Take you back to 2009. Our master bath had 1 ugly dated sink, 1 toilet in front of the window staring at the shower, pale blue tiles that went up halfway the wall, No mirror, ripped out light fixture, weird wood racks, 1 Gross GROSS GROSS blue tiled shower! Just awful!
We knew everything just had to go. Then we found out the support beams had to go too, so literally everything had to go. Thankfully we had another bathroom we could use.
Let me state again. THANK YOU WES and STEVE for being so handy and awesome! Love yall!! I beyond love my bathroom!
How did we accomplish this jewel...lots of hard work! SO WORTH IT! Here is how we did it:
Shower or Bathtub? I would have loved to have both, but that would have meant losing a closet. The closet won. :-) Def not sharing a closet with Wes (However he did lose half of his so we could make room for the toilet to have some privacy). So since I compromised I wouldn't on the jet spa tub, which I love and adore. It's my little getaway that calms my nerves. WELL worth the $$.
Tile- I knew I wanted something clean. and it had to go with our room color (Blue) since they were connected. So white won, which was a money saver! I majorly love subway tile, so that was our layout. As an avid HGTV watcher a way to throw in "fancy" tiles is through accents. If I had my way and lots of $$ my entire bathroom would have been glass tiles...but I had to settle on a strip. It's so gorgeous!! The floor tile and our vanity counter are Marble. We scored on these in Home Depots discount section. Before you order always check out that section. If it doesn't have enough for your project just ask if there is more in the back...because in our case there was and HELLO SAVINGS!
Lights- All the lights around the sink are from Restoration Hardware. Baller! Well, not really thanks to outlets! :-) The one above is a Sutton and the side sconces are Keller. Total $397 retail...OMG! Thankfully I got 57% off...Yes I only paid $170! SCORE! They give it such a fancy hotel feeling.
Sinks and Faucets- After LOTS and LOTS of research/price stalking. I finally found a dealer that was amazing! The sink typically run about $120 and the faucet about $145. I only paid half! I wanted a vessel sink, but nothing too hip so I went with classic white ceramic. I never knew before our house remodel faucets were SOOOOO dang expensive!
Vanity- This was our hardest thing to find. We needed it to at least be 60 inches and of course when we were moving pipes around in the wall we didn't think that out too well. Which made the vanity shopping EVEN more difficult. We needed something with the doors on the outside and drawers in the middle in a dark wood.....well if anyone has looked for those HELLO EXPENSIVE LADIES! This purchase was coming toward the end of our budget so I REALLY couldn't put it to myself to spend over $500 for it. Which is unheard of!
So HGTV saved the day again. Kitchen cabinets! So that is exactly what we did. Two 36 inch in-stock sink cabinets that we screwed together. We could have bought material to cover the kickboard but I wanted it to be 1 seamless piece so we bought baseboard that I stained to match. My father-in-law made the countertop with trim (that I stained) so we could have a place to lay the tile. I cut and stained the trim work around the backsplash. GO ME! What do you end up with? 1 AWESOME KITCHEN HEIGHT (love not having to bend over far to wash my face) CUSTOM CABINET!!
Mirror- All custom. Sensing a pattern?! Since our vanity is so large that mirror would have been EXPENSIVE. Sense another pattern?! Bathroom reno is expensive! I tried to find one to fit that we could have purchased but that failed miserably since I didn't want to pay an arm and leg for one. So luckly my in-laws had an old mirror that they took down from their house (They had a room with a mirror wall) we got it cut down to size for FREE! Even better! Then my FIL made the frame, which I stained. My staining wasn't up to my par on this one but apparently only I notice the flaws...but I was tired and OVER staining.
Clothes Hamper-This took forever to find too. I wanted something that rolled so I could just roll it up to the garage to load rather than making 3 trips for every load so I wouldn't drop anything. Pain. The back pocket is for my clothes only (Wes isn't allowed to wash my clothes. Men don't understand the concept of not everything goes in the dryer.). The middle pocket is for towels and the front is for everything else. Perfect system. No more clothes on the floor.
So what's left?! Only 2 things!!! YAH!!!! I think I'm about to cross out some things from my "House" post.
