hang that rack.

so, about 5 years ago, we lived in an apartment.

sometimes i dumpster dived found awesome treasures in the apartment's parking lot.

this, was one of those awesome treasures.

it was a plain ole wine rack.  just dying to be filled up with bottles of grapey goodness.

and begging to whitewashed, errrr covered slopily with white paint.

but. as any homekeeper would have it, the less one has to clean around/under the better.

so.  cute little wine rack, perched in the corner was

a) collecting way too many dust bunnies in between its rungs

and b) annoying to move so it typically sat there and didn't get cleaned under/around.

and thus, i said, "mr leif. hang that sucker!"

and he did.

[i heart him a ton]

so now, i give you, the hanging wine rack.

with sadly, only 4 bottles of wine.  

i must get to trader joes and buy more cheap wine.

...

now, onto more crafty goodness:

who doesn't like a fresh pallet, just waiting to be attacked with my diy hands.

i do! i do!  gimme some of dat.

[i'm sure i'll post a picture of my wood pallet creation....in like 4 months when i actually complete it]

good stuff.

sometimes there's those moments, those hours, and sometimes even whole days, where everything goes quite smooth.
when that happens.  it's a bit blissful.

saturday morning, bright and early, we were off on a little walk.

daddy said, "donuts", so romes and i sprinted out of the house like the jamaican rockstar, bolt.

we never pass on opportunities for a donut breakfast.  even if it's only 7am.

...

a quick change of clothes, and it was go time.

the little guy thinks he needs to work on the fire pit every. single. day.

obvi he knows his dad is quite the stud, and wants to be just like him.  i'll encourage it.

so, each morning when he bangs on the door saying "utttside uttttside"

i open up the patio door, and little bolt heads out do to work.

he gets his shovel and starts scooping up little bits of dirt, sand, and rocks.

and then, for some reason, he carries them over to us, and dumps them on our feet.

and laughs.

he's pretty awesome like that.

...

the pit needed some seating and i like colorful things, so we found some bright blue chairs.

perfect for lounging, or a perfect place for roman to dump his dirt piles.  it's a win/win.

and you wouldn't believe it, as we were in the check out line, the little master mind himself pulled a fast one on us.

i happened to glance over at the candy shelves {who doesn't?} and noticed a pacifier sitting in the m&m slot.  so naturally, i walked over, and investigated.  sure enough, it belonged to romy.

i turned around to see roman up with dad at the counter, trying to open a bag of m&m's.

the kid's a genius.  it was a logical trade for him: i give you my paci, i get the chocolate.

...

if i was given thirty six thousand cans of spray paint, i still wouldn't run out of things to paint.

spraypainting stuff, for me, is as good as a whole tub of dolce de leche haagen dazs.

not sure how long these flowers will hold up without any holes in the bottom of the jars.

but i'm givin' it a whirl.

for now, they're stayin strong, and lookin gooooooooood.

...

 and mr leif?  he's got a soft spot for spray paint too.

we were sprayin things left and right on saturday morning.

old nasty plastic flower pot, bam!

grungy rusty plant stand, wam!

ugly beige outdoor table, zam!

complete bliss......... complete donut/colorfulchair/flowery/spraypaintin bliss.

fire in the pit.

we're ALMOST finished with our backyard "project"

i like to think up projects, i've mentioned this before.

this has seriously taken some teamwork.

from day one.

teamwork:

while the two of them say, "it's go time"?

one momma says, "start diggin boys!"

teamwork:

one works, one looks on with approval

teamwork:
while one sleeps?

two enjoy the fire :)

teamwork:

while one momma sunbathes?

one little boy stops to check progress.

teamwork:
while one little boy eats sand?

one momma takes photos of him.

teamwork:
while one little boy digs just like "dada"?

one momma sunbathes, again.

and, more teamwork:

while one little boy jumps from rock to rock?

one momma winces with each hop, thinking he'll surely get hurt.

{nope, he's a tough dude}

well, there you have it.

progress is happenin so fast it's like roastin a marshmellow.

one moment your sittin there all nice a cozy roasting your mellow,

and the next moment its on flames, done. done. done.

yep. by tomorrow {mr leif says} this bad boy will be complete.

and tomorrow, i'll post a FINISHED photo :)
i might even have mr leif pose with a shovel.
because that's probs the cool thing to do.
and, well, we're cool.

he says he's gonna put an add on craigslist "you can have this done to your backyard for $4,000"
any takers?  come on!  help support our travel to europe fund!
or is it our buy a new truck for mr leif fund?!
or maybe it's just our let's just meet our needs fund.
yep, i think it's the last one.
#contentmentisabeautifulthing.
{but we can dream, right?}

...

