Random

Katie's in bed, the dishes are done and my coffee is ready for the morning. If there is one thing that motherhood has taught me is that organization is a necessary evil. No more lounging around after my shower until 8:15 and then rushing myself to get ready every morning. No, now I get Katie up and around and do whatever with her until 8:25 and then rush to get myself out the door by 8:45. :)

I really should be heading to bed myself. I'm tired tonight and I'd like to finish Wicked, so I can finally get started on Twilight. Okay, I've convinced myself, bed sounds too good and it's only 9:53. Goodnight!

Super Yay!

Outfit Update

I went shopping for my outfit this afternoon and ended up with a pencil skirt from Penney's. Not the one I posted. I can't find it at all online, but it's pretty basic and it's black. I wanted gray, but I didn't have much of a choice. They had about 3 skirts total in the petite section at Penney's which is better than the 0 skirts I found at Kohl's. Kohl's did have a dress, but it was a wrap dress and although the style was very flattering, I was having issues with it flapping open on top. Not exactly the image I want to portray as a godmother, if you know what I mean...

Anyhow, I got this sweater in gray to go with the skirt, but I'm not sure about it. The cut of the sweater is super cute with the skirt. With some cute heels, I think it would look kind of like a "hot librarian" kind of deal. Especially if I wore my glasses! Again, not quite the godmotherly image, but I'm not showing off the girls so that's something. Anyhow, my other issue with the sweater is the weird bow print. I don't know, I'm just not feeling it. I would have looked longer, but I made the mistake of going shopping with Doug. He hurried me along all afternoon.

What do you normally wear with your pencil skirts?

What To Wear?

I have a couple of occasions coming up and I'm just not sure what I want to get to wear for them. Angela asked me to be Nicolas' godmother, so I've got to find something to wear to the church for that and then I am also looking for Christmas outfits. Here's my options so far:

Baptism:

Skirt #1 in gray

Skirt #2 also in gray

Sweater #1 in mallard

Sweater #2 in glazed raspberry, classic red or black

Christmas:

Katie's dress in red

Matching Shrug in black

So here's my dilemma about this...we're having Christmas pictures taken at our house (I think) and I can't decide what I should wear. I'm thinking sweater #2, but I'm not sure whether I want to do red or black. Doug is definitely wearing black. His complexion is too ruddy to wear red. It makes his face look like a tomato! If I wear red and am next to him will that have just as much effect? Will it look too somber if Doug & I are in black and Katie's in the red & black combo? What do you think? Or should I ditch that plan (I haven't bought anything yet) and go with totally different outfits? More casual? Jeans and cable knit sweaters, maybe? I'm open to suggestions!

Redecorating Urges

I got a new rug and now I want to redo my whole living room. I want new curtains, preferably chocolate brown. New lamps, 2 that match is not too much to ask for, is it? New picture frames to put up the pictures of my adorable daughter and other new wall decor to replace the tired old stuff that I have. Will any of this happen? Doubtful. New picture frames at least. As for the rest, it's probably not likely. So, now I need to refurbish my old stuff and make it feel new again. Suggestions?

Feelin' Crafty

Remember last year when I was on the hunt for special Christmas stockings? Well, I never found any I liked well enough, or that we could afford (why are those things SO expensive?) so we didn't end up having stockings at all.

This year I've decided I'm going to make our stockings. I found this tutorial I am going to try and use. Old used sweaters? What could be cheaper?

I also like her tutorial for sweater skits. Obviously, right up my alley. :)

More Coat Options

Here's a couple from Land's End that I think you might like and really they don't cost that much more than the ones from Penney's. And since they're from Land's End they'll probably last forever! (Of course, that might not be such a great thing next year if you want a different color or style...)

Anyway, here they are:

#1
Swing Coat, not as long as the first one, so maybe a little more flattering to our short statures...also classic shape, notice the un-oversized collar. Comes in red!

#2
Pea Coat, this one doesn't have the details that the Penney's one does, but I still like it. It seems less boxy than their option, but maybe that's just my opinion. This one also comes in red, and I kind of like the light navy too. Maybe it would be a good compromise between color and practicality?

Which coat?

I need to get a new winter coat this year because the lining is ripping out of my old one. So... Should I get:

Coat #1
I like the length of this coat, and I love that it has the detail around the waist for the slimming effect. I'm not really loving the collar, though. I feel like it's way too big. If I got this coat, I'd get the red one since I decided I need to wear more color.

Coat #2
I love the modern cut of this coat. Looks like it would be very flattering. But it is short, and I'm used to having longer length coats. If I bought this one, I'm on the fence about color. Part of me really wants one of the bolder colors because they are so FUN! But not super practical.

