Little E hit the three month mark last week. Along with that came a growth spurt that brought even more talking, grabbing at objects and the biggie- rolling over! She did not have a 3 month appointment, so I’m not sure how big she is, but she’s growing, I assure you!

We spent the last two weeks in Michigan, so the grandparents were able to witness some of these new skills firsthand.  She and I flew home while the WMD stayed in NC, supposedly to do schoolwork, but I think just about everything else was done out of homework avoidance. I was excited to come back to a beautifully refinished kitchen floor (we discovered hardwood underneath the nasty vinyl) and the extension of the brick pavers and rock wall in front of the house.

Little E certainly keeps us busy, but we’re slowly getting back into the swing of things and learning how to juggle a baby with school, housework and work. We’re enjoying every minute (or at least 90% of them!).

Well, today’s the day. I’m no longer a paid employee of any organization. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, planning towards it, saving up and daydreaming. And I have to say, now that it’s here, I’m liking it so far. I’ve managed to make the WMD breakfast before he went to class (he was shocked) and lunch when he came home (doubly shocked), made two tutu’s and started on a third for two little girls in my life, cooked a pot roast, cleaned the windows, finished a book and started another one and took a two hour nap. Amazing how much I can get done when I don’t have to go into the office (or have a baby on my hip). I’m actually blogging and taking photos for the first time in a very long time. And it’s only 4:30p. What should I do now?

I even had time to pick these little first fruits from our garden. And then we ate them. And they were good.

They came from this wild plot of land I call my garden.

I tried my best to get a good belly shot now that I’m less than two weeks (June 28!) from my due date, but it proved to be harder than I thought since we don’t have a bathroom mirror low enough for something like this. So this is what you get. Forgive the wet hair and look of concentration. I was so determined to get the shot that I totally ignored the fact that my hair wasn’t done and that when I concentrate I tend to grimace. And that my right arm is not in fact amputated at the elbow.

I’ll bribe the WMD to take a better one of me next week.

Little projects for Little E. Nursery is coming along but not quite done. Will be back with photos when it is.

Now that we’re definitely in the grips of spring, we’ve been working outside more, trying to get out yard up to speed. One of my main projects for this year was to have raised beds for a vegetable garden. Well, more like a tomato garden, with a few peppers thrown in, but that’s what we like around here.

The WMD built these boxes for me while I was in Michigan a few weeks ago. They are 4×4, giving me 16 square feet of gardening room in each box. I originally was going to go with the Square Foot Method, but I sort of went overboard in the plant buying department, so this is more of a hybrid between SFM and raised beds. Our forty (!) tomato plants and eight pepper plants fit fine right now, but I expect that it will look like a veggie jungle in a few weeks.

This is what the plants looked like last weekend right after I planted them:

I can’t believe how much they’ve grown in just a week! The WMD was good enough to fence it all in this week while I was out of town for a work conference. I don’t know who the culprit is, but two years ago we lost the tops of the tomato plants to one of the critters that live in the woods outside. Last year I only planted a few pots of tomatoes and the chicken wire fence did the job of protecting them, so we went with it again this year, but expanded it a little bit to allow me to walk around the boxes without having to remove the fencing each time. 

My irises hit their peak this week. They’ve just about packed the little bricked in bed next to the front porch, so I think that I’ll have to split them up after they’re done blooming this year. I’ll have to figure out where to move them.

The WMD has been busy finishing his rock wall and I have to say, he did a really great job! It definitely makes our home look a little more “cottagey.” He either dug up all of these rocks from the property around our home or hulled them from a giant pile of rocks at our church from the construction going on there. It’s been a huge and tiresome undertaking for him, but I would definitely say it’s a labor of love.

He also discovered a bunch of old bricks in the woods behind us and decided to lay a brick walkway up to our front door. It seems that there once was a house on the property and all that’s left is a brick foundation and crumbling chimney. The WMD decided that they’d make a nice addition to our home and has been spent a lot of time lugging them out of oblivion. He likes playing in the woods.

