tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77666384471113927672024-03-13T12:32:55.443-04:00Oak & ElmRebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-35877570351903782442014-02-28T14:03:00.003-05:002014-06-13T17:56:06.370-04:00The State of Things<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Who loves winter? This girl, right here! Who's so over <i>this</i> winter? This girl, right here - along with I'm sure everyone in our region. I love snow, I think it's pretty, I love playing in it and looking at it and walking around in it...but I am SO sick of these frigid temps. I can't ever remember more consecutive days of nostril hair freezing in my life! I'm not necessarily asking for spring quite yet, just perhaps if we could up the average temperate from -16 to -3 that'd be fantastic, and it would feel like spring! I've been blessed that I am able to stay home with LaLa*, but this winter has been <i>tough</i> on me, and poor Kai. We haven't been able to get out as much as I would have liked. It seemed like any day I had it in my head we'd try for a walk it was colder than Mars, or a blizzard, or so windy the dog started floating away like a balloon. We did manage to get out a couple times to enjoy the beauty of winter...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">but we are all definitely suffering from a bit of cabin fever. This cold winter is making me lazy :( being home pretty much all day everyday is slowly killing me. I often sit around and do nothing. It seems like any day I have in my mind I'm going to clean, or do a project, or organize something LaLa decides to practice her demon child routine and will only want to be held, or played with or read to, all day - and those are also the days where she seems to care less about sleeping. On the opposite end, it seems like the days where I'm exhausted and just want to sit around and veg and do nothing, she's fine being on her own and has marathon naps, making me feel like a useless slug. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">SO, I need to do something about it! I've recently started getting into a better cleaning/tidying routine so the house doesn't look like a bomb went off after a tornado went through (huzzah), so I figured it would be a good idea to start trying to check a few things off my "to-do" list. My goal is, that for March (and hopefully longer) I will accomplish one or two things a week from my long list of half-finished or barely-started projects. As well as a couple things that I've had on the docket for a while but haven't started - so I don't have to listen to Jason complain about me starting <i>another</i> project when they're "a million" on the go already. Some things are small, easy little things, others are more involved, and some are things that I have no idea why they aren't already done haha (3rd coat of paint in the dining room?!)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I'm hoping that by setting a goal of at least one thing a week, it will help me feel a bit more accomplished, like I'm actually <i>doing</i> something, as well as make Jason more of a happy camper - so that he'll help me with a few of the things I <strike>need</strike> want him to do for me. So here's my plea...help keep me accountable! Spam me, harass me, tell me you'll never be my friend again if I don't get things finished and posted! (I know Mer and Steph will be good at that hehe) I've got so many good things on the go that I really want to show off, and hopefully it'll distract me until Spring!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">*LaLa is a nickname we use with her. In order to maintain confidentiality I won't be using her given name on the blog. </span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-62098446754664115622014-01-21T08:38:00.000-05:002014-01-21T08:38:50.004-05:00Adoption Journey: The Day Our Lives Forever Changed<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's Friday October 11. The weekend of Thanksgiving, and this weekend we would have more to be thankful for than any other. We were told Thursday when we went in to sign a bunch more paperwork that she was due to be discharged around 9:30 and we could expect her and her worker at our house after that. Here's how our day went down...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>The crack of stupid:</b> I woke up (if you could call it "waking" since I hardly slept a wink) I tried reading, and pacing, and doing more laundry. I cleaned the bathroom (again). I paced some more, tried watching a movie. Stood in front of the fridge unsure if I'd be able to keep any food down.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>8am:</b> Jason <i>finally</i> woke up, and we both sat around anxious.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>9am:</b> We still hadn't heard anything from any of the workers and I'm finding it extremely hard to be patient. I email the placement worker asking if she'd heard anything, if we have time to go into town to do the few things we have to do.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>9:15am: </b>Heard back that there was a delay with the court order so she wasn't going to be discharged now until noon. (ACK as if time wasn't going slow enough. As if I wasn't nervous or anxious enough, now we get to prolong our suffering for three more hours!)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>10am - 12pm: </b>We finally head into town to do errands. We had to pick up Jason's contacts, and exchange the diaper bag we had and pick up a few other things. But we basically just wondered around the mall and Wal-Mart killing time, trying to keep our mind off what was going to happen in a few hours.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>12:30pm:</b> We get back home. Still no word from any of the workers.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>1pm: </b>The photographer showed up. The awesome Stephanie Gascho from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Moments-By-Stephanie-Gascho-Photography/492827070779351" target="_blank">First Moments</a> photography. She does some amazing birthing photography, so tasteful and well done. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>2:45pm - 4pm:</b> The worker <i>finally</i> shows up with the most beautiful, tiny little baby girl and my heart exploded. Jason was out playing with the dog, trying to distract himself. I called to him and my voice cracked like a pubescent boy. I got her out of the car seat and handed her off to Jason. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Neither of us cried - surprisingly - although I came close a couple times if I looked too long at Jason. Gah, there's just something about a man holding a baby, the mixture of strength and vulnerability just make them seem so much more manly.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then we had to actually focus - on something other than the baby. Man, <i>that</i> was hard. Her worker went over more paperwork. Gave us info on withdrawal (because there was a chance of that) we had to go over what the access schedule would be like (since the birth family is entitled to "x" amount per week). </span><br />
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There were a few things we had to sign. But after all that waiting, and nerves, and talking we were finally left alone with our brand new baby. Who naturally, had taken a massive crap while the grown ups were talking.<br />
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Ok seriously!? Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the pure awesomeness that is this picture. I thought I knew joy when we were approved, and then again when we heard about her and we said yes. But neither of those moments even come close to what I feel when I see Jason looking at our baby girl like this. And he looks at her a <i>lot</i> like this. Be jealous ladies.<br />
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Then we brought Kai in to meet her. We never really had any doubts about Kai being alright with her. She's an awesome, laid back, super friendly dog. But, she had never met a brand new baby before, so we still wanted to play it safe...and slow. I'm so happy the photographer was still there to capture Kai's first meeting, because it's just too cute.<br />
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It was love at first sight for Kai too. We're all pretty smitten, and Jason is fully aware that he is going to be screwed in the future. The first time she says, "Daddy" he's going to be down for the count.<br />
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<b>4pm - 7pm:</b> We made the rounds visiting my grandparents and a couple friends. Naturally they were all taken with how beautiful and calm and alert she was.<br />
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<b>7:30pm - 9pm:</b> My mum and sister, and Jason's parents came over to finally meet her, and bring some cute little gifts...and most importantly food, because I hadn't been able to eat up until then.<br />
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This was the greatest day of our lives. The day we became parents. Sure we're going to experience a lot of ups and down during this foster-to-adopt process but we're more than ready to jump on the roller-coaster if it means we get to be the forever home for this beautiful, perfect little girl.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-49236853105762805042014-01-17T09:26:00.001-05:002014-01-17T09:26:35.107-05:00Inspired By: Closets I Could Live InSince we currently have two closet projects on the go - a complete overhaul in the nursery, and a minor facelift in the master, I've been having fun getting inspiration from some gorgeous closets. I love me a well organized closet, and I can't wait until ours if functioning at full capacity. I like looking at all the ridiculously large walk-in closets out there, not really practical for us since we don't really own many clothes haha. I have a dream to one day be able to afford my <a href="http://pinterest.com/becca846/my-style/" target="_blank">Pinterst wardrobe</a>. Here are some killer closets that have been helping push on the closet revamp.<br />
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This is a great example of what you can do with a fairly standard size closet. I love the drawers and shoe storage. Definitely a great use of space. Although this is only the man side of things, I'm sure there's an even bigger ladies version on the other side. But you could still implement many of the same ideas in a standard closet.<br />
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This is another effective use of not a lot of space. I like the shoe shelves, it would be more than enough shoe space for me (and Jason if I let him). I think my favourite part of this space is the row of drawers dividing the hanging spaces. Brilliant. They probably have it filled with beautiful jewelry, but I'm more practical, and would most likely shove socks and underwear in them.<br />
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A fairly standard sized walk-in I think, looks to be about the same size as what we'd make ours when we renovate the master suite. I feel like they should've raised everything up about a foot to give the hanging clothes more room, so they're not trailing on the ground or the shelf below. We'd definitely have to, one downside to being tall, your clothes are generally bigger.<br />
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Ok, can we just take a moment to bask in the gloriousness that is this closet. It's basically the same size as the nursery, so something like this is clearly never going to happen at this house, but I would love something similar...you know for all the clothes we don't have.<br />
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Both of the closet updates going on in our house are on a <i>much</i> smaller scale. We're just trying to gain more functionality, not win contests haha, but it's fun (and important) to dream, and I think closets are a good place to do that.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-33335600618148032352014-01-15T10:17:00.000-05:002014-01-15T10:17:51.079-05:00Light me UpNow that the nursery isn't looking like this any more...<br />
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It's time to update that old square cover. In all honesty, that came down when I was painting, and I have no idea where it went, so we currently rocked the exposed bulbs for a while in there. (as well as most other places) Beautiful, I know, hence why we needed to update. I found a light I really liked, for a good price, except it was a table lamp...</div>
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It's by <a href="http://www.lowes.ca/table-lamps/allen-roth-25-oil-rubbed-bronze-table-lamp-with-oil-rubbed-bronze-shade_g1266727.html?isku=9429186&linkloc=cataLogProductItemsImage" target="_blank">Allen & Roth, form Lowes</a>, and at $74 it's within budget. It's not too difficult to hard-wire a lamp as an overhead fixture, so I figured we could do it. I made Jason come to the store to look at it, and he said he liked it, and agreed that it would be no big deal to throw it up on the ceiling. I saw somewhere a little while ago a similar fixture that the person had painted blue, which got my wheels spinning. To paint it, or leave it ORB. I was originally leaning more towards paint it, but once we got it in there, I really like the look of the oil rubbed bronze. It matches the new door handle and hinges, as well as the vent covers, and it also ties in to the dark patches in the floor. So I believe she'll be staying ORB.</div>
