Building a house

People are so curious about our hectic life right now.  We've got a child on the way with no name and we’re building a house.  Both of which, make my head spin at a rapid pace on a daily basis, might I add.  It’s been a while since I blogged and put up in house pictures, but that’s because it’s hard to tell what’s been going on.

There are so many steps in this process that have taken a long time: plumbing, electrical, insulation, sheet rock, trimming, etc.  I knew building a house had lots of decisions, but this is borderline ridiculous.  Thank goodness Trey likes to be involved or I would have jumped ship in the summer!!!!!

Front of house.  

 Outside we still have to put on the doors.  This activity hasn't been done because we have to decide on a stain color we like.  We also need shutters.  Sounds simple?  Nah!!!  That decision includes: wood type, design, color, length, width…blah blah blah!  We also have to stain our front porch and get steps built going up to the porch.  Who knows if we will ever have bushes or concrete??!!??!!??

 View from inside standing at the front door.

Here is my dining room.  I opted to paint the ceiling a darker color than the walls.  I’m excited about my light fixture that will hopefully be hung in a few weeks.  Other than that, this room will probably house a lot of boxes until they are all unpacked.  We sold our dining room furniture when we moved 8 months ago.

 The Study

Who knows if we will ever even use this room???  I do know that several years ago we got a beautiful desk for this room and have been excited about it for a while.  We haven’t had room for it so I will be glad to see it displayed in a few months. 

 The foyer....Looking back towards the front door.

Hallway...  Looking from the kitchen.  On the right side is the dining room and study.  On the left is windows looking into the backyard.  

 Hallways from other end of the hall.

Kitchen… it looks into the front yard

 View from the kitchen into the living room.  Still waiting on the wood for the ceiling to arrive.

 Another living room shot.  The small door on the right is a playroom off of the living room.  Genius idea!!!  My kids are always right under my feet

 There is the "man cave" behind the living room for all of Trey's critter.

View from back porch

Back porch

And upon discussion of building a house I had TWO things I wanted for sure.  #1 a large pink closet and #2 real brick floors in my kitchen.  #1 is coming along.  My closet is a nice “L” shape.

View from bathroom door.

 View angled from bathroom door

 Near the broom there will be a tall shoe rack.  The other blank wall now has built in dresser and tall shelf cabinets.

 Some walls have double hanging rods, some have single hanging rods.  No, I don't have enough clothes to fill up this entire closet.  BUT I am SUPER excited about my pink closet and I can't wait to hide in there when life gets crazy.  I did spend hours online researching just how I wanted it to look!!!

I don't have any other pictures because they aren't too exciting.  We are still getting trim done, doors hung, and things painted.  Ohhh the joys of building!

A liberating lunch date, alone...

Pregnancy Update:

Have you ever been pregnant?  If you’re a dude then I seriously hope you answered, “NO!”  I’m speaking to the women out there actually.  Okay, so we have some takers on being preggers, right?  Right!  Let’s bond together and discuss some commonly heard phrases by those who are “with child”.

“What are you having?”  “When are you due?”  “How are you feeling?”  “Does she have a name?”  “When are you going to name her?”  “Do you have any other children?”  “What are your other children (boys/girls)?”

Again, I think I have the goggles on (See blog titled “TheBeast” for explanation of goggles) and people can’t tell that I’m pregnant.  Who am I kidding?  I am pushing 28 weeks pregnant and it’s obviously no secret anymore.  Well, today I had to go to Target to exchange something and the lady at Guest Services befriended my preggo self quickly.  I was interrogated and asked all of the questions above.  She was deeply disturbed that I haven’t named “Cake” and decided to help. 

Her first question was: “What is your mom’s maiden name?”  I responded with, “Hamm”.  She frowned and said, “Well, we might need to get creative.  I know, you can name her Hampton as a tribute to your mom!”  

Okay people, I never have nor never will claim to be a rocket scientist, but how in Sam Hill does Hampton show tribute to my mom?  I don’t have much of a “poker face” so I kind of looked oddly at her.  I thanked her for exchanging my item and began to walk away.  I was a good 10 feet from the counter and she’s still hollering out at me.  As if Hampton weren't enough she wanted to hear some other options.  I told her not to worry that I would just have to get creative!

