The Frosting

I read an...interesting book called "Mutant Message Down Under." The book is about the Aborigine people. One part said the Aborigines think it's funny Americans have things like frosting and gravy. They're eccentric things that they view as completely unnecessary.

Well Aborigines, I have to disagree with you. I have spent the last week frivolously frosting my house and now it's finally starting to feel like home. The frosting is the sweetest part! The gravy leaves you satisfied. Unnecessary? Maybe. But what's life without a little eccentricity?

Here's the frosted kitchen:

 The family who lived in the house before us left these cute flowers for us. It was so sweet of them to think of us and it really brightened up our house before we got our decorations up.

 I love this bathroom. I still need to put something above the toilet, but I love the lemon decoration on the counter. We are probably going to paint the walls really light yellow in here eventually.

Back to the kitchen. These are not done. Especially not the top shelf. This has been more of a picture storage area until I figure out where to put everything. The bottom shelf is somewhat done. I've been having a hard time finding skinny things that will work on those shelves. I'll take suggestions.

 This is in our living room. Our living room is going to be purple, green, black and tan.

Finally, Eli's dino room! This is actually funny. I know there are a ton of people who love doing their own thing. They love to be original. I'm not really like that. I don't mind using other people's good ideas. Especially when it comes to decorating. I'm quite an amateur.

I made that dinosaur blanket for Eli and fell in love with a dino theme. I looked and looked for decorations online with no luck. Then I googled dinosaur nurseries and kid rooms and I struck out again! Could I really have unintentionally been original? Dang. That left me fending for myself on everything. Eli's room is doomed to be completely homemade and decorated by yours truly. This is what we have so far:

Here's another funny story -- Eli LOVES toilets. He crawls straight into the bathroom and climbs all over the toilet. Maybe he's destined to be a plumber? 

Whew

We survived moving day.

It was so unreal to walk into the house knowing it was ours. Eli made himself right at home.

 Before long David and Mary showed up with all our stuff.

Then my extended family came to help out. 

 ...and have a little fun along the way.

Mary and Kaelynn were so nice to entertain Eli in the midst of all the chaos. 

 After only 45 minutes and a few minor injuries we were all moved in and the movers were enjoying their well deserved treats.

 First family picture with our new house!

 Our real estate agent gave us sparkling cider. We took a break from our work to celebrate with it.

 We couldn't put anything in the kitchen because we had some people coming over to clean the whole kitchen for us. Box after box piled up in our living room leaving us with a huge pile of clutter. As boxes were slowly disappearing I thought it might motivate me to take pictures of my progress. This one is right after we moved in:

 Here's Saturday night:

 Sunday afternoon:

 Monday morning:

All the boxes are unpacked if you can believe it. I've been running around like a crazy person trying to get everything organized. I hope to have it mostly put together by the end of this week. I'll keep you posted on my goal.

April 20th

We closed on our house today. Yup. A real house.

I almost hyperventilated as I was signing the papers. I had a similar experience giving birth. You wait so long for a big event to happen, and then as it's happening it's a little shocking. You can't help but wonder if you're ready for the big change, but ready or not you're signing your life away. Or popping out a kid. Both are significant life experiences worthy of hyperventilation in my opinion.

We move in on Saturday! Somebody pinch me.

Sleep Like A Baby

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that some days I'm frequently counting down the hours until bedtime. And I'm also sure I'm not alone in saying that once my baby's finally asleep I can't seem to break myself away from him.

Jeff and I love to peek in at our angelic sleeping baby. Especially because lately we've found him in some interesting positions.

First we have the "I fell asleep while I was sitting" position. We still don't completely understand how this one evolves, but we know the end result very well.

This kid used to hate being on his stomach so you can imagine our surprise when we repeatedly discovered Eli sleeping flat on his face.

 And finally, my favorite, all bundled up on his knees.

He's such a goof ball! We can't get enough of him.

Could It Be?

April 15th.

Not a big day for all you people who aren't married to a tax accountant.

But for those of us who are married to tax accountants, April 15th is a good day. On April 15th accountant husbands come home at 1:00 in the afternoon for a week long vacation.

We already took a nice, long walk in the nice, almost warm weather. It's almost weird to have a husband again...but I think I can get used to it.

Cheers to busy season being over!

Stir Crazy Mommy and Baby

Just when we thought it was about to get warm, mother nature decided to drop another foot of snow on us. Go figure. We've spent a lot of hours stuck inside and it's starting to take its toll on both of us.

Eli has realized he can open cupboards, dig in flower pots and pull books off the shelves.

 (Not to mention throw the occasional temper tantrum.)

 When he's not destroying the house, he's shoving food into his mouth. The boy loves finger foods and bonus -- it keeps him entertained for quite a while. I asked my mom today if it was bad to just keep feeding him and feeding him to keep him busy. She didn't think that was a good idea. I didn't think it was a good idea after I watched Eli shove an entire full-sized vanilla wafer into his mouth. But I still laughed and took a picture while praying it would dissolve very quickly if he started choking on it.

 Being cooped in the house all day has left me resorting to the TV every once in a while. Eli loves it. He will even chuckle at times. It makes me realize he probably has a better understanding of the world around him than I give him credit for.

 Now for my stir crazy guilty pleasures. I have been itching to get into our new house. In the meantime, I have been crafting, decorating and sewing to pass the time.

A few weeks ago I found a plate at DI and it looked like it would match the green in the kitchen of the house we're buying. I shoved the plate in a closet at my parents' house and kind of forgot about it. Then today my mom had the great idea to visit Tai Pan (it was a terrible idea. I now want everything in the store.) and I found a vase that I thought might match the plate I bought. Sure enough I brought the vase home and it was a perfect match. I have been staring at these two for the last hour. They're so darling together. It was meant to be. Let's just not tell Jeff how much that Tai Pan vase was.

 And I've finished more pillows! I didn't love this flower one as I was doing it but it's grown on me.

 This one is my favorite:

 We're going to have a big, brown headboard and probably paint the wall behind the bed yellow. So envision that instead of the purple.

Hopefully it warms up soon so I can get my mind off all this decorating and Eli can stop tearing my parents' house apart. I'm excited for warm weather and I'm so excited to move!

My Annual Chop

What better day to chop all your hair off than on April Fool's Day? I don't love it yet but I think I'll like it better tomorrow when I style it myself.  Jeff doesn't know I cut my hair off yet. I wonder if he'll even notice when he gets home from work. Can't wait to find out.