The Ups and Downs of a Weekend to Remember

There were many ups and downs this weekend as far as my emotions were concerned. It was a weekend to remember...literally. To remember my dear momma. Nanny had talked me into going on my weekend trip without baby girl and after some thought, I reluctantly left my baby girl behind for an entire weekend which led to emotion #1: sadness. I was already missing my girl by the time I pulled out of Nanny's driveway on Friday evening as I left for my friend Julie's house. I think I gave her about twenty kisses before I could bring myself to leave. Once I got on the road I got some yucky news about the sellers of our home (this has since been cleared up). Emotion #2: incredibly disappointed. About five minutes later I discovered that I had the one and only key to our new house sitting in my cup holder. Emotion #3: frustrated. Riley told me to keep on trucking along since I was already about forty minutes into my trip and running late as usual. I was on my way to OKC for a PT party. Emotion #4: excited!! I arrived almost on time and had a spectacular and relaxing evening without any kiddos and some amazing friends. Emotion #5: thankful.

See what I mean? I felt like a borderline bi-polar by the end of the night. And this was only a five hour time span. Emotion #6: tired. I made it to dad's house in Enid around 1:00 in the morning. I wasn't surprised to find him still awake and going strong. He's turned into quite the night owl. I'm going to blame it on his Facebook addiction. Emotion #7: comfort. I was home with my daddy and having a good time. We didn't go to bed until around 2:00 and I was able to sleep in until 9:00. You can just guess my emotion about that!! ;) Dad had left very early that next morning with some friends to head to OKC for a LifeShare banquet that him and my mom would have gone to. He attended this with my mom's transplant friend, Sheryl, who has had her new heart for 25 years! Wow! He felt like it was important to go ahead and go which I thought was very brave and admirable. He's a good man that Gman is. Emotion #8: blessed. Since he had left this left me with plenty of time that morning to have some "me" time before Bailey and I had to be ready for our trip that day. I quickly got ready and went to visit my BFF at work. And I can't go to Posh without finding a pair of Heather's shoes that I can't live without! Emotion #9: frivolous. I had plans to leave from there to get a pedicure which was long overdue. I had my book in my purse and was ready for some relaxation. Instead of relaxing I soon realized that I was running out of time to get to where I was supposed to be. Where was that?, you ask. Well, I had plans to meet some family friends to ride with them to OKC. To share some background on this: last year my mom and I went with her boss Lori, Lori's mom Karen, and her son's Brock and Kale to the Transsiberian Orchestra. Brock decided to get the tickets for my mom because he knew she wanted to go. She invited me along since he'd given her two tickets. About two months ago Bailey and I both received a special letter in the mail from Brock with tickets to this year's TSO concert attached. Emotion #10: grateful. What an incredibly thoughtful gesture it was. So back to me running late....I had the world's longest pedicure. This is the ONLY time you will ever hear me complain about that. Lol. I rushed to meet Bailey and found her at the gas station fueling up. She didn't judge me when I stepped out of the car with my crazy footwear on. I told you I was in a hurry by the time I left the nail place. The foam flip flops are a more appropriate fashion statement when it's not 30 degrees outside. ;)

As we pulled out of town I casually asked her if she grabbed her ticket. Back to the house we went to get it. That would have been no bueno! We were only ten minutes late meeting them and hopped in and we were on our way. Bailey followed behind driving separately since she had to be back that evening for a Christmas party. I was thoroughly entertained on the ride there by our conversation and by updates from my two loves back home who had a very busy morning.....with SANTA!!! Emotion #11: so in love!

The above two outfits were a result of a morning shopping trip with Riley and Hallie. Emotion # 12: pleasantly surprised. He had done a fabulous job at finding her an adorable outfit to meet Santa in. Where were they headed? To the Woodward Christmas parade! Hallie got to ride in the float on her daddy's lap....

It was a bit too cold for her to ride with the bigger kids on the train that they pulled behind the truck. But it's not like she wasn't fully prepared in her hilarious coveralls.....

The Cousin Eddy look

Emotion #13: laughter. I had the pleasure of watching lots of videos of my little burrito baby rolling on the ground in an attempt to stand up. Problem is, the coveralls were keeping her from bending any of her joints so she just rolled from side to side helplessly with Riley laughing in the background. Funny stuff those two come up with!!

Nanny was keeping me supplied with plenty of updates as well. Nanny said this picture must've been taken right after she heard Santa was coming.....

