Crafting

So, I have made a couple of baby blankets lately for some new additions!
Here is the baby blanket that I made for Hampton-my nephew thats due soon! MK is doing a western theme in his nursery.

I also made a blanket for my friend Emily--whose sweet little Cade decided to come this weekend (a little early) so I'm glad I had it finished in time! (and thanks to my friend Erin who added the monogram for me!)

More to come, I'm sure! I REALLY want to get an embroidery machine--must start saving up for that purchase :)

Its been too long!

Wow-its defintiely been a bit since I have blogged :) Don't worry--once Noah is here I am going to try to keep this more and more up to date to share pictures (which I think I will take way too many of him, but oh well!)
Speaking of cameras, its time that I by a new camera, as my other one got stolen out of my car last spring. Thankfully, Tara has let me have her old camera...but I think its time to just take the plunge and get a new one!
We have been busy working on Noah's room--my dad came over a few different weekends to help install beadboard and a chair rail. I LOVE the look of the room! Its pretty peaceful. Here are the fabric swatches that I used to make the bedding.

I am going to decorate with vintage baseball stuff, which I am excited about as well :) As I get more decor, I will post it!

Baby Update

I guess its been a while since I have blogged! So.... I think that you have heard by now that we are expecting a little BOY! Blue, green, sports, dirt, bugs, adventures, here we come! Here are some updated baby bump pics...its interesting that the outfit I wear really makes a difference in the baby bump....

 

We had so much fun celebrating with our family and friends at our Gender Reveal party!

Yummy Summer Dessert!

So, one night in Charleston we went to this little classy place where I ordered Lemon Sorbet (I tend to want sour or salty...not too much sweet these days!) And here is what it looked like:

The sorbet was inside a frozen lemon shell! Great presentation, and it tasted amazing. So.... I decided that I could probably replicate the dessert at home. Here is the step by step for how I made my similar dessert--all from scratch!
First, boil 1 cup sugar with 1 1/2 c water to make a simple syrup--then set in fridge for it to cool completely. (If you want a sweeter sorbet, do equal parts of sugar and water, and boil until the mixture runs clear. I like it a little more tart, so I used less sugar!)
Next, slice off the top of a large lemon, and hollow out the lemon--keep all the juice, as this will be needed!

After the lemon is hollowed out (easiest to use a spoon and your fingers! I think that a grapefruit spoon would have helped, but we didn't have one....) place the lemon shell in the freezer to harden.
Next, using a juicer, get as much of the lemon juice out as you can. (I used 4 large lemons, so I could have the shells--this made about 1 cup of juice. I also juiced about 4 small lemons, so I could have 1/2 cup more juice for my sorbet--so you need a total of 1 and 1/2 cups of juice)

You also need about a teaspoon of lemon zest--another reason to have a few small lemons, as you don't want to take off any zest from your shells!
Finally, using my ice cream maker, I added the simple syrup, lemon juice, and lemon zest and let the machine go for about 20 minutes. After it got slushy, I transfered it to a container and placed it in the freezer for about an hour to harden a little more. (Had I let the syrup cooled more, the mixture wouldn't have been so slushy, but I was in a hurry!)

Finally, I scooped the fresh sorbet into the lemon shells, let them set in the freezer during dinner, and then served then for dessert! Yummy!

It took a little bit of work, but the end result was fantastic! I plan to try this with a few other fruits as well :) You use the same basic simple syrup, but you can use any type of fruit juice, throw berries into a food processer, etc. and you can have whatever flavor you want! I do recommend with sweeter fruits that you add about a teaspoon of lemon, to help balance the flavor so that its not too sweet.
Enjoy!

Vacation Tomorrow!

I am so excited--tomorrow we leave for Charleston, SC for a week of vacation! We plan to spend some time at the beach, see the historical sites, and eat lots of good food!
We are staying at the Francis Marion Hotel--its in the Historical District!

From the website, it looks like it will be a nice place to stay!
Here are a few pics from the web of sites I imagine we will see while in Charleston:

And I suppose I should update my 17 week pic! The outfit I was wearing makes it hard to see what the baby bump looks like, but oh well!

Still feeling great! I am hoping that sometime in the next week or so to start to feel the baby move. They say that between weeks 16 and 20 is average, so I hope our little guy/girl is strong and active soon! I'll post some actual vacation pics once we get back :)

Summer Projects Begin...

It wouldn't be my summer break without a few projects in mind! So far, I've repainted about a quarter of the base boards in our house. Its amazing how they get so beat up. I should have taken before and after pics of the ones near the front room window that Bax hangs out by. It was practically paintless! Other things on my summer to do list:

• Lay out when possible
• Lunch with friends
• Regular exercise
• Finish touching up trim in house
• Purge craft room of things I really don't need to keep
• Make some of the baby bedding, once we know boy or girl
• Start decorating the nursery
• Clean out books (how many coffee table books do we need?!) 
• Generally de-clutter the house....why do I keep so much crap?!
• Enjoy the new carpet we are getting installed later this summer!

Here is my latest belly shot:

It really is a little strange to have your belly be growing. I dont' mind it, but its a little weird all the same! My goal is to drinks lots of water and try to limit salt do I don't have too much water retention. Too bad all I am wanting to eat are salty things! I don't mind sweet foods, but I would much rather have something salty or a piece of fruit with a little tang. That combined with my lack of any mornign sickness makes me thing this baby is a boy. I will be completely happy with a baby boy or girl....I am getting a little anxious/excited to find out!
We also celebrated Father's Day this past Sunday. We had a fabulous lunch a Pappadeaux's with Chris, and some tasty dessert at my parents with my dad. Even though this isn't officially Brandon's first Father's Day, I did get him a little gift since he is a dad-to-be. (Yes, it was a little cheesy, but as you know, I love that kind of stuff!)

Can't go wrong with some BBQ sauce, and a fun onesie. I figure since its orange really a boy or girl could wear it...even though it does look a little more boyish.

Crib!

My mom ordered our cib for us today! So... the two pictures that I had posted earlier were both sold out. But this is the one I ended up picking. Its a cherry color, and it has a storage drawer below which will be great for extra sheets or blankets, or something.  It comes with the toddler rail, plus it converts to a nice looking full size bed. Of course we got a great deal from JCP! Where else would we buy it?! Thanks, Nana and Grandpa :)