Leslie G

Snippets (from the last month).

2012-02-11T21:39:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago we headed north to Kansas City for our annual little trip to the Great Wolf Lodge. This time, we invited our niece to tag along so that Jon and I could ride some rides together, and also go on a date one night on the Country Club Plaza. It was awesome to have the luxury of a babysitter on our trip!

Last weekend our basement bar cabinets were delivered and Jon and his friend spent the day installing them. Originally, we had planned to install the exact same cabinets as the ones in our kitchen, but they were going to set us back about $5,400. We weren't quite ready to settle for that price tag, so we looked around and found custom cabinets at a smaller family-owned "box" store in town for $2,000.

Not only are these cabinets gorgeous, but they are such amazing quality and I'm pretty sure I like them better than the ones in our kitchen! I'm so glad we shopped around for other options.

Kylie has been taking LOOONG afternoon naps lately. While it's a nice little break I struggle with trying to keep Cameron quiet for that length of time. I try to do several crafts with him each week, and one of our favorites lately are these homemade birdfeeders. Pinecones+peanut butter+ birdseed (3 bucks for a giant bag at Walmart), that's it! Cam and Kylie both love to look out the windows each day and see the birds stopping by for a snack.

I am really, really close to finishing a building project I've had plans to build since, well... forever. Before we knew Kylie was a girl, I knew I wanted to build a dollhouse bookshelf. I've finally gotten around to building it, and it has been the most challenging project I've build thus far. I almost quit but my husband wouldn't let me. More on that as soon as I finish- but for now a sneak peek... =)

The Birthday girl.

2012-01-10T20:36:00.004-06:00

My sweet Kylie is one year old today! She entered the world on a day where snow was falling beautifully from the sky, covering everything in sight. I'll never forget it. It took us nearly 2 hours to drive to the hospital (a drive that usually takes under 15 minutes) and I feared we would be late for our 8:30 am check-in. A small part of me wishes that there was snow falling today, on her birthday, to make it that much more special. I suppose there will be plenty of years for that, and I should be grateful for the 60 degree weather we've been having on the regular!
I love this girl to death. I cant stop kissing her squooshy (yep, it's a word) little cheeks. She isn't walking just yet, which is OK by me because I love seeing her bum shake when she crawls. I'll miss that. In the last month or two, she has really started to pick up semi-recognizable words and become quite chatty. Her word for fish (and most other animals for that matter) is Pshhhhh! Pshhhh! Im really enjoying her personality! I remember Cameron being such a ham at this age and I see her following in his footsteps. I can't wait to see what these next few months bring!

House updates: a finished bathroom and basement progress

2012-01-05T10:10:00.003-06:00

Long time, no post! I hope everyone (err... everyone that still reads) had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. I really can't believe it's a brand new year! One of my big goals this year is to blog on a more regular basis. I really enjoy looking back at old posts about special events, projects, and my growing kiddos and last year I slacked big time.

Ever since we moved at the end of last summer, we've been working on some sort of house project. Though our house is new, there has been quite a bit we've been doing to inject a bit of character and make it our own. The main level is all one color: a basic builders beige. While I don't hate it per se, there's a heck of lot of it. So far, I've painted 3 rooms and the end result of each leaves me so amazed at what a can of paint can do! Most recently I tackled the kids bathroom (small rooms first!). I finished painting just before Christmas and the little details the week after. Here's the before, when we first moved in:

And the after:

I knew i wanted to do fun stripes (and what a pain in the butt those turned out to be) with some sort of whale artwork. I ended up settling with white (Behr's Polar Bear) and grey (Behr's Dolphin fin) for the stripes, and found this great Etsy seller for the whale print. I love that it isn't overly juvenile like some artwork I had looked at. Nothing wrong with that, it just wasn't what I was going for.
I also switched the towel bar out for individual hooks, which I like a little better. I think the colored towels and soap dispenser add a little more color and make it playful. I do think that the print would benefit with more white space around the artwork, but finding a square frame has proven to be difficult, and holy crap custom framing is expensive ($73 dollars, to be exact). Overall, I am extremely happy with how this room turned out! It looks so much brighter, cleaner and bigger.

Our other main concern is getting our basement finished. I may or may not have mentioned that over half of our stuff is still in storage since the basement of our old home was finished and fully furnished. When we moved in:

And now:

The bar area

The living room

Storage closets outside the hallway- one will be my craft closet, the and the kids will have the area under the stairs for a play area/hide out!

The office

full bathroom

Guest room

We framed, ran electrical and plumbing, and had drywall hung (which we hired out- best decision ever). Most of the painting is done, and the bar cabinets are on order. Our next goals down here are to make this space livable- trim, tile in the bath and bar and carpet in the living room and bedrooms. Then we'll get counters in, and install stone on the back bar wall! Hopefully we will have the whole basement completed in the spring. Since we are doing the work ourselves, things progress quite slowly since free time is, well... limited. =)
Thanks for reading! My baby girl is turning ONE in just a few days (crazy!)- I'll be sure to share some pictures with you!

Three!

2011-12-05T00:01:00.007-06:00

My sweet Cameron turns three today (though I feel, from how big he looks in these pictures that he should be turning 5)! The amount of joy he brings to my (our) life is immeasurable. I wish he only knew.
The other day we were running some errands, and as we got out of the car, a nice elderly gentleman who was approaching the car next to ours asked Cameron his name. He responded "Cameron! What's your name?" The man matched Cameron's enthusiasm and told him his name was Frank.
The two went on to have a conversation lasting about a minute, with Cameron telling Frank his sister's name, informing him of his upcoming birthday, even telling him about the drywallers that had been working at our house that day.
I don't think Frank was ready for quite the earful that he got, but it was apparent that he was quite delighted by the conversation they had. I mention this story because I think it says a lot about who Cameron is: sweet, charming, smart and chatty. He is such a great kid and my life is truly enriched having him as a son!

Happy Birthday, Cameron!

DIY wall ledges.

2011-11-09T21:13:00.005-06:00

Decorating our new house has been a very slow process. I've got all these big ideas but when it comes to actually executing them, the time to do so is nowhere to be found.
We've got this great little area off the kitchen and dining area that's meant to house some sort of buffet or hutch. We don't have either of those pieces, and even if we did, we don't have any special china or dinnerware to be stored in it. I needed to come up with something to put in this space, because it was just staring me in the face every time I looked at it. I've always loved the look of wall ledges for displaying photos and small decorative items, and i figured that would be the perfect solution for such a large space.
My go to source for ideas and inspiration has always been the ever-so-pricey Pottery Barn. While my style is gravitating away from that particular style, I still find things I like from time to time. Such was the case with the PB Holman wall ledges- loved the idea, not the price. So being the DIY'er I am, I decided to make them myself. A trip to Lowes, $14 in lumber, and 30 minutes (not including staining time, of course) was all it took for 2, 6-foot custom made wall ledges.

I still need a few more frames, particularly in the top right corner where I had a picture fall and shatter everywhere (a wind gust came through the house, and slammed a door shut which made the house rumble a bit. Surprisingly, nothing fell during the earthquake we felt last Saturday!). I also need to swap some of the photos out, as I'm aiming for an all black and white gallery. All these photo frames were hung in different areas in our old home- and I like that they match only by color. I'm really happy with the way these turned out for just a few dollars!

A little Halloween fun.

2011-11-01T14:06:00.005-05:00

Last night we partook in a little Halloween fun by taking the kids trick or treating in our new neighborhood. Cameron was a little shy at first, but really got into it when he started seeing all the other kids in their costumes. By the end of the night he was nothing less than a pro, saying "trick or treat" without being prompted, and even yelling "MOM! DAD! I GOT YOU GUYS CANDY!!!!" as he ran away from each house. Awesome.

The Super Hero, cape and mask made by yours truly:

And the ballerina/baby in a tutu, also made by me:
When we got home for the evening, we were looking forward to passing out candy, but by about 7:15 there weren't many people still trick or treating. Needless to say, we have much more candy than we know what to do with!

My little artist.

2011-10-17T14:23:00.005-05:00

It's always been a hobby of mine to paint, color and draw. For as long as I can remember, I've loved coloring in books and been obsessed with crayons and other mediums. (Heck, my favorite field trip when I was in elementary school was to The Crayola factory, which I still remember very well.) I took my passion to college and earned a degree in graphic design, but to this day I really enjoy getting off the computer and designing pretty things on paper.
Someone else seems to be sharing my passion- my little Cameron. As soon as Kylie goes down for her morning nap, Cameron is usually begging for the art box containing all of our art supply goodies. Most days we color. Some days our arms are completely covered with paint and cleanup involves a bath. I've really gotten past my "oh, lets not get messy!" attitude and let Cameron explore whatever he wants as long as he's sitting at our dining table.

Recently I was looking for ideas for art to hang in the hallway of the kids bedrooms, when I realized the best art source was my little artist that's been painting up a storm. Enter some cheap frames from Michael's, and up went Cameron's artwork on display.

I hung four frames so that when Kylie is old enough to join in, they can each have two. I love that Cameron has his own little gallery here (instead of taking up real estate all over the fridge doors) and I love that we can switch it whenever the mood strikes or a new masterpiece is made.
Who knows if he will grow up and have a passion for art as I do, but for now, I enjoy that I can share my hobby with him!

Around the fort.

2011-09-27T21:44:00.004-05:00

I have mentioned a few times that we are knee deep in projects (as soon as one ends, another begins) here at our new house, and today I want to share some of our outdoor completed projects!
When we first looked at the house, we noticed the deck (which had never been treated) was getting really grey and weathered.

June 2011

The house was built in 2009 and since we were the first owners it sat empty for those 2 years. When we decided to put an offer on the house, we knew staining the deck would be our first priority if and when we moved in. It took us weeks to finish it (due to the size and the heat of July and august) but it's finished and looks so much better.

Underneath the deck was a hot mess of weeds and bizare looking insects and it was honestly kind of odd to me why the builder didn't put concrete there. Knowing we would have a hard time growing anything underneath should we attempt to do so, it seemed like an obvious (not to mention maintenance free) solution to have a concrete slab poured. We ended up finding a concrete company who also did decorative concrete as well, so we had a stamped concrete patio poured at the same time. We spend a lot of time outside and knew this would be a worthwhile investment. I happened to be home over the several days that they poured the patio and it was really neat to see the whole process. I will admit though, that as they were pouring the cement into the framework, I was freaking out because it looked nothing like the color of concrete I chose (that I spent hours agonizing over). It was dark. And ugly. And sort of permanent.Here it looked dark red-brown, almost like a terra cotta planter. I wasn't a fan at this point.

I nervously watched from our patio and windows all day, and what I thought was looking less than great morphed into the most beautiful patio. I was a happy girl. I was so amazed at this stamped concrete process- it was pretty neat. (sidenote: everywhere I go now I notice all the stamped concrete around and there's such a wide variety of patterns and colors.)
After the cement was smoothed out, they threw a thick dusting over it and then stamped it with a mold that was somewhat rubbery, moving the molds piece by piece.
The stamping portion was relatively quick- it took about 30-45 minutes to do 400 square feet.
After it cured, it was powerwashed and then sealed. I love it. No, actually I LOVE it. Love the texture, love the color.
Next year we will probably do a little landscaping around it.

At the same time the patio was being poured in the back, we had a retaining wall put in the front. This is a project I seriously contemplated doing myself, but seeing as how I can barely find time to paint our laundry room, I figured I would never find the time to start- much less complete a project like this. Boy am I glad I didn't! I was able to watch the retaining wall go up and it was so much more tedious than I ever though in my mind, even after reading about DIYing it. Getting the concrete in the right consistency to be workable, keeping things level...definitely a learned skill. I feel though that I might be able to attempt a brick and mortar planting bed on a smaller scale ( like in the back of the house where no one could see my imperfections- ha) someday when ~~I don't have a whiny, teething child attached to my hip~~ I have a little more free time.

My goal was to landscape this area before winter hit, but the selection of plants aren't great right now, so I think I may wait until the spring.
So that's whats been going on outdoors! I have some fun stuff going on inside too- I'll be sure to share very soon. As always, thanks for reading!

Kylie is 8 months!

2011-09-12T21:26:00.003-05:00

My sweet Kylie turned 8 months Saturday!

Kylie-
You are crawling faster and faster each day; your brother has learned not to leave his cups in your reach because you will steal a drink! And speaking of your brother, you certainly have a best friend in him (whether you like it or not). You are loved to pieces by him and he wants you near at all times. If you nap too long (which is twice a day, around 2 hours each) he will keep asking to wake you up until he hears you talking in your crib, at which point he runs like lightning to your room and bombards you, which makes you cry most days.
You have 2 teeth and are working on 4 more which explains your fussiness and your need to be attached to my hip if you are awake. It's pretty much the end of the world if I walk by you without stopping! My guess is that you weigh around 20 lbs right now- you are definitely starting to grow into your chunkiness! =) We rarely go anywhere without someone commenting on your bright blue eyes.
I love this girl with all my being!

Summer in a post.

2011-09-06T12:02:00.002-05:00

Hello!
It's been a long while. Time is going so much faster than I can keep up with these days. How is it September already? I for one am looking forward to fall and our first Christmas in our new house. It's just around the corner, ready or not!
I've obviously been missing in action around here. I didn't blog once in August. This summer has certainly been a crazy one and I'm going to attempt to recap a bit for record and for anyone who wants to catch up!

The weekend before Memorial Day, we listed our house for sale and sold it in 5 days. We quickly found a home we loved, and we were supposed to move right into our new house the same day we closed on our old. That would have been convenient, huh? Instead, because of bank/paperwork/appraisal issues, we sat homeless for the entire month of July.

Us in front of the old house a week before we moved out

July was a really hard time for a lot of reasons. It was extremely difficult to explain to my 2 year old that we couldn't go "home". That we didn't have a home anymore. I cried once on the way home from work one day because Cameron didn't want to go back to grandma's (where we were staying)- he wanted to go back to "Cameron's house". All I could say was, "I know you do, baby. I'm sorry" as I tried to fight tears. To be honest, I wasn't even certain that we would get this new house (or any house for that matter). Because my husband is self-employed, we had to show SO much more paperwork than the average couple looking to buy a home. Evey single day, the bank was asking for some sort of documentation of some sort, among many other problems we ran into. Long story short, we ended up switching lenders from Bank of America (who eventually denied us a loan despite our pre-qualification) to a different, smaller bank-and that made ALL the difference. That, and we were on our knees daily asking God to provide this house for us- with a lot of our friends and family praying too. Getting the house was certainly a testimony to answered prayer. Even with all of that said, we were still unsure about when we were closing until about 5 hours before it was scheduled to happen. So, yeah. Pretty stressful summer. At one point, I think Jon and I were in agreement that we made a huge mistake selling our house. As you can imagine, we were extremely relieved when we pulled the moving truck up to our new house!
The nice thing about staying with my parents was that we were able to go out on LOTS of dates since there was always someone able to be there with the kids. We would put them to bed, and go out to dinner, a movie, or ice cream several nights a week. We even took Cameron on a few of our outings after Kylie went down (which we probably enjoyed more than him!). It was nice do something special with just him.

mini-golf with Cameron

Several weeks ago, we took a last minute (and much needed) trip to Branson last weekend! One of the perks of Jon's job sometimes allows us to go along with him when he moves people to different states (like when I joined him in Vegas last September). The customer he moved to Branson encouraged him to bring his family for a weekend of fun, and we did just that. We stayed at the the most adorable, rustic little cabins called "The Wilderness" and we will definitely be going back there. Quietly nestled in the woods, the cabins bunked 7 people and had a nice little kitchenette where we cooked our breakfast each morning.

The Wilderness Lodges

We spent that Saturday at Silver Dollar City (so fun!) and Sunday browsing around Branson's downtown shops and flea markets.

