You Say It’s Your Birthday- It’s My Birthday Too

This weekend I celebrated my birthday- I won’t say which one because now that they are past 30, who cares? I really wanted to make tacos at home for dinner last night so that is what we had. Rob went out and got the groceries and then helped cook it up which was really nice. We watched Dan in Real Life while we ate dinner and both really enjoyed that. I didn’t know the story but rather just rented it because Steve Carrell was in it and he makes me laugh. It was kind of a chick-flick but one that guys can enjoy still too. I didn’t have a birthday cake but we shared a piece of lemon raspberry cheesecake that we picked up in Des Moines the day before when we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. I cleaned the house a little and did some laundry but mostly it was just a relaxing day.

Saturday was a bit more exciting because we drove to Des Moines to do a little shopping and go out to lunch. We went to Babies R Us first and picked up the crib mattress, mattress pad and some receiving blankets for the little guy. Then we went to Motherhood Maternity so I could pick up some new clothes for my birthday present from my husband. So far I have bought maternity clothes at JC Penney, Target, Old Navy and Motherhood and I have to say that I like Motherhood’s stuff the best. They definitely have the best selection, the prices are good and things just seem to fit better. Here’s what I got:

Denim Skirt:



Shirt:



Capris (I got two pairs- one white and one stone):



I also got a black dress that is my favorite item but I can’t find a picture of it on their website. It’s short with short sleeves and it looks like a shirtdress with the collar on it but then it doesn’t have all the buttons down the front- which is always the worst part of a shirtdress. We then went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and hit a few more stores before we headed back home. There was a store at one of the malls in Des Moines that specialized in retro/vintage home furnishings that was a lot of fun. We did not end up buying anything there but it made me realize we have picked up some awesome pieces at yard sales. We’ll definitely have to try and keep going to those this summer too for more good finds.

I’ve been meaning to do a post on the Bunco group I joined because I am having a blast with that. I really miss the poker nights we used to have in California with all my friends and this is turning out to be a good substitute. It’s a group of 12 ladies and we get together once a month to play. The game couldn’t be easier which is nice since I had no idea how to play. There’s plenty of snacks and drinks to be had so we all have a great time hanging out. I have even won the prize for most Buncos both times that we’ve played so that’s always nice. Might have something to do with the fact that I am always the sober one…

Potpourri (Like on Jeopardy)

There are so many things to share since I've been sick and haven't posted anything for so long! I am doing much better now and have been back at work all week, like a regular person. I ended up working one and a half days last week but we really should call it what it was- I was just there taking up space. I would not say I was productive, just a warm body in a seat. There is still some coughing and nose-blowing going on but I am feeling pretty good now.

For my first story, I need to go back almost 2 weeks to Friday, March 14th. Rob and I love to eat at little mom-and-pop, hole-in-the-wall kinds of places so some friends of ours took us to one in Conrad, IA that was called That Place. Seriously, it was. It actually wasn't quite in town, it was out in the country and it was the saddest looking concrete block building. Definitely not an attractive place but the parking lot was completely full and people were parking out along the road so that was a good sign. We went inside and discovered that you really needed reservations to eat here on a Friday night. We wouldn't be able to get a table for 2 hours! No one was in the bar so we ended up sitting in there and eating our dinner there which was fine. The food was really good but I thought I would die laughing when they brought out the salad. Here it is:



It was a bowl of iceberg lettuce with cheese and fritos on top! What in the world?! I have never seen fritos on a salad before but it actually tasted pretty good. Not very healthy, but pretty good. I ordered one of the specials for the night, the chicken kebabs, and their prize-winning peanut butter and chocolate ice cream pie. Again, not a very healthy meal but it tasted great. I'm sure we'll go back but we'll make sure we have reservations next time.

Last week I was sick so it was pretty uneventful- this past weekend was too. Rob worked around the house on Saturday while I rested and watched tv. For Easter Sunday, I was feeling a little better but then Rob had a fever that day (he's good now). I did manage to cook us an Easter meal of sloppy joes, tater tots and peas. There's a good first-Easter-in-our-house memory for the rest of our lives! My sister and her family sent us some beautiful tulips for Easter which was such a wonderful surprise and really cheered me up.



I thought I had the perfect due date with June 26th (good weather, no birthday close to Christmas, etc) but I have uncovered a problem with it. Everyone goes on tour during the summer and I'm going to miss out on two concerts (so far) I really want to see. Grr!! The first one I found out about was Jack Johnson. I would just love to see him because I am such a big fan. I enjoy mellow music and his is my favorite. Then today I just saw that George Michael is going on tour this summer. I don't know if I really love, or even know, any of his newer stuff but how fun would it be to see George Michael? I'm sure it's quite a show. Hopefully I will get another chance to see Jack and maybe even George in the next couple of years.

Speaking of baby stuff, I get many requests for a photo of me to see how my baby bump is doing. I only have one week left in my second trimester so it's starting to get kind of big. I had Rob take a quick picture of me this morning and it is not the best picture I've ever taken but I'm going to share it anyhow. I feel I need to explain the goofy look on my face first thought- the battery died right when the camera was going off and I wasn't sure that it was even taking the picture. You can also see the four new picture frames that Rob hung in our living room. We have a picture of the Blossom Trail to represent the Central Valley where we're from, one of the beach where we got married and one of a bridge and corn field in northeastern Iowa. There's still one frame without a picture because we're trying to decide what the last photo of the set should be. Anyhow, here it is!

