These Two Melt My Heart. Daily.

There is something amazing about brothers.  I've said it over and over.  They seriously melt my heart.  The way they laugh and learn together is amazing.  Please God, keep them close, always. 

Carter: 11 Months

Here we are, the 11 month post.  The last "birthday" post before the BIG 1st Birthday post.  Carter turned 11 months old on May 25th.  I thought for sure he would be walking by 11 months, but he is doing his best to prove me wrong.  He will take a step or two when he needs to.  He can even stand on his own for about ten seconds, but as soon as we try to get him to walk he just sits down and crawls over.  I am okay with this.  Yes, it is exciting to reach all the new milestones, but heart breaking at the same time.  Kids grow up so quickly.  These moments along the way are extremely precious. 

Look at how big he's gotten.  He doesn't look like a baby anymore. 

So much personality, and those gorgeous blue eyes.

Always up for any new adventure.

But reminds us from time to time that he is still our precious little baby.

Reply to Comments

I am excited!  I figured out another blogging secret!  I can now reply to your comments.  This is fabulous.  I don't get a lot of comments on my blog.  Most people tend to comment on my posts under my facebook links, but when I do get comments it bugs me that I can't reply without leaving my own comment.  I like replying to your comments.  I did a little searching yesterday and found this link. 

Threaded Comments:

Go to Settings
Click on Posts and Comments
choose the option Embedded

Go to Settings
Click on Other
select the full feed option

It was that easy! 

Mother's Day

I take pictures.  Lots of pictures all the time.  But for some reason holidays tend to come and go and very little pictures get taken.  I must get so wrapped up in life that I forget to pull out my camera?  I promise myself over and over that I will get better and take more family pictures instead of random pictures.  Maybe some day I'll live up to that promise. 

So, for Mother's Day pictures all we have are the following.  Pictures taken from random cameras on phones.  Nothing fabulous, but alas they are memories of our Mother's Day weekend 2012. 

 We celebrated Mother's Day at our house on Saturday.  Cory and I worked around our house, built a step to our back deck using leftover materials that we had at home.  This is a project that I wanted to complete for a while.  I am so happy to have an actual step instead of two cement blocks.  This is much safer.  Not completely finished, but better. 

I also dug up lots of tall grass and replanted some hostas from around my yard.  This is an area of our yard that always gets ignored.  A lawn mover can't get to this area and the dogs run through it all the time and kill the strip of grass down the middle.  Eventually I'd like to add some stepping stones to make it prettier.  Maybe even plant some ferns under the right side of the taller pool deck.  Doesn't sound like a fun Mother's Day to you?!  If you know me, well you know that I love working on projects and working in my yard.  Being out in the sun and doing physical work is my idea of a good time. 

On Sunday we went to my mom's house after church for a really nice brunch put together by my mom and Harry.  It is so wonderful to have them back from Florida.  They are actually here to stay for a couple months!  (doesn't Mariah look thrilled in the picture above?)

This is what we were watching... My mom was opening gifts from us.  We bought her an IKEA wine rack and four different bottles of wine.  She loved it.  LOVED it!

A lovely side view of my hubs.  Mr Wonderful.  Love you honey!  The best part of this picture is Mariah's smile in the background.  A bit different from the look on her face in the previous picture. 

Carter monkey.  You make my days extra special.  Thanks for making me even more grateful this Mother's Day.  I can't imagine what life would be like without my kids.  

xoxo, mom 

The Best of Both Worlds

I find this home to be absolutely amazing.  Breathtaking.  A mix of white wood and stained wood.  A perfect blend of both worlds.  Absolutely beautiful.  Okay, I think you get it.  But, do you agree?  What are your thoughts on mixing white wood and stained wood?  Do you love it as much as I do?  Do you think we could pull off this look in our home?  I've been wanting badly to put up some white board and batten in a couple rooms, trim the basement in white, paint the trim and vanity in the shared kids bathroom white... hmmm.  Wonder if I could get Cory on board?! 

Such a stunning look that mixes beautiful wood grains with crisp white trim.  The colors are clean and fresh looking, yet feel warm and comfortable from the stained wood.   

The details on the ceiling are amazing. I am loving the warm feel from the tile back splash. 

Beautiful straight lines, tons of detail, and an arched walkway to soften the feel. 

 

(source)

I will be adding these photos to my dream board.  I believe I've found my new inspiration. 

Absolutely lovely. 

Rental

I have a rental vehicle. 

Luckily, it's a nice rental vehicle.

It's a Dodge Grand Caravan.  2012.  With lots of power-everything.  Power-everything-that-my-KIA-doesn't-have.  Hmmm I might want to just keep the rental. 

My KIA has had a door issue since I bought it.  The drivers side sliding door doesn't always latch and stay completely latched.  This is a huge safety issue and it's also really annoying.  Out of no where, while driving down the road, the lights will suddenly turn on inside the vehicle and a loud chime will start chiming.  It is extremely distracting.  It will not stop chiming and the lights won't turn off until I pull the van over and open and close the door.  Serious safety issue.

We took the van for an oil change around 5,000 miles and had them look for the door issue.  They couldn't find the problem because it wasn't currently happening so they did nothing to fix it. 

We took it back in for the second oil change around 10,000 miles and told them the issue with the door hadn't gotten any better.  They lubed the door and sent us on our way. 

This helped for a little while - possibly - until Thursday morning (April 26).  I dropped the boys off at daycare, started heading to work, got about a mile from daycare when the lights flashed on and the chime was chiming.  I turned the van around, called Cory, and told him it was time to head to KIA while the van was acting up.  Cory met me, took my van in while I headed to work in his truck, and talked in a we're-going-to-get-things-fixed-manner with the KIA dealership. 

So, KIA claims they fixed the issue on Thursday by changing out the door latch.  They just happened to have these parts in stock.  But, they are going to keep my van for a while and try to see if the issue occurs again. 

Wednesday, May 9th: I started this post on Friday, April 27th.  Here we are a week and a half later and I still have a rental... Only this rental isn't as nice.  On Saturday, April 28th I got my KIA back (which I've confirmed recently how much love).  On Monday, April 30th while driving to work.... the door did it's thing again.  So, back to KIA we went.  This time they gave me a not-so-lovely VW 2007 completely unloaded and yucky minivan.  I've been driving this vehicle for a week and a half and can't wait to get rid of it.  I want my KIA back.  Badly.  And I want the door issue to be fixed.