Here we come 2010! Hopefully with the new year come less issues with family....they're really starting to pile up around here! We had a nice long snowy christmas....who knew so much could fall in such a short time! I'm extremely glad we talked grandma into leaving work early wednesday so Hubby and I could go visit with the Wyoming relatives....oh how I miss the miles and miles of nothing out there! We intended on only staying for a short time, but we were having too much fun! Syd and grandma held grandmas house down for what turned out to be about 3 hours! After that we did a lot of nothing but play Wii....we opened it early since we knew church was cancelled for the next night already and that's normally what happens before presents....which meant cole, caley, daddy and mommy had LOTS of fun with the new toy for hmm....oh yeah, 5 whole days! I got rather restless at the end of our stay at grandmas and couldn't wait to get home....Syd  misses the attention she gets there, the cat hates the car ride to and from.....and me and daddy....we just couldn't wait for our own house again! We just ran into a few issues when we got here....

See that house way down on the end....yeah, that's ours! We had kind of an uh oh moment when we drove up! The street was a one laner to begin with....then we had to somehow make it through there to find our house! The worst part was it had been completely cleaned out the day before, so all THAT was from saturday night to sunday afternoon!

Luckily my trusty chevy had new tires....but it didn't get any better...

That one was deep enough Syd and I sat in the car and waited for a path to the garage...I should have taken one of the side of the house not pictured, that drift is as tall as the neighbors fence, which means it's a gorgeous 6 footer!

And the good news....we won't be using the sliding door until JUNE! I'm no shorty, and that drift was chest high when I stood by the door! Hubby was worried about the broken insulation so he took on the task of using his snowblower on the patio.

All snowdrifts set aside I learned one thing when we got home....new top of hubbys wish list will be a bigger snow blower....

The neighbor reminded him just how bad his snow blower needs to grow up! Luckily we have awesome neighbors down the street and he was nice enough to come help with the driveway....and make hubby drool over the snow eating abilities of his pride and joy....

'Tis the season.....to be growly! Again, why is it that the holidays always bring out the worst in me? First off, I DON'T like being told what to do....that's probably a big part of it, and second, it's all about the presents now days and not about the time spent with those you love! We finally started drawing names at my dad's last year so it's no longer about who has the biggest pile of presents in front of them, we have a limit, and that's it! Now if only I would draw all kids, they're the easiest to shop for! That brings me to another point....what's with new mothers these days?!!! I've heard of more than one (not going to say any names....) in the last month that want someone to watch newborns so they can nap....hmm...heard of "sleep while the baby sleeps?" I'm not the only one that I know of that hasn't been able to pick up the phone at a moments notice and have a babysitter so I can nap!!! If you're having kids, you should figure out how to care for those kids yourself, not rely on anyone else! I will readily admit that I was somewhat sleep deprived (....ok, who am I kidding, I still am...) when Syd was born, but that comes with the territory, new baby + new parents = 0 sleep! For the sake of my sanity, if you're a new mom, figure it out! the world is not your oyster, take care of your own kids! OK, I'm moving on now....we have a pretty fun story to share later on, you'll just have to remind me....sometime after Christmas...I'm kind of in the spirit since I've been revisiting the pictures I took of Cindy's family at the birthday party...

Not my best....but not the worst either, that spot belongs to daddy long legs....aka the baby brother!

These three were nearly impossible to get sitting still looking at you long enough to blink, much less snap a photo of them!

It's come and gone....and we still can't convince her she has a choice in turning two. I ask Sydney daily if she's two and every time I get a no, so either that's a contempt for the number, or her true age coming out. All the people and all the festivities went off without a hitch on Sunday. We had a house full of kids Saturday night, and the energizer bunnies kept going and going....well all but Camden. The oldest of the bunch was passed out in front of the TV by 9!! All the noise the other three could muster didn't make him flinch! (I wish I could sleep like that) Here's a little tidbit of Sydney with her cake....

You can even see a small remainder of where the fingers found the cake before they were supposed to!

(hint....look by the purple heart....)

