Buggy's big girl room

Bug's big girl room is coming right along, mainly due to awesome deals on Craigslist.

I got her headboard, footboard and rails for $30. We are painting them white this weekend. Pictures will be posted soon!

I got her a basically brand new Serta mattress for $40. It was only a year old and used on a top bunk bed, which was never used. I got her a new mattress cover and new waterproof mattress pad at Target.

I got her the twin bed frame and box spring for $20 each.

I just ordered her bedding from Pottery Barn Teen. I just received an email that they were having a huge bedding sale. I went to their website to see if there was anything new that caught my eye. I have been struggling to find the right bedding, that is bright and cheerful, but not babyish, but not too mature- still fun.

I love the paisley design. And I found the perfect one! It will hopefully be here next week!

Toddler bed... take 2

Well a week ago Raegan started climbing out of her bed before she fell asleep. She would not stay in bed and go to sleep. We converted her crib to a day bed with a rail. It has been taking anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 HOURS to get her to stay in bed and fall asleep.

We are working on getting her twin bed all set up. Hoping she will be excited for a new bed and want to stay in it! I bought her a headboard, footboard and rails off Craigslist for $20. I just need to paint them white one of these days. We got her a mattress last night, but still need to get the bed frame, and bedding. I have 4 sets picked out but can't decided. We are also looking on Craigslist for a white dresser or one that we can paint for her. Her furniture will all go to baby 2's room. Her crib is a 4-1 but I don't want to put her in a full size bed right now. So we are going to save it to use as a crib for the future.

Bedding options:

Option 1- One of my favorites. Polka dots


Option 2- One of my other favorites. Pink Paisley


Option 3- Another one of my favorites. Whales


Option 4- My least favorite but Ryan's fav. Frilly swirls


I can't wait to get her new big girl room all set up. Ryan doesn't want to move her to the twin bed yet. I don't think he wants his baby girl to grow up! I can't believe she is almost 2!

Ryan's blog

Ryan's blog to Raegan is up and running!

http://2raegan.weebly.com/2011.html

Ryan's blog

A few months after Raegan was born Ryan created this blog for US. So WE could blog about Raegan's life. He wrote the first post, and hasn't contributed since. And well I was an awful blogger the first 15 months of R's life. So sad, because I didn't keep up with her baby book up either. Mommy fail!

Well Ryan has started his own blog and I am sure he is going to out do mine by far. He has been working on the design for 2 days now. I don't think he has written a post yet. He won't let me see it yet, or even tell me the name. All he told me is that it is going to be short entries to Raegan and future kids. So when they are older they can look back and read what he had to say about them as they were growing up. I'm sure they will be funny and I am happy he is doing it! I can't wait until he lets me read it! I just wish I knew how to blog better. I know nothing about blogging. I know nothing about the formats. Some of my friends have really cool websites. No clue how to do that. But this format is simple and I like simple.

My Monkey

Over the winter Raegan was trying to climb out of her crib. Ryan was worried she would fall out and break her arm so we tried her in a big girl toddler bed for a while. First week went great. She went to sleep and stayed in it. Once she figured out that she could get out she wouldn't stay in bed. It was awful. It would take an hour to get her to sleep and then we would wake up in the morning and she would be in between us in bed sleeping. Neither of us had any clue when she got up and climbed in bed. We decided to put her crib rail back on and just see what happened. She was so happy to be back in her crib she did not attempt to climb out again, until today, June 14, 2011 Just shy of 23 months.

For the past week or so after she wakes up I would hear her saying "Mommy stuck. Daddy help!" I would go in her room and she would have one leg up on her crib rail. Once again, this morning at 8:45am I hear, "Stuck Mommy, stuck." I go in there and she is basically laying on the rail. I get her out of bed, get her dressed, eat breakfast and we head to Gymboree class. We come home from a great class, play outside, eat lunch, watch Mickey and go to bed. She naps from 1:15 until 3:50. I hear her playing in her crib and go in to get her. As I walk in and open the blinds, she grabs her binkys and over the rail she goes. She did it! Yes, the first time she climbed out she landed on the floor, jumped out and yelled "Yeah! I did it!" I put her back in bed, hoping it was just a fluke. Nope over the rail she goes again, and again, and again. She climbs out and then climbs back in, climbs out, then back in!

