Just Checking In...

Hello All!
It has been and still is crazy busy! I think my last post was August, and that was right before we went to Disney World ( for the first time! yay!). We still miss Disney. It was AWESOME! Anyways, the kitchen remodel thing, yeah, not gonna happen. I took off all the doors, and I really was going to paint, but I underestimated how hard it would be with a 3 and under 1 year old. We are going to try to sell our house, so we decided we will put the doors back on (hasn't happened yet). Maybe after January things will settle down and we can catch a breath and put the doors back on. Currently, it is 9 days till Christmas, 7 days till Little Man turns 1 and Jubilee turns 4 on Jan 31st. I am actually going to play the piano on Wednesday for Patch Club Peewees, we are still getting things together for our new-to-us car, and getting things around for birthdays and Christmas. So, yeah. I will definitely need a breather after this. Maybe then I can try to post a little more often.
Thanks for stopping by!

Homemade Baby Gate and Dessert

I made a baby gate. There is a large gap between the living room and kitchen that is too big for a baby gate. They sell the extra large gates but they are about $50. Mine was about $20ish. I got the idea from here. I bought about 2 1/4 yds of home decor fabric, sewed up the sides and bottom, added some tabs and attached it to some hooks. I will probably reinforce the middle and bottom with some scrap pvc that I have because someone has decided to pull up on it and another someone decided to crawl under it. However, I am happy with it for now.

UPDATE: Yeah, Homemade Baby Gate, not working out to well. Little man feels the need to rip the hooks out of the drywall. If I used the command hooks like someone else did, it may be better. Also, if I anchored the hooks it may hold. I will try this next because the side where the hooks are attached to wood are holding great.

Now, what do you give a 3 1/2 year old that has already had a snack size kitkat, but still wants some "chocolate dessert"? Ice cream, of course! I have no cake or brownie mixes (not that she needed it) but I do happen to have some frozen banana slices and cocoa powder. So I made this little gem that I found on pinterest. I just used 2 frozen bananas, some cocoa powder and a splash of sugar free vanilla syrup. She had a few bites before she became otherwise engaged, but I saved the rest in the freezer for later. I don't think she was completely thrilled with it but she accepted it. It makes a nice, healthy dessert for her (and me!) when her sweet tooth starts calling.

Bubble Shields

Door Catcher

So, I tried to make a baby sling today, but that was a bust. It ended up being too small because it got cut wrong (soo NOT my fault!). I did what the directions said to do, but it ended up being backward. I will try again later. :)
Now, back to my door catcher. I saw this on Pinterest today and thought, "That's awesome! I can make that!". Well, I did! It was pretty easy, and quick too!

Yay! no more sock in the floor to catch the door!

Pizza Casserole

Tonight I made some super awesome yummyness (at least that's what the hubby said). I found the recipe for this Pizza Casserole on Pinterest. I love Pinterest; there's just too much awesomeness for me handle! :)
Anyways, I took pictures of what I made. I'm so sad I don't get to eat any of it! You see, I am currently dying dieting. It's so sad. I LOVE pepperoni! I also love beef and noodles. Do you hear the sound of my heart breaking? Do you?! Well, here are the pics...

This is what I get to eat drink...2 bananas, 2 cups of unsweetened almond milk,
a splash of sugarfree vanilla syrup and a dash of cinnamon.

And this is what everyone else gets to eat.

Mmmm....

Well, at least there was enough left over to make 2 more meals!

Teething necklace

Well, hello again. It's been a while. I was supposed to be posting updates from my last project, but the reason I haven't posted is because I haven't been doing the project. I know, shame, shame. It's hard! However, I PROMISE that I WILL do the cupboards! They will be finished very little at a time. I didn't realize how hard it would be while taking care of 2 young'ns. So, anyone wanna see a creepy spider pic?

 You're welcome. :) I have this weird obsession to take super close-up pictures of bugs, even though I hate bugs and they make my stomach churn. I know, I'm weird. I also like to camp and hike despite my hatred of bugs. My husband doesn't understand how I can enjoy those activities with the bugs.           Neither do I.

Anywho, back to the reason for this post. The teething necklace. I think mine turned out o.k. It was super easy and fast to make. I whipped it up while making dinner! I found this tutorial one day and thought, "Hey, that looks easy. I can make that!", and, well, I did!

This is the fabric I used. It is soo pretty!

Tada! I love it! Hopefully Little Man will too!

