Adventures on Willow

Thinking Out Loud

2012-01-27T23:58:00.005-06:00

We sold the dining set, and I was strangely relieved. It's still here, they are picking it up next week, but it means that we are at least starting on our switcheroo project. Here is the dining room right now...

This room looks incredibly yellowed in this photo, even after I adjusted the colors! I need to learn a bit more Photoshop, obviously. Anyways, room really isn't yellow, but more of a light tan. I think the paint may work with our bedroom colors, but I am itching to paint it anyways. Maybe a fresh start sort of thing. I doubt I will still feel that way after I paint the three rooms upstairs! Here is what we have in our bedroom currently, furniture and bedding wise...which also looks very yellow, but is not.

Wondering about the white curtain behind the bed? Before we bought our bed, we just had a bed stand without a headboard. There is a tiny closet behind there that needed to be hidden. When we bought actual nightstands, the bed would no longer center with the curtain (they were too wide). It's been on my to-do list to move the rod over. Sometimes procrastinating pays off! At least no more holes to fill from moving it!

Hello Darlin', it's been a long time...

2012-01-20T23:00:00.005-06:00

Nice to see ya..

Haha, well enough Conway Twitty, sorry about that.

Wow, it has been a very long time since we have posted anything. Nothing much house-wise has been going on, but our kids have certainly been growing and changing. Maybe that is why no posting, ha!

If you have an old house, you understand that there are times you love it, and times you are pretty sure you hate it. We have had it on the market once when we thought we were going to build. Luckily, we didn't, as the economy took a dive and it might have been hard to pay for said house. Then we thought about it again, and then the weather warmed up and solved most of our grievances. So here we are now, it's winter again, but a mild one, everyone is warm, but we are out of space and feeling the need for more bedrooms, bathrooms, and room to grow.

We are not moving houses though, we are just going to move things around in this one and someday add a master bathroom of our dreams. Hopefully, someday soon.

The baby is now almost three, so we moved him out of his baby bed and into a twin size bed. He's only fallen out a couple of times, no injuries, and now we are onto potty training (my favorite-not). His room is the smallest in the house, so we will start there. I think it will be less tiresome for you to just see the swapping around, rather than read it. So here it is...

The current office will become the master bathroom/closet, and the downstairs closet and tiny bathroom will be completely reworked and a new powder room added.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T14:52:00.000-06:00

A bell is no bell 'til you ring it,
A song is no song 'til you sing it,
And love in your heart
Wasn’t put there to stay -
Love isn’t love
'Til you give it away.
~Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music,
"You Are Sixteen (Reprise)"

Another Snow Day!

2010-02-08T19:34:00.004-06:00

This makes four snows for this season, and not just light dustings either. For us, these have been REAL snows- the kind that totally cover the ground, are great for snowmen, and sledding.

Snow Days!

2010-01-31T20:48:00.008-06:00

Not only did we have a white Christmas, but we have snow again!
Not certain what the final, official inch count is, but it looks like about 4 to 6 inches. A lot for us! Seems like it's been about 8 years since we have gotten this much.

While we have about a bazillion snow pictures, I'll try to just show a few of our favorites.

watching in wonderment as the snow swiftly falls

Oops, completely forgot those wreaths are still out there...

trying to dig out for a sanity run

More Natalie-isms

2010-01-21T22:14:00.000-06:00

Natalie: "These are my dogs: Iffy, Sniffy, O-lie & Molly" (four stuffed dogs that sleep with her and get dragged all over the house)

"Can you help me to dance?"
Translation: Dance with me!

Natalie: "I've not never seen a girl like tha-at!" Said in a sweet, mommy-grown-up voice.
Not sure exactly what it means or what she heard before that she thinks she is saying, BUT...it is a supreme compliment. It took totally fixed hair, lipstick, painted nails, high heels and a dress to get this compliment. I'm not expecting to get it again anytime soon. So, if she says it to you, know you look WOW to her!