We've since settled into our house and are now knee deep in projects- finishing the basement, staining a deck that's larger than our living room, pouring a new stamped concrete patio and landscaping when it cools down next month. Cameron loved watching the big concrete truck that came and poured the patio!

I have so much to share and I promise it won't be another month before I update- I hope to post much more regularly. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! =)

Come on in! (excuse the mess)

2011-07-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

We finally moved!

I wanted to give a quick update and tour of the new place while I have a few minutes. We've been buried in boxes since Tuesday when we moved in, and everything is out of order and messy. I made no attempts to pick up for these snapshots- this is how it is right now!

We are loving our new home and it's a complete blank slate as far as decorating goes. I'm excited to get to work!

Master bedroom, Jon's closet

Master bedroom

Master Bath

My closet! The whole thing is MINE! =)

Kylie's room- the only room I have immediate plans for. I'm going to paint it this weekend (see the swatch on the wall- light lavender). This room also has a 10 foot window and faces the west- so we had to tint the windows already in addition to hanging blinds and curtains. It gets really hot in there!

Backyard- I love the view and it has a large, covered deck. I can't wait to sit out there in the evenings!

Basement- we're going to get started finishing it right away- it will have 2 additional rooms, a bathroom and a living room.

Kylie- 6 months.

2011-07-13T08:10:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that Kylie is 6 months already! Time flies so fast with one kid, and even faster with 2. There were times when Cameron was a baby that I felt like the days would never end- time seemed to go so slow sometimes. That's hardly the case with 2- Cameron keeps me so entertained and busy, that I barely ever stop to see what time or day it is!
Kylie is turning into such a fun, squeely little baby. She's quickly becoming mobile and I think she'll start crawling in the next month or so! She also got two teeth in, which has been pretty rough on her sleep patterns (and mine). Her stats: 18lbs 7 oz, and 28 inches.

When Kylie was born, she had a head full of dark, really curly hair. I was looking back at some old pictures the other day and it was hard to believe how much she's changed! She now has less hair, and it has turned a pretty gold/blonde, with brown too. It's hard to believe that in as much time that has passed, we will be blowing out candles on her first birthday cake! I love this little girl with all my being and I can't wait to watch her keep growing!

High's and Low's.

2011-06-30T12:51:00.000-05:00

It has been quite the month, old June.

We are officially homeless. We moved out and closed on our old house on Monday. We were also supposed to close on our new house that same day, but that didn't happen (and we were somewhat prepared for that). Long story short, the customer service Bank of America's mortgage department is poor. One would think that since the mortgage from the house we just sold was also through Bank of America, it would be a pretty easy process. Instead, we get shuffled to different departments, our loan processor went on vacation and our closing date has been pushed back two weeks. This process has been quite the emotional roller coaster to say the least. Selling our house was cake. I can say though, that I am happy we aren't paying two mortgages, praying for our house to sell!

In the meantime, we are staying with my parents and while it's nice to have a temporary place to stay, we're ready for our new home!

It's been awhile since I've posted any pictures of the kiddos (since I missed Kylie's 5 month post- she's almost 6 months!) so here's a few so this post isn't pictureless. =)

She looks so much like her dad!

Cameron still always wants to hold her and take care of her. I love it!

The weekend report.

2011-06-08T08:35:00.003-05:00

In my book, two things define summer: the hot steamy weather and weekends that are jam packed with events. Last weekend was definitely both of those! The temps were in the low 100's and we had 3 days of non-stop places to go and people to see.

We started off Friday morning signing a contract for our new house! I cannot even begin to express my excitement to get into our new place. It was built in 2009 but we will be the first owners. What's even more exciting, is that even though it's bit larger than our place now, we'll be paying about $200.00 less each month for the mortgage because of the type of loan we're getting and what we're putting down! I know a lot of people stress out about moving, but since my husband is a professional mover and packer, I'm really looking forward to the whole moving process. I'll share more about the house (and some pictures too) in the weeks to come!

Friday night we had a bunch of Jon's family roll into town for a weekend family reunion. We packed in as much activity humanly possible, going to the Zoo, out for dinner and dancing, doing as much as we could to show our family a good time. Sunday we had a big BBQ at our place, playing host to about 50 people through the evening. It was hot, but the evening cooled down quite nicely and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that it was a such a great time. I'm just now started to feel caught up on sleep since we didn't go to bed before midnight the entire weekend.

Can you spot me? I'm the tallest one!

I know summer hasn't officially started but it's sooo hot already and I have to admit I'm really looking forward to fall. I am definitely not a lover of summer. =)

Until next time!

Of past and present.

2011-06-02T13:45:00.007-05:00

11 years ago I was a junior in high school and rocked a great part time job at American Eagle. I didn't make a dime there because my minimum wage paychecks went right back to the company in exchange for a closet full of clothes. I was stylin' (or so I thought).

My first year I was an employee there, my manager hosted the annual Christmas party at her and her husband's house. It was there that I first laid my googly eyes on what I could only dream would be my future husband. This tall, muscle-y guy (he was my managers brother-in-law) was at the party for a very short time, but my eyes were locked on him for the entire duration of his attendance. Did he notice me? Heck no he didn't. I was just a teenager a few weeks shy of turning 17, and he must have been in his early twenties- a big age difference at the time.

The next time I saw my manager at work, I told her that I thought he was really cute, and from then we always joked about us being sisters if me and this hot guy ever got married.
Oh! Today, we're sisters. =)
Years went by after that Christmas party. I finished high school and entered college, and I had a few relationships over that time that never turned serious. Just after my 20th birthday, I was still working at American Eagle and my manager decided to set me and her brother-in-law up on a date, and well... the rest as they say, is history. 7 years and 2 beautiful kids later, we're celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary. I couldn't be more happy with where we've been and where we are going (hopefully to the new house we put an offer in just a few hours ago!!). I'm excited to see what our 5th year brings us!

Sold, baby sold!

2011-05-28T14:07:00.005-05:00

We sold our house.

For those who didn't catch it in the title or the first sentence, WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!! =) Let me attempt to recap a bit for anyone who thinks this is coming out of left field:

A few weeks ago I had mentioned on my blog that we were putting our house up for sale the following week. I have NO idea what happened to that blog post- it vanished and is nowhere to be found. The post may have been up for a day or two before it was deleted, but I certainly remember writing it and reading a few of the comments that were left.

Anyway, we listed our house last Friday (May 2oth). Within a few hours my realtor was already calling me to show our house. We had 3 showings over the weekend, and on Monday someone wanted to see the house for a 2nd time and by Tuesday morning there was an offer on the table. ::phew:: Oh, and did I mention that my husband left town (for 4 days) the Friday we listed? That's right, I was single-mommin' it all weekend, taking care of the kids and house, cleaning like crazy and barely stopping to eat. I was exhausted, not surprisingly.

We ended up countering the offer, which was accepted, and by Thursday night we were under contract- 6 days from listed to sold! We close in 30 days (ahhhh!) and while this is all very exciting, we still have to find a new house. We'll likely put an offer in somewhere this week, but at this rate it looks like we're going to have at least a week where we're homeless. Jon's parents have an empty house on the market, so it looks like we'll camp there for a bit.

There. Did you catch all that? We're kind of having a hard time believing it because everything is happening so fast and we didn't expect it. Houses in our neighborhood tend to sit on the market for a long time and I think we assumed ours would too. Even though we had so few showings it was quite tiring having to keep on top of everything with baby and messy toddler in tow, making sure everything was spotless and perfect (or within an hour of being so). Right now, my house is a disaster area and I don't care to do anything about it!

Until next time!

This is the day.

2011-05-08T17:21:00.007-05:00

I woke up this morning to make Swedish pancakes. I got the eggs out of the refrigerator, opened them and saw this beautiful verse on the carton, a reminder from God to be thankful for each and every day, no matter the challenge.

I have so much to be thankful for! Last year on Mother's Day, I woke up particularly early that morning after tossing and turning all night. I had a feeling, or intuition rather, that I might be pregnant. I figured it would be far too early to test, but I did anyway and 2 minutes later I learned that I was pregnant with this little girl:

I feel so incredibly blessed to have these babies in my life! They are who I am, and they make me want to better myself so I can be the best mom for them. I love them with every breath I have.Watching Mickey Mouse after waking up in the morning. Clearly I was in the way.

I hope to receive many more handmade cards like the one I got this year. Nothing is better!

The kids' room (the current state).

2011-04-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

I love this room. Even though it's far from complete and hardly show worthy, it contains some of my favorite projects I've done to date. So, I'm sharing it today, as is.

This room has definitely been a labor of love; I have made a lot of the things you'll see in this room. I'm especially proud of the fact that I used quite a bit color in here. Don't get me wrong, I like colorful rooms; but I tend to be quite the color phobe when decorating in my own home. I admit without shame- I love beige. It's easy and I never suffer from color remorse.

This room has been constantly evolving ever since I began updating it from Cameron's first nursery to a big boy room, and finally to a shared gender neutral room for a baby and toddler.

I started building the bookshelf last July and applied the last coat of stain in December. Truth be told, this is my absolute least favorite piece of furniture I've built, from a construction stand point . I can see nailheads and a few shelves are slightly bowed; it bothers me because it reflects my poor craft, but I cut myself a little slack knowing that I have learned from the mistakes I made. Regardless, this piece is functional and is very solid. And I do love the color of the stain.
I found the green storage crates at Target for throwing random toys in. I love that fish tank (so does Cameron!)- we've had it over 6 months and I have cleaned it only once. It's the perfect size and has a great, quiet filter.

If you remember, I built the oversized abacus last spring, and never got around to hanging it up. Finally, it has a place on the wall! Cameron is always counting the beads.

I decided to keep the rocking chair around even though space is tight in this room. We read books in this spot every day and night, and it's nice to have a place to feed Kylie in the wee hours of the morning.

I know alphabet posters are super popular (and perhaps a bit overdone) in kids rooms right now, but I personally love the trend! I made this one up in InDesign and picked colors I thought would go well in the room. I sent it to mpix.com do the printing (same place I print all my photos) and put it in a frame I already had laying around.

I had a really hard time looking for a nice coat rack for this room. I had a few requirements (inexpensive, lots of hooks) and never could find one I really liked. I spotted a utility rack (like one you'd hang brooms and mops on) at Target, and jazzed it up with wooden dowel caps from Hobby Lobby. I used the same paint from the abacus, so it matches perfectly.
The other side of the room is pretty bare. I recently decided not to put the energy into getting more stuff on the walls, since we're going to be selling our house VERY soon (we hope to get it ready and have it listed by the end of summer)! I'm already dreaming of gender specific rooms and can't wait to do a girly room for Kylie.

This is the toddler bed I built for Cameron last fall when he climbed out of his crib. I built the bed in about 5 hours, but it took about 2 weeks to stain since it was so hot and humid at that point. See that pillow on his bed?
I always said that I wouldn't be the type of parent that let their kid plaster their room in Disney characters (nothing wrong with that, just not my cup o' tea), but I thought a Buzz Lightyear pillow wouldn't hurt. Cameron loves Toy Story and there wasn't a great selection for boy fabrics at JoAnn's when I went last week. He loves it and well, so do I. =)

Even though the room isn't complete, I'm so happy that it contains my passion and hobby of being able to make things for my family. We spend a lot of time in this room- it is very well loved!

Until next time!

A Great weekend.

2011-04-12T19:11:00.007-05:00

We just returned from a little vacation over the weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City! We had so much fun and we have plans to make it a tradition to go every year around Cameron and Kylie's birthday since both are in the winter. Here are some pictures from our stay (there are lots!).

It took a lot of convincing to get Cameron to go down the water slides at first. After the first time, we couldn't get him off!

This is such a cheesy picture of both me and Cameron, but it's the only one that wasn't blurry. My husband is the world's worst photographer!
But he's the world's best Dad!

Little Kylie, sleeping on the Lazy River.

This is the prize Cameron got with the tickets from the arcade. In case you were wondering, yes. Yes my son has a Silly Band obsession.

We took a break from the Lodge and did a little shopping at Legends outdoor mall. Cameron managed to find a water fountain and get completely soaked!

What my husband lacks in photography skills, he makes up for by being able to fix anything, including a flat tire. Thank the Lord for that skill, because we needed it on the way home from Kansas City. We were stopped for about an hour, and had it not been for the DVD player in the truck, it would have seemed like an eternity!
We made it home safe (though completely exhausted) and we can't wait to go back!

Kylie is 3 months old!

2011-04-09T16:18:00.007-05:00

Time is a flyin'. I thought time flew by fast with one kid, but it goes by even faster with two. It's hard to believe that next month we'll be trying solids!

We're starting to see a little more of her sweet personality each day! This girl smiles all the time now and is a very happy baby. Unfortunately, she got sick for the first time this month too. Last week, she came down with a cold and an ear infection. It was really rough for her, and rough for me as well to see her like that. Cameron had the same thing the week prior, so we knew it was a matter of time before she got it too. That boy loves to kiss, hug, and breathe the same air as her. If he can't see her, he's asking where she is. He is constantly telling her that he loves her, and says things like "aw, she's so cute!" and "you a big girl Ky Ky! You take all your medicine!" He'll see her laying on her playmat and say "Come here Kylie, I hold you!" He will also very loudly announce that "SHHHHHHH KYLIE IS SLEEPING!!!!! whenever she's asleep in her carseat and someone is checking her out. It's pretty sweet.
I've been really bad about taking pictures of just Kylie. Whenever I get the camera out, you-know-who jumps right in for a photo op with his little sister. Hopefully soon I'll get some good pictures of just her but for now, I'm just happy he loves to be around her.

Until next time!

The Perfect Pizza.

2011-03-30T17:12:00.002-05:00

For as long as I can remember, pizza has been one of my favorite foods, hands down. It's in our dinner rotation once a week, usually on Fridays and once more if there is a college basketball game we want to watch on TV ( sidenote: my alma mater Wichita State is playing for the NIT championship on Thursday- woop!). Until recently, our pizza has always been take out; the greasy, cheesy take out. I'd eat 4 slices and (obviously) have big regrets a few hours later.

I got a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for my birthday last December, and since then I've been doing a lot of experimenting making pizza dough at home. I've gone through about 4-5 different recipes, some good, some just so-so. I was determined to find the perfect dough recipe- one that was not only tasty, but simple enough to throw together in a short time.

I ran across a great food blog several weeks ago called Annie's Eats. I found an excellent dough recipe there; it's crusty and chewy, and tastes fantastic. The best part is that the recipe makes 2 pizzas, so I make a pizza immediately and freeze the other half for the following Friday. I expected to have to do a little of my own experimenting but her recipe is perfect, as is.

half 3 meat, half chicken, bacon and ranch.

Even if you have a dough recipe you like, you might learn something new from her pizza making tips and tricks. You also might like her recipe for chicken ranch pizza- this is my new favorite!

Now I'm craving it!

Snippets.

2011-03-11T08:00:00.001-06:00

I promise that it is not my intention to make this blog into a one-post-a-month-about-what-we're-doing blog. But it's happening, and such is my life right now. You know on the opening sequences of The Simpson's where Bart is always writing sentences on the chalkboard (I will NOT draw naked ladies in class. I will NOT draw naked ladies in class...)? I totally feel like Bart right now, only I'm writing "I will not abandon my blog. I will not abandon my blog...". I'm trying my best to get back to regular blogging- bear with me!

Kylie is 2 months old! I love that little girl to death, but I'll be honest: I'm ready for her to grow up a little faster. I have loved every second of the toddler stage with Cameron, and I can't wait until I can hold cute little conversations with her. I can't stop kissing those cheeks.
And on that note, I'm sad to report that I'm going bald again. Ok, so maybe I'm not going bald, but I'm losing a LOT of hair, just as I did post partum with Cameron. It's noticeable, and well, it sucks. I suppose that's what I get since I didn't have an ounce of morning sickness, eh?

