Little Leighton is HERE!!!!!!

Yep. She made her Royal Debut this past week. Seven pounds/eleven ounces. Nineteen and one quarter inches long.

Little Mama is still in Heaven. Dad hasn't stopped grinning. Grammy ELC, who was blessed with the opportunity to be present as the doctor laid Little Leighton on TLC's chest, cries. Pretty much 24/7. Tears of immense JOY. Pa-Dad is sending up perpetual prayers to Almighty God for the safety of Little Mama (his first Baby Girl!) and Little Leighton. 

For the next three-ish weeks, we'll be trying to get used to days full of sugar and spice and everything nice; all-nighters; poopy diapers; pretty bows and lots o' ruffles; and hours and hours of Glorious Gratitude.

Be Right Back!!!!!!

LMBO

Remember this post about laughing? Well, I have a new one:  Laughing My Baby Out. Yep. I've been trying to do that now for 5 days. It hasn't really worked (thus far), though I won't give up that easily.

ELC stayed with me until Thursday. We were able to accomplish LOTS. We always do. We make a good team. For instance, we:

Walked the mall.

Watched Breaking Bad (with My Sweet Hubby) and Pregnant In Heels (without MSH).

Purchased ANOTHER adorable "Jelly Cat" stuffed animal for Little Leighton. This one is a pink and cream striped ZEBRA. Precious.

Went to Target.

Dusted my house.

Vacummed my house.

Attempted (don't try this at home) to clean our David Yurman cross necklaces via a "recipe" I saw on Pinterest. We deemed that experiment semi-unsuccessful.  It cleaned them WAY TOO MUCH. Oops.

Cleaned out my spice cabinet.

Went to World Market for a new spice rack (thank you, January, for the recommendation!).

Purchased a new "tea towel" at World Market to hang on my oven handle.

Purchased a new jewelry cleaning cloth from James Avery (the MUCH safer route for polishing silver).

Took my car to get the oil changed.

Took my bucket o' change to the local "Coin Star" machine at Kroger to cash it in. Yep. We sure did.

Browsed Hobby Lobby. We stocked up on ribbon. And I'm going to attempt to make a wreath via the festive fabric I purchased (on sale). It will be for Halloween. I'll keep y'all posted on the progress.

Made Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti. It was YUM. ELC made her Sassy Spinach Salad (but minus the chicken).

Went to Walmart where ELC purchased a cute pair of linen-y pants. And succulents. And a clock. Random combo, no? I purchased a flow-y, coral-y dress that should work fabulously post-pregnancy. And a new doormat.

Went to Target (again) for "organizers." I decided Thursday morning I just HAD to clean out all of my bathroom drawers. I found the cutest acrylic trays for my makeup. ELC wanted me to take a "before" picture." I refused because that particular drawer was GROSS. Here is the after:

In the process of cleaning out the makeup drawer, I "rediscovered" this little jewel:

I highly recommend it. The shade is "Peony."

ELC headed home right in the middle of the bathroom-drawer-organizational-extravaganza. Hmmm. Me thinks she was over my OCD-ness. However, she's on HIGH ALERT, if/when I FINALLY go into labor.

Oh! And I want to share with y'all two fun products. The first is a favourite of ELC and Autumn. And now it's one of mine, too:

This mascara rocks.

Also, I read about this in one of ELC's magazines. I used them last night and thoroughly enjoyed them:

You can purchase these at your local Target (I know you're shocked).

These past two days without ELC have not been as productive. Of course I went to Target, again, yesterday (for the eye makeup remover pads and cinnamon rolls). I also did a little laundry. Tonight, I'm attempting a new Crock Pot recipe I saw on WFAA's (channel 8) Weekend Daybreak this morning. It's called "Baseball Chicken." I have no clue why. It's only four ingredients:

3-4 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 cans of Rotel
1 package of Taco Seasoning
1 stick of Butter

You place all of the above (in that order) in the CP and cook on high for four hours. Then you shred it up and serve it in crunchy taco shells. Delish.

Henry and I sure do miss ELC. Lucky for us, she'll be back on Monday! WOO HOO.

I hope LL decides to come soon. This "killin' time" is clearly getting expensive (as you can see from the above). Even with our Coin Star "winnings." LOL.

Hope y'all are having a WONDERFUL WEEKEND.

Smooches and hugs.

In The Words of Clint Black

"This killin' time, is killin' me."

