All Painted Out.... for now.

I finished painting in the house (for the time being) on Friday evening. So far I have painted the nursery room (x2), the spare bedroom (x3) our bedroom, both bathrooms, the living room, dining room, entry hallway, and half the kitchen (the wall that is common to the hallway). I am at a standstill basically because I have absolutely no clue what color(s) I want to paint in the downstairs living space. It needs it (as the rest of the house did) but I'm not sure it'll get done before Tyler's birthday party. I want to put some color on the walls, but I don't want it to look smaller (the ceiling is already a little lower than normal), nor do I want it to look too dark. I've toyed with the idea of blue, but I think that'll be a little too "woah". I'm now thinking of doing a light mustard color. That shouldn't be too much of a change in color tone from the rest of the house. Any thoughts, anyone???

In other news...

This weekend, Josh was putting the original springs back in the car so that it sits higher (and we can buy less-expensive tires and also have a better chance at making it up the driveway in the snow). He managed to change out the two back springs, but wasn't able to change the front ones out without buying expensive tools he'd probably never use again and then he still wasn't sure if it would be too hard to do. So, we found a place that'll change them out for us - so within a week, I'll be getting new tires! Yea!

Tyler is becoming a barrel of monkeys. As with just about any toddler, he makes you laugh doing ordinary things and with his expanding vocabulary he makes you laugh by trying to say new words. He's starting to become more and more self-sufficient (getting his own drinks out of the fridge and feeding himself most things). He's gotten much better about telling you when he wants something, but has quite a way to go yet. I'll be excited when he is potty trained, which we're not in a hurry to do so. I would rather make sure he's ready and do it quickly instead of dragging it out for months. Which, there is no guarantee that it'll be quick no matter when you do it, but I'm just crossing my fingers.

I have been trying to get his new room together when I'm not painting walls and changing diapers. Right now, I'm waiting for Josh to change out the blade for the scroll saw so I can cut out the pieces for the wall plaques. The bolts are tightened beyond my ability to loosen them. To explain the plaques... I'm making 16" x 16" wooden "plaques" to match his bedding. Each plaque is going to have a different animal on it with leaves in each corner. The animals and leaves are what I'm cutting out. I'm going paint them, then glue them to the big square plaques so it'll have a sort of 3D look to it. I just hope they don't turn out looking dumb, but I'm still using them if they do!
Right now, Tyler's "big boy" room has the bunk beds up and the double bed in there, too. It'll provide more sleeping for his birthday party guests - and when he starts sleeping in his "big boy bed", I'll have the double bed to sleep in if I have to stay in there with him at first. I'm getting tired of sleeping on the floor (yes, he still wakes up at night on occasion and we end up laying on the floor beside the crib for a little bit. We put a pillow and blanket in there and we usually end up falling asleep for a couple hours-not fun for the back!) I have his name in wooden letters put up in there, but that's pretty much all the new wall decor for now. I have some shelves that I painted, but I'm not sure where to put them since I don't have the right furniture in there currently. A trip to Ikea may be on the docket to get a dresser and chest of drawers - if I can't find a suitable "cheap" set more locally (as if the 45ish minute trip to the Ikea in Pittsburgh is so far away!)

We are also still planning to get a swingset built for Tyler yet this summer. I guess so far Grandpa Basinger is planning to help put one together the day before Tyler's birthday party. I just want something relatively simple - a basic A-frame for swings and a platform off the one side for a slide. Caleb and Dreya have offered for us to take their swingset equipment... which includes a slide. So, the plan is to use that swingset (which is pretty old wood that is splintery) as a plan for a new one. Heck, we may be able to re-use the bolts if they're not stripped and too rusty.

Till next time...

I'm not creative enough right now to come up with a title!

This past weekend, we headed home for my 10-year high school reunion. It was nice catching up with the few people that were there... all 9 of us. Where were the other 80-ish people? I know of a few that couldn't be there for one reason or another, but that was a seriously pathetic turn-out. The only class we beat in attendance was the class of 2004 - no one was there from that class.

