till Monday for my results. Thanks to everyone who is praying for me and baby Adams. A diabetic diet before the holidays would be cruel and unusual punishment to the 10th degree!

What's the haps

It is my goal to catch up on November's happenings before the end of November. We shall see how well I do. Deep breath in...and here goes nothin'. (PS-I'm refusing to spell check and proof read this one...Be Ye Warned!)

The first weekend of the month was most definitely classified as Birthday Weekend. That Friday night, Diva had some friends over to spend the night...and let me tell you just how loud 16-year-olds can be! Wowza! They watched movies, drove around on the golf cart, and stayed up chatting and giggling till the weeeeee hours of the morning. Saturday morning I woke up and drove to meet my friend Kim who made Diva's cake pops! Please look how fabulous they turned out!!!

Needless to say, Diva was surprised and her friends were rather impressed. AND they were seriously delicious!!! Thanks Kim!

Saturday the 5th was Husband's actual birthday and, as he has decided that he is now old enough to drink coffee, we met some of our friends at the local coffee shop to start his day off right! After a night of girls, he needed the coffee!

The next weekend was TROY's homecoming. We began the weekend with a steak dinner at a friend's house (who cooks so well that you can cut his steaks with a fork!!!) on Friday night. We then migrated over to the home of the Walkers to catch up with our Atlanta and Newnan friends. It is always such a fun time visiting with friends that we don't get to see often enough.

The homecoming game started at noon on Saturday so we had to get there to tailgate pretty early. Husband drove the electric car (read: golf cart) over from our new house. Now this may sound pretty simple, however, I'm fairly certain it was illegal. While, yes, this is a street legal cart...I'm pretty sure its not legal to the streets that he had to cross to get it to campus. Thank goodness no one was harmed (or arrested) in this transportation process! I am ashamed to say that out of all the tailgating that we did, I only managed to take one picture, and that was with some of my sorority sisters at the Chi O tent.

After the game the 15 of us that had been tailgating went out to dinner, and then Sunday morning the whole gang came over to our house for breakfast before we all had to go our separate ways. There is nothing better than getting to spend a weekend with such dear friends! It was like we didn't want it to end so we just kept eating!!!

The next weekend, my parents are coming down and we're doing some nursery projects! Stay tuned for pictures...

Simple Math

Weekend math problem at our house:

16 year old girl’s sleep over + 1 golf cart load of neighborhood boys = 1 stressed out daddy
1 dad + 1 front sprinkler system = 0 flirtatious boys knocking at the front door

 
Any questions?

Rocker: part one

Here is the start of the Rocker Refinishing Project.

Step 1: A sweet mom gives her (circa 1983) rocker to her favorite daughter.

Said daughter then puts picture of her baby brother in a silly hat and old school baby gear on her blog.(...twice!)

Step 2: Sweet Dad offers to strip the finish off because he knows his favorite daughter would like to paint it to match the rest of the furniture.

(This is what he used in this process just in case you were wondering.)

Step 3: Stand back and admire the 'unfinished' chair

Step 4: Thank Mom and Dad for such a wonderful addition to the nursery!

In a couple of weeks, Mom and Dad are coming to see us and bring the chair so that we can finish with the paint! Can't wait to show you the finished product!!!

Quite possibly the hardest job...

Naming another human, especially one that you've never met, has got to be the hardest, most pressure-filled job in the world. I mean, really...there is a LOT in a name. Now that I think about it, I've never even named a pet until I've seen it, held it and played with it!

photo from here

I'd like to have several names for a girl and several names for a boy. You know...then we can just decide what the baby looks like once he/she gets here. What do you think? I know you're out there. I see where you've chosen to come check out my little corner of the world, whether you leave a comment or not. Well, now I have a favor to ask. Any ideas on names.... Help a sista out!

Preparation

At around 20 weeks, I started finally feeling great. No more sickness. I had an appetite. I got this incredible new surge of energy! That's when it hit me. This baby is halfway here! I keep telling myself that we have plenty of time. February is in 2012....that's next year. I shouldn't worry that we don't have a crib, bedding, or anything else besides the stack of diapers that is accumulating under the stairs. But we're halfway there! The week days are busy with activities with the girls and we have every weekend booked till Thanksgiving...

Enter freak out moment.

This baby is about to be here and is going to be sleeping in a dresser drawer because we don't have a crib and the nursery is still an office and we don't have any of the furniture finished and we don't have the doors finished and where am I going to store all the office furniture and, and, and....Needless to say there were tears. (Dang these hormones!) The fact that I've had a couple of friends here lately to go into labor early  hasn't eased my anxiousness either.

So, Saturday, sweet/wonderful Husband gave up his afternoon of watching football so that we could check a few things off our list. (I would like to note that we did end up at a Mexican restaurant with many TVs just in time for the Auburn game) 

First up...Cribs! This was a very successful shopping trip. We found a crib that we both liked and it comes in a color called snowdrift...which is like an antique white. Pretty, pretty!





Then we saw this changing table which just so happens to be...

Reversible! I couldn't find a picture online, but you can get the basic idea :)

The changing table top becomes the decorative bottom. You just take the drawers out, flip it, and put the drawers back in! Ta-da! Big kid dresser.

(Pictures from here)

We did look for bedding while we were there, and found some that we liked, but nothing that we couldn't live without. So, the search continues... For now, we've made progress and this Momma's happy!

On the refinishing side of things... My Mom is giving me her old rocker to use in our nursery and Dad is stripping the finish off so that we can paint it to match. I'll share more of that process soon, but until then...Here's a (waaaaaay) before picture...if you can get past the baby picture of little brother...hee hee!