Yep.  I'm still pregnant.  And this is what ELC lovingly just told my Hubby, after we returned home from a sixteen hour excursion of walking and roaming The Metroplex.  (The absolute favourite highlight of our day?  A lovely lunch with January!)

Get a load of this belly:

This outfit was actually purchased at Gap Maternity yesterday in the hopes that I would "ironically" never get to wear it because it would immediately cause labor.  Guess what?  That didn't happen.  However, it is super-dee-duper comfy.  And if you live around my 'burb, you're sure to see me wearing this for the next however-many-days-until-Little-Leighton-makes-her-grand debut.

BTW:  During that same shopping trip (aka:  Waddle Fest 2012), a woman at Dillard's looked at me with alarm (dare I say fright?) and exclaimed:

OH MY!  You might be in trouble soon!

Yep, Dillard's Lady.  I hope it's SOON.  The sooner the better.  Even Henry is getting tired of looking at my muu-muu.

Until next time, Friends!

xoxox

No. . .

No Little Leighton. Not yet. Her Mama was eight days past my due date. Fashionably late, that TLC. She did end up studying and treasuring fashion, but really became someone who works hard at being on time and dependable. Little Leighton isn't even close to fashionably late. It only might look like she is. Oops.

A note from TLC:

Ignore my chins.

I didn't realize ELC was taking my photo
or I would have angled my face a bit more flattering-like.

I also wouldn't have tried to look so perplexed. But, the truth is:  I WAS.

Baby gear is tricky, y'all.

Oh.  And that top/tunic? It's not maternity.  
Hence the EXTRA tightness around my mid-section/hips.

It could have nothing to do with my recent sno-cone obsession.

Smooch.  Smooch.

End of note.

Here's TLC at BuyBuyBaby this past Wednesday. Trying to understand how to get Little Leighton's carseat to properly fit into her stroller. Turns out it's tres simple. Who knew? In fact, this is what TLC actually said to the two young men helping her (I witnessed it):

"Well. There you go.  Easy peasy. It just SEEMS like I need a Ph.D. in Baby Paraphenalia. Sorry to bother you." Sweet Little Semi-Clueless Mama.

To help make this Baby Wait a tidbit easier, I've found myself watching some interesting (?) shows on TV.

ELC's Confessions (Confession = Good For The Soul. Yes, Friends, yes it is.):

The Bachelorette—In the past, I have bravely (Is that really the most appropriate word?) shared my unexplainable addiction to these ridiculous shows. I'm not proud that I ALWAYS say: "I am NOT doing it this time. I am NOT watching this show." Then, YEP, I fail. I do want to tell y'all I like Emily. I mean this—sincerely. Not sure she'll end up with either of the two fellas left (My most favourite? Jef.) But I think she's adorable and I'm waiting, with baited breath (what the heck does that mean?), to watch The Finale.

Duets—FABULOUS show. CeeCee's been enjoying this one, too! I've loved Kelly Clarkson (Duh. She's a Texan!) since the first American Idol. I believe Jennifer Nettles is BEYOND gifted. I wasn't all that familiar with Jon Legend--other than his name. He's CHARMING. I'm now a fan! Robin Thicke is sooo cute. Their fantastic personalities and talents have made it a marvelous TV-watchin’ experience. I'll be happy with any of The Final Three as The Winner. (My most very favourite? John.)

Master Chef--My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I watch this show together. This is our second go-round. Not sure how long it's been around. We've discovered we usually have common "favourite" contestants. As y’all know, I'm not fond of fish. I often comment to MSH, unnecessarily since we've been together over 35 years, that I couldn't eat most of the fish dishes I see on any of the “contest” chef shows we tune in. Or, for that matter, any food/cooking show. But, with Master Chef, I find myself thinking even these particular Chef Peeps make fish dishes that look good to moi. I wish MSH could be a contestant on this show. First, he is SOOOOOO darned precious. In every single sense of that word. Second, he's a FABULOUS Home/Chuckwagon/Outdoor Kitchen Chef. In my somewhat subjective, yet humble, opinion. Unfortunately, and I'm not convinced he'd admit to this, I believe Gordon kind of scares him. Just a tidbit. (Nothing scares him. Typically. Except snakes and scorpions and centipedes. And Gordon.)

