Another Milestone Accomplished

Ella can now officially sit up on her own! She is 5 months old and she sits like a big girl (or a frog!). I practice sitting and standing and walking with her everyday, but she has always been a little wobbly with the sitting. Then at the beginning of last week she would sit for about 2 minutes and then start to lean to the left or right. Towards the end she was doing a lot better and this weekend she just sat like a champ. She can even sit and play with her toys and not get distracted and fall over anymore. And she can do this...

Lord I pray she grows out of this before she gets older or her daddy will have a heart attack! She can even stand up without you pulling her arms up to coax her to stand. Before we know it she will be crawling, but I don't think that will last very long because I think she is ready to walk. That will be so cute to see those chubby little legs strolling around.

Trey's parents came in town to see her on Saturday. The stayed for around 6 hours, well Ella napped for 2 of those hours so Trey took them to Bass Pro Shop. When they got back Ella was rested and she had a good time showing off for them. I think she is a lot like her momma and LOVES to be the center of attention. And she LOVES her daddy too.

Ella is their first grand baby and they are head over heels for her. I really only knew one grandparent growing up. I think it is so neat for Ella that she has all four of hers and will have a lot of cousins too.

This little girl just blows my mind. She is so amazing to watch play and laugh or just sleep. I love it when she stares at a new toy, you can just read her expressions, like "Hmm...what is this and how do I get it in my mouth". Trey and I were so happy before she came along, but now that she is here it is a whole new experience and we are so much happier than we even knew we could be... and so blessed. She is growing and changing almost every day it seems. I am enjoying this time so much, but I do wish it would slow down a little.

Show Us Where You Live...Master Bedroom

Okay, so we are in the process of redoing our master bedroom, so instead of showing you actual pictures of the room...I will show you what we are doing. This is the bedding I recently purchased. It is currently on our bed and I love it.

Our walls are a deep burnt orange. Orange you ask? Well, yes! Orange and blue are opposite on the color wheel so, they make an absolute wonderful pair. And I am very eclectic, old and new, modern and traditional. Sticking with one style is what 'dates' a room and makes it feel trendy. Trendy is never good, because you grow out of it in a year.
We currently have an upholstered headboard, but are reupholstering it to look like this...

Trey's lamp on his side is a brushed nickel modern lamp with a white shade (sorry no pic). I am going to get this one on my side.

His night stand is a white painted chest and mine is a round table with a white table cloth to the floor with an 8" band of the royal blue band on the bottom. Also, these white dupioni silk drapes are going to be mine!

I have purchased two large picture frames to go above each nightstand and am framing black & white photos of Ella. I am just waiting on the pictures to arrive.
We have a large armoire that has a deep espresso finish. I love the contrast from the bright white to the dark orange and blue and dark brown. I am SOOO ready for it to be finished!

Thanks for stopping by!

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day at the Calhoun household. My family came over to our house and I cooked brisket and baked beans. My mom brought potato salad and my new favorite drink, Raspberry Sparkletini (raspberry flavored champagne), & my sister brought a smoked brisket and ribs along with a delicious chocolate dessert & my brother & sister in law brought every drink imaginable.
I love having everyone over to our house. I like fixing the table and getting the house ready. My parents came over a little earlier than everyone else so they could have some one on one time with Ella, so they arrived around 10.

The rest of the gang showed up around 12 and Ella was already asleep. She usually naps from 11:30-2:00 and when she doesn't get her nap she is very cranky, so I wasn't about to skip it; even though I knew everyone was dieing to see her. Kyle was very excited to see her, he loves his niece.

Then, it was present time. My sister and I had this plate made for our Dad. It has Caleb and Ella's footprints! Soooo Cute.

My Dad with Caleb & Ella. He is such a good Papa and just loves these kiddos. He is the best Dad anyone could ask for. He is loving, caring, completely selfless - there is not a selfish bone in his body, and he loves and adores and devotes his life to his family. He is a strong Christian man and we all love him so much.

Ella and I made Trey a hard back book for Father's day. We wrote how much she loves him and a few Bible verses and all of her favorite pictures with her and her Daddy...but, it didn't come in in time. Oops! However, I did show it to him on the computer and he got a little misty eyed.

Here are all the Dads. My brother Kyle is soon to be a dad to baby Hunter in September (although I think Hunter will be here in August!). My dad, my brother in law, and Trey.

