The couponing... oh the couponing, reason three:

I have had a few people ask how the couponing has been going... well I thought it would be best displayed through film:One trip to Kmart while they were doing 2 dollar doubles (they were doing it all week and I returned several times but didn't take pics everytime) and a quick trip to CVS. Total out of pocket for the week: $40.00 value of products purchased: over $220.00 (sorry it isn't a good picture it is hard to get that all in. Oh and we now have 15 more box's of wheat thins and four more rolls of tin foil-- FREE!). What is so funny is my most expensive ticket item was an old valentines heart shaped box filled with choclates that Sam HAD to have-- thats because of you Kristen, he said he wanted to have one like Lucy's daddy :)One early morning trip to Bloom grocery store when they were tripling: out of pocket $7.00. Again they were doing this all week so I now have enough mustard, worsterschire sauce, cookie and brownie mix and mentos gum to last me a LONG time. I should take a picture of under our sink upstairs. I have completely run out of room to store our shampoos, body wash, lotion etc. So I would say it is going pretty well. Especially since I really don't consider myself I die hard couponer. I go when convient and actually have missed lots of sales but hey when your a pregnant mom of two stuff comes up! Thanks Melynda for showing me the ropes and Nicole and Terish for putting up with my endless questions, gripes and confusion!

Sunny Days, reason two:

Yet another reason I am so happy: Busch Gardens is open!!!!! That means pure happiness at the Crawford household. This year they have an entire new section for little kids that is sesame street themed. I was so excited. Yes I was so excited. When we walked in the gates there were our new best friends ready to greet us and performed a great little dance. Then we lined up to get our pictures taken and yes Chris and I got suckered into buying one of the whole family. These are a few that I snapped though. Sam couldn't take his eyes off them and kept offering cookie monster some of his pretzel fish, such a concerned friend. Liam on the other hand loved Elmo and was afraid cookie monster might be a little TOO hungry. Then we headed over to the Lil' Clydesdale's. I thought it was so cute to see them sitting next to each otherSam saying "uhhh mom you are embarrassing me in front of the cute girls!" ... not looking at all like they are related :)Since we are heading to Disney world in five weeks and counting, we took the boys on the tea cups just to see how they would take it. While they seemed to love it I got a little queasy trying to take pictures while we zoomed in circles.

I think Thomas thoroughly enjoyed his ride also: Liam held on for dear life on the elephant ride but would yell out "Weeeee!" every now and then. We finally convinced a worker to open up Sam's FAVORITE ride paragliding or as he refers to it "tummy ride". I am still sort of shocked how much he loves flying pretty darn high in the air on his tummy. I know so many pictures for just one day and BG, imagine what over a week at Disney world is going to be like!!!

Why I am SO happy anyway, reason one:

These past few weeks have been sort of rough for me. Nothing major, just lots of small stressors. While Chris has lots of great options to choose from in DC now, I am still hoping his dream job will work out. We haven't settled on a state to take the bar in (although today is the last day for UT so...) Chris has been traveling to DC A LOT meaning lots of one on two time for me and the boys. I haven't been sleeping very well, lots of very vivid emotionally charged dreams, so I wake up tired. BUT I still feel very happy, mainly because I feel like I have accomplished a ton in the past week and accomplishing projects always make me happy.

THE BUREAU

Although I originally wanted to create side tables, Chris and I found this amazing "secretary" at the local thrift store. Woo hoo project for little Miss Crawford's room. I had been wanting to do something like this since I found inspiration in a Country Living Magazine at the cabin over spring break. We scored it for 15 bucks and I put myself on a 25 dollar budget. This is what we started out with (sorry it is a bad picture)

