Ready for photo overload?

Meet Kenzie...Syd's new buddy, or at least for 2 days.

Kenzie is hubby's kind of niece...I think! I haven't seen this girl since she was 5, so seeing her again was quite the shock to both of us! Syd couldn't get enough of her however, and you see the nasty face because Kenzie had just turned away from Sydney and wasn't supposed to be looking at her. I guess you could call it a love hate relationship.

On to the next feat....isn't this cute?

I've been searching for a bed set for new baby, and hadn't come across one that I absolutely loved....so meet my bubbles! I test drove a purple butterfly pattern, but between the color and the end result I wasn't super pleased, so I moved on to something I'm completely in love with. Keep an eye on my etsy....the butterfly bedding along with the hats I did last year will be making an appearance soon!

And on to little brother!

It's been a few months, but we've had a super crazy house the last few months.

This guy hit a milestone the end of may...High School Graduation!

I realized something as I was walking into the Gym doors that day, I'm getting old!

My baby brother graduated 10 years almost to the day after I did,

he also did so with honors (go little brother!) and he had one of the same teachers I did,

and she retired after him!

After a brief conversation with one of my favorite high school teachers, we realized our lives don't always take the path you see when you leave that building.

I for one never thought I would make my way slowly through college, only to graduate and decide to stay home with my babies....luckily my degree will allow me to work from home when things slow down a bit.

I realized another thing looking at this picture, this will be the ONLY photo in existence after age 5 that will show Cole and Caley willingly holding hands!

Yep, those are both my babies! Or at least they were years ago, now they're growing into amazing people, especially with all of the hurdles they've crossed!

And a thought for the day...

why do we spend a fortune on furniture?

I will never again pay outrageous prices for a piece of furniture I can whip up with a few boards, glue, nails and some paint! We have end tables that look like they're ready to decompose, and they aren't actually that old....nor were they very cheap! We have an entertainment center that nothing fits in....and we were agonizing over bedroom furniture, mostly the cost!

Meet my little friend....I like to call him nighstand!

The photo doesn't do the finish justice at all....but believe me, I will never again buy a piece of furniture I can build! The top of this will never bubble like our end tables, we won't ever cry about how much was spent on it, and if I fall out of love with it in a few years it can be replaced without cringing! It will grow into an entire bedroom set as soon as we replace our bed...no use in building the headboard/footboard for a queen when we plan on getting a king, right? Until then I will continue replacing the cheaply made store-bought furniture one piece at a time.

We're also test driving a stool in our kitchen, which so far has held up really well, so chances are a few more are going to appear, but first up is getting baby out of her nice warm cozy and in the real world with the rest of us! Due date: the 11th....but hopefully she's here before monday!

So I'm a dabbler....I admit it!

But what's a girl to do when she's got so many things that interest her?

First off....photography (although this one has been seriously lacking as of late...)

This is one of my absolute favorite recent ones of the little darling that will soon be a big sister...

Then there's building....

I've learned from hubby, and taught myself well in the last few months....the only hurdle was getting used to the big bad saw!

On to one of the softer ones....Sewing....

I'm working on a crib set at the moment, so no pictures of that one but I've gotten a few other ideas taken care of...

I'll have to admit this one is best suited for winter and when it's too darn hot out to step foot outside!

And one of my little known dabbles, and perhaps the most fun of them all....

I LOVE....decorating cakes, not just the little 9x13 cakes anyone can pop out of the oven, those that make people go whoa, how'd you do that?!!!

Now that's something to salivate over!

Yes, yes I did do the biggest no no ever to wedding planners and make my own wedding cake....or cakes! Gorgeous picture of me, but refrain from looking at the bride and check out the cake!

Now here's my problem....I would do anything for anyone that involves something from the above list....problem is I normally do it for free, or for what I've got into the supplies which does nothing for the time I have invested (and trust me, every single thing in that list involves a good chunk of my time)....Hubby wants me to pick just one (that's never going to happen, because it's impossible) but if you look at the above pictures and say I HAVE TO HAVE ONE OF THOSE, let me know....

