Settling in

The problem -a beautiful white enamel sink with a HUGE lip on the edge, while gorgeous is not effective for traditional dish drainers that can be purchased at your local walmart/target.  See the problem.  the edge won't go over the sink, so it leads to stagnant water in the drainer from tilting backwards or water on the counter. 

Problem drainer

The solution:  **angels singing**  Simple Human Steel Frame Dish Rack.  I was hesitant on the price, but for something I use EVERY day, AWESOME.  It drains to the center of the rack, not the side and the spout swivels and pivots.  There are flip out cup holders on the side, flip up tines, expanding dish tray, knife block...its so pretty I could cry.  Its already full of dishes!

In other purchase news--our built in no longer looks like a messy cabinet.  Plate holders and some decorative vases.  All for under $20. 

Yah.  That's all awesome.  Not as awesome as this guy!

Look at that face perfectly accented by sweet potato!

I'm Coming Out....

Before - Circa P4 Year - December 2008  - 165 pounds

TODAY  3/19/11  - 135 lbs

135 lbs and super happy

I want the world to see!!!!!
I have lost 30 pounds since college.  I haven't seen the 130's since my wedding and even then it wasn't 135.  I feel great and I am super happy with my body for the first time in a long time.
When I went to college I was an athlete, biking and walking, at 125 lbs.  Weight slowly crept up on me starting with ORGANIC CHEMISTRY in 2004.   It's all that damn class's fault.  (Can I say that here?)  After that it was pharmacy school and just trying to survive that and not caring about the physical condition of my body.
Anyway after seeing my graduation pictures I realized I needed a change.  So I started exercising and lost some weight.  Then I got pregnant, ate right and exercised the whole time, and the most I weighed in pregnancy was 168.  That was disturbing to be at my max pre-pregnancy weight at 9 months pregnant.  Post pregnancy I was inspired by Johnny--to be healthier for him.  Also my sister lost some weight (she has always been the hot one...and I always wanted to be the hot one).  She was getting hotter, so I decided I was going to at least TRY to be the hot sister (but I'll never be 5'10").  And my friend Erin has dropped a TON of weight post baby A and looks AWESOME.  I have been working my butt off (literally) and breast feeding helps a lot.  So I celebrated with new jeans and some new tops today.  
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Johnny's room

Johnny's room looks beautiful.  From a little "old man office" to young baby nursery.  Cosmetically, it was the worst room in the house with cracked plaster and funny wall color and boarder.  It was a yellowish off white color, so it looked old and dirty.  Especially with the cracks.
We still need to add his artwork to the walls, but we have until the end of March to move everything, so our pictures are still hanging on the walls at our other home. 

Before - above close up on wallpaper boarder

After - Including Grandpa playing on floor with Johnny

Johnny LOVES his new room and rolls all over the carpet and plays.  In case you were curious about the work involved, they had to strip the wallpaper using  a steamer, sand the glue off, fill the cracks in the plaster, sand those smooth, paint the ceiling, paint the walls, paint the trimming.  Someday we'll replace the carpet, but it is clean and not really worn.

Matt has been a working fool.  He has changed all the locks, made countless trips back and forth between houses, devised a concept for clothing storage, rebuilt our closet, cleaned, electronic setups, and the list goes on.

As far as other house pictures.  It's a disaster.  We have some immediate problems which need to be rectified other than the obvious unpacking boxes, placing furniture in the designated spots, decorating, etc.  One of those is we desperately need bedroom furniture for us.  Right now we have shoe shelves and baskets lining our bedroom with our clothes since we do not have a dresser.  We never needed one other than my awkward wardrobe.

The remainder of the list is...well...daunting.  Our list includes long term and short term goals.  A preview is:
* Place a kitty door into the boiler room
* Refinish Matt's desk
* Find a corner entertainment center
* Find a buffet or some other storage for dining room
* Figure out a trash system that works in the kitchen
* Motion sensor light in back yard on timer
* Put window film in a few windows 
* Have a party

Immediately on the list.  Go to bed.  Goodnight.

Getting ready to move.

We are homeowners, but there are some small projects we want to finish before we move the furniture.

Add Shelves for kitchen pantry -- status done.

I used 4 rails and cut a malamine board up to fit a space that was not square or level, Interesting project but i managed to get it so that all the shelves are sound and solid.

