New Fave Things challenge is up!

The new challenge is up over at Fave Things -- Fave Celebrity.  I have to be honest, this was a tough one for me.  Usually I have some sort of idea of what I'll do...this time I kept coming up blank.  Probably because I'm not a huge fan of celebrities.  So, why dedicate an entire page to one?  Then, my friend Ashley texted me, providing what might be the best quotation ever (her texts are in gray, mine are in green). 

That conversation inspired this card:

I think I'll send this to her sometime in the near future.  :)

Anyway, we'd love it if you'd join us for this challenge! 

In hindsight, I guess I should have warned them.

Last night, I called home.  My sister answered the phone, and immediately told me that she tried to watch The Walking Dead (the new AMC series about a zombie outbreak and the survivors that are left to fend for themselves) and just couldn't because of the violence.  (Understandable, but how else are you going to de-zombify the zombies?) 

To be fair, I really hadn't suggested they start watching.  In fact, I avoided saying anything about the series, because I already knew it wouldn't be her cup of tea.  As I write this post, I'm three episodes behind.  (10 pm on a Sunday night was just too late for me two weeks ago...last week I was alone and there was no way I was going to attempt to watch right before bedtime...then last night, I was just too far behind.  Fortunately, they're all taped and just waiting for me to find a few spare hours.)

Mike and I are both huge fans of the original Robert Kirkman comic book series, but are divided when it comes to our feelings about the series.  He thinks the television series too violent, and hasn't watched past episode two.  I'm certainly not a fan of violence, but I'm also the person sitting on the couch, peering through my fingers until those scenes pass.  So maybe my perspective is different because it isn't as violent in my world. :)  But, again, I'll agree that there is at least one scene that went on for far too long (episode two...I'll omit the details, but if you watch, you can probably guess the scene I'm referring to). For us, the appeal of the comics has always been the tension and distrust amongst the survivors.  (That, and knowing that the comics start out in Cynthiana. Sadly, AMC missed the memo about including that crucial detail.)  So far, I've seen enough of the human drama to make me happy.

So, sometime this week, I will sit down, have my hands ready to cover my eyes, watch, and decide if I think the series is an acceptable companion to my favorite comic.

It's beginning to look a little like Christmas.

Not a lot.  Not yet, at least.

Mike put up the tree.  Yes, the same tree that wouldn't fit in my car last year.  The one my dad had to make a special trip to K-Mart to help me get it home.  Totally worth it.  Our newly rearranged living room looks great!

I'm so proud of us!  At first glance, this might seem like an extreme statement, considering there are no ornaments yet, but keep in mind that (1) last year we didn't even decorate, and (2) there was one year that we just put the gifts under Mike's road bike. 

You read that right.  Now, let's all sing:
          O Christmas bike, O Christmas bike
          Your spokes are extra shiny.

I did find this little guy while I was shopping the other day.  See how perfectly he matches last year's Starbucks ornament.  (Yes, I'm on a sock monkey kick as of late.  Would it surprise you to know that I really want Liam to be a sock monkey for Halloween next year?)

And, I got to bring out the really cute tart warmer my Secret Santa from work gave me last year. 

On top of that, I bought some scented tarts over the weekend.  They are amazing (and adorable).  I used the mistletoe scent tonight.

I hope to have a decorated tree to share tomorrow. 

I have decided...

...to make a quilt.  I just can't find crib bedding that I really, truly like (even though I said a few weeks ago that I had decided on bedding).  But yesterday, I found this quilt on etsy.  It's too large for the crib, and not quite the right colors (I'd love to see some blue mixed in).  But I love the pattern, so it has inspired me.  I think this would be easy to modify to my liking.  And the pattern seems simple.  Or I could make something like this.  Or this.

I even found some dinosaur fabric that would be perfect for the backing.  At the very least, even if I don't use this fabric, these are the colors I have in mind.

It just makes more sense to make something that I'm pretty confident I'll like, than to pay way too much money for a set that I'm settling for. 

I'm going into this with the realization that I have yet to finish the quilt I started in college.  But this is a baby blanket, so it shouldn't be nearly as time-consuming...baby steps, right? 

Two down, one to go.

Trimesters, that is.  Today was the beginning of the third trimester, arguably the most uncomfortable of the three.  And if my attempt at a 2-mile walk on Thursday was any indication, I have to say that I agree.  (And I did finish the two miles...I was neither fast nor graceful, but fortunately there weren't many people around to notice).   

