Work and Play

First off, thanks to Michelle for sending me the link to pimp out my blog! I am sure I will play around and mix it up often! I had been meaning to add a little pizazz to the blog, but hadn't really had the time to play around and this was super easy (I did it with Lily on my lap hitting me on the head with a ruler -- that is how easy it was) :)

Yesterday we had tons of fun playing around with grandma! Of course, my mom did not really want her picture taken (especially since she was sure it was gonna end up here in the blog), so Lily was helping her out and trying to cover her face.

Later in the evening we went to the golf course to see Chip and my Dad. We wanted to see what they were up to, since my dad is busy tearing up hole 6 (I think) to make a cool island green, so we were curious to see what he had gotten himself it to. Lily and I really haven't been by since we moved out here, so it was nice to surprise Daddy at work. Plus Lily got to take a ride in the golf carts which is her favorite thing to do! She loves it, she laughs and screams (in a good way) the whole time. It is so cute!

It was a tad warm out, so we didn't play around for too long. Plus, it is always a little scary having Lily out on the course, since there are golfers out playing and she could be hit in the head by a ball at any time! But it was cool to see the progress. I think an island green is pretty awesome, and I am so not a golfer! They are also building a new deck outside the bar and grill, so that should be nice; and it worked out well since all the dirt they dig up to make the island, will be used to build up the deck and some other things!

waiting for another delivery

Grandma finally got here last night about 7pm. Lily was playing in the family room when the doorbell rang, so I told her to go to the door because Grandma was here. So she cautiously walked over with a strange little look on her face and then as soon as she noticed my mom peeping in though the window, Lily got the biggest smile on her face and started giggling like a maniac for like 5 minutes. It was hilarious -- and kinda strange! They picked up right where they left off. Lily definitely missed her grandma!! Then since Chip and my dad were at the course, the 3 of us went out to dinner at Texas Land and Cattle. This was my 3rd trip there because it is yummy! If I had to describe it, I would compare it to Outback -- which we also have, right down the road from the Texas Land and Cattle. I especially like the fries and the sourdough loaf they bring out while you wait for your food! :) Oh yeah and the actual food ain't bad either!

Here are some pics from yesterday of Lily waiting for grandma to arrive

It looks like she is watching TV, but honestly I don't remember the TV being on while I was taking the pics. . . strange. Whatever she is watching, it appears to be funny!

Right now I am waiting for the my bed to be delivered. Chip and I finally purchased our dream bed, a sleigh bed!! Luckily, we have both always had the exact same taste in decor so it has never been a problem when buying furniture and decorating our homes. I'd feel kinda bad if Chip had to live amongst stuff he hated (because you know I would get my way!). And we both have always wanted a sleigh bed and today is finally the day! Woo-Hoo!

That photo is from the website, and is not our actual room! :) But it is the bed and I think it is beautiful! I'll take pics of our room as soon as the bed is there are we are done setting it up (which may be a little while!) :)

Grandma's coming and sleep issues ...

Grandma and Grandpa are coming today! That is what I keep telling Lily and she is excited. Not as excited as my Mom who misses her terribly and my Dad who misses the golf course! The last few days we have been busy cleaning up at home, trying to make it look like we got a lot accomplished in the 20 days since they were here last. While Chip has been doing the same at work!! They are (finally) on the plane as I blog. They were supposed to come in tonight at 7:40 and Lily and I were going to go to the airport to pick them up, but they just couldn't wait to get here so they hit up LAX at like 6am to try to get on an earlier flight (since they have direct flights every hour on AA). They finally got a flight around noon their time, which puts their arrival here at about 5:30. Since it is 4 now and Lily is still napping (she slept in this morning) Chip can fight the rush hour traffic to pick them up! But I know Lily will be so happy to see Grandma tonight!

