Before and After: Living Room Tour

Finally, I have gotten it together enough to feel comfortable showing the progress we made on our house.... well you can at least see the living room. Our bedroom is almost complete too, but I have one expensive little project I want to complete before I post ALL the before and afters of that.

 

Here ya go! Hope ya'll enjoy

 

 

This little corner has by far been the hardest area for me to vision what I wanted. Initially, I thought a large palm would be my answer... until that palm wasn't happy with the light and started turning brown. It has since been transplanted to the patio and is much happier.

This little combo is here to stay. I LOVE it and the little white storage box holds all the blankets for when we have company or the weather turns cool.

Dining Area

And THIS is what are living room looks like 6 days out of the week. Just sayin.... and yes, Mr. Horton joins us regularly.

 



 

Be looking out for a yummy and healthy recipe post tomorrow.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Creating Happiness

Making the most of bad situations has not always been my strong point. I love schedules, routines, etc.. although that is probably not apparent based on my last post. I am not the best at not letting bad days get the better of me.

 

Too often I feel like I rely on others to create my little realm of happiness rather than realize I have all the power in the palm of my hands. 

 

When things veer from the plan I have a hard time adapting and lets be honest, how often do things go as planned?!?

 

Are you putting two and two together here? I could create a lot more happiness in my home if I learn to go with the flow, not take things too seriously, get messy......

 

Creating good out of bad situations might not be my strong point, but self reflections and observations are.

 

Crewe growing up with warm fuzzy memories to look back on when he is 30 IS so important to me.

   

He's sexy and he knows it!

 

He (and we) are not going to remember what we wore each day, what house we lived in, BUT smells will take us back to a particular moments in time, traditions we create NOW will make him long for home during the holidays, the way John and I treat eachother will show him how to treat his girlfriends and wife one day, dinners around the table full of conversations will create warmth that last a lifetime. 

 

Making our home warm, welcoming, loving, happy..... are all things that will stick with him and I am determined that those are what he will remember from his childhood...

 

To not let the the little things or how people treat me/ view me change the entire disposition of our house and our day.

My hope is that writing these things down will be a constant reminder to create my happiness each day.... rather than wait for circumstances too.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some monetary things that make this momma happy too and that I want to be able to do from my boy.

Like this beauty (Tahoe)

And putting our smarty pants through college debt free.

Lucky for me I sell this crazy little wrap, that is going to make those things possible.
 

Stay tuned for a yummy low calorie recipe! It has become a regular in our home! AND a before and after of our lifving room, FINALLY!!!


 

A Day in the Life

Get ready, I am about to put ALL of these other schedules to shame. I mean, who gets up at 6 am?!?! Really, I am just pumping myself up for how pitiful I just realized our schedule, or lack ther of, is.

I am linking up with Holly and Amy, definitely go check out their blogs and show them some link up love!

  Starting out with what time I go to bed is probably more pertinant than whe I wake up, cue... Alexis just making herself feel better about what time she wakes up ; )

Ok, so here goes.

Disclaimer: this is a typical day for us. Please rest assured if I have to be somewhere where people are involved I will shower before hand. Scouts honor.

9:00-10:00am  Roll my sleepy self out of bed ONLY because I hear my wee one talking to himself through the monitor. John says I hibernate, which I am pretty sure is not a compliment, meaning I require the amount of sleep that a hibernating bear does, except mine is all. year. long.

10:01 Promptly go to the kitchen to pour myself some creamer with a little coffee. I touch on my creamer love HERE.

10:05 Open Crewe's door to a wide eyed happy baby, who immediately waves at me an says "Hi" very enthusiastically... followed by about 3 books.

10:45 Since neither of us are up early enough to eat a proper breakfast we eat more of a brunch.

11:15am Crewe is starting to show some serious interest in colors, counting, etc... so I have been getting activities together to work with him on this. I will pick out a color and number for the day to focus on. Today was green.

He also has a love for playing with keys and in parked vehicles. He would play in our cars all day if we would let him. We follow playing in the car with a little plant watering, of course this is all done in a diaper in our front yard. Don't you wish we were YOUR neighbors.

 

 

12:00pm Momma does something with herself, which usually consist of putting my hair in a hat and hitting the road for a run... followed by some outside play time for Crewe.

2:00pm  Eat lunch and get Crewe down for a nap.

3:00pm Momma sits down to read the bible. I am working hard on making it through the New Testament in a year and am almost to Revelations. About 20 minutes into reading I realize how bad I smell and that my honey will be home in an hour. Showering is a non-negotiable.

6:00pm This time is my favorite time of day and is a big mumbo jumbo of happenings. Daddy gets home, momma pours herself a glass of wine, we cook/eat dinner, watch a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, play with Daddy.

8:00pm This has become a tradition for us that I am sure will last many years. We all head out into the backyard to eat popsicles and hang out.

9:00pm Daddy gives Crewe a bath and bottle, momma washes the dishes and works on the laundry/ vacuuming etc....

 

10:30pm  I rock Crewe to sleep (Don't Judge)

 

11:00pm-1:30am Momma perches on the couch catching up on blogs, email, growing my business etc...

