Just Ask A Cousin

Last Spring, as excited as Lucas was to find out we were having a boy, it’s safe to say my 9 year old twin nieces were as equally disappointed. You see, Marco made the official boy-to-girl cousin count 5 to 3. Which, to a set of 9 year old girls, is devastating. Or so they thought.

This past Sunday we were at my parent’s house for dinner. We were sitting around the table, talking about my Chicago brother and his wife who will be finding out the sex of their new baby in a few weeks. When we asked Ella and Grace if the baby would be a boy or a girl, they didn’t have an answer.

“I bet you want it to be a girl,” Lucas taunted.

“Why?”

“Cause you wanted Marco to be a girl. You were pretty upset when we found out he was a boy.”

The two girls blushed a little, looked down towards the table and were momentarily speechless. Until Grace, about as clever as she is sweet, replied with a smile…

“That was before we knew how perfect he’d be.”

 

Marco is one well-loved, lucky little guy.

Toe-tally Amazed

There are some things you don’t fully grasp the humor of until you’ve become a parent.

Like toe sucking.

Tonight, Lucas and I were beyond entertained at the sight of Marco reacting to the sight of his toes.

The oohs. The ahhs. The sluuuurp…smack….mmmmms.

And, of course, sticking them in his mouth and going to town.

I know this is another totally normal milestone for 5 month olds. But when it’s your own, it becomes absolute, laugh-out-loud hilarity.

With a bit of admiration, too.

About two weeks ago, we were wondering why he hadn’t found those little suckers yet. And just like everything else we’ve discovered so far, it happens in the blink of an eye.

Seriously. If we’re this excited about seeing him find his toes, I can’t imagine what we’re going to be like the first time he scores a goal!

My Funny Valentine

Once again, it’s been way too long since I’ve posted.
I’ll be perfectly honest here…Work + Motherhood = Busy Life.

For example, this evening I’ll be on a flight to NYC to spend my third year in a row amid the grandest canine event there ever was — The Westminster Dog Show. While I’m excited to go, it does mean I’ll miss Valentine’s Day at home, for the third year in a row. I’m not actually a huge fan of the Hallmark holiday, so it doesn’t really bother me much. This year, however, I have the most adorable valentine ever, so I felt obliged to snap a quick photo gallery of my “Little Casanova” before taking off.

That sweet little smile can seriously make a heart flutter.

It’s That Time of the Year…

…when little, bitty pumpkins start to slowly appear throughout our home. It first began this time last year. And the tradition has continued on this year, too. It’s pretty fun. And definitely makes me look like I’m on top of my fall decorating, when the truth is, all I do is rearrange the ones that mysteriously multiply on our living room mantel (for those who don’t know, my husband has taken up an incredibly dedicated hobby of pumpkin growing. Our backyard includes a patch of two 400+ pound great pumpkins).

And with the baby boy’s due date now just 6 days away. I can’t say I mind getting a jumpstart on the decorating. God knows it’s not going to be easy to do when we bring the little man  home.

Plus, taking pictures of baby pumpkins gives me a chance to work on my photo-taking ability before the real baby arrives.

Now I just need to work on getting this big baby ready for the new arrival…

The Living Room, Living Room.

Hi. It’s been a while.

People keep asking me if I’ve stopped doing this blog.
Apparently, yes.
But, no, not intentionally.

You see, the thing is, when we moved into our new, 80+ old, bought “as-is” home, I was really excited and thought, there’s so much to do here, I’m going to have soooo much to blog about! But in all reality, there’s been so much to do here, there’s been no time to blog about it! The irony has settled in.

Combine that with finding out within a month of moving that there would be a new family member joining the home this September, and posting about the house got even more challenging. Especially considering I thought I could be super mom-to-be and have this blog and a baby blog…while also maintaining that old full-time job I have as a writer, too. Oh, and I’m still trying to figure out my new camera…

Anyway, enough excuses. I owe the blogoshere a little peek into our home thus far.

And since I’ve titled this blog Living Room, it seemed only right to show you….the living room.

So, this is a look at it before we even closed. Luckily, this room was free of the wallpaper that had taken over the rest of the house. But the walls were incredibly bare. The floors, though hardwood, needed to be freshened up. The fireplace was brass. The window curtains had seen better days.

