March review

I was a little lazy and never wrote a to-do list for March.  We did do stuff I promise it's just a matter of remembering what all was done.

-Potty trained Ian well at least 98% trained when home and out in public with us (zero accidents while out in public) and about 95% trained at the sitters.  Some nights he's completely dry while others not so much.

- Thanks to my dad going to pick up and deliver a load of mulch to our house, we gave our landscaping a little face lift.  We also rearranged plants now that spring has sprung we were able to take full inventory of what all was in the ground. 

-guest bedroom got painted, trim is still needing to be finished.

-Marcus' Christmas present from my parents got installed.  He got a flag and flag pole and I'm here to tell you that a 4ft hole is very deep.

-we colored eggs for Easter, Ian enjoyed bossing us around and telling us which colors to color them after he colored on them with the magic crayon.

Well now that we are over halfway through the month of April I better get a jump on what happened in April around the Z house.

December wrap up and January to do's

I feel like a lot has happened this month it could because of vacations, holiday's and birthday's all occuring this month. But it's time to look back and see what all got crossed of the list and what was added and accomplished.
November Leftovers
Layout photo collage for wall in living room

Christmas shopping/DIYing - this without a doubt got crossed off here's what I DIY'ed all are inspired (or copied) from Pinterest. 

I made the fabric covered with the flowers for both my sister and SIL as well as all my co-workers.  I made the flower covered one for my mom and another one for my MIL.  I loved them both as you could personalize each one by your fabric choice.  And gonna share a lil secret after supplies (fabric, straw wreaths, and felt) were purchased the break per item price wise came to around $6 .  Thanks to sale on fabrics and felt as well as coupons and in store deals.  So budget friendly and fun to make.  For the fabric ones you need 1/2 yard of fabric of your choice and 3 8.5x11 sheets of felt and push pins.  You cut the fabric into 1/2in strips and then pin it to straw wreath and wrap and pin and so fourth.  For the felt you cut it into circles (you pick the size and they don't have to perfect) once cut fold the circles in half and then in half again, pin it at the corner and open it up continue until you achieve the look you are going for.  Also you can get plearlized push pins and add those into the flowers.  For the all flower you need about a yard and half of felt you pick the color.  The picture above is the one I made for my mom and because their house is green I went with white, the one I made for my MIL is a soft pink as her door is white. Anyways, you cut the felt into circles and fold in half and in half again, pin at corner.  I plan to make one for myself soon so I will at that time take some step by step photos to explain better.

Share Pinterest love-I was too busy DIY-ing to share my love but trust me I love it!

Organize MB closet-this kinda happened, it happened enough to be crossed off

December List:

Organize guest room closet which has turned into a collect all - so glad this got crossed off, still needs some work but it's way better than before

Paint kitchen cabinets - now that they are painted they make our counter rop look like crap

Celebrate someone special in our house turning 2! - post coming soon!!!

finalize art work for dining area, we have agreed on the photo now just figuring out a size - Thanks to Brittany at Knox Photography our print has arrived.  More on that in January

Watch every Christmas movie we own at least 2x a rent what we don't own. - we watched, we laughed!!

Change Ian's bed into a toddler bed?? - not happening yet

Continue potty training- it's only crossed off because we did in fact continue, were not done though.

Come up with a head board/window treatment for MB- we are still brianstorming and tossing around the idea of purchasing a king size bed

Celebrate sister's 30th bday with her- we had a fabulous time


The following can be added and crossed off:

bake tons of cookies -  done, and I could careless to see another cookie for about a year

Paint backsplash-

De-Christmas house- I think we set a record and had the house de-decorated in under an hour and not only de-decorated but had everything put back into their proper tote and storage location.

purchase and install new entry way light and hallway light- it's amazing what a difference they make.  When Marcus took the old ones out they both smelled HOT as in a fire hazard so to the trash they went.

