2013: A Look Back at a Whirlwind of a Year!

I just found this as a draft! Not sure which pictures I was waiting to add but here it is - published with disregard to whatever I was waiting on 6 months ago! :) 

New Orleans!
We kicked off the new year flying home from one of my favorite weddings and family trips of all time - Andrea and Rogan's NYE wedding! I turned 36 weeks pregnant the following day...the cut-off for travel ;)

Walker was born
Our biggest Baby #2 blessing was born on 2/1 weighing 9 lbs 3 oz. This delivery and hospital stay was picture perfect - I loved every second and wish I could go back for just a moment in time! I can't imagine any different personality fitting so well with our family. He's our cuddly, lovable easy-going little dude.

How can such a big baby still be so little?!

I can't stop adding photos here! I miss this time so much!

Walker was Baptized
I have said it before, but we feel so blessed to have so much family that loves our family so deeply. Andrea and Rogan came into town to stand beside us and become Walker's Godparents and many other family members joined us on that day.

Destin
I'm so nostalgic looking through the photos! I can't even pick just one to put here. We really want to make this an annual tradition but probably need to pass this year with all of the expenses of a big move. I really, really can't wait to go back though!

 

Shelby went to a new home
2013 wasn't all wonderful. I still get so sad when I think about Shelby. She was my #1 girl. We decided that it would be in everyone's best interest, including her own, if she went to live in a kid-free home. The first time she bit Grayson, since it didn't break the skin, I convinced myself it was an accident and that she wasn't dangerous. I mean she was my little 10 lb lover! How could she be?! But the second time, when she bit Grayson on the face, I knew it was time. Things weren't getting any better: she would shake when the kids would get near, she couldn't relax to sleep all day, which is all she wanted to do, she just had so much anxiety with them around. She went to live with a sweet retired woman who was a recent widow AND had lost her beloved dog soon after she lost her husband. What heartache all at once. Her adult daughter told me that Shelby gave her a reason to be happy and go on with her life again. How could I feel like this was anything but meant to be? I miss my Shelby Girl though!

She would find the furthest and/or highest point from Grayson so that he couldn't get to her.

I loved the way she slept with me! I still miss her burrowing under the covers.

Oh, these pictures make me miss her so much!

My Birthday with the girls
Beau sent me down to Hotel Zaza in Dallas with my Mama friends the weekend of my birthday and we had so much fun! A day by the pool, then dinner and drinks. Too many drinks. There is a reason a birthday only comes once a year! We did a post-mortem on the weekend and decided that going forward, a day by the pool should only end with room service and a movie. That's more our speed these days! :) Thank you Honey for such a treat! And the bottle service. Too much bottle service...

Grayson turned 3
My sweet Grayson turned the big 3! And I wish I could freeze frame time and capture every single change and thing he has said. He is a chatterbox these days with an impressive imagination to boot. We celebrated this Birthday with just a few friends at Chuck E. Cheese. My first outside of the home and to order 100% online. In 15 minutes. What a treat! Especially because....

A case of the Staph
We weren't even sure if we'd be able to do a party because around this time (mid-June)

We sold our house!
Our first home will always have a special place in our hearts! But what a time to sell! This house was under contract with multiple offers within 24 hours. It's a hot market, people! We sold this home for an amount that no one believed could be possible! Our neighbors, realtor, everyone was blown away. The neighborhood was selling at a consistent $103/sq ft and we sold for $124/sq ft. (someday we will all wish we could get back to these prices!) But it was SO worth it with the updated kitchen, huge backyard and surround sound among so much else. It was where we brought our babies home and we will always, always miss this house! :)

We moved in with my parents
They made this 12 weeks (was only supposed to be 6) the easiest time for us! We alternated between their home and the Marriott in the Shops at Legacy while our new house was being built. And delayed. And built. And delayed. :) It felt like a really long time. Everyone involved was a trooper - my parents with the unexpected delays, Beau, Grayson, everyone! We finally closed on our new house on December 6, 2013 after a 5 day ice storm across the metroplex. It was unbelievable! But my parents' house with them and Beau and the kids is the ONLY place I'd want to be cuddled up. Homemade cookies, scones, hot cocoa, stew, you name it! It was a lot of fun :)

Girls' Canton Trip
This was a much-needed trip with many other mamas from MOPS. We shopped all day and then curled up in our PJs at a lake house that belongs to the family of one of the girls. This is an annual tradition that I was fortunate enough to be part of and I look forward to the first-annual Spring trip in a couple of weeks! :)

Top L to R: Meghan, Kim, me, Shannon, Megan
Lower L to R: Sarah, Shannon, Jen, Ashley, Aimee

Dinner at the quirkiest little "winery" in all of Canton. ;)

Wine and good convo out on the deck!

