This week has been a major energy drain on the east coast Todnems. We started it off w/ the long weekend that included the birthday party and then me taking Monday to paint Kadie's room. Then we spent a couple of afternoons furniture shopping down around where we work.
Kadie's still in a toddler bed and she's getting to the point where we need to move her up to a "real" big girl's bed. The problem is, both Jeff and I are fairly picky about what we want. Jeff is adamant about whatever we get has to be 100% solid wood - no pressboard. I'm dead set on getting white (something Jeff isn't all that keen on, but any real wood tone isn't going to look all that good in a pink and white room). We could take the easy way out and buy a metal bed, or just a bed frame, but we both really like wood and want something that will last her through her time at home, be a little stylish and incorporate some storage and possible future sleepovers (or a second child).
We finally found what we were looking for last night at a place called Columbia Oak. It's hard to describe the set so we'll post pictures once we get it (which could take about 10 weeks), but it has 2 beds (one that can be rolled out into another room completely, if wanted), and a built-in desk, shelves and drawers (and they will make it in a white finish - solid maple, I believe). We bought a matching dresser to go with it as the one we currently have for her is one that I bought when I moved out here about 9 years ago; it's pressboard and starting to show the toll of our many moves.
This is a shot similar to the piece we ordered (non-mission style), without the spare bed, in white...
Here's a shot of the exact setup we ordered, in a natural finish (vs white), which includes the spare bed and dresser...
Anyways, shopping down around work (because there are no solid wood stores up around where we live) means that we're hitting rush hour traffic on the way home, so we haven't been getting home until about a quarter to 7 - keep in mind that Kadie goes to bed between 6 and 7 and the rest of us by 7:30. Last night we got home and found that the upper AC unit had kicked off again (it was mid-80s yesterday) and the upstairs was hot. Not feeling comfortable putting Kadie to bed in those temperatures, we kept her up with us for about an hour to let it cool down.
Add to all this Kadie's new habit of waking up at least once every night and coming in to say she's scared...well, none of us have gotten a good night's sleep all week.
And, being a glutton for punishment...
Tomorrow morning, I want to go to the open house for the Montessori school here in Westminster from 10-12. Then we're going to get a load of topsoil and mulch brought in to start with the landscaping. We'll be doing the retaining wall bricks/blocks for the front flower beds, but Jeff wants to break it up a bit for around the trees and do something else with flat stone circles set down into the ground (to make it easier to mow around them). The guys that built the house have agreed to come out and look at the lawn and possibly re-seed as it hasn't really come in at all.
We really use these times during the year (when we invite people over for a party) to get us motivated into doing all these things that we've been needing to do to the house and yard. I'm beginning to think that we need to start throwing more parties so that we can stay motivated more throughout the year and spread some of this craziness out.
Hope everyone is having a good week and warm wishes for a great weekend!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Love and hugs to all.
