My Beautiful Mother's Birthday!

My mom's birthday was the 27th of August and to kick off her big day Lincoln and I went over for a visit and surprised her with a chocolate peanut butter M&M birthday cake courtesy of my friend Amy who does amazing cakes! 

Lincoln of course enjoyed partaking in grandma's cake!  The whole way to grandma's he was saying, "Want cake?"

My dad surprised my mom with tickets to the Mariners game that day.  The Mariners took on the White Sox (sorry to say they lost...) and it was Larry Bernandez bobble head night!!

Josh and I also had tickets to the game and surprised my mom by "running in to her" at the ballpark.  It was a fun, relaxing day with beautiful sunshine!!  Happy birthday mom!!!  Love you!!

The Great Name Debate!

Ok, so choosing a name for your child is quite an adventure!  The emotions remind me of when we first opened a joint checking account...  The feeling of, "I know where my money is going and I have it all in my head, but all of the sudden someone else is also spending money here and there out of your account..."  Ha!  Anyone that has a joint checking account knows exactly how well it goes those first few months (ok, lets be realistic, finances are a struggle for years!)  So, naming a baby isn't quite that stressful, but two peoples ideas about what they like and prefer for names is a touchy subject!  I think I mentioned before that throughout this process I found out that Josh is into the more feminine names whereas I like the more unisex names...  For example, I loved Brooklyn, Paige, Kendall, Jaelyn etc.  We went through an entire baby name book and compromised on only one, Audrina.  Finally though, Josh gave in and said we could go with the name I really liked (which really is fair because he came up with Lincoln Alexander :-))...  So, her name officially is/will be Brooklyn Noelle Brannin.  I LOVE IT and I am so excited to meet her!!!! 

The weather was beautiful!!

We returned from our annual camping trip to Kalaloch today.  My family has been going every year for as long as I can remember.  I'm pretty sure I've only missed one year in the 25 or so years I've been going!  My parents, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all go and it is a blast!  This year we were blessed with beautiful weather which is unusual for the Hoh Rain Forest and outlying areas where Kalaloch is located. 

Lincoln and I headed out late Wednesday morning.  Josh had to work so he came up Thursday night with the dogs.  On our way we stopped to stretch our legs in Amanda Park and also make our last phone call to daddy before we would be out of cell service. 

 Lincoln loved exploring in the woods.  He had some lessons from his older cousins about climbing over logs, ripping the bark off of trees and hitting trees with sticks...

One of Lincoln's cousins, Ally, became Lincoln's best buddy while we were camping. He followed her around everywhere and was even asking for her at bedtime :-) We really hope Ally and Samuel will be able to come visit for Christmas this year!

Of course while camping, food is never in short supply.  There are coolers full of snacks and delicious goodies around every tree!  My grandpa always makes sure to bring a cooler full of hostess products and a cooler of pop for everyone to enjoy!  Here is one of the delicious dinners that Josh cooked for us. 

Every year we take a beach walk.  It ranges anywhere from 2 to 4 miles and is one of my favorite parts of out trip, but this year I had to skip out.  Josh took Morgan while I stayed near the bathroom (ahh, a pregnancy downfall) and kept an eye on Lincoln and Rex.  This year was actually one of our smaller walking groups, but here are a few of the brave explorers!  This years walk was relatively calm compared to last years!  Timing the tide is oh so important! 

As I said the weather was beautiful! 

My brother and Necia enjoyed the beach walk for the first time as Mr. & Mrs. Riddell!!  There will be many more of these photos to come! 

While others were on the beach walk, my mom and I took Lincoln down to the beach to play in the sand.  He was scared at first of the ocean, but he warmed up to it eventually.  He and the dogs had a blast!

Hanging with grandma is always fun times!  In fact, if grandma is around, who needs mommy?

We had to make sure Rex got the appropriate amount of loves as he missed the beach walk he loves so dearly due to bad hips.  Not that Lincoln laying on him is good for his hips either...  Oops!

There is just something about a boy and his dog/dogs :-)

Of course our trip would not be complete without roasting marshmallows for smores!  Josh prefers them with Reese's peanut butter cups instead of Hershey's chocolate bars.  We also experimented with chocolate and caramel marshmallows as well.  They of course were delicious.  At this point Lincoln was soooo tired! 

We also had to pop some Jiffy Pop before heading to bed on our last night.  Delicious and fun entertainment!  Overall, we had a wonderful time.  Now to take that much anticipated shower and to unpack all the gear.... 

Re Do!

