Egghead

I originally planned to title this post "The Newest Member of Our Family"...but that seems somewhat inappropriate considering I'm writing about our new grill and not Baby D! :)

My mother & I took a trip to Atlanta back in October, and while we were there, we visited the Big Green Egg Factory store. One of her patients told her that the factory store sold re-furbished Eggs and she wanted to check them out. I had no intention of buying anything, I was just along for the ride. They didn't have any of the re-furbished grills in the store that day, but we looked around anyway and sampled some of the food they were cooking (which smelled/looked/tasted delicious)!



There must be something about me that screams "sucker" to salespeople, because before I realized what was happening I was at the cash register paying for a new grill with all the accessories. The salesman convinced me that this would be the perfect Christmas gift for my husband. He made a comment that the grill would benefit me most because I wouldn't have to cook as much. SOLD!! {Sidenote that we really needed a new grill -- we hauled our grill down to our tailgating spot for the last football game and it all but fell apart during the ride to & fro. It was one of our first purchases as a married couple, $120 from the scratch & dent section at Lowe's 7 years ago. It had seen better days.}



It wasn't until later that I started questioning my decision...our old grill was gas, would Graem really want a charcoal grill? Not to mention we don't usually give each other big ticket Christmas gifts. And how in the world would I hide the thing from him for 2+ months? And what if he decided to replace our old grill before Christmas?? I found reassurance in my decision by reminding myself about a comment that a friend of ours made to his wife on the day he got his BGE...he told her it was the best day of his life. Strong words!

All of those things worked themselves out, I think Graem figured out at some point that I had gotten him a new grill, but I don't think he knew it was a BGE. At least he acted surprised. :) Thankfully he doesn't refer to Christmas Day 2011 as the best day of his life, but he has admitted that its hands-down his favorite gift ever and that I should never try to "top" it because that would be impossible.

And I have to admit that the salesman was right when he told me that I wouldn't have to cook as much, considering Graem is pretty much obsessed with the BGE. He cooks something on it every weekend and at least once during the week. So far he has made ribs {twice}, steaks several times, burgers, a pizza, pulled pork {twice}, pork loin {twice}, several different chicken recipes, and even a chicken pot pie! I had planned to make chicken pot pie one night and he said he would like to try cooking it on the Egg, since you can use it as a convection oven. It turned out really good! They claim you can bake a cake on it...I don't understand why you would do that but I'm pretty sure my husband will try it at some point.

Everything has turned out good...but the ribs & pulled pork are the BEST -- better than I've ever eaten in a restaurant. And the pork loin he makes with a blackberry sauce is one of my favorites. The steaks have been good too...of course being pregnant I haven't been able to enjoy mine medium rare, so that is something I'm looking forward to after Baby Duncan makes his arrival!



One of the delicious side dishes he prepared for us this weekend: prosciutto wrapped asparagus, to go with the pulled pork and ribs. {A little heavy on the pig during that meal, but at least we had something green, right?}

Framed Letters

A couple of people have asked me how I made the framed "D" for Duncan's room...way back when I was pregnant with Roper I made an "R" for him and an "M" for Mason (see this post). I also made one for my nephew that was horizontal with all three of his initials across it. The original inspiration was something I saw in the Restoration Hardware catalog, and since that was almost 3 years ago I can no longer find the picture!



These are pretty easy to make...I should have taken pictures as I was working on them but I didn't (sorry). I hadn't planned to post the "how-to" on my blog, but it should be pretty easy to explain.



You will need:
-a frame
-matboard with a letter cut out
-leftover fabric
-spray adhesive

The Frame:
You really could use any size, and it might be determined by how much fabric you have. For all three of mine I used a 16x20 frame that I picked up from Hobby Lobby (their frames are 50% off for three weeks each month). The frames that I picked out did not have the metal cording on the back for hanging, but the nice lady at Hobby Lobby put it on them for me and only charged a couple of dollars.

Matboard:
Hobby Lobby also sells matboard and they will cut out letters (and other shapes) for a small charge (maybe $3.00 or so?). I asked them to cut the matboard to 12x16 (note that if you choose a different size frame you will need to adjust the outer dimensions of the matboard -- it will "float" inside the frame so just decide how much space you want between the outside edge of the matboard and the inside edge of the frame).

