Zzzz...

Yes, I now know what is like to be a tired parent. I knew it was going to be bad...and I'm sure I haven't had the worst of it yet...Dear Hubby has been off from work for few days to help me out. We have been "working" in shifts overnight and so far, so good. THANK YOU! My Mother is coming too so this will be a big help...and also a Godsend, a few gals from church have been calling and offering to bring meals over. SO SWEET. Last night we had a piping hot meal just brought to the door. And another is coming tomorrow night as well as Friday. WOW! The funny thing is two of them are also pregnant so I will be returning the favor soon.

Dear Bebe is still cute as a button which makes me not care what time it is in the wee hours of the morning. I guess this is why all parents do it. She is already teaching me lessons I never knew I needed to learn. And I am grateful for the opportunity.

I'm going to keep this short as time is like gold now and I will be back with an update sometime soon.

Jillian

Home!

We are home from the hospital with the new little one. As great as the hospital staff was, I was so excited to be able to come home. Being waited on and ordering meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was pretty nice, though!

My stepdaughter was a HUGE help and showed up to help us out. She cooked a couple of delicious dinners for us and helped organize the nursery (I wasn't completely ready) as well as did some of our grocery shopping. She is so thrilled about her new baby sister....here she is helping out with a feeding. Dear Bebe (as she will be referred to here on the blog) is soooooo sweet and precious! As her new momma, do you think I am biased? :-)

As far as being a new momma, I think I am the most paranoid. I have the new parent syndrome, checking and worrying about everything. I think this will pass in time. . .

Anyway, just taking a breather to give an update. I really really appreciate the wonderful comments you all are leaving. I will get back to you as soon as I can and visit your blogs to see what you all are up to. I feel out of the blog loop but will try to visit now and then as we get adjusted to life here in the house with a baby. And Dear Hubby is a fabulous Dad...he has been SO helpful. So far, so good!

Still in the Hospital

Hi Ladies...quick update...baby girl arrived at 1: 37 AM SEPT 23. I am still in the hospital room...using dear hubby's laptop. We are not supposed to have wireless here in our room but he knew a way to log on! Yay!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the lovely comments. We really appreciate them.

Now for the bad news. I had to have a C-Section! Ugh! But, the baby girl is here safe and sound so that is all that matters. She is of course, the prettiest baby I've ever seen! Tee hee.

She weighed in at 5 lbs and 14 oz....and 19 inches long.

Shouldn't be here much longer...will be home soon and will have another update when able to climb stairs better, etc.

Miss you all in bloggy land! Thanks again for your wonderful words of prayer and encouragement.

Jillian

We're Having a Baby!

Yes, we're heading to the hospital today to have a baby. A what??????? A BABY! I had not revealed my pregnancy to the internet world over the past several months. (Ok, nine months...)

And I was really going to post today about how I was due in a couple of weeks and we both felt it was time to "reveal" the nursery room we were decorating and to announce the pregnancy to my bloggy pals. I even made a new blog header over the weekend. (I have added it now, to the top of the blog.)But, things don't always work out like you think they will and last night, my water membrane ruptured. So, we are getting packed up to go to the hospital in an hour....

Am I nervous now or what? I was not planning on going this early...and I'm not even sure what to write about. I've wanted to write about the pregancy this whole time and yet we chose to keep it private. I had terrible morning sickness and well all kinds of other symptoms that go along with being pregnant.

So, I just wanted to quickly type out what is happening and explain why I have been so secretive about my upcoming "life changes" which I hinted to in my post about the changing seasons. Also, I probably will be pretty busy very soon so I may not be available to blog but I did ask dear hubby to bring his laptop to the hospital. We are not completely packed and ready so he may forget... One of the baby's recent ultrasound pictures...look at that yawn!

She was tired from all the testing!

Keep us in your prayers! I have been praying consistently and asking God to keep the baby safe and healthy. I am looking forward to meeting our sweet baby girl and I am nervous at the same time. Be back to write soon. I'll leave you with some pictures of the nursery...

Clouds on the ceiling by Dear Hubby and StepDaughter #1. Subtle but soft and pretty. We went with pink of course and a "shabby chic" stripe pattern with aqua polka dots. Of course, now, this is my favorite room in the house! I will be spending lots of late nights there soon. :-)

Dear Hubby and the LuRay

Sometimes when you least expect it, men come through for us. So forget all of the remote control tiffs, the jeans and towels on the floor, and his frustrating way of never being on time. Recently Dear Hubs found some LuRay he thought I might like. He's so sweet!





