Nursery Wall Baskets & Homemade Tomato Sauce

We have a collection of Dr. Seuss character plush toys that we were intending at first to put on a shelf in the nursery.  It then came to mind that we wanted something that could be accessible to kids to be able to play with them so instead we opted for wall baskets.  I was able to snag a great deal at Target and get two metal ones for $6 together in the clearance section.  These baskets are meant to hold outdoor hoses so are super strong and perfect for what we wanted!


Of course our whippet boys had to be of some help!


....as well as not so much help as they both were trying to climb under the crib and wrestle as well as steal the plush toys all over the floor! 


Success!  Our guys are a little crammed and Horton decided to hang out on the changing table but it works! 


Today I decided to take on the endeavor of making homemade tomato sauce which I've never done before.  Our garden has provided so many tomatoes we aren't sure what to do with them all so this was a perfect way to use up 16 large tomatoes at once!  I started off boiling water then dropping them in for exactly a minute before moving them to ice cold water.


The skins then peeled right off and were ready to be cut in half, most seeds squeezed out, and thrown in the crockpot. 


This is what it looked like as we turned the crockpot on.  We threw in some seasoning, caramelized onions and garlic, and now to let it sit, cook, and stir occasionally for 8 hours!


Here's the sauce in all its glory after only two hours, still needs another 6 hours.  It's starting to cook down perfectly and our whole house smells of stewed tomatoes!  Since we didn't assemble and put it in the crockpot until after church it won't be done until about midnight so at that point we will then food process and freeze in meal portions to be used soon.  Brian doesn't want me to try it out without him until he is back from his business trip this week so I guess it will be pasta with tomato sauce for dinner Thursday!  I will be sure to update to let everyone know how it comes out!

First Bedroom and Nursery Reveal!

Way overdo reveal of the first bedroom and nursery!  In order for our home to be approved we had to have the bedrooms set up and ready as if they would drop off a child(ren) today.  The first room we did was months ago but we finally got it pretty much all set up.  I don't have before's and only after's on my computer so those will just have to do! 

Revealing the Dot Room!

We kept this room gender neutral and bright and cheery just as you will see we did for the nursery.


Still considering a slipcover for our pull-out couch to make it blend into the room better.  Note the original hardwood floors we had to rip out the old carpeting and clean to uncover! 


The toddler bed is oh so cute!  This room would be for kids we take in that are likely 3-4+


The bunked beds


My girlfriend Megan helped Brian and I make these tie blankets.  We have the green blankets that are a single layer fleece on each bed but needed heavier blankets come winter time.  It was near impossible to find bright colored comforters especially since we wanted two in a twin size and one in a toddler size that all match so we decided to make them! 


Of course the room has a lot of books on the bookshelf....many of which are Dr. Seuss our favorite!


Even the ceiling fan was "pimped".....Ummm I mean "dotted"


The back of the door has a dry erase board we intend on being our "Welcome board" where we will write the child's name and it has cork board with push pins around the edges to hang pictures and other items on.

Here is the nursery reveal! 

The before's:

Notice tiny bit of the old carpeting


We were painting the walls white therefore everything was pushed into the center of the room.


Our friend Lindsey and her boyfriend help paint the walls white with us which we greatly appreciated!

The durings:


We used a laser level to create straight vertical lines for our stripes


We learned a trick that after you put your painters tape down you paint over with your under-color and wait for it to dry before you put your new color over.  By doing this, it seals the tape and any color that would leak is in its original color therefore wouldn't be noticed or seen.


Then the red and blue went up!


When waiting for the paint to dry, we replaced the dinky light in there with a ceiling fan


When we pulled the tape away we had perfect crisp lines throughout the room! 


It was then time to pull out the carpeting and padding!


Half way there, so happy taking this carpeting out meant we are completely carpet free in our home right now!  We likely will have carpeting in our basement but at least the first floor is now so easy to sweep and wash.  You never know how dirty carpeting is until you pull it out...makes you want to never ever even walk on carpeting again!

The Finished Product:

Looking into the room


When you walk in to the left side is the crib.  Love this crib because it was my families crib used for each of us kids beyond Mary Grace.  We put on the plastic edges to baby proof it.  We still need to make a dust ruffle to hide the diapers and wipies under the crib.  We made the crib tie blanket the exact same as the ones in the dot room.  We purposely did so if we would need to move any of the beds around they can each go in either room and coordinate well. 




Changing table holding our new gang of Dr. Seuss characters plush toys.  We are planning to put them all on a shelf but for now they are hanging out on the changing table until then.




Love the Dr. Seuss quotes throughout the room!




