Rail Quilt - Part 2

My Rail Quilt is coming along quite well!

I've cut the back fabric and basted the quilt with safety pins so the next step is to choose a design and get to quilting.  Amazing people with lots of time sometimes do this by hand.   Because time is not something I have a lot of, I have chosen to use my machine :) I bought a walking foot to use to make straight lines and I ordered a free motion quilting foot to get creative with patterns (though, I feel like I may need a little more practice with that before I let loose on this one.)

SO MUCH FUN.

Well, truly, the safety pinning was kind of terrible because sitting on my tile floor for 2 hours pinning while watching TV is not at all comfortable - especially because my belly almost hits the ground when I sit, but the rest has been fun!

Did you know that quilting is actually the process of stitching designs onto the front of a fabric to hold the back, batting and front together?  I always thought it was the whole idea of cutting up fabric and making pieces for designs - maybe that's part of it, but the quilting is really all about sewing that "quilt sandwich" together - it doesn't matter if it's pieced together or not!

Interesting... sneaky quilters ;)

This quilt is going to be heavier than I originally thought, but it sure is coming together.

Next week, binding!
xoxo, CB

32 Weeks and a Delivery Date

BIG NEWS!

We set a delivery date!  These little boys will arrive on 4/4/14 if they don't make a surprise appearance before that :)
Stay cookin' fellas! I want you to fatten up as much as possible.

Starting next week I will go see Dr. Carter every week for twin monitoring.  They'll hook me up to machines and listen to the babies to make sure they're not under any unnecessary distress for 20 minutes and see how they're doing.

On Tuesday mornings I'll be looking forward to having up to 3 different appointments in the same day:
1.  Twin Specialist every other week  (Laura)
2.  Sonogram doctor every 4 weeks (Dr. Fonseca)
3.  OBGYN for twin monitoring every week (Dr. Carter)

I'm happy for all the precaution and am so extremely grateful for insurance.  But good grief.  It's temporary and it's for a good reason... just keep swimming, just keep swimming... swimming... swimming (yay, Finding Nemo!)

Okay, that's all I think - just a little update with a lot of fun news :)
xoxo, CB

P.S. I just realized that today is  32 weeks for us!  Hot dog.  We're getting so much closer.  I have GOT to get to working on that nursery.  It is a train wreck.

31 Weeks - Twin Update

Ready for another baby post?

I'm 31 weeks and 1 day today.  This is a big milestone!  97% of babies born at 31 weeks will not have major lifelong medical problems (blindness, lung problems, etc.)  If we make it to 32 weeks, that number increases to 99%.  What a relief.  We are in a pretty critical point in the pregnancy because the doctors really really want met to get to at least 34 weeks.  At that point, the boys will likely need very little NICU time and may only need steroids to help their lungs develop.

So, in precaution they've put me on a modified work schedule - I'm only supposed to be working 4 hours a day.  And, they've cracked down on my travel - I'm not supposed to be out of the house for more than an hour or two at a time because it puts too much pressure on my body and they're afraid it might throw me into early labor or it could make it to where I need to be on bed rest.   I really, really, really do not want either of those things.

I'm also supposed to be resting for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening.  This is so hard for me.  I get bored easily, and in my mind I feel like I can do more than I am.  But, I'm trying to listen to their advice.  It has been a welcome change to allow myself to rest, and not feel guilty about it.  I'm exhausted all the time because I'm not sleeping, so it is good to be able to sort of turn off my brain.  Oh, this brain.  It is fuzzy.  If you tell me anything important these days - make sure it is written down, because I will forget or I will get it backwards or I will forget.

On Tuesday I had another routine sonogram and all things are looking good.  Dr. Fonseca (the sonogram specialist) said there is lots of amniotic fluid for the babies and they're growing really well... right on track with what a singleton would be, but times two!

Baby B (aka. Samuel Barrett, or Sam) is 3.3 pounds
Baby A (aka. Ryan, Clayton, Grant, Wade... who knows yet!) is 3.6 pounds.

Baby A is presenting first - that means is that he is lower than Sam and would be delivered first if we are able to have a non-surgical birth.

