Kitchen Before & After

It is AMAZING what a difference a gallon of paint can make.  When we purchased our home every single wall was painted a deep dark color including the dark red in the kitchen.  It is now sea foam green and feels ten times larger.  While the paint made a huge difference we still have a lot of work to do.  Including painting all the cabinets, new hardware, replacing the rest of the appliances, putting down new floors and changing the counter tops.

Kitchen Before

 Kitchen After

Kitchen Before

 Kitchen After

In our previous kitchen I had a lot of red accessories including this utensil holder, jars, vases etc.

Instead of buying new I bought a can of aqua spray paint and went crazy with it.

One of my favorite parts of our kitchen is our family organization board from PB.

This post is To Be Continued...

One year ago today

Today celebrating my daughter's first birthday is causing me to reminisce about what happened one year ago and the craziness that ensued.
April 9, 2011
6am  I woke up on a Saturday and felt contractions.  I was only 36 weeks along but I knew right away I was in labor.  I felt the exact same pains with our first daughter 2 years earlier.  I woke up Dave and he did not believe it and told me to go back to sleep.  I grabbed his phone, downloaded a contractions app (best app ever) and starting timing while I laid in bed.

8am  When the contractions had not stopped and were now every 7-10 minutes apart.  I got into the bathtub hoping to ease the pain and failed.  When I got out the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart so I started making calls.  I paged the doctor, called my mom, my sister and best friend Abby to ask if we could take our 2 year old over there.  When the on call doctor called me back and I described what was going on and I had a pretty intense contraction while on the phone she told me that if I wanted to get an epidural (which I DEFINITELY wanted) then I needed to come in.  Dave FINALLY got out of bed and started to run around.  He threw a few things into a bag because of course we had not packed anything yet.  (Later in the hospital I realized he had managed to pack himself a few nice outfits, comfy clothes and everything he needed but failed to bring me any shoes or even a shirt a fit!  Never let someone else pack your hospital bag.)  I tried to put on some makeup and dry my hair in between calls but was struggling to breath or concentrate anymore and Dave told me it was time to go. 

10am  With damp frizzy hair adn little makeup on I reluctantly went along.  We dropped off our oldest at our friends' house and started on the nearly 30 minute drive to the hospital.  Dave hit every bump and pothole on 465 along the way.  I called my sister who was in the room when our first was born and wanted to be for this one too.  I told her to get in her car because she lived almost 2 hours away.  I then called my girlfriend Kristin to try and distract myself from the pain.

11am  When we arrived at the hospital we spent a few minutes getting checked in and headed to triage.  I begged Dave to go get someone as they left us in there alone and said the doc would be in to check me soon but the contractions were getting worse.  He was his usual relaxed everything will be fine self and told me they would come as soon as they could.  When the doc finally arrived 10 minutes later and checked me.  I was 4-5cm dilated already.  She confirmed I was in labor (DUH) and told them to send me up to labor and delivery.

12pm  I got to my room and asked everyone I could find to please get the anaesthesiologist.  She is in another room and will on her way soon I was told.  I began begging and pleading.  I was in a lot of pain and no one seemed to understand.  I looked at Dave and said "I know I am not going to get an epidural in time.  I need drugs.  I cannot do this.  Get her!"  Again, Dave told me she would be there as soon as she could and I would be fine.  When she finally came into the room the doc said she wanted to check me again before they started.  I was 8!  I knew it.  This baby is moving fast.  I sat on the edge of the bed and as the anaesthesiologist began to work I started to cry that I could not do this.  I needed to lean back.  I was feeling pressure.  LOTS of pressure.  Everyone told me that the baby was not coming.  I was only 8.  But I knew.  "Please I have to push" I begged.  I was warned that if I move I could harm myself because she was inserting the needle.  I tried not to move but began yelling that I HAD TO PUSH.  She said she was in.  I rolled back on my back and a beautiful tiny baby girl came right out with less than half a push.  No one was ready and the doctor was shocked.  She was still in her sack because my water never broke.  The doctor broke open the sack and it seemed like a lot of chaos and I was in a bit of shock.  Did that really just happen?  Roughly an hour after arriving at the hospital I had a baby?  And with no drugs?  A few minutes later my legs started to go numb as the epidural started to kick in.  SERIOUSLY!?!  It did not last long as she did not get much in.  The doctor looked at Dave and told him that she hoped he was taking notes because at this rate I would be delivering my next baby at home.  Dave then headed down to park our car and get our bags because it was still pulled up to the front door where we left it as we jumped out just an hour earlier.



