ginger kids

if you couldn't tell, one of my resolutions is to keep up with the blog. to at least post a few times a week, if not every day. one of the main things i want to post about is crafting. what's on the agenda, what's in progress, what's completed. i'm hoping it'll motivate me to keep things in motion.

this year my family came to visit for christmas and it's always nice to have activities for everyone to do. and if it's crafty in nature, it's even better. one thing we did was decorate gingerbread houses and cookies. while out shopping before christmas, i found a gingerbread house kit that contained 5 houses. i thought this would be perfect - everyone would get their own house to decorate. little did i know the houses were pretty much the same size as the images on the box. they were TINY. the roofs were the biggest surface to decorate and they were about the size of a credit card. i'm a stickler for detail and it was a challenge to do anything on these houses. i think we're done with kits, next christmas we'll do everything from scratch. that is if i can get my act together in time.

we had better success with decorating the cookies. i found a cookie cutter that's shaped like a house so that made up for the tiny house fiasco. here are a few of my creations. as you can see, my cookies tend to be somewhat non-traditional in nature.

edible decor

last year our good friends got us a whirley pop for christmas. it only took us a year to open and use it. and of course, the first thing i decide to do with the popcorn is a christmas craft project. our rotating tree was looking a little sparse when the lights weren't on so i decided to string a popcorn garland to jazz it up. it was pure torture for the dogs, they love popcorn. bosco literally sat underfoot the whole two hours it took me to string it. occasionally scoring a kernel or two.

behold. the finished product.

so far the tree is still standing. i was worried i'd come down to an annihilated tree this morning. we'll see if it makes it the rest of the holiday season. i'm not sure if the dogs realize what and where it is. let's hope they don't figure it out.

halloween 2010 in a nutshell

halloweens of yesteryear. yeah, we love the holiday!

everything is coming up poppy

one of my first crafting projects in a long time: baby bedding for my friend, greyson. she's expecting her first, a little girl, in a few weeks and i volunteered to make the bedding for her as a shower gift.

she picked the fabrics and i did the rest. this was the first time i've made either a baby bumper or a crib skirt. i crossed my fingers and prayed the end result would be somewhat recognizable. i ended up using the directions from amy butler's little stitches for little ones book. the directions were fairly simple. but i'm not sure if i'm out-of-practice because i did find myself reading and re-reading each step. what am i saying? i've always had a hard time reading patterns. it's like it's written in some kinda sewing code or for the dyslexic.

in the end, i was happy with the outcome as was greyson. the nursery is absolutely adorable. almost makes me want to have a girl for our next. almost.

another crafty project i did for her shower: poppy cupcakes. brett and grey are 90% sure they are gonna name her "poppy" so as one of her gifts i got her this. which inspired me to to makes these for the shower.

they are homemade peach cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. i used prepackaged fondant to make the flowers, didn't trust myself to make my own. unfortunately i could not find black edible candy balls in boone, so i used yellow instead. they still turned out great and actually matched the cake at the shower, at least the coloring (ha, ha. if you saw the cake you would understand why this is funny). nothing like a baby to inspire some craftiness. tomorrow i'll post my ghetto-rigged teeth guard i put on little mans crib yesterday.

in the bedroom

sooner or later i'm gonna get around to decorating our bedroom. i'm pretty much at a loss on where to begin. i've been building somewhat of a furniture backbone but still need to get ideas on how to bring everything together. thank goodness for the internet. i stumbled across a really great website to find ideas for any room in your house.



above are the gender-neutral designs i like. below is what i'd love if i didn't have to worry about appeasing the man. yep, i'm sure i need a little girl or avery's gonna be surrounded in purple and poofs pretty soon.

welcome to my roboto crib

here are some long overdue pics of avery's nursery. i ended up going with different bedding i found on ebay. i loved the original one i picked out but this one seemed more appropriate and matched a little better with the prints.



of course, he has yet to sleep in here. spending a majority of his time either in our room or the living room. as you can see, i tried to make it not so babyish. i think i somewhat accomplished that.

below is the robot painting my sister-in-law and i worked on while she was here for my baby shower last month. it turned out great. you can also see the name plaque i was finally able to hang after his birth.

right now i'm uploading more photos and trying to figure out how i can share them via snapfish. apparently it says i can load them to blogger, so we'll just see about that.

jack sprat

still chugging along. here's my 26/27 week belly shot. sometimes i wonder if you saw me from the front if you could tell i'm pregnant. sorta like one of those flat characters where you look from the front and she's super skinny and then from the side she's huge.

i was hoping i could still wear my normal clothing and i'm learning it's pretty much a lost cause. this week i switched out my spring/summer clothes for fall/winter wear. i threw on a sweater this morning and it pretty much covered about half of the baby bump. i now own an extensive collection of belly sweaters. looks like cardigans are gonna be my best friend this winter.

i tried hitting up the thrift stores in hopes of finding some decent pants or maybe even a pair of overalls. apparently the only ladies that donate maternity clothing are of the large or x-large set. so i broke down last week and bought another pair of maternity jeans and a maternity skirt. i can fudge a bit and avoid buying maternity shirts but there's no avoiding the mom jeans now.

as far as the health aspect of this pregnancy, i don't have too much to report. as predicted i failed the one-hour glucose test and passed the three-hour test after the second hour. still feeling good. occasionally getting winded when walking and definitely getting swollen feet at the end of the day. baby boris is moving around like crazy and you can actually see the kicking, poking, prodding and stretching he's doing on the outside. i didn't think i'd be one of those people who'd have her hands on her belly all the time and now i'm grabbing people hands and putting them there so they can feel the movement too. funny how things change.

the nursery is about 85% done. still looking for a rocking chair to put in there. i really don't want one of those typical gliders because i want it to eventually transition into a reading chair as he gets older. hopefully i'll be able to find something in the upcoming weeks. once i find the chair and get some window treatments, it'll pretty much be done. i'll post pics soon.

i did start an online registry at babies r us and target. i went from not having a single baby shower to now having three! i would love some input on what i overlooked and what you think is a baby must-have! thanks.

caution: wide load

it's so weird cause i don't realize how big i'm getting til i look at the photos. of course it all depends on what i'm wearing, what angle you see me from and how straight i stand. i actually wore this shirt pre-pregnancy and am now wondering if it makes me larger than i think it does. it does appear like i'm smuggling a bowling ball under there. i'll have to do some sequence shots when we get closer to the end so you can see the progression.

seems like i always have something wrong when i go to an appointment. today's appointment was no different. last time it was the low-lying placenta which resolved itself at my last appointment. this time i didn't pass the one hour glucose test. i was seriously on the cusp of passing. on my instruction sheet it says if you score 140 or below you pass but it also says if you score 140 or above you'll have to be screened again. of course my docs are "better safe than sorry" so i have to go back friday for the three hour screening. i don't know why i got the impression i'd only be drinking a dixie cup worth of modified juice. i think one of the many times i was down in hickory getting my blood drawn, there was a pregnant lady was getting her glucose tested. i could have sworn she was only holding a small dixie cup of orange juice. when the girl handed me the 10 oz. bottle of juice and told me i had to finish it all in five minutes, my jaw almost hit the floor. if you know me, it takes me a whole day to finish off one 12 oz. can of soda, if i even finish it. i have a feeling that i'll pass on friday, a majority of women do. plus i think the nurse took my blood a little early. i bet if she would have waited five more minutes i would have passed. i guess we'll just have to wait and see.

as far as weight goes, i'm riding a little high. i just calculated where i should be and where i'm at and right now and i'm at the higher end of the spectrum. i kinda think that may be another reason why my docs want to retest me. it probably wouldn't hurt for me to go on a low carb diet. i was told for this test i could eat a couple hours before my test but to avoid carbs and sugar...yeah, the only thing i could pretty much eat was peanut butter. i have discovered that i consume a lot of carbs. and with being pregnant i've probably doubled my usual intake. i'll have to look up a diet plan and see if i can at least modify my diet. if i fail my glucose test on friday, i really won't have a choice.

and finally, the crib and dresser arrived last thursday! yippee! aaron put the crib together and i put the dresser together so the nursery is finally starting to look like an actual room. i also was able to get an additional $75 back since both pieces went on sale before they were shipped. and i must say i'm quite impressed with the quality of both pieces considering we only paid a little over $200 each. here's a link to the crib in case you were wondering what it looked like. sweet, it just went back up in price so i got a bargain. hopefully the prints i ordered come today, so nursery pics to come in the near future.

i better go. i've been thinking about crafting again and i opened the door to my craft room and it looks like it's become a dumping ground for anything and everything. so my next task is to clean a little craft house.

mr. roboto

i ordered some prints for the nursery. what's more boy than robots? i ended up getting three robot prints and one raygun print from john golden's shop on etsy. i also ordered a picture collage that spells out the baby's name. i told aaron we couldn't hang it til after the baby's born. so there's no more back and forth debate on the baby's name. by ordering the collage i've made it official. still not telling! ;)

we're still waiting on the crib and dresser combo. it's estimated delivery date is now september 26. good thing i ordered it early. i've gotta call cause i just noticed both items went on sale and the invoice hasn't been updated.

this weekend we're headed to nags head, nc for the holiday weekend. jill and jerome rented a beach house and invited us to come along. it's gonna be a long trek across the state. it's about a 6.5/7 hour trip to the coast. it's funny cause we can get to a beach in south carolina in less time. hopefully the weather cooperates and hurricanes and tropical storms will pass us by. i should have pics to post when we get back. not sure what our internet situation will be while we're there. i might have to resort to using my phone to keep updated with everyone. and i think i finally figured out what was wrong with my feed. so hopefully when this posts to facebook it'll have pics and copy. fingers crossed.

welcome to the champagne room

at least it's where we'll be at 2 a.m. come december. finally getting around to posting pics of the finished paint job.

{before}
{after}
so we have one thing crossed off our list in preparation for baby westphal's arrival. well, we do have a wardrobe somewhat started. no, we haven't gone on a spending spree. most of the stuff we've accumulated over the years. you know, parents hinting around for a grandbaby with an outfit or two. most, if not all the rest has been bought on sale or on consignment. we've come to the conclusion, there's no reason to pay top dollar for baby clothes. of course i say that now, but i'm sure i'm gonna see something absolute adorable that i have to have. so i'll say, generally, there's no reason to pay top dollar for baby clothes. which brings me to our next project: reorganizing the closet.

i've been meaning to post these for a while but i've been having terrible eye allergies. at least that's what we think they are. i went in to the doc and he could see the lipids were inflamed under my eyelids. at first he thought i had make-up caked up under there but after trying to remove them he found it was something more permanent. one eye was worst than the other and oh so painful. i couldn't open my eyes without them instantly watering. i've been taking a topical antibiotic for the eyes and allergy meds to help soothe them. they are finally getting back to normal. apparently being preggers may have caused the flare-up. with my immune system compromised if i get sick it'll be twice as bad. so it looks like i'll be getting the flu shot this year.

this week i've been feeling baby westphal kick more often than not. it's weird to describe the feeling, sorta like someone's just pushing on you. not painful at all, at least not yet. it is a weird sensation and when it started happening i started to bug out a little. (the scene from alien comes to mind). now i find myself giving a little push or shove to get him moving some more. aaron's felt him a few times. he probably gets more excited then me! ;)

we have decided on a first name. and although it is tempting to tell, we're gonna keep it under wraps. still debating on the middle name but i think we've gotten it narrowed down to a few. so i've got a secret! ;)

nice girls swallow

to help me get back into the swing of crafting i decided to participate in an altoid tin swap. it was small and easy, so a good way to get my feet wet again. my partner received today so i can post some pics of the tin i made. i went with her swallow theme if you couldn't tell. angela, you might recognize some of the stickers i used. they came in real handy with this project. thanks!

{back}


{interior}

{close up of embroidery}

right now i'm in the process of altering about 15 pairs of scrub bottoms from an XL to a medium. i've decided it would be a hell-of-a-lot easier to make them from scratch. i also started painting the nursery sky blue. the more rooms i paint, the more i hate the color that is originally in the rooms. it's so blah! i'll post some progress shots this weekend. hopefully i can get it all done by sunday.

on target

i absolutely love target. i ordered the baby bedding a few days ago and it arrived yesterday. i wanted to go somewhat gender neutral just in case we switched teams. and i wanted it to be modern and chic. it's gorgeous and i'm very happy with my purchase. i can now make some progress on the nursery, namely painting the walls. today i ordered the crib and matching dresser. i'll share that purchase later. i feel like we are starting to make some progress getting prepared for bbw (baby boy westphal). tomorrow i'll post today's doctor's appt. along with a long overdue belly shot. i finally have something to share. i'm amazed how things just pop out of nowhere. ;)

weekend work

the house is slowly getting painted. this past weekend i decided to do a small project and painted the foyer area. i needed a color that would somewhat compliment the green so we went with this blue. i can't believe how much the molding and wood are popping with the addition of color. we got our chairs last week and are waiting on the couch. the next room to conquer will be the living room. i have absolutely no clue what i'm going to do in there.

green subway

i ordered a few samples of glass tiles off ebay yesterday. not sure if it's gonna be too much green for my taste, so i did a quick mock-up of what my backsplash looks without and what it would look like with the tiles. i'm sure it'll look better in person, but right now...not really loving it. i'll continue the search.

took the leap

yesterday i finished the dining room/kitchen accent wall paint job. i always seem to make things harder on myself than they have to be. case in point. after doing all the remodeling work on the basement, i thought for sure we'd have a 12" roller handy. we, in fact, had three. three caked with drylock gunk, that were pretty much useless for anything. instead of heading out to buy a new one, i decided to use the 6" roller i had instead. (sorta reminded me of the time i used a 12" level to make striped lines on the walls with vaulted ceilings) so what i probably could have done in half the time is finally done. i am proud that i stretched the paint and only used a gallon for everything!

i am extremely happy with the end result. i can't believe how much cleaner the walls look and how bland they looked beforehand. all the walls in our house are currently painted with flat paint. after a couple of years of living here, there seems to be more smudges, scratches, marks than there is clean wall. this is the first "big" room i've done in the house.

