Granny Poppins

My child is taking what seems like his 18th nap of the day which is very unusual, but I'm not complainin'! Each nap he takes equals a chore marked off the to-do list...the dishes are done (dude), the floors are swept, counters cleaned, grocery shopping done & laundry is started! This nap I had to choose between a shower and a quickie blog post and as usual I've decided the shower can wait. I want to announce why I've been cleaning & organizing like a crazy woman...Mr. Brady and I are prepping the house for our new live-in-nanny...my MOM!

The stars really aligned for us on this one. She gets here next week, just in time for me to return to work AND just in time for Christmas which is a really good thing because I was beyond homesick for family and didn't think I could last much longer in this town. The living arrangements are sure to be interesting in our little 1 bathroom house...but she fit the bill...she is kind and witty, has a cheery disposition, no warts, and will love our Herbie like a son...

I've already planned out our next 18 weekends...I envision many a trip to the antique stores in town, HOBBY LOBBY, roadtrips to Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene, painting and sketching together, baking, game nights...and this summer: gardening, walking, lake trips, and breakfast at the Wall Street Diner. What a great gift to finally have family (and my best bud) here...now if we could just convince the rest of our Boise fam and friends to do the same...hint hint Nina!

Hurry Nanny, many thanks sincerely!

wordless wednesday: je t'aime

All My Life

Alex and I don't have cable. As far as I'm concerned, it's a waste of money & I am perfectly content with our 8 channels. If I had more channels I probably wouldn't have come across the ancient music video of K-Ci & JoJo's "All My Life" while channel surfing (more like boogie-boarding with our limited selection) the other day.

I love the power music has to pick you right up out of your seat (on the couch in your sweats) and sweep you away to 1998, to the passenger seat of your future husband's Chevy Blazer, in the parking lot of Chevron, where you just stopped to pick up a pack of smokes. It's here that you've just hopped in to find the car silent, your boyfriend with a weird & serious look on his face. He keeps the car in park while he fumbles with his prized discman and finally hits PLAY. The intro to 'All My Life' begins to play and you look at your boyfriend and say "awwww."...you recently told him that HAD to be your song! He blushes and looks a little embarrassed. There's more. He reaches into his pocket (the one next to his prized pager that hangs on his waistband) and pulls out a ring. Your cheeks are about to explode from smiling so hard as he tells you it's a promise ring and before he can say anything else you jump across the seat to kiss him!

He doesn't remember it all but that's where this hilariously outdated song takes me. As embarrassed as I am to admit it, I have been listening to it quite a bit tonight, realizing that the man I chose at 18 has fulfilled all the expectations "our song" had set for him. He is as close to me as my motha and brothas. He has picked me up when I've been down...way down....and his sweetness continues to make me smile. It's been 14 years since the night in the Blazer and I am still SO thankful that I found this man...and I hope he feels "the same way tooooo."

Gee whiz, I'm 2 months old!

Daddy & "Studson" sporting his designer shades from nana Nina

Well, the Herb-meister is officially two months old!!! The poor guy had to celebrate this milestone with his first round of shots at the doc's office where our suspicions were confirmed...we have a very big boy! He weighed in at 14lb 7oz which puts him at the 96% for his age. He is a whopping 25 inches tall...that's 98%!!! His head size is in the 51% which explains why he is wearing 3-6 month size clothes (he's too tall for all his 3 month cute Carter's pjs-sad day) but still wears 0-3 month sized hats. Besides his rapidly growing body, a lot has changed in 2 short months...H is quite the active and accomplished two month old...

Hudson's 2 month old repertoire:

Smiling: Smiles often at his crazy mummy and daddy. I've noticed my cheeks hurting from smiling at/with him so much.

Talking: Babbles or 'tells us stories'...he especially likes to do this when we speak to him...as if he's carrying on the conversation.

Swimming: LOVES bath time! With a very serious and determined look on his face, he will kick his legs like crazy, splashing himself (and his mummy) in the face.

Sleeping: Is beginning to snooze less during the day and more at night...we've had more success with the bassinet, but the longest H will sleep is about 3 hours.

Eating: Thankfully our little big one has cut down from 5 oz to 3-4oz per feeding! Anddd thankfully we get a good deal on Similac at Costco!