We switched it up this year, cousin Camden also had a cake for the double bash, and rather than 2 cakes full of sugar and sweeter than sweet I chose to try something new. What a better time than when you have 15 testers, right? Syds cake was mock angel food with cream cheese frosting. Not super sweet, but definately a hit!

We have been going round and round about this since Sydney was born....do you pierce your infant daughters ears, or wait until they are old enough to make the decision themselves?
Syd's ears are NOT pierced and that's because I actually won the battle (or maybe haven't left her home alone long enough with daddy to get it done) I'm a firm believer in letting girls make the decision to get their ears pierced themselves....mine were for my birthday a LONG time ago, and I remember every part of the pain associated with it. Hubby wanted to pierce her ears right away so she won't remember having it done and it doesn't hurt her (um...still hurts, just unable to form long term memories....) And my strongest argument was what if she doesn't want pierced ears when she gets older? Just came to mind again since I've seen SO MANY teeny girls with pierced ears lately!

Hello winter! I didn't miss you! So one of the perks of having no houses around us are the snowdrifts....apparently we're in the least snowy part of the storm, if that's the case, how come when I went out to get the mail I had to plow snow with the door? While we are inside staying nice and warm, and really testing the new furnace, we're busy busy preparing for the birthday bash....Painting, hanging pictures (hopefully), digging through boxes still sitting in Syd's room, doing a never ending PILE of laundry (luckily it's a snap in my new LG's) thinking and thinking about what to do with cakes. Wrapping all the presents so no eyes spy what santa will bring their way in a few weeks.....and working feverishly on the blanket! I really got in over my head with that thing! only 44 flowers to sew on patches, then oodles of patches to sew together, and hopefully a finished product after a trip to the laundromat.

I said it before, I can't believe how fast 2 years have gone by already, it's crazy! I was asking Sydney today if she was ready to be two and trying ever so hard to get her to actually say two when you asked how old she was...instead...."are you ready for your party?" "no" "you don't want to be 2?" "NO" "don't you want auntie caley, grandma, grampa, uncle cole, camden, chase, baby jalyn.....to come see you sunday?" "no" "do you want to stay a baby forever?" "no" "well then you have to have birthday's..." "no" you get the picture. That is her favorite word of all time, and it drives you nuts when that's all you hear...although I have no sympathy when daddy gets it, cause he laughs at me when I get the "NO" so I get to laugh back and watch the steam flowing from his nostrils.

Here's a little photo treat of the last 2 years.

This was taken when she was just shy of 2 weeks at grandmas house

This is about a month....

3 months....

And uncle Cole teaching her how to dig into her cake! Hairdo compliments of Caley....why must everyone violate babies' hair?

I have hundreds more, but just wanted to share a few from back when she was actually adorable and unable to talk back! I still wouldn't give her up (most days) but I miss that cuddly little thing we brought home from the hospital at the same time.

The big day is sunday, so hopefully the weather cooperates for the festivities!

I learned something about hubby this weekend....no matter what kind of deal he can get he's not willing to do a Black Friday adventure again in his lifetime! He finally caved to my never-ending desire for a Dyson vacuum because Kohl's had a deal you just couldn't pass on. The whole plan was to stay up until midnight to order it online and never have to leave the comfort of our kitchen....Yeah right! Their website crashed at 12am on the dot, I'm assuming I wasn't the only one not wanting to miss their deal! I proceeded to try for the next hour and a half (even though I had already been so close to done at around 11:45 I could see the vacuum in the UPS truck...stupid me just forgot about the limit on my bank card...so back to trying with the good 'ol credit card) we made an executive decision we couldn't let this opportunity pass, so we packed the car and were going to head to Sioux Falls. I woke grandma up and asked if she wanted to stay or go with and she was in for the fight....so we made a plan to deal with Syd and off we went. Sydney did her 3rd Black Friday adventure (if you count the year I was a week away from my due date but unwilling to miss it) and managed to sleep through all but an hour of the fun! (lucky girl) NO, I was not stupid enough to drag my little princess into every store with me just to get deals....she stayed in the car with one of us fast asleep! We did breakfast when she woke up then visited Penny's and Target (by this time it was already after 9) ....so to all those people that were making rude comments like I was hauling my precious little cargo around all morning being a crazy all out shopper...I DIDN'T! Daddy and I visited menards for more house stuff while Grandma tried to get Syd down for a nap then we were off on our way back home! You are free to count the hours....I was up by 7:30 thursday to get ready for hosting our first Thanksgiving in a home that belongs to us....and made it until about noon the next day before I needed a cat nap to make the triple vision go away...yes, NO sleep for those in search of a good deal! I didn't even go all out, my sister started at 11pm thanksgiving waiting in line at ToysRUs! Silly girl!