Three Twilight viewings later we have this:
I wanted to go all out and paint it pink but since this room is still an imaginary one I thought I should go with something a little more subtle. There was no way I was doing white or black though so I got this soft green called restless. I was going to order pink crystal handles off eBay but didn't have the patience to wait and they would have put me over budget so I settled for the crystal ones they had at Home Depot. I think it turned out nice. I haven't decided if I am going to try and strip off the few blotch's on the back part or just paint all of it... Regardless my favorite part is the inside. The memo boards and hooks and baskets were all in the bureau in the magazine and I love them! Now there are places to hang her little hats and necklaces and put pictures of her brothers :) I am going to use the little nooks for some of her shoes etc. It is now taking up a significant amount of space in our living room, but has also provided Liam's newest favorite place. He places for LONG lengths of time shoved in between the bureau and the Eiffel tower. He brings a few toys and just hangs out in his little nook. That is of course when he is not doing this:Two Little Birds Sat On A Window

The two little paintings inside the bureau were another project this week. I tried my first ever painting on canvas with acrylics. I LOVE fat little birds and since I can't find any paintings for the room that I like (or could afford) I thought I would try to do my own. While I love the birdies I found that I lack any sort of talent writing in paint. I wish that part turned out cuter but I have no idea how to make it better. I plan on attaching ribbon to the top and hanging them somewhere in her room.

Spring Clean

I have REALLY wanted to do some gardening since the weather is GORGEOUS, but unfortunately flowers are pretty expensive right now! So I settled for some lovely daffodils from Trader Joes. They really brighten up the place! These were also my inspiration for some new pillows for our couch. I used the same feather pillows and sewed new covers for them from one of Leslie's and my favorite Amy Butler fabrics. Not too girly but still fun! Of course they are a much easier target for spills then the previous DARK navy velvet but oh well it will be fun while it lasts. The biggest thing I have done this week though is a major dejunking and reorganizing of every closet in the house. I must say our closests have never been so clean or so organized. I open them up to put away the laundry now and sigh with satisfaction. Of course no one else really appreciates it but me but hey if it is going to make it easier for me to put away our mounds of laundry then it is worth it. Seriously I invite you to come to our house and gaze upon the beauty that is an organized food storage pantry or two year-olds clothes closet. I think this was particularly a huge project due to the TINY amount of storage we have. But it feels good to already have everything we won't wear or use until we have moved already packed. My soon to be very rotund belly is happy about that! I must give a big thank you to my pick me up musicians Jack Johnson, Colbie Caillet and Jason Mraz. If my life had a soundtrack I would hope it would be mainly their songs.

New Project

If you know me at all you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE projects. Mainly furniture projects. I got such a thrill out of recovering our couch, painting our tables and dressers etc. I have been stalking the local thrift stores for a really good bureau to redo and have had no luck. Online I have been scouring websites for a fun project to do in the mean time and hit the jack pot today. I have been wanting an entryway table pretty badly and found this awesome little weekend project. I obviously will be doing it for even cheaper as I will only do one, have no intention of spending so much on paint and mine will be much smaller. And bonus going to Ikea gives me an excuse to go visit Chris while he is up in DC for half the week next week! Now I know this type of look is a sort of acquired taste but I will post pics when I am done and you can tell me what you think!

Checking out the girly clothes

You know how when you actually have money set aside to go shopping that's when you can't seem to find ANYTHING you really want to buy? And how when you have no excuse or money to buy something you find the perfect whatever? Seriously that ALWAYS happens to me. After being asked by countless people if I was dying to go shopping I thought hmmm why not go check out those mysterious girl sections of the outlet stores. While I did find some good staple buys at Children's Place (onsies and jeans), of course now that I am looking to actually purchase the too-die-for girl outfit I couldn't find one. I decided to hop online and head to one of my fav sites shabby apple and look at their little girl dresses. I have been drooling over this one:

for months and actually have that exact fabric (as Leslie well knows). Now I just have to get a similar pattern and we will be on a role! I of course had to check out their new spring line and found this dress: It was like pouring salt in the wound. This dress screams my name, crazy collar, sleeves with ruffles, buttons AND a sash-- hello! Oh yeah but I am preggy and no way would it go near me. I am telling you irony ruled the day today. It was actually comforting to get the boys dressed for bed tonight and have Sam request his "Soccer Jammies" (a Bright Yellow Brazilian Jersey) to be paired with orange sweats that should actually go on Liam. It reminded me that it will be a LONG time before Little Miss Crawford even realizes what she is wearing! I on the other hand will be thinking about this dress for the next four months :)

