Busy Summer!

I can NOT believe its well into August already. I barely even remember July! Like every other area of my life I had a long list of things I wanted to do this summer and managed to accomplish, well, none of them!
Part of the reason is this little hobby turned business venture that Tara and I have started:Love Nugget Designs.
We may have bit off a little more than we can chew, been so much busier than we ever thought we would! Which is so fun but I'm still adjusting to it all.
To top it all off, this little guy inside of me is growing huge and I'm sure he'll come out a 17 pounder at least!;) (Well, at least that would be a nice way to explain the weight gain;))
Jeremy has been making up for last summer of hard work on the house and has gone fishing EVERY weekend all summer. I went on the raft a few times but this last time decided Im much too big to be hoisting this belly in and out of a boat while standing in rushing water up to my thighs.
We have been doing great though, healthy and happy!
The boys are SO excited for their little bro to come (already named him- Luke Skywalker Huston)
All I can think about is everything I have to DO before this little guy comes!
But I cant wait! Only about 7 weeks now, I cant believe it!

Some adorable pics of my boys and their darling friend Elle!

http://bryceandtararaleigh.blogspot.com/2011/07/elle-and-tate-playdate.html

4th of July

For the fourth this year we went up to my parents cabin in Willow. Jeremy and boys fished pretty much the whole time. Which truthfully made it quite boring for me around the cabin since I didn't really bring up any books or hobbies to work on. The weather was a little rainy until Sunday evening and by Monday it was partly sunny, which was nice!
We had our friends, the Raleighs, up for the night and we BBQed, did the campfire thing, got very little sleep and enjoyed our freedom!;)

Love America!!!

Blahhhh-gging

Yeah, I know. The blog is lacking and boring. I know years from now I'll regret that I don't write at least weekly posts. The sad thing is that I don't really even have the excuse that nothing has been going on. Because actually we've had some fun developments in our family.
First, we CLOSED on our house!! I can't believe what a headache it all was and all the special "rules" that apply only to owner-builders. Also, I know that everyone wants pictures. I've been terrible with pictures because nothing looks how I want it to yet. I still have accent walls to paint, LOTS of organizing and decorating to do, rugs to buy, furniture to set up etc. It looks so unfinished to me right now. But, I'll let my pride slip aside and post a few. I promise to post more soon:)
More exciting is that we are expecting a baby boy in October!! We are SO excited! The boys wanted a brother and despite my crazy need to make ruffly dresses and hair bows, I am excited for another rambunctious, fun little man.
We are so excited that it's finally, FIINALLY getting warm outside. Summer is what we live for. Jeremy has been staring longingly at his raft. (Especially after our last summer which consisted only of hard work and headaches, especially for Jeremy)
Jack has been in swimming, Tate in soccer, Jeremy has been working 4 eleven hour shifts a week (with Fridays off) and I have been working Fridays. My life is not perfect, but we are happy, healthy and busy. I feel so blessed every day.
Also, for my ever-so-old birthday that I recently celebrated I got a Canon Rebel camara that I'm SO excited to learn how to use (apart from the "auto" button). Hopefully more pictures = more blogging.:) I still haven't covered our family cruise we took in March! That's for another post..

Happy 2011!

I have been without the internet for about a month now but we are doing well, had a wonderful Christmas and are loving being done with working on the house as a full-time job.
We still havent closed on our house, having Wells Fargo issues (they should employ a full time therapist at that bank, seriously. Such a headache.) But we almost have everything sorted out so hopefully in about 2 weeks.
Jeremy got a new job (yaay!) that started the second week in January and then he left for the slope for about a week and a half. The new job is in the same field but at a different company that has more work and opportunity. The new job couldn't have come at a better time as we are preparing to be big kids again and have a mortgage after 3 years of not having one!
We have been trying to potty-train Tate and after 4 days of running around in underwear, setting the timer, bribing with toys and every other possible thing we can think of, he still has yet to even pee in the toilet. He will sit there for hours if need be, he will hold it
until he's OFF the pot to wet his pants. Frustrating. Insanely frustrating.
We have spent the new year playing with friends, sledding, organizing, hibernating, and waiting for our cruise in March;)

Merry Christmas!

We are about 2 weeks away from being done with working on our house (and waiting to close) at which time I will hopefully get a little better at getting things done! We plan on spending Christmas Eve in the new house with the boys, campout style. We'll bring a little tree and hang up stockings. The boys are hoping Santa can find the new house;)
We are doing well and feel so blessed this year. The boys are doing great, trying their best to not pout-- but still ask me every time I take them anywhere to add "this" or "that" to Santa's list which I think they may single-handedly put Santa out of business.
Merry Christmas and I hope 2011 brings much joy and happiness to your family!