So here it is....

I can't believe the suction that thing has....I just couldn't leave it in the box anymore, and no matter how tired I was I dug in, put it together, and attacked every piece of carpet in the house! Let me just say....GROSS!

Here are a few more pictures of what's been going on around here....

merry christmas to me...FINALLY a room big enough for the monster again! We officially have 3 christmas trees in our house...Why not, right? All the prints are on the walls in the Living room as well so no more worries about getting broken in the closet.

Here's my fully functioning kitchen all spruced up with my coke stuff! (I never knew it amounted to so much! It's all been packed up!) It's still not recovered yet from Thanksgiving dinner, but I was sick of cleaning!

My other two favorite appliances! Those things are a dream! The dryer actually beats the washer with a load...even an entire load of towels! So far the max run time on the dryer when on sensor is about 36 minutes! Now to just finish the sheetrock and put up shelving!

This is what will become the studio! I hate the yellow walls, I just don't have the energy to paint another room! The room is HUGE and completely open so will be perfect for a studio! The bed on the floor is actually Sydney's but the box spring is broken yet again so I'm waiting for hubby to fix it or build a little something for it's replacement before it moves into its' permanent home. My computer also belongs in this room, not on the kitchen cabinets like pictured, but we were trying not to wake grandma while waiting for midnight!

And the front! Notice anything different? If you can't you're completely blind! Well at least I think you are! Then again you didn't have to live with the previous edition! NO, the white rectangles on the grass aren't it....and the car in the driveway isn't it either! I could not wait any longer to paint the shutters and I got in trouble for using the grass, but the garage was still full so I chose the lesser of two evils! The front doors are also a nice dark blue now instead of puke green or pastel green whichever you prefer to use!

Here's the before...now can you see the difference?

I have all that ugly green eliminated except the hinges on the door out of the back side of the garage...and that's only because I didn't realize those were the same color as the rest! That is also the hardest color I have ever come across to get rid of! Covering that is harder than covering black!

And for the finale....

This is the view out the front of our house! Absolutely perfect! I thought I'd catch it since we've learned that the same guy owns lots across the street so we don't know how long we'll actually be lucky enough to keep this view!

Oh...and a little teaser for those that haven't been here yet!

Got pink?!!! So Syd's room turned out REALLY pink, I didn't want pastel, but we didn't want it to be dark either, so here it is! The more white we add the better it gets too! The wall I plan on having fun with didn't get finished before thanksgiving, so I've got about 3 weeks to get it done before we host a party for Syd and her cousin Camden!

Thanksgiving is almost here! So of the 10 or so people that were originally coming we're down to a whopping 2! Hopefully the kiddos come on Friday since Caley ended up having to work Thurs! There's lots of changes around here, only a few boxes left to empty, and almost no trace of my most hated color....would you believe a pastel green is harder to cover up that a black? I decided that I should get to work on Syd's birthday invites since that is coming up on us as well....here's a almost complete invite, a girly border to come along with a date, I just couldn't sit and not unpack anymore....

We've been tossing the idea around to do a double party with my nephew Camden since they're only about 2 weeks apart, so I'm waiting for word on that before a date comes along! Then off to wally to print them and get them to their respected parties!

....I can't really believe she's 2 already! I was looking at pictures from this spring and she looked so teeny yet, now she's all grown up, with the temper to prove it!

Where do they keep coming from?!! Boxes that is! I have emptied what seems like a never ending pile of boxes, and they just keep showing up! Stay tuned for a big surprise after Thanksgiving, I don't want to spoil it for those of you coming here for Dinner, so I won't show it on here until after said people have come and gone....It's shocking!