Natalie & Graham crawl into kitchen and come back a couple minutes later.
Natalie: "Graham smells like CAT FOOD!" peels of giggling
Mom: "What? Cat Food?! Graham! Natalie!" finger in G's mouth, fishing for piece
Natalie: really laughing now "No, no, it's not in his MOUTH! It's gone down, down, down into his belly!"

Natalie: "Oh Graham-y", patting G's belly before bedtime, "You've got a BIG puppy belly!"

At Hunan Manor for lunch on a Sunday with Uncle Matt, quiet music playing, subdued crowd:
Natalie: "Uncle Matt is a SASQUATCH!" giggling, shrieking, more giggling
Mom: in a low voice as people are starting to look "Natalie NO, NO, we don't say that! Be quiet! Talk quiet!"
Natalie: a little louder "Uncle Matt is a SASQUATCH!" giggling, shrieking, more loud giggling
Dad & Matt: cracking up
Dad: "NO Natalie!" hahahaha, more laughing by both
I get up to get food, thinking we have this under control, then from ACROSS THE ROOM, she starts it again! So, let this be a lesson to brothers who tease each other & call each other embarrassing names...it WILL come back to haunt you. And your wife. And it's usually in public! For the record, Natalie has no idea what a Sasquatch is.

In case you're wondering, Graham does many, many funny things, he just doesn't say anything yet (that we understand, anyways). I'm sure he's got a running list of what he wants to say when he is able to. I imagine we will then have many, many Graham-ism posts. Bear with us.

All through the house...

2010-01-10T20:45:00.000-06:00

'Twas sometime around Christmas

And all through our house,
There were some creatures stirring,
at least it wasn't a mouse...

This year's Christmas decor...

Living Room

Kitchen

Natalie's Gingerbread Village

Foyer

Dining Room

Landing

Natalie's tree

Graham's tree

Not just dreaming of a white Christmas, that dream came true!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year!

It's Been a While... Natalie-isms Part 3

2009-09-19T21:50:00.005-05:00

Whoops, meant to post a long time ago, but have been so very busy just with life in general.
No pictures of house stuff this time, but here are a few more Natalie-isms:

Me: Come on, come on, get in the car Natalie!
Natalie: *twirling and dancing in front yard* I need to dance, I'm dancing now!
Me: Ok, enough dancing, in the car you go! *hoisting her into her seat and starting to buckle her*
Natalie: I need to DANCE! *making mean scrunchy face* Ooooh, you're the...mommy, you're the BIG BAD WOLF!!!
Me: *not even trying not to laugh* Well then you are the stinky little pig!
Natalie: *completely offended* Uh! Me?!? NO, I'm not a stinky little pig! *lots of giggles*

Natalie: pthbbbbt *blowing raspberries*
Graham: (now 6 months old) pthbbbbt
Both: *giggle giggle giggle squeal giggle*
Natalie: pthbbbbt
Graham: pthbbbbt
*and repeat for the duration of the car trip through town*

Natalie: Is our car new mommy?
Me: No, it's not new, we've had it a while.
Natalie: Papa's truck is new. (Papa drives a refinished 72 Chevy)
Me: No, his truck is old, it just has new paint.
Natalie: *thinking hard, gears grinding* We have an old truck too!
Me: Yes, we do, our truck is old.
Natalie: Our house is old.
Me: Yes, our house is very old.
Natalie: We need to make it new!

Our two fat, old cats will snarf down their food too quickly in the morning and then puke it up a few minutes later in some spot where we are sure to step. Natalie is the puke finder and will also keep us reminded until we clean it up. In her mind, "cat pewt" has priority over everything- even hungry baby brothers who need fed RIGHT THEN.
One such day, Natalie was eating her lunch and got up from the table before swallowing what was in her mouth. She comes into the kitchen to ask me something and accidentally drops a chunk of food out of her mouth onto the floor.
She looks down, then up at me and says in a matter-of-fact way... "Natalie pewt".

