We had a killer weekend of doing NOTHING!!! It was so great! The Garlic Festival was in town and we happen to live on the busiest corner of town for that event. We didn't use our car once all weekend, stayed home and watched movies, cleaned house, and Megan and I did some baking. It was a wonderful time!

Here are a few pictures of the kids playing...well Megan singing and dancing in front of James and James laughing and thinking she is loony! He really loves her. I really love them.

That is all for now.

James is 6 Months Old!!!

My adorable little man turned 6 months today. Talk about time flying by! He is really the sweetest little baby ever, his current favorite things are grabbing whatever you have in your hand, making ooooohhh sounds when you pat his mouth so he sounds like a cartoon Indian, and flipping from his back to his belly and back to his back again. He can sit up on his own for a few seconds but falls over when he sees something interesting. In the last month we have successfully sleep trained him, well in the since that we lay him down awake and he goes to bed by himself, he still gets up a few times a night wanting to eat and I nurse him twice a night, but I am ok with that. He very well could be my last child and I want to enjoy all the baby stuff. He loves kisses and peek a boo...I guess I could go on and on but I'll leave it at that for now. I love him, I love him, I love him!

He went for his 6 month check up today here are his stats!

18 lbs 7 oz.
28 1/2" tall

I took some pictures....

Thanks to everyone for the occasional pointers...I have been working out my camera here and there and still have much more studying to do...but here are a few of my recent favorites.

It's Monday again...

I have come to dislike Monday's, I don't have to head off to work but my husband does and I would much rather have him home with me and the kiddos.

We had a nice weekend of not much going on but I have a feeling those weekends will soon disappear if we end up buying Grandmas house. That is the source of lots of nerves this week...and dreaming...I keep picturing how I would paint/decorate the inside, colors to paint the outside and designs for the back yard. Images of the kids running in the sprinklers in the summer time, trick-or-treaters in the fall and Christmas lights on the house in the winter have me getting way too excited for something that is not a sure thing...but would I be a normal woman if I didn't get excited about those prospects?

Here are a few of my ideas....

Paint the house like this
This laundry room is cute AND functional!

I love how clean and open this bathroom feels...that would work for me for sure!



Ok so that is only some of the ideas/dreams I have for the house I am not sure we will be able to get...but it doesn't hurt to dream!

On to other things...

So what is on the agenda today...Megan has her first day of Kidz camp and I hope she has fun. They will be doing crafts, learning to cook and playing with other kids in her age group...not to mention she will be there from 9 to noon all week so she wont get so sick of Momma and her brother! Next on the list...laundry and clean bathrooms, I know oh what fun but a clean house puts me in a good mood. Oh then I have to make the menu for the week, I find that if I skip this stage we end up eating really bad all week long...not too bad...hopefully I actually do it!

Well until later I guess that is all! I am off to do chores!

Dinner Last Night

Can you say yummy! We finally have a cheeseburger I LOVE!!! I wish I had made the buns myself but that is a project for another day. French Fries are homemade though...super crispy on the outside, flaky on the inside. The trick is like the Foodnetwork stars say, first fry to cook, second to crisp!

What a yummy dinner! By the way this is my husbands burger, mine was more petite and ladylike!

Meet the Green Chili, Bacon and Swiss burger!

Sleep training!

Well we are on day one of sleep training James. We started last night at 7:15, put him down awake after our newly reestablished bedtime routine. He cried (not crazy crying more like fussing) for about 40 min with us going in to check on him every 10 min or so. He passed out, woke up at 10ish fussed for maybe 2 min and went back to sleep. Since we are nighttime weaning as well I woke him up at 10: 15 and 2:15 for nursing and back to sleep he went until 6:15! We have a schedule for nighttime weaning and soon hopefully he will be sleeping without nursing or getting up! I am happy this is finally working after to failed attempts at sleep training. We are reading The Sleep Easy Solution, you can find more information at http://www.sleepyplanet.com/products/sleepeasy_book.php.

Well that is all for now...updates later on how this goes! I'll leave you with a adorable picture from one of James' previous naps!

