Our Little Home

Virginia's Nursery!

2012-01-25T13:57:00.002-06:00

Miss Virginia's nursery is finally ready to go!

It's so funny to think back on our plan for the nursery...

We wanted to do something super neutral -- whites, creams, khakis -- since

a) our whole house is very neutral

and

b) we wanted to be able to use the same crib bedding for future children, whether girls OR boys.

This was my inspiration....

Well, baby boy Little, if you ever come along, you will NOT want Virginia's nursery hand-me-downs! I think our plans went awry when it came time to choose the bedding fabric and Josh decided that his little girl just needed some pink. I will say that it is called "ballet pink", which is not exactly peach, but definitely not bubble gum pink.

Virginia -- Welcome home! I hope your room is

pink enough,

frilly enough,

and sparkly enough!

Some of my baby booties and a picture of Mawmaw holding Mom (Bebe)

Now all we need is our sweet Virginia!!!

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And, just in case you haven't seen enough belly pictures, here I am at 37 weeks -- full term!!

Fake Belly vs. Real Belly

2012-01-25T12:13:00.000-06:00

Lizzie and I went shopping for a few maternity things when I was pretty early in my pregnancy. (Can't remember when, but still not really showing.) We had fun with the "fake belly" in the dressing room. Last week, Lizzie sent me a picture she took on her phone of me donning the belly and a shirt that I bought. I thought it'd be fun to see me with the fake belly vs. the real belly! This real belly pic is at 36 weeks.

Now I'm thinking I like my hair better 2 inches longer and rolled! :) Isn't the grass always greener?!

Most Perfect Baby Shower Ever!

2012-01-25T11:45:00.000-06:00

Let me begin this post by saying that I have the most wonderful, talented friends in the whole world! I knew that with the crew involved in hosting this baby shower, it would be fantastic... but, boy, was I blown away when I walked into the Pitners' house that day!! I hope my friends Lizzie and Laura will not mind me stealing their pictures for this post! (I sat my camera bag out to take to the shower, then realized as I was walking out the door that it was Lizzie's and didn't have time to find mine. The intentions were there.)

I was beyond amazed at how many people traveled a good distance to be there for this celebration -- my cousin Rebecca drove from Auburn with her own baby girl, my long lost friend Katie came from Nashville, my sister came from Mobile, and aunts and mothers came from Florence. There was such a great mixture of folks that I have been close with over the years, some new friends and some old. I love seeing the interactions of people who don't know each other... neighbors with childhood friends, aunts with high school friends... Seeing the smiles on everyone's faces and talking with all those present was a reminder of how loved this Little girl will be (and already is). I cannot WAIT for everyone to meet Virginia!

We got pretty stocked up on some very, very nice gifts at this shower as well. Tons of cute duds for Miss V, an A.W.E.S.O.M.E. stroller that deserves its own post, diapers, etc, etc, etc. I have spent my days since then washing clothes, organizing drawers, and trying to figure out how we are going to fit this little girl's things in our house!

Little Family Christmas

2012-01-19T11:58:00.002-06:00

I'm just now uploading pictures from the the second half of Christmas break. I need to get all caught up before Virginia arrives!

Here are a few photos of

Christmas at Mummi and Doc's lake house:

Doc with Henry in his adorable new cap from Mummi

Kate got a waitress uniform... She had so much fun with it!

Love those eyes

Little men love football. This was before their 2-on-2 football game in the rain.

(Josh is in his Julio Jones jersey from Bebe... definitely his favorite gift this year.)

The jersey had to come off... He did NOT want it to get dirty!

Laura has more pics here. We had a great time and Santa sure did well!!

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We rested a few days after Christmas and then Josh and I headed North to Springfield, IL to visit Josh's extended family with Benjamin, Laura, Kate, and Henry. This was my first trip up there, and I had such a wonderful time. I love Nannie and Poppie and all of Josh's aunts, uncles, and cousins, and we just don't get to spend NEAR enough time with them! Hopefully they'll all get to meet baby Virginia soon!

As you can imagine, Kate was the entertainment of the trip!

Nannie, Henry, and Emma

I'm not really sure why I was supposed to touch Lincoln's nose? Everyone has pictures doing this, so it was my time. It was coooold, windy, and rainy that day. Good thing we were nice and full from some delectable, hot Horseshoes from D'Arcy's Pint. In case you are new to Horseshoes, as was I, they are open-faced sandwiches made up of Texas toast, covered in some sort of meat, covered in fries, covered in cheese sauce.. And I got a chili cheeseburger horseshoe. (Think: toast - hamburger patty - chili - fries - cheese sauce.) Yeah, there is a reason why I gained 5 pounds in 2 weeks over Christmas break...

Poppie with always-happy Henry

We went to visit some of Nannie's sisters - Ag, Fran, and Ceil. I loved getting to meet them! They got a kick out of Kate singing every word of "A Whole New World" (from Aladdin). She was definitely a hoot over there!

Aunt Ag

Nannie with Fran and Ceil

Our last night in Springfield, we went to Dave's house where he treated the whole gang to a yummy dinner. Here are Nannie and Poppie with some of their grandchildren (and great-grands). They're just missing Christopher, Jonathan, and Sarabeth.

While in Illinois, we also drove over to the little community of Bluffs, IL to see where Doc grew up. Kate was so excited on the drive over that we were going to see Doc's old house. When we found the house, we drove really slow, soaked it up, and then continued driving down the road. I looked over at Kate and her bottom lip just started poking out further and further until she started bawling -- She thought we were going to go inside Doc's house! Oh it was so heartbreaking!! We ended up circling back around to let Kate get her picture made in front of the house.. I think that cheered her up.

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Okay - I've officially posted all of my Christmas pictures, so now I'll get started with 2012!

Sweet Words

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

While worshipping our God last Sunday, we sang the song "Because He Lives". This song has been special to Josh for many years because it was his Grandpa's favorite song. It has, therefore, been special to me as well and sometimes it's hard to make it through the song without getting a little teary. I guess it had been a while since I've sung the song, because this Sunday it reached a new level for me when I ~~sang~~ teared up and just listened to this verse...

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How sweet to hold a newborn baby,

And feel the pride and joy he gives;

But greater still, the calm assurance:

This child can face uncertain days because He lives!

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Talk about a tear-jerker! What more could I want for my baby Virginia?!

Congratulations to our Best Buds!!

2012-01-04T19:30:00.000-06:00

It's official -- these two are getting hitched!

We had a Christmas Extravaganza weekend with Jason and Meagan before heading north for the break, and it was tons of fun! (Especially because it had been forever since we had gotten to spend good time with them.... booo Med School and PT school!!) On Friday night, after eating a delicious meal prepared by Meag, we drove around to look at Christmas lights and stumbled upon this beautiful tree in Mountain Brook Village. We stopped for some photo opps...

31 Weeks

Jason had not yet popped the question on this night (that happened 1 week later), but he pretended like he was about to propose in front of that tree! I was SO mad because I knew it was coming soon, so I thought that it was the real deal!!

We are so excited for our friends and are looking forward to the fun times that will be had in this coming year! (Sidenote: I can't believe that we are going to have a BABY with us at their wedding!!)

Birthday Dinner

2012-01-04T14:34:00.003-06:00

I had a wonderful birthday dinner with my family at Turtle Point over Christmas break. Josh and I got married at TP, so we love going there when we're in Florence and reminiscing about that wonderful day. Not to mention the food is pretty good!

How cute are they?!

32 Weeks... 8 to go!

And for some reason I don't have any pictures of Hailey from that night, but she was there, too! (Mom's camera was doing most of the snapping.)

Christmas at the Little Residence

2011-12-25T17:17:00.000-06:00

I love having a husband who loves Christmas as much as I do!

He insisted on putting lights in the bushes this year...

(and even put them up a second time because he wasn't pleased with his method the first go-round)

We put our real tree in the sunroom. It smells so nice every time we walk through the door...

I made this ruffled linen tree skirt following this tutorial...

We stuck our corner tree and the secretary that's longing for a home in the spot where our buffet used to be...

And I decided to wrap my gifts in sheet music and craft paper this year because I try to be like Miss Mustard Seed in every way possible (see blog list)...

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care...

And Buck Randall is even getting into the Christmas spirit...

(So is Jason...)

***Clarification: I was just showing Doc this post and he thought that was me cuddled up with Jason... That would actually be Meagan :)

More Christmas to come!

