our watch dog.

most people think of this when they think of a watch dog:

i will EAT you.

 buuuuuuut, we've got this:

"back it up, girlfriend, we don't do cats, squirrels, humans, or other dogs here.
mmmm, kay?  thaaaaank yoooooooou." -bailey

bailey (aka Ooooodle the Pooooodle) takes her job very seriously.  so seriously, i'm thinking of a way to block out the lower windows in the front of our house so she can't see the intruders (mainly cats, but she'll also bark at ANY person or dog walking by).  and then we have this one:

"what is that DOG doing?!?!  give it up, bailey!" - pepper
she thinks she's human.

pepper and bailey (despite the barking) are the very best dogs!  they are the sweetest dogs, cuddling with us and protecting us.  they deal with jack chasing them or trying to ride them.  as annoying as the security alerts are at times, we absolutely love these four-legged kids!

spending some time with baby dino.

our nephew/jack's cousin baby dino (real name anthony!), is so stinkin' cute!!  we spent a few hours yesterday holding, rocking, and staring at him - you know how you do that to a little one?  just in awe of laura and eric's little man!

jack is the BEST big cousin.  i'm pretty sure he's going to be the VERY BEST big bro.  he was so gentle and cuddly and interested -- he kissed, held, talked to, and pet baby dino.  i can't wait for our baby to get here - only 6 1/2 weeks!!!!

here are some pics from our morning - though you know there would've been more if i wasn't hogging all the holding :)!

jack was very proud of himself.  except the next picture i tried to take, he asked me to please leave them alone.  i guess the boys are already plotting some crazy boy antics :).  i think we're heading to see santa tomorrow - so, so fun!!

mallory and reese turn one!

what polka-dot, bounce-house, cake-bite fun!  mallory and reese turned one and had a big bash to celebrate!

jack + marley bee-lining for the bounce house

decorations and desserts:

i made the banner.

shannon spent FOREVER making 300 cake-bites!
they were delish and gorgeous!

shannon also spent some serious time on these dum-dum topiaries
i made the garland and poms.

cake time!

birthday princesses!
mallory (aka baby jimmy) and reese

proud parents shannon and jimmy giving the girls a hand

oblivious to the cakes, a flinestones foot race was going on:

marley

shoeless jackson

the kids partied hard!  it was impossible to get a picture of all of them...

riley, jack, marley
ava is back there somewhere

 mommy shannon partied a little harder (she really didn't, but she did gulp a bit after the long day!):

love this!

office/craft room/guest room to-do list!

and the much anticipated (tara, les) to-do list!!!!

1.  clean/organize
2.  rearrange furniture/remove 'roll-top' desk
3.  paint cabinets - add elements
4.  move craft stuff into room from baby's room
5.  organize craft for easy access
6.  move bed into space

woo-weee.  this was quite the project!

the cleaning and organizing was chaos.  luckily, i had the energy and wherewithal to get all the stuff out of there and off the shelves before my mom had time to volunteer her painting services (i wish i had before pics with our stuff in the office, but i only have before we bought the place - end of post).  if i hadn't, i would've been out of luck as my energy disappeared and laura's baby was born (YAY!) so mom had a very short window to help paint it all!

desk's new home
it's by the entry + dining room so it now holds all our table linens!

i took some mid-paint pictures, but i have no idea what camera i used or where they ended up.  regardless, it wasn't pretty.  these dingy old things took one coat of primer and four (yes, FOUR) coats of paint.  it was even the paint with the primer and is designed for cabinets.  (load of bull, if you ask me... or my mom!)

craft stuff in all sorts of containers
organized and out of baby's room - check!
the bottom shelves hold 'in-progress' projects.

mom painted all the cabinet parts.  my plan was to keep the shelving brown, then add a variety of scrapbook paper to the edges.  i really wanted this space to be different than the common living area of our house - i can't seem to break out of my tan walls with brick red/brown/whatever the season is accents.  this room is more girly and more fun!

up-close of paper, i used mod-podge to adhere and seal

i also added a variety of pulls for the lower cabinets.
i picked them up at cost plus and each one is different.
this shows a bit of the variety.

guest bed moved into room
the colors are wild and pull in most others in the room
the tie-in piece :)

before.

after.

