Other Random Thoughts

First of all: I want to thank everyone for their sweet comments on the post yesterday.  I was really happy to start writing it all.  I even read it to the hubby last night because I'm not even sure he and I talk enough about the struggle of this adjustment.  I think we try our best to keep the negativity out of our mind as much as possible.  So when he's home, we just take advantage of our time together. 

Although I already know exactly what I'll write about with the next post about "the real us," I wanted to go a little more light hearted tody and just jolt out some thoughts I've been having and haven't posted about lately.   A hodge podge of thoughts and pictures if you will:

My Mini Me

Evan took this picture about a month ago.  It was the first time I've ever thought "holy crud, Liliana is starting to look like me!"  When my parents visited last week, they said the personality was CRAZy similar.  They said it was like deja vu seeing her.  And now that she's starting to look like me?  The poor girl has no chance!  I love and adore my girl.  She is such a light in our lives.  She is the sweetest thing you've ever seen.  She gives my belly TONS of kisses everyday (she usually wants to do 10 at a minimum in a row ... makes it hard when you're trying to get things done because how can you say no to puckering lips and "beso a sissy!!!" (kiss for sissy in English)

Our Convent Girl

I took this picture a couple weeks ago and sent it to Evan in a text saying "we are so screwed!  She's gorgeous!"  His response: "That's it, she's going to a convent."  ; )  Protective you think? hee hee.  She truly is SO stunning and as her hair is growing longer and longer, I'm getting more of an idea of what she'll look like.  She gets so much attention from people every where we go.  I always told my parents that but when they came to visit they were astonished at it.  I think the huge eyes and the fact that she blows EVERY stranger a kiss and says "hello!" when they walk by might have something to do with it too.

I Actually Live Here

One thing I love about Little Rock?  It is absolutely STUNNING.  I took this picture last weekend at a park that is LITERALLY 5 minutes from the house.  I just took picture after picture after picture.  I couldn't get over the fact that we hadn't been here before and that we have this 5 minutes from home.  For those wondering, this is Pinnacle Park if you're ever visiting.  This picture was taken on a pedestrian bridge that they built above the Arkansas River.  Once you cross the bridge, there are tons of walking trails and grassy areas to relax.  Divine. Living somewhere with "things to do" has been awesome.  We didn't have that in Lubbock and it's nice to get out of the house as a family and go on adventures together!  I think it builds our bond as a family, and plus, we are making SO MANY great memories.

 

Springtime!

I don't want to jinx it, but I think we just finished having the most mild winter ever.   Spring time has officially hit the city and it is stunning.  It's about 80 degrees everyday and the flowers are blooming.  I think we will head to Home Depot to get flowers for the pots this weekend!  Time to get my spring decor out on the porch.  And time for Liliana to wear her sunglasses because she thinks she looks "so cool!" with them on.

Getting Ginormo

Excuse the crappy quality and sweaty pits, but look at this growing belly people!  I'm already 23 weeks and took this at the gym a couple days ago.  Usually when I sit down or lie down, it makes the belly decrease some in size, but apparently it's starting to get so big that nothing hides it.  Gotta pump iron right?  It's good for the soul! ; )



What Our Life is REALLY Like

I've decided to start a series of posts on the REAL us.  I feel like so much of this blog has become superficial.  And while that might be more fun for others to read, the truth of the matter is I'm describing 5% of what goes on in our lives.  The other 95% has finally decided to have a voice.

I started this yesterday and couldn't quite form the words.  I would start it and keep hitting delete over and over again.  I want to write about what I honestly feel inside.  Some people might not like it but the thing is?  I'm writing this for ME. It's cathartic to help me deal with the very stressful way we have been living since July. If it helps someone else going through similar situations, that's gravy baby.

SO ... what I originally thought would be one post will be a series of posts about the real us and how we've managed this year.  This is all about what it's like to be a resident (more specifically a surgery resident) and what it's like to be the spouse of a resident.

I don't know why I haven't written about it.  I think I didn't want to sound like a complainer because I realize we are so blessed Evan received a Urology residency spot when there are literally hundreds of medical students each year that don't match to Urology at all, much less get their first choice.  I also don't want to sound weak.  It's a hard adjustment for me but I feel horrible complaining when I know there are military families out there that don't see their spouses for a year.

But I just had to write about it.  This is the real us.  This is what life is like for us on a daily basis and while writing about my belly or a mobile in the corner of a room is definitely more fun to write about, it isn't the real stuff. 