1. Hang a cabinet over the toilet. (Which I'm purchasing tomorrow 20% off!)
2. Find floating shelves (Since I obviously have more stuff than Wes I want to keep our counters clear, so I need somewhere to store my makeup and brushes.)
There you have it ladies and gentlemen one awesome bathroom. So blessed!
Sooo new year new blog layout....one problem. I have uploaded 1GB of pictures. yeah 1GB of photos...therefore....I either have to delete photos or pay for more space or create a new blog. What is a girl to do?!?! So aggravating.
As everyone knows when we purchased our home it was a foreclosure. And man. It was rough! But the size of the home and layout was PERFECT! Not to mention there were hardwoods under all the carpet. And like every homeowner there are things that aren’t perfect and things that still bug me to this day but can you really have a “perfect” home for $60K? I love my home don’t get me wrong and I’m VERY blessed to have it!
I have like 5000 pictures of the process so I thought I would share a few to give a full picture of how we've turned this once scary house into the beauty that it is today. You will be shocked. Still is unreal to me to this day.
My wonderful husband and father-in-law spent from Sept 09-Feb 10 gutting and finishing up the main necessities (including a complete overhaul of the Master Bath and Kitchen, down to the studs.) We still to this day have little projects we need to complete like sanding down the old light fixture holes in the kitchen, paint the kitchen ceiling, install carpet in the remaining closets, hang cabinet over Master Bath toilet, etc. Does everyone have that “honey to do list” that never gets complete?! Hard to get some of the things done with a little one around and when our time off are on different schedules. For our new year’s resolution we are going to complete that little list, because we want to start trying for our #2 sometime late next fall and I don’t want anything minor left on that list. With two kids running around this house it will be impossible to finish that “honey to do list”.
So this is all that needs to get done along with lots would-be-nice/ wishes:
Sand and polish off old fixture holes in kitchen (Spring)- Repaint kitchen ceiling (Summer)
Repaint Master Bathroom (Soon)Paint Master Bathroom trim/crown molding (Soon)Hang cabinet in Master Bathroom (Spring)Finish office closet wall (Spring)- Carpet remaining closets (Summer)
- Organize garage (Maybe purchase lower/upper cabinets? For our thousand of tools) (Summer/Fall)
- Polish and Paint garage walls (Summer)
Re-roof house ***Meeting next week to decide colors***Install new gutters ***Meeting next week to decide colors***- Convert sliding glass to window and tear up steps leading to it (Next year)
Install new front door (Fall/Winter) **Painted existing front door and removed security door**- Replace garage overhead lights (DOWN THE ROAD)
- Install 2nd set of attic stairs in garage (DOWN THE ROAD)
- Replace Hall Bathroom floor and vanity(Next year)
- Paint house (Next year)
- Replace light fixture by front door (Fall/Winter)
- Remove light fixture by sliding glass door (Next year)
- Landscape! Landscape! (Hopefully we won’t miss planting season this year)
- Tear up sidewalk to front door and Install new (Next year)
- Install patio (Summer/Fall)
- Tear down deck (Spring/Summer)
Whew! That’s a long list. So I will update when things are complete. Hopefully #10 and 11 will be happening over the next 3 weeks. I think once all of that is done this house will be PERFECT! I love our property and where we live, so it will hard to move this I know especially since we have so many memories, blood, sweat, and tears in it
So now that we are working on the outside comes the hard part. COLORS! I love the colors of my diagonal neighbors on each side. Here is kind of the routes I want to go…all due to change of course….but just ideas.When I was trying to figure out what roof color to go with I started to dabble in paint which lead me into my phases...I have to say I'm kinda in love with Phase 2. Hopefully we will be there soon. (Excuse the bad copy and paste work! :-) Also you might need to click on the picture to read the words.)
Today's post was going to be about the house, but it was raining this AM so I couldn't take a picture...so maybe tomorrow. So I'm dedicating this post to Aiden's party prep.
As everyone knows me and my friend Erica have been planning this since the summer. Gathering ideas from Pinterest and other blogs. From decor, food, etc. So if anyone was wondering how much of an organizing freak I am you can see it here...(Although you wouldn't say that if you saw my living room floor at nights. Terror Aiden comes through disturbs everything, but 90% of the time before bed it's put up.) Oh how I love Excel...