Fall Days

This fall has been SO gorgeous, seriously could not ask for better weather especially after this terrible summer. Last Saturday we went to a fall mini photo-session and the boys dressed up in their Halloween costumes. Tate was happy to get his picture taken but of course, if Jack wasn't being dificult than it just wouldn't be Jack. Luckily the photographer managed to seize the split half-second long somewhat-smile that he cracked the whole time.

Handsome IronMan:

Darling Giraffe:

Tonight we went over to our friends,the Raleighs, house and had so much fun with the Harmons as well! The kids played great in the playroom and had so much fun carving pumpkins and frosting Halloween sugar cookies!

Amy and her cute boys, BFF Elle, and me with my two boys.

Tate and Elle

My gorgeous friend Tara!

Thanks Amy for the delicious cookies, such a fun project!!

Luckily great friends make the shorter, darker days of fall feel sunny!

Painted!

I know, I know...

been getting slack lately for not blogging. I've felt like life has been so consumed by only one thing and since my last two posts have been all about it, why do you even need another post;) That, and my camara was lost for 2 months so really what is a blog post without pictures, right!?
Jeremy has been so busy, leaving the house at 6:30 am and working all day, coming home at 5:30 straight to the new house and working until anywhere between 8:30 and 11 pm EVERY night. Crazy!! But love him to death, and feel so blessed to be building a house that we can raise our kids in and have a little extra room to grow.
I have been going to the house every night with the boys too, to help in whatever way I can, and so I can actually SEE my husband. I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining though, we wouldn't have it any other way and feel so blessed that we were able to do owner builder since we can do a lot of the work ourselves and hopefully save a couple dollars in the process.
Tate has been talking so much lately, I literally have been looking at him every day and wondering where my baby went. We will be starting potty-training soon, I think he's ready. He wants to do everything HIMSELF, to the point it's frustrating but I'm trying to be patient and not get too antsy when it's 30 degrees out and I have to stand next to the truck for 3 minutes while he climbs in himself and gets in his car seat himself. (If I get too close to him at anytime during this process he immediately turns around to push me away...)
Jack is still all-boy but has taken on the role of being a good big brother. Every time Tate melts down over something, Jack immediately steps in to tell him not to cry, that when he's 99 he will buy Tate all the candy he could ever want. To which Tate stops crying and says "Candy??!"
Yep, Tate...when Jack's 99 ,you're set!
(I have lots of pictures to upload but I'm having problems with the uploader so I will some pics on in the next day or so.)

Summer So Far..

Running House errands.
Calling subs.
Going to Home Depot.
Going to Lowes.
Going to Sherwin Williams.
Collecting samples.
Submitting Receipts.
Paying Subs.
Getting Bids.
Sending House related emails.
REPEAT

We have had the busiest summer. My poor boys, I hope they even want to live in this house when all is said and done for all the running around I make them do and/or leave them with sitters while I run around. I can't say I don't enjoy some of it. It's our house and we've been working on it for 3 + years so yeah, excited.
I'm trying not to let it completely take over my life though. I want to still make memories with my children during this process that don't involve trips to Lowes and remember it's JUST a house. I already have everything I need to be happy right here in front of me everyday! I just am lovin my boys so much. They are mischevious and quite truthfully, rather disobedient, covered in dirt half the time, and full of soo much energy it exhausts me to watch them. They are getting so big that most of the time I just want to freeze time and keep them 2 and 4 forever.
But for those who have been asking here is where we're at with the place:
The top floor is on and we're starting the siding later this week!


Our little helper, Tate:

New house, older Tate!

Our driveway during construction

Jeremy standing in the "hole"

Annnnnd how it looks as of last week. This is the basement (garage, mud room, storage) and the main floor (kitchen, dining room, Great room, bedroom, bath and bonus room)

We are hand-staining EACH individual cedar shake!

But we have lots of help!

Our shed is the unfortunate victim of our indecisiveness picking an exterior house color!

The boys loove this dirt hill. Luckily, that won't always be there!!

Tate is actually crying in this pic but what can I say, I'm mean.

As expected, this summer has been extremely busy! We are doing owner-builder on our home which I love because, hello, complete control but at the same time it's a huge time and stress commitment. Things are going well though overall. We broke ground a little over 5 weeks ago and are moving right along. Excavation, foundation, water proofing, well, septic, basement heating and plumbing, and now my personal favorite, the framing!! We've got two little helpers who are always willing to help!
Other things going on:
Tate turned 2 June 10th! Poor little guy got some "low key" parties to say the least! He'll survive. We also have done a little bike riding with the boys.

