Let it begin. Potty Training

Well. It's time. Aiden is showing majority of the signs he is ready...Potty Training!!

• Doesn't like to be in a soiled diaper
• Tells me if he's poop or peed
• Interested in the potty
• Likes to mimic us or follow us in the bathroom

So off I went for tips and ideas...because I am CLUELESS in this department!

Supplies:

1. Training Pants (For night time and for traveling since I don't want to risk a accident until I feel we are fully trained)

2. Waterproof undies to put over his normal undies (Hopefully this will help him when he's training so we don't have pee over everything if there is an accident)
3. Big boy undies (Only superhero one's will do.)

4. Potty books (To keep him on the toilet while we wait)

5. Reward jar and stickers (Already have lots of stickers, so I picked up some PB M&Ms and a canister from Target-in white. Just need to make a label for it and keep Wes out of the jar. lol) 


6. Charts (Now you know I love an excuse to make charts-click on the picture to see the whole thing or if you want to save and use yourself.... Once every star has a sticker he gets a reward. The other is to help me keep track and figure out his patterns. His daycare does checks every hour so I will keep that routine going.)

7. Potty (We got him a small floor potty because he was having a hard time climbing on the toilet and almost fell off so many times) Ended up getting the BABYBJORN Smart Potty

We are starting bright and early Saturday so wish us luck!!! I'm terrified but have to keep a solid front. EEEEK! We can do it! We can do it! Lots of pictures and results to come.

Paint

So this weekend I accomplished a lot on our to-do list way ahead of schedule too.
House Progress
#1 is complete. Old light holes be gone! Freshly sanded ceilings complete. Aiden went to the grandparents for 2 hours so I could get it done and MAN was a glad. Dust EVERYWHERE! Took me forever to clean my mess.

Next came #2 Painting the ceiling. It's not complete yet because I'm thinking I want to paint it some sort of tan. I've seen in magazines and online where people paint their ceilings a different color and I love it! So I came home with 3 shades of tan that are lighter than our living room....Painted swatches all over the room by the wall/crown molding; by the cabinets; by the windows. Trying to hit all the different lighting in the room....so over the next few weeks I will narrow it down from 3 to 1. I think I am leaning more towards the middle color at the moment.

My other project was #3 to paint the wall around the bathroom vanity trim work that I accidentally stained. Well....I started and then noticed why I hate eggshell. The color looks completely different....and OF COURSE I don't have enough paint to repaint the whole wall, so off I went to Lowes to get a new can. However this delayed me because I spent the rest of the day taping all the trim work off...just take a look at that wall...almost used an entire roll with so many lights, mirror, vanity, crown molding, corner molding.....just know I'm NEVER repainting this bathroom again. haha That is for the next owner (same thing I say about Aiden's Navy walls haha).

For this coming up week, Friday we are hanging our extra bathroom cabinet #5 and then the bathroom will be COMPLETE after I paint next weekend! SCORE!!!! I am working on a Pinterest project still for above the glass shelf though, but all the main stuff is complete that is just decor. I want to do some type of monogram picture (ALW) but still deciding what type of medium to use.

Speaking of Pinterest...I completed some other little projects this weekend too. Can we say productive!?

Remember the floating shelf?! Looks just like the inspiration. Total cost? $23. Try and beat that...because you can't I've looked. I'm thinking about exchanging or reworking my buffets current hardware to give it more of a pop like the inspiration, but that's on the back burning. Haven't really done a lot with it since we got it at Salvation Army for $100 bucks.

Other tidbit about my this project. I kept Aiden entertained while I put the shelf together by painting. Painting the word "Family", of course I did have to do some touchups, but I'm glad he got to help. Now if you take a closer look at the shelf you will see 3 bottles of wine that I've had since 2006. What's so special about those wines?! And why won't I drink them? The one on the left is from Firestone not the best wine ever but it reminds me of my time I lived in Santa Barbara. A time a won't ever forget. The other two are from trips to Napa Valley. 1st one was from the family vacation we took one Thanksgiving week and the right bottle is from a work trip we took when visiting San Fran. Those bottles have made it through several moves and still are going strong.

