Thursday, September 27, 2007

A"door"able

I am sure that I have mentioned this before, people around here are very meticulous about the outside of their houses. Their grass is always green and perfectly manicured. They always have flowers in season, bountiful plants and other landscaping. It's fun to walk around our neighborhood and look at all the things that people have done with their houses.

There's this one house in particular that I love. It's not a very large house, it's probably smaller than the house we currently live in, but I just love how they have landscaped....and especially, I LOVE their front entry. They have the same color brick that we have, and the same color beige trim...but they have a beautiful, shiny BLACK front door, with a brass kick plate, door handle and knocker. I just can't help myself but stare at it every time we drive, or walk by.

It is because of this that I requested from my wonderful husband, that we also paint our front door black. We have held off on this project because our front door is just fine and we just had a baby, so we are a little short on time. Well, I guess I did something good, because a couple of days ago Eric got the black paint, new door handles, brass kick plate, and a new knocker and began the project of beautifying our entryway.

The before picture is from Father's Day - you can't seethe whole door, but you get the idea...it's not ugly, just BORING. And notice the door knob, boring as well.


And now the after....I LOVE it!!


And now for something completely different. Emily is now almost five, and no longer takes naps. Sometimes, after staying up a little late, or a long week of school, she can fall asleep at any given point during the day. Mostly this happens in the car, but when the house gets quiet, I always know, Emily must have fallen asleep somewhere...it's usually in her room. This time, she had put all her doggies down for a nap, and must have decided they had the right idea, so she joined in. It was so darn cute. We just LOVE that girl.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Finally!

So, as most of you know, I have letters in Emily's room that spell her name. They were a gift from my Mom for her first birthday. I love them, and could not wait for us to paint her room here in our new house so that we could put them up on her wall (the letters are white, and her walls were white). Of course, I had to get the letters for Paige's room as well. So, I ordered them from Pottery Barn Kids about 1 month before she was born, and much to my dismay, the "g" was on back order until the middle of September. I was pretty upset. Eric and I looked all over the Internet to find letters the were the font, size and quality that I wanted - we didn't find any. So, I waited, patiently. FINALLY, last Friday the "g" showed up on my doorstep. I waited for Paige to wake up, and started taking out the letters.....guess what? The paint on the "g" was a different color. Don't you just hate that? Pottery Barn was great and sent out all new letters, which we got today. They all matched. Eric hung them. I love them. Happy Allison.

Oh, and I got Paige lowercase letters - since she's the little sister, and I have a thing for the lowercase "g". Don't ask.......

Also, I finished the artwork that I was making for Paige's wall. I think it's pretty good. I now have a new motto - if you can't find what you need.....make it yourself.

I made these with scraps from my patterned paper scrap pile - I just tore off pieces and glued them down so that they went around the shape of each of the petals. The centers are made with a chipboard circle covered in card stock, and then I glued on buttons from my button stash. Total cost: $40 for all three. Pretty good huh? It took me all of about 2 hours to make all three. I am now thinking what other shapes would be cool. Emily wants one for her room. Any suggestions?
So now, Finally, Paige's room is done. I know she's much happier - i think that's why she has been crying so much. I just know she's laying in her crib right now smiling, and thinking about how much she loves her room. I know I would be.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Eggplant Mess

Well, it's looks delicious, and according to both my husband and my Mom, it was delicious. But it was a HOLY MESS! I had three pans going on the stove top, and the oven heating to 425. I was frying eggplant, making sauce, making pasta, and breading the remaining eggplant so I could fry that as well. Somewhere in all of it, I made a Caesar salad, and threw some frozen garlic bread in the oven. Through it all, I was sweating like crazy.....silly me, forgot that the air was off, and it was 79 degrees in the house. Well, we closed all the windows, and turned the air down to 72...I was having pregnancy flashbacks.

Right now, my house smells like fried eggplant, and it's balmy outside and supposed to rain later today, so no open windows.....oh well. As long as I don't go outside, I don't realize how bad the house smells.

Hope you had a good birthday Mom!! (do you see Paige trying to join in?)

