Saturday, January 4, 2014

House Tour: The Downstairs

Now my house ain't much to talk about. But it's filled 
with love and grown in Southern ground. -Zac Brown Band

I found a few pictures of our old apartment the other day and I loved remembering what it looked like. Rooms have already changed in our house since we bought it: namely, a guest room turned nursery.

I know many more things will change, as we upgrade furniture, move Olivia to a big girl room, Dan's mancave turns into a playroom, etc. I know I will love having these pictures.

Our house isn't perfect. I would live out of the pottery barn catalogue if our budget allowed. Instead we have some Pottery Barn, a bit of Home Goods, and a lot of Goodwill, garage sales, and my parents basement. We love it, and it's what we call home. 

These are the unedited, 'lived in' pictures. I didn't remove furniture to decrease clutter, add lamps to improve lighting, or strategically place vases of fresh picked flowers (here's a secret, all flowers you see are fake). I am a little type-A and like all pillows in their place :) but you'll notice a bucket of Koda toys, and a corner of the kitchen where Dan piles his crap mail and car keys.

All these pictures were taken pre-Olivia, so the bouncy seat, bottle warmer, and playmat are missing.

When you first walk into the house through the front door and look right:


Our 'formal' living room, aka the extra furniture.


The pink wingback chairs I found in a garage sale for $30. I plan to reupholster them one day, but for now, they kind of go with the pink in the rug. 





The hallway from the front door:


Our dining room is just past the living room on the right:


I am in love with the nailhead trim chairs.




The half bath is across from the dining room, and the kitchen is just past the half bath:


Past the dining room on the right is the family room. The windows overlook the screened in porch and backyard.




I don't like rooms to have themes or color schemes. I find it easier to decorate if nothing matches. There's all different colors, patters, and woods in our house.


Looking toward the front door from the back door:



Looking toward the kitchen from the family room:



Looking up to the loft / mancave:


Every framed photograph on the walls was taken by my mother.


The jar on top of the microwave says "a penny a kiss, a penny a hug, we save our pennies in this little brown jug." It was hand painted by the owner and they were selling it for $1 in a garage sale. Dan was annoyed that I was buying useless things. I absolutely love it.




Our laundry room is to the right of the garage door. I love having it tucked away and a place where we can put crap and keep it hidden. There aren't any pictures of the laundry room. It's fulfilling its purpose and full of crap.


Notice aunt jemima, top left.





Dan's pile of things:








Thursday, January 2, 2014

New Years 2014

We were that couple this year. You know, the one who brings the baby to a party. Specifically, a two month old. 

Olivia did great. She gets a little temperamental in the evenings right before bed time and usually only wants Dan or myself to hold her. We tried to pass her around, but she just ended up crying. Took a little bit to get her settled down, but after that (around 10pm) - she slept all the way until 5:15am. 

People were blowing those party blower things - there was an intense couple of games of guys vs girls flip cup - a very cheerful "happy new year" - and many other incredibly loud noises that she slept straight through. 

She ate quickly at 5:15 and went back to sleep until 7:45. Not exactly the second stretch we had hoped for, and we were quite tired, but we were proud of her! She was a champ. 

I wish we had gotten some pictures of the three of us - but Blair did make sure that we captured the group shot right after midnight again this year.




In 2009 we graduated college and adopted Koda.

In 2010 we got engaged.

In 2011 we bought a house and got married.

In 2012 we decided to expand our family.

In 2013 we had Olivia.

I can't wait to see what new adventures 2014 brings!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Christmas 2013

Christmas looked a little different this year.

We had a new wreath on our front door:




We did less lights because life with a two month old is crazy:




The tree was in a different room because we couldn't fit 8 people and a Christmas tree in our family room:



We had an extra stocking:



This guy had to build a toy on Christmas eve:



Santa came:






And we has this little chunk to take lots of pictures of:






I mean, LOTS of pictures:









Seriously, this poor girl:





Olivia's first Christmas was so much fun. We toyed with the idea of going to Wisconsin. I really want to take Olivia up there, and I know she would really enjoy the snow (maybe not this young), but the idea of flying with a 2 month old was a little much. Graciously, Dan's family all came to us for a week. My parents also drove up for a few days. 

