Ohio weather.

Today’s high was in the 60s. It’s the last day in January, in Ohio, and it was 60 degrees. Basically, there’s no type of weather that surprises me here.

Just 10 days ago, I took these winter white photos of a fresh snowfall. Yep, just a little over a week ago it was snowing and icy, and today I didn’t need a coat! I don’t have anything special to share in a post here, but I liked the photos, so I might as well share ‘em.

I think these are weeds, but I thought they were pretty in the fresh snow…

Our shed door…

Husband is a baseball coach; therefore, the pup has baseballs as toys…

This is our Christmas tree, waiting for a good Summer bonfire…

Goofy dog loves this ball that’s just about completely torn in half…

This is a red glider bench in our backyard…

Again, pretty weed…

Just a random evergreen in our backyard…

The pup LOVES snow…

Goofy dog. I’ll take 60 degrees over the pretty snow any day. The warmth today was without a doubt a wondrous thing today. :)

Diet soda girly cake.

I’ve seen a lot of pins and blog posts that have 2 ingredient cake – cake mix + diet soda. So on a whim, I decided to try out diet 7-up with a strawberry cake as my “something pink” for  our gender reveal party. Here are my whopping 3 ingredients…

You’re supposed to use a can of soda, so I just measured 12 ounces. 

Added the soda to the cake mix, and watched what looked like a volcano science fair project.

Mixed it together…

And baked it according to the cake box directions, yes right next to baked beans…

The cake actually tasted kind of like a strawberry margarita. Although, honestly, I don’t know that I’ve actually ever had one of those, but it’s what I bet they taste like! It was really good, really moist, and still fluffy. I used fat-free cool whip as the frosting, oh my, that was a great choice. Plus, it’s got to be much healthier than the normal cake since it doesn’t have eggs, oil, or icing. {Bonus!}

I will definitely make this again, probably in the Summer, and maybe add some fresh strawberries on top. Yum.

The little one’s room update, with orange.

I worked on the little one’s room a bit more before we knew she is a SHE! I didn’t want to share this on the blog yet, because I wanted my family to see the updates in person first, which they did at our “gender reveal” get-together earlier this week.  Last time I updated ya, the room was bright navy blue with white trim. Here’s the place with our new crib & the accent of orange…

Um, yes, I know we still need to get some new baseboard for the one wall. The crib we bought is the Graco Lauren 4-in-1 convertible fixed-side classic crib. It seems really sturdy, had great safety reviews, looks nice, converts to a toddler and twin bed, went together well. Oh, and word to the wise, don’t put the entire crib together in the living room expecting to just move it to the bedroom, only to find out that there’s no way it will fit down the hall and through the door. {Awesome.}

The curtains are from IKEA. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll spice ‘em up yet or not. I scored the quilt below from Target. It’s reversible and full/queen size, and I got it for just 24 bucks. It’s the Springmaid Tera Scroll Quilt, originally $80. I plan to throw it on the floor so the little one can play on the floor or lay on it with a with some extra cushion, and I can easily wash it if there are any messes {which I’m sure there will be.}

This orange fun thing below is the beginnings of my changing table. Believe it or not, way back when we lived in an apartment, I found it on the side of the road while walking the pup, loved the style of it, drove back & shoved it in my car. I painted it bright orange, long before we even thought about starting a family. It was just a project that I could expel some of my DIY-cravings while I lived in an apartment that I couldn’t paint or hammer into. ;) I’ll probably have a full post for this bright beauty later.

I still have to figure out what to do with the boards that act as the shelves.

Oh, and that blue bag was my first real purchase during pregnancy. I pretty much freaked out about whether to order it or not, but I’m glad I took the leap of faith. It’s a Vera Bradley Rivera Blue Baby Bag. I got it on sale on www.verabradley.com for just $40, originally $99. {Score.}

So that’s where we are right now on our daughter’s room. {I’m still in a small state of shock that it’s a girl!}

How about some before/after {or “in works”} shots…

 

I really love the closet painted white. Made a big difference…

 

Now on the list is:

• find a rocker
• dress up the curtains
• make the ceiling light look cute
• sew a fitted sheet & pillows
• figure out the changing table shelves
• decorate the walls
• make boxes for the changing table
• completely re-do the bathroom

And more. But the little girl’s not due until June, so we still have a little while. One thing at a time, right? :)

Have a fabulous weekend, friends!

It’s a….!

So, we had a lovely dinner with our family to share the news of whether the little one is a boy or a girl. I’m not normally one to throw parties for myself; I do not like attention and usually enjoy planning parties for other people. But since our announcement of the pregnancy wasn’t super happy and big celebration {it was more of a t”his is great, but please pray hard that all goes okay” kind of thing}, I really wanted to do something fun and happy to celebrate this big blessing appropriately.

