What's that I hear?

Park days are here again?

Can I get a collaborative 'yessssss', my sistas?!


And I swear, if you've never seen a nine months pregnant mama run around like a wild horse in a clover field, it's quite a sight.

I imagine at least. I can't actually see myself but I know I've got a pretty mean waddle, and it's pretty darn interesting getting low enough to seat myself on the slide, and I can't really jog or walk gracefully but I sure can keep up with the best of any three year olds...

...and I can only picture exactly how 'wild horseish' I looked trying to get off the ground fast enough to save Joseph when he chased a duck into the bike path and a speeding biker actually left tread on the ground from swerving and breaking to miss him.

I haven't had an moment like that where my heart jumped straight out of my chest and I almost cried in quite some time. Probably the last time was when Joseph was just a tiny little thing and pushed himself off the couch when I wasn't looking. I thought he was going to be broken into a million pieces, but I think my screaming and carrying on was worse than the 1.5 foot fall to the carpeted floor.


Anyway, back to wild horses...

We've been carrying on like a couple of free spirits and trying to soak up all the nice weather we can. Before long it's going to be triple digits, you know.


And good for us too, so we can catch some good vitamin D. Except when it's a little overcast, we have to go sit on the slide so we can get all the yellow sunny reflections we can.

That's one yellow boy.

Happy Valentines!

Right out of bed we got busy! We snuggled up in our pj's and finished up Joseph's FIRST Valentines cards! It was a very momentous occasion for us.

My philosophy started out as 'the cheaper the better' because we know where these will end up in about 4.5 hours. I headed for the Dollar Tree but changed my mind at the last minute fearing that they would be just too darn cheap looking. Now, Dollar Tree may have very nice cheap Valentine cards, but I'll have to leave that to next year when I can check it out with more time to spare.

Instead, I found cards with candy! Of course! What was I thinking?! These will be thrown away just as quickly but enjoyed just a little bit more...and a nice sugar rush for these sweet kiddos is such a small price to pay for a little Valentine's enjoyment!


School had a small and wonderful party so I dug through to find my cutest pink maternity shirt, actually applied makeup, and joined the fun.


We ate pizza, decorated cookies, passed out Valentines, and played games. It was super fun as far as parties with a handful of three-and-unders go. At least Joseph and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Joseph has the best teachers. I really love this preschool and am so lucky to have found it! I think it's going to be pretty rough when we have to make the switch to elementary.

Still in quite the festive mood, we put our heads together and decided to head to the library for a quick book check and then to the park for some Valentines fresh air.


Happy Valentine's Day Mr. Nutria! Where's your sweetheart at?

Oooh, you don't have one because you're so rodent-ish looking and creepy? And cause no one likes your big buck neon orange teeth and long "rodent of unusual size" weird rat tail?

Ok, sorry I asked.


I was a lucky, lucky gal this year (and for many years to come) to have such wonderful sweethearts to celebrate with.


Dinner this year was an easy one. We love us some breakfast in this house so it was a no brainier that we would feast on our favorites. I made heart pancakes, hash browns, heart hole-in-the-middles, bacon, and fruit.


Once it was on the table, Josh and I sat back and looked at each other like I was crazy. What was I thinking? Eggs, toast, pancakes, potatoes, bacon and fruit? It was way too much food and felt so right stuffing my face. Mama's baby has to eat!


We opened presents....which was almost exclusively massive amounts of chocolate. Except for Joseph who received a smidgen of candy, a new book and new undies!! He was very excited about his 'valentines undies' and will tell ya so, too. Undies are cool and everything but I was most excited about the massive amounts of chocolate.

And the heart shaped pancakes were pretty cool too. ;)

The other day we took Joseph to Chuck E Cheese. I really like Chuck E Cheese, but not quite as much as Joseph. He loves Chuck E Cheese. And not just the rides and games, but the actual mouse. I hated having to tell him (on several different occasions) that "no, Chuck E can't hold you sweetie."

Anyone (or mouse) that makes my baby get all googly-eyed like that gets an extra star on my chart.