We spent the next 3 days relaxing in the hospital and celebrating with family and friends. 

April 15 We loaded our trailer and moved to Fort Wayne to be closer to Dave's work so he would not have to commute 2 hours anymore.  Listed our house and moved in with Mom.
June 1  Sold our house.
June 18  Dave was offered and accepted a promotion back down near Fishers starting immediately.
July 1  Closed on our house and started house hunting
November  Found a house and made an offer.
February 27  Closed on the new house and moved back to Fishers.

It has been one crazy, fun, chaotic year and Adalynn has rolled right along with it.
We are looking forward to year two of her little life.  Hoping for just as much fun but maybe a little less chaos.

"EGG"celent Mail

I recently saw online that you can mail an Easter egg. 

So the girls and I went to the dollar section at Target. 

Picked up a bag of eggs, a bag of jelly beans & a bag of hopping bunnies.

I then cut out little cards and had Emerson decorate them with crayons and stickers.

We filled each egg with a card, bunny & then jelly beans.

Sealed them with tape and stuck a mailing label on then.

Next stop is the post office when the girls get up from their naps.

This was a great activity to keep Emme busy and talk to her about sharing. 

(she really wanted to eat the entire bag of candy herself)

We had lots of fun filling the eggs and I hope her friends are just as excited when they get an egg in the mail box.

Emerson's Woods

I had a very productive weekend and got Emme's room done too. 

Today I spent a few hours painting trees on the wall behind her beds. 

The idea is to paint a few shelves to match the tree branches and hang them for some stuffed animals, books, etc but of course last time I went to Ikea they had none of them in stock. 

Next time I guess. 

Until then this room can also be called done.

 Step 1:  Freehand trees on wall and paint the trunks & branches.

 Step 2:  Paint the foliage.

 Step 3:  Add flowers.

 Step 4:  Add final details and put room back together.

Sew Cute Room Makeover

Okay I am finally posting pictures of the new house. 

I am 99% done with one room...Adalynn's.  I had originally thought about chevron walls but went with stripes instead due to ease and lack of time.  Her bedding was grey and pink from our first daughter but I wanted to make her room feel different and special for her.  I had bought the matching quilt from PB that went with the bedding and to this day I cannot figure out why.  What does a baby need a $100 quilt for?  They cannot even use blankets.  Either way I decided to hang the quilt on the wall and make a book sling to hang below it.  I found some fun fabrics and got to work following this blog. 

One of my favorite things about this project is that the fabric is a list of flowers.  My father owned a greenhouse and called me Petunia when I was little.  Although you cannot see it here Petunia is listed on the front of her book sling.  So this is a way of doing something to put a little of my Dad is Adalynn's room. 

I also used the fabric to make a matching teething rail for the crib.  For some reason both of my girls seem to think they are part rabbit and need to chew on EVERYTHING with their little buck teeth.  I have tried two other plastic rails from Babies R Us and none worked because my daughter always found out how to get them off.  This one is way cuter, did not take long to make, inexpensive and she has not figured out how to get it off yet.  To make one of your own check out this blog. 

(I set her down in the crib to take a pic and on cue she began gnawing on the rail)

I still have some fabric letters to hang over the changing table and the closet is going to get painted but for now I am calling this one done.

I did it

I have not blogged for 15 days since I started my new 17 day diet and let me tell you what I was NOT doing...

I did not give into the temptation to...

eat a cheeseburger when my entire family stopped for fast food on a road trip

take a bite of the kraft mac and cheese I was serving my daughter

eat ANY of the ice cream cookie cake my MIL bought for valentines day

devour a piece of my 6 year old nephew's birthday cake or ice cream or toppings

I did however find myself cheating a bit...

I ate one sugar cookie on valentines day...what do you expect!  I mixed, rolled out, baked, frosted and decorated over 2 dozen heart shaped cookies for family and friends.

I consumed fruit after 2pm and

had a very small portion of whole wheat pasta.