Beetles (as in VW cars)
Natalie: We have a beetle in our yard.
Natalie: Beetles are cars, but they are bugs too.
Natalie: Our beetle is a car but it's also a bug.

Natalie pulls a broken chip out of bag...
N: *disgustedly* Somebody nommed on this one!

Get the Picture?

2009-05-29T15:24:00.003-05:00

It seems we haven't posted anything regarding the house in quite a while, but that does not mean we have not been doing things. Oh no, plenty of things have been going on at our house. When the new camera comes in I will get posts and pictures up of the following:

Natalie's Big Girl Room
Back Patio
Landscape Dream (what I wish we had out front and on the sides - this is on our 100 yr list, by the way)
Computer Room/Craft Room

But, you cannot post photos if you do not have them. And you cannot take those photos if your camera does not work...as neither of them do right now.

Chris's latest hobby is archery. Right now, he is into longbows- both making them and shooting them. He decided to film the arrows hitting the target, so he placed the camera on the top of the target. This was pretty cool as he filmed a few shots without any problems. It was pretty scary to see how fast the arrows fly at the target. Inevitably, one of them hit the camera and it crashed to the ground. The arrow pierced the camera and made a dent about 1/4 inch or more deep. At first he thought it would work with a new memory card, since that was the damaged part. After ordering a new card - NOPE, did not work. So we brought the old digital camera that we use at the office home. It does not work either! So no pictures until the new camera comes in. Bummer.

There Ought to be a Law...

2009-05-20T19:03:00.002-05:00

I mean truly, there should be a law of nature that mommies and daddies who have little kids never get sick. Ever. There are no sick days when you have little ones to care for. Thank goodness this is just allergies, really being sick would REALLY stink. We have been really lucky this past year not to have been sick much. Speaking of laws, below is a list of items that I wish could be passed into some sort of natural law (of course, nobody asked me!):

Mommies & daddies never get sick- at least not when their kids are small or dependant upon them.
You get a bonus gift of multiple hours of sleep when you have a new baby. Maybe hours of rest could be like a bank account, but only in your head. So instead of having a deficit and bouncing sleep checks when your baby is born, you have a whole savings account to fall back on.
Only three rainy days at a time. You get a sunny day with nice weather before it rains again.
The same sort of thing with two year olds - only three grumpy hours at a time, then one hour of total cooperation and smiles.
Mute buttons, or at least volume controls - this goes for children, dogs, lawn mowers, construction at 7am in the morning across the street when you've been up 20 times during the night with new baby. And thunder, yes thunder should be muted when little ones are sleeping. Especially for the ones who are afraid of thunder!
And gravity - gravity needs to have exemptions and exceptions. I mean really, it's great to keep us firmly planted, but does it really need to pull so hard on anything besides our feet and inanimate objects? NO, I don't think so.

Please feel free to add to this list, maybe we can start some sort of petition?

Natalie-isms Part 2

2009-05-18T23:09:00.000-05:00

Chris brought Natalie a Spongebob t-shirt home one day when he had been running errands. A couple of nights ago, we were getting her ready for bed and...

Chris: Do you want to wear Spongebob to bed?

Natalie: "Noooo" (she cries, it was past bedtime and she was cranky).

Chris: "Why not? You don't want to wear Spongebob?"

Natalie: (more tears) "Noooo" (she wailed, with tears rolling and volume increasing)

Chris: "Why not?"

Natalie: "It's too funny!" (she loudly wails)
Kids.

"I want to go to Target"
This is said every couple of days. Two years old and she is already addicted! What have we done?

"You're smelly"
She says this to me EVERY morning after I put on my perfume. "Smelly good, or smelly bad?" Then too much thought, so I say "do I smell good?" "Yes, smelly good." Hmmm, she had to think a little too hard on that one.

