The beginning of the beginning....I thought I might start blogging again as I embark on an adventure of renovations in our house. I wouldn't say they are necessarily necessary renovations but lets be honest we all get bored with our houses and for me I always see a space as a blank canvas for awesomeness.  For me the first part of renovation is color. I think it's the one thing most people are scared of, but it's so important.  From your pallet you can define every surface.  I stumbled across this site (www.design-seeds.com) a few weeks ago that finds beautiful and inspiring color pallets from photographs.  So I took two pallets "Temple Doors" & "Spiced Neutrals" and made my own custom color pallet.  Stay tuned as you watch how I pull each color into a multitude of different pieces and surfaces!  Here's to a time or renovation fun!

A VERY HAPPY EARLY MOTHER'S DAY : Today at Dealey's school they had a mom appreciation brunch and part of something they did for us was to interview the kids and have them answer questions about Mommy...Dealey's teacher Mrs. Shannon said it was like interviewing someone on Saturday Night Live as Dealey thought he and every answer was hysterical....

Q. How old is your mommy?
A. 30 (he was by far the most accurate of any kid although I think I'd like it better if he thought I was somewhere in the range of 4-14 like all the other moms)

Q. Mommy's favorite food is?
A: Chocolate Cherry Cookies
(I'm not sure where he got this from, but we did make cherry chocolate chip cookies together last week so I guess that's fresh in his mind)

Q. My mommy always says...
A. I don't know (seriously he told Mrs. Shannon I am always saying I don't know and he's so right! It's got to be better than pretending I know anything.)

Q. My mommies favorite thing to do with me is...
A. Take me to church (He likes to make me sound good I guess, although we have been spending a lot of time with our new Life in Deep Ellum family lately.)

Q. I love my mommy because...
A. You're silly Mrs. Shannon, I Just Do!!!

My sweet boy just warms my heart and drives me crazy all in one breath.  After wondering for years if I'd ever get to celebrate Mother's Day it's now a necessary reminder that despite the frustrations of parenting and the sometimes bipolar attitudes that are being flung around the room, I am blessed beyond measure to have two beautiful and healthy boys!

eleven months and I'm 6 days behind on posting it, that should tell you what kind of crazy month this has been!  Cohen is doing everything he should be doing and more, he's such a joy, eats like a mad man and smiles so much. I didn't realize how much he'd grown this month until I saw the picture. It matches up with food consumption for sure!

10 months old!  So I see a pattern of only one post a month.  I wonder what will happen after Cohen turns one and I stop doing the monthly pics?! Well, my little man is awesome he's 10 months old today a chatter box when he wants to be and a human garbage disposal doesn't even seem to quite describe his food consumption.  Glad to have a good eater but man.  I think a Sam's or Cosco membership is in the near future for sure. Cohen is coasting around furniture with confidence and we're all taking bets on when he'll walk, my parents think Thanksgiving, but I'm think Christmas.  I'm sure he'll do something in between just to spite us all.  I didn't realize until I put the picture in how much his hair had grown and though it doesn't look it he has grown he just won't sit up straight.  Enjoy!  only 2 months until the big 1 year old, I can't wait for the party!

NINE MONTHS! And oh so cute.  My Mr. Smiley is still smiling and we love it!  It's been a rough month of teething.  You can see he's got two bottom ones in fully, but he has at least 4 other breaking through (that I can see).  He's jabbering away and crawling like a man with a mission. Pulling up and coasting on furniture I think we'll be taking steps before we know it!  Here's he's nine month bumbo and few other sweet pics.

What's Cooking? In anticipation of the end of this diet session I am feeling excited about going grocery shopping this week and picking up so yummy stuff to start cooking Monday!  However in my meal planning and through out the diet process one thing has been bothering me.  Side dishes.  I think one of my biggest downfalls is bad side dishes so many of them involve carbs, loads of them.  While I am excited for what I figured out for the coming week or so in the long run I need to build up some yummy side dish recipes.  So please share your ideas!

Life doesn't always seem to be right or fair, but when I look at this sweet boys face everything seems to be a little bit better.  I'm so excited Cohen's 8 months old, he's determined to go anywhere he wants and he does!  We have two teeth on their way in and that's always a fun time!  He seems to be doing all the things he's technically supposed to but most important he's so freaking happy!

