My dad's house

My dad's house has been on the market for a couple months and we have had a lot of interest and multiple offers on the house and I'm hoping that one of them goes through soon so someone can enjoy this beautiful property as much as my sister and I did for over 20 years. We had someone come paint the inside of the house and a friend of my dad's emptied out all the items from the house so it is a clean slate for potential buyers. It is amazing what a can of fresh white paint can do for the house and I wish my dad would have done this years and years ago as it looks just beautiful!

I wanted to share some more pictures of his house in Oregon from the listing website. A professional photographer took these and captured the charm of the house perfectly. Who wouldn't want to live here?!

The first time I ever visited Oregon, my dad threw me into this pond. He had never felt so bad in his life and I'm not sure what prompted him to toss me into the pond, but it was freezing and needless to say, he never did it again!  

My dad's old office - the cleanest it has ever been. He didn't believe in keeping things neat and tidy and was always battling piles of paperwork and kept telling me he was getting constantly trying to get himself organized! He just needed a week with me working beside him... 

This Baby Grand piano dates back to 1919 and was my grandmother's and my cousin will have it in her home as soon as the house is sold.  

My dad had a fire going nearly every single day of winter and the trees on his property supplied all the firewood he needed so he never had to buy any. Must be nice! I have so many memories sitting on the hearth, trying to keep warm during the Oregon winters. My dad didn't like to turn the heater on so I sat for hours next to the fire! 

This deck was recently expanded and the railing logs are all from trees on the property hand carved by a friend of my dad's. I would say that he helped, but he had more of a "supervisor" role! When Keith and I visited last August, we sat outside one night for dinner and it was amazing. We could see all the stars in the sky and the view of the surrounding mountains was breathtaking. No wonder my dad moved up here so long ago.  

 

Ok, say a little prayer someone purchases this home soon!!

UPDATE: MY DAD'S HOUSE OFFICIALLY CLOSED ON 6/30/11. :) I hope the new owners enjoy this awesome house as much as my dad, sister and I did.

Nursery Revealed!

Let me first start off with this...WE are ready but Miss Anna is NOT! We went to our doctor on Monday morning to learn that he believed our due date was June 21 and not June 23. When Tuesday came and went and no sign of Anna, it wasn't too depressing as we thought Thursday was the magical day all along. Our doctor also told us that only 3% of babies are born on their actual due date and while I was hoping Anna would be early or on time, she just isn't ready to meet her parents quite yet. In the meantime, we've finished her nursery and are ready for her arrival; whenever that may be...

I found this changing table/dresser at the Salvation Army antique store off of 35 and Harry Hines. Yep, you read that right, the Salvation Army in downtown Dallas has an actual antique store in the back of their store. Keith's mom told me this Salvation Army was a good place to find great deal on furniture but she didn't tell me about the hidden treasures I would find in the back of the store. All it needed was a little Old English furniture polish and I added new door knobs from Hobby Lobby that are porcelain with purple polka dots. I also lined the drawers with the same contact paper I used in the bathroom and hall closet.

This white leather chair is from my dad's house in Oregon and made its way into Anna's nursery when Harriet and I shipped back a number of my dad's things in January. This chair has been around for a very long time and used to be in my mom and dad's house 30 years ago but was covered in a very 1980's pink fabric. My dad had a couch, 2 chairs, love seat and chase lounge all reupholstered in white leather a few years ago. He was a man of simplicity when it came to decorating his home and the leather was neutral and easy to clean so it suited him perfectly. I made both of the pillows on the chairs and one of Janet's very talented friends, Susan, made the beautiful knit purple blanket laying on the back of the chair.

I found this adorable plant stand at McKinney Trade Days with Jessica a couple months ago and with a little furniture polish, it looks like a completely different piece. I love it and fits perfectly right next to the chair!

The picture frame has a quote inside that reads "A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bank account smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for."

These are the cute frames/photos that Dusty turned into black and white photos from my mom and Vicki for my baby shower. The table came from Target probably 7-8 years ago and the basket full of toys are new presents for Anna. I just have to make sure Kayli/Cason don't think they are dog toys!

I made the artwork above Anna's nursery a long time ago using scrapbook paper and a couple evenings gluing and cutting away. The center ABC print I actually bought off Etsy and thought for $15, it was much easier to purchase than try to make myself! You've all seen the blog post about Anna's bedding and I am just in love with it - such a tedious project but definitely worth it in the end.

Up close shot of Anna's bedding accompanied with two cute bunnies she has received as gifts. My sweet family friend, Joyce, had the blanket made for Anna and I am amazed at how well it matches the colors in the room. I was happy that I didn't have to make a blanket to go with all the bedding!

Growing up, Mutti gave me a Beatrix Potter book and figurine for each birthday and Christmas and they now are on Anna's shelves for her to enjoy as she grows up. I have cherished these for years and years and can't wait for Anna to read these same stories that I grew up with. The wreath on the top right is made out of a Bible my grandmother, MeMe gave me when I was baptized but Kayli decided to eat it one day so instead of throwing the entire Bible away, I wanted to make something with it. A little hot glue and hours later, I had the wreath creation.

Anna's closet all organized and ready for her to start wearing her clothes.

I just had to throw this picture in here...is this not the CUTEST Aggie outfit you have ever seen? The tutu is obnoxiously wonderful and I can't wait to see her in it. The tank top says it is for an 18 month old so it will be a while before she can wear this, but I'm determined for her to wear the tutu immediately!

(Keith may fight me on this one as he isn't as excited about the tutu as I am!)

This is a Beatrix Potter growth chart my mom bought for me when I was an infant and never used. I have no idea where she found this, but gave it to me months ago when I was home for a long weekend. Hopefully we'll remember to use this to track Anna's growth.