And you think I learned nothing in college...

I have lots of other things I dabble in as well, but those don't come near the top of the list.

Enjoy the little insight into my brain, it doesn't happen all that often!

Oh, and the countdown is on, we're at 36 1/2 weeks, and I'm hoping to only have to struggle to 38....40 might just kill me!

 $8 in paint and it looks new again....on the outside anyway!

Hubby has been dying for a full sized fridge out in the garage....must have something to do with the lack of space in my dorm fridge...

so here's what showed up last week...

a monstrocity straight out of nightmares! 

We opened it up after work that night and found food still in it! With old food, no power and closed doors brings? You guessed it....MOLD, and lots of it. Yesterday afternoon when it cooled off a little in the sun Syd and I were bored, so we were playing in the garage, and I took a bottle of bleach and the garden hose to the inside of this thing. I have to say, the garden hose worked pretty well although I'm sure I looked really foolish! 

Last night I needed to make an emergency trip for ketchup and picked up some spray paint at the same time...after an hour in the garage with a geek mask on here's what I ended up with...

not so bad after all!

He said he was going to bring a big chest freezer home too, and I very sternly told him if he did so he'd be sleeping in it, and not while breathing! I tried explaning to him that everything in our itty bitty chest freezer would fit in the side by side freezer and then some, so we'd still have plenty of room to pack a cow in the space we already had, and I didn't need any more uglies showing up! I won the battle, no ginormous chest freezer coming here, if I do get an additional freezer it will be upright, I'm sick of standing on my head to get to the bottom for something I want! 

This teeny project kept me busy while waiting for the next baby appt to get mortar to finish our little tile project. Not saying where, you'll have to wait for the pretty finished product! 

While you're here I'll show you what's growing in my back yard (I'm rather impressed)

Mr Coneflower is so unique you can't help but like him! Thanks mom for being so particular about finding one of these....we now have 4! It's not the super bright pink one I really wanted, but it was half the price! I'd have lime green ones too if the dog hadn't broken EVERY SINGLE flower off of both the plants! 

And the other pretty....these aren't staying where they are, but needed a home for the mean time, and as soon as I put them in the ground this happened! Again, I managed to not kill em, and keep hubby away from them long enough to keep them alive as well. I can't say the same for one of my pretty grasses though, it's not lookin so hot! (hubby's fault!) 

All of the plants that I love were protected from saturday's bout with weather. We had 4, yes, FOUR severe thunderstorms roll through in one day. Syd and I spent about 45 minutes cuddled up with the cat by the waterheater (under our stairs) while waiting for the tornadoes to make their way past, and luckily the only thing with hail damage is hostas on the north side of my house (they look like they've been to war but should come back fine) even though we were pretty sure the hail was coming in the house the way it sounded from our little cave! 

First severe storm in new house with minimal damage....check!

The projects just never end! 

We've been busy busy since Sunday, I won't tell you with what until I have pictures and it's finished, but I will tell you I am one very HAPPY camper!

Instead I'll show you one of my first adventures into wood that I had very minimal help with....like only using the circular saw that I'm absolutely petrified of (I want one of the small battery ones but someone say's they're pointless when he's got a big one to use) 

It's not the best picture, but the camera is upstairs, and I don't have a burst of energy right now to take the basketball up there and come right back down....so this will have to do. The best part is it's not super small, so Syd will get YEARS of use out of this, the chairs even hold me! 

Thanks to KnockoffWood....

Hello sunshine and humidity! 