Here are a few pictures of the main living space. The befores are without power so one of them is a little dark...

This is the view from the front door of the house....I absolutely HATED those cupboards that color, and couldn't wait to get my hands on them....

Here's the new paint from almost the same view....ignore the mess, it'll get put away by the end of the week if all goes well. A little confession....I must have picked the perfect color for the walls, I now like the cupboards the way they are! Hubby is rather relieved that I no longer plan on violating them! The island is also different than when we moved in, it was turned the long way, but that wasn't ever going to stay as is as far as I was concerned...much more useful the way it is now! Also note the pretty new appliances, SO excited about those. We had a small snaffu with the microwave over the stove however, and had to already have a service guy come out and fix it...it was messed up right out of the box! Now I just need the dishwasher to come in...until then, they'll keep finding a home in the sink.

Here's the original view of the living room from the kitchen....

Note the ugly light fixture hanging in the middle of the room, totally out of place (it might be easier to see it in the kitchen picture...)

And now...

Voila....paint and a new light fixture! There are gaudy gold fixtures almost everywhere in the house that are going to all be replaced eventually. All that's left in this room are the big fancy pictures that hubby says I have to keep putting up.

A little story about what our friday was like....Closed on the house on time, but found out at our final walk through the water AND electricity had been shut off. It had been raining most of the night and continued raining most of the day friday....the sump hole was getting fuller by the minute...FINALLY at 5 the guy showed up to turn our power back on so we could heat the place up and have lights! I'm really glad it wasn't super cold at all last week so we didn't end up with more problems than we had already encountered. All the painting in this room was done after 5 friday night....and I had 2 coats done by midnight! (it's a 15x32) room! I was proud of myself! Now to just find a home for everything...

we made it! I"ll post pictures of before and after later, right now I need to sift through more stuff in our garage so I can get my car inside someday soon! Would you belive an entire house full of stuff fits inside a 2 car garage? Oh, and a 4-wheeler? I was pretty amazed, I won't tell you how high it was stacked though ;)

WOW it's been almost a week since any updates....probably because of all the hurdles we've been jumping. So we were originally supposed to close on our house yesterday....no such luck, even though it turns out everything we asked to be completed had been....so we could have easily closed yesterday. INSTEAD we close on Friday, which means we're packing what we originally thought we'd have 5 days to do into 3 short little days! That list includes: Painting as much of what I have paint for as I can, which will probably just be the main living area, and doing Syd's pink room after we're moved. Getting a pedestal built for my spiffy new washer and dryer (super excited about those guys) after the remainder of their cubby is sheetrocked. (hubby gets to sheetrock while I paint....I've already told him he has to do his duties with the door closed so my paint stays pretty) and that needs to be completed before saturday morning when my stove and washer dryer get delivered. Friday and Saturday are going to be spent moving everything from here to the new house whoever gets that fun job on friday gets to do it alone as most of us have jobs that need to be completed asap so the extra hands we have around probably won't be  having tons of fun! Everything has to be out of our rental Saturday when we have additional extra hands and so I have a bare house to clean on Sunday.... Then next week I'll worry about finding homes for everything in OUR house....yes, that had to be emphasized....it's OURS! No more having stuff packed away for a house, with one room of a rental for storage! That gives me a week and a half to have my house presentable for grandpas and grandmas and cole and caley to come for turkey! I can't wait to use the new oven! Hopefully my kitchen is all put away by then!

Wish me luck, and no more wrenches!

Let me start off by saying that I love my little brother, even though he's worse than a fly somedays...my life wouldn't be the same without him or any of my siblings....however, the kid blinks like a madman....like he's scared of the camera. I got my spiffy new camera a year ago and haven't even begun to get into all the bells and whistles of the thing, I do however wish there was a mechanism to keep eyes open when it takes a picture.

Coles' eyes are like that in more than half of his photos! Don't even get me started on the crazy hound either....she wasn't happy unless she was right in the middle of a picture, but was too busy watching everything that moved to look at me, even when I was trying to bribe her with food. What am I going to do with the two of them? I hate to admit I might have to break down and take a hundred more pictures of the little brother to get enough for a senior session (bring on the snow!)  I have a DSLR to take pictures with...and it couldn't even keep up with the eyes...and it takes bursts of up to 64 pictures!