Call me a huge nerd with a little bit of OCD, but yes, this is a sock organizer in the dresser! I can't help myself...

And there you have it...Anna's nursery ready and awaiting her arrival!!

Baby Shower - I am SO blessed!

My good friend Amanda (also one of the hostesses of my baby shower) sent me the pictures she took back in April at Anna's shower so I can share them with you all!

My shower was on Saturday, April 30 at Candice's husband's aunt's house (follow that?!) in Highland Park. Since there were quite a few women on the invite list, we needed a larger house to accommodate everyone and thankfully we had the perfect place to host the shower.

From the second I walked in the door, I was blow away by the work my awesome friends and family had done to create the most beautiful atmosphere for the shower. The decorations were beautiful and the all the little touches nearly made me cry. Dusty printed a picture of Keith and I when we were babies and had them on display and she created a beautiful hand-made banner spelling out Anna Michelle's name and the banner actually is hanging in Anna's nursery right now anxiously awaiting her arrival. The girls each brought a children's book and wrote Anna a message on the inside cover of each book and they displayed them on the mantle. I thought this was such a great idea (thanks Liz!) and a perfect way to jump start Anna's library. Funny enough, Harriet and Whitney each bought Anna the same book - the Very Hungry Caterpillar! Julie had party favor cookies in the shape of bottles, rattles and baby carriages she brought all the way from Houston and they were amazing. I snacked on them for the entire week after the shower!

The hostesses:

Julie -  my fabulous sister-in-law who is going to be the best aunt Anna can ask for!

Harriet - my wonderful sister - I love you! Her middle name just happens to be Anna...

Amanda - I've know Amanda since junior high and she is expecting her second baby in September!

Whitney - I've know Whitney since second grade and love her to pieces. :)

Candice - one of the very first friends I made the first week of college and we've been best friends since.

Summer - my KKG roommate for 3 years in college and such an amazing friend!

Dusty - my sister-in-law and we joke, the best thing that ever happened to my brother John! She is mommy to Tilly who will be one this summer.

Elizabeth - I've know her since I was onl a few days old. We grew up one house away from each other in Midland and have remained friends ever since. She has a little girl who was born in February and I can't wait for our girls to grow up together as well.

So many wonderful women came to my shower and I am honored to be surrounded by such phenomenal people in my lives. Anna is truly spoiled already and I am thankful for all the wonderful gifts that were lavished upon us. Thankfully I had my brother there to help load and unload all the goodies and we used 3 or 4 other vehicles to bring all the goodies home. All the presents have taken over our house and it took over a week to figure out just where to put everything = very overwhelming. All the closets are full of the larger items we won't need for a while (highchair, toddler car seat, jumperoo, etc.) and Keith and I spent many nights putting together the things Anna will need right away, like her stroller/carrier, pack and play, bouncer, swing, and I could go on and on...

Harriet, Mutti, Mom, me - 3 generations!

Thank you to everyone who showered us with presents and love for little Anna and I can't wait for you all to meet her. Any day now... :)

My cousin Candice, her mom Pam, mom, Harriet, me

There were also lots of pregnant girls at my shower! Jessica and Adelina are both due in August with little girls. :)

Favorite Maternity Pics

Candice had asked me to pick my top 10 favorite pictures and sent me an email a few days ago with those pictures so we could print them off for friends and family. It was really, really, really hard to narrow down from hundreds of choices so a few hours later and forcing Keith to look at them multiple times, we came up with some of our favorites below. Let me know if you like any of these and I can get copies for you!

Candice Burrow's photography website: http://www.candiceirion.com/MAIN.html
She is SO very talented and I can't wait for her to take pictures of our little Anna as soon as she decides to arrive.

P.S. Betty Merrill, you are right, that is the pink bunny blanket you gave us that is in the last picture. It is precious!!

Maternity Pics

My cousin, Candice, is incredibly talented and I asked her if she would be willing to take maternity pictures of Keith and me a few weeks ago. I didn't torture Keith with engagement pictures before our wedding so I figured I could get him to take an hour's worth of pictures for my sake! We met Candice down in Highland Park/Turtle Creek a few weeks ago and had a great time. We were inches from falling into the water several times but it kept us laughing during the photo shoot. Luckily for Keith, we were only taking pictures for about 90 minutes and they turned out amazing.

http://www.candiceirion.com/DentonMaternityWeb/

Enjoy!!!

Flower bows for little girls

Jessica sent me an email a couple weeks ago about some really cute flower bows she found online that she thought we could be crafty and re-create them. Last Thursday (during the Mavs vs. Heat game 2 basketball game) we decided to give it our best shot. We sat at my dining room table with scissors, lighters and fabric in front of us and started cutting circles. We purchased all the fabric and accessories at JoAnn's for about $15 each and we walked away with bows of all colors for Rowan and Anna. Summer even joined in on the fun and made some really cute bows for her soon-to-be niece.

All we did was cut circles out of satin fabric and start lighting the ends of the fabric so they curled up to give the circles more life to actually resemble a flower. It was really easy, just a little time consuming.  

Once we had all the petals arranged and curled, we just glued each layer to the next and added buttons, pearls, etc. for the center of each flower.  

Didn't they all turn out to be adorable? We attached metal clips to the backs of each flower to all we have to do it clip them on headbands and find an outfit to match for our little ones. I have a feeling my little girl will not have any hair so she'll need as much help in the accessory department as possible. Although Hal told me the other day that he isn't a fan of bows for little girls and I jokingly told him that it was going to be my mission to find the most obnoxious bows to put on Anna every time he is around her. He he he. :)