Here's the baby update....I went through all kinds of horrible testing to have an ultrasound show that this baby brings kidney stones....yay for me! Ok, so they haven't been horrible so far, a few times of pain, but nothing unmanageable. The part that is getting to me is the basketball I am now carrying out front! This baby is totally opposite of Sydney, she was content to stretch out, inhale everything I ate (I definately ate for 2 with her) and sit tight.....this baby is none of the above! I have had to really start watching what I put in my mouth, at any given time I can only eat a small portion of whatever it is I've made (doesn't matter how good it looks or sounds either) and I've been snacking on fresh fruit, just to make sure I get enough of the good stuff....case in point, NONE of my maternity stuff fits from Syd, it's all way too big, clothes that were tight on me last summer (no baby) are now fitting like they should, some are a little large....go figure! I've made the decision not to look for any new maternity stuff, and just go with the flow, hoping that I can make it 'till august (or July would be awesome!) 

Now on to the mess....

Here's my basement...

Notice said water? And to think, it started as just a little wet spot in the middle of the hall...

and now the laundry room...

and the hole where my washer and dryer are supposed to be sitting....

All that mess over a clog in the floor drain that hubby managed to solve with a plunger! 

A week and a half without a washer and dryer! 

And one very LARGE mess to clean up! 

Now that everything is back to normal, and a week of watching to make sure it didn't happen again my LG's are happily back in their home and doing laundry....only managed to make one trip to the laundromat. I was dreading that trip too....hubby kept saying I needed to go wash his work clothes and I kept telling him that he should stay out of the dirt....it really didn't turn out so bad, Syd enjoyed most of the 2 hour ordeal (thank the lord!) And pregnant me decided since everything was out, and ripped apart it was the perfect time to start painting the sheetrock....oh what a project! 

Hopefully our weeks slow down from here on out! 

April showers bring.....Dead flowers, and a flooded basement!

Ok, so it's not quite THAT bad, but close. This week started out with a bang! I knew something was up as of Sunday night, I was getting winded just bending over spreading grass around all the newly planted flowers outside, so I came in the house to take it easy....Monday wasn't a whole lot different, just really TIRED! Then came midnight.....I started off so cold I couldn't find enough blankets, wanted to turn the furnace back on, and no sleep for the sick! Tuesday was even worse! I officially caught the flu! I won't even begin to say the ways it happened....I was so miserable all day Tuesday Syd was 100% in charge of the house, I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to form a sentance most of the day, so other than feeding her and making sure she wasn't going to kill herself she was on her own with the dog and cat hot on her heels! Hence the dead flowers.....it was so hot Tues and Wed that the flowers really should have had a drink, but the energy just wasn't there to get up and tend to them along with the 2 critters and Sydney, so they were forgotten....hello brown half dead flowers! I now have enough energy to try and salvage what's left of the ones that are turning brown!

On to the flooded basement...I walked down the steps many times yesterday, and felt water, no big deal, threw a towel over the wet spot and soaked as much as I could up, just thinking it was residual from Syd's reign on Tuesday....only problem is it keeps getting worse! Every time I soak it up, it just comes back....can't be Sydney, even though when I asked her if she dumped water on the floor she said yes, I really can't blame her for this one! I've spent the whole morning searching for any kind of leak in either the sump pipe or the water pipes, and to no avail, so I've narrowed it down to either up through the floor, or *crossing fingers* the washer....and that's a crossing fingers that I'd rather have it through the floor....you see my nice pretty front loaders happen to be under a new shelf (not so easily removed) and on top of a home-made pedestal (even less easily removed) which means to get to the bottom of the issue the washer and dryer need to get moved....aiyiyi! Unfortunately I think  I have determined something down there is the culprit, just waiting rather anxiously for hubby to get home and add his two cents and tell me the washer and dryer are coming out! (I already cleaned out 99% of the laundry room in anticipation of this!) Please oh please give me the hail instead of all the rain! Looks like life in this house won't ever slow down!

Syd has won the lottery twice this week! Her table is almost finished....just staining and sealing the top, so pictures will be coming. She waited patiently all weekend and watched while mommy painted and painted and painted! 

