Family Photos

Here's to my Wisconsin family. Wish we could see each other more.
Glad we all had the opportunity to feel our very first earthquake together!
As exciting as it was, it's always good to be home.
Rob got off super early, so we've been hanging out since 3:30.

Here's what the trip looked like:
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Catching dreams on the way to Virginia.

Heidi and Dylan.

                                                                                                                    

My favorite 4 yr old ever, LINK!

                                                          

Dylan hated the camera.

       

Evan is a fish you know.

Loves his doggy... Mommy left it in Va. Idk HOW i'm going to get this child to sleep tonight without it. I would LOVE for someone to bring it to me so I don't have to go through that. Any volunteers??

                                                             

Eli. So cute :)

                                                          

Lot's of Nudity.

                                                          

My BEAUTIFUL great grandmother, gommy.

                                                                   

Don't mind the flash.

                                                  

Aunt Kelsey came to visit =]

I'm officially a blonde. It's been a while.

                                                                                

big boy beds

So we decided that because I'm in the baby business, The most practical thing to do would be bunk-beds. Unfortunately that meant my dream big boy bed ideas had to be vetoed (for now).. Meanwhile, Evan is LOVING his new big boy bed and telling all of his friends "daddy made it" In which, he sort of did..being that it took him 6 hours to put it together.. and he hasn't even started on the drawers yet! 

I honestly thought it would be the worst idea in the world to take him out of his crib when he's barely even 2, but he's sleeping even longer now. Children don't always make much sense. Mine doesn't at all these days. We are really struggling with naps still. It's only been a few days. I wish i had more patience and less of a "if it doesn't happen right away, i must be doing something wrong"mentality.


Anyway, here's what been happening around here:::::::::::

& as Rob built the bunks Evan was grounded to his crib one last time...

This is a wall in E's room I painted the same lime green as my wall's were when I packed up my high-school bedroom and headed to Carolina.

This is when Rob came out of the bedroom with a half-finished bunk bed and I had to flash him with the camera over and over again until he went back in to finish =]

This is me sitting on our porch waiting on a phone call because t-mobile = $hit and I get no reception what-so-ever in my apartment.

Rob's home from work now, and Evan's still napping =  uninterrupted time together for a hopeful half hour. Pictures of finished bunks and who knows what else to come.

LOVE, 
gretchen 

flowers

Flowers from Evan.
With all of my heart, I am in-love with this little boy.

PICTURE BLOG!

We started out at the Irish pub,
Then our favorite, Serena.
THEN we decided to go somewhere new we'd never been.
Not only was it a restaurant slash bar slash dance club,
It also had a frickin' sand volleyball court outside! So we stayed.

& we drank...........
 

 & we were very happy. & now very hungover.

AAAAAAAAAND here's what we looked like this morning! 

 

And the rest is the all the many faces of Evan I got when we picked him up from granny & papa's house::::::::::::::::

& now we are on the couch, eating cake, watching our favorite falling skies, and really, REALLY ready for bedtime. 

From me to you,

Gretchen

Untitled

I love date nights. Rob and I have never been the "dinner & a movie" kind. Because we don't get time to ourselves much, we'd prefer to have dinner and grown-up conversations..and drinks, and more drinks... We usually end up at a local bar playing pool, bags, or picture hunt. Not to diss on movies, we are HUGE redbox fans! So huge that we can't bring ourselves to spend $20 or more on movie tickets, knowing that if we waited we can rent it for a whole lot less.


The reason for this entry was to share with you readers how EXCITED I am, We are, about date night tomorrow. God  DOES answer prayers. Even though I'm slightly scared about spending money with Rob's new job coming up. It's one of those "salary plus commission" jobs. The benefits is what sold us. And that it's with a really good and trusting company.
He starts Monday. I'm so proud of him for getting out of restaurant. I just hope it's as good as it's played out to be. I'm not prepared, nor do i want to be disappointed again. He's been through three job changes since March. From brueggers to dodge, from dodge to ice cream, from ice cream to subs, and now this. I'm just really hoping that this will be the "light at the end of the tunnel" we've been looking for. If so, (and that's a REALLY BIG If so) Then I can't even wait for the wonderful work hours we will be spoiled with. The full weekends we'll be able to plan, TOGETHER. The family dinner's we'll  have every night, TOGETHER. Reading bedtime stories, tucking in, and saying goodnight to our baby, together. I, we have wanted this for so long now.


Hopefully,
Gretchen

Project of the week

I'm always looking for creative ways to display family photos around the house.
I found this idea yesterday while blog-surfing & fell in-love
You can't see the clothespins very well but they are fantastic, and easy,
because you can make them pretty much out of anything.

All you'll need is a drill to make a few wholes, and the barbwire or something like it, and cheapo hardware to secure the barbwire or something like it to the back!
Clothespins, of course.
Also, They used chalk paint, but you can use any old kind.


My search for distressed wood begins!
Pictures upon completion.


