HELLO Hardwood Floors!

I've been trying to write this post all weekend but its been a shit show around here lately. We decided to rip up the god awful carpet downstairs and start laying hardwood....I can't even begin to express how happy this makes me!   Johnny got the home improvement bug and who am i to stop him :)
However my fingers hurt so bad right now because I decided I'd be nice and help pull a million staples out of the floor after ripping up carpet in the front living room. One thumb is seriously bigger than the other due to swelling....ouch!   BUT I can now say the downstairs of my house is starting to resemble what I've been envisioning since the day we looked at it!!. So BIG props to my hubby, who decided laying hardwood flooring was how he wanted to spend his weekend. AND thanks to my Dad for helping :) So now the dining room is done, with the exception of molding which still needs to be tacked on.....but its GORGEOUS!!!  I'm in love!

 This is my dining room with the finished flooring

 

This is why I have a blister on my thumb!!

Jack and I at his 9 month check-up at the pediatrician.....such a happy guy :)

went tot he market to get some avocados for the restaurant, first time riding in the shopping cart like this...he thought it was pretty neat!

swinging in the backyard....Gotta love it when the sun shines!

Week from Hell

This has been an absolute week from hell for me and I CAN NOT wait for it to be over!!!  Tuesday started off as a normal Tuesday,  swim class with Jack at 9:30, stopped over at the cafe to visit the crew (plus my husband was working), loaded the car up to head home and get ready for a food show we got invited to that afternoon......only to get into a car accident while pulling out of my parking space!  I was parallel parked in front of the cafe (which is close to a corner), and as I was pulling out (as I do every day!!) a big Denali plows into me!  I honestly don't know where to put the blame, I looked and didn't see him, he said he didn't see me.  I think when I looked he wasn't there and then must have turned the corner right as I turned back around and started to pull out.  I guess in attempt to make myself feel better I could chalk it up to just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It totally sucks though because my brand new Jeep (1 year old) which I love is now not drivable and sitting in a garage somewhere waiting for the insurance companies to battle it out.  The worst part about the whole situation is that I had Jack with me in the car.  Neither of us were injured and he wasn't even phased the slightest when it happened (thank God!).  Me however, I feel like the worst mother EVER and can't believe I let something like this happen.  Had I been hit a few feet back on my vehicle then it would have hit his door.  This is what scares me the most.  I seriously couldn't live with myself if anything had happened to him.  I was a blubbery emotional mess all day yesterday every time I even thought about the possibilities.  Having kids really changes your perspective on EVERYTHING.  Anything and everything that happens is so much more important now.
On top of all of this I am SO embarrassed about the whole thing....it happened right outside my business, I had regular customers inside who saw the whole thing.  My hair dresser came down later in the day and said that I was the talk of the street!!!  GREAT!! NOT what I wanted to hear.  Customers were calling the cafe asking if I was OK!  Serious craziness I tell ya!  I am very grateful though that people are so concerned with our well being and like us enough to care so much.  There really is something to say about doing business in a small town, everyone looks out for one another!!
On the other hand I am SO sick of dealing with insurance companies, rental car companies, and body shops that I'm ready to scream.  And it really doesn't help that nobody ever seems to have a clue as to what's going on!!  Makes ya wonder how they manage to do any business!

In much happier news - Jack is now doing the army crawl BIG TIME!  He inches his way around everywhere and everything.  Yesterday I caught him sucking on a doorstop that sticks out of the wall.  He's discovered the dog's water dishes, and has a crazy infatuation with the swifter....weird!  Speaking of which, I can't for the life of me figure out how anyone keeps their floors clean, especially with an infant rolling around on them constantly!  The baby is not the cause but when I pick him up from inching around and see how dirty his shirt is I know that Ive yet to win the battle of having clean floors!!  I seriously sweep and swifter EVERY day at least two to three times a day....no joke!  And yet I'm amazed at how dirty they still seem.  I have two little Yorkies but didn't really think they contributed that much to my problem, I'm starting to think otherwise.  This weather (muddy/yucky/rainy) really hasn't helped the situation either, just hoping when the ground dries up it gets better.  The floors I'm mainly talking about are kitchen and eat-in area (laminate) and front foyer/hallway (old white-ish-grey tile) both of which I hate and will be replaced someday.  If anyone has any advice I'm all ears :)
In the mean time here are some happy moment pics from this week....

look who I caught giving himself kisses in the mirror...ha ha ha

My baby is 9 months old!!!

first stroller ride of the season, a little chilly but worth it!

