Play Time!

Last month when I posted pictures of the playroom I said that I was planning on leaving the walls empty for now, so that when Lily got older she could hang posters or art of whatever she wanted. Well, Lily is a month older now and has requested a Sesame Street theme!

When my sister was here a week or so ago, we saw these cute Sesame Street canvas prints at the mall and Linda was nice enough to buy them for us as a housewarming gift! Thanks Aunt Linda!! They only had Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Oscar in the store, so when we got home I went online to see if they had any more characters I could buy and sure enough I found Elmo! I was stoaked and ordered him right away. I was waiting to hang them all until I had the complete collection -- but what I failed to notice when I ordered Elmo was that he was 8x10 while the others are 16x20! oops! I can't find a bigger Elmo print anywhere -- so Lily and I hung them the other day and tiny Elmo got a special spot on the wall. I think they look great and add a nice touch to the room. Lily loves them and says "hi" and "bye" to all the characters as we enter and leave the room! Too cute!! The three that Linda bought.

Tiny Elmo in the center of the room!
Elmo up close

I also got these Sesame Street posters to complete the decor.

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Since this entry is about the playroom, here are some pictures of Lily from yesterday and this morning playing in her playroom:

On a very important phone call!

Bubbles! Lily loves Bubbles!

Playing with Elmo
Snacking on "Bacon" her pig finger puppet! Kisses for Elmo
Hugs for Elmo

Downstairs Loo

Monday night after we got home from the ER and put Lily down, my Dad showed me how to change out the old brass faucet in the downstairs bathroom with a pretty new one! It was late, but he left yesterday, so if I wanted to learn it was the only time. And while he did the whole thing for me (Thanks Dad!) I feel fairly confident that I could change out a faucet next time on my own. It didn't seem too difficult! So now the bathroom is finished. It is crazy that we have a totally new(ish) bathroom -- a week ago I wished for such a thing, but didn't think it would happen for a long while! Uncle Ashley painted the walls green and changed out the old light fixture and towel holders. I painted the door and baseboards a fresh coat of white paint. I also changed out the toilet paper holder, spray painted the shelving thing and picture frames white, bought and hung the balloon shade and shopped for new towels and accessories! Dad changed out the faucet. It is all pretty much new! And was simple. My mind is reeling now with possibilities for the other rooms in the house!! :)
Here are some pictures, but it is hard to get a good picture since the room is so tiny:

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And now for your daily pictures of Lily playing outside -- some pictures from last night:

This morning I caught her trying to shut herself in the pantry, I'm not quite sure how she fit, since the shelves are there. Silly girl!

Screwy Night

I am exhausted. Last night ended up being an interesting evening, complete with a trip to the ER! At 6:30 last night, Lily was snacking on Cheerios in her highchair and I was in the kitchen enjoying a delicious Pumpkin Flax Seed flavored Kashi granola bar (I highly suggest you try them -- they are yummy and filled with good protein, fiber and Omega-3s). I wasn't really paying that close attention to her since she was seated in her chair, eating and watching Elmo; nothing out of the ordinary and she was being good. Then I noticed her looking at me with a weird smile on her face and it looked like something shiny was in her mouth. It was a screw! Like a long 2 inch metal screw!! I have NO idea where she got it; yes we have been doing some minor work around the house, but I am totally vigilant about stuff like that. Chip's biggest fear is that she will fall from a tall building (he had a scary dream when she was a baby), so we don't play on the roof and keep her off balconies to calm his nerves. My biggest fear has always been that she would find something random and choke on it since that is a little harder to prevent. So I am always on the lookout for such objects. Plus, it is also completely unlike Lily to put anything besides a cheerio or cracker in her mouth. When she does find things, she always brought them to me. So what freaked me out most was the fact that she actually put it her her mouth -- I was shocked. Furthermore, she was in her highchair, so where the hell did it come from??? I calmly took the screw out of her mouth and scolded her behavior (which made her cry -- she knew I was disappointed) and tried to calm my nerves. My head was racing, where did she get the screw? Were they others that I did not see? Did she swallow one already and I missed it? I consulted my baby books and they all agreed that if she swallowed a marble or other smooth object you can just let it pass through. However, if it is metal or sharp (both of which would apply here) it could tear apart her insides while on its ultimate journey to her diaper. I was 99% sure that she did not swallow a screw -- she seemed perfectly fine and normal. But I had this weird 'what if' feeling in the pit of my stomach and I knew I had to find out for sure or else I would be sitting on the floor next to her crib all night looking for small signs of internal bleeding. So I made Chip come home so we could all go to the ER for an x-ray.