26 weeks, 6 days

Liam was active today...I'm going to pretend that this means he likes Christmas music.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

From Liam (and his crazy momma!)

Thankful for time with family

• First order of business, my little brother gets his first haircut of the school year.  I've never seen his hair that long...he looked like a Chia Pet.

• Mom and I went to Walmart (pre-Black Friday craziness) to finish up the registry.   
• My mom made beef stew.  On top of her awesome roll-making skills, she makes the best beef stew ever!
• My mom and sister got to feel Liam kick (after several attempts -- he was being shy).
• I'm amused that my mom really wants to watch The Expendables.  
• I watched Daniel Boone and The Rifleman with my dad.
• Mike is watching the Tiny Toons Christmas Special on YouTube.   When will that be available on DVD (we own the entire Animaniacs series)?
• I love being here.

A list

• Mike has been chaperoning a trip this week.  He came back today, and I'm happy!
• So is Lola.  She spent the last two nights sleeping on his jacket.
• Liam's heartbeat was 140 at the doctor appointment today.  
• I finally bought the sock monkey onesie from Old Navy.  Cute, cute, cute!
• While there, I also found gray and yellow gloves.  
• Water is so much easier to drink when the lid is a flip top instead of a twist off.  
• I am avoiding Black Friday.  
• I can't wait to see my family this week!
• My mom makes the best rolls.
• I picked up our computer from the repair shop.  Huge relief.
• I had no idea that the oath of office for Kentucky's governor focuses so much attention on duels.  I wonder if yelling "fight, fight!" in the hallway as a high school student violates the no-dueling rule.

Getting crafty with the Liam

We've been working on a craft for the baby shower my mom and sister are throwing in a couple of weeks.  Liam is the brains behind the operation.  :) 

It didn't hurt that I found a bunch of onesies on clearance this weekend.  Thank you, Walmart, for the great deal (and the enabling).

Did you know you could use freezer paper to create iron-on stencils?  Amazing stuff...I'm having so much fun with this!

Of course, I couldn't resist making a couple of samples.  I must stop at two...I must stop at two...

This is going to be so difficult!  :)

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Guess what -- Mandie is having another giveaway!  Definitely worth checking out. 

Proof that Liam is super.

When we arrived at church this morning, our friend Jenny handed us a gift.  Inside were two sets of superhero onesies!  Oh my goodness, they are so cute!!! 

I (jokingly) told Mike that I may need to find tights to go with them. He didn't think the idea of his son wearing tights was all that humorous.  He also said that he hopes the ultrasound was right...um, ever heard of Supergirl and Batgirl?  :) 

15 movies in 15 minutes

(I did this on Facebook tonight, but I thought I'd post it over here as well with a little more detail.)

The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen MOVIES that have influenced you and that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Feel free to do this on your own blog.  If you do, link me up, because I'd love to know what movies you chose.

1. The Godfather - This was a film that Mike and I bonded over in college, before we started dating.
2. Memento - I just love the setup of this film and how it plays out.
3. This is Spinal Tap - Probably my favorite comedy ever.
   
4. October Sky - Great film that is, in a roundabout way, about teaching and inspiring students. 
5. Ishtar - An appreciation for this film was ingrained into me by my parents.  I mean, if you're expecting Dustin Hoffman from Rain Man or Kramer vs. Kramer, yeah...I guess you might be disappointed.  But really, it's a fun movie. 
6. Office Space - It was a close race between this and Idiocracy.  Two great Mike Judge films, but in the end, I went with the one I liked first.
   
7. Rear Window - My favorite Hitchcock film. 
8. Anne of Green Gables - I have to thank my mom for checking this movie out from the library very often. 
9. The Producers (1968) - Long before it was a Broadway hit and a Mel Brooks film, it was a Mel Brooks film. 
10. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Because I love British humor, and this is my favorite example.
11. The Count of Monte Cristo - Best revenge tale ever! 
12. Short Circuit - Johnny 5...alive.  :)
13. Halloween - The only scary movie I'll watch, and only if I tell myself I'm watching it for the great camera work. 
14. Manos, The Hands of Fate - So bad it's awesome. 
15. Run Lola Run - I didn't even know about this film until Mike introduced me to it.  Easily my favorite foreign film.