Just being real here people. Oh the life of a stay at home momma! I am really not sure whether to be grateful or ashamed ;-) Oh and trust me when I say not all days are full of smiles! We have our moments!

 

You're the one I want to be with....

If I got paid for everything I have done in my life at the last minute, John could quit his job and we would be millionaires. It never fails that I think I have started something with plenty of time to complete only to rush and stay up until 3 am to get it completed, but what a great segue into talking about my sweet honey. You see, he loves knows this about me and rarely complains.

 

The days are long but they years are fast. Pretty sure that sums up my life to a T. How is it that we have already been married a year? It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming our sweet little one into the world and now here we are with an almost 2 year and celebrating our 1 year anniversary. Next I am going to turn around and be 50.

 

 

Let me share with you just a few things that I love so much about the one God chose for me and I really believe that. Not just anyone can "get" me to the depths that John does.

 

But first lets be real.... marriage is hard, something that continually has to be cultivated and worked on so that it does not fall apart. When I was younger, like 10 years ago, I used to think that once you say your I Do's everything just falls into place... no work necessary. Point me to my life of bliss.

 

THEN you get married and (if you don't get pregnant before hand and move in together ;-) ) you are forced to figure out how to live with another persons habits, cleanliness or lack of, love of shopping, inability to close the toothpaste cap, fear of food poisoning, love of decorating and vacuuming, procrastination, crazy ideas, swigs coffee creamer like its water, eats ketchup on everything including his steaks (which he gets greatly offended)  well... you get my drift.

You get to live with a crazy person!

 

Not only did he chose me, but HE also likes most of my ideas and goes along with them or maybe he is just easily swayed by my persuasiveness.

 

All of the above mentioned are just a hint of what John got when he married moi AND only one of those is something he has EVER complained about.  The toothpaste cap. Yep, that is the guy I get to spend the rest of my life with. As long as I remember to close the toothpaste cap I have a happy husband. Could he be any more perfect???

 

I can't even count on a whole hand the amount of bad moods he has been in since we started dating 5 years ago. Pretty sure he is re-counting fingers and toes for my moodiness.

 

He never keeps score or digs into his proverbial filing cabinet that us girls have in our heads, so that we can have every comeback under the sun when a disagreement occurs. He is a simple man and that is why we work so well together.

 

He even makes every effort to remember things I ask him to do.... help with the laundry (done), take out the trash (check), get up with Crewe if I stay up until 2 blogging (no problem).

 

Not a day goes by that he doesn't stop what he is doing to send me a text to see how my day is going or call me on his way home to see what he can help me with when he gets

 

Oh and did I mention he is HOT?

 

 

Yep I got the total package and couldn't love him anymore, unless he is sitting on the floor playing balls and reading books with Crewe, then my love bank overflows.

 

I REALLY had to tame myself with this video! I mean come on, how do you fit 5 years into 5 minutes? THAT is why this post seems late. Not because I started late, but because I had to narrow 5 years of pictures down to 100. Hard stuff I tell ya!

 

Enjoy my honey and baby! I sure do.

 

 

 

 

 

Show and Tell: Baby Talk

1. Tell us your favorite baby names? Aside from your own babies, if you have some :)

If we have a girl, I really love the name Harris and if we have another boy I really don't know. It is sure to be unusual though. That is how we roll.

2. Show me your "dream" nursery {can be your baby's nursery or one that you love}

 

COMING SOON!!! I am finally (at 21 months) getting his nursery finalized to where I really like it. In momma's defense... we have lived in 4 houses since Crewe was born.

 

3. How many children would you like to have? How far apart?

 

Given the my little one didn't start sleeping through the night until 14 months and I am selfish with my sleep.
I thought we would definitely only have 1.
Now that I have been getting good nights of sleep for 7 months, I am opening up to the thought of more.
We will probably settle with 2, but I am not opposed to 3.
I have always loved the thought of a big family.

 

2 1/2 to 3 years is my ideal in spanning the kiddos out.
Will let you know how that works out.
Oh and I want my next to be a spring/summer baby.
Winter babies are so hard, because you have to stay so couped up. We are an active family and a newborn + winter walks don't go over so well.  

 

4. Tell us what you think the importance of parenting is?

 

Oh my, how long do I have here? I could go on and on about how important our role is as parents, but I think one of the more important ones is treating our newborns, infants, toddlers, like they are human beings.
Stick with me on this, I think too often since they are little we treat them like their feelings are not important, real, or worth listening too. Just because in our "adult" mind the emotions and actions are ridiculous... they are still BIG feelings to our wee ones.
I think it is important to take their feelings as seriously as we want our feelings taken and help them work through the feelings rather than scold them.
The more we empathize, show compassion, listen, and teach them when they are little.... the more likely they are to go into the world and treat others the same way.
We have to model and treat them the way we want them to impact the world and treat others.

