Pongo week!

This past week has been declared PONGO week. Pongo is a cute little BT that belongs to Darin's Aunt & Uncle. We got to watch him this week while they were on vacation. You may think, "Angie you are crazy for watching a dog for a week, don't you have a new baby at home?" Yes, I do have my hands full, but you guys, look at the pictures below and I think you will understand. Pongo is our favorite dog to watch because not only is he a good dog, but he's really good at fetch, listens to commands, and looks super cute playing with Lincoln. Two boston terriers! there is just too much cuteness going on.

Pongo leaves today :( See you next time, buddy! We will miss you!

My first night out!

Last night, I did something I haven't done in a long time... I went out! Darin had a night with Lily, while I went to see Aaron Draplin speak in Detroit. It ended up being a great night out!

I traveled down to the lecture with Veronica & Shawn. We parked the car and mozied on down to the lecture. On our way there we stopped at Gourmet Hotdogs, a little hot dog stand that was amazing! I had a Detroit Chili Dog (Hot dog with coleslaw, chili, and cheese..did I mention it was amazing?). Everyone should go down there and try one, right now.



Back to the lecture...

First of all, I really miss going to lectures and I was so happy I went to this one. He started the show by having his Dad come up on stage and tell a handful of jokes. His Dad was a great character, bright hawaiian shirt, BIG white beard, and so jolly you just wanted to give him a hug! It was very sweet seeing how happy Draplin was to be back in Michigan to see his family.

The more he talked, the more he reminded me of a lot of me and my friends. He travels to estate sales and collects old junk for design inspiration, just like all of us! He said he goes to 'rescue' these old artifacts. So true! I couldn't wait to get home to look at my collection of things I've rescued. He even talked about how he takes pictures of things at estate sales, which made me laugh because I do this too! (which reminds me, we HAVE to take a family trip to Ludington, maybe next summer).

Draplin is somewhere in the middle of his career and already has a ton of exciting stories and projects to share. He told some amazing stories or tall tales as he called them. Most of which he did not want anyone to videotape and share with the world. He kept it intimate, and made sure these stories were only shared with the 100 or so people in the room, it was our thing (and I'll keep it that way out of respect for him). I loved that he had a personal story about each project. Most lectures are just a portfolio review, but I really loved that his life stories and work stories went together hand in hand. I guess that's something I've always wanted or assumed I would have, and didn't realize how much I'd have to work at it to make that happen. Somewhere along the line, my passion for incorporating design into my personal life has dwindled, but its coming back now! If anything, Lily has inspired me to finish a ton of projects already, and now I am inspired to keep the momentum going. Its time to have fun with design again!

We couldn't take any pics during the lecture, but I snapped this one as he was setting up.

Happy Birthday to all the Grandmas out there!

Yesterday was a big day, and I just didn't get around to writing about it. First of all, it was my moms birthday. I love my mom! I feel so lucky to have her in my life, she has taught me how to be a kind and loving person and I don't know what I'd do without her. I am so happy that Lily has a Grandma like her. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you always.

Yesterday was also my first day back to work. It went well, I think. I was very busy at work, so that helped keep my mind off home. It was really nice to see my co-workers and joke around with them all day. I missed that. I was lucky enough to come home for lunch to nurse Lily, a wonderful bonus to working close to home. The best part about being back at work, was coming home at the end of the day. Darin and I both came home at the same time, and Lily was soooo excited and happy to see us. The three of us sat on the couch and poked at Lily to get every last smile and giggle out of her. She looked so happy to be with her mom and dad again.

Lily was lucky enough to spend the day with her Grammie while I was at work. Her birthday is today, Happy Birthday, Grammie! (I still can't believe how close my parents birthdays are to Darin's parents birthdays.) I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in-law. She is so wonderful with Lily and I'm so amazed at her generosity and kindness. I am lucky to have a second mom like her. Happy Birthday!

New Frames

I found these frames at a resale shop (50 cents each!). They were a really ugly brown color, so I spray painted them white and framed these cute graphics from a French Paper sample book. Perfect for the nursery! I'm very happy how they turned out :) Pretty good for under $5.

Lily's Mobile

I made Lily's butterfly mobile for her crib! I tell you, this nursery will be an ongoing project :) Its a fun project though. I was so excited to make this mobile. I bought an old beat up copy of Little Women months ago, specifically for this purpose. I've always loved die cuts from old books, but I was never brave enough to cut up a book. I took the plunge and I am glad I did. I hope Lily likes her new mobile.

Good news, bad news

Today has been full of ups and downs, well actually one big up and one big down. A couple weeks ago, Darin found the warranty to my old camera about 5 days before the expiration date. I took my camera in because sometimes the shutter would not open when I turned on the camera. Best Buy said they could fix it, and sent it out through their Geek Squad thing. Yesterday, they called me and said they couldn't fix it, so I should come in to get a new camera. YES. This is the first time I've ever had a warranty work out!

