Lots of Work

There are so many projects going on at the Bailey house this week that I thought I would share the main 2 with you and hopefully have the finished product pictures for you on Monday! I am so excited that all of this is finally getting done. E and his pop have been working well into the night for the past 2 nights and again today. Wednesday night I worked with them and painted and almost finished painting the living room but these past 2 days have been full of sleepless nights so I have been going to bed early. I lay in bed and hear the sounds of hammers and saws and the backdoor opening and closing...they have been working really hard!! But here are a few pictures of the work.

The basket shelf still has to come down and they are going to add a back to it today and then it will be done with the exception of a coat of paint. The new walls and the hinged storage bench just need a coat of paint as well.

Here is the desk that E has been working on for me. He finally finished it last night and now we just need a coat of paint here as well.

Here is my project...I finished painting the living room except for this part that I couldn't reach without the boys moving furniture for me...and I think I can do this even after my father-in-law leaves. However, I did have to call E a few times to come help me off of the floor after I finished trimming the baseboards.

The project for today include a book shelf behind my desk and some shelves over my desk. Hopefully they can get around to the recessed lighting and chandelier project this afternoon too but I will be happy regardless of what they finish up today. (Sigh of relief) Do you know how long I have been waiting for this room to be finished and to have a desk? All of the contents of my desk have been in a box crammed in a closet for the past 2 years. There is still lots to do but at least I can help with the painting...I am not so good with the power tools!! So this GREAT!!!

What is Happening?

Well, E's dad arrived last night to help work on the house for a few days. E took a few days off of work to work with him and I am very thankful for them both!! It is such a relief to have a husband who is actually handy! This is what he did this weekend. He got all of the walls installed until he ran out of wood and then installed a light fixture. I love days like this one where at the end, you can really see the difference in what you started with and what you ended with.

What did I do? Laundry...it was Saturday after all...and then I painted a little more of the Living Room took a nap! But we have lots of plans for this week since the boys are working for 3 days straight, that I hope come to fruition...

1.) finish the laundry room

2.)install recessed lighting in the dining room

3.) hang new chandelier in the living room

If they finish all of those things and I finish painting the Living Room, we are really putting a dent in our work. Wish us lots of luck!!

P.S. Here's a picture of Maggie when E opened up a new bag of dog food and left it in the floor for her to chow down...What a bunch of animals!! I guess this is the dog version of drinking milk out of the carton!

What's Cooking Wednesday is Just a Fluke!

Yes it's Wednesday and yes I am posting a recipe, but by no means is this the return of "What's Cooking Wednesday!" Too much crazy happening at the Bailey household.

Well there are 3 soups that I love to make every winter...One of those soups is Beer Cheese Soup! I have a recipe that I used last year from William-Sonoma that I kinda liked but I thought I would try a new recipe this year just to mix things up. I am always leary of using a Cooking Light recipe because I know I am going to have to doctor it up to give it some smidgen of taste. And this time was no different. I had to add plenty of extra salt and pepper to taste and I also doubled the cheese that I put in there.

Since we all have different taste buds (and I am pregnant and things taste weird) I will post both recipes...the one from last year and the one fromt his weekend. The Beer Cheese Soup from last year had a much smoother texture and was much quicker to make but the taste of beer was alot more than I wanted.

The Beer Cheese Soup from this weekend was a little thicker and it called for homemade croutons and sliced green onions. Also, the taste of beer was no where to be found...more of a thick cheddar soup. So if you have lot of time, try them both and see for yourself which one you liek the most...this year's? Or last year's!

Epiphanies

So I had an epiphany this morning that I wanted to share...you have probably already had this one so humor me!

Whenever I go to the store to buy baby supplies, I can always tell where the girl stuff ends and the boy stuff begins because of the color change from pink and purples to blues and greens...and then there's the unisex rack full of yellow. So I pondered that for a while...because I am not really a pink type of person. I can and will live with it but if you ask me what my favorite color is, I promise it won't be pink.

