Christmas in Yakima

Our lives have been busy in the last 6 months, but I decided I probably should update my blog!  My hubby graduated from Chiropractic school (yay!) and we moved back to Washington!  We found a cute little rental in a great location and couldn't ask for a better landlord!

I thought you all might like to see our place decorated for Christmas- we sold everything when we left Iowa, so we started from scratch here- that was fun for me!  Luckily Johnny's family let us borrow a couple tables for our kitchen and dining room until we are able to buy a house and know what we really want.  I realized after I snapped these shots that filmy little fingers must have been touching the lens of my camera, but these will suffice.  

My boys got enough toys for Christmas to supply the neighborhood- today I sorted through them and put old ones away and new ones in their toy boxes.

Clearly they are happy with what they received!  

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas and have a great New Year!

Sunshine!

Today it is sunny and warm!  We already made it to the park this morning and both children are sleeping peacefully now!  Our weather is warming up quickly- we may hit 80 on Sunday!  I go to my last MOPS meeting of the year tomorrow....so bittersweet.  My heart almost hurts because I want to be home so badly, but at the same time, moving means I will be 2,000 miles from some of the best friends I will ever have! :(  What am I going to do without those girls!?

My mind is busy these days with packing and trying to sell all of our stuff!  I try to catch a picture of the boys every now and then- Wyatt is such a ham!

Boone is teething something fierce!  He gnaws on his poor little hand night and day and drools, drools, drools.  I was feeling his gums this morning and his right, front tooth pricked my finger....it has just barely broken through!  Can't believe this little man is three months old!

Wyatt's new favorite thing to say is "mine."  Heaven help me! One minute I am pulling my hair out because he is driving me bonkers and the next I am laughing hysterically because he is just so darn cute!  Can't wait till I can send him to the farm for a weekend with his Boppa Doug- that'll wear him out (and my dad too!)  

Missing all my Washingtonians today, but excited to soak up the sun with my girls here in Iowa for another 3 months!    

I ADORE HIM

This little man makes me melt every time I see him- even in fits of tears, I feel so blessed!  I feel like I just was rushing to the hospital to have him, but WOW- he is 10 weeks old!

I have been looking back through pictures of Wyatt when he was little and came across this- what do you think...do they look a like?

The bigger Boone gets the more I realize that he really has his own look- darker skin, deep, brown eyes and that tuft of hair on top of his head!  My boys are lookers if I may say so myself- I'm going to have to beat the girls off with a bat!  haha!  

I don't know if it is because we are moving or because I am just extra tired, but I would much prefer to walk by the same pile of laundry on the floor ten times than to take 2 minutes to put it away.  I've lost my domestic motivation in the cleaning department!  I'm sure I will regain strength as Boone starts to sleep better though!  So don't stop by my house without calling because you just might find us in our PJs swallowed in laundry!  

We recently had Mimi and Boppa John come visit us for a few days!  We had so much fun with them and were blessed to have them here to meet Boone!  Pretty sure Wyatt wore his poor Boppa out!  Johnny and I got our fix of eating out for a while and are now officially HOMESICK!  If you know anyone in Iowa who needs a chiropractor send them Johnny's way-  gotta get those numbers!  

He's Chatting!

Boone is developing quite a personality!  He is starting to coo and smile all the time!  We've learned he likes this little rattle cow that he has because he smiled at it today and let out a belly chuckle!  One thing abount Boone, though, is that if he's hungry or tired, he's CRANKY!  I think he takes after his daddy in that way...:)  The newborn stage is darling, but I am proud to say this little man is no longer a newbie!  I think it's safe to say he has entered into the infant stage- yay!  Also happy to announce he slept for 6 hours straight last night- AMEN!!

Gettin' in A Groove

I sit before my computer today having showered, brushed my teeth, and changed both my children's clothes!  Amen!  Not to mention that dinner is waiting in the refridgerator to be baked later this evening!  Days like these don't pass my way too often so I'm taking it all in with a great big smile!

The children are both napping AT THE SAME TIME for two days in a row now and I get my afternoon to myself and whatever chores I need to tackle!  We are finally settling into a little routine and it's making me feel like a new woman.  Not to say that we don't have our days where we are all sitting on the floor crying together, but overall they are getting better.  Last night Boone slept his first 5 1/2 hour stretch!!  That makes for a happy mama!

He's starting to get a kick out of all my chatting at him!

