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Swing Set Project

3 Apr

Just realized I never really posted the swing set project photos here… so here ya go!

All that’s left, as of right now, is to install the fireman’s pole off the back… attach the second set of swing hangers (which we have now) and maybe add some flowers (fake or real, not sure yet) to the flower box. Then Carly is getting a baby swing for her birthday from us, and Jonah is getting a big boy swing from Mamaw and G-pa, I think, that will both get hung up.If Jonah gets the steering wheel that he wants for his birthday from someone, we’ll need to attach that too… but we’re pretty close to being DONE with this project! Yay! So fun seeing it come to life!

Garage Renovation: DONE!

7 Mar

It all started with us getting a bunch of new power tools for christmas this year, not having anywhere to really put them, and being generally displeased with the dark dungeon of clutter that was our garage. Jason had a week off work and school between Christmas and New Years, and we typically try to tackle a major home improvement project at that point every year… last year it was Jonah’s big boy bedroom. We knew this was going to be a much bigger project, and would have to be done in phases. Our hope was to be finished with Phase 1 (the door wall) by the end of the break. We made that goal! Our next goal was to be finished with Phase 2 and 3 by spring break so that we could have it finished when Jason would have another week off school and work and we could then dedicate that week to building the kids’ swing set for their birthdays… and given that spring break starts next Friday, I am happy to announce that we are DONE! Here’s a little photo time line for you!

Door Wall Before (12/29/09)

Exterior Wall Before (12/29/09)

Cleared off, Patched, Painted the Door Wall, Built Shelves and Peg Board (12/31/09)

Rubber Maid Tub Shelves Close Up (1/2/10)

Custom Rolling Work Bench (1/2/10)

Pyro Corner... Fireplace, Grill, and Fire Pit accessory storage (1/2/10)

Back Wall Before (Taken 1/23/10)

Peg Board and "Racing Stripes" for heavy duty hooks (2/10/10)

More Tub Shelves, "Phase 2" Complete! Ready to start Phase 3! (2/15/10)

Rolling Wood Rack Built (2/20/10)

Exterior Wall After (3/7/10)

Back Wall After (3/7/10)

Overhead wood rack, shelf on the back wall for our pool off season, and shelf on the door wall for chemicals (3/7/10)

Door Wall After (3/7/10) painted the door frame, but should probably paint the door itself too I guess.

We are THRILLED with our new garage! Can’t wait to use all this new available space to start working on the swing set next weekend! It’s exciting to work in a space that works!

Learning New Things

27 Sep

Jonah’s vocabulary has just been exploding lately… phrases combined with subtle little sounds and gestures that just leave us in stitches… like frumpling up his eyebrows, smooching out his lips, shaking his head no and say “umm, I don’t really need to go night night right now” or the little lip smack and sigh followed by an exasperated little “you know that!” cause obviously… I should know these things. Everything is “I love” right now too. “I love our furniture”… “Oh I really love grapes.”  “I love my bed (talking about our bed)… it’s all comfurbal.”

That’s the other thing he’s been working on trying to figure out… what comfortable means. He had a flap book out that has touch and feel parts on it, like this padded angel. He was poking it and say “oh, it’s all comfurbal” So I try to tell him that comfortable is something that feels nice to sit or lay down on… so then he sits on the brick fireplace hearth “It’s all comfurbal?” hehe not so much kid, but you’ll get it eventually.

I have a video that I’ll have to load up from tonight too… his first attempts at trying to tell us about a song he sang in Sunday School today. Our church just did “Promotion Sunday” (where the kids all move up to the next level class) a month or two ago. He’s no longer in the “baby hall” where all they do is play for 2 hours. His new Sunday School class actually has tables and chairs, they do art projects, sing songs, learn Bible studies and all that. In fact, if I can remember to, I’ve been intending to scan his first Sunday School art projects and post them here. Ironically, they learned about the story of Jonah and the whale. hehe Anyway, he’s been telling us for weeks now about “sing songs, and guitars” after church… so that’s how we know they have a music time… but tonight he was going around smacking his fist on his hand saying “Stand on rock” and then with prompting we asked him what else he sang about and he said “Fall down” and he wiggled his way to a squat and popped back up. So my video clip is of him doing the 2 of those together plus doing random flips all over the place. He was WOUND UP tonight. He actually worked up a sweat before bed! haha

