Sunday, July 05, 2009
Sick
That's what we've been in our household for a little over a week. Dan started feeling sick when he went on his fly-fishing trip and then I started feeling sick when he returned. I wasn't as bad as he was. We figured it was just some sort of bug. Come Tuesday of last week and a notice on our back door from the water board- we had E. Coli in our water from the excessive rain. We're still sick- Dan is very fatigued and I'm just plain sick all over again. Lilly thankfully hasn't shown any signs which I'm thankful for. I thought I was better, but everything started all over again tonight and I'm back at square one. I did some more research when we got home and a lot of what we're reading says to stay away from antibiotics and to just rest and drink......a lot! We picked up some Gatorade so hopefully we'll start feeling better soon. Anyways, I know I've been doing a bad job at keeping up with updates and what not, but I'll be sure to be back later in the week with some new pics and updates on Lilly. In the meantime I'm just going to edit and rest! Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.......oh.....and I finally hit the big 3-0.......scary I tell ya!!!
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Three Years ago....
Three years ago today, my Lillian Grace was brought into the world. I had spent the two days prior in a hospital bed as they gave me steroid shots in hopes of strengthening Lillian's lungs for her early entry. I've never really thought about it until now, but my OB/GYN basically saved Lillian's life and for that I'll forever be grateful. If she hadn't sent me go to the hospital, the sono tech said we probably would have lost her since my next appointment wasn't scheduled for another two weeks. Scary to think about now for sure.
I didn't sleep much during those two days as you can imagine. The morning she was born though, I was finally able to catch some zzzzz's. I awoke to Betsy grabbing a nurse because Lillian's heartbeat was dropping.......and of course with Betsy being a nurse she wasn't taking no for an answer. The nurses were in the middle of a shift change and they had initially wanted to wait until the next shift came on. Lillian wasn't in the mood though. So off we went.
I had a hard time breathing while I was on the table. Maybe it was my nerves kicking in, I don't know, but I felt sick to my stomach throughout the procedure. They informed me once they were inside that they were going to have to make two incisions, therefore forcing me to have a c-section with the next kid. And then she came.
My sweet Lillian came into this world weighing 3 lbs 1 oz. I was so scared when they showed her to me. I know that there would be babies in the NICU far smaller than she was, but when you're expecting an 8 pound baby, a 3 pound one can come as quite a shocker, especially when you've never seen a baby that small. I saw her briefly and then she was whisked away to be taken care of. After they were done with me, they sent me back to my room. It was then that they told me the worst news ever......I wouldn't be able to see her for 24 hours because of my blood pressure. It was still really high and I was at risk of having a seizure so I had to stay put. I started doubting myself, doubting how I'd be as a parent if I couldn't even carry her full term. For 24 hours, this was all that I had to look at.......
And now here we are three years later. She's happy, she's healthy and she's what I am most proud of in my life. She has the most wonderful laugh......her dimples can bring a smile to anyone that sees them......she makes the best funny faces........she's mine. Someday soon she'll have a sibling to go through life with, but in the meantime, I'm going to treasure these moments with my three year old.......my sweet Lillian Grace.
I didn't sleep much during those two days as you can imagine. The morning she was born though, I was finally able to catch some zzzzz's. I awoke to Betsy grabbing a nurse because Lillian's heartbeat was dropping.......and of course with Betsy being a nurse she wasn't taking no for an answer. The nurses were in the middle of a shift change and they had initially wanted to wait until the next shift came on. Lillian wasn't in the mood though. So off we went.
I had a hard time breathing while I was on the table. Maybe it was my nerves kicking in, I don't know, but I felt sick to my stomach throughout the procedure. They informed me once they were inside that they were going to have to make two incisions, therefore forcing me to have a c-section with the next kid. And then she came.
My sweet Lillian came into this world weighing 3 lbs 1 oz. I was so scared when they showed her to me. I know that there would be babies in the NICU far smaller than she was, but when you're expecting an 8 pound baby, a 3 pound one can come as quite a shocker, especially when you've never seen a baby that small. I saw her briefly and then she was whisked away to be taken care of. After they were done with me, they sent me back to my room. It was then that they told me the worst news ever......I wouldn't be able to see her for 24 hours because of my blood pressure. It was still really high and I was at risk of having a seizure so I had to stay put. I started doubting myself, doubting how I'd be as a parent if I couldn't even carry her full term. For 24 hours, this was all that I had to look at.......
And now here we are three years later. She's happy, she's healthy and she's what I am most proud of in my life. She has the most wonderful laugh......her dimples can bring a smile to anyone that sees them......she makes the best funny faces........she's mine. Someday soon she'll have a sibling to go through life with, but in the meantime, I'm going to treasure these moments with my three year old.......my sweet Lillian Grace.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Great Sale at Pink Ink
I'm soooooo excited to be traveling to St. Louis next week you don't even know!!! I need a break, a mommy break to be exact. I love my job, don't get me wrong. That being said, I've been in mommy mode for 3 years and everyone needs a break from reality every now and then! This will be my first "me time" since Lilly was born. I'm a little nervous about the whole plane ride thing considering I've only flown once and that was from Syracuse to NYC so that almost doesn't even count! I've requested an aisle seat cause I got a little sick to my stomach when I looked out the window the last time. I think I'm just nervous about the unknown......like layovers!!
