Dinner with the Joneses

Friday afternoon I got a call from my brother asking us if we wanted to come over for dinner. So, after Trey got home we headed over to their house. I had some delicious steak with a huge baked potato, and a piece of chocolate silk ice cream pie. Wait, aren't I trying to loose weight? Hmm, good thing the weather is nice and Ella and I have been going jogging every morning.

After dinner, Ella played with Jennie and Kyle. Kyle was wearing a hat; however, if you are wearing a hat, glasses, necklace, or earrings Ella feels as if she must have them and will make every attempt to make it hers she gets. Boy this hat sure is interesting. I am starting to wonder why we buy her toys because really her favorite things are things we already had long before we had a baby...shoes (especially shoestrings), cardboard boxes, cups, rugs, basically anything left on the floor or within arms length.

She doesn't mind the bows I put on her too much, sometimes, but she really doesn't like wearing hats. Maybe if we told her it was a Texas Tech hat she would have been more willing to wear it. Or maybe she is just like her momma and likes to look very girlie, so hats just aren't her thing. =)

While Ella was discovering the new world of hats, this is what I was doing.

Awww! Baby! Hunter was fast asleep and oh so comfortable on his Aunt Joy. Look at that little face! And no, I don't mean mine with my one crazy eye! We stayed this way for about 30 minutes until it was time for us to head home.

I love babies and when Ella was this age (4 weeks) I would have told you it doesn't get much better than this. But I was wrong, it does. Hearing her laugh and crawl towards you and put her arms up for you to hold her just melts my heart. I can't wait for Hunter to get older and play with Ella. His parents however are learning that time flies when you have a newborn and are wanting it to slow down. I know they are going to love all the milestones that lie ahead for them too.

Fall-orizing Our House

Yes, I know that is not a word, but I like it. This morning I woke up with a feeling that I needed to Fall-orize our house. Last year at the time I was tired and pregnant and didn't really decorate for Fall and sort of decorated for Christmas, but this year I have decided to do more.

I love Fall and I love Fall colors. So, this morning Trey and I headed to the store to look for a wreath. Well, I didn't want to pay $150 for one, so I decided to make my own. Now, I was prepared for this to turn out really good, or really bad. I am good at painting, accessories and staging and everything in between, but I have never made a wreath. They kind of scare me, they have just always looked hard.

I got the circle thangy made of twigs and laid it on the ground in the store so I could arrange things on it and see how they looked. I am pretty sure this embarrassed Trey because he kept telling me to pick it up. 5 or so minutes later (okay, so really more like 30) I decided I had enough and bought everything and headed home.

Trey cooked hamburgers on the grill and Ella jumped in her jumper outside while I attempted to make a wreath. And here it is...

I love feathers and berries, I used both in my wedding flowers, so viola. The leaves have an iridescent gold shimmer on them that look really pretty. I am so excited I love it.

Next we are planting Mums in our flower bed and then on to more Fall accessories for the house. I really want to do a cool centerpiece for my dining room table, I am just not sure what I want yet. I will brainstorm and obsess about it though until I do, because that is what I do. I think Trey gets a little scared now every time I start a sentence with..."I have an idea!".

Wordless Wednesday

I took these pictures after Ella's afternoon nap yesterday. Now that she has more hair she is waking up with some pretty funky styles. Trey and I love getting her up and then surprising the other with what each nap brings on the hair front. This one was a pretty good one!

For more Wordless Wednesday Posts, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Cooler Temperatures

With today's cooler temperatures I came to the realization that I need to go shopping! For the past three years I have been a working woman and have tons of cute dress pants, suits, dresses, skirts, just lots and lots of dressy work clothes. And I really had to dress up and look nice, so it is not just business attire, but dressy business attire. In other words, not appropriate to wear to the grocery store or to a play date. I just don't think it would be easy for me to keep up with Ella wearing 4" stilettos.

Not only do I have a lot of work clothes, but a lot of 'going out' clothes. Shirts that are too low cut for a mom to wear. I need to take them somewhere I can sell them because I used to be a big fan of only wearing a 'going out' shirt out once. If people saw me wearing it, that was it, I never wore it again and I had to have something new for the next Saturday that rolled around. And I usually paid at least $65 or $70 dollars just for one shirt. Not to mention the occasional shirt I would find that was just so cute I had to have it even though it was wayyy to expensive for such little material. Some 21 year old girl would have a BLAST going through my guest bedroom closet full of such shirts, some still with price tags.

I also realized I have NO short sleeve casual shirts. Sleeveless, yes...long sleeves, yes...but no shot sleeve casual shirts for fall. So, tomorrow I think Ella and I will be hitting up a few stores in search of some mom appropriate, weather appropriate clothing. And shoes. I also need new shoes. Which reminds me, I got a $20 off coupon from DSW that I could put to good use!

Ella already has a whole new fall wardrobe and I can't wait for her to make her appearance in her new outfits. I LOVE them. We are supposed to be having pictures made soon, so I bought two outfits for them and they are sooo cute!

And this picture is from last weekend when my parents came in town to see Hunter. Ella enjoyed laying on my Dad and my Dad loved every minute of it. She is such a good baby and just has the best personality.

My mom, Jennie, and I also went and got Ella and Hunter's Halloween costumes while they were in town. We tried it on Ella to make sure it fit and she looks SOOO cute! My sister and sister-in-law and I will take the kiddos out to the Arboretum soon with their costumes on to take pictures and I will post those. I can't wait!

Baby In A Basket

As I said in the previous post, Trey, Ella and I went to the park behind our house to take some cute 8 month old pictures of Ella. It was SOOOO humid and hot, so we didn't stay too long, but I love the pictures I did get. Of course, I took like 50 and only got about 10, but I would say those are pretty good statistics when dealing with a VERY ACTIVE 8 month old girl.

So there she is. My baby in a basket. And might I add, the cutest baby in a basket I have ever seen! No, I am not biased. =)

Our Two Year Anniversary

Yesterday was our two year anniversary! I cooked spicy Creole chicken and shrimp pasta with garlic bread and wine. We used our wedding china and crystal and sat in the dining room, which we usually only do on holidays and family functions. Trey and I both got each other cards and our present to each other is family photos, which we are taking on September 9th.

We are both the kind of people that when we want something, we get it. So, presents are hard to buy because both of us really already have everything we want. Well, not true. I want:

1. A new car

2. a new kitchen with granite counter tops and all stainless steel appliances (yes, our house is only two years old so really I should live with it because it is perfectly acceptable and some would even say nice, but a girl can dream can't she?) =)

3. New hand scrapped wood floors

4. granite counter tops in the bathrooms

And yes, the list goes on. These items though are all in the $30,000 + range and, well, umm, we are in more of the $200 range! =) So, the pictures fall right in place!

One of my favorite photographers from Wichita is going to be in Dallas so we are meeting her and will spend about an hour with her. The first time she took our pictures was for our maternity shoot. Here are a few of my favorite pics.

It was such a nice dinner at home with my husband and our sweet baby, I couldn't have asked for anything more (except a new kitchen!). Here are a few things I have learned in the first two years of marriage:

1. Unlike what my mom and dad say, I am not the most stubborn person ever. Trey is my even match!

2. Always ask your husband before you spend a lot of money if you can. You are going to do it anyways, but ask him so he feels like he is in charge.

3. Sometimes it really is best just to say you are sorry and move on, even though you know you are right.

4. Sometimes, someone with no previous experience with children at all, turns out to be one of the most amazing dads you have ever come across.

5. The day I married him I thought was the happiest day of my life and I loved him so much, but I love him so much more now than I ever did!

6. Finally, having a baby does not strengthen a marriage, but it does make an already fun marriage even more fun.

Which brings me to my next photo. Trey, Ella and I went back behind our house to take some pictures. This is Ella crawling on my wedding dress with the pearl and crystal hair accessory I wore on my wedding day in her hair. I am going to make this a tradition and do it every day on our anniversary.

We had already taken numerous photos before taking these, so she wasn't really feeling it. However, she was diggin' the ones we took before these and I will post those in the next few days.

So, all in all, we had a great two year anniversary and I am looking forward to many many more to come.

My Little Red Raider

My Little Red Raider is 8 months old today!! My goodness, it still seems like I had her yesterday. From talking to my Mom and Dad though, they still feel that way about me and I am 26 (In a month I will be 27, birthdays aren't as fun as they used to be, are they?). So, maybe I will try and quit saying that all the time!

Everyone has been talking College Football for the last week or so, so Ella and I put on our Texas Tech gear to get it the mood. We were taking dinner to Kyle and Jennie, who both went to Tech too, so I knew they would appreciate the clothing choice. My Mom bought this onesie for Ella when she was three month old I think. All of the grandchildren must own at least one Texas Tech item. My nephew Caleb has a couple of shirts, and my sister Corey has taught him well, because apparently now he even asks to wear them. Good job Caleb!!

