Wanna See My New Crib?

YAY!!!! We finally got a crib! I know you're all dying to see it, so here it is!
On Saturday (after buying the chair) we went to Babies R Us to get the crib since they were kind enough to put it on sale. :) We found out though that they don't stock hardly any cribs, so we had them put one on hold at another store (since we didn't have 3 weeks for them to order it) and I went and got it yesterday. We got the Babi Italia Pinehurst Espresso Single Crib.
P.S. Who decided to give these things such long-o names?



Devony did most of the work (her choice) and Aaron was kind enough to take pictures while she was unpacking the box (which I'm pretty sure would have weathered a hurricane just fine. You'd think packing tape grows on trees or something! Once we got it all upstairs we both worked on it. We did put it together in the room though. Remember on Alias when they didn't and they had to do it over because it didn't fit? We learned from them. :)



Let me just say that putting a crib together is confusing! We constantly had to re-read the directions and even do a couple of things twice! Who writes these?
The finished product with our crib blanket. (Angela these are my nursery colors - olive and tan - and I'm so glad you came to visit my blog!) Now I am feverishly working on the bumper (I have great motivation all of a sudden) and hope to have it done very soon so that I can do the crib skirt! YAY this is such fun!

Adventures in Chair Shopping

Some of you know that I have ideas about things. Lots of them actually. So I KNEW I wanted a traditional rocking chair for my nursery! Well, after much shopping, I finally decided a couple of things:

1. Traditional Rocking Chair are not very popular, and therefore very difficult to find.

2. Not so great in the comfort arena

3. Drat :(

So we started looking at gliders. But I don't really like traditional nursery gliders. Plus the only REALLY comfortable ones I could find were also REALLY expensive ($550? No thanks.)

Then we found these upholstered gliders. Classy looking and pretty darn comfy. I thought we had found a match. Until we realized that Babies R Us is basically the only physical store that carries them. And they are still really expensive. Double Drat.

So we spent about 4 1/2 hours at American Furniture Warehouse on Saturday and ended up coming home with a rocker/recliner and a mismatched ottoman. I liked the ottoman because the tan and green combo goes great in the tan and green nursery, and it is very comfy (Aaron and I have each accidentally fallen asleep in it already!). Plus it's microfiber and will hopefully wear better than a few other fabrics. So here is the first real piece of furniture we bought for the nursery! What do you think?

Are You Excited?

I am. :)



You can also see this at http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates/atworldsend/

Blocks

I had these great building blocks growing up that we played with incessantly. I loved them and I really wanted our kids to have some too. Therefore, being the handyman that he is, Aaron took it upon himself to try out his new miter saw (poor guy) and make some for me! Our friends Annie and Tommy came over and Tommy helped Aaron with the block cutting.


The blocks turned out really great. There are lots of different shapes and as you can see, they work really well! We even had our friends' son try them out and he thought they were pretty good, so I guess they're kid approved! Now we'll be able to test them on our own little girl! One question though - should they be painted or left natural?

Big News....

Guys the day has finally come - we're getting a little girl!

She's due on April 14th, so around that time we will be traveling to Georgia (where her birthmom lives) to pick her up. We still have to hammer out some of the details and things, but we are really excited.

I painted the blocks for her room and Aaron is going to make a shelf to put them on! These beautiful roses are from Aaron (our caseworker actually called him first, so he got to tell me about her).

This means that we are busy shopping for her and trying to make sure we have all the essentials. There's definitely a lot to buy! We're having a great time though and loving every minute that we spend getting ready for her. Our families are really excited. My brother's wife is due one week after our little girl, so she'll even have a cousin her same age really soon!