Your thoughts?

Halloween and Baby Updates

First off, Evie seems to be much better. She hasn't thrown up in 24 hours and she finally gained weight! We've had her in the clinic every day this week and she's finally back up to the weight she was before she went into the hospital, 8 lbs. 10 oz. (She had lost 6 oz. in the hospital).

I was looking back at stuff I had written about Hazel just after her 2 month appointment and she weighed over 12 pounds! No wonder Evie seems so little bitty tiny to me.

Hazel's been a real cutie lately. She learned to blow kisses, gives out hugs and now repeats words back to you if you ask her to. You can see the effort she puts into it to pronounce the word just right. We've finally gotten a clear, "Bot-tle" out of her after months of "Baba!" She's so pleased with herself that she says it all the time. Also, Josh is now called "Momma" and Evie is "Dada"

Now, on to Halloween. Have you decided what you are doing for Katie yet? We bought the cutest little witch costume for Hazel, so I think we're going to have Evie be a black cat. I just need to find one of those onesie style cat outfits and we'll be all set.

Pro pics are in! (kinda)

So excited! Here is the link. These are only a few, she's promised me more once she's done processing. :)

This Makes Me Sad...

I can't believe our daughters are never going to get to watch Reading Rainbow. I might have to try to buy it on DVD for Katie.

Evie's Birth Story *VERY LONG!*

Figured I better get to writing this out before I forget everything! :)

Our day started exactly like any other. I got up, got ready, and went to work. I did wear my flip-flops this day, even though they are completely forbidden, because I figured no one would dare cross me after coming in on the day I'd be giving birth. (A few people did look pointedly at my feet, but I ignored them.) Luckily no one said anything and I passed the hours of 8-12 in my normal way, with a few interruptions of people stopping by to wish me luck. I waved them off with confidence. After all, I'd done this just last year. It was no big deal, really. Little did I know how much my words would come back to haunt me...

Josh and Hazel pick me up at noon and we went to Panera for "The Last Supper." Yum. 'Nuff said.

We dropped Hazel at my Mom's and headed over to St. Mary's. By the time we get to the Family Birth Center we are a half-hour late. *Note: Our hospital is ridiculous. The Family Birth Center is as far from the parking garage as is possible. Do they not realize that 90% of their patients are probably in active labor by the time they reach the hospital? Do they not understand that labor is painful? Josh says it's likely to prevent stolen babies. But, believe me, the security of the birth center is like prison. Once you're in and tagged, you're not going anywhere until they say so. Even getting close to an exit door makes the alarms go off. It's annoying. Especially when your room is right next to an exit door.

Check in was fast and we were assigned the most awesome nurse. She cracked jokes with us, got my I.V. going (ouch) and I donned the ever sexy hospital gown. Once in bed, I started the last chapter of My Sister's Keeper, which I finally read after you've been telling me to read it for the last couple of years. Gooood book.

My doctor came in to break my water (which I'm not certain actually broke at this point. There was no gush or even a trickle. Doc said Evie's head was acting like a cork.) and saw me reading it. She asked me what part I was at and gave me the impression I may not want to read any further. Should have listened to her! My goodness what a sad thing to read before giving birth. :( I drowned my sorrows in an episode of "Property Virgins" while I waited for contractions to kick in.

And a half hour later... nothing. An hour passes. Nothing. Two hours and fifteen laps around the hallway and still nada. Resident doc comes in to check me and I'm still at 3 cm and 70% effaced, which I had been at my appointment the day before. My doctor tells the nurse to start Pitocin. Somewhere in the back of my brain, a funeral dirge sounds. I really, really didn't want Pitocin.

Our awesome nurse leaves us. She's been assigned to a different room. We get "Nurse Perky." Nurse Perky lets me know that she has given birth three times, NATURALLY. And that it is not only possible, but desirable. I hate her instantly.

Around 5 p.m., the Nurse P adds Pitocin to my I.V... By 7 p.m., I'm feeling pretty darn crappy. The contractions are every 2-3 minutes and are getting more and more unbearable. I ask the nurse to order the Epidural. She leaves for a few minutes, letting me THINK she's ordered my Epi. When she comes back, she waits awhile, then tells me that she doesn't think my contractions are in enough of pattern yet. She ups my Pitocin. Evil, sadistic bitch.

By 7:30 I am practically thrashing in pain. Contractions are now one right after another with maybe a one minute breather in between. (Everyone that says Pit contractions are the worst is right. They weren't even in the same zip code of pain as the ones I experienced with Hazel. I thought every bone in my chest and back were going to snap from the pressure.) I ask the nurse where my Epi is. She claims to go check on it.

