Thursday, April 25, 2013

How Does Your Garden Grow?

The weather here in Oklahoma... has been bipolar, to say the least. Some days we're playing in 80 degree sunshiney weather, and others it's 38 and super windy, or storming. It's been tough to actually figure out a time that we should "plant" our seedlings... but we finally took the plunge. We planted my "babies" tonight, and we'll see what happens I suppose. We still have 4 more boxes to plant, but those seeds, I will just sow into the ground, since they're later summer/early fall harvest.

The hubs was handy again, and built some planter boxes for the seedlings that I started awhile ago. Yesterday he picked up enough of an organic gardening mix at the "dirt guy" in Oklahoma City, to fill 2 boxes, which was plenty for all of the seedlings that were ready to be planted. This afternoon, we planted... and it was sweet to see it all come together before I head to the East coast on Saturday (for 3 weeks). We'll see if my thumbs are still green... or if they're officially brown... only time will tell how this garden will grow.









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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

27 Weeks { bump }

Another week down... and another trimester down... I'm officially in the 3rd trimester... and it feels... uneventful. I'm not sure if it's because I'm feeling absolutely ginormous these days, or if it's because I've been suffering the last few days from a TERRIBLE head cold. Pregnant with a cold... is no fun. I'm letting it run it's course, and it's just miserable. I will not dwell on it any longer in this joyous blog post...  in fact, I will end my rant with a funny for you: While blowing my nose out yesterday... I might have blown too hard... and MIGHT have tinkled myself. Yes. I'm pretty sure I face palmed myself when that happened... and there you have it, why pregnant ladies should not be allowed to get sick.

I had my final ultrasound last week (barring no complications arise), and it seems as though my low lying placenta has moved up! Which is awesome news. Before the ultrasound the tech asked me if I had any pain going on anywhere... to which I shared with her how this little one is digging in my ribs. She looked at me, and stated, "Wow, that's a bit early... she still has room in there... I wouldn't expect that for a few more weeks..." Low and behold, midway through the measurements, she was looking for the feet... and where were they? in.my.ribs. enough said. She LOVES my ribs... and there's really no way of getting her out of them, mostly my right side. Her head is low, in my right hip area, so when she strikes my ribs, usually it's with a bum, or she heel digs. It's quite lovely... But we loved seeing her active, and especially another view of her profile... she's looking a lot like Mama... especially my nose. She kept trying to cover her face, like she was either wiping her eyes, or being shy... pretty sure it wasn't the latter, that doesn't sound like a Davis trait.

Today I have my beloved glucose test... we'll see how that turns out. What I can say, is that the morning was rough. I LOVE fresh fruit, and that's usually part of my morning breakfast... but not this morning. Neither was yogurt or granola... I had an egg white omelette with spinach and cheese, as well as some bacon.  My husband would be proud of my breakfast, but this little girl was NOT impressed... and my desire to eat fruit is growing by the minute. I'm totally bringing a banana with my jar of peanut butter to snack on after the test is taken. Oh, and I should also find out how my iron level count is soon, they'll take blood for that as well today.



And because I just couldn't resist... Charlotte wanted to get her "maternity" pictures in too... seriously, this was all her idea... she's celebrating her "food" bump apparently. 

Cravings: fruit... fruit... and more fruit. I honestly could eat it all day long. Fruit popsicles also sound delicious right about now (but I can't think fruit... I have my glucose test in a few hours). 

Turn Offs: nothing I can't eat... had Indian curry last night, again... and it was DELICIOUS... put in extra cauliflower, and I was a happy camper.

Daddy's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: I'm fairly certain he just wants me to stop complaining these days... I'm constantly telling this little girl to stop poking me in my ribs, and all he does is watch me squint. Throw in a head cold, and it makes for a whiney preggo lady... he's just been quiet, and listening... when he's not taking care of me. 

Charlotte's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: "This baby needs to stop kicking your ribs... " she pretty much mimics anything that I say about the baby. At our last ultrasound, she definitely stopped watching the iPad for about 10 seconds to listen to baby's "beatheart"... 

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Winner Winner

WOW you guys blew me away with the enormous amount of responses to the giveaway! Glad to hear that many others out there LOVE washi tape as much as I do... or are wanting to try it out. Wish I could give each and every one of you a piece from stash... but... it's SUPER tough to part with....and this winner, will know just what I'm talking about... when she receives her package in the mail...



And the winner is.... 

If this is you... e-mail me your address, and I will send your goodies out as soon as possible... I promise I won't hoard them... really... I promise (mail me at: kdaviscreates@yahoo.com to claim!! All I need is your address). 
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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Free Belly...

