So, I don't want to jinx myself, but I was downloading these pictures of Baron (where I was trying to catch that sweet smile the other day) to the computer and felt that I needed to share just one little thing with y'a'll...Baron slept over 9 hours last night!!  Yep!  That's right!  He's been a consistent 6-7 hours every night for the past few weeks and I've been just waiting for him to drop that 4-5am feeding.  Lo-and-behold, he did it last night.  I laid him down around 9:45pm and he didn't wake 'til 7:00am this morning!  Westen did this around 11 weeks old and Baron is 10 weeks today, so I've just been hoping he'd do as well as Westen.  Now, before I get carried away, I realize this may not be the new norm every night.  BUT, at least I know he can do it and we're on our way!  We shall see.  In the meantime - HOLLA!!!  And a big fat thank you to Storm Kaz for introducing me and Austin to the moms-on-call method for sleep training.  Worked like a charm for both our boys;)

One more thing - I don't have a picture of them downloaded yet on this computer (mine and Austin's Christmas present to each other - SWEET!), but I wanted to at least say, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!  They're celebrating 36 years of marriage today!  And thank you for being such an awesome example of marriage and love.  I can honestly say my parents still adore each other after 36 years.  My hat's off to you both.  I love you and pray Austin and I follow in your footsteps!

  I finally got to use the circular saw I bought on black Friday.  I'd been wanting one for awhile and tools rarely go on sale, so I took advantage of Sears great sale price!  I bought lumber for the first time on my own at Lowes and cut all the wood.  Austin helped me assemble everything, then I painted and filled it up.  For the how-to on this, I used Ana White's design plans which you can find here.

It holds all your gift wrapping needs; scissors, tape, ribbon, name tags, and, obviously, even the wrapping paper.  I used a couple different pegboard hooks to hang these items, but you could do it however you wanted!  This is the gift I took to the girls party.  I have supplies to build one for myself though, too.  Here's one last look.

This wasn't too terribly difficult to make.  Austin did have to help me hold and screw it together though.  I couldn't do that by myself.  Then I primed and painted it.  (again, go to ana white's website for the how-to on this project).  Hope you like it.  Happy building!

Merry Christmas, Girls!  So this was my 2nd year attending the girls Christmas party that my friend Lyndsay has hosted.  It was a sweet night of fellowship with these girls, some of them that I know well, and some that I'm still getting to know.  The food was great and the company even better!  We did a gift exchange and I got a beautiful set of candle holders and Christmas candles.  Thanks Kendall!  To see the gift I took for Christine, check back Friday for that project...it was a doozy (is that a word??).  The girls from left to right - Christine, Stacy, Jill, Erica, Lyndsay, Kendall, Kelly, and me!  Thanks for the wonderful hospitality Lyndsay, and thanks girls for giving me a night out from the boys that was filled with laughter!

Mr. Baron turned 2 months old over the weekend.  Hard to believe it's been 2 months already.  I feel like I was in the hospital yesterday.  And that's right...he's smilin'!!  Pretty cute, huh??  He's a sweet baby.  He's just been starting to smile the past couple weeks.  It's so cute!  He especially does it when we talk to him.  Of course, Westen hears how I talk to him and imitates me completely.  It's funny to watch Westen with him.  Baron's doing great - still eating like a champ and sleeping between 6 and 7 hours each night.  At his 2 month check up (where he had to get shots :( ) he weighed 12lbs. 13oz. and was 24.5 inches long.  Still a big boy!  As for the rest of us, we are adjusting well.  Westen LOVES him!  Austin and I just feel so blessed.  He's a great baby!

So, if you don't know, I'll take a picture of him each month next to his little teddy bear and we'll get to watch him grow.  To see the previous months, click on Baron At A Glance under the categories to the right.

Today we went to Orlando to celebrate Nana's Birthday! We had a nice lunch and gave Nana pictures of her grandkids - Lauren, Grant, Westen, and Baron.  We had a great time!

Baron, of course, got some lovin' from Aunt Rissa!

After lunch, we all went to visit Grandma.  She's doing great!

We all even got to enjoy Todd's company for the day!  Look what Lindsay got him for Christmas!!!

JK!!  That's Baron, of course.  But looks funny, heh??

Anyway, Happy Birthday Nana!!

Unbeknownst to me, Ormond Beach holds this parade every year.  So this was our first time attending.  Westen enjoyed the DeLand parade so much we decided to try out Ormond's.  Lots of lights and cute kids!  We also saw horses and dogs, race cars, trucks, all of which Westen loved.  It was good, although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed that we didn't see much regarding what Christmas is really about.  No nativity scenes.  It was a fun night nonetheless.

