Add a pinch of color

I've been wanting to do something with the frames in Noah's room since before he was born. I used to have some black and white scenic photos in them before the room became the nursery. Well, I finally got around to doing something with them and here is the result.

It was very windy outside when I took the photos so while I'm not thrilled with how the photo turned out, but you get the idea. The second photo is obviously the prints framed in his room. What a difference they make! Oh...and the N stands for Newt...in case you couldn't tell. It was the only "N" animal I could think of!

An airplane birthday

Email has become apart of my everyday life. I get up in the morning and check it, check it throughout the day and sometimes check it just before I go to bed. It's a convenience and an easy way to keep up with friends and family...especially for us since we live far away from most of them. Because we pay the majority of our bills online, I can go for days without getting the mail. I think it's because I'm used to it being filled with junk that I'll just need to shred. When I get an actual letter my eyes light up and I get so excited to see what's inside. I'm even known to do this when I see a personal piece of mail addressed to my husband. So exciting (I hate when I get tricked by junk mail who hand addresses the envelope).

I love to give others that sense of excitement as well. Notecards, letters, invitations, tags and envelopes can be such a fun way to express yourself and let someone know you care. I think that's why I've always had a love for stationery and communication pieces. Here is a card I just created for my nephews birthday. I think it's simple but sweet. And of course the envelope needed something a little special on the tail.

Don't have time to scrapbook?

When I was pregnant with my little boy, Noah, I was trying to think ahead how I wanted to capture all of the memories we would have with him. I had done the scrapbooking thing and while I enjoyed the creative aspect of it, it was hard for me to handle not being able to complete the album right away. Plus, I didn't have a dedicated room or table for all of my supplies so I really hated having to get my stuff out and put it away every time I wanted to work on the album. I do enjoy doing mini projects though and creating cards. In light of knowing I probably wouldn't be the best at doing the traditional method of scrapbooking, I came across this wonderful baby book option here. Once you purchase the book, you'll be able to access your account online and update the pages digitally with your child's important events. When you're ready, you can print the pages out with the paper included with your fabric book.


(images from Big Day Books)

Some other great "do it yourself" book web sites are blurb, Shutterfly and from Apple.

Teeth, rolling over and squirming around

I figured it was time to get some photos of the latest Noah happenings. Noah is now about four and a half months old and weighs 15.15 lbs (75th percentile) and is 26" long (75th percentile). He loves to roll over, hold his toes, laugh and stand while we hold him up. I think it's all in my head but it always sounds like he says hi to me when I enter the room.



It's hard to get an "action" shot with the still camera but I did my best. We have taken lots of video but unfortunately our Sony camcorder won't work with the Mac at the moment. So, here is a photo of Noah rolling around.

I tried to get a photo of his bottom teeth that are coming in. For some reason he just doesn't want someone prying his mouth open...I don't get it.

He doesn't stay still for long and even finds ways to get out of the Bumbo seat. Silly boy. If you look closely you can see his teeth while he's smiling in this photo.

Getting organizationally motivated

I love organizing. In fact, I'll buy bins to help organize my bins. The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker by Aby Garvey and Wendy Smedley is full of fun and helpful ideas to get your craft space organized in an attractive way. And don't be fooled by the title, even a non-scrapbooker can find useful information. I'm still drooling over the pages that I've looked through a dozen times already.

A new rug

Here is the inspirational rug I wanted from here. ($150.00)

And here is my rug transformed with some good ol' painter's tape and spray paint ($2.19). I'm not thrilled that mine has the black edging but I figured it was a rug I already had that could be jazzed up a bit.

A warning would have been nice

My baby is four months old and already is getting his first tooth. I wasn't prepared. I noticed it last night when I was changing him. He has been a little fussy the past few days, which is definitely unlike him, so I knew something was up. I was thinking I had until at least 5-6 months for this to happen. While I know every new thing is supposed to be exciting, I'm still contemplating how I feel about this. Actually, I know how I feel about it. I feel cheated that he is growing up so fast! I know he is still just four months old, but still. Teeth!?! I need to sit down.

Noah has been trying his hardest to roll over. He's done it on his own once but whenever he keeps trying his chubby little arm gets in the way and he gets stuck on his side with his bottom half rolled over. He's definitely good at getting on his side though! It's like a whole new world.

I've been tagged

(thanks Carrie)

What Was I Doing 10 Years Ago?
Let's see, in 1998 I was a junior in high school with probably very little worries. I was a cheerleader, on the cross country team, driving my red Pontiac Sunbird and working as a supervisor at Bagels & Joe (nothing like getting up at 5a.m. on Saturday morning! Oh the memories I have there with Gretchen and Karley).

