Flip That Room

We are busy this weekend updating Claire's room into a Big Girl room from a nursery. When we moved in, we put her in the yellow room as we thought that would buy us some time before we would have to paint. It went well with her (previously Olivia's) Hey Diddle, Diddle theme.

I took a picture here as I was taking the wall decorations down. Yes, I painted that picture of the cow jumping over the moon.

Here is a picture during painting. The green (Sherwin Williams Great Green) you see is actually the 2nd color I chose. I chose a lighter green (Sherwin Williams Gratifying Green) earlier but it was too bluish so I ended up switching to a darker and more yellow green. I think it will look nice with pink. I actually got Claire some bedding from Pottery Barn Kids called Cherry Blossom. It's got a pink background with green leaves and some other colors.

I finished painting, it looks better in person, I promise. Tomorrow, I will have to paint the trim. The room already looks so much better, it had really taken a beating from the previous owners.

It's day!

6:23 a.m. pst

Our door creaks open. I hear the pitter patter of little feet. And "It's day! Mommy. Daddy, it's day!" I feel something climbing onto our bed.

It's Claire. Although she has a blackout shade in her room, the light creeps in through the sides and apparently is contributing to her increasingly earlier wakings.

She is 2 1/2 years old and has now started climbing out of her crib more and more. She is getting her new 'big girl' bed on Monday...finally.

We will be spending Memorial Day weekend painting her room.

Sesame Street Stomp

We went to 'Elmo Makes Music' Wednesday night. My neighbor was trying to get rid of their 4 tickets because his wife and kids ended up going out of town. We paid him for a bit less than they were worth and they were great seats. Claire had a great time, pointing and clapping....as usual, Olivia just sat back to watch. Olivia just doesn't get as enthusiastic about these things, but she enjoys going.

The girls learned that 'everything makes music' so they have been 'making' music ever since! Banging on walls, slapping their knees, singing, you get the picture...

Claire tells a joke

Claire: 'Knock, knock'

me: 'Who's there?'

Claire: 'Banana.' giggle

me: 'Banana who?'

silence.

I think she forgot the punchline!

bows, bows, bows

I made these yesterday afternoon, aren't they cute? They're not perfect, but I'm donating them to a fundraiser. My moms group is having a raffle to raise money for an elementary school in need of playground equipment. I won't get to go to the 'spring fling' because we will be out of town.

Growing a Garden

I've been trying to garden a little. That's what I love about California, people here really know how to garden. And it's fun to grow stuff!

While my in-laws were here helping out after I had surgery, my father-in-law helped us with the yard. We had this huge stubborn birds of paradise we were trying to dig up next to our house. We also wanted to move a camelia to a shadier spot (sadly, it did not survive the move). So my father-in-law finished digging those plants up for us and transplanted them.

Here are the birds of paradise, okay the first set of plants in the first picture don't look like they are doing so well, but I'm hoping they will 'take' and look better later in the year. The second one is a plant I moved about a month ago or so.

Yesterday, I finally planted some herbs in my 'herb garden'. This is where the birds of paradise and camelia used to be. In the fall, I'm also going to grow peas here. I'm thinking of planting some flowers around the edge to make it look nice.

Right now, the herbs I am growing are mint(in the pot), basil, italian parsley, sage, oregano, cilantro, and rosemary. I also want to plant dill, I've heard it attracts ladybugs and ladybugs are good for your garden!

Oh and I also have 2 tomato plants..a better boy and big beef. It's fun to see the tomatoes growing!

The only trouble I have is with the snails that like to eat my plants. A mom from my mommy board who happens to be a farmer gave me some advice. She said I could use eggshells, set them out to dry then crush and scatter around the plants. She also suggested some traps, I might try this too. You fill an empty can with some beer and bury it in the ground with just enough room for them to move in. They are attracted to the beer and then drown.

A Baby Blanket

Well, you know, I started knitting several months ago and have been trying to learn about patterns and such. I found a free pattern for a baby blanket that seemed perfect for a beginner. Ha! I've been working on it for months and I'm only about 1/5 of the way through it. My problem is I want the blanket to be perfect and I kept messing up the stitches and I had to unravel several rows and start over several times. I think it's good practice though because I've made alot of progress in the last couple of weeks.

I'm not sure who will get this blanket, I have lots of friends that are having babies and my sister-in-law is having one this summer. Of course, this one will have to go to a girl. Maybe I should do yellow next time!

I'm thrilled I can see

I just wanted to follow up with more about my surgery. It's been a few weeks. I had my 1 week follow up appointment about a week and a half ago. I was at 20/20 with both eyes...20/20 in my left eye and 20/35 in my right eye. Before surgery my vision was 20/200 (20/400 in my left eye and 20/200 in my right eye). I will go back in late September for another follow up. I was told it could take about 3 months for my right eye to catch up with my left eye since I had PRK in my right eye. I'm happy, though, I don't have to wear glasses for driving, I can see if I get up in the middle of the night.

In case you were wondering why I had PRK in my right eye, it was due to a risk of ectasia. The shape of my eye put me more at risk for developing ectasia after Lasik and it is a condition very difficult to treat. I had 4 opinions total and found a doctor which offered me the best option.

Easter

Here is a picture from Easter and a couple from an Easter egg hunt. The picture of me with the girls is taken in our backyard, we have lots of roses.

The girls enjoyed the egg hunt in the park that was organized by my moms group. The girls did 3 egg hunts together...the moms group, church, and a friend's house.