I had to re-do Lincoln's letters for the new bedroom because they were just too Christmas like!  The color scheme is still the same, but I think the Christmas look is nearly gone.  I am pretty sure it will be fully gone when the room is done and all of the decor is up...  We'll see!  I also need to figure out on what exactly I want the letters to hang. I definitely don't want to see the white tacks!  I am having issues with my computer and it won't turn this photo?!  Sorry! 

Alright, Josh and I have agreed on one name (no middle name yet) and JoAnn's was out of the letter "B" so that will be coming later.  The plan is to add the lady bug to her green "B".  As of today this will be her name (don't worry the letters were easy if there happens to be a change).  Can't wait to meet our little girl!!!   

Project Bookshelf

I found a great idea for a bookshelf thanks to a friend (Kristin :-)) via Pinterest and decided to give it a try for the kids new room.  Well, let me clarify, my dad and I gave it a try as he cut the pallet and assembled the bottom piece.  Thanks dad!  You're the best!!  The directions were posted by another blogger littlelucylu if you want to get more detailed directions for doing this project on your own.  Step one, locate an old pallet.

Cut in half.  Again, step by step directions on how and where to make the cuts can be found on the link above.

It's amazing what a good sanding can do to an old piece of wood!

Letters for decoration...

Painted...

Spray painted the wood and attached the letters.

Finally, the finished product.  Well other than mounting it on the wall...  Those pics will come later when the new kids room is complete.   

Final product hung on the wall...

Camping at Rife Lake

We just arrived back from our annual Brannin/Cummins camping trip at Rife Lake.  It was a lot of fun and a great break away from home.  I brought my baby naming book and started brainstorming.  Josh and I might have found something we both like and agree on, so as you can see it was a productive trip as well.  You'll have to stay tuned for the official unveiling of the name...  

For the most part we relaxed, sat around, and ate delicious meals as is customary of all camping trips.  The weather did not appear as predicted in the forecast (surprise, surprise), so there was not much boating going on other than the occasional ride around the lake where you stay nice and dry Or in Lincoln's case, take the opportunity to snooze!

  

 

Old Town Tacoma

Josh started a new job in Tacoma on Tuesday so we took a little trip up north to check it out!  Old Town Tacoma is very cute!  His office is by the water and the location is beautiful.  We checked out a local park before we left and Lincoln had a blast!

The New Room

Lincoln and the newest addition to our family will be bunking together for awhile.  Naturally my next project is to figure out how to do their room, right?  I am sooo excited about the ideas I have found so far.  I wanted to have distinct boy and girl things, but have the room still tie together color wise.  Here are the first two previews of the final project that is months away...

This is the color scheme.  I plan on painting a tree on the wall and adding leaves and these flowers to it.  Not too many flowers as I don't want it to be too girly :-)  The leaves are just cut out of card stock.  The flowers are as well, but the paper is almost like a material.  The paper has red stitching as well which really makes it unique.  I sewed on random white buttons that my mom had laying around the house. 

I plan on having their initials above their beds and got Lincoln's done.  Baby girl's will have to wait until we agree on a name...  I plan on hers being polka dots in the same colors.  I took a picture of the "B" with the lady bug that will eventually find its way on baby girl's "B" just to give an idea of how hers will be slightly different. 

Bathroom Crafts?

We were in need of a new shower curtain so I recently bought one from Kohls.  It inspired me to add more color to my bathroom as it has been neutral creams, browns and tans since we moved into our house in 2006.  So, I went to JoAnn's and pucked up a few supplies.  I spent about $25 and have left over supplies to do even more craft projects later!

Ok, here was the inspiration...

Here is what I bought and what I already had laying around the house :-)

I started by drawing the design on card stock.

I then painted the design.

Finally I put it all together.  I used rock at the bottom, raffia to cover the top of the mason jar, and added a button for fun.  The flowers were something I had been previously been using elsewhere.

Next was my mirrors from Ikea.  The were originally black.  I spray painted one Blue and painted the same style design.

I spray painted the other two brown to match.  Next was some old pots I had bought and used for Lincoln's Dr. Seuss themed 1st birthday party...  This was what they looked like then...

I spray painted the small ones brown and added some decor that I bought at JoAnn's for 70% off!
 

Next was the large pot.  I spray painted it blue and painted on the flower design. 

Oh, I spray painted our toothbrush holder as well :-)

Here is everything all together a 360 degree tour of my newly decorated bathroom bathroom...  :-)

Overall I think I like it...  The camera is kind and does not show the blemishes!  I still have spray paint, and some of the blue berry decor left over if I get any more ideas!