Good Intentions

Good intentions. That's what I had when I started my Month of Thanks "project." My downfall was putting too much faith in my memory. I couldn't keep everything straight in my head and by the time I really realized it I was already on a downward slope of blog neglect. Oops.

Let's just say that I have a lot to be thankful for!

The middle of November marked the start of a really busy couple of weeks that don't show any signs of slowing down. I do have quite a few things I'd like to post about, including a living room update (or start? I don't think I've ever posted about the living room). Hopefully those posts will happen sooner rather than later, but if I've learned anything it's that I can't always promise deliverance on this here blog.

Until then, here's a random picture of my kid :)

Month of Thanks (Nov. 9th-13th)

 

 

Friday, November 9th

Today was one of those days. You know, the kind where your life is obviously the worst because the boots you want to buy are out of your size and your baby is fussy and work is hard. And even though in the back of your head you're thinking "Jessica, I think you're over reacting just a tad...", you're still silently ranting, justified because how dare the world treat you this way. You REALLY want those damn boots. Yeah. Kind of pathetic. Later in the day I made myself take Harrison on a walk and we ended up literally smelling the roses. They were delightful. And it was kind of the highlight of my day. So I'm thankful for the little things that are normally overlooked but that when noticed, bring enough beauty into your life when you're having a bad day to make you smile a little. Thankfully by the end of the day my funk was over (butIstillreallywantthoseboots).

 

 

Saturday, November 10th

 

So I'm kiiind of in love with the new HEB, which opened yesterday. It's literally two minutes down our street and it's brand new and shiny :D We've been shopping at an HEB about 10m away from our apartment that's over 20 years old and was getting ready to close, which means for the past month or so they've been out of at least 3 or 4 things on my grocery list every time. So it was really nice to get everything we needed this time around. Not to mention that it has a lot of bonus sections that the old store didn't have, like the healthy living aisle where you can pour your own bags of anything from rice to granola to dried fruit. Or grind your own peanut butter. How cool is that? So I love our new store, but I'm most of all thankful for a pantry/refrigerator full of food that keeps my family fed and healthy and happy. ...But did I also mention it's shiny? :)

 

 

Sunday, November 11th

Once it became apparent that Harrison was no longer going to sleep/sit quietly in his car seat during church (Charles had to miss quite a bit of a few sermons to go walk around with him), we decided it was time for big boy church! Aka Sunday School. Aka swing/play/sleep for 45 minutes. Learning about Jesus will come later ;-) They have rotating volunteers but for a good while now the main two have been a man and his wife who are super super sweet and always excited to see Harrison. The nursery has what Charles and I call the "Baby Matrix", which is essentially a circle of swings, rocking chairs and exersaucers. Harrison really enjoys going (they say he rarely makes a peep!) and it's nice to be able to sit through an entire service without an interruption. But by the end I'm ready to hold him again and give him lots of kisses :)

Monday, November 12th

I'm thankful for a healthy baby and a very patient and understanding husband. Today we took Harrison to an orthopedist because our pediatrician wanted to make sure the slightly more pronounced bowing in his legs was nothing to worry about. Sure enough, they were just fine & we went happily on our way. To the check out desk. Where I found out my insurance doesn't have copays for specialist visits. Which means we paid $180.00 for a 10 minute doctor visit when nothing was wrong. At that point I kind of lost it and shut down a bit. I cried. I was moody. I was mad. I felt like we threw $180 (that we don't have) down the drain. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a tad dramatic. My darling, wonderful, great-man-of-a-husband didn't say a thing. He hugged me. And kissed me. Told me I was beautiful. And gently explained that we didn't waste that money because we made sure we have a healthy baby.

Month of Thanks (Nov. 4th-8th)

 

Harrison Oliver, 1 day old

 Sunday, November 4th

It's about to get all mushy up in here. Today I'm so thankful for the gentle reminders of how precious it is to be a mother. I originally had something else picked out for my daily thanks, but then as I was feeding Harrison before bed he fell asleep in the crook of my arm and suddenly I was taken back to the day after he was born. He had fallen asleep in the exact same position, mouth wide open and everything, when everyone stepped out for a moment and it was just me and him in the room. I remember experiencing such extreme feelings of love and wonderment as I looked down at such a tiny human, which surged through me again as I held him tonight, 7 months later. It was all I could do to not collapse in a giant ball of tears. Motherhood's trippy, yo. It's exhausting, exhilarating, frustrating, eye opening, emotional, crazy and peaceful. And I am so thankful for the experience.