Speaking of Lily sleeping in . . . she had only been sleeping OK since we moved here. I mean she was getting a good 10 to 10.5 hours at night and her naps were good, for a combined total of at least the recommended 12 hours a day, but I knew she could be doing better. Before we moved she was averaging 11.5 hours a night. I had also started to notice slight bags under her eyes, Chip didn't see them at first, I mean they weren't terribly bad, but I noticed them. I thought maybe they were allergy related (as most common under eye bags are for kids her age) since we had changed environments and all. But we had a roll of that painters paper left over from the move (we rolled out the brown paper carpet as they brought in all the boxes and furniture), so I covered her windows to try to darken her room some. She has mini blinds, but the light still sneaks in through the cracks. Let me tell you, it has made a world of difference. Since we darkened her room a few days ago she has been sleeping 12 hours straight at night (knock on wood), her bags have cleared up and she has been less fussy! Poor baby was exhausted! I figured she had to need more sleep, I mean she is so much more active here since she actually has room to run! So if you have kids and they are not quite sleeping through the night, it is so worth a try!

Sorry, no new pictures today . . . :) I need to take pics of Lily's room, but I always blog while she is in there sleeping.

A rare Martha moment for me

I was catching up on old magazines and saw this in the April issue of Parents. I thought it was the coolest and easiest thing to do . . . so I am sharing it. It would be perfect if you are hosting a shower or tea or something: FYI -- normally on blogger, if you click on a picture it will enlarge it for you, but that doesn't always work. So I will re-type the directions for you.

"If ordinary sandwiches are falling flat for your family, give bread a new dimension. In less than 15 minutes, you can transform soft whole-wheat slices into these crunchy, fun to hold cups. Just trim off the crust and flatten each piece with a rolling pin. Mold into a muffin tin greased with vegetable-oil spray. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Fill the cooled cups with chicken salad, tuna, or even sliced ham and cheese."

Chip even thought they were cute and brought the magazine to the chef at the course. We were thinking you could even fill them with scrambled eggs and cheese for brunch . . . the possibilities are endless! I totally want to try this someday!

Another Wet One

Please disregard my previous blog from last week about the cool thunderstorm we had, that was nothing compared to the one that came through this afternoon. I knew that a storm was in the forecast and I was trying to plan my trip to the supermarket around the doppler. But I was not prepared to find the deep purple color headed directly for us. Have you ever seen purples and blacks on the doppler? Can't be good. Chip had taken the morning off and was getting ready to go to work, but I made him stay home until the storm passed and I am glad I did because it was a doozy. It blew our grill over into the grass and all Lily's water toys got tossed around the backyard. Apparently we had winds of 60 mph along with the thunder and lightning. It was pretty crazy there for awhile. Chip went to work after it passed and they had a lightning strike at the course and a few trees blew over! There was a junior tournament going on at the time and I guess some of the poor kids had to run for cover and were stranded under a bridge!

The nice thing about the rain is that the temp goes down and stays down. It is not like it rains on top of the 90 degree heat making for muggy tropical conditions. It dropped to the 60s during the storm and is in the 70s now. So that is nice. I am still skeptical of the weather here, even through it has not been too bad. We have still been having record high heat. The other day it got to 100 in some areas -- the first triple digit temps since August 15th of last year. I was pleased to hear that because, to me that means that they don't get into the 100s too often which is great by me!

I took some pics of the storm again, but it so does not do it justice. I was hoping you could see the wind gusts pushing the rain, but it all looks pretty mild in these pics:

Happy Da Da Day!

Chip ended up having a nice Father's Day. He got home from work at 5:30, which is early considering how much he has been working lately; opened his presents -- accessories for his grill (yeah! Happy Father's Day, now cook us dinner!! :), relaxed and watched the US Open; and then we ordered his (and Lily's fav) pizza for dinner! It was a nice relaxing family afternoon. Here are some pics of him opening his gifts:


He is taking most of today and tomorrow off of work. He has to go in this afternoon to interview for a new chef, but otherwise I think he'll be home which will be nice. He has been working so hard at the course. He says it doesn't really feel like work and he is really enjoying it, so that is good. Hopefully once all the little things get taken care of and organized he'll schedule will slow down some.

