for i know the plans...

another new print! in one of my absolute favorite color combinations – gray & mustard! sometimes i have to stop and remind myself of this verse because i get so overwhelmed. and i want things to happen right! now! and this verse? it helps keep me centered and reminds me that as much as i think i'm in control, i'm simply not.

three months old

three months old! that's crazy talk. but it's all so true, unfortunately. and i say unfortunately because really? i just don't want to believe it. you finally laughed for us last night while we were taking your photos. maybe it's because mama was acting like a crazy-lady trying to get you to look at the camera. it's such a fun laugh. just a short little "ha!" like thing. nothing like your big brother's belly laugh (maybe it'll turn into a fun belly laugh at some point)...

you've decided to have a growth spurt and eat more while you're at school. you made all the daycare ladies think you hated them for a day... until we realized you were just a little bit hungrier. but yay for an appetite and a growing boy!

you're gaining better control of your noggin every day. and LOVE looking around to see what's going on. your favorite things to watch right now are the ceiling light/fan (so! exciting!) and your brother. and your brother? he loves you like crazy. wants to play with you so desperately. no worries, we gently remind him that you're still a teensy bit fragile.

you light up our lives with your silly grins. and we can't wait to see where this next month takes you!

[wordless wednesday] we love the babylegs at our house

(we put the legs on sawyer & cayden wanted some. cayden decided arms were better than legs. adorable? um, yes.)

one more print...

... in two different color choices – lemon or coral! this is the day the Lord has made prints available now!

potty training fun!

big boy underwear + a new bike helmet + tennis shoes + no pants = adorable

can i get an amen? cause, amen! potty training cayden is actually going really well. except for that small tidbit of him not telling us when he actually needs to go to the bathroom. but otherwise? it's going exceptional. he's even got this face he makes and we just KNOW it's time to sit him on the toilet. and he gets so! excited! every time he gets to flush something away.

and i promise we don't let him run around without pants on all the time. in fact? he usually screams until we put pants on him. but not this day. this day he let the adorable shine. and the bike helmet was a consignment sale find on saturday. i'm not even kidding when i say that it has to be on his head when he's at home. at all times.



and p.s. what's more fun than things to play with in the garage? apparently nothing. as shown in this little clip.

etsy additions!

you guys have noticed that i have an etsy shop, right? and that you can see the latest and greatest right over there in that column (to the right), yes? if so, you'll probably notice something that looks a little new.

it's an idea that's been brewing in my mind for, um, ever. i started toying around with the idea of adding prints to my shop sometime last year. for some reason, the inspiration wasn't quite there yet. and my designs were lacking.

something happened in the last few weeks though. these ideas kept popping up in my head randomly. some of them i was able to hash out. some of them? not so much and they got t-rashed immediately.

i'm really happy with how these three designs have turned out so far and can't wait to start adding more items as the ideas keep coming. (fingers crossed that they DO keep coming.)

coffee & elmo

the work week can be hard sometimes. it's easy to lose perspective on the things that are important. and it's even easier to lose sight of the small things. the little things that make you smile. or make you relax. or just make you, well, you.

things like coffee. and the smell that fills my car when my coffee mug goes from being unopened to opened. it's like breathing in relaxation for me. all the stress that was sitting in my body just goes away as that warm smell takes over my body. big sigh.

or you know, when you're trying to get this perfect shot of the boys in their matching elmo shirts. the infant screams for most of the shoot and the toddler can't. sit. still. so honestly? there's not a photo worth framing. but then i step back and really look at the photos that didn't turn out how i wanted. and there's definitely something there. that little smile the toddler gives. and the way the light is captured in his bright blue eyes. and the all-knowing look the infant gives at just the right moment... it turns out the photo is just. perfect.

today i'm linking up with lindsay over at from the aisle to aloha:

[wordless wednesday] bath & glow sticks

saturday morning iphone fun

we did a little this [eating breakfast & snoozing]:

then a little this [snoozing & "makin' copee"]:

some of this [swinging & nursing]:

and this [watching cousin ethan play soccer]:

also a little video of "makin' copee." please forgive the puke-worthiness of the clip. we go over railroad tracks (which you'll hear me say cause, duh, obvious). but it's worth the memory. for us.

totally & completely random thoughts

• i had the weirdest dream about pumping last night. i was at work and the room i had to use was really nice. with a tv and everything (in real life? it's a supply closet. neat, right?). the weird thing though? there were tons of windows to the outside world. and they weren't covered in any way. this didn't seem to bother me. nor did all the co-workers that kept walking in on me. what did bother me? the fact that i forgot to attach the bottle to the horn so i was pumping breast milk into nothingness. it was going everywhere. woke up to the sads about all my wasted milk. luckily nothing like this has happened today. because, woah, that'd just be very strange.

