Nate's Room-90% Complete

I thought I'd post this now because if I know my husband it will still be a few more weeks maybe even months before Nate's room is 100% complete.  No pressure Kev!  When we were building our house we had the painter paint Nate's room with two colors and because our "extras" were adding up I thought I would leave it up to Kev to put up the chair rail.  I probably should have just paid the builder (which happened to be my dad) because 8 months later (ugh!) it still isn't up!  My sweet, sweet, sweet husband did however (finally) put the curtains up in Nate's room and I love them!

Anyways my inspiration for Nate's room came from Sarah Richardson-I love love love her and in a perfect world I'd have her design every room in my house!  She's absolutely amazing!

Here's my inspiration:

http://www.hgtv.ca/sarahshouse/episodes.aspx?sectionid=210&categoryid=5214360643347152441&postid=47834

Now Nate's room doesn't look as beautiful as this one but I needed a starting point!  I was able to get the same curtains from Ikea and I got the same blue paint for the top portion of the chair rail.  I purchased vinyl letters from Etsy but I'm still not sure if I'm going to put them up.  I'm just worried about getting them straigt and trying to space them correctly-it could turn out great or it could be disastrous!  I loved the softness of this room and all the different fabrics and patterns!  I had an issue with the curtains from Ikea-the pattern didn't go all the way to the edge of the curtain which left a large cream colored space and it looked "off."  I don't sew or have access to a sewing machine so I cut a little slit where the curtains go on the rod and pinned it back and then I ironed the curtains so that it took away all the cream space so that the leaves on the curtain went all the way to the edge!  It turned out great!  And I have to say I was quite proud of myself!

And I absolutely loved these star hooks from Cozy Home:

And Nate's little elephant chair!  He loves this chair and I love HomeSense:

So here's my littlest mans room-90% complete!

And because I'm not a photographer

and a lover of Instagram:-)

And I know the pics are dark but they are just so much easier to upload:-)

I really really really wish I hadn't bought matching furniture for the boys rooms!  At the time it seemed like the "right" thing to do-buy all the matching pieces but ever since I saw my inspiration picture I really wish I would have bought a different color dresser and crib.  The crib Sarah Richardson used is from Ikea and it's painted blue and as much as I love it I also know I never ever in a million years would have bought a crib and painted it.  Never.  I'm just not a DIY type of girl.

And on a side note I'm happy we haven't found out what we are having with baby number 3.  Lincoln is going to be moving into the big room (why we didn't do this when we first moved in I'll never know....Kevin!)  But now I need to figure out what to do with his room (hopefully before baby #3 comes).  I just think if I knew what I was having it would be "kids room decorating overload" right now!

Long Night

It's 2:45 am and I am wide awake!  Not because I want to be but because this little babe in my belly decided to give me a little scare.  Painful braxton hicks at bed time does not make for a fun evening.  I said to Kev today, "I feel great!"  Which I know means nothing.  Because one minute I could be feeling great and the next minute I could be in labor (which I would like to hold off until at least December, preferably Dec. 22).  I've had braxton hicks before, in fact I've gotten them quite frequently this pregnancy.  2 weeks ago I headed to the hospital because i had so many in one day!  this time freaked me out-they hurt and so did my lower back!  When they first woke me up I didn't think much of it then they started coming more frequent.  Then I started timing them.  3 minutes apart.  Not good.  Then I started panicking and had a "what the heck do I do" moment.  I think I went pee 3 times to make sure my bladder wasn't full and causing my uterus to contract.  Then I started thinking about my hospital bag which contains 2 tank tops, a pack of pads and my monitor belts.  Then I started thinking about who I should call to come watch the boys and if this was something I should wake Kevin over who was talking in his sleep "be careful, be careful, be careful."  What that guy dreams about I'll never know!  And then I started panicking even more because my parents are out of town.  And then the REAL panic kicked in when it dawned on me "I'm only 30.5 flippin weeks!"  Not good, not good at all.  So I headed downstairs and figured I better start keeping track of these big bad contractions and of course...they've stopped.  Well actually they've stopped hurting and all I'm left with is a happy, kicking, hiccuping, baby...oh and an aching back but that's manageable!  Enough with the scares little one!