I know I've shared bump photos with you all... but I haven't shared "bare" bump photos with you. I'm fairly certain I spend a large portion of the day, walking around with my shirt lifted, especially if I'm laying down, just to "itch" it, massage it, or "release" it, so it doesn't feel so contained and squished inside a pair of pants or skirt/dress. I call it my free belly (you know, sort of a play on words, with the movie "Free Willy"), and I just can't help it... This is usually the time that my little furry feline friend LOVES to cuddle up next to baby. He definitely senses her, in there... and she definitely feels his "purrs", because she usually kicks A LOT when he's near. We'll see how he is once she actually joins us... something tells me it's going to be quite the introduction.


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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

26 weeks { bump }

Wow, another week down.... some fly by, and others just move along as slow as a snail... thankfully the last few have flown by. I can hardly believe that in a week, I'll be in my 3rd trimester, but I'll be so thankful for that as well. I'm getting to that point where I'm ready to meet her... and I still have so many weeks ahead of me. I'm excited for her to continue to grow, and feel her kicks... but I won't lie, the growing part, is taking a major toll on my body. A toll, that I wasn't really prepared for. I have an extremely short torso, and I just feel like there's absolutely no room for her. In fact, she kicks me and digs into my ribs on a constant basis, that I feel like she's revolting against her living quarters. "There's no room in this inn!" Something tells me she's going to be a long baby. The last few nights have been tough getting good rest. Every time I lay on one side, I have shooting/stabbing pains on my opposite side's rib... and then when I turn to the opposite side, the same thing happens, but to the opposite side's rib. She's digging and snuggling up so closely to my ribs, that I'm so scared she's going to crack one, one of these days. I definitely have some serious bruising from her.

But, I won't completely complain in this post... what all that above means, is that she's growing, and doing exactly what she needs to be doing! Before next weeks bump update, I have my glucose test (yuck!) and tomorrow I get to see the little bug in an ultrasound. Hoping to hear good news about my placenta... or at least an update. With how high she's been... I'm hopeful that it's moved up some.

She still sleeps away the day in my belly, unless I'm munching on a piece of fruit... and is awake and "at it" aka kicking, all night. Not much sleep for this Mama... but it's okay. I'm being prepared for her arrival and the night time feedings. Thankfully, the other little one, is such a BIG helper, and always wants me to rest. I honestly have been blessed with the sweetest little girl... Charlotte has the biggest heart ever. Just today, we were eating our strawberry snack on our front porch bench, and all she wanted to do was rest her hand on my belly, to feel her little sister kick while she ate her snacks. Every time my belly shook (baby likes fruit), Charlotte would giggle, and say that baby must really like the strawberries. I couldn't be more excited to see how she interacts with this baby when she comes out.




Cravings: Fruit... and more fruit... and even more fruit. Seriously, I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm loving at least one glass of milk each day, and occasionally want to eat a bar of chocolate.

Turn Offs: .... nothing at this point...

Daddy's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: He's quiet this week... I think he just wants me to stop complaining about her rib jabs.

Charlotte's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: "She's coming out tomorrow..." Oh how I wish little girl...

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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

We Call Home...

I don't typically enter blog giveaways... just because usually I don't read the blog post until AFTER the winner was already announced... time is not in my favor these days.  But, there are a few blogs that I stay "on top of"... and Lindsay's... is one of them. She had an amazing birthday giveaway, that I entered... and I won. Yes, me... the person who never wins... won something fabulous! Lindsay is well known for her "State Love" paintings... and she made it into this season's "Stitch/Craft/Create" magazine... with a tutorial on how to create these lovely state paintings. For her giveaway she was giving away 2 lucky readers (I was one of them!), a copy of the magazine and the "ingredients" (canvas, paint, paintbrush) to create a state love painting all on our own.

When the package arrived in the mail, it already felt like a piece of artwork, that I didn't want to open...but wanted to open... at the same time. She had me at washi/decorative tape....

So many lovely goodies inside... 



After reading up on the tutorial, I got to work... Now, you're probably thinking that I would paint "New Jersey" (my home state) or "Pennsylvania" (the hubby's home state)... but nope.. I decided on "Ooooooklahoma" ... It's the place where we are at now in our lives... Just felt like the PERFECT state to pay homage to. I decided to use grey as the background (when Lindsay asked me which background color to send), because it's "neutral", and because I knew it was going to go in my guest room, on the wall over the bed, with a medley of other prints/fun finds/art pieces. I started and finished it all within an afternoon (with plenty of interruptions)... and placed a little turquoise painted heart right over the spot on our state, that we call home. 