"Are you for real?!?"

Her expression soon changed once she jumped on the jolly man's lap. This Santa experience didn't go as smoothly as the first. I watched a video of her squirming down from his velvety lap. Although Santa shouldn't feel too sad about her disinterest.....I think it had a lot more to do with the group of big kids running around that had her attention elsewhere.

"I think my parents have all my presents covered this year, so can I go play now??"

I'm not sure what she is clapping about in this next picture but it absolutely gives me a fuzzy warm feeling inside to see her and her dad so happy together.....

Meanwhile back in mommyland, we had arrived and sat down in our seats with a little time to spare before the show. This was after running into my friend Heather before the show started. I found her and Matt waving at me from another section. Here's a pic of our group waiting for the show to start....

Emotion #14: bittersweet. I couldn't help but remember a year ago when I was sitting hear with my mom who was so excited to watch TSO perform. It seemed unreal that so much time had passed. Instead of mom, sitting to the right of me this year was my purty sister....

And we can't forget a picture with our gracious ticket giver, Mr. Brock England.....

Thanks again Brock!

Meanwhile back at home Hallie was readying herself for bed. Apparently throwing away her bottle of lotion is a new part of her bedtime routine......

Emotion #15: missing my baby. So let's just get past the pajama choice that Riley selected and figure out why she is tossing a perfectly good bottle of lotion. I hear that he told her to "go put it up in your room" and this is where she decided to place it. ;) Now back to the obviously horrendously unmatched pajamas. Oh my!! They had a fun evening of playtime I hear after a long afternoon nap. She was pretty tired after spinning circles playing Ring around the Rosie with all of the big kids that morning.

I enjoyed a yummy dinner at TGIFridays with everyone minus Bailey. She missed out on a lot of fun! After feeding our faces we made our way to Target. This is where I got in trouble...in the toy aisle. I had told myself that I was done shopping for Hallie. Oh I just couldn't resist!! I left with a full basket as everyone gave me a hard time about it not being able to fit in the car. ;) We had some fun times on the way home which included me calling a strange number in an attempt to call Riley from Karen's phone after my phone had gone dead. I proceeded to call this stranger "babe" after he answered until I realized that is was in fact NOT my husband that I was talking to. Funny thing was, he called back. Who does that!?!? Guess he must've been pretty lonely. ;) Emotion #16: honestly a little frightened ;).We got back later than I'd expected but not later than my dad. He still wasn't home from his big day when I pulled into his driveway. I did some reading and kicked back for a bit until everyone finally got home. Bailey, Spencer, Dad and I settled in for a holiday favorite....HOME ALONE!! None of us made it to the end and Bailey had to nudge my lifeless and exhausted body to send me to bed around midnight.  Another morning with no rooster crowing. Awww, sleep. Dara and I made some quick plans to go to breakfast at where else but WeeToo. Emotion #17: hungry. Yum yum!!!!

After breakfast and gossip hour we made a stop by Hastings to pick up even more Christmas gifts for Hallie. I think the whole plan to not buy eachother gifts has backfired in my face this year...instead of saving money by not buying Riley a gift I'm instead doubling up on Miss Hallie. The damage has been done.....now to just find time to wrap the damage. Which brings me to Emotion #18: overwhelmed. When I will get around to actually doing my Christmas duties is beyond me. We are painting maniacs again this week in preparation for moving in a couple of weeks! Around lunch time I received a reminder of what was waiting for me at home along with a text message that said this: "a true PB&J connoisseur smells the sandwich first then rubs on forehead before enjoying."

Emotion #19: Oh my!!

Soon to be followed by emotion #20: embarrassed. Riley also attached a picture of my baby girl's church attire that morning. At first I thought it was a joke but after asking Nanny if she'd seen the pair she confirmed my worst fears....my child had gone to church dressed like a 90 year old woman.

"What's wrong with this mom? Dad and I picked it out together!"

