Things That Make Me Happy

On yet ANOTHER dreary, rainy, downright depressing day in St. Louis, I thought I'd make myself a little list of things that are making me happy this week. Oh-- and I'm not going to state anything overly broad here. I'm talking little material type things. (ie: I'm not including things like my baby's constant kicks or the beautiful Fall foliage. Those always make me happy.)

1. Dad's cookies. While I have had these before I have certainly never bought a bag at the grocery store for myself. Well... this week I did... and then I did it again. They are so delicious and satisfy that little cinnamon craving that I get when the weather turns nasty. My pregnancy book tells me that from this week onward it is very important to get enough Calcium as the baby's bones are really starting to develop. Obviously I take a pre-natal vitamin and try to eat well, but a little cookies and milk certainly doesn't hurt.

2. Hanky Pankies. Get your mind out of the gutter people. That is a PLURAL Hankie Pankies. I'm talking underwear here. I have worn this brand for years but am really appreciating them now. They are one size fits all and conform perfectly to any body type. (Including a pregnant one) with out riding up or causing any "muffin top." They are a bit pricey for panties ($18 a pop) but are so worth it. Oh-- and I've tried the cheaper knock-off ones that Victoria's Secret sells and they just aren't as nice and move around a lot more. You have to stick to the real thing.

3. Pomegranates. These are one of my favorite fruits that you can only seem to find at certain times of the year. They also taste better in the Winter and Fall. They must be in season somewhere. While they are a pain in the butt to "clean" (get the little seeds out) the tart sweetness is worth it. And I don't buy the seeds that are pre-harvested and come all clean in a little package. They aren't nearly as good. Your kitchen counter might look like a gory murder scene when you are done (and watch it-- that red juice stains!) but they are so yummy!

4. Automotive "Extras." Did I mention that we bought a new car this week? I was a little sad to get rid of my little red two door, but the time had come for a more practical family car. Or at least one I can fit a car seat in. :) After a lot of research we ended up with a Toyota Highlander. It seemed to fit all of our criteria...

- 7+ Passenger (only when the third row seat is up... most of the time it will be down.)

- Decent gas mileage (26 mpg highway)

- Safe

- Leather seats

There were other requirements too, but lets stick to a couple little "extras" that this post is talking about...

-Heated Seats. My old car didn't have these and they are so lovely on chilly mornings. I'm sure when it gets really cold I will appreciate them even more.

-Back Up Camera. Lets just say that in my 11 years of driving I have backed into stationary objects on more than one occasion. I certainly wasn't expecting this feature when we went car shopping but it happened to be on the vehicle that we ended up with. A very nice perk!

-Heated mirrors. With all the darn humidity in the air these came in handy this morning. That dew/frost/fog or whatever just evaporated away when you turn these guys on.

5. Gap First Favorites -- On Sale! Gap is running a 20% off promotion on their "First Favorites" line. I have a serious problem with most baby clothes out there. First off, it is slim pickings in the gender neutral category. I get that as most people find out the sex, but what I can't get past is why all baby clothes seem to have all this appliqued crap on them. They take a perfectly cute striped onesie and then sew all these cheap scratchy cartoon characters on the front. Newborns certainly don't look down at their clothing and the shapes and words seem so uncomfortable! I really like Gap's First Favorites line and have heard from friends that they really wash up well and stay soft. Plus-- no ugly appliques to be found! I ordered quite a few during the sale.

Well.. hope that inspired some people to think about the small things that make them happy on this crappy day. (Assuming you are in St. Louis. If not, you're lucky!!!)

The Green-Eyed Monster

My step sister had her baby today! They decided not to find out the sex and didn't disclose any name possibilities prior to the baby being born. So welcome to the world..........

Geneva Marie! (They plan on calling her Eva for short.) Geneva weighed in at 6 lbs 4 oz and both mother and baby are doing well.

So it's been a very exciting morning in our family. I sort of freaked myself out though. It's sort of really embarrassing... When my Mom called to tell me about the birth my first gutteral emotion was... jealousy. I mean.. I had lots of second emotions too. The baby was born one day before her due date, but there had been some low amniotic fluid issues and they didn't think this baby would go to term. Plus, it was a planned induction, and that worried me as well. So obviously, my second (and third) emotions were of joy and relief that the delivery went so smoothly (5 hours) and everyone is happy and healthy.

I can't deny it though. The green-eyed monster in me came out to play. I want a cute cuddly baby TODAY, darn it. Never mind the obvious fact that we are certainly not prepared in the material sense for a baby yet and obviously I want my baby to stay in the oven for the full 40 weeks to get nice and cooked through. Emotions are so strange some times.

In other news, I can cross finding a pediatrician off my list of things to do. I've interviewed a couple and really fell in love with the one I met this morning. I was worried I wasn't going to find an obvious choice, but I think I have. Now lets just hope I don't get H1N1 from walking into a pediatricians office.

