Our baby has a name!

So, for anyone who doesn't know, we are having another boy! Yes, I was totally convinced we were having a girl, and yes, I was totally wrong. When we found out it was a boy, I was really stressed out about two things. How would I decorate his room, and what would we name him? It took me a couple of weeks to come up with a good nursery idea that I was excited about, but it took MONTHS for us to agree on a name. In fact, we just decided for good last Saturday. We were definitely naming the baby after my Grandpa in one way or another, and I really wanted to tell him in person. So during our last hour with my grandparents, Justin and I were texting each other under the table at Acme trying to decide on a name! 

Here he is at 14 weeks, when we found out he was a he!

I'm very excited that we are naming our baby boy Brooks Alton Varnum. Brooks is a name we both liked a lot (for totally separate reasons, but whatever works!), and Alton is Grandpa's first name. I love that he is named after one of the greatest men I have ever known. Now that we have our baby named, I can tell I'm getting more and more excited about having another little boy. I hope that Brant and Brooks grow up to be so close. I was so shocked when we found out we were having a boy, but my friend Kristi helped me put it in perspective. She suggested that maybe having a brother was a special blessing God had planned for Brant all along. And while this squeamish, indoorsy, clean-loving girly girl never ever ever thought she would be a boy mom, I know that if God has called me to mother these precious boys, He will also equip me to do so.

We have had a few more ultrasounds, one at 18 weeks and another at 20 weeks. Everything looks good, but one of his kidneys is slightly enlarged. We are continuing to monitor this throughout the pregnancy, and hopefully it will turn out to be a non-issue. For reasons I can't explain, I feel a total peace about his kidney. I know that God knows everything about Brooks already and that this kidney is totally known and taken care of by Him. Other than that, everything is great. I was VERY sick for the first 20 weeks but finally am feeling back to my normal self again. One thing I hate is my lack of energy. There's so much I want to do, but only so much energy and time in the day! I hate having to rest so often when I'm dying to do fun projects. Also, I take my glucose test in about three weeks. They say if you have gestational diabetes with one baby, you're more likely to have it with the next, so I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst. And speaking of the worst, being pregnant during the summer is just as horrible as I thought it would be. It is so dang hot, and I cannot stop sweating. It's gross. I eat a lot of popsicles and hang out at my friends' pools a lot. But it will all be worth it - in just a few months it will be fall, football season, and I will be holding my sweet Brooks in my arms! I can't wait!

Grandma and Grandpa visit!

My grandparents planned a trip to go to Pensacola for a week or so and were going to come spend the night with us. My mom helped me convince them to stay for two nights instead, and while they were here, I got them to agree to come stay with us again on their way home. I love having houseguests, and I love my grandparents, so I'm a happy girl!

I told them before they got in town that I had a "to-do" list for Grandpa to do. Maybe they thought I was teasing. I clearly was not. This picture was taken the first morning they were at my house - Grandpa brought his Monsanto coveralls and set to work on our fireplace flue, which hasn't been working since January. Brant helped. :)

Now that they've relocated to the Midwest, my grandparents miss good seafood from the Gulf! So the 48 hours they spent with us was like a seafood tour. We ate at Morton's for lunch on Friday, and the Rusty Pelican for dinner that night! Fried oysters for lunch and crab cakes for dinner. Not bad!

Saturday our seafood tour continued with lunch at Acme. We ate with them here the last time they visited, and they remembered how good it was!

I love my grandparents! I am so thankful to have them in my lives. So many people my age have lost their grandparents, and I just feel so blessed to still have mine and be so close to them (even though we live far away). My grandparents really are two of my favorite people in the whole world. 

Saying goodbye! Brant was SO sad that he couldn't go with them to Uncle Dale's house. But we'll get to see them very soon when they come back! We love you, Grandma and Grandpa!

VBS 2013

Admittedly, I was pretty pooped after a vacation, DIY project, and hostessing a baby shower, but the next day was the beginning of VBS!

