its july???

It is always hard for me to believe how fast time is going by. I am not sure I will ever really come to terms with it, but in ten short days my baby will be ONE. 

I still remember exactly what it felt like to be so pregnant last July 4th. Pretty sure I sat on my moms couch all day and could barely hold a conversation. I was convinced I would be pregnant forever (why do people even think that, no one has ever been pregnant forever, but I was certain I would be). And now fast forward a year and I am swimming in a pool with my baby girl and cheering her on as she nose dives in the water. 

I would much rather have this 4th of July than last, but I am still a little bit sad at how fast its all flying by. Especially now since she sleeps (almost) through the night and does the most adorable things ever. I just hope it just keeps getting better because right now life with Madison seems pretty darn good and I am not really in a rush to see it pass. 

We are still really loving our home. Besides the whole no AC thing, what the heck Colorado is supposed to be cooler than Texas??? We have been still trying to accomplish those pesky items on our never ending to do list, but still trying to take time away from that list also. 

We bought a bike trailer for Madison a couple of weeks ago and have already used it quite a bit. The first weekend we had it we rode 26 miles to a farmer's market in the town next to Denver, called Golden. The ride was not too bad, but it was so flipping hot, we practically cooked in the sun. She seems to like the trailer and it has been nice to cart her to the grocery store and such. 

I have taken a hodge podge of pictures the past couple of weeks so here they are... 

 This is what my days consist of, continually cleaning up after my little mess. I trade cleaning up the mess for the 30 minutes it keeps her entertained. I love that she knows how to put on my necklaces. Surely she did not learn it from me because I have not worn those things in forever.

 We borrowed this walker from one of her "friends." She pretty much keeps her mouth open the entire time and makes a humming noise. Its like she is so happy she can finally walk around she just can't keep it in. (excuse my pajama shorts, it takes longer than I care to admit to change out of them in the morning).

 Here is the free china cabinet I scored off of craigslist. I do not have a before picture, but it was a typical ugly wood color from back in the day. The green is a wee bright, but our house has a lot of bright colors, they make me happy. The antiquing method takes no time at all to do, I even painted this with Madison. You can vaguely make out her hand prints on the bottom right cabinet. Even though I get really frustrated with her "helping," I love that she is leaving her marks all over.

My loves. Every time Will holds her like this she straightens out her legs and flexes her feet, I can't get enough. Aww, I love them. 

I think that is about it. My family is coming in next weekend to celebrate the big birthday with us. I am really excited about this, I have been craving family time. 

new paint and potty

Just in case you needed a refresher as to what our house looked like before, here it is.

The color was a purple and green. It was chipping because there was not any primer and it looked pretty dull. There were also these window awnings on the side which Will took off last weekend. I think that the point of them was to add something to the house to make it look less like a box, but there is no denying our house is a box with a flat roof. 

And here is the after... 

 It is very much a mint colored home. It is pretty bright and glowing and stands out a bit from the rest of the homes, but we love it. It makes the house seem much fresher and clean. It was probably the last little touch the home needed to fully feel like ours.

 

Oh, and I know I am getting a head of myself on this, but I bought Madison an infant potty. I am just really over changing the trillion diapers she goes through a day. She at least seems to be enjoying herself, wouldn't you say??

home projects

This weekend was spent doing most of the home projects we have not been able to do. Of course we did not get them all finished, but what else would we have to do if we finished them all?? 

Much to my delight there was an estate sale going on across the street and I scored some great stuff. I had been wanting a full length mirror in our bedroom for some time, but did not want to spend the  $50 most stores charge. So I found one at the estate sale that just needed some paint. I went gray crazy in our bedroom. I painted the mirror, the nightstand, a painting for over the bed, and the chair (i found in an alley way), all gray.

We have never had a real master bedroom. A room that fully felt like ours, so I had been putting alot of thought into how to make a little nest for us. I think that having such neutral colors in our room is great for my mind. It is calming and simple. I still have more fine touches, but I really like the way it is coming together. 

 

 

 I also found an old gold mirror and painted that yellow to compliment our kitchen. 

We bought a few more items from the estate sale, like old pirex bowels, wine glasses, and some old fence posts I hope to use for a project soon. 

Another project in the works is an old china cabinet I picked up for free off of Craigslist. I have to paint it, but hopefully that will be finished soon. We desperately need more cabinet space for our dishes.

outtakes

So the pictures from the previous post were literally the only three that turned out. I thought this would be a simple photo shoot. Once again, Madison kept me on my toes. We were both ready for a nap after this effort.

from son, to husband, to father

I know that sometimes my head is still spinning with all the changes that have taken place since Will and I met four years ago. So I know that it must sometimes be hard for Will to wonder how the heck he got here.

Our titles and roles have switched quite a bit these past few years, though some of them unexpected, I feel incredibly blessed I get to experience all these changes with Will. 

It has been really neat to see the transformation take place in him. I had a good hunch he would be an excellent father and luckily I was right. I know that he carries around a huge weight of responsibility on his shoulders trying to make sure he provides for his ladies. I know that he often feels like he is torn in every direction and there is constantly something that needs his attention. I also know he has made a lot of sacrifices to become this family man, like not living in a cabin chasing wolves. But, I am so grateful he chooses us everyday. I can not definitively speak for Madison, but the stream of hugs and kisses she gave him this morning speak for themselves (or maybe that was to apologize for waking up at 4:30 am again...)

So Will, if you get around to reading this, we love you!

eleven months

Madison turned eleven months old yesterday. She is just a couple weeks away from being a one year old. I have already sent out invitations for a little outdoor party we will have for her to celebrate.

At Eleven Months:

* She is sleeping about ten hour stretches at night, but that means she is waking quite early. Sometimes she surprises us and goes back to sleep until 7am, but that is rare these days. 

* She is my house helper. She has fully taken note of what I do around the house. She closes all doors behind us when we leave a room, she puts things back into cabinets when she gets them out, she helps me put potting soil in the ground when I plant. It is amazing to see the things she attempts to do herself after watching me do them. 

* She eats pretty much the same amount of food as I do during the day. Well, maybe not the exact same amount, but at least the same items. She still only has two teeth but she can scarf down anything we give her.

* She has become very affectionate. Giving hugs to almost anyone and anything.  I will see her holding aspen's paw and kissing it. She squeezes all her baby dolls super tight. And gives us ample amounts of love, we are loving it. 

* Still no signs of walking. She is not a fan of trying to stand on her own and does not like us to help her walk either. She is still fiercely independent. 

* She hardly plays with her toys anymore. She mostly spends her days following me around and playing with whatever she can get into. 

It is still hard for me to believe a year has almost passed. I find myself remembering where I was a year ago. I had about four weeks left and I thought I would be pregnant forever. I look at pictures of from the past year and they all seem so recent, its hard to believe some of them were months ago. But at the same time, I have really grown to thoroughly enjoy being around her. I love being able to sit down and share a meal with her. I love being able to show her how to do things and watch her attempt them. I love to watch her explore and I can just sit and let her be. 

This time next month we will be watching her smash a cake all over her body and celebrate one year of parenthood. Crazy stuff.