Quick Trip to Vegas

Hooray for Steve and Emily (John's brother and his wife) who just had a baby boy last Sunday. Tyler Xaing Jonas (Emily is Chinese and his middle name is her maiden name) was born about noon on Sunday Oct. 20th, weighing in at 7lb. 6oz. He is a cute little guy. Hopefully I will get pictures to post soon.
Because of the birth, there was family visiting Steve and Emily in Las Vegas. We had decided to go down and visit too. The night before we were supposed to leave, I was up with Austin who had a 103 fever! We woke up in the morning (Friday) and debated whether to go or not...and debated and debated. Finally we decided to just go and didn't get on the road until 1. We got there just in time for dinner and not long after that, Austin started a fever again and (of course) started throwing up. I, again, was up with him most of the night. So by Saturday morning, I hadn't slept for two nights (one of those not in my own home) and couldn't stand the thought of day. I talked John into driving us home that day. We stayed long enough to have breakfast with friends, lunch with family and visit Kahre's fire house (Kahre, pronounced Karrie, is John's sister's husband. He is a firefighter in Las Vegas, for you slower people). The kids thought it was the neatest place and had such a blast. I would highly recommend just taking your kids to visit your local firehouse (plus it's cool for mom because there are some cute firemen!) It's super cool.
By the time we were finishing up there, Austin said that his head was hot and his eyes were hurting. So we pilled back into the mini V and headed home. The kids actually did great. All three slept the first 4 hours of the drive home and John and I enjoyed listening to a book on the ipod.
Here are pics from the firehouse.

Before and After

No, this is not a weight loss post (I wish...not quite there!) I just wanted to post pictures of a couple little projects I did recently.
We got this old mission style nightstand when we were first married from a friend whose grandma died and was just getting rid of it. For some reason, it has looked like this for the past few years that we've had it.

Now it looks like this. It's perfect for Bailey's pink shabby chic room!

Also, I bought these cute tins at a little decor store here, but got them home and realized that they looked really bad on my taupe walls

So this is what I did to them.

Just adds a little POP...Super cute now!!

Talk is Cheap

My Mom!
My #1 example of selfless service
(in the hospital with Addie when
she had surgery)
So one reason I avoided blogging for so long is that I didn't want to be making my personal thoughts public domain. Although I will avoid this as much as possible, I hope this is at least thought provoking to you...
A comment made by a guest on Oprah today is why I am writing this. He is terminally ill and was talking about the first weeks after finding out he had stage four cancer. He said that there were people who would say "Call if you need anything." Then there are people who just drop off dinner or take the kids for the afternoon without being asked. My thoughts immediately shot back to the three weeks I spent on bed rest at the end of my pregnancy with Bailey. I had countless people call and say "Call if you need anything." Yeah Right! Like I really was ever going to call anyone and say "Can you bring dinner tonight?" It's one thing to call someone in need and tell them to call if they need anything...it's quite another to just do what you know needs to be done.
We are smart, able women here. We have had babies. We have been sick, had surgery, moved homes, had bad days. We know what is needed by who.
I loved the people that would just drop off dinner or take my kids out. I even had a friend come over with foot lotion and rub my feet. How wonderful!
I just want to step up my service a little bit and actually DO, not just offer. I truly believe "Talk is Cheap."

Finally off bed rest
and on my way
to have Bailey!

making my own magazine

So I have subscriptions to a couple magazines (Martha Stewart and Family Fun) and I love to flip through them and get fun ideas. The problem is, I never remember the ideas let alone do them. All the while, magazines are piling up in my house. To remedy this problem, I have started going through all my magazines and ripping out the pages with all the things I like...recipes, decorating ideas, fun crafts, kid's games, entertaining, etc. I have categorize them and put them in three ring binders. So now when I need a fun game for a birthday party or a cute centerpiece for a holiday, I just have to flip to that section and..wa-la! I am super excited about it.

how to remove nail polish from your carpet

If you know my sweet Addie, you will not be shocked to know that while I was working in the yard, she was inside painting her nails! Purple! Of course, being 2, she also painted her brand new pants and my carpet!
I quickly jumped online to find lots and lots of chemical combinations...ammonia and rubbing alcohol, hydrogin peroxide and hair spray. I tried them all and got nice buzz:) I found what worked the very best was windex. Just plain windex. Now I did put everything else on there and THE STAIN STILL HAS TO BE WET!!! If it's dry, I think your best bet is new carpet. HAHA! But before you try all the concoctions, try windex. I think it'll work!