Buster is 6 months old!

My dear son, you are a 1/2 year old! I am so smitten with you. I experience myself being much more lovey with you than I was with your sister. Not sure if it is because you are a boy, you look more like me or of it is because your baby #2 and I know how fast it all goes by.

 You sure love your fingers. You mostly chew/suck them backwards, but they sure comfort you. Not sure how much you weigh, but you recently went through a growth spurt and are wearing mostly 6-9 month clothing. I would guess 17 pounds. You have started cereal and are starting to get the hang of it, eating more than you are spitting out.

You love rolling over. You are sitting up decently well on your own, falling after a bit. You smile more than any other baby I have been around. You sure don't like it when you roll over in your sleep onto your back, being a belly sleeper, you won't sleep on your back. You had been sleeping 12 hours at night but recently have started waking at 5:30am, we are working on that. :) You have discovered your toes and they are your new toy.  

I seriously can't kiss you enough. You bring so much joy to my life, I love our alone time to play, laugh, tickle, and cuddle with each other. I know you will start moving soon (you already bounce so much even in my arms) and I won't be able to get much cuddle time, so I try to take advantage of it now.

Notice the cowlick, he has two crowns that meet at the top of his head and his hair always stands up  

 

Typical smiley face

 

Just want to kiss those cheeks

  Happy 6 months my son, you will grow up on me so quickly.

I look forward to you growing into the man that God has created you to be. My prayer for you is that you learn to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. That based upon your relationship with Christ, you learn to love others beyond human ability and that Steve and I are able to release you to be dangerous for the Kingdom of God, and the gates of Hell shutter because of God's power in your life.  I love you, I am so proud to be your momma, and I believe God has huge plans for your life.

Lake

A little late, but we got to spend a few days at the lake this past weekend. We just love getting away and being together as a family down there.

Yes I did marry superman, he can fly through the air

Daddy trying to convince sister to get in the lake

Successful, for a fleeting moment

Clinging to daddy on her way out

First Food and Sno Cones!

Buster got to try cereal for the first time this weekend. He wasn't too sure about it. We really didn't get a good picture of his face, but it was of disgust. He is very interested in putting the spoon and food in his mouth, but isn't too sure about the taste once it is there.

I am totally smitten with my little guy, I just can't enough kisses

Bad lighting but you can kinda see his face

Sister thought she needed to give it a try too

After dinner we went with our friends the Zimmers down to an amazing Sno Cone stand in Gardner. Mr. Mike and E-man are 2 of Payton's favorite people. She did her happy dance when E-man showed up at our house!

Rocks and Cones - cheap entertainment

The Zimmers + Buster

Payton being so photogenic

Her hair is getting down right crazy with the heat and humidity

Notice Buster's fingers, he is constantly sucking 2 fingers, I think they feel good on his teeth he is working on

I love this picture, check out what the sign says

DIY Mirror

I have had it on my mind to do a sunburst mirror over our bed. I was thinking of something like this..

There are so many tutorials online using bamboo sticks, paint sticks, even plastic spoons. But when I stumbled upon a large round ikea mirror for $2 at a garage sale, my plan changed. So I searched the web and found inspiration.

ZGallerie had this one for $200

So off to Hobby Lobby and I was fortunate enough to wander in there when the mirrors I needed were 50% off. Here is what I started with

I wasn't really sure what pattern I would do, I just got different sizes. Unfortunately, many of the mirrors were broken, so my default of what was available, my pattern was formed. I hot glued the mirrors down, crossing my fingers that it would hold. I was really happy with the 2 layers, but didn't consider how I would pick up the mirror to hang it.

So while I was trying to hang the mirror, little mirrors started falling off. I was about ready give up. I thought about just pulling all the mirrors off and going a different route, but most of the mirrors were stuck for good, just a few were temperamental.  So I decided to leave them off, get a better hook, because I didn't trust the little nail in the wall, hang the mirror, then hot glue the little mirrors back on.

I was so happy with how it turned out, I am just praying that the mirrors don't fall on us in our sleep. 

