Expecting

So, we're expecting baby #2.  It was not quite a surprise this time around.  We had been talking about expanding our family for a while, and both knew we'd like to try for #2 in January.  I planned to start charting to learn a little bit about things before January.  One night in October, Mark told me that if we started trying before January, he wouldn't be that upset.  We both wanted another, so might as well get it over with sooner than later, right?

Little did we know it'd be RIGHT AWAY!  Much like Lilly, we were a little surprised it didn't take longer.  Just call me Myrtle.

There they are... those two life-changing lines.

So about a week or so before my period was due, I had some weird symptoms, and just knew I was pregnant.  I had some spotting and was super emotional (crying at random things).  I bought a few tests and took them, but they were negative.  I wasn't super disappointed, but I did go out and get another box.  It was pretty early, but since Mark's birthday was that week, I wanted to surprise him, if I could.  I had an idea to do a scavenger hunt for him, with little gifts along with clues, and the final clue being that we had a bun in the oven.  So the morning before his birthday, I got up and peed, and when I didn't see anything at first, I was a little disappointed, but walked away.  I came back in about 3 minutes later, and BAM!  There it was, a very faint second line!  I FREAKED out.  I think the only things I said for a full 20 minutes were "OMG OMG OMG OMG oh my god oh my god oh my god".  The line was pretty faint, so I decided to wait and test again the next morning, on his birthday.  The next morning, there was no question about that second line!

I gathered up all the gifts and printed up the clues and hid them.  Mark was coming home around 6-6:30, and then we had to make dinner.  But the scavenger hunt would be first, since the first clue was taped to the garage door.  I was worried he'd know something was up, but he didn't!  He got all his clues, and when he got to the last one (taped to a box of brownies in the oven) he sat there reading it, before he looked up and said "OMG really?!?" and gave me the biggest smile and hug ever.  Much better than his reaction to Lilly, lol.  He said it was the best birthday present ever.

I'm going to try to do weekly posts again with this baby, but let's be honest, I work full-time and have a toddler and a house to take care of.  I'm going to try really hard so that this baby has as much documentation as Lilly did though.  Since I'm only 10 weeks, I'll probably do one big post for the first trimester, and then start weekly pictures around 15-16 weeks.  We'll see! 

And there you have it, the story of how we ended up expecting baby #2.  Hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!

Ahem... we have an announcement!

This has already been made "Facebook official", but I thought I'd share here as well.  

That's right... Little Baby Tucci 2.0, arriving July 2015!

Books

One of my 30 before 30 goals is to read 30 new books.  Before I came up with my list of goals, I had been reading quite a bit, so I'm going to count those books because they were all read after I had turned 29.  I just thought I'd do a little progress post and see how many more I have left to go!

1.  The Fault in Our Stars
2.  Gone Girl
3.  The Storyteller
4.  The Book Thief
5.  Divergent
6.  Insurgent
7.  Allegiant

I need some suggestions.  I'm always on the hunt for some new books to read, so post any you'd recommend in the comments.  I'd love to hear what you all suggest.

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza + Pictures

Let's rewind a little bit, shall we?  I want to talk about my Mother's Day weekend.  This year was my second Mother's Day.  Last year was perfect, so we figure why mess with it and did something similar.  Mommy slept in while Daddy and Lilly made breakfast - this year there was a little more participation on Lilly's end.  I woke up and we had cards and presents and flowers (Frozen on Blu-Ray, the Frozen soundtrack, and a new Willow Tree statue).  Then we enjoyed some stuffed french toast.  It was heavenly.  I'm so spoiled.

My hubby likes to treat it like a Mother's Weekend though, so on Saturday while we were making our shopping list, he asked what I wanted for dinner.  And I knew exactly what I wanted.  I wanted this.

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza from How Sweet Eats

So we set out to the store for all the ingredients.  I was really unsure about it.  I mean, a fully cooked pizza in 3 minutes?  No way.  It can't be!  But I was so wrong.  It was amazing.  It was so good, I didn't mind at all that we didn't eat until almost 10 PM.  And immediately Mark decided this was the only way we could ever eat pizza again (it was that good).  We're gonna give it another try again soon, but with some different toppings.  They were amazing, but we just want to try some other variations.  So hopefully when we do, I'll take some pictures and write a post all about it!

In the meantime, please enjoy these other pictures of my favorite person in the world, Lilly!

30 Before 30

It hit me today... this is my last year in my 20s.  And I've already used up two whole months of it.  So after finding a new blog today - check it out... Brooke: Not on a Diet - seriously, she's so inspiring - I decided to come up with a list of 30 things I want to do before the dirty 30 hits next March.