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It was super easy to do. All I had to do was take it apart - take the weighted base off, and the longer extension rod, and screw the shorted rod into the cover plate. Then we had to buy some bigger bolts and washers so the rod would be a bit more secure, and one of those chandelier, long screw thingies...<br />
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They're super cheap, but essential. This little baby is what is taking all the weight of the light, taking the pressure off the wiring. I don't have any pictures of the process, because Jason got a little chop happy when he was cutting the excess cord, and <i>barely</i> left enough room to wire it in, so it took four sets of hands haha. It's so nice to have a nice looking fixture up in at least one of the rooms hehe.<br />
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Tada! And look at that...a bonus sneak peek at the ceiling fun! I love it, and Jason really likes it too...and as an added bonus he keeps telling people I made it hehe.</div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-41436591688719983852014-01-13T11:37:00.000-05:002014-01-13T15:20:46.487-05:00Adoption Journey: The Call<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's funny that when you're really excited and wanting something to happen, time seems to slow down, the clock appears to stop - or sometimes it even seems to go backwards. Like the last day of school, or Christmas Eve. But, then like summer break, or Christmas day; it finally comes but then that bloody clock speeds right up and it's over in a blink of an eye. That's how this whole adoption process has seemed to go. When we started the process back in January it seemed like it would be forever before we were done all the paper work and approved, and that it was beyond wishful thinking that we would get a placement by the end of the year. Then we were officially approved and I thought I knew what joy was.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then we had our meeting with the placement worker. She went over all of our selections we'd made, (you know the 6 page book where we had to rate aspects of a child that we'd be okay/not okay with) making sure we didn't want to make any changes. She said that because of how open and willing we were to take a child with pretty much any sort of background, and the fact that I was at home, we most likely wouldn't have to wait too long. That was Friday, October 4. She said that October and November are usually their busiest months with placements so I just knew that we would have a child by the end of the year like we'd prayed for. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">People always seem to remember where they were for life changing events. You ask someone where they were for the moon landing, or 9-11 or Miley Cyrus twerking and they'll all be able to tell you. Here's what my day looked like the day it changed forever. Wednesday, October 9, five days since we met with the placement worker. I was on my way in to a massage appointment when Jason called me. I remember hearing the nervousness in his voice as he told me about a baby girl that had been born that day that they had called him about. Hearing the uncertainty as he told me it was a risky situation because they'd never worked with the birth family before, so they didn't really know what to expect. But most of all, I remember hearing the joy in his voice, that this precious newborn baby girl could be ours. Neither of us cared that both sides of her family are riddled with mental health issues, that there are substance abuse issues with her birth parents, or that there's probably a 50/50 chance that she could go back to the birth-mom (or someone in her family). All we heard is there's a baby girl that needs love, and there's a chance she'll grow to call you Mama and Daddy, and that was good enough for us. We knew that we were signing up for a long road of ups and downs, and that after we loved and raised this sweet girl for a year she could end up going to some member of her bio family which would obviously be heart breaking. But how could we say no, when there is even a slight chance that we could get to keep her forever.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">(we finally get to fill in those dotted lines)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After my massage we had a phone conference with the placement worker to go over all the information they currently had. About birth-mom and the little bit they knew about her family, what they know about bio-dad. How many access visits the family wants/gets, an estimate of how long we can expect it to take if we do get to legally adopt her. She said there was a possibility of us getting to meet her Thursday, but she would be discharged Friday and we would either get to pick her up from the hospital, or her worker would drop her off at our house. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! The next thing to do was head to Babies R Us. Ok, so anyone who knows me, knows I have a serious problem when it comes to all things baby. Jason would back away in fear from the look I got in my eye whenever I found out a friend was pregnant, mostly because he knew it would end with me coming home with at least one or two things for myself when I went shopping for them hehe. So, unleashing me unsupervised in a baby store mere hours after finding out I was about to become a mother - probably not the best idea. But, I did quite well. All I went in the store for was a change pad & cover, a crib sheet and some bottles, and miraculously that's all I came out with. (I did have about 6 different pieces of cute clothes, but I somehow found the willpower to put them back.) It was a new kind of experience being in a store shopping for myself.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The next stop I had to make was to our friends house so they could unload an unhealthy amount of baby paraphernalia on me. I came away laden down with five giant totes full of all sorts of baby girl goodies. Good thing we already traded in our coolness for a mini-van because I came away from there looking like I'd just moved out. I had a ton of fun sorting through all the clothes, although the house looked like an episode of Hoarders after I was done. By then it was bedtime, but there was no way I was going to be able to sleep (Jason had absolutely no problem accomplishing that) I had 9 months of nesting to cram into two days, and an ass-ton of laundry to do. So as I lay awake in the spare bed listening to the whack, whack, whack of all the snaps on all the baby clothes (seriously those bloody things are like all snaps) I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by a sense of peace and immense happiness. I thought I knew joy.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>You can find our other adoption posts <a href="http://oakelm.blogspot.ca/2013/02/adoption-journey-our-story-pt-1.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://oakelm.blogspot.ca/2013/03/adoption-journey-our-story-pt-2.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://oakelm.blogspot.ca/2013/03/adoption-journey-our-story-pt-3.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://oakelm.blogspot.ca/2013/04/adoption-journey-assessment-1.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://oakelm.blogspot.ca/2013/04/adoption-journey-assessment-2.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://oakelm.blogspot.ca/2013/08/adoption-journey-final-assessment.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</i></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-29421390776065921792013-10-02T08:58:00.001-04:002013-10-02T08:58:25.428-04:00The Lust List: Adoption EditionThere's a bunch of updates that have been happening around here (namely in the nursery) So I should have updates this week and next (woot woot!) In the mean time - until I can get my act together to take pictures - and finish up. I'll share some adoption related goodies. There's been many things I've been lusting after regarding the child we should be adopting (hopefully) soon. I was able to work through some of that building our registry on the <a href="http://babyli.st/armitage" target="_blank">Baby List</a> site - it's pretty freakin' awesome) You should check it out, it's a great way to have your registry central to one spot, and you can register places like Etsy & Chapters (score!) Anyway! Here's some things I'm lusting after...<br />
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<img alt="I Heart Adoption Shirt (4T), Adoptions Gifts, Adoption T-Shirts, Birth Mother Gifts, Toddler Adoption T-Shirts" src="http://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/5512425/il_570xN.265960370.jpg" width="570" /></div>
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A super <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/80354453/i-heart-adoption-shirt-4t-adoptions?ref=usr_faveitems" target="_blank">cute shirt</a> on a super cute little model. I like that this is an embroidered shirt, versus the screen print.<br />
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<img alt="Adoption World Map Customized Love Map - 12x18 Silhouette Art Print Features any colors and countries" src="http://img0.etsystatic.com/015/0/6419708/il_570xN.410151836_lmr4.jpg" width="570" /></div>
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I <i>love</i> this <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/80354453/i-heart-adoption-shirt-4t-adoptions?ref=usr_faveitems" target="_blank">map</a>, doesn't really apply to us this time around, but I'll be keeping it in mind for when we do our international adoption.<br />
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<img alt="11"x14" archival print of 'Adoption'- limited edition of 100" src="http://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/6842826/il_570xN.335330076.jpg" width="570" /></div>
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/99346592/11x14-archival-print-of-adoption-limited?ref=usr_faveitems" target="_blank"><br /></a>I love this cute little elephant print, but unfortunately it's no longer available. (sad face) It was produced in limited quantities to help a family, so I guess I missed the boat.<br />
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<img alt="Worth the Wait - Adorable Baby Bodysuit or Toddler Tees - Perfect for New Babies or Adoptions" src="http://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/5140495/il_570xN.187385620.jpg" width="570" /></div>
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This <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/60185805/worth-the-wait-adorable-baby-bodysuit-or?ref=usr_faveitems" target="_blank">cute onesie</a> isn't really adoption specific, because any baby is worth the wait; but I definitely think it speaks to those families that have been trying and trying for a child, and finally were given that gift. Or to those who have had to wait years for their adoptions to go through, or meet their child.<br />
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<img alt="Chosen (Adoption Necklace)" border="0" class="largeimage1" src="http://www.capscreations.com/images/large/chosennew600x600.jpg" /></div>
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I think this <a href="http://www.capscreations.com/item_61/Chosen-Adoption-Necklace.htm" target="_blank">chosen necklace</a> (also a fundraiser) would be a great gotcha day or happy court gift for a child. Take the little pearl off and it'd even work for a boy.<br />
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<img alt="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/coolmompicks/babybrewing.jpg" class="decoded" height="400" src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/coolmompicks/babybrewing.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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Yet another <a href="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/coolmompicks/babybrewing.jpg" target="_blank">cute shirt</a> on another cute model.<br />
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I think <a href="http://www.adoptionbug.com/02_pp/03WH-women.htm" target="_blank">this shirt</a> is hilarious! I feel like it would probably be lost on a lot of people, but it would be a great conversation starter. There are a TON of other great shirts on this site as well, and the greatest this is that every single one of them goes towards helping a family cover their costs of an international adoption.</div>
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This shirt says, "<a href="http://www.ordinaryherostore.org/Toddler-Youth/Kid-s-Red-CHANGE-THE-WORLD-FOR-ONE-tee-p362.html" target="_blank">Change the World for One</a>." I love it - the model helps. This is from the company "Ordinary Hero" and they also have a number of different shirts (as well as other products) that help adoptive families. They are specific to Africa, but through their help you could potentially take your needed trips there for free. They also do a lot of work with African orphans that are over there, such a fantastic company.</div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-84451591383568965832013-08-23T09:50:00.001-04:002013-08-23T09:50:22.555-04:00Adoption Journey : Final Assessment We're getting closer to filling in the dotted lines...<br />
