What's Going on This Weekend

Saturday Chris is running in the Tough Mudder event in WI. He has to leave the house by about 6AM and probably won't be back until the evening. That gives me all day to do whatever I feel like, nice!

What's on the agenda?

• cleaning the house
• some yard work
• finishing up a project for my m-i-l's birthday gift, which was last Monday - woops! Luckily we told her we are having a baby to give us a few days to finish her present :)
• touching up some paint in our masterbathroom remodel - still not completely finished with everything but we have been using the bathroom for about a month and a half now
• possibly making a spring/summer wreath for our front door
• bring the pups to get their hairs cut - I'll be a lonely lady for most of the afternoon :(
• making Chicken Burrito Bowls for dinner in the crockpot - Thanks Kelly!
• go to the gym? I went on Wednesday and ran 3 miles straight on the treadmill - not bad considering my almost 3 month vacation
• spending some time relaxing in the hammock to finish Fifty Shades of Grey

 My new view since we cut down a bunch of trees last weekend. I could live here!

Once Chris gets home we'll probably do a little work around the house, shovel the delicious food in our mouths, go for a walk and (hopefully) clear some space on our DVR. Soooo many shows to watch!

Sunday - Chris is golfing in a tournament all morning so I won't see him much that day either :( I have a birthday party to go to at 1 in the north metro so I'll probably head up early and stop by to see my mom for a bit. Luckily Chris isn't working Sunday night so we can get more done around the house and relax.

I have my next OB appointment on Wednesday. I don't think much will happen with that appointment but it's still nice to go in and make sure everything is still going good with the baby!

We're contemplating having a gender reveal party. I've seen quite a few people on different blogs I follow and stuff on Pinterest that makes we want to have one. I think it would be fun! Any thoughts?

I can't believe next weekend is already Memorial Day weekend and then after that Chris's grandpa and aunt will be visiting us from Florida - yay!

I hope you have a great weekend!

A Mother's Day like no other!

**Warning - this post is EXTREMELY long. Congrats to you if you make it all the way through!

Yesterday was such a beautiful day in MN. I think I spent 90% of the time I was awake outside soaking up the sun.

Yesterday was also wonderful because we finally got to reveal a little secret that we'd been hiding for a couple months.

Yesterday we got to tell the remaining family and friends that we're expecting a baby in November!

It's Facebook official and all.

Ever since we found out (March 20) that we were expecting a baby, my mind immediately went to thinking how and when we would tell our families. I'm not sure why - maybe it's the many hours I've logged on Pinterest and blogging that made me want it to be perfect or it's just my OCD kicking in.

I immediately started thinking that Mother's Day was the perfect time to tell them our families. I checked the calendar and if everything was on track - I would be just finishing 12 weeks! I was beyond excited and told Chris my idea and he loved it.

I saw an item pinned that was a flower pot with pictures modge podged on it. I get my mom and mother-in-law (Janeal for future reference) flowers or gift cards to landscaping stores or cookie flower bouquets each year so flowers seemed like a good theme to stick with. I wanted to put pictures of all the grandchildren they already have, our pups (the grandpuppies) and an ultrasound picture announcing when our baby was due. I was really hoping I would have an ultrasound picture by then!

Next came the planning of how everything would go down. We both decided that we wanted to tell our moms separately. We pretty much knew that we would be celebrating the day with our parents on different days. The plan was to tell my parents and Chris's dad on Saturday (May 12th) and Chris's mom, sister (and family) on Sunday. Unfortunately my dad is currently working in ND and comes back to MN about every other weekend.

I called my dad on May 2nd to see if he was coming home on Mother's Day. He said that he was coming home the weekend of May 5 and would not be coming home for Mother's Day. My heart dropped! I tried to tell him I had a really cool present for my mom that he would want to be there for when she opened it. "What did you get her?"...um, I can't tell you. Fail! I could tell that he felt really bad, but I tried to just play it off and said that maybe we could just get together on Saturday the 5th. I got a voicemail the next day from him saying he got Mother's Day weekend off and he was coming home that weekend now (too). I knew he felt bad. We had already asked Chris's dad to come down on the 5th for a BBQ with my parents (our dads LOVE seeing each other and talking about hunting). He said he could make it on the 5th but not for Mother's Day. Not quite according to plan, but we had to take it.