Paint the dining room -- status done, except for cleanup.

Thanks to help from Amy Hogg, and my father in-law Charlie.

We went from a mustardy orange color to Sherman Williams "Fun Yellow"

Paint Johnny's Room -- status started.

Johnny's Room had a wall paper boarder around the ceiling that we did not like. We were able to use Charlie's upholstery steamer and some back/shoulder breaking labor.

There were some cracks in the ceiling that I spackled today.

To be done, we have to sand the spackled areas and where there is still residue from the wallpaper boarder.

Then, we are going to paint the ceiling, walls, and trim.

Redo Master Closet -- status started.

To maximize a downsized closet, we are going from a single rod to a double closet rod so that we will have plenty of space.

I tore out some shelves and got the hardware i need to put in the shelves/closet rods.

Prep work still needed to be done, i want to sand and paint where the old shelves were. But this is lower on the priority list. We need to have a closet ready. So we shall see if i get to this.

Well those are the big things for now, so i'll leave you with this video of Johnny learning how to use a carriage bell.

New House, sick house

Well, we closed on our house this afternoon.  We will be moving over the next month and a half. 

I have that horrible stomach bug (I think Johnny does too, but it's hard to tell) that has been going around, but I PROMISE pictures as soon as I am feeling up to standing up without being sick.  I have to give Matt lots of credit for taking care of Johnny for me, I have a true partner in life.  The quick version is - he is my knight in shining armor.  He has been rocking, changing, feeding, amusing, soothing, getting up at 3 am awakenings, shopping, cleaning, unpacking from Alabama and repacking for the move. 

So I have 3 things I can promise.  Pictures of the house, and Alabama trip details.  Last, I will try and feel better soon.

Johnny rolls

I don't know if he will ever slow down and take it easy! He's always moving and grooving.

His other recent accomplishment is...drumroll.....sleeping at least 6 hours straight at night!!! He goes to bed at 7, so he wakes up around 3, but it is an accomplishment none the less. Now if Matt and I went to bed before 11, we'd get more than 4 hours. However, my body thinks 4 hours is the MAX.

Solid food! He's doing wonderfully with a spoon. He opens wide and gets excited! He conquered peas and is on to sweet potatoes.

Brought to you by the letter S.

Snow Day!  There's at least 8 inches out there.

Snow blower!  Awesome.

Shift switch!  I switched shifts because of the snow.  So I don't have to be to work until 1230.

Sesame Street!  We are currently watching a classic Sesame Street episode.  They are covering the letter Q, the number 10, and a duck with the case of the moo's.  It's mesmerizing and adorable to watch him watching.   So I will share.

He sat this way for several minutes. 

Solids.  We introduced Johnny to PEAS!  He's not thrilled but we are going to keep trying.  I mixed it with some milk and that made it slightly more appealing.  We have been putting rice cereal in his bottle, but giving a little bit each day with a spoon.  He halfheartedly eats with the spoon, but he's getting the hang of it.  Yesterday he was pretty enthusiastic...for 3 bites.  He has eaten 1 ounce with 1 tablespoon of cereal entirely with a spoon with a bottle of milk before and after.  If I'm home it's harder since he wants his milk from me.  We are going to try the peas again today.  Its so cute so see him covered from head to toe with food after 3 bites. 

Sleep.  We get some in spurts and turns.  I'm used to the lack of sleep and hoping the day will come soon where I can get more than 3 uninterrupted hours.  Yesterday he went to bed at 7, up at 9, up at 11, up at midnight, and then slept until 4, and up for good at 7.   Now that's a high number of wake-ups for him, but we are hoping it stays unusual for him to be up THAT much. 

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssooooooo We're starting to move in 19 days.  Our closing is at 10 AM and we are going to move over enough stuff to spend the night in our new house as well as some other items if we have time/energy.  We probably won't spend more than that one night, at first.  We need to paint Johnny's room and move over everything.  We have volunteers and we are going to just do a day or two here or there of moving big items.  Hopefully we will be in by early March.  I have NOOOO idea what we are going to do with the cats.  Probably leave them here until our bed is over at the new house.  Are we in a panic?  Not yet.  We have a wall of boxes in the basement, but we aren't even halfway there.