New layout and up and running- a catch up!

Two exciting things happened around these parts this weekend...well more than that, but we'll start with these two.

 

First is the ah-mazing blog redesign done by Jessica over at Diamond Doll Designs.  She was worth the wait, and a pure joy to work with.  Her creativity amazed me, because all I told her were some colors and from a one paragraph email she created all of this. I absolutley love it, and I love her for doing it so perfectly. A million thank yous Jessica!!

 

Second- Grayson has figured out those legs of his. We don't just walk, lovelies, we run.

 

 

So now you get my super creative post title- cause its not just the new layout that's up and running!

Now after this posts Ill be off to purchase a bubble wrap suit...I kid, I kid. Kind of.

 

We also celebrated the birth of Grayson's first friend this weekend, Miss Marley turned one three weeks before we hit the big 01 in this house.  I cant believe a year has come and gone, but I'm sure Ill be saying that every year until hes 70.

 

Happy Sunday, Lovelies!

 

 

 



Wordless Wednesday

 

 

First time at the Beach



Sometimes People Can Be So Stupid...

I don't know what it is about a pregnant lady/lady with a baby that can bring out the most stupid comments and questions ever. Here are just a few that I have personally received during my pregnancy and Grayson Boy's first 11 months of life and the things I wish I would have said.

 

"Are you pregnant?" (At 9 months whale-huge mind you)

"Nope, I ate alot of doughnuts."

 

"Were you excited to get pregnant?"

"No, we were trying for surrogacy but the owners backed out so now I'm stuck with it!"

 

 

"What does it feel like to be pregnant? Do you feel huge all the time?"

"Like a ninja is trying to break out of my belly at any given second, and I do now you skinny snot"

 

"Ouch, do contractions hurt?"

"No, they tickle- that's why I'm doubled over here you ass."

 

 After baby has arrived...

 

"Aw, what is it??"

(Keep in mind hes in head to toe blue with a bib that says Daddy's Little Man)

"Its a baby, you half-wit."

 

"Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"Having a baby."

"Nah, I bought him at 7-11. Didnt hurt a bit."

 

"Wow how old is he?"

"Eleven Months"

"Woah, hes a big 11 months."

"Yeah, and you're an ugly 30 year old, whats your point?"

 

"Does he have any teeth?"

"Yep, six"

"Wow, your nips must be raw after he gnaws at them"

... (to this I had no comment, whatsoever.)

 

Ohhh lovelies, sometimes you just cant account for peoples stupidity.

Have any of you have any similar experiences?



Show & Tell Link-Up- Showing off our wedding!

Back from the beach (boo!!) in time to link up with Becky to show off the day I went from Miss to Mrs!

 



 

1. Are you married? If so, when did you get married and tell us about your special day.

 

Patrick and I got married on October 30, 2010 on a beautiful fall day and it was in a word, perfect.

The one thing I was adamant on was that I wanted to get married in the church I grew up in, because my parents and grandparents were both married there. I DIYed a ton of stuff for the big day- the invites, programs, bridesmaid jewelry, ceremony decor, flower girl flowers, reception centerpieces, and aisle runner all to match my pink and pewter shabby chic theme- and save myself TONS of cash.  Our wedding also included so many personal touches- like the groom wearing custom Nike Shox and the groomsmen all wearing sneakers of their choice. We have big families, and are both criers so we decided to do a first look that was just for us- rather than him seeing me for the first time as I walked down the aisle with everyone else. It was so nice to have those few minutes to ourselves that day, so we could really express what we were feeling to each other.

 

 

 

 

2. Show us some wedding pictures!

 

My husband played hockey the morning of our wedding- eek!

 

 

The other shoe had our initals monogramed into it :)

 

 

Best friends- Elementary School, College, Birth. Love them!

 

 

Taken at Duquesne University- where we met waaayy back in 2003

 

That cake- it was funfetti :)

 

3. How about the engagement? Tell us your story.

 

Patrick did it while we were putting up our Christmas tree in December 2009. He invited his cousin and his family over, and his three year old buddy Gavin was helping us by picking up ornaments and handing them to me.  He reached into the ornament box and pulled out a ring box and walked over to me and said "Here Besamy, this is for you!"  and in my stupidity I was trying to figure out what ornament we put in a ring box until I looked up and Patrick was staring at me with tears in his eyes. He opened the box and said the sweetest things and then asked me to be his wife. Before I could even answer him Gavin came running up with another ornament yelling "Its a pickle Besamy, a pickel!!!"  Some people say that ruined the moment, but I think it made it perfect. I love that little blonde boy, and I love that he was such a special part of our engagement.  After I stopped laughing, and hung the pickle of course, I did say yes. 

