30 Days of Projects

I suddenly have an itch to do some creative business. I think I'm just sick of having ideas and not doing anything about it. Plus, I find myself staring at a screen way too often (whether it is the TV or my phone). So, I'm going to challenge myself with 30 days of projects. Now, is it plausible to actually do 30 projects, one each day? Not with my destructors -- i mean my kids -- running amuck. I'm attempting to spend nap time doing some sort of project. Whether it's painting a wall, refinishing a bookshelf  making a wall sign, sewing a pillow (I wish! I NEED a sewing machine), or any other thing I see on pinterest or I make up in my head. I was inspired by finally finishing the upstairs bathroom. Well, almost finished (typical Aimee style). I still need to stain the lower part of the vanity...I just hate sanding. With a passion. Anyone want to come sand for me? I pay in Halloween candy!

I'm also going to try to do these projects on the cheap! I wanted a backsplash for the bathroom, since we ripped out the tile that was there when we put new countertops on, and accidentally ripped off the drywall along with it. OOPS. I found this tin looking stuff at Lowes, and thought, this would be perfect! I needed something I wouldn't have to grout on and was big enough to cover up the gaping holes from our shotty tile removal. Now, is this the correct way to fix this? No. But, I wasn't in the mood to re-drywall anything ..so for now, I jimmied it. Anyways, I found the Fasade brand sheets and cut them to fit. They also sell moulding for the top and bottom to make it look more finished. After I put that up, I decided it wasn't quite enough. I grabbed some recycled moulding from the garage (it used to be the edging of our old countertops in the kitchen/bathroom), cut them to fit, sanded them down, and stained them from a can of dark cherry stain I had from a previous project. Boom, framed mirror. Now all I need to do is sand/stain the vanity...which I plan to do this weekend! How much did I spend on this lovely project...$32 on the backsplash and adhesive. A little pricier than I would like for one project...my goal for the remainder of this challenge is $10/day (since some projects will take longer than one day to complete and some may be free!). Stay tuned for each project!

Day One: Bathroom backsplash/ framed mirror

TV Comsumption

I love mornings. And by morning, I mean mid-morning. I'm not a getter-upper at 5am type of gal. Luckily my girls are usually on the same wavelength and we wake up around 7-7:30. Key words there are "wake up." Then we usually lounge around in bed and play upstairs for a bit, making our way down for breakfast eventually. This is as long as we don't have to be somewhere super early. I've learned to not make plans early because we like to take our time, we live 30 minutes from anywhere, and I'm usually late to begin with. I love being able to enjoy breakfast, have my tea and just go with the flow. The girls, on most days, end up outside. Since we live in the dessert and our yard is very natural (as in we haven't done a single thing to groom it, YET!) I anticipate tears pretty much every time we go outside. Whether it's falling and scraping hands on rocks, stepping on a giant thorn, or running into a cactus. I should just send them out in full armor...swinging may not be as enjoyable at that point. Either way, it's beautiful up here in the mornings, especially now that "fall" has set it. It's hard to complain when I don't have anything to technically do. I mean, there is always cleaning, laundry, parenting, etc, etc...but sometimes I just want to watch Modern Family while eating fritos dipped in cream cheese and ignore my kids for 30 minutes. I'm not alone here, right? RIGHT?

Speaking of Modern Family. It's hilarious. Ian totally had a Phil Dunphy moment the other day and it made me laugh. I wish I could remember the joke he made. He was so proud of it and I just stared at him blankly, wondering how he thought that could ever be funny. More importantly, how much TV does your family watch? I'm not super concerned with my kids' well-being because they watch cartoons. I used to be weird about it, but I notice Piper does learn from some shows and still enjoys playing with toys, friends, and has a blossoming imagination. I'm not worried she will be a slug that stares at the TV screen whilst chomping on chips, otherwise known as a "couch potato," or basically myself as I described above. HA! Fritos are made of corn, so it doesn't apply....I digress.

I would say on average, I sit down and watch TV for an hour a day. I'm not going to add in the SEVEN hours of Grey's Anatomy I watched on Saturday (I may or may not have had too much wine the night before). It's usually in the evening after the girls are in bed or in the afternoon if they are both sleeping and I can actually watch something, uninterrupted. Now, if Ian is home, that number jumps significantly. He is a total TV guy. It's on alllllllll the time when he is around. Even if he is in the garage listening to 610 radio, it's on. It drives me insane. As for Piper --Willow could care less about TV, she's too busy attempting to summit anything taller than her -- she watches on average 1-2 hours a day. This number fluctuates obviously. Some days cartoons never get turned on and others they are on for WAY too long. We do limit what she watches, it's usually NickJr (with the exception of Spongebob), PBS, or a movie.

So again, how much TV do you guys watch? What do you think is average?

here are the pics from this morning...enjoi!

Willow is ONE

WOW. This year flew by. Willow is such an incredible child. She is growing so fast and says something new every day. She is wily, spunky, sensitive, silly, beautiful, and the list goes on and on and on...