So, since we were already dressed alike, it only seems natural that we would have an impromptu photo shoot.

Her hair is getting so much longer and thicker, so I decided to take a few without the band, just the bow. What do you think? Do you like the headband and bow, or just the bow? To me, when it is just the bow she looks more like a big girl. I just don't think I am ready for that yet! Baby girls have to wear the headbands because they don't have any hair, Ella does...does this mean she isn't a baby anymore???? Gasp! I love this one. To me she is saying 'Gosh Mom, are you done yet? How many more poses do I have to do?' So cute!

Ella you have grown so much and reached so many milestones at 8 months old. You now weigh 23 pounds 8 ounces, I haven't measured you in two months, but you have definitely grown...a lot. You crawl all over the house like a woman on a mission and are pulling up on the sofa, ottoman, bar stools and coffee table (well, really anything). You have even started taking steps while holding on to the coffee table and unfortunately you bumped your sweet forehead and got a big bump and a bruise.

You love being the center of attention, still. You can say mama and dada and seem to be using them directed at us. You know what the word No means, and whenever I say it you always stop and look at me as if weighing the pros and cons; however, if it is something that you think might be a whole lot of fun you still do it. Most of the time this means putting my shoe in your mouth or trying to climb into the fireplace. From time to time you get your feelings hurt when we say No and you stick you bottom lip out, take in a big deep breathe of air, and shed big crocodile tears. These go away instantly though when momma picks you up. You already know how to manipulate me!

You love to play peekaboo and your favorite place to hide your face is behind the shower curtain. You can pick tiny things up, I just wish you wouldn't go straight for your mouth! You are very ticklish under you chin and I love to hear you laugh. It is the best sound in the world.

You are still sleeping from 10:00 P.M. to 9:30 A.M. and take two naps during the day. However, if you miss one because of company you don't get cranky like you used to. You are so happy and have the sweetest disposition. Your Daddy and I love you so much and can't wait to see what lies ahead for us.

This is the first time we dressed you up in your Texas Tech gear when you were only 3 weeks old.

Photography

I am a lover of all things creative. I have a degree in interior design from Texas Tech. I worked at a high end residential interior design firm designing homes. I tweaked blue prints, drew architectural drawings, custom designed kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, bedding and drapery. Designed and drew custom tile details and made selections. I had a blast! I usually had great budgets to work with and really enjoyed the architectural details, but I loved the furniture & accessories just as much. Here is a kitchen I worked on.
Here is a kitchen I designed and the drawing I drew. It is hard to see, I know. This is a Tuscan style kitchen. It is a custom design with a custom leaded glass detail in the upper cabinets. I selected the stain for the cabinets as well as the granite.


I have continued to do freelance work as a designer and have really enjoyed the projects I have worked on. It has given me a chance to continue to be involved in design, but has not consumed my life. Ella is my full time job and gets all of my attention and I want it this way. However, from time to time I have really enjoyed using my brain to create and design.

As part of my degree I learned to use Photoshop, which is an image editing program. It is not, mmm...easy to use. The majority of professional photographers use it when editing their photos. I also had to take photography in college, but I went one step further and decided to study photography in Florence, Italy at the Lorenzo De' Medici Art Institute of Florence. We went to the Tuscan country side and lived in an old castle and took pictures all day and developed our own film at night (and also drank a little wine!). Here I am in Florence.


When Ella was born, we invested in a nice digital SLR camera and I have taken all of her photographs. The only time I use a photographer is to take family pictures. So, I was looking at a photographer's website tonight and thinking to myself...I can do this...in fact, I could do better than this.

Now, I don't want to photograph weddings, or spend my weekends and all of my free time photographing people, but I think I might want to do families and especially children, but most of all BABIES!!!

Here is a picture I took of Trey and Ella and just a few of the ways I have changes the colors, texture, highlights and shadows.

So, any takers? Anyone want some cute photos taken by yours truly?

Master Bedroom Almost Complete

Remember this post when we were doing tours of our master bedrooms on Kelly's Korner? Well, we were in the process of buying new items for our bedroom, so I posted what it was going to look like. Well, it has been almost finished now for maybe a month? I was having the girls from church over and used that as the spark I needed to light the fire under me and get going.


Now, I am only showing the bed and window wall because I still haven't decided what to do on the two opposite walls. We have our armoire that houses our TV and such on the wall across from the bed, but I can't decide what I want to do opposite of the armiore and on the adjacent wall. I think I want an awesome piece of modern art and I want to frame it in a thick chunky gold frame for the contradiction between the two, but I have only found art that I like for around $500 and as often as I like to change...I am not about to spend that! I love the relationship between traditional and modern though.

