We're back at it!!

Home Improvement. It just won't end! We spent the day working on our hallway. I tried to take before and after pictures, but they're not really impressive. I mean....it's a hallway. But it's a huge difference to us.

A previous owner decided not to take down the wall paper (cream with small brown diamonds. Blugh.), and instead did some type of plaster/stucco textured thing over it. On top of that, they painted a sponged techniqued, two-toned color scheme in a glossy type paint. We've ignored it since moving in because we don't know how to get the plaster stuff off.

Today we painted the walls in "contemporary white", which is really a taupe/beige. A nice eggshell. The trim is now a fresh bright white.

Oh it's so lovely.

Soon we'll do the flooring and it will be the nicest hallway ever!!

Diaper Bag Madness!!

I love my family. I mention a need for a diaper bag and they get to work. My Mom who is always online found the very cute ju-ju-be diaper bags. Cute prints and antibacterial linings.

My Jeff, who will research anything until he has found THE BEST (I've seen some searches go on for hours) came up with the sherpani. A top rated bag.

I'm snookered in by the floral inner lining. (I'm so easy)

But I still like the backpack idea.

This really shouldn't be so hard. It's just a bag. It holds stuff. That's it. I know I'm only focusing on the tiny stuff because it's all I have right now.

When she does come, Zoe will be one styling baby.

In a Hurry...

Okay...I only have an hour to get my blogging done. It's Thursday night and there's TV watchin' to do! An hour may sound like lots of time, but it's been awhile since I've been here and I'm incredibly slow, especailly when there's pictures involved.

First of all...the accomplishments! Jeff installed our new gas logs. It's an early Christams present from my parents and we got the Mac-Daddy logs!! Remote control! You can set it to manual or automatic where they cut on or off based on your desired temp. We don't even have to light the pilot light. The remote does that, too. You know it makes this fire-phobic person happy knowing I can shut off the pilot light when not in use.

Next up, take a look at the new flooring in the foyer. We finally did a little more work.











And here's a refresher of what the foyer used to look like.






Also, I need to ask a question about diaper bags. I know I've got a lot of time left on this one, but I seem to be obsessed with it right now anyway. And since I'm finally thinking baby stuff again, I figured I'd ride the wave.

My main question is... what kind do I need? Zoe will be in some type of daycare (I'll get advice on that later), so I imagine a bag for that is necessary. Then do you get a different one for running around town or do you just keep one really organized one for all your outings. Knowing me, I'll probably end up with diaper supplies stuffed in all the cubby-holes of my my car, but I'd at least like to start nice and organized.

It has to be one Jeff is willing to carry. I like the backpack concept, but since I don't see other women with this type of diaper bag, I figure there has to be a down-side I haven't thought of yet. I like the Baby Sherpa and the One Step Ahead back packs. But are those the best choice for a day care? They're not travelling anywhere so the pack concept isn't necessary, and if it's just for me running errands, I certainly don't need one that big.

My other recent fav' is the Land's End Do-It-All Diaper Bag If you follow the link, click on "larger view" to see all the pictures. I love how it has a frog-mouth style. Easy to get into. This seems like the day-care winner, but I don't really like the luggage look for toting around town.

Thank goodness we have 6-9 more months to get this straightened out! And when I sort this one out, we'll start talking car seats!!

Better go get my spot on the sofa warmed up now....

Referrals!!

You know I love referral time! And today was especially great because it involved the referral for someone I know.

Today Lisa and Eammon received the referral for their beautiful daughter.

Chinese name: Wan Chun Miao
Soon to be: Maisie Miao

Isn't she the sweetest?

There's something about this batch of referrals that has me feeling really optimistic. Oh, I still expect to wait a long time. I still expect a referral in the summer. Another 8 months or so. (In addition to the 10 I already waitied) But it doesn't bother me. I have this overwhelming feeling of optimism. Things will be fine.

October Secret Pal

Look at my secret pal presents for October!! The secret pal theme this month was children's books, and I got these two precious books and a very sweet card. Is there anything more perfect for our family than a kitty book? (Since we have so many)

Truthfully, I was nervous my secret pal forgot me. We just switched pals and my previous one was lovely. (clearly, my new one is, too) Also, because I work at the post office I checked for a package for me every morning. I'm sure my mail carrier was very tired of me digging thru his parcel buggy every morning, but my secret pal tricked me and used UPS. Sneaky! At least now I won't spend this month like an idiot rummaging around the post office for anything with my name on it!