Anyways, the whole reason for this post is that myself, Amy and Holly are having a great sale to celebrate at Pink Ink. Maybe I'll even spend the extra couple of bucks on a cocktail or two.....something I haven't had in a LOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGGG time! So if you're a photographer and you need some new stuff, now is a great time to stock up! Everything in my store is 50% off and you can buy my whole store for the final price of $50 (will show up as $100 initially until the 50% discount is taken at the checkout!)
You can pick up the Buy My Store options here in the Special Offers section at Pink Ink!
Anyways, the whole reason for this post is that myself, Amy and Holly are having a great sale to celebrate at Pink Ink. Maybe I'll even spend the extra couple of bucks on a cocktail or two.....something I haven't had in a LOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGGG time! So if you're a photographer and you need some new stuff, now is a great time to stock up! Everything in my store is 50% off and you can buy my whole store for the final price of $50 (will show up as $100 initially until the 50% discount is taken at the checkout!)
You can pick up the Buy My Store options here in the Special Offers section at Pink Ink!
Big Weekend
I'm so busy getting ready for this weekend but wanted to post a couple of pics of Lilly playing in the backyard....
On Saturday I'm shooting a wedding and on Sunday we're having Lillian's birthday party. I usually like to hold things on Saturday cause I consider Sunday a day to spend with your family, but since I'm working and Sunday is her actual birthday, it was the way to go this year! The kids will be making some crafts and I'm hopeful that it won't rain out, otherwise the kids will be in the garage and everyone will be stuffed in my construction zone of a house! Today we're headed to the wedding location so I can check things out and to the grocery store for the rest of the stuff for the party and then back home to clean and do some laundry......which makes me remember that I really need to have Dan put up a laundry line outside......it's been so beautiful outside and I haven't had line dried clothes since I was a kid!!
On Saturday I'm shooting a wedding and on Sunday we're having Lillian's birthday party. I usually like to hold things on Saturday cause I consider Sunday a day to spend with your family, but since I'm working and Sunday is her actual birthday, it was the way to go this year! The kids will be making some crafts and I'm hopeful that it won't rain out, otherwise the kids will be in the garage and everyone will be stuffed in my construction zone of a house! Today we're headed to the wedding location so I can check things out and to the grocery store for the rest of the stuff for the party and then back home to clean and do some laundry......which makes me remember that I really need to have Dan put up a laundry line outside......it's been so beautiful outside and I haven't had line dried clothes since I was a kid!!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The house
So it's been awhile since I gave an updated photo of what we've been doing with the house! Dan started working on the outside a few weeks ago and he just finished most of the painting besides a few touch ups for the bottom portion of the front of the house. He still needs to refinish the floor and install the new light fixture and we plan on getting a new storm door cause I think the style that's on there now hides too much of the newly painted maroon door!
As you can see, we're getting closer to a fully painted house! This year we're focusing on finishing all of the painting, fixing the leak in the slate roof as well as cleaning it (it's a slow leak so it's nothing major at this point but still needs to get fixed), repairing the woodwork on the outside of the house that needs to be replaced and painting the garage. He needs to tear out the lattice and replace it but that's nothing too major. We'd also like to re-grade the driveway and put down some crushed stone since it was a complete mess this spring. Dan was a landscaper in college so he knows how to put all of the stuff in so we're going to wait until next year to do that so that we can invest some money into it since we'd like to get some more trees and have some permanent plantings in the front of the house.
So while Dan figures out how he's going to paint the top of the house, we're moving onto the kitchen. We received our new sink base which is lovely and we've changed our plans a little. We were planning on waiting a few years to start the major demo, but I'm at the point now where I don't want to go through this all over again! So, the plan is to tear down the wall, refinish the floor and buy the cabinets piece by piece and then install them. We're still up in the air about the countertops, but we can always do granite tile for now and then upgrade them down the line since the cabinets are going to be a decent chunk of change. We're going to leave the bathroom updates for next year, but in the meantime we'll be installing a fan and new light fixture in the upstairs one which will be great since there is basically no proper lighting in there right now!
It's going to be a busy summer for sure, but I' m ready for it to be over with and I'm glad that Dan feels the same way.
As you can see, we're getting closer to a fully painted house! This year we're focusing on finishing all of the painting, fixing the leak in the slate roof as well as cleaning it (it's a slow leak so it's nothing major at this point but still needs to get fixed), repairing the woodwork on the outside of the house that needs to be replaced and painting the garage. He needs to tear out the lattice and replace it but that's nothing too major. We'd also like to re-grade the driveway and put down some crushed stone since it was a complete mess this spring. Dan was a landscaper in college so he knows how to put all of the stuff in so we're going to wait until next year to do that so that we can invest some money into it since we'd like to get some more trees and have some permanent plantings in the front of the house.
So while Dan figures out how he's going to paint the top of the house, we're moving onto the kitchen. We received our new sink base which is lovely and we've changed our plans a little. We were planning on waiting a few years to start the major demo, but I'm at the point now where I don't want to go through this all over again! So, the plan is to tear down the wall, refinish the floor and buy the cabinets piece by piece and then install them. We're still up in the air about the countertops, but we can always do granite tile for now and then upgrade them down the line since the cabinets are going to be a decent chunk of change. We're going to leave the bathroom updates for next year, but in the meantime we'll be installing a fan and new light fixture in the upstairs one which will be great since there is basically no proper lighting in there right now!
It's going to be a busy summer for sure, but I' m ready for it to be over with and I'm glad that Dan feels the same way.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Washable Markers
Thank goodness for the word washable!
I bought some washable markers at the store today to make Lilly's new potty chart for her stickers and she couldn't resist playing with them herself on the back porch.
Then yesterday right after she woke up she took off her pants and pull ups, grabbed a book and sat on the couch for a good morning read (hence the messy hair!)...
Things are going okay here. She had her three year check up the other day and normally I post an update that afternoon or the next day, but I needed some time to digest the news that Lilly most likely needs to see a speech therapist. Even now as I type this I'm crying because I feel like it's my fault. If she weren't born premature, I feel like she'd be caught up......and if I didn't have high blood pressure she wouldn't have been born so early. When we went to the open house for pre-school last week, I could hear the difference between her and the other three year olds so I think I kinda knew this was going to happen, but I think it's just natural for all parents to want the best for their children.
Her doctor said that she noticed that she's a lot more involved in things than other little girls her age. She likes to inspect things and she's really active. She said that most likely she's focusing on her motor skills over her language skills which also plays a role in her potty training which is still a work in progress, but she's getting better every day and I look forward to the day when I don't have to pick up any more pull ups until the next one is born (still awhile for that!)
So at this point we're just waiting to hear back from the school so she can get an evaluation. I'm not going to focus on it though and I'm not going to push her. We'll continue to read throughout the day, learn our ABC's and 123's (she's up to 15) and just play and have a good time together! I'm also going to try to not blame myself, but as most mother's know, it's hard not to blame yourself!
I bought some washable markers at the store today to make Lilly's new potty chart for her stickers and she couldn't resist playing with them herself on the back porch.
Then yesterday right after she woke up she took off her pants and pull ups, grabbed a book and sat on the couch for a good morning read (hence the messy hair!)...
Things are going okay here. She had her three year check up the other day and normally I post an update that afternoon or the next day, but I needed some time to digest the news that Lilly most likely needs to see a speech therapist. Even now as I type this I'm crying because I feel like it's my fault. If she weren't born premature, I feel like she'd be caught up......and if I didn't have high blood pressure she wouldn't have been born so early. When we went to the open house for pre-school last week, I could hear the difference between her and the other three year olds so I think I kinda knew this was going to happen, but I think it's just natural for all parents to want the best for their children.
Her doctor said that she noticed that she's a lot more involved in things than other little girls her age. She likes to inspect things and she's really active. She said that most likely she's focusing on her motor skills over her language skills which also plays a role in her potty training which is still a work in progress, but she's getting better every day and I look forward to the day when I don't have to pick up any more pull ups until the next one is born (still awhile for that!)
So at this point we're just waiting to hear back from the school so she can get an evaluation. I'm not going to focus on it though and I'm not going to push her. We'll continue to read throughout the day, learn our ABC's and 123's (she's up to 15) and just play and have a good time together! I'm also going to try to not blame myself, but as most mother's know, it's hard not to blame yourself!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Pre-school
And so it begins! We headed to Lillian's pre-school open house today which I was excited about. I think mostly because I wanted to see how Lillian compared to the other kids. I know that each child is unique and their going to develop on their own terms, but it's hard not to compare to the other kids. Being around other kids, I can see where things are lacking a little bit and I think part of me expected it. Her doctor noticed that she was a teeny bit behind, but assured me that once she got into school and was able to interact with other kids that she'd start to pick up. Her speech has gotten a lot better in the past month and I've seen a lot of progress. She can count to the number 15 on her own and she's learning the alphabet song (still some gibberish in there of course!) She loves to be read too and that was really the only advice that we were given......just keep reading to her and she'll catch up sooner or later. So since that's a part of her daily routine anyways, nothing really needs to be changed on that front. Potty training though is numero uno!! I think she might have been the only one in pull-ups. So I'm determined now to get this accomplished this summer. I'm not going to push her and I'm going to let her make mistakes.
