No Binky Week

So we made it through a whole week without the binky. We did very well and I'm so proud, I never caved! The binky only came out at naptime and bedtime, although Ethan did find a binky at Aunt Steph's house that he had left behind when we stayed with their kids. I've had to empty all my diaperbags, purses, and toy baskets just to look for any stragglers so I wouldn't have to take it away when he would find them. All binky's are kept safely in his top drawer and don't come out. This week I'm going to continue with what we're doing and let him have it at naptime and bedtime. I've noticed that he does get a little more irriatable than when we had the binky around, but I just give him extra hugs and kisses. I think we'll start having a no binky bedtime next week and then gradually phase it out at naptime...I have to get my time at naptime, I can't let it go. So we'll see how it goes.

My Husband, The Weekend Warrior

Ryan gave me the ultimate gift this weekend! It's something that I wanted to do really bad, but I couldn't do it myself since it involved power tools and man strength. So my Grandma Terry passed away back in October and I received some inheritance money from her so I wanted to take some of it and do something for my house that would help me remember her. At first I was thinking about some sort of furniture, but I couldn't really think of something. But then I found a great thing that would make Grandma Terry proud. My grandma always lived on a farm and had a great garden. She always let me go out and pick the carrots or she'd have a huge carton of raspberries ready for me when I came over(I still eat raspberries and think of her). So in remembrance of my grandma, I wanted to make a garden. I've never done any gardening on my own since I've never owned my own little plot of land so I did a little research and found the perfect thing for me to try. Many people have said that doing a raised bed garden is one of the best and easiest ways to have success with gardening and many sites had different types of construction for their raised bed. So I got a few ideas and ran them past my parents since they're good with that kind of stuff and I came up with my general construction plans. My dad took me out to Home Depot and we picked up all the lumber, dirt, and rebar and got the project going. This week Ryan worked on clearing the grass and making sure we didn't hit any water lines (we had to move the garden over twice, poor Ry). Then on Saturday he did the big build. Let me tell you, he did such a great job! I am so proud and my heart just melted as I saw him do this for me. So if you're bored of reading about raised beds then you can stop reading now, but for those of you who are interested, this is how we did it. Ryan cut the lumber at the ends so they would interconnect with each other. Then he drilled a huge hole in the ends and drove rebar down so it would be snug on the ground. The next layer of lumber her cut to just within each other and nailed the two layers together. Then we filled it with about 10 bags of topsoil, 3 bags of compost and manure, and 1 bale of peat moss. I'm starting my garden out small to see how I do and will expand later on down the road. I'm doing 3 different types of tomatoes and then an assortment of herbs: cilantro, basil, rosemary, and parsley. I am so excited for this garden and I so appreciate my husbands hard work. It all sounds so easy to do on the blog, but it definitely took a lot of time and effort to carry it all out. I am so proud!

Girl's Night Out

I went to my first "Girl's Night Out" with some of the girls in my ward. I had soooo much fun! We went to this awesome store called Sam Moon that has all sorts of trendy accessories and handbags for great prices. It's just one of those stores that is good to go to without your kids, you know what I mean? I can just picture Ethan screaming in his stroller, trying to knock over a display of necklaces and cramming the beads in his mouth. Definately a good "Girl's Night" activity. Then we headed over to one of my favorite resturants, Cheesecake Factory. Great shopping, great food, great desserts, and great company, who could ask for anything better? I have to admit that I was so nervous to move into the ward since I came from such an awesome group of girls in Cali, but I have found some way fun girls to hang with and they're just here in my neighborhood. How lucky am I? Now all you Cali girls...I miss you tons and I think you should all move to Texas!

My March Madness Bracket

So I love this time of year with March Madness. It is so fun to make up your own bracket and then root for all "your teams" but get excited when the underdog wins. Usually I have a method to my March Madness when it comes to picking my bracket. One year I did it according to my favorite mascots, another year was best team colors, and other years it's according to upsets or lack thereof. Some people, like my husband, like to look at the stats, how the teams are doing, what they're records are etc. I've tried that once on my bracket and it got me no where. So this year I just decided to pick my bracket in under 5 minutes with Ohio State going all the way. I'll always be a buckeye at heart, sorry Texas fans! I have been at the bottom of the pack in the family tournament for most of the early rounds of March madness and I just thought that this would be a year of sad numbers for me. I had some upsets that never happened and the upsets that did happen were not on my bracket. Anyway...I checked my standings today in the family tournament and somehow I moved into 5th place. How did that happen?! I swear I had been 12th most of the time. All I have to say is go bucks since they're my only hope. I bearly have any points remaining so I could be at the bottom of the pack very easily after these next few games. I also have to say that if I don't do well then I hope Suzy, Kendall, or Toni beat the pants off the Elmer boys! We have to let them know that wearing skirts can be fun!

