So a while ago, after Christmas, we moved the boys into the same room so they could have their space plus a play area.

Then in February, we found out we were pregnant and the play area was then going to have to be returned to a bedroom. That transformation will have to start soon, but in the mean time they've been enjoying it.

Here are a few pics of the boys' new room.
 This is from the doorway. We've got 4 dressers total which provides plenty of storage for all of their clothes

 Here's just a close-up of some of their wall art and where our guinea pigs live.
Here are the bunk beds, freshly slept in. The beds are not as tall as normal beds, which was one of the concerns we had.
Here's Dev's laptop and desk area. The orange table was a table I had down in the family room, but its perfect for holding wii games.
 Here's the sign I just finished for the boys. Hopefully they take it to heart, because honestly that's most of the reason they get in trouble.
These wall figures were made by the boys' great-grandfather. I had to put them high, so the clocks in them would stop being played with. Luckily the boys still love Mario and Yoshi. :)

 Tomorrow I'll share more on the sign, and then I've got some updated pics of the room that will be baby sister's nursery!

So a week ago, the boys and I found out that baby #3 is a bouncing baby GIRL!!!!

I will say that we're all thrilled. Harrison was not thrilled at first, but only because he didn't realize that he could be a big brother to a baby sister. Once he figured that out, he was good. Although he still won't call baby girl by her name. Its just Baby.

Dev was over the moon, because he's said the entire time that she was a girl. Steve is excited for the change of pace, and I was super happy, which then turned to panic. What the heck do you do with a girl!?!?! I mean, I know I'm a girl, but I've got boys down pat. Boys are easy. Girls are scary and unknown. My fear and trepidation lasted exactly for one evening and then I was over it.

Planning started the next day! I think I'm going to do a more in depth post on just what her room will be like, since I've got most of it planned and sketched out. My notebook looks like a bipolar person owns it. Some of it is super technical with drawings and measurements and well put together lists for what needs to happen, and then other pages have random thoughts scrawled in all directions. Oh well. Its how I work. :)

I did happen to find some terrific fabric at Hancock this last weekend, so the colors are set. I'm even excited that Harrison picked out all the colors for her room. The boy did good.

So anyways, here's a pic of our new baby girl, Reagan.

Here's a sneak peak of what Harrison picked out. There's no pink, but that's ok. I like that he included both his and Dev's favorite colors.

So two years ago, I had a landscape design done for the front of the house {see it HERE}, and we're finally getting around to starting it.

I haven't tackled the extreme slope of a garden that's in front of our porch, but the hubs has definitely risen to the challenge of breaking up the dirt clay that makes up the sections of garden we have added. He fussed at me for lifting the pick axe. Its only 5 pounds, but something about being 5 months pregnant or something, so I went and sat down on the porch and directed for a few minutes. As you can see, our entire front yard is nice red clay. No wonder there are several brick factories in and around us.


We've taken a couple of weekends, only working on Saturday morning, while the front is shadowed by the house. We still have 2 or so weekends of work in front of us, but its coming along!! I didn't realize that when the plan called for about 17 plants, it really, REALLY meant it. 7 liriopes did not cut filling in this space.


Luckily, I found more liriopes at the Lowe's in Manassas and bought 10 more plants to help fill in this space!

Doesn't the clemaits look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book? I can't wait till he gets bigger. Hopefully it'll bloom this autumn, but the coreopsis surrounding it have really started to take off. Of course, all the plants are new, but I can't wait until these buggers fill in!

I also decided to move two of my huge clumps of day lilies to around our trees in the front yard. So Steve dug them up for me, separated them and then planted them inside the new tree rings.


All that is left, is to tackle the new garden over by the garage and then the sloped garden. I'm afraid of the sloped garden, but in the meantime I'm going to enjoy the lovely work we've already put into the yard. What I didn't show you was the enclosed garden, because it looks pretty much the same as it did 2 years ago. The big difference? Everything is larger. :)

See you guys later!

I'd like to know when being 7 was the new 16. Dev is 7.5 and lord almighty does he have an attitude some most times. Its aggravating. I know he's exploring his independence and all of his new-found knowledge, but please, I'd really like my sweet little boy back. Granted some of the acting out is probably due because of baby #3, but seriously, I'm over it.

So in order to help with the harmony of the house; the hubs, Devlin and I sat down and discussed the chore situation. It was a huge bone of contentment. He didn't want to do them, but wanted to get paid for them. Complained constantly. Basically the house was always angry at one another, mostly because of the fight the chores had become.

We came up with 5 chores that had to get done, every day, no matter what. If he didn't get these chores done, it would affect the allowance he could earn. The other 5 chores we came up with were the ones he'd get paid for. $.10 for every chore done (providing the 5 basic ones were done). He can earn up to $.50 a day, which equals $15 a month (what he was earning before). The difference being that the money offering chores were not mandatory. He could choose not to do them, but he would not get paid for them. We decided that all the chores needed to be done by the end of dinner, because at the end of dinner; we'd tally the monies earned/forfeited and write the amount he earned for that day. At the end of each week, we'd total up his take.