Oh, and about that..  C-Sections.
My head is wrapped all around the thought of having a cesarian and I'm giving it a big hug.  I know there are lot of moms (well, most from what I've gathered) that would rather not have major surgery to have a baby, but I am not one of those.   I had the most amazing experience of my life giving birth to Travis and we were lucky.  He was healthy, I was healthy and it was an extremely easy delivery (aside from the 41+ hours of labor.)  But, there are so many things that can go wrong during delivery, that my choice is to deliver any way that is going to get these boys here safely.  If that means surgery, I'm all in. If that means a traditional birth, I'm all in.  As long as they are safe.

Likely, we will have a C-Section.  Both boys are breech, which means their heads are up in my lungs, and that doesn't bode well for a safe traditional birth.  Breech babies are funny.  I've had 4 doctors tell me that having a baby breech is the most uncomfortable thing imaginable... and then there were 2.  Not to worry.  I kind of love being able to cup their little heads with my hands resting on the top of my belly... but, it is extremely hard to breathe at times and when they kick me, it is a whole different level of extremely uncomfortable.   Good news is, I don't get the karate kicks to the ribs - Travis used to wake me up in the middle of the night with those.  Now the worst of the pains are the ones where I pull ligaments in my sides - apparently that stabbing sensation that takes your breath away and makes you nearly cry is normal.  Before I know it, this pregnancy will be over and I'll miss all these crazy things.  Oh, and the heartburn.  I will not miss that.

So anyhow, unless these babes get to flipping soon, and both of them, for the safety of the kids, we will likely have a cesarian.

What else is new?

I'm big.  Real big.  I'm measuring at 38-39 weeks, so I look like a mama that is about to pop but it's totally false advertising.

I get stopped when I'm at the grocery store or getting a smoothie and people are so enamored by a big mama pregnant person.  The sweetest lady in a restroom today told me I was beautiful - I nearly gave her a hug.  Most people say things like "woah, due any day now?" or "I bet you're ready for that baby to be here" and I just smile and nod and go on my way mostly... but I tell you - some people can be down right rude.  I was at a career fair a couple weeks ago and a student came up to me, gave me his resume to apply for a job, looked at my belly and after my co-worker said "she's having twins!" he replied with "wow, I'm sorry!"   Ouch man.

We are so excited to be having twins.
And scared.
But mostly excited.

It is a blessing to get pregnant, let alone carry babies long enough that they're viable and I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to be able to experience this in my life.  I am trying my best not to complain (but sometimes it just feels good to gripe) because it is a gift.  More, it is a miracle to have a baby.  And twins... wow.  I couldn't have dreamed this is the way our lives would turn out.  It is a true twist of fate and it is so beautiful.

Okay, I'm mushy.  Pregnancy has made me hormonal (sorry, Jason!)

Good night, all.
xoxo, CB

Oh yeah, one more thing.  The glucose test came back fine.  No gestational diabetes - thank heavens!

Rail Quilt - Part 1

I've taken a small hiatus from the Star Quilt, because my neighbor and I have been taking a Beginning Quilting class at Valli & Kim and in class we are making a rail quilt!  Rather than getting stressed about working on 2 quilts at the same time, I've decided to focus my (limited) energy on one thing at a time.

Each week, we learn a new step.

WEEK 1
Put together to top of the quilt.

Step 1:  I learned how to properly cut all the pieces for the quilt.
Looking back on how I did it with the Star Quilt I realize I was SOOO off.  It is very precise work, this piecing business.  It makes me a bit nervous if I'm going to be able to make all my star blocks line up when I get to that point - but I'll worry about that later.

Step 2:  Once I cut the 3 fabrics into strips, we learned how to sew an "exact" 1/4 inch seam... which I am not great at.
This isn't going to be a perfect quilt, I'm learning!  I keep telling myself, the wonkiness is what makes it homemade and I guess if I wanted another perfect quilt I'd go buy one at Pottery Barn :)  It is a lot of fun though.

Step 3:  I sewed the 3 different long strips of fabric together, in the same sequence, then cut them into squares.
Again, these had to be exact squares because we want the quilt to come out looking more like a rectangle than a triangle, and it will look a lot nicer when we sew all the pieces together and the lines match up.