So, after mulling over, discussing and praying about a move to Kentucky next summer so that the WMD could switch seminaries and we could be closer to our families, we’ve decided that the best thing for our little family in this economy is to stay put right where we are for the next four years and let the WMD get his Master’s degree here. Really, other than not being closer to family, we’re very, very happy with this decision.

What that means is that painting the kitchen cabinets are back on the table once Little E is not taking up residence inside my belly anymore. Originally, with a new baby on the way and the possibility of putting our house on the market pronto, we installed them as is and figured they were better than what we had when we moved in. They are really great, solid wood cabinets that have served us much better functionally in the last 8 months that we’ve had them than I originally thought considering we only paid $150 for the entire kitchen (we didn’t have room for all of them, so the WMD got a nice little workshop in the shed out of it too), which is a ree-diculous CraigsList score.

However, they are buttugly.

Our home is small and I want white cabinets, which I assume will feel less imposing than the dark brown stain that’s currently on them. I also think white will lend to a more airy “cottagy” feel, which is what we’re going with in our home since, well, it’s technically a cottage. All of this to say, I’ve been researching how to paint kitchen cabinets since a) we don’t have the money to pay someone to do it, b) even if we did have the money, we probably still wouldn’t pay someone to do it (but that’s because we would have gotten all new white cabinets to begin with. And we wouldn’t live in this house. We’d live in this one a few blocks over from us.), c) I figure I’ll have boatloads of time on my hand since I will be staying home with Little E (I assume that’s correct, right, all my mommy friends?(I’m kidding)), and d) I’m a glutton for punishment. I’ve spent the last four summers standing out in the sweltering North Carolina sun painting something and I figure, why should this summer be any different?

So, as I was doing some research, I stumbled across Remodeling Guy’s post about painting cabinets. I figured if anyone knows what it takes to do this sort of project, Remodeling Guy does. He started with Part Iand then pulled the ultimate switcheroo with Part II. Really, I can’t do it justice, so just go over to his blog, read what he did and then come back here to let me know if I should attempt his method in Part II. I’m curious to see what my readers have to say about his Plan B. It appeals to me in a way very similar to the way dill pickles appeal to me right now, so to say the least, I’m leaning strongly in that direction.

I finally found a dresser on Craigslist that was in our price range, the style I wanted and within a reasonable driving distance. It also came with a matching nightstand. I have plans to paint both, but I’m not sure which color yet. I think the nightstand will go in the living room, so it will probably end up apple red like the other side tables we have in that room to bring it all together. I have an empty spot waiting for it and it will be a great place to store our board games, cards, etc…

As for the dresser, this will serve as both the changing table and clothes storage for Little E (whose wardrobe is quickly eclipsing mine already!). The WMD doesn’t think I should paint it at all, but I drew my veto card on this one. Yes, this is a hill I will die on. I did ask him if he liked the decor of our home and he said yes. I then reminded him who was responsible for that and that he needed to leave the dresser color up to me. Besides, he was just yanking my chain. He loves to do that and most of the time, I’ll play along. But not when it comes to painting furniture.

So, while I’m deciding what to do with the dresser, I’m mulling over these inspiration pics:

Courtesy of babybomb

Courtesy of kmk7878

Courtesy of tashanoel

Courtesy of inkstainedwriter

Any opinions? Should I go with color or just do a creamy white?

Now that it’s pretty obvious to most observers that I’m indeed pregnant, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about Little E’s nursery (the chick formerly known as Little WMD).  Since her parent’s are the frugal type and purchased a small home, she won’t be getting her own nursery. But, the two walls she will get will be cute!

Since we’re not repainting that room, I’ve decided to incorporate red and white into her bedding, decor, etc… to go with the tan walls. Sorry that the photo above is so small,  but it gives you an idea of what I’m thinking. The room color is in the upper right. The crib sheet is red and the crib skirt is the polka dot fabric behind it. We’ve purchased the Ikea Gulliver Crib in birch for her and for now, we have the alphabet poster in red and the Love You print that I’ll mat in white and frame in black.