But why is it that everything you can get for a baby girl has the color pink or purple? Hmmm...and then it hit me. As a baby, you can't tell a boy from a girl so the clothes are the only ways to distinguish between the sexes and let people know who walk up to talk to you, that you are holding a girl, hence the the pink hearts all over her top.

Baby Buys

While we were home for the holidays, E picked out a few things for the baby...yes the baby who is still a month away from making her grand appearance. He picked out some pajamas for her and some socks, etc...but the strangest thing was this...

You think that's funny what till you see what he bought her at the grocery store a week or so later....

I am curious if our daughter has a chance of being normal with her dad forcing the Daring Book for Girls and Schoolhouse Rock DVD down her throat long before birth.

Progress

I feel like such a slacker this week since I don't feel like I have posted anything at all. Most of this slackerness comes from the fact that I got that computer virus going around on my machine here at work so I am working from a lab computer. Good Times!! So as a quick update, I thought I would show the progress being made on my house.

First, E was able to finished the laundry closet this weekend. So we (nevermind, not we, but E and a friend from work) finally got the washer and dryer stacked and into the closet this weekend so guess what I did all day Saturday? You guessed it ... LAUNDRY!!! Since the washer and dryer had been unhooked for so long, laundry had seriously piled up. Here are a few pictures.

Since the nursery is as finished as it can get for the time being (awaiting family to bring the rest of the stuff we couldn't fit in our car on the way home from the Christmas), I needed a new project. I have this mindset that at some point I am going to be too miserable to help around the house so I am working hard until that day comes...if that day comes. So I started painting the living room last night. Here is the color...yes, I really loved the green but after 2 years of the green, I was ready for a change. Plus, I saw this color in my sister's house and fell in love with it so don't think for a second that this was an original idea! I decided this over Christmas break so I was able to collect all of my new accessories and pillows and dishes at home with all of the nice stores that were having nice sales after the holidays! Hold on..accessory colors are orange and yellow! You will see...it will all come together and be AWESOME!!

My new dining room chandelier from CB2 came in the mail yesterday. I am excited about this...Look at my old contractor grade chandelier and you will find out why I am so excited about the new addition. We have had a rule at our house that we will not change any of the bulbs in the old light. So if all the bulbs go out, then the time has come to get a new one. We got the new one just in time...there are only three bulbs left.

And last but not least, the baby's new playyard came in the mail yesterday too. Small story behind this...Me and E have been saving our change for about a year now. I saw at the local grocery store that they had a coin star. I had used these in the past and enjoyed the fact that I got cash and didn't have to count all of that change even if I lost 10% of the money as a service fee. Now, you can buy a gift certificate to a few vendors and you get to keep the extra 10%. So I started thinking and researching. Since Amazon is one of the vendors, I checked Amazon's baby stuff to see if there was anything I could use. HECK YEAH!! They have alot of stuff! So I got an Amazon gift certificate and was able to pay for playyard and a few other small things for the baby. I was pumped...it was like all of that stuff was free because I never think about how much change I have. So here is the new playyard.

Next week, E is taking a few days off of work to work on the house with his pop, who is coming into town for a few days to help out! We are very thankful for this!! So I hopt to have more pictures for you next week!

Recipes to Share

So I have had this post ready since Tuesday and have been waiting to post it until I remembered to post the pictures and I keep forgetting. So before the post becomes 100% irrelevant, I am just going to go ahead and post it without the pictures and play catch up later. Enjoy...

Well, it was a long weekend in more ways than one. With a sunday school social at our house, a dinner at our house, I helped at a friend's baby shower, finished the nursery and re-organized the kitchen and E's closet, I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. But there was alot of cooking that went on in my kitchen.

First, I made the clementine cake from Smitten Kitchen that I told you about earlier and honestly didn't like it. I made it for dinner guests on Sunday night and they all seemed to eat it up but I guess I am my own worst critic. I sent some home with Erika and Elizabeth who were dying to try it and will find out their reactions later on. It was a super easy cake to make and fairly cheap too with only eggs, baking powder, clementines and almond powder(which I still can't believe I found in our small town grocery store). Since I forgot my pictures, here is Smitten Kitchen's picture of the cake.