Also, the nursery furniture arrived today! I LOVE it and keep peeking me head in the room in sort of disbelief of the fact that there is baby furniture in there. I can't wait to get it all put together and organized. Then I'll take pictures!

And finally... weekend plans. Lets just say it's going to be a busy one. We have a Halloween party to attend and a trip to Columbia on the agenda. I'll try to post some pics this week. Ok, ok. You twisted me arm. What am I going to be for Halloween?... A fortune teller! You'll have to wait and see the obnoxious ensemble I've worked up for this one...

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Some Recent Pics...

I tend to let pictures clog up my camera for a while before bothering to upload them onto the computer, so I thought I'd actually do it for once and post a couple pics from the weekend.

Here's one of my SIL and a friend of my MIL at my shower. MIL took most of the pics, so I don't have them yet. The shower was at a restaurant named Il Bel Lago. It was very pretty and I made off with lots of loot. One down and three more to go!

Here's two from later that same night.. The first one is of my god-daughter wearing the hilarious hat that I bought her. The other is of her little sister and I.

And here's one from Sunday at Eckerts. It was a beautiful day for apple picking!

Oh.. and here's one from two weeks ago when I was a maid of honor. Of course I only took ones of people dancing, so I don't have any of the pretty decorations and scenery. It was freezing that weekend though! The dress turned out ok. (with the baby bump alterations.)

And here is one from last night of the nursery wall where the paint color didn't match up. Can you tell? Luckily, the painters are able to come out tomorrow and paint the whole room for a reasonable price. I hate to pay to have it painted when the walls are in pretty bad shape, but I just really don't feel like doing it myself.

The next pics I upload will be of me at the 28 week mark. (Which is today!)

One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

We got the house painted last week. (interior) Same colors, it was just in desperate need of a fresh coat. We haven't painted since T bought the house like 5 years ago. The painting was the final step before I could really get a handle on organization. It all looks great and it feels so good to have baseboards that weren't full of scuffs from T's bachelor days.

The only two rooms that weren't painted were the bedrooms because they were done pretty recently. The baby's room was going to have to be patched where we took pictures down. That took place today. Unfortunately, I didn't have the same gallon of paint as the last time, so I had to go to Sherwin Williams and get a quart in the same color and hope that it matched. Well.... it didn't. It is too light. My walls look like one of those horrible prom photos where someone was wearing too light of a foundation. (The sort of splotchy ghost look.) So attractive.

I really need this done before Friday because that is when the baby furniture is getting delivered and assembled. (The company is doing it, not us. We are incapable of anything handy) The room is small and it would be a PIA to move the furniture around to paint once it's in there. I put in an emergency call to the painter to see if he could do it with this short of notice. if not, I'm going to do it myself. Did I mention I am so not handy?

Nursery Furniture and Weekend Plans

I just got a call from Treasure Rooms letting me know that my nursery furniture is here!!! It's going to be delivered next Friday. I'm especially excited because they told me that it could take up to 3 months to come in.... which means it could have been delivered as late as mid December. A little too close for comfort. I love surprises when they work in my favor!!! I guess the next "Nursery Progress" post will be sooner rather than later. :)

This has been a weird week and I'm ready for the weekend. The house got painted this week, so I've been staying at my Mom's house for the last two nights. We used latex paint, which isn't necessarily toxic for the baby, but I've always had a hard time with paint fumes in general. They give me headaches. I'm home now though, and I think the house has been sufficiently aired out. (It's a tad cold in here though!)

So what's going on this weekend? Well, tonight I'm going to my old high school football game for my husband's 10 year high school reunion. Scary! We are missing the main event tomorrow night, but are making it to the game. It's funny because we went to high school together (different classes though) and I haven't set foot on the campus since my last day of school. Should bring back some memories! I'm one of those odd balls that actually liked high school.

Tomorrow is my first baby shower!! I'm very excited about that. The guests are family and friends on my husband's side. I think there should be like 25 people there. Once I start getting all this baby stuff in the house I think it is all going to seem more real. As of now I occasionally still forget that I'm pregnant. (Until the baby kicks, of course.)

Tomorrow night we have a birthday party to attend for our god-daughter, Kate. She is turning two and I got her a cute outfit from Baby Gap...

Sunday we are going out to Eckerts with my sisters to pick some apples. I hope they are picking the variety I like. (:Crossing fingers for Fujis:)

As you can see, it should be a busy one. Hope everyone has a happy weekend!!!

I'm Miffed.

Last month for my birthday T surprised me and bought me that Isabella Oliver maternity jacket that I was lusting over a while back. Here's a pic to remind you...

After he placed the order he immediately got an email saying that the jacket was back ordered but would ship on October 16th. I thought it was not a big deal because I probably wouldn't want to be wearing it before then anyhow. Well, here we are on October 13th and I'm all excited about getting my jacket. (Especially since it's gotten so chilly here recently.)