My Thanksgiving specialty.

It's a salad.  But I don't really have a name for it.  So we'll call it a romaine-granny-smith-bagel-chip-creamy-poppy-seed salad.  :)

And that sums up the ingredients list.  But just because I feel the need to present this in a more organized manner, you will need the following ingredients:

• 3 hearts of romaine, chopped (I usually buy the 3-pack)
• 1 small bag of bagel chips,crushed
• 1 granny smith apple, chopped 
• Approximately half a bottle of creamy poppy seed dressing  

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, and you have a very yummy salad.  I'll add a pic after I make the salad on Thursday.

Hello weekend!  Bring on the two-day work week!  :)

25w 6d

I can only think of one way to describe my bellybutton at this point -- it looks like it's been sucking on a lemon.  So weird. 

Imagination, go easy on me.

Childbirth class 2 of 4 was last night.  We got to take a tour of the hospital where we'll be delivering. 

Just when I thought this having a baby thing couldn't feel more real, it did. 

Now I know what the delivery rooms look like.  And they're very nice.  But now when my mind wanders off to "what's it going to be like" land, it goes to a specific location.  And for some reason that kind of freaks me out. 

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On a lighter note, a couple of my blog friends are hosting giveaways here and here.  You'll be really sad if you don't check them out.  :)

Fun with peanuts

I had to swipe this from my cousin's facebook. Recently, my cousin James stole his sister-in-law's peanuts.  The following are the ransom photos he posted.

Fave things challenge

It's time for a new challenge over at the Fave Things blog!  This time we're doing something slightly different.  The challenge is favorite fall colors, but here's the twist -- there are a couple of people who have come to Julie's attention that are going through some difficult situations at the moment, and are in need of Thank You cards to give to those that have helped them out during a trying time.  So what we want you to do is to incorporate your favorite fall colors into a Thank You card...check out today's blog post for more details.

Things from this weekend

• We went to the mall so I could spend the equivalent of a new pair of shoes on buy insoles.  
• It took 25 minutes to get out of the mall parking lot.
• "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a horrible song to listen to when you're fighting mall traffic.
• On the plus side, my feet felt great today.  
• I've had a headache for over 24 hours.  It doesn't look like it's going anywhere.  Stupid sinuses.
• This morning I slept in instead of going to church.  I don't do well with sitting and listening when my head hurts.
• I made some not-so-great french toast for breakfast. 
• My first baby shower will be next month.  I am super excited about this!
• We went out for coffee with one of Mike's former students.  I was a good girl and had a strawberry smoothie.
• We went to the coolest toy store ever this weekend and saw a giant playmobil guy.  

• I really want to buy this and this for Liam.   
• Mike suddenly has this fear that the ultrasound was wrong, and that Liam might actually be a Zoe.  
• Only 7 work days until Thanksgiving break.

Homecoming 2010

Today we went to our college homecoming celebration.  This is the same school my brother, Zack, goes to, so we got to have lunch and hang out with him for a little while.  And we got to spend a little time with his girlfriend, Amanda.  I like her more and more each time I see her!  She's so sweet and adorable!

But my brother desperately needs a haircut.  He hasn't had one all semester.  

Amanda sings in the Black Music Ensemble, which performed today.  They are such an amazing group!  I'm pretty sure Liam was dancing through most of of the concert.  

I also got to catch up with one of my students from last year.  His freshman year seems to be going well, and I'm very proud of him!  (Oh, and the purse he's holding isn't his.  Zack's girlfriend made him hold it while I took the first picture in this post.)  

I hope everyone had an amazing Saturday!

It's time for a layout!

Wouldn't you all agree?  :)

One of my recent favorites.  We love dominoes night.  Honestly, I would have thought I'd be saying that in my eighties.  But if you get the right people together, and it's a blast.  (I suppose you could say this about most everything...except maybe root canals...) 

And wow -- it's a 12x12 with multiple photos.  I've changed...I know.  :) 

(And I probably shouldn't admit this, but I was thrilled to hit spell check before posting and find that "dominoes" was not highlighted!) 

Mind Mapping

Jeannie put out a request for mind-mapping examples for a project she is working on.  At the same time, I was wondering what to blog tonight.  So...perfect!  You can read more about the project here.  I know she'd love for you to play along.