4 Generations

Here's a picture of my mom, my grandma, me and Ethan during my grandma's trip to Texas. Ethan is the first great grandbaby on my mom's side of the family so that was pretty exciting to have us all together. As my her trip was ending we realized we hadn't had a chance to get any pictures together so we ended up taking some while we were shopping at Kirkland's, hence the "decorative" background.

No Binky Day #2

Pretty uneventful day and I like to keep it that way. He did really well today in regards to no binky. He found a stow away underneath the couch so I had to grab it while he wasn't looking and hide it in his drawer for safe keeping. We had some visitors and a little outing today as well. One of my childhood friends lives in the area (her husband goes to school here and she is a teacher at a local middle school) and her mom came out to visit. Our moms were great friends back when we all lived in Ohio so we my mom brought her up to see the house and then we all went over to the school to see my friend. Ethan did so well in the car and at the school and again, no binky. Hallelujia!!! I'm beginning to realize how silly he looks with a binky as I got him ready for bed tonight. I guess I'm starting to look at him as an older kid now and not a baby anymore.

End of No Binky Day #1

Getting rid of the binky hasn't been too bad today. He wanted it after his nap, but other than that it could have been a ton worse. We went to Wal Mart to pick up groceries for our meals for the week and he did great (even when we had to stand in line for over 15 minutes!!!). I even had the chance to make a great recipe for a homemade Bolognese sauce (a fancy name for spaghetti meat sauce). It was from my handy dandy America's Test Kitchen Cookbook, I just have to say that I love this cookbook more than ever these days. You honestly can't go wrong with this thing. Anyway...just to prove that this day was tons better than I thought, here's a video of when Ryan got home at around 7.

No Binky Day #1

Yes, it is time to get rid of the binky. This is the week when all the fun begins. All of our big transistions of moving, trips, staying at other people's houses, baby-sitting/housing sitting are over for awhile so this is the best time to make the change. The first few days we're going to let him have the binky only at naptime and bedtime. I'm keeping all binky's in his top drawer and they're not coming out of his room at all. After a few days of that then we're going to get rid of it at naptime and then eventually get rid of it for good. Things have been going well so far today. I could tell he really wanted it after his milk this morning but I just tried to keep him busy and preoccupied with other things so he doesn't have time to worry about not having his binky. I'm also keeping his mouth busy. He loves to have crushed ice in a cup and eat it so we've had about 3 cups of that so far already...if it makes him happy. He's having lunch right now and then we'll have some play time and then nap. The big test will be running errands and riding in the car so wish me luck. I need to have as much patience as possible.

Basketcase

I was making up a new recipe and in the middle of my cooking I caught a glimpse of Ethan running by. I grabbed my camera as fast as I could and this is what I caught. He's running around with my rice steamer basket on his head and he's saying "boo boo" wherever he goes. It's hilarious!

Sniff Sniff

No, I'm not crying, I just have terrible allergies. Something I never had before in my life! Believe it or not, I haven't had anything this terrible in my life. I always get a little sniffly when the seasons change, but nothing like this. I've been sneezing 10 times in a row, get light headed, then my nose runs and then it's stuffy, my eyes and nose are itching like crazy. I feel like I'm going nuts! I think I'll have to go get some Claritin or something. I've spent the past 2 days trying to weed our yard. I've only accomplished the backyard since Ethan needs to be corraled while I do it. I'm going to try to do the front on Saturday or during Ethan's nap tomorrow. I think the weeding has caused a lot of my allergy issues. I was out there weeding and there is some kind of weed that whenever you get close to it, it shoots seeds/flowers out. I'm not even joking, I was kneeling down and pulling stuff out and whenever I'd brush up against this certain weed all this white stuff would come shooting out. I just hope I don't break out in hives in the middle of the night. We shall see.

A Good Workout!

We had my Grandma and Aunt Leslie come and visit us the past few days. Leslie brought her 11 month old, Trevor and Ethan loved him! He kept going up to him and saying "Baby, Baby" and then trying to blow him kisses. It was the cutest thing ever! On Sunday we let the boys play up in my mom's exercise room and that was quite an event. Trevor loved playing on the ball and checking out the equipment. Ethan climbed on the exercise bike all by himself and also tried a little bit of walking on the treadmill. Here's some pics and video to prove it.

