Nursery *Progress*

I hope everyone who was affected by Irene had no major damage and your power is back on!  We lost our power on Sunday for about 13 hrs and made MAJOR progress on the nursery.  Unfortunately, my cell phone wasn’t charged so I was unable to get pictures, but this is what I have.

Here’s a before – excuse the craziness of this shot, this was when we were working on our new Master, but you get an idea of wall color/curtains etc.



The in-laws came over Sunday to help us, while my parents took the girls’ (as they never lost power) so we could work. 

The carpet was torn out – only to reveal that the hardwood floors under this rooms carpet were never finished.  They are smooth to the touch, but still need a light sanding as there is joint compound all over as they were messy.  And thankfully, the Hubs found a water based finish, so the smell should be minimal.
We also got the ceiling/trim/upper portion of the room painted and the Hubs patched a hole in the wall from where our tv hung.



Here you can get a peak at what I’m talking about above with the floors.





I went around this afternoon and did any necessary touch-ups on the wall color and painted down closer to the paneling that the Hubs actually finished installing tonight.  He is 3/4’s of the way done with the top molding and then the shoe molding will need installed. 

Will have an update on the rest of the room next week, as the goal is to be done by next week!

Cell Phoneagraphy–Wk 7

 

1. This is the best Emma got of us before my mom and me spent approximately 13 hrs, husking/cooking/cutting/bagging up 25 dozen corn = 58 bags of corn that we froze to last us until next year. 
2. Emma helping husk.
3. She took a picture of her knee scrape, my clutzy little girl tripped walking.
4. Lounging in the pool for a little.
5. Avalynn loves eating popsicles herself now.
6.  Which means immediate bath time afterwards.
7. The girls’ enjoying some good ole’ country music video’s one morning.
8 & 9. This was a big chunk the Hubs days off this week – painting!
10. Avalynn is such a mommy’s girl, where ever I’m sitting, she seriously squishes herself all the way against me.
11.  My little sister graduated from YTI last night!  Congratulations Sissy-poo!
12. After graduation swung by the grocery store and saw these Little Debbie treats on the shelves, this made one pregnant momma even more happy!!!  Yummy!

Master Bedroom *Progress*

Thought I’d do a little re-cap over the progress we’ve, I mean mostly the Hubs, has accomplished in the past couple weeks.

Here’s two pictures post Avalynn moving up to her new room.  But you get an idea of the horrible closet that some previous owner installed.




Demo time.




Room emptied out completely, ceiling and trim had been painted at this point. 


I helped cut in the room and the Hubs did all of the rolling.  I just can not roll paint.  The color we used was Valspar’s Gravity, we got their Signature Collection, primer/paint in one.  The Hubs and I were so happy with the coverage on this.  We did have to touch up some spots where we had cut in, more difficult to get that one coat coverage with a brush. 


Shot of the room the next morning.  The Hubs was up until 1:30 scrubbing drywall and some paint drops off the floors.  He used Goof Off and some soapy water along with a sponge.  Then he put a coat of polish on everything. 


Only thing that has changed from this picture to now is that our bed is in there.  We’ll be heading out soon to get the finishing touches on the room.  Also, probably after B’s arrival we plan on DIY’ing an upholstered headboard. 

I'm linking up to:

My Plate is Heaping

with so much to do and take care of before Baby B's arrival in 31 days, probably minus 7 days as am sure they'll be inducing again.

Had my last bi-weekly check-up yesterday at 35 weeks and when the good ole' Dr. measured the belly, he said I was measuring at 40!  Um, say what?!  Last appt, I jumped 2 weeks ahead of what I should have been, and now I'm at 5!  No wonder I'm feeling whale-ish the past couple weeks.  I go for a size ultrasound in 2 weeks, which of course is only an estimate + or - 1lb, and they can't guarantee the accuracy.

To top it off, we decided to take on our 2nd floor.  The poor Hubs, I have every day he's off scheduled out on exactly what we're to accomplish, house wise!!!