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Monday, April 15, 2013

Make Things Pretty: Giveaway!

These last few weeks, and the next few weeks have and will be filled with TONS of organization... and most people that know me, know that I despise "order"... I usually refer to my things being in an "organized mess"... because usually I... and only I... know where things are (especially in my sewing room). But, with a baby on the way, and with an extremely open floor plan in this house, I've decided to take a different approach to organizing. I want Charlotte or the hubs or anyone visiting to be able to find something for me, especially if I'm a little preoccupied with the tiny bundle...

So my creativity is stretched a bit to come up with a way or organizing, that is so "me", not too polished looking, and yet easily accessible to others... but, who says it can't be fun? right? One thing I've been desperate to help organize, is my craft stuff... and eventually I'll give you a nice little tour of my studio/sewing room... in the meantime, you'll have to be okay with a fun way to display decorative tape... especially if you LOVE tape as much as I do.

Unique vessels and mason jars run PLENTIFUL in my house... if they don't in your house, no fear... most thrift stores have GREAT finds, or even estate sales... This little fruit crate was from our trip to a farmer's market in Italy (yes, another world adventure find), that I just couldn't part with... It was actually from our time in Italy spent (a few days) before heading to Ukraine to adopt Charlotte. You can actually see it in pictures on this post... and just holds some little reminders... of life before kids (for those with kids, you know what I'm talking about). The mason jars fit perfectly in it, so I separated all my tape by color and size, and then got to work. You still have to "dig" a little if you want a specific tape, BUT, at least I know where to find it all. It's all in one place, accessible, and uniquely displayed. Perfect for me...
















And because I LOVE washi tape/decorative tape SO much, and think everyone needs it in their life... (and if you already have it, well you just need more of it) I'm giving away a few rolls of some fun tape that I found at Target, as well as other lovely goodies to help create a super fun package look for someone to open up, or perhaps to just collect in your stash for the right use.

To win 5 rolls of tape, some crocheted lace from Korea, purple bakers twine, smokey blue twill tape, and a bunch of fun tags/labels... here's what you gotta do (super simple):















- Leave a comment telling me what you would use fun decorative tape for or what you already use fun tape for (the skies the limit people).

- Follow my blog and let me know that you do so in a separate comment.

- Follow me on twitter: @kdaviscreates and let me know that you do so in a separate comment.

-Tweet about the giveaway! and let me know that you do did in a separate comment.

- If you're an instagramer, follow me, karendavisphotography, on Instagram, and let me know that you do so in a separate comment.

For each entry, I'll entire your name (so don't be anonymous) in a jar, and will handpick a winner by next monday, 22 April. Now... get to work!
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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Never Stop Improving

... yeah I totally love Lowes' slogan... in fact, not just for home improvements but for self improvements as well (that's for another blog post soon!) I'm fairly certain though, that all the sales associates at Lowes know my husband and I fairly well... no, I'm POSITIVE that they know us well by now. There's something about owning a house, that has you constantly doing projects. Yes, we're living in a new build and we don't have "fix up" stuff, but there have been TONS that we've been wanting to build, re-create, etc.... that we've waited 7 years to do, because we lived overseas for so long... with no Lowes, and no space to do those projects.

One of those projects, is our old "pie safe"... a find from when we lived in Florida. It's definitely seen quite a bit of moves, and has been used for multiple purposes. In Korea, I was getting sick of it's look, and so I knew as soon as we moved, that it would be getting a new look for the new house... and a new purpose.














Up until this point, it's been in or near our kitchen. It's held cookbooks, baking supplies, dry goods (when we didn't have a lot of cabinet space in Korea), etc. Not only did that color need to go, but the tin needed out as well... too country for my tastebuds.  So... to work I went. I decided first, that I wanted it to go in our guest room... and then decided on a color... I know... you're all thinking I went bold, but I didn't.

I used "steel" from Valspar's line... and made sure to get an "inside satin" finish... the best part about Valspar paint (and this is solely my opinion, they haven't paid me to highlight/advertise for them) is that they market their paint, to not only be the color, but a primer as well... So, I didn't even have to prime this cabinet! BONUS! I saved time and money in the end... and my pregnancy energy (which is priceless these days).
I decided to ditch the doors... and keep it as an open cabinet/book case... and had the hubby replace the tin sides, with just a really thin plywood... He cut out squares, and nailed them in for me (closer to the end- that step wasn't photographed). One thing I did do, was sand all the rough edges, just to give it a cleaner finish. 


