For parents.....

Everyone who has a small child really needs to read this article. Like, today, right now. Toddlerhood is wonderful and fascinating and surprising and exhausting. It's not easy to discipline. It's not easy to know which limits have to be set every time or which can bend a little bit for a special day. It's not easy to know when to give up the nap and then have everyone miserable during dinner because MELTDOWN MODE is on. It's not easy to practice manners at home and then have your child ignore all those teachings in public. It's not easy to have all the time in the world to play when in the back of your mind you've got to make dinner, do laundry, do yardwork, clean the house, etc. It is amazing to see them learn. It is amazing the hysterical things that come out of their mouths. It is amazing to get hugs and kisses without prompting. It's amazing to hear prayers before bed and to hear them recite their favorite books by heart. It's amazing!!! This article helps us to remember that we are not alone in the process and we are all doing a great job (most of the time, anyway!!)

This other article is one I've seen around FB and in the blogosphere, but if you haven't read it either, please do. Totally worth the read. Her blog, in general, is SO truely spoken. I love it!

Have a wonderful Tuesday! And please say hi in the comments! I'd love to hear from you today!

It's the little things............

Today is not my day.

My son did not want to brush his teeth, he got jelly all over his shirt and then didn't want to change into anything else, he resisted his coat, his shoes, getting into the car, etc, etc, etc. He was up too late last night (we were babysitting 2 boys so they were rowdy and then no one wanted to sleep) and that just projected over to the morning. I yelled b/c I was frustrated and tired, he yelled b/c he was frustrated and tired, and everyone got in the car in a bad mood.

We sang songs in the car and talked about our route (SYT loves to know which street we are on and which direction we are turning next) and we all were better by the time we got to daycare for dropoff. While at daycare, PUT's teacher let me know I had a massive run and hole in my nylons. Really? It's 20 degrees out, I haven't shaved my legs since Sunday, I didn't put lotion on this a.m. as I was in a hurry, and now I have to go without nylons all day at work? Great day to pick to wear a dress. It would totally make sense to have a spare pair at work, but I've never had this happen before, so it's never even crossed my mind.

I have a ton of things that I need to get done in the next two weeks and it's just piling up faster and faster. Every weekend of ours is full until Memorial Day (except this one), and they're all super fun and exciting things, but when everysingleminute of everysingleday is planned that far in advance, it makes me a little hyper/anxious about how I will accomplish day to day tasks plus all the extras.

However, I walked upstairs to clinic to find that one of my coworkers (one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met) brought a jar of homemade strawberry jam for my family to work today as she knows my boys love it and she wanted us to have something special this weekend. She has brought in jams for us in the past and jars of canned peaches as well, and there is just something about her homemade jars (perhaps the love she pours into it?) that makes them so much better than anything storebought. It was the kindest, sweetest thing and really made me so incredibly happy. I knew then that I needed to remember that it is the littlest things that we do for one another that can make somes day/week/life. I'm a baker- it's my love language. I hope that by baking things for family, friends, and coworkers, they will know that I am thinking about them during the entire process. I love to do it, and I love to see how happy it makes others. I often "don't have time" to do other things (like putting away laundry- my most dreaded chore) because I'm in the kitchen making something for someone. Even though I bake a lot, I know there is always someone else I could be doing it for. Do you feel that way? That it's hard to give as much as you would like? Any ideas on how to find more time (ha!)?

Thank you so much, Miss Sylvia. You made my day and you, for sure, will make my kiddos' weekend!

Whitewashed fireplace

Here is our before shot of our family room. You can't see our entire fireplace here as I was showing off the rug, but you can get the gist of it. The bricks were in good condition but the color of them made the room darker and with the position of this room in our house it doesn't get a ton of nautural light (though this picture makes it look like it does). We've wanted to whitewash the brick for awhile but were SO nervous to do it. It's not like painting a wall; once the bricks are painted there is no going back. We took an informal facebook poll and I would say that it was pretty evenly split. Quite a few people understood why we wanted to paint the brick. Many others thought we were crazy and would ruin the room.