Still going as planned with our house too...only 6 days till closing!

Here's the little birthday girl! Jalyn celebrated her first birthday on Sunday with a big party! She spent more time trying to figure out what the cake was than actually eating it. No problem though, once my little piggy saw her cake she was more than happy to help her get rid of it! It was a nice distraction from the house to go down for the party and hang out with almost all my family last weekend. I tried my darndest to find some willing helpers, but everywhere I went had a list for me to do instead!

I managed to sqeeze almost everything I had planned into two short days....I definately didn't spend much time sitting around (other than waiting for little brother to get dressed....you'd swear he had roots growing out of his feet as slow as he moves) Now we're back to getting ready for moving day, which hopefully is still on for Tuesday! (I know, it seems like forever, but the last month has gone so fast that it will probably seem like tomorrow to me) I'm going to try to get some of Syds new comforter assembled before the move. I swore I had way more fabric than I needed (the quilt that has been in the process since before she was born) and I ran out yesterday that's just my luck!

I decided I wasn't going to rush out and buy a costume for Syd this year with all the flu and such going around....well grandma must have felt sorry for her, so she asked what I'd like to dress her up in if I was going to buy a costume....my first choice was a skunk (which would have been a likeness to the attitude lately) and also in the top 5 were devil, jailbird, monster and such....

Here is what she ended up wearing....

I must say it was definately fitting!

I told great-grandma what she was going to wear and she said it was mean, little girls are supposed to be fairies or angels or princesses, not little devils. She hasn't seen her in a while! As devilish as she was, she was still a cute devil! Although I'd swear those horns were actually growing out of her head instead of attached to a headband.

She had a blast, even with the handful of places we took her dressed up...ate more candy than I could have eaten in a night, and it didn't phase her!

Mark a second halloween off the list! Next year I should plan ahead, I'd really like to see her as a skunk, I have a feeling we're looking forward to many years as girly things so I should have fun with the costumes while I still have my choice! And with that I better be off to do more packing....we're down to 8 days before we get the house, and 7 gallons of paint before we move! (that part already sounds painful!)

On those rare occasions I can hold Syd down long enough to put piggies in her hair it turns out totally adorable

However, this is only about a once a month occurance, but totally worth the pain! I'm so glad her hair is getting long enough to do this! Ponytails make her look like a boy, and only kids can pull the pigtails off but they sure are cute! Her dad thinks it's time for a haircut, and I tell him he's nuts!

We got the news yesterday that the house loan is being processed as we speak so everything there seems a go....BUT if it weren't for hurdles it wouldn't be my life, now the insurance quote we got has mysteriously doubled (ouch!) so I'm going to check out a few other places before we go there! I'm still counting down to Nov 10 when we sign the papers and get the keys....hopefully! Off to ready myself for this weekend, I should be ready to sleep for a week when I return!

I survived! I'm now 28, and don't feel any different....I knew it would happen, I just don't look forward to getting older anymore, it was fun until you hit 21 then it's a downhill slide! Other than being forced to wear a sombrero and have Happy Birthday sung to me it was a pretty boring day. Don't worry, I made a mental note, Hubby will suffer the same fate when he gets another year older as well! Those of you that know me well enough would probably be shocked to know I requested mexican on my birthday...maybe with age comes taste (there are only a handful....ok, not even that many....2 mexican restauraunts to date that I will order tacos at)

Today was back to the task at hand...I've completely fallen in love with a classic...

I love this old car! It made amazing pictures...of which I'm about 80% finished....hopefully they'll ALL be done by friday so I can start in on little bros' face when I come back!

I even finished a hat for my nieces' birthday party Sunday so make that a double check off the list. Gotta break the pictures apart somehow, right?

It's really not a good thing when she won't take a nap....

case in point! That's what was going on when I could hear her on the monitor so I knew she was still awake but something was occupying her time....

We took advantage of the fairly nice weather today to clean up all the leaves in our yard, take the outside toys down so they're easier moved.....and carve pumpkins. Hopefully these guys fair better than the blow up pumpkins we started with outside. Syd had to be persuaded to stick her hand inside the pumpkin the first time, but she decided it wasn't near as bad as it looked...