Jack is riding a two wheeler sans training wheels although I seem to only have scooter pics?

Safety first.

Whenever we would sing to Tate, he would get shy and cover his eyes. Priceless.

Don't worry, tutorial to come on this fab cake!!;)

Who says dress-up is only for girls?? Thanks grandma and grandpa for Bumble Bee!
Two separate family get-togethers = More Presents.
Thanks everyone!!!

May!

Lots going on this month! We finally got our approval from the bank for the owner-builder loan and are hopefully breaking ground next week! Can't believe it's finally here!! We have been so busy finalizing bids, re-doing schedules, budgets etc. It's going to be a busy summer, but good!
We are enjoying living here at my parents house, the boys love the huge yard and swingset and are outdoors constantly! Loving the sunshine!
On another note, can't believe I'm turning 30 this month! Life just flies by too fast.
Tate is CONSUMED by anything "Transformers". His first word when he wakes in the morning is "bobots" (what he calls them) because he either wants to watch the cartoon or locate his toys. He wears his Transformer shoes all around the house and cries when we have to take off his Transformer shirt to put on PJs. He's obsessed.
Jack and Tate are both in swimming. Tate's class is a mom-and-tot class and his best friend Elle is in the class. He hates when I actually try to teach him anything swimming related but LOVES to play in the water. Jack is in the Pre-1 class and has been there for several months. I'm hoping he'll move up to Pre-2 this next session although I think with the house we're taking the summer off!

Moving..

We have been working and planning for about 3 years now towards the goal of building our little dream house after we found the PERFECT lot in the PERFECT neighborhood with PERFECT neighbors (You know who you ;) ;) Love you all!)
We are trying to do owner-builder which has been proving to be rather difficult since the banks want you to give up your first born to get a loan (We'll miss you Jack!;))
Seriously though after talking with banks we were humbled yet AGAIN and have to decided to live with my parents while we build instead of rent while we build. So, we moved out of our townhouse this weekend and into my parents house. I thought because the townhouse was only 1100 sq. ft. or so it would be a rather easy task. But I was wrong. I forgot how much work moving is!! Most of our possessions are now BACK in storage and will stay that way while we build our house.
I am soo excited to be building this year though! We are still hoping everything will work out... after last year we definitely know that life will throw at you whatever it wants and doesn't even take into consideration YOUR plans?!?!
We are doing good. Feeling really blessed to have such wonderful and helpful family and friends who have helped us immensely in so many ways recently.
Today was sunny and beautiful and the boys are ready to play outside 24/7!! They LOVE grandmas huge yard, deck, trampoline, etc.
We are so ready for summer!!

Mexico!!

Jeremy and I had such a fun time on our trip! Can you tell, it's taken this long to come out of the depression from being back in the snow!;) (Kidding..kind of)
We didn't take the kids on this trip which definitely made for a more relaxing time.. of course, we spent most of the trip saying how much the kids would love it.. so we promised to bring them back. I know, big of us..to agree to go again, haha!!
Jeremy and I spent the first few days of the trip in Cancun just the 2 of us. The beach was beautiful, I realized I had never been to a beach that the sun doesn't set on. Both mornings I tried to make it up in time to watch the sun rise over the Caribbean, but it never happened.
In the first 24 hours of the trip, Jeremy lost his hat (left on plane), sunglasses (swept away by a wave), and swim trunks (OK that was my fault, I hung them over the railing on a windy day..)
We ate. A LOT. The more lime, cheese and cilantro my meal has, the better
We met up with two of my closest friends from college Becky and Mica and their husbands- Josh and Neil. (Mica and Neil came a day after Becky and Josh)
Most of these pics are out of order but you get the idea.

Mica Becky and I playing in the waves!

The beautiful villa we stayed in! Can be yours for only 1.2 mil!

Friends.

Jeremy had never been snorkeling before. This is one of what seems like hundreds of murky photos he took:) The turtles were huge though and just off the shore!

Becky on her 30th birthday!

Our first day in Playa del Carmen. Our new favorite place!! Go there instead of Cancun!

The pool and ocean at the first place we stayed, on our way to Playa del Carmen.

We learned a few lessons:
Don't rent a car in a foreign country. (OK unless you are Mica and Neil)
Don't eat at any restaurant right next to where the cruise ships unload. $16 nachos with fake cheese..really?!
Check your pockets for your cell phone at all times.
There's no shame in SPF75 sunblock.
Keep looking, you'll find "it" cheaper!
Don't trust pictures from the internet for your lodging..second place- GORGEOUS, first place-not so much...

