Bark Box Day!

One of the girls at work was gifted this thing called a bark box... or I guess I should say Izzy(her adorable Pit Bull) was gifted it. As soon as I saw the post on her Facebook about getting it I had to look into it. About 10 minutes into checking out their website I had done the math and decided it was WELL worth the money to order this for Deezul. I have been TERRIFIED that Dee will be traumatized when he is not an only child, and is not as spoiled. I want to make the transition as easy as possible for him. I decided this was a good way to ensure that he still received lots of attention and love! Yes I understand that he is a dog... But if you know me, you know the attachment I have to Dee runs deep... He got me through multiple trainings with Rye gone, a deployment(working on #2) and infertility (including miscarrying). I honestly have such a deep love for him that I don't think many people could have with their dog. Just thinking about everything the 2 of us have gone through, makes me all teary eyed... I really just love him

His first one arrived super late in the month and I ended up having to contact them to make sure it was on it's way. They explained they were changing shipping carriers and assured me I would not have this issue again. They were right, on the 20th of each month (give or take a few days) a package arrives with Deezul's name on the box. I started by showing him the box, getting excited and telling him it was for him. Now I put the box on the ground, get all excited and say "Look what came for YOOUUUU!!!" and he flips the freak out! Today he started attacking the box trying to open it to see what was inside, I had to fight him to get it so I could open it for him.

 This is Dee trying to figure out how best to get this open

 One paw and teeth is the method he chose... I intervened after a few minutes!

 Once I open it I let him sniff the whole box so he can get even more excited. He then sits (all on his own, without being told) and waits for me to choose a goodie from the box for him.

 We went with the T-Bone steak toy. Now the ONLY problem I have with this toy (other than the fact that it's a squeaky toy and will cause me to possibly lose my mind... Is that stamped on it, is a Grade A meat seal(which I would be ok with) EXCEPT it says DogMeat.... awkward much?!

 Dee Fell in love! He kept hitting it with his paw to make it squeak,

 He'd then back up... "Talk" to it and POUNCE on it.

 Here are the rest of his "goodies" He got a edible chew toy... It claimed to be hours of entertainment and chewing... Dee took it, ran upstairs and in 10 minutes there was NO trace of it... Guess he loved it :). There was a pack of poop bags(I was really hoping this box would include some!) A bag of treats (He REALLY loves the treats!) and some edible, Peach flavored non-popable bubbles. Now I was curious how Deezul would react to bubbles after pinterest told me that dogs love nothing more than bubbles. So earlier this week I actually purchased some JUST to place with Dee. He was NOT a fan. So I wasn't quite as excited about the bubbles. But he kinda came around when he realized they were flavored. He doesn't go crazy, he just waits for them to land and then slowly approaches one, and licks it up.

I promise he eats! I know that this picture shows his ribs... but this dog just eats when he's hungry. Oh and we are still trying to re-fatten him up a few more pounds since his hunger strike when I boarded him to leave the Island.

The Steak was hands down his favorite toy he has received from a bark box this far! The toy made from recycled firehose he got 2 boxes ago is probably a close second. He took the steak upstairs and played by himself for a good 45 minutes with it! since then It has gone to every room he moves to. In case you are wondering, I am lying in bed, with a Dee burrowed under the covers... with a plastic steak resting under his paw and chin.

Is he the most spoiled/loved dog in the whole entire world?! In case you are thinking about signing up for a barkbox here is a code to get $5 OFF your subscription! sagar043 


And HERE is the link to their website! When I have had to contact them for different things, they have been SO quick to respond to my e-mails. It has been such an amazing experience and I am sure that when our subscription runs out that we are going to re-up

Oh and by the way, totally not getting anything for this blog post. I have just had a BILLION people ask what the bark box is, and so I figured Why not do a Barkbox review!

So far the ONLY thing we have not been head over heels for was a shampoo that came last month.. Deezul (being a Shar Pei) has super sensitive skin, and the shampoo was not great for his skin. I thought I'd try it. But afterwards I decided that sticking with our Oatmeal shampoo from the vet is probably best for us :)

TGIF

Another week down! This week has been a little rough... I have just not been feeling great. I get the motivation to get up and get going on my list of "to-do's" and I just find myself EXHAUSTED!

Then when I'm home, poor Deezul just wants 24/7 attention. So I'll be in the middle of a project and have to press pause to deal with a Deezul tantrum. Last night I lost it. After getting in an argument with my 2 year old dog, I put him outside and may have escaped to the bathroom to breath and count to ten. I then let him back in and marched myself upstairs. Knowing the ONLY thing that would make me feel better was a bubble bath. And let me tell you, it was the greatest bubble bath of my LIFE!

I still have so many projects I need to get done, and a few more errands that HAVE to be run this weekend. I've been thinking about going and seeing a movie, since I haven't been to one since before Riley left. But looking back, it was 2 hours of me constantly shifting to try and find a comfortable position. So I think I will refrain.

Last night I took the bouncer out of the box and assembled it. Made me grateful that I am 24 and having a baby NOT 19 and having a kid... because I KNOW that I did not have the patience to deal with all the crappy instructions that come with all the furniture and junk that comes with a kid.

Only a few weeks till I get to see Rye. I am beyond grateful that he will be able to come home to experience the moment when he REALLY becomes a Dad, and Deezul gets a little brother. He really is my best friend, and I am surprised at how quickly this deployment is flying by. So far I can say that this deployment is easier than the last... for MANY reasons. Oh and I would like to know who the inventor of Skype is, cause he may just get an edible arrangement from one Mrs. G :)

My favorite project so far!

So this project started with a MUCH different end result in mind. I had these super cheap Ikea white frames that I wanted to do something with. I decided I wanted something for the door of the nursery... Thought about a wreath, then decided against it.

Then I came across this quote by Napoleon Bonaparte and decided I HAD to incorporate it into Miles' room. Inspiration hit! I was going to cut out some vinyl, put it on the cheap-o white frames, paint them gray then take the vinyl off. It was going to look perfect! I spent a good 3 hours picking out the design, cutting it out in the right size... and putting it on the 3 frames in the right spot. Seriously it took forever, and I was SOOOOO over this project at this point. I took the frames outside and spray painted them.

I brought them inside, started peeling the vinyl off, and off came the spray paint.... Ya, I was about to cry. I spent the next hour cleaning the paint off the frames to start over.

About this time is when Riley Skyped me. I explained the whole thing and had to fight back tears... He (and a few of the guys gave me the run-down of what I was going to do next)

 So I primed them last night and then let them dry overnight. This morning I brought them in RE-CUT the vinyl and applied it with transfer paper this time (seriously don't cut corners and skip this step, it makes it SOOO much easier, I promise!)

I realized at this point that if I pulled the vinyl up the primer was going to follow and I was going to be back at square one. A few tears may have escaped at this point.

I changed my plan. I was going to just paint them, leave the vinyl on and it was just going to show the design in the same color. I was confident it would look great... It HAD to look great or I was seriously going to lose it.

I went inside to figure out HOW I was going to complete the inside of the frames. I picked out all the scrapbook paper I had that matches my colors for the nursery and found 2 pages that would work. decided on a light gray vinyl and then got to work on the lettering.

And......... TADA!!!!!!!!

The Nursery

So Riley has once again pointed out what a horrible blogger I am. It's true! I get so wrapped up in my projects and just forget to "document". That and part of me wants to keep the finished product of the nursery a secret until it's all DONE... But I will show a few little "sneak peeks" until it's done, Deal?!

I feel like I am running out of time. I am only ONE WOMAN, and I'm quite pregnant, and it's just me in the house so I am left to do all the projects with just my own two hands! Today was the first time I actually reached out and asked for help. I bought this cube organizer thing (I finally made the decision to NOT continue my search for the perfect dresser). This this was HEAVY, While loading it into the trunk I decided that carrying the box all the way up my flight of stairs was not a smart choice, So I called a friend and asked her to stop by later to help out... See I can humble myself and not just insist on doing it all myself! Speaking of dumb choices, we were talking in young women's (after church) about moving furniture while pregnant. One of the other leaders moved her Piano down a flight of stairs, and her couch UP a flight of stairs while she was about as far along as I am, and her husband was gone. Nope, you could not pay me.