Dara and I stopped by my sister's new house to see what progress they'd made on the place. Ya see, we share in common that we are both painting an entire house. Emotion #21: denial. My sister is not supposed to be old enough to have a home and to be getting married. She's my lil sis. When did this all happen??? ;) They place is coming along nicely! The four of us soon found ourselves sprawled out on the couch all texting or Facebooking. Quality family time right there. ;) In the back of my head I was drowning out my next emotion. Emotion #22: dread. I was absolutely and positively, 100% not looking forward to what we had planned next. About a month ago my dad had received an invitation from the funeral home for a remembrance service for those who have lost loved ones the past year. The last thing I wanted to do was to relive the events of my mom's funeral. That place gives me the heebie jeebies to be honest. Soon I found myself walking through the doors again with dad by my side. Aunt Alta, Uncle David and Kara were waiting inside for us. It was so nice to have them there for support and love. The service was a short message, a slideshow and some snacks and hot chocolate. I told myself that I wouldn't cry. I just didn't feel like letting out off of these EMOTIONS in that setting. Somehow by the grace of God I held my composure and actually managed to share a few laughs with everyone once the service was over. I guess I'm come to terms with the fact that everyone has their own ways of dealing with tragedy and death....mine just so happens to be denial. Awesome, I realize this. :(It was so thoughtful for Henniger-Hinson to host the holiday service....I know my dad appreciated it probably much more than I did. In the end, it was about remembering my momma. I remember that remarkable woman everyday I wake up. Today I got to share it with my family. 

I was packed up and ready to go, stopped by Papa Murphy's to pick up some pizzas and pointed my car towards home. My baby was waiting on me!!! When I walked through the door I found exactly what I'd expected. A fair-skinned, beautiful golden haired girl giving me the cold shoulder. I was definitely getting the silent treatment from my sweetie as she munched on her dinner. It took about thirty minutes for her to decide that I was home to stay and wasn't going anywhere again. It felt so good to be home and unpack all of the junk that had accumulated in my car and bags over the weekend. Back to reality and our list of to-dos that seems never-ending right about now. Kissing my sweet girl goodnight had never felt so sweet as it did last night. I had missed her more than I'd thought. The girl's very missable if you ask me. ;)

P.S.- Hallie had many new tricks for me as it appeared that she had learned at warp speed while I was gone. Hopefully I'll get around to writing about them this week. ;)

A 'White Christmas' Party

There are a multitude of reasons to feel thankful during the holidays. Seven of those reasons are my therapy friends! We have a pretty unique group I'd say in that we still all get together each holiday season. After our Thanksgiving dinner we realized it was time to plan a festive get-together with a new theme. Julie came up with a fabulous new idea to have a "white Christmas" party. I'm going to admit that this one forced me to think a little harder when deciding on an outfit. And as you will see I failed miserably compared to my initial plans. ;) But first, here's a look back at some of our other holiday party themes......

Tacky Christmas in 2009

Pajama Party in 2010

and without further ado.......

White Christmas 2011

Julie hosted this year's party at her insanely gorgeous new home. Melissa requested a Mexican smorgasbord and that's what she got! I didn't think I was going to make it until after everyone dug in but I guess my lead foot got me there quicker than I had thought. So much yummy food sitting around....I gorged on everything in sight. But much more important than food were the clothing selections. I guess Laura and I may have gone a little too far. Fancy? Nah. Tacky? Heck yes! Kristen, Jamie, Audra, Julie, Natasha and Melissa were looking cute in all white while Laura was sporting a lovely birds nest fashioned by her mom with plenty of goodies to show off on her sweat shirt. Impeccable details my friend. ;) If you are wondering what I'm wearing, well I'm really not sure how to describe my thought process. I started out the day with my stylish white Walmart turtleneck and some white tights...let's just say the tights did not suit me well so I settled for jeans. But I thought the bling bling white underwear over my jeans would be the perfect touch. I'm sure Julie is still trying to figure out how to explain to her neighbor why the crazy girl dressed in white was putting on underwear in her driveway. ;)

Simon the dog even took part in the white theme....

I didn't say that he wanted to though

This year we decided we would have a party without the kiddos but I have a feeling next year's party will be full of kiddos and a brand new boyfriend for Hallie....

Boyfriend #3...baby Rowen

We had so much catching up to do that we spent all night just talking and talking and more talking. Oh yeah, and taking a tour through this gorgeous momma's new home.....

Big boy Kingston crashing the party ;)

I couldn't help but snap this shot of Julie's other 'son' lounging by the trees.....



I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have these friends whom I share many things in common with....from motherhood to our shared occupation to a crazy sense of humor....getting together with these girls is just good for the soul.