Her other lottery win is what we promised her for being potty trained. Mommy sold her little power wheels at the garage sale a couple of weeks back and she almost had a breakdown right there in the garage, I told her we'd get a bigger one as soon as it was summer, and she was out of pullups all day. Both daddy and I decided she'd been doing absolutely amazing using the potty, and mommy just happened to find the power wheels she was drooling over ON SALE!!!! Like the kind of sale that puts the power wheels that is normally twice the price of the ones wal-mart and so forth carry within 10 bucks of their price. Daddy and I talked it over after Syd was in bed one night and decided to bite the bullet....bye bye garage sale profits, along with a little of daddy's paycheck! And HELLO one HAPPY little girl! So here's what we've been waiting for and talking about daily for the last week and a half....

and this is how big the box is....

and this is what made me say YIKES after daddy told me I could try it on my own....

and it only got worse....

so about 4 hours later....of which Syd slept for about 3 we get this....

and the first "yes" answer to do you love mommy and daddy!

In 2 short days I'm sure she'll be buzzing around the back yard, until then the box should have some kind of warning for parents that the battery must be charged for 18 hours before its' first use! Mommy didn't make any brownie points there! So until then we will sit in it, eat in it, and fiddle with everything we can find in it! If mommy goes on a crash diet after baby she just might be able to try it out too, one of the benefits of this one is it holds 130lbs....two toddlers easy! 

Just to show you we knew it would be a hit....at the Brandon garage sales 2 weeks ago a buyer needed a test driver for a boys go kart that was for sale, so we stuck Syd in it, and couldn't get her back out. We then stopped at Toys R Us to see if they had the baby swing I wanted since we had no luck hunting one down garage saleing....and we decided to see if she'd bite on the Escalade....

In she went, and out, she wouldn't come! 

And here's what I promised....

the front yard before...

Old picture, especially since the for sale sign is still there! 

And what I did last week, with a little help from gramma, and 4 times re-doing the far end....

It's a side view because the other way is completely blocked by a very LARGE pile of dirt. It's getting ever so much closer to holding flowers....And it looks like someone actually lives here! I figure by August we should have grass again and the dog will be able to come in without leaving black footprints across the floor. This is just one of 5 or so current projects....no rest for the pregnant! I'll have pictures of my very first solo wood project as soon as it gets painted so you can see before and after...and I've already got plans for about 10 more wood projects before the baby comes, want to place bets on how many of them are finished? 

We had a nice productive 2 days of garage saleing also....came home with all kinds of name brand baby clothes, found out it's quite difficult to find 4's in good shape, and Syd caught the flu from her only day in daycare! I knew there was a reason I fought to stay home with her so many times! Lucky for me daddy is feeling it too, he won't be using the word daycare any time in the near future either! 

It's now race to the finish, ok, so maybe not race! We had an awesome productive weekend even with all the rain. My garage sale started out with a bang friday morning, and then moved on to please, come in, out of the rain! Even with the nearly 2 inches of rain in 2 days we managed to get rid of almost everything! We started with 10 totes, a few LARGE boxes, and miscellaneous stuff strewn about the house and garage. I began setting tables up a week in advance to try and squeeze everything in the garage, made a last minute trip to the store with grandma for one more table, and magically almost everything fit. I had a 2 car garage plum FULL of stuff to get rid of. Final tally on what's left....3 totes....yes THREE!!! And a couple of the big things that didn't sell really don't bother me, I can store them for a year, or use them in other ways for a year and try again! SO that leaves me with enough stuff gone and enough cash to do what you say? Well....buy baby stuff and a new lawnmower! I couldn't wait any longer for the mower, so we brought one home saturday night when I was sick of sitting in the garage and shut the door....Welcome new friend! We looked at sears, they no longer carry what hubby wanted....looked at runnings, I didn't want to pay the price....went back to runnings saturday, met the nicest guy in the store who convinced me I'd be able to operate the new honda mower no problem. I was even the first to start it....no more pulling on the cord 10 times before takeoff....first pull, and it's self propelled, a little too self propelled....if you aren't careful you could easily go on a jog while mowing!

