Extreme Home Makeover

Ok...so it's not really so much extreme, but a few cans of paint. At any rate, here are some before and after pics. The before pics are from when our house was on the market 2 years ago, so minor changes like bedding might be there....don't be fooled. Also, I don't have all the before pics, sorry...and the pics I do have aren't all the same angle..ok shoot me, I stink at this before/after gig. Just remember every room before was a disgusting pale yellow...builders don't have taste. I included some of Dylan's pics and the bonus room which we painted ourselves. I can't take credit for Dylan's room as I was preggers. Damien did a great job on it.

Click here to see it since there wasn't a code to directly pop it into the blog post. I refuse to do it on another site. This took long enough since half my pics were on one computer and the others on a different one.

Bad Pic Day?

I have heard of a bad hair day, but a bad picture day. Ordinarily, I would not post such heinous pictures of my cute little boy, but these made me laugh. I hope they bring a little smile to your face as well. (These pictures were drug/medication free.)

Finally a cute one!

Big Boy Bath

One of Dylan's favorite things is taking a bath. He loves it. If I go in to the bathroom at all, he's right behind me, crawling over to the bath tub and then he pulls up as if to say, am I going in? We have given him baths in the big tub since the beginning, as I found that I hated the baby bath tub we had, so I got him a cushion to lay on. Once he was able, we started letting him sit up on the cushion. Now the cushion is no longer as he likes to crawl all over the tub and get different toys. 

He even has a friend that bathes with him.

Okay so she really doesn't bathe with him, but Sophie loves to come in the bath room to stalk him. She climbs up in my lap and waits for any wet body part to come close to her so that she can lick it. Something about bath water she loves, and I wish I knew what it was. If water trickles on the bath tub edge, she gets it too. When I get out of the shower, she licks my legs like crazy. Who knows, but Dylan likes her being in there as he squeals with delight.

God is good

As some of you know, I volunteer at the hopeline. The Hopeline is a call center for teens and young adults that are having issues and need to talk to someone. My official, unofficial title is hope coach, and I answer calls in the form of online chat (maybe one day I will be brave enough to answer the phones). I am still learning a lot and in no way am I seasoned like some of the interns that work there or the other volunteers. 

However, the other night God showed me that I can do it, and He gave me a huge confidence boost. Without sharing too many details of this one girl's call, I would like to share with my readers how God can work through you to achieve amazing things! 

It's 11:30pm. I have been at the call center for 3 hours by this time, and I know the next call I take will be the last one for the night as I usually leave at midnight or shortly there after. My last caller is a 21 year old young woman who has lived in the States for 6 years. She is from the middle east and is Muslim. She tells me the struggles she is facing, prearranged marriage that ended in divorce at age 15 (he was a drug user and abused her) without the support of her family, saved up $20,000 to be independent only to have her parents take it away to marry off her sister, secretly still dating someone her parents doesn't approve of because he's not fully Muslim, and like so many others right now, struggling financially. At first, I was pumped that maybe this could be a great call, but after a while I didn't see me having the opportunity to bring up Jesus. She mention her religion was that she believed you shouldn't judge people. Towards the end of the call, or what I thought it was, I asked her if I could pray for her. I do this with every caller at least, I haven't had one person turn it down. I begin to pray for her. After the prayer, I started to put on my coat is it's like 12:45. I need to get home. This call is done right? God had other plans. She mentioned something about god. God poked at me, "Can you tell me about your god?" She began to tell me that people kill in his name and there are many wars, and that she believes he created things, but isn't there for all people. Then here it goes, "Can you tell me about your god?" (I am tearing up thinking about how He had his hand in the conversation). I began to tell her how my God is amazing, and that He has my name written on my hand and that He treasures me. That he loves me so much he sent his son Jesus to die so that I could have the gift of eternal life. That it was just that a gift. Anyone could have it including her. She said, that would be great, how can I do that. I shared the gospel to her in a way that is very relatable that Hillary (an intern who is wise behind her years) shared with me, that God shared with her. Basically, God lives in NYC and you live in LA, the only way you can communicate is through a phone line. That phone line is severed and in order for you to be able to talk to God, it has to be fixed. Whoever fixes it, will be electrocuted and will die. He asks his son Jesus to fix the line. Jesus knows He will die, but He wants you to have the same relationship with His Father that He has, so He goes to fix the line and dies. Then the line is back up, God calls you and the phone is ringing and ringing...do you pick it up? She said, YES! I told her to take a minute and pray and come back when she was done. When she came back she asked if she should start going to church that she didn't like musque (?) and that she didn't like what they had to say there. I told her to do what she felt was right in her heart, and I directed her to an online chat that happens on www.dmlive.com on Monday nights for new believers and she said she'd join it. She was so happy and thankful that she called. I wish I knew what God had planned for this amazing young woman, who is so strong and courageous. Now it's 1:30 time to go home. 

