Wow - I can definitely say that I had a VERY busy weekend, unlike the past couple of weeks. That's not a bad thing at all and I am not complaining. Only thing is that I had zero ambition to do anything, lol. Saturday Michael and I decided that we wanted to just bum around town (yes in other words cruising in my new car). I wanted to get a little more used to driving it so when I had to drive into work this morning I would be a little more comfortable. (I don't have a picture yet since it rained all weekend) We went to this new antique store/consignment shop called Another Man's Treasure to see what they had. There was a lot of nice stuff there but we weren't really looking for something in particular so we walked out empty handed. We then went to the mall and walked around some more and had lunch. Afterwards we were heading to my Dad's house for a birthday get-together for one of my (soon-to-be) Step-Brothers - Charlie's birthday. Wow a lot of news came out that evening! Charlie proposed to his girlfriend and right before that we all found out that David (my other soon-to-be step-brother) and his wife are pregnant too. There certainly was a lot of hugging going on!

My sister-in-law Terry surprised us with a bunch of gently-used baby clothes and I don't mean a few things. I mean 8 bags of clothes! They all were in perfect (looks like never been used) condition. A friend of hers had a baby boy about 5 months ago and she said we could have everything. I went through each bag expecting to only want a few things here and there, but everything but 2 items I wanted (and that's because they were stained). I got everything washed and folded now so I didn't have to worry it later on with the holidays and stuff. They all are for 0-3 months and tons of onesies, jammies, hats, overalls and more. Just a bunch of cute stuff and a lot of it was all brand name! To say the least I was surprised by it all and thankful too. I know that they grow so fast that they don't have a chance to ruin most of their clothes, so it's nice not to have to buy it all myself.

Sunday night we went over to my Mom's house for dinner and to see everyone (we all work different hours, so I haven't seen everyone in a few months). She made one of my favorite dishes - lasagna. Yummy! We also got together my list of everyone for my baby shower. It's going to be October 26th - I am actually going to be having 2 showers. One big one for most of my guests and then a smaller one from my Step-Mom Becky. Like I said, it has been a super busy weekend!

Last blooms of the year - everything else is pretty much gone already.

Well it is official that I will be the new owner of a 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix at about 5pm tonight. After much debate over things it was finally time to trade in my 1997 Grand Prix for another one. It has only 15,000 miles on it and the price was amazing. It was used and owned by 1 person for only 11 months, so we went for it. My old car was falling apart and while it had a lot of heart still left in it, it was costing us a lot of money each year in repairs. Plus, with the baby coming I wanted something safer of course. I was really concerned about "doing it" because of the money. It's not that we can't afford it (because we can) but with the baby and everything with the hospital & doctor bills I wasn't wanting to spend that money until I knew how much we would owe for sure. But, a price like this only comes once in a lifetime and even my Mom said it is an amazing deal (and she will shop around FOREVER and gives me a hard time sometimes about my purchases). So I will be able to pick it up tonight when I get out of work. I am really excited about getting the car and it is super sporty looking but still have TONS of room for the carseat and a million other things for the baby. I will certainly be taking a picture of it when I get it home so you all can see it. I told Michael that "I now know what to blog about today" and he shook his head and said "Is that all you can think about?" I just smiled at him and said Yep!

Jack in the 'wild'

I had another late night at work yesterday. I am really trying to get a project finished and it just doesn't seem to be getting there. I am hoping to have it done today because I am really tired of working on it. I finally remembered to do my list of 20 things that I love about Autumn (as seen on others blogs) So here we go:

1. The colors - I love the deep rich colors of the season.
2. Crisp cool mornings instead of being instantly muggy the moment I wake up.
3. Pumpkins, gourds and other goodies - I love decorating with them.
4. Scarecrows
5. Going to the pumpkin farm
6. Fresh Apple Cider
7. Getting to wear my comfy sweaters.
8. Going for a walk when it's cooler outside
9. Hot soups & chili's - yummy!
10. It's darker in the morning - I know I'm weird!
11. Watching the leaves change day-by-day.
12. Football & Hockey seasons begin
13. Cuddling on the deck by the fire pit on cool evenings.
14. The "smell of the air" this time of the year.
15. Going apple picking
16. Going to Autumn craft shows
17. Jumping in piles of leaves - yes I still like to do that!
18. Snuggling with a warm cup of cocoa and a book.
19. The crunching sound of leaves under my feet.
20. The feeling of anticipation that Christmas is right around the corner.

