tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89631006221562942024-03-13T08:47:57.193-07:00A Work in ProgressOne girl's lifelong journey from before to after.Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.comBlogger181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-68223789084084975392013-10-16T05:48:00.002-07:002013-10-16T05:48:24.428-07:00Too Much to Post About!Since my last post, I've been way too busy to write! I've packed up everything at our old house, muscled my way into the new one (I'd NEVER use the same realtor (buyer's agent) or lender again, but where there's a will there's a way!), and mostly settled in. I say "mostly" because Abby's nursery and the garage are still just landing zones for everything that doesn't have a home yet.<br />
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Oh yeah, speaking of Abby, we've had our baby! Abigail Elise Philpot was born just before 11pm on October 4th, and weighed in at precisely 7 lbs, which was quite the relief since my doctor warned me at the last 3 prenatal checkups (and while I was pushing, which was just SO encouraging) that she would be a "big baby". She is now 10 days old, perfect in every way (except for the whole gas thing which I'm totally over), and is sleeping/stretching in her boppy next to me on the couch as I type. Madison is completely in love with her. She calls her "Baby Abby", "my friend Baby Abby", and "my baby sister." She loves to hold Abby (with lots of help and hand sanitizer), and gives her lots of kisses (only on the back of her head).<br />
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Having Abby when we did was a bit of a surprise. Her due date was 10/7, and I was SOOOO ready for her to come. One week before she was due, around noon, I started having strong, but not too painful, contractions about 6 to 7 minutes apart. This lasted for about four hours. After calling my OB, we decided to head into labor and delivery just in case. Sure enough, no progress. I wasn't dilated at all, or even effaced. We consoled ourselves with some Carl's Jr, I vowed not to go back to the hospital again until I was DANG sure it was time, and headed back home. Four days later, at my weekly checkup, my OB confirmed that I hadn't made any progress towards going into labor. So when I started having contractions around noon the next day (sound familiar?), I was sure it was another false alarm. I took a nap and decided to wait it out. I was awoken by a painful contraction about thirty minutes later. <br />
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You'd think at this point I'd have started considering that I might be in labor, but the false alarm earlier in the week had really jacked with my confidence. So I decided to be productive. I packed our hospital bag, cleaned the house, balanced our checkbook and paid the bills, and made a grocery list, taking breaks during contractions. By the time Madison woke up, the contractions were all painful and were about 6 minutes apart. I noticed around 4:30 that I was having a hard time interacting normally with Madi during contractions and finally decided to call Pat at work. "Hey honey, how much longer will you be at work?" (Probably at least two hours.) "Hmm. Well, I don't think I'm in labor or anything (dope), but I'm having painful contractions that are making it hard for me to take care of Madison. Could you maybe try to get off a little sooner?" (He tells me I'm in labor.) "No, I'm sure it's another false alarm, but I could use some help. OH! I'llcallyoubackbye." (He finally convinces me to call the doctor while he asks his mom to head our way to watch Madi.)<br />
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We didn't leave for the hospital until close to 7 that night. Even between my insanely painful contractions during the almost 2 hour ride, I was telling Patrick that I was afraid they would send me home. By the time we checked into labor and delivery and they checked me, I had dilated to 6 cm. What a relief/shock! Everything from that point to delivery felt like a race. Four attempts (with one vein blowout and one success) at an IV line, one glorious epidural that didn't quite last long enough, thirty minutes of paperwork and forty minutes of pushing later, we were here:<br />
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Saturday (the day after Abigail was born) was by far the hardest day for me. I was exhausted and in pain(for obvious reasons), and suddenly realized that with our new 1:1 parent-kid ratio, I was immediately responsible for taking care of myself and Abby. Sooo different than with Madi, where I think I changed one diaper before we left the hospital and Patrick brought her to me for nursing.<br />
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Every day since has been a little easier than the one before. If things keep improving at this pace, I'll probably make it through a day without thinking I'm gonna die by this time next year. :) But seriously, we're surviving this transition better than I feared. I'm SOOOO ready for Abby to be a little less tiny and helpless, but we're working on that every 45 minutes in the daytime and every 3-4 hours at night (although last night I accidentally let her go 5 hrs and 10 minutes and still had a hard time waking her to nurse).<br />
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In the meantime, I'm just enjoying the sweet interaction between our two girls. I love that Madison isn't phased by Abby's cries. She's sympathetic (Oh! Poor sweet baby Abby is crying!), but not alarmed or annoyed (yet).</div>
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Well, I'm off to enjoy my last cup of decaf before Madison wakes up. Happy Wednesday!</div>
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-Kelli</div>
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Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-14892045852908791182013-06-17T05:29:00.000-07:002013-06-17T05:29:06.076-07:00Living Room Mood BoardI am <i>sooo </i>excited about <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2013/06/its-only-matter-of-time.html" target="_blank">our new house</a> that I can't stop dreaming about how we'll decorate every space. I've been pinning everything I like to specific boards for each room in the house so I could see all the elements together at a glance. The problem is, my living room board got so full that I had to scroll...not good!<br />
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So I did what any obsessed (and pre-nesting) new homeowner would do: I made my very first mood board! Some of the items (the sofa, chair, ottomans, and possibly the pendant) are something that I definitely plan to have in the space eventually, but most are placeholders for (hopefully less expensive) future thrift finds/DIY projects.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b35lnK9gQpE/Ub2zFfZFd0I/AAAAAAAACK0/yVR7JdnWBwE/s1600/Living+Mood+Board1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b35lnK9gQpE/Ub2zFfZFd0I/AAAAAAAACK0/yVR7JdnWBwE/s400/Living+Mood+Board1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">Winslow Decorative Wall Mirror- $81.99- Overstock.com <a href="http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Winslow-Decorative-Wall-Mirror/7971778/product.html" target="_blank">found here</a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Existing Fireplace- (similar)</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Threshold Mission Log Basket-
$34.99- Target <a href="http://www.target.com/p/threshold-mission-log-basket-brushed-bronze/-/A-14105053" target="_blank">found here</a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Avington Upholstered Slipper Chair- $169.99- Target <a href="http://www.target.com/p/avington-upholstered-slipper-chair-gazebo-cloud-floral/-/A-13916598?reco=Rec_pdp_13916598_CategoryTopSellers_Banner" target="_blank">found here</a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Existing Floors</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Threshold Brass Gorilla- $9.99- Target <a href="http://www.target.com/p/threshold-153-brass-animals/-/A-14497239" target="_blank">found here</a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Console Table- $129.99- Target <a href="http://www.target.com/p/threshold-mixed-material-2-drawer-console-table-patchwork/-/A-14404610" target="_blank">found here</a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Navy Geometric Rug- $329.99- Overstock <a href="http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Indoor-Outdoor-Navy-Links-Rug-86-x-130/8075401/product.html" target="_blank">found here</a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Wire Globe Pendant- $99.99- Shades of Light<a href="http://www.shadesoflight.com/young-house-love-large-wire-globe-lantern-7-colors.html?&xid=956020f1e8e83c3ddbe3e7baf804e126" target="_blank"> found here</a><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.shadesoflight.com/young-house-love-large-wire-globe-lantern-7-colors.html?&xid=956020f1e8e83c3ddbe3e7baf804e126"></a></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Curtains- $32.99- Target <a href="http://www.target.com/p/room-365-interlocking-geometric-window-panel/-/A-14171305#?lnk=sc_qi_detaillink" target="_blank">found here</a><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.target.com/p/room-365-interlocking-geometric-window-panel/-/A-14171305#?lnk=sc_qi_detaillink"></a></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Karlstad Sofa- $499- IKEA <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S09840535/#/S29840520" target="_blank">found here</a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Navy check fabric for pillow(s)- $8.99/yd- IKEA <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90223727/">http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90223727/</a></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Green Pillow- $25- Etsy <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/153269358/graphic-green-circle-printpillow-cover?ref=br_feed_34&br_feed_tlp=home-garden" target="_blank">found here</a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Storage Ottomans- $44.99- Target <a href="http://www.target.com/p/seville-rush-cube-storage-ottoman-mocha/-/A-10702159#?lnk=sc_qi_detaillink" target="_blank">found here</a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">White Tray- $9.99- IKEA<a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80175675/" target="_blank">found here</a><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80175675/"></a></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Paint Color- Benjamin Moore Moonshine</li>
</ol>
Making the moodboard was more time consuming, but also easier, than I expected. I saved all the images to one folder, used Picasa (collages) to edit and arrange them, and added the number labels in GIMP (another free, but not very user-friendly image editing software).<br />
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The hardest part of the whole thing? Without a doubt, that would be leaving my debit card safely tucked away in my wallet. My inner cheapskate always seems to get a bit anemic when I'm pregnant, and Patrick has always been horribly indulgent; if I don't tell myself no, the answer is yes! So far, aside from the floors and the mantle, this all belongs to me only in my dreams. Considering how much overtime Patrick's been pulling to get cash together for closing, let's hope we can keep it that way for at least four more weeks!<br />
