white bedroom

Here I am again, sadly late in adding the text to this entry!

Something about a flurry of children under my feet makes me want a really REALLY peaceful bedroom. So, for early spring, I have redone my room. This used to be an easy task before we upgraded to a King Size bed two years ago... just the same way my grandmother of 89 collects curtains, I have a plethora of sheets and duvets that I love to alternate between. But, when we went to a king size bed, I became very "sheets poor", and when it comes between choosing a nice little outfit for the kids, or a new set of sheets for mommy- guess who wins hands down every time? But, Duane treated himself to a television (hmpfh) so, I treated myself to new bedding. And then I treated the kids, too. And now we are broke. :-)

The comforter came from JC Penneys. I just happen to love Penneys!!! I shopped all the high end department stores, and nothing struck me as easy to care for and sweet as this! comforter set from JC Penney. I ordered the comforter set, and the sheets with valances for my room.

Then, I added some pillows from Taylor Linens. I love their bedding. I think its every bit as pretty if not prettier than Peacock Alley, with the same styling of Shabby Chic.

I ordered toss pillows in the daisy dot which features swiss dot and embroidery on a white linen background with an organdy ruffle trimmed in crochet.

And two more toss pillows in Elisa, a lovely old fashioned pintucking pillow with lots of ruffles and crochet accents. Both pillows came with goosedown fillers and are so cozy on my bed.

I searched high and wide to find someone that offered sales on Taylor Linens, and the only merchant I found who did was Debbie at Classic Chic. If you are on her mailing list, she frequently sends out 20% off coupons, and her prices were lower than everyone elses to begin with. She was very friendly, and I love my new room!

To finish the look, I threw a white crochet coverlet that I have had for just years on my settee, and added a white pillow to my antique rocker.

Decorating

Thats the only picture I have on the computer of my celluloid santa collection on the Lincoln's Buffet. That primitive piece now belongs to my mother as we didn't have a niche for it here that displayed it well. This home is so bright and traditional that it looked chunky- where as before I always managed to find one little spot where I could have a country type vignette. At Christmas I love folksy things!

This past weekend we put up the outside lights and the big tree indoors. As well as lined up my entire collection of Santas on the mantle. I will have to take a picture of my tree to share, I am proud of it! But, I don't know if I will show you the lights or not...

I believe that Christmas decorating outdoors is primarily for Children- and the bits of the child that survived to adulthood in each of us. And I so remember sitting in the backseat of my parents car and driving around to look at lights each Christmas. Even the car itself was Christmasy- an old Pontiac with plush burgundy velvet seats! The outside was speckled with rust and my mom called her car "Freckles". She wouldn't trade it in because it was such a cozy ride! Each year we would venture out to popular neighborhoods in search of the BEST lights. My dad would carry a pen sized flashlight and put it on his nose and say he looked like Rudolph driving a Pontiac. My dad was such a dork. Remember the word "Dork"?

The BEST lights were the TACKY ones. Neon Orange thrown onto a tree, green on a shrub, multi colored blinking lights on a porch railing. The tackier the light display, the more "ooohs" and "aaahs" it garnered from my sister and I. We would ask my mom and dad to please oh please make several passes by those homes. And those classy all white numbers that shimmered in the "best" neighborhoods and cul de sacs? YUCK. Booooring.

We would end up driving through the neighborhoods populated by senior citizens (and their glorious older decorations), save one lone ritzy neighborhood where every year the home owner paid someone to decorate a 40 foot pine in the yard with multi colored strands.

So, I am the owner of a Tacky Christmas House. Our tall shrubs (like mini-trees) are strung with solid green and overtop that solid gold. The midsize shrubs have blue lights, and the ground covering has white lights. I am excited about a tree on the porch that I am putting multi colored blinkers on.

By the time I am through I am probably going to make neighbors wince at the spectacle we are creating. But, I also hope to make children in the backseats of their parents cars say "ah".

Babies update:

Ewan and Rowan have officially gave up their midnight bottle. They take their bottles at 8-9 p.m., then sleep until 3 a.m. YIPPEE! This is really giving my husband extra rest since before he would sit up to midnight with colicy ole Ewan (who is less colicy, too!) because the only way I would get any daily rest was to sleep from 8-midnight in ear plugs. I still go to bed about 9- but he can go to sleep earlier now too since the ear plugs aren't necessary to get decent slumber now.

I am getting a larger chunk of sleep in one resting, but less sleep overall since giving up the midnight bottle has made them very fussy and agitated from about 5-6 to 7. I LIKE sleeping until 7. *sighs*. I like the little bit of chill in the air, and snuggling back down into the blankets as Duane leaves for work and knowing I can sprawl out for an hour. Hmpfh. But, on the whole I am much more rested now- it might not be the sleep I like, but its good sleep. An added bonus is on weekend morning we take turns letting the other one sleep until about 8.

Rowan has become the projectile refluxer. He is like a little pukey timebomb. He gets this look in his eye then spews 6 ounces. ACK! I have started feeding him a little less at once and then returning to his bottle after Ewans and that seems to be helping.

They both smile all the time and Ewan tries to hard to talk that he gets exasperated with us, and then lets out a big heap of a "hmpfh" at us and sighs.

