Hallway of Heaven

For two long years we've been living in this house with an unfinished hallway!! Oh, the horror of it. Okay, I know that's a tad dramatic but it has been driving me batty having the hallway unfinished. Here is a peek at the horrific scene prior to the redoing:

Please pay extra close attention to the disgusting carpet, baseboard, and casing.

Trying to decide on a color. In the end we went with none of those :)

I had always envisioned frames of pictures. If you know me, you know I just don't appreciate art (although Ritchie broke me down and you will be seeing some art in the bedroom soon). Photography is art to me and especially photography of the people you love. So I wanted the hallway covered with pictures of our family. At first I struggled with having tons of pictures of just us there, but in the end I decided that I wanted it family centered and right now our family consists of us three and therefore that's who the photos will be of! Now, the best part of this project was how CHEAP it was! We already had some frames that just didn't work with our decor anymore and the rest I bought from Goodwill for $40. There are tons of them so that it a steal! This is just some of the loot:

Then we bought 4 cans of black spray paint at $4 each - so $16 more spent there.
I decided to spray the glass of these two lovelies with chalkboard paint to create chalkboards for family quotes in the hallway. I've been seeing this done all over the place and I just LOVED the idea! What I don't understand is who would GIVE these beauties to Goodwill. I mean, come on!
After much spraying and respraying we chose photos and determined the orientation and designs for the spaces. For the matting we purchased textured wallpaper and just cut it to fit the glass sizes. We then used spray adhesive to adhere the photos to the wallpaper and threw them in the frames! Voila! The wallpaper was $17 but we have well over half the role left for other projects and the spray adhesive was a whopping $10. But, again, we have another project in mind for that. So the total for our hallway was $83. Not bad when you consider how much frames and matting typically is. Here is the end result:

As you walk up the stairs:

A little further up...

Ta-da! In the hallway! There are still some empty

frames where we have to get pictures printed.

The chalkboards with quotes are my very favorite part of the hallway.

I wish I could have gotten rid of that glare! Can you see how lovely the photos are?

We still have one thing left to hang - Ritchie's marathon frame from last summer.

More photos!

We finally got that newborn canvas hung!

The best part of the hallway is the two cuties that

I found waiting at the top for me with smiles.

It just doesn't get any better than that!

The Unknowns and Today

I've never, ever been good at the unknown. I just don't like it. I like to plan things and then no matter how often the plans may change it doesn't matter because in my mind I knew what was coming, even if it didn't happen that way. A sneak attack change of plans is okay with me. Having no plans. That's a nightmare. This is the first time I can recall in my life that I have no idea what's comin'. I know what I want to happen, but I just can't see it happening or plan accordingly how to end up there.

So many unknowns. Oh, the unknowns. They keep me up at night. How do I let go of the unknown? How do I maintain faith that our family will end up where we're supposed to be and that we will be okay - no, more than okay, happy and at peace - with where we end up? There is no true life insurance for those things.

Right now we have no idea which direction our life is headed. We don't know when we should try for another baby. We don't know if we should stay in our house. I have no clue how long I'll be home with Max or what my next career move should/will be. We're uncertain as to whether or not we should stay in the Bay Area and when a big move like that would take place.

So. I'm choosing to focus on today. Today I cuddled with my precious son, had lunch with Ritchie and another mommy friend, her husband and their sweet baby girl, and tried to stay on top of housework and television programs (both equally important). Today, I was happy. I KNOW that tomorrow we have our home, food, and hopefully our health and happiness as well. I suppose that's all I can do. Because I want to enjoy this time home with Max and not spend it pent up with stress about what the future may or may not bring. Because nothing is a guarantee. We could have millions in the bank, live in a mansion, and have a freaking chauffeur and there would still be unknowns and things to worry about. Today, I will remember that. For now I leave with a quote that is what I'm continuing to focus on:

With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

8 months

I cannot BELIEVE another month has flown by and our sweet boy is already 8 months old. I keep thinking about how far away his birthday is but in actuality it will be here before we know it. Max has continued to enrich our lives this month in so many ways! This month he really slowed in growth and therefore we didn't move him up in clothes or diapers (a welcome relief to his pound a week days). He weighed 21 pounds and 8 ounces exactly on his 8 month birthday. All of that extra weight has made moving a little slow for him but towards the end of the month he began to scoot more and tolerate tummy time a bit more. In the beginning of the month he rolled from back to tummy for the first time! After that it just continued to happen more and more frequently and with more ease. However, tummy time has continued to be a battle and now that he rolls ONTO his tummy he just ends up upset that he's there. HAHA! One thing at a time I suppose!

One thing that changed this month was how he sleeps. Not duration or location, but HOW. He now sleeps on his tummy with his legs tucked and his little butt up in the air. It's the cutest thing! He's also ALL over the crib with his legs and arms dangling out, on his side, tummy, and back. I'm thankful that it's taken this many months to get to this phase because even two months ago it would have made me terribly nervous, but now I feel confident that he can move enough to avoid getting stuck in any one position in his sleep. His increasing strength amazes me!

