paint and other goings on around here lately

our life in iphone and real camera photos: 

a perfectly sized baby.

always looking straight at the camera. such a smart cookie.

thursday mommy & baby play/prayer time...with donuts, always. 

go make this chicken pot pie with this crust now! you're welcome.

let's just keep him in his bath robe like always. 

weekends with baby are always an adventure.

we now have 8 different grays on our wall and i think we're going with the first set, wouldn't you know it. someone here is picky. also, i think i've been wearing that shirt for 5 days straight.

a no-makeup, still-in-my-pajamas, snuggling-with-this-one kind of day. i'll take it.

for your wednesday

i can't help myself. it's all i can do to edit down my photos, so i can't be held responsible for over posting of this little man. because, oh gosh, couldn't you just eat him?

it's impossible to tell in any of the photos i've taken but his eyes are still a smoky blue. other than that, the eng is strong with this one and has been since day one. however, i have lately started seeing more loverboy in him. (i mean look at that forehead!) so that's good too. especially his one pointy little left ear. that's my favorite.

this post is mainly to say that how this baby is right now at this very second is perfect and i want him to stay this way for ever. not really...but yes, really. no, i'm not serious. but sort of. he is the perfect little watermelon for me to hold. he's got heft, but not the way a six-month old has. those six-month-ers! man, they're like giants compared to this one!

also look at that wee chubby belly. yum.

off to whisper sweet secrets in his fuzzy ears. (itsy bitsy spider is a real rager right now.)

my summer has cute feet

well, we survived the summer solstice. and how did we celebrate? friday night we were...let's see...at home, yawning at 9 p.m. because it was the longest day of the year, obviously.

actually, midsummer nearly passed us by completely. i only knew about it when i saw a post on facebook about it while nursing Wilder at midnight. so, that's how embarrassingly out of it we are.

i know it's summer because i keep seeing photos on the internet of people swimming. oh, and i bought some shorts for the first time in years in anticipation of the beach next month. but, as this baby and i are sticking out the heat inside (and because he sleeps like all day long!), summer might as well be a myth right now. it's kind of sad, since there's so many things i love about summer: tan lines, watermelon, ice cream, popsicles, the beach, flipflops...i'm sort of living vicariously through instagram (ok that's actually sad).

but these are the days, my friends. these are the days. the days of overwhelmingly uneventful quotidien in a season of enrapturing baby smiles and tiny, scrunching, delicious baby toes. every moment i'm reminded of the fleeting preciousness of these days. and i'm continually pulling my inner eyelids up so i can take. it. all. in.

now that i've more or less figured out this whole baby must sleep all the time schedule, the weekdays have been reduced to feeding, waking, sleeping schedules and worrying about what to eat for dinner and whether or not i should get around to finally unpacking the rest of the boxes in the guest room (or close the door and pretend that room doesn't exist). everyday has become so mundanely routine. i even have a cleaning schedule.

it's like my whole life has been building up to this: vacuuming and sweeping and making goo goo faces at a baby.

and on the weekends, we test out paint chips on the walls and periodically check to see that the neighbors' all-weekend-long party is still going on (i just realized what they must have been celebrating).

my days feel so gosh darn full and like i couldn't possibly fit anything else in (certainly not cooking dinner). and at the same time, it seems like all i do is dance around my living room with a baby like a drunken ballerina and maaaaaybe clean something.

most of the time i am pinching myself to see if it's for real. i mean seriously. who lives this way? i know it sounds so dull, but it's sort of fantastic. in a don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it and yet-ive-become-obsessed with-cleaning-up-this-house kind of way. so there you have my dilemmas. to vacuum or not to vacuum.

it's sometimes agonizing how little is getting done around here in the making this house a home
department, but at the same time i'd be happy to let it all go. because there's a baby here who has just the most delicious open-mouthed, toothless, scrunch-nosed grins you could possibly see. if i could just keep him awake all day and spend all our minutes together mirroring every last smile, i would still not have spent enough time doing it. giant balls of lars' fur under the sofa and unpainted walls be darned.

and then there's how fast time is going by. it's summer already? last week was a blur. a blip. a fingersnap of first baby babbles and feet discoveries and tummy time fails. i actually felt pretty proud of myself for stripping the wallpaper off in our kitchen (all thanks to my awesome friend Shelley!) and making dinner one night.

of course, sometimes things don't look so rosy. usually around lunchtime on sunday when the baby is screaming in his car seat, there is nothing in the fridge, and fast food is the name of the game. then i regret that i can't do it all and that even though it seem like we're doing nothing, there's no time for anything else. and then i go buy donuts. because donuts get you through when life is going too excruciatingly fast/slow for your being to comprehend.

i was really trying to make this post make sense. i blame it on the solstice.

now for the important stuff:

notes from wiley bear

hi! my name is Wiley Bear and i am full of smiles these days! i also have discovered my hands — strange things those. can't quite figure out what they're doing there, but they sure need watching. i started talking a little last friday, but mostly i like to smile and hiccup. and sometimes stare at my feet.

one last thing: there is something large and black and white in this house. it barks at the ups man and even howled at papa the other morning, even though mom said it was the silent type. i'm not sure what it is, but it's kinda smelly. 

happy friday! 