Everyone agreed and signed a contract. Steve and I then made a simpler one for Harrison, and he can earn half of what Dev can earn. Same rules all the way around.

The first couple of days were rough. Very rough. I didn't have the chore charts done yet, so it was hard to track what had been done and what hadn't been done. Behavior was also an issue. Well, I got the chore charts done and then a funny thing happened. The boys started competing with each other. Who could get the most stickers (magnets) done before the other. Competition is good for the soul, because the first 3 days, Harrison not only earned more money than Devlin, he wiped the floor with him. That first week, Harrison made only $.05 less than Devlin, because by the 5th or 6th day Dev had had enough. It was game time.

The chore charts were simple enough to make. 1 1x12, Galvanized Flashing, Silver Upholstery Nails, Magnet Paper, Cardstock, Glossy Accents and Black Vinyl. I stained the wood with Kona from Rustoleum. Mostly because its a one coat wonder and its quick and dirty. I needed these things pronto! I glued the galvanized sheeting down with some liquid nails adhesive, and then finished off the edges with the upholstery nails. I like the industrial look it gives them.
 I used my Silhouette to cut out the vinyl, cardstock and magnets. After getting everything just so and assembled it all. I topped off the magnets with glossy accents to help protect the cardstock from use. I also made sure to have the magnets attached to the metal so they wouldn't curl up. That made a huge difference.


As you can see the competition is going strong. We make allowances for evening where we might be out and not home for dinner, but the time frame is usually the same, and things are flowing much smoother now. Thank goodness, because the next thing we get to tackle is the play room. Its time to start planning the nursery!!!

So 2 weeks ago, Dev saw a guinea pig. It was love at first sight apparently. So for the next week he studied and readied himself for pet ownership. He approached us with a well thought out request and passed all of our tests.

He's also gotten quite capable with said new pets. He takes care of them. I help here and there, but only with such things as refilling the hay wheel and figuring out why the water bottle won't stop leaking (fur was the culprit last time).

Here are our new friends. Yep there are 2 because H wanted one, and he's super cute. :)
 Harrison's guinea pig is named Bee. He also named Mom's fish, Mouse. He seems fascinated with naming animals with other animal names. Dev's is named Pika, who is not quite as docile as he would have had us thought. :)

 Here are the boys with their pets! Aren't they all so cute? Well I think so. :)

Maybe one of these days I'll get around to taking pictures of their new room set up.

Have a great day guys!

Yay for being in the 2nd trimester. FINALLY.

I'm feeling more and more human, even if my sinuses are now bombarding me. Yay for Virginia! Stupid pollen state. Its so bad this year, that even the boys are asking for help blowing their noses. That's not only shocking, but scary as to the crisis their noses must be in. I, for one, am tired of washing shirts that from shoulder to hem have snot streaks down them.

I am not going to talk about snot streaks or sinuses today though. I'm starting to plan. We will be finding out the flavor of fetus in a few weeks, and with this impending news I've been thinking. About nurseries.

Now I'm not pulling for one flavor over the other. I want healthy. A girl would be a new challenge, but a boy, well a boy would be old hat, and I found the absolute perfect inspiration board and room for our guy, if he is a guy.

{source}

So some back story about why I love this so much. My dad is a rocket engineer, and one of his rockets just had a successful test flight out of Wallops Island. Yay! My boys love space. Dev is fascinated by the solar system and wants to be a meteorologist (who knows what they want to be in kindergarten?). Harrison has decided he just wants to go to space. That will probably change but he said it, so I'm going with it. Steve also likes it, but I secretly think its because he's hoping to sneak in some Star Wars stuff. :)

Visiting LemonDropLife also led me to LayBabyLay, a site I'd never heard of but am totally in love with now!

So here are the inspiration boards I like from LayBabyLay!

This is the same board that LemonDropLife used for her nursery. There are so many things I love here, but mostly I love the happy pop of yellow!

So for a girl, there are a couple of options. I want butterflies. I know. Its been done. A lot, but I like them and all their fluttery glory, but I also like glam, vintage, sparkly and shiny. All those things can go together right?

I love how happy this room is! I also love all the PINK!!!! If you guys remember the rest of my house, there's also a fair amount of orange in it, so obv I love orange too. I don't know that Steve is on board with this, but we're just brainstorming here.

Ok I'm not at all in love with the bunny theme here, but the bunny can get replaced with butterflies. I like the pops of color against a neutral, and seriously.....that dresser is amazing. Love that dresser, and guess who has 3, maybe 4 dressers hanging around her garage and house that are waiting for some love. Steve is so happy about that circumstance. :-/

So there are some of the ideas we're batting around right now. Like I said there are others, but there is a small child asking for hot chocolate and he's probably waited for me long enough to finish up this post. :)

So my last post shared that I'm now preggo. You know what the problem with that is? I'm competitive. With myself.

