Happy Birthday Will!

Today is Will's Birthday! I can't believe he is 3 already! I am sure I will say that every year, for every child, but it's true.

Lately he's been loving planes, cars and trucks (especially "Daddy's new big truck"). We drive past the airport every time we go to daddy's shop, and he's always on the lookout for some big planes.

We get such a kick out of hearing the new words or phrases he picks up. His latest ones are "Check it out!" or when he shows me something cool and I go, "No way!" he says, "Yes way!" Cracks me up!

He started going to a preschool class at "school church" this Fall, and he loves it! He was a little hesitant at first leaving me, but was always fine once he did. He has fun playing with his buddy's, and loves his teacher, "Mrs. trino!"

He is definitely all boy! He loves "wreshling" with Daddy and Sam before bed, building blocks and knocking them down, piling up all the couch cushions on the floor and jumping off the couch onto them (just like his daddy did!), jumping in puddles, making messes, and kicking and throwing balls. He got some toy guns for his birthday, and is loving them!

He's becoming quite the little singer too. It's the funniest thing hearing him try and sing along with his Veggie Tales cd in the car. He's such a little smarty! He knows all his letters and knows most of their sounds. We have an ever growing list of words he can read too. He can count to 10 and tries to count to 20, but usually misses a few. He loves puzzles, plays memory game (and is really good at it!), and loves his I Spy books.

He has grown into such a handsome little boy. Some days I can't get over how freakin' cute he is! I know I'm partial, but come on; look at him!

1 years old

 2 years old

 3 years old!!!!

It was quite the challenge getting these pictures at the pumpkin patch last week. It was SO windy and chilly, and on the list of things Will doesn't like is having his picture taken. But with a lot of work, persistence and having silly auntie's dancing in the background we got some pretty good ones!

Happy Birthday sweet Will. I am so happy and blessed that I get to be your mommy! Love you!

Pinterest Inspired

If you haven't heard of or joined Pinterest, you should totally check it out. I'm in l o v e. I was that person who had a bookmark list a mile long of recipes, craft ideas, blogs, etc. It wasn't the most organized way of keeping track of things I liked, but it did the job. Until one day our computer crashed. We had to wipe it clean and I lost a l l of my bookmarks. Sad day. But Pinterest, oh how I love thee. It's an online site, so unless there is some crazy internet Armageddon that happens, all my stuff is safe!

Not only is it a great place to easily organize my likes, but more so a place to inspire! I have a ever growing board of DIY ideas, and I finally got around to doing a couple.

This first one is a wreath, inspired by this and this. I am pretty happy with how it came out. The only thing with using the plumbing foam is that it's on the thin side and not very firm. So having flowers on the bottom only kind of drags it down. I think it would be great though if you were doing a wreath like this one or this one.

I used some twine I had around the house from previous projects which I wrapped around the foam tube, and good old 25 cent felt and a glue gun for the flowers. Here's how it turned out!

Hi Will!

I also used straight pins to attach the flowers to the wreath. That way I can change them out with different colors when the season change!

As soon as I saw this next idea on Pinterest, I knew it was just what I needed to organize my earrings. So instead of being all mixed together in a jewelery box, they can hang all pretty on my dresser! Ignore the dark, grainy pictures. The lighting isn't that great in my room.

I used a cheap frame from Savers that I spray painted and lace trimming that I staple gunned onto the back of the frame.

I've also slowly been redecorating my room. I painted the base of those lamps a pretty yellow, and at some point will be adding some ruffles like I did here.

And here's a picture of snuggly Sam, who has been pretty crabby lately. He either has a cold or is teething, but either way all he wants is mommy.

Ten

Sam is 10 months old! 10. MONTHS. OLD. PEOPLE! Can you believe it? I can't! No matter how much I try to savor him in the moment, time just goes by way to quickly.

Sam is crawling now, and is having fun exploring the house, and has learned to climb up our kitchen step! He can clap his hands too and does "so big!"

He still has no teeth and is still bald.

He is such a snuggly baby. I love our moments cuddling when he joins me in bed in the morning. He'll just lay with me forever, playing with my hands and smiling.

He loves to do anything with his big brother, and Will can ALWAYS make him laugh!

Their newest favorite thing is "wreshling".

And no Sam post is ever complete without a picture of him crying!

Kentucky Road Trip

This past weekend Will, Sam and I went on a road trip with my mom and sisters to Kentucky to see my dad graduate from a men's ministry he has been at. We had such a good time! The boys did really great on the ride up and back. Especially considering it took close to 10 hours! We drove down Wednesday, spent the whole day there on Thursday and drove back all day Friday.

God really blessed us with the most beautiful day on Thursday. We spent the morning having my dad show us around the "ranch" that he had been staying at. We took a hike through the woods and walked the rolling hills. 

Will woke up Thursday with a sore neck from sleeping on it wrong. It was the saddest thing ever seeing him walk around with his hand on his neck. Poor guy.

Sam was so tired he fell asleep while being jostled along the paths.

Hanging out on the balcony porch after dinner and being goofy!

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!