7 wants

Source: imgfave.com via Erlinda on Pinterest

Oh, if only I could rub a magic lamp and get seven wishes {three is simply not enough!}  Here would be the desires of my heart...at least in this moment:

1. to be done moving already {this weekend we will officially be in the new house!}
2. to never move again
3. to have another little one - someday.  I got the baby fever, ya'll.  All my friends seem to be preggo.  Okay, that is an extreme exaggeration...but there are quite a few in my life at the moment.  It is making my ovaries hurt.  {Despite my case of ' baby fevah' Hubby and I are not in any way trying to get preggo.  In fact, we are 'the opposite of trying.'  As much as I like being pregnant I am loving not being pregnant and treasuring only having to deal with one kiddo.}
4. a cozy window seat
5. a vacation. 
6. for Cormac to skip the teenage years.  Dreading having a teenager.  No thanks.  
7. to have enough energy at the end of the day to read more than one page of a book.  Maybe I am reading the wrong books?

If you are just joining me, I am participating with the lovely ladies here and here, with their Ten Day YOU Challenge...

What?  The week is already half over???  

Sweet!

{hey - even SAHMs appreciate a short work week...}
:o)

g

sweet somethings : labor day weekend

1. Messy hair and lots of cuddling.

Something about holiday weekends makes you just want to relax, hang out, and avoid any normal obligations.  Oh, and spend lots of time lovin' on your fam.  Like this guy:

  

Oh my - he does completely look like his Dad...except for the eyeballs.

Those are my blue eyeballs.

Okay, so go ahead and call me a bad mama, but this kid is a total climber and every time he sees a step stool he goes for it!  So this time I let him and grabbed the camera...just 'cause he seemed so proud of himself...

2. Naps.  

I almost never nap and I actually took several this past weekend.  This signifies the start of football season...my favorite napping background noise.  Oh, and I like the tailgating, beer drinking and food eating part of football season, too.

3. Birthday celebrating!  

We went out Saturday night with a group to celebrate a gorgeous and fun friend of mine.  Wish I would have taken more pictures, as everyone looked fabulous.  Plus, Hubby and I got a night out sans baby.  I spilled one cosmopolitan...which signifies me having a good time. :)

 4. Family outing! Lunch at Chipotle and...

perhaps too much chipotle?

5...trip to children's museum large, insane play area

To be honest, the eight million kids who were also there, along with eight million frazzled parents were kinda overstimulating for me...but to see this kiddo have fun running around and playing was totally worth it. 

dada had fun, too

I didn't get any photos of the insane, netted "ball area" because I was too busy looking for where there might possibly be an emergency exit I could escape out of...or a wine bar.

6. Cormac's first Labor Day fireworks

...or any fireworks, for that matter.

Forget Fourth of July.  Labor Day fireworks are the thing where we live.  Our city becomes completely nuts the Sunday night before Labor Day because there is a huge display that happens right on the river.  Everyone is out partying.  This year we were invited to a good friend's house that has a pretty awesome view.  Needless to say, Cormac had a blast.  He ran wild, spilled his milk {like mama, like son} and then when the fireworks started he lay his head sleepily on his Dad's shoulder and watched for about fifteen minutes.  Then he was fast asleep.

A good weekend, all in all.

Much love -

g

memories from a home.

Last night, for the first time, I sort of panicked about moving into the 'dream home.' I realized it means actually leaving our current home, where we have lived for the past three years.  Our relationship, family, and careers went through many changes during this time.  I know three years isn't long in the grand scheme, but it feels like an eternity of memories.  Some big ones were...

• adopting our goldendoodle Colbie - we were happy he had a yard to romp around in!
• my first pregnancy!
• welcoming our sweet baby Cormac into the world
• three different job changes for Hubby
• my first year as a stay-at-home mama
• and many, many celebrations!

Here are just a small smattering of photos taken in and around our home....

our pup enjoying the yard when we first moved in

visit from my sister - nov 09 - before we re-did the pavers and porch

thanksgiving dinner - 2009 - during my bright green dining room phase

my 29th birthday!  always love coming downstairs to fresh flowers from the hubby

popeye and pocohontas ready to go out!   halloween 2010

after the doc confirmed I was preggo!

new years eve- 2010

24 weeks - the master bath has the best sunlight!

on the couch with dada

in the oversized, comfy nursery chair -  where I spent a LOT of time nursing this guy

I loved having a backyard to 'adventure' in with our babe.

preparing for our prague trip - getting used to the bjorn 

was he really this tiny...and immobile???

christmas 2011

on the back patio, drinking tea

sweet babe in his nursery

the kitchen - where all the magic - and messes - happen

trying to capture the entire fam hanging out in our bedroom

the kitchen floor - where you will most likely find these two boys.

hubby's 31st birthday

'hey mom - some privacy please!' - tub time

two peas in a pod - in the nursery/guest room

Game night!

taking his first steps

the first birthday party

learning & playing

'mama, you shouldn't leave your journal hanging around...' - the master bedroom is where we read a bit and, of course, snuggle and play!