I also thought I would post some pictures from Emily's exciting swim at Matt, Sue, Hayley and Clara's pool. Matt even taught her how to blow bubbles in the water, and we will be practicing that tonight in the tub. That's Miss Clara looking like she's walking on water...her big sister Hayley is underneath her.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Two Months Old

Today, my little Paige is two months old. Can it be? She's getting so BIG. I tried on some of Emily's old PJ's on her the other day - size 3 to 6 months, and they fit. Emily wore these pj's on Mother's Day 2003 (she was 5 months old), I have a picture. When we get the scanner working, I will scan the picture I have of Emily in the pj's and take a picture of Paige wearing the same ones. Paige is just so tall...well long, I guess, it's not like she is walking. She's still sorta doing the schedule thing, although it does vary a little from day to day.

I had a very busy weekend. I tried to catch up on the enormous amount of laundry that had accumulated while Eric's parents were here. I also did a little shopping. Got Emily and Paige matching PJ's from Old Navy - just like Emily requested. Emily was not as excited as I thought she would be. This is the last year that I will be able to dress them in matching PJ's - Old Navy only goes from 3-6 months up to 5T. It's kind of sad. I also got some frames from Michael's to make some artwork for Paige's room. I'll let you know how that goes. Did you know that it very hard to find artwork for a baby's room that's not cutesy??

We also went to the Alderman-Wuchte house for an Alderman Family get-together. Emily very much enjoyed herself - as did Eric, Paige and myself. Emily and Eric got to go swimming in their indoor pool. Emily could not wrap her head around why Matt and Sue have a pool inside their house....she talked about it the whole way there.

Today is my Mom's birthday, so I must now wrap it up. I am making Eggplant Parmesan from scratch, and I have to get started.......here are some pic's from today's 2 month shoot.





Thursday, September 20, 2007

And I am back

I have been so busy the last few days. Eric's parents have been in town and we have been showing them the sights.

Monday, we went to Blakes Apple Orchard and Cider Mill, for what else but apple picking, donuts and cider - all of which were great. We also have a HUGE bag of apples that we picked and now we are FORCED (yeah, twist my arm) to make all sorts of apple pies, cakes and anything else we can think of with apples. We seem to do this every year - pick WAY too many apples....but it's all in fun. I don't think that Eric's parent have been apple picking in years, and I am pretty sure that they have never experienced fresh donuts and cider from the cider mill - which, in my opinion, is the WHOLE reason to go apple picking.


On Tuesday we went to a little town north of here called Frankenmuth. It's a German town that is famous for it's family style chicken dinners and German ambiance. We walked around quite a bit, shopped a little, and ate an early dinner at our favorite place - The Bavarian Inn. The chicken was as good as I remember it to be, as were the mashed potatoes and stuffing. Emily's favorite part of the day was rolling down the hill next to the newly built shopping area. Paige slept through most of it - she only woke up for her bottle at dinner time...how convenient.
The last picture is Miss Paige from today - the other pictures are a little Emily centered, so I thought I would include one of the other daughter. Paige is really becoming much more fun. She's smiling, laughing, "talking", trying to grasp objects, and she loves to stand up - with help of course. She has such strength in her legs and neck. If she's not walking by 10 or 11 months, I will be shocked. She's a girl on a mission, and she just seems like she has some place to GO. She's also on somewhat of a schedule - if you call 3 days of pretty much the same sleeping and eating patterns a schedule. She's sleeping from 10pm at night until 3:45am, then from 4:30am until 7am, and then she takes a long nap from 1 until 4. She does cap nap in between. For me, it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's consistent.
Too tired to write anything else today - maybe more tomorrow.

Friday, September 14, 2007

New Shoes Part Two

I had a very busy day yesterday. Got up early, showered, dressed myself, and my girls. Then, I started laundry, fed the baby, attempted to work but then had to attend to a crying baby. I took Paige with me to pick Emily up at school - Emily was surprised and so excited. Then, I started my chicken soup - I roast chicken breasts (with skin and bone) in the oven with carrots, celery, onions and a little water for about an hour for my soup base. It makes a great tasting soup...I swear. Then, I was off to the supermarket.

In Florida, we had the most fantastic supermarket - Publix. Now, I love Michigan. I love the fruit markets and the apple orchards....but the supermarkets SUCK. We have a Kroger around the corner from us, and since we have moved here, I can probably count on my hand the number of times I have been there. I literally pay an extra dollar for things at Nino's (the awesome fruit market) so that I don't have to go to Kroger. Farmer Jack's was a little better, but they went bankrupt and are now gone. I thought that all was lost...until I went to a locally owned grocery chain called VG's. Now, it's not Publix, but it is as close as I am going to get to Publix here in Michigan. I was talking to a lady in the canned vegetable aisle yesterday who also hates Kroger, and love's VG's, so I am not alone. They decorated the outside of the store with hay bales, pumpkins and scarecrows - so cute. I would have taken a picture, but of course, my camera I bought specifically for my purse, was on the counter at home. Anyhoo...my shopping experience was great, even though it's 10 minutes further than Kroger - it's worth it.