I'm so anxious for consistent warm weather so I can get into the garage and start working on some projects. I've desperately been needing a work area and place to store all my tools, so my plan is to design and build a large work bench/table. I'm pretty sure I've got enough scrap wood to do this, so it should be a free project! After I do that, I plan on building a small side table for our upper deck so we have a place to set our coffee when we sit outside in the mornings.

I realize it's a little early, but I have already ordered Kylie's first birthday gift! Cameron got a Pottery Barn Anywhere chair for his first birthday, and so will Kylie. I was able to snag this lavender dot cover on clearance for 19.99- it doesn't get cheaper than that! Unfortunately it's on back order until next month, but I'm not sweatin' it since I don't need it until next January. I wasn't about to pass on that deal!
Until next time, friends!

Let's catch up a bit!

2011-02-21T09:09:00.003-06:00

Forgive me for the lack of content around here. We have obviously been busy! I've been reading blogs and browsing the internet lately from my phone, making it inconvenient to post anything or comment on all my favorite blogs. For the last few weeks, I kept telling myself I needed to blog- but days passed, weeks passed and before you know it, a whole month had passed.

So. It's been a crazy month. A few weeks ago, Jon left on business for a few days leaving me and the kids at home. Normally, I wouldn't sweat Jon leaving because I have an abundance of family that are always willing to help out if I need it. But this time, he left right before a major snow storm, and we were snowed in the house for two whole days. On the third day, one of my brother-in-laws came to shovel my driveway just so I could get my car out of the garage. It was sun up to sun down with my kids- no breaks to be had. The house was a hot mess, and I was an even hotter mess (Like, I was lucky to get one 5 minute shower in 3 days). It was rough, but we all survived. And I am ever so grateful to have a husband who helps me out so much.

Oddly enough, within a few weeks, we saw a 95 degree temperature jump and have barely spent much time indoors in the past week! It was -17 degrees the week prior, so it felt like summer when went to the zoo on Thursday. It's been in the 60's and 70's the past few days and we're loving it.

Little miss Kylie slept through her entire first zoo trip. She is getting so big, so fast. She weighed 10 lbs 13 oz. at her 1 month appointment. She still sleeps most of the day, but since she's 6 weeks old now, I have a feeling she'll be sleeping less during the day and we'll start seeing more of her little personality.

I have so much more to document and write, but it sounds like Kylie is in need of attention. I've definitely got my hands full but wouldn't have it any other way! Until next time! =)

Snippets.

2011-01-26T12:07:00.000-06:00

Small confession: my husband and I are bird nerds. And by that, I mean we like to "bird watch"- you know, the hobby usually meant for senior citizens? Senior citizens we are not, but living less than a half mile from a greenbelt and having a lake in our backyard, we see tons of unique birds all the time and we love observing them. Imagine my excitement when I opened up our back door blinds last Friday morning and spotted this graceful beauty:
A bald eagle! I couldn't believe it- I've never seen one in the wild before, let alone in my back yard. I ran to find my zoom lens to snap a picture, and he stayed for about a half hour (he was munching on a dead goose) before flying away.

We are still doing really well at home with a new little one. Cameron loves her so much (maybe a little too much!) and kisses her all day long. Though it's still early in the game, I seem to be far less sleep deprived this time around too. Boy, do I love my babies.

Part of my unwritten, unofficial new years resolutions was to completely go through my closet and get rid of everything I don't wear anymore. I also wanted to get rid of all my pregnancy clothes (and normal clothes stretched out by pregnancy). I ended up getting rid of about 1/3 of my stuff and I'm ready for a new wardrobe- thankfully I have a bunch of gift cards and cash from Christmas and birthday saved for this purpose! It feels good to have so much stuff gone that has been collecting dust over the years.

I am so ready for spring (can I get an Amen?)! I can't wait to see my bulbs sprout up soon, and more importantly, I'm ready to stock up on these little pieces of heaven:Can I get another Amen?!

January 10, 2011

2011-01-16T22:27:00.004-06:00

I had been waiting anxiously for this very date for about 7 weeks- when we decided it was best to go ahead with a repeat scheduled c-section in order to meet our daughter. As the weeks got closer and closer, I got more excited, but I also grew nervous because there was a snow storm looming in the forecast for the night before and day of Kylie's birthday. I didn't want to have to drive to the hospital or get Cameron off to grandmas in those conditions. 4-8 inches, they predicted.

Its about 20 minutes to grandmas and 15 more back the other direction to the hospital when there is no bad weather. Some of you northerners may be laughing at a mere 4 inches of snow, but we aren't constantly getting snow storms in Kansas and people forget how to drive when it does, especially the first storm of the winter season. What should have taken less than 45 minutes took us about 2.5 hours. Traffic was bumper to bumper (literally in hundreds of cases) but we arrived safely at the hospital with minutes to spare for our 9:30 am check in.

At 9:30, we were given a small amount of paperwork to fill out, and then a nurse came to get us and take us to our room. She started the IV, and a slew of other medical staff were in and out to ask and answer questions. It all seemed to go very quickly and I was getting really ancy to be rolled into the OR so we could get this birthday party started!

A little more than an hour later and minutes before surgery was scheduled to happen, the nurse comes in and informed me that my doc was currently delivering another baby at another hospital. I was pretty irritated but more so because I hadn't eaten or drank anything since dinner the previous night and it was nearing lunchtime. My husband will be the first to tell you that a hungry wife= a cranky wife, so imagine my predicament. I was ready to have this baby and envisioned a huge Jimmy Jon's sandwich ready and waiting for me in recovery. Wishful thinking. So there we stood with no real timeline at that point, just waiting for the call from the doc that she was in route to my hospital.

At about 12:30 pm (what seemed to be days later) we got the green light to head to the operating room for surgery. I got on the table, received the epidural, and the team of nurses and doctors went to work. At 1:16 pm on a very beautiful and snowy day, Kylie Kathleen entered the world with a sweet and soft cry. "Look at her hair! " I heard someone exclaim. It was dark, curly and there was a lot of it! The tears began rolling and there was no stopping them. They took her and cleaned her quickly, and passed her off to dad while they finished my surgery. I couldn't believe how beautiful she was. I am so in love- with her, with Cameron, and with my husband.

We stayed in the hospital for the next 48 hours and were home by Wednesday afternoon. I am recovering really well; and though I notice great improvement in pain every day, handling Cameron was very difficult the first 4-5 days home. I can't lift him yet, and I've just started to be able to have him sit in my lap because my incision is still fairly sore. That said, I am completely off all my pain meds as of yesterday. I was really hating how the side effects made me feel, so I stopped taking them and am doing great without them!
Overall, we are adjusting to being a family of 4 really well! It probably helps that Kylie sleeps so much right now- so we are all getting great sleep. I'm not quite ready for this honeymoon phase to end and reality to set in yet. Cameron loves to kiss her and say "hi" to her all the time. I hope they will be good friends through life.
Here's a pic before church this morning- and yes, my boys dress alike quite frequently. I think it's so cute. =)

Oh, this is love.

2011-01-11T18:00:00.000-06:00

Friends, meet my sweet baby Kylie! She arrived yesterday via c-section at 1:15 in the afternoon, weighed 8lbs 4 oz, and is 20 inches long. I was a little surprised she weighed so much even though she was about a week early! She is so awesome and beautiful- and she looks just like Cameron did when he was born, only she has much more hair!
I am recovering pretty pretty well (just very tired), and it looks like we'll be heading home tomorrow. I've got tons of pictures and I'll post more when I get home and settled, but for now I'll leave you one of my favorites from my phone. :)
I love these babies with all my being!

A rough start.

2011-01-04T13:00:00.000-06:00

Oh, 2011 did not start great for me. At about 3 a.m on New Years morn, I woke up feeling nauseous, and consequently spent the rest of that night, and all the next day hovering over the toilet. I felt like death. ~~And after all that talk about how my 27th year was going to be so fabulous!~~ Blah.

Around noon on New Years, my gut instinct told me I should probably head over to labor & delivery to make sure that me and the baby were OK. As I had suspected, I was severely dehydrated and was the lucky recipient of an IV bag full of liquids and a dose of Zofran for the nausea. Until last night, I hadn't eaten anything- and I'm just now regaining my appetite. I felt SO stressed yesterday because we have so much to do this week (last minute cleaning, hospital bag packing, etc.) and all I could think about was laying in bed. I took 5 naps (yes, 5!) and today, I feel much better and have most of my energy back. I have no idea what I'd do without my husband, who totally took over caring for Cameron as well as me.

As odd as it may sound, I enjoyed being in the hospital and wished we were there for the "real thing". When I was in labor with Cameron, I had the sweetest nurses and Saturday's experience was no different. It just made me all the more anxious for next Monday! We are doing anything and everything to make time pass quickly, even squeezing in a few last minute dates this week.

Happy New year, everyone!

27

2010-12-30T19:15:00.000-06:00

For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be 27 years old. In foresight, it seemed like an age where I'd have life figured out, a nice little career, be married (and possibly a kid or two), and love my life. I never liked being in my early twenties. I felt there was always a stigma of overall immaturity attached to being young and in college. People always were telling me to "go out and have fun," and I did- but still, I wanted to be a stable 27 year old with everything in place.

11 days to go!

Today, I am 27. And while I can't say that life is completely figured out and have everything into place, I feel like I have everything I need, nothing more and nothing less. I feel like I'm in a great place in my life, with much to be thankful for. This isn't the picture I envisioned for myself at 27; in fact, it's so much better than I ever thought possible! Sometimes I feel so unworthy of God's blessings in my life.

Today was such a perfect day. The weather here in Wichita reached 70 degrees- can you believe that? Pretty rare for one of the last days of the year.
We have really missed all this crazy weather that the rest of the states seem to be having the past few weeks. I spent the gorgeous day with my two favorite boys who took me to lunch at my favorite spot, and then to the Zoo (which seemed to be the hot spot for everyone in the city- it was packed!). I am also the proud new owner of one of these:
A KA Artisan stand mixer! I was shocked! I had mentioned to Jon a few times that I was considering purchasing a KA mixer on Black Friday if there was a good deal out there. I didn't find one, but was so surprised to unwrap one this morning!

Hope everyone has a great New Years!

A few pregnancy notes + a bump picture

2010-12-16T09:06:00.002-06:00

I haven't really documented much on my 2nd pregnancy, so I figured I'd jot down a few notes before this baby is here!

I have a little less than 4 weeks left! I have a c-section scheduled for January 10th and I'm really excited. My doc actually gave me the choice between attempting a VBAC or another c-section, but given the 48-hour (can anyone beat that?) labor I had with Cameron, I chose the latter. After much discussion, we both agreed that I probably wasn't a good candidate for the VBAC route. I had a great and quick recovery with Cameron, and I hope that it will go as great the second time around too.
Last night we got dressed up and went to dinner and the Trans Siberian Orchestra. It felt good to get out of yoga pants!

I have gained significantly less weight this time around. I gained 48 lbs total with Cameron, and so far I've gained right under 30 lbs, with less than a month to go. I don't anticipate 20 more pounds in that time frame... though I have been consuming a lot of ice cream shakes lately. My husband seriously makes the best mint M&M shakes, ever. There are no words to describe them, and I often lick the inside of the cup completely clean to get every last drop.

In general, I 'feel' smaller with this pregnancy than the last one. I won't lie, I feel huge, and I'm definitely uncomfortable, but I feel much smaller this time. Maybe that means I'm not going to have a 10 lb baby! If I had to guess, I think she'll be right around 7 lbs, especially since she'll be about a week early.

I'm going to miss my skin after I give birth. I have had the smoothest, most perfect and acne free skin for the last 9 months. I haven't had skin like this since I was in, oh... 4th grade? It's been awesome. But I'm also not holding my breath that it will remain that way. Even in my late twenties, I still have skin like a teenager.

While I don't particularly love being pregnant, I'm in a bittersweet stage right now, knowing that this is the last time I'll feel a baby inside. I'm also very happy that our little family will be complete! I say this 50 times a day, but I am so incredibly ready to meet my daughter. I think I'm more anxious to meet her than I was with Cameron! Not too much longer!

December 5, 2010.

2010-12-09T20:40:00.002-06:00

Cameron's 2nd birthday was such a great day! We started our morning with breakfast at one of our favorite little cafes; we stuffed ourselves and headed off to church. After church, I ran to get a few balloons for Cameron's party, and headed home to finish prepping the food for the party and a little last minute cleaning.

We had 30 family members at our house to help celebrate his birthday. Boy did the house feel small! Thankfully there was a Dallas game on, so a lot of people hung out by the big screen downstairs which helped relieve some space upstairs. The food was great, and Cameron got so many great gifts.
I may not be able to decorate a cake to save my life (remember my anniversary cake disaster?) but I love decorating cupcakes and think these turned out super cute!

I used the logo I created for the invites to use on top of the cupcakes.

The menu: sub sandwiches (not pictured) fruit kabobs, chips, and cream cheese pinwheels (not pictured). Everything was really good!

I made little bags of coal for everyone to take home. I took mini marshmallows, covered them in melted baking chocolate, and then tossed them in Oreo crumbs that I crushed in the food processor. I didn't have a recipe, and had never made them before, but they were such a hit! I figured making them would be a similar concept to the Chex Mix puppy chow that everyone loves.

Opening presents!

After the party, we went out to look at Christmas lights, a tradition we started last year on his birthday. He loves looking at lights! I think I may have been more tired than anyone else and by 7:30, I was ready to come home and get into bed. We all had such a fun day, and I still can't believe my baby is two!

Closing thoughts on Cameron's 2nd year.

2010-11-30T14:53:00.000-06:00

2 years ago today, my due date had already came and went. Little did I know that it would be 5 more days before we would meet our baby boy. Little did I know that I would spend 48 hours in active labor before we met our baby boy. And little did I know that I'd have to have a c-section in order to meet our baby boy.
These last 2 years have been so awesome. We have been blessed so much having him in our life! Oh how this boy entertains us; to say he is the light of our life would be an understatement. Jon and I spend so much time laughing at him, and with him. He's smart. And he's funny.
The other day Cameron and I were in the check out lane at Wal-Mart. He was being quiet and well behaved, but the cashier mentioned that he looked very ornery. I laughed, because he absolutely is and he gets that "look of ornery-ness" from his dad. He is so much like him and that's quite alright with me. =)
Since Cameron's switch from the crib to his toddler bed, he now gets himself out of bed in the morning, opens his door, then opens our bedroom door, yells "hi momma!!", climbs in our bed, gives me a big hug and kiss, climbs over to dad, says "hi dadda!!!" and gives him a big hug and kiss. I can't imagine a better start to the day. He is very generous with hugs and kisses, and loves to snuggle.
I can't wait for him to be a big brother. The other day we swaddled his monkey and pretended it was baby sister. He held "her", carried her, ~~body slammed her~~, and even fed her milk.
Once he gets past the jealousy I think he'll have towards his new sister, I think he'll be so glad she's around. I love him so much, and it's hard to imagine loving another baby the way I love him.
Sunday, his actual day of birth, we'll be having a party for him. I can't wait!
He's about as obsessed as humanly possible with trains right now, so we're doing a train themed part. I designed these invitations, and the little logo on them will also be on a few other party items as well.
I'll definitely have (and share) a lot of pictures after the party!

Around the homestead.

2010-11-21T13:23:00.001-06:00

We're getting a little closer to finishing the 3rd bathroom we started. When we initially started, I wanted it done by Thanksgiving, and I set such a quick finish line because I didn't want this project lingering over our heads at Christmas, or worse, during the arrival of our new baby. It's not looking like we'll finish by Thanksgiving, but we'll definitely finish it for the weekend after, for Cameron's birthday party.
Jon's friend who has been an invaluable handyman through the whole process, has somewhat bailed on us this week for a nice paying side job, so we're trucking along without him. (Note that when I say "we", I mean "Jon under my supervision." Ha!) "We" cut all the tile and have it laid out- now it just needs to be set and grouted. "We" are doing a pretty good job for never having done it before! After the tile is set, all we really have left is to place the toilet, vanity and fixtures. I'll sure be glad to have this project done, as our basement has just been a mess since we started.

