Bathing Beauty

I signed Winnie up for parent-tot swimming lessons. At our first lesson everyone thought Winnie was a boy because she was just wearing a swim diaper--with Spiderman on it. Grandma and Aunt Jenny bought Winnie a swimsuit yesterday and I don't think anyone will be mistaking this bathing beauty for a boy!

Grades

Matt got his grades from his first semester of law school last Friday. Matt's GPA is the best he's ever had in college and if he maintains this GPA throughout, he can graduate cume laude! I think Matt's done a great job balancing school, family, church and hobbies during this first semester. I'm sure he would have done even better if he'd spent more time at school, but better grades would have come at the sacrifice of a happy wife. Matt's grades are good enough to make him a competitive candidate for any of the jobs he'd like to pursue and our routine feels sustainable to both of us. Congratulations, Matt!

Winnie & Joseph

Here are the pictures of Joseph Oliphant's visit with Winnie. Funny little babies.

Island Girl

Winnie wore her new shirt Grandma & Grandpa brought her from Hawaii.

She also let me know that we had spent enough time taking pictures and she was ready for dinner!

Dream Home Improvement

One of my favorite things to think about while I’m falling asleep at night is what I would do with our house if we had unlimited funds. I know, I know--if we had that much money we wouldn’t be living in our house, but where’s the challenge in that? The goal is to make the existing house as comfortable as possible by improving its efficiency and making it live bigger. The only rule is that the changes have to be something that could happen in reality. . . if reality included having unlimited funds. Here is our basic floor plan, from the same builder but a different development, for reference.

We have a box bay window without side windows instead of the 45 degree bay shown here. Also, instead of the linen closet next to the tub in the bathroom we have a door from the bedroom. Other than that this is pretty accurate.
In no particular order of importance, here is my list:

1) Move the laundry upstairs to the location of the current linen closet with access from inside the bathroom. I would install two condensing washer/dryer units stacked on top of each other.

2) Make the current laundry closet, situated in the kitchen, a true pantry with an adjustable shelving system, like Elfa, and small chest freezer.

3) Replace my kitchen cabinets. I have blind corner cabinets and I would change them to angled corner cabinets with lazy suzans or blind corner cabinet pull-out shelves. I would replace most of the lower cabinet space with deep drawers, and add vertical storage for cookie sheets. I’d choose a light finish and add soapstone counter tops.

4) Replace all of my appliances. I would get a double gas range like this:

and dishwasher drawers paneled to match the cabinets like this:


5) Replace the exterior kitchen door with a full-lite door to let in more natural light.

6) Again for more natural light, replace the front door with a door like this

This is not my favorite door in the world, but I chose it because I’m cheating on this one. I’m not sure the HOA would go for a door that doesn’t match the rest of the complex. This door is just like my current six-panel door except it has glass instead of the top two panels. I think this door would be more likely approved than a prettier door.

7) Replace my floors throughout. Upstairs I’d have a better quality carpet. I’d make the stairs wood. Downstairs I'd install hardwood with a low-contrast diamond pattern stained in it to help make the rooms feel larger.

I’d put a stone tile in the entry and bathrooms.

8) Move the furnace and water heater to the attic and regain that utility closet for storage.

9) Install a pull-down ladder access door to the attic.

10) Have large storage drawers made for the space under the stairs instead of the black-hole closet we currently have

And while we’re at it, I think this is probably the most efficient stair case I’ve ever seen. I’d build some drawers like these to take care of our shoe storage problem by the front door.

11) Build a custom window seat with storage drawers under it and some floor-to ceiling built-in cabinetry to provide more storage for the living and dining rooms.

12) New lighting throughout. Our current lighting leaves something to be desired, unless you want your living room to always be “moody” and your kitchen to have dark corners. I would add recessed lights to every room and under cabinet lighting in the kitchen.

13) Install a steam shower in the bathroom.

14) Install a new vanity and sinks with some floor to ceiling storage like this (only prettier) to help make-up for the lost linen closet space.

I’d love something along the style of this vanity/sink. I'd put this in the downstairs bath as well.

15) Install closet systems in the existing upstairs closets to maximize the space.

16) Raise the bedroom ceiling heights by vaulting them like this:

17) Get rid of the half wall on our landing and create a shallow cabinet in its place with sliding glass doors.