 

 

 

 

4. Show us your wedding rings or an engagement photo!

 

 

 

5. Tell us why you think marriage doesn't work for so many. What can we do to make things last?

 

Now I'm no expert by far but I do know that marriage is HARD- anyone who is married knows that.  I think so many marriages don't last because people don't know how to make it through the hard. You need to know how to love, how to respect, how to communicate, how to argue, how to compromise and how to forgive and move on. The second you cant do one of those things, the marriage can fall to pieces.  A marriage is between two people, that is all- so you have to block out the outside influences and just focus on the two of you. If you're having problems communicating, or if there are pressures that are making it hard don't just give up- talk to someone like a pastor, a marriage counselor, or a therapist. There is no shame in needing some help, if it means that it will save your marriage.  Remember, you got married because you love each other. Show that love to each other everyday. Give kisses and hugs, write notes to each other, hold hands, go on dates, rekindle the love; do whatever it is that made you fall in love with each other. If you love each other, respect each other and figure out how to make it through the hard you'll be just fine. 

If you knew me- your questions answered!!

I got tons of great questions- some as comments but a lot in email; and here I am to answer them all! Well, half of them today and Ill answer the other half later.  If you still have a burning question- you can always ask and I promise Ill answer! 

With all of the stuff you bought for Grayson, did you have a registry regret?

I have two. One would be our monitor. We registered for and received an The Fisher Price Lights and Sounds analog monitor.

Source

It sucked. If anything electric was placed between the base and the receiver (because we have NOTHING electrical in our house?!) it blasted out this wretched beep that sounded like Morris Code and scared the crap out of you at 2 AM. So we tossed that and got the Graco Secure Coverage Digital Monitor and it works amazingly well. I do wish, however, that from the start we had registered for and received a video monitor.  I realize that once little man is in a toddler bed, were going to want to know whats going on in there- so we're going to have to bite the bullet and buy one here soon. I just wish they were not so darned expensive!

The second is our stroller. Don't get me wrong, I love Chicco but that thing is HUGE. It takes up the whole cargo space of my SUV, and that can sometimes be very annoying.  Had I known what I know now I would have gone for a smaller stroller. My current lust is the Britax B-Agile- hear that, hubs?!

You said once that Grayon was a good sleeper- when did he start sleeping through the night and how long does he sleep now?

Grayson first slept through the night at 5 weeks old. Even before that he only woke up once at around 3 am to eat really quick, then he was back out till morning. Now he goes down somewhere between 8 and 9 depending on the day and he wakes up usually around 6, will have his morning bubba and be back out till around 9. So total hes sleeping somewhere between 11-13 hours per night. I cant complain about his sleeping habits at all.

I was wondering, how is the C25K coming?

I finished the program, but Im not a big fan of running. When Im running I think of all of the things I could be doing or need to be doing, and I zone out and nearly fall on my face. Its dangerous for a klutz like me. I think we're going to run a 5K together in the fall, but I much prefer things like Zumba or Spinning that I have to concentrate on what the person leading the class is showing me. Oh, and I can laugh with others. I like to laugh, even if it is at myself.

I know that your husband is handy, but what does he do for a living?

He works in a family business as a project manager for a flooring and general contracting company. I also whore him out to the teachers I work with to do side projects for them- because I know what they make and they deserve a break.

Do you volunteer anywhere?

Not on a regular basis, unless you count the hours after school I tutor the children who don't pay attention to me the first time I teach it (I kid, I kid- well in some cases).  I used to be really involved in my church, but when I moved in with the hubs it was 45 minutes from my home church so it makes it hard to do all of the stuff I would like to do.

I read in Grayson's Birth Story that you let your husband name him, and I was just wondering how you gave him all of that responsibility?  Did you have a list of names and he picked off of there? Im preggers, and my dh wants to name our little girl and I'm terrified to let him!

Let me clarify, Patrick (that's the hub's name btw) REFUSED to agree on a name for the Bean until he held him.  Way early on in my pregnancy I had a dream that it was a boy and that I named him Grayson. Originally Patrick haaaaaaaaated the name, but I was adamant that it was kept on the list. He wanted to name him after his dad and my dad, or himself.  I told him there was already one Michael and one Patrick in the family, so those were out (though lord knows he kept trying!). As we got closer to d-day we had a list of 5 names that we kind of liked. Grayson Michael or Grayson Patrick, Zachary David, Michael James, Emmanuel James, Jason Patrick, and finally Thomas Patrick.  I was all set for a fight, but after the delivery I was so tired I told Patrick that he could name him no fights- I was too tired to fight about it anymore.  Once he held him he just knew, he was a Grayson.  He looked at me and said he wanted to him to have his middle name in honor of his Dad, and that was that.  I figured he could be Grayson whatever, because I felt like I had won the name lottery.