Tonight though she actually pulled down her underwear and sat on the toilet by herself without us telling her which was a first. She also put the little seat on the toilet in the bathroom by herself and went there as well. I know it'll happen when it happens.......just as long as it happens before she starts school!
She did EXTREMELY well with the other kids. She's always been one to just start talking to other kids and going up to them to start playing. She's certainly a little social butterfly and I'm thinking she didn't get that from me.......not that I'm not friendly or anything......just takes me awhile to warm up to people!! Anyways, I'm just so very proud of her and I know that she'll enjoy it there!
We'll hopefully be heading to the field across the street tomorrow since I found out from my next door neighbor that it's okay for me to take photos over their since the town owns it.......a great field and yellow barn......and you know me and my barns......love em!!!
Tonight though she actually pulled down her underwear and sat on the toilet by herself without us telling her which was a first. She also put the little seat on the toilet in the bathroom by herself and went there as well. I know it'll happen when it happens.......just as long as it happens before she starts school!
She did EXTREMELY well with the other kids. She's always been one to just start talking to other kids and going up to them to start playing. She's certainly a little social butterfly and I'm thinking she didn't get that from me.......not that I'm not friendly or anything......just takes me awhile to warm up to people!! Anyways, I'm just so very proud of her and I know that she'll enjoy it there!
We'll hopefully be heading to the field across the street tomorrow since I found out from my next door neighbor that it's okay for me to take photos over their since the town owns it.......a great field and yellow barn......and you know me and my barns......love em!!!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Hello!
So I know I suck at updating this blog! I've been busy though which is a good excuse and I highly doubt that Dan will be updating the blog anytime soon! Anyways, wedding season will be kicking into full gear this weekend. May and June are busy, busy, busy and hopefully getting busier with senior portraits during the week! Designing at Pink Ink has been a blessing in disguise and I absolutely love being able to design stuff again and with it being stuff that I can use for my business. I haven't scrapped in ages though which I really need to do sometime soon! So I'll do some updating on all fronts of my life so here we go!
Business- Business is doing great!! I'm about to purchase another lens within the week and it's a scary purchase, but it's something that I need and I know that it'll pay for itself soon! It's just scary when you make large purchases and when you look at the receipt and think "oh my god.....I could have bought a lot of stuff for that amount of money!"
Dan- Dan is doing well! Still loving his job which is something that I know is hard to come by these days. On days where I think that he might be having a tough day I always ask him if it was a bad day like the last place he worked and it's always a certain no!
Lilly- Lilly is doing well! She'll be turning 3 soon. Still hard to believe that my baby will be 3! I'm about to start planning her birthday party since we didn't have one for her last year since we were in the midst of moving into the house. I just can't decide if I should make the cake or not. The crafty girl in me want to make it again and make it pretty so I'll have something to photograph, but I guess we'll see! She's been doing well with potty training and actually pooped in the potty for the first time today which is super! We've been using a sticker chart which seems to be working well. Only problem is that she only does really well when she doesn't wear anything on the bottom! So next week we're going to move onto underwear and let her have accidents until she learns.......thank goodness for hardwood floors!! It's also hard to imagine that she'll be entering pre-school this year.......I'm still in total denial!
The house- The house is coming along nicely. Dan started scraping the front of the house this past weekend and hopes to have the bottom half done within the next couple of weeks. Then his cousin who is a painter is going to help him do the upper part. He also need to replace some of the woodwork that is rotted out because there's no point painting over something that's just going to fall apart! The kitchen is moving along slowly. I think mostly because of the whole dust issue. I HATE the layers of dust it leaves in my house. And since I'm the one that does the drywall, it's up to me to finish it! We're ordering the kitchen sink cabinet and we're going to get a quote for the rest of the cabinets. We might be able to do the kitchen remodel a little sooner than planned thanks to a wonderful discount we received! We're also going to price solid granite (we were planning on getting tile granite) as well which is exciting.
Another thing we're going to start doing this year is replacing the windows. The kitchen and bathroom are first on the list followed by the front windows. And yet another thing on the list of things to do is the driveway......we won't be able to pave it for a few years since it's not a high priority at this point, but we do need to have some new stone put down so that's it's not such a mess next spring! Like I've said countless times before, it'll be a work in progress for years to come!
Oh and the big news.......Bessy is back from being on vacation. You see......Bessy is my lawnmower. Bessy was my grandpa's riding lawnmower that me and Dan inherited when Grandpa passed away. So she sat in storage waiting to be used. Then when we were ready for her, she wasn't feeling too well so we brought her to the lawn mower doctor in Arlington. Well I guess Bessy really liked it there because she's been there since August. I finally told Dan that I had had enough and that I wanted the mower back so that we could mow the lawn whenever we wanted......otherwise I was going to make him buy one of those eco-friendly push mowers which wouldn't have been fun with 3/4 of an acre of land!! Needless to say, Bessy is back home with us and working well. She'll probably need to be replaced in a few years, but she works and she gets the job done so that's all that matters!
