House Stuff. So much of it. All spring and summer.

We, here at The House of Fun, have been working tirelessly to get our crap together before the arrival of baby number two. We have done a whole lot of little and big projects this summer to get things more or less in order so that we can just enjoy this little man. Plus, newborns and house projects don't really sound like a fun mix.

Here is a little of what we've been up to.....more updates to come.

We painted the trim on our house black and added some black shutters. No more jungle green!!! Yay!!!
Before:

After: (maybe we'll get around to a new porch next year....)

I got kind of really bored with the curtains I made out of drop cloths sooooooo I painted them! Most affordable window treatments ever.

Before:

During. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, painting a few curtains, but you have to remember that I have 7 windows in my living room/entryway. 7. So that was a lot of measuring and taping and whatnot.

After: I love them.

Danny redid the upstairs floors ALL BY HIMSELF in July while Ava and I escaped to GramGrandpa's house (because of the fumes). When I say redid, I mean he sanded, vacuumed, mineral spirited, stained, and polyurethaned SINGLE HANDEDLY. THIS MAN DESERVES AT LEAST A BAKED GOOD OR SOMETHING.

Our room before: (pretty bad, eh?)

Annnnnnd after: (sorry for the blur. Also, I will mention that this room got repainted in this past spring and I looooove the color).

Ava's room before:

And after (this room was also repainted this past spring):

I still cannot believe what a HUGE difference refinishing the floors made up there. My husband is kiiiind of the best.


THEN. While Danny was in Las Vegas on vacation doing really really fun things with his family for a work conference, Shannon and I decided that we would do a few small projects to surprise him when he got home.

Shannon started off with the built-in bookshelves in my living room. I have hated the "shutter doors" on them since we moved in and Shannon was itching to do a project.

Before:

After painting the insides white and the back green (sorry about the night picture, but that's like, apparently the time of day when projects get completed around here):

All the books in. I still need to arrange everything in an aesthetically pleasing configuration of books that humans go nuts over annnnnd figure out where to put all my Let's Play Music stuff, but you get the idea. So much better. 

And for our last before and after of the evening we will TURRRRRRN BACK TIIIIIIIIIIIIME. 

To the year 2011. 

When these were my stairs:

You can't really tell the armpit-stain-off-whiteness from that picture but it was there. Trust me.

So, for our other project, Shannon and I refinished the stairs whilst Daniel was off gallivanting. It was a pain in the butt. More sawdust everywhere, only being able to do every other stair at a time, sanding the banister, removing the railing and sanding it, and, oh yeah, the SAWDUST EVERYWHERE. AGAIN.

Buuuuut, as of this evening, this is what my stairs look like:

Totally worth it, don't you agree? Even with the big belly.

Man, remembering how much we've done has exhausted me.  

Look for the second installment soon. 

The Fourth

We had a fantastic 4th of July with my parents this year. Gotta say, I'm totally a fan of four day weekends. Let's have some of those more often, K? K.

We had a fun day together and then headed to the beach around 3 with lots of snacks and dinner.

Water fight with GramGrampa ("GramGrampa is how Ava refers to Grandma and Grandpa Brown. It's awesome because it reflects how my parents are each other's besties and are always together.)

Me and my boo:

My kind of sunset:

We met up with some more friends while we were there so Ava had lots of entertainment after it was too cold to be in the water but before the fireworks started. 

 Some of Ava's friends. They were all decked out in facepaint and glowsticks. Good thing other parents were prepared with festive things to occupy the children.....

My sassy kid:

Fireworks in St Joe are lit from a pier so you can hang out on any of the surrounding beaches and watch them. So that was the plan. But we left before they really started because they didn't really start until 11 and my kid was a zombie. But we had fun, nonetheless!

A Summer Education

Remember how I was doing all these mommy school updates not too long ago? We were having so much fun jumping from letter to letter and crafting and coloring and repeating sounds. Well, we got to P in February - P was for penguin and pregnant. Emphasis on the pregnant part. It took a month to get through P and then I was so sick pretty much all the time that I lost my motivation to do anything but the basics (i.e. keep Ava alive). That's also when I kind of developed a TV addiction (and an aversion to meatballs).

