Run, don't walk to K-Mart....50% off already clearanced clothes. Now, granted K-Mart isn't known for QUALITY clothing...but for the kiddos? Summer playwear for next year? Swimsuits for $2, short sets for $2, work shirts for hubby $4. Sale's on til Saturday - or so I heard.

Moms with busy schedules and/or multiple kids with busy schedules? CHECK IT OUT! This is going on my Christmas list! A unique weekly family grid format for this organizer and/or fridge calendar pad means you'll finally have the tool to keep track of all of the sports, concerts, homework due dates, haircut appointments, etc. And it is CUTE! You can either get the school-year calendar of the full traditional 2008 year calendar. I want it!!!

http://www.busybodybook.com/

Too many photos to post from last night's 2nd birthday bash! Lauren was a fabulous birthday girl and had a blast the whole day. For those of you with Flash - here's a slideshow of the evenings events. For those of you without Flash...scroll down for just a couple snapshots of the evening.

It's a GREAT day to turn TWO!

It's a GREAT day to spend a b-day gift card! What did she choose? An 88 cent bag of Dinosaurs (her favorite of all three things), a generic My Little Pony w/stable and two baby bottles.

It's a GREAT day to be spoon-fed breakfast...

And it's always a GREAT day to just hang w/"Sissy"

Today is a GREAT day for having a Happy Meal with Daddy...

Today's a GREAT day for asking for whatever I want...a pony Daddy? Please?

Today's a GREAT day for opening a present - a new BABY! from Aunt Marcia!

Today's a GREAT day for kissing my Mommy! Today's a GREAT day for a birthday balloon!!
Today's a GREAT day for a birthday nap... I have to rest before my party tonight.

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, LAUREN!!!

Wow! Time flew! While the rest of the country/world is reflecting on the 2nd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I'm reflecting on the 2nd anniversary of the day you were born. What an absolutely wonderful and perfect gift God gave me in you! It is 7:23 a.m. on the day of your birthday and you are apparently sleeping in today - you're the birthday girl - why not? I'm glad because your pregnant Mommy has a HORRIBLE migraine this morning...went to bed with it...woke up with it. I'm already feeling guilty about that, too. I want today to be exciting and special for you. The truth is - every day is exciting and special for you because you find the joy and beauty in everything. I know this, yet I'm wishing I could take you to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch, or to the zoo this morning...

Instead, it will probably look much like many of your days so far. We need to run to the post office to pick up a package (probably a present from Aunt Marcia!), stop at the grocery store to pick up your Dora cake (be glad I didn't try to make you a character cake - see...THERE'S something special!) - and probably some Dora-watching or Backyardigans-watching on TV followed by a snack and maybe some coloring. It might not be over-the-top special - your birthday - but you are over-the-top loved, Lauren.

I can't wait to sing to you and wish you Happy Birthday when you wake up...and dress you in your "I'm the Birthday Girl" t-shirt. =-) I'll have my camera in-hand...so rest-assured...there will be photographic evidence today is your 2nd birthday.

I love you - my favorite 2-yr-old!

Mom

Work has begun on baby boy's room (Bailey's old room). Here are the pictures SO FAR... (Before...the purple walls)...

Almost done...

I'd like to put a dark red and a navy stripe near the ceiling somewhere...and then I'm calling the painting done! Shwew! We still need to assemble the cradle and crib, find a rug, get the glider rocker out of storage...wash clothes and get them in the dresser that is also in storage...ugh - still a lot to do I guess. Pictures of Bailey's new basement room coming soon...I just keep forgeting to bring the camera downstairs with me when I do laundry (which hasn't happened in 2 days - eek).

If I schedule delivery it would most-likely be the last week of September....which sounds fine...except that is Season Premier week. Now, something SERIOUSLY wrong with me that I'm worried about missing TV's season premier's this Fall. I suppose I could watch in the hospital...but you know how those nurses are always interrupting important things like showers, sleep...season-premier-watching. And TiVo can't be trusted...especially with other family members allowed to touch the remote. Hmmmm...big decisions ahead. =-)

Yes, our house is still for sale - and yes, we've now listed with an agent, although I can't say that has helped in any way so far. Just in case anyone reading this a) is shopping for a 3-4 BR with a beauty of a kitchen and garage; or b) know someone in the market...please review and/or pass along. http://urbandalehomeforsale.blogspot.com/

We had a very busy but great weekend. First, we finished moving Bailey to the basement bedroom. (I'll post a picture later today once I have it "cleaned up." Mark installed closet organizers, changed outlet switches/cover plates from black to white, moved furniture - shwew! A lot of work! On Sunday, after church, we took the girls over to my parents' house and Mark & I enjoyed a DATE AFTERNOON!!! Woo-Hoo!

