nesting!?

gosh, have we been busy over here- planning for the move and initial projects for when we get into the house. jon's first to-dos include painting the kitchen, dining room, girls' rooms and bathroom. he'll be changing out lighting and hardware in the kitchen and building shelving in the storage section of the basement in the first few weeks. we're "do-ers" what can i say!? my focus [obviously!] is the nursery and lucy's room, and i truly couldn't do this without the help of my mom! here's what we've planned and tackled so far :) [pictures to come as we get the rooms set up].

the nursery is staying the same from our current house. given that jon & i did the nursery less than 2 years ago how i envisioned a baby girl's room, we're happy to keep most all of the same decor. we're changing the wall colors slightly from watermelon pink and light grey to shades of rose pink and darker grey, and we're adding 3 framed book covers from the original eloise series [my very favorite children's books!] we found the most whimsical shaped frames on clearance at hobby lobby, spray painted them baby ballerina pink, placed matting around the book covers- and about $15 later, they're stunning! we've ordered the chandelier for that room, and ta-da...it's actually done! we just need to get in there & get it set up :) 

this, of course, left lucy to get a complete new big girl room! with the nursery in pinks and greys with pale yellow furniture, we wanted to coordinate lucy's room. jon came up with the color scheme: lavender and yellow walls and accents. 

finds and projects thus far: 
*a great purple and white polka-dot curtain from overstock.com
*lavender and white chevron sheets from target
*an amazing canvas painting of a ballerina in lavenders, pinks and yellows from home goods
*lavender hangers and hamper [given the nursery has pink hangers, lavender for lucy was a must! call me obsessive:)]
*for the bathroom, i found big initials of each of the girls' names in grey and white chevron that we'll hang by each of their sinks [hobby lobby] 
*also for the bathroom, a sweet little stepstool that matches the colors of the walls [pink, grey, yellow] and a beautiful ballerina shower curtain- each ballerina's tutu is a different satin [never before used on ebay!]
*project 1- my mom had handmade a pink and grey picture ribbon board for the nursery when i was pregnant with lucy [a true highlight in the room], and she's now handmade a purple gingham and yellow polka-dot matching one for lucy's new room [and i mean handmade- she's hand sewn on accent buttons!]
*project 2- also when i was pregnant with lucy, we made long ribbon bow-holders which hang on the inside of the nursery closet. to switch it up a bit for her new room, mom made a lavender and yellow ribbon board bow holder that matches lucy's picture ribbon board- to die! 
*project 3- lucy's book "basket". in the nursery rather than a bookshelf, i found a large wicker basket, which jon painted to match accents in the room [the book basket, hamper, side table, corner shelf and trashcan are all a shabby chic green that coordinates with the watermelon pink wall- watermelon rind...] we lined the basket with pink and white gingham to match the crib sheets and hamper liner, and we've been keeping an eye out for a similar basket for lucy's new room. leave it to my mom. a few nights ago she was shopping at goodwill [a serious hot spot for her!] when she came across a toy wagon straight out of the 1980's. i, having no vision for what could be, would have most definitely walked straight past it, but mom brought it home, and has since turned in into a book wagon after some questions for jon regarding ins and outs of the screws. she turned her garage into a workshop, painted the wheels yellow, the cart lavender with yellow polka-dots, and it's all set to line books inside! eeeeek!

last weekend, jon, lucy & i ordered lucy's new furniture. i was so excited to actually make this purchase! we'd been tossing around different ideas, and ended up going with an espresso bedroom set. the crib can be converted to a double-bed when she's ready, which makes me super relieved that we aren't going to need to move lucy out of a crib quicker than we would have had she not been gaining a baby sibling [we were originally going to keep lucy in the nursery furniture with the baby in the cradle, and after a few months, move the baby to the crib, and lucy to a big girl bed- now, we can move lucy when she's ready for a big girl bed, rather than when her sister has outgrown the cradle...kapeesh?] to match the espresso furniture, we're going with a bronze chandelier for her new room, and actually, the dark looks great with the purple shades! we almost went with white furniture for lu, but i pleasantly surprised myself with a bit of coaxing from my husband :)

