Audra's Nursery

I am so excited to share some photos of Audra's nursery today!  This has been one of my favorite rooms to decorate in our house, I was so excited about some girly pink walls!  The inspiration for this room was vintage floral and crystal.  I added long wispy curtains, a floral mobile with crystals, and threw in some personal items from her big brother.  I love how it all came together, sort of gives it a wispy, airy feel, but also keeps the feminine look.

Life Lately

It's been a crazy past 6 months and I haven't kept up at all on this blog (but definitely have posted lots of pics on Facebook).  Here's a recap of what we've been up to.  In pictures.

 

Our little guy has brought so much entertainment and joy to our world!  Now we prepare for the arrival of our newest addition, baby girl, due March 3, 2018!!

Fall Bucket List

Fall is well underway and we are doing our favorite things to keep the season fun.  We have already been apple picking, to the pumpkin patch, made apple cobbler, attended our street's annual chili cook-off block party, and have let at least 3 pumpkins rot on the front porch.  I love making lists of our favorite things to do each season, especially since Xavier is old enough to chime in.  He is anxiously awaiting to carve pumpkins this year and I wanted to share our fall bucket list full of other fun, festive, fall things!

1. Carve pumpkins!

2. Halloween party with friends.  We have talked to some friends about having a small breakfast Halloween party and it's always fun to host!

3. Make s'mores in a fire pit.

4. Jump in a giant leaf pile in our backyard. We definitely will have plenty of fallen leaves to do this:/

5.  Make Halloween cookies and deliver to friends.

6.  Scary movie night after Xavier goes to bed.

7.  Make caramel apples.  I'd love to do a caramel apple bar.

8.  Drive around the neighborhood and take in the colorful leaves on the trees.
9.  Make crockpot chili while watching football.

Hopefully we can do all these things while finishing planning our fall photo outfits and Halloween costumes.  Is that too much to ask?!

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." - L. M. Montgomery

Toddler Snapshot - Xavier, Age 4

What a summer it has been!  Xavier is learning so much at his new pre-school and we are keeping him active in gymnastics (his favorite that he asks if we are going to every day), tennis, and t-ball practices.  He's still got the most charming personality and is always looking forward to what we are doing next.  He keeps track of events and lists them off in order that we are about to do them.  He definitely seems to enjoy being on a schedule.  He loves monster trucks and fidget spinners and cannot ever have enough.  He is always the life of every gathering of kids.  And he routinely asks us if we can go around the neighborhood to find kids to play with.  Such a social boy!

His favorite foods are waffles, Nilla wafers (he calls them sugar cookies), baby carrots, and he is very adamate about taking his daily vitamins.  He is so excited for his new baby sister to come out and I'm sure he'll be the sweetest big brother to her.  He's always so careful not to hurt my belly.  Xavier is an early riser (6:30 on Saturdays!!) and cannot wait to get his day started. Before going to the babysitter's house, he'll try to sneak toy cars in his pockets or his backpack, but we know to check now.  He's doing so well holding his pencil and enjoys tracing his hand.  He still is the most willful child, always pushing the limits and testing us for just one more piece of candy or two more stories, but we wouldn't have it any other way.  His personality is so entertaining to us.  He is my favorite little sidekick!

Toddler Snapshot

It has been a whirlwind of to-do lists around here, so before I forget any of the most important things, I wanted to share a snapshot of my guy. 

Xavier // 3 1/2 Years

I love walking into his room in the morning to get him out of bed and seeing his big, happy smile.  

He loves meatballs, apples & peanut butter, "yo-yohrt" (yogurt), anything with ketchup, and most fruits.  He adores our little dog who he calls "Ja-poh-weeno."   When he plays the Wii, he tries to "kill dat guhl (girl)."  I will be so sad once he has perfected all the mispronounced words because right now, it is my most favorite thing ever!  He loves to play basketball with us at home, and before we play a game, he says he has to go "get my johwl-sey (jersey)."  He sleeps with about fourteen stuffed animals in his bed at night, and if I steal one to give him more space to sleep, he knows every time which one is missing.  His favorite toys are his monster trucks.  He likes to make go up the ramp to do a flip in the air, all while singing Blippi's Monster Trucks song.  

