I'm so glad I'm not 14 anymore!

It's the end of March and I finished my book for this month. I am so proud of myself to be this consistent.  I was talking to some friends though and there are SO many books that I am "reading next".  My list just keeps getting longer.

This month I read the Diary of Anne Frank. It is one that I never read in high school or anything and I was so curious about it. I'm sure that you are so interested to hear all my thoughts about this book! I could probably write a huge post about it and bore you to death. I wont, but I did want to post some quick things.

I thought it was kinda hilarious how all 14 year olds are all the same. The things you care about and think about are just the same for everyone at that age. I remember so vividly many of the things that Anne wrote about.  I think most girls relate to hating their parents, especially their moms at this age.  That frustration of wanting to be taken seriously and being treated as a kid.

I also remember the constant obsession about boys. I just laughed to myself a million times when she would write about the boys she liked. I know I have some of those exact same entries in my 14 year old journal. 

I was amazed at their story.  It is incredible how they actually did live and what they were willing to sacrifice. Their hardships, struggles, and fears were so inspiring. I knew how the story ended but I was shocked at how close they actually came to making it.

The other thing I was so surprised about was how much help they recieved. There were so many people that put themselves on the line to help save these people.  That was really inspiring also.

I did watch the movie on Netflix. It was so good! In some ways it was better than the book because they showed the story as a whole which helped with the sometimes narrow perspective of a 14 year old.  It was so well made and stayed very true to their story.  I also loved how they incorporated Anne's actual entires into the movie. Seriously worth seeing!

It made me really reflect on how blessed I am. Could I really leave everything behind? Would I fight as hard as they did to survive? It's just an amazing story!

Olive Loves the Library

One of my most favorite things about where we live is our local library. It seriously rocks. They have great programs and it is close enough to walk to! Because of these reasons we have been sure to never miss story time each week. 

A few months back we started checking out books for Olive at each visit. She absolutely loves picking which books to take home. If it were completely up to her they would all be princess books. This week we checked out some spring and Easter books as well.

 Olive also really likes being in charge of her own book bag, even if it does get a bit heavy. I think she looks so cute walking around the library with her bag full of books.

 Here is Olive at story time listening nicely. She does such a good job at sitting and paying attention. We have been coming for good while now so she knows just what to do. She loves to participate and yell out answers. I think her most favorite part is seeing the other kids. She likes to talk to them and sometimes makes them uncomfortable with her exuberance and friendliness.

 After all the fun songs, games, and stories they always provide a great craft for the kids to go along with the story time theme. Olive is always very proud of her crafts and shows everyone. She especially loves the stamp you get on your hand when you are all finished.

 After craft it is time to browse the isles for the perfect books to check out.  We find a good selection and then find a nice spot to look over them before we check them out.

Olive likes being in charge of the library card and giving it to the librarian. Then it is off the Wiggle Worms for more singing and dancing. Olive loves Wiggle Worms for so many reasons. From the puppets, dancing scarfs, and maracas, to the parachute, there really is a lot to love. Besides we usually see lots of our friends there. It is such a fun class! She knows all the songs now and I hear her singing them around the house. It is so cute. I totally forgot to take picture of us at wiggle worms this day. I must have gotten caught up in all the fun. What can I say, it is an easy, fun way to get out of the house in the winter which means that I really love the library too!


P.S. Sorry these photos are not great, all I had was my phone.

The Nursery

Since we found out Milo was a boy we have been slowly getting things together for their room. I had to change my plans a little because I thought for sure he was a girl. I had plans that my girls were going to share the girliest room ever.

And since I have been talking about the kids so much this week, I thought to top it off I should show their room and all the things I made for them in it.  I am really happy with how the kids' room has turned out and think that it is going to work perfectly for them. We just finished some last minute projects so we are now ready for Milo to come (although he won't be in there for awhile).  

It's nothing fancy but, I love their room.

   

Let's start with Olive's side.

