Nursery

So, it's time for another addition of Show Us Where You Live Friday from over at Kellys Korner Blog and this time it's the nursery.

The theme of our nursery is a safari/jungle theme. We decided to keep everything pretty neutral even though we knew Jack was going to be a boy because we already have another blue room in the house and I didn't think I could take another. Plus, because we kept it neutral, this room can easily be changed when Jack is older.

This is a DaVinci Emily crib. I love it! It's a beautiful color and is constructed very well. The only complaint is that it scratches pretty easily, but I had read about that before purchasing, so it wasn't a surprise.

We did not buy a coordinated dresser/room set for the nursery and instead decided to keep some of what was already in the room (a dresser and armoire) since they were in good shape and it was the cost effective way to go. I don't like that everything is not perfectly matched, but I would prefer to buy a coordinating set when Jack is older anyways, so we will wait until then.

I keep a lot of Jack's stuff in this armoire. Diapers, wipes, wash and burp cloths, bibs, toys, etc... Didn't want to include a picture right now of the inside because I need to clean it up, but it's great to have in the room and to be able to stick everything in there.

The blanket, mobile and wall hangings are part of a safari themed set from Babies R Us. I love the animals and Jack loves them too. I always tell him that the little animals on the mobile are watching over him and protecting him when he sleeps.

The picture on the nightstand was from my work baby shower. Everyone signed it, but I have yet to put one of Jack's pictures in it. I haven't put a picture of his feet in the little feet frame that I have either. I am bad at getting to organizing my pictures and putting them where they need to be.

Lastly, here is Jack playing in his activity center. He's definitely the cutest thing in the nursery!!!

Switch Flops

Has anyone tried anything like these switch flops??? It's one flip flop in which you can have many interchangeable straps (using Velcro), therefore getting many different styles of shoes in just one shoe. An older sister informed me of their existence as I was oblivious that there was anything like this.

I am originally from California and I live in my flip flops (even wearing them in rain and snow). I think this is a great idea! I tend to wear the same boring black flip flops all of the time and this would make flip flop wearing much more stylish (and boy, could I use more style). On this web site switch flops by Lindsay Phillips the base of the flip flop averages between $35-$50 and the straps, about $12 each, which is not too bad. I don't know why somebody didn't think of this a long time ago or why I didn't know about this sooner.

John and Kate Plus 8 Debate

I watched the season premiere of John and Kate Plus 8 the other night. Even before the tabloid hoopla, it was easy to see that this couple was in trouble. Go back through the past couple of seasons and you can recognize it. I don’t watch every episode, but I remember I was over my mom’s during an episode last season and I told her (and this is before the alleged affairs) that you can tell that they don’t like each other. You could see it in their body language. They stopped sitting close together during the interviews and literally looked like they were trying to be as far on the other end of the couch from each other as they possibly could be. They would roll their eyes at each other. They barely smiled. So, it’s not shocking that they are having problems. What I was sad about when watching the show was thinking about how the kids are going to be affected by all of this. Is anyone out there with me that the worst part of all of the craziness surrounding them right now is that there are kids involved and nobody seems to care? Certainly the paparazzi (the p-people as Kate tells her kids to call them) don’t care. It seems to me that the producers are not really thinking about the children in this either because if they were, they should have probably stopped filming for now or all together to give the family time to either get back on track or figure out what they are going to do, without cameras rolling and the pressure that comes along with that. Now, I guess I cannot say too much, as I watched (as apparently 10 million other people did – their highest ratings yet), and that’s what they want. Maybe if all of us stopped watching, they could end/postpone the show and move on. I just hope that John and Kate don’t continue to do the show if/when this really starts affecting their kids. The money and fame are not worth it. But who knows…some people care more about those things. In my opinion, John and Kate need to think long and hard about continuing this show as it would be a shame if their kids suffer.

Goals

Goals for the week:

• Clean, clean clean!!! Mother in law is coming next week and my house is a mess.
  
• Figure out how to work (adjust settings, take different kinds of photos, etc...) my new camera.


• Walk for at least 30 minutes 4 times this week
  

Progress to be posted next week...wish me luck!

...Oh, had one of these from McDonald's this morning (Mocha...nonfat, without the whip cream).


It was pretty good. Still like Starbucks better, but I recommend this as a little bit of a cheaper option. It gave me the caffeine jitters though, but that's my fault since I only had the mocha this morning and nothing to eat (not on purpose...just got too busy at work).

