A major list item...

When I made my 30 in my 30s list, one of the first things I wrote down was, "Have or adopt another child- or two." I am so excited that this will be happening this year. I found out on New Year's Eve that I'm pregnant, and the new little one should be here sometime around Labor Day. Even though I'm almost three months pregnant now, I think the reality is still sinking in. Like with Bennett, we had trouble getting pregnant on our own and went through fertility treatments. This time around, we used a milder drug with fewer side effects (thankfully!) and it worked on the very first try. I actually felt guilty about it being "too easy." My experience was that getting pregnant should be difficult, it should be physically and emotionally draining, it should be an all-around gut-wrenching experience. It may be hard to understand, but I didn't feel as if I had "earned it" this time. It almost didn't seem real that we could get pregnant so soon and with so little effort. We have been so blessed.

It has also been a different experience in that I have been so very sick. With Bennett, I felt queasy and tired, but that was the worst of it. This time, I have been sick every day, all day, and have been throwing up quite a bit. I'm not going to lie, it has been miserable so far. This might be my payback for being one of those women who just raves about how much she LOVES being pregnant. :) I am still hoping to be able to enjoy this pregnancy, though. I am hoping that when the first trimester is over, I will start feeling better again and get back into living instead of surviving day to day.

I'm really thrilled about having another child, and I know that Bennett is going to be a great big sister! This is totally a "bonus" for me. I never thought I would have her, and having her was a blessing beyond all my dreams. She totally fulfilled my longing to be a mom and erased the feeling that something was missing in my life. I could have been content with just having her. I wanted to have another baby, but I didn't feel the desperation I did the first time around. God taught me through that experience that He gives you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it. I wondered if we would have another child, or if we would be led to adopt, and how and when it would all pan out- but I never doubted that it would work out perfectly, just as it has. And I think I will make the first revision to my list by crossing out or two at the end of this one. I feel a perfect sense of wholeness in having one more child and can honestly say I don't ever want to get pregnant again. (Ask me again when I'm not puking, I guess). Of course, I always want to be open to another child in our home if that's what the Lord wants for us.

I'm looking forward to a quiet 2011 spent mostly at home (though there definitely has to be a short pre-baby trip for Ben & me in there somewhere!) working, blogging, and enjoying my growing family!

Totally imperfect 5-minute wall projects

I have been an absentee blogger. I have several posts lined up, and I have not forgotten about my 30 in my 30s list, but I've just been on a sort of "life hiatus" for the past month or so. There's been a lot of sickness and working overtime and terrible weather at our house so far this year, and I've given myself permission to live in survival mode for just a little while. Get work done, take care of Bennett, rest. That's what we're doing right now, and we're fine with that. I have been reading up a storm on my Kindle, though, and have a book review ready to post soon.

For now, I thought I'd post a few pictures of some of the decorations I've put up in my "new" kitchen. As you know, I am not very crafty or good at decorating. Oh, I'd like to be, but it just doesn't come completely naturally to me. I know what I like when I see it, but I have a difficult time creating it. My projects are all very simple, and if they can't be finished quickly and with minimal precision, I get frustrated and lose interest.

My first five-minute project was redoing the key hook that hangs near our back door. When we first got married, I had visions of a French-themed kitchen with lots of cobalt blue, etc....totally not my style anymore, and I have tons of "Frenchy" stuff to work with. Here is the original hook (that's a glass of cranberry ginger ale on the counter- this year's holiday obsession):

I used scrapbook paper to cut out squares for each of the three openings and a scrapbook kit sticker to put a quote in the middle:

I don't have the greatest camera, but the quote says "There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort." -Jane Austen. Can you still see a tiny sliver of mirror at the top of the middle square? Yes. Am I too lazy to redo it? Absolutely. As it hangs on the wall, the sliver is not visible and I feel fine about this:

The second project was born out of necessity. After years of promising Ben I would not make our house too "country," he was appalled that I wanted to hang this on the wall (again, sorry for my terrible picture-taking skills):

Keep in mind, he was fine with this piece hanging above the hutch...

...but apparently, a single rooster hanging on the wall with no accompanying words or matching rooster friend was just way too country-ish. I got both these pieces at Flower Factory (aka cheap stuff heaven) and was- yes- too lazy to return the single rooster, so once again I broke out my scrapbook paper and stickers. The result:

A little tribute to our adorable daughter. The picture is of her standing in my parents' field while it was in hay this fall, looking down at an apple she picked from one of their trees. I took the picture on my dad's phone. 

The sticker underneath says "perfect," because she is perfect and also because it's ironic since this project looks anything but perfect. The top left corner is sticking up and I haven't gotten around to fixing it yet:

One of these days...

I added a new shelf to another wall and feel like the new kitchen look is pretty much complete. The milk bottle is from the Farm Fresh store on Fosterburg Road in Alton, the road my grandma lived on since before I was born until she died. We always called it "the milk store." Best chocolate milk ever.

Now all that's left to do is finish painting and papering behind the fridge, clean up the trim, etc...like I said, one of these days!