A Beer and a Bath

Ah the weekend, its about time!!  Seriously this week was so crazy busy I never thought it would end.  Tonight is the actual start of my weekend since I worked all day today.  This is how I spent my evening....a beer and a bath!

He is getting a LOT more brave in the bath tub, he now flips over onto his tummy, and tonight he pulled himself up so he was standing and hanging on to the edge of the tub for the first time.....he was trying to reach the bottle of shampoo - the ONE thing I wouldn't let him play with ha ha

play time after a long morning of watching mommy make baby food.  I love his little eyebrows <3

Funny faces while eating, such a little clown!

Sunshine FINALLY

I am happy (and relieved) to say that we FINALLY got some sunshine and warm weather around here!  AND it even looks as though it might be here to stay! (by "stay" I mean no more white stuff).  Seriously it's about time, pretty sure I've reached my wits end when it comes to cold weather.  So needless to say it was a pretty busy weekend.   In fact we tried to cram so many things into a day and a half (had to be at the cafe for most of Saturday) while it was nice out that it ended up being more exhausting than anything.  For starters, I think everyone in town was at Home Depot buying supplies to start planting and doing yard work, Johnny spent the entire day outside planting trees along our fence in hopes of one day gaining a bit more privacy from the neighbors.  I took some pretty hilarious pics of this from the upstairs bedroom window but he would kill me if I posted them.  It was Johnny with our little 7lb Yorkie planting trees together in the backyard, SO funny!  In between mulching and digging he took breaks to spray paint the dining room table which seems to be a never ending project around here!!  Its still not finished, needs a top coat to protect and give it shine.  I hung out with Jack and cleaned, played, and tackled a project of my own....I decided to paint an end table that I have, wanted to add a pop of color in the room.  That is still in progress as well because the first color I chose I ended up hating so had to go pick something else out.  I really like it now though, just needs a final coat.  I will post pics when its all finished.

Jack has GOT to start crawling soon, Its going to be any day now I just know it.  Not that I'm trying to rush him or anything its just that he gets so close and he's trying so hard that I just want the little guy to accomplish his goal already..haha.  It'll probably happen on a day when I have to leave him with a sitter for a couple hours.  I had to do that today and I told her that if he does crawl then just don't tell me, or rather just push him down so he doesn't do it!!!  LOL  I would be so sad if I missed that, especially since I'm with him 24/7 for the most part!  He totally got on all fours yesterday in his crib but when playing on the floor he acts as though he doesn't know how to do that.  If he's really mad and doesn't want to go down for a nap he will push his arms out and get up on his toes like he's in a plank position and then flop back down.  Like I said, its only a matter of time.

In Cafe news I FINALLY found someone to work the days that I am there right now.  This way I can stay home with Jack and still pop in to visit whenever I want (but not "have" to be needed) I had to have the baby at work with me on Monday and it just wasn't happening, he's way to big and wants to be in my arms looking at everything that's happening the entire time.  THANK GOD for those little puffs and yogurt melts, they distract him and keep him quiet for a little bit :)  Yes I've resorted to feeding my kid treats to keep him quiet!  Thankfully he's a big hit with our regular customers and they love visiting with him, just doesn't allow me to actually get anything done while I'm there.

Here we are outside over the weekend enjoying some of the sunshine......bring on SUMMER, we are ready!!