I also enjoy the salad bar immensely. It's not my dream salad bar or anything, but it's certainly not too shabby. They also have cotton candy. Another star scored.


But we made the poor little dude sit and eat some lunch first - and although he ate well, I seriously doubt he actually tasted anything with all those blinking lights and music and fun and laughter lulling him into the madness.


It's a good thing they have decent food there. Especially for $37.50 for one large pizza, or whatever astronomical price it was even though we had a coupon.

Alright guy, one more bite then you are freeeeee....

I know he was about to bust a gasket if we made him wait any longer. Or blow a fuse. Or pop a vein. Or flip his lid.

Or bowl over daddy.


These shiny golden guys make the trip even more magical, without a doubt. There is just something about carrying around a jingly pint sized little container full of coins!

...rubber-neckers!

The racing games are usually one of my favorite, but I found it surprisingly hard to get comfy in there. Mostly because when it's Joseph's turn, he gets to drive and I get to prop myself on the very edge so I can hit the gas pedal. I couldn't quite handle that move 7ish months pregnant so I had to call in reinforcement from the skee ball machine.

Then they had to bring in a crane to get my tushy outta that thing.


Can't you hear that sweet little baby asking animatronic Chuck E for a big hug?!

I know he can't talk, or even feel for that matter, but I know deep down that big ol piece of machinery loves us too.

A Baby Shower

Baby Girl Blachly will be here before I know it. So while I finish "nesting up" the rest of the house (....has anyone seen how linty and dusty it gets behind the dryer?...) and work on her room, my sweet besties decided to help me get her closet in order! They threw us the most perfect baby shower that a girl could want!


I finally am on the receiving end for one of Casey famous bowed frames! She said she is hooking me up with an pretty initial for the bottom as soon as the birth certificate is signed and she knows for sure what her name is. What? Like I change my mind too much or something?! Ha...she know us too well I guess.

I am thrilled to have this beautiful frame that matches the bedding and decor and thought for a second I could eat it up with some m&m's on top. CUTECUTECUTE!


Josh and I graced the sign in table as funny little toddlers. Isn't it funny how obsessed we get with comparing our baby pictures to our children. I've done it since the moment Joseph was born. My decision is still out on who he looks the most like, but everyone else (by far) says Josh.


The decorations were really pretty! Everything tied into Valentines Day and it was so pink and red and sweet (literally)!

A Sweetheart Sprinkle, if you will.








Me and my pregnancy bud are a month apart. Our first-born boys are a month apart too! We're going to be each other's support, without a doubt!

I couldn't help but ooh and ahh and soak up all the girlie cuteness. Especially with the special hand made things. I am so happy to have some heirlooms to pass down to my children. Tammy crocheted a hat and bib for Baby Girl, and mom made two sweet flannel shirts and matching blankets with hand stitched edges. I can't wait to swaddle her up in those.


Jamie appliqued a onesie and a burp cloth with fun pink polka dots and stripes. Creativeness abounded!

And, back at home afterward....


...the afternoon just wouldn't have been complete with out laying out everything and dreaming about little finger and toes. Made out pretty good with some diapers to fill her changing table. Funnily enough tho, this is Joseph's old changing table that I am donating and just haven't gotten out of the house yet. It ended up in the new Baby Girl staging area (also known as the dinning room) and therefore has become the home of tons of diapers!


I've got everything sorted by size, shade of pink and type of material so far. Am going to start laundry soon!

You didn't buy that did you? I am NOT so type A that I have to sort that far into crazy baby clothes world....but I DO have the sizes in order and have a pretty good idea of a couple of things I want to get to finish up newborn necessities.

Joshie and I'll be painting our heart out this weekend and I'll be ready to post some new pictures after that!


Thanks to my most wonderful, super, fantastic best friends for the perfect "it's a girl" shower! It really makes a gal feel loved to have such great people in my life. Double thanks to the awesome guests for making the afternoon so special! Aren't babies just too much fun?!

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch...