Carly’s learning new things too, she’s rolling all over the place, and sometimes it looks like she’s actually rolling with a purpose. We’re sitting up now from time to time… not right after eating or bad things will happen, and not when she’s tired cause she’ll stiffen her legs and fall over… but if she’s happy, and especially if she’s busy watching brother… she can sit up for as much as a minute at a time without support from me. She’s also started “talking” to Jonah. They both take turns shrieking as loud and as high pitched as they can, giggling in between. Worse than a couple of parakeets I tell ya! Oye! It’s cute though.

Hard to believe she’s already 5 months old! We started her on her first “baby food” last night… mashed up avocado and milk. With the price of pre-packaged baby foods these days, I’m thinking I’m going to try making the majority of her baby food meals myself. The avocado thing is what most moms, who make their own baby food, start with… that and mashed up bananas, because they both have a lot of good vitamins, healthy fat content for brain development and such. She seemed to like it last night, so tonight I gave her a little larger serving size (about 3 tsp + milk) and that seemed to be just about right. She was getting a little tired of it right near the end, but did end up eating it all. Now if I could just get her to take the dang bottle! She just chews it and plays with it… not really drinking anything. :-\ Oh well. I’m learning to cope with it. So I guess we’re ALL learning new things!

Good news also to share, Jason got a promotion this week! We’re on such an ancient cell phone plan (one they don’t even offer anymore cause it’s TX calling only, no mobile to mobile, no family talk, no free texts… nada) so we’re both excited about getting iphones in a month or two (after we save up for the phones themselves, the pay raise increase will pay the extra monthly service charges.) We don’t generally blow pay increases so “frivolously” but we have both been wanting to upgrade for a very long time, our phones are both having some battery life issues recently, and on so many occasions, we’ll be talking and Jason will ask me something and I say “I don’t know, let me get out my iphone so I can tell you” hehe. So this was actually a planned budget move… planned for whenever the next pay increase came. :) There’s also talk of a possible performance bonus coming that’ll get us the savings for the phone sooner… and maybe a decent Christmas tree since I “blew” all the money I made, painting Audrey’s kitchen, on Christmas gifts, a clearanced patio furniture set, and a portable outdoor fire pit, instead of buying myself the new tree I’ve wanted for 3-4 years now. We’ll see though. I’m just thankful that Jason’s finally getting some recognition for all the hard work he’s been putting in.

Party Crashers

20 Jun

So I somehow managed to not only crash/get myself invited to a party that wasn’t intended for us, but I also somehow got the whole thing turned into a party for a whole lot more people. I had called Sarahjenne to see if they were doing anything on Friday as Jason had the afternoon off and I thought a playdate might be fun. Then she told me that she was having Stephanie & Thane and Chris & Julia over for pizza and beer to thank them for helping her move all her stuff out of her classroom a few weeks ago. Then she said “you wanna come?” I suppose I should have declined, but we were bored and wanted to do stuff with people. So I said sure, despite the awkwardness. ;) Then she was like “Maybe we should invite Richard & Crystal since no one came to Crystal’s birthday party.” and I told her I was pretty sure they were packing to move this weekend. But it was pretty much left at that… When we got there though, Oscar & Nancy were there too!  Heh, so I guess we changed the party dynamics some, but it was a fun night. Samantha and Carly got to hang out, Jonah played with the kitty’s toys (kitty was hiding), the boys talked cars (while Jason listened cause he’s not much of a car buff), and the girls talked babies and made jiffy pop for the first time (which was fun!) Then we all laughed at the possum that came up on their back porch window. Jonah slapped the window repeatedly and made it mad to the point that it fell off the window ledge! haha

Oh no! Elmo, here we come!