Oh, and hubby decided that the front yard looked awful and borrowed a tiller from the neighbor....he was only supposed to be tilling up flower beds to make our yard look less new house and more someone lives here....apparently the front yard needs a lived in look as well, it's now pure mud! Morale of the story, be careful what you ask for! I do have a place for flowers now though, unfortunately it's going to be a while before I dare walk out front to plant any! The pickup was stuck in the front yard after all the rain, and miracuously only one person was dumb enough to go past the dead end sign and get stuck during the garage sale!

I promise I'll get pictures done up here shortly, no rest for the wary, still LOTS of stuff to do!

So here are a few of the finished product. LOVE LOVE LOVE the ones that show of his red hair! I would kill for his haircolor, there's just something about red hair! I have no idea which of the photos they will choose, but everyone has orders to pick them out then get them back to me so I can hurry up and wait for them....(aka, order them) As bad as the light was the day we took the photos most of them were salvageable, including the first in which poor baby brother looked like an alien. Ok, so maybe I shouldn't call him baby brother anymore, I have to look up to the little fart! Like a foot up, ok, so maybe it's not that far, but I still feel short next to him and I'm really not that short! How sad it's going to be to see him walk across the same stage I walked across....MANY years ago (ahem...10...ahem) Super proud of him, even though I'll miss him dearly when he takes off to Wyo Tech in September. YES...WYO TECH!!!...another thing I couldn't be prouder of! 

I promise I'll post some of our recent pictures soon, I just have a list of stuff to do that trumps pictures!
Things officially checked off the to do list...clean garage, finish Cole's Senior Pictures, Haircuts for 3 of the 5 in the house, Price Garage Sale Stuff....next up...a little paintin' and a garage sale, then to work on a new "buffet" style entertainment center to get the buttons out of Syd's reach as well as a few other ideas I have...oh, and a new lawnmower! Here's me on Saturday....I hate the yard Syd, can mommy mow? "mommy.....mowder!" I finished half the yard no problem, decided I needed a break and was going to let daddy finish...Moving on a few hours...."I can't stand having the back yard half mowed!" Syd, find your chair to watch again....and it went downhill from there! In my opinion I wasn't overworking the mower, I wasn't even breaking a sweat, however the mower had a different idea! Chris was laughing at me, I was so ticked off I was ready to drive to Mitchell at 7pm and break into Sears to get a new mower, and Syd was watching in awe. I seriously could have chewed the grass off faster with my teeth! Our awesome neighbor (same one with the big snowblower) was kind enough to laugh and add his 2 cents also...."Wanna borrow a mower"..."no thanks, I'm going inside to have a discussion about this damn thing with Chris" So....to make a long story shorter....I spent almost 2 hours doing a job that had it gone as well as the first half should take no more than 45 minutes! And that's with a Marci powered push mower! Unfortunately, it'll probably have to get used again before the next appointment in Mitchell, so plug your ears if you hear me screaming! At least I wasn't the only one fuming though, you should have seen the smoke from little orange! Man, am I glad hubby decided to drown the yard in fertilizer too....aiyiyi!

Tah-Dah...

Meet the little alien. I'm still disturbed by the lack of ears/eyes/mouth....features in general. I was reassured that it's normal at this point....either that or the baby is going to look like it's father! As cool as the 4D pictures are, I was less disturbed by the 2D photos that go along with them, at least in those the baby looks like it has normal features! And the survey says, you're still not going to know what it is...Grandma was here this weekend, and saw the pictures of the legs, but even the ultrasound tech had to pull out all his tricks to get him/her to show us what we wanted to know. This one is a little spitfire, just like big sis Syd. Enjoy my little space creature!