18) Replace the upstairs bathroom doors with pocket doors.

19) Replace the windows with windows that can keep a bit more noise and draft out and don't get so much condensation on them that my window sills mold. I'm sure the condensation is a combination of cheap windows and poor installation because I guarantee our house is not that humid.

That's not such a big wish-list, now is it? Some of these items are a lot more realisitic (the new oven) and some (read "all") have no chance of really happening. The second step of the game is to figure out how I can modify these ideas to make them something that could possibly happen in our current, very limited funds situation; i.e., paint the ceilings a brighter, cooler white to make them look higher instead of vaulting them. I would also, of course, like to add and delete some furniture and accessories, but nothing else that involves structure or fixtures.

Crawling

Winnie still isn't doing a true cross-pattern crawl, but she's definitely becoming more and more mobile. In just the last couple of days she's really started to pull herself up to standing by things and yesterday she began to actually take steps behind her little walker.



This picture is from Christmas, but I just love it, so I'm posting it now. :)

Recipes

Matt and I usually get home from work/school at about 5:45. Frequently, either Matt or I have a meeting of some kind that starts at 7:00. The rest of the time we try to get Matt back to school at 7:00, so that means we don't have a lot of time for dinner. I want my meals to be fast, nutritious and made with simple ingredients that I generally have on hand. Oh, and no mac and cheese, Ramon, etc.. Fast is one thing and not so hard to come by, but I also want them to be cheap--I try to keep meals under $2.00 a serving. When I find a good recipe that meets these criteria, I feel I should share. Here's the one we had last night and both really liked:

Farfalle with Prosciutto and Green Peas (from DiscoverBarilla.com)

1 box Farfalle (I actually used whole what penne)
2 T olive oil (I only used 1)
1 small white onion, chopped
2 cups (or 6 oz.) prosciutto (in my world prosciutto is code for ham), cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups green peas
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups half and half (I used fat-free)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I left this out)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste

Cook Farfalle according to package directions. Meanwhile, saute onion in olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the prosciutto and peas, saute 3 minutes. Add white wine, simmer until mixture has reduced by about half. Stir in half-and-half and heavy whipping cream, season with salt and black pepper; simmer for 1-2 minutes. Drain pasta; toss with sauce. Stir in Parmesan cheese before serving.

I live in a ward where it's not uncommon for 20+ women to be pregnant at any given time, so our Relief Society delivers a lot of meals. I signed up to deliver a meal anytime they need a fill-in and this soup from Annalise is my go-to recipe. So far, everyone I have taken it to has wanted the recipe. Generally I've thrown this in the crock pot during lunch so that it's been ready to deliver and/or eat when we get home. It doesn't get any more simple than this.

Annalise's Alfredo Soup

Equal parts Alfredo Sauce and chicken broth
Vegetables (I usually use a frozen mix of broccoli and cauliflower and put in some fresh carrots)

Combine ingredients and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

700 W. Center

There is another house for sale right now that I think is exactly what I want some day. If it weren't for the price and the terrible location (700 W. Center Street--two blocks from the freeway entrance) I'd buy it in a snap!

http://utahrealestate.com/713645

This house is a triplet--there are two other nearly identical on Center. This one has been painted an unfortunate pink while the others remain the natural buff-colored brick. You can see from the property tour in the listing that most of the original features are intact. I'm in love with the high ceilings, original pocket doors and this fireplace!

There's a serious flaw in the listing though--they're saying the house is 4,461 square feet on 3 stories, making it just $58.00 a square foot! The only problem is that 1,487 of those square feet look like this:

There's a folding chair sitting just right of center in this picture to give you a sense of its size and height. I actually love this unfinished attic space and all its possibilities, but I've never heard of advertising a totally unfinished, uninsulated (yes, that is daylight you can see around the bottom of the roof) attic as part of the finished space!

Our Prodigy

Aunt Jenny has encouraged Winnie to be a writer.

At first Winnie was having trouble coming up with ideas, but she thought and thought about it. . .

and then it came to her!

Kids are tech savvy at younger and younger ages these days, aren't they?

Recent Pictures

We got together with Morrise siblings for Andy's b-day last night. Harrison definitely enjoyed the party.


Our new baby carrier. . .