Sunday, February 28, 2010

Puddin's Nursery

The before (I took these pictures during the house inspection)





The After:

The shelf- we painted it, added glass knobs, and added some of my music boxes from when I was a child (I think I have about 20 total).  If it's a girl, the outfit will be switched out for a smocked dress.

The wall with the window faces the front of the house.  The empty spot under the shelf will be where the glider will sit.  It's a white Dutalier that is coming.

The top of the dresser will become the changing station.  We got the dresser and side table on craigslist for $45.  They are solid wood with dovetail dressers- so sturdy and solid.  They were just a hideous green when we got them, but painting them white made all the difference.  We do have pulls on them now- they're silver.  You can see in this pic that we painted all the trim, the closet doors, the molding around the window.  It took a long time, but it is totally worth it.  It would not have looked even close to as good if it were still the natural wood color!!  We're leaving the wood trim in most of the house, but I love the white in here!

The incredible lattice wall.  B worked SO hard on it.  It truly took a lot of math and a ton of pencil lines (all which then had to be erased!).  As you know from my previous post, I shamelessly stole the wall idea from one of the writers over at Project Nursery (and I'm so glad we did.  I LOVE IT!).  The rocking horse was mine and my brother's as children.

The sheets and quilt for the crib.  The sheets are from PB Kids and the quilt is from Zara Home.  We picked it up in Spain hoping it wouldn't jinx us!!

The wall reflected in the mirror that is hanging over the dresser.  The mirror will probably get a big pink ribbon over top of it if Puddin ends up being a girl. 

Another shot of the crib.  The empty blue wall is going to get a white frame and we are going to have a piece of heavy white cotten monogrammed with Puddin's initials and then go into the frame.  The initials will be scrolly pink if it's a girl and block navy if it's a boy.  I had originally thought red for the boy, but B thinks navy will look great without taking away from the wall.

The chandelier with the light off.  A great Home Depot purchase!!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!  I can't wait til the guests come for the shower at the end of the month and they get to see it as well.  It's by far the most "done" room in our new house, and we're both so happy with the results. 

Thursday, February 25, 2010

30 weeks in pictures


The belly is getting soooo much bigger.  Yowzers!  What is it going to look like in 10 more weeks???  I've been told by a few people that I look "great" and that "it's all belly" though since my stomach has always been my "skinny" body part, it's hard to look at myself sometimes!  I feel like I'm bumpy in all areas- front and back.  I know it's going to be okay in the long run, and I love that my body is doing what it needs to do in order to grow a healthy baby.  I am so glad that puddin' will be a summer baby- nicer weather to get out and walk, run, move!! 

 (Please excuse the weird shadow on my back that is making my butt look even bigger- should've checked that out before uploading!!)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Snow Day!

Okay, the snow day wasn't for me.  Hospitals run regardless of weather.  However, our precious pup certainly enjoyed playing with B outside today!! 







B will throw snowballs to Junebug and then she'll chase them all over the yard.  It's hysterical to watch her get confused as she looks for the "ball" in the snow after it lands.  Today he also shoveled snow off the deck and she would leap in the air to catch the snow in her mouth.  She loves being outside and is then absolutely exhausted when she comes in!  It's great exercise for her, and we love that she'll nap for a long time once she's done!

(That's our railing on our deck and part of our backyard)

Birdies!!


Loving the sounds of birds in the morning out my window.  It lets me know that Spring is right around the corner!!  Anyone else hearing these lovely chirps as they are getting ready?

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Happy Birthday, B!!


Happy Birthday to my boat driving, lobster pant wearing, marathon running, house fixing, dog walking, puddin' loving, pasta eating husband!!  There is no one in the world I would rather come home to at night.  You are my heart's content!  I love you!!

AEOT

Tonight we are heading out to the Chop House for steak!  YUM!  Absolutely cannot wait to share a great meal in downtown GR together!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Pregnancy Updates

There are a lot of things to love about being pregnant (feeling the baby kick, decorating the nursery, knowing that there is a real live baby coming in May, etc); however there are a few things about being pregnant that are not fun/cool/easy to deal with.  Today I'm going to share a few of these with you (because I just need to have a little teeny vent!)