When I was at the hospital 2 weeks ago I felt silly going in-mainly because by the time I got there my braxton hicks had stopped and I got to spend 2 hours with my feet up, playing solitaire, listening to my baby's heartbeat.  The doctor and nurse strongly encouraged me to come back if it happened again.  It's kinda hard when you get put in that situation.  Do I run to the hospital every time?  How long should I wait till I go?  Am I over reacting?  What about the kids?  Do I bring my hospital bag?  Maybe it's gas?  Did I drink enough water today?  And I hate hospitals.  All the poking and prodding, and listening to other mothers behind closed curtains moaning and groaning.  And I love how they close the curtains but yet everyone can hear what your talking about.


And what's funny about this pregnancy?  I've had so many ups and downs, highs and lows, I'm not the least bit interested in knowing the gender of this baby.  I was with both my boys!  I couldn't wait to find out!  But with this one not so much.  Not that I don't care or that I'm not excited, cause I am.  I just really really really want this baby to be healthy.  So little one I'm going to need you to cook inside for a little while longer!


Now I facebook and blog read and wait for my body to fall back into a sleepy slumber.  I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.  but on the bright side eggnog lattes are back!  Now to decide whether or not I should pack up the boys tomorrow to get one or if I should take it easy.  And if I were to ask my mother I know she'd say to take it easy!  We'll see how i feel in the morning!

Halloween!

How great is Halloween?  Besides the whole pumpkin carving bit!  There's something fun about watching your kids all dressed up knocking on strangers doors yelling "trick or treat" or as Nate would say "TREAT," getting candy and then saying "tank you"!  I was a slave driver this year.  Lincoln wanted to call it quits, Kev was cold, and I was like "NO!  We haven't even hit the scary houses yet"!  I can't believe how much candy they got for only doing our street!  People were SO generous!  I bought 4 boxes (around 400 mini chocolate bars) and we were left with 300 plus all the candy the kids got!  We may start substituting breakfast, lunch and dinner with mini chocolate bars:-)

The kids looked cute, they had a good time and we finished off the night with suckers!  Of course there was a fight over the few suckers they got!  All that candy and they are fighting over suckers:-)

Pumpkin Carving

I'm all about creating memories and family traditions but I'm thinking that pumpkin carving in our house isn't something I want my kids to remember-not good memories at all.  Mainly because the words that kept coming out of my mouth were, "Lincoln please stop, Nathan please stop" "No don't do that" "No put that down" "Nathan drop the scissors" "Nathan get the cutting tool out of your mouth" "Lincoln if your going to whine go whine in your room."  I probably needed to be told a few times to "simmer down big mama!"


Today I would NOT have won the "parent of the year award" and that's OK because pumpkin carving is DONE!  Praise God!  I'd like to say I did for the kids but really I did if for myself.  Just to say, "yes I carved pumpkins with my two sweet little pumpkins!"  Probably the best part was taking pictures once we were done carving.  And we posed with fake smiles as if we had this super awesome time.  And I couldn't help but laugh after because even though I was super frustrated (mainly with my pumpkin carving skills which by the way don't exist and who decided to try and carve Thomas the Train...oh ya I did) the kids were so happy with their pumpkins and could have cared less how many times I nagged them to stop doing something!  And even though I'm not super crazy about craving pumpkins, I am however super crazy excited to watch the kids trick or treat tonight.  They're going to love it!


Now who's ready for some "Smile and look like we had an awesome time" pictures!  Oh I am!

Maybe one day my kids will look back at this photo with our fake smiles and remember fake memories of pumpkin carving fun!  Hahaha!  I can only hope!

Don't worry boys!  I promise Christmas decorating will be better!  It always is!  I'm a lover of Christmas...it's just so magical!!!  Halloween just doesn't do it for me!

Now I'm thinking a trip to Starbucks for one last pumpkin spice latte is in order...before the eggnog latte makes it's come back (which by the way happens to be November 3-I happen to have an inside source:-).


And on a side note: how awesome is it watching leaves fall?  I'd say pretty awesome!

30 weeks!

How can I not celebrate today?  30 weeks:-)  I have a smile on my face!  I'm in the home stretch and I couldn't be happier!  Only 9 more weeks to go!

Baby #3

Lincoln.  Bahahahahahaha!  I can laugh at myself!