And here are the women of the group. This is Jennie and Kyle. She is adorably pregnant and I think ready to get that baby out. I would be too if I had to be pregnant in 100 degree weather! Jennie gave Kyle a card and had recorded Hunter's little heartbeat...I thought that was such a cute idea!

And here is my sister Corey with Caleb and Ella.

And my amazing Mother. (Yes, she was being goofy)

And I have to share this pic. Caleb just loves Ella and always want to "hold him." I don't think he gets that there are "him" and "her" and Ella is a "her." Well, he went on and on about Ella, and Ella, being a very active 5 month old, did what she does best. Yep, she went straight for his hair!

This is just too funny! We had a great day. I wish my parents lived in Dallas too. My sister is an hour away and my brother is 30 minutes away in Plano, it would be so nice if they lived close too. But, all in all it was a good day!

It's that time again and this time it is bathrooms. Trey and I have lived in this house for a year as of May 20th. We have spent a lot of time painting and buying furniture to fill the house. I want to do so much more and most of it is in the bathrooms. However, here is it at this point.

First, our guest bathroom. This is looking from the hallway into the bathroom. This is the bathroom Trey uses most of the time, especially in the mornings. Since Ella still sleeps in our room I don't want him to wake her up by being loud in there. Plus, he would get upset when I left my stuff on 'his side'.

And this is hanging over the towel rack opposite of the vanity. Every Kappa must have keys somewhere in the house.



And Our Master Bathroom.

There has been some discussion on how to keep your galss shower clean. I think the only way is to never use it! Such a pain. But, I like these tours because it forces me to clean before I take pictures!


This bathtub has probably been used about 10 times in the year we have lived here.

Doors to closet and potty area.

On my list of to do's...new mirrors for both bathrooms, new lights (I HATE the ones we have), new faucets, and eventually granite countertops.

And I do not ever like to post without including Ella, I don't want her to feel left out!

My Pretty Baby

I don't really have anything to say other than I took some pictures of Ella and I just think she is so cute. My mom always shows them to her students at school and they agree she is adorable. So...I must be right! =)
This is the cute dress my Mother bought her to wear to her baby dedication at church.

I bought this dress to wear to Summer's bridal shower. I used to worry about what I was going to wear and usually bought a new outfit for every occasion and I would NEVER wear anything more than once. Now, I worry about what she will wear, buy her something new, make sure she has a matching bow and I just wear something I already have.

I love the face she is making here...it enhances her cheeks! (Like she needs too!)

Trey is such a good daddy! He gives Ella her bath every night. I used to do it, but I spend every waking moment with her and I just thought this could be their special time. We gives her her bath, puts on her pajamas, lotions her & reads her a few books and then hands her off to me for me to put her to sleep.

And this one goes out to all the guys in the family. Yes, she is wearing camo. I will dress her for the day and when Trey gets home from work he will change her diaper for me. Then mysteriously when he returns her to me she will be wearing a different outfit and it is ALWAYS this one.

And the grand finale...a baby's butt. Because she has so many sweet little rolls! (One day this picture will embarrass her, but not now!)

Baby Hunter

My brother, Kyle, and his wife, Jennie, are having a baby boy! She is due in early September and I couldn't be more excited for them. Jennie has had baby fever for such a long time. The whole time I was pregnant I had hoped Jennie would get pregnant too so our babies would be close in age. Well, they aren't going to be that far apart.

So, Trey and I went over to their house Sunday night to help Kyle carry the baby furniture upstairs since they had just gotten new carpet and had not even set up Hunter's furniture yet. Kyle called while Ella was asleep and Trey volunteered to go alone; however, Kyle requested Ella come so we waited until she woke up. (He really loves his niece!)

Jennie and I are sitting in the floor while Kyle works. We are supervising.

Ella is so excited to meet baby Hunter!

Ella and her Daddy are hanging out in the upstairs play area before he has to go finish helping.

Jennie and Ella pose for a picture.

And finally Kyle is finished working and he gets to hold his favorite niece (okay, so it's his only niece, but still his favorite!) She was getting a little fussy so it was pacifier time.





They both love Ella so much and Trey and I are so lucky that they live so close to us. They are going to be amazing parents. We can't wait to meet Hunter!!

On our way home from their house we stopped at my favorite...Bahama Bucks! I LOVE IT! I could probably eat one every day, maybe two, but then I would weigh 200 pounds. Ella wanted some too. She kept trying to get both of our cups.




And no, Trey is not wearing lipstick, he was eating Cherry flavor. So, we put her on the ground and let her play.




I love this picture. She is too stinkin' cute!