 

After months of debate, we finally decided that it was our house and we knew what would make us happy. So Saturday we washed the brick, mixed up our paint, and got our whitewashing on.

 

I used this tutorial to figure out the basics, and then we just took off. We ended up with a mix of about 2/3 water to 1/3 paint as our perfect ratio. One of us would paint it on with the other person rubbing it in with a rag to make sure the paint was evenly distrubuted in color everywhere. We ended up going through about 10 rags- they were destroyed to complete shreds. We taped off our crown molding and our mantle. I had originally wanted to leave the two arches with regular brick, not painted, but they didn't have enough contrast, so it all went to whitewashed.

 

After we were completely done, I went through and darkened a few bricks here and there. I thought it needed a little more contrast. It's very subtle but it definitely added the visual interest it needed.

 

And.......here's the final product!

 

 

We are so happy with it! I definitely think it lightens up the room but still allows the brick to be present in the room. I think a solid paint job would have blended in too much in this room, so the whitewashing was a perfect solution.

 

Now, if anyone has any better styling ideas, I'd love to hear them! Decorating mantles is tough!!

 

Feel free to ask any questions you have in the comments. I fully understand how nervewracking doing something permanent is!! Hope you like it!

In exactly three weeks.................

The fabulous MCW will be coming to visit me!!!!!!!!!

When B and I were discussing Christmas presents this year, I mentioned in passing that meeting Molly would be an amazing present.  He knows we "talk" via our blogs (he reads hers too) and over email, and he knows that I totally think she is amazing. I did not expect for him to follow through on this as it was just kind of a pipe dream. I actually was hoping for new black boots- and what I got was WAY better!! You should have heard the screaming I did when I opened up a letter from him with her picture in the middle and then the emails communicating back and forth between the two of them prior to Christmas.

About a month ago, I finally talked to her for the first time on the phone and we booked her plane ticket to come in April! I am SO excited. Like, really, really, really excited. She is flying in Friday morning, and I am sending the boys to daycare for the day so that we can hang out without their naps/behavior dictating our schedule. I adore my boys but I am so excited to have an adult day! Friday night we'll have dinner at home after the boys go down and, I'm sure, go through a bottle or three of wine. Saturday night we have a babysitter booked so that we can all go out together.

Grand Rapids is certainly not an amazing metropolis, but I am hoping that just meeting and getting to know each other and eating and lots of wine will make for the most amazing weekend!! Cheers to new friends, huh? This is why I love the blogging world!!  Seriously, I have a list of at least 5 other bloggers I would love to spend a weekend with. Too bad none of them live anywhere close to Michigan, huh?

So, tell me, have you already met other bloggers that you didn't previously know? Was it totally weird or was it amazing? Who would you love to meet if you had the opportunity?

Peter is 9 months

This past month has been the month where I have noticed the most changes in Peter in his short little life. He has made some huge developments lately and I am (obviously) loving them!

In the past week and a half, he has started using consanents. He started with "ba ba ba ba" and has now progressed to "ma ma ma". Love!! Spencer and I are now trying to get him to do "da da da da" too. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it's next! He also loves to shake his head no all the time. He doesn't necessarily mean "no" when he does it but when he does it and I say "no no no" along with it, it just cracks him up.

He is pulling to stand on everything and is cruising on furniture, letting go of one thing and grabbing onto another. He can crawl up our steps with minimal assistance (though we are right behind him b/c it scares the crap out of me). He will only do it though if Spence is at the top of the stairs as he needs someone to cheer him on from the top. He is starting to walk holding onto our hands and wants to walk to us if he is standing up on something. He doesn't have enough balance to stand on his own yet, but I would guess that he'll be walking before Spencer did (SYT was 13 months).