   

Harrison LOVES being outside!

 

Monday, November 5th

 

I'm thankful for fresh air! Being cooped up in the apartment all day with an energetic baby can become claustrophobic fast, especially if the only voice you've heard since your husband left for work is your own, blabbing to your kid like they're the one person audience to your midday talk show. Sometimes they think you're funny but most of the time they stare at you like you're a dummy. Often the day moves almost too quickly, between the cycle of feedings, nap times and diaper changes and before you know it it's almost 5:00 and your husband's going to be home again soon. And that's when you realize you haven't left the apartment all day. But today Auntie Chelle came to visit and we went on a walk to the park. It felt amazing outside and it was nice to breathe in that fresh air before shutting in for the night.

 

Tuesday, November 6th

Despite a nation divided and an unfortunate number of people using politics as an excuse to act rudely and inappropriately to one other, I am extremely thankful for our freedom to actually decide our leader. I'm thankful for being able to say what we think, choose the things we believe in, stand up for those beliefs, and live in a country that is by most accounts FREE. The greatest gift a person can have is free will and I'm thankful to live in a place that upholds that gift and the men and women who continue to fight so that we may maintain it. I'm hoping, now that the election is over, that people will remember this instead of focusing on bashing those who do not share their beliefs - even though through freedom we have every right to do so.

 

 

Wednesday, November 7th

I'm thankful for waking up to the sound of a happy baby talking to himself in his crib rather than hearing whining/crying over the monitor! Today Harrison woke up around 6:00am to feed and went back to sleep until about 8:45. When Charles and I woke up shortly before 9:00 to him on the monitor, it was so nice to hear him babbling away to himself rather than being fussy...it definitely set the tone for the day! Plus, the bonus was obviously the fact that we didn't get up until almost 9:00. Charles didn't have to go into work until 11:00 and I use Harrison as my alarm clock, so it was a treat to be able to sleep in a bit. I love going into his nursery in the morning because even if he is being a little fussy, as soon as I walk in, turn on the light and say "Good Morning!" he gets all smiley and starts kicking like a mad man. Great way to start the day!

 

Thursday, November 8th

I'm thankful for the days when Charles is off of work and he gets to stay home with us. On weeks like this one, he works on Saturday, which means he gets a day off during the week. So it's like that feeling when you got to stay home from school as a kid...almost like cheating in a way. Except, you know, not. :) But it's nice to have another adult to talk to and to have someone helping take care of Harrison - especially when I'm trying to get some work done! It helps keep the day interesting and both Harrison and I are happier when he's around, so it's a win win :) When Charles stayed home for the week or two after H was born it was the best. You'd think we would've been read to kill each other after spending 24/7 together, but I hated it when he finally had to go back and so did he (to a degree, though I suspect he also found it a tad refreshing!).

Happy Halloween Harry!

Imagine with me, for a moment, that it is not November 5th. It is instead October 31st and a post about Halloween is still relevant, mmk?

I do have to post a disclaimer here that if you are not a fan of Harry Potter you might want to skip this one. Just go along your merry way and come back some other time. Though you will miss a lot of pictures of a ridiculously cute baby. Just sayin'.

So from the time Harrison was about a month old, I knew that I was going to dress him up as Harry Potter for Halloween. His hair just kept getting longer and longer and at the time it was still pretty dark. His name was Harrison, which could be shortened to Harry (though we're not exactly encouraging that nickname...a name like "Hairy Combs" probably earns you a lot of time in a locker). Also Harry Potter is kind of my jam. It was obviously meant to be.

So despite the fact that he's now pretty much blonde, I was determined to make it happen, cap'n! And make it happen I did.

How freakin cute is that. I know. I'm biased. But look how glorious those glasses are. They make me giggle every time I see them. We had a bit of a snag the first time he wore them because they wouldn't stay on and he didn't like us constantly readjusting them, but then I wrapped a pipe cleaner around the back and voila! Instant head piece and Harrison was like "okay, whatever." I'm only about 4% convinced they messed up his eyesight. So worth it.