Our Done List:
- Joined Emma and Avalynn into one bedroom.
- Sold or Donated any furniture we do not need anymore.
- De-carpeted main part of the stairs.
- Tore out carpeting in A's old nursery.
- Painted ceiling/trim/walls in A's old nursery.
- Clean up floor and put down polish.
- Installed ceiling fan.
- Moved our bed into our *new* room.

To Do:
- Ikea shopping trip - Pick-up remaining items needed for our room and some things for Baby B's room
- Finish ripping carpet off stair ends.
- Sand and relay the top and bottom landing of stair well.
- Paint treads, banister, & railing white.
- Tear carpet out of B's nursery.
- Paint ceiling and walls in nursery.
- Install bead board in nursery.
- Clean up the hardwoods and put down polish in nursery.
- Set up nursery.
- Make B's crib bedding and finish quilt. *in progress*
- Re-cover carseat. *in progress*
- Make new boppy cover.

Not only was I feeling stressed about our To Do list before, but after yesterday's Dr's appt - needless to say stress went through the roof.

And then when I signed on today to read through my daily reads, I read this on my friend Amber's blog. Needless to say, it was a great reminder for me and hopefully you'll find it a good one for you as well!

Cell Phoneagraphy – Wk 6

1. Painted Emma’s toes like watermelons.
2. Miss A and Bella in front of the a/c.
3. SIL, her boyfriend, Emma while we were singing to SIL for her 22nd birthday.
4. Pic of the mini s’more recipe I shared last week.
5. Hubs and I – love him!
6. Sky as we were leaving Urgent Care, the poor Hubs got hit with vertigo earlier in the week.
7. Sidewalk chalk fun!
8. Oldest and the Hubs building some kits that Mimi & Pappy got her.
9. Miss A came running over saying “cheeeeeze” as I was taking one of the Oldest.
10. Miss A and the Hubs have lots of giggles and fun!
11.  Picture of the bottom stair landing after I removed the carpet/staples/and nail strips. 
12. Baby Bump 34 wks 5 days.

* So, this is a couple days late, oh well - this weekend was jammed packed!

The Sock Bun “Curl”

Last week on Pinterest I saw a picture of a lady with long hair and some gorgeous loose curls, all supposedly from a sock bun.  I had pinned said picture but for some reason a bunch of my pins that day didn’t take – boo!  So, I went to youtube to see if I could find more instruction.

Idea being that you pull your dry hair in a high pony tail.  Take a sock with the toes cut off, that you’ve already rolled into a donut shape.  Spray hair so it is slightly damp and then you roll/wrap your hair around the sock until you get it to the base of your ponytail. 

Here’s the before, my hair all sock bunned, and the after.  And this was really comfy to sleep in, and held in great! 

As you can see it gave me some more wave on the bottom but that was all.  Next time I try it think I’ll split it into two buns because my hair is incredibly thick and will try dampening my hair a little more. 

Have you ever tried any no heat curling methods?  What’s worked for you?  So far everything I’ve tried has been a no go, which = total bummer for me!

Mini S’more Recipe

As I and many other bloggers have mentioned, Pinterest is the next best thing to arrive since sliced bread!  Love finding new things to make and do, and my Foodie board is no exception.  Needless to say so many of the dishes look oh SO yummy!!! 

Couple weeks ago I ran across this Mini S’more picture and new it was one dessert I had to try asap.  This past Sunday we headed to the in-law’s to celebrate SIL’s bday and brought these as an extra little dessert. 

I forgot to take pictures but here’s the recipe:

7  whole graham crackers (1 cup finely crushed)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
4 bars (1.55 oz each) milk chocolate candy, divided
12 large marshmallows
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place graham crackers into a large resealable plastic bag. Finely crush into crumbs. Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and butter in a small bowl.
Place 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture in each cup of a mini muffin pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups. Bake 4-5 minutes or until edges are bubbling. Meanwhile, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place one rectangle into each cup.

Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using shears dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are slightly softened. Remove pans from oven to cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan. Cool completely.
Break remaining candy bars and place in small microwavable bowl. Microwave on high 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the top of each marshmallow in melted chocolate. Turn top-side up and let stand 40 to 60 minutes or until set. Makes 24 cups.