A few other shows I find myself intrigued with/by? Storage Wars (Yes. This is embarrassing because I clearly have Fancy/Royal-ish/Classy taste in entertainment and this show defies that fancy-ness.); The Exes (Discovered it after Happily Divorced. It CRACKS me up.); Love in the Wild (SUPER Classy. What is wrong with me?); and, very recently (I've come in rather—and could you please hear me saying "rather" like Mrs. Howell on Gilligan's Island, PLEASE?—tardy to the party on this one), The Glass House. Double SHEESH. HELP! I need some good books to read.

I'm delighted to confirm I still don't watch ANY of the completely useless "Housewives" shows. Not even one. (Can you say that, TLC? Hmmm.) And I don't intend to watch Hillybilly Handfishin'. Trust me. Lauren has no doubt on this one.

Please come out to see us, SOON, Little Leighton. Grammy is losing more and more of her semi-smart brain cells every hour.  Make that every minute. Yikes.

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH, Y'ALL! (Somewhat Hallooween-ish for July, but, as TLC likes to say: There you go. It's July. It's Friday. It's the 13th.) Woo Hoo!!!

I'm Still Pregnant

Yep. Little Leighton decided fireworks weren't really her "thing." She's still rocking and rolling in there. And it's still REALLY hot. I want to move into the produce room at Costco. It's so chilly in there, you can actually see your breath. That's my kind of party.

I should be packing my hospital bag. LL's was finished last week. But, I'm wondering if that will jinx me? Perhaps I should just put my list together so I can quickly grab everything when the Little Princess decides she's ready. ELC is determined it will be tomorrow. Or Tuesday. I'm sure trying. I'm walking every evening. I also heard eggplant might help. I'm willing to give it a whirl.

Since my brain is virtually mush at this point, I've compiled a random conglomeration of pictures I wanted to share with y'all. First up:  My new BLUE chair, compliments of My Sweet Dad.

I was inspired to update a piece of furniture. Unfortunately, LL keeps me limited as to what I can paint. Who did I call when I decided on the PERFECT chair (purchased from Garden Ridge about 6 years ago) for my idea? That's right:  MSD! He's always up for a "fun" (relatively speaking) weekend project. I'm BOWLED OVER with how it turned out. It now resides in my dining room and it's truly the icing on the cake. The room positively POPS now.

Before.

During.

After.

I'm not completely sold on the pillow.

While I do love it, I think the chair might need something brighter.

I also have good intentions of painting the bottom 5ish inches of the front two legs 

METALLIC GOLD.

Yep. GOLD.

Our master bathroom shower faucet handle-thingy (technical term) broke. Thus, Hubby and I (as if "I" actually did anything other than accompany him to Lowe's) became inspired to replace all of our bathroom fixtures. MSH (My Sweet Hubby, but y'all knew that), much like MSD, is super handy! He's done all of the work himself. We went with "oil-rubbed bronze." Here's a sneak peak (ignore the giant, orange belly in the mirror):

Though I've had only a few cravings, I cannot get sno-cones off my mind lately. Particularly, "Strawberry Cheesecake WITH CREAM!" Yum. Yum.

Isn't the little umbrella festive?

Like I always say:  

Life is FAR too short NOT to have a little umbrella in your drink.

(Okay. I actually didn't originate this little gem. Darnnit.

I "borrowed" it from a set of cute post-its.)

I have a limited number of  "pregnant" pictures of moi (save for the muu-muu self-portraits), but thought I would document this one on the ol' bloggerroo so you can see my big, ol' progress! I swear, LL MUST weigh 10 pounds by now.

This was taken, by Nelly, at my absolutely fabulous baby shower

(at Tillman's in Fort Worth!) a few weekends ago.

It was hosted by the sweetest friends in the entire world.

LL was QUITE spoiled.

Aaaaannnnnddddd, that's about it. LOL. (I admitted my brain is MUSH, right? That's on a good day.) I'm now going to sit here on my couch, thinking about packing my bag and wishing my precious Angel Baby would decide she's ready to greet the World.  

(I also plan to send MSH to the sno-cone stand. STAT.)

Happy Sunday, Dolls!

It's. . .

your birthday, America! Yippee!!!

TLC and I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, lemonade-drinkin’, happy, flag-wavin’, parade-watchin’, fun, safe, silly, amazing, hotdog and watermelon-eatin’ (did I mention safe?) and FABULOUS FOURTH of JULY!

Those of us in Texas will be trying to stay COOL. As usual, it ain’t goin’ to be easy. Sheesh.