1. Run another 5K
2. Sign up for (and maybe run) a 10K
3. Put in a new fence 
4. Start planning for our next house
5. Start working on/planning for baby #2
6. Lose 30 lbs
7. Pay off all of our credit cards
8. Plan (and book) a vacation for just Mark and I
9. Take a family vacation
10. Potty train Lilly
11. Blog at least once a week
12. Attempt a new recipe each month
13. Take a photography class
14. Get a Lilly tattoo
15. Read 30 new books
16. Take pictures of Lilly every month
17. Donate my hair
18. Take Lilly camping for the first time
19. Go hiking
20. Take Lilly to the beach for the first time
21. Complete Lilly's baby book
22. Take a sushi-making class
23. Plan (and complete) 1 date night per month
24. Try at least one new food I have REFUSED in the past
25. Make no new purchases for a month (food/necessities don't count)
26. Try clean eating for 1 week
27. Make a new friend
28. Plan and start our garden for next summer
29. Find a hobby Mark and I both enjoy
30. Try hot yoga

DIY Wall-Mounted Coat Rack

I work from home, so I spend a lot of time at home.  Looking at bare walls, wondering what we can change around... much to my husband's dismay.  When I get an idea in my head, I (like most wives) bug him about it until he gives in.  We recently switched around our living room after a few months of pestering (and threatening to do it myself) and it looks so much better, and actually makes the room look larger.  

One thing I hate though is that everything I like is so expensive!  I'm a really big fan of Pinterest and DIY projects.  We've done a few lately, and I'm planning a post on them soon, but this one was something I came up with all on my own.  

Our coat closet in the entry is really small.  And when you hang coats up, it causes the door to pop open.  So, we don't use it.  When guests come over, there's no quick, easy place for them to hang purses, coats, etc.  I was at Hobby Lobby one day wandering around and I found an aisle of drawer knobs and coat hooks and I got a great idea!  I'd get a bunch of different knobs and have the hubs mount them to a piece of stained wood, and voila, a coat rack for our guests!  We even had the perfect spot behind the front door for it!  I wish I had thought to take some pictures while we were making it, but... I wasn't planning on writing a DIY post until after it was all put together.  But you're in luck because it was really easy.

Materials:

1 unfinished board from Menards, Home Depot, or Lowe's

Knobs or Coat hooks

Wood stain

Gloss

Drill

3/16" Drill bit

1/2" wood bit

#8 trim nails

Stud finder

Handy Husband

Process:

First we started with our board.  We went to Menards and bought a 1x6x4 foot long unfinished cedar board.  I chose that length so we could cut it in two and make two to hang in the space we had to use.  We had some extra stain leftover from a different project (posts to come), so I knew we'd use that.  It was American Walnut made by Minwax.  We also had some clear polyurethane protective spray gloss, which gives the wood a nice finish and seals in the stain.  Once we got the board home, my husband used a table saw to cut it to size, then sanded the edges.  We wanted to stain the rough side of the cedar, so we didn't bother sanding the back or the front.  He cleaned it with some isopropyl alcohol.  We ended up only needing one coat of the stain, but if you do the smooth side, you may need multiple coats to get the color you want.  After that dried, we sprayed the gloss coat and let that dry. 

In the meantime, I had picked out my knobs from Hobby Lobby.  I chose 8 (totally randomly).  It worked for me, but the best bet for you is to measure the board and plot out how many you could mount and have it look right.  Eight actually worked perfectly for us.  They are 4 inches apart, except for the center gap, which I think worked out to 5 and change.  

The next part is where you will (or maybe won't) need your handy husband.  We needed to trim the knobs since we were hanging them flush against the wall.  He measured them and took them to work to cut them with his fancy work tools.  Once he had them cut to fit the thickness of the board, he drilled holes in the board where we wanted to mount them.  He used a 3/16" drill bit to drill those.  When finished, he used a 1/2" wood bit to drill into the back side of the wood, where the holes were.  This gives you room for the nuts to fasten on to the knobs while enabling the board to sit flush against the wall.  After that, he tightened down the knobs and it was ready to hang!

We decided where to hang them, and then realized that our studs weren't going to work, so we had to stagger them, which actually looked better anyway.  We mounted them to the wall (in the studs) with #8 trim nails.  Make sure you countersink them into the wood (fancy way of saying nail them further into the wood so you don't see them).  If you don't have a tool to countersink them, you can use another nail, just put it head to head on the existing nails to sink them in.

Here is our finished product!

I love it! We plan to add another one a little lower once Lilly is older, so she can hang up her backpack and coat too.  And she'll get to pick out her own knobs as well.  It was a relatively cheap project too, with the knobs being the most expensive part.  We already had most of the materials needed, and just had to buy the board and the knobs, which came out to about $40.  Not too bad!

Easter Ideas

So it's been a while, huh?  Ahh... life.  It's always something.  I thought I'd kick off some new posts with something appropriate for this time of year - Easter basket ideas!  I found this great personalized basket liner on Etsy.  Leelynn Crafts does a wonderful job, and she is so quick.  I had a hard time trying to decide which liner I wanted because she has so many options!  If you follow her on facebook, you might even get a sneak of your liner before it ships.

