The cat is out of the bag!

That's right, we're pregnant again!

Specifically, I'm 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant.  The baby is due March 20.  All is well so far!  We saw the baby's heartbeat at 7 and 10 weeks.  It was amazing how much the baby developed in those three weeks!  At 7 weeks, the ultrasound kind of just looked like a banana, but at 10 weeks, we could really see the baby!  In fact, it kicked while we were watching it!  It was truly wonderful.

 7 weeks

I told everyone at work this week, which means I can officially announce it to all our friends here too!  We're so very excited!

This past weekend, we had friends visiting, and the four of us went shopping (as usual).  Only this time, we shopped for baby stuff!  We found teeny tiny baby shoes with hedgehogs on them, and bought them even though they were pink.  (Yes, we plan to find out the sex of our baby, but our appointment for that is not until October 21.)  We also found a onesie and pants set with hedgehogs, and a bib set to match.  Those were gray and yellow, so we snagged them as well, and Baby can wear them no matter the sex.  Our friends also bought us a t-shirt that says "Kiss me, I'm Irish."  As our baby will most certainly be Irish, it's quite adorable.

It's been so much fun to call our family and out of town friends and tell them.  I've been floating on a cloud the last couple of days!  The responses have been so joyful!

And here's a picture of me, just because.  It's not all that flattering, but that's ok!  Just remember, I took it all by myself before 7 this morning.  I'm not really starting to show, but I don't think it'll be long.  My pants haven't fit in weeks.  ;)

Memorial Day weekend fun!

For our three day weekend, our friends Lindsey and Johnathan came up to civilization Greensboro to hang out and shop!

On Saturday morning before they got here, Daddy and I attacked the jungle behind the house.  We cut down trees, tore out vines, and hauled off tons of debris.  We are gradually unearthing some grape vines and blackberry canes!  I'm super excited about what our yard might yield this year, and even more excited about how it will look in the future.  I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I'll get them up soon!

Once the Beams arrived, we immediately bundled Jazzi and Macy into their crates and headed out for the afternoon.  We grabbed a bite to eat at Chick-fil-A (civilization has Chick-fil-a!), then visited Ed McKay's (civilization has used books) to kick off our shopping spree!  I found Season 4 of NCIS for $20!!  I also bought some books, of course.  :)

Then we stopped by Fifth Season Gardening for Matt so he could pick up some supplies.  After that, it was off to YumYum's for ice cream (civilization has ice cream!).  Mmm...Cokes in glass bottles make me smile.

After driving all around the world to show Lindsey and Johnathan the beautiful campus of my future school, we headed for the Target shopping center on New Garden, we Lindsey and I shopped for shoes and clothes.  I got some Mimi shoes: my grandmother loved sparkly metallic shoes, so I try to find a pair of sparkly sandals every summer in her honor.  :)  We also acquired Season 1 of the BBC's Being Human for $13...score!

Then we took them to the Moose Cafe ("D'ya see the moose?") for all-you-can-eat BBQ!  Even though they were out of ribs, it was more than worth the $10.  Everything I've had there has been delicious, although my favorite things are the meatloaf and the hashbrown casserole.  Yum!

By that point we'd stuffed ourselves so full that we desperately needed to walk around a little more (well, at least that was our excuse), so Lindsey and I walked around Old Navy (I found a cute dress and a patriotic t-shirt for cheap!) while the boys investigated Dick's next door.  Then we reconvened for a quick and fruitless trip through the Target near our house (no DVD's on sale).  Then it was home to crash on the couch, where the boys killed things on X-Box 360 while Lindsey and I played online.

This morning, we lazed around the house (after the dogs finally convinced us to get up), watched the pilot episode of White Collar, and otherwise did nothing.  Then we gathered ourselves and went out, where Lindsey bought me a really cute Vera Bradley wristlet for an early birthday present.

Then we saw Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides!  It was better than Pirates 3, but not as good as the first two.  I missed Elizabeth and Will.  I wondered who they would get to be pretty in this one since Orlando Bloom was out, but they did well: Sam Claflin is adorable.  :)

This evening, we grilled out, in the time honored Memorial Day tradition.  We had steak, baked potatoes, asparagus, and shrimp.  Later, we roasted marshmallows over the coals and made s'mores (civilization has s'mores!)!