I'm giddy again! Like the he he kind of giddy. We found out what the baby was yesterday, but don't think you'll be able to get it out of us! Unless that is daddy slips. You can go ahead and ask Syd, but she won't give you a straight answer either...bonus! She knows there was a baby on the screen, and she knows what we said the baby was, but asking her results in a mixed frustrating answer....she starts with one, and moves on to the other, going back and forth. We tried out a new vehicle yesterday too, but after sitting in the dealership getting no where with our questions I checked out halfway through and said absolutely not, no matter what kind of price you can give me! You know it's a bad sign when the salesman won't even give you an answer to how much....and that should have been our cue to exit then and there, but instead we sat...and sat...and sat. Luckily another guy had mercy on us and got to work, and we did more stuff in the last 30 minutes than we did the first hour and a half. And what did I learn about my preferences? NOTHING! Hubby told me it wasn't the smartest idea to pick a brand by the comfort of the front seat...there's definately a winner in that category, so I had to start adding up plusses and minuses for both "brands" so far, the ford is winning....much to mr. chevy's dismay! I'm more careful about this one, because if we choose not to lease (which for our mileage and history is looking like it could be a good idea) this new vehicle is going to stick around probably for good....so I need to make sure it's exactly what I want, no settling. Once I pick I won't be able to complain about lack of room, or awd, I'll just complain every time I pull up to the gas pump, which with my job isn't all that often, so it's a tradeoff, the space I want for the fortune it costs to fill. This could be a long process! On a happier note, daddy is no longer scared to death of twins....I tried bribing the ultrasound tech, but the very first picture only showed one little alien, so hubby took a big breath and said "whew!" Which means I have all the time in the world to pick my new vehicle, even if the baby comes before I decide it just becomes LOTS more crowded and difficult to maneuver kids in the one I have! I'll post ultrasound pictures later, so stay tuned for those!

I'm tickled pink! MY BED....ok, Syd's bed has been featured on Ana's bragging section of her blog....yes, little us, from the middle of South Dakota....are on an Internationally known blog! I was super excited to see an email in the inbox when I signed in this morning from the coolest mom herself....Ana White...she has totally inspired me to get to work now that it has a decent chance of staying warm out. Granted, I have a few must do's before I can seriously get to work on this....Finish Cole's senior pictures, Garage Sale to reclaim the rest of the garage (we seriously have half a double garage full of stuff to sell already, and not everything is even out there yet!), clean the car inside....in hopes of upsizing soon....paint the laundry room, bathroom and Syd's crown moulding.....Uh oh, this list is getting kinda long! Oh yeah, and I'd love to have a few of Ana's pieces built before lets say the middle of July when I'm not in the mood to do anything anymore. We all know after the middle of August I won't be doing anything fun for a few months! Oh yeah, and top of the list is the ultrasound...scheduled for Wednesday...daddy Syddie and I will know what the new baby is, but you'll have to beg, and hope we slip, we're keeping it to ourselves (well mommy anyway, daddy and Syddie are normally the ones that spill the beans)

So we decided to try something a little different....My blackberry was on its last life in the last 24 hours....so it needed to be dealt with. Every time I put it down or picked it up wrong the thing would turn itself off. SOO....instead of waiting a few more months (like we had originally planned on) to sync up the renewal dates on my phone and hubby's phone we had to bite the bullet and take care of it today. Must have been the hanging up on when I tried picking up his call this morning.... and I came home with a spiffy new LG touch screen phone that I'm still completely unsure about. You need a college education just to figure out how to operate this thing!

While we were there we started looking at the wireless cards, and learned they were free....so we took one of those home as well! The price is actually less than we are paying for our DSL through the cable company and we get unlimited usage with our smart phone plan (along with unlimited texting, internet and so forth on our phones). And to think hubby wasn't sure about wanting the plan when I fell in love with the blackberry 2 years ago! I'll keep you updated on this venture. So far I haven't been able to overload its' capabilities and I've had 3 internet screens open....and it's keeping up with every DSL provider we've had as far as opening the screens....may just be a better deal than we thought. Oh, other perk to it....with a laptop you can access internet wherever you have cell reception (and even more spots since data uses less of the network) so no more stuck to cables, or within x number of feet from the wireless router in the house....double bonus! 

Now to continue my search for cable....I've actually been looking to change that for quite a while now, there's no reason that cable and internet should cost us 100 bucks a month, is there? 

