I Hope They Didn't Delete My Blog Account Due to Inactivity...

What a long week. Jake wasn't home at all last week because of work (hence the lack of blogging) and I'm exhausted to the point of having no voice left. It makes parenting a 2 year old quite challenging.

So lets catch up a bit...
On Friday Liam took his first step and he doesn't even know it. He was cruising along the bench in our foyer and I was sitting near him. When he got to the end of the bench, he just let go, reached both arms towards me and took a step! I turned to Jake (who was laying down the last few planks of our new floor!!!) and told him what happened. Then we proceeded to laugh at the thought of seeing such a tiny person actually able to walk around on his own. Possible? Maybe.

So yeah, the new floor is in! Last weekend Jake ripped up the living room carpet and foyer linoleum and installed laminate flooring. It's like a whole new house and I LOVE it! We still have to paint and install the quarter round, but it may be a few weeks before that happens. This weekend we'll be busy getting ready for next weekend...Jake's brother's wedding!

Next weekend we'll be near Chicago for Q and A's wedding and we couldn't be more excited for them. Jake is the best man, I'm a bridesmaid and Javen is the ring bearer. I'm trying to prep Javen for this role and he seems pretty excited about it. "Mama, I the bear! Roaaaar!" Hmmm...may need some more prepping still. Check out the beautiful bride's maid dress I get to wear:

She did such a great job picking out brides maid dresses, I just know the rest of the wedding will be gorgeous!

Next weekend is also our 5th wedding anniversary! We decided not to do anything to celebrate this year since we'll be busy traveling and such. I even let Jake off the hook and told him: NO GIFTS. I just got new floors, so what more could a girl want? Turns out I'm not very good at following my "no gift" rule. I thought since he's always been in charge of anniversary ideas/gifts for the past four years, and since he'll be busy with best man duties this year, that I would surprise him with a gift. We're going to see Brian Regan at the Ryman in January. He's Jake's favorite comedian so it should be a fun night! (If you've never heard Brian Regan, google him. He's funny without being raunchy!)

In other news, Amy totally called me out the the kitchen table makeover. My finished table was in the video of Liam shaking his head "no" and she caught it! I haven't posted on it yet A) because the past few weeks have not allotted much blogging time B) the chairs aren't done yet, so I've debated about waiting until the entire project is finished and C) I haven't taken any photos of it yet.

Actually, I think an entire week has gone by and I haven't picked up the camera once. I can hardly believe it myself. Our house has been a bit of a construction zone and I tucked the camera away to keep it from all the dust. Anyway, here's the table before:

Aaaand after. (Please note there is no fancy decorative "stageing" for the following photos. This is my table and it is clean, so that's as fancy as it's going to get around here these days.) :)

 Painted black, distressed

 and beat up (that part was fun!)

 Still have to tackle the chairs, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out, especially since it's my first time making over any furniture...

New floor photos to come soon. Every time I go to take a photo, the floor is covered in toys!

More?

Asking Liam if he wants more or if he's all done...

Punkin

Anyone still out there? I don't know what it is, but lately it's been so hard for me to find time to blog! I can't even remember the last time I was able to play along in an i heart faces weekly challenge. This week's theme is orchard, and even though a pumpkin patch isn't technically an orchard, it's as close as we're going to get.

I think I may have to get this printed on canvas...I just love it. Liam's first trip to the pumpkin patch!

For more orchard photos head over to i heart faces!

Is This A Dream?

I'm sitting here pinching myself for two reasons:

1. Liam woke up THREE times last night (???) and Jake didn't get home from work till around 1AM so I didn't get much sleep. Coffee has been a necessary part of my day today.

2. Javen just walked up the stairs (asked me to follow), took off his pants, handed me a pull up, asked me to help him put it on, climbed into bed, asked for a drink, laid down and went to sleep. VOLUNTARILY. He knew it was time for a nap without a reminder from me. Clearly, I must be dreaming. ::pinch pinch::

So Javen has been cracking me up lately. Apparently we now own a cat. He's imaginary, which is good, because I'm allergic to the breed that is real. Our kitty cat's name is "Buzz" and he his black with white stripes. Favorite activities include hiding under tables and tickling us. Javen loves to chase him around the room. I'm ok with our new resident as long as I don't find any imaginary poop on my carpet.

