20 weeks pregnant- we found out it's a .....

We had our 20-week ultrasound and our little gummy bear revealed itself... 

After seeing our baby girl on the ultrasound, we felt a burst of excitement and we have a renewed energy to get things done! Looks like we'll be painting and getting started on the nursery pretty soon...

John's co-workers were so excited that they decked-out his cubicle in pink "It's a girl!" things.
Wasn't that sweet!?!

Thank heavens for little girls!

A little bit of heaven

Drifted down from above-

A handful of happiness,

A heartful of love.

The mystery of life,

So sacred and sweet-

The giver of joy

So deep and complete.

Precious and priceless,

So lovable, too

The world's sweetest miracle,

Baby girl, is you.

Roses and Berries

Not much has been happening with the manor lately. Lindsay continues to stay pretty busy working her jobs and growing gummy bear. I sit at home in contemplation of the long list of things that we'd like to get done, some sooner than later, and feel somewhat overwhelmed. Remember when we were at Paiute Place and most of our really big projects were completed? Ahhh, those were the days!  Why is it that I'm always so motivated to get things done on the house while I'm sitting at my desk at work?  That motivation tends to die down by the time Ava the Avalon gets me home.  I'm not too concerned.  It just takes a few great kitchen remodel DIY shows and I'm revved up again.  Perhaps I should start watching those sooner than later...

Meanwhile, the backyard has been taking on a life of its own. From wild and crazy blackberry bushes to random rose bushes to weeds and shiz everywhere else, it's a jungle out there!  Let us not forget the wildlife of all kinds roaming the grounds, including skunks.  What is it about the Heights that attracts the skunks?!

Here are some samples of the rose bushes from a few months ago randomly grouped on the side of the house...because that's a good place for rose bushes! I'm not quite sure what the thought process was when these were planted on the side of the house (aka the RV access).

"Painting the roses red..." (Click image to make larger)

The wild and cRaZy blackberry bushes are yielding some fabulous berries. I reckon we won't keep ALL of the bush being that it takes up quite a bit of space so we're going to enjoy the berries while they are in abundance. I've found two recipes (thanks to our beloved Food Network Magazine and a fellow blogger) to make with berries so far.   Have berry recipes you'd like to share?  Please do!

15 weeks Pregnant

15 Weeks

So proud of my little belly at this point! I'm sporting my "belly band" (thanks, Mom!) since I couldn't zip up my skirt all the way in this photo.

Being pregnant is great-

• My boobs are getting bigger :)
• I get to go shopping for new clothes
• Libido sky rockets!!!!
• Nausea is gone
• My hair and nails are growing like crazy
• I'm surfing the web daily looking at the cutest baby things

The only not-so-good part:

• I get tired easily
• All this fun costs money!

We find out in a week or so if it's a boy or girl.  An 18-week pic is coming soon!

Extreme Couponing: Turner Edition

I've been on a coupon kick since the beginning of the year. Between Extreme Couponing on TLC and a local coupon group, I've been intrigued by the bargains to be had.  Nothing like the extreme couponers spotlighted on the show because our stores won't double coupons.  While being in California puts us at a serious disadvantage, there are still deals to be had!  It's really the thrill of it all.  Plus, who wants to pay real money for poopoo things like razors and Ziplocs?!

My latest achievement was at Target today. I LOVE Target!!!  This is probably one of my biggest triumphs with couponing to date! Take a look:

Four boxes of ZipLocs

Four pkgs of four Shick Quattro razors

Two Oral B floss

One container of TicTacs

One pkg Zantac 150

The purchase of the razors yielded two $5 gift cards, bringing down my net total to 

$12.95

Of course, because Target is going through some mad clearance thing right now, I found a few extra items that I considered to be bargains:  

One pkg of mayo/mustard/ketchup

One MadGab card game

I'd still consider myself a novice at this stuff.  Being at that register with my book of coups, fingers crossed hoping that the plan works as described on various other coupon blogs, can be a tad stressful.  However, the worst thing that could happen is that they won't honor the deal and I walk away!  No money lost.  

While I'm still a novice, I met someone in the ZipLoc aisle in Target today.  I had been there trying to decide whether my ZipLoc bag purchase was a real deal or not.  FYI - it was a GREAT deal on ZipLoc brand sandwich and snack size bags, perhaps even the gallon size.  Target brand bags were the same price.    With the coupons, ZipLocs were actually cheaper, so why not.  However, the freezer bags weren't such a deal.  I had to check myself as I placed those freezer bags in the cart and then removed them.  It's definitely a better deal to buy Target brand freezer bags than Ziploc bags unless there's a really terrific sale, FYI.  Anywho, so I see this woman with her binder of coups and she's flipping through them.  I thought she would be able to assist me with her coupon knowledge.  WRONG!  She can't print coupons from the internet!!!  HELLO!!  That's where half the deals are!  I didn't feel like such a novice after all.  Girl looked like she walked the walk but in the end, she wasn't worth much to my coupon experience.  Good luck to her!  I proceeded with my project.

