Baby is ALLL BETTER!

and this mama feels on top of the world!!! Gosh that little boy threw me for such a loop. WHAT A WEEK. 

To let me know he was back in the game, he woke up at 5 am this morning to play! Yawn :/// SO Mr. Golden Sun was out and I took him to the park and look how happy and better he looks. My angel. :)

My baby is still sick :)

My little bean is still sick with a horribly nasty stomach bug. It's been one week of this terrible nasty bug and it is just breaking my heart to see him like this. The vomiting has subsided a bit but now he has very bad cold like symptoms all of a sudden. The doctor said maybe he caught another bug right afterwards? or at the same time? What a week from hell - for him and me. I hate to even mention myself because it's my baby I feel so bad for but in looking for the lesson from all of this - I must say, this week has been so eye opening. There's nothing that throws u for a loop like ur baby being this sick. And on the spectrum of baby sicknesses - this is not as bad as things can be and I realize that. When I think of little helpless babies with cancer etc like I read about this week here, I just can't even fathom the strength needed to endure the pain. This week has put alot into perspective and has put all other trivial life things like picking tiles and vanities to the side in a heartbeat. It has been so very humbling and has strengthened me as a mother. It has shown me the complete dependence and vulnerability a child has on you to care for his needs. He clings to me like a little baby monkey and just needs super extra tlc and to be comforted constantly which I am here for no matter what. There is no whining or complaining about my own needs even for a second. Getting puked on several times a day is absolutely fine with me if it means it's a step closer to him getting better and feeling better. I can't say I would have been like this a few years ago but now, being a mother, things have changed so dramatically - I live for this child and his health and happiness and experiencing this with him this week has reaffirmed to me my role in his life. I want to protect him and comfort him as best I can. I want to crawl into his little system and dig that bug out myself. I want him to be laughing playing and smiling again like u wouldnt believe. I am amazed constantly how much my little miracle is always teaching me. I truly feel that being a parent and going thru times like this with your most loved child makes u a better human being in the end. 


Cross ur fingers he gets better soon. I am so anxious to see my angel smile and laugh again.

Little Green Chaise

Around the time we got married, we invested in ginormous sized couches from Jennifers Convertibles which we loved for a few years and have gotten great use out of since one of them is a pullout bed.  However, we've recently started hating how BIG these sofas are and how bulky they look next to each other. They dominate any room they are in together. U can barely pass by one of them to get into the next room when they're laid next to each other and when u sit on them, u now sink into a sea of oversized pillows on the darn thing. 

I didn't know the rules were to buy one large couch and one loveseat?! We were so naive in those early days. The store was having a sale where you get two of the longer ones for a lesser price so as youngins we figured, "hey why not - bigger is always better - and let's get more bang for our buck right?" WRONG. Stupid stupid

We've tried to sell these bad boys - but no one is biting. :/ We love the idea of a cozy sectional now but not the idea of re-investing lots of money into another couch and not have a place to put it. We need to get rid of the first set before we think of spending another dime. The time has come to separate these siblings.

I think I've found a solution that the new house being a raised ranch will allow us to work with! We can put one down in the playroom/den and the other in the main living room upstairs. This way we can get a bit creative with a living room layout that's not overwhelmed by mammoth couches. Maybe flank one couch with a chair or two we can buy or reupholster - I smell a DIY project coming on. :)

It's time to think out of the box and go with a grownup setup and a purchase we normally wouldn't look at twice. Enter the little green chaise. :) I never paid attention to the idea of a chaise lounge in the house, anywhere. BUT - I came across this beauty this past weekend and just happened to flop down onto it mainly due to my aching back being 8 plus months preggo!! Omg I was in heaven. It was perfecT!! perfect size, pefect fluffiness, perfection in comfort, perfect for raising ur feet up on, just perfect. I loved it and am now determined to bring this little nugget home and love it and let it grow and thrive :) Problem - this cost $500 at a Macy's clearance center - clearance my foot. I would say it's a ripoff but it was undeniably the most comfortable thing my tush has ever encountered.