When she comes back, she doesn't have my glorious savior. She has the Resident doc who she wants to install an internal monitor. You see, Nurse Perky doesn't believe me about my contractions because they're not reading on her little monitor. She wants the internal monitor, "Just to make sure my contractions are regular." Because my grunts and groans are apparently not enough of an indicator. Bitch.

Resident installs the internal monitor. During a particularly hard contraction. It was lovely. :-(

Resident says I'm about 5.5 cm dilated. Nurse Perky reads her new monitor which, surprise, surprise, tells her I'm having hard contractions every minute. She says she's going to order my Epidural now. Bitch.

Epi man comes around 8:15 p.m. and I almost cry. Soooo happy! I'm remembering the sweet, instant relief with Hazel. I form the "Angry Cat" pose and do my best to stay still through the procedure. The Doc manages to get the cathader placed the first time. (With Hazel, they had to try 8 spots before my spine finally took the cathader.) However, also unlike last time, there was no instant relief. In fact, my contractions now felt WORSE!

Epi man leaves saying that the job is done and I should start to feel relief in just 15 minutes or so. Time passes. It is clear to me that the Epi is not doing anything. In a fit of desperation, I ask Josh to press the button for more meds. I have him push it two or three times. Nothing. I'm now crying during the contractions because (not only are they now worse when I didn't think it was even possible) it's sinking in that I'm going to have to do this without any pain relief. I am completely terrified. Nurse Perky seems smug and reminds me that women do this everyday. She keeps telling me to "Blow my pain away" when I get a contraction. At one point, I turn to Josh and say, "If she tells me that one more time, I'm going to blow HER away!" I secretly hope she heard me say it, but I don't think she did.

Around 9:30, I'm inconsolable. Nurse Perky comes in the room and starts putting together a syringe of something. I ask her what it is and she tells me it's something "for the pain." I ask if it will make my loopy and she says yes. I tell her I don't want it. I'd rather be in pain than not be alert for the birth of my child. I'm still a bit miffed that after all that "natural is best" crap, she tried to give me drugs without my consent.

Contractions continue. They get worse. Apparently, it was possible.

10:15ish there is a long pause after a particularly bad contraction. I get a full minute of rest. It felt like bliss.

Then, like a freight train comes a feeling unlike any other I've ever experienced. Not pain, exactly, but the most amazingly intense primal urge I've ever felt. I had to push, RIGHT NOW! And there was no stopping it. It was not even in the realm of possibility not to push. Nurse Perky ran to get the doctor (only helpful thing she did, actually) and everyone ran into the room.

Pushing was another incredible experience. Similar to last time, only more pressure, more burning and sharper pain. I screeched like an animal. Josh laughs at me now for clamping my hand over my mouth when my doctor told me not to scream because the baby needed the oxygen. It was really the only way to stop myself.

Less than ten short minutes later, Evie was here. She didn't cry right away like Hazel. In fact, I don't think she cried until they laid her on my stomach and rubbed her down. She was so blue that I worried for her and asked a couple of times if she was okay.

But she was. She was perfect. :) Here's a picture of just after she was born as she lay on me. So alert. Such a sweetheart.

Wish I'd seen this before..

I bought Hazel's bedding. SO CUTE!



I'd buy it for Evie, but my mom already bought a bumper (pink and brown), so it won't work. :(

Welcome, Katie!

Just wanted to say welcome to the newest girl in our little club!

Of course, you realize I need more pictures, but I know how busy you are. Plus, pictures are kind of a curse, because once I see one batch, I'm ready for another. :)

Hope you have a...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Maybe you'll get an extra special present today?

According to the tickers...

my baby is 2 days old and you only have 20 days to go! A month from now, we'll be done. Doesn't seem possible, does it?

I Want to Redecorate Too!

As you know, I've been searching for new bedding for my bedroom for quite awhile and I think I've found something that Doug & I could both agree on and that I really love. And that will look nice with our paint color. What do you think of this? It'll definitely be fine with what we have up on the walls and I think I'll just need to get brown curtains to replace the black. If I got the king (which comes with standard shams also-yay!), I won't need a new bedskirt. Plus, I think all my sheet sets will look fine with it for now. It's a little more than those overstock ones, but still not a bad price do you think for a quilt and shams? Now how do I convince Doug, especially now...maybe I'll get some birthday money. I usually do from my parents and Doug's mom, but things may be different this year.

Great Room Remodel - Before

Here are the "befores" (from the realtor listing):

We've been working on the living room/dining room/kitchen for a while, mainly painting, but we decided we needed to get more done before Evie arrives.

So, what will/has happened?

