A little bit of life lately

Chase has been sick.  Croup.  Not fun.  But he is feeling much better.  

On a happier note, he LOVES taking baths with his sister.  She gets so mad at him when he splashes or tries to take one of her toys.  "STOP CHASE."

Ashlyn treats Elmo like he is her baby.  She puts him in "time-out" and rocks him and feeds him.  This picture makes me laugh. I love that she is talking on the phone while feeding him.  I guess she has seen her momma do this a time or two.   

What we like to do

I had lunch with one of my dear girlfriends on Monday.  We were talking and eating and crying and laughing - you know, all those things you do during lunch at Chick-fil-a with a sweet friend you have not seen in a while.

She asked me about how Christopher and I were doing.  And I started telling her about our Friday night "date" this weekend - working on our cabinets in the kitchen.  I say "date" because we love working on things.  It's a hobby - something we both enjoy.  We love doing things TOGETHER.  Not because we are on a quest to have the latest and greatest "home renovation" project - believe me, someone is already out there coming up with the next latest and greatest thing.  There is no way you can keep up.  

We just enjoy sketching out plans on scraps pieces of paper, measuring, re-measuring, going to Home Depot, dreaming of ideas together, searching the internet for "how-to's" and inspiration photos - WE JUST LIKE TO DO THAT KIND OF STUFF.

And there are lots of times we would rather spend $50 on wood, crown molding and paint than to spend $50 going to the movies and dinner.  Of course, we have those kind of dates too from time to time.

We just like hanging out together.  And we get all giddy when the kiddos are napping or in bed for the night and we know we have something to work.  

That's us. And I love our little "me + him" team.

I also love sweet baby faces that melt my heart.  I just can't bear to think that my little guy is going to fall in love with another girl one day.  hehe.

Be sure and check out a my guest post over at Designs by Sessa about our dining room.  You can see it here! Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Adding Height to Kitchen Cabinets

As I mentioned in my last post, Christopher and I are making a few changes in the kitchen. The first project on our list was to add height to the kitchen cabinets and extend them to the ceiling.

 We started off by finding studs in the ceiling and nailing in several pieces of scrap wood squares  for support.

 12" wide strips of MDF nailed to the wood squares in the ceiling.

 Then came the molding along the top. 

 A few coats of primer.

 The original plan was to leave it white.  But it just look a little washed out once it was all painted white.  So we went with leftover gray paint that was sitting in the garage (Ashes by Behr - same color as in the office).  We are going to re-paint the kitchen - I am thinking a lighter shade of this paint.

And excuse the backsplash disaster going on below.  We removed the original tiles and are going to change it up a bit once the counters are replaced.

Here's to checking off project #1.  Happy Sunday!

All Better

I am so glad that our sweet girl is feeling better.  She was diagnosed with Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease.  Now, I know this is a fairly common childhood illness.  But could they not come up with a better name?  It just sounds horrible.

 All is well in the Newman house right now.  Praying little man does not get sick too.  

In other exciting news, Christopher and I are getting ready to start a few projects in our kitchen.  Its been too long since we have worked on something together - and since we have so much free time between working full time jobs and taking care of two little people in diapers we thought now is as good of time as any. haha.

On our abbreviated "we-have-a-sick-child" anniversary date Sunday night, we came up with our kitchen game plan.  I'm excited.

7 Years!

Christopher and I have been married seven years today.  We have been blessed beyond measure during our years together.  We have shared five different addresses together.  Which means lots of moving.  I think we will stay a while in the house we are in now.  The biggest blessing has been the addition of our two sweet children.  Love our life together as a family.

To celebrate, we stayed up nearly all night last night with our 2 year old who has been feeling terrible and cried every 45 minutes.  All night long. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Half Birthday

My lil man turned 6 months old on Saturday.  Happy "half" birthday Chase. 

He weighed 17 lbs at the doctor yesterday and his two bottom teeth are both coming in.  Bananas are by far his favorite food.  We have started letting him and Ash take their baths together at night which is so much fun.  He loves his big sister.  As in, his whole face lights up when he sees her.

He makes me want to have one more.

Maybe.

It's A New Year

I meant to write this post a few days ago but time just got away from me.  Happy 2012.  We started the new year off by hosting our annual New Year's Eve Party - Casino Night Style.  So much fun.

Once upon a time, we worked on projects around our house.  Maybe we will do something soon.  I am having visions of new countertops and some open shelves in the kitchen.  Possibly inspired by this picture. 

Here is what my husband made this weekend.  Out of playdough.  Thanks to Aunt Marci for Christopher's - uh, er, I mean Ashlyn's fun Christmas gift.

 I started Chase on solid foods a few days ago.  He has had bananas, sweet potatoes, squash and rice cereal.  I did not follow the "wait three days in between new foods" rule.  But so far so good.  

He loves to eat.  And drool and smile and watch his big sister run circles around the living room.

Hope your new year is off to a great start!