I've learned some things in these 10 months of him being a resident.  I have not at all mastered the things I have learned, but I am adjusting.  I think I'll be adjusting until he finishes residency and then we'll adjust to the new norm. 

The first thing I had to learn:

You will HAVE to let some things go.

One thing that is VERY frustrating about Evan's residency is the lack of normalcy in our lives.  On any given day, I have NO absolute idea what time he'll be headed home.  For instance, it sure is hard to plan dinners when I don't even know if he'll be home at all.  If people invite us out to dinner on any given day, I NEVER promise he'll attend b/c 90% of the time, he wouldn't be able to make it.  Sure I would love to have my husband's company and to feel like a family, but I know it just isn't the reality. 

Let's look at this week for instance: on Monday night, he got home late (around 8 pm after working a 14.5 hour day) but was on call.  He got a call at 9 pm and had to head back to the hospital.  He didn't return until about 1 am.  He got another call at 2 am and returned by 3 am this time.  He got yet ANOTHER call at 4 am and since he had to be back at 6 am anyway, he knew he wouldn't be coming back home.  Therefore, I didn't see him that day.  When he kissed me goodbye at 4 am after having been gone all night I would be lying if I didn't say I had some tears in my eyes.  I try not to show him how sad I am.  I try to act like Liliana and I are strong, but we do have our moments of weakness.  We do miss him tremendously.  I cry less often than I used to.  That's for sure.  I've grown accustomed to eating dinner on my own with Liliana.  As she grows it has gotten easier because she truly keeps me company now.  And even though I have made GREAT friends here, there is nothing like the company of your best friend to get you through the days and nights.

Tuesday during the day, he was BEAT because he had to work all day and I was dead tired too!  Having him come in to bed to just get a loud page less than an hour later gets tiring.  Tuesday, he was home at 6 pm, only worked 12 hours, and we had a lovely evening together ... well, except for the fact that we fell asleep nearly immediately after putting Liliana to sleep because we were so sleepy!  That's the thing.  When you finally are off, you just want to sleep.  Last night, he got home at 8 pm again and was on call.  He didn't have to leave this time!  HOORAY!  Having the last two nights to cuddle in bed and sleep together was glorious.  He did get paged a few times and that's always a damper on watching the new airing of Psych (one of our favorites) but I will gladly take the kind of night that we had on Wednesday versus Monday.  So that's how this week went.  As you can see, completely and totally unpredictable.  It changes DAY by DAY. 

And being a spouse through it all?

I'm obviously the one that always takes Liliana to and from daycare.  Our daycare obviously isn't open 24 hours a day and plus, I would miss her too much if I relied on Evan to get her.  I get Liliana ready every morning and never have help with that.  I'm not trying to sound like a complainer, and I'm sorry that this post does sound like that.  I'm just saying it does get tiring.  Sure everynow and then, I would love to just head to work.  To not have to think about getting breakfast ready everyday.  To just have no responsibility other than heading to work.  Or just to have somebody else wake her up (even though that is one of my favorite moments of the day because she's adorable when you wake her up).  After dropping her off, I head to work and inevitably every day at work I have some personal business that has to get done.  I hate admitting that, but for instance, this week it's taxes.  I filed our federal taxes over spring break but have to submit our state taxes by paper and that takes more time.  It takes phone calls in to the IRS etc.  I can't call when I get home from work because they're closed!  Getting stuff done is difficult when you work full-time so I have to fit it in somehow while still working.  Usually this means I stay later at work to get everything accomplished and that's ok.  Just, like I've said, gets tiring.

I can't rely on Evan to do these things because the boy doesn't even have time to use the restroom during the day.  He rarely gets to eat lunch.  And plus, why would I have him call anyway?  He's in Surgery often or seeing patients constantly so if somebody did have to call him back, he couldn't answer. He tries his HARDEST to help when he can.  When he worked nights, our house had SO much work done to it because he wanted to do his part.  He always mentions that.  I know he's doing what he can and I'm frankly amazed at what he does get accomplished.  I tell him all the time that I don't have his strength and that he is inspiring getting it all done, still being an excellent father, a resident, and a husband.  It's incredible really. That being said, this has been a HUGE adjustment for me.  Evan and I have been a 50/50 couple since day 1 with parenting and household decisions.  It is HARD being the full-time everything: work, Mom, and stay-at-home responsibilities.  It has been hard to do this ...

TO LET GO.

