Merry Christmas

I can't believe Christmas 2010 is over...so sad. I'm contemplating putting away all the ornaments and decorations today, but I just don't want to. I love Christmas!

We had such a wonderful week together here in Charlotte. Of course, no baby yet, but as inpatient as I was last week to have to the baby, I'm glad that he/she held off. It was just so nice to have spent one more Christmas just the two of us. Our Christmas' will never be the same from the point on.

Anyone sentimental like I am? At every holiday I always have these moments of remembering back to where we were last year...what we were doing...who was with us...what was the biggest highlight, etc. Well..I thought I would share a few comparative pictures.

Christmas 2009--Malawi, Africa. So funny that we are sporting strappy dresses and short-sleeves. IT WAS HOT!

Christmas day walk--through the tea plantations on Mt. Mulanje in Malawi. We were lost for like 4 hours trying to find this lagoon...but the views were breath-taking.

the many waterfalls...so pretty!

then..we got caught in this massive rainstorm on our 4 hour walk...ahh, it felt nice after the heat.

my "bestie" and I--so grateful to have experienced Malawi with our dear friends, Kayla and Jonathan.
SO....FAST FORWARD to Christmas 2010...

and here we are--me and McBaby at 39.5 weeks. Ah, no pics of Daniel and I together this year..bummer.

Our day-after-Christmas walk this year was a snowy one...we were so excited to see snow yesterday! It has been 2 years for us since we've seen the white, fluffy stuff.

Here's a picture of Daniel--cleaning off the cars! I love him!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Contemplating HOPE

I was asked to guest blog on our church's blog. Here's the link if you are interested in reading.

Waiting Game

This post is mainly for Judy...the rest of you can enjoy as well. :) Judy, I know you've been wanting to see "after" pictures of our house since our re-do this summer. I've wanted to post pics, but truly I feel like each room has to be PERFECT before posting "after" pictures. I'm realizing, though, that living in a house means that the small projects list is ongoing! So, let's consider this post as the first of many before/after posts on the house.

And so I introduce to you our nursery. Let me just warn you, as I will in each room post of the house, that the "before" pictures are very scary. We bought the house 3 years ago as part of our business and had renters in it every since. It was interesting this summer when we moved back from Malawi and started prepping the house for all the work, that we found this beautiful (enter sarcasm) mural on the wall in our baby's room. We tried to figure it out...but really just chalked it up to weird renters. I'm sure, if left (like we every would), it would lead to crazy nightmares for our little one.

More of the "befores".


And then, after moving in and pouring all our energy and time into the other rooms, the baby's room ended up being the storage room for a few months. Everything we didn't want in the other rooms or didn't know what to do with ended up piled high into the room. We seriously couldn't even walk in at one point. Tell me we're not the only one who has ever done this. :)

Ok...so here are the "after" pictures. There are still some things I want to put on the walls probably after the baby is born so I can add either a boy or girl touch to the room. I made the curtains and bed-skirt myself as well as the origami mobile and framed quote over the changing table. I love the rocking chair that I got for $100...I'm not a huge fan of slipcovers only because of all the wrinkles and tucks...but, you know, some things you just have to deal with for a higher comfort level.


The last picture is just a boring pic of the side of the room with the closet. I do love the antique armoire that we have tucked into the corner nook. I was going to get rid of it this summer, but glad I decided to keep it for storage. One thing about an older, small house in the city..storage is limited. I also love the bassinet that our friend is letting us borrow for a few months..so cute. Right now the bassinet is holding the car-seat. The bins to the right are Christmas bins, just hanging out for a few more weeks until we pack away the tree and decorations.

Well...that's it for the nursery tour. Hope you liked it. Stay tuned for other after posts. McBaby and I are at 38 weeks now...so now we wait.

Decision Made

Back to baby news...it seems that is where my mind is every minute these days...oh, wait, not as much today since we've had car drama! Ah, there is never a perfect time for car problems. Thankfully we seem to have found a great deal on a Honda Pilot that we are going to check out tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Ok..so I'm here to tell you that I have finally made a decision on curtain fabric for the nursery. After too many conversations, holding up fabric swatches, scouring fabric sites, looking for the best deal, indecisive moments, phone calls to my mom...ah, I finally decided and ordered the yardage that I needed. I forced myself to make a decision on Cyber Monday when I found some great deals and sale sites.

So...drum roll please...


Michael Miller is the designer...and I just love his prints, colors, fabric! I wasn't even going for a "theme" in this room...I just knew that I wanted more of a yellow/gray room so that it could go either way for a girl or boy. But, after seeing this fabric and already having a few giraffe items from Africa...I decided that this was it. I love the contemporary design and colors..and love that I can incorporate some African items in the room...since that is where McBaby's journey started. I hope he/she loves it.

World AIDS Day 2010

I've been thinking about Malawi all day today! (Not that it is ever far from my mind!) But there are so many that we met that were/are affected by the HIV/AIDS disease. Equitas, one of our favorite non-profits, asked me to be a guest blogger on their site. Here is the link to check out...it is a short, concise blog post..but one that brings hope and love in the midst of this awful and dark disease.

Read my post HERE!