Mental Post-its

I feel like if my brain was cut open a bunch of mental post-its would pop out. Gross picture, I realize, but I feel like my mind is full of these temporary notes that help me remember every little thing that my child does and says. Not many pictures with this post....simply a post-it purge so that none of them get crumpled up and thrown away. ;)

*She gains more independence by the minute. My little helper she is. One thing she has found increasing interest in is picking out her own clothes. Usually she has free reign when making important pajama decisions. However, her daytime outfits go through a much more stringent mom inspection.....

"Hmmmm, let's see here....which one compliments my eye color?"

*No secret that she is a monkey. Eating bananas like it's her job. I'm really not exaggerating. The second she wakes up she start hollering "nana", the moment she gets home at the end of the day she is reaching for "nanas" and right before bedtime she expects half of a "nana" with her milk. Little pieces are apparently for little babies and not her thing anymore. She prefers halves and will accept nothing less. Talk about a picky lil monkey!!

"eeeeee eeeeee eeeeee, ahhh ahhhhh ahhhhh"

*She is not one to sit. A busy bee she be. ;) But it's a general rule that she doesn't go anywhere without her cup in hand. I spent all Monday morning giggling about her latest little stunt. I filled up a brand new sippy cup that morning and handed it to her. Her little hands couldn't figure out how to hold it because it didn't have handles like all of her other cups. She cocked her head to the side and gave me a perplexed look. "Why you changin' things up mom??!" It took her about thirty minutes to figure out that she wouldn't get any milk out as long as she was carrying it around like a clarinet. I guess she thought it was a straw. ;)

"This isn't working!!!"

* We've been told that we keep it rather warm in our house and I sometimes catch Riley turning up the thermostat like he's a 90-year-old lady, so it perplexes me when Hallie insists on wearing her coat in the mornings when she's running around in her diaper. Silly girl goes straight to her coat rack and hollers for me to hand her a coat. This has happened three mornings in a row now.

"Buuuuurrrrrrr"

"I'm just trying to make a fashion statement"

* Some mornings she hits the ground running. Other mornings she starts out like this.....

*In the early evenings before dinner while I'm getting things prepared in the kitchen she enjoy ransacking the measuring cup drawer. I try to make a habit of getting down on her level and playing with her which makes for a giddy little girl. She loves to talk into the cups to make an echoing noise. Of course mommy has to try this too sometimes....

*Lately Hallie has sounded like a one-man band with all of the crazy noises and sounds coming out of her mouth. Her and Riley make a funny noise with their lips which she can be found doing about 99% of the day. The only way to describe this noise would be a cicada. You'd think we were living way down south with our sounds of nature. ;)

*She is a super duper helpful helper girl when it comes to bathtime. She hears the word bath and goes running or high-stepping it straight for the tub hollering out "ba, ba". She starts to take off her diaper and with a little help removes it and makes her way to the trashcan to toss her diaper. Then that naked little booty finds its way back into the tub......

"Step one"

"Step two"

*She loves to be cradled like a baby in my arms after bathtime. It's absolutely hands down my favorite part of the day and I think it's hers as well. Her and dada have an after bath routine where he picks her up out of the tub and puts her through the "spin and shake cycle" to dry off. She lights up everytime he does this. She then gets passed on to me and onto the changing table to get lotioned and jammied up. This is when she comes alive!! She starts jabbering up a storm with me and saying "words" I've never heard before. She wants to help with everything from rubbing in her lotion on her belly to diapering her little booty.

*She does this incredibly heart melting thing where she looks at me and turns her head to the side and smiles, then puts her head on my shoulder. Since we only have a little time in the day to spend together I've been making more of an effort to stop what I'm doing and just be with her. Cuddling is slowly becoming something that she is able to do for more than one second.....

"I can be sweet when I wanna be"

*Chicken and noodles, peas, bananas, carrots, grilled cheese...heck anything that she offers Emmi she will take. I am convinced that she is only a picky eater at home. She gobbles everything down at Nanny's like it's her last meal, she eats everything in sight when we go out to eat and she sure doesn't turn down food offered to her when we are with family.....so what's the deal baby girl??

*This next post-it isn't really something she did, but something I didn't do. I was folding her laundry the other evening and sat aside  pajamas for that night. I jammied her up and you took off running. About ten minutes later I discovered something strange looking about her jammies.......