Anyway - in other news, Josh has been getting quite a bit of work done on his canoe project. I'm not sure if he's posted any new pictures or not. Tyler has been steadily increasing his vocabulary and has become a little jumping bean. We're planning to get a swingset/playset built for him this summer. He's becoming quite the entertainment and such fun to play with. He knows almost all of his letters - I think he's actually learned them all, but he certainly knows some better than others. He doesn't know the alphabet - just recognizes random letters (and loves to point them out to you!)

I'm planning on getting some more painting done tomorrow while Tyler's at the babysitter's. Hopefully the whole living room/dining room will be finished by the end of the day. After that, it leaves just the upstairs hallway and the whole downstairs. I'm going to have a problem trying to get the hallway painted because it's almost a whole story and a half tall over the bottom of the stairs, so that could be a difficult project and may not get painted in the near future. If you think I'm nuts painting our whole interior... you should just see what I have to start with. Before we moved in, the whole house was painted with the cheapest flat off-white paint that could be found. Everytime you even think of touching the wall, a mark appears. SO - you can just imaging what the walls looked like after moving in... and then having a child. Our walls are such an ugly mess. I'm slowly getting there, though! Tomorrow will be the biggest painting project I've done... I have several walls to do, and a couple are part of the peaked ceiling, so they are 1.5 times taller than the average wall. I'm excited to see the final result! I'd better get some sleep tonight - it's going to be a long day!

Need a break...

Well I think I'm finally going to get a break... this weekend will be the first weekend that I'm not working and don't have any event to attend. The past couple months have been plum full of events - mostly baby showers. Everyone decided to have a baby at the same time, so I had baby showers to attend (and one to help plan) all at the same time. It all turned out well, but I'm glad it's over.

Other than that, nothing much has been going on the last month... However, this week is another story! Josh has been gone to a meeting where there's little to no cell phone reception (how convienent). Well, all was well until Dreya and I went out for dinner on Wednesday evening. Since both of our men were gone, we decided to go to Olive Garden because the boys don't like going there. On the way back to her house to drop her off, my car window wouldn't go back up. We tried to help it up with no luck. It just so happened that I was able to get in touch with Josh through Dreya calling Caleb so I could get the code to be able to get the truck out of the fenced in area at the office. So, I left the car in Dreya's garage and she took me to pick up the truck. Meanwhile, the mosquitos were biting us like crazy. Anyway - so Tyler and I finally make it home around 9:30. The next day at work, I get a phone call from Brandy, my sitter. She's telling me that one of the bites on his forehead is a little swollen. I give her the okay to give him a bit of benedryl. He takes a nap and wakes up even more swollen. I mean, this poor kid looked like he had a huge goose egg on his head. I call the pediatrician on call and he tells me to give him a 1/2 teaspoon of benedryl, so we go ahead and do that.

The next morning I take my car to get fixed and Dreya was able to give me a ride back. While I'm in the truck driving back home, I get in touch with the Dr's office and end up taking Tyler there instead of going home. After being in the office for 10 years, we walk out of there $15 lighter and carrying two prescriptions: allegra and augmentin. So, I get that filled and give him his first dose at 11:00. By the time he wakes up from his nap at 4:15, the swelling looked like it was creeping into his other eye. (It had already made his lt eye puffy during the night.) So, I call the Dr. on call AGAIN and end up going to Akron Children's where we were in and out (THANK GOD!). The ER physician tells me to stop using what was prescribed earlier in the day and just give him a teaspoon on benedryl 3 times a day. That's gotta do something! Well, benedryl is supposed to make your child sleepy - well it doesn't. But at least it doesn't make him hyper either! We're not sure, but we'd like to think that the swelling is starting to go down. My only frustration is that I have this antibiotic that I have to throw out in 10 days with only one dose used. (I'm glad I don't have to give it to him, but I wish I wasn't prescribed it in the first place.) I'll be able to keep hold of the Allegra if we run into more trouble with bug bites this summer - I just hope this is an isolated event and he doesn't swell up like this again! It's just frustrating b/c I feel like I wasted my time and money going to the Dr's office this morning.