Step 4:  I laid out the pattern for the quilt.
With a rail quilt, you can make a couple different twists to certain blocks and have a completely different pattern.  I thought I wanted to do "cross" type rail quilt, where there were little + signs going through the quilt, but with it being so small, I just didn't like how it looked.

Can you see the "crosses?"  Some are blue and some are green.

If I had sewn the brown polka dot on an outer part of the block, I think the crosses would have been much more obvious. 

I ended up going the traditional way, and made it look more like a staircase (see below.)

Step 5:  I sewed the blocks together horizontally into long strips.
I sewed block 1 and 2 together first, then block 3 and 4 together, then added block 5 to the 3/4 section and then sewed block 3/4/5 to block 1/2 to make a long row that is five blocks wide.
I repeated that all the way down the 7 rows following the correct "rail" pattern until I had 7 long strips.

Step 6:  I then sewed the long strips together to make the top of the quilt.
This was so much fun for me because I'm OCD.  Pinning and trying to get all the points to match up perfectly really makes me happy... when it works!  I read books on how to do it and watched a few online tutorials, and it worked!  They were nearly perfect and I was tickled!

I wish I had done a better job taking pictures of all these steps, but when you're in class, the time just goes by so fast!  I didn't think to document it along the way.

I was shocked about how much I learned at the first class.  It is amazing all the precise detail and measurement that goes into making a quilt the "right way" - If I hadn't gone to that class I would never had learned so many new little tricks!

The best way I can equate making a quilt versus the way I normally sew is as if you were going to compare the differences between a baker and a cook.   A baker measures every teaspoon, cup, ounce and they are very very precise.  I cook throws in more salt until it tastes good.  I'm a cook.  I'm trying to be more like a baker.  :)

WEEK 2
We learned all about how to add a double border.

Foolish me, I thought, how hard can it be?  It's just a simple border.  Measure the quilt, cut a couple strips, sew it on to the top of the quilt and voila - done.

WRONG.

There is a lot of measuring, adjusting and averaging involved... shocking, I know.  We added two layers of borders and now that I've done it, it really doesn't seem like rocket science, but getting my head around the concept was tricky.

I got so excited before the class that I roughed it out to see what it would look like.  

Surprise, I'm impatient!

Step 1: We measured the "left" and "right" sides of the quilt at the top, middle and bottom.
The goal was to see how "square" the quilt was after it was pieced together.

As you can imagine, my measurements were not all the same - the top was bigger than the bottom by 1/4 of an inch!

Step 2: We trimmed a little at the top (an 1-16 to 1/8 of an inch on each side), and eventually tried to get it as close to the same measurement as the bottom width without destroying the blocks.

Step 3: We measured again after we trimmed down the rectangle.
We took the average of the three measurements and used that figure as the length of the border strips.

Step 4:  Pin, Pin, Pin
Because the length of the border strip and the quilt aren't exact, I spread out any extra fabric I had on the border over the whole quilt top by pinning it evenly.

Step 5:  Sew on the left and right sides of the border.

Step 6:  Measure the width of the top and bottom of the quilt.  Taking 3 measurements again, top middle and bottom.

Step 7: Repeat steps 2 - 5.

Step 8: Put on the second exterior border... repeating the whole process again until it's done.

Ta Da!  Here is what she looks like now: 

Please excuse the wrinkles :) 

So next week we're learning about batting... how to dart and I think we may start quilting.  Or at least, we will be practicing quilting on a test piece so we don't mess up all the goodness that we've already made.   Then after that we will do the binding and I think that's the last of it.  

I learn so much in these classes - it has been so much fun.  And our teacher Kim is just a sweet as can be.  Hopefully these babies won't arrive before I can get this one finished but if they do that's okay too.  

In baby news: we had a sonogram this week and I passed my Glucose test!  I'll post a real update on that another time to let you know what's going on there.  But all is good.  I've been put on work and travel restrictions so that is really boring, but all for good reasons. 

Love you all.  Off to feed these little twins and rest a bit :) They're hungry and so is their mama.

xoxo, CB. 