After I got home, unloaded my haul, and finished the soup. I did more laundry, fed the baby, bathed the baby and collapsed in a heap on the bed last night at 10pm.

Having two kids is a lot of work.....it's going to get easier right???

Here's those pictures of Emily and her new shoes....also a picture of Paige in her cute, cute outfit from Gymboree. I must not go in that store......

Thursday, September 13, 2007

New Shoes


Went shoe shopping for Miss Emily yesterday - FINALLY. She, the poor child, has been wearing the same shoes (sneakers) since last year. I usually replace them every 4-6 months, but for some reason her shoes have stayed relatively clean and scuff free, so we have kept them. She tried them on for the first day of school - and they wouldn't slide on her foot very easily. So, she wore sandals. Lately, she has been wearing her Keds without socks, and that has made for some very smelly toes. YUCK.

Okay - so how bad is this? Her last shoe, size 10......new shoes - size 12. She has officially moved to the "middle" wall of Stride Rite. Her poor little toes...I was cramming them in shoes that were obviously much too small. Sorry sweetie! Just for the record, she hasn't been complaining.

I also got Miss Paige her first official shoes. Pink Mary Janes. So cute.


Emily wore her new shoes this morning to school - and I was busy so I forgot to take a picture. I will do that this afternoon when she gets home from school.....I cannot guarantee that they won't be scuff free - knowing Emily she will have spilled paint on them or something.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

July 24th revisited

Seven weeks and some hours ago, I woke up (figuratively, I wasn't actually sleeping), got ready, went downstairs and didn't eat, kissed Emily and my Mom good bye, and left for the hospital to have baby girl number 2. It all sounds so simple. It was, I guess. Simple surgery, over in a matter of minutes. Just a couple of moments that changed my life forever. I remember sitting on the operating table, waiting for my spinal, and thinking, "Oh my God. This is really happening." It was a surreal experience. The OR was full of women - the only exception was the anesthesiologist and my husband. And, then at 10:33am, we brought one more into the room. She was screaming before the cord was even cut. Since then, I have thought what it must have been like for her - she was peacefully swimming along in my belly, not a care in the world, then WHAMMO!! Out of nowhere, the brightest light, hugely loud sounds and not to mention, FREEZING COLD.....it would make me cry too.

She continued crying through her first feeding, her first bath, and countless temperature checks, and stopped right before her newly minted BIG sister and Grandma (my Mom) arrived at around 1:30pm. They brought my starving husband lunch - which he continued to eat even though I was puking my brains out in front of him - typical male. That spinal anesthesia made me VERY nauseous.

By the time my Uncle Denny and cousin Kelly arrived, I was feeling much better. Paige continued to sleep, and we talked about what a peaceful baby she was, and how she couldn't possibly be the crab that Emily was........oh how silly we were. Other visitors that afternoon included my Dad and Natalie, and my Aunt Teresa. I continued on my diet of ice chips, scared that my nausea would return.

By the time everyone left, I was exhausted. They took Paige to the nursery for the night, and continued waking me up every few hours - I think I slept about 3 hours.

It's all past us now - nine months of anticipating, and it's over in a flash.

Paige at seven weeks is a very healthy eater. She is taking about 30-32 ounces of formula every day. Eric weighed her the other day, and it appears that she is up to 11 pounds. Dr. Mikula - my OB who I saw for my final post pardum appt. today - said that I was lucky I wasn't breastfeeding, because Paige would probably be attached to my boob 24 hours a day. Now that's something you don't hear from a doctor everyday. Paige is also starting to smile and coo a lot more. She somewhat happier than she has been - but she still has her crying spells. She is enjoying her baths much more now. She is nowhere near a schedule yet - I am hoping that is coming. I have also decided that she has a very short attention span. When she is awake and in a somewhat good mood, she's only happy on her playmat for five minutes, swing - five minutes, doing baby aerobics - five minutes. I have to keep changing the activity every five minutes....no wonder I am so tired.
Here's some pictures of the little one from today: