On the Bright Side...

Trying to remind myself that the cup is half full...even on the rough days!

Thursday morning Javen woke up at 6AM. He decided it would be fun to take his steps out of his bathroom and into Liam's room (where Liam was sound asleep!!!) and use them to climb into Liam's crib and WAKE HIM UP.
On the bright side, we got to spend some family time together before Jake had to leave for work.

Also on Thursday morning while I was feeding Liam/half asleep and Jake had dozed off in the rocking chair, Javen decided to bathe himself in lotion. Hair, face, toes...any part of his body not covered by his p.j.'s. One glimpse at his lotion covered head made me want to break out into song..."grease lightning! go grease lightning!" (Can anyone name that movie?)
On the bright side, any time I needed lotion for my dry hands throughout the day I could just run my fingers through Javen's hair and be instantly moisturized.

I'm in the process of going through Liam's clothes and transitioning into the next size up/getting rid of some of the smaller clothes. I'm also realizing that just about all the hand-me-downs Javen has for Liam in the 9-12 month size are for winter and it's 100+ degrees outside right now.
On the bright side, a lot of stores are putting summer clothing on clearance to make room for their new fall merchandise. Hopefully I can get some good deals!!

Javen starts rearranging the flowers in the mason jar on the table. I tell him not to touch, please. He carefully starts inching closer again. I shoot him a warning look. He then grabs the jar to get a closer look inside and proceeds to dump water all over the table, chair, floor and himself. He then starts to cry because he's wet. He tries to get down off the chair, slips in the water on the floor and lands flat on his back. I can't decide if I'm going to lose it or pick him up, dry him off and hug him for a minute. I do the later, feeling a little bit sorry for him and also pretty ticked off he didn't listen the first time.
On the bright side, he's not really hurt and my computer (that was sitting inches away from the jar of flowers) was spared even one drop of water. We're still in business here folks.

Mommy had a looong day with a grumpy 2 year old and an off schedule 6 month old.
On the bright side, Daddy recognized a frazzled Mommy and sent her out on a girls night with a friend! AND I got to introduce her to my new favorite obsession drink: Metro Mint Water!

I found THE new bed spread for that would give our bedroom the face lift and pop of texture it needs. The color combination was made for my bedroom. I'm convinced of it. Unfortunately, it's from Pottery Barn and I'm not willing to shell out $129 for a new duvet.
On the bright side, there's just something exciting about hunting for a great knock off version that better fits the budget!

 On the bright side, it's Friday and it's a great day! How can I not be happy with this face looking up at me all day??

Green Life, Clean Life

This week was the women's event "31" at our church where my sister, Heather and I taught a class we called "Green Life, Clean Life". We taught how to clean green without breaking the bank (including making your own cleaning products!) as well as tips on re-purposing and recycling. It was so much fun and we had the best group of ladies in our class. It seemed more like hanging out with friends then actually teaching.

Quite a few of you have asked if I would start sharing some of my green cleaning tips on my blog and I think that's a great idea! I suppose this might be the "official" launch of the Green Life, Clean Life series! The plan (for now) is to post once a week some of the great tips I've learned along the way. They're just too good not to share! Also, if you have any questions, tips or ideas let me know in the comments (or email) and I'll do my best to find the answers!

*Disclaimer! I'm not a green cleaning expert or a trained/certified anything in the areas of green cleaning or recycling. I'm just a girl on a learning journey and I'm taking you with me!

So, why green cleaning?

I'll admit, my reasons for making the switch were not because of a guilty conscience about the affect of toxic cleaners on the environment. My reasons are the health, well-being and future of these two cuties!

My interest in green cleaning started when I was pregnant with Javen. All the pregnancy books I was reading warned against not cleaning while pregnant because being exposed to the cleaners could harm the baby. That got me thinking...if it's bad for my baby now, isn't it bad for me all the time? And won't it still be bad for my baby once he's born? Lucky for me, my Mom was already on the green cleaning/organic bandwagon so she helped jump start my green cleaning journey. (Thanks Mom!!)

I love that I don't have to worry about my kids coughing, sneezing and breathing in the toxic fumes from every day cleaners (all purpose, glass, tile, dish, laundry...everything has it!) Now I either make my own natural cleaners and/or use non-toxic,environmentally kid/pet friendly cleaners. I don't have to lock my cabinets containing my cleaning supplies because if one of my boys happens to get into them and consume the contents they'd pretty much be getting into vinegar.

Know what else is great about making your own cleaners? They're SO MUCH cheaper! I promise they are easy to make. (We'll get into that next week, I think this post is quite long enough!)

So stay tuned...I have so much to share...and so much to learn!

Liam's Thoughts...

on his first taste of applesauce...

Sorry about the sound delay...not sure what's up with that!

Top 10 Reasons Parenthood Makes You Skinny (in Theory)

10. You have to buy diapers at Walmart instead of that cheesy goodness crab dip at your favorite restaurant. Cheese and crab meat...it doesn't get any better! Oh, how I miss you!

9. Even if you can afford it, you don't have the energy to take the kids out to dinner. I've given up on ever eating a hot meal in a restaurant when my children are present. Why go out and pay for a cold entree when you can eat a cold dinner at home any night of the week?

8. Half of anything you put on your plate will be eaten by your toddler...if not all of it.
I'm afraid that when Liam's old enough he'll eat the other half of my food. Why does food from Mommy's plate taste so much better than the exact same food on the kids plates???

7. You want to set a good example of eating habits, so you snack on carrot sticks and cheerios instead of snickers bars and potato chips. Yet somehow your kids always have cookie crumbs on the corners of their mouths? Ahem...Aunt Heather alert!!

6. You're burning way more calories chasing and playing with your toddler than you ever did at your over priced yoga classes. But, oh, aren't you glad you own those yoga pants now? I pretty much live in mine daily. 

5. You choose showering during their nap time rather than eating lunch.*
I learned the hard way to only shower if ALL the kids are sleeping. What can I say? Sometimes smelling fresh and clean trumps a cup of Greek yogurt!

4. You choose going to sleep as soon as possible rather than eat a quiet dinner after the kids are asleep.*
*I'm not advocating skipping meals on a regular basis...so unhealthy! I'm just saying it happens every now and then.

3. Breastfeeding burns more calories than you consume in a day.
Maybe this is why I'm always SO hungry right before bed???

2. Grocery shopping trips with kids almost always get cut short on account of...you have kids with you.
The list hardly ever gets completed!

1. Your sweet child(ren) have given you more motivation than ever to take better care of yourself and set a good example of heath and exercise!

###

Good theory, right? Hurray, my "fat pants" are too big!! But who shrunk my pre-pregnancy skinny jeans?! Yoga pants it is!

Maryland Field Day

Started with a relaxing hammock ride with Uncle Jeff. Javen imparted some words of wisdom for the recent college grad...

Since the hammock wasn't quite exciting enough, he decided to hop on the swing with Mama.

Until Uncle Jeff pulled out the wagon.

Then Javen had to give me a ride. Jeff may or may not have helped by pushing...

Some hula-hoop lessons from Mama. (Random fact about me: I LOVE hula-hoops!)

Hey, come back here Javen! Mama wants a turn!

Except Javen could have cared less about hula-hooping when he saw the tractor Uncle Jeff brought out!

Bliss.

Golden

Today is my golden birthday: 26 on the 26th! One thing that I LOVE about my birthday is that I share it with my best friend of 18 years, Julie Butler! (18 years?? That makes us sound so old! We met in the 2nd grade and even though she lives in Florida now, we still talk every week and get to see each other about once or twice a year. Happy Birthday, Jules!)

We celebrated my birthday on Saturday when Jake took me out on a birthday dinner date to Sopapilla's. The food was delish and it was so fun to dress up and go out on the town sans the kiddos. (Thanks for babysitting, Heather. Don't ever leave TN, ok???!!!!)

photo by Heather Varnon

We clean up nicely, don't you think?

