Vacation

Roger and I had planned to go to out West for a long vacation this fall, but our plans had to change.  Instead, we stayed in STL and had a 'stay-cation'.  We did a lot of things around here that we don't usually get to or have the time or money to do.  And we were able to get a lot of things done around the house.  Here's a glimpse at what we did:

We got Elliott's "coming home" outfit

We moved around tons of furniture.  Rearranged Mia's room for her new, big-girl (twin) bed and rearranged our room to fit all the baby accessories.  Amazingly, it all fits!

We ate some sweet fall treats and got to hang out with some friends - without children! 

 

The dog (Chase) got a much-needed hair cut.  Everyone's much happier.  Vacuuming 5 times a day gets annoying to everyone.

And we got to visit a winery west of St. Louis.  It was great to be able to sit on their deck, soak in some sun, enjoy the emerging fall colors, and eat some delicious lunch.

Our vacation wasn't quite the grandiose trip that we had originally planned, but it was a great, refreshing break for us and a chance to appreciate our home, our friends, and our marriage.  Now Mia's home, we're getting back into our routine and completing final preparations for the next big thing - the baby coming!

I love my wrap!

My lovely Aunt Donna was super-generous and bought me the wrap I had been wanting to get for life-with-a-toddler-and-newborn that is quickly approaching.  And it just came in the mail the other day!  I popped in the DVD to see how the big piece of fabric would transform into a baby carrier, and Mia came in to watch too.  She wanted me to try to put her in every hold that was demonstrated (of course, she's much too big for many of them, but we still gave it a try), which kept us amused for a good, long while.  The wrap is amazing!  Even with my 6-months-pregnant belly, I can still comfortably carry Mia around.  I love it!  So, a HUGE thanks to Aunt Donna, not only for the hope of simplified life come December, but for the fun Mia is having with the wrap now.

Waiting on Paint to Dry

Tackling yet another household project this weekend, Roger and I put on our "working" clothes and painted one of the last two rooms in the house to be altered since we bought this house 4 years ago - our bedroom. (The other room that hasn't been painted or anything yet is the kitchen.  I'm waiting for a total over-haul to take care of that one.) We have a two bedroom house, so after the baby comes (and masters sleeping through the night) the kids will get to share the larger, master bedroom.  I wanted to get the room kid-ready so that it will be an easier transition once Elliott and Mia are ready to share, so we painted the white walls a lovely, neutral yellow.  Roger cleaned the walls and moved furniture yesterday and we were able to get the whole thing completely painted in about 2 hours today.  Yah, we're good.  I know.   And the whole thing has satiated my nesting compulsions for the time being.  Since we had to change our Labor Day plans, it was nice to be able to get this project done earlier than we had planned.  Of course, we won't be able to see the complete kid room for about another year or so, but the palate is set!

Organization makes the world go 'round

The toddler is out of town, so I'm up to some major organizing!  The "nesting" pretty much came with the little blue line on the pregnancy test, and today I'm making some major progress on the problem area of the house - the basement.  (dun, dun, dun!!!)  Right now I'm at a standstill until Roger gets home to go through his stuff, but I'm pleased with the purge so far.

Here's a peek at my progress (remember, it's darkest just before the dawn (a quote from "The Dark Knight" that I just got to see last night) - this is organized chaos.  And, no, it didn't look quite that bad to begin with ...)  Be prepared to be wowed and amazed by my organizing skillz by the end of the week!

It's been slightly enjoyable to go through all of our stuff that's accumulated down there in the 4 years we have lived in this house.  I decided to finally recycle all of my college class notes and papers (save for one 30 page paper that nearly took my sanity that I refuse to throw away!), which is bittersweet.  I learned so much during my time at SLCC, it's actually refreshing to just glance through old notebooks and folders.  I also ran across a couple of boxes of notes I had saved from college - notes my friends wrote me while pretending to pay attention in class or things they left on my door in the dorm.  I was "re-blessed" to read through those today as well.  My hormonal little self has had quite a sentimental day.