Ventage Tuesday: Around Here

It's Tuesday again and that means another round of blog fun with my very favorite girls:
Ang
Barb
Em
Katrina

This week we're talking about home. I love having people in my home. I wish I could have all of the Ventage girls over for a cup of coffee every morning instead of doing our venting via email. The thing about guests though? It means cleaning. Unless of course your guests are the kind of friends who have seen you at your worst, and love you anyway. Then? Well then you invite them over for dinner and inform them as they walk in the door to NOT take their shoes off because you really need to mop the kitchen floor.

Not like I've ever done that before. Nope, never. Right, Barb?

So, without further ado, a quick look around my house, home of the unfinished project!

1. AJ and Sam's Room: My husband is incredibly handy. I love that about him. What I don't love is that he travels a lot for work, and I'm working weekends now, so this project might not be done until AJ graduates high school. Eventually that board and batten will be white, and AJ's bed will go up against the wall, and I'll update the art, and Sammy will move in, and...and..and..you get the idea. Unfinished.

2. Dining Room: I love that we have this family photo gallery. Up until this summer the gallery was just a couple of frames full of pictures of our little family of three. Then, Sammy arrived. And I bought more frames. And Karl demanded we hang them even though I haven't printed photos. Empty frames on the wall. Unfinished.

3. Living Room: Not going to lie, my living room looks like this for at least a portion of every single day. AJ is not good at putting his stuff away. We're working on it. Add in the addition of huge baby entertaining type stuff and it makes matters worse. Be glad you can't see much of the carpet. It's awful. Toy organization? Unfinished.

4. Laundry Room: The ultimate in unfinished projects lives here. Is anyone ever caught up on laundry for more than a couple of hours? If so, I'm not sure we can be friends. I love my laundry room. I love the color. I love the custom cabinets Karl painted. I hate what goes on in there. Unfinished.

5. The Guest Room: With all of our family living out of state, it only makes sense for us to have a place for them to stay when they come to visit. This room was my mom's home away from home for nearly three months when Sammy arrived. But when they're not here? It's the room where I can work on stuff and then close the door and nobody has to see it. Currently this is where I am attempting to reorganize the bins of AJ's old clothes so that we can reuse them for Sammy. Have I mentioned I'm working weekends? Yup. Unfinished.

So now that I've aired my unfinished dirty laundry (literally) on the internet, I guess I can invite you all over for coffee. Just know I probably won't have time to clean before you arrive!

Hello, Monday

(Should I call it Good Night, Monday since it's almost bedtime? Are there rules?)

Hello, sick day. Nothing like hitting the ground running only to change plans abruptly when a certain 3 year old starts his day by vomiting all over his unsuspecting mama. The good news is he wasn't really sick. Just dealing with a hacking cough (allergies) that caused him to cough himself to an upset tummy. Funniest moment of the comedy of errors that was my morning? Taking a photo of the pukey little dude passed out with his head on the toilet seat. Here's hoping he doesn't wind up in that same position on his 21st birthday.

Hello, uninvited guest. There's a mouse in my garage. Actually, one of my neighbors has suggested that the mouse is probably not on a solo mission. The thought sends shivers down my spine. I'm fairly certain if I didn't have to drive AJ to school tomorrow I might just refuse to go in the garage until Karl returns from his business trip.

Hello, goodbye. What do you do when the person who's lived a couple of miles away is now moving a couple of hours away? What do you do when there will be no more "Karl is out of town come eat dinner with me" phone calls? My current strategy is to pretend it's not happening, but I'll be honest, I'm not so good at pretending.

Hello, UPS. The doorbell rang and scared the crap out of me at 8pm. Who knew the men in brown were in the road that late? In that unexpected delivery: Two cardigans, two tanks, and a lovely pair of brown boots. Add that to my haul from my Barb driven shopping adventure from last week? Well, let's just say my Ventage girls are rubbing off on me. And I fully intend to blame them when the man in brown returns next week with another package.

Hello, 20! I weighed in a few hours early today since Karl's travel schedule will keep me from attending a weight watchers meeting this week. My reward for not just taking a break from the scale this week? TWENTY pounds gone. 1/3 of the way to my goal.