The great thing so far is that she only climbs out after she wakes up. She loves her bed. She loves sleeping. She sleeps 12-14 hours at night and around 3 hours for naps. Even if she's not tired but its bedtime she will play with her babies for an hour before going to sleep on her own. I'm afraid if we do a big girl bed again that this will fail. She will just get out of bed and run around like a mad woman. I'm not ready for that. I enjoy naptime, its my me time. I do not want to fight with her for an hour to get her to sleep. I enjoy her 7:30 bedtime. I get to spend time with my husband. We get to relax, watch movies, enjoy wine. I do not want to fight her for an hour listening to her scream because she doesn't want to stay in her big girl bed.

I want to go straight to a full size bed. I think she will like a bigger bed. Ryan wants to do the day bed first. He will probably win, for now. I can't believe how fast my little girl is growing up.

The search for Lauren...

The missing person case of Lauren Spierer from Bloomington has been weighing hard on my heart. Everytime I hear her mother speak to the press and pled for the return of her daughter it brings tears to my eyes. So Sunday Ryan and I went to Bloomington and joined the search. We searched for two hours, downtown, in the area she was last seen. We found a white button that had to be called in to the police and had to wait for a detective to come take pictures and bag it for evidence. She was reportedly last seen wearing a white button down shirt and thats why we called it in. We also found a key, a jewel out of possibly a ring, and a hair band and bobby pin. When those were called in they said to ignore them. They were pretty much just looking for clothing and jewelry.

I'm glad we were able to help. If my daughter was missing I would hope that people would do the same for us. It was amazing that in our search group of 12 not a single person was from Bloomington. People came from all over the state to help. We also met people from New York that came in for the weekend to help.

An Indianapolis new station was there reporting on the case and I was on TV! The camera followed me for like 5 minutes but only showed a few seconds.


I hope that whoever did this comes forward to police and then rots in hell.

The layout!

Main floor


Second floor


Basement
Our basement will be a full basement so no scary crawl space and it wont be partially finished. It will all be unfinshied so we can finish it ourselves in the years to come!


Additional Features

The upstairs pictures

That post was getting so long and overloaded with pictures I thought I would start another for the upstairs of the house!

This is the beautiful crown molding above the foyer overlooking from the loft. We will have a different chandelier and our paint color will also be different throughout the house.


The loft will be the playroom. Just like it is in our current house. We havent decided if we will upgrade to the spindles or keep a halfwall. With a half wall the kids wont be able to drop toys downstairs, stick arms and feet through, Also you wont be able to see toys and crap upstairs when you are down in the foyer!

View from the top of the stairs. Which is by the Master Suite, Laundry room and Future #2's room.


View from the other side. Which is by the kids bathroom, and guest bedroom. Ryan is standing close to Bugs future room.


Raegan's future bedroom!


Kids bathroom. Double vanity with granite, linen closet, and bathtub. Oh and a potty too!


Now onto the AMAZING! AMAZING! AMAZING! Master Suite!




We will have the trey ceiling and the wainscoting too! But obviously a different paint color!

Luxury Master Bath!
View from bedroom


Counter will be raised since Ryan is tall and will have the double vanity and granite tops. The will toliet is some fancy elongated bowl per Ryans request as well. Seperate shower and soaking tub with a window!


And the ridiculously large master closet. We will have to add more shelfs and organizers. Maybe an island and a built in ironing board for Ry!


