Making Progress

I have battled a little bit in my head about whether or not to make this post yet, but I decided, sure, what the heck. I can always re-post another update when I'm ready again. I have been a little stir crazy with painting/redecorating both Tillman's and Carter's rooms at the same time, so I have baby step updates on both of them.
Tillman's room is coming along further than Carter's, but that is to be expected. We are still waiting on one more piece of furniture from Mom and Dad's house for Carter's room, and after that piece arrives, we should be able to move things along. I have been collecting prospective pieces to use and storing them to the side.
And of course, I think the rooms look better in person than broken up in pictures, so you'll just have to come  by and see them in person to get the best feel for it! :)

Welcome to Tillman's "new room" 

We will be converting her crib into a toddler bed within the month.

We've got the guard rail already, just not the courage to use it. 

Reading wall - I'm in the process of getting a vinyl quote made that says: "I read past my bedtime." to put along this wall as well.  I'm super excited about it. And we are moving this glider into Carter's room. I have the chair in mind I want to get for T, I just need to make a trip to IKEA to get it. 

Vinyl above T's bed. 

ABC wall - I hung these up freestyle, so I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

A different corner view, wanting to showcase the new canvas. 

I can't wait to get rid of the changing table!

Anybody want to potty train my child for me? I have issues. 

New canvas up close. I love it and had intentions of hanging it as a square, b/c that matches my personality - type A, square. Insert Josh. He's soooo not a type A and he's no where near a square. He's that squiggly line one that's all over the place, but still super smart. So it was his idea to hang the canvas angled, and I love it. Kudos, Josh. Kudos.

New door hanger

Closer view

Blurry, but T loves her new room!! 

Thank you, Daddy for all your hard work to get things done in accordance to my crazy mommy's timeline.

 A quick peek into Carter's room 

Nothing on the walls yet, but ideas are just a running through my head.

Closet

Super cute light switch cover plate I ordered from Etsy

And another one

Not wanting to over do it, but more elephants. So cute.

And in other, unrelated news, I decided to be adventurous this past weekend and try using cookie cutters to make shaped pancakes. I used two different sized tiger paw cookie cutters. They were cute and easy, but would have been near-perfect had I thought to spray the cookie cutters with Pam first. They still tasted great though. 

Ice Day

This week has been so out of the ordinary for me and my schedule, it's a little uncanny. My usual Monday-Friday set schedule got completely thrown out the window.

Monday - No school / MLK, Jr. Holiday
Tuesday - TE21 Benchmark Test Science (throws off my entire schedule)
Wednesday - TE21 Benchmark Test Math (throws off my entire schedule)
Thursday - out for a workshop - lasts a half day - home to clean & be productive by myself (never get a chance to do that!!!)
Friday - back to work, only to be dismissed at 10:00 due to unsafe, icy road conditions & forced to leave by my boss ASAP to be safe

I feel like I barely got anything accomplished this week (work-wise) and it's been driving me nuts. I mean, I woke up with a fever blister this morning. That means I've been stressing.
Well, I packed my bags when my boss made her announcement, and I was able to complete 4 hours worth of school work once I got home. Whew! It sounds awful, but it was quite therapeutic. I got a lot accomplished, I'm ready to tackle this coming week at work, and better yet, I'm ready to enjoy my weekend!! (By the way, it was also nice that Tillman took a 3 & 1/2 hour nap and Josh really likes video games, so I didn't feel guilty dedicating that much time all at once to my job.)

Here are a few pictures to summarize our "Ice Day" once T got up from her nap and I put all my school work away...

It's white, but it's all ice.  (front yard)

When I showed Tillman outside she said, "I need some shoes. Play at my park."

My response: "Um, no, child. It's freezing outside and that's ice. Let's close the door."

Hanging out in our pjs and enjoying some down time on this icy day.

Playing with Toy Story toys

Tillman took this picture of Josh, but I shared it b/c I really like his new shirt.

He got it off Etsy.com - It says "Born & Raised" printed on the outline of the state of SC.

More toys and playtime

I love this little alcove for her to play in. 

T watching Dora while I made dinner. (spaghetti)

Josh was upstairs prepping T's room to be painted. (yay!)

T had to go get HER hammer so she could be like Daddy.

And, Daddy let her bang on the wall (gently) with it. She thought that was pretty neat.

