Month 10

Landon, 

I can't believe you are 10 months old today. 

It feels like yesterday that you joined us, and now you are this little man. 

You are so full of life and you are hilarious. 

You love everything about your brother and you want to know 

exactly what he is doing at all times. 

Sleep, is so much better. Thank you. You are great at going down on your own 

and even when you wake up, you'll babble to your toys and 

then drift back to sleep. 

Believe me, I do love it. But to be honest, I miss our moments

when the world was sleeping and it was just you and me. 

I would share my hopes for you, in the stillness of the night

you would play with my hair 

as I rocked you back to sleep. 

I miss that. 

Those moments I will hold forever in my heart. 

Each milestone is exciting, but its bittersweet. 

You are growing up my love

and want to experience everything. 

Like crawling though the cat door 

and trying to eat some dog food. 

You are everywhere and always on the go all day long. 

It makes for some exciting times. 

You have 6 teeth now and the cutest little smile. 

You love to scream and talk. 

You've been trying really hard to walk

and I've seen you try a few times

Don't worry, you'll get it soon enough. 

(too soon for momma) 

Favorites:

Blueberries

Yo Gabba Gabba

Your nightlight

Blankets

Rides in the car 

Walks 

Oliver 

Oliver's toys

 Cuddles 

Our Remodeled Kitchen

This post has been a long time in the making. I don't think either of us realized how long it was going to take to remodel our kitchen. It was not pretty at times, and now that I have come out on the other side, I don't want to do anything like this again....well, for awhile at least.

Let me start by saying, there are a tons of pictures and information in this post and everything that was used will be linked at the end.

Okay, how about a before picture?

Yikes! Yeah. As you can see it was a lot of the same color. Forgive all the junk. I never remember to take before pictures, before I actually start.

I removed all the cabinet doors and I numbered them. I stuck little pieces of tape to the inside of the cabinets, the back of the doors and on the hinges. It helped in the end because then I wasn't looking around for what door went where.

This was after the first coat of primer. Which looks an awful lot like the paint color. It led to a lot of confusion.

All these pictures show the wall color differently. It was like a pumpkin orange. I actually think that's what it was called. It was way too matchy-matchy with the cabinets. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I first picked that color.

We don't have a garage or anything, so I had to set up my little paint shop in the dining room. There were 22 cabinet doors. That's a lot of freaking doors. I should of primed them all then painted them all, but you live and learn. I primed 5 at a time then, primed 5 more. Painted the first 5, then painted the 2nd  five. It got really confusing, especially because the paint color was so damn close to the primer color. So my word of advice, if you don't have a lot of space, do all the priming first, then paint them all.

So how did I do it, you ask?! Well, I took the original cabinet door to Lowe's and asked them. I've never painted cabinets and I was a little overwhelmed. I didn't want to screw up and have to redo everything. He told me I didn't need to sand them - which I've read mixed reviews on it. But I listened to him and just went with the primer. I did two coats of the primer on everything. 

I started with the back sides (inside) of the cabinet doors. I primed (and painted) that side first so if I laid it down and it did get messed up, it would be on the inside and you wouldn't even see it. I don't care what the inside of the cabinets look like. Obviously. 

Getting the actual cabinets that were on the wall completed was my first step. I wanted those done so as the doors dried, I could hang them up and get them out of the way. My way was kind of all over the place, I am sure there are so many easier ways - but you just have to do what works for you. This, as chaotic as it was, ended up working well for me. I would change a few things, now that I look back on it - but its over now. Thank God. 

Everything I read said to let them sit and 'cure' for a few days after they have been painted. I think I let them sit at least two days - I'm really impatient and I wanted my dining room back so if you have the room, maybe wait three days or so. There wasn't really a problem but once they were all up, I did paint the door fronts once more time. So I had a total of three coats of paint on the cabinet doors. 

This took forever. It took about two weeks for me to complete the cabinets. I could only do it while the kids were sleeping. And they are ridiculously unpredictable with their sleep, so it was up in the air if I'd get anything done. Then of course, at the end of the night sometimes I really just didn't want to paint anymore. It was fun for like the first day or so, then it got annoying. After the cabinets were painted and up, we waited a few more weeks to do the walls. It was a few days before we got Oatmeal that I painted them, so like August 20th. I'm not even sure. My days just mesh together most of the time.