- Reflux.  With all the pressure on my stomach, if I eat a big meal, I taste it for awhile afterwards.  It's really quite gross.  It's not even really heartburn, just regurg.  I'm sure this is way TMI.  Sorry!

- Maternity tights.  Either they're ridiculously expensive, too thin (ie- nylons instead of tights), run too easily, or just too uncomfortable.  I've been getting away with a size larger in regular tights for a long time now, but it's really time to make the switch for good.  I've tried the motherhood brand, the assets brand, and Spanx.  Not loving any of them.......big bummer b/c I love wearing maternity dresses- they actually are quite cute and comfy.

- Charley horses in the middle of the night.  These are not something I knew about prior to being pregnant, and boy do they hurt!!!  I can go from dead to the world asleep to screaming loud enough to wake up B and Junie in seconds.  For some reason it happens the most during the 4 a.m. hour.  Weird. 

- Work out clothes.  Maternity workout outfits are quite expensive (though I did just find a few great deals at Old Navy).  B looked forever before Christmas for an outfit for me and the boutiques in Chicago had yoga pants that started at $90 and tops that started at $50.  Ummmmm.....that's $140 for ONE outfit.  Yesterday I had to leave the gym early b/c my pants were so tight in the waist that I couldn't take a deep breath without completely squishing puddin.  It was the most uncomfortable feeling.  I was able to order two pair of maternity workout pants from ON last night (on sale even!), so hopefully they will fit well enough to get me through the next 11ish weeks.  Also, you should see me when I try to get away with wearing a non-maternity tee or tank.  They're super tight and b/c of that become super short.  It's seriously comical.  It may be time to start stealing a few shirts from B's drawer to give me a bit more room and length!

- Emotional control.  As previously mentioned, there is none.  This means crying at commercials, crying over stupid small annoyances, or just plain crying.  I'm not an unemotional person, and I did cry prior to being pregnant; however, this is ridiculous.

To be fair, I've had a really easy, healthy pregnancy (besides the low iron which is working it's way back up) and I really shouldn't be complaining.  I do realize how lucky I am and am thankful every day for this.  I have seen so many sick babies/preemies that I realize B and I are truly blessed with puddin.  There are just a few things that I didn't know/realize/hear about prior to being pregnant that have thrown me for a loop!!  Thanks for listening :)

Thursday, February 18, 2010

B's Peeves- Olympic Edition

Hey Ladies, B here.  You know, the room painter, dog walker, pink shirt wearer, taste tester, and all around good guy.  I have to admit, I read all my wife's posts, but not necessarily every day.  I see her updates, I read your comments, and I now know more about Lily Pulitzer and Steven Bonnano than any straight guy should ever know. 

That said, sometimes, I get a little peeved.  AEOT does too, and I often reply to her with a satirical "why don't you blog about it???"  So now I'm being asked to blog about what grinds my gears.  Who knows, if it's a success (the term "success" to be defined later), maybe we'll make B's Peeves a semi-regular column...

So here goes: B's Peeves- Olympic Edition

1.  Moguls.

Earlier this week, we saw some beady-eyed canadian dude win the gold medal in the men's moguls.  How do we know he won?  Did he get down the hill the fastest?  Did he ski over the greatest number of moguls? No.  He won on a subjective combination of his speed, style, tricks, and NBC telegenics.  Why do they need to do this?  If the object of the sport is to ski over moguls, why don't we just see who gets down the hill first and give him the medal?  The moguls are the same for everyone, so isn't that enough of a challenge?  Why do we need jumping?  Isn't that what "freestyle skiing" is for?  Hell, if you don't want to make it about speed, then make it completely judged, but don't give me a blended score.  It just seems to invite some bitter Belgian judge to knock off a few tenths of a point for the Americans just because of the inferior hops in our beer. 

