From Blue To Black

One day towards the end of my pregnancy I had it with the BLUE painted furniture.  I could not stand it a second longer.

Pete hauled it out to the front and I began painting like a mad, hugely pregnant fat woman!!

And now my blue furniture turned to black, my walls turned to blue and I am a happy woman looking for more things to paint!!

p.s sorry to anyone who wrote saying they liked the blue, especially my Aunt Penny.  I think I hated it ALL along but tried to like it. 

p.p.s I also think I hated the blue chairs.  I had another sat of white chairs that went with my school room table and those are now in this room with the black.  I still have to paint the blue chairs.  But I am putting that off for now because I HATE painting chairs!

On Drew's Bookshelf

I guess this is what an MBA student reads to his newborn son on a chilly Sunday afternoon after lunch.

Filled Up

I usually have a "Thank you Lord it is Friday feeling!"  And right now, week 2 into having a newborn, I was especially looking forward to Friday this week.  We start doing school on Sunday and then Monday and Tuesday are usually pretty intense with lots of school.  Wednesday slows down a bit and then Thursday Jack, Molly and Emily go to their day school.  So this week was my first go at all of this with Drew in the mix.

My mom came over Monday morning to help me get a good start to my school week.  It was really great having her here and I think it would have been CRAZY without her.  I jumped into school FULL force plus a little extra because we had missed some work for their school the week before.  I know I should have jumped in a little bit lighter, but that is just not me.  I need to see just how much I can handle then I know what to plan for.  I like a lot going on.  I like to be busy.  And I can say that the school hours around here are BUSY!!  It is crazy how much is going on at one time.

I made it through Monday and Tuesday with a full tank of gas.  I was feeling good and moving right along.  Then Wednesday night came and I thought I had gotten hit a by a truck ..I was so worn out. 

Thursday the little girls were very challenging.  The days when it is just Lucy, Priscilla and I things can be a struggle.  They do not know what to do without a house full of children.  They wonder around lost and fussing...so Thursday was super hard to get through with less kids and no schooling.  Those 2 little girls are my golden road to heaven!!

By Thursday night I was sipping Pete's beer and eating way to many brownies saying to myself ..."I can't believe I made it to Thursday!!"  Sleep was welcomed and needed that night..

.and then we are here at Friday.  With no school, all kids home and Pete leaving for school later than normal and  I was still crying by lunch.  Nothing was really wrong...I was just looking for  a little change of pace and usually Friday is my answer...but by 11:30 it was clear to me that there is no change of pace right now and a few tears were shed over my 5 lunch plates.  Pete calling at that exact moment and me trying to sound together.....

So then what?  I pressed on, wiped my tears, took a deep breathe and made sandwiches.  The girls had somewhere to be at 12 and I loaded everyone up looking forward to the 5 minute drive with music and my hands free.  And when I dropped the girls off I saw a friend.  We talked outside the car for about 5 minutes...

I got back in the car and realized I was breathing easier and my smile was a little lighter.  I felt good.  The urge to cry had vanished and I felt a spring in my step.  Could it have been that 5 minute talk with my friend..a few laughs and a promise to try and get togeher soon.  Was I that starved of PEOPLE???

YES!!  Tonight I had to go with the girls for something and I got to do a whole lot of talking and laughing and I came home feeling like a million bucks.  On the way home the girls and I were laughing and chatting and I was thinking..I needed that.  I love being a mama and I love my home and family...but I love being with other moms.  I love laughing and making fun of myself.  I NEEDS ME SOME PEOPLE!!!

I am social!! I love talking and getting to know people and hearing about others.  I have been under self imposed house arrest for the last few weeks ...maybe even month or so.  From being way pregnant and then having my little boy,  then not wanting to get out in the cold, in addition to it being REALLY hard right now going anywhere with everyone, I have been HOME A LOT!! And since this is where I need to be MOST of the time I realize I need to be more mindful and grateful for the moments  I do get to spend with friends.  Even if it is at a drop off or walking out of mass.  I need to find those moments that fill me up.

But really it is all about balance right??  My kids are my world and it is a world I love to be in.  And Pete is my best friend.  But getting small chances to step outside of all of that makes me love being in it even more.