Step one is complete. We have painted the living room and striped the giant wall like this (but in Sherwin Williams Practical Beige):



Kitchen has been painted in Sherwin Williams Sierra Redwoods. It's a nice a dark cinnamon-y color.

Step two is flooring. We were initially going to have wood laminate put in to replace the yellowed linoleum in the kitchen and stained living room carpet. But after looking and looking, we couldn't find anything we liked well enough or didn't look like fake wood. After much agonizing, we decided to bite the bullet and have real hardwoods installed. We bought the flooring last night (OUCH!) and it is being installed Thursday-Saturday of this week.

We chose Hickory. I should end up looking like this:

Step three is cabinet hardware. We purchased some oil rubbed bronze hardware from Overstock for the kitchen cabinets. They have absolutely amazing prices on that stuff, we ended up paying a third of what we thought it might cost. We're stil waiting for this to come in, but even if it comes in today, it will wait until the floors are down.

Step four, FURNITURE! We bought a chaise lounge and rocker/recliner (both in a dark chocolate color) over the weekend. They are being delivered next Thursday and Friday respectively. I'm also planning on buying two super cheap black bookcases from Walmart. They have five-shelf bookcases for only $49 a piece. Hopefully they won't fall apart when we get our books on them...

Step five, decorating. No clue what I'm doing in here yet for decor. I'll probably take down the vertical blind on the sliding door and hang curtains. I found some pretty cheap curtains (in the Tuscany Stripe color) on clearance at JCPenneys, but I'm not sure if I like them yet, or if I just think they'll match well.

Anyhow, alot going on! I'll post some "during" pictures once everything is all nice and ripped to pieces.

Finishing Touches

Since Hobby Lobby had all things I planned to look for on sale last night, I dragged Doug out there with me. He actually doesn't mind HL much. There are things he can look at there. Now Michaels is a whole other story...

So anyway, I get out there to check out that dragonfly again, it's 50% off this week and I'm thinking if Doug likes it, we'll get it. Well of course they only had 2 last week and this week they were both gone. Figures. Then I tried picking up a a few other things, but neither Doug or I could find anything we really liked. So then we headed over to the matted prints. I'd figure finding prints with ladybugs, butterflies, etc. would be no problem...wrong again! Found a few butterflies, but they had inspirational/waiting room type sentiments on them. Not quite what I was going for in my daughter's nursery. We did find a couple of sweet ballerina prints, but again, not what we're going for. Although, we did pick one that didn't look too much like a ballet costume, more like a dress (we hope) to hang in a simple white frame above her dresser (in my head that's where it goes, hopefully Doug will agree.) We also found a really cute white shelf really similar to this one, with the pegs. It does just only have 3 pegs, so even though I like that they hung the letters from it like they did, I would probably only do a "K" or maybe I won't do anything like that at all.

I've already got this cute little handprint kit that a library patron gave us with a pink & green border that I cannot find online anywhere! It's Child of Mine brand, and I think it's from Wal-Mart. Check it out next time you are in the baby section. It's pretty cute. So anyway, that's going on the shelf and I finally ordered one of those prints, this one goes the best with the hand print kit and Doug liked it, so that's why I went with it. I'm thinking of just framing it in an 8x10 though, instead of the 11x14 it reccommends because I don't want it to be too big next to the little handprint thing, it's dimensions are 6x6, I think. Wouldn't an 11x14 something next to it, kind of overwhelm it? So that and we picked up a little white clock at Wal-Mart and we're done. As soon as that other print comes in (which I'm a little annoyed about because I ordered it last night and did not find out until after I placed the order that the shop is closed until July 1st) and I get everything up on the walls, I'll take pictures.

Etsy Crazy

So, I finally went and bought some stuff from Etsy. Wanna see?


I got this tutu for Hazel's birthday party. Now I just need to find the perfect onesie to go with it. The custom onesies on Etsy are insane ($22 for a onesie? Are they crazy?) So I think I'll just buy one "off the shelf". Probably light pink.



I also got this dress for her birthday. Might be a gift, or she might wear it to the party. Not sure yet.



Finally, I got this set of hairbows. I'm so glad to finally have some of those stretchy headbands!

Wide Awake!

I've been up since 6:30. Not by choice, it's just what time my eyeballs snapped open. They seem to be doing that more and more these days, no matter how late I get to bed the night before. Is my body preparing itself for impending motherhood? At least I'm not getting up during the night to pee anymore. I don't know how or why that has stopped, but I'm certainly glad it did!