After all is said and done for this party we are spending less than $140. Pretty good! Helped knowing the theme in advance and having craft supplies on hand (Moral don't throw things away.- Reuse, Recycle, Refurbish!) Just make sure you have a spot to store though aka our Office closet. :-)
2.5 weeks away!
Since we always seem to have to do everything at once our Valentines celebration is going to be low key. Not like we have done anything extravagant in the past, but this year I want to do something VERY simple.
I found this great idea (link on word), which I had to alter it a little bit since we won't be celebrating on exactly Valentines but the day before. I also will eliminate the confetti...def don't want to clean that up.
Here is what the card says:
"You. Me. Couch. Kisses. Take-out.
Blanket. Snuggles. Champagne.
Movie. Sugar. Popcorn.
Love…"
So now I have to figure out a movie to watch...thankfully I already have little popcorn containers...so pretty much I just have to get the food (Which I'm going to get sushi from our fav place). Can't wait!
And for our little man I'm getting him a cupcake from Muddy's (link on word. Best bakery in town!) to have after dinner (our tradition I started last year).
So as the birthday party approaches. The projects are in full force. Tonights project the kid tables centerpiece. What did this little thing cost me?! $1....YES! Everything else I had on hand. Just had to purchase purple straw from the Dollar Store.
How did I make it?! The caterpillar is made of scrapbooking paper with toothpicks taped behind to make it stiff. I glued a wooden dowel to the back and stuck in a piece of stryofoam from a packaged that was mailed to last month (Recycle and reuse!). I placed it in a candle holder from my sister's wedding and stuffed the purple straw all around it. FINISHED!
My Pinterest inspiration:
Yesterday me and Aiden headed up to Barnes & Noble to get Bella a small chapter book. I'm giving Eric Carle books for party favors, but since she's in 3rd grade that's not appropriate. Therefore, I went with "Junie B. Jones", seems like a really cute series.
But while I was looking for a good book Aiden was off playing. There were a couple other kids so he was having a BLAST! Then I discovered what we are giving him for Christmas next year. I know 11 months ahead, haha, but it was SO perfect that it got me excited. This past Christmas we got a few pieces of the Thomas the Train Early Engineers wooden trainset. So I want to build a table that can collapse, decorate it, and glue the pieces down.
The reason why I want to build it is because it's WAAAY cheaper!! We can do it for $30 compared to $140 for a flimsy particle board table. But that's just for the table frame, you then have to purchase a playtable top for $60. So that's $200 compared to only $30-40 top with REAL WOOD! I would never in a million years pay $200 for a table especially when you still then have to buy all the pieces... I found lots of plans online on how to do it, plus I want one where the legs will go down like a card table for storage.
Here are some examples of train tables:
I want to paint creeks, trees, roads on the top so the next important part is the design. Luckily, I didn't have to come up with this either! There are multiple sites that have 1000s of designs that tell you exactly what pieces you need. SWEEEEET! The one I want to go with is the Roundhouse Set, because it's got the piece where the trains can "sleep"/ be stored. However, ours will look a little different because I want to incorporate the pieces we got this Christmas imaged last.
So what does all this mean?! I will need to get Wes started on it sometime this summer/fall. And I will have to use my research/bargin hunting skills to the max rack up the pieces for cheap, because if anyone knows this stuff is NOT cheap since it's wood. Why is organic, natural always more expensive. UGH! But other than that I'm sooo excited!
As we are approaching 2 I wanted to take a moment to talk about some milestones. Yes 2! OMG WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE! Feels like just yesterday I was in the hospital.
Talking: We still aren't where I want him to be, but I can at least see him trying. He is VERY vocal, just doesn't make sense (or to me at least lol). Like in our paci days he didn't call it paci but "Das", which confused the heck outta me because it sounds nothing like PACI. I've been talking to his doctor about it, and she said sometimes boys just take longer so I should fret too much. But on the bright side he does sometimes pop out 2 words at once.