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We <i>finally </i>had our final assessment after three re-schedules, and we were more than looking forward to getting it over with. While we love working on the house, having to cram a <i>ton</i> of large and time consuming projects into the span of a weeks is physically and emotionally draining. (But totally worth it) This assessment was the relationship interview, as well as our final house check. Thankfully we passed the house inspection and we're good to go on that front. She said she like the way the nursery looked with the floor and paint, and thankfully it didn't matter that things like the baseboard weren't done yet.<br />
The interviews started with her asking us why we liked the other person. It's fun to say why you love someone with them there, and it's even more fun to have someone say why they love you. Things got a little awkward when she started talking about our sex life and what we're going to wear in the house when the kids are there? Umm clothes? Not really sure why it matters what we're going to sleep in, and what we're going to walk around in, but hey, whatever floats your boat right? (I understand why it matters if you're fostering an older child, but since we're planning on taking in an infant...) When she had to ask us about our sex life, if it wasn't so hilarious how business like she was, it would've been awkward. "How many times do you have sex a week?" "How do you react Jason, if Rebecca says No to you?" "What about if Jason says no to you?" Jason's a guy, so lets be honest here, I can count on half of one hand how many times that's happened haha. I only half understood why questions like that were important. She asked us what we were most looking forward to about being parents, and what we thought would be the hardest part, or what we weren't looking forward to. Jason said, "Discipline, I know I'm going to suck at it." Haha, I think he'll be better than he gives himself credit, but we both know I'm totally going to be the "bad guy". I'm looking forward to the first time you get to see the morals and values you've instilled in them in action without prompting.<br />
We talked about what strengths we have that would make us good parents, and what activities we plan to do with the kids. Going for hikes and walks was the first thing we both said, as well as a bunch of other things, like reading and music and sports. Then she told us to do the hardest thing, sell our selves, and not be modest. It's hard to list all the things you're good at and not sound like a pompous prick haha.<br />
Now that the assessments are all done, she has to write up this <i>massive</i> report on us that has to be approved by about 1000 people (ok so 3) as well as us, and we'll be placed with an adoption worker in that time. Once we sign off on our home study report the sitting around and waiting for a phone call will commence. We are <i>super</i> excited to be so close now to getting a child in our home. I know compared to a lot of people we haven't been waiting long on the trying to have/get a baby train, but 2.5 years is plenty long when your biggest dream is <i>just</i> out of reach. Hopefully it won't take long, and we can welcome a little baby who needs a good home into ours, because we're missing someone from this picture...<br />
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-72969486274531954372013-08-22T09:14:00.001-04:002013-08-22T09:14:15.747-04:00Feelin' Like a RedneckJason has been talking about cleaning out the garage, for almost as long as we've lived in the house. It has been piled to the brink with crap since the day we closed and began ripping apart our house.<br />
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Umm, yeah, I think it's safe to say that even the most expert of parkers couldn't get their car up in there. (those garbage bags aren't garbage - promise - they're fill of various small debris) In all honesty, I wasn't really too concerned about cleaning out this room, obviously it needed to be done, but it wasn't high on my priority list. Even in a world where it is all cleaned out and able to house a car, we wouldn't be parking in there. It's just a dirt (very uneven) floor, with mad tire grooves, the door doesn't work worth a damn, and it kind of smells pretty bad in there. Plus, it's just easier to go out the front door to get to our vehicles. So after a year of talking about cleaning it out, you can imagine how surprised I was one day when I came home to this...<br />
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Sorry for the terrible picture it was taken through the upstairs window, screen and all. My initial thought when pulling in the driveway was, "holy cow, we're hosting red-neck squatters." Then I remembered that no, <i>we</i> are in fact the red-necks that call this place home, and I thought, "We're pretty awesome for being able to shove all that crap in that little garage. That's a 27ft trailer FULL of house hold debris. Are you as big of a fan of Jason's creative "tarps" as I am? Yes those are carpets, how many times do I have to say it, we're red-necks. The other two piles were wood to be burned (which also (almost) filled the trailer), and scrap metal. He even got rid of everything (except the scrap metal - because we knew we'd get more off the roof). So after he got everything cleaned out, which surprisingly didn't take him and his dad too long, this is what the place looked like.<br />
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Anyone looking for a length of counter that has a sink? All that plywood was for the roof, so the pile is only about a quarter that size now. Favourite find from cleaning out the garage, was a badminton set that wasn't ours, made me want to break it out and show off my mad skillz from my high school days. As for what we're planning on doing with the space now, as long as it doesn't look as bad as it did before I think we're golden. I do want to bring one of the cabinet things we have in the basement out there to house all the gardening/lawn care stuff, so we don't have to go hunting for things every time we need to do something.<br />
What about you guys, did anyone else get any garage clean up done lately? Do you have one of those garages where you're embarrassed to open the door, or do you actually use the garage for its intended purpose of parking your car?<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-68479067486836665502013-08-06T08:47:00.001-04:002013-08-06T08:47:44.114-04:00New Floors in the NurseryI'm a little overdue for this post, so, sorry. But there's floor down in the nursery now! And it looks really good! It's the same floor as in the dining room, but it looks so different in the nursery - you know, different lighting and such. Jason, Eric and I banged it all out in a few hours, and then my glutes and hammies hurt for three days. As a reminder we painted the walls and the ceiling in Behr's "Gentle Rain", colour matched to Dulux Xpert paint. And by we, I mean me, because Jason wouldn't have anything to do with it haha.<br />
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This is probably the closets representation of colour, it's a great warm grey and it works well with the South facing room. We've since changed out all the outlets and put in nice new grate covers, and all the base and trim should hopefully be going on this weekend, then it'll actually be finished, and just needing to be decorating. This room has come along the quickest, and I can't <i>wait</i> to start the decorating process. <br />
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The closet has also since changed appearance. I can't wait to get goin' on the reading nook, and closet organizer and start putting the three totes of baby clothes I've managed to amass over the years. I shared this sneak peak on Instagram of what the closet colour will be.<br />
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It's called Thermal Spring, by Sherwin Willaims. It's a pretty great teal colour, all dark and moody, it looks sweet in the closet, and I totally want to curl up in there with a book - too uncomfortable currently though. The room is coming together nicely, I'll update pictures of the trim and closet as soon as I can.</div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-83377113258034701802013-07-11T09:23:00.000-04:002013-07-11T09:23:27.292-04:00And The Walls Came Tumbling Down!Do you remember when I mentioned a little while ago that we were planning on making the closet in the blue room/nursery bigger? Well guess what I came home to on Tuesday?<br />
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A giant mess! I was torn between exasperation about the mess, and excitement that the closet is now bigger. There was this giant, naily, dusty mess in the hall and bedroom - I almost broke my neck climbing over it to get this picture haha - plus drywall dust foot prints all over the nice new kitchen floor. It was a little overwhelming, but the early stages of a demo project usually are.<br />
Jason did clean up his mess after he got home - he took the windows out, and threw everything out the gaping window less holes into the backyard haha. He had to build a header on the left hand side, and he put up some drywall and attempted to slap some tape & mud up. Now it's looking a little less overwhelming, and a little more like a closet.<br />
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I say he attempted to mud, because the mud was like soup. Because our air conditioner decided to crap out during the most humid and rainy weeks our basement was super damp and warm, apparently the bucket 'o' mud thought it was its job to act as a dehumidifier and suck up all the moisture in the air. So Jason was essentially trying to make the tape stay up with mushroom soup. Now that the weather has decided to back away a bit from Hades, and be a bit more reasonable, we're hoping the mud will thicken back up a bit, making like a bit easier.<br />
We still have to close off the old opening of the linen closet from the hallway, as well as a number of patches here and there, but Jason is motoring right along, and he tells me I should be able to paint by this weekend. We knew we wanted a light, warmer toned gray, something subtle so we could have fun with accents and accessories. We landed on "Gentle Rain" by Behr.<br />
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I really like the swatch, so I'm hoping it translates well to the walls. We need to get the paint up asap, so we can put the floor down and have it actually look like a bedroom for our final visit. (two weeks, yikes)Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-41945946507012669802013-07-09T09:31:00.001-04:002013-07-09T09:31:11.398-04:00Brain DumpWe've been working on a bunch of little things, unglamorous things, mostly un-fun things haha in order to make short work for ourselves when we finish the nursery. Jason picked up some spackle, and filled all the holes in there, then proceeded to go around the rest of the house slapping spackle on everything, which means I now have to repaint pretty much every room in the house :S Then he lost the spackle, can't find it for the life of him which is unfortunate, because there's a few holes that were bigger and could use another go 'round with it. We cleared out all the trim, and doors and everything that we took out of the blue room and shoved in the beige room because it close - so now it's possible for someone to actually sleep in the guest room again. We took a desk, all the baseboard and trim, along with about 1/3 of the door collection we've slowly been amassing to Habitat, and they only took one door and the trim! We were a little annoyed because there was nothing wrong with anything else, but apparently they won't sell them. So far our donation count with this house is pretty low, we either can't seem to salvage it, or they don't want it...I think we'll take the hint. We found a great door there, we need a new front door, so we always check to see what they have, this was was exactly what we were looking for, but alas, too short. Our front door is an odd size, so we're pretty sure we're going to have to cut it to fit no matter what we get, but it's a little harder to make it grow.<br />
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But we've got rooms cleared out, and the house is actually starting to look like a home more and more, I'm painting the nursery today and tomorrow, and we plan to get the floor done in there this weekend. We also put in our base and trim order, so we should be slap those up in the dining room and kitchen this weekend as well. I'm excited for that step, because I know it'll make a huge difference. This time around I feel more confident that our social worker will approve of our<br />