Star Quilt - Part 2

An update on my weekend project...

I've been working on my star quilt off and on all day and I was able to finish 12 blocks!  I'm going to have to do some fancy measuring to figure out how many more I will need if I plan to put it on a bed... maybe 8?  I need a break tonight - well, my back really needs a break so for now I'm calling it a night.  This big belly can't take 2 super late nights in a row. 

Next up:

1. Make more blocks. 

2.  Make a border for around each block 

(sashing? I may be using that term wrong?) 

3.  Then, maybe a big border around the edge

4.  Then measure and cut the back & batting

5.  Then the darting 

6.  THEN the quilting - which I've decided I'm going to do with a machine. 

 I would love to do it by hand, but I know I would never finish it.  

7.  Then the binding 

(I'm worried about this part since I've never done anything like that) 

I'm such a new quilter that I don't even know if I got the order of those steps right!

That's a long list of "to do's" so it'll be a while before we see much more progress but I have definitely enjoyed it thus far :) Oh, and I've got to buy more fabric. I don't know what color I'm going to do the border in yet - I'm thinking a linen-ish grey/brown.  

Can you tell I'm very inspired by Valentine's Day?  

I've never been a pink girl, but this borders on coral and I just love the star fabric. 

I think I'll do just about anything to avoid doing my taxes :) 

Sweet dreams, CB.

Star Quilt

I'm starting a quilt.  I decided at 10 o'clock tonight that it was the perfect time to try something new (what?!) and here is what I came up with...

I accidentally put the wrong color piece on the inside of the star, so I'll end up ripping this one and redoing that part, but I pieced together enough tonight for 6 more!  And, I'm tired :) 

My neighbor Ramie and I are taking a quilting class next week, so I got a jump start on practicing.  

Good night everyone, sleep tight. 

xoxo, CB.

Crepes... Ooh La La!

We've been reading this book "Chicks and Salsa" to Travis, pretty much 'round the clock.  

(Thanks Aunt Keri for the book!  Teachers always get the best scoop on fun new children's book authors!!)

The kid loves to say "Ole!" when the chickens, ducks, and pigs eat Mexican food, but at the end of the book, the Rooster gets a wild hair and makes Crepes and instead of "Ole!" he says "Ooh La La!" - it is just the silliest book but we all really enjoy reading it.  Check it out, it is so fun!

So in the spirit of "Chicks and Salsa" and a little ooh la la, I made Crepes for breakfast this morning and they were a hit with my boys! I followed the recipe out of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and they were so yummy. I didn't wait 2 hours for the batter to set... but, they still tasted delicious! 

I made the batter and let it rest for about 5 minutes, then ladled some (a spoon full?) into a non-stick pan over medium heat 

(I skipped adding the bacon fat or butter because the pan does all the work for me)

Then I rolled the batter thinly around the pan until there wasn't any liquid moving around anymore.

I put the pan back on the stove and waited for the bubbles to form (seen below) and once it looked like it was cooked (about 90 seconds) I did a fancy chef toss where I launched the Crepe in the air as I flipped it over in the pan.  That is BY FAR my favorite part, it makes me feel so fancy... and Travis gets a kick out of watching me do it.  

Happy kid = happy mom. 

30-45 more seconds of cooking the other side and voila! You have a thin eggy, tortilla looking Crepe! 

We filled ours with Jellies or honey butter & syrup then rolled them up into little taquitos and gobbled them up.  

Ooh la la! So fancy :) but not... they're so simple and can be made in so many different ways.  

Hope you all are having a lovely Saturday morning!  Enjoy your weekend!

xoxo, CB

Itchy Belly Love

I'll want to remember this so I can laugh about it later:

My belly itches so much it feels like I just got a haircut and have been rolling in dried grass with a wool shirt on.

28 Weeks - Twin Update

The boys are healthy healthy healthy!

I am 28 weeks along now and am measuring at 36. The multiples specialist, Laura said "woah! they had a big jump this week!" because 2 weeks ago I was measuring at 33 weeks. She thinks in the next 2 weeks I'll be at full term size and warned me not to push it because of how big I'm getting already. I had to buy a back brace this weekend because by about 2 in the afternoon my back is done and it is getting more and more difficult for me to walk around.

