Still Cute...

At least in my humble opinion! :)

The House- Part 1

Here are a few rooms. I just can't tackle blogging the whole house at once. So, consider this my first installment. We are gutting the kitchen in 2 weeks...walls, floors, counters, appliances. You name it, it's getting ripped out. So, I will make sure to get the old ugly kitchen in the next post. It's going to be fun around here. Anyone want to bring me a meal??? :)

This is the back of the house. On the left is the screened in porch, then the longer windows are the play room and our master bedroom is on the right.

LOVE the big, flat, fenced in backyard. I think that I fell in love with the yard before I loved the house. It's just missing a swing set!

The front porch. My parents just gave us money to get rocking chairs for our anniversary. The fun part is that every time we sit out there we meet new neighbors!

The den. When we moved in the walls were white and all the wood was natural like the beams. It was so dark in this room and I hate white walls!! I am so much happier with the built-ins and trim being white. I have been promised a mantle by Christmas! :) The french doors go out into the play room.

Play room

There is still a lot that I need to do in here, but it is just nice to have an area for the toys. The paneling out here was ugly and natural. The paint has really brightened it up.

Back screened in porch that you can walk through from the play room or off the kitchen. The window above the couch is where my kitchen sink is. I love that I can see the backyard from the kitchen. I look forward to the day when I can say, "Boys, go outside!!".

We love sitting out here. We have two ceiling fans, and until recently it has stayed cool enough to be out there anytime. This pregnant lady is looking forward to August being over!

This is all for now. We have been really busy, I just haven't been taking pictures. I am going to work on that! I need to do a Nolan update. He is becoming such a big boy. Until then...

3 years!!

3 years ago today, I made one of the best decisions of my life...to marry Jerel Warren! On one hand, three years doesn't seem very long, and on the other hand, I can't really remember life without him. Since that day, we moved me to SC, adopted Rocky, survived a miscarriage together, totally renovated our 1920's cottage-home, had our first son, moved to our "forever house" (at least in my mind), and are waiting for our second son.

We are celebrating my father-in-law's birthday with him tonight, and celebrating our anniversary this weekend. I will try to document our adventures and post later.

Cousins

Landon, Nolan, Kelsey, & Morgan

Last week my nieces flew in and then my brother & sister in law came over with my nephew to pick them up. It was a really short visit, but I am always so glad when Nolan can see his cousins.

We are about to gut our kitchen and I have been assured over and over that this will all done well before the baby gets here. So, I know that I have to get interior pictures of our house posted before that all begins. That is my goal for next week. Wish me luck! :)

Vacation

This week Jerel is on vacation and we decided to just stick around Greenville. We have been getting things done around the house (I will post inside pictures soon) and enjoying things around town. This morning we went to the zoo. This was my first time to the G'ville zoo and I was impressed. Jerel and I enjoyed the animals and I think that Nolan was most excited to watch to other kids.

The rest of the week we will continue to work on the house (we are about to gut the kitchen...), hang out at the neighborhood pool, Jerel and I are spending the day together on Thursday while Nolan plays with GiGi (Jerel's mom) and attend a fun wedding this weekend. I wish every week was vacation week! :)

Stuff, Stuff, & More Stuff

Nothing too major going on so I will just update you through pictures. Lets face it, you keep coming back for the pictures anyway!! :)

We go downtown every Saturday morning to get breakfast and shop at the farmer's market. If I have said it once, I have said it a million times, we LOVE our downtown! After Nolan had been cooped up in his stroller for hours we finally let him out to play in the fountain. He was soaked, and happy!

On a different Saturday the city brought down vehicles for the kids to climb on. There was a fire truck, city bus, huge tractor, police car, and this was a army hummer. The lines we so long- this is the only one we we had to patience to wait for.

Last week I taught VBS at church. The very thought makes me laugh. After 11 years of college ministry, 9 year olds are not my specialty. Never the less, they really needed teachers and I was available. I had 3rd graders. 11 boys and 5 girls. No one died! :) Nolan, however, loved being in the nursery every morning, which is really making me contemplate one or two days of pre-school for him next year. He is just so stinkin' social!!

Happy 16 months buddy!!

A few days ago I got out all my old Fisher Price toys, cleaned them up, and passed them onto to Nolan. I loved these toys. There is the airport, McDonalds, Sesame Street, farm, and fisher price village. I played with them for hours and hours as a child. Before anyone lectures me, I KNOW that the little people are technically too little for Nolan to play with (says today's current safety codes)- but I figure if my brothers', myself and many cousins all survived them somehow Nolan too will survive. :)

Happy Father's Day!!! This little guy is obsessed with his daddy. When Jerel is around there is no substitute! I can't blame him, he is an amazing dad and husband...I too am fairly obsessed!! :)

Oh Brother!

We found out this week that Nolan is going to have a little brother! I knew the second that the picture came up on the screen that we were having a boy. He was all scrunched up in a ball so we don't have any good profile pictures-the only good pictures we have are the ones that prove he is a boy, and I am just not going to subject you to that!! :)  I have to go back in two weeks to have another U/S because they couldn't measure him. I am carrying so low that the technician had to check to make sure I don't have placenta previa. I don't -he is just WAY down there. We are pretty sure we have a name, but want to sit on it for a few weeks before we publish it. I don't know if it will even take that long, I HATE not having a name for this little guy. 

We are so excited to be having another boy. I just pray that they will be the best of friends. Jerel asked me if I was ready to live in a fraternity house- I reminded him that I grew up in a fraternity house. I have three brothers, Jerel's one sibling is a brother, it just makes sense to have a boy. Maybe we will get a female cat one day. :) 

Below are the latest pictures. I have been really slack lately. Oh well...

Helping dad put together a table. This kid loves to "help" especially where tools are involved.

Fun play date at the water table

Ugh, just cute!! :)