He is such a good husband, he woke up early and finished putting together all the patio furniture!! FYI -- we got (what I think) is the cutest patio furniture at Target (on sale, of course) so it has to be assembled. Let me tell you, if you need furniture and are on a budget and don't mind assembling it (or making someone do it for you) check out Target -- especially target.com, but wait for free shipping on furniture offers which they have often. They have really great stuff. It is cuter (in my opinion) and often cheaper than Ikea. We also got the entertainment center, that was in the post of the family room a few days ago, there. So far I have been please with their furniture and whenever Chip would gripe about putting it together, I would remind him that I could have bought something similar at Pottery Barn, but it would have cost a good $1000 more. . . isn't an hour of his time worth saving a grand?? So thanks Chip for putting together all my furniture! (in case he ever reads my blog)

Also, in my post dedicated to all things Chip, I should mention that yesterday was our 7 year anniversary from when we first started dating. He thinks I am crazy for remembering it, since he deems our wedding anniversary as "the one that counts" now, but I like this one better. We have spoken everyday since June 15, 2001. No matter how far away, him in China or the Philippines or me on a cruise in Mexico -- we never missed a single day. So that is why I like to remember 6/15. It was also the day he proposed in Montecito -- 6/15/03. So Happy sorta Anniversary!

Pool Party Pooper

So yesterday while Lily was still napping I decided to get her little pool out of the box so we could splash around some outside. I had been waiting for Chip to be home to play with the pool, but finally decided to bust it out anyway. (I should have waited for him to at least blow it up -- man, I was dizzy by the end). I thought it would be perfect for her; it is Lily sized and has a little canopy, so at least she has some shade and not as much direct sunlight. Plus as we have seen in previous posts she loves water and loves to splash! So I was all excited when she woke up and hurried through her lunch because I wanted to get outside . . . and wouldn't you know it, she was terrified of the pool! She didn't want to stand in it, and there was no way she was gonna sit down and play. So I sat with her and splashed some, tried to show her how fun it was. But she wanted none of it.
Below, the 'help me Mom' look.

Oh well, maybe next time she feel more adventurous! :)

She is napping now and we are waiting for Chip to get home from work to give him his Father's Day presents! We don't really have anything exciting planned since I was not sure how long he would be at the course today. But I think he is taking tomorrow off, so we can celebrate then by putting the rest of the patio furniture together!! :)

A Day In The Life

Currently, I am three and a half hours into my four hour window waiting for the kitchen table to be delivered. I tried to keep Lily awake until after the table came, that way I wouldn't have to worry about any extra noise disturbing her nap, but she didn't make it. It was rough keeping her entertained all morning downstairs; we couldn't go play in the playroom because I can't hear the doorbell or see out front, and I didn't want to miss the delivery guys. Her attention span isn't too long, so normally I like to mix things up some. In case you were curious, a normal day in our household (if we can keep to schedule) goes something like this. . .

-- Lily wakes up (usually around 9am -- I never wake her, unless we have to be somewhere in the am, but I try to avoid that)

-- We go downstairs and she chases the cats for a bit and then wants breakfast

-- Feed Lily breakfast, usually oatmeal and some cheerios. Lately she also eats some of my toast. This takes about 45 minutes.

-- Play downstairs until she gets bored.

-- Play upstairs or outside depending on how hot and sunny it is for an hour or so.

-- Snack, usually fruit and crackers

-- Then about 4 hours after she wakes up it is nap time. She'll nap anywhere from an hour and 45 minutes to sometimes as long as 3 hours -- but that is rare!

-- Once she wakes up, we have yogurt and maybe something else, depending on how hungry she is (she is not the greatest eater)

-- Then we get out and run errands or do whatever we need to do. I usually save going out for the afternoon, depending on what needs to get done, since I don't want to mess with nap time. It takes us a good hour to get ready in the morning once she is fed and stuff. And if we are out and she falls asleep in the car, that is it. That is her nap and then she is potentially fussy the rest of the day. So I make dang sure that she naps and that is not messed with at all!

-- The rest of the night we do whatever we want or what needs to get done, it is not quite as scheduled (since we have already had our important nap!). Take a walk, play outside, etc . . .

This works well since it is summer and light out until nearly 9pm. But when winter comes I may change it up some. It is weird to be barely getting out and to the market as it gets dark! :)

-- 10pm bedtime. That way she'll hopefully get to spend sometime with Daddy once he gets home from work. (of course last night I tried to keep her up to see Chip, but he didn't get home until 10:30 and she was already asleep)

So that is our normal day. Pretty exciting huh??

Here are some pics from this morning:Above -- Enjoying her toast!

Below -- Playing with her new ball, or "Ba" as she calls it. She spent like an hour just throwing it and chasing after it. She is gonna be SO bummed when the table gets here and takes up her ball playing area!

