A new home for Daisy

   Yesterday was a hard day. We decided to find a new home for our dog, Daisy. We had thought about it and talked about it for months, and we felt that it was the best decision not only for our family, but for Daisy, too! We were committed to keeping her unless the perfect situation came about - and let me tell you, thee perfect situation came about. We met a girl who (her and her husband) had just lost their 7 year old female golden retriever to cancer. TRUE golden retriever lovers. When she came to see Daisy, she was so in love with her! I felt like I would be giving this person a new friend after they just lost theirs, and I'd be giving Daisy the best life possible! Even though we only had Daisy for a few months, we got really attached to her and it wasn't easy to see her go! (Especially when your toddler says "bye daisy..new home daisy" as they're pulling out of the driveway). 

  The truth is, I don't think we're going to be "dog people" for quite some time. Mia absolutely loves kitties, so we promised we'd get a kitty some day. (SOME day) For now, I feel really good about giving Daisy a new home! She's probably getting spoiled to death, and now Cory and I can really focus on Mia and on expanding our family in other ways. This was for the best. And although it may be hard now, I think time will prove that it was a good decision for everyone.

Try saying, "black backsplash" 3 times fast!

Okay.. so we've made a little headway on our kitchen. I never realized how difficult it would be to figure out how to make our kitchen work on a shoestring budget. Trust me, if we had the option of picking out brand new cabinets, hardware and countertops now, I'd be in heaven. But, we don't. We're working with a couple cans of paint, here, people! So... here is what we've come up with so far:

  Do I even have to tell you all that I'm not in love with the color on the walls? I mean that's pretty much my favorite thing to say. But, I'm not. Ha. I can live with it! Some day it will be painted taupe, I'm sure of it.
  I took a dive and painted our backsplash black. Well, half of the kitchen so far. I'm going to sleep on it for a while before I go crazy on the other half of the kitchen. Lord knows I do not want to try to cover up black paint with white! It does make the kitchen look a lot darker, but I'm not so sure that's an awful thing.

  It's totally unfinished, but this is all I've got so far. We'll see what stays and what goes. Ha!

Anyhow

 Just after I posted those photos of the kitchen, I pretty much figured out what I'm going to do. So, that was pretty unnecessary, ha!

 So much has happened in the last week that I'm not sure I've even processed it all yet. Where do I even begin?

 Last week, Grandpa Taylor passed away. He was 85, and lived a long, happy life. He was such a good man, and he will be greatly missed! I feel very blessed to have gotten to know him for 4 years!

 On a completely different note... we got the news a few days ago that Cory's mom and step-dad are more-than-likely moving back to Ohio. They moved to Florida for 8 weeks, and after Paul not being able to find a job down south and getting his Columbus job offered back to him, they've decided to come back. For those of you who know me and know the relationship I have with my mother-in-law, you can assume my probable reaction toward this.
  Surprisingly enough, I actually hope they move back to Ohio. Susan and I have been at odds for a while (well, I've been at odds with her...in her world, we have a wonderful, magical relationship) but, I realize that life is too short. When Cory's Grandpa passed away, he really thought about how much time he had actually got to spend with him, and realized that it was less than he'd have liked to. I have grandparents like this, too, who I wish I could and would have spent more time with through the years. The truth is, even though I don't always agree with Susan's way of doing things, she is my child's and future children's grandmother, and I want her to be a part of their lives, and our lives. The thought of them living in Florida and not getting to see our kids grow up honestly made me very sad. I really hope things can get better between us if they do move back. Maybe I'm holding out hope for something that is impossible, but life is too short to spend time picking apart everything that Susan does every time I hear from her. She will always be family, and I need to work on our relationship with her for my children's - her grandchildren - sake.

Kitchen Dilemma

Okay... I had this brilliant idea to paint our kitchen cabinets beige (from white) to "warm" up the kitchen a bit. I'll be the first to admit that my "brilliant ideas" don't always turn out as planned. That being said, we started the bulk of the cabinet painting yesterday I am a having another I-made-a-big-mistake episode.

Here is a picture of the kitchen (upper cabinets painted) with the kitchen light off..

Okay, I can dig this ^. The beige doesn't look all that different from the white - just a tad 'warmer'.

And here are the cabinets with the light on..

um...ugh? They are totally yellow. I realize this is because my kitchen light is yellow.

So, my dilemma is, do I finish painting the cabinets beige and change the light fixture? 

or return the cabinets to white? 

I'm open to any suggestions. 

Actually, they would be greatly appreciated :)

Baby doll digs

  Here's my latest mini-project

I bought this doll cradle at a garage sale this summer for $1. It was white, dirty, had butterfly stickers all over it, and had a worn-out pink cushion inside it.

I picked out a new paint color for it (fyi...it's the same color of blue that will be going on a few other pieces of furniture in Mia's room) and I found fabric at Hobby Lobby to re-cover the cushion.

I think I scored pretty big when I found my fabric. 

Here is the quilt pattern compared to the fabric on the cushion:

 

Thank goodness I got extra fabric! I will totally be using it in small doses around the room! 

a few new ones

Not sure why the colors in the pic in the previous post were so...pink. These colors are much more accurate.

Darn, she's getting big. Makes me want to cry! When going through her closet to get her dressed this morning, I observed that most of her clothes are either pink, turquoise, or both.. I wondered why I liked those colors for her room.

Nemo cameo

Scheming with color

  Here's a photo... not the best one, but after buying and returning curtains 4 different times, I'm pretty proud of the final selection, so I thought I'd post a photo of Mia's "new" room.

More photos and a possible tutorial later today! stay posted!

Mia's a "big kid"

  We're in the stages of operation "big-kid" room in Mia's digs. I really need to take some photos.. we've changed everything! I just got my old Jenny Lind furniture to paint for her.. a twin bed, table w/ chairs and a toybox. Jackpot! All free, all heirlooms :) Now if only we could get a curtain panel at Target that didn't have dead bugs between the layers of fabric... yuck.

The love of my life and our struggles

I love Cory Taylor.

 I've been sorting through old photos, and so many of Cory and I from the beginning of our marriage make me smile. So many photos from before we had any cares or responsibilities, and before we had to face any major problems. After everything we've been through to-date, I still feel that Cory and I are the same as we were then. So in love, so happy (every married couple fights), and so trusting of eachother. As I feel we're taking a big step in moving forward with our lives and our family, I look back on our struggles and appreciate Cory so much more.. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have him by my side at all times.

 When I found out I was pregnant again, I thought that all the fun we were having with Mia would be lost, and even more so the fun Cory and I had together as a couple would cease to exist. It sounds so cold, but I was scared. That being said, I never ever would have wished or expected to happen what did happen. 

 After the miscarriage, we were lost. Why us? What did we do to deserve this? Needless to say, I felt guilty for not truly "accepting" the pregnancy.. that the miscarriage was my punishment. I don't know what I would have done without Cory being so supportive - showing me that no one was at fault for what happened, and that God has a plan for everything and everyone. I am so thankful that I married a man who allows himself to feel pain and emotion, but is also strong for our family. It gets me through the days when I still break down over what happened months ago.

  As we start to look toward moving forward with our family planning, I have to look back on our struggles. Although not everyone may always agree with our timing or planning (people are never going to say "wow..what a PERFECT idea!") only Cory and I know what we've been through and how it's affected us physically, emotionally, and mentally. Only we can decide what is best for our family, and only we know the ins and outs of our relationship with each other. I feel so very thankful to have Cory in my life as the head of our household. It brings me joy to no end to be making plans for our future with him :)

deep thoughts

I am really thankful.

Thankful that my husband doesn't have to work late and willingly helps me around the house.

...that he tells me I'm beautiful every day (even though I know sometimes he doesn't have his contacts in).

...that I have a precious little girl who wants me to sing to her and play with her hair every night before bed.

...that I have a nice home to raise my family in (painting every room twice is just part of "homemaking"!)

...that I have a friend who I can talk to outside of Facebook. 

This is what's on my mind lately.