She's a Happy Baby!

Finally after about two weeks of being grumpy Lillian is back to her normal happy self! With being sick for about the past two weeks she has cried way to much. I'm talking, she seemed to have colic kind of crying, she would cry for no reason on end! I was starting to think that maybe my little girl was going to be grouchy for the rest of her life and that I would need to send her off to boarding school for babies as soon I could! OK, maybe a slight exaggeration, but really she was frustrating and I only seemed to like her best when she was asleep! I know that sounds horrible, really all she did was cry and cry and lets see, whimper a bit then cry! I knew she didn't feel good at all, she had a fever, gunky eye and horrible cough, but now that is all history!

Now my Lillie Pie is squealing in delight, sometimes for no reason and smiling sooo much more! She's a happy baby! Finally! Yesterday she really started to get back to her normal self and today too! We have started to give her some Little People to play with and she loves them so much she wants to eat them! Pork chop anybody!

Lillian is starting to sit up somewhat by herself now, she hasn't figured out that when she leans back she falls back! (I'm surprised she didn't fall back while I was taking her pictures!)

Deciding which animal to eat next! Mmm, they all look so yummy!

How about some puppy chow!

Jacob loving on her as usual!

Jacob started preschool on Wednesday for just a few weeks and he seems to enjoy it once he becomes busy. He didn't want me to leave at first but thankfully he became distracted and so I sneaked out! The picture below cracks me up, he looks so serious at his desk, here at home, doing his "homework" he wants to be like the big kids!

I do a homeschool preschool curriculum for him during the week here at home. We had decided not to send him to a regular preschool this year with everything that we have going on and with moving. I love the preschool curriculum I have for him here at home, in fact they even have curriculum for tiny tots as small as 10 or 12 months old! That may be too extreme, but I haven't really looked into yet! What we do is somewhat of a Montessori/Christian based/Charlotte Mason style if that makes any sense at all! I will have to do a post on that sometime in the future! Anyway, I am just glad to have my happy baby back!!!! Blessings, Lisa

One Room Done!

I would have blogged about our spring break, but it was horrible! Two little ones decided to become sick and then share the love and get me sick! So I shared it with Chad! Not to mention the weather was yucky cold and didn't feel like spring! Things did turn around for us and we managed to get one room completely finished! How exciting is that! (Unfortunately everything is now being stored in that room until we get the others done!)

When we first put the varnish on the floors the wood really sucked it all up, and ended up putting three coats on the floor. They look really pretty now, for being about 130 years old! We used a glossy in Lindsey's room and we decide to use a satin in the rest of the house, the glossy is really pretty but will show every piece of dust and scratch on the floor! We had finished varnishing the floors in Lindsey's room and then put up her bed and new bedding set that she had in the closet for a over year! She was excited to get started decorating, we still need to put her desk, dresser and some more pretties on the walls. I think what we are wanting for that room is more beachy chic with a touch of whimsy, but we'll see what we come up with!

Her comforter set came from Target, the Shabby Chic children's line. The walls are painted Sandy Oasis by Dutch Boy. (I think this is the only room that doesn't have a Benjamin Moore Color in it!) The bed frame was given to us from someone locally and the signs are from a cute local shop!

Slowly, I am starting to pack things up and take over there and hopefully we will be moving in about two weeks. OK, we will be moving in about two weeks, because I am tired of waiting! Chad finished putting the last coat of varnish in the other bedroom that has wood floors tonight so we can start to decorate in there in the next few days! I'm thinking tractors for that room! Now we have four more rooms to varnish and then the floors will be done!!!! Blessings, Lisa

One Thousand Blessings

91-100

91. Spring Break!!!!

92. A new cook book

93. Planning my first garden (Yikes!)

94. Cutting the boys' hair in the kitchen

95. Pretty wood floors

96. Rest

97. Lindsey excited to decorate her new bedroom

98. Preschool time with Jacob

99. Jacob trying to feed Lillian

100. Seeing the 100 blessings I have in my life so far and still counting. . . .

To learn about One Thousand Gifts, visit Ann's blog, A Holy Experience and take the dare to count as many blessing that God has given you!!!!

One Thousand Blessings

#71-80

71. Pretty kitchen counters

72. Get in and out of the doctors office in under an hour!

73. Making cute cupcakes for Kyle

74. Baking bread with my girls

75. Meeting someone new and having a great conversation with them

76. Eating freshly baked bread

77. Varnishing the floors at the other house

78. A bright and full super moon

79. My pretty pink lily flowers are staring to sprout (I wasn't sure they would make it as many times I had moved them!)

80. Spring

To learn about One Thousand Gifts, visit Ann's blog, A Holy Experience and take the dare to count as many blessings that God has given you!!!!

