Painting is DONE!!

Hooray, hooray, the painting is DONE!!

Now I feel like I can really start getting the room ready. I'm super excited now about seeing my new baby boy in his room. I never really felt this way with the old nursery, because it never really had a future occupant I could name. It was just for the "baby". Well, this is Maverick's room and I can't wait to meet him.

Derek did a super job with the chair rail and finishing touches for the room. Luckily we have great neighbors and borrowed all the tools (saw, air compressor, nail gun) that we needed to finish the job. We had beautiful weather this weekend which allowed us to get the chair rail painted outside in record time.

It's hard to see with the lighting in the room, but this is the finished product. There is a medium blue below the chair rail, with a lighter blue above. The chair rail and trim in the room is a cream color. I couldn't be more pleased with the final product.

The finishing touches to the room will be the artwork I hang up on the walls. You can see two pictures I'm considering for placement above the crib in the crib. They will either go above the crib or on the opposite wall over the changing table. I also have another picture (actual photograph) of a hot air balloon that once hung in my room as a child. I'd like to get this picture re-matted and framed if budget allows. I also have some decals of vintage looking planes and clouds that I plan to place around the room.

Finally, Grandma is working on making the curtains out of some blue material with tiny hot air balloons that I found. Can't wait to see it all coming together.

Pretzels with Grandma

This post is made possible thanks to somebody that left this kit on the MOPS swap table. How I love the MOPS swap table. I find all sorts of goodies left there from food, toiletries, clothing, books, and much more. I could have a whole post just about that.....but onto the pretzels.

As I was saying, somebody left this make your own pretzel kit from Auntie Anne's and since Grandma had come over today to help with the boys while Derek was painting I figured we'd give it a try.

After making the dough and kneading it, you have to let it rise for about 45 minutes. Chandler really got into the kneading part and started using his elbow, shirt and all.

Then you make the pretzels and bake for about 8 minutes. We decided to make half of the batch cinnamon sugar and half salt pretzels. They actually came out good. They were especially yummy straight out of the oven.

Here Chandler shows off his cinnamon sugar creation. Yum!

Haircut Time

Today I decided to give the boys haircuts. Chandler has gotten quite well at sitting still for me as I'm not the quickest with all the steps it takes for his hair. I buzz the back, then use scissors to take off some of the over all length on the top. Finally I have special layering scissors that I use to even it all out and (hopefully) make it look more natural.

See how still and serious Chandler can be while I try to get his bangs straight.

Now Brighton is a totally different story. I still like his "babyish" look and I've yet to use the buzzers on him. I just scissor cut his hair, keeping most of the length and then layer it as best I can.

His bangs were NOT straight at all across the front because he would not sit still. Derek was able to take a few pictures of Brighton during this process, but ultimately ended up having to stop so he could hold Brighton's head still and/or keep his attention by naming animal noises and various body parts.

Overall I'm pleased with the outcome and even more so with the $30+ that I saved!

30 Weeks----Eeek!

How is it that I'm already 30 weeks along? That means I have about 7-10 weeks left. I actually checked the calendar and I only have 4 weekends where there is nothing "planned". I really need to get on the ball and figure out what needs to be done. I had a midwives appointment yesterday and I'm measuring right at 30 weeks and the heartbeat was strong.

It really kicked in how little time I have left when I was told they'd start seeing me every two weeks until 36 weeks and then every week. I guess I'll be making several trips to Chapel Hill this month and next.

Coming up soon (2/1/11) is our ultrasound to check the progress of Maverick's kidney. Hopefully it will be completely normal. Thank you so much for all your prayers!

Napping or Quiet Time?

So Brighton is finally at the age where "nap time" may be ending and "quiet time" may be beginning. This is probably one of the last pictures I'll have of him sleeping in the crib. He no longer sleeps in a crib at night and hasn't for a while now, but he naps in the crib. I find when he's contained he sleeps better. Well, lately, he has been crying for an hour or more and just won't settle down at nap time. This makes mommy very frustrated!