Anyways, here's a pic of Lilly today out on the back porch enjoying the weather and coloring....
Business- Business is doing great!! I'm about to purchase another lens within the week and it's a scary purchase, but it's something that I need and I know that it'll pay for itself soon! It's just scary when you make large purchases and when you look at the receipt and think "oh my god.....I could have bought a lot of stuff for that amount of money!"
Dan- Dan is doing well! Still loving his job which is something that I know is hard to come by these days. On days where I think that he might be having a tough day I always ask him if it was a bad day like the last place he worked and it's always a certain no!
Lilly- Lilly is doing well! She'll be turning 3 soon. Still hard to believe that my baby will be 3! I'm about to start planning her birthday party since we didn't have one for her last year since we were in the midst of moving into the house. I just can't decide if I should make the cake or not. The crafty girl in me want to make it again and make it pretty so I'll have something to photograph, but I guess we'll see! She's been doing well with potty training and actually pooped in the potty for the first time today which is super! We've been using a sticker chart which seems to be working well. Only problem is that she only does really well when she doesn't wear anything on the bottom! So next week we're going to move onto underwear and let her have accidents until she learns.......thank goodness for hardwood floors!! It's also hard to imagine that she'll be entering pre-school this year.......I'm still in total denial!
The house- The house is coming along nicely. Dan started scraping the front of the house this past weekend and hopes to have the bottom half done within the next couple of weeks. Then his cousin who is a painter is going to help him do the upper part. He also need to replace some of the woodwork that is rotted out because there's no point painting over something that's just going to fall apart! The kitchen is moving along slowly. I think mostly because of the whole dust issue. I HATE the layers of dust it leaves in my house. And since I'm the one that does the drywall, it's up to me to finish it! We're ordering the kitchen sink cabinet and we're going to get a quote for the rest of the cabinets. We might be able to do the kitchen remodel a little sooner than planned thanks to a wonderful discount we received! We're also going to price solid granite (we were planning on getting tile granite) as well which is exciting.
Another thing we're going to start doing this year is replacing the windows. The kitchen and bathroom are first on the list followed by the front windows. And yet another thing on the list of things to do is the driveway......we won't be able to pave it for a few years since it's not a high priority at this point, but we do need to have some new stone put down so that's it's not such a mess next spring! Like I've said countless times before, it'll be a work in progress for years to come!
Oh and the big news.......Bessy is back from being on vacation. You see......Bessy is my lawnmower. Bessy was my grandpa's riding lawnmower that me and Dan inherited when Grandpa passed away. So she sat in storage waiting to be used. Then when we were ready for her, she wasn't feeling too well so we brought her to the lawn mower doctor in Arlington. Well I guess Bessy really liked it there because she's been there since August. I finally told Dan that I had had enough and that I wanted the mower back so that we could mow the lawn whenever we wanted......otherwise I was going to make him buy one of those eco-friendly push mowers which wouldn't have been fun with 3/4 of an acre of land!! Needless to say, Bessy is back home with us and working well. She'll probably need to be replaced in a few years, but she works and she gets the job done so that's all that matters!
Anyways, here's a pic of Lilly today out on the back porch enjoying the weather and coloring....
Friday, April 17, 2009
The outdoors
I love that we're finally able to enjoy the outdoors again! Lilly has been having lots of fun the past few days in the backyard. We've been playing kickball, dancing and throwing rocks in the river which she loves to do. I was able to catch a couple of her and even managed a smile from her.....
Lilly will be spending tomorrow and tomorrow night with Nana so me and Dan can focus when we go to Curtis Lumber to pick out the cabinetry and try to get an estimate for the all of the cabinets and not just the sink/island cabinet. The only major expense in the kitchen besides the cabinets is moving the heating ducts. It won't happen this year, but maybe we can buy the cabinets one by one to spread out the cost over a year and it can maybe happen next year so we'll see. Dan will be focusing on the front of the house now which will require some more time because the detail trim in the front is peeling really bad. I'll still be stuck inside working on the kitchen, but at least I can have the back door open to let in the breeze from the river! I'll be working on my perennial flower garden too so that'll be something new for me to do as well!! Anyways, I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend wherever you are!!