But after all these ups and downs I am super excited to announce that I hit my first blogging goal of losing 20lbs!  That means that I have lost 40lbs so far this year.  I am keeping to my reward to myself and getting a new hair style.  I have been pinning lots of ombre styles and found one I really love.

My next goal is another 35lbs by my 30th birthday in August.  If I can obtain that goal I will weigh less than when I got married.  To make things a little easier I am going to break the goal into two obtainable parts.

20 more lbs by June.

Wish me luck.

17 Day Challenge

Day 2 of my 17 day diet challenge

Yes, I am trying a new diet. 

While I loved the ease of slim fast I found myself getting bored and cheating on the diet.

Last week after celebrating the Super Bowl I gained 2 pounds.

I need something to re-energize and re-motivate me.

My sister-in-law suggested the 17 Day Diet.

So, I did my research and it is recommended by "The Doctors" & Dr. Phil.

Why does Dr. Phil get to recommend diets?

He has a PhD in psychology.

Do they normally deal with weight loss?

Either way I am taking his recommendation and jumping in head first.

For the first 17 days of this diet I have to follow a VERY strict menu to detox my body from sugar.

Not at all excited about this.

However, with my PCOS it causes insulin resistance so low sugar diets are great for me.

Well great for my body but terrible for my attitude!

Yesterday was day 1 and I stuck to a diet of eggs, cheese, raw veggies, greek yogurt/fruit smoothie & salad with a little chicken.

Today I have done the same for breakfast and lunch but headed to Chick-fil-a for dinner.

I know you are asking "why".

My sister and I are taking the kids there to run around and play since it is freezing outside.

I am hoping they have a really awesome yummy grilled chicken salad.

I have found that I am not only a stress eater (isn't everyone?) but also a boredom eater.

So, I am thinking this is the perfect time to start a diet.

We are moving in 19 days and I have a ton to get packed and done before the move so there is no chance I will be sitting around bored thinking about what snack I should have.

I am super excited about fast results this diet promises.

Every other diet I have ever done suggests you have to lose slowing to maintain but this says just the opposite and has research to back it up.

Wish me luck and I will keep you updated on my progress over the next few weeks.

Be prepared for lots of tears...on my end.

I just keep reminding myself that this is not supposed to be easy & nothing tastes as good as thin feels!

Going down

Another week and another pound gone.

I am officially down FIFTEEN pounds from when I started blogging.

That means I am down 35 pounds total from last April.

I would love to be down 50 by this April.

We are moving in 4 weeks and life is about to get crazy so I must stay focused!

Nine weeks to lose fifteen more pounds.

You know that yoplait commercial that talks about making one good decision leads to another.

I can totally relate this week.

I find that if I make on bad decision...

(example: eat mac and cheese with my daughter for dinner)

I then tend to just blow the entire evening because I already failed right?

Or at least that is my rational.

I then ate a huge hunk of cheese and a piece of chocolate and ritz crackers etc.  AHHH!

One bad decision leads to many in my case.

I need to change my thinking that if I cheat a little I can still redeem myself.

And just to update you on my coffee vs. working out motivator.

I totally cheated. 

I hate to say but yes I am a cheater.

I worked out ONCE this week and it was so lame. 

I drank coffee three days this week. 

I HAD to people.

Love Letters for Sarah

Watch out Very Bradley here I come.

Okay not quite. 

But I am getting the hang of this sewing thing.

My beautiful niece Sarah is turning fourteen four in just a few weeks and I am helping with her tea party.

To practice some sewing skills I decided to try to make these cute little love letter wristlets.

Tutorial Here.  I did make mine just a bit smaller since it was for little ones.

They are intended to look like envelopes.

Perfect for a bunch of toddlers to stuff full of chap stick, jewelry & more.

Each one is a little different and way cuter than regular plastic favor bags plus just as inexpensive.

They cost just under a $1 a piece to make.

My mother-in-law had just given me a huge tin full of her mother-in-laws buttons.

I spent hours having fun sorting through the buttons and organizing them.

I had so much fun imagining what Grandma Elle was planning to do with all the buttons. 

Some were so elegant and beautiful and must have come off something special.

I thought they would be perfect for a closure on the envelopes.

I am now wondering if the girls are going to be able to get them open. 

Uh Oh!

So then I decided to make a regular little pouch with a zipper.