I am thankful that I grew up in the culture that I did and in the United States where we have so much freedom. She mentioned that if she moved out of her parent's house without being married to a Muslim, that she could be killed. I couldn't imagine that. 

See God gave me the confidence that I too can share the gospel like so many people who do it. I don't need to be able to quote scripture and know everything....just know Him and His love for everyone. I am so glad that He was there with me holding my hand throughout the call. I now know I can do it with His help.

A bit of a celebrity in Spring Hill

Seems we have had a bit of a celebrity here in Spring Hill. I don't know when he arrived or when he will be leaving, but he has caused quite a ruckus and traffic jam on the main highway.  Last Sunday on our way to church, we saw all these photographers with their huge zoom lenses. I always think worse case scenario..."are they blowing up the GM plant today", I thought. Well, we drove by the field again and the photogs were still there. I had to know what was going on.  Once at church, I started asking everyone if they knew. Finally, my answer, an arctic owl had found his way to Tennessee. 

(this pic is not the Spring Hill owl, nor did I take it ;)

Check out this website for a glimpse of the one visiting us.

Want you be my neighbor

Yesterday, Damien, Dylan and I drove to Alabama for his Grandmother's funeral *post coming soon on her* While we were gone, I asked if my neighbor (A) could let the painters in, that afternoon let Turbo and Sophie out and lock up after the painters left. Not a problem. The painters cam early enough for us to let the in, and then we got home while she was picking up the kids from school. The painters were still there, so we wouldn't need her to help us out at all. I called and left her a message to tell her so.  When we got home, we went upstairs to hang out so that Dylan could play since he had been in the car and held most of the day. While upstairs, my cell phone rang. Damien said your phone is ringing. I said, I don't feel like going downstairs to get it. Then moments later, the doorbell rings.

Here's what was going on outside: Apparently after the painters left, Damien went out to the garage and he has a bad habit of leaving the door cracked, so the wind blew the door open. Turbo decided to go out on his own. He runs to one neighbor (K) waiting for the school bus to drop off his girls. Then the neighbor (B) on the other side came home, so he ran to welcome him home. This neighbor found it odd that Turbo was running around without us being out there, so he saw the garage door open and the door to our house open. He came over and yelled for us through the open door. Then he went back to his wife to have her call us. He said both their cars are there so I think they are home. She said if both their cars are there then they are home. She called my cell phone to check on us. I, of course, didn't answer. Then B decided to come back over to check on us. Neighbor K was still out waiting for his girl. He wondered if he should bring his 9 mm and K said he had a rifle. They came over unarmed and rang the door bell. Damien went downstairs (and by this time, Turbo had let himself back in and ran down the stairs to greet them). He saw B and K standing there and was like what's going on. Damien answered the door. The conversation went something like this....

"Everything okay over here?" 

"Yea, why?" 

"Turbo was running around outside"

"You sure your okay? We thought  you were tied up or something"

"Laughing, No"

This story cracked me up, but it also reassured me that neighborhood watch was strong and alive.  Thanks A, B and K for watching out for us!

Smarty Pants

Dylan is getting so smart. He has finally figured out that when he can no longer push his truck that he can walk to the other side and push it the other way. 

Other things I have noticed include him holding objects up to his ear. I think he notices mommy on the phone as well as enjoying talking to Nana when she calls. 

Our Newest Addition

Damien has been getting his nursery ready, and my uncle custom made the crib (aka entertainment center). It has lots of shelves for baskets of toys.

Now we just have to wait for the baby's arrival.

San Diego - Day 5 and 6

I forgot that Day 4 was New Years Eve. I failed to mention that we were in bed around 9:00pm. However, I did wake up at midnight I heard lots of fireworks. I tried to peek out the window to see them, but I didn't want to wake up everyone especially Dylan.

Our New Years Day, we had the zoo planned as it is open every day. We got there right when it opened, but shortly after being there, I realized that I left my camera battery on the charger in the room! AGH! I told Damien I could work with just my regular digital camera but he insisted on going back and getting the battery so I could use my nice digital camera with zoom lens. I am so glad he did as our pics would not be nearly as good.

