Wedding Shower-Love Birds

My baby sis is getting married in a few weeks and my cousin Gala and I threw her a wedding shower this past Sunday. Since her hubs to be Johnny is into birds I decided to play around with that a little bit and did a Love Birds theme. We kept the decorations pretty simple; especially since we were invading my mom's house due to the chaos at mine with Operation Nursery in full swing. A lot of white with small purple accents. (wedding colors are purple and silver)

I was in such a hurry to get over there following church I completely forgot my camera. I managed to swipe a few photos from other people but I've got to warn you that you won't get the full effect of my awesomeness. :)

Here's the food table complete with my latest project- a tree featuring two love birds. It's a little hard to see the tree due to the window and light colored walls.

Here's a slightly better view of the tree.I recycled an existing planter by painting it white and then "borrowed" some tree limbs from our vast acreage and spray painted them silver. I purchased the love bird Christmas ornaments off of ebay. I think they make a cute keepsake. We kept the food pretty simple; finger foods and cake. My cousin Gala made the cake.

The refreshment area:

I used the yummiest and simplest punch recipe ever. Ginger ale and sherbet ice cream. Yum! It's especially tasty with pineapple sherbet.

Gala also had a really cute idea, which was to have all the attendees write marriage advice on a card and place in a keepsake box. Ashley read them out load after she had opened all of her presents and the advice ranged from really good (some women had been married 30+ years) to absolutely hilarious (multiple divorcees).

And of course, here she is opening presents:Four of us went in together and bought her 10 place settings of her china. Macy's was having an awesome sale so we got a super good deal on it. I wanted her to have something special that she would still use or remember 50 years from now. At my wedding showers I got tons of practical stuff- towels, sheets, Tupperware, glass dishes, etc. But I only got 2 place settings of china so over the years I've had to purchase the rest. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciated all of my gifts but your china is just something that you will always have and remember.

On to Operation Nursery- we are pretty much done cleaning out the room. Just a few odds and ends that Jeremy needs to haul out back and put in the storage building. I've already warned him that this is one of my only weekends without commitments so I'm going to need to do some major painting. Since he's off tomorrow I'm going to politely remind him that work comes before cycling and hopefully he'll take the hint and finish cleaning everything out BEFORE he takes off on one of his bikes. Yes, I'm married to a Lance Armstrong wannabe.

Sherwin Williams here I come!

Easter Eggs and Projects Galore

I feel really lame, but I didn't get a single family photo at Easter this year. Terrible mommy I know. I did remember to get plenty of Em though (and that's all that really matters right?) My little girl LOVES getting all dressed up and going to church. She knows a little bit about God but at this point I think she cares more about chatting it up with the old ladies we sit by that ooh and aah over her. She never lacks for attention that is for sure. Here she is clutching the Princess and the Frog dvd from her basket, in her Easter dress and again hunting eggs with her cousin Holton. MeMe went a little overboard this year and hid like 100+ eggs for the 2 grandkids so we all had to help them out a little bit with the hunting so PopPop wouldn't be mowing over eggs for the next couple of weeks.

And here she is with her SECOND very full basket of eggs. She's just discovered there are candies and monies in the eggs . . .

And, on to her big girl room. It's still a work in progress but she is very excited about her big girl bed. I still have to lay down beside her and snuggle at night to get her to go to sleep but this arrangement is much more preferable. I don't think her little toddler bed would have supported my weight much longer!

The bed, dresser, and nightstand were MeMe's when she was a little girl and I think are just adorable. Absolutely perfect for a little girl's room. I still need to move a bookcase in there and we've got to hang the bedroom and closet doors. But we're almost there! My little baby is growing up so fast! And yes, she does sleep with all 4 Mickey Mouse dolls at night. Even the giant one that's bigger than she is.

The new furniture for the master bedroom:

The furniture is a very dark hardwood, almost black. LOVE. Our previous room decor was a vibrant color palette of reds, purples, etc. I wanted to tone it down and clean it up a bit with some classic white and blues; almost a beachy vibe. Prints above the bed are of the Annapolis waterfront and I added touches of beach whimsy with other details throughout the room. The wooden canisters on the dresser hold all my perfumes for example. And I couldn't resist a little zebra print pillow for the bed. Jeremy didn't say a word when I whipped that out of the shopping bag, just rolled his eyes. He is well aware of my love for animal prints, especially zebra which can be a great neutral but eyecatching pattern. The throw on the bed was knitted by my mom. She has apparently decided to age gracefully and is taking up grandmotherly skills! Ha!Now we just need to replace the dated ceiling fan and decide on curtains!