We stayed up til 4am! That's HARD to do being a 30-ish Mom! 

Views like this continue to be retirement inspiration for Beau and me!

Grayson's very first soccer season!

What a milestone! It was his very first organized sports team and he had a ball! Lots to learn but he and the other 3 year olds did a great job with it all! This year, we are on a new team that is closer to our new neighborhood. We did this with the hope of him playing with more kids that he may go to elementary school with so he'll have some friends when it's time to make that big step! That happens in about 18 months - yikes! :(

Grayson receiving his Participation Trophy from Coach Casey. ;)

New House

I have talked about this so much on this blog but woo hoo, a very exciting time for our little family. We moved into a new, fun house that we have really enjoyed so far. I'll update with more pictures of us settling in when I have them. 

Walker's First Haircut!

I forgot to post some pictures of Walker's first haircut! This was shortly after his first birthday and looking back, I wish I would have waited. I let a couple of people mistaking him for a girl get me flustered and I caved. I'm letting it go a lot longer this second time around and I love it! It's silky and the back covers his collar and it's beautiful and did I say silky?  

 

I was so proud of Grayson (in the background)! I was busy with Walker the whole time and Grayson sat through his whole haircut pretty much on his own, still, quiet and well-behaved. Sweet big brother!

We headed to a play date after their haircuts. He looked so much older already!

Walker Beau at 14 months

Walker is so many things these days! He's so curious and confident, so stable on his feet and already loves to rough house with us and his brother. He is an explorer, a lover, a screamer and I think he's going to be my temper tantrumer! A 14 month old stomping their feet back and forth because you closed the pantry door is pretty darn cute. For now. :) I'm really surprised that, if I may put some labels on my child for a moment, my cuddler (not a word) and lover of an easy going baby is going to be the one who loudly tantrums. I guess love hard, fight hard?! That's Walker's motto these days, for sure!

Stats:
No idea on height and weight
Mostly 18 month clothes now; some 12m shorts
Size 5W or 5.5W shoe
Size 4 diaper

Words: I wouldn't call them "words" at this point but wow, does he have plenty of language. He just babbles all day long. So, so adorable. Especially when he's waddling like an overweight, drunk old man through this house without purpose ! So precious!

And y'all, one of my most favorite things about this sweet little guy is that he hums a lot! We all think it's to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, in fact I'm certain it is, and it's the sweetest thing! Whether he's playing or exploring by himself or getting sleepy and it's time for bed, he just hums away and it's so special.

Teething: He teethes passionately! Haha. But for real - this is tough, people. Poor baby. Walker is in the process of getting his 10th tooth and man, he wants everyone to know it. And I'm pretty sure they do. At least the neighbors do! Geez, this kid is LOUD.

Sleep: Champion sleeper still! Goes down without a fuss, maybe needs to cry it out for 2-3 minutes, but otherwise sleeps through the night and still takes 2 naps. I'm milking all of this since, as I've mentioned many times, I NEVER had this with Grayson! :)

Eat: Le Sigh. I mean I don't even know what to say here. Pickiest eater. Changes all the time. We waste a lot of food. I stare in the fridge/pantry hopeless and idealess for 4 meals and 2 snacks a day. The kid brings me the loaf of bread at least 3x a day. And is adamant (y'all, he's LOUD) that I give him slices of bread. That's it. That's all he wants. He HAS taken to yogurt, which is a great source of protein! And I get the super fatty stuff so there's hope! :) He has started insisting that he feeds himself. Ohmygoodness a 14 month old with yogurt. What a mess! But he's so cute...

Anything other than waffles or fruit that I put in front of him and he looks at me like, "What's this $#!%"

What could possibly be in that belly?! BREAD, That's what.

