Spring Cleaning :)

I love cleaning. It is exciting to me. It is one of those things in life where you can see an instant change. Cleaning is rewarding, and makes me very happy!!

For "Spring Cleaning" Neal and I decided last night at 11:55pm that we needed to re-arrange our bedroom for our new addition (Madison Mae) who we hope will be joining us soon! Well, I hope she joins us soon, I am ready to have my belly back!! :)

Here we are 35 weeks Prego


Here is our newly arranged bedroom--and for those of you wondering, "who helped Neal move everything?" It was me :)



(This is the Madison corner.. I noticed Neal's placement of the chair is in perfect sight of the TV in the front room...coincidence? I don't think so! Genius!)

A better view of the Maddie corner...


Our studying nook


And our bed, right by the window for the perfect Breeze!!


Now all we need is the baby!

Spring is Coming!!

For those of you who know Neal--well--you know that he loves flowers, grass, trees and anything that grows! He decided that we need "new" plants for our little patio. I think he did a great job selecting plants with awesome color. I love how he cares for his plants. Here are a few photos of my husband's handy work!

Pruning--salvaging last year's greenery





This poor little lemon tree is on its last leg... we are still trying to salvage it... Poor little tree!!



The final products--Neal does have impeccable taste in plants!!











Happy Spring!!

Almond Cake with Chocolate Glaze

All I can say is YUM!!



One of my favorite families in Vero Beach, Florida used to make this cake for dessert and I begged them for the recipe. It tastes super moist, and it is completely homemade! Neal and I wanted to eat it so badly, because it smelled so good--that we forgot to take the photo first! Hence, the half eaten cake :)
Southern women know how to cook!

Car Seat Tent Complete!

I love these fabrics!!!


(Front View)

I am pretty impressed with myself! I didn't have a pattern, I did all the measuring, guessing, sewing, ironing, bow making, button attaching, Velcro fighting--all to make this cute little product! I think it turned out well!

The bows took me forever because I have NEVER made a bow in my life--first attempt! But I think they compliment the car seat tent quite well :)

Who knew I could do this!! Now I am eager to start more of my projects!

Tender Mercies

I have been so blessed these last few weeks, and it is incredible how lucky I am. I have been having a super rough time with pain the past few weeks, and I find myself thinking, "seven more weeks... make it through finals, have a baby, then graduate..." Now mind you, those are HUGE but it must be done. My little blessings are as follows!

My cute MOM came to see me for lunch when she had a layover in SLC, and I really needed to see my mom! Sometimes I can be so needy. She came just in time!

Debbie Debbie bo-Bebbie...


Then to top it off, my sister SUE came to visit me, she was on a business trip in Canada, and decided to come see me on her way home! Yea!! We had a blast, we watched TV, relaxed, and went on a hunt for a cute stroller... To add icing on that cake, my nephew RYAN decided to visit from BYUI to BYU and we got to have him the whole afternoon and evening! (weird, my nephew is in college.. I am OLD!) It was awesome! What a weekend!

Skip to my Lou SUE!!


The hunt is complete! We have a stroller people!


My little Nephew, RYAN all grown up!


It gets better!! My friend CHARLI brought over a gift for Maddie, one that I have been daydreaming about for MONTHS!! No joke... I really really wanted Maddie's newborn photos in a hot pink tutu...

Behold! TuTuS!!!!




I literally CANNOT wait to see her in these!!! So so so cute!!!

Last but not least! A visit from my friend from home KARA came to stop by on her way to MOab! You would think I won the lottery!

KARA dropping in to say HELLO!!


These little things are helping me keep going--I am very excited for these last few weeks! They have delightful lately, and I feel very blessed!

Baby Updates...Let the count down begin!

Madison Mae will be her name! Or Madison Michelle, sometimes I just can't decided. Yes I said "I" not "we" Neal doesn't particularly like either middle name options, but I figure after I go through the trauma of having a baby, he will let me name her whatever I want!! :) But we have jointly agreed that Madison will be her first name. I posted a few pictures so that you can see what Neal and I have been working on :)

Ha! That was funny! We worked on a baby, and now we are getting ready to have her come out and play! But not too soon, she needs to bake for another 6-9 weeks. (I am hoping she comes between my winter and spring term of school so that I can have 4 days of rest before school starts... but I am never actually that lucky :) but I can dream!

Here you have it! The bump growth: I am making some serious progress!


27 weeks


30 weeks

An update on her new bed, we decided to go with a pack 'n play as we will be moving this coming December. This was the cutest we could find! Neal loves putting these together wink wink...


Neal hard at work...


The final product! It even has a little changing station attached, convenient!

Here is her closet space to hold all of her super cute clothes! I wish I could post all of her new little wardrobe now, girl clothes are SO CUTE!!! I will wait and have her model them for you--that would be best! But here is her little section of the closet thus far...





And of course I need a few projects to work on, so here are my latest adventures!

Here is a diaper bag I made last August (before we even knew we were pregnant!) with Neal's cousin Lila. I LOVE this bag and I am excited to put it to good use!



I saw these online and I HAD to try them! I am working on these, I will let you know how they turn out... I can hardly wait!


hook candy crochet patterns

And I am making a car tent like this one... except on the two handle grips I will have ribbon flowers with a little button. But you can imagine what it will look like when I am done :)


This pattern..

with this fabric and ribbon :)


We are very excited in preparation for Maddie Mae's arrival, and hopefully I can find time to do these projects and graduate in the meantime!

A Very Merry Un-Birthday!

To me! This year I was able to celebrate my 6 1/2 birthday! Who knew such intelligence could come from a 6 year old. Its true. 6 years old = SMART. Neal was brilliant this year and surprised me by celebrating my "un-birthday" early and taking me to TCBY to get my beloved white chocolate mousse. I LOVE that stuff! Best gift ever! Not to mention the beautiful flowers that he specially selected for me :) I am one lucky girl, seriously! TCBY, roses, and Neal. That is the perfect present!


Beautiful!!


Delicious!

I also made my favorite homemade pizza thanks to Pam Prete and her AWESOME recipe she shared with me! Yes ladies and gentleman, I made this lovely creation... Smothered in cheese, pepperoni, and sausage. (I do believe I am a meat lover pizza kind of girl...greasy, fatty, yummy)I don't mess around with pizza!



Our good friends Maddie and Og (yes his name is Og) had us over for family home evening the week of my birthday and Maddie made me a homemade ice cream cake! It was so delicious. They also surprised me with gifts, which I was totally not expecting! It was a surprise indeed!

What a great birthday! I even did SUPER well on my midterms! And mind you, these are not "piddly" classes, these are the real deal, calculus and matrices algebra have been my friends this week :) I am still in shock how well I did. Happy un-birthday to me!!!