Then and Now

Then
August 13th, 2010
Hastings, Michigan
2 Months

Now
February 15th, 2011
Pampa, Texas
8 months

Lucy received the same outfit twice - but instead of returning one I decided to keep them and take pictures so we could see how much she has grown. :) I love how she is wearing fun footwear in each picture (not planned).

~ 0-3 mo outfit from Amy Kruska's sister, who had an internship at Carter's at the time! (Socks are from Grandma Kidder and Aunt Amy)
~ 6-9 mo outfit from Grandma Kidder (Soft-soled shoes are from Sam's, we got them for her a few weeks ago they had more when I was there last week. $9.00 for: shoes, three pairs of socks and a pair of tights! Great deal!)

Fixin' Up Friday: "Oh Say Can You See?"

We are in Dallas, relaxing away - but I thought you would enjoy seeing an easy project we (read "Brad") tackled this week. :)

So the front of our house is a little boring, but we have been trying to remedy that. We replaced the light fixture and added a rug and a wreath. These fixes helped but we were still missing something, we asked ourselves, "What can we add to the front of the house that will add color?" Flowers/bushes are not an option right now, our temperatures are all over the place - freezing with snow or warm with sunshine. We were walking around the hardware store the other day and found:

Picture from here

"Of course! Why didn't we think of a flag sooner?"

So our garage went from this:

To this:

A great addition wouldn't you say? :)

And with all our Panhandle wind - our flag flies beautifully.

The first picture was taken before we moved in - thus the beautiful skies. :) It has been a bit overcast here this week.

A New Trick

Please note: Although the picture in the middle of the video was taken when Lucy was crying, it captures a particularly dramatic moment. She was not that upset. :)

Also: I am not in support of her grinding her teeth, and I do try to stop her. As I was across the room from her, it was not possible in this situation. :)

Much Ado About... Windows

May I remind you how we started the weekend? I posted about a vote for curtains and shared a picture (I am truly embarrassed of) with you.

You can't get more red-neck than this! Ew...

So I set off on a mission, rid my sweet daughters room of the not-so-sweet window coverings. This mission started about two weeks ago (I am ashamed to admit) and after three, maybe four, trips to Wal-Mart - I gave up on the blinds that Pampa had to offer. The hardware store didn't stock blinds and the ones from Wal-Mart did not fit right. So I awaited a trip to Amarillo - for the next time we were close to a Lowes or Home Depot.

Yesterday we went to Lowes - and let me tell you! Don't ever buy blinds from Wal-Mart! They are same price at Lowes and can be custom cut for you!!! I almost gave the lady at Lowes a hug - I was so excited! :) (I am pretty sure they have blinds similar to the ones we got at Home Depot too) Plus the blinds "run smoother" (if that makes sense) and are a nicer shade of white than the other (Wal-Mart) blinds in the rest of the house.

(I am not meaning to bash Wal-Mart here - I love the store! Just not their blinds...)

A special Thanks to my sweet hubby for helping me hang the new blinds, I am not strong enough to drill in screws without first drilling a hole (taking 2x as long). This is what Lucy's room looks like now:

Seriously - why didn't I do this sooner? I can't believe how much bigger her room feels!

Pretty much - I love it. :)

Ok - but now on to the votes! I know you have been wondering and wondering about this...

A special thanks to all who voted! I really appreciate your thoughts and input! The results are so close! There were a total of 25 votes submitted!

Option 1 received: 9 votes

Option 2 received: 6 votes

Option 3 received: 10 votes

That means the winner is: Option 3, the "swagged" valance!

The fabric did come in the mail - on Saturday - so I am anxious to get started on the curtains! But, this project will have to wait until next week because we are going to Dallas for a family-get-away/vacation! :) We leave this Thursday morning and will come home on Monday - we are so excited!! :)

I will keep you updated on the progress of the curtains! This was fun - thanks for participating in the voting!

Vote for Curtians

I have three yards of this on it's way:

And do you know what that means? I need to decide what kind of curtains to put up in Lucy's room. I know I want something simple with few (if any) ruffles and I need something that is simple to make. I have come up with three different options and I like them all. So I need YOU to vote.

Here is a refresher on what the windows look like (Please note, we are planning on removing the red-neck window coverings on Saturday and replacing them with more attractive blinds.):

A few notes on the fabric/curtains:

• If you click on the fabric image and you can see a ruler along the bottom that will give you an idea of how big the dots are - they are a pretty good size.
• The fabric is Dream Dot Celery, by Heather Baily
  
• How did I choose it? Well, it is one of the fabrics that is in Lucy's quilt that I made her and it goes really well with her gray walls, the white is very crisp and I thought it would add a fun aspect to her room. Plus I love polka dots. :)
• I am planning on hanging the valances higher and a bit wider (3-5in) than the windows, to make them appear larger. :) I am thinking they will be 15ish inches tall - but I won't know for sure until I decide on a valance.

