hubby: Did you take the chairs off the front porch?
me: (major concern on my face because I'm thinking someone took them) no, why?
hubby: oh, because the chairs are laying in the bushes.
me: yes honey, if I move the chairs off the front porch, the front bushes would be the first place I put them...
It's been over a week.
That's just sad.
Even the hubby was giving me a hard time tonight about not updating the blog.
Well, all I really have to say is that we've been busy this past week and I hate to tell you that it's not going to get much better this week.
The new house remodel has been in full swing this past week. Tomorrow the work will be officially done and we are then allowed to move in whenever. Technically, we could have moved in while the work was being done, but #1 that would have just been a pain in the butt and #2 it might have been a little awkward living with the Mexicans all week because they didn't speak a lick of English and I don't speak a lick of Spanish. The big move is this weekend and I cannot wait!!!! I've pretty much got everything packed and we've been eating off paper plates the past few days which is nothing new in this household.
We had a girls day last Friday and it was sooooo much needed. If you missed Nicole's update about my clubbing cardigan you can find that here. I've decided that I cannot live with out my girls nights. They are my favorite night of the month. Nicole, Amy, and I went shopping all day before we met the rest of the group for dinner that night, I was gone a full 12 hours and did not once call to check on my baby. I believe that just goes to show how much I needed the day off and for the record, she was with her Nana and I knew she was fine. Her Nana would have called if it was needed. Once again, if you don't have a girl's day/night, get one ASAP.
Speaking of Olivia Kate, we've ventured into cereal and fruit. I know some people are freaking out reading this since she's only about to be four months old, but a couple of people (whose opinions I greatly value) suggested they thought she might be ready for cereal. At fourteen weeks, we started with the cereal and she was having none of it. I thought she wasn't ready so I slacked off with it. Then two different people gave me the same idea of mixing applesauce with it. I tired it and she LOVED it! After two weeks of applesauce, we've ventured into bananas this week and she's loving them even more than the applesauce. I tell her she's my little monkey.
Well, that's all I got. We've been busy, but with nothing exciting it seems. David has his first two whole days off since before Christmas today and tomorrow, so Olivia and I are enjoying spending time with him. Tonight we're settled in watching our favorite line up of a little Antiques Roadshow, followed by the new show on The History Channel called American Pickers, and then our new favorite Pawn Stars.
Obviously, my life is exciting...I'm blogging on a Saturday night. Wooohoooo! What kind of loser blogs on a Saturday night? Well, David's at work (shocker there) and Olivia is down for the night (well, till at least 2am). So, I'm sitting here with nothing to do. It's alright though because it's nasty outside and I'm happy that I have no where to go. It finally warms up around here, but now it's pouring rain....go figure? I am sooooooo ready for the spring and warmer weather!
We went to pick out our new faucet for the kitchen tonight. I decided to wait till David got home to go pick it out, because of course, I value his opinion....hahaha. While I'm trying to weigh the options of do I want separate handles or one handle, do I want a built in sprayer, etc. he's too busy looking at bathroom faucets, which of course we don't need right now. And he wonders why I don't ask his opinion half the time.
Kameron, you hit it right on the head. I swear I'm starting to think we were separated at birth (by a few years). I'm a pretty blunt person. I don't have a problem telling you what I think. Especially if you ask. Just because I'm blunt about things, doesn't mean I'm a hater. I feel it's better to just be honest. There are some people in our circle who personally get on my nerves and I don't agree with some of their ways. So, I don't go out of my way to be friends with them. I'm cordial to them,but I'm not calling them to hang out on a Friday night. With that being said, I do take those who I know can't take my bluntness in consideration. I don't want to hurt people's feelings. If I don't think you can handle it, I keep my mouth shut. I don't want y'all to think I'm mean.
We are wanting to visit two different churches in town. Now that we've decided to stay around here a little while, we figured we need to find a home church. I though, keep backing out each Sunday. I finally admitted to David tonight that I keep backing out because I know Olivia will have to go to the nursery and I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. She's only been watched by family or Nicole. I'm scared to send her to a room that she doesn't know anyone. I know she'll be fine, lets be honest, it's me that's not ready. Maybe in another month or two I'll be ready. I'm thinking that after we settle in the new house we'll attempt the church hunt.
So far I'm doing alright on the weight lose goal. I started in December before Christmas and then of course when Christmas came around, I slacked off a bit. I started at around 163 before Christmas and I'm down to 154.4lbs as of this morning. Right now, I don't have much of a chance to exercise on a regular basis. The treadmill is too close to Olivia's room, so when she's asleep, I can't workout. When we move, the treadmill will be on the opposite side of the house, so I'm going to start working out when she's asleep. I'm hoping that will help take off some more of the pounds a little faster. I want a beach bod for the summer.