Host our 1st Holiday- we hosted Marcus' family New Year's weekend.  It was kinda all thrown together at the last minute as far as the menu.  I'm talking Marcus is running out to the store at 10p on a search for a fresh turkey for us to fry Friday afternoon. It all came together and I must say I'm perfectly fine with hosting my in-laws.  I think I'll continue to let my parents host our Christmas I think the amount of the gifts that were under the tree at their house this year would have filled my entire living room.  We had a great Christmas a seperate post will be coming soon...
I think that is it, but I could be wrong as I said earlier it's been a busy month.

January, so we obiviously have some items left see above but we will add:

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

purchase/install light fixture for dining area

draft up, edit ,and post all the posts I have talked about posting (that one sounds simple but seriously I put quite a bit of naptime time into my posts)

I think this is good enough for now, Happy 2012!!!!

November Wrap up

Gah...where is this year going?? We have items to tackle.


Christmas shopping/DIY-ing- we're getting there

Post about lastest Crowdtap giveaway-DONE

Go through more of Ian's clothing- so far we have sold 3 lots of Ian's clothes and will be done till spring time
Organize MB closet better- we have talked about no moves have been made yet

Share some of my Pinterest love- SLACKER been busy pinning and actually doing just gotta share my love with you all

Layout a wall collage on living room wall- thought about it haven't done it

Continue search of new to us appliances and cabinets- we can mark oven off, and thanks to Black Friday a new fridge has been delivered.

Locate reasonably priced window treatments for living room- When I told my mom the price range ($6.99 or lower) pre-panel she was shocked and not very confident I will locate them. My plan PROVE her wrong, I have them located just waiting for a SALE! - Ahhh success 4 panels for $25 (after tax) can I get a WOO HOO?!?! They will be going up after the holiday season.

Ready to see what else the month has in store for us.

Decorate house Christmas- for some reason I completely forgot at the beginning of the month that "hello, we decorate our house every year for Christmas the weekend that follows Thanksgiving".

Build new bed frame and move location of bed, the new bed frame is higher than our previous one and who knew it but that would slove our issue of Miss Kota Dog getting on the bed.  

 Install recessed lighting above breakfast nook

November

Gah...where is this year going??  We have items to tackle.

Christmas shopping/DIY-ing

Post about lastest Crowdtap giveaway

Go through more of Ian's clothing

Organize MB closet better

Share some of my Pinterest love

Layout a wall collage on living room wall

Continue search of new to us appliances and cabinets- Thanks to criagslist we have located some great leads but they were so great we missed out.

Locate reasonably priced window treatments for living room- When I told my mom the price range ($6.99 or lower) pre-panel she was shocked and not very confident I will locate them.  My plan PROVE her wrong, I have them located just waiting for a SALE!

Ready to see what else the month has in store for us.

another month has passed

As you saw on September's update we have a few leftovers to tend to first:

Refinish kitchen table and chairs- Table DONE we are undecided on chairs at the moment.

make a house to do list- DONE and it's LONG

give the flower area in front some fall lovin'- DONE, thanks to my grandparents they split some of the mums from their house and they are now in front of my house, they also gave us 2 brand new ones and my MIL gave us 1 as well.

nail down kitchen cabinet color (black or gray): yeah clueless

landscaping in front- DONE we made more sense out of the plants that were already there and just put them in new spots. See pictures above

celebrate anniversary that was back in August- DONE lunch at Olive Garden and a movie back at home

start Christmas shopping- our sitters, and my SIL are both DONE thanks to Pinterest getting my DIY on. My co-workers gifts are almost completed have to make 2 more and then get my baking on for their cookie plates.

It was a small list to start with but we can add:

Remove half eaten bunny from fenced part of the yard to out of the fence area- DONE, still throwing up in my mouth from that one

Organize Ian's clothes and sell some- DONE but more to go

Pay off helmet- completely worth every penny!!

Put some nails in the walls and hang some decor:  We have progress

We are getting somewhere with the house as well Christmas shopping.

Z House Funnies

I'm sure only my family will find the following funny and who knows maybe they won't but I do.