A few Thanksgiving pictures

2011-12-08T14:00:00.000-06:00

I only have pictures from one of our three Thanksgivings this year.

Here is the Brewer clan. I love this crazy family!! It was hard to get all 19 of us smiling simultaneously at seven different cameras, so this is the picture that I ended up with on my camera. Mom will probably kill me... but I thought it was cute! It looks like she's tickling Aunt Sharon, haha!

I also think it's funny that you can see how I dropped food and it landed on my belly, staining my shirt! I guess I need to start wearing a large bib.

Always the life of the party... until it's time for bed. Then you better get out of his way, hammerhead!

Dad (Pop), Davis, and Joshua

This is what we got the first time we asked them to pose for a picture....

Can't wait for family Christmas festivities to begin!!

30 weeks!

2011-12-07T14:58:00.000-06:00

I CANNOT BELIEVE there are only ~10 weeks to go! Where has the time gone? It seems like I hear a new story every day of someone who has delivered 2 or 3 weeks early (or even earlier), so I'm trying to get all of my ducks in a row before Christmas. I was the girl who literally had all of her stuff packed for college and in the garage two months before classes started my freshman year, so, Yeah, you better believe that I am going to be as prepared as possible for my sweet baby to get here!

At the 30 week appointment today:

-My weight gain is up to 18 pounds from pre-pregnancy until now
-I'm measuring at 29 weeks, which she said is great and probably means that I'm not going to have a 9 pound baby... Hip hip hooray!
-I got a shot of Rhogam (My blood type is O-negative and Josh's is A-positive, so this will prevent my body from fighting off V's blood if it is positive. Sounds kind of strange/scary to me, but it's really no big deal. As long as I have that shot, V and I are good to go.)
-My blood pressure is still good... 110/60
-Virginia's heart rate was 137

From now on, I'll be going to the doc every two weeks instead of four. One more appointment until Christmas!

Sweet Virginia -- keep growing and kicking! Not too much longer until I get to hold you in my arms!!

29 weeks

Decorating our tree in Christmas PJs :)

30 weeks

Stay tuned for posts about... Thanksgiving, my baby shower, and Christmas decorations!

Finally, an update!

2011-11-28T15:14:00.000-06:00

Blogger finally decided to recognize new pictures in my iPhoto! Yipee!

So here's a recap of what's happened since I last blogged...

23 weeks:

Josh and I soaked up all things FALL... which means I made some candied apples...

The CRIB came in!!
I got a call from Storkland on a Friday at 2:00 with news that our crib was in and was at the warehouse in downtown Birmingham. Josh and I were planning on heading up to Florence when he left work that day, but I knew that he would NOT leave town until the crib was put together in Virginia's room. I called him at work to tell him that he could pick it up after he left for the day, and he said "I'm going to leave right now!" Meanwhile, Storkland called me back and said, "Bad news, there's a Veterans Day parade going on downtown and the guys at the warehouse said there's no way to get a vehicle through all of that mess." To that, I just responded, "Okay, we'll still try and if we can't get it today, we'll get it next week." What I was thinking was, "You don't know my husband... he will carry the crib 20 blocks to his car if he has to, but he WILL be picking it up today!" When he gets something in his mind, he will stop at nothing to get it done! By about 3:00, he arrived home, came inside to tell me that he couldn't get the crib after all, I said "yeah right", and he got our neighbor to help him bring it inside. :) He is going to be such a great daddy!

We also just happened to get the beautiful crib bedding in that day, so it is all set up and just waiting on baby Virginia! (Well, and a mattress!)

Pictures to come.... I'd like to hang some art on the wall before I "reveal" the crib & bedding!

That night... happy as a lark... 26 weeks:

On the Friday before Thanksgiving, Josh and I hosted our second annual Homewood Thanksgiving with some friends that live in Birmingham. We had a wonderful, wonderful time and had some pretty yummy food, too! We had to rearrange some furniture to have enough seating, but we actually discovered that we like the buffet better in the dining room. Now we're searching for something to take it's old spot!

(Sorry, Mom, I didn't have time to iron the tablecloth and napkins.)

(If I had only discovered Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint when I painted the china cabinet... I'm feeling a new project coming on after V arrives!)

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Praline Topping and Pecan Pie-Glazed Pecans. Mmmm.

Buck Randall was kind enough to join us for the party. I wonder how many people out there think this is extremely disturbing??

Love using our china. (Don't look too closely at the placement of the utensils ((Faith!!))... I don't know proper etiquette on that and I didn't have time to look it up... plus, I didn't think my guests would care too much!)

Funny, I got pictures of china, food, and a deer but didn't take a single picture of the guests. Probably because Josh was snapping pictures for me before everyone arrived. I'll try to remember to take people pics next year.

Then, we arrived at 28 weeks...

No, I did not put a basketball under my shirt!

I'll be adding some Thanksgiving with family pictures soon, as well as pictures from my baby shower that is this coming Saturday! I am extremely excited and so blessed to have friends and family that are so generous to have a party for Miss Virginia and me!

And speaking of Virginia... everything seems to be A-okay still! She's just continuing her dance parties in my belly and is obviously growing rapidly! :) I believe she weighs about 2 1/2 pounds now. And me... well at my last appointment (26 weeks) I had gained 17 pounds! Although I think that several of those pounds were my cowboy boots. I also weighed a few days after that appointment on Mummi and Doc's fancy scale and it was 6 or 7 pounds less than the reading at the doctor's office. So who knows! I am still feeling GREAT and, other than my back hurting at the end of the day and having a hard time leaning forwards to pick up things, I don't feel any different than pre-pregnancy Bonnie. Josh has been so sweet to rub my back every day when we get home from work and he graciously takes off my cowboy boots for me because it is too hard for me now! haha!

My next appointment is December 7th, and after that, I'll start going every 2 weeks instead of 4. Time is flying by! We can't wait to meet our sweet little girl!!

Fun Purchase!

2011-10-26T11:15:00.002-05:00

Well friends, Josh and I just got a new MacBook and I'm super excited about it! Unfortunately, I am having trouble posting pictures from iPhoto onto my blog. It's extremely frustrating to be computer illiterate. :( (If anyone knows how to help... this is the problem: When I try to insert images from my computer, the pictures that I've been uploading and that ARE in iPhoto don't show up to be selected. The ones that I uploaded a couple weeks ago are there, but not those from the past week or so. What to do????)

Until I figure that out, here is a little happy for the day... my fun purchase:

(You thought I was talking about the MacBook, didn't you? That's fun, too, but the thought of this hanging on our mantle every year, stuffed with goodies from Santa, for who-knows-how-long makes me SO HAPPY!)

Josh and I got these stockings last year for ourselves, so when I got an email yesterday from Pottery Barn with "Christmas Stockings" in the subject line, we were ecstatic to order Virginia's stocking asap! I think the little curvy-toe ones are so cute, but it wouldn't be quite fair for Mom and Dad's stockings to be bigger than Virginia's, now would it? These stockings are very inexpensive from PB (there's a shocker!), with free monogramming and free shipping going on right now... just $17 to have this lovely treat mailed to our house donning our little girl's sweet name! Maybe I should go ahead and order more for all of the other children I hope to have someday? Okay, okay, bad idea! But on that note -- PB has these same stockings every year, so if the day comes that we need more, they'll be ready!

My Christmas decorations might be coming out on November 1st this year!

Virginia at 22 Weeks

2011-10-10T17:34:00.001-05:00

I forgot to mention in the last post that Virginia is just kicking up a storm these days! The first time I felt her kick was at 18 weeks (I think) and Josh got to feel the kicks that day, too. Since then, Aunt Katie, "Uncle Jason", and "Aunt Meagan" have also gotten to feel her kick. I am bursting with joy and thankfulness knowing that we have so many friends and family who are as excited about this sweet babe as we are! Virginia is going to be one LOVED child!! Speaking of her kicking, she must prefer for her momma to have a totally empty bladder because I often feel as if she is just poking my bladder and saying, "Go to the bathroom! Now, now, now!!" And she usually gets her way... hopefully this isn't a sign of what's to come!

According to BabyCenter, Miss Virginia is 11 inches and almost 1 pound this week. I have an appointment on Wednesday... I'm pretty sure I've gained a good bit of weight, so we'll see. I feel like I still look the same but with a huge GUT! haha. We are going to have another ultrasound at the appointment. Hopefully things will look great and Virginia will be as healthy as can be.