Then I asked them to cut a letter out of the middle of the mat board (centered of course). Note that you won't need the actual letter that they cut out, just the 12x16 matboard with the silhouette of the letter cut out in the middle. They let me choose from different letter styles, and I chose a simple Roman font for all 3. In hindsight I kind of wish I had used a lowercase "d," oh well.

Fabric:
I used leftover fabric in mine, but there are lots of possibilities here...you could use scrapbook paper or wallpaper or wrapping paper. I like the fabric because I just used leftover scraps and it ties in with your bedding, window treatments, etc.

Make sure the fabric is ironed out flat. You will need one larger rectangle of fabric for the outer edge, cut to 16x20 (I just took the glass out of the frame and traced around the edges & then cut). The smaller rectangle of fabric will need to be slightly smaller than 12x16.

Spray adhesive:


Assembly:
Apply the spray adhesive to the back of the matboard and then stick it to the smaller piece of fabric.

Then, apply the spray adhesive to the back of the smaller piece of fabric and stick it on the larger piece of fabric (centered of course, unless you just don't want it centered).

Now you should have your matboard on top, stuck to the small piece of fabric (which shows through the letter silhouette), stuck to the large piece of fabric (which shows on the outside edge of the matboard).

Then frame the whole thing like you would a picture. I'm not used to writing up tutorial type things so I hope this all made sense!

I'm not sure what the total cost of this was, I'm terrible at remembering prices, but I think this is pretty close:
$25 for frame (normally priced at $49.99)
$2 to add metal cording to back of frame
$8 for matboard
$3 charge to cut matboard
$6 for spray adhesive

So about $44 all said and done, unless you also have to buy fabric. You might have noticed that Duncan's "D" has a lot of flaws because I didn't have one big piece of fabric to use inside the letter cutout. I had to piece together a lot of little pieces and when you look closely you can totally see it. But I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to these things so I'm okay with it. And I don't think he'll mind. :)

Tying the Perfect Bow

Hopefully you aren't growing tired of my Pinterest finds. I'm trying to share only the best pins!

I found this pin on "tying the perfect bow," which was particularly helpful when tying the bows for baby Duncan's crib bedding...


and for his curtains...


I'm sure all you mom's of girls know how to tie the perfect bow on your daughter's Easter dress sash, but if not, here you go...

Source: ellinee.com via Brantley on Pinterest

Coffee Creamer

I found a coffee creamer recipe on Pinterest...I think it was one of the very first recipes that I "pinned."

Source: mrshappyhomemaker.com via Brantley on Pinterest

I'm limiting myself to one cup of coffee while pregnant, so I want it to be a good cup of coffee that I really enjoy. For a while I was using Heidi's suggestion of stirring a teaspoon of Nutella into my coffee...yum! But now I'm trying to just do that on the weekends...it was getting addictive! :)

Anyway, this recipe appealed to me because I really make an effort to avoid too much processed food, and/or food with ingredients that I can't pronounce, especially when pregnant. The ingredients for this are milk + milk + flavoring. I can't decide if it is actually cheaper than Coffeemate?? It seems like it is but I'm not sure.



You use 1 can of condensed milk, then re-fill that can with regular milk (whole or skim or whatever), and then add 2 teaspoons of flavoring. I've been using 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of almond extract. Mix it all together and then shake the you-know-what out of it. Everything fits in a quart-sized jar, although I'm hoping to find something that pours a little better as this method drips and leaves a sticky circle in my fridge.

I think it tastes really good. Maybe not exactly like Coffeemate, but I like it. And its easy!

We're Ready!

I had my 35-week ultrasound on Monday afternoon. I have been feeling great, so it was a bit of a shock when the doctor told me that I'm 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. She said that there is no telling when the baby will come, it could be days or it could be weeks, and that ideally the baby will wait until 37 weeks, which is considered full term. She said she seriously doubts I will make it much past that, especially since M&R were both born at 37 weeks, and third babies come faster. If I go into labor before 37 weeks they won't try to stop it since the baby is fully developed at this point and is just growing. So we are hoping and praying that he will stay put a little longer, but if he doesn't, we are ready for him...

He has a place to ride. The car seat has been disassembled, washed and reassembled.


He has clothes to wear. The "going home" outfit that both of his big brothers wore home from the hospital has been washed and pressed.