After leaving Target I went to Motherhood Maternity for some much needed items.  While I was in the dressing room a young child whipped the curtain open and joined me!!!  It was “my day”!  Y’all should all be jealous of my shopping experience today.  After leaving there I went to…….

And not only did I go there, but I dined inside ALL alone!!!  It was very liberating. 

 All of you health food fanatics just calm down!!!  I had good reasons for going to eat at Krystal burger!!!  Here are my reasons: 1.  Guest services lady at Target did me in.  2.  Kid at Motherhood saw all my pregnant glory.  3.  I had to get my glucose/diabetes test done at the doctor.  And 4.  I was at or under my weight goal. 

Real Pregnancy Updates:

I’m almost 28 weeks pregnant.  I have now gained a total of 20 pounds.  That means I gained SIX pounds since last month.  I was disappointed… I felt like I had gained 4.  The nurse did say the other office location’s scale weighs you lighter.  I should have gone there!!!

I have started to get uncomfortable.  Unless I sit up with great posture then it makes my belly hurt!  The “beast”, my hernia, is still an ever present enemy.  I am waking up a lot to go to the bathroom.  I’m up anywhere from 2-4 times a night to potty and I usually get disturbed by Bitty at some point.  The child won’t sleep!!!!!!

I really do like order, cleanliness, and a tidy house.  I promise my house is “clean”… it’s just always a train wreck!!!  See Exhibit A….

This is my bedroom.  It always looks like this.  I quit making up my bed.  That would also explain why there is a mound of pillows on the floor.  The tub at the end of my bed is full of maternity clothes and the hanging rack on the right is full of maternity clothes too.  Why?  We are slap out of closet space.  But the real reason for this picture is to let y’all know that this bed is very difficult for my big ole self to crawl into now.  I understand the elderly so much more now that I am unable to do simple tasks easily at this stage in my life.

Despite my crazy daily activities I still have all of this to look forward to…

The decorating of our tiny tree (which the lights only worked on for 2 days).

 Present wrapping

 Coloring

 Time out

The annual Christmas chain!!!

 But this year we made TWO!!!  Ford and John Brantley each have one in their rooms!

 And hugs goodnight from Daddy!

And two photos never posted from The Ole Miss vs. Presbyterian game.

 I.  Love.  These.  Babies!!!!

Gobble Day

I feel extremely blessed to live so close to all of my immediate family.  Although we don’t necessarily see one another every day, we are close enough to make a quick trip if needed. 

Thanksgiving Day we decided to spend with my side of the family.  My brother and his wife offered to host the function at their home in Germantown.  We were all given our food assignments and headed their way.

The Menu…

Kid's table

Adult's table

Ashley had everything decorated so nicely.  I later told Trey that if we were expected to host then I would be in trouble because I need some better décor for entertaining.  Glory… I would just like to know where half of my stuff is.  Living out of boxes isn't my cup of tea.

Before we ate there was time to play…

BoomPa doing the turkey honors

Mrs. Becky and my mom with their grandkids

And we can't leave out Amos

I think they fell out of chairs more than they ate!!!

That would be Ford on the bottom, Ken, my brother, on top of him, and Molly Cate just a smiling!

Ford, "HELP!!!!!!!!"

The whole gang

Silly pose!!!

And today was the EGG BOWL!!!  I opted to stay home since I feel that I am a busy person.  If someone would have taken JB for the day, I could have moved mountains.  He slowed me down quite a bit being so grouchy.  But, Trey and Ford did manage to make it to Oxford.  Trey is a member of the M Club and he was able to get down on the field before the game.  This pleased Ford Lamar VERY much!!!!!!

The Rebels WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I hope you and yours had a fabulous Thanksgiving too!!!!!