WORDS he definitely can say CLEAR as day: Apple (his by far fav. lol), Bath, Murph (#2 fav word), Dada, Mummy, No (well...this might be his #1 too lol), mine (definitely picked that up at daycare), Bear, Banana, Pop, Cupcake, Airplane, etc.
Development: He goes 24/7 now and is like the Energizer bunny from sunrise to sunset. He doesn't get the concept of Mommy needing coffee before we start playing. :-)
He has an EXCELLENT memory. This kid would dominate you in the Memory game. On all his puzzles he can place everyone in the right spot and occasionally attempts the word too (Mommy didn't show him he just matches up the pictures by himself). However on his alphabet puzzle Xylophone is a little bit of a stretch people. Really!?
He knows when things are trash and "All done" because without me saying anything he will go immediately and put them in the trash or dirty diapers in his diaper genie. His laundry hamper is in our room, because he used to love to pull out his dirty clothes but now after I change him he will take the old clothes and put them only in his hamper (It's next to mine and I don't like our stuff mixed).
He has memorized where his food is in the frig and pantry, which helps because some of the things he can't say yet so I tell him "Go get what you want so I know" then I tell him what it is.
Toddler Stage: As he is getting more independent the testing is in full force. I say come here. He says No, but in a playful laughing way. I say come here again. He says No. Which then leads into me asking one more time and if he doesn't there is a butt spank, which leads to HUGE tears and fake crying for a minute. But he is getting better, but my main weapon is the threat of leaving and Murph coming with me. HAHA Mommy wins! Whenever I get onto him for disobeying and after his meltdown I always go give him a big hug and explain why mommy had to pop him. And he gives that face. The face of but Mommy how could you I'm so cute! Feel sorry for the future girls in his life. :-)
Now since he has more control of his motor skills I have started to give him 3/4 full cups of juice or water when we are eating meals. And about 98 percent of the time he drinks with without spilling a drop. It seems like that remaining 2 is when we don't really have time to change clothes. Naturally of course. But he drinks so funny, with every sip when he puts it down he says "Ahhhhh" and grins. Must be an awesome drink!
We've been in the twin bed for awhile now, which is still going GREAT! We've got our pattern down and no more fear of him rolling off. So people ask does he get out of bed in the middle of the night. Nope, never. The first few weeks when he woke up he wouldn't get out of the bed. Only a handful of times he did and opened the door (Which scared me so we started shutting every door before bedtime, because what if we didn't hear him and he got into something bad). So we taught him its okay to get out, but you must play in your room. We come get you. And wouldn't you know he actually does that. Sometimes he will play and sometimes he will stand by the door crying waiting on us. Either way works for me. :-)
That's all I can think of to update about, but I'm sure I'm missing something. On other news, we have finally saved up enough and we are back on the hunt of having our roof/gutters redone. So a bunch of people are going to come out and quote us. Yeah! So excited...because I think we are going to have a BAD tornado spring. Just a feeling...so a new roof is VERY important after our bad hail storm not too long ago.
I feel like the past 2 weeks have been very draining, well let me rephrase 2+ years. Lots of unnecessary drama. Yesterday my cup was running over with emotions of anger, doubt, sadness. I had by breaking point...once again. I really try to forgive and forget but some people just make it really hard!
Heard some disturbing news that just really upsets me. Still upsets me. How can one person be so cruel and pure hateful is beyond me. Disliking me from day 1 when all I've ever did was treated them kindly and with respect.
I'm sorry everything doesn't revolve around you 24/7. I'm sorry when I came into the family I took the spotlight off of you (the spotlight I never wanted). I'm sorry you are jealous of the things I have (But I work my ass off to get them and you don't even work). I'm sorry I actually get along with my husband and you don't with yours. I'm sorry that you are insecure with yourself so you have to say hateful things about me. I'm sorry you are immature, selfish, and childish (for a 25 year old! GROW UP). I'm sorry I'm not like everyone else and won't let you walk all over me. I'm sorry I call you out on your BS, but someone has to.
