So for Christmas this year, Austin and I decided instead of buying gifts for each other, we'd get a new computer. Our old Dell was still running, or actually I'd say it was crawling...  I'd say 8 years is a good run for a PC though, right??   We decided on a laptop because our current office is not conveniently located, so we wanted it to be mobile.  We did a little research and questioned friends and family about what to get.  We had reservations, but everyone and everything was pointing us towards the Apple:)

Silver and sleek and... AMAZING!!  We went with it.  Yes, it cost more, but when you're spending that much $$ anyway, you might as well get what you want, right??  It's the MacBook Pro. 

We've still got a lot to learn, but we do love the set up of iphoto and imovie.  While we were in KY for Christmas, Austin started messing around to learn to operate the imovie.  Here's one of the videos he put together.  Don't know if you'll be able to hear music, but an idea of what this little puppy can do. And this is just standard - no extra software needed.  Anyway, the MacBook Pro is More than Mediocre.  Happy Monday!

Today's project is another Christmas present.  I actually made 3 of these for 3 of my 6 nieces.  But I'd have to say Ellie (pictured above), fell in love with this little frock the most!  It's kinda right up her alley.  It's a tshirt dress.  A dress made mostly from recycled tshirts:) (mine).  This is on Christmas day soon after she opened it.  She tried it on with jeans too and it was adorable.  But paired with some cute little boots, the tights work too.

This is the one I made for little Hannah.  I didn't get a picture of her in it though.

Maybe Josie wasn't too sure if she liked it... JK.  I'd love to take credit for this, but I didn't come up with this idea on my own.  I found it on Cheri's blog, here.  Check it out to get the full tutorial on how to make these cute little dresses.  Too bad I'm the only girl in my house:) Really, it was super easy and it helped me stay within budget for buying Christmas gifts.  Hope you like!

Having his birthday fall just 2 days after Christmas, Westen has too many toys to choose from these days.  One of his favorites, though, is his new 4-wheeler he got from Mamaw for his birthday.  He seriously asks to ride daily.  We take a little stroll down to Becca's house (our neighbor and sweet babysitter, love you Becca) and sometimes up around Mr. Bill's and Miss. Peggy's driveway (more neighbors) because they've got the cool semi-circle driveway.  Anyway, I just took this picture the other day and thought it was cute.  Glad you can't see his shoes though.  Daddy dressed him and his shoes threw off the entire outfit.  A for effort though, Daddy!  I'll be back to post some of Baron soon;) 

So, I had been wanting some new dishes for awhile.  We had some cute yellow and green ones with palm trees that were great when we lived in our first house and we had kind of a Key-Westy theme.  But the yellow and green didn't really flow with anything in my kitchen or dining room now and we've been here for almos 3 years.  Plus, I had broken two of the plates, leaving us with just 6:(

I knew I wanted something a little more traditional this time. And I wanted some kind of white or cream color.  Something kinda classic.  I found these in a Ballard Designs catalogue and fell in love!  I love the beaded detail and the antiqued look which is perfect with our rustic dining room table from World Market.

And I love how the bowls have little feet (is that what you'd call it?).

Anyway, I think these can be used for informal or formal (not that we ever do formal in this house:) dinners.  They seem pretty durable too.  Not heavy like stoneware, but durable.  My MIL got these for us for Christmas upon my request and so far - I LOVE them!  Thanks Mauveen!  To see them on Ballard's website click here.  Happy Monday!

So, you may be getting sick of freezer paper stenciling, but what can I say... thats what I did on a lot of my clothing Christmas presents.  If you don't know what it is, read this post. One of my nieces is a little tomboy and she loves John Deere.  I bought the plain green shirt at Hobby Lobby for maybe $3.  I used the freezer paper stenciling for the logo and words on this shirt.  For the hearts, I used little foam stamps that I bought in a pack at Hobby Lobby for a couple dollars (you'll see some more of those in next Friday's Project Post) just to give it a tiny bit of femininity.  Anyway, I just painted on the stamps with a little fabric brush and stamped the shirt.  It was okay with me if the green was still peeking through.  I think that gives the shirt a more vintage look.

And this is the sweatshirt I made for my mom.  She asked me to make her one with all her grandkids names (she didn't have one that included sweet little Baron yet), so this is it. I bought a plain gray sweatshirt and looked at a few Grandmother shirts and liked this one.  Austin is anti-peace sign for whatever reason.  He calls me a hippie, but peace signs are "in" right now, so I made her this one that I thought was cute.

I freezer paper stenciled everything except for the kids names.  For those, I just used a fabric marker.  Here's a closer look.

Let me know if you try the freezer paper stenciling and how you like it.  See ya!

Well, I feel like Westen has taken to brotherhood wonderfully!  Maybe better than Baron:)  Westen is constantly giving Baron hugs and kisses.  He wants to show him EVERYTHING!  All day long I hear, "Look Baron.  See...  Look Baron.  See...".  Precious!  Baron has to tolerate Westen constantly in his face talking at a volume that never seems to go down.

Westen is always imitating me and Austin, our voices, and whatever it is we say to Baron.  So in his sweet little 2 year old voice, we hear "Baron is a Big Boy!"  "What's the matter, Baron?"  "How are you Baron?  Good?" (only for Westen it sounds like Dood).  And the latest that has been doubling Austin and I over in laughter is "Don't you pucker.  Don't you pucker, Baron."  We're entertained easily in this house:)

Anyway, just wanted to share a little update on the boys.  I'm getting anxious for that first time when Baron really lets out a laugh at Westen.  I think it'll be the start of something spectacular!  Happy Thursday!