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. My older sister, Jen, who lives in Missouri, came out with her husband and my niece Tori to visit and my twin sister, Melissa, and her husband and my niece Maddie came out from North Carolina as well. The only siblings that were not there were my brothers Kris and Darin.

We bought a new camera which I have been wanting to do for so long now (not an SLR though...I say as a tear falls down my face). Here are some of the pictures from the weekend:

Jack is in a little Braves outfit here...so cute!!!

This is my niece Maddie. She just turned three and Jack looks like he is going to crush her. I think he will outweigh her by his first birthday. It's ok Jack...you are allowed to be this chubby at your age. It's cute. At my age, it is not cute!

This is me and all of my sisters as well as my mom...so all of the main girls (my niece Maddie decided to join the picture too). Too bad my brothers couldn't be there. It's rare, since we all live in different places, that we even have this many of us together at one time. And when we are together....watch out. We are the loudest bunch you have ever heard. I have to constantly remind my husband that the reason I always talk loud is because I grew up in a family where you had to talk over people to be heard.

I had a great weekend and miss everyone who doesn't live close to me already.

Goals - Updated

Ok,
It's time for an update on the goals that I posted last week. Did I meet them...?

• Drink at least 60 oz of water every day (this used to be easy for me but for some reason I haven’t done it since Jack’s arrival) -- I did this every day but today. I was really busy at work and just forgot to keep re-filling my water. I definitely was drinking much more this week than I had been as indicated by the fact that I had to go to the ladies room every five minutes and literally would have to go again by the time I made it back to my desk.

• Walk for an hour at least 3 times at lunchtime over the next week and at least an hour (either with Jack or on the treadmill) over the weekend -- We changed to a summer schedule at work where we only get half hour lunches, but I did walk 4 times for a half hour at lunch over the week and jogged for 30 minutes this past weekend. This is the most that I have worked out in a week since before I got pregnant with Jack.

• Clean the toilet (it’s almost too gross to even look at so I don’t know how I am going to do this) -- Done! I can't even begin to tell you how icky this was...yes, I just said icky. I have started using that word a lot since becoming a mom.

• Read a few chapters in the book that I am reading that I have had for over a month now -- Not completed. I guess it's an indication of how good the book has been so far. Obviously not enough for me to be dying to read it.

So, I guess, except for the toilet cleaning, I didn't really reach all of my goals completely, but did much better on the things that I am looking to achieve. I'm pretty proud of myself for just working on these things.

I will post another set of goals next week.

Dining Room

This is the first time I am participating in Kellys Korner Show us where you live Friday. I love getting to see how everyone decorates their place and it gives me some great ideas for my own home!

Now, both my dining room and living room are works in progress (and it's very slow progress), but here is the dining room:

This is the view looking in from the living room. We painted the walls a pretty olive green a while back and I think it's a great color. What's not great is the dining room table. This table is left over from my husband's bachelor days. I cannot believe that in the almost four years since I moved in with him that we have not replaced it. It's got an 80's feel to it and while it's comfortable and fine for eating, I just don't think that it works. I look at dining room tables a lot and the problem is that I am indecisive. I see ones that I like but never bite the bullet and get it because I am afraid I won't like it once I put it in there. Something we have also been debating for a while is whether or not to pull out the carpet and put in wood floors. I think it would look much nicer with wood. It's something we might do in the future.

I am trying to look for a new table that has a wood tone that would coordinate well with the wall colors. I love cherry tables, but just don't think they would look quite right in this space. I am wondering if maybe a deep mahogany color might work well. If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

I told myself when I set the tabletop decorations up that I would change them each season, but have yet to do so. It's spring/summer time. I need to lighten up the colors. I would like to keep the pine cones in though. I buy these cinnamon scented pine cones to put in here and they make the room smell nicer.

We found this light at Home Depot on a night after we had gone to a Mexican place that serves really strong Margaritas. I don't know why I remember that. I was a little tipsy though and I remember us going in and seeing it and picking it out really quickly.

I am not sure where this wall hanging/picture came from. My husband had it somewhere and we thought that it worked nicely with the wall color.

This is the view from the dining room out into the backyard. We used to have curtains here, but have yet to hang them back up. It's such a nice window to look out of. This is the only window in the room though and I wish we had more. I love dining rooms that have a lot of windows and light and ours is just not one of them.



This is the view from the dining room into the living room. I said it was a work in progress. There are toys all over the place as well as my husbands technical equipment. We recently purchased a giant flat screen for over the mantle, but haven't hid all of the cords and such yet. This past weekend, we just bought a unit to hold all of that stuff.

