look what i did!

It turned out sooooo much better than I originally envisioned! And the best part....I did it all by my big pregnant self!

After spending a couple of days researching how I was going to keep the Ikea Ribba frames level I came across this miracle tool that has changed my life forever. If you are planning on ever hanging anything ever again, please invest the $14.96 and buy one. It is worth every single penny.

The whole project took me a couple of hours but that is only because it is such a pain to assemble the hanging hardware and open all those silly little metal closures on the frame backing. My poor fingers were pinched to their limit. With the help of my new boyfriend the actual hanging of the pictures was a cinch and hardly took me any time at all.

I can't wait to fill the frames with photos and admire this statement wall for years to come. Best part about it is that Brandon loves it! Phew! I didn't run the idea by him beforehand and tried to have it all done before he came home from work yesterday. He waltzed in when I only had the bottom row completed and he fell in love. Well, he said, "it looks great." So I took that as, "OMG I'M MADLY IN LOVE WITH THIS BEAUTIFUL GRID OF FRAMES YOU HAVE NAILED INTO OUR WALL! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU FOR BEING SUCH A VISIONARY!" He did go on to say that it looked great all night and this morning, so he might as well have been shouting it from the rooftops.

I used only two perfectly aligned nails for each frame because I feel two gives the frame more support and helps to keep them from tilting too much. Aside from little projects in front of my sewing machine this is the first "large scale" project I have tackled in a very long time and it felt incredible. I can't wait to dive into painting the walls this summer and finally get my garden growing again!

Dream Office

Oh my, I think I could just bring a little sleeping bag and live in this office forever. I'm dying over that shelving with the chevron pattern behind it.

from here.

New Shades

We debated and toiled over whether or not to order a custom bamboo roman shade for our kitchen nook or to just settle for putting two, relatively inexpensive shades from Overstock to match the existing ones in our family room.

We bit the bullet and decided that the cheaper route is always worth trying out first. While I would love the clean line of a single shade, I am 100% OK with having two of them. Every time we add them to a room they completely transform the space and make me smile with how clean and tailored they look. At times I'm not sure what looks better, new shades hanging in the house or the 15-year-old dingy plastic shades sitting out on the curb waiting to be taken away forever.

Now for some throw pillows!

Sunday

Emma spent the weekend charming what seems like the entire city of Corpus Christi when she went on a little road trip with my parents to the Gonzales Family Reunion. She danced the night away and even had a line of little boys who were waiting for a chance to dance with her! Can you believe that?!

While she has been tearing up the town, Brandon and I have enjoyed a nice, quiet, relaxing weekend here at home. It is amazing how even the simplest of things are so different when it is just the two of us. Today we only went to lunch and a few stores but it was just so much fun. We mostly just talked about Emma and her silly ways, but we also did a little dreaming of where the future is going to take our family. We really, really needed a day like today and I feel refreshed and ready for my little tornado to come back so I can cover her in kisses.

I savored every sip of that delicious decaf coffee. I can't wait until I can enjoy a regular cup (or five) after the little one is born. It's just one of life's simple pleasures that I deeply enjoy and miss dearly.

That tart didn't last long.

A New Favorite

We went to IKEA today and I can't stop thinking about this vase! Isn't it the cutest?

Dining with the Easter Bunny

How could I resist?

Weekly Art Projects: Western

"water in the potty"

This morning our girl put her "water in the potty!"



Can you believe it?! I have never seen her big eyes shine brighter than when she actually realized what was happening. It was definitely one of those "ah-ha!" moments where she connected what she was doing with what we had all been begging/bribing her to do for months.

Looks like I better deliver on a promised big Elmo prize before she decides to make this a one-time thing. We are so, so, so proud of her and from the looks of her giant smile I think she is pretty proud of herself, too!

Finally

I seem to be the only person who manages to mess up envelope style pillow backs so I think I need to practice these hidden zippers if I decide to make anymore pillows. I think this weekend is as good a time as any to give it a try.

Now to find this "zipper foot" I keep hearing so much about...

Lucky Me

A couple of days ago Emma brought me some wildflowers from the park and last night Brandon surprised me with this beautiful bouquet.

Just because.

My sweethearts are totally spoiling me lately and I am loving every second of it. I guess I should be sick and pathetic more often!

33 Weeks (Almost)

Since I don't have a personal photographer on hand and I just now realized that this would be probably only 1 of about 3 pictures of my growing belly, I figured I would bite the bullet and take a picture of myself in the bathroom mirror. Eeks! If you have ever talked to me for more than ten minutes I have probably openly discussed my personal dislike for any pictures taken in a bathroom. But yet here I am. Posing in the bathroom. Holding my precious belly and reevaluating the amount of time and energy I spend disliking things like posing in a bathroom.

