Just me My Soldier and our 4 little chicks

savannah shop inspiration

we did a bit of shopping yesterday, and i can tell you right now that my favorite store in savannah is going to be

this one.

i fell in love with the paris market. i was sweating. and my heart was pounding. and i wanted to move in. almost all of the images (except for the furniture and honey) are from this store.

i dreamed about it last night. not lying.

the furniture was from this store.

i'm currently trying to talk J into the red china cabinet for my flea market treasures. i think i need it. and i WILL sway him. hahahahahah!

hope you all have a happy halloween!

can't wait to see my fairy princess and cheeseburger tonight (want to guess who is wearing what?!?!?!?) and i'll have lots of photos to share, i'm sure!

oh- i had an OB appt on friday..the girls are doing just perfectly. nice and cozy. cervix closed (sorry if TMI, but i'm really excited that i haven't been having contractions!), fluid good, heartbeats good...next week we will measure them.

but in the quickie ultrasound i had friday, the tech showed me a fuzzy halo around each skull. know what it was? LOTS of hair. just like their sissies. :) i'm so excited, both of my girls had big ole heads of black hair, and i love a new baby with lots of hair.

see you soon, happy sunday!

xxo

s

work in progress!

i thought i'd share some photos of how the house unpacking/arranging is going.

i have to credit my mom for helping SO much. she is a genius at rearranging things we already own, and making them look just perfect.

she's the "queen of vignettes". hee!

this is the den area:

my h and six collection have been found over the years, and the precious vintage garland was made by my mom.

 

 

 

 

 

some of my coffee table books, and a john derian plate

 

the kitchen isn't really modern...but it's big and i love that.

more john derian, but you guys know i LOVE him. :)

this is looking out into the living room/entry/dining room area.

 

i love this little sitting/bar area:

chairs and leather sofa from pier one,

bar from cost plus world market.

we need a great rug to put here.

the little dining room that BARELY holds our (admittedly huge) dining room table.

 

looking back into the living room.

i love the downstairs. it's so warm and inviting and cozy...and us.

next up...the upstairs!!!

see you soon!

xxo

 

 

 

 

napa valley

first i want to say thank you SO much to all of you for your words of encouragement.

thank you, thank you, thank you.

it was a tough day. and i still don't feel great...but i am so looking forward to the gifts we will be holding in our arms in a matter of weeks!

my mom got here last night, and i'm so grateful for the help. today i just rested:

and it was so very nice. i'm so grateful to be surrounded by people who love and want to help me.

moving on...

the november kit debuted at SC last night...napa valley.

i ordered the main kit as well as the monterey add-on.

i loved all of the add-ons, truthfully...and i may or may not be regretting that i didn't order more...but i knew this month was going to be nuts. and it was. i only had time to do three layouts, but i want to share them quickly.

hope you enjoy...see you soon!!

xxo

s

 

 

 

 

 

33 weeks

ETA. Please please understand that I grateful for this pregnancy, for these babies, for the blessings God has given me. If you know me at all or have read this blog at all, you know that I count my blessings every day and that I have chosen to live my life positively. I don't want to feel as though I am being handslapped for this post. This is *one* post in which I have chosen to say "I'm not feeling so great". It doesnt mean I don't thank the good lord every day for his grace and goodness. Thanks for understanding.

You know what? I won't lie to you. I've never acted like everything is sunshine and rainbows and I won't start now. :)

Being 33 weeks pregnant with twins is painful. Big time.

At my last ultrasound, I had over seven pounds of baby in my belly. Who knows how much it is now!!

I can tell you this. I feel, right now, just like I did at 40 weeks with Harper and Sadie. I can't really walk, I waddle. Everything just hurts. My legs don't move from the knees up. They are stuck.together.

I ran to Home Depot this morning to get a dryer cord. Huge mistake. I was walking verrrrry slowly. And a lady that worked there?? Told me I looked "miserable".

Lovely. Just what I wanted to hear. And I was so proud of myself for putting on a cute dress and running an errand. :)

I am so glad that j came home when he did. Thank the lord. And so so glad that my mom is headed this way tomorrow.

Someone told me that each day the girls stay in me is two days they won't spend in the NICU. So bring it on. J can just roll me around on a dolly. Or one of those motorized scooters that beeps when I back up.

Let the ankles swell. And my waddle get more waddley. I'm fine with that. But can I please have just a tiny bit of my dignity back??

No?? okay. I'm fine with that too. Two sweet baby girls?? That makes it all worthwhile.

And don't you dare comment on the fact that i have a huge bag of Halloween candy on my bedside table as I type this. Next to the Zantac of course. :)

Remember the survival mode I told you about?? I'm in it. Majorly.

Happy Tuesday!! Xxo

Settling in

We are here!!! Surrounded by a maze of boxes, but here. :)

I won't get Internet until Thursday, so i am posting this from my iPhone. If I remember correctly, the photos post tiny with the typepad app, so sorry in advance!

I'm taking it easy, working on easy things...but not doing a tenth as much as i usually do. And that is driving me NUTS!! But it's part of what I have to do to keep the babies in the belly. Heee!! Can't believe I'll be 33 weeks next week!!

Thought I'd share a few photos of what life looks like right now. Can you tell I'm a tad anxious to start the fall decorating? It's my favorite time of the year!!

And I can't stop laughing at the "major howell crafts" title. He does???? Teehee.

Okay that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be back soon with a real post!!

