Little Miss Evelyn

So it seems we're going to be welcoming a baby girl in January! To be completely honest, I have always been terrified of having a daughter. I'm not a touchy feely, emotional type person. Of course I can be emotional, but I'm not one to really journal or express my feelings. I can actually be quite girly too! I guess I'm not into the whole drama thing. Of course, I understand that not all girls can be this way, but it terrifies me to think that I won't be able to relate to my daughter the way I would like to. What if she is an emotional person? Or what if she is a bit of a dramatic? Eek! This scares me! I have been praying more than ever that the Lord would help me be a good mommy to this little girl.
As scared as I've always been to have a daughter (I've always pictured myself being a 'boy' mom), I was actually everything short of giddy the day we went to our ultrasound. All of that fear flew out the window, and I've been wearing a smile ever since! :) I am ecstatic to have this baby girl growing in my womb! I can't wait to put bows in her hair and have tea parties with her! FUN!!! Praise God for this baby girl!

Here is Miss Evelyn Blayne....

Our summer in a nutshell!

Ok..so umm...I've been really BAD at blogging this summer! We have been super busy, super hot, and super pregnant. Well, at least I have been anyway! I'll just make a couple of posts about our summer, then maybe we can move right along....

1. My sweet Caedmon had a 2 1/2 birthday party!

2. Nana came to visit!

3. We found out we're having a baby girl, Evelyn Blayne!!! :)

4. We went to our annual family reunion!

Here are a few pics of our trip to the aquarium while C's Nana was here visiting:

Homegrown Goodness

I was going to post last week about our trip to the farmer's market downtown, but due to a kidney stone interrupting my week, that didn't happen. I absolutely love homegrown veggies and fruits! The taste is far better in my opinion than anything you'll find in a grocery store. When my Cman was a baby, I tried to grab up as much homegrown goodies as I could. It was great living in the country where people would bring their abundance to church and pass it out! I never declined. :) It saved us SO much money to make his baby food from scratch. It only took about 3-4 hours of my day to make up batches of fruits and veggies. I only had to do that every 2-3 weeks, so it was well worth my time! Here are some pictures of our farmer's market from last weekend. At the end, I'll include links on how to prepare fruits and veggies for freezing. I'll also include a link on making your own baby food. So yummy! :)

 This picture absolutely makes me miss my Mama's cooking!

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is!

Can't you just smell those yummy, juicy peaches?!

The sweet ladies at this table even let you taste some of their canned goodies!

Oh yeah...these are pretty much amazing...

I am so looking forward to the farmer's market this weekend. We don't fry hardly anything at all, but some crisp, green tomatoes are calling my name!

How to prepare some of this homegrown goodness for your freezer:

Tomatoes

Zucchini & Squash

Peas

Berries

Corn

Peaches

Bell Pepper

Making your own baby food:

These are some links I found useful.

Pureeing & Storing

Fruit Recipes

Veggie Recipes

Tips

I used a food processor to make foods softer, but when he was ready to move up to food with more texture I used a Grinder/Mill. This way, he could eat things we ate like casseroles, spaghetti, etc.

Small Town Patriotism

Moving to a metroplex was pretty overwhelming almost two years ago. I'm a country girl who grew up in small towns, and I love running into people I know everywhere I go. It's comforting. It's welcoming. It's home to me. I'm so glad the Lord knows my heart so well, because he moved us into this little county right outside of Dallas. You know, the small town kind. This past weekend, we had the joy of experiencing a small town patriotic parade in this quaint, little place. The kind of parade where families were encouraged to join in. Next year, I think we just might.

Families waiting for the parade to start. I just loved the Uncle Sam costume! :)

My favorite snapshot of the day!

Families joining in

Loved the rides!

The 'old man' band playing on the courthouse steps. They reminded me so much of home, I had to choke back tears!

The fiddle player was such a sweetheart!

My baby boy :)

We enjoyed another 'small town' delight that I'll post about another day this week! I hope you all had a great July 4th, and I pray we never take our freedom forgranted!

Pregnancy Fails...

This is my first time to participate in a Friday Fails post! Yay! I hope I can actually remember all of my fails here lately, but my pregnancy brain may not allow me!

Fail #1 - Laundry....My laundry is piled in my bedroom, the hallway and on top of the dryer. This is definitely not my style, but I am completely and utterly exhausted! I'm doing good to just get one load done in a day. My poor guys...I have to make sure every night that they have clean underwear for the next day! My laundry has become a thorn in my side...I blame it on the pregnancy. :)

Fail #2 - Grocery Shopping...Another topic I choose to blame on pregnancy. For one thing, I can either get a shower before my 2 year old wakes up or while he's napping. Usually, it's while he's napping, because I just can't bring myself to wake up before 8:00 in the morning to shower. So that means, my grocery shopping doesn't get done until  I shower. Most afternoons, I feel too exhausted to go grocery shopping, so that means it doesn't get done! Definitely a fail!

Fail #3 - Potty training....not so much the act of potty training. That's actually going great! It's the persistent urine smell that comes from potty training a boy. He misses the toilet...it runs down the toilet...etc. I have cleaned and cleaned and can not figure out where this smell is coming from! Until today...I picked up the rug (by the tub, in front of the toilet). Gag! That's where the smell was coming from, and I almost threw up! After looking at the care instructions, I discovered that I get to hand wash this lovely rug, so it's now soaking in the tub. Big fail...

Ok, so this was fun, but I'm truly hoping I don't have to participate every week! lol The way I'm acting, I'm sure I will though!

Visit My Blessed Life for more Friday Fails!!!