the best thing about buying a house in the fall?

The pleasant surprises you discover in the spring. We've had such beautiful weather the past week or so. I wander the yard admiring the new flowers and plants that seem to pop up daily. I pull weeds and take pictures and probably make my neighbors wonder what kind of crazy person moved into their neighborhood. I'm trying to enjoy them this spring because I am completely inept at yard/garden maintenance and this may be the last time I ever see them :p The boys hit trees with sticks and stomp on ants and push rocks in the back of their truck from one end of the yard to the other. I wonder how much different our backyard time will be next spring :)

Then there are other happy discoveries like how the spring light comes through the window and shines onto our "gallery" wall. Do you have one of these in your house too? Jake lives for keeping this wall next to daddy's desk well adorned. Jake is an artist to the core. He draws for hours every day between school and home and *every* occasion warrants a brand new notebook or two to meet his expanding needs. The multicolored pens (remember those from our childhood?) are a favorite tool as well.

Added to my girly list in the past few days? (images are clickable so you can go steal them away from me before I buy them...ahem, for you, Jamie ;) Hello! The second one is reversible too...double the cuteness!

















And finally, a layout I did last week for the BHG blog. There is journaling on there...it's just teeny tiny (you can click the layout to make it bigger)! I recently discovered that Liz designs digital products under the name Paislee Press over at Oscraps and instantly fell in love. I've always adored her minimalist style and have had her in my BOS since forever. I was thrilled to find out I can (try to) copy her look without the effort of being creative myself :) Be sure to check out her stuff! (Other digital supplies are from Catscrap...see the BHG blog for complete credits)

On my mind...

So last week was a quiet week for me work-wise so I got to do lots of knitting :) Today and tomorrow I'll be scrambling to finish some stuff up but it's worth it for the relaxing week I had!

Baby blanket is DONE other than the fabric lining. Chenille was the overwhelming consensus so I'll be out shopping soon to find a good option for that. I'll admit, the prospect of it all together isn't thrilling me! I love how it turned out though. Super heavy so it will be a "lie it on the floor for the baby to play on top of" type of blanket rather than a "wrap her up and smother her with it" blanket.

I've also been knitting some little pants for her (knit pants - something *only* a baby can get away with!) They are coming together super quick so I should be able to share them in the next couple of days (or weeks...depending on my sporadic blogging activity :p)

I'm in full on waddle mode - this one is kicking my ass! So much soreness this time around that I didn't experience with the boys. Listen closely, ladies: being pregnant in your 30's is SOOO much different than being pregnant in your 20's. At least in my case. Or maybe it's just because it's a girl this time around. I'll take the bad with the good though as I found out at my checkup yesterday that I passed the one hour glucose test with 15 points to spare! Both the boys sent me in for the 3 hour ordeal so thanks for sparing me from that, little miss! Although, I was kind of looking forward to that 3 hours of uninterrupted knitting time :)

I realized a couple of days ago that with about 12 weeks until d-day, we have yet to purchase a single diaper or piece of newborn clothing. My miniature shopping splurge at Old Navy a few weeks ago netted us some clothes for *next* summer but other than that, her closet it bare. *I'm* not concerned - I know it will all get done before she makes her arrival. The mom at Jake's school that asked if I'd drown myself in newborn pink yet practically stroked out though. A carseat...yeah, that would be a wise purchase too! On my to-do list, I swear!

How beautiful are these books? I'd love to commit to a photo a day for her first year but I know me. So I won't. Be sure to check out the Photo a Day/First Birthday book!

And this dress is so cute! It's from a line of dress up clothes called Wovenplay but I would totally put her in it anytime! Love the colors and cool retro feel :) I'm sure that even if I could find it, it would cost an arm and a leg though!

OK, off to pick up Jake from school and then off to the park! Have a great weekend :)

continuing on a theme...

Holy crap - how cute are the clothes on this blog?? That's it, I *must* learn how to sew.

I've had a lot of people ask about the nursery...decided that I better put some thought into it! I put together this quick 12 x 12" wall hanging yesterday and decided that I love the color combo. And it goes perfectly with the paint color we had already done back when we moved in. The room is a light turquoise-blue with white trim and white bead board on one wall and I think the punch of tangerine with a slightly darker shade of the blue will be perfect! Feminine but not *too* girly. I'm planning some touches of silver as well. We have an old mirror (one of those nasty big old gold gilt mirrors - really ornate) that I think will be awesome if I paint it silver and rub some turquoise paint into the crevices. The nursery has french doors on it as well so I need to do some new curtains for those. There are two closets that are built out into the room. Right now, there aren't any doors on them but I've drawn some up for Carlos to build. I'm excited now to work on it some more! I think these little suitcases would be the perfect accessory. And a nice cozy chair is a must.

This weekend I get to scrap all day tomorrow (yay!) and have a few people over Sunday to barbecue. FINALLY we have spring. Hope you all have a great weekend too!