My next project was to declutter my kitchen table. I don't know about everyone else but what my house lacks is a true entry way. Nowhere we can unload when coming home. So our kitchen table becomes the dumping ground for our bags, lunch boxes, and jackets. Which bothers us to say the least when it comes time to sit down and eat. So insert solution. A children's message center. It's made from a normal picture frame which makes it become a dry erase board and the images below I created. Let's just say the inspiration is selling a template for $35 and I made mine for free....thanks but no thanks. It was too easy.

Now I'm just on the hunt for two hooks I like. One for a backpack the other for his coat. But this nook was perfect because it's not near a doorway and doesn't disturb anything. When I have our other nook complete for mine and Wes' stuff I will post about that too.

Favorites

Just wanted to share a few of my favorite websites that help me save. They help me spot deals without me having to put any effort into it.

Groupon We use this wesbite for date night deals and sometimes they put discounts on local events going on in town.
Living Social I sometimes can find deals on here, but like Groupon better.
My Memphis Mommy Hands down fav website, because she obviously tailors to everything Memphis. Food, Events, Merchandise steals, plus she does giveaways too. She also does breakdowns on how to get the most out of Target and Kroger weekly ads, which definitely helps our grocery bill.
Target Savers Obviously I want to find deals at Target over anywhere else, so this is a good source.

Speaking of Target savings...as everyone knows I'm on the hunt for a floating shelf for our bathroom. So I check Target 1st. Found this gem in expresso. for what price?! $7.65! Score! It's too big for the bathroom, but it allows me to accomplish a Pinterest Pin of mine.  So not only will I be able to declutter some of my cabinet space, but make our buffet feel more useful. Just waiting on the glass racks delivery and hopefully soon I'll have an after shot.

The funny thing is I'm proudly displaying all my Ridel glasses that sad to say I've only used once. I got some at our William Sonoma outlet and some from Wes....and they havent been used in geez 3 years?! But I sure look like a drinker now. haha I'm more excited about decluttering my cabinets. :-)

Here are a few local store/events I use to help me save on clothes, toys, etc for Aiden:
Consignment store: Summer Kids If you like them on FB you can see what they get in daily.
Consignment sale: Kidstown

Some online websites I like to browse for deals for Aiden that are a hit or miss, because sometimes they really aren't savings:
KidSteals
BabySteals I got my Petunia Pickle Bottom bag on there for $65 and it's originally a $145 bag.
Zulily

There are a couple good DIY websites I use, which in return save me $$.
Prudent Baby This site is GREAT! What I used to make Aiden's nursery sheets/changing pad covers, blankets, etc. The detail is what makes it dummy proof. Just love all the different topics, not just baby stuff anymore. Home/Food/Entertaining now.
Pinterest Given. Duh!
Hostess with the Mostess If you ever need any type of party theme or idea. Go here!

I know I'm missing some...but I can't think of them off the top of my head. But I hope this helps! ENJOY!

The Party

What was months of planning finally turned into reality...and it flew by. Most everyone up here is sick so people came and went. One big whirlwind, but Aiden had SO SO much fun. So much fun he went down for his nap around 4pm and didn't wake up till the next day. Wore himself out!

The food was delicious! Lenny's Subs was a hit! Hated that I didn't take a picture of the food table, but it was good. Served subs, salad, and various fruits found in the book. The cakes turned out great. Even though Aiden wasn't interested in his "pumpkin"/apple cake. Oh well it still was cute.

The kids were running wild, being kids. Which is quite adorable. The streamers on the fan were a big hit.The other big hit was the coloring pages, probably more with the adults than the kids. haha Guess we are all still kids at heart.