Kitchen remodel

I am trying to revamp the kitchen. Ever since we moved in, we talked about doing something with the cabinets. We didn't want to paint them because they are nice, real wood cabinets with a natural stain (sealant?). You could even smell the fresh wood smell even though they have been there for YEARS! Well I am sick of looking at them. Stripping all of them and sanding and staining...sounds like too much work that I don't have time for. After seeing someone's remodel online, and all they did was paint, I was like, "Wow! I soo have to do that!". So I am. I went by a suggestion I saw and bought Bull's Eye 3-2-1 Primer. I also bought some wood putty because I am getting rid of the handles. I was going to spray paint them but decided to handleless instead. There are 30 doors and and 9 drawers. It gets a bit pricey, so, I may decide to get handles much later in the future, since we're on a budget. I bought painter's tape, a spackle knife and some small rollers. I still need to get some glossy white paint, paint sticks and a brush. This will be fun. I took off 6 doors today, and it took all day to get it done. I'm taking lots of pictures and will try to tell a little bit of the story everyday. I will leave you with some "before" pictures. BTW: Please excuse the mess on the end counter. We're trying to get things organized but are finding a lack of space. Oh, and that chandalier, it's getting help too, I'm just not sure how yet.

Biscuit Waffles

I made me some biscuit waffles this morning. I had see the idea floating around the web and decided to try it out. It was pretty good, I mean, it's biscuits with syrup (in my case, agave nectar). What's not to love, right? They were even good plain, cause it's a biscuit. Anyways, I enjoyed it and will eat them again.

Sunflower cake

Well, I made my version of this awesome sunflower cake. I had highs hopes for my cake. Then it turned out a little TOO moist and crumbled everywhere and the frosting was a little hard, so, yeah.

 Maybe next year I will try again!

Also, Jubi was in her room watching a cartoon and eating an apple. It was awfully quiet, so I checked on her. Just as I thought. She is asleep, on her bed. But wait, all I see is a head. Mmhmm...UNDER the fitted sheet.

How she managed this I don't know, because when I tried to get her out, I find that she is also UNDER the plastic mattress pad. And she is OUT! So, I untucked a corner of the sheet and tried to pull her up because just pulling her will pull her skin (oh, I forget to mention, she had apparently stripped down to her pull-up). I finally got her on the correct side of the sheet and under her blanket.

Notice the apple still in hand. Her skirt was on her pillow and her shirt is still MIA.

Soy icecream...yay!

Yay for me! I discovered a lovely treat for myself. This morning I was in a hurry (kinda) to get ready and go to town. I had an individual size SILK chocolate soy milk on the kitchen table. I kinda wanted some chocolateyness so I put it in the freezer to get cold fast. Well, just after I finished eating lunch, I had a walk around Target. Hey! Their SILK is on sale! OH NO! My soy milk is still in the freezer. So sad. I thought, "Well, I guess I have to throw it away now. I don't think you can freeze soy milk.". I don't know why I thought that, but I looked it up on their website FAQ to be sure. Well wouldn't you know it. You CAN freeze soymilk, it's just not recommended because it changes the texture. So, I cut open the bag (box?) and dumped out the frozen yummy into a bowl. IT'S GOOD! Then I had an awesome thought. As we all may know, soy icecream costs a TON. My awesome thought...buy a carton of soymilk, pour it in ice trays, freeze and enjoy!   Cool, huh?! I know, I'm proud of me too. :)

Donuts and peanut butter...

First of all, let me start by saying...Peanut butter is AWESOME!! More about that later. Now, on to the donuts. I bought me a super cool Wilton donut pan a target for $5 clearance after easter. I also got some sprinkles, and candy peeps, and candy and some stickers and candy. :) I had a super cool idea for my super cool pan, but it looked better in my head than in reality. I also need a better recipe for cake donuts, but hey, I tried!

