things are a changin'

This little man is about to have his world rocked tomorrow morning. After a lot of talks and prayer, I'm going to be starting to childcare at our house tomorrow!  It started off with one gal asking and it snowballed very quickly.  I guess I should be flattered that so many people trust me with theirs kiddos!  Now through December, I'll be watching kiddos from 4 families throughout the week (luckily, never all at once).  I'm really excited for Owen to make new friends and to have a few older kids to use my teaching skills/materials on.  Of course, I've been praying a ton that he transitions well and that he learns how to go to sleep without me by his side since that won't really work with other kids needing me.  We're easing into this week with only 2.5 days of kids.  He'll meet A and C tomorrow morning.  Here we go buddy!

my little reader

Oh this video melts my heart. He would sit all day and point to his books and "read" if I would let him. I also love that this video shows how Sophie is never too far from his side. There was a short week there that we were looking at giving Sophie to a new home. But I couldn't do it.  So, despite the increased vacuuming and making sure my sister is stocked with allergy pills when she comes over, she's staying.

cleaning

Owen loves to "help" with whatever cleaning tasks are my list for the day (another post to come about my new system). He loves to chase the vacuum and play with the brooms. And even though it's not cleaning, his new favorite thing to do is empty my purse and then try to put it all back in.

this is fun

At least he didn't figure out how to put the coins down the vent.

i make these floors pretty dirty

your votes please

I NEED YOU. . .

 . . .to vote that is.  So here's the dilemma.  We have the perfect handles for all the kitchen cabinets.  They match the curve of our appliance handles perfectly.  And my parents used the same ones and have a few left over that we can have for free.  Every little bit helps.  So here's where you come in.  Do you like the tall ones or the short ones?  I honestly go back and forth, so you won't hurt my feelings any way.  Take a peek and then vote.  And don't pay close attention to the placement where I was holding them!

short ones

tall ones

shot of part of the kitchen

we'll use the short ones on these for sure

Which handle?
	tall - how modern!
	short - it looks more balanced
	start over on your handle search
= see results =

little blog makeover

I know most of you read in google reader. But I hopped on the gray and yellow design train and gave my blog a little makeover. Whatcha think?

his first haircut. . .

was a FAIL. Ok, let me backup. Owen barely has any hair. But he has these 2 little wings over his ears that were driving me batty (pun intended). So when Jenna came over to give William a cut, we thought we'd try and get Owen's little hairs cut. No such luck. William held him. We bribed. I held him. We let him play with the combs. Not happening. Oh well, at least I got these pictures of the first attempted hair cut.

And another positive of the attempted hair cut: Jenna's multi-million dollar idea. It's the Puree and Spray: only slightly messier than a spoon. I think she could make a bundle!

Owen's speech

I absolutely love all the talking Owen's been doing lately. Tonight at dinner, he gave quite the speech. Don't mind the spaghetti sauce hanging out of his nose.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was William and mine 4th anniversary! It feels like it's been so much longer than that (as in I've known him forever) and yet also like it went by in a blink of an eye. We agreed to not spend any money on each other since we're saving for a list a mile-long of house stuff. But I still wanted to do something small. I've seen this idea all over craft blogland and Pinterest. Quick sidenote, if you're not on Pinterest, go. But be warned it will suck your life time away.  So here's what I did: a 52 things things I love about you booklet.

 

Supplies:

• deck of 52 playing cards (I also used the 2 jokers for my front and back cover)
• 2 metal book rings
• some way to write on the cards

 What I did:

1. I started by punching holes in all the cards using one card for my template.
2. I used this lovely blog's template for my cover and back plate.
3. Then I just created text boxes in word and typed out 52 things I love about William.  
4. I printed it on sticker paper, cut them out, and slapped one on each card.  You could easily print them on regular paper and glue them.  Or print on mailing labels. Or just hand-write directly on the cards.  Whatever suits your fancy.
5. Then clip all the cards together and give to your sweetie.  It's a fun little thing he can look back at when he's having a rough day. :)

I was going to write out my list of 52 things, but then I realized that's just for him.  So here's just a few of the things I wrote:

We had an amazing dinner at Kofusion which is where we had our first date and where he introduced me to the wonderful world of sushi. Yum. Then we went all crazy and went to Target. Wow, are we old married folk or what? Thanks to my sister who watched Owen while we were gone. And I literally mean watched as in watched him on the video monitor since I put him to bed before we left. :) 

*ETA - he did wake up once for her, so I do want to credit her for getting my wiggle worm back to sleep.

pool time!