Well,, there you have it. My dining room. It definitely needs work and if anyone has any ideas, I am all ears!

Baby, You Look Marvelous!!!

About a couple of weeks ago, a friend of ours, Larry, who does photography, came to our house and did a photo shoot with us and Jack. He took a bunch of photos and they all came out great, but here are some of the ones that I like best.

Kelly over at Kellys Korner Blog does a monthly update on her beautiful daughter Harper, and, so that I can look back at this blog as a journal of what was happening at the time, I am going to start doing the same. Sorry to steal your idea Kelly, but it’s a great one!

Jack, you are now four months old:

• You are about 15-16lbs (We don’t know the exact amount as we do not have a baby scale and I am not sure I trust our home scale). You definitely are a big, “thriving” boy!




• You currently eat about 29oz every day and mommy is debating whether or not to start you on rice cereal soon.




• You still will cry sometimes when we are trying to burp you during a feeding. You do not like your food being taken away!




• You still fit into 3-6 month clothing, but can wear some 6-9 month.




• You have mastered rolling from your tummy to your back and love to do it since mommy and daddy cheer excessively when you do. Now, we just need to master the back to tummy roll. We are going to use the same excessive cheering strategy to get you to do this.




• You don’t hate tummy time anymore. You lift your head up really well and reach for toys when you are on your tummy.




• You sleep through the night from about 9:15 pm -7:15 am…for the most part. When you break yourself out of the swaddle you wake up and sometimes need to be re-swaddled to go back to sleep.




• You drool constantly and sometimes it comes out in globs.




• You are at the stage where you want everything in your mouth. You shove your entire fist in your mouth and talk like crazy. You want to eat them so much; you even wake up in the middle of the night to shove them in there.




• You really focus your eyes on people and objects much more than you were before.




• You are talking and smiling a lot, but only laughing here and there. Apparently, mommy and daddy aren’t funny enough for you yet.




• You have a little blanket with a dog head that you are attached to that we call your snugglebear (which doesn’t quite make sense since it is a dog and not a bear).




• You still have a tendency to scratch up your face with your fingernails, even after they have been cut (as low as we feel safe doing). I think this is from the fact that as soon as you wake up, you take your hands and run them down your face like somebody who is scratching their nails on a chalkboard.




• You have a minor stuffy nose and cough that has stuck around but that seems to be getting better.




• You are on a pretty set schedule (for naps, feeding and playtime) that you follow very well. This has been very nice for mommy and daddy!




• You like bath time and love to look at yourself in the mirror when taking a bath.




• You are wearing a size 2 diaper, but those will probably get tight really soon.




• You are still pretty bald, but your fuzz has gotten a little thicker in the past couple of weeks.




• You are fussing/crying only rarely now.




• Your eyes are still blue…a big feat considering that mommy’s eyes are brown and in my family, brown eyes dominate. You got them from daddy.

And, that's who you are at four months Jack! Mommy and daddy love you so much!!!

All Through the Night

Well, jack finally slept through the night again for the first time in about a week and a half. I woke a few times during the night wondering why I hadn’t heard him yet and getting a little paranoid. At about 5:00 am, I went and checked on him. His arms had come out of the swaddle, but he was still asleep…and breathing, which always makes me happy. I had put him in a long sleeve onesie last night which I haven’t done for the past couple of weeks because it had been warmer outside (and so I was just leaving him in his bodysuits), but it has been a little cooler here in the ATL the last couple of days and so I thought a long sleeve would be good. I am wondering if that did the trick. Maybe he just needed to be a little more warm and snuggly? I will put him in a long sleeve tonight as well and see how he does. Hopefully, he stays asleep!

Here is Jack. He is now four months old and I just can’t believe how much he has changed since he came into this world. He is really more aware of everything, much more talkative as time goes on, and less fussy than he used to be. He also has now learned to roll from his tummy to his back. We practiced a lot this past weekend and now, when we put him on his tummy, all he wants to do is roll over. I cannot believe how fast they learn! It’s a good thing, but not in a way because he still needs his tummy time, but it’s much harder to keep him on his tummy. I think we created a little rolling monster (although he has yet to master going from his back to his tummy yet, but we are getting there).

People told me that it does get easier and I find that with each passing day, it truly does. Except for a few bad weeks (due to some gassiness issues back in the first and second month), he really has been a great and easy baby. We are very lucky.

Now, on to my reality tv addition. Monday night, it was the Bachelorette. Last night, it was American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.

