Somedays....

Somedays are so hard and I feel like I get no time to myself. But when I look at my 3 kiddos I feel so blessed. I have a husband who looks at me and I can tell how much he loves me. My kids make me laugh (and sometimes cry!) We went to a church on Sunday we had never been to. When I picked up Riley from child care the lady said, "Your daughter is so polite and well spoken." Those simple words were so encouraging that I am doing something right in the midst of what I feel is chaos on most days. I am reminded today that I can do this!!

If I Don't Start Now

Yesterday marked the beginning of my 5k training for the Yellow 5k on October 2nd. My alarm went off at 5:30am (a 2 months old baby boy I should say!) and as soon as I was done feeding him I couldn't go back to sleep. I got all dressed in my running clothes and waiting anxiously until it was light enough outside to go run. I felt like a kid on the first day of school! I was so nervous! I am extremely competative, mostly with myself! When I set a goal and don't complete it, I get completely disappointed. Earlier in the week I looked up a 5k training program. My first 5k I was running with my Fit Moms group and didn't specifically train for it. Same thing with the 10k I ran last August. The picture of me is when I was running the last .2 miles of the 10k. Do you see the look of pure exhaustion in my face? Thats because I really didn't think I was going to make that last .2 miles!
I have a love hate relationship with running. In the beginning I hate it! I always think to myself, why am I doing this? Why can't I just hit up the precor at the gym? But the complete rush I feel after a good run is something I can't re-create with any other exercise.
So, back to my run yesterday morning. The week prior I got in my car and mapped out a 1.5 mile run so that I new exactly how far to go. I have to do this three times the first week. Then each week I gradually work up .5miles until week four, where I should (and will!) complete the 3.1 mile run. Let me just tell you, I am sore in places I haven't been sore since before I had Avery. The run was definately hard, I wanted to give up so many times!! But I kept making deals with myself until I finally reached our house! And it was the best feeling EVER!!

P.S. I am hoping to complete the 10k November 7 but if I feel I am not ready, I will do another 5k and hopefully do a 10k at the beginning of the year. My ultimate goal is to run a half marathon after I am done breast feeding! Wish me luck!

Fall, Just the Word Makes Me Giddy!

Fall is by far my favorite time of year. Actually, any time it's cold I love it! I was reminded this morning as I browsed my closet that I am in definate need of some new clothing for fall and winter. In 2007, I was pregnant with Riley, in 2008 I was trying to lose the baby weight. In 2009, I got pregnant with Avery, and now in 2010, I am trying to lose the baby weight once and for all (more on that later)! I have found that cardigans that drape to the side tend to look the best on me. I carry most of my weight on the bottom half and on my kids. The caridgan is the best for this body type, but you have to be careful, because you don't want to look like you are trying to cover it up too much. That will actually make you look bigger! As I browsed Forever 21 and Anthropologie I was reminded, I am still a sucker for feminine detail and ruffles, lots of ruffles! Although, Forever 21 is more my price range and Anthro is just for inspiration! Oh....and the head wrap is right up my alley and for $4.50, how can you go wrong?!

WARNING: Scrapbooking will cause you to neglect your household duties and your personal hygiene!

That's right, I'm addicted...full on addicted!

My very first page was Averys "Womb with a view." And I am proud to say I got the idea myself, no inspiration except that I love robots =)

Rileys first page was her 1st Birthday page, since then I have made her 2nd, her labor and delivery (I cried the whole time I was making it), swim lessons, Mommy & Me, Daddy & Me, her big girl room & closet. For Avery, I finished his labor and delivery, 2 pages of me pregnant with him, hospital guests and alittle bro page. I am out of paper so I need to make a trip to Michaels, they are having a sale 5 for $1.00 rather than 59 cents a piece! I scoured the clearance section at Michaels and have used a lot of it! Michaels is moving to a new location here so they are trying to clearance out a lot of their products. Anything $5 or more I don't buy unless I have a 40% coupon. Luckily, every time you purchase, there is a coupon on your receipt!

I am going to try Walmart and see if their supplies and stickers are cheaper. My next page for both kids is our wedding, kind of like "where it all began." I have always wanted to know how my parents met and stories behind their dating life together. Pictures to come of the shelving unit my hubby made for me this weekend that houses all my crafts! I am in L.O.V.E!!

Switchin It Up

I have to admit, I have not really had any luck with my sewing projects lately. So I am trying my skills on some new projects. I made this Bless Our Nest sign last week and I am in LOVE! I made it out of this huge piece of plywood that was on our side yard when we bought our house. I had my hubby cut it up (One of my 2010 goals is to learn to use his tools!) so I can make many signs! I have so many different ideas that I probably need to scale them down a tad!

My 2nd project is Averys scrapbook/baby book. I received the most amazing scrapbook/baby book for my baby shower when I was pregnant with Riley from my aunt. It actually could be one of my all time favorite gifts. Many hours went into it and I absolutely cherish it. I have never scrapbooked in my life but I figured I could go page by page through Rileys and make Averys, just the boy version! The problem is, my wallet does not like scrapbooking! I spent $30 to get me started, this doesn't include the album!! Which is $50 on EBAY! So I figured that I would only buy materials when they are on sale or if I have a 40% off coupon. I was able to buy a set of 20 decorative scissors on ebay for $12.00, which retail for about $30 I think. I have decided that I will do a page per month per child. I still need to play catch up on Rileys but my first page for her will be graduating Level 1 of swim lessons! Although she hated every minute of it, I just have to document it!