Somehow I only gained 1 pound since my last visit with Laura. The babies seem to be getting enough healthy food and nutrients to keep them growing without packing on unnecessary pounds on me! Yay! I've been drinking smoothies like they're going out of style and I've got to attribute some of the good growth to the fact that those things are packed with fruits, veggies, protein, and flax or chia seeds. Pretty cool!

I now weigh 156.8 pounds and I started somewhere around 134. I think I may have weighed less in my first trimester, but that was only because before I knew I was pregnant, my new little inhabitants were sucking the life out of me and I was dropping weight way too fast... I got down to 125! That may be my post pregnancy target because I really liked how my clothes were fitting at that size. I probably haven't been that small since high school! Regardless of the numbers, I'm more focused on making sure these kids get enough good stuff for them to grow big and strong!!

All is well on the baby front and I couldn't be happier - aside from not being able to sleep more than 3 1/2 hours a night for the past couple weeks. Ugggg. I'm tired all the time but that's okay... If that's the worst of it, I can live with that.

What else? I've managed to pack up most of my office and am starting to transition it into the new nursery. We have one crib setup now, and I'm hoping to get another matching crib sometime after the baby shower in March. I really don't want anything else to match... except those cribs :)

And, a couple weeks ago I scored the sale of a lifetime with our stroller - they were transitioning the 2013 cribs out for the 2014 cribs and I was able to get the stroller I want for about 35% off the retail price. Woo hoo!! I got the Baby Jogger, City Select thanks heavily to the fact that Tammy has one and sang it's praises and then when I meet with the stroller specialist at Buy Buy Baby, he recommended it over all the other twin strollers. It's pretty awesome and there is a kick plate on the back so Travis can stand and ride on the back if he wants to. Pretty cool. And it's a tandem stroller, so we should be able to actually fit through doors. Big bonus!

I'm taking my glucose test today to test for gestational diabetes... cross your fingers that it comes back normal. I'll let you know how it goes when we get the results back.

That's all for now, have a great week everyone!
xoxo, CB

My New Favorite Nail Polish

Warning: silly girly blog post. 

This stuff is AMAZING.

CND Vinylux from left to right: 

Rouge Red #143, Pink Bikini  #134, Gotcha #116, Hot Pop Pink #121, Powder My Nose #136,  Weekly Top Coat 

I love pretty painted nails.  I will be the first one to notice them on friends and give out compliments on how nice a well manicured hand looks because I completely appreciate how much time it takes to maintain pretty nails!  I have been doing the gel/shellac nail thing for a couple years have loved it because once it is on, it is not going anywhere... but that's also why I sort of hate it.  When your nails grow out you have this perfect nail polish that requires another trip to the salon to have removed (and I am just not that dedicated)... so, I end up picking at it and completely demolishing my nails in the process.  Not good.  

Until now! I recently read an article on these vinyl nails made by CND - the same company that makes the gel nails, but it comes off with acetone and it doesn't require a UV lamp. I ordered them on Amazon and was so impressed.  My toenail polish has been on for close to 2 weeks and looks as perfect as the day I put it on and my finger nail polish lasted nearly 8 days.  I'm now wearing the Rouge Red - I used the Powder My Nose first and it is just so classic.  And today the Pink Bikini (soo pretty!), Gotcha and Hot Pop Pink arrived.  Spring is in the air :) I'm too excited. 

I liked them so much I ordered some for my sister... Tammy - you'll have to update us on how long it's lasted for you. 

I'm happy if nail polish lasts 3 days because normal nail polish maybe one day for me.  They say it should last a week and I hope it does with the darker colors!  And now, I'll share someone else's pretty pictures, because they're so much nicer than mine with the camera phone.

Yay for my first obscenely girly post.  

In the midst of all these all these boys around me, I am reveling in the girlyness (at least for the moment!) 

xoxo, CB

Beach Cottage Interior

Ahhh... the interior.  

It isn't finished (will it ever be?) but I have so loved seeing the transformation it has made from where it started to where it is now.  

