Spring Break: Day 2 and Peyton at 15 months

     After a looong Monday... Tuesday was a bit more relaxed.  Peyton and I had a playdate scheduled with a good friend and her 1 year old little boy.  We met up at a park nearby.  The boys played at the playground and then we walked them around the park in the stroller for a while.  It's nice to be able to pretend that I'm a stay-at-home mom sometimes :-)

Anyway... here's a picture of Peyton and his friend Ronin sitting on the bench.

I can't even believe that I really got a picture- this good- of two 1 years old's.  I can barely get a picture of Peyton these days.

It's crazy seeing them so grown up.  Here's Peyton and Ronin just a year ago....

Ronin was just born and Peyton was crushing him with his big head...  I'd say they're destined to be friends for life.


With that said... I need to update this blog about Peyton and all the amazing things he does these days.  This is more for me to write it down somewhere so that I don't forget.  I understand if you're like.. "I'm going to exit this page now..."

So what does Peyton do...
Well.

He says a few things:

• Dada
• Mama
• Dog
• Ball
• Juice or Shoes.. the same word is being used for multiple purposes :-)
• "There he is" after we say...where's Peyton?
• He's said "I love you" but you'd probably call me liar because it's his secret trick that he only does when he feels like it.
• And really long sentences where he is very confident in what he's saying, but we just pretend we know and say "yes Peyton! Really?!"

Cool Tricks:

• He runs
• He shuffles his feet and breaths really heavy when we say "fast feet Peyton, fast feet!"
• He blows bubbles in the tub
• Always claps after we sing the ABCs
• He's fearless and super athletic.  He does pull ups using the bathroom sink and he dunks basketballs in his mini hoop.

Things I could live without:

• He throws fits sometimes.  He's very determined, so when he can't figure something out or I take something from him- he'll make it clear that he's mad.  He has actually sat in time-out, but he sits there so nicely, I'm not sure that he knows it's a punishment.
• He bites and thinks it's funny because we accidently laugh sometimes... oops.
• He still doesn't eat a whole lot.  And his poop is nasty.  We've actually talked to the doctor about it twice, but they say it's fine?
• Still not the best sleeper.  We're working on it :-)

What he has:

• 4 top front teeth
• 4 bottom front teeth
• 1 molar on top that I can see is pushing through
• Wears a size 4-5 shoe
• Fits most comfortably in 18 mo clothing.. but we stick 12-24mo on him depending on what I want him to wear.
• Really weird curly-straight hair.. don't know where it came from?

Thank you God for this gift, that I do not deserve.  I know that you love him even more than I do- which is impossible to comprehend in my human mind.  Please watch over him... you blessed me with a wild one :-)

Spring Break 2012 Cancun!! ... or not.

     No, Spring Break was not happening in Cancun this year.  I'm spending this break at my house, which is perfectly fine with me.  I love being home during the week and it's nice to be able to relax.  Peyton is at a really fun age to be home with and it makes me really excited for this summer!

So Spring Break started off a little busy...

Spring Break: Day 1

I decided that I would use this time off to complete a home project.  I've been wanting to put in a kitchen backsplash.  Neither Brandon nor I are handy, so even easy projects don't always work out so well for us.  Despite this, we headed to Lowes.

Peyton was an excellent shopper and waited very patiently as we looked around.

Now when it came to backsplash options, there were several.  This is what I was pretty sure I wanted:

• glass tile
• easy
• greenish maybe?

So we found glass tile and we found easy (at least it was supposed to be).  Unfortunately the easy tile didn't come in any greenish colors- so we went with a white/pearl and brown color pattern that looked like this...

The product was the DIY Network Backsplash kit in Pecan.  It's glass tiles that come in sheets of 12x12.  The kit was staged in the store in front of a video of how "easy" it is to do.  The glass tiles are stick on, so you don't have to putty the wall first... which did make it easier.  Here's how it describes itself on the Lowes website:

• DIY network glass tile backsplash kit - 15 sq. ft
• All tools and materials needed for installation included in the box
• Peel-and-stick mosaics and pre-mixed grout
• Save time and money, install and grout on the same day
• Can be installed over almost any flat and smooth surface
• The DIY backsplash kit utilizes a new peel and stick technology specially designed for glass mosaics and a pre-mixed ready-to-use grout
• The DIY backsplash kit is the ultimate ready to use kit for home improvement

Now I will break down the PROS and CONS...

Pros:

1. Peel-and-stick does make it easier.
2. Small tiles are easy to cut and fit in the space we needed them.
3. Pretty inexpensive.  The initial kit cost $145ish.  We had to buy an additional pack of tiles which was about $45 and our own grout.  So it was ended up costing around $200.00.

Cons:

1. The grout was awful.  All of the reviews I read online said to buy your own grout.. but of course I didn't listen.  They were right- I was wrong.  The grout was a mess and Brandon had to go back out TWICE (the first time he got the wrong color) to get pre-mixed grout.
2. Also they say it can be done in less than 2 hours... that was a lie- at least in our case.