Ventage 5: On Fashion

Disclaimer: Me writing a fashion blog post at this time in my life is laughable. I am knee deep in Momville, often unshowered until after noon, covered in spit up or something else unsavory, and wearing something that is either stretched out because I wore it while I was pregnant or a tad too tight to breathe comfortably. I'm at a stage in my life where I'm very uncomfortable in my own skin (working on fixing that) and I often feel like it's a waste to spend money on myself when my life is spent at home with littles who love me regardless of how I look. Not to mention, it's so much more fun to spend the time and money finding cute things for them to wear.

BUT, I have these friends, the Ventage Girls. And we're kind of known for pushing each other out of our respective comfort zones. So, over the past few weeks we've been discussing fashion (among other completely hysterical and random topics) and it's been fun to see how everyone is making their closet work for them. So today we're all sharing our "top five fashion must haves." For the other girls (Ang, Barb, Em, and Katrina) these lists are things they actually own. I'm approaching this list a little differently and presenting 5 things I'm looking to include in my new "Stay at Home Mom of Two Cute Boys" fall/winter closet.

1. Cute Ballet Flats: I may not like the rest of my body these days, but my feet never let me down. And while back issues preclude me from wearing heels, I can rock the flat. Lately I've been filling the bottom of my closet with Mossimo Supply Co. Ona flats from Target. They're cheap (cheaper with my team member discount!) and fun (leopard print anyone?) and they make me feel better about retiring my flip flops for the long winter ahead.

2. Unique Jewelry; I haven't worn much in the way of jewelry lately, primarily because of grabby little hands, but I really want to add a few new necklaces to my collection. This one from Lisa Leonard is beautiful and I love that her pieces have stories behind them.

3. Funky Outerwear: I live in Wisconsin. It's getting cold and it's going to stay that way...until April (if we're lucky). And since my new schedule involves transporting the little dude to and from two different schools five days a week, lots of people will be seeing me all bundled up this winter. I think this means outwear is a good investment. Right now I have my eye on this peacoat from Old Navy. Not sure I can pull off the yellow, but that hot pink is mighty cute too!

4. Jeans that fit: Jeans are something Angie is passionate about and I agree. I've spent the better part of the past year living in jeans with an over the belly panel, and while they were comfortable at the height of my baby belly days, I am happy those days are over. I don't have a link to share for the jeans I have in mind, because that's going to take some work. I imagine I will kiss a lot of frogs before I find the prince that will make my post baby butt look great. I might even venture away from my beloved boot cut in favor of a pair of skinnys to pair with long sweaters and tall boots this winter!

5. Boots: Yes, my list starts and ends with shoes. I'm okay with this. I'm thinking these from Target look warm and cuddly but also fashionable. I'll probably be trudging through snow at some point this winter and these will work better than ballet flats on those days.

So what's missing on my list? I'm always open to suggestions, as I find my way to a new and improved closet, so if there's a must have on your list that you wouldn't mind sharing I would love to hear it!

Exhale

I keep writing blog posts in my head. Trying to remember all the things I want to share here.

Things like how fun AJ is right now, all the crazy things he says (and how often I ask myself "Where did he get that?" and then answer that question five minutes later when I find the words coming out of my own mouth).

Things like Sam's 3 month stats, which would be out of place here since I've yet to document his one month or two month stats in blog form.

Things like my decision to take on a part time job and all of the guilt/drama/freaking out I've got going on as a result. I haven't even started yet and I keep wondering if doing this is inviting too much chaos into our lives.

Things like registering AJ for the early childhood preschool program where he will continue his speech therapy. I had to go school supply shopping for the first time for anyone other than myself (though mama got a couple supplies too!) and I may have had a mini panic attack in the Crayola aisle.

Things like worrying. A lot. Should AJ take the bus to his new school? He's starting at a new school 4 days a week and moving to a new classroom in his other school all at the same time. Too much change all at once? Or is it like ripping off a bandaid?