That's what I've had to do.  Our laundry always gets done, but the laundry often sits in the dryer overnight without being folded (as it is right now) because I'm simply too damn tired to fold it.  I wanted to get all taxes DONE and in the mail on Monday.  I still haven't had Evan sign them.  This is just the way of things.  It gets done eventually.  Maybe not as quickly or as effectively as I'd like, but this is the new norm and will be for 4 more years (yes he chose a 5 year residency! DARN him. j/k).  I'm LEARNING to let these things happen.  It's not easy. 

I'm not going to lie.  I get frustrated with the situation often.  I feel like his career is what dictates our lives while mine is just kinda sitting there.  I work full-time and Evan ALWAYS asks how my day was, but on a VERY rare occassion does my career truly affect our lives.  If I have a late meeting, I know I can't rely on him to get Liliana.  I know it's up to me to figure something out.  This does get old and I know it's not his fault.  I know that this training is ESSENTIAL to his being an excellent doctor.  And he is.  And I am so proud of him.

For now, the way I think about it is: I don't let it run my life as much.  I used to sit around at home waiting for him to give me an ETA.  Now, I just go do things that need to get done.  If he gets out early, Liliana and I run home to spend time with him.  This rarely happens however.  We like to joke that when i do finally leave to head to the gym, he's home 45 minutes later.  If I wouldn't head to the gym, he would be stuck at the hospital until midnight.  So when he calls and I'm on the treadmill, I boost up that speed, finish my workout earlier, and go give him a sweaty hug.  It's the way it has to be.  And it's the REAL us.

Gloria's Nursery: Now THAT is Progress!

We are finally seeing some progress on Gloria's room!  As I've said a few times, we took full advantage of our week of vacation and tried to get a good deal done.  What kinds of things happened this week?

Well, let's just say we did enough to have renovation update posts on the home all week long!  But for a more detailed analysis, here we go: we planted two new trees; mulched the front and back yard; put frost on a window right by the door; made the collage wall, put up prints, and painted the girls names on the bookcases in the playroom (playroom progress post coming this week); installed a new lantern and flood light in the backyard to give us more light; made a semi-new hot tub cover so that the golden retriever won't keep chewing it; painted the pantry (post coming for that some time this week); AND we made great progress on Gloria's room. 

WHEW ... just typing that all out made me exhausted!

As for the progress on Gloria's room?  Here is it BEFORE Spring Break:

And here it is this morning:

You can't notice TOO many differences, but I promise they're there ...

For starters, I got the fabric for the bed skirt and in this picture, it's just lying in the right spot.  Evan says I should screw the sewing and leave as is.  I don't plan on doing that, but I must admit it's tempting! ; )

We built the paper lantern crib mobile as I posted about yesterday and the next day went out and bought the storage for the bookcase.  We bought others as well but decided the plain ol' khaki was necessary since I have plans for the wall that will brighten the day some.

You'll also notice we finally have a mattress!  Poor Gloria, she got the cheapo Munchkin $50 mattress but really and truly? Do they know the difference when they're tiny?  Along the wall on the right you'll notice a few differences ... a print that says Be Kind, a table, and some yellow shelves along the wall.

I found this print on etsy weeks ago and decided to use it as the main color scheme of the room.  The cheapo in me thought "I could make that!" so instead of paying $15, I just made it myself in less than an hour! SCORE!  I bought the cute little table on sale at Hobby Lobby when I was getting frames for the playroom and those shelves came from Ikea but were painted yellow over spring break. 

Here's a close up of the table.  It's adorable.  The print will NOT be staying right there.  It will be going up on the wall with a WONDERFUL project that I have planned in honor of my Tata (Gloria's namesake).  I'll hopefully get that project finished by the end of the weekend and can't wait to post all about it.

Here's a close up of the print.  I am still just as in love with it as the first day I saw it.

Here are the cute yellow shelves!  I wanted to bring in some pops of color and accomplished that with the table and shelves.  Painting these shelves wasn't easy because the shelves we bought from Ikea were pretty sealed already.  I should have used primer looking back on it, but oh well ... 3 coats did the trick. ha.  I'm still not entirely sure what will go on these shelves, but that's another project for another day.

Here's another view.  That CUTE clock is from Target and was $6!  We'll be putting it up in the corner wall some time ... really, pure laziness that we haven't yet.  Then again, I also have a bag of stuff to return to Target just sitting on my couch right now, so laziness is just kinda the name at this stage in life.

