a blog nip and tuck

what can i say - we needed a fresh look! my canned blog template was so 06! i hope you like our new design! i love it, besides being more design-worthy the layout also looks clean and crisp. i got it free from leelou blogs - she has some really cute designs and it was very easy to do.

sorry tina i know you keep saying how the green/damask combo is so overdone. but i've loved it for a long time, just ask my family room. ...insert wink here...

winter in august?

we are blessed to get TONS of quality hand-me-down clothing from our 3 year old nephew mitch. this navy snowsuit from company kids appears to have never been worn once... unfortunately it fits declan to a tee right now in august. i am afraid it won't fit in january when there is actually snow on the ground to play in!

on second thought, this would provide nice padding as he crawls around on everything and is such a little bruiser. he's in such a weeble wobble phase pulling up on everything and tipping over constantly... while i'm able to catch him most of the time, even moms can't prevent every little bump and bruise! oh how i wish i could put him in a protective bubble. hmmm maybe we have use for this after all!

hot cross buns

starting to love bath time by leaning over the tub while it is filling up - he's anticipating lots of splashing craziness!
the classic bun shot

look at the belly on my baby - hopefully he won't kill me when he's older...

9 months already

our baby is 9 months old today! i hate to be trite but it truly does go too fast. we are even starting to talk about his first birthday coming up in november! sigh.


love you little man and can't wait for all the fun times ahead!!!

little prep

we picked up some fall clothes for declan this weekend since once the weather starts to turn colder, he will have nothing to wear in his size! i LOVE everything we found, it is so BOY and he is going to be such a handsome little guy. lets face it, he could pull off a potato sack though. these are his "back-to-school" clothes.

there is a little sadness that we can no longer look in the infant section for him - how did that happen? he is still my baby but we're finding him in 18-24 month for this coming fall and winter which is basically a miniature boys section. i'm all about simple one-pieces, but since he is so long he looks really good in pants and shirts, no more onesies.

i tend to lean toward the preppy so babygap's current rugby line and gymboree's football line had me at hello. everything was on sale or i had a coupon... i won't pay full retail on baby clothes considering how fast they grow! oh and they will also be smeared with peas.

just the three of us

my mom was here this weekend and we had such a wonderful few days with her! she helped with declan, even at 7 in the morning so i could get an extra few hours of sleep! we've been having some rough nights with him the past few weeks with a cold, double ear infection, teething and the worst thing- pulling himself up on the crib and crying b/c he doesn't know how to get down! so being up 3x per night, i was very grateful for being able to crawl back into bed for a little more sleep in the mornings while she gave him his bottle, breakfast and played with him before his early nap. not like it was punishment for her, she came down to see him most of all!

we spent a lot of time just hanging out at home, went to the farmers market, shopped downtown zionsville, showed mom pottery barn kids which she had never seen, went to the pool. also she babysat saturday so tim and i could have a dinner date and then hit a neighborhood party for charity.

mom, sorry we didn't get any pictures of you this weekend - i don't know how that happened!

paper trix

my friend tina, aka trix, (long explanation for outsiders so i'll spare the details) will be getting hitched this october! i helped co-host a bridal shower for her in chicago last weekend at her most favorite spot on earth, or at least in 60614. paper source. this is THE coolest store for crafties and those who just like beautiful paper, stationery and unique gifts. i have to admit i am a sucker. last time i was here was 06 and i was buying the blossom and chocolate cardstock for my menu cards, table numbers, placecards for my own wedding. tina designed and cut everything for me because, for those of us who know her, she should basically do this for a living!



a little piece of heaven. if you look out the huge picture window the sun is starting to set on the ivy covered buildings on armitage, such a beautiful street. can you tell i miss?

the bride-to-be

kristen, valerie, becky, alison

blythe (sorry- eyes closed), paige, kiri

a few creative moments during the workshop:





here is the bride being showered with beautiful gifts

old friends winding down the night at tillys. tina and i used to have 7 million things planned for productive evenings after work and often found ourselves instead stealing into tillys for a glass of wine and some girl-talk... putting those things off just one more night!

parker playdate

these boys are going to have so much fun as they grow up together! parker is on the VERGE of crawling any day... he was sitting on his own a few months before declan even though he's 5 weeks younger. this is their awesome igloo tent from ikea which we now need after seeing the smiling faces and fun they had!

the wide open mouth is declan's "look" when he's excited.... no sound comes out but he does this all day long. it is genuine baby joy!

a little off the top please - first REAL haircut

so the time came for baby's first haircut at the young age of 8 months! his hair was so long in the front and in his eyes when he crawls which didn't seem to bother him but looked kind of funny to us! we visited clubhouse cuts for kids on friday, it was a little sad to me b/c it is such a grown-up boy thing to do but he did great and it looks so much better!

before

channeling the skater cut of my youth

on "dec"

declan got to sit in the red racecar and watch elmo. he doesn't watch tv yet so the little red character definitely caught his attention! the stylist worked quickly (as i'm sure is typical in a children's salon) and she had strict instructions from me to just trim up the front and take some off the top to lighten it up. she said i wasn't alone - many moms like the wispy baby hair on the sides and around the ears left intact. i figure he has his whole life to get full service haircuts, let him have cute baby hair for a bit longer! plus i keep hoping one of these days its going to curl which seems unlikely at this point.
i know this is an insane amount of pictures but i can't choose! here is the cut from start to finish!

hold on tight

watching elmo

what is this lady up to back there?




doesn't he drive like a natural already?

all done! always ready with a smile for the camera!

such a handsome baby...

sleepy guy after a long day of errands

fun with friends

after several attempts and reschedules, we finally were able to get together with friends last night. whenever we had a date on the calendar, it seemed either declan or parker came down with something "day-of" and we didn't want to contaminate each other... sick babies are not fun.

so brad, jenna and parker along with ashley and andy came over last night for fun, food, drinks, beanbags, and lots of baby-talk of course. ashley is 15 weeks pregnant with their first so it is so fun to watch them go through this exciting time in life, this was jenna and i last summer! you can keep track of their progress with my whitworth link on the right, apparently i can't figure out how to insert an active hotlink here.

i am SO excited they are moving up to carmel in a few months. i can't wait to get my hands on baby whitworth. thank goodness they will be finding out whether they'll be decorating pink or blue on sept 2nd b/c how can they expect us to be patient all the way until january when baby is due???!!!

i guess i didn't get any of the dads, oops.



note parker's cute rolls... he's like a mini-michelin man!
and this picture of us makes me realize we are way overdue for a trim in front! i love his long baby hair, but it doesn't always stay swept to the side.


thank you guys for coming over, we had many laughs and such a great time! let's do it again soon!

daddy's new office chair

we fell in love with a armchair back in january for tim's office but held off and tackled other projects around the house instead. well we're back in the market to finish tim's office, it really only needs a chair and wallcovering/paint (i'd like to do navy grasscloth on the walls). also he's always wanted a big dog picture in his office. think classic hunting dogs (not a motivational fluffy puppy poster) so i've been on the lookout for a print as well.

we could not believe our chair was still on the floor at the furniture store 7 months later b/c it is more of a clearance center for their custom furniture and it is very much hit or miss. i figured a stylish designer or discerning wanna-be-designer like myself would have scooped it up by now! we felt it was meant to be! after some negotiating, making sure to indicate we knew how long the chair had been on the showroom floor and "if you want to make a deal we can take it off your hands," we took it home. you can't really tell from the picture, but it is a cream & brown glen plaid pattern with a hint of charcoal and blue and bronze nailheads. the perfect smoking chair for his man-den, without the smoking part. :)

here's declan trying out the new chair