And then I painted away... I was a little hesitant at this point, about the color... but I waited for it to dry... and then I was sold on it. I only needed 1 coat... and did a little touch up work here and there... but I'm super happy with how it turned out. A heads up for you regarding paint color: the color always looks lighter than how dark it dries. See how crazy light it looks in the above photos? It almost has a blue tint to it as well... well, it didn't dry that way. It definitely darkened up, and turned into the perfect shade for the finished product that I was striving for. 

The next best part... is getting that piece into the room, and seeing how it works. If it didn't work in this room, my back up was to put it in the nursery. But, it looks PERFECT in the guest room... and I added treasures that we've collected from our worldwide journey. Seriously, that bottom bread bowl, is from an antique shop in Greece, on the island of Mikonos. We were on a cruise, and found that shop while the hubby and I were sightseeing the island on a moped. We purchased it, not knowing if it would fit in our luggage... but it did, surprisingly. It's filled with conk shells from our time in Florida, and other fun goodies from Germany, and Korea (the aqua tin). I just have one picture that I want to add to that white frame... but I've decided to wait until we meet our sweet little girl, to get an updated "road" picture (like the one we have framed in the photo below). 

I love giving new life to furniture... I'm pretty surprised with myself, that I didn't paint it yellow or turquoise... but I wanted to create a warm and breezy feel for our guests. Some people are scared of color (hopefully not my visitors), so I didn't want to go too bold with this large piece... and rather tried to bring in color with the accent pieces. 
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

25 Weeks { bump }

2 weeks has passed since my last bump update... but this is my first post where I can say "she" instead of "baby". It feels good to finally let the secret of her gender out in the open, and now you all get to celebrate with us... it was fun keeping it a secret while it lasted... especially since SO many of you thought it was a boy. Bring on the estrogen! She's been quite active these days... all she wants to do is roll around, especially at night. As I flip flop from side to side, unable to get comfortable, she flops from side to side, and then likes to stretch out a heel or whatever body part it may be, into my ribs... she tries to make as much room as possible in her tiny little space for her tiny little body... and boy does it leave me with a restless night's sleep. I still have so many weeks of being uncomfortable, I just might get some sleep at some point, out of sheer exhaustion.

I haven't really thought too much about her room, probably because she'll sleep in our room for quite some bit. I will start collecting some pieces for her room, and put it together (watch, last minute like everything else) before she comes along... but for now, I'm focusing all that creative energy (whatever is left in that portion of my brain) to the rest of the house, just trying to get it "ready"... ready for visitors- friends and family that'll be stopping by starting next month on.
















One thing that has popped out, other than my belly, are my freckles! I've always had freckles, but they've gotten more NOTICEABLE in the last 2 weeks. They are completely taking over my face...

Cravings: ICE... all I want to do these days is chew on ice. I know... super strange, but super yummy to me. I definitely have been getting my fill of water, just because I add half a cup of crushed ice. The other day, I had a MAJOR hankering for sweet tea (made a pit stop at Sonic) and at 9pm sent the hubby out for a burger run. I still eat fruit like it's my job... 

Turn Offs: best news happened this week, in this department... I can FINALLY eat Indian food again! I used to want to puke every time I smelled it, or even thought about coconut milk or cumin... made a batch of curry in the crock pot this week, and ate 2 bowls of it! No longer a turn off. 

Daddy's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: "Late night craving runs are totally acceptable, if it ends in making a pit stop at Sonic for a milkshake for myself. "

Charlotte's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: "Mommy... look, your belly button is going to pop soon.".... enough said. 



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Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Up and Open!

For those that haven't heard/noticed/been out of the loop (I know how that is)... just wanted to remind you, that the shop, is back open! For a limited time (probably this weekend), you can use coupon code: ITSRAININGPINK to receive 20% off your purchase at the checkout. I wanted to celebrate having a girl, and thought this was a FUN way to do so. Crayon rolls are great birthday presents for little ones... and you know you're always looking for last minute gift ideas! Or maybe you're just like me, and need to organize all those crayons that fall to the bottom of your handbag. 





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Monday, April 08, 2013

Swinging Life Away

I can't believe that this month (towards the end), 2 years ago, we got the call, with our travel date to head to Ukraine... not knowing what exactly was ahead of us... that our sweet little Charlotte was waiting for us. 2 years ago... and this sweet little one has changed SO much... feels like we've had her forever.  I can't praise God enough for all He has done in our sweet little family of 3, almost 4... life just  keeps swinging away... and I'm loving the ride.






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