Around The House: Week 8

This past weekend we were busy bees around the house!  I love having a productive weekend.  I really love seeing the progress around the house.  There are so many things on our to do list.  It's hard to keep track of it all....and even harder to prioritize! 


One of our projects this weekend was getting curtains hung in the kitchen area.  I'm super happy with how cozy it looks and feels.  The curtains still need to be steamed/ironed and I think they'll look even better once we paint this room.  For now, I'm happy!   :)

Obviously, this before picture was before the house was completed.  Back in July the lots behind our house were nearly all empty.  They are now nearly half full!  It's amazing how fast the Houston area is growing.  {Chairs and Table: Silk Route, Curtains: Pottery Barn Ivory Linen, Table Accessory: Beatriz Ball}

We did some fun stuff outside of the house too.  William got to try out a class at The Little Gym.  He was a little scared at first but within 10 minutes he was running around the room saying, "Yayyyyyy!" and smiling ear to ear.  When they got the bubbles out he literally fell over in excitement.  Gordon and I knew we HAD to sign him up for the upcoming session.  Seeing his happy little smile is priceless.  I can't wait to take him back this weekend! 

Valentine's Weekend

February is one of my favorite months!  We always stay busy doing fun things with both my birthday and Valentine's Day falling in February.  We had a quiet night at the house this Valentine's Day.  I'm not a big fan of going out to eat on this night since the restaurants are crazy busy.  After working all week, cooking at home and laying on the couch sounds perfect! 

• My big boy!
• Opening his presents (I couldn't resist the kissy face monkey since William loves giving kisses)
• They sent this heart home from school for us to decorate.  Sweet little hands!
• William's not a fan of picture taking. 
• School art work :)

I sent little gifts to school with William for all his friends.  I was a little rushed to get something together since we'd just gotten back into town from Colorado.  Anything is better than nothing.  :)

• I bought some clear plastic cups and heart fruit snacks at the grocery store....
• The fruit snacks and a tiny Mickey Mouse book went inside the cup.  I just wrapped the cup in clear cellophane and tied it up with pink ribbon and put a Valentine sticker on the outside (I got the stickers online at Tiny Prints).
• Valentine's morning....coffee for me, treats for his friends and a giftcard for his teachers.  
• These are the "tiny" books I used.  Each box comes with 12 books!  The Mickey books went to his friends and the Elmo ones were for William.  William loves opening the box and taking them all out....just to put them back in (he likes to read them too!).  Such a great gift instead of candy!!
• Yummy cupcakes for his Valentine's Party at school. 

We got to hang out with some of William's favorite friends that weekend at a birthday party.  Saturday evening we went to a nearby restaurant that has outside seating, a sandbox, a firepit, outdoor heaters and they have live entertainment.  William was in heaven....extra bonus....we ran into his favorite friends again.  I even got to have a girls night out after dinner.  It was a perfect weekend after a crazy week!!!!  {p.s. this was actually week 7!}

President's Day

It's president's day!!!  I didn't intend to post anything today but when my boss emailed us an inspirational quote I knew I had to share with everyone.

“I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.”

-Abraham Lincoln

This quote couldn't come at a better time.  Last week was so crazy!  After our trip we had so much laundry/unpacking to do and all I wanted to do was hang out with the little man.  Then there was Valentine's Day.....I had bunco on Thursday night so at 10pm I was putting together gifts for William's class friends and icing cupcakes.  Just when I was ready to call it a night I realized his Valentine shirt was DIRTY!  uggghhhggg.  Once the shirt was washed and in the dryer it was nearly midnight and I was one tired mama!  Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's okay if everything doesn't get done.  All I can do is the best that I can!  :)
   

He refused to nap on Sunday...until we went walking!

Teething!

So, tonight I'm taking it easy and watching Pearl Harbor.  Such a great movie.  Watching the nurses breaks my heart and gives me so much pride in my profession.  Those that serve our country are true heroes!!  Happy President's Day America. 

Birthday in Breckenridge

If you know me fairly well you know I had two pretty strong opinions before becoming a mommy.  #1 you can’t forget about your husband after your baby is born (he is the reason you have that baby after all)   #2  you should leave your baby every once in a while so you can spend quality time with your significant other.  With that being said.....if you know me post baby you know that I’ve never spent a night away from baby boy……UNTIL NOW!  Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a strong believer of #1 and #2.  But, sometimes it’s hard to get away.  Gordon and I do have date night at least once a month but until now leaving William for an extended period of time didn’t feel right.  The first 18 months of William's life he was nursing (I was pumping) and he didn't sleep well through the night (at least not consistently).  I knew I wanted our first vacation to be as relaxing and fun as possible (and that does not include stopping everything to pump every 4 hours). 

