Well, not much has changed here. We are still waiting for our ultrasound when we can finally find out if this amazing little baby is a boy or a girl. For a while Greg was pretty sure it was a girl and I almost trusted his intuition (he was the one experiencing morning sickness, after all!). But then he decided it was and boy, and now he's back to girl. I don't feel anything one way, or the other. People ask me if I'm carrying high or low...but I'm still not really showing so I can't really tell. Did any of you "know" what you were having before you found out for sure? How?

We had an ultrasound at 12 weeks which they used for our First Trimester Screening Test. The results were wonderful. Everything looks great so far! And look how cute our tiny baby is!



I'm 16 weeks today and feeling excellent! I was hoping for a little extra energy in the 2nd trimester, but I guess I should just be grateful that I had such a great 1st trimester.



I stole this fun little questionnaire from another blog and thought it would be a good way for me to keep a record of my pregnancy. So, here we go:

How far along? 16 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 4 pounds gained
Maternity clothes? Not yet. Just a lot of leggings!
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Sleeping great!
Best moment this week: Possibly feeling a tiny flutter of movement...maybe...
Miss Anything? Being able to run 5 miles, no problem. Oh well. This is so worth it!
Movement: Maybe...
Food cravings: Blackberries!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not so far.
Have you started to show yet: Not really. I can see a tiny bump. Maybe next week!
Gender prediction: I have no idea. Anyone have a "feeling"?
Labor Signs: No!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Feeling more movement & finding out what this baby is so I can go shopping!

I'm back! It's a new year and I have so many incredibly exciting reasons to blog again so I'm here and I'm going to do my best to keep up with everything that's going on in our lives. Well...the exciting parts anyway. And the most exciting reason for my motivation...


WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

Greg and I are both so excited! We've waited so long for this and we could not be happier.

Things are going very well so far. Ladies, please don't hate me for this. I've had no morning sickness! Tiny waves of a nauseous-like feeling every now and then, but that's it! I feel wonderful! I've been so blessed so far and I can't wait until July when we can meet the little cutie. Official due date is July 10th...we're going to shoot for the 4th.

RIght now I'm 13 weeks and 2 days and things are going well. We've had 2 ultrasounds (pictures coming soon), and as far as anyone can tell, things look great. My awesome husband bought me a fetal heart doppler for Christmas so I can hear Baby Leech's heart beating anytime I feel the need. That's usually once or twice a day.



I'm not really showing yet, but I want to keep track of the changes my body will make in the next months.
I love being pregnant and I can't wait to be a mom! I'm taking advice on anything and everything so if you have any, please share.

I am so excited about what I'm about to post! Greg and I have been procrastinating buying a dining room table for four years now! We can never agree, or the one we do agree on is way too expensive or it's just right but it's the wrong finish, or it doesn't seat enough people...it's always something. So for the last 4 years, our poor guests have been dining in our living room around the coffee table. Well, I found the perfect table! It's totally us! It's from Restoration Hardware and it only costs $2725.00

Yes...I said two thousand, seven hundred and twenty five dollars! And chairs aren't even included! But isn't it beautiful!?!


Would you like to know what my husband said when he saw it? "I can build that!"

And build it he did!








We stained it the exact color we wanted...

I found these great chairs on craigslist for $25 for all four of them...


Gave them a couple of coats of black spray paint (of course I did)...

AND...

Our dining room is finally complete! I'm in heaven! I can't stop looking at it!




And some homemade (super easy to make) mossy spheres finish it off just right!

He is so talented! I had no idea he had such mad carpentry skills! Now that I do however, I have a whole list for the poor man of things I'm going to have him build for me! Including the beautiful square tray you see sitting on that ottoman. I've been wanting it for years but can'y justify forking out $70 for a tray and I can't seem to find anything quite like it anywhere else.


Tomorrow we'll be picking up a couple these gorgeous ladies to go on each end of the new table. Only ours do not cost $399 each like these ones. Try more like $45...for two!

