My 1st Blog Award!

Today I received my first blog award from Audra @ Little Moments with the Laneys. I've never gotten a blog award before! How fun! Getting a blog award comes with instructions.

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award and link back to their blog.

Obviously, I'm sure most of you know that Audra is my wonderful sister. She's my best girlfriend ever and we usually don't go a day without talking to each other! Actually, Audra is the reason that I blog! Before Judd and I got married Audra told me I needed to start one to keep up with house renovations (on our current house!) and wedding stuff. I started one then and have been doing it ever since! Audra, I don't have to say anything else - you know how I feel about you!

2. Pass the award on to 7 other bloggers who have a beautiful blog.

This will be hard to do. I LOVE reading blogs so I have a lot to pick from!

1. Nathan & Koren - Koren and I have babies only 2 or 3 months apart! She has an adorable little girl, Avery! I actually went to church with Nathan and Koren and I have met through facebook and blogging. It's funny - I've never met her but I feel like I know her so well! Nathan and Koren are living in Indiana...hence the blogname, "Indiana Seagos". Head on over there now!
2. The Powers - Laura and Wade are some of our friends here in Cleveland. We met them while they were visiting our church and Laura and I quickly became great friends! She's an RN in Greenwood, and Wade is currently in school at DSU majoring in sports medicine. Wade was also a Marine! He and Judd went duck hunting a lot this past season and Laura and I hung out at the house and played with Caroline! Laura just recently picked up blogging from a hiatus and has such fun, quirky posts! They also added a new "baby" bloodhound into their family named Gunny! Check them out!
3. Ashley & Hunter - Hunter has been one of our best friends throughout college! He recently moved to Georgia and met the love of his life, Ashley! I was so excited when I found out that Ashley had a blog! I love fellow blogger friends! Ashley and I have actually never met, but I feel like I know her pretty well...and because of this blog - she probably feels like she knows me MORE than she'd like to! Visit her blog and get to know her!
   
4. Shannon - Shannon has two of the most adorable little girls I've ever seen! She lives in Texas and has an out-of-the-home business called Jelby's! I can personally vouch for Jelby's clothes and burp rags! They are so cute! Shannon is extremely talented. Her blog is called "50,000 Words a Day," and if you want to know what that means, you'll have to go to her blog to check it out!
   
5. Maryann @ Domestically Speaking - This is your trash-to-treasure queen! She is so crafty! She honestly inspires me to buy everything at a yard sale and spray paint it. Ha! She's a God-loving mother and in her own words, "wants to spend God's money wisely" which I think totally sums up her blog! Her ideas are so unique but really add "homey" touches. Visit her blog and start crafting!
6. Leah & Ian - Leah is one of my best friends that I met while living in Starkville, MS. She was actually my boss! Ha! The days when I got to work with her were always my favorite because we spent the entire time laughing! Even if our shifts weren't together - we always brought each other Sonic Diet Cokes through the drive-thru window! She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and I was one in hers! She now lives in Boston (sad!) and manages her own coffee shop! Oh yes, her husband strikingly resembles a young Richard Gere. Go see for yourself! Love you, Leah!
7. Shellaine & Nathan - Shellaine was my roommate for part of my stay in Starkville. She is SO sweet! Shellaine married a wonderful man, Nathan a few years ago and has moved up north! She is a veterinarian and worked very hard to get where she is now! Her husband is currently in Afghanistan serving our country. I can't say enough for our military husbands and wives. The sacrifice that they make for our country can only be understood by them! I can't imagine my husband leaving me for months or years at a time. Visit her blog and keep up with Nathan and her new life up north!

3. Notify each blogger of their nomination.

4. Write 7 things about yourself.

• I wiggle my toes while I'm trying to fall asleep.
• I don't even attempt to eat healthy foods. I should really work on this!
• I'm trying to learn to sew.
• I really, really, really miss playing cards with friends. Any takers?
• I hate feet. Everyone's feet. Including my own.
• I recently quit biting my fingernails for the first time in about 20 years.
• I would rather have the cookie dough than the actual cooked cookie. Unfortunately, my husband would rather have a crunchy, half-burned cookie so I still have to cook them! Blech!