So after some careful cropping and editing (nobody wants to see our "vintage" blue wallpaper and counter full of grooming products) I think my bump actually looks kind of cute. Especially when it is in front of my cutesy shower curtain and all comfy-like inside my new Anthro top.

I'm bigger than you thought, aren't I?

One of these days I am going to steal my Dad's camera and take some quality, non-blurry pictures. Promise.

New Styles

I think I am going to try these out this week. I just wish I had a photographer to document it! These styles remind me of what I used to do at sleepovers when I was younger. Aside from chopping off more than 6 inches from my friend Kandace's golden locks when we were in junior high, they all ended pretty well and were lots of fun. These styles seems simple enough and after massacring my finicky bangs in a moment of hormonal rage last week, I think I need a bit of a hair pick-me-up.

Spring

I put together this wreath a couple of weeks ago and absolutely love it. I got the idea from another blog and knew from the second that I saw it that I was going to try and make one myself. It was sort of a messy project because of all the moss and if I had the time I would fix some parts that kind of irk me, but all in all I think it is such a simple and pretty way to welcome spring.

My Mom unearthed this smaller bunny wreath from the depths of her closet and gave it to me today. Pretty cute, don't you think? I can't wait for Emma to wake up from her nap so I can show her the silly bunnies living on the door. I know she is going to get a kick out of them.

A Place for Baby

We have been busy, busy, busy this past week trying to get the nursery finished (pictures to come soon!) and our checklist whiddled down to only a few items. Last week I snapped out of whatever daze I had been walking around in and realized that my Austin could be here soon. Like way sooner than I was prepared for. So after a few whirlwind trips to Target, some online shopping and a couple of loads of laundry (mmm, dreft...) I feel really good about where we are.

Can I just say that I can't believe that we are going to have a little BOY! Maybe because I am always so busy with Emma, school, and our messy house that I don't really have time to sit around and just think the way I did when I was pregnant with Emma. I had a sense about Emma from the very beginning. I knew she was going to be hilarious and exceptionally smart and not to brag or anything, but she is. All I can really tell about Austin is that he prefers acoustic covers to classical music, he has the most playful kicks (not the roundhouse to the kidney move that Emma enjoyed) and that it must tickle him when I drink ice water. I think this makes me even more anxious for him to get here. I'm ready to start figuring him out.

I remember that I was TERRIFIED for Emma to actually get here. This time around I am so much more relaxed and ready to welcome this perfect addition to our family. I feel this buzz of excitement in the air just knowing that he will be here soon. I will be around 33 weeks on Wednesday (what!) and have gotten my third trimester burst of energy times a million. Nesting has taken on new heights and I keep seeing glimpses of our house becoming a home. It's hard work but so worth it when I wake up to a house ready to be lived in, not still recovering from the hard night we put it through.

It's a really special time around these parts and I am so excited for our next big adventure to start.

Miss Domestic

"take a picture of me, pwease!"

this morning as we were leaving the house she stopped at the front door and started to smile. i tried to rush her into the car and she told me, "no, no, no, no, no. take a picture of me, pwease?!". it seems i have either taught her well or she just knew she was looking as cute as a button!

sometimes she is just too much for me to handle.

Rain, rain, go away...

It has stormed all morning long and in an effort to keep Emma calm during all the thunder I told her that there is always a beautiful rainbow after it rains. I told her we would make our own rainbow and she totally bought it. Hook, line and sinker. She is now officially convinced that we stopped the rain with our rainbow "cuckakes" and I am shocked that we actually pulled it off with the kitchen still in one piece.

Hooray for rainbows!

Words to live by...

via here.

“Buy only what you love... Really, truly, madly, deeply love. Don’t settle for “like.” Acquire what feels so very right deep down inside – be it fashion or home design. Stick to this credo and you won’t have any regretful purchases.”

Lauran Claridge in April/May 2010 Lonny

love this.

princess castles

my girl makes the cutest cowgirl

This weekend Brandon's best friend and Emma's godfather/parrain (it's the cajun word for godfather), Craig, came to visit her. Let me just say that she LOVES him. It's so amazing to me that even though she doesn't see him regularly she still manages to remember him the second she sees him. She definitely holds a special place in her heart for those who love her and spoil her rotten!

On Saturday afternoon we braved the crowds to treat her to a day at the Rodeo. She loved the petting zoo, of course, and she got to see Mrs. Cow, baby cow, honeybees, a horsey merry-go-round, bunny rabbits, and chickens. I can't believe my baby is such an animal lover!

A pregnant cow. I can totally relate.








We had a great weekend with Craig and we can't wait until he comes back to visit us again. I think we are probably due for a trip to Lafayette after Austin is born so maybe we can arrange for the entire Boudreaux clan to spend an afternoon spoiling my babies. They are really, really good at it.