My antennae are turned towards chaises now. Must find chaises. How odd would it look with non matching furniture? Does it just take up the space a loveseat would? Do u need to get the additional pieces to its collection? I've never seen indoor chaises - not that it would be a reason to stay away from it. I will be actively looking for room setups with chaise lounges now - if u run across any, send them my way!

Lovin' Lowe's

Lowe's has a ton of stuff super handy for home renovations. It's one of my new favorite places to go these days. Home Depot doesn't have as many displays - which are critical! I know they both have tons in binders and pictures u can take a look at but I can do that at home! I want to walk into a store and see what my vanity will look like in different sizes etc. This in the end is what brings me back to look and relook at these things in the stores. I'm surprised they don't put more on display. Am I the only visual thinker out there? like 3D visual? I think not?

We are on the hunt for the perfect vanities for the house. Is it just me or are these things super expensive? Jeez. Everything kinda is tho when it comes to home renovs. Yikes. We went to a place our contractor recommended in Bridgeport Ct yesterday and if we buy from there we get his contractor discount so that's an incentive but at the end of our visit, the numbers were just too high. I liked the stuff at Lowe's just as well - now time to get exactly what we want.

We need vanities for 3 bathrooms.

1. Powder room downstairs - something small and simple, something dark brown and white to martch the dark chocolate paint and white wainscoting for those walls and we want a a country like sink similar to the kitchen sink we're going to go with.
   
   
   
2. Main Hall bathroom for guests and the boys  - I have a specific picture in mind -  something all in white, 48 inches, silver hardware, one sink altho it's plumbed for 2 (Hubs wants to keep 2 - I want 1, stay tuned for hte final decision!) and a travertine countertop. Since it's a long bathroom, I'd like a tall tower of a linen closet right up against the left hand side of the sink/vanity piece.
   
   Saw this at Lowe's and want it in white. Not too bad pricewise. That's without the countertop. I'm thinking we can just get all our countertops where we get the granite for the kitchen? & get a deal?  
   
   This is my vision in my head for this main boys bathroom in terms of the vanity and countertop --   
   
3. Master bathroom - flexible on this one so maybe something brown or whatever we can afford after the last 2 :) Loved this beauty I saw at Lowe's:

 and I'd like it to look like this-->

More Ikea Finds

Since Ikea cabinets are pretty much on the cheaper end of cabinets, we may just go ahead with them still. I'd also rather get NEW cabinets than reface the old ones which basically just means having a new door put on the face of the cabinets and the back of them painted to match with a matching veneer in the background. We walked thru the steps of refacing with a rep from Home Depot and our estimate came out to about $13K - yea, no. Not going that route. ESP considering it's still the OLD cabinets just painted! Nothing wrong with Ikea which will be less than 1/3 of that price! Ikea has a deal right now too that if u buy 2 of their appliances, get new cabinets and countertops from them - u get 20% off of ur total job which ends up being alot when ur talking numbers that high - It ends up being about $400 saved off the total cost. Total incentive. Total deal!

While I would love as cream as we can get for a cabinet color, Ikea's white cabinets are pretty white. There is one cabinet which they say is an off white but it's still pretty white. So we are going to dim down the kitchen with the other accents involved - lighting, fixtures, countertops, floors.

We are choosing between these 2 granites. They don't have much selection on granite colors but we know we want the granite look and we both agree on beige. I like the beige with the larger resolution of specks and veins and Hubs likes the one with the smaller resolution but this last trip to Ikea he agreed on mine (the first pic) - yay! Tell me if u likey :) and if u can imagine them on white cabinets and if theyd look nice - I think so?

I am looking for a concise toy storage system for all the crazy baby toys we have spilling out of every nook and cranny of our house. I'd like a wall unit, large, with nooks for wicker baskets - Hubs isnt a fan - But I'd also like something low to the ground with pull out buckets like pictured here where they can access their toys themselves. Cant have it all I know - but check it out - this unit is $70 each and would blend in nicely behind a couch in the living room or a few up against a wall or even stacked on top of each other. It could always be painted a matching color to the room as well.