As far as Lucas and Matilda- we have given up documenting her vocabulary. She is off the charts developmentally there. She learns a new word or two daily. She knows what animals say, she expresses empathy, she tells you what episode of Mickey is her favorite- "Doctor Daisy", etc, etc, etc. Lucas... I just don't know. I ask him to say something and she over talks him. Today he ran past us as I was playing with a See and Say with Tilly and as I said "What does a cow say?" He yells out "Mooooooooo" as he dashes by. I hadn't heard him say that before and excitedly tried to get him to repeat it. I then asked him to tell me again and he growled at me. However he understands language. loves to play with his sister and his parents, so I need to stop comparing him to Tilly and just let him be Lucas.

House Guests, SCARY Babies, Smilie Babies

My aunt and uncle came to visit for two days last week! This is my favorite aunt, my mothers baby sister. My mom is one of four girls, and my father one of five children- and the only boy. I have many aunts, but, none as generous, kind and all around lovely as Mae.

They brought some of my things from West Virginia- like my Department 56 Halloween and Christmas Villages. We had a lovely dinner, and I had the dining room decorated for Autumn. I served a pork tenderloin in a mushroom cream marsala sauce, broiled asparagus, pineapple bread pudding (as another side to compliment the pork) and rolls. I made the applecake I shared below (yum!) for dessert and it worked as a lovely centerpiece too, I think. It was so nice o have family stay with us. I don't have much opportunity for entertaining, and am so thrilled when I am able to- especially for wonderful people. My aunt is very much like me in that she enjoys giving to people and making them feel special. It is nice to reciprocate!



A friend of mines 20 month old son learned the word "Scary" and uses it at times to avoid things he doesn't want to do. When they visited me a couple weeks back, he said that Lucas and Tilly were "scary" to avoid getting in their play yard with them. I mean, that *has* to be the explanation, because my children are NOT scary. They are sweet little angels who would never try and intimadate another baby.



Rowan has been flashing us the biggest gummiest smiles for a couple weeks now, but this is the first one I have managed to catch on camera. Ewan is still the "angry baby" with his colic, but he is on zantac now so we hope that will clear up soon and he will be just as smilie.



They had their 8 week check up on Wednesday. It certainly could of went better for Rowan. We are making him an appointment with a pediatric optometrist because the pediatrician thinks he has cataracts! Egad. It isn't as horrible as it sounds and I have learned they are fairly common in infants, but stressful none the less. Rowan just can't catch a break right now.

I will try and update again soon.

Autumn decorating and first smiles!

This weekend I decorated our front porch for Autumn! I used fall leaf silk garland, pumpkins, yellow mums, and amber lights. It's so pretty in the evenings. In some ways I like autumn decor even better than Christmas. I use the amber lights on my Christmas tree, too.



Here is a closeup- this wreath stays up all year, I just tuck seasonally colored silk stems in it to match the holiday.



I received gifts from a "bloggy baby shower" yesterday! Genevieve, Debra from Bunnies Bungalow, and Laurie from Charming Designs sent me presents.



Debra sent me the sweetest cd's of storytimes and lullabys for the babies, along with some spa themed slippers for my feet.

Laurie sent me two of her birdies- a soft buttercup yellow, and that lovely shade of pink she creates!

Genevieve sent me two sleepers for the little twins to wear at 3 months, and her lovely daughters sent Lucas and Matilda two Gund "Dustys"... Genevieve didn't know it, ut this barking puppy is Matilda's favorite lovie. :-) Although hers is quite... ahem... CRUNCHY. *laughs* We managed to wrestle crunchy Dusty away and give her a new puppy while crunchy was washed.

"Dusty" is her puppys name because she can't say puppy. She says "Duddy". She also says that "Duddy" says "Meow". Hee, hee.

I appreciate my blogy friends so much for thinking of me, and celebrating with me. Thank you sooo much!

Manuela from the Feathered Nest also thought of me this past week- she sent me a stack of brand new magazines to enjoy during my quiet times- albeit rare time indeed, its all the more welcomed with a cuppa tea and a good magazine.




This may be the best picture I have taken of Lucas and Matilda. They were in the jogging stroller and we went for a nice walk last weekend while Duane stayed with the little twins. This is a lovely season for walking.



Here are Ewan and Rowan swinging away!



And a rare moment- I captured one of Rowan's first smiles. He smiles quite contently now when his tummy is full. Isn't that sweet?

nesting and ready for babies!

Well, we had a false alarm on Thursday and I was soooooo embarrassed. Called my MIL, had baby sitters here, and lugged my suitcase over to the hospital thinking I was in labor. They put me on the Tokos and said "You are in PAIN?" I turned to look at it and it wasn't even spiking above 25!!!

Last time, I just woke up in the middle of night, turned to Duane and said "It's time". Now here I am in a second pregnancy and running to the L&D for uterine crankiness. Hee, hee. However, I did get a plausible response for all my issues to date- when the doctor checked my cervix she was surprised to find Twin A at "+2 Station". This is normally associated with being *more* than 5 cm dilated and in very active labor, though I am only fingertip dilated, 70% effaced and not in labor. She said all the downward pressure and the pubic diastasis has made for very painful uterine cramping- though its not laborious. They gave me a shot of terbutaline to see if it would halt the contractions and it did for an hour and then they came back. However, the L&D bed had a "pillow" you could fluff up under your bottom and it pushed the baby back to station +1 for the time I was in the hospital and that felt soooooo good! The baby dropped back to station +2 as soon as I stood up. Hmpfh!