She's awful cute next to the pretty pumpkins! We started with 3 but when I picked one of them up half of the pumpkin stayed on the carpet, so not only do I have the carving mess to clean up, I get to shampoo carpet as well! At least I know where the funky smell was originating from now!

UH OH!!!

I was looking at the calendar yesterday to figure out what to do with all my options for next weekend and came to a scary realization. I have 2 days to live it up while I'm still 27. Yes, I just admitted my age...Sunday is the big day, how come the number has to keep going up, can't it ever go back down? At least I have a new distraction from the house....I can worry about getting old instead of how much longer I have to wait until closing. And how we're going to fill the house with appliances. I guess the good thing about my age is I'm still carded EVERYWHERE! I can't walk into a gas station to buy tobacco or beer for the hubby without a drivers license, I can't enter a casino without a drivers liscense I even had to prove to a lab tech when I was pregnant I was as old as I said I was (now that's pathetic). That is a good thing, right? Oh well, off with my realization to save the house from the one baby demolition crew!....she happens to be super cute today in her second set of piggies...I'm so glad her hair is getting long enough to do stuff with it!

I was slaving away on senior pictures today when I noticed something....what's the first sign a car is way too clean for it's own good?

Hey look it's a self portrait! I just happened to notice this because I was playing with the color composition of the picture, otherwise I probably wouldn't have ever noticed. Is that another sign? Maybe that I've been looking at pictures of the same thing for WAY too long? I do believe I'm down to one announcement and color correcting, unless I see something that makes me want to go wild in one of the pictures. That means I've got 3 announcements down and a couple of photos messed with.

And on that note, Syd just unplugged her monitor, which if par for the course today is NOT a good thing. So far we've emptied the pullups out of the bag, emptied lotion all over the nightstand (original location on top of a dresser, so either there are elves helping, or she has a new trick), thrown her sippy cup at me as I've walked out the door and downright refused to take a nap! Apparently the quick 30 minute one will have to do!

How much do you think I could physically fit into a 48 hour period of time? Here's the list....Senior pictures, a birthday party, Once Upon a Child, Fabric Store Plato's Closet and whatever else I please...Possible? Yet to be determined....did I mention all of these activities are 2 hours from my house? I said I needed a distraction from the 20 days before we close, but it would have been so much better all spread out!

Syd is living life like normal, but looking at me curiously as I continue to pack stuff that we don't use at least once a week like I'm going nuts. I figure the more I do now, the less hectic it will get the weekend before the big move! If only I could figure out how to clean all the carpets between now and then without causing some major chaos in the house!

Here's another picture I've played with a little bit....the original was horribly lit, sun in your eyes, washed out, and not very appealing, but I'm rather partial to the end result!

Happy Rainy day! I can't remember October ever being this cold! I don't mind the rain/snow if it wasn't so darn cold. I'm still crossing my fingers everything works out with the new house, hubby has been worried since the day he got his pre-approval something will go wrong, I keep telling him to relax. Besides if he wants something to do he can clean up the water in our entry that comes with every snow and rain....it sure is getting old!

Two new things today....well, maybe three. If you notice to the side there's a new picture or two....you should be able to click on them and go straight to my now open etsy shop! Happy shopping! Hats are the other new thing....this one is hot off the sewing machine and awful cute as well...

Hubby says Syd is either going to have a lot of hats, or I am going to have to start sewing my fingers off, so we'll see which way this goes!

Here's a funny for the nice gloomy day. Sydney has been rather obsessed with daddy's socks lately, and this is how she dressed today (her obsession with my shoes is nothing new, I normally have to hunt around the house to pair them up)

isnt this how you'd dream of going out in public? I'm guessing she won't be a stylist when she grows up!

Up Up and away....

Here it is...dotdotdottots.etsy.com!

There are two hats on it and more will be added soon....along with the crib bedding I'm most excited about when I gather enough supplies to do a couple sets. This should be fun!

