Team DeJean - Adventures of Married Life!

Pictures from February

2010-02-25T23:42:00.009-06:00

Lillie's new fascination of the month: our shoes! Doesn't she look so old in this picture?! I have to remind myself that she's barely 18 months because she passes for 2 easily!

Just chillin' with her friends the Backyardigans!

It's time to get up and get to work! Lillie loves feeding the dog, cleaning, and doing laundry - gotta love this phase of being Mommy's little helper!

She's looking a bit overwhelmed at the amount of laundry that needs to get done!

Take a well deserved break and get some hugs from mom!

Some of the best photos come while sitting in her high chair because she can't get away from me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Why I don't post more often

2010-01-30T22:13:00.002-06:00

If you don't know this about me already, let me fill you in on a little secret about me....I have career attention deficit disorder (CADD). It's a severe case. My hands are in too many pots!
I'm professionally trained in public accounting and got my CPA designation in 2003. I dabbled around in that for 6 years (2001 - 2007) before deciding to take a break to, off all things, flip houses and make jewelry. Really? Because tearing out people's old toilets has everything to do with preparing tax returns and wire-wrapping gemstones!
So from 2006 - 2008, I flip 3 houses and work on promoting my jewelry. I mix installing ceramic tile and granite countertops with attending bridal shows and jewelry conventions.
In 2008, Lillie is born (I finished my last flip when I was 7 weeks pregnant and it sold when I was around 12 weeks). At this point, the real estate market is still suffering and now that I have a little one to care for, I decide I need to try something more stable than flipping houses in a down market. Up for reconsideration is my career as a CPA. I find a wonderful firm that offers flexible work arrangements and I work tax season only (February 1 - April 15) in 2009.
In the summer of 2009, I decide that I'm really enjoying crafting for Lillie. Ideas start swirling in my head and I decide to sign up for 4 holiday craft shows in the fall. Not 100% sure of what I'll be making, I just run with it.
In November of 2009, I purchase an embroidery machine and inherit a ton, and I mean a ton, of fabric, thread, notions, and 2 sewing machines from my grandmother.
So as we enter another tax busy season, I'm trying to balance my life as a CPA, home improvement extraordinaire (a bit of an exaggeration but whatever!), jeweler, sewer, crafter, and embroiderer as well as manage my website, Etsy store, sales on eBay, and the handful of personal tax returns that I do for friends and family. Oh yeah, and I'm a mom as well.
So please forgive me! Admittedly, the last thing on my mind is updating my blog!

This photo is from a few months ago, but it's a good reminder of what really matters!

A day in the life of Lillie

2009-12-28T21:19:00.003-06:00

Note from mom: I'm experimenting with my new camera - a Christmas present from my parents. Merry Christmas to me!

Here's a peek into Lillie's daily life!
Wake up and come downstairs to drink milk and stumble across the box of wheat thins that mom and dad accidentally left out from the night before:

Back to looking cute!

Torment and cuddle with Harvey!

Play with my new Christmas gifts, including this tunnel from Grandma and Grandpa.

Breakfast and lunch are pretty uneventful, but dinner was a blast! Mom says I'll eat anything dipped in ketchup! Here I am going in for the dip:

So close I can taste it:

We have success!

Mission Accomplished!

Finish off with a good clean up from Harvey!

Thanks for checking in on me! xoxo Lillie

Wordless Wednesday - Lillie with dad's Air Force cap

2009-12-23T09:00:00.001-06:00

Christmas Lights 2009

2009-12-19T21:36:00.002-06:00

We just got news that our house placed 3rd in the subdivision's decorating contest!

We went simple and classy this year with 10 lighted wreaths and lights along our retaining walls. I like that the house looks good in both day and night.

3rd Annual Gingerbread House Making Party

2009-12-19T21:03:00.003-06:00

Once again, my holiday season would not be complete without our annual gingerbread house making party! And yet again, Lisa served a yummy brunch while our houses baked and cooled. We have all agreed that our houses continue to get better and more creative with each year that passes.

Trina just bought a house earlier this year and it was only appropriate that her gingerbread house be modeled after her own house. My favorite part about Trina's house was her cute porch and entryway!
Mine - My theme was randomness this year! I decided to pick a color scheme of red, green, yellow, and white and I just ran with it. My favorite part was making the pretzel fence.

Mary Kay's house featured 2 gingerbread men and 2 santas (I don't want to be there when her kids ask about the 2 santas part!). My favorite parts of MK's house are her covered porch and her tree with the green glitter garland.

I had to keep myself from watching Jodi make her house because I kept wanting to steal her ideas! My two favorite parts are the snowman complete with a Necco wafer hat and her sled fashioned out of two mini candy canes and a cracker (I stole the latter idea).

Karen's house was classy this year! I felt like her design was simple but effective. My favorite parts include the arched door and the sour octopus taking a swim!

Lisa was going for a lodge theme and I think she pulled it off. Lisa won "Best in Show" this year! My favorite parts are the pretzel fence and the pretzel sides. I thought it looked like a rustic, cabin-like, gingerbread house!

This is my attempt to play around with some close up shots.

Santa sledding by MK's house while a gingerbread man watches in the distance (he's kind of creepy looking from this angle).

Jodi's walkway and snowman.

Creepy gingerbread man alert!

Trina's house - wouldn't this make a cute "I've Moved" card!

Reason #211 why an SLR would be great - no more blurry photos! Still a cute shot though!

Toddler travel tips!

2009-12-07T20:31:00.004-06:00

Does the idea of traveling halfway across the world with a toddler sound less appealing than water board torture while having your wisdom teeth removed with no anesthesia?

Well, yes.. yes it does!

In this post, I'll share with you my strategy for traveling overseas with your toddler!

Packing
For our 8 day trip, I packed everything we needed in a large upright suitcase (26" to 30") and a backpack. I packed a pair of running shoes and a pair of black loafers. I made sure to coordinate all my outfits with these black shoes. Since shoes take up a lot of room and I needed this precious room for more essential items, my clothing choices were all based around one pair of shoes. For Lillie, I packed 5 outfits and 5 sleepers and I did laundry mid way through our stay.

While I checked the upright, I used the backpack as my personal item. A backpack usually has lots of zippered sections and it makes it super easy to find things - like when you're taking off and you realize that your screaming child needs a pacifier to help relieve the pressure in their ears! In the backpack, I had toys, books, food in a soft cold storage container, a change of clothes for Lillie, a day's worth of diapers and wipes, a small blanket, and necessary items for me in case we got stuck overnight in a foreign city (like the plane gets diverted and my luggage is lost).

Getting to the airport and getting through security
If someone offers to drive you to the airport, take them up on that offer! My dad dropped me off right in front of the check-in counter and it was a huge stress reliever.

At the counter, I checked our large upright and her stroller. Investing in a bag for checking your stroller is a must (see product information below).

As far as getting through security, just take your time. Don't stress about holding up a line. You will get through and remember everything is replaceable if you happened to leave something behind - everything but your child! I had a nightmare a couple days before our flight that I left Lillie at security! You'll have to take your shoes and your child's shoes off. You'll also have to take out any extra milk that you are carrying on so that they can "test" it. This basically involves holding a litmus type paper over your open container of milk for a few seconds. I traveled through the airport with Lillie in her car seat (see product information below) and I did have to remove her from her car seat at security.

Waiting at the gate before your flight or while on a layover
My main advice is let your child burn off as much energy during this time since they will be restricted while on the plane. Find an area near your gate where there aren't many people. We hung out in the gate area adjacent to our departure gate since there wasn't a departing flight at that gate, and therefore, no people. I put my backpack on one end of the aisle and her car seat on the other (about 20 feet down) and let her basically have free range of that entire aisle. I even befriended a family traveling to Geneva who had an 18 month old and a 4 year old and all three kids played together in the same aisle. We had them barricaded in with all our carry-on luggage! Another bonus - Lillie had 3 times the toys to play with!

The flight
When getting your seats, see if you can get bulk head seating. This is the first row in each section of the plane. This row means you have to put your bag in the overhead compartment during take off and landing because it doesn't have any storage at your feet, but you'll have about 8 to 12" of additional leg room.

Try to coordinate a snack with take off and landing. Anything to encourage swallowing during pressure changes is going to help with any ear discomfort.

Make friends with the flight attendants! I had awesome service on all 4 of my flights to and from Germany. If they offer to help, take their offer! I had flight attendants holding Lillie while I installed her car seat. I had them helping get us and all our stuff off the flight. Seriously, check your pride to try and do it all at the door and let them help you!