Here’s some of the details from the little “gender reveal” get-together…

We had a summer-ish meal – hamburgers, baked beans, some delish homemade mac n’ cheese, deviled eggs, cake & cake pops. You can see the chalkboard wall was a place for people to wager their guesses. I had each person’s name on a post-it so they could make their guess. Many more thought boy than girl. {Interesting!}

The bunting was a free printable I found here, and the balloons were leftover from a birthday party at work. {Score!}

After dinner, with my sister on Skype so she could find out at the same time too, I gave everyone an envelope that had a letter on it that would spell “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl” {added exclamation point so there is the same number of letters…just to be tricky.} I told them they had to all open the letter at the same time so they’d all find out at once.

So is blue for boy?

Or pink for girl?

Suspense is killing ya, huh. ;)

It’s a…

…

…

I’m still in shock! I thought for sure it was a little boy kicking me all this time, but I was wrong! It’s a spunky little girl playing around in my belly!

I’m so excited to meet our daughter and watch her daddy melt instantly. {He’s going to be such a good dad to a little girl.}

Again, I have to say it, God is so good!

Halfway.

I’m twenty weeks along in my pregnancy this week. I’m so amazed that I’ve reached this point already. So thankful for this blessing.

I’m feeling a bit better the past week and a half. Less intense migraines, less constant nauseousness. Even sleeping deeper at points.

I’m loving prenatal yoga…specifically two youtube videos {Part 1 & Part 2} and a DVD my sister gave me called “Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga” by Element. I get really achy and sore trying to sleep, so the stretching and breathing really make me feel much better. Plus, the movements also make me slow down and rest a bit, while still exercising a bit.

We find out today, Lord willing, if we can expect a son or a daughter in June. I’m surprisingly not too anxious to find out the gender. I’m really anxious, however, to see the baby moving and hear that everything's going well and all is healthy still. I’m not feeling fear nearly as much as I did the first trimester, but I still find myself fighting the negative thoughts every now and then. I think it’s going to be a constant testing of my faith to not doubt and to believe in the positive.

I don’t necessarily have a motherly instinct on the gender, but I think I’d guess that it’s a boy. I haven’t even really considered the fact that it could be a girl…so it will be exciting to find out if that’s so! I think I’ve been thinking boy because Eugene wants an older brother to watch over a little sister {he’s the oldest and has 2 little sisters}. I have grown up with girls and feel more confortable with the idea of a little girl baby, so maybe that’s why I’ve been thinking boy this whole time – just to get myself accustomed to the thought of having a son.

I’m really hoping the baby’s not too modest tomorrow because we’re having our families over for dinner and dinner & the gender reveal on Tuesday. ;)

Earlier today, I looked at Eugene and told him that we’d know soon if we will have a son or a daughter, and it sounded so strange to me. I’m still overwhelmed with humility and gratitude that we’re blessed with this opportunity.

Little one’s room in color.

I’ve been crazy busy at work lately. I was there at 6:15 am this morning, and I’m really feeling it now! Once January hits, so many people who just got engaged are calling us to begin their wedding planning and venue search process plus we’ve had a strange amount of high profile military events to coordinate lately. Anyhow, that’s my excuse for being a slacker on my blog posts lately. It’s so much easier to blog when I’m on vacation. If that’s not a legit reason to quit my job, then I don’t know what is!

Enough on that, how about a quick update on the little one’s room? Last I posted, this was what the wall looked like…

I wanted to go with the same color in the room, regardless of whether the little one is a boy or girl. I’m not a super girly girl who loves the princess pink {not that I have anything against those who prefer pretty in pink…it’s just not me}. I knew I wanted to have a bold, bright nursery for a girl or a boy. My color them is going to be bright dark blue {which Eugene says is an oxymoron, but it makes sense to me}, white, and orange. I’ll add in some additional colors if we find out it’s a little girl, but probably stick with the three basic colors if it’s a boy.

We wanted a zero VOC paint, and I’ve liked the Olympic paint we’ve used for our kitchen & living room, so we planned to go that route. The nice guy at the Lowes paint desk gave us a coupon and told us we could get the new “One” type of Olympic paint that’s a primer & paint in one for the same price as just the paint. Works for me!

Here’s the color details…

And here’s my trimming…

The open doorway to the left is the spare half bath, which I think will be nice to have in the baby’s room. Oh, and pay no attention to my messy closet {which has since been rearranged and moved}…

And here’s the beautiful new drywall with a coat of “dry wall primer”…

And here it is painted, just missing a baseboard!

I wasn’t totally sure about the color because it’s so rich, but now that I have some furniture and curtains up, I’m really liking it. It’s really cool and calming.

Oh, and p.s., wrapping your paint brushes and rollers in saran wrap is SO helpful. You can store them in the refrigerator for weeks, even months, without them drying out. Saves a heckuva lot of time from washing the brush and rollers between every coat!

Lord willing, we have less than a week until we get to see our little one on another ultrasound, hear the miraculous heartbeat, and find if we’re expecting a “he” or “she.” I’m really looking forward to seeing the little one moving around again! :)