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Happy Monday!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-19077563929026020512013-06-05T06:17:00.003-07:002013-06-05T06:17:28.841-07:00It's Only a Matter of Time......before I wake up right here.<br />
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I'll brush my teeth (because running water won't disturb Madison anymore)...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sgps7y2W5j8/Ua80AHyQLaI/AAAAAAAACKI/3htTNdsoHtk/s1600/masterbath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sgps7y2W5j8/Ua80AHyQLaI/AAAAAAAACKI/3htTNdsoHtk/s400/masterbath.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
then I'll come here to sip my coffee...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w6Er46A6SrM/Ua8z40JsgTI/AAAAAAAACJA/ytu6dl_HR9s/s1600/breakfastnook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w6Er46A6SrM/Ua8z40JsgTI/AAAAAAAACJA/ytu6dl_HR9s/s400/breakfastnook.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
that was made in my new kitchen...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yHRFzLFQHuI/Ua8z_ppV50I/AAAAAAAACJw/xL4U73h18kQ/s1600/kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yHRFzLFQHuI/Ua8z_ppV50I/AAAAAAAACJw/xL4U73h18kQ/s400/kitchen.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
before I go wake up my brain in my new study.<br />
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Then Madison will wake up in her new room...<br />
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and come watch Super Why in our new living room.<br />
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(Since I'm dreaming anyway), she'll probably ask to go to the potty...<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CzZxrqjyVus/Ua8z_VH2dBI/AAAAAAAACJ0/uLuJaJHhqlY/s1600/guestbath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CzZxrqjyVus/Ua8z_VH2dBI/AAAAAAAACJ0/uLuJaJHhqlY/s400/guestbath.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
and then go in the backyard to play.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NX_OE8SiOkc/Ua8z-mDIDCI/AAAAAAAACJY/sEm4bek8cZg/s1600/backyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NX_OE8SiOkc/Ua8z-mDIDCI/AAAAAAAACJY/sEm4bek8cZg/s400/backyard.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Soon it will be lunchtime, so I'll head to my pantry/utility room to start on Madison's lunch...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nv8odZnXjno/Ua80BBRp7-I/AAAAAAAACKY/yzHepGVRmlI/s1600/utility.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nv8odZnXjno/Ua80BBRp7-I/AAAAAAAACKY/yzHepGVRmlI/s400/utility.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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and then put her down for a nap so I can work on decorating her little sister's room.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbgPMIKN0eQ/Ua80AYeaIKI/AAAAAAAACKE/M8ZeTn0BhJ0/s1600/nursery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbgPMIKN0eQ/Ua80AYeaIKI/AAAAAAAACKE/M8ZeTn0BhJ0/s400/nursery.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Before long (or at least not as long as it takes here in Crosby), Daddy will come home... <br />
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and enjoy the house with us!<br />
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If you haven't figured it out yet, our offer was accepted. We plan to close on it the Friday before my birthday weekend. (Happy birthday to me!) And our current house is now under contract to close three days after our new one, giving us a full weekend to make the move, but no double mortgage payments! I've been on cloud nine for about 60 hours straight. <br />
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Now my biggest challenge is to stop <strike>obsessing over</strike> working on the details of the two closings and the move for long enough to plan Madison's birthday party! At least she's given me clear direction for the party planning. She wants a blue circle cake, green puppy dogs, pink kitty cats, pink elephants, blue balloons, and Ms. Lisa (our children's librarian). <br />
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Happy Wednesday!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-53762795728967122112013-06-03T12:49:00.000-07:002013-06-03T12:49:42.292-07:00Selling, Buying, and Pregnancy Hormones: A Recipe for StressI posted a few weeks ago about <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2013/05/for-sale.html" target="_blank">listing our house</a>. In the time since, we've had five showings to three potential buyers, and one offer. We weren't comfortable with the offer, so we countered and haven't heard back (in five days...we've stopped holding our breath for that one!). Our house is still active on the market, and although we've had a decent amount of interest so far, we decided to drop the price (by about 5%) for one big reason:<br />
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We found THE house for us!</div>
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We made an offer on it this morning, and are not so patiently waiting to hear back. The catch? It's a Fannie Mae-owned property, meaning it will definitely have multiple offers. If I decided to be very optimistic, I'd guess our chances of winning (that's the best word for what it will be if our offer is accepted), are about 15%. Instead, thanks in part to my insane hormones, I'm completely delusional and have already decorated each and every nook and cranny of the place (but only in my mind, of course).<br />
<br />
I will say that we made our offer as appealing as we could to give ourselves the best chance possible. We didn't even require selling our current house first, meaning we will probably have two mortgage payments for at least a month (assuming we get the house). Although we're not thrilled at the idea of throwing $800/month down the drain, we know we're in a place where we can financially handle it, and feel confident enough in our house and the market to not lose sleep over it. It doesn't hurt that we're saving about $1600 on commissions once we do sell our house, since we found a broker who would discount her commission. We're also going to save on the buying end, getting a rebate after closing. <br />
<br />
But enough about boring old money...who needs that anyway? Hopefully not us, since we would be using about 60% of our savings at closing. Let's talk about (almost-kinda-sorta-please, please, please, God) our new house.<br />
<br />
My favorite things:<br />
<ul>
<li>The location-17 minutes from Patrick's work (as close as we can safely get)</li>
<li>The location-(yes, I typed that twice)-near so much! Great malls, stores, Goodwill (yes!), parks...</li>
<li>The location-I pulled it up on Houston's crime map...NOTHING. Wait, there was identity theft one neighborhood over, but I'm not really worried about someone breaking into my house and stealing my identity. </li>
<li>The curb appeal (let's hope I can learn to keep that landscaping alive)</li>
<li>The front porch (fully paved with brick)</li>
<li>The floor plan (not technically split since the nursery and master share a wall, but split enough for me, and so open!)</li>
<li>The floors. I've been trying to reconcile myself to the fact that our price range just doesn't include hardwoods, then BAM! I found this.</li>
<li>The fireplace.</li>
<li>The master suite- We've never had one before! Our own bathroom! A bedroom that's not 12x13! A walk-in closet! These are the things (my) dreams are made of.</li>
<li>The nursery- It's the only bedroom with wood floors, and it also has bead-board paneling halfway up all the walls. Super charming!</li>
<li>The backyard- One of the only backyards I've seen in all my searches with a single tree. It's also landscaped up the wazoo and has a nice sized covered patio.</li>
</ul>
The drawbacks:<br />
<ul>
<li>The location-45 minutes from "home" (aka Crosby)</li>
<li>Kitchen counters- midnight blue laminate. A one-very-far-away-day upgrade.</li>
<li>The floors- need to be either polished or refinished, depending on whether Patrick or I win (believe it or not, I DON'T want to refinish!)</li>
<li>The second bathroom- The builder used tile for the tub surround, which is fine. Unfortunately, they went with white, with black tiles randomly mixed in. It kind of reminds me of a rorschach test. But that's what shower curtains are for!</li>
<li>The backyard- Although I LOVE the finishes of the backyard, it's not large. And by not large, I mean it's maybe 800 square feet. And with Bella now officially an outside dog, I see a LOT of walks in our future!</li>
</ul>
But the biggest drawback of all: If we don't get this house, it will be horribly hard for us to settle for another one in the same price range. Sigh.<br />
<br />
We've been non-stop praying for God's will to be done in this, but I've also thrown up my share of "...but if you could go either way, God, please please please let us win it!" add-ons. <br />
<br />
Well, I guess that's quite enough for one post. See ya!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-25018122219324453052013-05-16T07:07:00.000-07:002013-05-16T07:07:11.782-07:00For Sale! So, a lot has happened since my last post. Let's see, I went and got
myself knocked up (don't worry, it was right on schedule), suffered
through morning sickness and fatigue (my initial excuse for not updating
this old blog), arrived into the second trimester which somehow kicked
off early nesting, then frantically started getting this house ready to
sell (my second excuse for not updating) and looking for a new place
closer to Pat's work. The last five months have been an absolute
whirlwind! I can't even believe it's May.<br />
<br />
Deets for the baby:<br />
<ul>
<li>Estimated due date: October 7</li>
<li>Boy or girl: We're not going to find out 'til delivery. SIKE! We'll find out next Wednesday, because I loathe secrets.</li>
<li>What do we <i>want</i>: A healthy baby. (Duh) But we're both kind
of leaning girl, probably just because Madison is so great! (And in my
personal opinion boys can be quite gross.)</li>
</ul>
Preparing to sell our house has consumed so much of my mind (not
to mention time and energy) that I haven't been able to focus much on
the coming baby. Every once in a while, I'll forget that I'm pregnant.
But then I walk past a mirror. By the way, the whole "showing early
the second time around" is SO true. We waited until like 13 weeks to
tell people, only because I was hoping for inspiration for some sort of
cute announcement, and I was already getting sideways glances at church
and family events. By 14 weeks, there was no denying it! At 15 weeks,
while Madi and I were walking Bella around the neighborhood, we saw my
neighbor about 25 yards away, working on his roof from the top of a
ladder. He hollered (he's a true redneck, "holler" is definitely the
appropriate term) "Uh oh, you pregnant again?!" So yeah.<br />
<br />
Fortunately,
my weight gain is on track so far. With Madison, I gained 60 lbs (and
only lost 55, dad gum it). It wasn't pretty. Hopefully, this time I'll
gain no more than 30 and will still lose 55. A girl can dream!<br />
<br />
But enough about me and my rapidly expanding waistline. Let's talk about me and my (hopefully) rapidly disappearing old house!<br />
<br />
The
big we-can't-live-in-a-one-bathroom-1100sq.ft.-house-with-two-babies
blowup of 2013 happened the day before I started my second trimester.
It was just as much of a shock to Patrick as it was to me, but it
resulted in us composing a list of things to finish in the house that,
each taking up one line of college ruled notebook paper, filled a page
and a half. And most of the line items weren't little. One example?