A note about your car seat and flying: if you decide to take your car seat on the flight (which I highly recommend for any toddler who doesn't understand the concept of sitting in their own seat or your lap without trying to be a Houdini), make sure your car seat meets FAA standards. Most (if not all) do, but there should be a sticker somewhere on your car seat stating this. Just locate the sticker prior to your flight so if someone questions it, you can easily point to this sticker.

If your flight is long enough, you'll get to experience the joy of changing your aforementioned escape artist child in an airplane lavatory. You thought it was a tight fit by yourself? Get ready for some creative positioning and just laugh it off when your child accidentally opens the door and falls out of the bathroom while you're trying to hover over the toilet and go yourself. Just remember - you'll never see any of these people again!

For our trans-Atlantic flights, I brought a book with my own book light. If your child is sleeping in the seat next to you or on your lap, you won't want to use the bright overhead lights. A personal book light will work much better.

Another tip for long flights - Benadryl. I called Lillie's pediatrician about a dosage for Benadryl and while initially, I thought I would use Benadryl to help Lillie sleep better on the flight, the nurse also mentioned that Benadryl helps with any excess fluid that might be in the ear canal that could flare up and cause pain during take offs and landing. So bottom line, pack your Benadryl and if your kid happens to take an extra long nap during the flight, so much the better.

Specific product recommendations
GoGo Kidz Travelmate (approx $80 at BRU - in stores)This product hooks on to your car seat and allows you to travel through the airport with ease. Like most individuals, I only have two arms. One arm pulled this and one arm pulled my upright bag that I checked. That means that I only had this and the backpack to deal with in the airport.

A gate-check bag (or any bag) for your stroller. (approx. $12 at BRU - in stores)
I used the black fabric handle on this stroller bag to slide over the handle of my upright luggage and I basically stacked my stroller across the top of my luggage so that I didn't have to carry it separately (you know, with that 3rd arm I keep hidden under my shirt!).

Squeezable fruit and veggies packs like these (newly available at BRU)
These were a lifesaver for keeping Lillie on a somewhat balanced diet during the flight. Just remember that these count as a liquid and must be included in your quart size bag. What wouldn't fit in the quart size bag (I had room for 2) went into my checked luggage. Lillie had one everyday we were in Germany and I felt better knowing she was getting some fruits and veggies in her system.

Uncrustables PB&J sandwiches
I threw two of these in her cold storage bag and they made the perfect meal on the go. She had one in the airport while we waited for our flight to Newark and another during our long flight to Germany.

Toys - a travel magna-doodle, crayons and paper, magazines (Lillie likes turning pages and looking at pictures - a magazine provides more entertainment than a book), baby Einstein animal flash cards, toy cell phone and a toy remote. A note about noisy toys - unless your toys are obnoxiously loud, you probably won't be able to hear the little beeps and squeaks over the rumbling of the plane so feel free to pack small electronic toys. Another tip - borrow little "gadgety" toys from friends. You'll only be borrowing the toys for a week or two and they will capture your child's interest since they'll be brand new to them.

While too advanced for Lillie, the family that we met while laid over in Newark had Crayola Color Wonder pads and markers as well as sticker books for their 4 year old.

I hope these tips helped! Yes, it will be stressful, but you can do it! Our trip back to the states was especially difficult and I don't wish to repeat it soon, but we all survived and you will too!

Germany - A recap

2009-11-27T21:55:00.002-06:00

Lillie and I ventured to Germany the second week of November to visit Roger while he was deployed to Ramstein Air Base. Here's a recap of our events. I plan to post later this week with tips for traveling by yourself with a toddler, but for now, here are some fun pictures.

One of the many amazing castles in Germany. This one was along the Rhine River.

We took a trip to an outdoor mall of sorts in the town of Kaiserslautern. Lillie experienced her first sucker from the Hummel chocolate store. She was a non stop drooling machine!

A quaint little town along the Rhine River.

The Heidelberg Castle. The weather was crummy - misting and cold - but the views were amazing.

Lillie asked Dad not to pull a Michael Jackson on her and dangle her over the edge.

Me and Lillie - my hot mess of a hairdo tells you just how lovely the weather was!

And no trip to Germany is complete without...

A ride on Mickey Mouse!

Mickey and his friends were in the Kids Center at the Ramstein Base Exchange (basically the equivalent of a mall on a military base).

Lillie loves her some Hall & Oates!

2009-10-12T16:16:00.000-05:00

She gets her moves from her momma!

2009-10-12T16:12:00.001-05:00

A week in pictures

2009-10-04T17:04:00.004-05:00

On October 2nd, we took a trip out to Eckerts in Belleville for some apple and pumpkin picking. The weather was sunny, but windy! Lillie's hair in this picture cracks me up!

Lillie and I driving the tractor!

Apple picking

Lillie with her baby apple!

Lillie trying to roll her pumpkin back to the pick up spot!

Lillie found her perfect pumpkin!

And for comparison, rewind to last year!

Could Lillie's smile get any bigger?! I love how her nose wrinkles up - we don't know who she gets that from!

These days, no trip to the mall is complete without a visit to the kids area. You can only expect her to stay content in a stroller for so long. Her favorite toy was the car.

This is her getting sassy - telling those slow drivers to get out of the way!

And finally, we went out to Scott AFB to see dad at work! Lillie is just hanging out in the cockpit.

"And if I push this button, what will happen?"

Family Shot

Dad hard at work behind of the wheel of a C-40.

Missouri Botanical Gardens

2009-09-27T15:59:00.003-05:00

Moms Like Me sponsored a playdate at the Botanical Gardens on Wednesday, September 23rd. Lillie and I met a few other moms for some fun in the children's garden.

Lillie and her friend Bella.
Some shots of Lillie - she could have touched these petunias all day long! She was fascinated by them!

Sharing her piece of mulch with me!

All the girls (minus Esme and Finley who showed up a few minutes after these photos were taken).

The best group shot I could salvage. Sydney looks especially cute!

And that lasted a whole 2 seconds! Back off they go!

Light or Dark?

2009-09-22T21:29:00.004-05:00

I have been wanting to hang a roman shade style of blind in our family room. Here's the deal - I love all the natural light that floods through the windows, but for about an hour in the late afternoon, direct sunlight comes blaring through and I really don't want our new leather furniture to fade. I'm having a tough time deciding on which blinds I like. The first is a tan color grasscloth - it matches the wall color.

I'd say 95% of the time, the blinds will be raised, looking like this -

And lowered for an hour or so out of the day like this -

Or should I go dark? This look ties in with the color of the furniture.

And lowered -

Decisions decisions! Most likely, I will not do anything over the top as far as curtains go. I'm considering adding a panel on each side of the set of windows - so two panels total. I'm hunting for fabric and haven't found one that I can't live without yet.

So what do you think?

Fun in the...

2009-09-21T21:38:00.002-05:00

Rain! On Saturday, we headed down to property that my parents have on the outskirts of Cape Girardeau. When we left St. Louis, it was 78 and sunny. When we arrived at the property, it was 68 and rainy. I was sad because I thought the rain would put a damper on our plans to let Lillie roam free and explore - her favorite thing to do these days. Lillie proved me wrong!

Coming into the garage for a break!

Back for round 2 - this time she's shirtless!

I had so much fun watching you jump in the puddles Lillie! You showed me how to make the best of dreary situation that day!

Gearing up for craft shows

2009-09-20T21:09:00.003-05:00

The holiday craft shows kick off in October and I've been diligently working in the corner of our basement sewing, serging, ironing, and hot glueing my crafts. I get about an hour of work in each night after Lillie goes to bed. I've posted before about these pillowcase dresses, but here are some additional fabric combinations.

Also, I've made these baby and toddler neck warmers. The inside is lined with a waffle patterned fleece. As a bonus, the large size (for kids 5 and up) also fits adults so you know I'll be sporting one of these this winter!

I've had fun embellishing bags. The ones shown are small - a good size to carry around your little one's lunch or other small needs - like a few diapers and a wipe case. I also have large ones that are good for an overnight bag.

These hairbows are super easy - just line an alligator clip with grossgrain ribbon and cover two different sized buttons with fabric. A little hot glue keeps everything together.

I love these little fabric flower hair bows.

No post is complete without a picture of Lillie! Here she is modeling the flower hair bow.

Most of my fabrics are by Amy Butler. Her fabrics are so fun to coordinate. Let me know which item you like best and what you think a fair price is. I have no idea what the reception is going to be so your comments will help me prepare for the shows.