I'm looking forward to hopefully getting some work done on the nursery this week! Hip hip hooray! We have purchased the crib, but it won't be here until the end of November. We've also picked out the crib bedding (ordering from a lady I found on Etsy) and I am going to order it this week. I can't wait to see everything put together!! I'll post updates as they come along!

In other news - Josh and I had a great day Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Josh got to sit in a box with my dad (lucky ducks) and Doc and Mummi were so generous to buy me a ticket to the game, so I sat with them and Benjamin. Jonathan and Katie drove down for the weekend from Lexington, so we got to spend some time with them. When Jonathan saw me he said, "You look pregnant!" We teased him about it a little bit but, really, I loved hearing it! I want to look pregnant and not just like I've put on a few pounds around the middle. So LJ - thank you! :)

We'll take a 22-week belly pic as soon as I decide to shower and look halfway decent. Maybe I'll post sometime soon. No guarantees with me! :)

LOTS of Catching Up...

2011-09-26T15:15:00.000-05:00

1. If you are one of the 5 people who read my blog then you know already that baby Little is a GIRL! We couldn't be more excited to welcome

Virginia Alice Little

into the world in February! Josh and I have always loved the name Virginia, and we really wish it was a family name so that we could say, "Virginia will be named after her great, great, great grandmother". Oh well... maybe we can search the family trees and find a Virginia SOMEwhere. (By the way, some have already said that they will be calling her "Ginnie", which is cute... but just for the record, Josh and I will be calling our daughter "Virginia"!) Alice is the name of one of my wonderful aunts, and is also my great grandmother's name. Poppaw would have been so proud to have another little Alice!! I actually love Alice as a first name, too, but my list of girl names is so long, there's no way I'll be able to use all of them.

2. A few folks have been begging for pregnancy pics. I haven't posted any yet because, for the longest time, there wasn't much to show. Well, that day has come and gone! Virginia decided to begin a major growth spurt and is really poking out now! Here are a few pics...

16 weeks

(can't really see much with this shirt)

18 weeks

(has my derriere grown, too, or is it always that big??)

20 weeks

Hello Virginia!!

3. Josh and I are THRILLED to have a new nephew -- Henry Randall Little -- Benjamin and Laura's beautiful new baby boy!! We love him so much already and can't wait to see him grow up. He and Virginia are going to be best buds! I think that Kate is really going to have fun being the "big kid" in the family. She is so great with Henry and I can't wait to see her with our little one. Here are a few pics from the hospital on the night that Henry was born. (Isn't Mommy Laura looking awesome by the way?? When we got there I said, "Did you JUST take a shower and get ready?!?" Of course it was 9pm and she had been up since 2am and at the hospital by about 4am!)

4. My sweet, sweet girls - Sydney and Elliot - just turned 2!! I can't believe how much they've grown since I've been keeping them. I have been their nanny since they were 3 months old!! Ohhhh, how I am going to miss them once I leave at the beginning of the year. :*( I'm certainly glad that their parents are some of our best buds, though, so I'll still get to see them a lot. I see lots of play dates in our future, too! :)

Here are a couple pictures from their "Very Hungry Caterpillar" birthday party.

5. My classes are going well this semester. They are Tuesday and Thursday nights again, and it is MUCH easier to teach until 9:15 pm during the 2nd trimester than it was during the 1st!! That doesn't mean that I'm not counting down the number of classes until finals, though. :) I have really enjoyed my teaching, and hope to do some adjunct teaching after Virginia comes. We will just have to see if we can work out a good schedule for it.

6. We had fun times with the Brewer clan this past weekend. Believe it or not, our tiny house can sleep seven people! :) We got to visit with Hailey and Liz, which is a treat since they live in Mobile and we don't get to see them often, as well as Mom, Dad, and baby Davis -- err -- Davis. The weekend was filled with football, good food, and enjoying the beautiful weather. Oh, and a certain baby girl was mentioned once or twice. Mom brought down a closetful of clothes for Virginia, old and new, that she had washed in Dreft and spent hours letting out hems and pressing. It's so exciting to think about the little doll that will be filling those adorable outfits soon!! Lizzy was excited to see my belly growing and told me to watch out because I might get stretch marks! haha!! She's excited to meet her little cousin, although she thought she was going to be Virginia's aunt. The family left Sunday afternoon after Mom and Dad cleaned up the WHOLE house! Sweet. It looked better when they left than before they arrived!

7. To finish up our weekend, Josh and I enjoyed a quiet evening by a fire in the chiminea on our back porch. We've decided that every day should end like this -- PJ's, S'mores, and your very best friend...

Our Babe at 10 Weeks

2011-08-01T15:25:00.002-05:00

This post is a couple weeks late but, hey, I've been a little tired lately so let's let it slide! I am 12 weeks now and - good news - I woke up yesterday feeling more like ME! I even laid down to take my Sunday afternoon nap (because even non-pregnant Bon loooves those!), but I couldn't sleep because I wasn't tired at all. I got up, cleaned the basement, did laundry that had been piling up, even did a few crafty projects! Let me tell you - that was a major, major improvement in the way things have been going lately! After church and dinner last night, I even stayed up late with Josh and watched TWO movies!

Okay, now to the good stuff.... Our 10 week appointment was July 21. Everything went as well as could be. I hadn't gained any weight since the 6 week appt (we'll see how long THAT lasts!). I just had lots of blood taken, had an ultrasound, and spoke with the doctor. The ultrasound was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.! As a side note - Josh and I had our two year anniversary dinner the day after our appointment and as we were talking about wonderful memories we've shared since July 18, 2009, we agreed that this ultrasound was the absolute BEST one yet! So before I give the details, here's a picture of our cute little button:

This is what we first saw on the screen. What a cutie! The lady scanning me showed us both legs and both arms (not visible in this pic) and kept saying, "Oooh, your little pumpkin is sleeping!" I didn't think too much about it because I thought that at just about 1 INCH in size, the baby just sort of floated around in that position. Well then she poked around at my stomach with the wand-thing (Laura, I don't know the technical term)... and MUCH to our surprise, that little pumpkin WOKE UP!! It streeeeeettcchhheedd it's little arms and legs and then just went to town kicking around! Oh my goodness, I thought I loved this baby before, but it just stole my heart with that little exercise routine!! I could hear Josh sniffling, but I didn't want to take my eyes off the screen to confirm that there were tears rolling down his face. :) Baby Little's heart rate was 163 bpm this time.... for any that may be trying to predict gender based on heart rate. :)

My next appointment (14 week) is August 18th. The doc said that they'll pretty much just weigh me and listen to the heart rate using Doppler. Maybe I'll have some gender-identifying pictures taken by Laura by the end of the month!!!!!

**This blog needs a major renovation. I think that I'll be emailing Haley Morgan sometime soon for some assistance! If you are not familiar with Blogger... well... it's awful. I can never get the header right or find a background that I just love or get the fonts sized correctly. Haley just did Katie's blog and it looks perfect!! (Maybe I can just use the same one?? :) Just kidding!) I think that if I didn't cringe every time I looked at my blog then I'd be more likely to post.

I finally snagged my dream job!

2011-07-11T11:41:00.003-05:00

This is the time I've been waiting for since... well, since I was a little girl! Josh and I are 9 weeks pregnant and are due February 12th!!! I cannot tell you how happy we are!! When I was little and people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always, "a mom". Not a teacher or a doctor or a movie star (definitely not the last one!). I practiced by taking care of my Bitty Baby and my little brother, Davis. Mom says that I would even brush his hair in the car on the way to school... Poor thing, it's a wonder that he can do anything for himself now. :) I thought my mom was the BEST, and couldn't imagine a better job than hers! After having two wonderful years of marriage with Joshua, I'm so excited to be starting my dream job and adding a Little baby to our family!! We are so thankful to God for this wonderful blessing and pray that we will be great parents to our child.

I'm on the iPad now, so I can't post my 6 week ultrasound picture... Although there's really not much to see but a little round thing that, I am told, is my baby! We DID hear the heartbeat, which was the most heartwarming, amazing little pitter-patter I have ever heard! Someone told me that one way to "predict" your baby's gender is by how fast it's heart beats... Well, it was 153 bpm, which is apparently right in the middle, so Baby Little isn't giving out any hints! My 10 week appointment is Thursday, July 21, so hopefully I'll have a picture with a little more definition then.