I am SO darn pleased with how this room is coming along so far!  Seriously, it's my favorite room in the house.  That being said, we still have SO SO SO much to do.  To name a few: buy a rug, do a hoop wall with swatches and Gloria's name painted on the wall above bookcase, do the project honoring Tata on wall behind rocking chair, put stuff on shelves, buy a lamp, etc.  I want it DONE by the time I'm 34 weeks since I know I deliver my babies early.  Thank goodness I'm only 23 weeks along! : )

Gloria's Nursery: Paper Lantern Crib Mobile!

This week off gave me quite a good amount of time to handle some more projects in Gloria's nursery! I  had ONE main goal for Spring Break and Gloria's room though ...

THAT DARNED CORNER!

As you recall, I had plenty of ideas but wasn't too set on one of them yet.  One of my favorites involved hanging embroidery hoops upside down from the ceiling.  I thought it was cute and really unique.  Unfortunately for me, the hubby pretty much HATED it. 

I still maintain this is adorable, but since Evan rarely gives his opinion on things, I was kind enough to listen this time. ; )

So, the hunt continued to try and solve my corner dilemma.  What to do ... what to do.

I put in paper lanterns on etsy and discovered some GREAT paper lantern mobiles.  I thought to myself, HEY, I (also known as Evan and I because I need his help) can do that! And, we did!!!

 This project would have cost about $60 had I bought it on etsy.  We spent MUCH less than that, and I LOVE LOVE the results!

Here's a little tutorial to do your own paper lantern crib mobile:

(1) buy 5 paper lanterns.  I got mine off of justartifacts.com and found a 15% off coupon online to make it even affordable.  Including shipping, all 5 cost $10 .. .$2 each isn't bad! 

(2) when buying the lanterns, buy 2 6", 2 8" and 1 10" lantern.

(3) Send hubby to home depot to buy a dowel and then paint the dowel white.

(4) Go to hobby lobby or michael's and buy a thing of white yarn.  Then, show your husband the picture and he'll do the rest!

(5) ok ok ... that was how I did it.  But I did help Evan put it together.  Fortunately he was the master mind behind it.  Tie a knot around the two dowels to help them stick together. Then make a little etching in the end of each dowel so the yarn can rest in there.  The most difficult part of this project is making it all level.  Just use it like a middle school science project and move the lanterns in or out depending on the weight.  Thank goodness I married a science geek that figured this out!  Science was never my strong suit.

(7) marvel at the result!

Here's a close up to get a better idea:

The beautiful thing about this is it doesn't HAVE to go in a corner!  you can place this behind the rocker, above the changing pad, etc.  Heck, it would even look adorable in a playroom.  You can change the colors to whatever you'd like.  I chose five different colors, but I've seen it look adorable ranging anywhere from 2 to 5 colors. 

I am SO darn happy this pesky corner is now under control!  We did quite a few other projects in Gloria's nursery yesterday afternoon and I'll post those later this week.  For now, I'll keep looking at my favorite DIY element in the room!

Home Renovation Project: Playroom Art Gallery Wall

This week has been BUSY!  Evan was on vacation all week and it has been GLORIOUS! We are taking advantage of this vacation by having family visit all week ... my parents arrived on Friday and left on Tuesday.  Evan's Dad and wife arrived on Wednesday and leave Sunday.  And since we're nice to our guests, we put them to work. ; )

One of the big projects we got done this week?  I finally worked on the playroom art gallery wall!  I only have one project left in that room and it will be done! YIPEE!  I am OH SO HAPPY with the result!

Here's how we got the gallery wall accomplished:

While Evan was working hard planting a tree in our front yard, my Dad and I mapped out the size of the collage wall.  We determined the best looking size would be about 86 " by 36 ".  In other words, a big piece of art. 

I bought everything from the wall at Hobby Lobby. I got unfinished frames to save on money, used 40% off coupons that are ALWAYS available online, and had a heck of a time deciding what to finally buy.  Don't be ashamed to lie everything out on the floor of the store.  I don't care if I looked crazy.  Quite frankly, it helped me see what I would need.  At worst though, buy too much and return some. I know a ton of gallery walls use all white frames but I opted not to do that for a few reasons.  First: I wanted color ... this is a playroom after all!  Second, buying unfinished frame REALLY saves on cash.  The average cost of each frame was $4.00 and with 40% off coupons?  Talk about afordable.  The wall has three 4 by 6's, two 5 by 7's, one 8 by 10, one 12 by 12, one mirror and then the letters.