As a reminder, here's where we were:
And here's where we are now:

I'm totally aware of the horrendous picture quality of these; I had my zoom lens on my camera and was too lazy to switch it out, but you get the idea.

As soon as the tile is set, I want to repaint the walls. I had picked the neutral color with the notion that we were going to put dark/cherry laminate flooring in instead of tile. We had quite a bit leftover from our kitchen project, so I thought we could use it up. At the last minute (after we'd already painted) we decided to go with tile, and it happens to be pretty much the same color as the walls. We're almost there though, and I know how we'll be spending our holiday weekend!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday hustle and bustle!

2010-11-10T14:10:00.005-06:00

This year, much like last, is turning out to be a busy holiday season! And since 3 out of the 4 members of our family (me, Cameron and soon-to-arrive baby sister) have birthdays within 3 weeks of Christmas, I don't anticipate any lack of business or activity around the holidays for years to come!
This weekend, I'm co-hosting a baby shower for my sister-in-law. This is her sixth baby, so we're having a diaper shower since she doesn't need much else. I decided that there was no better time to attempt my first diaper cake- and I think it turned out pretty cute! There are definitely things I'd do differently (construction wise) but I'm very happy with it seeing as how I didn't follow any sort of direction.
Eek- I didn't realize it was a little off-centered until I took a picture. Oh well! I love the bear up top. I got it at Hobby Lobby and thought it would compliment the cake nicely.

We've got a lot going on in the G household; I'm trying to finish up a few things in the kids shared room, the downstairs bathroom is coming along well, Cameron's birthday planning (3 weeks!), Christmas shopping (90% done!), and decorating (I started pulling out a few things today). I don't typically decorate until Thanksgiving, but I'm over my fall decor and anxious for a change. The Christmas tree won't go up until the first week of December though.
How about you- have you started Christmas shopping or decorating?

Weekend snippets & pictures

2010-11-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning before church, we headed to a local park so I could take some fall pictures of Cameron before all the leaves fall off the trees. I got quite a few shots that I love- and these will most likely serve as his 2 year pictures since his birthday is just 5 weeks away!
I'm not a fan of pictures of myself these days, but I like this one Jon took of us. It required a bit of doctoring but the lighting is fun.

Can you believe it's November already? It's starting to get pretty chilly at night here, so I'm going to put our Christmas flannel sheets on the bed this week. =)

Cameron got his first pet this weekend- a blue betta fish! His name is Alex (which is also the name of his 5 year old cousin who lives a few houses down). I love this tank, because it's small, but is still filtered and has a night light. I also think the quiet hum of the tank will be soothing when they sleep at night- especially for baby sister.
Cameron was a gorilla for Halloween this year! I found the costume at Kid-to-Kid (a second hand shop) for just $10 bucks. He really didn't care so much about the costume- but he didn't want anyone touching or holding his pumpkin bucket.
This one was taken last week, when he kept the hood on for more than one second. The sprinklers came on, and he decided to test it out in the water.

He was pretty mad that we kept trying to put his hood on and take pictures. This is the best we got last night!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Construction Zone: a few project updates

2010-10-21T20:55:00.000-05:00

I mentioned last week that we were going to put a 3rd bathroom in (in our basement) and we are now going full speed with that project! This is the current state right now; and while it doesn't look like much (okay, so it doesn't look like anything), you should know that this room was FILLED from the floor to the ceiling with junk, boxes, Christmas stuff, and just crap. Clearing all that out was a feat in itself! There weren't even the 2x4's you see- It was just one, big open room. So the past few nights, Jon and his friend have been working on the plumbing, electrical and constructing the walls.

Meanwhile, I've been at a few wood related projects myself.

I finished the bookcase I started back in July, and I also decided to squeeze in one last project before this baby comes! I wanted Cameron to have a table for his trains, so I made him this play table that can also be used for legos, drawing, and other crafty type things for the kids. This will be his main Christmas present- along with some new train tracks and stops to add to his collection.

A little edge to prevent toys and trains from rolling off.

This was definitely my quickest project to date- from cutting the lumber to finish took about 2 1/2 hours. Both of these pieces are ready to be stained! Here's PBK's version for $349 (yikes!)- my version only cost roughly $60 (after I finish the carts).

What's nice about the size of this table, is that it fits the Thomas the train mats you can buy for those specific tables, since the tables are exactly the same size. Perfect! I'm going to build the carts that slide underneath the table too, since I have so much scrap lumber. But after that, I think I'll take a break for a little bit. It's funny the looks I get from construction-type workers buying stuff at Lowe's- like "what on earth is this huge pregnant girl doing in the lumber section?" I just smile and keep on pushing my lumber cart. I've become quite a regular at Lowe's- building has definitely become an addiction and hobby!

Why Hello!

2010-10-08T13:30:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's been an entire month since I have blogged! I have been keeping up with all my favorite blogs, but I've really left my own on the curb for awhile. Here's whats been happening around our house:

About 3 weeks ago, we were hit with a massive hail storm. Usually when we get hit with hail, it's pea sized, and lasts for about 5 minutes. This time, it lasted nearly an hour straight, and we got hit with softball sized hail. It was pretty insane. At one point I insisted we all go into the basement in case a hail stone came through the ceiling (and they did at a few homes). Everyone in the area is getting an entire roof replacement- even new plywood; we had about 13 holes in our roof.

Since we're going to have a little insurance money left over from all the damage to our home from the storm, we're going to put in a 3rd bathroom (in the basement) in our house. Hopefully we'll have it done in the next few months! I know this will be an attractive extra to potential buyers when we sell our home in the next few years.

I am about a week from my 3rd trimester! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. To be honest, I haven't really had time to think about being pregnant up until this point, though I'm starting to get to the uncomfortable stage where breathing becomes a luxury.

I'm really excited for the holidays to get here. I can't wait for Christmas (probably because I'm due a few weeks after!) and I've already got a good start on my Christmas shopping.

As crazy as it seems, we're going to have a 2 year old on our hands VERY soon! I'm already in the planning stages for his birthday which is less than 2 months away.
This weekend I am FINALLY going to finish the bookshelf I started many months ago (yeah, my husband doesn't believe it either). It's been sitting in the garage for so long, and I probably only have a few hours worth of work on it. It's now or never!

Thanks for reading! =)

24 hour Vegas review

2010-09-14T21:00:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in the last post, we were in Las Vegas literally for 24 hours (24 hours and 45 minutes to be exact). Obviously we would have liked to stay longer, but I consider us lucky to have the time we did! This was my 3rd time to Vegas, so I had seen and done a lot of things already.

I arrived 30 minutes late into McCarran airport on Saturday, Sept 11th. I was a little flustered that a plane change in Denver (for mechanical reasons) was cutting into my already-too-short vacation, but I am thankful that I arrived safely. Jon had arrived in Las Vegas earlier that morning after a 20-ish hour drive from Wichita. The customer he moved there let us use his car while we were there which ended up being really awesome, so we didn't have to pay for cab fees at all. He picked me up at about 5:00pm from the airport, and we were off to our room at the Wynn Encore!
Before I tell you about our time in Las Vegas, I want to share with you my review of the Wynn Encore. It's pretty much a given that anyone who walks into the hotel and it's rooms would be blown away by the beautiful and intricate European decor. But at a second and third glance, it becomes obvious that the attention to detail in these hotels are unmatched. No aspect of the design of this hotel was overlooked. The hotel staff, to say that they were amazing would be an understatement. EVERY single staff member was happy to direct you or help you. If you ask where something is, the staff member would take you there, not just point you in the right direction. I have never seen a hotel staff go out of their way for the guests like the staff at the Wynn. No request was too big or little. When we checked out, the concierge asked us if he could check us into our flight and print our boarding passes for us. Truly amazing service. They treated the guests like royalty. I highly, highly recommend a stay there.
Even though we didn't have a view of the Strip, we had a beautiful view of the mountains that Vegas sits in. So breathtaking!

When we arrived at our hotel, we quickly got ready and headed out. I had made dinner reservations earlier in the week for Olives at the Bellagio after hearing so many great things about the restaurant. Olives overlooks the Bellagio water fountains, so you get to see the fountains while you dine.
The Bellagio fountains still give me chills- even after seeing it over a dozen times! The restaurant was beautiful and the service was great. The food was wonderful, though a little pricey (which one can expect in Vegas!). I loved the olive tapenade they serve you while you wait for your food. If I were to recommend this restaurant, I'd probably suggest going for lunch instead of dinner (but be sure to catch the fountains at night!).

From dinner, we walked to the Venetian where we saw the Blue Man Group. (Side note: I started the night off wearing these really cute rhinestone sandals that weren't too high. I'm so glad I put a pair of trusty black Havaianas flip flops in my purse cause I put them on after about 45 minutes. Saved my life and I didn't give a crap that I wore them with my fancy little skirt!) The Blue Man Group was GREAT! Very entertaining and funny, and had some awesome music. It was about a 2 hour show, a lot of which was audience interactive. They pulled a girl up on stage to be a part of the show which turned out to be really funny. I'd definitely recommend the show (even for older children). We had great seats, but I'm really glad we didn't sit in the "poncho section." Gets kinda messy at times. =) We walked back to our car at the Bellagio and after a day of traveling, I was ready to lay my head down on that luxurious Wynn bed! Mental note: next time I buy pillows for our bed, I'm going to spend more than $8 a pillow. Those pillows were amazing.

We woke up the next morning and had breakfast at The Buffet at the Wynn. I have never been to a buffet this ridiculously large with so much amazing selection! The food was wonderful- and it wasn't just breakfast- they had pastas, sushi, desserts, etc.

After breakfast we played a little roulette, and I'm sad to report that I did not have beginners luck! We walked across the street to The Fashion Show Mall to do a little shopping. I liked this mall because it wasn't just upscale retailers. As much as I like to walk into Hermes and Burberry, those stores "slightly" out of price range for this mostly stay-at-home mom. I ended up getting a really great purse (that will be big enough for a diaper bag as well), and a Swarovski bracelet to replace one that I had, loved and lost.

We were quickly running out of time, so we headed back to our hotel where we had lunch at WaZuzu (an Asian restaurant). We weren't really too hungry from that large brunch we had, but we had a dining credit and didn't want to waste it. I had sweet and sour chicken, and Jon got Mongolian beef- both were excellent but the Mongolian beef was better! Jon also got some sushi and even though it was cooked, I was scared to try it. =) After our late lunch, we sadly had to go back to our room and grab our bags to catch our 5:45 flight. We arrived home at midnight, and picked Cameron up the next morning. We missed him! A lot of kids we saw in Las Vegas reminded us of him in someway. He was the topic of a lot of our conversation!

We had such a WONDERFUL time (and did I mention much needed?) just the two of us. It was nice to get away knowing it will be quite some time before we could do it again without our kids (thanks again, mom!). I'm already ready to go back! Maybe for my 30th birthday... =)

22 week bump picture and a Vegas babymoon.

2010-09-13T12:56:00.003-05:00

What a weekend we had! We just got back from the quickest trip I've ever taken: 24 hours in Las Vegas. It was definitely a last minute trip; Jon booked a job there early last week, and we (ok, I) decided I was going too! We had a ton of points through one of our credit cards, so my round trip ticket and his ticket back (he drove there) were paid with those points.
We had SO much fun and this trip was much needed for us! Since we only had 24 hours we crammed as much activity in to that time as possible. We were constantly eating, walking, shopping and even played a few slots! None of this would have been possible though, without the help of my mom, (who is the world's best grandma!) who kept Cameron for 2 nights while we were away.
Anyway, as you can imagine I am exhausted- so I'll leave you with a bump picture I took in the hotel we stayed at (the Wynn Encore) before we went out for the night:
I'll be back with a full trip recap and reviews as soon as I go through the pictures!

(almost) 2 going on 17.

2010-08-31T13:43:00.005-05:00

This past weekend was Gap, Old Navy & Banana Republic's Give and Get weekend- which meant 30% your entire purchase at these stores! We took advantage and really stocked up on some fall and winter wear for Cameron. Old Navy is definitely one of our go-to stores for inexpensive and fun play clothes, but since the sale included BabyGap, I wanted to check them out too.
One of my favorite purchases from the weekend was this Varsity jacket from Gap. I've had my eye on it for some time, but I couldn't bring myself to spend full price on this jacket he can only wear for 1-2 seasons.

One of the things that initially drew me to the jacket was the letter "G" on the front; since our last name begins with G, it looks like his very own little letter jacket! I know it will only be a matter of time before he's sporting a real high-school letter jacket. He looks like a little football player, I think. =)

A question: nutrition guides on menus?

2010-08-26T13:02:00.003-05:00

A few days a go, we went to lunch at Jason's Deli. I always get the same thing there, so I don't even look at the menu- but I wanted to check out the kids menu this time for Cameron. It's been awhile since I had been to Jason's, so I hadn't noticed that they were now putting calories, fat and saturated fat content under each menu item.

I know that in New York, all restaurants and places that serve food drinks must put this information on their menus. I thought it was a neat idea and a helpful step for those wanting to make better eating choices- but I had never seen it on menus here in Kansas.

Anyway, I was going to get Cameron a grilled cheese sandwich (a no fail lunch for him) until I realized that it had 26 grams of fat. I don't recall the calorie count or amount of sodium, but it instantly steered me away and I ended up ordering him a turkey sandwich, which only had 11 grams of fat (with the fat mostly coming from the cheese, I'll bet). In that moment I definitely knew that I would make better choices for my family and myself when it comes to eating out if this information were mandatory on all menus.

Would you make better choices seeing fat and calorie content on menus? What if you were deciding between two items- would this push you to pick the item that might be better for you? Would it even affect you at all? I'm interested to know!

Tying up the score.

2010-08-20T12:58:00.002-05:00

Well, we had our big ultrasound... and it looks like I won't be the only girl in the house! =) Cameron is getting a little SISTER (or, "titter" as he calls her)! We're so excited and I have the wicked urge to go out start buying all the girly stuff I've drooled over for the past few years. I think Jon felt a hole start to burn through his wallet the minute the ultrasound tech said there was "nothing between those legs". Everything looked good and she looks very healthy!
Everything is starting to feel real now, despite the pregnancy symptoms which have been non-existent thus far. I'm just ready for these next few months to fly by so we can meet the baby girl who will complete our little family! =)

Little mamma's boy.

2010-08-18T13:49:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Jon walked Cameron down the street to his cousin's house to play. On their way back, Cameron spotted some little yellow wildflowers in someone's yard, and he ran to pick them. "Mama! Mama!" Jon said that he yelled. My sweet little boy picks flowers for me! When they walked in the house, Cameron again yelled "Mama! Mama?" trying to find me. I greet him at the door and he hands me the flowers. Such imperfect little flowers, yet so perfect.

Most kids I know go through phases on which parent they prefer over the other. Right now, that's definitely me! I'm really trying to soak it all- I'll admit that I tend to get a little sad knowing Cameron won't be my "one and only" in a few months. Jon has been working long days and hours lately (which is great) and it leaves us spending a lot of time together. There are days (like 6 out of the 7) where I'm exhausted beyond belief and I can't wait to put him down for the evening so I can sit down and enjoy a little bit of free time. A lot of times though, I want to get him right back up and play with him and love on him some more. I love this boy with all my being!
He is really going through a word explosion right now- he talks non stop. Anytime we get in the car to go somewhere, it's constantly "car! truck! bus! mail man! airplane!", over and over and over.
In other exciting news, we find out what we're having this Friday! I'm so excited; some days I want another boy, and other days I really want a girl. Either way, I'm ready to know! =) I know I've been terrible at updating lately, but I'll be back as soon as I find out!

Out with the crib, in with the toddler bed!

