Sunday, January 30, 2011

Trying to Keep Busy

Spring fever is definitely setting in and we are trying to keep busy.  We're counting down the days until we can spend some of our time outside playing!  Unfortunately, we are expecting a huge winter blizzard, 10-16 inches on Tuesday!  Mommy has to get creative to keep this busy little lady entertained!

Mya loves the playdoh we made together, so I bought her some new "tools."


She also loves sorting, filling, dumping,etc.  So, I decided to make her a concoction of old noodles I had in my cabinet.  She played with this for a long time and busted it out later this evening!  Great idea, Momma!





Cute comment of the day:  "Mommy, my baby brother coming.  Yeah, he coming.  He driving."  I think she's a little confused about how exactly her baby brother is getting here! 

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Another Snowy Day

It's yet ANOTHER snowy day! I am ready for Spring! 
I am counting my blessings today as I was almost in a horrible head-on collision with an out of control SUV.  Don't take life for granted...things can change in an instant.

Here's a little lady I never take for granted.  My snow princess.  She loves helping Daddy with the snowblower.

Renovation project #3:  New Upstairs Carpet!

We finally got carpet installed in our entire upstairs!  I LOVE IT!

MYA'S ROOM BEFORE: Laminate flooring removed and ready for carpet installation.

MYA'S ROOM AFTER!

MASTER BEDROOM BEFORE:

 MASTER BEDROOM AFTER!

GUEST ROOM BEFORE:

GUEST ROOM AFTER!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I'm A Big Girl!

Recently, Mya has been asking to sleep in her big girl bed.  I have been avoiding the topic... I guess because I am resistant to change.  It terrifies me to change something that is so good.  As of now, she usually naps from 2-4pm and sleeps from 7:15pm-7:15am. So, why mess with such a good thing?

I finally realized that with Baby Boy W coming sooner rather than later, I should get Mya well adjusted to her new room with a big girl bed.  So, we built up the excitement and gave it a whirl!

Matt and I were REALLY questioning our intelligence when we decided to put her down for her nap in her toddler bed at 1:45.....exactly 15 minutes before kick-off of a huge Bears Game.  What were we thinking???  We tucked her in, gave her a "You're such a big girl!"....oh, and a "You can have ice cream when you wake up in your big girl bed!" 

Whatever.... don't judge.

So, we headed downstairs and watched the miserable beginning of the Bears game.  All was quiet in Mya's room for about 10 minutes! Then, we heard a little pitter patter coming from her room and a sweet little voice talking.  I went to her room and snuck a peek.  She had gotten out of her bed, grabbed a book, and was reading it to her lovies in her bed.  Although it was one of the cutest things I had seen, I had to nip it in the bud!  I explained to her she absolutely couldn't get out of her new bed!  She fussed and fought so I decided to put her into her crib.  She freaked.  She wanted her new bed!  Ok.... frustrated and really wanting to get back to the Bears game, I put her back into her toddler bed.  I reminded her not to get out, she was a big girl, AND she could have ice cream!

Again.... don't judge.

I headed downstairs and returned to the the miserable Bears game.  This time, all was quiet for an hour!!! She did it! She napped in her big girl bed!  Although it wasn't her usual 2 hour nap, I'll take it!  It's a new bed and she's fighting a cold!  I am so proud of my big girl!

Bedtime went extremely well too!  She didn't make a peep once we tucked her in for the night!!!  AND... I didn't even have to promise her icecream! I pray that she sleeps through the night with no problems!  I'll keep you posted!

FAST FORWARD UNTIL WEDNESDAY.... 8:18 p.m.

I am revisiting this blog entry.  Our computer was out of commission for a few days while we were getting new carpet.  I also decided it would be a good idea to wait and see how the week was going in the big girl bed before I "officially" post this entry.

So, here are the stats....

Sunday: Nap= 1 hour  Bedtime= 12 hours Mya slept all through the night and woke up a proud little girl!

Monday: Nap= 1 hour  Bedtime= slept with no problems until midnight... then demanded on sleeping in her crib!