I may have to make a few more of these for the little gals that won't be able to do the buttons.

More time at the sewing machine.

Too bad.  :)

Stalled

I have stalled in more ways than one this week.

My SUV decided to break down on me and fittingly I only lost 0.6lbs. this week.

Both made me sad and one fix cost me over $400.

If only I could pay $400 to someone to fix the other issue I would be all too happy!

But it is not that easy.

I have to fix this breakdown myself.

I tried motivating myself with coffee last week and it did not really work.

Instead of taking up working out I almost gave up coffee.

Well not totally true.

I walked around the mall one day with my sister-in-law and our kiddos.

However, she is only 2 weeks post c-section and I was distracted by all the store sales so I am not really sure how many calories I burned. 

Plus I rewarded myself with a grande fat free white chocolate mocha from Starbucks.

I also shoveled the driveway half the driveway on Saturday with my three year old.

Because she is three and would not keep her gloves on we only lasted about 25 minutes.

But once again I allowed myself one cup of coffee for my efforts.

Not exactly a successful week of workouts but I guess it is a start.

I will continue that challenge this week and see if I can do better.

Squashed It

This evening we had spaghetti squash for dinner and it was so delicious. 

I often forget about this little squash that was first introduced to me by my good friend Abby.

However, my mom is looking for some glutten free and healthy options in her diet too so I told her I would make this.  She had NEVER made or had spaghetti squash before.

For you first timers out there:

It looks a bit like spaghetti but does not have the same texture.

It is a bit firmer and has a very mild taste.

It is however a great substitution, a great way to get more vegetable in your diet, and my three year old had no idea I switched it out.

How To:

Cut squash in half lengthwise.  Scoop out all the seeds and mush from the center.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour until tender. 

Remove from oven and allow them to cool enough you can handle the halves.  Then using a fork shred/scrap the inside of the squash into a bowl.

 

This is where it will start to resemble spaghetti.  Keep scrapping until you reach the rind.

Top with a little butter & Parmesan and enjoy. 

Or do like me and add meatballs and marina to your "spaghetti" to fool the kids.

I served mine with meatballs to die for, ciabatta bread smothered in pesto then baked until nice and crispy, fresh strawberries & a yummy salad.

The meatballs were made from whatever I could find in the fridge and this is what I had and what I did:

In large bowl combine:

1 lb. extra lean ground beef

20 pepperonis-chopped

3 slices of provolone cheese-chopped

1/2 large onion-small dice

2 eggs

1 & 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs

3 Tb. milled flax seed

1 Tb. Italian seasoning

Salt & Pepper

Mix ingredients with your hands.  Add in 1/4 cup water at a time until moist enough to hold together and roll into golf ball size balls.  I added a little over a cup of water.

Brown meatballs in a skillet with olive oil until nice and brown.  They will fall apart just a bit.

After they are nice and brown remove and put on a paper towel to drain excess oil.

Dump oil out of skillet and put in pasta sauce.

Put all the meatballs back in.  This time settled nicely in pasta sauce.

Simmer on low to cook thoroughly.  About 15-20 minutes.  I suggest you cover it unless you want a splattered stove to clean up afterward.

It was a very random mix of ingredients but really they were the best meatballs I have ever made.  One of the better dinners I have made in a while.

It has made me decide that it is time for kitchen clean out again.

I do this a few times a year when the fridge and pantry get overloaded with items.

I refuse to go to the grocery until all the produce (fresh and frozen) as well as protein is gone. 

So the next few post will be fun ones.  A hodge podge of meals thrown together with whatever I can find.

Wish me luck!

3 is the new 2

In December our little mermaid turned 3 and she had to have an Ariel themed party.

I normally go WAY overboard when it comes to parties, themes and decorations.

However, since we were having the party at my in-laws' house I kept things simple and just did Little Mermaid themed desserts.

 Ariel sitting on a sand hill in the sea. 

Thank goodness my mother-in-law is such a wiz with a piping bag. 

She did an amazing job piping on Ariel's tail.

I made all the shells and fish with a mold and some melting chocolate from the craft store.

The sand hill is a cake covered in frosting then graham cracker crumbs.

 Oyster cookies were premade cookies filled with pink frosting and a yogurt covered raisin to look like oysters full of pearls.