I admit it....I've been slacking off on almost everthing lately! I finally spent some time on the house this morning....and vacuumed up half a dog....and 3/4 of a cat! Welcome to our fuzzy home is what the front door should say. We made an awesome accomplishment this weekend, my only regret being not doing this project while hubby was at work! So last week when I stumbled across Knock Off Wood I fell in love with their toddler farmhouse bed (along with a LOT of other projects) but the toddler bed won first on the list to get Syd off the floor. 

And voila...here it is! 

The lavender looks better than I was expecting in the hot pink room, unfortunately it doesn't really matter if it matches or not as Sydney sleeps in our room yet. She was so excited she kept trying the bed out downstairs while it was being painted, so she was thrilled to get to use it last night. We strayed from the plans a little bit....the headboard is shorter, the corner posts are 4" wide and 3" deep, and we left out one of the boards that lays across the top, but either way I'm totally in love with this little bed and plan on making a large version of it when we replace our bed! Thanks to Ana at Knock Off Wood for the inspiration and plans!

Just to show you the size in relation to Sydney...She can fall out in the middle of the night and still only fall a little over 6 inches, which wouldn't even wake her up (super deep sleeper!) We have a rail built to put on the bed, but it needs sanded and painted yet, and if she continues to do so well, might not even get put on. 

Since I'm feeling inspired at the moment, these are my latest sewing adventures...if you haven't already seen them...

They are adorable on, but my model quit on me, so we had to improvise! They are available in any size and MANY colors! Hopefully I'll find the time to get the the idea I have for a boys' version soon! 

Oh what a week! Our house expanded by 4 feet on saturday! We stopped at the Beadle County Humane Society saturday morning and two of the four of us in this house fell in love (and it wasn't even me!)

Meet Mariah...

The picture is fuzzy cause the crazy fuzzball won't take pictures! She's the hairiest dog I've seen in a long time, but magically sheds less than the cat....only stipulation, her hair is like ours...must be brushed or will snarl! 

Things I've learned since saturday.....Mariah will eat Syd's poop.....she's a finicky eater....she forgets Syd sleeps on the floor next to the bed and bounces on her every morning....the cold doesn't bother her (neither does the rain)....she prefers to sleep in a kennel (bonus!)....she can't be somewhere in the house that she can't see you (high maintenance!)....She adores Syd and loves to play....the cats at the shelter didn't bother her but sees Tom as a moving target and a chase must ensue....Will eat cat food if left alone with it....for some reason won't poop outside (yet....this WILL change SOON)....constantly worries about Syd....isn't bothered by the vaccum (unlike Syd and Tom)...unfortunately has had table scraps, and isn't afraid to take food from Syd....AND IS POTTY TRAINED!!! 

I'm sure the list could get longer, I'm just going to stop there. Daddy and I have wanted a puppy for years....and with owning instead of renting we've really been getting anxious. My intent was to find a AKC Brittany Spaniel puppy that could be trained to hunt when the weather straightened out. THEN we found out we were having another baby so I was debating about waiting until the next one was a little less maintenance to get a puppy. I still want the puppy....Daddy and Syddie fell in love! Don't get me wrong, the more she's here (haha...24/7....with me) the more I like her....I MISSED HAVING A POOCH! AND she is already 99% housebroken which is a total plus for the potty trainer (me) and is for the most part past the chewing stage. So, with all the caution I had saturday it's fading to liking her around, and she's a whole lot less expensive than the new puppy would have been. Think 400 for the puppy....150 for spaying....50 for shots....who knows what in items chewed up....yeah, definately cheaper! Now if only she would drop her affection for Syd's babies and stuffies, those are really the only things she goes for of Syd's toys (we have however kept everything else picked up just in case)

In other news we tried crown moulding in Syds room....1 novice, with me saying hold on....let me see if I can find directions somewhere = moderate disaster! For our first attempt it turned out not so bad. Before we try it again, we will be finding a pneumatic finishing nailer, the trouble to use a hammer and nails just isn't worth it...not to mention the pain! After lots and lots of head scratching and daddy cursing with oodles of tiny pieces cut at angles to try and figure out the corners I searched for instructions and voila....we got it....ok so I got it....I still had to instruct daddy what he was going to do wrong and he didn't believe me until we got the pieces upstairs and oops....mommy was right for the second time in one day! After all the cussing and frustration we still decided to build Syd a bed to hopefully cure the bouncing.....and I came across a gold mine!