Several of our friends are 100% confident that we are going to have a baby boy! I cannot WAIT to find out the gender, which will probably happen around the end of August. I'm lucky to have an ultrasound-takin' sis-in-law who can scan me whenever I make the trip up to Huntsville, so she may be able to tell the gender before my doc appointment! I know that people always say, "I don't care what it is, as long as it's healthy".... But DITT-O! I get so excited thinking about both a girl and a boy, and so does Josh, so we really will be thrilled either way and just pray that we have a very healthy child!

At 9 weeks, I believe the baby is the size of an olive. I'm not showing yet, although when my niece Liz asked to see my belly, she was QUITE convinced that she could tell I had gotten bigger and that I was pregnant..... Haha! Thanks, Liz!! I have purchased a "belly band" to help keep me in my pre-pregnancy pants as long as possible... I'm a little nervous about having to buy a whole. new. wardrobe. Maternity clothes ain't cheap, people! I'm also nervous to see what I look like after gaining 30 pounds, but I guess that's normal. So far during this pregnancy, I feel pretty good. I am just outrageously exhausted ALL the time! I have had the hardest time sleeping, which has never been a problem for me. I'm one of those that falls asleep within 30 seconds and could sleep through anything. Well not anymore folks. This weekend I had the worst headache, which I think was caused by not enough good sleep. Last night, Josh got me some Tylenol PM and I slept so soundly!! I just had to get up once to go to the bathroom. I do not usually take medicine unless I'm super sick, but this was MUCH needed. (And, yes, Tylenol PM is on the list of med's I can take from my doc.). I am thankful that I haven't had any morning sickness because I know that lots of women have a much worse first trimester than mine. Just a few more weeks to go and maybe I'll have a little more energy!

Thanks for reading, and maybe I'll post more often since I have something to talk about besides my attempts at decorating a house! :)

Sunroom

2011-06-11T12:10:00.001-05:00

The sunroom may be my favorite part of our little Little house. It welcomes us home every time we walk through the front door and provides a landing space before walking into the den. I love how the sunlight fills the room making it so bright and cheery, how we can kick off our dirty shoes without flipping out that there's a little stray dirt on the floor, and how no matter how many friends we have over, we always end up squeezing in this little room for fun conversations and laughter.

The rockers were left by the previous homeowners and Mom picked up the settee while antique shopping with my aunts. The rockers didn't have cushions and I wasn't digging the fabric on the settee's cushion, so I scavenged through my sister's fabric stash and decided on this small plaid in the colors found in the rug. To make cushions for the rockers, I bought 4-inch foam from Hobby Lobby and cut it to size. Now for the most difficult reupholstery project you'll ever see.

Cut fabric. Fold under. Safety Pin.

Now - if your name is Beth Brewer then this may not cut it. If your name is Bonnie Brewer Little, then it'll do in a pinch. :) I also made the pillows from fabric in Hailey's stash. The floral one was glue gunned...

Another plus to sitting in the sunroom is gazing across the street at the DOLLHOUSE in which our sweet neighbors live:

C'mon Spring, We're Ready!

2011-03-15T22:29:00.006-05:00

Joshie and I bit the bullet and bought some patio furniture. We just couldn't stand not being able to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having lately, and Old Time Pottery was having a good sale last weekend. We got a really great deal and L.O.V.E. the furniture!

We had a really great weekend spending lots of time outside, working around the yard and eating/relaxing on the new furniture. There were also some not-so-relaxing moments. Like when Josh suggested using this method to climb up on the roof...

Warning: Do NOT try this at home. Please.

If you can't tell, we folded up the ladder, placed it on two folding chairs (Thanks, Laura), and leaned it against the vinyl siding. I stood on the chairs to anchor them while holding onto the ladder. Joshua climbed around me and up the ladder, stood on the top tier (which reads "Do Not Stand or Sit"), and then jumped and hoisted himself onto the roof. Don't worry, getting down was even riskier. Would anyone like to donate a very tall ladder to the Little family??

No bones were broken, and the result of Josh risking his life was worth the result. (Okay, maybe I wouldn't go that far.)

We inherited a large Dish when we moved in. Along with a set of unnecessary black cables cascading down our white house. To add to all of the other lovely cables. Sigh. So what did we do with it?

Yep. It was heavy, and we weren't about to try to bring that thing down our chair-ladder combo, so Josh just threw it off the roof.

Now we need to borrow a ligitimate ladder from our neighbor to pull that cable down. I need to repaint the ones that *must* stay.

Another project of the weekend was this....

...Replacing some rotted trim around the door going out to the back porch. Thanks to an EXTREMELY kind man we know from church, we just had to pay less than 20 buckaroos for materials, and he came over to "help" (a.k.a. do the project while we chatted with him). We are so, so thankful for him!!

This week is spring break for me (no teaching and no nannying), so I'm a busy bee working on some projects indoors and out. Josh's busy season is somewhat winding down since his big deadline was March 15th, the corporate deadline. It has just been a wonderful week so far! We had a treat last night because Josh's brother, Benjamin, stayed with us... he was in town for CLE courses. The Pitners came over with the girls, who were great, and we ate Barbeque Shrimp and Grits with Smoked Gouda Grits (YUM-O), sat and talked in the sunroom while listening to the rain, and finished off the wonderful evening with some Key Lime Pie (Double YUM-O). I love spending time with our friends and family!!

If you need a treat (who doesn't?), then make some Key Lime Pie for yourself this week. You don't even have to tell anyone, that way you can eat it all yourself. Only kidding.. that's terrible.... who would even think of doing such a thing.......... (And please make homemade whipped cream to put on top. Then zest a lime and sprinkle on the whipped cream, because it tastes better when it looks pretty.)

(Recipe from Erin Ratliff's blog)

CSA

2011-03-03T21:15:00.002-06:00

Do y'all know about CSA? Community Supported Agriculture. Oh man. Let me tell you, it is just absolutely wonderful! If you haven't heard about it, it is a program for which you sign up to receive weekly deliveries of locally grown, organic produce. My CSA is Grow Alabama. They make deliveries from Huntsville down to Mobile, so chances are, unless you're in Florence :( , there is a delivery spot near you! You can either have your veg box delivered to your door step for an extra fee, or there are drop off locations around town where you can go pick up your box. Mine is delivered to The Garden Shop just down the road and I pick it up on my way home from work on Wednesdays. For $20 a week, Josh and I have beautiful, seasonal vegetables to last us until the next delivery. At first, Josh thought $80 a month sounded expensive, but ever since we've been getting all of these veggies, I have been spending a LOT less at the grocery store. If you've got vegetables in your fridge, you'll be more likely to base your meals around them, which we should always do anyway!

From Grow Alabama's website -

"With less than 5% of fresh produce in grocery stores from Alabama, Grow Alabama is your opportunity to have locally grown vegetables, fruits and eggs delivered to your home, office, or to a central pick-up point near you, from Alabama’s family farms. One taste, and you’ll find there are still farms where the fields are treated with care, not chemicals, and farmers put not pesticides, but their hopes and hearts into their land to grow food that is their pride.

Open your first vegbox, and you’ll feel you’re tasting fresh produce for the first time. Instead of fruits and vegetables that have been picked unripe in California and transported for days, you’re tasting fresh corn, beans, peas, squash that were rippling in sun-drenched rows less than 48 hours ago, and picked by a farmer who had the time to look for the perfect moment of ripeness and flavor."

You are what you eat... Let's be smart about what we are feeding our bodies and make a commitment to eating more of the natural foods that God created for us! Join your local CSA... you won't regret it!

White BBQ Chicken

2011-02-22T10:27:00.002-06:00

I bring to you today a recipe for the best chicken you'll ever eat! We call it "Allen's Chicken" because my brother-in-law Allen taught me how to make it. I think he calls it "Bubba's Chicken", after his uncle. Whatever you call it, the stuff is make-your-mouth-water good! Perfect for tailgating (oh how I miss Tuscaloosa Fall Saturdays...) or just any ole time.

Hickory Grilled Chicken with White BBQ Sauce

Bone-in, Skin-on Chicken Breasts (or sometimes I cut up a whole chicken also if there are folks that like dark meat)
Lots of KOSHER Salt and Pepper
Hickory Chips
Charcoal

Soak the Hickory chips in water for whatever time the package says (probably 30min-1hr). As far as how much to use...I fill an 8x8 pan a little more than half-full with chips.