Yup, here's your winner-


(from nbcolympics.com)


2.  Falling.

So we've already seen the pairs figure skating competition and the Men's "Short" program (AEOT had to explain why a short program and long program were necessary.  Her valid argument is the sole reason that wasn't another Peeve).  Here's my question- When the skater or any one of the members of the pair falls, why do they keep skating?  We know they're not going to win!  I'm okay with stepping out of a jump or making a triple into a double and continuing from there.  After all, everyone could make a small mistake like that, so you need to provide a full program on which to be judged.  But if your butt hits the ice, it's time to move along.  Thanks for stopping by the olympics, and make sure you stop by some of Vancouver's lovely hash bars before you leave.  We're going to give the medals to the dudes who don't fall, and we'll have this competition done in half an hour. 

Really?  Are these guys really going to get a mdeal out of this?



(from zimbio.com)

3.  Weather.

Seriously, what's with the weather?  There isn't a single venue in these olympics that has "perfect" conditions.  Even the indoor ones!! 

(from tonychor.com)

We all know that there's better snow at Boyne Higlands in Harbor Springs, Michigan right now than Whistler, but there's NO REASON the ice shouldn't be perfect for speed skating, short track, and curling.  Which brings me to my next peeve...

4.  Curling.

I want to like this stuff.  Seriously, I do.  But they're showing it every day, and the good ol' U. S. and A is now 0 and 4 after going to "extra ends" in their last 3 games.  The US captain is a pudgy IT Consultant from Minnesota who looks more like an ad for Johnsonville Brats than an olympian.  The biggest problem is- I actually kind of like him!  He looks like the guy down the hall in the Fraternity house who can bong an entire six-pack at one time.  If only he could figure out how to beat someone...anyone.  Heck, I think Borat might have a Kazakh team interested in a scrimmage. 

Either way, here's a little John Shuster eye candy for you Curling Bunnies (the curling version of hockey's "Puck Bunnies") out there-


(from canada.com)

Quick shout out, though, to the Norwegian curling team for their pants.  Not sure who wins between them and John Daly on the golf course lately.  Decide for yourself:


(from chroniclejournal.com)

-vs-


(from gamepro.com)

Okay, I'm not making this up.  While using Google Images to find photos of the Norwegian pants and John Daly's newest duds, I found out they're actually made by the same company.  These crazy Scandinavians are wearing pants from Loudmouth Golf, which is currently the ONLY sponsorship John Daly carries.  Small world, I guess.


and, finally....

5.  Eastern Time.

Those of you who have been following my lovely wife's blog for a while know that we recently moved from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I'm all for it.  I'm a Maize & Blue kind of guy.  I love being Up North.  I'm ready to be a Michigander (that's really what they call it) for the rest of my life.  But, seriously, I'm exhausted.  I can't stay up until midnight just to watch The Colbert Report, and watching it the next day makes it feel like yesterday's news- literally.  And now that the olympics are on, AEOT and I are not getting nearly enough sleep.  And you can guess the level of pregnancy meltdowns that come with an overworked, and over-tired pregnant woman.  Also, since the Red Wings are in the Western Conference, just about every road game they play doesn't start until 10pm here.  It's not like people get to go to work an hour later here, so why does everything start an hour later? 

Ugh.  That feels better.  There's 5 things that are Peeve...ing me right now.  There are several things I like out there, especially in the Olympics, so maybe I'll do one of those in the next few days.  Till then- stay classy, ladies.

ETA:  It's AEOT again, Just laughed out loud reading this!!  Can I say that MY Olympic peeve is Bob Kostas hair??  Seriously,  the dye job is HORRIFIC.  I understand that not all men want to have salt and pepper hair (though it is extrememly distinguished looking to me); however, when I can tell that you have dyed it b/c the color is so unnatural, it's time to find a new stylist.  Maybe it's just because I see in in HD (but most people nowadays do!!).  I should probably stop dwelling on it b/c every night I make the same comment about how bad it is.  To give the guy some credit, I do really like him and I love his pocket squares (right Alexis??).

Also, B and I totally disagree on the moguls.  I simply adored watching them and could watch every single night.  I can't imagine what their knees will be like at 40 (early replacements anyone?), but it is simply amazing to watch them come down the hill so fast, in such a tucked position, and then do really cool skillzzz in the middle.  If you watch repeats, the people who won were truely better than anyone else, so subjective or not, they won because they deserved the gold. 