That is, until T forwarded me an email from the company today saying that the jacket wouldn't ship until November 12th. Grrr!!! They told me to email them if that was a problem. (I'm assuming they would give me my money back if I told them it was not ok.)

So what do I do? I really need a black jacket and this particular one isn't supposed to be all that warm, so it might not even be enough during the really cold weather. Not to mention the fact that as of November 12th I'll only have two months left to go. Plus, I was a bit put off by the $200 price tag in the first place.

Hmm... well, I think I know what I have to do. Good-bye adorable kimono wrap jacket. I will now be purchasing a not as cute but cheaper and warmer one from Old Navy or something. Farewell my love.

PS-- I went to the Isabella Oliver website again to look up the jacket and they make no mention of it being on back order. I'm assuming that they are trying to lure unsuspecting folks into placing the order only to find out later that it will take months to get. Very rude, I think.

Fiber Art Project

In college I majored in Graphic Design as well as Fiber Art. Fiber art is art made out of fabrics and papers. I took a lot of Fiber Art classes basically to fulfill some requirements for the Art degree in general and ended up liking it so much that in the end I got a major in it without really trying. Anyways, I still enjoy doing it as sort of a hobby.

All of my pieces are made of hand-dyed silk (I normally do my own fabric dyeing, but apparently it's a little toxic, so I haven't since getting pregnant...) and hand sewn together. (As in... I don't use a sewing machine.) They take an eternity to finish and are pretty tedious, so I only do like two per year. I have been meaning to post some for quite some time but always forget to take pictures. Until now!

Here is a piece that I just finished for my god-daughter Emily. I gave it to her for her baptism. It is on the "cutesier" side compared to what I normally do, but it certainly works with her pink and green nursery. Pardon the odd ball angles. I was trying to avoid the glare.

I'll take some more pics of other projects too. I actually made one in college that has been sitting in the basement for years. Color-wise I think it will look great in the nursery. You'll have to let me know if you think it will work when I post it.

Nursery Progress (?)

Want to see the progress that we've made on the nursery? I am using that word very loosely here. Try not to laugh...Here are the "before" pics:

And here are the "after" pics:

Ok, Ok. I know it seems like all we did was empty out the room. If you look a little closer you will notice the new carpeting and the new curtain rod. I have the curtains ready to go as well, but I'm just waiting a little while to hang them so I don't have to deal with dust getting on them. The new furniture isn't going to arrive until the middle of November at the earliest, so it's not like there is that much of a hurry to get things organized.

I have finished one little baby related project though! Remember those curtains that I bought for the room?

I ordered an extra panel of them so I could cut it apart and use the fabric elsewhere in the room to help make it a little more cohesive. So the project was to "decorate" some baskets from Target that we are going to use for extra storage on the bookshelf. I added some ivory and giraffe print ribbon too and thought they turned out quite cute...

Here is one of them on the actual shelf. Please ignore the fact that this pic was taken while the shelf was sitting in my dining room. (Things got a little crazy around here while that carpet was going in.) I think I'm going to use the rest of the fabric to make a pillow for the glider.

I probably won't post any more nursery pics until the furniture arrives and I get things a little more settled. I just hope that it arrives sooner rather than later. (fingers crossed.)

The Camera Debate

I need help guys. Help me decide if it is a good idea to purchase a fancy camera. (Like a Canon Rebel) At first I was dead set on it because I wanted to take some good pics of the baby that weren't fuzzy and full of red eyes. Now I'm second guessing my photography abilities and am thinking that these cameras are more for people that are really interested in photography.

I know a lot of you guys have them because I see some awesome pictures on your blogs. Are they more trouble than they are worth? (For the amateur) How long did it take you to take some halfway decent pictures with these things if you didn't have any previous photography experience? Other than the large size, are they reasonably simple and easy to use once you get the hang of it?

If I get one, it would be soon so I have plenty of time to mess around with it before the baby arrives. So what do you think? Oh-- And if you have a recommendation of a specific camera or camera store I would love to hear it.

Woops--one more thing. Of those of you that use them on a regular basis and post the pics on your blogs, how much photo editing do you do? Do the straight out of camera shots look pretty great or do you do a lot of photoshopping? I know Photoshop, (I was a graphic designer for goodness sakes. Hopefully I haven't forgotten everything during my extended "vacation.") but time wise, I'm going to assume that I'm not going to want to take a ton of time to edit each photo.

Thanks for your help!!

A Comment and a Question...

In case you were wondering, getting new carpet while you are currently living in a place sucks. It's just as bad as actually moving to a new home. However, it is a great time to dust and get everything spick and span. (Can you tell how I'm spending my Saturday morning?)

And why does Shrewsbury smell like mothballs? Anyone else been driving on 44 lately between Shrewsbury and Elm? It's smelled like mothballs there for weeks!

That's all folks! Hope you're enjoying your weekends!