Second, I made a Brie Puff Pastry using my Blueberry Compote Recipe. I love this recipe and don't know what I would do without it. It's so good and so easy, I think I may make again this weekend for some friends. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of it but will try to remember to this weekend.

Third, there is enough of Giada's Chicken Carbonara in my fridge to last us a week and I have already given some away. It's excellant though. Such a good dish for when friends come over for dinner. It never as good the second day though...you have to add a little more heavy cream and shredded parmasan cheese before you warm it in the microwave.

Last but not least, Bacon Spinach Quiche. I made 2 of these for our class at church on Sunday and everyone seemed to love it...including me...I had 2 peices. E ate the one peice that was left with his fingers in the car on the way home...I will take that as a sign that he liked it. The recipe called for swiss cheese and a refridgerated pie crust(which I forgot to get at the store) but I used colby jack cheese and a frozen pie crust instead. Turned out great. Super easy and super quick. Definately worth trying!

Nursery Time

Me and E spent all Monday morning trying to put together the baby's crib. We kept putting it off over and over again and I am glad we did. We really needed some extra time. It wasn't a new crib. But I had cleaned, sanded and repainted it and it was looking great. However, we started putting it together and quickly realized that we were missing MORE THAN A FEW parts.

Luckily, E is the "think on your feet" kinda guy and immediately started going through his stashes of extra fasteners and before we knew it, the crib was done. The front gate doesn't move up and down like it is meant to but we can just adjust the mattress height when we get to the different stages of the baby's life. But nothing was spent here and I am super proud to proclaim this. The bedding is from a friend back home, Emily, the sheets were given to me by my 3rd grade best friend, Ashley, (she found sheets she had never even opened when we went to visit), my parents gave us the crib and we used paint we already had in the garage and a little elbow grease!

But here is a preliminary look at the nursery. Keep in mind that it's not finished yet and won't be until my mom comes a few days before she's due. But regardless, this is a good start and I feel ready.

Here is the changing table, given to me by the same friend that gave me the sheets, Ashley, with all of the storage containers that my sis, Brit, gave me.

Here is the night table I just finished painting along with the new lamp I just bought.

These are all apothecary vases I had...one I got at the beach this summer and ironically, my Nanny gave me a large one that matched for Christmas so I went out and found one more that matched and filled them all with Valentine candy. I still think I need to double the amount of jelly beans in the large jar but until then, I think it turned out really well.

I finished the chair before Christmas and bought a rug last week. I really like that rug and I seem to have to fight Maggie to get off of it.

Now I am just waiting for my mom to show up and make pillows for the bed and paint a few peices of artwork for the walls.

Oh yeah...here I am at 35 weeks in my pjs. 5 weeks to go. I have completely lost sight of my feet, which is probably a good thing since my ankles are softball sized these days but all in all, now that the nursery is somewhat put together, I feel alot more ready for my own version of Labor Day.

Friday Night Social

On the second friday night of each month, our Sunday School class has a social and the nursery at church will keep the kids for a few hours. It's great!! Otherwise, it's hard to hang out with anyone in our class since everyone has to find a babysitter. So tonight, me and E are hosting, for the second year in a row, the first social of the year in our home, the soup/chili game night social.

Since I accidentally locked the housekeeper out of my house this week (Opps!) and she won't be back until next week, that left me to clean house. E has been working hard on the laundry room and I really didn't want to break his focus since he was working so diligently. So every night, I have done a little bit to get ready to have people come over. Let's add to this by saying that today is my 12th day of work in a row due to a conference we hosted at our campus last weekend. Sigh! I am ready for the weekend!! I am too pregnant for this these days!

So when I volunteered to host (I know...that was stupid), I immediately started looking for something quick and easy to make. My mind went directly to Creamy Chicken and Corn Soup. I love this soup and since I already had shredded cooked chicken in the freezer, it just made sense. Yes, it's a rehash but sometimes you need to be reminded of the quick and easy meals that are great for cold nights. The only thing I change in the recipe is the use of chicken instead of turkey and I add a drained can of corn to the soup. The end and it takes like 20 minutes! Completely worth it! Go try it this weekend. I hear it's going to be a cold one!