Do you see the blanket on Olive's bed? That was the main design point around which the rest of the room was decorated.  The room is basically split down the middle but I wanted them to have some of the same elements so it didn't feel like we were trying to divide the room. One way I did that was that I used polka dots throughout the room as a way for the two sides to feel cohesive. I also wanted them to have matching bedding (sort of) so that it felt coordinated.  Finally, I wanted both sides to have brown and green as the main decor. Then Olive's side has pops of pink and Milo's side has pops of blue. I think it really works well. Having the brown/green in common coordinates everything but then their blue/pink accents makes it feel feminine or masculine.

 

Once I decided on pink, brown, and green things started coming together pretty easily.  I was very excited when I was at Pottery Barn Kids and found green polka dot duvet cover on super sale.  It was a twin size cover so I cut it in half for it to fit our toddler bed and crib.  Now they have matching comforters! It was awesome. Then I snatched up the pink pillow case and I think it works perfectly. 

 

I saw some flower balls similar to this in a cute boutique. I thought it was such a simple idea but could bring so much style to a room. I altered my design a bit to have the colors match the decor. I really like how they look and they were so cheap and easy. They really make her side seem girly. 

 

Since there are so many other things going on in their room with green/brown/ pink/ blue and polka dots and such, I thought it would be best if all other accents were just neutral. So we chose white for the shelving, barbie house, and picture frames as a way to not overwhelm the room. Well, this little white lamp was too white so I quickly added some pink ribbon to it.

 We had to kind of cram this doll collection together. I feel like it looks kinda crazy, but we didn't have anywhere else for it to go. Olive loves it and it is very special to me so I'm glad we were able to find a place to display it all.

 One thing that was important to me was that even though they are sharing a room, I want them to each have their own space in there. Here is Olive's.

She is so into books right now and we needed more storage, this little reading nook was just perfect. She has her own space to store her treasures and important things. I have already talked about how much she loves this chair. It is just her little space and I think that is so charming.

There you have Olive's side all together:

 

Here is what the middle looks like.

 One side has the gigantic barbie house. If you remember I coordinated everything in the barbie house to also be pink/green/brown too. I don't know if it really made any difference but I like to think that it helps the flow of the room. Plus maybe someday Olive with think it's fun her barbies match her room. Anyway, the opposite wall has the changing table.

Now, Milo's side:

 

Luckily his bedding was so easy to find too. First, see the matching comforter? So, that was already taken car of. We had decided on a space theme for his side. As luck would have it we found some green and blue rocket sheets on sale at Target. I think they work great. Then the polka dot brown bumper tied everything together. It was quite nice that it was such a breeze because I looked for Olive's bedding forever before we had her.  

 

Scott was kind enough to make some space themed paintings. I think they turned out great and help this girly room feel more manly.   

 Here is Milo's personal space.  It is nice to have a place for his swing to go since they take up so much space. We are getting some vintage rockets online but they aren't here yet. That will help fill up his shelf and complete his space decor.

 This is basically the same thing just another angle. Cute right?

 So, what do you think? Can you see the elements I tried to tie into to both sides so that it would all flow? Do the pops of pink and blue work? Am I way over thinking this? Do you think I'm crazy? Between the bedspreads, flowers, paintings, barbie house and everything I guess it makes sense why it has taken months to get their room all put together. I'm so glad it is done now. I mean, if his room is ready, that must mean that Milo can come!

Oh baby!

It is bittersweet for me to say that I am 34 weeks along this week. Sweet because I know 6 weeks is going to go by so stinkin' fast.  These next few weeks are going to be especially busy so I think that is going to help. Bitter because I still have 6 weeks! Well, 6 weeks until my due date but I don't plan on going that long.  Your mind is in control of your body, and so, I have decided in my mind that this baby is coming early. That will work right?

I am getting tired of being pregnant. I didn't feel like that with Olive so much. I was very pregnant and swollen with her but the reality of bringing home a baby was very overwhelming, so I was fine that she was still in there.  She could stay as long as she wanted because she was "with me" but my life didn't have to change at all.  This time I am not nearly as worried about bringing home a newborn. In a lot of ways I think it will be easier. I remember my sister-in-law talking about how it is easier to have kids and a newborn than having kids and being very pregnant.