We started with lunch at Rock Bottom - LOVE their stout ketchup - yum. We then headed to Toys 'R Us to shop for Lauren's 2nd b-day (Thursday, Aug. 30). We didn't end up buying her tricycle here, but we DID find the most ADORABLE outfits for she and baby boy. Mark won't let me post them until after he's born (because the outfits are THAT cute). I'm dying to show you though - finally a baby boy outfit that is beyond cute! We decided we'd like to see a movie, so we drove by to see what was playing. Since we had over 40 minutes before the next show, we ran to Target and purchased this. Do we need a helmet for this too? No idea.

We hurried back to the theater for Hairspray! I'm pretty sure we were the last people to see this movie this summer - and now I know why! It was so cute! I can't wait for it to come out on DVD - I'm buying it!

Ok - off to clean the house and get ready to prime and paint Bailey's old room to convert it into a nursery. I'm thinking of Sherwin-Williams Macademia, SW 6142 - too boring? It is a tanish color...for some reason it won't let me link to it. Accented by a few red/navy/white accent pieces? Not sure - still deciding...but I better hurry! Paint MUST go up this week!

Meal planning is so much easier with the help of Laura over at OrgJunkie. So many women post their meal plans each week and then I go through and "borrow" many of their ideas. It is a great way to get new recipes, new meal ideas and just a great way to stick to the task of meal planning. I can't tell you how much stress, time and money it saves when I take the time to do this (and actually stick to it). I only have to run to the grocery store once a week too. Try it!

Monday: Cheesy Ranch Chicken

Tuesday: Bacon Macaroni Bake

Wednesday: Chicken/Bowtie Pasta with bread and fruit

Thursday: Lauren's b-day - Steak&Gravy, mashed potatoes and b-day cake!

Friday: Omelets/bacon/fruit

Saturday: Family in town - probably eating out? Pizza?

Sunday: Cheeseburgers on the grill, salad

I will never, EVER eat Pringles again in my life! I had approximately 10-15 chips with my turkey sandwich at lunch. That was over 8.5 hours ago and STILL nothing but BUUUUURRRRRRRNNNnnn-uh in my chest/throat! Oh - yeah - and the lovely re-Pringle taste every few minutes. They may fool you with their ergonomically designed to fit your mouth cuteness...but they have set my esophogus a-fire! See the guy on the can? He has no mouth...because he, too will not eat them! So, for the remainder of this pregnancy and for my life hereafter...I'm banning Pringles....and my baby will not eat them either.

In gearing up to paint the nursery, I quickly realized that I probably need to pick out bedding before I can properly pick out a paint color. SO..lured by a "sale" at Pottery Barn Kids, I ordered this bumper pad as a "just in case I can't find anything reasonably priced that I really like." Here's hoping I can though. I don't want the quilt, sham and the whole set...really I just want a bumper pad and maybe a skirt...that's it. I think I can go a bunch of different directions with a bumper pad like this one, don't you think? Tan walls? Blue walls? Red trim? Lot of possibilities...and not stuck with a theme either. If I get sick of boats - then we could easily switch to about anything else with this design. That's my justification anyway. =-)

SOMEDAY...when we can go on a vacation...I want to go here!

http://www.alleneasler.com/slidingrock.html
and here...
http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/looking_glass1.htm

Yesterday and today my Mom and I (mostly my Mom) are moving toys out of the "toy room" in the basement, priming over the Nickolodeon-themed paint color currently there and re-painting the room a soft yellow (I think) so Bailey can move in down there. She wants her closet area a different color - and that would be cute - but at $29/gallon...I'm thinking one color will suffice. I like the green better - but yellow is probably a safer color to go with. It must suck having a cheap Mom.

