Nesting is expensive.

What else are you gonna do at 26 weeks pregnant with left over Christmas money? Buy a bunch of new stuff for the babes, rearrange their rooms, and wait the rest of the 14+ weeks in penniless boredom?

Exactly.

The playroom-guestroom has been converted into a nursery with a spare bed and the girls' room is currently housing all the fun stuff. (a long time ago they looked like this)

More recently, when Charlotte moved into a toddler bed, it looked like this:

but with dressers, a bookshelf, and a glider. I know.
These rooms are huge.

Now for the AFTERS...

We're going with this arrangement for a while. Until the next random bout of nesting strikes again.

We splurged on these FLOR carpet tiles that were on sale and alternated the pattern. We. Love. Them. And if we want, we can reshape them into a rectangular rug.

I'm sorry Tootsie, that Charlotte has destroyed the heirloom table.
It was my fault for painting it white. It will be cleaned up when she's 18.

The empty space before felt awkward with a regular rug and the ones we had were way too small anyway.

The house.

Now they have paths to their beds and in their little nooks.

The school.

The catch-all.

Seriously, the space is mind boggling.

Now for the little man's room:

Jude edited his bike poster (go buy one) to match the hipster bedding, purchased by the grands (thanks!) and to fit in the frames.

I sewed this cover, which is not quite done, to go over the changing pad. Kaitlin, I think that pirate shirt was yours?

Still plenty of space, if anyone wants to visit. Yes, you will be in charge of nightly feedings.

Some fun prints from this designer.

Apparently, this is his favorite owned print that you can find here.

outta money & outta space. the next 14+ weeks should be uhmazing. 

Verbatim

Some are a repeat from Facebook, but I like to keep them in a centralized location.

Joan: Hey, Papa! You look like Mr. Potato Head.

Me: Charlotte, why are your hands so cold?

Charlotte: 'Cause. They're naked.

Me: Yes, you can wear that princess dress, but over your real clothes. It's too cold."

Joan: Damnit.

Joan: Momma... the grilled cheese tastes kind of funny... like it had peas in it or something.

(Butter w/ extra virgin olive oil)

Joan: Papa, why aren't you wearing your glasses?

Jude: Because I went to the gym to workout and they'll slide off my face.

Joan: And Momma is wearing her glasses because she stayed home. And when you stay home, you don't really do anything.

Charlotte: Do you remember Gloria? And her pink panties?

Me: Uh... no...

Joan: I'm done playing outside. Can I have the iPad now?

Me: Well, you might have to share it with Charlotte because she's still screaming and probably won't take a nap.
Joan: Well, that's ok. I don't mind if she screams in her bed.

ready for gymnastics

These outfits are mild, compared to what I normally let them wear to free-play gymnastics. 

Mother of The Year (but only on Wednesdays).

What I Wore Sunday

Back for another installment with the Lords & Ladies (so ready for Downton tonight) of Fine Linen & Purple.

Dress: Old Navy clearance rack a few years ago.
It was always ill-fitting and slightly too big. Until I got pregnant.
Cardigan: Target
Scarf: can't recall, but I think it was a gift
Tights: Amazon
Boots: New purchase from Payless c/o the gift card from my sis

You didn't think you'd be leaving without a full bump report, did you?
Shirt: Old Navy (I'm the idiot that didn't buy the maternity version of this shirt, but they're both on sale now)
Jeans: Old Navy

And bonus:

This is the trash my yard wore this morning. Who does that?

The first (& only) snow day 2013

 Exactly what we needed after two weeks of cold rain. 

And even better, it'll be gone by tomorrow (probably), 

so we won't have to deal with it for another 3 months.

Reality TV

When's someone going to start paying me for these clips?
Again, I doubt these 10 videos will show up on mobile devices, so head over and dust off your desktop for ultimate viewing pleasure. You're welcome.

They're getting fit at the same rate I'm getting fat. Awesome.

For reference, watch this.

If it's not one, it's the other...

"all da uder boys try to chase me, here's my mumber, call me maybe"

We have a thing for "Call Me Maybe"

And Taylor Swift, apparently.

"do dis"

"What you are doing?"

"Rapunzel said, 'I not like you.'"

"Amen."