house and not have to do any more updates before we're approved. (Here's hoping) Two weeks until our final assessment, we can't wait! Projects should start to get a bit more exciting now.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-2793054274670366612013-07-02T10:23:00.000-04:002013-07-02T10:23:50.602-04:00Inspired By : ArtNow that the dining room is all painted and (mostly) looking pretty my thoughts have been drawn to how to fill up the picture ledge. A lot of the what will be going up will be pictures of us, and family and friends, but I do want one or two great pieces of art to go up in there, so I've been having fun looking at all sorts of different great pieces that I can make (or someone who is infinitely more talented than I) So without further ado some great art inspiration.<br />
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<div data-palette-listing-id="126819487" id="fullimage_link1" style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Nocturne: Woodland - Original Oil Painting in deep blues and fresh summery greens (37.5x21.5 cm - app. 14.8x8.5 in)" height="640" src="http://img0.etsystatic.com/009/1/5835877/il_570xN.439419168_g9in.jpg" width="364" /></div>
I love me a great <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/126819487/nocturne-woodland-original-oil-painting?ref=shop_home_active" target="_blank">pallet knife painting</a>. The colours in this one blend so fantastically together. I want it. Who wants to make me one hehe.<br />
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<img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-95ic1dLIBVU/TiTuBReGZ2I/AAAAAAAAB2k/Hbeo6geNKx0/s640/boerne_ii_style.jpeg" width="640" /></div>
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I love watercolours, they're probably one of my favourite mediums. This <a href="http://thenowstylebook.blogspot.ca/2011/07/site-to-see-summer-project.html?showComment=1311096435535#c6773634452530064998" target="_blank">Samantha Sano</a> one is gorgeous.<br />
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<span class="image-wrapper current" style="opacity: 1;"> <img alt="" height="640" src="http://images.paulkasmingallery.com/www_paulkasmingallery_com/PK_157043.jpg" style="left: 109.5px; top: 0px;" width="516" /></span></div>
I love this <a href="http://www.paulkasmingallery.com/artists/james-nares/9" target="_blank">painting by Paul Kasmin</a>, because it looks so simple, but I can imagine it was very difficult to do.<br />
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Watercolour by Jean Haines
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I love pretty much anything by<a href="http://www.jeanhaines.com/gallery?g=3" target="_blank"> Jean Haines,</a> but I think this owl is my favourite. He's even got some purple in his wings, so he'd totally fit in hehe.<br />
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<div data-palette-listing-id="122299005" id="fullimage_link1" style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Inspirational Life Quote Print, Retro Poster A3, Handwritten Typography Vintage Print, Black White Wall Art Decor, The Best Is Yet To Come" src="http://img1.etsystatic.com/013/0/7743238/il_570xN.422617545_dgqo.jpg" width="570" /></div>
And no art wall of mine would be complete without some sort of <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/122299005/inspirational-life-quote-print-retro?ref=usr_faveitems" target="_blank">quote art</a>. I love great typography, plus this would be pretty easy to DIY...come to think of it, I just might have to.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-57559384245937079022013-06-18T09:26:00.002-04:002013-06-18T09:26:33.826-04:00Bye Bye Blue RoomThe room in the back corner of the house that has been destined to be the nursery since we moved in has been known to all as the blue room. Because it had a heinous blue carpet. Here's what it looked like on our final walk through (sorry for the craptastic dark, grainy cell phone picture)<br />
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That's what it looked like when we moved in, and that's what it's looked like since; although it has been kind enough to allow copious amounts of junk to squat in there over this past year and a half. As well as being our dumping ground, Kai used it as a literal dumping ground when she was sick. Blegh! So this room was in dire need of some lovin' before we could move a child into it. Those lacy granny curtains had to go, so did the stained blue carpet.<br />
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So, this weekend, while Jason (and Mitch) was doing so plumbing on Mitch & Miche's house they're building, us girls got down and dirty in the blue room. The boys enjoyed our innuendo breakdown of how we ripped that sucker out and got the room prepped. It was sweaty, and dirty, but it took us hardly any time at all to go from that, to this...<br />
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To this...<br />
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Yeah baby! It only took us about 45min to get the carpet out, all the tack strips up, the base & quarter round up, and all the staples up. And we got a great workout in haha. It was all the original baseboard and trim in there, and man oh man, were some of them stuck on the wall. They were attached with the biggest finishing nails I've ever seen! Some of the little pieces could only be coaxed off with some choice words. <br />
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The closet we're planning on making bigger (adding a little reading nook in there), so that's what the tape is up there for, to how big the opening will be. We're closing of the linen closet in the hallway to accommodate the larger closet. Our reasoning behind doing that, is we can't do anything to this room to make it bigger (it's not particularly small at 10' x 11'6", but it's not large) we would maximize the closet space, and make it much more functional to perhaps keep a dresser out of the room, allowing for a larger bed down the road. Also, we don't use the linen closet now (since we also have one in our bedroom), and we plan on adding a built-in to the bathroom when we get to renovating it, so anything we will need to store down the line will be housed in that.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VzaE2drrteg/Ub8jFyjD3iI/AAAAAAAABZI/J_EGbV2qjmo/s1600/DSC_0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VzaE2drrteg/Ub8jFyjD3iI/AAAAAAAABZI/J_EGbV2qjmo/s640/DSC_0008.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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So yay! Bigger closet in there, with a space where our avid little reader can go to chill out. (I used to love reading in my closet, or in the little nook that was just outside my bedroom door when I was little) I couldn't get this closet door off for some reason, I struggled with the other one when we were ripping up the carpet, and it fell on me, but this one just wouldn't give. So Jason has to remove that as well as the old baseboard heater unit, and I apparently missed some door trim haha, so that'll have to come down. But it's basically just take that boarder down, and spackle a few nail holes then we're good to paint. Can you see the swatches up there...I think I've got it narrowed down to four colours.<br />
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So, huzzah! Although now it seems rather hospital with the dated white floors and white walls, and the question was asked, is it still the blue room now that there's no blue? Probably, I mean the Lion King room was always the Lion King room. My sister and I will hopefully get the wallpaper down before Wednesday, and if I hurry up and make a paint colour decision, I can paint and we could potentially be ready to install the floors by the weekend.<br />
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-6979191432529231172013-06-17T10:59:00.001-04:002013-06-17T10:59:47.692-04:00Listy McGhee<style>
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</style> Since our last assessment got pushed back <i>yet again</i> (this time it wasn't our fault) we have more time to get rooms actually finished. (Well at least get finishes done, even if the rooms won't be completely done.) So I did what comes naturally for a crazy person, and wrote out about 6 different lists of what we have to do before that time. So here's the list of what we're <strike>hoping</strike> going to get done by July 21.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DSUaVliHOzw/UbvGFVXV3KI/AAAAAAAABYM/a--5JFDzyO0/s1600/nursery2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DSUaVliHOzw/UbvGFVXV3KI/AAAAAAAABYM/a--5JFDzyO0/s640/nursery2.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
BLUE ROOM</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Clean out</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Rip up carpet</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Remove wallpaper</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Paint </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Install floor</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Cut out bigger closet</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Make closet doors</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Get dresser for change table</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Upholster chair</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t3QGMlu5RNM/UbvEWztf26I/AAAAAAAABXo/E-dDNpSwYgw/s1600/DSC_0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t3QGMlu5RNM/UbvEWztf26I/AAAAAAAABXo/E-dDNpSwYgw/s640/DSC_0007.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
DINING ROOM</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>3<sup>rd</sup> coat of paint</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>get picture ledge up and painted</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>picture moulds</div>
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BEIGE ROOM/LAUNDRY</div>
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(how is it I still have no pictures of our living room?!)</div>
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LIVING ROOM</div>
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UPSTAIRS</div>
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-57746072676656185252013-06-13T10:24:00.000-04:002013-06-13T10:24:47.105-04:00Nursery Mood Board: Gold GlamIt's been a while since I posted a nursery mood board, and the last one that went up while being gender neutral, was still leaning more towards the masculine way of life. What can I say, that's how I roll, I'm not a girly girl. That being said, coming up with this super girly room was rather fun. The thing I encountered most with a "gold glam" nursery was the price of things. Holy Camoly can you pay a lot of money for certain things. (Which I guess is true for anything you do, it just seemed to crop up more with this board) So without further ado, here's my take on a glamorous girly nursery. <br />
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1. The colour is called Rainstorm and it's by Sherwin Williams, and I think it's what makes this room more palatable for me, because I'm really not a fan of pink. It's moody, and cozy, but with the pink and gold accents it's still girly.<br />
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2. An inexpensive <a href="http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=23603251&color=027&itemdescription=true&navAction=jump&search=true&isProduct=true&parentid=A_FURN_LIGHTING" target="_blank">"gold" pendant</a> overhead light.<br />
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3. An accent wall with some randomized gold dots.<br />
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4. So they'll always know what <a href="http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=16403909&parentid=A_DECORATE" target="_blank">letter</a> their name starts with. Leave it as is, or spray it gold, or pink, or another fun colour. <br />
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5. A great <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/111505415/happiness-is-made-for-you-gold-foil?ref=sr_gallery_7&ga_search_query=gold+foil&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_search_type=handmade" target="_blank">gold foil message</a> for the baby to learn. <br />
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6. Some <a href="http://www.ontobaby.com/2012/12/parkers-sweet-girly-nursery-in-pink-gold-and-gray/" target="_blank">sparkly hangers</a> to display special things. Another simple DIY involving some gold (or any colour) sparkles or sequins, and some pant hangers. <br />
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7. Another <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/123614490/gold-foil-metallic-nursery-art-kids-room?ref=sr_gallery_10&ga_search_query=gold&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_search_type=handmade" target="_blank">message</a> baby should learn. These could also be DIYed with gold paint, or gold leaf.<br />
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8. I love the <a href="http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=26864017&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS" target="_blank">Stella floor lamp</a>, she's got vintage lines to her, but she's still modern enough to fit into this glam room. Plus she comes in a bunch of different colours, so she'd fit in many different spaces.<br />
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9. Because a gray elephant isn't cool enough, spray <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/107285913/hot-pink-elephant-with-gold-accents" target="_blank">mama</a> and <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/107288468/hot-pink-baby-elephant-with-gold-accents" target="_blank">baby</a> in pink, and dip them in gold! This would be a super cheap and easy DIY, there's all sorts of animal toy DIY's out there. <br />
