A small motherhood dream of mine has come true. Holden is able to ride his bike along with me while I walk my three mile loop. This is something I have been looking forward to for a long time. For a while I have just felt like the police/chauffeur/chef etc.. and walking along while he rides and goofs around on his bike seems like it has opened up a new chapter in our relationship. In his eyes we are on an adventure exploring areas he has only driven by, and for me it is sharing something with him that I love to do and having some distance to appreciate the boy he has became. Kindergarten is just around the corner for Holden and I have always said I will be dancing in the streets. I understand those mothers crying at the bus stop-it won't be me-but I had my bittersweet moment with him while walking down NW 70th street. He is a strong, confident and enthusiastic boy who will need me less and less. Our relationship will change and he will want different things from me I am excited to change right along with him.

I meant to put a picture up with my last post of one of my three favorite projects ever. This one I have been working on for nearly 11 months and I am so proud with how it is turning out. *Note I said project, if Holden's baby picture was up here I would be using the word experiment*
Sloan will be eight weeks old on Thursday and I had to post a picture quick before my mom goes crazy. He is huge. My neighbor Kerry calls him "The Hulk". We call him all sorts of things other than his name(we have a strange way of doing that in this family). We call him SooBe, SoSo, Bubbs and Flea. But mostly I just call him sugar bugar because I am crazy in love :)

more junk!

The Junk Gods were shining down on me this weekend and I couldn't feel more blessed to have even more junk than I had before! All it took was three quick trips to the B.A.(on Sunday the cashier asked if he had seen me there yesterday-Yes, do not tell my husband you recognize me from my many trips, he already accuses me of having too close of a relationship with the guy at the Benjamin Moore paint store). So now I have projects galore, which is a good thing considering I am a little more house bound than before. So I want to share my latest projects with you :)

Making this little gem into a chalk board(you know my obsession with chalk board paint, ranks right up there with tags!). Planning on putting it on the kitchen counter, still needs a little better polish. I'll post after pics.

This rusty junk(behind my beautiful Asher) got my heart racing with excitement. I love finding something better than what you were even hoping to find.

The bedside table was one I found at the B.A, when my mom was visiting. It was in pretty rough shape, but a little paint and some new knobs and viola-I love it!

Another bedside table that needs just some TLC and I'm trying a faux glaze paint treatment to antique it. Totally excited to do something other than just straight paint.


The last fun thing I have all the supplies for, but just need to work up the nerve to actually do is this-as seen on http://oursuburbancottage.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Cottage I am crazy about it and really hope I don't screw it up on our door, as Todd will have no sympathy for me and I will be stuck repainting the whole door if it looks bad.

catching up

Not finding a lot of time to blog lately....hmmm...I wonder why? Todd has been traveling a ton and that has made time to myself impossible. We are getting along pretty well considering, although there have been a few touch and go moments-a certain five year old knows what I am referring to-uggg! We did survive this past week quite nicely while Todd was in Texas and Alabama(my mom called a lot to make sure I hadn't lost my marbles and I had to resort to a "good boy"/bribery chart-what ever works right), so here's what we've been up to. The kids and I headed to the Panorama on Thursday for the 4th. I know you can't tell, but this is Holden going a million miles an hour tubing across the lake. His need for speed is at a whole new level this year-I was just a wee bit scared watching from the deck.

What can I say-I'm in love. Sloan has started giving us little smiles and dreamy silly looks along with lots of coos and sometimes even a giggle. These are all after he is feeling fat and happy, and this kid never misses a meal. I actually think this guy ate my newborn baby-he looks like a three month old for goodness sakes. Look at those hands! If he was a puppy and those were paws I would be scared at how big he was going to be :)

Asher's need for speed has yet to reach absurd levels. He is pretty satisfied to watch and he prefers to stay on land. Uncle Matt and Aunt Lisa were down from Minni. Asher was impressed with Uncle Matt's wake board, but his real love is Papa's John Deer in the background.

The neighborhood has been exciting thanks to this water slide. We went in with a couple of neighbors on the Bonsai slide and it has really taken the pressure off me to do to the water parks, which everyone agrees would be hard with a newborn. The boys are bronze and look and smell like summer pretty much 24/7.

Oh no you didn't! This picture falls into one of my favorite categories in raising children. The "I really didn't know they didn't know this" category. At some point in their lives I said don't color on the walls, I know I said to stay on the paper when coloring at the table-silly me-I forgot to tell them not to color on the carpet(Holden!). This is a good lesson for when they are 16 and start to drive. I guess they don't take note of the obvious.

Ahhh...Sloan is five weeks old today and this is going to sound completely ridiculous, but it's going too fast! He is a wonderful baby not to mention huge which is why I guess it feels like time is flying by. This morning he found his little voice, it was the first time I heard him making little squeals and gurgles that had nothing to do with crying or eating and everything to do with having fun discovering what he can do.

This is a picture Toddy sent (this is romance to me) while on his business trip to Washington-how envious was I! This is my old stomping ground. This corner brings back lots of memories for me. It's where the #2 express bus from Queen Anne Hill dropped me off so I could walk a couple more blocks to work. I remember the culture shock I experienced when I first moved to Seattle and had walk over several homeless people sleeping on the street to get to the office every morning. My eyes were as big as saucers for most of the time I lived there. I am the ultimate voyeur of life and took in all the sights. From the sad and depressing real life parts to the sheer beauty of the area, my time there was amazing.

Full House

My sister and her kids are visiting this week from Portland. We have all had a great time together, especially the kids. It had been two years since we had seen them and needless to say they have all grown up so much. Holden and Asher have found a new hero in their cousin Matteo. And they try hard to be cool so they can hang out with Tullia. It was a life saver to have my sister here to help me with the baby because Todd has been in Seattle all week. Jen is a super auntie and the boys(especially Ash) can't get enough hugs. It is so wonderful to hear them tell her how much they love her. We spent the week at the water parks, they went to Adventureland, and best of all made lots of memories that will carry them through to the next time we see them.

p.s.-Sloan is four weeks old today!

Mom

My mom has been here for the past 11 days and tomorrow she is headed back home. We all had a great time with her and cherished every minute, as we do not see her often enough. Sloan will be especially sad to see her leave because he has practically been in her arms the whole time.

I'm not sure if you have ever felt this way after you have had a baby, maybe your mom doesn't live far away from you. But when ever I take my mom to the airport and I watch her walk away I want to run after her and wrap myself around her leg like a child and beg her to stay. Motherhood just makes more sense to me when she is here coaching me along, telling me it will all be ok and take it one day at a time. She is also the one who reminds me to slow down and enjoy it all because it is going to go by too fast.

Thank you mom for all your help with the baby, and for reassuring me that I can make this all work. We will miss you so don't wait too long to come back.