[UPDATE: Mr. Anonymous down there wants you to know he helped paint the walls! He also painted all the trim and the doors!! Happy Now! ;)]

Here are the final pictures of our new kitchen. I can't even tell you how happy I am with how it turned out. The wall color is much more blue than I intended, but it's growing on me and I do love it. [Or I am making myself love it, because I really don't want to paint over it.]

As you can see that is a dramatic difference. We still need handles for the cabinet and drawers. I bought some and they were too small. Bummer. Its a minor thing though, so whenever it gets done, it gets done.

So what did we do?!
*Primed and painted the cabinets - Valspar Primer // Valspar Paint in Dove White. Same as my favorite table. 
*Painted the walls - Valspar paint in Gravity.
*I painted all the cabinets and the doors with the WHIZZ 4in foam rollers. Yeah, these are pretty awesome and it gave the cabinets this really smooth finish. They look almost like they were spray painted thats how smooth it is.
*New floor. There aren't any real good pictures of the floor. It was gross and old. It was peeling away from the wall and it had scratches in it. Oh and it was pink! Not completely pink, but it had this salmony color floating around it it. Horrible. The new floor is from Warren's Carpet One. If you are local, I strongly suggest checking them out. They also installed our living room floor (coming soon!) and Landon's bedroom carpet. If you do go there and decide on flooring - if you get it installed I recommend Miles. He did an amazing job.  
*Chalkboard Wall in Hallway. - Valspar Chalkboard Paint. This might be the very best part of the entire kitchen. We have all had fun drawing on this wall. It keeps the kids busy while I'm cooking dinner, and yet I can still see them so I know what they are doing. And I mean, come on - who wouldn't want to draw all over the wall.
*Painted all the wood trim - Valspar paint in Dove White. The trim, door leading out to the deck and the bathroom door are now the same color as the cabinets. Peace out wood trim. Blah.                      

There are still more things I'd like to do. I need to find some fabric for a curtain over the sink and maybe one for the door that goes out onto our deck. I haven't seen any that I really love. So I'm holding off. I also bought some prints off of Etsy to make a gallery wall in the kitchen. I just need some frames to hang them up. I'll be sure to share once that is ready. They are really cute.

Yup, so that is it. My new favorite room!

Linking up to these fabulous parties. 

 

Coffee Talk - Week 3

It's Thursday so you know what that means.

I am linking up with Natalie again for

Coffee Talk.

You don't know what it is?

You should go and check it out.

First of all she is just awesome

and secondly, link ups are pretty fun.

I do love meeting new people.

1. What is your daily routine? 

That's funny you ask. I was thinking about actually making a post about this. Its going to be long, so get comfy. 

We pretty much do the same thing everyday, minus Wednesdays when Oliver has school. 

I wake up to my kid alarm clock, sometimes it is just one kid which is much easier. I will get them up and bring them down stairs. Let the puppy outside, start making breakfast. The other usually wakes up within a half hour. We all eat and then the kids get to watch some cartoons while I get to clean up. Yay!

We play until around 11 then I start on lunch. The kids eat lunch around 11:30 - Noon. While they are eating I clean up the toys and pick up the house. 

Nap time is from Noon - 12:30 until USUALLY 3. But sometimes one will wake up the other, or one refuses to nap or either nap. Sometimes the puppy wakes everyone up or a random car. Its hard to tell, but on good days they both sleep at the same time for 2+ hours. 

After nap they get a little snack and we play until I have to make dinner. Around 3:30 I start making dinner, the boys watch some cartoons while I'm trying to cook something. 

We eat around 4:30 on most days. After dinner, the boys get to play with Ryan and then sometimes we go for a walk. The boys get baths most nights and then ready for bed. 

We have story time and relax time then they are usually in bed between 7 and 7:30. 

Then I can finally relax. Sometimes. 

2. What's in your beauty regimen? 

I love make up and beauty products, I don't like how expensive some things are though. I've been getting my Birchbox for almost a year now, that satisfies the need to try all the new things. I am simple I wear Maybelline Fit Me foundation, a little bronzer that is from Birchbox- I think I might need to buy it because I love it so. I love eye shadow. Its my absolute favorite. Currently I am wearing Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plus Eye Shadow Quad, in Copper Chic. I tend to stick to browns, purple and greens. I keep my lips pretty much lipstick free. Unless we are going out and I'm getting dressed up. Mascara is also Maybelline Great Lash. It's my favorite, I've used it on an off since high school. I keep going back to it because I love it so much. 