so that's where we're at. there are a few more small projects for the rooms, but i'm rather impressed with how much is done given we don't close on the new house for 3 more weeks! i'm blessed with a handyman [opinionated:)] husband, a crafty mom, and 2 daughters deserving of magical childhoods :)

my sweet lucy jane turned 17 months on the 25th! quite the ham :)

lucy's started going to "open gym" for some pre-gymanastics training :) the trampoline was her favorite this week! i have high hopes for her, as her auntie amy was ranked #13 in the nation [higher than shannon miller!] as a young gymnast. [don't ask about the 6 months it took me to learn to do a cartwheel- my sister nearly disowned me]. 

...and after class as i was getting her lunch ready in the kitchen- i peeked into the dining room to find her like this :) success. 

-ivy

weekend of love

what a crazy and fun past few days it's been! valentine's day was friday, and it was extra nice to not have to worry about anything house-related. the big to-do's are done! selling and buying :)

lucy in her valentine's best :)

smiles for mama on valentine's morning <3

topped off the day of love with a romantic pink rose-petal tub soak. sweet girl :)

auntie amy, uncle brian and cousin tasman spent the weekend visiting from denver! our house inspection was saturday morning, so it was a fun treat to get to show them our new 'hood before lunch at the t-rex cafe :)

cousins practicing their smooch skills

one happy meme with her grandbabies!

dads and babes

fun cousin lunch to end the special weekend <3

jon and i have a few projects for right when we move into the house, starting with some paint jobs and lighting changes. we picked out paint colors and light fixtures for the kitchen and girls' rooms and bathroom [they get to share a jack & jill, so i'm super excited about decorating their bathroom, too!] we're pumped to get those done in the first few weeks! i feel at peace with our timing, knowing we'll have 2 months in the house for lucy to get adjusted, and to all settle in before baby 2 makes her debut. very grateful for that!

in the meantime, i'm in the last week of the second tri! can't believe it. 

-ivy

we did it!!!

it was a nail biter... but we got news last night after 9 that we got the house!

we close march 18- same day jon's promised he'll paint that front door :) woohoo!

-ivy

quick update. . .

wanted to quickly update during lucy's nap this afternoon because it's all about the journey, not just the end result, right?

jon spent monday and tuesday [somewhat frantically] house hunting with our realtor. we went in with a list... that quickly diminished. it's amazing how different a home can look in person than in pictures. and the way in which so many houses are kept! if this is how they look when they're on the market, i can't imagine what they look like when they aren't on it. 

it's been a little bit of a roller coaster. monday was jon's day to say "WHAT are we DOING?!?" and yesterday was mine :)

highlights of house hunting INCLUDE: a home that was perfect. beautiful, updated, everything on our list we were wanting + more. backed up to shawnee mission park. just lovely! 

...and then jon and becky [our fabulous realtor] walked down to the basement. the flooded basement. that had water dripping from a lightswitch. the snow was melting, and there was literally water coming in through the sheetrock and onto the electrical wires, flooding the basement. no indoors pools for us, please and thank you. NEXT. 

they looked at a house we had been excited about for several weeks. awesome location, lots of potential, a great sitting area & fireplace in the master as a bonus. but as they looked around, it was obvious that wi-fi cameras were set up around the house, literally watching them tour live! this basement included a duct-taped closed door, as well as several duct-taped lightswitches. overall: creepy and not folks we're interested in working through a house contract with. wonder if the duct-tape is included in the sales price? 

today was day 3. 33 days until buyers close on our home. we both went into this morning feeling positive about the potential this day could bring. we strongly believe that God wouldn't have put us in a situation with our house selling so quickly, if He didn't have a faithful plan for our swift relocation. 