Sorry some of the pictures qualities suck. They are taken from my phone. Lighting wasn't the best

The BEST news of all is we are getting a FULL BASEMENT!!! I am beyond excited. We decided not to have them finish it. It is something we will do down the road ourselves. There will be a rough in for pluming though. The basement will be around 800 square feet. The house is just over 3000. So an amazing grand total of 3,825 square feet! Happy cleaning!

House pictures

Friday Ryan and I went to meet with the Ryland Homes Consultant to price out our dream house. It was better than we ever could of imagined! We are about 90% sure we are going to go with Ryland in Noblesville now. We walked around the neighborhood and everyone, I mean everyone was so nice. A couple guys stopped and talked to us, others would wave and say, "Hi, How are you?" The neighborhood seems a little younger than ours now, and there are tons of little kids. Raegan would have lots of new friends! The neighborhood in Noblesville is new, very new. So they are having a grand opening special this month. It is too good to pass up on. But we werent planning on falling in love this fast and wanting to sign on the dotted line this summer. We were looking to sign in the September time frame. We have a crazy, busy summer and we wanted to make it through summer, Bug's second birthday and then get serious about the house. But now I'm not so sure. There is a good chance we will move forward this month. We could sign by the end of this month, break ground by the end of July, and move in by Thanksgiving. That is so exciting but so fast. But then that means we could move before we start trying for #2 and I wont have to deal with moving during morning sickness like I did last time. But maybe Ryan can work his awesome salesman skill and get the same grand opening price at the end of summer. Only down side with that is we might not get a lot then and we would be screwed. Ah! Decisions, decisions!

Ok enough talk, picture time. Lots and lots of pictures.

Elevation options...


Ryan loves the Craftsman elevation. I don't love it but I like it. It reminds us of the lakehouse and beach houses in the Outer Banks. It will have plank siding and is very nice but I think kind of has a funny look to it. I like the classic the best but it doesn't have a front porch. We both really would like a front porch!

Here is a Jamestown Craftsman under construction in the neighborhood...


One of my favorite features of the neighborhood is the SOCCER FIELD right smack dab in the middle! WOO HOO! It's like a dream come true!

There will also be a pool put in next spring next to the soccer field! I hope they keep the soccer field and dont get rid of it when they build the pool. I will be very sad!

Another Jamestown under contruction and the park and pond next to the soccer field



We have a list of homesites to choose from. The neighborhood makes sure that there are no two Jamestown Craftmans built side by side or across the street from each other. Tentatively we chose lot # 289!


Here is the entrance, or I guess fancy name, Foyer of the model home we walked through. Ignore their terrible Hobby Lobby decorating of this home. Another floorplan we looked at, The Washington, was so beautifully staged. I don't know why this one isn't the same.
We will be getting the wainscoting throughout in our home too. As well as hardwood floors on the main.


Formal dining room


Family room
Our fireplace will be different. We will do a darker stained mantle and either brick or granite. Not the stone!



Family room and part of the nook


Now for one of our favorites. Well, one of many! The gourmet kitchen! Granite countertops, breakfast bar, island. Beautiful cabinets, double oven, all stainless steal appliances! We will have different granite and darker cabinets. All appliances are included and will be the exact same as the pictures. We just have to get our own SS fridge.




Ryans office

The great thing about his office is it is down a hallway and very private. Where in the other house we specked out was in the very front. He will have a beautiful glass door. This will allow him to work from home a lot more!


Another absolute favorite is the gorgous built ins! I love these! Lets just hope we, I mean I can keep them organzied!

Top...

Bottom

3 cubbies... 3 kids?!?! :)

Random thoughts from my shower...

While I was taking a shower just now I couldn't get the thought of the missing girl from IU out of my head. Growing up in Bloomington it hits close to home, especially after the disappearance and murder of Jill Behrman 11 years ago. As a mother I can not imagine my daughter going missing and not having a clue of what happened to her. It has been a week since Lauren went missing from Bloomington. It hurts my heart and I wish I was still in Bloomington to help the search parties to find her. I pray that I never have to go through what these parents are going through right now. Raegan is my best friend and my world. If anything happened to her my life would be over.

