Milkshake...

This afternoon we went to see Daddy at work (partly because I think I might have grown about 12 new gray hairs if we hadn't gotten out of the house). As we were leaving the office, Owen said to me, "Please can we go get a milkshake? I haven't had a milkshake in 22 years." So, we got the sweet little guy a milkshake. After all, 22 years is a LONG time to wait for such a treat!

Munchkin...

And because I think you all should get to enjoy his amazingly crazy hair and darling coloring, I am giving you a couple unedited. Oh yeah, and I need to point out that is his getting WAY too old. Can he seriously be playing already?

Julie...

This morning we headed out to my uncle's property to pick up the loader. On our way back to the house, I just happened to stumble upon my gorgeous cousin, Julie. She was taking some photos for her photography class and she looked like a stunning picture herself. So, she graciously let me snap a few of her. Isn't she absolutely beautiful?

We've had a few things going on...

First, we had a little brotherly snuggle time:






And then we celebrated Daddy's birthday:







And today we had some friends (a.k.a. cousins) over to play:









Oh yeah, and then there is the oh-so-annoying, never ending cleaning...I have NEVER wanted grass and a sidewalk as badly as I do right now. Oof.

More of our precious niece Elie...

Two things...

First, I just kinda feel like I need to share with you all one of my proudest moments as a mother (ok, so maybe that's kind of an exaggeration, but still). One of our favorite things to have for breakfast is pancakes made into whatever shape pops into our 2 year old's mind at the time. He most commonly asks for a car, truck, or tractor. And usually, they all kinda end up looking the same...like a mutated choo choo train. But today, Owen asked me to make a loader for him. I was quite hesitant to even attempt it because I figured if I can't even make a car look like a car, then how on earth am I going to make anything that actually resembles a loader? But people, I actually did it. I actually made a loader pancake! I think I was probably more excited than Owen was, and figured I'd have to take a picture as proof: (I'm ignoring the fact that C.J. looked at it and called it a Bulldozer)




Secondly, I am realizing that this house has WAY better lighting for indoor photos than our old house. And because of this, I am constantly running to grab my camera when I see one of the boys in a good spot. I can't help it. I think once you start taking pictures, you can't help but see the world through a camera lens...and when you think it might look good, you jump on it. The only problem is, I think Silas has already acquired a dislike for having his picture taken. Most of the time when I get the camera out, he starts fussing and gives me a face like this:




But after a lot of peek-a-boo-ing and silly baby talking, I sometimes get to capture this:




I happen to think he might just be the sweetest baby on the block!

P.S. I often find myself liking the black and white version of the pictures I take better than the colored version. However, I am finding that it is REALLY hard for me to turn pictures of Silas into black and white...it kinda feels empty when I do. I must like his coloring...or something.

I'm done...

Ok, so getting to build a house has been a HUGE privilege and blessing, I know. But that doesn't mean that it hasn't been challenging at times. I have been relieved and excited that the house has turned out to be almost exactly what we had envisioned before we started the process. I consider that a pretty big success. And up until yesterday, there wasn't a single thing that we had chosen for the house that I regretted. And then we got gutters.

There's a house in town that I absolutely LOVE. It is an older home, grey paint, white trim, black shutters, and........black gutters. I love the place. So, in choosing the color scheme for our house I had this other house in mind. When it came time to choose exterior paint, I thought I was choosing a grey but that turned out to be more beige than grey. Oh well, I still like the color. No biggie. The doors got painted black...loved them. The shutters have yet to arrive, but I'm sure I'll love them, too. But people, we had black gutters put on our house yesterday and I basically hate them. They are, in my opinion, the only part of the house that you would look at and think, "why on earth would you do that?" They totally cover up the pretty white trim. I don't know what happened. I mean, I loved them on the house in town, so why don't I love them on our house? Maybe the different roof lines? When I saw ours from afar, I almost cried. And this put me over the edge.

You see, I am so sick of caring so much about the house. I mean seriously. They're gutters. Are they worth losing sleep and crying over? No. It's a house...one that we are excited to raise our family in and invite others into. I think the problem is, when you build a custom home, you get to choose EVERY SINGLE DETAIL. And that's a good thing. But I think it also takes a lot out of you. It makes EVERY SINGLE DETAIL seem like the most important decision in the world, which it's obviously not. In a way, I'm almost glad that I hate the gutters. I think it brought me back to reality and what's important. Does it really matter if the gutters on our house are not perfect? No. Does it mean we can't still enjoy living here? No. Does it mean that we can't welcome others into our home? No. So really, who cares?

I guess the point to all of this is, I'm ready to be done with this process. Thankfully, there are only a few little tiny things left, because I don't have much left in me. I have enjoyed getting to build a house and am incredibly thankful for it now that we live here. But I'm ready to be a regular person again. One who has a home to live in but doesn't dwell constantly on what it looks like. One who has dinner ready for her husband when he gets home. One who spends the whole day playing outside with the kids, rather than trying to get a bunch of stuff accomplished. So if you come over any time soon and see that the grass is not yet seeded out or there are no towel hooks hung in bathrooms or there are dust bunnies all over the hardwoods, there's a reason. And that reason is: I need to stop with the consuming house stuff for a while and just live.

And P.S. As I drove up to the house today after church and saw the gutters again, I couldn't stop chuckling. So don't feel bad if you do, too, when you see them. Or maybe you won't even notice, cuz you're a normal person.

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What's a blog post without a picture or two? Here are the boys yesterday:

The Nursery...

Today I decided to take pictures of Silas' room...mostly because my nesting instinct had been delayed so long that I couldn't wait to set up his room...and subsequently show you!












Meanwhile, next door in Owen's room the boys were doing this: