Wednesday, April 29, 2015

i just felt like running

so you know on forest gump where he just starts running
and doesn't stop?
brette is a lot like that.
she barely walks anymore because
she's too busy run-nin.
 
and laughing.
there's a lot of laughing too.
 


her dirty old hat is a lot like his too.



 

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

house projects

things seems to be moving slowly
but i think its because the things ronnie
has left to do are big projects.
1- wood plank the walls.
2- skim coat walls without planking.
3- finish baseboards and quarter round.
4- prime and paint.
seems easy enough but i know its a lot of work.
and i can't fault him for not getting it all
done right away because we are always
working on something.
 
for example...

i talked ronnie into hanging brette's gallery wall.
i missed looking at all her sweet pictures.
and now her room if finally complete.


notice we also removed the changing pad?
this girl is officially potty trained and
it was moved into the nursery.
wahoo!
 
we recently discovered that our dryer vent 
does not have a proper outlet.
we literally found 30 years of stuffed lent
in the soffits out front.
its the weirdest thing.
i don't know how it ever passed inspection
and i don't know who in their right mind
designed it this way to begin with.
its completely unsafe and a huge fire hazard.
so ronnie got out there and fixed it.
of course.
i don't know exactly what he had to do,
but i know we now have a new vent
and all our lent is safely discarded outside.
whatever.  not exciting, but definitely needed. 


then i got tired of looking at our orange fireplace,
so i mixed equal parts of our ceiling paint with water
and went at it.
i think it turned out amazing and it really updates the
look of the fireplace.
i had ronnie take the doors off and spray paint them.
we used oil rubbed bronze, but in the picture they look black.
before: 
 
during. top half done, bottom half to go:
 
 finished:
 
 i would go into detail about how to whitewash brick,
but honestly, just read YHL.
the only difference is i only did one coat and
she does two.
it depends on how much "brick" you want to show through.

we also tore out the old sandbox and
put in one that ronnie's sister gave us.
i really wanted to keep the one that came with the house.
it was a wooden boat and i think with some
tender love and care it could have been super cute,
but when ronnie was cleaning it out we realized that
most of the boards were completely rotten.
we he basically would have had to rebuild the whole thing
and a sandbox is not exactly at the top of our project list,
so this was easiest/fastest solution.
brette is loving her new (clean) place to play,
so i'm not too disappointed.
 
and last,
ronald power-washed the shed and the deck.
he feels much better about it,
but i will feel better about it when it's been repainted,
which probably won't happen until next summer.
i can't WAIT to go gray.
the house is going to look one million times better.
until then...
 
so honestly,
our big projects are still lurking,
but no fear,
we are always working on something around here
and i'll keep you posted along the way.

i can't wait for the day my house feels done.
up next?
the nursery.
its officially been started!



 

Sunday, April 26, 2015

in other news

a little recap of all that is going on right now.
 
kassie is feeling better,
but not great.
all in all we raised over $7000!
a complete shock and amazing surprise considering
my original goal was $3000.
thank you to everyone that donated.
 
 
 
ronnie and i got a night out
to celebrate a friend's big 40th birthday.
its a little awkward to be at a bar 6 months pregnant,
but i managed to stay out until 10:00 before calling it a night.
then i was called back out at 1:30 to pick
everyone up from the bar.
if you got to be pregnant,
you might as well be useful, right?




miss shannon had her baby and i called it:
she had a GIRL!
darling, perfect, baby paige.
she's going to be a best friend to my little
one on the way.
i can't wait until they meet.
and she is seriously strong.
she was lifting her head up at the freaking hospital.
obviously, not my child.
brette talks about her all the time
so i'm taking it as a sign that she will like
her baby sister just as much.
 
 
 





speaking of baby,
i am 27 weeks and counting.
this. is. going. too. slow.


and even though i'm getting bigger
by the day, i still help mow the yard.
i've always loved to mow, so really,
i don't mind it one little bit.
unfortunately the other day i dropped the freaking
monitor and it suffered some injuries,
but luckily it still works.


 
and since we had to give back the zero-turn mower that we were
using, we are now in the market to buy one.
have you ever priced those suckers?!
they cost way too much money.
which means, something has got to go.
ronnie decided to sell the jeep.
i'm super sad, but honestly once this baby comes,
we can't spend 4-5 hours on our lawn.
it just won't work.
so if you want a jeep or know someone that does...
hit us up.
 
 



 
okay,
i think that wraps it up, but
stay tuned.
i have some house projects complete
and they're up next.

 
 

Thursday, April 23, 2015

easy bake

 
my friend, shannon, sent me a recipe.
she said it was amazing and
the easiest thing she's ever made.
so of course i had to try it out.
easy?
delicious?
i'm in.
 
so here it is.
 
cut up red potatoes.
open a can (or two) of green beans.
and add a row of chicken.
shannon used breasts,
but i prefer thighs.
melt a stick of butter and pour it over everything.
then sprinkle a packet of italian dressing seasoning on top.
cover with foil and bake at 350 for an hour.
 
done.
a one dish wonder.
 
