Nugget's Room

Here's where nugget will (hopefully!) sleep peacefully. (Also, apologies for the poor photo quality. In between getting ready for nugget and going about life, phone pictures are just about all I can handle right now!)

The crib that we hope will be calming and sleep inducing for the little one. I painted the canvas on the left and the wood frame on the right was something I got from Michael's for less than $3. I painted it yellow to match the room.

I waited out an online sale for the rug on the floor. I'm glad I did as we got it for 80% off the regular price plus free shipping!



The rug. Sales are awesome!

I was a little concerned that it looked bluer than the online pictures, but it looks really good with the wall color and the wood floors.

One of the dressers I refinished on the left, a blanket rack that used to belong to my Oma and Opa, and the rocker my folks got me after grad school. (I'm pretty sure my mom bought it with the hope that it would be in a nursery someday.) My mom made the quilt on the rack and crocheted the blanked behind it. She's awesome!

The second dresser I refinished. We used a Rustoleum product and changed out the hardware so the two units would match and fit better in the room. Plus, they were kind of beat up and this just gave them a fresh look.

We refinished two old dressers and used another from Drew's grandmother to give us plenty of storage in the room. The framed pictures were homemade items using things I already had around the house. I love how they fit in the room. I painted some canvases to add some additional art to the walls. Nothing fancy here, just space holders.

A dresser from Drew's grandma.

Drew installed a new fan to better match the room. It also has a smaller profile so he doesn't hit his head on the light fixture. We grabbed curtains from Target so we can block out a more light than we could with the blinds alone.

We installed the car seat base last weekend so I think we're as ready as we're going to be for this little nugget to arrive. As soon as I pack my bag for the hospital!

Baby Room Pictures

So if you know me, you know I'm frugal. Frugal is the nice way of saying I don't like to spend money. When we first started thinking about what we wanted in the nugget's room, I did some searching online and found way too many ideas out there. It was information overload. Also, it looked like it would cost a fortune. Since I tend to be simple and frugal, I wasn't sure how it was going to come together.

Enter a box of old stuff from my parents. Things like junior high and high school yearbooks. Every single card I received for high school graduation. All of the medals I received for high school sports. My baby book. Letters inviting my parents to awards nights. Things like that. Most of those things got tossed or recycled (don't worry I kept some of them), but in this box I also found a Winnie the Pooh calendar from the year I was born in pristine condition.

How cute is this calendar?!

There were lovely drawings for each month and I had an inspiration. I have some extra picture frames I got on the cheap and I have some great calendar pages that my mom had purchased years ago. Boom, art for the walls in the nugget's room.

So I grabbed the picture frames that were the silvery finish I didn't really like and an old can of spray paint from the basement and set to work.

Silvery finish that I didn't really like.

Frames laid out and ready to meet the spray paint.

Frames with a coat of off white paint.

New frames that work in nugget's room!

After the frames dried, Drew and I selected 6 of the calendar pages and I trimmed them down to fit into the frames. Again I say, Boom, art for the walls in the nugget's room.

Six new things to hang on the walls. The cuteness is almost too much.

The frames aren't perfect, but I really like how they turned out.

Now we just have to get everything arranged in there and hang these pictures on the walls!

May Fun ('13 Edition)

May! After a rocky start, you brought the spring and for that I am thankful. Here's what we've been up to this month.

I picked some tulips on the evening of April 30 to bring inside because I love them. They are the most beautiful flower God ever created.

Then, it snowed on the evening of May 1. SNOW IN MAY. It's just not right to wake up to this on May 2.

In anticipation of the snow mentioned above, I picked more tulips (while it was sleeting) and brought them inside. I would have been so sad if the snow knocked them out so I just picked them and enjoyed them inside. The snow didn't kill the tulips I left outside, but I didn't want to risk it.

We tried this delicious, dangerous concoction. It's a very good thing that it's so expensive otherwise none of our pants would fit. Try it for a special treat.

I found some new bathroom rugs and laid them flat after I pulled them out of the dryer. Kramer gave them her stamp of approval.

