Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

By mirror, I mean that mirror cheap piece of glass that was glued to our bathroom wall. Saddlebrook provides no fancy frills unless you shell out some clams! Well, several months ago, I noticed a tiny crack that started creeping up the mirror. At first we thought the mirror cracked and then stopped cracking. I marked the top of the crack with some eyeliner (MK, of course!), to see if the crack was continuing to creep. It gradually started getting worse and worse - more and more of an eye sore. We talked to some contractor-esque friends to see what they suggested. Adam and I thought the mirror would just pop off easily, but we were told that may not be the case, depending on how the mirror was attached and how much glue was used. Crowbars and holes in drywall were mentioned. Ummm, no! Not to mention that Lowes and Home Depot, neither one had a piece of builder's mirror cut to the size we needed. Custom cut mirror - so that's why our house cost so much to build!

So a few weeks ago, I was blog stalking a friend of a friend's blog and somehow magically made my way to a blog, Sabby in Suburbia, where she was currently in the middle of framing her builder's grade mirror. I think Sabby got the idea from Domestically Speaking, who has a great tutorial on how to jazz up a builder's grade mirror! So, anyway, I thought this would be a perfect way for us to "fix" the mirror without replacing it and crowbarring a hole in the wall! Who would have ever thought to do that? Obviously not me! Interestingly enough, after mentioning this to my mother, she said that when she had her house remodeled back in 2002, that's exactly what the contractor did. Her advice: paint the back side of the frame too!

This project was very easy to do. Adam and Frank used Frank's (grandfather's????) one hundred year old miter saw to cut the frame. We still need to fill in some of the little gaps with calk, but it has made a HUGE difference in the way our bathroom looks!

We are tackling the guest bathroom next!

The Crack

Before

After!

More Crafts

I've been in craft mode lately! It feels good to get in the zone when creating something...it's sort of my therapy! Adam and I have also been wanting to jazz up the house a little bit, so my crafts are being put to good use.

This past weekend, I decided to paint some letters for Ryne's room. He originally had a mobile attached to the wall above his crib, but the weight of the Cubs mobile caused to mobile to start coming out of the wall. So the mobile had to go. It's tough being a Cubs Fan! Afterwards the wall seemed so bare, so we decided to put some letters up!

I have done some crafts before with paper mache boxes. We found some paper mache letters and I broke out the ole craft paints! It only took about two hours from start to finish - enough time to get burnt on my upper back and shoulders and sweat through my entire outfit! I originally wanted to match Ryne's room colors - a mixture of various reds and blues. However, the red on the letters did not seem to work well, and neither did my original design for the letters. So polka dots it is!

The Letters. I think they are a little crooked, but whatev!

Bake It Till You Make It!

Last weekend was the Knies Wedding Reloaded, as Adam likes to call it! David and my new sister-in-law, Sarah got hitched over Memorial Day weekend! I guess when there is only one Catholic Church in the entire county and only a few local reception sites, it makes for a deja vu kind of wedding!

I have dabbled in cake making for the past few years, and as most of you know, a wedding cake can be expensive! David and Sarah asked me if I would make their wedding cake for them, and I excitedly said YES! Sarah sent me a picture of a cake with some color swatches. The cake was covered in fondant and I do not work with fondant as much, but I figured practice makes perfect (or as Adam says, "perfect practice makes perfect"), so I should have no trouble working with fondant by the time the wedding rolls around! The design of the cake seemed fairly simple (technically speaking), but ohh was I wrong!

After two three meltdowns, missing the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and arriving at the wedding with no time to spare, the cake was finished! It wasn't perfect, but it still looked pretty good and tasted good as well. There may have been a few real tears baked into those tiers, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat...for David and Sarah!

The Cake!

David and Sarah cutting the cake

One small step...

Actually a few small steps for Ryne - one giant leap for my life because it will never be the same from this point on!

I was so excited yesterday. I just knew Ryne would walk any day now. The pediatrician said he thought Ryne would walk by 9 or 10 months, so we've been anxiously waiting. Ryne can stand up without pulling up on anything. So surely that means he has enough core strength to walk - he just needed to get his legs moving! He is still not a pro at walking by any means and crawls mostly, but before long I know he will be running through the house like a maniac!

His first "solo mission" consisted of taking three steps and then falling onto the glider ottoman. I don't think he realizes that he has to keep those feet moving! I started crying with excitement, and then thought that maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. So I stood him up to make a second attempt. That time he took two steps and fell on the third step. Then I really started crying! Ryne started giggling and jumping up and down - he likes to see me cry.

Hopefully we can get him on video soon!

10 Months!

Ryne is 10 months old! I just want time to stop! I can't handle the fact that in two months he will be a year old!

This past month has been insane! Ryne had an ear infection and was on antibiotics for 40 days - that's right, 40! It is so heartbreaking to know you child is in pain and all you can do is give them antibiotics and tylenol (tylenol that was shortly recalled AFTER we finished an entire bottle!). It's hard on the parents too. This past month I've felt like I licked my finger and stuck it in the electrical outlet! Ryne has been pulling at his ear the past few days, so I'm praying he doesn't get another ear infection!

