september: hello & goodbye

wow. the month of september flew by. it was here and gone in no time and most of all it felt like this because Garrett and I were extremely busy. The first week of September we spent the week preparing the house for the new carpet. Everything, yes, everything was out of the house when I returned to the house Saturday night after being gone for a day preparing for the Oehm wedding. So, for 3 days, Garrett and I slept on a mattress setting directly on the floor. I didn't leave the house very prepared for everything being thrown around, so the next work was a crazy mess. I found my pants downstairs in the storage room, a shirt in the garage, underwear in the tub and socks in the dryer. Let's just say it was a task getting ready, or at least finding things to wear in the morning. But, after a week of craziness, the new carpet was installed and it looks AWESOME. What a difference brand new carpet makes! Love it!

A few days later our furniture was delivered from NFM (the furniture we had picked out in July when we made a weekend trip to KC). The house is really starting to come together and we're getting so excited to bring Baby K into our 'new' home!

before carpet!

still not a good picture of Baby K's room, but it's a glimpse - before carpet

my life for one week. mattress on floor, no carpet. fun stuff.

new dining area wood floors thanks go G baby and Steve O

Uncle Dennan and Hadley enjoying the new carpet!

dresser i bought at an antique store - this weekend I'm going to paint it for Baby K's room!

downstairs with carpet!

new carpet & furniture downstairs

bar cabinets and tile

downstairs

ignore the bedding... downstairs bedroom

upstairs with new furniture

On September 17 we celebrated Amber and Pat's wedding. What a beautiful wedding it was! After a scare of rain (and an outdoor ceremony) the weather turned out to be perfect and the night went on without a hitch! Amber did a great job planning her Day and the night couldn't have been more perfect without the help of Ashley Moore with Events by Ashley. If you are planning an event and need creative and professional help, be sure to give Ashley a call! She's fabulous! It was my honor to be a bridesmaid in the Oehm wedding and I even had the opportunity to design the save the date, wedding invitations and other print materials used at the wedding! So fun!

Mr. & Mrs. Oehm

the wedding party

the girls getting ready for the wedding

On the 22nd, Dad turned 54! I cannot thank him enough for being such a great teacher, dad and coach to me. Lately, he's helped us so much on the house - painting the entire inside and outside and helping Garrett with whatever he can. Love him. Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Then, on the 24th, my cousin Christy and Aunt Lynette threw a great baby shower in McPherson! We are so blessed to have such great family and friends to help us welcome Baby K! We now just have a few items to buy to complete Baby K's nursery!

At our last doctor appt. Baby K measured one week big (hoping this means maybe one week before the due date - I can dream, right?) and had a heartbeat of 166. Let's just say this baby LOVES to dance and kick and roll and go crazy 24/7. I think I can say that I'm officially uncomfortable. We are going on week 7 of our birth class, and learning a lot. I was a bit nervous for the last class as I sat in a room with 8 other guys and watched a birth video. Needless to say, G said it wasn't nearly as bad as he was expecting (YES!!! This is good news to me!). So, I'm feeling a little more confident we can do this! We're almost 32 weeks, and 58 days away from the due date! Go us!!! We even made a run to Carter's this week and purchased everything neutral we could find, and even snuck in a few boy this and girl that things :)

So, September was good to the Konen's, it just all went too fast. October we welcome you. This month we plan on finishing the details on the house, especially the nursery, packing THE bag for the hospital, taking part in another great friend's wedding (Miss Alli Klein) and just living our simple life which we love so much. One reason I love this blog - it keeps me grounded. I'm constantly reminded that there is nothing crazy, out of the ordinary about our life. It's simple. And I LOVE it. We have great friends and great family. We are so blessed.

Happy... almost.. October!

red is a rare find.

After reading an article about the world's largest sperm bank denying sperm with red-headed genes, I became interested in their reasonings and for good reason - my hot red-headed husband. So, they blame it on supply vs. demand. I'd say if you can have a red-headed husband like mine, the demand would skyrocket. Not so sure what all of these desperate sperm-needy people have against a beautiful ginger, but hey it's your loss! I wouldn't go so far as calling it gingerism, but I would agree that there is no reason to hate.

