You are Invited to our Monster Laboratory!

Over the weekend we hosted a Halloween Party.

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My Little Punkin

Although summer is my favorite season

I must admit that I am a very happy girl that

fall is finally here.

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This means that things have slowed down a bit at pinwhirls.com

which means that I can spend more time with

my lil' punkin.

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I cannot believe that my Gabe

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or Gabers as we like to call him

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is already over 6 months.

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We took these photos of him on his 6 month birthday

on October 3. It happened to be the first cold

day of the season and he was not a huge

fan of the cold weather. Either that or

he wasn't loving being stuffed (literally) into a pumpkin.

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Was hoping for lots of great shots with his cute

pumpkin hat but only got a few.

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But he does love wearing his hat so it is getting lots

of wear this fall.

Anyhoo
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back to Gabe.
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At 6 months he's already been army crawling for awhile.
Doctor says that I shouldn't be surprised if he walks by 9 months.
Yikes - not prepared for that.
Although we've already had to baby proof with gates and outlet covers, etc.
as we have a curious little guy on our hands.
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Which is probably why he crawled so early
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just wants to get his little hands into everything
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especially anything electrical
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such a boy!
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His first tooth appeared last week and he's also officially holding
his own bottle and sippy cup (for juice).
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He's also started on solids. Just like his mommy he's a huge fan of
sweet potatoes but not such a huge fan of green beans.
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He likes spitting them out at Mommy.
I try really hard to say no to the spitting
so he knows that it's a no-no
but inside I think it's really cute.
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He also recently started sucking on his thumb.
I too think it's the cutest thing ever
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at least for now.

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He's also looking forward to Halloween.
He really likes his costume.
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He's going to be a Monster
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a little Slobber Monster!
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He's invited the family to his
Monster Laboratory for Halloween.
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More photos will be posted soon!

Gabriel Cooper

My Bags are Packed

This was me, a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, I know, from the size of my belly, I'm not going to have some monstrous baby. :)

And this is what our front entry has looked like for the past week - yes, my bags are packed.

And even the bassinet transitioned it's way upstairs to our bedroom last weekend.
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All of these things can only mean one thing; Baby Dreher is almost here. The countdown has begun and we are now less than two weeks from welcoming him/her home. The anticipation is killing me. Each morning Roger asks me if today is the day and each morning I reply nope, not yet. Haven't felt one little contraction so I've just been trying to keep myself busy. And thanks to the full time job and my pinwheels, I've definitely not had time to slow down yet!

I've been promising photos of our nursery for months so finally, here they are! I'll note/provide links to where we made our purchases - just in case anyone is curious. As you can see below, we supported lots of Etsy artisans along the way! I'd recommend any of them to any of you.

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This is what you see when you enter our little one's room. I love how bright and cheery it is!
Some might have though that two shades of green mixed with cherry red and black and white were an odd combination for a nursery, but I love it even more than what I had initially visualized.

And I even love the mix-match of patterns - I originally only wanted to stick with damask and hounds tooth patterns in this nursery, but fell in love with so many others along the way -I've used them all.

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Black and White Glider - Wal-Mart of all places

Black and White Hamper - TJ Maxx

Custom Made Boppy Cover

Hand made Teddy Bear

Green Throw - TJ Maxx

Green Bumbo

My original intent was to use black and white silhouettes in frames on the wall, but when I ran across these vinyl animals I just knew that they would be perfect in the nursery.

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Giraffe and Monkey Vinyl Combo

Elephant Vinyl

Due to space issues (lack thereof) we purchased a crib with lots of drawers and a changing table attached.

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Crib

Red and White Polka Dot Changing Pad Cover

One of our first purchases, this festively fun butterfly mobile. And the pennants, oh how I love the pennants.
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Butterfly Mobile

Pennants

And although I have lots of favorites in this room, the above has to be my most favorite. When the nightlight is off only one giraffe is noticeable, turn on the nightlight and a second silhouetted giraffe appears. How awesome and unexpected is that?!