with lucy in tow, we started at a house in blue valley [not in our initial plan] that we had just come across yesterday. gorgeous exterior, gorgeous pictures of the interior, great size- we were both excited about it. and even when we pulled in the driveway, we were still hopeful. but all i could think while we were in this house was "we could make this work..." it just didn't feel right. the neighborhood was a little bit older- the crown victoria parked next door was a bit of a giveaway. i got the feeling that the neighborhood was filled with kids maybe 10 years ago, but those kids have grown up. i'm sure there are still be some young families, but definitely not a guarantee. SO despite the spacious master and master bath, and great jack & jill bedroom suite for the girls, i just wasn't sure i could completely envision our family growing there. so onward we went. 

the next house was one jon had looked at yesterday. i wasn't thrilled about the pictures online, but still jon spent all last night trying to convince to just take a look- "the pictures don't do it justice". and oh my WORD was he ever right! it just felt good driving up to it. it's in the neighborhood we initially had our sights set on, and it's clear that it's a family 'hood. basketball hoops and playsets are abundant, the elementary school is right up the street, and each street is a cul-de-sac. we have friends who live in this neighborhood, and talk often of their neighborhood get-togethers with all 20 kids living on their street- something we've been missing. we loved the interior as well- space for us to expand, big master and master bath with his & her closets, jack & jill suite, nice open kitchen, large finished basement with big windows and lots of playspace, and some ideas of projects that jon's twirling around in his head. the big thing is the paint. easy fix i know, but it caused the pictures to underwhelm me. i'm not a blue gal- i'm drawn to warmer colors, and have no vision of how things could be [i'd make a terrible interior decorator]. so this had thrown me off, and with a promise of new paint within the first month, along we went. 

we had one more to see. it wasn't too far- up the street and around the corner- and it was a new construction. it's 30 days from completion, and has lots of charm. beautiful wood flooring, great kitchen with a big island, awesome master & master bath... but after seeing that second house, we knew where our heart was. this new construction had fantastic new features, but was 1000 sq ft smaller, and didn't include a finished basement, cul-de-sac location, or deck. we just couldn't quite see the benefit of lesser space for newer. 

and so the fun begins. we've put in an offer. fingers crossed!! i'm giddy thinking about the possibilities :)

i hear more snow may be headed our way. in the meantime, lucy's not having any fun with the the snow [or as she says "issssse!"] that's already fallen :)

-ivy 

what a week!

it's been quite a week in the dandurand family! 

over the past few days, kansas city has been right in the middle of a huge snowstorm. i normally love and look forward to hunkering down at home with my family, but i had some anxiety leading up to last week's storm, knowing that it was the first week our house was to be on the market. 

our house was listed monday, and by wednesday- in the midst of the blizzard- we were getting slammed with calls from realtors for showings. all in all, we had about 10 showings from wednesday-friday, and by friday night, we had sold our house!!! we signed the paperwork saturday, and our house is officially under contract! still baffled by this. 

we're working with a truly awesome realtor who guided us with what exactly we needed to do prior to listing our home, when the right time to list would be, and BAM! the buyers close on our house march 17th. that's 35 days away. needless to say, it's time for us to find a house, and find a house rather quickly! jon and i have a working list of houses that we're interested in, and jon and our realtor start the process this afternoon. jon's doing the preliminary looking, and i'll check out the final picks. house hunting with a toddler has its challenges, so that's our plan! an exciting time, and i'm grateful to feel much less stress regarding ample move-in time before sweet daughter #2 graces the world with her grand entrance :)

jon actually left town on business last wednesday. it was still snowing when he left the house in the early hours- he left with plenty of time to make it to the airport, but still almost missed his flight as there wasn't anywhere to park! the parking lots hadn't been cleared, and the parking service businesses were closed due to the storm. 

it was initially a bit crazy with him out of town and figuring out the house showing process, but because of all of the snow days last school week, my mom was able to be around and help me out tremendously! couldn't have done it [sanely] without her. we got everything in place at the house, and with the exception of sleeping, lucy, charlie and i pretty much spent the rest of the week at meme's house. it made it so super easy to have the house ready to go as soon as a showing request came through! funny how things always always work out, eh? :) 

last week also marked miss lucy's first shiner :( that darn bathtub. thankfully her scrunchy smile meticulously hides most the the evidence. 