Four Things About Xavier

We are quickly approaching spring, even though we've felt like it's been spring most of the winter.  It's been unseasonably warm, and even though we appreciate not sloshing around in our snow boots, I secretly miss the snow.  Especially because Xavier likes to play in it so much!

Lately, we have been busy with Xavier's basketball and swimming classes on Saturday mornings.  We wanted something to help us get out of the house on the weekends because they just seem to get such a slow start.  Xavier loves basketball, but wasn't the biggest fan of swimming.  I think we'll sign him up for more basketball classes this spring.  

I've been busy collecting interior decorating books and trying different recipes from my blogger friends.  My favorite dishes to make are quick breads.  I made a chocolate pumpkin bread last fall, and recently experimented with some banana breads that turned out amazing!  I'm also designing some locker systems with a local carpenter so we can keep the coats and shoes from being visible from the kitchen area.

We are also thinking about summer vacation ideas.  I want to take the whole family on a summer trip since I know when Xavier starts pre-school this fall (omg!!) we will be limited on flexibility of taking vacations.  And Xavier is at such a great, independent, fun age, that it'd feel less overwhelming getting there.  I think we could now enjoy it more.  We are tossing around going to Nashville, Cincinnati, and Kelly's Island.

And a few random things about Xavier:

1.  Xavier turned 3 and a half the day after Valentine's Day.  We took his measurements on the giant ruler hanging in his room, as we do every 6 months, and he's grown a whole 2 inches since turning 3! 

2.  He is such a negotiator.  When we tell him he can have two pieces of chocolate, he immediately responds with "three" or "five".  If we tell him he has to eat three more bites of dinner, he says "two".

3.  He loves his family and hanging out at home (just like me!).  His favorite thing to do is right before bed, all of us gather on his blanket to read stories.  When Jasper comes in the room, Xavier gets so excited, he runs up and shuts the door.  He says, "We're all to-geh-vure."  It makes him so happy.

4.  He is hilarious!  He likes to do things that get a laugh, over and over again.  His new things are to roll his eyes in the back of his dad (like Papa does) while dropping his mouth at the same time.  It's so funny.  He also has a new trick where he puts a plastic coin in one hand, shows you both closed hands, and makes you pick which hand has the coin.  If you guess the right hand, he'll quickly switch the coin to the other hand and say, "Noooooooo!!"

His excitement for things (even if he doesn't understand what I'm telling him we are about to do, but still say it with an excited tone) is the best.  Whether it's his birthday, or going to grandmas, or going to the basement to play the "weed" (Wii), he always has something he looks forward to.  I love this about him!  It's (almost) always a fun and entertaining time when he's around.

Xavier is really growing up fast.  He's started requesting to hang out with friends from the babysitter's house on the weekends, which really makes him seem like such an independent, little guy.  He's making grown up decisions on who he wants to spend his free time with.  And I love carting the kids around to different places.  Seeing Xavier have so much fun with his friends is really a treat!

Morning Out with Mom

Last weekend, I took Xavier out shopping with me.  My photography homework was to take portrait shots, so I practiced on Xavier.  The shots didn't turn out too bad.

During our walk back to the car, he told me he wanted to push his baby, so I let him handle the stroller.  He stopped a few times to give his baby a toy (binoculars), some snacks, and water.  So cute!

For lunch, we went to North Star in the Short North to get the best pancakes in town.  The fill their pancakes with ricotto cheese, and there's something about their warm syrup that is to-die for.

I told him if he was good, I'd take him to see my work.  He always asks where I go during the day while he's at the babysitter, but he doesn't really understand what work is.  I pointed out that downtown, where the jail is, is where all the tall buildings are.  We stood next to my building (40 stories) and looked straight up.  He was amazed by how high it went in the air.  I took him to my floor and he loved it!  I showed him my desk too and let him see all the pictures of himself up on my wall.

But obviously, nothing beats randomly finding 3 pieces of chocolate in people's offices.  That was by far the best part.  Smart boy!