You can find me at the following shows:

Oct 24 & 25 - Fall Arts & Craft Show at Sperreng Middle School

Nov 21 & 22 - Parkway South Band Holiday Craft Show

Dec 5 & 6 - Oakville Band Holiday Craft Show

Dec 12 - Lutheran High School South Craft Show

Queeny Park

2009-08-25T20:48:00.002-05:00

St. Louis has been having some awesome, almost fall-like, weather the past few days. We decided to take advantage of it by heading out to Queeny Park for a hike.
And we're off to the park...
We wound up using our Ergo carrier for Lillie. If we were avid hikers, we'd probably splurge for one of those frame carriers. The Ergo works for now.
Lillie with Dad...

And Lillie with mom... I must point out my "short-waistedness". Notice how Lillie's head is parallel with my chin and now go back and look at where Lillie's head comes on Roger! We are the same height folks, just proportioned totally different!

After 45 minutes of being cooped up in the carrier, she's free! (And hard to capture with my camera!)

In other random news, I caught these moments of Harvey and Lillie playing together. She was sitting on the rug and he came up and laid in her lap. Too sweet!

And here she is giving him some invisible kibble, aka a little piece of lint she found on the carpet.

Gotta love that Harvey!

1st Birthday Party

2009-08-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

Happy First Birthday Miss Lillie!
(thank you to Melissa for this wonderful photo!)

The Friday and Saturday before Lillie's party, Roger and I built "Lillieville" out of some cardboard boxes left over from our move. Lillie napped really well on Saturday and we were able to add some extra touches like the trees, shingles, mail and mail slot, and a little sunshine!

Lillie loves her new playhouse!

We had approximately 12 kids plus their families over on Sunday afternoon - it all added up to about 35 people! We bar-be-qued and the kids made crafts (shaker bottles filled with things like sequins, jingle bells, wooden beads, etc.). The kids played and we ended the evening with yet another cake smash!

The birthday banner that I made (thanks to inspiration from Amber).
The next morning, we let Lillie open her gifts. She's such a proper girl - reading the card before opening the gift!

Playing with her gift from Genevieve!

No surprise - she loves the mountain of tissue paper!

Apparently, Lillie was needing her cake fix for the day!

Happy Birthday Girl! What a long way you've come!

Birthday Party - Round 1

2009-08-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

The three women in Roger's life (his mom, his wife, and his daughter) all celebrate their birthdays within 4 days. As a first, Roger made us a cake - double layer butter cake with cream cheese frosting.

But let's face it, the world is all about Lillie and I've grown used to the fact that my birthday will never be important again - especially since it is the day before hers and I will spend my remaining years planning big birthday bashes for Lillie!

We wound up giving her a small piece of the cake to try. We had gone out to eat earlier in the evening and for some reason, she was not so happy on the 35 minute car ride back home. I put her in some pj's and Roger decided that we would open gifts and have cake - a full hour past her normal bed time. She's pretty resiliant though and wound up enjoying the celebration.

Overdue 11 month post

2009-08-20T10:11:00.003-05:00

The 11 month photo shoot was a tough one! It was taken right after bath time and we started out with some naked baby shots! Gotta love the 25 pounds of Lillie-goodness!

And now for the onesies...

We've started transitioning to milk in a cup for her two middle of the day feedings. She seems like such a big girl with her sippy cup of milk! Around the middle of her 11 month, walking became more comfortable and she began walking away from me - no longer needing my motivation. Around a week before her 1st birthday, walking became her main form of transportation as she learned how to stop in mid stride and turn and even walk sideways without falling. It was at that point that she also relaxed her arms and kept them by her sides instead of holding them out and walking like Frankenstein! There are so many changes these days - I feel like she shows me something new everyday!

Stay tuned...

I'm putting it out there...

2009-07-24T15:21:00.002-05:00

My 21 month free pass of eating whatever I want is drawing to an end. I've officially started the weaning process and the extra calories burned while breastfeeding will be drawing to a close. So I joined a gym and to help keep me accountable, I'm going to add a counter to track my visits.

My goals are to tone and increase my strength and endurance. Maybe one day my stomach will be flat again :)

The Bronco

2009-07-23T18:38:00.003-05:00

In latest family news, we are looking to get the ball rolling on our 1976 Bronco restoration project! One decision that seems to be dividing our family is the paint color choice. No matter what exterior color we go with, the hard top will be painted the same color as the body and we will have an additional black soft top (so try to imagine the burgundy Bronco without the white top pictured). We are also going to go with a family cage (the roll bars on top of the Bronco) like the one pictured in green.

So the choices are....
A silvery blue

Burgundy (minus the white top)

or a dark green.
Vote for your favorite in the poll to the right and feel free to leave any comments!

Lillie's first steps

2009-07-16T18:24:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, Lillie started taking a step here or there. Today, I finally got a video of it!

2009-07-16T18:23:00.001-05:00

Pillowcase Dresses

2009-07-16T18:01:00.003-05:00

This very talented mom was the inspiration for the simple "pillowcase" dress that Lillie is wearing below. I made it during her afternoon nap and she wore it around the house for the evening. What a darling little dress!

June - a recap

2009-06-26T12:59:00.005-05:00

June has been an eventful month! In personal news, we are set to close on our city house on the 30th, but I'm not getting excited until the check is in hand! We survived a building inspection, Laclede Gas inspection, a city occupancy inspection, and a stake survey. Selling a home - and the moving process - is stressful! It makes me realize how much crap we have! A garage sale - or 5 trips to Goodwill - is in our near future.

June also brings Lillie's 10 month birthday! She celebrated by getting her first tooth!

This month, I've also seen more interaction between Lillie and Harvey. Now that she is a mobile baby, none of his toys (or his tail) are safe!

Look at her evil smile as she plays with one of Harvey's beloved toys! He pretends to ignore her by looking out the window!

Another favorite toy is her Air Baby from Aunts Cindy and Laura! I thought about waiting until her first birthday to give it to her, but she loves it already so much that I'm glad I didn't wait.

Another first this month (that I'm not terribly proud of, but whatever) is her first trip to McDonalds. She has been twice before when I've had to stop while road tripping. I had packed a lunch for her in the past, but this most recent trip caught me off guard. We were driving back from Tablerock Lake and I didn't have anything for her. So she had a chicken select and apple slices. She loved the chicken with all those spices in the breading!

Finally, June also brought Roger's first Father's Day. Thanks to a suggestion from Kristin, Lillie made her first art project just for daddy! A box, piece of posterboard, tempera paints, and one baby in a diaper add up to a pretty cool piece of art! She's taking orders for future commissions if you're interested!

Not too shabby for a 10 month old!

A long overdue post all about Lillie!

2009-05-23T20:57:00.003-05:00

Where to begin?! I suppose right where I left off!
Here's Lillie's 8 month shot! Happy as usual!

One thing that has become especially enjoyable is bath time. We've moved into a "big girl" tub because, well, she's a big girl! Here's her splashing around in all open water!

A favorite picture of mine - here she is celebrating her last tub in the kitchen sink. I just want to pinch those cheeks!

One Wednesday in May, Roger and I took Lillie to Faust Park to visit the Butterfly House and ride on the carousel. I was hoping Lillie would be old enough to get something out of the exhibit and she loved it! The keep it 85 degrees and humid like a rainforest - hence my out of control hair that got fluffier by the minute!

And on to her 9 month shots and stats...

She weighed in at 22 pounds, 3 ounces (94th percentile) and she's 30 1/4" long (99th percentile). Our car seat goes up to 30"/30 pounds, so technically, she's outgrown the infant seat by 1/4". I'm on a mad dash to get her a bigger seat!

At 9 months, our daily schedule looks something like this (I don't expect anyone to care about this - I'm just listing it more as a reference for myself):

8 am - wake and drink (I've pushed her bedtime back since it's light outside late in the day this time of year and as a result, her waking time has gradually been later)

9:30 am - morning solid meal (she like soy yogurt, fruit (either chopped or pureed with cereal), pancakes, and toast)

11 am nap

12:30 pm - wake and drink

1:30 pm - lunch (her favorites are cheese, turkey meatballs, grilled cheese sandwich, pureed veggies with quinoa or couscous, refried beans, chicken, tomatoes, beans, chopped fruit like bananas or peaches)

3:30 pm - nap

4:30 pm - wake and drink

5:30 pm - dinner - same food choices as lunch

7:30 pm - bedtime bottle and in bed by 8pm

So far, this 9th month has been a month of changes. At the beginning of the month, she was on all fours rocking back and forth. Since then, she's managed to coordinate all her efforts and has turned into an official crawler. She's cruising along furniture (after be placed in a standing position) and almost pulled herself up for the first time today. She's dropped from 3 naps per day to 2 naps per day and we've added a lunch solid meal to her daily routine. I can see how much she loves solid food - she's becoming more and more disinterested in nursing and I can imagine that it won't be hard to wean her in 2 months or so (if she hasn't already done it herself before then). Lots of changes!