Monday, February 15, 2010

Crying over commercials.........


First it was the Google commercial during the Super Bowl.

Now it's the Proctor and Gamble Tide Commercial for the Olympics. 

I have realized that not only do I have little control over my body but I also have no control over my emotions.  Ahhhhhh....pregnancy..................it's been a rollercoaster! 

Anyone else get just a little teary-eyed over the Tide one as well?????  Please tell me I'm not alone!!!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Olympic Outfits


We all know that RL is one of the most, if not the most, iconic American designer of all times.  His clothes are classic, enduring, and truly "All-American".  I loved the outfits from Friday night's Opening Ceremonies.  The sweaters were PERFECT for a winter Olympics.  Love the chunky cables, love the ivory, love the patch on the arm.  I would wear one of these in a heartbeat.  I also think the hats are great!!  So nordic!


What did you think?  Would you have changed anything??

Friday, February 12, 2010

Weekend fun!!

I absolutely cannot WAIT for tonight.  It has been a crazy busy week at work (you know, sick kids and winter and all), but this weekend is going to be sooooo much fun that it was completely worth it.  A few of the highlights include:

- Breakfast for dinner tonight.  This is seriously one of my favorite things as I feel like I am breaking all kinds of rules.  It was my favorite thing as a child and I still get giddy over it now.  Scrambled eggs and pancakes, here I come!!
- Watching the opening ceremonies
- Visiting with two college friends tomorrow.  One just adopted twin baby boys from Africa (they've been home for 2 weeks now and I've seen them twice already- soooo cute) and one lives in Nashvegas but is up here visiting her parents.  She has 3 kids and is due in July with her fourth!!  Yowzers!  We're going to hang out and let the kids play like crazy.  It's been a long time since I've seen A (Nashvegas lady) and it'll be so nice to see her rather than just talking on the phone
- Running some errands
- Trying to figure out artwork and the chair for puddin's room.  I can't believer we're already at the artwork stage!!  Pics to come!
- Making truffles to distribute to friends this weekend
-  BEST OF ALL- One of the besties (the one with the twin boys) is coming over on Sunday for the day to hang out and see the new house.  I am beyond excited!!!!!!!!!  This is probably the longest we've been without seeing each other.  She's bringing H and B so that we can see how big they've gotten and how much they talk.  Cannot Wait!!!


In other HUGE news, one of my good friend had her c-section today and her healthy, beautiful baby girl is here!!  Lucy is her name- perfect name for her.  I am hoping to meet her at my baby shower in March.  Everyone is doing well!!!

Have a wonderful, snowy weekend everyone!! 

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Valentine's Day


+

a slightly healthier version of

=

Our version of a perfect Valentine's night in!!

Can't wait until Sunday!!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Someone with a waist buy this PLEASE!!

Loving this but because of my current state, it won't really work for me!!  I think it's the perfect addition to any prep's spring and summer wardrobe.  It'll go with so much!  I'd wear it in the spring with jeans or khackis, a french stripe bateau neck shirt, a trench coat, and a boat and tote.  In the summer I'd wear it with just about any solid short or skirt and a polo shirt.  It'll make it's own statement.


I love that it has gold and silver so you never have to worry about it not matching your jewelry!  LOVE!  Is it calling out your name as much as it is mine???

Monday, February 8, 2010

Favorite Commercial of Last Night



The Parisian Love commercial was by far the best- and I did get teary eyed watching it.  Way to go, Google!!  First Super Bowl commercial was definitely a success!!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Sooooo cute!!!!

How could you NOT want this nursery????  I'm dying over it!



Oops- only have the pic showed up here, head over to the site to see it in full.  I'm sure it's WAY out of our price range, but I would die to have a monogrammed rug and valance as shown.  Seriously, it's soo cute.  I bet if I made a box valance (they're not hard) I could have a friend monogram it.  Hmmmm.....something to consider!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Sweetheart TAG

I was tagged by Miss Queen Bee for this lovely Valentine's Day tag.  She wanted to know how a few of her married blog friends met and fell in love with their husbands. 