Next came present time. One word: Chaos! Live and learn. Didn't experience it last year because some of the kids weren't there. I will definitely do it different next year. Kids trying to open his presents/bossing Aiden around. Just so overwhelming...but why don't parent's take responsibility for their kids?! Yes, it's a party and kids are suppose to go wild. I mean Aiden was screaming for joy the whole time. haha. But there is a time when you have to wrangle your kids in and get them to obey you. It's not my responsibility to parent your kid. But other than that hiccup it was a GREAT day other than me sounding like crap.

Aiden got some adorable ADORABLE presents! He has been one stylish kid going to daycare the past week. The trains, books, and puzzles are such a hit. I just can't wait for this weather to warm up so we can head to the zoo and get out there hitting some tballs. He is one blessed kid and we have such amazing people in our life!!

What a fun day we had. I want to continue those fun days. Everyday! Memories upon memories. So for starters we did a class at Little Gym, which was interesting. 1st half of the visit he was holding onto me the whole time and panicked when I let him go, but by the end he was having a ball trying all the things out. The next thing I'm so excited for is "Little Kickers"! ahhh Aiden is starting soccer this spring. SO exciting! He can throw the ball excellent, but we need to practice his kicking skills.

Now for a funny. I was looking through my phone at all the pictures of Aiden I've taken over the years and this one is sad and funny at the same time. I took it right after his very 1st breathing treatment at the doctors office....can you tell he was fighting the WHOLE time! Red skin, sweating. Took 3 of us to hold him down. Man how times have changed...Poor little guy!

#10 and 11 Done

We got our new roof and gutters put on last week. Funny how something like that can change your house so much! It looks AMAZING if I say so myself. We moved around the drain spouts to get better drainage. And I'm in love. I have to admit I was worried...what if we picked the wrong colors....would it go with the brick on a large scale. Definitely not something you can just re-do. In the end we were way under our allotted budget (Thanks JD Roof for the great discounts!). Since we were doing 2 projects I asked if there was some type of discount, can't hurt to ask right?! Thankfully I did, saved about 500 bucks. Go me!

Project details: Architectural shingle, 6 in seamless gutters, leaf screen covers

They came out day 1 ripped off our old roof, removed our rusted whirly birds, redecked an old bathroom vent, and replaced all vent caps. Next came the fun part the new roof application...they were out there from 7am-6pm day 1 and almost finished. Day 2 they finished the last bit up and ripped off the old gutters and by the time I came home that night the new gutters were up. They did an amazing job at cleaning up afterwards...yes I walked around and checked. My luck Aiden would find that 1 nail leftover. lol

So happy with the outcome!

Next project. #12 Sliding Glass door into a window.
So off I go into planning mode and spreadsheets. Our sliding glass door is 80x72 so we are thinking a 62x72 window, which will run about $300-350. I just need to make sure our current windows are the same brand as the one I'm currently pricing.  But what does this mean....we have about 18inches we need to brick up....72 bricks. Hopefully we have it! I'll probably go out tomorrow if its not freezing and check.

Since this is something we don't want to attempt, I'm getting quotes. OMG! Some contractors are seriously smoking some crack. I quote was for $5500....ummm thats like what our roof cost. I even told the guy the specific window size/style we wanted; already had the bricks and drywall. So pretty much the cost is for the window, a little wood, mortar, and labor. And you come back with 5500.....No thank you! Then quote 2 was for $3000. ARE YOU SERIOUS! No thank you....I know it does not take that much labor to do what we want. So far our lowest quote is for $2500, and it's still a hard one to swallow. Needless to say I'm still on the hunt, because I only budgeted about $1500 for that job.

Next comes paint. My original plan is completely out the window since I can't paint our window frames...then tonight I discovered not only could I not paint the windows I can't change our vinyl either. UGH! Apparently you can't change the color from outside it's current paint chip color card, so white white or white it is. lol If you paint it darker it will absorb more heat from the sun causing it to warp. Did you know that?! I sure didn't SO glad I did research.

As I'm staring at the house some more...the current brick color isn't bothering me as much. So cross our fingers that when we close up the sliding glass door it won't look too bad and maybe we won't have to paint the entire house!?! We will still need to paint the wood trim at the top and the vinyl parts on the sides, but I think once we get some plants down it will look amazing. Hello savings! Can just use that money to make our patio look even better.

