Halloween: Part 1

Ashton's still at the age where, quite frankly, he is clueless. I mean he knows his routines, favorite stories and familiar people and all that, but has he been eagerly anticipating Halloween? Does he have any idea what it is? No. Which means I still have control over his costume, and I love me some hand-me-downs. We got the cutest dragon from Grandma and thankfully a couple weeks ago, Jason thought to have a try-on. I said, "Well, it's a size 2-4, how could it not fit?"

And judging from his reaction to having it on, likely too tight in the crotch as well. The whole thing was too small - the elastic ankle bands hit more like mid-calf and the part that did hit his ankle was supposed to be down over his shoes. So, Plan B: he is going as a lion. This is also a hand-me-down and strikingly similar to the giraffe he was last year. But again, does Ashton care that he will be a tan safari animal two years in a row? Nope. At least, I think he won't...check back tomorrow for an update.

Earlier this week we also got our pumpkins ready. Ashton really, really did not like the scooping out part. Wouldn't touch the insides, kept whining and repeating, "No. No. No!" It is definitely slimy so I get it. In general, he was very unsure with no smiles anywhere in sight.

After "Jack" was done, we put a candle in, turned off the lights and Ashton perked up a little...but in general they never truly hit it off so we saved the bigger ones for after he went to bed. Here is the final crew, ready and waiting for tonight!

Jason's is obviously the best and the one on top. Baby pumpkin stayed as is and I was so tired mine didn't even get a nose. 

Off to pick up my little lion for some Halloween fun! Pics tomorrow!

Baby Update

I do anticipate that unless you are a family member, are pregnant yourself, or have recently been through pregnancy, this post won't do it for you. Nonetheless, our next new Nill is halfway to being here so I thought I'd share an update.

First, we had the chance two weeks ago to find out boy or girl. We had told her in the beginning we were planning to keep it a surprise but at the end, when she said, "Ok, if you really don't want to know, don't look because I have to take some measurements." I said, "You know what it is?" and she said, "Yep!" and in that moment I nearly cracked and said "Tell me!!" But Jason reeled me in. So, we left happy in knowing that everything looked good but that we were able to keep the sex a surprise until March.

And little feet:

It's just so dark in there. And can you imagine how cramped? No thanks. 

So let's see. I remember feeling in general a lot better overall when I was pregnant with Ashton. The tiredness hasn't really gone away and a lot of days I just want to lay down. This probably has something to do with chasing a 2 year old for hours after work and all the associated extra cleaning, laundry and energy that said 2 year old comes with. Definitely not as easy this time around. 

Despite the additional activity, I am currently +15 pounds from my starting weight and last time at this point I was +10. With Halloween coming up (and uh, then Thanksgiving and Christmas) I don't see myself making up the deficit. Oh well.

Ashton is catching on. I first told him, "Mommy has a baby in her belly!" and he stared at me for awhile. I said it again and he came over and lifted up my shirt to look at my stomach. After a moment of confusion and seeing nothing regarding this alleged baby, he ran off to play. But now when I ask him "Where's Mommy's baby?" he will point or sometimes say "tummy!" and he nods when I ask him if he knows he is going to be a big brother. 

So here I am! Not the best picture haha. I look a little lumpy, among other things. 20 weeks down, 20 to go...

Head of the Charles

Last weekend was one of those picture perfect fall days in New England. Bright, sunny, just warm enough for no jacket but just cool enough to have your boots and a cute sweater on. The Head of the Charles is the annual crew race on the Charles River and schools and participants come from all over the country. It's really fun to go walk around, see the boats, and take in the sights - tents, music, food, etc. Even though Jason stopped working at the Lenox last April, they set up a spectacular hospitality tent and we stopped by to say hello to everyone. It worked out great because they were giving out freshly fried veggie chips that kept Ashton busy for a long time. We sat on the hay bales, snacked and soaked in the sunshine. I wanted to make sure to do a quick post on this but like most things, being there in person was far better than anything I could get in pictures. Oh well, here they are anyway :)

Totally chip happy :)

Air Jason

Despite having been married to Jason for 4 years, earlier this week I learned something about him that I never knew before: he can dunk. Like, on a basketball hoop. Whoa honey! I was somewhat less shocked to learn about his life above the rim than I was when I found out he used to have his tongue pierced (?!?!), but still shocked nonetheless. But this post isn't "fun facts you never knew about Jason" (al-thooooough...that could be interesting ;) )

But anyways there we were, down at the middle school tennis/basketball courts playing with a mini soccer ball with Ashton. Just passing it around, kick kick kick, la la la. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Jason grabs the ball, jumps up and soars through the air and slams it down through the net. Again, ?!?! "White Men Can't Jump"? Psssh! Not on this court! Ashton, naturally, went bananas. I got out my camera and totally made Jason do it again (uh, and again and again) so I could capture how cute Ashton was being.

It never got old. But after awhile, just to make sure we hadn't forgotten that he is a toddler with unreasonable demands, Ashton wanted to try it himself. I ended up learning something else about Jason: he is an incredible coach. After getting him comfortable with the height:

We somehow went from this: 

To this:

That, my friends, is a real picture.

After witnessing such a spectacular showing of unknown talent, I walked home in a shocked stupor behind them. Such an ordinary picture of two extraordinary boys. Extraordinary to me, anyway ;)

Before and After: Photo Wall

Another little house project that took me months to complete. I wanted to do the trendy photo wall thing and at first thought I would be doing all different frames, mediums, colors, etc. You know, a mish mash that somehow all looks effortlessly great together. Like this:

Nope. After spending way too long collecting frames, spray painting some, trying to figure out which ones should be big and which should be small, where the words and cool art should go...I settled for all white and pictures only. As soon as I gave in to this it got much easier. These photo walls are harder than they look! So here's the true BEFORE:

It's blurry because I was likely running after Ashton. That was before we moved in. Once we did, we painted:

 Once I had all my frames ready to go, I cut pieces of paper that were of equal size and taped them up so I could adjust the pattern as I went. I bought a kit of 7 frames from Amazon that actually came with paper guides so that was helpful for some of them.

 Once I had everything where I wanted it (or, good enough) I naturally made Jason do the rest. Here is the AFTER, hastily taken this morning so all the frames are not entirely straight :-/

Now mind you, getting these frames up in the first place was such a feat that they sat half empty for 3 months because I could not decide which pictures to put in. But I finally did that yesterday and hence, this post. Ta-da!

Pumpkins and Muffins

Just a little Columbus Day weekend recap. I do not guarantee that this will be a mind-blowing post. In fact, expect that it won't be (which ones really are?) and that you will finally have the answer to "How many pictures of one little boy can a person take??" (It's: "To infinity and beyond.") Nonetheless, this post is how we spent our time. First, Jason was off on Saturday so we went to get our pumpkins. We were incredibly lazy about it and went to Russo's, a local market where the pumpkins are already harvested and sorted by size, instead of to an actual farm. Oh well, Ashton didn't know the difference.

There was a lot of pointing and running. Come ON mom!

 We ended up with four total and they are nicely lined up on our stoop until we carve them.

The next day Jason headed off to work and Ashton and I set about to do some baking. I moved a little bench into the kitchen and away we went! The recipe was for blueberry muffins but I didn't have any blueberries so we went chocolate chip instead. Ashton got flour on his face immediately.

But he was a great helper and we had our batter in tins in no time!

Into the oven they went, and boy was that the longest 12 minutes ever. Minutes 1 and 2 were okay, he knew the oven was "HOT!" and then was really curious once I turned the light on.

By minute 3, nothing was really happening and things got ugly. Lots of crying and impatience. Which is funny, because when they were finally done, he wouldn't even eat them!

Spit it right out actually. (Btw please excuse the huge wet spot on his shirt. He's just a very drooly kid and I didn't have bib on him :-/ )

Anyway, I tried one more time at lunch to give him one and got this look:

 He then said, "NO!" and threw it. The rewards of toddler parenting, I tell you - too numerous to count.

The rest of the weekend we spent outside. A little swinging, a little walking, a little exploring...some beautiful fall weather.

Happy Columbus Day! And, uh, if anyone wants an egg-free chocolate chip muffin, I have extras.

Before and After: Living Room Built-ins

We have some exciting new house developments going on lately! One of the biggest challenges we faced when moving in was our living room. It is wide like side-to-side, but narrow front-to-back. Plus, there is literally no wall space for a TV besides above the fireplace. So we knew that we faced a furniture/layout issue right away and decided that while it would look better to perhaps do a loveseat and two chairs facing each other, function and comfort called for a L-shape. Like so:

We actually had a hard time finding a couch that would fit. Most sectionals, it turns out, are giant. But that's not what this post is about. No, this post is about that far wall, with the big window and lone radiator:

With just a couch and a coffee table in this room so far, something significant was really needed on this wall to bring the room together. I took to Pinterest and found this:

Sooo lovely. I gave the picture to Jason and said, "Let's see it honey!" :) And here we are, several months later, and boy do I see it! What he did is amazing!

Here's the official "before":

And "after"!

The radiator is built in under the window seat - he used some silver grating that looks fantastic. And all the woodwork and moldings...gold star for Jason! Here are some more photos of the process...

 

And the finished product:

My job was mostly limited to finding the fabric for the bench cushion. Oh, and picking the handles on the cabinets. I still need to get to Home Goods to find some pillows for the window seat, get some little knick knacks, organize the books, and "style" the shelves, but otherwise, all done! It warms up our living room like you can't believe and I'm totally in love. But no rest for the weary, Jason already knows what his next project is (built in closets for our bedroom). The house list marches on!

p.s. seriously can you believe Jason did this? Based on my inspiration picture? xo honey, X...O. Now can you take the air conditioner out of that window? It's an eyesore in my photos ;)