Ok so now to the fun stuff. I have never pretended to be some awesome DIY-er, I make more mistakes than I have success stories... So follow along and guess the stupid thing I'll do before I tell ya what I did... There are quite a few mistakes along the way.

Let's start with the letter... Ok, so I know that SOOO many people do it, but I wanted to put Miles' name above the crib in some way. So I had this idea to paint some of my old white Ikea frames, hang them empty on the wall(no glass just the wood frame), and put some string wrapped letters inside. I painted the frames and that was completely uneventful (and I don't have pictures of them right now, you'll have to wait. Anyway, I decided I could cut out the letters on card stock with my silhouette Cameo and wrap it in string. So I looked around because I KNEW that I already had everything I would need for this project. I really wanted gray letters, but did not have gray string. I DID however have this.

 And some Dye. I dyed some sheets over last deployment with gray dye, but it kinda turned out a little to purplish-gray for my taste... So I decided to use my black Dye instead... and just NOT let it soak as long as it said to. (Do you see where this is going?)

 This is my water once I added the packet(I was 100% that this would work and I was a genius.)

I dunked the string, flipped it over, and took this picture. It just got blacker and blacker as the time wore on... CRAP.

Lucky for me I had another thing of string (don't ask, I have too many of A LOT of things). This time I used the GRAY dye

And what do ya know.... BINGO

I was so pleased with it and took it outside to allow it to dry... It was a cloudy and muggy day, so drying was NOT happening. I decided to throw it in a pillowcase and toss it in the dryer for just a few minutes.... seriously only like 5 minutes. After the time was up I opened the dryer confident that I was so smart by putting it in a pillow case (figuring out how this story ends yet?). I have NEVER seen such a string mess in my life!!!! I spent the next 6-8 hours unravelling just enough of the string to get all the letters covered.... Lessons learned!!! I will take some pictures of the remnants of my giant string mess, and of the letters tomorrow...

But for now I am done. I am started to fall asleep while typing and then coming to and not understanding what was written... I know, I'm strange. So stay tuned, cause I HAVE so many more projects that I will post about this week. This nursery is going to be a success!

32 Weeks :)

So here is my 2 week update, I understand that I didn't update for 30 weeks, but I DID get pictures taken so I didn't do my typical against the wall pic.

Here is my bullet list of random pregnancy crap :)

• None of my regular shirts fit. When I wear one late at night while working on projects I'm rocking the "White Trash Belly" as Rye calls it.
• My magic stretch mark stuff ran out... So yes I have fallen victim (I have to go get some more, and SOON!)
• Deezul doesn't hate my belly QUITE as much.
• Deezul is NOT a fan of noisy baby toys
• Running was starting to cause pain. However I talked to the midwife, and she explained what it was and that I just needed to wear my stupid pregnancy support belt... Very well.
• Nesting has kicked in, I'm working on about a billion projects for the nursery trying to get them all done!
• Morning sickness has been threatening return this week, Let's hope it changes it's mind!
• I have to go do the 3 hour Gestational Diabetes test in the morning, So I have to finish eating to start my fast in an hour (BOOO)
• This kid is running out of growing room, I can feel when I wake up and can tell that he hit a growth spurt over night.
• Miles is in a position that puts strain on my nerve, so at times my right leg goes numb (makes sleeping oh so fun!)
• Heartburn is out of control (thank goodness for chocolate milk)
• No swelling still (I've been careful to control this as best I can)
• I've decided that pregnant women use FAR more toilet paper because of decreased bladder size (Thank goodness for costco!)

Alright so here's my 32 week picture, I feel pretty big, we will have to wait and see how much more I can grow within the next 8 weeks :)