Krista Baker, BSN

I have the best little sister ever! We've always been great friends...

When I went to college eight years ago, she was about to start high school. I remember thinking how so strange it was for her to be looking like this...

And then, before I knew it she was graduating from high school and going to college!

It was really windy that day, remember?? We were all so proud that she had gotten in to UTA and was going into nursing.

Well, it happened again. Time FLEW by and yesterday, my baby sister graduated from college!!!

Krista now officially has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Texas at Arlington (which has an AWESOME nursing program).

Our grandpa came into town from Illinois and her boyfriend Collin and his parents spent the day with us as we watched her participate in two different ceremonies: her pinning and then her graduation. Here's a little video of her pinning:

Mom and dad got to pin her on stage. Dad was a trooper all day with his crutches. I hope his eyes were open in the official photographer's picture... this was the best I got. Afterwards we went back to mom and dads for lunch and relaxation. But then in the afternoon, it was time to get official!!

Doesn't she look happy?? We had a mini photo session afterwards, during which my camera died. Here's a few good ones though maybe after my mom shares with me I can add more.

Krista and Collin

The family

Krista's cute hat

Congratulations, Krista!! We are all so proud!!! You will be an AWESOME nurse!!

Now, enjoy your month off before the real world starts!! (Krista accepted a job on the transplant floor at Methodist Dallas Medical Center this week - praise God!)

Busy Times Begin

May always gets quite busy in the life of a teacher. We are only one week into the month and I am already overwhelmed by what has happened and what is scheduled to happen both at school and outside of school!

First, an update about my dad... he had a little knee accident playing softball that required an ambulance ride, surgery, and a hospital stay. I wish I had the video that we made while in the hospital (Krista?? LOL). He is doing better and going to try to get back to work this week, but it was quite an adjustment to his active lifestyle at first. Never take advantage of the little things like taking showers, driving a car, and mowing the yard.

I had my first baby shower at the end of April! The sweet parents from my kindergarten class put together a shower that was just perfect! My mom, Justin's mom, and my sister were able to come, too. Here is the only picture that I have so far!

We worked on the nursery a bit this weekend, too! Here are the updates in pics...

After we worked on painting the original changing table, we decided to go a different direction. I spent HOURS looking through Craigslist for a dresser that was the perfect size and style and FINALLY found one this past week. Here it is!

This weekend, we sanded the dresser, gave it two coats of primer, and then added a coat plus of coral paint and...

I LOVE how it turned out!! Justin was a little apprehensive about the pink at first, but he came around. It is the ONLY pink in the room right now, so I think that we're doing pretty well. 

I got the crystal knobs from Hobby Lobby but splurged on the two aqua flowers from Anthropologie. I couldn't help myself! I am finally feeling like we have a nursery coming together.

We got to celebrate Kathy's birthday this past Sunday. I have no pictures... but we had fun! And then today, Kathy and I went to my sonogram appointment. We had fun trying to figure out where all of Nora's arms and legs were and watching her move around. Here are some pictures! 

So.... who do we think she looks like more?? 

Coming soon: our 3rd anniversary, Krista's college graduation, my Grandpa visiting, Mother's Day (my first!!), and my dad's birthday (see what I mean about BUSY?!? And this only gets us to the middle of May PHEW!!) At least Ford helps me sweep the floors...

Hehe! Stay tuned...

The Nursery, Projects

We have a couple of pieces of furniture that we plan on using in the nursery, but need to update or upcycle or however you appropriately describe refinishing old pieces. 

We tackled the first piece this weekend. Justin did most of it, really. I wish I had a "before" picture of this dresser... it was an oak color with brass handles. It was my mom's and I love that our baby girl will get to have something that belonged to her grandmother in the room! Justin sanded, primed, and painted the dresser and each of it's drawers. Then, we added some aged bronze pulls and popped it into the nursery. I love it! Plus, in this picture you get to see a peek of the black and white chevron rug I got last week, too!

Our next project is this changing table that I got for $10 on Craig's List. Steal!! I love the spindles and vintage-feel of this table. It will be perfect with our Jenny Lind crib and "antique" dresser! I sanded it last weekend so maybe it will get primed and painted this weekend... Justin?? :)

And coming soon... a recliner/glider! We officially ordered ours this week. In 6-8 weeks, I'll share!

And lastly, an updated belly pic. It's been a week and a half since then, but here ya go!

It's a...

GIRL!!!

I took off a Friday so that Justin and I could go to our 18 week appointment together and find out whether baby P was a boy or a girl. We had been anticipating this day for SOO long and were SUPER happy when it came. I wanted to make sure that we could get a good picture, so I drank some apple juice before going (man, did that work).

Funny though, I felt really nervous before going - more so than any track meet and more so than when we got married. Crazy, right?? Well, we sat there very patiently while the sonographer measured all the little baby parts before she finally revealed that we're having a little girl! We're so happy to be able to envision our future family a little easier now.

Justin had to go back to work at the house, but I got to spend the day spreading the news to our family! Mom and I decided to go to Canton that next weekend to start collecting some sweet baby girl things. Now, we're having so much fun!

Here are some pictures from our sonogram:

Baby Nursery, the Beginning

We got started early on Baby P's nursery by cleaning out the guest room furniture and closet and painting it a neutral tan!

When we got back from Florida, we picked up our Jenny Lind crib and started to assemble the very first piece of furniture for baby P!

 Before...

I helped a whole lot. 

 Look at him go!

 Putting the final pieces together...

Ta da! Even put the mattress in.

Now, what will I do with the REST of the room???

Spring Break in the Keys

Justin took some time off this March so that we could go to Key Largo with his family. We got to visit with his grandpa and sister Josie who is studying hard at SCAD. Mostly, we relaxed and hung out, but Justin got in some scuba diving and I took a couple of "beach" pictures. See Bob Peipert's facebook for more pictures!

Justin reading. 

Around 16 weeks pregnant. 

The LAST Bathroom Remodel

When we bought our house, we knew that it needed a little bit of updating. We started with the half bathroom downstairs. Pretty easy - did most of it ourselves. Then, the kitchen got a face lift. Then, we were forced to update the master bathroom when our shower pan failed. Phew!

That means there's just one bathroom left. The one that never gets used. The one that never even gets looked into.

Well, here we are with a baby on the way and it became time to start thinking about that last bathroom. After deciding that paying a contractor to do all of the work for a LOT of money, we decided to do most of the work ourselves, especially since plumbing was not something that needed to be worked on this time. Oh, and by "ourselves", I mean Justin and his dad (thanks, Bob!)

After the cabinet was taken out and wallpaper ripped down. 

All tile removed from the shower walls. 

Drew helped, too. Such a good neighbor!!!

So far, everything has been ripped out and some hardy board has been put down on the shower walls and the floor.

Next step is tile, if only we could pick one out! I'll keep you posted...