I think, the fastest way to update a space is with paint... and we did a lot of painting!  

Almost every single surface has been repainted!

We started with Kilz - Jason Kilz'd the entire inside all by himself. (YAY, daddy!)  He didn't want Travis to be surrounded by paint fumes, so he went up for a couple days before we got there and got so much done.  A fresh coat of white over the previously hideous paneling made a world of difference!   I wish we had pictures - but you can use your imagination. 

Next up, a little color!  I love light and bright and airy and that is exactly what we got.  

The front of the cottage is painted this ever so light blue.  It is just off to the left of the door when you walk in.  

Look at those fishing rod holders!  I almost asked Jason pull them down, and boy am I glad I didn't - not only are they extremely functional, I think they're super cute... and they give you something to look at on the ceiling!  

The lamp was inherited when we bought the cabin.  I'll change out that shade one of these days.  I found the bed at an antique shop in Rockdale called Antique Queens.  I love the chippy paint - Jason doesn't :( and sadly, it is a REALLY tall bed with the box spring, so I don't know how realistic it will be for us to keep it in this space once Travis actually starts sleeping on it... I can just picture his little head thumping on the tile floor when he falls out.  Terrible! 

But for now, it is my favorite piece of furniture in the whole cottage.  :) 

And yes, the frames are missing pictures.  

We'll get there - hopefully very soon, it's driving Jason crazy.  I just can't decide what to put in them. 

In the next photo, I'm painting the living room (across from the guest room - to the right when you walk in the front door) and I had a very hard time telling if the blue color was actually going up on the walls because it is so light!  Surprisingly enough, it took on a lot of pretty color.  

I love it, I love it, I love it - I am so happy with how it turned out!

Keri came up one weekend over the summer and dove right in!  I bet you don't believe this by the look of the picture below, but she hates painting!  Not only was she a huge help on the painting front, she was amazing at keeping Travis entertained.  I think she read him "The Gruffalo" 40 times that weekend.  Poor little guy was not getting his normal attention from us but it was definitely a treat to have his Aunt Keri to play with! 

The main portion of the cottage is painted a very faint green color.  I was so impressed with how much color came out of the blue that I undershot the pigment of the green.  

I'll probably end up repainting that area because I think it is too light, but for now, it'll do!

Can you even tell the color difference in the picture?  It's hard to tell when you're actually standing in the room too.  

You might also notice in the window nook, the railing was taken down! YAY! 

Why someone would have staircase railing there, I will never know... but it's gone now!  

And Jason fixed the broken trim moulding on the frame of the wall.  

The master bedroom has an original map of the Rockport/Fulton/Lamar area from 1958!  

We haven't figured out the bedside-table situation yet so for now, a beer cooler and a rinky-dinky table, that we inherited when we bought the cottage, are working just fine :) 

You can barely see it on the right side of the photo, but I added a couple hooks on the walls with crystal(ish) knobs.  

Soooo exciting!

The little dresser at the end of the bed came from Pottery Barn Kids.  There is another one in the living room that the TV is sitting on.  We store our extra sheets, beach towels and blow up mattresses in them.  The circle mirror came from HomeGoods. I love that store. 

In the kitchen, Jason did a lot of updating! 

He and Evan added bead board to the back wall (it's nearly impossible to see in these pictures - sorry!).  

I love the bead board... we haven't painted it yet, but I really like it white... so maybe it'll stay like it is. 

I have grand aspirations to eventually get rid of those old cabinets and put in a decent countertop.  One of these days (when we save up enough American Express points!) we may do that.  They function now, not perfectly, but they are good enough.  Oh and the sink.  Oie.  And the faucet... I have dreams about updating all of it but if I keep fussing, I'll drive myself nuts.  

It works.  I'm happy!

We got rid of the old yucky refrigerator for new bigger model.  Jason and I went round-and-round on if the fridge I wanted was too big.  Jason wanted a smaller one... but guess who won?  hehe.  I am really glad we got the big one because it fills up quickly (especially when there are lots of boys down there and we need space to keep all the beer cold!)