18 Jun

As you all know, from a previous post on the subject, I have tried to keep cartoon character infatuation at bay, in order to keep the more expensive/lower quality “licensed character” items out of our house. Well, I’m here to admit that I’m bringing this soon-to-be Elmo infatuation on myself, and I’m even asking for your help to do it!

We’re about to start potty training soon, and as I started reading the library books I checked out on the matter… most techniques seem to encourage the use of a few teaching tools, to help make potty training into a big deal. They say to have a potty weekend where that’s the focus of everyone’s attention, all weekend long… kind of a “coming of age” thing for the trainee. They say to start off by helping your kid “teach” a doll how to potty, then let them read books and watch dvds about pottying. Then start hourly potty-sits and give rewards or stickers on a chart for good tries and even the smallest of sucesses. By the end of the weekend, the kid should pretty well have it down, and to celebrate that, some say you should have a potty party to invite a few friends and family over to congratulate them on their potty success.

So after reading all that, I’m starting to feel a little overwhelmed. I did sit down and start a shopping list of supplies that to get the ball rolling. A potty book, a dvd, a potty doll of some sort, and a progress chart w/ stickers. Once I started researching what was out there, I discovered a major money pitfall… most of the stuff is geared for either a boy or a girl. I have one of each, and I don’t want to have to buy this stuff twice, cause it’s expensive! So, I needed to find something gender neutral.

I first found a pretty cool potty monkey doll that came with a book for the kids and one for the adult. But being that I had already checked the adult book out from the library, I really wished it had come with a dvd instead. Then I found a a wide variety of potty bear items, but no cohesive set, which I feel would make it easier for Jonah to understand the relationship between what the character is doing in the book/dvd and what we’re trying to get the doll to do. Then I stumbled across Elmo. There is a complete line of Elmo potty training products out there, and since Jonah’s never really watched much Sesame Street, Elmo will be new to him.

I was going to put a big Amazon.com order together with everything we’ll need for potty weekend, but then I decided that I might have friends who might have some of the stuff on my shopping list that might be wanting to sell/get rid of it. So let me know if you have any of the following to offer up for borrowing/buying/giving away!

Potty Time Elmo Doll -OR-  A Plain 1-2′ Elmo Plush Doll that we can teach to sit on Jonah’s Potty Chair

Potty Time With Elmo Little Sound Book

Elmo’s Potty Time DVD

Potty Book Coloring & Activities With Elmo (Let me know if you know where I can find this new in stores anywhere… I imagine if you own it, it’s already been colored and the progress chart used up)

Anyone’s leftover Elmo Party Supplies to make a VERY small (like maybe just us if that all we can get) Potty Party with (preferably ones that don’t say happy birthday on them, like the Hooray for Elmo or Elmo Loves You supplies, but beggars can’t be choosers right? ;) hehe)

Got Alot Done

11 May

With my mom hanging around and helping out last week, we got WAY more done than any couple with a nearly 2 year old and a 1 week old should! My mom is a major DIY handy-woman, and just couldn’t contain herself when she came to stay. By the end of the 1st day she was just itching to get started on some projects. Who am I to complain?! I knew it’d happen, so that’s why I had already started a list of little projects around the house that needed doing, that just haven’t gotten done, for whatever reason. She actually started working on things while we were still in the hospital!  My to-do list that my mom tackled this week… as you’ll notice, she didn’t leave us much to do after she left! hahaShe got Jason involved in a lot of the projects too, and some of these he actually did on his own.