Ford and John Brantley's Thankful Lists

2014 Thankful Lists

Ford’s Thankful List:

1.  The Cardinals

2.  Momma

3.  Sky and clouds

4.  Outer space 

5.  Gran and Boom

6.  Daddy

7.  The dirt and worms

8.  School

9.  The leaves and Bitty

10.  Jesus

11.  Jesus dying on the cross

12.  Puddin and Pops

13.  Grandmother and Granddaddy

14.  Cousins

15.  Church

16.  Family

17.  God

18.  The sun 

19.  The ocean

20.  Friends

21.  Heaven

22.  The pool

23.  The world

24.  Bobba

25.  Caroline, Mary Brooks, Mrs. Allison, and Mr. Briley

26.  Anna Katherine and Mrs. Jennifer

27.  TV

***See Ford's thankful lists from: 2013 and 2012

John Brantley's Thankful List:

1.  Sis

2.  Momma and Daddy

3.  Big tractor- Daddy's tractor

4.  Gran and Boom

5.  Fordy

6.  Toys

7.  Uncle Ken

8.  Puh and Pops

9.  Bush-hog, disc, 4-wheelers

10.  Farm

11.  Candy

12.  Aunt Ashley (Ash)

13.  Cake to eat

14.  Delta

15.  Swimming pool

16.  Molly Cate, Caroline, and Jack

17.  Tractor show (John Deere dvd)

18.  Beach

19.  Big trucks

20.  Food

21.  Gigi (Jesus)

22.  Bobba

23.  Teachers

24.  Trees

25.  Worms

26.  Sidney Kate

27.  Coke

I can honestly say that 2014 has been a really great year for my family and me.  Besides the usual things I could go on and on about being thankful for, I am thankful for two things that I couldn't be thankful for last year.  First, I am thrilled that my mother has been healed from her cancer.  Will the doctors say she is healed, noway.  But The Lord does mighty works everyday, and her last two scans have shown absolutely NO cancer in her body.  She is such a fighter and I know she has a long life ahead of her.  And secondly, we are thrilled that despite our plans, The Lord had other plans, and we are growing our family by one in February.  Our baby girl is already so loved and keeps me on my toes daily.  She has changed things in our lives already and we are excited to hold and love on her in 2.5 months.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!  Count your blessings and thank the Lord for what he has done!!!!

My To Do List

I really can’t tell you how exciting, thrilling, absolutely wonderful it makes me feel to get picture Christmas cards in the mail.  I LOVE it!!!!  I even keep them ALL year long in a basket just in case I need to look back at them.  However, I don’t get the same thrill from taking pictures of my own kids.  I honestly dread the process of getting them dressed, figuring out a location, and making or attempting to make them act like civilized human beings.  It really is too bad that I can’t drink any wine right now, or I would have needed a few glasses over the past several weeks.  We have attempted pictures in a cotton field, at the ginkgo tree, with Santa, and just in random outdoor places.  It’s been a failed attempt, and I was about to panic.  I considered being Grinchish and saying, “FORGET a card this year!!!”  I knew I would regret it, so I just pieced together what I could to make a decent card to send out.  It’s not my better work.

Yesterday was like our 20^th attempt and here is why I wanted to FREAK OUT on my kids for acting like donkeys.  And yes, I just said that…it wasn't a typo!!!

 Fancy would probably disagree, strongly disagree, but I have “tried” to just chill out about things lately.  I stress, plan, analyze, strategize, you know all that stuff… about every detail of our lives. But right now so much is out of my control, so what’s a girl to do????

I was recently thinking of what all is going on in our lives the next three months and here’s what I’ve got:

 HOLIDAYS:  We have Thanksgiving this week.  Christmas is one month from today and I have done about 25% of my shopping.  How do you shop when you have two trusty sidekicks with you at all times???  Kind of hard.  I haven’t decorated, and quite frankly I think my tree might be about 3 feet tall and 8 inches wide!!!!!!  Ha ha ha!!!  I just don’t have room in this house for a tree and don’t want to decorate a lot when I am about to be packing up to move again.

