B & A: Living Room/Breakfast Area

Before

After

Sorry it's almost too late for this to count as a Monday post.  Our contractor just informed me he made a $600 mistake on our neverending stair rail project. I'm currently working my way through a pack of Oreos. 

Removing the creme filling completely intact from each little cookie seems to be an antidote to blinding anxiety.

Okay, maybe Monday

Owen's fever spiked to 105 degrees yesterday afternoon, so I called the nurse, who told us to take Owen to Children's Hospital even though I bet she personally didn't think it was necessary.  And even though I personally didn't think it was necessary either,  once a medical professional gives you (albeit overcautious) advice you can't in good conscience ignore it.

So Scott did a quick turnaround from work and we all headed to the impressive machine that is the Children's Hospital ER.  My rear didn't even get the chance to warm the waiting room chair before Owen was taken back and assigned 1 tech, 2 nurses, a resident and an attending to check him over.

Diagnosis:  Owen has a virus, very mild dehydration and a first-time mother.  Thankfully nothing that ends in ery, itis, osis or coccus.

Down and out

Was going to post a B&A of our living room today, but Owen woke with a fever in the middle of the night that was a precursor to the stomach bug this morning.  Since it's too late for him, just pray for me.

Hopefully back tomorrow!

Crime story

The crime

The scene

The law enforcement

What I thought it was

Who Owen wished it was

What it actually was

Greta moved like no fat cat I've ever seen

Feathers flew

I screamed

Owen belly laughed

Trespasser escaped, singing all the way

Photo credits:  Getty Images, me, me, via Discovery Kids, Angela Wyatt/Getty Images, via scstatehouse.gov

It's July 6th!

Everyday Owen: Puddle Stomping

Post edit (via a conversation w/ Rebecca):  If you're only wearing one, is it called a galosh?

B & A: Changing Table

It's Day 7 of potty training, and Owen is doing well enough that I decided this morning to pack up the changing pad and diapering paraphernalia.  Part of me fears that I have now jinxed myself, but keeping all that stuff around is akin to a newly thin man keeping all of his 52-inch waist pants.  Oprah would just not approve.

Kimeran found the dresser/changing table at a local consignment shop before Owen was born.  It belonged to the same family for about 40 years but looked like it had spent the last portion of that time in storage.  It needed a little love and a lot of furniture oil.

But we were renovating our house at the time.  Then Owen came early, and I got busy feeding him and keeping him alive and all that stuff, and so the dresser got plunked in the nursery as-was.

And so today the dresser got its long-awaited spa day, along with a repurposing to commemorate Owen's latest growing up milestone.

A woman who owns a local antique store tipped me off about this stuff.  It's amazing.  Just rub it into the furniture with some fine steel wool.  Buh-bye water rings!  The veneer had chipped off around the edge of a lot of the drawers too so I hit them with some dark wood stain, and they camouflaged nicely. That the wood looks warmer in the before photo is just a testament to my pathetic photography skills.

I found the vintage Luxo lamp for $4 when I was thrifting with Rebecca in Orlando last week.  Something about the way it moves with its hinges and springs makes it seem more like a pet than a room accessory.  I can see why Pixar chose to animate one of these little guys.  I also got the jar (its not a wine decanter its not a wine decanter its not a wine decanter!) at a thrift store, and Owen will use it to store his rock and coin collection.  Current count:  a pitiful 5.  But he's still smiling!

It don't hurt

The hottest commodity for Owen at the farmer's market today?

Dirt.

Couldn't quite capture it, but he looked like a coal miner.  I think I even saw some hippies laughing at his appearance.  Appropriate since, minus a creepy smile, that second photo makes me think of Mike Gordon on the cover of Billy Breathes.

B & A: Master Bath

--->

--->

Sorry for the toilet shots.  I only had the two "before" pics so I had to go with it.  The original tile is some strange hybrid of 1960s harvest gold and avocado green, but I really like it.  The cabinets and mirror still need to be spruced a little, and I just realized after looking at the pictures I took today that the place could use a pop of color.  Maybe I'm onto something here... does a photo allow you to be more objective about a space?