It's funny how a nickname evolves. It was Willie first, then Willie Billie, then Billie, then B's, then BB's...who knows? We just call her BB's most of the time.  She is a total momma's girls and she gets into EVERYTHING. I mop up the spilled dog water multiple times a day. Why don't I just move the dog's water, you may ask? I'm honestly not sure. As my sister would say, she is a meddler. She toddles around all day, completely tearing up the roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, pulling every book off of the bookshelf, gleefully unloading a drawer if I leave one open...all the while leaving a wake of stuff behind her.  She has finally decided she will sleep through the night in her own bed, sometimes. She is walking like a champ. In fact, she marched down the entire driveway tonight on our evening walk (our driveway is about a quarter mile long!) Her first word other than "mama" and "dada," was "dog." She is following in her sister's footsteps with that! She is a handful, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Willow is special to us. She has a way with people; she has the ability to just suck you in with one look. There is something about this child I can't describe. Ian and I have tried to describe to each other this "specialness," but we can't find the words. If I'm having a momemt, a snuggle from Willow is good medicine. I can tell she has a tender soul and will be and amazing sister and friend. For now I would just appreciate it if she would stop getting so big and just be my little BB's.

Her actual birthday was the 2nd. We were in Kansas visiting friends and family and I didn't update the blog for weeks. I'll dump my iPhone pics on the next post, since i forgot my camera and I have zero "real" pics from the entire trip. Errrggg.

Here are the pics my sister  (at Knecht Images) took about a month ago. Enjoi!

Separation Anxiety

I thought I had it bad when Piper was a babe, but Willow is another story. We like to sing, "Might as well face it, she's addicted to mom." She has always been a momma's girl, but lately, is has become out of control. I know it's the age (she will be ONE in a couple weeks) and separation anxiety is common, but it is exhausting. Literally, she is crying right now. At 10:23PM, in her bed, after I've put her to bed 3 times. I've sang to her, rocked her, scratched her back and rubbed her head, the child hates sleeping in her own bed. She was doing pretty good for a while, she finally slept through the night at 10 months. I'm tired. I've tried everything, the aforementioned routine, crying it out...you name it, I've tried it. The only thing that will make her happy is sleeping with me. We did that in the beginning, but I just can't do it anymore. I need sleep, not to mention she is SUPER mobile and could fall out of the bed at any time. It's just not working for us anymore. Night time is not the only issue. She follows me around crying, literally pulling at my pant legs. She freaks if I put her down and she isn't ready. If I'm in the room, I am the only thing that will console her. Some days are better than others and she does like to play and toddle around. It seems more often than not lately, she is Clingy-McClingerson.

I have to constantly remind myself that she is still a tiny human. She NEEDS me to be there for her and give her the attention and affection that she craves. There are times that I want to say, WTF child...what else can I possibly do for you. Then I remember that she has no control over her emotions. She does not have the mental capacity to understand what she is feeling. Piper was similar in this regard. She cried A LOT. She wanted to me hold her ALL the time. The only difference is that Piper slept like a champ (at least in her own bed). I knew with Piper that after I put her down, I was home free. Now, with Willow, I'm on my toes just waiting for her to wake up screaming; you know, right as I flick off the bedside lamp and lay my head down. I know this will pass and I probably won't remember this time in a few years just like I don't dwell on those moments with Piper (who is independent and social now), but currently it is super hard.

Sometimes I think a lot of these feelings come from the intense pressure we put on ourselves and on our kids. I think we expect a lot out of our little ones these days. What should we expect from our tiny humans? Why do we expect them to be so independent so soon. Here Willow, here's a cup of coffee and a copy of Leviathan, now leave me alone! Maybe if I cut them slack, I wouldn't be stressed and exhausted. Maybe if I didn't spend my days lamenting over the fact that I have to carry Willow around most of the day or scratch her back until she falls asleep, I could see more joy in my days spent with my kids. I mean, I'm 26 years old and I still ask Ian to scratch my back until I fall asleep. Willow has been on this earth for 347 days, why should she be any different?

This may seem like I'm complaining because I actually have to hold my child...that's not my intention. My children bring me intense joy...but as other stay-at-home-moms can attest, some days are really freaking hard. Some days are a breeze and fly by with laughter and ease! Other days are never-ending and no matter what we do our kids are just not happy. We can easily get caught up in the muck of staying at home. Lately I've been trying really hard to not focus on that muck, but enjoy every moment with my kids. Instead of being annoyed that Willow woke up...again...I focus on her chubby little cheeks pressed up against mine and her little-tiny hand falling limp on my arm, and trying to remember that she is growing and won't always need me like she does now. Someday she won't even let me rock her to sleep, like Piper. Sometimes Piper puts herself to bed and basically pushes me out of her room. I ask her to snuggle with me and she rolls over, says goodnight and reminds me to leave the door cracked.

VOTE!

Perhaps you thought this was a political related post about, I don't know, voting for the next president of the United States...nope. It's way cooler than that. JK, voting in the 2012 election is pretty dang important.

Voting is open!! Please vote for our room to win the Epic room Makeover!

Click on the button link below and vote for #41 the Adobe Living Room!

THANKS!!