My favorite exhibit and Dylan's favorite as well where the monkeys. I could sit and watch them all day long, whether they are chimps, gorillas, orangatangs, or my beloved bonobos. The orangatangs where in with another monkey (not sure what kind but they have weird calls and their throats balloon up). The monkeys where minding their business until the big daddy orangatang came out of the cave and they shimmied down the ropes and started harassing him. The younger orangatangs came to the defend Grandpa. It was funny, but I felt sorry for him. 

We loved our day at the zoo, well at least I did. We were there from open to close, which meant we ate lunch there. It was our next to most expensive meal and we just got sandwiches, fries, brownie, soda in souvenir cup and bottled water. Can you believe that was $40, but Damien reminded me that it went to a good cause.  Since we had a light lunch, we went to eat at a seafood place on the harbor for dinner. I am not a huge fist/seafood fan other than like shrimp and tilapia, so I opted for a cobb salad and crab bisque. The crab bisque was delicious and I could have made a meal out of that. After dinner, we went home to pack.

Daddy Bonobo smacking around the baby - toughening him up, I guess

Momma Bonobo with baby on her back (how I feel most days)

Scary Rhino - they were charging around in their exhibit

Grandpa Orangatang 

For our last day in San Diego, we headed south to the border, literally, we took the last US exit to go to some outlets. We read about Nordstroms Last Call which I thought would be like Last Chance where my friend Misty took me in Phoenix. Here you get great deals! Jeans for like $30 that retail for $275, purses for $50 that retail for $400, etc. You get the picture. This place was not like that at all. Even if it was last call, it was still over priced for me. I looked at the coach outlet but still couldn't justify it, as well as some other stores. I didn't buy a thing, while Damien went his separate way and bought 3 work out shirts at new balance and 2 pairs of shoes. My mom didn't get anything, while my Dad got 2 pair of jeans. Isn't that strange that the men made purchases? We did get to see the border fence and that was kind of cool. However, I didn't get any pics of it. While trying to make our way back to the interstate, we went through a Mexican village. I felt like I was in another country. Taxis were lined up at the last US exit waiting for those who crossed over. It was crazy. On our way to the airport, we stopped at In and Out Burger. I had been dying to try it as it's all the rave. Sadly, it didn't live up to the hype. I mean it was okay, but I was shocked at their menu. There really wasn't anything to chose. It was either hamburger, cheeseburger or double burger Then you picked either fries or no fries. Red Robin definitely has the best burger. 

We had a direct flight home and it was 3.5 hours and Dylan slept for about 2.5 hours. He was great even when he woke up.  I would love to go back to San Diego one day and see more. 

Update

Earlier in the week, I posted an article on the ban of reselling clothes and toys without verifying that there is lead in the product. Well, my friend Jill searched for it on snopes.com and to my surprise it is false. While there will be regulations on new products it's not such a strict law on resale of items already in circulation.  This just shocks me as I found so many articles in the press that said otherwise and the pre written letter to legislature defined it as well.  I can't believe it's not all the way legit.  I am happy that it's not though. Check it out for yourself though...http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/pending/cpsia.asp

San Diego - Day 4

We made reservations earlier in the week to do a whale watching tour. This time of the year, the California Gray whales are migrating from as far north as Vancouver to Baja, California to the shallow warm lagoons where they mate and bear their young. Their travels bring them really close to the coast line so they can be easily seen. However, as a result of their close travels, they became vulnerable to whalers and have came close to extinction (two times in the past 1o0 years).  They have made a rebound in the past 50 years to 30,000 animals.  On average, they travel 1o0 miles a day, and we were lucky enough to see one on our cruise.  The cruise was a 3 hour tour and I was worried about Dylan getting sea sick. He slept most of the time and we were lucky enough to snag a covered area with 3 glass walls to sit in, so he wasn't cold. We also saw sea lions and dolphins.  It was a great time as well as a great photo op. 

After the tour, we stayed in the harbor to snag a few pics of the statute that was inspired by the solider kissing the nurse. It's a traveling statue, so it's moving to a new city soon.

Next we headed to Old Town to grab some mexican for lunch. We had been to Old Town earlier in the week and one restaurant seemed to be pretty popular so we wanted to try it. It was yummy. We got way too much to eat...and to date it was our most expensive meal with apps and stuff. It was worth it. Dylan even enjoyed some guacamole.
 