I love big Christmases.  Having tons of presents under the tree. Lots of people over for dinner. Tons of leftovers. Wrapping paper messes. And chaos. 

We watched the classics: Home Alone, A Christmas Story, The Santa Claus, etc. We ate waayy too much food. And we enjoyed each other's company. We don't all get together nearly often enough.

Even though Olivia is too young to know what is going on, I had fun loading her stocking with diaper cream, gas drops, baby lotion, a new paci and a new onesie. And then laying out some presents that we got her from Santa. Seeing the magic in her eyes when she sees Christmas lights gets me so excited for the years to come. 

If we keep the tree up all year, its because Olivia likes the lights. We aren't lazy, I promise ;)



 A few side notes. Baby tights rock my world. Bonus points if they have ruffle butt:



Worst wrapped gift award goes to me. Seriously, how would you wrap a metal peacock?



Baby snow suit. This picture makes me laugh. At her. Poor thing.





These guys take some darn good family photos:




And they take them very seriously:



Hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas. Here's to an even more wonderful 2014!

Monday, December 30, 2013

Koda and Olivia

Yes, it took me about a month to get this to work.

Yes, I work in IT.




She was doing this and then Olivia moved her hand right as we got out the camera. So I put her hand back for her :)

If the video isn't working, try this link:

Koda Kissing Olivia


Sunday, December 29, 2013

Pregnancy Weight Gain

I tracked my weight gain all throughout my monthly posts. Since I never did a 40 week post (thank you Olivia for coming a few days early, I did not have a vegetable for a 40 week picture), I never posted a final weight gain. I figure you have been sitting on the edge of your seat, wondering, ever since Olivia was born. 

I spent the first 14 weeks incredibly nauseous. I spent the following 6 weeks pretty nauseous, so I didn't gain much weight early on. People kept asking if I was losing weight in the first trimester. While I was super sick, I felt even worse if I didn't eat - so I was eating anything that sounded okay. Pad thai one day, kraft mac and cheese another. That pretty much maintained my weight in the beginning.

Once the 'morning' sickness was over - all bets were off. I wanted FOOD. Always. No matter what. I didn't have any specific cravings. If you were eating it, I wanted it. I spent my days thinking about food, wanting food, eating food. I have never been hungrier in my life. 

I started using the app My Fitness Pal to track what I was eating. I needed to know that I wasn't eating too much fat (I have lymphedema in my legs that worsens with fat consumption), and wanted to make sure I was getting enough fruits and vegetables. I spent my days hungry and was still logging WAY more calories than my doctor said I should be eating. 

I felt like I was on the worst diet of my life. Knowing that I couldn't eat ALL day long. Telling myself to just wait 2 hours between my second breakfast and my pre-lunch snack. Drinking water, tea, etc to get through those two hours. Knowing that it wasn't healthy for me or Olivia to shovel food in. 

Prior to being pregnant, I made fun of Jessica Simpson. 'How could she gain that much weight? She just used pregnancy as an excuse to eat everything she wanted.'

I now feel bad for her. Everyone's body reacts differently to pregnancy. I know many people who ate completely normal. I tried. I tried so hard. And that was pretty miserable. 

I knew I was eating enough (more than enough) for Olivia and myself. Did my best to eat pretty healthy (minus the ice-cream, yum). And still felt that I could shovel in another 5000 calories and be happy. 

The day my water broke, I stepped on my scale.

37 pounds.

Woof.

When I got to the hospital, I stepped on their scale. Surely, I've lost a couple pounds of water. 

37 pounds.

Welp, there's my final weigh in.





Left: 12 weeks, normal weight. 

Right: two days before Olivia was born.














Gaining 'only' 37 pounds required a lot of self discipline. If I let myself eat as much healthy food as I wanted, I could have easily packed on 60 pounds.

The whole point in this post is to show that there are all sorts of 'normal.' If I see that someone gained a ton of weight while pregnant, I get it. I've been there. Or someone else who just couldn't keep the weight on, I get that too.

Its the first (of many) times that tiny little life inside of you lets you know who is in charge. 

So let's cut everyone some slack. Or a piece of apple pie.