My Best Shot

Well my favorite best shot would better describe this. This shot was taken in May of last year, I was newly pregnant and was happy to have the energy to go out for a little hike with my Husband and daughter. I love this picture for so many reasons. Firstly I think it is great how much Mike loves Megan, not many men can be great Step Fathers and he is! Secondly I love the backdrop...you cant beat a misty forest!

Let The Bread Baking Begin

I have started a new project...bread! I started out wanting to make some yummy french toast and was never happy with the Texas Toast sold in stores and wanted to make my own...so this is where I started. It was fun and super yummy! I made the braid below last night, it was very easy and I love the rich taste. I am thinking it would be great to make croutons, bread pudding and so on.


Now I am going to move on to Brioche and Sourdough. The brioche shouldn't be a problem...I think...but I am worried about the Sourdough, I am going to go old fashioned and make a starter to hopefully keep for years (they can live indefinitely apparently) and it can take up to a week to get it ready for bread making. How cool is it to think that I could make bread for my Grandchildren out of the started I started when my children were little! I love that kind of stuff!

I plan on making the Brioche as soon as I get a Costco size box of butter! Pictures to follow!

Well wish me luck!

Photo Challenge: SEPIA

Sweet smiles...

James 5 Month Photos

I adore my son...he is just too cute for words...he as gotten very good at rolling around the living room, drooling and tearing glasses off your face. He holds his laughter in 90% of the time so when he does let loose it is addictive, I think baby laughs could cheer up the grumpiest of grumpy.

So here you are James Richard (aka. James James & Little James) 5 months!

Good or no good???

As I have mentioned I am thinking about doing more than just taking pictures of family. From what I understand step one is a portfolio, I am lucky enough to have adorable children and nieces so here I go. What do you think? I am learning about tweaking with software so its kind of fun! Helpful criticism is appreciated but don't be mean! :o)

I'm a slacker!

I cant say its been crazy here...but its be almost crazy!

I've been trying to get James on a schedule and am almost getting there...the key is to stay home so he can be down for a nap when its time and so on...but that is hard to do with other stuff to do and a 6 year old that gets bored being home. He is sleeping a lot better at night though, oh and he is in his room with his sister now. I find myself checking on him several times a night but all is well I just have to adjust. He seems to thrive on routine and doesn't do great when things switch up, that will make it difficult to do our 9 am workouts so I need to decide what is best for all of us.

I didn't work out all of June for one reason or another, first it was the last weeks of school and I was busy helping the teacher. James not sleeping at night (hints the schedule) so that didn't help motivate me. Then Megan and I wanted a break from getting up early the week after school was out. Then we weren't feeling well and so on and so on. I am starting a diet today as well as starting back to working out tomorrow. My goal is to make it though the month and see if I have lost any weight and if I am feeling well. If so I will continue down the same road...if not I will be in search for a more user friendly diet. I have a goal of loosing 50 pounds by this time next year...a pound a week...that isn't too bad right? I would be thrilled if that really happens...it will be hard work though, I am a food junkie and being home all the time I snack constantly. I will be following a diet found in a postpartum magazine for breast feeding mothers so we will see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Megan got bitten by a spider or something on Sunday...she had huge swollen bumps from them that continued to get worse each day, we went to the doctor who said to keep her out of the public pool until the sores closed up and was not able to finish her last week of swim lessons...huge bummer but she swims pretty great so oh well I guess. We will work on her strokes in our pool and just continue that stuff this summer. She has been pretty good since summer started, the relaxed schedule I guess helps her to be less mouthy/cranky.

I am thinking of making a more serious hobby of my photography. My sister is expecting her third girl in October and has asked me to take some maternity photos of her as well as some family and kid shots. I think I will start to build a portfolio and see if I have a eye for this kind of thing. I think it would be a great hobby turned into a part time job if all things work out. I'll post my stuff as things get moving. I have a lot to learn so it will be a work in progress.

So that is all for now...I know I missed a ton of stuff but I will be better...well I intend to!