Thursday, March 28, 2013

Asherism

As I went through clothes in Hollyn's room, with Asher sitting beside me eating an apple.  All of a sudden:
     Asher: Wow Mom!  You're a pretty princess girl!
     Me:  Who, me?
     Asher: Yes
     Me: Why me?
     Asher: Because you're berry looking good

Awwww, shucks.  Thanks son.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Kids Say the Darndest...

Brennanism: During his FHE prayer, he says to Heavenly Father, "And just to warn you, when I join you in Heaven, I'm gonna have a lot of questions..."  I totally wanna get in on that Q&A. :-)

Friday, March 15, 2013

Busy Busy




Oh goodness have I been up to things the last few weeks.  I love this middle part of pregnancy when I'm done being sick, but the physical lamentations haven't kicked up to full force yet.
A while ago Shannon donated a hutch to me.  I WISH I had taken a "before" shot, but alas I did not.  So you'll have to imagine it.  Originally, the hutch had a decorative top similar to this one below.  I don't know what it's called, but off it came.  My hutch also had a wave/decorative bump on each side wall.  So, I borrowed a saw and buzzed those bumps right off to straighten the sides.  I did the same at the ceiling part too which had more curve to it.  That's right, ya'll.  I used me a power-tool all by myself!
When I bought primer, I accidentally bought a blue-colored one.  It looked really pretty and I was tempted to just use that as the paint, but that would have involved a new couch among other decorative changes in the living room. :-)  I bought a cream-colored paint for the main coat, but 2 problems arose: I didn't have enough for 2 full coats, AND, I definitely needed more than one coat of the white because the blue really, really showed through.  It looked like a disaster!  So, I bought a beige-ish spraypaint for the shelves and background, and used the remainder of the regular paint on the rest.  There is still a hint of blue if you look close, and it did make the overall color more of a white than a cream.  But, it's good enough for the likes of me.  And lesson learned.  SO many trips to the store for more paint (5 spray-paint cans and one can total) later, I won't accidentally buy a dark primer ever again!
New handles meant new holes, and filling in the previous ones
 Mostly though, I'm just proud because I did the whole thing myself.  One of my goals is to learn to do more things for myself instead of relying on Brian for so much.  This was a great project for that.

(I can't get great shots of the finished product right now because there's a large piece of furniture in the way.  And I didn't feel like waiting.)

With the hutch finished (and tax returns in), I was ready to move on to other to-do's in the living room.   I had had high hopes for our previous entertainment center because it can hold so much.  Not only did I never get around to painting and updating it, but I couldn't for the life of me keep it tidied.  It just wasn't happening.

Having a hutch brought to me opened up some options.  Although I still have to make sure I keep the shelves of that from getting cluttered and horrible-looking, I could now move on to something else for the TV.  I've spent a loooong time looking at buffets/dressers/sideboards.  I needed drawers - enough for our cloth diaper stash (about to be doubled!), plus movies and other odds and ends.  Before I also wanted cupboards for books and stuff, but now the hutch covers that.  Anyway, I'd been searching and searching.  I wanted something with a style/look that I already liked, otherwise I would just keep lusting and looking.  I couldn't find any dressers on craigslist that made the cut.

Beckett Entertainment DresserParkston Entertainment DresserI'd seen these at Costco and REALLY like them, and after more searching online I discovered the furniture: Media Chests.  Yes!  That's what I want!!!  But, and I mean BUT, they're about $800-/$1000.  Yikes.  Not doable.  I was so disappointed. So I went back to searching dressers, specifically for ones that I could easily convert into a media chest by adding a shelf on top or something.  Hard to find though.


Then on Tuesday, I found this little beauty on Craigslist.  I was (am!) SO excited.  Brian drove down to Eugene that very evening after work and we are so pleased with it.  It's real, grown-up furniture.  Not just in looks, but it's even made of wood.  :-)  That's a big deal for this "Goodwill-decorated home" we've lived in the last 9 years.  And it was a fraction of the price of these media chests.  My plan was to put the playstation inside the cupboard, which I might still do.  We'll see how much it bothers me to have it sitting up top.  As a dresser, there's also a large matching mirror included.  So the next time I redecorate (yes I know myself well enough to know I'll eventually want another change.  Not soon though. :-), we can use this as a dresser very nicely.

Next up for the living room, reupholstering the armchair and ottoman, and putting up some curtains.  Better wait 'til next month for those purchases though.  Spread this out a little, right?  I am working on selling some other furniture though so it'll come out about even in the end.

And finally, I've been busy the last couple of days because I'm crazy...


A couple weeks ago while at Walmart I decided to go ahead and buy a toddler toilet seat.  We have a training potty-chair, but I thought it might be nice to try one the kinds that sits on the toilet this time.  Or at least, with one kind downstairs and the other upstairs it would make things a lot easier.  I didn't have any intentions of starting potty-training any time soon, just thought I'd buy the seat knowing it will come eventually.

Well I showed the seat to Hollyn and she was super excited about it.  She wanted to try it out, and then I couldn't get her to stay away.  Not to be confused with staying ON the seat, she just got upset when I wouldn't let her continue hopping on and off repeatedly.

From there though, I got out the training chair, and have on occasion had her sit on it or the toilet.  I've been completely surprised by the success so far.  She would actually go on one or the other, although of course, she'd go on the floor too.  This was just from short spurts diaperless, though.

Then last night I thought about it, and realized that absolutely nothing would be accomplished without the consistency that teaches her to not just go whenever the whim strikes her.  SOOO, after conferring with Brian, we decided, "why not?"  As of today I started potty training officially.  I realize there's a good chance we'll backtrack, at the very least when baby brother comes along.  And I'm o.k. with that.  My hope is that this initial training will make round 2 easier.  Basically, we're just doing it now because I'm a bored housewife with nothing better to do. (Ha!).  But really, it seemed like as good a time as any to start this, so there you have it.

Today she had probably at least as many successes as accidents, so that's good.  It seems like the boys took for-EVER to reach even that point.  And they were each more than a year older than Hollyn is.  In the mean-time though, I'm keeping the carpet cleaner handy and my eyes peeled for suspicious wet spots. :-)




Monday, March 11, 2013

Knowledge is... Tasty!

Asher: "Mom, when I get married with my wife, I'm gonna be a little nervous 'cause I don't want to kiss!"

Knowledge is... Tasty

Remember last time I had to take the glucose test?  I blogged about it.  To sum up, when I was unable to hold down the "cola", my Dr. had me just eat a "nice, full meal" before my next visit.  Whaaaaat?!?! Ummm, yes please!

Well, this time around, since that Dr. no longer practices Obstetrics, I've had to relocate to the Clinic.  When it was time to schedule this 28 week visit, I asked about alternatives to the drink.  Turns out they allow a Jellybean method.  In this case you eat exactly 15 Brach's Jellybeans instead of the nasty, nauseating drink.  Boo-yeah!  When I checked in at the lab today, the employees were clearly less familiar with this technique.  The receptionist explained they do these like once a YEAR.  It's reserved for people with trouble taking the drink.  Uhhh, isn't that, like, everyone?  Don't we all HATE it?  So the moral of the story is, always ASK about your options.  They aren't always presented to you otherwise.