Jason took down the cabinet that was on the right wall of this photo... it was about to fall off the wall, so it's good that it is gone.  He also took down a random shelf that held a mustard yellow 1970's bread box and an old mirror.  

Now this wall is blank and I don't know what to do with it.  I think mounting a TV up there next to the AC would be cool, but we'll see.  

I'd also like to add something above the stove - shelves? A pot rack? I don't know if it's worth changing before (if?) we update the cabinets, so maybe I'll just get a clock. 

Eventually I'll refinish that table - it came with the house too!  Bonus! 

Do I love it... nooooo.  

It is far far far from anything I would ever buy, but it is a solid table and with a lot of TLC I'm sure it could look cute. 

  In the living room, you can see the couch I reupholstered.  Jason framed a map of Rockport and he recently made a side table to replace the one that is falling apart below (I'm not sure I love it yet, but maybe it'll grow on me - he worked so hard to make it.)  

 I obviously didn't stage these pictures to get all our junk out of them... next time I get down there I'll try to take some fancy pictures for you.  But most of the time, this is how it really looks when we are there:) 

The itty bitty couch folds out into a twin, so we can comfortably sleep 4 and there is still room for a cot or 2 for the kids and another cot for an adult.

We once had 5 adults and 1 Travis here... it was tight, but it was a lot of fun!

My plan is eventually to get a normal full sized couch and move the little couch to the side wall, where the map is.  That way, if someone didn't mind sleeping on a couch we could add one more overnight guest. 

The important part of this picture are the window coverings.  The old blinds were dirty, metal and broken, so we threw them out and put up new ones.  I think they look 1000% better.   

So that's it!

With 2 new little boys joining our family, we are already brainstorming how we can re-vamp this space to sleep 3 boys and 2 adults while still having enough room to move around.  I'm so curious to see how it will change with us as we all grow.  

I love this place and I am so glad we made the crazy decision to buy it when we did.  I can tell you, that if we had waited even 6 more months, we probably would have chickened out.  Who in their right mind would do that if they knew they were going to be having twins?! But I am SO GLAD it has worked out like it has.  I can't wait to get back there, and to watch our family and friends get a lot of happiness out of this place over the next chapters in our lives.   

Love you all, sweet dreams. 

- CB

Beach Cottage Exterior Remodel

Now that you've seen some of the "before" photos, here are some of the "during" and "after" shots of the exterior. 

The exterior needed some of the most immediate attention.
There were pieces of siding that were broken or rotting away, so one weekend Jason and Les pulled down the parts that needed replacing and put up Hardie Board. 

Right Exterior: 

before 

during

Priming with Kilz

 Left side:

before

during

Priming with Kilz

 Below is the front of the cottage as we primed the outside and started painting the trim.  

The trim is the color "milk paint" from Sherwin Williams. 

You might also notice, we put a new roof on it! 

I think that made a huge difference in freshening it up. 

Our next big goal was to paint the exterior.  The color did not come out how we wanted it (we both think it is WAY too bright and saturated) but unfortunatley, the paint was mixed improperly and we just went with it.  It's pretty bright, but the sun down there is so strong, that I have faith it'll fade soon enough - either that or I'll repaint it.  But for now, here she is. 

Jason removed the super heavy concrete blocks that were flanking the cottage. 

He also pulled down the random piece of gutter that was over the front door. 

I was very glad to see them go!  I think it looks a lot less cluttered now.  

 

Here is the view looking at the water down our little street.  

 

Jason was so excited to be able to hang a flag, so we have our American flag, a Texas flag and we just got an Aggie flag to fly when we are down there.  

I like how this picture is showing the green in the paint but it is still pretty bright. 

Soon, I'll show the interior - I don't have "finished" photos of the inside, but they're good enough for now ;) 

and I don't know if I'll ever really consider it finished... we still have a lot of ideas on how to spruce up the inside. 

xoxo, cb. 