Jake went above and beyond with birthday gifts this year. He's SO thoughtful! After we placed our order at dinner, he presented me with the sweetest card and a small box. I opened the box and found four smaller boxes that he had numbered 1-4.

(The boxes now live on our dresser next to this little gem of a plant I found at Home Goods a couple of months ago. Just added a little twine bow and she's perfect!)

The first box had a picture of a lantern in it. He told me he had two of them waiting at home for me. (They are for a decor project we're working on, I'll show you the finished product soon!)

The second box had a note that read "See Jake's phone." He pulled out his phone and showed me a picture of the hardware he bought to hang the lanterns from. (Clever boy!)

The third box had a note that said "See Jake's phone again!" This time he showed me a photo of a beautiful new jewlery box! (I know, he's amazing! He even assured me that he bought everything on sale or really great prices. That's my man!)

Close up!

The last box had a note saying that I had to wait until we got home for the last gift since it was from him and Heather. They got me an external hard drive to store ALL my photos! I LOVE that I never have to worry about losing my pictures if my lap top ever crashes. How thoughtful are they???

Speaking of thoughtful...can I just brag on Jake a little more? While I was in Maryland he had a few free nights before he worked like a crazy man on a big event at his job. Instead of playing X-Box or watching movies with his friends every night he painted our upstairs hallway and installed a "new" chandelier in our foyer (with a lot of help from Peter. Thanks, Peter!!)

Originally, this lantern/chandelier was $300. I got it for $20 at the Pottery Barn outlet. It's been sitting in my closet for over 2 years waiting to be installed in our two story foyer. Pottery Barn is still selling something similar to this for $269!

I'm such a blessed girl in so many ways. Thank you to all of you for your calls, cards, emails, texts and messages. I feel so loved by my wonderful family and friends!

First Things First

Liam's had a big week! On Wednesday he cut his first tooth on the bottom. The second one is about to pop through aaaaany moment now. Poor guy has had a low grade fever off and on since then and hasn't slept well. He's been getting lots of extra cuddles and teething tablets.

He's also really on the move now! Still doing the funny rock and lunge move, but it gets him where he wants to be, and it gets him there fast! Yesterday he made his inaugural crawl through the tunnel. He was SO proud of himself in his accomplishment!

I'm comin' Mama!

I'm just gonna stop and roll for a second. I've seen Javen do this trick where he rolls this thing across the floor...just gotta give it a try!

Almost there!

I made it!! YAY!

Jimmie Cone Javen

I have so much to blog about, I don't even know where to start! How about with ice cream? Javen (and Liam's, but he didn't get any this time) first trip to Jimmie Cone! (Those of you who aren't in Maryland, just trust me...it's some good soft serve!) We grew up going here, so it's always a special treat. I craved it when I was pregnant with Liam and I'm just now getting around to filling that craving!

This is about as close as Liam got to getting a taste...

The "band" photo. :)

Over My Head

This week at i heart faces the theme is "over my head" (which is exactly how I feel when I enter the contest each week!) I chose a recent favorite of Liam looking up at Jake. It was the exact moment he looked up and said "Dada" for the first time! So sweet!

 For more (really cool!) "Over My Head" captures head over to i heart faces!

Today...

was SO busy! (But SO fun!)

Javen got a haircut with Uncle Jeff, Pop and Grandad. He may have had 4 lollipops during the course of the haircut, but never cried, whined or tried to get off Pop's lap.

Pictured left to right: my brother Jeff, Dad (holding Javen) my Grandfather and Ha (she's now cut hair for 4 generations of our family!)

We ate breakfast at Tom and Rays. Javen may have eaten a pancake the size of a vinyl record.

We stopped by the fire station to check out the trucks. Javen just might have sat inside the truck!

We had a fabulous lunch at Matt and Tori's house with our family. LOTS of good food and tons of dessert. Chocolate peanut butter ganache cake? Check! Homemade berry pie? Check! Blueberry cobbler? Check! Georgetown Cupcakes? Check!

