Amber Waves of Grain

Some people refer to themselves as thrill seekers (by the way, I looked this up in the dictionary. Thrill seeker can be one word, hyphenated, or 2 words..... you can't possibly spell it wrong!). I, on the other hand, am a DEAL SEEKER ! Here are some of my favorite finds & deals from the past week.... 1. Sam's Club . On their clearance rack today they had one lonely, jumbo box of diapers-- the exact kind that Keegan wears! I usually buy them there for $38. This 'damaged' box (ie: who sat on it?) was marked down to $25. Then, when the manager helped the cashier with the price override, he gave it to me for $20!! He said he did it on purpose and didn't want any more for it. I saved $18 because some dude sat on the box. As if the diapers aren't going to be tossed around by a 2 year old and get smushed when I bring them home. 2. Garage sale finds . I have been to a few garage sales the last few weekends and have been blessed to find the mother-load of baby girl...

Ok, so yesterday I took Keegan on a walk in our subdivision. Our subdivision has a few mini-trails through woodsy areas. Most of the trails are only about 25 yards long and end in someone's back yard. Nothing real adventurous. But, yesterday I noticed a trail that I had never noticed before. We've lived here for over 7 years and I don't know how we missed it. It looked like a long, decent trail. I waited for Nathan to get home so we could explore it together. Much to our surprise, it was an awesome hiking trail that connects to the park's trails nearby (the back of our subdivision is up against the back of a park). We never knew we had these great hiking trails at our fingertips all these years!! We put Keegan in the backpack carrier and hiked for about 45 minutes (which is all a pregnant lady can take at the end of the day). We are super-excited now that we have this new hiking trail that is a real trail through a very woodsy area; there is even a creek! Here are some ...

Greetings! I don't really have anything new or exciting to share so I'm just going to post some pics from the last week or so. We had the opportunity to go back to the fair, of course. We had corn and cheese nuggets. Yum! Keegan ate his very first-ever fair food, corn! (it was cut off the cob and put in this cup). As you know, he has sensory/texture issues... so eating corn was a BIG deal. Definitely a Kodak moment. Of course, we got home and offered him corn and now he won't eat it. I've also spent some time in the yard. I love our Hibiscus flowers. We received a start from my grandma and they have multiplied and bloomed like crazy over the last few years. I think they are pretty, plus they are a family heirloom! :) Last, but not least.... Nathan has taken up fishing lately. We have a pond behind our house so he doesn't have to go far to get some fishing in. Here are some pics! I think Keegan is teaching Nathan to fish here. :) That's all!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to garage sales and the thrift store to buy my first-ever baby girl clothes! I found a ton of stuff really cheap so I'm pretty excited. Now, I'm starting to work on the nursery. The bedroom that will become a nursery has been used for misc storage over the past 7 years, so I'm in the process of cleaning it out and organizing what's in there. It's crazy how much stuff we've accumulated; most of it is Keegan's baby stuff (outgrown clothes, etc) that just needs sorted and boxed. For the nursery, I am doing sort of a woodsy, vintage-owl theme. I know that description sounds weird, but you have to picture it with me. :) These Pottery Barn pillows are my inspiration for the room (and I splurged and bought both): So, for colors I will pull the browns, pinks, and greens mostly from these pillows. I also bought these sheets for the crib ($19, Pottery Barn): They have little trees and owls on them. I also love how Pottery Barn us...

Yesterday was our ultrasound and we found out that our baby is a GIRL ! I am excited, although I would have been just as excited with the news of another boy too! We had the ultrasound tech write the gender down on paper and put it in a sealed envelope (instead of telling us there in her office). We drove downtown to open it on a special bench.... a bench where Nathan & I talked the night away on one of our first dates, then we got engaged on that same bench months later, then we opened the gender envelope there for Keegan, and did the same with our envelope yesterday. I'm wondering what other life-changing moments we will have on this bench! I look forward to finding some cute girl stuff now!! Have a great weekend!

Hello, readers! So, yesterday was opening day of the State Fair (that's a holiday at our house). Nathan & I usually have church group on Wed nights but it got canceled. My parents were still lined up to babysit though, so we took advantage of the situation and sneaked off to the fair for a hot date night without Keegan! First, we caught the tractor parade (but missed the beginning). I was supposed to be in it again this year (I ride on the back of a friend's tractor & wave), but didn't want to do it while pregnant. Maybe next year! Then, we got Nathan a big Dole whip, pina colada flavor. Then I had to have my sirlion steak on a stick. Nathan had a ribeye sandwich. Then we split the deep fried cookie dough (good) and went to the expo hall for a break. Next, we visited the fair bakery to get Nathan's cream puff (his true love, seriously). Last, but not least, we had to try the deep fried brownie on a stick. I'll give it a 4 out of 5. It was definitely good but...