"Repair, sand, and refinish countertops in kitchen."<br />
<br />
$500,
a month and a half, and seven years off of our lives later, the house
is ready to sell. It's going on the market this afternoon. In honor of
the occasion, I thought I'd share some before and after pictures, taken
from listing photos on the buying and selling end.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NYJ8byKnVyk/UZTlWbr7KMI/AAAAAAAACHk/rVv04e9AJXQ/s1600/before-after1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NYJ8byKnVyk/UZTlWbr7KMI/AAAAAAAACHk/rVv04e9AJXQ/s400/before-after1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Phew. House finished...check! Now it's time to sell this sucker! Any takers? :)<br />
<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-31253849861264538632013-02-01T06:55:00.000-08:002013-02-05T05:50:46.489-08:00My Macklemore ChallengeI've been absentee for awhile. Sorry!<br />
<br />
Anyhow, today at Young House Love, they're having a thrift store challenge. You're supposed to take a $20 to a thrift store and see what you can score with it. Here's my take!<br />
<br />
Madi and I hit up our local thrift store last Friday to get this thing done. She wouldn't cooperate for pictures, probably because she didn't want to be seen with me sans makeup. She's 19 months old, and I'm already subjecting the poor child to public humiliation. : )<br />
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Here's what we scored for $2:<br />
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This thing is HUGE. The inside of the frame is 2' X 3'. I knew I wanted to spray paint the frame ORB, but I didn't know at first what I wanted to put inside the frame, so I hit up Pinterest and found this:<br />
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<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/181199584979319527/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="338" src="http://media-cache-ec3.pinterest.com/550/07/da/c4/07dac48e23507a830a0b991567cb96d1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="float: left; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<div style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px;">
Source: <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/71576836/love-is-1corinthians-13-wall-art-8x10?ref=hp_tt_yt" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;">etsy.com</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/kelliwithani/" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Kelli</a> on <a href="http://pinterest.com/" style="color: #76838b; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></div>
</div>
<br />
It's for sale on Etsy for $16. I liked it a lot, but it was only an 8X10. And, like I said, it was $16. So of course, I tried to DIY. First, I tried using Microsoft Word. What a joke! Then I pulled up GIMP (a free but not very intuitive image editing/generating software) and played around for a while. Once I finally figured out how to manipulate text, I was able to put this together pretty easily:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mcj15LmUoo4/UQvStl1hkRI/AAAAAAAACGE/iRCqc_SNwf4/s1600/1CORINTHIANS13final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mcj15LmUoo4/UQvStl1hkRI/AAAAAAAACGE/iRCqc_SNwf4/s400/1CORINTHIANS13final.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
It's not perfect, but it's good enough for us, for now. And if it's good enough for you too, feel free to take it/print it/enjoy it. Especially if you give me credit. Or money. Money is even better.<br />
<br />
Anyway, blown up as big as it is on our wall, I can see imperfections (like how "protects", "trusts", and "perseveres" don't line up perfectly on the left side *shudder*) that would probably put me in the loony bin if I let them, so I try to only look at it from at least five feet away. But I'm getting ahead of myself.<br />
<br />
I had it printed by Shutterfly for $8.64 after a $20 discount that came in our latest box of diapers, and was shocked at how quickly it arrived.<br />
<br />
After spray painting the frame, I used the original "art" board to make a mat. I just cut a rectangle out of the middle about a half-inch smaller both ways so there would be room to attach the poster on the back. <br />
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Normally I love crisp white mats, but since the word art was printed on plain white paper and used a very plain font, I thought it needed some interest. So I covered it in some fabric I had laying around from Madison's 52 week photo project.<br />
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I ran out of painters tape halfway through (I would have used something cheaper if I had it on hand, but I wanted to finish before Madison woke up that morning), so I switched to electrical tape, which was a complete pain in the boat to work with.<br />
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Thar she blows! And yes, that <i>is</i> a fat joke. This thing is HUGE. I hung it to be centered behind our love seat/on the hallway. <br />
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We are still in dire need of art for over the couch, but I've got plans. For Patrick. (Oh honey, did you really think I was going to let you watch the Superbowl?) JK. He can work on it during half time. : ) <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2rIgrB3inGY/UQvQh_jyYqI/AAAAAAAACFM/0qo9hDiVV2g/s1600/DSCN5543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2rIgrB3inGY/UQvQh_jyYqI/AAAAAAAACFM/0qo9hDiVV2g/s320/DSCN5543.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
So the total cost for this sucker was around $11. I'll take it!<br />
<br />
Happy flippin' Friday!<br />
-Kelli<br />
<br />
PS- I linked at these blogs:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2013/02/the-macklemore-thrift-shop-challenge/" target="_blank">young house love</a> </div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="TDC Before and After"><img alt="TDC Before and After" src="http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/beforeAndAfterButton_thumb1.gif" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
<center>
<a href="http://www.notjustahousewife.net/" target="blank"><img border="0" src="http://hotbliggityblog.com/custom/stacybutton2.png" /></a></center>
Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-53824943821123609302013-01-15T18:08:00.000-08:002013-01-15T18:08:19.726-08:00Christmas...A "Better Late Than Never" Recap I have no excuses for how very very late this post is, so let's skip that part and just get to the good stuff...pictures! These were still on my camera's memory card right up until about fifteen minutes ago. It was fun going over them after all this time!<br />
<br />
This first group of pictures is from an event Patrick took Madison to at the community center, breakfast with Santa. A few of her cousins also came. That morning I was helping with another event at our church, so I missed out on this one. <br />
<br />
First, she bonded with a few inanimate objects:<br />
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Then spent some time ignoring her cousins (and one of the unjolliest Santa's I've ever seen)...<br />
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Then crafted an ornament! <br />
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The next group of pictures is from Pat's family Christmas, which we celebrated the Saturday before Christmas in Huntsville, at his mom's house. We had a blast there, and Madison got WAY too many presents. Not that we're complaining!<br />
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We attempted a cousins picture. lol <br />
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For Christmas Eve, we attended our church's service then went to a party at my aunt's house. Madison wore such a cute dress, but we forgot to take any pictures but this one!<br />
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And that's the last Christmas picture I have, because I forgot the stinkin camera there. I didn't bother to get it back until a week into the new year. I can't even imagine how the me from a year ago would feel about that. Oh well. <br />
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Regardless of the picturelessness (shutchermouth, squiggly red
line...it's a word if I say it is), our Christmas (day) was pretty
good. It was definitely low key; we spent the majority of the day at
home, but also went to my parents house for a bit. Our "big" gift to
Madison was a mirror for her room ($10 at Walmart) so she can see herself when she plays dress up. To keep it safe, we drilled right through the frame to screw it to two studs. I put all her dress up items (necklaces, boa, hats, bunny ears, purses) in a box under her crib for easy access and cleanup. She loves it!<br />
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Typically, I'd end a post like this with "Merry Christmas", or at least "Happy New Year", but I'm kind of late for either one. Umm, have a sweet Valentines Day? Yeah, that works.<br />
-Kelli<br />
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Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-90582143355118051352012-12-20T10:22:00.000-08:002012-12-20T10:22:25.373-08:00DIY Reverse Applique Stockings Ever since scoring this bad boy on <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2012/11/black-friday-wins.html" target="_blank">Black Friday</a>, I've been flexing my sewing muscles every chance I get. I made <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2012/11/did-i-do-that.html" target="_blank">Madison's skirt</a>, a couple more similar skirts for nieces as Christmas gifts(shh, don't tell), and now stockings.<br />
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For the stockings, I wanted to stick with the same color scheme I used for our <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2012/12/uh-oh-christmas-tree.html" target="_blank">toddler-proof Chrismas tree</a>. I also wanted to make them fully personalized. Until this year, personalized stockings equaled puffy paint applied with terrible handwriting to the cheapest stockings Walmart had to offer, so there was definitely room for improvement.<br />
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I started where any originality/creativity challenged DIYer would: Pinterest! I didn't really find much that struck my fancy until this happened:<br />
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<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/181199584979059783/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://media-cache-ec3.pinterest.com/upload/181199584979059783_Csom5uFl_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Source: <a href="http://www.tealandlime.com/2011/11/helvetica-stockings-tutorial/" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;">tealandlime.com</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/kelliwithani/" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Kelli</a> on <a href="http://pinterest.com/" style="color: #76838b; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></div>
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It inspired me not just with the color (grey would/did look great combined with the ultra-bright colors of our tree), but also with the bold style. Until I came across this pin, I never really considered putting the names on the stockings instead of the cuffs. I had also never heard of reverse applique. <br />
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I decided to go for it, but failed to take many pictures of the during. If you're looking for a tutorial, Jackie did a great job with hers (just click her picture above). <br />
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For font, I loved the way Helvetica looked for Jackie's stockings, but I wanted to use a font that I either already had or could get for free. I found Lowvetica Extra Bold (sorry, don't remember the font website I used, just whatever came up first on Google) and decided it could work.<br />
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I used our old stockings to make a cardboard template, then used the template to trace and cut out six pieces (for three stockings. Sorry Bella). Then I traced each of our names(backwards) onto the paper backs of three rectangles of fabric interfacing and ironed them to the wrong sides of our stockings. I carefully cut the letters out (using my fabric scissors on the paper with gritted teeth), then peeled off the paper backing and ironed colored fleece rectangles over the interfacing. <br />
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I sewed fabric faux cuffs to the fronts of each stocking (pink houndstooth for us girls and green with blue poppies for Pat), then put the right sides of the stocking pieces together and sewed them all the way around. I added tabs made of the opposite fabric (ie I used the pink for Pat's and the green/blue for ours) and matching fleece on the back. <br />