A Little Miss Crawford

Yippie Sam was right! Our house will get some pink in a few months, well, there will at least be a few more feminine touches around here. Although my favorite girl item so far is blue: I tried this on Liam just to see what it might look like, then quickly removed it before Daddy could see and get mad. Guess I just have to wait a few more months for the real deal! Better start making some dresses!!The Ultra Sound lady was so flustered because we had both boys with us and they were not sitting quietly. Chris kept saying "hold on guys we just want to see if its a boy or girl". Yet she kept trying to find this one measurement... and our Little Miss would NOT move (I actually have to go back in for another one to get the measurement!). Finally after Liam nearly pulled a lamp down Chris said "I'll just take them outside" at which point she casually mentioned "Oh and things are looking pretty darn girlie!" Hello! But I shouldn't be surprised, with Liam we had to ask her as she was leaving the room and she said "Oh you want to know? It's a boy." I guess she must deal with a lot of parents less neurotic then us who can stand not knowing what they are having :) So start throwing girl names our way! I know I am prejudice but I think Chris is going to make the cutest girls daddy ever! Let the shopping begin! Althought he thing I am most excited for, a pink nursery is already pretty done. My awesome sister in law Kelly had a friend getting rid of her entire pottery barn girls nursery set up (she had one boy and one girl and was done- sweet for me!!) It is waiting patiently in the Crawfords basement. I tried not to think about it too often but boy am I excited now!!! Thanks Kelly for snagging it for me!

PS Thanks mom for the hat I LOVE it!

Over Run by Pirates

Our home as been raided by pirates... short little guys who barely wear any clothing and run around screaming "ARRRR!" and poking people with swords and hooks!Truth be told Target was having a crazy sale on all their party supplies so I got a package of "pirate supplies" for 99 cents! Sam walks around with his little scope thing staring at strangers making them uncomfortable. He also refuses to take the patch off. We had to make it a rule that while playing trains or watching TV he has to flip it up. I have to constantly remind myself which eye to switch to when it falls off so he doesn't get a lazy eye. What is it with boys and pirates? :)

PS we find out what we are having in a few hours so check back for an exciting post this afternoon!

Welcoming Two New Members of the Fam!

No we are not having twins... phew! Last night Chris and I had soooo much fun taking the boys to pick out their first pet -- Fish! (seriously this is a giant step for Chris and I who have long sworn that we would never have ANY pets-- but as these probably won't live long I think we are ok) Sam picked out an adorable guy that is black and orange and has HUGE buggy eyes. We picked out a plain orange one for Lemers so we could tell them who's was who's. Sam was so excited he was almost shaking. He kept talking gibberish super fast and telling me he was happy. He held them so carefully in the car after repeated reminders from me about Darla on Nemo. When we pulled up to the house he said "phew we made it!". They then got to sit on the couch and take turns holding the fish while the other freaked out until it was his turn. Liam thought the bag tasted pretty good. The boys helped us get all the rocks and "pirate ship" ready to go in then shrieked as we plopped the fish in. Liam thought it only fair to taste test the fish food -- GROSS! Sam calls it stinky food. This afternoon when we got home he said "Mama the fish need more of their stinky food!" Then the battles began about who got to stand on the stool and look at the fish! To celebrate our new arrivals we ate, or some of us chose to wear, yummy double fudge chocolate ice cream! (Sam chose a Popsicle instead-- weird kid :))

JUMPIN JOESUnfortunately our normal playgroup was cancelled Wednesday but man did my boys need some out of their own house time. Jordan was a great sport and met me at Jumpin Joes. Sam and Fischer had a great time running around jumping on everything. The last time we had been there was for Sam's birthday and Liam hadn't done much. He was all over the place this time. I caught this picture of our families classic game "give me your hand!!" Our boys like to pretend they are stuck places and then frantically yell for Chris or I to "Give me your hand!" and pull them to safety. Sophie is a walking crazy girl now so I think she was able to have some fun. She got lots of complements on her adorable purple outfit!

