Ten on Tuesday (in pictures)

1.  I think this little man is in the middle of a growth spurt.  The other night, he woke up crying uncontrollably.  Dave heard him walking around in their room....crying.  So, Dave went up and C. said he needed to go to the bathroom (while rummaging in the closet).  Dave guided him down the stairs and let him head to the back of the house alone.  Next thing, we hear the PANTRY door open.  While he didn't urinate in the pantry (thank goodness!), we got him to the bathroom just in time....still crying.  It wasn't until AFTER using the bathroom that he really woke up and stopped crying.  He cuddled with mom for a bit before dad took him back up to bed.  This morning?  He's literally beating himself up.  Falling, dropping things, running into everything.  Total klutz.  Growing?  Indeed.

2.  My bedroom is starting to look like a bad episode of Hoarders.    Hurry up, house...get done!

3.  As an aside, is there ever a good episode of Hoarders?  It's all sad, and usually showing signs of some sort of mental illness.  I just can't watch.  However, I'm living it....so, there's that.

4.  Also in reference to the above picture, I FINALLY found our new bedding! ( jammed in the FAR back corner)  I've been obsessively on the prowl for the past few months- bound and determined to find affordable good quality bedding before we move into our new room this fall.  I wanted it early so I could choose a non-beige color for our walls.  Yo....TJ Maxx is the place to go!  Actually, I checked a few smaller TJ Maxx's  in other areas....but the other day, I went into the large one near me.  They had 2 beautiful styles for me to choose from (the others were nice, just not my style) AND in the California King size!  Whoot!.  And since I have many dirty boys in my house (including my husband!), I went with the one that was less-white.  And it was $23 cheaper- meaning it fit into what was left of the envelopes for this month- PLUS enough to purchase a sweet accent pillow.  In one tiny trip to TJ Maxx, I decorated my bedroom- since Home Depot was right after that, I found the wall color, and already know what window treatments to use.  I LOVE it when rooms come together in 2 store trips!  EEEKKKKK!


5.  My sister-in-law read my post here where I complained about ugly feet and not having enough discretionary income to do a pedi.  She kindly offered my niece's pedi skills at our family get together on Friday night.  Wow....Emily DOES have skills!  I'm totally impressed.  All for free, I walked in with ugly feet, and walked out with pink/yellow ombre toe nails complete with glitter overlay and gemstone flowers on my big toes.  And she did it all over the course of like 15 minutes!  Seriously, I am impressed.  The picture below doesn't do them justice.  And also, you can see my feet are starting to swell.  Sad face.  But, thank you, EMILY!!!  I got to repay her at a baby shower on Saturday by doing a sideways french braid.  Fun things like that exchange with my niece make me SO excited to have a little girl! (Who will probably be bald until the age of 6....but whatever...)

7.  Guess what arrived in the mail today?!?!?!  My Cord Blood Donation Kit!  Looks like 3rd trimester is where all the action is, huh?  We had the kit with both boys, but weren't allowed to donate with C.  There was a placental abruption during delivery, and that is a deal-breaker.  However, A's cord was REALLY long (and around his neck once and shoulder once too), so we were able to get a GREAT harvest.  The nice thing is that since I'm already in their system, I got to bypass the 20 minute interview and go with the shortened 10 question list before they sent the kit.  Really, it's SO easy to donate cord blood!  It's painless, and totally free.  I strongly encourage anyone pregnant to consider it.

8.  This thing....this black plastic curtain.....has become the BANE of my existence.  I know, I know...it means there's progress on the house.  However, I can't see any progress, and it's in the MIDDLE of my KITCHEN!  There's approximately 12" between the kitchen table and refrigerator- which means I can't open my freezer door enough to open any drawers- rendering it useless.  In addition, the black curtain is covering 2/3 my dishwasher- which means it's a pain in the arse to load and unload (but provides a neat little pocket for me to crawl through to peek at the progress once in a while.)  In addition, Dave recently informed me that we've got a few more weeks- a month of this curtain.  He's going to keep it up while the insulators blow in insulation in the ceiling, and the painter sprays the primer.  :(  Sigh. (wiping tears away)

9.  On Friday night last weekend, we went to Matt's house to celebrate Dave's parent's 60th birthdays (one month apart) and 40th wedding anniversary.  Since all the grandkids were under one roof, we took the opportunity to get an updated Grands picture.  Let me tell ya....SEVEN kids all looking at the camera AND smiling is a modern-day miracle.  Kris (Matt's wife) and I had our cameras out, and I was just on continuous click mode....hoping for a good shot.  I got a few, but this one is my favorite!

10.  Then, Dave's parents got into the mix.  The kids were getting a little squirrely, but there's a few decent ones in there.  Note to self:  putting a 3 year old on the top of a slide and telling him NOT to slide is ill-advised.  Poor kid didn't know which end was up- he kept wanting to slide, but everyone told him to sit still and smile.  Next time the big boys get the top of the slide spot.  :)  AND next time, numbers EIGHT and NINE (our baby girl is nine) will be in the mix!