The local hospital is new, nice and clean. Not like the ERs I've been to in LA (and since Chip and I have been together I think we have been to the ER like 5 times). There were maybe 5 other groups there before us -- all seemed to be toddler related problems. Damn kids. But the staff was very nice and kept us posted as to when we would be helped. Since Lily was not showing any signs of anything (besides cuteness), they were tending to those who got there first. But within an hour, we were admitted (Lily weighs 27 pounds!) and x-rayed. Of course Lily hated every second of it even though the nurses and staff were so nice and gentle. I saw the x-ray right then and could totally tell that she was fine. My nerves had already calmed by then and I was pretty sure she was fine, but this just confirmed it. We were sent back into the waiting room to wait and watch The Mole (which I didn't even realize was still on!) while a Dr. looked over the x-rays. Like an hour and a half later we finally got called into a room where we waited some more and a PA came in and told us that there was no sign she swallowed anything, so as soon as she filled out the discharge papers we could go home. This was at 11:00. At 11:25 a Doctor came in and told us that there was no sign she swallowed anything, so as soon as he filled out the discharge papers we could go home. Uh, thanks, we already got that message. Chip was exhausted and hungry and Lily was slap happy. Finally about 11:45 we got discharged!! If I had to rate the hospital, I would give the first 2 hours a 10 and the last hour and a half a 3. It took forever to get our paperwork together and read a damn x-ray!!

So that was our evening. Even though it was kinda a waste of time, I am still glad we went. I would still be wondering right now if her insides were being shredded by a screw and I would be even more tired that I already am.

Getting ready for bed with her hospital tags on (and piles of laundry on my bed)

MOMS Club, more home improvements and Lillian!!!

This morning Lily and I went to our first playgroup with the MOMS Club. Yep, I joined the local chapter of MOMS Club. In case you are unaware MOMS Club is an international club; Moms Offering Moms Support is what the anagram stands for and essentially it is just a opportunity for stay at home moms to get together. They have two playgroups weekly and a monthly "Moms Night Out" as well as tons of other activities. For example, this week they had the playgroup at a members house, Wednesday is a playgroup at the library for story time and feeding the ducks; Thursday morning they are going bowling and Friday they are going to the Wiggles Play Center! We are missing bowling since Lily has Gymboree (and is a tad too young to bowl) and will probably miss the play center since it is for kids a little older and we will have friends in town on Friday. But I think it will be good for Lily and me. We both need to meet friends here and so far the 4 Moms I met today seemed really nice. One of them lives in the neighborhood around the corner (where my parents are building) and just moved here in January from Irvine! The lady who helped get me set up (I had to fill out an application) was not there this morning, but said she moved here from So Cal 2 years ago! And I guess there are a few other California transplants also in the club. I am actually meeting more Californians here than Texans!! :) There were 7 other kids there today -- two 5 year old girls, four 2 year old boys and a 3 month old boy! Apparently there are some girls Lily's age that were not there this morning, but hopefully we'll meet them soon. Lily was a really good girl. She was not scared or intimidated by the other kids and played nicely. It helped that they had tons of Elmo toys!! She was in Elmo heaven! So look at me -- I joined a club. It is not really like me, I am so not a joiner. I can't even recall the last club I was in . . . probably in like elementary school!!!! Hopefully we'll meet some fun people to hang out with!

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In other news, my parent's house is coming along and they started the roof yesterday.
And look there are actually workers there -- but they are not really working, more like relaxing on the porch . . . maybe there are elves after all that sneak in and work at night??