Learning: Mommy and Hudson are currently reading Jane Eyre...I think I spotted a tear on his cheek at the part where Helen Burns died.

Loving: Receives hundreds of kisses a day from Sammy, his nurse dog, who checks on him every time he is let in from the backyard, and of course his doting parents who love him x infinity!!!!!!

2 months old and growing taller and thicker...gee, that's swell!!!!!

While we're on the topic of growing...here's a super informative video about how people grow: (in case you needed that cleared up) from small, to medium, to large...

wordless wednesday: siesta

Santa Baby

This weekend Hudson donned his festive plaid logger shirt and went downtown with his adoring entourage to meet Santa for the first time. He snoozed in line while the couple behind us oohed and ahhed over how cute he was. He must have known he was about to meet someone pretty special because he awoke just in time for his closeup with the big-man. I can't be sure but I think H asked for an exer-saucer to work-out his strong froggy legs in the coming months.

Hudson got to meet two special someones this weekend! His Abuelo Yogi came to visit from Oregon bringing a Mitsubishi-full (literally) of early presents. He brought Hudson his own baby Christmas tree and his first pair of OshKosh overalls. H got to snuggle with Abuelo who documented in grandpa-ese exactly what was happening in the show they watched together...Walking Dead.

When Santa asked what we wanted for Christmas this year we couldn't think of anything...Herbie is our favorite gift and spending our first Christmas together making traditions as a family makes us rather giddy this holiday season.

Craftalicious

Alex and I are both Geminis. This means there are a million projects we've started and never finished. That's why I'm actually surprised that the Christmas crafts I blogged about making here last month didn't become number one million one.

I was originally going to make yarn trees...but, yawn...our dark mantle needed some sparkle. I found plain paper mache trees at Michael's and painted them with Martha Stewart silver paint. I then coated a couple with silver glitter and the others were wrapped with silver sequin ribbon.


I found plain paper mache letters at Jo-Ann Fabric and painted them silver as well...I am wishing they were a bit smaller as the scale is a bit off...but oh well.


I added a string of white lights and voila...welcome to sparkle town! I don't know whether to bust out the Christmas music or some Bee Gees!!!


I decided to try making a monogram wreath after seeing the cute one my cousin-in-law Ashley made here. I had also seen this one on pinterest using pine garland but wanted ours to be as silver-sparkley as our mantle.


Another paper mache letter, silver garland, ribbon and lots of glue-gun glue later and we now have this little ditty on the front door. I can't decide if it screams WEDDING more than CHRISTMAS but I guess if we ever renew our vows, we will have to do it in December as we already have our first decoration.

Thrifty Thursday: Sorry Starbucks

It occurred to me the other day that instead of an interior designer, I really should have been an accountant. One of my favorite things to do, besides balance our checkbook, make budgets, and transfer money around is to figure out how much money we have spent on specific items...coffee for example. Alex and I are a thrifty pair to be sure, but the category we have a really hard time skimping on is coffee & food. We love to eat out and try new restaurants...and during our pre-baby days, we were doing so at least 3-4 times per week. THANK YOU HUDSON for saving us a ton by forcing us to cook at home...we very rarely eat out anymore because, with a baby on board, it's just not convenient! I wish I could say the same for our coffee habit...

hudson's bottle/mummy's bottle

Over the past 4 weeks we've dropped nearly $100.00 at Starbucks...75% of this amount is the fault of yours truly. Since H has arrived it has become a completely out of control addiction for me. At the rate I'm downing iced caramel macchiatos we are throwing away $1200.00 a year on delicious, but unnecessary (I usually order decaf) beverages...not to mention all the waste from plastic cups and straws. $1200.00?! During a recession?!! With me not working?!!! Alex finally had enough when I begged him to stop at Starbucks for a second time during our 2 hour errand running trip and he literally sped to Target so we could finally purchase an espresso maker...sorry Starbucks! I know this money saving tip is a complete no-brainer...but I had to share because not only have we saved $25.00 this week and at least 5 plastic cups...but I have been making the YUMMIEST iced caramel macchiatos ever...right in the comfort of my own kitchen! Brewing up fresh shots in our pjs...yea, we are loving this investment! b