UPDATE!

and, i just fell in love with mr leif all over again :)

BYOBb idea from 2:27........

...........a.m.

that's in the morning.
and BYOBb doesnt mean, 'bring your own beer, baby.'

i couldn't sleep last night. at all. for 2 reasons.

1 - im pregnant:
because every 29 seconds i shifted to a new, uncomfortable position
because babyleif was moving so much it was almost on the verge of frustrating, but not

and

2- scary ant visions:
because this past week we've been seeing an ant or two in our kitchen as we pass through.
just a teeny tiny one or two. nothing too major or scary.
BUT because i dont believe bugs should be in houses, or at least my house
and because ive been kitchen-clorox-spraying my counters and walls and everything in our kitchen and its still not helping....
......mr leif got some ant traps/poison/killer (wow, such evil words) from home depot yesterday and totally got all 'mr leif vs. ants'.
and so instead of sleeping, i kept having visions of a whole army of ants marching into our kitchen. devouring our bait like thanksgiving dinner, and then NOT dying or taking the poison back to their colony. but rather, hanging out in our kitchen ALL. NIGHT. LONG.........inviting more ants to their party..........and so yeah, my visions were gross/scary/ant-filled.

and so i couldnt sleep.

and then the bad thing happened. my mind began to wonder.
i dont know if its me being pregnant and half crazy
or
if its me being extra self conscious lately
but
regardless, i am wishing my mind would just calm down a bit.
and i am very critical of myself and how i think and process things......
i wish my ideas and dreams would slow up......
and i wish i would keep them to myself. but i dont.
and you should know that by now :)

so.
a quick preface, before i delve into BYOB.

..........in attaining my masters of school counseling degree, i've taken some parenting courses.
these classes aren't intended for me to attend 'as a parent trying to learn how to parent'
but rather, as a future facilitator of parenting groups (id rather call them mammas clubs)..........and of course to help the parents that think/want/desire me, the school counselor, to magically 'heal' their child during their course of elementary school. and please note, the sarcasm in that last sentence is purely due to the fact that TODAY is my LAST day of summer and i have to go up to school to prepare for tomorrow my FIRST day back to work. hehe :) but no really, its not all that bad, im craving a schedule.
so anyways
back to my degree.......
i L.O.V.E.D. learning about how to facilitate parenting groups.

i remember the first day of parenting class, i thought......."pshhhhhhhhhh, i won't run a parenting group until i've had a few kids that are at least in middle school, otherwise people won't believe what im saying, because i won't have any experience..........."

but i was quickly swayed from such thinking.
and felt empowered.
and of course, in true lindsey fashion..........i starting dreaming
and imagining
my first parenting group.

well.
last night, i really, like really starting wanting to make this happen.

and.........
i thought that once i would get this group up and running (preferably next fall) i would create a seperate blog/page for it........so of course it would need a title.
and at 2:whatever in the morning, a title instantly popped in my mind:
BYOBb
Bring Your Own BabyBaggage

now that its normal awake hours, 7:24 to be exact, im sort of trying to process the whole BYOB thing, but ya know..........i kinda like it! im sure i'll change it to something a bit more refined, but for now, its a bit catchy and a tad on the naughty/suspicious/moms might want to say "sorry, cant come to the pool today, i have BYOB at lindsey's" side.........eeeeeeeeeek!

let me set the stage.
picture this below, my living room, filled with moms.
and of course they would be holding a notebook, pen, cup of coffee........and idealy munching on coffee cake.
because at the core of a successful parenting group (mommas club) is the idea that mothers would come, bearing real struggles, sharing their hardships/concerns/questions..........and then in return receive advice from other moms going through the same thing, and i would offer insight as a third party, as to what/how/why the child is reacting........

i want the mommas to come, say and hear things like:
"omg. little benny is totally having tantrums in the middle of target too! so i.... "
and
"here's whats worked for me..."
and
"seriously? me too......... just yesterday i locked myself in the bathroom and put both the shower and sink on full blast, to eliminate the sound of screaming.......am im going crazy???"
and
"next time, you could try..."