Salt and pepper the chicken really heavily. You'll think that it's too much, but cover the chicken completely on both sides.

When your charcoal on the grill is ready, add the hickory. (Be sure to drain off water first). Put chicken on grill and cover with lid. Grill for about 20-25 minutes, flipping once after 10 min. Put in a dish of some sort. Don't worry that the chicken looks dark... it's not burned, that's just all of the hickory-smoked goodness on it.

Put some water in the bottom of the dish to help keep the chicken from drying out. Cover tightly with foil and put in oven at 350 for about 1 to 2 hours. (I usually leave it in there closer to 2 hours... Really just depends on whenever you're finished making the other fixin's and are ready to eat.) Serve with White BBQ Sauce. (I forgot to take a picture of the final product because we had company over and were hungry!)

White BBQ Sauce

1 cup Hellmans
10 T. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Salt
1.5 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Cayenne
1.5 T. Horseradish
1 T. Lemon Juice
dash of Worcestershire

Much Better! (Dining Room)

2011-02-10T18:18:00.000-06:00

This space has been driving me crazy because it has been bare and PALE since we moved in. I knew that I wanted to paint an old china cabinet of Mom's that has been sitting in the basement, but it took a little convincing of Josh that it wouldn't be too big for this room. Also it took some snow days and an MLK holiday to actually have time to spend on it. So since I had a vision of the cabinet going against that bare wall, I never hung anything there. Also, the curtains that were in there were just the cream, linen ones that came with the house, and although I really like them, they made the room look so anemic!

I never took any before pictures (imagine that), but you can see the dining room in this picture from Thanksgiving. (Don't judge my table setting... The accent plates had already been removed and things were shuffled around. :) )

I guess I could also put up the picture of what the room looked like with the previous owners. Just don't tell me if you think it looked better then!

The china cabinet I mentioned above is still in pretty good shape but definitely has some nicks here and there. It was also a medium-stain wood and I wanted something lighter. Also, the glass inserts on the doors and the glass shelves were broken. The thing had been in storage since I-don't-know-when. So the obvious decision was to "distress" it.

dis·tress - verb - \di-ˈstres\ - "lazy girl's way to paint"

Okay that may or may not be the actual definition, but it's definitely pretty accurate. First, I sanded the cabinet pretty roughly. Then I took some white-ish cream paint leftover from our bonus room and slapped a first coat on. Next, I painted a coat of the same green-ish color from the kitchen backsplash. Slapped it on. Not perfect. Didn't worry about getting in every nook and cranny. (Something about that phrase just sounds gross to me... I don't think I'll use it anymore.) Next came the second coat of green. Finally, I sanded a little in certain spots and around edges. Also, I scraped paint off of the mirrored back because I was too lazy while painting to use painters tape. Next I helped Josh lug the bottom part of the cabinet upstairs. FYI - don't ever seek out my help to move furniture. I had two huge blue bruises on my thighs from that cabinet. And I complain a lot when moving heavy things. Needless to say, Josh and a friend moved the top part up, which was MUCH heavier. For the doors, I added chicken wire inserts (remember- glass was broken). I really like the chicken wire-on-cabinets look, but I realize that it's not for everyone. Who knows, I may hate it in a few years, but if I do then I'll just rip it off and do something else. No harm done! Also, we had to get glass shelves cut since those were broken and I couldn't very well make chicken wire shelves.

(Note: I wrote this before actually putting the chicken wire on the doors. I have tried. Twice. I couldn't figure out a good way to do it because the staple gun doesn't get the staples flush with the wood. And I was tired of wrestling with all that wire. If you haven't worked with chicken wire before, it's somewhat of a pain. So just imagine that this part has been done in the pictures.)

For the panel drapes, I really wanted to do a print since the panels in the den (which have yet to be sewn and are Scotch taped to the curtain rod) are solid. We really liked some Pottery Barn drapes, but they were $90 per panel and we just can't spend that much! Also, buying fabric to make my own panels was definitely out of the question, seeing as the aforementioned den panels have been taped up for 7 months. Woops! I decided to browse around, secretly thinking that I wouldn't be able to find anything I liked and I would just be FORCED to buy the beautiful PB curtains. However, I found some solid chocolate brown panels at Target on clearance for $20 each. They are a nice, thick, quilted fabric and are lined! Sold! It's hard to find panel drapes in the 96" length, which (in my opinion) looks much better because you can hang them at the ceiling and make the room look so much taller. I was in luck that they had four 96" left! I did have to move the curtain rods down about 3 inches because the panels were "flooding". (Josh insisted it was fine but it drove me BATTY. I waited until he was out of town and moved those suckers down. He now agrees that they look better!)

I will probably change up the right wall at some point, but it's going to stay like that for now. There are a lot of chairs going on in this room, but it is so nice to have those little chairs handy to pull out when we have a crowd over.

Have a wonderful day!

Chocolate Fudge Pie

2011-02-10T11:07:00.002-06:00

I decided to post one of my all-time favorite dessert recipes. This is a Paula Deen recipe, so it, of course, starts out with a stick of butter. The pie is so easy to put together that JOSH has even made it. He used to request it so much that I told him he'd just have to learn to make it himself. Without further ado, the recipe.....
________________________________________

Chocolate Fudge Pie

1 stick butter
2 oz (2 squares) semi sweet chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 unbaked, frozen pie shell

Melt together butter and chocolate over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in sugar. Whisk in eggs. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes (or until the filling isn't too jiggly... Paula says 25 minutes, but that's just not enough "y'all").

Serve warm or cold with homemade whipped cream or ice cream. (We prefer with ice cream. And don't feel bad if you need to drizzle some chocolate sauce over the top.)
_______________________________________

Since Mrs. Laura Rowe got a picture of the pie last time I made it, I felt no need to get out my camera. I wouldn't want to make her feel bad that my photography skills are so incredibly superior. No need for hurt feelings 'round here.

Painting Cabinets

2011-01-29T10:24:00.004-06:00

I had a comment on the Kitchen post asking about the cabinet painting process, so I figured I'd just make a post about it.

Here's what we did (not professional instructions, but it worked for us!):

1. Took off one cabinet door and did steps 2-4 to make sure that the paint adhered well / we liked the color / etc. It would have been a RUDE awakening to finish this whole project and find that something wasn't quite right!

2. Took off all doors, drawers, and hardware. If you think it may be a problem, you may want to number the doors and sketch out the layout so that it's easier to figure out where each one goes when you're putting them back up. We didn't do this, though, and were fine. Also, we did not take everything (or anything) out of our cabinets... I guess I'm just lazy. (Don't worry, when the whole process was over, I did go through and clean things that would have gotten dirty.)

3. Sanded all surfaces that were going to be painted with a fine grain sandpaper. Wiped them clean.

4. Painted our hearts out. A few notes about the painting...

-We used Benjamin Moore "Linen White" in semi-gloss, oil based. I despise oil based paint, but it's definitely the way to go for cabinets. I got one gallon, of which we used about 3/4.

-We did NOT use any primer... The man in BM said that their paint should be thick enough that you don't need primer.

-Every surface got three coats of paint.

-When painting the cabinet doors, we set each one on top of a smaller, old box. This made it super easy to paint the sides of the doors without them touching the ground. (We have a pretty big, unfinished basement which is so nice for messy projects.)

-As far as the cabinet "bones" go, we just painted the fronts... didn't paint the insides. You can choose to stop wherever you want, but we figured this was the easiest:

-Since you're working with oil-based paint, I DEFINITELY recommend just buying abunch (a bunch?) of sponge brushes and rollers. Don't make the mistake that I did on Day 1 of trying to clean your brushes with mineral spirits. I just about flipped my lid. I used almost a whole can of mineral spirits, the brushes/my arms/the sink still had paint covering them, and I freaked. Josh called my parents and held the phone up to my ear and Dad told me not to worry about doing that and to just throw away the brushes when you're done. Easy enough. I hate even cleaning out brushes with latex paint, so that sounded like a GREAT solution to me. Plus, I think it motivated me to get as much painting in at one time since I knew I'd be throwing away the brush when I stopped.

5. When everything is fully painted, dry, and lovely as can be, put those cabinet doors and drawers back on!

Warning: This project took us almost a full week of painting every day, so it's definitely not a weekend project! (Which was what I had intended it to be.) But, we are SO happy with how it turned out and are very, very glad we did it. If you want to paint your cabinets, I recommend just buying the paint, taking off that first door and painting it.... once you get started, there's no going back... you can't put it off any longer!