American Idol: I think that Kris did the best in his first two songs, but kind of botched the third song (although I don’t know who would have done well with that song…I wasn’t so fond of it and it didn’t fit either Kris or Adam’s style). I do think that Adam was better on the third song. I like both of them, but I think that Adam is more Broadway than mainstream. I think that he would do well in theatre and, as my husband and I decided last night, will be really big in places like Germany and Japan. I think that Kris would be more popular on current radio though and therefore, I think he should win. I don’t think he will win though. I think Adam has been pushed as the American Idol from pretty early on and that he will take the crown.

Dancing with the Stars: Gilles was robbed!!! While Shawn Johnson is a great dancer, Gilles definitely deserved the crown. Throughout the whole season, he has been consistently great and displayed a passion in his dancing that the others just didn’t. I was disappointed that he didn’t win…but I guess I will survive.

The Bachelorette

So, I know a lot of people swore off the Bachelor due to last seasons debacle, but I can't help but watch this show. I loved Jillian, and at the time, hoped she would be the one that Jason chose (thank god that she wasn't). She's got a great, bubbly personality and seems to be pretty intelligent. I was glad that she was chosen as the next Bachelorette.

After watching the season premiere last night, this is my favorite guy so far:

Kiptyn


I try to watch the previews for the upcoming season closely to see who might still be there at the end, but couldn't tell if Kiptyn looked to be one of them. He seems to be pretty low key and real and he's my pick so far. There are a few other guys that could be potentially cool, but I will have to keep watching to see if I start to like anyone else more.

I need my sleep!

So, I have been pretty lucky with Jack when it comes to sleep. He has been sleeping through the night since he was 8 weeks old, except for when he happens to get out of his swaddle...which has become much more of a problem these last couple of weeks. Apparently, his hands taste like beef jerky or something as he wants them in his mouth all of the time and thus is breaking free of his swaddle multiple times a night to get to them. He then proceeds to eat his tasty hands and talk and squeal to them until I come in and reswaddle him. He then goes right back to sleep until he has decided again that he MUST eat his hands! Last night, just between 4-6:00 am, I swear I had to go into his room 5 or 6 times to re-swaddle him.

This brings up a couple of issues for me. One, when he breaks out, should I just let him try and put himself back to sleep and just let him talk and such as he would like and only go in the room if he starts to fuss/cry? I afraid to try this as I am nervous that he just won't go back to sleep if he has the chance to put his hands in his mouth, but maybe I just need to test it out and hope he will fall back asleep. Secondly, and this relates to the first, is maybe I should try and break him of the swaddle habit all together. He is four months old and while he does not turn over at night onto his stomach, he may soon and that would scare me if he turns over and can't get his hands out of the swaddle. My fear in doing this though is that he wouldn't sleep as he almost never takes a nap or goes to bed at night without being swaddled. The picture below is a rare occurrence. He usually won't fall asleep laying on his back without a swaddle. He does sleep in his car seat and swing, but not usually on his back without being bundled up. Has anyone had to deal with this? What should I do? Should I wean him off the swaddle and maybe just leave his arms out? If I do this, will I get sleep??? Sleep is so important to me!

Getting to know The Clevelands

I found this little get to know you/your spouse questionnaire on another blog that I happened to pass by and after I copied it I had moved to other web pages by the time I was finished, so I am so sorry that I don't have the link to the original blog it came from.

Here's just a little info on me and my husband:

1. Who is your man? Dan
2. How long have you been together? 4 years, 6 months
3. How long did you date? 3 years
4. How old is your man? He will be 35 in August
5. Who eats more? Me
6. Who said "I love you" first? He did
7. Who is taller? He is
8. Who sings better? I would say me, although I don’t let him hear me sing that often…he’s a good singer though
9. Who is smarter? I would say he is more book smart than I am, but I am smarter in some other areas
10. Whose temper is worse? Mine
11. Who does the laundry? Me
12. Who takes out the garbage? Me…I do most of the chores
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does
14. Who pays the bills? I pay my own personal bills; Dan pays the mortgage, utilities, etc…
15. Who is better with the computer? Him
16. Who mows the lawn? He does… we live on a hill and I would fall down the hill if I tried to mow it
17. Who cooks dinner? Neither of us very often, but when we do, I would say we do it equally
18. Who drives when you are together? He does
19. Who pays when you go out? Either of us
20. Who is most stubborn? Me
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Him…I’m never wrong :)
22. Whose parents do you see the most? My mom as she is close…his parents are out of state
23. Who kissed who first? I believe he did
24. Who asked who out? Him (?) We met on line and decided to go out together…I had initiated the on line contact though
25. Who proposed? Him
26. Who is more sensitive? Depends on the subject
27. Who has more friends? We have about the same amount of friends where we live (we are both from other states than the one we live in now)
28. Who has more siblings? Me, four sisters and two brothers. He has two sisters and a step brother
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Our animals and now baby Jack…whatever they say goes :)

