I have a chandelier in my kitchen and I could not be happier about it! I've wanted to put one in for the past 2 years or so, but with no chandelier there before, I knew it would be a big undertaking. This year, Brad and I aren't doing gifts for each other, so this is what we decided to do instead. I am so happy with it! The guys just finished up a few hours ago. It makes me smiling just looking at it. Did I mention that I LOOOOOVVEE it?
Anyway, this little eating nook has undergone several big changes since we bought the house. 1.) Maroon wall paper taken down 2.) Fresh coat of beige paint 3.) Decided I don't like the beige and repaint a light blue 4.) Add curtains 5.) Chandelier goes up.
I am so happy with this little nook, it might be my favorite place in the house. Well, it might be a close call with our bedroom :)
Our eating nook, complete with new chandelier!
Isn't she a beauty?
What it looked like about a year ago with the new curtains at the time. What a difference huh?
I've got great news for you all...The holidays have officially arrived at my house! Our first Cookie Day of the season was in full swing yesterday. I didn't really plan for it, but I've been in the mood for some baking for a while now and yesterday was perfect! Madeline and I got geared up and made almost 6 dozen cookies! About 4 dozen Gingerbread and 2 dozen sugar cookies. Yummo! Oh and Madeline had a blast. She LOVES helping me in the kitchen.
Getting ready to bake, I had to put my apron on her, which looked more like a tube dress. I have a feeling I'm going to have to make her an apron for her stocking :)
All ready to go Momma!
Hmmm, what do I do with this?
Mmmmmm, can I eat some now???
So goooooood!
The finished products, Madeline couldn't even wait for the iced cookies. She snuck in while I wasn't looking and got a pumpkin as it was cooling, and was extremely happy with herself.
Gingerbread cookies, for the snowflakes they are predicting this weekend.
And fall harvest cookies for Thanksgiving...I love my swirly leaves :)
When we put Madeline to bed, very rarely does she ever fall right to sleep. Some kind of shouting, talking, or jumping typically occurs. Last night she kept saying "happppy, Happpy, haaaaaaaaaaaaaapy." over and over again. Unfortunately I only caught the last happy. It's still entertaining none-the-less.
Honestly, I looked away for 2 minutes to get Madeline's dinner ready and when I looked up this is what I saw. My child completely naked, except for socks...keeping it classy. Lovely.
This morning when Madeline finished up breakfast she wanted to go and play outside. Which with darkness falling at 5 pm, I am eager to get out during the day. Unfortunately it was pretty chilly. So, I broke out the new gloves I had gotten for her last week. She was so excited to have gloves with fingers and not her mittens! They were a bit big, but they did the job, and the look on her face was priceless...
GLOVES! Really? You mean I can still use my hands!?!?
And pick up rocks!?
Loooooooove the gloves!
And I can point to planes in the sky too!
And get really close to the camera. I know this has nothing to do with the gloves, but I couldn't resist the cuteness :)
This past weekend we headed back to Richmond for Sarah's Baby Shower! We left early Friday morning, and stopped in Capitol Hill to meet up with our friends Addie and Drew, who just had a little boy, Van, about 2 weeks ago! He is gorgeous and mommy and daddy seem to be adjusting well :) Unfortunately the trip down was met with another vomit fest by Madeline. Ugh. We were almost there, when we heard the upchuck sounds. AW-FUL. Thank goodness it was 60 degrees and we could put the window down. We quickly got Madeline changed into some new clothes and headed into Matchbox to meet the new family. If you have yet to eat in a Matchbox I highly suggest it. Drew and his partners have put a lot of time into perfecting this restaurant and now have 3 open, besides the Capitol Hill one there is one in China Town, and one in Palm Springs, as well as their latest restaurants Ted's Bulletin, and DC3's (specializing in hot-dogs) all in Capitol Hill. Matchbox has the best pizza and mini-burgers. Yummo!
After a fabulous lunch, and company (thanks Van!), we hit the road and continued on to Richmond. Thank goodness for Sarah and Mark, b/c we desperately needed to wash the car-seat and Madeline's clothing. The next morning we were up nice and early to get a jump on the shower!
Sarah has some amazing friends and family. She got so many things off of her registry as well as a few personalized gifts that she didn't even ask for. I cannot thank everyone enough for making this day special for my sister and my soon-to-be niece or nephew. I apologize on the photos, as I think Kristin took most of the good ones. We'll have to get them from her at a later date.
Madeline and Daddy walking to the room.
Waiting for daddy.
Strolling to breakfast.
Everyone enjoying the food at the shower.
Poor photo, but some of the decor.
Me and my sister, oh and baby too :)
Sisters.
Aunt Sarah and Madeline. Bad photo of Madeline, but oh well, we tried.
We've been working on potty training with Madeline for a bit now. Though, mostly it's been through reading books and having her tell us when she is dirty or when she has to go potty. We haven't had much success with her wanting to use the actual potty. I think I'll try to hit that up hard after the holidays. Anyway, Madeline is getting pretty good at notifying us when she is dirty and lately when she has to "poop." Sorry this might be TMI, so we rush her to the bathroom and she usually sits there and then announces "all done," with nothing actually hitting the potty. *Sigh*
So, imagine my surprise when last night while cooking dinner I looked up to my daughters pants and diaper almost off and her bare butt! Ha. I asked her if she had to go potty and she agreed she had to go, so off we rushed to the potty. Unfortunately it was another psych out. She then proceeded to walk around our office and foyer with her little cheeks hanging out. They're even cuter in black and white if you ask me :)
This past weekend I was able to make a trip to Richmond to spoil my sister and soon-to-be niece or nephew! Thanks to my husband who whisked away Madeline and the puppies to West Virginia, we were able to enjoy a great girls weekend before the baby arrives!
We started off with a fabulous dinner at Bistro 27 in Richmond, so yummy! Saturday morning came bright and early and the Sarah and I headed to the Red Door Spa for 3 hours of fabulous spa treatments. So wonderful! We then headed up to Alexandria, VA for a baby shower for one of our fabulous friends, Erica, from high school. So fun! I even got to meet on of the writers of the blogs I stalk. Ha. Yes, you read that right, if you are on one of my friend's blogs, chances are I am checking out what you are up to. Why not? It's a great way to get ideas and peak in on adorable little babies :) So with that said, Maureen it was so nice to "officially" meet you. Now that we kind of know each other does that still make me a stalker? Ha. It was so great to see all of the mommies-to-be enjoying the day.
After the baby shower, we headed back to Richmond for a quick hour or so of relaxation and the PSU game, way to go JoePa 400! We headed back out for a girls dinner, another surprise for Sarah, with two of her girl friends from Law School and two more from Hershey! Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this weekend special for my big sister :) We had a fabulous time!
Cute shoe tree for Erica and baby Blake!
Mommies-to-be Jenn and Sarah enjoying some tea.
Mommy-to-be opening some of her amazing gifts.
Hershey mommies-to-be....so fabulous that they are all friends after all of these years.