Onto the photos...

The 9 month photo shoot was the hardest by far. Here are several of the action shots - I've got a little mover and a shaker on my hands!

I promise not to wait this long before posting again!

We have a crawler!

2009-05-21T08:45:00.000-05:00

So this morning was the big day. She was in her diaper only because the plan was to give her a bath after getting up and feeding (now instead I'm blogging!). Maybe it was the clothes that were slowing her down this whole time because she just took off like she was a pro! Way to go Lillie!

2009-05-21T08:44:00.001-05:00

Lillie Video

2009-05-11T21:06:00.000-05:00

Here's 19 seconds of Lillie Pie to hold you over until my next post!

2009-05-11T21:05:00.001-05:00

City House on the Market

2009-05-09T09:19:00.002-05:00

I'm doing these catch up posts out of order, but in other news, we put our Benton Park house up on the market. Keep your fingers crossed for us because we received and accepted an offer but we don't close until June 30th and everyone knows that, in this market, anything can happen. Let's hope that everything goes smoothly. It really hit me when we got the contract in and it showed someone elses name with our address!

From what we know, the potential buyer has fallen in love with the house and is ready to take on a yard after several years of living in an apartment. I hope she enjoys it as much as we did! I'm going to miss this house! It was a house with a lot of "firsts". First house as a married couple, first dog, first pregnancy, first baby....

Catching up...Trip to Seattle

2009-05-08T13:20:00.003-05:00

After tax season ended, Roger and a friend from the sqaudron had to go up to Seattle for four days for training. The friend's wife and I joined them on the trip and hung out together during the day while the boys went to the simulator at Boeing. Seattle is so much fun! Our hotel was right on the water, walking distance from Pike's market and tons of restaurants and little shops. One of the highlights of the trip was taking a sea plane ride on Kenmore Air.

We were flying so low in the sea plane - check out these views of downtown and the space needle.

No trip to Seattle is complete without a visit to the Boeing Museum of Flight (at least when you go with 2 pilots). Jacqui and I hanging out in some planes that supposedly broke the sound barrier or something cool like that :)

Easter Preview

2009-04-10T16:48:00.004-05:00

Hi, it's me, Lillie. I spent all day with mommy! It's been a while since we've been able to do that and I heard mommy talking about something called mommy guilt and tax season but I'm not sure what she meant. Anywho, when we got home from shopping, there was a package on the front porch. I love packages!

Oh lookie here, it has my name on it.

Mom took the box into the kitchen and opened it up. I was so excited to see my favorite toy - tissue paper and ribbons!

Sorry Lola (yes, my mom named her), but I need two hands to play with this!

Mom said I had to wait to see the rest of the gift so stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I wasn't supposed to see my Easter basket from mom and dad, but here it is. Mom felt like getting crafty and personalizing the bucket. She put some of my fovorite things in there, including eggs filled with puffs!

Last but not least, mom wanted me to show you these letters she *finally* made for my room. She went out into the garage with a can of spray paint and I wasn't sure what she was up to, but when I woke up from my nap, they were all finished!

Stay tuned for an 8 month update and more on how I celebrated Easter!

Hugs!

Lillie

Cutest.Video.Ever

2009-03-30T21:05:00.001-05:00

DeJean Look-alike Meter

2009-03-28T15:53:00.001-05:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

It's been a while...

2009-03-28T14:14:00.005-05:00

But we're back!

A lot has happened in the past month...I've been working 3 days a week through tax busy season at a cpa firm, we moved, we have been working hard to get the city house ready to go on the market, Roger's lost close to 20 pounds...

oh and Lillie, well she's growing bigger every day. She's been on solid foods for about 2 months now and she's tried just about every fruit and veggie I could think to make. She's just recently started self feeding. We started with Gerber puffs and practiced with those for about 2 weeks. She's been able to feed herself very small pieces of ripe canteloupe as well as pieces of bread.

Here are some pictures to recap the past month.

Taken on Valentine's Day - a family photo.

Lillie lunging for a toy. She's not on her hands and knees yet, but she'll get there!

Lillie enjoying some unseasonably warm weather for March while Roger and I attempt to do work on our city house.

Lillie is becoming a pro in her exersaucer. I love her eyes in this picture -thanks Roger!

I love her smile in this one!

And finally, her 7 month picture, taken 2 weeks late! Things have just been so crazy lately!

About the monthly onesies...

2009-02-15T13:07:00.003-06:00

If you are interested in having some of your own, email me and I will put you in touch with the girl who made them for me.
christiedejean at gmail.com
They were hand made by a friend and she also has a set for boys. Basically, they are iron-on transfers that you can press onto your own onesies (because every baby grows differently). I went ahead and made all of ours up in the beginning and squeazing her body into a 6 month onesie at 6 months old was quite a challenge. We almost had to use the jaws of life to get it off her! I recommend only making up a few (or one) at a time!

6 Months!

2009-02-08T20:38:00.003-06:00

Happy 1/2 birthday Lillie!

A few weeks ago, we decided to start solid foods. We started with rice cereal and it turns out that she is one very particular little girl. After trying 3 different commercially available brands, it turns out that she prefers Beechnut rice cereal and nothing else! It's fine with me, seeing that it is the least expensive of all my options! After one week of rice cereal, we tried avocadoes. I was really excited about her trying something new, but she just wasn't "into" the avocado like I was hoping.

Peas, her second food, were a totally different story. This girl loves her peas! It wasn't until I saw her inhale her peas that I realized that she didn't really like avocado. I have 24 cubes or more of avocado left so I'm guessing I'll be trying it later, maybe mixing it with peas, to get her to eat it!

Poor Harvey - he looks so pathetic in this picture! With every week that goes by, she is more and more interested in Harvey. Thankfully, he is a passive dog and doesn't mind the eye poking and fur grabbing!

Sasquatch Lillie and her friend Bella at Parker's first birthday party.

The scene as we drove away from Parker's party! Lillie had so much fun!

And some videos for your viewing pleasure! Lillie has mastered toe sucking and shrieking in the first one.

And proof that she rolls!

Big things are happening!

2009-02-07T10:04:00.002-06:00

I'm happy to announce that Lillie is finally rolling over! As much tummy time as we did with her, she never learned how to roll from belly to back. She surprised us by rolling 4 times from her back to her belly on January 28th. She has only done it a total of 7 times, but at least we know she is physically capable of rolling!

Secondly, I am working again...three days a week. I survived my first week back and have to hand it to the moms that juggle motherhood and working. I'll be working 25 - 30 hours a week at a cpa firm in Clayton. They are super accommodating and allow me a lot of flexibility in my schedule. It's been fun talking with people my own age and height! I think it will add some dimension to my life that has been so absorbed in Lillie for the past 6 months.

And because no post is complete without a picture, here is one of Lillie practicing her sitting skills.

Video Recap

2009-01-27T10:44:00.008-06:00

In looking back through friend's blogs, I realized how much I enjoyed watching the videos of their little ones. Here's a video recap of the first (almost) 6 months with Lillie.

10 days old. We are still getting used to each other. I was still very tired and recovering from the delivery. Seeing her little accidental smiles made it all (well, most of it!) worth it!

One month old. Our morning routine at this point consisted of taking Harvey for a walk and having Lillie fall asleep in her sling. The sling or Moby wrap worked about 99% of the time for getting her to nap! Notice her snoring. She is such a loud sleeper!

Here she is at 3 1/2 months singing along to one of her favorite songs!

And at 4 1/2 months old, here she is in the mornings. She is definitely a morning baby. Some of our most fun times happen first thing in the morning!

Here she is at 5 months shaking her rattle. I can definitely start to see a new alertness and awareness in her eyes.

And finally, taken this morning. She's about 10 days shy of 6 months and we've been practicing sitting up unsupported. Here she is strutting her stuff!

Five Months!

2009-01-11T12:24:00.007-06:00

Happy 5 Months Lillie!

Relaxing with her dad! Notice the rattle - it's a lovely gift from Olive, one of Lillie's pals. Lillie LOVES the rattle. It is just about every picture!

Lillie enjoying her some boppy time!

Let's talk about something for a second - Lillie has yet to roll over! For all those non-baby milestone experts out there, this should be happening by now! Her pediatrician isn't nearly as concerned as I am about this - noting that Lillie is in the 89th percentile for weight and that it's harder for big babies to lift and roll their own body weight. So here we are doing tummy time, hoping that Lillie will feel like rolling over some day!

