Finishing Home Projects

I start projects and have big ideas but then I get distracted and never finish. This garage sale find is no exception. I bought it for $5 and spray painted it ORB.

I've had this iron thing on the wall for a year empty. It's right in the entry way so people actually see it. I've had many comments "What are you going to do with that?"

Well I finally did something. I did it all "Texas" with fake flowers and feathers.

For those of you who don't live in the south. Most of us just love feathers and fake flowers. Yes it goes against everything they teach you on HGTV. You know what? It makes me happy!

I do have some friends who are also fellow Texans and they hate fake flowers and have more of a modern style. Not me I love the statement "Everything's bigger in Texas".

Just fun and it welcomes my guests into my home.

Painting Wooden Crosses

I am back to some frugal home decorating... my fun hobby.

Oh how I love to paint! I can do this while I am on bed rest. I pull up my comfy chair to the kitchen table and go paint crazy.

My mom picked up these unfinished wooden crosses on her last trip to Canton, TX. We LOVE Canton First Monday Trade Days. If you live close and haven't been, go!

She scored all these crosses for $19! I got busy immediately, this is the one I did for Katelyn's room.

She's 13 and a full fledged teenager.

These types of crosses sell for $50 + at boutiques and online. It cost me roughly $4 to make myself.

I use the little acrylic bottles for paint. My favorite is the folk art brand.

Their paint is nice and thick, it covers great.

I did this one for Madeline my 3 year old. Can you tell the difference in my girls personalities?

I have 2 more to finish. One for Will and another one for the nursery.

Painting makes me feel so happy!

Brought a little "normal" back to me.

I am linking up to:

Southern Hospitality Thrifty Treasures Party

Domestically Speaking Paint Party

DIY Showoff Project Parade

Bedrest = New Bedroom!

The benefit of bed rest has included a brand new king size bed!!! My wonderful husband went out shopping and found this amazing set. He took pictures and brought them home for me and I loved it. My only complaint was he bought it full price... no discount... not frugal. Oh well it was splurge well worth the price!

However I did get some deails online.

JcPenney Bedding with 20% off coupon from www.retailmenot.com

We also got a new ceiling fan at 50% off at a swanky light shop, Lee Lighting.

Long gone is our temporary shade for our arch. We finally after 3 years in our home decided to order a shutter to fit. Scored 30% by buying in online instead of at Lowe's.

We even got a new flat screen TV. My favorite part is my new dresser. I've got a ton of storage. We've got one more piece on order. It's a huge master chest for my husband's stuff.

After the baby arrives I can't wait to get out and shop for accessories and decorate this room.
This is our old queen bed. It was way to small and too firm for us. Besides it was my husband's furniture he got in high school..... 15 years ago. It was time for us to focus on our room.

I listed our old furniture on craigslist and sold it in 1 day! Our oldest daughter got the queen mattress and she also got new bedding. I will show that in another post.


This is the room before we moved in. So glad that old gold ceiling fan is gone.

Patience, Not My Virtue

Today as I am resting at home I've caught up on some of my favorite blogs. I was reminded today by Heather about patience.

Let me tell you patience is NOT a virtue I have. I can hear my mom and husband read and say "I second that"

Some of my impatient qualities:

• I almost always mess up my paint projects because I cannot wait for them to fully dry
• If I want something I usually find a way buy it... now
• I don't like sitting still and waiting (doctors, meetings.. etc)
• I'm almost always waiting until that next dream house... the next season... the next big change
• I hate my house being messy and clean almost obsessively

As I look at these I see the word "I". So much we get caught up in "me, me, me". It's during this difficult time of being on bed rest that so many of my friends have come and let go of their "me's" and helped our family out. What a blessing to take time out of your day to do something nice for someone else. A phone call, a play date, a meal, a card.... all many blessings and encouraging.

God is teaching me patience right now, in a big way! I've been able to get off strict bed rest and now I can get out a bit but I fine myself overdoing it. Why? Because I am impatient. I have to get things done right? No. I heard God telling me many times during the day "Patience Jennifer, be patient."

