Anna's Nursery

So we are finally in Abingdon and all settled in.  Anna's nursery is allllllmost complete!  I thought I should go ahead and update the blog before she arrives though. Once she gets here, I understand I won't have as much time:)

     Sidenote:  She's due this coming Monday.  Hello!

Back to the nursery.  There are a few things you should know before viewing her nursery.  The room is missing her changing table (there is a stand-in piece of furniture in there now) and the letters of her name will hang over her crib.  The changing table is a smallish dresser/chest that is being refinished to match her crib and a lady I found on Etsy is making her name. Other than that, it's all done.  Can you believe it?  Also, the walls are a soft pink color.  I'm not sure that is conveyed in the pics.  John's dad came and painted the room.  I absolutely love the color.

Here are a few highlights...

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I would like to add a rug to this room so that she will have a nice place to play and crawl.  I'm on the lookout....

I'll post a few more pictures when it's totally finished...and we have her to add to the pictures:)

Sleigh Crib: Pottery Barn
Bedding: Land of Nod (Shower gifts!!)

Armoire: Antique store (Just added a little paint)

Child Sized Rocking Chair: Mine from childhood
Glider: Borrowed
Garland: Made by a friend (Shower decorations/gift)
Side Table: Inherited from my great grandmother
Mobile: Homemade.  Free pattern from SpoolSewing.com
Artwork: Etsy stores

Moving and Waiting

In 3 weeks John and I will be moving into our house in Abingdon for next year. We are renting a house from some folks we know while we try and reacclimate ourselves to life in Abingdon. We'll be renting this house for a year and hope to buy sometime in late spring. Very exciting!

On move in day I'll be 37 weeks pregnant. Yes, you heard me correctly. Pretty crazy, huh? Since I have no nursery to set up yet or house to clean, I start projects and buy things for the baby. It helps me. Don't judge. Yesterday I went to Babies R Us, taking advantage of some coupons, and came away with some much needed items. Score! I'm most excited about the tummy time mat and the car seat strap covers. For some reason I've been thinking about those car seat straps scratching her neck lately. Not anymore! As I said, I also got a tummy time mat. Those things are sooooooo gaudy. I tried to find the least obnoxious one they had and this one was it. It's still quite loud but it folds up easily (or so the box leads you to believe) and was certainly less obnoxious than the ocean mat with giant whales right next to it. Clearly I have some work to do with accepting all the toys that are about to come into my life. As John would say, "That's a problem for future Jenna."

Before my trip to BRU, I repainted the wardrobe for the nursery. I painted it a few weeks ago and it looked more like lemon-lime than soft green. Terrible. Now I think it looks much better:)

John and I are going to stay at The Hotel Roanoke tonight and get massages tomorrow. Then we'll spend the rest of the weekend at Piedmont. I'm definitely looking forward to it. While John and I live it up at the hotel Rudy will be spending his first night ever outside. I feel terrible. I have to keep reminding myself that he IS a dog and that dogs sleep outside allllll the time. My childhood dogs always slept outside. But it's not helping. Rudy is spoiled beyond words and now I'm paying the consequences of such spoiling. Maybe I can sneak him into our hotel room....

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Oprah's Last Class

Yesterday I finally got to sit down and watch the final three shows of Oprah's farewell season. It's been on my DVR for two weeks now but I've hardly been home to watch it. Being a rather devoted and loyal Oprah follower I felt like I needed to be able to savor her last shows and not merely have them on in the background as I packed. So savor I did. I celebrated with the last cup of coffee in the house and a mini blueberry scone. Rudy got a little bit of peanut butter. It was perfect. He and I watch Oprah almost every day together (well, he naps, I watch) so it was only fitting that he should watch with me.

Her last show is the only one I'll be talking about today. It was just so amazing. The other two shows were more like big celebrations but the final show was just Oprah. I felt like the show was divided into three sections. Going to class, reliving the heart of her show and its themes, and getting a good Sunday sermon. It was so good I wanted to rewatch it right then.

Let me tell you why I love Oprah:

1. She has a kind soul and openly shares of herself with her audience.

2. She believes in the goodness of people. And I believe in her.

3. She appreciates a good book.

4. She believes in the power of education, although we do NOT always agree on how to best support our educational system.

5. She treats her dogs like people...just like me.

6. She always maintains a positive, encouraging, educational show, and I almost always feel smarter having watched it, unless it's a makeover show. Then I just feel the urge to go shopping!

7. She never married Stedman and never had kids. I don't know why but that fascinates me. (Pretty sure that shouldn't be in my top ten, but hey, it's my list!)

8. She struggles with her weight. That makes her real. Everybody struggles with someone and knowing that she is still working to control her issues gives me comfort.
9. She's a true success story. Who doesn't love that all American "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" kind of story?

10. She's open minded and supremely confident. I like that in a woman. I think we could use a few more celebrities with her kind of passion in this world, especially in the media.

One last thing...

This is a Maya Angelou quote that Oprah repeats often on her show and it speaks volumes to me. "When you know better, you do better." I've remembered that quote in more than one meeting working in the public school and dealing with parents and families who are learning to do better. I think of it when I have a big moment in my life when I realize that I'll never do something the same way again because now I know better.

I'll stop there. Although, I've already risked looking like a crazed Oprah fan, which I still contend I am not. I am, however, grateful for her show and the impact she's had on people's lives, including my own.

Thanks, Oprah!

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Happy Day, John!

My sweet husband's 30th birthday is today! This is a picture from our 20 week ultrasound. We had the sonographer write the results in an envelope for us and we opened it at the park later. It was such a happy day I thought it was appropriate for today.

I am extremely blessed to share my life with John. He's such a supportive, loving, and inspiring person. I'm a lucky girl!

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Making Things Official

Yesterday my sweet husband was officially sworn in and is now all kinds of official! He can practice law in Tennessee AND Virginia. I know. He's cool like that.

I'm so proud of him. John is one of those people who never complains, unlike me. He just works hard and gets it done. I work hard, get it done, and do my fair share of whining along the way. Again, John is just amazing like that. I say all that because he worked SO hard to get to this place. For the past four years he's dedicated an unbelievable amount of time to studying and testing all without forgetting or overlooking all the other important things and people in his life. During the VA bar prep, John kept a quote and a picture of the baby's 12 week ultrasound above his desk (so sweet). Dedication. That's what John's about.

On a separate but equally exciting note, we are officially done with the whole living in two separate towns thing and are sooooooo happy to be spending more time together. We rented our house last weekend to some folks who seem to be very nice. That's such a big relief. Now we just need to finish packing our stuff, move out, and get settled in before this little girl comes! Fun times.

Things have really fallen in place for us this past year. We are extremely grateful and remember these blessings every day.

Tomorrow is John's birthday. Shhhhh...he's joining the 30 crowd! Finally, he'll be the same age as me and won't be able to make fun...as much. Thank goodness.

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