What Would You Do?

Okay, I need some home decorating help. When you walk into our house, you are on a small landing with half a flight of stairs going down to the basement, and half a flight going up to the living room and kitchen. This is what you see going upstairs:

The table is actually a kitchen island that does not fit in the kitchen. I like it as an entry table, but I want it to be cuter and less utilitarian looking. I don't want people to be eye-level with my grocery bags when they walk into the house, but yet it is handy to have them here to grab on my way out the door. Any tips on making this cute and functional all at the same time? I think we need more pictures on the wall (the one that is currently residing there is only temporary until we find places to hang all of our pictures) and maybe some small pictures in frames on the table? I got struck with a bit of inspiration when I found this cute runner at Target for $5, but that has been the end of it.


Oh, and while I have you here, this is in our front yard:



What would you do with this area around the tree? I mean, I think we are going to need to pull out all the ground cover, shore up the beams and start from scratch, but what would you put in? I am landscaping dumb, so any details and diagrams would be helpful. It's rather late in the year to start anything now, but I'd like to have a plan of attack for this Spring!

Busy Mama

I have been wanting to blog about a lot of things for awhile, but haven't had any time! Hmm, I wonder what could be occupying me? I have some idea and I think it is the little Bubba in these photos. He will be 7 months old tomorrow!

Ethan and I have been taking the Mommy & Me swim class down at the Oak Harbor Pool. We love it! He doesn't know enough to be afraid of splashing and going under, and I'd like to keep it that way. He isn't actually learning how to swim of course, but he will be comfortable with the water when it comes time for lessons. I could get on my soapbox about how teaching young kids to swim and be around water is super important for their safety, but I won't. :)


Then, last weekend Ethan had a visit from his Grandma and Grandpa Bremer. We had a great relaxing time even if Daddy wasn't around to enjoy it with us.

The Saturday that they were leaving, we all woke up to snow! Snow! It all melted off by early afternoon, but Sunday this is what I woke up to:

Even more snow! Yikes. It was so pretty, but so strange to be seeing it this time of year (or at all, really, since I lived in Texas for 6 years). Once again it all melted, probably before noon. Monday and today have been nice enough that I have been outside in short sleeves. I have been working on starting all my veggie seeds for this year's garden. This year's garden will actually be a first veggie garden for me. I feel really blessed to have the space to plant one, and I hope that will be the case whenever we move to a new town.


Hopefully in the upcoming weeks and months I will actually get these starts into the ground and we will have fresh lettuce, carrots, green onions, peas, brussel sprouts, potatoes, onions, squash, mint, and fennel. And there will probably be more as I get comfortable sowing all my little seedlings.

So that is my life in a nutshell these past two weeks. Hopefully hubby will be home this weekend to share in our full, fun days!

Can I Whine Just a Bit?

As I was reading on another blog, "40 weeks is a long time to wait for anything." Today is the first day that I've really felt down about not having the baby yet. I know I just passed 40 weeks and most first-time moms don't go into labor until after 41 weeks, but I'm getting so antsy about meeting this baby and not being pregnant anymore. I also think that there is so much anticipation on a daily basis that each day I don't go into labor is sort of a let down.

I also saw this picture this morning (I don't know who the blog belongs to, I got the link from someone else) and it about put me over the edge as far as wanting a baby to love on.

I am definitely thankful, though, that everything is still going smoothly. Except it seems that writing this post has given baby some hiccups.

I am also looking forward to tomorrow; Steve and I have planned to do some gardening -- planting bulbs that will (hopefully) show up next Spring. And, hey, I definitely won't still be pregnant next Spring. Right? RIGHT?!

ETA: I've reopened the poll, because I'm still pregnant, so I figure anyone else who wanders by should be able to vote until I actually have the baby. Plus, boy is winning and that doesn't bode well for me being able to buy pink, girly stuff when the time comes for knowing what to buy. And my niece may or may not have a meltdown if she gets another boy cousin (Hi Meagan! I've done my best to grow a girl for you, but no promises other than it will be a sweet, cuddly baby!!)