3. Are you a morning or night person? 

source 

I'm both. I am so use to getting up early, that it doesn't bother me. And I really do like staying up because its the only time I can really get to do whatever I want. 

4. What do you eat for breakfast? Or do you skip it and go for brunch? 

I usually eat with the boys, if I wait and try to eat after, Oliver will want whatever it is that I am eating. And I don't really like to share. 

5. How do you wind down at night? 

Ryan and I will usually watch some tv. I'll play around on the computer or make some jewelry.

6. What time do you go to bed or what is your normal bedtime?

By 10pm I am usually done. Sometimes, I get my 2nd wind after the boys go to bed and I am ready to go. On those nights I'll stay up and craft or watch some Real Housewives. 

Breaking the Rules

Apparently, we're a bunch of rule breakers over here.

Who knew? I didn't.

Growing up, I guess you could call me a 'tomboy' whatever that term really means. A girl that does boyish things. I am not sure why they have to be classified as 'boyish' and why they can't just be things. I dug in the dirt, I played with cars and trucks, I ran around with boys and went fishing. All while wearing a dress.

My blog is called Little Mudpies for that very reason. I got dirty. But that was okay, because apparently it's alright for girls to do 'boyish' things. However, people get a little weirded out whenever they see a boy doing 'girlish' things.

Oliver is a boy. He loves cars and Star Wars, jumping in muddy puddles and picking at bugs. He loves fire trucks and riding his bike. He also likes it when I paint his finger nails.

Hold on to your hats, folks. It's just nail polish.

And to me and to him, that is really all it is. Nail polish.

To him, it's no different than painting on his paper. He sees me do it, and I personally don't believe its harmful in any sort of way (he knows enough not to eat it, people) so I paint his nails.

It's led to a few conversations from some very close-minded people on how I am ruining him for the rest of his life.

If that is the case, me playing in the dirt when I was little should of ruined me. Correct?

Honestly. What is the big deal? He is 2 and a half he is learning about self expression and things that he likes and doesn't like. He is innocent and pure and doesn't know about judgement.

Kids don't know about things like that until they are exposed to them, by closed-minded people.

On the flip side, I have had some people come up to me and say it looks cool. Mostly women who really don't see anything wrong with it. But some men also. I have also had some moms come up and say, "wow, my son asked me to paint his nails, I didn't because I dont want him to get picked on"

That is one thing we haven't had to deal with. He is 2 and a half and most 2 and a half year olds don't know how to pick on people. Being that young, you just think everything is fun and kids are your very best friends, no matter what they look like or if they have nail polish on their nails.

We need to be more like 2 and a half year old. They are so...accepting. Of everyone.

I would never force him to do something he didn't want to do. I don't hold him down and paint his fingers. He asks if he can have some paint on his and I say, "yes". It really is as simple as that. I don't freak out and lose sleep over it, because, honestly, the majority of it is picked off before the day is over.

Hell, there is even nail polish being marketed as just for men.

So, get over it. He is my child. I have his best intentions at heart and I love him dearly. Whether he wants to wear nail polish or not. Get off your high horses and worry about more important things than if my child is wearing nail polish.

Oliver is wearing Status Update from Birchbox. 

Oliver Says

I haven't done this in awhile, mainly because everything Oliver says is pretty hilarious. He talks all the time now so a lot of the things I forget. 

These are some that I remember from the last few weeks. 

*Ryan had the boys over at my in laws house. He sent me a video of Oliver pouting. He was walking around the yard with him arms folded and he kept saying 'I want to go home!" When I asked why he was upset, he said, "Georgie (the dog) knocked me over and stole my raisins!"

Oliver: Want a beer Mommy?
Me: No thank you!
Oliver: When I get bigger I have beer?
Me: Yes, when you are much bigger.
Oliver: When I'm old like you Mommy?
Me:........

Oatmeal was chewing on my flip-flop. He yells, "Oh No Oatmeal! Go Away Somewhere!"

Me: Who made this mess?
Oliver: Wrinkles!

We're listening to Zac Brown and Oliver came up and said he was hungry. I told him he needed to dance for food. He goes, "I shake my booty for O's!"
Oliver touched my hair and said, "it's wet, did Wrinkles pee on it?"

Interested in more of what Oliver Says?

Check them out 

here //  here 

FiveOnFriday: Boots

I'm starting a new series

Every Friday I will share five things 

that I am loving

or that I find fun. 

One of the great things 

about blogging is discovering 

so many different things

I'd love for you to join me! 

