Random Friday

     My parents are in town visiting us this weekend. I'm really excited to see them and to have them see Owen's new tricks. It's been about four weeks since we saw them last and already Owen has changed so much. Otherwise, here's what's been going on this week in our lives.


1. Owen's new carseat.  We ordered Owen's new carseat earlier this week and got it on Wednesday. We ordered the Britax Advocate 70CS in Opus Gray. It has really great reviews and even though it is really expensive, as Tim said, "You can't put a price on your kid's safety." We are so excited for Owen to be able to sit up higher and be able to look out the windows better. And we're hoping the gray doesn't heat up as much as the black version would. Unfortunately, while the girls have tons of color options, boys pretty much get either black or gray. There was a blue pattern, but it looked really feminine so we decided against it. Owen seems pretty confused now that he's in the new seat facing forward. I'm not sure whether he likes it or not. 

2. Holidays galore! Tim's and my family have tons of birthdays/holidays to celebrate in the summer. It's pretty much nonstop gift buying for three months from May through July. In June alone, we will have my birthday and both my mom and my father-in-law's birthdays in addition to Father's Day for three dads now (It's still weird for me to have to remember to buy Tim presents for Father's Day now). Last week, Tim and I ordered presents for my father-in-law's birthday and for his Father's Day. I bought one of his gifts from Joss & Main, which is such a fun website. It mainly has deals on home decor and furniture. Also in June, my mom will be getting another Umba box for her birthday. So that leaves Father's Day presents for my dad and Tim. Then in July, we have both my brother-in-law's and my sister-in-law's birthdays as well as two of my best friends' birthdays.

3. Julep Maven. If you've read my blog often, then you have probably noticed that I am obsessed with the concept of subscription boxes. I recently signed up to try one called Julep, which gives you three nail polishes or nail care products a month for $19.99. I'm really excited about it because summer is the best time for nail polishes. Right now, you can sign up and receive your first month for just a penny! You just fill out the questionnaire so they can tailor the items in the box to your style taste (I'm classic with a twist, though you don't have to stick with your results) and then enter the word PENNY in the special promo section when you check out. You may have to pay a little for tax depending on what state you live in, but in Kentucky, I didn't have to pay tax. You can then either keep the subscription, skip a month (if you don't like the options for that month) or cancel at any time. Here's a link for you to sign up if you're interested. I get points for getting others to sign up, so if you would like to, please use my link so I get credit for it! 

4. Blog2Print. Having my blog run out of space for photos last week really made me start thinking about the future of my blog and what I plan to do with all the information on it, particularly stuff about Owen. I was really excited recently to find the site Blog2Print, which takes your blog and turns it into a book. I really want to make a book of all my pregnancy posts and of Owen's weekly updates, etc. I did a little preview of what my book might be like, so I may go back and alter some of my previous posts to spread out the photos and things to make it look better. A 20-page hardback book is $24.95 and extra pages are 35 cents each.

5. Grilling our dinners. Tim and I have really been enjoying grilling our dinners and eating at home again while we're completing our kitchen cabinet renovation. So far, we have made I think five dinners on the grill. We have done garlic shrimp, paella, jerk chicken wings, tilapia, and hobo dinners. They have all been pretty fantastic and really easy. 

6. Photo challenge. The photographers who did Owen's one year photos recently posted this 30-Day Photo Challenge for June on their blog and I'm thinking about joining in. I thought I might post the photos on the blog instead of Facebook, though. I think it might be kind-of fun and hopefully get me back into taking pictures more often. I've gotten pretty burnt out trying to take pictures all the time during Owen's first year and I've realized that I've hardly taken any photos in the past couple months. That probably has a lot to do with being in the hotel and moving, but it's partly because I've gotten tired of trying to remember to take photos and drag the camera around wherever we go.

7. Cabinet update. We are finished painting the cabinets! Yay! We painted last weekend and a couple days during this week and we finished our second coat in the kitchen last night.  Now we have to wait between 3 and 5 days for the cabinets to cure before we put the hardware on and attach the doors back on. I can't wait to see what it looks like. We will also be painting the windows and the wainscoting so that they will match the cabinets. They are currently an off-white color and the whiter cabinets make them look a little dirty. Our countertops don't look that great with the new cabinet color either, but we knew that was going to happen and we're hoping to replace the countertops at some point.