Friday, May 4th I call my parents to square away the details of Saturday. What they want for lunch and what time they'll be down. I casually mention that Leroy (Chris's dad) will be joining us. Everything is fine. Chris and I both have the impression that my parents probably know that we're going to announce something. They're not dumb - why would I make a big deal out of what weekend he's coming home? really cool present? Chris's dad is coming down too?

Saturday morning I spent the whole morning cleaning the house, prepping food and getting myself ready. Freakin' nervous wreck. I knew that our parents would be sooo happy for us, but the wait is killing me! I told Chris that I wanted to bring out the flower pot right away so I'm not such a mess! Everyone arrives (my parents about 20 minutes early) we're all talking, hanging out in the living room, Chris and I are in the kitchen planning our attack and finally it's time. I go upstairs grab the flower pot and bring it down. It's in box so the pictures don't show. I go plop it down next to my mom for her to open. She looks at it and says the flowers are pretty and opens the card up. I tell her that she has to take the flower pot out since I had decorated it. She takes it out and starts looking at it. Turning it side to side to look at all the pictures. Meanwhile, my dad and Leroy are just chatting away - oblivious to what's going on. Chris and I are staring intently at my mom waiting for her to see the ultrasound pic. It's on the other side of her and she doesn't turn it around far enough. We're going crazy! She hands it to my dad who looks at the pics and sees the ultrasound pic, but doesnt' realize what it is and/or apparently can't read 'Baby Thydean due Nov 18' Gaaah! Finally he turns the ultrasound pic towards my mom and she finally sees it. Excitement, congrats, hugs and pure joy all around. It was such a great feeling and a huge relief. Our dads reminisced childhood memories. It was a fun afternoon that was cut short by a pretty bad rain/lightning/thunder storm that rolled through. Everyone had to vow not to tell the rest of Chris's family before leaving (mainly his dad).

Here are some pics of the flower pot I gave my mom:















Mother's Day (May 13) we were meeting at Whit & Josh's house (Chris's sister and her husband) to celebrate Janeal's birthday and Mother's Day. We got there about 11:30 and were talking to everyone and I had told Chris once again that I wanted to give Janeal the flower pot towards the beginning of the day so that I could finally relax and not have it on my mind the whole time. About 20 minutes after we had gotten there and while the food was cooking Chris went to the car and grabbed the flower pot (once again in a box so no pictures could be seen). He brings it to Janeal and again she's admiring the flowers and naming them - pretty impressive! Chris tells her that she has to take the flower pot out since it was decorated. This time we made sure to put the ultrasound pic facing her so we would not go through the agony again. She saw it right away and was sooo surprised. Everyone else slowly caught on to what was being announced and it was very overwhelming the excitement that was there. We have a video of it all (hoping to post it later) and I'm so happy that we have the video. It was such a fun afternoon and I'm so happy that everyone knows our little secret now. We both got home and posted it on Facebook and Chris called both of this grandparents to let them know the good news.

Pictures of Janeal's flower pot:

 

 

So there you have it. Such a small post...right! Sorry if you made it all the way through this. I have more posts to come. I want to post the video I took when I told Chris and I hope we can get the video off of Chris's phone of his mom. I planned to video my parents but I forgot to do it (and to take pictures as well). So much going on in this crazy head of mine right now :)

 

                                                                   Happy Monday!

My Reasons to Smile

Here are just a few things putting a smile on my face today


My new kicks I got. Hoping this will cure my lack of exercise issue I have going on...

This adorable iPhone cover I found at Kirklands for like $11! In LOVE!

7/8

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also to get the exercise program rolling, I got some headphones. My old ones burned out and I just can't do ear buds. I think my ears are oddly shaped or something. Either the buds fall out or they hurt my ears. I have to have the ones that go around my ears.

The beautiful tulips that are growing like crazy. This is our first attempt at bulbs (planted last fall) and I'm addicted. So easy and very low maintenance. My kind of flower!

Our spunky monkeys hanging out in the yard tonight. I love when we can hang out and enjoy the weather!

These 2 birds make quite a few appearances on our deck. They were laying in the bed of flowers all day on Sunday. I would hang out in a bed of flowers if I could, too!



My husband's business has been doing awesome this spring! Makes me happy and proud of him!



