Little Girl

Guess who just turned two months! 

Miss Saydee Ann:)


We chose the name Saydee early on in our pregnancy, because we like the way it sounds. We chose Ann because it's my Grandma's name (my dad's mom). She has such a great spirit, as we hope Saydee will too.


Saydee surprised us all by coming 3 1/2 weeks early on October 19th! 


Now, at two months, she is becoming more of a little girl and less of a blob-like newborn.  Saydee is cooing up a storm and even puts little expressions on her face like she's really saying something. She likes it when Mom singing The Eensy Weensy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Saydee's not a big fan of The Wheels on The Bus, but I'm sure she will be someday. She has begun to love baths.  She splashes and kicks her duck toy in the tub.  


I'm taking my leave of absence from teaching to stay home with Saydee.  I'm loving my new job!  Sure, having a newborn is a lot of work, but it's very rewarding too.  I'm so glad I'm able to take care of her all day and witness all of her precious little moments of learning and joy... and some sadness in there too (She is a baby hehe).  


I'm so lucky! 

New Camera!!! and little peek at the nursery

Nick dragged me to Best Buy yesterday... then surprising me with a camera for my birthday present! He agreed it could be partly his birthday present too, since it was more money than we usually spend on birthday presents. It's something that we both really wanted though, mostly to take good keepsake pictures of our new baby. I don't think an iPhone camera would suffice for that!

This is my favorite photo that I've taken so far:

This is my favorite picture that Nick has taken so far:
Nick said that this is his first camera (other than the one on the iPhone). I think it's about time he got a good one then after 30 years! Yep, he'll be turning the big 3-0 August 19th.

We got a Nikon D3000 DSLR camera. We're both loving it so far. We're definitely still learning...but it's a fun new hobby.

Here is a sneak peek of the nursery!

The furniture is all from Nick's aunt and uncle who have a three year old who no longer needs it. It was perfect timing for us! We love it! It fits perfectly in our tiny room and it's all that we really needed. The crib still needs a little tweaking, because it has a drop-side. We got some bolts and are planning to bolt the side in so there's no room for wiggling there.

I made the curtain out of cotton and ribbon. It's the perfect topper to our blinds we got when we moved in.

We painted the room in this neutral green when we first moved in two years ago. We love the warmth of it.

We got new carpet in the upstairs and downstairs about a year ago. That's a neutral beige and very cushiony.

My mother in law made the blankie that she placed on the glider there.

My mom is making a butterfly quilt for the wall.

I have started to make a butterfly mobile for above the crib.

I have begun to buy some clothes, wash them, and put them away.

I love the way it's turning out! It's such a cozy room. Sometimes I just go and sit in the glider and watch the kitties and puppy run around in the room, imagining a little baby in there too. It's definitely becoming more real! 15 weeks to go!

:)Cara

Photos

I am obviously new at this whole blogging thing because my photos really aren't that great. I am ashamed to say I have been using my iPhone for photos for my blog.

In my defense, it is awfully convenient. I have my phone with me most of the time because we don't have a house line (like probably most people these days). It is also super easy to e-mail myself the pictures, then check my e-mail and download to my desktop to then load on my blog!

Someday I promise to upgrade my camera, so you don't have to deal with my flash-less/blurry/poorly set up photos.

:)Cara

Living Room

Here we have new paint, new floors, new curtains, new couches and chair. Enjoy!

:)Cara

Dining Room

Here we have new paint, new floors, and a new (to us) highchair...I just had to see how it looked in the space. :)

:)Cara

Front of House

Welcome to our home! Here are some pictures of our renovations, starting with the front of the house. There is new paint, new floors, new kitchen countertops, new backsplash, new front hall light, and new curtains in these pictures. Enjoy!

:)Cara

Curtains and partial reveals of remodeling

Well...we've had our new floors for a couple weeks now. We have moved all of our furniture back into place.. some things have found new homes. Now we're doing finishing touches.

Here is a look at our new cabinets with new paint and our new granite! We are very happy with how it turned out. Nick and his mother installed a backsplash for us (to cover up some of the damage from Nick and Mike removing the old countertop...Oops!). Nick is still working on some finishing touches of the backsplash, so here's the kitchen partially done:

Here are the curtains I made for the kitchen:

Here are the curtains I made for the living room:

:)Cara

Newest Home Projects

Well...I haven't been posting in a while or doing many home projects myself because of my new pregnant status (yay!). I definitely have had my share of pregnancy fatigue, but also haven't wanted to do anything to strain the baby bump. I'm now twenty two weeks pregnant and enjoying the honeymoon trimester during this hot hot summer.
Nick is helping me nest by doing more than his share of our to-do list on the house. Feeling guilty that I can't help, I've convinced him to find some help along the way. He's been going to work during the day and working on the house at night. He's really working hard for his girls (yes, it's a girl!).
We are getting new hardwood floors (top right sample). So, Nick and my brother Mike ripped up our old laminate and tile. Then Nick had to go through unscrewing the screws on the backer board that was under the tile. Then Nick and his brother Charles got the backer board up with crowbars. That was a big dusty mess. So, I've been staying at my parents' house around the corner since then. Luckily my mom is also a teacher and is off for the summer too.


Currently Nick is beginning to paint our trim, chair rail, and cabinets. Tomorrow my mom and his mom are going over to help him paint the living room, dining room, and kitchen (phew!). This is what our house looks like currently.
It has to get worse before it gets better, right?

:)Cara

Hallelujah!

