If you give a Randi a Tax Return

Bryan and I recently got our tax return back. I told him about all of my projects and why it made sense for us to use our tax return to get them done. He responded with a story very similar to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

If you give a Randi a tax return she'll want to buy chair rail and paint. She’ll want some frames to go along with it. If you give her some frames she’ll see that the rest of her house needs paint and pictures too. She’ll want to go to Home Depot to get some supplies. You’ll have to drive her. When she gets more paint and a few pictures she’ll see that we need nice entry tables to match them. If you give her nice entry tables she’ll want a mat for the front door to accent the new table. She’ll see that the mat is pretty and she’ll want a door to go along with it. She’ll like the nice wood on the door and that will make her think of a new bed frame. She’ll want the big sleigh bed with the curving footboard. If you give her the curving footboard bed she’ll need a mattress to go with it. She’ll want to jump on it. While jumping she’ll notice the fan is too old and plain. She’ll want to replace them all. She’ll ask you to go back to home depot and buy her some. If you buy her some fans she’ll want you to install them. While installing the fans the red, blue, and white wires will remind her of flowers. She’ll decide she needs pretty flowers out in the front yard. If you get her the pretty flowers she’ll want you to rip out the old trees so it doesn’t block their sunlight. After you rip out the tress she’ll notice some spiders in the grass. She’ll want you to call the exterminator to come out to keep them away. After the exterminator is done she’ll feel safe and lie down on the carpet to relax. She’ll notice that the carpet no longer matches the new paint and frames. She’ll want to replace them as well. While shopping she’ll find the most wonderful carpet but it won’t match the new paint and frames you just put up. And because it doesn’t match, she’ll ask you for some new paint, and frames to go along with it. At the end of the day you will add up all the costs. Randi will see the total and decide she needs another tax return.

I loved this story! Mainly because it is 100% true! I've already got our whole tax return spent, and I'm starting to plan for any bonuses that Bryan may get in the near future! I love my husband for being so patient with me, and for helping me realize, in a very comical way, how crazy I'm being with my new projects!

My Current Obsession

I admit it... I'm in lust. I can't get over it! I NEED these jars!

I see them every where! I'll see one in someone's craft room full of ribbons. So cute! Then I'll see another one on a entry way table with little crafty things in it. Beautiful! Or in a scrapbook room with buttons and beads. Love it! You just can't go wrong with these jars. I must have them!
So I've had these gift cards to William-Sonoma for... well about 5 years now! lol, I've been hording them for when I got into a house and could buy something really cool! So last night I decided that enough was enough and I was going to fulfill my secret desire and buy all three of these wonderful jars! I went on-line put them in my basket, went to check out, and then... Bryan walked in. He's so stinking logical sometimes that it really kills me! He looked at my basket, then looked at the total. "Don't we NEED a few thing for the kitchen first?" he asked. "But I NEED these!" was my reply. "If you think you need those more then we need a mixer (our last one broke) or a knife sharpener, or some good pots and pans (ours are still the cheap ones we bought when we first got married), or even some bread or muffin pans... well then I guess go ahead." ...jerk... So I emptied my basket, added a knife storage block, and this little beauty:
It's the new 9 speed hand mixer from Cuisinart. Comes with a storage container and everything... Yeah, I know. It's just not the same as my jars. Oh well... I'll just keep lusting them from afar.

A Great Weekend

This weekend was such a great one! Bryan scheduled to take Friday off so that he could stay home and get stuff done around the house. Mainly the fence (see previous post). So I decided to take advantage of him having a long weekend and planned a fun date for us! I arranged for Bryan's mom to come babysit on Thursday night while I led Bryan on a "catch me if you can" scavenger hunt! As soon as Bryan walked in the door I handed him his first clue and walked out the door. He had no idea what was going on or why his mom was at our house! I gave him a different task to complete with each clue. After he finished his first couple tasks he figured out that he was supposed to meet me at Applebees! While he was doing these tasks I was busy at Target getting him a special prize. He finished WAY earlier then I expected (20 minutes early) and actually beat me there! It was ok though cuz I still had a few tricks up my sleeve.

Bryan was super excited about the date and we had a great time while we were at dinner. But, like I said, he had to complete a task before he could get his next clue. At the resturaunt he had to announce to the waitress that he was having "the best night ever!" which earned him the musical card I got him. He had to stand up and dance to the music in order to get the prize that went along with it.