Wyatt received his first fat lip after trying to slide off the couch head first last night- yikes!  We cleaned up the blood, had some dinner and life went on- exactly how I thought it would go :)  I'm sure it's the first of soo many bumps and bruises to come.  I went to brush his teeth before bed though to realize that he has severed the little flap of skin that connects the top lip to the gums- poor kid!

Sorry it's a little blurry!  Eyes swollen from crying, laughing at

 daddy- he didn't seem to care too much that he was bleeding :)

Johnny has headed to clinic for the evening with word of a couple new patients on the list for today!  Praying that he gets those patients!  I've been working on a spring mantel and getting the bug to get some plants around here- might run to the nursery up the street tomorrow to see what they have!  Is it Spring where you are?  We were teased by a 71 degree day about a week ago and now it's in the 30s- that's Iowa for ya!  

A new addition!

I am finally back to blog about the birth of our handsome little man, Boone Douglas!  At 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long, he came into this world so quickly!  My labor was short and intense!  He was born with dark hair, darker skin, and what we think to be brown eyes- looks just like his daddy!

Now, almost 7 weeks later, Boone is thriving!  He is starting to get those baby rolls and chubby cheeks!  I just LOVE it!  He has such great head control and loves to be up on someone's shoulder looking around!  We are approaching the 2 month mark- when things start to get easier...a little more sleep, some smiles, and more personality!

My life is SO blessed with my two boys and my amazing hubby! God has given me an incredible family to take care of and while I may have other hobbies in life, I know it's my calling to be the best mom I can be to my children.

Wyatt is loving his new baby brother, though sometimes I think he thinks he is a baby again.  Please don't judge my parenting skills by this picture, it was taken during the "zombie" weeks where I didn't care what he wore or frankly what he was chewing on!  

Stay tuned for years of funny stories, weepy mom moments, and family fun!  

Baby Boy

Well I'm back with some pictures of where this new little bundle will be sleeping when he arrives.  Its nothing fancy, but we just set up a little bassinet in the corner of the room on my side of the bed.  We moved our rocking chair up to our bedroom as well, with the boppy waiting for those late night nursing sessions.  Part of me anticipates that bonding time, but part of me dreads the idea of being sleep deprived!  The newborn stage is so bittersweet!  Praying that this little guy sleeps better than Wyatt did in the first year!

His little take home outfit is hanging in the above picture. I hope it fits him- might be a little big...we'll see.  The sweater isn't part of the outfit, but I wanted to hang it up there as well because it matched the one-piece outfit!  The little bear hat with ears I had hand-knit by a lady on the website Etsy.  She did a wonderful job- can't wait to snap pictures of him in it! 

The wonderful thing about this bassinet is that there are baskets underneath and behind the fabric...I have them filled with his clothes, socks, washcloths, etc.   

I am attempting cloth diapers from day one with this little guy and I did plenty of research on what my best options were.  I decided to go with the traditional prefolds/flats and diaper covers.  They are all prepped and ready to go!  I had to snap a picture of the cute little diaper covers!

The whale cover is my favorite!

In my attempt to be frugal and as natural as possible, I tried my hand at repurposing some flannel receiving blankets into cloth wipes.  No more buying disposable wipes for us!  I'm not much of an expert with the sewing machine and it was my first time using a zigzag stitch, but I'm kind of fond of the way they turned out- considering they will be wiping my baby's bum!  

We are excited for this new little guy!  Praying that he waits until this harsh Iowa weather is over though...well, at least the blizzard!  I have an appointment with my midwife tomorrow to check on any progress- I have been having LOTS of Braxton Hicks contractions!  We'll see if Davenport snow plows are on top of their game and I can actually get there!  Updates tomorrow- chow!

Birthdays and Blizzards!

The flu bug and a case of "nesting" has hit our house lately- I'm sure you all have been wondering where I have been!  Everyday I kept telling myself "I need to sit down and blog," but the motivation just wasn't there.  We have spent the last two weeks with the nasty flu bug in our house, so between taking care of two sick boys, trying to take care of myself, and sanitizing everything in sight, I've been busy!

January 19th we celebrated two wonderful years of life for Wyatt!  I can't believe he is officially a "toddler" now and he is certainly letting us know that he is capable of doing "big boy" things.  I think I am getting a small glimpse of what some people call the "terrible twos"!  haha- but i love him dearly!

We had a joint birthday party for Wyatt and his friend Alivia (she was born 20 minutes earlier than Wy, right across the hall) on the evening of the 19th!  It was so much fun and he even had his own Thomas the Train cake!  That evening and the day after is evidence as to why we don't feed our child sugar!  Can anybody say WILD MAN!!