Ok - Option time. :) (Reading the following in a The-Price-is-Right-Bob-Barker voice is encouraged, but not required.)

Option 1 is a straight valance with ric-rac on the edges. I am thinking pink ric-rac, but green might work too. Lucy's crib skirt has ric-rac on it - applied in the same fashion as pictured above, so this option would closely mimic something that we already have.

Option 2 is a pleated valance. I don't know what it is, but the pleats are calling me, "Sarah! You know you love us. Aren't we classy?" I would not add a separate fabric behind the pleat, like the picture on the right. This option is super easy - I can glue it. I like the idea of maybe adding buttons to the finished valance, I like to think of them as curtain jewelry. :)

Option 3 is a valance "pulled up" with a ribbon. I don't see a need for the fabric to drop down - plus it looks putzy - so the ribbon would be affixed to the curtain. The ribbon would be pink or green - I thought about doing big ric-rac - you know the chunky stuff? But I don't know if that would look kooky. What do you think?

So that is it. Go ahead and vote for your favorite option. You can do so by:

1. Commenting on this blog - it's easy! just click "Comments" below (to the right of the time posted) and leave your comment. If you don't have an ID you can post anonymously - but only one vote per person please.
2. Comment on the Facebook link to this post (it should be on my profile as a status update)
3. E-mail me your vote.

You have until Sunday evening at 6 pm to vote. :)

**The author reserves the right to use discretion in adding the following, without consulting the voters.

Fixin' Up Friday: Garage

We can now park our car in the garage!!! :) Thanks to a few hours of work on Tuesday and about an hour yesterday and a bunch of teamwork, our garage now looks like this:

The garage is complete with a music system - providing a musical serenade to productive activities. :) I bought those two round green bins at Wal-Mart for $6 each! They hold the animal's food - we are going to get two more, one for bird seed (another animal that is welcome at the Kidder Castle - outside though....) and one for charcoal (to keep it dry in the back yard).

Our refrigerator isn't working right now. Sears has been called and notified of the situation. The black shelves on the back wall were serving as our refrigerator as we had frigid temperatures last week. But this week, we had to bring our frige were using at Church over to serve as a cold zone. The shelf on the left will move eventually and all three green bins (that hold animal food) will go in that spot.

Organization = Happy Sarah
(And this is an area of the house that Brad is in 100% support of organization!)

Note the Michigan flag hanging on the wall - it makes Brad happy, thus making me happy too. :) We sang the Michigan fight song while hanging it - Lucy loved it. :)

And we couldn't park a dirty car in a clean garage right? That would be a shame!! Thanks to beautiful 73 degree weather - Brad got to wash our car AT HOME!! (That was impossible in our past homes. :) )

A clean car, in a clean garage. That's a nice combination - if you ask me. :)

(I am very sorry. I was a bad blogger and didn't take before pictures. Just imagine two big washer/drier boxes full of moving trash and Christmas boxes galore - they have been moved to the attic now. :) I have asked Brad to help me remember, before we beginning future projects, to document the "before".)

Becca's Visit

We were so honored/ecstatic that my sister Becca came to visit us on her way to Fort Lee, Virginia. We had a great time. We did a lot of ....

Talking

Obviously this isn't us - but it sums the idea up rather well. My blond sister came to visit me and we talked a lot. :) Please know that I really do wear an apron when ironing. :)

We also had some Skype conversations with Jana (in Minnesota) and the rest of the family (in San Antonio) - it is crazy how technology can make the distance between us feel smaller.

Laughing

Lucy loved having her Aunt Becca here. :) They got along great.

Creating

Becca let it slip that she was thinking of starting a blog - and that was the end of the thinking. :) We had so much fun being creative and getting her all set up to share her mind. :) Check out Becca's blog - Brains, Brawn and Glory - and see what she's up to. It's pretty exciting.

Exploring

I had never been to any of the thrift stores in Pampa (SHOCKER!), so we decided to go exploring when Becca was here. We discovered a really fun shop, Trash to Treasure, or Trash and Treasure, I forget. :) We spent an hour and a half perusing the store, I think Brad made it around the whole thing three times - hahaha - thanks for being patient with us babe! Lucy was in the Bejorn and did GREAT, she loved it - we are starting the thrift store obsession early. :) I didn't get to take pictures of Becca's purchases, but here are my finds:

A pretty bowl - that can be customized with ribbon to match any occasion. :)

A sturdy little stool.

A work basket - I have been looking for one of these for a long time, ever since I saw one at Elise's house in Chicago! Now I have a place to stash my current project... speaking of which, I need to start one. :)

Playing

On the right hand side of this picture, you can see The Game. It wouldn't be a complete visit with anyone from my family without a game of Settlers. I am happy to announce that I won 2 out of the 4 games we played. Ending my loosing streak (which has lasted a LONG time).