The sushi was delicious and perfect for toddlers.

Sushi Rice=Rice Krispy Treats

Fish=Gummi Sweedish Fish

Seaweed=Green Fruit Rollups

 

 There was an abundance of princess barbies. 

 Perfect for our little princess.

Smooth Move

My family LOVES smoothies.

For breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and for dessert after dinner.

So it was time I found a way to make a smoothie at home

fast, easy & healthy.

I decided to preportion them out so I can throw them in the blender without any measuring or fuss.

I purchased a large container of greek yogurt.

If you have not jumped on the greek yogurt band wagon yet you MUST.

The benefits of greek yogurt over normal yogurt are amazing  It is a bit pricey so buy it with coupons when it is on sale and you are going to freeze it so load up.

Next ingredient was fruit.

I bought two large bags of frozen fruit when it was on sale at the super market.

For those of you who think fresh fruit would be a better check out eatingwell.com.

They explain how frozen is just as healthy and just as nutrient rich (if not more) plus way cheaper.

The third and final ingredient is juice.

Here is where you can get creative.

For the first batch I mixed strawberries, bananas & orange juice.

The second batch was blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries & Naked Green Machine  juice.

I found this juice at Starbucks and it was so yummy and full of so many good things I decided to put it in my smoothies. 

If I had a juicer I would try to make my own juices to mix in my smoothies but until then (hopefully my birthday hint hint) I will use Naked juices.

To measure and freeze everything I used my old baby food containers.

(I told you Dave it would come in handy keeping all these instead of throwing them out)

Each container holds about 3oz.

So for a 6oz smoothie I can mix one yogurt container and one fruit container.

To make them a little smoother you may want to add a little more juice or milk when blending.

The fruit cups would also make great mixers for adult drinks with just a shot of pineapple rum and some ice added in the blender.

Men's Shirt to Girl's Dress

My 23 year old brother was moving last month and cleaned out his closet. 

In the process he gave me over a dozen polo and button down shirts. 

I was so excited to try to turn them into something fun. 

Inspired by a pin by my girlfriend Abby on pinterest of course.

Then Children's Place here in town was going out of business so EVERYTHING in the entire store was $4.99 or less.

So I loaded up on t-shirts, tanks, and long sleeve shirts to "play" with. 

I took a simple tank shirt with a little embelishment on top and attached the bottom half of a man's button up shirt.

I added cute little cap sleeves.

Put a ruffle around the middle for fun.

And for a finishing touch I changed out the buttons to fun flowers and butterflies.

It was not until I was finished that my niece pointed out that it looked like Snow White's dress. 

Which made her love it even more.

My beautiful niece Sassy posing in her new dress for me. 

I did not ask her to pose like this. 

She did it all on her own. 

Now you understand the nickname.

It was lots of fun to make and a fun way to continue practicing my sewing skills.

Funday

Yesterday was Monday and yes I did remember to weigh in. 

This week I am...

(drum roll please)

...down another pound!

That brings my total to 13.2 lbs.

I have decided to set some short term goals to help motivate me.

My next goal is 20lbs total. 

If I hit my goal I am going to cut my hair.

BLUNT bangs. 

Like Zoey bangs.

I love them but they look terrible on my round face.

So they are going to be my reward when I hit my 20 lb. goal.

To hit that goal I know I am going to have to start exercising.  And to me exercising is a four letter word.  My weight loss has slowed dramatically and it is just a matter of time before I have a week when I start gaining.  Yet, I have not been able to motivate myself to work out yet.  I went out and bought Jillian Michael's DVD and kettle bells but still no motivation.  To get motivated last Monday I decided that I was not going to allow myself to drink coffee unless I worked out first.  If you know me you know I NEED coffee to function.  When my husband was recently in Florida for a week golfing and lounging without me leaving me at home to care for our children alone (that rant is for another day) I was going to Starbucks almost every day and sometimes making it a triple shot.  After that week I knew I had to cut back or find another way to wake up in the mornings. 

Getting yelled at by Jillian and getting my cardio going will wake me up.  However, I am sad and dissapointed to admit that I have yet to work out still this week.  I did keep to my deal so I have also not had any coffee this week.  NOT A DROP!  It has been terrible.  But I am determined to keep to this deal.    

Weight off my Shoulders

It's Monday.

