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So this little house project started six years ago, really, six YEARS!  I have to start by saying that Scott is awesome at house projects.  He has done so so much to this home of ours over the years.  He's determined and can tackle it seems like anything around here. 



This was different. I'm not sure why we dragged our heals so to speak on this little one, but we did. 

Here's the story.  Six years ago when I was in the hospital waiting to deliver Abigail I was certain sure we were having a boy.  Certain sure!  But, just in case I wanted to cover all of my bases and I knew that asking Scott for something right there in between contractions would most likely give me a yes; possibly a yes, darling. 

So I asked big that day.  "Sooooo, if it's a girl, which it's not, we'll need to hang a chandelier in her room just like Anna's."  (Anna was three at the time and had a beautiful chandelier hanging in her room before she came home to us.) 

Abigail's room was all ready to go in neutrals. 



Can I please have that 9 month old baby Abigail back? 




We bought a beautiful cherry dresser perfect for a boy or a girl. 



Scott painted the ceiling cream and wide cream and light cream stripes on the walls. 







Crown molding in a deep cherry finish.  Dark hard wood floors with a soft green carpet almost wall to wall. 



A soft green rocking chair next to her iron crib was perfect.  I picked out bedding for a boy and bedding for a girl so that all Scott had to do would be to pick it up at the store after the baby was born.  A bunny theme for a baby girl, a I forget theme for a baby boy. 



And in between contractions he said, "yes, of course.  But it's a boy you know." 

Well, she shocked us, our little Abigail.  It was a girl for sure!  In in all of her loveliness and business of having two children we put off finding and buying a chandelier for her nursery.  Once her first birthday came I thought it would be the perfect gift.  But Scott convinced me that we should wait until she was out of a crib so that we would know where her bed would go and would be able to place the chandelier in just the right spot.  The problem was she was in her crib forever!  So little, even now, I think she could still sleep in it!  It wasn't until her fourth birthday that we thought of a big girl bed for her. 

The evening of her fourth birthday... I'm big on surprises and this was the first second she saw her big bed. 








Don't ask me were the two years in between went.  All I know is that when her sixth birthday rolled around this year I was finding and ordering her a chandelier. 

And now her room is complete.  And magnificently Abigail. 



Oh how the pictures don't do it justice. 



The dark brown matches the crown molding and the pink with the crystals add just the right girly touch. 



Here I am with big surprises again.  This time it's seeing the chandelier for the first time. 







It gives off such a pretty soft, pink, glow. 



And my favorite of all. 













Maybe I just wanted to look at those baby and just four year old pictures again.  But I sure do love her room. 

17 Years

I long to take the time to tell our story.  To me it's dreamy and wonderful, just perfect for us.  But for now, just some Anniversary pictures. 

We had a simple day really.  We wanted to be all together this Anniversary.  No special restaurants for me.  A picnic is all that we wanted. 

And a picnic with our girls is way more romantic than any old fancy restaurant anyway.



There was cheese and crackers, treats and wine.  A quilt from our first bed set 17 years ago that has long since been turned into a picnic blanket. 





There was wandering and playing for the girls, laughing and cuddling for us. 





Anniversary perfection. 

This Week

Smack dab in the middle of summer and I'm loving it!  July is just the best month of the year!  Once again, these things just make my oh so happy.  Here we go...

Oh yeah, lunch at home.  That is... my girls are not in the lunch room at school but instead are home with me.  How I love that baby!



But of course here in the same week we did a stop at llbean since we were in the neighborhood for their next year lunch boxes. Last year we went too late and all of the "girl" colors were a bit picked over so this year we took care of that little bit of business early in the summer. Don't worry, they're tucked away for a long, long, long time.



At the pool. This is my favorite picture of Abigail yet this summer.



As soon as we get to the pool Anna is in the water. Not Abigail. She "unpacks" and sets up her chair "just so".



Yes, for like at least a half and hour.

She's a little me.





And this little beauty on Anna. It shows that she passed the deep end test again this year.



And is free to go on this as much as she wants.



Daddy showed her how to pick up speed on the slide... he was so fast all I got was the splash.



And this.







Her on the viola. Finally after one million, six thousand, four hundred and eighty three tries this whole year she finally mastered the 'D scale'. Oh baby, but who's counting. Viola is a tough instrument to learn with itty bitty fingers.



Puppy Love. No, he's not ours but actually Abigail's wonderful Kindergarten teacher invited us over this week to meet her newest addition.







And we couldn't get enough of his sweet face.



I am certain that if we ever got another dog it would be one just like this.



Puppy tugging and all!



Can you hear the giggles?



Silliness



Graduate... again! A little dinner to celebrate with the grandparents.

Proud mom love.









Time. Yes, in the summer there is time for fluffy waffles for breakfast. The kind from the up too high shelf waffle maker that usually only comes down on vacation weeks. It's been down all summer now!



Just a little art lesson Abigail got a chance to go to this week. She loved it.



Some days these summer days seem long and luxurious just the way I want them.  But some days like today it feels like one of those toys from long ago... you know the one you hold in your hand and it slips through.  I'm not quite sure why it's a toy because it doesn't do anything but slip.  But today I feel like that about summer.  They days slipping right past us.  I sometimes get that panicked feeling and don't know what to do about it.  So I pack our pool bags and head to the pool.  That always fixes everything!