Good Eats!

Those of you who know me well, know I can eat my weight in clementines, you know, those tiny little oranges that are easy to peel and hardly ever have a seed.

Mmmm I love me some clementines. So I was excited today when I found a recipe for a clementine cake. Hmmmm...I became curious! So I printed out the recipe from Smitten Kitchen and plan to make the cake for a dinner we are hosting for our friends/realtor and electrician (who checked my washer after it caught on fire).

The menu:

Giada De Laurentiis's Chicken Carbonara (It's amazing)

Ceasar Salad

Garlic bread

Clementine Cake

If it turns out awful, I will keep some brownies on hand and let you all know!!

Baby Tea Numero Uno

I had a Baby Tea when I went home for Christmas. Some friends of mine and my parents' wanted to throw us a baby tea. They threw it in our home church's foyer with the Christmas tree and everything and it turned out so beautiful!!! Everything was perfect! We ended up getting SO MUCH STUFF from the shower and from family members that we couldn't even take half of it home with us. Luckily E's dad is stopping by before the baby comes to help out with the renovations for a few days and will bring some with him and then my folks will bring the rest when they come for the birth!! But between a bouncer, 2 strollers, all of the diapers and wipes and clothes and toys, our car was PACKED to the top!! Anyway, back to the baby tea, thanks to Brooke and Emily to planning everything and thanks to Martha, Brenda and Sherri for their help in hosting. It was perfect. Here are a few pictures:

E's mom, Me, Mom and My Nanny

The tables were so cute all decorated in pink and white polka dot table cloths.

My Nanny watches as I open presents and my sister, Blake, writes everything down.

Onesie Mania

Me and Mom spent a few hours over the holidays making clothes for the baby. I just thought I would share them with you all!

Baby Legs

I have been obsessed with finding Baby legs lately. I really wanted a bunch of onesies and pair of babylegs to put the baby in when she finally comes because they would be great for diaper changes and for keeping her warm but I can no longer find baby legs ANYWHERE. I searched all through thte Christmas holidays and they were no where to be found!!! They were at Target before the holidays but I haven't seen them since. So yesterday I was determined to find or make them. I found a tutorial on flickr that shows you how to make them in less than 10 minutes. WOO HOO!! Then I went to Target at lunch and found three pairs on the sale rack. It was a good day. So here is the baby's first new pairs of Baby Legs!

If you are interested in buying some, go to the Etsy website and search for "Baby legs," or go to the baby legs website, or check Target's website.

Click here to see the tutorial.

New Years Resolutions

Hmmm...so much change is about to happen I don't even know where to start the resolutions but regardless, I am jumping right in.

1.) Since I gained 36 pounds pounds of baby last year, I would like to loose 40 pounds over all since I will probably gain a few more before all is said and done.

2.) I want to apply the Baby Wise principals to the baby and get her to sleep through the night at an early age.

3.) I want to be able to establish an schedule once the baby comes so that I can be a good mom and a good wife.

4.) I want to be more spiritually healthy.

5.) To continue to budget our money and continue to pay off our debt.

Getting Closer

Well, the baby got some new stuff for her room this week. It's getting much closer to being finished with every day that goes by. But for this week, she got a new lamp...



...and a new rug.

Baked Spaghetti

After a long, cold, rainy day of working on the house, we needed something filling, fast and flavorful. I had a bag of shredded mozzarella, spaghetti noodles, a pound of ground beef, and some spaghetti sauce. My original plan was to make spaghetti but E suggested baking it...I had really never tried and figured it couldn't turn out THAT bad. So I made the spaghetti like normally would, threw it in a mixing bowl with the sauce. Then I threw half of it in a casserole dish, topped with half of the mozzarella cheese, and then topped that with the rest of the spaghetti mixture. I threw it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, topped it with the rest of the cheese and popped it back in the oven until the cheese had melted and browned.

I honestly don't know if I did it right, but regardless, it was delicious. Make it however you want.

This was just how I did it. (And the leftovers are even better!!)

