you are just my cup of tea

nashville wedding

2012-01-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

This sweet wedding caught my eye on Style Me Pretty not just because it was beautiful but they managed to put it together in 2 weeks. Their families lived in different parts of the world so they just had a few friends attend. As we are planning Danielle's wedding and trying to find a venue it seems amazing anyone could put a wedding together this fast!
photography: Kristyn Hogan

christmas moments

2012-01-06T02:18:00.000-08:00

Britt got Emeri her own little pink Christmas tree for her room since this was her very first Christmas. She had fun pulling all the ornaments off!

I got Noah a silver tree for his room. He did a great job decorating it all by himself. We also made some ornaments{reindeer and penguins} which he added later. I brought a few little presents to put under it and he surprised me by not touching any of them until Christmas morning!

My tree that I enjoy just as much as the little ones do theirs.

One of Noah's favorite things this year was Elf on the Shelf. In the beginning he even went to bed super fast because he couldn't wait to wake up and find out where he was hidden. I was in Crate and Barrel one day and saw this cute Elf mug. I knew right away Noah would love to drink his hot chocolate in it with lots of marshmallows on top.

The last time Noah sat on Santa's lap was when he was 6 months old like Emeri is here. We tried every year but it was a no go. This year at 3 1/2 success! No more fear. I don't think it hurt that Emeri was fine with Santa. Of course next year she will probably be the one that is not to into Santa.

Noah riding the carousel. We went around and around quite a few times. He never gets tired of this ride.

The best 6.00 dollar toy. He decorated his wooden train and then he and Emeri both had fun playing with it.

Mommy's favorite gift this year. That's for sure!

Emeri working on opening her present. She got the bow part undone and then it seemed to be stuck!

Loved having Danielle and Tom living close by now so we could spend more time with them. The day after Christmas we spent looking for venues for their upcoming wedding. We saw quite a few in Orange County but Danielle is still checking more out to be sure she finds the one they both love.

Matt spent 3 whole days with us. It's hard to pry him away from his friends. So great to get some long visits with him. He did get some of is favorite home cooked meals from his mom so it wasn't too bad.

Love this pic of mommy and daughter :)

Christmas morning in their PJ''s

Emeri' first baby doll. I loved playing with dolls when I was little. Every kind of baby doll, paper dolls and all of them. I had the first Barbie dream house made out of cardboard in the 60's. I will never forget the Christmas I got it, spending hours putting all the furniture together. Can't wait to have fun playing dolls with Emeri!

Love Emeri's first Christmas dress!

My handsome little man. Love him!

Emeri and Brittany at 6 months in the same dress. So happy I saved a few of my kids clothes.

A Happy Christmas with all my loves!

real food for mother and baby

2011-12-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

This book looks good. I read her other book Real Food What to Eat and Why and liked it. Emeri is just starting solids now so Britt would probably enjoy this book too.

Matt

2011-12-12T16:13:00.000-08:00

So happy we got to celebrate with you on your Birthday last Wed. My favorite thing about you

"your kindness." So grateful to have had you in my life for the last 25 years.

Love you!

a poem

2011-12-09T12:24:00.001-08:00

I have been meaning to post this poem Danielle wrote when she was about 18. I couldn't believe she wrote this when she was so young. She is a really good writer but now she has to do most of her writing for work. When she was going to school she was able to do a lot of writing in her classes and this is one of my favorite pieces. A tragic poem, with beautiful descriptive images.

a most visible warning comes

in the glare of headlights approaching

I squeeze my eyelids shut

place one hand on window glass

imagine the accident happening

I do not think the blood would scare me

in fact I might like the rush

of steel crashing all around us

car consumed by the awesome light

of flames, blooming against a midnight sky

I would sit like a pincone in a fireplace blaze

watching our own personal fourth of july

we could have a summer holiday

in spring. death, a courtly host for our party

I imagine him dressed nicely in black

serving lemonade and asking for a dance

looking just like you the night we met

I remember your cologned approach

anthracite eyes, and knowledgeable hands.

all these less visible warning signs

I should have known you but I ignored.

with you, all collisions are carefully planned

and there is no such thing as an accident

you chose me for firewood, pinecone lady

wrapped up in your sheets,

or sitting in your front seat.

where now I open my eyes to find

your swerve to the right was successful

you celebrate your save with a sigh, and thank god.

but I am quiet, the other party sounded fine to me

a glorious party in hell. we could make the deal final

a wedding of sorts. remove and eye

set it on a band of gold

a fitting ring for a devil bride

christmas wrapping

2011-12-08T20:07:00.001-08:00

I love Christmas wrapping and seeing how everyone wraps their presents. This probably stems from when I was little and my grandmother would bring her beautifully wrapped presents to our house on Christmas morning. To her it was an art form and she never failed to impress me. Here is a round up of some pretty packages this year.

via: ohsobeautifulpaper

Miu Miu inspired via: 100layercake

via: apartmenttherapy

Fifth and Hazel via: houseofsmith's

via: The City Cradle from theageoftheaquarius

Couldn't resist putting up these Pom's via Babble which my mom used back in the 60's. We were on a really tight budget and all she could afford to wrap with was yarn. I will never forget her sitting down and showing me how to make these little puff balls out of yarn. When I was in Anthropologie recently they were also selling a lot of yarn like items to wrap with.

Lastly these vintage stamps also from Anthropologie would be pretty on packages too.

paper-stitch love

2011-12-05T22:19:00.001-08:00

This is sweet.

via: 100layercake

thanksgiving day fun

2011-12-04T23:32:00.001-08:00

We had the happiest time together this year because Danielle was with us after 9 long years of being in DC on Thanksgiving. So excited she lives in Santa Barbara now and we will be able to spend all the holidays together! We went to my brother's house and Terri cooked a delicious turkey with the rest of us bringing side dishes. With the five of us, spouses, our kids and spouses and their children we are getting to be quite the big group. To add to the fun we have 3 more babies on the way. Laci, Aubrey and Emileah due in May, June and July.Some highlights of our day.

my girls and their guys

Noah hanging out with Liam who was a little under the weather.

Noah soon finds another partner in crime Liam's little sister Kenna.

They were having quite the time together.

Kenna making it clear that the women in our family can hold their own with the guys!