The Talented Miss Haylee

My little sister was in the Miss Rexburg/Upper Valley pageant on Saturday and she won! She was crowned Miss Upper Valley and will compete in June for the title of Miss Idaho. If she wins, she goes on to the Miss America pageant in January! Congrats Haylee! Here's a link to the official site. I am expecting better pics from the Beauty Queen herself soon, so stand by....
http://69.20.157.118/missrex/

Goodbye Whitie Tidy Bathroom

I love color. On my walls. Is there anyone who hasn't figured that out yet? This past week I painted the powder bathroom (1st floor) dark brown. It's lovely and chocolaty. Like a Willy Wonka Bar. Yum. :)
I also found some fun bathroom "niceties." They were pretty fun. Now we just need pictures on the walls and a towel and a rug!

Painting the Roomy Red...Sort of

The paint saga continues. Surprisingly enough, the next room to get done was...Ours! I was pretty sure that our room would be last, but we decided on a color and went to work this weekend. On Saturday we went shopping and got paint for our bedroom and the powder bath on the first floor (different colors). We also got a bunch of tools for Aaron (more on those to follow). Those gift cards from Christmas sure came in handy! (On the tools, not the paint. Don't worry!)

We both had Monday off for President's Day and went to work first thing in the morning. We taped and caulked and covered the floor. Then we started cutting in.

One more thing. The color (on the paint swatch) is called Warm Mahogany and is a deep red. (I know - you're all shocked. I haven't liked red since I was about 5 years old). Well, when the window is open and there's lots of light on it, the paint is a deep red. Kind of burgundy-ish. When the blinds are closed, it's like a deep plum. I like it! Here are some pictures!

Cutting in the Room

Us with our handiwork.

The master painter himself. Aaron was so good to help me paint even though he hates painting.

The room - looking very red I might add. It's not this red.

Our straight, clean line!

Look how pretty that is! For $1.28 you can buy Acrylic Painter's caulk at Home Depot or Lowes. You tape carefully, then apply the caulk where the tape meets the wall. Run your finger along the caulk to flatten it out. Paint like normal (cut in, roll, etc.) Let dry a bit, but not over night. Remove the tape. The caulk on the tape side will pull away, but the caulk on the wall will stay there. It stops the paint from bleeding through the tape, and you end up with beautiful clean lines like this! Hooray for whatever genius came up with painter's caulk! Oh and it lasts a long time. We did the nursery, the kitchen and dining room, and our bedroom with one tube. we might even have enough to do the powder bath with it before going to a new one! YAY!!! Come see our pretty paint job!

Sprouties!

Look guys! Sprouties! We are so excited to plant a garden this spring that when we saw the seeds in Walmart a few weeks ago we bought some! We only got the ones we knew would have to be started indoors first. So here in our nice little tray we have peppers (on the left - the ones that just look like dirt. Because currently, they are just dirt) and tomatoes (on the right where you can see green).
We were very excited when we started getting sprouties and amazed at how quickly they are growing (they are about twice this size now). One slight problem we discovered this morning - it says to transplant them when they are about 3 inches tall in April or May. Except I think we planted them too early because they are about 2 inches now and they will be way bigger than 3 inches by April or May! Oops!

Look at our 'Maters!

Craftiness Projects

So my latest project has been these soft books. I have a whole bunch of them that I am sewing together and then quilting (there is batting in between the pages to make them puffy). I'm totally excited about them since they blend two of my favorite past times (sewing and reading) together! Plus while at the neighbor's super bowl party on Sunday, I'm pretty sure the soft book I was working on was the only reason that Lynn (a 2 year old friend of theirs) warmed up to me initially. It also gives me something to work on while watching TV, riding in the car, etc. I'm all over these things! (No seriously, every time I see one at the store I want to buy it!) But they will be great later on because kids can't rip them and you can throw them in the wash when they are dirty! Someone brilliant came up with these.

Also I wanted to post a picture of my very first project with my serger! Here is the first receiving blanket I have ever made (I think it turned out pretty well) and it was so quick with the serger! I love it. I'm so glad I have it. And it's not even that hard to thread! YAY!!!