So despite the extreme mess we made with the grout... the project was an overall success.  I think it looks ok and I am happy with it for now.  It's far from perfect, but I don't ever expect perfect when it's Brandon and I doing the decorating.

BEFORE PICTURE:

AFTER PICTURE:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Excuse the dirty dishes... it was a long night.

AFTER:

i can't seem to stick to one color

    Recently I decided I've become bored with my living room.  This is typical of me.  When I was younger and lived at home, I moved my furniture around every few months.  Out of nowhere I'd become bored with the location of my bed and decide to de-clutter, throw away junk, and move my bed and dressers.

Now my living room is a little bit different.  Living in a townhouse, the space isn't very big and we have a large sectional in this room, so rearranging furniture is.... well somewhat impossible.  So when I get bored, I change colors!  We've lived in this house for three years now and we've now had three different color themes for our living room.  Now before you go on let me warn you that I AM NO DESIGNER.  Don't get me wrong- I try.  I'm an avid HGTV watcher...but unfortunately I have no knack for actually putting things together, especially accessories (so if you ever want to help, you input is more than welcome)!

We started with this....

Red was the theme.  I bought the mirror from Pier 1 and red pillows to match. Please disregard the big flower thing in the back, that was decoration for Thanksgiving.  And the red pillow with the eyes- that was not part of the design theme :-)

A year or so later, I got tired of red.  And I wanted cool colors to match our blue walls.  So I bought a new mirror and moved the old one to another room in the house.  Looking through all my old pictures, I realize I have NONE of our living room at that stage... so to give you an idea of what it looked like...

The new mirror came from Pier 1 too.  It sits horizontally above our (faux) fireplace.  Our new theme became Bluish/Turquoise and Cream.

 Here's a picture of our serious(ly handsome) little man sitting in our wicker chair, with the pillow that was my inspiration for that theme...

Unfortunately, Bluish/Turquoise didn't last long.  I've changed my mind again and something made me want yellow.  So, our new theme is Yellow/Gray.  So far, I've only replaced the pillows and added the yellow throw and yellow candles on the fireplace.  Here's how it looks so far....

I think I want to replace the curtains too.  I also decided that there are too many random pictures on my surfaces and it's looking too crowded, so I have a few projects in mind for my spring break.  My goals are primarily for the living room and kitchen...  I want to
1. make a picture frame collage behind the couch on the wall
2. and we plan to put up a backsplash in the kitchen- which will be a major project because Brandon and I are in no way interior designers or contractors.  So wish us luck.  I'll post pictures if we actually get to it!

when the night has come and the land is dark

     Where you go, I’ll go and where you stay, I’ll stay comes from one of my favorite stories in the Bible.  If you don’t know the story behind it, let me tell you…

     A long time ago there was a woman named Naomi.  She was married to Elimelek and they had two sons named Mahlon and Kilion.  The lived in Bethlehem, Judah but went to live in the country of Moab after a famine struck the land.  Unfortunately, Elimelek died, so Naomi was left alone with her sons.  They each married Moabite women.  These ladies were named Orpah (not Oprah) and Ruth.

     After ten..ish years, Naomi’s sons Mahlon and Kilion also died.  At this point she was left with only her daughters-in-law.  Around this time, Naomi heard that God had aided the people of Judah by giving them food.  She planned to return to Judah with her daughters-in-law.

     As they set off to go, Naomi said to her daughters-in-law 

“Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home.  May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me.  May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

     Hearing this, they cried and reassured Naomi that they would go with her.  But, Naomi said “Return home, my daughters.  Why would you come with me?  Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?”

 

     The girls cried again.  Orpah kissed Naomi and said goodbye.  But Ruth didn’t.  Naomi urged Ruth again to go.  Ruth turned to Naomi and said...

“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.  Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.  Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.  May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

At that Ruth and Naomi walked on to Bethlehem.

As the story continues, Ruth goes on to marry again.  She marries a man named Boaz and has a son.  Her son is Obed.  Obed becomes the father of Jesse and Jesse becomes the father of David.

This leads me to the About Me section of my blog.  As I said, I want the kind of faith and loyalty that Ruth had.  She refused to turn her back on Naomi, which ultimately lead to her becoming the great-grandmother of King David.

She didn't do what was easy.

She wasn’t afraid to do what she felt in her heart was right. 

 

She didn’t allow the pursuit of her own happiness to get in the way of what God called on her for.

   

She put someone else before herself.  

I hope to be that strong.

thanks for a good four years

I finally have to say goodbye to my.favorite.sunglasses.ever!

Rest In Peace Ralph Lauren Gold Aviators circa 2008

Thank you for the good times.

Us in Tulum,Mexico- 2008

Us in Cabo San Lucas- 2009

Us in D.C. - 2010

Us in New York City - 2011

Our last picture together.  Fall 2011 - Fed Ex Stadium

I guess it's time to invest in a new pair of sunglasses.  I can't seem to look beyond aviators, so I'm sure this summer you'll see me in something similar to my tried and true.  All suggestions are welcome!