We had his 9 month apt last Friday. He weighs 21lbs, 8oz. That's 77% for his age. The unfortunate part is that he is only 17% for height. Yep, he's a total chubster :) He loves to eat but for the most part, all he gets is fruits, veggies, beans, and a little meat (only in the past 2 weeks). It's not like he is getting a bunch of processed food at all. We don't even give him bread yet! His only processed food is cheerios, really. Apparently, I must have really high fat milk. Spence was also a chunk, but he was certainly longer so looked a little more balanced. I'm sure Peter will slim out some once he is walking. Is it terrible that I love his sweet, chubby, kissable thighs? I promise, I won't let him be a 90lb 4 year old (we had one in clinic two weeks ago- horrid. To me that verges on child abuse.), but, for now, I just love his sweet cheeks, belly, thighs and feet!!

For the most part, he is a great sleeper. He goes down by 7 every night and has zero problems falling asleep. He occasionally wakes up between 2-4 in the morning- I would say maybe 5 times per month? His normal wake up time is between 5:30 and 6:30.

He did get sick last week for two days. He had a fever, runny nose, really red cheeks, and just looked sick. He slept well throughout the whole illness, thankfully! Often when Spencer would get sick as a baby, he would be up a few times a night fussing and needing tylenol. Peter slept just fine and even napped well. We didn't take him to the doctor as he wasn't acting sick, and I made sure to clear him with the nephrologist to make sure he didn't need to get catheterized to check his urine for a kidney infection. They said since he had an obvious cold that I didn't need to. I'm glad as it was a really short, obviously viral illness that he is completely over now. I took him to work with me on Thursday morning to get some paperwork done, and he was sooo good. Thank God, my team all loves babies and my attending docs weren't mad at all!!

It's fun to be a mom to both my boys. I seriously thank God every day for them and count my blessings ALL the time.

Can we talk about Glee for one hot minute?

Dear Glee Cast, Writers, and Producers,

I have a few things I'd like to tell you about this current season. In no particular order.....

1. I still love Rachel. A lot. And I really love most of the New York scenes. Kate Hudson is fabulous and I have enjoyed their sing-offs. I also still love Kurt. And I really, really, really love that Santana is moving in next week!!!!!!! She has always been a favorite of mine. She's a definite piece of work but she does it well.

2. The blond cheerleader you brought in to replace Quinn and Santana? She sucks. She's not cute (at all! Sorry, I know that's not nice but she's not.), she's mean without having any redeeming qualities, and she doesn't have a voice to back anything up. I don't even remember her name as I'm typing this.....that's how bad she is. Get rid of her, please.

3. The Diva Off show was one of the best of the season. The first song was awesome and reminded me a lot of the Gaga songs they used to do. Tina Chang ROCKED her song, and anytime that Rachel and Kurt "sing off" is awesome!

 

 

4. With that being said, most of the episodes of this year have not been good. B and I used to always watch together and liked the show equally. Now, I can barely get him to sit through an episode. The songs aren't as good, there are too many solos and not enough group songs, there needs to be more accapella numbers, and NONE of the new characters really catch/hold my attention enough. Well, Jake (Puck's brother) is good- he can sing, he's a decent actor, and he's cute. The rest? See above for the cheerleader, Marley can sing but she's not interesting, and the football player is just fine- nothing special. Blaine has a fabulous voice and I loved him last year. This year, he is just okay. They're trying to use him to carry the entire high school part of the show and he just can't do it all alone. I wondered if things would fall apart with people graduating, and it's happening. Boo!

 

5. I miss Will Schuester. I get that they were trying to change things up a bit and allow Finn to have a role which isn't completely terrible, but Will is great and they need to bring him back!

 

 

Are you watching this year? Are you struggling to like it too? What do you want them to change or do differently? Please, please pull it together writers and producers................I miss eagerly awaiting your show every week!!!! 

Random thoughts

Well, thanks to the encouragement yesterday and an email from Emily, I decided to go for it. I bought the baby bag and a darling pair of earrings! Yea! I know I'll use them both, and I knew I had the $$ that I've been saving for something fun. Thanks for the help, ladies!