Brant was pretty excited about Bible School! At least, he was until we walked into the doors and he saw TONS of strangers at church. He freaked out a little, but he was fine soon afterwards. VBS can be a little overwhelming for sure!

Brant at VBS last year. Where does the time go?!

I had the privilege of being Christa's assistant Bible teacher. I felt bad because she totally ran the show, and I was content to let her do just that. But I DID bring her Starbucks every day. And watching her teach was truly inspiring. This girl has such a gift. We teach 2 year old Sunday School together, so I already knew she was awesome, but I was really blown away by her giftedness. Plus we had a lot of fun!

Most days Brant and I came home, ate some pathetic excuse for lunch, and hit the sack. One day, though, we went out to eat with our friends and had a great time! I love these girls SO much. I couldn't make it without them! (left to right, Traci, Greta, me, Christa)

We actually had two kid tables (Traci's herd took up their own!). It's so nice to stick them together with some french fries and get to have some grown up conversation!

Greta snapped this picture of our babies lovin' on each other one day. I think Brant and Ella totally look like siblings! Brant was in a different class than a lot of his little friends, but apparently during Kids Praise each day, he and Ella would find each other and just hug!

Our verse for the week was 2 Timothy 1:7. For God has not given you a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgement. When I found out I was pregnant with Brant over 4 years ago, I was petrified. This verse helped calm my fears and know that God would equip me to the task of raising a little person, even though I felt far from ready. It was just a neat thing to have Brant wearing that verse on his shirt years later. God is good, y'all!

And I'm happy to say that we all survived VBS 2013! Now the countdown to next year begins...

Jeanne's (and Grayson's) Woodland Baby Shower!

A few months ago, my friend Jeanne told me she was pregnant. Now, there are those friends that tell you they're pregnant and you say, "Oh that's so exciting!" and there are those friends who tell you they're pregnant and you immediately have to fight joyful tears because you are so genuinely happy for them. Jeanne's pregnancy was definitely the latter. I remember asking her a few weeks later if I could throw her a baby shower, and she didn't even want to discuss it until she was out of the first trimester. So as soon as she got to that week 13, we picked a date! I was so excited to shower her and Baby Grayson with lots of love.

Jeanne is such a cute little mama!

The cake table. When I told our friend Cindy that I was throwing a shower, she immediately asked how she could help. Without missing a beat I said, "take care of the cake!" I enjoy cooking and decorating, but baking, not so much. And she brought this truly stunning cake from a local bakery! She actually took the invitation to the bakery and had them base the cake off of that. It was the hit of the party. AND - it tasted amazing. The bottom layer was chocolate peanut butter, and it was incredible.

The spread. I owe a lot of this to my dear friend Greta. She has a gift for hospitality, and I knew she could help me come up with the perfect brunch menu. She totally did, and she also let me use all her gorgeous pewter serve-ware! All of mine is white, so it was exciting to get to use something new and exciting for once. Yes, I get excited about platters. This is my life, folks. :) 

Our drink station. Using my Big Mama's buffet makes me so happy!

The entryway. 

The mama-to-be, Cindy, and me! I love these gals! Also - Cindy JUST had a baby about a month ago. Jeanne is due in August, and then it is my turn!! 

Foyer Update

I blogged about our foyer about a year ago here, when I learned how to strip wallpaper and used painters tape for the last time EVER. (Seriously, I've since figured out how to paint without tape, and it has totally changed my life for the better.) Anyway, here's how the foyer looked to begin with:

And then after I worked on it last year:

Here's the problem, though. I never liked it. I was talking to a friend once about how unhappy I was about the way it turned out, and she asked me what I specifically didn't like about it. I looked around and said, "it just looks a little too crayola-y for me." I just wasn't happy with the way the color block look turned out in real life, and I never felt like it was "me." It drove me crazy. So finally, I did something about it. And I'm SO glad.

First, I painted below the chair rail. I just used the same color I use for all my woodwork and doors.