We then went shoe shopping with Grandad and bought the coolest Lightning McQueen sneakers for Javen. (In size 9!!!) When we got home we discovered they also light up! Way cool! I may have picked up a pair of new tennis shoes for myself. The last time I bought some was...(I'm embarrassed to tell you)...10 YEARS AGO! I also slightly sprained my ankle when climbing out of the back seat of the mini van. Just call me Gimpy McD.

Javen and I swam in the pool for a while and Liam skinny dipped for a few minutes. :)

Such a fun day...it's bed time for this crew!

6 Months Old (and an EARTHQUAKE!)

Yesterday was Liam's 6 month birthday! Can you believe it? A whole half of a year old already! Here's the 6 month low down:

In his life he's already traveled to:
Illinois
North Carolina (First airplane ride and trip to the beach!)
Maryland

Went swimming for the first time this month. Loved it. (But what doesn't he love, really?)
He can sit up un-assisted for a little while, but is still kind of wobbly.
He can semi-crawl. He gets up on all fours, rocks back and forth and then lunges towards whatever object he's trying to get. It's FUNNY!
Still hates baby cereal, so we just gave up on it.
Is getting the hang of a sippy cup.
Really interested in real food. We're going to start when we get back to TN.
Babbles/talks all the time. Real words include "Hi" and "Dada".
Smiles ALL the time. Seriously the happiest baby I've ever known.
3 naps a day.
Almost had him sleeping through the night, then started traveling. Goes down to bed at 8, wakes up at midnight and 6am-ish. We're getting rid of that midnight feeding once we get home!

And in other news, this morning around 5:15AM I was awakened by loud rumbling and some shaking. Yep! A 3.6 earthquake here in Maryland! No damage was done anywhere (that I'm aware of) but it definitely woke me (and my parents and sister) up!

Amazingness

Can I just tell you about the AMAZING beach house my Aunt and Uncle have? It's right on the beach. No, really! Ok, so if you're on the back deck/swimming pool area, you walk out the little gate and up this walkway onto the sand dune.

Almost there!

Ok, now we're at the top of the steps leading down to the beach...

If we turn around, we see the back of the house. I know you may think I'm biased, but if you drive around and look at all the beach houses in the area, theirs is seriously the prettiest. Trust me. It is! (Keep in mind this is the back!! Don't even get me started on how beautifully decorated the inside is. We could be here all day...) Breathtaking, right? So the lower deck is the pool, the upper deck has a killer view of the beach and see the little gazebo on the right? There's a hot tub in there!

And if you're on the beach looking back at the house, this is what you see...

(It's even beautiful on a cloudy day!)

Now add the coolest family, delicious food, crazy card games and fun in the sun...we had the best week! Thanks for such a wonderful time Uncle John and Aunt Jerrie!

Related Much?

Below are a few shots from our family week at the beach that I find pretty funny...check out some of these "mirror images".

Ok, so this one is almost scary. I snapped this of my parents, then walked over to find my Grandmother (Dad's Mom) sitting in the exact same position as my Dad...

Apparently the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree!

OBX Post 1 of ???

I have SO many pictures from our family beach vacation..I don't even know where to start! Last time we were at the beach Javen did not budge from his beach mat for fear of getting his feet "messy" in the sand. Yeah, he still hates the sand! We got him to walk on it the first day we were there, but the rest of the time he pretty much wanted nothing to do with the beach or the "washin" (what he called the "ocean").

Getting ready to board the plane for Liam's first flight...out like a light! (Jake took this one! Good job, hubby!)

We surprised Javen with a new movie to watch: Toy Story! (The first one). He's hooked. We watched it every day at least twice while we were at the beach. This was his first time wearing head phones. (Thankyouverymuch Dollar Store!)

Checking out the sand...

and actually walking on it for a little while!

Daddy and Uncle Jeff showing him the ocean..

Mommy and Javen getting hit by a big gust of wind! (Photo by Uncle Jeff)

Laughing at the silly birds on the beach...(photo by Uncle Jeff)

And after a loong day of travel and beach exploration he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow!

More to come..

P.S. For those of you unfamiliar with the East Coast...OBX stands for Outer Banks. :)