The Laundry Room...mission complete.

Now, all I have to do is the laundry....yuck!

Well, it only took us (mostly Chris) a couple of days to complete, but I am completely happy with it. Ever since our friend Trevor bought his house with lime green walls in the laundry room, I knew that I wanted something a little more "fun" in that room. I mean...laundry SUCKS...so it should be done in a more happy environment.

This room seriously needed an overhaul. It is also one of the three bathrooms in the house, so it needed to be a little more open, and a little less...laundry-ish.

Here are the before pictures.
Before, there was little to now room between the toilet and the dryer. It was a little convenient, to sit down and fold clothes, but it wasn't exactly comfortable.

There were also open, cheap wire shelves that made the room look messy. We needed the storage, but didn't want all of the cleaning supplies and stuff showing. We also needed someplace to put the cleaning supplies that was up high, and away from the kids, and our "make-shift" old kitchen cabinet was NOT doing the trick. We took all that stuff out before the pictures were taken, but I think you get the idea.

So, we changed it. We painted it a dark blue color, added the white cabinets and counter top. I made the curtains for under the counter so we can put our laundry sorting system out of the way.

Finally, I put Avery's "coming home" dress in a shadow box (thanks for the idea Brandie), and have another box for baby #2's outfit too.

We might add a shelf and hanging rack above the counter...for some additional basket storage and a place to hang wet clothes, but we'll see. We're also planning to change out the vanity and putting in a deeper sink so it can be more of a utility sink, but that's a little further down the road.

So...this project is done..now we need to get going on the rest of our never-ending to-do list, which includes:
Finish Basement (starting this spring...this is going to be a big one!)
Paint Front Porch (also this spring/summer)
Rearrange Avery's room to accommodate the new baby
Spring/Summer landscaping

I'm sure we'll add more soon!

Little Chocolate Covered Nuggets of Joy

I always laugh when people asked me if I had cravings while pregnant with Avery. I don't think I had run of the mill cravings per se, but was more influenced by the power of suggestion.

For instance, when I was only about 8 weeks pregnant, Chris and I were watching Gray's Anatomy, and during the obligatory "eating in the cafeteria" scene, I saw George eating a sandwich. Well, next thing you know, I'm also eating a sandwich. Chris looked over at me, and couldn't believe his eyes. He asked "um...where did you get that sandwich?" I said, "George is eating one, so I wanted one too?" Apparently...I'm a ninja sandwich maker...Chris didn't even see me get up from the couch.

I also remember shopping at Meijer, and watching a little girl eat a Blue Moon ice cream cone. I had to fight the urge to snatch it from her hands. Chris and I immediately needed to go to the front of the store, buy a cone. I only took one bite, and was done.

As some of you may know, I stopped eating red meat and pork when I was 16. Until recently, I never purposely ate it for over 15 years. I decided this past summer to start eating lean meat again for iron purposes. Well, during this pregnancy, the want for red meat has hit an all-time high! I have not had one, not two, not three, but 4 meals this week that included red meat! I even ordered a BACON CHEESEBURGER from Red Robin, and a FILET from Carabbas. I have cooked it at home, and have been a beef eating machine. I think I can feel my arteries choking as we speak. Cravings or not...this has GOT to stop. When I was pregnant with Avery, I craved McDonald's Cheesburgers. I attempted to eat one, took a bite and threw it away...

The pineapple craving is back too. But, it has to be fresh pineapple..not canned (I can taste the tin). Unfortunately, Avery also loves pineapple, so it's a little harder to keep in the house. I guess since I've been eating so much red meat, it's good to point out that I have had three lunches that consist of sliced pineapple, avocado and a little cottage cheese....maybe my body will even it all out.

I think the worst cravings are the ones that are unattainable. My friend Brandie introduced me to these tiny chocolate covered donuts that they sell at Super Walmart. Now, let me stop and say...I hate Walmart. I hate what they stand for, and for a lot of their practices. We still shop there occasionally, but I always dip myself in sanitizer when I leave, and say a little prayer to absolve me from my shopping indiscretions. Well, we received a gift card for Walmart for Christmas, so last night was one of our few trips. I figured...why not make the most of it...I'll pick up some of those yummy little donuts while I'm there. (Seriously, these donuts have the perfect amount of chocolate to donut ratio...with no waxy taste involved...delicious.). The only problem? We didn't go to SUPER Walmart, but instead...the boring ole' neighborhood Walmart with sticky floors, mud coated entrances and creepy eyeglass area. So...no donuts. I almost bought the Hostess ones, but I knew that I would be disappointed. I came home, still thinking about those dang donuts. I attempted to eat one of the kids' chocolate chip Pop Tarts, but it didn't do the trick.

So, that's why I am writing a post about cravings. I'm sitting here, frothing and foaming at the mouth, STILL wanting a chocolate covered donut...and attempting to deal with it.

Maybe I'll go make a George Sandwich...with meat...and pineapple....oh yeah...with a TALL decaf sweet tea to drink...gotta go...bye.

CADASIL

As some of you know, my dad had a stroke in summer 2007. Luckily, it wasn't debilitating, and he is still able to speak and get around. Although, he hasn't really been the same since. He is more emotional, and has some significant memory loss....especially short term memory loss.

Well, right before his stroke, we learned of a genetic mutation in our family called CADASIL. CADASIL is basically the premature thinning of blood vessels throughout your body. Because the brain is most sensitive, this effects CADASIL patients neurologically most often. It also explains the history of strokes, epilepsy and migraines in our family. Because it is genetic, there is a 50% chance that the child of a CADASIL patient will also have it. We know now that my Grandpa Dick must have had CADASIL, although he died before we ever knew about it. We also assume that my Uncle Jay (who had strokes and epilespy) must had had it. So, all in all, 4 of 5 of my dad's siblings have CADASIL...including him. We learned definitivly that my dad has it in an appointment last Monday. We are really fortunate to have a CADASIL reasearcher on staff in Ann Arbor, and even luckier that he spends one day a week at the Veteren's hospital there (where my dad goes). Dr. Wang leads the ONLY funded CADASIL research team in North America, so it's truly amazing that he is so close and accessible to us. Basically, there is no cure for CADASIL. It's something that can start as early as late 30's, although, my dad didn't have any symptoms until his 60's. I do have cousins in their 40's that had strokes and are struggling with CADASIL.

Since they can't treat CADASIL, the only thing they can do is offer the same preventative measures that they would do with stroke, such as; watching blood pressure, cholesterol, taking aspirin etc... So, since my dad has this, my brother and sisters and I have to decide whether we want to have the genetic test to see if we have it. I have already decided (for my kid's sake) that I definitely want to know. Since the researchers have determined the specific mutation in our family, all I have to do is send in a blood test (not the MRI and skin biopsy that my dad had done).

So, we'll see. I don't know what would be worse, find out that I have it, or finding out that my brother or sister's have it. Either way...it's scary. If you want to know more about CADASIL...check out wikipedia...or just do a google search. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CADASIL