A New Name- Again

Well, it's been ages since I last posted, and so many things have happened!

I am now over 20 weeks along in my pregnancy, and my "morning sickness" is finally gone. Yay! It was worse this time, but contrary to popular opinion, this did not mean I am having a girl this time. Our third little boy will arrive sometime in late August or early September. ;-) I was hoping for a little girl. After all, my favorite color is pink. ha But we are thrilled that the Lord is blessing us with another precious baby boy. I can't wait!

This pic was taken from an odd angle, but you get the general idea of how I look at 20 weeks pregnant. ;-)

In other news, we recently moved to the beautiful state of North Carolina. So, I now need to figure out a new name for my blog. Seems like I just changed it, oh, about two years ago. ha

We are excited to come and be a part of a wonderful church here. It has already been such a blessing to us over the two months since our arrival.

Our house in "the heartland" is finally under contract, and we will be (Lord willing) closing on a new house here at the end of May. I am so excited to post all the before and after pics here that we will have soon!  ;-) We will be doing a lot of painting and carpeting a couple of rooms, besides the usual decorating, since it is not a brand new house this time around.

                                      The boys in the front yard of the house we are staying in.

                    Hopefully I will post again sooner next time, now that I am feeling better. ;-)
                                                     Jessica
                             

"Again a Dreamer of Dreams"

In one of my favorite books, "Anne's House of Dreams" by L M Montgomery, I always remember this quaint phrase letting the reader know that Anne is expecting another baby:
" For Anne was again a dreamer of dreams"....

Well, I am happy to convey that I am once again a dreamer of dreams. :-) Dreams of a precious little baby who promises to join us sometime around September 12th this year.
I dream of what this new baby will look like, whether it will be another boy, or a girl this time. I even decorate the baby's nursery in my mind before I go to sleep at night. One version for a girl, and another for a boy.

Ben and I are so excited! The boys were thrilled to hear the good news, although the time until the baby's arrival will seem so long to them.


I had this vintage print hanging in the boys' room for several years, and will use it in this new baby's room, as well. :-)

Merry Christmas! :-)

Merry Christmas!
From our family to yours. :-)

"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

O, Christmas Trees

Last Christmas we had three trees- the big real one, the boys' fake tree downstairs, and my small white tree. This year we have a real tree again and the boys's tree downstairs. My white tree turned yellow from the sun. I kept it it out too long last year to decorate for Valentine's Day and Easter. :-/

 

     The boys had such a fun time decorating their little tree downstairs in the family room. :-)

 We bought a frasier fir from Lowe's this year. Last year we cut a tree down, but they only grow pine trees in Missouri, since it is too hot for fir trees to grow well in Summer. Pine trees just aren't the same, and they poke and scratch me to death when I am decorating them. Ha

 Teddy and Nathanael helped with the real tree, too. Teddy lined up all of these pink balls. It was hilarious. Ha

                                                   Resting after all that work. ;-)

 

 Some of our new ornaments this year include the violin and this cute bird cloche that Nathanael spotted:

                        Also, I found a tree skirt I liked this year. Last year we did without.

                     This tree smells so good and that will only get better as it ages. ;-)

                                                                 Merry Christmas!!!

I'm linking up with Kelly at Kelly's Korner. :-) http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2012/12/2012-christmas-tour-of-homes.html, the Nester http://www.thenester.com/2012/12/2012-christmas-tour-of-homes.html#more-31465
And Sarah at the The Thrifty Decor Chick.

Tea Sets ~ A Few of my Favorite Things ~

As I was pouring my cup of tea this morning, the thought came to me that I should share my tea things collection on my blog. ;-) I have been collecting tea cups for about 8 years now, I think. My obsession with collecting old and pretty china started early on in our marriage, I know that.

I found most of my cups at thrift and antique stores, as well as eBay, and some are gifts from dear friends.

 

 I decided to drink from my favorite tea cup this morning. I believe I found it at an antiques fair when we lived in Australia. It is made by Aynsley, an English company. I prefer china made in England, as it is usually much finer quality compared to the Asian brands.
The teapot and sugar bowl I found at Saver's! :-) Great deal for an English tea pot.

 This set has a subtle lavendar colored band bordering the saucer edge and cup rim, and I love cups that have flowers painted on the inside of the cup, as well!

 Some of my favorites sets, including 2 trios (cup, saucer and plate), hang on the wall in the dining area.

 Most of my tea collection is displayed in this white hutch. Which was a garage sale find in Australia for $25! It was bright blue when I bought it. Ha The tea cup and bird print at the top was a special gift from my friend, Melissa. :-) The tea pot at the top I found recently at Homegoods. They have really pretty new china there.

 More of my collection hangs in this cute little shelf I found on eBay. ;-) The gravy boat was from Saver's. I found a lot of cute things there when they first opened in our town. Not so much now.

And my newest tea pot was also from Marshalls/Homegoods. I thought the little bird was so cute!
I haven't bought any tea cups lately as the old ones are a lot more expensive than they were even a couple years ago. Thrift stores are now are charging antique store prices for them. :-( Plus, I am running out of display space. Ha

Hope you enjoyed the little tea tour. ;-)

Jessica

Company :-)

We were blessed with visits from our families over the past few weeks. First, Ben's Dad and his wife, Barbara, came all the way from Australia and were with us for nearly 2 weeks.

                                We celebrated Dad's 68th birthday while they were here. :-)

                                       Teddy always likes to help blow out the candles. ;-)

                 Then my sister, Bethany, came with her children for a short, but fun filled visit.

The cousins had a great time playing together. Incuding a rainy visit to our nearby amusement park, Worlds of Fun. We still got to ride all of the big roller coasters before we had to leave when a big storm rolled in. ha

                            Nathanael decided to add some goofyness to this shot. Haha

+

White Pumpkins and Burlap

As we head into the Autumn season, I have been adding some more neutral tones and textures to our decor, in the form of burlap and other natural looking fabrics.

 I was inspired to make these stencilled pillows after seeing some similar ones on Etsy. So fun and easy to make! The one on the right has a chandelier stencilled on it, in case you can't tell. ;-)

 I made a little burlap lamp shade cover to put on this lamp in our dining area.

 Also this ruffled and frayed burlap table runner. So quick and cheap to make. I was very pleased with myself when I saw a plain burlap (no ruffles) frayed edge table runner in Pottery Barn for $49! haha I made this one for about $5....

I think the white pumpkins look really good with all the creamy natural textures for Fall. :-)

 

Much easier to incorporate into our color scheme than more traditional Fall colors would be!

                                                          Happy September! :-)

I am joining Richella's "Grace at Home" party. http://www.impartinggrace.com/2012/09/grace-at-home-no-26.html