Grant's Yard Projects

Grant has outdone himself with the yard projects.

He knew I always wanted a small raised bed for vegetables, but he couldn't imagine letting his 9 months pregnant wife climb up an unstable hill to get to the garden (how kind), so he decided that he needed to make stairs. And stairs he made:

The beginning of the stairs. Behold the Carolina red clay. I hate this stuff.


Project 1 completed. My contribution was the plants.

Instead of a simple raised vegetable garden, Grant decided that we needed a retaining wall/raised garden that extended the length of our yard. I thought this was a fabulous idea because we back up into a chain link fence and for years have discussed what the best option of hiding this ugliness was. The solution- a retaining wall/raised bed!

The backyard before the raised bed.

Raised bed completed!!

The fun part, of course, was planting vegetables and flowers. It's so big, but we filled it up nicely, I think. We also planted ivy to climb up the chain link fence. It will be a battle to keep it from growing in the garden, but one I'm willing to handle to cover the chain link.

The view from the other side.

Remember this project from past posts? Well, the trellis is finally up, staked and has cute little vines growing on both sides.

Grant fell in love with the moss on one of his visits to Lowes. He had to put a moss garden behind the trellis. I think it will look so cool when it fills out.


This is the view from the driveway. It's so pretty when you first drive up. I'm so excited that after 6 years, we finally are starting to make this yard look good.

Exciting . . .

I just randomly sold a quilt on Etsy- couldn't have come at a better time!

Yay- just had to share since it was one of my favorite quilts!

Pregancy Update 31-33 Weeks

I'm a bad pregnancy updater blogger lately!

Weeks 31-33 have flown by (and soon 34 will be gone too)! The pregnancy is going very well. Nothing new to report. I definitely feel some aches and pains in my feet, back and thigh bone. I'm sure it is just the extra weight that my body is not used to carrying around.

Sometimes I find it very hard to go to sleep because it's hard to breathe! That's been interesting.

Overall, everything is going great. I mostly feel him/her kicking and moving in the mornings and evenings and after I eat something. Too fun!

(31 Weeks)


(32 Weeks)



(33 Weeks)

Can't wait to meet this little one. Not too much longer!

Baby Shower

I had my very first baby shower this past weekend. And can I just say how surreal it is to be the guest of honor- so strange (and fun)!

My sisters hosted the event. They did such a fabulous job with the theme, food and games. Everything was so cute and well thought out and I am still dreaming about the delicious chocolate covered strawberries and asparagus wraps. YUMMY!!

My sisters- Lauren, Rhea and me

My mom and niece were there to help too!

Rhea had the most creative idea to have everyone make an owl and write a wish, advice or thoughts for Baby L on the back of it. I don't know how I will display them yet-- a collage, a mobile? Any other ideas?

My owl

Mom's owl


Co-worker's and niece's owl

And of course, we got so many great things for Baby L.

Who can resist duckie outfits!

Lauren was in charge of games. We had guess the amount of skittles in the bottle game, guess Andrea's belly size using dental floss and guess what baby food you are eating.

Some of the girls measuring out the dental floss.

Measuring the belly. She got second place.

Hmm, what on earth are we feeding our babies. I couldn't even discern a vegetable in some of them!

I tasted all of them though. Everyone was such good sports.

Oksana did not particularly like the chicken vegetable mix- neither did I.

I had such a great time. Thank you to Rhea and Lauren for making it so special!!

Things . . .

It's been awhile since I've written anything. I'm a slacker.

I got a wild hair to sew some cute, trendy headbands-- I have a feeling I'll be doing that tonight. (But first, I must walk my two miles on the treadmill. No crafting until exercise is done.) I've been thinking about things to go in my birth center bag. Headbands seem like a top priority to me, especially cute handmade ones.

Grant has been working incredibly hard on the most beautiful raised garden/retaining wall. It's magnificent and will hold tons of veges. He's also made a set of stairs that lead up to the garden. I can't wait to post some pictures of his handiwork. It really is incredible. He also is making me a compost bin and even ordered some worms. I told him that this might have to be his project for awhile as I will be busy with baby soon.

I'm training someone to take my place at work. Believe it or not, I'm a little sad to leave this place. I have really found my niche here and feel like I actually know what I'm doing (it only took 8 years)! I only have 2.5 more weeks to go. Don't worry, I'm going to love staying at home.

Baby bump updates soon!

Another quilt

One of my old roommates from college asked me to make her a quilt for her daughter who is due only one day after me. She picked out the fabric and the pattern and I was happy to whip it up for her. I LOVE the fabric she chose-- so fun and bright and perfect for a little girl.

The backing fabric.

The finished product!

I can't wait to see this little girl with her blanket!

30 Weeks

This week has been the turning point of the pregnancy for me. Baby L definitely limits my movements now! Up until this point, I was basically doing everything I used to do- the bump didn't get in the way, but now, wow, sitting up can be a challenge, tying shoes is interesting, sleeping is hit and miss, etc. My poor feet also feel the added weight gain at the end of the day. Ouch.

However, despite my "complaints" above and the expression in my picture, I feel good and am very happy with the way things are going. Not too much longer!