Our Beach Cottage

A little over 6 months ago, we bought a beach cottage :)

I've been quiet about posting it here because I don't want people to get the wrong idea about us - it is absolutely nothing fancy, but Jason is down there hunting, and I am missing that place so much that I can't get my mind off of it.  I wish I could be down there.  I think January is one of the best times of the year to go to the beach.  But sadly, one of the not-so-fun things about being pregnant with twins is that I'm on travel restriction - and even if I wasn't, I wouldn't be able to feel my legs at the end of a 4 hour car ride.  Boo.

Jason and I have dreamed of having a place in Rockport since before we were married and for years would go down to the beach and hunt for houses.  We would drive around for hours.  Looking at vacant lots, looking at so many beautiful homes, we even meet with a few realtors over the years.  Unfortunately, we were never able to find anything we could actually see ourselves owning, at least that we could afford!  So for the longest time, it remained just that, a dream.  We never wanted anything big - a place for us to be able to watch our kids grow up on the weekends, decorate with beachy stuff (though our opinions of what is appropriate in a beach house are completely different!) but mostly, we just wanted to have a place to call our own.

So, last January, we made a trip down with some friends and visited their cabin in Lamar (just north of the Copano Bay Bridge, near Big Tree and Goose Island State park.)  It was completely lucky when, one block away, I caught a glimpse of a "Cottages for Sale by Owner" sign.  They were all in a row, on a terribly paved road but just off the water, and some were in pretty rough shape.  Frantically, I made my sister-in-law Kristi, memorize the first few digits of the phone number on the sign, while I memorized the last and I called as soon as we could get cell phone reception.

I even made Jason drive by later that weekend to get his input... and as you can imagine, he didn't show all that much excitement, but I knew deep down he liked the area better than downtown Rockport.

Weeks went by and I didn't hear anything.  I called again, and nothing.  And again.  Nothing.  Maybe it was a sign.

Let me tell you, these dreams, they were lofty dreams - Travis was barely a year old, and really, who are we to buy a beach house?  We are most definitely not fancy people.  But, it was just too perfect - the timing, the location, to be so close to our friends and have the sound of the water outside your open door and the smell of the salty ocean breeze drifting in as you nap in the middle of the day.  Oh, I love it.

After much pestering, I finally got a hold of the owner, and a few months later, we went back and stayed in one of the cottages - the owner was selling 3!  Kristi, Jason's brother Les and their two girls rented one of the other open cottages that same weekend.

I was so cool because we got to see how different they all were and decide which one we liked the most.

There are 10 cottages/cabins/shacks lined up in a row off the water.  They were built in the 1950's and I believe they were originally all part of a fishing club, but slowly were sold off one by one.  So, they're all very similar, but each have their own little differences; some have exterior walls still up as interior walls, some have the refrigerator in different places, some have been updated, but most are just weekend get-aways that aren't all that fussy.

They are a mere 480 square feet and the house is split up into 4 tiny sections.  They were originally somewhere around 300 square feet until the front porches were built-in.  The roofs are slanty, none of the exterior colors match, but our place is less than 150 steps from the water and there is a boat ramp at the end of the road.  A fisherman's delight.

There is so much to this fun story, but I won't share it all here, now.  It's getting late and I'm exhausted after a day of chasing my little man.  We've done a lot of updating to our cottage, mostly cosmetic, and we aren't done - but at least I can go to sleep dreaming of the smell of the ocean and the sound of the water tonight.  

Before

(sorry, this first shot is completely overexposed) 

I'll take you on a tour of the cottage clockwise.  

The first space off the left of the front door is the "guest room"

Next to it, is the "master" bedroom

You can see the entrance to the bathroom, next to the "master" on the right side of the picture below.

I'll spare you those pictures for another time. 

Across from the "master" bedroom, is the kitchen and dining area.

Get a load of that amazing fridge. 

There is a side door to exit to the back yard. 

Across from the kitchen is the "living room" - they're using it here as a 3rd "bedroom" 

And then, voila! you're back at the front door! 

It's not big... that's for sure!  

But look at the view.  

That is Saint Charles Bay.  

And our neighbors white picket fence :) 

Want to see what we've done with it since?  

Well, you'll have to wait :) 

I've got to upload and organize those pictures, but I'll share them soon.  

It's cute, I promise.  

Love you all - have a good night, don't let the bed bugs bite. 

xoxo, CB