Five Things on your to do list:
I'm not sure 5 is enough but I'll try...
1. Give Noah a bath.
2. Make up menu for next week.
3. Watch 3:10 to YUMA with Lucas that we rented last week.
4. Clean bathrooms (do I have to!?!)
5. Sign up to win the HGTV dream home!

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Well, they're no longer out but when Easter comes around I REALLY enjoy Cadbury Eggs. Yum! And now they come out like in February so I get months of yummy, fatty goodness.
2. Popcorn
3. Tortilla slapped with peanut butter and a banana rolled inside.
4. Walking around at Sam's Club or CostCo and eating all of the samples. Does that count???
5. Dibs

Five things I would do if I became a Billionaire:
1. Pay off my home.
2. Replace our 1993 Honda Accord that currently has over 240,000 miles on it!
3. Purchase a vacation home probably in the mountains somewhere. Definitely large enough for our friends and family to enjoy with us as well.
4. Invest it, donate to charity and help family to pay off homes/bills.
5. Invest in my own company.

Five bad habits:
1. As I admitted to our small group the other night...Hello my name is Marianne and I'm a stacker. I pile my clothes all over the bedroom and it drives Lucas crazy. I believe we've come up with a solution though that seems to be working. We put shelves in our closet so now I'm no longer required to hang the clothes up but can just fold them nicely and place them on the shelf. Genius!
2. I leave tags on things I buy. I actually had a good reason for doing this at first. I wanted to sort of take the items for a test drive. You know, make sure I really like the item before taking the tag off in case I need to return it. This good reason soon turned into forgetting about the tag and it might be a year before it gets noticed again and I take it off. Actually, it doesn't get noticed again until my mom comes and points them out. I was also told that my brother does this so I'm thinking the disease runs in the family. So, if you come over you'll probably be able to ask me where I bought the item and I can look, tell you where and how much it cost me.
3. I buy magazines. If you also do this, you understand. I told myself several months ago I would just go and look at them at Barnes & Noble or Borders or the library instead of buying them. Well, I did that, and still do, but typically there are one or two magazines that I'll find craft projects, recipes or great design ideas in that I think I'll want for a later date. Do I really ever need them at a later date...not just yet but I'm sure I will!
4. I can get passionate about something rather quickly. Typically if I'm still talking about it a month later it's something I really care about it. Otherwise, the excitement will usually dwindle down within a week. Thankfully, Lucas knows this about me and supports me in all my crazy ideas! Every day I call him or my family to tell them about my latest idea. The conversation usually begins with:
Me: "So I have this idea..."
Them: Chuckle.
5. I eat my food one item at a time. When I was younger I used to not let my food touch and would rotate the plate around as I ate each item. The drink was always saved for last. I've come a long way from those days however I still believe food should not mix, contrary to Lucas' beliefs.

Five places I've lived:
1. Jackson, Mississippi (where I was born. And I know you were all spelling it out as you read it!)
2. Columbia, Tennessee
3. Flowermound, Texas
4. Lincoln, Nebraska
5. Bear, Delaware

Five jobs I've had:
1. Detassle corn. Hard to believe I did this one summer. My mom had to get up every morning at 4a.m. to take me to meet the bus that would then take us off to a farmer's land to help detassle. Not a pretty job my friend. I still remember needing to have every inch of our body covered so we wouldn't get sunburned or get rashes from the leaves on the stalks.
2. Hostess at Farabees Restaurant. This job didn't last too long. I absolutely hated how all of the waitresses would take their smoke breaks while I worked.
3. Sales associate at County Seat clothing store at the mall. Our store was always extremely hot because we were located above the boiler room. In the winter you'd need to dress for summer or you'd sweat to death.
4. Supervisor at Bagels & Joe. I loved this job! I think I discovered it because of my good friend Gretchen who had also gotten a job there.
5. Graphic Designer.

Tag, you're it! Lindsey Jury, Amy Johnson, Alison Phillips

What a GRAND week

I'm a little behind in posting from last week with Lucas' parents visiting. We headed to the Grand Canyon which was Noah's longest road trip yet. He did great and we had a nice time. It's so beautiful there and amazing to look out over God's creation.

Noah's first time in a hotel. Having fun with Daddy!

The car ride. Noah did extremely well for all of the driving we did.

Our family of three.

In the afternoon it ended up getting really windy and cold so we had to bundle Noah up. He had two hoods and a stocking cap on. We're definitely not used to this weather!

I thought this was a great photo of Lucas' parents in the Coconino National Forest, Oak Creek Canyon Area.

3 month photos

A few of Noah's three month photos.

Note to self

Next time buckle him in.