When is baby #2 coming?!?!

Woah nellie!! This one still has that whole new baby smell to him! Haha! Seriously, I want another baby, I do. But I had to give up every sick day I had to get my full 8 weeks off with Grayson, and still ended up taking 3 unpaid weeks off. So I have to save up some sick time so that I don't have to EVER do that again.  Going to work with the stomach flu because you literally cant take a day off, sucks big time.  We're thinking maybe in 2 or 3 years to start trying. Of course Grayson was totally not planned at all, so you never know. 

Did you have a feeling that it would be a boy or a girl when you were pregnant?

Seriously, every person in my husbands family has children in the boy then girl order. I was sort of hoping to buck the tradition- but in my heart I knew it was going to be a boy.  Mainly because I love the color pink, and couldn't wait to do a girly nursery- we even EASILY agreed on a girls name.  It was all too easy, so I knew it had to be a boy.

When are you going to do a house tour?

To be honest, Ive never thought of it.  I figured no one would care about my life enough to want to see what our house looked like, esp because it is a work in progress.  I guess it is something to think about though, and to get up on the blog.  Maybe when I find a good Link Up on it and I have the energy to hide all of the toys!

What got you started sharing Tips and Tricks?

Literally, some days my life is a mess and I need all of the help I can get. I started looking for answers to my questions and I couldn't keep track of everything. So when I cant remember something, I write it down or in this case, I blog it. Once I had it all together and hit publish it went Pinterest crazy and people wanted more, so I just kept going!

Stay Tuned for Part 2! 

I admit it- Im a weenie!

Last night I was walking to the front door barefoot when I stepped on something. I knew it instantly, it was a ginormous chunk of glass- and it was now embedded in my poor tootsies. From where it was, I knew it was probably tracked in on hub's work boots (who I had to step over to get to the door.ahem.) but that still didn't stop me from vacuuming like a crazy person and then using tack cloth on the floor just to make sure my poor baby didn't get a sliver in his chubby knees or toes. 

 Oh yeah, I did all of this on one foot because that glass was still in there.

So after I got it all cleaned up I asked the hubs if he could take a look.  He said he could see it, and would try to remove it with some tweezers.

Fast forward to me face down on the bathroom floor, squirming and squealing obscenities because it hurt like a mother-you-know-what.

He stopped and said what, he thought, was a rational statement.

"Stop it. You had a baby, no problems. This is a pair of tweezers, not a scalpel. This can not hurt as bad as giving birth."

Now I know he meant well. He just wanted me to stop squirming so he could get out the glass, which was now buried about 1/8 inch down. So I responded with the most rational comment I could muster.

"You're right, now go get the anesthesiologist to give me an epidural and you can dig away all you like."

He did not appreciate my snappy comeback- so he dug away. But he did get the glass out, and put a nice Hello Kitty Band-Aid on it. Then he offered me a Popsicle.

Because hes a good guy, and I'm a pain weenie.

Happy Tuesday, Lovelies!

High Chair Re-do!

Ever since Grayson was born I have been scouring Pinterest for ideas for photos- when I came across this guy.

Source: Katie @ Loves of Life

I knew then, I needed one of these suckers. I started searching craigslist and came across this guy and brought him home for a whopping $5.

Blah. Old. Ugly. Scratched up. But oh so much potential.

So first I sanded...and sanded...and sanded. All of those rungs that you think are adorable, you will suddenly hate because they take forever to sand.

Just sand it enough to get the primer to stick- but you have to get all of the nooks and crannies, which took me a good hour with the sand paper.

Once sanded, use a piece of tack cloth and get off all of the dust. Then its time to prime.

This is my spray painting friend. You pull the trigger and get a nice even spray- its fool proof. Or as the hubs says- Bethany proof.  It was $6 in Home Depot and worth every cent.

After a few coats of Kiltz it was ready to go- but again those rungs make you want to kill yourself.  You have to flip it over to make sure you get all of the sides covered.

Then it was time to turn it blue. This is after one coat- and it already looks 1,000,000 times better.

And the finished product?

so.much.better!

Cant wait to show you the incredible 1 year pictures that he will take in this chair, or the smash cake fun-ness that will also happen here.