Pregnancy: A little over halfway!

Sorry, I'm bad at updating each week... I'm really bad at taking pictures.  My belly is slowly growing.  I have an appointment Wednesday so we'll know more then.  It's soooooooooo hard not to compare yourself to others who are pregnant!  Really, I keep thinking "since I have such a short torso, I should be showing more," uhhh I guess not.  EVERYTHING I read says if you're short, it takes a little longer to show!? Odd, oh yes and if you had tight abs (bahahaha, we all know that wasn't me).  Anyways, we're 21 weeks and these are a few shots of me and lil Miss Brooke!

Yeah, picked a bad mirror with a line in it... and yes my butt is still bigger than my belly or boobs!

21 Weeks

How far along? 21 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +8

Maternity clothes? my normal pants with a faux belly band most days, but some pregnancy pants when I want loose, comfy clothes.

Stretch marks? Not yet... praise the Lord!

Sleep: Pretty good :) Still on my stomach but I'm trying to learn to sleep on my side.

Best moment this week: Having people notice my bump at church/work.

Miss Anything? Subway cold sub

Movement: Ohhh yes, and I love it!

Food cravings:  French fries and breakfast food.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  I had a 24 hr bug so yeah, that made me queasy!
Have you started to show yet: a little bit

Gender: Sweet little girl

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy.

Size of Baby: a carrot, 10.5 inches head to heel
Looking forward to: Figuring out which house we are going to live in so I can start the nursery :)  

Flip it, Flip it Good: Fixing up a Foreclosure

So, we are in the process of fixing up a foreclosure. Yep, switching out appliances, getting matching ceiling fans, door, knobs, painting, seriously this list could go on FOREVER! 

Warning: This post has A LOT of pictures! These are the "before"... i.e. the first time we walked in the house.  The "after" will come when the work is done! I may post some progress pictures at a later date. 

Front porch.

Front view of house.

 

 

 

Front entry room, living room to the left, dining room to the right.

Dining room, standing in the front entry room.  Door you see is to master bedroom on far right side of the house.  We are keeping it this color.

Master bedroom

Master bath

Master bath

Master Bath WIC

Master bed WIC

Kitchen

Walk in pantry

Dining knook in the kitchen

Laundry/mudroom off the kitchen

Mudroom side of laundry room

Part of living room

Other side of living room.  Kitchen to the right, 2 beds and a bath to the left.

Steps leading upstairs, hallways to 2 beds and a bath.

Front of living room, entry room, hallway pantry to kitchen.

Coat closet under the stairs

Guest hallway bath

Bathroom #2 linen closet

Bedroom #2

Bedroom #3

Bathroom #3

Upstairs awesome room connected to bathroom, closet and other bedroom.  Could be bedroom #4.

Bedroom #5 or office/craft room.

Another view of my favorite room, from above i.e. awesome room :)

Upstairs hallway with linen closet leading towards bonus room.

Bonus room at the top of the steps.

Door to close off upstairs from downstairs, looking into bonus room.

Steps to downstairs.

View from bottom of the stairs, whole living room, entry room, dining room and kitchen.

Driveway/side yard.

Two, working AC units

Rickety ole deck on the back porch, leading into kitchen.

Back of house.

Detached 2 car garage.

Nasty ole shed.

Shed filled with CRAP!

2 car garage filled with CRAP.

I still cringe remembering the HOURS, SWEAT, and MANY trips to the dump to get this thing cleaned out!

Back of garage with extra storage... yes allllllll cleared now.

Back property line.

 What's been done so far:

• Pressure washed house and garage.
• Painted exterior doors and faux shutters navy.
• Cleaned out garage and shed.
• Mowed the lawn and prepped front for a flower bed (just putting in bushes)
• New back deck
• Ripped out old carpet
• Primed and first coat on ALL interior walls (Valspar Hopsack with white trim and doors)
• Repainted all interior doors.
• Changed out all ceiling fans to match
• Took off all old door knobs (have new ones to put on after painting is done)
• Took off all old cabinet pulls (painted brushed nickle, will show on another blog post)
• Replaced the microwave.
• Fixed a few leaks in the roof.
• Fixed holes/cracks in the walls (obviously before paint)
• Put up a new mailbox
• Baseboards upstairs
• Cable/internet and phone upstairs
• Changed out exterior door knobs/deadbolts on house and garage.

What still needs to be done:

• Front flower bed/bushed planted
•  Finish painting
• Lay new carpet and vinyl (upstairs bathroom)
• Put on new door knobs.
• Put on painted cabinet pulls.
• Check/replace outside motion lights on house and garage.
• Install upstairs bathroom fixtures (sink, toilet, vanity).
• Install 2" plantation blinds upstairs (to match downstairs)
• Rake gravel driveway/bring in more gravel (maybe)
• Get a mosquito spray treatment or two.
• Give it a good cleaning.
• Put in on the market... 
• Pray it sells...
• Make a little cash...
• Or live in it because it won't sell!

I probably missed something important, but other than that... we're definitely on the short end of the list now (PRAISE THE LORD) It's an adorable house, that we love! On a little over an acre on a private lot with only a few neighbors around.  The biggest problem is really poor cell phone reception.  The biggest advantages, plenty of room for family, friends, and future babies!  Not to mention we can shoot on our property, yeahhhhh! haha Alright, that's all for now.  More updates to come soon!

From our kitchen to yours: Turtle Cheesecake

Well, Charles and I finished the last slice of cheesecake last night... so I thought I'd put up the blog post now so I didn't rush home and finish off whatever was left :) 

I got this recipe from Pinterest http://www.momswhothink.com/cheesecake-recipes/turtle-cheesecake-recipe.html

(I think I only changed the crust, one bag of fake oreos, 1 stick of butter) 

But the desire and inspiration came from:

 http://www.atlantacheesecakeco.com/gallery.html

 Sorry no picture but Walmart carries 2 slices of this companies Turtle Cheesecake in the freezer section for less than $2... and it was amazing!

I'm not going to post the ingredients list and stuff, because it's on the link above, but here are some pictures of my creation in the making!

Most of the ingredients

My favorite tool to make cookie crusts!

Pour in the melted butter...

Now it's all combined! Dump it out and put it in the springform pan!

Cookie goodness :)

I use a smaller pan (this was a 6" in a 9" pan) to help evenly spread the crust.

Good ole stand mixer with my favorite scraping beater

Smooth and creamy!

All done! I think mine took about 55 mins to bake (the recipe said 30-40... bah)

I always loosen the cake from the edge with a thin paring knife.

Gotta have the little rim to hold the topping in :)

The finished cheesecake!

Yep, very... VERY yummy! Everyone approved :) Especially baby Brooke!