I spent a half hour on the computer last night looking at pictures of Palmer over the past year and reminiscing about him as a tiny baby.  He's just so BIG now!  I'm going to try and make the time to take just as many pictures of our new baby because it truly does go by so fast.  Here is Palmer just last June!

cautiously optimistic

We have a new contract on our house!  Woohoo!  We received an offer on Monday around lunchtime, made a counter offer that afternoon, then heard back Tuesday afternoon that they accepted!  They are having the house inspected Thursday, and there is still a chance this could fall through like the other contract did, but we're hoping for a smooth ride to closing.  I am headed out with the realtor this afternoon for some house hunting since our top few choices from before have sold.  Can't wait to find a great house!

Since there's no guarantee, we're still showing the house and happen to have one today at 11:00 am.  I told Palmer we aren't quite done with our crazy cleaning sprees so he decided to help me out.

What?  This isn't how you dress for vacuuming?

Workin' hard. . .

Don't forget the living room.

Taking a break to tweet at some birds out the window.

A more unconventional method. . .

He loves to play with this toy vacuum!  Who doesn't like a vacuum that talks?  On a trip to buy buy baby yesterday, his Grammy also just bought him a mini broom, brush, and dustpan set that he proceeded to "clean" the whole store with.  If we could just increase his productivity. . . ;)

waiting game

Waiting is SOOO HARD!  As you probably know, our house is back on the market after the last contract fell through.  In the three weeks since then, we've had 7 showings, which is great. . . except what we really need is an offer!!  The most recent showing on Sunday was the person who also saw the house on Wednesday.  They requested our utilities records which is a good sign that they're seriously interested!

Unfortunately, here we sit. . .Tuesday. . . still waiting for something to happen.  Sunday night I was 90% sure this was it, and we would get an offer.  Monday night that dropped to 60% (maybe they just need more time to meet with their realtor to write it up??), and now my expectations are at about 25% that this will lead anywhere.

Selling is much harder than buying!  I'm so tired of the upkeep that comes along with showing your house multiple times a week while managing a toddler, pregnancy, and the rest of life.  I wonder if I can get these people's phone number to call and beg? :)

evening at home

After a quick dinner of homemade sloppy joes for Tyler and me, and grilled cheese for Palmer, we spent some time outside together last night.  Tyler inflated and filled up Palmer's little pool and we did some gardening, pruning, and watering while Palmer systematically emptied the pool, one bowl of water at a time.  He eventually took a break from this task and walked around with the hose for a while.

Interested in the water. . .

 Bewildered by the water. . .

Whoa, that thing sprayed me. . .

Emptying the pool. . .

Laughing at Daddy :)

The highlight of my day was Palmer helping me pick the ripe cherry tomatoes from the garden!  He was a little grabby, and picked a few that weren't quite red yet, but mostly I was able to police him.  I'd point out which one he should get, he'd reach in and grab it, and come away with the biggest grin!  Can't wait to eat them tonight with some pasta and lemon chicken.

tree skirt part 1

Remember when I posted this stack of fabric squares?

Well I finally got started on the tree skirt a few weeks ago!  Here are just a few pictures of my progress.  First, I cut all my fabric into strips like these!  Yes, they are supposed to be wonky :)

  Then, I sewed the strips together like so. . .

And ended up with 18 rectangles like this!  Can't wait to show you more!  Ironing and piecing to come next :)

24 week belly

big boy room

Can it be a big boy room if there's still a crib?  I think so!  Palmer got all new bedding and will now be sleeping in the front bedroom of the house.  I was ready to have him out of the sunroom nursery that's attached to our room.  This made sense to make space physically and mentally for the new baby on the way!  I had been holding off on making this change since we WERE moving, but for now, we're staying right here.  It feels good to clear out the dresser in the sunroom and be able to start putting newborn stuff in there, plus I had a great time decorating Palmer's room!

I had planned on going to the Container Store to get some cute storage items to match his bedding, but we hit Walmart first and found everything we needed!  (Plus saved oodles of money I'm sure!).  It's hard to get a good picture of the room since it's small, but here is one of his crib.

Wanting to hang the quilt the day it arrived, and not wanting to mess with sewing loops on the back to use a dowel rod, my mom and I had to get creative!  I found unfinished wooden stars at Hobby Lobby, craft paint, and these white clips at Walmart.  I already had a paintbrush and a hot glue gun, so the grand total cost of the project came to $4!   

P.S.  I have a bunch of extra clips if anyone wants to give this a try themselves :)  Hobby Lobby has lots of different unfinished AND already painted wooden shapes you could use!