(Little Leighton, Grammy would like to take this opportunity to suggest this: If you decided to make your appearance by midnight tonight, you’d always have people shootin’ off FIRECRACKERS to celebrate your birthday, too! I’m just sayin’…it’s something to ponder.)

smooches, always…

Mortimer

It has occurred to me Mortimer The Cat (Morty—as most family members and friends call him) has not received much attention lately. Well, not on LOL. He gets loads of attention—on a daily basis. Trust me.

It’s time, at this point in my life, to share something I  haven’t been able to type—before now. Except in a few past emails—when it happened. Here goes:

Our beloved cat, Cobbler, had to be put to sleep in March. He was about to be twelve years old. He’d had a good life with us, but he’d developed a condition that was often painful for him. The treatment for it had become challenging. Too hard.

TLC had gotten Cobbler as a brand new kitten, from one of her friends, only a couple of weeks before we moved to the country. She’d named him Cobbler after a character in a book she was reading. He’d lived several years with our older cat, Keegan, in the Barn, until Keegan passed away.

For about five years, Cobbler'd been alone. Not truly alone. He’d had us. And hundreds of birds and other critters to entertain him. Each evening, we’d tuck him in at his special spot in the Barn—closing the doors to keep him protected from coyotes and bobcats. Any potential predators. Without going into the difficult and, for me, still, heartbreaking details, My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I were with Cobbler when he passed. As was our treasured Veterinarian, Dr. Noah. She’d taken care of him since he’d come to live with us as a wee little one. We’ll always have truly special and fond memories of Precious Cobby-Poo. We’ll always miss him. His adventure to the country began with our own and ended in a resting place under some live oak trees near his Barn.

Two years ago in August, we happily welcomed Mortimer to our Country Casa! It seemed like the perfect solution to two situations: TLC and Her Sweet Hubby (HSH) needed to find a home for Mortimer, their house cat that spent too much time alone because of their jobs (getting into unacceptable mischief—like tearing up furniture); and our situation that involved us strongly feeling Cobbler needed a companion, having lost his "big sis," Keegan.

The weekend TLC and HSH brought Mortimer to our place was tough. It was going to be a tres different kind of life for him. He was used to being inside all day long. Never going outside. Now he was going to be both an inside and outside cat. We all worried it might not work. We started our prayers.

TLC and HSH stayed two nights at the apartment, with Morty, to help begin his transition. When they left that Sunday, I remember TLC being in tears.  I was, too. Two years later, he seems to be happily content with us. And Teddy Buddy Boo Bear (TBBB), a dog we never could have warned him we'd adopt. (That still shocks all of us!) Morty had to adjust to not only TBBB, but also, recently, to the absence of Cobbler. He's done magnificently with both. He's a trooper. He tickles us and gets deeper and deeper into our hearts with each passing day.

I considered doing “A Day in the Life of Mortimer,” as I did for TBBB. Then I had to face reality: it would mostly be pictures of him just moving around to find his next sleeping spot.  I reiterate and confirm: Morty’s Life is GOOD.

I’ve chosen some of my favourite pictures of him. I think you’ll understand why he never ceases to CRACK US UP. If he’s over at our house? He’s up on our arbor or sleeping on a small table under the arbor. If he’s over at His Domain—The Barn and Apartment? He could be anywhere. Up in the loft (where he lived the first two months after our adoption of him and where he still loves to hide). Or on the porch. Or, if anyone is staying at the apartment, for a night or a few days, he can be found lying on the floor in the “den” or roaming the remaining five rooms—including MSH’s Man Cave/Office (Morty’s cherished spot is MSH’s camo recliner—which does somewhat annoy MSH a tidbit-ish). We’re never sure what Morty Moo's searching for, as he slinks and stalks around, or if he does ever, in fact, find the elusive "it." We do know he’ll eventually plop down and take The Inevitable and Mandatory Snooze.

Awww.

His most favourite spot.
And how flexibly talented is he, right?

CrAzY Kitty.

The porch sure feels cool on a hot,
Texas summer day.

Looking out over his domain.

Random. I know.
But in one of our pastures
two months ago. They're wild!
Daisies:  The friendliest of all flowers.
Just ask Meg.

I can’t wait for Little Leighton to meet Morty and tell her the story of how he came to live in the country. She’ll adore him. Like we all do!

Hope y’all are having a Sweet Sunday—wherever you are…

GO TEXAS RANGERS!