2010-08-04T18:27:00.000-05:00

Cameron's new big boy bed is finally finished! If you remember me mentioning, I had no plans to move him out of his crib until late fall- that is, until he climbed out and decided he no longer wanted to stay put. I wanted to build him a bed, so I really had to kick it into gear and get this bed made quickly, since his crib wasn't going to do much longer.
Originally, I wanted to build a twin sized bed; I thought toddler beds were somewhat of a waste (and I still do, to some degree) but since Cameron and the new baby will be sharing a very small room, a twin bed was out of the question, unfortunately. A toddler bed just made so much more sense in our situation. I found these* plans from Knock off Wood, and in just 5 hours on a Friday night, I had it completely built (though not assembled)! In a sense, it was easier than the picnic table I built; there were no angles and essentially no leveling. It also could be because I'm getting faster at this building stuff! =)

What took us so long to finish the bed, was the staining process. Jon did two coats of stain, which needed about 3-4 days in between coats to dry. The humidity this summer is no joke! He also applied two coats of a poly finish, taking about a day to dry each coat.

So here it is- I am SO proud of this bed! I just can't get over how cute it is! I built it with no assistance, but since I can't really be around strong fumes, Jon did the beautiful staining. The total cost of lumber for this bed was about $45 dollars. I spent a few bucks on sand paper, and we already had the supplies (nails/screws, etc) and the stain. So we spent less than $50 total! What do you think? I hope I didn't build too much anticipation up for this bed on this blog- it definitely isn't perfect but it's so cute! I love it so much. I'm going to get him some new bedding, but I'm going to wait until we find out if Cameron's new sib is a boy or girl (likely in a few weeks!) until I decide where I'm going with the shared room.

The bookcase I started building (before the bed) is not finished yet, I seem to have lost a little motivation in the heat of the summer. I definitely need to get it done soon, and I'll likely show it when I get the whole room done and put together.

In other news, I ordered this beautiful pin-tuck duvet cover from West Elm the other day, taking advantage of the free shipping they had on all bedding. I got it in the sea spray color (instead of the charcoal, below) since our bedroom furniture is black.
I can't wait for it to get here, even though I'm going to wait until it cools down a bit before I put the new duvet and down comforter back on our bed.

*in case there's anyone interested in building this bed, let me know, as quite a few modifications need to be made from the original directions.

Snippets.

2010-07-21T12:58:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we celebrated Jon's 31st birthday. We went to eat dinner at a Japanese hibatchi- style grill like we did last year, and I made fondue on Sunday evening (his yearly birthday dinner request). I also made a Snickers bar cheesecake which was so delicious. (I really love spoiling him with food!)
My sister is now making pure homemade vanilla and selling it in her Etsy shop . If you bake, you definitely need some- that "pure" vanilla you buy in stores is full of corn syrup and water. If you don't bake, but know someone who does, it would make a fantastic gift. Christmas is just around the corner, you know! =)

Label design by yours truly!

Cameron's bed is coming along slowly but surely. After he climbed out of his crib last week, we knew we had to find a solution fast, so I put his bookshelf on hold and built his bed in 5 hours Friday night. The stain however, will not dry. The first coat has been drying for about 4 days now, and is still pretty tacky. We're staining it in the basement where it's cooler and dryer, as there is NO way it would ever dry outdoors in this humidity. I will say that, the bed is the cutest thing I've seen in my life and I can't wait to show you guys! In the meantime, we turned his crib around (since the back is higher) and it seems to be working for now.

P is for progress.

2010-07-15T14:01:00.005-05:00

If haven't mentioned lately how much I loathe summer, allow me to reemphasize: I loathe summer. It isn't about being pregnant in the heat, it's really just the heat itself. I like to be outside and so does my kid, and the heat we've had this year has made being outside quite intolerable. I cannot express how much I'm looking forward to some cooler temperatures. ~~And pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks.~~ It's one thing when it's hot during the day, but when the heat index is still 100 degrees at 10 o clock at night, that's another. Those are the conditions of which I've been working in to get these projects built. I wait until Cameron goes to bed to do most of the work, and even then, I'm still working up a massive sweat.

the bookshelf beginnings

Initially, my goal was to build the bookshelf first, and then build the bed without any really pressing need for it right away; I just wanted to get it done before it was physically impossible for me to finish it. We weren't planning to move him to his new bed until late fall, or near his 2nd birthday in December. We weren't going to that is, until today, when our toddler turned into an escape artist and climbed out of his crib after I put him down for his nap. He opened his door and walked out like he had been doing it for months! I knew this day would come, I just hoped it would be later rather than sooner. I'd convert his crib into the toddler bed right now, but we don't have the kit and ordering it would take awhile, and I could just save the money.

who, me? climb out of the crib? That must have been my stunt double.

So it's looking like I'm going to have to finish out this bookcase tonight (since the high today is only 93), and get started right away with his bed. Busy weekend ahead!

This and that.

2010-07-12T22:26:00.004-05:00

It's been a rough couple of days for me around here. I came down with a nasty cold (in the summer, no less) last Thursday/Friday, and suffered pretty bad on Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully Jon was home both of those days, so I passed a lot of parental duties on to him because I just didn't have the energy or desire to move far from the couch or bed. One of the tough things about being a parent is that when your sick, you don't get to call in sick! I feel much better today, even though my ears are really plugged up and I can't hear too well.
I have been ready to kick this sickness in the butt so bad, because I'm ready to start some projects around here! Saturday evening I wanted to get out of the house, so we went to Lowe's to grab all of the lumber I needed to build Cameron's bookshelf and bed.

While there, I asked my husband if he ever thought he'd have a wife who loved to spend her Saturday evenings at the hardware store. His answer: no. =) I also found a good deal on a mitre saw at a Pawn Shop today, so I picked it up so I don't have to keep borrowing my brother in law's. I am so excited to get started, and I hope to have the bookshelf built by the weekend. Pictures are definitely coming, so stay tuned!

Baby report.

2010-07-07T13:09:00.005-05:00

This morning we had our first appointment with our new OB, and I'm so happy to report that everything looks GREAT! My new doc is really nice- but I had a great feeling about her anyway since I had 2 of my sister in laws who had her as an OB and loved her.

I'm feeling a little tired and worn after having so much blood drawn, but it was totally worth it because we had a sonogram and got to see our little one, moving and wiggling. =) The printed picture quality was pretty poor and wasn't worth sharing. Anyway, the baby measured at about 12 weeks 6 days, which puts the due date on January 16th! What a blessing and answer to prayer! We find out in about 6 weeks if we're having a girl or boy.

I've really been feeling the pressure to get moving on the room Cameron and his new brother or sister will be sharing. I mentioned awhile back that I want to build a tall bookshelf and a bed for Cameron, and I want to get that done before I get huge and uncomfortable. I think we're going to buy lumber this weekend so I can go ahead and start while I still feel great.
Anyway, I just want to thank everyone who has been praying and been so supportive through comments- I definitely feel the love!

Lately.

2010-06-29T13:20:00.003-05:00

Oh, how I have left this blog on the curbside. I have gone from an every 5 days blogger to an every 2 weeks blogger- yikes! I've definitely been keeping up with all my favorite blogs, but when it comes to writing on mine, I can't seem to collect my thoughts enough to make interesting reading material. I'm sure many blogs and their authors go through periods of ebb and flow, and I really hope to have more posts flowing soon- and regularly.
In the meantime, I want to let you guys in on our (not so secret) secret. Many of you know already, but to those who do not, we are expecting a baby in January! I'm about 11 weeks along and so far time is flying.
I have to admit though, that I really struggled for several weeks in fear that something would go wrong. I have had the world's most symptomless pregnancy thus far, which most people would consider me lucky- but I have to say a symptom here and there would be nice for reassuring me that something was happening inside. I have my first appointment (with a new OB) next week, and it can't get here quick enough! I'd definitely appreciate some prayer that everything will look good and that the baby is healthy. It's crazy to think when I go to see the doc, I'll already be done with my first trimester.
Anyway, if you still check in from time to time, thank you! I promise to return on a regular basis shortly! I hope everyone has a fun & safe holiday weekend- it seems as if ours has already started as our neighbors have been shooting fireworks off for several days now. Take care!

Dad's Day!

2010-06-14T22:20:00.006-05:00

I always have the hardest time trying to figure out creative gifts for Jon. He's the "he already has everything he wants/needs" type. Grill kits and fishing supplies worked for the first few years, but I really like to personalize gifts when I give them. This year I decided to get a little creative for Fathers Day, involving the cutest little boy responsible for giving him the title! Today we set out to Hobby Lobby in search for the letters 'D' and 'A' so that we could do a DAD photoshoot with the letters and put into a nice frame.

To be honest, I wasn't even sure how this would turn out, seeing as a squirmy boy had to hold onto a prop and sit still. I think I took about 30 pictures in less than 5 minutes, hoping that I'd get 3 that would be decent enough to put together. I think we succeeded! I could not get him to smile at all- a task which is usually so easy- but I'm quite happy with the way it turned out, and I think Dad will love it too!
Here are some of the rejects:
Do I have to sit for this?

I put my right arm in! I put my right arm out!

Can you read it upside down?

Can you see me?

WAAAAHH! I JUST WANT A POPSICLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bug!!! Kill it!!!

Snippets.

2010-06-10T21:01:00.001-05:00

The cake was so good. I won't toot my own horn in this case, but rather Duncan Hines because their boxed mixes are nothing short of excellent. (Pssst- It's the brand Giada DeLaurentis uses!)

We celebrated our anniversary last weekend with a date to PF Changs (love that place!) and then headed to play a round of miniature golf. We had so much fun and agreed that we need to establish a regular date night twice a month-especially with the plethora of nieces we have who are always begging to babysit.

About 6 months ago, we switched from cable to DirecTV (satellite) to save us some money on our monthly bill. If we hadn't signed a 2 year contract, I would switch back to cable without a second thought. We've had quite a few thunderstorms this spring/summer and our satellite goes out without fail every. single. time. I can't tell you how wonderful that is when we have dangerous weather in our area, or when I'm watching a show that isn't recording.

Cameron is officially 18 months old! We haven't seen the doc for his 18 month check up, but I weighed him at grandma's the other day and he weighed 26.5 lbs. He's becoming chattier these days too- I'm guessing he has about 25 words in his little vocabulary, and he repeats so much more. The little conversations we have are quite interesting. =)

In other Cameron news: I have trained him to do the laundry-hee! What's so nice about our new front loaders is that since they are the perfect height, he can reach in and pull the clothes out of the wash and help me put them in the dryer. Today, he pulled out all the clothes from the wash, and put them in the dryer and closed it- no help from me! He felt so proud- I know I sure was! Now if only he could reach the detergent...

Have a great weekend, everyone!

My calling in life is not a cake decorator.

2010-06-02T13:47:00.007-05:00

If I ever would have the desire to give up my job as a graphic designer and become a cake designer instead, I can now put that idea to rest. Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary and I thought I'd make a cake to celebrate (I also happen to be craving cake-how convenient, right?). I think I make cupcakes that are out of this world, so a cake wouldn't be too much different, or so I thought. WRONG. My cake looks like a 6th grade home-ec project that was nibbled on by hungry mice. I like making things that are pretty, so this is a little bit of a disappointment. I know it will taste great, but somehow I imagined it looking more like the cake we had on our wedding day- perfect fondant, with pearls and swirls. Um... yeah, not so much. Go ahead and laugh if you feel compelled.

And for the record: white cake on top, dark chocolate on bottom with a cream cheese frosting and sprinkles.
I also thought I would share a few pictures of us through the years. We've changed a lot in over 6 years!
This was one of our first pictures we ever took. Tidbit: Jon used to wear crazy matching jump-suit outfits and I'm happy to report that he doesn't anymore =)!

We used to have family in Florida, so we took advantage and went to Disney several times!

One of my sorority formals I dragged him to.

This was at the Melting Pot shortly after we were married, I believe. Now we just make our own fondue at home!

And then we welcomed a baby boy into our family! This was taken on Christmas when Cameron was just 3 weeks old! =)

And our most recent family picture, taken on Easter. We've come a long way, and have a long ways to go! I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Summer Snippets.

2010-05-27T12:46:00.006-05:00

It's been a hot week here, and we're not even into June yet. Call me crazy, but I'm already over summer and am looking forward to fall (and I'm sure that no one agrees with me on this! =). I'd like to go to the pool a few times, but other than that summer can just be gone already as far as I'm concerned. I'm a real sissy when it comes to heat tolerance.

Speaking of summer, I've been doing so much research when it comes to choosing sunscreen for us (especially for Cameron). I recently ran across the Environmental Working Group 2010 Sunscreen Guide, which basically rates consumer sunscreens and gives a run down of the potentially hazardous chemicals that are found in each one. Some of the chemicals in popular sunscreens make me wonder why the products are even on the shelves. If you know me, you know that I am a sun protection nazi (Jon refers to me as the SPF police), so finding the right blend is very important to me. I think I have decided between two: California Baby sunscreen (found at Target) and Badger sunscreen (found at Whole foods), both which use physical barriers instead of chemicals to protect from the sun.

Has anyone used either of these? What does your sunscreen rate? It's really hard for me to believe (and a little tough to swallow) that last summer I picked sunscreen for us based on how good the product smelled. What I wish I would have known- but better late than never.

Anyway, have a great Memorial Day weekend! Make sure you lather up with plenty of sunscreen (or the SPF police might come get you).

I got nothin'.

2010-05-17T10:57:00.001-05:00

We've been having a pretty quiet, somewhat uneventful couple of weeks and I have to say I like it! As you can see though, that has translated in nothing interesting to blog about. March and April were so busy for us, I guess it's nice to have a little down time before our busy summer season (read: birthdays and BBQ's every weekend) hits.
A few updates:
I had a wonderful Mothers Day! Cam and Jon got me a beautiful coral and red hibiscus plant. I can't wait to cut off a bloom and wear it in my hair on a fun date. I also got a couple of hours to lay in bed that afternoon, uninterrupted. It was blissful!

Our 3 year anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks. Initially we thought we'd go to Vegas for a few nights, but that plan fizzled. Then we considered going to Kansas City for a night, but the closer time gets, we are considering a just staying in town, going to a nice dinner, possibly getting a hotel for the night and letting Cam stay with his Grandma.

My spending freeze is going well! I've only been to Target once in the past couple weeks (as opposed to 5-6 times in a few weeks!) and I have realized that Target is indeed the enemy of my wallet.
Anyway, I promise regular (more interesting) blogging will pick up soon. Have a great week!

A little on Cameron at 17 months.

2010-05-03T20:22:00.006-05:00

Cameron has always watched us use the bathroom for as long as I can remember (anyone else bring their little kids into the bathroom while they go, or are we weird?). When I'm home with him during the day, I always announce loudly to him that "momma has to go potty!" He'll usually follow me in the bathroom and get into the cabinets, brush his teeth, or attempt to unroll a mega wad of toilet paper. Anyway, several weeks ago he indicated that he wanted to "go" potty too- so I stripped his diaper off and plopped his little bottom on the toilet, holding him so he wouldn't fall in. He didn't do anything but sit there and squeel in delight. He sure seemed proud of himself for sitting on the toilet! I took him off, and he shut the lid and flushed (just as I do).
I was a little taken back by the fact that a) he wanted to sit on the potty, and b) he knew what to do when he was "finished". Ever since then, he has wanted to go potty several times per day. He'll squeeze his diaper, and I ask "do you need to go potty?" to which he answers "yeah!" and then runs to the toilet and waits for me to take his diaper off. He has yet to, um... produce any results yet, but will just sit there and giggle the whole time.
I'm pretty sure he hasn't made the connection that sitting on the potty is actually meant to produce results, so to speak- but I'm going to keep rolling with his interest in wanting "go potty." It's more than likely just a phase, but some of the potty training info I've read suggests that some children show interest in potty training as early as 18 months, and that parents should follow their cues. Cool! =) I'll spare you the picture of him on the toilet (which I find so cute, of course) and share some other recent pictures taken in his 17th month!