WARNING::::::::LONG

B and I both moved to Chicago in 2001 after we graduated from college (we did not know each other).  That Christmas I met a few of his friends at a party, one of whom asked around, got my number, and then called to ask me on a date.  We went on one date and then his birthday was coming up so my roommate and I went to a group dinner to celebrate J's birthday.  B ended up being there with a few other friends and throughout the night all of us discovered how many mutual friends we had and how much all of us had in common.  Turns out B's aunt and uncle have a condo 1.5 miles from my grandmother's house (up north) and we B, his cousin, my roomie and I all spent 3 summers up north in college at the same time and never met.  This is highly weird as the town is SOOOO small and we all go to the same bars, plus one of my good friends knew and was friends with B's girl cousin.  It also turned out that we were all going up north in a few weeks to go skiing for President's weekend.  So J and I date casually for a few months but it slowly fizzles out and he moves back home.  B and I became great friends and our two groups of friends all settled into a wonderful group.  We all hung out ALL the time.  On NYE 2002 (into 2003) some of the group came over for dinner at our apt prior to heading out to one of the bars.  We all had a wonderful time.  That night both sets of our friends got mad at us individually (and unbeknownst to us) about the fact that we weren't dating and we really should be.

Two weeks later he called to ask me out on a date.  Can I tell you ladies that he called at 7:30 p.m. and wanted to know if I wanted to "grab dinner"?  I was walking home from work, in scrubs, no make-up, hair in a pony.  I said no (as kindly as possible) and told him I was tired.  I didn't even realize that he was actually asking me on a date.  I thought he truly just wanted to eat.  My friend, Katie, spent the next 20 minutes yelling at me telling me that of course he was asking me out and he'd never call again.  So, the next week when he called, I accepted and we went to a little neighborhood pub.  It was such an easy date b/c we had known each other for so long and were already such good friends.  We do state that our "official" anniversary was the weekend of Valentines/Presdient's day weekend when a bunch of our group again went up north to go skiing.  We were inseperable that weekend and pretty much from there on out. 

I did leave Chicago that August for one year as I traveled as a RN.  I lived in Atlanta for 4 months, Denver (LOVE) for 4 months, and LA (can you even imagine me there??) for three.  We maintained a very healthy, happy long distance relationship and truly treasured every moment we spent together when he would come visit or I would go back to Chicago.  We had a few of our "best dates" while we were apart as we would plan such fun things when he came to visit.  B also moved to OK for work for a year (wayyyy long story), so we spent a lot of time apart then too (including a two month break up which was HORRID).  After he moved back to Chicago we moved in together and the rest is history! 

He proposed in April of 07 with the ring around the base of a champagne glass, and we were married in August of 08.  I can not imagine my life without him and I am convinced that God knew exactly what I needed and created him.  Seriously, we just fit together.  I am the luckiest woman to be married to him.  I really don't have any doubts that our marriage will last until we are old and grey.  He is the one thing in my life that I am more sure of than anything.

Okay, long and sappy, but oh so true is over!!!

I'd love to hear a few other bloggers love stories so get going ladies!!

Thanks, QBS for the tag!!!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Announcing, part 2

I was surprised to find that I had a harder time finding girl announcements that I liked.  I would have thought this would have been sooo much easier- girl stuff is so much cuter in general, I thought.  For whatever reason, this time the boy search was much easier.  Maybe I'm just pickier about girly stuff in general.  Maybe it's because I couldn't find as many monograms.  Or maybe puddin' is a boy?   Hmmmmmm.......

Again, as yesterday, let me know which is your favorite and which you really don't like!!

















Or, if any of you have found any wonderful baby girl announcements (or other sites I can peruse), PLEASE let me know.  As I look over these again, I'm not sure I'm madly in love with any of them..........


Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Announcing, Part 1

Ahhhhhh......what could be better than searching for sweet, adorable baby announcements?  I wanted to have a good idea of what was out there long before the baby is actually here so that we can narrow it down to one boy and one girl and be able to order within a month after puddin' is here.  So today I'm going to present the boy announcements I like and tomorrow I'll show you the girl ones.  Please leave a comment and tell me what you like (and don't like!).  B and I would love opinions on this one!
























So, what do you think?  Anything above catch your eye??