Friday, January 28, 2011

Decisions, Decisions

Some of you who know me in real life might not know this, but I love to decorate.  I say you might not know this because my home doesn’t necessarily reflect my love.  This is probably due to a few factors: 

1) My hubby. He could live the rest of his days with white walls and be content.  Pretty ironic that he is a web designer, right?  I also think that we tend to have pretty different styles.  If you’d ask him to show you a photo of his style he’d probably show you something like this: 


I actually like this kind of look but consider my style to be more contemporary/eclectic.  The uber modern style leaves me feeling a little cold.  I can’t see myself coming home to a home decked out this way, but would definitely incorporate some of the same elements.  I like clean lines, touches of metal, etc., too.  

2) Budget. Let’s face it. Decorating can be expensive, depending on what you want to do.  And, our house is quite large. For example, we bought six gallons of paint for our main living area in our basement, and we’re still not sure this will be enough.  Not to mention, we still have a bathroom, two bedrooms, and a workout room that will remain white after we’re done.  

 3) Our home is fairly new. This leaves me feeling guilty spending money to update things that we just paid (technically, are still paying) for.  Jeff built and lived in our home about two years before we were married.  I helped pick out a few fixtures here and there, but didn’t really think about the overall look of the house.  After all, I had no idea this would become my house, too, in a few short years.  I specifically remember one day when Jeff and I still worked together, he asked me if I wanted to go and look at light fixtures over our lunch break one day.  I jumped at the chance.  Little did I know he had to have all of his decisions made by the end of that day!  So, even though I helped pick the fixtures out, I’m regretting some of my choices.  

I am making some progress little by little.  Depending on the project, it can take me a lot of time to coax Jeff into my ideas (sometimes years), but I’m softening him up!  Enter one of my Christmas gifts from my sweet, sweet husband:



I think I first fell in love with this beauty about two years ago, and now it will soon be hanging above our dining room table.  Now, there is nothing wrong with our current chandelier. (Which was Jeff’s main reason for telling me I couldn’t buy this one.)  I’d be content with it, but I am absolutely in love with my new one. I think it will help modernize our home that is slowly becoming a little more traditional than I’d like.  My biggest challenge will be getting the chandelier hung.  I was told that it was my duty to figure out how to get it in place.  (Good thing my brother is a skilled carpenter! I just have to get him to my house!)

Here is our dining room as it is today:




After I get the chandelier hung, my next step is to hang two or three shelves on the wall. They are about four and a half feet long, and I'd put the walling hangings on the shelves rather than have them hang.  I’m thinking either these: 

 or these:

I like the first ones because I think the stainless still will tie in nicely with our table legs and some of the metal looking elements in our wall hangings.  However, they need to be put up with brackets, and I like more of a floating shelf kind of look for this room.  

The black ones are nice because they are floating shelves, but I’m worried that the black won’t look good against our wall color (sometimes looks chocolate brown, sometimes looks camouflage green). I’d appreciate any opinions or suggestions!

I’m also wondering if this rug would work with everything else that is going on in the room.   

Jeff asked me if I wanted to get sick while eating. I guess he thinks the stripes are too busy!  Maybe I Jeff can do a little Photoshop work and see how it looks in the room before I go out and buy it. 

Curtains. Do I need them?  And if yes, I have no idea where to begin. I’m also taking suggestions here.  Please chime in! Decisions, decisions.  P.S.  Anyone want to buy a brushed nickel chandelier? P.P.S. No, I have not started on a nursery yet!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

22 and 23 weeks


I wrote the beginning of this post last week when I was 22 weeks, but never got around to getting my photo downloaded, so I’m combining two posts into one.

Not much new to report on the baby front (or any front for that matter.  I had my monthly doctor appointment today and everything seems to be on track.  Baby’s heartbeat was at 140.   

22 weeks. Yuck. Not the most flattering picture.

23 weeks. Funny, unlike Angie, I feel like I look smaller in person!  Maybe I'm just in denial. I blame my tall husband not knowing to stoop down to my level when he takes my picture. :)

I saw this little questionnaire on another blog and thought it might be a good way for me to document some milestones along the way.