Unfortunately I already have all of these pieces.

(Sharon Pink Gravy Underplate or Pickle Dish)

It is tough to find something I don't have because I've been collecting for 16 years. I thanked him profusely and then we both decided since I already had these we might as well offer them to some other LuRay collectors.

(2 Persian Cream Tab Soups)

They are now available on the Bella Rosa Antiques website if you are a collector and need one of these pieces...or maybe you'd like to start a collection . . . these would be a great beginning!

Designing For My Life ~ Around My LuRay Collection

Tonight I am joining Kari & Kijsa's post Designing For Your Life.

What a neat idea. I just have to answer these three questions:

Where: The Kitchen
Style: Traditional? Vintage
Favorite Item: My LuRay Dinnerware Collection!

For this Designing for Your Life post, I just had to show you how we went from a dark and drab seventies galley kitchen to an opened space with light and breezy colors just perfect for my vintage LuRay dinnerware collection. (I apologize for anyone who has seen this already...I know, I tend to show it whenever possible... I can't help it... I love it THAT much!)

This was the view as you walked in the front door. The kitchen is right behind those "Brady Bunch" style spindles and dark oak walls. We loved the house but knew this had to be changed right away. Dear Hubs really got a kick out of whacking at the spindles with his electric saw.

The problem was what to do with the remaining portion of the cabinets and that 1/2 wall left over. We came up with a plan . . .

This little "partition" also came out and went "bye bye!"

We decided to move the remaining portion on the right (behind the half wall is the stove and two side countertops with cabinets) forward, toward the other side of the kitchen, allowing us to add a quartz countertop over the entire thing, creating an island. This allowed more room for us to walk around it. Dear Hubby added the pendant lights as well as the lights in the ceiling. Love those! Some of the cabinets have lighting as well, inside.

Above is an after photo...although it was taken last Christmas and I didn't clear the clutter out of the way for the photo but you get the idea. We painted all the cabinets (some are cringing at the thought of this, I had no qualms whatsoever!) a creamy white and replaced the doors with glass to highlight my LuRay dinnerware collection. I had been collecting these dishes since 1992 and we knew it was "now or never" to display them so we went for it.

We absolutely love the transformation...and it is where we usually hang out, have friends over, sit and chat or work on projects. The new kitchen now is a seamless transition into the family room....making it even better for entertaining.

Thanks for sharing with me in our "Design for Life!"

Goin' to the Chapel...

This weekend our neice (on my Dear Hubby's side) took the plunge, and got married! Congrats to the happy couple! The above picture is the pretty church where the wedding took place.




There is something about the inside of these beautiful and very ornate churches that inspire me. Reminds me of my trip to Italy (on a much smaller scale of course!) with it's beautiful cathedrals, art work and architecture. What a grand setting for a wedding!


Unfortunately we did not get any photos of the couple as they left the church, it was threatening to rain so they were whisked off to their photo destination and finished up just as it started to mist. I did get a picture of them here, dancing at the reception.

The bridesmaids wore elegant and classic black cocktail dresses with beaded trim....and they carried bouquets of roses in this fuschia pink. It was a nice stunning contrast. Each table had it's own set of roses to match. The food was yummy and the reception was a lot of fun.

The father of the bride gave a nice speech and at the end he had words of advice for the groom. Or should I say "words to memorize" ....LOL. They were:

1) "Yes, dear."

2) "You were right."

3) "I was wrong."

And he said occasionally he is told

4) "I'm sorry"

Goes a long way.

I do agree with some of these words...but since I've only been married 4 1/2 years I'm not going to give any expert advice. I just want to wish them much happiness and long marriage. They probably won't be spared any heartache or pain, I think those things come along with life....but it is how you get through the rough times that makes all the difference. Wait a minute....I think I just gave some words of wisdom there! Maybe I have learned something in my first few years of wedded bliss!

I'd love to hear from my fellow bloggers their own words of advice for the happy couple. Anyone have the secret to a good marriage? I think that is the best gift they could receive as they head off today for their two week honeymoon to beautiful HAWAII!

