Decisions, Decisions.

I need some help in the decorating department. I've never been good at choosing colours - hence my neutrally painted house. I can match a skirt to a shirt just fine, but wall colours are a different story.
I bought a crib bedding set off of Kijiji for Justin Jr. I just couldn't see re-using my set from Emily - poor guy would be sleeping amongst pink butterflies and daisies. I've been having incredible luck with Kijiji lately - this bedding set has never been used, (bought by a mom for her to-be-born granddaughter but rejected by the daughter since the bedding is quite boy-ish) but couldn't be returned due to being purchased in the States. So I swept in and bought some awesome bedding for a fraction of the price. Getting a good deal is so rewarding.
But I may not have thought this all the way through. I'm at a loss for decorating ideas. As you can see in the picture the bedding is sage green and has a French Toile design.
Here is the current nursery:
A bit girlie, I know! I'm hoping to leave the bottom half of the wall the same off-white that it is now. The picture shows the bedding with a tan wall, but I don't know how good that would look in real life, especially if I leave the chair rail up. So what do you think?
Oh, and I know - aren't we moving? The answer is probably not. We (Justin) have started drawing up plans for a family room and bathroom addition on the main floor off the kitchen. He used Chief Architect to put together the plans so that I can visually see how it would turn out - it looks awesome. As long as we get permission from the city then we'll probably be heading down that path. Part of the decision to take the house off the market is due to the total frustration of trying to sell . Each person who comes through LOVES our kitchen and HATES our 1 bathroom feature of the house. I'm okay with people not liking the one bathroom only thing - but come on. Read the MLS listing BEFORE you come. BEFORE I clean like a crazy woman. BEFORE I pack up my kid and get out of my house. The listing clearly states we have ONE bathroom. But enough ranting. We also really like our neighbourhood and our property. And an addition is cheaper. And I love my kitchen. And my central vacuum and new furnace & A/C, and my carpeted stairs, and my french doors. Man, why doesn't anyone want to buy this place? It's awesome ;)
So for now the plan is to stay put. But that's today's plan. Who knows what tomorrow's plan will be??

20 weeks.....

.....And getting a belly. Half way there!

And here are a few tidbits of information you may or may not know about our newest little guy:
- My official due date is Aug. 2 2009 DV
- I already have incredible heart burn - this kid better have lots of hair ;)
- I had a gut feeling this child was a boy and would have been shocked if I was told it was a girl, but then again I could have sworn Emily was a boy, and looked how that turned out!
- As of today this baby doesn't have a bedroom. The old nursery is home to our mammoth desk, Justin's guitars, and various HVAC computer components.
- This will grandchild number 12 for Justin's parents, and number 2 for my parents - just a small difference :)
- Our boy will be the first Pennings boy as Ryan, Jack, and Ethan are Slingerlands and VanDyks. But the girls will still out number the boys 2 to 1.
- Justin claims he would have been as excited to be having another girl, but I think there might be an tiny little part of him that jumps for joy when he thinks about having a son.
- When I was pregnant with Emily I used to pray "Lord,please keep this baby healthy and safe and make all things well for the rest of my pregnancy." For this baby I pray "Lord, please let this baby be a good sleeper and a happy, easy going baby." I of course pray for this baby's health, but it's funny how things change ;)
- We have already named this little boy, and if you ask Emily she'll tell you the baby's name is "Baby Rickie" after her much loved Uncle Rick. Although we also love Rick, I don't think we'll be naming our first born son after him!

Oh No! That's scawwey!

After an unusually troubling day for Emily I thought I would share with you the top 25 things Emily is afraid of in her life. She will tell me "Mommy, this scares me" or "Oh No! That's scary" but I sometimes wonder if she misuses the term when really she means 'I just don't like this.' Anyway, here are the top 25 - not necessarily in order but number one really is her number one fear!

1. Flies
2. Bees
3. Fuzz -- like from a sock. Very scary stuff.
4.Wind up toys
5. The theme song from Jaws
6. Uncle Matt -- I'm sure she will love you one day!
7. Babies, mostly infants
8. The dark
9. The church nursery
10. Any stranger
11. A crowded room
12. The bug portion of her Baby Einstein DVD
13. Being on my shoulders - Justin's shoulders is okay though!
14. Justin -first thing in the morning. She loves him the rest of the day.
15. Santa Claus
16. Dinosaur puppets
17. Being alone
18. Shoes - other than the only pair she wears everyday.
19. Her "Elefun" game that she loved for weeks but is now too scary to play
20. Cars coming towards us while I buckle her in her car seat
21. The bathtub drain
22. Dirty food
23. Snot
24.The shower head - when it drips in the tub while she's having a bath
25. French speaking women - when her Leap Frog Fridge toy is switched to the French side she is deathly afraid of it.

Some of these I think are normal two year old fears. But some of them are out of this world. I don't know where she gets it from but I'm hoping she'll grow out of it. I remember Caleb VD being afraid of chest hair, clouds, and growing up. And he turned out just fine (right, Taun!!). When she goes to bed each night I think she must be emotionally exhausted, poor monster.