All in all though, so fun..we cant wait to go back someday!

Spring!!

I know, everyone is sick of the Christmas pics! Hello, it's March! I get it!!
I plan on getting some pics up of Mexico and the boys up in the next few days. Life has been good, loving this sun..loving my family..loving life!
Will post more soon!

Not my strong suit..

Blogging, that is. We had a great Christmas, spent with our family!


The story of the chair:
This chair was given to my dad for Christmas in 1954. My dad was 4 years old and his grandfather has refinished the chair for him. The original age is unknown. Recently, my dad was cleaning out my grandma's storage unit and came across the parts and pieces for this chair. The pieces were extremely worn and faded, almost looked like firewood scraps. My dad was not sure if all the pieces were there but after some digging found everything. He refinished the chair to it's original stain color (when he received it) and re-upholstered the seat in the closest fabric he could find. He even braved JoAnn's all by himself to do it. :)
So this Christmas, Jack was 4 and so my dad thought it only appropiate he should pass the chair on to Jack as his grandfather had to him. Jack calls it his "special chair" and he is right!!

Transformers, they can't get enough!

Jack was NOT excited to get pajamas on Christmas Eve. He didn't even fake liking them. On the way to Grandma's Christmas morning he said " I sure hope Grandma doesn't get me pajamas!" What a pill!

Getting ready to go!

Jeremy and I are off for a week in Cancun. We are SOOO ready and so excited. We didnt do our annual vacation last year so it has been over 2 years since we've had any kind of vacation. We are going with friends sans kids! Now when I get back I will have so much catching up to do!

Travel Blanket!

I made a travel blanket for my friend and boss Valerie since she is
1. Extremely hard to shop for
2. One who travels ALL THE TIME.

I had no idea what I was doing so I kind of made it up as I went along. I knew it had to be able to fold up small but also be warm and stylish!
So I attached some Amy Butler home dec fabric to fleece simply by folding up the fleece and securing it with a blanket stitch. (Of course I had to put her initials in the corner!:))
Then when I was done with the blanket, I thought "I wonder if I should have put some ties on it?"
to keep it wrapped tight. Then I thought, "What if she just has her purse with her, then she'd have to have this blanket tucked under her arm all the time??"
So, I came up with this:
It's own traveling case, looks kind of like a purse itself! Fun project!

Christmas was SO great this year! Will blog soon...

The Happiest Christmas Tree

Saturday was Jack's end-of-the-semester preschool performance. Since he attends a performing arts preschool, he has been learning to dance. As you can tell, he's got the "the gift"!;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8rf85WWm5Q

I promised myself that this year I wasn't going to make anything but of course, I never keep those kind of promises. We are enjoying the Holidays though! Jack and Tate are just SO excited, I love it!
On Sunday night, we googled the top Christmas movies of all time and the #1 movie is The Christmas Story ("you'll shoot your eye out", you know, that one). So we did a little instant play from our true love, Netflix. Jeremy had never seen it!? Aaand he's never seen Home Alone!? So we have some catching up to do.
I don't think I ever blogged about Jack's birthday but he turned FOUR on November 24th. Can't believe it! He got a BB gun per Jeremy's request and a big Optimus Prime per his request, among waay too much other stuff that he got spoiled with from everyone! We just did a family party this year since I've adopted the big-party-only-every-other-year thing. :)
I think this weekend it's up to the cabin and enjoying the 12"+ inches of snow we've received in the last 24 hours!

December..

Jeremy has the day off today so we are going Christmas shopping and to dinner and a movie. We are doing a baby-sitting swap with our good friends who are going Christmas shopping tomorrow. So far, I have had Jack or Tate with me every time I am Christmas shopping and I'm tired of trying to find sneaky ways to hide things in the cart!
We have the tree out but no decorations on it yet or the rest of the house. I am wanting the house to be completely clean before I decorate but here I am blogging instead of cleaning!
Things that have been happening:
We celebrated my grandmas 92nd birthday yesterday.
The boys have been getting excited for Christmas, especially Jack! So fun to have them "understand" the whole Santa thing and the magic of it all.
Had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with SO much calorie-laden foods:)
Went snow-machining that weeekend at the cabin with the fam. So fun!
Been sewing and digital scrapping, trying to get gifts ready.
Dealing with USPS, FedEX, multiple customer-services, etc. Tis the Season!