I'm BAAAAACCCCCKKK!!

1 year, 1 month, 8 days. It's been awhile. It's been crazy busy. We've added a new member to the family, Anson aka Mr. Chunkers (well 2 actually, Bloop Bloop T. Fish I to later be replaced with Bloop Bloop T. Fish II). We turned another year older. And I have been MIA in the land of blog. But we are still in the same house.

5.5 years. That is how long we have lived in our little split level. We bought in the height of the housing boom. After having offers being outbid on 3 houses, we jumped on this one practically the day it went on the market. We dove in to suburbia with little to no knowledge about "home ownership." Do we have regrets? Absolutely. We had no idea what to look for in a house. We had no idea what kids would do to our lives. And we had a home inspector that missed some things. But it has been a great learning experience for both of us and we are more informed and much handier than we were all those years ago.

5000 projects. That was our to-do list when we moved in. To date we have completed about 20 of them.

1 kitchen renovation. Before we closed on the house we had every intention of redoing the ridiculously small kitchen immediately upon move in. After meeting with several contractors and getting quotes from $10,000 to $25,000 we were just about to sign on the line to get underway when I discovered I was pregnant with Ainsley. The project was immediately placed on hold, of course. Fast forward to last month. I had a handy man come over to talk about fixing simple electrical issues and patch some ceiling problems and 20 minutes later we were mapping out plans to gut the kitchen and create anew.

I am slightly ashamed of the tiny kitchen I put up with for so long. I am embarrassed to show before pictures. But to truly appreciate how dramatic the transformation will be here are a few "before" shots:


The Project, as it is not so affectionately referred to, has expanded beyond the kitchen to our entire living area. The first thing to go was the ridiculous, pointless wall that made the kitchen needlessly small. Within this area was a tacky looking popcorn ceiling, which has been dry walled and is in the final stages of taping and mudding.

The Living Area (potential paint colors on the wall)

The Kitchen Area

The wall that runs down our hall will be extended 13 inches, gas and water lines moved, all electrical outlets moved, new cabinets and countertops (eeek!), light fixtures and ceiling fan installed, ceramic tile laid, new trim work, new paint (I am so over yellow) and new carpet in the living room. It all has to be done no later than Nov. 9. No exceptions. After all, I have a 1st birthday party to plan. Nothing will get in the way of my little man's big day.

Now that the work is underway and we are forced to live in our basement I am slightly regretting the decision. Plaster and drywall dust everywhere. Nothing is where it should be. My Type A OCD self is not handling this well. My manta each night (after a glass or 5 of wine) "it will all be worth it in the end." At least I have a great excuse to drink wine.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

Today my little peanut is 3 and while I hate to use the cliche, the time has gone by way to fast for my liking. Today she is 3 and tomorrow she will be graduating from college.

The party was yesterday and it was so much fun. All the planning and work to put it all together was exhausting but worth the happiness it gave her. Thank you all who made it to the party and made her day that much more special!

Another Year In Review

Next weekend my wee little baby will turn - dare I say it out loud - 3. 3?!?!?!?!?! She has grown so much in the last year and the change from toddler to little girl has been amazing, frustrating, exciting, exhausting, fun and one heck of a ride.

Physically she has grown to 38.5 inches tall and weighs in at a whopping 28 pounds making her my little sting bean. Developmentally she is starting to read books (the ones she has memorized from having us read them to her 1 million times), carries on fully conversations, comprehends feelings and emotions, plays pretend and is trying to control her world as much as possible. The overwhelming consensus is that she is still a miniature version of me and we share similar expressions, stubbornness and sassiness. Lord help us all, we are going to have our hands full as she gets bigger.

The past few weeks have been spent in mad preparation for the upcoming Lollipop Birthday party. I keep promising myself I will not go overboard on her parties but all that goes out the window once an idea has taken shape. It is just so hard NOT to when there are so many great ideas out there (thank you internet) and the desire to do them all is overwhelming. There will have to be some "minor" house renovations to make the overall scheme come to fruition. I have restrained some and can't wait to share how it all turns out.


In baby news, many of you already know it is a boy (and if you didn't - it's a BOY), which for me was not much of a shock considering how much different this pregnancy has been from the first. I am a little nervous about having a b-o-y and it should be interesting to say the least. I am also having a much more difficult time preparing for this one but we did finally find bedding which will determine the overall look of junior's room. A step in the right direction but still so much to do before his arrival in November, including trying to figure out a name. Uncle Joe is on a mission to get his name in there somewhere and his campaign is relentless. I must give him credit for his persistence!

And now, I present another year in pictures....

Looking very excited about her first ride at the fair by herself

Going vintage in Mommy's Chinatown Jammies

Hanging with her favorite animal at the Zoo

Oh yes, the famous "corn up the nose" incident

Pumpkin Pickin'

Looking sweet and innocent (for 5 seconds)

Sassy Bumblebee

Yeah, my mom made me wear this

The fabulous trip to Nashvegas and the chaos of our children - great times

Seriously mom, stop dressing me

First big performance

Sorority Pose!

A Schall Family Tradition - Making Gingerbread

Snuggle Bug

CHEESE!

Little Crazy Girl

Stop taking my picture already

Haircuts are so painful.

My ray of sunshine

Go Bluejackets!

Future Big Sister

In love with the circus

Mamaw & Ainsley

2 going on 22

Dancing with Daddy

Shakin' it with Uncle Todd

Me and My Mini-Me

M.I.A.

6 months. Every night I would think about writing but would much rather complete a quick status update on Crackbook than write out what is going on in our lives. Rather than run away from the post (again) here is the bullet point list of the major events:

• I got pregnant.
• I experienced constant all day sickness for 16 weeks. If it had been this bad with Ainsley there may not have been a #2.
• Worked a lot.
• Became much lazier than I have ever been in my life.
• Ainsley completed her final semester at Little Gym.
• Nanny came for a visit.
• We made trip to Charlotte to visit my parents.
• Ainsley discovered the joy of the circus and wants to be a clown.
  
• The girl is almost potty trained, almost.
• Matt putt in the new floor on the lower level and it looks fabulous.
• Matt's car was totaled.
  
• I got the new car (Honda CR-V and I love love love it)
• Killed most of the flowers I planted in May and need to start over before we have the big b-day bash July 31.
• Ainsley started swim lessons.
• Made the decision to make things work in out current too small house with a little one on the way. For the time being.

And that is pretty much it - well, for the major things anyway.

Of course there were a million other things that happened but my brain is fried on a Thursday night and refuses to think much more. But now that I am all caught up hopefully my lazy self will stay more on top of it.

Stay tuned for the pink or blue announcement - coming July 1!

Photo of the Day

As most of you know, I have embarked on Project 365 as one of my resolutions for the New Year. Unlike many of my unpublished (and therefore they don't count since I did not publicly declare them, nahnahnananahnah) resolutions, I have been sticking to this one like white on rice. And I have started learning to digital scrapbook as shown here (don't make fun of me I am still learning the ropes):



Today I captured my favorite photo of the experience thus far. All of my other pictures have been of Ainsley being her sassy, uncooperative, guesswhatmomIamgettingyoubackforallthehellyouputyourmomthroughbutaren'tquiteyetreadytoapologizefor self, or of Matt or other random things that have struck my fancy, but frankly, are just so darn predictable.

I love taking pictures of the kid and hubby, don't get me wrong. But today, well, it just made my my bad mood disappear.

Before I reveal this shot, first, I must provide some background as to why this photo means so much to me. And I hope in doing so I am not creating some huge build up only to leave you all feeling disappointed.

I have lived it what I have dubbed as "Yankee-ville" for 6.5 years. I have endured endless amounts of tormenting and teasing for my claims of Kentucky and Tennessee being where I call home. I have been asked if I had an outhouse (eww no), if I really did wear shoes (go check my closet), did I grow up in a trailer (no) and do I enjoy grits and okra (I absolutely do). When I have had a couple of drinks and my accent comes back with full force let's just say numerous laughs had been had at my expense. Don't get me started on the Buckeyes.

See in the North, some (not all) but some people feel superior to those in the South. They have these misconceptions about life in the area. Who can blame them when all the news shows is how a tornado ripped through a trailer park and the lady with pink curlers wearing a mu-mu is being interviewed. In my business life our offices in the South get picked on for not moving at the fast pace we expect up here. And don't get me started on the fans of the Buckeyes.

What most people here in Yankee-ville don't know about the South is the finer points of living below the Mason-Dixon line. People say "Hey Ya'll" even if they don't know you. Being a gentleman or a lady still counts for something. Bad manners are NOT rewarded. You will never, ever find more friendly, loyal, and wonderful people who show a genuine interest in you (and all your latest gossip *wink*). And we have SEC Football.

So, to all my friends in Yankee-ville, I am playing my trump card. Because for the first time, I have something to throw in your face. You are no longer able to stand upon your perch and claim superiority over me. For now, I have the proof that ya'll are just the same.

Picture it if you will. I am driving back to work with my luxury Big Mac & fries. I am taking a back way to the office which goes through a neighborhood, that 20 years ago, was THE place to live. I see this atrocity out of the corner of my eye and I am so fascinated I turn around in a driveway, go back, slam on my brakes (angering an oh-so-superior Yankee in a Lexus) to whip out my camera.

This is what I saw.


I call it "Keepin' it classy in Ohio"

Resolutions 2010

It has been awhile since the last post. Once the holiday season began I was swept up into the "Martha-ing" of it all, and as always, put too much pressure on myself to do a million things and do them all perfectly. Stupid me. Between the baking, decorating, shopping, celebrations, traveling & wrapping it was enough to cause a nervous breakdown. I think I even begged my mom to postpone the festivities until July because I just might be ready by then. I finally took a step back and realized it doesn't matter that I didn't do everything from the latest Southern Living or Martha Stewart Living magazine to make my home, baked goods and wrapped gifts look spectacular - those things are not the reason for the season. Next year I will have to remember this.