Lilly will be spending tomorrow and tomorrow night with Nana so me and Dan can focus when we go to Curtis Lumber to pick out the cabinetry and try to get an estimate for the all of the cabinets and not just the sink/island cabinet. The only major expense in the kitchen besides the cabinets is moving the heating ducts. It won't happen this year, but maybe we can buy the cabinets one by one to spread out the cost over a year and it can maybe happen next year so we'll see. Dan will be focusing on the front of the house now which will require some more time because the detail trim in the front is peeling really bad. I'll still be stuck inside working on the kitchen, but at least I can have the back door open to let in the breeze from the river! I'll be working on my perennial flower garden too so that'll be something new for me to do as well!! Anyways, I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend wherever you are!!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter
We had a wonderful Easter this year! Even amongst all of the chaos of the kitchen/dining room remodel we had a lovely Easter dinner. We started the day by heading out to church. Our local church stopped doing Sunday masses so we thought that we were going to have to go to the next town over, but when we drove by the parking lot was near full so we figured that they were holding mass. So luckily we didn't have to drive to Manchester to go to church. This year we were one of those "holiday attendees" as I liked to call it when we attended mass regularly. We used to go to church every weekend when we were living in Buffalo, but once we moved to Massachusetts and then to Vermont we stopped going. Life got too hectic so church got put on the back burner. So maybe this will make us start going again.....but then again having an almost 3 year old who only wants to run around may make me think differently!
Anyways, once we came back home, we had our first Easter Egg hunt which was so cute. Lilly didn't really understand what she was looking for at first, but she got the hang of it half way through it. This year she only had candy in her eggs, but once she understands money we'll start putting money in the eggs so that she can put it in her bank account. She loved her baskets.....her candy from Grandpa & Grandpa (she still calls Mary Grandpa....although she did call her Grandma once!), her movies and candy from Aunt Betsy, Uncle Justin and Marianna and her sock Monkey from Nana (Lilly loves monkeys!) Then we had a wonderful spiral ham and other yummy stuff for an early dinner!
And here's a couple of pics of Lilly during her egg hunt....
Anyways, once we came back home, we had our first Easter Egg hunt which was so cute. Lilly didn't really understand what she was looking for at first, but she got the hang of it half way through it. This year she only had candy in her eggs, but once she understands money we'll start putting money in the eggs so that she can put it in her bank account. She loved her baskets.....her candy from Grandpa & Grandpa (she still calls Mary Grandpa....although she did call her Grandma once!), her movies and candy from Aunt Betsy, Uncle Justin and Marianna and her sock Monkey from Nana (Lilly loves monkeys!) Then we had a wonderful spiral ham and other yummy stuff for an early dinner!
And here's a couple of pics of Lilly during her egg hunt....
Monday, April 13, 2009
HUGE SALE!!!
You can check out my stuff here at Pink Ink........and be sure to check out all of the other designers participating as well!!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The White Brush
Yesterday was like any other weekday for me and Lilly. We played, I did some work on the computer, I attempted to clean up after the world's messiest toddler (she is seriously soooooo messy) and I made us lunch and put Lilly down for her nap. Shortly after her nap, I got a headache. That headache soon turned into a migraine which is something that I used to get a lot of in high school and college but have been lucky for the most part that they've pretty much been phased out of my life. Typically when I get a migraine, nothing really helps other than lying down and drinking some Pepsi. This migraine though, wanted to stay with me throughout the afternoon and didn't feel like leaving. Later in the evening, I decided to close my eyes and just rest, hoping that it would help (I have a hard time sleeping when I have a migraine.) Lilly, recognizing that something was off, came over to me, sat down beside me and started kissing my head and gently rubbing my hair back and forth. In that moment, I was brought back to my childhood. The sensation of her rubbing my head calmed me and soothed me, and within thirty minutes my migraine was gone.
It's that soothing feeling that my mother must have loved when she had me and my sister brush her hair while she was on the couch. We'd grab the white brush from the bathroom, the white brush that my Grandma Schlie would buy whenever we needed a new one that could only be found in the store in Walton, NY down near camp. I can't even begin to remember how many soft bristled brushes we went through as kids, but it was the only brush we ever used. Countless nights me and my sister would brush our mom's hair for $1 to make her feel better. We always used to ask her why she liked having her hair brushed and we never understood why she liked it so much, but I guess as a young kid getting $1, we probably didn't really care what the reason was. It wasn't until last night, that that feeling came over me. My child, who at two and half years old knew that something was wrong with on her own, soothed me and made me feel better. I don't remember whether my mom had headaches or if it was just when she had a tough day at work (I know I can remember that she didn't like one of her co-workers very much!) but I now know that it soothed her and made her feel better. It's silly memories like those that I hold close to my heart as I'm sure my sister does. My dad still has a white brush, which I'm sure has survived this long because me and my sister don't use it on a daily basis to brush our thick hair. SHHHHHHH.......I have a secret......every now and then when I'm home I brush my hair with his brush just to bring some old memories back!
Anyways, I just type up this stuff to not only get it off my chest, but to remember the little things and I feel a lot better just saying it all out loud!