I think the problem is starting to become clearer. 6 weeks ago I was in the best shape of my life and headed for even better fitness and well being. I was able to consistently meet PRs and goals.

Fast forward to now. I'm almost 12 weeks pregnant and showing. My back has started hurting along with my round ligament and I just don't have the stamina I did. I get tired super easily and overheated. The internal body temp thing is completely whacked out and it's playing havoc with everything.

I need to keep reminding myself that I'm not at the level I was. I'm on a new level. A pregnant level and dammit anything I do exercise-wise is awesome and rocks. Even if it means a 16 minute mile (ack!)

So here I am, after my workout, sitting in the lounge area of the gym waiting for my mom to finish her class so I can scarf down whatever deliciousness the hubs has made because the 45 minute workout I just did has made me ravenous and I will not allow myself to go to 5 guys again and gobble up a little bacon cheeseburger like I did after Zumba. Even tho it was heavenly and delicious.

Ok so there's my check in. Oh and does anyone know why after an hour in the sun today my back looks like a freaking lobster? Cause a sunburn is just what I needed. :-/

So ya know, I had a plan.

I had a good plan. It was going to rock, because I was finally going to be not overweight or obese anymore. I was going to rock a bikini for the first time, since oh the hubs and I were dating.

It was going to be marvelous.

Then bammo! I'm talking to Mom and we start talking about monthly cycles and I start thinking.......Hmmmm, shouldn't mine have been here by now? Am I late? Crap, I hope I'm not late. Great now I have to run to the store. C R A P

So after this happened.
Which, coincidentally, is how I told my sister and the hubs. First words - Oh crap.

You see we weren't trying. Really was kind of rounding the "we're done with children" corner. Its never been easy for us to get pregnant. Its always taken work and then a lot of praying. This is my 6th pregnancy. Its my first pregnancy that's had a heartbeat without following a miscarriage. Its weird and took a bit of getting used to the fact that we're having another baby. We'd started donating all of our baby stuff. Like I said, we were rounding the corner.

So now all of my plans have changed. Obv I'm not dieting anymore, and I'm totally not eating as healthy as before, it is not my fault that Taco Bell makes me feel better, blame the baby. I'm also eating more, but luckily (?) the morning sickness was so bad that I did end up losing weight the first several weeks anyways. I've gained all of it back and then a pound or two, but I'm also trying to get back into my exercising.

Now that I'm feeling better again, its time to get this butt in gear and try and keep up exercising so I don't end up back where I was after small fry was born. Granted, I'm starting this pregnancy MUCH lighter than either of my other two pregnancies that went to term, but even still.....I am hoping not to have another heavy-weight baby like Devlin either. I gained a total of 17 pounds with Devlin, who was then slightly over 10 pounds, so really ending up only 7 pounds heavier than when I started was not bad. With Harrison it was better? I gained 6 pounds with him, and he ended up weighing 7 pounds, so right off the bat I was down a pound.

Not that I'm advocating anything here, but I'm going to be honest that I dislike being pregnant. From the fatigue, to the morning sickness and then a host of other fun things that all my mom-friends will commiserate with me on being pregnant sucks. There are cool parts. Feeling the baby move (at first, then it just becomes annoying), freaking out your husband or other children when the baby decides to roll over and them going WTH? Shopping for new baby is fun and nesting is fun, at least for me, but these first few months...No, thank you.

Oh here's a fun part about #3.....you show sooner. Joy. At least I can wear some of my fat clothes again and be completely comfortable while I chow down on my Taco Bell. Of course, I donated most of those clothes too. More shopping.

Well that's my post for today. Tomorrow I hit the gym again. I plan on going to the gym 3 days this week. I don't know what my plan is, but I imagine there'll be some jogging/walking on the treadmill and maybe I'll hit the weights. Don't know, but I'm going and that's half the battle.

See you guys later!

So its been a bit over a month since anything has been posted. Oooops.

Life has a way of getting in the way, or ya know, putting up a huge cinder block road block that says, "HEY! Pay attention to me!"

Well guess what life threw into our way?
Yep, that's a blueberry. Or a frog, depending on who you ask.  :) Our new bundle is going to arrive sometime in October, which is also why absolutely squat has gotten done for the last several weeks. Yay for morning sickness. And fatigue! Can't forget that one.

Thankfully the first trimester is almost over and I'm starting to feel a smidgen better. We find out next month what flavor the berry is which should be interesting as everyone, absolutely everyone, is rooting for team pink.

What does this mean for the changes we just made to the boys' room? Well, unfortunately they're going to have to lose their playroom, but luckily the walk-in closet in their room is a reading nook right now, so after some toy editing there should be plenty of room for them and their toys. :)

Ok so that's my update, and hopefully I'll be sharing some more projects here soon, once I get them done. :)