And while she doesn't roll over, look what I found her daddy teaching her! She'll be the first non-rolling over walking baby!

Christmas and a side of RSV

2008-12-29T11:07:00.003-06:00

Poor Lillie came down with a case of RSV and acute bronciolitis. It's relatively common in infants under 12 months. It started out as a cough here and there and quickly escalsated to coughing and choking spells. We found ourselves at St. Lukes ER on Saturday evening where she was tested and treated. Well, speaking of treatment, there really isn't anything we can do that we aren't already doing - elevated crib, humidifier, bulb suction before feedings, etc. Our instructions are to closely monitor her for rapid breathing and/or wheezing. Hopefully, we'll have our healthy Lillie back for the New Year.

Lillie Laughing

2008-12-19T16:12:00.005-06:00

Just in time for the holidays, Lillie gave us her first laugh last Friday. It's not a regular thing yet and she's very unpredictable so when I got her laughing this afternoon and saw the camera on the coffee table, I knew this was my opportunity to capture it on film! Roger has yet to see it happen so this is my proof!

4 months!

2008-12-09T16:28:00.002-06:00

Happy 4 months Lillie! The time seems to be flying by now that I'm getting sleep at night! In the beginning, people would tell me to cherish the time when they are so small because they grow up so fast. I'm going to be real with you for a second. I'm glad she's not a newborn anymore. That is a tough time! Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise!

So onto her stats. She is weighing in at 15 lbs, 11 oz (wow!). That puts her in the 89th percetile. Being that she started out at 6 lbs, 12 oz, that means she has gained 143 ounces in 122 days!

She also grew in length, a lot. She went from 24 inches at three months to 26 1/2 inches at 4 months. That puts her in the 99th percentile. I did notice (and mentioned it to several people) that I thought she was going through a growth spurt around the 3 1/2 month point and I guess I was right!

We were given the clear to start rice cereal but I think we are going to wait a little while longer. Each baby is different and I really want to make sure her digestive track is ready for solid foods. As long as she is satisfied by nursing and the soy formula (we are alternating now), I'm not in a big rush to get her on cereal. It seems that every pediatrician has a different opinion on when to start and I have heard that starting too soon can lead to food allergies and obesity (down the road), but I've never heard anything bad about waiting it out. My "plan" is to start her on cereal around 5 1/2 - 6 months, but we'll see how long she can hold out on just liquids alone!

Second Annual Gingerbread Houses with the Girls!

2008-12-07T22:05:00.003-06:00

In celebration of the holidays, a group of us girls get together to make our own gingerbread houses. We all met while working at PwC (and a few of us still work there) and considering that when you work in a public accounting environment, there are many weeks where you see your co-workers more than any other people in your life, you become really close!

Laying out all the pieces to cool. Lisa makes the dough ahead of time and we spend the morning rolling out the dough and cutting out all the shapes.

Karen working diligently on her house. Check out her roof! That thing is a work of art!

Pregnant lady with a knife...never a good combination!

Our own little gingerbread community!

And time for the individual pictures!

Coincidently, Diana (in looking for design ideas this year) discovered pictures of our houses from last year's blog post on Google Images! The internet is a crazy thing!

Thanks for opening your home to us Lisa! Again, the food was amazing (I swear you should open your own restaurant!) and the memories will last a lifetime!

Our attempt at holiday pictures!

2008-12-07T20:12:00.005-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here are a couple pictures from Lillie's first Thanksgiving!

This one cracks me up every time! I can only imagine what is running through that little mind of hers :)

A little better...but I think she's still intimidated by the turkey next to her!

Next up...Christmas pictures. I tried (and I'm still trying since you'll see that I was unsuccessful) to take our own holiday pictures this year. Well, with a dog AND a baby, it's next to impossible to get a good shot. After 50 plus takes, this was our best shot...

It wasn't exactly the look I was going for!

But Lillie thought it was hilarious :)

So the process continues. Hopefully I'll get a good one before Christmas :)

Lots of milestones

2008-11-25T19:09:00.003-06:00

I'm so proud of Lillie! She seems to be more alert and active with every week that goes by. I wanted to let her try her Bumbo seat for fun today thinking she might like the new perspective. She sits in my lap with my support all the time, but I thought she might actually like to see me when sitting for once!

Here she is all kicked back and smiling at her mom who is making a fool of herself!

And earlier last week, she started raising her legs and grabbing for her toes. She really needs her bottoms to be off to get the most flexibility and hence the reason she is halfway out of her sleeper.

And finally, we're making progress on tummy time. Look, she actually appears to be enjoying it now!

Happy Thanksgiving from Lillie, Roger, Harvey, and I!

Another investment property

2008-11-11T09:30:00.003-06:00

So one day before Lillie turned 12 weeks old, we closed on a foreclosure property in the Fenton suburb of St. Louis. This will be a long term flip for us. We'll do as much work as we can before we move our things into it and then we will continue tackling renovations as we live there. It's a great family home and we got a deal on it. We paid approximately 59% of what the house originally sold for three years ago!

We started work on November 1st. This truly is a cosmetic flip. There are no walls to be moved, no plumbing, electrical, or hvac to be updated, and nothing structural to repair. We've spent the past 10 days or so painting, cleaning, replacing light fixtures, and changing out faucets and bathroom hardware. Oh, and the toilet in the half bath downstairs could not be salvaged! Let's just say that the previous owners went to town on it when they found out they were being foreclosed on!

Standing in the family room looking into the breakfast room and kitchen.

The same view, only reversed. Standing in the kitchen looking into the breakfast room and family room.
A little butlers pantry or serving area in the hall between the kitchen and dining room. I can see turning this into the downstairs diaper changing area!

Close up of the cabinets, backsplash, and countertops. One of our to-do renovations is to switch out the countertops with natural stone.

Slot for the fridge and nook above.

As you enter the house from the garage, this area is on the right. I can see unloading all the groceries on here as I bring them in from the car. As it stands right now, since our garage is detached where we currently live, bringing in the groceries is a much more difficult task than it will be in the new house!

Small living room or office off the entryway

Dining room opposite the living room. There is a nice coffered ceiling in there.

Finally, the "bonus room" upstairs between all the bedrooms. Since we're coming from a house with only one living area, I have no idea what we'll put in here!
Oh, and the reason it sat on the market for as long as it did....No deck and one heck of a drop off! Thankfully, we'll be putting a deck on in the spring and the lot next door is for sale so while we won't have much of a back yard, we'll make do with a side yard.

So that's what we've been up to! My parents and sister have been a huge help! Whether it's my mom taking Lillie for the day or my sister coming over to paint after class or my dad helping us install the new ceiling fan, we couldn't have done this without their help! Everything truly does change once you have a child :)

Three months!

2008-11-09T12:23:00.002-06:00

Happy 3 months Lillie!

Her stats: 13 lbs, 7 oz and 24 inches long

She is one ounce shy of doubling her birth weight, something that usually happens at the 6 month point! I just can't believe how fast she is growing and gaining weight! She was in newborn clothes for 6 weeks and then proceeded to go through her 3 month clothes in another 6 weeks! For a baby that started out in the 20th percentile for weight, she sure is catching up fast!

We had our genetics appointment at Children's Hospital last Thursday (that's how we found out her weight and length because her next appointment with the pediatrician isn't until 4 months) and found out more about how we will proceed with her galactosemia. When she starts solid foods, she'll be able to handle rice cereal and fruits and veggies just fine. However, when she progresses to table foods, she won't be able to have anything with lactose or galactose in it. This basically includes anything made with milk or a milk by-product. I don't see it being a huge inconvenience for us. It's going to be harder to remind others (like grandparents who want to slip her a spoonful of ice cream) of her limitations.

Then at one year old, we do something called a galactose challenge. We gradually introduce milk products into her diet for two weeks and then her levels are checked. If we time it right around her birthday, she can have cake and ice cream on the big day. Most babies do just fine and are able to be on a regular diet going forward. In fact, the dietician that we work with said she sees about 20 cases a year and she's never had a baby fail the challenge.

Her blood was drawn again and we are waiting for the results. She has been on soy formula since October 23rd and they are hoping to see that the build up of galactose that was in her system has been broken down and burned off as energy. Keep your fingers crossed!

Bathroom....Check!

2008-06-20T22:21:00.002-05:00

We're finally moving on to the next project! I'm happy to say that after 4 months of blood, sweat, and many tears, we are done with our master bathroom renovation. Below are several before and afters. Next on the agenda: baseboards in the hallway and 2 bedrooms as well as painting the nursery.

