my ikea finds

We haven't put together the kids rooms yet because we are still refinishing the floors, and have some drywall to replace and paint, plus baseboards and so forth. But we made an ikea run to Palo Alto yesterday and even though I was super hesitant to buy the girls bedding from there, everything looked so much cuter in person and I'm really happy I chose the duvets. The boys made out with a new bunk bed, new bedding, a new mattress for Mason and a new bookcase. We are going for a real modern look for the boys. For the girls, I already have furniture for them so they got new duvets/comforters. We will be reusing Rowan's crib for the new baby and will be painting it red, it is currently white and I have a vintage dresser I will be painting, not sure on the color yet, and using as a dresser/changing table. London's bed is new, with a matching night stand and bookcase and they are in antique white so everything should look really cute together and when it is done. I will still be making a quilts for each of the girls with the e-course I am taking via Smile and Wave. I will post pictures of course.

This is the boys reversible bedding

This bedding for the baby

This is for London

This is the "Kura" bed that we bought for the boys,  it is in white though, not blue and we will use it like the photo below

Rowan will sleep on bottom and Mason on top (photo via google images)

the bookcase for the boys room

This is a hanging rack for backpacks, and jackets for the boys

all of these images were found via ikea.com or images on google.com

like a fat kid loves cake.

This is the recipe for "London Cake" or a basic dump cake recipe. Super duper easy peasy and so so yum. It looks kind of gross as you are making it, but the end result is amazing and tastes like a cake/cobbler plus because it's so easy you can let your kids pretty much do everything but the butter so they feel like they made the whole thing.  And it is very easy to convert to a vegan recipe if needed, just sub out the cake mix for a vegan mix and some earth balance instead of butter.

you'll need:

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 can of crushed pineapple

1 can of cherry pie filling

2 sticks of butter

preheat over to 350

pour both cans into a 9 by 13 pyrex and mix well then smooth out. pour the cake mix on top and smooth out over the fruit filling. then slice the butter into thin slices and cover the top of the cake with it. put in the oven and bake for 30 min and then cool and enjoy! 

my son said.......

Yesterday, while reading a nat geo book on whales, my daughter asked "mommy why is it called a sperm whale" and Mason replied before I could " because it looks like a sperm".

Then we turned the page and it showed a mother whale birthing her calf, and London asked "will blood come out of your bottom like that when the baby comes" and I said "uh mommy gets to skip that part because the dr. takes the baby from mommy's tummy".

That was my eventful weekend.

because it's cool

quilting that is.
in fact, all crafting is.

It is such a great feeling to make something for your kids, and not just their beds, or dinner. I wish that I would have started earlier with the whole learning how to sew process. I was raised by my grandma, hey g-ma Sharon!, and she was/is a phenomenal seamstress. She used to make all of her clothes in high school, think late 50's pencil skirts with matching cardigans. Her mother, aka g-ma June, made lots of quilts.  She made one for me when I was little, made one for my son Mason when he was born and was in the midst of making one for my daughter London, who was still in my womb, but she discovered she had brain cancer and quickly deteriorated and was unable to finish. One of my main goals was the finish the quilt for London and to use it as at the main focal point in her room. However, I was looking over it yesterday and I think it is way beyond my sewing skills. My grandma was ill when she started it so It needs some repair, plus to be finished. I'm pretty bummed about it, I did find some cute Ikea bedding to use instead. And I will still finish it. One thing that did perk me up was that Rachel Denbow of Smile and Wave has a Modern Patchwork e-course that I will be taking. It will hopefully make me confident enough to finish it, plus make a ton of cute stuff for my kiddos and home. Check it out!

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no sunday funday for us.

We didn't have a good day at the Contente home. We stayed home from church because Rowan has had a fever for the past couple of days and it's here with a runny nose, lack of appetite, the sleepies and a case of the "whines". My hardworking husband is slaving away at tearing up the tile that covers 90% of our home to refinish the hardwood floors hiding beneath. Due to that we are confined to a small space in the house. Kings County has been plagued with pretty bad fog, and grey skies but today the sun actually peeped through. So you would think that while the baby was napping off his fever, that I would want to get out of our confined space in the house and take London to the park, or for a walk, or just to play outside in the sunshine, right? I didn't. Instead my poor daughter stayed couped up inside watching The Princess and the Frog like 3 times, Dora the Explorer, and anything else that was on netflix. She would have loved to go outside, she even asked to go out and blow bubbles at one point. But I was in a funk. I didn't want to do a single thing. The most I got done today, was reloading the dishwasher and showering. The laundry remained in a big heaping pile in the den, the kids rooms are a mess, the toilet needs to be scrubbed, and my daughter needed to get outside. But I did nothing. Total fail in our house. I stayed on the couch next to her with the laptop in my lap searching through etsy, ikea and target for baby stuff. I could have at least gotten out the paints, and crayons for her, or the playdough...something. I feel so bad. So unfair for her. Nothing is worse than being stuck in a house when all you want to do is get outside, and unfortunately for London, she is only 3 and can not venture outside by herself.
What on earth am I going to do when the new baby gets here and there is 4 kids? My kids can't afford for their mother to ignore them like this. I apologized to her before bed tonight for doing anything fun, and I will make it up to her tomorrow. I am not super mom, I don't think I ever will be.
Thank God tomorrow is a new day.

if you like me....

I made a page for i am content(e) where I will post my blog updates instead of on my personal facebook page. If you are a fan of reading this blog, click like and you can get an update of all of the ridiculously personal things I like to blog about.

20 weeks pregnant.

I realized that I never posted an update on my doctors appointment on the 10th. We went and saw a perinatologist in Fresno, and had a 4D ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that the "mass" in the baby's heart was actually just calcium which is completely normal and common. In fact, so common that when they see that in ultrasound at their office they don't even bother telling the patient about it. It was amazing news to hear. We got some beautiful photos of our baby girl, which I put up on a later post because I left the photos in the car and it's freezing outside and I'm in my pj's now.

So this past week Joe and I have been batteling about baby names. I really love the names Ruby and Norah and he does not. Then I mentioned Betsey Jane and he said I love that, and I said me too! perfect!! our baby girl is no longer nameless. I am now 20 weeks and feeling pretty great and pretty huge. I have been following weight watchers online using the breastfeeding option as a guide to help me not put on a obscene amount of weight. I used it with Rowan and it helped a lot. But last week I just didn't feel like counting points or watching food so I ate whatever I wanted to and it felt amazing. I also noticed a big growth in my stomach, not sure if it's from the food or the baby. I'm still able to fit into most of my regular jeans, mainly because I carry so so high.  I feel the baby move and kick all the time, it's wonderful.

20 weeks

I colored my hair, got a trim and gave myself DIY bangs.