First Frap of the season! Can I just mention how wonderfully convenient it is that there is a Starbucks at Target!!! 

I LOVE bath time with Jack!  He loves it so much and has become such an important part of our bedtime routine

Watching his best friends (aka the dogs) play on the floor :)

:)

Pantry Door Project.....again

So I just couldn't let it go, I was so annoyed with myself that I let a simple project such as painting pantry doors get the best of me!!  I'm better than this and knew that I could totally make them GREAT!  So I was poking around my basement the other day (like 2 days before Easter) and actually found another set of doors that must have at one point been used as pantry doors because there isn't a closet in my house that I can see them fitting.  They are solid wood but still have that ugly stenciled panes of glass in them (like my other ones), BUT I like them so much more!  So I made my husband drag them upstairs and told him not to touch them anymore, I was doing it myself this time...ha ha.  I cleaned them up, sanded them down, and got to painting them white like I originally planned.  Only this time I used a brush and can of paint rather than spraying.  This way I could do them inside and they wouldn't stink up the entire house!  The whole project took me two days, mostly because I can't get much done when the baby is awake.  So I worked on them during his naps and then again at night.  I painted the glass panels with chalkboard paint, I think it was about three coats on each (doors and glass panels).  I got them up just in time for Easter (thank goodness since we had people coming over)!

awesome basement find!!

 

Ok so I did let him help me tape off the chalkboard painted part :)

 

VOILA....I love them!

Got some new hardware and tested my new chalkboards out

All in in all I am SO happy I did this and LOVE my new doors.  The chalkboards are super useful.....grocery lists, baby feeding instructions when I'm not home, recipes.....all sorts of kitchen chalkboard fun!!

Easter Fun

 The Kong's have now officially hosted their first holiday as a family of three.  The Easter bunny was more than generous to all of us including me (thanks Mom!!).  Dinner was a success, the egg hunt was competitive as always, and Mom's Easter trivia was easy peasy as far as I'm concerned....who doesn't know everything there is to know about Peter Rabbit??!!.....just sayin :)
 
 So we started the morning off with Easter baskets of course!  Thanks to an idea from another blogger (who I was excited to see also has an obsession with chalkboards - Jessica Garvin), the hubby got his own basket this year, pretty clever right??! 
 

Watching Jack check out all of his Easter goodies was so much fun, can I just say how much MORE FUN holidays are when you have kids!!!  I mean it really doesn't get any better.

The presents just keep coming when grandma and grandpa arrive!  Look at those little feet, I just love em <3

Let the party begin!

 

FINALLY a family pic!!!  Too bad Dad just woke up from an afternoon snooze.  Check out Rufus the photobomber!!!

Would you look at that sweet sweet smile??!!  My heart melts....love

I had to post this pic because 1. I wanted a full body pic of his adorable outfit

2.the smirk he is making cracks me up, kid makes the most hilarious facial expressions.  

Button-down is from Carters and belted pants are Polo

Easter Preparations & Puffs

Easter is quickly approaching and there is MUCH to do!  Its our first Easter in our house and more importantly Jack's first Easter!! I know he's not going to remember it or even understand what is going on but I am still SUPER excited to start family traditions with him.  I've been collecting stuff for his basket for weeks now and think I'm finally done.  Just have to gather stuff for Johnny's Easter basket (which won't be nearly as extravagant) and then I'll be finished.  

On top of getting the baskets ready I've now been asked (literally YESTERDAY) if I would host Easter dinner at my house.  Which I'm totally fine with because it honestly makes things a lot easier with Jack and I like having people over.....just another opportunity to entertain!!  So in honor of hosting our first holiday at the house I've been trying to get a little festive, I just started tonight and quickly realized I don't have a lot of Easter stuff, in fact, I don't have anything at all really.  So I'll have to get crafty and fast....that will be a later post!