Wow! This was a long post! Hope you enjoyed reading all of this because it sure took a long time to type. HA!

Book Review: "I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief & Joy"

I've never done a book review before (probably because Mary Higgins Clark is still my favorite author and no one really wants to read that review...) but I thought this book was worth reviewing.

First off, let me start by making this disclaimer: If you are pregnant, recently post partum, menopausal, or in any other way hormonally imbalanced - you will have a really tough read.

If you've ever read the blog Bring the Rain then you probably already know all about this book. But if you haven't ever read her blog, I'll give you a rundown. Angie Smith is married to Chris, who is a singer in "Selah," a popular Christian band. They have 3 girls with another now in Heaven (and she's currently pregnant with another little girl!). This book is about Angie's journey through a pregnancy that she was told would never produce a living baby. Her sweet baby girl was deemed "incompatible with life" at 20 weeks gestation and she was advised to "terminate" the pregnancy to spare her emotions. Unwilling to do so, Angie carried their little girl (who they named Audrey Caroline) throughout the entire pregnancy. The rest of the book deals with her loss and how she and her family coped, largely focusing on her love and faith in Jesus Christ.

I really enjoyed this book. I read it in 1 full day. I sat on my couch with a box of Kleenex and sobbed like a baby while reading it. It is a sad book. But at the same time, it's a happy book. Angie and her family wanted to make sure that Audrey's illness and death had some "higher purpose" in this world. And it certainly did. The book does a lot of comparing between her loss and the loss that Jesus felt at Lazarus' death. It's hard for me to explain because it literally took her the entire book to pull the two together - but she did it wonderfully. She's a very witty writer, and holds very little back. She refers back to blog posts that she made at different times through Audrey's life so if you've read her blog before, you'll recognize some of her posts in the book. I truly have no complaints about the book. I enjoyed reading it, despite the huge pile of Kleenex that it required to finish.

So - I DO recommend it...just not if you're hormonally imbalanced in any way. If you are pregnant, please, do yourself a favor and wait until a while after your baby is born (it'll probably be a while before you have time, anyway!) to read this book. It will have you worried sick your entire pregnancy. If you do choose to read it even though I've warned you, try to see her main point for writing the book - even something so horrible as the death of a baby can bring glory to God, even in the most bizarre ways.

We Have Teeth!

Click on the picture to make it bigger!


You can see the one that punched through today clearly in this picture.


And just for the cuteness factor...


When we sing "Don't let Satan *blow* it out..I'm gonna let it shine..." and you blow in her face!


My 2 teeth baby girl!

7 Month Update (a LOT late!)

My 7 month update is coming just shy of her 8 month birthday. Yes, I'm a terrible monthly updater, but at least I get it done at some point. Better late than never, right? Right? Well, whatever. :)

Sweet girl,

Oh how you're changing! You are such a doll! You charm everyone you meet instantly. I can't tell you how many times I've had someone walk up to me in a restaurant or store to tell me how beautiful and happy you are. It never gets old to hear that!

You gnaw on everything in sight and just today your one little tooth started poking through. I've been watching for it! I'm going to miss that gummy, toothless smile! You love to eat, but you are not a fan of trying new things. You often let the food sit on your tongue while you repeatedly gag until someone takes it out of your mouth! (Drama queen, much? You must've gotten that from your Daddy! HA!) Your Daddy and I just sit there and laugh at your face when you get a new food. You do love all things cold, though. Jell-O, yogurt, juice, water...all of it! But the minute we try to give you a puff or yogurt melt - you look at us like we've betrayed you in some horrible way. You'll eat solid foods when you're ready!