Hope this helps, Haley, and whoever else! Let me know if you have any more questions!! (I don't think I left out any tidbits of information, but if Josh has any more suggestions after he reads this then I will add them.)

iPad = can't blog??

2011-01-26T10:48:00.000-06:00

Does anyone (Sarabeth) know how to write blog posts on an iPad? When I go into blogger, I can create a new post, but it won't let me click on the body area to type. I LOVE our iPad and would love to be able to post on it.... maybe I would post more than once a year if I could get this figured out....

Kitchen Renovations

2011-01-18T19:06:00.001-06:00

It's been a while.... but we're back! We have been busy Little bees lately, with lots of projects going on. The biggest project being the kitchen....

Here is the kitchen before we moved in:

We updated the appliances to stainless when we moved in, and Josh installed them....

(Please excuse the counter mess. Also the photo quality... most of these pics were taken on Josh's phone.)

Next, we painted the cabinets, which wasn't an easy chore, but at least it was cheap!

(Yikes - BIG counter mess! I think we were getting ready for our Thanksgiving with friends dinner...)

Next came the countertops and new sink....

(They started ripping up the old "backsplash" for us. We were left with this loveliness for several weeks.)
(Also - please take a moment to smile at that little cuteness in the bottom of the photo.)

Then Josh and Daniel installed the new faucet and hooked up the plumbing under the sink. This ended up being quite the project, but we weren't about to pay close to $300 for a plumber to do it! He also installed some under-the-cabinet lighting that we got at IKEA, which helps a LOT with lighting in the corners.

Next, we put up a beadboard backsplash with trim. If you're interested, here is a blog that we read before starting the project. The last change we made in the kitchen was installing new light fixtures. Josh put these neat-o pendants in where the florescent bar light was and a flushmount fixture in where the mini-fan was. Not having that fan hanging down really makes this little kitchen seem bigger! Here are some final "after" pictures!

Phew... we're glad this project is OVER! Now on to the dining room.... and sewing curtains......

Recap:

Halloween Pics

2010-10-31T21:48:00.004-05:00

Our sweet friend Jessica came over to carve pumpkins with us this year. We also had two very cute little helpers!

Happy Halloween!

Guest Room

2010-10-30T09:55:00.005-05:00

The guest room is complete and we really like it. Sometimes we think about having a stay-cation and just moving into this room for a few days. It consists of a headboard and lamps snagged from Dad's old apartment in Texas, old pictures from Doc's office, bedding that I think was my sister's over ten years ago, a sewing machine table from Aunt Becky that we're using as a nightstand, etc, etc.... I didn't buy anything except for $1 in scrap fabric to make a pillow! (Which is glue gunned.... more on my love for glue guns later!)

This desk is where I get ready every day because the bathroom has no storage space or counter top. I usually call this "my room" because all of my clothes are in that dresser and closet. (Apparently people didn't have as much stuff in 1947... which has really made me reconsider all of the things that I think I need.) The picture collage has old pictures of our grandparents and great-grandparents. I absolutely love looking at these pictures everyday!

The bathroom is small but nice. I am so glad that the tile was white and black instead of Pepto Bismal pink (like several other houses we looked at). We ripped out an old medicine cabinet that was in there and just hung this black mirror instead. The window treatment is (yet again) glue gunned and safety pinned. This was some of Hailey's leftover fabric that I took from Mom's basement. (If you ever need fabric you should check out the stash down there... between Mom and Hailey, the selection is like Hancocks.)

(We do have a shower curtain in there.... I think I had taken it down to wash that day.)

More to come! Also - check out Jon and Katie's new blog here!

Our New Little Nest!!

2010-10-28T13:02:00.000-05:00

Josh and I moved into our first home in July and we are L-O-V-I-N-G it! "Nesting" has been so much fun. Josh likes house projects as much as I do, so we are having a great time making frequent Lowe's trips, watching HGTV every night, and getting our house all fixed up!

I could shoot myself in the foot for not taking "before" pictures of our house. All I have are pictures from when the previous owners lived here with all of their furniture and decor, but I'm hesitant to put them up because I'm afraid that the "before"s will be better than the "after"s! Also, we are still working on getting everything put together, so all of the "after" pics aren't ready yet. I'm sure they won't be ready for years to come... and that's fine with us!

Here are a few little tasters of our nest... Many more to come! I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow.

Laura took this pic on the day we moved in.

Here's a tidbit of the way we've decorated inside. We got the idea for the deer head surrounded by plates from the Billy Reid store in Florence. We love it!

Long time no blog!

2009-10-20T16:32:00.007-05:00

Hello!! Well lots of things have happened here since I last blogged...

Joshua...

-Took and PASSED the 1st section of the CPA Exam!! (For those of you who don't know about this exam, it's supposed to be one of the most difficult professional exams... I'm PRETTY proud of Josh!)

-Took the 2nd section (still waiting on the results)

-Spent a couple days in South Carolina working on the new Dixon-Hughes recruiting website. He was picked to be "the face of the Birmingham office". hehe... check out his video here.

-Spent a week in North Carolina for training.

-Started work!

-Continues to study for the 3rd CPA section... he's taking it November 24th, I believe.

Bonnie...

-Started my nanny job with sweet baby Barrett! He is adorable and really is a great baby. Check out Maggie's blog here.

-Is still traveling to Tuscaloosa for classes on T/TH. The drive is not bad at ALL. I sure am ready to be finished with classes, though!! Only a month and a half... :)

-Is looking for a J-O-B to start in January. Wow... it is harder than I thought.

Josh has definitely had a much more interesting last couple months than I have! My life has definitely not been a bore, though. We have had a great first three months of marriage!! We are so thankful for each other and for all of the many blessings that we enjoy in our life.

I will start updating the blog more frequently with pictures and such. Here are some pictures of our loft. We love it!

Free (& Almost Free) Stuff!

2009-09-02T10:28:00.000-05:00

Thanks to some friends who are major coupon-ers and the infinite amount of blogs out there about how to really save money by using coupons, I have become addicted! I won't go through the whole spiel about how to match up the coupons, how the CVS Extracare Bucks work, yada yada yada, but I do want to share some of my REALLY good deals from Monday. I bought a lot more than what I've listed here at great prices, but these are the items that were either free, very cheap, or I actually made money by purchasing!

Publix
Rotisserie Chicken - FREE
2-Liter Coca Cola - FREE
Publix Toilet Paper (4 pack) - $0.01

Target
Archer Farms Artisan Mini Loaf - FREE
2 Single Serving Cheddar Cheese Sticks - OVERAGE of $0.20
3 Bananas - $0.06 per banana
Dove Ultimate Deoderant - $0.86
Kotex - OVERAGE of $0.14
Skittles - OVERAGE of $0.33

CVS
Glade Soy Candle - OVERAGE of $3.00
Nivea Women's Body Wash - FREE

In total on Monday, I spent $63 and saved.... drumroll please.... $97! $63 may seem like a lot considering the items that I listed above, but I bought a TON of stuff that we needed (food, Tide, printer paper, makeup, razors, other cleaners, etc).

Well, I just wanted to share! If anyone wants to join the world of couponing and needs help, let me know. :)

A few honeymoon pics..

2009-08-28T10:05:00.000-05:00

Joshua and I had a great time at Seaside! Here are just a few pictures..

What a hunk!

CPA Update and More

2009-08-26T11:16:00.003-05:00

I was wrong on the last blog post... Josh takes his first CPA exam on August 31st, not August 25th. He is studying hard and is starting to get nervous about Monday! I think he'll do great, though... he's been taking practice tests and doing very well on them. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers this week and on Monday, especially!