The past week or so, I have tried calling it quiet time and giving him some books to read just like Chandler does. This seems to do the trick as you'll see from the above picture. Since Derek has been painting in the nursery since this past weekend, Brighton has been napping in his bed (no longer contained) and is doing great. Chandler reads books on mommy and daddy's bed and Connor (for the moment) is relocated to the bathroom or the nursery. I think we need a bigger house!

Painting Update

By Sunday, the top coat above where the chair rail has been painted with a little help from Grandma. Now all that is left is the trim and the chair rail which will be painted cream like the rest of the house. Hopefully it will be completed next weekend so the nursery can start getting put back together again!

Let the painting begin!

Today we decided to get started on painting the nursery! Let's just say it better be a boy! We are locked in to blue now!

The boys wanted to help, so Chandler helped daddy mark off the line where the chair rail will go while Brighton helped by sticking tiny pieces of painters tape all over the walls. Later on in the day, Grandma came over to help paint above the chair rail line and put a second coat on the bottom. We had gotten some free Benjamin Moore paint for the bottom color that was $20 a QUART! It turned out great, and had virtually no odor. The top color we bought at Lowe's and let's just say mommy had to keep the door shut because of all the fumes. Wow! What a difference. Anyways, I'll have to post some more pictures that show the top color soon. We have purchased the chair rail, but it may be a while before that last step gets done.

Sunday, Derek went to try and paint the trim in the room and the paint (that we keep outside in the shed) was virtually frozen! We are keeping the can inside, and we'll see if the consistency changes back into something we can paint with.

Snow Scene

Chandler made this snowy scene at preschool. He told me they mixed shaving cream, glue, and glitter to make the "snow" and he decorated it with a snowman, some blue snowflakes, and a couple trees. Maybe we'll be seeing snow within the week. What do you think?

Batteries!!

Can you believe how many batteries I need to buy for all the baby toys we have? Okay, so this is just a picture I found, but it seems like I need this many. I'm starting to think of all the things I need to get done before Maverick comes and replacing batteries in all the toys, gadgets, etc...is something I can do by myself (for the most part). I inventoried all the infant toys that we have down from the attic and started a list of what we'll need:

C's: 4

AA's: 13

AAA's: 8

L1154F's: 3

LR44's: 3

I think the last two are actually the same type of watch-style battery, but I just wrote down what was listed and moved on.

Unfortunately, I know this won't be the last of the batteries needed. We have a full-size swing, bouncer, pack-n-play, jumper, exersaucer, and I'm sure some other big items stored in the attic that will need batteries as well. I'll just add to this list once these items come down and get ready to go.

Kids Exchange

So it's that time of year.....consignment sales. Everybody knows that the biggest one in the Raleigh area is the Kids Exchange. I think I have been to every sale since Chandler was 3 months old. I also went one time before he was born when they were still allowing maternity clothes to be consigned. It's a great way to save money and I usually buy all the boys' clothing for the upcoming season at these sales. This time was no exception. As a consigner to the sale you are allowed to shop before the general public and this is a great advantage. I almost always do this, except this time. This time since I'm having another boy and really don't have much to consign to make it worth my while I decided to volunteer at the sale.

I've never volunteered before, so we'll see if it's worth it. As a volunteer you get to shop even earlier than the consigners, so that was a definite bonus. Derek went with me and he got a new travel swing for Maverick, an airplane lamp for Maverick's room, and then went to find some shoes for Chandler. I was trying to find a baby K'tan (no such luck) and I eventually settled on a Moby wrap. Lastly I headed to the 4T clothing section to get Chandler set for summer.

So here's a picture of the swing we got:

No, you are not seeing double. We have two! Unfortunately, the swing that Derek picked out seemed fine at the sale. I made sure he picked one that had batteries so we could test it. The swing motion worked and the lights and music checked out. We thought we had a winner. Once we got it home and I started inspecting it more thoroughly we discovered that the bottom part where the baby sits was cracked and broken. It might work once we had a baby in it, it might not. Derek suggested some epoxy might fix the problem. I had a better idea.