Here’s my comments: 
- The amounts needed are right on and the only thing I had extra of was the melted chocolate. 
- I used cinnamon graham cracker’s and think I’ll just stick with honey ones.
- These were a big hit, the Hubs has suggested next time using chocolate grahams and jokingly (I think) tell me I should inject some melted chocolate into the marshmallow itself.  

Cell Phoneagraphy–Wk 5

This week – had so many pics, divided them up in different collages.



The youngest nursery is being over-hauled into our new Master, mainly b/c there is a half bath attached to that room, but our king sized bed would never fit, and then we decided to eliminate the only closet we really have.
 
1 & 2 – Before pics
3 – Demo time.
4 – Once the closet was out, we realized there was decent looking hardwood floors.  I got pretty excited as we were orig. planning on just replacing the carpet.  Basically, they just need a good scrubbing, no sanding and re staining like we had to do on the 1st floor last year.
5 & 6 – Demo stuff cleared away, look at all of that extra space.
7 – The start of tearing out the carpet.
8 – The Hubs working his way down the steps, these need some TLC and can’t wait to really get into them after the Master and Baby B’s nursery is done. 
9 – Shot of the steps uncovered.



1 – Miss A brushing her teeth, she loves standing on the stool and rinsing her toothbrush (excuse the very very outdated bathroom (complete with a pink sink and toilet) this is seriously the only thing that hasn’t been re-done, perhaps in 2012?)
2 – That blur of fur is SIL’s baby, the girls were having fun with her, while SIL came over for the day to occupy the girls so the Hubs and I could work on some house stuff.
3 – Emma trying on Daddy’s motorcycle helmet.
4 – Aunt Sam cutting Emma’s hair – 4-5 inches are no longer on that head.  Seriously, I’m loving that the whining has stopped when asked to brush her hair and tangles.
5 & 6 – After pics of the new ‘do!
7 – Daddy and his girls’
8 – The youngest had on her 1st dress up dress – she loved it, here they are dancing.
9 – Girls’ sharing some oreo’s, and unfortunately my phone was too slow so that was the tail end of the youngest “cheese” face.



1 & 2 – Thank you Giant grocery rewards for $1.70 off per gallon!
3 & 4 – Making a double batch of chicken corn soup, yummy!!!  I got 7 containers frozen for easy lunches/dinners after Baby B’s arrival.
5 – Oops, didn’t realize I had used that in the previous collage, mommy/prego brain lapse?!
6 – My attempt at the no heat way to curl your hair with a sock bun, although it cut off weird on here.  Will share next week more about this.

Two Girls Sharing a Room

2 weeks ago, the Hubs and I spent 3 days working on combining bedrooms, the youngest was being moved up to the oldest’s room.  This included an Ikea trip, painting furniture, going through everything in the room, and getting rid of old furniture. 

It’s been an adjustment as both of my girls’ are not late sleepers, I mean that 6:30am is the normal wake-up time.  But now, it seems a couple times a week one of them wakes the other up before 6.  Thankfully, now they can entertain each other so I try and not to get out of bed until 6:30, some days they just aren’t having that though. 

Now for some pictures, these were all taken with my cell phone, and I don’t have a true before, we were already started by the time I thought to take room pics.

First up we have some pics of painting the beds.  We primed them twice with Kilz Primer and they only needed one coat of an oil based white paint I had used last year for our dining room furniture. 

Going through everything in her room.  And if you notice the brown hand swipes on the chimney, it’s not what you are thinking it is.  Around Easter this year, we went through a phase of the oldest sneaking chocolate in her room and she decided it’d be fun to smear it on the walls, def. NOT my idea of fun!

Ah – and the after pics. Freshly painted chimney.  Tons of storage filled with things so it’s out of site and the toys have been purged, as we have birthdays and Christmas in the next few months, I knew I had to make some room.







When the youngest is out of the crib, we’ll actually be making a cubby system against that railing and also creating a BIG magnetic chalkboard for the girls’, DIY of course! 

Overall, am SO happy with how everything turned out! 

Here’s the breakdown on cost:
IKEA – $350 – 2 bed frames, the 3 tier bin system plus bins
Bedding – $115 – 2 sets of sheets, comforters, pillows, and 1 mattress pad, all Target – thank you college dorm sales right now!
Paint – $0 – For the beds and chimney.
But we sold her wicker bed set and a children’s table on craigslist for a total of $245.
Total: $465 – $245 = $220!