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10. A little<a href="http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S89870335/#/S69002469" target="_blank"> floating shelf</a> is great if you're short on space and have a ton of stuff to hold. Which lets face it, when it comes to babies, there's tons of stuff. <br />
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11. I've loved ampersands ever since grade 1, when I learned the word. So pass on the love with this little<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/121903638/rustic-gold-leaf-wood-ampersand" target="_blank"> gold leafed</a> one. Or if you're more into letters, they've got the whole alphabet there too.<br />
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12. Cute little <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/96691781/vintage-cast-iron-gold-bird-figurine?ref=sr_gallery_17&ga_search_query=gold+nursery&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank">cast iron golden birdy</a>. Doesn't serve a purpose, but is pretty cute.<br />
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13. I love this <a href="http://www.landofnod.com/between-a-rock-and-a-lamp-base-gold/f10706" target="_blank">gold faceted table lamp</a>. It would work in a multitude of different rooms. <br />
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14. Nothing says glamorous like a mirror where you can narcissisticly check yourself 100 times before breakfast, so why not slap some on a dresser? While I'm not inclined to pay the outlandishly high price of the one from <a href="http://www.potterybarn.com/products/park-mirrored-pull-dresser/?pkey=e|mirrored%2Bdresser|4|best|0|1|24||1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-" target="_blank">Pottery Barn</a>, I'm not opposed to toning it down, and doing a <a href="http://www.alittleglassbox.com/2012/01/mirror-mirror-on-dresser.html" target="_blank">DIY version</a>, where you only mirror the front. <br />
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15. A simple <a href="http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S49877777/" target="_blank">white slipper chair</a> is a neutral base to build some of the girlier accents off of, and is something that can grow up and be a reading chair in her room later in life.<br />
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16. Speaking of some girlier accents, a<a href="http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=18240945&parentid=A_RUGPILCUR" target="_blank"> velvety pink round</a>, a <a href="http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=26486183&parentid=A_RUGPILCUR" target="_blank">soft lace edged</a>, and a <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/98665010/18x18-gold-leaves-brocade-decorative?ref=sr_gallery_2&sref=sr_93d32be245288600c7981dbe181a31a61f9cb0d7a54558f7eea03bcd9c012144_1362936948_14196580_gold&ga_search_query=gold+leaf&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank">subtle gold leaf</a> are all good pillow options.<br />
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17. Some <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/80813887/scalloped-glitter-garland-gold" target="_blank">glitter garland</a> strung above the crib announces this is where the princess sleeps.<br />
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18. This <a href="http://www.landofnod.com/kids-all-rugs/kids-room-decor/color-inside-the-lines-rug-pink/f9731" target="_blank">pink rug </a>is made from recycled materials, and since there's a bit of white, and blue in it, it's not going to compete with the wall colour.<br />
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19. Lay to rest on some <a href="http://www.landofnod.com/dot-sheet-set-gold/f11378" target="_blank">gold polka dotted bed sheets</a>.<br />
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20. A<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/92330691/graphic-modern-baby-quilt-midnight-white" target="_blank"> lovely quilt </a>with some hot pink bands. <br />
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21. After a long hard day of pooping and crying baby wants to rest her head in a <a href="http://www.dwellstudio.com/modern-baby-boutique/nursery-furniture-and-gliders/mid-century-baby-crib-french-white.html" target="_blank">modern white crib</a>. Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-55915587597892245812013-06-12T11:09:00.000-04:002013-06-12T11:09:09.755-04:00Kitchen Files: Floor Beneath Our FeetThere's been some changes taking place in the kitchen as of late. Some small, small that make a huge difference, and some that are so monumental they're life changing. (Seriously I'm not exaggerating.) When you've lived without a proper kitchen for as long as we did any updates you do are touted as the greatest thing since sliced bread. It still makes me giddy to turn the lights on in there! Our final assessment was set for last Thursday so we were working our tail feathers off (we much rather would've been shakin' them) to get the kitchen floor in before then (as well as a few other smaller things). We finally got everything finished at about 1:30am Wednesday night (or Thursday morning if you will), and fell into bed without showering, and barely getting changed. Then before I even closed my eyes, it seemed like the alarm was going off, and we had to get up to finish tidying and a bunch of other things we were too tired to do the night before. Before we were able to get out of bed our social worker called to cancel the appointment because she was sick. I was annoyed for all of 30 seconds, because it meant we got to go back to sleep, and we honestly probably weren't ready for her to come anyway haha.<br />
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Anywho, we're glad she didn't cancel until the morning of, because we needed the meeting looming over our head to finish up the floor...<br />
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Tada! It looks great! We love it, when we first started we weren't sure if we really liked it, but the more that went down, the more we liked it. Which is a good thing, because this floor was a biotch to put down. It. Took. For. Ever! You had to flash the floor, and flash the tiles, then wait about a half hour for them to set before sticking them down. And the floor dried quicker, so it was a while before a good rhythm was figured out. <br />
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A gratuitous detail shot. And no, I couldn't have dusted the floor before hand, because I already have about 6 times. There's a lot of glue on the edges of the tiles (which is most of what you see here) that we're going to have to thumb off before we poly-seal it. (which is probably going to take a week because it's such a tedious job) Jason wasn't the neatest of gluers, but he put in a ton of hours on the new floor, so I can't complain.<br />
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Another update we did, that doesn't really change the look of the room much, but makes it a whole lot more functional came in the form of counters.<br />
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They still kind of look like ply-wood, but if you look closer, they're really... <br />
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Peel and stick tiles from the dollar store! Because we are having to post-pone our lovely quartz counter install due to a pesky leaky roof, I had to improvise. I wanted something wipeable, because I was tired of sweeping the counters. Yeah, sweeping, and we don't have a little hand held one, gotta get the ancient bristle broom up in there. Pain. In. The. Neck. (literally) So while this little counter update may not change the look of the room, it's umpteen times more functional, because no I can actually wipe up spills. Hoorrah!<br />
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So, like the dining room, it's still a ways a way from being finished, but it's much closer. Next step is some base and case and hole patching as well as some paint touch-ups. Plus organize and unpack all our kitchen stuff we still have downstairs.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-83093070791077325462013-06-11T10:49:00.000-04:002013-06-11T10:49:49.410-04:00Walkin' On SunshineAnd it sure feels good! (I have had this post sitting in the draft pile for close to a month, because I hadn't got around to taking pictures...I suck, I know. I'm sorry.)<br />
The floor we put down really is like walking on sunshine! It looks fan-freakin-tastic! And it feels pretty fantastic under your feet. We've been living with the subfloor in there (and the kitchen) for almost a year. Not that you could really call it "living with" since I can count on one hand the amount of times we've even entered the dining room over this past year. Our friend Mitch came over to help us lay it, and he's such a rock star that it only took he and Jason three hours.<br />
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We put in an engineered hardwood that had to be brad nailed down, so I
was planning for most of one day to put it in, thankfully that wasn't
the case. Mostly because Mitch is a rock star, and can bang stuff out in no time, seriously if you're looking for someone to make your house a little prettier he's your man.<br />
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Hooray, so pretty! Then since I was a slacker and didn't paint before the floor went down, the room still wasn't ready, so I had to paint. I love putting new floors down, they can totally and completely change the look of the room. So can paint though...take a look at this bad boy all painted up!<br />
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The hutch won't be staying like this, it's going to get a makeover. <br />
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Woot woot! It's a far cry from done, but it actually looks like a room now, instead of a dusty hell hole, so I'll take it. The colour looks great with the floor (I still have to do a third coat to even out a few places) and once we put up the base & case and install the picture ledge it'll look even better. We also took off the awning that was over the window about a month ago, and it's crazy how much more light it lets in the room. I'm so glad I finally painted, it's been like a year since I bought the paint, I've taken it to get shaken no less than three times since buying it with the intention to paint, haha. Moving the table in there just proved to me that it's too small for the space, it'll live in there though until we can find a table we like enough to buy, or get around to making one ourselves. But the room looks fantastic, even better than I was picturing. Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-68194181557827432972013-05-15T08:24:00.000-04:002013-05-15T08:24:16.803-04:00Operation Backyard Awesome : Private PartsNormal people usually understand that someone's backyard is private property, for whatever reason there are a number of people in Lucan who are not normal; and don't understand this concept of <i>private</i> property. They apparently believe that all property belongs to them. Our backyard backs on to the back of a number of shops on main street, with apartments over them. Here's an old picture from last spring, before we took out the
overgrown, useless raised garden bed pretty much smack-dab in the middle
of our yard.<br />
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It's come in pretty handy, since we basically back on to the only bar in Lucan, so it makes for a quick and easy walk home. Sometimes the neighbours cut through too, which we don't really care about. What we do care about are the crazy asses who come into our yard to steal our patio chairs after we only had them for three days. Or walk their dog around and through our yard, letting them crap wherever they want and not pick it up. Or my personal favourite (which happened the other day) <i>biking</i> through our yard. I was sitting in the van on the street, about to pull in the driveway when this lady on her bicycle came down it. For once, I was stunned into silence, although apparently the neighbour gave her an earful. She apparently thought there was a path there. Ok crazy, I can totally get how the vast green grass looks like a path, often people have dogs tied up to an umbrella stand, next to a garage, on a path; you're right. We're beyond frustrated with all these people. I suggested putting in landmines, but Jason says that's taking it a bit too far - really, it just comes down to we don't know where to get them. So we'll settle for a fence. <br />
That chain link fence on the right is the only fence we have, it's clearly open to the back, and it's open to our other neighbours as well. We get along splendidly with both sets of neighbours, so we never really cared about fencing in the yard. Until we got Kai. She wouldn't go anywhere, she's a great listener and stays when you tell her, but if she sees a squirrel she has been know to chase them...far. So last summer we started talking about fencing the yard. But then we discovered if we used the heavy, cast iron patio umbrella stand and some old random tools from the shed (like a mini pitch fork and a large spade and some railway ties) to secure it to the ground, then tie a long rope to it, it was sufficient enough to keep her in place. (Even when she's trying to kill Cujo, the neighbour dog) We almost won an award for most redneck pet corral, but the dog who lives in an old dryer won. <br />