So, here it is now...almost finished. (Yes, I do notice the pictures are crooked, oh well, too late now!)


I bought a new lamp from Pier One that I got 50% off! New dupioni silk curtains that I got 50% off! Three new picture frames above the bed, yep, you guessed it, 50% off! And the bedding was 50% off to from Dillards. I used to NEVER be a bargain shopper. In fact, if I even saw a 'Sale' sign, I wouldn't even look in that area because that meant it was not the latest and the greatest in my opinion. Well, things have changes and the 'Sale' sign is my new best friend when it comes to shopping. Trey is so happy I have changed my way of thinking. It took me a long time to decide on the three pictures to frame of Ella. I knew I wanted them to be black and white, but I was so torn between about 20 different poses. Well, Trey picked his favorite one, which is this one. He said it always makes him smile to see this. Ella is just soooo happy in this picture. (sorry about the glare!) Which reminds me, we need a new ceiling fan in here! This is one of my favorite ones. This is the outfit we dedicated her to the Lord in, so it will always be special and will always remind me how Trey and I want to raise her.

This is my Dad and Mom's favorite picture. Ella just look precious and her Dad and her have their night time routine where they spend time just the two of them. I think it is so special that he loves and cares for her so much. He is definitely a hands-on-Dad.

The next thing on my house project list was to get rid of the ugly plate mirror in the guest bathroom and replace it with a pretty decorative mirror. Since we were doing that I also decided to get rid of the ugly strip vanity light and replace it with a prettier one. Old version of light & mirror shown on this post and here is the new mirror and light.

Ahhh! Much better. Next step will probably be a new faucet. I would LOVE to get granite counter tops in here, but there are a few smaller scale items on the list I need to tackle first. Like new decorative mirrors in the master bath.

So, stay tuned. Maybe I will tackle a few more home projects in the weeks to come. Oh yeah, I showed pictures of Ella's room after she moved from the brown room into the pink room, but I never showed you what we did in the brown room. If I am not lazy I will post those pictures tomorrow...no promises though. I am frying chicken to take to Jennie and Kyle tomorrow for dinner, so most likely you will get to see more pictures of Hunter! That is more fun anyways...new baby pics are PRECIOUS!

Ella's Grandparents

Since Hunter was being born in Dallas and my parents live in Wichita Falls, they came to stay at my house for three days. They got here Thursday as mentioned in the previous post and from the moment they walked in the door they began loving on Ella. I love my parents so much and they mean the world to me, and I love Ella with all of my heart, so seeing them all together just makes me so happy. My Dad calls Ella the "Chunkster" and loves saying that "She has more rolls than Mrs. Baird's Bread". In fact, he told two nurses at the hospital that after they stopped to comment on how cute Ella was.

When we went to the hospital my Dad was so funny. He wanted to ride in the backseat with Ella and he talked to her and played with her the whole way. He also wanted to push the stroller once we got there.

I tried at one point to push her, but was quickly brushed aside so he could resume his duties. She liked him pushing because he popped wheelies.

Friday night my mom fed Ella her Prunes and she ate so good. She has been great about opening her mouth and keeping it open for me to get the spoon in and really doesn't make a mess. Mom hasn't fed a baby in a while, but she did a good job. She got a little on Ella, but oh well, bath time was up next.

We have been bathing her in the sink for the time being. She has a pink duck bath tub, but she is SOOO active right now and wants to stand up and grab things, the sink just works better. Plus, she loves the little sprayer.

After bath time Mom was letting Ella enjoy being naked before putting on her pajamas. Luckily, she did not get peed on. I speak from experience!

I don't remember what Ella was doing, but it was making Mom laugh so hard she was crying.


Saturday we all went to my sister, Corey's, house for Caleb's 3rd birthday.

Caleb had a big blow up bounce house and there were quite a few little kiddos running around. It was such a good birthday party for a little boy and it helped them get some of their energy out. Although they seemed to have an enormous amount of it. Mom had a good time going down the slide with the other kids.

And Ella and I had a good time watching her.
They had to give her hugs and kisses before they left to head back to Wichita.

I had such a good time with them. We went out to eat and hung out and talked. Mom and I made each other laugh so hard over dinner we were both crying! She really is one of my best friends and I know she will always be there. I love the relationship we have and I hope and pray that Ella and I have such a close relationship. My Mom and Dad are such great examples to Trey and I. And they love their Ella so much and just light up when she is around.