So with the liner out of the way, what do you fill your basket with?  I love filling mine and hubby's basket with candy, but for Lilly, I wanted to avoid candy.  She's only one, so I don't think candy is quite age appropriate yet.  Here's my list!

1.  A new bib.  My First Easter, of course!

2.  Bubbles!  The weather is getting nicer out (with the exception of the freak snowstorm every now and then) and Lilly loves bubbles.  We've only played with them inside before, but they are a hit.  Now that she's walking, we'll bring them to the park and try them out there where she can run around and chase them.

3.  Teether toy from Etsy.  Lilly is always trying to chew on my phone, so this one is sure to be a hit.

4.  Pat the Bunny.  Perfect for Easter.

5.  I Love You Honey Bunny.  Honey Bunny is one of my nicknames for Lilly, so I couldn't resist.

6.  Baby's First Easter stuffed lamb.  Lilly loves stuffed animals.  She carries them around and it's just so cute!

7.  Plastic eggs.  I plan on filling them with a few different things.  For some reason, my child loves socks, so we will put some in an egg or two.  I plan to fill the rest with Annie's Cheddar Bunnies and Annie's Honey Bunny Grahams.  Annie's makes really great organic foods for kids, and Lilly loves both of these.

8.  Wind-up Bunny.  This is one of those adult supervision required toys, but I know she is going to love it.  I can't wait to see her little face light up and hear her giggles as this little guy hops around for her.

We have an Easter brunch planned with my family, and then we will head out to Easter dinner with Mark's family.  Here are some great brunch ideas for your family!

I've been working on creating some subway art, and I wanted to share one of mine that I think would look great in a frame somewhere around the house.  I think you could create a new one for lots of holidays and change them out every few months!

Thanks for sticking with me.  I've got some more ideas for some posts lined up, so stay tuned!  

Happy Easter from my family to yours!

Early

It's early.  I know that for most people, 6:30 AM is not early.  Many people are already on their way into work - my hubby is one of them.  Some people might already be at work - my mom and dad are.  But for me, it's early.  I work from home.  So I don't usually get up until I have to.  And since I start at 8:30, that means 7:55 or 8.  Just enough time to shower, pour some coffee, and sit down at the computer.

I thought having a baby would change that, but I was wrong.  She is a good little morning sleeper, like her mommy.  And so, I did what everyone suggests - I slept when the baby slept.  It's going to be a hard habit to break.  And I'm sure there will be days when I don't get up early.  But today I did it.  I got out of bed at 5:15, put on some gym clothes, and did my second workout of Focus T25.

My hubby and I don't have the time or the money to go to the gym.  Mark works an hour away on a good day, usually an hour and a half or more on a bad one.  He leaves the house at 6 AM and many nights, isn't home until after 6 PM.  So the logistics of going to a gym are a little difficult.  I know I could go on my own, and before Lilly, that might have worked.  But Lilly doesn't go to daycare, and since I work from home, it's not like I can swing by the gym on my way home before picking her up.  We needed something that we could do in our own home, and something that didn't take a very long time either.

Enter Focus T25.  I read about it in a mommy group I'm in.  I hate working out.  That's probably an understatement.  I hate it with a fiery burning passion that could fuel hell.  I have never liked working out and I don't know too many people who can honestly say they like it either.  So that, coupled with a baby, prompted me to look for quick workouts you can do at home.

Now, don't get me wrong, quick is not the same as easy.  This is the hardest workout I've done in a long time, maybe ever.  The entire workout I want cuss out Shaun T for coming up with this and kick myself for buying it.  And if I could catch my breath, I probably would be screaming profanities at the TV.  But it's only 25 minutes, and then I'm done.  Hopefully this one will stick.  I have a good feeling about this one.

Because like I said, it's early.  I'm still up, I'm still going.

Refresh 2014

My word for the year for 2014 is Refresh.

I don't usually do resolutions.  They're too easy to break, too easy to forget, easy to lose in the everyday chaos that is life.  2013 brought much more chaos into our lives - we settled into our house, jobs, family life.  We expanded our family by adding our daughter, the best and most fun source of chaos since welcoming Dash three years ago.  Since Lilly entered my life, I have been forced to look at things differently, and resolutions are one of the many things I'm rethinking.  As Lilly grows and gets older, I want to refresh my way of thinking, our way of living and doing things.  We've been doing the same things over and over and over, expecting different results, so I decided it's time to refresh our lives.  I need a breath of fresh air, and isn't the new year a wonderful opportunity for everyone to hit the refresh button?

I will make this year count by looking at things through my daughter's eyes.  Crawling, playing, laughing more.  Having a baby changes every single aspect of your life, in ways you NEVER thought possible.  I want to refresh our attitudes, our relationships, our home.  I want to be more active and sit around less.  No one ever died thinking that they wished they had watched more movies or tv.  I want to move more, run more,  dance more, do more.  Schedule less.  Leave the dishes and the toys and the beds unmade and make memories. 

I am going to refresh because my daughter deserves the very best me I can give her.

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