my new fav

flower.....stargazer lillies


early this spring i was sooooo excited for flowers to FINALLY start blooming after our harsh, cold winter. i found this old vintage washing tub in our flower garden with some small stems growing. at first i thought they were just weeds growing, so i was going to pick em out!! good thing i didn't. look at these beauties :)

bentley was for once being good. so i got a snappy. :) what a goof, spaz, weirdo.

last night i cut them and brought them in the house.....the aroma is so yummy :) ted even wants me to plant more for next year :) :) he says they look 'nice' not pretty.....you know manly words of wisdom haha.

baby room is almost all the way complete....i will show all when that happens :)

19 days and counting until lil chum chum baby mason is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

mod podgin and craftin'

on a super HOT day.....

Was it hot where you were at yesterday? It was going to feel over 100 degrees the weather man said, and I believe it! I really don't like heat.....UNLESS....i am in or near water. Now that im preggs, my body temperature is sky high!!!!!! The good news is i was inside in the a/c doin some craftin, so no worries. i hope you got a chance to do something crafty too, and i wanted to share what my sis and i have been makin for the babe's room........

pom poms.......prompts to martha stewart

sis starting a new pom pom...........

so i realize they don't look that sweet hanging from random places downstairs..... BUT my friends....they are gonna look totally rad in little mason's room :) :)
thoughts??? ted thinks they would look good in a girls room.....maybe he isn't up to snuff with fashion decor????? mason is gonna be rockin' a pretty sweet little roomzzzziiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee :)

modge podgin'

all you need is cardboard letters(mine are from hobby lobby), mod podge, foam brushes, scrap book paper, and scissors.

one side of the 'E' is finished!!!!

i used a different design of paper to make my 'L'. the colors are in the same family though.

href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CMelinda%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"> 'L' is complete :) a little before and after...........i can't show you all the total finished product b/c it may or may not be a gift :) :) SORRY

this is something that is TOTALLY new to me.....my sister introduced me to mod podge and i found a sweet blog called Mod Podge Rocks! which is all about using mod podge to create your own crafts and re-do old 'things' to make them new!!!
check it out! its lovely. it may be my new fav thing to do!

so yes it's hot but im doing something new! and i love that.

i may head out for a bit in the sun. i need some color on my skin....cool pool here i come!!! :)

o and my garden is going crazy!!!!!!!!!!! i love fresh summer veggies :) YUMMY!!!!....zucchini bread here we come!!!!

get to mod podgin' people!!!!! you can make great CHEAP gifts for friends :)
and i'll update you on the babes room and bathroom soooooonnn!!!!!!!!

just some

diy projects

last week was beautiful. why? i had the week off of work!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhh it was sweetness and awesome.

i think my nesting instinct has kicked into high gear. about time i would say. only 4 weeks until the lil chum chum is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! eeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my sis and sweet friend em came to help :) i did help too.....we just made sure there was plenty of ventilation for the babe to breathe!!

before:
you can see a peek of the crib padding.......little deer :) very outdoorsie :) :) but vintage at the same time?? i like to think that at least!!


after:

ahhhhh much better......can't wait to get the decor in there now :) :) lil chum chum is gonna have the most cutie pie room everrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

while we were in the painting mode...........we painted the upstairs bathroom. for some reason ted didn't like the lavender purple???? huh.

before:
woah......the babe is stickin out!!!!!!! look in the mirror:) hahaha

after:

it's gonna look so bomb!!!!! i'll update with the final touches :) it's like a brand new room!! when you walk in the room manda says it just makes you smile. it's cheery. it's lovely.

chum chum was 35 weeks old:
now he's 36 weeks old.....happy birthday babe

this week we have our 2nd round of la maz classes...........this means we are super deeduper close to baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ted did a very good job too.....he wasn't close to passing out when the showed 'the video'. except there were no eyes on the c-section part.....nor were my eyes looking. yucky.