If you're at all interested in wood projects this is the most amazing site I've ever seen! www.knockoffwood.blogspot.com 

And it gives me hope...everything is built by a girl! And it's all spelled out well enough I think with the new saw in the garage I could do the toddler farmhouse bed for Syd all by myself! Not to mention the 5 other things I spotted and want! Definately worth your time! 

Going...going...hopefully GONE! I finally deemed it nice enough yesterday and today to venture outside with Syd. The wind was fairly calm, it was nice and sunny, and was actually fairly warm, so out we went. Yesterday we spent most of our time picking up the garage, digging out the 4-wheeler, and putting the climbing toy together....ok, so that was me. Sydney spent her entire time outside playing in the snow. She was thrilled that she got to dig in the snow and "scoop" it like daddy does. I do have to say, I didn't quite see her brave enough to walk across one of the snowbanks though.

I turned around and she was queen of her very own mountain! 

Then it was time to see the neighbors new puppy...she heard a bark, and started squealing like she does every time she gets excited. Daddy came home a while ago and told us the neighbors had a new little puppy that was going to get big, but never said what it was.....I'M IN LOVE!!!! I already warned them not to come looking at my house if he disappears....I SWEAR I wouldn't grab him and run! What is he you ask.....he's a twin to my baby, except a boy! I too saw him running through the yard tuesday and almost passed out. It's a baby German Shepherd. Looks identical to my baby Rylie except he has a "spout" and his ears stand up. Daddy later fessed up that he knew what it was, just wasn't going to tell me....Jerk! So we went over and saw him yesterday and here's how Syd fared with the puppy....

Luckily when his feet met her shoulders I had a good enough grasp on her coat to keep her from plopping right down in the mud. As much as I didn't want to wash our coats, he is absolutely adorable! I warned his "daddy" that he'd be cute and loveable for another month or two then....WATCH OUT! Rylie went on a growing spurt and I don't know that she stopped until she was about 2! She went from a cute little 6 pound thing to almost 100 lbs in what seemed like a week! His eyes got big when I told him this....he plans on keeping the little guy (hehe) in the house! Now that's breaking a house in! Fortunately for us we're pretty set on getting a brittany spaniel puppy (which daddy says will be outside....haha!) and should have less house destroyed! Daddy says he's always wanted a hunting dog....I just want a dog again period....so we went with one we knew would hunt, but wasn't outrageously big....wether he knows it or not....or accepts it or not...it's GOING to be in the house! He's already outvoted! Watch out Tom, you're going to have to find higher sleeping grounds! 

I'm feeling the warm fuzzies....maybe winter will be over with yet! I'm finally getting the view out of the basement windows back, we can use the patio door again, and it's no longer sub-zero! Oh, we can see grass again too! Syd has been patiently waiting for enough snow to melt in the back yard that we can put her playset together, she looks out the window and points it out every day....maybe by tomorrow we'll be able to make our way through the snowbank to get at it! It was finally warm enough to wash my car without worries of doors freezing shut. I took the christmas lights down (all by myself....I only had to stretch a little bit to reach them. Next job, straighten out the garage and hopefully someday soon shampoo the yogurt off the back seat of my car! I have been patiently waiting for spring to arrive....ok, not so patiently, and it seems like it's finally here! I think we officially live on the messiest street in town too! I get to experience mud bogging every time I go past the end of the driveway....makes me wonder what the rental parking space is like since that was 99% MUD! If you haven't been here lately, it's worth a trip, we've been busy busy with little things in the house!

Here are a few of baby brother I've been working on....with a FEW more to go....