We headed over the the Whaley house while in Old Town. It's said to be the most haunted house in the United States according to the travel channel. We did the tour and we didn't see or feel any spirits. They also say that a lot of people come back time and time again as they feel drawn to it. This will be my only trip there.

Next we went to check out the light house, but we got to the park a little late. We didn't get to see very much and my Mom, Dylan and I stayed in the car for the most part. I did see a hawk hovering looking for some grub.

To finish the day, we headed over to Coronado, but our time was limited there as D man started pitching a fit. This was the only time he was really "bad" during the whole trip. We headed back to the hotel. 

San Diego - Day 3

I was so excited for this day. On today's schedule, the wild life park. Everyone boasted that this was the best time to be had in San Diego. First, we decided to go to the car museum in Balboa park, and while we were there, we decided to go to the air and space museum as well since they were next door to each other. I thought that's cool, the park stays open til 9:00. 

First, we went to the Air and Space Museum. They had lots of artifacts from space travel, airline travel, and aviation history.  Dylan slept through the whole museum. I wish I could have ;)  Okay, so it was okay, just not my cup of tea. At the museum, they had a special exhibit for Star Trek. It cost extra, so my Mom and I sat it out as my Dad and Damien did the tour. 

Bonnie and Clyde's car...not really sure how this fit in at the Air and Space Museum but I thought it was one of the coolest things

Next, we headed over to the car museum, which wasn't that big, but it had a Ferrari exhibit and that was enough to make Damien's eyes bulge out of his head. Seriously, he looked like a kid in the candy store. Of course, we played the game, if you could have any car in here, what would it be. Mine was a convertible vintage one! No pic of that one though, Damien had the camera.

one of the Ferrari's

 Off to the Wild Life park we go. It was a bit away, and by the time we got there, we decided we should eat lunch before going to the park. To my delight, we found Red Robin...yummm. By far, one of my favorite restaurants. I love burgers, and I love fries. How could you go wrong here...especially with bottom less fries.  When we got to the park, we really realized how big it was. We felt like we walked forever. It was truly amazing though. We did the safari ride and it took us through Africa. I snapped some really cool shots. My hope was to make an animal book for Dylan from the pictures I took. However, we were inspired to do a book on the entire vacation and all vacations going forward. Kind of like Dylan does San Diego.  Any who, we got some really cool shots of the animals. We did the tour right at sunset which was really cool as the animals were up and about, very active. After we got off the tour, dusk was setting in. While the park was still open for their festival of lights, we couldn't see any animals. All the exhibits were dark and I am pretty sure the animals were sleeping either in their exhibit or behind the scenes. One day, I hope to go back and see the rest of the park.

in a fight

very endangered northern rhino

We did eat a late lunch, but Damien wanted to eat tonight since we really didn't eat the night before. We stopped at a place near our hotel called Sammy's Wood Fired Pizza. We ordered a huge salad and 2 small pizzas. This dinner was my favorite. The BBQ chicken pizza was delicious as well as the salad. 

I can't buy used clothing or toys

My San Diego vacation blogging has been put on hold for a very important message.

In August of 2008, important legislation passed that was intended to protect children from harmful lead in toys, equipment and clothing. Although the intention is good, the bill that was passed is poorly written. Thus, it will prohibit the resale of ANY used clothing, toys, equipment for children unless you can PROVE it is lead free. This means that stores such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, Kid to Kid, Once Upon a Child, any thrift store, all children's consignment sales, Ebay sales, Craigslist and GARAGE SALES are prohibited from selling children's clothing, toys or equipment after FEB. 10, 2009 unless they have had the item tested for lead and can provide verification that it is lead free. 

This is SO detrimental to young families who depend on buying used clothing at consignment sales or thrift stores. This is also a problem for middle income families who sell their children's outgrown clothing at garage sales, consignment stores or ebay to provide the funds for the next season of clothing. Also, take into consideration what this will do to our landfills!!!! Can you imagine everyone throwing their toys away because the government says you are not allowed to sell them??? That's crazy! Anyway, below is a link to a news story in the LA Times regarding this new law that will take effect on February 10, 2009. Also, there is a link to a form you can fill out (takes less than 1 minute) and it will automatically send it to your state representatives regarding rewriting this legislation.

Contact Your Representatives!