Wyatt's new Thomas Train stuff!  

We are expected to get a blizzard with 10-14" of snow today/tonight!  We are all stocked up on everything we could possibly need and are going to turn on the TV and cozy in!  I will be back tonight with pictures of the bassinet and baby stuff all set up!  I am READY- bring on another boy!!  

The New Year!

I am busting at the seams with excitement about this year!  I anticipate all the great things that will be taking place this year....our new baby boy in about 5 weeks, our move home this summer, Johnny's graduation in October and setting up our life back home in Washington!  God has really blessed us with a wonderful life and an extremely supportive family!

My momma and I

We got out the bassinet and Wyatt thought it was his playhouse

That wraps it up...I am quite possibly the world's worst at remembering to take pictures during any event, hence, the one good picture of Wyatt and my dad and sadly, no pictures of my mom and Wyatt.  We had a blast this Christmas and my parents visit went by really fast!  

Hope you all have made your New Years resolutions if you plan to....I have made mine, but I can't start tackling it for another 5 or 6 weeks!  Gotta lose that baby weight after our little man is born...hopefully the Iowa spring will cooperate and allow for many walks in the park with my kiddos!  

Snow Day!

Last night it snowed here in Iowa and it has continued a little today!  We are stir-crazy in the house, so we got outside for some winter fun!  Wyatt got some new snow boots and we had to test them out.  I think after an hour in the snow, some warm milk in his belly, and a graham cracker,  he is ready for a nap!  I hope anyway!

His daddy was shoveling snow at him!

Look at that little smirk!

One week from now my parents will be here for Christmas! We can't wait and are counting down the days!

Christmas Mantel!

I finally got out of my funk and got around to doing something with the mantel for Christmas!  Seeing that we don't have a lot of Christmas decor out here in Iowa, I tried to be creative with things that I already had.   I used lots of brown burlap, some berries and greenery I already owned and just cut out some white tissue paper snowflakes for the framed burlap.  Added some white lights nestled into the burlap (which my dad totally would not approve of- FIRE HAZARD!) I also made a little advent calendar out of scrapbooking paper, a black sharpie, and some old weathered clothespins from the line in the back yard!  I took these pictures in the middle of the day- so not a whole lot of ambience going on from the lights, but you get the idea!  Hope you like!  

We might get our tree today from the Christmas tree lot up the road (haha)...if I can get my hubby to stop watching all that football that's on TV!  

We got our first snow and couple days ago...it finally feels like winter!  Asked for some cute new snow boots for Christmas- gotta keep those tootsies warm!  Oh yeah- before I go I will show you the chalkboard I finished for above Wyatt's little activity table....

He has gotten pretty good at singing his ABCs!  Will be back to show you our Christmas Tree early this next week!

A Painful Reminder...

Well, I am happy to say that one of my best friends here in Iowa has had her lovely little baby girl.  She was born yesterday afternoon and as far as I know she is doing quite well- momma is doing well too!  I am soo excited to meet this little bundle of joy!  Makes me anticipate the arrival of our sweet baby boy in a few months!  Yesterday the boys in my life took a nap while I shopped- not sure if my hubby would approve of me posting this, but it was so adorable! So I came home to this...

Apparently my body decided that I was going to get a reminder of what it feels like to be in labor in the middle of the night last night.  Maybe it was a sympathy contraction for my dear friend Linsday or just a fluke, but BOY was I reminded!  My arm shot out of bed and grabbed my hubby next to me so fast!  We will see what the midwife has to say about it today- I"m sure it was Braxton Hicks because they obviously didn't continue and I am here typing this post, but it HURT!

We have a busy day here today with my appointment, some grocery shopping, and AWANAs tonight for Wy man!  Hoping to get to the thrift store down the street because on my drive by I spotted a delightful mini- Christmas tree!  I am getting the itch to decorate for Christmas.  Its going to be simple (not fancy)-as usual- but I can't wait for white lights and candles glowing!  Chow for now!

Our bedroom

I thought I would take a little time to show you what I've been doing in our bedroom.  Basically, I have neglected that room since we moved into this rental, because really nobody sees it.  Lately though, I have been wanting to make it cozy, wintery, and a peaceful place to lay our heads at night.  I would really like to make this my spot to read my Bible, devotional, and books- it was just blah before.  My favorite color is green, so what better color to use as my pop of color.  I like neutral colors, so most of the pillows, etc. are pretty subtle.  I combined a celery green (my fav.) with a forest/olive green (a color my husband likes), with touches of white, tan, oatmeal, and brown.