Ryne has started talking a lot more! He says "mama" (only when he's crying),"papa", "dada", "baba", "bapa" (his favorite character is BackPack from Dora), and "boo" (for Boots the monkey on Dora). He has also said two "real" words! He says Daddy, byebye, and he said "river" once! I know most people don't believe that a 10 month old baby said "river", but he did! There was an episode of Dora where they cross the noisy river and of course they repeat the word a million times, and he said "river." I wouldn't have believed it myself, but I was sitting right next to him when he said it. It doesn't hurt that Ryne's favorite cousin also shares that name. BackPack doesn't stand a chance against Cousin River!

Ryne has also been swimming a little lately. We start them out early in this house! It's no surprise that he would absolutely LOVE the water. Adam and I met at the pool and the pool has been a huge part of our lives since. Hopefully as the weather warms up, we can spend even more time in the pool. Ryne will be ready to swim with the 8 and under age group on the swim team next year! Ha!

Ryne is still NOT walking yet. He walks and pushes his walk-behind truck, but he will not do it on his own. If we try to get him to walk on his own, he just sits down. He can actually stand on his own, without pulling up on anything, which makes me think he should be physically capable of walking unassisted. I honestly wonder if he knows he can get around quicker by crawling than walking right now!

Even though I don't want Ryne to grow up to0 quickly, I'm still excited to see what the next month holds!

Ryne giving Dadda the face, while Dadda attempts a "judy chop!"

In the big boy tub!

I Heart Squash!

Real men wear leggings!

Ryne's Baptism!

I do not Heart the back float!

Pool Time!

Craftiness

It's getting warmer here in Tennessee, so it's time to bust out the tank tops and sundresses! A lot of my summer clothes from last summer, are in much need of alterations. This time last year, I was six months pregnant. I didn't want to spend money on a lot of maternity clothes because when we have another child, it may not be during the same time of year. So the maternity clothes may never be worn again. I thought the best thing to do was buy empire waist dresses and tops, stretchy skirts and loose fitting rompers so I could wear them the next year. I honestly thought my hips would never go back, I'd always have a little more weight on me, etc. Well.....not so much the case! I lost more weight than what I gained with pregnancy and I can't seem to get some weight back on. [I know you want to smack me, right?] If you've ever seen me take Ryne out to eat dinner, you would understand why. So I've decided that since Ryne's wardrobe is cutting into my wardrobe budget, I need to get crafty with some of the clothes I already have.
I recently came across a blog called New Dress A Day where this girl buys dresses muu muus from yard sales, and such, and she alters them into cute dress and shirts. She has a $365 budget for 365 dresses, hence, a new dress a day! I decided to take some of her ideas and put them to go use. I had a white chiffon dress that I bought to wear at our wedding reception (almost 5 years ago!). I never changed out of my wedding gown, so the dress was never really worn. With David and Sarah's wedding coming up, I wanted to wear the dress, but I can't wear a white dress, when it's not my wedding! So, in the words of celeb fashion coordinator, Rachel Zoe, "I dye!" I dyed the dress a pretty, canary yellow!

I have never dyed anything before so I figured if it didn't work, I could try to redye it black, or throw it away! It actually turned out pretty well!

Now, I just need to learn to sew so I can start altering other dresses and clothes!

Before: plain white dress

Dye Job

After: very yellow and wrinkly!

9 months!

CAUTION: Bragadocious Mother Ahead!

Ryne turned 9 months old yesterday! Wow, he didn't even last that long in the womb! At least now I know I can carry him nine months! Ryne has really busted a move in the past month! Ryne has gone from crawling to standing on his own and walking with his push-behind truck (with no assistance from Mommy anymore)! I'm really pushing walking. I know most people think I'm crazy, but my insanity might be paying off! Ryne went for his 9 month well check today and the pediatrician gave the okay for Ryne to start tapering off his reflux meds! Hallelujah!

We have avoided having our little guy "put through the wringer" at the pediatric GI's. This is a major victory for me personally! Sooo many mothers told me to take Ryne to the pediatric GI, yadda, yadda, yadda.... Adam and I decided to follow the advice of the pediatrician and let him do what he could for Ryne's reflux without bringing in the GIs. Yes that meant having Ryne on Zantac and Prilosec twice a day, but it also meant that Ryne would NOT be put to sleep and have a bunch of invasive procedures done just to find out he needed to be on Zantac and Prilosec! The pediatrician said Ryne's reflux would get better as he started to crawl and walk and he was right!

Ryne has started talking more. He now sporadically calls me "mom" not momma, but mom. He started saying "dadda," but not really towards Adam. Adam is still "bubba!" Ryne also says "hey dare" which is think is supposed to be "hey there." Adam and I say "hey there..." a lot!

Ryne sorta waves bye bye. Well, he doesn't really wave, he just raises his hand above his head like his hailing a cab! He also hands a book to me that he wants me to read! Ryne has recently decided he doesn't want to be spoon-fed anymore! So, now we will be trying more finger food, which means he will be gagging more! Poor little guy, he just wants to grow up so fast!

The pediatrician said that Adam and I need to be mindful of everything Ryne does because he is "SMART," and he is going to figure out a way to get anything he wants and get into anything he wants! The pediatrician also said Ryne is one of the cutest babies he's ever seen! What mother doesn't love to hear that? Smart and Cute - there are some things that I will never tire of hearing!

[End of Bragging Zone]