Thanks!

Thanks so much for the tip from "Benjamin Moore Lover". She suggested I use My Perfect Color to match paints. I'll definitely give it a try! If only they matched Farrow & Ball paints...

I played around with the site and did find some of my favorite colors.

This is the pink that WAS in BabyGirl's room: Benjamin Moore Cadillac Pink



And this is the pink that is NOW in BabyGirl's room: Benjamin Moore Frosty Pink



Now that I see them right next to one another, I definitely see the difference!

Here is the color I put on my kitchen ceiling: Benjamin Moore Whispering Spring



The color on the walls is: Pittsburgh Paint Belgian Waffle



This color was in the house when we moved in and I have to say I absolutely love it. It is so light and creamy and the perfect yellow. I have it in my kitchen, powder room and sunroom. It looks really awesome painted on the exposed brick in the sunroom. It looks great with white cabinets, black counters and red and blue accents in a room. The light reflects off of it perfectly during day and evening. In my home, it looks lighter than the swatch.

Last but not least, one of my all time favorites: Tangier Island by Ralph Lauren



Another perfect color. Not too dark, not too light. I have this in BabyBoy's room. It's a great color for a boy's room because you can accent it with pretty much any other color. It looks great with all shades of blue as well as red and green AND yellow. It also looks awesome as a backdrop if you wanted to paint horizontal rugby stripes on a boy's wall.

Hmm...I can see now that this website is going to be addictive.

PS: They also have a really great blog.

Sippycups Soundbite

As we were driving through "the hood" on our way to the club for brunch BabyGirl noticed what the rest of the free world would call a yard sale. You know, bunch of folks in their yard with years worth of old clothes, toys, junk, etc.

BabyGirl: Look, Mommy! They're having a clothing show!

Me: Trying SOOOO hard not to laugh.

BabyGirl: Do you think it's Chez Ami or something else? Do you think they have pink lemonade?

Me: Goodness, I don't know. We'll be to the club soon. They'll definitely have pink lemonade...

Good Gets on EBay

Just a little teaser...now go SHOP!

Look Out Lance...

...or anyone else who may be in BabyBoy's path. BabyBoy is now officially a bike rider. After months of resistance and my constant reassurance that BabyBoy is ready for bike riding, Dr. Daddy finally acquiesced and agreed to head down to the River Walk and get started. 45 minutes later...success.

I was so proud (and sweaty). I don't know if I sweat more from running alongside him or from anxiety that he might fall. BabyBoy is fairly high strung. He's gotten better, but he tends to be extremely melodramatic and gets really worked up when things don't go his way. The bike riding thing was a parental challenge.

Dr. Daddy and I's conversation on the way home:

Dr. Daddy: Wow, I can't believe he did it.

Me (in that slightly lecturing tone that he swears I sometimes (always) take when I'm discussing our parenting roles: Of course he did it. He just needed positive re-enforcement and someone telling him he could do it. That's what parenting is all about. You have to encourage them...insist to them that they can do something even when you aren't sure if they are really ready. That's all he needed. You can't just get frustrated and walk away when he says "I quit". It's just like I told him. WE DON'T QUIT. We aren't quitters. Period. We can say "I'm finished" when we've accomplished something and we're done. But we don't QUIT. That's what gave him the confidence to do it.

Dr. Daddy: Umm, yeah. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that you told him he would walk home if he didn't learn to ride the bike. The added incentive of a new Lego set probably had nothing to do with it, either.

Me: Whatever. He did it. Who cares. Butthead.

To Stick or Not to Stick

That is the question. We've had painters in the house all week. I know, I know, I was having the OUTSIDE of the house painted. But then it rained and I remembered all the interior work we needed done. Remember BabyGirl's awesome Fancy Nancy party? Note to self: DO NOT adhere those adorable Martha Stewart tissue paper decorations to the ceiling with packing tape. I had to have the sunroom ceiling painted because of the left over tape residue. The kitchen also suffered the tape mess in addition to residual staining from a can of tomato soup that exploded when I opened it a few months ago. I always thought that botulism in soup cans thing was a myth. My hand (which was bruised for weeks after the explosion) says notsomuch.