So here I am on Friday night smiling and already thinking about the week ahead.  I can't imagine anything being as hard as the first time going through something.  So looking at next week, my 2nd week of schooling with Drew I know it will be even better than this one.  Will I be crying by Friday??  Who knows...but chance are pretty good for a tear or two at any given moment these days...

To Be His Kid

Is to always have someone to play in the snow with...

 To have fun with and laugh with.

 To tickle with at night and wait for a special good night.

 To walk with...

 And be with...

How lucky are they to have a him in their days...

Seeing Red

Right before Drew came Pete was painting up a storm.  We clearly were in bold mood when this color wound up in our cart at Lowe's.  Red...like cranberry red ALL OVER THE WALLS...

I love it!!

I really like bright, sunny spaces and this room gets so much sun.  There was a bland yellowish color on the walls from the builder and it really just washed everything out.  The white stuff in the room was washed out and the black was boring...

 Well...now with plenty of sunshine pouring in this room, the white pops and the black makes its presence known.

 This is our first time ever really painting any house we have lived in.  We wanted some color and boy did we get color...

The front two rooms of the house got painted blue.  I have no good pictures yet but I will soon...but for now this is what I can show you.

This guy went to bed with paint on his hands for weeks.  I don't know what it is about paint but it really changes everything in the room. And now I want every inch painted.  Maybe not cranberry red..but something...

We have lived here now for 7 months.  It is really starting to feel like home...home home.  When we first got here we just moved in and then jumped into life.  Making friends was way more important than the color of my basement.  But with these past few weeks of being home more we are really living in every inch of this house and falling in love with it more each day.

We have lived in some cool homes.  In San Francisco we lived in an apartment over a Thai food place and a small food store.  That was SO fun.  I loved that little 600 sq. ft apartment.  We had all the furniture given to us by our relatives and I remember making that place our first home.  We had our first Thanksgiving dinner there and cuddled on the couch that was from my grandpa's estate from when he passed away.  On the walls hung the sunflower pictures that my friends gave me at our engagement party.  Our dishes were from Wal-Mart with a sunflower pattern. 

After San Fransisco we moved to Pensacola for flight school.  We rented a house with a garage and I remember feeling so grown up.  We had a washer and dryer IN OUR OWN HOUSE!!!  That was cool.  These days we wonder if we can get by with just 1 washer and dryer.
When we got stationed somewhere we would just pack up our car and head that way.  We would stay at a BOQ for a few days and find something to rent.

Those days are long gone.  Who would have thought back on Encinal Ave. in an apartment filled with sunflower gifts and hand me downs that Pete and I would one day live in a home filled with children and a cranberry red living room?
For me our story is all about The Little House That Grew.  We have lived in some small spaces and with each space we have grown.  Not only in numbers but in spirit as well. 

I can't say this space is small.  We moved out pretty far from D.C so we could have more space.  Once Pete is commuting back and forth each day we will then know if we played our cards right.

But right now I am happy where I am...my house and my life.  God is good and I am grateful!!

Week In Review

 I am just about to celebrate being home with Drew for 1 week now.  There has been so much packed into everyday and moments that will never return.  Bringing home a new baby is both the most exciting and exhausting process EVER.  All the kids are so excited to have him here with us finally.  But the energy level is off the charts.  Everybody is finding the new normal and it takes some energy.

It took a few days to feel human again after the c-section but when I finally did feel better..it felt SO good to feel good.  I was super excited to take Drew out for the first time as a family.  Before I had him I had basically stayed home for days on end because I felt so awful it was hard to get out with everyone.  Once I felt better I was itching to get out of the house.   So we all headed out to Target and then we decided to go out for pizza for lunch where we promptly locked our keys in the car....

Not the best first outing ever....

With each new day we are finding our new way.  Having  a 10 year old in the house is just about the greatest thing ever.  As my friend once said, "All new moms should be issued a 10 year old girl to take home with her newborn!"  I agree!!

He smells so good, he is so soft and I just sniff him all day.  He is here and I am wanting to freeze this time...

But time marches on.  Pete starts school Monday.  We are starting our school on Monday.  My parents are moving from Virginia. Life is always changing and some changes are not as fun as others.

And just to be real...I wanted to get some good shots of Drew one afternoon..at the start of the photo shoot Drew was less than excited...here is what the first few pictures looked like..hardly blog worthy...

And then suddenly he felt the sun on his face, the heat from the fire and....

All was well with the world once again...