Can't wait......

...to snuggle with my own baby. This is me and my 2nd nephew Hudson. I went out to NYC a week after he was born to help out a few years ago. We fell asleep together after I flew in on a redeye. We thought he was going to be a mellow kid....little did we know he'd be the wildest of the bunch.

The crib is up!

We've done some rearranging in the nursery/office to accommodate that little guy inside who kicks like he's in a swimming race. Also Jared put up the crib. It made me ever more excited. We got in on clearance which was great! I didn't want one of those new boxy modern cribs. I wanted something sturdy to last through at least 8 children and had a sidebar that came down so a certain grandmother didn't have to bend over to pick up her grandchildren. Plus those cribs were just so expensive.

I like this one because it's a bit old fashioned and super sturdy and just looks good!

Thanks lovey!

I started on the dresser. We got it off craigslist last summer and it's the perfect height to double as a changing table. I had to take out the tacky hardware and fill in the holes to put in my own knobs. This week I'll be sanding, priming and painting. I'll post photos when I'm done:)

Boys clothes!

My sister who has two boys generously sent me two boxes worth of baby clothes for me to borrow. They arrived the other day and I'm so excited because I remember my nephews wearing them.

Water, lets save it.

In honor of Earth Day I want to talk about water. I've been wanting to post about this for a while.

I grew up during a long drought. We spent many FHE's talking about how to save water. My parents were very adamant about it. They would go to extreme's as to pop their head into the bathroom to let us know we've been in there too long. This was all before low-flow shower heads and water efficient toilets were around.

What did we do to save water?
-Put bricks in our toilets
-Let the lawn die
-took shorter showers
-soaked dishes longer before washing
-washed our cars less frequently

Oh the list goes on. One of the things I would do was dip my toothbrush in a cup of water before brushing. Normal people run it under the faucet to wet the toothpaste. Does this do much you ask? Well, I still have the habit and I'm sure over the years I've saved gallons of water:)

While living in a house last summer that these people so generously offered to us when we were homeless while coming back from Switzerland we learned a great trick. Take an old milk gallon jug and while waiting for the water for your shower to warm up save it in the jug. Then every time you go to the bathroom dump it in the tank when it's refilling. This is so great.

We would do it now but we have a flash water heater so the water gets hot instantly. But, we do have a drip in our tub that we leave a pitcher under and when it gets full we dump it in the toilet tank.

Tips for saving water:
(these are basic tips for people who don't own a home and are renting.)

1. Take shorter showers (you can even go to extremes like Jared does and turn off the shower when you're lathering up.)
2. Don't run water while brushing teeth
3. Rinse razor in a sink full of water
4. Don't run the water while loading the dishwasher
5. If you have a lawn PLEASE DO NOT WATER DURING THE DAY! HUG WASTE! THE WATER EVAPORATES. I see this all too often. WATER IN THE EARLY MORNING!
6. Do laundry and run dishwasher when you have a full load.

Jared and I can't wait to own a house someday so we can create a system to save our rainwater for watering the plants.


These are just the basics and easy for EVERYONE to do.

Here are some helpful websites with lots more tips.


http://www.americanwater.com/49ways.htm
http://www.eartheasy.com/live_water_saving.htm


HAPPY EARTH DAY!

35 weeks - pregnant from the side

On Friday I'll be 35 weeks along. Just 5 more after that...well give or take a few days...who knows if I'll be early or late.

I love this skirt and just remembered that I have it today. I've owned it for about 10 years now. I've worn it through thick and thin and even took it to Tonga/New Zealand/Australia with me. It still comes through for me during my pregnancy in this 90° weather.

Anyhow, from the back I don't really look pregnant...unless you count my widening parts down below. From the side, yes I'm definitely pregnant:) It all just kind of shoots out to the front. And I'm carrying low so fortunately I haven't had any heartburn problems...cross my fingers.

Baby Shower

My Aunt and cousin threw me a baby shower. It was fun.

Here's mom getting ready.

No I'm not having twins.

My hip mother.

My friend Heather was in town fortunately:) It's always wonderful to see her.

Siamese daisies

One evening while eating dinner and admiring the flowers Jared recently brought home, I noticed that two of the gerber daisies stems were fused together. "Look Jared," I mentioned "they're Siamese flowers." Jared's response, "Just like us."

Yup, we're pretty inseparable.

Art Shelf unorganized

I don't think my art shelf will ever be formally organized. I've come to terms with the reality that I'm just not that kind of person. I know where everything is (for the most part) when I need it.

We've got a live one here

So last night I was having a dream that someone was whacking me in the ribs with a bat. Well, I woke up a moment later to someone from within kicking me like crazy and oh boy this time it really hurt. I rolled over, and many many flips from inside later I was back to sleep.

"In your element"

I'm always bugging Jared to get a candid of me. Sometimes when you have the camera it's not fun saying, "ok now take a shot of me." Well the other day he picked up the camera and caught me as he said, "in your element" starting the dishwasher after making the Easter rolls.


This is what I got.

Dying eggs and the cutest husband!

Friday evening Jared and I dyed Easter Eggs.

Here's a shot of me and my belly. Yes, it's getting bigger. No I'm not having twins.

Modeling my egg.

Jared what are you doing over there? Sometimes he's super sneaky.

Making an "eye."

OK, I have the cutest husband ever. It's so fun photographing him. I love love love his smile and dimples. I hope our baby has dimples like his:)

How cute is he with his "eye" egg.

Jared runs again.

Jared's knee hasn't been working properly for over 2 years now. He's been resting it up for the past 4 months now and decided to test it out on a little 5k run. We got up early Saturday morning and road our bikes a few miles down to Gunn High School where they were hosting the annual Run of the Bulls.

Here he is warming up.

I have no idea where he is in the crowd.

Of course he beat the bulls and a lot of other people.

The ledge in the garage

OK, so in our apartment complex we have underground parking (hooray.) There's a ledge by the door leading to the elevator that someone or several people leave random stuff. The most common items are tacky note cards or old wire hangers.

This past month I've also seen a few tubes of hair dye, and a half empty box of microwavable popcorn.

However, this week we've had some classics, so I started taking photos with my phone.

Dream catchers up for grabs!

A tin full of Christmas present labels and look a little closer at the CD....

Yes, that's a CD of Paralyzed Veterans of America singing "Fourth of July Favorites." This was my favorite item.

Juicing

A couple of weeks ago Jared asked if I could get some vegetables for juicing. I said sure. I picked up tons of spinach, kale, carrots and beets. We added in some leftover parsley and mint that I had in the fridge also. The results. GROSS and GREEN! Jared gulped it down with a "I feel so healthy right now," remark. I sipped it with a "where's the sink I think I'm going to throw-up." We even scooped out the pulp and blended that into a smoothie. Like my mother always said, "wast not want not."

Anyhow, on Sunday Jared wanted to juice again so this time I prepared a more delicious assortment. Strawberries, beets, clementines, celery, carrots and...

spinach!

The color was more appetizing and so was the juice. Jared scooped out the pulp and will use it for something.

I also mentioned to him later that we get all of those other vegetables in our daily meals so I think we're doing pretty good so far.

Croissant French Toast

I asked Jared what he wanted for Sunday breakfast this week. He suggest croissant french toast. I sometimes order it for breakfast when we go to Bucks.

There are these yummy frozen croissants from the Milk Pail. You just leave them out overnight to defrost and rise and then bake for 15 minutes.

Oh it was so yummy. Great suggestion Jared!

April Fools...not quite!

On April Fools day Jared tried the old "saran wrap on the toilet"trick. Well, I caught it just in time. Nice try buddy.

However, I didn't notice the second toilet until I sat down. I had to run to the other bathroom. Good thing my mom hadn't gone yet because she was over playing with me for the day.

Heather

I got to see my friend Heather again. I love it when she comes down from Eureka for a visit. We stayed up late at my mom's chatting away. Her new haircut is soooooo cute. I love it.
Yes, I've gotten the pregnancy "fatface". Hopefully it'll go away after. All this swimming and walking better pay off. I'm gonna start pre-natal yoga next where I found some classes just around the corner. You gotta love this town. I can walk to nearly everything...except the hardware store. If they had one close enough to walk to I'd be so happy. I can't wait until the new Trader Joe's is finished so I can walk to that. Just me and the baby:)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

This was my favorite book growing up. Everyone should buy it for their kids.

Then I saw that there was a movie coming out and I got so excited. Except after I watched the trailer.....not the same. They TOTALLY changed the story. The movie industry can be terribly disappointing.