He had a scar at one point but he kept sweating it off. Ah, well. Remember, we're pretending.

He kept trying to eat the wand and managed to get it in his mouth a couple of times, which is when I started worrying that I was going to end up poisoning my kid with 77¢ craft paint.

Speaking of the costume...It's about to get real nerdy up in here. His costume was largely a handmade effort, with a couple of cheap (or shall I say "inexpensive" to sound more distinguished?) things thrown in the mix.

The components:
1. Under clothes
2. Hogwarts robes
3. Gryffindor scarf
4. Gryffindor tie
5. Glasses
6. Wand

Under his "robes" he wore black pants (Walmart, like $4) and a collared white onesie (already on hand), to which I safety pinned the tie. I made the tie and scarf out of super cheap inexpensive broadcloth (as in $3.48 total) that I got at Hobby Lobby in red and yellow (1/2 yard of each). I got really lazy and instead of sewing everything together, I hot glued it instead. We keep it classy up in here. I used this tutorial for the scarf (except for, you know, the sewing part) and just eyeballed the tie. For his robes I snagged a shirt?thing? from Goodwill for a couple of bucks that was the perfect height. It was kind of a slinky material and felt robe-esque. I just cut the arms to length, cut it up the middle in the back (which conveniently had a little velco enclosure at the top, so it became the front), and taped a Hogwarts "patch" I printed off on the left chest area. Like I said: classy :D

As for the wand - it's paper. And hot glue. And paint. Yup. I came upon this tutorial and thought it was brilliant - and pretty much free, which I'm always a fan of. I ended up making three wands, one for each of us.
 

 Because we're all nerds :)

How was your Halloween?

Month of Thanks

So in an effort to 1. Get in the habit of blogging more often and 2. Finding joy in the little things around me (due to my seemingly increasing annoyance at things that really shouldn't matter), I've decided to put into effect:

I know a lot of people do this in varying degrees across social media, so pardon me if you find it cliche. I think it will be a good exercise and it will make the build up to Thanksgiving all the more exciting, at the end of which I will gorge myself on pumpkin pie. Yummm.

As a bonus, it will help me blog more consistently, which we all know, doesn't really happen. See I have this baby.....

Anyway, my plan is to post every couple of days with a recap of the little things (and sometimes big things, ya know, like family and junk). Since I'm a visual person I made that there graphic at the top (feel free to use it if you'd like to join in) and I'll be doing my best to post photos along with my daily thanks.

So without further ado...

via

 

Thursday, November 1st

I'm thankful for community - yes, the tv show too, which FINALLY got a premiere date #comeonNBC - but more importantly our church community. On Thursdays I have a women's bible study in the morning for about two hours, which not only gives me two hours of "alone time" (hey, any time without a 7 month old is alone time, even if it is around a couple of hundred other women), but it also helps me connect with some great ladies here in the area as we learn more about our Lord. Then in the evening we have our small group, which Charles and I (and Harrison) go to along with about 5 other couples. We've gotten to know them over the past 10 months and have been so blessed with their friendship. So basically Thursdays are like a Jesus overload. But the good kind.

 

 

Friday, November 2nd

 

I'm thankful for date night with my hubby! For the past few years we've always participated in "Comedy Night Done Right," which is what NBC calls their block of comedy shows on Thursday nights (currently 30 Rock, Parks & Recreation, and The Office). But seeing how we're gone on Thursday evenings for our small group and Harrison isn't in bed until 9pm or so, we realized that CNDR wasn't a real possibility this year. At least on Thursdays. So a few weeks ago we started date night on Fridays - we pop some popcorn, sit in bed with our laptop, and stream the shows we missed the night before. I look forward to it all week!

 

Saturday, November 3rd

I'm really thankful for quiet time (and weekends in general)! I love my boys more than anything on this earth, but I'm home alone with a baby for the majority of the week and it can get pretty exhausting. Today both my husband and my baby took a 2+ hour nap (and if you know my kid, that's probably a sign that the apocalypse is coming), which meant the apartment was quiet and I was able to write this post. Holla!