Baby Food

Today I decided that I would start feeding Lillian some baby food, in hope this helps her to sleep better through the night, 5 or 6 hours would be perfect! I have been researching baby food for awhile now and decided I would rather make my own. I found a few really good websites that are all about homemade baby food, which I will have links to at the bottom of this post. Lillian is ready for some good stuff!!!!

Today I mashed up about 1/4th of a ripe banana for Lillian to eat, she loved it! I didn't mix it with anything and tried to mash it as much as I could with a fork, she did have a few bigger chunks but that didn't seem to bother her any! I froze the rest of the banana so that she could eat it the next few days before we move on to advocates! I was planning on feed her advocates first but since I just bought them at the store yesterday, they are not ripe enough to eat. I figure once we get through the banana, the advocates will be ready to eat. Yum! Yum!

I also chopped up some brown rice for her that I can mix in with the bananas and other foods. Just a simple box of whole grain brown rice that I already had up in the cabinet and poured some in the blender and chopped it up really fine. I may have made it too fine but I figure that should be OK for Lillian. I then poured it in a storage container ready to be cooked. (I may do that with oatmeal too, it's got to be better than the Gerber cardboardish flakes she doesn't like!)

I do plan on cooking or steaming many other fruits (and veggies once we get to them) that I will give Lillian. I figure that with making her own baby food I can give her what I want and not have fewer selections when it comes to the food at the store. I can expose her to much more and I can give her what we eat at dinner once she gets old enough. Not to mention I know exactly what is going into her food, a lot of baby food at the store has other additives and such in them that are not necessary. I think my blender will become our new best friend!

I did see/drool over this HERE really nifty baby food maker in my William Sonoma kitchen catalog, but really for the price and only using it for one last baby, not worth it! I do like the freezer trays they have, but an ice cubed tray wrapped in aluminum foil works too! Here are some links that I have been reading and loving!

Homemade baby food recipes

Wholesome Baby food

I have looked at buying a baby cookbook online, but not sure which one I would want or if I would really need one. The above websites have so many different recipes and filled with great information, that they should keep us going for awhile!!!! Blessings, Lisa

CrAzY DaY!

Is it Friday yet!? I say this because, what a week we have had already! Lillian has been quite moody and only cares about eating, then crying because she ate too fast or to much! (Thankfully Gripe water seems to help her belly.) She must be going through a growth spurt! I have about a dozen emails to send out, laundry that needs folded and put away, things that need to be finished, daylight savings time has really messed up my schedule and to top it off, Lindsey is now sick, lovely! Then today I had to take her to the doctor and then tonight Chad, Kyle, Jacob, Lillian and I went to Menard's to pick up our counter tops that we ordered a few weeks ago! They came a little earlier than expected and a half an inch to long! Great!

Lillian cried about half the time we were there because she thought she was starving (again)! Chad took forever getting the plumbing for the kitchen sink and garbage disposal. The boys were playing with the toilets they had on Clearance at the end of the main aisle so, I sat on one of the toilets with Lillian and made flushing sounds to make her laugh! The boys were playing sword fight with the hoses Chad had in the cart while we looked at screen doors. Jacob looked like a hillbilly with a hole in his pants, but he "can't care"! I had to rifle through my bottomless purse at the check out to find my rebates I got in the mail as the line behind us was growing! How delightful, I bet they were glad when we left!

At least today was sunny and warmer than it has been for awhile! Spring is almost here and I am ready for it. I am also glad that today is over and tomorrow starts a whole new day!!!! Blessings, Lisa

One Thousand Blessings

61-70

61. The way the moonlight shines at night

62. Freshly sanded floors

63. Little boys who like to help buy using the little hand sander

64. Running water

65. Cute baby jammie's

66. Gripe water for Lillian when she is cranky

67. The putt putt sound the boys make when they play tractors

68. A pretty decorating magazine

69. A great conversation with someone

70. Nutella baked in crescent rolls

To learn about One Thousand Gifts, visit Ann's blog A Holy Experience and take the dare to count as many blessings that God has given you!!!!

Repainting!

We love painting so much that over the past weekend we decided to repaint the two story foyer over at the other house! On Friday I went to town to our local Benjamin Moore dealer to get paint for the office while it was still on sale and on a whim, I then picked up two gallons of Monroe Bisque for the foyer!

I wasn't really sure about the color that we had painted it before with having four kids. The previous color was White Dove by Benjamin Moore and with kids and dirty fingers all up and down the wall, it didn't stay white for long!

I took some before and after pictures and now looking at them I wonder, did we make the right decision!? I liked the white, it really brightened the place up, but with the kids using the wall rather than the stair rail it was hard to keep clean.