I love you my little Co-man!

Family + Time = Love  We go to spend some wonderful time with Matt's sister, her husband Chad and their sweet girls Ella & Livi this weekend.  Livi's not shown she was napping, but I love this picture.  Cohen just wanted to climb all over Megan it was funny and Ella loved and kissed on him and he gurggled and talked to her and laughed, it was so cute I can't wait until Cohen is older and all four kids interact and play together, so fun!

On another family note, I've been working on a labor of family love for a couple of weeks.  A few months ago Matt's grandmother Ginger (aka Mom) decide she was ready to empty her home in DeSoto and try to sale it.  She invited the family over to take anything they wanted.  Matt and I picked up a few pieces but one in particular that Matt loved was this buffet cabinet that was in the entry way of the home.  As something he saw every time he entered and left the house it reminded him of so many wonderful moments with family in his grandmother's house.  The piece (from what we know) was designed and built in Japan in the late 40's early 50's when Matt's dad's parents lived on a US base there after WW2.  Once his grandfather was done with his assignment there they came back to the states and had some amazing furniture shipped back as well including this buffet.  Although made out teak somewhere down the line it got painted?  Why I'll never know but it did, more than once I found out as I stripped it.  But after hours of stripping and cleaning I found a beautiful piece of furniture that had been hiding underneath all those layers.  I left traces of paint here and there to remind us of where the piece has been, but it's now a beautiful family heirloom that we'll treasure forever.

Pulled Pork Heaven. I did hours of research and combined several different ideas and recipes to come up with this recipe for pulled pork.  It was amazing, packed with flavor and it makes you feel so good to make your own rub & bbq sauce and know what's in it and without preservatives.  I hope you enjoy.  Let me know how you enjoy it, I feel like the possibilities are endless!

SEVEN MONTHS OLD! Today my sweet Cohen is 7 months old.  He such a blessing and joy to my life.  He makes me smile and laugh, always at the perfect moment when I need it most.  He's so close to crawling he can move his way around a room but it's kind of inch worm affect.  He cruises and chases Dealey in his walker and he's starting to talk it up more and more.  We've got the beginnings of mama, baba and dada and he is just such the completing joy to our lives.  I can't wait for him to grow grow grow and watch him and D play together (and fight together) play soccer together, swim, go to movies, I'm just so excited.  Here's my sweet chunks 7 month pic...he grew a lot this month and I didn't even see it until I put the pictures together. Crazy cool!

I've had several friends request that I post my weekly menu so I'm going to try and do that as often as I can.  I start my diet next week so the next 6 weeks or so will be different from the norm but for this week I'm excited to have some of my favorites...if you want recipes let me know!

Turkey Chili Recipe with Beef Substituted (matt's request)

Chicken, Bacon & Goat Cheese Salad

Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes & Corn (the best comfort food)

Grilled Steak, with Roasted Potatoes & Almond Green Beans

Spicy Orange Beef over Homemade Fried Rice

I'm really going to enjoy this last week of yummy foods, although not all completely unhealthy the key to enjoying some of my favorites, very small portions!

6 MONTHS OLD and almost ready to move!  I can't believe Cohen is half a year old today!  I don't know his stats we go to the dr. on Thursday but it's obvious from last month to this month he's putting on some lbs!!  We just started solid foods which seemed almost necessary as he was wanting to add and add to his bottle feedings.  He's awesome though still such a good natured little guy and just happy to be!  Here's his little 6 month photo shoot!

Sorry for the delay in adding post but I've been having a horrible time trying to make blogger work but finally figured out a way around it's stupidity!  So here's Dealey being silly & Cohen's first bites of food!  We started with squash.  Now we're on to Oatmel & Peaches but tonight I made my first baby food, sweet potatoes, carrots & mango!  We'll see how it goes!

This last picture is one of my favorites.  Dealey at his first feeding & Cohen at his.  Obviously Cohen has some extra squishiness to him but I love that it shows how Cohen is really developing into his own little man!