A couple weeks ago while I jumped in the shower for a quick de-stinking after running and playground fun I kept the door opened and I could hear Ian was in and out of the bathroom and I could hear trucks sounds being made and what not.  Well, when I finished my shower, grabbed my towel and opened up the shower curtain I was greeted by Ian sitting in his Wal-Mart version adirondack chair, with a book in one hand and a calculator that he was pretending to be a cell phone up to his ear chatting away.
While carrying Ian out of the mall he started saying momma and pointing. I turn around (since I was carrying him meaning he was looking at what was behind us) and I saw this:

Last week I offered to mow the lawn as Marcus was working on half bath mini upgrade. And either he didn't like the figure 8 design I made in the front yard or he didn't like that I bent the tire rod thingy while making my fabulous design resulting in the front tires pointing in 2 opposite directions when the steering wheel is center.



Same day as the figure 8 Lawn design I also mowed over a landscaping circle filled with some type of flowering plant (on purpose) and then dug up the roots of said plant to relocate to an unknown destination. While digging I was whistled at I must admit after you've had a child being whistled at is kinda a self esteem booster. But then I quickly remembered that our neighbor has a macaw bird (the kind that talk, so maybe I have the name wrong) but nonetheless it talks and conveniently enough he also whistle...bubble burster



Last night as Ian and I got home, 3 little neighbor girls came running over.  They all introduced themselves by name, age and house location.  I got Ian out and they all ooo...and aahh.. and all Ian did in return was put his foot out, lift up his pant leg to show off his new shoes.  I told the girls he got new shoes, they said "they are nice" and he said "yeah".

oops I forgot

I had more items to add to what I like about winter who knew that was possible?!?!

*Hot Chocolate, winter is the only time of year that our coffee cups get any use. I will need to look at getting a new tea kettle though.

*Christmas movies, now I have guidelines we can't start watching before Thanksgiving. So usually as soon as we are home for the evening on Thanksgiving day you can find us curled up watching Elf and then every weekend after that we watch every Christmas movie we own!! Our faves include: Elf, Christmas Vacation, Home Alone 1&2, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Santa Clause 1,2,&3 (I must admit by movie 3 they ruined it but still gotta watch it), Deck the Halls, Four Christmas', The Holiday (one of my faves, not Marcus'), Christmas with the Kranks, and Prancer (random knowledge: part of it was filmed in New Carlisle, IN about 20 min from where we live)

*Marcus loves Christmas and I made the mistake of notifying him that there is a radio station already playing Christmas music (they started Oct 1). He knows my feelings on no Christmas (aside from shopping) till after Thanksgiving so he changed all the presets in my car to this particular station, how nice of him.

*My sister comes home and I've already arranged for her to watch Ian one day while I go to work so I can the eve's of the holiday's off. Also while she's in town she will be offering some inductory swim lessons. These aren't your ordinary swim lessons either a post all about that a little later.

*Christmas cookies, you see every year since I've been married I get together with my mother in-law and we make in total about 25 different types of cookies. We do some together and some on our own. I think I will start baking my sugar cookies in the coming weeks and freeze them until it's time to decorate. One can only accomplish so much during nap time.



What things do you look forward too as winter approaches??

crafty

I like to be crafty and tap into my inner Martha Stewart. When my craft bug comes out Marcus usually becomes a little concerned. As he usually required to assist in some way if he doesn't want any injuries to occur.

I've made mosiac coasters, mosiac framed mirrors (hey, I had materials leftover don't judge). I made all of the favors for our wedding. I like crafts what can I say. Often times I will walk into a gift shop and see something and then see the price tag and think I can make that myself and there is no need to pay that price for something I can do myself.

I made this a few years ago and Marcus was required to drill the holes for the ribbon. I offered but he quickly took over.

I also enjoy to crochet which for Marcus he is just required to wear what I make him. His co-workers have told on him though as he never wears his scarf into work. He would wear it when he left the house and then apparently once he was away from house he would strip himself of the scarf. And if you recall back when I was on bedrest I started taking apart his scarf. So maybe this fall I will work on making it into a hat as when I asked Marcus what I should make out of it he said a hat.