Before having a child, I always heard parents say, its a love like you have never felt before. I thought that was hard to imagine loving someone more than my husband. He is my best friend and means the world to me. He makes me so happy and laugh every day. How could I possibly love someone more than him? Well I found out that answer on July 30, 2009. It's easy.

I spend all day, every day with Raegan. She is the funnest and smartest little girl I've ever met. She amazes me everyday and I am so thankful for Ryan and all he does for our family that allows me to stay at home with her. Ryan works so hard and always says he wishes he could be a stay at home dad, especially as I send him pictures of her being so cute through out the day, or a video of something new she learned that day. He misses her but works so hard to provide an amazing life for us. Today, I asked Bug what she wanted for lunch. Her normal response is Mac n Cheese or Hot Dog. But today it was "Hambuga with cheese and pickles!" What? For real? One- how does she know what a hamburger is? She hates meat. And two- She wants cheese and pickles on it? When did she learn this? I was hesitant to make it for her, well because I would have to grill it but also because I didn't think she would eat it. And then I would have to make her Mac n Cheese or a hot dog. She ate every single bite. Pickles first, then the meat dipped in ketchup and then the bun. It was great. I was so happy.

Total sidetrack there.... back to my random thoughts of the day.

So yes Ryan is the best. I am so thankful for him and that he chose me, gave me my beautiful, perfect daughter and allows me to stay home. Why did he choose me? He had his pick of ladies in college thats for sure. Being best friends for 2+ years before we started dating I saw the jersey chasers come and go. How did he pick me over the bathing suit model or the colts cheerleader? The only reason I can think of is that I was the only girl that could beat him in corn hole and beer pong and that is the way to his heart! And that is why I am getting a set of cornhole boards custom made for his birthday! I can't wait until they are done! They will be one of a kind! So excited!

Raegan starts a Mothers Day out program this fall. I am excited and sad at the same time. I am excited for a couple hours of "me" time every Tuesday morning. I am also excited for her to be around other kids in a more formal setting and without me, it will be good for her. But I am so sad that she will be without me. She has never done anything without me. I have always been there for one of her first. I've never missed a thing. I was there the first time she rolled over, the first time she crawled, pulled up, first word, first step, first tooth. I get to be the one to teach her colors and sing the alphabet with her everyday. Now I wont be there as she starts "school." I wont be there when she learns something new. I wont be there to watch her socialize and make new friends. She will be the youngest kid in her class. They have to be 2 by July 31 to start in the program. She turns 2 July 30. She is the youngest kid in her Gymboree class too, but thankfully she is one of the biggest (thank you Ryan for her height!) and most advance. She is the little leader and show off. She can hold her own, she will be just fine being the youngest, but I wont be there to hold her hand. When she calls for mommy I wont be there. I can not imagine how Lauren's mother feels not knowing the unknown of her daughter the night she disappeared. That has got the be the absolute worst feeling in the world as a parent.

So moral of my ramble is... I love my family. I am so thankful for it and I want to put my child in a bubble so nothing bad will ever happen to her!

What is a Miller?

What is a Miller? The mascot of our kids possible future high school?

Thanks to a quick search on Google I was able to figure out what a Miller is.

The Millers became the official mascot in 1925 in recognition of the generous donation by C.B. Jenkins, manager of the Noblesville Milling Company. His company offered to buy all the team uniforms; so named The Millers.

Awesome, their mascot is after a milling company. Thats about as bad as a killer bee, or the Mad Ants.

And their colors are black and gold. Ewww. Too close to Purdues color and mascot man. Big thumbs down.

Say Hello to the "Miller Man." The only Miller man I want is a man that is bringing me a Miller Light.

Future residence of Nobletucky?!