Obviously, since we've bought a new house (or new to us), I've been dreaming up many projects for the house. We're moving from 1100sq. feet to 3700sq. feet and we have no furniture to fill it up. I found a blog called Knock Off Wood through another home decorating blog. I have fallen in love. I feel its only right to share this gem. It's a lady who is a self thought carpenter and she takes expensive pieces from say Pottery Barn and makes simple, look-alike plans that are super cheap to build. I seriously looked at this blog for two hours last night (I told y'all I have an exciting life). I have a huge list of projects I want to tackle from this blog. The hubby was even impressed with it and of course, because it's cheap. I'm adding carpentry to my goals this year to accomplish.
This has been the week from H-E-L-L, but it is over now and we actually (barely) closed on time.
I've learned a lot this week so far...
*There is no such thing as an easy closing. You would think that I would have learned this with all the years in real estate, but why did I have to start thinking that we, for whatever reason, were immune? Let's just say that everything has pretty much fallen apart this week with buying our new house. Luckily, it seems all has been put back together (but one piece). Will we close tomorrow? Who knows?
*I have the biggest hips in my circle of friends. Since pretty much all of us want to lose weight, Sheena had the idea to do a biggest loser type contest and whoever loses the most weight wins a million dollars...just kidding...it's really about $175. We had our official weigh in on Tuesday. I may have nothing on the top, but I more than enough make up for it on the bottom. Years ago, my hubby (at-that-time boyfriend) informed an entire room that I "have birthing hips." Yes honey, the hips don't lie, those are some birthing hips evidently.
* We suck at eating healthy. David decided that he too wanted to change his eating habits because he is wanting to tone up and I'm wanting to lose weight. He wants to do the P90X thing but decided to see if we could stick with the diet before we spent the money on the thing. I went to the grocery store and spent $140 in "healthy" groceries that follow the P90X diet. So far this week, we've eaten Sonic's, Pizza, and Arby's. We're not starting out so good.
*A sick 15 week old is the most pitiful thing in the world. Olivia has come down with her second cold this season. I knew it was coming since ALL of our friends kids have been sick these last few weeks. She is just pitiful sounding and it's breaking my heart.
*Evidently, my friends think I don't like anyone. There is no way to really explain this one in a tactful way. I'll just keep it at that my friends think I'm a hater. Amy and Nicole,I'm not a hater, they just get on my nerves. It's nice to be known for something I guess.
No, it's not the best picture. The men weren't smiling, Olivia wasn't looking towards the camera, we're standing next to a fridge, and it's a bit blurry, but there are five generations in this picture.
The oldest man in the picture is my grandmother's uncle Grover. So that makes him my great-great uncle and Olivia's great-great-great uncle. Cool, huh? Uncle Grover is 78 years old (though he swears he's not a day over 67), lives on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation he grew up on (in the same house actually), and he's a spry thing. He's hilarious and always ready with a quick comeback. Plus, he loves babies...
This is the house that Uncle Grover lives in. If I'm remembering correctly, it's the same house his mother grew up in. It's been added onto a few times, but the original house is still underneath all that.
When I came in from taking pictures in the freezing cold, this is what I found...
Figured it out yet?
Okay, one bathroom isn't so bad. Especially since it's only two adults living here. Right now, it's less to clean. But I do hate having to share a bath with my guest. I wish, more for their sake, they had their own bathroom to use. 
Wrong! That people would be my laundry room. Yep, it's outside. To be quite honest, it's pretty scary on the inside. I'm so scared by it, I refuse to show you the inside. When it pours rain (which it's done all this year), it leaks on the inside. Plus, it just sucks to have to go outside to get your laundry out when it's freezing outside.
We live off a major (and very busy) highway in our town. It's amazing that only two of David's employers have figured out where we live. Especially, since we live less than a quarter of a mile from one of his stores. For obvious reasons, I'll be happy to get off the main road and into a neighborhood. I plan on being outside with Olivia a lot and being hit by a car is not one thing I wanna worry about. And to play into my mom fears, I'm scared to death that a car is one day going to run off the road and into Olivia's room which is at the front of the house one night while she's sleeping. Dead serious, I pray every night that this does not happen. 
I believe these pictures say enough. This is all the storage space in our house at the moment. Now you see why getting organized is one of my goals for 2010.
Oh and the obvious, the house isn't really my style. The paint colors are pretty bland, the bathroom needs to be remodeled, and those brown kitchen cabinets just don't get me excited. We did break the rules and paint Olivia's room, but that's because everyone told me I would have been disappointed if I didn't decorate her room like I wanted. So, I'm excited to get into a house that is more our style and get to decorate it like I wanna.
Yeah, I don't see it either. In fact, I'm not even sure that can be called snow.
But don't worry, all the schools in the metro area are shut down for the day and the local news channels are having Winter 2010 Watch on 24/7.
This is one thing that bothers me about the South.
Don't get me wrong, if I was still working for the school system, I would also be wanting schools to be closed. Who doesn't want a day off?
But I do have a question...why are we using all of our snow days in January for days like this?
What are we going to do when it actually snows more than a 1/2 inch in March and you've already used all our snow days?