Bathroom update

2008-05-22T12:21:00.003-05:00

I wanted to wait until we were completely done with the bathroom remodel to post again, but we have made a lot of progress in the past ten days and Roger put in a request that I update our blog with that progress. This is for you Roger!

Our vanity: It's the 60" double sink vanity from the Ambella Verona collection. The faucets are Price Pfister and the light fixtures are from Delta. We went with a paint color called Lucy Blue from Valspar.

Moving on, here is our shower now with the two heads. The handshower on the left is adjustable along that rod and it can also be removed and used for giving Harvey his bath (which he experienced for the first time in the new shower a few days ago!).

We have a toilet! No more trips downstairs in the middle of the night!
Close up of the floor and the offset pinwheel pattern.
Small details like the new oil rubbed bronze vent cover and a sample piece of the baseboards that will be going down.
For as much as we have accomplished, there are still some loose ends to tie up. On the to do list still is:

Frameless shower doors installed (they're on order and should be installed within a week)

Baseboards

Mirrors above vanity

Towel bars, toilet paper holder, towel hook installed

Rehang door

Paint outside of clawfoot tub and install new bronze hardware

and little stuff like outlet covers, etc.

Tomorrow I will take a shower

2008-05-10T19:02:00.005-05:00

for the first time in 6 weeks.

It sounds worse than it is because in reality, we've been bathing in the bathtub since our master bathroom renovation kicked off around the middle of March. I can't tell you how excited I am to use our new shower. The only reason I'm not in there now is because I'm waiting for the tile and grout to hard cure.

Let's recap shall we....

Bathroom Before - I had actually painted part of the bathroom a very pale green and hung 2" white blinds to help make the bathroom more "liveable" while we figured out what we wanted to do and to save for the renovations. The lime green on wall next to the vanity was the previous owner's color of choice for the bathroom.

Renovations begin - we removed that half wall next to the vanity and extended the shower wall out by about 8 inches. We removed the hardwood floors which were not original to the house and served of no historical value. Under the 198o's hardwoods, we found the original hardwoods, but opted not to salvage them. You can see the plywood starting to go down to act as an additional subfloor for the travertine.

Framing out of the shower. We decided to do a corner bench to store product and to also serve as a place to sit or prop a leg up on while shaving in the shower. Projects that you don't see include the installation of 1/2" hardibacker on the shower walls, pouring of the mud shower pan, and the additional plumbing for a second shower head.

And the finished product!!! We installed 12" by 18" travertine tiles in a brick pattern along the walls with an accent tile at about eye level. Around the perimeter, we installed a bullnose travertine border. The floor is made up of 2" square tiles and the bench and shower curb use 1" tiles. We are using Delta fixtues in a bronze finish. Only one of the shower heads has been installed at this point as we are waiting for the cover to go over the diverter value that will allow us to use the second shower head. We ordered (and have sitting in the basement) the handheld shower head that will go on the other side. It has a bar that mounts to the tile which will allow you to position the shower head at a variety of heights.

Close up of the accent tile.

Shower bench and shower floor and a preview of the floor. We are using an offset pinwheel pattern which incorporates 18" square tile as well as 6" square tile. We have a frameless shower door on order so we'll be using a shower curtain for the time being.

And in other news, remember this scene from a few months ago...

Well, I spent an entire weekend back in April trimming everything back and installing about 300 square feet of weed fabric. Two yards of mulch and a flat of annuals later and things are starting to shape up!

Oh and if you need to get a hold of me and I don't seem to be answering my phone, I'm in the shower!!!

Jewelry update

2008-04-11T09:15:00.005-05:00

Ever since getting pregnant and realizing that flipping houses would be put on hold for a few months, I've really started focusing on growing my jewelry business. Working out of my home would really be a great luxury to have once the baby comes when you look at the alternative of taking the baby to a construction site! In order to improve business, I've been focusing on two goals - continuing to update my website with new pieces and better photographs and getting my jewelry into local boutiques.

While I work to find someone to update my site, I'm excited to announce that over 30 of my pieces from the Celebrate Wedding section will be sold in a local bridal boutique! I'll have six bridal collections and four bridesmaid collections on display along with a selection of earrings. The bridal boutique is set to open late May so when it does, I'll be sure to include the information on my website under a new section for Retailers.

In addition to selling my bridal jewelry in bridal boutiques, I'm really trying to get my foot in the door with a children's boutique to sell the Celebrate Family line. There are so many additional pieces that I've made in the past 6 months that haven't even posted to my site - things like Christening necklaces, name bracelets, and family necklaces and bracelets.

Mother charm necklace with birthstones reprensenting her four children: April, March, December, and September.

Mother's name bracelet for her daughter Brooke born in July.
Family bracelet with four birthstones represented: August, February, November, and May.
Mother's pearl name bracelet for her son Scott born in August.
May mother and her three children represented: September, June (Alexandrite), and October.
Mother's double name bracelet for her daugther Emma born in February and Anna born in October.

It's very difficult trying to establish relationships with boutiques simply because they may not be looking for a line of jewelry to carry or they may feel like they already have significant jewelry representation in their store and there is no need to add to it so wish me luck!

Pet Jewelry!

2008-04-08T12:38:00.003-05:00

Jennifer from Soulard Pet Sitters (who we use to watch Harvey when we're gone) contacted me about designing some pet jewelry for a fundraiser/silent auction that Pets in the City is having later this month. Having a larger dog, it never would have occurred to me that there was such a need for pet jewelry! This is what I came up - doggie charms that clip onto their collar and matching owner bracelets!

Because we won't know who the eventual winner of the auction will be ahead of time, I went with charms for the doggies. As another option, doggie necklaces are available and are custom made based on the size of the doggie's neck. Additionally, matching owner necklaces and earrings are available!

Isn't this a riot! I think they are so cute and can't believe I never thought of this before. Many thanks to Jennifer and Soulard Pet Sitters and Pets in the City. You can read more about the Heartland Weimaraner Rescue Fundraiser on April 26th here.

These items will be available on my website soon!

Trip to the West Coast

2008-03-11T18:24:00.002-05:00

On Thursday, February 28th, I left headed for Seattle to visit Roger while he is away at C40 training for the military. While I was up there, we took an underground tour of the city, visited Pikes Place Market and watched the vendors throw around fish, went out to eat a few trendy establishments, and of course, went up in the space needle.

Cool shot from the top of the space needle:

As I was in Seattle, St. Louis was getting hit hard with a snow storm and I decided to stay the whole week rather than fight the crowds trying to travel on a reduced flight schedule. The following weekend, we flew down to Santa Barbara to attend the wedding of one Roger's college roommates and friends.

Roger and I at the rehearsal dinner at a restaurant called Opal off of State Street in Santa Barbara.

The ceremony and reception were held at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort - the ceremony was in the rose garden and the reception was in a tented area just off the lobbby.

Roger and his brother Troy at the reception.

Me and cousin Lynn at the reception.

Wedding details - bridesmaid bouquet and flower arrangment on the cake table.
Table decorations
Menu - we had our choice of filet or Maine lobster! Yum!
And the cake!

February 16, 1987

2008-02-15T16:32:00.003-06:00

On the eve of my sister Jenny's 21st birthday, I'd like to share some pictures and stories of the past 21 years.

Jenny was born on Monday, February 16, 1987. At the time of her birth, she was two weeks late and my mom was given a choice of induction dates. Given Friday the 13th and Monday the 16th, my mom went with the 16th. It was Presidents Day and I was out of school. Truth be told, I had no idea what I was in store for on that day or the years to come. In fact, I don't think anyone was prepared for the effect Jenny would have on our family :)

Born 7 1/2 years apart, I was very protective of my only sister. She was riding a bike without training wheels at four years old and could read short stories by the time she was in kindergarten. She was such a good learner and I, of course, enjoyed teaching her. Physically, we are different. She takes after my mom and her physical traits and I take after my dad. Personality wise, we are not just different, we are polar opposites :) She is very extroverted and sociable and a people person. I'm quiet, an internal thinker, and worried about hurting everyone else's feelings! Jenny could sell you the shirt off her back and have you convinced that it was the best purchase you've ever made!

Twenty one years later and Jenny is all grown up! She's a junior nursing major trying to balance school and clinicals and holding down a part time job. She was recently hired as a student nurse tech at Barnes Jewish Hospital in the Neuro ICU (did I get all that right Jenny?!). Needless to say, it's amazing to think that the same sister that I helped teach how to ride a bike is now on her way to helping save lives!