I'm co-hosting a wedding shower for my little sis this weekend and I got super crafty for it following a trip to my beloved Hobby Lobby. Theme is Love Birds and I can't wait to post pics. I also finally got around to making a wreath for my front door. Pics to come . . .

Spring fever is upon me folks!

Funniest Story EVER

Play-doh (one of Emma's favorite toys) gone horribly, terribly, wrong . . . .

I didn't think this was quite suitable for Facebook but had to tell it. Last night I'm playing playdoh with Emma and she says

"Look Mommy, I made a poo poo!"

"Emma, did you go poo poo in your tinkerbell panties?"

"No mommy, I made a poo poo" and holds up playdoh that looks amazingly life like.

Silence.

"Em, do you make poo poos a lot out of playdoh?"

"Yeah sure."

"Do you make them at school (daycare)?"

"Yeeeesssss." Starts laughing. "shooie, nasty"

My child makes playdoh poo poos at school. I wonder what Mrs. Lisa thinks I'm teaching her . . . .

Chaos. Pure Chaos.

So, as of today I'm 27 weeks pregnant. 13 to go. Holy crap! When I was pregnant with Emma we had everything done by this time. Nursery was ready, bags were packed for the hospital (Jeremy was super anal about that one), etc. This time-nada. The panic is setting in full mode.

We have finally made some headway on the nursery. It has been our "cemetary room" for the past two years. Emma outgrows a toy- throw it in the extra room. Don't have a place to put Jeremy's aresenal- throw the guns in the extra room. And so on. This week we began the painful process of slowly digging a tunnel into the room and clearing stuff out. Have I mentioned before that we need a bigger house?! My mother-in-law is going to borrow or in some instances take a bunch of furniture off of our hands. Stuff I simply don't have the room for anymore. Goodbye office with my cute white vintage desk. Goodbye matching bookcase with all my lovely books. Since she has a massive house and lots of empty rooms it's actually going to work out great. She'll be able to fill some space and I get free storage until we (hopefully) can get into a bigger house! Win-Win! I also emptied out the closet in that room, also known as my 2nd closet. Three large bags of clothes will be on their way to charity next week. I only retained two storage containers of clothes out of the entire closet. And unfortunately I'm going to have to do something I hate thanks to our limited closet space- change out clothes in the closet based on seasons and put the rest in storage. Aargh!

Since we are working in the bedroom I have extra furniture and toys scattered all throughout my house. There is literally a narrow path down the hallway, through the living room, and into the kitchen. That's it. And it's driving me nuts! My love of order is being seriously challenged. But I guess that's all just part of it. On the plus side Emma is loving having all of her old toys again. She has been squeezing herself into her walker and bouncer for the past couple of days. It's amazing how this stuff will still entertain her. I'm worried that we will have the same problem though when Seeley begins to use these things; Em may not want to share! Here's a camera phone shot of her in the bouncer-her knees almost touch the floor for crying out loud!

And I promise, Promise, PROMISE to take pics of our bedroom and Em's room this weekend and post them. Hopefully I'll also have pics of an empty nursery! Ha!

Where has the time gone?!

So I'm woefully behind on blogging. Again. I know. Big Surprise to everyone. Don't have much time tonight to make this a fantastic pic filled entry but I promise good pics are coming. To give you a quick sneak preview of what the Johnson household has been doing since my blogging hiatus:

