Today marks the one-year of anniversary of the first time we saw Brogdon House. 

Since late summer of 2005 we had been on the hunt for the perfect big, old house to restore in the Atlanta city limits–mainly because there are so few of those kind of homes in my hometown (which is where I really wanted to live).  My mother was actually the one to first see the for sale sign at Brogdon House when she was on a Sunday drive and called me.  I didn’t believe her when she said it was for sale (it had a tiny 8″ x 10″ for sale by owner sign in the front yard)–after all, it had been in the same family for 90 years.

We called Miss E. and had to play the very hard Small-Town Name Game.  She had to make sure we were, in fact, from the town since my married last name is not common here–she said she refused to show it to anyone she didn’t know.  Once she realized she had worked with my paternal grandfather, frequented my maternal grandparents’ store, and her niece was good friends with my mother we became “good people” in her eyes and were allowed to come her home.   We made an appointment to see the house on July 3, 2007 at 6:30pm. 

And it was beautiful and perfect–though in need of major work–and I knew within two minutes (maybe less) that this house was what I’d been dreaming of and was where I wanted to spend my life.  But getting the house wasn’t that easy–when we went to see the home it was treated as if we were just visiting with her.  No talk of the price, the structural aspects, or timeline was put on the table.  The next three months were like a dance to get Brogdon House and honestly it wasn’t until after we closed on September 25th that it all sank in–my dream had come true.

Here’s to you, you lovely old house, and many years of memories to come.

I should preface this, since some of you know me in real life, by admitting that yes, I have a minor in entomology…but my focus was integrated pest management, which means I studied how to kill bugs and definitely do not like any insect even the teeniest little bit.

So it should come as no surprise that when C. showed me this moth tonight after he worked in the yard I about freaked out.  It was huge (6″ across at least)!

I knew instantly what it was–the Royal Walnut Moth (also known as a Regal Moth).  Other than being gigantic and bright orange it’s actually not that scary, but the larva (aka caterpillar) known as the Hickory Horned Devil?  Holy Crap!  Those things are big and mean and verrrry scary. 

And just think–those were in our backyard feeding on the leaves of our walnut trees.  I will never walk barefoot out there again!

I know all about cravings lately that’s for sure.  It seems when you’re pregnant when you want something you want! it! right! this! second!! 

Tonight that something was shrimp and mushroom fajitas and nothing else would do.

I sauteed an onion, added some mushrooms, and threw in some shrimp after awhile (and doused them liberally with fajita seasoning).  Placed in a flour tortilla with some guacamole, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato, and cheese equaled one good dinner.

And I admit it: I gorged myself.  But I have an excuse, right?  I mean I’m eating for 2…so what if the other person is 2 inches long and weighs 1/3 of an ounce this week.  Ha!

Click on the link below to read about my stay-cation that Randall asked me to do.  Fun times!

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Written on June 14th.

Today marks my 8th week of pregnancy and I have to honestly say that most days I don’t “feel” pregnant.  Sure, there’s the nagging, constant acid reflux, the breakouts, the bloatedness, the multiple bathroom trips in the middle of the night, but that’s not really that bad.  Just a little different than normal, you know?

This past week I noticed my pants were fitting just a tad tighter than normal too.  I’m trying to not let any negative thoughts creep into my head every time I notice this–afterall, this is a natural thing–but it’s hard not to go, ‘Oh, crap!  My pants are getting tight!’…and even though I can tell I won’t be in maternity clothes for at least another month I still have to reassure myself that this is okay and not a bad thing.

But I digress.

Anyway,what I was going to say in this post is that within the last three days my taa-taas have gotten HUGE.  Like, they’re at least a couple of inches bigger, I know.  And on top of that, they feel heavy and sore to boot.  I really noticed it tonight for the first time when I looked down at my chest and realized I could see less of my feet than usual.  Anyone else experience this?  And I have to wonder, will they get bigger?!  I’m busty my nature, and I can’t imagine these ladies getting too much bigger without becoming a freak of nature.

I = big boobs.  That is all.

Written TODAY (June 30th)

In the past couple of weeks I’ve had morning sickness.  Some days are great–I feel wonderful and have more energy than I know what to do with.  Other days, like today for instance, I was constantly nauseous.  On the bike at the gym this morning, vaccumming the house, walking Vivi, watching TV, basically everything I did I felt like I was going to toss my cookies.  I refuse to let myself–I have a feeling if I start throwing up I won’t be able to stop–and so the whole day I walk around feeling icky.  I do not like it, let me tell you, and I cannot wait ’til this part goes away.  Second trimester, here I come! (well, in a couple of weeks anyway).