and then i'll jump in and offer some sort of........
"wow, you're feeling defeated, your child is using this too...."

so.
you get the idea.
right?
i have a year to get this up and running.
(and most likely the idea will fizzle out)
but i hope not.

and as i was grabbing a pic for this post, i realized, i haven't shown mr leif's handywork from last spring (that is our new built in, corner entertainment center) shown on the left side of this photo below!
nicely done, ey?

k. thats all for now.

thanks for letting me document this idea.

and please, someone hold me to it!

dear babe,

a couple nights ago your dadda put your new bed together.

your grammy-a helped me pick it out :) thanks grammy-a!

and i was quite proud of your dad. he made it look so easy :)

and you might have woken up during this process.

because i accidently ran into the corner of the crib

(sometimes it sticks out further than i realize), and jabbed my belly.

but, i was on a mission.......

a mission to make us some rootbeer floats!

cuz you'll learn quick in our family........

we work hard, but we snack harder :)

can't wait to share some bedtime snacks with you.....

...of which will often times consist of sliced apples at your bedside,

cuz thats what my momma did for me when i was wittle.

she's your other grammy. grammy-L we'll call her

speakin of grammy A and L........we'll have to come up with some better/cute/fun names for them.

start brainstormin, will you? maybe come up with a list in between your karate kicks, that should work.

goin on at our hizzie....

a few things.

we had visitors.
we like to call them our regulars.
they come crash at our place. a lot
and we love it.
and we have crazy good times.
...eating at firecookin/throwfoodatyou restaurants
...grillin. real low key like.
...tryin to start fires in our pit/but failing/but still trying.
...watchin our boys play tennis. all sweaty like.
...goin to get 'free facials'
...and bommin it up at schlitters......floatin and slidin in the sun.

and guess what else is goin on at our hizzie.
mr leif is paintin the babe's room.
yay. eeeeek. tripple quadruple sweetness.
and i have bad heartburn or indigestion
......(but no upset stomach/diareah)
duh. like the peptol bismal commercial.
but yeah it hurts.
so i ate ice cream.
and
well...

it helped.
YES. yes yes YESSSS.
love LOVE that ice cream is now justified as a remedy.
booyah to yah.

and in other big news......
im in my 26th week.
and standing in the future babe's room :)
and underneath......
bam!!!!
babyleif is really pokin out

so so so, at 26 weeks:

• hearburn/ouchiness - ice cream remedy, yay.
• boobs have stopped growing it seems, staying a consistant BIG, ughhh.
• getting up at 5. always. but now loving a midday nap (ahhhh the joys of my july of no work)
• feeling babyleif kick/do cannon balls/play karate/shake his booty
• seeing him do all those things and thinking it looks a bit weird when my belly has sudden random bulging movements
• mr leif can feel him/see him move. he likes that.
• ummmm lets see, what else......
• oh yeah, im NOT weighing myself. at all :) yep, its been about 3 weeks of no scale. and its almost like moses came down from the mountain and burnt up my idol and scattered the ashes of my scale into the river behind my house, just like he did to the israelites with their golden calf. so yeah. that whole issue is going GREAT. free.

ight y'all.

im out.

mr leif's got......

.......energy.
like no other.

as we walked around our yard on sunday afternoon, he had me play secretary while he listed off all of the things he wants to do around the house........

and last night when he got home from work, he was all excited to get goin'........ matter of fact, he completed #7 last night!

i asked him for a picnic table about 8 days ago.......i've had this vision for a real communal space on our deck for when we have guests. something we can sit around and something that of course promotes good conversation :)i figured this would be a cheap solution, and when using some wood he already had, it became a FREE solution. nice on the budget. next up: i get to paint it!!!!!!!!!!! cant wait!

it's done! a new picnic table for our deck. thanks mr leif, its beautiful :)

i told you he had energy......he didn't stop there............

he moved briskly into #1 from the list, a walkway on the side of our house.

i got to design it, he's doin the manual labor ;)

and while he was workin up a sweat......i got my crafty on.

i was reflecting on some of my friendships...and realized i have some pretty amazing friends, another reason why i'm in love with oak hills.........and i needed to thank them for inspiring me..........because every time we talk, everytime i'm with them, i leave with wanting to strive to be a better daughter of God. and they deserved a thank you for that. i couldn't be given a better gift from a friend. (but if we wanna be talkin gifts here.......i suppose a gift card of some crazy amount to anthro would rate pretty hi too)

a very random view of today, from my...