Yesterday was childbirth class. I'm so glad we went. We learned so much, alot was basics that I probably already knew or had read about, but it was good to hear it again. The breathing techniques actually seemed like they might help. And I'm confident now that I'm going to really try to get through this without pain medications. I kind of wanted to do that in the first place, but I was really chickening out before. Now I feel like I really can do it. But I'm not totally taking the meds off the table. If I decide to use them, I'm not going to be upset about it.

Then I went to Leah's wedding last night. It was a lovely ceremony, very short & sweet. Nobody talked to me though. Oh, I guess I got a couple of "hi" or "when are you due?", but otherwise nothing. It was awkward, uncomfortable and I really wish I would have just sent the card. I think it's officially time to close the door on that whole situation.

My baby shower is this afternoon! I can't wait!

Oh, I think we've decided to change the way we spell Katie's middle name. We're going to go with C-l-a-r-e, instead of C-l-a-i-r-e. It honors Doug's dad more that way. And I have a new middle name suggestion for you...Alyse. I know her inititals won't spell a real word then, but it's getting closer. Plus, it kind of reminds me of Alyssa, which if I remember was at the top of Josh's list, right?

Revised Master Bedroom

So, I found and bought my quilt over the weekend. I love, love it! Here is a new version of our Master. What do you think? I think it's much less cabin-y and much more cottage-like.



We bought the paint last weekend, too. The color is a little creamier than shows here on the swatch, but it's a good general idea.

The mirror is from Target and it's (only) $79.99. A little more than I wanted to spend, but it's sooooo close to the pottery barn one, I might have to go for it...eventually.

We'll Call This Before...

First of all, I have major nursery envy. We went to see my cousin's new baby tonight and their nursery was so cute! All pink & brown and ladybugs. Too adorable. So now I'm really ready to get ours finished. But I'd like to have a record to show what it started out like. Right now, it's a big mess! Also, my paint color does not show up at all. It totally looks white. Sucks! If I repainted, I think I'd do green. I'm a little concerned that I just keep picking up stuff here and there and that it's not all going to go together. So we'll see what happens when this is all said and done.

Here's the bargain changing table Doug picked up at a garage sale. Yes, I relented. If it gets Doug to change more diapers, I'm all for it. :) Unfortunately, he didn't seem to care that the finish is much too red & dark for anything we have. I was hoping Katie's room would be the one place that stuff actually matched! We could paint it, but it probably won't happen.

Here's the bouncy seat I got at a garage sale for $15! Mom bought the matching travel swing for $20. I'll probably end up buying it from her, if we don't get the one we registered for.


That's just what I have hung up. There are at least 10 more outfits in bags and whatnot.
Cute little night light shade I picked up in the Target bargain section. It was $2.50.
Quilt that goes with the bedding set I plan to use. It's really cute and I ended up putting most of the matching accessories on my registry. Actually, I think I put just about all of the accessories on there except for the mobile.
Here's the comforter to the first set I bought. It is still super cute, and I do like it, but I like the bright colors in the other one better.

I also picked up a Winnie the Pooh humidifier on clearance at Sam's Club today for $10. I registered for just a plain one, but I figure if we get it then we can either take it back for something we didn't get or pass along the Pooh one to one of the many people we know having babies right now.

So, that's it. Hopefully we'll start working on putting stuff together soon. Of course, once we get the dresser that should spur things along a little bit. At least we'll have a chance to put stuff away.

Family Vacation

So Doug & I were talking the other day about taking a family vacation next year. He'll actually have vacation time to take, and I'm assuming I'll still have plenty! :) Anyway, he mentioned that we should meet you guys somewhere. What do you think of that? Wouldn't that be a fun tradition to start with our girls? I will say right now that we're probably not up for camping, sorry. I would do it, but I don't think we could convince Doug. I think we'd love to stay in a cabin someplace though. If we got a big enough one we could just share it and do our own cooking and stuff, so that ought to save us a little $$. Also, we're thinking someplace driveable. Any suggestions?

Happy Mother's Day!

That's all I wanted to say. :)

Airing My Dirty Laundry

Yes, being pregnant is wonderful. Yes, I am enjoying every blissful minute of my relatively few aches, pains and sickness. But somedays, it just down right sucks! Like this morning for instance when I cried because Doug was doing the laundry. That's right, because he was doing it...not because he wouldn't help me, but because he did and I didn't even ask him. And no, these weren't tears of joy, they were most definitely tears of sadness. Because I knew if he did all my laundry today, all the clothes would be piled up in a big heap on my bed when I got home waiting for me to fold. Plus, the loads would be overstuffed and everything would come out wrinkled and I just really didn't want to iron tomorrow morning before we picked his mom up for breakfast at 8:30. Seriously, what is wrong with me?? I should be jumping for joy that my husband wants to tackle this chore, right? So I had to ask him not to do it, which of course annoyed him. Which in turn made me feel bad, which made me cry. It was my own fault I suppose. I asked him to take the clothes downstairs for me. When he does that I can go down and do the laundry myself and I pull out what needs to be hung up as soon as it's out of the dryer. The rest can sit in baskets until Doug brings it back upstairs and then I fold it. I hang up a lot of stuff, so mostly all that goes in baskets aren't important items anyway. Maybe I'm just being too sensitive or something. If he was willing to pull stuff out and hang it up, I'd be the happiest wife in the world, but since he can't/won't, is it too much to ask for me to want him to do it my way?