Close up of our pretty mums

Last night Michael & I were out and about doing a few things that we needed to get done and I decided that I wanted to go get ice cream before they close next week for the season. As we were nearing the place the car in front of me got a flat tire and as they pulled off the side of the road we pulled into the parking lot. We got out and Michael instantly went on over to ask the lady if she needed some help. He didn't really 'want' ice cream anyway, so he handed me his wallet and I got a small cone of pumpkin/vanilla twist. I stood there and talked with the lady and her daughter while Michael changed the tire for her. They were really nice and turns out she had just purchased the car not even 2 hours previous! Michael has a heart of gold when it comes to helping others and sometimes to a fault. I hadn't mentioned a thing to him about Judy's give-a-way and having to give in some way to be entered. I told him afterwards of course and he just smiled.

OK - now before I forget I want to tell you about the 'deal' that we made with the baby. Michael & I are really big hockey fans (love the Buffalo Sabres). Michael wants to buy the baby a lil jersey to wear on game nights and said that he wanted him to come home from the hospital with it on. Now, while I think it's cute and all I wasn't thrilled with the idea but I made a deal with him. IF and only IF the baby is born on the day of a Sabres game OR the baby is coming home on the day of a Sabres game then he can wear his lil jersey home from the hospital. Now, since we play 3-4 games a week in hockey I am sure the baby will be coming home in the jersey. The things that I don't do for my husband - Michael is convinced that this kid is going to be the next great goaltender. He even says that the baby is practicing already in my belly (I swear he is too!).

I haven't really been able to get out and take new pictures because I have been working so much, plus with my extra 'load' it's hard for me to do a lot in the heat & the sun. So I have been looking back at all the older pictures I have taken. This was taken the same day as yesterday's picture on the Niagara River. This seagull just sat there and starred at me for the longest time. This was taken last September.

On Sunday Michael was working a little bit on the baby's room and he noticed that the outside of the window (the window sill actually) is really rotted out and that the whole window needs to be replaced. This house needs a lot of work and slowly things are getting done year by year, however while we know new windows are needed for every room we just can't afford it. So, we opted to just go with the one new window for that room. We originally ordered from Home Depot on Sunday, but Michael walked away confused and thought that we weren't getting exactly what we needed. So today he stopped in at Lowes (with a picture of the current window) and showed them. Turns out what we ordered from HD is not what we needed. The baby's room bakes in the sun all day long and it gets super hot in there, so back in May we got that tinted stuff for the windows and it cut down the amount of heat and sunlight in the room drastically (we are talking about 10-15 degree difference!). So we thought we would go with a factory installed tint on the window instead since when we do get all the windows replaced we would go for this anyway. Well the person at Lowes said there was no need to because the glass was made to keep out the heat rays. So all in all we saved $600 by going with Lowes. I was amazed at how much we saved! I'm glad that we got a 2nd opinion on the window and can keep that money for other stuff we are going to have to pay for.

Michael came home from work yesterday with 'treats' for both Jack & Jillian. Jack got a new 'stringy' as we call it - it has different things at the end for him to chase and Jillian got something that I thought was so cute on her. I will have to get a picture wearing it this weekend. It's a Buffalo Bills football jersey and he put it on her when he got home and sent her up to see me. I laughed so hard! Michael has something with jerseys I swear. This is just a reminder to myself to tell you about the 'deal' that we made regarding the baby tomorrow. If you are a sports fan, I am sure you will get a kick out of this story.

Today's picture is of Michael & Jillian - this was taken by the Niagara River where we love to walk, ride bikes and rollerblade. This is actually the same place that Michael & I had our 1st date (go ahead - awwwww, lol).

This weekend was even more quiet than the last but I'm ok with that. I have had a few stressful weeks at work and Friday was my breaking point. I was so upset when I left work on Friday and I needed some "me" time to get myself back in order. I am not looking forward to going in today but I can't just take off for the sake of it. Unfortunately, I have a few large projects going on that need to be done asap so taking off randomly is not an option. It all truly boils down to my new boss (who started at the end of May) and he is trying to do too much all at once and not keeping things on track. I am the senior webdesigner/graphic designer so a lot of the responsibility falls to me - which is fine but I wish I got paid like a manager, lol. Anyway---

We have been having issues with the dogs getting into Jack's litter box and we think that might have been what made Jillian sick a few weeks ago. So we have been thinking about what we can do to fix the issue. We already have one of those LitterMaid boxes that sweeps away everything after he has been in there and it is in a little built in space of it's own so we had to get creative. Michael took a piece of plexiglass and cut a 'doorway' in it for Jack to get through but it keeps the dogs the out of it. Michael's Mom's dog Sandy bashes into it time after time trying to get in and so far it's held up and kept both dogs out of the box. Jack doesn't seem to mind having it there, so all is ok with him too. Yay!

