We have a crawler folks!

You know how sometimes you look at your child and wonder, "When will she EVER learn to do that?" Or more specifically, "Will she ever grow any hair?" OR "Why can't she feed herself yet...will it ever happen??" You are left wondering if your completely dependent child will one day be, well...not so dependent, I guess.

From the first few days Kensie was born, I remember picking up those sweet baby clothes in all different sizes and wondering how on earth she will ever get that big! But, now she's quickly approaching the 12-18 month size, and will soon be out of those too. Crazy.


So, where is this going???


Over the past 10 days, little miss k has discovered the new world of crawling! And boy, has she learned quick! I'm pretty sure she will be walking in a couple weeks or less. She loves to pull herself up....looks at you to share in her joy of accomplishment.....then smiles and lets go on purpose to see how long she can stand by herself. Then, PLOP. She falls down only to do it again. Over and over. Once she's satisfied with her up-down routine, she'll take off crawling to the next toy or activity that looks interesting. (I have another adorable video that I can't show....arrg, but trust me...utter cuteness).


I DO enjoy this stage as she is not crying out of frustration due to lack of mobility- uh, like she used to all-the-freaking-time. However, I can't just sit her down with a circle of toys around her and go about my business around the house anymore. She needs CONSTANT supervision = less computer time, less chores, more chasing, BUT, on the other hand.....LOTS more giggling. In the end, I'd say it's worth it. :)



This is also a new position that you will find Kensie in lately: both arms back behind her neck, like she doesn't have a care in the world. You will find her sleeping, relaxing, and even eating like this. Cracks us up.

(notable item: Greg's "Most Valuable Dad" shirt- bought by one of his guy friends. Even though I mocked him for wearing it 3 days in a row, I love it)

I will leave you with one last pic:

She fell asleep like this after enjoying her up-down routine in the crib for 45 minutes. I guess when your workout is over, you probably should stretch those hamstrings....

FREE decorating tip and other randoms

So where did I get such beautiful paintings for FREE???

One little under-used resource.....

THE LIBRARY!

You can check out paintings just like books and keep them for three weeks.

Better yet, you can renew them up to 5 TIMES!

Yeah. You do the math.

I already counted out the weeks, and that means I can keep them through mid September.

Freaking awesome.

I've also been reading "Love and Logic" (from the library as well) during breakfast while watching Kensie play. Have you read it? I'm only through Chapter 3, but I really like the ideas so far.

This is usually where you will find us at 7:30am. Me-at the table on my second cup of coffee, with toast and a good read. And Kensie- just doing her thing.

I DO enjoy mornings- with coffee of course.

And boy have I needed it lately. Kensie and I BOTH have stuffy noses, and it has kept her up the last 2 nights in a row. She has learned to fall asleep by sucking her first two fingers. But, it's nearly impossible for her to suck and breath simultaneously. Meaning, I have to get her to sleep BEFORE placing her in bed. Which takes lots and lost of energy and time.

But, amidst all the sleeplessness and tissues...she still has energy to get up in her bear crawl stance. She just started this yesterday. She doesn't really get anywhere with it, but loves to try. She is definitely getting more aggressive and motivated to MOVE.

And my life (as I currently know it) will be over once this girl gets on her feet.

9 months, 5 squirms, and 1 tooth later

It sure is getting tough to sit still these days, even for the infamous chair picture. But, we succeeded in keeping both buns on the cushion this month. (Unlike the 5 other photos I won't show you).

And YES a single pearly tooth has finally fought it's way to the surface of some stubborn gums. One down....a TON more to go. But, someone's excited to use her knew found chomper to annihilate lots of good 'ol carbs (whole wheat bagels being her favorite).

Did I mention she has discovered her head? However, the sweet stroking of her own hair while falling asleep as well as the urge to reach both arms straight up in an effort touch both hands above her out-of-proportion-sized noggin goes out the window the minute she begins to rub that soggy piece of a (barely recognizable) bagel in her hair. Starting strategically at the top of the head, she smears it slowly down to the back of her neck. I'm learning to let go of the mess. But still. Yuck.

Happy 9 months Choo-choo!

A touch of GREEN

My Mom's favorite color has always been green, and I can see why. She LOVES gardening, and has always maintained a beautiful display of flowers in the yard of every home we've ever lived in. Pictures of lush, green scenery were also found hung throughout each house.

My favorite colors growing up were yellow, then red, then PINK for a long time. Now in my 20's, I think I have adopted all different shades of GREEN into my wardrobe, accessories, and now our home. There's so much beauty in this calming, natural color and nothing makes me want to bring it inside my home more. It's just so friendly and inviting.

Our kitchen, dining room, and nursery are all painted a subtle green called "Garden Fairy" by Benjamin Moore. Our hutch is "Bella Mint", and almost every fabric used for curtains, seat covers and pillow covers are a sweet mix of green and white with touches of blue and red for accents.

Besides green paint I LOVE green plants (usually fake) spread throughout each room. Here are a few recent projects I've finished to bring even more of this color into our home.

I found 4 ugly brown shutters in the shed out back when we bought the house. I had two of them painted this lovely deep mossy green (sorry forgot the name), and made 2 matching wreaths and hung them with ribbon (forgoing the urge to tie them with bows in order to appease the husband). I LOVE how they turned out. I got the idea from All Thingz Related.




This cozy space turns into the Christmas room come winter. I purposely hung the shutters with the slats facing up so we can drape Christmas card from them, with the tree framed beautifully in front of the window.

Next, I made this simple topiary with some moss that I already had filling my apothecary jars(originally from Hobby Lobby) . The idea was inspired when I found the adorable green pot (already painted that color) for $1 at HL.

I first wedged a hockey-puck shaped piece of styrofoam in the top until it was flush with the top of the pot, and then covered it with glue and bits of moss. **If I could do it again, I would add some rocks or some kind of weight in the bottom before putting the styrofoam in...it becomes a bit top heavy when finished**

Meanwhile, I spray painted the dowel rod (pack of 6 from HL) the earthy brown color. Let dry. Then took a razor blade and scraped some paint off to make it look more natural. Once the rod and the pot were dry, I put a dab of glue on the bottom and stuck the rod through the middle of the moss all the way until it hit the bottom. Let dry.






Next, I covered a sphere shaped styrofoam ball with glue and bits of moss. This part took the longest. Once it dried I had to go back and re-glue pieces that were hanging off, making sure no part of the white ball showed underneath. Once the ball was completely done, I simply perched it on top of the rod until it felt secure. The last touch was a small piece of ribbon tied around the pot in a simple knot. Love it.








What's YOUR favorite color to accent your house?