Xxo

blogging hiatus

currently surrounded by boxes, odds and ends, movers, and crazy children.

had a small meltdown today when i realized the movers thought they were moving us a day later than we wanted.

hmm. explains the sloooooow packing, smoking breaks every hour, and NAP during lunch time. and i'm talking about the moving guys. NOT me. that would be really bad if i was talking about me. haahhahahah. it's official. i'm delirious.

trying my hardest to stay calm and positive. this much i know. in the grand scheme of things one day is nothing.

but that doesn't mean i can't give the stink eye now and then. (to empty rooms enough...not nervy enough to do it to an actual person. heee!).

see you guys soon...

xoxo

s

iphone pics and sneakity sneaks.

happy saturday everyone! it's madness at the howell household today.

the movers come monday, so we are working hard to get ready.

laundry, painting the walls white again, packing, scrapbook assignments, list making, cleaning, trying not to panic (j/k- kind of. hahaha).

packers monday, movers tuesday, inspection wednesday, then off to savannah to move into our new house thursday. WHEW!!!

i am 31 weeks pregnant, at the ultrasound this week they told me that cate is 3 lbs 6 oz and miss lucy claire is 3 lbs 9 oz. wow! that means i pretty much have seven pounds of baby in me. ACK! they look great....both head down, healthy, not going anywhere right now...that makes me happy.

 

i dumped my iphone pics and found some favorites i hadn't shared.

 

sadie in a kate gosselin wig picking her nose. um, yes. this is normal around our house.

i don't know what this one is all about, but it makes me laugh REALLY hard. she's edible, i swear she is.

me and my girls:

a moment that made my heart ache a tiny bit:

oh Lordy. attack of the pullups part deux. no comment.

 

and last but not least, some sneaks with the studio calico nov. kit, napa valley. i ordered addon three. the colors are just beautiful this month, but my time is short and i think my gallery will only have three layouts in it. :(

enjoy!!!!

 

 

 

 

I think it's quite clear from these images how much i HATE butterflies. despise them, really. neverever use them on my layouts. eyeroll. gah, i'm so predictable. oh well, they make me happy!!

i hope your weekend is beautiful and filled with whatever makes you happiest.

xxo

s

here, there, and in between winners!!

66 Amanda Newberry said...

What an awesome class idea! Navy girlfriend here, and my wonderful boyfriend has been on a ship or in Afghanistan for the majority of 2010, and will be until June 2011. Thank goodness for email and iPhones! :)

 

47Sgray110 said...

that sounds like a great class that would be a blessing to so many people. I have a cousin that I would love to give this to if I won... she has a son and daughter that are in the Army - both are in Afghanistan.

 

24 Worldaroundvera.blogspot.com said...

What a great class! Thanks for the chance to win!

 

52 Jen M said...

15 years as a military spouse and as much as I have done pages about our adventures I have never sat down and done anything with just pictures of hubby that he would send me when he was gone. It would be a neat class to take!

 

40 Sarah said...

thanks for your great give-aways:)

10♥12♥10

Hey everyone and happy Tuesday! I will be back to post the BPS winners soon,but I had a couple of things I wanted to share first.

It's my week to host the challenge over at the brand new (and super purty, may i add ;) SC blog.

My challenge is to create an oversized border using a punch, etc.

Here's the page I created for the challenge:

Please hop over to the blog and join in...you can find the post HERE.

I'd love to see lots of my blog readers enter this one!!

I also wanted to share this new MSNBC commercial. Watch it and tell me if you recognize anyone.

Don't blink or you might miss it!! I swear, those two seconds make me cry every single time. So grateful that that moment was immortalized by NBC! And thanks so much for the heads up, Cynthia!

how sweet is that? i swear it gets me every single time.

i'm so confused today...i keep thinking it's monday. we had a four day weekend and it threw me off!

we fed ducks:

and explored the post. we wanted to make sure to see and do everything before we left next week!

 

 

that's it for now...be back later with those winners.

have a lovely day!

xxo

 

 

on my mind today

**BPS giveaway still open below!!**

pregnant much? haa!

on my mind today:

1. each and every one of you. and how amazing you are. and how quick you are to encourage me, defend me, lift me up. it means so much to me. i know i say it all the time, but i truly could never say it enough. you all mean the world to me!

someone commented on a recent blog post that i get so many comments, she always decides she won't leave one b/c i already have so many, hers would just get lost in the shuffle.

that's NEVER true. ever. i read every single comment. they are all emailed to me, and i give them all the attention i deserve. it's simply not possible for me to respond to every comment on every post, although i so wish i could. like i said, every single one of you are so special and i thank you so much!

 

2. my friend jody. she's a fellow scrapbooker and mama of all girls. :) her beautiful daughter, Ryan, has cancer for the second time and is undergoing treatment. ryan and jody have been on my heart and mind constantly lately. please say a prayer for their beautiful family.

 

3. the movers come in a little over a week. HOLY COW! i can't believe we are packing up yet again. but this is one of my favorite parts of the military life. we get to see so much of this beautiful country! and we did get the house i was hoping to get...so i'm looking forward to life in the sweet yellow house with the green shutters. :)

 

4. photo shoot wednesday, ordered these items from a pea in the pod...

and i'm planning on wearing some of my precious custom amy tangerine shirts.

i'm nervous and so excited...this is our FIRST ever family shoot, my first maternity photo session...eeeek!!!

5. i am OVER heartburn. and getting up to visit the ladies room ten times a night. and people commenting on my ankles. but getting more and more excited every day. can't believe i'm almost 31 weeks!

 

have a beautiful saturday!

xxo

s