Lars and The Wood Floor

this is a video of our lars doggie. he is pretty funny always, but he is especially funny on the wood floors of this new house. please to enjoy...if you like that kind of thing.

a sweet, blue weekend

our weekend in iphone photos: 

for some reason i have a hankering for soda these days. this boy is impossibly cute.

it's a date at lowes for some supplies.

saturday night we tested paint on our walls. talk about a wild and crazy night!

i might need a donut intervention. also, i totally killed it on the father's day present. just sayin' ;) 

i dub this the summer of blue.

my best boy.

coconut milk ice cream is where it's at (for another month at least). 

this weekend we practiced trying to fit a baby's nap schedule into all the things we had to do. mostly, we just didn't nap and the grownups ate lots of sugar. it was nice to celebrate our Papa Bear with a gift and time together on Sunday, even though it always feels like not enough. honestly i can't remember what else we did. it's all a blur of too little sleep and too many (never!) donuts. 

first father's day

these are still some of my favorite photos of Wilder with his Papa. these two together. they pull my heart strings out.

baby and i found ourselves awake extra early Sunday morning so we went and picked up some donuts for a father's day treat (and let's be honest, a mama's treat, too).

ever since we bought a house our to-do list has been miles long. miles i tell you. and so every weekend i feel like the crazyness comes to a head and i want to leave civilization behind and go live in a tent somewhere. (be it somewhere cool and humidity free where bugs go to die.) this past weekend was no different (mentally at least, even if we didn't get too much done...again), but we did manage to sneak in a little papa-son time for some extra cuddles Sunday afternoon, so that was nice.

this Papa Bear is really the best one around, and i'm so thankful and happy that Wilder has such a great father. he is a lucky boy. and i can already tell he's a little in awe of his Papa. for me, the best part of every weekend is watching them together. they rock my world. they do.

happy father's day to the best Papa! 

a little saturday movie

last saturday we made a little movie of our anniversary brunch and antiquing shenanigans. 

it's real wild and crazy. 

;)

*the music in the movie is Cuddle Party by Sirrus

five years

upon the eve of the fifth anniversary of our young and tender nuptials, we went to our friday night small group with our baby in the suburbs of atlanta. the in-laws were there. as were a few other friends. it wasn't about us. it was about the last meeting of our small group because some of our members are moving. we ended the night with a five-second, whispered tête-à-tête in the bathroom before bed. you know, so as not to wake the baby. (and no, that is not innuendo for something else. gee whiz!) something about — we've made it this far, let's give it another go. so, as anniversaries go, it was obviously quite the big deal. i even bought a card - and then didn't have time to write anything in it.

but come on! five years! that deserves some kind of acclamation! traditionally, we do not give each other gifts for our anniversary. i'm not sure who started that. i guess we agreed by tacit consent in the way of not getting each other gifts our first year. i'm pretty sure we spent the money on sushi instead. but according to the internet, i could have scored something wooden this year. or some silverware, because, you know, that's similar. so now i know where things went wrong. i should never have allowed us to be traditionally untraditional. i could have been getting gifts all this time! who comes up with these traditions anyways? i also sure wish i'd known about this before tonight because i could really use some better silverware. but if we can make it another five years, it appears i might be in for some tin. which...better not end in foil, if you're reading this husband. the internet also says instead of tin you can give me diamonds. (what?? i'll take it!)

so. five years. another thing that's hard to believe.

let me tell you a story:

we have the antitestimony to the picture perfect marriage. maybe you don't know that because you've only seen us through this blog, but the truth is, it isn't always pretty. i can be mean and ornery and it turns out i'm the most impatient person in the whole world. yes, it's true. probably loverboy should get a medal or something for sticking with me this far. i won't say "and vice versa" because that'd be mean and because then i probably wouldn't qualify for a medal. man, so many rules.

speaking of rules, we're really bad at following them. for instance, the date night rule. we've never had a standing date night. and here's the truth on that: our date nights do not hardly ever never go as planned. they subscribe to the bat from Anastasia rule on a regular basis — tell me that's your favorite line too? i mean, really good date nights are sort of like a unicorn. if we've planned something in advance, i guarantee you it will only end in tears.

what i've learned about marriage is that it's real challenging. we are (i am) selfish and intolerant, not to mention flawed as all get out. and darnitall, it's hard to love those flaws. that is why i'm so thankful to know a God who is love. only God could love us human beings enough to keep us around, save us and want to live inside of us. and only with His love can we really love each other. i mean, really.

over the past few days i've been considering what these five years have been and what lies in store for us, and praying for that kind of love to fill up my love. i want Jason to feel really, really loved. not just for a moment or a nice date night. i want a love that is kind, patient, does not seek its own things...a love that never falls away. otherwise i might not get any tin. i mean, obviously that's the incentive.