Kramer likes to sleep in her bed with the covers pulled over her. Unless there's activity going on, then she has to be able to see what's happening. This, I think, was her version of a compromise between the two.

Lilacs! They smell so great. If only they lasted longer once you picked them and brought them inside.

One of our nephews was excited to play with Super Uncle Drew.

And then the two of our nieces teamed up and got in the game.

We managed to get a pretty great picture of all of Drew's family! I love how colorful it is. And that all of the kids look absolutely thrilled to pose for a family picture. Also, you can see my pregnant nugget belly!

Year Two

Two years ago today I married my best friend. Oh what a fun adventure it's been! This picture of me pretending to fall out of the golf cart cracks the both of us up. Never a dull moment with the two of us kids! Happy Anniversary Drew!

Here's Year One.

Friends?

Obviously things are going to change when the nugget arrives. That's a given. One of the things we discuss regularly is how Kramer is going to react to this new addition. It was just her and me for a few years before Drew came along. She adjusted to Drew really well and they're buddies. It helps that he attacks squirrels with her, makes her meat treats, and dresses her in silly hats (yes hats, plural). But how is she going to deal with the addition of someone who gets constant attention, cries, and doesn't really play with her? We're just going to have to wait and see on that one, but Kramer seems to be getting along with my pregnant belly quite well.

Kramer just resting a paw on the nugget.

 She likes to hop up on the couch with me and sometimes she looks like she's petting the nugget.

The petting moves to full on resting on the nugget.

Other times, she hops up and just hangs out with the nugget. I keep waiting for a kick to happen while she's there and see her reaction, but the timing just hasn't worked out yet.

Let's Get Juiced!

Drew and I really enjoy watching documentaries on food. I should specify: documentaries on food, diet, and health. It started back when we were dating and I had a copy of Food Inc. that I hadn't watched yet so I suggested it for a movie night viewing. (Side note: obviously Drew was already somewhat smitten with me if he tolerated watching Food Inc. on a movie night with his girlfriend.) Since then, one or both of us have watched Fat Head, King Corn, and Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. I highly recommend all of them.

While we haven't jumped on the bandwagon of the message of any one of these movies, it has lead to some great discussions and diet modification. We don't eat as many carbs as we used to, I drink a diet soda maybe once a month, we don't consume as much sugar, we have tried to make more homemade things (like ketchup), and we juice.

All this combines to make a pretty tasty beverage.

Drew makes juice for us 3 - 4 times a week and it's delicious. We buy whatever fruits and veggies are on sale at the grocery store and mix them together in a yummy beverage. I'm consuming radishes, kale, red cabbage, broccoli stalks, ginger, and carrots like nobody's business.

Here come the carrots!

I realize you lose some of the benefits when you compare raw, whole veggies with their juiced counterparts, but we still eat our other veggies. So this is extra nutrients on top of what we already consume. And it's a great way to start the day!

Breakfast beverage of champions!

Almond Caramel Corn

A few weeks ago we stumbled on a package of almond crunch popcorn in the store. They happened to be giving out samples so we tried some. It was delicious. But, it was around $3.79 for a little 8 ounce bag. We bought one anyway, but I knew that this was not going to become a routine purchase for us. So I decided to try my hand at almond caramel corn.

I used 1/2 cup of popcorn and popped it up in my whirley pop. Then, I combined 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 Tbsp. butter and 2 Tbsp. Amaretto. I heated that mixture on the stove until it was completely dissolved.

Melted sweetness.

Then, I added it to the popcorn and mixed it well.

Note to self: REMOVE the old maids before you mix in caramel. No one likes to have a clump of popcorn with a piece that could break their teeth.

I poured the coated popcorn into a 9x13 pan and baked for 15 minutes at 300. I stirred it and baked it for another 10 minutes before dumping it on a coated piece of aluminum foil to cool.

It smelled so good here. And I am not afraid to say that I did eat some pieces right out of the oven. It was worth it.

It was pretty tasty, but incredibly sweet. And sticky. I think I'll continue to experiment with this one, but it sure looked pretty!

Good stuff, just too sweet for us.