First I laid the frames out in a pattern that looked pleasing to me.

Then I sat down and painted for about 2.5 hours.  I wrote a W, P, or B on each frame and made sure I had enough variation. 

After I let them dry during Liliana's nap, I put the art and prints in and waited for Evan to come in and hang all the frames and letters.  Let me tell you, this ended up being quite an obstacle because the sticky Scotch wall pieces that we put on each piece WOULD NOT stay on the wall. Literally, by the time he had put everything up, they had all fallen and are all nailed on the wall now. It took patience, and a lot of batting of my eyelashes for Evan not to give up on the project completely. The result though?

LOVE IT! 

As you can see, most of what's highlighted is Liliana's artwork from school! I made a print of "playroom rules" and that is in the top left hand corner.  Here's a close-up of it. 

Here is a view of how it looks in the room! 



I  have a few more projects we did this week to display later on, but for now, I have some shelves to paint!  Gotta love vacation!

21 Weeks Pregnant -- T-shirt Project!

Today I am 21 weeks pregnant with Gloria!  In one week I go back for another doctor's appointment and I feel like I was there just yesterday.  Pregnancies fly by when you have another kiddo at home to chase after and have conversations with.

For instance, here's a gem for you...

Since my big fall down the stairs a couple weeks ago, I haven't been carrying Liliana down the stairs ever.  She is obviously capable of going down them but sometimes when I am in a hurry I snatch her up so we can rush out the door.  Now I've decided I'll just be 1 minute late for the safety of all of us.  Liliana likes taking her time going down the stairs and often says "wee!" or "I love Mommy" or "no kitty!" down each stair.  We have a window next to our door and she often sees the neighbors cat.  She's not a fan. 

Two days ago, she went down a stair and let out a big fart.  She started CRACKING up and said "tootie from bootie!"  Yes I only teach my daughter the finest words.  Then she started saying ... get this ...

Liliana: "Mommy tootied!  Mommy tootied!"

Me: Umm ... excuse me child.  I am pregnant so yes, Mommy's booty does make those sounds, but not this time!  Don't go placing your gas problems on me! 

So the next few steps were spent her saying "SI! (yes)" and Mommy saying "NO!"  It was a fight I eventually gave up on.  She was so insistent that I even pondered "was it me after all?"  Then I realized my 21 month old child manipulated my mind.  I'm in trouble.

BACK to being 21 weeks pregnant and not talking about gas shall we?

Excuse the nasty look.  I had just run three miles on the treadmill and didn't feel like sprucing up for the picture.  My belly looks BIG huh?  It's crazy how much growth has occurred in the last 3 weeks!

21 Week Pregnancy Survey

•  how far along: 21 weeks
• total weight gain: I haven't weighed myself in weeks so I have no idea.  I know I've gained more than I had with Liliana at this point, but I'm exercising more this go around and am not concerned about it.  I think I'm gaining it at a more normal pace this time whereas last time I barely gained anything and then ballooned gaining 4 or 5 pounds a week for 3 weeks.  That hasn't happened this time, fortunately!
• maternity clothes: most of the time.  I've been wearing TONS of dresses and skirts.  They're so comfortable and the weather is so warm that it's appropriate.
• stretch marks: no sir! The boobs do have big veins on them which the hubby says makes sense because of yadda yadda.  I didn't listen.  I was just grossed out by them.
• sleep: not great unfortunately!  I am no longer taking the anti-nausea medication because I don't need it, but since part of that medication was a sleeping aid, I've missed the sense of feeling sleepy.  I think that daylight savings also screwed me up. 
• movement: oh yes!  i've been seeing her move for about 2 weeks and feeling her move since about 12/ 13 weeks.  My clothes just move all around and some people at work have even noticed.  We make strong ones, let me tell ya!
• miss anything: just lack of mobility ... being able to help around the house more and not being able to run nearly as quickly as I used to while working out.  It puts an awkward pressure on my pelvis and is uncomfortable so I have to slow the treadmill down.  That's getting old but I'd better get used to it!
• food cravings: sonic slushes but I haven't caved!  Evan keeps saying "PLEASE let me get one for you!  I want to help!" but I realize I quite honestly don't need to eat that and have to burn it off after Gloria arrives.  In the mean time, pass the water please! : )  (note: that's a lie: I did cave once this week but I know how it goes.  At 30 weeks, I'll be eating so much that I don't ever stop so I'm trying to be aware of that as much as possible at this stage).
• belly button in or out: still in, but not by much!  I'm guessing it will be out by 25 weeks.
• looking forward to: seeing my parents tomorrow!  I haven't seen them since I was 4 weeks pregnant.  They need to see the growing belly! ALSO, looking forward to dealing with that pesky corner I posted about yesterday ... guess who found a GREAT solution yesterday?  : )   



Gloria's Nursery: That Darn Corner!