I hate winter! So that's not any big news, but I just wanted to share. How come it's always colder when winter just starts than when it's almost spring, and the temperature is actually lower in the spring? I learned something about Syd this weekend, she doesn't like cold air in her face, so that leaves me with the conclusion she's going to have to be toted around again this winter covered with a blanket. That's not all bad news though, should prevent getting sick a little more, just make it harder to carry her covered in a blanket and in her winter gear!

I have this new little venture called dotdotdottots.etsy.com don't get in any big rush to go check it out today though, I've got a few minor things left to do before I get it up and running, mostly check on postage for shipping my products. THEN you're free to browse around. I'll be adding stuff to it frequently once I get all my ducks lined up. Hubby says I'm a spaz for the name, but have •••Design picked out for my photography/design gig , so just went with the same theme for etsy. Get the general idea?

Our other big news is that we put a deposit on a spiffy new fridge that was being discontinued as of noon today....WE got the LAST black one that was in the area....AND it was on SALE! Woohoo for us! It looks plain but....open the doors and you find a water dispenser inside that little fingers can't reach....and there is an icemaker in the freezer so it doesn't take up any space in the fridge....Perfection!

We also picked out the stove and washer and dryer and will be putting a deposit on them about a week before we're set to move so all should be ready to rock and roll when we get the keys! I had my heart set on a pair of fridgidaire affinity front loader laundry pair until we walked into the locally owned appliance store today....met the nicest guy (who we later learned owned it) and changed our minds to a set of LG front loaders because of the warranty....where on earth do you find a 10 year parts & labor warranty anymore? We decided the minimal price difference was worth the 9 year extra warranty....and they are bigger! He also told me that 2010 is the last year you'll find mass produced top load laundry pairs because they are old technology...and the washer and dryer will pay for themselves in less than 5 years with energy/water savings! I knew I wanted the front loaders for more than the cool factor ;) Did you know it takes a washer 35 gallons of water to wash your clothes the old fashioned way....and somewhere around 8 with a front loader....And you don't have to wait for over an hour for dry time....that it's around 20 minutes for a normal load (obviously not towels) I'll be a laundry queen!
Sorry if you don't care about any of this....I was blown away by what I learned today!

Whew....again! We're still waiting for the house, well not waiting, waiting on the bank now, everything on our end is pretty much done, we agreed to what the appraiser suggested we try to get fixed, we got a response, and the biggest thing was taken care of, so another hurdle crossed. Did I mention I SUCK at hurdles, last time I tried getting my rear end over one of those I fell flat of my face!

I was looking at the calendar the other day....the last two years I've done Thanksgiving dinner for my family in my house....that gives me no more than 10 days to get completely unpacked between when we need to be out of our rental and when I have to have a big 'ol turkey cooked nice golden brown in what will hopefully be my appliance filled kitchen, anyone see any potential red flags there? We can't go order appliances for the house until we close on the loan because it could screw the loan up if we apply for no interest, and we want black appliances which in most cases have to be ordered and take up to 2 weeks to get....yep BIG RED FLAG!!! Oh well, we're going to go for it anway, worst case scenario hubby borrows a turkey cooker from a friend and we do it without a stove! The good news is I should have PLENTY of space for everyone this year!

I worked on another hat today, so that brings a grand total to 2....with a few minor adjustments of those two to make it 4...not bad for this 'ol lady!

My blaze orange boys' hat....which could be girls too, but I'd pick a different color

Ok, on this one think flaps down and girly colors for girls....and another way for a boy is put a fake bill on the front that is always flipped against the hat, and voila, kiddie hunting hat!

This one is the same as the pink hat in the other picture....almost, the brim on it was too square acoording to hubby, so that was removed and re-configured but I put it on Syd without one and I must say it's awful cute as is too....so Style number 3...I think...(Jodi...note the decorative artwork behind the head...see my baby scribbles decorates things she's not supposed to as well)

Same hat as above with the new brim, and it's a keeper!

Hopefully I'll get another style or two that I have in mind done this weekend while grandma is here and get them to etsy before monday....They're getting easier as they go, the sewing machine and I still have an occasional argument however...

So I bit the bullet today....I made a Newsboy cap and I actually love how it turned out, its super cute on super demon!