Tomorrow, to end our weekend, Lindsey and I are going back to Old Navy to acquire our Gay Pride t-shirts (civilization has Gay Pride t-shirts) before they get on the road.  :)

"Cold beer on a Friday night"

This past weekend, our friends Brad, Jenny, and Johnathan joined us at a Zak Brown Band concert. It was easily one of the most fun shows I've ever seen! It was in a big warehouse-turned-dance hall near the airport. We were pretty much right in the middle of the dance floor. The music, of course, was wonderful. I really enjoyed their version of The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Their fiddle player is AWESOME! Chicken Fried is a little bit of magic for all of us, of course. It was so great just to dance and hang out and enjoy the music.

Saturday night we all went to The Comedy Zone and then we used our free tickets to go across the parking lot to Arizona Pete's, which is a country dance club. We had another great evening. :)

I borrowed this picture from Jenny's Facebook...she was the only one who thought to bring a camera. Thanks Jenny!

Long day of work!

My parents and I spent all day at the house working. We're exhausted. Many thanks to Thomas and Mandy for stopping by to help and staying for hours! :) Yay! We cleared a lot of wallpaper today...the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen are done, and the hall is about 1/4 done...maybe a little less. It's a lot harder because it's been painted over, but it's going to look so good when it's done!

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. :)

Making the Daddy face and eliminating spiders!

Thomas was very disturbed that we fit on the countertops.

Wallpaper chaos...and the remains of a rainbow on the wall.

Taking a break.

Jazzi helped peel some wallpaper!

Tha hall wallpaper wants to stay attached. Yuck.

But the kitchen looks great! Ready for paint! (When we pick a color...)

A tornado? Nope...wallpaper peeling fiends! Thanks Thomas and Mandy!

Hall wallpaper again.

This is what Jazzi REALLY spent her day doing. :)

Welcome and unwelcome visitors, paint colors

Sharon came and hung out with me at the house today! She helped me try paint colors and offered her excellent advice and bargain hunting skills. Then she bought me [more] birthday ice cream! Yay! Thanks, Sharon!
There is a great deal of wildlife around our new house. This is partly because it's been empty for 5 years and partly because it's on one of the last undisturbed pieces of land in the area. With the new highway going right behind our property, animals are forced more and more often to live in close proximity to humans.

Twice now I have seen some kind of hawk perch on the window sills of the high windows in the back bedrooms and flap and screech like he wants to get it. It makes a lot of noise, but he surely is majestic to watch.

A less welcome guest (or three): black widow spiders! Ugh! We found 3 today. I am so glad they were outside (on the other side of the glass from me! Yay! Here are some pictures before Daddy exterminated them!



These are the paint colors we are considering for three of the rooms.

The bedroom (and possibly guest bedroom too): We want our bedroom to match the sheets and comforter we already have, so we thought we'd go with a nice mushroomy color. Sharon, Mom, and I aren't sure this is the right color, though. Mom suggested I try the next lightest color on the card and she promised to go to Lowe's with me tomorrow and help me look at other colors that are close to this one. Hmm. Also, notice the pink and purple heart wall paper and the pinky-purple paint on the walls. Definitely my room, last painted when I was 6. Whoo hoo!



The brown bathroom: What goes well with brown tiles?! I think blue, and I really like this one, even though it went on really weird because the roller was wet. Like Sharon said, "It looks like a cloudy sky!" :) It will match our blue bathroom stuff, at any rate.


Click here to see our pretty blue bathroom stuff. I think it will look great!

And finally, the kitchen: I'm really struggling with this one. Let's start by saying that the cabinets are really pretty, but the wallpaper is old and ugly and the paint underneath is, of course, much worse. So. I thought green would be nice in the kitchen because it matches our dishes (check them out here in celery and cream) and some of our other stuff. I didn't want it to look quite this institutional, though. Still hunting, because I don't like what I have.


Tell us what you think!