there's another wall next to the door - far left of above picture.  on that wall is the desk.  it's ugly right now, when i have it decorated, i'll post an update.  and i have to post a pic of the light, it's SO fun.  i just couldn't wait any longer for this portion.  for some reason, if i don't blog the completion, it's like i can't quite take it off the list!!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

it may be nesting.  or just the excitement a 3yo brings to the holidays.  it may even be an attempt (though weak) at burning some turkey cals, but whatever the reason, it's beginning to look a lot like christmas 'round here!

we pete hung our outside lights today and we set up our reindeer.  the lights are merry & bright right now, but the reindeer need a little help with a timer.  no pics now, and i'm sure you'll tire of our christmas decor, but there will be many updates!

this is what my dining room table looks like right now:

green, red, + glitter MESS.

i packed up all the pumpkins, gourds, turkeys, and brown/gold/orange.  it's a little sad, but we enjoyed the heck out of the fall season.  it's time to fully enjoy our last christmas as a family of three!  i want time to stand still for a bit, as excited as i am to meet little greenbean#2, because time is just flying by.

updates on the decor later, this lady needs to put her feet up!

and stay tuned, big office reveal tomorrow!

thanksgiving. updated with dinner snapshots.

today we're giving thanks.  we are so very thankful for our health, family, friends, pets, home, jobs, everything.  a very blessed family!  our sincerest wishes to all for a wonderful thanksgiving!

a special thanks for this little turkey.
and the one in my oven.
<3.

and now onto the turkey in the other oven:

not to toot our own horns, but our turkey gets better every year!
pete probably did 75% of the cooking, it's tough to be this preggo and cook all day!
he did an amazing job!!

our very simple table
i left the decor for the other parts of the house
and again, was too tired.
this is an area pete doesn't shine in, ya know?

this is my fav.
jack grabbed a leg (before we'd even really started dinner)
and CHOWED down!

he ate his leg and a see's candies turkey.
{give me a break, it's thanksgiving!}

new hair cut!

here's a pic of my new hair cut! 

neglecting the blog.

i'm kind-of neglecting the blog.  but i've been really busy:

i've been washing and folding about a million (it seems, until the baby gets here and i do wash every day!) of these:

onesies seriously attacking here!

so happy these homemade must-haves are gender neutral!

i've also been washing and folding ANYTHING that's yellow, cream, or mint green.  essentials like this are getting the hand-me-down once-over:

moses basket!  from shower with jack-in-the-belly

i got my hair cut!  see this post for details on the last big cut.  it's not as short, but pretty close!  i've been sick, so no pictures yet, but i hope to not keep y'all waiting too much longer!  i think my hair may have been longer to begin with, too!  wowzers.

we've been working on this project (pic from prior to purchase of home) with the MAJOR help of my mom!  sheila gail primed and painted these dingy old things a nice, bright white.  i did some paper magic and reorganized ALL of my craft stuff.  i can't WAIT to share - it's turning into our guestroom/craft/office, so i want to show you the FINAL product (it really helps tie everything together, too).

could you imagine PACKING all of this?!?!

and in honor of the opposite of procrastination, i've been planning this little man's birthday party!  although we have until february, his birthday is exactly 3 weeks after our due date - and i'm thinking our babe will be late this time around.  with a new baby and a growing little man (we wouldn't want to think we'd neglected), we've decided on taking the party to a 'place' instead of having it at home.  i'm a little sad (i love hosting), but i can still bring all my paper products/banners/etc., so i'm thinking i'll get on that stuff and not have to clean my house (nor have a ton of kid-germs swarming a newborn).  a major bonus?  i can be AHEAD of the curve!!

i can't believe he's going to be FOUR!

i'm an AUNT!!!!!!!!!

laura and eric welcomed their baby boy, anthony john, to the world on sunday, 11.6.11 at 4 o'clock on the dot!  i'm not totally sure of his stats, but i think he was 8lbs 8oz, 20in long.  he is happy and healthy - and such a good baby!  laura and eric are doing well - we are so proud of them all!

the giacobazzi family <3.

don't they look great?!?!

loving his cousin

jack can't wait to share his toys ;).
that's scooby-doo, folks.

aw, look at the little man!!

today jack, gran, and i visited with some lunch (hospital food only goes so far when you aren't sleeping much and just went through daaaaaysss of labor).  we had an awesome time meeting the little man.  jack's been planning on 'petting dino's head softly' since he got the concept of a baby coming -- he got his wish, it was adorable!

halloween: trick-or-treating

we had my family over for dinner and trick-or-treating this year.  poor laura was (and still is as of friday am!) suffering through being past-due, but we all got together for some eating, walking, and CANDY.