The rocking chair my parents bought when I was born.  Such a precious treasure to now have in our nursery.  It must have been meant to be in our nursery since the original red seat cushion matches perfectly! 




Another view of the crib and the new ceiling fan light we installed



Don't worry Tucker.....you will always be our baby too!!!!!

Bullet Point Update

I loved the ease of the bullet point update awhile back so decided it was about time for another one!

• We decided this weekend to stay home and get things done.  We were to go to the land to paint, however we really needed to get things done on the home front. 
• We spent a good portion of today in the backyard making our lawn orderly.  Right before we had our fence installed and our shed dropped off we took down a few small tree's (as in the night before with only our backyard motion light for lighting...leave it to us for last minute projects!).  It then began to snow and we have just not been able to get to it due to the weather.  It finally warmed up and with the snow gone we started a fire to burn all the branches and brought out the chainsaw to chop up the bigger wood and piled it all behind our shed to use in our fire pit.  After a few hours our backyard is finally no longer looking like it was logged! 
• Meeko and Tucker loved spending those hours in the backyard with us.  The two ran around and we even found out Tucker could go underneath our shed!  We found this out when we were looking for him then suddenly his head popped out from underneath the one side that is a bit more raised and he was just laying there chewing on a stick.  Poor Meeko couldn't fit, his head barely fit under when he tried to find Tuck Tuck!  The fence has truly paid off and it was nice to have them running around (beyond stealing wood from our wood pile and leaving it throughout the yard!).  We can't wait for the weather to stay nice out so we can spend more time outside!
• We also completed the nursery today by putting up the decals.  We have to have the room ready for when our social worker comes this upcoming Wednesday for her to sign off on it hence why it needed to be done.  A few days ago we were able to get my family crib from my parents as well as the very rocker that my mom got when I was born.  With all the dings and chew marks I am in love with them!  There is just something so special about a crib that shows its history as I'm sure many of those bite marks came from my teeth!  This crib was used for all of us...except Mary...so the history holds a special place in my heart!  Just when I thought it was complete we decided today a shelf would function well for the room so now we are on the hunt for one, so perhaps these types of things are never complete!
• After being disappointed for the past week about medications for this whole baby making thing not work (after it always has!) I was pretty disheartened, but then yesterday I had an ultrasound and I got a call that afternoon to go ahead and start the Follistim injectibles.  I was completely shocked to say the least that we could move forward, but I'm not complaining!  Now after two injections that I have given myself, I can honestly say the Follistim pen is da' bomb.  I can hardly even feel the tiny needle and have only minor discomfort and bleeding at the injection site after.  To think I was a bit weary about giving myself injections, I can truly say it is nothing!
• As I stated earlier, we have our second home study visit with our social worker this upcoming Wednesday.  We are doing our individual and couple interviews with her this go around.  We are actually down to only 2 more pre-service classes!  After those classes are done we need to take a one day pretty long foster 101 class which goes over specifics we need to know as foster parents working with the system as well as we get cpr and first aid certified so it's a lengthy class.  After that class we are officially done with classes!  Except by next year we need to have 30 or 40 hours (I believe) done of additional training each year to keep certification as foster parents so perhaps we will have more in the near future.
• Tomorrow we have another surprise date night.  I think Brian will be pleasantly surprised again!  I can't say much more as I know he reads my blog so tomorrow evening or the next time I blog I will surely elaborate :)
• Just as I was about to publish this post my mom called.  Ended up she and Marie were together so they came over for some tea.  I can say I'm the first in their ongoing joke to have invited them to tea! 

Little Updates

I have heavily been consumed with so much that I have not blogged lately.  Not for lack of subjects or thoughts, but honestly lack of time.  I have been completing the huge stack of paperwork which means making copies of every known personal document to our names as well as filling in lengthy paperwork.  Our homestudy went super well and we really like our home study social worker!  She is so easy to talk with and so real and down to earth.  She stayed for a bit over 3 hours and laid out the paperwork and did our first home inspection.  She completely loved our front bedroom that is colorful dot-crazy and said it is the perfect set-up and a great refuge for children.  From the stories she shared about many people not putting anything special into the rooms really left me surprised.  I still need to do a front room reveal post too as I have kept promising but have not gotten there yet.