Next project I'd REALLY like to do this spring is #13 Front door. Loathe our current one. Feel like it's a prison door over a cheap door. Definitely doesn't scream "WELCOME!" haha. I love the craftsman looking doors or one with a little stained glass detail.  Learned alot about doors too the other day. I decided steel was the route we are going to take, less maintanence. If we don't paint the house I think I want a dark brown door, but if we do paint the house I want a white door. I love the pop of color doors, but I don't think they will work on my house.

Well that's enough about the house! I'll seriously try to get this party post done tonight or tomorrow...but I'll leave of some cute pictures of the little man over the past few days. Him in his adorable Bama outfit! (Thanks Honey and Pops). He loved playing in his wagon, so ready to head to the zoo. His favorite thing to do now is to grab the keys Auntie A gave him for his bday go to the door or a closet...and say "Bye Bye" while trying to open it. Lol he is so silly!

Spring/Summer

My little man is growing like a weed. After being in 24 months for about 2 years now we are now progressing to 3T, which means a majority of his summer clothes from last year won't work. He still can wear 2T pants/shorts...but the shirts have to be 3T or we are showing some belly action. lol

The huge consignment sale I love, which happens 2 times a year just happened to be this past week/weekend. I typically go on half off day on Saturdays, but that was the same time as Aiden's party. So I had to go on a pre-sale day after work, which I hated because I couldn't say goodnight to my sweet boy that night.

I know some of you other mommies go to the consignment sales, and if yours are anything like the one I go to...talk about madness. Nothing worse than hundreds of mommies wanting a good deal. The tension is in the air, emotions high, and urgency. Just makes me nervous thinking about it. The first time I went to this sale you could tell I wasn't prepared.....but now I am a pro and have it down to a science. The first time there I was standing WAY back in the line watching all these women walk in with laundry baskets and once the door opened the women in my section were just wild! But now I get it. After holding the clothes in my arms for about 20 minutes they were throbbing (now I'm one of those laundry basket carrying women). The first time I took the time and looked at everything before I put it in my basket....apparently not the way to go about it. You grab then once you are done with your section you go out in the hallway to discard what you don't want (no wonder so many ladies gave me dirty looks for "holding up" the line). It's like sport.....and I'm just so happy when I leave.

I have to bee-line for his clothes because 3T and 2T are SOOO popular and those nice outfits are gone before you know it! After I check out his clothes I head straight for the shoes, because Extra Wide are rare to find. Once I get that over with then I can take my time and check out the books, puzzles, toys, seasonal items, etc. So like I said I have my route down perfectly!

Eventually I will be a consignor at the sale, but for now I'm just a shopper. I'd hate to sell Aiden's clothes then find out that our second baby is a boy.

I did pretty good this year getting a lot of play/daycare clothes and a few nice outfits. The main thing I look for are sets, shirts and bottoms under $5. So what was my damage considering I didn't get any of it half off.....$40.50! Not bad at all considering everything was Gymboree, Children's Place, Kelly Kids, Genuine Kids, Crocs, Stride Rite, etc. The Stride Rite shoes alone regular price are about $50, and I really struggled with getting them because they were $12. haha I'm so cheap...but in my eyes $12 for shoes he's gonna outgrow after this season is ALOT.

I even found little man a swim vest for this summer! I like how the shorts aren't attached since he has so many cute swim trunks already. I can't wait for summer just for that reason...gonna have a little swimmer among us.

I did hold back and didn't buy any smocked items, since he already has his Easter outfit and Wes wants me to stop making him look like a "puss". Men. haha But I did settle on one Kelly's Kids outfit.

1. We can wear this during our beach trip
2. We can wear this for July 4th 
3. It's not smocked 
4. What's not manly about sailboats 
5. It was only $8.50! $8.50 for Kellys Kids! WHAT! These typically run around 45-55. 