Did I tell you about the imaginary poop around here? (Because apparently there isn't enough of the real stuff to deal with on a daily basis.) Elmo has been pooping. This is what Javen tells me:

"Oh NO! Elmo poo poo! I wipe him bottom. (Goes to get a wipe, diaper and balmex. I frantically run behind him to snatch away the balmex.) Yucky! It's a big one! (Thanks for the play by play, son.) He needs a pull up. All better!"

Elmo isn't the only culprit. There's also Spider Man, Pongo (the dog from 101 Dalmatians) and Baby Pirate Larry. After he "wipes him bottom" he puts Elmo (or whoever just got changed) down for a nap and says "Sweet Dweams! I wuv you!" then tells me to be quiet so I don't wake them up. He runs a tight ship, that boy of mine.

He also gets quite concerned whenever we run out of any kind of food (bread, yogurt, crackers, grapes and craisens mainly). Upon discovering that we need more he will promptly run to the door, put on Jake's shoes and announce he is going to work.

"Bye Mom! I wuv you! I go work and pic. (paint). I go work and go store to get bread. Bye. I work."

At least he understands why Daddy has to leave every day to work. Apparently he doesn't think Daddy is doing a good enough job to make sure that we never run out of his favorite foods.

Oh, and Javen's reading choices as of late are a bit unusual for the typical 2 year old. His go-to daily reads are my Pottery Barn Kids catalogue and latest issue of Islands Magazine. Before you get too concerned about his Pottery Barn fetish, let me just give you a glimpse of his favorite two pages to look at:

 Seriously. I have the funniest kid.

The House of Healthy (and giveaway winner)

So it turns out the Dr gave Javen a wrong diagnosis...but this time, it's a good thing! As soon as we got home yesterday morning, I could tell he was feeling better, but had prepared myself for pukefest 2010 as the Dr told me he'd being doing that for at least 24 hours.

After a light lunch and a nap he woke up his normal energetic HUNGRY self. I still aired on the side of caution when it came to what foods he could eat, but he was honestly fine the rest of the day.

I think my dad had the best theory of what was wrong with him: He didn't have a bug, he probably ate a few bugs.

Anyway, I'm just thankful that he's all better and nobody around here is dealing with any stomach issues. Poor Liam's rash is worse today, but he's none the wiser. I mean, just look at these cuties playing together this morning:

Anyway...on to the winner of the 31 Gifts giveaway! I used random.org to generate a random winner (btw if anyone can let me in on how to get a screen grab of the results, I would be forever grateful!) and the winner is:

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 17
Result: 12

Congrats, Jamie! Look for an email from me today so I can put you in touch with Lindsey!

Also, if anyone would like to place an order, you can reach Lindsey at lindsey.leanne (at) gmail (dot) com.

Never A Dull Moment

Shhhhhh! Do you hear that? No? It's because there is nothing to hear. The boys are asleep and it has been one. long. morning.

Yesterday morning we noticed a rash on Liam's back, but he had no fever and no other symptoms. I called the doctor and left a message before they were even open that  morning. Around 2pm I still hadn't heard from anyone, so I called back. They said they would have a nurse call me. I never heard anything all day.

This morning Javen comes into our room around 6 and complains of a stomach ache, but quickly falls asleep cuddled up next to Jake. Later that morning Jake leaves for work and Javen throws up. I clean him up. He throws up. All color in his face is gone and he's laying on our bathroom floor covered in a bath towel. He doesn't want to move. Just pitiful.

I call the doctor and tell them that now BOTH boys are sick and I am coming in. They tell me they had a cancellation and that they can squeeze us in. (I'm thinking, THAT'S RIGHT YOU'LL SQUEEZE US IN!)

Javen throws up in the car on the way to the doctor's. (I packed extra clothes for ALL of us, just in case! And the laundry is in full swing now.) Turns out he has a 24 hour stomach bug that's been going around. Liam has a virus, but the only symptom is slight fever and rash so there is no need to worry. He's only contagious for the next 7-10 days to other babies 7-13 months old.

No church this week. No MOPS next week. It's just me stuck at home with the two sickies and a mini van that needs an oil change. :)

I'm going to chose to look at the bright side here. Both boys are going to be fine. And at least there is no poop on my carpet! (Here's to hoping I didn't speak to soon this time!)

Speaking of my poop stained carpet....its days are numbered. New floors soon!!! (Can you tell I'm excited??)

And here's a little Javen photo fix for the day...(pointing to an airplane).

Wordless Wednesday

Hello?

I've been a bit disjointed from blogging lately. (Not by choice!) I miss it! I don't have any amazing reason/story why my attention has been other places...it feels like these past few weeks have been happening at turbo speed.