"Let me see your belly button"
When I was very large pregnant, she thought my popped-out belly button was the funniest thing. Now she asks anyone she knows to see theirs! So far not many have obliged...

Said in a matter-of-fact, slightly offended tone of voice...
"No, I'm not (add adjective here: beautiful, sweet, etc), I'm NATALIE."

Natalie has some (for lack of better words) "artwork" above her bed. One piece of it is a paperdoll dress made of fabric scraps. She has LOVED this dress ever since I made the art for her. She asks to wear it. Tonight when I was tucking her into bed, I told her we would make a craft tomorrow - one of her favorite things to do. I asked if she had anything she wanted to make, thinking she would say a puppy, a kitty, or something like that. She points her little finger and says "THAT. I want to make that dress. I want to wear it." Ohhh boy.

"We don't eat people."
You know how you grab a little one and pretend to eat their belly or cheek or arm, saying "omnomnom" in a monster voice? And then blow on their belly button? Yes, this is apparently unacceptable behavior.

Life Lesson Number...

2009-05-16T23:30:00.003-05:00

We were getting ready to leave the house. Graham was buckled into his seat, happily sucking on his binkie, for the most part asleep. Natalie was buzzing around downstairs playing with various things. I was in the kitchen, filling the formula container for the diaper bag when I hear Graham scream bloody murder. I ran into the foyer and Natalie is kneeling beside his seat. He's no longer squalling, but is now starting to grump because binkie is not in his mouth. Confused, I notice that Natalie is not comforting Graham as I first thought, but she is snickering. Keep in mind: Natalie is two, Graham is two months. She is very gentle and sweet, but is sometimes a little ornery. And the conversation goes like this...

Me: Hmmm, he's fine now, what are you doing?

Natalie: (grinning) I poke him - I poke Graham!

Me: You what? You poked him? (I could not see why he would possibly have screamed so loud)

Natalie: Yes, I poke him - I poke him with THIS (she says, eyes twinkling and a BIG smile, as she pulls an open SAFETY PIN out from under his blanket)

Me: WHAT!?!? Why did you DO that?!? (then getting a grip & retracting claws) Natalie, we DO NOT POKE people with pins, not ever. You hurt Graham.

Natalie: (confused) I hurt Graham?

Me: Yes, pins hurt, have you ever been poked by one? (now finding the humor in this and finding it hard to keep a straight face)

Natalie: No, pins hurt?

Me: (uh-huh sure, surely she's not fibbing though) Natalie, you want me to show you how it feels to be poked with a safety pin?

Natalie: (enthusiastically) YES! Poke me mommy! (as she sticks her sweet little hand towards me)

*POKE*

Natalie: OUCH! (she shreiks with actual shock) THAT HURT! YOU POKE ME!

Me: Yes, it hurts, and it hurt Graham when you poked him. You need to tell Graham you're sorry.

Natalie: (with worry and genuine sorrow in her voice) Oh Graham-y, I'm sorry.

Graham: zzzzzzzzzz (as he contentedly sucks on binkie, completely forgetting about the poke)

So lesson learned, we do not poke people with pins. No, not ever. EVER.

Family Photos

2009-05-01T22:04:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine, Cheryl Barton (photographer/graphic designer extraordinaire), came to our house to take our photographs both before Graham was born and after. I had seen her wildlife photography and was totally wowed by it, but I had no idea how beautiful she would make our family pictures look. We are our own harshest critics, but her photography actually made me tear up. View Cheryl's photo website and her etsy shop.

Her photography was sent on a traveling show, which just came back and is now featured in Arsaga's coffee shop on Gregg Street in Fayetteville, AR. She has also been featured in many NW Arkansas publications, as well as At Home in Arkansas magazine which will be on newstands soon.