Now that the decorations are (sort of) put away it is time to focus on the New Year and make some goals. Publicly declaring my resolutions seems to make me that more apt to stick to them. While I missed quite a few of the 2009 resolutions, I did make some attempts and I am pleased with the results. So now, on to 2010.

This year I will attempt to:
1) Attempt project 365. I am already off to a good start, I downloaded a ton of free digital templates (the Flickr one just did not work for me) and completed day 1 successfully. I resolve to continue this endeavor for the next 364 days and turn it into a fabulous Shutterfly book at the end.
2) Because of resolution 1, I need to dig a little more into digi-scrapbooking. As a huge fan of the paper & glue version and a non-fan of the room I keep all of the supplies, digital pages may be the perfect resolution to my problems.
3) Which leads to #3, I need to use up the thousands of dollars worth of supplies I already have on hand but I will need a
4) New house. Matt and I realize that our current home is not conducive of our plans to expand our family and the layout is not ideal for our needs. Hopefully our new house will have a room or nook that I can have all to myself.
5) In order to get a new house, we must first put this house on the market. Scary scary scary. Of course we bought at the peak of the housing boom and are looking to sell in a time when no one can. The plus side is we have a great starter home for someone looking to buy and the houses in our neighborhood seem to go faster than most.
6) Flooring projects. I have talked about replacing flooring in this house for years, but it cannot wait any longer. Pergo and new carpet, here we come!!!!
7) Stop trying to be Martha. I do not have 8 million servants at my beck and call in order for me to spend my time being perfect. Let it go.
8) Still looking for that elusive, always available babysitter who doesn't charge more than we spent on our time away from the house. 2010 is our year!
9) Get on track financially. We seriously need this and I think it is time for my husband, who is in school to become an accountant, to take over the checkbook. How I hate to lose the control but it is so needed. Spenders usually marry savers, I am sure you figured out which category I fall under.
10) Start going to church. Since Matt works on Sundays, I am not all that motivated to 1) seek out a new church on my own and 2) deal with Ainsley by myself in trying to get her ready, drop her off with strangers, etc. However church was a very important part of my life for a long time and I need to bring it back.

So there they are, out there for the world to see. I have a feeling 2010 is my year!!!

Happy New Year to you all, I wish you the very best and hope all of you are successful in accomplishing your goals as well.

Weekends

Whew! What a whirlwind the last two weeks have been and jam-packed with fun. I am enjoying the calm before the next storm that is Thanksgiving/Christmas, they are coming up fast!

Last weekend we took a long-overdue trip to Nashville to see my brother and friends. Ainsley was very happy to see her Uncle Todd and make some new friends. Todd was great with her as always, such a dotting uncle who I am sure, will let her get away with anything if we were to leave her with him for an extended period of time. He took us to the best toy store, Phillips Toy Mart. We spent forever in there seeing all the goodies and playing with all that was out. Matt and I would have loved to drop our life savings on all the fun gizmos and gadgets contained within, it was hard to restrain ourselves. But we got some great ideas for Christmas and her (or is it mine) Kaboodle wish list just grew!


Saturday afternoon/evening/early hours of the morning was spent at the home of Tricia & John and their wonderful kids. Courtney, Lizzie, Anna & Everett joined as well and with kids outnumbering the adults provided for chaos and fun times. Cheering on Vols returned the usual outcome however it did not dampen our good time. The kids had a blast playing together and Ainsley is still begging to go see "her Ella". While Tricia's well-behaved kids went to bed, Ainsley and Everett chased each other all over the place squealing and squawking - what a mess. It was great to see everyone to catch up an remember old college memories (no matter how much some of us tried to forget, others remember on our behalf).

We kicked this weekend off on Thursday by Trick-o-Treating in our neighborhood with the Vermilion clan. Kaitlyn and Ainsley were so fun to watch, they ran all over the place squealing like 16 year olds who hadn't seen eachother for 2 hours. Alex was adorable in his turtle costume that everyone thought was a frog. Then we got to repeat it all again on Saturday in Powell. The weather was a lot colder than on Thursday so the kids didn't last too long, but still had a good time playing together afterwards.
Friday night Matt and I got another much needed date night and spent the evening at the Bluejackets game. Pittsburg fans almost outnumbered the Bluejackets and we were surrounded by guys with Crosby man-crushes. It was a great game and we got lots of free hockey with OT and a shoot-out, which the Bluejackets lost to a Crosby goal. During the excitement of the game some Penguins fans behind us spilled beer down my back but made it up to me at the bar next door afterwards, always fun to meet & hang out with random people. However I paid dearly for the fun the next day and still do not quite feel normal yet. I think a nap is in order for me today!

Now it is time for me to take down the Halloween decorations and get out the box of Turkey day fun...pretty soon a tree and lights will be decking the halls - my how time flies the older I get!