As you can see from here Emeri loves being in a sling. Brittany didn't bring hers that night but thankfully Aubrey loaned her one she had. We had been trying to get her to sleep for quite some time but she was resisting. In about 2 minutes after this picture was taken she was fast asleep. Since she was a newborn her favorite thing is to ride around on mommy and fall asleep in her baby carrier.

Lastly I am so thankful for these two sweet little ones!

Happy Birthday Brittany!

2011-11-22T23:23:00.001-08:00

What a difference a year makes. This was last years Birthday with Britt. She had a date with her IV pole to help her sustain her pregnancy because of her Hyperemesis. No fun at all, but the result of her hanging tough and making it through her difficult pregnancy.

This beautiful sight, her holding her sweet little baby girl in her arms. Sometimes life can be so painful as it was last year but other times like this year it can literally take your breath away with JOY!!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-15T21:43:00.001-08:00

A look back at some of my favorite photos from Halloween week.

Emeri looking up to her big brother before heading out to Trick or Treat.

Noah loves everything about flying since his dad has his pilot license and he has been around planes since he was very little. So it was fitting he dressed up as a vintage pilot for Halloween.

Emeri having fun on her very first visit to the pumpkin patch.

Noah and Emeri with their very own pumpkins. The pumpkin masterpiece

on the white cake plate was painted by Noah :)

Lastly, love this pic I got of the whole family!

party hat

2011-11-13T09:24:00.001-08:00

Adorable party hat from Oh Happy Day!

my buddy

2011-11-08T22:51:00.000-08:00

I spent Halloween week at Britt’s and I got a ton of cute pics but this one of Noah is one of my favorites. He found a fun backdrop for his stickers and had me take his picture. Noah and I hung out together a lot because Emeri is nursing and likes to be in a baby carrier on mommy. One thing I love about Noah is how he connects so well with people. Every morning when he woke up he would call out grandma, grandma and then come downstairs to find me. He would come and lay down with me and give me a few minutes to wake up. Noah’s an early riser, as in sometimes it’s still dark outside! Then he would say to me do you want to watch TV or eat.....your choice! Noah entertains Emeri too as a lot of times she will start giggling and I look down and Noah is doing a funny little dance or something for her. It is just the sweetest thing. I had just a perfect week with the whole family. Going to the pumpkin patch, painting pumpkins with Noah, trick or treating, seeing Noah play baseball, cooking some yummy meals, shopping at the new Hobby Lobby with Britt, photo shoots at the Lake and loving on Noah and Emeri all week long. Today when Britt called me Noah said he wanted to talk to me. He got on the phone and asked me when was I coming back. I told him I would always be coming back to see him forever and ever! Then he said I’m sad that you are not here now.....awww that just broke my heart but the truth of it is I feel just the same way. It’s hard to say goodbye even for short times to people you love so much!

Danielle & Tom....Engaged!

2011-10-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

So happy that Danielle and Tom are officially engaged! The weekend after Danielle arrived in Santa Barbara Tom popped the question. Such a lovely surprise, as we didn't have any idea this was coming. I do have to brag just a smidge since I was the one that set them up and thought they would be perfect for each other. At the time everyone was laughing at me {about it working out between them} including Danielle. I met Tom before Danielle and it was like meeting the male version of her they have so much in common. In spite of people saying opposites attract I think the more you are alike the better the relationship goes. They are definitely proof of that. We are already good friends with Tom's parents and hang out with them often so no awkward in-law meeting has to happen. I love this picture above of the two of them. Kendra, Tom's sister took it at a wedding they all attended together. Now on to one of my favorite activities becoming immersed in all things wedding. Danielle and I have already started exchanging pictures of wedding dresses we find that we love. Can't wait!

hazards of confidence

2011-10-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

Do you know how often confident professionals advising you are correct about their judgments? I often wonder about this especially with the ones that are overconfident. I also think about this with people that are so positive they know the truth about everything. Interesting article about this in the New York Times by Daniel Kahneman. It's entirety here and his summary below....

"We often interact with professionals who exercise their judgment with evident confidence, sometimes priding themselves on the power of their intuition. In a world rife with illusions of validity and skill, can we trust them? How do we distinguish the justified confidence of experts from the sincere overconfidence of professionals who do not know they are out of their depth? We can believe an expert who admits uncertainty but cannot take expressions of high confidence at face value. As I first learned on the obstacle field, people come up with coherent stories and confident predictions even when they know little or nothing. Overconfidence arises because people are often blind to their own blindness.

True intuitive expertise is learned from prolonged experience with good feedback on mistakes. You are probably an expert in guessing your spouse’s mood from one word on the telephone; chess players find a strong move in a single glance at a complex position; and true legends of instant diagnoses are common among physicians. To know whether you can trust a particular intuitive judgment, there are two questions you should ask: Is the environment in which the judgment is made sufficiently regular to enable predictions from the available evidence? The answer is yes for diagnosticians, no for stock pickers. Do the professionals have an adequate opportunity to learn the cues and the regularities? The answer here depends on the professionals’ experience and on the quality and speed with which they discover their mistakes. Anesthesiologists have a better chance to develop intuitions than radiologists do. Many of the professionals we encounter easily pass both tests, and their off-the-cuff judgments deserve to be taken seriously. In general, however, you should not take assertive and confident people at their own evaluation unless you have independent reason to believe that they know what they are talking about. Unfortunately, this advice is difficult to follow: overconfident professionals sincerely believe they have expertise, act as experts and look like experts. You will have to struggle to remind yourself that they may be in the grip of an illusion." Daniel Kahneman

illustration : via new york times

october desktop calendar

2011-10-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

I love my October desktop calendar from Mexican artist Geninne Zlatkis. I can't believe there is only a little over a week left to enjoy it until November is here and the holidays are upon us. So excited for this time of the year especially now since my whole family is living close by!
via: poppytalk

knott's berry farm

2011-10-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

We have been talking about going to Knott's Berry Farm for sometime now and last weekend we got it together with Britt and the kids to go. The last time we went was when my kids were teenagers so we were curious to check it out again. We love Disneyland but wanted to see how Camp Snoopy was for the little ones. Well it turned out Camp Snoopy had tons of rides for kids Noah's age and unlike Disneyland there were no long lines. I hate waiting in those long lines at Disneyland with small children. Noah has no fear and even went on a couple of big kid rides like the Log Cabin. We all had a wonderfully fun day especially Noah, as you can see from the highlights below.