 
 


 

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

photoshoot with brette

i thought,
you look cute today.
maybe i can snap a sweet picture.
a little 22 month old moment in time.
and then i remembered that 22 month olds
don't take easy pictures.
 
i started trying this morning before i ever even
got pants on you and your hair was fresh...
bow still intact.
but no, you weren't interested.
mickey mouse was on tv
and nothing is better than mickey mouse.
 
later you were interested in my phone
and asked if you could get your picture taken,
but then you ran towards me yelling "cheese!"
and well,
that's not exactly the photo i was going for.
 

 
once you did finally decide to sit down and smile,
your pigtails are lopsided,
you have a pink plastic phone in your hands
and you are trying to figure out your best model face.


 
so there it is peeps,
brette today.
the best i could get.

can't wait for the newborn photoshoot
with this big sis.
should be interesting.


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

nursery time

after yesterday's post about our house,
i realized that i am super ready to
get that nursery DONE.
or at least started.
 
we're buying the same crib we did for B,
because it will grow with each of the girls
and eventually it acts as the headboard for a full-size bed.
i never plan on buying another.
its the graco benton 5-in-1 convertible crib,
found at walmart.
its on the top of my list.
my brother has eden's crib mattress,
and i think he's going to let me have that.
score.
 
 
we already have a dresser from our guest room,
but its not very cute,
so i think i'm going to hide it in the closet.
we used brette's dresser as a changing table too,
but since we don't have that option this time,
sheri (ronnie's sister) offered up their old one.
it's a natural wood color and i like the idea of
mixing white with natural wood.
i was even thinking of doing a little spray
or if they don't want it changed, i could use decals.
like this, but only smaller and just white triangles.
 
 
plus i want to add a side table/stump next to our rocking chair.
something like this:
 
as for decorations,
i'm really into the native american/tribal vibe.
and i love the idea of using gold, black and white
along with the natural wood and pops of color.
i'm thinking a lot of the "color" could come from
a really cool aztec rug, but i haven't been able to find one yet.
here are some pics from my pinterest board for her.
 



 
and i have these juuust waiting for me on esty.
 

 
instead of doing a gallery wall,
i think i'm just going to buy these two prints in a large size
and have them take up my one large wall.
this room is a little different because
one whole wall is windows and a window bench.
it cuts down on how you can set up the furniture
and your wall space.
but i'm excited to get started.
now i just have to bust out the ol' credit card and
tell ronnie about it later.
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

free tours: part two

F I V E months ago i made this video:
 
 
remember it?
oh geez.
just watching it makes me want to kill myself.
i still can't believe how crazy things were for awhile.
now i'm sitting here with this view of my finished
master bedroom and it almost feels like two different houses.
 
 
don't get me wrong.
things are not done.
the downstairs still needs work.
and so do the bathrooms,
but when i look back at that first video...
my house seems pretty amazing now.

 
and i promise to do one more video
in five months so you can
(hopefully)
see things completed.
 


Thursday, April 9, 2015

i got your back, boo

 
 
 
so i obviously have to write about my bff's traumatic few weeks.
you guys know kassie.
i've posted about her before
and here
i'm sure there's more,
but you get the idea.
friends since kindergarten,
partners for life,
true bff's.
we're only a few months apart,
a young (cough cough) 31 yrs old.
and then she went and had a freaking stroke on me.
what the heck, kassie.
and on april fools day.
even less funny.
this hits a little too close to home
because her mom passed away several years ago from a stroke.
that's what caused kass to change her whole life.
quit her job.
go back to school.
helps others that go through this.
she actually leads the stroke support group at the hospital - -
the same one the nurse told her about this week.
but only as patient this time.
what the hell, right?

but its not ALL bad.
she really is ok.
there are no immediate side effects, thank god.
but they're keeping her in the hospital
until they get her blood thin enough to go home
because there is still a big blood clot looming
and that. is. scary.
no more strokes, please.
 
her life will have to change.
no work for three months.
no more birth control
(which we are all secretly happy about - - time to have babies!)
but a natural birth is no longer an option for her.
she can't do anything that would be jarring to her body.
no roller coasters, tubing, even getting her hair washed at
a beauty salon because of where the sink would hit her in the neck.
(that's where her tear was)
i want to strap her down and not let her move.
and i'm pretty sure, right now, she's down with that too.
you can read the whole medical run down here:
feel free to donate while you're there too
and send prayers.
lots of prayers.
 
 
and thank you to everyone for all you are doing for her.
there is no one that deserves it more.
 



Wednesday, April 8, 2015

springing

we had a nice easter with family,
but i'm super pissed at myself because i didn't get one pic
of brette in her dress.
she was adorable and sported a little white bonnet.
i promise to put her back in it
and recreate the moment.
and we made it back to bass pro
for round two with the easter bunny.
this time the bunny didn't run off sick
and we were able to get brette a picture.
she was in heaven.
you can't tell by this photo but
she loved the bunny.
talked about it for days.
bunny?  lap? 
sorry B, you only get one turn.
 
 
and look at her last year.
same adorable baby.
 
 
and a comparison...
 
 
easter makes it officially spring and
we've had some beautiful flowers bloom
over the last few weeks.
its fun to see what's been planted around here
since this is our first spring at the house.
now i'm just waiting around for all the trees to blossom.
we have big plans for the outdoors at our new home,
but of course,
that comes last.
i'm hoping we might get around to it next year.
we need to cut down some stuff,
plant more grass,
get rid of a few flower beds,
plant a few bushes
and
repaint the house and the shed.
all that fun stuff.





 

hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend
and are back to doing all the things you gave up for lent.
too bad my "lent" lasts until the end of july.
wah wah.