For years now I have been wanting to go to NYC at Christmas-time to see the city all decorated and to go see a few holiday shows. We both have never been there and have wanted to go for what seems like forever. We were supposed to go a few years ago and things came up and we haven't been able to. So Michael decided this year that since we are still unable to go he would take me to a little piece of NYC Christmas here in western NY - Last year was the 1st time that the Radio City Christmas Spectacular was here in Buffalo and we couldn't afford to go. So he bought me 2 tickets to go this year and they are for the day before Thanksgiving and we are sitting REALLY close to the stage. I am looking forward to seeing the Rockettes and all the amazing stuff that they do. It's not going to be the same since we won't be in the city, but it's better than nothing. It may be years before I get to see the city all decked out for Christmas so there is no sense in waiting.

I also got an award from Karin this weekend too!

Since I am the one that is always holding the camera, I am in very few pictures. I found this one the other day and thought it was super cute. Michael has this "thing" with taking pictures while I sleep. It doesn't matter how horrible I look - he still thinks I look cute, so he must take pictures. I don't delete them on him because they are his memories and I don't want to take them away from him. This was taken back in 2006 on the day of my FIL's funeral. I was exhausted from everything and so was little Mikayla. She is our nephew's little girl and was staying with us for a while her parents were both overseas in the Air Force.

Anyone that has blogged for sometime knows that there comes a time when you do something just for the sake of being able to blog about it. It makes things interesting every now and again. Well with the comments made yesterday about the WashPOD that is on our registry I think that this might have to be one of those times. We both (Michael & I) think it is ridiculous and it's on there as a joke (but he won't let me remove it - he says he will just readd it!) and to see if anyone would even consider purchasing it for us. So depending on whether we get it as a gift or we must buy it ourselves, I would try it at least once just so I could blog about it. Who knows, this could possibly be the best invention ever (I highly doubt it) and for $25.00 it's not that expensive. If we do decide to "try it" for any reason, I will let you all know!

After we went for our walk to the park so the dogs could play last night we went to Home Depot and got the paint for the baby's room. He's not quite ready for it since he has sanding to do, but it's good to have it ready to go for when the time comes. We are doing two different types of yellow - a darker shade for the walls and a lighter for the ceiling and white trim and door. It matches the Pooh bear crib set that we bought. Plus, we didn't want something that would need to be repainted incase we should move out of the house. I can't wait for the everything to be finished! All I have left to pick out are the curtains for the window and things are all set. We are just about paid off with the furniture and Michael said he wants to get it all home by late October.

This picture was taken last September - Jack gets supervised "kitty playtime" and he decided he just wanted to relax on the deck with the rest of us. I don't have a clue what he is staring at though, lol.

Last night Michael & I decided that we needed to register for more stuff for the baby and what a time we had! For the most part, I got to pick out the items that I wanted but I threw in a few cute non-necessary ones too. I found these cute animal hats and Michael didn't want to add them because he said they were dumb. So we were flipping coins and seeing which one of us won. I of course won and the turtle hat was added. It's not like it's guaranteed that someone will buy it for us, plus there is one item on there that he refuses to let me remove too. It's the oddest thing that I have ever seen - a washPOD! If you have ever heard of it, I would be surprised, lol. You can view the product here. While it makes sense I guess, it still makes me feel like I am going to be washing the baby in a mop bucket! It's funny to look at the newest stuff in the market today.

We did register for a lot of Pooh bear stuff since that is what the room is mostly going to be decorated in. I still haven't been able to find a picture of our crib bedding yet online and I am not ready to take it out of the package to take a picture. Judy was correct the other day - it is sitting there in the background of Jacks one picture. I will probably have to take it out to get the picture - oh well. I collect Pooh Bear & Friends stuff (ever since I was a kid) so there was no doubt in my head about what theme I wanted to go with.

Today's picture is Jack being well - Jack! LOL

Well, at least to me my house is famous. For my crafting marketplace I paid for a full page advertisement in Create & Decorate's Holiday Issue (in stores yesterday). It features my Christmas Tree from 2007 and now hundreds of thousands have seen it! Needless to say, I am proud that my work has been "published", even though I had to pay for it to be in there. It's wonderful for my portfolio to show my work in an actual magazine and printed all perty like. In case anyone is looking for it, it is on page 55 of the magazine. I have a preview of the ad down below incase you all wanted to see it.

