$13.27 Later

A while back I bought an old dresser from the Salvation Army. Since our newest little treasure will more than likely be resting his little head in our luxurious over-sized walk in closest, I wanted to have a place to put all of his precious new baby things. But we also have been in need of something more functional to put our TV on... something that we could stash our movies in and hide all the TV cords behind...

SOOO... I've been working on transforming our thrift store find into something that would turn out to meet both of our needs and also look sort of fun and different...

I went to Home Depot last week and picked out a bright, barnyard red colored paint for $13.27.

I had all the other supplies that I needed already on hand at home.

And then I got started...

Above is what the dresser looked like before it's make over...

I did some sanding. I didn't want this piece of furniture to look as "finished" as our kitchen table that I recently painted. I was hoping for a more distressed look this time around.

I took off all the knobs. I was thinking that I would just go to Hobby Lobby and pick out some new knobs to add a little color and character to the dresser. But instead I decided to save a little money and just paint the ones that came with the dresser some bright colors with some simple flowers on them.

$13.27 later... And I LOVE how it turned out!!!!

This afternoon Joey helped me set it up in our living room. Now our living room feels a lot less cluttered and I love how it adds a little bit of color to our other-wise neutral abode.

Summer

I am so grateful for SUMMER! The warm weather lifts my spirits effortlessly! I am soaking it up to the absolute max knowing that winter weather will be here before we know it! If the sun is out we are outside. And we are eating all the treats and sweet delights that come with summertime.

My sweet mother in law sent me an ice cream maker for my birthday and I made the most delicious homemade strawberry ice cream this week. It was rich and creamy, and just plain lovely!

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A couple of days ago we went to Garden of the Gods with Tara and AJ and Vivy to take some fun pictures of Viv for her first birthday! (Which is just crazy that she is already one, because I remember like it was seriously last week that Tara and Adam brought her through our front door for the first time!) Anyways, we took a zillion pictures of Viv, but I also took a few of my own treasures as well...

Try not to be to jealous of my belly... :)

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I love being able to "send" my kids outside to play. There is just so much space around us and the kids just explore! Siah's friend Campbell came over last friday and spent the day with us. We blew up our little swimming pool and the kiddos played in the front yard for a few hours. Then the boys rode their bikes across the street in the field for awhile. Reesie rode her bike around the driveway. And I sat in a chair in the middle of the driveway and fed Campbell's little sister Reese, who is adorable! She's four months old, and loving on her for the day got me super excited to hold our newest treasure in my arms super soon!!!!!

I have been so blessed by all the treats of summer... the warmth, the fresh juicy farm-stand fruit, the kiddos laughing and playing in the water, wearing light cotton dresses, home-made ice cream, good friends, BBQ's... LOVE IT!

Happy Summer!

Chocolate Cake & My Marriage

So those "three pieces of chocolate cake" that I had yesterday for a "snack"... has now turned into an entire cake devoured... Along with the fruit pizza that my neighbor brought over last night... And oh ya... a "handful" of chewy chocolate chip cookies that I made earlier this week. I have no idea what has gotten into me, but I have eaten more sugary goodness in the last twenty four hours than I think I have in the duration of my entire pregnancy.

But todays post is not about the food... It's actually about my marriage. It's about the Jennifer Lopez Big Bum jokes that Joey was so HILAREOUSLY making last night as I cut myself another slice of chocolate cake. It's about the fact that 10 years into this deal called marriage, I find it to be so refreshing that there is so much trust and so much safety that exists between the two of us that when my Joey cracked joke after joke last night about the chocolate cake "extending" certain parts of my pregnant figure as I took each bite, I found myself rolling on the floor in uncontrolable laughter.

Five years ago, I could imagine a much different scene. I could see myself taking major offense, some intense fellowship rising up between the two of us, and my own insecurities over taking me. But last night there was shear joy in my heart as I sat on the couch. I'd take a bite, he'd crack a joke, and then I would laugh so hard that I thought that our little guy was going to fall right out on the floor... then I'd take another bite and the whole thing would start all over again.

Eventually the madness ceased and Joey fell asleep on the couch with his head in my lap and I started thinking about some of the things that we have been through in our marriage. I thought about the ways that each of us have changed, mainly for the good. I feel like at this point I can see things a lot more clearly than I was able to when we first got married. I took offense to so many things those first years. I took many things personally and assumed many times that Joey's actions were meant to hurt me... I couldn't have been more wrong. That man of mine loves me to pieces. It's so obvious! And when I choose to remember how things really are between us instead of allowing the enemy to convince me that Joey is being mean and that we aren't really meant for each other, then the two of us are able to create these great memories that I will be forever grateful for... like siting on the couch, eating chocolate cake with my man, and laughing so uncontrollably that I nearly delivered out little treasure a few weeks too early!