My Mom (thankfully) bought a ham and brought it over today, I just have to get some sides and little things.  She's got plans for games and an Easter egg hunt....leave it to Mom to get everyone to act like big kids for the day :)
On a not so happy note, my grandmother (mom's mom) is in the hospital but is now OK and doing great! The hospital  is literally five minutes from my house so after dinner on Sunday we can all go visit and bring her some Easter cheer as well! I will say, I'll be missing her desserts, she always makes dessert whenever we get together and they are to-die-for delicious!!!!

We are now eating PUFFS!...Jack that is, I was terrified to give him these little melt-in-your-mouth puffs at first, and think this was actually a bigger moment for me than anyone else including him!  He likes them a LOT!  I got the organic banana flavored ones to start.  I've been told that apple cinnamon are really good as well.  I also bought those little yogurt melts that also dissolve on the tongue which he's not a big fan of just yet.  He'll eat them but he def gets WAY more excited for the puffs.  I know he's not nine months old yet or crawling yet but he has four teeth and he eyes up everything we eat so I thought I would at least give them a try.  Its hilarious watching him try to pick them up with those chubby little fingers and put them in his mouth, and then see how excited he gets when he realizes that he did it!!  I also gave him some of my little noodles that were in my soup (they were very small and soft) and he liked those to.  Its really fun experimenting and letting him try new foods but at the same time I just stare and hold my breath while he takes his first taste.  Once its down his throat I can then relax.  I have to admit that last week I was giving him little tastes of a cracker and he was fine with it until I let him hold the cracker to suck on and literally within two seconds he had bitten off a big piece and was coughing because it was in the back of his throat....I feel like such an ass and can't even imagine what could have happened.  I just want that to be the first and LAST time I ever have to scrape food out of his mouth!!  Not to mention my husband still talks about it and doesn't seem as though he's ever going to let me live this one down!

Here we are trying to take a pic and send it to Dad at work :)

Curtains & Pantry Doors....Oh My!!

So I originally planned on posting about my pantry doors (which I hate) and how I got crafty and decided to paint, partially with chalkboard paint so that I could scribble recipes and lists all over them.  BUT then the pantry door DIY project turned out to be an epic fail.  It could probably still be saved but I don't have the patients or enough tylenol to cure the headaches the spray paint is giving me!!  I have really ugly wooden doors with glass panels.  My plan was to paint the wood part white and the glass with chalkboard paint, and this may have worked had my husband just let me paint them with a brush and a can of paint in the house like I wanted to.  Instead he insisted on spray painting them in the garage (with the door open to vent) in the freezing cold snowy weather that we are having (they won't dry properly in this cold!!).  Ultimately the spray paint fumes sneak into my house and stink up the entire downstairs when he closes the garage door.  Of course the doors don't dry properly so the texture is all effed up and need to be re-sanded and painted again!!!  We have company over this morning so he brings them in (still tacky) and hangs them up for when they are here and the place STINKS even worse!!!  I have such a headache at this point and don't think the baby should be breathing any of this in so I make him take the doors back out to the garage as soon as they leave and we decide to just buy new doors :)  I'm all for a good DIY project but when the weather is not cooperating and I want things done, sometimes its just better to buy new stuff!
These are my ugly doors:
 

I had a baby shower for my friend Melissa this morning while our company was stopping by, so I actually missed them (sorry Dre & Tina, hopefully see you in May).  To tell you the truth I was REALLY looking forward to going to this shower today... I just kept thinking about the fact that I was going to get to eat a meal and have a mimosa with other women/mommies (adults) without a baby on my lap or wanting to be entertained!!!!!!!!!!!  Can you tell I need to get out more???  Ha ha ha  I think with the whole teething thing that's been going on and lack of sleep I just NEEDED a break.  So all in all the baby shower was a huge success for Melissa, she got a TON of great stuff, she even got a pair of tiny Jordans for her little fella, he's going to be so stylin!  I got her these baby Uggs as part of her gift, I love Jack's, they really do come in handy in the winter time plus they are so stinkin cute!!!