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Below is a picture from the other day when I painted the baseboard and door in the bathroom. Tonight Dad is going to teach me how to change out the faucet and then the room will be complete!! So you'll have to wait for the picture of the finished product! But I have to say a week ago that was my least favorite room in the house and now it is my favorite!!

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And the best part of today (so far) is that I finally got the chandelier in the entry way hung up and the ugly old one is gone!!! Thanks Dad for getting a big-ladder and changing it out!! It looks so much better!

Above, the ugly old lighting fixture. Tiny and hung way too high.

Getting the old one down.
Woo-Hoo! Pretty new lighting fixture! It is a larger version of the one in the dining room -- you can kind of see it through the door, I should have opened the door to take the picture, oh well.

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Lily pictures from last night. She is obsessed with going outside now, but it has been pretty warm during the day and I don't like her in the hot sun too long. So we've been going out in the evenings.

Waving "Hi" to the "Bun" (bunny)

Lily's Room

Lily has started this new trend of not wanting to get out of her crib after her naps. I go in to get her and she fights me when I try to get her out. So the other day I figured fine, you can stay here while I take pictures of you and your room! I had been meaning to take photos, both for my personal collection and for the blog. But I usually always blog while she is asleep and then realize I don't have pictures and, of course, forget about it again once she wakes up. So finally, here are some photos of Lily and her room:
This may not look organized to you, but it is the neatest closet in the house. I am a believer in the what you can't see doesn't exist policy -- so as long as the closets are shut, I don't care what kind of a mess lives inside!

I need to replace some of the pictures in some of the frames in there. But she really only goes in there to sleep since we spend most of her play time upstairs in the playroom. Nothing is new, it is all from her original room in CA. When we were in the apt Chip used her closet for his clothes, so she had the wardrobe. Now she has a dresser, closet and wardrobe!! So she is all set for some major shopping! :)

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Sorry no blog entry yesterday. I was busy painting the baseboard and door of the downstairs bathroom. I decided on the right white paint color, "Du Jour" and got it Friday night so I was all ready to go yesterday when Lily went down for her nap. It only took me a little over an hour to tape off the bathroom and paint, so I should have had time to blog and eat lunch -- but someone decided to cut their nap short! I'll post pics later! I have to go clean up the bathroom now before she wakes up!

Home Improvements (and Lily, of course)

Busy Busy Busy. I am trying to get the downstairs bath completed now that it is pretty and green. Chip's friend's Eric and Kristi (and their oldest son Colton) are coming to visit in a week, so it would be great if I could have the bathroom looking nice by the time they get here! This morning Lily and I went to Lowe's to get some spray paint and white paint chips. The spray paint is to paint the frames and shelves that I have that are gold! They went well in the apt. and of course worked here when the bathroom was red and gold -- but now I'd like to update some! So instead of buying new frames I am just spray painting them "Heirloom white." The shelves belonged to my grandma so I'd like to also keep them, just a bit modified! The paint chips we got are for the baseboards and door in the bathroom -- and eventually the whole house. I want to start repainting the baseboards and doors throughout the entire house soon. They are chipped and dirty. I've tried cleaning them and using the magic eraser on them, but I am still not happy. I think a nice coat of white paint would make it all look clean and pretty! The previous owners left tons of paint in the garage, and I am pretty sure we have some to match the white that is here, but I don't think we have enough to do the entire house. So I am trying to find a white that is the closest, so as I do a room a day (or however I am able to do it without Lily getting painted in the process), it is not a glaring difference in whites. Ya following me? So that is what I am working on while Lily is napping. I am hoping to decide on a white paint soon (there are too many shades of white!) so I can go get it tonight and start either tonight or tomorrow afternoon! Wish me luck :)I forgot to take a "before" pic, but here are my shelves and frames drying in the garage. . .
Many shades of white

On a separate note (and so you can get your Lily fix for the day) :) . . . Last night Lily and I played outside and in the pool for over an hour. She is loving that pool now that she actually decided to give it a try! Here are some photos I took:

Not the most flattering photos of me, but we were having fun taking pictures of ourselves.

I don't get tons of kisses anymore like I use to, so I was totally taking advantage of her wanting to kiss for the camera!!
Sippin' on a cool one by the pool
I love my Lily!