But when you talk about me behind my back I always hear about it (Always! Because believe it or not those people know you for the REAL you and inform me of your fakiness. Asking how can I be polite/nice to you when you say...) So when you say you don't talk about me that doesn't show you in a good light other than you are a liar and fake. When you tell people "You don't think I'm the right girl for Wes" ONLY because you and me don't get along, I don't look like the other girls he dated, and I'm a girly girl AFTER WE'VE BEEN MARRIED FOR 2+ years is beyond crossing the line. What gives you the right to judge my marriage when yours is SOOO messed up (arguments, cops involvement, jail, fights, yelling, etc). When you say things like that the jealously runs out.
All the while texting my husband trying to manipulate him. Saying how much you miss him (when in reality you don't like him. Y'all were never friends he just endured you for his brother), how everything I said about you wasn't true (when in reality he knows it's the truth because some of the things have come directly from his mouth. Plus he has seen every text/email you've ever sent), and their failed closeness is due to me (which in reality there was never a closeness. Maybe in your head).
You're working hardcore trying to be the victim and manipulate how you can. Well honey I see right through it and I laid down the law yesterday. I refuse to let a poison into my life like that. It's one thing to be hateful towards me I can take it, but to meddle in my relationship is another thing. That is just spiteful and evil. Pure evil. I would NEVER say the things to your husband as you did mine, but that just shows I'm the better person than you. I will never trust, respect, or speak to someone like that. So if I'm quiet at family functions and don't acknowledge you it's your fault. You broke that.
Even if you are "family". Just because we have the same last name does not make us family. A family doesn't do that. Even if hell freezes over and they actually admit and apologize it will take all my might to accept it. You don't mess with me and my family. Plain and simple. I didn't really think people like that existed, but they do and I have no problem what so ever cutting them out.
With all that being said. It makes me sad. I'm all about people making mistakes and forgiving. But I just don't think I can do it with this one. And then it angers me because that's a HORRIBLE way of thinking. Is this a test? Is God testing me? Which lead into my scripture reading for the evening. I know I don't understand or see the reason for me going through all this right now, but I'm hoping SOON I can see. Everything has a purpose right?!
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Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you
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"We are not bound to trust an enemy; but we are bound to forgive him."
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Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
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It is not uncommon for Christians to have questions about forgiveness. Forgiveness does not come easy for most of us. Our natural instinct is to recoil in self-protection when we've been injured. We don't naturally overflow with mercy, grace and forgiveness when we've been wronged.
Since forgiveness goes against our nature, we must forgive by faith, whether we feel like it or not. We must trust God to do the work in us that needs to be done so that the forgiveness will be complete.
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The word "to forgive" means "to cease to feel resentment." It has nothing to do with whether or not you want to hang out with the other person.
Attend to each moment of your life and make each moment of your life work for you. As you grow stronger as a person, you will find those old hurts gradually fading away. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes time.
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Since forgiveness goes against our nature, we must forgive by faith, whether we feel like it or not. We must trust God to do the work in us that needs to be done so that the forgiveness will be complete.
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So................. for now I will just keep trying and praying and trying and praying...all I can really do now.
I'll end on a good note. Aiden! :-) Just some pictures I took over the weekend. Our future gamer. lol
Our little carrier has made us all sick. I was fine all week, then on Friday it just hit me that evening. I'm worse off than Wes due to the fact Aiden was more in my face last week. Thanks bud! :-(
So on Saturday he spent the night at Gabby and Grande's so Mommy and Daddy could relax and recoup. I was going to cook a nice meal, but being snotty all day and not being able to breathe I just wanted simple. So tacos it was followed by us watching the movie "Moneyball". Much needed night as passed out and "snored" (as Wes said...apparently I do that bad when my nose is all clogged haha SEXY RIGHT?!)
I picked up some awesome nasal spray, Sudafed, and Mucinex. I feel some progress since one nostril is open, so I'm hoping since I have MLK off my other one will open up before I have to return to work. Don't want to go to work like this.