This is a view of the skylight above my bed. I have been sad lately that the sun has not been able to welcome me into my room, as it normally does. I think I have been missing my normal dose of vitamin D.


This is a view of our master bedroom from the hallway door. The vaulted ceilings with skylights were a big part of why we bought this house. Nick and I painted this room a warm yellow color and the sky was the inspiration for the blue accents.


This is my favorite thing in our bedroom. It's a picture of Nick and I waiting for our families in front of the Colosseum, after our wedding last April. I love the contrast of the green of the trees on the blue sky. The frame matches our furniture really well too. I also love being reminded of our times in Rome and Paris.

:)Cara

Relaxing after a long day at work

I began to make my valentimes (I love how kindergartners say that) for my class today... yes, I know Valentine's day was 3 days ago. We're not celebrating until Friday because of the snow days. So, of course, it took me this long to make them. I decided to make them bright, cheerful, and simple this year.

Maddie helping

We had a two hour delay today, but I'm still exhausted. We have a 2 hour delay tomorrow and Friday too. We're definitely easing back into it.

Nick, Cara, and Mr. Teddy watching the Olympics

Go USA!

:)Cara

What a Mess

Today is my last day before going back to the daily grind. Schools have a 2 hour delay tomorrow morning (at least we're easing back into it).

So, I decided to organize my basement closets. Well, I've been thinking about it for a while really. Right now the contents of my storage room, storage closet, and basement family room closet are all semi-organized in the outer rim of my basement (It has to get worse before it gets better, right?).

I made piles of things to put into the different closets and have things lined up by the door to take to good will. I also cleared off a spot on the couch for "the Morgie."

This was a forced organization because Nick had taken everything out of the storage closet the other day, so I could use it to paint in (see picture of brown cabinets below). All of the things from the storage closet needed a home and I hadn't been happy with their original ones.

My organization plan:
-put up shelves in the basement family room closet, to house Nick's computer and "gadgety" things and my "crafty" things
-leave big storage shelves in the storage closet for extra random house supplies
-leave space in the storage closet for painting... possibly on my new brown table
-put Christmas, Halloween, Nick memorabilia, and Cara memorabilia in the attic
-leave house paint and tools on the tool shelf in the storage room.... hopefully eventually make the storage room more inviting with some white paint all over the cinder block walls

I would feel guilty about having such a mess, but even Martha Stuart has problems with her closets.... Martha's Blog ...kind of. I'm wishing my closets looked like her "messy" ones right now.

..off to relax on the couch with my puppy and hubby.

:)Cara

Home Projects Galore!

Since school has been out for the past 10 days, I have had plenty of time to finish old/start new home projects.

Nick had started priming our bright pink/red main floor bathroom a couple weeks ago. After priming the bathroom three more times (do the next owners a favor and Never paint a bathroom bright pink/red!). I painted it a super light blue called "Dew Pointe" by Freshaire Choice. It looks very pretty and calming. We are going to paint the chair rail, mirror, and cabinet so they look more modern. We also need to replace the bathroom sinks and faucets.. eventually.


A few weeks ago, I painted our basement bathroom from a bright bright green that we had inherited to another calming blue called "Tranquil Pond" by Freshaire Choice. Despite the fact that these paints supposedly have no VOC's, Nick and I agree they are still pretty stinky. I guess the smell wasn't as offensive or lingering as normal paint though.


Since moved in a year and a half ago, we have replaced the carpet upstairs and in the basement, the dinning room light fixture, the basement stairs light fixture, basement light fixtures, towel bars, toilet paper holders, all of the bathroom light fixtures and 3/4 of the bathroom mirrors.

Now we have painted all of the bathrooms. We have also painted all three bedrooms, hallway leading upstairs, and the basement. Phew!

We have eventual plans to paint the dining room/living room areas and kitchen, the jury's still out on which color(s) "we" want.

I have begun painting the bathroom cabinets "Coffee Bean" by Eddie Bauer. I've decided to paint other random stuff this color too, to coordinate the rooms. I started with this random unfinished table that I had. I'll figure out what I'm doing with it later...


I also bought paint "Cape Honey Flower" by Olympic Paints to eventually paint the kitchen cabinets. The tired 80's oak definitely needs a face lift.

I just love what a little (or, in my case, a lot of) color can do!

:)Cara

Happy Valentimes Day!

Nick and I celebrated this Valentine's Day with a shopping spree at Nest (an organic store in River Hill), sushi at Sushi King (where I was given my origami rose with our bill, too cute!), planting seeds for our future garden, and checking some things off our honey "du" list.

I told Nick all I wanted for Valentine's Day was for him to help me finish painting our middle floor bathroom and start painting our cabinets. He sanded down the basement bathroom cabinets in order for me to paint them. I did one coat of paint and he surprised me with the idea of going to get a gong that I had wanted from Nest. I love the idea of announcing meals with a gong.


Once we got to Nest, I also saw this vase, which apparently is meant to be a coffee mug, and I fell in love with that too. The vase is sitting on my dinning room table with my origami rose in it for now. My plan is to put some of my flowers from my future garden in it, if this snow ever melts!


I hope you had a great Valentine's Day too!

:)Cara

Snowed In

Two blizzards have hit my home within the past week. For once, I'm not exaggerating. These blizzards have brought on an unexpected (and well deserved :-) vacation. With all my free time indoors my creative juices have been flowing. I've also had the free time to research things I'm interested in that don't deal with work.


Hence, Cara's Catch All.

:)Cara