Old Chair, New Chair

Well since I am short on money these days, but really wanting to improve some things around the house (or update them), I decided to buy some cutesy tootsy fabric and reupholster the dining room chair cushions.
Here is before. Dark, dreary, and no fun cushions.

And the after! Bright, cheery, and fun :) I love how they turned out!

Permanent Solution, Temporary Problem

So I'm sure everyone has heard about the shootings in Rome. If not, you've been hiding under a rock.
Tim Spriggs, a former classmate of the Mr., shot and killed his ex-girlfriend's father. The father in this case, is Greg Davis, who I have known for about 9 years. Greg was Marla's brother, who has been a friend of the family for a long time, and who was also my co-worker at State Farm.
I can't imagine what Marla and her family is going through. I've been thinking of them a lot, and they are dealing with the loss of a life that should not have been taken.
It's strange to know both involved, the murderer and the victim.
I hope that Marla and her family will eventually be able to find peace again. Greg will be missed by many.
And Tim, well, his punishment is coming. But no punishment, no matter how horrible it may be, will bring back a man who deserved to live a long and wonderful life with his family.

So Far, So Good

Well I've been on Weight Watchers the past few weeks, and things are definitely going good there! I am down 52 pounds from my full term pregnancy weight, and only 2 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight!. Yes, if you are paying attention, that means I gained a whopping 54 pounds during the course of my pregnancy. I could have easily been mistaken for a beluga whale.
But my first week on Weight Watchers I lost 6.8 pounds. The second week was a bad one for me, and I gained like half of that back. However, the third week made up for the second week, and I lost another 6.8 pounds! Wahoo! I'm not going to go into detail about how much more weight I need to lose, until I reach my goal. But in 2006 I lost 60 pounds in the course of 5/6 months on Weight Watchers, so I know if I stick to it, I'll reach my goal in no time.
In baby news, the Mr. and I took Mason to Berry yesterday and had our first family portraits taken by the wonderful Mike Robertson! He has been our personal family photographer since shooting my bro's wedding, and has taken my engagement, bridal shots, and photographed our wedding (as well as many other family shots through the years).
So it was great to see him and his wife Tracey again yesterday, and we are looking forward to seeing how the pictures turn out! I will definitely post them as soon as we get them!
And Mason has had a good weekend. With the help of baby Zantac, we had a scream free weekend (well, he still had his moments). Saturday night he slept from around 9pm, and slept straight through the night until 7am Sunday morning.
Freebie of the day! VistaPrint is offering a free personalized wall or desk calendar! All you have to pay is shipping. Check it out at VistaPrint.com

Hurricane Makeover

And by hurricane, I mean the glass hurricane candle holder. No discussing Ida here people.
Anyway, I got a little craftsy yesterday and decided to take one of my glass hurricanes and give it a little makeover. I bought these hurricanes a few years back for our engagement party. They've come in handy ever since. I also used them for showers, my wedding, Christmas decor, and all year round use.
So I've got quite a few of these, and just got the urge to give it some oomph.
Tell me what ya think! It only took about 5 minutes to do, and I think it turned out great!
Here is the boring before...

And the fun and fresh after!

Crafty Christmas

A few blogs ago, I had mentioned that with the financial situation Adam and I are in, I will be making some Christmas gifts. Well, after seeing how well the beginning products turned out, I have decided that I am going to try and make some cash off of my craftsy gifts! I'm in the process of setting up an Etsy account, so that I can take requests on personalized, handmade items.
I'm hoping that in the next week or two I can actually buy some more supplies so that I can get this process moving too. I guess that's the biggest problem. You've gotta spend a little money to make a little money. But as far as the gifts go, I think that the recipients will thoroughly enjoy them, hopefully be as impressed with my talents as much as I was surprised with them, and consider them thoughtful and personal gifts.
I love the holidays! The fall begins the most favorite time of year for me, and I am so glad to have Mason in my life to enjoy it even more.
So, once Christmas has passed (so that way those of you who read my blog and will receive my wonderfully hand crafted gifts)I will post my Etsy store online! (That is if I can get my crap together and have it up and running by then!)

We've Reached a Milestone

Friday night, for the first time in his life, Mason slept through the night!
Of course any Mom is super thrilled about this milestone, so you can imagine my excitement. And the little guy did it again last night too! Friday night he slept from 9pm to 7am! Woah! And not only that, but when he woke up, he was a happy camper. All smiles! :) I was so excited!
In other news, last night was my first girls night out since my bachelorette party. Needless to say, us girls felt more like old women, and realized that the scene just wasn't for us anymore. Can't get any better than being at home with our favorite wine, playing for the Scrabble championship with the boys, and being able to love on my little man. Needless to say, after obtaining a lovely headache, spending money none of us really had, and missing Mason like crazy, we learned our lesson. We'll leave the "girls night out" for the girls, and the "ladies night in" for us.
And after ending our evening early to venture back home to my wonderful husband and son, the little man decided he would sleep straight through the night again. And instead of wanting to wake up at 6am this morning, he decided to sleep in until about 10. What an angel.

Time Flies When You Are Crazy

So Mason turned 9 weeks old yesterday. I can't believe it! The little guy is becoming a bigger little guy. He smiles and giggles all the time now. I love it.
He is liking his swing and his play mat a lot, but gets bored with them after about a half an hour. He also likes to sit in my lap and watch tv.
We had a great Halloween! My little baby deer (in 18 years he can thank Daddy for that one) was adorable, and we spent the evening over at his Mimi's and Pop's house. We had a lot of fun dressing him up, even though he hated it, and taking lots of pictures.
So our financial situation hasn't gotten any better. Why would it though? It's so hard once to get caught up once you get behind. I sat down today and figured out how much debt we are in, and the numbers literally brought me to tears. I thought about consolidating, but when you have little to no credit as I do, and loads of student loans past due, no one really wants to lend you the amount of money you are needing to cover all debt. So that's out the window. Mr. H and I have always been able to manage when we are down on our luck, so I hope that through the power of positive thinking, we'll be able to pull through this one too.
It's starting to make me feel like I am failing as a Mom. I can give Mason some of what he needs, but not as much as I'd like. It's a struggle just to make sure our power and water don't get turned off right now.
Needless to say, I feel like I'm losing my mind. I sit at home with Mason all day going stir crazy as it is, and to have this looming debt over my head to constantly think about doesn't make it any better. At least I can look at his sweet little smiles and it erases all my worries for awhile.
So Mason, put on a perma-grin. Mommy needs it.