Let's get outta this town!

After months of shopping and worrying about the holidays, presents, and meals... mama bear and I needed a break.  So our first day on vacation.. we set out for Pittsburgh, PA.  Ikea here we come!

Our first stop was of course at the Steel Trolley Diner to enjoy a good ol' cheeseburger and chocolate malt.  The best malt EVER, in fact!  After lunch... it was just another hour until we hit Pittsburgh.  Surprisingly, it wasn't too busy.  We shopped and shopped and oh'ed and ah'ed over all the new rooms and ideas that ran through our brains.  If you've never been to Ikea... you must go!  It is an "inspiration station"!

So we packed our bags after stopping at a few other stores and headed home.  Now coming home from Ikea is usually an eventful homecoming.  It typically entails hours of putting together new furniture and rearranging or reorganizing to fit in your new finds.  Today was no different, although my time involved putting furniture together was very quick. You put enough Ikea furniture together and you can get pretty fast.

So my organizational dilemma today was Ethan's books.  We don't have a bookcase and the small shelf in his closet currently storing his books is at it's capacity.



So this day at Ikea... we were on mission "bookcase".  The new bookcase would be going in our basement so it needed to be 'child friendly', match the rest of the furniture, and have a space for toy bins.

Mission accomplished. 

I found a small bookshelf and put it together in 20 minutes!!

 Ready, Set, Build!

All the pieces.

 All done.

Complete with books and bins.

It fits in perfectly with our other playroom storage. 

A couple other new purchases: road rug and new green stool.



"Uh oh Mommy, POTTY!"

After a day full of shopping  yesterday we came home with lots of new things and one new word "potty".  I didn't think much of it because it seems as though E learns a new word everyday.  But this morning... that word had a whole new meaning.  As E and I were working down in the basement, he suddenly came running up to me on the ladder and yelled "Uh oh mommy, potty!".  After smelling the toot that followed him into the room... I knew he wasn't kidding.  So up to the potty we ran.  He threw his pottyseat on the toilet and I stripped his clothes.  Not 2 seconds on.... poo poo was in the potty and EJ was smiling proud. 

My mom started putting E on the potty at about 13 or 14 months just because it was much easier to clean up.  So, this isn't the first time he has gone on the potty but usually it's mommy that realizes it's time to go or occasionally E will go to the potty and put the seat on to let me know he has to go.  It used to be a guessing game but I'm hoping that now the "potty" word will help him communicate to me when "it's time".

Here's a shot of the proud little man!



Old isn't the same as new... but it will definitely do!

“Make new friends but keep the old ones; one is silver and the other's gold”.

I've posted before about the awesome group of people we call "friends".  But this week I realized that even though they may not be old friends, we meet new friends who add some great sprinkles to our already beautifully iced cake of life.

After shopping for what seemed like months, Stephanie and I are in the final stretch of our Christmas shopping.  We have spent every lunch break for the past 2 months shopping for everyone on our very long, long Christmas lists.  We decided to start early to stretch out the financial strain, anxiety, and stress that can accompany the overwhelming task of checking everyone off of your list. 

For those of you who don't know who Stephanie is... she is my work life saver!!  We work together at Schumacher Homes and hit it off almost immediately after she started.  When we started, we both worked in lsmall cubicles across from each other.  Stephanie is a brain box of numbers and figures... a financial guru!  We have been friends for about 3 years and have enjoyed the joy's of dating, marriage, child birth, and promotions in our short time together.  And... we both sleep with Andrew's!!  Doesn't that automatically bond you for life?  So, needless to say, Stephanie is definitely my work bff.  We both struggle when the other is off for the day!

So our shopping is complete and we decided to exchange our small gifts yesterday.  With no expectations, I was tickled to death when I opened my gift.  I realized that, although I haven't known this friend as long as others, she knows me just the same.  I opened something I have been wanting forever.  One of those things you forget about until you are at the store... and then you just don't want to spend the money on it.  LOL!  I am forever grateful for people who listen.  And I probably only mentioned once that I really wanted one of these but my buddy was definitely listening.  So what was this amazing gift???

A bath pillow.

That's right... a bath pillow.  I enjoy nothing more at the end of the day then a hot, hot bath and a good book.  It's how I unwind and relax.  I don't ask for expensive jewelry or manicures or shoes to make me happy.  Just 15 minutes of peace with a good book.  I have had days where I take 3 bathes in one day just because my book is so good.  My husband can attest to this!  Although he laughs at my obsession... he gladly accepts it knowing how happy it makes me.

So, last night was my first night with the pillow. Oh my goodness!!  Once you have had one you can never go back.  I feel like I have fallen in love with my 'bath/book time' all over again!  It was fabulous!  I am so thankful for this small but thoughtfull gift Miss Stephanie.  You are a great friend and I am so thankful for our friendship!

Wallpaper ain't just for your Grandma's house anymore...

I have a sick addiction to Home Renovation blogs.  I have found a plethora of great tips and advice from painting cabinets to playroom organization.  I absolutely love these kind of blogs!  So, I thought I would start a portion of my blog dedicated to home renovations.  My most recent adventure was actually a birthday gift!  All I wanted for my birthday this year was a gallon of paint.  (We all know that it doesn't stop there.. but it at least got the hubby's attention.)