The depressing part is that at this point, I am growing out of my maternity clothes. It is getting a little ridiculous. I am looking more like Gus Gus every day but I refuse to buy anything. I really hate my clothes right now. I can't wait to wear cute clothes again! Milo, on the other hand, has been getting lots of cute clothes.  I am excited for him to be here so he can wear them.  A lady my mom works with was very sweet and gave us a whole box of clothes. We are so grateful because one thing we don't have our little guy is clothes. I have also been working on tons of projects for him which makes me anxious to have him so he can wear/use them all.

The reality of 6 weeks (or a month like I am planning)  is that means I actaully have to have this baby. At my last appointment I found out my midwife is having surgery so will be not be delivering until the middle of May. That means I will probably have another midwife which is fine, but still kinda disappointing. I chose the hospital and everything because of my midwife and now she won't be there.  I am also getting nervous because our hospital is kinda far away. I think we have 2 hospitals closer and one is literally 5 minutes from our house. I am also getting anxious about knowing when to go. Or how will I know that it is real labor?  Those are the things stressing me out the most right now. That is probably because I don't know what I am actually in for. I mean, I try to practice and everything. It seems so easy when you are not having actual contractions!

The other reality of (less than) 6 weeks is that life will get back to normal. I just have to get through 6 more weeks. It doesn't matter how I get through, it's only six weeks.  I have been really out of it lately, mostly lacking motivation.  Some days Olive eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches twice a day. I tell myself that only a few months of not the best nutrition will not effect her over a lifetime.  It's only a couple months!
Sometimes its hard not to feel guilty.  Why do I do this to myself? Why get the guilts about the small stuff when there are so many big things I am doing?  I mean so what if Olive hasn't played playdough, or done craft time, or eaten a well balanced meal in months?  What does it really matter that I let her watch a whole movie in the evenings because by 7 o'clock I am exhausted. At least we are watching it together right?  Besides, we have gone to story time and had tons of play dates and  her pb & j's are on homemade whole wheat bread, all while growing this rambunctious baby that won't let me sleep and gives me terrible heartburn. I will be able to do all of those things when this baby comes out because I could do all those things before he was in there. And that is what I tell myself while I'm up at 6 am blogging because I can't sleep.

Olive (actually I) Loves her Barbie house

We recently inherited this amazing barbie house from Scott's sister. This house is so awesome. I can't even explain how great it is. Olive absolutely loves it. I knew she liked her barbies before and liked playing with them, but having a place to play and act things out with them has opened up a whole new world of barbie playing for Olive. If I am looking for her it seems that she is usually in there playing with her barbie house. She loves it, and with good reason!

One of the coolest things about this barbie house is that it was all costume made by my sister-in-law's mother-in-law in the 70's when her girls were little. She did a fantastic job and her workmanship has stood the test of time. She really paid attention to detail and added some really cute touches to it. Neither of her girls had any girls of their own so we are lucky enough to get it.

The house is kinda large but, that is perfect for barbie. It fit perfectly in their room. If it had been even 6 inches longer it wouldn't have fit. Because it was from the 70's it needed a little face lift so with (a lot of) Scott's help we repainted the exterior and furniture. Then I set to work on the rooms. Here is what it turned out like. I am just in love with it!

 

All the colors that we chose are in the scheme as their bedroom and I used the left over fabric from some things I made for their room so they match their actual bedspreads.  I made some beds and bed spreads for the barbies.  My plan is to build them a bunk bed frame. 

 This is the living room. I made cushions and pillows for all the chairs as well as a matching rug and curtains. Do you see the fireplace? Isn't it awesome? And what about those stairs on the staircase?

This is a horrible picture but with my big belly I had a hard time on the ground. Anyway, here is the kitchen. It is has a stove, sink and counter, and a fridge (that I need to reattach the door to)

 This is the other bedroom. I made a full size bed (that also needs a frame).  It has a chest of drawers and a little tv. Olive really likes the closet. Finally, do you see that baby craddle? I love it!

 I had to include this picture because this is how I found the bathroom when I went in to take pictures of the house. Isn't that adorable? I don't know why but I really love the bathroom. I think it is because it has all these cute details (like the toilet and tub) but you wouldn't think to put it in a barbie house. Do most barbie houses have an actual bathroom? I just think it is so clever.
The house also has a dining room with a table, chairs, and high chair.