and because this post is already long and sort of rambling and also not smushy enough, let's end on a love note:

dear loverboy,

i love your goofiness. even when it annoys me. i love the way you talk to our baby son - and the father you are. i love the terribly silly way you dance, because i know it means you are comfortable with me. i love holding your hand. i love that you've been going to work early so you can come home earlier to us. i love your mix tapes. i love the intense way you talk about your topics. even when i zone out (sorry!). i love your fix-it-manliness. and i think you're pretty sexy. you are the sunshine to my moon. the burger to my fries. the sauce to my spaghetti. the cheese to my whine;) let's never fight again and live happily ever after.

xx,
B

two months old already, someone please stop the clock

this weekend was a momentous, but strangely uneventful weekend. or maybe it just seemed that way because the ratio of things to-do to things done is horribly huge and undiminishing. and apparently undiminishing isn't a real word. we tried to do some things (i think?), but the weekend always goes by too fast, and then you're still left with a huge long list of things that didn't get done. and oh, maybe half a thing crossed off. however, of dates to mark, there were two big ones over here: loverboy and i's five-year anniversary was on friday and our baby boy turned two months on sunday. can you believe it? two whole months. that is nonsense.

i know it's total cheese balls and probably super boring for everyone else to hear, but i'm still in complete awe of this babe. i. just. can't. believe. he's. real. like, really. i can't believe it. whenever i go out with him, and people are looking at us (well, him really), i have this constant slight paranoia that they don't believe he's mine. i think it's because i don't believe it myself. he's just too wonderful. how is it possible? every time i look at him, i mean really look, i start to drool. seriously, this boy is yummy. last night as i was going to bed, i had to shine my phone light in his face as he was lying in his bassinet (i know, i know, mean mommy) just to make sure he was still there and still breathing. ever since he's started going to bed at 7 or 8 i really miss him by the time i go to bed around 11. it's like a missing limb or something. but in a non-creepy kind of way;)

and so, to commemorate the two month mark, Wilder got his first shot today. yay:/ of course it was horrible, but he was a total champ and didn't cry as much as i thought he would.

i promise i'm not going to give you a laundry list of everything he's thinking, doing, eating and pooping, because i know you'd probably toss your computer across the room, BUT this one thing you'll want to know — over the past couple of weeks he's been super smiley. it's the darned cutest thing you've ever laid eyes on. just so you know. see, told you it was important. but he also totally knows my phone is a camera and is trying to steal his soul, and so i don't have much proof of his smiles. so here's another look that i still can't get enough of:

dear Wiley Bear, please stop growing up so fast.
love,
your mama

iphone photos + happy weekend!

our life in iphone photos:

so great to see friends visiting for the Memorial Day Conference! 

a regular pro at tummy time. and i need some sun on those feet!

snuggly bear. top left going in my all-time favorite photos folder 

playing in the mirror. he was really digging it a second before the camera came out.

bathtime babies and sleepy babies. they are they best.

getting me through these tough, not-quite-moved-in-yet days.

today is loverboy and i's five-year anniversary so we plan to do the new parent thing and go out to brunch in the morning tomorrow with W, since morning is usually when he's at his best...fingers crossed that we make it through! 

hope you have a merry weekend! 

xx

homeowning/in the south/suburbia is here

so, this is from a few weeks ago. mother's day to be exact. i'm not sure how we ever got grown up enough to be homeowners, but it's happening. i'm not completely sold on the location of our house (hello, suburbia!), but loverboy says that it all depends on our perspective and it will be what we make it. he's right, of course. but then i also think that it's easier to make lemonade when the lemons you are handed are nice, big, pretty lemons (à la california or some other non-bug eaten, humid times a thousand, where the heck am i address;). no, but seriously, we are living in the sticks! okay, okay, i'll stop complaining, because yes, it really is what you make it and i am determined (as of this moment) to bring the party to this dirty little corner of the South. Keep Lilburn Cool and all that.

i have to say, loverboy has been quite the studly stud lately, mowing the lawn, fixing doorknobs and washing cars and stuff. we are serious about this little house in the burbs life...apparently.

you may have seen my instagram of a garage full of boxes. well, believe it or not, i have actually unpacked most of them. oh, what's that? loud applause? yes, well, okay, it was a huge feat of heroic effort, so thanks (pats self on back) (don't mind if i do). it was not easy to coordinate unpacking (and packing for austin) and naptimes with a fussy newborn. let's just say there might have been an inordinate amount of Chik-fil-A involved.

so, we've been going nonstop lately (except during our 3 daily naps of course;), moving and then my brother's wedding and then last weekend the Memorial Day Conference was here in Atlanta. i didn't make it to any meetings, but i did get to drive the hour-long (!) drive to the hotel where the conference was held downtown to visit some friends, so that was fun. we also had our first visitors over! no pictures because our place is still half-empty. or really, mostly empty. 

i'm thankful that our refrigerator finally made it into the kitchen after two weeks in the garage and our kitchen is finally fully unpacked so we can begin to eat real food. i'm really thankful for friends who bring over muffins and fresh flowers. and i'm thankful that my baby is finally learning to nap during the day.

...and for my next trick, i will make all these Georgia bugs disappear :/