Pictures.

Just a quick moment to check-in. Our house was photographed by our architect to use for different materials/media. I caught a glimpse of these beautiful shots and thought I would share them with you. You can see our project by going to their Facebook page LNA Architecture & Design - or their website www.lnaarch.com. Hurrah!

Alone Space.

After a lengthy discussion of how different my husband and I grew up, we decided to redo our office. You see, my husband, youngest of 4 active, adrenaline loving boys grew up in a 'loud' home and I grew up in a home where no words were spoken in a single day. In other words, quiet. I like to tell Jeff that our kids take after him, in other words, loud;-) And being a stay at home mom who is 'on-the-job' 24/7 means I often crave a little peace and quiet. After talking with Jeff in length, we decided to make our office over into a den of sorts - in other words, a quiet place. This new quiet place will encompass a few objectives. 1) It will be a place to hang out (ie: there will be a TV in there). We currently only have one tv in our home and at times, although not that often, it would be nice to have another. 2) It will house all of our files, office supplies, books, crafting supplies, etc as it currently does. 3) It will be a spot to read with the kids at night. Ever since getting the girls bunk beds, it's been tough finding the perfect spot we can all settle in for a handful of stories at night. This will be that spot. 4) It will function as a hangout room, reading nook, office area - in other words, a multi-functional room. It's a tiny room. It used to house a large Pottery Barn desk I bought nearly 10 years ago. I sold the desk on Craigslist (in a day and had about a billion inquiries on it) which has opened up the possibilities and budget a bit. To fulfill the need of seating, I have narrowed my search to a chaise/sofa/daybed of sorts. A spot to snuggle, lounge, read, sit, work, play, etc. Here are my 3 top picks: Pay no attention to the fabrics they are shown in. We are more looking at the size/style of the pieces. SO - do you have a favorite? I'll be back to share the other side of the room with you soon - off to finalize that tomorrow. Looking forward to having a quiet place we can enjoy and another functional room in the house.

A Painting.

I won't spend much time dwelling on the fact that I haven't updated my blog in ages. I'll just jump right to the news worthy of visiting this old blog friend of mine. For a LONG time now, I have been on the hunt for something to put above our dining room fireplace. I sort of knixed the idea of a mirror as I already have a mirror hanging in our entry and powder bath, both which are in earshot of the dining room. I wanted something feminine in color (since my fav color is pink), but also added a glamorous layer to the rather tone on tone esthetic of the room. I found an artist via Instagram that I was keeping a very close eye on. As soon as I saw one of her pieces I knew she would be a perfect fit. Because I was looking for a unique size and color scheme, I knew it would be likely I would need to have something commissioned. I decided to hold off and just keep an eye on her new pieces should anything catch my eye. Then one day she posted that one of her pieces had been pinned by HGTV designer Emily Henderson. I sort of freaked out and told Jeff I had better pull the trigger before she got any more popular and her prices went through the roof. And so began my commission. The process involves a brief survey requesting more information about likes/dislike/wants/wishes, etc. What room will it be in? What colors do you want to see? What do the surrounding rooms look like? Photos of the room, house, etc. I told her I wanted pink and a lot of it. I also wanted gold, bits of black and a little blue since the color has definitely managed its way into my home despite my dislike of it (I'll have you know it's growing on me!) The process is pretty lengthy, probably 6 weeks or so - but the lamps I am adding to my living room will be arriving right about the same time, so it will be fun to pull it all together. Here's a shot of the lamps: So the first step from my artist is to receive a sketch of the painting. Basically a good gist of what the painting will look like, the color palette, overall feel she is going for. I received this last night and was speechless. It's beautiful! The only problem? It's portrait orientation and I had envisioned landscape. So, she's working to revise it as we failed to communicate on that front in the beginning. Here's a close up of it: I really do love it. I feel that if I saw it in a shop, I would snatch it up instantly. The glitter is for real too - actual fine gold glitter applied to the painting. There is an extensive sealing process that goes on afterwards to make the painting last a literal lifetime, so I love the idea even more knowing it won't be making its way all over my house. Anyway, the next layer I'll be adding to my dining room right around painting time is black windows. That's right, I'm painting all of my 'common area' windows black (basically no bedrooms or basement). Here's a few inspiration images: So you'll notice the trim stays white and only the window panes themselves are black. I've already had my painters out to give me an estimate. Because I want them sprayed and not brushed, I have to wait until it's 50 degrees out. So likely looking into April before this little project gets underway. But - I'm excited at the thought of it - especially with the bits of black in the painting.