There was an ADORABLE blue, white, green plaid Kellys Kids john john...but I knew Wes wouldn't approve, so I was happy I at least found one. So over all a successful trip even ran into some friends who are preparing for their first baby.

Best Friends

I have the best friends and Aiden is one lucky boy!! I'll do another post tomorrow about his party, which was AWESOME! Love my friends and family!!


Aiden's best friend, Conner, and his sweet brother, Jacob, couldn't come to his party because like everyone in Memphis they are sick. But we got this sweet sweet message from him. LOVE him to death!! I showed it to Aiden and he got sooo excited, squealing, saying "Hey!", and clapping for joy. So much fun seeing them together.

Speaking of sickness....I found out on Friday in all my madness preparing for the party that I had strep! NOOOOO! Luckily Wes' parents took Aiden for the night since I was still contagious and that allowed me me to rest up and get ready for tomorrow. Last time I got strep I didn't catch it early and was MISERABLE for a week, chills/ sweats.....this time I caught it on day 1 and miracle. Night and Day. I feel nothing like I did last time, only thing that hurts is my voice, it's completely gone and I sound like I'm going through puberty. haha

Anyway we had great party and Aiden is one loved little boy! Can't believe we are at number 2 he is growing up too fast!!!

2 Years

I can't believe we are here! Two years!

Stats:
Height: 38.5 inches
Weight: 36 pounds
Size 5 Diapers
2T pants and 2/3T shirts

We have definitely approached the "terrible twos" stage. He loves to tell us "No!" and slap us in the process, which of course I do right back to him and say "Do not hit Mommy/Daddy!" and of course he repeats so I do. Then it finally clicks and he sits there and pouts. Which I try so hard not to laugh at him, because you can see he so wants you to baby him. What has helps us with the tantrums is taking things away. If he doesn't listen or do something we ask we take whatever he has in his hands away for at least 5-10 minutes then bring his butt over to what he is suppose to be doing. And of course you know he's kicking and screaming the whole way....but it's not my fault you threw the puzzle piece across the room and you won't pick it up when I ask you to. DEFINITELY testing!

Sleeping Pattern: He goes down every night at 7pm...there for a little when he was waking up at 4-4:30am. (Shoot me!) but now we are back on schedule at 6am! He is a great little sleeper in his big bed. He knows how to get in and out perfectly. Knock on wood he doesn't crawl out of bed in the middle of the night and if he does get up before us he now plays in his room singing (So so sweet) instead of beating on the door yelling for me (Scared me to death a couple times. I thought it was an intruder!). Still takes 1 nap ranging from 1-2 hours depending on the amount of activity in the morning.

Eating Pattern: Still a picker eater, but will at least try new things as long as he sees me eating it. LOVES apples, pineapples, peaches, yogurt, bananas, waffles, strawberries, goldfish, popcorn, any type of smoothie, chicken nuggets, and applesauce. Whenever my meal fails his taste buds I can at least count on those to help provide.

Milestones: He still gets the paci in the car....yes I know....but my ears thank me. After fighting traffic for 40+ minutes I can't take a screaming baby in the afternoons. He is so funny though he knows the paci stays in the car so when we park he pulls it out and places it in his seat. No fight at all! Maybe this month I will start limiting paci time in the car.....lets hope he is on the same game plan.

He still doesn't talk a whole lot. Definitely not saying very many multiple word phrases, but he is at least trying. So we will keep practicing and it will come in due time. He is a smart cookie though, knows EXACTLY what I'm saying and what the words mean, and can answer my questions. He just can't/doesn't say 100% of the time what he wants. Example. He will go to the frig and try to open it. So I say to him, "What do you want? Do you want something to eat or drink?" and he will response "Yes". So I open the frig and say "What do you want? Show me? Tell me?" Trying to get him to say it rather than having him repeat me. So he will reach for his drink. So I say "What is that? Is that your drink? Do you want your drink?" and he says 'Yes" so I repeat once more once he gets it "Drink". So eventually I hope he will start saying what it is....but in the meantime we will keep practicing....and grow that vocab more than just saying Yes. haha (He does say more words than Yes. lol) ---Any tips Mommies?