It's that soothing feeling that my mother must have loved when she had me and my sister brush her hair while she was on the couch. We'd grab the white brush from the bathroom, the white brush that my Grandma Schlie would buy whenever we needed a new one that could only be found in the store in Walton, NY down near camp. I can't even begin to remember how many soft bristled brushes we went through as kids, but it was the only brush we ever used. Countless nights me and my sister would brush our mom's hair for $1 to make her feel better. We always used to ask her why she liked having her hair brushed and we never understood why she liked it so much, but I guess as a young kid getting $1, we probably didn't really care what the reason was. It wasn't until last night, that that feeling came over me. My child, who at two and half years old knew that something was wrong with on her own, soothed me and made me feel better. I don't remember whether my mom had headaches or if it was just when she had a tough day at work (I know I can remember that she didn't like one of her co-workers very much!) but I now know that it soothed her and made her feel better. It's silly memories like those that I hold close to my heart as I'm sure my sister does. My dad still has a white brush, which I'm sure has survived this long because me and my sister don't use it on a daily basis to brush our thick hair. SHHHHHHH.......I have a secret......every now and then when I'm home I brush my hair with his brush just to bring some old memories back!
Anyways, I just type up this stuff to not only get it off my chest, but to remember the little things and I feel a lot better just saying it all out loud!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Running
This was a couple of weeks ago right after a session. She just loved running up and down the road in the snow (don't worry, the road has almost no traffic!)
Her hair is crazy......this I know! I'm letting her bangs grow out so they're usually swept to the side since I'm noticing a curl in them as well! She has such crazy curly hair still.
Not much going on here. I have two sessions this weekend though so it'll be a nice change. I'm looking forward to seeing some green outside and start shooting outdoors more. Hopefully Lillian will be a willing model for me this spring and summer with all of her cute summer clothes that I've gotten her so far! I was thinking about trying to learn how to sew again, but at that point I think that I'll have too much on my hands so I'm just going to stick to my camera and knitting needles for now!
I guess that's it for now, gotta get back to designing since I've been away all day running around!
Her hair is crazy......this I know! I'm letting her bangs grow out so they're usually swept to the side since I'm noticing a curl in them as well! She has such crazy curly hair still.
Not much going on here. I have two sessions this weekend though so it'll be a nice change. I'm looking forward to seeing some green outside and start shooting outdoors more. Hopefully Lillian will be a willing model for me this spring and summer with all of her cute summer clothes that I've gotten her so far! I was thinking about trying to learn how to sew again, but at that point I think that I'll have too much on my hands so I'm just going to stick to my camera and knitting needles for now!
I guess that's it for now, gotta get back to designing since I've been away all day running around!
Friday, March 06, 2009
Chocolate
Chocolate was the first word that Lillian spoke and it's certainly a treat for her to have some! Last week when I gave her a little piece her whole face was covered with it, even around her eyes.....this time she did a little better!
Dan took yesterday and today off to relax and work on the kitchen. It's really nice having him home with us for a couple extra days, especially since Dan isn't one to take days off and he really deserves them. Lilly was super good yesterday when she let us sleep until 9 in the morning, which was a really big treat for the both of us. We took a ride up to Glens Falls and went to the outlets in Lake George so I could get some new jeans and then we ate dinner at Olive Garden since we had a gift certificate. Today we're going to work on the kitchen and then tomorrow we're going to check out some pricing on the kitchen sink cabinet. I'm hoping that we'll be able to find a cabinet that is already painted black so that we don't have to sand and paint something down ourselves, but I guess we'll see. We're going to have the sink cabinet black and the rest will be a dark wood when we do the rest of the kitchen. I want the sink cabinet to look like a separate piece anyways which is why we're going ahead and getting it now. Besides the fact that I'm ready for a bigger sink and a dishwasher! Anyways, I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
She's not my baby anymore
She really is growing up way too fast. She brought the bed out of the dining room as I was setting things up for an engagement shoot last week and sat on the bed. Hard to believe that when she was born she was so small that her whole body would fit in half of that bed.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Our House
So our house is still a work in progress and will be for years to come! We had planned to do the bathroom first, but with a leaky old pipe draining each time we flushed the toilet or took a shower, it became evident that the bathroom would be put on hold. So with the leaky pipe, we needed to remove the wall where it's located since the whole cast iron and rotted pipe needed to be removed. So then came the removal of the rest of the dry wall, which in fact wasn't even dry wall......it was more like cardboard. Then the ceiling came down. And then the removal of layers upon layers of laminate flooring on the floor which was on top of the original hardwood floors. So here we go on the tour of the state of our current kitchen!!!
But first an updated outside photo of the house. We'll be painting the front of the house in the spring since we have to rent a boom to get to the upper portion above the front porch because of the slate roof which you can't walk on. We'll be redoing all of the landscaping as well and putting on all new lattice work, etc to make it perfect!
This is yucky pipe that had to be taken out....note the plastic bag we had to cover it up with until it was repaired!
We'll be replacing all of the windows in the house since they're all original and it'd be nice to have windows that work without propping them up!