What I Wore Sunday

Since Mrs. Camp Patton is no longer pregnant, she (unbeknownst to her) passed the Old Navy Tunic Torch to me. Someone needed to step up and carry the fashion light with pride - unfortunately, I'm the weakest link on the team. Don't believe me? Go check out what rockin' the tunic is supposed to look like:

here first

here next

(Did you really visit the links, because this post will not make sense if you didn't?)

Now, ready to be slightly (or heavily) disappointed? Feast your eyes:

This one's with puff-vest-love.

I tried to pull off "the lean" (harder than it looks).

Sans the vest, but with red-brick-love.

I tried to emulate her landscapes as close as possible.

Before you go off thinking I actually wore all of these accessories to Mass, let me confess that this boring frock is what actually strutted down the Communion Catwalk (is that sacrilegious? or does God have a sense of humor? I'll find out in confession.):

And also before you go off comparing the two of us (Grace & I) and the states of our bellies - recognizing that they look eerily similiar in size and volume (ok, I'm still probably bigger), be sure to note that she was 34-35 weeks pregnant at the time, while I am only 24. And don't try the ol' "It's your third pregnancy, everyone's bigger their third time around." Yeah... that was her third, too...

I think I've embarrassed myself enough for one day, eh? I hope you're happy, Grace.

Tunic: Old Navy
Vest: Meijers 4 years ago (If you can believe it.)
Scarf: Gift from dear friend, Jill.
Necklace: Also gift from dear friend, Jill.
Tights: Target
Boots: Piperlime
Flats: Old Navy

Thanks, Fine Linen & Purple for hosting!

7 Quick Takes

1. I'm going to give the Quick Takes another try. Honestly, it wasn't my favorite style of blogging and I felt like I was scrounging around to find enough things to fill the post. But it could've been my fault - it was a weird first try.

Can you spot him/her (I know nothing about animals)?
Pretty dead center of the photo jumping into the brush.

2. The last two winters, we've been able to spot deer in our backyard. This is mostly interesting because we don't live out in the country. In fact, we live on Main Street. But we lie to our children, like most good parents would, and say they're Santa's reindeers - the bad ones that made fun of Rudolph.

3. Did you notice all those leaves? This preggo certainly wasn't going to rake them. Instead, the nicer parent created fairytale trails for the girls. Nicer parent, indeed.

4. We made some purchases recently for the kids' rooms (still coping with buyer's remorse). Tomorrow, these fun FLOR carpet tiles should be delivered for the girls' room. We moved all of their toys into it and kept a nursery/guest room for the new babe. The arrangement doesn't lend itself well to just a regular rug in the girls' room, so we plan to make little paths with the tiles. We also bought bedding for our little guy. It's adorable. Pictures coming soon!

5. Joan needs to learn how to ride a bike. She got this sweet balance bike from her grandparents, but if I don't let her ride somewhere other than our narrow front porch, she'll never learn. She was obviously not prepared for the amount of work that goes into learning (nor was I): I give you Exhibit A

(and if you're viewing this on your phone and can't get the video to show up GET ON A COMPUTER! a phone is for CALLING people!

Ok, here's a photo for you, just in case.

6. Did you notice Charlotte's outfit in the last photo? She certainly has a style all her own. Exhibit B:

Polka-dot on polka-dot on polka-dot on rain boots -
and that's all without mentioning a swim suit.

7. These takes haven't been that bad. Thanks for bearing with me and be sure to check out everyone else's, too.

What?

You're not as impressed as I am that I made these yeast rolls from scratch?

That's fine. You don't have to eat them.

Happy Feast of the Epiphany

Fine. It's really just another What I Wore Sunday over at Fine Linen & Purple. But you won't get me admitting that the last post I wrote was another WIWS a week ago, with no meat in between these two, so I'm rolling with the Epiphany. Cool with you? Thought so.

And I'm certain it counts because our Christmas tree is still up and this morning we moved the Wise Men alarmingly close to Baby Jesus. Friends even invited us over for an Epiphany Party, that may or may not be canceled. (Side note: I can't believe this tree still looks so good. It's 5.5 weeks old and hasn't been watered since week 2 probably.)

This is the same dress from What I Wore to Thanksgiving (& Christmas) with a little more umph, if you will.

Dress: On Sale! at Old Navy

Tights: Berkshire Maternity via Amazon

Boots: Shoe Department

Baby Boy (still determining the name): 23 weeks strong

wear it up.