So. Mommyschool, as it existed, stopped happening and I felt guilty about it for 5 seconds and then, guess what! I noticed that Ava was still learning, even though it wasn't structured and planned and crafty. She still wrote 5,000 Ps and we still read a bunch of books. She certainly didn't get dumber. So I stopped feeling guilty and we all survived winter in Michigan.

And then spring/summer finally hit and beach. Beach beach beach. And she learns lots of stuff at the beach: what a dead catfish looks like, what to do with the dead catfish, how to eat fruit snacks without eating sand, the proper sand-to-water ratio for building sand castles, etc. She's also learning just how big a belly with a baby in it can get. Although, she is still quite confused about what's in her belly. You see, since I have a baby in my belly that kicks that means she MUST have something in her belly that also kicks. Regard: the other night, she grabbed my hand and put it on her belly and said, "The Holy Ghost is kicking, mom! Can you feel it?" (We have gone over the Holy Ghost thing 5,000,000 times so I'm hoping she'll just grow out of that line of thinking.)

I will be vigilant about my child's beach education all summer and then preschool will start and I will have this baby and she will get all sorts of learned and educated. Heh heh. And she, in her usual Ava fashion, will wax philosophical about it all in the car.

Happiness in my hugeness

I think it's easy, as a pregnant woman, to get caught up in all the negative aspects of offering your body up as an incubator for nine months. I have had plenty of un-funness so far this pregnancy (I love that my computer didn't even try to tell me that un-funness isn't a word. So glad it's getting to know me.) but  I don't really care. Now, if I were puking the entire nine months, that might be a different story. As it is, I'm still in a state of awe at what my body is doing. I am making a human being.

So while the ever-swelling belly may get in the way a lot, I feel privileged that I get to experience such a thing. Too many women don't. And the joy from feeling all these little popcorn kicks overshadows the annoyances. By a lot. Plus maternity jeans are sooooooo comfy.

Baby Number Two

Remember how I had PPD after I had Ava? No? Well, you can read about it here.

Thankfully, Heavenly Father totally slipped some forgetfulness into my morning smoothie like I was hoping he would. We are having baby number two at the end of September and I am SO! EXCITED!

It feels good to be excited about another baby. It's feels right.
As far as PPD goes, I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

Until then, I will spend the summer on the beach. Resembling a whale. I will be a beached whale. And it will be awesome.

Blog, if you were a child, someone would have called the authorities by now

BLOG!

HOW NEGLECTED ARE YOOOOOOU??????

So so sorry, blog. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Life just happened, man. It just happened. And then, here I am, 18274 months since my last post feeling like my 3 followers and random passersby in Germany and Australia HATE me because I forgot about you.

Mayhaps this will make all the things better. A use for my crown and a fabulous progression of my daughter's super expressive face.

Observe:

 "Ava, do a really really big smile!"

Summer fun: Part 2 of 3

Next up? RaRa and Jay (Ava to English translation: Reilly and John).

You know what's lame? I have no pictures of these happenings. I think all pictures were taken/hoarded by Reilly. What the.....? Anyway, one of my best friends moved from SLC back to Ohio so she and her trip companion (her little brother) stopped by for a few days to visit. Now, the first time Ava and Reilly met (after Ava discovered that she was, in fact, a human being), Ava was pretty much completely freaked out by Reilly. She cried if I left her in a room alone with her. I attribute it to the fact that I am pretty fair skinned and blond and Reilly is, well, Esmerelda. Thankfully, the fear wore off and Ava was all about RaRa when last we saw her in Utah.

See? Friends. 

Well, RaRa arrived at our house this summer with lots of gifts, most of them for Ava. Any vestiges of Ava's extreme Reillyphobia were completely erased by the total spoiling Reilly did to my child. Ava still loves her "RaRa" shirts the best.


Next came Matt and Mandy and their little ones. Matt is Danny's brother and they are ridiculous totally awesome when they are together. To be fair though, I'm pretty sure Mandy and I are equally ridiculous when we are together, but in a way cooler, less dorky way.


They have 4 girls. More importantly to Ava, they have a Lydie. Ava looooves Lydie. It's hard not to love Lydie. Ava and Lydie were kind of inseparable the whole time they were here. I'm really happy Ava has fantastic cousins on both sides.

Lydie and Ava on the beach:

This is the littlest Armstrong. She tried to crawl, head first, into the lake every chance she got (read: she is awesome).

All the Armstrong grandbabies:

Sadie and Ava in their natural state. So fancy.