"This static cling is an amazing thing mom"

*She loves Ring Around the Rosie and will entertain me by doing it anywhere...in the bathtub, outside, on the carpet. And she isn't afraid to "we all fall down" at the end of the song. We never seem to make it to the end of the song though because she is so excited to fall. Fine by me! I'm convinced that it's because she wants me to quit singing so she ends the song early. ;)

I just love ya girl! I can't wait to read these to you someday and show you how silly you were....and will always be. ;)

Makeover Takeover

It's as simple as that. Our home makeover has literally taken over our lives. Exciting? Yes, of course!!! Exhausting? Yes, of course!!! Where have I been lately? Not blogging, that's for sure. And yes, it's killing me!!! That's why it's nearly midnight and I'm sitting here typing out my thoughts so that I won't forget them. Story of my life. So here's the deal....

We have until Christmas eve to move our belongings and ourselves to the new home. Oh and did I mention we have to have to entire house painted by then?? I'm really paranoid about having the baby around paint fumes and don't want to be working on continuous painting projects when we move in. This means we've been in overdrive trying to get things ready. As we worked this weekend our doorbell got plenty of practice when we had several surprise guests. I was thrilled to get to show off our 'before' home to Matt & Heather, Steven, our realtor Vicki, and of course Papa Bill, Nanny and Aunt Katie who have been keeping close tabs on our progress. A huge thanks to Steven for lending a helping hand an painting several walls for us Sunday afternoon. And thanks to Rachelle for letting us borrow him for a couple hours!! ;) I'm beyond pleased with how our first big weekend project turned out! We started on the living area, formal dining area, kitchen and breakfast room. Two fresh coats of white paint over the baseboards, windows and doors which used to be a frosted oak color. The walls were given a facelift as we decided to cover up the messy glaze job that the previous owners had on the walls with a chocolate brown and latte combo. It only took about five sample cans of tannish/ beigish paint to find the one. Van Dyke Brown and Latte were the winners and I couldn't be more happy with how they look together. Here are just a few before pictures of our first step of the makeover......

That white wall was a yucky green color before Riley primed it

Total mess

Making some headway

And here is our semi-finished living space and dining room......

Ta da!!!!

We still have to pick out light fixtures, brick the fireplace and oh yeah, fill it with furniture. The end of January seems like a reasonable time to have all of this done. Long term improvements include all new stainless steel kitchen appliances, patio furniture, a new big girl room for Hallie when she nears the big 2, and of course furniture for every room in the house. Remember, I sold about everything we owned in our garage sale. Step by step, day by day, little by little we will have a home again. I have so many ideas swirling in my head about decor, colors, patterns, furniture. This is all so much fun!!!! Between Pinterest and Houzz I have plenty of inspiration. Oh yeah, and the ideas that my husband comes up with. I've got to credit him with the idea to paint our accent wall the chocolate brown. He also decided to paint the back doors brown as well. I am not a great decision maker when I have endless options so in this case I'm very thankful for his enthusiasm. Now when it comes to furniture I will have no problem picking out what I like...that's when he can just step aside and let me do the work. A girl can dream, right? ;)

Projects coming up this weekend include removing and staining the kitchen cabinets, painting our bedroom and ripping wallpaper. Again, we pay in pizza and beer. I repeat, pizza and beer. ;)

I bet you can guess how badly Hobby Lobby has been calling my name lately...........

.....oh the damage I could do in that store right now. Alas, I will wait. ;)

The World's Smallest Flasher

Hallie has been on a big kick lately where she goes on a hunt for clothes in her room and brings random pieces to us to put on her. Sunday morning while we were getting around (slowly but surely) she got ahold of her winter coat which had fallen on the floor and brought it to her dad to put on. Her way of saying "put this on me" is basically bending her neck back, holding it up and grunting until we listen.  Riley listened to little missy and put her coat on. She was pretty proud of her choice of attire and pranced through the house all the while opening her coat to show off her belly and laughing.....

"I'm ready for church!!!"

I couldn't wait to pretty her up in her Christmas dress so the naked flasher look had to go and she transformed into a holiday princess. And luckily she semi-cooperated for a picture in her dress....

We endorse being fully clothed for church. The only exception is Baby Jesus....he can wear whatever he wants. ;)

A not so Bedlam kinda Bedlam

Bedlam: noun 1. a scene or state of wild uproar and confusion

        2. An insane asylum or madhouse

This year I must say that Hallie was the only thing that lived up to definition #1. Talk about confusion.....

