The Backyard

We've been in the process of renovating our backyard for quite some time. We're finally in the home stretch and we've never been so excited to do yard work. Ahh, Holt and Betty Ann must be so proud of us.

This winter Lawton and Holt took down a tree that was in the center of the yard. It seemed to be in the way of everything we could imagine using our yard for...so out it went. In the last couple of weeks the yard has been cleared and dirt has been spread. Here are some beginning and progress photos:

Before

Down goes the tree

My yard guy

Spring time. No more tree but still lots of over grown shrubs and lots of roots above the ground. Lawton also took out the old chain link fence. Let the land clearing begin! Thanks to AAA Tree & Stump for all the work.

Cleared out. Our neighbor, Linda, is so sweet to share a yard with us for a little while.

ground leveled with fill dirt. Kobe has been having a great time rolling around in it.

Stay tuned next week for the big reveal. We'll be laying sod this weekend and putting up a new fence. Wahoo!

Controlled Chaos

I often hear couples talk about how hectic life gets once children come into the picture. I always thought our lives were hectic because we've been "involved" in a number of things throughout the past few years. Don't get me wrong, Lawton and I love some time to ourselves watching Parenthood and the Lakers, but we also love to be out and about with people. We love hanging out with our friends, going on trips to see family and getting to know new people. Lately this hasn't been as frequent because of the newest addition to our household. She keeps us home bound most days and my life is hectic in a whole new way. We may be home most of the time, but things are still busy, busy.

While all this change was occurring I've realized I will never understand the depths of how blessed I am with the family in this house.  I'm constantly doing things now that have everything to do with my family. Cleaning, cooking, feeding, burping, etc. In all the chaos of my new busy life God has grabbed my heart many times to remind me that He has blessed me abundantly with this beautiful family. A husband who gets up every morning with the baby, starts laundry, unloads the dishwasher and picks up around the house so I can sleep in an extra 20 min. A baby who thinks I'm the funniest momma in the world and makes my heart melt with each smile and laugh. A puppy who is so gentle with children and loves to be close to us. God stops me in the middle of my stressful and overwhelming day to remind me...this is the life, enjoy it. Everyday I try to be thankful for this time in my life and see there is a purpose for God putting me here.

A sweet friend of mine who is the mother of 4 children once told me, "Sarah, these years where your children are small go by quickly. New opportunities will always be out there, but your children won't always be at the age where all they want is you. You have a small window to invest and enjoy them to the fullest."  I'm realizing how right she is. Lord willing, I will have the rest of my life to be out in the hustle and bustle of this busy world to be "involved." Right now I'm okay with spending most days in the chaos of my own home. Our homes are mission fields too. They are the place where we set examples for the children God has trusted us with. The everyday occurrences are pictures our children will remember as their childhood. It's my heart's desire to turn the chaos into teachable moments and find joy in them. To lead my children in a loving relationship with our Savior. It's my mission to be "involved" as much as I can at home and enjoy the blessings of this family. It's hard some days, but to quote my favorite movie (A League of Their Own-best movie of all time) "If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great." 

The Kitchen

We had our kitchen renovation back in August, but since Weslyn has come into our lives I haven't had the chance to take any after shots. I've been too preoccupied taking pictures of the baby. You know how it goes. Anyway, here is the new kitchen. 

Before

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

After

After

Starting to feel the need to nest

37 and 1/2 weeks along now and I'm ready to organize this house from head to toe. Not just organize, but get renovations finished and things looking pretty:) We're in the middle of our kitchen renovation right now and the house is a total wreck. Tomorrow they are putting in the countertops and doing the backsplash. We picked out a faucet, sink and hardware, so now we just need to pick out lighting.

Kitchen lighting: I love this one. 

I searched for a while to figure out what kind of fixture it's called. 

Evidently it's called a schoolhouse ceiling light.

 

Here's the light I found that I love. The price is a little steep at $80...

  

After more research I found this one. Only $25 at Lowes. It will probably 

work better anyway since the ceiling in our kitchen is a bit low.

After the kitchen is complete I will feel much better and not as frantic about the house being "incomplete" before the baby arrives. Tomorrow we're going to clean from top to bottom, organize all other areas of the house and hang more pictures. That will help make the house to feel more like our home. Here are some other ideas that have been floating around in my head lately:

Framed fabric. I think this would look great in the living room.

Definitely not this color, but I do enjoy the design.

I've realized our coffee table weighs a lot and takes up too much space. 

We're going to trade it out for something more functional like this.

The only problem is I want to have something more colorful. So hopefully my 

oh-so-creative MIL will help me make slipcovers:

http://www.designsponge.com/2010/03/sewing-101-ottoman-slip-cover.html

 We'll see how much we get done in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully we can get a good head start this weekend! Wish us luck:)

Nursery

The last few months have flown by. We've moved into the new house, started renovations, and pretty much finished the nursery. Once we know the gender we'll decorate the walls of baby Graves' room a little more. Here are a few photos of the nursery so far:

 

Glider was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

Curtains made by Gigi.

The crib was passed down to us from cousin Chesson. Crib skirt made by Gigi.

 The Winnie the Pooh characters were mine but now I'm passing them down to baby Graves. The photo on the second shelf is Lawton when he was a little one. :)

Gift from Corbin & Byerly. My favorite part of the whole room:)

Seaching for our first home.

Well, not really our first home. Since Lawton and I have been married (it was 2 years in July!) we've lived in 3 different places. All rentals, all great experiences. Now we're ready to begin looking for our first home...to BUY! We're very excited and can't wait to start the process. We don't want to actually purchase the home until sometime next year, but we want to get a head start on feeling out what we like.

Here's a trip down memory lane. The different places we've lived since July 2008.

This was our first place. We had a great deal from one of Lawton's friends.

This was one of the three bedrooms we had. The place was really meant for roommates: 3beds/3 baths.

  

This was our 2nd place, but Kobe's first home. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise living across the street from one of our now very good friends.

 We lived next to great people, but the down side to this place was that it only had ONE drawer in the kitchen.

  

The kitchen was teeny, but it was functional enough for the two of us and Kobe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is our most recent rental. Lawton's great uncle has been so kind to let us rent his carriage house. It's in a beautiful neighborhood and is just the right size for us.

 We've made a lot of changes to this house. Here's the living room. You can't find those smaller pillows in a store. The material can be found at Joann Fabrics, but Lawton's sweet mother made the pillows.

View of the windows. Curtain material can also be found at Joann Fabrics. Curtains made by Betty Ann:)

Our kitchen is once again teeny,but it's functional enough.

And we have four drawers!

  

This is my favorite room. It's filled with furniture Lawton's grandmother refinished for us and photos of our family.

This place has been the best so far. It's got a big yard that Kobe can run around and the details of the place are charming, definitely my style. We looked at four houses today that all ranged from 1600-2000 sq feet. Some had great yards with a porch, some had smaller yards with a deck. It was fun for us to decide what we liked most and what we didn't like at ALL! It was also a great experience to see what we're willing to compromise on and what we're not. One thing is for sure, older homes that have been added onto in a cheap way are not our style, but kitchens larger than 150 sq ft right up our alley.