Benjamin... This is for You!

Look at what's parked in front of our house this weekend!!



The kids in the neighborhood have also been climbing all over these!



*Note: for those of you who may not know little Benjamin, he's my brother Paul's adorable 2 year old son who, true to his father's profession, loves anything construction! "Dig, Dig, Dig!"

Home Improvements-- Baby Style!

So in preparation for our little boy due to be featured in February, we decided to add a few touches to our little one bedroom apartment. Now, we know that many families will even build on an addition to the house for their newcomer. However, after going over the extensions and floorplans with our contractors, there just doesn't seem any way we can get around BYU's housing rules! Therefore, since expansion is not an option this season, we were left with the option of reorganizing, removing, and adding new pieces to the home!

First, we decided to get a nice area rug so that the little guy will have a softer surface than our carpet to play on! It makes our apartment a little more "busy" but that's ok!




Next, I made a few trip to Micheals and BB&B to redeem some gift cards and coupons for wood letters, painted shapes, wood glue, spray paints, and some cute shelf boxes.

From CutlerClan Pics

Then after a lot of time painting, gluing, clamping (or pressing with cans, since we only have two clamps and I wasn't patient enough to wait), measuring, nailing, and reorganizing, we finally came up with a fun little set up on our wall!

From CutlerClan Pics

Although currently over our TV, this is the wall space that will be above the baby's cradle/crib!

From CutlerClan Pics

IT'S A...

BABY!!!!

Ok, ok, 40% of you were right, IT'S A BOY!!!

Click here to see the ultrasound pic!

Thanks for voting and your support!!!!

Can, Can... Can you Can the grape juice?

My wife can!!!

From CutlerClan Pics

Yup! It's something my family used to do when I was really little. My Grandma and Grandpa had a mini farm in their backyard that seemed absolutely huge to me then, and there we'd pick our grapes. Since their moving out of that house, my family hasn't really done the grape juice thing (that I remember), so this was a neat, nostalgic experience! Alene's parents were kind enough to provide all the tools and grapes!

I wasn't able to help all that much, being busy with all the homework and projects I've got going, but, I did get to do one batch all by myself! Alene started washing the grapes one late night while I labored on a project. She finished that, but I was still banging my head against the wall, so she set out to get us some canning jars. Visiting grocery stores just after midnight was hit and miss for just getting inside, let alone actually finding what we wanted. The first store, Maceys, only had half-gallon sized jars, all the shelves for the normal quart sized jars were large and empty. Out of the 5-6 stores she went to next she got into 3-4 of them, but all of them were sold out of any and all canning jars (except the half-pint sized)! No good! So she returned to the first store and got the half-gallon sized jars.

From CutlerClan Pics

Canning took a long time with our limited experience and small stove top, but we got through 5 batches and 12 jars + some! YuuuummmmmmY! This grape juice is way good! So delicious! I'm excited to have it for the next year or so! (that is, we'll try to make it last that long... don't know that it will, but we see!)

Pack N Play

Hurrah! After many weeks searching Craig's list and KSL classifieds, we have finally scored a pack n' play! Yeah! It's in good condition and after about an hour of sanitizing and scrubbing I am satisfied and excited to use it once the baby comes!

*Special thanks to Celest the bunny (my dear friend since I was 4 years old) for her modeling role in the making of these shots!


The changing table and bassinet. We probably won't use these much because my dad is making us a beautiful wooden cradle, but it's nice to know we have it for trips.


The open play area!