Come on spring...

Ugh, we got a spring teaser a couple of weeks ago, I even had tan lines from the short couple of days that were nice.  Since it's been cold, rainy, and it's even snowed a couple of times.  Come on spring, I've got a hyperactive kid that needs to be outside!

I introduced Ami to watercolor painting during our indoor adventures.  She's already gone through 3 sets, and one of them was super-sized.  She LOVES painting.  She's painted many a picture in the last week.

I've tapered off on my thrifting for the time being.   I don't specifically have anything to buy so I'd better stay out of the stores so I don't spend unecessary money.  Instead, I found this new website Pinterest, which is just as addicting and time consuming.  That's one of the reasons I have been neglecting you poor blog.

Progress upstairs has been eeking along.  Tyler was out of town for work for half a week so that stalled things a bit.  Right before he left we had the electrician back over to install the switches and these lights.  I love them.  I got them both at IKEA.  Ty just installed the 3rd ceiling light tonight but the power is off upstairs and it's dark now so I don't have a photo.  It was also purchased at IKEA.

Our little nut loves wearing her helmet.  Sometimes just around the house.  She said to me the other day at the store, "Mommy, Ami ride bike, NOW.  Helmet ON!"  She's got bike safety down.

And yes, she's so special she has 2 helmets (thanks to our generous neighbors.)  She fits on this scooter a wee bit better than her bike right now.

We celebrated Easter at Grandma D's house.  Ugh, she all cute and grown up.  

She had a blast hunting for eggs.

and eating the treats in them.

Look at these 2, practically teenagers. 

Here is something real that happened yesterday, I was eating wasabi soy sauce flavored almonds and then left the room for about 45 seconds.  Upon my return I find Amelie up in her chair, with the almond's  dumped out on the table so she could shovel them into her mouth faster.  The funny part is, that these things are hot.  She would eat one, whimper, then shove another into her mouth.  Then she just started sucking the flavor off them and putting the nuts back into the container.  Did I mention they were wasabi flavored?  She's crazy.

Cross your fingers that the next post will have photos of our finished master bedroom.  Cross them HARD!

  

Floors are DONE!

Guess what Tyler did tonight...finished laying the floor upstairs!  Guess who is so excited about it, me!  I want to move our bedroom up there ASAP.  My dad is coming over in the morning to help do some of the trim and I'm really really really hoping it gets finished tomorrow.  None of the outlets or lights work yet, we need the electrician to come back and wire those bitches up, but then...it's on.  I'd like to get all the wares out of the living room I've been collecting for up there.

  

Ami and I went for a walk to the Nokomis Cafe for lunch yesterday.  She actually sat in the stroller and let me push her the WHOLE WAY there.  It was great, it only took 10 minutes to get there.  The walk home was a different story though.  She wanted to push the stroller and was watching her feet the whole time so she kept smashing into peoples' yards.  It was about an hour before we got home, but she napped!  

Great news, she's been napping for almost a full week now in undies and waking up without peeing her pants.  She has been telling me when she has to go potty when we are out in public and hasn't had any accidents since last Saturday.  Oh we are so close!  

Here she is at the park, totally neglecting the toddler equipment for the older kid stuff.  She figured out this balancing beam and owned it for a good 30 minutes.

She spun around on this thing for a while too.

Sam, Addy and Abby were over this week for a visit.  Look at how cool Sammy is.

I've been doing some crafty things too, keeping busy during nap time.  Yesterday I made body lotion and foot lotion.  It was surprisingly simple and I used it today and it was fantastic.  My epidermis is still all smooth.

I've been doing a little experiment with this stuff the past week as well.  It sounds pretty crazy but it's been working great for me.  I stopped using shampoo and conditioner as well as face wash and lotion.  It's been 5 days so far.  

I heard about it from a couple of blogs I follow, thought it was interesting and decided to give it a shot when my conditioner ran out.  So here's what happens, I mix up some baking soda and water to "wash" my hair, and use another mixture of apple cider vinegar and water to "condition" my hair.  It smells vinegary when you put it on your head, but when your hair dries you can't smell it at all. 

 It's pretty crazy, my hair has been awesome though, The articles said you would go through a "greasy period" until your body figures out how to regulate the oils.  There are a few reasons I wanted to do this but instead of listing them you can just read about the No 'Poo Method yourself (btw I hate that name.)

About washing my face, I have been using a mixture of castor oil and avocado oil.  I first read about this method here.  I mixed up the oils in a squeeze bottle and massage it into my face for about 5 minutes at night before bed, get a washcloth really hot and steam my face with it a couple of times and that's it.  It's actually a nice little bedtime ritual, and my face feels pretty fantastic.  

Long story short, I'm sold.  I think I'll stick with washing my face with oil and using baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash my hair.  Still sounds crazy, I know, and I don't care.  

Tantrum: Day 3

Holy jeez, we are going on a 3 day tantrum bender over at my house, which looked like this yesterday afternoon.