Max's love of Gracie has really surfaced this month along with his vocal capabilities. He squeals with delight when Gracie comes in the room and he looks for her when he enters the living room. He loves being near her and "petting" her (aka - grabbing and pulling her hair). Grace has astonished us with her patience and love for Max. Max has honed in on the "B" sound, and we hear "ba-ba-ba" a lot around here! He's also starting the "P" sound very softly and I think "puppy" may be among his first words.

Keep on smiling, Maxton! It makes the world a happier place! We love you and couldn't ask for a brighter, more loving baby boy.

A Visit From the Gillettes!

Well... 2 of them anyway! Kimberly and Quinn came to visit in the last week of April. We had a wonderful week chasing Quinn around and watching Max reach a very fun milestone - rolling! The boys are so much fun together as they are interacting more and more. They share toys and smile at each other. Max began to look for Quinn whenever he came downstairs or heard his voice. It was very cute to see them becoming great friends!

The week they were here Monticello was putting on their production of Aladdin and we got to visit with teachers and the students that neither of us have seen in months. It was fun to see the kids perform and shine on stage. The show was fantastic, as it always is.

It's always wonderful to spend time with Kimberly as I miss her very much. Life around here just isn't the same since she moved, but these visits are so wonderful and I feel very much like we're still able to foster a relationship between the boys. We were discussing this trip how we know we'll always be great friends and how our boys (and other children) will grow up knowing that they've been friends all their lives and how special that bond is. We feel so blessed to have the Gillettes in our life. We love Pat too, even if we don't get to see him as frequently!

Here are some pictures of the boys having fun!

Quinn is so much fun!

"Hey, Max - pay attention!"

Of course the swing had to go in the mouth.

Look at them having fun!

Kim took some great pictures of Maxton :)

And we both tried desperately to take a good one of the two of them -

still didn't get the perfect shot. Oh well... maybe next time!

Kim and her cutie!

He's such a good walker!

Me and my cutie!

Hopefully we can go visit them soon!

7 Months

Even though we're halfway through his 8th month I still need to do an update on Max turning 7 months old! Now I have to remember what happened in his 7th month... haha!

First off this is the ONLY month that I haven't weighed him since he was born! I'm letting go a bit - hehe :) That being said, I think he's a little over 21 pounds. He's in 9-12 month clothing currently but I think he'll stay that way for awhile. His rate of growth seems to be slowing finally :)

Max has begun eating a wider range of solids. His favorites are peas, pears and yogurt. He also love to munch on Mum-mums, which are these little rice crackers that he can hold and munch himself. They are the perfect entertainment for him so we can enjoy our meals - especially in a restaurant!

Max also popped out his first two teeth this month! April 14th was when he got his first tooth, his bottom right and the bottom left poked out a little over a week later. It was pretty rough going until they were both through, but he's a much happier baby now. I'll be enjoying that until the top ones start coming in.

Sleeping has been much better this month as well. We worked with the Ferber method to get him to sleep in his own crib for longer stretches of time. We're a much more well rested family now and all very appreciative of that :)

Here's our little cutie a little bit after he turned 7 months old:

Kirstie and Roman visit!

Kirstie and Roman came for a visit this week! It was the first time I got to see baby Roman and he is already 10 whole weeks old! He is just too cute and I can't wait to see Max and Roman raise Hell together soon :)

The boys playing together!

Isn't he SO cute??

I still can't believe that we have babies! Kirstie and I have been friends for 8 years and it's crazy that now our children will be friends! I'm so happy to have them in our lives!

Auntie Kirstie with the boys. Max just loves her and I know that

we will all have so much fun together in the years to come!

Ritchie's 27th Birthday

Ritchie celebrated his 27th birthday this week and I just wanted to say what an awesome husband I have. Ritchie could not be a better person to journey through this life with. He makes me laugh, listens to my (many) concerns (about everything), and I couldn't think of a better man to father my children. Watching the way he loves Max has taken my feelings for him to a whole new level, a level I never thought possible. With each passing year I love him more.

Ritchie has so much to celebrate this year! It's his first birthday as a father, he just got a promotion at work and will finally be doing something he's excited about, and in 5 weeks he's officially done with his degree! That's right, people. Ritchie manages to not only work 9-5, but he completes school work from home in the evenings (often acing classes), takes care of all of Max's nightly bedtime dinner and bath routines, makes home improvements and cleans and makes dinner, AND he manages to find time to still blow me away with romantic gestures and tenderness. He is the man who will cross the room to sit on the same couch as me and rub MY feet as if he didn't have the busiest day and isn't exhausted.

And to top it all off: he's gorgeous.

So to my husband, the love of my life - Happy Birthday! Thank you for everything that you do for our family. Our life is RITCHer with you in it :)