Weigh in day.

I am back down 12.2 pounds total. 

At first I was a bit disappointed that I am only down 12.2 after all this work so I decided to put it into perspective. 

This is a 5 pound bag of potatoes.  I have lost 2.5 of these. 

I imagine what I would look like if I took all those potatoes and stuffed them into my clothing in various parts of my body.

I think about carrying 2.5 of these around all day with me and how miserable that would be.

I excited I am no longer carrying 12.2 pounds or stuffing that extra weight into my clothes!

Did I mention I am also down a jean size?  I almost cried in the dressing room at Nordstrom Rack when I had to go get a smaller size.  I am not sure that has ever happened for me.

Upgrading to Chrissy 2.0

Everyone is constantly telling me I need to upgrade. 

I am told to upgrade my cell phone, upgrade my cable, upgrade my TV to 3D, upgrade my car to more fuel efficient, and upgrade my style. 

This year I am upgrading myself. 

I am going to upgrade my insides and my outs.

In NO particular order I am going to be able to call myself the following this year...

Skinny 

No not model skinny but me skinny.  I want to be able to wear skinny jeans and be happy.  I want to wear a cute dress without spanx under it.  I want to feel good about my weight.  I am not sure what that number is yet I just know how I want to feel and I want to feel skinny.

Healthy 

I will force myself love to eat at least one whole serving of a vegetable a day.  Yes, I am starting with one because there are too many days I eat none.  The only meal I even cook veggies for is dinner.  (slim fast for breakfast and lunch)  When dinner comes around I want carbs and meat.  I always cook a veggie but usually a potato of sorts or corn, peas or green beans.  I want to love peppers and brussel sprouts and asparagus and broccoli.  So this year I will force myself to eat my veggies first instead of leaving them on the plate.  Eventually I will learn to love them.  Now I know that just eating one vegetable a day will not make me healthy, but it is a start.

Faithful

I want to crave Jesus like I crave chocolate. 

I want to ache for him.  I want to think about him morning, noon and night.  I want to lay in bed and dream about him.  I want to devour him!  Like chocolate Jesus goes with everything and makes everything better.  So why do I ever go without?  Why don't I put him on everything? 
I read People magazine and check celebrity websites daily.  For some reason I want to know what Jennifer Aniston is wearing, what Jessica Simpson is eating or what Brad Pitt is doing.  Why don't I feel the same way about God?  I have believed in God as long as I can remember.  I have never had a period where I questioned my faith or where I would end up after this life ends.  Yet, I have never felt that I have a close personal relationship with Christ.  And sadly I have never really desired one.  I have been content hearing about him from my pastor or praying to him at meal times, bed times or times of trouble.  But I want to want to know him.  I want to desire to learn more about him.  I want a better relationship with Jesus.  And not just for me...but for my daughters too.  I want to set an example.  I want to pick up my bible while lounging by the pool instead of a trashy magazine.

Outgoing

I want to be one of those people that when strangers meet them and walk away they think "wow she is really nice."  But too often I don't give strangers a chance.  I judge others too quickly.  I have a wonderful group of friends and somehow think I do not need anymore.  Like my friend jar is full.  Why do I think like that?  I need to get a bigger jar!  I want room for more friends. 
Instead of being nervous because I have not seen them in ages or cannot remember their kids' names or won't know what to say I will walk up and just say hello.  I will send thoughtful notes via email, snail mail, text and facebook.  I want lots of jars FULL of friends!

Quiet

I know this sounds totally contradictory to the previous post.  But I want to learn to be quiet and just listen.  I want to be able to have a conversation with someone without interrupting to give them advice or give them my expert opinion or finish their sentence.  I want to learn how to show others I care and I am listening without saying a word.  Is that possible?

Wrong

Okay, I know that may be weird but I want to be able to say "I am wrong"...and not because I am being forced to.  I want to feel okay with being wrong.  I know it will make me a better mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend etc.  I am bullheaded and stubborn and bully people into believing whatever I am saying.  (some people more easily than others)  I HATE that about myself.  I want to sit back and be wrong and be okay with it.  I want to be able to learn things from other people when I am wrong about something instead of constantly defending my mistakes.  This may be my greatest challenge this year.

A Homeowner
Enough said!

Looking forward to another amazing year.