...I've been "needle working".

I'm pretending I'm a seasoned, skilled needle worker. And that I work my poor calloused fingers to the bone making high demand beautiful works of art. Needle art.

Fabulous silken treasures seeked out from afar. Tapestries of breathtaking scenes meant only for the eyes of Royalty.

I know I know. Whatever gets me through the day, right?


So maybe it's not a tapestry for a Queen, but Baby Girl is getting a little birdie onesie made with love by mama.

I love me some appliques. I've only made a hand full but have always used my machine to stitch around the edge to finish it off. I was brainstorming crafts with Tammy awhile back and decided I wanted to learn a few new stitches by hand.


The one around the bird is a blanket stitch popular for the edge of appliques and blankets and dish towels and those sorts of things. It's a great looking stitch and I really enjoyed it. For next time however, I know that a whole strand of embroidery yarn is too thick. I would have like a thinner look for this little birdie.

Now if you know something I don't or I misspeak...you've got to leave a comment, k?! I don't pretend to really know what I'm talking about so no laughing at me behind my back.

LOL! I just re-read that. Actually...I DO pretend to know what I'm talking about! It makes me sound smarter, doesn't it? Or the trick there is to talk to someone who knows less than I do and I'll sound really smart!

For the little wing I thought a blanket stitch would be a bit much so I came up with the Heather's-half-back-just-kind-stick-it-here-fray-cover-up stitch.

Or if it has a real name, let me know.

Hope those baseball sized knots on the inside of the shirt don't bother my sweet girl's tender skin. I've got to figure out how to start and stop without tying the end off like that. Something about leaving a tail and stitching over it?? Anyone? Bueller?

Tweet tweet! Happy appliqueing!

Oh how I love me a good orchard. I've always felt a strong bond to nature, but particularly trees. I remember looking at trees and thinking about trees as far back as my memory goes.

Now mind you, I've never been to an orchard...but I know if I did make it to one, I'd love it. I love the idea of lots and lots of fresh fruit, shade, and family fun wandering around.

I bought two tree prints for the guestroom when Josh and I purchased the house. I wanted the room to be black and white country cute but chic. So not only did the trees speak to me because I have a thing for them by themselves - this particular one was an orchard. I think it's a peach orchard. Peach trees are especially nostalgic to me because we had two of them at home growing up. We never ate the fruit because it got eaten by the birds (or really just wasn't that appealing, frankly) - but I digress....they're still a part of my childhood.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a before picture of the print so you'll have to use your imagination. But I knew I wanted it to stay in Baby Girl's (or "Grill" in Joseph-speak) room. I just needed to girly it up a bit.


First I found this trim and was totally inspired. I hadn't thought of adding trim necessarily at that point but, cutting 45 degree angles, painting and attaching some trim to a frame seemed easy enough. Bwaahahahaha!

But anyway, I figured out how to use a miter box which gave me those beautiful 45 degree angels in a jiff and spray painted it right up in a nice glossy black.


Now here's the best part. It's the part I read about so much on all my craft blogs I love to visit. It's the part where they say (and I agree) that if you just trust in your handy dandy glue gun and don't really care that your project may not hold up through an earthquake, then you can use it for anything.

I thought about nailing and wood gluing that frame together the proper, professional way, then by golly, instead I hot glued it right down where I wanted it and it worked like a charm.


Meanwhile, I spent about $45 in a million different stickers and craft booking supplies trying to find the perfect blossoms to adorn my black and white orchard. Here's where you'll have to imagine what it looked like before. The branches with pink flowers weren't there before and although the photo had blossoms on it already - I wanted them to be super cute pink girly blossoms.

I did end up finding the perfect 3-D pink blossoms on branches to attach to the print and very carefully stuck back the ones I didn't like and returned them to Michael's.


Now I am a little more eager to finish painting in there so I can get this baby hung on the wall! Even left the hook because I think it'll look great right where it was before. If Baby Grill loves it as much as I do, then I'll be one happy mama. Hopefully it'll grow with her and hang around for many years!