A Heavy Weight

I was so completely saddened when I read this post by Farmgirl Paints. But it was such an important reminder that I am raising a little girl and I want nothing more than for her to love herself, just as she is. But I was plagued with fear that I would not be able to instill this in Riley. I was quickly reminded that I myself have a poor self image, when that night Jim took a picture of me and I couldn't stand the following; my double chin, my chubby cheeks and the reminder that I still have a lot of baby weight to lose. I failed the see the woman that my husband loves so much, the happy person that I am inside and the one forever loved by God. I have to admit, I have struggled with this the past week with the thought of Riley feeling bad about herself one day. It was such a huge reminder that I need to pray for the young woman Riley is going to become!

A Place for Mommy

I have only been working on this desk for weeks! It was painted blue with an antique finish on it. So there were many layers to sand off. I painted it white and sanded the edges, I then decided to modpodge paper on the drawers to give it some funk!

I needed a place for my sewing machine and a place to retreat to when I wanted to craft. The other day while the kiddos were sleeping, I turned on Pandora and retreated to my new space. It was pure bliss! I bought the two picture frames at a yard sale for .50 cents a piece and at the same sale I bought a huge cork board for $1.00. I popped the glass out of the frames and cut up the cork board to fit in the frames. I made the tack flowers out of paper and glued buttons on the center. This will be a place where I can tack up reminders or just special encouraging notes to myself! I finally have a place where I can feel inspired and calm!

What Can Under $100.00 Getcha?

I just want to point out that I have blogged 3 days in a row! That deserves some sort of prize, right?! Anywho, this weekend we got an itch. A small remodel itch. It just so happened it was about 4pm on Saturday. The hubs and I never start projects early in the morning, that would be to easy =) We have been wanting to reface the front of our kitchen bar and with DJ's upcoming birthday party this was the perfect time to get started. We originally knew we wanted beadboard and chunky moulding to fancy up the place but when we got to talking we decided to go gloss black and I couldn't be more thrilled. The before was boring and very white! We needed the black contrast. We have some left over bead board and I plan on painting it black and sticking it in the cupboards where our glass fronts are. This will really help our glass pieces show! And if I don't like it, I just repaint it! Easy peasy!

Quatrefoil Craze!

Quatrefoil has been all the craze around the blogging world. And I am as equally in love with it as some other bloggers! Remember I posted here about using the Quatrefoil template from Tatertots and Jello. We really have been wanting to purchase new furniture for our bedroom but came to the realization that it is not in the cards right now. We have a light wood (not even sure what it's called) bedroom set that is about 15 years old. It actually looks pretty good but the light wood was not our style. I asked my hubby to go pick out a brown paint color at the store (yes, I let him pick it out!) I was quite impressed that it had an olive tint to it and I loved it!

Well, I tried it on a much smaller scale than my planned laundry room. I am so glad I tested it on a smaller area because I learned some things. 1. Listen to my husband 2. My husband will re-sand the project after I mess up! 3. Do not spray the adhesive directly to the piece of furniture, spray it on the stencil. 4. Use a sharp exacto knife to cut the stencil and if you are not patient, have your husband do it =) 5. Let the paint completely dry before you try to peel it off! 6. For a small piece of furniture, it works best to use a sponge brush and almost do a "sponge painting" motion.

Overall, I am really happy with how it turned out. I would really like to update our lamps and find some more decorative things for our bedside. But this was definately a start! Stay tuned for a peek at a big kitchen project we worked on this weekend that completey transformed our house!!

Time Flies!

We have been crazy busy here! A newborn, a toddler who has been sick for about 4 weeks (now has Strep) and my hubby has been traveling alot for work! Whewwww...I can do this!

One really fun thing I was able to work on lately was a baby shower I did the decorations for. My friend Stephanie has her cutie patootie baby boy Beckett right after I had Avery. It was a blast to find inspiration for the shower. The color theme was blue and brown. I saved old mason jars for a couple of weeks and just wrapped them with ribbon, then went to the farmers market and got two bouqets of flowers. Yes, two bouquets filled 8 jars! I made poms out of tissue paper and make pin wheels, that I stuck in the bouquets, out of paper from the $1 Store. This was the best deal I have ever found! Three huge sheets of double sided paper for $1. I had bought it before we even planned the shower, went back a month later and there was one left! I didn't even use all three sheets, what a deal! I bought brown and blue polka dot fabric and made a table runner which looked so cute! The favors were chocolate cupcakes with blue frosting and mini paper pin wheels on top. I ruffled up some fabric left over from the runner and hot glued it to these fabulous brown bags. I got a huge box of these bags for $2.00 at a yard sale! Major score! I think there is about 100 left =)

My girlfriend Kelli did a wonderful job with all the food, despite the fact she is due with her little boy in about 2 1/2 weeks. It was been fun to be surrounded by great friends who have also just given birth to their little boys! We had a great time just chatting and catching up! Congrats Stephanie on baby Beckett!!