• feet are still puffffffyyyyy
• face starting to fill out......bummer
• babe is head down.....i feel him hiccup way down low
• less jabbing/kicking/boxing/back flips....not enough room in there!!!
• frequent peeing - especially at 2:45am :)
• itchy tum - i can handle that one
• more energy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  

peace yo.
xoxo

i have selfish desires

to be a stay-at-home mommy.

i know selfish-ness is a bad thing, jealousy of other people is bad too. the group of women i am most jealous of??....stay-at-home moms. its true and i almost hate to admit it. well not almost i do hate to admit it.

i think it is every woman's dream growing up to be a stay-at-home mommy. keep up on the house work, do laundry, make crafty things, make supper for her hottt husband and family, have play dates, make babies (Ted - i've wanted to have your babies every since elementary school, no joke :) can't wait to see you hold our little babe, i won't be able to take my eyes off of that sight) and once a week bible studies. at least that has been my dream even as a little girl.

these kind of desires have been rolling through my head ever since we found out we were preggs. it never leaves either. it almost makes me crazy.

the reasons for these selfish desires:

• i know it won't happen and can't happen right now in our life...being home with the babe that is. why you ask? it seems as though when you know you can't have something, you want that specific something more and more. at least thats true for me.
  
• i carry our insurance for our little family. insurance is too expensive to buy on our own.
• just bought a new house and make a mortgage payment monthly
• my husbands income wouldn't be able to support our growing family at this time. praying someday his buisness will expand greatly and i will be able to stay home with our kiddies.
• i just have to tell myself this is where the Lord wants me and our family at this time. in HIS time, HE may or HE may not have it be His will to make me a house wife/mother.

For now I will be thankful that, I am able to carry a child for 9 months, I have a husband who loves me and WANTS to be able to someday support his wife and children at home, a providing God, I have a job, and I have a mr. mcDreamy that i LOVE. XOXO

There's a peace I've come to know....
There's an anchor for my soul....
I can say "It is well".....

I pray for peace within my crazy brain

This song has been in my head alot this afternoon.......
(Turn the volume up!!!! #1 on the playlist baby...)
it gives me goosebumps.

so all you stay-at-home mommy's have fun with your little ones :) :) someday i pray i will join in on the fun!!! for now i have PEACE!! i am assured this is right where God wants me.

xo

last night

was date night for the ehly's

we had a lazy sunday yesterday....ahhhhhh i love lazy sundays. we went to church for the first time in three weeks. yikesssoooo.

we came home and my sister amanda was around town so she dedcided to stop by the house. we had lots of fun. i mean how can a 2hr. nap NOT be fun?!?! we didn't plan on being that lazy but hey it was fabulous.

we don't have a free weekend until the 1st weekend in August and who knows....the babe could be here by then!!!!!!!!!!! eeeekkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!

anyways. around 6 ted asks "hey babe, you wanna go to a movie tonight???"
my response: "heck yea!!!"
side note: we haven't had a date night in a longgggg time

so we headed up to hastings to watch the movie.....this is what we watched

i was kind of afraid it was going to be raunchy (sp??) but it wasn't, hardly at all. it was lol funny. we enjoyed some popcorn...some expensive popcorn that is. we snuck pop in from the gas station. reminded me of ted and his friends really. kevin james = clint totally. that's why i think it was so funny. Rob Schneider = neal, sorry buddy but kinda true. chris rock = no one b/c no black friends. adams sandler = ted or mike more sporty. david spade = ????

funny night. i love ted. this date night reminded me of when we were in high school some 5 or 6 years ago. he still makes me feel like there are butterflies in my tum. ahhhhh. wowzzzah that seems like sooo long ago.

the babe

is 34 weeks old!
not that great of a pic but you get the idea.



So, I guess this little guy weighs as much as your regular cantaloupe...so it's a bit frustrating when the scale says I have gained much more than just what a regular cantaloupe weighs. grrrr.

Other things that i'm experiencing and they say it's 'normal'.....

• Back aches? yep. this started about 2 weeks ago. i was teaching summer school and bent over and about fell to my knees. it.hurt.bad. come to find out, this is normal?? to have your back hurt this bad??
  

• puffy feet, ankles, and legs?...you bet! this is the worst part of pregnancy thus far.....they don't even look human anymore. i thought i would be able to pull off the cute skirts and dresses this summer. nope. not this girl. its long pants and maxi dress all summer long, 98 degrees and all.
  

• hemorrhoids? got 'em. ok sorry readers but it's the truth. i won't go into details for your sake :) lets just say its not that comfortable and kinda painful. ok i'm done i promise.