One Week Left

It's that time of year that I dread. Fall. I actually like fall, but it just means that winter is right around the corner. The leaves turning in a brilliance of colors, the comfortable temperatures, and the warm feeling you get thinking about seeing family during Thanksgiving ... all great.

But summer should last all year in my opinion. At least maybe with a little bit of spring. I suppose summer wouldn't be so great without the dull winter to remind us how awesome the rebirth of foliage and flowers and sunshine is.

Each year for maybe the past 8 years I go through the same thing. I have even written a poem about it several years ago and posted it here, last fall.

There is about one week left of summer until the first day of autumn, September 22nd. I'm going to try and savour it as long as possible. And after that it's high time I accepted defeat and embraced the new season by getting out some decorations, which may help my outlook. But unlike other bloggers, I'm not that excited about it, as you can tell.

I also have some exciting, life changing events coming up which I will blog about in an upcoming post. These new changes I AM SURE will take my mind off of the changing season. The only thing that stays the same, is change. A quote my Mother passed down to me which I repeat to myself quite often because you can't argue with the truth.

Where Were You on Sept. 11th?

Of course it is one of those days that sits in my memory, like how my parents remember exactly what they were doing the day JFK was shot, and how their parents remember Pearl Harbor's Dec 7, 1941. It was my generations turn . . . September 11th, 2001. I was working at the local TV station at the time and I was getting ready for work. I normally went in earlier but that day I had a job on location at a local county fair and my hours were not the same. My DH called me to tell me what had just happened. We weren't married at the time, just dating. We'd only been dating five months. One of our big dates had been to go to NYC for my birthday exactly one month before on 8/11. It was all too surreal.

Over the phone he told me how the first plane had crashed into the WTC and I immediately turned on our news station for coverage. I watched in horror as the second plane crashed into the WTC. I knew then things were always going to be different in our "happy little world." We had been living in a bubble, maybe, never thinking this could happen on our turf. But it did.

And when the plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania...it hit a little too close to home. It is not that far from where I was working that day.

I'm not sure how many people still remember the feelings we all had the minutes, the days, weeks, or months following the tragedy. But I do. I hope too many of us haven't forgotten.

Proud Moments

There is nothing like seeing the United States military in uniform. These pictures are from my Stepson's army boot camp graduation day which was held last week. My Dear Hubby was so proud! The ceremony had been moved up a day due to tropical storm, Hanna. And it never really did hit until Saturday but the graduation went on which is what really mattered.

Here is the special group of soldiers who were honored for achieving top honors in their company. My Stepson was in this group! He achieved the highest scores in PT (Physical Training.) Way to go!!!!

And here he is in formation receiving his honors from the sergeant or commander. He looks so grown up in his uniform. A very proud moment!!!!

Now he has moved on to his next phase of army training. . . he will be learning to work on helicopters. We have no doubt he will do well! And this time they are allowed to have cell phones...but ironically, no computers....so much for the gift we gave him! When he gets out of this round of schooling I think he's allowed to have one. He really liked it though!

You just don't think about what our soldiers go through to keep our country safe until you know an enlisted soldier. I'd like to thank ALL of the young men and women who take on this challenge and dedication. Bless your hearts and God Bless America! "Give three cheers for the red, white, and blue..."

Hanna Changes Everything

My stepson is graduating from Army boot camp! Yay! We are so proud of him and thrilled for him. I'm sure it was one long, hot summer down at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He is receiving an award, too, for earning top honors in his class. We were thrilled when letters would arrive from him during this nine week period and it was great to read updates on how he was doing. This must have been a wonderful experience but also a very difficult one. The things you have to do at army training!

And with the arrival of a certain tropical storm named Hanna, which may turn into a hurricane, last minute changes were being made to the graduation ceremony. I only found out at the last minute when I called there to make a dinner reservation. Turns out they were canceling the "Family Day" and moving graduation up 24 hours. Hardly enough notice for parents to get there in time but I'm sure it is better to be safe than sorry.

So here is the gift we are giving him tomorrow....which I wrapped...me trying to be patriotic with my colored ribbons! He wanted a laptop computer for his next phase of army training so this is what is in the box. Hope he likes it.

Congratulations on a job well done!

Let's hope Miss Hanna holds off long enough to keep everyone safe in their travels, too. Keep us in your prayers.