Oh - and our AC hasn't been working, so I was supposed to have someone come out on Wednesday afternoon - their appointments ran over, so they were to come Friday morning (today). I called and left a message saying that I needed them to call before they came because of having to take Tyler to the doctor. Well, when I knew what time I was to be home, I called and left another message asking if they were still planning to come out today or not. I didn't get a call back until probably about 3:30 when they were on their way. I'm glad that I got the AC fixed and the guy was very nice, but I was hoping for some communication so I knew what was going on. Oh well - it's fixed... for now. (There's a tiny leak somewhere, so we'll either have to get more freon after awhile (like next year I hope) or replace the unit... yea! - we have started a fund that anyone is welcome to donate to. It's also the same fund for our new roof that we'll need to put on soon as well. Ahhh - the joys of home-ownership!

Well, I told Josh he is no longer allowed to leave, because everything goes wrong and breaks when he's gone. Tomorrow, I plan to sleep in (Tyler willing) and RELAX!

A Lovely Day...

Saturdays are usually pretty slow, so it's either sit idle inside at work without a window, or leave and enjoy a little of the unseasonably warm weather. I chose to use some PTO hours and leave. I got home and watered my flowers (inside and out) because they looked a little thirsty. I found another species of flower seed decided to sprout in my indoor basins. I have probably another couple weeks for the other flower seeds - they are to break through 21-28 days after planting (according to the packages). Today was day 8 - I figure I'm doing pretty good for having two kinds come up already - or poorly because I only have two kinds up!

I turned on the air conditioner today because it was crazy hot in here. Unfortunately, it took a good 3-4 hours for the AC to cool down the house even 3-4 degrees. We're thinking the poor thing needs a tune-up. We knew last summer at Tyler's birthday party that it was having a hard time keeping the house cool, but we figured it was probably due to all the bodies in the house. I'm not so sure that was 100% of the reason anymore. I'd hate to think "they" didn't put in a big enough unit when the house was built, but it wouldn't surprise me.

For supper tonight we ate in the "downstairs" portion of our house - it's amazing how much cooler it was just a half-level lower. Also, the couch sits right underneath some vents, so you have the wonderfully cool air blowing on you. I think many summer days will be spent down there (now that we have a TV on that level.) We just need to get a new door to replace our really crappy sliding glass door and we'll be all set!

In "Tyler" news, he's been a major echo and copy cat. He's still quite the monkey-boy, climbing all over the furniture and doing the nestea plunge all over it. His latest is he's learning how to spell his name. It's more like he's just recognizing some letters. He thinks a lot of letters are O, but he seems to know T and Y. He has some foam bath letters that he plays with in the tub. We had him playing with just a few at a time to avoid being overwhelmed with all the 26 letters (and 9 numbers), but he's all about having as many toys in the tub as possible. We've been working on teaching him O-H-I-O "Hang On Sloopy" style. He gets to O-H, and then just giggles and doesn't finish the rest. We'll get there soon enough!

He went on a bike ride today with Daddy. He really seems to enjoy riding in his trailer. Heck - I would, too if someone pulled me around! It's kinda like a hay-ride without the hay. Daisy would enjoy it if we had a trailer for her, but that's just crazy to buy that to take your dog on a ride when it can just stay home. Speaking of Daisy - Tyler has been increasingly mean to her. He's starting kicking her... not KICKING kicking, but more so trying to herd her with his feet. He gets so upset when we tell him not to do that. Daisy just "smiles" at him. Poor girl - that's all she can do, because she knows we yell at her if she lays her teeth on him. He just doesn't get the whole showing-teeth thing. I paint an evil picture of Tyler in regards to Daisy, but he really does love her. He gives her hugs and kisses all the time, gives her treats when she comes in from outdoors, and he plays ball and squirrel with her. He'll throw her sticks and floppy for her outside as well. We keep telling Daisy that they'll be best of friends one day - she doesn't think so.

On a side note, I uploaded a few more pictures today. Since Tyler is now in his last quarter (1 3/4 yrs old) I have a new album started for him. There's just a couple pictures in there right now. I also added some pictures of a few flowers that I have blooming outside in the "Ann's Hobbies" section. I have two tulips so far - with many more to follow (hopefully!)