One of my favorite things that you do is search for my hand while we're rocking. You'll pull your arm out of socket to find my hand! (Only kidding!) You'll have your eyes totally closed but you reach around until you find my fingers. Once you find them, you just rub them until you fall asleep. I LOVE it. You're such a sweet girl. You've started reaching for people and I know everyone loves it when you reach for them. I know I love it when you reach for me!

You crawl everywhere! You have no problem getting where you want to go. I actually enjoy you being mobile! You can get the things that you want so easily...which means less screaming! Ha! You're beginning to pull up on things. You can get up on your knees instantly, but pulling up to your legs takes a lot more work. You'll be walking soon! My little girl is getting so big!

You're finally getting some hair. It's going to be the color of mine, I believe. We get such mixed reviews on who you look like. For a while we thought it was a given that you looked just like me...but we hear more and more how many people think you look like your Daddy. I guess we'll see!

We love you with all of our hearts. You're my joy. I can't imagine doing anything other than staying at home with you. Even on the toughest days it's still a blessing. Love you so much, baby girl.

Mommy


Not wanting to sit still for the pictures!


The best picture we could get from way back!


Always chewing on your bottom lip!


Happy girl!


Our attempts at taking pictures. HA!


Too busy to even look at Mommy!


"Here I come, Mom!"


I LOVE YOU!






That picture session didn't last long either!

Such a busy girl!

Belly Laughs!

You might need your motion sickness bands on. Ha! It was too hard to hold my arm still but move my face forward to make her laugh! She's so happy! I LOVE her belly laughs!



(Deda, this is a video!)

Decisions, Decisions.

Today I called to give our contractor my paint color for the kitchen cabinets. Black Magic - by Sherwin Williams. We were discussing everything that has come in recently and I asked about my countertops. Unfortunately, the color we had picked out was going to take 8 weeks to ship. Um, no way. So we went with choice #2. I'm not as happy with it because I'm afraid it's going to make the room too dark. But it was either risk the room being too dark, or wait 8 more weeks. Oh what the heck, I'm a risk-taker anyway. So here are the new countertops:


So - not my favorite - but definitely do-able. What do you think? Is this still okay with black cabinets, tan walls, white trim? :)

What Do You Think?

Thank you all so much for all the opinions and ideas on here and on facebook! I spent a lot of time last night trying to decide what to do. I have to let them know sooner rather than later. We're adding a trim around the cabinet doors and drawers to give it a little bit of texture. I think I've decided on a soft black for the cabinets - and maybe a metallic rub around the trim to help it pop a bit? I found this picture on google images that has a similar design. Tan walls, white trim, stainless appliances, brushed nickel knobs, similar granite tile. So...what do you think?

Paint Opinion! Need help!

So, our original plan was to do a walnut gel stain on our kitchen cabinets. That's now a no-go. The varnish has been on these kitchen cabinets for 50-something years and is pretty much staying. The gel stain won't hold to the varnish. I'm a little bummed. So now I need opinions. I'm open to all suggestions. The walls are going to be a soft tan with stainless steel appliances and hardware. The kitchen sink is white. Trim will also be white. Floors are a dark hardwood laminate. Countertops are granite tile with a "toothpick" grout. (Very small grout line!) A picture of the granite tile is below the cabinet pictures. So - what do you think? Any suggestions? I'm kind of at a loss!







(Granite countertop color...this is already ordered and cannot be changed.)

Prayers Needed

I know most of the people that read my blog also read Audra's. But for the few of you who don't, I'd like to ask you to pray for my sister. She has a subchorionic hematoma with this pregnancy and we'd just like prayers for a healthy, full term baby with a healthy mommy. All prayers are appreciated! God is wonderful and can pull her through this! We covet your prayers right now...afterall, the prayers of a righteous (wo)man accomplish much! (James 5:16)

The Forgotten Photographs!

I totally forgot to post these pictures! (So sorry, Deda!)