 

I know I have said this house is awesome, but I seriously love it. I would have killed (dead serious) for a barbie house like this when I was growing up. That is probably why I wanted Olive to have it so badly.  Let's see, that is a barbie car and house that Olive has before she is three which is the age I got my first barbie. I guess I can't help it! With all the work and sewing it's taken, I am very happy that she loves it so much too!

It feels so good to get a big project done doesn't it?

Do you guys struggle with what to acutally do with your photos? I just hate having them sit on my computer so I decided awhile ago to be more proactive in doing something with them. The whole photo documenting/storage situation has changed so much over the last few years and for awhile there I was going to stop scrapbooking. I am not an expert scrapbooker. In fact I am kinda lame because getting it into a book is more important to me than how fabulously designed it is. I guess what I am saying is that I go for speed! 

After a lot of thought and debate, here are my plans for getting our photos off the computer. 

1) Every child will get their first year scrapbooked. Baby pictures are just so scrapbook worthy. Plus there are keep sakes that I like to have in a book, like their hospital bands and hats. 

2)Every child will get their own digital book on their birthday highlighting the things that happened specific to them that year.  (We better not have too many kids or this might be impossible. I am proud to say that I did actually get Olive's done at 2!)

3) Every year will have a family scrapbook that will include the memorable things we do together like family vacations, holidays, and family events. I was just going to do kids books originally but we had so many pictures with cousins and grandparents that I didn't want their digital books full of those photos. A family album is the perfect place to put those memories. 

4) I do, at some point, plan on printing off this blog into book form. It talks about things that I wouldn't scrapbook about or document in other ways. I do love the daily memories that this blog has provided the opportunity to post about so I want those things in book form as well.

5) Finally, I want to make a "fine art" digital book about each place we have gone because Scott (as I amateur-ly try) takes such great, beautiful photos of our trips and I don't feel like a "family scrapbook" is necessarily the place for them. I have all the books made so far, I just need to print them. I think this will take some time as they are not super cheap.

Well that was all a really long explanation about my actual post for today. It may seem insignificant to you but I am very proud that I finished our 2010 Family Scrapbook and it is only March! Yeah!

 

 Some highlights:

 Olive's 2nd Birthday

 Our Mexican Riviera cruise

 Disneyland

And of course, our garden!

As you can tell, they are very basic pages, probably over crowded and not expertly designed. But, they are done and we can look at them so I am happy. I have already started on 2011 which feels good because I never had a book started at the beginning of the actual year it is documenting.  My plan is to start on Milo's book asap and get some things done before he comes. Even though I am ahead right now, I can for see falling behind quite easily.  I am just happy that I have last year done already. Yay! Go me!
So...what do you guys do with your photos? I am very curious!

I *Heart* You, Netflix

 So Wednesdays on this blog are things I love (which has also turned into updates about us I guess). You may or may not know this about me, but I love movies. Luckily Scott and I have really similar movie tastes.  I think that is one of the things that he found so intriguing about me when we started dating was that I was not only willing, but enjoyed, seeing the movies he liked.  That being said, there are movies that he goes to with his buddies because I could care less about seeing them. I also don't like watching anything scary so he has to watch those on his own as well.  For the most part we agree on what looks "worth it" to see.

You also may or may not know that for the last few years Scott has been doing a movie review podcast with one of his buddies.  It's called Showtime Showdown. It is really good and fun to listen to and I'm not just saying that because I'm his wife. They have started creating a whole movie review website that has all kinds of written reviews and good stuff.

Well, you may also know that I watch tons of movies. Seriously a lot. The reason I watch so many movies is because with Netflix it is so ridiculously easy. I often find myself watching something on Netflix streaming because there is never anything on TV to watch especially during the day.  I can always find something to watch on Netflix, especially considering that we have almost 400 movies in our instant cue.

I am totally in love with Netflix. I love that I can watch classic movies that I have never seen. Or documentaries, or foreign movies. I love that I can watch whole seasons of tv shows without having to get all the discs. I love that I can find something mindless to watch in the background while I sew. I love that I can turn on something for Olive with just a click. I love that it is portable and I can have Olive watch something when she is melting down like at the airport.  It makes me wonder how we lived without it!

