To clean or to paint

My inlaws are in town and our regular chores have been lagging. There's laundry to put away and old projects to clean up.

BUT

I finally got my amazing magnificent headboard!


Last night the seller emailed me to see if I still wanted it. I was so embarrased for bailing TWICE that I thought I would just let someone else have it.

I left the house before the babe was asleep (right as he was vomiting up his bottle from wrestling too hard - told ya so) and drove across town.

It is just as scrolly and perfect as it looked on craigslist and it is all mine for the great price of $30.

Getting it into my car - double parked - on a very busy one way street was quite the show. But it got in.

Now - when I'm done working today do I actually finish laundry and make our house presentable or do I paint?

please excuse spelling and punctuation - sent from my phone

My baby's first birthday

Every time I think that it is Turner's first birthday, I start to tear up. Like I'm pregnant all over again or something. It seems like a really silly thing to cry about.

Its 5:54am. Turner slept through the night (for the second time since he we 7 weeks old!) and I thought I'd get up to finish frosting his carrot cake cupcakes and drink some coffee before the chaos of our daily life begins.

A year ago today I was at home (in our rental apartment). I was crouched on all fours in the hall between the dining room and living room. Our midwife's apprentice, Kara, tried to give my pillows for my knees, but I liked to feel "solid" and grounded (ha - literally) as the contractions came so strong.

When Turner takes his nap at 9, it will mark the one year point from when I was sitting on the toilet in our 5'x7' yellow tiled bathroom vomiting and going to the bathroom at the same time and thinking "YES! This is okay - someone else will clean the bathroom and I'M IN TRANSITION!".

When we leave for his little mini party consisting of just his two cousins, it will be a year from when he came out and cuddled on my chest in a big pool of warm water. A year from his first knowing look at his dad (a look he gives him many times a day), a year from when we became a family.

One Month:


Two Months:


Three Months:

Four Months:


Five Months:


Six Months:


Seven Months:


Eight Months:

(this was during the weeks of pink eye, cold, moving - so we have few pictures :)

Nine Months:


Ten Months:


11 Months:


One Year!

Bad craigslister

Remember my beautiful headboard below? The one I really really want.

I've been a bad bad craigslister. The problem is that the poster gets home at 7pm and is available at 10am on weekends -both bedtimes for my little guy.

I've set up times to come twice and both times I've bailed (always emailing or calling, of course).

I'm embarrassed now to try one more time...but I want it SO bad.

Ugly 80's headboard or scrolly dreamcatcher of my dreams?

This beauty is $30 bucks on craigslist. I'm hoping to pick her up today, paint her turquoise and get started making our bedroom look like more than a 15 year old's "design" idea.

I keep wavering back and forth between a calm white bedroom and the craziness that we have going now - but T's got a runny nose and coughed up phlem (yup made me almost lose my breakfast) - so colorful and washable it is :)

ps - I'm hoping to paint the living room tonight when the boy falls asleep. I realize that I'll be up all night long and probably miss a bunch of spots painting in the dark, but it NEEDS to get done.

I chose the color blind - like all my color choices, but I haven't been disappointed yet - so here we go!

Our new addition

I had big plans for the dining room wall.

Beautiful rustic reclaimed floating shelves to display my bud vase collection.

Then I fell in love.

With this:

After negotiating on price, bubbs brought it home from a craigslister last night and we put it together.

It MUST be anchored to the wall tonight because it is a little shakey and the boy could totally pull it down on himself.

But it is amazing and it solves all of my home office problems - the printer will fit nicely in the bottom cabinet (yay - hidden printer), I can display all my pretty vases, and it looks AWESOME.

Plus, the search for the perfect reclaimed boards can end (at least for now).

We went from this:


to THIS!

This is what a working mama feels like

I realized today that people can't shine if you don't give them the opportunity.

Sometimes I'm so afraid to ask for help, or worried things won't turn out exactly perfectly the way I want them too, that I do everything myself and end up dissapointed that no one could read my mind to help.

I'm working my new job - which I love so far - but it gives me way less errand running time since I leave before any stores are open and rush home to see the babe before he falls asleep. I'm only in the car two days a week, but that means the other days are crammed with as much baby time as possible.

Plus, I'm trying to get to the gym a couple days a week and actually get dressed occasionally.

So - we're taking a trip and I had an INSANE spreadsheet with what we needed to buy, the quantity, what store, what brand, and on what day.

My hubbs kicked serious ass and got it all done - even early. And I got to come home - put the babe to bed (he did all the frustrating parts, I just cuddled and sang), and watch a jennifer aniston romantic comedy with a glass of wine.

11 months old and walking

T's 11 months old.

He's walking (oh my)
Talking (all done, duck, quack, mama, dada, bird, doggie, baby)
Making jokes
Playing peekaboo

mostly eating blueberries and raspberries and recently discovering pirates bootie :)

This may not look yellow and turquoise, but it is (damn phone camera).

I'm still liking my idea for our bedroom, but need to figure out a way to tie it together - grey walls maybe? More art (I have a bit more still to hang).

I'm away from my family tonight - working out of town and staying in a little cottage behind my dad's house. I got take out sushi, a bottle of reisling, and am now sipping on a cup of sleepy time tea.

Watching 22 year old men/boys cry when they "go to vegas" on So You Think You Can Dance, and say "I love you mom, I love you mom" makes me cry too. I wonder if T will love me that much someday.