Backyard Beautification

2009-04-20T21:53:00.002-05:00

We had a gargantuan red bud tree fall on both our back porch, and the garage during the ice storm a couple of months ago. It didn't hurt either structure, but the tree was toast. Unfortunately, that meant it had to be removed. It was just too far gone.
We have been dreaming of changing the tiny backyard, pot-holed mosquito haven into a courtyard type space that we would/could actually use. Our original plans were to brick around the red bud tree, so that we could still enjoy it's shade. It really is sort of bittersweet, we hated to lose the tree, but now it will be much easier to arrange things back there.
Jesus, who has done multiple projects around our house, just returned this weekend from a long hiatus rebuilding what was damaged in Texas after the hurricanes there. So here we go!
The tree guys came today to take out the tree & stump, the flagstone will be delivered tomorrow, and Jesus and his crew are starting cleanup & leveling tomorrow. Stay tuned for photos...

Lust

2009-04-19T22:59:00.004-05:00

You know what I am talking about...
You see a house for sale that needs a lot of work, but you envision what it could be. And almost as if the house senses your ideas, it starts calling for you. It needs you to buy it, it needs you to love it. You think about it when you wake up, and when you drift off to sleep at night. The majestic white columns, the enormous wrap around porch, the large lot with the three car garage...
And those are just the known details. What could be inside? Inlaid wood floors, original crystal chandeliers, a curving staircase?
Then you find out how much it lists for (in this economy-no way, even if it is so worth it), and you start thinking about how much it will cost to revive it (OUCH) and make it what you wish. Especially, since it has been a four-plex rental for the past many, many years. And the time, you think about all that time you will have to invest while living like a refugee again. Not to mention, we would have to sell our house, our house that we love, our house with the kitchen we waited months for.
Suddenly, the lust starts to wear off. Home starts feeling like the place to be, and you suddenly have a new appreciation for it.

Natalie-isms

2009-04-09T21:00:00.004-05:00

Natalie is two. So far the two's have not been terrible, (though sometimes challenging) but they have definitely been interesting. Who knew that chasing cats would become a father-daughter near-nightly activity? Below are some Natalie-isms:

"Oooh, you look like Halloween!" -this is actually a good thing, a big compliment - it means you look fancy or dressed up

"Mommy, you look like a MANIAC!" -not sure what that one was supposed to mean, as she said it and laughed like crazy.

"I want a beautiful man" - figured out that she was asking for a Barbie Ken doll to match her mermaid doll

"bumps" - referring to breasts. When Graham was born, this became the topic of a lot of conversations & questions at our house!

"My throat is hungry"

"Molly's a nice cat" - said convincingly to me while she was harassing the cat so that I would let her continue, rather than tell her Molly is getting ready to bite & make her stop. This is an ongoing lesson that I don't see her learning anytime soon!

"Molly's grumpy, she needs to go outside!" -said through brokenhearted tears, after the bite

"NO, that's MINE! No, Molly, NO!" - said during many squabbles with the cat. Molly takes Natalie's ribbons, sits in her swing, lays on her bed, and claims her blankies that she leaves around.

"Mommy, you got lots of hair? Nana got lots of hair? Meme got lots of hair?" and so it goes for each family member until..."Papa...he not not got hair. He has a head" (Papa is somewhat bald!)

"Hear that? Hear that peckwooder?" - referring to the woodpecker outside

"(Add name here) TOOTED!" - said LOUDLY when Natalie toots, followed by loud laughter. This is especially embarrassing when said at Target. I've found the best place to hide is in the men's underwear section...

There is also a new fascination with rubber bands. She's found they are useful not only in her hair, but in Barbie's hair and also for keeping worn out doll diapers on Cabbage Patch Kids. We were in the car and Graham spit out his binkie (for the millionth time that day). Natalie says, "Oh no, Graham popped his binkie! He needs a rubber band!" Oh if only!

Sticks Out Like a Sore Thumb...