It's snowing here. We're supposed to get 3-8 inches tonight. Yikes! We've gotten a lot of snow in the past month, and I've really enjoyed it. It makes everything look so pretty, and we really need the precipitation for our lake water levels. I know that by March I'll be DONE with it, but for now, I'm just enjoying the white.

Spencer has a birthday party on Saturday for a kid in his class at daycare. I actually know the mom as she is Peter's kidney doctor. It's at a local playplace that I know he'll love. I'm not sure how many other kids in his class will be there. Peter is also going though he won't be able to do much. B has a golf show he wants to attend, so it's easier for me just to take both boys. It's one of Spencer's 1st friend birthday parties, so I hope he has a great time!!

We're going to do our taxes this weekend. Last year we had to pay due to taking too many deductions (and not discussing how many the other person was taking). I'm hoping we don't have to pay this year!!

Our other weekend plans involve making homemade chicken pot pie, making muffins, getting stuff ready for Spencer's Valentine's day party at school, and cleaning our room. Yep, we live on the wild side ;)

B's birthday is in just a few weeks.................any thoughts on fun gifts that your husband/bf/significant other has loved lately? He doesn't "need" anything, per se, and I am ALWAYS getting him new golf stuff, so I'm kind of bored with that. I'll take any ideas you have!!

Happy Thurday!!

Quick update and convince me, please!

Guess who said "ma ma" last night???? Yep, my sweet Peter! He's only been saying consonants for a week or so (ba ba ba ba ba......) and hasn't yet said "da da" which is usually a baby's second hard sound, so to hear ma ma last night was incredible!! B heard it too, so it wasn't just me making it up :) I honestly love him just a little bit more every single day and just want to eat him with a spoon!

By now I'm sure that most of you have seen a blog post somewhere about the Kate Spade Surpise Sale. I really want a new diaper bag, but I certainly don't "need" one. The black and white stripe one that I was really loving already sold out, but the above one is still available. Obviously, it's adorable with great colors and a bow and, at $149, I can afford it. I'll be using a diaper bag for at least awhile longer to tote along all the stuff that comes with kids. Sooooo......do I splurge on something I don't need but want? I'm not very good at spending on myself when it's a "luxury" item (I, however, have zero problem spending money at Target- anyone else this way?). The sale ends today, so let me know asap if this should come to my house!! I just need a bit of convincing one way or the other. If you hate KS diaper bags (or purses for that matter), let me know that too (and why!)

Rumor has it

I have read in a few spots that Chrysler will be releasing a 2014 version of the Jeep Grand Wagoneer. My bff's husband who works for Chrysler says that nothing is concrete yet.........

 

As soon as I heard the rumor, I started squealing, jumping up and down and googling as fast as possible. B (the not very fun practical one) states we need to know about things like gas mileage, seating, ability to hold car seats, and cost. All I really want to know is if there is going to be wood paneling on the sides. If there is, I don't care about anything else, I'm ready to plunk down my down payment!! We are really hoping that my car lasts another 2-3 years (it's already almost 10 years old), and that would be just wonderful timing, wouldn't it?

 

Does the picture above make your heart pitter patter? I hope they keep it boxy- I love boxy looking cars!

Instagram?!?!

Well, I'm on it......here is my account. Or you can find me at upnorthpreppy. I haven't done much yet with it. To be honest, I'm not even following very many people yet. It's going to take me a little bit to get the hang of it, remember to check it, remember to post pics, etc. But, I'm trying it out! Does anyone know if there is a way to get comments sent to your email? I hate having to peruse through days of posts to look to see if anyone has commented on my photo. Also, if you are on Instagram, let me know so that I can follow you!!

Honestly, having an iphone makes everything SO much easier. Prior to December I had a dumb phone. Just text and talk. Now that I can take pics, check FB, get online, check my email, etc, it's a whole different world! I feel like I've finally caught up to everyone else. Still not on twitter though! Should I be there too? Augh........overwhelming!