  • Install Handheld Showerhead & Caulk Around the Ring
  • Install Blinds in Our Bedroom
  • Fix Drippy Master Toilet
  • Fix/Oil Master Closet Door Knob
  • Fix the Storm Door Alignment so it’ll Actually Close
  • Remove the Satellite Dish
  • Remove the Antenna
  • Put a Piece of Screen Over the Chimney to Keep Birds Out (need to call chimney sweep first to get current nesting birds out)
  • Put Hinges on the Sandbox Door
  • Re-Configure the Sandbox Lid Boards to Make an Easier To Open Lid
  • Dig Out the Rose Bush in the Front Flowerbed
  • Dig Out the Bush Stumps in the Front Flowerbed
  • Check on the Roof Leak and Seal Where Possible
  • Hang the Letters for Carly’s Name in the Nursery
  • Fix the Wet Bar Cabinet Door that’s Sagging
  • Install Trim Around the Guest Bath Mirror (need to buy trim)
  • Change Light Fixtures in the Guest Bath (need to buy light fixtures)
  • Install and Overhead Light in the Garage (Bonus! They ended up re-wiring a bunch of stuff and putting in 2 new outlets too!)
  • Paint the Nursery Furniture (need a non-muggy day to paint)
  • Some Projects she thought of that I hadn’t -
    • Replace the Missing Toe Kick Under the Dishwasher and End Cabinet in the Kitchen & Install Trim
    • Fertilize the Yards
    • Replace Missing Pickets on the Fence
    • Replace the Damaged Board Around the Garage Door (We discovered ACTIVE termites there! Yuck! so had to get that treated first, so that project is sitting unfinished right now.)
    • Clean Some Previous-Owner Junk Out of the Attic

It was such a busy week that I’m probably forgetting some of the other stuff that got done, but we always appreciate having my mom come stay for a while! Jonah CERTAINLY enjoyed having his Mamaw around to play with, and to “help. work. hammer. outside. saw. ears. noise. loud.” with!

This Thursday

6 Apr

This Thursday is going to be some wild crazy fun, I tell ya! I volunteered to host our playgroup’s Easter Egg Hunt Party at my house this Thursday, and so far, from the looks of the RSVPs I’ve gotten on the e-vite, it looks like this may be our biggest turn out for a playgroup yet! Including Jonah and myself, we’re going to have 13 moms and 19 children between 0-3ish years old! Holy moly that’s a lot of people, but I think I can handle it, and I’m really looking forward to it! I’m sure a lot of people think I’m insane for hosting a party of this magnitude at 36 weeks preggo, but this is going to be a blast! I just hope I have enough food and such!

Wanted to post a couple of pictures from the insanity:

Mini Darth Vader

29 Mar
Posing With the Light Saber

Posing With the Light Saber

We went to a party last night with a few of our college friends that was to be a “lash hoorah” sort of party before Sarah-jenne and I have our babies in a few weeks. The theme was Star Wars so Jonah and I dressed up (Jason’s a slacker)… Jonah was Darth Vader, a costume I picked up the day before at Party City for $6 because of a fluke with their system… guess they’re not used to selling costumes in the off season cause it said “item not for sale” when they rang it up. It was supposed to be $19.99 according to their website, but the manager gave it to me for $5.99! I got a couple of cute pictures of him, but never got a picture of myself with my Jawa costume on. I have one from when I wore it for going to see Episode 3 in theaters, but didn’t get a shot of the pregnant Jawa. Oh well. I think for Halloween this year, we’ll all 4 dress up as Star Wars characters since Jonah will still probably fit in his Vader costume. I just need to get an infant sized Princess Leah costume for our little girl when it gets closer, and Jason needs to pick a star wars costume too. ;)

Trying to Collapse the Light Saber

Trying to Collapse the Light Saber

The snacks were all Star Wars themed too. We made some Princess Leah Garlic Bread Rolls. There were also Chewy Wookie Cookies, Light Saber Taquitos (you could dip them into queso, salsa, or guacamole to make your “light saber” whatever color you wanted hehe), Bobba Fettacunie, Ham Solo, and a Death Star Cookie Cake. We watched episodes 4 & 5 then started playing Munchkin while episode 6 started up before heading home. Jonah was really well behaved the whole night, but it was way past his bedtime when we left. We got him in bed at about 10pm! Poor little guy, so tired, but he had a great time. So did we!

Baby Eviction Date Set!