All I can say about the whole homestudy is thank goodness she did not go into our basement....she may have gotten lost and never found her way back up!  We passed on most accounts but have a few things to do before full approval, but we have time to make those changes.  Most we have already accomplished since such as having a car seat, getting the treadmill out of the front bedroom (considered a safety hazard though it has a key you need to be able to turn it on), and needed the nursery ready in which it almost is finished!  Once we complete the stack of endless paperwork abyss and have our Dr. sign off on our physicals, and a fire marshall come to our home and check it for safety, we will give our social worker a call and we will schedule another lengthy visit for individual and couple interviews and another walk through the home.  We have to finish the basement room (as in drywalled and mudded --- paint and flooring doesn't need completed) in order for the fire marshall to come and sign off so mainly Brian and my dad (as well as my brothers Greg and G.J. at times) are hard at work getting that done.  I'm thinking if they continue working like they are that they will have it drywalled and mudded by the end of next week.  At that point I can call and set up our home walk through with the fire marshall. 

As I said earlier the nursery has been painted.  Our friend Lindsey and her boyfriend Nate came over and helped painting the base coat of white.  Brian and I painted the ceiling and then my brother Greg helped us with taping the stripes with the laser level and we painted in the stripes.  It worked out perfectly and we are so happy with how it turned out!  We have to wait two weeks until we can put our special decals up to give the paint enough time to cure so then we will get the full effect!  We then pulled up the carpeting and can officially say goodbye to all carpeting in our home (well for now, planning on carpeting the basement likely)!  I snagged an awesome deal on a large bright red rug at Ollie's that is just way too perfect.  All we have in there now is the changing table and intend to get the rocker my mom bought when she had me to use in the room.  We are waiting to hear back from the social worker who was checking on specific crib rules as the paperwork she had is not the most up-to-date so needing clarification on drop-side specifications.  Once we have the room all put together and the furniture all in I will do a big nursery reveal post and share it with all of you!  Get ready because it is very Seussy :)

As for some other great news, those siblings "Samuel" and "Sara" I blogged about from Ukraine that needed a home have been matched with a family!  I have prayed daily for them and had the nudge to go see if their grant amount had changed much and not only did they have over $1400 in it, I found they were on the My Family Found Me page.  Hopefully their family will fly through the paperwork and be able to get to them soon.  Since I saw that I seem to not be able to wipe the smile off my face :)  Nothing is better than praying every day for something then seeing your prayers go into full fruitation!  Their chances of finding a family willing to step up and adopt them was slim to none, but our God is Great and He has amazing plans for them I am sure! 

Bullet Point Mood

• So I'm in a bullet point mood, short sweet and snappy. 
• Why bullet points?  This is my blog and I make the rules!
• How many bullet points?  As many as I want because of what I stated above.
• Talked with our home study social worker today, she's coming this upcoming Tuesday the 12th for our first home visit and interviews.
• Not sure how many visits and interviews we will have.
• I'm excited to get this ball rolling especially since we are way ahead of schedule.
• I'm also aware we have a lot to get done before we get full approval.
• No everything won't be done by the time she comes and that's fine.
• Tomorrow is our 6th fostering class which marks the half way point!
• We get a new instructor tomorrow so we shall see how this goes
• Our basement is coming along. 
• Basement is completely framed and now working on insulation and wiring electrical boxes and recessed lighting.
• Hoping the new basement room will be finished by the end of February so we can start on the other side.
• Chances are low that will happen by the snail pace we are going.
• The first floor office is empty and our basement now houses more crap piled up!
• Planning on painting soon, possibly this week.
• I've been itching to paint so why not start on the room since I have the paint?
• I was friended on Facebook and contacted by the boy Luis that I've known for 6 years in Honduras.
• We chatted for about twenty minutes.
• I was in heaven.
• He is doing well and starting school in the capitol, he no longer is at the boys farm.
• I look forward to keeping in close touch with him, thank you Facebook!
• I have been yearning to go back to Honduras a lot lately as well as Brian has shared the same yearning.  Luis reaching out to me and asking when he will see his madrina and padrino (godmother and godfather which he refers to us as) again just magnified that feeling!
• This fertility cycle completely failed (well Friday will verify that 110% at my ultrasound).
• I was not only upset and shed tears (even before I got out of the building) when I found out this past Monday, but I was angry.
• Where this anger came from is beyond me, something I haven't felt towards this process before.  Perhaps from frustration and that the prior Thursday ultrasound had looked so promising and Monday chopped that excitement up in half and left me with salt in my wounds.
• Sometimes life blows.
• Where do we go from here?  Well office appointment March 1st to talk with the reproductive endocrinologist about our next step because what we are doing now is going nowhere and failing.
• Yay I have to wait almost a whole month to get in to see my RE which blows!
• Next step is injectibles, really serious step up....this should be fun...
• I apologize to all in my daily life right now ahead of time as they are known to cause severe mood swings, makes Brian so excited!
• Don't worry, we will hide the knives and all other plausible weapons before!
• Hopefully we will have better luck or at least get the follicles to grow.  All I want even if we aren't successfully pregnant after the first round, that I know the chance was actually there because right now it's just one big failure.
• Always seems to be one problem after another, when it rains it sure does pour.
• I've been feeling in the dumps lately even before my bad news.  I think it's this weird weather that's been bipolar on us and that time of the year I just want and NEED sunshine and warm weather!
• Can't wait to be able to walk outside barefoot.
• I want Spring to come....NOW!
• Hopefully my mood will pick back up and I will be back to being my normal happy self.
• Tucker continues to do well, he's only been with us for 2 weeks but it feels way longer than that.
• He is mischievous and keeps me up and going, can't sit for longer than 2 mintes without him getting into something.
• He has the whole pottying thing completely down.  He was a quick learner and we had few mistakes in the house.
• Jeeze do I love our hardwood floors for those times he failed to make it outside.
• I had him on an hourly schedule of putting him out, three days in a row now he has gone to the back door and whines and scratches the door the same way Meeko does.
• Score 1 for us!  He is officially trained! 
• Going to see a community theatre Les Mis performance this Friday, never seen it before but know a bit of the background story.
• A friends sister is one of the leads so we are making it a girls outing with dinner before the play, should be fun. 
• Yup running out of bullet points and I'm sure many stopped reading by now.
• Thank you if you read it all.
• You get a gold star!