When your weather channel app tells you that it feels like 117 degrees outside, it is time to hit the pool!  Thanks Joanna and Anne for letting me in on the secret that Sholem is open to mommies from 9-11ish for only $3 (well, the baby pool is).  We met up with Anne&Alex and Becca&Charlie to cool off on this hot morning.  Owen loves splashing in the water, but definitely told me when it was time to go home.  It was a super fun time and my skin is starting to not look *quite* so blindingly white.

 

 

new favorite toy

Who knew the gate could provide so much fun?

*video warning: long and boring after the first couple seconds :)*

what I've been up to

Hi all.  Owen here.  While my mom is busy unpacking a few more things, I thought I'd hop on her pretty pink computer that I'm always trying to get my hands on.  Mom's been pretty crazy these last few weeks, so I know her updates about me have been a bit slow.  So, I thought I'd share a few of the things I've been up to this last week.

Along with mastering the skills of typing, I am now proficient at one game on my mom's phone.  PS, have you seen her new phone cover?  It's a picture of me of course.  Great picture if I don't say so myself.  Now, where was I? Oh yes, my new favorite game on mom's phone is called Peekaboo HD.  It's a farmyard and when I click on the hay bales, a farm animal pops out and makes it's noise.  I totally dig the cow and mom gets pretty excited every time I say moo.  Check out the game here.  It's a free app and I know my mom likes free.

So, what else have I been up to?  Well, I got to hang out with my new favorite babysitter last Thursday night while my parents helped Holly celebrate her birthday.  They went to their favorite restaurant, Radio Maria.  I've heard stories about the rehearsal dinner they had there.  I guess that was the night before they started practicing for me.  Whatever that means.  I had fun and they said they had an awesome dinner with great friends.  I think my dad looks weird in this picture from the night.

My mom's not the only one who's been unpacking.  I'm a huge help, especially with the things she's already put away.  I was just making sure we had a lid for every tupperware.

Mom's also been showing me lots of fun stuff that used to be in her classroom.  I've gotten tons of new books, puzzles, dinosaurs, and blocks.  And look at my little reading chair.  This used to belong to Sarah's classroom, and then got passed to my mom.  It's a perfect little reading chair for me!

Let's see, what else is new?  I'm finally getting some hair.  That's pretty cool.

I was tugging on my ears a lot one day, so mom took me to the doctor to see if I was sick.  That wasn't very cool.

At our new house, I can see the road from this big window.  I LOVE to look outside and point at all the trucks that go by.  I get kinda mad when mom stops naming them though.

I've also been entertaining my mom with lots of peekabo games, hiding behind anything I can.  I'm also doing a great job mom says of drinking my milk.

Ooo yeah, and my highlight of the week: Grammy came!!  I love it when my Grandma comes to play with me.  Ok, so I think she really came to help my mom.  They were busy unpacking things, cleaning the windows, and scrubbing the floors.  But I got lots of hugs and kisses and some great time with Grammy.  Here we are playing in my little pool.  Mom put a couple holes in my nice big pool, but she promised me that she'd patch them this week.  So my little pool had to do for the day.

Oh, and I almost forgot.  I got to go see Dr. Melby and get adjusted for the first time.  The chiropractor wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be, even though I may have cried just a bit.  I think my mommy's praying that maybe it will help with my sleeping habits.  I'm not sure what's wrong with my sleeping habits.  I mean, she gets to see me all day and all night, so I don't know why she'd want that to change.  But, anywhoo, I go back on Monday for another check.  The trucks in the waiting room were definitely my favorite part.

 

 

And that's what I've been up to the last week or so.  Can't wait to show you my room and my bathroom that mom's been working on.  Ok, gotta run.  It's snack time!  Lots of love and sloppy baby kisses.  Peace out.

Ohdeedoh

Owen's birthday shout-out made it on Ohdeedoh, one of my favorite blogs. Only a month late right?

Click here to check it out (there's just 5 simple pictures of him I'm sure you've all seen).

I submitted a large review of his birthday party, but still have heard back about that one. I'll let you know as soon as I do! :)

learning to walk

Please excuse the awful just moved in mess and just watch the cute kid. Yes, he has walking toys. No, he wanted to use the cooler.

warning: video is long and not too exciting

The tour - upstairs

And we continue our tour with the upstairs portion of the house!  Again, you walk up the lovely, light flight of stairs.  This ha quickly become Sophie's favorite place to sleep because of the sun streaming in.