• leg cramps? yes please. this only happens at night though like 2am night. remember getting charley horse cramps, this is what its like but only every night. just a bit annoying is all and maybe some pain.

• stretch marks? unfortunately. what a bummer. i was fortunate enough to not have them until about a month or so ago. i have like 5 on each side of my stomach. i am so hoping they magically go away after baby mason gets here......am i dreaming??? probably.

• its totally weird how much your body changes for a sweet little babe. although not all the changes are that beautiful....at least in my view. puffy non-human feet/ankles? come on people! that is not beautiful!!!!

off subject tid-bit......
so our house is super deeeeduper hot. let me re-phrase that, our upstairs is super deeeeduper hot. and our little mason is going to be sleeping up there. poor wittle guy. i want to be a swaddler kind of mom. meaning i want to swaddle him with the recieving blanket (i hear it is supposed to make babies less fussie, i'm ALL for that!!!). this is the part that i have been struggling with....our upstairs is like 90 degrees and if he is swaddled in a hot flannel blanket, won't he croak?? not literally, but really, won't he be smokin hot? so i think i found a 'cooler' way to swaddle our little babe.....there are other designs and colors too, which are way better. if you want to check them out for yourself they are at lunalullaby.com

Features of the soothing blanket:

• 100% softest quality cotton muslin
• Fabric weave specially designed to breathe easily
• Lightweight fabric allows baby's temp to regulate
• Stretchable fabric provides a snug swaddle
• So i'm thinking it's kinda like cheese cloth material just a little heavier???
  

so all in all, i think these would be better for little mason while it's smokin' hot upstairs...then once it gets cold, i'll switch to a flannel blanket....

i think i'm gonna head to lincoln next week to buy me some soothing swaddle blankets!!! happier baby, happier mommy :) :)

peace out yo. xoxox.

touring....

the hospital for mason...
wish i could say a sweet country or something, but no, just the hospital. where the whole havin a babe is gonna take place.

we will be taking some classes this summer to really find out how scary having a babe REALLY is. we needed to fill out a bunch of paperwork so we can have you wittle mason. they gave us some info on classes to take, such as a breathing class. i hear that is the most crucial part of havin the babe. in this class they will also talk about how scary havin a babe is (at least in my point of view), the pain meds and how they work. breastfeeding classes are an option too, mason you are gonna be one healthy babe...hopefully this breast feeding thing works, we need to save some $$$....pretty sure you can't buy formula at TJ Maxx!! :) haha i wish cuz it would probably be cheaper :) once we were finished with the paperwork part and classes part, we headed out for the tour. the grand tour. evidently your daddy thought this havnin a babe is pretty scary.

the first room we went to was Labor Room #1. There were many 'things' in that room that i didn't know about and kinda felt dumb about....but in my defense, haven't done this before, DUH! I thought dad was tired of standing this whole time BUT really he was about to pass out flat on the floor. i glanced at him and he had lost all of his color in his face. ghostly white :/ yikes. the nurse lady asked him 'are you alright?' and his response was 'i just feel like im gonna faint.' the nurse kinda chuckles and says, 'are you kidding with me?', 'are you serious?' she really thought he was joking around. he shook his head and his face said NO! mason, im not sure if your dad is gonna make it when you enter this world. he hopes he can and i hope he can too because you are too precious not to see right away :) your me-ma gowen said she would be the back up!! you will love your harley drivin me-ma :) :)

side note: he can skin a buck, butcher a hog, all those manly things....BUT....can't see a stitch of human blood or be around needles.

we finally got finished touring Labor Room #1, and the nurse has the nerve to ask your father if he wanted to tour the C-Section room....what do you think his answer was??? Nope i'll stay here and wait. poor guy. he just can't handle even thinking about what happens when i have you, mason.

just wanted to let you know mason, your dad is so in love with you already. he CAN NOT wait to watch football games with you....you will know all player positions before your 1!!! :) he also likes to feel you squirm, kick, and move at night (yes you move TONS at night time) don't make that a habit that you are up late at night....pretty ppplllleeeaaassssssssseeeee!!! your mom needs her sleep in order to not be a bear :)

love you mason