I Heart Faces - Pets

I haven't been great at blogging but I wanted to enter this contest at I Heart Faces - it looked like fun! I hope this will encourage me to keep blogging in the future!

This is a picture of Windsor taking a leisurely stroll... such a handsome dog!

Project Janie: Week One

I am back! And I have officially started a new photo project which I think is pretty self-explanatory. I'm posting week one for now, and week two will be up shortly! Hope you all enjoy :)

(You should be able to click on each picture to see the words but some of them aren't working... I'm not sure why!)

Nursery Pictures!!!!!!

Well we have had a busy few weeks! Between renovating our 2nd and 3rd floors, teaching music class for our church's VBS, and hosting a child from New York City for two weeks, we've barely had time to do anything else! The blog has unfortunately fallen to the wayside as all of this has been happening but I'm back today with nursery pictures!

I feel like we are completely ready for this baby to come - a good thing since I've been having more and more contractions lately. Everything is pretty much in its place, and we have everything we could possibly need for a newborn. I have one more load of baby things to wash and then everything will be perfect!

First we have my little nursing area. I love it here. I have already started to come in here and sit and think about the baby who is about to join us. I am so looking forward to the time I will spend here with Janie or Charlie, feeding and bonding with him or her.

Dresser from IKEA - I never thought we'd need this much space but it's already filled with clothes!

Changing table and dresser from IKEA - I love how simple and nice it all looks together.

Crib and canopy from IKEA - I love love LOVE this canopy so much!

Jason put Wilson's bed right next to the baby's crib, and he's already started sleeping there occasionally. It's so cute!

Adorable mobile from IKEA!

Light fixture from IKEA - it doesn't usually look this yellow and weird.

I love this shelf of stuffed animals for some reason... maybe it makes me think of my days of collecting stuffed animals. These are all SO SOFT!

Bookshelf with lots of books and a big gator on top!

More places for organization. We don't even have enough stuff to fill all the storage space up yet.

Baby swing in the landing. I got this at a consignment sale, and I love it!

Pack and play downstairs for changing diapers and hanging out!

Connor's birthday!

We are blessed to be able to babysit for our little friends Connor and Fiona on Thursdays this summer. We love hanging out with them, and we are looking forward to lots of exciting adventures on our Thursday together! Last Saturday, we were invited to Connor's birthday party which was quite the honor. We had a great time watching the kids have lots of fun and sitting and talking with the adults that were there. I love these pictures of Connor opening his card and gift from us, plus seeing his cake. Unfortunately, my camera died after the last picture so I had to stop taking them. But I love love love his laughter when he opened our card. It sang a funny little song, and I guess he liked it as much as we did!

Jessie girl

We babysat for Jason's parents dog, Jessie, for a few days last week, and we had such a good time with her. Jessie and Wilson get along so well - they're just right for each other. She has lots and lots of energy and adores Wilson. She loves to give him kisses and play with him. She also is the cuddliest dog I have ever met in my life! If you are petting or holding her, she will scoot closer and closer and closer to you until there is nowhere else for her to go. She literally cannot get close enough to us. She took to sleeping in our bed for the days she was with us, and the same thing happened in there. She just couldn't get close enough! For some reason she knew not to climb on me, but Jason was not so lucky! If he turned over on his stomach, she would crawl on top of him with her arms and legs wrapped around him. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. It's nice to be SO loved and to see a dog show that much affection. Here's a picture of Jason and Jessie watching TV - I had to get it because it was so typical of what went on the whole time she was with us.

Happy baby to me!

My baby shower was so much fun! It was hosted by the ladies in my small group, as well as my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. They were all so thoughtful and generous, and I had a wonderful time! I hope that everyone else did as well!

Some of our good friends - Sarah, Molly, and Kate are sisters, and they are all sweet and funny girls!

My mom posing with her "Grandma Holz" photo album. She was being silly about the word "Grandma" - she's not quite ready for it yet... any suggestions for other names for her?

Our small group - Sue, Shari, Lori, me, and Michelle. We're only missing Jayne!

Peggy is the other host mom for foreign exchange students that we got to know this year.

A lot of lovely ladies - Linda, Ellie, Kris, Elaine, Heather, and Tammie. Linda and Ellie are both ladies who do EVERYTHING at church, Kris and I spend lots of time together each week while her girls have piano lessons with Jason, Elaine used to sing in the choir with us, and Heather and Tammie both teach kindergarten in our district! Heather and Jason work at the same school.

Another bunch of wonderful women - Marilyn, Peggy, Joan, Karen, Jean, Tracey, and Flossie. Marilyn, Peggy, Joan, and Jean all sing in the choir, Tracey is our pastor's wife, and Flossie is... just Flossie. I could write a few blog posts about her all on her own, but Flossie is the person who went out of her way to introduce Jason to our town when he first moved here. She is known for her hospitality in our church.

The ding-a-lings! Jason and I ring in the handbell choir with all of these fun ladies - Gladys, Vicky, Colleen, and Joyce.

This was my table, but I forgot to get in the picture - my sister-in-law Julie, our friends Sarah and Kate, my mom Ann, and Jason's mom Norma.

Opening gifts.

Jason came for the last half of the festivities, but the rest of the pictures didn't turn out so well, so this was the best I could do :)

I had SUCH A GREAT TIME! Thank you to everyone who was there!

My mom came to visit!!!!

A few weeks ago, my mom came up to visit for the weekend. She came up to be able to go to my baby shower, but I was just so glad to see her and be able to spend a few days talking, hanging out, and eating lots of ice cream! I miss her so much, and it was JUST what I needed.

Her flight came in very late on Thursday night, and we had such fun picking her up and driving through McDonald's for dinner at 1 AM.

The next morning, we all slept in and then walked around downtown and to the park for a little while.

We also went to one of the local farms and Mom admired their tomato plants because hers aren't working out quite as well.

Later that night, we went out to dinner with Jason's parents and then drove out to a huge park we have nearby for a walk around the lake. It was lovely and peaceful - until it started pouring rain. We all hid under a tree while Jason ran a very long way to get our car. He's a saint :)

The next day, we went to my baby shower and then sat on the couch for the rest of the night watching Alice in Wonderland and eating leftover shower food.

The visit seemed so short but I am grateful for every minute of it. I can't wait to see Mom again when she comes for the baby's birthday!!