Here is a video--a long one--of Cameron opening his present from Grandma Merrill. His birthday is coming up and I suppose there is no harm in letting him have some now!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Being a Stay at Home Mom
I have been thinking a lot lately how much I love staying home with Cameron. While it could seem awful to be between the same four walls 90% of my life, it's not bad when this is where my work and life is. I love being a stay at home mother because:
-I get to sleep in a bit later (usually about 8 or 8:30, 9 on good days)
-I get to read lots of books
-I get to enjoy my decor and my house that I spend lots of time caring for, every day.
-I have time (although not a lot still) for hobbies and crafts again
-I have time to spend nurturing my relationships with others, not just with Cam and Tyler, but with all my family and friends.
-There is a great support system of other SAHMs and kids
-My house is in order; I have time to make sure this is so, everything from budgeting, food storage, a clean house, to being sure we are always getting the best possible deal on things we need.
-My life feels in balance.
-My family is happy: Tyler is happy to have a happy wife and happy child, all more easily done since I am at home.
-Having a child with you all the time allows you to re-enter the joy and innocence of childhood again yourself.
-I find myself smiling and being happy a lot.
-Little things are big things again.
-I have a friend around all the time. I went shopping yesterday without Tyler or Cameron (I wanted a break) and I actually didn't have much fun being without my little buddy; I really enjoy taking him with me places.
-Cameron makes me treat every day special since I know he is growing so fast and I won't ever get this time with him back again.
-How could you not love spending your days with someone you love so much you think your heart will burst???
-I get to sleep in a bit later (usually about 8 or 8:30, 9 on good days)
-I get to read lots of books
-I get to enjoy my decor and my house that I spend lots of time caring for, every day.
-I have time (although not a lot still) for hobbies and crafts again
-I have time to spend nurturing my relationships with others, not just with Cam and Tyler, but with all my family and friends.
-There is a great support system of other SAHMs and kids
-My house is in order; I have time to make sure this is so, everything from budgeting, food storage, a clean house, to being sure we are always getting the best possible deal on things we need.
-My life feels in balance.
-My family is happy: Tyler is happy to have a happy wife and happy child, all more easily done since I am at home.
-Having a child with you all the time allows you to re-enter the joy and innocence of childhood again yourself.
-I find myself smiling and being happy a lot.
-Little things are big things again.
-I have a friend around all the time. I went shopping yesterday without Tyler or Cameron (I wanted a break) and I actually didn't have much fun being without my little buddy; I really enjoy taking him with me places.
-Cameron makes me treat every day special since I know he is growing so fast and I won't ever get this time with him back again.
-How could you not love spending your days with someone you love so much you think your heart will burst???
Nat's Birthday Party
For all of you who would like to see how Natalie's birthday party turned out, look no further! I know the suspense has been killing you all!
Here's the birthday girl, the big 21 year old, standing next to all her presents and made from scratch triple chocolate cheesecake! YUM! The guest list included me, Tyler, Cameron, Nat and her friend Rachel.
After a pasta and rolls birthday dinner, Natalie dug into the presents...
And after she was finished, Cameron dug into them too! I must say she got some great presents! They were all very nice and thoughtful. (Um, I put those panties around Cameron's neck. And they're not a thong, no worries.)
Next we had the traditional singing and blowing out of the candles. The cheesecake was really good, if I do say so myself. But like all cheesecakes, it was heavy and rich, so even after giving a quarter to Natalie and giving bits away to whoever came over, it still took us a while to finish it.
All in all, a successful party. Lots of fun and food for everyone!
"Happy Birthday Aunt Natalie!"
Here's the birthday girl, the big 21 year old, standing next to all her presents and made from scratch triple chocolate cheesecake! YUM! The guest list included me, Tyler, Cameron, Nat and her friend Rachel.
After a pasta and rolls birthday dinner, Natalie dug into the presents...
And after she was finished, Cameron dug into them too! I must say she got some great presents! They were all very nice and thoughtful. (Um, I put those panties around Cameron's neck. And they're not a thong, no worries.)
Next we had the traditional singing and blowing out of the candles. The cheesecake was really good, if I do say so myself. But like all cheesecakes, it was heavy and rich, so even after giving a quarter to Natalie and giving bits away to whoever came over, it still took us a while to finish it.All in all, a successful party. Lots of fun and food for everyone!
"Happy Birthday Aunt Natalie!"
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Welcome to my home
In an effort to ignore the election results and avoid talking about how upset I am, I am going to do an Online Open House! I took these pictures over a month ago and have been waiting for the perfect occasion such as now to post them. So if you too would like to ignore/forget what is coming our way, read this post and it will afford you at least 5 minutes of trivial thought.