Baron stayed awake for most of the parade.  He didn't really watch the parade though.

We're finding out that Westen seems to love the cold weather. If it's cold outside, he doesn't want to leave the house without his jacket/coat and hat.  Last night was the first time he got to wear gloves and he was stoked!!  I was feeding Baron in the car when Austin put them on him, but apparently he was was high fiving and fist pumping everyone to show off his new gloves.  He thought it was the coolest!  Oh, the little things...

I cuddled Baron for a little while, then Austin and I switched.  We took pictures of some of the parade, but they all turned out super dark:(  

We had a good time.  And on a side note, thanks to Miss Rebecca who stopped by yesterday for Christmas gifts for the boys.  Rebecca is the best babysitter ever!  We love her and so does Westen.  Westen got a cool Buzz tent which he played with all afternoon and Baron got a cute little outfit!  Thanks Miss Rebecca!

So the past 2 Christmases I've been eyeballing stockings, only to find that the ones I always found and wanted were more than I wanted to pay.  Yeah, $15 doesn't sound like much but multiply that by 4 and, well...no thanks.  Plus, I always hated the possibility of getting them, then adding to our family down the road, and that child having a mismatched stocking.  Sooooo, I decided to make us some this year just the way I wanted them!  I got the idea of using Osnaburg fabric from Marion at www.missmustardseed.blogspot.com.  Awesome website for home decor ideas.  It's similar to a linen fabric, but cheaper.  Then I picked out 4 different fabrics for each of us.  The boys all have some sort of blue, and I opted for a green I liked.  Can you tell which belongs to whom??

This red stocking was my dollar store one from last year. Don't get me wrong, I love the dollar store, but wanted something not so.....would generic be the right word??  Anyway, I outlined last year's stocking about 1/2 inch out and a couple inches taller just because that's my preference for the new ones.

The other fabrics I bought were from JoAnns for about $1.29 each.  I don't know what they're called but they're just rolled up pieces of fabric probably about 18in. x 24in. or something like that.  Anyway, I just laid them over the cut out osnaburg fabric and drew where I wanted my cuff, heel, and toe to be on the blue fabric.

Then I cut them out as well as a long rectangle for the little loop for hanging the stocking.  So, for front and back, I needed 2 of each piece (stocking, cuff, heel, toe, and loop).

I didn't do a great job of taking pictures while I sewed.  Two little boys keep me from taking my time, sometimes.  Anyway, I just pinned the heel and toe of each the front and back piece to the front and back pieces.  I did this before I actually sewed the stocking together.  And I just let the seam show - nothing fancy. (This picture is after the stocking is sewn).

Once the heels and toes were on, I put right sides together of the stocking and sewed all the way around except for the top.  I left that open.  And I used a straight seam for everything.  Then I flipped it back to right side out.  For the cuff (mine was 1 long rectangle that I folded but you could use 2 smaller recatangles and sew right sides together on the sides but leave top and bottom open), I sewed the open side together to make it one continuous piece.  Top and bottom open.  Then I folded it down wrong sides together to make an actual cuff. Do the same thing with a smaller rectangle to make the loop that the stocking will hang from.  I then stuck the cuff, right sides out, down in the stocking as shown.  On the heel side of the stocking, I inserted the loop right sides out down in between the cuff and stocking right on the aligning seams.  You can't see that part in the picture, but here's the cuff down in the stocking.

Last, I used freezer paper to stencil on our first name initials.  Freezer paper stenciling isn't perfect, but it is perfect for projects that don't have to be perfect!  So I just found the size and font I wanted using Word on our computer, printed it out on regular printer paper, put freezer paper over them (shiny side down), and used an exacto knife to cut out the stencils.  Iron those onto the fabric shiny side down.

Next, I mixed black and white fabric paint to get kind of a dark gray color and used a sponge brush to paint the stencil.  I put an extra piece of freezer paper inside the stocking to make sure the paint didn't leak through to the back side.  Two coats, let it dry, then heat set it by putting cloth down over top of it before ironing it.

Here they are again on the shelf beneath our nativity scene.

The best part is, if we decide to expand our family again, then I can just make another one.  And, instead of paying $60+ for sockings, I paid maybe $20 total for all four!  Holla!!

Much to my satisfaction, Westen seems to enjoy the Christmas Season as much as his momma (a little more than Daddy who we sometimes call Scrooge;).  Saturday night we haeaded to DeLand to watch the Deland Christmas Parade with some friends (it was already dark, thus the dark, blurry pictures).  Westen absolutely loved it!

Westen and Rhett had front row seats!  They saw, Santa, horses, dogs, cows, and lots and lots of Christmas lights!