Share in the comments 

Or create a post of your own 

and share it! 

FiveOnFriday : Boots 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

What is your FiveOnFriday?

Coffee Talk - Week 2

Today I am linking up with Natalie from Natalie Blair. 

1. What is your favorite kind of coffee? Hot? Iced? Frappe?
I love just regular hot coffee with creamer. Usually by the time I get a cup it has sat for over an hour and is luke warm/cold. I can't even count how many times I microwave my coffee each morning!

source

2. What is your dream computer/laptop? And what kind are you using now?

I'm not all that big on technology. I know that I love laptops more than desktops (or whatever they are called) We have two a dell and a MacBook Pro. I really love my MacBook!

3. Have you ever regretted a blog post? What did you say?
Nope. There have been a few that have gotten more attention than others. I am pretty conscience of what I write here. Maybe sometimes too conscience. But I'm like that in real life too - I never want to hurt peoples feelings - even if mine have been hurt. Blah.

4. What is your favorite book?
Whatever book I am reading at the time is my favorite. Currently I am reading BossyPants by Tina Fey. She is ridiculously hilarious. Hilarious. Everyone needs to read this book.

source

5. What's in your bag? 
Oh my goodness. My bag is nuts. Okay, you asked for it! 

I can't draw for crap! 

wallet..diaper..wipes..chapstick..change (randomly on the botton of the purse)..wrappers...

etc....

Wordless Wednesday

Okay, so not completely wordless but I needed to share why I am taking random pictures of my make-upless face and holding some flowers. 

Oliver went shopping with Ryan. Came in the door (more like fell in) 

holding this big bouquet of flowers. 

"Here Momma, I brought you flowers. You are beautiful!" 

I die. 

Dance Like No One is Watching

I'm sure you have heard that quote before. There is more to it actually, but I just really like that part. Mainly because, that's what I do. I dance like no one it watching and according to my husband I "flail.' Its usually after a few drinks and I lost my ability to care what people think. 

source

I am a shy soul. I am quiet and reserved in real life. I care what people think, so sometimes I just keep my mouth shut instead of ruffling feather.  It takes me awhile to open up and if you first meet me and I say two words to you, you may assume that I am 'bitchy'. Trust me, I am not, I am just not a conversation starter. I will talk your ear off, if you start and hold the conversation. But at the same time, I am cautious about what I say. It's a blessing and a curse. Really. 

I'm sure you have met those kind of people, maybe you are one, those that can talk about anything and everything. Those that even if you are shy, they keep the conversation going and before you know it, an hour has passed and you've been having the best time ever. I am married to that person. But I am far from that person. I'm the socially awkward one. The one that says, "Hi, how are you!" and that's it. The one that is wrecking her brain for something to talk about, but just coming up with....nothing.

But if I know you, and I am comfortable I am far from that person. I am loud and annoying. I swear and burp. Just ask my husband, and he will tell you that he never thought that the person I am was the girl he met over 7 years ago. That first night we met in person, I said maybe a handful of words to him. As time went on and as we became closer, the real lindsay came out. The funny, silly one. 

The one that flails when she dances. 

The dance like no one is watching quote got me thinking about this little blog. And all the other blogs out in blogland. I wonder how many actually, write like no one is reading. 

I know when I first started out, I wrote like nobody was readying....because nobody was reading.

Well, that's a lie. I know my husband was reading. I remember getting my first follower and thinking "wow, this is awesome, someone actually cares about what I have to say" Then the pageviews started to increase and people were commenting and coming back.

Out of all the blogs out there, they were nice enough to stop by mine, comment and the best yet....stay. 

The more the followers and pageviews and comments, the more I felt that I was doing something good. I was doing something important, that even though I was just sharing stories of our life, people could relate. I heard it all the time, "you are so relatable." 

Then the pressure was on, I wanted to be relatable I wanted people to come back and like what I had to say. I wanted people to like what I had to say, so that's when it started changing, I began writing more for the readers than for myself. 

The whole reason I started this in the first place. 

I lost it somewhere. I lost the purpose. I was focusing on everyone watching (reading) that I stopped flailing. 

And I really like to flail. 

Maybe some of you have no idea what I am talking about, maybe you're new or you just didn't notice. But I have, I see a difference in where I am now from where I use to be. So, I am making a change. I am writing for me, I am going to share things that may or may not interest you. I am going to tell stories of my kids that some may not agree with or that some may thing is silly. I will bare it all on here that sometimes, ::gasp:: my marriage isn't perfect and that sometimes I really suck at being a mom. 