Becca, it was such a joy having you in our home. Thank you for taking the time to visit us - we hope to see you again soon. We pray that God uses you to share His glory wherever He takes you. We love you!

Eight Months Old

Lucy is 2/3rds of the way done with her 1st year! We can not believe it, our little girl is growing up so fast. It is fun to see her exploring and discovering her world a little more every day. Here are some accomplishments from this past month:

• 2 New Teeth! Lucy now has all four of her front teeth - the top two made their appearance this past month, leading to a baby that was not as cheerful as normal. I am thankful for teething tablets - they have really helped ease her pain.
• "Dance Around Lucy!" When Luce hears music or is really happy, she moves her head from side to side. Sometimes she even does it when we prompt her to. :) (It is adorable.)
• 3rd home. Lucy moved into her third home and has adjusted really well! I had a few people praying she would sleep well her first night at 2233, and she did - 7pm to 8am. So impressive, especially considering she was teething during the whole move.
  
• "Surprise, I'm on my tummy!" Ever since Lucy was born, we have swaddled her for naps and night-time. Over time, she started to work her arms out and now when we swaddle her, we leave them out. Recently though, she has been working her feet out of the swaddle and turning on to her tummy when she wakes up - it was really surprising the first time we discovered this new trick! :)

I love her in red! :)

• New Treats. Her little fingers are getting really good at picking things up! We have discovered Mum Mum Rice Rusks - they are oval shaped crackers (about 5in long) - and Banana Puffs. Lucy LOVES them (dime-sized star puffs)! I love that she can be independent and feed herself while I get the rest of her food ready or clean up after a meal. (Both of these new treats dissolve really quickly in Lucy's mouth, making them great transition foods.)
• Expanding Appetite. We have started to feed Lucy more "normal" food. Bits from my sandwich at lunch, or pieces of our chicken/beef from dinner. She LOVES bread (that's my girl!), chicken and donuts (special treats on Sunday morning at church, given to her by whomever happens to be holding her :) ).
  
• Rolly-Polly. Lucy has been moving around the living room quite a bit lately, she is not crawling yet but has become a champion roller. :) Lulu can get up on her hands and knees, even her hands a feet (my little pilates girl)! She has started rocking back and forth while on her hands and knees - the crawling could begin any minute! :)
  

A note on Lucy's special outfit: The dress was made by my mom for my sister Becca when she was about Lucy's age. Mom did a few repairs to the dress, changing out the elastic in the sleeves, and sent it up with my sister Becca (pictures and details on her visit coming soon). What a special treat to wear a family heirloom. What a perfect 8 month outfit - especially since her 8 month birthday fell on February 14th and there are hearts in the smocking. :) We will keep the dress in good shape so it can be worn by future grand-babies. :) The sweater was given as a gift to my sister Laura (currently 5) when she was born by my Great Grandpa Ivance. It is a beautiful soft cashmere (I wish I had one!). My sister, Anna also wore the sweater and then it was passed to my cousin Kim's daughter, Mae (my first cousin, once removed?), who passed it onto Lucy. :) What a special gift.

This month's pictures were a bit more difficult than normal to capture, Lucy has grown more attached to her Ellie (elephant) and loves her so much it was hard to get her to let Ellie sit next to her. She wanted to be holding, kissing and loving on her buddy. :)

(remember, you can click on the above image to enlarge it)

Valentines Day

Play Date

Dictionary.com's definition of a play date is: "an appointment made by parents for their children to play together."

That is not the main reason Emily and I got together - we wanted to catch up! - but it was a happy result of the visit. :)

The kiddos enjoyed spending time together, sitting across from each other on a blanket. :)

Meet Austin, one of the cutest baby boys around.

And he chose my house to be the place where he sat for the first time. :)

I couldn't stop taking pictures - what a cutie patootie. :)

Lucy was so excited to have a friend to play with.

I know you can't tell from the picture, which doesn't have sound, but she was babbling away - having a serious conversation with her friend. :)

This is her, "Thanks for scheduling me a play date mom!" face :)

Taking in the sights. It is amazing what a difference 4 months makes when you are Austin and Lucy's age. It was so fun to be reminded of where Luce was a few months ago and not so fun to realize that she is getting. so. big.

The big girl herself, explaining to Austin how a toy works. :)

"Mom, you interrupted me. I have to start over now."

"How does this toy work?"

It was so cute, Austin didn't love the bumbo seat, and Lucy leaned over and tried to comfort him. "It's ok buddy, it's not so bad once you get used to it!"

It was a fun morning, next time we will have to have James and Mya over too (Lucy's other friends from church.)!!