A family of talent

My Aunt, Doris, is an artist creating landscape and quilting artwork from fabric. She recently launched a website {here} to showcase her artwork and other things that she offers. I might try one of her kits sometime. It looks cool and like something I could handle in all of my non-artist glory. Just a little sample of what she does:

Guilty Pleasure

I kind of want to join this club......any other blog addicts want to spend what I would consider a silly amount of $$ just to see what sorts of things Jordan sends? Maybe Blake can get me an early Christmas present? Or, this can be Bubs' very first gift to mommy?

I think your belly is bigger than mine

The ladies over at A Fleeting Moment have done it again! I have not seen all of the photos from this particular session, but they did send me some as part of a sneak peek. I can't wait to see the rest! {Refresher: I also did a model maternity shoot for them. You can see my blog about it here, and the slide show from that blog, here.} Check out a few of my faves from the sneak preview:

Sooooo cute!

I've always loved the style of the 1930's - 1940's. In fact, I would probably call it a small obsession. Today, I am picturing myself in this dress {too bad it's already sold, and from a shop in Des Moines, IA!} with my hair up like this.

Nice grab!

Yeah, I'm pretty happy that football is back. :)

Patience is not a virtue

....when you're waiting for labor. Anyone else anxious too?

I hope I get more good progression news at my appointment on Wednesday! :) The ladies at my office, and Blake's office have already started a pool including:

Boy or Girl?
Date of Birth?
Weight at Birth?

The earliest guess for date of birth is Sept. 24.....I'll rejoice if she is right! :)

If you want to start a blog pool, here are the facts from my last appointment:
About 2 cm dilated
75% effaced
Baby is head down and fully engaged

I had some pretty decent contraction action last week, so that's why I'm hoping for some more progress at my next appointment! :) Hooray!

P.S. I hope all of you are as excited about the Heroes season premiere as I am! :)

That's a lot of hair!

I wonder if Bubs will have this much hair when he/she arrives! Holy crap!

Blake asked me what I imagined Bubs to look like....honestly, I have no clue. My answer to his question at the time was, "A baby?" LOL :)

Need music?

In case any of you need some music provided for anything, you can check out our friends, Ryan and Regina singing here, with me on piano. :) Even if you don't need music, it's worth a listen. {I know, shameless plug for us! I couldn't resist.}

Dear Bubs

NOTICE OF EVICTION:

I am issuing 30 day notice for EVICTION. Tenant will have 30 days in which she/he can either gather his/her belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, she will be physically removed from the property.

He's/ She's being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made!

Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper AND lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances.

After 30 days from this day that he/she doesn't comply with the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal at my discretion.

Love, Mommy

{Found this on my pregnancy forum. I love those gals!}

P.S. Bubs, you don't quite have 30 days. So, hurry up!

Nesting

I had a productive day:

Played piano at church
Took a nap
Made pumpkin bars {while making lunch at the same time}
Did more laundry
Washed the dishes in the sink
Loaded, ran, and unloaded dishwasher
Swept up floors, shook out all rugs
Washed and scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees
Cleaned up main bathroom
Watched some football games

Shall we call this....nesting?

Oh yeah, all the while, I gave Bubs a pep talk. :) Hoo-rah.

Much better

Remember this fiasco last time we got Sophie's hair cut? Her most recent groom was much better, and we feel like much more responsible pet-owning parents! :)


P.S. Sorry, the pictures are a bit fuzzy, I took them both in a hurry.
P.P.S. I think I'm back online safely. Keep your fingers crossed!

MIA

Blake and I have all kinds of things going on lately:

Yesterday, we had our maternity shoot. I'm excited to see the pictures when they are up, and hopefully I can share some of them with all of you. I'll probably need help picking the ones for the 10 X 20 collage that we won! :) I planned on taking a picture of some of the items involved {watermelon, Bubs Bear, Nebraska onesie} and uploading them in this blog entry, but unfortunately, my computer is out of commission {my reason for being MIA!}. It has come down with an infection of malware and a bunch of other crap that I can't seem to get rid of. Lola to the rescue. Hopefully, I'll be back up and running soon. You are receiving this lovely update via Blake's office. :)

We also have our birthing class this weekend and Monday night. It will be nice to have that out of the way. I've been nesting, doing Bubs' laundry, packing my hospital bag {finally!}, and just trying to get our house clean in general. I'm on my weekly Dr. visits, so that keeps me on my toes in addition to last minute finalization of things for work, still maintaining the search for an organist, and not letting the children's choir drive me crazy. I am becoming increasingly bad about replying to e-mails. I think I reply when I, in fact, don't. About the only the thing I'm still good about is checking the blogs that I read regularly, and even that has been difficult with my sick computer! How irritating....

I hope to be healthily back online soon! :)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Someone needs to invite me somewhere so I can make this. :) I'm also open to the option of someone coming to visit and bringing this dish to share.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

6 Chicken Breasts (boiled and shredded)
1/2 cup hot sauce
1 package cream cheese
1 cup Ranch dressing

Heat the hot sauce, cream cheese and ranch on the stove till the cream cheese is completely melted. Mix in the shredded chicken, top with cheddar cheese and bake 350 for 30 minutes.

Supposedly, it's not spicy....just delicious!

Model Maternity Shoot

Yay! The girls at A Fleeting Moment made a slideshow for viewing. It is very lovely {Click here to see it}. Please keep these in mind while you're viewing:

1. I can not do serious at all...I think I look goofy, and don't I look like I'm smirking half the time?
2. The wraps are a new thing for them. Aren't they nice?
3. My favorites are among the ones where I'm not looking at the camera.
4. Yes, I AM pregnant. Everyone tells me my pregnant belly is small, I didn't realize how small until seeing these pictures. I promise it has grown much since these pictures were taken!
5. Didn't the photographers do a great job?

Happy viewing and let me know what you think! :)

WOO!

Being a blog stalker is totally worth it. I like winning things! :)

Hopefully, some pictures from my "model maternity shoot" will be up soon, so I can share some of them with you. They take such wonderful pictures!