The Hop, Skip and a Jump Maternity Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Hop, Skip and a Jump Maternity Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Meet my Prince Charming

I know that blogs are really all about people bragging about how great their lives are (when in reality, they only tell the good and the days they don't blog or don't have much to say are the days when they are swearing at their kids, burning the Hamburger Helper and turning on Dora the Explorer and calling it Pre-school). I try really hard to not be amongst this group of bloggers, but sometimes things happen that make you want to tell everyone just how fabulous you have life.

I really slacked in cleaning the house today. I tried to do dishes until Rowan pulled a KNIFE out of the silverware rack and I called that duty quits until naptime. I tried to straighten the living room, but Niev and Rowan pulled out more toys than I could put away. Niev was also yelling at me the whole time telling me that those were her toys and she was playing with them. I tried to fix delicious meals, but I was just too tired. I tried to be a good mom, but then my sister called. Sorry, when there is a new baby in the family it kind of takes precedence. Plus I was avoiding doing all previously mentioned tasks. I did manage to take Niev to storytime today and even had Rowan in tow. This rarely happens because my husband works from home so I can put Rowan down for a nap and then leave Rowan with Ian with a monitor (you should all try having your husband work from home. It is great. I highly recommend it!) So in that realm I really felt accomplished. But I had a meeting tonight and when I left the house, it was a disaster. I mean dishes everywhere, toys strewn about, dinner still needing to be put away, floors littered with everything imaginable (and a few things you probably didn't want to imagine!).

Enter Prince Charming...

I come home from my meeting and the floors are vacuumed, dishes are done, house is completely straightened, closet doors are back on their hinges!, a load of laundry has been done!, dishes have been put away!, our bedroom is clean! I am speechless. I knew I married good, but this is insane. I love my husband and his unselfishness. He had tasks he wanted to get done tonight. He had an agenda, but he put it all aside for me. For this, I am eternally grateful. He is so thoughtful. Thank you Ian for always making my life so much easier (and way more FUN!).

two more reasons why I love him

Summer reruns

This summer we spent a lot of time swimming at the public water sprinkler park thingys (I never quite know what to call them). Niev enjoyed them thoroughly. So much so that we went there almost EVERY day. By the end of the summer she finally got brave enough to go through the mushroom pool's waterfall. It was a proud moment. Thanks Jen for the pictures. I never ended up taking my camera. She still has a suntan on her back from her swimsuit and I swear I ALWAYS put sunscreen on. We just really went that many times.

Before we left, we would always have to allow some time for this fire engine. I would go up to the little window, order food, she would go to the back to fix the food and then she would deliver it out of the window. (I swear we have only gone through a drive-thru like twice in her lifetime. Must have made an impact!) I wish you could see her sno-cone machine. Classic!

Sisters

I have been wondering lately if Niev and Rowan will be very similar. I have not come to any type of conclusion on this question as of yet, but I did run across some photos from the last several months that I thought interesting.

Evidence
Exhibit A: They both like to wear hats while reading.

Exhibit B: They both love wrestling with their daddy when he gets off of work.
Exhibit C: They both hate to wear clothes (see exhibit B).

Exhibit D: They have mastered the model pose.
Yes, even Rowan has.
Exhibit E: They adore each other and absolutely live to make the other one smile.

Please don't call on Mom for prayer.

Tonight Ian asked me to say family prayer. I was really feeling a lot of love for my little family and must have really been getting into it when Niev interrupted. "That's too much. MOMMY, that is just too much. Stop. I said,'STOOOOOP!'" I could barely close my prayer I was laughing so hard.

And so the tradition begins: Moms always say the longest prayers!

Paula Buh is a SAINT

Last night I was talking with a group of friends and the subject turned to in-laws. Many of the women were not close to their mother in-laws and often times it sounded as if their MIL were judgemental and quite nosy. They not only told them how to run a house, but how to raise their kids, how to talk to solve issues with their husbands and how to go about their spiritual growth. It broke my heart.

