my boys

If you're any acquaintance of mine, you've already seen this picture I took yesterday morning. I very much love it. Carter had thrown up all night, and Mason wanted to eat every hour. Neither Aaron or I got any sleep. BUT this moment made me forget for a second how tired I was, and how glad I am that they are so cute together! Carter loves Mason and Mason is always fascinated by Carter. Let's hope this lasts... 

Carter cracks us up. I have a list in my Notes on my phone of some of Carter's funny quotes. He's very tender hearted and lately, if he gets upset, ( or if he's in trouble and I'm upset with him), he cries, and then says "I need a hug." Then, "I need another hug." Everyone forgets about being upset when we're hugging!

Also, if I get frustrated because he's not putting on his shoes like I asked, or he didn't put away his toys, I have to get stern with him. Which prompts him to ask, "Mommy are you happy?" Tricky question. I would at first reply, "No, Carter, I'm upset because you're not being obedient." He asks if I am happy over and over again until I reply, "Yes Carter I am happy."

He's quite smart. He's like a peacemaker without even knowing it!

Love these boys

botany

Spring has sprung!... 

(except here in Utah it snowed last night, OF course).

Our neighbor does landscape design so we've hired him on to plan out our yard and I'm so excited! Great timing too since it's spring time and Easter, and I've gotten to look up flowers and plants and things I know nothing about.

I about fell over when he brought over plans with peonies mixed in, in certain areas . Who doesn't love peonies?!! You can never find them, and I had no idea I could just grow them in my yard. SO happy about that.

I will be requesting ranunculus. They're so cool

I love these big cedars we're putting in.. 

Lilac trees, one of my favorites. 

Some big maples- Come fall, I'm going to be in heaven

 And bulbs- tulips

Anyone that's been to our house may have noticed we have no front steps or entry. That was not our doing, so don't feel bad if you thought we were weird. We will soon have a walkway through grass!

And a fence.

And some cool stuff in the backyard.

I feel like the exterior of our house is so blah, so having landscaping and color is going to be HUGE. 

house stuff

Ever since we got our dining table I've been looking for a set of chairs that "go" but don't match. I don't like dining sets. So basically for 3 months I've been this close to buying chairs that I thought I liked but could never commit to. I have commitment issues when it comes to stuff in my house. 

I check Joss & Main and One Kings Lane every single day for good furniture deals, and I hoped I'd find something that would work.

Everything was out of my budget or not cute.

So then one day, I see this beauty... 

It's a desk chair that is supposed to be part of a bedroom set for like a teenager.

I LOVE IT. And they were cheap! As my luck would have it, they were sold out, OF COURSE. So I jotted down the brand and scoured the internet. They were out of stock everywhere. But when I want something bad, I find a way to get it (my husband loves me for this... not). 

I found the chair on wayfair, and just had them email me when they had stock again. And they did! About a week later, I was notified, and a few days after that, they were at my door!

They are now out of stock again.

They are perfect.

They're not totally white, which I would have liked. They're kind of off-white/ivory but whatever. It's close enough for me.

And my custom chairs I ordered from Gatehouse turned out great. I wasn't sure at first how they'd be, but they pull gray and they pull tan, which ties everything in and they are comfortable. 

I always thought "custom" meant expensive.. but I've found that you can make it what you want, within your budget. I spent $200 less on each of these than I budgeted for. (happy husband).

Tall wingbacks were the answer to my family room with high ceilings. Take note ;)

House projects

This is way overdue, but I've purposely delayed posting these projects mostly because I was slightly to moderately disappointed with their outcomes. But what the hey.. learn from my mistakes..

Unless you live under a rock .. or you don't live on pinterest ;) you've likely come across a plethora of Ikea hacks. So here's a typical one that I decided to tackle.

$35 Ikea nightstands

*turned cool*

Yeah they're definitely better, but I think I don't like how the trim matches the wall. No, scratch that. I hate the wall color. I really want to paint my tan bedroom... one day.

And the lamp is since gone. I broke it.

I bought the wood fretwork from overlays. They have cool stuff to transform furniture, especially Ikea.

So, once upon a time in BlogWorld, I stumbled upon a blogger who framed marbled paper.

This one to be exact.

It was stunning. 

What's even more awesome is that this paper is CHEAP!!

This art above my settee was $40 total. $35 for the Ikea frame and $5 for the art print!

It's from papermojo. That site is seriously my new favorite. (granted you do pay more in shipping than what the papers are actually worth but whatever, it's still a deal!)

I bought another sheet of marbled paper and cut it in half, and framed em both. Don't like this location though, so they are being moved.

FYI, DO NOT buy frames from Hobby Lobby. I have had so many issues with just these two stupid frames. Struggles..

Update on the kiddos

Here's an overload of pictures for ya'll...
I'm one of those moms that has nothing much to talk about but her kids =) That's okay with me for now.. since that's the reality of my life!
The hubs is gone in Texas (for 3 + weeks!) so it's been a challenge keeping sane with a newborn and a toddler that's potty training. But my kids are alive... sooo..... success!

First day back to church. You can't see the dark circles under my eyes.. but I assure you they are there.
I was told that in this picture, Aaron looks like a cardboard cutout. True right??