How far along:  22 weeks 2 days

How big is baby: 11 ounces

Stretch marks: nope, but my tummy sure does get itchy!

Maternity clothes: I just bought a few things at Gap last weekend on a spontaneous trip up to Southdale.  (I can’t resist a 40% off coupon.  Maternity clothes are expensive!) My favorite buy was a pair of dark wash skinny jeans. LOVE.  I haven’t worn a ton of maternity clothes yet.  I’m mostly getting by on dresses and leggings for now, but I have worn some maternity pants on the days I wake up and just want to super comfortable.  Gotta love that bella band for keeping me in my regular clothes as long as possible!

Sleep:  I’m sleeping pretty well for the most part.  Today was an exception when my hubby’s snoring woke me up at 4:50 am. I, of course, couldn’t get back to sleep. At least it gave me a good reason to get up and get a workout in!

Food cravings: I’m not really having any food cravings, but definitely eating a lot of whatever it is I’m having!  This week I’ve been treating myself to Bolo Bau that Jeff brought home from Mandarin Kitchen.  They are so good! I wish we could get them here.

Gender:  No clue! I’ve had 2 dreams where the baby has been a boy (one of which was blonde! Oops!) and one where the baby was a girl. 

Movement:  Tons!  I love to have the constant reminderthat babe is doing well. Jeff also felt the movement for the first time this week. I think Harper might have, too! She was laying my belly sleeping one night and she suddenly sat up with her ears perked up and looked at me.

Belly button:  It’s flattening out, but not popped out.  Normally, I have the most cavernous belly button so I’m amazed that it’s even as flat as it is.  Crazy.

What do you miss:  Alcohol. Sushi (the raw kind).  Being able to dive in volleyball. Snowboarding.

What are you looking forward to this week: Starting to paint our basement.  My mama is coming to help and will spend the weekend while my dad is away ice fishing on Lake Mille Lac. I’m going to make lemon ricotta pancakes with blackberry sauce for breakfast.  Yum! I can’t wait!
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Another week has passed and I don’t have much news to report as far as my pregnancy is concerned.  I received an early birthday gift this week—a giant maternity pillow.  It’s kind of like this, but mine is actually better because the two ends come off so that you can use them as a boppy after the baby comes.  I’m still feeling great and have even had a couple of days this week where I had some surges of energy…that may or may not have been due to the high I got from finding some good deals shopping this week. (Gosh, I really need to stay home!)

In exciting news, two of my co-workers had their babies last Friday!  It wasn’t a big surprise that my friend, Annie J., had her beautiful little guy, Henry, since her due date was only a couple of days away.  However, I think we were all shocked to find out that our other co-worker’s water had broken that morning.  Her due date was early March!  The baby is doing very well despite being born almost 6 weeks early, and we’re all very thankful for that.  So, now we have two down and two to go! (Another colleague is due about 5 weeks after me.)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Chuck E. Cheese

Two weekends ago, we celebrated my oldest nephew's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.  It was one of my worst nightmares come true.  I have been to Chuck E. Cheese once before in Detroit while visiting my sister and her three boys, but we went on a weekday afternoon and it wasn't busy at all. This time around, I was not prepared for the chaos at all.  This Chuck E. Cheese had recently opened and even though it was a Sunday, it was packed!  (No school the next day for MLK.)  Oi.  (My one saving grace was that we made a trip to Trader Joe's next door beforehand.) My in-law's joined our family for the get together since they live in the same city.  My father-in-law even played a baseball game.  He loves his sports!  

Almost got the high score!
I think D enjoyed himself, though, and I'm glad we could celebrate with him.  I can't believe he's 14 already!  (The same age I was when he was born!)  And, I'm sure he would be embarrassed to know I'm saying this about him, he's a really sweet kid.  I like to razz him quite a bit by trying to be all lovey with him, and he puts up with me pretty well.  I remember when D was probably 10 years old, I pulled him onto my lap to squeeze him and cuddle him (and really just embarrass him).  He said to me, "You and Jeff are going to make good parents one day, 'cuz you're both so nice."  Love that kid!

