Furniture, Frosting, and a big FiVE!

Oh gosh-I'm so out of the habit of writing! : (  I have to get better.  So many things happen in a day!

My sweet boy is FiVE!

..and Jump Zone is the best for birthdays! ; )

We had Ethan's FiFtH birthday-he's growing so fast!  He chose Jump Zone, and requested shrimp..my boys are fishy-eaters.  ; )  He also still has an aversion to cake after throwing up this summer after my dad's birthday-he's just SURE it was the cake.  So..we got a big cookie! 

(all covered in frosting..so same thing!)

make a great wish! : )

He had two bites of the big green train frosting engine, and declared he was going to throw up.  He went out to the car, and held the trash can to his face all the way home.  (but..no throw up!)

And..I've finally been getting to work on the baby room!  We have partially cleaned out the room..and ta-da!  We put the baby bed together.  : )  When we had Clay we bought nice furniture, and we've used it for every child.  But now?  They don't sell the baby beds with the sides that come down anymore (..they are DaNgErOuS!).  I know they are dangerous, but I hate to buy a new one for the last baby..I mean our kids never got out (ok, well, not until they were old enough to crawl over the side and run down to see us!).  Is it worth a new bed?  I do like that they are lower to the ground, and easier for shorter moms to reach over the sides. ; )  But for now, I am happy with our bed.  (Counts, right?)

It's starting to feel like a real baby room-but we are still calling it the office.  I'm sure when it's all ready, we'll start to call it a baby room-just not yet.  We also had to order some new furniture for Ethan's room since we need the baby furniture he's still got!  : )  Since I've been stalking Pottery Barn's website, they've been sending me reminders about stuff I've looked at, and they sent a 15% off my entire web purchase!  (So..I had to order since the furniture was already marked down a little!) ; )  Can't wait to get furniture and get Ethan's traded out!

I also shopped a little..since my computer was all warmed up with all those after-Christmas sales. ; )  I only got some baby bedding (since I'm not feeling like I have time and energy to make baby bedding this time!) and I found bedding with the fabrics I was going to order anyway! (Central Park toile in Horizon)  Bonus! : )  I went and bought some coordinating fabrics today.  I'll need to make an extra blanket, a pad for the changing table..cover a lampshade, etc. ; )  Love extra fabric!

And...we think we might be close to a NaMe.  Yesterday, Ches asked if I was considering any other name (other than Carter), and I said not really. ; )  I feel like it's supposed to be his name.  He told me Merry Christmas, and said he could be Carter, heehee. :o)  Now he gets to pick the middle name (and he's torn between Nicholas, Maximilian, and Xavier), since I'm happy over just having Carter.  We'd decided together on John Carter, but there's a stupid movie coming out this spring (around his due date, no less!) by the name of JOHN CARTER!  Can you believe that?  We were all into the double boy names (love Jean Luc-say it with a French accent! but it doesn't fit us, and Jean Marc, and Ben Luca, and Finn Niclas, ahhh..they are all so lovely and romantic, but alas, not us.)  But, John Carter was different. (American, that is.)  And John Ryan (reminded me of Jake Ryan though!) (Bonus ten points if you can name the movie!!).

ps-We have this really cool Snoopy ap (Snoopy's Fair!), and you can click on the photo booth and take pictures (only Mary Claire can find the photo booth..I've yet to find it myself!), so here are a few of our fun shots:

Such fun..even for a little iPhone ap-turns dinner into a party! : )

Sweet little Ethan-we are so happy you are in our family.  You bring us joy, tons of laughs with your big personality, love with your bear hugs (and Angry Bird attacks!), and even your big mistakes are so forgiven with those precious "I'm sorry's" that come so easy now.  You are precious, and we are thankful for the gift of you!

and as Mary Claire likes to pray..we hope you have another 100 happy, healthy birthdays!  Love you, baby!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I have taken a h-u-g-e step into Technology World.   No, no, I haven't learned to tweet, but I did get a DVR!  We were all old-school with a VCR and a recordable DVD player.  But now..I've discovered tv again.  And me likey.

I didn't know how to use it, but got a really brief tutorial (Push DVR List, Select, and Push Play)..and I asked the Tutorialist to record me some shows: Candice Tells All (3pm-Kid Time!), Nate Berkus (at 12:30am) and Sarah's (summer) House (2:30am), since the good shows only come on in the night.  Ha!  Does that mean I like unpopular shows? or do they put the best shows at bad times since people will watch them either way?  Hmm..I'll get back to you after polling.

I'm getting time to sit and watch tv (and write to you) since Mary Claire is home sick today-she felt awful early this morning (before wake-up time), and after a visit to our doctor's office, we learned she has a double-ear infection.  She and Swimming?  Not so much pals right now.  She's medicated (nose spray, antibiotics, Tylenol, and some TLC), and we are working on blood sugars now.  She's risen from 180 to 251, and now we work on her temporary basal till we get the numbers controlled.  (until they drop when the antibiotics take control of that infection..)  And the ear infection is contagious?  Ethan just cried at the ball park, I got him home and into bed, and his eardrum just ruptured-ick.  I was taking him to the doctor in the morning, but I guess it couldn't wait. Darn genetic bad ears.


Anywho..Sarah is now building a summer cottage (super cute!), it's only reach-able by boat so she's having to boat all her supplies out, and I can't imagine!  I like that she is cottage-y (even in her regular houses), and uses color, white, older stuff from flea markets as well as new stuff (from Pottery Barn, my fave!).
Speaking of..I got a new table Saturday on my anniversary Day Out!  It won't be here for another week or two, but it's Coming... I wanted less orangey table (what I have now), and more pine and country (Umm..does this mean I'm stepping back into pre-technology?).

I'm keeping my black french chairs, and I'll use them.  I just need to paint the room, add new chair cushions, change my blinds..Ha! One little thing can throw you over the (decorating) edge! : )

It's a Kincaid Farmhouse table and it has...drawers!!  Yes, I'm easily impressed by little touches. ; )  We play cards at dinner, and we can store our cards in the drawers.  Cool.  The salesman told us that people used them for crumb drawers, you just rake your crumbs into your drawer and empty them at the end of the day.  Ha!  I can see the kids filling them with cars, dolls, k'nex and their unfinished food...

I also fell in *love* with this beautiful Parker House entertainment center-doesn't it scream Holly?  Hahaha! (or can only I can hear its high-pitched voice?)  It was more expensive than the table, so we are debating.  We also went out to look at wood flooring for our kitchen/breakfast/hearth room, and we can't have it all.  Alas, I must make a decision.  (Not a four-letter-word, but might as well be!)

ps-I will not miss commercials : )

(but...I just saw a blip of a Juicy Juice box with Cars pictures on the fronts-we are buying those..and when I checked out their website, they have Spy School-check it out!)

oh yeah, oh yeah! Register for the applique/monogrammed towel-leave a comment and your first name...drawing on Saturday, June 4th!  That's sooo long-I'll only do a couple days next time-I'm ready to MAKE it already! : )