He loves his picnic table!

We have a paddle boat that we use quite a bit, so we wanted to get Cam a life jacket so he could cruise around our lake with us.

Helping dad catch a few fish!

My goodness, I just think he's so handsome! It's hard to believe that we're nearly half way to 2 years. That's crazy to think about!

The laundry angels are rejoicing for me.

2010-05-02T18:17:00.001-05:00

I heard them singing when we popped into Lowe's Wednesday evening to look at a new washer and dryer set. We had no intent to buy a set right then and there, but every time I opened the washer to look how spacious it was (I could practically fit my old washer inside the new one!) I heard them singing. We bought it right then and there. It probably helped that I told my husband that he would have to take our comforters to the laundromat this time around- and he wasn't having that.
At that point, we hadn't sold our old set yet, so I planned to list them on Craigslist when I got home. I was a little depressed when I looked in the appliance section to find every 5th post selling a washer and dryer set. And most for around $100 bucks! We had already discussed selling ours for $400- and maybe that was a little too ambitious. We started at $350, and didn't get any calls. I re-listed them yesterday for $300 and got one call from a lady who said she would pay $250 for them. I told Jon we should just give in- because we'd be lucky to sell them for that price! He agreed, and delivered them to her for an extra $50, so we actually got $300 out of them. Not too shabby!

The brand new set was delivered yesterday and I think the Lowe's delivery dudes were a little taken back by my excitement and giddyness to see them at my front door step. Can you blame me, though? Look at those beauties! And what's more, they fit almost 3 times the load of my other washer, use far less water and energy, and are super quiet. I've gone into the laundry room a few times thinking the load had stopped, when it was still in fact, spinning away. I love these things! It might be a stretch to say I'll be better at staying on top of our laundry now, but that's my story right now, and I'm sticking to it.

Cameron's new wall art.

2010-04-25T20:52:00.004-05:00

Slowly but surely, Cameron's old nursery is being brought up to date with new furniture (no more changing table!) and some new wall art (no more watercolor animals!). I'm working on a small budget, so I'm making almost everything myself, and shopping other rooms in the house for items to be repurposed for his new room.
I wanted to pop in and share a special project I've been working on for him that will hang on the wall once the room is finished. A few months ago while browsing CB2 online, I saw this giant abacus in the wall art section. When I saw it, I knew I wanted it for his room, but the price was, well... pricey. Too pricey for use in a budget kids bedroom, anyway. Immediately I began studying it, trying to figure out a way I could re-create the piece for less. I bought a couple of small wood planks, 8 dowel rods, and 80 wooden toy car wheels that I hand painted (yep, all 80!) to use as the beads. After a few hours of work (except for the beads- that took a few days) the abacus is complete!

Still drying at this point!

Apologies for the cruddy pictures taken from the garage! That's where the abacus sits until I'm ready to hang it. Regardless, Cameron still plays with it all the time!

Painting all those beads was a little time consuming- but I couldn't find beads I liked that would also slide across the dowels easily. I love the way these turned out, and glad I took the time to do it. I'll post instructions soon (in case anyone is interested), but I ran into a problem because the frame of the abacus was a little wobbly. I tried to fix that problem by drilling a couple of too-big screws into the wood, and unfortunately split the wood on one of the planks in the process. I've actually decided to re-do the frame, and use much smaller screws to make it sturdy since it's going to get played with pretty frequently. No worries though, crafting the frame was SO simple and quick (unlike painting all those darn beads). And even after purchasing more wood for round 2 of the frame, the total cost for the supplies was just under $40.
I can't wait to get it hung in his new room! I'll definitely take better pictures. I'm going to build him a tall bookshelf from plans on the Knock-off Wood blog, and then the room will be complete!

Snippets.

2010-04-23T12:28:00.003-05:00

I've decided I'm putting myself on a spending freeze. I have spent SO much money this year- on clothes, make-up, random stuff from Target, etc... it's gotten a little out of hand, so I've decided that I'm absolutely not purchasing anything for myself until July. That's 3 months. I'll decide then if I want to extend it.

I've also decided that I'm starting a hardwood floor fund. My dream is to someday have a home full of beautiful hardwood floors. It's one of the first things I'd like to do once we move into a new home, and I'd love to be able to completely (or mostly) pay with cash. If the home already had them, the money could go toward something else! I love these:

source: houzz

Lately when Cameron gets "hurt" or bonks his big head (which is um, all the time), we have been kissing the spot to "make it feel better" in attempt to avoid a meltdown. Cameron has definitely caught on to the attention and will sometimes bonk his head (lightly) on something on purpose to receive kisses. I LOVE IT! hee!

I have complained for many years now about our washer and dryer set being so small- that I can't wash a king size comforter in it (I always take it to the laundromat) or wash more than 2 pairs of Jon's jeans and a few shirts at one time in it. Though the set is about 15 years old, it still works, so I suppose there wasn't really a need for a newer set. Well, all my complaining really paid off (ha!) because my husband said we could look for a new set if we sold our current set on craigslist. I'm so happy! Soon, I'll be able to get all of our laundry done in about 3 loads as opposed to 6 or 7! This doesn't really count toward my spending freeze, does it?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Weekend Recap

2010-04-20T13:00:00.001-05:00

*I realize it's now Tuesday- I meant to post this on Sunday evening, but fell asleep at my laptop before I uploaded the pictures. Monday came and went...*

If I were to request a perfect day for an outdoor wedding, I would ask for plentiful sun, a very light breeze, and a temperature of about 70 degrees. Saturday's weather was just that- so it worked out perfect that my friend could tie the knot under those very conditions. April weather in Kansas can bring snow, rain, thunderstorms and very unpleasant winds (as we have experienced for about 2 weeks straight), so an outdoor wedding can really be a gamble. In my opinion, Saturday was the most perfect day we've had all year.
It was such a fun weekend- and I am just now starting to feel like I am caught back up from the festivities. Cameron attended the wedding, but we took him to Grandma's to stay the night (his first night away from us!) so that we could enjoy ourselves and not have to chase after a toddler all evening. Here's a few pictures (out of about 100+ I took)from the wedding!
Congrats Carly and Branden!

It is finished!

2010-04-15T08:25:00.003-05:00

I finally finished building the little picnic table for Cameron! For awhile now, we've been thinking we wanted to purchase him a little outdoor table- we BBQ and eat outdoors almost everyday during the summer. So when I saw these plans from Knock off Wood, I knew I wanted to make it! It was pretty easy with all the right tools- and I cut the wood, stained it and made it myself (I only needed Jon for an extra hand leveling a few times). I love love love it! And the best part is that it only cost about $20 dollars in lumber- I already had the outdoor deck stain, nails and tools. That's less than half of a lot of other tables we were looking at for him.

I definitely have plans to build other things- I'm going to be building him a tall bookshelf for his room very soon. What do you think? Have you checked out the Knock off Wood's blog yet?

Home sweet home.

2010-04-11T20:12:00.006-05:00

This weekend we took a little road trip up to Nebraska to see some of my family. My grandpa recently moved there to a care home, and I hadn't seen him in several years (since my wedding, maybe?) , so I wanted to make a trip there to see him.

me, my grandpa, and my tired, crabby boy.

Saturday we went to the Omaha Zoo- which was really awesome. We have a very nice zoo here in Wichita, but the Omaha Zoo is on a whole different level. The attention to detail in each of the exhibits is outstanding. We got to the zoo right after opening, and by lunch time, it felt like Disney World because the Zoo was so crowded. It was so much fun (even though I only have a few pictures to show for it!)

Cameron and I battled colds all weekend, so needless to say, he was crabby for the majority of the weekend. We actually had one of the worst nights on Friday since he was a newborn; he was awake from 1:00am to about 5:45, tossing around the bed and wanting to play. I'm sure it was hard for him being in an unfamiliar place, sleeping in a pack and play that he's too big for, and being sick. We had a great time this weekend, but I'm sure glad we're home (especially after running out of gas just 8 miles from our house). I'm ready to take some Sudafed and call it a night!

Easter Sunday!

2010-04-04T15:51:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter everyone! I hope everyone had a great, relaxing weekend- I know I sure did. The weather couldn't be more perfect here (which is good- last Easter I froze in my dress!). Anyway, we started off at church, and the kids got to hunt for Easter eggs before we headed over to Jon's parents house for lunch with the whole family. I'm still recovering from a food induced coma, per usual after we eat there! It's hard to put the fork down when there's good home cooking. Here's a few pictures from our day:

It's usually Easter and Christmastime when I really wish I had a girl to dress up. All those cute frilly dresses and hats leave me so disappointed when I move to the boys side in search for something half way decent. 95% of dressy boy sets aren't very cute, have weird colors, or have a huge teddy bear on it. I needed a nice little suit for Cameron, and one that wasn't 50 dollars. I walked into Burlington Coat Factory and found this cute linen suit set (pants, shirt, coat and tie) for just $20. I couldn't believe how adorable it was, and it was so cheap! He was the cutest kid at church, if I do say so myself! =)
Cameron sure does love splashing in water. He kept saying "Bath!! Bath!!" and tried to climb in a dozen times.

Weekend projects.

2010-03-29T09:57:00.003-05:00

I accomplished quite a bit of stuff around the house this weekend, and even managed to spend most of the day outdoors on Sunday. It's SO nice outside and this week I think we're going to see temps reach the 80's!
Anyway, I'm really getting down to business trying to take Cameron's nursery and make it more of a "big boy" room. Truth be told, I'm totally over the baby green paint and framed watercolor animals on the walls. This weekend I got his bedroom all painted, dyed the curtains I made, and worked on a few other elements that are going in there. I'm really excited about a special little project I'm making for him, and I can't wait to finish it and share it with you guys. Here are the drop cloth curtains I made awhile back:
And dyed blue:
The picture is a little dark, but I just wanted to take a quick picture of the navy blue color I dyed them. I wanted to dye them because there was no contrast between them and the wall color.
I'm also going to remove the changing table and bring in a tall bookshelf which, I am contemplating building myself. Have you guys seen the Knock off wood blog? Ana posts plans so that you can build furniture items similar to what you'd buy at Pottery Barn, West Elm and Crate and Barrel. Since you build it yourself, you save TONS of money from the mark up costs that those stores charge you! All you pay for is the lumber, and with a little sweat equity, you can have some amazing furniture. I actually just went to Lowe's to pick up some lumber for a kid's picnic table I'm going to build this week- I'm SO excited! Of course, I'll post pictures when I'm done.
Anyone do anything fun this weekend? Accomplish any projects?

"Sooner than later"

2010-03-25T12:29:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago I opened up to answer any questions that readers of this blog might have about me. One of the questions asked: "Any thoughts on baby #2?" It's actually a question we get pretty frequently (I'm sure most married couples can relate!) and I never mind answering. Anyway, my answer was "yes- and sooner than later." That was my plan. It's always been my plan to have children that are fairly close in age- I've never minded the idea of having 2 kids in diapers, 2 kids in braces, 2 kids in college.
The problem is, what if that's not God's plan? A few days after I typed "sooner than later" we found out I was pregnant. I was excited! Our kids would be exactly 2 years apart. Perfect! Only problem was it didn't seem to line up with God's plan for our family- and I miscarried a few days later. I'm totally at peace with our loss- and more than anything it really goes to show that you can't map out your plan in life without praying for God's direction. All to often I paint a pretty picture in my mind of how our life should look (anyone else do that?) but I forget that God has the upper hand here. So this week, I've been counting my blessings- I have SO many- and I know that in God's time we'll be blessed again. In the meantime, check out one of the greatest blessings I've ever received!He LOVES wagon rides!

He helps me out with the laundry by pulling everything out and then climbing in! =)

My future artist! I love his little scribbles (so long as they aren't on the furniture).
The weather has really been beautiful lately- I'm really hoping to get out and get some new photos of him soon!

A basement update.

2010-03-19T12:52:00.001-05:00

So the painting downstairs has been done for awhile now- and I love it. Like, LOVE it. I ended up settling on Valspar's Frappe- my perfect greige. I'll admit that when I started rolling it on I was a little sad- it looked far more "beige" than grey. And I didn't want beige. But as the paint dried, I started to like it. And after a few days, I loved it!
Before: the grey/blue/green: I still love this color- it was just hard to deal with our entire basement being this color. Better suited for a bathroom, I think.
After: Valspar's Frappe... and ready for endless decor possibilities/accent colors.

I really wanted a greige primarily because I needed this paint to do double duty in the basement. I wanted the warmth of beige, as our leather couches are a dark brown. I also wanted the coolness of grey, because our office furniture (in the corner of the living room) is steel. Depending on the time of day and the amount of sunlight, the color is both warm and cool. I also happen to think that the color compliments the wood toned trim much better than the grey/blue it was previously.

clearance upholstery fabric I found- possibly some throw pillows?

So now, I just need to find my pops of color! My problem is that I'm not a person who can go out and just buy things to fill a room. I'm picky. I like to collect items over time, and from various places- not all in one Saturday at Pier 1 Imports. In fact, it could very well take a few years before the room feels finished, and that's OK. I've been in love with this neat fish print in the picture above (found via The Nest)- but I can't seem to locate the owner of the inspiration picture, nor find anything similar. So I've decided I'm going to paint a replica of it myself (probably not for a few months, though). I love the colors used and I'm just so drawn to the composition! I think it would be perfect to put on one of the walls down there.
Anyone still following? =) My ideas are all over the place, but I just wanted to give you guys an update. What do you think?

Happy St. Patrick's & the Flipnotes winners!

2010-03-17T20:15:00.000-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Anyone do anything festive? We all wore our green and headed out to breakfast early this morning, and then braved the chilly weather at the zoo for a bit. It's Spring Break here and the zoo was packed!
And now, onto the winners... Congrats to Murdock Mama (winning the brown) and Jen J. (winning the purple)!! I drew winners the old-fashioned way, choosing the names out of a bowl! If you two winners could email me your info (name + shipping address) to jhawks482 at gmail dot com, I'll get them right out to you. Congrats!
I have also decided, that after looking at and playing with these flipnotes notebooks all weekend that I'm going to have to get one for myself. What initially drew me in was how cute they were- that white little pad tucked into a sleek metal shell. But they are also spring loaded- so when you slide the pen out... it flips open! I can just see Cameron entertaining himself for hours with it- Open! Close! Open! Close! Open! Anyway, I found so many cute ones online at Wellspring Gifts. Here are a few of my faves:

Aren't they cute? I love them!

The bachelorette dress & answered questions.

2010-03-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I did, though it went way too fast. This weekend was my friend's bachelorette party- and I wore the cutest dress made by my sister (thanks, sis!). I blogged here about the inspiration dress from Express- and here's what my dress ended up looking like:
I wore a cheapo necklace from Claire's that I already had, and my Joan & David platforms that I already owned as well. Here's another pic:

My BF's, sorority sisters and college roommates.