His favorite things to do at home is play with puzzles or stacking blocks or ride on his ride-ons. I love seeing him putting the puzzles together and trying to say what each one is. He has figured out some you have to flip and turn a weird way to get them in and he gets SO excited when a puzzle is complete. Likes to show it off.

I've posted in the past about Aiden's asthma/wheezing issues we have at night time, well after our last ER visit we started him on a daily preventative inhaled steroid, Pulmicort. Our doctor doesn't want to label him yet with Asthma, because he can outgrow it and if he gets that label he always has to check yes. We have seen it help so far. This weird Memphis weather we've been having hasn't helped (60 in the AM and 20 in the PM vice versa), but no bronchitis so far. So progress. It's just so strange. One day he will be breathing fine and okay, the next he just get so clogged up sounding. We never know what we are waking up to. So if he sounds cloggy, he's got to at least do 3 treatments of Albuterol that day ontop of the steriod. My poor little guy.

Personality: He is a big sweetheart! Loves his Mommy (of course because I'm awesome! lol) to death...little bit of a clinger. He is very curious and likes to see what's going on around him. Very adventurous. I don't have to push him to try new things (Like this past weekend at Chickfila. He'd never played on one of those playhouses and next thing I knew he was all the way at the top sliding down.) He is very protective of things if he knows they are his. He just lights up when he's around other kids, and man if he sees a "baby" he will tell me and point and creep close to the baby like 5 million times. lol So precious.

His birthday was this past Sunday so I had planned the day for fun things to do just for us. We all got up early and I made Aiden's favorite, waffles. I had a birthday balloon waiting on him as we gave him BIG hugs and kisses telling him "Happy Birthday Big Boy!" His face lit up. Next his Gabby came over to bring him a surprise peanut butter cookies with a Hershey kiss on top. Which he proceeded to snack on those all morning, but just eating the chocolate and handing me the cookie. haha....thanks I think?! At first I got onto him when he grabbed another one, but I said heck it's your birthday...go ahead (Luckily there were only 4 cookies). So we were all sugared up and playing like crazy till nap time came. Once he woke up I got him a little cake which we sang the birthday song and we blew out a candle. The face when he saw the cake. Priceless! Then he got to open a small gift. New Buzz Lightyear pjs like his Elmo ones he loves. It was such a special day that we got to spend together....but I look forward to his party this Saturday with our friends and family.

We adore Aiden and couldn't be more blessed.

Aiden Savings

I'm stalking our bank account. haha not really just working on our monthly budget and plan since this is an expensive month! With the new roof and gutters, Aiden's birthday party, and my beloved Spring/Summer consignment sale...there is a lot more going out this month than the norm so I want to make sure I have the numbers correct. I'm all about keeping those excel spreadsheets up to date. Since I am in charge of finances for our household it's important, and if anyone else has that responsibility it does suck at times....when you look at those big bills (car, house, hospital, house improvements) and think OMG are these ever going away?! haha But it's so satisfying when you reach that last payment on something. HALLELUJAH! We've got a couple of those this year and I truly look forward to it. Paying off our new dryer and vapor barrier under the house. Now I'm able to shift that allotted month to other improvements.

But as we have money going out its definitely important we keep money in, because as we know there are those unexpected. Furnace dying on us, a $2500 hospital bill, etc. We may not get take fancy trips or going out to eat every month or go to the movies (hella expensive these days), but having that extra gives us the ability to upgrade on a few things. And trust me we do still splurge on ourselves, we do get things that aren't a necessity (movie channels, new clothes, video games, redbox movies). But it makes the times where we do go out more special.

Luckily we live in a town that has free events all the time. Art Festivals, Kid Events, BBQ Festivals, Charity Events, etc. So that REALLY helps! Gives us the ability to go do FUN things with only spending money on gas and maybe one meal. Can't beat that. Savings.