2009-04-09T20:54:00.004-05:00

I totally see how that phrase became a staple in American language. See the pictures below? Yes, both of those thumbs belong to the same person - ME.
After pulling Natalie out of the car and putting her on my hip, somehow I managed to slam the car door on my thumb. It didn't close all the way, but it did latch. My first reaction was to jerk my thumb lose, which may be part of why it looks so bad.
After a day of throbbing, Chris came home and drilled some holes in the nail to relieve the pressure. Disgusting, but it was instant relief. I'm thinking I may lose the nail...I'm also thinking I may have broken it?

-cara

Babyland

2009-03-30T22:46:00.006-05:00

Graham is three weeks old now, and we are starting to get into a rhythm. He seems to have a schedule of his own that works pretty well with what we already have going. That is a small miracle in itself!
Natalie has adjusted to being the big sister and most baby relapses are over now, although she is definitely still our baby too. Graham is now sleeping in three to four hour stretches, which makes life much easier for me.
At first, I didn't leave the house with the kids without Chris - well, actually, didn't leave the house at all! Now we are venturing out, and I think I've got it figured out how to maneuver with two little ones and their gear. Minimalism has it's advantages!
Things are going well for us- spit-up is at a minimum, the peepee fountain is now under control (anyone with boys understands this!), and the tears are fewer and farther between. Just wanted to post a quick blog update with some photos. I have been out of touch with the technical world. So to those of you who have not seen an email from me in...oh, say three weeks - hello, I have missed you & will get back to you soon.
Now for the photos...and bedtime...Good night!

Who says a ball cap can't be glamorous?

P.S. Will post "Big Girl" bedroom pictures, and "Computer/Craft Room" pictures soon...

Baby Graham is Here!

2009-03-14T23:26:00.003-05:00

Graham has actually been here a week now, but I am just now finding the time to blog about it. Pictures are below.

While we were scheduled for a March 12 induction, Graham decided he was ready last Friday night. What I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions, turned into what I thought was false labor while we were watching a movie. I even looked up false labor and symptoms of real labor, just to make sure. "False Labor" got a little worse, and then at 12:30am we decided that maybe I should go get checked out, just in case. Having been induced with Natalie, I really didn't know what to expect if labor came on it's own. So we called Chris's mom, who lives really close, to stay at our house while we were gone. I was still pretty certain we would be back, and that I would feel like a fool.

Willow Creek Women's Hospital is just a few minutes away in a little town called Johnson, which is notorious for it's cops who pull people over for the slightest infraction. We're driving through and Chris says that there is a cop behind us who just turned on his lights. What?!? Noooo...yes. We got pulled over for a tail light being out, but as soon as the cop looked in & Chris told him where we were headed & why, he quickly sent us on our way without a ticket. It was one of those moments that is so similar to the movies, you have to laugh.

I was so certain that it was false labor that I told the nurse when she was hooking up the monitors, "If you send me home tonight, you HAVE to send me home with some sort of pain relief. I cannot live like this until Thursday!" Turns out, real labor pains can be an awful lot like the definition of the false ones - and mine were real! Graham was well on his way, and it was time for an epidural! I was so shocked & relieved that I started laughing - I'm sure they thought I was nuts!

After a successful epidural and a fairly good night's sleep, we welcomed Christopher Graham Davis into the world at 9:09am, weighing in at 8lbs 6oz. At one week old, he eats well, cries little, and is a pretty laid-back, easy going baby. Natalie is settlng into her role as big sister as well as can be expected of a 2 1/2 year. She is very sweet, kind and gentle to her baby brother, but it's so hard to have to share the attention of others with a new one. Chris and I are starting to get it figured out too. We couldn't believe how out of practice we feel with a newborn.

We really appreciate all of the help from our families and friends, it has made things so much easier. We are so very lucky & blessed to have our families in the same town - I don't know what we would've done without them! Many, many thanks to all of you!

Announcing...