baby announcement

2011-10-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

So in love with this baby announcement. One of the cutest I have seen.
via: sweetestoccasion

Steve Jobs....1955-2011

2011-10-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

Wow so hard to believe he is gone. One of my husbands favorite visionaries ever. If you lived in my house you heard about Steve Jobs often. I was slow coming to Apple products but one of my very favorite materialistic things I own now is my iPhone. It is hard to believe I can do so many things with one little phone. It is like my right hand and I would have a very hard time living without it. He was much more then his products though and an inspiration to so many.
This is one of my favorite quotes from him. Excerpt from his Stanford University commencement address, 2005. His entire moving speech here.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." -Steve Jobs

photos: New York Times

pre-school photo book

2011-10-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

I love this idea of making a photo book when your child starts pre-school. This mom went to her son's pre-school and took photos of everything there, printed them and then labeled them in Picnik. Then she put them all together to make a little book. She said it is her son's favorite book to read with her and she finds him looking through it all the time too.
from modernparentsmessykids via sayyestohoboken

home sweet home

2011-10-03T01:13:00.000-07:00

Danielle moved this last week to Santa Barbara and as you can see from this photo she is already enjoying being back in California and close to the beach. We are so happy she is here to stay! We had a fun reunion with Britt and the kids at her house in Temecula. We got a lot of quality time with Emeri and Noah. Britt made us a delicious taco dinner a favorite of all of ours. One night we spent hilariously going over photos of my brothers and sister when I was young. My brother Bill who is really involved in family history took all of our old slides from the 50's and 60's and put them on DVD and gave us all a copy. We are so grateful to him as these pictures are priceless! Let it just be said that the styles we wore as kids back then kept us laughing for a long time. After we left Britt's Danielle and I spent an entire day and night at South Coast Plaza {something we have not done in a while}. Danielle was shopping for a couch and we fell in love with this one at Crate and Barrel that I think she will be getting. She also found some things in Zara and Madewell and I got my favorite lunch the Turkey Cranberry Sandwich at Nordstroms cafe, yum! On Tuesday my Mom took Danielle and I to Park Avenue one of my favorite new restaurants that I found in Sunset magazine. They have their own garden so you can get a delicious fresh and local salad. The decor is Mad Men like from the 60's so it is obliviously my fave. I am so excited that with Danielle close like this we will be able to have weekends like this a lot more often.

Hello Kitty entirely made out of Tuna cans on display at South Coast Plaza

Garden at Park Avenue

Beautiful fresh salad straight from the Garden

timeline & mad men

2011-09-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Lionsgate took down Eric Leist's video I posted comparing the selling of the Carousel for slides in the 60's to the new Facebook timeline. Obviously they were not happy he had used a past clip from Mad Men to make the video of Don Drapers timeline. So this video is of the new Timeline that will be rolling out on Facebook profiles soon. You can still see the original Mad Men clip here with Don Draper amazing sales pitch using nostalgia to sell the Carousel. This has got to be one or my favorite clips from all their shows! Eric's comments as to why he compared the carousel episode on Mad Men to the new timeline in Facebook are below.

Who knew that Facebook's newest feature timeline was originally conceived by the Mad Men of the 1960s? In all seriousness, the most compelling elements of Facebook's Timeline are the ones that made Kodak's Carousel popular. Reminiscing is a social activity. It always has been, and now Facebook is bringing that activity online. Eric Leist

fall

2011-09-24T00:17:00.000-07:00

Friday was the first day of Fall. That means I'll be wearing one of my favorite things all the time now.....Cardigan's.
via: Boden

inspiration

2011-09-21T01:48:00.000-07:00

But I think it's very healthy to spend time alone. You need to know how to be alone and not be defined by another person. Olivia Wilde

danielle's homecoming

2011-09-13T22:40:00.000-07:00

I put this on Facebook but wanted it here on my blog too because Facebook scrolls into oblivion and this is too huge to not document! This is a picture of Danielle her first time living away from home after we dropped her off to start college at UC Santa Cruz. Little did I know that she would be living far away from us for 14 YEARS! All the way from Florida to South Africa to Japan to Washington DC. We are super happy because after all these years she will be moving back near us to Santa Barbara. Her boyfriend is starting graduate school at UCSB {the reason for the move, lucky us}. Danielle will be able to keep her same job. A lot of it is travel which she will continue to do and the rest she will telecommute from home. She arrives on Friday night and then the next morning we are heading out to Britt's. I got Matt to break away from his friends and he will be meeting us there too. Danielle has not even seen Emeri yet, so we will be having a ton of fun with everyone back together. I'm sure Noah will be the life of the party though because he is at the funniest stage right now. Just as an example the other day when Britt was in line at Target with him he started talking to the little girl in front of him. After talking for a few minutes he said to her "that is a pretty cute dress you are wearing." He is quite the little smoozer and he just turned 3! So excited, only 2 more days!

scalloped flats

2011-09-10T00:10:00.000-07:00

Way expensive but so cute by Marc Jacobs.
via: oh joy

emeri 3 months

2011-08-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

This is Emeri's last monthly photo for summer{her 4th month will be in fall} so I found this summery fabric at Woof and Wharf with flip flops that I loved. Britt put the beach pail on it and took the picture. Amazing when you do this and put the photos of all the months next to each other, you see how fast they grow!

trader joe's blog

2011-08-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

No I don't eat these together. It's just my latest delicious finds from Trader Joe's. When I am in the store I always feel like I want to try everything. Now I have some help in that pursuit. I found a great new blog What's good at Trader Joe's. This couple buys different products all the time and reviews them. I tend to buy my favorite things so this blog will help introduce me to some new things. The first item I saw that they rated super high was this Dark Chocolate Caramel with Black Sea Salt Bar. I don't even like sweets that much but this looked so interesting and got rave reviews so I had to try it. They were so right about how amazing it was. There is something about the mix of chocolate and caramel with the salt on the outside that made it so delicious. The same day Trader Joe's was passing out their Traditional Marinara Sauce with their meatless meatballs. I have tried a bunch of sauces but haven't found that many that I love. This sauce is really good and I couldn't believe the meatballs were meatless. Now if I could just get my husband to eat something vegetarian without real meat!

retro beach house

2011-08-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

I just picked up the Sept. issue of House Beautiful and I loved this beach house they had featured. Here are some of my favorite rooms.