And then comes the dilemma... my last pregnancy was a c-section- mandated because of the fact that Lucas was deemed having "intrauterine growth restriction" in the womb- a condition that means that for some reason the babies abdomen isn't maturing properly and growing at the rate the rest of the body is, and is often associated with a placenta dying off. On top of that, he had an irregular heartbeat. So, it was agreed by all that he not be made to go through the rigors of labor and I had a c-section. Once he was born, we realized that he was fine... he's just built like his daddy- lanky! Ha! And to be even more honest here... I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of two labors in one day as sometimes there is a several hour gap in delivering twins and with Tilly not being engaged that was a possibility. EEEEK! Plus... I am a wimp. There, I said it. I get horrified just watching birthing shows, and often my face turns bright pink when viewing them.

So, this pregnancy we were told from the start that because of the proximity of my last pregnancy VBAC was )O-U-T and we would be having another c-section to avoid the possibility of uterine rupture on scar tissue that may have not properly healed from the last section. And we have stuck with this the entire time... but here we are 2 weeks before my scheduled c-section and the Doctor on call from my practice shakes her head when she finds out we are having a c-section. When she left I asked the nurse why, and she said that I was an L&D dream come true with two babies engaged and one already at +2 station. That I would have a practically painless quick delivery with how separated by pubic bones are, with the fact that I do not carry large twins. Both my mother and sister had natural deliveries (no pain meds) and it seems to run in our family that we have this pubic diastasis. So, there may be some truth in this.

ACK!!!

Duane freaked and said there was no way he would want me doing VBAC, that YES twin A might be a quick delivery, but there was nothing preventing twin B from turning afterwards and going breech and my winding up with two deliveries- one vaginal, one section. The truth is, only 15% of twin deliveries wind up being one vaginal and one c-section, but the prospect isn't very exciting! I then spoke to my mother and she also freaked and said to stay with the surgery. Duane said if I were carrying a singleton I would have his full support, but with twins he wanted to obide by the original recommendation. We both did alot of research last pregnancy and did read that with twins a c-section is safer for Baby B. That while Baby A seems to not have any increased risks, its hard for Baby B to go through the rigors of labor- twice. Once for the birth of their sibling, then for their own birth. Duane reminded me of this as well.

It just seems like such a waste to have a body that is actually prepared for an easy delivery, and still have the section. One of my friends is an L&D nurse and she emailed me this morning and concurred with the L&D physician on call that this would be a very easy delivery. Ack. I am just as wimpy as before, but just thinking that a vaginal recovery would be sooooo much easier than a c-section when I have babies at home already to care for. This is what my friend said as well. Her twins were sectioned. I will talk to my doctor tomorrow and get her thoughts...

Here is the remodeled guest room- you can see the little twins cribs up under the window. Lots of sunshine for the wee ones!



This is me at 34 weeks at my shower. My friend Tonya made the diaper cake. Isn't it cute? I had a difficult time finding an outfit to fit for the shower... I tend to stay in maternity dresses to keep anything from touching my abdomen, but, I also need to sit with my legs up ("Indian Style") to keep weight off my pelvis and thats much easier in pants. I wound up wearing a set of brown capris that I really have outgrown, and this blouse which my tummy hung out the bottom of. And everyone keeps saying how small I am. Well, small everywhere but my abdomen! Its huge!



I have been cleaning like mad and have had a burst of energy, so now Duane can't sleep at night thinking its the "Calm before the storm". I don't know if I am nesting officially or not- theres so much that needs to get done!

I am going to try and catch up on blogs today, I sure have missed everyones entries!

Stuff!

Thanks everyone for wishing me a nice trip to see my family over the 4th! I will be visiting all my friends blogs over the next couple days to see how all of you spent the 4th as well.

My dad rented a extended cab trail blazer to meet us in Charlotte- we have an extended Explorer, and he needed something sized pretty close to ours to be able to hold all the baby necessities. My mother had this clever idea to pack it full of as much of my things from the barn as she could, and then when we swapped baby items from one car to the other, we would also swap "stuff".

Neither of these are in a perm. spot, or are decorated yet, but I really wanted to share!

The first is my Hekman silver chest. I have had it since 1994- it was one of the first things I bought when I moved out on my own. I still love it. Its small enough to fit anywhere, but has nice felt lined drawers and is excellent for storage. One day, I hope to have silver in it! Ha! The vase doesn't go here, thats from the guest bath, but for pictures I needed something on it.




I love this chair! One day, I want it to go into Matilda's bedroom. Its very pretty and for now looks nice- albeit very snug- in this corner of the guest room.

We also managed to get my sewing machine, my bed steps (needing those right now!), some of my stationery, my nice dressy dresses (which I do aspire to wear again!) and some odds and ends.



My mother and I had a lovely visit. I am pretty exhausted still as my mom can't climb into the play yard very well (she is short), so I was lifting babies in and out by myself- and really missing my husbands help! My dad was there in the evenings and they took turns helping me get the babies off to bed. The babies did really well. We purchased "portable cribs" several months back and they are perfect for traveling. They fold down to next to nothing, and are 35% smaller than a standard crib, so they can easily go in a guest room. The cribs went into my room at my mothers home. We would put the babies down, and as soon as I was sure they were asleep, I would head off to bed, too. Every morning when they realized I was in the same room with them, they would squeal and scream with delight. Such cuties!

My mother and I did alot of baking and I am 3 pounds heavier. I made the mandarin cake I posted the recipe for here, coffee and cream brownies, a spinach dip and fruit salad with dip. My mother cooked huge meals every evening to fatten me up. Baked steak and gravy, fried chicken... all those comfort food favorites!