...cell phone.
as i sit on the couch. looking around the room. daydreaming.
and, well, not studying like i should be. :)
and feeling proud of myself for going to 5:45am jazzercise before summer school.
booya.

so mr leif re-did our tv room/den-ish area a while ago.
and shame on me for not posting a beautiful pictoral blog about it.
i will.
soon.
and my dad helped him too.
but for now, look below
and catch the sweet corner entertainment center he built into our wall.
i love my mr.

now remember my fakesters?

when we were home for mem day.....my momma and i got our nails filled.
she had fakies on too!
well.
i usually just have them on for about a month and then i take the off.
i've never filled them.
but when 'strategically' scratching mr leifs back,
i asked him if i should take my nails off,
or get them filled........
....he so adimately replied with 'fill'em'.
and goodness!!!
im totally not with it...

because, i haven't been posting belly pics.
i suppose i better kick this: 'whoa its awkward taking self portaits' thought to the curb.
because i am going to post weekly shots.
because its so cliche.
all the preg gals do it.
hehehehehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeee
i suppose i will ramble about whats going on with my preggo state as well.

and.
who told this girl to wear horizontal stripes? um no one.
i'm livin on the edge.
i guess.

so, at 21 weeks and 5 days.....

i've felt some slight flutters. but my doc told me at my appointment a couple weeks ago that the placenta (i think thats a gross word) is in front of the babe. so its between my tum, and him. and therefore i probably wasnt feeling him yet. but this past week i have. its like butterflies. kinda like the feeling i got when mr leif would stop by my locker in highschool. ya know. we were cheesy like that.

also. im 90% done with feeling sick! i really only feel as if i've just stepped off the rockoplane if A) i dont eat soon enough, or B) if i am riding in the backseat of a car, or C) at night sometimes randomly. (ps... the rockoplane was an evil ride at the sutton carnival. i hate carnival rides)

my lady lumps are big. and i dont like them. holy bigger bra. (but its a comfy one. and its tan. and it has ugly thick straps. welcome to becoming a true woman i guess???)

my butt is losing any and all firmness that ever existed. not even 1% firm. nor are my thighs. and they are yucky. its like our bodies are designed to turn into marshmellows so we can push babies out easier??? but. its ok cuz mr leif still swears he loves them. and i suppose its a small price i can pay for a mini mr leif to arrive in october ;)

no weird dreams. but i have an internal clock that wakes me up at 5:30 and wont let me go back to sleep until its like 10am and i am craving a blanket and the couch. but cant have them. because i am teaching a couple kids from ethiopia how to read. (yep, almaze and girma are in m 10-1030 reading group at summer school).

i've started to not be ale to sleep on my tummy. i can feel the babe now when i do that. and that's awkward and uncomfortable. laying on my back still works for a bit. but the side is most comfy. although mr leif is probably sick of being my body pillow. im like a pretzel all intertwined around him. but its ok. he sleeps really hard. he probably has no idea he is assisting me.

all in all. im doin fab.

he's a good guy.

while i was at the women's retreat {for church}, mr leif was at the store.

i mean, not the whole time, but he did stop there for a bit, to get me some stuff :)

i came home to individualized packages of animal crackers. for my lunches. 

so i can pop them in my mouth throughout the day.  as soon as i stop eating, i feel sick. erg.

clementines. because their citrus goodness somehow does wonders for my tummy. 

cheddar sun chips. i like crunchy stuff.

and then mr. leif showed me his own 'nesting list'. see? look close, that is what he called it :) i guess he has all sorts of projects he has planned to do before the baby comes. ha.
although i didn't think nesting stuff happened until way later in the pregnancy, he is in full nest force.

ok, are you laughing out loud? its ok, you can. i think this is funnier then ever. but it is SO sweet.
mr. leif can nest away. looks like im getting a custom built entertainment center and new countertops out of the deal?

but back to the clementines and crackers.

my sweet sissy had a hand in this. she knew i have not been eating because i feel like puking just walking into my kitchen. so she called him while i was at the women's retreat. and gave him some advice.

so thankful for my big sis.

so thankful for my husband.