What I'm about to say might shock you

No, seriously; stop the presses. 

I am not Bakerella. 






And as my plans for a perfectly delicious and adorable party favor fall apart, I'm left standing here covered in white candy coating and epic fail.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings in this adventure. 

Reason 372 that the DIY Network is TEH DEBIL!!!!!

About 5 years ago, we bought a house.  Nothing fancy - run of the mill new construction townhouse with run of the mill basic finishes.  It was our 5 year plan.  Well, since I haven't written any more about our attempts to sell, I guess you can figure out how that's working out...

So we've decided to start putting a little money into the place.  Make it more marketable.  The wooden decking has been pulled and replaced with PVC decking and a new railing; stairs were also added.  We were in the midst of contemplating our next move when a minor toilet malfunction sparked an idea.  The powder room would be next.  Simple enough, right?  How hard can it be to remodel less than 25 square feet?  Gah. 

First, the before.  Bisque toilet, cabinet vanity with cultured marble top, vinyl floor and my favorite feature - the frameless mirror held up by those lovely plastic clips.  Functional but not particularly pretty. 

So, prettying up this boring space became our new priority.  First came the demo...

Check out how they installed the vanity top - IN THE WALL.  How awesome is this?

We decided on yellow walls, a standalone vanity with vessel sink and a modern, white toilet.  Oh and a slate mosaic floor, which brings me to the title of this post.  I've watched my fair share of DIY, and honestly, tiling a floor didn't look all that hard.  HA!  Maybe if I had Amy Matthews hanging over my shoulder telling me exactly what to do... but on my own, not so much. 

Thankfully things are starting to come together.  Keep an eye out for the progress and "after" pics coming soon.  I've got a little more painting to do and then we can start installing fixtures.  I'll share it all when we're through!

In the mean time, I need to get back to working on little bugger's second birthday party.  Only 9 or so days till the shindig, and just about 2 weeks till her birthday! 

Happy Father's Day

First to my dad -  there aren't enough ways to say thank you, but what says it best is that I think I'm finally starting to "get it." 

And to Shaun - thanks for being a great Daddy.  Patient, loving and always teaching.  I know she looks up to you and it's only a matter of time before she realizes that you are actually way cooler than me. 



Evil, thy name is

Viral pharyingitis.  Kayla spiked a fever on Saturday.  She was fussy and clingy, but it was under control with ibuprofen, so I didn't think too much of it. Sunday the fever was gone, but she still wasn't right.  Kayla is a pretty laid back kid (as far as toddlers go) but she was very temperamental all day Sunday.  I chalked it up to her 2 year molars coming in.  Yesterday she was an absolute disaster at daycare and when Shaun brought her home, so I took her to the doctor.  Turns out she was sick.  Poor monkey. 

We're hanging out at home today, hopefully getting plenty of rest and maybe I can catch up on the cleaning I've been neglecting. 

My favorite words

I love the things that Kayla says.  I love the way she says things. 

This is gra-oohla:

This is a kolala:

This is a lah-coif:

Seriously, is there anything cuter?  Well, maybe this:





Doing for me

I'm slowly starting to come to terms with my helicopter mom tendencies.  The realization that Kayla is nearly 2 years old and I have yet to spend a night away from her sort of forced me to take a look at how to fit myself in again.  When I first went back to work after my maternity leave was up, I often felt as though I had three full time jobs - wife, mom and employee - and I wasn't truly succeeding at any of them.  Now that I feel more like I have the home/work balance in check, I need to start doing some things for me. 

I finally ordered my 50mm prime lens for my camera.  A small thing, but very exciting.  I can't wait for it to get here.  Hell, I can't wait for the email that it shipped.  I decided to go with Nikon's newest - the f1.8G Nikkor.  It's a very reasonably priced AF-S lens  (I'm proud that I finally understand some of this photography jargon) and with the good reviews of the older f1.8, I couldn't justify the expense jump to the f1.4.  It's not like I'm a pro or anything... but it will be nice to have a new, faster lens to shoot with on the upcoming trips we have recently planned.  I just hope it arrives in time.  I'd hate to have to start scouring local camera shops if Amazon can't ship me mine in time for Kayla's birthday photos. 

In July we are acutally going to go away with some friends for a night.  We'll only be in Philly, a quick trip from here, but it will be nice to kick back and not worry about being home by X hour because I know I have to put Kayla to bed, or will have to get up with her the next morning.  I'm so excited to be able to relax a little more than usual, if you catch my drift.  I know Kayla is going to have a great time staying over with Pepere and Grammy Sue and Gracie. 

We hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend.  We're going to run some errands and then relax for the rest of our last day off! 

Always Remember

Tonight was the first night in a while that we didn't have anything going on .  I took the opportunity to have some real cuddle/play time with Kayla.  I never want to forget how much fun it is to sit there with a giggling pile of blankets, pillows and stuffed anmials with some little toes sticking out from underneath;  how much it makes me laugh to watch her methodically strip all of the clothes off her Baby Stella only to hear her exclaim "Baby Bella!  Where clothes go?!?" in shock and horror; the way she giggles and exclaims "again!" when I do 'this little piggy' or peek out from behind a pillow and surprise her. 

Too often still I get wrapped up in the day to day stuff, and I worry that I'm going to lose sight of what really matters.  It's so easy to rush around trying to get things done and before you know it another week is gone...  maybe it's because we're down to 7 weeks to go until her second birthday... maybe I'm just having a (typical) sentimental moment. 

Either way, it's time for a break.  Counting down until vacation and some much needed de-stressing with the monkey. 

Found my favorite.

Some of you will recognize her, and know why she’s my favorite.  ;-)

Can I just say??

That I LOVE the Google Doodles today!  I really loved the Roger Hargreaves books when I was little, and I really hope to share them with Kayla someday.  Which was your favorite?

I don’t think I can pick!

Happy Mother's Day

Hope yours was as beautiful as ours. 

Mom, Sue, Darcy... thanks for everything you do.  We love you!