When It Rains Everyday

It has rained almost everyday since the first week in July. I'm not complaining. My plants and flower beds have never looked better. We have managed to swim in between storms, and on Sunday, we swam in the rain. It has also been the coolest summer of my life, which is fortunate since I'm 8 months pregnant. 

Millie wanted to play outside during one rain storm, and I didn't try to stop her. 

Warning: there are a lot of pictures below. I also played with some of the different editing options on Picasa. Please tell me if you like one type better than the other, or if some (or all) of them look bad. There are also some repeats because I couldn't decide which look I liked better. 

Millie stripped through this photo shoot. When her clothes got wet, she wanted them off. When her diaper got wet, she wanted it off. I stopped photographing shortly after that. 

I was just about to post this with a side note that today was the first rain-free day. Then I looked outside, and it was raining.

God Our Father

Before enjoying a delicious piece of cheese toast, Millie asked to say Amen (her way of saying she wants to pray). I think this is similar to the blessing they say at school.

"God our Father, God our Father, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. God our Father, Amen!"

Kitchen Updates

Back in February and March we fixed up our kitchen and laundry room. We got rid of the popcorn ceilings, painted the walls, and built a larger pantry.

These pictures are from back in December.

The coats and bags were getting on my nerves. I needed somewhere to put them.

One of the first things I wanted done during our renovating process was something like this (minus the green striped door).

from Hi Sugarplum

or this...

found here

Nick woke up Saturday morning with nothing on his project list. So I convinced him to build us a place to put our coats and bags. 

BEFORE

 AFTER

We went from this in March...

to this...

 and finally to this...

All of our stuff had been piling up in this kitchen chair. Not only was this chair preventing the laundry room door from shutting, it was also tempting to nosy toddlers. Also notice the swaddled baby on the washing machine. Millie had given her a bath in the sink, and she needed to dry off. I was waiting on the dryer to finish so I could throw her in. It wasn't a waterproof baby doll.

I love having a place to hang bags and coats (in the winter) instead of piling them in spaces we need to eat or sit.

Also, we finally changed out our kitchen chandelier. I have never liked this chandelier.

I didn't want to replace it until we fixed up the rest of our kitchen. The glass top of the chandelier created a lot of shadows, and the light in the middle didn't work. Actually, the bulb would never come out, so we never replaced it.

 Through a local Facebook group I bought this new brushed nickle chandelier.

It gives out much more light with no shadows. We will eventually change out all the hardware on the cabinets to match.

Even though it had old wiring, Nick was still able to install it himself. He did it with no trouble, except for my indecisiveness about the height of the light.

I think we are done working on the kitchen until after brother arrives. It may even be into next year.

Things left to upgrade: 

new dishwasher

pull out old double ovens and replace with cabinets

lay tile around oven

replace hardware

paint cabinets

inserts in can lights

4th of July

We had a very laid back 4th of July. It rained all day. We didn't have plans to go any where or invite any one over. Nick even went into work this morning for a few hours so that he could be off tomorrow.

Mil and I played inside all morning. She also got her first mani-pedi. She looks like such a big girl with painted nails. 

I tried so hard to get a good picture of Mil in her only red, white, and blue outfit. I know the picture below is  black and white, but the lighting inside wasn't very good this morning.

 We finally went outside about 5 o'clock.

We did go outside one other time. The three of us went to Lowe's mid day to get things like light bulbs, stain for a dresser, and outlet covers. Exciting stuff. 

 We also took naps and watched movies this afternoon. 

It felt great outside tonight. We sat outside for a while and talked about how much we have enjoyed our day of doing nothing. We actually enjoyed a rainy 4th. We also couldn't believe that today is only Thursday. Nick will be off tomorrow, so we still have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to relax and do fun chores like finish getting brother's room ready. It is also supposed to be a 60%-90% chance of rain all weekend. 

 Nick grilled some BBQ chicken and corn. It was delicious.

In true 4th of July fashion, we had dinner on paper plates.  We didn't want to ruin our lazy day by doing a bunch of dishes. 

Then we enjoyed some apple pie. This is Nick's favorite dessert, and I haven't made it since last 4th of July.Click here for recipe.

I told him I would try to make it more often. I also said that if I made it more often, then I would probably end up eating more of it than him. He agreed. My sweet tooth is out of control. Thankfully I passed my three hour glucose test.

 Today I am 32 weeks.

 Brother will be delivered at 39 weeks exactly, so only 7 weeks to go!

Thank you to all who have fought for this country and my freedom. Thank you Lord for my precious family and a wonderful relaxing holiday.