I know I've discussed this before, but with a baby on the way, made by one handsome ginger, there is a chance that I will be blessed once again with another rare red. I'll take it! Another article talks about how red heads could go extinct in 95 years! What a sad thought. Only 4 percent of the world's population carries the red-headed gene. If you ask me, I'd be proud of my rare gene.

Check out these gingers! http://ararebreed.blogspot.com/

one hot ginger!

it's (almost) fall.

 mid-september. hadley and i went on a walk tonight and i was so excited to see a few trees turning colors.. so i figured it was close enough to the official fall date, that I was ready to make some fall changes. other than the excitement of planting a few mums in the yard, i decided to get a new dark auburn, fall hair color along with new hue of painted nails. BIG changes, eh? well, the belly is also ever-changing as it grows and grows, and I'm forced to buy new clothes on a weekly basis. I can't help it, the clothes I wore last week just don't fit. Darn. Baby K is kicking like a crazy person, and I can definitely say it's to a point where the sleep schedule has been effected. Yep, no sleep for me. It's the craziest/BEST feeling ever. By the way, no guesses on the sex. Just when I think it's a boy, then i have a dream or a 'sign' that we're having a sweet little girl, and then, there's another sign it's a boy. Who knows. I'm definitely on my toes about finding out the gender of Baby K! The heart rate dropped from 161, four weeks ago to 145 just last week. The heart rate hasn't been less than 158 the entire pregnancy, so I'm guessing big changes are happening in the belly. Here's a few pictures of the new hair and growing belly.

hadley& i at 29 weeks

29 weeks and very round.

Fall, also comes with fall yummies - like the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. Like me? And can't afford a $6 coffee on a daily basis - try this recipe at home!!

Ingredients

1/2 cup brewed espresso or3/4 cup strong coffee

 2 cups milk (preferably 1 percent)

2 tablespoons canned puréed pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

tiny pinch of ground ginger

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

whipped cream (optional)

Cooking Directions

Use a 2-quart slow cooker.

Add coffee/espresso and milk to the stoneware.

Whisk in pumpkin, spices, sugar, and vanilla.

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.

Whisk again. Ladle into mugs, and garnish with whipped cream and additional cinnamon. Add a cinnamon stick for a fanciful effect.

* Courtesy of "Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking."

I can't say I've tried it yet, but you better bet that I will! I've heard great things from friends! Another new obsession - fall fingernails. I ventured to Target - the greatest store on earth - and got an assortment of new fall colors! I'm in love.

quick sand (far left) and slate grey (3rd from left) are perfect for this fall!

Other than spoiling myself with some new hair and new nails, we're getting ready for a week of chaos. By next Monday, we will have all of the furniture out of the house and all of the carpet ripped up to prepare for the new carpet installation. exciting, yes. crazy, indeed. We have a full week, for sure. Garrett began tiling the bar, downstairs bathroom and is preparing the dining room for the wood floors. So, many changes coming this fall, even more than the usual fall changes. So, buck up, we're constantly changing things around here, until the biggest, BEST change of all comes in NOVEMBER!!! 11 weeks left.. the countdown is on! Happy fall, to all!

28 weeks. third trimester. lots of progress.

happy labor day to all. LABOR day. this word will have a whole new meaning come november - i'm sure of that. only 12 more weeks to get ready for THE DAY. we're 28 weeks yesterday. to prepare for THE DAY, i've been catching up on my bradley method readings and have been learning all sorts of things i didn't know before - some which i'm not sure i wanted to know, but better prepared, right?

this weekend, was like just about every other weekend - garrett and my parents working on the basement while i search for everything perfect for the baby. don't get me wrong - i'd love to help in the basement, but bending over, carrying heavy objects and painting walls are just out of my reach nowadays. oh, well, because i find looking for furniture, window treatments and decor to be all the more fun. hey, it's a challenge too!

in my last post, i was still loving the idea of chevron everywhere. well, FINALLY i found a chevron baby bumper!! at last!! so exciting. etsy and i have a love/hate relationship. i love everything on the website, but when i'm looking for something specific, i can NEVER seem to narrow down all of the 'options' to lead me to the right section of the online store. i came across a blog - http://www.neverhomemaker.com -  that led me to another blog - which, of course, now i cannot locate (something like 'mod mom chic') that led me to an etsy website that has CHEVRON baby bumpers! what a scavenger hunt. so, i've ordered the bumper and have asked her to make a matching rocking char cushion. my mom has so generously given us her old wooden rocking chair that will fit perfectly in baby k's room. i even managed to find the perfect stuffed owl for the crib. and a clock! 