<3

little red bed.

I'm absolutely in-love with this big boy bed.
Evan's not quite ready to graduate from cribland, But Rob the builder has promised to put his handy work to good use and create a look-alike.
I can't even wait to cuddle up and read bedtime stories to my little angel, and future little angels in this beautiful little red bed.

Thank-you, Recyclart.org for all the inspiration. This site is loaded with lots of great, and green idea's. More to come, I'm sure of it. 

Somethin, somethin

I've always had a very strange love for cleaning. Not only do I feel better about my living space afterwards, But it's a great source of venting for me. And being as I never run out of things to clean, tis a very practical love. I do however strongly dislike, despise, loathe, hate with a bitter passion, the "L" word, L-A-U-N-D-R-Y! I hate washing it, drying it, folding it, putting away it... Looking for days at the pile it accumulates ever so quickly.

Praise God for music! If it wasn't for my ipod, I just don't know how i'd ever make it through ;)
And if the record is still playin' before the job is finished, I've won the game!


All for now,
Love Gretchen

Toothpaste, cinnamon, and pink fish named harold.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!
It's been a three hour nap so far. I'm growing very anxious. I want to plaaaaaaaaay! haha. I have even contemplated waking him.....that is up until I heard my Nina's voice in the back of my head on repeat saying "never, never wake a sleeping baby!" To this day, I have never done it out of fear of what horrible things might happen. Evan, unlike his mother, very rarely even gets cranky. So I would really rather not mess that up. He's just the best little boy, I tell ya. Ask anyone!


 Happy August! I can't believe we only have one month of real summer left! As a child, summer time was my favorite time of the year no doubt. Not even comparable to christmas in my books. The more I've grown the less I've felt that way. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that i am not the same size i was before baby.... Sad but true, I haven't worked out at all since age 18. But I'm very determined! It's for my own good.

I've grown obsessed with reading any and every kind of homemaker book I can find. I have this undying urge to want to know everything there is from how to make homemade air fresheners out of cinnamon to safely dying Harold (the fish) shades of pink and purple- believe me, it's possible. I've come to terms with my career as a full-time mary poppin' mama, and instead of finding things to complain about all the time I am vowing to be more optimistic. (rob thinks i'm joking?) But this doesn't mean I'm canceling med-school plans, Just that I am not going to be in such a hurry. I've "hurried" through my entire life. Now, I'm slowing down.


Time for dinner :)

HINT FROM HELOISE: For all those hole's on the wall we've accumulated over the years, toothtpaste, yes TOOTHPASTE.. acts as a plaster, and dries really fast. As well as leaves the room smellin' minty fresh! Loved and really used this one.

Naptime..

A time for myself, and other "sahm" mommies like me to just relax. As much as I love all 31 pounds of my Evan baby, It's good, REALLY good, to have "me" time. Even if i never do half of the things I say I am while he's napping, It's almost always SOMEWHAT of a success.

 I spent the last week and then some visiting my Virginia family. Time always escapes me while I'm there. But it was good,really good. Amidst the chaos I was still able to find "me" time, lots of it, and that is exactly what i needed going into this trip. I had promised myself I would catch up on sleep. I decided to break that promise and hang out with old friends. In the end it was a win-win situation.

I love seeing my husband after it's been few days. He's having car trouble, plus no AC in this god-awful heat, So he dropped Evan and I off and I sent him, and my fully-loaded-air-conditioned honda back to Carolina. He was so grateful. And I was just happy to see him happy. Another win-win.

Evan turned 2. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I love that he's growing up and developing his own little personality, which he has LOTS of. But i definitely miss the neediness he's grown out of. Every once and awhile he still let's me rock him to sleep and feed him his bottle, i mean, big boy cup ;) I think he secretly knows how much i love it, but also knows he's no baby anymore.

He refers to all small object's as "baby's." The other day when we were playing playdough and making little eggs for a birds nest, he picked up the smallest one and whispered "a baaaaaaaaaaaaaby" It's strange, yes, but i love it, and i love him.


AHEM...
Now for the random part of the post where i write down all the things that have  gone threw my little brain in the past five minutes:

I need to do a lot of things.
I need to do laundry, LOTS OF LAUNDRY.
I need to finish Evan's baby scrapbooks before he graduates college.
I need to check the mail.
I need my new camera charger to be IN the mail.
I need to upload pictures from my casio camera
I need to steam clean my carpets.
I need to clean my bathrooms.
I need to buy apple juice.
I need to start thinking about what's for dinner.
I need to plan out my August trip to the 757.
I need to pray that Rob's new job will be as good as it sounds.
I need to re-paint my fingernails.
I need to wash my hair.
I need to take out the trash.
I need to get a smart phone.
I need to never get my car towed again.
I need,want to win the lottery.
I need to go on vacation with my hubby...even if it's just to fancy restaurant for a few hours.
I need, i need, i need....

one down, Lots to go.

Gretchen