The Snots

Ethan has had a stuffy nose for probably two weeks now.  In the mornings it is really bad especially when he can't breathe to nurse.  I know kids are germ magnets and all but when does it go away?  I have to suck his nose out daily, I would do it twice a day if he didn't scream and thrash as if I was beating him.  I first use a nasal saline to loosen things up.  The stuff that comes out is sometimes cloudy white and thick and at times there are chunks of a yellowy-green snot.  I understand what they say about green snot and its sign of an infection.  However, the last time he actually had a cold and had this greenish colored snot I thought for sure it was an infection only to find out after a doctor's visit it was nothing but a cold.  Hence my hesitation to run back to the doctor.  By the way, I am also running a cool-mist humidifier every night.  He appears to be acting normal, so much so I caught him getting his groove on earlier.

Move It, Move It from Christine Levesque on Vimeo.

Hahah, I love this clip.  He is such a funny guy.  Anyways, another reason I think this muck should pass is that I too have to blow my nose in the mornings which is giving me the same production he has and I feel fine.  Is it winter allergies? Is there such a thing?  Are we inside too much because of the cold weather?  I need to get to the bottom of this.

As promised, here are the pics of the new backdrop flooring.  I LOVE IT!  That's it, I WILL order the backdrop tomorrow no matter what otherwise I'm going to end up waiting until it is too late.  I wish this house we are renting had this beautiful stuff throughout.  But I did some figuring and just to cover say 800 sq ft in the laminate flooring alone you are spending $8,500.   Man oh man, but does it make a difference though.

I will note that the planks are on a rug so they are not really lying flush at the moment

Here is another direct mail piece I have been working on.   Our management/marketing meeting is tomorrow and I need to get our next mailing artwork together to present.  I drained a chunk of ink on printing this one.  I feel bad saying this but I am looking forward to some adult time as strange as that sounds.   Lil man will have to go to daycare for the day.  Not that that is a bad thing, he needs to socialize, it just feels weird without him with me.

I haven't mentioned this yet, but I signed up for Ipsy back in December and I wanted to quickly say how much fun it is and how I love finding new products.

If you aren't familiar with it, Ipsy is a subscription box that you sign up for monthly or yearly.  This one is only $10/month.  You answer a questionnaire in the beginning and based on your answers they will hand select sample size and full size beauty products.  January is the first month I received my bag and this is what I received.

My favorite is the Mojito Lip Balm.  It has the sheen of a lip gloss and feels wonderful on my lips.  I am using the eye cream too since the lack of sleep is wearing on me.  Can't wait to see February's goodies.  If you love make-up like I do, I really recommend this subscription.  Seriously, you would pay $10 just for the brush alone at Sephora.

On to the end of the day drawing.  Ethan has a book his daddy got him called "Trout, Trout, Trout - A Fish Chant" by April Pulley Sayre and the illustrations by Trip Park are amazing.  I may do several more from this book over the next couple of days.  They are fun to do.

Image from Trout, Trout, Trout - A Fish Chant by April Pulley Sayre

Its 9:15 and I'm starving and exhausted.  The last few nights I just have not slept well.  Maybe if I hit the sack now, I won't think of my grumbling belly and I'll get some better zzzzz's.

DIY Weekend Project

As mentioned in my last post, Ethan has really taken a liking to books.  Whether it's when we are reading to him or when he's sitting in his room by himself flipping through them.  He really can entertain himself with them for quite some time.  

Anyways, he also has an abundance of stuffed animals everything from raccoons to a sock monkey.  The other day I had an idea.  I thought it would be fun to put his stuffed animals around a table stacked with books, kind of like a tea party.  The picture of it in my head looked good.   So I spent the last two days scouring the internet for the perfect table and chairs for his room.  I have one small obstacle and when I say small I am talking about lil man.  He is roughly 28" tall right now and all of the tables on the market are 20" tall.  I get it, most tables and chairs are meant for 2-3 yr olds but I just can't wait.  

Here are a couple of the ones I really think are cute.  The two sets are ones I would get that would be on the big side but he could grow into.  The coffee table from IKEA is 18" tall so it would actually work a lot better.  The stacking chairs come as short as a seat height of 10" so that would be better but still high.  

If I want to get good use out of a table now, I have two options.  One option would be to get the IKEA table and cutt the legs down several inches before assembling it.  The website states that it's made of solid pine so I think it can be done and its only $39.00 so it wouldn't be that big of a loss if I completely mess it up.   This would give him a small table for right now so he could stand beside it and look through his books.

My other option would be to hit up Lowe's and get some MDF and put one together this weekend.  It sounds simple enough.  I mean if my husband can make cornhole boards all summer then this should be cake, right? Plus it would be fun to sand and paint.  

Before I go any further I want to sneak this in.  Some sweet snuggle time with lil man this morning.

Ok back to what I was saying, so many things to do.  I also want to put together the indoor photography backdrop and flooring for Ethan's 1st birthday smash cake shoot.  I found several How-to's on Pinterest.  I like the easiness of the vinyl wood flooring idea but for a more realistic look they suggest getting some unfinished wood planks that come in packages and simply staining them myself.  The floor portion doesn't seem to complicated or pricey which is great because I have been searching for just the right backdrop for several days now.  I found one on a site called lemondropshop.com.  She really has some great backdrops but the cheapest one is a 5'x5' on polypro for $50.  Now if I was a photographer and used it for my business the cost would not be a big deal but I'm struggling with the idea of paying that his birthday pics.   The name of the one I like is "Blue Grey Grunge".   I love the fact each backdrop has a sample pic or two from photographers that send them in after purchasing the backdrops and using them in their studio.  To be honest, the picture below looks just like how I envision the one I want to put together, down to the color of the wood floor. We'll see how close I can get it. 

Finally, last night's drawing.  The colors are off from the original but I didn't have the right markers so I just had fun with it.  I would have done another one tonight but I haven't had a lot of time today since lil man has been on a needy kick lately.  He use to be like this in previous months when he was going through growth spurts so I'm not sure if that is the case or not.  

Article titled "Kid's Covers Have Grown Up" in PRINT Magazine

I hear lil man crying, gotta go.  Good night.