 

Another HUGE gift I think you can give your child is to love your spouse and show that love in front of your kids... DAILY.
Kiss, hug, flirt.
I have to remind myself to not get so caught up in the day to do these things with my honey.
  In fact, maybe that should have been my number one. Your relationship with your spouse is your littles first introduction to relationships and I don't know about you....
but I want my kiddos loved on, appreciated and respected by their significant other.
The only way they are going to think that is normal is if WE, as their parents, normalize if for them.
 I want it to be a normal visual in my kiddos everyday life.

 

Ok stepping down now ;-)

 

5. Show us your favorite newborn photo {can be your children or random}

 

Why I did not have newborn pictures taken is beyond me.
I kick myself to this day for not having the brand new  baby, umbilical cord nub still intact, sleepy newborn photos taken of my favorite little man.
 I WILL never make that mistake again.
We did have some taken when he was about 5 weeks though.

 

 

 

6. Tell us some things you promise to never do as a parent {and if you are a parent, did you stick to it}

 

I promised to never let my child cry it out and I surprisingly did stick to it (all 14 months), although I mostly certainly had moments of thinking my child would wake up 3 times a night until he was 5.
It broke my little momma heart to hear him cry and to me that told me that God didn't wire us to hear our child scream, but he DID wire us to tend to them when they are in distress.

 

Oh and I also told myself that my child would never watch tv before the age of 2.
 Wow, did I set the bar high or what?
Crewe started watching Baby Einstein around 4 months, cause mommy needed some time-outs and he has developed a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse addicition, as in, we don't go a day without watching it.

 

STAY tuned tonight for a 1 year anniversary post! It is all dedicated to my sweet husby!

 

Thanks so much, Becky, for hosting another awesome Show and Tell! Everyone go check out her awesome blog, FROM MRS To MAMA.

 

 

 

 

 

Water Water Everywhere

I have been kind of bummed lately with the lack of rain here. 

Sometimes I wonder how many 104 days can we have... without a little sweet relief from the heat.

 It does make me that more anxious for fall. Just the fact that I saw pumpkin spice coffee in Target yesterday makes me all giddy inside.

 

Sidenote: remember when I posted, here, about getting up and reading my bible before Crewe wakes up?

Well momma has started sleeping in a bit later, so bible time is during nap time now. 

 

There has been no prediction of rain for what feels like months and no chances for the next 10 day.... so as I am sitting on the couch during Crewe's nap time I notice that it was steadily getting darker and then I heard it.

The faint sound of thunder.

 

Is it just me or is there something about an impending thunderstorm that just lightens the mood and causes a tinge of excitement?!?

 I love rain, I love that it is relaxing and gives you an excuse to stay indoors, pop in a movie, and enjoy the sound of the raindrops hitting the chimney.

Love it!

 

Of course after the downpour and to Crewe's utter excitment, we were left with the best rain puddles in our backyard.

We spent the remainder of the day meeting John's boss (they walked in as Crewe was running around like a madman in a t-shirt and diaper. Good first impression, eh???) playing in the water and eating wheat thins with Daddy.

 

Becoming one with the ground

 

 

 

 

Normal

Taking my phone into his room just didn't seem necessary, but once I got in there and sat down with him, oh how I wish I would have brought my phone.

You see, tonight I had a first.

After the first 14 months of doing anything I could to get my child to sleep and tip toeing around the house just to ensure nothing woke him, I was the one tip toeing into his room at 2 a.m. to hold and cuddle him.

A rush of "I need me some Crewe" just washed over me and I knew what I was doing at that very moment could wait, so I went into his room and picked him up. Somthing that would have been unfathomable to me just a few months prior.

I love that I can pick him up out of his crib without him startling at all and he just seems to melt into me as we rock. It is like he senses, even in his sleep, that his momma has got him.

 

Tonight I studied everything I could about him. Breathing and soaking in everything I possible could. The way his legs now hang over the arm of the chair, rather than cradled in my arms and his little legs are looking less and less like a squishy baby leg, but more and more like a little kid leg..... how his hair sticks straight up on his head if he lays on one side for too long......how he tucks his hands into his belly when he is laying on my chest..... how I can just sense the bond we are forming.

I feel like I spent so much of his early months trying to get my life back to "normal" and NOW, not even remembering what that "normal" was, because HE is my normal. Looking at him I just feel so blessed, not just to be his momma, but the fact that he is healthy, growing, and thriving.

Not all mommas have that and sometimes it takes sitting in a dark room outlining every detail of your babe, to make you sit in wonder of how truly blessed you are.

All too soon Mommy kisses won't be cool, so I am going to soak this in (even on the hard days) while it last. I have a feeling 2 a.m. rockings will be occuring more for mommies sake than his. Oh the irony.....

AND even if he had woken up by me picking him up to rock him, I would have happily rocked him back to sleep, even if it had to be for an hour. If I am being completely honest here, I contemplated crawling in his crib with him.

I guess it is just now starting to sink in how fleeting this time that I have with him is.

Oh and just so I never forget. It took Crewe 19 months to actually say Mommy, I was starting to get quite offended ; ). John text me tonight, while I was out shopping, and said Crewe woke up from his nap and immediately came into the living room yelling "Mayee". LOVE that kid!