More on the particulars later, I want to get this posted so I can visit blogs!

bargains for bedroom

For those who aren't a fan of the furniture in most furniture galleries right now- the big bulky pieces that mix irons and fake hardwoods- you can get traditional styled furniture REALLY cheap.

Start with our king sized poster bed. We ended up getting it 50% off retail because the furniture store we normally shop at said that they were now unable to sale traditional styled pieces. I wanted something we could hang onto for sometime, and didn't want to go with anything trendy. I priced it online and couldn't get within 500 dollars of the price of my local gallery!

And this weekend I found something I have been wanting for *years*. I know that highboy dressers aren't in style right now. Nor have them been for about ten years! But, I LOVE them. I have wanted one since the first time I saw one- in my high school best friend's mother's bedroom. I fell in love with the classic styling and the broken pediment top.

So, I have been scouting craig's list trying to find one and this weekend we did. This highboy had been listed for several months- the listing being repeated every 5-6 weeks. I emailed the owner and found out it was still available. She had it listed for 200.00.

It is in good shape- its made by a reputable furniture company (but not high end), and it had been well taken care of. It does need a few touch ups, but its solid wood. She dropped the price fifty dollars before I even had a chance to think about it (In my head I heard Jennifer Lopez saying "Oh no you didn't!"), and I knew at that minute I would leave with it for 75 less. And we did.

So here is my 125.00 highboy dresser, which is storing my husbands things. We can now tell my mom to sale our maple dresser (hubbies) which didn't match a thing we own out of the WV barn. The dresser that I have my things in is in the guest room with its matching queen sized poster bed.

This is a view of our room from the doorway. That rocker is just there in that corner temporarily, it goes on my side of the room, but I keep one of the big twins travel cribs there to help transition them from one room to the other without leaving someone unattended (we have breakfast in my bed every morning).




Here is a close-up of the highboy. It looks like it was made with our bed!



I had a somewhat stressful ob appointment today. I am measuring smaller than I did two weeks ago. She managed to get me worked in to the perinatologists office tomorrow to quickly determine whats going on. I have consistently measured 4 weeks ahead the entire pregnancy (with twins its normal to measure even 8 weeks ahead), and this time I only measured one week ahead, which means a week smaller than I measured two weeks ago. The ob is hoping that one of the babies has went transverse (side lying). That would make my waist wider, but my fundal height- what they measure- smaller. I also hadn't gained weight in two weeks. I bought some protein powder on my way home to add to shakes.

I will post an update tomorrow, as well as come big twin pictures!

the guest bath, the twins, the big preggy lady

I have been hesitant to share pictures because its not technically done. We still need to trim the mirror out, and we need a new faucet. But, as many projects as my husband has been doing around the house- including replacing our central air unit and our coil- he hardly has time for a faucet. Also, I have chosen a wall treatment called "candlelight" by Ralph Lauren, but haven't had the energy to use it.




I can't say enough how much I HATE textured wallpaper. It was foam, and so hard to remove. It took me a full week solid working every day for an hour just to get the foam down, and then afterwards I had to remove the glue.



There was a layer of paper below this one, a country floral. It was hung write ontop the drywall without the walls being sealed or primed!!! I paintd over this layer, rather than wrestle with damaging the drywall as I went.



I removed the vanity doors and puttied all those weird crevices in the doors and drawer. Then, I bought some wood appliqués and glued them on, and finally painted it white. We also added glass door knobs which you can't see here.

The vase came from a yard sale from two weeks back- the home owner was an interior designer and was redecorating her home. Most of her things were overpriced, but this vase and its matching vessel on the back of the toilet were 4 dollars each.

You've seen the shoe and the birdie- here is where their home is. They both came from kirklands.



A Waverly shower curtain from Target that needs ironed. But hey- I don't iron! And here are some of the pictures I hung in the room.

Not the most impressive makeover, because all of these guest baths are teensy and hard to work with- but, I am very happy with the outcome and pleased with how much nicer the room looks.

And now the baby pictures!



This is the two of them watching t.v. ACK! They only get a half hour of Mickey Mouse in the morning, and a half an hour of Mickey Mouse in the evening, but its like CRACK. I try to give them their bottles to drink while they watch, but as soon as they finish, they crawl over to the edge of the playpin and climb up and stand and stare at the t.v. *gasp*



Here is my baby boy being silly. He is normally so serious for the camera, its always fun when he decides to be a goofball. He is in 12 months clothing now, even though he is still a skinny boy, he is long!



Tilly just gets prettier and prettier. I suppose Duane will have to stop calling her "Chris Farley" and saying "I live in a van down by the river!!!" when he holds her as she no longer has those fat baby cheeks. Every one has been telling us lately how pretty she is, and it takes me off guard, because for the longest time she really was so pudgey and her very square jaw made it hard to see what WE saw. They used to just say "My shes a big baby!" Heh. Of course we always thought she was beautiful! She looks so much like her father, taking in his Puerto Rican ancestory.