I have a feeling my mom and husband have been praying for my patience. God really has a sense of humor because he gives you opportunities to improve yourself and holiness exactly the way you need it. Wow, change is painful!

Summer Sewing

My little miss just can't have enough clothes! I have so much fun dressing up my little girl.

I recently got my sewing machine fixed, finally it was broken for a year. Remember last time I did a sewing project.... April 2009.

I tried my handy work to make my first skirt. Guess what? It worked and I love it!

It was super easy. I added some crosses to a hand me down shirt with scrap fabric. The whole project.... FREE! Little Miss and her buddy Jacob. His mom sews appliques on his shirts too.
Next time I make a skirt I will take photos of each step. I'm getting my sewing machine set up on a desk so I can sew while on bed rest. My DR says it's ok for me to sit up.

I am linking up to DIY Project Showoff Parade.

This is one of my favorite blogs! Visit if you love DIY and projects.

View From the Couch

Today my friend Adrien came to visit and brought us some yummy meals. She also made the BEST guacamole for us to snack on while we chatted. The kids had a fun time playing.

She's very familiar with bed rest. When she was pregnant with her youngest son she was on bed rest for 3 months. We spent a lot of time together during that time.

She's also a talented photographer and brought her camera along. I love these photos because it shows us just the way we are at home. No makeup no fancy clothes just us hanging out on the couch.

Love these little sweeties!

Thank you Adrien for taking these impromptu photos today. These are memories I want to remember.

Appt

My appointment yesterday went well. I have not dilated so that was great news. The bad news I am still on strict bed rest and most likely will be until around 34 weeks which is 6 more weeks. Looks like my weekly appointments will be the only time I get out of the house.

It's very, very difficult to not get up. I've gotten up to try to do things on my own and then the contractions start up again even through my meds. So my body definitely needs me to rest so this baby will stay put a bit longer.

Tomorrow we have a cleaning service starting, that is a huge relief! The meals people have brought have been wonderful and such a blessing. It saves me from eating frozen pizza 7 nights a week :)

Thank you for all your prayers and sweet comments. I wish I had something better to blog about but it seems this is all that's on my my mind right now.

Day 5 Bedrest

I've got to say I've got an amazing husband. Really, I do! He's cleaning the house up at the end of the day the way I do.... actually better. He's very detail oriented and I'm a big picture kinda cleaner (Don't look to close). We are able to start the day with a picked up downstairs area for me to rest. I've got to take some before and after pictures. Its gets quite messy with 3 kids around me.

I'm still having some contractions break through the meds. No more than 3 an hour so I don't have to head to the hospital. I go back on Monday. Hopefully I haven't dilated and all is well.

One more important thing, I have some great friends! The last couple nights we've had some fantastic meals brought over. My family is in heaven with some good home cookin. I've also got all week scheduled out with meals and play date for the kids. Thank you all so much for your kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness. I feel very blessed during this difficult time. XOXO My Friends!

Best Coupon Code Site

How about a frugal post? My blogs titled Frugal Fabulous time for some tips!

Since I am on bed rest I'm doing my shopping online. This is new to me because I am a window shopping type of girl. I want to touch and feel the item before I buy it. However my husband buys almost everything online.

With Fathers Day around the corner I had to venture out online. He will be so proud of me.

OMG.... why haven't I done this earlier!

I found this great site for online coupon codes Retail Me Not . It's got all the coupon codes for my favorite stores. Gotta check it out!

Gotta go, I am heading back. I've got some shopping to do......

Pregnancy Update

I'm now 28 weeks pregnant. Officially in my 3rd trimester. What did we do to celebrate?

A 4 am trip to the hospital with pre-term labor. After a day in the hospital and different meds to control the contractions I am officially at home and on strict bedrest.

As a mom of 3 kids out of summer break this is going to be interesting.

Please keep me and our little one in your prayers. I will be on the computer so I will update what's going on.

Any suggestions for other moms that have been on strict bed rest? (Strict bed rest meaning only getting up to use the bathroom and shower)