We had so much fun at the DeLand parade that we're hitting up Ormond's this weekend.  We also bought our Christmas tree Saturday which Westen was equally excited about and we decorated it Sunday!  We'll get a picture of that up soon.  Westen's been running around the house this week singing "Gingle Bells, Gingle Bells" (no I didn't spell it wrong, he pronounces it like ggggirl) which I also love because I've been accused of listening to Christmas music to early (who doesn't need a little pick me up in July??).  Anyway, check back Friday for a cool project!

Just wanted to share a couple pictures of the boys from this week.  Time flies by.  Baron is 7 weeks old as of this past Monday.  Crazy!  And I think I'm losing my mind a little.  I think this happened after I had Westen too and is now only seeming to get worse, but I'm more scatter-brained than ever!  Please tell me I'm not alone in this matter.  Do kids just do that to you?  I find it hard to remember much or get anything done when they're both home!  And you've probably heard by now that I nearly burnt our house down (well not really, but that's what Austin would tell you) - if not, I'm sure you will hear it soon enough.  And it proves I'm losing it!  I have about one million things to do between now and Christmas including getting some Christmas decorations up.  I pray I get them done.  Oh well, enough.  Here's the boys!

I'm so thankful for the little coldfront that came through this week.  I'm so ready for cooler weather!  Westen seems to like it too.  He loves wearing his hats!  And he obviously also loves Elmo (ugghhh, Austin and I are ready for him to be over this obsession, but Mom reminds me he's only 1! :)

Yes that's a Christmas cup we use in the tub with Baron and you did hear right that we don't even have Christmas decorations up.  So what!  But can you tell he's changing??  I think he gets cuter everyday.  He's starting to stay awake more and smile a little. LOVE it!  He's also sleeping between 6 and 7 hours most nights which is awesome!  He's a sweet little baby and we are so blessed to have both him and Westen.

Yeah, I can't believe I'm sharing our disorganization with you either...but this was a project.  And although the outcome isn't a miracle - it's certainly better, so worth sharing in my opinion.  I have to admit, this isn't the true BEFORE picture.  I forgot to take a true before one. This is actually after I had already trashed some expired items. So figure about a half a trashbag full of more junk.  Nonetheless, here's my pantry.  Maybe not terrible, but let's take a closer look.

A little worse than you thought??  Yeah, I thought so.  My plan of attack was to first use any containers I could find in my home that weren't being put to good use.  And wouldn't you know it but I found a set of white ceramic canisters we had gotten for our wedding stored in our laundry room cabinets serving only one purpose which was to take up space.  Next, I decided how many and of what size containers I'd need to get rid of some bagged products (sugar, flour, snacks, etc.) and make it easier for even Austin to find (the worst finder in the world - or is it just a man thing?).  Next, I set out to Walmart to purchase those containers along with some FROG tape, spray primer, and chalkboard paint.

This is my first experience with FROG tape which is supposed to block paint leakage better than the regular blue paint tape.  Anyway, without measuring but just eyeballing it, I taped off a rectangle on the front of each container.  For the glass and plastic containers, I put newspaper around the rectangle along with the tape to keep from getting the spray primer on the glass.  I didn't do that on the canisters because they were white too and you can't see it.  So I primed the rectangles with the spray primer - (have you figured out what I'm doing yet?), let that dry, then painted the rectangles with chalkboard paint.

I let that dry then did another coat.  I used a sponge brush to paint this on but you could use anything.  By the next morning, I was ready to label my new chalkboard labeled containers and start reorganizing. We'll see if this works any better, but here's what I decided to do:  The top shelf holds all of our paper products and as you can see I have some extra space to work with.  The second shelf holds pretty much all of our baking and cooking products.

The next 2 shelves that are more conveniently located for me (and let's face it, I'm the one getting in and out of the pantry 90% of the time) are full of items we use the most - breakfast, snacks, dinner, etc.

The bottom shelf and floor holds our stock of drinks, cookbooks, and some appliances placed in an ice bin that I use just sometimes.  And because I somehow have more space, I put a little basket of what I'll call Westenware on the bottom shelf for Westen to be able to reach and "help" get his things out for a snack or dinner or whatever. 

So again, the before and after...

Sorry the after picture is first.  Like I said, I wouldn't say I'm working miracles here or anything, but I'm hoping this'll make my life a little easier.  Isn't it more enjoyable to work in a space that's organized??  And this did take me the better part of a week to complete.  I have to do things a little at a time with 2 itty bitty kids here.  Anticipate more of these type projects after the holidays.  I intend to slowly take different areas of the house and one by one, shape them up.  I do think that even Austin could find things in our new, labeled, reorganized pantry;)