He was such a good sport! He even got a few claps and whistles while he was dancing! After dinner he had to stand up and shout that he "had to pee like a race horse" and run to the bathroom. This one was the hardest one for Bryan to do. By this time he was laughing so hard he couldn't really "shout" anything. While he was in the bathroom I cleaned up our stuff, left him his last clue, and snuck out. (We had already paid.) That clue led him to the theater where we saw Just Go With It.

It was a cute movie. A little predictable, but still cute. After the movie Bryan had officially caught me and we headed home. We got home around 9:20, just in time to give Michelle kisses and hugs right before bed. It was a wonderful night, and a great start to our long weekend together. Thanks Grandma Lynne for babysitting all night!

The rest of the weekend was full of finishing projects and spending time with family. I finally got around to making those curtains I was talking about (also see previous post). It was a lot easier then I thought it was going to be.

And they didn't turn out too bad, if I don't say so myself! I still want to get some blinds for behind them, and I need some ribbon or matching cloth to tie them back when they're open. For now, though, they'll do! I like them about a million times better then those black, sheer, ugly ones!

Bryan also got his big project done! We now have a beautiful and a bit more sturdy fence! Thanks a million to Ben, who came and helped us get it done! We're probably going to have to replace a few more posts at some point in the future, but our neighbors were a little worried about money and we didn't want to make Ben do too much work. Plus, the fence is pretty stable as it is- it even held up against that huge storm and all the wind we've had last night and this morning!

We also washed cars, cleaned out our "storage" room, and got all the old empty boxes broken down. It was a super productive weekend! Saturday was full of family visits! We started out having a pretty lazy morning.

Then we headed down to my parents house and picked up some super yummy Mom's Famous Breakfast Potatoes! Mmm!

While we were there Michelle and I hung out and played with Graw (that's how Michelle currently says Grandma), Pa, Jess, and Clayton. Bryan went to get his hair cut and bought a game for his new PSP. Oh yeah, that was his prize from our date night! Then we left my parents house and headed for a game night at Bryan's parents house. It was Kyle's Birthday (Bryan's step brother) so we celebrated with a game of Wits and Wagers, spice cake, and ice cream!

Sunday was General Conference so we didn't 'go' to church. Needless to say, there was a lot of this going on.

The weekend really flew by, but it was a really great one! We should definitely try to have more weekends like it!

Projects!

I've been told that once you move into a house of your own you will find there to be an endless list of "Projects" to be done. I always assumed that this was because people just had too much spare time and came up with these crazy "I have to do" kinda projects for themselves. Unfortunately I have fallen into this category of people. And since I am now a "never-ending projects/ huge to-do list" person, I am declaring that it isn't because we have too much spare time. Trust me, I don't... if I did these projects would be getting done, not sitting on my to-do list! So I thought I would share a few projects I have on my list and then give updates as I finish each one. (Keep in mind that it could be a while before each gets done!) The first thing that needs to be done is to replace/fix our back fence! I guess the people who live next door to us don't mind that their fence is falling over into our yard....

And to make it worse- here's how they try to "fix" a fence...

Yep, that's a belt up there at the top holding the fence together. An old piece of left over tile stacked there on top of that rubber lid trying to cover up a gaping hole... classy. So I spoke to Bryan and he spoke to the neighbors. At first I was ready to get the HOA involved and open up a can of "WHAT NOW?!" but then Bryan came home and told me that our neighbors are just a single mom and her young son. Neither of whom know how to fix a fence and have been a little overwhelmed the past few weeks. SO, being the nice understanding an oh-so-handy people we are- we called Ben! Ben says it should be an easy fix and has graciously offered to come over and help us get everything fixed the right way! Just in case you don't know who Ben is, he's my amazing brother-in-law who recently built his son a queen size bed! It's freaking amazing!

My next little project will be replacing the UGLY black sheer curtains in my kitchen. They were here when we moved in and our HOA requires that every window has a covering. Due to those rules... they have stayed up.

With much help and inspiration from my sister Jessica I have decided that they will no longer uglify my kitchen! I went with Jess to Joann's and picked out some Super Cute fabric.

Now all I have to do is pull out my handy-dandy sewing machine, take a few measurements, and turn another "to-do" into an "all done!"

Once the curtains have gone up I'm going to do something about this...

That's my one and only Kitchen wall. Right now it has some weird Shakespeare quote on it. I'm not even sure what it means. Needless to say, it's got to go! But I don't want to leave my wall blank.... any ideas?

Then there's this little issue.