Grandma watched them Saturday so we could go to a friends wedding and reception dinner. This is AWFUL but it was our first baby free evening since the big twins were born, and we skipped the wedding!!! We went on a "Date" instead. We went to Starbucks and had coffees and sodas and just sat and talked and caught up with eachother. We held hands and whispered. Then, we went to the reception where we danced with one another, too. *sighs* And when we came home, Grandma had folded all the laundry!!! Duane was rushing behind me saying "What are you doing?" because at 15 till 4, and knowing grandma would be here by 5, I was doing laundry instead of getting ready. I said "Its a game we play. I leave laundry in the washer and the dryer, she finishes both, then folds it. Don't argue!" I really appreciate it. This used to make me feel inferior and embarrassed that I had laundry that needed to be folded, but heck, I AM busy and she enjoys feeling useful and goodness knows we are grateful!

As far as the pregnancy, I feel like crud. On days when the big twins nap well, I sleep. Right now I am waiting for them to nap so I can, but they have been playing in their cribs for 45 minutes instead of sleeping. Ugh. I feel like I am not giving anyone my best... my twins, my husband, myself. I am so rundown right now that even taking a bath feels like a chore because I would rather have the free time to sleep! My iron came back anemic, so thats part of it... but basically this is the point in a twin pregnancy where you really feel huge and awkward and ... uncomfortable! Duane continues to do all he can to take somethings off of me, and I struggle with "bad mommy" guilt.

My ob is scheduling my c-section between 36-37 weeks. This means I only have a little more than 7 weeks left. We are a bit concerned about uterine rupture with my conceiving so quickly after my previous c-section... thats why we are scheduling the slightly premature delivery. We have to get the twins to 36 weeks for lung development, but anything after risks severe complications for me.

*edit- at 36 weeks with twins, my uterus will be the size of a singletons pregnancy at 44 weeks! So, though it sounds awful to be planning a premature delivery, I am relieved. Last time I carried until 35 weeks 2 days, then went into labor on my own. Lucas weighed 4 pounds 12 ounces, and Tilly weighed 4 pounds 14 ounces. They were both 18.5 inches long. There is a chance I will go into labor on my own again... we just would like to make it to 35 weeks before anything like that happens, and hope we can make it to 36 as the babies will come home with us in that situation. 35 weekers require a stay in the "step down" nursery (not NICU) to pack on some ounces before they can go home, 36 weeks do not.

dream bedrooms, etc

Sorry for the poor scan on the following picture- I scanned it several years ago at my mothers house on their aging fax/scanner.



I don't know why I still love this bedroom, but I do. It now looks dated to me- a little too "country victorian" and the sisal heart shaped rug looks tacky beside the bed. And yet I still look at it and sigh to myself, about how lovely the pink and white quilt is, and how soft and romantic the lightweight voile window treatments look. It doesn't matter that this magazine is now over 15 years old!

I have a feeling my enjoyment of this bedroom is linked to the year I found it- the same year that I began housekeeping on my own, and a time when I was trying to find my style. This bedroom has a little bit of me in it- from 1994! It is a time capsule, in a way, capturing my growing independence and the style that would eventually be uniquely my own. Do you have a favorite room from years past that you still think of? That helped mold your unique style?

Growing up, we frequently relocated due to my fathers occupation. We moved 9 times before my 16th birthday. Never being too "at home" anywhere we lived, we decorated very sparsely. I remember having lovely quilts and bedspreads, but never nice curtains for an ever changing window size, or a pretty hued paint. My room was dull in contrast to the girls I would befriend. I had one particular friend whose room remains memorable to me. Her name was Angie and her childhood bedroom still is one my favorite all time rooms. I can picture it as though I only just walked out of her room, skipping down the stairs with her on our way to cheerleading practice. Her girlhood room molded my tastes in decorating from that time forward!

Her room was very sweet- she had bright emerald green carpet, and a white wallpaper that was scattered with tiny red rosebuds and the same green leaves that were the color of the carpet. Her bedding was crisp white eyelet lace with mountains of ruffled white toss pillows and dolls. There was just one window in the room, and it had eyelet priscilla curtains adorning it. She had a netted canopy that she liked to envelop her dolls within. With the bright carpet and wallpaper and the summer fresh bedding, this room was pure sunshine. It was the happiest of rooms, and perfect for a little girl to daydream and slumber within. We would sit up for hours giggling in this room, and no matter how sparse the daylight, somehow this room remained lit. The room in many ways actually looked like Angie- a petite strawberry blonde with "Annie" style curls and freckles like Pippy Longstocking. She had dimples and never ceased smiling.

In my mind, a thousand times, I have recreated this bedroom and do still.

At that time, I thought what I loved about her bedroom was that everything coordinated. That her dresser matched her headboard. The wallpaper matched the carpet. The bedding matched the curtains. It has only been in my adulthood that I have come to appreciate what I was really drawn to about this room- the stability of it. This was a room ready to welcome only one little girl. Custom designed to match her tastes and her collections. This room was fully nested and if it had a name, it was "Angela" as if you were quiet, you could hear her name whispered in every corner of the room- an echo of her growing personality and style.

My bedroom by contrast reflected the instability of our life. I was a shy little girl who hated moving. Hated new homes, hated new schools, and hated trying to make new friends every 1.5 years. I had nondescript bedding to match whatever carpet the new home we would be moving into had. And to match my nondescript bedding was a nondescript personality I had forged to try and make transitions into new schools easier.

After each move, I worked on arranging my bedroom furniture to be in the exact position it had been in our prior home. This was my first foray into decorating- and an act of self nurturing. Once my bedroom was a carbon copy of the bedroom before, I felt a little more at ease in my new surroundings. A empty room began to resemble my personality, and I found the ritual of decorating to be soothing. I was nesting.