I started last night and well...after having about 5 google windows opened trying to figure it out I went to youtube. I got the 1st row figured out now I just have to perfect the 2nd row, needless to say Marcus can probably expect to receive a hat by next winter. As when I make anything new I tend to take it apart at some point and start over mostly because after about row 5 I finally figure out what it was I suppose to be doing in all the other rows. When I first started to crochet I think I made the same scarf about 3x until I deemed it good enough to wear in public. Now, I know I could take a class but really do I want to sit around with a bunch mature ladies as we discuss chains and gait?? No, I much prefer to figure it out on my own and ask for advice from others along the way. Heck I taught myself how to do from following pictures in a book, there was one set of instructions that my aunt had to come over and assist me with but other than that on my OWN.

Ian and I went to the store yesterday to do some pricing on a Christmas gift idea and while at the store we strolled the aisles and I got a idea for this years Christmas tree. Something simple but yet it will add a little something to the tree. Also got some other ideas that I would like to try when the time is right. So till then you can find me with a ball of yarn and a hook when I'm not cleaning, cooking, tending to Ian's needs, or until another book is picked for book club.

switching it up

Over labor day weekend Marcus and I moved our upstairs furniture downstairs and our downstairs furniture upstairs. Then we had the bright idea to move our TV to a different corner which involved a trip up in the attic for the surround sound cords and speakers to be moved.

This if you come in from the front door.

This is looking in from the area that leads into the bedrooms and bathroom:

In the 4yrs we've been in this house, we tried other arrangements but they simply didn't work however, we are both enjoying the new set-up and so is Ian. This arrangement gives him more room to play. The area rug is something that we got from Bed Bath and Beyond for $25 on clearance, normally 130.

up and coming

*2mos shots (I know I'm late in getting these this is the soonest they could get us in)

*a trip to goodwill, I transitioned my clothes this weekend out with the sweaters and in with the tank tops, shorts and skirts. Which also means goodwill is getting some great outdated stuff. Is it bad that I still have clothes from highschool? I can still fit into them they just aren't very fashionable anymore.

*Easter which means a trip down to Indy

*we will have a 3mos old living with us

*flowers and plants which I know really nothing about will be popping up

*work in SB is moving locations (we've been kicked out of our current location as they are probably going to demo it)

*1/2 marathon is just 11 short weeks away

*budget, Marcus and I will soon be sitting down and working out a budget so our debt can disappear and we can start saving a down payment for our next house

*now that spring has arrived, home improvement projects will be put back on the to do list.


Just a few of things that will be happening in the coming weeks. Some I look forward too while others I could pass on.

Maternity and Newborn Photoshoot

Brittany Knox from Knox Photography in Mishawaka, IN was kind enough to take do take some photos for us. We can't wait to do Ian's 3mos pictures with her next month. **I was 33.5wks pregnant at this time with no clue that in just 3 short weeks we would be meeting our lil guy**

bullets

This is going to be a bullet post:

*I think Ian has his days and nights slightly reversed. He'll sleep say 8:30p-12:30a take a bottle and then sleep 1-2:30a and then he's up and fussy unless he is being held.

*Does anyone else struggle with coming up with their dinner menu each week?

*Is it bad that my car thinks there is a toddler sitting in the front seat and therefore turns off the airbag when it's really just my breast pump, work bag and lunch bag? No I don't pack that much in my lunch bag I think it's my breast pump.

*I'm completely over today, work was not so great and it has just reminded me how much I no longer enjoy doing what I do and that I'm only doing it just for a pay check.

*I can't wait for the weather to improve. I got the official go ahead to start working out again, good thing cause I started doing that 2wks ago. Why do they make you wait 6wks after delivery and not just let you listen to your body?

*I'm so glad I get to stay home with my lil guy tomorrow. Oh how I enjoy my 2 days off a week with him.

That's it, till the next post.