I went in today and got a new Nikon coolpix p100 (up!). It is awesome and I love having a new camera! Perfect timing because I liked my old camera, but my phone takes better pictures than it, and that is not a good sign.

The down side is that the battery on my computer blew up (which is a normal thing for mac batteries to do), and I do not have a warranty on that (down). So, I'll just keep my lap top plugged in for a while. I wish I could get a new computer...a desktop maybe? Anyway, I was freaked out for a minute because no matter how much I complain about my computer, it is allowing me to work from home on Mondays to be with Lily and I can't have it break down right now. And it reminded me how much I wish I could just work from home everyday or have a million dollars and not have to work at all. Ugh! I can't decide if I should have a bowl of ice cream, or a glass of wine!

(New pics from my new camera. Don't worry the pictures will get better. I took these before I read how to use the camera, so the pics are blurry, but appropriate)

Summer fun

Lily and I had a big day Saturday. Lily got to experience the joy of waking up really early and going down to eastern market. Well, she experienced sleeping in the baby bjorn while I went to eastern market with Grammie, hah. We bought corn, zucchini, doll watermelon (Rebecca got me hooked!), and fresh basil (with which I made pesto for dinner tonight, yum!!) I just love eastern market! I can't wait until Lily is old enough to enjoy it too!

Saturday night, we went to a surprise party for my cousin, who was celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary. It was a ton of fun, and they were very surprised. It was really fun to hang out with my extended family during the summer. We usually only see each other on the holidays. We had a blast and ended up staying there all day. Lily swam for the first time, it was the cutest thing ever! She got to wear her new bathing suit, a little bikini. She did not like the cold water on her belly, but didnt mind having her legs in the water. I have tons of video of the pool, but here is a still from the video.

Mama & Lily @ eastern market and swimming!


p.s. can you tell how much of a mama's girl she is?! She must be held by her mama! <3

books!

We finally made an amazon wish list for Lily. It is very important to us that we have a ton of good books for Lily, so we made a list of the best books we could think of. It was so fun to go through and remember all the books I loved when I was little.

Click here to see her wish list

Some of my favorite books were the Sweet Pickles books. Darin and I looked for them online, and they are rare and expensive! One mint condition copy of Stork Spills the Beans is selling for $90 on Amazon.com!! I couldn't believe it. I had ALL of these when I was little, I wonder if they are still around...

zen lincoln

I'm glad someone found a way to sleep while screaming baby is on. (warning: turn speakers down)

Getting ready

Lily and I are getting ready to go to Aunt Candi's house today! its going to be a fun day!!

Lily & T-Rex

Lily! Watch out for T-REX!

Wanna go for a waaalk!?

The other day, I decided to take Lily AND Lincoln for a walk. Lily decided to hate her car seat all of a sudden, so the stroller was out of the question. Since I already promised Lincoln a walk, I thought it would be the perfect time to try out the baby bjorn. Lily enjoyed it, so I got to keep my promise to Lincoln. I tried to get a picture of it all and just got this, I think it captures the moment...hah

Lily's nursery

Ugh, my computer is being so difficult right now. I think its taking me an hour to make this post. But after much frustration, I stuck to it and actually made it through this post. Its a fun post too...Lily's nursery!! (About time, right?) Lily's nursery is always a work in progress, but its finally at a point worth taking some photos. Darin just added the shelves in to create a little reading nook, and I have a bunch of more frames to add to the frame wall.

Back in the saddle again

The sleeping through the night was a one time thing, which I assumed would be the case, considering she is only 5 weeks. It was nice sleeping for 7 hours in a row though!

In other news, look who took control of the boppy!

yessssssssssss

Lily slept through the night!! She went to bed around 11:45 and didn't wake up until 7am. I couldn't believe it! She had a big day and was awake and alert for most of the evening. Lily got to meet our good friends, Jackson and Evelyn, on their way from NY to Chicago.

She also got to go to her first hockey game to see her Daddy play. She started to cry from her way from the car to the rink, but once she got in the rink, she was happier. I even got to experience changing a poop diaper in public, not as bad as I thought, even though she cried the whole time. Lily loved being in the rink, she watched most of the game and probably liked the noise of the skating. She was in awe. Of course, I forgot my phone so I didn't take any pictures, maybe next time. :)

All that excitement must have exhausted Lily, because she slept through the night and has been sleeping for most of the morning/afternoon. Here is Lily waking up from a nap. I love when she wakes up, she is so cute with her squeaks, grunts, and stretches!