As I mentioned yesterday my biggest qualm with putting that crib in the corner was "what the heck do I do above the darn corner now?"  I'm still in that state of absoultely no knowledge as to what I'll do.  Turns out, there are TONS of ideas out there.  Now I just have to pick one of them and stick with it ... easier said than done right? 

Here's the corner in question just to refresh my memory and stress me out more.

I've narrowed it down to FIVE choices.

FIVE.  That's embarassing to type.

I realize I'm over thinking this.  See, I didn't really have TIME to set up Liliana's nursery the way I wanted when pregnant with her.  I was in law school and worked really hard at the law firm.  And considering that this very well (if you asked me the answer would be 99% sure) done having babies after this, I'm taking it seriously.  This is SO fun...setting this up, getting so excited to see Gloria, to hold her and see what she looks like.  OK, back to topic.

Here are my thoughts as of now:

Ceiling art isn't an easy task apparently.  It takes creativity and an eye for design.  Something I feel like I lack!

 Out of the above though, my favorites are the ones above the table (bottom right) (it's a paper lantern with a bunch of tissues glued to it.  Evan already told me he wasn't patient enough for that and he's not being a jerk about it ... he truly isn't.  I think he would explode!  I am patient enough though and I think they're GORGEOUS!). 

I am also a BIG fan of the hoops on the ceiling all the way to the left.  I know it's a little quirky and vintage looking but I've wanted to do a hoop wall in this nursery for SO long and wasn't sure where I would make that work.  Maybe the ceiling is the place?  Who knows!  Would it just look weird and stupid in a little corner.  Yes, probably.  But it's still a contender because it's such a unique thought.  But it's neat because it would kind of double as a mobile for Gloria to look at too!  (and now I'm convincing myself of somehting that would probably end in me doing it and saying "yuck!  That looks BAD!")

So I'll have to decide this dilemma sometime soon because all of the above projects will take time to purchase and to get done! 

And no, I'm not running out of time by any means (I'm only 21 weeks after all) but I am running out of patience!

Gloria's Nursery: Room Layout

Yesterday morning when I was taking pictures of the new fabulous paint on the walls, I decided to try option #2 for room layout.  I figured it would work perfectly and that would be that.

I tried it.

Eh.

Then I thought, I can bake my bagel one minute less, still not be late to work, and try a third option ...

still.  Eh.

So when Evan got home last night, I wasn't per se panicked, but I was in a state of ... HELP NOW PLEASE.  You know that state when women just realize they need their man to say "it's all going to be ok?"

Well when you're pregnant, you have lots of those moments and fortunately my husband didn't disappoint.

We messed around with it for quite a while with Liliana in the room and then decided it was probably best to move big pieces of furniture around without a little sweetheart around.

We tried quite a few options ...

Here's what we originally had it like.  Crib in corner, where I always wanted it because it would take up more of the room.  You see, this room was originally used by two kids and though we eventually might do that, we're putting the girls in separate rooms until we have solid through the night sleepers. I wasn't thrilled with the layout though.

After scouring the internet for nurseries with windows on two walls, I saw this layout a few times and liked it.  Turns out, it didn't work for us.  Having the chair in the corner seemed really packed and I still have to buy a table to put beside the chair anyway ... no room for that.

Here was another option.  This one made the room seem like a square.  It looks better in the picture than it did in person.  But in person, it just looked too angular and unwelcoming.  NOT our goal with her nursery!

Then, we tried this ...

And the heavens sang pretty nursery praises!  The crib went back in the corner, like I wanted, the chair is in the other corner (you can barely see it behind the dresser) with lots of room for a table, and the bookcase is sideways, which Evan and I liked because it just looks prettier that way.

Here are a few more views:

We obviously will fix that cord hanging down so hideously in the bookcase.  I have plans to buy some pretty baskets for that area.  ABOVE the bookcase, I will either do a photo collage, put some shelves, or do somtehing interesting.  That's still up for debate.

I'm sitting in the rocking Ikea chair while taking this picture.  Shows off the color really nicely.