On to other things - Michael & I took the dogs for a walk (since it's cooler out I want to be outside more). We didn't get very far because Shawn was sitting SO low and putting pressure in a weird spot that was making it really uncomfortable to walk. So we decided to just go home. It feels like he is just sitting there at the bottom and not moving. He eventually moves on from his spot and while it doesn't hurt much, it is just serious pressure in one spot. Once I relax and stop walking for a few minutes he starts moving around again, so I am not worried about it but it sure is annoying, lol.

I have been trying to get things ready early for Christmas (I normally start preparing this early - but I am going to be 8 months along at Christmas, so I want to get as much done as I can now). I am starting to find the perfect Christmas cards and want to get them all ready. Most times, I make my own cards for certain people but this year I am just going to be getting generic ones. Plus, I am looking at getting my cookie dough made up early too, so I just have to bake them when I want them. These little things will certainly make it easier on me when the time comes. Do any of you get ready for Christmas early?

My Holiday Advertisement for Little House Mercantile

Jack used to be a really light colored cat and over the past couple of years he has darkened up. (He is part Siamese and they usually get darker with age too) He is going to be 4 years old in November and this was taken in September 2005. This is usually how he sleeps all night long and takes up a lot of our bed. He shares my pillow too, lol. I found a whole bunch of pictures that I took of Jack when he was still a kitten - I can't believe how much he has changed in such a short amount of time!

We have started to feel the effects from hurricane Ike (of course not like those down in the south), but the wind warning that we had was certainly no joke! There were trees and branches down everywhere and a lot of people lost their power. Luckily, not much damage was done where I live, but 20 minutes from here it looks like a war zone. The temperature has started to cool down a little bit too - it was only 64* yesterday and is only going to be in the low 70's for the rest of the week. It's certainly a nice change from the upper 80's we have been having.

Sunday night Michael and I decided to rent a movie since we were bored with what was on tv. I had never seen The Truman Show (it was on tv a few nights ago and I saw some of it and it intrigued me), so that's what we got. It's an interesting movie to say the least. I can't believe that I have never seen it until then as I like Jim Carrey and have seen most of his movies. I am not sure if I have ever told you all, but I love the movie rental place - they have movies for only $1 for 5 days, 2 for $1 for 5 days, free movies and more. It is a great place and we rent so many movies that we are running out of stuff to rent, lol. That's why we are starting on the older movies. I love it even more because my exercise dvds are free for 5 days, so I don't have to purchase them (and then find out I don't like that it that much). There was no membership costs either, so it's best value in town!

This week is going to be "all about Jack" and this photo is so cute. It was taken some time ago (last fall I think) and we had bought him this tube and this was him "playing" in it. He doesn't play with it too much anymore, but I can get him going every now and again.

First I want to let everyone know that I did decide to make my entire website my blog since I just don't seem to be getting anywhere with transferring things over to this domain - even though I have been using it for almost a year now. You don't have to change your links, but that's up to you. Anyway - this weekend was pretty laid back and yet it still flew right by. Michael had to work on Saturday, so I messed around on the computer and also did a little picking up. Right now our bedroom is the "dumping ground" for everything that was in my craft room (that cannot go up in the attic or out to the storage room in Michael's shop.) It is driving me crazy, but he will be building me a closet so I can organize it all better. Sunday, we got up early and went out to breakfast and then stopped over at my Mom's house. My little sister Jess wasn't home but my Mom said she is doing well so far in her college classes (she started college about 2 weeks ago). I hope she keeps it up - she is going for education (I think she wants Elementary Ed) and it will suit her very well. She's like me a lot in that department - she loves the little kids.

I also spent most of Sunday adding photos to my "Photo Show" of different things. They are all of pictures that I had previously on my pages. I am trying to make things easier on myself when it comes to showing them off. Feel free to take a look - there is everything from garden pics to wedding & honeymoon pics to vacations we have taken. I will be adding pictures to there often I am sure. You can find the link up in the top right hand corner under Navigation and then My Photo Albums.

Also, if you could please click on the birthday graphic in the right menu and tell me what your birthday is. I have a habit of forgetting and this is a way for me to have a reminder. Thank you!

Today's picture is Jack being his typical self. Anytime someone brings something home (in a box, bag, etc.) he must claim it as his. He even gets into our suitcases when we are packing to leave somewhere! This bag was from the Mommy Boppy that Michael bought be a few weeks ago. I took it out of the package and within minutes he was sitting in there. He stayed for quite a while too. Silly cat!