next on the list. tile backsplash in the kitchen and paint the kitchen/den. below are the before pics. what an improvement.

dining room possibilities

i'm about 90% positive this will be the future color of our dining room. both picture and color chips have been sitting on our wall the past few weeks. the dilemma: one wall continues into the kitchen and i'm not sure i want a green wall in there because we were thinking of a blue and stone backsplash. but the more i look at it the more i like it. hmmmmmm. i'll have to keep pondering or perhaps reconsider the color of the backsplash.

sofa king cool

the past few months we've been on a quest to furnish our house. it's actually been an ongoing process since we've moved in, but a serious consideration the past few weeks. we made a special trip to charlotte to look for a bed frame and some new living room furniture. we pretty much came back empty-handed. our main problem: delivery. most places do not deliver to the high country or if they do, it almost costs more than the actual furniture. we considered renting a uhaul and picking things up ourselves, but we have to have everything ordered or in stock for it to be worthwhile.

the other problem: i can't find anything i like. i'm extremely picky. don't want anything overstuffed, leather or wood-colored. and that seems to be what's popular and in abundance. i really don't want to settle. so it's been a very slow process. aaron's pretty much given up and has left all the decision-making to me. although i'm happy about this, i know it's going to be extremely tedious task. there's a reason why the only rooms painted in our house are bathrooms!

so i've been scouring the internet, trying to find home decor. hopefully there's gonna be some changes in the westphal house soon. how soon is the real question.

fit for a king

when i was talking to my dad about arranging pickup for the dinette set i also told him i was cruising craigslist for a king-sized bed. (with our new basement addition aaron and i decided to upgrade our bed to a king and move our current queen to the new guest room.)

"how bout as a christmas gift we get you guys a bed?"

"sure!" as far as mattresses go, i think i'd rather have new than used. so it was really a no brainer.

in anticipation of our new bed, i've been scouring ebay for new bedding. trying to stay a little gender neutral for aaron's sake. i did find this set which somewhat resembles the green bathroom color. too girly? well it's too late, i won a set and just received it. i'm really happy with my purchase and will probably start decorating our bedroom soon. be on the lookout!

my mom and dad should be here in a couple of hours. better get back to cleaning house, pulling the turkey out of the freezer and starting some chili for tonight. happy thanksgiving everybody!!

look out below

friday we got a pretty good snowfall. about 3 inches, which is about 3 inches more than we got last year. unfortunately, the ground is still warm so anywhere the sun hit, the snow has pretty much disappeared. this is the weekend we usually put up christmas lights. (don't worry, we don't turn them on til after thanksgiving) well since the sun barely hits the front of the house, i really didn't think aaron would brave the sloped, snow-covered roof. imagine my surprise when he asked if i'd hold the ladder for him this afternoon. i guess he had looked at the extended forecast and figured today would be the best day to get it done.

he arms himself with a snow shovel and broom and gets to work. sweeps as much snow off as he can but it's still pretty slick. he ends up laying flat on his stomach to put up most of the lights. he's about a third of the way done and while i'm adjusting the extension cords, i hear a swooooooooooooosh. i look over and he's standing on the ground. "did you do that on purpose?" i ask.

"heck no! i started sliding and couldn't stop!!"

"are you okay?"

"yeah, but my adrenaline is really pumping now!"

luckily it was on the sloped side that had about a 8 ft. drop and flat. unlike the other side that would have been 15 ft. and downhill. to my surprise, he got back up there and finished the job. we decided replacing bulbs could wait til after thanksgiving. hopefully the weather will cooperate by then.

on another note, i made my first craigslist purchase this weekend. since my parents are heading down here on wednesday for thanksgiving, i decided to check out the listings around the baltimore area for a table and chair set. (since we got the basement done, we moved aaron's office downstairs and now the furnishings upstairs are pretty sparse.) there were about 20x more listings there then we have around here. and i did manage to find a reasonably priced set that my dad was able to pick up yesterday. he even got it for less than what the guy was asking. awesome. i'll take a pic when it gets here. the guy had already taken down the listing before i had a chance to grab the photo. man, if i lived in an urban area, my house would be fully furnished by now.

do as the romans

i finally got the roman shade finished for the master bath. made completely from scratch. i installed all the hardware, including a stop pull and corded it all myself. yes, i am patting myself on the back. and - double bonus - it's fully functional. i did buy a pattern to make it, but in the end i didn't use it. the only thing i needed were measurements. which i'm sure i could have found somewhere on the web. the room is pretty close to done. i was thinking about taking the pattern on the shade and making some type of stencil with it to place around the room. not sure it'd be too much in the way of matchy-matchy. i'll ponder that a little while longer. i did buy a couple of shelves to install and plan on stocking them up with white pottery. i've been eyeing this vase. and these would also be a perfect addition. the possibilities are endless.