Back before Aiden was born we setup a Savings account for him. And every month since then we stash $150 away for him and Wes' parents contribute a $100. Then at every tax return we put in $200. So by the time he is 18 we will have $57,600. This money we are going to use for his college fund, either tuition or board/food. The one thing I'm thankful for that I never had to deal with because of my awesome parents was student loans. I don't want Aiden to deal with them either as I'm currently making a payment toward Wes'...can't wait for that last payment to arrive (3 more years hurry up! haha) If we do have to pay for his tuition out of pocket those first 2 years I'm going to urge him to go to a community college, because it's only basic classes (ENG, HIST, MATH, etc) and there is no need to pay the 4 year instituion rate for those kinda classes. But I'm not going to hold him back if he does want to go to one, which will more than likely be an out-of state school (I def can't see him going to UT! lol) which kills me...bye bye money! haha

So I guess the moral of this post is SAVE, appreciate what you have, and PLAN. You'd be surprised what you can do!

It's a Go!

Tomorrow after Aiden's doctors appt I'm going to do his 2 year post. Can't believe he turned 2 on me! I got some extra 1on1 time with him during his nap on Saturday, meaning he didn't want to take a nap in his bed. Woke up after 30 minutes in a panic....so Wes brought him to me and shortly after he fell asleep on me. So there we are for like 2 hours napping together. Loved every minute! He hasn't done that in a long long time since he enjoys sleeping in his bed most of the time.

Back to my original post thought. The re-roofing is commencing tomorrow! YAH!!!!!!!!!!! That should take about 2 days and then they will come out to re-gutter the entire house! YAH!!! We decided on a dark brown gutter. It matches the shingle very well and disappears. We were worried that we would have to go more of the gray route and then be stuck with brown whirly birds. But luckily the shingle has brown and gray in it so they can match. The gutter and whirly birds are two shades of brown, but we think it will look fine since both colors are in the shingle. The gutters are just a shade darker.

So excited about making this progress. We've been saving for 2 years to start working on the outside of the house, so I'm glad it's finally here. We just want the outside to reflect the inside. Updated, modern, and gorgeous!

Our next big step is closing the sliding glass door. That window is not going to be cheap, since of course it will probably have to be custom like everything else in our house. lol The one good thing is I don't think we have to buy brick to go in the part that we are closing up. We have a HUGE stack of extra bricks on the back side of our house plus the 5 million (haha not really but sure felt like it) bricks I dug up from our brick flowerbed.

We can't paint the house till that's complete. Speaking of paint. My color scheme has to change. It just hit me that our windows are vinyl, which means they have to stay white. Noooo....I really was digging the dark trim idea. So looks like we will be switching our paint scheme to dark house light windows.

Let there be light...

I feel like all most post are about the house lately so I will give a blurb about Aiden before I start.

My little man is going to be 2 Sunday!!!! OMG! Where has the time gone!!! Makes me sad to think about it. Everyday he just gets cuter and cuter if that is possible. He loves to wash his hands (he would do it 24/7 if I let him), gets such great joy putting things together. Still difficult to figure out what he wants to eat because he calls everything an "Apple". His big kick now is pine-APPLE and Bananas which he calls "Nana" which kinda sounds like "NoNo" to me lol. But the one good thing is that he can recognize things and knows where his food is stored so I will pick it up and he can tell me No or Yes. Thank goodness! My favorite part of the day is the morning...probably why it takes us FOREVER to get ready. Every morning I turn on the hall light and as soon as Aiden sees that he says "Momma! Momma!" I walk in his room and pick him up and give him a big Big hug! And every morning he doesn't want me to let him go and clinches on...which even when we are in a rush I still take a moment and hold on longer. So to get him going and headed toward the kitchen I enlist the help of Murph. One call of that name he comes in the room and Aiden wants down to chase him. Works every time! He is just growing up so fast.