I know that sometimes Time can bring pain and heartache. But equally as often Time can develop something so sweet that you never even knew that it even existed.

We have so much more to learn in this thing called marriage. The fact is we are still only in the beginning stages... but we have made some great memories in our ten years together... and sometimes those joy-filled memories came from moments that we least expected they would.

Anyone up for another piece of chocolate cake???? :)

The End Is Near

You know how I know that the end is drawing near????

I ate three pieces of homemade chocolate cake for a "snack" today...

I can hardly stand to get dressed anymore...

I have been living in my pajamas for days now...

And when I do bother to get dressed it's usually a toss up between my favorite black, flow-y skirt and my stretchy black dress (it's to hot to wear anything else!)

I also know that the end is in sight because I keep finding myself taking brief retreats to my room to prevent myself from snapping at my precious children... I guess you could say that I have been running a little bit short on patience... It's HOT... I'm very round... And there's a crazy little boy who rarely stops moving in my tummy... But still... there's no excuse for being grouchy... I'm working on it... I really am. :)

I know the end is in sight because I have been project woman lately.... I am working on redoing another piece of furniture that we have to get ready for the baby...

I have wanted to clean out every nook and cranny in our little house, even though we just moved in and there really isn't that much to clean out.

I know that the end is near because my pregnancy mask is in full bloom all over my face and even my already existing stretch marks are starting to get stretched out (if that's even possible :).

The end of pregnancy is always bitter sweet for me. I am so done with being circular and tight and uncomfortable... But at the same time I know that I am so close to meeting another amazing Clark treasure... holding him so closely in my arms... soaking up his newborn smell... gazing upon the details of his every feature. So even though I am somewhat annoyed with the way that I feel, I am ignoring that feeling and am choosing to be head over heals in love with the fact that we have only a few short weeks until we meet our precious treasure! :) Yipee!!!!

So here I am...35 weeks and counting!!!

Which means that our little guy will be here in no more than 4 weeks!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!!

The END IS NEAR!!!!

By Myself

Reesie is our first little treasure with an extreme insistence upon doing EVERYTHING by herself! She wants to buckle her own seat belt, put on her own shoes (almost always on the wrong feet), get up into her own chair at the kitchen table, brush her own teeth...

And...

Put on her own bathing suit!!

I let her try... But she got a little frustrated...

Eventually...

She let me help her...

But that was eventually! :)

Each Other

Today was a special day. Today we celebrated Each Other. Today was Papa's Day. Today was my birthday. And today, we got to spend the entire day with Each Other.

I had a rough night last night. Hal woke up several times. Joey snored really loud. Baby boy in my tummy slid around and kept kicking. All this to say I woke up a bit on the grouchy side.

Joey buried my grouchiness with his sweet love. He made me laugh. He gave me a kiss. And another kiss. And then he insisted that we spend the day with Each Other.

He took us to breakfast at The Second Cup up in Monument (Which was beyond delicious by the way.) I had eggs benedict. It's been one of my many cravings this pregnancy.

Then we drove to Estes Park. We haven't been there since before we had kids. It was a sweet time with Each Other. On the drive up we talked about all kinds of things... life... The Farm... our love... The Farm... our kiddos... The Farm!

Did I mention that we talked about The Farm? :)

Estes Park was beautiful! We walked around. Got Subway. And took pictures of our treasures playing in the trees, watching the river, and laughing with Each Other.

We took the kids to a Fun Center in the middle of Estes Park. Papa took Hal and Siah down these giant slides...

Siah did NOT care for the ride...

When he got to the bottom he said, "Papa, that was awfully scary."

Papa said, "So do you wanna go again?"

Siah said, "Ya."

When he got to the bottom the second time Siah said, "Papa, that was even more scarier than the first time."

So Funny!

As we drove home we were so grateful for the time we had had with Each Other.

On our way home we stopped at "our" farm. We made plans with Each Other. We dreamed up a wrap around porch along with an over-sized garage to be built just east of our little farm house. We prayed for God's will for the farm that is now clearly in our hearts, as we sat quietly with Each Other at the very end of the long drive way.

When we got home,

We ate cereal for dinner with Each Other,

Watched hours of HGTV with Each Other,

And have a grand plan to end our day falling asleep on the couch with Each Other.