Jacob helped us paint, I was telling him not to get paint on the switch plate and that I needed to take if off. The new color is starting to grow on me, and I guess I won't have to wash walls everyday once we move in now! Monroe Bisque is a popular Benjamin Moore color, in fact I seen it in the latest Pottery Barn Bed and Bath issue. It does look pretty in person with the wood trim and if I want to repaint it again, I can but not for a few years!!!! Blessings, Lisa

Lillian 5 Months Old!

Oh my Lillie pie, you are five months old! You are become quite the playful little girl, to hear you giggle is the sweetest little thing! You are very ticklish under your cute chubby chin. You are doing an incredible job reaching for things as your eye hand coordination is really developing. It's cute to watch you reach and grab for your toys. When I lay you on your belly you always seem to roll over back over, so I usually have to spark your interest so you won't go over so soon. When your on your belly sometimes you push all the way up with your hands, like a really big girl!

You love to read your books and my magazines, such as Better Homes and Garden and Country Living! (Could you come up with some decorating ideas for my office!?) You love to touch the pages in your books and I caught you trying to chew on your favorite book, The Big Red Barn! (Please don't do that!) You look sooo cute in the dresses I made for you two weeks ago, and I foresee modeling in your near future! Lindsey has agreed that you can take over for her when it comes to modeling, but she also said "I still want to do some modeling"!

We tried the whole cereal thing which you didn't really like, and it most definitely didn't help you sleep any better at night. I haven't figured out why you like getting up at 12 am and then 3 am, especially when you then get up at 6:30 with the kids! (Really honey, nothing but the news is on TV that early in the morning on the one channel that we have!) I have decided that we are going to homemade baby food which I won't start giving you until around the end of the this month. I still have to do some research on that! (That should give me plenty of time!) You sure are growing like a pretty Lily flower and we love you to the moon and back!!!! Blessings, Lisa

One Thousand Blessings

51-60

51. Sound of Lillian laughing when I tickle her

52. Sewing cute little dresses

53. Getting new fabric in the mail

54. Getting the Pottery Barn Kids catalog in the mail, mainly for inspiration!

55. My homemade fruit salad

56. Actually working at the other house

57. Sweating

58. Pretty paint

59. Helping Chad lay the new carpet at the other house

60. Talking with Chad about our future together

To learn more about One Thousand Gifts, go to Ann's blog A Holy Experience and take the dare to count as many blessings that God has given you!!!!

Our New/Half Done Kitchen!

I am sooo excited to show all of you our half way done new kitchen! I am also linking up to at Loved Stitched to "Show Off My Kitchen"! (Really, what perfect timing!) Over the course of this past weekend we finally got around to putting up our cabinets at the house that we will someday move into! We had the floors done last Friday Feb. 25th and finished painting the kitchen on Saturday morning then started putting up the cabinets on Saturday evening and finished them on Sunday!!!!

Here is a before picture of what the kitchen looked like a year ago, we completely gutted it from top to bottom!

The kitchen was only 12x13 to start with and we torn down this wall and made it 12x20 so it could be a eat in kitchen.

During the demolition!

We decided to put up galvanized barn tin as the ceiling! It was free from a friend of Chad's!

We painted the walls Golden Chenille by Benjamin Moore, which looks really pretty!

The table and chairs will go over by the window in the picture below.

You can see my husband standing in the corner of the picture below admiring his handy work! I am so proud of him, he has done such an amazing job so far!

We ordered our cabinets back in July and just now got around to putting them up! I have been awaiting this day for a very very long time! We ordered the cabinets from Menard's and installed them ourselves. (or my husband and his friend did, I just sat back and supervised!) We bought the refrigerator and dishwasher and will be bringing our stove from our current home, when we move, which is white and only a few years old.

We now need to make a decision and order our counters. We also need to put up trim and replace the windows, do the plumbing, put in a sink, put on the toe kicks at the bottom of the cabinets, move in, bake some cookies, decided if we want a back splash, I'm sure there is more I am forgetting! So the room is about half done now which is a lot further than what we were this time last week! Blessings, Lisa

Be sure to check out more kitchens at Love Stitched!

We Have a Winner!!!!

We have a winner for the pillowcase dress!!! Drumroll please... and the winner is Sara G. who emailed me her entry last night!!!! Hooray!

I was going to use number generator but then realized I was quite sure how you link that on the blog and with have different ways to enter was kinda confusing. So, I just wrote down every one's name 1 or three times depending on how many follow, like and comment then had Jacob draw a name out of a hat. It took more time writing all the names out and cutting them up then it did to pick a name! So next giveaway I may have to figure out how to make it easier on me and to use number generator!

CONGRATULATIONS SARA G. I will be emailing you very soon!!!!