Now, back to the peanut butter. After I finished the donuts (making them, not eating them), Hubby went golfing and my feet needed exfoliating. I have this Dead sea salt scrub thing but it's about 5 years old. The oil on top kinda solidified, but I figured I'd try it anyway. I did and that was a BIG mistake. Trying to wash off solidified oil is useless. I also have a sleeping baby that could wake at any moment, so I had to work fast. So, I'm walking through the house with a towel under my foot and not touching anything with my hands. I got to my computer and looked up "how to clean oil off hands". (I was able to get the very tips of my fingers unsticky so I didn't kill my computer.) This is the result I got ... https://tokecity.com/forums/archive/index.php4/t-351.html . I have Palmolive, so I tried it. Nope. I tried the rubbing alcohol. I got burned nostrils. So then I tried the peanut butter. OMGosh! It actually worked! My hand were no longer sticky! And then there's my foot. It was an interesting sight I'm sure. I hiked my leg on the counter into the sink and got to work. It is now sticky free, except for the top of my ankle. That will come off eventually though, right? I mean it's hard to wash peanut butter off a foot in kitchen sink! Moral of the story: If it's old, looks old, or you know you shouldn't use it...just say NO! and THROW IT AWAY! and if you have a greasy mess on your hands, use peanut butter. It's magic! :)

Trying New Things

First, I "tried" to clean the round metal things under the stove burners, but I gave up it just refused to come off! In my defense, the stove is old, who knows the last time those things were cleaned, and some of it was rust.

              Before                         During                        After    
       

Next, I "tried" to make a yummy breakfast I never have before, Sticky BACON Biscuits, but, the bacon I was going to use was bad. So, we had it without bacon :( and I cooked up some sausage to go with it. It was yummy but I will have to try it again WITH the bacon.

Yeah, I made a little mess...

but doesn't it look yummy?

At least I tried...right? :)

                                   

I'm back...kinda

Updates! Ok, so, It has been almost a year since I posted anything. One reason...a blog is a lot of work! lol The other reason, as soon as I created this blog I found out I was pregnant..then the morning sickness came. I did not even want to look at a computer screen. I just wanted to lay on the couch and watch TV. I know I traded one screen for another, but in my head there is a difference! Even after the morning sickness passed I just didn't feel the love with the blog.
Then I was really busy. In the middle of my morning sickness I had to travel out of state (FL to TN to VA) because my Grandma took a turn for the worse. I don't remember if I even left TN (my parents live there) to come back home but we had to go back to VA I think a week later because she died. That was in June. The rest of the year was just busy with life, house updates, getting things ready for baby and then..baby!

Baby story: I was due Dec.22. I was soo ready for it too. I had no contractions and was 2cm for a week (but at least I had dropped!). The night of the 22nd I had some irregular contractions for an hour, then they stopped. My parents were on their way down for Christmas. They arrived that afternoon and were a little short on sleep cause they got up early to get here. We all went to bed at about 11pm. The second (no joke) I laid down at about 11:30, I had a contraction. I was like..really? Then my next thought,"Oh no, I had spaghetti for dinner. I hope I don't get sick." So I timed them (6-8min apart) and told hubby I had to see if they lasted more than an hour. I didn't want to go to the hospital for a false alarm and we live about an hour from the hospital. An hour came around and I was still having contractions now about 5min apart. I was still debating to go or not and I didn't want to wake my parents for nothing but I finally decided to go. I told my parents, "I know you just went to bed, but I think it's time. About 15min later we all left. It was nasty, muggy, foggy and warm outside. The contractions are getting stronger and closer. We made it to the hospital and the receptionist had me fill out a ton of paperwork and was looking at me like she didn't think I was really in labor. My dad asked me," How far apart are your contractions now?", I said," I dunno. I'm at the hospital now, they can do it.". So they take me back for observation. I was 5cm with bulging water. I was like," wow", they were like,"Uh, she needs a room, go find a clean one." BTW there were a ton of inductions scheduled for the 23rd and when I got there, there were at least 4 others there and another came in at 9cm and another had to go to the OR, and those weren't even all for the day...so it was busy! Anyways, I got to the room and I was now 6cm. It was time for the IV. It's hard to find my veins so maybe about 20min (looking for a vein) and 2 sticks later, it was in. I decided that I may want some medication, but I figured it was too late cause the IV took so long and the nurse confirmed this. I was like 7or8cm and water was gone. Then it started to HURT, but the nurse was AWESOME and talked me through the contractions and got nice cold, wet rags for my head cause it was HOT. My Dr. was also AWESOME and helped me deliver a healthy baby boy (after 5 hours of labor) at 4:57a.m., Dec.23rd. I was surprised at how much he weighed (8lbs.11oz.19-3/4in.) because he looked smaller than his sister did when she was born(7lbs.15oz.20-1/4in.). We were able to leave the hospital Christmas Eve night and have Christmas together at home. :)
Three months later, Jubilee is warming up to the idea of being big sister and Thomas is growing like a weed.

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