Joyful, Patient, Faithful

It's almost Valentine's day. A day I used to laugh at because I thought it was either silly or a ploy by the card companies.  But, honestly, nowadays I like it.  This world could use a little more love lately. 

Yesterday I had a rough day.  Nothing went so wrong that I even have a right to complain, but through a compilation of events, I was just downright grumpy.  So grumpy I was even admitting it to people, and had to apologize to someone once.  Now, the person gave me a free pass since I'm "pregnant and hormonal", but honestly I didn't deserve it.  Why was I grumpy? Why was I letting these harsh thoughts come through my mind?  Well, sure part of it might be hormones, but the other part of it is that sometimes its hard to be joyful and patient amidst affliction.  But, the honest truth is: I have so much to be thankful for.  I literally have no reason to complain.  Each day is a new day - in fact, each moment is a new moment where we can start fresh and be joyful, patient and faithful.  So today? Today I am thankful.  So very thankful for the blessings in my life and the opportunity to live another day. 

Baby V. Nursery: Part 3

I have a feeling I'm going to regret ever publicly committing to this stars idea.  Ladies (and gents) I'm stumped!  The stencil idea didn't work - paint bled through the stencil and the sticker stars idea looks like it's just going to be more work than it may be worth.  The sticker idea either means we use a machine like a cricut or cameo and buy a cartridge and contact paper (which could get expensive).  Or we could just cut out the stars ourselves - ha - that would kind of be a nightmare though.  It's probably going to be 150 stars and they are 8 point, so.. probably not going to happen.  Regardless, the ceiling is painted a really pretty champagne and it looks awesome even if we just leave it as is.

Here are baby V.'s current digs right now.  The shades depend on the lighting, but the walls are a very very light pink (we mixed 1 gallon white paint with about 1/3 gallon martha stewart ballet slipper) and the ceiling is martha stewart fledgling.  BV did an awesome job sanding down the ceiling and flattening it.  Can't wait to show you guys the final result.

We also made a fun trip to IKEA this past weekend to pick up a bookcase, curtains, frames and other goodies.  The frames have been a fun project.  Here's a little sneak peak of what we'll end up with: 

Hooray! I can't wait to share more soon! For now, I'm off to the gym to mope away how much weight I've gained since my last midwife appointment (ugh).  

Baby V. Nursery: Part 2

As I mentioned in part 1, we were really digging this lovely star wallpaper (below).  Not really digging the price tag though.  I've seen it range from $200 - $500 a roll, and considering we would need more than one roll just to cover the ceiling, well that really wasn't going to fly.  We've just painted the ceiling, and are now considering either going the stencil route, or applique like this smart lady did.  The problem with the latter is that we don't have one of those machines that would cut out the stars..

Here she is in action in a few little lady's rooms: 

I can't quite share a success story on this yet, but there's more to come on this little project!

Wow Brownies

You ready for a non-baby post to break up this mid-week action? Well, here's one for you.  I'm calling them WOW brownies.  Technically, they're called slutty brownies, but well, that just sounds dirty ;)

I took a combination of a few of those aforementioned brownie recipes and made a layer of pregnant lady heaven, as evidenced below.

Here's what we did:
- Greased parchment paper in a 9x11 (foil would work too)
- Layered bottom layer of pan with chocolate chip cookie mix (pre-bought)
- Layered on the oreos
- Thin layer of caramel (had this in the cupboard; what's the harm?)
- Layered on brownie mix (made by box directions)
- Layered on a cheesecake concoction (12 oz. cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp. vanilla mixed together)
- Crushed up oreos and chocolate covered pretzels on top (I had these handy, so why not?!)
- Baked at 350 for 40 minutes

Too much? I think not!

P.S. here's the recipes I referenced when concocting: One, Two, Three 

Baby V. Nursery: Part 1

A year ago we didn't know where we'd be living now.  We felt like we were maybe supposed to move (not necessarily cities, but from our current house), but weren't sure of the details.  Well, a year went by and that desire truly subsided and we feel very content where we currently live.  If at some point we're called to move, well we'll do just that! But, for now, we know we've got a little room allocated for Baby V.  

For those of you that like these kind of details, here's a layout of the room and the measurements.  It's approximately a 10.5 x 11 ft. room.  

We messed around with furniture layout a few different ways, but because of the location of the closet, door and windows,  I think we're going to end up with a layout similar to below. 

With the above in mind, we mocked up an inspiration board. While I didn't originally think I was a pink person, I've changed my mind and we're going with a white paint with a pink tint.  It's not over the top, but it is definitely feminine.  Inspired by the Osborne & Little Coronata Star Wallpaper, we're doing a little DIY action on the ceiling.  Now we're on the hunt for vintage furniture, a crib, bookcase, curtains, art, ottoman and many other little things.  

Baby V. is a ....

We found out the gender of this sweet little one inside my belly the Friday before Christmas.  It was such a sweet gift and the suspense and surprise was just perfect.  We had an appointment Friday afternoon and decided not to find out in the room with the ultrasound tech. We had her write it down on an envelope and give it to us to open when we were alone. After the ultrasound, I took the tightly sealed envelope in my purse, went and got my hair done, then met Brian at home.  All the while, he was texting me like mad because he had gone back to work and simply couldn't wait to find out!  He asked if I had opened it already..oddly, I was more OK with waiting than he was.  Our plan was to go to dinner and open it together then.  Well, I made it home and upstairs to change and that was basically it.  We both really wanted to know.  right now.

We opened the envelope and discovered that Baby V. is a...

GIRL!

Oh, we're so over the moon excited.  We honestly were indifferent whether we had boy or girl, but now that we know the gender it all just feels so much more real and wonderful.

Ah, Shucks

Well its kind of a downer when you go and announce you're coming back to the blog-world then spend another 3 months doing just the opposite!  I realized its truly been too long when I just started typing in "www.vee..." and it didn't even appear in my history that I haven't cleared out in months.  Sad indeed.  But, hey, we all get fresh, clean starts right?

There's truly so much that I've missed sharing with this little space on the internet, and I think I'm finally at a place where I may be able to let my grip on things loosen and just be open.  Anyways, I don't think God calls us to be silent, or to hold things so closely to ourselves that we aren't letting others in (well I let most "in real life" friends in, but you know what I mean).  Last year was a rocky year for this little family.  It had some of the highest highs and the lowest lows I've ever experienced in just 12 months.  You know what's amazing? It all turned out for the good.  One of my biggest fears was lived for 7 months (still deciding if I'll elaborate more on this in the coming months), but also one of my biggest dreams was realized.  

Would you like to hear about that big ol' dream?  Many of you have already seen the photo below that we shared on Facebook, but for those that haven't, here you go!

This is me with our little babe at 18 weeks.  That's 5 weeks ago.  Oh boy do I have so many things to share with you in the coming days.. baby V's gender, our nursery plans and progression, dreams we have for this little one and so much more. While I'll try not to bombard with too much BABY(!), I have to warn, it might come on strong. At first.  Then, I'll back off :)  Please forgive me in advance, but we're SO EXCITED!