 HOUSE:  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh the decisions of house building.  HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL there are a lot of decisions.  For starters, Trey and I didn't do things the “normal” way.  Most people find a house plan they like and go with it.  Trey looked for house plans online for a year.  He found nothing that fit the mold of what we wanted.  Therefore, we hired an architect to draw us up some plans.  We got very basic plans, which left us to make tons of decisions.  Where do you want light fixtures?  What kind of light fixtures do you want?  Where do you want to put plug ins and light switches?  What type or how thick of trim/crown molding do you want?  What type of brick, paint, exterior doors, windows, tile, floors, carpet, paint, interior doors, shingles, closet layouts, cabinets, etc. would you like???  If you know me, then you know I can’t make an important decision easily.  I like to rely on others.  I don’t want to mess up.  Therefore, I have allowed Trey to pick soooo much stuff.  Like 80% of the house is his doing.  From the beginning I requested a LARGE pink closet.  I want a big closet that people want come look at kind of big.  I also wanted real brick floors in my kitchen.  The rest was up to Trey.

We have gotten along really well.  I’m not too opinionated and would like to think I have been a VERY submissive wife on this whole building process.  He has wanted to strangle me several times for not having an opinion.  We still have to decide on appliances, countertops, garage doors, back splash for the kitchen, bathroom sinks and faucets, oh and I’m sure I’m leaving out 25 other things.

 MOVING:  We've been renting for 7 months now.  Looks like we’re moving out in 2 more months.  Therefore, there is a lot of packing to do.  I was smart.  I left about 50+ boxes packed up to make the second move easier, or so I thought.  Our extra garage has a bit of a spider problem (brown recluse spiders) so I am going to have to glove up, unpack, and repack everything in new boxes.  Shoot me now is what that equals.

 BABY:  Did I mention I’m pregnant????  Oh yes I am!!!!  Six months pregnant, three months to go, and nowhere near ready for Baby Cake to arrive.  For starters, she needs a name.  Bless this child… she has no name.  The good news is, John Brantley wasn't wasn’t named at this point either.  We put a lot of thought into his name and no one calls him John Brantley… he’s 45 other things.  She has no clothes, girlie stuff, bedding, nothing.  It’s not like I can buy much because we have no room.  I can’t decorate her nursery because we will move about 2 weeks before she arrives.  I seriously doubt I’ll make it 3 more months.  I pray that I can, but in all likelihood, it’ll be 2.5 more months.

 JACKSON:  Trey leaves for his representative duties in Jackson at the first of January.  That leaves me to be the lone ranger for most of January, February, and March.  Now he will argue that he will be home some.  Sure, he will, but not enough.  The simple fact that he is going to be 2 hours away makes me want to glue this baby to the inside of my stomach even longer.  I am TERRIFIED to have 3 kids by myself.  It’s not just 3 kids, it’s a newborn and two wild ones too.  Prayers Appreciated!!!

 AND HORMONES:  Hormones are my favorite.  Yours too?!?!?!  Right now I am “A-Okay”!!!  I pray ohhh I pray I will be when this baby comes.  The month or so after I give birth isn’t fun.  It was 100 times worse after John Brantley.  Honestly, its comical now thinking back to how I felt and acted after giving birth, but people I can’t help it.  It’s like a Jeckyl and Hyde kind of thing.  I have no control.  I remember after I had Ford (about 4-6 days later) a friend and her family stopped by to bring us supper.  I was ohhhh so appreciative of the food (always am), but they CAME INSIDE.  They sat on my couch.  They talked and acted normal.  I was not normal.  I was NOWHERE near normal.  I wanted them OUT OF MY HOUSE.  I excused myself to go to the bathroom and CRY!!!!!!!  Why did I cry, I don’t have the slightest clue.  No clue.  After I have a baby people make me a nervous wreck.  All people!!!  It seems to hit AFTER I've gotten home… the crazy that is.  So, this is your warning:  I tend to act bipolar crazy after having kids for 1-2 months.  Please come and visit in the hospital, but beware of visiting my house.  Casseroles and sweets are always welcome!!!!

26 weeks

NEW BLOG BELOW