LA Times Article

San Diego - Day 2

Where shall we eat breakfast?  Damien suggested a muffin place down the road and a smoothie place. "I don't want juice and muffins." I was starving. We went to bed pretty early and now it's 8:00 which is 10:00 our time.  Juice and muffins wouldn't cut it. We drove down some side roads to see what we could see and nada. We remembered there was a Denny's nearby, so we stopped in for some chow. It proved to be a mistake as service was slow and the food was okay. We felt like we were there over an hour....lesson learned. Although, they do have these new things called Pancake Puppies that remind me of a funnel cake, YUMMY!

On today's itinerary...Legoland which was about 30 minutes north. I was so excited as the website boasted rides, roller coasters and what not. Since I missed out on the rides at Disney last year, being preggers and all, I was looking forward to the park.  Bummer. The park had rides, but they were more geared to kids. Damien and I did ride one ride. It had different levels of intensity (1-5), we choose 5 - extreme. You sat in a chair and it jolted you all around doing flips and stuff. Legoland did have some cool sights though, like a car made of legos, tons of characters, Christmas tree, Santa and the reindeer, Washington DC, NYC, Vegas, etc. Although, I think I would have liked it better if Dylan were older. 

Dylan and lego dino

Dylan and lego Bob the Builder

Volvo made of legos (they sponsor the park so if you drive a volvo you get premier parking)

Next, we grabbed a bite at the Rock Bottom Grill and Brewery. I got their chicken mac and cheese with a side salad and it was okay. I should've gone for something juicer and more fattening. 

Since we still had most of the day left, we went by the aquarium. They had some really cool looking fish and a really nice view. We spent some time there and Dylan got a case of the giggles when I showed him a plastic octopus. 

The entrance

cool jelly fish shot

We enjoyed a nice scenic drive along the beach front in La Jolla as we made our way home. Since we ate a big late lunch, we ate small for dinner. The men drove to subway and juice it up and got us a sandwich and smoothie. Yummy.

San Diego - Day 1

I was anxious about leaving for vacation. The part that made me nervous was the flight. We flew from Nashville to Phoenix, had a lay over, and then flew to San Diego. That's a long flight for a little guy. How was he to handle it? 

Luckily, I ran in to our pediatrician at Target a few days before we left and I told her that I was nervous. She said to give him benadryl. I laughed. She said, seriously, it will help with the ear congestion. I said, I thought you were telling me to knock him out. With a smile, she said that would help too. Right before the flight, I gave him a small dosage. He slept for the first 2 hours of the flight as it was his nap time and I am sure the meds helped too. On the second leg of the flight, he slept 30 minutes. He did great. He got a little antsy at one point. I brought along my computer and a baby Einstein DVD, and he watched that. 

Nothing to exciting happened when we got to San Diego. We hit up Target to buy some baby necessities as I did not want to pack diapers, food, etc. Then we checked in to our hotel, which I was pleasantly surprised with.It was located on Shelter Island, so we had water in front of us and behind us. In front of us was the harbor where boats came in and out. Behind us, was a private marina for 188 boats. It was beautiful. 

the harbor side at sunset

After we checked in and rested for a bit, we made our way out for dinner. My mom was wanting a salad and I had already researched to see if Sweet Tomato was in San Diego. It was there, but it was called Souplantation. I love it. They have an all you can eat salad bar, soup bar, pasta bar, bread and dessert for like $9. The chili was so good!  After dinner, we went back to the room to settle in for the night. We have a big week ahead of us!

Little Man bundled up by the harbor

Oh and I should mention, that San Diego was so gorgeous, that I said to Damien and my parents, it's so nice here, I could live here until next year. Damien laughed and said, you are going to live here until next year. 

1st post of the year

We made it back from our vacation last night. While it's nice to be at home, I sure do miss not having all my responsibilities.  I told my friend today that momma's don't get full vacations. I still have to nurse, feed the baby, etc. Over the next few days, I will post a series covering our vacation.  

In the meantime, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope that your year is blessed and full of joy.  I can't believe that it's 2009!!! I feel old when I think about it from a school perspective. I graduate high school in 96 and college in 2000. YIKES!  

This year, some of the things I look forward to are: 

- Dylan's 1st birthday

- wearing a normal bra

- hopefully going to Malawi Africa

- a flat stomach

- deeper relationships with friends

- painting my rooms in the house

- TTC 

- vacation in Hawaii next December

I resolve to:

- be more patient and kinder

- listen more

- try to make my own baby food

- get Dylan to sleep through the night all the time

- be healthier

What are your resolutions?  What are you looking forward to?

Happy New Year Ya'll!