Holy belly (with Lincoln) and I didn't get a single stretch mark!  And I have a sense of humor so I can laugh at how awful I looked (and it's OK to laugh out loud):-)  My rosacea was so bad (that was the only time it was ever bad)!  I was a hot mess!  Eeek!  Looking in the mirror was hard when I was pregnant with Lincoln.  Everybody sees your face...you can't hide it...and I knew my rosacea was the center of attention.  It was all worth it though!  I delivered a beautiful, and most importantly, a healthy baby boy 5 weeks early!

High 5 Dinner

Tonight I got a high five at dinner.  I rarely get a high five.  And it was something we've never eaten before.  Well I don't think I've ever eaten it before.  I found this super awesome website.  It's absolutely amazing!  I started off drooling over all the yummy desserts and then started going through some of the dinner ideas (located under recipe index).

So what did we eat for dinner?

Pork tenderloin.

http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2009/06/oink-oink.html



I didn't think I was a pork tenderloin type of girl but I am now!  I was so good!

I made a few changes and I cooked it for an hour rather than 45 minutes-after 45 minutes there was still some pink inside and I didn't know if pork needed to be cooked all the way through or not.  Even if I did over cook it-pouring some of the sauce over it made it super juicy!  And most importantly my kids ate it!  When I first read the recipe I was a little hesitant-I never thought about mixing some of the ingredients together (soy sauce, honey, dijon mustard).  I have a hard time "stepping outside the box"-that's probably one of the reasons why we are surviving off of shake n'bake and other non-exciting meals!  I'm definitely glad I "stepped outside the box" on this one because it was a huge hit!

Here's the recipe:

My Favorite Pork Tenderloin from Monica H

• 1 pkg. pork tenderloins (2 tenderloins, about 2-2.5 lbs.)
• 4 garlic cloves-I used minced garlic (about a tablespoon)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 T. country dijon mustard (whole grain mustard)-I used regular dijon mustard
• 4 T. honey
• 2 T. fresh orange juice
• 1 T. finely chopped fresh rosemary OR herbs de provence-I used packaged rosemary
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3 T. olive oil

Yield: 1 cup of marinade.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Take tenderloins out of package. Rinse and pat dry. Place in a 9x13-inch Pyrex sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Take a paring knife and poke holes in the tenderloins (on the top side only) about an inch deep. Peel garlic cloves and quarter each clove of garlic-lengthwise. If they're really big, cut them a bit smaller- about the size of slivered almonds. Place the garlic slivers in each pocket. Set aside while making marinade.

In a measuring cup or in a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except for the olive oil. Then slowly drizzle the olive oil while still whisking.

Pour the mixture over the tenderloins and put into preheated oven. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, basting once halfway through the baking process.

Once removed from the oven, allow the tenderloins to rest on a cutting board for about 10 minutes before slicing. Spoon the pan sauce over the tenderloin medallions and enjoy!

Spray Painting!

I don't know if I should admit this but last night I had the most delicious yam fries and garlic mayo EVER (at Cactus Club) and today after my appointment in Surrey I stopped and ordered a container of just garlic mayo.  And they gave it to me for free.  I mixed it with my left over teriyaki chicken rice bowl and it was so yummy!!!  Kevin has been given strict orders to purchase fries after fire practice so that tomorrow I can bake up some fries and eat them with this garlic mayo!

Today I got great news that the pericardial effusion around the baby's heart is no longer there!!!!  Ya!!!  And I was also told that my cervix is shorter.  For the last eight weeks it's basically stayed the same but today when they measured it it was a bit shorter.  The doctor said it wasn't anything to be too concerned about seeing as it was previously stable so in the mean time I'll try not to panic!  I'm just so blessed to have made it this far:-)

I am also pleased to announce that I've lost my spray painting virginity!  Not an easy decision!  I started doubting my vision and then panicked and changed my mind!  I spray painted the frame first and I thought it would look great right away...little did I know I had to do a few coats!  After that I took the bird cage outside and spray painted the heck out of it!  I had a "just go and do it" moment and I knew I just needed to before I changed my mind yet again!  And I'm happy to say it actually turned out great!

Before:

After:

I think it needs another coat but with being pregnant I'm going to wait till after baby comes (or maybe I'll bribe Kevin).  I probably shouldn't have been spray painting in the first place!

I'm thinking the console table looks a lot better with the silver and white accessories:

Before:

After:

I know one of the pictures is on it's side!  I took the frames from upstairs and just needed to see what they looked like on the table:-)

Top view:

And I finally got my shelves hung up in our bedroom for all my pictures (thank you Kevin)!