Anyhoo, this past weekend we enjoyed a visit from Grandma McD and Jake and I were able to get lots accomplished around the house and even went out on a date! It also dawned on me why after every visit from Grandma and Grandpa I look through my photos to find maybe one from the entire visit...while they babysit play with the kids, Jake and I are busy getting things done around the house and the camera gets neglected!

Grandma and Liam

We also had an amazing breakfast yesterday with my college/blogging friend, Amanda and her hubby and sweet children. They were driving through town back up North and were able to stop by for a short visit. The kids had a blast (as we knew they would). I can't wait to see them again in a few weeks!

Breakfast Buddies

Little brother's gotta stick together!

Big C



I have the prettiest friends!!!

 Don't worry, I'll update you on our fun house projects soon. (One of which is that I finished my kitchen table! Yay!)

Oh, and if you missed it when I posted the other day, don't forget to enter the 31 giveaway! You don't have to have a blog to enter, just an email address so I can contact you if you win! Winner will be announced on Thursday. Click here to enter!

Last Week's Manic Monday

Finding time to blog lately has been difficult. I've been to busy or tired to spend much time at the computer. I have started a few posts but never finished, so here's one I started writing on the 4th that never got published...it was a rough Monday...

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Good morning, blogosphere! I took a little break from the computer this weekend on the account of Jake being home! We had some great family time, but now he's back to work and my house has been turned upside down- in a good way. I'll explain, but first things first.

Happy 21st Birthday to my baby sister, Kendra! Can you believe she's that old? I can't. Also, I'm trying to find a recent photo of her, but since I haven't seen her since July, it's proving quite difficult.

Dear Kendra, come visit. We need some new pics of you and the boys and we love you!

Today (already) has been nothing short of manic. Liam is teething and waking up frequently at night in pain. This morning Javen woke up, came in our room and found the bottle of homeopathic medicine that I keep handy at night to help relieve Liam's pain. He consumed the entire bottle before we woke up. (Apx 230 dissolvable tablets.)

I'm worried, but not freaking out because it's homeopathic, natural and a very low dose at that. I read the bottle for overdose instructions-there are none. I log on the company's website for info and it says not to worry, it won't make him sick.

I call their emergency hot line, just to be sure. Turns out he'll be just fine and it shouldn't affect him in a negative way.

Phew.

Now I don't have to feel guilty about getting on him for having two accidents already today. I'm about to rip my hair out over this potty training business. How can a child go accident free for FOUR consecutive days and then all of the sudden forget how to use the potty? It's maddening, to say the least.

Anyway. After we put the kids to bed on Saturday night, Jake and I got the urge to redecorate the house. We ended up re-arranging the living room furniture and designing some built in bookshelves/media center. We're not sure yet if it's going to be affordable to the budget, but here's hoping! Our living room now has much more floor space for the boys to play, but the walls seem more bare than ever. A project I'm happy to remedy. :)

It's funny to watch Javen come downstairs in the morning as he is not used to the new layout. His reactions thus far:

"Wow! I wike it!"
"Cool, Mom! It's big"
"Hahaha. I wike it. Cool."

Yesterday I walked into the house after church and for a split second thought we had been robbed. Then I remembered that we moved the furniture around. :)

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So that was Monday. I'm still working on sprucing up the living room, so no photos yet. However, Jake and I finally found some new flooring so as soon as he gets a free weekend (hahaha) we're going to rip out the carpet and lay down some wood floors. Yippee!! (If anyone wants to help, let me know! I think we're aiming for the first weekend in Nov. Possibly.)

And for those of you who come here for your daily dose of photos of the boys:

Lunch time! Liam had finished eating, so I went to grab a cloth to wipe him off and Javen got in my chair and kept feeding him. (Please excuse the card table. I'm bringing my refinished table inside tonight! Yay!)

i love blogging

There are so many reasons why I love blogging. It's my writing outlet (I was a publicist before I was a SAHM...I love to write!), it's my baby book of sorts, it's a way to share photos and stories with our families (we don't live in the same state as any of our family), it's been a great way to stay in touch and a part of friends lives that I don't live near anymore, and it's allowed me to meet some great new friends as well! (That was quite possibly the longest sentence I've ever written. Phew.)