This morning I called my friend Jennifer who I knew would be shopping at the consignment sale. I asked her if she had an extra pass, and thank goodness she did! I hurried down to the sale, boys in tow, and got in line to wait. Once we were inside I found a duplicate swing that I could use for parts for $4! I was hesitant to buy this particular swing last night because it was very dirty and didn't have working batteries to test it. Funny thing is that once I put batteries in it, it worked! I still switched out the broken plastic part and kept the "original" swing since I had already washed the swing seat and it was in better overall condition.

Lesson learned.....more thoroughly check out equipment or buy "spare parts" while you are there!

Speech Therapy

Chandler, Miss Janet, and Brighton

Chandler has been going to speech therapy for about four months since the traditional school year started. This all came about as the result of testing that was done at his preschool when Chandler was three. After jumping through many, MANY hoops and red-tape we were finally able to get him classified as "speech delayed" and therefore qualified for free therapy through Wake County Schools.

Chandler has speech therapy at Sycamore Creek Elementary school on Tuesdays. I was able to pick a time that works with the boys' afternoon nap schedule, but unfortunately the timing of when we get to the school is right when school is letting out and the line of parents to pick up their children is super long. This means that mommy frequently drives the "wrong-way" into the school so that she can actually get into the parking lot. You think there could have been more thought put into the design of the parking lot so others wouldn't deal with this same problem, but I guess that costs too much money.

Anyways, while Chandler is getting therapy for 30 minutes, Brighton and I sit out in the hallway reading books, waving to other children, and flirting with the other therapists (Brighton flirting, not me!)

Well all the hard work has paid off and Chandler is ready to graduate from therapy. I'm so proud of how much Chandler's speech has improved. He can now say his "Y" sound and takes the time to pronounce all the syllables in each word. Way to go Chandler!

Meet the Twins!

I always wanted twins.....so here they are.

It's really hard for me to believe that people think my boys are twins. I'll admit they look some-what alike, but twins?!? If they are riding in a stroller or sitting where you can't see their height difference total strangers will come up and ask if they are twins. I kid you not, this happens all the time.

Here they are in infant car-seats. I think they are a little big for them, don't you? I got out our old one to test in some strollers for Maverick and the other one is one somebody gave me to trade in at the Babies R Us trade-in event.

Baby Belly!

So here's the belly at 28 weeks!

I've finally started to pop out, don't you think? It's hard to believe I have about 10 more weeks to go. I really need to get cranking on the "do to" list. The kids exchange is coming up this week, so at least I can find (hopefully) some of the last minute decor for Maverick's room.

Ten is my Magic Number

So everybody seems to have that one thing that they are always shopping for. Maybe it's cell phones and you want the latest and greatest. Maybe it's shoes and you already own 30 + pairs. For me, it must be strollers :)

As Maverick's arrival is coming closer and closer I find myself wanting a new stroller for him. I know you all must be thinking, but why, Lindsay.....you certainly must have one that will work just fine.

Well, believe it or not I have NINE strollers! Yes, you read that correctly.....9. The other thing that's hard for me to believe is it was almost impossible for me to find a picture of all of them. In some cases the pictures posted here are the only record that these stroller exist. I couldn't even find some pictures of them. It's not that we don't/didn't use them, it's just I never really took pictures of them.

Here's my aresenal, and why I liked it at the time, but it's no longer suitable for me.

#1-Suburban of all single baby strollers

This is the "travel system" stroller that it seems every new mom gets. It is humongous! It is actually larger when folded down than my sit'n'stand. It's fine when you have one baby an infinite space to store it, but now it's on my "to sell" list. Too Big!

# 2 Snap'n'go

I didn't even have a picture of this one, but we still have it. This stroller was purchased solely for flying with Chandler in his infant carseat. Chandler flew two times before he was one with me solo and I needed the most compact stroller available that would hold his carseat too. This one is still a keeper.

# 3 Single Jogging Stroller

This is the first jogging stroller that we had when we only had one child. I love jogging strollers for walks around the neighborhood and the lake. It was a great stroller, but it's on the "to sell" list since we need one with a bigger capacity (at least two seats)

# 4 Compact Stroller

This is the first smaller, single stroller that we purchased. This was purchased for our first flying trip also. I flew with Chandler with the snap'n'go and Derek drove to FL with this stroller in the car. This stroller works great babies that can sit up unassisted. It does have a canopy and a basket underneath which is nice. It also has a tray and parent cup holders. Complaints are that it doesn't fold as compactly as an umbrella stroller. This one may or may not survive the big sell off.