• i have a habit of checking my teeth after lunch with my web cam. hey, it's convenient. and i bet some of you might start doing this yourselves. way easier than walking to a mirror. now that i do it every day, i'll usually snap a photo to send to my husband of me being ridiculous (cause that's what i'm best at). today? realizing that if my arms are super-close to the camera, they look HUGE. ha!

• the missoni hype at target? some of it was cute. some of it wasn't. but for reals, why in the world were people buying ALL of it just to list on ebay and make money off it later? completely beyond my comprehension. it's selfish, y'all. if you're not going to use, leave it for someone who does want it, ok? geez.

• favorite toddler moment this week so far: telling cayden i'm tired. cayden responds with, "yeah mommy. i tire. RRRAAAWWWWRRRR." oh sweetie, that's so cute and funny, but i'm tired, not a tiger. love that kid.

• oh, and i got my hair cut. see ridiculous photo above for reference.

[wordless wednesday] cayden wants to hold sawyer

i remember

i remember that day. i remember being at work. i remember being annoyed that my cubbie mate listened to her radio too loudly every day. i remember hearing snippets of the first tower being hit. i remember hearing on that radio about the second tower being hit. i remember thinking it must be some sick joke the radio station was playing.

i remember realizing that it wasn't a joke.

i remember calling my sister, urging her to wake up and turn on a tv. i remember trying to get in touch with recent college friends in new york. i remember frantically searching the internet for the most recent news.

i remember going to lunch for a colleague who was leaving our company. i remember watching the tv in that italian restaurant. i remember president bush addressing the nation while we all looked around at each other in disbelief.

i remember not doing any work that afternoon. i remember crowding around a tiny tv in the editorial offices. i remember not closing my mouth and repeatedly saying "oh my gosh."

i remember watching both towers fall. i remember crying for the thousands of people i didn't know. i remember crying for all the people that lost members of their family that day.

i remember being terrified for our nation. i remember not knowing how to feel.

i still remember how that day made me feel. and how my heart aches for the loss of those innocent people. and how my heart aches for all those still affected by that day. and how my heart aches any time i see a photo or video clip from that day.

i remember.

we. are. family.

anyone got a song stuck in their head after that title? no? just me? let me repeat it then: we. are. family. and we so are! not just a little family of three. but a family of four. jeremy and i have kids. plural. children. not just child. however, that's so not the point of this...

cayden's starting his 2k program at school and they sent a request home for us to send in a photo of our child all by himself, a photo of the our home and a photo of our child's family. short of a couple of photos in the hospital when sawyer was born, we really didn't have a photo of just the four of us together. and because we're not normal people around these parts, we decided to not have someone snap a shot of us. we decided to try a fun approach to a family photo. sure, we could've all just stared at the camera, but where's the energy in that?

and to try to keep things from being stale, we gave cayden the remote for the camera. so we weren't really sure when he was going to press it... some of the photos did turn out a little staged. in the end, we ended up going with this lovely one. more natural of everyone. and while it's not the best photo, i think it ended up showing our family more than a staged photo would have. and it made it to our wall-of-photos that we're constantly adding to in the family room.

tuscaloosa

tuscaloosa. where do i even begin? we had a great trip. major traffic on the way to the game. and tons of cars flying their alabama flags. cayden couldn't say "roll tide" enough! every where he looked there was some form of roll tide. poor kid. i don't think he really got why there was so much roll tide everywhere. good stuff for sure.

but getting off the interstate and rolling into town? was a completely eye-opening experience. mcfarland doesn't look the same because of the tornados that came through in april. it was just weird. and going down 15th street? i got lost. seriously. my landmarks weren't there. there was simply nothing. tears welled up in my eyes despite my best effort to keep them at bay. my old apartment that i thought made it through ok? must have had awful damage because it wasn't there anymore. i couldn't even tell you where it would've been. it was just that desolate.