Other news I've always known Aiden was territorial of me (Coming from the kid who gets between me and Wes when we are kissing and boxes him out...future basketball player?! lol). Well when I went to get Aiden today my nieces were over there so I stayed awhile to visit. Then I noticed Aiden is SOOOOOOOOO jealous. Uh oh! It was very obvious. Here's an example. So I'm sitting Indian style on the floor coloring with the oldest, Lily, sitting on one knee. The youngest, Harlee, comes and sits on my other knee. This Aiden did not like so then he squeezes in between both of them. So 3 kids on my lap (my legs were going to sleep haha) Then Carlos comes up behind me and hugs around my neck/shoulders. There I am loaded down with 4 kids. Love it, but in the back of my head I'm thinking no way on EARTH I would ever have this many kids. lol And to the people who do, bless you!
Later today Carlos came over to play and again with the jealousy. Aiden only wanted me to play with him and definitely did not want to share. (Lots of mini meltdowns! He didn't take a long nap so I will say that was the reason for the emotional afternoon.) Thankfully Carlos was okay with it all and by the end the two were playing nicely. But I thought is this how he's going to be whenever #2 comes...because his jealously was BAD. He was mean. Don't really look forward to that...
If anyone has to buy any upcoming baby gifts...Target is the place to go. They are switching inventory so everything is on clearance. Onesies, pants, blankets, sheets, etc.
I was able to score on some GREAT deals! For $15.71 I got a 5ct onesie set, two 3ct onesie set, and a outfit set (onesie, pants, fleece jacket). All which are ADORABLE!!!!! Savings?! 63%!!!!!! SCORE!
5ct reg $9.99 my price? $3.74
3ct reg $7.99 my price? $2.99
outfit reg $15.99 my price? $5.99
We are using the duck outfits for Brit's shower centerpieces. We figured making a onesie bouquet would be better than wasting the money on flowers that will die. So they will be made of the onesies we've bought and the wash clothes from our other previous savings purchase. Inspiration:
I forgot about this picture. Our city has "Santa" come out to visit all the kids...2 attempts and no good pictures. Oh well. There is next year. I thought it was quite funny though. Aiden was good the whole way through the line and even wanted to go see Santa when Carlos was there. But DEF not when he was alone. haha
Cold season has arrived in our house. The little carrier aka Aiden has passed it to me now. Feel like poo and REALLY look forward to my long weekend so I can recover.
Those two sure do love each other. On another note about Aiden. I swear I can't get that kid to eat ANYTHING!! Constant struggle. All he wants is greek yogurt and applesauce. UUUUGGGGHHH I mean it could be worse but getting that boy to eat meat is impossible. Take for example I fix him a turkey sandwich. It pulls apart the whole thing, stacks each item in a separate pile. Maybe takes 2 bites then gives it to Murph as whining for "Aaappl auce" UGH kid you're killing me! Sometimes I get angry with him and say "Well if you don't eat this then you're not getting anything else." Teach him to eat what's in front of him...so there are those nights where he doesn't get a proper meal, but Mommy isn't cooking 5 different meals just to please him. I just keep reminding myself "Eventually Allison. He will get it."
He used to be the kid that would eat anything in front of him. Now he barely eats. :-(
As we approach 2 we are starting to see more fits. With me he doesn't do the fake crying as much as he does with daddy. With me he sprawls out on the floor head down wanting me to notice him, which I don't. haha They aren't long fits thank goodness. Hopefully we don't have the "terrible 2s" though. Since I am the one that gets him ready every morning, which can be a challenge because he just wants to play and run from me, I have learned that the tone of my voice can work like magic. (Wes says I'm mean. but I say "listen if I have a friendly tone he thinks I'm playing so it encourages his bad behavior and in the morning I just don't have time for that. We have to get up and out the door.") After trying different approaches its the only one that works and he knows if I say his full name I mean business and he better get his butt over by me. This kid HATES diaper changes (why he runs)! I have no earthly idea why I mean we've only been doing it for 2 years, so it's nothing new. Getting him dressed is easy because I do everything in a particular order so he "helps" me.
I probably am complaining/venting about my frustrations right now because I'm sick and exhausted.
And on top of ALL that my SIL causes drama. Always stirring up the pot. Feel sorry for my nieces.
So with that being said Mommy def needs some Me-Time soon and I REALLY look forward to my long weekend.
As everyone knows my projects mainly come from Pinterest, so here are a few I've finished.
1. Aiden's guest birthday cake stand. I finished my cake pop stand. Inspiration from Pottery Barn kids. I'm going to make the cake pops look like the very hungry caterpillar.