26 Feb

Given the way things went down when I was induced with Jonah (being induced, 1 day after my due date, for 44 hours and dialating to 10cm only to have him not be able to come down because he was too big, and end up with a c-section anyway) my doctor and both are hesitant to give this little girl a chance to get that big and try to come on her own. For that reason, we now have a repeat c-section scheduled about a week before my actual due date. I’m excited that it’s official now, we WILL go into have a baby no later than Monday, April 27th, at 7:30 am (we have to check into the hospital at 5:30 am! yuck!) That’s if she doesn’t decide to come before then. Our hope is that if labor starts before then, she’ll still be small enough to be able to decend without a problem. Our playgroup has a trip to the Dallas Zoo scheduled for April 22nd, so who knows, maybe she’ll decide to come then, while I’m doing all that walking around. Jason is planning on coming with us to the zoo, just in case I need him to drive me back to the hospital in a hurry! ;)

A Baby Sprinkle

12 Jan

I have a good friend, here in our area, that has been dying to throw me a shower for this baby girl. Having just had a baby shower (or 3) just a couple of years ago, there aren’t a WHOLE lot of things that we really need. Being that this is a girl, obviously, we’ll want to infuse a little more pink into things around here, so I agreed to let her play host to a “baby sprinkle” (hehe, a term my pea friend Kelly told me about using for 2nd baby showers!)

My delima is that some people might think it rude for me to put them on a baby shower invite list again, cause some people think you’re only allowed to have one baby shower. So to avoid any weird feelings, and un-due pressure on my friends and family to feel obligated to attend a shower they don’t want to, I’m taking myself out of the loop all together. If you are interested in going to a baby shower in honor of this new little girly addition to our family, please email my friend Crystal at crysrae23@yahoo.com . She will be planning the shower soon and will send out the invites to those who’ve contacted her. I don’t want to know who asked to be invited and who didn’t. It just doesn’t matter to me because I love all of my friends and I’m not the least bit offended if you don’t want to come! I totally understand! I personally think it’ll be fun to show up and not know who might or might not be there.

Questions I generally hear around baby shower time -

Where are you registered?
I registered at Wal-Mart, Target, and Babies R’ Us. I also have a few things from Ikea that I was interested in, but they don’t have a registry option yet. So if you’re interested in seeing that stuff, take a look at our Wishlist.com Registry. That registry includes things from all 3 of the other registries and a few things as general ideas (like what size I expect she’ll be wearing during what season).

The Bedding With Our Proposed Paint Colors

The Bedding With Our Proposed Paint Colors

What theme and colors are the nursery?
 We bought the “L is for Ladybug” 4pc crib set from Wal-mart.com and the paint colors are also from Wal-mart… “Azalea” (a dark hot pink), “Pretty Petunia” (a medium pink), and a white are our wall colors. “China Aster” (a pastel pink) and “Aloe” (a light green) are 2 other paint colors that are in the bedding besides the red and black ladybugs.  We are using red as our main accessory accent color in the room because the walls are pink, there is white nursery furniture, and we have a black leather recliner and black velvet black-out drapes in there already. There are a few accessory pieces, like the window valance and extra crib sheets, that go with the set on our Wal-mart registry, but unfortunately I think they’re all “online only” or “in limited stores”.  

What kind of diapers and wipes do you like?
Huggies is our favorite brand for both. I like both kinds of diapers that Huggies makes (“Snug and Dry” and “Natural Fit”)  but the Snug and Dry are usually the ones we get because they tend to be less expensive. I like all the different scents of the Huggies wipes too. We don’t need anymore of the wipes boxes though, the bags of refills will do just fine.

What is the one “big” thing on your registry that you hope to get?
Being that this is our second baby, we have most of the “big” stuff already. I also tend to try and find good deals by buying some stuff used, on craigslist, consignment sales, or whatever. So I guess if I had to say, it’d be a toss up between the Rainforest Healthy Care Booster Seat and/or the Infant to Toddler Rocker, both by Fisher Price. Neither of them are really “big” items, but that’s about as big as it gets this time around I guess. We already those two items for Jonah, but because of their longevity of use, he still uses his and will probably continue to use them for the next year or two. Obviously, they were great items for us the first time around, so we’ll definitely want them for this little girl too.

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