Facebook & Friends

I recently created a facebook account so I could get in touch with family and friends. Josh had an account and I would look on there at what everyone was up to when he was signed on - so I decided to go ahead and sign myself up. I don't know if it'll end up stagnant like my Myspace page was, but if so, then oh well. I already have somewhere along the lines of 44 friends - i think. I have really enjoyed "snooping" around on everyone's info pages seeing what they are up to and where in this world they are living. It seems to be a really nice networking tool to keep up and share little tidbits (significant and insignificant) about what's going on with you. I like seeing everyone's beautiful children... wasn't it just yesterday that we were kids? Makes me feel kinda old, but also makes me feel good knowing everyone has found their place in life. I can't wait to see everyone at the 10-year reunion this summer. I know a couple girlfriends won't be there since they are going to be busy birthing babies (and they will surely be missed).

Last weekend I saw a lot of those friends who are going to be birthing babies soon, and other friends from high school as well. It was a lot of fun catching up and seeing everyone's kids. My what a good-looking bunch of kids we have! Can't wait for Chrissy, Michelle, and Tracy to add more to the mix! To see some pics of the weekend, go to our picture website and look for "Chrissy's Shower Weekend". There aren't too many there, but there are some good belly shots and pics of our kids all together!

Wiggle Dancing!

Tyler used to run to the laptop to watch The Wiggles on You Tube. That may change, because today he got a DVD in the mail - a live concert of The Wiggles called "Wiggle Dancing". It contains many of his favorite wiggle songs including "Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car" and "Hot Potato". It's so funny watching him because he trys to do the hand motions along with the song. Now, he won't know where to go (the TV or laptop) when we start singing one of the songs! I'll have to try to get him on video dancing to the DVD.

In other news... I'm planning to do some painting tomorrow. Oh Joy. I've decided that it's one of those things that you put up with doing because you like the result. And I'm pretty excited about the end result. I took the day off work and am sending Tyler to the sitter so I can dive into this with no distractions and I don't really want him around smelling the super-fresh paint smells. I'm hoping it'll be warm enough that I can open the windows and get a fresh breeze blowing through. I'll eventually post pictures of the paint job on our website. Be on the lookout if you are curious!

Busy Weekend and Video Conferencing

This weekend we were visited by Uncle Mark, Aunt Tina, and Cousin Alex. While Tyler and Alex played together well at times, there were just as many times that they didn't. They made a little scene in Babies R Us which resulted in us getting two carts to keep the boys separated. Fortunately, the people around just chuckled and sympathized with us. It didn't help that they were tired and hungry... All in all, it was a fun visit. Short but fun. It always seems short, and it is when you bum around most of the morning and only have a few golden hours to do something before the boys need to eat and nap. It was actually easier to make a day of shopping when they were babies because you "carried" their food with you and they would nap in the stroller/car seat! However, we were able to do our shopping and go through our finds while they napped. Next time we do this, we should really plan to get an earlier start to the day than we did (or leave the little boys with the big boys!)

Also on the happenings for the weekend was video conferencing. Mom and Dad recently upgraded their internet from the old-time dial up. True snail-mail was probably faster than their email! Now, they have the wireless internet throughout the house. I'm not sure how much they've been utilizing the wire-free life, but I'm sure once Dad finds how nice it is to sit in his Lay-Z-Boy recliner while surfing the web, he'll never sit at the desk again! Anyway - so I was trying to talk Dad through how to get started with Windows Live Messenger. It was like pulling teeth, but you can't blame a guy for trying. I'm not all that good at explaining how to do computer things over the phone to start with unless I can go through all the steps on my own computer at the same time. I wasn't able to explain it clearly enough to Dad, so he ended up having to wait until Philip came home from work on Friday. Well, it just so happens that he got things working as Mark and Tina came walking in the door, so they were able to watch Alex and Tyler playing in our living room from the "comfort" of their kitchen table. (They obviously didn't take advantage of being wireless.) So, we've decided that Christmas morning should be pretty interesting with Grandma and Grandpa being able to watch Tyler open his presents through the internet.

This coming weekend we'll be heading home, so more tales to follow!