2. Birthday balloon wreath. I'm going to hang this on our door for each of our birthday months. Let me just say my wreath is 16 inches and took 200 balloons and I lost a fingerprint gluing the banner on the back. Hurt sooo bad! But soo worth it!
3. Snowman kits. Today me and Erica had our monthly crafting day and completed 6 of these. I'm going to give 1 to my in-laws and to Wes' bro family. All the Lambert kids deserve to have fun when it starts snowing here, but I only spent $5 per kit. (We are keeping the one on the far right)
On a different subject. I finally got my 2nd bookcase. Our living room is finally complete and put together! 2 years later ;-) Only because it took me FOREVER to find the bookcases (after I had to return 1 and let down by the heights of so many.) The top 2 shelves are what I call the "adult" shelves I still have to organize them the way I want. I did score on some moss covered containers the other day that I'm going to put pretty white/cream fake hydrangeas in. The bottom 3 shelves are for Aiden (he totally won out of that deal). I recycled the bins that were in his room only because they are soft resin so if they are dragged across the wood it won't hurt it. I got 4 identical ones for the new shelf and threw in the color purple. We wanted to add another color since everything in our house was tan, blue, and green (Nature color freaks here). I made the labels myself and covered them with shipping tape so they won't tear. Now Aiden associates a word to a toy (Working on that organization skill).
Other news we had a little breakdown here Friday. Little man's breathing machine broke. AHHH! The worst time. I don't know what was up with me on Saturday but I COMPLETELY forgot. Mainly because he was doing good all day until about 4pm. Cough Cough Drainage Drainage. NOOOOOO! It was way past the doctors office hours. NOOOOO! So needless to say little man was up ALL night coughing and snotting and even threw up. NOOOOO! Thankfully my doctor is open on Sunday so we skipped church and headed over there at 10. Thankfully again we got his machine working. So Aiden hasn't been taking his treatments for 2 days and you can DEFINITELY tell. Poor little guy was draining sooo bad that my trash can is full of tissue.
I have him on a little cocktail of Tylenol, cold and cough, and honey syrup but didn't see much improvement. So at about 3pm I felt so bad for him that I gave him some of our local honey (Local honey helps your allergies. Very important if you live in Memphis because this is the WORST place to live if you have allergy issues.) He loved it and I could immediately see a difference. So I will keep that one in the book.
Our next nightly routine is baby Vicks rub on his chest and back along with the Vicks scent pad and our handy dandy frog humidifier. The newest trick I read about was putting Vicks on your feet topped with socks to help ease your coughing spells during the night. Trust me I had my doubts, but I've literally only heard Aiden cough 3 times tonight for a minute. MAYBE IT DOES WORK!
So lets hope Aiden doesn't wake up with a fever tomorrow morning.
Next month I'm going to start the dreaded potty training.......so I've been reading alot of tips, methods, etc. There are like 5 million different types of pottys. LORDY, do they have to make it that difficult?!?!
Aiden has started to mimic Mommy A LOT, so I thought maybe that would be a starting point. For example, if Mommy washes her hands he runs to the bathroom places his step in front of the sink to wash his hands too. Even if they aren't dirty. When I call Murph I say "Murph" and make a kissy noise and either slap the side of my leg or chair if I'm sitting down. And do you know that kid does the VERY exact thing. And heaven forbid if Murph doesn't come the "MURPH!!!" gets louder. In other words I really have to watch myself what I say and do. Oh he's growing up so fast in like a month he will be 2!!!! My baby will be 2! OMG.
So for potty's after hearing horror stories about how when Wes was little he REFUSED to use a big potty when they were on a road trip made me determine right there I didn't want to get one of those little pottys. Did you know they make mini urinals?! haha They do. But I decided we will get one of those seats that pops onto a normal toliet to get him in the habit....even though he's been working with a little potty at school.
I decided since he is very adamant on doing the same things Mommy does I think he might be more accepting of it. We've been reading potty books and everytime I go he stands there waiting and watching haha (never get a moment alone) I say to over and over "Mommy is going potty. Do you have to potty?" Which is always "No" lol
So I look forward to this journey and see much more laundry in my future...