Sparklers (they were here over the 4th):

Ava was really upset that everyone was leaving so she collapsed onto the ground. Naturally.

Bye, cousin friends!

Our Summer: part 1 of 3

Well? It is time.

Time to stop procrastinating and actually blog about our summer. Not for your sake because, let's be honest, you won't feel bugged if this post does not exist. No, no, this is for me. And posterity or something.

Anyway, we had a wonderful summer. In my head, I was all, "get all the house things done before hotel d'Armstrong opens at the end of June!!!!" Reality laughed at me and tossed her hair that smelled of beach days and summer frolicking and I gave in. How can I spend my days inside doing boring house stuff when the sun is so sunny and the sand is so sandy?? So. Hotel D'Armstrong is still a work in progress but I think our guests enjoyed their visits all the same.

First up, Tyler (of the big brother variety) and Shannon (of the genus littlest sisterest) came for a quick visit and dropped off my piano.

Ava jumped on Shannon upon arrival:

And warmed up to Tyler in .7 seconds:

We beached around and made and ate a lot of really good food and then we went to a WWII reenactment.

A flamethrower demonstration. We could feel the heat from where we were standing.

Annnnnd Ava's reaction:

It was a too-short visit but I was just glad to get a little bit of sibling time.

the babes

So here's a list of current cute Ava things so that I can say that I remember her childhood:
- Ava always reminds us to pray. Always.
- She potty trained herself some weeks ago. When she has to go potty she just starts stripping off her clothes and saying "yucky yucky" - doesn't matter if we're at home or Ace Hardware. I think it's hilarious but I have to be all serious and remind her about modesty or something, right? Whatevs.
- If I ask her to do something she really doesn't want to do she sigh-growls (just like a teenager), slumps her shoulders, and does the absolute minimum of what I asked..........really.
- She still has the cutest blond curls.
- Potty training has suddenly brought on an independent streak so now she wants to do everything herself. She's all, "I can make these scrambled eggs completely by myself, mom. Now hand my the spatula and get out of here."
- Her toilet mounting form is awesome.
- Everything can be categorized as a "mommy" or a "baby". Mostly it's just how she differentiates between big and small but she tells me I'm wrong every time I point this out to her.
- Hand her your iphone - she totally knows how to work it and how to find her favorite apps.
- She's still a big fan of the group hug and can frequently be caught singing at the top of her lungs and dancing around.

Last night, after we put her to bed, Danny went into the kitchen and happened to notice that she had knocked a half-full gallon of paint over onto our wood floor. So glad we discovered that last night and not in the morning because I probably would have sobbed or broke things. She always keeps life interesting, even when she's asleep.

We can do all the things!

Welp. It's pretty gross outside today and it's supposed to be that way allllll weekend loooooong. But that doesn't really matter because we'll just be working on the house! Yeah! More of that!

We refinished our floors last weekend while my fasha was here. We had a few technical difficulties (read: we've never done this before) though so the last coat of polyurethane will be going on tonight. I'm also finishing up a table that fasha and I built together during his visit (squee!). Tomorrow, Danny is working on the walls (because they could give a crack house a run for its money), I am working on the baseboards, sanding and repainting our old kitchen table and chairs, and deep cleaning the carpet in the family room (you know, the disgusting carpet.....the one we're tearing up in 2 months anyway.....that one), and Ava will be sharpening our knives.

How did we become such productive people? There is something about getting a huge project done (refinishing the floors) that gives you some serious umph to keep going. We're all, "yeah! we can do things! and we have proof now! we can do all the things!" and it feels goooooood.

Pictures of housey things to come. For now, on this chilly, rainy Friday, enjoy some sunshiney pictures from a couple of weeks ago. 

Breathing Again

Danny took the Michigan bar exam this week.

3 1/2 years of marriage and I finally have a husband.

No more studying, no more ridiculous hours, no more bar exams.

I am so ready for this next phase of life.

I am happy.

I am in love and I am loved.





And Ava just figured out the fine art of twirling.

It doesn't get better than this.

We jumped off the cliff and became grownups.

It's been long enough that I should probably update this here blog. So I will. Even though I only have like 3 brain cells left for today and I need at least 2 to get ready for bed. You're welcome.

Weeeee mooooooved. Again. For the third time in 10 months. BUT we are finally putting down roots. We bought a house (!) and Danny loves his job and we love St. Joseph, MI and it feels goooood, my leedle friens. I feel like I can breathe deeply again. It is weird to have our own house and exceedingly AWESOME. I'll give you a tour soon. But don't get too excited. House needs work.

The community is so cute and our neighbors have been very welcoming and friendly, even offering the use of their yard tools and clothes lines. Our ward is fab and also very welcoming. We have done so much with ward members already and we haven't even been here a week! I will just take a sec to rub in the fact that we have playgroup every Tuesday at the beach. You have some jealous on your face.....other side.....a little to the left....there. You got it. Anyway, I just love this place. It's been a hard, long road getting here but we made it and we couldn't be more excited about it.

Even though we ARE in enemy territory now.

Sleep well my little cabbage patch dolls. After an afternoon/evening working on the yard, I know I will.

Moment of Zen

Just centering myself before the craziness of this week starts. You know. Packing and signing away our lives and moving and unpacking and new house wah wah wah. I'm so happy about this week. IT'S! EXCITING! (and exhausting just to think about. Why are excitement and exhaustion besties so often?)

So I just had a chill day. Sundays are usually chill but this one was exspecially lazy. I wanted to get all the laziness out so I will be itching to be productive tomorrow. And I am. I watched my current BBC masterpiece infatuation, Bleak House, took a nap, made some no bake cookies (and opened 3 taped boxes to do it HIGHFIVE!), played some Mario, tickled and hugged my tiny human, and flirted with my husband. Ready to be productive? Ehhhhhhh???? READY OR NOT.

LET'S DO THIS.

After I watch a few youtubes....

kai won xiao

You know what's awesome/kind of infuriating about China and Hong Kong and a good portion of the rest of the world? The haggling for goods in the open-air markets. It's awesome when you get a really good deal on something that is actually of pretty high quality but it is annoying when you overpay for a piece of junk.

My parents just got back from a fabulous trip to Hong Kong to see their best friends, Brad and Katie, who live there. Now, my sister and I were able to see Brad and Katie in Hong Kong about 2 years ago as well. Let me tell you a little something about Katie's sweet skills at the market - she is a champion haggler. The Michael Phelps of wheeling and dealing. It's truly a thing to behold. And you can bet my parents came home with some pretty sweet stuff (read: not junk) under her tutelage.

There isn't a whole lot of haggling to be done in America. We deal and discount and we offer and counter offer but it's nothing like China. We generally pay the price on the price tag or go the more polite, non-confrontational route of coupons! and sales! And you can get some pretty good deals that way too.

Pour example: I got a high quality unmentionable last week for $4.52 (orginally $32.99). I also got a highlight and cut for $10.00 (orginally $110.00). But the deal I am most excited about is this house:


We came in a good deal under the asking price. AND I JUST LOVE A GOOD DEAL.



p.s. my year of pictures has been drastically interrupted by a certain BABY who has gone through a ridiculous GROWTH SPURT and was able to reach the strap of my camera (where, just days before it would have been okay) and pull the whole thing off the table and onto the ground. yeah. that's an expensive fix so....maybe next year?

p.p.s. i am pretty sure that the title of this post is spelled correctly but I may be comically WAY OFF on that. if this offends you than you need to stop getting offended so easily.

A change in the wind, says I

Big sigh of relief.

Danny got a new job. Anyone who has talked to me about his current job knows that I have nothing good to say about it. Well, okay. So I have like 4 good things to say about it. But let's just say that we no longer have any stars in our eyes about Danny's chosen profession.

Honestly? I kind of feel like we've been through hell. I'm sure that 10 years from now I will laugh at that statement and say, "oh Tiffany. Don't be so dramatic." But right now? I feel like I am *finally* at the end of a very dark and long tunnel. I see light. I can feel fresh air. I have hope.

We are moving to a town on the Lake Michigan Coast that is a real city instead of being a tourist destination that is closed for half of the year. It is adorable, has the best schools in the state, and there is a TON to do (specially with the kiddo). The firm is awesome and run by a man who puts his family and his God before everything else. I could not be more excited to sink my teeth and my roots into this place.

So next comes all the logistical craziness of finding new people to rent this place, finding and buying a house, packing and moving, etc etc. Thankfully, our new destination is only an hour away so Danny can commute while we figure everything out. Needless to say, I am soooooo glad I left at least 50% of our stuff in boxes. Good job, me.