Yesterday was Benjamin's birthday and we celebrated by going to Iguana Grill with lots of friends, then back to B&L's for brownies and ice cream. We had a great time and are so glad to be living in Birmingham now so that we don't have to miss out on any of these fun times! Tomorrow, Dad is going to be in Tuscaloosa, so Josh and I are going to hang out with him and Davis after I get out of class for the day! I'm very excited to see the two Brewer men. Josh and I don't have any big plans for the weekend. He'll be studying a lot, but I'm sure we'll make time to do something fun. Whatever we do, it better be free. :) We're both looking forward to starting work in October! This not-having-a-job thing has been fun, but it sure will be nice to be getting a check every week! Josh starts at Dixon Hughes on October 12th and I will start as soon as Maggie has baby Barrett! She's due September 15th, but I won't start until closer to October. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm going to be a nanny for my good friend's newborn baby. I am SO excited!! I'll be keeping him on M/W/F and going to class on T/TH. I'll be busy, but I'm really looking forward to it. Maggie is in dental school at UAB, so she won't be able to stay home for very long after Barrett arrives. Maggie is my best friend Lizzie's sister, so I feel like I'll be Barrett's Aunt Bonnie! You can read Maggie's blog here.

That's all for now!

Liz's Photo Shoot

2009-08-19T14:26:00.003-05:00

Long time no blog! Our fun, busy summer has come to an end.. I start school tomorrow and Josh is doing LOTS of studying for the CPA exam. He takes the first test (1 of 4) on August 25th. I'll post wedding pics later, but right now I'm experimenting with using Picasa to upload photos.
A couple weeks ago, Hailey, Allen, and Lizzy came through Birmingham to see our new place (pictures to come) and for us to take pictures of Liz with our new camera. I think the pictures turned out GREAT! Here are a few of my favorites....

Katie's Bday at Otey's

2009-05-01T13:39:00.006-05:00

Here are pictures from Katie's birthday party at Otey's last week. Josh and Jonathan played djembe (drum) and guitar and sang, and it was just wonderful! I love listening to them perform and I wish they could do it more often. They're really good! I wish Benji could've been there to perform with the other brothers Little. We certainly missed him, Laura, Kate, and SB!

I was so happy that Lizzie got to come with me! She also brought her video camera and filmed the entertainment, so maybe we can figure out how to put a video on here.

The birthday girl opening presents..

Good friends..

I got my picture made with the drummer after the show :) Isn't he cute?

Econ Buddies

2009-04-20T23:10:00.004-05:00

These are two of my great friends in the Econ program. We walked down to the Black Warrior River one day last fall and took some pictures...

This is Ming Meng.. He's from China.

Hyejin Lee... the sweetest thing! She's from Korea.

I just had to.... haha

I talk about these two a lot, so I thought I'd put some faces with the names.

Weekend Plans

2009-04-09T12:11:00.002-05:00

This weekend is going to be wonderful! Josh and I are headed to Birmingham this afternoon and are staying until Sunday. This is going to be the first Easter that I haven't spent with my family, though, so that kind of stinks... Mom and Dad were in Florence a couple weeks ago, so it really didn't make sense to come back only to see Davis and I for one day. So Mom and Dad and Hailey, Allen, Liz, and grandparents, and aunts, uncles, cousins --- I will miss you!

Here's our schedule for the weekend:

Thursday night - Chuck E Cheese's for Kate's 1st birthday with Ben, Laura, Jon, Katie, and SB! (If they don't have Whack-a-Mole, I am going to be sorely disappointed.) Then new Office episodes ... Then I'm spending the night with my BFF Lizzie!

Friday - Josh and I are going to look for places to live come August... then Wicked at the BJCC with Josh's brother's and sig. others! Wicked is my favorite. I could cry, it's so good.

Saturday - Meeting with a realtor to look at some houses in Crestwood and Homewood in the morning.. then Kate's official birthday party at Homewood Park in the afternoon.

Sunday - Easter with Ben, Laura, Kate, Jon, and Katie!

This is the first weekend that Laura has had off in almost a year, so we are SO excited about having lots of fun with them! Hopefully I will have some pictures to post after the weekend. If I don't, then I know one picture-snappin' gal who will definitely have a few. :)

You Tell on Yourself

2009-04-07T22:57:00.002-05:00

You tell on yourself by the friends you seek,
By the very manner in which you speak,
By the way you employ your leisure time,
By the use you make of dollar and dime.

You tell what you are by the things you wear,
By the spirit in which you burdens bear,
By the kind of things that make you laugh,
By the records you play on the phonograph.

You tell what you are by the way you walk,
By the things of which you delight to talk,
By the manner in which you bear defeat,
By so simple a thing as how you eat.

By the books you choose from the well-filled shelf:
In these ways and more, you tell on yourself.

This poem is in a book I'm reading called "A Woman's High Calling" by Elizabeth George. It's a little outdated (just sub in 'iPod' for 'phonograph'..), but I thought it was very good! If you are looking for a great book to read, get one of Elizabeth George's books... I am loving this one!!

The Bakers are Headed to the Final Four

2009-03-31T21:42:00.004-05:00

"Bonnie's Bakers" are really cookin' on the court! (Jason named our team after the only member that didn't even want to be ON the team.... thanks.) At the end of the regular season, we were ranked #1 out of all the co-ed teams! Last night was our first game in the playoffs (we had a bye for the first round), and we won, so we're headed to the final four on Thursday night. Our team is amazing! I can speak so boldly because I have nothing to do with our success. I prefer to be on the bench. As I said earlier, I really didn't want to be on the team, but was suckered into it. I decided that I would be a good sport and try to get out there and play. I tried. I hate it! As a matter of fact, there aren't many things that I dislike more than being on the court! I have no clue what's going on the whole time and everyone is just too rough. I feel like I need to apologize when I bump into someone while trying to get a rebound or something. Since I don't have anything to attribute during the games, I bake cookies or cupcakes to bring for after the game! (I don't bring them into the Rec center though.. that would just be evil to walk in front of all those people killing themselves on Stairmasters carrying a plate full of cupcakes.)

Here's a picture of the Bakers after our game last night (notice the muffins on our shirts):

Katie Hill, Faith Landers, Andy Yerbey, Jason Crowell, Josh, me, Sarabeth (Josh's sis)

I didn't play at all last night... just filmed the game and provided some Cherry-White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies! Hopefully I'll be able to post some game footage sometime soon. Andy will have to figure that out for me, though.

UAOR Green Adventure Race

2009-03-09T20:49:00.002-05:00

I am so proud of Josh! This past weekend he and his friend Tim Davis competed in an Adventure Race at Lake Lurleen here in Tuscaloosa. The race consisted of canoeing 6 miles, running 3 miles, then mountain biking 12 miles. That's 21 miles! Josh really hadn't trained for this at all, so I was kind of nervous about how he'd do. Saturday couldn't have been a prettier day for the race. I stayed out there the whole day to cheer them on, although I wasn't able to see them from the time they started until they came out of the woods on their bikes at the finish line. Well, they were supposed to be ON their bikes when they finished, however when Josh and Tim rounded the corner and were in sight of the crowd... they were Not on their bikes!! Tim was carrying his bike sans a front wheel and Josh was running behind him pulling his bike along and had Tim's front tire over his shoulder. :( Apparently when they were 5 miles into the mountain biking portion, Tim's wheel came off, so they had a tough time finishing 7 more miles. But - they still came in 8th out of 24 teams! It is amazing to me that Josh can do something like that on a whim without training at all. There were so many teams there that do races like this all of the time... they were pretty intense. So to fare that well amongst such great competition, I'd say the boys did great! Josh had such a good time that he is looking for more Adventure Races to compete in.

I didn't get any pictures from Saturday because my camera is dead and I can't find my charger (Anyone know where it is????), but there are some pictures on the Tuscaloosa News's website, along with an article. Unfortunately, I made it into the article! Very embarrasing. Oh well! It was such a fun day!

My Bridesmaids

2009-02-17T10:40:00.000-06:00

Lizzie Hendrix

best friend since age 4

Hailey Williams

sister

Laura Little

future sister-in-law

Corinne Lewey

high school friend

Sarabeth Little
future sister-in-law

Meagan Smith

college friend

Megan Lovelace

high school friend

Katie McGee

future sister-in-law

I am so excited to have all of these lovely ladies as bridesmaids in our wedding this summer! They all mean so much to me and I am blessed to have each of them in my life. :)

Weekend Plans and our Valentine's Day

2009-02-12T12:23:00.004-06:00

Well we're heading up to Florence to work on wedding stuff! Mom is flying in to Birmingham tonight and Josh and I are going to go pick her up and then head up to the Shoals. Tomorrow we're going to meet with Turtle Point to discuss where exactly the wedding will be set up, what food will be at the reception, etc. We're also going to pick out invites and programs at PSI. And! (trumpets sound), we're going to order my dress. I've had it picked out for a while, but I want Mom to see it on me before ordering it. She's seen pictures and loves it, but wants to see it in person. On person. I'm looking forward to seeing Mom... haven't seen her in 2009! It's about time. I'm sure we'll visit with all the grandparents this weekend, too, which will be nice. Unfortunately, I have a lot of school work to do, so hopefully that won't weigh down on me too much.