L & D part 2

Part 2 of 3:

By 5 something I started pushing, my contractions now were further apart due to getting the epi (looking back I kinda regret getting it). By 7a another shift change was happening not only for our nurse but also with the Doc. which is fine b/c I had never gotten to meet the on-call doc from the day before. The doc coming in I had meet and liked (very important). Chris our nurse from 3a-7a stayed and helped until Ian arrived as she had invested a lot of time and energy into me she never left our room once contractions started getting serious at 3:15.

I continue pushing with the encouragement of 2 nurses and then the Doc arrived. My epi was slowly wearing off which I'm glad because it allowed me to feel when contractions were coming and when I needed to start pushing. I know it's the nurses jobs to be encouraging to a woman who is having a baby but I got annoyed, I knew the 1st goal was to get his head out from under my pubic bone so as I would push the nurses would tell me "that's it, way to go 1 more like that, you're getting there" after the contraction was over I would ask did I get his head under the pubic bone and they would answer "not yet". So what they were really telling me is that those pushes weren't good enough and we were lying to you!!! But with each contraction their encouragement worked until after the contraction was over and I'd ask the same question. And get the same response.

The Dr. arrived around 7:30 and got into position, I had meet my 1st goal and my next goal was to see eyebrows so again I would push the nurses would encourage and after the contraction was over I would ask "do we see eyebrows yet" and the dr. would answer "not yet". I would constantly look at the clock and set a goal time to have this baby. That goal time would come and go and a new would be set. I was telling Marcus afterwards I was doing this and he said he was doing the samething. So at 8:39am Ian's full body arrived into the world. Kangaroo hold has begun (baby lays on mom's chest for 1st hour after delivery).



Kanga time over and it was time for Ian to get cleaned up and stats to be taken.



Once he was cleaned up it and into daddy's arms



It was then my turn. I impressed the nurses with my ability to get up without help and walk without help. Considering 2hrs prior I had zero feeling in my legs and I felt as though they weighed a ton.

Part 3 to follow...

L&D Part 1

Labor and Delivery:

This is going to be a 2 part series possibly 3 but as of right now it's a 2 parter.

Day 2 (12/30) of bedrest I awoke felt fine just as I have every morning. Got myself around Marcus headed to work. I settle into my place for the day with a nice little to do list to tackle in the resting position. The day goes on I complete my to do list all except for crocheting Marcus a hat. Over all a pretty normal day, i do my thing the dogs do theres although Lexus was acting extermely anxious and constantly coming up to me and if I got up to use the bathroom she was right behind and waiting by the door as I completed my business. During the day on a check-in call with Marcus I mention the odd behavior from Lexus we both agree that she is just being weird and go on with the day. Around 5:40ish I sit down from making (microwaving leftovers) dinner and feel a trickle I go to the bathroom and the trickle is different from anything else I have felt. Marcus calls on his way to dinner with some old co-workers asks what I want for dinner that he would bring it home I tell him not to worry as nothing sounded good from the restaurant he was going too and I had already made myself some tasty leftover turkey and mashed potatoes. I mention to him the trickle and he verifies with me that I didn't just pee on myself I confirm that I did not pee on myself and that the trickle is continuing. He suggests I call the Dr. although I was hesitate to do so b/c it was just a trickle no gushing. I do some self diagnosing on the internet and come to the conclusion that I should call the Dr. I place the call to have the on-call doc call me. He calls me back I explain to him the trickle I'm feeling and he suggests I come in and get checked out as it sounds as though my water may have broke. I call Marcus and tell him to head home as he is enroute I'm getting our bag together (that we packed over the weekend). Also my poor sister was waiting to board her flight to head back to Orlando while all this was going on.