Other times her face is buried in the rug or the couch, or she is throwing a shoe across the room, or screaming for crackers.  Pretty much anything will start a tantrum.  Me asking her if she has to go potty, suggesting getting dressed, not allowing her to do EVERYTHING for herself, denying her anything, breathing, looking at her, feeding her....you get the picture.

Then there are the short moments of extreme cuteness, like these...

Learning how to ride a bike for the first time.

Drawing all over the sidewalk in chalk.

Enjoying and english muffin pizza lunch in the backyard.

So, it's not all bad.  Plus getting her outside (if I can get clothes and shoes on her) and running around tires her out after a while.  Although it's getting quite difficult for me to keep up with her which is turning out to be a safety hazard.  Lately though, she's been wanting to hold hands during out walks, and I love that.

I got a check in the mail yesterday for almost $185 for consigning some of her old stuff at the JBF sale.  Totally. Worth. It.  

Tyler is really making progress upstairs.  We bought flooring last week and he already has it half laid out.  Not bad for a guy that works all day and comes home to do more work!  Check it out, it's going to be so worth all the work in the end.

In order to maintain my sanity, I have been stealing slots of time for myself, on the weekends or during nap time.  Last weekend I walked up to the Angry Catfish for a small mocha and A Baker's Wife for a large pear tart.  It was delicious.

I've been re-potting plants and planted some new ones during nap time yesterday, and planted some seeds for the garden today.

 Today I painted some bottles and turned them into planters.

Wish me luck tomorrow!

New Blog!

I started a new blog because I am overflowing with crafty ideas and I just needed a separate place to feed that need.  It's at Thrifty Mama.  It's hosted by Tumblr, which is really easy to update from my phone, but I'm still figuring it out.  I really like how you can "micro-blog," because sometimes I only have an idea to share but with this blog I feel like I need to have longer posts.  Anyways, let me know what you think.  I hope that blog number two will keep me motivated and on track to start and finish many of the projects I have been wanting to start or finish for a long time now.

Since I have a special place for all my DIY crap, now I can keep the focus on Amelie and the rest of the fam on this blog.  Yay.  To celebrate, here are a bunch of photos of Amelie eating breakfast yesterday.

Yeah, she was eating a bowl of cereal with her hands.  She started out with a spoon, but rejected it for her sticky fingers.

Abby and the kids came over yesterday and we went for a walk to the park.  Going to the park may have to be a 2 adult activity for me this summer.  I took Ami to the park earlier this week by myself and it was quite interesting.  I don't really have the agility or speed to keep up with her right now.  She immediately goes for the biggest attraction at the parks and is climbing up rock walls and other playthings that should be way out of her league, but somehow are not.  Anyways, when we got home I was wiped out and sore.  So, with Abby and her kids there, Amelie was better and the kids even held hands on the walk there and back.

Congrats to the Skrtic's who just found out they are having another BOY! 

24 Weeks!

I hosted a shower this weekend for my cousin who is getting married next month.  I was able to sufficiently prepare beforehand (I had to work all weekend so I had to think ahead) so it was less work than Amelie's birthday party.  It all came together very nicely and I think everyone had a pretty good time!

After the shower Tyler and my dad textured the ceiling upstairs.  One step closer to being finished.

The morning before the shower Tyler and Amelie went for a walk and stopped at our friend Will's house.  He took some great photos of Amelie that I wanted to share.

Last week I spent a couple of nights preparing some of Amelie's old clothes and toys for a Just Between Friends consignment sale in Eagan.  I've done it once before and have gotten some good stuff at good prices at other sales in the past.  This time it was totally worth my time.  I was way more organized so hanging, tagging and dropping off my clothes went pretty smoothly.  As a consigner I got an early shopping pass for the night before the sale started and scored some good deals.

Here's what I got:
a Skip Hop Duo diaper bag for $7 (I can't believe I've waited for so long to get a proper diaper bag)
a Britax Marathon car seat for $70
3 bathing suits for Ami for $9
I think I'm forgetting something...

Anyways, I checked my sales report this afternoon and I sold almost all of my stuff and made about $180.  Totally worth my time.

So, like I said I worked all weekend.  I'm already 24 weeks pregnant and it's getting pretty hard to be on my feet for so long and the late nights are killing me.  One of the worst parts is the drive home.  All of those drunk assholes waiting in line at Jimmy Johns to stuff subs into their faces, falling all over the sidewalks in clothing inappropriate for the weather,  and piling into their cars and driving home.  I always see drunk drivers blowing through red lights, swerving all over the road, and pulling into the 24 hour McDonald's.  Last night I watched a Jeep driving into oncoming traffic.  The Jeep realized they were on the wrong side of the road swerved to miss the oncoming cars and drove over the median to the other side of the road.  They eventually caught up to me and drifted into my lane cutting me off and forcing me to slam on my breaks to avoid getting hit.  So....I called the cops.  The driver and the passenger were obviously wasted, talking and laughing and not paying attention to anything else.  I got home a few minutes after narrowly avoiding the crash, and hear at least 4 police cars chasing and pulling over the drunk driver.

So don't drink and drive.