Jermaine winning the Voice last night! Me and the hubs were soooo happy! This is our first time watching a singing show like this and we really enjoyed it. There were a couple others (Jamar and Jesse) that got voted off earlier than we would have liked. Not going to miss Xtina - boobs and attitude every week got really old!

The sun showing it's face again the past couple of days

The amazing Kelly setting up a new blog for my fellow MN bloggers. I can't believe how quickly she got this thing set-up! If you're a MN blogger, go ahead and join the site!


And last but not least, the fact that it's Wednesday which means tomorrow is Thursday and then Friday! Thank goodness!

Woops!

So blogging has kind of been towards the bottom of my to-do list. (Almost) each day I read other blogs I follow and think, I should really post something, But then I don't. I'm usually at work when I think I should post something, but I can't post at work and when I get home I'm either working around the house or just don't feel like posting :


Here are some pictures on my phone that have been cracking me up. Not sure what we would do without these 2 little guys!


I came into our bedroom the other week and Kirby was just staring out the window. I'm not even sure he can see much out the window since he's kind of little, but he was intrigued by something that was going on out there. This went on for a few minutes...

Chris and I always joke about how funny Kirby looks when he sits. It's pretty comical

 Poor little Oscar had to make an unplanned visit to the vet last weekend. He had a little relapse of his stomach issues return (he had been on medication since December). We are crappy forgetful parents and kind of forgot to give him his medicine for a few weeks and I guess this is what happens...

Relaxing on 2 pillows after a long day at the vet clinic

 Kirby's new thing is to lay on the pillow on the bed. He's done this in the past, but for some reason last weekend he could not get enough of the pillows. He did this on our bed and in the guest bedroom. Maybe he was achy and the pillows helped?

 Part of Oscar's new treatment plan is new food. Apparently the new food is really good. He has been constantly guarding his food ball (he rolls the ball around to get his food out) so Kirby (and sometimes mom & dad) can't get it.

 There were a few nice evenings last week. I plopped down on the front lawn and soaked up some sun with my little guys. It felt great! I'm soooo ready for the nice warm weather to stay!

Oscar with some sun in his eyes

Little Kirby chillaxin in the grass

Oscar wouldn't look at me. He's a little camera shy

 Last week a manager brought in some cupcakes since she is leaving the company. She brought a couple dozen cupcakes from Cupcake I have been obsessed ever since. I've tasted quite a variety of them in the past few days and I've narrowed down a couple for my favorites (the s'more and the amaretto). I think they're pretty to look at. They're a little pricey, but for a special occasion I think they're fun!


Chocolate covered cherry cupcake I got from work, it was a little dry but the flavor was yummy!

This weekend we spent Saturday at the vet again for Oscar's check-up (everything looks good!), crossing a few projects around the house off our list and Chris worked that night while I met up with my mom to grab some grub and head over to Cupcake to pick up some treats for Sunday.


Sunday morning I woke with ambition to complete some craft projects I have going. I spent about 3 hours in the morning installing a program on our computer to do a project and then completing my project on the computer only to find out the device that hooks up to the computer couldn't be recognized. We went and met Chris's family to celebrate his mom's bf's birthday. We dined on some delicious food and then we all got to sample some of the cupcakes I got. It was fun to see everyone! When I got home, back to the computer I went to solve the mystery. At about 5, I had downloaded some stuff to recognize my device. I got everything to work, I was so excited! I went to apply the the thing I was working on and it really didn't work out very well. Needless to say, I spent about 6 hours on something I ended up throwing away. It was pretty frustrating. At least I tried....Now I'm just finishing up some laundry, paying bills and trying to clean up the mess I made in our office.

Hope you had a good weekend!

Weekend Recap/Early Makeover Monday

I've been such a failure as a blogger lately (amongst other things...working out, cleaning, eating healthy). Ever since I came back from Florida - only a month ago - I've been such a bum! Part of my excuse is that we started another project in our house a few weeks ago and that's pretty much taken up my nights and weekends. The days I'm not working on the new project I feel like relaxing. So the gym and exercise has gone to the wayside for the time being. We're getting close to being done, so hopefully I can get back on track with my eating and working out!!


