"My House is a Wreck!"

Hi! I am Elizabeth. Things have been happening pretty fast in my life! I
just married Mr. Right, became a stepmother to two fabulous kiddos, and had a
new baby- all in the last year and a half! Add a couple of moves and my 36th
birthday in there and you will understand why I am feeling the need to record
this crazy stage of our lives! At least now I can come back and read about it
someday- I know I won't remember! Oh, and keep in mind that I while I am posting
the good memories and high points of our daily life- my house really is a wreck!


Tuesday, August 31, 2010

It's Been Too Long!



Hello Blog, I have missed you so!  The technical difficulties have sent me OVER THE EDGE!  I bet you could hear my cussing tirades at your house!   It has taken way too long to figure out what was wrong with my photo uploader, and I am still not sure if I have figured this thing out!  But, I have missed blogging lately!  And there is so much to catch you up on!! 
As you can see, John Stephen had a big birthday!!  Yes, he is ONE YEAR OLD!  I didn't do a "party" because my Mom told me it would be OK not to.  And because this house isn't ready for the debut that it deserves.  So I got a cake from Wal-Mart, 15 blue and white balloons, and we had a little Sunday afternoon celebration with the Grandparents and some of our siblings.  Perfect!!  John Stephen got way too many toys, but he had lots of fun!  I'd also like to say that I found myself remembering the 23 hours of labor and the C Section on the big day, and I have concluded that I didn't get nearly enough attention for the whole ordeal!  I know, I know, you are thinking that I am not the first person to ever give birth.  I will probably be one of those mothers who tries to make their child feel guilty for their difficult delivery-OH No! Did I mention he weighed 9 lbs and 2 oz?  Well, he did.  And he is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me!  Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

The small cake in front of the birthday boy is called a "smash cake"!  This is a new concept to me, but it did make serving the real cake easier, and I thought the petite cake looked cute with the giant ONE candle!  Oh, and I made the birthday hat!  Isn't it funny?  Just put fabric on a cheap paper hat and attached the ruffle and pom pom!  Honestly, I could have done a really cute hat if I had thought about it before an hour before the big candle blowout moment!

We barely had time to straighten up the house before the party since we had spent the weekend in the TRAILERHOOD!  Don was dying to get up to the FEMA Dreama since we have stayed here working on the house for the last several weekends.  John Stephen is very advanced and has now decided that he is old enough to drive the boat himself!  It is hard work keeping him occupied for several hours on a Party Barge without falling overboard! 
But, we did have the kiddos contained for a few short meals on the deck!  This is John Stephen and his cousin who is 8 months old!  I swear I would feed John Stephen anything he wanted to get him to sit still for 5 minutes!  We are enjoying milder weather, and it is back to reality here.  We had our first day of Mother's Day Out today.  What a milestone!  I thought about crying after I dropped John Stephen off and then I decided to go shopping instead (ALL BY MYSELF)!!  Woohoo!  Hope you are having a good day, too!  Be back soon!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Technical Difficulties!

I have been having problems with Flickr's new photo uploading setup, and the stuff I spent weeks trying to learn is all different now! BOO! So while Don has been flipping channels between two of the worst movies I have ever seen, I have been trying to figure this thing out! SO here goes- hopefully this will post as a nice large pic of John Stephen dining topless in his highchair!

Fraternity House Project!


Lambda Chi 002, originally uploaded by mrsmills1.

Maybe this will be a larger pic?!

Just Hanging at the Fraternity House!


Lambda Chi 001
Originally uploaded by mrsmills1
Well, I had a very busy week! There is a Fraternity in Fayetteville ( I won't mention their name, but I like to call them the "Lamb Chops" behind their backs) that I have helped in the past with some of their interior design delimas! Basically, I work for cheap and they go through furniture really fast! I have a long relationship with the "Lamb Chops" and they are a really neat bunch of guys! So when they called this summer and asked if I could do a spruce up of their living room I was thrilled! We were working with an extremely limited budget since the fraternity had quite a bit of maintenence to do this summer. And, I knew it would be hard to pull this off with all of the moving and crazieness here. But, I went up to my old stompin grounds on Thursday and whipped this Formal Living Room into shape. I think it looks great- kind of clubby and "Ralph" as in "Lauren" (hopefully, the spot on the wall has been aimed at the shelf by now) I had a great time working on this unusual project and am feeling inspired.
Sorry the posts are slow coming, just as I am getting back in the swing around here, I am having technical difficulties! I am not good at computers and everytime they decide to switch something around it throws me for a loop! I have tried to load these pics for three days! And I am not sure how they will look when they post!!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Hello! From the Trenches!

We are still unpacking! And all of these boxes are SUCH a PAIN! John Stephen has taken to biting them! We took a HUGE load to the dumpster over the weekend, but we still have so much to unpack! If I hadn't moved so much in the past few years, I could have been featured on HOARDERS! I am resolved to take a carload of clothes to Goodwill tomorrow!


Pax and Syd have been here this past week! They have gotten along famously! Really! We didn't have cable the first two days of their visit, and it nearly killed them. And Don. I guess they could have gone outside to play, but it has been 103 degrees! None of us have wanted to go outside at all!!
And, in other news, WE HAVE A WALKER ON OUR HANDS!! He is motoring everywhere!
The new house is all on one level so it is easier to keep an eye on John Stephen now even though he is walking- I never knew how hard stairs were with a baby!! You can see some background of the new house in these pics! Sorry, but I am not ready to do "the big reveal"!! My blue/grey cabinets have not turned out to be the color that I dreamed of. Of course, I only decided this after the painters had been here for two days! So now I am stuck! I may do a glaze over them...We will see!

We had a few surprises after we moved in the new house. First, our refrigerator wouldn't fit in "the hole"! Not only that, but most refrigerators in the world would not fit into "the hole"! After one weekend of going to the garage each time I needed a refrigerated item, I was ready for any fridge! Heck, I'd take a DORM FRIDGE! SO, I marched down to the local Sears and bought the only fridge that they had that would fit! Now we have a lovely mixture of Black, White, and Almond appliances- I know you can't wait to see:)!! But, I am a patient girl, and I will wait patiently on the kitchen of my dreams! Here is Sydney doing the Happy Dance after our fridge got here! As an eight year old, you can imagine how many times Sydney got sent to the garage to fetch the milk, cheese, etc....


The second big surprise we had upon moving in our new digs was that one of the two AC units was KAPUT! I know you are wondering how an interior designer/realtor could mess up her paint color AND buy a house with a bad AC! But, we bought the house "AS IS" and gambled! The AC worked when we were looking at the house, and well, the blue paint is still a mystery! I loved the swatch on the wall! My skills are a little rusty, but we are very happy in our new house! Hopefully I can reveal a room soon for your entertainment!!