I tried to get Owen to hide behind the shower curtain for one of the shots, but he refused to play along. So for all of you who, up to this point, have only read  blah bluh-blah blah blah   harvest gold   bluh-blah bluh-blah   pop of color...

O and Joe

Back this afternoon with a before and after of our master bath.  Gotta go clean it a little first...

First Coaster

When we were in Orlando last week, Owen rode The Barnstormer in Magic Kingdom's Toontown.  His analysis was that it was "kinda scary", but when asked if he would ever ride it again he nodded in the affirmative.  Try not to be too disturbed by his wide eyes and my maniacal laughing face in the background.

By Uncle Joe, Super Photog

Thanks to everyone who has checked in with us about the PT-ing.  I can't say that it's been perfect so far, but Owen and I are doing our best!  (And I've added paper towels and Clorox wipes to the shopping list.)

This post is a wee scatological

Well folks, tomorrow is the big day.  I had to put it on the calendar just to get myself to quit procrastinating about it.  I will be using the exact same book that imparted wisdom to my own mother.  May it bring me luck.  I'm reading it for a second time today, and I plan to follow its instructions to the letter, just like the grade grabbing nerd I've always been.

During my study sessions, I found this little gem on page 110:

Yep, it actually says, "Happiness is dry pants."  I think it could be the next poster phenomenon. 

And while I'm torturing you with this subject, I would like to share that I found myself in the pharmacy section yesterday buying MiraLAX 

for a cat.

Specifically this one:

Belated Father's Day wishes

April 1977

to the man in my life who holds the almost certainly unbreakable record for most flowers given and cards sent to me:  my dad.  (Sorry, Scott, but he had a 16-year head start.)  My father is simultaneously one of the toughest and most sentimental people I know, and I think it's perfect that my son calls him "Coach".

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

324,
Shelley

and to Owen's dad:  When Owen and I said his prayers before bed last night, Scott, I asked him if he wanted to thank God for you, but instead he just wanted to pray that your poison ivy would come off.

I suppose Owen is still in the more concrete phase of language expression.  So if you want to know how Owen feels about his dad, you'll just have to come by around 6 on any night of the week and watch his face when our garage door first begins to squeak open.

View from my driveway

Why you shouldn't let your husband make an unsupervised trip to Best Buy on a Sunday afternoon.

We are now the proud owners of a television with a screen so large I could open a drive-in theater in our back yard.

How I know...

that I am now the mother of a little boy:

I remember hearing a story several years ago about a mom who went into her laundry room and was furious to discover (by smell) that her cat had peed all over the dirty clothes.

However, following a marathon interrogation during which the cat professed its innocence, she discovered the smell was actually coming from her son's practice uniform.

Happy Birthday Mimi & Add-dad!

Owen's Add-dad had a birthday Friday, and his Mimi's is today.  So we split the difference, and Sarah helped me throw a party for them here last night.  After dinner and cake, we played The Paper Game.  Our choices weren't as odd as the ones listed in the link, but we did manage to morph soccer goalie into umbilical cord.  Good laughs!

"Happy birthday, Dear Mimi and Add-dad."  Thank you for all the ways you love us and look out for us!

Best way to end a day of yardwork

Being chased by a toddler with a garden hose

+

Warm showers

+ 

Blueberry pancakes for dinner

Need a hint for yesterday's pop quiz?  Pythagorean Theorem.  Come on now, someone make me proud!

Em eye sea kay ye why

Holy stromboli this post has been a long time coming.  I've been working more than the usual number of hours the past two weeks getting my three homebound students through finals and prepping 7 classes of kids for the ACT this coming Saturday.

Pop quiz!  If a slide 13 feet long has a 12-foot high ladder that is perpendicular to the ground, how far is the base of the slide from the base of the ladder?

As soon as we (my massive support team and I) survive my pathetic attempt to be a working mom, Owen, Scott and I are headed to Disney World.

And now that I have cleverly tied in my copy to the above video, I'm signing off.

'Cause I'm pooped.