We are in the process of re-doing our Patio now and when I saw this table I wanted it. It is the exact size and shape I need and I love the color. Of course when I went to look where it was from, it was a retailer in France. It seems like this always happens when I find something perfect. So back to the hunt a little closer to home.

little girls

2011-08-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to blog about this great article How to Talk to Little Girls by Lisa Bloom for several weeks. She asked you to think about what you say to little girls when you meet them. Is the first thing you say to them how pretty or cute they are. I know I do this all the time. She says why not ask them what their favorite book is or what they like to do the most. "Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them looks are more important then anything," says Bloom. As she squelches the feeling of fawning all over them, she finds that asking them about their favorite book or what they love to do she is able to connect with them so much more. Loved reading Joanna's experience too with having real conversations with little girls.
photo: Danielle

one day on earth

2011-08-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

This is really amazing. It is the trailer from the movie One Day on Earth. It is shot by thousands of filmmakers in every country on a single day: October 10, 2010.

via: Andrew Sullivan

pre-school

2011-08-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

Last night I was going through my pictures and organizing them. As I was scanning all the pictures I have of Noah from the time he was born until now it was like a virtual replay of his first 3 years. I was laughing and crying at memories I have of him. Noah has such a big personality and it comes through in so many photos I took of him. He is starting a new phase of his life tomorrow with his first day of pre-school and I am so excited for him to have all these new adventures. For me though it means saying goodbye to his baby-hood I can't help but feel a tiny bit sad.

secrets of a stylist

2011-08-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

Loved last week episode of Secrets of a Stylist. My two favorite pieces were the beautiful brass shelving unit and the Deco chair. The new season of Design Star started a few weeks ago. Emily was so good from last season and this time they have designers that are making it interesting again!

images: here

emeri 2 months

2011-08-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is a little late getting up as Emeri turned 2 months July 24. Since it was the month of July Britt used 4th of July fabric for her background. I put her 1 month picture next to this one and couldn't believe how much she had grown. Her doctor confirmed that too this week and said she is in the 75th percentile in height. She is smiling and laughing now and I love every minute I get to spend with her!

midnight in paris

2011-08-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to see Midnight in Paris for about a month now and finally got around to it today. Enjoyed every minute of Woody Allen's magical and enchanting movie about nostalgia for the past. It is one of those movies that I feel the time and the place instead of just watch. Not to mention the charm of being transported back to the 1920's in Paris with a ending that I loved!

image: theotherjournal

weekend fun

2011-07-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

Kite flying
Cousins at the park
Beach lovin'
Baby smiles
Sand* Sun* Fun*
Pink pajama party
Two of my favorite girls, just missing Danielle. I can't wait until we all get together soon. Britt has some more photos from our weekend on her blog here and a pic of her cute sandals with my favorite new nail polish color jag-u-are.

inspiration

2011-07-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

baby girl sandals

2011-07-21T00:00:00.001-07:00

Love these little baby girl sandals from Zuzii via Babble. They would look so cute on Emeri.

Noah's 3rd Birthday Party

2011-07-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun day! I couldn't believe Brittany was able to get Noah's 3rd Birthday Party together so soon after she had Emeri. It was a surf theme since one of Noah's favorite things to do is go to the beach. She crafted all the cute decor, got a picture with Noah holding up his annual poster with his age on it and he launched his annual balloons with his wishes attached. One of the sweetest moments of the day was when Noah came running out to my car as I was leaving to give me a hug and and kiss. Then he leaned down and said I want you to stay with me grandma. A perfect ending to beautiful day! A few highlights from our day above.

1st photo: Brittany

kale chips

2011-07-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

I like a lot of healthy food but I have one bad habit, an addiction to chips. All throughout the day I find myself grabbing a few chips. So several months ago when I heard everyone talking about Kale Chips I was hoping this would be my answer to finding a healthy chip. Today at Trader Joe's I picked some up. I put the Kale in a plastic bag with extra virgin olive oil and some garlic pepper and salt and shook until it was coated. Then I put it in an 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes. When it starts getting a little brown on the tips you take it out. The flavor was amazing and it gets so deliciously crispy that these will definitely be able to replace those unhealthy chips of mine!

party-time for Noah

2011-07-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

So excited for a fun day today as we will be celebrating Noah's 3rd birthday! It got delayed just a little since something important happened this last month.......his new little sister was born. As you can see in these photos he is getting pumped up about his celebration and ready to be the life of the party!

map it out

2011-07-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

I was flipping through the August issue of Martha Stewart yesterday and this one craft caught my eye. Map design is everywhere these days but I have never seen this idea before. It was a great way to document a trip that you have taken. You get a map of the area you traveled through. Then you poke holes in the map along your route. Then you sew along the route using a backstitch. When you hit your destination you put an X. After that you just frame it and you have a beautiful keepsake of your trip.

Images: Martha Stewart Living

house hunting

2011-07-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

My last visit to Britt's house we did our very favorite thing while I was there......House Hunting! We are both looking to buy in Temecula in a couple of years so we thought we would check out what is going on in the housing market there. We are keeping our house at the beach but want to be able to have another one close to them. After looking at quite a few houses we found that you can get a new single story {which we both want} 2000 sq. ft. 4 bedroom house with a good sized kitchen for 295,000. We stupidly forgot to take photos in the first house which turned out to be our favorite one. Not surprising that we liked the same one, since we have similar taste. Next time I go down I want to look at it again and get photos of it. The first 2 photos above are kinda close to the one we liked except our favorite one had a better kitchen. The last two photos are of a house we went in that was decorated like a cross between Anthropologie and Restoration Hardware. It was fun to see something different and was a nice change from the typical Traditional model home look. We lucked out with the kids too because Emeri slept the whole time and Noah had a blast running up the stairs in each house to find the kids rooms and check everything out!