Since I watch so much on Netflix, and since Scott has a movie review blog, he asked me to start doing weekly reviews on the streaming movies that I have watched that week. You can check my Netflix reviews out here. I would love to hear from you if you have seen the movie, or if it inspires you to watch it, what your opinion was.  Go check it out!

Olive Loves "Her" Chair

Olive loves this little chair she has in her room. I often find her in there reading her books in it. I think she feels grown up because it is just her size. She sometimes sits and holds her babies in it too, which is so cute.  One of the best features of this chair is that it is very light weight and therefore easily portable. She can even move it herself. That is perfect when she wants to watch a show in the evenings or something. We can just drag it in front of the tv and she will plop herself down.

Olive got this awesome little chair for Christmas. It was the perfect gift because sometimes just a load of toys feels like a short term present. Does that makes sense? Like you know they are going to grow out of those toys eventually. The great thing about this chair is that it is going to get lots of use for a long time.  

 

Olive loves this chair, but I do too!

Knit Bolero

After long last I am back. I think this is the longest stretch I have gone without blogging, at least in recent memory. It feels kinda weird.  I mean, I know no one is desperate for my postings, but it brought a sense of reliability and now I have been all thrown off for a week. Things have been rather crazy around here but they are settling down so we should be back on schedule.  

One reason I haven't blogged in a week is because we went to St. George.  It was an awesome little weekend trip (that is why I missed Friday and Monday blogs).  We went basically just to get away from the house. Sometimes that is all you need you know?  It was warm and pleasant and we didn't have to do anything( I usually like trips that are very planned, almost too productive in their activities. I need to remember that "no plans" trips are really nice too). The great thing about such a casual weekend is that I had so much free time I was able to knit Olive this Bolero.

I think it is super cute and I'm so happy with how it turned out. It is perfect for spring too, which maybe this bolero brought us some good luck because today felt like a very spring day and we were in heaven. 

Doesn't she look so cute in her outfit? And very grown up, right?  I feel like I have been saying that a lot lately but, it keeps shocking me to look at her in pictures and see this little girl. She isn't a toddler anymore.  She is a girl. The closer she is getting to 3 the more she is feeling like a little girl.  It feels even more that way because of her little pose.

 

I just love the back and how it has a bit of a cowl neck line. I don't know why but I just love it!

 

Finally, I think my favorite part of this bolero is the edging. It was time consuming and a bit painstaking but it looks great so I guess it was worth it.  Unfortunately my amateur photo skills made getting the detailing on a black sweater a little difficult, but I think you can see it.  

Overall I am thrilled with it. It might be one of my projects I am most excited about. As you can see, so is Olive.

Olive vs. Milo

So far my two pregnancies have been very similar. The thing that has been different is the babies.
Olive was very, um gentle? I mean, she would move around and sometimes poke a little foot out or something. We thought it was absolutely adorable, and it was.  It for sure never hurt. I didn't even know that I was feeling her until past 20 weeks, for two reasons I think 1) that I didn't know what it felt like and just thought it was gas and 2) I don't think she was that rambunctious.

Well, Milo is a different baby. I felt him early, and mainly because he was hard to miss. He is strong. I think he is really strong. He will do flips, which I never remember Olive doing. Milo hurts me. He sticks out some part of his body, I am guessing his bum, and refuses to go back inside. Olive never ever did that. Seriously sometimes I just have to stop and push him back in. Then he thinks its a game and does it again. It is so bizarre. Scott can attest that my stomach doesn't just get a cute little foot poking out but waves and ripples of crazy movement. Milo is just over all more active. I feel him during the day but in the evening and at night he doesn't stop.  When my midwife was telling me about how often I should feel movement and how to do kick counts I thought "I wish I had a reason to count his kicks".

The funny thing is that we were hoping that Milo would be our calm, mellow, mild child after Olive. She is great and I love her activeness but she just goes constantly. We were hoping Milo would just chill with us. I am starting to worry that is not going to be the case. This might be quite the adventure.