It was a relief and a comfort when I was in early high school that my father changed careers and we moved onto the outskirts of my grandfathers farm into my great grandmothers 100 year old farmhouse. You will often hear me talk of this home, and the accompanying land. My parents reside there to this day, and it gives me peace to see them settled and nesting themselves.

I do not find it ironic that once we had the stability of "home", I also began to build self confidence and independence. The first thing I did was buy a comforter set that matched the carpet in my new farmhouse bedroom. The carpet was rust orange!!! Oh it was hideous! But, I found a blue and white comforter set that had tiny peach rosebuds on it that perfectly matched the carpet. The blue quieted the strong rust color, and I remember my mom being very pleased with how I decorated the room. I was pleased too. I can remember standing in the doorway, looking upon my new bedroom, and realizing the bed was in a different place than it usually sat in each of our homes, but that it looked "right" in this room. I am sad that I never photographed the room.

And better still, I found a friend who remains a best friend through to this day. We email regular and visit on holidays.

As far as Angela's room- whether it represented something missing in my pscyhe or just a girlhood favorite, I still carry her room with me throughout my life. In my decorating you will frequently see touches of white eyelet. White eyelet to me is eternal, and continues to comfort me. It is also a tribute to my best friend for two years in junior high school, and a reminder to make every home my own, that my home should quietly whisper my name to all who enter, and that you should be able to find me here- secure, content, and uniquely "me".



I am now entering my third trimester with the "little twins". At Mondays appointment, Twin A weighed 2 pounds 1 ounce, and Twin B weighed 2 pounds 2 ounces. One thing I seem to be good at- I grow twins with very little discordance between their weights. However, I am also starting to wind down, and am feeling pretty tired in the evenings. Duane now puts the babies down by himself, and I m retiring to bed quite early.

long weekend

Without having to take a picture of my new resin birds, this is the closest I could find to them. We have a "Kirkland's Home" in the new Target plaza, and while they don't offer many shabby or cottage gift items, they do have some garden decor thats very cottagey. I had been looking for some shabby chic style birds to go with my flower arrangements, and they had a set of three garden resin ones with coupon for 9.99. The shapes are similar to the birds above, but, they are more distressed and look almost like they are mossy. They are lovely! Two of them are sitting on my cocktail table in the living room, and the other is in our nearly finished guest bath. This was my one treat for myself this weekend as we are on a budget.

I am exhausted. I refilled my EMLA numbing cream for my tarpal tunnel syndrome (like carpal tunnels, but in the feet) with a generic, and it spreads very thin and doesn't absorb as well. I wasn't able to get to sleep until 3:30 Friday evening (or rather early Saturday morning!) and while Duane attempted to let me sleep that a.m. and feed the twins himself, Tilly is so happy in the mornings and squeals very loudly and I found myself excited to see them even on only 4 hours of sleep. We were supposed to have company so I had planned on a nap- that didn't work out either. Instead I groomed two of our dogs- the shihtzu and the schnauzer, and bathed one other. Duane bathed his schnauzer that I groomed as he is difficult. Our company then called Sunday and asked if we still wanted them to visit if their two year old had vomited three times the night before. I am such a germaphobe- NO WAY! So, Wayne came over and helped Duane decide what we needed to replace on our central air unit, and he ended up having the nice dinner with us that I had hoped to share with his wife and adorable adopted son. I felt silly having such a fancy dinner for Wayne only, but he said he enjoyed it and complimented all the right things!

Here was the menu:

Caribbean grilled pork tenderloin
Roasted corn with cumin and ground red pepper
Red potato and dill potato salad
Mandarin Cake with Pineapple frosting
Sangria (I have my ob's permission to have one glass a week of pure wine, but we make it into a punch to further weaken it just to be extra safe)

Mandarin Orange Cake

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package butter recipe cake mix
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 2 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments
* 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
* 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
* 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil and can of mandarin oranges with juice, drain second can of mandarin oranges and add half of that (reserve second half for topping). Beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
4. To make the topping: In a large bowl, beat together pineapple with juice, reserved half can of mandarin oranges and dry pudding mix until blended. Stir in whipped topping. Spread on cake. Serve fully chilled.

(There will be topping left for other cakes or fruit desserts)

This cake is perfect for summer. I posted the recipe as I made it- the original calls for less mandarin oranges and a yellow cake mix made in a 9 by 13 pan. The extra oranges give it a much better flavor, and although omitted from the original frosting, make it taste so much more summery! And why anyone would make such a pretty cake in a 9 by 13 pan is beyond me- it looked gorgeous as a bundt with the topping piled up high on the top and sides. Duane and Wayne each had two large slices after dinner.

After Wayne left the twins went down for a nap, and then that evening we went to our friend Sam and Tonyas home and swam in their pool. That was the best part of the entire weekend. The twins love swimming, and being in the water gave me a nice "anti-gravity" feeling as far as my expanding abdomen. I am carrying about 4 pounds of babies now at 26 weeks 4 days, and approaching the third trimester. In the evenings I feel so awful after dinner from the lack of room for my stomach and uterus in my abdomen to co-exisit, and my pelvis feels like its going to drop right to the floor! Duane has been helping me into bed in the evening, but the mornings aren't hard. Laying on my left side all night takes all the pressure off my cervix and pelvis and then I am back to being able to carry the big twins around during the day. In the evenings now Duane is carrying them for me. We may buy booster seats for their play pin so I can start feeding them in their playpin during the day instead of lifting them in and out. They sure are good little babies... thats why its so important when Duane is home to do lots of extra activities with them, as I am becoming more and more restricted by my abdomen in what I can safely do during the day.