farmers market sunday

2011-07-10T22:20:00.001-07:00

I brought this home from our farmer's market today along with a bag of peaches which were heavenly. I love buying my fruit from the farmer's market because you can taste everything before you buy it. I used to waste so much money at the grocery store buying bad fruit, but not anymore!
I roasted the broccoli, potatoes and red onion in the oven at 425 for 20 minutes. This is like candy to me. I could eat roasted vegetables all the time.
On the way home from the farmers market I stopped by Trader Joe's to get 3 of my favorite things. Cauliflower and Broccoli with garlic butter, Parmesan and Garlic potatoes {which I bake in the oven and they come out so crispy and delicious} and my very favorite salsa Papaya and Mango. Love living near this farmers market overlooking the water and having Trader Joes and Whole Foods right on the way home.

retro bike glasses

2011-07-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

How adorable are these tumblers from Paper Source for serving drinks this summer! I can't wait to be sipping ice tea out of them.

baby sun hat

2011-07-06T11:39:00.001-07:00

The best baby sunhat via Lovely Morning. We will be heading to the beach soon with Emeri so glad to read a recommendation for a good protective baby hat that is also waterproof and reversible.
image: Patagonia

red polka dot dress

2011-07-06T00:11:00.001-07:00

The cutest little red polka dot dress on sale now at Delia's.

Happy 4th....Our Little Sparklers!

2011-07-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

Noah is 3!

2011-06-25T23:36:00.000-07:00

Noah got a big surprise when he woke up this morning. His Mommy and Daddy filled his room with balloons and a brand new bike while he was sleeping! What a perfect start to your birthday fun. Can't wait to celebrate with you tomorrow!
photo: Brittany Parker

emeri one month

2011-06-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

"Wow"....sigh. Seems like just yesterday we were heading to the hospital in anticipation for her birth and now a month has already flown by. So far things are going good, no colic or crying all the time. She is sleeping about every 4 hours and nursing is going smoothly. The one thing she does want is to be close to Britt all the time so she just rides around in her baby wrap on Britt and that keeps her happy. I am heading to Britt's on Sunday to stay for a week while Daddy is on a backpacking trip. Excited to have a whole week to love on her!

emeri's first week

2011-06-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
One week old

Love that Britt captured Emeri's first week like this. I can't believe she will be 1 month old already on Friday! It's funny because I did a little fashion show like this with Danielle right after she was born. I have to say she was not as cooperative as Emeri is here.....she practically cried through the whole thing. Times have changed since Danielle's first introduction to fashion though. She is quite in love with trying on pretty things now!

cancun

2011-06-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

Danielle and Tom got to escape their jobs in DC for a week long get away to Cancun. Tom got a bunch of great pictures while they were there. These are my faves!
photos: Tom Jensen

treasures

2011-06-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

Interesting photos showing what people treasure most in their life. The question asked from the blog The Burning House, "If your house was burning, what would you take with you?"
photos: theburninghouse
via: blackeiffel

garden theme

2011-06-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

A garden themed wedding with the cutest idea for table numbers. Loving the little stakes in the numbered pots with the guests names on them.

via: elementsofstyle

birth order t-shirts

2011-06-03T23:23:00.000-07:00

How many ideas from Inchmark have I put on my blog......a lot and here comes another that I love. At her family reunion they took a picture of all the kids in t-shirts with their birth order. I wish we would have done this with all the kids in our family when they were little. Now that our kids are having kids I think we should do it with their kids. All the details of her reunion are featured in the June issue of Martha Stewart Living.

photo: inchmark

pink

2011-06-03T00:22:00.000-07:00

Pretty in Pink

via: flickr

emeri's nursery

2011-05-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

Since we didn't know the sex before Emeri was born this is only girl outfit Britt bought before she came home. We have been quickly fixing that problem with a lot of baby girl shopping!
Just heard from my sister-in-law that the beautiful quilt that she made for Emeri and that was the inspiration for this room is finished. Can't wait to see it in the nursery!
The first thing Britt bought for her room was this cute little owl. The framed print says Good Morning Sunshine.
The family history wall in black and white.
She will be putting a few photos of Emeri in a couple of these frames.
These are buttons with clips that Britt will hang a picture of Emeri every month until she is 6 months old. As you can see from the closet before her birth we thought she was having a boy as she hung up a lot of Noah's baby clothes. Which reminds me when I go back to Britt's in a few weeks I will get a new picture of the closet with all the baby girl clothes in them.
Noah waiting patiently for his little baby sister to arrive in her new room. Now that Emeri is here he is her little protector and you can tell he is so happy to have a sibling to grow up with!

emeri claire is here

2011-05-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

"Wow" love seeing that happy happy face on Britt! We thought she was having a boy but we were wrong it was a girl and we are still in shock. Now I have to say a lot of people thought she was having a girl. One of her best friends and a lot of strangers said she was having a girl. Emeri Claire was born on May 24, 2011 weighing in at 8pds. 1 oz. She is healthy and beautiful and we are super thrilled! Funny thing so many people told Britt how tiny she looked but as it turned out Emeri wasn't that tiny. I think Britt looked so tiny because of the hyperemesis and not gaining any weight for 4 months. A little bit about the birth. I got to Britt's house 4 days before her due date because we were sure she was going to have the baby on time. Well wrong again. Wed. came and went and no baby. We felt like this pregnancy had lasted forever with the hyperemesis for 4 months and not knowing the sex until the birth. On Monday May 16 the doctor had told her if she hadn't had the baby by the following Monday the 23 he would scrape her membranes. Still no baby on the 23 so he scraped her membranes and told her if that didn't work he would induce her on the 30th. Great now we might have to wait one more week. This baby was now reminding me of Britt who was 3 weeks late. Happily on Tues. the 24th at 4:00 a.m. we lucked out and she started having contractions and we timed them and they were about 7 minutes apart and not to strong. We just kept timing them and waiting for Noah to wake up. About 6:00 they were a little closer together and stronger so her and Andrew started to put their stuff in the car. About 8:00 it was time to go to the hospital as she seemed to be in more pain and the contractions were about 4 minutes apart. When she got there they checked her and unfortunately she was only 3 centimeters and they wanted to watch her and see if they would let her stay. Yikes, we didn't want her to be sent home. Luckily in the next hour she got to 4 centimeters and they admitted her. Soon after that she was able to get an epidural as the pain was getting intense. About an hour after that she was at 5. Next thing that happened was her water broke and then things started moving really fast. Before long it was time to push. With Noah she had to push for 2 hours but she got lucky with Emeri and she came out with only 3 pushes. Then Britt saw that it was a girl and Andrew captured the picture above of the joyous moment!