Its those post, the ones where I didn't care who was reading that received the most feedback. Those that touched more people. Those that let everyone know that "hey I am a real person on the other side of this screen, I do have feelings and sometimes they get hurt." 

So yeah, I am going to flail - and I'm going write like no one is reading.

 

i am grateful for today

Oliver started preschool last week. 

Getting him ready got me thinking 

about how fast time is really going. 

I spent the night before his big day, looking at his baby pictures. 

The moments in the hospital when I became a Momma 

for the first time. 

The day we brought him home 

and his first bath. 

Those moments are gone, never to return

and that makes me sad. 

But

I am so excited for him

he loves kids and he needs more to play with. 

We have play dates 

but there are no kids in the neighborhood for him 

to play with. 

School is a great place for him. 

But sending him last Wednesday morning

walking out of the classroom 

and leaving my baby 

with someone other than family 

made me really think about 

how precious this time is. 

That these moments 

wont last forever. 

That eventually I won't be able to heal his 

hurt with a kiss and a hug. 

His blankets and 'Charlie' 

wont make everything better. 

He's growing up before my eyes.

I am grateful for the snuggles 

and the random, 

"Mommy, you are bootiful" comments. 

I'll take the tantrums and the tears

if it means that I can have the snuggles 

just a little bit longer.

Um, Yeah, What Were We Thinking?!

I think we were a little naive about this whole remodeling project. The reason that I haven't updated on the kitchen is because, well, we decided on a whim that we wanted a new kitchen floor. Then while we were at the floor place, we thought 'what the hell, lets get a living room floor too!'

We like to live dangerously! 

So that's what we did. 

Four crazy days spent living upstairs. We moved all the furniture into our dining room Monday night. Early Tuesday morning when Oliver woke up, he proceeded to let me know that something was wrong. The conversation went something like this. 

Oliver: Oh! You moved the couch. 

Me: Yes, we had to move the couch.

Oliver: You moved the chair! 

Me: Yes, we had to move everything out of the living room

Oliver: (pointing at the cat) You moved Footie too! 

Me: (laughing) yes, we moved Footie too! 

Tuesday morning we ripped up the carpet before the boys woke up. 

We spent the day upstairs. Only going down to get things to eat. The boys didn't really have anywhere to play and there wasn't much room for anything else. Ryan spent the day painting all the trim in the living room white. Something we have wanted to do forever. 

Wednesday morning, was Oliver's first day of school. I knew it was going to be a crazy because everything was all over the place. I made sure to lay out everything the night before. But Wednesday morning Oliver wanted no part of getting ready or school. He just wanted to check out the floors and ask five thousand times why the chair and the couch were in the dining room. 

After school, we stayed at my grandma's for the day. Ryan stayed at the house with the guy. Our floors were pretty bad. The people before us either did it themselves or hired someone who didn't know what they were doing. So the guy installing our new ones had his work cut out for him. We came home later that night to a pretty crazy kitchen. My fridge and stove along with some other tables were on our back deck. 

Yesterday was the longest of the days. The boys were bored and Oliver didn't feel good so he was pretty crabby. Neither one of the understood that I couldn't just go walk into the kitchen and get them food or a cup. There were a lot of tears yesterday, some from the kids, some from me. I'll admit it. 

Miles (Myles) is the guy installing our floors. He is doing a wonderful job and is really taking his time with everything, I appreciate it - I really do. He was suppose to finish yesterday, but they didn't give him enough vinyl for the kitchen so he had to go and get more, which took up some time. So he's coming back today to finish. 

I know there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Its just hard to see it when we're in the midst of this chaos. I will be so happy when its finished. This is something Ryan and I have talked about since we moved into this house, a little over three years ago. 

I am going to say this only once, Ryan was right, and I should of listened to him when we first moved in. He wanted to rip out the carpet and install hard wood then, and I said we should wait a little bit until we were settled. Little did I know there was a bun in my oven. 

The waiting lasted longer than 'a little bit' once we found out I was pregnant, the house projects were put on hold and we were in baby mode. 

Sure, we could of did it after Oliver was born, but that is just nuts. And then of course, Landon wasn't too far behind. 

Things and timing happen for a reason, its getting done now, and that's all that matters. 

Even if that means walking outside to get the milk out of the fridge.