Popcorn Cake Recipe

A couple weeks ago the Bestie came over for lunch and to visit.  She brought along dessert and it was the perfect amount of salt & sweet for me. 

Ingredients:
- 1 stick of butter
- 2 bags of popcorn, popped
- 1 bag of marshmallows
- 2 cups of M&M’s = to 1 big bag
- 1 cup of pretzels, broken

Directions:
Melt butter and marshmallow in a large saucepan.  Turn off heat, add in popcorn, pretzels and M&M’s.  Dump in a pan, I used a bundt pan and it was a little too much.  Let cool, slice up and enjoy!

It helps to have helpers testing all of the ingredients before you use them:


Final product:

Cell Phoneagraphy–Wk 4

Normally, I post these collages on Mondays, but realized there’s another one called InstaFriday floating around as well, so will be changing these to Friday’s, even though this is technically being posted on Sat.  Click here to check out Amy’s link-up, or click on this button - 




1. Girls attacking Daddy.
2. Emma posing in her new shirt from Mimi & Pappy – oh so true!
3. It doesn’t fail, if Avalynn is snacking on something she insists on climbing up in my lap to lounge and eat.
4. Pedicure time!
5. Girls’ were having tons of fun playing.
6. Avalynn was content playing with this laundry basket for at least an hour, she then decided it’d be a good chair.
7. Girls’ muching on our popcorn cake ingredients *recipe to come next week*.
8. Popcorn cake all finished.
9. Oldest munching on dessert during movie night.

Baby Stuff on the Brain

I decided early on in this pregnancy that I was going to conquer my sewing machine and make everything for Miss B’s nursery.  I had a little practice sewing up some burp rags for 2 of my friends baby showers in the Spring. 

First up I went to Joann’s and picked up some fat quarters and flannel for the backing.  Here’s the finished 11 burp rags.





I also knew I wanted to make her a quilt.  I was reading through my daily reads and saw this one that Jessica from Happy Together made for her oldest daughter.  I instantly fell in love with it, the pattern is actually from Oh, Fransson!, here.

Then the dilemma of what colors I wanted to be in the nursery.  Originally I started looking at fabric lines, where everything would coordinate.  Then I decided to go to my favorite place Etsy, where I just bought fabrics that I liked and thought would go relatively well together.  I got everything from SewFreshFabrics and was impressed with the quickness the fabric arrived.



Let me just say that I pre-washed all of these and oh man what a pain.  Lesson learned to get some starch to help with wrinkles, it felt like it was never ending ironing.  The Hubs made me up this template from a heavy placemat we picked up at Target. 



It took me 2 nights to complete the front, excuse the poor lighting, it was late and I wanted a picture, still need to take a better one in the daylight.



Now to get a flat sheet for the back piece, batting, and finally binding it all together.  I can’t wait to share it when it’s finished finished.  Overall, for my 1st quilt, am really happy with how it turned out. 

Next on the list:
- Finish Quilt
- Make crib bumpers
- Make crib skirt
- Make some crib sheets
- Make a mobile
- Recover cushion on rocking chair/make some throw pillows
- Make new boppy cover

So, much to do, am hoping in the next week or two that the Hubs will take me out to Lancaster, as there are tons of quilt shops and I can find the rest of the fabrics to finish these projects up.

Cell Phoneagraphy – Week 3

1. Emma and I at Port Discovery in Baltimore, MD.
2. Eric and Avalynn going down a slide at Port Discovery.
3. Painting beds from Ikea for the girls’ room.
4. Emma’s flowers are blooming.
5. Painted until 11:30pm.
6. Daddy being the tickle monster.
7. Corn on the Cob – so yummy!
8. Bump shot.
9. Emma drawing with her new wipeable crayons.
10. Needed a mood lift, did some Sally Hansen nail strips.
11. Girls’ new joint room all cleaned out and re-organzied.
12. Shot of their beds with their new matching bedding. 

I’m linking up with Amy, here.