I seriously love this dress. I got several compliments on it! This weekend was a blast- but it definitely proved that I am TOO old to stay out so late. The time change didn't help either. Oh well, I had so much fun! And now, to answer a few questions that I got the other day:

MrsMessi asked...What about your body during the first week post-partum surprised you the most? I had a lot of swelling in my ankles the first week post partum. They had almost tripled in size! My belly went down pretty quickly (but resembled a deflated balloon found behind a couch 2 weeks after the party, if you know what I mean). I remember buying clothes while I was still pregnant (to wear after the baby) and I would buy everything a size up from my normal clothing. To my surprise, most of those clothes I bought ended up being too big and droopy after just a few weeks. I had a c-section, so there was a lot of pain- but I felt pretty good as long as I was on top of taking my pain killers.
Joi asked...Any thoughts/plans for baby #2? We definitely want one more baby, and sooner than later. I'd love to have a little girl, but my husband constantly informs me that "he doesn't make girls." =) On the other hand, it might be kinda fun to be the queen of a house full of boys!
Megan asked...Is Cameron a picky eater? Yes, but I don't think he's picky beyond what's normal for a kid his age. He loves anything cheese, so I've learned that if I want him to eat his veggies, they have to be hidden in it. One idea that has worked really well for us are cheese quesidillas. I'll buy whole wheat tortillas, shredded cheese, and add things like chopped turkey, chicken, broccoli, carrots, etc. He also really isn't in to fruits right now, so I'll give him a cup of 100% fruit juice at breakfast, promising 2 whole fruit servings! A few other tips: I heard somewhere that if a kid refuses a certain food or vegetable, that you should still offer it to them until he refuses it 10 times. Sometimes it just takes them that long to realize that they like or dislike something. Also, it's your job to provide your child healthy options. It's their job to eat it. In other words, don't force them to eat a particular food. If they aren't eating their carrots, try again in a few days, or a few weeks. Some days they'll eat it, other days they won't. I have found lots of great food ideas at weelicious.com, too.
Meredith asked...What's the best vacation you've been on? Our honeymoon to Hawaii is definitely one of my favorites. We visited the islands of Oahu and Kauai. There are so many reasons (and not enough time!) I could list why I think Hawaii is an amazing place- but the spirit of Hawaii and its beauty is something I can't describe. One of my other favorite vacations- for very different reasons- was a road trip to Durango, Colorado (blogged here ). If I could have a second home anywhere in the States, it would be in Colorado somewhere, preferably Durango. It's so breathtaking there.
...and what's the best meal you make? I love making Giada DiLaurentis' Turkey Meatballs when I have time. I also make tacos quite a bit, per the request of the husband. I fry the tortillas in a little bit of Canola oil, and serve them with taco meat, and all the fixings.
...how did you guys decide to have Cameron (or did you)? We weren't really trying but we weren't really preventing either. =)

Thanks to everyone who asked questions! Don't forget to enter my giveaway below if you haven't already. Wednesday is the last day!

A giveaway!

2010-03-12T12:44:00.008-06:00

Contest is now closed!
One of my favorite paper goods shops, Bradley Paper has the cutest stationary, beautiful papers, gift items, and more (it's where I print most of the invitations I design!). It's similar to The Paper Source, but it's locally owned and I love giving them my business.

My 100th follower giveaway comes from my favorite paper shop. I found these cute FlipNotes paper pads- perfect for jotting down important numbers, grocery items and other memos! I always like to carry a little notepad in my purse. What I love about these is that the shell is metal and durable- so when they inevitably get thrown down the bottom of your purse, the paper doesn't get crinkled or bent up. I'm giving away two of these- yep there's going to be two winners! I'm also throwing in paper refills, and a fun strawberry/watermelon scented pen (reminiscent of my days in grade school) with each one.

To enter:

All you have to do to enter is be a follower if you aren't already, and leave a comment telling me which color you'd prefer if you are chosen! It's that easy.

I can only ship in the United States.

You can only enter once, and you have until Wednesday, March 17th at 5 pm to do so. I'll choose 2 winners Wednesday evening at random, and announce the winners as soon as I choose them.

Good luck, friends! I appreciate that people take the time to read my blog and leave sweet comments- so thanks! Have a fantastic weekend- I'll be back on Sunday to answer all the questions a few of you had. And if you have a burning question, it's not to late to ask me anything (in the post below) !

Blog-cation.

2010-03-09T13:20:00.003-06:00

That's what I've been up to lately. A vacation from my blog. I'm in the middle of tons of projects, with no real pictures to show or updates to tell you about. So, in lieu of writing another post of boring snippets, I'd like to take this opportunity to see if any of you have any questions for me or about me? That's right- this is your chance to ask me anything- anything at all (that isn't too personal or yield an answer that might make my mom's jaw drop). So go ahead, ask away! I'll be back with answers to the questions soon.
Also, I'll have a little giveaway by the end of the week-so definitely stay tuned!

Snippets

2010-03-03T09:08:00.002-06:00

I'm a little scatterbrained right- I've got a million projects going on right now, so snippets seemed like an appropriate post.

We had the best day Sunday (or, funday Sunday as we like to call them) last weekend. We started the day off at church, came home and took naps, and went to a hockey game that evening in our city's brand spanking new arena- it was really awesome and huge.
You may or may not know Jon owns a moving business, and therefore has several box trucks that he uses to move people. Back in November, someone stole the batteries out of 3 of the trucks- and truck batteries are quite expensive. It was a crappy blow, as the holidays are a slow time for business. A police report was filed, this week Jon got a notice to appear in court- looks like they caught the guys who stole the batteries! We're praying that we get the batteries back or get paid for the new ones that had to be purchased.

I've got the whole basement primed and ready for paint in the next few days! I've been working on painting during every free second I have, it seems. Having our living room out of commission is such a pain- especially with our curious Cameron who likes to get into everything that's out of order down there.

Not sure if there are any basketball fans (or Kansas basketball fans?) out there, but tonight there's HUGE game on the line for KU. #2 KU is playing #5 Kansas State. The game is at KU, where they have a 59 home game winning streak at stake- the longest running in the Nation. I am a so nervous for them, I'm not even sure I can stomach watching it.

Weekend to-do list.

2010-02-26T08:07:00.003-06:00

Happy Friday! Did this week seem to fly by for anyone else? I really have a lot on my mind as far as things I need to do around the house. So I'm writing out my list here for myself and anyone else who cares to know what I'll be up to this weekend. =)

Buying primer for the basement. I mentioned to my husband about my desire to repaint down there. He said "The whole thing?" "Yep!" I replied, "the whole thing!!!" I haven't got the color chosen just yet, but we have a lot of priming ahead of us so I figure we'd better start.
Going back to the fabric store for some clearance fabric I saw last week that would be perfect for some throw pillows in the basement.
Finishing artwork for Cam's new room.
Buying paint for Cam's new room. I'm also 95% sure I'm going to dye the curtains I made too. My mind is always changing. =)
We're also going to start the 30 day shred this weekend! My goal isn't to lose weight at all- just an overall toning and tightening. We're going to take before and after pictures- so it will be interesting to see some results (hopefully!)

Also to do this weekend is deciding on a little giveaway for my wonderful blog readers! I'm approaching 100 followers which is crazy awesome. Keep your eye out for it! Anyone else have any big plans for the weekend?

Snippets.

2010-02-21T20:26:00.003-06:00

Before Christmas, I bought some awesome flannel snowman & Christmas tree sheets at Target for just $15 bucks. I wasn't thinking they would be that great or soft- especially for the price I paid- and for a King set! I was wrong. And you know what? Those sheets are still on our bed, 8 weeks post Christmas. I can't bear to take them off- they're so warm and soft. I thought that if I had them taken off by mid-spring, I'd be cool, but I think it's finally time. I think I'll be more excited to put them back on for the holidays this year if they aren't on our bed until Memorial day.

I think I'm going to repaint our entire basement. Awhile back, I asked (in this post) for you guys' suggestions for accent colors, accessories and other ways to make the living room feel complete. I got some wonderful ideas, but finding items and artwork that compliment such a dramatic color has proved to be difficult. Plus, all our furniture is dark, and I really feel it's time for a lighter, more neutral color. I'm thinking something like this: the perfect greige.

Source: YHL

Almost every day this past week, I have checked our trees for signs of swelling green buds on their branches. I hate bare trees and shrubs- I am so anxious to see some life on them again!

My sister is going to make me a dress for my friends bachelorette party. We're aiming for a style like this, from Express:Looks like a fun party and summer dress, huh? I stopped in last week to try it on in the store to make sure I liked it and looked good on me. I LOVED it, but didn't love the $69.50 price tag. I am so excited to have it made and wear it!
Friends, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

A Cameron overload and a few thoughts on toddlerhood.

2010-02-13T14:03:00.013-06:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything about Cameron- and since I don't do the monthly updates anymore, I figure it's time to post some pictures! I also wanted to jot down a few of my thoughts about his little life after his first birthday. I know there are several of my blog friends who are new moms, and moms to be, so maybe you'll benefit from my note-taking. =)

A little about Cameron at 14 months:
It was so much easier to feed Cameron a few months ago. Purees were such a breeze. I took pride in the fact that he would eat anything and everything, including veggies- which now he will only eat if the veggie is disguised in cheese. Yes, his favorite foods these days are grilled cheese, mac n' cheese, cheese pizza, shredded cheese, broccoli and cheese... you get the trend. Definitely not lacking Calcium!He loves to read!

Cameron sleeps from 8pm- 7:30/8am, with about a 2.5-3 hour nap in the afternoons.

I don't know if I have mentioned it, but Cameron is quite a ladies man. At Panera the other day, he was flirting and laughing with some pretty girls at the table next to us the whole entire time we were there. I'm pretty sure they didn't even get a conversation in between themselves, because Cameron made sure he was he center of their attention. He also flirts with every waitress we have- including one the other day, whose skirt was a little too short- so he made sure to let her know that by glancing up it every time she returned to our table.

9 times out of 10, if Cameron is missing in action, he can be found playing in the toilet.

Cameron loves to walk around with a pen and pad of paper in hand, scribbling and drawing "pictures" (ha!). I hope he loves to color when he gets a bit older, because I still enjoy it and would love to color in books with him!
When Cameron was born, he looked a lot like me. His dark brown eyes and brown skin tone definitely proved he was my son! But as he gets older, one of the first things people say is how much he looks like his dad. Fine by me, I think his dad is the most handsome man I know!

Developmentally, he seems to be right on track. He "talks" up a storm, can answer a question with a "ya" or "no", can make a lot of animal sounds (thanks to our fridge farm!), can throw and kick a ball, and can climb pretty much anything- including our bar-height dining chairs! He's wearing mostly 18month-2T shirts, and 18 month pants.
A little about my thoughts on the toddler stage:
Each month I always say "this is the funnest age!" But really, this is such a fun age. I love that he understands most of what we say. He is full of energy and life, and is a constant source of entertainment. I feel like he is fairly obedient right now- we have been firm at establishing some boundaries, but I also feel like he's able to be a toddler too. I wish I could say that it would always be this easy!

There was a discussion on The Nest forums the other day about the changes you go through when you have a new baby; how hard things can be and how emotionally and physically exhausting it all is to adjust to your new life. My comment was a nod in agreement, but I also mentioned that it never really gets any easier per se- it just gets different. You get into a routine, so in that respect, things flow smoother, and you seem to get your life back when you can catch an amazing 6-7 hours of solid sleeping. Things got easier for awhile- but here recently I feel like I spend a majority of the day sweeping up food chunks and crushed crackers off the floor, picking up toys (again and again) wiping his nose (and wiping my jeans off because he wiped his nose on my them), putting tupperware back into the drawer, chasing after him... it's downright exhausting. And he's a great kid- we're not even into the terrible two's yet.
Despite that it's a tough job being a ~~parent to a toddler~~ parent in general, I cannot even put into words the joy and blessing he brings to us on a daily basis. Our lives have been enriched tenfold. It's difficult to hear about the things you will sacrifice when you do become a parent. 'Cause lets be honest- giving up your blissful sleep and all your free time for the next, oh, 18 years hardly sounds appealing- that is until you see firsthand all the joys that far outweigh it. There's nothing I wouldn't sacrifice to be my son's mom. Nothing.
I just love him, and think he is the cutest kid (obviously, like most parents think of their own children)!

A few Invitations

2010-02-12T12:00:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned a few times that my friend and old college roommate is tying the knot in just a few short months (yay!!). I created her bridal shower invite, and finished up her wedding invitation some time before Christmas. Though it's been done for awhile, but we just got it back from the printer a few weeks ago- and I've been dying to show it to you guys. This was my first wedding invitation I've ever designed- and I'm really pleased with the outcome. More importantly, she is too! =)

Carly didn't really have anything particular in mind for her invitations- so I could really take this in a lot of directions. She's having a spring outdoor wedding, and her bouquet is going to have yellow calla lilies in it, so I thought it would be a great idea to showcase the botanical aspect of her wedding by bringing the calla lily silhouette into the invitation. The paper has a beautiful shimmer to it- these pictures unfortunately don't do these invitations quite the justice they deserve!

After seeing a few of the invites I've designed and showed you guys, one of my wonderful blog readers, Jen, asked if I could design an invite for a shower she's hosting at the end of the month. She's doing a 1940's vintage housewife theme, and asked if I could incorporate that into an invitation.

My professors in college always stressed that packaging is part of the design process!

This particular assignment required me to do some (fun) homework: researching vintage ads. Surprisingly, as an art major in college I never really did this, but I have a brand new love for vintage advertising. At the risk of sounding cheesy- looking at old ads captivated me so much and I could literally study them for hours. I'm currently on the hunt for a coffee table book on vintage advertising!
Anyway, just wanted to share my passion and hobby with you all. I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's weekend (whether you celebrate or not)! We don't do a whole lot, but I am trying out a new recipe for pasta bolognese sauce. It takes 3 hours to make, so I hope I enjoy the fruits of my labor! Do you have any plans? Are you going out or staying in?

Superbowl, party of 2 1/2.

2010-02-08T09:07:00.002-06:00

Last night's festivities got pushed aside due to my 2 sick boys who have been both been whining, hacking and coughing all weekend. We actually had a couple of invitations to some low key get-togethers, and I was really looking forward to enjoying some great food and drinks while watching the game with friends. Since that didn't happen, we all just hung out by ourselves, and in lieu of wings, chili, and dip I made my homemade chicken noodle soup!
I want to share this recipe- because I have yet to find a better chicken noodle soup recipe, and it's wicked easy. And since that little Groundhog saw his shadow the other day, it looks like we're in for 6 more weeks of winter- meaning you'll need some new cold weather recipes!
What's perfect about this recipe is that you can customize it how you like. If you are in a hurry, you can used canned chicken (which is excellent in soups), or you can take a little more time and make your own broth and cook the chicken. The secret, is the Reames Frozen Egg Noodles. My dad always made chicken noodle soup with them, and I still use them because they are so good. You can find them at pretty much any grocer (including Sam's Club, in bulk) in the freezer section.

Chicken Noodle Soup:
5 (10 oz.) cans of Chicken Broth (I use Campbell's)
1-2 broth cans full of water
12 or 16 oz. bag of frozen Reames Homestyle Egg Noodles
12 oz can of Tyson canned chicken or 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1 large carrot, chopped
1 tbs (give or take) dried parsley flakes

salt and pepper to taste
optional additions: celery, onion, or whatever you like in your chicken noodle soup.

Bring the broth and water to a boil. Add the frozen noodles, and bring back to a boil. Add the rest of the ingredients, reduce to a simmer, and continue to simmer according to the noodle package directions, about 25 minutes (more or less depending on how you like your noodles, more firm or soft.)
I like to serve the soup with warm garlic breadsticks to dip into!
The measurements are rough estimates- you can add more chicken, more veggies, or use reduced sodium broth, all according to your diet and how YOU like it! Enjoy!

A "new" camera!

2010-02-03T20:40:00.000-06:00

"New" to me, anyway. =)
This old Ihagee Patent Duplex plate camera belonged to my grandpa. He's having to downsize his belongings because he moved into a nursing home- so I became the lucky new owner of this time piece. I haven't been able to exactly pinpoint the year that this camera was made, but based upon the research I have done, it seems as if it was manufactured in Germany sometime in the late 1920's or early 1930's.

A little about it:
Ihagee (founded in 1912) was a company that manufactured cameras out of Dresden, Germany until 1945 when the factory was bombed and destroyed in World War 2.

source

After the war, only a few new cameras were produced by Ihagee, and in the end, the German company couldn't keep up with the technological advances in Japan (who went on to produce cameras like Minolta and Nikon) and the Western World. Foreign ownership also led to Ihagee's demise.

source

I love this vintage camera ad (circa 1938). See the bottom right? That one is mine. =) Researching the origin and history of this camera has been so interesting. I'd really like to learn how it was used, even though it will just be a display piece. It's definitely a prized possession to me and I feel so lucky to have it!