britt 9 months

2011-05-18T23:22:00.000-07:00

Today is Brittany's due date and no baby yet {boo}. She went to the doctor on Monday and he said she was 2 centimeters, the baby was really low and it shouldn't be much longer. I got to her house on Sunday so I would be here when she starts labor. It also gave us time to finish up the nursery. She had just a few more things to buy, a chair and side table. We found them yesterday......super happy about that. The last touch is the curtains which we will hang

tomorrow and then I will post pictures. Britt did a great job with the design of the room and I love how it turned out!

mother's day craft

2011-05-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

This is such a cute craft for Mother's Day and would be perfect for Noah next year when he is almost 4. They draw their mother on front with a little help and answer some questions on the back about their mom. I still remember my kids writings about me at that age. One that especially sticks in my mind is when Danielle was in preschool and I went to her open house. On the wall the teacher had written down from each child answers to questions about their mom. One of the questions was what does your Mom do during the day. Danielle said what my mom does during the day is lay on the couch! Well it just so happened that I was pregnant with Brittany at that time and couldn't get off the couch for about 4 months because I had morning sickness all day. Too bad none of the other parents would know that. I was so mortified! Looking back now it makes me laugh and is one of my favorite memories. Which is why I love this similar idea from Inchmark.

image: inchmark

royal wedding

2011-04-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

I so enjoyed the royal wedding. I set my DVR that night but I turned on the TV right before I went to bed and got hooked. All of a sudden I wanted to watch it live and I managed to stay awake until Kate and William rode away in the carriage. Kate looked so beautiful in her dress. I loved the the simplicity and modesty of it while still looking exquisite. Could not believe she did her own make-up! I also loved the way she had her sister as her maid of honor and the little ones as bridesmaids. The church service brought back so many memories too as it was similar to the service we had in the Episcopal church I grew up in. One cute story I heard on TV about when Kate was deciding which college she would attend. She had her college picked out and her mom asked her “don't you want to go to the college Prince William is attending”. She eventually decided to take her mom's advice. Crazy that they then met there and ended up marrying. I bet her mom was pretty shocked when her advice turned out to be so right!
image: here

handprint easter lamb

2011-04-28T22:34:00.001-07:00

My favorite Easter treat.....Noah making me a Handprint Easter Lamb! A perfect craft for little ones. You can find the how-to here.
via: Britt

cardboard box birthday party

2011-04-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most unique and fun ideas I have seen for a birthday party from Hello Lucky. It is really perfect too, as we all know one of the favorite things toddlers like to do is play in empty cardboard boxes. The mom got the inspiration for this party when she saw her twin boys playing in a Huggies box. I thought about this mom being inspired when next coming across this great quote via Marv elous Kiddo.

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.”

- Chuck Close

via: makingitlovely

britt 8 months & boys

2011-04-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

No, haha we still don't know the sex {despite the title}. It is still a surprise and we will know the answer in one short month! I just wanted to mention a great blog post by Cup of Jo about having a boy. She wrote a really honest post on how when she found out she was pregnant she secretly wanted a girl {for all the usual reasons, dressing them, doing girly things together etc.} Then when she had a boy how overwhelmed she was with love for her son Toby and how much he has opened up her eyes to all things boy. I loved this post so much because it is something no one talks about and it seems like every woman that is pregnant wants a girl. With Brittany already having a boy and knowing everyone is thinking you are going to be disappointed if you have another boy it was the perfect expression of what it is really like when you actually have your sweet baby, boy or girl. Brittany being so sick this time also brought out the fact that having a healthy baby is not so easy sometimes. I also know several woman who are struggling with infertility and let me tell you they remind me that getting pregnant and having a baby of any sex will be the happiest day of their life! There is another factor in wanting a certain sex I don't think a lot of woman consider. Just because you have a girl doesn't mean she is going to be just like you and like what you like or be a girly girl. I know this because I have raised 2 daughters. The differences that your children have are where you learn all kinds of interesting things that you would have never known if they were just like you. So go read Joanna's entire blog post here. You will love it!

obsessing

2011-04-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

I need to frame this and put in on my desk so I can stare at this and remember it when I start obsessing about negative stuff.
via: petitesunday

blog print

2011-04-10T20:35:00.001-07:00

Yup! funniest thing ever.
via: etsy

birth matters

2011-04-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

I was just reading an interesting interview in Babble with the author of Birth Matters on "why America has such a weird birth culture." Ina May Gaskin is renown as "the mother of authentic midwifery" and her practice is noted for it's low rates of intervention, morbidity and mortality. In her book she explains why birth matters not just to women and babies but society as a whole. One statistic that had me completely aghast was that a woman giving birth today has a greater chance of dying then her mother did! This and the fact that the cesarean section rate is between 30 and 40% is crazy. The other fact that is so weird is that almost everyone is induced now. I had to be induced with my oldest daughter and it was so much more painful then the natural birth I had with my son. The other thing I don't get is why everyone is induced when they are just a week late. It wasn't that way when I had my children and the babies were fine. My middle daughter was 3 weeks late and the sky didn't fall down! It now seems like women getting to their due date is so extremely stressful and they demand to have their babies immediately. Most doctors are of no help either as they facilitate these practices for their own reasons. I don't know when things changed so much but the direction we are heading is not healthy for babies or moms and the statistics prove this out. This is an important and insightful book that all women who are pregnant or plan to have a child anytime in the future should read.

adore home

2011-04-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

Loved so many of the spaces featured in the beautiful Australian online magazine Adore Home. You can see it all here.

