A new front door

We officially have a new front door. Technically, its on the side but you get what I'm saying, right? We signed a contract for a house! I'm super excited about the house itself. It has four bedrooms and the fourth is HUGEMONGOUS!!! The plan is to use it as a bonus room (pull-out couch for guests, toy room, TV room). It'll take a while to furnish it the way I want but it'll be fun to slowly put it together. I'm a dork and didn't take any pictures but its not finished so they would just look like a hot mess of construction. We're supposed to close October 29 which is great because it means only 2 weeks of hotel stays with the kiddos.

While I'm excited about the actual house (did I mention it has AMAZING views of the mountains AND a partial view of The Strip), I'm nervous about a gazillion things. A few of them being...

1) I don't love the idea of buying another house. We liked our home here in New Orleans but it was nerve-racking to get it ready to sell and hoping that someone would buy it.

2) I'm not too excited about the hubby's commute. I like being on base here and having his drive be so short. When he works a 14 hour day its nice that he's only gone 14 hours and 10 minutes.

3) I'm worried about being lonely. I really wanted to live on base. Our short 5 months in base housing here reminded me how nice it was to have a lot in common with your neighbors. We all have similar incomes, are away from family, and are of similar ages (meaning there are kiddos G and E's ages around for future playdates). And, most people have similar interests. Its hard to explain to people what life is like as a military spouse and it makes me warm and fuzzy to have that instant connection (the same is true for J). Living in a "regular" neighborhood means that your neighbors could be 90 years old or speak another language. Basically, its nice to be near people like us. I'm worried I won't make any friends. Boo hoo to me, I know.

Here's a pic of what it will look like(ish) and the floorplan...

One Month!!!

Miss E is one month old today! She weighs in at a whopping 10 lbs, 8 oz. and is 22 inches long. We're loving our chunky monkey and her 2 (sometimes 3) chins!!! Here is here cutie tootie pic and as you can see I decided to follow the Bless Our Nest example and use the chalkboard. Whadya think?

I made it myself (more about that later)! I added a little drawing in the corner that is fitting for the current month (books and an apple for back-to-school) and hope to remember to keep that up. G still sleeps in the crib as a daybed that's why the mattress is so low, there's no bumper pad, etc. Once we get settled in to our new house (which we're going to find tomorrow!) E will move into the crib and G-ster will get a big girl bed! Hooray! Here are a couple other pics from our little photo shoot.

G wanted her pic taken, too and I was delighted (she's usually anti-camera which she gets from her dad and aunt). I wish I could've erased the chalkboard and written the number of years and months for G but I was afraid she'd get out of the posing mood by the time I got it done (She's 2 years, 8 1/2 months, btw). Off to house hunt this weekend. Might update while we're away but otherwise I'll see you next week!

House Hunting

We're off to Vegas this weekend to do a little house hunting. Honestly, I'm dreading it. On top of being a very quick and rushed trip, I know absolutely NOTHING about the city (never been there) and all of our friends that are there give us different info about where to live. It seems like there really is NO good place. The neighborhoods are either too expensive, near crappy & scary neighborhoods, or too far from J's work. I have gotten so spoiled by being on base that I want him to have a short drive to and from the base. I LOVE that when he gets done with a 14 hour day, he's only been away from the house for 14 hours and 10 minutes! And, we were hoping to get base housing (which is brand spankin' new!) so I'm a little disappointed that that probably isn't going to work out. One other issue for me is that I don't like the style of the houses there. Blah. They all look the same -- varying shades of brown. And what's up with all those niches inside? Weird. Will I ever get to live in a home that's actually my style...we'll see I guess.

Typical house in Vegas (...at least in our price range)
Um...I can't even see the front door!

This is more my speed. And, it just happens to be the HGTV Dream Home 2009.