Smooches for the birthday boy!  He's sporting the new jacket we bought him.

Monday, January 10, 2011

20 weeks


We had our 20 week ultrasound last Wednesday (1/5). Yay!  It’s amazing the detail we could see this time around versus our first ultrasound at 11 weeks.  Kidneys, bladder, heart chambers, upper lip, etc.  All looked great!  The babe was super cute and takes after daddy.  “He” yawned about 4 times during the ultrasound.  Hard time waking up in the morning!  We also saw the little one flex his arm a few times as if to say, “Hey Mom and Dad! Look at my muscles!” Everything seems to measuring right on track. Babe weighs about 11 oz. and the heart rate was at 158.  

 I had a moment of panic when the technician asked me if we wanted to find out the gender.  I was silent for a couple of moments, but blurted out “NO!” before I could change my mind.  We didn’t get 3D images like I was hoping, but got a CD of photos again.  

I am still feeling great, although I’ve been a little bit tired the last few days.  I know the baby is having a major growth spurt these next few weeks, but it might just be the fact that I have to get up to go to work again, too.  I can feel baby moving around a lot, and can even feel my stomach muscles stretching out.  I have a short torso and long legs (for my body), so I’m starting to show now.  It’s kind of uncomfortable for me to have people comment on my body, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.  I guess I had to start showing sometime!

20 week ultrasound (19 weeks 6 days) Babe showing off muscles :)

20 week ultrasound (19 weeks 6 days) Babe's profile
20 weeks 3 days


Friday, January 7, 2011

Oh, Auto-Correct!

Just had to share a funny that happened to Jeff the other night.  It literally had me in tears. 

Jeff and I were winding down for the evening and were nerding it up in bed.  (We were playing Scrabble. He on  his iPod Touch and me on my iPad.)  Jeff was instant messaging his friend, Adam, while waiting for me to play my turn.  Here's their conversation:

Adam: What are you up to?
Jeff: Not much.  Just in bed, vegging.

Little did Jeff know that before he hit SEND, his iPod auto-corrected "vegging" to "begging"!

Adam's response: Oh. Erotic?

HAHA!  Man, that had me in stitches for a good half hour!  I'm lucky I was able to fall asleep!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A New Year, Resolutions, and the Highlight of My Year So Far

New Year’s Eve was pretty low key for us this year since I am preggers and am usually the one to dance on the tables. (Just kidding! Sorta.) We had some friends over to our place for a yummy (mostly) homemade Chinese dinner. Everything was delicious, even though we had a small snafu. Jeff forgot to start the rice cooker, so our rice wasn’t done until quite a while after the rest of our food. Oops! My favorite part is our homemade potstickers anyway. We just lazed the rest of the night around, played some pool, and chatted. Is this what it feels like to get old?

I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions. Not ones that I put into writing anyway. Then, I would have to look back and remember what I failed at! So, this year I’m resolving to get back into working out on my nights off from volleyball. I had fallen off the wagon when I wasn’t feeling the greatest for a couple of weeks. I had the best intentions of getting back into it, but then I came down with that terrible cold. I’d also like to get back into a regular cleaning schedule. I keep a google calendar with a schedule, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever kept it. Our house is pretty sizeable, so I think a plan would help me to not be so overwhelmed.

And, because I am a giant nerd, I have to share the highlight of the year so far. I had a block against a middle hitter in women’s volleyball last night! For you vertically challenged people like me, this is huge! Usually I “attempt” to block, but never get anywhere near a block. Not only did I get the block, but Jeff was there to witness it! (He doesn’t usually come to my games.) I’m especially proud since I’m carrying about 7 pounds of extra weight around right now. This highlight will be short lived, as we have our 20 week ultrasound tomorrow. Even though we’ve decided not to find out the gender of baby, I’m beyond excited to see our baby moving around again!