My Little Corner: A before and after.

Way back in March I posted about making use of a room whose only purpose at the time was collecting junk. Slowly, but surely, I have taken the room back! I still have a few finishing touches to make to complete the room, but here is a little peak!

We never used this space as an actual office. The desk was there because it fit. And there it sat. Getting covered with junk. I wanted to create a useful space for me to be crafty, and have my sewing machine easily accessible at all times. So, here is the before picture:

Yeah, I know. Gross. But trust me, it gets better! Here it is now:

Much better, right? I took off the top part of the desk, to give me more tabletop space to work with.

The lamp is the same. I just spray painted the black base and added some super cute white ruffles! I am in love with it! I plan to do the same thing with our nightstand lamps in our bedroom. It was easy enough to do, just a bit time consuming to make the ruffles. (And yes, that is sharpie all over the desk. Will can be thanked for that!)

I love, love, l o v e how the picture collage came out. This took the longest to finish. I had to collect enough frames, spray paint them all, figure out the layout and then hang them on the wall using a ruler and pencil markings. It's definitely not perfect if you look close, but it turned out better than I thought it would! I think next time I do this, I will invest in a level.

It's been great having my sewing machine set up at all times. Instead of having little sewing projects pile up, I can just quickly sit down and hem some pants or take in a sweater. It's great!

I still have a couple things that need to be done to complete this space; A cork board on the right wall, find a new home for the computer, and get a picture for the frame on the shelf. But overall it is 10 times better than it was!

Nine

Another month, same story...

It is getting harder and harder to take these pictures every month!  Mommy doing peek-a-boo no longer throws him into fits of giggles. He is really getting around now too, and he does not want to stay still! He is not officially crawling yet, but can get anywhere he wants to by army crawling.

He is still a tiny little guy weighing at 15lbs 3 oz and 27 1/4 inches long. A whopping 8 lbs less then his brother was at this age. Granted, Will was (and still is!) enormous. Contrary to his appearance, we don't starve him. He loves to eat! His newest foods this month have been yellow zucchini, kale & spinach!

His faces kill me!

Will Can Read!

Will is still only 2 years away from starting Kindergarten; Yikes! I want to start getting into a "school" routine now though. He is such a smarty, and I really want to take advantage of it.

Kids are capable of learning so much more than we know at a young age. We just don't think to teach them to read at 2/3 years old. I mean, that's what Kindergarten is for, right? Wrong! I have been working on teaching Will to read some simple words by teaching him the sounds of the letters, and using big, bold letters. We go over them a few times a day. Usually at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We don't dwell to long on one word. If he's having trouble I will help him out, and never let him get frustrated. So far he loves reading his words, and is doing really well!

A Summer Picnic

The sweet days of summer are dwindling quickly. I do love the coziness that Autumn brings; Apple cider & fresh donuts from Schutts, cardigan sweaters and sweatpants, getting warm by a backyard fire on a cool evening, and the pretty Fall colors. But it also brings winter. No need to expand on that! I'm not ready for Summer to be over. I have yet to spend the day at the beach. Still haven't had my fill of going out for ice cream. I'm barely even tan!

With the promise of Fall right around the corner, I am trying to soak up every last bit of Summer while it is still here.

Today is just beautiful! After Sam's morning nap, I packed up our picnic basket, grabbed my favorite quilt and took the boys down to our go to park for a picnic lunch!

Will wanted to go play right away, but I was making him eat first. He was none to happy about it.

While Will was pouting, Sam was more than ready to start eating. After prying Will's PB&J out of his fingers, twice, he quickly chowed down his carrots!

After some hemming and hawing, and thankfully NOT crying, Will ate up all his lunch, and was happy to go play!

  

The busyness of the morning playground rush had calmed, but there was still a group of about 8 neighborhood kids hanging about, a bit older then the typical preschool age. Something that always makes me a little cautious at first. For the most part the playground is pretty trouble free, although there have been some moments of tension, always brought on by a older crowd. These kids were good though. While we ate, we (and by that I mean I) watched them sing and dance to Michael Jackson songs, while standing on the edge of the sandbox. It was pretty entertaining! It made me realize that I am glad to have my children exposed to other cultures at a young age, and not be wary of someone simply based on their race. (Now, I'm not saying that I approve of my kids being exposed to anything Michael Jackson. That is besides the point.)

The kids eventually started up a game of hide & seek; Will's favorite game! He decided that he wanted to play too. Only problem was that they didn't know that. Will was hiding and running around thinking he was getting chased. It was so stinkin' cute!

I will leave you with this picture, taken by the talented William Dean Eaton III. His best picture yet (quality wise) and I had to go and pick carrot out of my teeth. Sheesh!

Behind the Camera

While trying to catch some decent pictures of Sam for his monthly update, Will was being a cutie behind the camera.

He'd found an old cassette tape of mine, and thought it was a camera. So, as I was trying to keep Sam from rolling over and keep his hands out of his mouth without it resulting in him crying, Will was having his own photo shoot! "Mom, Cheeeeese!"

I sure am glad it wasn't a real camera or else he would have gotten some pretty goofy pictures of me trying to get Sam to smile!

I gave Sam a little break from having to be still (the poor guy), and Will got a turn to be photographed. He was ready and willing to make some silly faces for me; Dirty face and all!

Will is such a good big brother. Sam loves watching Will and LOVES to play with him.

As Will would say, "Oosh!"

I was having trouble getting Sam to smile for me. Will was off playing with his ball and hockey stick, having tired of the "camera". I asked him to come over and help make Sam smile. He didn't seem to happy about that idea. I told him if he helped me that I would give him a cookie. Now, Dean seems to think that that is bribing. I like to think of it more like paying him for his services. Anyways, it worked. Will came running over and started jumping up and down saying, "Peek a boo! 'Mile baby Ham! 'Mile!" It was hysterical. Sam was being a real stinker though, and would not give us a smile. After awhile Will was pretty much yelling at Sam to 'mile so he could get his cookie. Sam never did really smile, but Will had given it his all and definitely earned his cookie!

Eight

Sam is 8 months now; This past month just flew by!

He has been sitting with no assistance for a couple weeks now, and gets up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth. It's so funny watching him scooch, roll and get stuck under the couch and tables, and then make this face when he can't get out...
 

Although the portions are a bit smaller, he still loves to eat just as much as his big brother did at this age. He is now eating 3 meals a day (and still nursing), and so far has eaten anything I give him. He has had: Carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, green beans, zucchini, avocado, egg yolk, banana's, apples, pears and (homemade) yogurt. 

He is still very much a mama's boy. Whenever someone comes to talk to him he'll look around with a worried look to make sure I'm still there. He loves to snuggle with mommy and play with his big brother. He has become quite vocal lately, and very screechy. His daddy loves that. Still no teeth, but with all the biting he has been doing lately I am perfectly fine with that!