It also gave me a great sense of appreciation for Ian's mom. She doesn't pass judgement or seem to belittle me in her own sly way. Instead she loves me unconditionally and accepts me as a true daughter. I love when she comes to visit because not only can Ian and I get away for a bit, but it is great to chat with her. She is so easy to talk to and always seems to take my side (even if she really doesn't think that I am right). I admire her strength and the way that she has kept her family together through some very demanding and straining trials.
I love her for the son she raised. He truly attributes much of who he is to the wonderful mother he has. (He keeps the seat down on the toilet, takes the kids when I need a break which is about weekly now, and truly is smitten by his children and shows them the greatest love a father can give. This is all due to his mother.) She even forgives me for being a really bad blogger!

She is the most fabulous grandma that I could ever ask for. She eats up every minute she can with my kids while she is here. She calls Niev on a very regular basis and holds long, in-depth conversations about her day. She celebrates with Ian and I at every milestone of our girls and shares in our sorrows at their heartbreaks and sicknesses. She truly has mastered unconditional love. Honestly, what more could I ask for!

Paula, I love you and wish you lived closer (please move now!) You are so good to me. Thank you. We all love you dearly!Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!

Beautiful girls

I just wanted to brag about my girls for a bit. Isn't that why people blog? Come on, be honest. That IS why you blog. But really, they really are becoming so cute.

We got a dog several months ago (Rowan was 4 months old and YES we are insane for getting a dog when we just had a new baby. Blame Ian; it was his birthday gift.). He is a pug-chihuahua mix and is really such a good dog. Rowan and Bonzer are the best of friends. They play so cute together and he is very patient with her. She will smack him, just lay on him and roll around. He puts up with a lot.Doesn't that make you want a dog (hint, hint Smiths)?

We carved a pumpkin at the VERY beginning of this month. Niev was WAY more into the cookies than carving a pumpkin, but isn't that typical Niev! By the time Halloween rolled around, our pumpkin was rotting. Niev kept telling us that pumpkin was getting dirty and we needed to clean him off (mold was growing on the outside).

Rowan FINALLY got her first tooth about two weeks ago (maybe a bit longer). It was a top one. Weird, I know! She now has three teeth, two on top and one on bottom. She won't show them, but she still is pretty cute. How can you not want to just smother her with smooches!
She is trying to walk. She is taking a few steps at a time and then will (very controlled) go to the ground to begin crawling. She is fast little crawler. As soon as I open the dishwasher or the fridge you hear, "woosh, wooosh, woosh" as she is crawling as fast as she can to get into stuff. She is quick!

Niev is very much into pretend play. She will make anything into a doll and make it talk. It is really fun to be in her world right now. She is a great little artist and draws the most amazing people (glasses with a bridge, sleeping people with pillows and girls with long lashes). She recognizes her name (or any letters in her name, ie. she sees an N in Natural and says, "That is my name", while pointing to the N.) I love my smart, firey girl.

I swear we wear clothes in this house.

See, here they are wearing clothes. yes, we are getting ready for church, but they are STILL wearing clothes in the house. It counts.

House improvements

While I was away making applesauce at my mom's house, Ian was busy painting the girls' room. Isn't he fabulous! We had the paint for SEVERAL months, but it is really hard to paint a room where little ones have their quiet time, their nap time and their sleep time. What a saint he is! (Sorry no pictures, but imagine a really great greenish-gray color that is perfect. Yep, that is the one. Isn't it great!)

We recently wanted to update our light fixtures, but didn't have a lot of spare cash so we went a cheap route.

I don't have a before picture, but the original chandelier in our entry was about three feet too wide for our small entry. Ridiculous. We found this idea on line (wish I could remember where) , but improved it with varying the bulb sizes. We really LOVE the outcome. It gives a whimsical, bubbly feel rather than the heavy overdone feeling of our old gaudy chandelier. We are so pleased.Now we just need to pick a hallway color--any ideas???

We also wanted to update our dining room light. As you can see it was REALLY 60's and ugly. Gold is not in.

Spray paint does wonders! The blue really adds to the room.

Hope we inspired you to do something on the cheap that adds a bit of spunk to your house!

Grosgrain: Shabby Apple 'Dare to Design' Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Grosgrain: Shabby Apple 'Dare to Design' Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

A lucky girl would be able to win this dress. Please let me be that lucky girl!