This is where there must have been a wood burning stove or something at one time. We're trying to get a hold of the son that lives in Rutland so we can find out some more info about the house. We have a new over the range microwave that we'll be putting up as soon as we have a ceiling!
A little surprise when we started lifting up the floor!
This has by far been the worst part of the remodel so far. Thankfully there was only one layer of subfloor, but there were probably 6-7 layers of laminate with some horrible stuff that was placed directly on top of the hardwood. I had to scrape and scrape for hours each day to get it off. Most of it is up now and the rest will be taken off when we sand them down.
The worst part was certainly underneath the stove.......so greasy and smelly. There's virtually no damage to the floor other than the holes from the subfloor so it's a bit odd that they ever covered it up. But we'll bring her back to life like the living room!!
These are the new lights in the kitchen. There's another one in between the windows as well that shines down on the butcher block. This wall will be turning into a half wall soon. I want to open it up and let the breeze from the river flow through the house a little more during the summer time. We're also going to be building a custom island that will house a larger sink and a new dishwasher. I want it to look like a separate piece of cabinetry....more like a piece of furniture. I'm really excited about getting a dishwasher though.....you don't realize how handy are until you don't have one anymore!
The remodel that we're doing right now is just the initial remodel. It was really horrible before and I didn't like being in there. Even though we still have aways to go, I don't mind as much being in there.....even with the studs exposed. So the big remodel in a couple of years will involve us tearing out this entire wall and opening it up to the dining room......like I said....I want it open! All of the cabinets will go on the wall where the stove is and we'll be putting cabinets underneath the windows as well to maximize our storage space. We'll be making the bathroom/laundry downstairs larger and possibly add a stand up shower. With the remodel that we're doing right now, all of the plumbing for the bathroom which is in the kitchen ceiling will be redone since everything is exposed right now. I hate these cabinets, but there's no point replacing them now since they'll all be torn out in a couple of years so we're just going to paint them in the meantime.
And here is the latest project around the fridge. We'll be getting a bigger fridge as well so Dan made the space larger. We're going to add shelves to add even more storage and a custom garbage thingy in the bottom of it. We're just really trying to maximize the space and the closet that was there before was sort of a waste.
So there you have it! Now I'm totally pooped from typing all of that!!!
But first an updated outside photo of the house. We'll be painting the front of the house in the spring since we have to rent a boom to get to the upper portion above the front porch because of the slate roof which you can't walk on. We'll be redoing all of the landscaping as well and putting on all new lattice work, etc to make it perfect!
This is yucky pipe that had to be taken out....note the plastic bag we had to cover it up with until it was repaired!
We'll be replacing all of the windows in the house since they're all original and it'd be nice to have windows that work without propping them up!
This is where there must have been a wood burning stove or something at one time. We're trying to get a hold of the son that lives in Rutland so we can find out some more info about the house. We have a new over the range microwave that we'll be putting up as soon as we have a ceiling!
A little surprise when we started lifting up the floor!
This has by far been the worst part of the remodel so far. Thankfully there was only one layer of subfloor, but there were probably 6-7 layers of laminate with some horrible stuff that was placed directly on top of the hardwood. I had to scrape and scrape for hours each day to get it off. Most of it is up now and the rest will be taken off when we sand them down.
The worst part was certainly underneath the stove.......so greasy and smelly. There's virtually no damage to the floor other than the holes from the subfloor so it's a bit odd that they ever covered it up. But we'll bring her back to life like the living room!!
These are the new lights in the kitchen. There's another one in between the windows as well that shines down on the butcher block. This wall will be turning into a half wall soon. I want to open it up and let the breeze from the river flow through the house a little more during the summer time. We're also going to be building a custom island that will house a larger sink and a new dishwasher. I want it to look like a separate piece of cabinetry....more like a piece of furniture. I'm really excited about getting a dishwasher though.....you don't realize how handy are until you don't have one anymore!
The remodel that we're doing right now is just the initial remodel. It was really horrible before and I didn't like being in there. Even though we still have aways to go, I don't mind as much being in there.....even with the studs exposed. So the big remodel in a couple of years will involve us tearing out this entire wall and opening it up to the dining room......like I said....I want it open! All of the cabinets will go on the wall where the stove is and we'll be putting cabinets underneath the windows as well to maximize our storage space. We'll be making the bathroom/laundry downstairs larger and possibly add a stand up shower. With the remodel that we're doing right now, all of the plumbing for the bathroom which is in the kitchen ceiling will be redone since everything is exposed right now. I hate these cabinets, but there's no point replacing them now since they'll all be torn out in a couple of years so we're just going to paint them in the meantime.
And here is the latest project around the fridge. We'll be getting a bigger fridge as well so Dan made the space larger. We're going to add shelves to add even more storage and a custom garbage thingy in the bottom of it. We're just really trying to maximize the space and the closet that was there before was sort of a waste.
So there you have it! Now I'm totally pooped from typing all of that!!!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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