Looks like the kids will have to continue going to school longer into the summer now and then people will be complaining. Yes, we so easily forget about those snow days when the kids are still in school in June.
Now, I'm sure someone who happens to live here will read this and the first thing they'll say is "it's not the snow, it's the ice."
Last night we had our first book-club meeting. Several people flaked out on us and we only had four people, but it ended up being kinda cool because it ended up being a Mother-in-law/Daughter-in-law book club meeting with just Vicki & I and Nicole & Darlene. (Side note: One thing Nicole and I have in common is that both of our Mom's live out of town, but we both live down the street from our Mother-in-laws. We are both very fortunate to have a close relationship with our Mother-in-laws and we're always saying how thankful we are for our mother-in-law's after hearing others stories). But, we're hoping to have a bigger crowd next go round. Nicole made a yummy dinner and even though we were kinda fumbling around at first, once we got into it, it was interesting to hear every one's thoughts on it. We're always sharing and recommending books, but we never talk much that in depth about any of them.
Our first pick was The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.
It's a story about the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, but from the German perspective. It can be compared to Ann Frank, but instead of the Jewish view, it's the story of a German girl. It's an hard book to explain, especially in the way the story is told. The story is told by death's voice (I'm sure that makes no since, but if you read it you'll understand). It's one of those that when I first finished it, I liked it, but the more we talked about it last night, the more I liked the book. I know this is probably the worst book review, but it's hard to explain. Just read the book. It's good and you'll enjoy it. It's an easy read and can be found in the young adult section.
Over the holiday's, I also finally got around to reading another book Nicole lent to me. Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.
I've seen a lot of talk about this book in the blog world and I can say that it was all true. I LOVED this book. This is hands down one of my absolute favorite books now. It's the true story of a homeless man, a wealthy art dealer, and the woman who brought them together. It's one of those books that I think everyone should have to read at some point in time in their lives. It is a life changing book and makes you stop to re-examine yourself and how you treat others. It's short (I finished it in less than two days) and an easy read. If you only have the chance to read one book this year, let this be it.
A moment that regardless of how much time passes, you'll never, ever forget?
A moment that is so right, when looking back, you almost cannot believe it really happened?
A moment that is so perfect, you couldn't have made it up?
On that last night of Olivia not sleeping well, when she woke up crying at 2am, I decided to give her a bottle. When I finished feeding her, like all moms, I sat there a few extra minutes rocking her even though she had already falling back to sleep. Like so many times before, I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and whispered to her "I love you." At that exact moment, she half opened her eyes and the biggest smile came across her face. Not her usual dreaming baby grin, but her big ol' kool-aid smile. She then closed her eyes and went right back to sleep.
It was a perfect moment in my life.
When she's 70 with grandchildren of her own and I'm 97, I will still remember that moment. It's one that makes it all worth it.
I must say that there is something about that 12 week mark. In any baby book you read, it seems like everything changes at the 12 week mark and I was honestly not too sure how much a difference there would be in her, but I have been surprised. When she hit that 12 weeks the week of Christmas, she turned into a completely different baby. I honestly don't know how to explain it, but she just seems more content now. Don't get me wrong, she still has her days, but overall she's turning into a pretty good baby.
What she's been up to...
*She accomplished rolling over! At 11 weeks and 6 days, she rolled over for the first time. I caught it on camera and posted it here. She's finally figured out what to do with her arms and she will stay content for about 7 minutes on her tummy before she starts fussing. She moves her legs like she's crawling, but she hasn't quite figured out yet to coordinate the arms and legs together. Hopefully this will come soon. She is one of those that is going to be a happier baby when she's on the move.
*She's still in 3-6 month clothes. Not sure on the weight, but I'm sure she's over the 13lb mark. She's getting heavier everyday.
*She is still only eating a 4oz. every three hours. Sometimes she will eat a 5oz. bottle, but most of the time she won't, which has resulted in a lot of thrown away formula. It's amazing she's still growing.
*She is starting to "play." She loves her new little cell phone her Aunt Janie got her for Christmas. She is at a point now where she'll stay for an hour or sometimes longer playing with her toys and she's starting to grab for the stuff she wants. I love getting on the floor and playing with her. She got a ton of new toys for Christmas that I cannot wait for her to start playing with within the next few months.
*She is still a daddy's girl, but she's starting to prefer me now (I'm not complaining). I know it's because I'm with her 24/7, but she usually wants me now if she's upset or tired. When I walk into the room, she always smiles, which makes my heart smile.
*She is drooling like crazy already and I'm pretty sure she is going to cut teeth within the next month or two. You can already feel them when you run your finger over her gums. She's gnawing on everything she can get her hands on, including her hands. Her hands are red from the constant gnawing.
*She's already trying to sit up. When in her car seat or bouncy seat, she'll lift herself up like she's sitting up. It's funny because it's usually accompanied with grunting noises.
Using image from istockphoto and paper from A Good Life by Jesse Edwards.