Life

Life has become a bit more chaotic lately in our household.  Our newest addition Tucker is 9 weeks now and threw us right back into the puppy world that we had just escaped as Meeko outgrew most puppy tendencies (most, not all!).  Baby gates have been erected, cords have been hidden, shoes are in their rightful place, and he reminds us often to pick up after ourselves!  The joy of carrying him out every few hours into the freezing cold snow and standing their waiting for him to potty has become a new norm.  He has adjusted so well and is so bonded with not only us, but with Meeko.  Meeko is an easy going dog, but we still worried jealousy or quarrels would ensue but to our surprise he has taken Tucker in as if he has always been here.  We look forward to when the two will be able to run around the backyard together when Tucker is bigger to keep up.

 

We have also been busy checking off those weekly foster parent classes.  Next week will mark our half way mark and the light at the end of the tunnel will start to approach.  Yesterday in class we were called out of the classroom mid class and were greeted by our official home study social worker.  We were told while they normally do not start the home study process until classes are completed they said they read through our application and decided to assign us with a home study social worker right away to start up!  We are the only ones in our class to be assigned a worker at this time.  Our social worker was so sweet and welcoming.  I can tell from our brief meeting that we will get along well!  She was very enthusiastic and said she was excited to get to know us and start up the process.  By starting up our home study while we are still taking our classes means the two will overlap and we will shave off at least a month if not more of what we had expected before we could get a placement.  She said she got the assignment then saw we were on the list to be in class so thought it wouldn't hurt to pull us out real fast to introduce herself in person rather than by phone.  She said she will be calling us sometime next week so we can start setting everything up from home visits, the endless paperwork purgatory, and our meetings. 

 

We are excited about the opportunity to get things going and are motivated to get everything completed as quickly as we can.  We are about to be hit with a plethora of paperwork including our medical documents, background checks, family budget, reference letters (from amazing friends and family!), and so much more! As we were driving home Brian looked over at me and reminded me that we have so much to get done before our home visits start up!  My mind then went into a scramble as it occurred to me we are knee deep into our basement renovation and we still have our first floor office that is filled to the gills with art/office supplies and random things that need to be relocated.  Since our basement room which will house our things from this room is still only framed almost ready for drywall and mudding, we are planning this weekend to box everything up from the existing office room and move it to the basement (amongst all the other boxes all piled up as we demo and build) so we can throw some paint on the walls (paint was already purchased luckily just need a primer and some ceiling paint), rip up the carpeting (goodbye the last carpeted room in our home!), and get the room up and running into a nursery for a baby/toddler.  Before our home visits we need each room completed and everything set up to be assessed before we can get approved.  A room that is in transition or not completed would extend the process.  Our other room is already perfectly in place with bunked beds and toddler bed in it, but the second bedroom is far from completed.  Suddenly this endeavour looks daunting but we are ready to slay it this weekend hopefully!  What's more boxes in our basement?!?!

 

If anyone is up to join us feel free to come on over and pick up a paint brush, any help would be greatly appreciated...I'm serious! 

My 2013 Focus Word!