"I Wanna Snack"

Today Ethan came up to me and got my attention and started walking over to the pantry. As he was walking over there he said to me, "I wanna snack" as clear as day. I'm not even kidding and he said it over and over. I wish I got it on camera. All I have is what he wanted for his snack, popcorn! He loves popcorn! He is a Terry for sure!

Free Day at the Mall

I had such a fun day at the mall today! I had a bunch of coupons for different stores so I took them all with me and went shopping. Ethan was such a good boy and let me browse all the things I wanted. He does really well at Bath and Body since he loves to smell everything and see all the bright colors there. So at Bath and Body they always give out coupons for something free with any purchase or $10 purchase, it just depends. Well, I had one of those coupons, plus, they had a free spring tote with any purchase, plus, I had my free gift card that I got a few months back. So I walked out of there with a candle, a new bag, and a body butter and it all cost me...nothing! Yeah! Express also had a $15 dollars off any purchase and I got a shirt there for $1. Gotta love it! Then I had a coupon for a free pair of underwear from Victoria Secret, no purchase necessary. You always have to have a good pair of workout undies so again...free! I walked out of the mall with $60 worth of stuff and all it cost me was a trip to the store. Makes me so happy! I love coupons!

Progression and Sickness

We're checking things off the list right and left around here. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with all these boxes, thank goodness. My first official night at the house was on Monday night and it was so weird to walk around my own house. It's so different than living on our own in a 700 sq foot apartment and also very different than living at my parents. Ethan is transitioning quite well too. His naps are right on track and he has been in a pretty good mood these past few days. My mom came up and helped me unpack boxes all day Tuesday and helped me get my kitchen all organized. What a relief! I feel like the kitchen is the center of my home and once that thing is organized then the rest falls into place. We also had our study painted by one of the guys Ry works with and he did such an awesome job! I'll post pictures when we're done with the floors.
Anyway... Later that night both Ryan and I ended up getting super super sick. It was terrible! We got that nasty stomach bug that's been going around and we were both up all night. I waited and waited until it was a decent time to call my mom and see if she would take Ethan until we felt better. My mom is such a star! She drove back up to our house, packed Ethan's bags, and took him the whole day and night! Ryan and I spent the whole day aching, sleeping, throwing up, and watching movies. Thank goodnes we didn't have to do all that and take care of Ethan. I went by yesterday and picked him up since I was feeling tons better. It seemed like he never even missed me. It's a good thing though since he feels so comfortable at Nana's. So far Ethan hasn't been sick yet so I'm hoping that we're out of the woods soon. We'll just watch him and see.
So now we're back at it, trying to get things organized and out of boxes. I'm missing my dishes and that's the only thing that I'm looking for right now. I can't find them anywhere! I had some old nasty ones from college that I threw away because I wanted to actually open and use the ones that I had registerd for when I got married (4 years ago!) so I figured I wouldn't move the old ones and just threw them out. Well, now I can't find my wedding dishes anywhere! I am so bummed about it. They were super nice and I loved them, I never even got to use them! We've gone through every box and no luck. Wahhhh! I hope I will find them somewhere!

Before and After

Here are the before and after shots of the bathroom and Ethan's room. I know pictures never do it justice, but here's just the changes in wall colors. I'll take more pictures once I have all my accessories put up in the bathroom and Ethan's room all put together. My parents have had a lot of experience with painting since they've painted pretty much every house we've ever had and helped other people too. They were a huge help on Saturday! I had never painted on my own before so I got some lessons on taping, using primer, trimming, color choosing. It's been quite eventful. We primed the bathroom Friday night and tried to cover up as much rust as possible. The people that painted it did a pretty sloppy job since there was rust all over the trim and around the cupboards. Not cool. Saturday we got everything situated and painted the ceiling in the bathroom and then rotated to the master. The master wall had some marks on it that were pretty bad so my mom found out the builder's paint colors and got it to match exactly. What a super slueth. We got the wall all done and then rotated to start Ethan's room. After the first coat, my parents started the bathroom. Anyway...we got everything painted after 2 coats and then some detail painting on the trim. My color ideas for the bathroom is cream, taupe, chocolate brown and accents of green. I have cream on the walls, taupe with the shower curtain and big towels, chocolate brown in the rug and accents, and green with candles and hand towels. I just set it all up yesterday and it looks awesome! I just have to get Ryan to hang my towel bars and then we're set. For Ethan's room, I took his comforter and matched the blue in the border and went a little lighter. I got his crib all set up and the color honestly is perfect! I'm so excited about it. I'll have more pictures later.