the week provided lucy with ample opportunity to feed her "ding dong" clock obsession. my mom has a grandfather clock that lucy is absolutely fixated on. the second we walk into meme's house, lucy starts asking for "ding dong", and my mom sets a timer so that lucy never misses a time interval when the clock sounds off. her favorite perch to wait for the clock to ding is little a wooden rocking horse that was my brother's :)

carrying my childhood dollhouse people rivals her ding dong clock obsession at meme's, and lucy was pleased for the opportunity to brood over them as well ...but really, she only loves the "dada" doll- and gets quite distraught when she can't remember where she's hidden him. 

and voila! took this this morning from the front porch. relieved one of these suckers failed to fall on a potential homebuyer :)

-ivy

snow day

i am so very grateful today as i type up this blog post! 

my doctor called with news this morning that i don't have a gestational diabetes diagnosis this pregnancy! wahoooo! to me, this is HUGE. both my doctor and myself were surprised to learn of my GD diagnosis when i was pregnant with lucy, given that i don't fit the "stereotype" of a person with diabetes- i was 25 years old, healthy and active, and smaller in stature. i will never forget the day i received the voicemail from the nurse telling me to "not cry, BUT..." i couldn't get ahold of jon who was in a lunch meeting, my mom and sister were both in mexico, and i was in the middle of my work day. i frantically left work, and attempted to get ahold of my doctor. i had no idea what this meant for the outcome of my pregnancy, or what this could possibly mean for the birth of my baby. i was clueless as to what i could or couldn't eat, and i had no information or insight into where to turn at that moment. my best friend, lauren, was steadfast in reading me positive information from the internet regarding what it all might mean, but mistakingly, i started googling myself. i immediately learned all the possible negative outcomes from untreated gestational diabetes. jaundice? infant seizures?! a 20 pound newborn?!? word to the pregnant wise: don't google. just don't. 

i ended up receiving the very best care from both my doctor and a nutritionist, and in turn, i learned so much more than i thought there was to learn about healthy eating, protein vs carbohydrates, the importance of stellar nutrition in pregnancy, and because of this top-notch care, i delivered a perfectly healthy, 6 lb 10 oz, full-term baby girl, who got to come home with us immediately. looking back, i am actually really grateful to have had that experience- to have learned all that i did. and i won't deny that i LOVED receiving [many] extra ultrasounds monitoring lucy's growth, which was definitely great for my hormonal peace of mind :)

that being said, with everything going on right now, i felt like adding gestational diabetes to my plate might just put me over the edge. while i was able to manage my diabetes with diet and exercise alone, the more and more pregnant i got, the more and more i had to up my protein, lower my carbs, and up my exercise after each and every meal in order to keep my sugars in check  i can't tell you how many times i marched around my living room and up and down my staircase [or better yet, the staircase at bass pro because #1 it's massive and #2 it's easily accessible from many of our regular restaurants, so we could eat dinner and then hop on over for me to get my exercise in] in order to keep my sugar levels low after meals. 

with trying to sell our house [today is day #2 on the market & i'm currently looking at 6 inches of snow outside, with no let up in the foreseeable future...], buy a new one, move in before having this baby, switch to a new physician at 28 weeks pregnant [i'm heartbroken my fabulous ob who i've seen since before i was married is moving out of state], and continue with the eval process of kids at work- i honestly wasn't quite sure how i was going to focus my energy on anything else. i firmly believe that this is God watching out for me. have you ever noticed how we're only given what we can handle? and of course sometimes we're given more than we think we can handle, like when i was given the GD diagnosis 2 years ago, but we end up learning just how strong we are in those times of trial. 

so today i am grateful for a body that can independently process sugar for my growing baby, for a sweet, napping lucy jane, and for a snow day at home with my family [which includes princess paint by numbers, homemade meals, and a high chair tray filled with fresh fallen snow for lucy to explore] :)

-ivy