Things like tales from the scale. Remember when I used to do that? WW is going well this time, but I am way more of the tortoise than the hare this time around. Slow and steady is how it goes when you're trying to lose weight while also serving as the sole food source for a growing littler dude.

And there's more. Vacation plans, and changes for Karl at work, and parties coming up.
And...
And...

It's all good. Just keep swimming.

Hello, Monday

Hello, big boy! AJ decided this was his weekend to hop on board the potty train. Funny enough, we'd planned to do a little potty boot camp starting on Saturday. He beat us to it and announced his desire to "go poppy" Friday morning. I'm happy to say we've had minimal accidents thus far. We'll see how things go once we try to actually get something done around here besides hang out in the bathroom.

Hello, two months! How is it possible that two months ago today I was chilling in a hospital room waiting on the arrival of one Samuel Frederick Homburg? The time has both flown and dragged. I really can't remember things before him. And things since his birth? Well they're pretty foggy too. But we laugh a lot, which is a good thing, even if sometimes the laughing is of the "if I don't laugh I'll cry" variety.

Hello, sleep deprivation. This weekend, I attempted to make coffee in my keurig without putting in a kcup. Worse yet, I didn't realize my mistake until after I had added creamer to a cup full of nothing but hot water. And, it was my second cup of the day. So in theory I should have been a little more coherent. I think I'm actually more tired now than in the beginning. It's catching up to me now that the newness has worn off.

Hello, Christmas in July. This probably makes me a big geek, but I'm kind of stoked to do some Christmas crafts with the little dude on Wednesday. Just something different in the midst of this hot, hot, hot. What will we do? I don't know. I do know the idea will come from pinterest and it probably won't go over as well as I hope. And I know I'll take pictures. Because that's what I do.

Hello, Project Life? The pictures are piling up. In my computer, because lord knows I haven't printed them. I've got some "stuff" saved too, but if you ask me where any of it is the best I can do is gesture at one of 20 "piles" around the house. I *want* to do this. But when? Maybe when sleep doesn't seem like the only possible thing I should do with any of my free time.

Hello, Tales from the Scale. First weigh in tonight. I feel like it's been a good week. Could have been better, but that's the story of my life. Will report back later.

(Hello, Monday inspired  by Katrina, inspired by Lisa)

Wordless Wednesday: Pinterest Fail

Painting with ice cubes on a 100 degree day? "Too cold, Mama!"

Hello, Monday

Hello, 98 degrees. No, not the boy band. Our forecast high for today. I live in Wisconsin for a reason. If I have to put up with ridiculous wicked winters, I should at least be able to enjoy comfortable summer temperatures. Comfortable? 80. NOT 98.


Hello, 2am dance party. Oh, Sam. You're so very lucky you're cute. Now please learn Mama means business when it comes to night waking. You wake up. I change your diaper. Nurse, burp, prop up for 30 minutes (stupid reflux) and then BACK TO SLEEP. Your eyes are beautiful but when the sun is sleeping I would prefer to see them closed.

Hello, pinterest projects. Last week we made gak. This morning I have "paint cubes" in my freezer in the hopes of creating a masterpiece after nap this afternoon (please GOD let there be a nap. See also: 2am dance party). The gak project was fun, but very very messy. Hoping that taking the paint cubes outside will translate to very very fun with just a little mess.


Hello, (and goodbye) to Magic Mike. When I walked into the theatre with Barb, I wasn't expecting much. My biggest fear was that I'd fall asleep (hello, comfy chairs in a dark air conditioned room). I did not fall asleep. Instead I stared at the screen for 2 hours in a "this is such a train wreck I can't look away" sort of fashion. Except I *wanted* to look away. If I wasn't already kind of grossed out by the whole "Matthew McConaughey doesn't practice good hygiene" thing, I am most certainly scarred for life by watching him "dance" around in a banana hammock with a stragetically placed tassle. Shudder.


Hello, Weight Watchers. Time to face the music. And the scale. As I told Karl last night, the pregnancy party is over. I'll weigh in for the first time in 9 months tonight. Time to return to healthy choices. And maybe some form of physical activity. But not until it's not 98 degrees outside!