A,B,C....

Eleanor is always surprising us with what she picks up. The latest is her "ABCs". She starts with "H, I", skips to "O,O,O,O....QRS...Nooowww Myyyy Knooowww." And that's about it. Sometimes she throws in "Y &Z" but not often. Usually she hits the end and just starts right back at "H". It cracks me up. These videos are a bit indulgent so feel free to skip.
For grandparents, however, it's required watching.

Kitchen Before & After!!

Remember this? Although I am one of the slowest unpackers ever, I did actually get the kitchen together so Eleanor didn't have to eat in a towering Mousetrap. Can you find her amidst the clutter? Somewhere to the right of the diet coke. So it was put away, but not cute.

Then I decided I was so in love with the color Peacock Blue that I had to put it somewhere in my house. Being renters, I had to put it somewhere small, so that when we move in 2 years it will be easy to paint over. I chose the back splash. I love the look of lacquered walls and venetian plaster, so I did my own DIY version. Since the back wall was super beat up from when they changed out the counter tops a few years ago, I decided to go with the textured look of venetian plaster. I used cheap wall putty to make it look like plaster, painted over it with my glossy paint and then wiped a rub-on poly over that to make it really shine. This is just the paint color test. But you can see how truly awesome it looked before. Ha.

And here is a picture where you really can't see the texture at all. Go Marianne! But you can see that I moved my measuring cups and salt off of my little ledge and made it an actual "display" of sorts. Pretend those are air quotes around the word display. P.S. The empty knife magnet thing is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I think everyone should own one. You can even install them inside of your cabinets! They are so handy! Um, paper towels are never cute, but what can you do?

I also finally got around to hanging some pictures up and making little curtains for the windows. So I declare that the kitchen is done! Maybe. Either way, here are the before and after pictures. Please ignore the after pictures garland. That was for a baby shower that was at my house. It's not permanent.

Before....

After!

After!

After! P.S. Did I mention that I found the cake stand I have been looking for for over 6 years? My sweet Bishop's wife from my singles ward (What up Wendy!) had one that I adored and I have been searching ever since. Also didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for one. This one was $16 at TJMaxx! Early birthday present to me!

More after.

Close up of the curtain fabric. I searched in vain for something less than $49 a yard. Finally I found this coverlet from Urban Outfitters and made it into curtains for two rooms! I plan to use more of it elsewhere. I have a ton left over.

Here are a few close ups of the art I hung in here. I have so many family photos in our living room (blog to come soon) that I only wanted art prints in here. Here is Queen Esther by one of my favorites, Minerva Teichert. I got this for Clayton for his birthday last year. We have a problem of buying each other gifts that we want for ourselves.

The Lost Balloon.

Disaster & Accident in the Italian District

Doll jumping rope with cats. Yep. Underneath, Rainbow circle? Sadly I find these images off of public domain sites (and a few, cough cough, other sites) and don't know the artists info.

A close up of a Carrière self portrait and a robot escaping on a pony.

Menier Chocolate advertising poster by Firmin Bouisset. Chocolate graffiti?
I can get behind that.

And a gratuitous treat shot. The baby shower had some serious good eats. Pinwheels, homemade salsa, apples with caramel, chocolate caramel cookies, coconut cupcakes, veggie pizza... Happiness. I decorated with an aqua and red theme, but it wasn't very clear. Oh well. The adorable red magnet board is actually from Eleanor's room, which is ALSO done. I know! Three rooms done? What is up Marianne? I will post them all soon. That is my goal. But you all know how I am with goals, so...

And because a post should always contain something of Eleanor.
Here is a sneak peak at the living room.

Dog Appreciation Day

Look at what I can do! No- not opening the door, I can braid her little hair! Ok, so I know this isn't as exciting to most of you as it is to me. But a few moms can appreciate how fun a new hairstyle is
on your little girl.

Sadly, she left them in for all of 17 seconds, but hey, at least I got the picture. This is actually over a month ago as you can see from the summer-wear.The property just behind ours houses a family that have a few dogs. They are wonderful dog owners- in that I never hear them. I suppose there is more to being a good dog owner, for all I know they have had their voice boxes removed or something equally horrifying. But as long as barking doesn't keep me up at night, and a fence keeps your dogs from "going" on my lawn- then you are awesome dog owners.
Anyhow.
Eleanor gets excited if we are outside and she hears the dogs. I used to lift her up to look over, but that's only fun for about 10 seconds. After that my arms start quivering and I resolve to work out. Since that isn't a good idea, we found her a little step stool to peep though a knot hole.

She looks like the world's cutest pervert.

She stood there for ages on the day I took these shots. She kept saying "Hi doggy!" each time one would run past. If they got too close she would giggle and squeal.

Here is a little video of her watching the dogs. I love how she knocks on the fence, like they might open a door for her or something. And then how she waves goodbye through the tiny hole. And how she grabs her pants when I say "panting". Sorry, but she's just so cute!

And here is Eleanor's new favorite video that doesn't star Elmo. She will watch this on repeat about 80 times in a row. It's great for when I am making dinner. Sit her down and press replay every 4 minutes. It's a fun video and a great song. We love OkGo.

P.S. My blog cuts off 1/4 of the screen. Click on the Title at the top of the "screen" to see it there in full, it's much better that way.

A Little Too Close To Home

This is from the awesome site Toothpaste For Dinner, which I first learned about from Awesome KaRyn. I love them both. Sadly, this cartoon sums up my last few weeks. It doesn't help that McDonalds is now running their yearly Monopoly Game. I get a little thrill each time I buy my dollar diet coke, it's kinda like a daily lottery ticket. Only with way worse odds. But at least I get my tasty fix. If you are ever bored at work or home, scroll through the archives of this site. You will find something hilarious every time, guaranteed.

If Only We All Looked This Cute Waking Up

One of my favorite things is getting Eleanor up- in the morning or when she has woken up from her nap. I try to let her have a little quiet time with her lamb so I can sleep in, er, I mean, so she can learn imaginative play? or something. No, but really, she is at her cutest and sweetest when she wakes up after a good rest. She sings and talks to her babies, talks to her books in the bookshelf and repeatedly tells Elmo to do stuff. Not sure how that's working out for her. Sometimes when I come in she just wants me to hand her something
and she is good for a few more minutes.

The other thing I love is how stinking cute she is after sleeping. Her hair is always a rumpled mess and she has that adorable puffy baby face. It kills me. A few days ago I took a series of pictures of her after her nap. You can see how funny she is in each one. I will spare you my captions. You're welcome.