 

This is what you see when you walk up the stairs.  There are two bedrooms and a bathroom to the right.  Then one bedroom to the left and our master is the one straight down the hall.  I know bedroom pictures are a little hard to grasp the full picture, but I'll do my best.  

The first bedroom on the right is Owen's room. We wanted him as far away from us as possible since at our old place,William taking a shower at night would wake him up.  It might not be his room forever, but I keep having to tell myself that I'm decorating and storing things right now with the house AS IS and as if I only have 1 kid.  I keep thinking, well when we have 3 kids, then this will have to change, etc.  Slow down Emily.  Put things away and enjoy the space we have right now.  So anyways, where was I?  Owen's room.

 

Owen's room to-do list:

• I don't think I'm going to paint because I'll wait to do his "big boy" room.  I have tons of ideas saved for this one.  It will depend if our eventual baby 2 is a boy or girl (no, not pregnant).  If it's a girl, I'll move some of his orange and turquoise things with him to his new room.  If it's a boy, he'll get all new stuff!  I'm side tracked again, aren't I?
• So for now, it's hanging curtains and fabric book shelves
• Hang alphabet letters and picture frames
• Hang bunting flags my mom made

Next to Owen's room is a full bath.  I wish it has 2 sinks, but everything else is great!  I love how the sink has no ridge around the edge to collect gunk.

Kid/Guest bathroom to-do list:

• paint bathroom a gray color
• my mom bought me an awesome shower curtain with gray and bright green, so those will be the colors
• buy new bath mats, soap dispenser, etc
• find wall art or vinyl decal

The room on the other side of the bathroom is going to be the current guest room.  We've never had a guest room before, so I'm super excited!  This will give William's folks a place to stay when they visit and we're also looking forward to some other visitors.  Come on Habels and Carlyles. :)

Guest bedroom to-do:

• umm, buy a bed :)  this will depend on what we do with our master.  We could get what we want in there and put our furniture in the guest room. But the cheaper option is to scour craigslist for a good bed deal for now.
• get end tables
• I'm using the beautiful quilt my mom made for me for Christmas which has so many beautiful colors in it.  But the main accents brown, kinda  pink/coral, and apple green.
• decorate! - no real concrete ideas yet
• this room will also probably not get painted as it won't be a guest bedroom forever

Moving on down the hall, we come to the one bedroom facing the front of the house.  I love this little room! There's a great ceiling fan, 2 matching closets, and my favorite part, a built in toy box. For the time being, this is going to be my craft room!  Woohoo, a craft room.  I am so excited, I can't even stand it.  I know it won't be a permanent place, but at least for a short while,  my glue gun will have a home of its own.

Craft room to-do list:

• oh my goodness, I could go on forever with my dream craft room - storage, cute things on the wall, a craft desk with tons of ribbon storage.  But I'm also being hopeful that I will get pregnant this summer

Our last stop on our tour is the master bedroom. This room is huge!  It's definitely one of the last rooms on my renovation list since so few people see it, but I'll be gathering ideas for someday.  I love the vaulted ceilings, the fan, and the big window.  There's one "walk-in" and one regular closet so not the most storage in the world, but we'll figure it out.  And the reason I can't wait until it gets cold: my new bathtub.  I always told William I'd love a huge tub, but it wasn't on my list because let's be real, it's not at all a necessity.  But I got one!  YAY!!  The only other little thing is that there really isn't much counter top space.  I just hope William doesn't mind a hair dryer in his sink. :) haha

Master to-do list:

• In my big dreams, I'd love a new bedroom set.  We're using all the stuff I had pre-marriage which is just fine for right now.  But maybe someday, we'll get a great dark wood set with a great platform bed.
• I have some fun plans for artwork and jewelry holders.  Again, this room won't get the formal treatment for a long time.
• I'd love a pretty chair and table for a reading/seating area.
• The bathroom is getting a pretty new shower curtain and paintings which was at my mom's house.  She got new things, so I inherited her other stuff.  I love it!

And that's about it. I'm sure I'll think of tons more things to add to these lists over the months, but I can't wait to share some fun projects with you guys.  And if you're ever in town, you now all have a place to stay!