He has a place to sleep. The crib is ready!

Valentine Fail

Valentine's Day is not my favorite holiday...I'm not anti-love, but I don't enjoy going out to eat in crowded restaurants and I don't like stuffed animals or balloons. I love chocolate, but I like to eat it all year. :) And I love flowers, but I don't prefer the standard V-day long stemmed red roses with baby's breath (although I did receive that very type of arrangement this year and enjoyed it).

So we usually keep Valentine's Day low-key but we find a way to celebrate. This year I enjoyed going to both Mason's and Roper's pre-school Valentine's parties. I didn't get a picture of the Valentines I made for their classmates, but this was the inspiration (from pinterest, of course):

Source: familyfun.go.com via Brantley on Pinterest

I found a 6 lb bag of gummy bears at Sam's for less than $6...I think we'll be eating gummy bears for a while!

On Valentine's Day morning, Mason and Roper came running in our room with a card from the two of them, and Graem had one for me too. They were really sweet and now a week later Mason is still reminding me that I'm his Valentine (love it!).

Graem is really good about sending me flowers at random, unexpected times throughout the year...he knows how much I enjoy them and the florist he uses knows the type of arrangement that I like, with lots of color. So I was surprised when my neighbor delivered a bouquet of red roses + baby's breath. It was so puzzling...first that they were delivered by our neighbor {not a florist}, and second that Graem would have spent money on a bouquet that he knew would not be my taste. Turns out the highschooler that lives next door was selling arrangements of roses as a fundraiser for school, so it was for a good cause and I really enjoyed the roses, especially after I re-arranged them. :)

We didn't make plans to go out for dinner, but we had a nice lunch at the Mediterranean Cafe and we put the boys to bed a little early and had supper in peace & quiet for just the two of us. Graem also surprised me with a gift certificate for a maternity massage, which was amazing, and I surprised him with a new pair of hunting boots.

Here is where the "fail" part comes in...later in the week, Graem was searching for some batteries {the replacing of batteries in our home is never-ending}. We were out, but I had picked some up from Target the weekend before along with some things for the baby's room. Everything was still in the Target bag on the dining room table, I told him to check there. Guess what else he found? His Valentine's Day card, which I had completely forgotten to give him!! Would it be bad if I saved it and gave it to him next year? My grandmother has a habit of not signing cards so that they can be re-used...if Gigi does it then it can't be that bad! :)

The Great Smoky Mountains

For the third year in a row, my mother has planned a long weekend winter girl's trip (plus children). The children enjoyed the last mountain trip {2 years ago} so much that we decided to go back. The highlight of the trip was the train ride on Saturday.

I love this picture of McKendree and Roper on the train ride 2 years ago...so sweet...looking back at baby Ro with his chubby cheeks makes me so happy that before long I will have another precious baby boy!!



Here are some of the pictures from our trip this year...









Mason's favorite movie of all time is the Polar Express, for us it's not just a Christmas movie, we watch it year-round. He loved meeting the conductor that was dressed and mustached like the one from the movie, and he especially enjoyed getting his ticket punched! He kept the ticket in his hand all day.




I also love this picture from two years ago...


...I tried (unsuccessfully) to re-create it:


On our way to the mountains we were due for a bathroom/stretch break when we got to Cherokee, so we decided to take in an Indian show in a random parking lot. I'm glad my mom was with us because I kept thinking that she was going to have to do CPR on this poor Indian! But the children were impressed and got to do some dancing of their own...





Bebe with her grandsons & niece & nephew...


It was a great trip! My mom insists that we will have another trip next year, and by that time we will have added three more children to the group since Kelli, Michelle & I are all pregnant!

Strike a Nerve

I really enjoy most aspects of being pregnant. One thing that I particularly enjoy is the way perfect strangers are so nice and make a point to ask about me and the baby. Most of these interactions with strangers are pleasant, but I've also gotten some really annoying comments with this third pregnancy.

1. "Oh, you're having your third baby, you know you could just keep going like that Dugger family did." Seriously?? I'm having baby #3, not #13 or #23. I think when people make this comment it is their sad attempt at humor. Not funny, people.