So Jenny, on the eve of your 21st birthday, I want you to know how proud I am at how far you've come. Have fun tomorrow! Be smart, be safe, and call me if you need me :)

Confession Time!

2008-02-08T13:48:00.000-06:00

I have a confession...we have projects! I admit it - I work on houses for a living and mine goes unfinished! It's a serious case and we hope to seek treatment and find a cure in the next year :)

I'm laying it all out there for you to see! No cleaning up the room just to take a picture of it to post on here! You get to see our house and our unfinished projects just the way they are!!!

We'll start with the two projects that are highest on our priorty list right now: our master bathroom and baseboards for the second floor. When Roger purchased our home (at first it was just his house and then it became our house), it had been updated in the 1980's but had been neglected since. We have updated plumbing, electric, and central air, but we also had 1980's decor. The master bathroom is a clear indication of the previous owner's bad taste.

I've started work on this room. I just could not take the lime green paint any longer so I've painted the walls a very soft spa blue. The reason some of the walls were left green is because those walls are going to come out during demo. I've left the tub green since we'll be having that professionally reglazed. The area behind the tub will be painted when the tub is removed from the bathroom to install the new floor.

Our plans for the bathroom include tiling the floor and shower area in a nuetral travertine. It's called Chiaro and it's in a honed and filled finish.

with an accent tile at eye level in the shower

We'll also replace the single sink and vanity with a double sink and a furniture style vanity

And we have a 2 foot area next to the tub that can accomodate a linen tower

In addition, we'll replace the toilet and demo that half wall next to where the vanity is now because it just breaks up the space and there will be no need for it once we put the freestanding vanity in.

Next on the list, baseboards on the second floor! Four years ago we ripped out the baseboards in the entire house and we were quick to replace the baseboards on the first floor. They are beautiful solid wood 7 1/4" baseboards which are perfect for our house since we have high ceilings. We just need to get on the ball and do the same for our second floor!

Moving on...our home's exterior needs a lot of work. First, we would like to change the color scheme of our trim work. These older homes have a lot of opportunity to incorporate color and a lot of our neighbors go bold when picking out trim colors. We're looking for inspiration around our neighborhood. Here's our house as it looks today

Notice the red white and blue motif

And we're thinking of going with colors similar to this house

Additional work to the exterior of the house includes replacing the mailbox

the front door

And replacing the blue fabric awning with something like this

Lastly, I really need to get a handle on our landscaping issue in the front yard. It's out of control!

Staying outside, we would like to paint our shed to match our house. Whatever trim colors we choose for the house will be continued on the trim around the shed door and window as well as along the fascia.

Additionally, we are considering residing our garage with vinyl siding. At the very least, we will replace the damaged siding that is on the garage now along with all the blue trim pieces that have deteriorated. We will also replace the garage door and paint the trim on the garage to match the house.

Moving back inside, we had some storm damage to our roof several months ago that has allowed water to get into the back wall of the house. We had roofers come out to make the repair and sure enough, it leaked again in the same spot. We are working with the roofers to come out again, but until we are sure it won't leak in the future, we have this to look at every day! Since this will be the future baby room, it's very important to me to get this fixed right! Those roofers don't want to mess with me and my hormones!

Winding out the list are two "wants" instead of "needs". I would like to replace our half wall banister with iron spindles. Our steps as they look today...

And what I would like it to look like...

Next, we would like to replace all the gold door hardware with bronze hardware. We're considering the lever style door knobs. We know that they are easier for little ones to open, but we like the look of them and who knows if we'll still be living in this house by the time our child is up and walking around.

Staying on the door theme, we'd also like to replace the trim around the doors. When the carpenters were installing it, they paid no attention to the amount of nails they shot through it. In some places, we have 4 - 6 nail holes in a one foot section. They're hard to see, but in this picture alone, there are six nail holes.

We have a dilema with our doors because they are solid wood, but we don't care for the honey color. Also, our baseboards are painted white so it does look a little odd to have white floor trim with honey colored door trim and doors.

What we would like to do is install new door trim and paint it white. We're also going to see if we can restain our doors or add a "wash" to them to lighten them up. We had no idea what it would look like or if it would even look good, but we were looking at listings in the neighborhood and our neighbor had a similar look. I think we are going to give it a try.

And you've survived my confession post! I feel good for getting it out there! I hope you all won't think of me any differently! As the months go by and we're able to check some of the projects off the list, I'll give you an update.

Successful day at the show

2008-01-27T18:10:00.001-06:00

The show was a lot of fun! I was the only jewelry vendor there so that was a bonus. Also a bonus: my booth was in front of a wall of windows and the light came through and hit those Swarovski crystals and even I was impressed! I have orders for 5 pieces and meetings set up with 4 additional brides to design their wedding party jewelry. It was a very successful show. It's rare that you'll actually get orders or bookings at the show itself. Many times, the brides get home and go through all their information and then take the time to browse your website before making a final decision. I was very pleased with the turnout. Now I'm at home, in yoga pants and a sweatshirt, because my legs and back are so sore!!! I could really use a foot massage too! Here are some pictures of the set up. And yes, I give away ring pops as favors!

Bridal Show Tomorrow

2008-01-26T08:41:00.000-06:00

The 2008 Wedding Connection is tomorrow from 1 to 4:30pm. I'll be there with my jewelry. I do two shows a year in addition to maintaining my website. I'm looking forward to it! My dining room is a disaster right now because I lay everything out and then take pictures and label everything to make set up on the day of the show easier. I'll take pictures tomorrow at the show of the final product.
http://www.saintlouisbridemagazine.com/weddingconnection/

Article from Saint Louis Bride

2008-01-17T12:56:00.000-06:00

The Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Saint Louis Bride features an article on bridesmaid dress trends, including accessories. Four of my pieces/collections were featured in the article. I must admit, it was pretty fun to see my name in print! The pictures are small, but anywhere you see jewelry in the spread, it's my work.

Another blog

2007-12-31T16:14:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to pass on the link to my other blog.
If you are redirected to my TeamDeJean blog, it's because the other blog is password protected and your computer's security settings are set too high to allow the script to run which asks you for the password. Let me know if you have any problems and I can give you some simple instructions to be able to view the blog.

Accepted contract on Investment #2

2007-12-26T20:51:00.000-06:00

You can never say it's officially sold until you walk away from closing with the check in hand, but we did get a contract that we negotiated and went on to accept. If everything goes as planned, our closing is scheduled for January 25th. Onto looking for #3...

Investment #2 Listed!

2007-12-11T16:14:00.000-06:00

Here are some finished pictures of Investment #2. It's so exciting to be done and now the hopefully easy part of selling it starts! I'm not sure what to do with myself. I think I'll go out and get a celebratory massage, manicure, and pedicure tomorrow! On a serious note, this is a wonderful townhome in the Lindbergh school district. It's within the 270 loop off of Tesson Ferry. It's listed for $114,900. With two bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths and 950 square feet (not including the 250 additional square feet of finished living area in the basement), I know this will make the perfect home for someone. Where else can you get this much house for this price in this location?! New condo construction and apartment conversions in the area are "starting from $126,000", however the least expensive unit is selling for $128,500 and you have neighbors on both sides and either above or below you and no basement. I know someone will be just as enthusiastic to buy it as I am to sell it. I keep wondering where this house was when I was house hunting for the first time five years ago!

Front - Shown are units a, b, and c in this picture. We're the middle unit, the one that I outlined.

View of the Living Room from the front door
New carpet, new Pergo Select flooring, new entryway light fixture, and nuetral paint

New railing and light fixture in living room
New chandelier in dining room

Half bath featuring new mirror, light fixture, towel bars, faucet and toilet seat

New kitchen featuring cinnamon maple cabinets, granite slab countertops, new stainless steel look (the look of stainless steel but easy to clean) appliances including a built in microwave, tile backsplash, under cabinet lighting, and stainless steel sink and faucet.

Pantry in kitchen

Downstairs living area. New carpet, sconces, baseboards, and nuetral paint
Built in shelving in downstairs living area
Laundy in basement - hookups for both gas and electric dryer.
Upstairs renovated bath including new ceramic tile floor, reglazed tub, shower doors, bathroom vanity and sink, towel bars, light fixture, faucet, and toilet seat!

Master bedroom featuring new carpet, new ceiling fan, closet organizers, and neutral paint.
Master bedroom walk-in closet. I know it barely qualifies as a walk-in, but it's certainly possible!
Second bedroom featuring all the same upgrades as the master

Linen closet outside of the upstairs bath for storage

Gingerbread Houses with the Girls!