1. Jeremy and I declared a truce for the annual Cadbury Egg War. I secretly think he feels bad stealing candy from a pregnant girl. Or he's scared. OR I finally found good hiding places! Ha!
2. Had a small scare that sent me running to the OB office in a panic. Severe back pain+ abdominal cramps+ bleeding= panic attack. Luckily our prayers were answered and Seeley is fine. Me-I got to experience my very first (and hopefully only) set of kidney stones. Yeah.
3. Painted Emma's toenails for the very first time. Super cute pics of that one will be coming soon. Jeremy is still mourning the loss of his baby girl.
4. Transformed Emma's room into a "big girl" room. No more toddler bed. Full blown full- size big girl bed. She is super excited and has only jumped/bounced/rolled off it once while dancing on top of her bed. We're super parents I know. Jeremy and I are still shocked that we managed to sleep on a full size bed for the first 7 YEARS of our marriage. And yes, I still owe everyone pics of our new and redecorated bedroom. Pics of both new rooms are coming.
5. Had a birthday- the big 28. Cried when my brother and his family left me a voicemail singing me Happy Birthday. Emma also now says "Happy to You" all the time in hopes that it will get her more birthday cake. Gotta love her trying to work the system.
6. FINALLY got a Wii and Wii Fit Plus. I know we are probably the only house in America that still did not own a Wii but in my defense Jeremy has been extremely stubborn about getting one. UNITL he got hooked on it at Jennifer and David's house! So, guess who got one for her bday? And guess who has spent the most time on it . . .
7. Jeremy's Wii fit age is 43! Mine was only 25! Ha! I still don't know how that happened. I was really worried about this because they don't exactly have a pregnancy option on there-so according to the Wii I may be 25 but I'm overweight (BMI of 29) and my Wii character looks like there are pillows stuffed down around the thighs. Sigh. I wonder how the Wii knows where all my weight goes!? I'm also waiting for the Wii to cuss me out when I keep gaining weight despites its best efforts. Or groan when I step on the board. Something.

Finishing up our little mini-vacation in Memphis tomorrow so I'll be back soon with more details and pics. I've been reprimanded for not posting any pregnancy pics so I guess those are coming as well. Remember-you asked for it.

What's in a name?

Ok, since I've posted our little man's name, both on this blog and facebook, I've been bombarded with questions about how we came up with it. (And I'm super pleased that so few people have actually heard of it-success!)

As I've mentioned before, Jeremy and I did not have a single boy name picked out we were so confident baby #2 was another girl. And if you know me, you know I'm super anal about these things and it was a life or death situation to me that we had nothing picked out. (Emma's name was decided on a month before the gender reveal ultrasound.) So THE DAY of the ultrasound I went back to work following the doc appointment and made a long list of names I liked; probably 10 or 15. Jeremy and I met for lunch and narrowed the list down. His one and only contribution to the list was Seeley. And subsequently I think its awesome that's the name he went with.

Only ONE person has recognized the name Seeley- props to my little sis Kerry! Seeley is the name of a television character on Bones; FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. Hilarious right? I've never heard the name Seeley used before or since. What can I say, inspiration comes from the strangest places.

And I can't help but include a shameless plug for the tv show- if you don't watch it you SHOULD. It's fabulous. It doesn't hurt that the actor that plays Seeley is sexy. I've admired him from afar since his days on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Back then he was a brooding and gorgeous vampire. Aaah. My little heart just goes pitter pat!

And yes, I realize I have a very eclectic taste in television.

And yes, Jennifer, I broke the news to Jeremy last night about Disney on Ice and he was super thrilled (insert extreme sarcasm). I'll be sure and take pics!

Spring Fever - Part Deux

My cheery and optimistic outlook on life tells me that the lovely Spring weather I'm craving will be here in time for us to take a mini-vacation during Spring Break. (Please, please, please be right!) Sooo, I'm taking a few days off later this month and the Johnson's are heading to Memphis. Woot!



The three of us are huge zoo fans and let's face it, the Little Rock zoo sucks hard core. Hard. Core. On the other hand, 2.5 hours away is one of the most fantastic zoos in the world- so here we come! We'll also probably go to the Botanical Gardens and I'm sure I can squeeze in some shopping as well.



Since I'll be using most of my vacation time to supplement maternity leave I just couldn't stand the thought of not having even a small, tiny little get-away. What can I say? Spring fever makes you do unexpected things like plan trips on 3 weeks notice and purchase Disney on Ice tickets for your Mickey Mouse loving child. ( I have yet to tell Jeremy of our impending plans-he's sure to be super thrilled to spend a Saturday night with thousands of screaming kids and cartoon characters on ice skates). :)



Also, we FINALLY decided on a name for little man- Seeley Alan. You pronounce his name almost exactly as its spelled- See-Lee. Not sealy-there's no a in there-he's not an animal. We wanted something unique and I think this fits the bill perfectly. Alan comes from Jeremy's dad- John Alan.



Ahhh, I can cross "decide on baby name" off my to do list. One down, one million to go!