It's so simple and I love it a lot. And it was about 1/3 of the price of those huge dresses at the store.
Have you been to Michael's lately? If not, you need to go in the next week or two before it's all gone. Fall is here, but Christmas décor is encroaching, so fall is shorter than ever. It's quite a shame, because I LOVE fall decorations and fall colors and fall holidays. If I had any money, I would decorate my whole house for fall.
Speaking of fall holidays, my favorite holiday of the year is sooner than you think. Have you been thinking of your costumes? We have. We have our idea all put together. We just haven't done any physical work on them yet. This brings me to my question: When should the 3rd Annual
Halloween Party be? (Yes, it'll be in Mesa). Here are your 2 options:
go for the Tuesday party since no one really trick or treats anymore (it's all about the Trunk or Treat)? Are wards having their parties on the weekend or on Tuesday? Anyone?
This was taken about 1/2 way through the limb-cutting portion of the project. Notice how the tree is more than twice Jake's height.
Some of the branches were a little hard to get to, and took some creative climbing.
5:15pm
5:30pm
5:45pm
I reupholstered my glider & ottoman.
I made an interior bag and border for the laundry basket.
But now we're having second thoughts. We recently realized that you can get a "lightweight" stroller that fits a carseat, and those seem very appealing to me.
The lightweights still have a basket underneath (smaller though), a cupholder for mom, & the seat reclines. One of the ones we looked at only had a handle for baby, no cup/snack tray. Also it looks like the wheels are smaller. A lot of the lightweights fold up like an umbrella stroller and weigh about 10-12 lbs. They cost about the same.
View from the door.
Some of the furniture and accessories, including the nightstand, the turtle stained glass, and the palm tree photo album, were collected from various other rooms in the house. Here, they finally have a place where they fit in with the surrounding decor.
The headboard is made out of a straw beachmat with an orange striped border.
The previous closet doors, with their almond color and wooden slats gave the perfect cabana feel that Jake and Abbie were going for. Bench seating at the end of the bed were purchased new.
Jake and Abbie came in about $3 under budget, with a total of $246.53. Approximate costs:
Furniture: $80
Paint & Supplies: $65
Bedding: $60
Lighting & Accessories: $35
Well, the number of weeks left until my due date has officially entered the single digits. I have 9 weeks (and 5 days) left until Baby Girl is scheduled to arrive. By the time we move back into our house in Tucson, it'll be 6 weeks, 3 days. It's so crazy to think that I was counting the weeks when I was less than 6 weeks along, and now the (time)tables have turned.I HATE:
Jake came home from work yesterday with a bag from Last Chance. He had purchased some decor for our baby's nursery. When he pulled it out of the bag, he showed it to me and said "I got these for _________'s room", right in front of my mom. I stared at him to see if he realized what he had done, and he had, so he casually re-said his sentence, "I got these for Baby's room".
We drove up a bridge leading into heaven.
We found some sunbathing turtles.
And we found this little guy checking us out 
Say hello to my name twin. She is from London and we basically live identical lives. She is an assistant at a consulting firm. I am an assistant at a law firm. She spent 6 months in the "dispute resolution department", which is exactly like the grievance and appeals department at my last job in Phoenix (where I spent 6 months). She also used the word "whilst" in her profile, which I love. It's probably more frequently used in England, but I still enjoyed reading it. (Thanks Jill for the idea).
One big change for me was doing laundry with sleepy kitties nearby. Ethel has always loved a damp towel, and my hang-to-dry pile of clothes were an inviting place for a nap for her. Fred just sleeps all the time.
Anyway, Jake's last final ends at noon today, and then we can start packing. That's right, we haven't started packing for our move this weekend yet. Jake's 2-week final period is so intensive that it's impossible for him to focus on other tasks, so we decided it would be best to just wait and do everything today and tomorrow. I started a little by cleaning up the extra bedroom (aka nursery) and doing laundry, but we have a long way to go. Plus, my primary presidency decided not to find a replacement for me even though they got a 5-week notice that we were moving, so I told them I could be at church on Sunday to teach my class.
So, I will see all of the Mesanites on Monday. We'll throw a pool party or something next week, since I hear it hit 100 degrees in the valley this week.
(on the right)
I am blessed with a sister who is a size bigger than me. Now, this might not seem like a blessing to her, but it is. Cathy was fortunate enough to go through this thing people call "puberty" when she was a teenager. She grew in all the right places, and so she is an average girl now with these things called "hips". I on the other hand, skipped that phase. Or, I guess I should say I decided to enter it way late, leaving me with very little time to mature. I ended up with a flat butt. So I wear (wore) small sized pants. Cathy wears regular sized pants. And now I get to too, thanks to my weekend in Mesa last week and my ability to take some of her jeans back to Tucson before she realized it.
I guess I'll have to go shopping soon.
p.s. Check back Tuesday to hear our baby gender news!
