Patio Help

I need help!!!!!
How to you turn a cement slab into a true patio that's charming, cozy and inviting without spending a fortune???
How do you turn this:

Into This:

I did find this on walmart.com for $300 and thought it might be a good start??

OK - I realize the answer to my question might be, "it's impossible," but if you have any suggestions, ideas or helpful tips of things you did, please let me know. We can use all the help we can get!
I'm doing another garden this year and Lucy will be running around soon and I'd really love to create a space outside that we can enjoy morning, afternoon and evening.

Our little one year old.....

Here is a photo update of the month leading up to Lucy turning one year old!

Her Favorites:
Looking out windows
Pointing to pictures or paintings on the wall
Still loves looking at pics/videos of herself on the ipod or looking in the mirror and giving herself kisses
Playdates with friends - she loves watching other kiddos play and squeals when she sees anyone under the age of 15 in the store or anywhere :)
Having Grammy and Pop Pop time almost every wednesday
Facetiming with Grandpa and Grandma in Michigan
Being read to and paging through book after book with us or on her own - she's a book worm!
Baby dolls, hugging them and kissing them


Her skills:
waving
blowing kisses
high fives
nodding and shaking her head (she prefers no to yes....)
pointing
crawling very fast
cruising along the furniture
standing without help
babbling - saying Mama and Dada a lot and tilting her head down and throwing it back to say "BA!" - not sure how that one started... :)
being silly in her crib - falling down and playing games when I say "Come to mama" :)
doing peek-a-boo with a blanket
She just took a step on March 5!! this is a big deal since we have such a timid girl on our hands!!

OK - on to the photos:

These are a few of my favorite Things!

Ok - so here's a list of some things I am currently loving. Feel free to comment with some of your favorites - always looking for a good deal or a great new product to try!

1. Sound of Music
Hey, if I'm going to quote the movie in my title, I better say that I love it. And I do. And I want Lucy to love it too....We have been watching it in increments, although I watch it more than her. She does love the scenes that the kids are in :)

2. Caldrea Countertop Sprays
They smell amazing, makes me want to clean more things and more often. Wow - never thought I'd say that. But it's true, the sprays clean and totally refresh a room immediately! I have gotten different scents on clearance at TJ Maxx and target. Target carries these regularly, although it seems like one of my favorite scents is discontinued, but so far I've loved all that I've tried.

3. TJ Maxx Sunglasses
Ok, there's a lot to love from TJ, but my most recent find was $3.99 sunglasses - american eagle brand. So I bought several, since I can never decide. I always need other's input on how they look on me :) But really, with how much I drop, temporarily lose, scratch, etc...my sunglasses, you just can't go wrong with cute pairs for $3.99.

4. Dry Shampoo
I posted about this earlier and was thankful for the feedback I got. So far suave has been working great for me and the bottle is still going. I also bought Dove brand to try. Since I'm a greasy hair girl basically all the time unless I JUST showered (frustrating...), it's really nice to have on hand and I use it quite often.

5. Magazines
With Lucy not napping as long as when she was younger, I find it hard to steal away quiet moments with a good mag and a cup of coffee, but still hoping this will happen in the months/years (?) ahead :) I currently get Real Simple, Family Circle and Country Living and I really do love them all. Real Simple - like their fashion pages, tips and product and book suggestions, Family Circle - like their recipes and beauty product pages (though they have changed them lately :( ), and Country Living - I just like the whole style of the magazine, the home ideas and the style of everything in it! Any mags you guys would recommend??

6. Starbucks dates
Joe, Lucy and I have been going on a.m. dates to starbucks every wednesday morning. And since I always seem to get starbucks coffee for brewing at home on sale at Dominicks or at TJ Maxx or Home Goods for around $5.99, I always have a plethora of bags around that I can take in for free cups of coffee. Along with being a Gold card member where I seem to earn free drinks and always have free refills which is lovely.

7. Pinterest
Ok, still love pinterest, though I'm not on it TOO often :)
Still getting fun home ideas, recipes, gardening tips, fashion and style looks to copy, etc.
I'm assuming most of you have joined, but if not, you should definitely get on that train and follow people whose styles and tastes are similar to yours and I guarantee you will find lots of fun ideas for your home, style, dinners, and much, much more...

8. Lydia Brownback Devotional books
So I already loved her devo books - I have only read Trust and Contentment, but plan on reading Joy and Purity soon...But Lydia spoke at a girl's retreat for our youth group girls in February that I helped plan and I just love her all the more. She's so real and relate-able and she impacted our girls (and all of us) SO much in the couple of hours she spent with them. Thankful for her and her ministry!

