The First Play-Doh

12/17/2012

Among the many toys unpacked from storage was a box of play-doh. When Ali pulled it off the shelf in the playroom, I decided it was time to introduce her to the squishy, doughy goodness. She’s not putting things in her mouth quite so much anymore so I figured she’d get to enjoy it for at least a minute or two before I had to take it away.

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I was right.

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“Ali, if you taste it again, Mommy is going to have to take it away.”

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Oh, this age of budding independence is interesting… Every time I give her an ultimatum, she tests it. If nothing else, she is learning that Mommy means what she says.


Phone Photo Friday

12/14/2012

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Most of my Phone Photo Friday pictures are from my Instagram feed. Follow me @mahlbrandt if you’d like!


Bring Home the Bacon … for Christmas!

12/13/2012

It’s time to tell you about my favorite Christmas present from last year, in case you still need an idea for that hard-to-shop-for someone on your list. It’s not the gift that got the most use (that would be our Keurig) but it’s the one that has saved us hundreds of greasy paper towels and time cleaning a grease splattered stove, oven or microwave…which is pretty awesome. Gifted to me by my beloved.

Meet Piggy Wiggy the bacon tray.

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Microwave bacon trays are not hard to come by but I was searching high and low for one that had a lid. Without a lid the grease still splatters all over the microwave (or requires lots of paper towels), so what is the point? Then I found Joie Piggy Wiggy. Not only does it have a lid, it has a pink vented lid with a pig-face handle. It’s perfect. The grid on the tray allows the grease to drain off the bacon and everything is contained. No more throwing away 5 greasy paper towels just to cook a few strips of bacon. The grease can easy be dumped into a jar and the two parts scrub clean pretty easily. Did I mention it’s less than $10 with free shipping on Amazon? What are you waiting for … git one!


It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas…

12/12/2012

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On the eve of moving day, Jason and I went to a fundraiser dinner and a friend snapped this picture of us in front of the ginorous Christmas tree in the lobby. I would just slap it onto a Christmas card template and send it out to our friends and family this year but it’s missing a certain little cutie pie. I’m going to attempt to get a picture of the 3 of us and whip something up in time to send out. I’m also hoping to have time to do some Christmas shopping before I run out of shipping time. Yikes! So much to do this time of the year and we kind of have our hands full with unpacking and all… I did put up a few Christmas decorations as I was unpacking boxes.

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I bought 3 more boxes of vintage ornaments this summer to add to my collection. (Sidenote: I still have a couple of 11×17 Wishing You a Shiny Brite Christmas posters for sale at my etsy shop, as well as some digital download prints.)

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The silver wreath Jason and I made many years ago made it’s way onto our new front door.

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A year or two before she passed away, my Granny gave me two boxes of her vintage Shiny Brite ornaments. They’re half broken and the glitter is a bit corroated but I treasure them. That’s why they’re on this tree stand on the counter, away from toddler hands.

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Speaking of toddler hands, yeah, this is going to be interesting… I’ve already said, “No, Ali, we don’t touch the Christmas tree!” about 500x. Which just makes her want to touch it more, I’m sure. “Ball,” she says as she pokes at the ornaments. No picture of her with the tree yet for obvious reasons.

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We’re Home!

12/11/2012

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Friday was moving day. It felt so different than when we’ve bought houses in the past…we would close at a title company, get our keys and let ourselves into our new, empty house. This time we’ve been in and out of the house almost daily for the past 6 months while it was constructed. On Friday Jason was cleaning the windows while I moved a few things over from my parents house. Then the last inspector from the city came and we paced around nervously while he walked through the house. Our site supervisor Scott put the last of 4 final inspection approval tags on the kitchen counter as he walked the inspector out. And that was it: we’re allowed to move in! Jason and I looked at the 4 final inspection tags on last time and gave each other a high five. Go time.

We met the movers at our storage unit and spent the rest of the day—the rest of the next several days, really—slinging boxes, moving furniture and unpacking. We are physically exhausted but oh-so-happy to be finally in our new home. I had hoped to sneak over early Friday morning and take final photos of a clean, empty house before we started moving in but it didn’t happen. Why? Because early Friday morning the tile guy, Peanut, was finishing grouting the fireplace and the bathroom; John, the painter, was doing touch-ups and Scott, our site supervisor/problem solver extraordinaire was putting the final touches on our front porch railings. In other words, the house was not clean or empty.

When we arrived back to our house, my mom had set up sloppy joes in her crock pot for us, as well as dropped off a bunch of food to get us through the first couple of days. She’s the best!