change

2011-03-31T23:05:00.001-07:00

via: astrongaesthetic

public health career

2011-03-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

My daughter Danielle has a career in public health and most people {including family} aren't sure what she does so I thought I would explain it here. My niece Meredith is majoring in it {i believe} and has been talking to Danielle about what she does and her experiences in the field. Currently Danielle works for Health Systems 20/20 in Washington D.C. They work with developing countries in helping them improve their health systems. They asses different programs to see which ones are most cost effective and help improve the health rate in such diseases as HIV-AIDS or in improving outcomes in maternal and child health. It is interesting to hear from Danielle how they go about working with these developing countries, the different and varying governments and what turns out to be the most effective. She does quite a bit of traveling on the job, which she loves and will be leaving on Sat. for Jamaica for 15 days. She will be working with the government there in helping them asses if the aid they received to implement programs has helped to bring down the cases of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica. Danielle has worked really hard to get where she is and I am glad she has had this opportunity to do this work as part of her career path. I know from talking to her this job can be very stressful at times but I can only imagine helping other countries learn the best ways to stop the spread of diseases and improve their health care must be very rewarding work.
image: health systems 20/20

cherry blossom bloom

2011-03-28T22:27:00.001-07:00

I was so happy yesterday when I opened my e-mail and saw this beautiful picture of my daughter and her boyfriend out to see the Cherry Blossom Bloom in DC. Danielle is on her way to Jamaica this Sat. for work. Traveling season has begun for her!

britt 7 months & baby quilt

2011-03-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

Less then 2 months to go until the baby is here! I took this picture of Britt a few days ago on our "superfun" girls day out {probably the last time without kiddo's for awhile}. Anticipation is growing since we are getting close and we don't know the sex. The picture of the pretty fabric is material my sister-in-law is using to make a quilt for the baby-to-be. She has been making quilts for so many of us in the family for years. She is so thoughtful to spend all the time and money it takes to do this. She made Britt a nursing quilt when she got her LVN, Andy a fireman quilt, since he is a fireman and Noah one when when he was born. She made my oldest daughter one too and they are all unique to the person and just gorgeous! Britt gave her the colors of her nursery and then she went and found all this fabric that we are just in love with. As a matter of fact it has become the inspiration piece for the baby's nursery that Britt is working on now.

white dress

2011-03-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

Love everything here.
via: pinterest

4d ultrasound

2011-03-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

All I can say about this is when I saw Brittany's ultrasound of her baby it literally took my breath away....it was so clear! Noah had one done but it wasn't near this clear. The technology just keeps on improving all the time. This Wednesday I will be taking Brittany's 7 month photo, so we are getting close. It has been a long road because of her hyperemesis for the first 4 months but we are coming into the home stretch now and are super excited to meet this little one. Also this Wed. we are having a girls day together alone {so excited about this as it has been awhile}. We will be doing all things girlie, shopping, eating out, sleepover at my house, looking for last minute baby things, hopefully a Easter outfit for Noah and just hanging out and having lots of laughs. We usually have Noah with us but he will be spending a fun-filled day and night with daddy. This will probably be the last time we will be without kiddo's and soon when we are together we will be taking two little ones with us. So a celebration and a breath before things start getting a lot more lively!

st. paddy's day green & white

2011-03-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

I just had to get this out there even though it is so late. This is my favorite look for St. Patrick's Day. A beautiful white dress and sparkly green earrings. Love, love, love!
dress: neiman marcus earrings: here

st. patricks's day fun & crafting

2011-03-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

Noah in his St. Patrick's Day shirt from me, looking so grown with his new haircut.
Getting his hands all painted up for St. Patrick's day handprints.
Looking good!
He seems to be worried he lost his technique.
Cool he found it again!
Noah finished the pot on the left and Brittany painted the two on the right. Tomorrow Brittany will be helping Noah plant seeds in the pots so he can watch them grow.
Noah and Daddy
and lastly a new green blanket for the baby to be!

friend

2011-03-17T00:15:00.000-07:00

There is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one’s self, the very meaning of one’s soul.

~Edith Wharton

via: {whimsicalities}

japan

2011-03-13T00:39:00.000-08:00

You can't help but feel a lot of pain and heartache for the people of Japan seeing all the destruction and tragedy coming from the earthquake. So it made me smile when I saw these sweet children in a photo from Hideaki Hamada's flickr stream. The caption below it reads:

"from Osaka Japan, we're okay. Thanks."

via: happenstance

decorating tips

2011-03-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

The March-April issue of Lonny magazine is out and as usual there is tons of great stuff in it. One of my favorite things was these rooms decorated by Daniel Pafford. I loved his decorating tips and how beautiful the rooms turned out. You can scroll through it all here.
images: Lonny magazine

manners

2011-03-07T16:51:00.001-08:00

Wow, one thing I have really noticed lately is a lot of parents don't seem to be teaching their children manners anymore. I guess I'm aware of it more because my parents were really strict about it. It seemed annoying at the time but when I went to raise my own kids I was glad they were. My mom was really good about teaching us what to say, how to share and to be respectful to those around us. We would always ask my Dad why he was so strict with us in our own house. He told us then it would be easy for us when we visited our friends and played with them that we would automatically do the right thing because we had too at home. He was right of course, so I took his lessons and raised my children the same way. He also said he didn't want to live in a house with spoiled bratty kids and I totally got what he meant when I was raising my kids. Part of the reason I know more parents don't do this is because it is such hard work! You have to be on your kids all the time, watching them and disciplining them. In this day and age so many parents are stressed out with their work and all their activities that it just isn't a priority or they are too tired and just don't have the energy. I've been glad Brittany believes it is important to spend the time and energy to teach Noah manners. That has definitely not been a simple feat for her because Noah is not exactly your easy child and is constantly testing her limits. I can witness now how much her hard work has payed off as you can see the progress in Noah. When he plays at the park or with his friends he shares his toys most of the time or he doesn't get to play. One of the manners I love the most is when Brittany and I are talking and he wants to say something he will always come up and say "excuse me" before talking. It is the cutest thing and I can feel my Dad smiling from above.
image: here

brittany 6 months

2011-03-02T21:59:00.001-08:00

I'm a little late getting this up as she is now 6 1/2 months. This photo was taken at 6 months when I was staying at her house. While I was there we shopped, visited, made dinners together, figured out the last decisions on the nursery and which baby items to buy. She is a lot more organized this time since it is her 2nd and she knows what she needs. Noah was a crack up too with all his funny little antics {a post about that soon so I won't forget}. Today she had her 4D ultrasound. She was on a high seeing her baby so clearly, making her realize it won't be long until she can hold this sweet little baby in her arms!

missing someone

2011-02-27T22:39:00.001-08:00

via: hahaacakes

lollipop numbers

2011-02-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

I love these lollipop numbers. They were used to escort guests to their tables but I would love to use them to put in a cake at birthdays.

