Our Old House

We moved in May of 2008. Jack was only 2 and a half years old and yet he still calls our old house our "regular house." Any time we have to go over there to do any work or whatever (it is now a rental property for us), Jack says "mommy, are we going to our regular house?"

It is a great house in many ways and I do find myself missing the cul-de-sac with all the neighbor boys, the big window over the kitchen sink, and all the work we put into making it uniquely ours. But, we are in a much better school district now and have come to love our new neighbors (all have little girls!) and the floor plan of our new home.

I have been at the "regular" house for the past couple days getting it ready to re-rent and took some pictures for the brochures...and then thought, I should post them here so that we can look at them years from now and clearly recall the house that Warren and Jack were born in -- well they were actually born in the hospital but you know what I mean!

{A charming 1800 sq ft ranch style was our first place. We bought it right out of college when we were both 23}

{The "great" room, with some built in features, ceiling fan, and hard wood floors. It is wide open with the kitchen...}

{...my old kitchen, with a huge armoir style fridge, gas range, and recessed lights. See the pendant lights that I picked out and Bryan installed for me?}

{We installed built-ins in all the bedroom closets for organization. We didn't know how much it would come in handy with two babies in less than two years!}

{Bryan finished the basement when I was pregnant with Warren, bringing the square footage up to 2500. We decided on some cool low voltage lights and put in a large bedroom and bathroom down there -- perfect guest quarters!}


{And we invested in a large storage shed, painted to match the house. As well as air conditioning...it was very hot the summer we moved in and the house originally didn't have an air conditioner, yikes!}

{And I can't forget the deck that Bryan and his dad, Grandpa John, built. It is a trex deck, so no splinters and no painting, plus it is all green and environmentally friendly since it is made from recycled plastic.}

{I do miss the mature landscaping, including this enormous globed willow in the backyard. Bryan also lined the fences with Aspen trees and put in a large sandbox for the kids.}


That's about it. Now we just have to find another renter who will enjoy it and take good care :)

Birthday Fun, Brother-Style

A love affair,

with www.etsy.com.

I love this website. It is awesome. If you haven't ever checked it out, you really must. It is primarily people who use etsy to host their own web-based store to sell their handmade, homemade, unique goodness to the public. The browsing possibilities are endless and I have found some adorable jewelry, art, and now....



Check out the birth announcement I just fell in love with to use for Nolan! It is from purple daisy press on etsy and you pay the lady just $14 and she creates it for you then sends you back the digital file for you to make as many prints of as you need at your favorite photoprinting outlet! So affordable and easy.

I can't wait until I can actually put the order it ;)

Warren's First...

...snow day!!

THERE WILL BE NO SCHOOL TODAY FOR STUDENTS DUE TO PENDING ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS. Non-essential personnel DO NOT HAVE TO REPORT TO WORK TODAY.



Hooray! It doesn't look too bad out there yet but Denver is known to get massive dumps of snow in late March, so we'll see. Warren is still asleep since we had company for dinner last night and he got to stay up later than normal. I can't wait for him to wake up and see the snow on the ground!

Smitten as a Kitten

~Objects of Affection~

Our family is head over heels over the Denver Children's Museum. I have taken the boys every Monday for 5 weeks straight and we have yet to be bored or disappointed. We paint, dance, dress-up, role-play, put on puppet shows, explore, learn (shhhh, sometimes I learn more than the boys), interact with other kids, shoot hoops, aaahhh it is exhausting just listing all there is to do.

{Sweet little puppeteers}



{Jack is the dress-up "king"}


{a neighbor friend who came along to the museum this week...looks like someone might be smitten with more than just the museum...}


And on a completely unrelated topic:

{the man I am smitten with, along with the gadget he is smitten with}

Breakfast Buddies

Our table seats 8, and yet these two little monkeys squeezed into one chair this morning for breakfast. Practically alternating sitting on each other's laps.

I swear, judging from this picture you would never know that I spend a significant portion of my day playing referee to break up their squabbles.

Summer Scenes

Nothing conjures up summer like a row of Lighting McQueen (seriously on sale at Target!!) crocs and a tent in the background:



Or how about a little boy that fell fast asleep on the ottoman in the playroom, two hours before bedtime, with chocolate on his face, too tuckered out from spending hours outside in the sunshine:



And you know that summer is near when you get to go to an outdoor birthday party and none other than Darth Vader makes a guest appearance:



Oh yes, Summer is fast approaching when the Easter Bunny becomes topical. I am thinking that little bunny will be bringing Warren his very own age-appropriate camera, so he can relinquish my camera to strictly my use. Don't get me wrong, he has become very adept at using it...just look at his self portrait that happened when he was turning it off last night. Hey, they say art is spontaneous, right? :)

Halfway!!

I am actually a little over halfway, but just felt like taking another belly picture. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to actually get a picture in the bathroom mirror with both my face and belly in the frame, seriously try it sometime...