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Then they sat on our kitchen table until last night when I begged Pat to build just one of the three shelves I want in the kitchen. And here they are! <br />
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The shelf still needs to be painted (it came already primed), and we're going to add two more below it where the tape is. Well, not exactly where the tape is, they'll all be the same width. <br />
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Anyway, I used books and yarn to hang them. I just strung one long piece of yarn through the books and the stockings. Then I added the "NOEL" letters, made of cardboard wrapped with more...yarn. Yeah, it's a very yarny Christmas for us. That's also our "ribbon" for presents this year!<br />
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Oh, and if you look closely you'll see that the middle part of Madison's "a" is missing. It fell off, but I've got big plans for getting it stuck for the long haul.<br />
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Merry Almost Christmas!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-82848377145917722112012-12-13T07:21:00.000-08:002012-12-13T07:21:50.914-08:00Another Madi UpdateWARNING: If you have no interest in the bodily functions of our toddler, you can safely skip this post. See ya next time! <br />
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Madison is seventeen months old (eighteen on the 22nd), and seems determined to grow up. The last couple of weeks have brought so many changes in her that my head is spinning! <br />
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For starters, she woke up yesterday with wavy (not curly) hair. When it's wet, her hair reaches to her shoulder blades, but it always curls back up to her head about two minutes after she gets out of the tub. Well yesterday morning (12 hours after bath time), it brushed her shoulders. Craziness.<br />
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As if that's not bad enough (for a mom who still kind of wants her baby to be a baby forever), she has decided it's time to potty train. We have been talking with her about it for a while now, but didn't plan to start this early. Every time we change a diaper, we tell her that one day she'll be a big girl and go pee-pee or poo-poo in the potty like Mommy and Daddy. On Tuesday (Dec 11th), she told Patrick, "poopoo". He asked if she needed to go, and she said yes. On a whim, he asked if she wanted to go in the potty, and she ran to the bathroom! She didn't finish the job, but did sit and strain for a while before signing "all done". <br />
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Yesterday (the same day her hair uncurled), she told me she needed to go poo-poo. I took off her clean and dry diaper and set her on the potty. In the space of about a minute, she managed to go #1 and #2! Then she signed "all done". After taking care of all the sanitary business of wiping, diapering, flushing, and washing hands, we spent about five minutes clapping for Madi. Every time I stopped clapping, she would start again. I was so surprised that she got it all out...her diaper stayed clean and dry for almost two hours! <br />
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I think at this point we're just going to let her keep the lead, going to the potty only when she asks. I've never done this whole potty training before, so I'm a bit intimidated by the big girl panties and the accidents that seem to come along with them.<br />
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I'd sure love any potty training tips or tricks you have to offer!<br />
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Happy Thursday!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-8308454397408562882012-12-04T06:21:00.003-08:002012-12-13T06:58:46.080-08:00Uh Oh, Christmas Tree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This year our Christmas tree is a few things: Unique. Creative. Weird. Cool? DIY. Pretty. Cheap! <strike>Easy</strike>.<br />
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With a few reservations, I do like it. We originally planned to do the traditional (for us, anyway) real seven foot tree. I figured we could teach Madison not to touch it, just like we have with the chemicals under the sink, the glass in our buffet, the trash can, the (covered) electrical socket, etc. But then, when she saw her first Christmas tree of the year (for our Santa pictures at my aunt's house), something awful and kind of cute happened: she pointed to an ornament on the tree and said, "Bawl." Madison is pretty good at minding simple rules, but when there's a "bawl" on the line, all the rules go out the door. She LOVES to touch, "catch", throw, and kick balls. She loves to put them on her head, in her shirt, in a bag, under the couch, or in her crib. Other than me, they're pretty much her favorite thing (sorry, Patrick).<br />
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So I knew that having any "bawls" in her reach was going to be a nightmare. I started brainstorming: what if we put the tree behind the couch with a baby gate? (Answer: she'd climb over the couch or over the baby gate.) What if we just had a tabletop tree this year? (I would never get into the Christmas spirit.) What if we didn't use any ball ornaments? (We would have about three ornaments on the tree.) What if I just did the regular tree after all? (Terrible twos would come early.)<br />
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Then, feeling defeated, I took Madison to Walmart just to look at the options, hoping for inspiration. That's when I saw it: 5-6 ft real trees for just $19. At this point, I wasn't thinking about the Madi problem; I was just seeing dollar signs. I could make this work! My first thought (which lasted for about fifteen seconds) was to have a HUGE tree topper. Then I saw it in my head and realized how silly that would look. Then I thought, "What if we elevated it from the bottom? Ooh, if we raised it high enough, Madison couldn't touch it! AND it would be cheap!!!" At this point, it was a done deal. All I had to do was convince Patrick to build me a riser, and I've convinced him in the past to do much worse things with his Saturdays.<br />
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The end result:<br />
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Here's how we (he) did it:<br />
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<li>He built a box from scrap 2x4's and plywood. It was going to be wrapped like a present, so we didn't need anything fancy.</li>
<li> He screwed our existing tree stand to the top.</li>
<li> He put 50 lbs in the box so it wouldn't be top heavy with the tree. That's why he put plywood on the bottom, too.</li>
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<li> He cut the bottom off the tree so it could absorb water better? (I've never understood this part...isn't it already cut?)</li>
<li>He manhandled it into the tree stand by himself so I could take pictures for posterity.</li>
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<li> He stood back and pondered how crazy the woman he married is.</li>
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<li> He realized that the trunk was way thinner than our tree stand was made for. This threw about an hour's worth of head scratching, sawing, and bolt tightening/loosening into the mix.</li>
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<li> This is where I took over. I reworked the box from our tv into a "gift box" to go around the base and stand. </li>
<li>I stapled (with our staple gun) the box to the wooden riser. I left the existing folds at the top of the box to help complete the look, hoping that once the branches fanned out it would look good.</li>
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<li> I wrapped the whole thing in our wrapping paper for this year...brown craft paper! The beauty of using it here was that it almost perfectly matched the color of the cardboard underneath, so my less than perfect wrapping job is pretty well disguised. </li>
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We did all of this over dinner and an episode of Dora, but at this point it was Madison's bedtime. So we put her down and (I) got to decorating!<br />
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I burned out on the pompom garland making about an hour after Madi went down, so this is what we had the next morning:<br />
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And here's the end result! At least it's the end unless/until I figure out what I want to put on top of the tree. I also want to make a giant tag or something for the "present", but I want it to match our real presents, so that'll have to wait until I decide which way we're going for labels.<br />
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I'm SO glad to be "done" with it. I'm sure I'll be making small changes right up until Christmas, but the work is over!<br />
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Oh, and it passes the Madi uh-oh test (meaning I haven't had to say "uh-oh" yet). She can touch a few of the bottom ornaments with one finger if she stretches up on her tippy-toes, but I don't see her getting a hold of any of them this year (knock on wood).<br />
<br />
Have you put your tree up yet? Have you ever had to do an edited Christmas tree for a toddler? What was your edit? Most importantly, how are you labeling your gifts this Christmas?<br />
<br />
Merry Tuesday!<br />
-Kelli<br />
<br />
PS: I linked up over<a href="http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-tree-party-2012.html" target="_blank"> here</a>!<br />
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Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-32248484925239578962012-12-03T06:55:00.001-08:002012-12-03T06:55:17.744-08:00What Our Office Really Looks LikeSo I've left out a little tidbit on here for a while now. The last time I showed you our office, it looked like this:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That picture of Madison is still our wallpaper..it's been Christmas all year!</td></tr>
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Sorry for the even worse than usual picture quality...I guess I had my camera set to low quality, probably so I could Craigslist something.<br />
<br />
I hated almost everything about this room. The bed jutting out and being the first thing you saw from the door made the room look smaller than it is-it's actually the largest bedroom in our house. The bookshelf was not great quality (laminate), not safe (it leaned against the wall...we <i>could</i> have bolted it down if we liked it, but not-so-much). The desk being stuffed in a corner made being on the computer not fun at all. The desk itself, even though it was a very nice piece of furniture, was super dark and heavy-feeling. It was also literally heavy. Just ask Pat and the two guys that came to buy it. (With Patrick lifting one side and two men lifting the other, his back hurt the next day!)<br />
<br />
Obviously we sold the desk. We also sold the bookshelves and bed, leaving the room empty except for Madi's toys and our computer on the ground. So here's the (not at all finished) reveal:<br />
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<br />
Here's what we've done so far:<br />
<ul>
<li>Sold everything (clearing out the room)</li>
<li>Bought a futon ("Emily" from Walmart...love it)</li>
<li>Built a desk (and painted it blue BECAUSE WE CAN)</li>
<li>Moved Madison's nursery rug into the office (because it's so nice and plush, but we never play in her room)</li>
</ul>
And here's what's yet to be done:<br />
<ul>
<li>Paint the walls (probably a soft grey so I can call myself a real blogger, haha)</li>
<li>Replace the light fixture</li>
<li>Address window treatments</li>
<li>Build a console for under the desk (to hold/hide the PC, file box, and other ugly but necessary desk things)</li>
<li>Finish refinishing the two desk chairs we already have (which you've never really seen)</li>
<li>Untangle and hide all the cords</li>
<li>Convince Patrick we don't need a printer</li>
<li>Sew Madison a poof cover to contain all her stuffed animals (the huge pile in the corner by the futon)</li>
<li>Hang real art (what's on the walls is literally only there because I didn't want to find space in a closet and the nails were already there)</li>
<li>Replace the missing closet door knob</li>
<li>Find a thrifted or free tv table (but not for a tv) for the wall across from the futon (the one on your right when you come in the door) for additional toy/office storage and a place for Madison to draw/color</li>
<li>Cover the fronts of Madison's <strike>diaper</strike> toy boxes (under the futon) with fabric</li>
</ul>
Phew! Between this room, Christmas gifts, and DIY Christmas decor, I am SOOOOOOO overwhelmed with projects right now. But I'm also really excited for what I hope will be a great result. <br />
<br />
Are you overloading your (metaphorical) plate right now? (Do you spend more time talking parenthetically than not?) Do you have any soft grey (gray?) walls in your home? Does all this talk about grey make you curious about the next episode of <i>Grey's</i>?<br />
<br />
Happy Monday!<br />
-Kelli<br />
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Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-66513065505395409702012-11-30T10:09:00.002-08:002012-11-30T10:09:56.883-08:00Did I Do That?!I guess the coming <i>Boy Meets World</i> spinoff brought me back to my Steve Urkel days. Am I the only one who faithfully sat through <i>Family Matters, Full House, </i>and <i>Step By Step</i> without a potty break? Probably. Those were the days!<br />
<br />
Anyway, my most recent project seriously has me asking, "Did I do that?!" If you asked me two months ago if I would ever sew a garment for Madison, I'm pretty sure I would have laughed at you. Now I've made TWO! There was, of course, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8963100622156294#editor/target=post;postID=8072240545011341004">her Pebbles costume</a>, but that didn't really count in my mind because it was made to be "rustic". I just popped a couple hand stitched seams down the sides, attacked it with scissors, and called it a day. This time, I used an actual sewing machine (gasp) and made a non-costume garment for her. Meaning it wasn't supposed to look homemade.<br />
<br />
It all started when I saw this on Pinterest:<br />
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Long story short: you cut the bottom off of a ladies' small or medium shirt, double fold and sew most of the waistline, pull elastic through the track, sew the elastic together, finish the seam, and you're DONE! Meaning the skirt is 3/4 finished before you even start.<br />
<br />
So I went to our local thrift store, bought myself a $3 shirt, and brought it home to try out the tutorial.<br />
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And then, like the A-1 blogger I am, I forgot to take any progress pictures. So here's the finished product (the headband was Madi's choice, not mine):<br />
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Cost:<br />
Shirt (thrifted): $3<br />
Elastic (4 yds, only used 18 in): $2<br />
<b>Total: $5</b><br />
<br />
It took about forty minutes to sew, including ironing (yuck). Not a bad return for my first "real" sewing project! The best part? The next one (and there will be more for sure) will only be $3 (since the elastic's paid for). Less if I drag myself to the cheap thrift store fifteen minutes down the road!<br />
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What's your favorite beginner sewing project? I've got SO much to learn!<br />
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Happy Friday (again)<br />
-Kelli<br />
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Source: <a href="http://thelifeofjenniferdawn.blogspot.com/2012/07/easy-skirt-tutorial.html" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;">thelifeofjenniferdawn.blogspot.com</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/kelliwithani/" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Kelli</a> on <a href="http://pinterest.com/" style="color: #76838b; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></div>
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Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-53156468761963796352012-11-30T06:23:00.003-08:002012-11-30T06:23:24.647-08:00Black Friday WinsI've never participated in Black Friday before this year. I was always interested, but no one in my family was ever into it and I wasn't motivated to get up early by myself to brave the crowds. This year, wild beasts couldn't have kept me away from Walmart on Thursday night! <br />
<br />
Remember when I told you about our tv breaking? Well, we've lived with an old box tv that doesn't accept digital broadcasts since then. I guess it's been about a year? We got by with just our XBOX 360 and a Netflix subscription. We watched Lost together (actually we've got about 20 episodes to go but we are B-O-R-E-D with it), and I broke down and watched Grey's during my "breakfast break". (I wake up at 6, but Madison doesn't wake up 'til 7 or 8. It's a pretty great way to ease into the day!)<br />
<br />
We could have replaced it right away, but we really wanted to focus on getting out of debt (check!) and building our full emergency fund (check!) first. That plan worked out pretty well for us; the new tv was like a really big, shiny, 1080p carrot. We were INTENSE. The most exciting thing about it all was how well the timing worked out. We completed our emergency fund 11/15, giving us just enough time to squeeze together a couple hundred bucks for a new doorbuster tv!<br />
<br />
Warning: this is a short story gone long. Feel free to skip to the bottom to see how we did. <br />
<br />
We shopped around and seriously considered a few different deals. Our actual budget was $350, but the cheapskate mentality has been so thoroughly ground into us that we were thrilled to find something for way less. Our criteria were:<br />
<ul>
<li>32"-42" (I wanted smaller, Pat wanted bigger, go figure)</li>
<li>at least 1080p</li>
<li>not plasma (LED or LCD would work)</li>
</ul>
and that was it. We didn't worry too much about brand, Hz rating, or anything else. In this house, it's our main (only) tv, but in the next one it'll probably be moving to our bedroom to make room for something bigger. <br />
<br />
We found the perfect product in the Walmart Black Friday ads. At their 10pm Thursday release, they were selling an Emerson 42" LCD 1080p for $198. SOLD! My only concern was that pesky "while supplies last" disclaimer. That's why I ended up in line by myself at 6:30 that evening and only got to enjoy one slice of sweet potato pie as opposed to half the dish. Hmmm. Maybe I should do Black Friday EVERY year. It's cheaper than a stomach pump!<br />
<br />
After a couple of hours in line, they handed out numbered tickets to hold people's places. I was number 35. At this point, I realized that I was for sure leaving with a tv. I also realized that I would be responsible for getting said tv through the store, to the checkout, and to the car. All without a buggy (they were out). So I did what any independent woman would do-I called my husband. Well, technically I called my dad, but only so I could speak to my husband (whose phone was dead). My mom agreed to sit with Madison after Pat put her down so he could come play security/pack mule.<br />
<br />
They released the tvs right at 10:00. We got ours and headed toward the checkout, only to be turned around by a somewhat disgruntled police officer telling us "The line's that way." We turned in the direction she pointed, and saw a line extending from the checkout down to the garden center, then turning the corner. After finding the end of the line and waiting another hour (no joke), we FINALLY made it to the checkout. I've never been so relieved to shell out two-hundred and sixteen beans (with tax) in my life.<br />
<br />
We celebrated our win at Whataburger with a chicken strip combo, honey butter chicken biscuit, onion rings, two large DDPs, and a chocolate shake. We justified by saying it was still (barely) Thanksgiving day.<br />
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The next day we put it all together, and it was a sight to behold! <br />
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The size is pretty much perfect for our living room. Maybe it's a <i>little</i> big, but not so much that you have to press your head against the wall or anything. And yes, I'm perfectly aware that my shelves are in dire need of dusting. Madison may or may not have pulled all the books off before I took the picture. And I may or may not have been dusting around (instead of under) those books for the last six months or so. I'm totally on it now, though.<br />
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In that last shot, please look past the basket-o-junk in the foreground. What I was trying to show was the depth difference between the two tvs. Bear in mind that the old tv is set back like 8 feet from the new one. As a point of reference, when the old tv sat on the buffet, with the buffet pulled out from the wall like this, the back touched the wall and the front was lined up perfectly with the front of the buffet. So the new tv has drastically changed the feeling of the room when you first come in the front door. Before it was like, "Hello, giant old school tv! Oh, and there's a room too." Now, it's all, "I'm in a living room. Oh, and there's a tv." See the difference?<br />
<br />
The next purchase didn't take nearly as much saving, planning, or waiting. We pretty much saw it, liked it, and bought it the next day. No five hour ordeal necessary. <br />
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Yeah, it's official. I'm a stay-at-home mom, blogger, baker, DIYer, and now a "seamstress". (Please not that most of those are said very sarcastically. I'm well aware of my deficits in every area. No need to point them out for me.) All that's left is for me to get a DSLR camera and... I'm every woman (it's all in meeeee....")<br />
<br />
For the story skippers, we got the tv and a sewing machine, all for less than the regular price of the tv. Boom.<br />
<br />
Did you get out there for Black Friday? What about Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday? <br />
<br />
Happy Friday!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-2532589995730560112012-11-29T06:47:00.002-08:002012-11-29T06:47:31.960-08:00Catch UpI have got <i>so</i> much to share here. Over the next few weeks, I'll try to write up posts about the things we've been up to, like:<br />
<ul>
<li>Building a bench</li>
<li>Staining said bench</li>
<li>Cleaning out our garage</li>
<li>Painting our garage</li>
<li>(Barely) relocating our washer/dryer</li>
<li>Buying Craigslist chairs</li>
<li>Refinishing Craigslist chairs</li>
<li>Reorienting our office</li>
<li>Building/Painting a desk</li>
<li>Rearranging the Nursery</li>
<li>Black Friday deals </li>
<li>Repairing our mailbox (more fun than it sounds) </li>
</ul>
and so very much more. I've been so busy DOING all this stuff I haven't had time to write about it!<br />
<br />
I'll be back later with the first of many catch-up posts. But for now, here's an update for our girl. She is getting so big...seventeen months has flown by! Her new favorite thing is climbing. She gets in her high chair by herself, goes right to the top of any play area, <i>almost</i> climbs on our bed, and she surprised me yesterday at the park by doing pretty well (considering limited wingspan) with the rock wall! She says "peese" and "tankyu" for pretty much everything, and stopped using all her baby signs except "all done", which she does throughout every meal (it can be confusing). I love that she gets so excited now when Daddy gets home. He was able to take off all of last week for Thanksgiving. Before that nine days off, she had become a little indifferent to him. Now she is a TOTAL Daddy's girl.<br />
<br />
And, without further ado, the pictures!<br />
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Happy Thursday!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-59550249807825450882012-11-09T06:05:00.000-08:002012-11-09T06:05:25.267-08:00Keeping up With the JonesesThat title would make sense if "Joneses" was synonymous with "Roof". Which it's not. But I can't waste any more time trying to come up with a witty title, so let's just all pretend. <br />
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Since <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-roof-roof-roof-is-on.html">getting our roof replaced</a>, the other ugly elements of our home's exterior have been bugging us. There's nothing like having a beautiful new roof to help you see how nasty the rest of the place looks! As a matter of fact, every day since the roof was finished, my goal has been to attack the "ugliest thing". There were a few obvious items on the list: the peeling four-toned front door and trim, the rusting porch columns, the dilapidated mailbox, the saggy brass (hee hee) porch light.<br />
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First order of business? Hands down, the front door and trim. It still looked just like <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2011/09/deathtrapdoor.html">this</a>, almost a year later. Sorry, neighbors. <br />
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I started by filling all the holes with wood putty, waiting for it to dry, then sanding it down. Our door is faced with a thin wood veneer (because our house is classy like that), which was peeling off in the top right corner. To contain the damage, I used a utility knife to score a rectangle around the damaged area, then picked off the veneer. Then I filled the patch with more wood putty, waited for it to dry, and sanded it down. I took zero pictures of that process, because it was all done over the course of about five of Madison's lunch times. I couldn't make any noise here during her nap because her window is right next to the front door.<br />
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We had already selected the front door color. That process was pretty simple: my mom painted her front door, and had plenty of leftover FREE paint. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, "free" is my favorite color. It's a mellow, rusty red. I think it looks very autumnal, which is appropriate for now, but with the right accent colors next to it, it can work with the other seasons as well. <br />
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Once the door was reasonably smooth (I may or may not have sanded the patch less than necessary for a perfect finish), I applied the new red. Since I was painting over an already red door, it only took two coats to get great coverage. If I was starting from white, I'll bet it would have been an entirely different story. <br />
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The next day, I painted the trim on the sides and at the top white. I used Valspar's Exterior Semi Gloss Ultra White Paint + Primer. It gave excellent coverage. Two coats later, our trim was pure white, with no trace of the old yellow outline.<br />
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That left only one surface still needing some love. See this threshold? <br />
It was <i>awful</i>. Chipped, peeling, dirty, but solid. I used a putty knife to scrape away the chipping pieces, then sanded it down just enough to be sure that any remaining paint was there for the long haul. Then I cleaned it very thoroughly with soap, water, and a dish brush that I bought specifically for paint prep. I followed up with a tack cloth to be sure it was absolutely clear of dust and dry, then primed it. <br />
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Since this is a surface that will be walked on, I didn't want to paint it white. Call me crazy, but scrubbing thresholds daily is not my idea of a good time. I lucked out when I saw a gallon of mistinted paint at Lowes for $12. It was perfect! Gray semi-gloss interior/exterior commercial grade paint! It came out just like I wanted.<br />
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And now for the good part...pictures!<br />
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Before...<br />
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And after.<br />
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Before...<br />
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And after.<br />
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Before...<br />
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And after.<br />
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We do plan to install a kick plate to cover the bottom of the door. That's why I didn't paint all the way down. I also need to touch up over the door knob where the tape peeled off part of the paint. I'd still call it an improvement!<br />
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What do you think?<br />
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Happy Friday! <br />
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-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-35673958894841950002012-11-07T10:20:00.001-08:002012-11-07T10:24:22.425-08:00The Roof. The Roof. The Roof is On...<strike></strike>...actually, that's it. The roof is ON. Finally! We've known for a while that we needed to replace our roof. It was about fifteen years old (for twenty year shingles, that's pretty old), and it had sustained wind damage from a few major wind storms AND Ike. Since we didn't want to drop $6K (+) on our already over-improved-for-the-neighborhood house, our plan was to DIY the thing. We put it off. Then we put it off some more. We saved about $2,000, hoping to get it done for around that much, and then we put it off just a little longer.<br />
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That's when a few things happened. First, Pat started working <i>crazy</i> long hours at work, then his dad went into the hospital. Between work and visiting his dad, his nights and weekends (our planned time for replacing the roof) were full. The roof problem became more urgent when we noticed three new leaks after a heavy storm. Then his dad took a turn for the worse, and I just couldn't imagine bugging Patrick to work on the roof while he was dealing with his new grief. I decided, on a whim, to get an estimate from a professional roofer. I knew it was a long shot, but I thought maybe I could find someone who could make a deal to get it done for somewhere near what we had saved.<br />
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Enter Jon Simmons. Or you can just call him Roof Hero (not his company name, just me being a dork) for short. He came out, and instead giving an estimate like I expected, he told me some pretty great news. Our insurance might cover the obvious wind damage! I was pretty skeptical. I figured that since our roof was so old, the insurance company wouldn't want to pay to replace it. That's why we didn't file a claim when we first noticed the damage. He encouraged me to try anyway, so I did.<br />
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First, I called our former insurance company (we changed companies in May, another reason I didn't expect them to pay) to initiate a claim. I explained what our roofer had told us: there was significant wind damage on our roof. I didn't know exactly when the damage had occurred, just that it had been that way for more than six months (because that's when we noticed how bad it looked) and less than a year. I swear the adjuster sounded like she was laughing when I told her that I wasn't sure when the damage happened. I thought that would be the end of that, but then she scheduled for an outside adjuster to come look at the damage.<br />
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Roof Hero had a guy come meet the outside adjuster, which was great, because I was free to take care of Madison the whole time instead of holding the end of a measuring tape. I kind of figured we were spinning our wheels, but it didn't hurt to try. The next few weeks were so awful with hospices, "arrangements", and a funeral, that we pretty much forgot about the roof/insurance process. So when our claims adjuster called me one afternoon to tell me that we were approved and she was mailing a check, I had to sit down for a minute. Well, more like thirty seconds. Then Patrick, Madison, and I did a happy dance all around the house for about ten minutes.<br />
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Once it was all said and done, we only had to pay our deductible (about $1,200). Not chump change, but still less than we planned to spend if we did the whole thing ourselves. We opted for black max-def architectural shingles, and I couldn't be more pleased with the way it all turned out. The roofing crew came less than a week after we got the paperwork back from the adjuster, and finished everything in a day and a half.<br />
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That's enough words. Take a look! Before...<br />
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And after! There may or may not have been a few other major changes. Just do me a favor and pretend you don't see those until I blog about them, 'kay? Thanks.<br />
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Let's try from another angle. Before... <br />
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And after! Also evident in the after: our grass is recovering pretty well, but our back porch is still junked out. I blame the constant projects. <br />
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Before...<br />
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And after!<br />
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Last one, I swear! Before...<br />
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And after...<br />
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I've thought for a while that I hated our house. As it turns out, I was wrong; I just hated our roof! I'd still like to move to a larger house in a better neighborhood (and we will, hopefully soon), but this one's kind of starting to grow on me. I think when we move I might actually feel sad about it for a while! But then one day, Pat will be using the bathroom, and I'll need to go, and I'll use the <i>other</i> bathroom (because there will be two!), and I'll feel all better. Something to look forward to! : )<br />
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<i>I forgot to mention: Roof Hero (Jon Simmons) had no idea that I would post about his job, so I was definitely not given any perks for mentioning him. However, if you'd like his contact information, I'd be glad to give it to you! Full disclosure: he gives $100 for referrals. But I'd refer him anyway.</i><br />
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Happy Wednesday!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-77644060955859287152012-11-04T17:27:00.004-08:002012-11-04T17:27:50.368-08:00Back in BlackEr, well, more like black for the first time. And staying that way. But typing the other, more appropriate to the situation black reference makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. And now I'm wondering why I've used the word "black" so many times. Let's start over.<br />
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We painted our shutters! I'll bet you can't guess which color. <br />
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Here they are before:<br />
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They were a dirty, faded brown. First, Patrick took them all down so we could clean them up and get them painted. He kept all the extra long screws in a cup and numbered all the shutters on the back so we would know which ones went where. I'm SO glad he thought to do that; the screws holding them up were attached at slightly different places in each shutter. If we didn't put them up in the right order, they wouldn't be level! <br />
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I was shocked at how naked our house looked without shutters. Unfortunately, it stayed this way for over a month while we put off the next phase of the project. Sorry, neighbors.<br />
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Once we got our bottoms back in gear (says the mom of a sixteen-month-old), we pulled the shutters out of the garage and scrubbed them down with some dish soap and an old bristle brush. Well, Patrick scrubbed them down. I supervised/splashed <strike>him</strike> the shutters with the water hose. <br />
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Look how dirty they were! Here they are before (left) and after (right) cleaning. <br />
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After they dried, we set them up to be painted in what little shade our backyard had to offer: <br />
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We used seven (!!!) cans of <a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000028007181&pid=NMG68376&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.funtoymall.com%2Fnmg68376.html%3Fmr%3AtrackingCode%3D62964303-0DE4-E111-8FF3-001B21BCC0BC%26mr%3AreferralID%3DNA&usg=AFHzDLszo-AN0f7l86dJ0UPxXvG-HJKDIg&pubid=593570" rel="nofollow">Black Semi-Gloss Rustoleum</a>. It only took one very thin base coat and a second slightly heavier (but not thick) coat to finish. We also painted the screws. We just poked them into a diaper box so we could spray them all at once. <br />
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Unfortunately, I can't share a very good after picture with you yet. The day after we reinstalled the shutters, we got a new roof! I rushed outside once the roofing crew got here to take these, because I don't want to show you the house with the new roof until I write that post.<br />
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Here's another "before" so you can compare. I like to think that the black helps the house look more current, and "current" is a pretty good adjective for a circa 1945 house. <br />
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Happy Monday!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-12897270623356777542012-11-01T07:16:00.000-07:002012-11-01T07:16:23.076-07:00November?!How the heck did that happen?<br />
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Anyway, I promised pictures of Madison in full costume, so here you go...<br />
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You might notice the pieces of her costume I didn't write about yesterday (bone clip, ruffle butt, treat bag). I sewed the bone from two pieces of white felt and attached a little plastic clip to the back with a few stitches of white thread. Easy peesey. The ruffle butt was part of a diaper cake at one of her baby showers (I think the one with Pat's family). The treat bag was a last minute project. It was actually an Easter basket from my mom. It came with a sweet yellow bow on the front and different pastel polka dots around the top. I took off the bow, covered the polka dots with a strip of zebra ribbon (attached with quick dry tacky glue), and tied a nylabone to the handle with the same zebra ribbon. Done!<br />
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Patrick took this video while I was off getting a pizza (what, do you expect me to sew AND cook?!) That's why it's so shaky. I love that her "Pebbles" sounds like "Bam Bam". <br />
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Happy Thursday!</div>
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-Kelli </div>
Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-80722405450113410042012-10-31T13:05:00.000-07:002012-10-31T13:05:49.546-07:00Happy Halloween!I'm so proud to have made Madison's costume, <i>in time</i> for <strike>trick</strike> trunk-or-treating tonight! I'm excited to share it with you, but first I've got to give a big shout out to Mrs. Dusek, my high school chemistry/physics teacher, without whom I would not know how to thread a needle. Mrs. Dusek, I cannot for the life of me remember why we sewed moles for your class, but it sure saved me a lot of money this Halloween, so thanks!<br />
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Madison is going as Pebbles Flintstone this year. Just imagine her sweet red ponytail. I love it! <br />
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Anyhoo, I decided on Pebbles about a month ago. The original plan was to purchase her costume on Etsy. Sure, thirty bucks (plus shipping) sounded like a lot of dough, but I figured, "Can you really put a price on that much cuteness?" Well apparently you can, and that price must be a bit lower than $40, because I just couldn't make myself pull the trigger.<br />
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I kept putting it off, until Monday (t minus two days until Halloween!!!) rolled around and Madison STILL didn't have a costume. So that night I did what any <strike>typical mom</strike> penny-pinching tightwad would do and went to Walmart for some material. About ten dollars later, I left with a yard of green fleece, a thimble, a gallon of milk, and a lot of anxiety about my ability to make this thing happen.<br />
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Not one to be deterred, I got to work as soon as I put the milk in the fridge. First, I used a yellow sharpie (because that's the first writing implement I found) to trace a slightly bigger version of this shirt onto the fleece. I made it bigger because I knew that I would need extra room for my seam. Turns out that people in the know call that a seam allowance. <br />
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After holding the first cut up to Madison, I realized it wasn't big enough. Rather than starting over, I dubbed the first cut "the front" and just made the next one about two inches wider.<br />
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At this point, Madison (aka my mannequin) had to go to bed, so I was flying blind. I probably should have tabled the project until she woke up so I could double check the <strike>measurements</strike> guesstimations, but (spoiler alert) it worked out okay. I hand stitched the sides and shoulders, pretty much making it up as I went along. I have no idea if I threaded the needle correctly, tied the right knots, or used the appropriate stitch, but the shirt hasn't fallen apart yet, so I'm gonna go with yes.<br />
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Patrick went to bed when I had finished three of the four seams. I hadn't talked with him at all about how I was going to construct the costume, so he was surprised the next day when I "hid the seams". That crazy guy didn't know that it was inside out!<br />
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As soon as Madison woke up Tuesday morning, I threw it on over her pajamas. It fit!<br />
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During her nap and a few snippets of time I stole while she played independently, I worked on cutting all the edges to look jagged and sewing black triangle flecks to the costume. There are twenty flecks in all. Phew! Glad that's done! <br />
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This is the most current picture I've got, it's about 80% complete here. I'll share the final reveal tomorrow! I don't want to risk ripping my amateur seams by putting it on her again unnecessarily. <br />
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Happy Halloween!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-33831876886810527522012-10-22T06:47:00.002-07:002012-10-22T06:47:50.751-07:00What's On My Mind MondayLinking up over here:<br />
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I. We just had the best four day weekend EVER. We kept it super low key, so the main event was hitting up the Houston Zoo for Madison's first time. She loved it!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I LOVE this picture of her.</td></tr>
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In this next one, she's looking/pointing at a pair of antelope being very natural, if ya know what I mean. That should help explain Pat's expression.<br />
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II. Pat's birthday was Friday, so I baked him a cake, from scratch (minus the icing). It wasn't very good, darn it. Nothing like working so long on something, in eager anticipation of your first bite, and then realizing that you overbaked the dang thing. It was pretty, though!<br />
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Funny side story: I was going for the whole candy corn gradient look, because as a kid Pat loved when his mom would decorate his birthday cake with candy corn. Sweet, right? Yeah, except that she never decorated his cake with candy corn; it was candy pumpkins. This is the third year in a row that I have made him a candy corn cake by mistake. Every year, he's very sweetly corrected me. I'm sure it'll be the same thing next year. Early onset Alzheimer's?<br />
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III. We took Madison to a pumpkin patch on Saturday and got zero pictures of her looking at the camera. Humph. <br />
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And the snug shirt she's wearing? Last year's Halloween dress. At this rate, next year it'll be a sock.<br />
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IV. The Texans. Oh, my goodness, how I loved watching yesterday's game. I had so many favorite parts! <br />
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Happy Monday!<br />
-Kelli<br />
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Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-34818454096621593252012-10-15T06:44:00.000-07:002012-10-15T06:44:08.674-07:00What's On My Mind MondayLinking up <a href="http://www.carissagraham.com/2012/10/miscellany-monday-winner.html" target="_blank">over here</a>.<br />
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I. Patrick's dad, Bill Philpot, passed away Tuesday night. The last week and a half has been a whirlwind. Today, our routine goes back to normal; I think we're both thankful, but also fearful, for that. We're also thankful for our amazing support system. We've got the best friends and family, period.<br />
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II. I'm so glad that Patrick will be off Thursday and Friday. He asked those days off about a month ago for his birthday (Friday), and having a three day week is a huge blessing. We're planning to go to the zoo and possibly a pumpkin patch, but leave it otherwise very low key.<br />
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III. Madison is a very good helper. Here she is helping me to unload the groceries:<br />
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Happy Monday!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-65486919160807176052012-10-08T05:39:00.000-07:002012-10-08T05:39:42.378-07:00What's On My Mind MondayLinking up over <a href="http://www.carissagraham.com/2012/10/miscellany-monday-farmgirl-paints.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Fair warning: this one's kind of heavy, so feel free to skip this post if you're not ready for all that jazz. If you don't already know what's going on with our family, Patrick's dad Bill was placed in hospice care on Friday. Thanks for your prayers.<br />
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I. Thankfulness. I'm so thankful to have married into a family so full of love. This weekend was one of the most difficult times Pat and I have ever been through, but it was made so much more bearable by the way everyone held each other up. Sometimes literally. For the worst reason in the world, we've all been seeing a lot of each other this past few days. The way these (grown) kids have come together says a lot about the people who raised them. <br />
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II. Fear. Pat and I have never lost anyone this close before. We don't really know how to do it. I think we were mostly in the denial phase until pretty late last night. Now our grief is kind of like the tide. I love Bill, and I am definitely struggling to deal with what he's going through, but the hardest part for me is seeing Patrick hurting and not being able to do anything to help him.<br />
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III. Gratitude. I don't ask for help lightly. Usually, I would say I don't ask for help EVER, but in the last three weeks I've had to ask my mom for emergency babysitting four (or is it five? I'm losing count.) times. By emergency, I mean less than twelve hours notice. Sometimes even less than an hour's notice. Just this weekend, she kept Madison all day Saturday, then also Sunday evening including bed time. And there's probably more of that in our very near future.<br />
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IV. Surprise. I know you're supposed to put your spouse before your child/children (no I'm not pregnant, hence <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2012/10/house-tour-kitchen-update-10412.html" target="_blank">the Monster</a>), but I kind of figured that I had messed that up. I really thought that Madison was first in my mind until last night. Since she was a newborn, I've never missed bedtime. Not even once. So last night, when I brought her to my mom's so I could be with Pat while he was with his dad, I figured I'd spend all evening worrying about bedtime. To the contrary, I didn't think about it at all until we were on our way home, hours after Madison went down. And I feel zero guilt about that, only thankfulness that I was able to be with Patrick. <br />
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V. Distraction. God has blessed us with a few things that distract us for a while from everything going on with Bill. For starters, Patrick got a promotion at work that comes with an exciting raise. His boss, whom I've never met but pretty much love, pulled him aside just before he left and said that he wanted to give him something nice to think about. Then he told him the job's a done deal and his new pay rate. After they fill Patrick's current position, possibly as soon as a month from now, he will be a specialty gas analyst/blender/chemist. The title changes depending on who you talk to. Whatever he'll be called, he's excited to get back into the production side of the business, even though he enjoyed his desk job (for the less than six months he had it) and was kind of okay with driving. This little girl has also been a pretty wonderful distraction:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry it's sideways. No time to fix it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
VI. Friends. We've got some great ones. This is all from a friend who lost his mom and knows what Patrick's going through:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Again, sorry it's sideways.</td></tr>
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Phew. <br />
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Have a happy Monday!<br />
-KelliKellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-85391894633762973792012-10-04T06:11:00.000-07:002012-10-04T06:11:39.944-07:00House Tour: The Kitchen (Update 10/4/12)<i>First, just let me say that Patrick and I so appreciate all of your prayers/wishes/advice about <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-few-verses-about-grief.html" target="_blank">coping with grief</a>.
Knowing that we have a community of family and friends that cares about
and is praying for us has already been a huge blessing to us. Please
keep those prayers coming. </i><br />
<br />
So much has changed since <a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2011/08/house-tour-kitchen.html" target="_blank">our last kitchen tour</a>. And thank goodness for that; this place was a <strike>hot</strike> MESS!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DxW5CFNDHck/Tk23B5rk4eI/AAAAAAAAAF0/0IwEmHK2-Ow/s1600/P8180773.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DxW5CFNDHck/Tk23B5rk4eI/AAAAAAAAAF0/0IwEmHK2-Ow/s400/P8180773.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
To recap, here was my list of goals for the room (in bold), along with their current status:<br />
-<b>Replace flooring</b>-<a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2011/12/check.html" target="_blank">Check</a>!<br />
-<b>Replace countertops/backsplash</b>- Not so much. I have painted the backsplash (again) to make it blend in more, but the ugly countertops unfortunately haven't changed a bit.<br />
-<b>Repaint the stovetop</b>- Nope.<br />
-<b>Paint (or replace?)</b> <b>vent hood</b>- Not even a little bit.<br />
-<b>Paint refrigerator-</b>Never mind. The fridge is sadly going to die soon, so we're waiting it out. Once it dies, we'll just buy a black one. Because we're <strike>conventional</strike> cheap like that.<br />
-<b>Install island-</b>Patrick is trying to talk me out of this one. The realtor is on his side, but I still haven't admitted defeat. <br />
<b>-Buy/make barstools</b>-Not necessary unless (who are we kidding, UNTIL) I get my island.<br />
<b>-Paint base of table</b>-<a href="http://becomingkelli.blogspot.com/2011/09/id-like-to-thank-academy.html" target="_blank">Done!</a><br />
-<b>Build window seat</b>- Nope.<br />
-<b>Install recessed light over sink</b>-Nope.<br />
-<b>Find shallow drawer pulls</b>-Nope.<br />
-<b>Finish painting trim (including column)-</b>Close, but no cigar.<br />
<b>-Touch up paint</b>-Pretty much done.<br />
<b>-Upgrade electrical switches and outlets to GFCI</b>-Nope.<br />
<b> -Find/DIY art for wall behind table</b>-I changed my mind. Now I want open shelving there, a <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/04/build-it-with-ana-floating-shelves/" target="_blank">la YHL House 1</a>.<br />
<b>-Stencil or otherwise decorate the soffit.-</b>Eh, changed my mind. Now I'm okay with the soffit. I will, however, be stenciling the backsplash.<br />
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And now for a current picture, as of Tuesday morning:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IK5Cq0LGoSE/UG2C9-Rqp6I/AAAAAAAABn4/TuRqSXH7F8g/s1600/current1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IK5Cq0LGoSE/UG2C9-Rqp6I/AAAAAAAABn4/TuRqSXH7F8g/s400/current1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
But wait, there's more! After enjoying my first Lo-Carb Monster (it's an energy drink) in TWO LOOONNNG YEARS, I managed to paint our backsplash to match the rest of the kitchen walls in about an hour and a half during Madison's nap.<br />
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After finishing the backsplash, I had ample time in her nap to make and eat lunch, <a href="http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/3311732539.html" target="_blank">list my mom's car on Craigslist</a>, and write half this post. You've gotta love artificial energy. Sure, if I drank one every day I'd probably shorten my lifespan by about half, but just think how much more I could get done in that time! Just kidding. Kind of.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z8_GtwhcOj0/UG2C_krjaYI/AAAAAAAABoA/wAcmPwt9FWA/s1600/monster.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z8_GtwhcOj0/UG2C_krjaYI/AAAAAAAABoA/wAcmPwt9FWA/s400/monster.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmm, good.</td></tr>
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Sorry about the lack of pictures of the other side of the room. It's pretty much the same as the first picture, except we got rid of the kennel (yay for fully house trained dogs!), cleaned off the top of the fridge, then let more junk accumulate on top of the fridge. We (I) really need to clean out some closet space.<br />
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I can't believe how long it took me to get around to painting the backsplash. It offered instant gratification, changed the whole feel of the kitchen, and was FREE (we had leftover paint/supplies). Now I'm racking my brain for what other projects might have the same work:reward ratio!<br />
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Have you indulged in any guilty pleasures (like my Monster) lately? What about finally getting around to something that's been on your list for a long time? Am I the only one who only notices things like Madison's toy bowls on the floor once they're on film (er, in digital form)?<br />
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Happy Thursday!<br />
-Kelli Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-52444735880750370582012-10-03T05:53:00.001-07:002012-10-03T05:53:59.162-07:00A Few Verses About Grief<span class="verse-num" id="v52004013-1">Please be in prayer for Patrick's family. Bill, Pat's dad, will be placed in hospice care late this weekend or early next week. We expect him to pass away quickly. This decision was very difficult for all of them, but thankfully they found a medical directive from a few years ago that very clearly explained Bill's wishes in this situation. </span><br />
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<span class="verse-num" id="v52004013-1">Patrick and I have never really mourned the loss of anyone this close to us before; we've lost grandparents and uncles, but never a parent. Patrick doesn't know how to feel or act, and I don't know how to help. So per Patrick's request, I looked for some verses about grief. This is what I found. The actual verses are copied from ESVBible.org . </span><br />
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<b><span class="verse-num" id="v52004013-1">1 Thessalonians 4:13-18</span></b><br />
<span class="verse-num" id="v52004013-1">13 </span>But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Lv19.28%3BDe14.1%3B2S12.20-23%3BMk5.39/" title="[Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1; 2 Sam. 12:20-23; Mark 5:39]">g</a></span>that you may not grieve as others do <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Ep2.12/" title="Eph. 2:12">h</a></span>who have no hope. <span class="verse-num" id="v52004014-1">14 </span>For <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/1Co15.13%3B2Co4.14%3BRv1.18/" title="1 Cor. 15:13; [2 Cor. 4:14; Rev. 1:18]">i</a></span>since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/1Co15.18/" title="1 Cor. 15:18">j</a></span>those who have fallen asleep. <span class="verse-num" id="v52004015-1">15 </span>For this we declare to you <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/1K13.17/" title="See 1 Kgs. 13:17">k</a></span>by a word from the Lord,<span class="footnote"><a class="fn" href="http://www.esvbible.org/search/1%20Thessalonians%2B4/#f4-1" id="fb4-1" title="<note class="alternative">Or <i><span class="catch-word">by</span> the word of the Lord</i></note>">4</a></span> that <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/1Co15.51/" title="1 Cor. 15:51">l</a></span>we who are alive, who are left until <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/1Th2.19/" title="See ch. 2:19">m</a></span>the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. <span class="verse-num" id="v52004016-1">16 </span>For <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Mt16.27/" title="See Matt. 16:27">n</a></span>the Lord himself will descend <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/2Th1.7/" title="2 Thess. 1:7">o</a></span>from heaven <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Jl2.11/" title="[Joel 2:11]">p</a></span>with a cry of command, with the voice of <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Jd1.9/" title="Jude 9">q</a></span>an archangel, and <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Mt24.31%3B1Co15.52/" title="Matt. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52">r</a></span>with the sound of the trumpet of God. And <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/1Co15.23%3B2Th2.1%3BRv14.13/" title="1 Cor. 15:23; [2 Thess. 2:1; Rev. 14:13]">s</a></span>the dead in Christ will rise first. <span class="verse-num" id="v52004017-1">17 </span>Then we who are alive, who are left, will be <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/2Co12.2/" title="See 2 Cor. 12:2">t</a></span>caught up together with them <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Dn7.13%3BAc1.9%3BRv11.12/" title="[Dan. 7:13; Acts 1:9; Rev. 11:12]">u</a></span>in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Jn12.26/" title="See John 12:26">v</a></span>we will always be with the Lord. <span class="verse-num" id="v52004018-1">18 </span>Therefore encourage one another with these words.<br />
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<b>Romans 8:8</b><br />
<span class="verse-num" id="v45008018-1">8 </span>For I consider that the sufferings of this present time <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/2Co4.17%3B1P1.5-6/" title="2 Cor. 4:17; [1 Pet. 1:5, 6]">n</a></span>are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.<br />
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<b><span class="verse-num" id="v47001003-1">2 Corinthians 1:3,4</span></b><br />
<span class="verse-num" id="v47001003-1">3 </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Ep1.3%3B1P1.3/" title="Eph. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:3">f</a></span>Blessed be the <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Rm15.6/" title="See Rom. 15:6">g</a></span>God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Rm15.5/" title="Rom. 15:5">h</a></span>God of all comfort, <span class="verse-num" id="v47001004-1">4 </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Is51.12%3BIs66.13/" title="[Isa. 51:12; 66:13]">i</a></span>who
comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God. <br />
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<b>Psalm 147:3</b></div>
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He heals <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Ps34.18/" title="Ps. 34:18">o</a></span>the brokenhearted
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and <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Eze34.16/" title="Ezek. 34:16">p</a></span>binds up their wounds.</div>
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<b>Matthew 5:4</b></div>
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<span class="verse-num woc" id="v40005004-1">4 </span><span class="woc">“Blessed are <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Is61.2-3%3BJn16.20%3B2Co1.7%3B2Co7.10%3BRv21.4%3BJm4.9-10/" title="Isa. 61:2, 3; John 16:20; 2 Cor. 1:7; 7:10; Rev. 21:4; [James 4:9, 10]">v</a></span>those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.</span></div>
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<b><span class="verse-num inline" id="v19073026-1">Psalm 73:26</span></b></div>
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<span class="verse-num inline" id="v19073026-1">26<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Ps40.12%3BPs84.2/" title="Ps. 40:12; See Ps. 84:2">i</a></span>My flesh and my heart may fail,</div>
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but God is <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Ps18.2/" title="Ps. 18:2">j</a></span>the strength<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="footnote"><a class="fn" href="http://www.esvbible.org/search/Psalm+73%3A26/#f1-1" id="fb1-1" title="<note class="translation" sub-class="original">Hebrew <i>rock</i></note>">1</a></span></span> of my heart and my <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Ps16.5/" title="See Ps. 16:5">k</a></span>portion <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Dn12.3/" title="[Dan. 12:3]">l</a></span>forever.</div>
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What verses do you know that help with grief? Have you helped someone through this before, or been there yourself? If so, please tell me what I can do to help him, and tell me what not to do/say!</div>
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Above all, please be praying for the Philpot family (all of us). It's going to be a rough weekend.</div>
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Thanks,</div>
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Kelli </div>
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Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8963100622156294.post-67718938112911508482012-10-01T09:39:00.002-07:002012-10-01T09:44:00.147-07:00What's On My Mind MondayLinking up <a href="http://www.carissagraham.com/2012/10/miscellany-monday.html" target="_blank">over here</a>, even though I'm posting super late.<br />
<br />
I. We had such a nice weekend! It felt almost like a vacation after Pat had been gone for so long. Patrick stayed home for both of Madison's naps while I went to a baby shower Saturday and to my parents' house to watch the Texans win on Sunday. Just being alone (not really alone, just not in charge of anyone but myself) for those few hours was amazing, but of course I was excited to see Madison when I got back both days. It really is luxurious to have the chance to miss her every now and again.<br />
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II. Madison is getting more independent every day. She will play by herself for up to thirty minutes now, usually with either a book or bowl and spoon. She LOVES to pretend to eat, and makes a cute "smack" noise when she pretends to take bites.<br />
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III. She seems to have had a vocabulary explosion over the last few weeks. She wasn't really saying much of anything before, but now she says these words pretty frequently:<br />
momma<br />
da-dee<br />
guh(girl)<br />
dah(dog)<br />
book<br />
DA or yeh (yes)<br />
mo-mo (more) <br />
da-da (for paw-paw. ?)<br />
nana<br />
NO! <br />
moo<br />
baa<br />
phblblth (elephant sound)<br />
dora<br />
bah-pa (backpack)<br />
<br />
And she says these on occasion:<br />
peace (please)<br />
ste-puh-nee(a neighbor friend)<br />
Beh-ah (Bella)<br />
ow-die (outside)<br />
doh (door)<br />
swee (swing)<br />
ball<br />
gooh guh (Good girl, usually said to Bella)<br />
kah (quack) <br />
<i>*and more below</i><br />
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I know I'm forgetting big ones, but I guess these are my faves. : ) <br />
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IV. Please pray for Patrick's dad. I haven't really written here yet about what's going on with him, and I don't feel comfortable sharing everything, because I don't want to get it all wrong. Just pray that Pat and his family have the wisdom they need to make some very difficult decisions, and that we all have peace about whatever comes. Praying for miraculous healing couldn't hurt, either!<br />
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Happy Monday,<br />
Kelli<br />
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<i>I'm only going to allow myself one update, but I can't believe I left out up, down, baby, and cup! </i> Kellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661568109790527908noreply@blogger.com4