Come on in! (excuse the mess)

2010-02-03T18:44:00.001-06:00

We finally moved!

We are loving our new home and it's a complete blank slate as far as decorating goes. I'm excited to get to work!

Master bedroom, Jon's closet

Master bedroom

Master Bath

My closet! The whole thing is MINE! =)

Backyard- I love the view and it has a large, covered deck. I can't wait to sit out there in the evenings!

Basement- we're going to get started finishing it right away- it will have 2 additional rooms, a bathroom and a living room.

Come on in! (excuse the mess)

2010-02-03T18:44:00.000-06:00

We finally moved!

We are loving our new home and it's a complete blank slate as far as decorating goes. I'm excited to get to work!

Master bedroom, Jon's closet

Master bedroom

Master Bath

My closet! The whole thing is MINE! =)

Backyard- I love the view and it has a large, covered deck. I can't wait to sit out there in the evenings!

Basement- we're going to get started finishing it right away- it will have 2 additional rooms, a bathroom and a living room.

Curtain Call.

2010-02-02T15:15:00.001-06:00

So I'm in the beginning stages of taking Cameron's nursery and updating it to a big boy room. Awhile back, I saw the idea for inexpensive curtains made with canvas drop cloths floating around on the internet; I never saved the picture or bookmarked the link, but I still remember how amazed I was seeing beautiful linen looking curtains made out of this fabric that was found at a hardware store.
I ventured out to Lowe's about a week ago to see if I could find this canvas drop cloth. Sure enough, I spotted it in the paint section. I grabbed a 6'x9' size and was on my way. At just $9.48, I figured I didn't have much to lose if they didn't turn out.
I decided that I wanted to make extra-long panels with grommets (found at Hobby Lobby), and after a few hours of measuring and cutting, and about 30 minutes of sewing, I had 2 custom made canvas drapes. I never hung curtains in Cameron's nursery, but I've had a curtain rod sitting around for awhile that I've been wanting to use. So up it went (with my pink Black and Decker drill, no less), and Cameron's big boy room is now under way!

The price breakdown:
2 canvas drop cloths: $19.00 ($9.48 x 2)
2 packages of grommets $ 12.00 ($10 x 2, with 40% of coupons at Hobby Lobby)
Grand total: $31 bucks! That's pretty darn cheap for 2 extra long panels, considering these canvas panels from Pottery Barn Kids are $59 for ONE panel. Um, no thanks!

And in case you're wondering:
These canvas drop cloths have finished seams on ALL sides. If you measured right, these are virtually ready to hang with no sewing involved. You wouldn't have to use grommets; you could use clips, too.
I have about a Jr. High level of sewing experience. Literally, I took Home Ec in 7th grade and if I recall correctly, passed. I couldn't even remember how to thread the machine (thanks, mom!)- all I did was pressed that pedal and sewed a straight seam to keep the the edges from fraying.
After I cut the first panel, I realized that I'd need to go get another package of canvas for a second panel. Silly me didn't pre-measure Cameron's window or the drop cloth very accurately- so realistically, I probably could have bought 1 larger canvas piece and gotten 2 out of it had I taken more time to measure everything out.
I also washed the canvas before measuring and cutting; it made the fabric softer and less "canvas" smelling.
What do you think? I think I'll definitely be making most of our curtains from now on- the possibilities are endless!

I'm becoming one of "those" moms.

2010-01-27T20:35:00.007-06:00

Y'know... those moms.
The type of mom who I used to give a huge eye roll to when they would do something that I swore I would never do when I became a mom. You know the type. And if you don't have kids, you're probably guilty of mumbling a form of the following statement: "I'll never do that when I become a mom!"
The backstory:
The year was 2005. I wasn't married yet and I didn't have any children. I did, however, work in a nice department store selling men's and kids shoes. It was a great job- I made good money and I often fed my hard earned dollar right back to the store where I worked. Anyway, one of the biggest pet peeves I had from working there came from "those" moms who shopped with their kids there. Most would buy their kids a pair of shoes, and I wouldn't see them again for a few months. And that's how I liked it, thank you. But there were a select few (what I call "those" moms) who would shop the clearance table for cheap off-season shoes that their kids could wear the following year. And our conversation would go something like this:
That mom: "Excuse me, Miss?? What size will my child wear next winter?"
Me: "Um, yeah... I couldn't really tell you that for sure."
That mom: "Well, he's 3 feet 5 inches, 8 years old, and will be in 3rd grade in the fall!"
Me "Oh, well then! Let me pull out my handy magic calculator and plug that info right in!"

In case you're wondering, I usually left out that last part. But you can imagine why I told myself I would NOT be one of those moms who would buy their kids shoes several seasons in advance to save a few dollars. Those moms were annoying and hardly contributed to the commission on my check. (Yikes! That's harsh.)
I ate my words today. You see, Target is having a stellar sale on kids clothes right now. Actually, Target is having a stellar sale on just about everything right now. I bought Cameron a pair of snowboots for $3.75 (regularly $14.99!) yesterday. I got home and realized that it would be really nice if I could get him a pair for next year, too. A quick google search tells me the approximate size for 2 year olds, and I rush back to the store for another pair.
And just like that, I'm one of those moms I said I'd never be. I fear it's only the beginning.
So what about you? Are you one of "those" moms? Or are you the type that says "I'll never be one of those moms!" (who will most likely eat their words)?

5 observsations in grocery shopping.

2010-01-21T14:57:00.004-06:00

Observation 1: For the past, oh, year or so, Jon and I have been doing the grocery shopping together. I think the family affair took shape when Cameron was born, when I didn't want to go by myself- maneuvering a cart full of groceries and a baby and carseat hardly sounded like a situation I wanted to put myself in. We'd go to the store, spending 200 dollars on food and a package of diapers, only to come home not having anything to eat for dinner that evening.
Observation 2 : Back then, I didn't meal plan, nor did I clip coupons.
Observation 3: The last few months, I get the dreaded "do I have to go?" question- and my answer was always "Yes- unless you keep Cameron while I go!" He did, and I went by myself.
Observation 4: I started making a list containing ingredients for about 10 meals (so we didn't have to go for another 2 weeks), and BOY has our bill dropped. I do get fun items too- but I hardly shop for anything that isn't on the list.
Observation 5: Last night- Jon went to Aldi's (a "discount" grocer- anyone heard of it?) without me, in search of some chicken nuggets. He spent $80 and came home with:

3 different types of chicken nuggets- dino shaped for Cameron, 2 bags of regular nuggets, and a bag of popcorn chicken.
Popcorn shrimp
Cheese in a can
A deep dish pizza
2 regular frozen pizzas
Pizza pockets
Peppermint Coffee Creamer that tasted like Listerine
2 bags of chips
some type of frozen "cheese" appetizer in a black bean shell (?)
Pork rinds

Maybe he forgot he was married to a nutritional label freak? Maybe he thought he could reminisce the days of what his fridge looked like as a bachelor? At any rate, it's clear that he will not be assisting me to the grocery store anymore. It will be better for ~~my sanity~~ our wallets and our waistlines.
How about you? who does the grocery shopping for your household?

A snippet, of sorts.

2010-01-17T13:19:00.005-06:00

Please accept my apologies in advance- this post has no pictures! =)

Today's sermon at church put me in check. I like those types of sermons- and it's been awhile since I've heard one that really hit me.
This last week, Jon and I looked at a house. We're not actively searching for a home yet- but it's definitely in the near future. This home was 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, beautiful neighborhood. It's owned by Jon's cousin who is moving out of state and is having a tough time selling it. Ever since we looked at it, I have been absolutely consumed by the potential of everything the house has to offer. Consumed with seeing our kids grow up there, retiring there. It was glamorous. I'd have a craft room. Jon would have an office. Storage beyond our wildest dreams. And the price was NICE.
In the back of my mind, I knew that this particular house wasn't for us, but somehow I couldn't stop thinking about it. What was eating me up inside was the fact that thinking about it this week consumed me- leaving me ungrateful for the home, blessings and life I do have. And that this house- an earthly treasure had caused me to lust after it. Not to mention- the conviction I was having for lusting after something like that when people in Haiti don't even have water or diapers for their kids.
Today at church, the pastor (who is also my father in law!) preached on living in the flesh, and being selfish. He was talking about himself- and how he needed to ask God to help him live in the Spirit- and to not be consumed by worldly possessions. Little did he know, he was talking to me, too. He then went on to point out that when we live in the flesh, we cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Or as we better know it "Lay your treasures not on this earth- but in Heaven where moth and dust don't corrupt. Wherever your treasures are, your heart will be also." (Matthew 6).
That was enough for me to leave the thought of this worldly possession- one that is clearly not what God wants me to have right now- in the rear view mirror. I have been mad at myself for letting myself get consumed until this morning, where I learned an important lesson (one I've definitely heard before, but had forgotten this week).
Good thing God is a loving, and forgiving God. I definitely needed his forgiveness.

My sweet little nephew.

2010-01-10T20:13:00.003-06:00

You may remember this little guy when I posted his birth announcement a little while back. He is now about 4 weeks old an growing like a weed!
I went to take some pictures of him today, and although we didn't end up with many good shots (he was tired and fussy), I thought this one was pretty good. The lighting perfectly highlights his sweet little cheeks. He is just so adorable!

Anyone up for a virtual vacation?

2010-01-07T14:19:00.003-06:00

A few Christmases ago, Jon and I drove to Chicago on a whim. We took our winter coats, but not much else- and when we got there, the heater in our truck broke. It was cold. I remember seeing a temperature sign on a bank that read -2 degrees, and I thought "This is the coldest temperature I've ever experienced in my life!" And it was- until today. With the windchill, we'll be sitting at -20 tonight, and I can almost guarantee that our heater won't get a break tonight. Being outside for 5 seconds makes your hands feel like you slammed them in a car door- so I'm camping inside unless I absolutely have to get out.
I'm willing to bet that most everyone reading this is experiencing cold or downright frigid temperatures right now (except for those in Hawaii who may be basking in the warm sun. ~~jerks~~. =) Being that it's January, and summer is light years away, I am in desperate need of a tropical vacation. Here's where I would go:

Oh, Hawaii, how I miss thee.
I'd drink a few of these:

I'd lay under a palm tree and pretend we're not in a deep freeze.

So where are you going?

"Can we keep him, ma?"

2010-01-05T13:30:00.003-06:00

Yesterday afternoon we saw this cute little dog running around outside, sans an ID collar. The high temp outside was about 25 degrees- WAY to cold for this little guy to be running around. He was shivering cold; we felt so bad and wanted to bring him in for awhile, but we new he wouldn't go back to his home if we did. Cameron did have fun playing with him at the door for about 45 minutes though! Someday soon we'll have to adopt a little pup for him- but for now, he'll have to be content with the alligator!

Back to the grind.

2010-01-03T15:16:00.005-06:00

Yesterday I hosted my friends wedding shower, and we had such a great turnout! The food and cake were prepared by others, so all I had to do was open (and clean) my home for the guests.

My boys wanted to stay for the shower. "The ladies will love us!" Jon assured.

I made Oreo Truffles for each of the guests to take home. Traditionally they are made with milk chocolate, but I wanted them to be white, so I made them with white chocolate. They were good, but milk chocolate was far better.

A fun game: Everyone drew a wedding day "look" for the bride. She chose her favorite and the winner got a prize. Some were really cute!

Are you glad the holidays are over? While I certainly enjoyed having nearly 3 weeks off from work, sleeping in until 8 and having lots of family time, It's time for a regular schedule to return. These past few weeks have been jam packed full of places to go, things to do, and people to see. I'm ready for a fresh New Year- and even more so, I'm ready for Spring's fresh palate to take over this winter we're in the heart of. Can I get an Amen?
I don't make resolutions, but I have a lot to look forward to this year, and I'm excited of the possibilities of a few surprises too. What are you looking forward to this year? Did you make any resolutions?

Holy grail products I can't live without!

2009-12-29T09:48:00.010-06:00

I rarely talk about beauty or hair products on my blog. I saw a "best of 2009" product list on an awesome beauty blog I discovered recently, Veronika's Blushing, and thought I'd give this a go too!
I have never really paid too much attention to make-up and hair product until recently, but after giving birth last year I have really noticed a dramatic change in my skin and hair (remember when I pretty much went bald?- glad that's over!). I started to pay attention to new products that would really work with the change in my skin and hair's texture. You'll notice I'm not true to one brand or another, but without further adieu, here's the products that made my holy grail list for 2009!

Best Liquid Foundation:
Mary Kay medium coverage foundation. I've actually used this for several years and am still really pleased with it. I've heard so many great things about the Revlon Colorstay line of foundations, so I think I might give it a try once my MK foundation runs out.

Best Bronzer:
Mary Kay signature Bronze highlighting powder. Since my skin is brown already, I use bronzing powder year round, and treat it like a blush. This one has a slight shimmer- but not noticeably glittery.

Best Blush:
Clinique's Soft pressed powder in Mocha pink. I got this as a freebie in Clinque's gift with purchase goodie bag. It's subtle, and for me, it gives a 'barely there' blush look on my cheeks.

Overall Favorite Eye Shadow Brand:
A few of my favorites have come from gift with purchase freebies- I love Clinique's line, and I also love Lancome and Stila's line's as well.

Best Eye product:
I cannot say enough good things about Urban Decay's Primer potion. My eyeshadow always creased within a few hours before discovering this base product. It also makes shadow pigment brighter and last longer.

Best Eyeliner:
Lancome Le Stylo Waterproof in Noir. Smudges nicely for a soft look, and stays put all day long.

Best Mascara:
I'm constantly switching mascaras. I heard great things about Covergirl's Lash Blast, but I hated the lash wand, and that was a deal breaker for me. Right now, I'm using the tail end of a freebie from Clinique- High Impact Mascara, and I really like it. I might have to go buy the full size product!

Best Lip Gloss:
I love C.O Bigelow's Mentha Lip Shine. I will end up losing (read: Cameron will hide) this product before it ever runs out. It's minty- so it freshens your breath and makes your lips SO soft.

Best Lipstick:
I don't ever wear lipstick, but when I need a little color, I like Chanel's glossimer in Giggle.

Outstanding Brush:
Sephora's Professional Brush line is AMAZING. The right brush makes all the difference in make-up application!

Best Shampoo/Conditioner Product:
I've been searching for better hair products this year, but haven't quite made the jump to salon grade products yet (I'm nervous about spending my hard earned dollar on something I might not love). I recently discovered L'oreal's EverPure line; it's botanically based and sulfate free (no harsh cleansers!) and the volumizing blend is perfect for my fine, delicate hair. It's also wallet friendly at about 7 bucks a pop. I should also mention that I can go 3 days between washings- which is almost unheard of when you have such fine hair!

Best Hair product:
BioSilk Silk Therapy. I use this as an iron guard when straightening my hair. It also can be used on skin too- and gives an the appearance of glowing, hydrated skin- awesome if you have an outfit that reveals winter-dry skin! I recall using this on around my neck and bustline on my wedding day for that extra glow.

MVP (Most Valuable Product):
Without a doubt, Smashbox photo finish primer is my favorite product. It goes on underneath foundation for a flawless complexion, and make up stays put all day (and night!). I love how silky it feels, and it makes applying foundation so much smoother. A definite must have for drab, post-partum skin!!!!! (yes, I just used 5 exclamation points. It's that good.)

Runner Up:
Mary Kay's Micro dermabrasion kit. For me, a smooth skin palatte makes application look go on a lot easier, and look so much smoother. I use it about twice a week for fresh looking skin!

Okay, your turn!! What is your absolute favorite product? Or better yet, make a product list of your own and tell me about it!