On to other things, remember this crib set? I saw it at OUAC last night for $20. Even cuter in person! My mom was with me and she loved it too. I think she almost bought it for me right there, but we decided to wait. We kept talking about it though and she said she was going to try and talk my dad into getting it for me today for a Mother's Day gift. So we'll see. I still really like the set I already got, so if I don't get it no big deal. Still though, it's such a good price!

ETA: The lady I bought my mobile from last weekend called today to say that she found the remote. She's going to drop it by my work one day next week. :)

Finally Found What I Was Looking For!

Instead of a bookcase, I think I want this for Katie's room. I had a bookcase that would work, but Doug's got so much stuff on it, that I can't even begin to figure out where we'd put it all. Besides, this is shorter, so it will be easier for her to use later. When she's actually old enough to put away her toys and stuff. I'll get these cute pink and green drawers to go in it for her toys and that'll leave plenty of space for her books (for now!)

Inspire Board - Master Bedroom

(Click to enlarge)

Okay, so I put together an "inspriation" board for the master bedroom, using that quilt (which I haven't ordered yet, but I'm going to).

Any suggestions? Not quite positive about the paint color just yet. I may go a bit creamier in tone.

Finished Bedroom

RIP Casper

My sweetheart of a dog passed away tonight.

She loved:
Laying in the shade on a hot day
Snow
Pig Ears
French Fries
Tug of War with socks
The words: Friend, Confused, Rigatoni, Ride, Rabowski
Rubs on her chest
Madeleine

Updated Hazel Pics

Thought I'd share some recent pics of my cutie. The first couple were from her first trip to the park.

Getting ready to go down the slide.


That was FUN!


First time in a swing.


What'cha doin'?


Mommy's attempt to tame my hair didn't work out so well.

My Results

Okay, so I did take the quiz twice, because I didn't find my first results totally accurate. Although, surprisingly it's the same 3 styles, only this time in a different order. The first one said I was 50% Nantucket, and while I do like that I knew it just wasn't true. I think the Traditional Country is definitely me. I'd love a country style farmhouse, painted yellow with white shutters and a red door, with lots of cheery colors in the house to make things warm and inviting.

55% Traditional Country
36% Wine Country Style
9% Nantucket Style

Cool Quiz

Just took this quiz to figure out my style quotient. Apparently, I like country traditional. I'm guessing it's mostly right because I LOVE the pic of the room that represented it! Now to recreate...

Overall results:
75% Country Traditional
25% Nantucket Style

I think it's pretty right on. Take the quiz here.

Look for Less - Recylced Magazine Mirror

UO Look

It's recycled, so that means you care about the environment if you own one, right? But at $120 you're recycling a little too much money.

WM Budget


A slightly smaller mirror and a MUCH smaller price - $38.88. It's easy being green! :)

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UO Cost: $120.00

WM Cost: $38.88

TOTAL SAVINGS: $81.12

Look for Less - Rug Edition

WE Look
This rug is on sale now for $189.99

or...

T Bargain
You could get this option for $139.99.

WE cost: $189.99 ($229.00 regular price)
T cost: $139.99

Total Savings: $50.00 (if purchased on sale)
$89.01 (based on regular prices)

Look for Less - Quilt Edition

Cheating a bit on the first one. You'll see.

PB Look

So, I LOVE this quilt. It costs $199.00 for a king-size quilt. Each sham costs $39.00.

WM Budget

This quilt is only $59.99 for a king-size and includes two shams.

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PB Cost: $277.00

WM Cost: $59.99

TOTAL SAVINGS: $217.01

Rugs, curtains and fun...

Okay, new plan. What do you think of this:

Dotty bumper!
Stripey dust ruffle!
Adorable rug!
Too cute curtain!

Okay, I probably won't go for the curtain, because I'm not a big fan of the sheer, but it is so adorable, I just had to show it to you. :) I'm not 100% certain the bumper and rug are quite the same colors, but I think they'd be close enough, don't you? I'm thinking dots & stripes are pretty versatile and we can put just about anything with it. Bugs, flowers, whatever, right?