2. "Oh, you're having your third boy, that's great because boys are SO MUCH easier than girls." (For the record, this is not a majority statement...there are plenty of people who have responded, "third boy? Oh God bless you.") I know I'm pregnant & irritable & that people are just trying to share words of encouragement...but it annoys me because there is nothing easy about being a parent. And there is certainly nothing easy about having a 4-year-old & a 2-year-old and being pregnant. I'm pretty sure that it won't get any easier when the baby is born. Parenting is H-A-R-D, no matter if you have boys or girls, regardless of whether or not you work, and regardless of whether you have 1 child or 23. I can't think of a single instance when someone has said, "Wow, this parenting thing is so much easier than I ever expected!"

So I just have to remind myself that people are crazy and at times can say the most ridiculous things!

Roper's Catechism & Scripture Memory Review

Is it surprising that teaching Catechism and Scripture Memory work to a 2-year-old is a challenge?? And that it requires massive amounts of patience?? I know it is just a phase...but the distractions were endless...from a picture of Graem, to scissors, to paper, to the sound of his foot kicking the chair, to the dog. Watch and see...and believe it or not, when we went in for the mid-point review, he passed with flying colors!! He climbed up in the chair and {correctly} answered all the questions without flinching.

Excuses, excuses

Actually, I would like to think I have good reasons for being absent from my blog...not just empty excuses. I'm pretty far behind, so here I offer a quick re-cap of what's been going on around here.

I headed down to Charleston a few weeks ago with Tara & Sally for some much-needed girl's time. While there, I picked up an Easter basket for baby D. I thought it was very close to the size of Mason & Roper's baskets, but turns out it is slightly larger. I guess the baby is already getting spoiled. :)



When I was writing out the check to the lady that made the basket, I commented to her that I recognized her name and I was sure she also made the last basket I bought (which would have been Roper's Easter basket). I checked when I got home...puzzling...

Roper's basket...



Duncan's basket...



Moving on...two weekends ago the boys and I headed up to the NC/TN mountains for a long weekend with my mom, aunt, sister-in-law and all the children. That trip deserves a post of its own...pictures to come.

Some of my closest friends were very sweet and generous to host a shower for me & Duncan with a group of my local girlfriends. I felt pretty spoiled to have a shower for my 3rd baby boy...but goodness I got some CUTE things and I'm so thankful to have friends that love my children so much!

In between the trips & partying, I've been doing my best to get the nursery in order. The closet was full of my off-season/non-maternity clothes, which I weeded and re-located. The dresser was full of random stuff which had to be purged, since it is now M&R's dresser. I got distracted inspired by all the cleaning/weeding/purging and tackled our upstairs linen closet, which was an absolute mess. I had seen a suggestion on Pinterest to store sheets in their pillowcases.



Genius! No more searching through the closet for the matching set of sheets and pillowcases! Admittedly, mine don't look as nice and neat as those pictured, since I'm still mastering the art of folding a fitted sheet. So my stacks are a little lumpier, but nonetheless, its a good change and I highly recommend this system!

In the process of cleaning out the nursery closet, dresser, linen closet, my closet (to make room for stuff from the nursery closet), I filled up 9 big trashbags for a LICS donation. That felt good!

This past weekend we made the most progress on baby D's room...but I still have a few finishing touches before it is picture/blog worthy. :)

And here I am at 34+ weeks pregnant, and I keep reminding myself that M&R were both born at 37 weeks, which seems way too soon for Duncan to make his arrival! With all 3 of my pregnancies I have felt like the first half DRAGS and then the second half FLIES by! The clock is ticking...

On the Market

My cousin Kate is now officially on the market! :-) Her debutante ball was last weekend. We had a great time and it was fun to get all dressed up, even in my very pregnant state! Kate looked lovely in her gorgeous white gown.

My brother was her escort. He looked so dapper in tails and white gloves...and he and Kate waltzed during the presentation! I never thought I'd see the day! :-)

We couldn't take pictures during the ceremony, so I snagged one from the photographer's website...


And here is one of me with Kate and Sydney...I honestly had no idea that they were doing their best to bring attention to my belly! :-)



It is so hard to believe my sweet Kate Kate is all grown up. I can remember the day she was born! My mama picked me up from Bell Street Middle School {I was in 6th grade at the time} and we headed straight to the hospital to meet my newest cousin! Needless to say, she makes all of us very proud!