Thanks, honey, for being my unsuspecting model. Don't worry, you're cute when you sleep :D

Peachy Keen

A couple of things happened yesterday.
1. I became acutely aware of the last bit of ..."fluff"...lingering from my pregnancy that has settled itself around my midsection.
and
2. I was making Harrison baby food from the fruits & veggies I got at the store this weekend - specifically peaches.

The very helpful online resource I use for everything baby food related, Wholesome Baby Food, recommended baking peaches before pureeing them, which after a google search is how I ended up staring at this:

[source]

 

More staring. My eyes got wide and my stomach grumbled. There was probably drool involved. And the urge to lick my computer screen. That's not weird, right?

And right then and there I decided that my baby didn't need two peaches worth of baby food, he only needed one, and the other peach was most definitely getting that drool-worthy treatment and going into my stomach.

Oh right - my stomach. There is a reason I brought that up - these babies, despite looking quite sinful, are actually pretty dang healthy. I mean obviously, it's a peach. A peach with some added goodness, but still a big honking peach nonetheless. Way low in calories and according to my trusty dusty baby food resource, they're high in Vitamin C and A.

So what makes it look so decadent? A small pat of butter (1/2 a tsp...for real), a touch of brown sugar and as much cinnamon as your little heart desires. Das it. Eat it almost as soon as it comes out of the oven and it tastes just as good as peach cobbler without all the unhealthiness. Charles agrees and that man loves himself some peach cobbler. It's a good thing we didn't have any ice cream in the house though, because it probably would have been devoured alongside the peaches and then suddenly the health(ier) dessert would become not so healthy. But some fat free whipped cream would be pretty delicious....

Here are the ones that we scarfed down, hunched over our bowls like little kids while Harrison slept.

So I was happy to discover that healthier choices for treats can still be melt-in-your-mouth good. Here's the recipe, via The Kitchen is My Playground. Go make it and die happy.

Brown Sugar Baked Peaches

Per serving:
1 fresh peach
1 tsp. unsalted butter, divided
2 to 4 tsp. brown sugar, divided
Sprinkling of ground cinnamon, to taste

Halve peaches and remove pit. Place in baking dish, skin side down. Place 1/2 teaspoon butter in the hollow of each peach, top each peach half with 1 or 2 teaspoons brown sugar, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees until peaches are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Oh Hey, Internet....Didn't See You There (An Update)

I suppose it would be a bit of an understatement to say I took a hiatus from blogging, unintended as it was. It doesn't feel like it's been four months, but time does seem to scurry on a little faster than normal with a baby. Speaking of, when we last left off, he was two months old.

And then he was three months...

And four months...

Then five...

And suddenly my little big boy was a whole half a year old. I got a little carried away with his monthly photos this time around...

I ditched the onesie and dressed him in the one adorable preppy outfit he has, fearing this would be the last time he'd fit in it and threw in a stylin' hand-me-down hat for good measure. And then somehow, inadvertently, he ended up looking like the lead singer of Fall Out Boy. Ah, well...

My husband and I also hit a milestone, as we celebrated two years of marriage earlier this month, though the way we spent our anniversary was curled up on the couch at my mom's house because we both caught a nasty stomach bug on the same day. What's worse that getting sick at the same time as your spouse? Doing so when you have a needy baby. Thus we ended up spending the night at my mom's, who graciously took point with Harrison and allowed Charles and I to be pitiful. A few days later we were feeling much better and we snapped this photo to document our 2nd Year:

Look at that hotness. :-D I'm hoping to make taking a family photo a yearly tradition for our anniversary so we can line 'em up and see how the family grows. Hopefully not width wise.

Luckily before the crazy sickness set in, we celebrated our anniversary a couple of days prior with brunch, general relaxing, and massages (in honor of the 2nd anniversary traditional gift: cotton - husband's idea!) while the grandparents watched our little man.


So basically it's been a busy couple of months for us...what about you?

2 Months!

Today my little man turned two months old and in that cliche way that seems to affect the majority of life, it feels both like it's come too soon and that it's been much, much longer.

His 2 month check up isn't until tomorrow morning so I don't have all the goodies like his weight, but I do have some cute pictures! I was terrible with keeping up with pregnancy photos but I'm freakishly determined to take monthly photos of him.

This time around was much more pleasant than last month!