Our bedroom has always been red.  When we lived at our apartment we had one red wall and since we didn't want to change all our bedding/furniture when we moved, we just kept the red.  It was the best room ever for sleeping.  Black curtains and dark red walls made you feel like you were in a cave.  But needless to say, all things have a season, and I was ready to move on.  5 years of red walls had me itching for a change!  When we moved into our house every wall had wallpaper.  By the time we got all the wallpaper down we just slapped up paint colors on the wall and got the job done as fast as we could.  So most rooms in this house are not my style.  I'm an old country cottage feel with a modern twist. 

I originally was looking at bathroom renovations when I found my inspiration for this project.  I came across this picture and fell in love immediately!

I loved the 2/3 wall covered in bead board.  So, I started researching the cost of bead board.  Not a cheap thing!  And not always easy for DIY home renovators.  I wasn't going to talk the hubby into too much of a cost.  So I ran across a blog that talked about "paintable wallpaper".  A lot of people are against wallpaper, but I have seen my mom do some pretty cool things with it.  So I wasn't afraid.  I read all about it and found out that it was really easy to find and put up.  I found some online at Home Depot for $20 a roll.  Not too bad until I saw the weekly Menard's ad with a sale for paintable wallpaper, $10 a roll.  Went out and picked up 3 rolls that day!  That jump started my hubby's motivation.  I still had to go buy paint.  I knew I wanted a new fresh feel but wasn't sure of the color yet.  I kept telling everyone.. I will know the color when I see it.  Walked into Home Depot by myself one day.  Saw the color immediately and bought a gallon of Behr's new Paint + Primer. (AWESOME PRODUCT!)

So the hubby painted the walls.  I hung the wallpaper (with a little coaching from mama bear).  Painted the wallpaper. (It comes white already but it was a little too bright white for my liking.)  Painted all the window trim white.  (Originally had the intent of painting all trim white but I didn't feel like ruining my carpet. I'm not that great of a painter.)  Bought very wide chair rail (one of my splurges on this project).  And the hubby even spoiled and bought me new bedding.

So here is the before:

And the after: (Sorry I am having to use my old camera so forgive the quality of these pics!)

New bedding is not shown in this pic.  Unless you can see my polka dot sheets?  LOL!

Yep.  It really is wallpaper!

Another renovation was the mirror on this dresser.  It is an antique my mother gave me.  It was painted gold.  There's nothing a can of spray paint can't fix.

I have a weakness for Black and White.  I'm thinking it is going to be appearing in a few more rooms very soon. 

On to the next project!

No Santa here. Why?

*disclaimer - this post is a simple explanation of how we celebrate the holiday season in our home since we are often asked "why" we don't celebrate the typical Christmas traditions.

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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Praise be to God.

Life is always pushing and challenging me to stay on my righteous feet.  To stand up for what I believe, even when it would be easier to fall to the other side.  Being a parent has multiplied these battles!  Close friends know that I have never been trick-or-treating, never sat on Santa's lap, and never been on an Easter egg hunt.  Being a parent now I realize how difficult staying on God's path must have been for my parents.  I respect the sacrifices they may have made to ensure we grew as children in the Lord.  So in rearing my own children, I find myself the scrutiny of modern day traditions.  I find this holiday one of the toughest to describe why we do-what-we-do.

'Tis the holiday season and we have already been asked a dozen times if Ethan has had his picture with Santa Claus.  The answer will always be 'no'.  We respect the man that St. Nicholas was and all the good he did during his life, but to us, he was just a good man.  Santa Claus is not St. Nicholas.  The Christian holiday of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ.  And that, we do!  We will not tell our son the story of Santa Claus.  The credit for great gift buying goes to the giver who's hard earned dollar and thought went into providing a small pleasure for my son.  He will thank the giver and be grateful. Gifts will not appear on Christmas morning from a red-suited stranger.  

I apologize in advance if you ask my child about Santa and he says - he's not real.  Hopefully he doesn't spoil Santa for all his friends.  I don't think I did, but I'm pretty sure my sister told anyone and everyone that "Santa isn't real and Jesus is the reason for the season."  LOL!  The Santa Claus myth was obviously never part of our childhood. 

So you don't have to give us funny looks or think that we are absolutely crazy because we have no Santa pictures, decorations, etc.  This is what we believe and we have to stand firm for our child.

So Merry Christmas to all.  May your holiday season be blessed with joy and happiness!

I don't want a lot for Christmas...

There's just one thing I need. I don't care about the presents. Underneath the Christmas tree...

Make my wish come true... baby all I want for Christmas is you!

For the first time in 23 years I will open presents Christmas morning without my smiling sidekick.  No one will be waking up and calling us at 7:30am to come over and open gifts.  No one will be wanting all the gifts she bought opened first.  No one will be disappearing upstairs in her pj's for hours just to play with her new toys.  This is the first year I will celebrate Christmas without my sister.  As proud as I am of her new accomplishments... I still tear up at the thought of her "family-less" holiday.  Thankfully we have our little bubble of joy to fill the void of Aunt Livvy.

So on a happy note about Christmas... we have come a long way since last year.

Christmas 2009

7 months

Christmas 2010

18 months