Well, this one speaks for itself.  Today's More than Mediocre feature is the men and women serving in our Armed Forces.  It's funny because I had a couple ideas for what I was going to feature today, but I wasn't LOVING either one of them.  Then my mom called and said she had emailed me some pics that Sgt. Daniel B. Day (aka my brother) had sent to her.  I instantly knew what today's post should be.  That's my brother, Daniel, on the right.  I think the guy in the middle is Bubba (??) and I don't know about the guy  on the left.  Sorry guys.  I'll have to find out from Daniel;_

Well, I won't go on and on talking about these guys because, really, I don't want to become all Miss Emotional.  But like I said in this post, it's easy to forget what these men and women are doing everyday, the conditions some of them may be living in, or to try to imagine what it's like to miss Christmas with your family, or your kids' birthdays, or whatever it may be that they're doing over there.

And yes, these men and women volunteered for this job.  But regardless of what they each get paid, is it ever really enough??  Is it so much that you think you'd sacrifice your life for it??  Something to think about anyway.  But I say, our men and women in the Armed Forces are doing something that's well... waaaaaaaayyyyyy More than Mediocre. Thanks for reading;)

So, I know I said I'd be sharing some of the Christmas presents I made, but because we're already almost half way through January, I wanted to share this how-to calendar first.  I got this idea from another website, www.younghouselove.com, I think.  They used photoshop, though, which I do not have, so here's my version.  Using Word, I downloaded a calendar template from online (just googled it and found one I liked).  I took off a couple inches each on my left and right margins.  That's what gives this the long skinny look, but it is, in fact, printed on regular 8.5 x 11 inch card stock.  And I left a little room for my text at the top.

As you can see, I used the number for the month (one = January, two = February, etc.) and thought of some way that that number relates to me and/or my family.  I made the number a bigger font than the rest and colored the number and month name the same.  That's it.  Need some ideas... here's the rest of ours'.

I didn't take a picture of this, but I also added in our birthdays.  After I printed them out, I just trimmed up the sides and punched a hole at the top in the middle to hang it by.  TaDa!

This one is hung by our fridge, where we always keep a calendar.  We have another one we always keep on our desk.  If you aren't making one and you're a mom, my mom got me one of those Mom Calendars that's awesome too!  It comes with stickers for activities, Doctors appointments, birthdays, and more.  That's the one for our desk. Super Cute!  Anyway, hope you like it.  

I know I'll probably say this every time, but I can't believe it's already been 3 months that we've had Baron!  He is such a blessing.  Overall, we couldn't ask for more.  He eats and sleeps like a champ.  He can be a little fussy, especially in the evenings and he soooo prefers to be held over anything - which is great for cuddling, but not so great when a certain 2 year old or even a certain 33 year old needs my attention;)

For some reason I'm having trouble rotating that pic.  Sorry:( Anyway, the happenings of a 3 month old - well... he started sleeping through the night this month.  He's been smiling more and more.  And he's laughed out loud a few times - seriously precious!  And he coos back at you when you talk to him.  That's another thing.  He loves having your full attention.  That's when he's most animated! 

As for Big Brother... I'm pretty sure Baron is his favorite person in the house right now.  He's constantly saying, "Look Baron.  See."  showing Baron whatever it is he's playing with or doing at the moment.  And in the mornings, I'm sometimes feeding Baron in our bed while Westen gets up and drinks his milk in our bed (yes, thankfully we have a big bed), and as soon as Westen's finished with his milk, he's all "Morning Baron! Morning Baron" and he just wants Baron's attention.  It's really rather sweet!  It'll be fun when the day comes that Baron starts interacting with him and smiling and laughing at just Westen.  Westen will love it and I think me and Austin will too.  They're kinda precious together;)  Anyway, Happy 3 Months Baby Baron! (Oh, and to see the rest of Baron at a Glance pics, click on it under Categories to the right.

So every Monday, I'll have  a short post about something that I think is More than Mediocre.

Is there anything more pleasant to hear for parents of newborns than the sound of their baby sleeping??  Yes, some of you might remember Baron's announcement picture.  Taken those first few days when he seemed to do nothing but sleep.  But eventually...

he woke up!  First item on the list for my first More than Mediocre Mondays, is what Austin and I like to call Baby Magic.  There is, in fact, a way to get babies to sleep through the night at a relatively early age.

So first, thank you Storm and Brett for introducing it to us:)  Many of you have heard me talk about this before, and if you've read this post in the last month, you know that Baron started sleeping through the night at around 10 weeks old!  Word!!  Anyway, it's basically a routine that minimizes stimulating your baby and teaches them to know what to expect... sleepy night night time!

Sooooo, Moms On Call, is my first More than Mediocre Monday feature.  For any new or soon-to-be moms out there, it's www.momsoncall.com.  They have a book (which is what I used), seminars you can attend (I think), videos you can watch online, and more.  And it's not just about getting your baby to sleep through the night.  They have a plethora of other information too.  The sleeping through the night part is just what I was most interested in.  

And thankfully, for me, it's worked for both my babies.  Westen started sleeping through the night at 11 weeks and Baron at 10 weeks.  And I... feel like a new woman!  So that's it for today.  And No, Moms On Call did not pay me to hype them up.  We just love the system.  And it works if you do it just like they say.  Moms On Call...you're more than mediocre!

One last thing... I will not be signing up for the the half marathon.  Saturday was supposed to be my first try at a long run.  Friday night a pulled I muscle in my back:(   First time I've ever hurt my back and I don't know how people with back injuries cope. Uggghhh!  Anyway, I didn't get to run all weekend and to be honest I'm still a little sore, so I don't know if I'll be running this week.  I simply don't have enough time to train for the 13.1 miles:( I will do it eventually and that's a promise;)