anyway, back to happier things! the game was so fun. we sat down and pointed out the field to cayden and he was all about it. we got him a ginormous hot dog (which he ate almost all of; little dude can take down a hot dog).

it was hot. and sawyer for sure let us know that he was uncomfortable. thankfully the stadium is huge and loud so a baby crying is far from distracting. but once he was fed and a little more comfortable he was all good. and let me tell you, despite the fact that the ergo we bought is the "performance" one, it was still hot. breathable material had nothing on the heat and humidity that day. sawyer and i were both soaked from sweat.

while cayden ran around and watched football, sawyer took quite a different approach to the game. an older man walked behind me and paused, looked at sawyer sleeping on the ground, smiled, look confused and then walked off. pretty awesome that he was able to sleep through the game.

by the time halftime rolled around, we had to head on out. the two year old was no longer controllable. i'm so thankful that jeremy's boss gifted us those tickets and that the area we were sitting in was much larger than regular seating. otherwise? i'm not sure we would've made it to halftime. we were able to listen to the rest of the game on our way home. and best of all, we were able to avoid the after-game traffic. (we fought traffic the whole way there, so fair enough that we were able to miss it on the way back.)

sick day turned craft day

i don't do well with sick days. i have a hard time sitting still and not doing anything. but with a stuffy (very stuffy) head, there isn't a lot i can do without feeling like complete crap in about 2.8 seconds. by the way, me and my neti pot? we're like BFFs this week. it's such a disturbing, but completely can't-turn-away-from-it, experience.

but i digress. so i needed something to do. last weekend i bought buttons to make us an A monogram ala these on pinterest. simple enough, right? no really, it was really simple. and fun. and no one got hurt or out of breath in making this. yay!

here's how i made mine... i had these little canvases that i had purchased to do some art project with. and of course, i never got around to doing it. but hey, this little canvas just happens to be the perfect size to fit in an area that needed some help on our photo wall (that's still a work in progress). so i gathered my canvas and buttons, printed out an A that i liked and then lightly traced it onto my canvas.

hey, look, some of these buttons are fastened by staple thingies. not. cool. after trying my best to pry them open with my fingernails (it didn't work), i got smart(er) and found a small flat head screwdriver to pry them open. and a big thanks to my sweet husband who brought me a sweet tea. without that tea, i may have given up on button removal until he got home. sugar helps everything.

once buttons were ready to go, i started laying them out in a pattern that i thought would work. be patient with this process and don't glue first. i'm glad i was patient because i ended up rearranging several of the buttons – especially when i stepped back and took a photo. the first couple of arrangements had entirely too much gray in them. so yeah. be patient.

and ta-da! see how it fits so nicely in that little area there? oh, and please ignore our poop colored walls. that's the color that the contractors painted it. picture this wall with a soft gray behind it. ahhhh, that's better, right? if the room weren't huge with like 18 foot high walls (i'm for serious!) it would already be painted. i actually think we might hire someone to paint this room at some point. but that's not the point of this post. look – crafty!

roll tide, people!

it's that time of year again. the weather starts to cool off and you can just smell fall in the air. oh, what's that? it's still mid-90s every day and no hint of fall? yeah, that's right. but let's just pretend. either way, it's september which means the beginning of football season. yay!

we have plans to actually take both boys to the alabama game tomorrow. first game for both of them. sure, sawyer isn't going to remember it, but we literally can't wait to see the excitement on cayden's face when he realizes what we're doing. he loves watching football on tv, so we're hoping he's just as excited when he sees his beloved "roll tide" take the field.

it's a really early game tomorrow (11ish), so tailgating will be a little calmer than previous years. after the game? i imagine it'll be party city. we'll be long gone before that party gets started. getting stuck in that traffic is never fun. add in people drinking and trying to drive. yeah, no thanks.

we're looking forward to getting cayden some shakers and some overpriced stadium food. i'm only kind of worried about all this going on during his naptime. but i'm guessing the excitement will win out and we'll get an awesome nap out of him on our way home.

we have a few other plans for the labor day weekend. here's hoping the weather will hold out for them. although honestly? some rain would be nice. and maybe, just maybe, it'll bring that fall weather we're all longing for. hope everyone else has a fabulous labor day weekend!