Well, its time for the twinkies to have breakfast, then we are ALL laying down for an a.m. nap!

My twinkies are growing up!

"Events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order the continuous thread of revelation."
~Eudora Welty

It is hard to believe that Lucas and Matilda are now ten months old. They are developing their own personalities, and their own appearances. Lucas is very introspective and likes to see how things work, considering every toy you hand him carefully. Matilda is very affectionate and wants reassurance. She loves to dance and she likes to be the center of attention.



This picture really captures Lucas. He is such a thoughtful little boy!



A rare moment of quiet for Tilly. She was interested in the shrubbery outside the nursery window. Or perhaps shes wondering when we will finish painting the trim!

The rocker they are posing in was my aunts, my mothers, and my sister and I also used it. I had it recovered a few years back in anticipation of my own children using it as well. Three generations of children in my family. I hope the rocker will be used by a fourth generation as well.

Gardenias and an antique rocker

We haven't stopped working on the bathroom- I hope to have it finished by this coming weekend. Right now we are redoing the vanity. Anyhow, I haven't updated on this project because all thats left are "after" pictures.

We redid the nursery and moved the antique gooseneck rocker from the nursery into a corner of our bedroom. I am not sure how long it will reside in this spot, but thought it would be a nice time to share a picture of it.



I think all of us in the south are currently basking outdoors- and in- the lovely aroma of the gardenia blossom. I prefer mine floating in crystal bowls and have little such floral displays all over our home right now, including the bedroom.




I had my appointment at the new ob's office yesterday. I am now 25 weeks 5 days with twins. Both babies looked good on the u/s and my weight and blood pressure are good so far. I have an appointment with the high risk peri in two weeks to do a growth scan and to monitor my blood thinners. I then will see the ob again and discuss when to schedule the c-section. One twin is head down, the other is very much transverse. I am not even wanting to try vbac with twins!

My MIL babysat yesterday which went pretty well except they didn't eat! They normally take 6 ounces of bottle for lunch, and then two jars of food. I really work with these guys, I know they get distracted and just toss their bottles. She didn't. They didn't eat even an ounce of their formula, and didn't eat their jar food either! They woke up from their naps half starved and very irritable. Oh well. At least she watched them, eh?

more from the victorian home

Answers to a few questions...

Yes! The spring summer bedding is from the "Simply Shabby Chic" line at Target. The guestroom bedding shams and pillows in blues and white were purchased in Chicago at a Shabby Chic boutique, but the shabby chic duvets I have came from Target. I like the simply shabby chic line, it made her bedding much more accessible for me since I do like to change it around.

I didn't make the pillow on the bed- but, I could have... I made the moire hat box beside it, and it has the same details. The pillow came from a vendor who participates in the "yellow daisy" festival at Stone Mountain.

We didn't want to sale the Victorian home- we actually sold the house in Georgia and moved to WV. My husband was commuting back and forth to Atlanta (because engineers in a small WV rural town do not garner the wages they do here in Atlanta) while he tried to find a comparable job in WV. When I reached 19 weeks 5 days with the big twins, I went into preterm labor. My ob at the time was a high school friend and he asked me to quit working ASAP, start terbutaline, and go on bedrest. He saved our pregnancy! The loss of wages was tough, and worse was that I was on bedrest with a husband who was out of town two weeks a month in a very large house that was super creaky at night! Not to mention the nearest hospital didn't have a NICU for preemies... So, we rented a home again in GA to keep our family together, and struggled with the paying rent and a mortgage both on one income- add the twins into the picture and we were living basically hand to mouth... in the end selling the home was a good idea, and we used the equity to put toward our current home when it was sold.

We originally bought the house to have some place to spend the holidays and summers. I did miss how lovely the home decorated at Christmas this past year!

Here are a few pictures- I don't have many of that house on the laptop, most are on my desktop which we haven't set up here yet- keep in mind these pictures were taken our first winter in the house, before it was decorated. Here are two of the fireplaces in the house at Christmas, and a picture of the foyer showing the pretty woodwork. The foyer empire mantel was really breathtaking.

A tale of two bedrooms

A little kingdom I possess, where thoughts and feelings dwell; And very hard the task I find of governing it well.
Louisa May Alcott

I wish I had more home pictures to share, but we are living in half a house- the rest of our home is in a barn West Virgina, being stored after we sold our home there in January.

Here is the home we sold.



A lovely Victorian, but, we no longer had the time to invest in restoring it after the big twins arrived. BTW, the day we closed on the home- January 3rd, I told my husband at the attorneys office that I believed I was pregnant with twins again. He laughed and said not to be silly! I wasn't showing any signs, we weren't trying for a baby, wasn't "late", just picked up an article on Joan Lunden and it was about her having two sets of twins and I had a sense of euphoria and knew I was going to have twins again, too! It was fun to own this home- it was our playhouse and we stayed there over the Holidays and when we visited my family. Homes like this in WV are cheap, cheap, cheap.

But back to my home in Ga...

So, with half my things in a barn in WV, I haven't hung all our pictures, haven't placed all our furniture etc. The living room and dining room are basically complete, but none of the bedrooms or family room are finished. I do, however, have all my bedding with me.