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Nightlight

Black and White Polka Dot Outlet Covers

Some more mini pennants used as a curtain tie-back.
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Damask Curtains

Mini Pennants

A dresser already topped with goodies. The damask lamp was a TJ Maxx buy - one of the first decorative items purchased for the room.
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Damask Lamp - TJ Maxx Home Goods

Ring Stacker

Giraffe Rattle

Red and White Frames - TJ Maxx

Elephant 'Piggy' Bank - Baby Boutique near Atlanta (not sure of the name)

Pennants

More vinyl wall art (just love this stuff - so easy to put up). And I betcha can't guess our names?! Only time will tell whether we have a little Elsie or a little Gabe snoozing away in this room.

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Alphabet Vinyl Wall Art

Chalkboard Frames (originally white - painted red) - Hobby Lobby

Tissue Holder - TJ Maxx Home Goods

We opted not to spend too much money on a crib set (of course I know that pillows are a no, no and I've also read that bumpers aren't the best either), instead I merely purchased a blanket I fell in love with ... it's toddler sized and will be used when Baby Dreher gets older.

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Black, White, and Red Blanket

And some houndstooth crib sheets that I also just had to have. The moses basket was a gift from my parents - the first gift we received. I'm sure that this basket will get lots of use when Baby Dreher is young as he/she will probably be spending many an hour sleeping away in my office while I work away on pinwheels.

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Houndstooth Sheets

Moses Basket - TJ Maxx

I fell in love with this carpet (a Target buy) as I thought it matched the stripes on our walls. And the hounds tooth ottoman (another TJ Maxx steal for only $24.99) - well, of course I knew I had to have it as soon as caught a glimpse of it early last fall.

Love this graphic teether elephant.

And these custom made blocks - hmmm - will we have a son?

The 'wish' letters were another Etsy purchase - it's hard to tell from the photo, but they are also houndstooth. And in case you haven't noticed - none of our frames have photos in them. For now we filled them with black and white and red and white scrapbook papers until we have family photos with Baby Dreher to fill the frames.

Will we have a daughter?

Another fun Etsy find, this black and white wooden boat is just the cutest, and will actually float. We found lots of brightly colored books at Goodwill (of all places). I initially began looking at bookstores and Target and soon found out that $14.00 for a hardcover was well above what I had budgeted, so we made a trip to our local Goodwill - all children's books were .69 which made my day. :)

The above is the armoire where Baby Dreher's hanging clothes will be stored (since I use the closet in the room - our cozy home seriously lacks in closet and storage space). I found this armoire at one of my favorite local antique/shabby chic shops.

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Funny thing, this entire armoire is almost completely empty as he/she only has one outfit as of now. Because we don't know what we are having and I don't want the poor thing to only wear yellow and green for the first year of it's life we have seriously kept away from purchasing clothes. (Although every time I see a really cute girl's outfit I have to practically pull myself away from it! It's taken some will power.)

I love this bouncer - so bright and cheery - a gift from my family. :)

And one last item to share - our All-in-One Cloth Diapers (they are also one size fits all). Yep, we are going the cloth diaper route. I just cannot see throwing away so much in diaper money monthly. Plus, cloth diapers have come a long way since I wore them in the 70's - no more dipping them and soaking them in the toilet. For weekend trips and vacations I'm sure we'll still go the disposable route, but will be giving these babies a whirl every other time.

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Now we are just waiting on the arrival. Somehow I think this little guy/girl is happy just where it is for now! Already having fun keeping his/her mommy up into the wee hours of the morning kicking and punching, etc. Will keep everyone posted as I will more than likely be closing up shop (somewhat) for a couple of weeks after he/she enters our world. :)

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Until then ...

A New Year is Unfolding ...

A New Year is Unfolding
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like a blossom with petals curled tightly
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concealing the beauty within.
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Wishing you and yours much beauty in 2010!

Breath of Fresh Air ...