I enjoyed planting and watching our garden grow!

this is what we call 'dump truck alley' - aka the dining room

we took many a backyard pic

fall 2011

Soon we'll be saying goodbye to this house, 

and hello to a new house, new adventures,

new memories.

But for now...

hello to much, much more packing!

g

chinese birth chart: a sham... *tear*

source

This is exactly why I am (usually) not superstitious.

My one superstitious weakness was the Chinese Birth Chart, which, because every single mama I had talked to said it was correct in their case, I decided maybe the Chinese knew what they were talking about.

I even started looking ahead to the next twelve months, deciding which specific months Hubby and I might possibly try to conceive our second child.  {I'll let you guess whether we would prefer a girl or a boy.}

Yes, I know.  Crazy.  Obsessive planner.  Nutcase.

My husband in particular thought it was annoying that I would put faith in any such chart.  "It is always a 50/50 chance," he would say, ever my logical better-half.

Still I would argue that because of how many people it is accurate for there must be something to this chart.

It was true for all three of my sister's babies.  It was accurate for every pregnant friend of mine thus far.

Then, recently I discovered that some of these friends had gone by a completely different chart than I had. Somehow, the Chinese have at least two charts predicting their births.  Wha???

Here is the one I went by when I was pregnant with Cormac:

http://www.webwomb.com/chinesechart.htm

It showed that Cormac was, in fact, a boy.

However, I recently was shown, by my blog friend Julie, that the chart she had looked at {which had correctly predicted the gender of her son} was completely opposite of what mine said.  Check it out here:

http://www.chinese-tools.com/astrology/birth-prediction.html


Hers says Cormac should have been a girl.

It doesn't happen often, but let the record show, Hubby : I was wrong.  :}

I will hereby cease my obsession with the Chinese Birth Chart.

g

8 fears

What scares me?  In reality, not a lot.
But most fears are not based on reality.

Source: go4prophotos.com via Marjorie on Pinterest

Eight fears...

1. spiderwebs - I've freaked out many a time after running into a spider web.  I immediately think the web had at least three spiders on it that are now stuck in my hair.
2.  heights - I don't like looking down from high places, or looking up at really tall things.
3.  the possibility of someone hiding in the shower, waiting to attack me - I check it every time.
4. small spaces - my older brother once {twice? thrice?}locked me in a trunk when I was little.  Not cool, bro!  
5.  kidnappers - I assume every stranger may be secretly plotting to kidnap my child.
6. scary movies - I will not watch them.  My imagination is too active.  Thanks, but I'll pass on being paranoid for the entire next day after watching one. 
7.  car accidents - I was in several when I was younger and I still have flashbacks.
8. tickling - I was tickle-tortured constantly by the aforementioned older bro as a child, and it left me with a major tickle fear.  Sometimes I will just imagine my husband tickling me and I will freak out.  I would rather have you punch me than tickle me.  In fact, I have punched people for tickling me.  

Or just punch ticklers.
:)

(Sorry this post was a quickie, 

but I have LOTS of packing to do!)

Linking here again...

Be brave, my friends!

 g

the drop leaf table: {inspirations}

Growing up we had a drop-leaf table in our home.  For a good long while it was in our laundry room, acting as a folding table, painted yellow, with a dog crate housing a very angry lhasa apso named Buffy underneath.

Then, when I was a teenager, it was painted cream and placed in my bedroom.  It became a writing desk.  I had a typewriter {yeah, well, I was old-school.}  I had big dreams sitting at that drop-leaf table. Writing dreams, including novels.  Oh, and I did homework there, too...when I wasn't distracted by my writing dreams.

Now it is my older sister's drop leaf table.  She painted it again, and it looks absolutely lovely in her home, with a pretty Eiffel Tower lamp placed upon it. 

A couple years ago I began thinking about that table.  Imagining one of my very own.  Then, recently, I began actually looking for a table just like it.   Pretty easy to find on Craig's List, it turns out.   So I plucked down $35 bucks and began dreaming.

Here are a few of my inspirations, via Pinterest...

Source: lillablanka.blogspot.com via Greta on Pinterest

Source: sweetpickinsfurniture.com via Greta on Pinterest

Source: stores.ebay.com via Camille on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Greta on Pinterest

Source: cherpeace.tumblr.com via Greta on Pinterest

I know the last beauty isn't a drop leaf...but it inspired me nonetheless.

I have already painted the legs and the bottom...now I am just trying to get the top right.  Needless to say, I am experiencing a major learning curve when it comes to using power sanders.  Or, in fact, any type of sanding.  Eek.

Reveal to come soon!

 g