photo dump

quiet on the blog front does not mean quiet on the home front. people have asked if we think we will finish our upstairs reno before baby comes, and i think we will! we've had a small army of painting helpers this week, which is very encouraging. in pictures, here's life lately!

ben bought me a new lens as a birthday/mother's day gift. it's this one with the fabulously wide 1.4 f-stop. he made it a point to go together to national camera and try it out so we could use it the next day at a family gathering. he is very sweet to me.

he also gave me a card from our unborn baby girl for mother's day and my birthday. i wept. again, such sweetness.

i really like him a lot. :)

that family gathering was awesome. my niece hannah is such a fun, curious girl who is always on the go. apparently she doesn't like to have her diaper changed because it means she has to stop for a few minutes. if you declare that someone has a stinky diaper, she might blame it on her little sister ("baby") or maybe even grandpa ("gumpa").

and baby grace is growing into such a sweet little lady. she is a very peaceful and happy baby. our little girl is blessed with wonderful cousins on both sides.

although grace is super low-drama, she does strike a "woe is me" pose when eating. :)

speaking of eating, i got my inner foodie on to make bbq chicken pizzas with quinoa crusts. as much as i want to be on the quinoa bandwagon, i am just not impressed with it. the pizza crusts were a good way to use up what i have left, but i don't think i'll buy another bag.

here's a "before." this estate-sale stool is currently halfway through its makeover with the nursery as its final destination. stay tuned.

speaking of the nursery, i wish i could say i was going to miss that lavender, but that would be a lie. very thankful to my parents for their help applying two coats of primer to get it covered for the white paint i picked out!

we're up to the cabin this weekend—i hope yours is restful and fun!

a family shower for our little lady

last week, the ladies on ben's side hosted a beautiful baby shower for me. i was overwhelmed with gratitude for the love and generosity "showered" on me, ben, and our little girl.

 [the bathing suit and white dress were mine when i was a baby, and ben wore the sweaters when he was a wee guy. so sweet to use them as decorations!]

i took just a few quick pics, but grrrrrr i forgot to take one with my hostesses. thank you to maggie, crissy, dana, and christa for all the planning, cheesy foods (you know me well), fabulous desserts, and love.

i'm 31 weeks and counting. other than a little insomnia, i am feeling great!

corner turned

oh drywall. you are a sight for sore eyes.

[we used durock above and next to the shower and mold-resistant drywall on the exterior wall. just in case you are wondering about the blue color. which i actually kind of love?]

i'm very much looking forward to a date night with my sweet husband this evening. monday is my birthday, and i think he's taking me to see the avengers tonight. and maybe some mama's pizza if we have time. pizza + action movie = a five-star date (in my humble opinion). enjoy your weekend, friends!

shower surrounds, childbirth class, and sympathy for darth vader

how is that for a post title? ka-POW!

1) we are on the VERGE of turning a corner in the upstairs reno. it took a few long evenings and the better part of a weekend afternoon, but ben (and i? very little "i" involved in this project) installed the tub and shower surround. sounds simple, right? ahahaha, not so fast. it never is as easy as it sounds. renovating never is.

renovating often makes me realize how much of a sinner i am: i want what i want and i get crabby when it doesn't happen. in the current situation, there are no light fixtures in the bathroom at the moment, so we use work lamps that also happen to heat things up to a toasty thousand degrees. 10pm + tired + sweaty + pregnant + remodeling woes = potential for sanctification. i truly pray that God would use these situations to teach me patience and kindness——i am going to need them!

2) we had a marathon childbirth class on saturday. we opted to do it all in one day instead of a five-week course. we watched a few birth videos that were pretty darn intense. uh, yup, intense. afterward, ben said that he wondered if going through stressful remodels will help us during the whole labor process. i wonder, too. not that it's gonna be a breeze, but yes——i think remodeling has definitely helped us learn about how we deal with stress and pain in situations where we are tired and crabby (me more than him). so we'll see what happens.

3) i just finished painting seven doors. now i have a ton of trim to do.

i wear this awesome respirator just to be extra extra safe for baby (even though we use water-based paint and the windows are almost always open). when i walked up behind ben and he heard me breathing, he said, "how's it going, darth?" poor darth. so misunderstood.

hoping the drywallers can make it today. then things will really turn a corner!

i'm gonna toot some horns

this post is a random mashup of people/places/things whose horns i want to toot. okay that sounds really weird but just let me, okay? i think it is the part of me that gets excited about a lot of things. i just want you to be excited with me.

1} have you heard of ekate designs and the orchard art house? erin kate is a super cool girl who makes beautiful jewelry. she's the friend of a friend who lives a few cities away and transformed an outbuilding on her property into an art studio. her wares are really unique and i'm rather smitten with her designs. i visited the orchard art house a few weeks ago and picked up a few gifts as well as a couple of goodies for myself, including these earrings. if you get a chance to go, you will not regret it. if you aren't local, check out her etsy shop!

2} slightly less exciting but immensely practical: aldi. i had my first aldi experience a few weeks ago: no frills, but i left with a ton of food (mostly produce) for like 17 bucks. i heard a rumor they are planning to open one in our city! i might become a regular.

3} ryan stadler photography. he was the second shooter at my sister's wedding and he did a wonderful job. he shoots some on real film, which i find very intriguing. check out his work!

4} friends and family who are wisdom givers and gear lenders for all things baby related. you know who you are. i am borrowing a bumbo, boppy pillow, bouncy chair, play mat, portable baby bed, bassinet, and other gear, which definitely helps with budgeting. i bought this changing table from a gal on craigslist (i didn't really intend to buy a changing table, but it's a long story) and all the baby goodies are collecting in a corner of our room until upstairs is ready. i took this picture a few weeks ago and the collection has grown since then.

may i just take a moment to say how excited i am about this crib bedding my mother-in-law gave me from her stash? she is like a professional deal hunter and found these items for a song.

but honestly, friends and family have answered my random questions, fielded many phone calls, walked through the target aisles with me to help with registering, and even given me a sweet pregnancy care package (complete with a body pillow that i rely on every night, because i am not a natural side sleeper). i love and appreciate you girls very much!

5} last but not least, my husband. he works really hard at his 9 to 5 and comes home and works more——on his business, on our house, on preparing the lesson to lead small group, on being a spiritual leader in our home. he was up until almost midnight on friday working on plumbing. i had a minor meltdown sunday over a waffle stuck in the waffle iron (i pretty much just started weeping) and he knew exactly how to love me in that situation. he's very sweet. and very patient. i am not patient. i'm really excited to parent with him. he is a wonderful blessing.