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So now that we're actually having to be serious about putting a fence up (at least at the back) I've been searching for some nice looking options. I don't want the basic wood slat fence, if we're going to have to put one up, we might as well make it look as nice as possible. We're not sure if we're going to put a gate in or not. Here's some of my favourite "modern" fence ideas I've come across...<br />
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(<a href="http://www.houzz.com/photos/18929/Feldman-Architecture-modern-landscape-san-francisco" target="_blank">1</a>) </div>
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(<a href="http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/beforeafter-fence-facelift-154176" target="_blank">2</a>)</div>
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(<a href="http://www.houzz.com/photos/626139/Vintage-outdoor-lounge-chairs-with-an-interesting-fence-design--modern-landscape-los-angeles" target="_blank">3</a>) </div>
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(<a href="http://www.glenoaksbigsur.com/bigsur.html" target="_blank">4</a>)</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_AzuOOM368k/UYxbk-LQqkI/AAAAAAAABPc/HrcA9lsu3Ck/s1600/aae4a30e796814ab4b5c9a92776ba8db.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_AzuOOM368k/UYxbk-LQqkI/AAAAAAAABPc/HrcA9lsu3Ck/s640/aae4a30e796814ab4b5c9a92776ba8db.jpg" width="426" /> </a></div>
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(<a href="http://www.houzz.com/privacy-fence/p/480" target="_blank">5</a>) </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z7O_v9sH84k/UYxb1TM-cLI/AAAAAAAABPk/Q1pDp09jiAQ/s1600/43d94904a2cb8a50f4715190cae00ab6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z7O_v9sH84k/UYxb1TM-cLI/AAAAAAAABPk/Q1pDp09jiAQ/s640/43d94904a2cb8a50f4715190cae00ab6.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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(<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/114490015500010957/" target="_blank">6</a>) </div>
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2, 3, and 7 are our favourites, although number 6 is pretty freakin' awesome! 2 and 7 are pretty similar, and would be the easiest to build. Regardless of what we're going to do, we're planning on doing some landscaping back there too. We've got to get a move on with this fence because we've put our awesome sectional outside, and we <i>really</i> don't want that stolen.<br />
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Which options do you like best? Have you ever had any issues with people coming through your backyard, or people stealing your things?Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-61480318138976345742013-05-14T10:34:00.000-04:002013-05-14T10:34:31.652-04:00Some Little ProjectsI've been working on a few little things lately trying to summer things up a bit around here. Starting with the front garden. Last year we ripped out the brick at the front of the house <a href="http://oakelm.blogspot.ca/2012/05/my-milkshake-brings-all-boys-to-yard.html" target="_blank">to put a small garden</a>, and it was ok. We had some blooming things (mainly because we planted things that already had flowers on them) but it was relatively sad haha. In the fall my mom and I planted a bunch of bulbs and I didn't really have high hopes for them, I'm a bit of a black thumb. I was always the kid who's stupid little bean never grew. That's why the only house plant we have is a succulent, because not even I can seem to kill them. But my garden out front looks great so far, and it's still early! So I had my mom and sister come out to help me weed, and we put up a little border around the garden, just using the bricks we'd pulled up.<br />
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I'm most excited about my rose bush. We transplanted it from the backyard last year, and it was <i>pitiful</i>, we figured it was dead, but it managed one bloom. This year it is looking WAY better, and I'm really hoping we get a few more than one this year.<br />
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There's still a few more plants and flowers I need/want to get in there, like some nice annuals, maybe some inpatients, and a few more begonias. There's some grape hyacinth in the backyard that we'll transplant up there as well as soon as we can (they're growing in the middle of the yard)<br />
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We also took off the ugly awning over the dining room window. It was one of those projects that take absolutely no time, and makes you wonder why on earth you hadn't done it sooner. And it lets is so much more light into the dining room now. We still want to take down those cedars, they're just too close to the house, but we want to wait until we're able to plant another tree first. Seems only fair since we already ripped out Bertha the giant bush. I also want to do some gardening/landscaping on this side, since it's not going to change at all, and it gets a bit more sun than the other side.<br />
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In terms of still summery, but less flowery things, I made some patio plates. I somehow have amassed a significant collection of plates, (I like to throw parties haha) so I decided to take the white plates I had and fun them up a bit. (they came from Dollerama) I started with a white plate and some Sharpie paint pens.<br />
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I was wanting to create something like the plates that Amanda from <a href="http://loveandrenovations.com/" target="_blank">Love & Renovations</a> scored from West Elm a while ago, I just loved them, but they don't sell them anymore, plus they'd probably be out of our price range anyway. So I figured why not try this Sharpie on white ceramics thing that's all over the place, and see if I could recreate a similar look.<br />
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Here's what I came up with. The colours are considerably more primary and bright, and a lot of my zig-zags don't line up all that great, but they're not too bad. I was a little disappointed with how they turned out, but Jase thought they looked good, and proclaimed they'd make good patio plates. So patio plates they shall become. The second plate I did looked better, and I devised a plan for the third one, so it should look even better. I've got 12 white plates kickin' around so I'll probably do it to all 12, and I've got an idea for salad plates, so hopefully I can get to those soon too.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-62676961527648225142013-05-13T15:24:00.000-04:002013-05-13T15:24:03.169-04:00Some Small ImprovementsThere have been a few small things taking place here lately, small, but <i>very</i> exciting things! Each big stage we hit in the kitchen is exciting. I remember when the fridge got moved in there, and the <a href="http://oakelm.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-kitchen-files-movin-on-up.html" target="_blank">stove hooked up</a>, it was like Christmas morning so I promptly cooked a most delicious roast beef. Then came the the<a href="http://oakelm.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-kitchen-files-rise-up-rise-up.html" target="_blank"> instal of the cabinets,</a> and sink, and I was actually able to do dishes, so I celebrated by doing the worlds largest stock pile of dirty dishes. And we were relatively good about keeping up to date with our dishes. The thing that I wanted most of all in there for a while were lights! We had one floor lamp in there that we'd switch between two different outlets depending if we were cooking or washing dishes. I was more than ready for lights, even if it was just the one over the sink. Thankfully I got more than that. (Sorry for the crappy pictures, I still have to use my phone, and it's really hard to get pictures of pot lights haha)<br />
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Hello gorgeous illumination, where have you been all my life. We've had overhead lighting in here for a couple weeks now, and I still get all giddy and smile bigger than is necessary every time I flick them on. You can actually cook at night now, without getting the lamp cord caught in the oven door. Success! As if getting lights up in here wasn't enough excitement for me to handle Jason came home with this bad boy the other day.</div>
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It's my favourite kind of dishwasher...FREE! That's right, that gorgeous beaut that matches the rest of our appliances was free! Jason switched it out at this guys house who got a new one, because this one didn't match the new fridge and stove he got. Jason called me to see if I wanted a free stainless dishwasher, I thought about it for a microsecond, then questioned why he even bothered to ask because what kind of person says no to a free dishwasher. I was thinking we'd take it as a temporary thing until we could get one that would fit better with our appliances. I didn't realize it was only a year old, and was super nice looking at fits in perfectly with his other appliance friends. We've already put two loads through, and he works like a charm. We feel like we're real grown ups now that we have a dishwasher haha.</div>
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Moving over a room, to the ever forgotten dining room, We've primed and painted (the top part), and the floor has been scraped clean of all the drywall mud slops and nails and other crud that was there, and it's ready for floor!</div>
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The floor is an engineered hardwood from Armstrong that we got from an auction before we even closed on the house, they've got a great reclaimed wood look to them. We're super glad we took every piece out of every box, because there was a <i>ton</i> of variation to them. There was a warmer more reddy/orange tone, and a lighter, blonder tone, then there were darker pieces to each tone. We sorted them into three piles, and decided to use the warmer toned ones in the nursery<br />
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It's even pretty in this poorly lit, night time phone picture. It should be going down Wednesday, then hopefully Thursday/Friday - or part of the weekend, will be devoted to putting down the kitchen floor so we can get this final home assessment done. I'm really looking forward to having the floor down in there so we can actually walk in that room without getting drywall dust all over our feet and traipsing it around the house. Just have to get my but in gear to do a few of the projects I've got for in there.</div>
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-51602034080692603002013-05-13T08:24:00.001-04:002013-05-13T08:40:20.684-04:00Nursery Mood Board: Scottish BairnIt's been a little while since I've posted a mood board about a fun nursery. This one is one of my favourites, Jason and I both really like it, and could totally see our child taking up residence in a room like this. We both would <i>love love love</i> to go to Scotland, we've got a trip planned for when we meet certain goals in our life (and save up enough money). So until that time I'll live vicariously through pictures of the gorgeousness that is Scotland, and this cute little nursery.<br />
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1. This <a href="http://www.landofnod.com/cardigan-pendant-lampshade-grey/f10719" target="_blank">overhead light</a> looks like it's wearing a sweater knit by your grandma!<br />
2. A beautiful fine art <a href="http://www.abrady.com/6B14-scottish-highlands.html" target="_blank">oil painting of the Scottish Highlands</a>. Oh how I'd love to be there.<br />
3. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/109504530/scottish-art-haud-yer-wheesht-art-on?ref=sr_gallery_41&ga_search_query=scottish&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank">Haud Yer Wheesht</a>! Means Hold your quiet, or Hush, be quiet. Perfectly fitting for a nursery, no? <br />
4. Along with rugby and Nessie, Shetland Ponies always make me think of Scotland. If you're not lucky enough to have a bunch of these weird little creatures tromping around in pastures near you to take a picture of, that's sad. Just google them, there's a ton of great pictures you could frame.<br />
5. A <a href="http://www.target.com/p/triple-tree-branch-lamp-base-brown-includes-cfl-bulb/-/A-13737920" target="_blank">branch lamp base</a> paired with a <a href="http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/30228624/#/20204483" target="_blank">simple white shade</a>; rustic and charming, just like any Scot who opens his mouth.<br />
6. It can't be a Scottish room without a nod to rugby...they love their rugby. We also love rugby, I picked up <a href="http://www.steamrollerrugby.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=B-SMITHPLD" target="_blank">this ball</a> from a 7's tournament Jase was in in NYC a couple years ago, and it's totally going in our child's room. Jason has said on more than one occasion he wants enough kids to outfit at least a 7's team.<br />