 

 I've been thinking about making curtains since pretty much the day we moved in....and pretty much every room needs them.  That's the problem though, I'm still thinking about it and can't seem to make up my mind.  In fact I keep collecting more and more fabric that I like.  You can see either folded up piles or big spools of it randomly around the house in hopes that one day I'll break down and sew the damn curtains.  I'm a big "well what If I find something better" kinda girl.  I'm also the type of person that likes to know she got a bargain, which makes it that much more difficult because everything I LOVE is never on sale.  The other problem is that there really are not that many places around me that sell really nice/fun/unique looking fabric patterns.  I'm sorry, but I've been a little disappointed with Joann Fabrics lately, they haven't had anything I've liked in a really long time.  I did just recently see they now have an HGTV line of home decor fabric - about time they got some new stuff! There are a ton of online options with some really nice stuff but I like to see my fabric in person and be able to touch/feel it.....so I'm always hesitant to pull the trigger and order online.  Below are some swatches of what I've been into lately.   All are from Calico Corners and in the Nate Berkus collection......except for the thick navy/white striped swatch, I found that online somewhere and can not for the life of me find it again.  However Calico does have a very similar one in their store. 

Here's a little Jack for ya, BEST smile EVER <3

8 Months Old

Jack turned 8 months old last Friday and I never even thought twice about mentioning it!  I did however remember to take pictures (we had a photo shoot of course!), so at least part of me was on top of things that day.  Here's our 8 month photo shoot, now that he's really squirmy its getting more difficult to get a good shot....

 

Runny noses have been an epidemic in my house lately and I was going to chalk Jack's up to teething but now that I have one and am getting stuffier by the day and with Johnny battling a cold last week, I'm beginning to think its more than just teething.  In fact that's pretty much my answer to everything these days...."Must be teething"!!!  So far no green boogies so I think we're OK :)  Also another thought I had in regards to his constant waking up at night is could it be night terrors???  I had them as a kid but I was much older than a baby.  I'm going to research them, gives me something to do while I'm laying in bed listening to him cry at 3am!!!! (and no I don't just let him scream all night but after multiple times being up and he finally decides that he wants to be wide awake and play you run out of things to try :) )

I finally had some time last night to upload all of the pics I've been taking with my actual camera (as apposed  to my phone which I normally use) and realized that I haven't done so in all of January or February, so I'm going to have to do a Jan/Feb recap with pics of the little guy.  Somehow posting pics on the blog makes me feel better about me majorly slacking on putting albums together.  

First day of SPRING....yeah right!!

Today is the first day of spring and I call bullshit!!  I was looking back at my blog from this time last year (post from March 2012) I was 22 weeks pregnant and complaining about the heat in this post!!!

YES that's right, it was 78 degrees and I was running around town looking to buy t-shirts that would fit me.  Today it has snowed on and off literally all day and its FREEEEZZING.  This is bad for business as well, nobody wants to go out in this kind of weather anymore, everyone wants to walk to lunch in the warm sunshine!!! To say I am disappointed is an understatement!

Jack's sleeping habits have not improved at all since I last posted anything.  Tonight I put a worn shirt of mine in his crib (I strung it through the rails so it can't get lose) in hopes that if he wakes up he will smell me and then be able to soothe himself back to sleep.  I read where someone else did this and it worked, she walked in to find her little babe snuggling with her shirt...too cute.  A friend of mine told me about this Amber teething beads, a necklace that baby wears and its supposed to alleviate the pain caused by teething.  Funny thing is that I was reading a different blog last night and there was an entire post on these things and apparently this woman had great success with them for her son.  My thing is that I don't want him wearing it while he sleeps and that is when I have the most trouble.  He's fine during the day, night time is the issue.  Here is a Link to them on Amazon in case anyone wants to look into them.  I'm still debating.   I'm really hoping he just adjusts one night and things go back to normal.

Here are some pics of my little monster to keep you smiling even if you are having snow storms  in March like me!

Play time before bed on the GIANT sock monkey!!!