I chose "yellow" as my starting point, because of the yellow neclace I wore today.  

Well, that stinks.

My goal was to blog tonight. Unfortunately, my computer is having issues, so that won't be happening. So, let's all wish my computer a speedy recovery, shall we? :)

Hopefully things will look up tomorrow.

First childbirth class

A quick post tonight, because our childbirth class is over at 9:30, and it takes us about an hour to get home.  Which means I haven't had a moment to rest, and I'm pretty tired.

Back to the childbirth class.  Here's what Mike said after it was over when we got to the truck:

"I feel so bad for you."

Yes, we watched a video.  :)

Nursery plans

This crib.   





This bedding.

This dresser (doubling as a changing table).

 And this toy chest.

Mike's solution to Elmo

I know some of you won't want to hear this...but Mike and I are not big fans of the little red guy.  But while we were at Buy Buy Baby over the weekend, he came up with a solution. 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

(I'm about 30 minutes late with this...so let's pretend that we just set the clocks back on hour starting now.  Yes, it's 11:30 pm on November 6th...perfect!)

Today is my Mom's birthday!  I'm so happy she's my mom.  I'm so blessed to have her...and I realize it even more now that Liam is on his way.  She is seriously the most amazing woman I know.  I have a wonderful example to follow.  I love you, Mom! 

Hey Bekka. What's ↑ or ↓?

• I have vegged with Mike all evening, and it has been fabulous!
• And we had bacon for dinner.  Also fabulous.
• Then Mike fell asleep.  He woke up one to giggle at something on tv.  I can almost guarantee he won't remember this tomorrow. 
• Tomorrow is double date night.  Most likely dinner, bowling, and coffee.  (Which means nothing too spicy, lightest ball available, decaf.)
• I threw together this necklace yesterday to add some zing to the one sweater I can wear, only to promptly remove the flower pin after it interfered with my seatbelt.

• Speaking of sweaters -- it's cold out there!
•  And I'm soooooo happy it's Friday!  Enjoy your weekend!

Belly! :)

It occurred to me that I didn't post a belly pic last week.  So to make up for that, tonight we have two!

22 weeks, 6 days

23 weeks 6 days

Things I like from internet-land.

• Lost a mitten?  Here's something you can do with the other one.
• A tutorial for pretty pompom package toppers.
• A nifty headboard, an easy fabric wreath, and a cute acorn garland -- all from Elsie's blog.
• How to cross-stitch on a pumpkin -- pure genius!
• Some very elegant pumpkins.
• Love this ghost garland...must remember this for next October.
• Check out this house, all decked out for Halloween!
• I want to try this family tree tutorial for Liam...so adorable!
• Mummy meatloaf!  No really, check it out...it's much cuter than it sounds! 
• Adorable Starbucks-inspired embroidery. 
• I want to make cheddar crisps for all my soups now.

In other news, our 7th period pumpkin won Most Creative Use of a Pumpkin!!!

Because I haven't listed for a while...

• I voted today.  Which is a good thing, because it looks like I might have some complaining to do.
• I'm a little sad my 4-day weekend is coming to an end...but happy that my work week is only 3 days long.
• Liam kicked Mike in the face last night.  So funny!  (I keep telling him he was just excited to hear his voice.)  :)
• We're going out to dinner with our Wednesday night crew tomorrow. 
• I'm pretty stuffy right now.  Ugh...allergies.
• Lola is finally catching on to the idea that she should sleep in the cat bed we bought for her.
• I'm a tad miffed that The Walking Dead television premiere started out in random small-town Georgia...it's supposed to take place in random small-town Cynthiana.
• Surprisingly, one of my favorite Halloween costumes from our church trick-or-treat activity was a pair of kids dressed as Chucky and his bride (let me just say, not a fan of that horror franchise).  But, when you have a cute little girl referring to the equally cute red head in the stroller as "Chunky", you can't help but find them kind of adorable.

Puppies on Parade!

On Saturday, I went with Ashley to the Howl-o-ween parade.  She dressed her cute puppy Bailee up as a ghost. 

Bailee got a cute hairstyle earlier that day...see how she likes showing it off. 

Isn't she the cutest little ghost?

She made lots of new friends.

And she got to walk the parade route.

The dogs were even "interviewed" -- LOL.