I don’t know why I did it, but I did.

I posted pictures from our house on HGTV’s Rate My Space. 

And when I posted them it didn’t occur to me that people would vote AND comment on my choices for my house.  And our upstairs bathroom?  Well, it seems that not a lot of people like it so much–it received a 2.4 (out of 5)!  And it kinda hurt my feelings that paintingismypassion did not like my color choice and she/he thought my chandelier was dirty (it’s not, by the way, it’s OLD).

So, this is the link to my page.  Go ahead and leave me a mean comment or two, I can take it.

Written on May 22nd:

I only have three pregnancy symptoms:

1. I’m tired.

2. I’m bloated.

3. I have severe acid reflux.

And when I say severe it feels like my throat is on fire all day long.  Nothing helps.  Today for breakfast I had 1/2 a Pop Tart and a bottle of water.  That doesn’t sound too bad, does it?  Yet here I am at 11am cursing the brown sugar filling and all the heat it is producing in my chest.

Ick boo hiss, you nasty Pop Tart!

Edit (June 27th):

Add to the above list the 24 hour nausea (but no throwing up–almost worse), an intense craving for watermelon/repulsion of all desserts and juices, and taa-taas that are growing at an alarming rate (as well as a stomach pooch that has definitely gotten bigger this past week though I’ve only gained 2 pounds–grr).

A very short man once said, “Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu’un long discours”, which basically translates into “A picture is worth a thousand words”.  So here are a few from the last week, in no particular order, that will give you a glimpse into our lives (too bad there are no pictures of me napping since I’ve spent approximately 14 hours doing that in last week):

Making Key Lime Jelly.

Coco showing her stomach mid roll.

Vivi and her cousin Gus at my parents’.

Since we bought the crib last week we started playing “Musical Bedrooms” upstairs.  The bed in the nursery (bedroom #3) was moved to bedroom #4.  The bed from bedroom #4 was moved into the office/bedroom #5.  Thankfully C.’s friend, T., came over to help us.

We have squash out the wazoo.

Vivi after the groomer.

And since I did write a lot during those early pregnancy days, here’s a post from June 4th:

Doctor’s Visit #2

Today we had our second official doctor’s appointment.  Of course I’ve been back for my every-other-day-hCG testing (which my numbers went from 369 to 755 to 1630–perfect!), but this is only my second appointment with my doctor, as well as my second ultrasound.

And?

Everything is totally 100% average.  Yay!

We saw the baby–it measures 3cm–as well as saw the heartbeat (it was 113 beats per minute) since I’m now 6 weeks, 4 days.  The due date has been set for January 24th though she may deliver it earlier (it’s 99.9% likely I’ll have to have a Cesarean since I’ve been cut so many surgeries on my abdomen).

We go back on Thursday, June 19th for another ultrasound and check-up.  I’m having to go a lot since I’m not exactly “high risk” yet, but I’m definitely not “normal” either–which is fine by me–C. & I just get to see our baby more!

I’ve mentioned on here a couple of times how my grandmother and I planted a large vegetable garden back in April.  I bring to the table a horticulture degree, she comes with 76 years of farming experience.  With those two things we can sure grow some vegetables.  I keep forgetting to take a picture of our beautiful garden–I must get to that this week while the sunflowers are still blooming.

But I digress.

Every Saturday morning we get up at 6am and go into the field to harvest our little crop of zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, peas, squash, etc. and we weigh them and take them to a local farmers’ market to sell.  By 10am we are sold out each week.  I also sell my jams and small flower arrangements.

Here are a few pictures (please do not pay attention to the bloated pregnant woman in the pictures…haha!):

It really is a lot of fun and if you live in the area I suggest you come and visit us!

You may remember a while back I had everyone vote on their favorite curtain for our master bedroom.  Well, I’m happy to say they’re here!

Just to refresh your memory, this is the crowd favorite:

And here are our curtains:

For some reason the color looks yellowish in the above pictures.  The plaid is actually shades of brown with a little green and the panels are a mocha color.  Strange.

She did a pretty good job, huh?  I love them!

Click below to read a post about my first OB appointment, written on May 19th.  You’ll have to stay tuned later this week for the rest!

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