Magazine Subscriptions?

Just wondering what, if any, magazines you subscribe to? I'm considering a few house-type magazines, but I'm having a hard time deciding... What do you think? Which ones do you like best?

Bedding!!

For me again. I've been scouring the internet, trying to find the perfect set and darn if you didn't point out how pretty this set is. I know I said our furniture had too much modernness too it, but the more I think I about it, the more I think it will be fine. Assuming you don't mind if we have the same set? Who'll ever see it anyway, right? I decided not to go with the stripey set, because I actually looked at one the other day and it was really muted and faded. After that I realized that wasn't quite what I wanted, plus I've decided I'd like something a little more feminine and Doug truly doesn't care. I may still change my mind again. We've got some extra money coming in sometime in the next few weeks so hopefully, I'll be ordering something soon. The sooner it comes, the sooner, I'll make a decision. I just don't want to have any buyer's remorse, you know?


Ooohhh, I like this set too. You're losing some color versatility though. Hmm...what do you think?

Found Another House!

We'll know on Tuesday if our other house has fallen through. It's not looking good at this point. This house is in the same subdivision, and while it isn't quite as updated, the price is much better. We're pretty happy about our back up plan!

The Victorian was flatout beautiful. Even prettier in person and absolutely ENORMOUS! The kitchen was the same size as my current one except it was entirely usable space--no slopping ceilings and there was cabinets everywhere. The neighborhood wasn't what we had hoped for, though. Not bad, exactly, but it was by a mile the nicest house on the street, know what I mean? Not great for resale...

So Belated...

That's right, your birthday present should be arriving in the next week or two. So so so sorry it is so late (2 months...yikes!) But I know you're going to love it. :)

Found Another One

I really have to quit looking! But here's another cute option. The upside to this one is that I could register for it and all of its cute matching pieces! Plus, I'm really loving the colors. Either set would look adorable with our yellow painted walls, I'm sure. Too many choices!!! I'd show it to Doug, but I don't think he'd be much help.

This May Be the One...

My never ending quest for baby bedding continues, but I found(yet another) one that I really like. And look, I can get it here for $65 cheaper! What do you think?

I think we have a winner!

More details later today, but here is the link.

We have a VERY strong runner up, but Josh won't see it until later today.

EDIT TO ADD:

Josh didn't end up liking the second house much at all, so it looks like #1 might be the winner! Still checking other listings online though, just in case.

About the house. 3 Bedrooms (two upstairs and one downstairs) 2.5 bathrooms, one on each level. Vaulted ceiling in the living/dining rooms. Big patio style deck off the back with access from sliding doors in the dining room and master bedroom. Comes with invisible fencing for the dogs, wooden fort-style play gym/swing set for the kidlets and deeded access to a private lake-side park/boardwalk 1.5 blocks away.

The bad: The drive to work is about 25 minutes on a boring stretch of interstate. Not even pretty countryside to look at. The price is a little higher than we actually wanted to spend. (But it's been on the market since early September, so they may be willing to deal?) It's a subdivision home, so there is a home owners association and the fees that come with it.

Never thought I'd live in a subdivision, ever. But it's pretty rural, the houses are spaced widely apart and the lake is a big plus.

We're going to go see it again next week, I think. Just to be sure. After that, who knows?

Houses

House 1

House 3

House 4

House 5

House 6

House 7

House 8

I Can't Wait!

I thought of something fun that we could take Hazel & Katie (and baby #2, if it's a girl!) to do in a few years. We should totally plan a trip to go to an American Girls store!! Wouldn't that be fun and so cute? It looks like they have stores in Minneapolis and Chicago, as well as many others, but that would be the best for us, I think. I always wanted an American Girl doll when I was younger, but they were (and still are) super expensive...almost $100. My niece has one though and it is so cool. It even looks like her with her blond hair and brown eyes. So maybe not a good idea until the girls are older, like 5 & 6? If we ever got her one, I'd definitely want her to have a few years to play with it, before she got "too big" for dollies, you know what I mean? For $100, we better get alot of play out it! What am I saying, I just hope she likes dolls! We saw some people unloading a doll house the other day and I melted right there. I'm so excited that I'm having a girl!!

The Cruise is (Obviously) Cancelled

But the house hunt may be back on. We got pre-approved today for an FHA loan. I'll keep you updated on if we decide to do anything with it. :)

It was cute THIS time

So the three of us went out to eat at Old Chicago's last night. They have this deal going right now where you can get a salad and dessert for almost the same as just the meal. Soooo... Josh ordered the cheesecake.