I know I have lived in Memphis for awhile now, but each time it snows and STAYS it still amazes this Bama girl. Last year I knew we wouldn't be out in it much because Aiden was so little. However, this year he is ALL about it! The cold weather is approaching so I must start preparing myself and the little man.
I have purchased myself some weather boots. No wet feet for this girl. Just need to get myself some liners.
Now the little man. My local consignment store never let me down. I was able to score on a Children's Place snow overalls for only $10 originally $30. Yes! Now a good thick jacket...where do I go Target of course! Scored on this jewel which matches the pants for $12 originally $33. Go momma! I got him a 3T one size to big hoping they might last to next year too.
Now came the hard part. Shoes! UGH....I DREAD shoe shopping with this kid, so I tend to buy like 10 pairs to try on in waves at home. He makes such a scene at stores, because 90% of the time they don't fit and it's torture. So I stocked up on snow shoes from everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE and NONE worked. UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH! Once I got them to strap his legs without being too tight the foot part was HUGE on him or vice versa. The pain of having a boy with a wide foot. Sorry mommy and daddy cursed you.
After researching the web for solutions and asking people for advice some suggested rain boots with thick liners. I had my doubts worried I'd have the same outcome as the snow boots. So the other day when I was doing my last bonus discount at Target I saw some ADORABLE rain boots. Granted they were of course full price, but with my special 25% off I said heck with it. But trust me...it was REALLY hard thinking I was having to pay almost full price. (Total bargin shopper) And what do you know?!?! THEY FIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I about died. Granted we have to wear thick socks with them or he walks sooooo funny but they are perfect (We had to go up a size).
So we are ready! Here are a few pictures I snapped of the little man on my phone over the past few days. Sorry some are blurry he just moves so much.
As I mentioned before I am a bargin shopper. I have used coupons before, but last Thursday me and my friend Erica had our first EXTREME couponing trip. 2 transactions and 2 FULL carts. We headed up to Target with 2 full stacks of coupons and lists prepared.
Damage? I spent $110 saved over $100. That's like a 50% saving Whahoo! Don't worry I didn't end up with 75 razors or 40 bars of soap. haha I think Wes would have killed me if I did that. I actually purchased practical things that won't be hoarded. So view the finds:
I bought 2 of the biggest box of size 5 diapers (Not pictured in Aiden's closet), gargage bags, biggest box of wipes (Not pictured in Aiden's closet), cleaning wipes, paper plates, box of multigrain crackers, 8 soup cans (cream of chicken/mushroom/tomato), 10 cokes (using half for Aiden's party), Aiden- 2 shirts (My fav is the elephant RTR!!) and pair of pants, Wes- a flannel shirt, a tshirt, and cord pants, Myself- a sweater, a shirt, and work black pants (pants that are NEVER on sale always $28 and I got them for $19 SCORE Thanks Wes!), 2 packs of stickers/markers for a birthday gift, Supplies for Brits shower- size 1 diapers jumbo pack, 12 washcloths, 4 burp cloths, ADORABLE 3 pack of onesies (Monster INC), 2 pack of sippy cups, 2 rolls of wrapping paper (Houndstooth of course and Toy Story), 2 boxes of cereal, medium box of spaghetti noodles, spaghetti sauce, dryer sheets, multivitamins, set of 2 stocking holders (replacing some since Aiden ripped one down this year and broke it), 1 christmas shaker glass (For the Elf's arrival breakfast).....and that's it. haha see LOTS! I was shocked and amazed we saved that much since we included clothes for everyone. Some things I got for free and went under so that money went towards clothes. Guess it's proof my math doesn't suck. hahahaha
Speaking of Brits shower. We stuck with neutral wash/burp cloths. For cups and the bodysuits we bought a boy and girl sets (I have the boy stuff because I think they are having a boy!) Erica has a friend that just found out she is preggo so hopefully one will have a boy and the other a girl. If not...it's not like it will go to waste because people all around us keep popping up pregnant.
Mommy gets a day off tommorrow. Aiden is at school. Daddy work. Pure relaxation with cleaning mixed in there somewhere...