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After her afternoon nap, my parents brought Ali down to check out her new room. She hasn’t seen most of this stuff since she was 7 month old…so basically, she’s seeing it all for the first time. Who needs Christmas gifts!

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She was so excited about all the “new” toys that she climbed into her toy box.

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…and assembled:

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The first morning in our new house!

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On Day 2, my sister-in-law Ginger came over to help while my niece Eliza played with Ali. After they left, my parents and Jason’s parents helped us unpack and move more things from my parents’ house all day. It’s so wonderful to have such an awesome family to help us! I was too preoccupied to take many pictures on Saturday but I did snap this one of Ali. Nana (Jason’s mom) was unpacking a box with Ali and found some of my sunglasses…

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Day 3 in our new house: Sunday.

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Ali seems to really like her new room. It’s one of the most complete rooms in the house. All that’s missing are things that hang on the wall: pictures, book ledges, curtain rod, etc.

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Ali also seems to love her playroom (AKA the den) and it’s nice to have 2 rooms in the house that are mostly kid-safe.

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The hall bathroom is for Ali and guests:

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The living room is pretty much a big mess because the two couch pieces of our sectional and an armchair are being used in a home staging project. They’ll be back in a few weeks. I’ve been meaning to write about that. I’ll do that soon…

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Meanwhile, this is our makeshift couch: a pile of old blankets and pillows on the floor. Lucy approves.

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LuLu can be a very anxious dog but she seems to be adjusting really well. To my knowledge she hasn’t peed on anything or had any seizures so that says a lot for her.

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The kitchen is almost mostly complete, however it’s still a big mess because it’s the heart of the house. (Note the tool box and cleaning supplies on the counter, the step ladder in the dining room.)

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I really, really love how the kitcehn came together.

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We’re planning to add a tile backsplash at a later date.

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The coffee and tea bar is pretty much my favorite thing ever.

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After three days of hard work, we decided to use our last bit of energy on Sunday night to set up the TV so we could properly relax. It involved a mount that fixes to the concrete fireplace with a floating shelf below the TV. I’ll tell you about that later. We don’t have cable or internet yet, but we could use the DVD player so we found our box full of Seinfeld DVDs.

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Random: Any Nashvillites interested in a beautiful, big, heavy gold vinyl sleeper sofa? I was planning to use it in the den but it’s too big for that room so we’re selling it. It’s on craigslist for $100. Sold! Thank you to Mark and his wife. I hope you enjoy it!

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Alianna at 16 Months

12/10/2012

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“What’s your name?”

“Awbi!” you answer with a giggle.

This age is so much fun. You’re walking with confidence now, sometimes even running. The sound of your feet pattering around is beautiful music. Your personality is continuing to blossom and every day we’re more amazed at your radiance. You are so friendly and now not only smiling, waving and saying hi, but also blowing kisses to kind old ladies at Target and patting your head and saying “hat” to the subcontractor at our house whose hat you’d like to compliment. Walking means independence and exploration. You love to run all around our new house, checking out each room, slipping and sliding along the sawdusty hardwoods, rolling around in the dirt when you fall down. You have a wild and adventurous spirit. You are passionate and easy-going at the same time. You are an adrenaline junky – you love to be tossed up in the air, to belly flop off the step between the kitchen and den at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, or to roll off of the sofa into anyone’s arms. I think you’re going to be my roller coaster buddy, if I can keep up with you, that is. You’re also super tough, much more than your mama. Your play stove has tipped over on you two times and neither time evoked any tears from you. The other day you were climbing the front steps as Daddy was doing some landscaping and you slipped and busted your lip. He said it bled quite a bit but you didn’t cry very long then either.

One funny thing you do: You’ve said “Mama” before. Enough times that I know you’re capable but you refuse to call me that. Daddy is “Daddy” and everyone else is “Dada” (except your favorite girl cousins “Ice” and “Eyza”). I can get you to say “Mmmmmmaaaaaa” (since it’s a bit like “Mooo” which you say) but if I try to get your to say “Maa – Maa” you pause and then say, “Daddy!” It’s adorable and also annoying. My name is Mama, girl. Mama. And speaking of sounds, you’re totally into animal sounds lately. Some of these you’ve mastered and some you’ll only do occasionally:

Dog: woof woof
Cat: eow
Turkey: gobba gobba
Rooster: doo
Lamb/Sheep: ba
Cow: Mmmmm (sometimes Moo)
Lion: rrrr
Monkey/Gorilla: ooh ooh
Chick: beep beep
Horse: nay

At your recent doctor’s appointment you weighed 23 lbs and were 30″ tall. Aunt Jessica looked it up online and says you’re in the 42% for weight and 20% for height. You were a big, deliciously chunky baby but you’re turning out to be a pretty petite little girl. It’s too soon to say what size of an adult you’ll be. You’re healthy and happy and that’s all that really matters. You continue to bring so much joy to us and everyone else around you. I’m looking forward to all the adventures we’ll have in our new home. 2013 is sure to be a banner year. I love you, Ali!