Soooo, the ceiling in the kitchen is now repainted as well. I THOUGHT I had picked the same color blue that is on every other ceiling in the house but apparently not. It's kind of a blue/grey. The color I chose is Whispering Spring from Benjamin Moore. I LOVE it. It's very light and airy with just a hint of blue and maybe a little teal. It is, however, a shade or two lighter than what we have in the other rooms. In hindsight, I'm glad I messed up with the color matching. I like the lighter ceiling in the kitchen much better.

BabyGirl's room had MAYJUH issues. The previous owners had painted latex over oil paint on the ceiling and it was all chipping off. What. A. Freaking. Mess. They had to sand the entire ceiling, prime it TWICE and then paint. Her room was already pink (with the blue ceiling). I wanted more of a shell pink as opposed to the "frosty" effect I'd gotten from the previous two attempts at pink in her room. I guess I had too much purple in the mix. Anyway, I ended up going with a color that was actually called "Frosty Pink" from Benjamin Moore. Too funny. But, it did end up being much softer than the previous pink, if not a tad darker. We painted the ceiling in the same color but in a matte finish (the walls are eggshell). The overall effect is really lovely. Very warm.

Now my question is this...have any of you ever used these adorable wall decals? You can buy them here, at Pineapple Grove Gifts. I'm thinking I want to do a really big decal over BabyGirl's bed. I'm afraid of how the decal will look, though. Is is shiny once you put it on or is it seamless with the wall?

I really like this one...



They have lots of options. Really adorable. Any ideas?

Our Little CheaterLeader

We're cheering for you SeanieBoy! Babygirl is very excited about her "cheaterleader" uniform now that it's actually arrived in the mail. We'll see you next weekend in New Market!

How Do We Feel About THIS?

I just saw that John and Kate are coming out with this book...


Multiple Blessings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets

A description from the publisher...

Kate Gosselin tells the amazing story of how she and her husband, Jon, have survived the overwhelming odds of birthing not only twins but also sextuplets in three years, and how they continue to strive every day to honor Christ while he teaches them to thrive in spite of emotional, financial, social, and physical exhaustion.

From the Back Cover
After the emotional rollercoaster ride of dealing with infertility, Kate and her husband, Jon, rejoiced in the birth of their twin daughters. Three years later, they were pregnant again—with sextuplets. Their quiver was filling fast—a little too fast—and happy wasn’t exactly their first reaction.

I blinked hard and then stared at the bright screen positioned slightly to my right. There was no mistaking what I saw; yet, I was in a state of denial. Dr. Munabi began his fateful count. One … aaah. Two … okay. Three … now I was scared. Four … I started sobbing hysterically. The chill of reality washed over me as I watched my husband, my best friend, cheerleader, and storehouse of strength, slowly drop to his knees at the count of five … but the count continued.

And so it began. Though encouraged to consider selective reduction—both for the sake of Kate’s health and to increase the babies’ chances for survival—the Gosselins opted to play the hand God had dealt them. They accepted the six miraculous blessings and all the challenges that came with them.

After struggling to carry and deliver all six babies, then coping with months of neonatal intensive care, Jon and Kate think they’ve made it through the hardest part of the journey. Not even close. Stress-filled days and sleepless nights became their world as she and Jon managed to feed, bathe, clothe, and monitor, the health of their fragile infants without losing sight of their love for each other and the twins.

Candid, honest, and emotionally-charged, Multiple Blessings is first and foremost a story of faith. It’s the story of slogging through exhausting challenges, coping with setbacks, and trusting that God will provide the strength and resilience to get through each day.

I know there's been some wicked gossip about the Gosselins and I've read the sister's family member's blog. I definitely think Kate can be a beeotch at times but I wonder how I would be in the same situation. Hell, I'm bitchy now and I've only got two kids. I certainly can't blame them for trying to profit from their situation given the extreme financial burden that comes with having all these kids. I guess I just wish that Kate was a little nicer to the hubby every now and then. (I'm pretty sure Dr. Daddy would say the same about me)