We live in a small two bedroom, one bath apartment. Sometimes I realize how small the space really is--funny, since I haven't lived in anything much bigger in years! I must be itching to get into at least a 3 bedroom. AT LEAST something with a washer/dryer and dishwasher, all conveniences we are without here. But I shouldn't complain, the rent is good and internet, gas, and about 15 channels of cable all come free with it. Also, it is clean and in good shape, and maintenance is super quick if you have an issue! And the grounds are beautiful and very well maintained; there are trees everywhere and lots of large fields of grass. You'll notice outside all our three windows there is a tree--I really enjoy this, especially after living in a basement. So here we go!
That is our front door you see here. (I have since added a nice Degas poster on that blank wall.) The door next to it is our only real storage closet which also happens to house our furnace. But you should see how packed that thing is! And the hooks on the outside of the door mean I am not picking up all of Tyler's 10 sweaters/jackets everyday--a real convenience. You can see our office tucked away in the corner of the main room here. I did a post a while back on our little office, of which I am still proud of, and so I will not show it here again.
These next pictures show the front room. As you can see, I am a big fan (and I like to think expert) on making rooms function as many mini functional areas. You have to when space is limited! For example, this one main room acts as our office, tv/lounge area, library, dining area, and media storage. And of course, a play area also and three nights a week a gym! Toys and cheerios on the floor are with the compliments of Cameron. Some of you may thing the room looks chaotic and eclectic, but then I say "thanks!" because it was my intention to do something out of the ordinary and very busy. I had a lot of fun doing it and love it. The stranger I can make things look, the more I like it. You can see our little kitchen in the back here, so let's move to that room!
This is our kitchen with the whole 10 square feet of counter space. But we make it work! In the last picture of our front room you can see the square table that acts as a counter space also. (That table has since had a little addition of bubble wrap taped to the sharp corners to keep little heads from getting bashed. It also now permanently has Cameron's booster seat and chair at it as well as feeds were starting to get too messy for the carpet.) Two other features I like about our kitchen is that (you can't see it) there are two very large and deep shelves above the fridge (fridge is to the left of the rug) and there is space above the cupboards. I love putting decor above cupboards! Also the cupboards snap shut and so Cameron hasn't figured out how to open them yet. A big plus.
Now we go down our hallway to the rest of the house.
The door on the right leads to our teeny tiny bathroom. No storage in here, but I think I have made the space work well for us. We have a "shoe pocket" hanger on the back of the door to hold our toiletries and a wooden crate on the top of the toilet acts as a shelf for towels and a small speaker set where we plug in our ipods. Also, I have managed to fit a laundry basket under the sink, behind which is stashed toilet paper. Especially now I am glad I always go with a very neutural, natural pallet for bathrooms (it's a rule of mine) because a little too much could look like way too much in such a tiny space. And while I like that look most other places, not in a bathroom. A bathroom must have a relaxing feel.
The door on the left leads to Cameron's room. I also keep my clothes in here but luckily you won't have to see the closets in either room because while they are surprisingly neat, no inch is wasted. I really like Cameron's room. It is hard to have a room for a boy that doesn't bore with just blue and neutrals like tan and brown. At least that's how I feel. When looking for a crib set I wasn't thrilled by any of the ones for boys until I saw this Alphabet Soup set that had all kinds of colors in it. I definitely love color and Tyler said it wasn't girly so we got it. Good purchase and definitely the splurge of the room. In fact, the three peice furniture set cost just as much, compliments of Wal Mart! One other thing that worked our very well for Cam's room is that besides the three colored totes in the changing table ($5 each) I didn't have to buy a thing! I already had everything and it ended up coordinating very well. Oh, well, I guess I did buy the brown roman shade to keep the west sun out, but that was also a steal, only $20! I'd like to say Cameron loves playing in here but mostly he likes playing under my feet and I am not very often in here!
Now for my room, the one at the end of the hall. I absolutely LOVE my bedspread and am so glad I got it because it makes the room and I don't have to do much else to it. (Another splurge I am glad I made.) Unfortunately our room is the smaller room so things are squished a bit. Also, as you see above, our room also gets to double as the linen room--we got to move the linen shelf in here to keep Cameron from pulling everything off! I have tried to make the room very symmetrical and calm as both those things are good sleep hygiene. I also try to keep the pallet in here natural and organic feeling. For my birthday we were going to make a picket fence headboard but ran out of time and money--eventually we'll do it!