7. A room deriving inspiration form Scotland isn't complete without something related to Nessie. There's so many cute prints on Etsy, like <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/75987962/limited-edition-loch-ness-monster?ref=usr_faveitems" target="_blank">this one</a>, or <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/88574587/loch-ness-monster-encounter-screen-print?ref=sr_gallery_3&ga_search_query=loch+ness&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_search_type=handmade" target="_blank">this one</a>, or <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/58983780/l-is-for-lake-monster?ref=sr_gallery_34&ga_search_query=loch+ness+monster+print&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank">this one</a>.<br />
8. A <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/113863435/distressed-scottish-flag-wood-wall?ref=sr_gallery_5&ga_search_query=scottish+flag+&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank">flag shield </a>to protect yourself from all those English invaders. This would be a pretty easy DIY with some leftover pieces of wood, or even a piece of ply.<br />
9. I love postcards. We've collected a few from every trip we've been on, and I love when people send us postcards, so a <a href="http://www.cardfed.com/postcard/search/and/scotland/277" target="_blank">vintage postcard</a> would be a great addition to an art wall.<br />
10. A <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/124812620/1920-antique-scotland-map-vintage-1920s?ref=sr_gallery_13&ga_search_query=scottish&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_page=4&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank">vintage map of Scotland</a>, to talk over all the places we'll go visit when we're there.<br />
11. I once heard a Scottish comedian making fun of the fact that the thistle is the Scot's national symbol, and how they must've shown up dead last to pick that one, right behind us Canadians who get a leaf. Funny. These <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/114715527/scottish-thistle-buttons-set-of-five?ref=usr_faveitems" target="_blank">little thistle buttons</a> would look really cute pinned together in a group of four in a shadow box on a fabric backing.<br />
12. The cutest little <a href="http://www.barneys.com/Zuny-Bomy-II-Sheep-Bookends/00505021032479,default,pd.html?cgid=kids-toys-gifts&index=9" target="_blank">sheep bookends</a> ever, and since I couldn't really justify spending $135 (plus who knows how much to ship to Canada - if they even do) you could make your own (or rope a talented friend into doing it) (Use a cute crochet pattern like <a href="http://toycrochet.blogspot.ca/2011/07/sheep-toy-by-deb-richey.html" target="_blank">this one</a> then stuff it with something to weight it down)<br />
13. Refinish an old dresser into something that looks great, and will serve double duty as a changing area.<br />
14. Keep the toes warm in the winter with this<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/115499105/4-x-6-shaggy-white-faux-fur-sheep-skin" target="_blank"> furry sheep like rug</a>. Also would be fun to roll around in and run your face in...baby would probably like to do the same. <br />
15. The <a href="http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/90251659/" target="_blank">Strandmon</a> chair from Ikea, so lovely. This is what we plan to do with one of our wing backs that we'll use in our nursery. <br />
16. Coordinate with some cute pillows, like this cute <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/93618485/grey-large-houndstooth-designer-pillow?ref=sr_gallery_13&ga_search_query=grey+plaid+pillow&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank">hounds-tooth one</a>, or this <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/116776826/cream-tartan-and-grey-suede-pillow?ref=sr_gallery_4&sref=sr_7971392253d2acc6660c8ee8916706ac3c2123f934f4fc05296de4377e881b71_1363008869_14419019_grey&ga_search_query=grey+plaid+pillow&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank">plaid tartan one</a>.<br />
17. Hello adorable <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/107709979/love-me-loch-ness-custom-fleece-plush" target="_blank">Nessie plush</a>. I can't decide if I'd want to use this as a plush toy for baby, or stuff it full of something heaving to use it as a cute door stop. Either way, she's super cute and soft looking. <br />
18. Dirty laundry should not have to be ugly, especially when it's cute little baby clothes. A <a href="http://www.westelm.com/products/modern-weave-handled-baskets-d111/?pkey=cfireplace-accessories" target="_blank">woven basket</a> would make a great laundry hamper.<br />
19. Prop your feet up on this <a href="http://www.target.com/p/threshold-plaid-grey-plaid-ottoman/-/A-14165602" target="_blank">little plaid ottoman</a> after a long hard day<br />
20. The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PI266S/?camp=0&creative=0&adid=1SW9X4FKC2K5W5AS597N&ref=as_li_ss_til" target="_blank">Sparrow by Oeuf</a>. <br />
21. Get some cute <a href="http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/gingham-toddler-sheeting-navy/?pkey=btoddler-shop-sheeting" target="_blank">gingham sheets</a> for the crib, and pair it with a quilt in your family tartan. Or just any tartan that you think looks good.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-33695770741667087632013-05-10T08:37:00.001-04:002013-05-10T08:37:48.670-04:00Operation Backyard Awesome : The Initial PlansSo, I <a href="http://www.oakelm.blogspot.ca/2013/04/operation-backyard-awesome-destructive.html" target="_blank">mentioned</a> that we were planning on tackling (at least part of) the back patio this year, and we're hoping to get started now that the weather's nice. We already ripped out the big bush, and cleared away a lot of other dead or dying plant life that would be in our way, so we're ready to think about the layout, and finalize a few things so we can dig the gas lines. This was my initial (super rough) idea that I came up with last year, more of a way to play with sizing. How, long and wide could we go, and all that jazz.<br />
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This idea doesn't work for a few reasons, but mainly it's just too small, and cramped. Here's a reminder of what the area looks like now. (minus Bertha the bush)<br />
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There are only four main things we're looking for with the patio:<br />
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<li>No more brick. We really don't like the brick. It's got copious amounts of weeds growing in between them, they're oil stained, and have <i>massive</i> dips in them from where the previous owners parked their cars. We'll be keeping the brick for the driveway for now, but it is our goal to eventually get rid of it, to put in something else.</li>
<li>A dining area big enough to seat at least 8 off the back door.</li>
<li>A designated "cooking" area close to the eating area. An outdoor kitchen if you will. (Since we plan on upgrading to a bigger badder gas BBQ down the line we'd like to run the gas line for it now so we don't have to make a mess of our pretty patio later)</li>
<li>A lounge area with patio flame. We have a large outdoor sectional that will go around the patio flame making it like a conversation area.</li>
<li>Must be made of wood, and must be pretty.</li>
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Not too big of a list of must haves. The first idea kind covered some of those needs, but not all of them, and it just seemed too small. We have a large back yard, so we want to patio to look like it belongs, and not be dwarfed. Here's what we have in mind now...<br />
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It's got a little more oomph, and seems to hold it's weight better. See what I mean by we have a big backyard haha. And the blue spruce by the house is the only tree we have in our South facing backyard, so there's not much shade goin' on back there. You can also see, that this is why we need the help of a landscaper. We have a vast open space and no idea what to do with it. We need to put a fence up at the bottom of our yard to stop the crazy people from the stores and apartments above them walking through our yard. And we want to plant a few trees (we plan on planting one for every child we have) Anywho...lets take a closer look shall we?<br />
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Talk about a deck! This is definitely more of a statement, and definitely more our style and taste. Since we spend as much time as possible outside this idea covers our wants and needs better. It takes care of getting rid of the brick, it has a large eating area, under a pergola to provide some shade so our pasty necks won't get burnt (who am I kidding, we'll still get burnt - true story I got one of the worst burns of my life while sitting under a tree in the shade...I'm cool like that!) The pergola is attached to concrete pillars one of which turns into a bit of a bar area beside the barbeque. It's got a built in area for the BBQ, which is our designated cooking area. This area of the patio will come directly off the house, which means it'll be just over a foot off the ground, then we'll have a step down to our lounge area. This area has our sectional and the patio flame, and makes me want to sit there and roast marshmallows haha (and I don't even like marshmallows). We pulled this area away from the house so we're not blocking the basement windows, which we'll have to egress when we get to the finishing of it. It definitely covers our last point...it's pretty and made of wood! I think this is a winning idea for us, Jason is wholeheartedly on board with it, so I look forward to getting started.<br />
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Just for comparison sake, the first mockup I came up with was 29' x 9' (although I suggested bumping it up to 11') whereas this one is 36' x 27' considerably bigger. We're not sure how much we're going to be able to get done this year, since we still have a bunch of things inside to finish, and we're hoping to get a baby by the fall. We plan on starting with the lounge area, since we already have everything for that, so we'll run the line, and set up a temporary situation, and we'll likely stake everything out, and plan our all our materials so we can have a budget in mind. We'll set things up where they would go, to play with size and layout, and make sure it does work well, because we learned the hard way that things don't always fit as nicely in real life as they do online or on paper. The best part of having a giant backyard, is you can decide to build a 900sq.ft. patio and it doesn't cut into where your imaginary massive pool is, so we can still go pretend swimming. I look forward to hearing what the landscaping company I talked to has to say about what kind of plants and trees to plant and where.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-64915713191700981682013-04-18T08:33:00.000-04:002014-01-13T11:38:41.196-05:00Adoption Journey : Assessment #2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We had our second assessment Tuesday and we felt it went smashingly. These are the personal individual interviews, where we have to talk about our parents and siblings and our relationship with them growing up and now. While we were still in PRIDE training we heard some horror stories from a few women saying they were in there for close to two hours and it was like they were being grilled, so needless to say I was a little nervous about it. But it was nothing like that. I was done in about 35 minutes, and she just asked a list of questions. A few of the answers were a simple yes or no, but most of them (for me at least) required much more explanation. But apparently I'm succinct and don't talk more than I need to (HA, never would've thought I'd have had that said about me) If I was succinct, then I'm not really sure what word should be used to describe how Jason's interview was haha. He was finished in 12 minutes, we're pretty sure that's some sort of record. She told us to be prepared for anywhere from 30-90 minutes. I was figuring Jason would be around 30, and I'd be closer to the hour and a half. Hooray for small miracles. We have our final (hopefully) assessment in two weeks back at our house, where we're interviewed together about our relationship. So we need to have the floor in by then (if we don't have it in, we can push back it back)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> To celebrate the happy occasion of having the quickest interviews on record we got a crib. I found a good looking crib on kijiji that came with a mattress for $50.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not 100% fond of the honey colour, but it's solid wood, so it's workable. After we picked up the crib, we went on a little baby related date, that in my eyes was more than worth it, because it was hilarious! We went to Baby's R Us, because I wanted Jason to check out a few of the things I'd tagged as wanted (namely the stroller) Like I mentioned in the <a href="http://www.oakelm.