6-15-10

I just looked and I haven't updated this blog since May, to say that I've been busy is an understatement. Being pregnant, having a toddler, working and having hobbies is well very busy. So I'm going to try my best to play a little catch up!

In June, I got a new lens for my camera. I love it, and had some fun doing a little macro stuff. I also got Caleb to pose for me, after all he is my inspiration and the cutest thing I've ever taken a photo of. I love him so much!!

Of course I took some fun ones of little treasures I found in my backyard too.

DIY Outside Project

Ok so here's one project that I did not initiate. Tony decided he wanted to take on this huge task and took 2 days off of work to get it done. The weather in Michigan has been crazy rainy this spring, so when beautiful days were forecasted for this week he jumped on the opportunity.

He decided he wanted to add a hardscape to our backyard, for a couple reasons.

1. We love doing our gardens but mowing around them well isn't fun, we decided to add a second (smaller) box this year so he wanted to put the hardscapes around them.
2. Caleb has a very big, very heavy play house, it was on grass and that was just killing the grass and impossible to mow inside of the house. So we wanted to put some hardscape under it.
3. Less lawn to mow - I mean isn't that a good reason in itself!!

We don't claim to know anything about landscapes, maybe we did it wrong - who knows, but I think he did a pretty great job!!

On to the pictures!!

Here are a couple before shots of the area:

Tasks Completed: Built smaller raised garden bed, and got up the guts to do project.





After Day 1:

Tasks Completed:
~ Pulled up all the sod using a rented sod cutter
~ Repositioned old raised Garden Bed and positioned new garden bed
~ Mapped out area for play house
~ Pulled a bunch of weeds





After Day 2:

Tasks Completed:
~ Laid down weed barrier
~ Put in flagstone and pea gravel
~ Filled in play area with Rubber Mulch
~ Moved a TON of pea gravel around to various locations













Tony couldn't have done this without the help of his friend Shane or his Mom, so thank you for the help!! I can say I didn't do much for this DIY project and yeah I'm not complaining!!

Tasks still needing to be done:

~Fill in garden beds with the good soil/compost and stuff
~Plant my yummy veggie plants and herbs!

Some of my 2 favorite people...

I didn't post yesterday but I do want to say Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there. I hope you got to spend some great time with your families yesterday and got a little relaxation time too. I love when I have a nice afternoon to go to the park and enjoy a walk with Tony and Caleb. Caleb really loves to be outside and to explore so that's what we did. And all the while, I took a couple pictures of them. I love looking at these and seeing Tony interracting with Caleb. Enjoy!

Thanks for looking!

Laundry Room Renovation Complete!!

So last Friday I began cleaning out the laundry room, see I had already set the stage by doing all our laundry previously in the week. Well Tony wasn't entirely aware of my master plan, well that is until he saw a bunch of stuff piling up in the garage. He was great though and played along, helping me with the heavy stuff and the difficult stuff. By Saturday everything was cleared out of there. I had already picked the paint color, Crystalline by Valspar at Lowes, so I picked up a gallon of that and started the painting. Then Sunday we shopped for the shelving (which I also already had picked out) plus my DIY countertop materials (Tony was skeptical). Anyway it has all finally come together. On to the pictures!




Here's midway through, it was before the counter was done and before I got the final accessories in place. I did finally decide on the darker blue/brown rug instead of the lighter one.

And here's the end result, I LOVE the decal I found on Etsy!

So here's the breakdown of costs:

Paint: $30

Counter: $88.78

Shelving: $200.33

Accessories: $109.81

TOTAL COST: $428.92

Other things I wanted to do but didn't because of cost.

- Put in a new laundry tub with cabinet

- Redo floor

- New light fixture

Family Updates

Its been almost a whole month since I blogged, but so much has been going on. First of all, on April 16th we found out that our newest addition will be a BOY!! I was super shocked at first but we are so excited. I think it will be so much fun for Caleb to have a little brother. Plus you have to admit, we are pretty good at creating little boys.

Here's our most recent picture of the little guy:

Also on April 16th we put Caleb in underwear and haven't looked back!! That day he had 0 accidents in his undies! as well as the next 3 days with 0 accidents, over the week at school he had a couple accidents but nothing to bad. I can't believe I pretty much have a day-potty trained 26 month old!! I'm so proud of him. We haven't even attempted to night train him yet, in my opinion he is much to young to be night trained.