Since we'll be in Florence on Valentine's Day with Mom, Josh and I "celebrated" last night. By "celebrated" I mean we grilled out hot dogs and I made heart cupcakes. ha! We decided not to spend any money buying things for each other this year. Also, in years past, I have tried to cook fancy meals for Valentines Day... but I decided that this year we'd just do something that Josh loves : hotdogs. Plus, we've both been busy this week with quizzes, tests, and homework galore, so there was no time for Beef Wellington. FYI -- do not buy turkey dogs if you plan on grilling them. YUCK!! They were so gross that I ran to Publix and bought the real thing. 16 grams of fat per dog and all. So our romantic Valentines night consisted of burned, dry turkey dogs replaced by heart attack beef franks washed down with Coke Zero sitting on the couch watching Carolina Blue prevail over the Blue Devils. I wouldn't have had it any other way! :)

The weather has been amazing this week, by the way. I have had my doors open and car windows down as much as possible. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am!

Exciting News...

2009-02-09T00:09:00.004-06:00

Jonathan and Katie are engaged!! That makes three Little children in the past three months to get engaged.... whoa! We are so happy for them!! Josh and I were able to be there for the proposal at a park in Mountain Brook to take pictures. We were hidden behind some trees when the two of them walked up to a park bench with flowers on it, and when Katie was looking at them, Jonathan got down on one knee. It was very sweet and Katie was surprised. Good job, Jon! Here are a little taste of the pictures from my camera. (Josh had Laura's good camera, so his pictures are much better.) Congratulations, you two!!!

Popping the question...

Afterwards, reading the card on which was written, "Katie... Look at me."

"So happy together"...

Katie's beautiful ring...

New favorite recipe

2009-02-05T16:58:00.003-06:00

I found the most delicious salad recipe the other day in an old Southern Living and thought I'd share it. It has become my absolute favorite. The dressing is amazing!

Spinach and Apple Salad with Cinnamon Vinaigrette

Apples, thinly sliced
Spinach

Dressing:
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine apples and spinach in a serving bowl. Whisk together honey and next 6 ingredients until well blended. Pour mixture over salad, tossing gently. Serve immediately. Extra dressing can be refrigerated.

Anchors Aweigh, My Boys.. Anchors Aweigh!

2009-02-01T15:31:00.003-06:00

When I was home a couple weekends ago, Josh and I went over to Grandmother and Grandaddy's house to visit. Grandaddy got out his navy uniform for me to try on... and it fit! It's hard to believe that he wore this very uniform about 64 years ago on the seas during World War II. Josh took some pictures of Grandaddy and I that I will cherish forever.

Our Registries

2009-01-17T11:08:00.005-06:00

Registering has been so much fun! I love picking out all of the dishes, etc. that Josh and I will be using in our new home. Plus, I love to cook, so I'm very excited about all the new kitchen gear that I might get. I know that it might be sort of early to register, but I wanted to go ahead and check things off my to-do list over Christmas break. Plus, it came in handy because I got the blender and crock pot that I had registered for from Aunt Becky for my birthday (Dec 23)!

This is our everyday china. It is Mikasa "French Countryside". I love it! It is plain, but very pretty. I wanted to do something simple so that we won't get tired of it.. plus, I think that food looks best on solid white plates!

Our formal china is Lenox "Eternal". It is my favorite!! I really do think that I will get a lot of use out of it. I love having people over for dinner, so I plan on using it more than just Thanksgiving and Christmas. :) We are registering for the accent salad plates to go with it which have a dark red design on the edges. They will be good for Christmas time.

The flatware we have picked out is also Lenox "Eternal" Gold. We chose it because it will look nice with the gold on the formal china.

We are also registering for some Waterford "Crosshaven" goblets and Lenox "Eternal" iced beverage glasses (the picture shown is the goblet... I couldn't fine a picture of the iced bev). They are so pretty!

That's all for now!

Pictures from Thanksgiving and the Auburn Game

2008-12-09T15:05:00.007-06:00

I'm taking a break from studying to post some pictures from a few weeks ago.

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year. The only thing that could've made it better is if Hailey, Allen, and Lizzy had've been there. We missed them and can't wait to see them soon!

The Auburn game was AWESOME!! Not only did we kill them (sorry Auburn fans, but I think it was about time we won!), but Dad was able to come to the game and sit with us!

Finals

2008-12-07T20:45:00.003-06:00

The week we've all been dreading is here. All I want to do is wrap Christmas presents, hang out with the friends that I'm going to miss so much over the break, and make wedding plans! Hopefully we'll have time for a little of that this week. We are going to be hitting the books pretty hard, though. But, hey, that's why we're here. :)

Josh's exams: He got one out of the way last week (it was a work-at-home one that he spent 13 straight hours on... such a hard worker!). His next is Tuesday, and he's a little nervous about it. He's particularly concerned about his Tax Law final because it will be the only grade for that class for the entire semester. I think he'll take that on Thursday.

My exams: My first and probably hardest is tomorrow (Macro Theory). Stats is Wednesday and Micro Theory is Thursday. I've got to stick around, though, to proctor an exam on Friday morning and go see my little brother (Big Brothers/Big Sisters).

Friday, Joshua and I are going to Nathan and Becky Pitner's house in Birmingham for a Christmas party with some friends and family. We are really excited!! In case you didn't know, Josh absolutely LOVES all things Christmas. It's one thing that makes me love him even more. Have you seen the commercial (I think it's for Home Depot) with the dad that decorates the Christmas tree and puts lights on the outside of the house while his wife and kids aren't there, and then surprises them when they get back? Well, it's very sweet, and it reminds me of something he would do! I am already looking forward to all of the fun Christmases that we are going to have together!

Time to get back to studying.

Pictures from a Wonderful Day

2008-12-07T14:34:00.008-06:00

Here are some pictures that were taken by Sarabeth and Laura. I am so lucky to have such good photographers around!! I love them!

There were a lot more great pictures taken.. If you're interested, see the links to "Life at the Littles" and "Flash of Simplicity" on the right side of my blog. (For those who facebook - they're all posted there, too!)

We're Engaged!!

2008-12-04T23:46:00.000-06:00

Well, he finally popped the question on November 26th and we couldn't be more excited!! After dating for almost four years, I just can't wait to be Mrs. Joshua Little! I will post some pictures later that were taken by my soon-to-be sisters-in-law of the day we got engaged. I need to figure out this whole blog thing first, though!

The most exciting news since Josh said, "Will you marry me?": We have set a date for the wedding!! Dad called me tonight and told me that he made the call to reserve Turtle Point for July 18, 2009. I am so thankful for my wonderful parents who are excited for us and want to give us a beautiful wedding! I'm also looking forward to having an outdoor wedding at a beautiful location! Yes, I realize that July in Alabama is pretty hot for a wedding outside... but, we do plan on the wedding being later in the evening, so maybe it won't be too bad. I am already having so much fun thinking about plans. I want to start making a lot of decisions soon so that this doesn't end up being stressful later on. I absolutely hate the idea of being stressed out about your own wedding! I am a pretty decisive person when it comes to things like this, so I think that plans will start falling into place pretty soon. I am also lucky to have a mother who is incredibly talented at making things look beautiful. She is an expert (in my opinion) on flowers and decorating and such, and I know that she will have lots of great ideas! We are going to have lots of fun with this!

To update you with what's going on with Joshua and I right now - We are pretty consumed with studying for finals! We have both had great semesters, but it is always a great feeling to be free from school work for a few weeks. We have still made time for watching Christmas movies, doing some online Christmas shopping (how did we ever live without online shopping?), and thinking about wedding plans, though. We also had a BLAST at the Iron Bowl last Saturday!! We were so glad that my dad was able to come to the game and sit with us in the student section. We are also looking forward to the SEC Championship game this Saturday (Josh is probably a tad more excited than I am... the guy loves Alabama football!).

Well it's way past my bedtime, so goodnight for now! I will continue to post on here to keep everyone updated with what's going on in our lives and with wedding stuff!

Much Love to Everyone!!
Bonnie