OK, now that I'm done being Debbie Downer here is the scoop. We ARE taking the girlies so it'll be E's first plane ride. J's parents are meeting us there to help out. They'll probably keep G while we hunt and E will go with us since I'm the mobile milk wagon. They're super excited to hang out with their grandbabies and meet E. I'm super excited to have the help while we look for our next front door!

Wall stencils

Every time we move I say "I'm going to paint." But I have yet to EVER paint a room in any home I've ever lived in. Shame on me! So, I'm looking at our move to Vegas as a big chance to use some color on my walls whether we buy, rent, or live on base. Now that I've put it out in the blogosphere you all can hold me accountable, right?!? I've just gotten some inspiration from a post about stencils at 6th Street Design School. There's a great giveaway today on this site featuring Cutting Edge Stencils!

I love the look of a tone on tone paint job and in the past have thought that I'd alternate stripes using a flat and high-gloss paint. Now, I'm thinking a stencil is the way to go. I love Brocade No. 1.

I'm not sure if I'll do it spread out around one of the girls' rooms, in a more repeated pattern (so it looks like wallpaper) as an accent wall, or in a small room (like a half bath). Either way, I want it to be subtle. I'm so excited to get decorating!!! Which is a good thing because at this point I'm dreading the move (mostly because where we're going to live hasn't been decided. Yikes!).

Revolving Roundup: Monthly Baby Pics

So I'm starting a new "feature" here on the old bloggeroo called "Revolving Roundup." There will be a whole slew of topics and I hope to do it once a month. It will be a group of images that I like all on the same theme (tacos, fall shoes, orange accessories, favorite kitchen gadgets, etc...you get the idea). Sometimes I might use it for you, my stellar readers, to help me figure out which item/thing to choose. That is the case with this first "roundup."

I took a pic of The G each month through her 1st birthday in the same pose with a stuffed animal (check out the first 6 months HERE). My fantastic friend Jamie sent us a cute blankie bear thingy that had her name embroidered on it and it worked out smashingly. But, I don't have anything cute like that for Miss E. So, after scouring the internet, these are the ideas I found that I'm thinking about using. Her 1 month b-day is this Friday people so I don't have a ton of time!

1. From John and Sherry at Young House Love. They use different fabric each week (I'm only going for a monthly shot...these peeps are over achievers!) and photoshop in the number on her onesie to coordinate. I don't know about the shot from above once E gets older. I don't think she'll lay down and cooperate as easily. What I do love about this is that you can later use the fabric for a quilt, birthday banner, table runner, whatever.

2.From Bless Our Nest. I love that this is more consistent with what I did with G but I havent been able to track down a little chalkboard and a whiteboard just doesn't have the same flair.

3. I can't not share the creative genius of Adele at Mila's Daydreams. This is AMAZING but way above and beyond what I want to do. You should check out this blog. This momma takes a few pics a WEEK like this. She makes up a backdrop while her daughter sleeps where she imagines what precious is dreaming about. Do some people make you feel so inadequate? I'm OK with my inadequacies...I'm just proud of myself for vacuuming once a week (usually. ok. once every 2 weeks.) and making sure everyone gets dinner before 8 p.m. Hee hee.

4. darielacrua posted these shots on flickr. I like the child in the same onesie and chair because it shows her change in size.

5. This shot by photoemagery is super cute. I like the alphabet/number blocks (crap! I need to get some of those) and I could include a favorite book each month (except that there is no fave book of Miss E right now...unless you count the 8 gazillion times I've looked at What to Expect the First Year).

So, what do you think??? Let me know your faves!

what The G is up to

G had her first dentist appointment this past week. She was awesome!!! I LOVE going to the dentist. Getting my teeth cleaned and having someone else floss for me is almost as good as getting a pedicure, in my opinion. That's not to say I've never gotten bad news (darn cavitities), but for some reason that 15 minutes in the chair is like a little retreat for me. So I wanted her to love it as much as I do...and she does! She's mentioned it every day this week :-)

Also, J and G are lookin' too cute in this pic not to post it!