Marcus arrives home and I set out some comfy clothes for him to change into. He gets himself around and we say bye to our doggies and head to the hospital. We arrive 7ish, they send us to triage (this is where you go to see if you earned your golden ticket to a birthing suite) I get myself in the beautiful hospital gown and wait with a trickle. The resident comes in and gather some fuilds to see if my water has broken and she also does a pelvic exam and determines that she can still feel the bag but my water has broken and that the bag has a leak. She issues us our golden ticket and we head to birthing suite #7. Our nurse Jessica comes in and get things around and explains that we can A)sit in the room and wait for things to kick in or B)walk the halls. We choose option B as walking will bring on labor. I entered the hospital at 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. We walked the halls for a total of 3hrs with serveral stops back in the room for fetal heart rate checks we had our hall walking route down to a 7min walk. By 12:30a they check me again come to the conclusion that pitocin is needed to progress things along. They weren't going to start this though till 1:30 and I asked what we are waiting for so they pushed it up to 1a while waiting on the magic medicine to arrive Marcus and I attempted to get some sleep we had both been up the entire day since 7 for him and 4 for me (remember sleeping was not the most comfy thing to do).

Waiting for pitocin to arrive:



1a arrives with the pitocin and by 2 I felt a gush my water had finally fully borken (so glad this happened in the hospital and not at home, work, or in the car). By 2:30 contractions had started they were manageable as they weren't too close together by this point. 3a brought upon a shift change we said goodbye to Jessica and hello to Chris. By about 3:15 contractions started getting serious about a minute and a half apart and unbearable I asked for an epidural, Chris checked me out and said I was up to 6cm she called the Epi man and I cried in pain. Marcus was very encouraging and I said to him I wish I was 10 (meaning 10cm) and he took it as me wishing I was 10yrs old which he found to be odd. So he got me to a laugh (a little). Epi man finally arrived and by time he finished the epi I had started some serious shaking and the chills kicked in. I asked Chris what was wrong with me and she said it's b/c I was progressing so quickly she checked me again and said I was betwwen 8 and 9cm and would be pushing soon. The epi had kicked in for my left side but not my right so they had to pull it back out and reposition it. Drugs are fully in me I'm still shaking to the point that they could no longer get a blood pressure reading from my arm and had to move it to my leg.

Stay tuned for Part 2

Back In

Back into my pre prego jeans a week after delivery. I never thought I would be in them this soon. I'm glad though cause my prego jeans were constantly falling down whenever I would stand up, walk, basically breath. I guess working out every day paid off. I'm anxious to get back into working out I got some great workout DVD's to do at home and we have our jogging stroller which was our first purchase when we found out I was pregnant, then I'll have the circuit at work. For those that don't know I manage 2 Curves facilities. So I guess in a way my new year's resolution if you want to call it, will be to to firm and tone my mid section back up and run the sunburst 1/2 marathon in June. Oh and maybe eat more raw veggies without any dip which I've tried before and I found it to be very difficult why must dip be so good?!?! I havw no doubt about the working out part the veggie part I'm a little unsure of but we'll see.

Working out and being active is something that i've been my entire life. My sis and i were both in swim lessons at 6mos of age and then continued those through middle school. We also did gymnastics which when we were in elementary we asked if we could quit cause honestly we couldn't pass like the 1st class the bar is what got us. I could do round offs off the beam, the splits (which i can still do) front walkovers, back walkovers basically everything except a hip pullover on the bar. So our parents were fine with that as long as did something else to stay active. Which is were school sports came into the picture. I tried cross country (hated it) track (disliked it just as much as cross country), volleyball, basketball, and then both my sister and I found our sport which was swimming. So we swam I stopped after highschool and my sis went on and swam in college. And now we both also run and we both like running now. I like it cause it's free and allows for thinking to occur and fresh air to be breathed in.

So with my plans out in the open I'm ready to get started and may have to call the doc office to find out when I can begin a light workout routine cause I'm not liking doing nothing. You take a girl who has been working out 6 days awake with 3 of those days doing 2 workouts a day for 3+yrs, you get a cranky girl and I feel like I'm forgetting to do soemthing. Even if I can do some squats, push ups, light ab work, something I will be happy.

Ian update: went to the doc for a weight check-up and he is back up to his birth weight!! We will go back in 2wks for another check.