# 5 Umbrella Stroller

Somebody gave me a very cheapy umbrella stroller. It stays at my moms house and both boys enjoy a ride up and down the driveway in it. It's not even worth selling. You couldn't even get $5 for it.

# 6 Sit'N'Stand

This was a stroller that I new I needed with babies 18 months apart. It is a sit'n'stand that came with a full seat in the back that could be later converted to a bench seat when Chandler was older. This is currently our main stroller for out and about. Here's a picture of Brighton in the front from summer 2009.

Cons to this stroller are that it's huge. It's great for hauling many kids and a lot of stuff, but when traveling it takes up a lot of room. That's why we got stroller # 7

# 7 Double Umbrella Stroller

I don't even have a picture of "our" version of this stroller, but it's just like this only black and red. It's great when traveling with two that need a stroller. I wish it had a canopy for shade, but for the compact size it is, I sacrificed that. This is a keeper, for now.

# 8 Double Jogging Stroller

This is our beloved double jogging stroller. We use this one all the time for walks around the neighborhood. Although Chandler likes to ride his bike around the lake (which actually fits in the basket underneath the stroller) the second seat is there for when he gets tired. We'll probably keep this one rather than the single jogger since somebody always will want to rest.

# 9 Sit'N'Stand -- duplicate of #6

My mother in law keeps a sit'n'stand at her house for occasional walks around the neighborhood. It was a hand me down from a co-worker, but is still in good shape and works well when we need it.

So that bring me to stroller # 10

# 10 B-Nimble

Isn't she a beauty? So I don't technically own this one yet, but I'm eyeing her. I like this one because it folds as compactly as an umbrella stroller.....great for all the traveling we want to do this summer. It is also compatible with an infant car seat unlike other umbrella strollers. It does have a clip on cup holder, but no snack tray. It has a large canopy and basket underneath. There is a great sale coming up at Babies-R-Us where you can trade in old baby gear for 25% off coupon and I plan to take advantage of this. Thanks to Jennifer and Angie for passing along no-longer-needed carseats so I have something to trade!

Okay, so now you know more than you'll ever need to about strollers and why Ten is My magic number, for now ;)

Back to the Blog....

So it's no secret that I shop at Harris Teeter. When I say I shop there I mean that I shop on-line and drive there to pick up my groceries. I pretty much without fail do this every week. So much that I have my own shopper, Debbie, who is wonderful. She does a great job for me and I don't mind forking over the $4.95 to save me a trip with two little ones in the store.

So today I decided to go in the store and do the shopping myself. I've actually done this a few times in the past month and it's gone okay. I'm going to continue doing most of my shopping online, but it's nice to know that armed with sippies of apple juice, gummy bears, and free cookies I can get in and out in less than one hour.

Since I did this somewhat on a whim today, I was finishing up right at lunch time. I figured since I saved $5 by shopping myself that deserved a treat of lunch out. I swung by Burger King and with my coupon got two whoppers and two fries for $6. The boys split a whopper and I already had some apple cut up at home. Since it's so Freaking COLD outside I left the groceries in the car while we had lunch and figured it was just as good as the frig.

On another note, one of my "resolutions" for 2011 is to become a better blogger. I'd like to post at least 175 entries for the year which is roughly every other day. I'm a little behind on this goal, so I'll get going with that soon. Till then.....

Questions about Heaven....

Explaining death to a three-year-old is not easy.

Where is Heaven? Is it far away? Can we go there?

These are questions that I answer almost daily since my uncle Dennis died. Chandler had really started to develop a bond with his uncle Dennis, and doesn't understand that he won't see him again, and the questions continue.

Here's some wisdom I thought I'd share with you.

Chandler: Mommy, did you know Jesus lives in our hearts?

Me: Yes, sweetie he does.

Chandler: Not really though mommy. Jesus is really in heaven. He's there with uncle Dennis. Do you know why?

Me: No, why?

Chandler: Because if Jesus wasn't there, uncle Dennis would be lonely.

Such a lovely thought....