did not go over so well. Honestly though, what was I thinking. Rice cereal is comparable to the adult version: rice cakes. We eat them b/c at times life requires it, but we never really enjoy them. Unless it's covered in cheese or labeled "bbq".




Before After

is a must. I have a 5 month old and a (almost) 2 year old and now I'm bringing in a very large tree with needles, decorating it with hooks, glass, shinny, and sparkling things and then telling them not to touch it. I consider that cruelty. If I was a kid I'd want to climb it, let alone touch the shinny, sparkling items that call out to my left and right hand.

As a "momma" I try to scope out "things that could injure my child" second by second and the Xmas (if your one of those people that hate Xmas b/c it takes Christ out of Christmas please look up the historical background to the use of "X") tree seems to scream "D.A.N.G.E.R." So I laid aside my desire to "dazzle" the tree and took an extremely practical approach...bows. I tied bows all over our tree this way if Titus takes off with one, big deal. Here's my tree;

The nursery is almost done, but here is a picture from the process. As you can see the Limow turned out favorably, at least in my opinion. Oh and please ignore the ugly mobile, we used it with titus and he loved it so it's not really there for "pretty" as much as functional.

I change my mind often as of lately. I really can't imagine why? My sister used to say I was one of the most decisive people she knew...not anymore. WARNING: this is another blog about baby stuff.

So I had the bedding for the nursery. Amongst other stuff. I went up stairs to look at it and decide how I was going to put a feminine touch on it and then I realized something. I couldn't. The bedding I selected was neutral to the core (which I usually love), but I looked at this bedding and suddenly became reflexive (not a real rarity for me).

As I "diagnosed" the bedding I realized I had selected it based on 2 reasons. 1. it was easy to use just in case this little one came out a dude and 2. deep down inside I was STILL having a hard time accepting that I was really having a little girl. The purchase of the nursery bedding was my own way of saying...a girl is just to good to be true and I'm not buying it so I'd rather keep my heart "safe". YES I got all that from staring at my kids bedding. ha. (a look into the mind of krystin...scary).

So obviously I had to sit there in this room and reconcile with myself and God. It's true that there is the chance that this little one could come out a boy (big deal). The hard thing for me is to realize my own deep desire for a little girl (as much as having a daughter raises all my mothering issues to the surface). I had to accept it. One day I'll blog about why this is so difficult, but not today, this is about decorating.

So the bedding was returned. New bedding was purchased. And then came the painting.

I like to put my "stamp" on things. This means I had to paint something. So all the furniture was painted what I refer to as Limow. The perfect mix of Lime & Yellow = Limow. More pictures will follow, but below is the color;

To expand on why I experienced the doll isle. Please meet "sissy":


Since we are on count down to the arrival of a baby girl. We thought it best to prepare our first born. So how do you prepare a 16 month old?

Obvious solution; introduce a plastic painted doll covered in pink and play mind games with the kid. Alright when I put it that way it sounds a bit cruel. We actually have really good intentions...does that count?

We got a "sissy" doll since we thought it would be the best way to introduce kiddo 1 to the idea of a kiddo 2. We hang with "sissy" and kiss sissy and talk about how really cool she is and so far my kiddo is buying it. Well, that is with the exception of the day he tried to poke her eye out but hey, we all feel that way now and again.

So there you have it. doll isle = impostor sissy. I hope he doesn't prefer the doll when the real sissy shows up.

So I ventured down the freakiest isle in target. I have never been down this row before. I didn't know target had a whole section dedicated to this. It was like living out my worst nightmare.

THE DOLL ISLE!!!



Reasons for freaky-ness:
1. Whole row is covered in pink. Every doll comes in a pink box (something seriously wrong here).
2. All dolls had eyes that followed me. I'm not paranoid, really.
3. As I approached a doll the row of dolls below began speaking to me. NOT KIDDING. It was more like a cry and a "mamma", but really it was So wrong.
4. I hate dolls. Think of an old school horror movie most had dolls or referenced dolls.
5. If my kids want to play mommy they can have a fake vaccuum and a mop, but they CANNOT have a child!!!

I've started cooking. Don't get me wrong, I've cooked before. However, historically I haven't been the cook in our house. Actually no ones the cook in this house, but if someone had to get credit it would be Dave. He makes a mean grilled cheese and tomato soup. I know we're sad. Well I've learned some important lessons in life. Lesson 1: Too much wine leads to babies. Lesson 2: babies lead to budgets. And now back to the present. I've started cooking...I've been having a lot of fun but the more I cook the more I've realized that my reciepies are limited. In hopes that some of you out there cook too I thought I'd send a plea..."If you have recipies and your not all crazy about family secrets to making food then please please send them my way". I am really enjoying it and I'm pretty sure Dave is too. I just don't know how much more meatloaf we can take.