Busy Days

It's been a few days since I've posted, we've been a little busy around here so here are the pictures to prove it. After we painted on Saturday, Ryan installed the cabinet locks to begin the child proofing process. Ethan wanted to help so here are a few pictures of him being Mr. Fix It. Monday was my super duper cleaning day. I was at the house from 9-8 cleaning like crazy. Grandma Kenny came and helped me out a ton by installing all my fresh, clean shelf paper all over my kitchen and bathrooms. What a saint! It was great to have someone there to keep me company too. Also, Lowes came and installed my new washer and dryer, way exciting. I got just about everything done so Tuesday I stayed home with Ethan since he needed some Mama time. Going up to work on the house is somewhat of an all day affair since it's about a 45 minute drive so if you're going to go, you might as well get a ton done so you don't have to keep wasting gas all the time. Anyway...Tuesday my mom and I took Ethan to the mall since he needed new shoes, desperately. Dillards had their shoes 75% off so I ended up with 3 pairs of stride right shoes for less than $30! What a steal! I'm lucky since Ethan's feet are so wide and all the wide shoes are left over on the sale racks. hahaha. Wednesday it was 82 degrees outside so we enjoyed the sun and tried out Ethan's Christmas golf clubs. He LOVED them. He's not a big fan of the grass so we have to play it on the deck or on the driveway, but we're working on his form and putting...j/k. Thursday I took two trips to the grocery store so I could stock up my pantry. My carts were over flowing every time I went and I didn't even get stuff for the fridge/freezer! It took forever, but the pantry is stocked, the house is cleaned, and the moving truck is ready to be picked up so now we just have to move in. We also decided to rip up the carpet in the study and put hardwood in there so that will be done on Wednesday and it will be painted this Saturday. Oh the fun!

Virtual Tour

We closed on our house on Friday so we are now officially homeowners. I had butterflies in my stomach all week and now I'm glad that all the papers are signed the check went through. We started our "projects" yesterday. We painted the rust colored bathroom and Ethan's room. I'll post some before and afters later. Monday is super duper cleaning day. The people that owned the house before took great care of the house and she cleaned it pretty well, but I want to do all the nitty gritty stuff before our boxes come. It will be a grueling day filled with washing all the blinds, scrubbing floors and tubs, washing windows, wiping out cupboards, and putting in shelf paper. Tuesday I'm going to stock the fridge and the pantry and finish cleaning and then see where I'm at. We're moving our things out of storage on Saturday and we'll try to move the stuff from my parents house throughout the next week. I'm going to wash all my sheets, towels, dishes, silverware, etc since it sat in storage for a little under 6 months so who knows the kind of dust and grime that will be on it. So here's a virtual tour of our new home. It's way exciting and I love our house!

Just a Few Things Going On

I can't find my camera charger anywhere!!! My battery is totally dead and I use my camera all the time so I don't know what I'm going to do! I've looked everywhere. The last time I charged it was right before Christmas so I know I have it here somewhere. Sorry, no pictures or videos for awhile unless I use my parents camera. We have our final walk through on Thursday and we close on our house on Friday, super exciting! That's why I'm so bummed about my camera since I want to take a ton of pictures. Oh well, maybe I'll find my charger when we start packing up or something. I'm a little nervous about all the stuff that's going to take place this week. I mean, buying your first home is kind of a big deal, right? I just wish I wouldn't worry about it, but I can't help it. I feel like I have those butterflies you have right before your first day of school, but it's exponentially worse. I guess it's just fear of the unknown and fear of the responsibility. On to better news...I've lost 10 pounds!!! Go me!!! I wish I didn't have to have 10 pounds to lose, but that's what happens with having a baby. I haven't gone on any diet or anything, just portion control and healthier choices. I'm also working out like crazy. Whenever Ethan is napping (if that ever happens these days) you'll find me doing some sort of work out. Only 4 lbs to go and all my baby weight is gone for good! Bring out my skinny jeans! Yeah!

Mornings with Papa

Whenever my dad leaves a little later for work, Ethan loves to spend a little time with his Papa. He'll sit on his lap and read the paper and even sneak a little of his cereal. Sometimes Papa only has time for a quick cuddle, but Ethan loves it! He also loves talking to Papa on the phone or anyone that will talk to him. He will seriously carry on a full conversation of gibberish, carry the phone like a big person, and even uses his hands when he talks. It's hilarious! He also laughs during the conversation. So call Ethan up some time and get an earful!

So Much For Fun Money

Well, I had to use all my baby-sitting money for new tires for my car today. I hate using money for stuff like that! I know it's necessary and all that, but it certainly isn't very fun. Boo!