As the holidays wrapped up, the house started coming together, and William started sleeping like a champ Gordon and I decided what better time to take a vacation together than now!  AND, to make it even more fun we’d be going during my birthday weekend.  My parents had seen William the weekend before and they had a trip of their own planned to Las Vegas so the lucky winner of a weekend with William was Gordon's parents.   

I was of course anxious about being away from William for four days but knew he was in great hands.  I’m pretty sure that time apart is harder on the parents than the kiddo!  When Gordon and I got into the car to head to the airport he told me he was proud of me (for leaving the house without crying)….I immediately burst into tears but recovered fairly quickly.   

Colorado was beautiful (and a little cold at only 5 degrees on arrival)!  Before heading to Breckenridge we drove into downtown Denver for lunch at Rock Bottom Brewery (recommended by a sweet friend).  It was the perfect way to start our trip.  Delicious food, fun environment and yummy drinks.  Once we got into Breckenridge we valeted our car and didn’t get it out again until Sunday morning.  I love being able to walk everywhere I need to go!  Since sleeping in was on the top of our list of “things to do” we skied half days on Friday and Saturday.  It worked out perfectly!  We got lot of rest, watched a few movies, had lots of relaxing dinners and what's better than skipping the gym and hitting the slopes?!?!?

• Taking a "selfie" before hitting the slopes
• All bundled up!  Not an inch of skin showing.
• On top of Peak 9
• Ready to get back out there after a hot chocolate break
• Heading out for my birthday dinner
• Picture perfect scenery for my 32nd birthday!

Gordon and I had a blast skiing!  We hadn't been in six years so I was a little nervous about severely hurting myself..  haha.  Luckily, we both did great and even managed to stay warm in the cold temperatures.  Breckenridge got a record amount of snow while we were in town.  It literally snowed the entire time we were there.  SO PRETTY!

• Thankful for my Hunter rainboots from my mom and dad!
• Yummy dinner and organic margarita at Mi Casa (check it out if you're in the area!)
• Baby it's cold outside
• Breakfast at the cutest bakery, La Francaise, on Saturday morning.
• It doesn't get much better than this.  Heaven on Earth.
• Beer tasting!
• So peaceful and pretty

Although leaving William was hard and I missed him like crazy, I am so glad we took this trip.  I am refreshed, rested and rejuvenated.  It has made me appreciate the little things with baby boy even more and it was so nice to have so much time with Gordon.  We can hardly wait to take William back when he turns four for his first ski lesson.  You better believe I will take 1,000 pictures during that vacation because those little snow bunnies are the CUTEST. THINGS. EVER. 

Sleepy boy trying on his new shirt!

Wonderful Wednesday Week 3 and 4

As always, I’m a bit behind in the blogging world because of all the traveling we’ve been doing!  Here's what we were up to at the end of January.


“WEEK 3” 
We headed to Texarkana for a long weekend to visit Gordon’s parents.  It had been nearly 9 months since we last visited Texarkana!  We try to make it there at least a few times a year but things got so crazy with moving and family vacations that it just never happened. 

Our weekend was jammed full of fun stuff!  Gordon got to bow hunt, we met baby Charlie, had a night out with some friends, had a playdate with Haven and her kiddos, went to church/lunch with our favorite Ms. Carolyn and did lots of playing.  We’re already planning our next trip back this coming April! 

{Being silly with his daddy} {William got a new “beep beep”} {Playing out on the golf course after lunch at TCC} {He loved going down the hill on his “beep beep”} 

“WEEK 4”
I was so glad to have off on MLK day.  It’s always nice to have a day off after being out of town (to get all the “normal” stuff done).  William and I went to the grocery store, did some laundry and of course played, played and played.  William is still such a happy, fun loving little boy.  He has really started to love books so we do lots of reading.  Balls and cars/trucks are a close second and third.  He hasn’t quite mastered catching a ball but he can sure throw one!  Since I had two days off work that week the other day I took William to daycare for half a day so I could clean our garage.  We still had random boxes to unpack and lots of organizing that needed to be done.  Things are really starting to come together at the new house {my closet is even super organized!}.  .Next on the home improvement list.....painting.  Let me know if you have a favorite color that I need to check out.  :)

{A very messy spaghetti eater.  Note the yogurt melts in his hair} {Playing with his trains.  Look Mom, a ball!!!}  {Baby boy last year at the doctor’s office with his first fever/ear infection}

  

WEEK 5 will have to come a little later.  We went to Austin that weekend and I left my camera in my mom’s purse.  L  More on our fun wedding weekend in Austin when I have pictures to share!!