Our little puppy turned three years old today! I know everyone thinks we're crazy because we treat him like a child, take him everywhere, include him in our family pictures, have huge portraits of him framed in our house, throw him birthday parties, take him out for ice cream, etc. But he truly is the best dog in the world and is such a wonderful companion when Greg is gone. We love him so much so today I'm celebrating!














Thanks for the treats and the new ball Grandma Elaine!

Happy Birthday Ares! We love you!

I have a big shoot coming up tomorrow so I've spent the morning clearing off my memory cards and I came across a whole bunch of pictures that I thought would be fun to share starting with Halloween pictures that I promised months ago!

Remember our house in 2008?


We added a few more things this time! Greg and my dad made that awesome spooky fence, the grim reaper and the super creepy guy on the left! They are so talented! My mom made some delicious Chili and cornbread and Citrus Cider for everyone that stopped by. It was so great to have my parents here!


We love Halloween!




After a long spring, summer and fall in the hospital we decided to spend a very quiet and relaxing Christmas at home. Just the three of us.








The day after Christmas, we headed to the mountains for a week of relaxation at a gorgeous cabin in Tennessee.






Hmmm...where are my Thanksgiving pictures? I guess I'll be back.

Three times in a week! What's wrong with me? I'm so so so so so so excited about what I got done today! The weather was absolutely gorgeous (except a bit of wind) and Ares and I spent the entire day outside.

I dusted off the lawn mower and gave it a fresh drink of gasoline, then took it for a stroll around my backyard. Oh how wondrous that bag on the back is that sucks up all the leaves and dead grass. It's like a vacuum for your lawn...and I love vacuuming! I forgot that there was a lawn under all those leaves and sticks and weeds! It looks beautiful.

I saw this done on some very creative person's blog and I just had to have some of my own! They are just terra cotta pots that you can get at Lowe's for a couple of dollars each, some black craft paint, then I traced on some numbers (my house number) that I printed off by rubbing a pencil over the back of the paper, lying the paper on the pot and tracing over the numbers with a pen so that the lead stays on the pot! Then, I painted the numbers with white acrylic paint...
threw in some flowers...
I LOVE THEM!



I went to the Restore again today...this time I had a mission! I just wanted to get a couple of plastic outdoor chairs because I have never really appreciated them or given them a chance and I wanted to see what they had to offer.

I found these for $3.00!


I gave them a couple of coats of black spray paint, threw on some pillows that I got for $6.00 a piece a few weeks ago and they've been sitting in my living room waiting for a pair of chairs to sit on, brought down the console table I bought two years ago and have never found a use for, found a green candle that I got for free from Pier 1 when I worked there and was still in the wrapper, and a couple of other odds and ends that have never really had a spot...and turned this...


Into this!

I think the chairs definitely showed me that they were well worth the $3.00 and a little bit of TLC!

Can you believe I'm blogging twice in one week? It's a miracle! I'm just so excited about all these projects I'm doing that I justhave to share!

I've been working on finding some photo props for an event I have coming up in April. I'm going to be doing a full afternoon of back to back mini photo shoots! I already have seven families signed up! I'm so excited and I can't wait to use my new props! I've been wanting to get some old suitcases for a while and I finally found some at the Restore! One of them was already perfect and yellow but the other one needed a paint job!



Here they are making their modeling debut!


I can't wait to use them! Just look at all the fun things I could do with them!










AAAAHHHH!!! I'm so excited!

So, remember my painted easter eggs from my last post? Well I found these half off at Michael's the other day and almost passed them up because purple just really isn't my color...Ares really wanted to be in the picture.


But with the same paint job as my other eggs and a little burlap and ribbon...


and an Easter greeting...


they fit right in!

I still have a whole bunch of projects in the works and if I can keep up this blogging streak...you'll be seeing them soon! And just for your viewing pleasure, here's Ares hanging out with me while I took the picture of the suitcases!