And last but not least, a few Ava updates:
- She looooves giving kisses. This means that she puts her little forehead on my forehead and puts her little mouth on mine and just stays like that for a second. While I melt.
- Ava will drop everything she's doing the second she hears music to dance. Even if she's in her highchair eating food.
- She likes having "conversations" with me. If she feels like I'm not listening well enough she grabs my arm and tilts her little head in front of my face and repeats what she said a little louder. Though I still have no idea what she said because it's all just babbling.
- Even though she does just babble she has the intonation and gestures down. A-freaking-dorable.
- She is the happiest girl in the world when I let her run around naked.
- She wants to be outside pretty much all day. Stupid weather.
- Ava is a momma's girl. And she doesn't like it when Dad tries to give me a break and takes over the routine on a Saturday morning so I can sleep in. Doesn't like it at all.

She is favorite. I love love LOVE being her momma. (Even now, she is down for the night after a long day and I kind of want to go grab her and snuggle her.)

Housekeeping.....you want me fluff pillow?

1 - I know most of you don't care but I'm just going to update my flickr photostream with pictures of this year. So. Instead of me posting my "pictures of the day" every few days, I'll just point you toward the link underneath my profile. K? K.

2 - I'm only going to post crafts and recipes I think everyone will enjoy.

Just some items to keep the blog a fun place to be. I don't want to become one of those mommy bloggers who blogs.about.ev.er.y.thing. even if it really isn't that interesting. I feel like that's kiiiind of what I've been doing this month. So no more. My apologies.

Love.

Back in the USSR

Annnnnnd I fail at making blogging a priority when my life is crazy. Meh. I'm okay with that. There are definitely 15 million things I should/could be doing right now while my baybeh sleeps but in the spirit of procrastination and with a general lack of motivation, I say unto you, blog, "be updated".

And so it was that the blog was updated.

So. Danny took the bar. Now we wait until October 1st to see whether or not he passed and then we either buy a house or get jobs at the local Applebees.

After the dreaded BAR exam (it DESERVES the emphasis of the caps lock, trust me) we packed up all of our stuff and moooooved it all up here to our ghetto apartment in northern Indiana (I thought the ghetto-ness couldn't get worse than Manchester. Color me humbled), went to church (they're really excited about us being here), went back down to Indy where we had to clean our old apartment and then we sought refuge and solace at Casa de Bunker. Here's where I tell you that Peter and Ami Bunker are some of my all time favorite people. Ami Bunker was the first non-family member with whom I left Ava. And I didn't worry a bit while I was gone. It was magical. Anyhoo, her girls gave up their beds for our exhausted bodies and her son adores my baby. Not to mention the fact that they took us to and picked us up from the airport at really late/early hours. EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW A FAMILY LIKE THE BUNKERS.

So then we went to Utah where Lauren Jan Hillam became Lauren Hillam Wittwer in a beautiful ceremony in the Salt Lake Temple. Lauren married a grandson of an apostle so it was really cool to be there for their sealing. I couldn't help how emotional I got. I just love her and I'm so excited for her.

Annnnnnd then we came home. To our new, ghetto apartment and Danny started his job and I realized that I will still NEVER SEE HIM. His boss demands 10 billable hours a day. Which is a lot. More than most law firms. BAH! So Ava and I chill. And she tries to walk. Even though she just learned to crawl. And that is life.

On becoming a grown-up. Kind of.

So Danny and I went on our first house hunting expedition today. It was exciting and surreal and made me totally feel like a real adult (because having a baby? did not). It is kind of frustrating because I have all these ideas of things that I like and this is just a starter home so it doesn't need to have all those things. It's hard to push all that stuff out of my mind though. We saw a couple of really nice, cute houses today. I just wish I could take all of the things a liked about each of them and combine them into one perfect little starter home.

We did finally find a rental to live in while Danny starts his job but before we buy a house, which is a huge weight off my shoulders (shout out to my realtor).

Now I just need to start packing up this apartment..... Thankfully leedle seester is coming this week and I WILL MAKE HER MY PACKING/PAINTING/WATCHING AVA SLAVE. And then I will take her to see Eclipse and she will still think I am the best sister ever. She's so easy to please. Sometimes.