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Phone Photo Friday

12/07/2012

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My one and only attempt at a Pinterest craft this Christmas. The candy cane wreath on the left is actually the second one I tried. The first one immediately fell apart. This second one stayed together long enough to fool me. I hung it up above our bed and a few hours later returned to a pile of candy canes on our pillows and this one lonely cane still dangling. Bah humbug!

Most of my Phone Photo Friday pictures are from my Instagram feed. Follow me @mahlbrandt if you’d like!


New Home Update – The End is Near

12/06/2012

Weak, I know… it’s the day before we move in and I really (still) don’t have time for a proper blog post. Instead, here is a dump of photos from my iPhone from the last week. I promise a proper “New Home Update” or perhaps… “New Home Tour” next week!

We had our first meal at our new house last Wednesday. We ate pizza as these guys were installing our granite countertops.

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Den/Playroom … I still don’t know if this wall is chalkboard paint or if it’s just painted black. Our contractor needs to ask the painter.

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The fireplace is not quite complete (though as I’m writing this, it’s getting finished). Lights and fans are all in.

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Bathroom vanities, medicine cabinets and sconce lights are in. Plumbing fixtures, too, but I guess I don’t have a picture of those yet.

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Ali playing in the playroom.

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And in Jason’s studio closet/recording booth.

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For the past week or so, as soon as Ali is asleep for the night (at my parents’ house where we’re living) Jason and I head over to our house to work. One night we assembled this MASKROS light from IKEA. It’s means “dandelion” in Swedish. I wonder why?

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Jason is so excited about having a gas range. I think he’s fired it up about 15 times just to make sure it’s still working.

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We had a gorgeous first weekend in December with sunshine and highs touching 70 degrees. After a bday party in the morning, we stopped by Jason’s favorite garden center. They had everything 40% off so we decided to go for a few big things: two arborvite and a topiary.

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Ali was zonked out in the van during the entire plant buying process.

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Naked house.

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Dressed house (though still scantily clad.) It was dark when we finished up so the pictures aren’t the greatest, but we’re still very pleased with getting a start on our landscaping.

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Later that night we went to Home Depot to buy closet shelving. We had the most awesome lady helping us. She was so cheerful and patient. She took all of our measurements down and did the math so we’d have little waste, and she even took the time to label each shelf with the measurement so we’d know which was which when we got home. You just don’t get customer service experiences like that often enough!

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A few daylight pictures from Sunday…

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Yeah, still looks pretty bare.

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My tea and coffee bar! I’m excited about this.

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The 4 yellow stools I ordered arrived this week. I love.

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Jason and I spent another evening cleaning. This kitchen is now sparkling clean, even the insides of the cupboards! Ready to unpack this weekend.

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The kitchen is missing a few things… the doors for the corner cabinet and the metal chase for the vent hood above the gas range. The chase and vent hood are stainless but have a white protective sticker on them. (That confused me for a minute.)

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Jason and I (mostly Jason) made this walkway in the courtyard with super, über, really-really heavy paver stones. Eventually we’ll get a load of gravel and we’ll build a gate.

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As of the writing of this post (Wednesday evening) we’ve passed 2 of the 4 needed inspections. We have the other two scheduled for Thursday and Friday. It’s all starting to get REAL!!

(PS. WordPress has new photo upload software. Yay! Made this post quicker. 😉 )


Move In Week … I Hope!

12/03/2012

This is a blog post to say that I may not be posting much this week. Outside of my 40-hour a week graphic design job, my life (my family’s lives) will pretty much be revolving around our new house and getting things ready for our scheduled move-in day on Friday, followed by a weekend of unpacking. I say “I Hope” in the title because we have to pass several inspections before we get the occupancy permit. Almost everything is done, except the master bathroom tile (remember the snafu I mentioned?) and a few electrical things that’ll get changed around. The house needs a thorough cleaning. Jason and I spent gorgeous 70-degree afternoons on Saturday and Sunday working on landscaping. If you would like to see pictures, follow me on Instagram (@mahlbrandt) or check out my profile here: instagram.com/mahlbrandt I would repost pictures here but I don’t have time at the moment! Off to more projects…

I’ll be back as soon as the dust settles.