Second, I bought molding at Home Depot. My MIL had sent me a sweet card with a Home Depot gift card for Mother's Day. WOOO! There is no better gift in my eyes! Anyway, I used a miter box to make all my cuts. My friend's husband lent me his nail gun to install the wood, but I had issues. If I turned it too low, the nail wouldn't go all the way in, and if I turned it higher, the gun would dimple the delicate molding. So I had to use liquid nails instead. I was SO sad. Using liquid nails was super easy, but I was so disappointed not to get to use a power tool! (Also, you can see in this picture that the liquid nails seeped out from behind the molding. No worries - I just painted right over it.)

Then I caulked all the sides and corners. That made a HUGE difference.

Finally, I painted over all the molding, and voila! I am a million times happier with our entryway now! I still need to get a new rug and light fixture, but for now, I am so pleased.

I plan on continuing this through our dining room, but I am going to need to borrow an electric miter saw before I can do that. I really underestimated how much man power it would require to manually saw this molding on a miter box. And I had really skinny molding! My shoulder and arm hurt for days after this project. But in the end it was totally worth it! I love my foyer now and can't wait to see how my dining room looks with the same wainscoting!

Family Fun

The past month or so has been so incredibly busy - but also so full of fun times with family and friends. After Brant's last day of school, we flew up to visit my family for a week. I wanted to make sure we went up there one more time before the baby comes. It was a great visit!

Brant loved being with Nana, of course. And I'm pretty sure she loved it too.

As always, we hit up the train museum during our trip. This time, the man working let Brant and another little boy go "behind the scenes" to look at the trains. Brant thought it was awesome!

Brant also had a blast with his cousins. My mom pulled out this baseball swivel chair, and the boys knew just what to do!

It was so fun to watch them squeal with glee - and even funnier to watch them stumble around the room after their turn!

It took both of the little boys to get Ethan to go fast enough!

Brant loved to snuggle with Aunt Kathy. I agree... she's pretty awesome.

And I just adore this picture of Brant and my Grandpa. I will treasure it always.

I'm so thankful that we got to kick our summer off with some good family time! We sure missed Justin though and were happy to get  home. Especially since he bought us a new car while we were out of town! What can I say, that boy misses me while I'm gone. ;)

Last Day of School and a Quick Recap

Today was Brant's last day of MDO for the year. I cried after I dropped him off, for two reasons. First, I just can't believe how quickly time goes by, and second, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ALL SUMMER WHEN IT'S HOT AS BLAZES OUTSIDE, I'M PREGNANT, AND I HAVE A 3 YEAR OLD BOY AT HOME WITH ME ALL DAY EVERY DAY?! Sorry. I mean, I can't wait to have even more quality time with my precious offspring. 

So anyway, here is Brant on his first and last days of school this year...

 

Sunrise... sunset... (ok, now I just youtubed that song and am sobbing at my desk. Wahhhhhhh!)

We have been so blessed with Brant's MDO. He has had wonderful teachers both years. Last year I was so upset that he was leaving his teachers, and now I feel the same way!

Brant and Ms. Nicolle. I wasn't able to get a good one of him and Ms. Jamie.

I wanted to also do a recap of the past month or so, since I have been such a bad blogger. We have just been busy, and when I have spare time I'm exhausted, but I will try to blog more regularly.

Brant went to his first basketball game!

Justin and Uncle Cris. :)

Heather and her family came to NOLA to celebrate Lyla's birthday! We met up with them one night for some yummy seafood. I love her! She is preggo too and is due this August.

 Justin and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary!

We are blessed with wonderful babysitters, but Brant loses it every time one of them comes over. He stops crying as soon as we leave, but it makes it so hard to leave him! This picture makes me sad and makes me laugh at the same time - this was right before we left for our anniversary dinner.

We also went to Disney on Ice! It was so much fun! Brant has been going through a big Rapunzel phase, so he was thrilled to see her and Eugene! 

Cotton candy and a flounder hat. Life is good!

Tonight Brant and I fly out to visit my family for a week! When we get back I'll really try to be a better blogger. Or I'll continue to take a lot of naps. Time will tell.