Yesterday we went shopping to get Chip his father's day present. And I couldn't resist going into Toys R Us! :) She has been having so much fun with the Fisher Price Little People toys that she has, so I wanted to see what else they had . . . I want to get the whole town! (yes, I have way more fun in Toys R Us than she does). So we got the little SUV, her "Ca" -- somewhere she picked up a Boston accent! And the castle set with the "Sir Lance A Little" and Guinevere! So cute! Here she is playing with them this morning:

That has been our day so far. They just called and the table will be here in 10 minutes! Woo-Hoo! And then I think Lily and I will be chilling the rest of our Saturday!

Mini Mozart (or Yanni, depending on your preference)

Real quick, I have to add a pic of Lily since I have not done so in the last few days and I know that Mom and Linda need their fix! :)
Here she is playing the piano. One of the great things about finally having a house is that I have room for my piano! It was my grandma's piano, but she she left it to me, the oldest grandchild! Now I just need to get it tuned and someday Lily can start taking lessons!

Guest Bath

This house has 3 full baths upstairs and a half bath down. Sure that may sound impressive and all, but you don't have to clean them! Just give me one and a half baths and I'd be so happy!! Anyway, obviously there is the master bath; and then another bathroom right next to Lily's room that we've dubbed Lily's bathroom, even though we bathe her in the master tub. Lily's bathroom has not been touched and barely been entered since we moved in. . . I will probably wait until she gets older to decorate it. That way she can help me and pick out the "theme." Lastly there is a smaller bathroom next to what we are using for the guest room. It is actually the best looking bathroom here. It seems they re-tiled it since the house was built (way back in '95) and while it may not be the tile scheme I would have picked out, it works. It is odd though because they did not re-tile the shower and it does not really match at all! But that is where the shower curtain comes in! :)

(they put their towel racks in the weirdest spots -- here on the cabinet door and there is one inside this shower and Lily's shower!)
See the random pink tile in the shower? (Side note - the previous owner was a Mary Kay lady, and as my Mom so cleverly pointed out, that is probably why there is so much pink here!)

Another side note for all you who watch General Hospital, as I know for a fact a few of you do, I just noticed today that the black and white photographs of winter trees I have hanging are also in the Crimson office above Maxie's desk! I have such good fashion and decorating sense! :) I actually got those prints at my new favorite store (well, second fav -- nothing beats my love for Target), Garden Ridge. Definitely check out the link -- They are a chain, but I don't think we have them in CA. It is a huge home decorating and craft store with total discount prices. They have everything -- from furniture, garden supplies, bedding, party supplies, toys, dishes, trashcans and storage bins, frames, framed art, large mirrors, candles, vases, dishes, glasses, etc. . . It is like the size of Costco and just amazingly cheap! Sure some of there stuff is total crap, but their art, frames and mirrors seemed to be decent quality. I discovered them while looking through the paper for sales. I got a bed in a bag set for the guest room for $20! That included a comforter, bed skirt, sheets and pillow cases! (can't beat that . . . another side note, while preparing for the move I went to the Goodwill and Salvation Army looking for old comforters to use as moving blankets. They were selling them for anywhere between $30 and $75!! Can you believe that? At the Goodwill! I was shocked!) I also got those 2 pictures for the guest bath at Garden Ridge, buy one get one half off! I also got Lily 4 Care Bear coloring books for a dollar (that came with 10 crayons!!). Needless to say if I need frames or house decor that will be the first place I check out!

OK, I am done for today . . . this turned out to be a random post!

The Little Things . . .

There are three things that I really love about about this place and all three are in my backyard!

1. The neighborhood is filled with wild bunnies that run around and play!! They are SO cute. Lily and I, along with the cats, love to watch them frolic!
2. I have a pine tree, complete with pine cones!! I am only use to seeing those in the mountains. Who would have thought that I'd have my own pine tree . . . in Texas!!!


3. Fireflies. I could not get a good picture (but I will not stop trying). Another novelty we don't have in So Cal. I love watching the fireflies at night. And I have not been to the golf course after dark yet, but I hear they are even more magnificent there.