Well, thank you for coming to my online open house! I hope it took your mind off of the future for a few minutes!
We live in a small two bedroom, one bath apartment. Sometimes I realize how small the space really is--funny, since I haven't lived in anything much bigger in years! I must be itching to get into at least a 3 bedroom. AT LEAST something with a washer/dryer and dishwasher, all conveniences we are without here. But I shouldn't complain, the rent is good and internet, gas, and about 15 channels of cable all come free with it. Also, it is clean and in good shape, and maintenance is super quick if you have an issue! And the grounds are beautiful and very well maintained; there are trees everywhere and lots of large fields of grass. You'll notice outside all our three windows there is a tree--I really enjoy this, especially after living in a basement. So here we go!
That is our front door you see here. (I have since added a nice Degas poster on that blank wall.) The door next to it is our only real storage closet which also happens to house our furnace. But you should see how packed that thing is! And the hooks on the outside of the door mean I am not picking up all of Tyler's 10 sweaters/jackets everyday--a real convenience. You can see our office tucked away in the corner of the main room here. I did a post a while back on our little office, of which I am still proud of, and so I will not show it here again.
These next pictures show the front room. As you can see, I am a big fan (and I like to think expert) on making rooms function as many mini functional areas. You have to when space is limited! For example, this one main room acts as our office, tv/lounge area, library, dining area, and media storage. And of course, a play area also and three nights a week a gym! Toys and cheerios on the floor are with the compliments of Cameron. Some of you may thing the room looks chaotic and eclectic, but then I say "thanks!" because it was my intention to do something out of the ordinary and very busy. I had a lot of fun doing it and love it. The stranger I can make things look, the more I like it. You can see our little kitchen in the back here, so let's move to that room!
This is our kitchen with the whole 10 square feet of counter space. But we make it work! In the last picture of our front room you can see the square table that acts as a counter space also. (That table has since had a little addition of bubble wrap taped to the sharp corners to keep little heads from getting bashed. It also now permanently has Cameron's booster seat and chair at it as well as feeds were starting to get too messy for the carpet.) Two other features I like about our kitchen is that (you can't see it) there are two very large and deep shelves above the fridge (fridge is to the left of the rug) and there is space above the cupboards. I love putting decor above cupboards! Also the cupboards snap shut and so Cameron hasn't figured out how to open them yet. A big plus.
Now we go down our hallway to the rest of the house.
The door on the right leads to our teeny tiny bathroom. No storage in here, but I think I have made the space work well for us. We have a "shoe pocket" hanger on the back of the door to hold our toiletries and a wooden crate on the top of the toilet acts as a shelf for towels and a small speaker set where we plug in our ipods. Also, I have managed to fit a laundry basket under the sink, behind which is stashed toilet paper. Especially now I am glad I always go with a very neutural, natural pallet for bathrooms (it's a rule of mine) because a little too much could look like way too much in such a tiny space. And while I like that look most other places, not in a bathroom. A bathroom must have a relaxing feel.
The door on the left leads to Cameron's room. I also keep my clothes in here but luckily you won't have to see the closets in either room because while they are surprisingly neat, no inch is wasted. I really like Cameron's room. It is hard to have a room for a boy that doesn't bore with just blue and neutrals like tan and brown. At least that's how I feel. When looking for a crib set I wasn't thrilled by any of the ones for boys until I saw this Alphabet Soup set that had all kinds of colors in it. I definitely love color and Tyler said it wasn't girly so we got it. Good purchase and definitely the splurge of the room. In fact, the three peice furniture set cost just as much, compliments of Wal Mart! One other thing that worked our very well for Cam's room is that besides the three colored totes in the changing table ($5 each) I didn't have to buy a thing! I already had everything and it ended up coordinating very well. Oh, well, I guess I did buy the brown roman shade to keep the west sun out, but that was also a steal, only $20! I'd like to say Cameron loves playing in here but mostly he likes playing under my feet and I am not very often in here!
Now for my room, the one at the end of the hall. I absolutely LOVE my bedspread and am so glad I got it because it makes the room and I don't have to do much else to it. (Another splurge I am glad I made.) Unfortunately our room is the smaller room so things are squished a bit. Also, as you see above, our room also gets to double as the linen room--we got to move the linen shelf in here to keep Cameron from pulling everything off! I have tried to make the room very symmetrical and calm as both those things are good sleep hygiene. I also try to keep the pallet in here natural and organic feeling. For my birthday we were going to make a picket fence headboard but ran out of time and money--eventually we'll do it!Well, thank you for coming to my online open house! I hope it took your mind off of the future for a few minutes!
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