It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Have you been to Michael's lately? If not, you need to go in the next week or two before it's all gone. Fall is here, but Christmas décor is encroaching, so fall is shorter than ever. It's quite a shame, because I LOVE fall decorations and fall colors and fall holidays. If I had any money, I would decorate my whole house for fall.

Speaking of fall holidays, my favorite holiday of the year is sooner than you think. Have you been thinking of your costumes? We have. We have our idea all put together. We just haven't done any physical work on them yet. This brings me to my question: When should the 3rd Annual Halloween Party be? (Yes, it'll be in Mesa). Here are your 2 options:

1. Saturday, October 28th
2. Tuesday, October 31st

Should we keep with the tradition of having a weekend party, or should we just go for the Tuesday party since no one really trick or treats anymore (it's all about the Trunk or Treat)? Are wards having their parties on the weekend or on Tuesday? Anyone?

All opinions from those planning on attending will be taken into consideration. Everyone is invited.

Some Perspective

Jake spent the afternoon yesterday taking apart our tree - limb by limb. These pictures give a little better perspective of just how big of a project this was.

This was taken about 1/2 way through the limb-cutting portion of the project. Notice how the tree is more than twice Jake's height.

Some of the branches were a little hard to get to, and took some creative climbing.

After all of the smaller limbs were cut off, the bigger branches had to be sawed off with a tree saw and/or chainsaw.

During the storm, I posted pictures of the tree on craigslist, and at 7:00 yesterday evening, someone came by with a trailer and hauled off all of the big limbs. They're planning on coming back today for the main trunk and roots. Now all we have is a large pile of the smaller branches. It's a much more managable load to take to the dump.

Yesterday Afternoon

Yesterday

5:15pm

5:30pm

5:45pm

The lovely green tree you see in the first picture is now lying down in our front yard. About 8 power poles went down on top of cars at the nearest intersection to our house, along with most of the other mesquite trees on our major streets.

The Nursery is Near Completion

I have really tried to use my homemaking time this week before I change jobs from "Homemaker to "Stay-at-Home-Mom". Obviously I have a lot more time on my hands now than I will in 5 weeks (4 weeks if I follow my cousin Macey's lead, 3 weeks if I follow Jake's friend's wife Shar, and 2 weeks if I follow Stephanie's sister Leslie). I'm still thinking it'll be 5 weeks away though.

The nursery is what has occupied most of my time since I moved back here. Here are the things I have completed so far:

I reupholstered my glider & ottoman.

I made an interior bag and border for the laundry basket.

I made a crib skirt & bumper for the crib, using 2 of the same fabrics from the quilt that I made. I also finished the quilt border.

I have a couple more sewing projects in my head, but nothing as time consuming as these were. As for the nursery, it is just missing its changing table, a few things for the walls, and a window valance. We're almost ready for our baby!

Motherly Advice

Jake and I have been looking at strollers for months now. We settled on this one:But now we're having second thoughts. We recently realized that you can get a "lightweight" stroller that fits a carseat, and those seem very appealing to me.The lightweights still have a basket underneath (smaller though), a cupholder for mom, & the seat reclines. One of the ones we looked at only had a handle for baby, no cup/snack tray. Also it looks like the wheels are smaller. A lot of the lightweights fold up like an umbrella stroller and weigh about 10-12 lbs. They cost about the same.

So here's where I need that motherly advice from all you moms out there. Will I miss the big stroller if I go with the lightweight? Or will I be glad I have it?

8 Months

Here I am at 8 months, 1 day
(or 34 weeks, 6 days - whichever is easier for you)

Another Project Completed

Welcome to Designer's Challenge meets Design on a Dime.

Steve & Susan live in a 2-story condo with their daughter Cathy and several cats. They moved in 4 years ago, but have not had time to renovate their guest room. Designers Jake and Abbie, of L&L Design presented a plan and a budget to update the room. Starting with white walls and 2 twin beds, Jake and Abbie had to work from scratch, so they spent some time with Steve & Susan to see what their interests were.

Steve & Susan enjoy scuba diving, and spend the majority, if not all, of their vacations at the beach. Jake and Abbie thought this would be a great theme for their guest room, so they presented a room with an island getaway feel.

Color Pallet: Green & Orange, with Almond trim & accents.

Lucky for Steve & Susan, Jake and Abbie live on a very, um, modest income, so a budget of $200 seemed like more than enough to completely furnish and remodel an entire room. (note: as the renovation began, Susan decided to upgrade to a queen-sized bed, so an additional $50 was added to the budget for a mattress, box spring, & frame)

Let's see the finished product.

View from the door.

Some of the furniture and accessories, including the nightstand, the turtle stained glass, and the palm tree photo album, were collected from various other rooms in the house. Here, they finally have a place where they fit in with the surrounding decor.

The headboard is made out of a straw beachmat with an orange striped border.

The previous closet doors, with their almond color and wooden slats gave the perfect cabana feel that Jake and Abbie were going for. Bench seating at the end of the bed were purchased new.

Jake and Abbie came in about $3 under budget, with a total of $246.53. Approximate costs:

Furniture: $80

Paint & Supplies: $65

Bedding: $60

Lighting & Accessories: $35

A Late Birthday Present

Cathy got me an eyebrow wax for my birthday, and she and I finally got to go on Saturday. Here's how my conversation with the little pregnant Vietnamese girl that did my brows went:

Girl: Oh, you're pregnant too?
Me: Yeah, when are you due?
Girl: September 20th. What about you?
Me: September 26th. Very close to you.
Girl: You're a lot bigger than me.
Me: Oh, thanks.

Here's the thing. Unless I have some sort of rose-colored glasses and think I'm smaller than I am, I'm pretty sure we were the exact same size. I even thought beforehand, as she was doing Cathy's brows, "I bet we're due at the exact same time".

National News

Did you hear about the serial shooter in Mesa? He, well they, were arrested this morning in THE APARTMENT COMPLEX I LIVED IN A YEAR AGO. That's right. And I hear it was about 4 units away from mine.

Last Week's Project

Due to a doctor's appointment on Monday and my boss being out of town Tuesday through Friday, I did not work at all last week.

On Monday, I spent the day driving to Tucson, taking a glucose test, and visiting my doctor. She said that my baby has a nice strong heartbeat - in the 150's, and she's measuring at exactly 31 weeks (which is right where I was supposed to be last week).

Since I didn't have to work Tuesday through Friday either, I spent the time working on one of my long-anticipated projects: my quilt. Here is what I accomplished:


This is just the front. It hasn't been tied or anything. It measures about 3½' x 4½'. My next project includes using the striped fabric to make crib bedding (hint, hint Robin). It's not perfect, but I think it turned out pretty good considering I got the idea from watching a quilting show one morning, and then just figured it out from there.

Oh, also, before this project, I was able to reupholster my glider cushions and ottoman. This was only possible thanks to the generous support and help of Stephanie. The cushions were moved back to Tucson on Monday though, so I don't have pictures yet. I'll take full nursery shots once we move back.