Since the place is all wooden flooring, we are also looking for affordable area rugs for every room pretty much. I have a nice Indian one already for under the dining room table that we'll just reuse. I need a nice one for each baby's room and then one for the main living room area under a coffee table if we put it out. I like the idea of a shaggy area rug - I love the cozy look and how it feels under ur feet when u walk across it. This pic isnt super clear sorry!

I'm also convinced I'm buying my future craft/sewing/computer desk from Ikea. It's gorgeous and reasonably priced at $159. I am starting to get crazy notions that if the Hubs really wanted to (which I think he does! call me crazy) that he could just build it for me?! There's just no time but if he had it - he could and would? Let's see BUT upon stalking the dream table again this weekend, I re-worked how I'd want my setup in my nook of our joint office. Instead of pushing the desk up against the wall, I think I'd rather have some storage behind me and face the center of the room, or face Hubs - aw. :) Wouldnt he love that? Maybe not :) But i would! Something like this....

 

Sorry for Being MIA

!! So sorry! My little peanut has a bad baby bug and has been throwing up and explosive pooping for the last few days. I have lots to post, lots to update and lots to fill this lil' ol' bloggie on so hang in there. I know u mammas out there understand :)

DIY Trellis Stencil - Possible?

I'm still looking for design ideas and DIY upgrades for our house on a Budget and that's a Budget with a CAPITAL B even tho said "budget" is super small, with a capital S. Ok enough foolishness. :)

Check out this amazingness. A Do it Yourself Trellis Stencil to be painted on the wall from this FABulous and GORGeous blog - Complete Instructions and step by step pics included. Is this even humanly possible? I dont know but I love everything about it! How glamorous!

Punjabi Alphabet

Enough moping :) Moving onward and forward! Phew

Since I was born in New Delhi, India, my first language was Punjabi as well as some Hindi. We came to the USA when I was very very little and my parents really just acclimated us into this society, culture and school system. They spoke Punjabi in the house but and sometimes insisted that we speak but it was never pushed onto us. We understand it fluently and can speak if and when we need to and with the grandparents but I wish I retained the language as much as a native speaker. Now that I have a son, I see the value in preserving ur native tongue and I want him growing up knowing Punjabi if not speaking it well. I've been making MUCH more of a concerted effort to constantly speak it around him as much as I can manage. He knows his words in English and the equivalent in Punjabi. We read so many English books together, I've wanted to read him his Punjabi children's books but am not that fluent to do it seamlessly SO I've been looking for ways to keep up with my Punjabi reading and writing much more on a daily basis. It should be a part of our days but just falls into the category of things u want to get to but never do. :/

I have a poster I made of the Punjabi alphabet hanging in our bedroom a long time ago so whenever we're just sitting around or feeding the baby ever since he was born I could look up and review. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing decor for a bedroom but it has a purpose and functions!! If any of u are curious what out alphabet looks like (in my handwriting at least) - here it is :)

Just a few days ago my girlfriend Sonia (hey girl!) told me there is an iphone app for Punjabi letters. (Go visit her fabulous website for Indian weddings if u can here). I have my iphone on me all DAY and just downloaded the app and it is FABULOUS. It is such an easy and fun way to learn the Punjabi alphabet. You just tap on the screen and a voice plays the sound of the letter in audio and moves onto the next letter with just a tap. Isn't technology amazing?!

Not only am I on it whenever I have down time to review my letters but I give the phone to baby baby snatches my phone out of my hands and finds the app himself and plays with it all the time. He isn't repeating letters yet but he is exposed to it and I love that!! It's a start and it's a positive direction. I don't think it'll confuse him. Kids are sponges at this age so I think it's good for him.

Here are some more Punjabi alphabet posters that I love and want to put up in the boys' rooms when they're a bit older.

