Spare Change = Fabulosity

Starting point... Two years of saving change: 

Ahh, sexy little money soldiers. What do they turn into?

Why, this rustic beauty:

The cool distressed top, which didn't quite come out in the picture, not as cool as it is in real life:

A fun little surprise that is the result of dumping out your (his) pockets every night after you (he) comes home. God bless the husband who only uses cash, and always has spare change.

The Paint Job.

Well I posted about the weekend of painting and its subsequent effect on our lazy ass, couch potato, TV-watching night life, and now I have the pictures to prove it!

This is months and months ago, Alex was not even a year, I had a horribly short haircut, and I was fatter. Alex was boisterous, sassy, slightly sweaty, and for the most part that's all the same. But the point of this picture is the color of the walls. A yucky, bland, rice pudding type color, Dunn Edwards Cottage White in flat.

Well, screw Cottage White. It's dingy, dank, slightly depressing, and utterly uninspired. It's also all over the house because this used to be a rental house, and the last thing you do for a rental is put subjectively gorgeous color on the walls just for someone to either complain about or destroy with posters, beer stains, permanent marker, or punching through walls (all true stories - don't even ask about the jerk who sold our unit's fridge).

So here we go. Here is the initial aftermath, that had me running around in circles going "Where do I sit? Where do I go?"

Even Alex is like "What is this I don't even." I started to feel like a hoarder after awhile, just looking at these stacks, trying to wedge my big butt on the itty bitty edge, feeling pushed out of my own home by my own stuff.

Ahhh, there he is, my darling man, slaving away. I have to admit though, I was kind of jealous. I was on baby duty and don't get me wrong, I LOVE baby duty, but I also love projects. And I love working, in a body-moving way. But Alex and I were resigned to standing at the baby gate, watching Todd. Alex screeched "hi!" a lot and I just kept saying "Hey babe......... lookin' gooooood... Um, do you need some water?"

That photo was taken the second night, and by this time I was able to help. It was so fun! As Todd says though, painting a dramatically different paint color really ratchets up the excitement levels. Painting white on white, not so much. Anyways, aside from the super sexy hot ass job I did on the ceiling, painting the second coat, of which there are no pictures.... Here is what I did:

Look at that sparkling white bookcase thingy! You can't tell from here, but my cutting-in work is out of this world. And now, look at how that interior door of weirdness pops against that green wall. Side note: we moved Alex's "dresser" (aka dining room buffet we bought when I was pregnant and when we thought we didn't need drawers for tiny baby stuff) from her room into the den. So behold the sexy, perhaps DEADLY sexy combination of new wall color, plus new entertainment center. It's a goddamn grown up adult house now:

Here's the bookcase with books in it. And I tried real hard to make the books and other crap pretty:

So there you have it! Our lovely new room, with new furniture, new tile, a new lease on life! 

Colors used:

Glidden Safari Green in matte

Glidden Bright White in semi-gloss

Mexican Mamacita!

Our friends Dave and Gneiss gave Alexandra this adorable little Mexican style dress for her birthday and now it finally fits her. It's such a different garment from her Target and BRU clothes that I wasn't sure if she'd like it. But she wore it with gusto and, as usual whenever I whip out the camera, she hammed it up.

"Ooh, is that your camera?!"

"Because you KNOW how much I love cameras"

"I really, REALLY love cameras!"

My little ham. Or should I say, jamon.

Obsession.

So, I posted in my Things I Geek Out Over posts about those super awesome fruit/veggie pouches by companies such as Happy Tot, Earth's Best, Ella's Kitchen and Plum Baby. And it's fun, being super into something that's not frivolous at all, but something that is crucial to my daughter's nutrition. Even if she weren't such a picky, nay, such a fickle eater, they'd be crucial. The vitamins and minerals in those pouches, not just the extra protein and fiber, are heaven sent.

But... well... I think I officially have a problem. An obsession, as the title to this post clearly states. I went to Target on Sunday afternoon to replenish  many things, but mostly to replenish my beloved dragon's hoard of fruit pouch treasure. Let's just say it wasn't pretty. Let's just say it looked like I was stocking up for winter. Or Y2K. Or a trip to the center of the earth.

Or as the boy in line in front of me said as I put handful after handful after handful of the stuff on the conveyor belt put it: "That is a LOT of juice"

Yeah, well... whatever.

Pleasures of Parenthood.

Todd's brother Scott and his lovely wife Amery have recently discovered and announced that Amery is pregnant! It's such wonderful news, and even lovelier is how absolutely happy they are. Well, Scott's also terrified but he should be, let's face it.

It was exciting for us too! To be aunt and uncle... what honors and luck for us! And then... we get to loan ALL of our newborn stuff to them. Relief! Joy! Empty closets! STORAGE SPACE. Carseats, strollers, bumbos, boppy pillows, infant bath tubs, bouncy chairs, electric swing sets, activity mats... Oh the sweet wonder of it all. And even cooler, by the time I'm ready to get knocked up again, they'll just send it back on over. It's wonderful! WONDERFUL I tell you.

That night before bed and after the happy parents to be had left for the night, I was getting myself and the house ready for bed. And I had to grab my camera, and post for all the expectant moms and dads out there, the documentation of a parent's joy. It might seem like I'm being sarcastic, but all these things are simply adorable, messy reminders of my baby girl, of the promotion of a lifetime: from woman, then wife, and at last to mother.

I mean, look at that adorable little toothbrush:

I don't know if you're aware, but a singing purse is a tub time necessity:

The aftermath of a nighttime streaking (no towels allowed):

Oh, tub toys. Did I ever take a shower without you?