Morning Chicness Bag

Morning Chicness Bags- Why didn't I think of that!!! I don't know if I am really laughing that these because they are great and I really do wish that I had thought of these or because they are SO OUT THERE!! Either way, I thought they were funny and had to share them with you all!

Christmas Vacation - Part 2

We got to E's family's house Christmas afternoon just in time to have lunch with all of the extended family. His cousin, Travis, had a good month hunting and made tenderloin with horseradish sauce and a roast out of the spoils. It was delicious!! Afterwards, we all went back to the house to check our body mass index on the Wii Fit. We all tested it out and turns out, at 8 months pregnant, I still did better than E, his brother and his cousin at the balance test and my BMI wasn't nearly as high as his cousin's. So...Boooya!!

His family made a Baby Rachel Tree this year instead of a Christmas tree.

Later, my neices came over and we all opened presents. Kayla and Beth got clothes and gift cards. I got a kitchenaid food precessor and E got a bunch of tools.

Here is Maggie opening her present, a rope with a ball on it and a new bandana. She had an ear tucked back and didn't even notice due to all of the excitement.

...and yes, she ate the wrapping paper here again too.

Over the next few days, we did lots of shopping, lots of eating and catching up with old friends and distant family. We had a big New Year's Eve Dinner at E's cousin's house complete with massive steaks, shrimp and scallops. Then my family had a big New Year's Day BBQ/Game Night. Here is me, my mom and sisters eating Christmas cookies and playing Mad Gab.

A few days later, we drove to Nashville to spend the day with my friend from 3rd grade. Her daughter was having her 3rd birthday party so we were going and then hanging out with them for the rest of the day. Little did we know all of the baby stuff they had set aside for us. 3 boxes of clothes and shoes, a freezer bag full of hair bows, a huge bag of toys and books and then more toys that wouldn't fit into the bag along with sheets and a changing table. We were really thankful for everything. Free stuff is always good.

Me and E got up early and left the next morning to head home. Ahhhh....home sweet home. No more traveling for a while and back to work. We said good bye to the holiday by taking down the Christmas tree and decorations and started the New Year off by rearranging the living room. We hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years.

Christmas Vacation - Part 1

Oh the long post I have been avoiding. The day before Christmas Eve, all of the family in town was going to go to Bellingrath Gardens to see their Christmas lights. It's a walk through park so I was a little weary of that since I can't walk as far as I used to but after spending 30 minutes in traffic trying to park, and then walking a half mile to the gate, we were greeted with a MASSIVE LINE to get into the gate. We soon found out that it was an hour and half wait just to buy your tickets!!! No way. The walk through was going to be difficult enough and there was no way I could stand in line for that long. So we opted to head back to the house and play dominoes and eat Christmas treats. Here's me and dad on our half mile walk back to the car.
The next morning, Papa woke up early and made his famous Christmas Eve Pancakes...Delicious!!!
We all went out to run errands before our annual Christmas Eve seafood dinner which consisted of fried crab claws, seafood gumbo, oyster bisque, shrimp scampi along with several other side dishes. It was excellant!! Hats off to Dad and my Nanny for a fabulous dinner.


After all of the dinner crowd trickled out, our immediate family exchanged gifts. I recieved some jewelry, scarves, dishes, books, soaps, and so much more. E got 2 magazine subscriptions, some Wii points, a knife, some movies and much more I can't think of. The baby got some books and toys and Maggie thought it was Christmas since we allowed her to eat all of the wrapping paper left on the floor. Here I am showing off my new scarf with my aunt.
Dad recieved a singing and dancing Santa for his office. Maggie wasn't sure about him. She stayed far away and never took her eyes off of him.

Since my sister is pregnant, I gave her a book that I fell in love with long ago called "What Not to Name Your Kids." So after all was cleaned up, my sisters and mom sat around in the living room laughing to tears about how accurate our names were defined in that book.

Christmas morning, Papa made his famous breakfast burritos for breakfast and then me and E left to head north to be with his family for the rest of the holiday (which will be detailed in part 2 tomorrow). But before we left, the family was insistant that we needed to compare bellies again.