Sicko

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but I have a nasty cold/infection in my chest and head, now along with a fever- particularly not a good thing for a pregnant lady. It kind of started up last Thursday and has continued to get worse and worse. I went to the doctor today and got some antibiotics so hopefully I am on the mend now. I don't want to gross anyone out too bad with stories about it but just wanted you all to know it will probably a few more days before there's anything new to share. Hope you are all doing much, much better than me!

Some Sad News

They just finished replacing all our Coke product vending machines with ones that only dispense Pepsi products here at work. Boo! If PepsiCo didn't own Taco Bell, there would be absolutely no reason for them to exist.

A Weekend Full of Projects

Last Friday I came home from work to discover that our garage door would not open. I just parked the car in the driveway and decided I would look into it before I went out to pick Rob up in about an hour. I checked out the garage and noticed something had fallen in front of one of the sensors. I figured that was the issue so I picked it up and put it back and left to get Rob. When we returned home, I was surprised to find it still would not open! Rob checked it out and discovered that one of the springs had broken and that was why it was not opening. This was also why the thing got knocked over and blocked the sensor so I was on the right track- I just didn’t go far enough. We got up Saturday morning and went to the gym and a fundraiser pancake breakfast for the Kiwanis Club then headed over to Lowes to pick up some new springs for the garage door. We briefly entertained the idea of a whole new garage door since ours could use a replacement but decided spending $30 to fix the springs sounded a lot better than $300+ for a new garage door. I ran around and took care of some errands and then cleaned the house while Rob fixed the door. I had planned on making us dinner but was too tired after all my chores and running around- it is amazing how worn out I get now after doing things like that. We decided to order a pizza and watch Michael Clayton since we had both worked pretty hard all day. We both thought the movie was very good- excellent acting and a great story. I would definitely recommend it.

Sunday was more work but it was some fun-work too. I did a bunch of laundry and a little more cleaning but the exciting part was that we put the crib together! Well, Rob did most of it while I helped him by sorting the screws, nuts, bolts and other pieces that came in the box and fetched things he needed to complete the task. It was fairly easy and even pretty funny- for some reason the first page of instructions was only in French! The rest of the pages had the English translation as well but that first page was only in French. Luckily, we both have had French classes so we managed. The crib is pretty much just how I thought it would except it's kind of low to the ground. That's probably good for the first time he decides to climb out of his crib and falls on his butt- not so far to go.





Obviously, we still need to get a mattress for the crib and the twin bed. I have all the crib bedding but I still need to get some for the twin bed. We are waiting for springtime when all the yard sales start to see if we can pick up a glider and changing table for the room. I know we saw a ton of those things last year at yard sales and I think we can find them this year too and save a few dollars there. Here's what his room looks like so far though.

Special Delivery

They’re here! The crib was delivered by the wonderful folks at UPS yesterday and we picked up the crib bedding on Tuesday. I haven’t mentioned it yet but there was some disagreement in our house about the crib- it turned out Rob wasn’t really too in love with it. It was on backorder all the time and then when I finally saw it was available, I just went ahead and ordered it without really knowing how he felt. It’s from Target so I just figured if it got here and he did not like it or want it, we could just take it to our local store and return it and start over. Thankfully, now that it’s here he seems to be okay with it and we’re going to keep it after all. Yay! We had agreed on the crib bedding when I ordered it and are very pleased with it. I was a little surprised when I picked it up because what I thought was orange in the bedding actually turned out to be yellow. No problem though- I like the yellow better. Is it just me or don’t those apples look like they are an orangey color?



Anyhow, now we need to figure out how to accessorize the room because there are no matching curtains, lamps, rugs, wall art, etc. to go with the bedding. Rob is going to paint a set of four pictures, one with each of the objects in the bedding (apple, leaf, tree and bird). There is no way I could do that but I’m sure he’ll do a great job with it. We also need to get a crib mattress so that we can get the crib and bedding all put together and finished. There’s still a lot we need to buy actually! I try to just focus on one or two things at a time though so I don’t get too overwhelmed. These kids need a lot of stuff and cost a lot of money! I think that statement qualifies for an “Understatement of the Year” award :o) We are planning on putting the crib together this weekend so I will be sure to put up some pictures of it once it is all done.

Nesting, Nesting- 1…2…3

The nesting phase has begun! Since we moved into the house, we’ve had a difficult time deciding where furniture should go. We’ve also been buying some furniture and had to find places for that to go. Everything has been moved around quite a bit and now that we are finally satisfied with it, I am feeling the need to decorate. Until the past weekend, we had absolutely nothing on any of our walls. It is a little barren looking and I would very much like to have it looked finished. On Friday I bought a bunch of matching black frames and Rob hung them in our hallway over the weekend. This will be our family photo display area. I have some pictures printed and put in the frames but there is still some work to be done. I also bought a bunch of silver frames with white matting for our artsy photos that will be hung in the entry, kitchen and living room. Some are photos that I have taken but others were ones I found online. Since we needed so much art, I had to get creative and find a cheaper way to do it than just go out and buy framed prints for all these spaces. I’ve used Walgreens for all the printing because you can get large size prints (up to 20” by 30”) for super-cheap and they look pretty good. I think I found all the frames and matting I needed at either Michaels or Wal-Mart. Now I just can’t wait for our Ikea trip at the end of the month to pick up the rest of the stuff I would like to get for the house so we can finish off our bedroom and the living room areas!