"Can you say fashion faux pas mom??"

Our little baby divided was confused from the get go on Saturday. Although I figured she'd be used to wearing orange and crimson by now...just not at the same time. I hadn't thought ahead about her Bedlam day attire and was wishing I would have come Saturday morning. Think fast momma!! I decided we would literally split her in half. And I guess it was fitting that I put OSU colors on top. The little stinker ended up ripping her crimson colored socks off within ten minutes and I found her laying on the ground beside the bed looking mighty guilty....

"I swear mom, dad made me do it..."

I was sporting my crimson and cream while Riley was wearing his orange and black. I had to be representing because we were getting ready to go enter enemy territory.....Nanny and Papa's house. ;)

They embraced their confused little Cowboy/Sooner fan despite the color of her bottom half. She was obviously excited for a day full of fun at Nanny's house while we were busy working at the new house. Before we left she wandered into Nanny's bathroom and returned with these beads......

"These really go well with my outfit, dontcha think"

I should've seen that as an omen and known right then and there what team she would end up cheering for. Quick! Hurry! Someone get that baby some crimson beads!!!! ;) Hallie helped Nanny and Papa prepare lunch and showed up with lunch for Riley and I. They brought some yummy stew and garlic rope bread along with dessert. They even thought ahead and brought over a table and chairs since the house is empty. After lunch Hal took a nap and Nanny got some work done. They had some party hopping to do after all and Hal gal needed her rest. She woke up still confused as ever and headed over to cousin Carmen's house in her get-up. Something tells me that she was even more confused when she saw Carmen dressed in all orange....

"Hey, how come her outfit matches so well?"

Aunt Katie and Uncle Luke were having a party at their house and the girls were representing their team well....

Hal made her way back over to the new house to see what kind of progress we'd made that day. Her first question was "did you get my room done yet?" Ok, I lie. She doesn't even know which room is hers yet, although we are working on that. ;) Nanny and Hal joined us for a pizza and beer party. I had jokingly told everyone that we would pay in pizza and beer for help with painting....I guess I wasn't kidding. ;) The girls had one more Bedlam party to stop at on their way home. A party at the Wise's down the street was going on and Hal showed up in her gear to cheer on both teams. After that was some sleepy time for a worn out Sooner/Cowboy fan and some much needed quiet time for Nanny I'm sure.

So you are probably wondering how our house divided fared in this Bedlam. Well let's just say that this year we chose our marriage over the game. It helped that we had tons of work to get done and we have no cable at the new house yet. We contemplated listening on the radio but then decided that paint brushes might be used as weapons if that were the case. So in the end it was no tv, no radio. Just my trusty friends on Facebook telling me how things were going. :( We don't have a very good track record of what you'd call "nice behavior" on Bedlam days in the past. But you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at these pictures though.....

2006- The year we sat in different sections in the stadium

2004- We went out to eat in Stillwater afterwards and I think he wanted to disown me ;)

The good part is that most Bedlam games are afternoon games and by the end of the day he has gotten over his pouty attitude (I say he because I had yet to be on the losing end of things since we've met). It was kind of becoming a luxury and gosh darn it, I was hoping to keep it that way. I guess my team didn't get the memo though. I have no idea how the game went nor does he. All we know is the final score. For once in our lives, we both voluntarily did not watch our team's game. And I'll tell you what, it's been the most peaceful Bedlam to date. The immature side of me still couldn't get past the fact that this year's game should have been played in Norman and in the end it appears that it wouldn't have mattered if we played in a mud pit, Norman or at the Rose Bowl....either way we were going to be pummeled. Sad but true. Riley did not gloat (much) which I was thankful for. His only game related quote of the night was when I told him the final score...."hahahahah, boo ya!!!" He got an eye roll and then followed it up by saying "I've been waiting eight years to say that to you!!"

As for definition #2 above......well I can certainly say that Riley and I definitely lived up to that by the end of the day. Lots of paint fumes. ;)

Color Me Glad

It's no secret that I get overly overjoyed when Hallie does something brand new and exciting. Well, Wednesday was no exception. She was enjoying a long day with her daycare friends at Mrs. Paula's house. I always sit and wonder what kinds of activities she is doing all day. Who she plays with, what toys she likes best and if she jabbers to the other kids. I often tell Riley that I just want to spend a day as a fly on the wall so I can delight in watching her learn all day long. Oh wouldn't that be grand....