Not too sure yet what's going above the dresser either ... some shelves, some prints, pictures, who knows?  Again, that is still being decided.  Story of the nurysery right now!

Do you also see another new development in the room?  Gloria's blanket came in and I don't think LOVE begins to cover my feelings for this thing.  It's more like creepily obsessed.  I want to sleep with it.  It's so soft, so gorgeous, and so perfect!

Here's a close up of the blanket.  The colors are so bright, feminine, slightly vintage, and just wonderful.  The fabric on the top left corner (and second from left on the bottom row) is what the bumper will be made out of! That is still being made and probably won't be here for another couple of weeks. I am SO thrilled with the job that she did though.  Like I said, obsessed.  I like it almost as much as I like the Garlic sauce that comes with Papa John's pizza and that's saying somethin'.

The back side of it is light pink minky.  I love that kind of fabric.  I could rub my face on it all day.  So soft! 

The main thing that I have to do now?  Decide what to do above the crib!  Since it's in a corner, this leaves me in a corner pickle.  If I just do prints, it will look really empty so I want to hang something from the ceiling.  But what?  Lanterns, pom poms, paper lanterns? 

Some ideas are surfacing ... but that's for tomorrow's post.

(PS I am fully aware nobody cares THIS much about the details of decorating a nursery, but it makes me giggle and squeal with delight doing this stuff so sorry).

Gloria's Nursery: Paint and ... Nicolas!

This weekend was BUSY!  Evan was off the entire time and I must admit we did a pretty horrid job at relaxing.  We were VERY productive doing things around the house that just needed to get done.  We cleaned up the backyard, attempted to fix our hot tub cover (the puppy kinda had his way with that one), installed a new latch on the gate going over the deck, had lunch with family, got the puppy some newer more chewable toys so that he wouldn't damage hot tub covers, had a fun lunch with great friends, talked with some of them about the baby shower they're apparently throwing me (which I was SHOCKED about because you don't usually get one for #2!) etc.

But two BIG things happened this weekend that aren't even listed above.  One of them, obviously WAY bigger than the other:

I became an aunt to a BOY yesterday night! ; )   My brother and his wife Annie gave birth to Nicolas Eduardo last night at 9:46.  He is the first boy grandkid for our side of the family so everyone is pretty excited.  He came FAST!  Annie got to the hospital around 7:30 and two hours later, there he was!  Makes me pretty scared for when I have Gloria!  Here is my handsome nephew:

Aren't newborns so darn huggable?

ANYWAY, the point of this post wasn't just to gush about him ... the other big thing that we did (and that ironically took more time than birthing the above cutie) was that we painted Gloria's nursery!

We've been meaning to do this for WEEKS and inevitably poor Evan had to go to work and kept getting paged.  But he turned his pager off on Friday night and knew he wouldn't turn it back on until 6 this morning, so we took advantage of the freedom and while her nursery looked like THIS less than a week ago...

This morning, it looked like THIS!

I am SO freakin in love with it!  Before you guys ask, the paint colors we chose are:

Robin's nest by Benjamin Moore for the walls and Tailor's Chalk by Martha Stewart for the trim.  For the trim we just got a ton of samples and matched them to the furniture as best we could. 

Paint wall color: Robin's Nest by Benjamin Moore.  # 618.



Trim: Tailor's Chalk by Martha Stewart.

Here are some more views.

I took this picture with the lights off just to show how neat this Ikea lamp looks when lit! It is the Knubbig lamp, was about $15, and looks SO pretty!

The most trying part of the painting experience was definitely the trim.  Nothing went wrong, but it just took a good long while.  We painted the closet doors and the bedroom door as well.  But let me tell you, it is SO worth the time and the $10 to do the trim.  I wish I had taken a before picture, but just trust me when I tell you that matching the trim to look best with the paint really makes it pop.  Unfortuantely for Evan, I am now obsessed with fixing the trim in other parts of the house, so we've added another something to the to-do list (well ... just in the master bedroom, guest bedroom, and Liliana's bedroom ... darn ... those are ALL the other bedrooms in the house! haha)

The next dilemma: how to arrange this darn room!  As you can see in this last picture, the bookcase was in a different spot.  That's our "to-do" this week and hopefully we'll figure out how to orient it.  I'll do another entire post on room layout though because that sure is a challenge!



"Love is Spoken Here" Free Print!