The other photos are my inspiration photos. I’ve been searching CraigsList relentlessly for a dresser that will also serve as a changing table. I’m looking for something with good lines, that’s feminine and, most importantly, cheap. I really like the white one in the photo above and have been looking for one similar to it that I can paint. However, it seems like people on our local CL want upwards of $100 for an old dresser. Knowing that I could just as likely find a free one on the curb, there’s no way at this point in the game that I’m dropping more than $50 for one.

I’m considering making the hoop ribbon mobile in the lower right, only in shades of red, pink, and white. I have plenty of ribbons and a hoop, it’s just a matter of sitting down and making it. The photo with the little girl jumping up and down is really more for references than anything else. I love Meg’s thrift style and would really like to copy it in Little E’s room. The last photo in the upper right corner shows embroidery hoops with different color/pattern fabric in them. Such an easy and inexpensive way to decorate a wall. I also like the fact that I could place these on the wall above the crib and not have to worry about heavy objects falling into the crib.

Basically I’m trying to create a sweet area for a little girl that blends in with the rest of the room, which is used as her dad’s library and study area. I wanted to make sure that her art would be something that I would hang in our house any way and that her area not be full of pink, ruffles and butterflies. I want her space to meld with ours. Hopefully I’ll be able to achieve that.

This:

Plus This:

Equals This:

My mom, my aunt and I made our annual pilgrimage to Ikea while the WMD and I were in Michigan for the holidays (Note: The WMD did NOT go to Ikea with us. That’s not the WMD’s thing. He would want me to note this for my readers). Since it’s only a once a year kind of thing,  we took our time meandering around each floor and enjoying lunch in the cafe.

Now, there’s never a shortage of things that I want each time we make this trip. In fact, there’s usually a surplus. However, taking into consideration that any items purchased have to be transported across country and then find a place in a teeny, tiny house means that I often leave with very little. In fact, it wasn’t until we got to the very end of our shopping trip that I spotted this little number. I liked the shape of it and I liked the $6 price tag even better, so I snapped it up in a heartbeat.  Once we were back in good ole’ North Cackilacky, I went to the HD (Home Depot), picked up my color de rigeur and spray painted that baby a nice shade of apple red to match the other side tables in the living room.

Now I just need a plant. Should have picked one of those up at Ikea too.

The bread and milk are nowhere to be found in the stores, work is cancelled and the roads are impassable, which means- SNOW DAY!

We have three inches and it’s still coming down strong. Okay, I know this really isn’t a big deal for my family and friends in Michigan, but here in North Carolina, this type of thing doesn’t happen very often. It’s been two years since our last snow day and that was for only an inch of snow, so this, this is exciting.

Even the WMD’s little gnome friend is enjoying the scene, snow beard and all. I’ve got a pot roast dinner in the crock pot and a day to dilly-dally around the house with the WMD. We even plan to watch the inauguration. Heck, with the work holiday yesterday and if the snow keeps on falling, I may get a five day weekend and a two day work week- as life should be. I think I’ll go have some more hot chocolate.

So Hanna’s just showed up at the door. As you can see, it’s a good thing we don’t live in Wilmington anymore. Although, I don’t think it’s really going to be that bad for them. Not this time around.

We’re just starting to get some rain. It will pick up tonight along with the wind. Apparently, we’re supposed to be concerned about the pine trees more than anything else. With the drought we’ve had for the last year, their roots aren’t too stable and high winds can send them toppling over.

Guess where we live?

Umm, yeah.

Well hey, I’ve been hoping for a fire to destroy the place so we could just start fresh, but maybe the winds will do it for us! Did I mention that I’m over renovating our house into a cute little cottage? Because I am.

So, while I’m waiting for that to happen, I plan to make these and this this weekend. I also want to work on more of these and learn how to do this.