Every day Caleb is surprising us with new accomplishments, between counting and knowing a lot of his alphabet to the silly things he says. Its so much fun to be a mom, I really can't wait to have another one to brag about.

Easter 2010

Caleb had a great day today, we started Friday with painting eggs, the eggs did get painted but so did Caleb as well as mommy and daddy, I think they turned out great though (ignoring the fact that they all broke in one way or another).

Sunday we got up and started the indoor easter egg hunt. Caleb had lots of fun finding all 18 eggs filled with goodies (some healthy, some not so much).

And when I opened the front door I spoted one of my mini tulips had bloomed! What a great day for a first spring bloom.

Another Contest

I am really trying to win one of these bags, can you tell??

Have you seen all the beautiful new products & contest for pro photographers on http://www.DesignAglow.com?

Another Great Contest Giveaway

I am seriously in love with these Camera Bags, and every time I come across a contest that is giving one away I have to blog about it.

Not only are they giving away an awesome bag, they also have AWESOME Camera straps, in which I am in dire need of. I am going to buy one today if I can decide which pattern I want!

http://phatstraps.com/phatstraps-giveaway

Also Check out this link: www.fidofashioncollars.com don't have a bag don't feel left out you can buy cool dog collars at this place!

A time out to brag about my C

I haven't been the faithful blogger that I want to be but Caleb truely amazes me every week so I thought I'd take a second to brag about him.

He now counts to 10! yes can you believe it, it was last week or maybe 2 weeks ago when we were counting with him like we do so many things, blocks, grapes, fingers, really anything that's around. We count while we put on his shoes, we count while we drive in the car, we just count a lot. Anyway last week while Tony was playing with him and while I was preparing dinner, I hear them in the other room, Caleb has been counting to 3 now for a long time, but this time Tony said 4, and Caleb said 5, and it went like that all the way up to 10. He won't count on command but he can do it and its amazing.

Another small thing that he's doing now is making the correct sounds when he plays. Yeah this sounds strange but its so cute, when we play with cars or trucks, its a vrooom vroomm; when we play with trains its chugga chugga choo choo; with animals its the appropriate noises. These 'soundtracks' have always gone on at our house, the difference is before it was Tony or I making the noises, now he'll play by himself and make the noises.

You think that's a lot, well what about this one... He is speaking in 3-4 word sentances, that is understandable by not just mommy and daddy!! I guess I had taken this one for granted b/c he has been doing it for a while now, but my mom mentioned on Sunday when we were over there, that WOW he was using words together, and words like a, the, in stuff like that is usually learned much later than the stock main words. Its really great.

Another favorite activity of C's is playing on the computer. Yeah I know very brave of mommy to let him play on the computer but he's really learning it quickly. We go to www.nickjr.com and let him play the games on there. He isn't quite savy with the mouse yet, and sometimes opening Microsoft Word is where he has tons of fun.

I actually have a picture of C on the computer at his little desk, he loved it. Unfortunately I was lazy and the pictures are still on my camera. Maybe I'll download them tonight and add it to the post.

Oh and a small pregnancy update: I'm doing great, I am starting to outgrow my regular clothes and am finding maternity clothes more and more comfortable. One very exciting thing was at 15 weeks (last week) when not only I felt the baby kick but Tony got to feel the baby kick. That was pretty awesome!

Thanks for reading!

Loving Two

This brought tears to my eyes.


Loving Two

I walk along holding your 2-year-old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship. Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited. And I wonder: how could I ever love another child as I love you?



Then he/she is born, and I watch you. I watch the pain you feel at having to share me as you’ve never shared me before.



I hear you telling me in your own way, “Please love only me”. And I hear myself telling you in mine, “I can’t”, knowing, in fact, that I never can again.



You cry. I cry with you. I almost see our new baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared. A relationship we can never quite have again.



But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty. I’m afraid to let you see me enjoying him, as though I am betraying you.



But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally to genuine affection.



More days pass, and we are settling into a new routine. The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast.



But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just we two. There are new times – only now, we are three. I watch the love between you grow, the way you look at each other, touch each other.



I watch how he adores you – as I have for so long. I see how excited you are by each of his new accomplishments. And I begin to realize that I haven’t taken something from you, I’ve given something to you. I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you.



I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are, but equally strong. And my question is finally answered, to my amazement. Yes, I can love another child as much as I love you – only differently.



And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I now know you’ll never share my love. There’s enough of that for both of you – you each have your own supply.



I love you – both. And I thank you both for blessing my life.



Author Unknown