Might sound silly since I've only been at it for 8 days, but I've had SO much fun with having an etsy shop to call my own!  I've already had 4 orders and while for some, they think that's nothing, for me it give me a BIG smile every time I see one!  I'm really trying to make them REALLY affordable.  My main thing is just having fun making pieces of art!  : )

Anyway, I decided that once a month I will have a "free print" available here on the blog.  This free print is for a 5 by 7 and all you have to do it put it in a cute frame and pay something like 30 cents at Walmart!  It would look so cute in an entry way, hallway, livingroom, or even kitchen!

To receive the free print just:

(1) follow the blog if you don't already;

(2) leave a comment telling me what your favorite thing is in the etsy shop (sorry that's kind of a pain and I won't require it every time, but I'm still trying to establish what people like so I can keep doing more similar things); AND

(3) leave me an email address in the comment so I can email it to you and make sure to let me know which color you like best!  I will then send you that print in an email within 24 hours!  ALL FOR FREE!  WHOOPIE! ; )

Option #1: BLUE

Option #2: RED

Option #3: GREEN



 Hope you guys like it! : )

PS I am 20 weeks pregnant with Gloria today!  I had planned on doing the 20 week t-shirt project today but Evan got home REALLY late last night and by the time I remembered that we needed to do the pictures, I was in my PJs.  And you know how comfy PJs are.  Maybe we'll get a chance to do it tonight!

Lilina and Friend's 2nd birthday party!

About 6 weeks ago, I all on my own Evan gave me the brilliant idea for Liliana's 2nd birthday party theme and the theme was born:

Liliana and friends!

Translation: the girl can't choose between her love for Elmo or Dora more.  It's funny, because she doesn't and won't watch one second of TV.  Hates it.  This isn't exactly OUR preference.  I must admit it would be nice to be able to have a 20 minute break when I get home from work and pop an Elmo or Dora DVD in, but no dice.  HOWEVER, the girl LOVES her some Dora and Elmo books.  NERD alert! ; )  From there, her love was established.  And every time that she sees Dora or Elmo in a store she YELLS it as loud as she can.   Cute for sure.

Anyway, I went to Party City this weekend just to look around and buy a few things.  I figure I'll buy a few things here and there so that the bank account isn't as shocked.  This party isn't going to be a HUGE one by any means.  I'm trying to keep it simple since we'll only be in San Antonio for a weekend and I'll already be 32 weeks pregnant while having to hustle and bustle around everywhere.  That being said, there will probably be at least 30 people there and that takes some planning.

At party city I found some pretty great deals.  Mainly, these napkins made me think ...

 

I started thinking "how the heck am I going to put these two together?"  They're pretty opposite in colors.  And I decided on purple and orange.  I wasn't too happy with this arrangement, because the purple and orange were much more prominent on the dora napkins.  But I went ahead and used my coupon to come home with these:

Well, at work yesterday one of my favorite faculty members started asking me about plans for Liliana's party.  This particular lady does wedding and party planning on the side for everyone around the school.  She says it's just kinda something that fell in to her lap along with our algebra teacher's.  Who would have thought right?  I've tasted and seen their work though and they are AWESOME.  Anyway, she told me "that's not hard to reconcile at all!  Do pink and red!"

And I swear, this light bulb went off in my head and a hand slapped me across the face saying DUH!

So, the above purple and orange will be returned.  In the mean time, I was able to keep some other things that I purchased though.

These are mainly just cute table decorations.  I also bought an Elmo lunch box, but Liliana didn't feel like putting it in this pile.  It was happily sitting in her playroom and I forgot to add it.  I also have a "pin the nose on elmo" game that I bought and forgot to put in this picture too.  All in all, we're getting there!  I'm trying not to buy TOO much here because I'll have to put it in my suitcase over to Texas.  That being said, I don't want to have nothing because I only have one day in San Antonio before the party and won't have time to go shopping. 

As for the light pink and red theme?  I think it will be PERFECT.  Here are some inspiration photos I found.

I just have to buy some red and pink scrapbook paper to cover some adult beverages.

Minus the yellow and add some Dora and I'd be a happy woman!  Mine won't be NEARLY this elaborate because I don't have that kind of budget but it's nice to get ideas from.

Liliana has a ton of Dora and Elmo books so making this little sign will be a piece of cake.

I love the idea of hanging pom poms from my parent's deck.  I know you can pay for them on etsy, but why would I do that when I found this great tutorial on you tube? 

This party has already been a blast to plan!  I figure I only have one more year with Liliana before she's telling ME what her theme will be so I have to take advantage of it now! : )