Poor thing. His mama is a little trigger happy. I blame my paparazzi-esque family and upbringing. It's amazing I'm not obsessed with myself. It wasn't all bad though, he did this awesome pose for me not long after:

Dear Harrison - 2 Months

• You're smiling all the time now! Usually it takes a little provocation but once you get going you don't like to stop!
• You love car rides. Sometimes you sleep and sometimes you don't but you're almost always silent, taking everything in. Many times you don't even need your pacifier (which is still your best friend!).
• You still don't enjoy tummy time but your neck is strong just the same. You prefer being up and alert, looking over our shoulders. 
• Your hair is ridiculous. In a good way. It's a huge conversation starter ("Look at that hair!") and it seems be be getting lighter and lighter, though it's still as thick as ever. I think you'll need a haircut soon, but for now we're enjoying the craziness of it.
• You love kicking your legs and they're already super strong. I think you're going to be mobile very early!

And now a photo that makes my kid look like he stuck his finger in a wall socket. I promise he didn't. We're not really sure how his hair does that, it just...does.

 A close up, you say? Sure, for fun.

The resemblance to Bob Ross is impressive. Give that kid a paintbrush!

Happy Monday!

This proposal will put a smile on your face :)



Have a great day!

The Long Awaited Dresser Post - Part 2

(Click here to read part 1)

So where were we? Oh yes, I believe we left off somewhere around here:

A hunk of burning dresser love

The dresser had been sanded and stained, leaving us with a gorgeous grain (seriously, look at it) and thismuch closer to a finished product.

The next step was to put on the top coat - the one part of the process that I was actually able to do myself. Cue the giddyness.Who has two thumbs and gets excited about applying sealer? This girl. The product I used is called Safecoat Acrylacq and it looks a little something like this:

At nearly $30 including shipping, it's not exactly a bargain but it had my vote for a couple of reasons. The first is that it's non toxic, low odor and low voc, which meant that I could apply it without worrying that my unborn child would sprout a last minute third arm (mission accomplished!). Secondly, it seals in any offgassing that might arise from the wood and stain, which makes me feel okay about putting it in the nursery. And thirdly, it comes highly recommended from Young House Love, my oft-referred to DIY blog resource. Also note my stylish respirator mask, left over from painting the nursery, which, combined with applying it in a well ventilated area, further protected my little man from any unwanted extra limbs. Yeah you're welcome, Harrison.

I ended up putting on three coats of the sealer, sanding lightly with fine steel wool in between each coat. The steel wool was able to sand down the tiny rough spots that popped up without taking off the sealer (it just dulled it down a bit), so it worked perfectly. After rubbing the surfaces quickly with the wool, I ran a damp cloth over everything to get rid of the dust and then applied my next coat of acrylacq, letting it cure overnight. Rinse and repeat.

Oooo shiny

Once the final coat cured, my step-dad loaded the bad boy up in his truck, hauled it up to our second floor apartment and now it sits all pretty-like in the nursery!

I have plans for the wall behind the dresser, hence the "in progress" label. While the dresser itself is finished the nursery isn't quite there yet. Here's the previous list I posted:

• Set up the crib (my wonderful mother and step-dad got it for us and it should be in this week!)
• Fix up the dresser (I finally found one...more on that soon!)
• Finish the mobile
• Possibly find a twin bed for guests/those late night visits to the nursery - however this might be a "Phase 2" project
• Make/buy curtains

For now we're shelving the bed idea, but I also need to add:

• Build book shelves (my next big project)
• Hang up wall art

And now for more photos of the dresser, including a proper before and after:

It's hard to get across the exact coloration of the dresser, but the photo on the left below the "before" picture is probably the most accurate. It's a nice rich golden color and I love it.

Total cost breakdown:

Dresser: $43.30
Stain: Free (on hand)
Steel Wool: Free (on hand)
Paintbrush: Free (on hand)
Mask: Free (on hand)
Safecoat Acrylacq: $29.48

Total: $72.78

The Long Awaited Dresser Post - Part 1

I'm a big fat liar... I believe it was in my March 6th post when I said that I'd be back later in the week with a dresser update. Admittedly things have been a little crazy, what with delivering a baby and what not. But let's put all of that behind us...and onto the dresser update reveal!

Well...not quite the reveal. That will be in Part 2. Liar again, I know. I'm workin' on it. In the meantime I'll be over here hanging with Jim Carrey.

