Bri, Jenn and Ava come to visit!

This past weekend Paul's brother Brian, his wife Jenn and their 14 month old daughter came to visit us in Oklahoma City for the first time.

Paul's five years older than Brian and was off to college by the time Brian was able to really hang out and do things. By the time Brian started college, Paul was off to grad school and then moved to OKC shortly after graduating. They have a lot in common, they're good friends but we've never just hung out for long periods of time together, until this weekend.

We had such a good time hanging around our house, driving them around to a couple of "must sees" and "must eats" and playing with our niece. We sat on the porch and blew bubbles, played puzzles and sang songs and danced. You basically can't get any more adorable than this:

I took this right after I downloaded "InstaGram" onto my phone and I feel like I need to print it out and write a caption on the back like my grandma used to do. "Ava, 14 months, Paul & Christa's porch, October 2010". I'm a little obsessed with that app now so if all my pictures look straight out of the 70's for awhile, you will know why.

It was weird having a baby around the house but we loved it. It was a good way for Paul and I to see what our house is going to look like, what we're going to have to move to higher shelves, what must go and what we are willing to let get slobbered on.

They left this morning and I'm a little sad to go home tonight and not see them and have dinner with them.

We only have a few months before we're in the mitten of Michigan again so it's not the last time we'll see them in years, but still.

earthquakes, mascara-less and frozen pudding

Today I felt an earthquake. A big earthquake. Well, not California 7.0 big, but OKC 4.3 big. That's big. I was sitting at my desk and the building shook and shifted and my desk moved and it was a little intense.

Does it make me stupid for just realizing in the last 3 months that people say "OKC" because it's the airport code? You know, like how people call Atlanta, ATL?

30 minutes later the power went out in our building. It came back on but talk about some weird stuff going down on the Broadway Extension.

I also determined 15 minutes ago that I forgot to put on mascara and eye liner today.

No, I am not tired. No, I am not sick. OK, well, I am tired and that's why I forgot to put on the black junk.

Have you ever had frozen pudding?

Don't.

It was an accident and the texture was a bit nauseating.

I'm having a hard time getting motivated to work. Well that's not true, there are lots of things I want to do and tasks I want to be making progress on. I am having a hard time getting motivated to work at my JOB. WHERE I AM PAID TO WORK. What is my problem?!

the new safari in our house

Rug shopping is serious business for me.

Living in a house with no carpet and 90+ year old wood floors provides plenty of charm but plenty of cold feet too.

Having rugs is necessary.

I, however, despise paying for rugs.

Currently the rug inventory in our house is in sad shape. They consist of Bed, Bath and Beyond, 5x7 solid colored CHEAP rugs, free tile samples from work that I have turned into rugs, two small 3 x 5 Pottery Barn rugs (both bought on clearance) and a 5 X 7 crewel rug from a previous job that is much too thin for my tastes but works in the space and was basically free.

The cost of nice rugs is out of control, and it makes me miss having carpet because there's no associated "extra" flooring cost with it.

When we decided to do the baby's room and do it up right, I knew I wanted a new rug. The one in the room currently, leaves a little something to be desired in the color and style department. It worked fine when it was a TV room and covered with a coffee table but knowing how much food I alone dropped on the thing makes me want to clean it, roll it up and store for another day, possibly. I mean, we only paid like $80 bucks for it almost 5 years ago, I can't say I'd be terribly heartbroken to see it go. Plus, the pink nail polish stain on it that was so conveniently hidden by the futon has been glaring at me for the past few days. 

I started searching for rugs and quickly decided I wanted a zebra rug for her room. 

Don't get me wrong, I know it's been done. I'm aware that this is not my most creative moment of all time. But I knew with everything else that I was planning to do, a gray and white zebra (hide shaped) rug would be perfect. 

And I guess to say it's been done before is almost an understatement:

But I obviously don't care.

The search was on but I only found one gray and white, zebra shaped rug. I couldn't afford Thomas Paul and since his sold so fast or were discontinued the one I had found would have to do. Except, it turns out it was an outdoor rug and was not quite the soft, plush, infant friendly rug I was hoping for.

I went home somewhat disapointed from work and walked into the living room to find my new Fall 2010 West Elm catalog sitting on the coffee table. Fresh from the mailbox. I've sort of lost interest in West Elm lately and almost didn't pick it up but I'm glad I did because inside I found something similar enough:

Ok, so it wasn't a hide-shaped rug, which was a make or break deal with me, but it was $100.00 cheaper and actual tufted wool, softer and a little more appropriate for the application. 

While we were in Dallas last weekend, we hit up the West Elm Store, which is a really well done store. They have the right font, the right flooring, the right materials, the right fixtures, all of it works for them really, really well. It sort of made me a fan again, everything about the store was fun, besides the rotting wood floor piece I almost stepped in when I wasn't paying attention. But other than that, seriously, a fan.  

We checked out the Safari Rug, liked it, and bought it. The 8 foot roll was added to the heap of furniture boxes, bags and luggage in the back of the Highlander ten minutes later and we were on our way!

18 weeks to go for...wait for it....

Things are supposed to be settling down right about...now.

We've had in-laws, gone on a weekend trip with friends, had office deadlines, visited my parents two weekends in a row and have been all over Dallas (on OU/Texas weekend mind you) shopping for furniture.

So, settling down now would be good because we only have 18 weeks before our baby girl arrives! We've picked her name and we're not much for keeping secrets especially with 14 other people out there having babies (not that we're staking a claim here, anyone can name their child whatever they want. We don't mind duplicates but we just don't want other people to be disappointed or angry, so we're going ahead and putting it out there).

Addison Cole. No special meaning, no family namesake, nothing totally crazy. We just liked it, and then loved it.

It's amazing what a name does for the whole experience. We still refer to her as "the baby" or "her" a lot and probably will continue to do so, but knowing she has a name makes it all very...well I don't know how to explain it really, it's just different.

On that note, 18 weeks to go for Addison Cole!

o·c·t·o·b·e·r

I should be working. I have a deadline. Today.

Which means that for the last two weeks my chest has been tight, my teeth have been clenched, my legs have been bouncing and I have struggled to focus on any one task for more than three seconds at a time. Yea, these things are fun. So, with today being the big day to issue a package of construction documents to the contractor, I should be working.

But it’s October 1st. And what's better is, I'm done at 8:38 am.

The month of October has a special little place in my heart. It is my birthday month and in a fully self righteous and narcissistic way that makes it special. I’m not the kind of person that celebrates my birthday for more than the day it’s on, and even on the day, I don’t make too big of a deal of it. The day doesn’t roll around for another 16 days but starting October 1st, things get good around my neck of the woods. There’s something about October 1st that means newness for me. Most people find spring to be the season that does that for them, but I wasn’t born in spring and therefore, spring means nothing more than green grass and come this time of year, I’ve seen plenty of green grass and I don’t mind the brown so much.

October is when everything started and every year I feel like it’s starting again. I know that that feeling is something I’ve put into my own head and that I don’t remember it being October and cold when I was an infant. But over the last 24 years I think I’ve convinced myself mentally that I do remember it and that’s why it’s so special.

But besides all of that mumbo jumbo, it's October which means celebrating tons of other people's birthday's too, going for walks outside because it's so freaking nice, driving with the windows down, apple crisp (which Paul made last night and I ate for breakfast today), and cardigans. CARDIGANS people.

I'll be heading out of work early today, just because I can and I may spend my free time outside, just sitting. Still too warm for a cardigan, but nicer than it was a month ago.

photo from Etsy seller integrity studio.