This Saturday is our nieces birthday, which should be interesting. Hopefully no one will piss me off and I can enjoy my time. Must remain calm. At least I will be surrounded by other family members I don't get to see that much, so that I will enjoy.

Now to the house.

The one purchase I cannot wait to finalize is the exterior lights! We will put them up once the roof/gutters are up. But that doesn't mean I have a couple already picked out. Our current ones I swear are original to the house. Ugly brass. wait ugly weathered brass and are WAY to small. I despise them, but have lived with it for 2 years....too long! They aren't big purchases but can completely change the house. Can you even see them in the current picture?!? UGLY.  We are losing the light by the sliding glass door so we will only need one by the front and back door. Savings! lol

What we are going to do for deciding is purchase both and see which one fits better. Either way its a win win bc they are gorgeous in person. The pictures so not do justice. I love Tiffany-style glass and the other's glass has those bubbles in it. Both are from Lowes (Get discounts from family, hence why we purchase alot from there...)

The other light I really want to replace is the flushmount one in our kitchen. We both despise it....never let a man pick out lighting in the kitchen. Lesson learned! I'm gonna sell our current one so we can purchase a new one. The reason why we hate it is because it's SOOOOOOOO DIM. We always have to turn on the pendant lights if we want to see. Annoying. (Wes is not like me and literally every purchase I always do research and clearly on the review of the light we got the person complains about the dimness....Wes just saw it was not a nipple light and thought I would like it. --Hate nipple lights-- I do like the style but that's about it.

So on the hunt now for a stylish BRIGHT light. I think I found one too....again it's Tiffany-styled  and GORGEOUS! Hopefully it will look just right in my kitchen and there won't be any returns needed. I forgot to take a current picture of the light so old ones will have to do.

Busy

We are busy in the Lambert household this week...so I will keep this post short and sweet.

So my last post was about the bathroom, and I mentioned I was going to purchase the cabinet for above the toilet. Which I did. But I wanted to let everyone know how I accomplished my 20% off savings...saved over $30! Love savings especially when I still have to buy handles so it's like I'm getting them for free with extra leftover.

Anyway, so on Lowes.com they had all the in-stock cabinets 20% off through yesterday. Off I went to find the size 36x30 and stain color Cheyenne. Hmmmm Nothing! So I called up our store and asking why I only saw every color but the one I needed, but there was a "Saddle" color that looked like mine but the regular prices were higher...I explained to them I only needed 1 cabinet and I knew they had it in the store so would they honor the 20% even if it was an online deal only?! Crossing fingers!!! YES! They did just that! I jumped with joy. So off I went to get it, thankfully there were two sweet older men there to help me put it in my car. :-) (Wes was working)

Lesson learned? Always check the stores online prices before you head up to the store, because they will always match since its the same store. So if Home Depot had 20% off online the Lowes in-store won't match that. Now I just can't want to hang it.

What's left now for the master bath?! Prepping and Painting walls/crown molding/baseboards (dreading...REALLY don't want to. lol), Applying the last coat of poly to the cabinet trim work, and find 2-3 floating shelves. Almost there!!!

Now my last update. We have decided on a roof color!!! Yesterday we did some drive-bys and snapped a few pictures. Total stalkers. :-) The color we originally like was not so nice on the roof compared to the sample....so number 2 won--Driftwood.

We are waiting on the gutter samples to arrive so we can pick that out then shortly after that install time baby! SO excited!!! If anyone has been to my house when its raining knows how much I despise our gutters. The DAs who installed it before we owned the house put seams in front of both doors. Therefore when it rains here it rains ALOT (another reason why we chose 6in gutters compared to 5in) equalling spill over meaning you're getting poured on. So sorry! But with these new ones no seams praise the lord! I want the gutter color to bend with the roof almost disappearing...so hopefully we can find something.

When we were stalking there was one house that did exactly what we envision for our home. Painting the brick. They went more of the tan/off white route. We were thinking more white/gray route, but it was good enough to give us an idea of the future. It also doesn't hurt that it matches our current brick color (thank goodness our mortar is on the gray side.)