Moo, Baa, La La La

Eliza has discovered that if she brings a book to us - we will read it to her. Steve and I are both thrilled that she is learning to love books, however we seem to be reading the same book over and over. Tonight between the two of us, we read Moo, Baa, La La La about 12 times . . . .and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Yes - I know that she is holding the book upside down in this picture - but I think she is gifted so she probably can read upside down too!

Potato Head

I can always tell when Eliza is done with her meal because she begins to play with her food. Tonight she took it a step further by rubbing her potatoes in her hair . Do you think there is any chance that by rubbing potatoes in her hair, it might begin to grow longer and fuller? Yeah - me neither, but a girl can dream.

Lock Down

Now that Miss Eliza is mobile, we have been proactive parents and we have "Eliza proofed" our house. Recently she has discovered that opening and closing the kitchen cabinets is a really fun game . . . .that is of course until she pinches her little fingers in the door. Here she is discovering the cabinet locks for the first time.

She pulled and pulled on those cabinets and then looked me like "I don't know what happened. I could open them this morning!"

One small consolation is the fact that she can still open the drawer where I store all the Tupperware. . . .not that the Tupperware ever stays in the drawer when Eliza is around.

I know that it is important to make our home safe for Eliza, but I have to be honest, I am having one heck of time getting the back door open now that it too has a safety feature on it!

A Must Have for Summer. . . .

. . . .pretty painted toe nails!

House Tour - Part III

So it is once again time for Kelly's Korner Show Us Where You Live Friday - the guest bedroom edition. (I know, I know - it is actually Monday, but I was a little under the weather this weekend and am just now getting around to it.)

The room is functional BUT it is pretty boring. We have been so busy working on other parts of the house that we have pretty much ignored this room. The one thing that I do LOVE about this room is the bed. It is an antique and it once belonged to my parents and so it is really special to have this in my home.

The room also doubles as our office. This desk is from my single days and it really is on its last legs and we are currently looking for a new one.

I found this picture at a flea market many many years ago and I just love it.

So that concludes our tour. It may not be flashy or glamorous but it is ready for visitors any time. Just let us know when you are coming - we would love to have you.

Swim Time

We had a fantastic weekend and it started off with Eliza and her dad having a Friday evening swim before dinner. The first couple of times Eliza got in the pool, I am not so sure she really liked it. She always had a VERY scared look on her face. However, those days are gone and she LOVING her pool time. . . . and riding around in her very cool turtle.

A Girl on the Move

Eliza is walking pretty much on her own these days, but she still likes to push her buggy around because she can go so much faster. Go Speed Racer . . . Go Speed Racer!

Show Us Where You Live . . . Part II

So welcome to another edition of "Show Us Where You Live Friday". Today's focus is living rooms/family rooms. We do have a formal living room as well as a family room but since we are not really formal living room people - the formal living became our formal dining room and the dining room became Eliza's play room. So with all of that being said . . . welcome to our family room.


**Small disclaimer - we just moved in to our house on March 27th - so we still have PLENTY of empty wall space - but we are working on remedying that. Now I really do have good reason for going to Hobby Lobby EVERY Saturday. **


This is the view of the family room from our eating area. It is certainly not an over sized room but we have found it to be a very comfortable room and we do indeed spend a lot of time together in this room as a family.




The fire place is definitely my favorite aspect of the room. I can't wait to hang our stockings on that great mantle at Christmas.

This couch is from Steve's swinging single days and I have to admit that he did a GREAT job picking it out. It is without a doubt THE most comfortable couch I have ever been on.

The cowboy on the side table was a gift from my Grandfather from his collection. I really like how it looks there but I am not sure that will be his permanent home. Now that Eliza is walking (sort of) - no decorative accessory is safe. One of our picture frames has already met a tragic end. I would be heartbroken if the cowboy got broken. I am sure we will find a good home for him somewhere in our home.

This is the view from the couch. I LOVE looking at our backyard and I really like the plantation shutters in this room. You can see, like many of you, we too have a baby swing in our family room. I am sure this would make every HGTV designer cringe but when you have kids you do what you have to do and the Little Missy likes her swing.

I hope you have enjoyed this peek of our family room. If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out Kelly's living room. It is a lovely room.

And finally no post is complete without at least one picture of this cutie patootie.

And We're Walking . . .

Eliza crawled at such an early age that I was sure that meant she would be walking early too. Not so much. Finally she is starting to take steps by herself . . . but she seems to prefer crawling to walking. I think it is because she can move so much faster when she crawls. (We don't call her Speed Racer for nothing!)

Even though she is walking some - I have not been able to capture it on video (aaarrrr). Every time I have the video camera out - she knows what I am doing - so she smiles and then sits down and refuses to walk.

I took this picture this morning, before I dropped her off at school. She's not walking in this picture but she sure is happy. Do you think she will always be this happy to go to school on Mondays?

Welcome to Our Kitchen

Kelly from Kelly's Korner has started a fun new Friday tradition with a virtual tour of homes. This week is the kitchen edition. Since Kelly is one of my favorite bloggers, I certainly didn't want to miss out on the fun of joining in.

As many of you know, we just purchased our home a few weeks back, and in all honesty HGTV speaks the truth when they say "Kitchens sell homes" - as it was the kitchen that sealed the deal for me. I walked in and immediately fell in love with this space. It is a very open room that flows great into the family room.

The previous owners updated the kitchen in 2004 and they did a great job. (maple cabinets, tile backslash, silestone counters) This kitchen is designed very well with plenty of fun perks like a lazy Susan, deep drawers and drawers that slide out, but my FAVORITE perk is the pull down spice rack right by the stove . . . now that was a genius idea.

Here is our eating area. I wish this area was a bit bigger because our table doesn't fit the space well. I think once Eliza graduates from the high chair to a booster seat we may feel like we have more space.

This is our recipe desk and built in china cabinet. We keep our mail there and it makes it very convenient when it comes time to pay bills. My favorite thing about this cabinet is that I have a place to display my tea cups. Both of my grandmothers collected tea cups and I love that those pieces that have been passed down to me can now be displayed.

Hope you enjoyed the tour - come back next week for a peek at a new room.