Tuesday:  Nap= 2 hours Bedtime= no big girl bed.... demanded the crib.   UGH!

Wednesday: Nap= 2.75 hours Bedtime= so far so good!  She's been asleep since 7:30.  We'll cross our fingers!

I'm not quite sure what to think about this whole big girl bed! As of now, we have her crib and toddler bed in her bedroom.  Matt and I have difference of opinion. I think we should take the crib out and not give her a choice.  Matt things we should keep it in her room and let her choose where she wants to sleep.  What to do, what to do???

Friday, January 21, 2011

Renovation: Part 2 New Floors!

While Mya and I were visiting my sister, Matt and I decided it would be a good time to get our floors refinished.  Our entire first floor has beautiful hardwood floors...they just need a little TLC.  Matt has obsessed over getting them refinished from the day we moved in.  Fortunately and unfortunately, his profession allows him to see beautiful million dollar homes.  This causes him to have a ton of house envy!  Much of which consists of the flooring.  So, we decided to bite the bullet and get them refinished.  I pretty much left it up to him.  He got several quotes, found the best deal, booked the company, scheduled the days, and picked the color.  Me, being the control-freak that I am, struggled a bit but was secretly thankful that I, for once, didn't have to deal with a single detail.....or so I thought.

Before:
We had to move EVERYTHING from our downstairs into our kitchen, upstairs bedrooms, and basement.  Needless to say, our kitchen was out of service for the refinishing of our floors!

Our floors were very yellow and had several blemishes. 



Our little helper!  She loved the Dolly!
So, I thought I would miss out on all the action and come home from St. Louis with beautifully refinished floors.  Boy, was I wrong!  Matt broke the news to me that the men wouldn't be finished until Thursday.  Mya and my flight was scheduled to arrive Tuesday at 11:00am.  That meant we couldn't be in our house from Tuesday-Wednesday at 6:00pm.  I panicked! I had just been gone for several days and now I would have to be gone for 2 more.  I couldn't even go into my house until 6:00 each evening.  When we were home, we had to stay upstairs because there was absolutely nothing downstairs and EVERYTHING in our kitchen.  THANK GOODNESS, we were able to spend time at our friends' house while they were at work.  Mya napped in baby Kylie's crib and it ended up working out ok.  We tried to make the best of the situation!


Mya and Mommy had a pizza picnic on Mommy and Daddy's bedroom floor! Mya thought this was great!

AFTER: 
I LOVE IT!  All the trouble was well worth it!




Next week, Renovation: Part 3... CARPET upstairs!!! Stay tuned for pictures!

Leaving on a Jet Plane......

My sister went from living 6 minutes to 6 hours away.  It was a hard transition for everyone.  It was a blessing for her family as Steve was presented an offer he really couldn't turn down with Edward Jones.  The move would take them from Barrington to St. Louis.  It was extremely hard for Andra and me, as well as the kids.  We had become use to our daily playdates, easy babysitting drop-offs, lunchdates, dinnerdates, and those much needed glasses of wine while the kids played together!  Mya would wake-up from nap asking for Ty Ty and I would reply, "Let's get dressed and go see him!"  That's not so easy anymore.  She still asks for at least one of her cousins daily.  She also constantly tells and asks me, "Ty ty likes it?.?."  Sometimes confirming that something is good and other times asking for advice when trying something new.  If he likes it, it must be good.

I had several days off of work, so I decided this would be a great opportunity to fly to St. Louis for a long weekend to visit the Kuehls.  It would be her first time on an airplane.  She was super excited and I was super nervous!  Luckily, the flight is only 45 minutes.  I packed enough snacks and activities for a 8 hour flight...you can never be too prepared!  Matt dropped his girls off at the airport and wished us luck!

The Flight:  I only had my iphone camera so the picture is very blurry.  Mya loved the airplane!  Before the flight she said she wanted to sit on my lap, but she ended up staying in her own seat the entire flight! The flight crew was great and the passengers around us loved her!  She really was pretty comical.

Playtime: I really didn't pull out my camera too often.  We were just too busy playing and catching up!  We ate, shopped, explored St. Louis, went to a fabulous Children's Museum (The Magic House), laughed, and hottubbed!