Overall Health: We had really good news from the allergist we saw (side note: my joke that Dr. Stacey Silvers kinda sounded like a stripper name fell flat when HE walked in the door and was a young, attractive family man and super sweet doctor. Oh well.) He decided that there just wasn't a need to put Baby Walker through all those tests since, in his opinion, Walker didn't have any allergies. He gave me a lot of credit (oh man, so nice to hear from a doc!) for managing W's eczema so well (thanks Nikki!) and told us to come back if anything gets way worse. Which it hasn't. I think we barely skated by a whole other world of allergies. For now. Beau is still allergic to everything green and Zyretc is the glue that holds this family together so who knows what the future holds. Just happy we didn't have to go through a lot of testing with a baby!

Things he's up to these days:
Collects and carries as many pacifiers as he can. This is his security blanket. I've found he goes down a little easier at night if he has at least one pacifier in his hand. So cute :)

He's so playful! Always wanting to be by brother, he tries to balance a cup on his head in the bath and thinks it's SO funny when it falls off, he is so, so ticklish and giggles uncontrollably when you tickle him, he likes wrestling in the bed or when you grab and his feet and pull him back. He enjoys putting things in containers and then taking them out. Stacking things, music and dancing make him beam, love to see the differences as Grayson still asks me to turn the radio off in the car. Just not into it ;)

Walker is 110% into the kitchen cabinets right now. And bathroom cabinets. And putting things in the toilet. And trying to escape out of any exterior door he possibly can. He still dives head first out of our arms b/c he'd rather be exploring on his own than being confined. This is the part where going to restaurants is a total beating b/c he just wants to run around!

He climbs, climbs, climbs! Anything he can find, one leg is hiked and I know what he's thinking! And then he has no concept of safety - I think I've mentioned this before. We are trying to teach him to turn around and go feet first off the furniture. So far, he thinks head first is the better option. :)

Always.

He climbed up there like he goes for a stroll every day. So sturdy on his feet and learning fast from his brother!

Loves to work at the table.

He had to borrow Grayson's big boy car seat for the day. Made him look so little yet so big!

Walker is a big time reader. He brings the same Hungry Caterpillar book to Mimi ever time we're over there. He points and puts his finger in the little hole. So cute!

Sorry, but I had to! A Baby Stacey! ;)

He got that from bathroom cabinet, no doubt.

We are so in love with Walker Beau!

5 Years with my #1!

Beau and I celebrated 5 years of marriage this past weekend with a child-free night thanks to my parents! Our only plans were to spend time together and for the least amount of money possible. Since Beau has been doing amazing on his diet (down 41 pounds!), my idea was for us to cook dinner at home, open a special bottle of wine we have been saving and then watch a movie in the media room with some popcorn. Sounds uneventful but with 2 young kids who want and need us every waking hour (and even some non-waking hours!), this sounded heavenly.

But, we dropped off the kids and just didn't want to go home! It was a beautiful Friday afternoon so we headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Chuy's and had some margaritas, a lot of queso and a great time catching up. I just love talking to him - we don't get to talk uninterrupted very often these days. :) We finished off the night with the movie in the media room as planned (Wolf of Wall Street) and slept in without a 3 year old's feet in our faces. Yes, he's still sneaking in without a sound!

I enjoyed having him all to myself while it lasted. We were back to birthday parties, soccer games, a rare 90-hour work week (ouch!) and a teething, cranky baby by the next day! Looking forward to #6 already! :)

House Tour

I did this weeks ago (before I realized my OOT friends are coming to visit!!) but just realized I never posted it :)....

Since several of my friends have moved out of state (I'm talking to you, Nikki, Carissa and Kristi!), I thought I'd give you a virtual tour of the house since we've gotten settled in. I kind of walked you through it here but we've done some things. So come on in! There is still plenty to hang and do, perhaps there always will be!, but this is the way I'd like to remember it someday when we've moved into our retirement lake house ;) and want to look back on these days....

First floor:

Entry: Looking out from the study. That wall needs something (not a toy - pictured here) and I know it will just come to me someday. Most decor things do when I'm patient :) 

Study: This room is tough to photograph as you can't see the book shelves or that we do in fact have artwork hung in here :)  But what you can see is that we scored an awesome executive desk on Craigslist. The chair, filing cabinet and book shelf as well. We are really pleased with it! And the savings, of course!