It's been especially fun for me to stay in touch with people from college. It's funny how much our friendships have grown now that we live so far away. Some of my best mommy friends are people that I rarely hung out with in college and now they are my go to girls! So when my friend, Lindsey (mother of twin 2 year old boys (!!) feel free to stop right now and say a quick prayer for her and all that toddler energy that surrounds her on a daily basis!) asked if I could do a giveaway and introduce all of you to her 31 business, I was so happy to help! I love being able to support other SAHM's, especially when there are cute things involved.

Just look what she sent me!

front

Back

It's a mini organizer and I just love it. Such a fun print and monogrammed initial. So perfect for holding lots of my craft supplies. Just check out all it's holding (and there is still room for more!)

I had a really hard time deciding what to use it for. I started out thinking I'd put my makeup in it, but I don't have much makeup and I didn't want to waste all that space for only a few items. Then I thought about using it for picnics (those outside pockets would be great for holding napkins and utensils or juice boxes) but I didn't want to store it away in a closet for the rare occasions when we actually picnic. Craft supply holder was the choice for me!

She has something for one of you too! She's giving one of my readers their choice of one of the following items, personalized any way you want, in the print of your choice:

Small Lunch Thermal Tote ( Onyx Medallion in photo):

A smaller version of our classic thermal tote, with an outside pocket! Pack snacks, make a goodie bag for the kids to take to the park and even keep liquid medicines cool. Measures approx. 11” W (at top and middle) x 9” H x 5 ¾”.

Mini Organizer (Organic Flower in photo):

Stash your small essentials here. Great for arts, crafts or gift-wrapping supplies like tape, ribbons, or cards. Store kitchen utensils, cosmetics, baby supplies or create a first aid kit. 6 exterior pockets; handles. Measures approx. 12"L x 7"H x 5"D.

Littles Carry-All Caddy (St Andrew Hole-n-1 in photo):

Great utility caddy for office supplies (store your binder clops or notepads inside and use the mesh side pocket for your pens, pencils and highlighters) or any storage! Four of the Littles will fit into one 3191 Square Utility Tote and sic of the Littles will fit into one Utility Tote to compartmentalize your goodies. Measures approx. 5.5"H x 5.5"W

Thermal Tote (Navy Mod Dot in photo):

One of your favorites made even better with an outside pocket! What a great way to take lunch on the go! Whether it's items you need to keep cool or warm for school, office, or at a ballgame, this is the way to do it. Also great as a baby bag and keeping bottles cold. Measures approx. 14.5” L, 9.5” H, 4.5” D. (I think this will be my next purchase!)

 Here's a bit about the company she's working for as a consultant. (She gets to work from home and have fun parties and stuff. Cool, right?)

About 31 (from the 31 Website):

Our mission is to celebrate, encourage and reward women through offering quality products and an outstanding opportunity to become successful business owners.

Our products are exclusive to Thirty-One and provide style and convenience at an amazingly affordable price. From our key product line, to our “direction” line for teens, or our uniquely crafted “31kid” line for children and moms, you will find so many options to fit every personality type and every situation. We continue to develop new products built on the idea that our products must be stylish, functional, affordable and easy to give as gifts to encourage someone special.

Here's how to enter the giveaway:

Go visit Lindsey's 31 website, then come back here and leave a comment on what your favorite product or print is.

Extra entry? Sure, why not!
ONE extra entry: "Like" Lindsey's 31 Page on Facebook. (While you're there, I'm sure she'd love for you to say hello too!) Then come back here and leave a comment letting me know you did.

ONE extra entry (a piece) Tweet, Blog or FB status about the giveaway. (Leave a comment with the link.)

THREE extra entries: Purchase anything from Lindsey's 31 website and come back here to comment (3 times!!) that you did.

*Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry!*

Winner will be selected at random and announced one week from today. Good luck!

Again, HERE is the website.
And HERE is the facebook page.

I'm Still Here!

Sorry I've been MIA this week. Things have been a little hectic around here. However, stay tuned because I have much to share and later today I have a fabulous giveaway for you! Right now I need to go chase this guy...he's a quick one!

Zip-a-dee Zoo-da

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. It's been super busy around here, but that's a good thing! Jake was home all weekend and we had some great family time and got lots of stuff done around the house. But before I tell you about our weekend, I just have to share some photos from our trip to the zoo on Friday. There were four of us Mama's and 6 children under 2. Always an adventure!

Here's our crew:

Sweet EK, such a happy camper!

T was SO excited about holding the ostrich egg!

Big kids checking out the alligators.

Monkeys!

Flamingos

Javen petting the Lion (skin).

Javen and his buddy, Will, taking a break with the giraffes

All in all, a great first trip to the zoo!