So, here it is from both sides. It is still a cute little belly, but it won't stay this way for long. I am not yet in the maternity clothes - holding out with my two bella bands and longer shirts and tanks. It is funny because I really was excited to get my two crates of maternity out, thinking I had all this cute stuff. Yeah, not so much. They are just not flattering at all but are a necessary evil from the 6th month on.




Oh, and here is my new watch!! I love it! I had been wanting an oversized white watch and while we were in Cancun, I spotted this one in the gift shop at our resort. I showed it to Bryan and he definitely agreed that a mom of three boys should have a Caterpillar brand watch :) I didn't even know they made watches. It was a little bit more expensive than I would have preferred to spend on a watch so it is my early mother's day gift.

pint sized

You might think that I would be very patient and calm this third time around waiting for our son's arrival, but that is just not so. I am anxious and excited and very impatient to meet our little Nolan, even though we still have almost four months to go. I actually got out some newborn onesies and washed them, just to have them handy and available for me to gaze at and marvel at just how tiny they are.

Here they are next to Daddy's Blackberry for reference. Wow. I look at my now three and four year old boys and just simply can't believe they started out able to fit in these little getups.



Oh, and we have officially decided on his full name: Nolan Patrick Lawson!!!

He is named after my great-grandma Nola Campbell (my dad's maternal Grandma) and my Grandma Patti Sue Garrison (my mom's mother). Did I mention that I adore family names ;)

We are so excited to have a baby in the house again!

A Bromantic Reunion

The boys were SO happy to see each other this morning. We met up with Grandma Caryl and Jack at McDonalds and they played at the play area for an hour solid. I caught this picture of them "catching up" on the slide. They had so much to tell each other it was so funny to watch and listen to them.




Yeah, Jack is back! While it is much easier with just one, there is always a feeling that something is missing.

One

Every once in a great while, we somehow end up with only one kid and have the priveledge of spending one on one time with one lucky little boy. This time it was Warren's turn.

First we went to feed the ducks, which was great except for the occasional angry hissing goose in the mix:



Then the guys went racing:




Finally, we hung and swung and climbed around an indoor jungle gym:



And the day was concluded by all three of us laying in bed, watching Mr. Rogers and feeling very tired and content with our fun outing. But, we can't wait for Jack to come back home. It's just not the same without him around :)

the very full caterpillar

We stayed home today. All day. I was going to take the boys to the library and get the oil changed in my car, but alas, a certain 4 year old's behavior after I picked him up from his well-behaved morning at preschool prevented us from venturing out.

So, in between finishing laundry and other equally stimulating chores, we played little games.

Like I would write a letter on a piece of paper and then Warren would use these great markers that my aunt Shelli got him to trace over the letter. These markers are so cool, kind of like bingo markers :)



Then we got out the hungry caterpillar puzzle and put it together. The best part is that after the puzzle is done, the boys sat on the floor for 30 minutes putting all of the stick-ons on the puzzle. They were nicely taking turns feeding the caterpillars all the picnic food until they were quite content that the caterpillar was very full.



So, I just grilled salmon for dinner and we ate an early supper since Bryan is having a dinner meeting. And going to bed early sounds good too. Tomorrow is another day that may or may not consist of getting my oil changed.

Babymoon 2009

Ahhh...just back from what I am calling our Babymoon in Cancun, just 'cause it rhymes and I am a dork like that. Our trip went a little something like this:

Waking up at the crack of dawn on Thursday to catch our 8 am flight.

Then arriving to the never-boring sight of turquoise blue expanse of ocean outside:



And a very impressive bathtub inside our luxury hotel room:



Bryan immediately "got his guac on":



And then we proceeded to get ridiculously sun-burned and sleep more in three days than I probably have in weeks. We had to put our best faces forward for one fancy dinner, though. I slathered on the aloe and we were off:




We received the very sad news on Saturday that my beloved Grandma passed away that morning. I am putting together a special post to commemorate her for later this week. She was an amazing woman, mother to 6 children, grandmother to 11, and great-grandmother to 4 (with two more on the way). To say that she successfully passed on a legacy is such an understatement. She is loved, and missed terribly.

Pure Concentration

Warren has been asking quite frequently for me to get him some "homework." So, I happily oblige and tear out several sheets from one of the many preschool workbooks we have and let him have his choice of writing utensil(s).

He steadily goes to work and is very focused on the task at hand. I left him to it today while I folded some laundry and when I walked back through the room he was in I just had to run and get my camera:



The tongue...the pencil...too cute! My studious little man ;)

I LOVE...

...candles. Some people have them in their house in decorative things, never to be actually burned. Not me. Generally, if I am home, there is a candle burning. I love how they can change the mood of my house, the lighting, the fragrances.

I like all kinds and look for sales all the time at Bath and Body Works, but have been known to fill my staple holders with cheapies from any superstore.

Here are some of my favorite candle holders in my house: