Whoa, has it really been that long?!!

Ok, so we've been busy...really really busy!

Thanksgiving, birthday party, baby appts, christmas, the flu, colds, snow, amazing weather...you name it we've probably done it in the last month and a half! I'm officially at t-minus 5 weeks and counting, couldn't be less prepared, and since it's #3 it doesn't really bother me! All of the itty bitty clothes are still packed away in tote boxes, we have no bed for her to sleep in (praying she didn't lie to us and she's actually a girl!) there is no place in this house currently to PUT her clothes, hence the tote boxes, we have a first name...we think, middle is still up in the air...baby proof again? yeah, that's funny!! We're toddler proof, does that count? Oh yeah, and throw in a job switch and possible house sale in there and it about sums it up! 

So first things first...Sydney had an amazing birthday, one which she won't forget in the near future, between ChuckECheese and the fancy pool at the hotel her birthday was a definite hit this year, as opposed to the blizzard birthday (or no-birthday) of last year. Unfortunately this mommy failed, we were so busy the entire day I have 2 pictures of my birthday girl, and neither of them include her face! Chalk it up to fun and trying to keep track of 2 munchkins in a sea of munchkins I guess. 

That leads us into flu season...lemme tell you, flu and pregnancy don't play nice together....every single one of us ended up with the flu the week before christmas, right into christmas, makes for a super fun holiday! Following that it's only natural to fight colds, right? We're a month into that battle and hoping everyone is well by the middle of Feb in time for baby's arrival! 

Ok, now on to another fun trip for the girls. We took advantage of a not so nice day, daddy being gone for the day and the girls having nothing to do to road trip to see their favorite aunt and take in a new spot that the girls couldn't get enough of. Welcome to the children's museum in Brookings...thanks Jodi for the hint about having dry clothes with, cause not a single one of us left dry! I figured it was the best time to try it out, before I had an itty bitty to deal with too! We will definately be going back, I don't think a day has passed that we haven't talked about the museum at least twice...and Syd has daddy (aka Mr. Impatient) talked into trying it out too. 

She must have known what was in store for her, this was on the way to brookings that morning...a quick battery charge for the full day of play ahead. 

Yep, that's my baby at the ceiling...and you can barely make out auntie Caley...Haddie was the only one that would even go up in the clouds, Syd is super scared of heights. 

Leave it to my girls to leave with more water on them than any other kid that walked out of the water room...only Syd would wash her hair after taking a bath that morning, she's water obsessed!

Ok, there's an update...hopefully they'll be more frequent!

Here's the most controversial to date of my house projects....the new trim was ok, hubby agreed that the old stuff was cheap looking and the stained pine looks much better. The bathroom in the basement was fine by him...it too was pine stained to match the trim (I'll post pictures of that one another day)...he didn't fight me much on the black cabinets upstairs because staining them made them too light for between the sink and the floor....the kitchen Island however, well he still isn't so sure about it. Me on the other hand...I'm actually liking my kitchen again, it isn't an oasis of ugly monotone oak cabinets when I hate golden oak to begin with!

Here's a rather rotten picture of before...flooring going right up the back of the island. I've honestly hated that single part the most since we moved into the house!

This point is where I was glad I ripped into it while daddy wasn't home...the girls and I were having fun ripping it apart. It made more sense to me to have the bigger of the two for pots and pans than baking stuff...so apart the entire thing came!

And I had a great idea for the inside...which meant while it was in pieces it was easier to remove the shelf than try and be careful once it was all put back together. 

And now it's not looking so horrible anymore, and the back is a whole lot better than seeing the flooring go all the way up! You can see the original color in the background...

Here's one of my favorite parts of the island re-do...no more standing on my head to dig out the pans I want! the girls think the drawers are great too...one of them crawls in and the other pushes the drawer in and out

And the finished product...I absolutely love it! It was a 50ish dollar change that made a world of difference in my golden oak nightmare! 

The island followed the crown moulding that I had wanted to put up for quite a while too...I did that first to make sure the black didn't totally ruin the kitchen...it was easy to put up and would have been easy to rip back out to replace with matching crown. 

Ignore the mess...that was mid re-do...no bathroom upstairs, and the kitchen was about half functional...the island, while that was where everything lived while we were using it! 

The saddest part of me liking my house again is we need a bigger one so all this was done just to sell it! Hopefully someone else likes it as much as I do, it's a 100% improvement from when we moved into our builder grade, white walled, finish quick so we can start another house to make more money expensive investment! 

So here's the reason for the lack of posts lately...I got 95% of the list done before we had a house of people for thanksgiving and I think if you asked any one of them they wouldn't even be able to point out the unfinished parts! Yay for mommy! 

Here's our main bathroom before....

they're the only two pictures I actually have from trying to get rid of the vanity and mirror...

and here's the inbetween...

and our bathroom now....we absolutely love it!

The pictures really don't do the tile justice...they're gorgeous! 

And bonus to me wanting a smaller vanity, now we can actually open the door while someone is at the sink without getting squished or losing a toe! Besides, it just gives the girls more cupboards to empty! Our bathroom went from hardly any storage to storing everything that had to be kept in a closet right outside the bathroom...where you had to leave a trail of water and hope nobody was looking if you forgot to grab a towel! And don't even get me started on the heated floor...that is worth every penny we spent! 

It came and went and I didn't turn into a pumpkin...

I wasn't super duper excited about turning 30...all I could think of it's OLD, 

when you say it everyone is like "oh" you're no longer in your twenties...I've heard over and over all the stuff you're supposed to quit doing...and the list goes on and on. 

So when I looked in the mirror last tuesday morning I didn't look any different, no gray hair, no wrinkles that mysteriously showed up while I was asleep...nothing looked any different so I figured it wasn't going to be as bad as I had predicted. Only war stain I had was the pink finger from the frosting mishap on the cake I made for my own surprise party...yep, I knew!

I had such a good time that night it's quite possibly the best birthday I've had since I was in gradeschool!

Here's a rundown of the last few big ones...25th (golden birthday) I waited and waited at home for the farmer boyfriend I had to finish for the day so I could go out for supper. Something about the threat of snow and field work don't go along! 

21st...I was sitting in a store called The Tile Shop in Eden Prairie MN I believe getting the rundown on DIY kitchen counter tile. The explanation must have worked well because a month or so later my mom's countertop was gorgeous porcelain tile instead of putrid yellow 50's laminate. Followed by supper at a restaurant not far from the tile shop because it got late getting the rundown. 

18th...well that one wasn't so shabby either...I hate to admit it, but the only thing I wanted to was to see 98 degrees in concert. They just happened to be in Mankato the weekend after my birthday, so with mom's credit card in hand, a hotel room reserved, one of my friends and our tickets we girl tripped it to Mankato and had a teenage girls' dream of a time. A hotel room to ourselves, some nice eye candy to watch and the next day we hit the mall...that one was kind of spendy!

So here's one of the pictures you don't so often see on my blog...my girls are a whole lot cuter!

Thank you iPhone for the awesome picture, and thank you to everyone that gave up their evening to help me celebrate! 

I guess 30 isn't so bad after all...

Ok, so it's been almost 3 months, life has been absolutely nuts, and I'm still in the middle of one BIG project. Fortunately I remembered to grab the camera from upstairs and don't much feel like working on house projects today so I decided to finally post Haddie's first birthday pictures. 

Our little bug turned 1 August 6 (see how far behind I am!) 

She turned one on her own terms, independent, adorable and toothless!

She now has 6 chompers that she "sprouted" over a period of about 3 LONG weeks. My baby was cranky, really really cranky about those teeth!

Anyway, here you go!

You can tell how unsure she was at first (she's totally girly and doesn't really care for getting dirty) then decided the frosting was too good to waste. I waited to give her the big cupcake until it was just us girls at home so we didn't create a big mess with a house full of people, but again she wouldn't just rip into it, she took a few tastes then was done....such a little neat freak!

Well, with everything except dirt that is....she eats dirt like candy....dirt of all things!

In honor of little miss birthday girl this will be in pink...to match the rest of her party. 

I can hardly believe my sweet little thing is already a week away from one year old! 

She's got spunk, smiles constantly, and is determined to do her own thing....well everything except walk that is, it's easier to squeal until her big sis comes and gets her. I don't know how many times a day I tell Syd to put the baby down that she's not a toy.

Haddie absolutely adores everyone that will smile at her, hold her and play with her. She has gorgeous blue eyes that melt you, just like big sis and is the lowest maintenance person in this house as long as she's not hungry, dirty or tired, but will let you know with auntie Caley's blood curdling squeal if she's not happy about something.

Here's to my itty bitty birthday girl! 

It's so much easier with kids that don't know you/will listen to you!

Syd didn't understand the concept of she's the oldest, she can sit and smile for periods of time that Haddie can't, so she needs to sit pretty while I try to wrangle a smile and a sitting position out of her sister...

Here's a few NEW pictures, like hot off the press...and I will start printing them at the other place in town after the runaround I got at the big store...absolutely rediculous!

It's amazing what a roll of sweetarts gives you!