LOVE IT.

We've also been on the lookout for a dresser/changing table. i'm not a huge fan of changing tables. i think they are oddly shaped, don't fit in a designed room very well and serve, well not much of a purpose. after all, you can change a baby's diaper just about anywhere. so, a dresser, it is! a sturdy dresser that can accommodate for a changing table as well. 2 for 1. i like it. problem - dressers don't come cheap - or at least the dressers i would prefer do not come cheap. I found THE ONE. well, so i thought. the price was affordable and the look was exactly what i was going for.

ikea dresser - $179 and perfect, so i thought

After discovering that it wasn't real wood and it could, well fit it's price tag, by looking 'cheap', i decided to look just a little longer. My mom and i ventured down the block to the good ole' Park City antique store. i usually don't find much, but today i found just want I needed. one problem. the picture of the dresser is on my mom's camera - but, i will definitely post a picture soon. it's JUST like the picture above, except a blonde wood. So, we're going to paint it - i haven't decided what color yet - and make it brand new! all for $50. not bad, eh?

My dad got baby k's room all painted this weekend, too! three walls a very light seafoam green/teal color and one wall grey and white stripes - my favorite.  i think it'll be perfect for a boy or girl and the contemporary/ but retro feel i'm going for. here are a few of our painting pictures!

the green room goes

first step: paint three walls seafoam green/teal

second step: paint one wall grey, and apply guide lines with tape

roll on the white!

ta-da! i'm in love with the stripes!

So, I'm not sure if it's just coincidental that it happens to be Labor Day and i got so many things done for baby k, or not, but either way, i'm happy. fat and happy and so excited there are only 12 short weeks before we meet our beloved child! 

chevron love.

I'm usually a very indecisive person when it comes to designing or decorating something. I can never stick with one pattern or seem to stay on a single color palette - this might have something to do with re-painting and buying new furniture just 1-2 years since our last 'remodeling' stage. Ugh. So, this time, I'm trying to find things that I know I won't get sick of and that can stay awhile. I'm sure we'll be busy enough with the baby that we won't even want to think about taking on any additional home projects after November.

So, I fell in love. with chevron. yes, i'm in love with a single pattern. love it.

It's something about it's sophisticated, modern, but not too stripy look that gets me every time. I want it upstairs, downstairs, in the dining room, living room and even baby k's room. don't get me wrong, i know there is such a thing as TOO MUCH. but, honestly, I'm not sure if there is when it comes to chevron. I like the name of it, i like that it looks good in almost every color and that you can get a wide striped chevron, or a small striped chevron, you can wear chevron, paint your nails in a chevron pattern and live in a house full of chevron.

the problem: i live in wichita, kansas.

chevron is a rare pattern in wichita. i constantly google chevron to see if i am brave enough to order something online without touching it's softness or can visibly see it's quality. so, saturday has come, and i'm on the hunt for: CHEVRON EVERYTHING. here are a few of my favorites!

chevron vases

chev pillows

chev rug

chev window coverings

chevron lamp shade

september

it's september! there are many reasons to celebrate september other than it being one month closer to november - like, cooler weather (thank goodness!), football season, pumkin spice lattes at starbucks, the possibility of getting out the Ugg boots, tights, weddings and just another great month to live. G and I have much to look forward to this month - our new furniture will be arriving september 22, which means that we have to get the carpet in before that day comes - which means that the basement, well, might actually be a place we can hang out and use by the end of september! HOW EXCITING! we are also going to be painting the beloved baby k's room and i think everything is really going to start coming together! some of our great friends are getting married this month, too! it's an overall awesome month, so cheers to september! enjoy it!