Ugh. Nobletucky. Also know as Noblesville. Home of the Millers. What is a Miller anyways? I will have to google that. Honestly Noblesville is not a bad place at all. It is a very nice town and we are less than a mile away from Noblesville where we live in Fishers. Our dentist is in Noblesville, we have lots of little shops and yummy resteraunts in Noblesville, and big stores too like Walmart, Meijer, Lowes, TJ MAXX, Best Buy ect. It's just not Fishers and Fishers has Target.

Fishers is a town located in Fall Creek and Delaware townships, Hamilton County, Indiana, with a population of 76,794, according to the 2010 census. A suburb of Indianapolis, Fishers has grown rapidly in recent decades: about 350 people lived there in 1963, 2,000 in 1980, and only 7,200 as recently as 1990. Fishers was ranked the 24th best place to live in America by Money magazine in 2005, 33rd in 2006, and 10th in 2008.In 2009, Fishers was named America's best affordable suburb by BusinessWeek. In 2010, Fishers was ranked eighth in the best places to live according to Money Magazine. (Thank you Google)

Noblesville isn't known like Fishers is. Noblesville is pretty much only know for the "Verizon Wireless Music Center" formally known as "Deer Creek." I have so many memories going to concerts, mostly Dave Matthews Band, every summer at Verizon since I was a freshman in high school. It is always the highlight of my summer. I missed my first Dave concert in over 10 years in 2009 because I was in the hospital giving birth to Raegan. My friends all stopped by on their way to the concert to say hi. So nice of them!

But because Noblesville isn't quite as popular as Fishers is, it is SO MUCH cheaper to live their. As we are on this home building journey I started looking around at other builders in other communities. Even though I do not want to leave our subdivision, I started shopping around just to see what else is out there. What else can we get for our money? We found a neighborhood in Noblesville, less than 2 miles from where we live now that we love. Love. Love. One of the biggest Pro's is the cost to build there. It is at least $30,000 LESS to build there than it is in Fishers for the exact same house. We will be able to get so much more house with so many more upgrades for our money. Think... granite counter tops in a gourmet kitchen, hardwood floors, 4 bedrooms, more square footage, and hopefully a full finished basement with a bathroom. So a total of 3.5 bathrooms and over 3000 square feet. With a basement will be almost 4000 square feet. All for tens of thousands less than Fishers. Unreal that the price of land is that much more in Fishers. The biggest Con that is holding me back from jumping both feet in saying lets do this is that it is no longer in Hamilton Southeastern school district. We would have to switch to Noblesville Schools. Once again what is a Miller? Yes, it is my mothers maiden name and a possible middle name for a future son but it is also the high schools mascot. HSE is a great school district, and honestly Noblesville is probably just as good. What scares us is the sports teams. Noblesville is not known for their sports like Fishers HS and HSE HS. High School sports isn't as important for a potential soccer scholarship because with soccer its all about your club team. And Raegan and future kids can play for Carmels club teams. But for football it is all about your HS team to get noticed by scouts. Fishers HS was 5A State Champs this year. HSE has a great program too. Yes, the sports teams can change in the next 15 years but its just weighing on our decision now.

Of course we could live in this house for the next 10-12 years and then move to HSE district for HS but I don't want to move my kids school districts right before high school. We are building this big house so we have plenty of room to grow and stay there for a very long time. Not to stay for 10 years and then move again.

Damn you Fishers, why do you have to be so amazing?!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma!

May 30 was my grandma's 80th birthday. We went to Evansville for the weekend to see her. My Aunts, Uncles and Cousins came in from South Carolina and St Louis too. We had to stay at a hotel since my grandmas house is only 4 bedrooms and with a baby its was just easier to get a hotel. There was a soccer tournament going on so hotels were hard to come by. Luckily some of the teams dropped out and we were able to get a room at the Drury Inn. Not my first choice, or second, but it was very nice and worked out well.

It was also Ryan and I's 3rd anniversary. We spent Memorial Day, which was also our anniversary this year, at the lake. It was nice to get out there and Raegan had a blast swimming in the lake.