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-lust-list-baby-gear.html" target="_blank">Lust List</a> post, I <i>reaaaaaallllllly </i>want the Bob Sport Utility Stroller. I figured a jogging stroller would work best for us because we're both on the tall side (Jason's actually a giant in training), and the ruggedness of the larger wheels lend itself to our type of walking (mostly on trails - or his parents dirt road). We were wondering around the stroller section he pushed a few then asked which it was, I pointed to it and he said, "holy crap look at the size of the wheels!" The Bob strollers come with a "state of the art suspension system" which Jason properly tested out by bouncing it around the store laughing like a maniac. Talking about how the kids are going to be bounced while they walk, and he may or may not take curbs at high speeds just to see how high they can get. I said I didn't really like the hand brake placement - also why it needed a handbrake, he said it would come in handy when going down hills. Wouldn't want the kid to get too ahead of us. Then we both laughed at the visual of the kids barreling down a hill, just bouncing with that state of the art suspension. It was close to closing, and I'm pretty sure the employees thought we smoked something before we came in. We then moved over to the Bob dualies, he was impressed that it bounced almost as well as the single. So, stroller has been picked!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This beauty will be added to our registry as one of the only big ticket items that will be on it, since we need to have everything by time of placement. Then we checked out the baby seats, to which he didn't have much interest because unlike the stroller, they couldn't be bounced all over the store. We also had to take a look at the baby gates, because we have to have them installed at the top and bottom of the stairs at time of placement. Unfortunately because we don't have walls for them to smoosh between, we can't go for the cheap route, boo...but the ones that have to be hardware mounted tend to look a little better. Perhaps we'll DIY something, I've seen a fair amount of nice looking ones floating around Pinterest. It's nice to have a few things crossed off our baby to-do list, and the fact that it came with more laughs and odd looks makes it that much sweeter. I seriously recommend going to Baby's R Us and rockin' out the Bob strollers, it's a guaranteed laugh. </span></div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-35809093097069323562013-04-17T11:25:00.000-04:002013-04-17T11:25:11.050-04:00April Organize-A-Rama: You Call That an Office?So, April's apparently half over already? Someone clearly neglected to tell me! I've been working on a few areas, getting them organized, or functioning better, so first up was one area that didn't really take all that long, but has made a pretty big difference so far. That would our "office". We don't don't have a dedicated home office space (yet). But we do have a desk in the corner of our bedroom that we can use as a makeshift office for the interim. His name is Shakey...because if you look at it wrong it could fall over - it's that sturdy, but he does the trick for now.<br />
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Sorry about the crappy phone pictures the in-laws have my camera and it was night time) Please pretend that the light is in fact finished and hanging proudly, illuminating the room; instead of unceremoniously slumped half finished and half forgotten in the corner. (While you're pretending the ball of folded paper isn't there, you can also go ahead and imagine that that duct work is enclosed nicely) Now, moving on the desk. It's not particularly unorganized, it's something that's just not really living up to it's full potential. While a light sneeze may bring ol' Shakey down without warning, he still really wants to pull his weight, and help us stay on top of our bills, and taxes, and magazines, and what not. The cords are a big pain in my you know what, and since the desk top doesn't work (and hasn't for close to 6 months) they can finally disappear! We needed a central "hub" for billing and other paperwork, so I wasn't running all over the house trying to find where I'd stored things when we needed them. Plus keeping on top of bills is rather important, because companies can get a little testy when you don't pay on time - and "I lost my bill in a mountain of random paperwork" doesn't really fly with them.<br />
After about two hours of organizing (actually it was more like 1.5 hours of tracking everything down and about a half hour of organizing) Shakey now looks like this:<br />
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Not too shabby of a makeover eh? And yes, it is essential that you be watching Dr. Who whilst organizing. We got rid of the non working desk top and put the laptop up there. Unfortunately we don't have wireless because we're pretty technology illiterate, and our wireless router wouldn't work for some reason when we moved, so we have a massive 100ft internet cord that we just traipse all over the house when we need to move. So coiling it up keeps it out of our way. Bianca the hippo is an excellent note holder for all the corny little notes we like to write each other, and the calendar clipped to the wall tracks all our bills - when they come out, how much that kind of thing.<br />
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100 nerd points if you can name what Dr. Who episode I was watching. I plan on adding a cork board (I thought I'd have enough left over from a project, but alas, I didn't) and probably a larger calendar. As for underneath, we've got everything there now, at the reach of our fingertips. Sorted and stored and pretty looking.<br />
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I've got all my magazines, which I reference often, I went through them all and threw out ones that I deemed no longer relevant, and took out pages in ones that only had a few nice things - which ended up in the blue binder - that's where I keep track of all the house stuff. (Inspiration, layouts, budgeting, etc.) The green binder I is pretty self explanatory, it's a house for all those called Manuel. Every time I see (or hear) the word manual, I think of Wall-E, when the captain doesn't realize it's a book. "Operate Manuel. Manuel, relay instructions." (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoa25BjRP-I" target="_blank">Check it out...funny</a>) White file thingy has all our current tax stuff, receipts, papers all that jazz (because we're bad, and still haven't filed yet - still have time). The red binder has the recipes I ripped out of magazines that I then got rid of (can I get a woot woot for throwing out 20lbs of old magazines), it's also where I do our menu planning.<br />
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These files house all our important paperwork. Our banking stuff, insurance stuff, travel plans for future trips, medical stuff, yada, yada, yada. The purple ones have all our paid bills stored for tax purposes (two months at a time) and previous years taxes.<br />
That cleared up paper from all over the house, and has helped my piece of mind, knowing where all our important papers are - so hopefully nothing else gets lost. That crosses one thing of my list, and I'm currently working on the our closet and the blue room, so hopefully those should both be done by this weekend.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766638447111392767.post-44272821253803079722013-04-15T09:39:00.002-04:002013-04-15T09:45:29.278-04:00The Lust List : Baby GearSince we're currently on schedule to be finished our assessments and ready to be placed on the "ready to adopt" list about a month earlier than we were initially thinking, it's bumped up our timeline for having to have things for time of placement. We're hoping to get a baby through our adoption, and just like any first time parent we have nothing. I've had a number of things on my wish list from when we were just thinking of having our own, here's what I'm lusting after right now.<br />
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I've worked with, and babysat a few little ones who's parents have used <a href="http://www.lifefactory.com/product/glass-baby-bottle-with-silicone-sleeve-9-oz-250ml-yellow" target="_blank">glass bottles</a>, and I really liked them. These ones are from Lifefactory and have great reviews. They're BPA free, and are easy to clean (you can throw them in the dishwasher without even taking the rubber sleeve off), and they have interchangeable lids, so it can go from a nipple bottle to a sippy bottle, to a flat cap bottle. They can grow with the child, making them a lot more environmentally friendly than most plastic ones. Plus the fun silicone sleeves give them a bit of personality! <br />
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<img alt="Ergo Baby Performance Carrier in Black and Charcoal" height="400" id="ProductImage" name="ProductImage" src="http://www.lussobaby.ca/media/Images/3427/Ergo-Baby-BCP42200-382273-M.jpg?v=1" width="400" />
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I don't really know too much about baby carriers, since I haven't really used them very often. But this <a href="http://www.lussobaby.ca/ERGOBaby-Performance-Carrier-in-Black-and-Charcoal-BCP42200.htm#sthash.sxxFpNSg.dpbs" target="_blank">Ergo Baby Carrier</a>, has received some of the best reviews out of all the carriers I've looked into. It's light weight, and will fit both Jason and I, and grows with the baby, even growing with the child until they're around 90lbs. Plus it's not ugly haha, Jason gave it his stamp of approval, and since he'll most likely be the one carrying the kid in this the most that's important. We like to go hiking, and while we plan on getting an off-roading stroller, it'll be nice to have a carrier for times when the stroller just isn't practical.<br />
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Speaking of the off-road stroller that we plan on getting...the <a href="http://www.bobgear.com/strollers/sport-utility-stroller" target="_blank">Bob Sport U Stroller</a> is our man! I've seriously been lusting over this bad boy for eons! I've used enough strollers in my days to know what I do and don't want in a stroller. And since both Jason and I are tall it can often be a challenge to find strollers that give us enough leg room and that have a high enough handle as to not cause me more back pain. So we figured a jogging stroller would be our best bet. I like that this stroller can fit a baby from two months to up to 90lbs, and also is compatible with most infant car seats. So it's even more-so the right choice for us now, not knowing what age child we're going to get. It's a pretty kick-butt stroller, you can go pretty much anywhere with it!<br />
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In terms of a diaper bag, I want something more masculine so Jason doesn't have to be ashamed to be seen in public carrying it. While neither of these options are actually "diaper bags" they're both decent options. The first is a <a href="http://wkdesigner.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/the-weekender/" target="_blank">weekender bag</a>, and is actually a DIY, that I could try and rope someone much more gifted than I with a sewing machine into "helping" me make. (I can think of a couple aunts and cousins). It's massive, which is both a good thing and a bad thing, because as an owner of a massive purse, you tend to shove way more in there than needs to be just because you can haha. The other option I like is actually a <a href="http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/60s-camera-bag/" target="_blank">camera bag</a>. Which means it's not massive, and would be better for streamlining, and only packing the essentials in the diaper bag.<br />
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The crib...probably the most essential aspect of the nursery. I love the modern lines of this white <a href="http://www.albeebaby.com/babyletto-hudson-3-in-1-convertible-crib-in-white.html" target="_blank">BabyLetto crib</a>, and it has a fairly reasonable price tag as well. Because I don't know if you've noticed, but I certainly have...cribs can be bloody expensive! I like the neutrality of a white crib, over the wood tone ones that I've seen.<br />
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Since we have no idea the exact age of the child we'll be getting, we wont' be picking up a car seat until we get the call, and know what age. But we still need to know what we're going to get, because sometimes you have to make a quick decision, so we'd have to make a mad dash to pick things up. If we get a fresh out of the hospital baby, we want the <a href="http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=17674276&searchURL=false" target="_blank">Britax Bob B-Safe</a> infant car seat, because it's light weight and matches our Bob stroller, and safe, that matters too. If we get a baby that's three months or older, this <a href="http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4360518&searchURL=false" target="_blank">all-in-one car seat</a> would be our best bet, and the best use of our money. It can be a rear racing seat for baby's 5-20lbs, then sits forward, and can get rid of the base and it becomes a booster seat, so you don't have to buy three different car seats.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218857526169243175noreply@blogger.com0