By the time we were done with our meal, Hazel was getting very restless (it was already past her bedtime by then). He held her in his lap while he ate his cheesecake. Of course, we couldn't resist seeing if she liked the desserts we had so we each gave her a bite of our sweets. (I had ice cream which she tolerated, but didn't love, I think the cold bothered her.) She seemed to like the cheesecake so Josh gave her another bite. Throughout the rest of dinner she was quiet and happy playing with a napkin while we ate.

Then, Josh put the last bite of cheesecake on his fork. I watched Hazel as her eyes followed that bite from the plate all the way to Josh's lips. The second it became clear that he was going to eat it she let out this ear-splitting scream and beat her hands on the table. SHE WANTED THAT LAST BITE! How dare we deprive her? Josh ate half the bite and gave her the other half, at which point, she reverted to her "I'm a little angel" look and played with her napkin as if nothing had happened.

We laughed so hard! I had tears running down my face from it! To see her reasoning was amazing. She's grown so much.

After, we realized that the behavior was cute at 7 months, but wouldn't be so cute at 17 months. We're going to have to watch it.

Two more days!

I can hardly stand it!!!!! I went to Target on my lunch break today and looked around thinking, "By Friday, I'll be able to BUY something!"

Countdown Tickers

Two for you:

Pregnancy Tickers from WiddlyTinks.com







One for me:

We booked it this week. October 17, we're going to see Mickey, Minnie and all their friends! (Yay, tax money!)

ABC Set

Yet another ABC set. This one has a lot going for it. You can buy the pieces separately. It's fairly reasonable. And, it's supposedly in stock at my Target! So I can actually go and look at it and maybe register for it when the time comes. :) Yay!! And of course, the best reason of all, it's super cute!

Another Cute Set

Although, this one is pretty boy-ish. What do you think? I think my big question here would be what color to pain the walls with this set? It's got a lot of color in it already, so should I pick one of those or maybe just stick with white walls? What would you do?


Doug didn't like the Alphabet Soup set. Granted the picture I showed him was really busy, so that may have had something to do with it.

More Cute Baby Stuff

I'm thinking that buying a crib set is overrated seeing as how you can't use the bedspread or the bumpers. Sheets and the bed skirt don't seem to cost much, so that might be a better option, as opposed to buying the whole set. So I wandered around the Target website tonight and this is what I came up with.

Adorable Giraffe Set

Cute Safari Set

Alphabet Soup Set

This is totally only for Doug...I definitely would not spend $40 on this.

Another Crib Set

Oh, I really love this one... I saw it tonight at Penney's, but it was $140. So it's actually cheaper on Babies 'R Us. :) So many choices! How will I ever decide?

What I Did this Weekend

We didn't look at any houses, but we did look at cars. Aaaaannnnddddd...we bought one! Totally a fluke. It was a nice day Saturday and we just stopped to look. But we both really liked this car and we got the kind of financing that we wanted so now we are the proud new owners of a 2007 Ford Fusion. And it's not silver or gray! :) It's red, a darker red. I just looked it up and it is Merlot. I'm sorry the only pictures I have so far are on my phone. I will post one soon though. I'm really excited about it though. Our payments went up, of course, but not too much. And our interest rate went way down! Doug & I are finally starting to build up some good credit. Which is a huge relief. Like I said, we weren't going to buy anything Saturday, but we knew we'd be buying in the very near future, so here we are.

Another House for Consideration

So, a few more open houses this weekend. The stone house I linked to previously (really awesome, but the realtor let us know that it was unlikely to last another week on the market. There has been alot of interest.)

After that we saw yet another raised ranch. The house was *yawn* but the yard and surroundings were awesome. A horse field is right across the road with five or six horses playing. In the back is nothing but corn fields. Peaceful. I only wish I liked the house. :(

Finally, a house we haven't seen yet, but could be a contender. We'll see it one day, if we decide we're super serious.

Recent Pics of Princess Hazel

Cuteness!

I so want to buy this night light for the baby's room. Isn't it adorable!

House Mania

So, we're still not ACTUALLY buying (yet), but that doesn't stop us from looking! The problem is that we want something with a little bit of land and no close neighbors, but we (read: I) don't want another fixer. So far, we went to two open houses last weekend but didn't really feel inspired by either one.

First one (Not enough character & in a subdivision)
Second one (Yard was too small and the neighbors too close)

Then, on my lunch break today, I'm pretty sure I found THE HOUSE. If it's still on the market in two months (when we could realistically get a loan) it will be ours. Josh is in love, too. We're going to sneakily drive by it tomorrow and check it out.

ETA 1/31: We drove by it today and it's just as perfect in person. *sigh*

Aunt Misty: Look What I Can Do!

She just started sitting up by herself on New Year's Day. Now she's whiz!