2007-12-09T20:59:00.000-06:00

Last year, we all signed up for a class to make gingerbread houses. Between the cost of the class and feeling rushed for time, we decided that this year, we would make our own...from scratch!

Trina, Judy, Karen, Lisa, and Diana rolling out the dough

MK busing doing something else!
Check out the wonderful spread that Lisa made for us. We had brunch while the house pieces were baking.
Some action shots from building our houses. Check out Trina's attention to detail!
Lisa's solution to everything...more frosting!

The Alberta clipper that came in from the North on Lisa's house! Poor little gingerbread men never saw it coming!

Pictures of us with our houses

Many thanks to Lisa for the wonderful food and volunteering to have her kitchen ransacked with frosting and powdered sugar for the afternoon!

Christmas Decor!

2007-11-26T21:02:00.000-06:00

I just love this time of year! The house always feels so much cozier and "homey" with all the decorations out and when it comes time to take them down after the holidays, the house always feels empty for a few weeks! This year was the first year for a big tree. For the past five years, I've had a 3 foot table top tree that I decorated. We'll still use it, just probably out on the front porch or something! This year, I decorated using mostly celery greens, browns, matte golds, and reds. Here's the (mostly) finished product!

Our tree - 9 foot slim spruce

Our dining room "hutch" with garland
Centerpiece on the coffee table - pine cones and ornaments
The Christmas bar - where we hang our stockings!
Dining room
Close up of the ornaments on the chandelierView from the stairs going up the second floor (and yes, Harvey is on the couch - sneaky little guy!)

Week Four/Five Recap

2007-11-24T16:02:00.001-06:00

Weeks four and five flew by and there really isn't a lot to show for it! Actually, I stayed busy, but the work involved a lot of little things that don't really warrant pictures. After the carpet was installed, I rehung all the doors only to find out that the new carpet is so much thicker and plusher than the old stuff (that's the good part) that some of the doors won't close without being shaved down (the bad part). So I spent some time trimming doors and painting them. Then I moved on to the railing in the living room and updated that with something more modern day. The last big update was to the kitchen. The cabinets have been installed and the appliances are in place. It's winding down and hopefully my next update will be the final one where you get to see pictures of the final product and the staging! Enjoy!

New railing (the old one was metal and a little too "heavy" for the space)

The new kitchen (minus countertops and backsplash!)

Gooey Butter Cookies

2007-11-17T16:41:00.000-06:00

This recipe is so easy it's almost criminal! For those of you who have never experienced a gooey butter cake, you owe it to yourself to try it atleast once! These cookies are a miniature version of the famous cake and are little bite sized pieces of heaven! I made them for Kale's 35th birthday celebration. Happy Birthday Kale!

Gooey Butter Cookies

8 oz cream cheese - softened
1/2 cup butter - softened
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 - 18.5 oz package of yellow cake mix
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together cream cheese and butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add cake mix and stir until well blended. Roll into 1" balls and then roll the balls in the powdered sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks. Makes about 30 cookies.

Week Three Recap

2007-11-14T21:34:00.000-06:00

Well, tomorrow marks 28 days that we've owned the property. My goal is still to be done in six weeks. With the approaching holiday, I may have a difficult time sticking to that goal, but it's still a possibility. The list of items left to do is getting smaller, but one item, the kitchen, is a large task. We've started gutting the kitchen and with the help of Roger, I was able to start hanging the upper cabinets. The big change you'll notice in these pictures are the new carpet. What a difference it makes!

New carpet in the second bedroom

New carpet in the master bedroom
Both sets of steps were carpeted. Here's the view going down into the lower level family room.
New carpet in the lower level family room
New light fixture, mirror, and towel bar in the main floor half bath. Hopefully, the new faucet will be installed by the next recap!
New faucet and vanity in the full bathroom
Toilet and shower doors reinstalled in the full bathroom
Kitchen demo begins. We're leaving the sink cabinet until we can get a plumber over to install a shut off valve under the sink. I was surprised there wasn't already one!
New cabinets going up. The lighting kind of makes them look a honey color, but they're a cinnamon maple. They already are making the space look brighter and cheerier.
New dining room chandelier

New Curtains!

2007-11-13T19:54:00.000-06:00

Finally a project at our own house! I bought this fabric back in August and it's been sitting ever since! Our walls intimidate me because they are about 12 feet tall and every drapery panel that I've ever seen in any catalog wasn't long enough. These panels wound up being a finished length of 126", so right at 10 1/2 feet. The bottom 15" is a different fabric. It's actually fabric that I special ordered to upholster a window seat and a bench that we have right as you come in the front door.

Close up of the coordinating fabric
Our living room - rather than do panels on both sides of each window, I decided to do a panel on each of the far ends. The other panel isn't shown in this picture because I couldn't scoot back far enough to get the whole thing in the picture! Next project: something to go above the tv! I'm thinking a decorative metal grate.

Week Two Recap

2007-11-05T18:11:00.000-06:00

Well technically, it's been more than a week since I gave my last recap, but I was out of town visiting with college friends for 4 or 5 days, so this marks the second week of work. So here's what I've been up to...

I tiled the entrance

Tiled the bathroom floor and added a new tp holder and towel bar (not shown)

Painted the downstairs family room (including trim), replaced all the vent covers, outlet, and switch covers, and installed four new sconces.

Close up of the new sconces

Installed a new vanity light in the bathroom

Installed new shelving in the upstairs linen closet

and finally, installed new shelving in the pantry

Harvey being a good watch dog!

Jewelry featured in Saint Louis Bride

2007-11-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

I received some exciting news on Wednesday! The editor of Saint Louis Bride magazine called and she wants to shoot some pictures of my jewelry to feature in an article on bridesmaid dress trends! My understanding is that the jewelry will be used in a details section and my business name, website, and pricing information will be featured in small print under the pictures. As soon as I know more, I'll post. The magazine goes to print in December and will be on newsstands in January.

The magazine's website is bridestl.com. I've always been impressed by this magazine and used it as a reference when planning our wedding last year. I'm so excited to be a part of it!

Week One Recap

2007-10-25T17:46:00.000-05:00

It's been one week since we closed on our latest investment and my focus has been on the second floor. Immediately, I ripped out all the carpet because unfortunately the previous owner had pets that either were not taken outside for bathroom breaks as often as necessary or didn't know where their litter box was. Additionally, I gutted the bathroom, had a professional come in and reglaze the tub, painted all the door trim and baseboards, painted walls and ceilings, installed two ceiling fans and a hall light fixture, and installed new closet shelves. Some things that may go unnoticed in the pictures are the new switch plate and outlet covers and new GFI's in the bathrooms and kitchen. The only work done throughout the other two levels of the house was ripping out the carpet in the basement (see explanation above!).

Master bedroom and closet

Second bedroom and closet

Bathroom view from the hall

Beautiful tub!

Gutted Upstairs Bath (notice I'm painting the medicine cabinet!)

New hall semi-flush mount light fixture. I have two more of these to install downstairs along with two bathroom vanites, a dining room chandelier, and four sconces (all from the same collection).

Basement

Steps going down to basement

And here's just a fun picture. This is the cabinet/countertop combination that we ard doing in the kitchen (along with the paint color that is throughout the house). It' s a cinnamon maple cabinet with Leopard Skin granite.

New Business Cards

2007-10-17T17:39:00.000-05:00

I designed new business cards and they showed up in the mail today. I'm pretty excited considering I layed them out myself!

front

back

While we're on the topic of the jewelry business, I also designed a mailer to go out to the list of brides and other contacts that I receive as a part of being a vendor at bridal shows.

Investment #2

2007-10-16T16:41:00.000-05:00

Oops, we did it again! We close on a second investment exactly one year after we closed on our first one! This coincidence wasn't planned as our closing was delayed twice and just happens to fall on the anniversary! Work includes extending the Pergo Select flooring into the foyer and basement family room, new cabinetry, countertops, appliances, and fixtures in the kitchen, new carpet in the two bedrooms and upstairs hallway, new light fixtures throughout, new vanities in both bathrooms, new tub and shower surround and ceramic tile in upstairs bathroom, new ceiling fan with light kits in both bedrooms, new closet organizers in every closet (including linen and front hall closet), minor plumbing and electrical updates, and fresh paint throughout.
Here are some before pictures of our next project!

The front entry

Living Room & Stairs leading up to second floor

Downstairs half bath

Dining room with sliding glass door out to deck

Kitchen

Downstairs finished basement - family room

Upstairs full bath that both bedrooms share

Master bedroom

Master bedroom walk-in closet

Second bedroom

Second bedroom sliding closet