Some may have heard of a yearly focus word, others may have not.  I have never been one for New Years resolutions.  I feel resolutions we make in our lives we should be doing each and every year.  I'm not going to set myself up for disaster or something I will laugh at by the end of the year as I inevitably fail at it.  I decided this year and hopefully from this year on to pick one simple word that encompasses what I wish to accomplish in my upcoming year.  After pondering for the past 16 days, yes I planned on picking a word on the 1st but here we are on the 16th....I have come up with it.  My word of 2013 will be BUILD!

Yup there it is in all her beauty....build!  I am in a place currently with my life that I am in building mode.  Building the obvious things and the not so obvious things.  So get your constructions hats on and see what I intend on "building" in the next 12 months for my 2013 year.

• The very obvious thing is I plan to "build" up my home.  As anyone who reads my blog knows, we are are making our house our home and personalizing it.  We are expanding it by finishing our basement this year to open up a room on our first floor and give us more living space.  We are putting the sweat, money, and tears of our own into each project so we can have a conducive home for us and planning for the future.

                                      

• While I intend on "building" our earthly home, I also plan to "build" up my heavenly home.  I plan this year to spend more time reading the Bible.  Not only do I plan on reading it....hold your seats.....I plan on LIVING it!  Yup you heard it right!  I am first to admit that I am not always the most biblical living person.  I read one thing, nod my head agreeing with it, then within 5 seconds totally forget what I just agreed to to and do the complete opposite.  I'm a sinner and I know it in tune to "I'm Sexy and I know it".  So for this year I am going to be more thoughtful to the living word and do just that, live it to my best of ability.  Before making any decisions or swift actions I am going to ask myself each time if this will help me "build" up my heavenly home or is this something that is in one with my beliefs.  It may be a simple thing, but I think is something so important to "build" on personally.  I want to "build" a stronger faith, "build" a deeper understanding, and "build" a fearless belief in the Lord and help "build" up to my heavenly home.



 

• This year I also intend to "build" upon and strengthen relationships to with other.  I intend on "building" up those that already exists while also meeting new people and starting to "build" a new foundation.  It is so easy to get wrapped up in life and forget about those that mean the most to you.  I want to be more purposeful in "building" healthy strong relationships with others.  I want to be the best daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, friend, and so on to those around me.  I want to become more purposeful in my actions and words.

 

• I also plan on "building" our family this year.  Last year was a whirlwind of a lot of disappointment in this department.  We dealt with a lot of loss and raw emotion regarding "building" our family in 2012.  I am so hoping 2013 we will be able to sweep away the debris of when our "building" came crumbling down and that we can put back up walls and this time those walls will not fall down on us again.  I am so blessed that Brian and I have an awesomely strong foundation built between us.  We hope now to build up from here.  We are continuing our infertility journey as well as entering the foster care world in 2013.  While our family may not end up being the conventional family, we look forward to "building" our special family.  Our family we "build" may be ever changing with kids coming and going, but that doesn't make it any less of a family unit.  I firmly believe this is the year we will also welcome a bundle of joy and look forward to that possibility.  I know drastic changes to our family is coming as we go from a family of two to more, yet this may be the most thrilling to me of my "building" this year.

• "Building" savings is also a goal for 2013.  Last year financially we did very well as far as savings go.  Of course had I worked and not been a homemaker we would have been reaping it way more for savings, however I am happy to know we are able to more than make it on one income which suites us well.  With a mortgage, insurances, Brian's student loans, utilities, as well as all the extras we did last year we still ended up with a good chunk of savings that we "built" but for 2013 I am looking really into "building" it up.  One never knows when an emergency may strike.  We are looking into by the end of the year possibly buying a minivan and we would like to work with as much cash as possible.  I want to "build" in 2013 a way to stretch our dollars more and be purposeful in our spending and saving.  We have been starting to follow the Dave Ramsey approach and have been cooking and eating at home.  "Building" our savings this year is a priority.  We know now just starting out if we are able to be saving more than we are spending that it sets a great framework for the future.  

• "Building" our health is another avenue in 2013 I am going to work on.  As I said we are trying to eat primarily at home for all meals, I am also being more health conscious of what we do eat.  Eating at home does not always mean it is better quality or better for us.  In the latter of 2012 we added more fresh fruits and vegetables to our diets.  We want to "build" on this and continue to add more and more fresh things.  Again I am not one for a big resolution to lose 100 lbs. or anything, but I plan to "build" in healthy exercise into my day.  I have already begun to take Meeko for walks each morning and trying to add them in the evening too.  In between I am getting on the treadmill as well.  I am not doing it to lose weight (ha wouldn't that be a nice thing though!) but I am doing it to be more active, have more energy, and be healthier. 

 

I challenge everyone to pick a focus word for 2013 and truly focus in on it for all aspects of the 2013 year.  What will your focus word be?