So the dresser that we ended up buying was one that I had seen early on but at $60 was a little more than I was willing to pay at the time. Then after spending two weekends striking out at garage sales and Goodwills (not to mention the previous months of combing CraigsList all stalker-like), I decided to revisit the resale shop. It was closed. Sonofagun. Well not closed per se. The owner of that space was relocating to another part of the property and was supposed to be open again by the next weekend. He wasn't. But in a stroke of luck, another man on the property let us into the space because we were looking for a particular piece and were ready to buy. The best part was that I offered $40 and he agreed (this, friends, is what we refer to as a "steal"). So $43.30 later (yay tax), we had a dresser! Holy bananas I thought we'd never get there.

May I present to you: the before shot, even though we had already begun the sanding process.

The dresser was pretty scratched up, especially around the edges, and the finish on it was really dull, but I was drawn to the shape of it (I continually drool over the legs) and you can't beat that storage - currently every single drawer is full. It's a mid-century piece and I wish I knew its history, but we couldn't find a manufacturer/brand label, just this on the back:

Owosso is apparently a town in Michigan, but other than that I've got nothin'.

Luckily they stamped the word "dresser" on there, you know, in case we forget.

I was really excited about refinishing this dresser because I had never made over a piece of furniture before. One hiccup: I was pregnant. And even though I was ready to jump in (with protective face mask in hand), my parentals voiced their concerns, particularly with the sanding process. In the end we struck a compromise: I wouldn't take part in the sanding or staining, but I would get to finish things up by applying the top coat (which was non toxic & low VOC, but more on that later).

So in one afternoon my stepdad knocked out the sanding step and we were left with this bad boy (minus the feet, which he tackled later):

Poor thing is naked and here I am parading him on the internet. Tsk tsk.

I then had to decide on a stain. My original plan upon getting a dresser was going to be painting it stark white to go with the crib and the deep blue walls. However, because of the quality of this piece (dovetail joints!) and the detailed grain that was exposed after we sanded it down, I reversed my plan and decided to keep it au naturel.

I was initially drawn to the dark walnut (I'm not a fan of the blond stains or anything too light), but I was worried that it would be too dark. In the end I went with Early American, which ended up looking far and away better on the dresser than it did in the brochure. My stepdad had buckets of the stuff on hand, which was another bonus, so on went the Early American. Side note: who names these things?

We did one coat to start, which I thought would be too light, but ended up being perfect. Once the stain was on it was really easy to see just how beautiful the grain of the wood was. I'll save most of that for the next post, but here's a sneak peek...

Ooo la  la!

Harrison Oliver

Three days ahead of schedule, Harrison Oliver made his debut on April 5, 2012 at 5:20pm. He weighed 8lbs 10oz and was 20.5" long with a full head of black hair!

Since then I haven't been able to stop staring at him, or taking pictures. He's the most precious thing I've ever laid eyes on and it's just now beginning to seem real that he's actually here. Sometimes I miss my big belly though!

The thing I worried about most with labor was the pain. I've never been good at dealing with it and having heard that this was the most painful thing a woman can go through, I knew very early on that I'd be getting an epidural, and sure enough I did. God really had his hand on me throughout this process though. I dilated to 5cm without experiencing active labor (or painful contractions), which means I was halfway there without any pain. This in itself was a blessing. The epidural did wonders for the rest of the process and the emotions I experienced when he was placed in my arms were stronger than I could ever have imagined!

My mom is making her way through the Jesus Calling devotional by Sarah Young and she pointed out the entry for April 5th, the day Harrison was born. I found it so fitting, I had to make note of it:

Let ME fill you with my Love, Joy and Peace.  These are Glory-gifts, flowing from my living Presence.  Though you are an earthen vessel, I designed you to be filled with heavenly contents.  Your weakness is not a deterrent to being filled with My Spirit; on the contrary, it provides an opportunity for My Power to shine forth more brightly. 

As you go through this day, trust Me to provide the strength that you need moment by moment.  Don't waste energy wondering whether you are adequate for today's journey.  My Spirit within you is more than sufficient to handle whatever this day may bring.  That is the basis for your confidence!  In quietness (spending time alone with Me) and confident trust (relying on My sufficiency) is your strength.