2 months
10 months
Happy 10 months, precious Anna Grace..
For only 2 more months will I be speaking of her age in months. Time to start planning a fun-in-the-sun 1st birthday party for my little summer-born beauty! I always say this, but I can hardly believe it.
Planting seeds in the garden -
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{you can see Luke's friend, the earthworm, who didn't live long after they met, and all the weeds in the ground that I was about to pull}
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{ready for flowers!}
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(progress I'd made by Daddy's lunch break}
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{and the finished flower bed! A long day's work...but so fun! And so worth it!}
and planting seeds within my son's heart -
I have never had this dilemma before...empty space! 
This is a spare closet at the top of our stairs. It is begging for a purpose. 
If your creative juices are flowing today, give me your clever ideas as to what I could use this for. It could be fun or functional. I already have a place for sewing stuff, bed linens, vacuum and board games. Otherwise, I'm all ears!
For part of my Mother's Day gift, my sweet husband gave me a gift card to Pottery Barn. He knows I love to shop there, and that I usually won't because it is not always in the budget. It was a generous treat from him. As I began searching for the perfect way to spend it, I realized that the window shades that caught my eye weren't within reach without spending extra money beyond the gift. The gift card is white with big, tan, letters that spell out:
"Pottery Barn is ... INSPIRATION"
*Courtesy of Pottery Barn : Roman Shade*
In this case, it was very true! I took on a little home project this weekend and thought I would share the result. Even though I spent hours working on this, I still feel as if I got something for almost nothing, dollar-wise. I'm not sure how much a custom size Roman shade would cost for the big window above my bathtub, but I'm thinking it would be way more than $10, which is what mine costed me!
Keith documented my work for me:
"A blank canvas"
Beginning to take shape
Tedious!
But worth it! 
I laughed at myself as I sat sewing on my Saturday night this weekend. I looked over into the living room and noticed that the movie Keith was watching had placed second in the competition with a nice doze on the couch. I listened to him snooze and suddenly we reminded me of an old couple. But, the elderly are on to something! It was very pleasant to sit and do quiet, productive work. In fact, I am very much looking forward to creating a matching shade for the smaller window in our bathroom! In a way, it really is more fun than just buying one.
If I phrase it that way instead of this way,
"She's already 9 months!"
then it seems a little less stunning. She was only 8 months 3 blog posts ago! How is that possible?
Happy 9 months, baby girl!
Gracious Anna
God's Grace
I see His love
On your sweet face