So instead of a $200 mirror, I have a lovely $17 dollar mirror hanging above our bed.

Master Bedroom/Bathroom Make-over

Well, it has been a year and a half since I redid our bedroom, so I guess it is time to finally post about it. I have waited so long because quite frankly I haven't been completely satisfied with the outcome.  Steve and I have never purchased a large new furniture item. Almost everything we have is hand-me-down or bought second hand.

Steve had the dream for our bedroom to be a "getaway" an "oasis" for us as a couple. A place where we block out the world and we come together as husband and wife (in more ways that one hehehe). The room makeover started with the hunt for a new bed.

When we first got married we bought a queen size mattress. Steve wanted a king and I was the new wife who didn't want to sleep in a different zip code because we were so far away. I wanted to cuddle.  Well that desire last all of about 1 week. Then, the girl who has slept in a queen size bed alone her whole life, took up more space than her husband almost twice her size.

Fast forward 6 years and we decided to make this retreat for us, we wanted an amazingly comfy bed, that we loved getting into every night. So the hunt started.

We started with normal spring mattresses and somehow we ended up with a King size tempur-pedic bed. Now this is a huge for Steve to spend this kind of money on anything, I knew he was series when he made the decision to go big.  The mattress was so expensive, we ended up finding a really cheap price on a sleigh bed. I would have preferred another frame, but if in a few years we want to get something else, we probably could get out what we have in to this bed.  I have been so pleased with our bed, I love getting in bed every evening, it is so comfortable!

Steve also wanted our room to be "clean" and "simple." We went for gray walls and white bedding. I am all about clean and simple, but what has been keeping me from being satisfied with this room is that it is too crisp for me, I feel like I need more pop. I am such a bright colored person, that I can appreciate the muted tones, but I do like more. My favorite color in our house is our bright turquoise front room.  All that to say, here is our bedroom...

BEFORE

Looking at this picture I really miss the big mirror there. I did add a full length mirror on the wall at the end of the bed and I felt like it was too much square, large mirrors, hmmm it has me thinking though

IN PROGRESS...

New bed

Used the curtain hardware we already had to save money, just spray painted them black

Spray painted the crosses white (I am thinking about painting these again another color to bring some variety)

Since we spent so much on the bed and I wasn't sure what furniture I would want, I painted our hand-me-down dresser)

Amazing what some paint can do, I got new hardware as well

AFTER

Steve really wanted a wedding picture and our vows up as well. We wrote our own vows and it is a great reminder to what we have committed to each other.  ----- The dresser is one area I really want something more. I have tried different arraignments and haven't found one I like. 

I do feel like it is the room of mirrors --- I just made the mirror above the bed, look for the post tomorrow on it

There are the crosses painted white, thinking about pink or yellow for the future

My only pattern and fun color in the room - Target London of Liberty clearance

I did just add the towels for a little punch (they came from the 1/2 bath redo that I just pained navy and thought I would use that color as the accent. Didn't like it with the navy, but works alright here)

So that is the room for now.  I can't remember the breakdown, but we really didn't spend much money besides the bed, bedding and paint. Mostly everything else was somewhere in the house or in that room and repainted. We did move the tall dresser into our closet to open up the room a little.  With the large bed, we needed more space.

Any advice where to bring in more pattern and color I would love to hear it.

I need your skin care advice

Ok Ladies, I need to hear from you. I am in the market for new skin care and make-up products, so I want to hear which products you LOVE! Not just, "this is what I use and it is ok," what products have you used that you can notice a difference.

I have used Arbonne's Anti-aging line for the last few years and have loved the product. I was a consultant for awhile to receive a discount. This is the only product I have used that I have seen a difference (small red bumps are gone, color more even, under eyes looked great, make-up went on and stayed on better). The only problem is the high $$$$$$. Retail the set is $300 without tax or shipping. I have been able to find it on craigslist many different times (at least individual bottles) but I haven't been able to in a long time. My problem areas have come back and I need to find something new and cheaper that works. 



So, please pass along any helpful info on your skin care regime that works, I need your help!