The drapes are made of canvas painting drop cloths!  Cost me $20 for the whole project and I love them!    The pillow is an old Hungarian grain sack made into a pillow and the sled in the corner is an junk store score from out here in Iowa (the antiques are SO much cheaper here)!

We refinished this dresser this summer- we got it on Craigslist for $45 and just stained in Walnut and painted/distressed the drawers.  

Adding a simple scarf to the sled dressed it up just enough for the winter season!

This is a frame I bought long ago and decided to paint.  I added the grain sack stripes and painted the "No. 4" in the bottom corner to give it that vintage feel!

We don't have nightstands so on one side I have an old chair with a basket, throw, and some antlers.  On the other side is a desk draped in a canvas painters drop cloth.  

To add some touches of winter we have a faux fur throw (ivory) on our bed, a wreath with little hand-stamped snowflake cards, and the tree branch on our dresser.  The tree will be a whole other blog as I will be decorating it with some fun mini pom-poms made of white/silver tissue paper!  Stay tuned for that!  Blessings to you all- hope you like what we've done on a pretty much non-existent budget!  

Foot Fun!

I get catalogs all the time from Garnet Hill and stumbled upon these slippers for kids...OH BOY!!  They are adorable and so fun!  The weather is getting colder and if I had $40 extra bucks laying around I would get Wy man the puppy slippers to keep his tootsies warm...or maybe the rockets....

Garnet Hill

If you're a momma in the market for slippers they have lots of cute ones!  My personal faves are these ballet slippers made by ACORN...

Garnet Hill

OR MAYBE.....the Ugg Moccassins! 

Garnet Hill

 

Good thing I can't be buying slippers right now or else I would have a hard time choosing!

Have a great day!

Taking a Break...

Well I took a much needed break for the last couple weeks from pretty much everything, except spending time with my hubby and little man!  We needed some time to get back into the swing of things here after such a long vacation and having a visitor in the house.  Sometimes I forget that I am pregnant and actually get extra tired sometimes.  But now, we are all well rested and excited for the Thanksgiving season that is upon us!

Johnny's sister from Texas is coming to visit us for Thanksgiving and we can't wait!!  The time here flies so much faster when we get occasional visits from family members- plus we just love Auntie Katie!  Johnny's classes are going well and next week he will officially be able to work in the main clinic at Palmer.  This means that he will be seeing patients from the community, as well as students and his family.  Pretty exciting!  Really makes it real that he is nearing the end of his DC education!

Sadly, when we visited WA I left my camera charger at my parents house, so my mother will be mailing that to us one of these days- But that means no pictures for a while, unless they come from the Iphone (which isn't great quality).  

I have been inspired lately to make Wyatt a little learning center.  We don't have a playroom in our place, so his corner of the living room will suffice.  He has a table just his size and I am in the process of making a chalkboard for above his table.  It serves two functions- a place for him to draw (under supervision of course!) and is also decorative.  Chalkboards are the rage right now!  I am almost done, so I will see what kind of pic our lovely Iphone can manage.  Here are some fun chalkboard ideas for kids rooms/playrooms!

Living Etc. 

LOVE THAT BENCH!  So fun!  Labeling baskets is always a good idea too...

Pottery Barn Kids

Chalkboard paint is what I will be using, though not directly on the wall like this photo.  

unknown

God is teaching me about contentment these days.  For those of you who know me, you know that I have a love for decorating and making our home cozy.  That is one of my biggest struggles-  seeing so much inspiration and not having the means (i.e. money) to transform my home into what I see- I am learning to be grateful and content for what I have!  God has blessed us with SO much!  The things we have DO NOT create our identity- we are children of GOD first and foremost- then we are wives, husbands, mothers, father, sons, daughters...and the "stuff"(in moderation) is just the fluff that can make life extra fun!  Have a blessed day!      

And the vacation is over...

Well,  I have spent the last month visiting my family in WA and then had a good friend come visit for a week!  I have been spoiled!  Needless to say not much blogging has been done.  We had a trip to Chicago and thought you all might enjoy some pictures of my sweet boy!  He ENJOYED his spaghetti!

In other news, the bun in the oven (baby boy) is doing quite well and is ACTIVE!  He kicks nonstop and keeps me up at night!  We are still going through names but I think we are sold on one.  Let you know when we make our decision. :)  

Before you go, check out the great giveaway at this fabulous blog called The Old Painted Cottage!