5 months old!  My baby boy is 5 months old!  He's getting so big  and is quite the character.  Although he is much more laid back than Dealey has ever been he shines at all the right moments!  He loves being in his walker a few times through out the day and is getting more and more mobile in it.  He rolls over on his stomach well and seems to like the view from that angle and we've started oatmeal!! mmmmm!  Oh but don't be fooled even though he is more laid back he has totally figured out he must be LOUD to be heard over his brother!  He loves to shreak and talk to us and even has small meaningless conversations with me at time.  He's growing up so fast and I love it! Check out this sweet picture, who could resist this face! And of course the 5 month bumbo!

4 MONTHS AND SO FULL OF SMILES!  My sweet baby is such a bright happy light in our life right now. I feel so blessed to have him in my life....

 

3 MONTHS : AND ALMOST UPRIGHT?!

Cohen is 3 months old today!  I can't believe how this time has flown by, I love that it has but it doesn't feel like it's been 3 months.  Co is very active always moving around in your arms looking at the world and trying to take it all in.  Really I think he's trying to figure out where that loud noise is coming from.  I point him towards Dealey and he smirks a bit.  He's so much more smiley and social than D was at this age which is kind of fun.  He's realizing he's going to have to speak and speak loudly to be heard over his big brother.  He loves sitting up on the couch and watching D run around like the crazy person he is and while tummy time is still a source of frustration for him, we keep trying and he'll indulge me for a few minutes at a time. I keep telling him he doesn't want a funky head but he doesn't listen. Hum, I don't think will be changing any time soon!  In D's 3 month pictures he was about to jump out of the chair and Co is just hanging out I hope this is a sign he's going to be one laid back little kid...I like it! 

It's funny I feel like I can't talk about Co unless I talk about D too, don't want to forget the first born or leave him out!  So in true Dealey fashion, he's at it again!  This time he came out and asked me to take a picture...oh my Jesus, what a kid he is.....

because I can't get my undies dirty.....

This is what Dealey said to my mom when she found him taking his underwear off in the backyard.  I grabbed the camera and well the pictures speak for themselves.  He's a strange kid, a strange strange kid.

PS. I asked what he was doing in the 3rd pictures, he said, "raking"...I said, "okay".

DO YOU DOO-NANNY?

I learned about this outsider art festival in Alabama called Doo-Nanny on one of my favorite sites Design Public. Has anyone ever heard of this? It sounds like a blast. Anyway, I don’t understand exactly what it is, but it sounds fun and I love outsider art. I wish I had the time to travel around to all these crazy cool art shows...maybe someday my boys will do it with me without attitude or dirty looks. I can dream can't I?

Here's what they had to say:

A truly unique experience!….a casserole of southern folk art, home cookin, homemade movies, camping, foot-stompin music, experimental architecture, guessing, oddities, unusual characters, a movie festival, surprises, cracker ingenuity, experiential transomism, and much more!… Folks coming in from NY, TX, CA, and beyond beyond…

Begun as a roadside folk art show in 1996, the Doo-Nanny is now located on a beautiful 80 acre farm in Seale, AL, near Columbus, Ga, and includes a wacky “lo-fi” film festival, fun food, and and eclectic assortment of music and activities.

2 months and he hasn't missed a meal yet... I just got back from C's 2 month check up and all is well. It was quickly obvious that he has not missed a meal although I could have told the dr. that she didn't need to weigh him to find that out. He weighed in at 12 lbs 5 oz which is an over 4 lb gain from his one month check up and puts him in the 75%. He has grown 2 3/4 inches in the last month coming in at 22 3/4" and just about average for his age. His head is 16 1/4" and 90% yes, we have large headed children. You know it has to be large to hold all those brains!

Everything looks good a little cradle cap but nothing too serious and he's a little flat on the right side of his head but not too bad we just need to try to get him to look left more. Maybe I'll just have D stand on his left side and scream at him he seems to actually enjoy the loud noises that come out of Dealey....Mommy doesn't so much.

Here's his two month bumbo! You can see how much he's grown. It's a good thing they don't do a percentage on feet, he'd be of the charts! Also my new favorite pic of C, his first big gummy smile!