When Life Hands You Lemons......

.............Refuse them. Take those crappy lemons and throw them back in life's face and then proceed to throw urself to the ground crying, wailing, screaming and refusing to accept these horrible how could u hand me these lemons!?! ...... Right? ..... err

That's what I WANT to do and how I feel inside BUT the better part of me is making the most of the Lemons we have just been handed and trying to be super strong and sensible for my Hubby.

Yesterday we just got bad news from the Big bad wolf the BANK. While in the process of researching our finances (bla bla mumbo jumbo technical stuff) and approving the loan for our new house, they have now come back to tell us they want $XX,000 (lots o' money) MORE from us to put down for the purchase price of the house. Closing is scheduled for next week. They tell us this a week before we close, weeks AFTER we've already decided on home renovations and our contractor. They never gave us an inkling of an idea before this could be the case.

We are already pouring every cent we have ever saved into this house so we were shocked as the impossibility of what they're asking here. $XX,0000 more (see all those zeros) is like, ALOT more that we don't have extra of. We didn't think they could be SERIOUS because this $XX,000 happens to be the exact amount of money we have saved for years to get our renovations done. Since we will have a new house and a new baby and a new job for hubs, we will have No time or luxury to do this ourselves. We were just going the contractor route and hiring a superman to coordinate everything we wanted to get done to the new place before we move in and before the new baby arrives (operative word being before).


We were getting so much done too -

•  The whole kitchen redone (new cabinets, floors, backsplash, countertops, the works)
• A kitchen wall knocked down to open into the living room
• French doors installed onto the deck leading out from the dining room
• Arch entryways made into and out of the kitchen and leading into the dining room from the living room
• Raised paneling in the dining room
• 3 brand new bathrooms including a 
• Spa master bathroom for me in the Master bedroom by eliminating the master bedroom closet and carving out a new one
• Wainscoting in the bathrooms and the den
• Wooden floors in the office
• New carpet in the den/kids' playroom
• New laundry floor cabinets and tiles
• French sliding doors installed in the walkout area downstairs from the Den
  
  Oh the list was endless. We finally found a contractor (after interviewing Many!) who was going to work with us and negotiated him down to a VERY reasonable budget for all of this.

CLONKKKKKKKK!! That was a Lemon hitting me in the head.

So now we are being forced to cut out all renovations with the contractor since that money will now have to go towards a downpayment on the house. A few years ago the bank would've never asked this of us - but I guess this is what the whole mortgage crisis has come down to. 


I knew it was all too good to be true. I just hoped and thought - ah it's finally OUR turn, our turn to have a little comfort, a little style, a little luxury in life after years of living in rentals and apartments and terrible neighbor situations and moving all over the country. Guess not. Here's where I can be an optimist or pessimist. 

Upon all appearances I am one of the cheeriest people u'll meet - always laughing and joking. It's really my way of DEALING with things because I am secretly a pessimist  (aka realist) inside. Sigh. I want to curl into a ball and cry and throw a tantrum but because The Hubs is pretty devastated, I can't. For his sake. I have to be strong for him. As much of a Pita I can be for my Hubs, if anything anything anything ever hurts him or gets to him or upsets him - I just lose it. I can't tolerate it. Every ounce of me runs to his side to support him, lift his spirits and do anything to make that man smile and laugh and jump up and down. He is such an amazing person and soul and after how hard he has worked for us, he doesn't deserve this. The reason the Big Bad Wolf Bank is asking us for more money is also due to something that has hurt our credit history that was completely OUT of our control as well - ugh I can't even get into it because it makes me want to vomit. 

ANYWAY, in comes Super Wife to the rescue with my big speech last night.