This is my bowling ally hallway. I'm pretty sure it's like a million feet long and only three feet wide. So there's no room for any shelves or tables. And there aren't any doors (with the exception of my bedroom door here at the end) to break it up. I've decided that I'm going to do a picture wall on one side, and I'd like to add some chair rail. I'm also hoping some color will take away the "I'm walking down a hall of a mental hospital" feeling. I'm just not sure how to balance it all out. If I do a picture wall on one side I can't really leave the other side blank. Then again if I put stuff up on the other side it might look too busy and cluttered. Remember it's only 3 feet wide. I don't want people's heads to spin every time they walk down the hall. Plus, Bryan and I are battling about this project. He's a little overwhelmed by it, and I just want to get it started!

This next one isn't so much of a project as a "needs to be replaced". This is my front door.
Simple enough. Didn't really bother me when we first moved in. However, if you notice the placement of the peep hole... that's about six inches over my head! And there aren't any windows around the door for me to peek through either! I really didn't think this was a big deal until I was alone in the house with Michelle and I heard someone rattling my door knob and couldn't look out to see who it was. I gotta tell ya, it's kinda freaky. So I'm hoping Bryan will buy me a new door with a big fat window in it for mothers day/my birthday/Christmas.

And then, of course, there's still a lot of organizing, re-organizing, moving around and general unpacking that needs to be done. Michelle tries to help as much as she can.

Like I said... she's a big helper!

Big Announcements

Ok, I'll come out and say it! I've kept you all waiting long enough...

We bought a house! Actually, due to some pretty complicated and weird Bank of America Policies Dennis and Lynne bought a house and we live in it! lol! But, come July, we'll have bought the house! So here's the deal. Bryan works for Bank of America and the house "we" bought was a Bank of America foreclosure. Well, I guess since it's possible that Bryan could have made friends with someone in that department and that person could possibly give Bryan inside info on that house, we weren't eligible to buy it. BUT- Dennis and Lynne we're willing and able to buy the house for us! The original plan was to turn around and buy the house right back from them, but then we found out that there's another rule that says they have to hold the title for at least six months. SO, for now I guess you could say we're renting, but we will own it exactly six months from the day Dennie and Lynne bought it... weird huh?! Anyway, here she is!

And, I haven't had a chance to decorate yet so I stole some old pis of the inside. Here's the kitchen:

It looks a little different now. Bryan and I bought stainless steel appliances and replaced the older black ones. And, eventually, someday, we're going to replace the counter-tops.

Other then that it's just a living room, four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Nothing fun to look at through pictures. My favorite part of the house??

The stars! Every night when you walk outside all you have to do is look up and you can see tons of stars! In Plano you can probably count the number of stars you see every night, but out here.... it's amazing! I keep trying to talk Bryan into getting a hammock so we can cuddle under the stars after Michelle goes to bed. SO any comments you choose to leave about what a good idea that is would be very welcome!

What else is new and exciting? Well, I can't lie. I'm pretty stoked that fruit is coming back in season! Michelle and I made these little beauties last week and they were DELISH!

It's ok to be jealous...

Let's see... what else is there? Oh yeah, there's this little guy-

lol! Yes, Mrs. Stephanie, you guessed it! I'm totally prego! I'm 11 weeks along right now, but this sono was when I was 9 weeks. I go back next week for another one, just to check on the little peanut and make sure he/she is doing alright. Many of you probably remember my comments a few years ago about staying pregnant with Michelle. Well, this kiddo was no different. It took three miscarriages and a lot of grief to get this little one to stick in there. So, in case any of you have been counting, I've been pregnant seven times now and only have a kid and a half to show for it! Therefor, I'm not sure how many more little peanuts I'm going to be having... we'll see. And, just FYI, I hate being pregnant. It's not fun. Especially since the majority of my pregnancy experience has been within the first three months. I just can't say that I particularly enjoy morning sickness, smelling every bad smell x2, being super tired all the time, and the oh so fun arrival of acne! HOWEVER! I am very glad that we are staying pregnant this time. Bryan and I are very excited and can't wait to find out if we're having a boy or a girl! I'm hoping for a girl, and Bryan is hoping for a boy. Either way, we'll both be happy. What we're really hoping for is healthy. As long as that word is in there somewhere (healthy baby girl or healthy little boy) we're going to be very happy parents!