What are your favorite coupon blogs?  What's your most exciting coupon adventure?  

Dontcha just love Target?

What do you get when a boy and a girl LOVE each other???

Baby Turner arrives in January 2012!

For now, we refer to our bundle of joy as our "Gummy Bear" or "Little MacFarland"... and we can't wait to find out if it's a cute little boy or girl that will join our family... one thing we do know for sure, he or she WILL BE cute! :)

Lindsay is nearly done with her first trimester- she experienced a couple weeks of nausea and all the glorious (not!) side effects- but she is feeling better each passing day as she makes sure to schedule in enough rest in her busy schedule.

The doctor said our little Gummy Bear has a strong, healthy heartbeat.  We're one proud mommy and one proud daddy and we are excited to share this joy with all of you!

What do you think?  BOY or GIRL?

Check back to the blog to join us in the journey and watch Lindsay GROW :)

XOXO

Like a Ton of Bricks!

What's that burning sensation you're feeling?  That's from our newly renovated fireplaces at the Manor!  Yes folks, we've gone from fireplace facades that would make you want to slap on a harness and repel to those of a more classic look.  Probably the most expensive but much needed reno to date was the removal of the sandstone rock and the installation of a ton of bricks for not one but two fireplaces.  We have dual fireplaces, one opens to each the family and living rooms.  Pretty nifty, eh?  

If this doesn't scream "HELP ME" I'm not sure what would!

Family Room Fireplace

As you can see, this particular 'place had a bit of a spit up problem.  

Living Room Fireplace

We're just not sure how this look was every popular!

Off with the climbing rock!

The rock coming off this thing was real, not that fakesy fakesy look alike stuff!  We had to have our very talented masonry come and handle the project for us.  

Due to an issue on the backside of this particular side, 

smoke was not able to properly escape through the chimney.

Hence the spit up problem mentioned earlier.  

(See below, right hand side)

The Help (Buffy and Amber).

It was quite fascinating watching the progress of our new fireplace(s).

He did his math in the mastic!  Ya do what ya gotta do!

 

He applied a layer of mastic over the upper half so 

that we would have some sort of finished surface to work from.

Family Room

Living Room

 I ended up sheet rocking and painting that upper half on both sides.

What you're seeing here is a more finished product.  

Join us next time for our living room transformation!

For additional photos of the fireplace project, visit our online photo album.

Welcome to the Manor!

The very first time I drove by the Manor, I knew we'd be lucky to get it!  It was so cute and had so much charm.  Unlike these newer housing tracks with a minimum of ten houses an acre and absolutely no yard to speak of and each looking like the next, this charming neighborhood consists of individual uniquely styled homes.  The Manor was built in 1964 so you know it was built well.  After speaking with the neighbors, many a family have lived here.  We purchased it from a ninety year old grandpa who liked to sit in his chair in the dark and paneled living room and cut out pictures of sexy women to hang on his wall.  He just got too old to take care of the property but we could tell that he had until he couldn't.

     From the sandstone rock fireplace to the stained blue carpet to the paneling on the wall, this place needed work but we never let that fool us.  We could see the potential this place had!  Okay, so maybe I had to convince L a little bit but, luckily, she bought into it and here we are!  While there is still so much to do, we've come a long way and we absolutely love it!  There's work to be done but so potentially incredibly marvelous!

With that being said, here are pictures of the very first project we started the night we got the keys -

There once was a wall between the family room...

...and the dining room.  The dining room was a cave between the family room and the kitchen.

EWWW GROSS!  Let's lighten things up!  Off with the paneling!!

Let's see what's behind wall number 1...

...the makings of an open floor plan!  Sarah would be so proud!

The room then required a beam because there once stood a load bearing wall.  Isn't it cute?  BTW - this is all on the backside of the house.  That cute little door there goes to the backyard.  If you look straight back passed the fireplace, you'll see a white wall with black spots.  That's the master and those are tar spots that held up the wall o' mirror!  Note the disgusting blue carpet and the naked fireplace.  More on that another time.

Before

 After

As you can see we've made a huge difference already and THIS party has only begun!  Stay tuned and we'll show you how we transformed our hideous 1964 fireplace into the magnificent gem you see here!

For additional photos of the family room project, visit our online photo album.

What I watched this weekend...

Take a few minutes to listen to this man...  his insights on marriage and family are INSPIRING.  The sincerity and compassion in his voice is compelling.  My heart aches for people who have not had the opportunity to LOVE as deeply as he has. 

I will be honored if my husband is able to express this much affection and gratitude for me and the life we had together after I die. What a reunion it will be when these two meet again!