We had a pretty low key weekend. Friday night, Chris was working and didn't get home until about 9:30 so by the time he was home, ate dinner and took a shower it was nearing 10-10:30. Pretty much this girl's bed time :)


Saturday - we ran some errands in the morning, came home and ate lunch, worked on the project for a little bit and then it was time for him to go to work. He got home earlier Saturday so we got to clear up some space on our DVR. 


Sunday - my dad came down in the morning to work on the project and we worked, worked and worked all day. My dad left around 5:30. Chris left for work around 5:15 and has to close tonight. I feel so bad that he has to work all night. I'm so tired and can't imagine working until about 11. I'll be cleaning up, doing laundry and prepping myself for a long week at work. Yikes!


Here's a sneak peak of some of the elements coming into the room (new project). I can't wait to post before and after pics. We love how much has happened already!

This is what started the whole project. I saw this pin on pinterest and showed it to Chris. He LOVED the idea. This is not our bathroom, but we hope to have something similar. Not white, but stained/poly-ed wood. 

I have a HUGE love/hate relationship with this stuff. I have used it in our basement, refinished a couple of tables and it's making another appearance in our bathroom. I just realized that I totally just gave our project with my first pic ;)

Some new tiles - this is what we spent ALL day installing today

New hardware for our re-furbished cabinets - so in love with how they look!

One of the wall colors - it's an accent color. It looks awesome with our new cabinet/wood color

Well, that's all I can giveaway for now. Hopefully I can show you the finished project in a few weeks.

Hope you have a great week and are enjoying our fabulous March weather! Spring is here!

Makeover Monday - Basement Bathroom

One of my favorite things we've done to our house so far is finishing our basement and I love the way the bathroom turned out. Chris showers down there daily and I don't really blame him. It makes me so happy to see the room put together the way it is. It turned out WAY better than I could have imagined. We were on a pretty tight budget when finishing our basement and this may have cost a tiny bit more than we may have planned, but it was so worth it!

Here are picture showing the progress. We started with nothing, but a hole in the floor for plumbing, all the walls were put up by my dad and Chris. 

We bought the vanity at Home Depot before we even had walls built yet (notice the tape lines that my dad laid out so we could "have a vision" of the walls). We found it on clearance for $75! We were in love with it and the reason for the clearance/open item return - "slow moving drawer" All of the drawers work perfectly fine. The real problem is that you can't find a pre-made vanity top to fit it. We also bought the above vanity top and had to return it because it didn't fit the unit properly. We were bummed but in the long run, it was the best problem ever!

Got some walls up. I was pretty pumped about the vanity and was constantly moving it in the bathroom to see what it looked like :)

Chris working on getting the sheetrock up

One of Chris's favorite jobs - mudding! "Do you want me to smile?"

Dad doing the "dry fit" for the floor tile

Ready for some grout

Next up? Some paint, that's where I come in

Pics showing the paint, floor, vanity. We had returned the vanity top by this point since it didn't fit

We decided to tile the shower. That wasn't the original plan, but looking at the price for the shower surround made us decide that it would be worth it to tile it. Luckily for us, my dad has done some tile work before (honestly - not a lot of experience, but you wouldn't guess it judging by the work he did here) We LOVE how it turned out. The shower is massive!

Close up of the mosaic. So happy with our choice of tiles!

Finished tile work. I think this is just after my dad and I grouted it so it's a little streaky still

So what on earth did we do about our vanity top that did not fit?? It bugged me so much that we were not able to find a top that fit. I thought about it constantly. I came up with a great idea and ran it by Chris. He was not completely on board with it and was a little skeptical (this happens a lot in our house!) I told him what I need to have built and we pieced together some wood that he had in the garage. We threw some sheetrock on it and he left for work for the night. I spent about 1 hour (maybe?) tiling it. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I sent him pictures of it and he was ecstatic about how it looked. He came home from work and couldn't believe how good it looked. I purchased the first bowl from Lowe's and the faucet too. We later returned the bowl after I found "the one" online. I'm so happy I looked for a different bowl!

The tile job I did while Chris was at work. Mosaic is easy to work with. It's harder to grout, but not terrible

The original bowl I purchased. The safety glass green just didn't fit in with our bathroom

The replacement. What an awesome upgrade for about $30 more! So worth it!

The finished project:

Completed shower with glass shower doors

View of the vanity

View into the bathroom