 My little cuddle bunny. He ALWAYS ends up in our bed. Already a manipulator ;)

 I'm so relieved Carter has been a GREAT big brother! He gets really excited every time Mason's eyes are open. I caught Mason smile once, and it was when Carter was playing with him. So sweet

 Mason wasn't digging Carter this particular morning lol... angry babies kinda make me laugh

 Silly little man.. with his receding hair line

 Hello

 Most of my family came to town for Mason's baby blessing at Church- which was so so great. I had ALL my brothers stand in to bless Mason and it was really special, and a fun weekend. My dad loves babies, and it's his favorite thing to bathe them... so I reserved Mason's bath for him. =) Mason loved it.

 We ventured out one night to Trafalga. Carter sure loves his daddy. We went with my cousin Jake and daughter Olivia for her b-day!

Carter's been asking to nap in his teepee tent as of late. Sure, Carter, I don't care where you sleep, as long as you take a nap! It's becoming more rare these days =(

 Mason is high maintenance. Thinks he wants to eat ALL the time, and when he's not eating he wants to be held. So here we are, toting him around in the bjorn to get anything done... I don't mind it, the straps are just a great reminder of the back rolls I have yet to get rid of.. lol

Chubby cheeks. He's really getting chunky. I love it. At his 2-week Dr appt, the pediatrician said they hope babies by then, have gained back what they had lost in the hospital. Mason gained back the weight PLUS a whole pound! Tripled the doctors expectations- So now you know that I spend 90% of my day as a milk machine ;)

 Carter loving on baby. <3

See the chunkiness? He had long skinny legs when he was born, just 4 weeks ago. Now he's got rolls!

Oh hey! Lots more alert time

 "That Home Decorators magazine was awesome, now I'm worn out"

 A glimpse of Mason's unfinished nursery. The bedroom is so huge, I still don't even know how I'm ever gonna finish decorating it.

Milk drunk

 Mason is wearing a 3- month sweater, and premie pants. Nice proportions, baby ;)

Distracted by lights. So I can cook dinner. That's how we roll

Mason's newborn pictures

My awesome, super talented friend Megan took our newborn photos for Mason last week and they are adorable! We've decided Mason is the only one that's actually photogenic of our (now) family of 4. 

Life with 2 kids-- Wow...

Yesterday was my first day totally off drugs, and also my first outing with both boys. I was glad to get outta the house, actually get ready, etc, but it is exhausting. And being on a schedule to feed a newborn gives me anxiety. But we survived =)

oh facebook...

Having a newborn is awesome. I spend half my day breastfeeding while meandering social media such as facebook, instagram, and pinterest.. and now I'm kinda burned out.

Oh and the other half of my day is spent changing diapers.

But this baby is perfect.
I've already had to wash our comforter, our pillows, every outfit he's worn, and his bedding.
He's had that many blowouts.
Still love him.

 And my little man Carter is doing well with the new baby for the most part. I feel a little guilty for the lack of attention because I've been so sore and out of it. But I'm feeling pretty good after a week!

I love my boys

Back to social media-----I find myself guilty of a lot of those silly social crimes- like posting meaningless status updates, self portraits, or overloads of my babies. It happens.

I'm constantly annoyed though by those girls who post every.damn.day. about what they cooked for dinner, their kids poop stories, play by play of them buying new tires, and just nonsense. I'm especially peeved when their status is a ginormous run-on sentence with no grammar. I now delete them from my feed.

Moving on to the next vent: I still follow lots of people in the fitness industry because it's for the most part motivating and I like to hope that I'll get back into that shape again. But my GOSH I hope I wasn't so annoying during my  competition weeks last year when I posted my food or recipes or let the world know every time I stepped into the gym. It's EXHAUSTING just reading at how their lives revolve around the gym and their bodies and perfection.

Which makes me wonder if I'll ever take fitness that seriously. I mean, I usually do, but I don't want my life to be egg whites, salad, and cardio, and that's all I have to report about.

BUT I follow this fitness model on FB: Amanda Adams and I think she's less annoying, and more cool. (I just pretend I know her). She just posted this today and I thought it was so awesome how, when it comes to fitness, we see these perfect bodies that we aspire to, but in reality, soooo many factors determine what they really look like.

Ladies..Ladies...Ladies... lol Don't be discouraged by what I call "Professional Mirror Self Pic Takers" haha that's what I like to call myself sometimes and there are tons of us out there ;) Now these two pics were literally taken within 2seconds of each other, just different facial expression, posing, lighting, wardrobe adjustments etc etc. It's always good to follow girls to give you motivation, BUT most girls that have done photo shoots know how to pose best to take a good pic haha (did I just embarrass myself? Yeah....lol)
-Lighting? Instagram filters are awesome to make your muscles pop and add shadows in all the right places
-Heels? That will make your leg muscles pop...duh (but shhh you don't have to actually SHOW the heels in the pic lol)
-Sexy face or Happy face? Well that shows you have confidence lol which suddenly makes you look 100% better than a "I hate life facial expression"
-Lotion? Well obviously your muscles will pop out more...
-Loose pants/bottoms on? If they are tight...well hello skin roll
-Chest out? Boobs Out? Arms Back, Hips twisted Made my sports bra "tighter" to make my boobs "perkier" haha... etc etc etc etc...
-Pants - Pants in first pic cut off at the middle of my stomach and are super tight...which is well easier to have "skin rolls" and just yeah... roll em down which then makes you torso look LONGER. lol

It's so sad but also really funny and true...Now I'm not saying this to make fun of people (hello...I do it weekly) But it's to show you all that you really can't compare your progress to other people's pictures!!! Look at them for motivation and that's it! ;) LOVE YOU ALL!

And that being said, I already feel better about myself and my post-pregnancy saggy, swollen belly and pudgy rest of my body.

I could just "pose" right and make myself look pretty dang good! ;)