Wish List

We are currently looking into getting a new camera…one that takes higher quality pictures yet is still easy for an amateur like me to use (and not as expensive as a professional camera). I have wanted to learn a little more on photography for a while now (especially since I would like to start taking more pictures of Jack). This is the one that I think I want:

Canon PowerShot SX110 IS

It seems to have all of the features that I am looking for at a great price: a good zoom, slow lag time between taking pictures, a large LCD screen, advanced picture improving technology and seems to produce great looking photos. All of the reviews I have read have been very good too. I think we will pull the trigger really soon and get this. We have a tendency to be a little indecisive with these things as we don’t want to end up wishing we had bought something different, but I definitely want a new camera soon and this one looks to be like it will be perfect. If anyone out there in blog land has used this camera before and has any opinions, let me know what you think.

GOALS

This idea came from another blog I like reading. I need to set more goals on a short term basis now because it feels like I wouldn’t be able to grasp my head around and be able to get started on any long term goals for a little while:

Here are the rules:

• Set a goal for the week and post it in your blog.
• Write about your progress on your blog next week.
  

So...my goals for the week...

1. Drink at least 60 oz of water every day (this used to be easy for me but for some reason I haven’t done it since Jack’s arrival)
2. Walk for an hour at least 3 times at lunchtime over the next week and at least an hour (either with Jack or on the treadmill) over the weekend
3. Clean the toilet (it’s almost too gross to even look at so I don’t know how I am going to do this)
4. Read a few chapters in the book that I am reading that I have had for over a month now
   

I will let you know how it goes in a week.

8 Things Tag

While I wasn't tagged myself, I found this on another blog and thought it would be fun to do!

8 things I am looking forward to

• Seeing Jack when I get home from work
• Memorial Day weekend when my sister Jen comes to visit
• Giving my niece Maddie her b-day gift (she’ll be 3!) Memorial Day weekend
• Learning who will make it to the final two on American Idol tonight
• My mother in laws visit in June
• The BBQ we are having at our house in June
• So you Think you Can dance starting soon
• The weekend!

8 things I did yesterday

• Worked
• Took a walk at lunch
• Went to the grocery store
• Played with Jack
• Had a stupid argument with my husband
• Looked over the cost of switching to DirectTV (fun huh)
• Watched American Idol
• Dishes

8 things I wish I could do

• Play guitar well
• See my niece Maddie more often
• Stop eating so many sweets
• Relax!
• Write well
• Take a trip out of the country this year (not going to happen with the baby)
• Put more money away
• Exercise more

8 things I watch on TV

• American Idol
• 30 Rock
• Real Housewives
• Survivor
• Lost
• General Hospital
• Dancing with the Stars
• The Office

Appreciation

Sometimes, while I do feel it, I do not vocalize my appreciation for my husband and the things that he does as often as I should (and as much as he needs to hear). This can start squabbles that don't need to happen as he feels devalued. Vocalizing his appreciation is something he is good at though. Today, Dan, I list what I appreciate about you (and it's very possible that I will leave things out as I am a new mom and as any new mom knows, part of your memory and brain become defunct...also, there is not enough room here to list everything) :

• Your sense of humor
• Your intelligence
• Your ability to get me interested in topics that I would normally never have interest in by getting so excited about them
• Your concern for our future well being and how well you handle the finances
• The fact that you are great at science and math and therefore will have to help Jack out with those subjects in the future
• Your mowing of the lawn (as the hill that our house is on makes it practically impossible for me to do it)
• Taking care of the big issues/problems with our house
• You are a hard worker and very motivated
• You love my family and have welcomed them into your heart...and home
• You letting our stinky dog sleep in the bed with us and push us to the very corners of that bed
• Your good looks (this one I especially appreciate) :)
• The fact that you are a great father and love our son with all of your heart (this one I especially appreciate too!)
  

There are more, of course. I want you to know that even when I go too long without saying it, I do appreciate everything you do for me, Jack and your family. You are a great man. I love you!