Our tulips - not sure when they poked through. I swear they weren't there Saturday!
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Yesterday morning, I awoke to a breath of fresh air ... literally ... as we got to sleep with our bedroom window cracked. (We had lovely weather in Indiana this weekend - lovely as in highs in the 70s). The room smelled like spring and it was so wonderful to just lay in bed listening to the birds chirp. It was wonderfully relaxing experience until I looked at the clock and realized that we 'sprung forward' while we were slumbering and with lots and lots to do, I had to rise and get to work. Bummer indeed.
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It was light outside until almost 8 last night. Don't get me wrong, I love daylight, but Indiana seriously chose the wrong time zone. We don't need it to be light until 8pm in March just like we don't need it to be light until 10 pm in June. I much preferred it when we didn't follow daylight savings time and it got lighter earlier in the morning; so much easier to rise with the birdies when the sun is actually risen. Okay, my little rant for the day.
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Anyhoo, since I've been so busy working, I thought I'd post some photos of some of my recent projects. These are only some of them as the rest of the photos were saved on my narcoleptic laptop that I still haven't had a chance to bring in for repairs. I've been so swamped that my older sister (the stay at home mom) and my youngest sister (the nursing student) have been helping me with some orders. Both of them have gotten a crash course in pinwheel assembly and both are now pros. They've been a huge help - think I'd go crazy without being able to fall back on them. Yay for sisters! Hopefully I can continue to hire them on as more orders come into the shop. :) Oh yes, I should also mention Roger. Although he's not home much this season, he tries to help out when he can. He's my tech support and handle hole driller. And he also helps out with the cooking and grocery shopping when he can since I haven't had much time for these type of tasks lately. (Now if only he noticed or even cared when the house started to look messy!)

Some new table sign designs ...


Another new design - the above and the below are my favorite!

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The weekend before last I also spent a large amount of time designing some new baby shower and spring themed scrapbook papers to add to my pinwheel papers collection. Although I haven't had time to officially count, I think I now have over 300 exclusive designs posted. I've also begun selling these papers by the sheet - and I've already gotten some orders. :)

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Well, my stomach is now growling so I'm off to scrounge for some dinner. Don't have much time to fool with food prep tonight so thank goodness for left-overs!
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Yum Yum in your Tum Tum

Asparagus Quiche

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After creating my March St. Patrick's Day Tablescape, Roger and I have found ourselves left with an overabundance of fresh green veggies. We also had a carton of eggs approaching it's due date. So, we made Asparagus Quiche for dinner last night. Now I'm not a huge fan-o-eggs (about the only kind I can stomach are hard boiled) so I wasn't exactly looking forward to this meal. But, I was pleasantly surprised. I loved it and can't wait for left-overs tonight. I think the large amount of cream used in this recipe helped this quiche taste not quite so egg-y. The recipe calls for Nutmeg which we weren't able to use as our jar is MIA. We used it on our crepes last week so I know we have a jar, but I couldn't locate it in our spices. So, I must have searched every single kitchen cabinet for 20 minutes last night and no luck. Don't you hate it when you know that you have something, but it turns up missing? It's like the jar grew legs and walked off itself. Arrgggh. Anyhoo - just a little rant. I believe the below recipe would have been even more tasty with the added bit of Nutmeg.

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Asparagus Quiche
Recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Cook Time: 35 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour
Servings: 12

"Quiche with fresh asparagus, bacon and Swiss cheese."

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
10 slices bacon
2 (8 inch) unbaked pie shells
1 egg white, lightly beaten
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place asparagus in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender but still firm, about 2 to 6 minutes. Drain and cool.
2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
3. Brush pie shells with beaten egg white. Sprinkle crumbled bacon and chopped asparagus into pie shells.
4. In a bowl, beat together eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Sprinkle Swiss cheese over bacon and asparagus. Pour egg mixture on top of cheese.
5. Bake uncovered in preheated oven until firm, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

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Now we only have Brussel sprouts and artichokes to devour in the next day or two. Anyone have any great recipes utilizing either? I must admit I have no idea how to even start preparing a fresh artichoke - I'm so used to buying them in a can or a jar. :-)