Texas may not be so bad after all . . . who needs the beach and Disneyland anyway? :)

Family Room

Finally, I vacuumed and got the family room clean enough to take pictures of! :) I think the pictures are pretty self explanatory. . . the ceiling fan is new . . The kitchen table (in case you notice the empty space behind the couch) is being delivered on Saturday. . . We need still need to change out the light fixture that hangs above the kitchen table . . And the room you can kinda see into with the pictures on the floor leaning against the wall is the formal dining room. It has kinda been acting as a staging area for things that need to be hung and nick-knacks. . . Oh, and ya, I should have totally taken the time to straighten the candle on the mantle before I took a picture! :)

Cold Showers

Today has been kinda annoying. Ever since we moved in the water in the master tub has been brownish. We knew the previous owners never used the tub, so we assumed that the pipes just needed to be cleaned out; so we've been running the water on and off for awhile now. Finally last night when it was Lily's bath time, I decided to try running all the other tubs and guess what they were all brown too. We had ran the showers before and thought all was good, but you can't tell until it pools up. I also ran all the sinks and they had brown water as well. But being the genius I am, I noticed that it is only the hot water that is discolored -- the cold water is fine. So I did a little research and determined that there is sediment (dirt) build up in the hot water heater. Apparently it is pretty common and all you need to do is drain and flush out the hot water heater a few times until it is clear. It is a fairly simple procedure; you just hook up the hose to the heater and open the valve. So I have been doing this all day. . . . draining the 75 gallon heater; waiting for it to fill back up and then draining it again. I think we are making progress. Did you know that you are supposed to flush your hot water heaters (especially if you have hard water) like this about once a year? Who knows how long the previous owners were taking dirty showers. I mean if it wasn't for Lily's bath I probably never would have noticed the problem. The only time I really let hot water pool up is to wash the dishes and then I have dish soap in the water which would disguise any discoloring! I know my mom, who is not a bath taker, is off to test her water right now! :)

So that has been my day. We couldn't really get out much since I am standing by and dealing with the water issues. But Lily came out for a bit to help this last time (once all the hot water had drained and it was cool again.) That girl loves the hose!

Small, yet significant, changes

Since Lily is still napping (it has been 3 hours now!! Normally she only naps about 2.) and I unpacked 3 boxes, organized the shoes in my closet, and cleaned up some, I have time for a quick blog entry. (this blog thing is totally addicting!)

There are a lot of things we'd like to do to update the house. New counter tops and appliances in the kitchen, re-tile the showers, etc. . . but that will all happen slowly over time. Right now my goal is to tackle the tiny projects that are easier to do and way less expensive. The previous owners were WAY fond of shiny brass fixtures. Everything sparkles in gold. Donald Trump would be proud. However, that is not exactly my (nor Chip's) taste. So one of the first things we did were change out the cabinet knobs in the kitchen. I knew exactly what I wanted, so imagine how stoked I was to find the exact hardware in a value pack at Target! (LOVE you Target!)

This pic shows us half way done. Our new Oil Rubbed Bronze knobs are on the top drawers, while their shiny gold are still on the bottom cabinets. Please ignore the crap on top of the sink! :) As soon as we get organized and my counter tops are clean again I will take an after shot of the entire kitchen, but you get the idea for now. How do you like my pink tile? It is actually growing on me, but Chip still really wants to change it!

Besides all the cabinets, every door knob is also a super shiny gold. I think I could have handled it if it were a dull gold, but these looked way too polished. So I found a Kwikset knob in the same shade as the cabinet hardware. I located them at Lowes and priced them at Home Depot as well, but then I found discountdoorknobs.com and got doorknobs for the entire house at 50% off and with free shipping!! Go me! On a side note, I am very proud of myself -- every major purchase from the refrigerator to the knobs I have gotten on sale or with a coupon -- sometimes both! Here are the before and after photos from the kitchen pantries (yes there are two!!):

I also got new ceiling fans for the living room and maser bedroom (to replace the brass ones) and lighting fixtures for the foyer, dining room and breakfast nook (because guess what, they had big ol' ugly gold ones!) which have not been installed yet . . . so as soon as they are I will get pics up! I'm sure most people wouldn't have noticed the knobs and stuff, but I did, and I am loving the new knobs -- which I am half way through installing! More later. . .