Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to my husband :)

Okay, so this isn't exactly a birthday picture, but it's a sweet one of us (honeymoon) and there was only one birthday photo from last year.  A photo which, I know, he would not appreciate me posting for the world to see, haha.

Unfortunately he's come down with something.  We're not yet sure, though it's looking as if it's merely a cold (hallelujah! We don't need another flu bout in this house!)  He took some Tylenol before work and forced himself to eat breakfast.  Apparently his throat is sore and feeling swollen, causing him to feel quite gaggy.  He says he isn't achy, which is a sign of the flu, and so we find this to be good.  I do hope he gets better though!  His parents sent him a gift card for our restaurant of choice - Applebees.  If not, I'll scrounge up something for dinner and we'll still have the usual little "party" with cake, gifts and silly pictures.

Right now I'm reading the first book in a series called "Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris.  After reading the Twilight saga, I became intrigued by the possibility that others have written vampire stories more along the same lines.  I've never had a thing for vampire stories until Twilight (is it because Meyers wrote spotlessly of the most ideal person?)  Between hearing that vampire stories typically had a lot to do with sex, biting people to suck on blood and so forth, I never found curiosity to read these sorts of things. 

Harris' book is dimunitively fresh.  After Meyers' immense success with Edward and Bella, many authors in a global effort decided to nearly plagarize the story line.  Reading this vampire story is different - quite different - than reading Twilight.  I would not, by any means, hand this book over to anybody under 16.  As for my own children, I wouldn't let them read it period.  There is the cliché sex involved, although I have to admit I was much more able to skim those parts without disgust than when I read Cheryl Strayed's acclaimed novel Torch. 

Now that I am nearly half-way done with Dead Until Dark, I find myself remorseful that it didn't turn out to be gripping in the way that Twilight was.  I don't foresee myself actually picking up the other novels in the series, and thus must go back onto my Goodreads account and delete the formerly prospective vampire stories from my "to-read" list.

How is it that a young adult saga was more gripping than an adult novel?

On November 10th we can expect to receive Bella's toy box.  Hallelujah!  For the time being mama and I stuffed all of Bella's stuffed animals (which, 95% of them are formerly mine) into large yard trash bags and piled them into her very-little-room-for-storage closet. 

Mama thinks I should have picked out a more childish and whimsical kind of toy box.  You know, if I was more frivolous I might have chosen one of those cute fairy princess ones (although they don't match her décor at all and that would grossly affect my OCD).  This one is the same color of wood, it matches the swindling of her crib (which will turn into her toddler bed) and, lo' and behold, it was cheap.  I also appreciate the fact that it's somewhat benchy and allows for toddler use by means of their safety latches so that little fingers are not squashed.

Don't get me wrong, we're not by any means in poverty, but when I find a chance to save money (yes, even by $1) I will do it.  Bella's closet is now split in half.  The top shelf is still in use to store our old momentos.  The right side of the closet has my wedding dress, two extra large suitcases and a few of Miles' suitcases (all of which are stuffed with an array of items).  Little Bella gets access to the left side of the closet, and with her excessive amount of infant to toddler clothes, I have very little room to store her things! 

Babies 'R' Us sells an infant closet extension for around $12.  After looking at it yesterday I quickly realized I could buy a wooden rod from Lowe's or Hobby Lobby (aka HoLo) and hang it by thick pink ribbon and voila... a closet extension for $3.  Yes people, $3. 

With the bedroom paint I will ask Miles to paint the wooden rod just for extra oomph -- and therefore we have it.  A personalized, decorated and cheap extension.  I am so proud :)

This weekend, regardless of our health, we have to get her nursery painted.  Never have I been thankful for having such a significantly small guest room (which is now the nursery).  Miles will only have to paint two full walls (which are small), a wall with her window on it and then a few strips on the sides of the closet which makes her fourth wall.  The trimming will be painted a contrasting warm color, and that shouldn't take long at all.  Once that is up - we can hang her curtains, shelving to help aid us in our lack of storage, the few little things I want to add on her wall, her new light switch plate cover, and I might even go splurge on a princess netting to hang from the ceiling. 

There's a few Do-It-Yourself projects I'd like to take on for Bella's room.  One of the first, and easiest, would be a growth chart.  Sorry, can't bring myself to buy a $50 growth chart when I can easily buy all the supplies to make one in under 2 hours for around $25.  The website YouReallyMadeThat.com has a good little tutorial to help you make one. 

The blog Obsessed with Scrapbooking provides a really awesome tutorial on how to use your Cricut to make vinyl wall décor.  I'd love to put this above Bella's crib!  I've found some vinyl wall coverings for around $20 at different stores, even some of them for a nursery, but they're too impersonal and I may want to just have her name there.  If not, I'm thinking of a cutesy mirror that I can etch her initials on.