9. Savers
So I originally thought this was a grocery store but have now realized that it's a sweet and huge thrift store like goodwill but nicer. I went to the naperville location twice and have gotten some GREAT deals! Like brand new Merrell shoes for Lucy and brand new pink converse for me - sweet! They have a ton - it's fun to look through it all and find some jems and mondays are additional 20% off, score!!

10. Nail polish & makeup on clearance
I've been big time hitting the jackpot at walgreens, target & ulta for clearance hair products, nail polish, make up, etc. And I love getting stuff like this cheap-o because it's fun to try new things - like the clearance nail polish. Hey, $3.99 or $4.99 for essie or OPI is a deal, so it's fun to try different colors and take a risk without spending $9-10 on a bottle. And sinful and sallie hansen brands at walgreens are only $1.99 and they had had some great colors lately too.

K that's all the time I have for now, thanks for reading!!! :)

Recent excursions

Joe and I got to go to Chicago to drop off the Moody students & the van after church and then we walked a couple miles to the train and missed it by 30 seconds, so we got to have a nice dinner together and got lots of rare one on one time while Joe's family watched the Lucy girl. It was a very fun time & a beautiful day. We miss being able to go down there - maybe we will try to take Lucy there with us one of these days!

We also went to a forest preserve in Winfield recently and went for a long walk with the girl. We've been so thankful for this mild winter, it's been so fun to be able to still go for walks around town and get out to the car more easily :) Yet we are still anxiously awaiting spring and summer!

Lucy Turns One!

I cannot believe our little baby turned one year old this month! It's unbelievable how fast this year has gone by. We've been very nostalgic thinking back to the day she was born and just all of those new & wonderful feelings we felt and all the joy we experienced that first night and beyond.
We were able to celebrate Lucy's birthday with Joe's whole immediate family - 10 adults and 3 kiddos! It was a big group and a little overwhelming for her, especially since she decided to skip her afternoon nap that day :(
But it was SO sweet and so much fun. She loved being around her cousins, Noella and Mercy and she was trying to jump like they were and keep up with them. So precious!!
We had a great family dinner together, played party games with the kids, and then had cake and presents. The cake time was definitely overwhelming with us all crowding around her taking photos and videos and the girls being excited, but she got through it :) And then we opened some fun presents from everyone and even some special deliveries from Florida! Then Lucy went night night and all the guys & girls got some segregated time together which is always enjoyable :)
Then my parents were here for a few hours on friday and we got to open Lucy's gifts together and had a special lunch at Domo 77 - Lucy's first time for Hibachi! :)
So thankful that so much of our family is nearby and have been able to be so involved in Lucy's first year of life!

Here are some of her first ever photos that I love and then are photos from her party!!

*Also - Lucy stats are 90th percentile for height and 20th or below for weight! She's a string bean! :) 18lbs 6oz - she's our little peanut, but she is healthy and strong, yay! :)

13 week update

How far along: 13 weeks (14 weeks tomorrow!!)

Total weight gain: lost a couple of pounds

Best moments this month: hearing the baby's heartbeat at my appointment on friday & Lucy turning 1!

Food cravings: not many. am growing out of the nausea thankfully, but still not very hungry most of the time. I did enjoy soft pretzels most of the first trimester :)

Gender: We don't know and we aren't finding out!

Belly button in or out: still in, but definitely not the same as pre-Lucy :(

Labor signs:no thankfully!

What I miss: Sleeping through the night with no bathroom breaks, being able to take meds when I'm sick with a headache or cold & feeling more energetic

What I am looking forward to: This is unrelated to baby, but I'm SO looking forward to the summer and going on lots of walks with Lucy and to the pool and beach and getting lots of one on one time with her before the little one comes. I am also getting so excited to have these two little ones close together. I hope that they will be sweet little pals and maybe sleep in bunk beds one day :)

Weekly wisdom: I have been thankful to hear from other mom's lately about having babies close together and doing just fine. It's always helpful to hear when I'm feeling overwhelmed!

Milestones: Getting through the first trimester is BIG for me. I can't complain because I really feel pretty good compared to others, but it's a relief to be growing out of the extreme fatigue stage and hopefully into more stable eating patterns as well :)

11 weeks

12 weeks

Valentine's Day

We aren't huge valentine's people per se.....
And this year was a little crazy with Joe and the youth group and teaching at College of DuPage...
YET my sweet husband came home from teaching Valentine's night with a bag of popcorn and a bag of my favorite candies from the popcorn shop. Ummmm, he knows me SO well. And I was estatic!! It's the simple things, right?! :)