Our cup (tub toy caddy) runneth over, literally:

Poor lobster mama, left behind like a soldier on the battlefield. Which I guess is what parenthood is like when they're teens but not yet:

And poor turtle pillow pet. He came THIS CLOSE to being invited to night-night:

Just think, that was just the aftermath of tub time! I'll pick them all up, put them all back where they belong (no, the floor is not the answer), only to find new buddies in their place the next day. Quite frankly my dears, I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Boob Tube.

No, this post is not about strapless bras.

Although I did recently acquire a lovely strapless bra from Victoria's Secret. It's a bit on the bland side as it's nude, but...

Oh wait, right, this post is not about strapless bras. To all of our non-bra-wearing friends (men), I apologize.

This post is actually about television or, more appropriately, the lack of it. This weekend consisted mostly of Todd painting the den while I ran around doing errands, planning my best friend's bridal shower, playing with Alex, and basically being confined to only half of our house.

Our house is quite small so being confined to half of it meant that I basically stood there with Alex on my hip, staring at the 58294785489 books stacked on our living room couches (the bookcases are built in, in the den and were, of course, being painted), or watching Todd work through our interior window as I wondered out loud, "What in hell are we going to do without any place to sit? Without the television? For God's sake, man, we're going to die!"

I didn't realize how much I depended on the TV for background noise, for distraction, for entertainment. Nor did I realize just how much we use that room. It's a place for me to fold laundry, to recline and complain about how tired I am, it's where Alex likes to sit and play with her myriad of toys, it's where Todd makes his phone calls, and dude, it is where we watch television.

The TV room part of the den is only half of the room since Todd's office/Alex's play area takes up the other half, but we're always there. It's Todd's base for work, it has the doors to the backyard and subsequently the most light, and the television is in there. Todd and I always eat dinner in front of the TV because we eat so late at night and are, by that time, to tired to sit up straight in a hard-backed chair and make conversation about how tired we are.

But all weekend that room was off limits for Alex and since I was on baby duty all weekend the room was also off limits for me. The living room was essentially off limits as well since the books took up all the sitting room. I spent a lot of time in Alex's room playing with her, or folding laundry at the dining room table (hey, we sit there sometimes, just not for, you know, dining) while Alex flounced around whining, or we just sort of walked around trying to clean the house in order to insert some semblance of order and dignity in an otherwise overturned, insane environment.

And the TV was never turned on. Friday we had purchased the paint but were too tired to do anything, yet instead of sitting on the sofa, we ate dinner outside on the back patio and talked. Saturday we had dinner with some friends, came home and sat outside having drinks, talking and staring at the utter chaos in the den. Sunday night, at like 9:30pm we had dinner, again, outside, talking minimally and staring at the utter chaos in the den that was at last framed by beautiful, freshly painted walls.

It was one of the most satisfying weekends we've had. I felt like it was a full length weekend, not the lightning-quick stints that fly by, leaving me bleary-eyed and bemused on Monday mornings, wondering where the hell the weekend went. Each day felt rich and full because not only were things getting accomplished, but I was in constant contact with both Todd and Alexandra. The weekend was a hit.

I think it was a combination of a lot of things:

1.Todd was home almost the entire time both Saturday AND Sunday (he usually has to work all weekend to make up for the time spent watching Alex during the week) and getting that one on one time with him all weekend long was a gift from God

2. Aside from a couple of hours spent at our friends' house, we did nothing social and we certainly couldn't have friends over with that mess. As much as I love being with friends, it was really amazing, just being in family mode all weekend long, spending one on one time with Todd and also with Alex.

3 Lastly, that damned TV was off. All weekend long. There were no long stretches of life wasted in front of the thing, no dinners sitting on the sofa staring at some stupid show, no evenings were killed by us sitting down one minute and then glancing up the next, realizing we'd just spent 3 hours watching some crappy show hosted by John Quinones.

I know that tonight we'll likely collapse in a heap on the sofa, so happy that our television is back in place, eating dinner on TV trays and conversing solely about whatever show we're watching. But I also know that on the weekends, the damn thing is getting turned off and is going to stay off, and we're eating at the table like mother-effing adults.

P.S. Pictures to come soon of the new paint!

More Wrap Deliciousness: Breakfast Burrito

Doesn't that look like it came fresh from Los Betos? Well, it came fresh from my kitchen. It's super delicious, has well over 15g protein and 8g fiber. AND it's only 200 calories.

Breakfast Burrito Wrap

-1 Flat Out multi-grain wrap
-1/2oz shredded cheddar cheese (fancy shred is best, it goes farther)
-2 egg whites
-Garlic powder
-Cumin
-Hot sauce (we use El Pato and Tapatio in our house)
-4 cherry tomatoes, halved
-1/2 leaf of romaine, shredded
Put your cheddar on your wrap and nuke in the microwave about 15 - 20 seconds. Our microwave is ridiculously low-powered so I did it for 30 seconds, but I am assuming your microwave is more advanced.
Heat up a small skillet and coat with olive oil spray. In go the egg whites!
Once they're cooked on the bottom but still wet on top, add as much garlic powder and cumin as desired.
Take out your wrap and put the fully cooked egg whites right on top of the cheese for further melty deliciousness
Add a few splashes of hot sauce.
Top with tomatoes and finally with lettuce. Wrap up, and if you're like me, wrap it up and foil and dash the fuck out the door because you're going to be late for work.