What We've Been Up To...

Ever since Sam has been home, we have been super busy. He has been so awesome about about helping with everything around the house. He has been home only a few weeks and has already painted the ceiling in the nursery, painted a damask accent wall in the nursery, hung the curtains, assembled a rocking chair, crib, and closet organizer, painted a side table, and made home decorating trips all over town with me. With such a helper, I haven't been too sad not being able to paint or do heavy lifting. Anyway. . . the crib bedding fabric swatches came the other day and I was able to order the bedding. This is the fabric combo I decided on:

 


  We still have a lot of accessories and finishing touches to add, but here are some shots of our nursery. Keep in mind that I am a horrible photographer and had a hard time capturing the whole room with my little digital camera.

Before (the nursery was a big brown box):

 

During (looking a little brighter):

After (these were taken with the iphone at night, not the best quality but you get the gist):

 Can't wait until it is all done. The nursery makes Sam and I happy every time we pass it. Can't believe we will be parents in a month!

*Thanks Rica for sending me the drapes! Thanks Cami for the cute Noah sign from my baby shower!

Custom Crib Bedding

Since I haven't been home this summer, I have not been able "nest" at all. Now that Sam and I are headed home to Utah, I can't wait to get the nursery together. A few months ago, my friend Cassidy told me about Modern Pea Pod. They have great custom bedding for pretty reasonable prices.

Here is one of their cute finished designs:

But, I have been set on a yellow, grey, and white color scheme for quite awhile. It is gender neutral, so I will just have to add some personal touches for each of my kids in the future. I have narrowed the fabric choices down to these:

PRINTS:

MINKY:

I need to choose 1-3 prints and one minky fabric.  I am leaning toward the damask and polka dot, because the yellow is brighter. Any suggestions?


I also love this combo, but it won't work for my nursery:

Alice Lane Giveaway!

Alice Lane, a great home decor store in Orem, UT is giving away this fantastic pillow:

It would look great in my home, as I am sure it would in yours. Enter to win here.

Pictures from the Great North

My trip to Alaska was not super eventful, but it really is beautiful up there.

Sam and I, out to lunch

driving

Downtown Ketchikan

Walking through the trees to get to the beach

The beach where we saw the whales

This is my attempt to get a picture of the whales, without looking away. There is a reason I am not a photographer.

Sam

Posing in front of the wall art in our bedroom. Yes, that is  a painted saw blade. . . classy.

Trying to get a picture of the seals

bald eagle #1 (Sam took this. . . obviously)

bald eagle #2 (still Sam)

Just one of the million waterfalls on the side of the road

View on the way to the airport. . . it has it's own island

looking inland

Pregnancy Weirdness

I don't know about cravings, but there are a few things that sound good to me just about all the time:


1.

First and foremost, ICE.  I could care less what I am drinking, since I kicked (or drastically cut back) on my diet coke intake towards the beginning of my pregnancy, and got rid of carbonation all together in the second trimester thanks to some extraordinary heartburn. . . as long as there is ice for me to chew on I am one happy camper. I am literally Obsessed with it, but annoy everyone around me when I crunch on it.

2.

Hearts of Palm. This weird food sounded good to me when nothing else did during the first and second trimester. I found out that the only really good store bought kind comes from Trader Joe's. It is especially good in salads.

3.

Hot Chocolate. This is a new development, since the temperature in Las Vegas just dipped below 100 degrees. I loved sipping on this stuff more than usual when I was in Alaska.

4.

Soup. This is not a new development, I have wanted hot soup all summer long even when the temperature was over 110 degrees outside. My favorites are Broccoli Cheddar from Panera Bread and Tomato from Nordstrom cafe. If you haven't tried these, do so.

5.

Humus and Pita Bread. This combo rocks, seriously give it a try.

So for all you pregnant ladies out there, I recommend you give these random things a whirl. . . they might just make you feel a little better!

Happy Birthday to My Love

Sam had his 27th birthday this past Wednesday. Other than his mission, this was the only time since we met that we were not together on his birthday. He is just finishing selling for the season. . . it has been one LONG summer. I can't wait until he comes home next Sunday. I miss and love him so much and am so thankful for him and for how hard he works to support our little family. Hope you had a good birthday babe! (I 'm pretty sure, he doesn't read our blog. . . oh well)

Stuck in Alaska

I am still in Alaska, and it is totally beautiful. But, after the first day or two it got totally boring. We are on a little island called Ketchikan and there is not too much to do here. I have taken a bunch of pictures, but I will post those later when I get home to my camera cord. I fly home Tuesday, can't wait to be back to civilization!

Highlights:

• LOVE spending time with my man. . . can't wait to have him home for good in November!
• Saw humpback whales, bald eagles, and seals. . . totally awesome
• Everything is green and beautiful and there are waterfalls all over the place
• The house we are staying in is super nice and has tons of free movie channels (keeps me entertained while Sam is out working)
• Fun times playing games and hanging out with our good friends Collin and Dani and their little girl Emery
• Sam let me buzz his head (I always beg him to let me try to cut his hair, up until now he would no let me touch it. . . once it reached near shoulder level he changed his mind. p.s. cutting is harder than it looks, Sam got impatient and started buzzing so I can't take full credit for his new military do.)

Downfalls:

• Power has gone out four times since I got here less than two weeks ago. Today it was out about 12 hours. . . what a relief, it was supposed to be out 2 days
• No power= no water. Weird.
• Halibut fishing season ended in August
• The one mall consists of a Safeway and Taco Time. . . no joke
• It is absolutely freezing. It is a good day when it gets up to 50.
• It rains EVERY day

Can't wait to get back to the hot/dry weather in Vegas!