2 Years.

Believe it or not (I can't), today is the 2 year anniversary of us closing on our current home. I wish I had a photo to share of us on closing day, however, my camera was stolen shortly after capturing that photo, so no such photo to share (still salty about that one!) I don't even know how to describe the disbelief that we've lived here for two years. Those years are a complete and utter blur aside from a few lingering memories. The ones that pop immediately into my mind: - Laying my overly exhausted head in bed many a night thanking God for this house. - The lack of furniture for so long is a huge memory - there's something about sitting on the floor that makes time move more slowly;-) - Hosting Gloria's 1st birthday party here by the skin of our teeth and working around the clock, 24/7 to try and be somewhat ready for it post-remodel. But as I'm sitting here tonight, at 12:51am (ok, wait, I think it's morning)...and look around, nestled in the corner of the couch with my feet propped up on a coffee table and puzzle pieces strewn all. over. the. place. - it's hard to remember not living here. We have been so busy...a new level of busy. Busy like busy that never stops. With Jeff assuming ownership of the drug store, our excitement coupled with the sheer number of things that need to get done there means working until one of us yells uncle. Oh yes, there's also the newborn factor and the part where Henry still likes getting up three times at night. And of course the other two kids that appreciate a little entertainment during the day. Hmmm...I seem to be on some sort of a rant here. But my point is, life is insane. Somedays, it's insanely good and other days I'm insanely exhausted. But this home is home to all of it - our ups and downs, our triumphs and our failures. This house is for us an unconditional love. We bought it not for what it looked like (you know by now it needed work!), but we bought it because it had a feeling. It felt like we belonged here and that feeling hasn't gone away. I still find myself laying my head down - mind drained and drifting off to dream land, but wandering towards God and uttering 'Thank you for this house.' Thank you Lord for this safe and happy place. Thank you for the work that it required so it could become a part of us. Thank you for giving us a place to bring our baby home to. Thank you for this incredible journey.

Henry Paul Schaffer

It's hard to believe our baby boy arrived a whole month ago. Henry Paul was born on Thursday, May 31st at 3:46 in the morning. I wanted to be sure and document what's left of my memories of the experience as to not forget his entry into the world entirely. I had a doctor appointment on Wednesday, May 30th (my due date) in the morning. I was shocked that I was still pregnant on my due date as both girls were 2 days early AND I had been dilated since 36 weeks. I had been having all sorts of weird pains - but nothing that was an actual contraction (at least that I noticed as one). After the doctor did his exam, he told me he thought I would be in later that night. Jeff and I both kind of chuckled with the doctor - as if he could ACTUALLY predict that. As we were walking out the door, my doctor casually called to us, "See you at 2am!" The rest of the day I spent walking on egg shells. Jeff was at work and I was on my own with the girls...afraid to venture out of my neighborhood should my water break or contractions begin. But I was determined to stay on my feet and try and walk that baby out. I called my friend Jessica to see if she wanted to meet us at a park with her kids. Mental distraction + kids exerting energy was the perfect recipe...not to mention it passed the time and meant good company...so off to the park we went around 4. Jeff met us at the park after he was done working at 5 and we decided to grab dinner on our way home. We stopped with the kids at Broder's near our house and were enjoying our pizza when I started feeling uncomfortable. It didn't take me long at all to realize they were contractions. There was no 'tightening' feeling like early contractions feel like, these were uncomfortable contractions that had my mood changing quickly. I told Jeff I was having contractions and minutes later told him I thought we should go as I didn't feel like sitting at Broder's while laboring. So we headed home, Jeff bathed the girls and got them ready for bed while I took my time getting the house put back together and breathing through contractions. He then went out and mowed the lawn while I took a shower and threw the last few things in my bag. By this point, it was clear that tonight was going to be THE night. We didn't say anything to the girls before they went to bed. I didn't want them to wake up early excited that Grandma and Grandpa would be there or worry about anything in general. So after they fell asleep, I snuck in their rooms and gave them the biggest hugs and kisses...knowing this would be the last night I ever tucked TWO kids into bed instead of THREE. By about 9pm, the house was put together, car was loaded, lawn was cleaned up and we were ready to go when the time was right. We sat and watched TV and timed contractions (there's an app for that you know;-) until about midnight when things were picking up speed. We placed the fateful call to my parents (I had given them a head's up once the contractions had started) and they headed over to our house. Once they arrived, I called the on-call doctor at my clinic to let them know I was heading over. During the car ride to the hospital (about an 8 minute drive), I had 4 contractions - things were starting to move quickly! We headed up to the maternal assessment area where they hooked me up to the monitors to confirm I was in labor. I laughed to myself because I was 100% certain they weren't going to be sending me home telling me I wasn't in labor. I was right, I was already dilated 6cm! So they admitted us and we headed to labor and delivery. I spent some time laboring in the room and moving around before deciding to order my epidural. My water hadn't broken yet and they warned me that once it did break, things were going to progress extremely quickly...especially considering this was my third baby. At 2:15am, my doctor walked into the room and said, "You're 15 minutes late!" We all laughed (although I was NOT laughing at this point), but how crazy was his prediction! At about 3am, my epidural was administered, my doctor broke my water and by the time I was laying back down, it was time to push. I pushed for about 20 minutes and there he was - 6 pounds 15 ounces of perfection. One of my requests for the delivery was that I got to cut the cord...and I did! It was a wonderful delivery despite the fact that it went so quickly and I didn't feel God gave my epidural nearly enough time to settle in;-) But it was amazing and beautiful and a perfect first meeting of our one and only son. It was a little weird having a baby at 3:46 in the morning. Normally, we would have been on our cell phones dialing up our family and friends...but we didn't want to wake anyone, so we decided we'd wait until the sun started shining. So we called just our parents and let them know he was here, we were doing great (although exhausted) and that we'd tell them his name when they came to the hospital later that day. Around 7, the calls and texts started coming in from eager brothers and friends and we were able to share the news of his arrival. The day was filled with visitors and I even captured this video of the girls and my parents meeting Henry for the very first time. God is so incredibly good.