Hubby says the bill is too square so I guess I will be rounding it out a little on the rest of them...up for tomorrow is the elmer fudd hat for boys and I'll be good to go. I don't think I'll be posting that on my baby though, daddy might kill me!

It's definately a good way to waste away a month waiting for my house, then I'll be busy busy painting and unpacking....thank goodness this time it's not rented so I don't have to look forward to re-packing everything! I seriously can't wait to finally dig everything out that's been packed away since I got married!

I think my head is in the same predicament as the weather....groggy, I'm seriously stuck today! And I blew the second fuse in our house in 3 days....and we haven't blown a single one to this point and moved in 6 months ago! I am thinking I need to stick with the cleaning and condensing of baby clothes into tote boxes for the day, and maybe I'll have a spark of inspiration tomorrow!

Here's a prototype of one of my hats....actually this kind of had was my inspiration, I think they are absolutely adorable! My mom is hopefully saving my behind, and sending me the foot to her sewing machine so I can get to work on these, I'm almost dying with anticipation, and it's a good distraction from staring at pictures all day! My little model is quite cute, don't you think?

I'm off to repack some totes, hubby brought home the news this morning that we close on the 10th of Nov....almost a week earlier than planned, which is still a good month away, but it already sent me into panic mode!

Warning: Brick wall straight ahead! That's what I feel like today! I got a different sewing machine yesterday from one of hubby's aunts....THANKS MUCH, by the way, but somewhere between her house and my house with a few more moves inbetween we lost the accessory storage, so while I was super hyped to get to work on my hats, yet another delay! My sewing machine doesn't work AT ALL on fleece, it's old and says it wants to just die every time I try....SO, I was forced to play with the finished senior portraits instead, and again, have no enthusiasm because I was going to wait with them until this week instead....here are a couple that they needed right away for coronation, so they have color adjustments then were sent on their merry way....

I'm somewhat disturbed by the box behind his head, but wasn't in the mental state to work some magic to remove it today....so here's what they get

Here's one of my favorites from the whole day....well not this one specifically, but a group of them in the same spot....maybe it's the shirt too, there are some in the same shirt at a different location that I love too!

We're still counting down to moving day with only the appraisal left to go then we're homefree, so wish us luck!

So after my quick 5 minute chance at flipping and flopping the picture of the house, here's what I got...

Ok ok, I know, I went to college for this stuff, so gimme a break on the ugliness of the photoshop work....I said I only had about 5 minutes. So, a lot of moving, and smearing and so forth later, here's the general idea. I'm seeing something over the front door yet, I just don't know what....the actual front door is the one that's still white...confusing I know. And I'm thinking bay window next to the door and use the current window in the second story. I love the location, love the view (right now unobstructed by anything but cows) and it's NEW! So I can stand to do a few things to make it mine. We passed the inspection today without any major problems so that's another check off the list.....now it just needs to appraise for what we paid and we're at home run! Maybe it will actually be mine yet....while chatting with the inspector today, found out his brother is a builder and asked if my idea was possible and he said absolutely....and even told me to get all my ducks in a row BEFORE we call a builder...YES!, I was told to be anal! Normally I get in trouble for the perfectionism, but this time it's totally needed....HAH!, so there! It's not like we bought a teeny house, we just don't want to move again until it's to an acreage, so we're planning on expanding this one when the need arises to fit under the roof and still keep my studio.

So, on a note other than the house, tomorrow I finish my first senior session, then go to work with my trusty pen and voila...fancy pictures! Next up...home to do baby bros' pictures....whenever I mention them he says "I thought and thought and then forgot" so he's in for a surprise some weekend when I show up camera in tow and tell him to go pick out some fancy duds and lets get the show on the road! Oh to be a big sister....I kinda like the bossy part ;)

Ok, so I forgot about the pictures I found yesterday....I said the honey colored oak was eew....and this is what I envision for my kitchen cabinetry...think black base cupboards with the red accent and the dark upper cupboards, we've already picked out all black kitchen appliances....I know I know, DARK, BUT there is so much light in the room during the day it shouldn't be a problem at all!

....now I just need to find a couple of cupboard doors to practice on....