I told the hubster not to fret!!! That this is life's way of saying - hey u can still have it all - u can still have what u want, the renovations, updates and snazzy touches in the house! Life just wants us to have our cake and eat it too - save lots of money and enjoy doing it ourselves!! (?????) Stay with me here. I tried to convince him how much of a fun challenge it will be to fix the house up ourselves, how we are always watching HGTV and thinking we could do this or that, how he loves to build and create as do I, how we're such HOME people, how much money we could save by doing it ourselves instead of having the contractor do it, how rewarding it will be to see it all come together, how much more satisfied and accomplished we will feel if we put our own hands to the task and put in our own blood sweat and tears in making our new home. 

I was trying to get him excited, pumped, ready for the ride ...............but I am totally clueless how this is going to come together. We've never done something like this before - tiles? cabinets? installing countertops? What??? and on top of all this - right before or right After a NEWBORN arrives? How?

Breathe Candy.

It's alright, it will be ok. I insisted to my sweet hubbers that these things don't matter. We need to keep perspective. We have our health, we have our beautiful babies, we have wonderful family and friends, we have his job still, thankgoodness we had that cushion we saved where it's just renovations we're cutting out instead of actually LOSING the house - life could be ALOT worse - alot. Those are the things that are important and matter in life - not glass tiles and granite countertops. (Altho I will truly miss the idea of those! Sniff Sniff). 

I gotta keep pumping sunshine up his butt. Just have to. He started to come around and felt better about it this morning which makes my heart smile. We're still gonna go for renovations - but gonna do it ourselves - We will just take our time and do it slower. Time to visit more DIY Mommy blogs!! So stay tuned to how this is all going to turn out!! Gulp.

In the words of Young MC -- "We're on a mission.......and we're wishin'" (that this is gonna turn out right)...."So come on fatsos!!!" (which would be US) ... "and Bust a move!!!"

Wakeup call - 2 months til baby!

It just sort've occurred to me that amidst this whole house renov/closing/buying ordeal - WE HAVE A BABY COMING IN 2 MONTHS. Holy crap we have so much to do. Granted we still have Kavan's clothes, toys, bottles etc that will clearly be hand me downs - poor kid. We still have stuff to BUY and get for the newborn and the achier my back gets, the more I realize I am not moving a muscle once April hits. Around the last month of pregnancy, I don't want to do a darnnnnnn thing or go Anywhere and I'm pretty sure that will be the case times 1,000 this time round again.

There are a few baby items I wasn't such a fan of when Kavan was a little nugget.

1. I didn't like his Comfort Cradle Boppy Bouncer and I dont think he was much of a fan of it either. It seemed boring and too cushy and he looked like he was sinking in it. He never really wanted to be in it or play with it. I didnt really move it from room to room much either which I want to be able to do with the new nugget. I'd like something a bit more functional and baby friendly.
2. I wasnt such a fan of his Bassinet either. The mattress was super thin and looked uncomfortable and it didnt rock or play music or anything. It turned into a toy chest when we were done with it which is ok but not the greatest feature in the world. I want something that is jazzed up this time round and I can move around if I wanted to.
3. I didn't like the tub situation for the first few months. I don't feel comfortable bathing him in the sink - never liked the idea of him being nekkie in the kitchen where there is a draft and that everything is so hard around there, counters floors etc. I just stuck to my bedroom where it was nice and cozy and I gave sponge baths on my bed which was a bit silly since it all got wet. I need a tub which encloses a newborn a bit more than the bigger ones for when theyre a few months old.

This time round, I may get this for the next baby - a Fisher Price rock n play bouncer/bassinet. I saw it on this mama's blog with a really helpful review and video of her baby in there and it looks really good!


I also really really liked this TUB for a newborn. I've never seen anything like this and it seems like it snuggles the baby in there perfectly. I saw it on the same mama's blog with a pretty helpful review and video.

I'm still on a search for a really good bassinet. A girlfriend of mine has one where it rocks and plays music and u can detach the bassinet part like a carseat and it can serve as a moses basket essentially - carrying it from room to room, altho it could get pretty heavy. It just seemed so compact and perfect. I'm still on the hunt for it.

If anyone has any items they loved for the second baby that they missed out first time round - pls throw it out there!! I'm all ears :)