Girls Room

Had to write a quick post regarding the girls room. Currently, the girls each have their own rooms in our 4-bedroom house. However, being that we have one bedroom set up as an office and would ideally like to keep it that way, the girls will eventually move in together. I'm 38 weeks pregnant with our 3rd baby, who will take over Gloria's room once she's ready for a big girl bed (which I'm hoping is still many, many months away). In the interim, baby boy will reside in the office if the girls can manage to drowned out the sounds of his screaming at night;-) ANYWHO, I've been keeping an eye out for ideas for the girls room once we start moving in that direction - mainly in the way of bedding. I like keeping an eye out at TJ Maxx for quilts since they are so reasonably priced (I paid $25 for Rosemary's current one). With the number of times the stomach flu has struck our home in the past 4 years and the number of times said quilt has been yacked on, I'm glad I didn't spend an arm and a leg on it (it also seems to hold up to the washing machine without a problem). Well, last night I scooped the bedding loop at Bed, Bath & Beyond and absolutely FELL in love with this bedding. It isn't necessarily 'girls' bedding, although it does come in twin size. If I had gone a completely different direction in our house all together, I would pick this bedding for my own bedroom. So, here it is...

The pictures just don't do it justice. I love the vibrant and unique combination of colors...not to mention I think it'd work great with the existing wall color and rug. Here's a pic of Rosemary's room I have on the computer:

This is part of the Diane Von Furstenburg collection - I love her choice of such saturated hues. The pricing, however, is way above what I want to spend for kids bedding...not to mention it's a duvet cover which seems a little impossible to keep clean should another round of inevitable stomach flu strike (that means washing a duvet AND a comforter which we couldn't do in one load in our extremely dated washing machine). So, I'm waiting on it to see what kind of coupons I get in the mail. If I can get a few 40% off coupons, I might go for it. The other cute part that's hard to make out by the picture is the accent pillows, which are knitted with a sort of cable pattern. Super sweet.

Sweet Rosemary Story...

I had to share a quick story about Rosemary. Rosemary was assigned the responsibility of Show-and-Tell at school this past Monday. She was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. This is her third time doing show-and-tell and each time Jeff and I have gotten a total kick out of the things she has chosen to bring in. Everything from a photo of her with her cousins to her baker's hat and apron which her teacher informed us she did, in fact, model. This time, she chose an array of random toys - none with any particular meaning but she was clearly offended when I suggested she take some time to think about what she wanted to bring. On the way to school yesterday, she told me she was going to sing a song for show-and-tell. I immediately perked up, wondering if she was serious. She said she was going to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. This gave me a bit of a chuckle because although she does indeed sing this song on a regular basis, I have to help her remember the words to each phrase as she often gets them mixed up. I told her I thought it was awesome she wanted to sing a song and wished desperately to the depths of my soul that I could be a fly on the wall in her classroom. When we arrived at school, her teacher told her to go ahead and bring her show and tell bag in and set it on the chair so she'd be ready. I asked Rosemary if she wanted to tell her teacher that she would also be singing a song, and she told me it was a surprise. My heart was nearly bursting with anticipation, fear, pride and pretty much every other emotion under the sun. Jeff picked Rosemary up from school and I was just DYING to hear what he heard when he picked her up. Apparently, as Rosemary was leaving, her teacher yelled to Rosemary, "Hey, great singing today!" So as soon as Rosemary walked in the door, I of course began grilling her. Her interpretation of the story is hysterical and had me near tears - partially because it really is a funny story, but also because of my baby's ability to allow herself to be vulnerable. She indeed sang for show and tell and it was most definitely Rudolph. She said she sang first and that she didn't remember the words. She said Miss Jan helped her remember. I asked if the class clapped when she was done - she said no. I told her that was probably because they thought it was so awesome. I asked if they were smiling - she said no. Then she did an impersonation of what their faces looked like - and I could not contain my laughter. She gave me this expression that read something like, "What the heck is she doing?" and "Is this girl serious?" I, for one, could not have been more proud. I don't think that is something I would have had the courage to do - and I'm not so sure Jeff would have either. I'm proud of the fact that she didn't care what anyone else thought. I'm proud of the fact that she said she was going to do something and she did it, even though it hadn't been done before. And when it comes to Rosemary, I am so incredibly proud of the gentle, sensitive, intuitive, generous little person she is. The child has a beautiful heart and brightens the days of those that surround her. I am so thankful for her and so thrilled to be her mom.