Mya couldn't get enough of her cousins! She LOVES them!


Hangin' with CiCi.  Can you tell she wants to be just like her?


Mya grabbed a hold of B and wouldn't let go!


Funny Faces!


Ready for the hottub! Mya loved it!  She was kicking like a little mermaid.  I think she's ready for swim lessons!


Auntie and the kids in the hottub! It was about 20 degrees outside! It was relaxing....but would've been nice with a glass of wine rather than an O'douls.

Mya gets a firm grip on TyTy... she didn't want to let him go!

The Flight Home:  In retrospect, this was pretty funny.  At the time, I was horrified.  First of all, Mya was greeting every single person we walked by in the airport.  She also dropped to the ground about 10 times before we go to security to "take my shoes off."  As we got to security, there was a pretty long line.  Mya refused to stay within the ropes with me.  At one point, she was leaning against a large column and covering her eyes.  I asked her what she was doing and she screamed, "I pooping Mommy!"  That got a giggles from the crowd....until they realized she had completed polluted the area in which we had about a 10 minute wait.

We made it through security successfully, and stinkily, and were on our way to the gate.  We stopped by the women's room to change her diaper.... and used up all the wipes we had (important info for later in the airport visit.)  As we got to the gate, we were told we had about a 20 minute delay due to weather.  Mya was great.  She played with her baby and entertained a couple of passengers waiting to board our flight.  All of a sudden, she grabbed her bottom and said, "Owwwwy Mommy."  This was followed up with, "I poopied again, Mommy."  WHAT?!?!?!  Immediately, I heard, "Now boarding flight 1742.  Crap....that was us!  At this point I realized, a.) What the heck...she already pooped.  b.) Crap, I have NO DIAPER OR WIPES! c.) Our flight was boarding. d.) She smelled like poop e.) Her bottom hurt and couldn't sit in it for another hour. 

Of course, Mya being a naive 2 year old, she didn't get the urgency of our actions.  She casually tried to walk to the bathroom watching all the passer-byers.  I grabbed her (along with my 2 carry-ons, purse, and large pregnant belly) and ran to the bathroom!  My first plan was to empty her poopy diaper into the toilet, use wet papertowels, and reapply the dirty diaper. I quickly realized that this diaper could NOT be reapplied.  Some how, by the grace of God, a mom with a toddler came into the bathroom.  With a look of complete desperation, I asked her for a diaper and offered her good money!  She gave me a pull-up, wished me luck, and refused the cash offer!  We ran back to our gate and boarded shortly after!  Whew!

Mya was great on our flight home and declared she wanted to "Do it again!"
 
Mya "hiding" while she pooped at security!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

The Naked Artist

It was becoming a looooooong Sunday afternoon,
so we decided to get naked and paint!



A little fun with editing! :-)







Laundry Room Makeover

My latest "nesting" project! 
I may have gotten in over my head with this, but I am SO happy to have it almost complete!



BEFORE.....
Here's some before pictures of our nasty laundry room.  This was the last room to be "stripped" and remodeled.  Notice the beautiful blood vessel wallpaper, gold knobs, and the exterior door with a full body mirror attached.  You could literally see daylight through this door... not the best for keeping heat in the house!  We still need to do the tile floor, but this will do for now!





AFTER....
 
 







Here it is... new paint, new lighting, new utility sink, new knobs, new exterior door, new hooks, and a few pictures to personalize it! SO MUCH BETTER!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Biker Chick

I found this adorable biker jacket at Von Maur for $10!  Mya looked absolutely bada** in it!  ;-)  Her hat doesn't exactly match... but I had to keep her warm somehow.  I don't think this jacket was really meant for 20 degree weather....but I couldn't resist putting her in it for our Mommy/Daughter shopping date!


Tuesday, January 4, 2011

It's a.....

20 week picture of Baby Momma! Mommy and Daddy are headed to the doctor's office for our 20 week ultrasound.

Is it a......


 It's a.....

 Here's our handsome little guy!

He's showing off his muscles already!