My Pink Razor

Great news guys! The nice Fed Ex man left my new cell phone at my house yesterday! It is home charging today. That means that tomorrow I will have a new pink razor with me to use! Hooray! Isn't it cute? :)

Brake Changing Captured on Film

Here is the promised video! Sorry it's so dark. Thanks to Aaron for the flashlight, but I guess next time we try to film a video at night in the garage we'll bring out a big lamp or something. :)

Brake for the Mechanic in Pink

Hello all! I get to brag a bit right now - about me! On Friday night Aaron started changing the front brakes on our Blazer. I was in the garage helping, and when he finished the first side, I said, "I can do that." So then I did the second side! I did it all by myself, with only a little coaching from Aaron (he also took the tire off but it wasn't my fault since it was off before I even got outside and decided I wanted to do it). So here are some pictures to document my new skill:

I got the brake pads and caliper off by myself - that was a little tough and a lot heavy - and made the telescoping part of the caliper get smaller (so the new brake pads would fit).

I took off the old rotor and put on a nice shiny new one (but did not touch it with my hands since the oils from your fingers make it wear unevenly).

Putting the dark green goo on the caliper and brake pads so they don't squeak.

Putting the tire and lug nut caps back on.

See I really did do it all! A video that we took will come next, but hooray, I did the brakes and now I know how! It was kind of fun too!

Guys my serger is here! YAY!!! More later on how it is after I get to test it some more.

FREE BOOK!!!

Guys I'm so so so excited! Shea Homes supports the Curious George series on tv and if you go to their website they will send you a free book! I ordered mine about a week ago and today I got
this book! Curious George Goes to a Movie! I love love love books, and what's better than free! So go to this link: http://curious.sheahomes.com/main.cfm?dir=prizes&sec=register&temp=register and order your free Curious George book today!

The Blizzard of 2006 - 12/20

Hey guys. I know this is late but I wanted it to be on my blog and this is the first video I have uploaded, so it is my little expirement. This was our house on day 2 of the blizzard.

I Bought a Serger!

Look guys I am so excited! I just purchased this serger today! I am so excited about it and can't wait till it gets here!

It is a Brother 1034D and I got it on Amazon. They have a great deal on them right now!
So now I can sew projects a LOT more quickly and have finished seams! YAY!!! Happy Day!

What should I sew first? Or maybe I should say, which project should I choose to complete first? Since I pretty much have a million I'm working on. Hmm. Have to work on that - and now I can!

Bragging Rights

Today's post is about my sister. And because this is my blog and I have sole control over what goes on it, I get to brag about her. Because she's a hottie and if I were a boy I would totally be swooning over these pictures. Here you go: Oh and remember. She's 19, at BYU-Idaho, talented, and available. So who wants a date? :)


Also, if you need a great photographer, let me know or click on the link on the right. My brother-in-law is a professional photographer and he took these photos in my parent's basement! He's really good. He lives in Boise, ID, but travels for photo shoots sometimes, so if you want him to take your pictures, check it out! http://www.hrgraphicsphoto.com/index.htm.

Original Numa Numa

If you liked the last video, you may get a kick out of this one too. It's the original by O-Zone and they are pretty goofy. It also has the whole song, as opposed to the last one which only plays 1 verse and the chorus I think.



Then someone with too much time on their hands decided to make this video with lego people. Who does that?



Ok I'm done. No more goofy videos for awhile. ;)

Numa Numa Dance

For any or all of you that have not seen the Numa Numa Dance by Gary Brolsma, you are sooo missing out.
This guy lives in New Jersey and was goofing around on his computer when he made the video. It is a song called "Dragosta din tei" by the Romanian group O-Zone. I love this video. No really. It makes me laugh so much. I'm so glad Annie introduced me. And I'm so glad Haylee shares my deep and abiding love for this song. And thank you Jane for showing me how to post videos on my blog. You're the best. Enjoy it!