2009-03-07T11:09:00.001-06:00

Christopher "Graham" Davis

March 7, 2009
9:09 am
8lbs 6oz
19 1/4 inches

Nursery Complete! (with pics)

2009-03-01T21:28:00.002-06:00

With our baby being due yesterday or March 5 (depending on which due date you go by), we think we finally have everything done! And while it seems like I have been nesting since Chris and I got married (home=hobby to me, but not so much to Chris!), it's definitely kicked up a notch or two lately. While both of us are procrastinators in a big way, it could not be put off any longer. In fact, we should have started all of our projects way sooner - I don't know what we were thinking. Apparently, we weren't. You don't even want to know when we started working on the baby's room.

It started with the craft room, which we had to pack up and move to the dining room so the craft room could become the baby's room. All of that mess ( and I mean MESS) was to later be moved into the computer room where Chris and I would share space. With a tiny computer desk and no storage space for all the craft junk, that was going to be a BIG problem.

Next, Natalie had to relinquish her baby bed - which really weighed heavily on me. Turns out, it didn't bother HER one bit! She was actually excited to get a "big girl bed" and her room revamped. That was a major relief! With a new bed and area rug in place, she has happily gone from a baby bed and diapers, to a twin bed and pull-ups -without issue. Apparently, change is her thing - go figure. More on this in another post...

Our To-Do list was enormous, filled with building in a desk to patching and painting walls and furniture to sewing all sorts of things. But we did it, we actually pulled it off- with help, that is. After the husband balked at building in the desk for the third or fourth time, I took to the neighborhood email to find someone who would. I think he thought I was bluffing (I was not!), and we actually found someone in our neighborhood. He is an actual carpenter and did such a nice job on my desk, that Chris had him build his desk in also. We had him add more shelves in a walk-through closet and install shelves above both of our desks. He also went above and beyond and replaced a rotten crawl space access door and installed some weather stripping. We are thrilled to say the least! So if you need a good carpenter, I'll be glad to pass his info along.

So now the baby's room is finished, Natalie is all moved in her room, the Computer/Craft room is moved in, and the bag is packed for the hospital. We still have a few bits and pieces to finish, but it is definitely more livable now. Below are Graham's Nursery photos, photos of the other rooms to come later.

I bought this dresser for our kitchen when I was pregnant with Natalie. It was truly a mess, but I fell for it anyways. The finish was so bad, it looked like it had been in a fire -thus earning it the name "the burn victim". When we remodeled the kitchen, we moved it to the garage - I couldn't part with it. Chris gave it a good sanding, we painted it glossy black and added glass knobs. It doesn't look like the same creature! The brackets on the shelves above were made by Chris's grandfather, Lyn. The hat, shoes and little bear frame were Chris's when he was a baby.

The milk glass belonged to Chris's grandmother, Sara, who passed a little after Easter last year. She had told me at Easter that she dreamed we would announce we were having a baby sometime that year. I told her she could be right, to keep it under her hat though. I really wish she wasn't missing out on all of this.

The picture of the kids fishing belonged to my grandmother, Irene. It's from a calendar she had kept around since the 1920's. I vividly remember it hanging in her living room. The baby drawing was Chris's when he was a baby.

The bassinet was Chris's, as was the green & yellow quilt hanging out of it which was made by his grandmother Rose & great-grandmother. The doll was his great-grandmother's and is actually a girl, but I dressed it in Chris's old baby outfit - I thought it was a little more fitting! It's actually Natalie's doll now, but 2 year olds probably shouldn't be playing with antique porcelain...so it's about to go into hiding again for safekeeping.

These metal racks are so versatile, they work great when you don't have a closet- and so cheap! The nightlight was a kit, and it was SO fun & easy to do. I'd like to make more of these!

The Name Game

2009-02-17T15:09:00.001-06:00

No baby yet, but we finally have decided on a name...Christopher Graham. He's named after his daddy, and in true daddy fashion will go by his middle name. Graham it is! After way too long of calling him "THE boy" and "number two", I'm so relieved to have a real name. Now if we can just get his room finished...