Caroline and her great-grandmother!

Again!

Deda and her grandbabies! Out of about 6 pictures, this was the best one...seriously. Ha! Drew wasn't a fan of sitting near Caroline!

Caroline and her Deda! I love this picture!

Keep scrolling for more new posts!!

Just Call Me "Handy Hannah"

And really, Judd can be "Handy Harold" because he did most of the work. But do not be fooled...I actually used the saw, nail gun, screwdriver, and my bare hands for physical labor! It's not finished...but I couldn't wait to brag a little bit...





Remember that table I found at Knock Off Wood? This one? Yeah, we built two of them on Saturday. That's only 1 coat of stain and no poly, yet. I'll definitely post a finished picture with some of the pictures we took while working. But for now...I'm extremely proud! (And hooked! That was so fun!)

DIY Syndrome

Does anyone else get the DIY syndrome from looking at DIY blogs? I went shopping with my friend Laura today and every time I saw something that I thought was cute...I immediately went into DIY mode. All the different DIY blogs that I've recently gotten into have sparked this little flame inside of me and I want to make things all the time. I want to sew, embroider, applique, build furniture, make jewelry organizers, and put 500 coats of paint on old worn out, trash-to-treasure items. It's exhausting.

I have a huge list forming in my head of furniture that I want to build. I already had that itch. Then tonight I found a blog called Knock Off Wood and I know I'm going to have to scratch it. I want to build side tables for our living room. Then maybe a bookcase or two. Then I need a desk for my sunroom where my sewing machine and computer will be. The cool thing about her plans...you can tweak them however you want to make it your own personal piece of furniture! People build their own BEDS on here, y'all. When it's time to move Caroline into a toddler bed, I'm thinking we'll try building it. Judd and I built my craft desk way back when out of leftover scrap wood and leftover white paint. It turned out pretty good for our first project! However, if we could do it over, we'd definitely have gotten better wood instead of the cheapo stuff we used.

I'm also beginning a sewing class on Monday nights. I'm SUPER pumped about it. Whether I get good at sewing or not, it's a night to get out of the house! I've been playing with appliques for a while now and ironically all of my really good stuff is on scrap fabric that I'm doing as a trial run. Ha! Either way, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it and it's actually really fun. I have several patterns for things that I'd like to try to sew but sewing just seems so overwhelming. I'm hoping that when we move and I have space to put everything and feel a little more organized that I'll actually enjoy doing this. Right now, I hate going downstairs where the machine is because that is the room where our junk goes to die. Everything ends up downstairs. It's our closet AND laundry room AND storage room AND sewing room. You can imagine how cluttered it is. It's not a big room, y'all. *sigh* Ah...can't wait to move. :)

Anyway, the DIY bug has bitten me yet again! Hopefully I'll start actually doing "projects" now that the weather is cooperating again!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Formerly "The Davis Family"

You're in the right place! There was just something about having my last name plastered all over the title of my blog that bugged me. I'm not super paranoid about it or anything - but there's no need to hand it to strangers on a silver platter. :)

So, after telling Judd "absolutely not" to "The Davis Dingbats" we came up with this!

Have a happy weekend!

ETA: My sister so kindly pointed out how funny it was that I was taking my name away from the Blog Title but not taking it away from the blog post. I thought of that when I was writing, but like I told her - this blog post will fall behind and eventually won't be seen. I'm not super paranoid about this, there's just no need for it to be at the top of every single page! So, I'm not as stupid as you thought. Ha! ;)

Back by Popular Demand...

I now present to you, a crawling video starring Caroline Davis!



We're pretty sure she's cutting a tooth...so she's not in the best mood. But she definitely crawled! She can go even faster on carpet!

Easter Pictures!

Happy Easter (a few days late!)


Monogrammed Bloomers! Thanks, Hilary!! (Oh, and check out those leg rolls!)










Hope everyone has as wonderful of an Easter as we did! :)