Charlie and the Living Rm

Playing with Daddy's shoes

Planning out some mischief...

Getting ready to 'rush' Daddy :o)

Makin' music

Wanting to read his favorite book

That was the bean about fifteen minutes before he conked out tonight. It always seems as though he gives off a final burst of energy right before he is ready to sleep.

In other news, paint in the house is completed. I'm wishing the living room were a little deeper in color but maybe the blue will pop more once I have my furniture in there to contrast with. Sorry for the darker lighting in this photo.

Finally I wanted to share a couple of blog links for kitchen inspiration and traditional interior design 'rules'. Both have gorgeous photos.

Weekend in review

We had another busy weekend. Saturday Joe and I dropped the bean off at Mima's house to attend the Bat Mitzvah of a close family friend. It was the first Bat Mitzvah Joe and I had attended and I must say it was such a beautiful, humbling, and really educative experience.

We both felt honored to be in attendance to share in such a special day. As for the honoree, she was amazing, and held herself with more poise than most adults could! The reception was fabulous and *gasp* Joe and I actually had a chance to dance together. We worried Charlie was going to have a meltdown without us (he had skipped a nap) but he was a perfect little angel for Mima. He had a tough time falling asleep, but no throwing up- he saved that for tonight.

We spent most of today in moving and packing mode and that will be the story for the remainder of the week. It's getting a bit more stressful as we are coming down to the wire with the move. I am still in a bit of shock that this weekend was our last at our old house.

Joe has been a bit mopey about it all, reminiscing about how we came home on our wedding night and brought Charlie here straight from the hospital. I'm trying to focus on the fact that we'll always have those memories (along with all the memories of fixing up this house).

Moving is a little scary; I'm amazed at how much I did it as a twenty-something. The one thing I have realized in this packing/transitional phase- I really don't need as much 'stuff' as I thought I did. I'm quite happy with the simplicity of having a couple of bowls, a pot, a pan and one spatula and wooden spoon vs. the gobs upon gobs of kitchen tools I have neatly labeled and taped up in boxes.

I'm making a vow to myself to not get caught up in all the 'stuff' as I unpack. I'm going to give away and donate as many unnecessaries as possible. Because at the end of the day a home isn't about all those little vignettes or tablescapes; however lovely, it's about making memories and filling the walls with laughter and love. And that's what I intend to do :o)

On this day last year..

Then...

And now...

'Wow' is all I can say.

More fun at the farm

Petting Zoo

Charlie & I met up with some friends today and went to our first petting zoo together.
My bean is definitely a huge animal lover.
I'll post more pics tomorrow but wanted to share a couple before I logged off tonight.

Exquisite Entryways

Image 1: House Beautiful, Image 2: Architectual Digest, Images 3-8: Better Homes & Gardens

Hide & Seek

Since I was a major mommy slacker and didn't take official 13 month shots, this will have to suffice. The problem is Charlie will not sit still in his chair anymore. Come to think of it, he won't stay put anywhere. I have to take about 170 shots to get hmm 2 that are passable.

Here the bean is playing his favorite game- hide and seek.

You would never think, by looking at these shots, that we have had a really tough last four days. Tonight (and last night too) Charlie cried so hard when I was trying to get him down to sleep that he threw up everywhere, in his crib, on the floor etc. I think I have made my lifetime quota of vomit clean-up this past year. Then the poor guy was feeling so badly he was up multiple times during the night.

All I'm praying for tonight is a quiet night where my little man (and Mama and Daddy) can get some good quality sleep and wake up tomorrow feeling better.

Oh and I must leave on a positive note- last night Charlie said his first two syllable word-Malcolm (our kitty's name!) I wouldn't have believed it but Joe was standing right there beside me and heard him.

He is really trying to imitate our speech, this past weekend we heard several times what sounded like"I love you". Not that he understands any of it, but it's amazing to watch his little mind work.

Wishing everyone a peaceful night.

Paint!

The paint job in Charlie's room is finished and I'm in love :o)

It's now my favorite room in the house.

Here's a shot of the guest bedroom. The color on the wall is looking a bit faded through the lens of my camera but it's a very soothing grey-beige. I took a deep breath standing in the room with Charlie- very calming on the eyes.

And here's our master. Again, washed out through the camera lens, but it is a true gray, Benjamin Moore's Horizon.

A hallway shot.

The wood stain is really growing on me now.
It's all coming together now that paint is on some of the walls.

But I have one questionable room- Joe's office. This room gets morning light but not much in the afternoon as you can see in the picture below. I originally thought to do a creamy white in the room, but now I'm thinking why not do something a little bolder since the room isn't going to be all that bright to begin with. Maybe a darker beige, like a river rock color is better? Pay no mind to the blue paint patch on the wall, the house is going to have too much blue if I paint another room that color! What do you think?

A New Look

I've been on the hunt for an easy and FREE blog template and tonight I found one-yeah! The clean design spoke to me. Oh, and we've gotta have a little green in the background to honor my bean. Who, by the way, still will only eat pureed green beans as his only veggie at 13 months. But, at least I'm getting a vegetable into him :o)

If you'd like to give your blog a new look, I highly recommend lovely Lena.


I'm off to go pack up bags for church tomorrow and pray that Charlie sleeps through the night. He has an ear infection and the past two nights have reminded me of how things were not so long ago.

Floor Before & After

Our floors at the new-old house are finished, save a final polish.
I really feel for floor refinishers, that is an extremely difficult job with all the dust and chemicals.
Here's our before:

And the after:

The color is called English Chestnut. A little lighter than what I envisioned but everything happens for a reason and I'm sure the lighter color will make for brighter rooms. Excuse my not-so-great photography. Have a great weekend!

Paint Party

There's a 'paint party' over at 320 Sycamore and so I thought I would share my favorite paint colors in our current house.

Joe and I completely remodeled our kitchen, ripping the walls down to the studs. For a look at the before click here.

It's going to be painful to part with my kitchen, but we'll be recreating most of this in the new-old house. Anyways, I digress. The color on the walls is Benjamin Moore Harbor Haze, a nice gray blue with some green thrown in too. I feel like I'm on vacation every time I walk in there.

Our bath is a combo of BM Great Plains Gold on the beadboard and White Dove above it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mudroom Inspiration

This last one above is my favorite.
Images 1-5 & 7 Remodeling Center.com, Image 6 from Just a Girl Blog.