And a few shots with our stuff thrown around, but no “decorating” accomplished.

Now, 6 blood, sweat and tearful (yes, there have been tears…I’m pregnant, too, peeps) months later — it finally feels like our bright, fresh, liveable home.

- I painted the walls Behr Pismo Dunes, which is a grayish, clayish sort of color. I didn’t love it at first, but it’s growing on me.

- We also gave that trim a fresh coat of white to help it pop.

- I painted the fireplace black (transformation and steps here).

- I found the beveled mirror  above the fireplace at Pottery Barn

- We replaced the curtain with blinds, to help show off the beautiful molding around the windows.

- We had the floors in the entire first level refinished for a richer, warmer look.

One of the challenges from the beginning was working with the long shape of the room. With my mom’s help, we found just the right pieces to create a cozy, yet attractive little sitting area in front of the fireplace.

I found the mirrored table immediately, for $40 at Marhsalls.

 And, might I add, it looks awfully similar to this one at Pottery Barn for $250:

 

The chairs didn’t come so easily. I knew I wanted something simple, and not too large. I love the built-in bookcases, and the last thing I wanted to do was block them. Finally, after months and months of searching, I found ONE chair that I loved at, once again…Marshalls. But, they only had ONE. I bought it anyway, and called my mom and told her how half-way thrilled I was to have THE chair(s) I was looking for. I told her I would have to start searching HomeGoods and TJ Maxx’s across the city until I found its match…or else it would have to go back. Then, the very next day, I got home from work, and guess what was there? The second chair!! My wonderful mom went out on her own and found me the second! You guys don’t understand what a pain in the a$$ this search for the perfect chairs has been for both of us. So I can even tell you how thrilled I was to finally have them!

Then, behind those chairs are the awesome, solid wood, built-in bookcases. And probably the first thing I loved about the house. It’s actually been pretty fun trying to figure how to make the most of them.

One thing that I think is incredibly cool are the antlers (and if you know me, I’m typically not one to find pleasure in the sight of animal remains).

But, Lucas had actually been storing these in the basement of our old home. His dad is a biologist for a local college, and had found them out in the woods in the 70′s. Somehow Lucas ended up with them and thought they’d look cool on our shed in the backyard. He was pleasantly surprised when I told him that I would actually like to have them in our living room.

On the other side of the fireplace, I have a random little mix. I got fancy and created that artwork in Word. I had the birdcage leftover from our wedding, which we used as the envelope drop box. And I found that fish a while back at a local shop called Moonbeams.

I’ve also found a new love for Overstock.com. AKA, the TJ Maxx of the internet. That’s where I got our farmhouse coffee table.

And our apothecary-style TV stand. I was flattered when my aunt ask me if it was an antique, which totally reminded me of that episode of Friends when Rachael keeps buying things from PB but tells Phoebe they’re from flea markets…I digress.

So now, a few before and after looks:
  

 

I would still like to get a new couch at some point. But, with the dogs, cats and baby on the way, we’re going to go ahead and hold off on that one. And I would like to find a rug that adds a little more splash of color at some point, but that one works for now. Once again dogs, cats, baby…

Overall, I’m so happy to have this major room completed. It’s so nice to be able to just relax and enjoy the living room I’ve been working for!

Book Club for Winos — Room

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about a book. Now that the holidays are over and we’ve all had more time to relax in general, we had nearly 100% of the club actually read a book again. And we even talked about it!

Room by Emma Donoghue is unlike any book I’ve read before. It is written through the eyes of a 5-year-old boy who has lived his entire life in a room with his mom. They’re kept there by a creepy old man who brings them food and an occasional “Sunday Treat.” It’s pretty amazing to experience how the mom has worked to give her son the most normal life possible with little more than a tv, a few books  and a skylight.

Unfortunately, the book climaxes pretty early. The first half is great, and you absolutely can’t put it down. But once something big happens, it starts to slow down. I still enjoyed the second half, and the psychological learnings in it, but it does lose the thrill that made it a real page-turner in the first half.

It’s a book you’ll want to talk about with your friends. In fact, it might break the record for the longest our club has ever talked about one book.

I say, “definitely read it, just be ready for a change of pace in the second half.” Book club says, “Starts off feeling like the greatest book ever…overall it’s still worth reading.”

Up next...Water for Elephants.

Fat Kitty Love