No paint tonight, but the room is prepped and ready. I'm guessing (hoping) paint will go on tomorrow... along with getting out of the house.

Cute story:  While Josh was prepping the room/walls, it was killing T not to be able to help out and get involved. So we somehow ended up playing with some extra painter's tape. She made a lovely tape picture on the wall (should have taken a picture.)

Then, for some odd reason, T wanted tape on her knees...???  So, I had the ingenious idea to put tape on her (follow me here...) Head - Shoulders - Knees - & Toes (knees & toes). 

All taped up and ready to sing and hand motion to "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

Here's a better view. Silly, but so much fun and super cute!!

Hopefully the next time I post pictures of a white-covered yard it will be due to snow, not ice. 

28 wks.

Here is a comparison picture of me pregnant with Tillman at 28 weeks (left) & me today, pregnant with Carter at 28 weeks (right). 

Yes, I did go hunt down the exact same outfit to do the comparison. I got a little kick out of that. It's kind of weird to look back and compare my then and now appearance. I guess I figured I stopped changing after I got "grown up."

Anyways, today marks 28 weeks and I am officially in full swing of my third trimester.  Things have been quite different with this pregnancy, I think mainly because this time around I have also had an energetic toddler to care for in addition to being a hormonal, anxious mess.  I'm also already sporting my lovely compression hose, for terrible varicose and spider veins, which I didn't start wearing quite this early in my pregnancy with Tillman.

Carter's nursery is coming along at a nice pace for me, I can be quite demanding, but I'm not ready to share any pictures yet.  Josh has painted the nursery, and Mom and Dad brought 2 of the 3 main pieces of new furniture up this weekend. More to come with details later...

I went to the doctor this past week and passed both my gestational diabetes and my hemoglobin tests. Yay! The doctor said things are looking good and we are right on track for where we need to be.   :)

Here's to hoping I'll post again before the next month passes by...

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Etc.

Happy New Year, everyone!! I hope your year has gotten off to a great start. We have been very productive on our end, already making great gains in preparation for Carter's arrival. I know it may seem early, but we had to take advantage of our time off together. Plus, she will surely be here before we know it. 

I had hoped to post a few times over the break, or at least get to one before now. But, we've stayed busy, been enjoying our time together, and it doesn't help that I have a new phone that I have all but replaced using a computer for. So this is literally the first time since my last post (Dec. 16th) that I have been in front of a computer. 

I will keep the recap of our Christmas and New Year's adventures brief. We had a great 2 weeks off work. We traveled home to Summerville for the first week where we spent a good amount of time visiting with family and friends. Tillman's Great Uncle and Great Grandpa were able to come to town for a few days. I was also fighting off another sinus infection. We came home for the second week of break for several reasons, one being a dear friend of Tillman's 2nd birthday party. We also wanted a few days to get Tillman back on some sort of schedule and have plenty of time to unpack and unwind from traveling before heading back to work. 

I hope the pictures will be mostly in order. My pictures are mixed and jumbled from several different sources, so my timeline may be a little off. 

Our new toys. Oh, and we convinced Mom to get the same one while we were home. 

Excited to be on the road.

A new toy kitchen at Mom and Dad's house

The mixer was definitely her favorite part of it.

Getting ready for a bath, sporting her pjs from Great Uncle Dan and Great Grandpa

Out of order, but the opposite side of the kitchen

Finding new toys at KC and Joe Joe's house

She thinks Moe is the best.

Joe Joe had to hold Moe still so Tillman could get her hands on him. 

Checking out the tree

Playing horsey and playing with Moe at the same time

A Toy Story hat KC and Joe Joe got T from their trip to Disney

KC and Tillman

Either hanging or rehanging ornaments on the tree at Mom and Dad's house

Blurry, but cute. Little Dep and T

We found this 1980's Sesame Street in Mom and Dad's attic. T loved it. 

Making Puppy Chow

Discussing the ins and outs of the new phones. Mom and Josh are the techies in the family.

Thanks to a friend of ours, Josh and I were able to have a date night downtown Charleston Saturday night. Mom and Dad kept T and Josh and I spent a night away walking around downtown, going to the market, dinner, etc. and just enjoying some quality time together. It was amazing....doesn't happen often. 

This is Josh in our hotel room. 