Winter Blunderland

2009-01-30T21:24:00.008-06:00

We have power! I never thought about those three words having such great meaning until having spent the better part of a week without. No power means: no heat, no hot water, no clean laundry, no lights, no baking, no email, and no TV. The upside to this (yes, there is always an upside- so far anyways) is that we were reminded of how important other people are to us. Yeah, yeah, here I go getting all Hallmark card-ish, but it's true. I cannot imagine living in the days before electricity, but I can imagine they had a much greater sense of community and much closer relationships.
It all started on Monday, with 40 something degree cloudy weather. A little mist started falling, as did the temperatures, and it all went downhill from there. We closed shop at 4:00pm just as the roads were getting a little bit slick. Tuesday morning, we awoke to iced trees - which was very beautiful. By that afternoon, most of Northwest Arkansas had lost power. And while we now have power, something like 53% of our area still does not and may not until next week or later.
So we reverted to how we lived in this house before heating & air - kerosene heater to heat the living room, multiple layers of clothing & a hat to sleep in, and showering at my in-laws (gas water heater vs. our electric one). Since we rarely get weather like this, most people were pretty unprepared. Generators around here are used for camping trips, not winter survival, and honestly I can't remember the last time we lost power for more than a few hours. I think I must have been in elementary school.
Now for the interesting part...the pictures!

Natalie, who is 2 1/2, did really well, except when we would get in the car. She HATED the tree branches hitting the car, which as you can see was sometimes unavoidable. Now, even though the roads are cleared, she starts saying "no more trees, no more tree branches" as soon as we get in. Coming home tonight to a brightly lit, warm house seemed to make her day. It was bedtime, and she was literally climbing into her crib herself - she was so glad to have things back to normal. She did not enjoy sleeping in her hat and robe, and she greatly missed her nightlight and the fan we run for white noise. And while sleeping with mom and dad seemed like such a novel idea before, she had quickly decided that three was too much of a crowd for her.

We were very lucky, we only had small amounts of damage. Our trees all lost loads of limbs, but no total losses. One limb took out a chunk of our picket fence, but just in a small section. The worst seems to be where the roof leaked a bucketful in the landing, causing the drywall to bulge and paint to peel off in sheets. We managed to move the cars in time to avoid falling limbs and the closest call seems to be where a branch gashed a kitchen window screen on the way down. Other than that, we are unscathed. There will be a heck of a lot of cleanup though - so many tree limbs down. Firewood anyone?

Poor Old Cat

2009-01-12T21:10:00.002-06:00

We have two cats - Lily, a Siamese-ish looking one who is skittish, quirky, somewhat strange, but very sweet & gentle cat, and Molly, who is a bossy but sweet Tabby who LOVES our two year old. They are pals, siblings, play buddies, and rivals. Lily, on the other hand, does not like kids in general, but is very tolerant and very gentle with Natalie. Lily will simply run off and hide when she has had enough - a definite delight to the toddler who likes to chase her!

So I'm in the kitchen cooking dinner, and Natalie is pestering Lily. Lily runs into the kitchen with Natalie on her heels - in and out, over and over. The faster Lily goes, the more Natalie howls with laughter. Chris is (FINALLY) taking the boxes of Christmas stuff to the garage. Laughter and squealing is going all through the downstairs - husband and child are both occupied and dinner is just almost ready. Then, the laughter gets louder, the squeals get louder and they are now coming from one place. It sounds like Natalie has cornered the cat. I hustle to the origin of the racket to find CHRIS swinging our very large cat like a pendulum back in forth in front of Natalie, who is beyond hysterics laughing. Lily's eyes were like silver dollars and every muscle was rigid. I have never seen a cat so happy to be locked into the safety of the craft room! Poor Old Cat.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:30:00.003-06:00

May peace and plenty be the first
To lift the latch to your door
And happiness be guided to your home
By the candle of Christmas.
-author unknown

Merry Christmas!