sweet and sour chicken with green beans

2011-02-22T22:32:00.000-08:00

I am staying at Brittany's house this week to help her get the baby's room ready. She has also been making me some delicious dinners. Last night she made this chicken recipe from Everyday Food and it was so good! We both love this magazine because the recipe's are simple and not to costly. She has been picking recipe's to make that have several pantry items which keeps the cost of each dinner really low. Tomorrow on the menu is a stir fried shrimp dish. Brittany also had a doctors appt. today and she is measuring the right size and everything looks good with the baby. In the next couple of weeks they are getting a 4D ultrasound done. Can't wait for that. She is 6 months along now so I will be taking a pregnancy photo in the next couple of days.

adele

2011-02-18T00:26:00.000-08:00

The first time I heard this song from Adele "Rolling In The Deep" I loved it. Her voice is so soulful you want to listen to it over and over. Then I heard her song Someone Like You, again the same. Her lyrics capture experiences we have all had and her voice makes it all so haunting and real. Love her!

Valentines Day 2011

2011-02-14T00:04:00.001-08:00

Awww......he is getting so big but he is still my sweetest little one. Looked forever for a Valentine shirt for him, they don't make hardly any for boys {super frustrating}. Finally found this cute one stuck in the back corner at Old Navy. Old Navy is one of the best places to find little boy clothes that aren't too expensive or cartoon charactered out.
Tulips for my table, which I just found out a few days ago were my father's favorite flower. Who knew.....I had no idea he even liked flowers. As my mother gets older she is coming up with all these bits and pieces of information about our family that I never knew. She was so busy working and raising 5 children she never had time to think. Now she has more time and is able to pass these memories down to me which I love!
photo 1-Brittany, photo 2-me

e-valentine

2011-02-11T21:57:00.001-08:00

Adorable e-valentines from Kate Spade.

valentine's night couch picnic

2011-02-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

This is a cute less expensive idea for Valentine's Day from eatdrinkchic. Both my daughters would love this as it is already one of their favorite things to do!

cake plate

2011-02-06T21:13:00.001-08:00

Love my new cake plate from Pier One. The first thing that went inside it was not a cake but some delicious chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.......yum!
photo-me

i frickin love you boxers

2011-02-06T00:23:00.000-08:00

Holy cow, these boxers from Bonobos are too cute! What a perfect gift for your guy on Valentines Day.

skirted bow bikini

2011-02-04T21:02:00.001-08:00

Bathing suits are coming in the stores now and of course it is freezing outside! It's fun to look though and this one is so adorable from Urban Outfitters.

egypt

2011-01-31T23:33:00.000-08:00

I have been riveted by the coverage of Egypt in the last several days. This video of a young protester sums up well what the people of Egypt are trying to obtain in their country. Watching all the masses of people protest to gain basic freedoms {that we tend to take for granted in America} is inspiring. The government has shut down their internet and doing everything they can to make them miserable but nothing is deterring them. They will not stop protesting until their leader Mubarak leaves the country and they are allowed to vote in the next election for their own leader, not a fake election where Mubarak always wins. Christopher Hitchens {one of favorite writers} wrote a great article in Slate today on why people are driven to rise up against dictators as the Egyptian people are doing now. This is my favorite passage from it....

"People do not like to be treated like fools, or backward infants, or extras in some parade. There is a natural and inborn resistance to such tutelage, for the simple-enough reasons that young people want to be regarded as adults, and parents can't bear to be humiliated in front of their children. One of Francis Fukuyama's better observations, drawing on his study of Hegel and Nietzsche, was that history shows people just as prepared to fight for honor and recognition as they are for less abstract concepts like food or territory."

gender neutral nurseries

2011-01-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

via
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Love all these rooms and I'm enjoying seeing so many great design ideas for gender neutral nurseries. It seems more and more that everyone is getting away form blue and pink. Just in time for Brittany to have lots of inspiration to decorate her baby to be's nursery.

via

aware

2011-01-29T22:06:00.000-08:00

From here

valentine tags

2011-01-27T22:51:00.001-08:00

I bought these valentine gift tags at Paper Source a few weeks ago. I used their Christmas ones on my presents this year and I loved them. I put a hole punch in the corner and then strung ribbon through them. They have 28 tags in a pack and come in 13 different languages, with sweet little sayings on each of them. You could also use them in lunch boxes, on pillows or for scrapbooking.

Here is how I used their Christmas tags on my presents this year. We are lucky to have a Paper Source near us as I love being able to visit the store and see everything in person.

cottage rules

2011-01-25T20:08:00.001-08:00

Would love this for my house via etsy.

boys rooms

2011-01-24T23:44:00.000-08:00

Brittany is in the process of getting Noah in a big boy bed and redecorating his room before the baby comes. Thought she would like some inspiration from these cute rooms via Restoration Hardware.

brittany 5 months

2011-01-21T22:36:00.000-08:00

Starting to show a little tummy there, with 4 more months to go. This next month is where things start picking up and the baby really starts growing. Brittany finally broke down and bought a few maternity pants. She likes to put that off as long as possible, but it was time as she was getting really uncomfortable. Now that she is feeling better the days are going a lot faster for us. The best thing is we can hang out and have fun together now. It was weird going almost 4 months with her not even being able to hardly talk, let alone do things together. So glad that time is over and behind us. Really makes you appreciate a normal pregnancy, which is what we seem to be enjoying right now! I asked her today if she had decided on any names yet. Since she is not finding out the sex until the baby is born, she needs a boy and girl name. She has a few ideas but nothing certain yet. She said she might not even know until she sees the baby. So I guess we will have to wait until that sweet little baby pops out!
Noah wasn't going to be left out of the action this month either. After I took Brittany's picture he stood next to the wall and lifted up his shirt. At 31 months he has a pretty sweet little tummy too!

boy + truck

2011-01-18T21:05:00.001-08:00

So much cuteness via vol25.

quote

2011-01-17T20:55:00.000-08:00

fiddle leaf fig tree

2011-01-16T19:21:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful houseplant via fromtherightbank. The latest winner of Design Star Emily Henderson put one in her winning design {above with the green sofa}. Love to have one in my own house. I have a perfect spot for it. They are saying you can get them at Home Depot. I will have to check that out.