A little visit

Ian and I tend to be a little spontaneous. Some would call us anti-planners. Potato - patato.  One of my closest friends from college is getting married in October and her bachelorette party was over Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas. I was planning on going, until everything in the universe happened to make it impossible. I was super bummed, as this was going to be my first time away from my kids. The first time in 2 1/2 years I was going to have a weekend alone. It was the light at the end of the tunnel for me. Well, as us moms do well, I quickly accepted the circumstances and only pouted about not being able to go for about 48 hours. Since it was a long weekend (4 days!) Ian and I did not want to sit around doing nothing. So, we decided to take a quick drive to Fort Collins to visit the sis and the rest of the Knecht's.

As is the usual, the weekend was a blur. With 8 kids and 2 dogs, the days fly by pretty fast and everything we touch turns into a disaster. We like to call our brood the "tazmanian devil." Restaurants are never the same after we leave. We gave up trying to make it look like we didn't completely destroy the table/floor a long time ago. If my memory serves me correctly, Jetta and Piper were tightwalking a bar-height table at one point while at Chipotle. Some would call that parental neglect...when in the presence of burritos, anything goes. We were also able to celebrate Hannah's birthday! Woohoo for sushi. I don't get sushi very often. I just don't trust sushi in the middle of the desert.

My camera didn't leave the car, but Hannah snapped a couple of great moments with all the kids. She is a talented photog and you should check out her blog and website! Not only that, but her email used to be "hlhfly@hotmail.com," take that as you will...

Here is a sneak peak of Willow's 1 Year pics! Her birthday isn't until October 2nd...the rest will come out then!

2 Cups of Sugar??!!

I love to eat. And I love to eat really good, cheesy, bready, rich foods. I freaking love pizza -- it's my favorite. I know you only say that when you are filling out a survey about yourself on the first day of 4th grade, but it's still true for me. I also really like to eat well and feed my kids well. And by well, I mean loading our meals with lean proteins, veggies, fruit, and lots and lots of greens. Don't get me wrong, because if you know me and stopped reading here, you would call me a liar. I also eat way too much crap. Do I eat McDonalds? YES! I also really love fries. Do I eat the occasional frozen corn dog? YES! Do I have a slight addiction to Diet Coke? YES! I'm trying here people. The point to all of this is that I haven't always cared about what I ate or when I ate it. I have learned better habits along the years from various sources and also from having kids. I think having Piper and having to learn to feed her the right things made me try harder than ever. I like to call our family additionalists when it comes to food (as opposed to exclusionists, of course!). As in everything I try to do in life, I like to have a balance in my food choices. So I add good things as much as possible without taking everything out that I enjoy, but know is bad for me. Sounds like a horrible excuse when I put it that way, but oh well, we aren't all perfect.

I'm sure I'm not alone as a mother of toddlers when I sneak vegetables in anything and everything possible. Ian thought it was cool at first, until I made an "ice cream treat" the other night for dessert. Did I put kale in a chocolate-raspberry shake? Why yes, yes I did. I mean, if the kids are going to have sugary ice cream I must put something in there to make me feel better about it. It's crazy that I used to think a salad was a plate filled with iceberg lettuce, drenched in ranch (ok, I still do this) and topped with a bag of croutons. I attribute a lot of my food choices to things I learned while working at a holistic dental office in Las Vegas. I learned the uber importance of eating leafy greens every day, eating protein for breakfast (not sugary cereal or nothing at all!), and what fruits and veggies are important to buy organic. I started paying attention to my sugar intake, something I never cared about before! And I especially watched my artificial sugar intake (something I still need to work on tremendously...see above Diet Coke comment). Now when I make anything, like pancakes or cookies, I search the web for healthier ways to make them. And by the way, what did anyone do before the internet? We are so flippin' spoiled.

So, tonight when I was getting ready to make some no-bake cookies for a little play group tomorrow, I thought, "Do I really need 2 cups of sugar in these bad boys?" That is a lot of sugar. I searched around for a bit and found this nice little website {http://www.eatingbirdfood.com/healthy-no-bake-cookies/} that gave me a solution to this sweet predicament. It's a great blog with tons of recipes, one of which I used tonight! I will for sure be following this blog from now on. I tweaked the recipe a little myself..

"Healthier" No-Bake Cookies

3/4 C sugar
1/4 C cocoa power
1/2 almond milk
1/2 C peanut butter
1 mashed, ripe banana (mine was frozen)
1 tsp vanilla
3 C oats
Some chopped up almonds

picture a nice ripe, frozen banana in there. 

 mix everything except the vanilla and oats in a saucepan and bring to a boil, add in vanilla and oats and almonds and VIOLA! spoon mixture into little balls, let them sit, and then eat them. A lot of them.

Please ignore my cookie sheet from 1981. When something isn't broken, don't fix  it!

You want to know my absolute favorite part about all of this? They are so easy and hardly any mess! I'm talking 10 minutes and one pan. I don't know about everyone else, but I am such a messy cook. Even if I am using my mixer to make cookies, I end up with a sink full if dishes, egg yolk on my glasses, and flour on the ceiling. It's a gift, don't ask how I make it happen. This is all I had to do after I made these cookies, and yet, there they sit --still-- They will most likely remain there until the morning, or afternoon...or dinner time...