still merry

This year, while I was ready to pack away all the Christmas decorations and get the house back to normal after the new year, I decided to leave out the cards through January. I am so glad I did, instead of rushing to toss them out.

I have tried displaying Christmas cards a few different ways, but this year was my favorite -

on the chair rail in the dining room. {The folded variety I slipped in the blinds in the breakfast room.}

I thoroughly enjoyed looking at these the last couple months. Seeing beautiful pictures of family and friends every time I walk through the room, glance up from my laptop, or eat dinner here has sparked warm thoughts and great memories. I'm pretty sure every card is imprinted in my mind now. As I took them down today, I prayed for each family. I am blessed to have such great friends and family. And so, thanks for sending everyone! 

project: baby book

I finally stopped procrastinating and made my project last week putting together Joseph's baby book. {In fact, I wouldn't let myself blog or do anything else until it was completed.} I might not have been as organized as I was doing the first-born's, and I might not have remembered as many details and dates, but I guess that's what happens with #2.

As you know, when you embark on a project of the sort, a mess is created in the process. My work space was my dining room, with pictures, cards, mementos, and art supplies covering the surface of my table and the surrounding floor. The first couple of days (when given the chance to work) I went through boxes and bins and collected all things Joseph and set up piles by subject (pregnancy, birth, doctor, holidays, etc.).

It was all I could do to try to keep the little ones from taking things from my organized stacks and going through my art bins.

But I got it finished - or pretty close to it. I still have to order some photos for a couple pages.

This book is all about you, sweet boy. I hope you like looking at it one day.

I like the way it turned out.

It was a little too full when I put it together, so I took some cards out. I have it sitting under a dumbbell right now to smush it down a little.

That's Hannah's underneath. They have just about the same number of pages. Didn't really make that a priority, but glad it turned out that way. Joseph's is a little thicker because I'm trying to flatten a Pampers Swaddlers diaper, size newborn. Just couldn't bring myself to throw it away.

And now, on to my next project...

mlk

Hope you had a nice long weekend. The chickens and I only left the roost to go to church on Sunday. The rest of the time we played at home. We played with the train. We did puzzles. We colored. We watched Little Einsteins (and Sophia the First, a new Disney Jr show and a hit with my three-year-old princess).

We stayed in our pajamas most of the day. We drove the truck 'round, and around...and around the house.

 The weather wasn't great on Saturday and Sunday, but yesterday we played outside for a long time.

Little brother firmly holds on while sister has the wheel.

Three...

...going on twelve?

Practicing pumping...

Which reminds me, while Joseph doesn't say a whole lot I can overhear him in the sandbox saying "owwww........eeeeen" as I instruct Hannah, "out!....in!"

On the note of little brother talking, it is has been very, at times frustratingly (is that a word?), different than his big sister. At this point (21 months) she was talking a lot...and in sentences. Little brother says only a dozen or so words. {I'm trying to be patient, and have heard that boys are usually slower with their verbal development. Still, communication would be nice!} This weekend he started saying Hannah's name, except that it's "Nah-nah". She thinks it's hilarious as, again and again, she asks him what her name is. I think it's sweet, and I love it. Obviously, my favorite is "Momma" which he says all the time. He's a momma's boy, that's for sure. 

And now these chickens are at preschool...and it is blessed quiet in the roost. On to more productive things...

Have a great week!

i dream of chairs

No really, I do. All kinds of chairs.

I love the little white chair in Hannah's room. {I can't believe I never posted about it, but I just went back through the archives and could not find a single picture, except the time she somehow got it into her crib. This is an old picture from my phone from when I found it at Nadeau in Savannah. I bought her two...you know for tea parties, or whatever. I also bought one for my sweet goddaughter last Christmas.}

I love the vintage children's lounge chair I found for Joseph's room when he was itty bitty. {I used it for both his three- and 15-month pictures, too.} I love the white table and chairs my siblings gave Hannah for her second birthday. It is used everyday in the playroom. I love the time-out bench I bought at Scott's in August. I always have my eyes out for chairs for some use or another...

So, today I saw this chair for sale for $149 on One Kings Lane:

My heart skipped a beat. It is not technically the Philippe Starck Louis Ghost Chair (that retails for around $400 a piece), but it is pretty darn close. Probably a good thing they were sold out of the translucent. I might have bought one (or two) without a second thought. I have wanted a Ghost chair since I started art school years ago. The fact that I don't have any place in mind where I would put it has not stopped me from keeping it on my wish list. It doesn't exactly go with most of our furniture, but that hasn't stopped me either. When it comes to home decor, my thought is: if you love it, get it. You will find a place for it.


While we are on the subject of chairs, let me introduce you to Constance:

I love her. And think that she and three of her friends would belong nicely around our kitchen table.

Very similar. I saw these at Scott's in October. I was drawn to them like a magnet and I haven't found anything I like more.

The kitchen table I speak of is the same natural wood one with white legs I had in college. Came with four chairs. Y'all know the one. Chances are you've owned one or know somebody that does. It was classic first-apartment material and it worked. It has been moved 8 times at least. It has paid its dues. And the top is now distressed. The kind of "distressed" that only small children can do...little dibbits from tiny silverware. It's got the sentimental quality, and lots of memories to go along with it, but that does not mean it needs to stay!

We've thought about buying new but we haven't stayed in one place long enough to justify a space-specific purchase. I want round. I would like 6 chairs to fit around it. I want it to be perfect. We live in the breakfast room. We walk through it every time we come and go. It's where we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner almost every day. It's where we do projects, paint nails, dye Easter eggs, and sing Happy Birthday. It is where I've hung tons of pictures. The walls are filled with framed family photos and art. Just looking around stirs so many wonderful memories. It is my favorite room.

Finding the perfect table and chairs is on my "one day when we..." list. I'm just thinking - or my husband is just saying rather - perhaps we should wait until the kids get a little older. If you could only see the things I find under the tabletop and on the chairs with the boosters attached. I don't have to worry about that now with my good ole college friend...

So two chairs, very different but love them both.

i think we need a haircut

I was planning to put off Joseph's haircut a while longer. But it somehow went from cute and tame to ragamuffin status in the last week. Take this, for example. After nap on Monday:

I mean, I love those curls on the top, but it's a bit out-of-control.

As you can see my model obliged to pose for pictures. We have this thing called cheesy smile. All I have to do is say the words. It starts with a head tilt back and a squinty face:

...then eyes shut tight while continuing the cheese:

It makes me laugh. But alas, my photo fun can't go on forever and my subject got tired of participating.

Or maybe he knew I was having fun with his hairdo. Either way I got one more sweet little Josey smile before I scooped him up.

We're going to get it cut today. We're going to get it cut today. (Sung to the tune of Zacchaeus' "For I'm going to your house today...")