Michelle is also excited to have a new brother or sister. And, I'm happy to report that she is on team Randi! When you ask her "Michelle, do you want a brother or a sister?" She will always respond "sister." The other day I was sitting in the living room playing with Michelle when she stopped what she was doing, walked over to me, rested her little head on my knee, sighed and said "Mommy, I want sister." It was the sweetest thing ever! You can also ask her where her sister is and she'll tell you "In Mommy tummy." And sometimes she'll even point, but not always.

So there's our big news! That's all there is. You can all stop reading now. Really.

Michelle's World

Michelle is getting SO big! I can't believe she's going to be 2 in just a few months! I know most of my posts are about her and not so much about me and Bryan, but here's a little look into the real world of Michelle:

Michelle has SUPER dry skin! When she was first born she was so soft and smooth, but it seems like she's had dry, rough and itchy skin for at least a year now. We talked with Dr.Katz about it and he told us it was just the winter weather and that if we used lotion after her baths that it would clear right up. Six months later we talked to him about it again. This time he recommended adding a humidifier to her room and to use a sensitive skin lotion instead of just a regular one. So now a few months after that I had to take Michelle in to see a different doctor who tells me that Michelle has eczema. She told me to use a special and specific kind of lotion and to apply it at least twice a day. If that doesn't work that she's going to write us a prescription for a corticosteroid cream. She also said to keep up with the humidifier and to keep Michelle dressed so that she wouldn't be able to scratch herself. I talked with Jess about it and we made a joint decision to change her laundry deterrent too. Well, long story short, you can't keep a baby girl dressed all the time! We try to keep her in a onesie so that she won't lift her shirt to scratch and pants keep her from scratching behind her legs. But there's really nothing we can do about her scratching her head or neck. Tub time is, by far, the worst when it comes to her scratching. She pretty much gets free reign to scratch where ever she wants. Or, at least she did. I walked in to check on her and Bryan (he's the tub giver in our house) and found Michelle like this-

I'm pretty sure I almost peed my pants laughing so hard! But it keeps her from scratching and she thinks its a lot of fun to put "socks on hands!"
As many of you many remember we bought a potty and all the potty training supplies for Michelle for Christmas this past year. Well, after a two week period of peeing in her panties we decided to give it a rest and try again when she turns two. I was so proud of her for a little while though. We did have a few successes. Michelle would get so excited when she made it to the potty in time!
Such a big girl!
So we're on a potty break for now, but plan to start trying again in a few months.

A few fun facts:

Michelle still loves to read. She'll read everything from board books to Dr.Seuss to "Daddy's books".

Her favorite shows rotate between Pooh, Imagination Movers, and most recently it's been Mickey Mouse. Which she calls "Pooh", "Show", and "Mickey Clubhouse".

Her favorite movie is definitely Finding Nemo. We have to skip the opening scene (where Nemo's mom dies) because it makes Michelle cry. She also yells at Bruce (the shark) every time she see's him "No bite Bruce!" And always reminds Dori to "swim, swim, swim".

She has figured out how to open "Chock" (chocolate) all by herself. Which is NOT a good thing!

She has developed this fake little belly laugh. When she gets something that she really wants or sometimes for no reason at all she just starts laughing so loud and fake that Bryan and I can't help but to laugh with her.

I know a lot of people list their kids vocab and the real meanings on their blogs and I LOVE to read those lists, but I'm not a very good list maker. I can't think of anything that Michelle says that requires that much translation or that is cute enough to be blog worthy. I'll work on it though.

She does say some really sweet things... but those would give away tomorrow's post so I'll have to wait to share them!

The Forgotten Photos

I haven't updated in a quite a while and it's gotten a little overwhelming trying to catch up. So I'll do one post a day for the next few days and I should be all caught up before too long! For today I'm going to try and catch up a little with a few photos...

Remember those snow days we had a while back? Remember how everyone had super cute photos of their kids playing in the snow? All the snowmen, and snow angels... here's why we didn't post any of our pics:

Michelle HATED the snow! We tried to get her used to it...

We even tried sledding!

It wasn't until we let her just sit on the porch and drop snowballs in front of her that she actually enjoyed herself. And you can see how exciting those pictures turned out...

Eventually we gave up and came inside. It was Michelle's favorite part of the day!

Michelle loves to cuddle...usually... ok, sometimes... all right it's very rare! That's why you have to be quick with the camera when she's in the mood!

She's a big helper around the house! She get's all those hard to reach places...

Michelle has found the best way to eat a sugar cookie is to lick all the icing off and then tell Mommy that her cookie needs more icing!
We have lots more going on and a Bunch of announcements to make, but I think that's enough pictures for one day, so stay tuned!