Lovely.

We had dinner at Nick's BBQ

Josh and his meal

Me, looking like I only have one arm.

Enjoying our time together.

So pretty. This was my favorite.

Inside a lighted Christmas tree

I'm pretty sure Dad enjoyed this breakfast. It's not everyday he gets to eat breakfast with his granddaughter in his lap. 

Sitting in "the" chair at Nanny's house. This chair holds much sentimental value in the Christopher family. Josh  has claimed it was "his" since he was a kid. Now Tillman thinks it's hers. 

Don't worry about blocking the walkway...

Tillman and Nanny bird-watching out of the kitchen window.

T being silly while Mom and Dad had her for the night...a little out of order

T feeding Big Dep Chex Mix out of her dump truck. Oh, the mind of a child.

I love the sunroom and Christmas together. It's so beautiful!

Christmas morning. T running straight to the loot. 

This is her Radio Flyer tricycle from Mom and Dad, which she refers to as her "motorcycle"

Why a motorcycle, we have no idea.

Loving Christmas morning! 

Missing Tony, Danica, and Chiefa.

Dad's rein-beer

More trike action

Our daredevil

Christmas lunch with the Gray side of the family. I love this outfit!

Tillman opening a gift from her Great Aunt Kathy

Giving Great Grandma Gray a big hug.

And watching her open some gifts. I think Tillman was telling her who was in the pictures.

Gifts at Nanny's

After T opened hers she felt the need to help Nanny with hers too. 

With a birthday and Christmas less than 2 months apart, this child has become a pro at opening presents...and at thinking all the presents in the world are for her.

Getting an early start on being spoiled by Great Uncle Dan

This just melts my heart. 

T and her Great Grandpa Franks

Opening her Big Wheel from Great Uncle Dan and Great Grandpa

Kisses!

She was excited about that Big Wheel.

T helping her daddy put the Big Wheel together, a story in itself.

Ta-Da! 

These are our awesome handmade cornhole boards from Uncle Dan!!

(& a few helpful touches from Grandpa, too)

We can't wait to put these to use. They are soooo well done! 

And it means more that they are handmade from scratch from a family member. 

Great Grandpa and Tillman enjoying some treats.

T playing with her daddy.

Out of order, but Tillman and her cousin Emslee exchanging gifts Christmas Eve night. I know the picture doesn't do it justice, but these two could be sisters if you look close enough. It's all in the hair. 

A house Shelly told us about nearby that was plenty decked out in lights and music.

Tillman loving her Jake and the Neverland Pirate toys from her cousin Emslee

Chopping Big Dep's leg off

And he comes after her for revenge

This was actually one of our first days in town. Mom purposefully left the bottom of the tree undecorated so Tillman could help participate and have fun putting on the ornaments.

And of course we had to bring Tillman's gift from Robin home with us. She couldn't get enough of this new toy. 

After Christmas returns, exchanges, and shopping...This was a pit stop at Barnes & Noble.

Worn out

Cuddled up with Woody, Buzz, and popcorn to watch one of her new Toy Story movies.

This is what T does with the cornhole boards.

We got to go see Ansley Grace! 

It was so funny to see Tillman around a baby. She looks like she's inspecting her. 

Hugs

Ansley was so funny. She's just recently discovered her vocal cords and she was squealing and laughing and Tillman the whole time. 

Ana, Ansley, Tillman, and me letting the girls exchange gifts.

Back home for Hadley's 2nd birthday party!

It was Elmo themed and soo cute. 

Kasi made these cake pops herself!

T tearing down the entire Lincoln Log town Josh set up for her the night before.

Opening a few gifts from Josh and me. 

The child made out like a bandit...Doesn't need a thing in the world.

Finger puppets

Tillman being Tillman.

Nolan and Tillman playing inside T's giftbox. Nolan gave her an awesome riding roller coaster car. I have a video I'm going to try and post. It's great...she looooves it! 

After the initial excitement wore off from the car, the two of them got their money's worth out of the box. I've got a video of that too. They are so funny together. 

Playing outside for hours and sporting her new hat from Great Uncle Tom

So cute!

Watch the videos!! 

Tillman's new ride - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJN3QqzAe6A&feature=youtu.be

Box fun - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJeDDOyCgSk&feature=youtu.be