I'm going with good paint this time, per everyone's suggestion. Sherwin-Williams is just down the street - so it IS handy...but also about $9-$10 more per gallon. I'll let you know if I can tell a big difference. THEN once that painting is done, we'll move her furniture down, make a closet area and next week we'll begin painting Bailey's old room upstairs and working to turn it into a nursery. I haven't picked a wall color for that room yet. Not pink - I can tell you that. =-)

The toys are totally displaced - I dumped them in the unfinished room in the basement for now - the would-be scrap room? (screwed outta that one). Anyway - now that everything is pretty much a disaster, I keep expecting the phone to ring - the realtor - wanting to bring a potential buyer through. That would be the luck, wouldn't it?

Here's the Nickolodeon play room scheme going on "before"

Here's the primer going up...

And here's the (TEMPORARY) toy dumping ground for now...until I can figure out where to put them (already purged more than I care to admit)...

I am SOOO in trouble if this baby comes early. NOT READY! (well, physically...but not in any other way). I'm 2 for 2 on NOT AT ALL EARLY...so we should be in good shape...another month to get everything done. I don't know WHAT I'd do without my parents...my Mom is a painting machine, my Dad is supportive of that and helps watch the girls when needed - so blessed. Thank you!!!!

Mommy or toddler, Mommy of toddler, what do you see? I see a new Eric Carle book looking at me! YEAH!

Ok, not that we haven't all heard/seen enough of Bailey's birthday, there is still more to document - believe it or not. This kid has the birthday that goes on...and on...and on. So Tuesday night we had a quiet family celebration, which included pizza, Grandma & Grandpa, our family and a homemade devil's food bundt cake that I made (I've sure got my 25 cents worth out of that garage sale cake pan!). It was a fun time.

I still can't believe she's 12. Honestly! I was so young, naive yet determined back then...but I'm so glad I had her. I can't imagine my life without Bailey in it. I felt so blessed the day she was born. Scared silly - but so happy and blessed. Little did I know that was just the beginning of what God would have in store for me/us. Sure, there were tough times - but look where He has taken us! Today we have a loving husband/father, a nice home, a beautiful daughter/sister added to our family and a brother/son on the way! I haven't worried about bouncing a check at the grocery store or gas pump in several years - life is good. Bailey knows it too. She remembers life with single me - and although she remembers it fondly, she wouldn't trade our life now for anything. I'm so proud of her - for recognizing the blessings in her life - most days - and for appreciating those around her. Maybe it is a new kid at school without a friend, or maybe it is a little sister who needs some extra attention - she's right there to help. I didn't have a clue 12 years ago that she would grow into such an amazing young woman. I love you, Bailey Jayne!

Ok - enough of that - more pics from the b-day evening.

(Presents, lots of cards from relatives and the famous bundt cake)

(A little help from Lauren...)
Her favorite jeans - BAILEY jeans from Delia's!

(Daddy, Birthday Girl and Two-ton Tillie...42 days til due date - ugh)


(Grandma & Grandpa joining in the fun....in the basement where it is COOLER!)

(Uh-Oh! Someone's getting into Bailey's birthday cake!)

Happy Birthday, Bailey!!! Today is Bailey's 12th birthday. She had to be at school at 7 a.m. for show choir rehearsal, so that meant we all had to get up VERY early to do a mini celebration before school. Powdered "donettes" (you try to do better than that before 7 a.m.) with a candle in one and a couple presents to tide her over until this evening. It is now 8:50 and I'm ready for a nap...but there is a cake to bake, a take 'n bake pizza to pick up, presents to wrap....it's going to be a long day. Heartfelt sappy post reflecting on 12 years ago to follow...when I have more time. =-)

Late start today with the Menu Plan Monday. I was NOT in the mood to go to the grocery store today and won't have time tomorrow...so it was a plan my way through the pantry/freezer sort of day. Here's what I found in the cupboard so I only have to pick up a couple items from the store later this week. Shwew. Trust me, there are better ideas than this over at Laura's - check it out.

Monday: Chicken/Vegetable Stir-fry (A bag from Aldi...$4.99 - just add rice!)

Tuesday: Bailey's 12th b-day - picking up a take 'n bake pizza and making a cake

Wednesday: Tuna Casserole (hopefully I can think of something else before then)

Thursday: Hawaiian Chicken Packets

Friday: Tomato Soup/Grilled Cheese

Saturday: Burgers on the Grill, chips, fruit salad

Sunday: Hamburger/Rice Casserole, Corn, Peaches