Beach to Blizzard

Late last week we took advantage of the awesome weather and met my friend Nora and "baby Samuel" (as our family refers to him as) at Yorktown beach. Sam made a friend and had fun throwing "treasure" into the water yelling "Arrrrrr!" every now and then for good measure. Liam is a little hesitant of the sand but loved all the little puppies that were running around. I made Chris take a picture of Nora and I because I felt like our outfits screamed spring!! (you can see Nora's gorgeous skirt better in the first pic) After the beach poor daddy had to go to school and I for some unknown reason was bitten by the "Oh my gosh we are moving in a few months and I am going to be super ridiculously pregnant when we do so I better start packing now" bug (bet you never heard of that one). So I started with our hall closest which has become the bain of my existence. We only have one non-clothes closet in our entire house-- ONE!!! So everything gets shoved in there, which in turn makes getting the vacuum out a virtual war with the random items that all seem to fall on my head. I took out the four rolls of Christmas wrapping paper I had left over from two Christmas's ago and threw them towards our front door with the intention of them eventually making it to the dumpster. I underestimated Liam's interest in what I was doing though and soon all of the paper was off of the rolls and into our hall way where he went to town, eating, ripping and eventually coloring on all of it with Sam. At least it was used somehow I guess.

Train Show!!!

On Saturday Chris and I drove the boys down to a train show at the convention center in VA Beach. The original idea was for Chris and Sam to go by themselves but at the last min we decided to make it a family event--- that turned out to be a BAD idea. First off "train show" is a loose term it should have advertised "900 booths selling trains event-- oh and a few fun trains set ups" So we essentially paid 7 bucks each to come a huge store where Sam wanted to buy everything and Liam wanted to touch everything and the people selling things were old grumpy men with big signs that say "DO NOT TOUCH!"-- awesome. After about 30 Min's, if that, Liam had a full on meltdown. I had to drag him out of the show and through the convention center with him trading off screaming and biting me. It was fabulous. So we sat in the car watching Lilo and Stich while Sam got a little while to enjoy himself. He took being the conductor very seriously and loved pulling the cable to blow the whistle! On the way home we stopped and got the boys Pizza for lunch. Apparently this put them in a REALLY good mood because they had a serious attack of the giggles, which was a shocking follow up to the worlds biggest temper tantrum. Chris got a ton of adorable pics but these are some of my favs:

What the HUH!?!?

Monday I got to sleep in (thank you Chris!) and when I came down I looked out our back window and got quite the surprise. Hello tons of snow! Williamsburg does NOT usually get snow, let alone THIS much snow. Christopher's school was actually cancelled (I know all my family in UT is thinking what for that small dusting!) Chris had mentioned that it might snow but I was not expecting this, as is obvious by the fact that the hose is STILL in the "pool" which was not even emptied from our day basking in the sun!! Sam our snow bunny had fun tromping around in the backyard kicking snow off his castle and breaking the ice in the water. Liam stuck literally one toe out the door and came back inside. He decided his time was better spent being a little punch drunk knight for the day! (Strange things happen when you are stuck at home ALL day with each other :))
Don't worry this weekend will be 72 again! Talk about mood swings :)

SMALL ASIDE:

Have you ever thought about "modifications" you would make if you could on yourself. This week I have decided that if I could get some sort of freaky science fictiony thing done I would get cameras placed in my eyes. There have been more times that I have witnessed something heartbreakingly cute this week then ever before and of course I didn't have my camera right there and ready to snap away. It would be very useful if I could just think CLICK and PRINT and there it was... I know weird and random but would be so convenient!