As I was leaving my office the other day I did a quick check of Facebook and was super excited when the picture above of Hallie popped up on my newfeed. Mrs. Paula had just posted a picture of some of the kiddos coloring at the big plastic table. One of those kids just happened to be my sweet baby. She seemed more interested in the other kid's skills and less interested in her own coloring page. After I showed up to pick her up I found out why she wasn't worried about coloring her page. Miss Lily and a couple other girls informed me that "Hallie had been eating her crayons" and showed me the proof. I guess she thought it looked pretty yummy and bit the tip off. She then presented me with my very first piece of artwork from my baby girl. It was simply the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Just four tiny scribbles and a small section where Lily had "helped" her out a bit. Is it sad that I'm incredibly proud of this picture.......

Let me guess...you can't see the scribbles. They are there, I promise. Check out the bottom right corner. That's where my little artist got her start. But it looks like she will have to keep her skills cooking awhile longer until she can suppress her appetite for wax. Look out Picasso.....

Riley's Inner Nate Berkus

Need some entertainment??? Just come around when Riley gets on one of his home design kicks and starts spouting off words I would never imagine coming out of his mouth, using big hand gestures to help describe his "vision" and talking excitedly about his plans. He says words like "focal point" and "color pop" and last but certainly not least "splash of color." I'm usually dying laughing inside but don't want to stifle his creative powers at that moment. Lol! This doesn't happen too often but when it does I happily jump aboard the Nake Berkus train. Choo choo!!! Here is just a glimpse into the last couple of days. Forget work, we can't get our minds off of the house!!

Above you can see the assortment of sample paint colors I picked out after work on Wednesday. Again, I repeat "sample"....because nothing about those large jars looks like a sample to me. It's like a big waste of paint....especially when Mr. Nate did not like a single one of them. And I'll give him credit for turning up his nose at the green. It turned out more like a lime green which was not the direction I was headed. A friend on Facebook told me about an app for my iPhone so I spent the morning flipping through my new favorite addiction. It's like Pinterest but just home design, wall colors and decor. You can compile a "book" of your favorite images to refer back to. While browsing I happened to stumble upon my ultimate inspiration. FINALLY!! We've found the color!

If only our finsihed product could look this good!

Wednesday was not only a day spent dreaming of paint colors but we were also both rushing around making phone calls and meeting with the carpet/tile guy to take measurements and pick out colors and patterns. Decisions, decisions! I am thankful for Nate when it comes to this stuff because I could spend all day staring at tile and still not make a decision. We had our first visitors last night when Katie and Carmen stopped by. They spent some time listening to me brainstorm and giving some input. God bless them for listening to my nonsense babbling. Hallie was so not a happy camper as it was bedtime and she was exhausted after a long day of playing with her friends at daycare. I literally dreamed about painting last night. This afternoon brought about another quick trip to the paint store (this time sans Hallie Grace). I was sure I'd picked out our final samples and a couple jugs of white paint to begin our long journey of painting EVERY surface in the house. I got Nate's approval and a big thumbs up for these two new colors!

I spent part of late afternoon staring at the walls trying to wrap my mind around how we were going to tackle this monster called painting. I figured jumping right in was the way to go. I looked at the clock and was surprised to see that the evening had flown by and it was already time to head over to Nanny's for dinner and to squeeze my baby who I'd been missing all day. I had only painted one closet door, a window sill and about seven foot of baseboard. And that was just the first coat. After we enjoyed a delicious dinner cooked by Nanny, Riley was antsy to get over and start working on the house. Back to work we went.

So I'm sure you are probably wondering how Hallie Grace feels about all of this new stuff going on.....

"I'm game for anything"

The girl's a trooper. She's used to us changing things up every few months. That girl won't know what to do when we are settled. She loaded up her cup, binky and babydoll after getting dressed in her jammies and was the perfect little helper until 8:00 tonight. The little stinker kept us running by stealing our tape rolls and finding nice hiding spots. She made sure to feed her baby a bottle before bed tonight which just melted my heart into a little puddle. :)

Nate and I have a big job ahead but lots of incentive to finish. Not only do I insist on my girl spending Christmas in our home but now Gman has asked if we could have our traditional Christmas Eve family time at my house this year to change things up a bit. I was delighted!! Even more motivation! If you get the itch to come help paint don't hesitate...we pay in pizza.