If theres one thing I collect, it would be duvets, quilts, sheets and comforters. I love changing my bedding with the seasons, and love the look of bright colors in the spring, and warm neutrals in the autumn. I thought I would share our beds two looks.







This is actually the autumn look for our room, but, its a newer set and my husband loves it, so we have it on the bed for now. In the autumn I will add a few burgundy velvet pillows for Christmas and winter.





This is my spring and summer set, and I had to remake the bed to showcase it! I change out the yardlong over the bed, change the pillows out, and usually the lamos but one of the other lamps broke in the move so I am in the market for two more. These amber lamps were bought at a yard sale for five bucks each.

I think these two distinct looks also show how "Type a" my personality is. I loved the Victorian in WV because having that home there and the one here gave me seven bedrooms to decorate. Sometimes I daydream of owning a B&B just to decorate the bedrooms! My living room and dining room stay the same. I seldom make changes in the kitchen, but bedrooms in thise home are an evolving canvas!

Making the most of your "treasures"

This is my second blog today, inspired by an entry in the blog by my friend Janice.

In 1997 I lived next door to an elderly couple and very far from my family. I had my dog, Mr. Smith for company, and they had an equally small terrier named "Lady". Smitty and Lady introduced the Chapman's and myself one afternoon when they made friends over a particularly nice peony they were enjoying a sniff of together.

Afterwards, I was adopted into the Chapman family. I had dinner with them three to four days a week, shared in their stories about their lives, and in exchange mowed their grass and walked their dog. It was quite a steal on my part, and many an evening I would snuggle down into the afghan on their sofa while Gerald told stories about the depression and his brothers. Eleanor would pretend she had never heard the story before and sitting very close to the edge of her seat and leaning in toward Gerald to hear every syllable he uttered, she would squeal and clap her hands at all the right moments, making for a very captive audience- only interrupting to inform Gerald of a pivotal part of the story he had left out.

The Chapmans loved family. They not only raised their four children, but then three of their grand children and subsequently one of their great grandchildren while a favorite grandchild attended college. They never locked their door, and shouted "come in" to anyone who knocked without even checking to see if it be friend or foe. But the the Chapmans didn't know a foe!

One evening I was visiting when their granddaughter and great granddaughter came for a visit. On the coffee table was one of Eleanor's prized possessions- a burgundy and gold fenton art glass biscuit barrel that had been a gift from a friend. Eleanor didn't decorate her home very much- mostly things that laid out for view were papers, piano books, and family portrait albums. However, she adored a pretty candy dish and changed out which one she displayed every week, thoughtfully refilled with candy and then placed in the center of her coffee table. The dishes contents were offered to every guest, no matter how new or frequent a visitor to the Chapman home.

We were all watching the news and they showed a clip about a new musical called "Stomp". Seven year old Brianna remarked that she could very easily be in that musical. Her pap-paw agreed and reached for something nearby to make noise on. Eleanor picked up a coffee cup and started rattling the spoon inside. Brianna's mother grabbed a pot from the kitchen, and then taking cue from her family, Brianna dumped the contents of the fenton candy dish onto the carpet and started banging the top of the lovely glass jar onto the base. I think I gasped! Eleanor looked at her and said "that makes a really nice sound" and went into her kitchen and brought back a second glass candy dish to also bang on. And for the next five minutes everyone banged loudly on their candy dishes and pots while Brianna laughed giddily. It was snowing outside and I remember wondering if I would have to shovel the sidewalk the next morning. The Chapmans had an oil furnace and their home was very snug and warm. From the forced air furnace, and from their bond with their family and all the generations within.

In my parents home, good dishes and good china are tucked safely behind glass doors and protected from accidental breakage or abuse. In my home I had done the same- visiting my precious china only on holidays and special occasions. Always, always, putting them safely away again when through.

Eleanor Chapman developed cancer that summer and passed away quickly, in her own home, surrounded by her family. Her husband asked me to pick one thing from her home to keep as a remembrance. The family had already chosen their momentos. I chose the fenton biscuit barrel. Its one of my favorite glasswares in my home, and I cherish the memory of the evening that her great granddaughter was allowed to nearly destroy it, all for the fun of song and love of company.

I hope that a bit of the Chapman spirit lives on inside of me, and I never become so attached to my things that I forget the people who can enjoy them and the memories we create when we celebrate these people with our "glass and china treasures". And that I never forget to keep a dish in my home filled with candy, for every guest- no matter how new or frequent a visitor to my home.

Here are a couple before pictures of the guest bathroom. Why does anyone hang textured wallpaper?



The paper has been tough coming down because the original paper (a country pattern) was hung overtop of unpainted/unsealed drywall. Trying to take it down sheers pieces of the drywall down. We have decided to remove only the top layer, seal the layer underneath and paint overtop of that one.



Yesterday, Tilly and Lucas had a couple of silly poses for me and the camera- both while sucking on their little lower lip.

Tilly had the barrette in her hair just for the pictures- she woke up from her nap with serious bedhead!



After I saw she was interested in posing, I went and grabbed a barrette and snapped a few more pictures, of which the following silly poses were apart of.




Sometimes Tilly looks so sweet! Its hard to believe that *this* baby has such a bad temper!



Lucas was just puzzled by the little black box I was aiming at his face while trying to get him to laugh.

I did eventually get a nice silly laugh from him.




And now an update on the little twins, like Lucas they love sugar and anytime I eat anything sweet, have a huge tumble fest in my growing abdomen. Funny!