Master Bedroom: Another room that is a work in progress but I still love it. We improved the bed with a new Target blanket (the color coordinates so remarkably well that I feel it was made for this bedroom!) and I finally got an insert for the duvet. These two things have made me look forward to melting into this cozy bed each night. Never underestimate the power of perfecting a sleepy space. I know I won't do that again! Look close and say Hi to a nap-protesting Grayson! :)

Dining Room: Those gadget-ey boxes in the corner have become a fixture here!

We painted the dining room the same gray as the kitchen cabinets in our last house. This is only one coat though. Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter - pretty much their most popular gray ever but whatever. It's pretty :) 

Breakfast Room: You have seen plenty of the kitchen but this awesome fixture was gifted to us by my sisters and their husbands. Isn't it beautiful?! It's Gabby and OMG I want one of everything they have. So cool and SO Andrea. ;) I stare at it every day. I love having things in the house that I love that much. Besides my boys, of course.

Living Room: I swear this is a different rug and print than in the dining room. It was supposed to be a much smaller geometric but it works here so I kept it. I'm probably a broken record but I dream of cream sofas OR velvet charcoal gray. But these wipe clean (every other day b/c that's how often they need to be cleaned with kids!)

Guest Bathroom

Guest Bathroom: Added the mirror just this morning and this is officially the only complete room in the house. :)

Second Floor:

Left looks over the living room; Right looks to front of house; Straight ahead are the guest and media rooms. 

The play room needs some work. I have some ideas but am in no rush and the kids don't care :) 

Play Room: We got the reading corner situated. Those magazine racks are from Joss and Main, really cool in theory but hardly hold any weight. Oh well, they look fun I guess. We also got a fun diner that is moving in soon. Isn't this all so intriguing? ;)

Grayson's Room: Still nautical but some updates this time around :) I love how the sailboat prints turned out - Joss and Main with Ikea frames. It doesn't get any better (and cheaper) than Ikea frames, am I right?!

I racked my brain for some cool art for the opposing wall and then I thought, Grayson brings home art every other day from school! And it's adorable! So another cool $10 purchase from Ikea and one whole wall is decorated with priceless art ;) And can be changed out over the years so I dig it. Maybe some day he'll want prints put up or something. So transitional. Yay!

All the same stuff from the old house. Oh, except the blue furniture, which is from (let's all say it together now) IKEA! ;) Grayson's getting great at picking out his own clothes so this has been a big help.

My favorite picture of these 2 guys: the print from my sister's wedding in Maine where Beau is holding up Grayson to the lit up captain's wheel. Just so sweet. And then just behind that is Grayson's side of the jack and jill bathroom.

Walker's Room: Still some things to hang but Beau is trying to break the record for longest time it takes to hang things. Just kidding, I'll leave him alone now ;)

Walker's room from opposite corner - looks like a totally different, and less interesting, room from pic above :)

Guest bedroom: These colors look goofy. This bed set is more navy and I'm working on a blue/gold look in here. I'd be a lot closer if the "gold" lamp from Joss & Main didn't show up silver! Maybe I'll paint it someday. :)

Guest Bedroom: I want to buy a dozen of these (from Target - yay!). And we purposefully hung it low for our not-as-tall family and friends :)

Guest Bathroom: May you never know the sights of the boys' bathroom. (Why can't men sit down to pee?) If you ever come see us, and please do!, I beg you to stick to this bathroom upstairs. That is all.

Media Room: This dark room is so hard to photograph for me! This is the wet bar that was a game time decision. We're glad we did it even though it's storage for now and we're in no rush to put that fridge in. I love the way it turned out though!

Beau's favorite room!

This probably shows the colors the best. Front wall and ceiling are painted black,  walls are Benjamin Moore kendall charcoal. We are very happy with it! Last up - just need some custom cabinets built up front and need to purchase the back row, which will be a love seat. But no rush. It's a process! 

 That's about it for our tour! The only things not really pictured are the kitchen, which you've seen before and a spare bedroom that is our junk room for now. Come see us!!

My favorite (but old) picture from when it snowed. :)