happenings

several things were accomplished yesterday:

1. holden's fancy pants bookshelves were installed on two walls
2. 2" picture frame molding was applied to the walls in the library
3. our new copper bevolo gas lanterns were installed flanking our front door
4. the perfect shade of orange paint for the library was sampled and confirmed
5. holden started chewing on a computer charger that was plugged in and therefore a live wire

here is what i learned from said happenings:

1. children's books make for some of the most beautiful art while still being educational and relatively inexpensive
2. picture frame molding is somewhat cheap and makes a room look like a million bucks
3. gas lanterns can completely change the look/"visual pedigree" of your house
4. a good orange paint color is NOT easy to find (our library is a patchwork quilt of every shade between coral and mandarin orange...insert: "poor jim" who hates any change whatsoever)
5. parenting has completely changed now that my baby is mobile. childproofing is a must since everything dangerous makes holden's mouth literally start to water.

photos below (except no photo of holden chewing on the live wire as i thought it more pertinent to remove said wire than stop to take a photo).

 

on the move

holden is a boy on the move now but he was a little rusty at first.  here is footage of him dipping his toe into the world of mobility.

baptism!

please note: jim describes his hair situation is as follows: "elvis, eat your heart out."

an orange library

i'm smack dab in the middle of choosing paint colors for our new home and am having such a hard time picking a color for our library.  it's a small room and can handle something really fun so i'm thinking either a mustard orange or a persimmon semi-gloss.  here are two images that i love, love, love.  so, to jim's dismay, we have patches of every paint sample that remotely resembles either of these colors slapped up on our walls.  i'll post "after" photos when the painting is complete.

floral update

i know it's not nearly as interesting as a holden update, but i decided to head over to import flower last week in search of a little floral refresher and threw together this little "arrangement" (if you can call it that).

coming soon, more on holden's baptism this past weekend.

basquiat ♥

a few of basquiat's works to inspire.

the swwiiiinnng...continued

finally, the video i promised from holden's first round on the swing set at the park.

please note: now, you may want to turn down the volume as my obnoxious voice will take away from the preciousness that is holden.

hilarious

just before he went to bed tonight, holden thought watching me jump around the room while he jumped in his johnny jump up was nothing short of absolutely, certifiably, undeniably hilarious.

please note: the sound is a little low so you may have to up the volume in order to hear him well.

ocd meets her newest companion

my ocd seems to be getting worse as i get older, much like the length of my crow's feet and the height of certain assets.  so, i've indulged my inner turmoil yet again with what seems to be the coolest dust buster on the market.  i love my dyson vacuum but unwinding a cord after every meal to suck up the millions of cheerios, egg bits, and string cheese pieces is a bit of a hassle.  enter the dyson animal handheld.  ups tells me it's now sitting on my front porch...the suspense is killing me.

waylande gregory studios

based on the work of waylande de santis gregory, wayland gregory studios produces exquisite pieces of pottery and sculpture.  click here for a fascinating bio of the famed artist who was commissioned by such notable figures as henry fonda, albert einstein, and charles lindbergh as well as much admired by art collectors, celebrities, and even the famed else de wolfe.

sneak peek

a little glimpse of holden's valentine's day-themed photo session

courtesy of his paparazzi mother

are you sure you don't want to stay the night?

well, we're in dire straights over here on bellevue drive.  the baby has rsv bronchiolitis and we have officially declared war.  although, it seems to be invincible.  the past two nights holden has been up crying literally all.  night.  long.  that is no exaggeration.  to sum it up, i was at walgreens at 2:30am on monday night and this is a photo of jim's new bedroom.  because he has to get up and head off to work, he needs some semblance of a night's rest and it's found right here on a mattress on the floor of our empty dining room.

needless to say, it's been a rough couple of days and the poor little guy is nothing short of miserable.  i think the fact that holden gave me absolutely no signs of a massive ear infection one step away from rupturing but has been up all night crying says a lot about how awful he feels.  i'll let you know how his recovery goes...if we ever get to that point.  right now, we are in the throws...and purely exhausted to boot.

baptism

holden's baptism is approaching so i picked up his precious little outfit yesterday and tried it on today to see if it fit.  well, it did and he looks so stinkin' handsome.  and i kind of think he knows it, too.

happy naps!

holden is always so charmingly happy when he first wakes up from his naps.  i remember when he was a newborn and would always wake up screaming and crying for food...immediately if not sooner.  so, it's such a joy to hear him cooing and chatting to himself and see those huge smiles every time i traipse into his room.  here are some shots post-snooze.

pretty color combination...pale peach and aqua.

not much to report from here but took a few photos this morning of holden just being holden.  so, here they are.

the swwiiiinnng

about as soon as we moved into our new home, i took holden down to the nearby park that i, myself, grew up frequenting.  i decided it was time to teach holden about a swing.  swinging was one of my great childhood loves and i'd be in my backyard for hours upon hours swinging with the melodious sounds of whitney houston, roseanne cash, and, regrettably, juice newton wafting through my walkman headphones.  it was my little escape from my completely untroubled and uncomplicated childhood.  now, i'd like to escape back to my childhood on those bad days.  but, nevertheless, i plopped the little man in that swing and he was all smiles from the get go.  here is a photographical play by play and later i will upload a little video from a few weeks ago.

   

holden's solution to anything and everything...

...just put it on your mouth.

back and better for it

we just got back from our six day trip to bachelor gulch, colorado where we skied bachelor along with the connecting mountains: arrowhead and beaver creek.  we also spent one day at vail when the high for the day was 9 and the low was -11.  you can imagine what that does to any exposed part of your face...windburn x 100.

we stayed just up the mountain from the ritz but this gives you a good idea of how beautiful the mountain is.  here is a winter and summer shot.

the skiing was amazing, as expected, and i can surely say a good time was had by all.  i can't believe how much i missed my little boy but he was in great hands courtesy of papa and gigi.

as for holden, we were lucky enough to not have missed any big milestone.  however, i have always thought holden would skip crawling and just go straight to walking as he's shown absolutely no interest in anything other than crying when he's on his stomach.  but, about two weeks ago i decided it was time to get the baby out of his little sleeper within the crib and see how he faired on a flat mattress.  as you can imagine, he had to...hmmm..."warm up" to the idea.  he didn't go down without a little bit of a fight and he did, eventually, wave his white flag.

so, just the other day, while i was spying on him in his crib, he started putting his knees up under himself and hasn't looked back.  while he isn't crawling yet nor is he even up on all fours, he's definitely improving.  what was once a loud cry saying "flip me back over!" is now nothing but little grunts as he moves himself around in circles inside his crib.  he just chats to himself, makes his little monkey noises, and squirms around.  it's nice to know that he has accepted that life can, in fact, go on even when one is lying on their belly.  before, he made it very clear that his life was ending any time he accidentally flipped himself over.

so, not loads of progress but progress nonetheless.

he has also tasted and loved the following new foods recently: edamame, broccoli with parmesan, turkey, strawberries, and peaches.  his other favorites for the record include: apples, pears (both with a little cinnamon), blueberries, cherries, carrots, butternut squash (especially with a little nutmeg), sweet potatoes, and zucchini.

that babycook machine is off the charts amazing.  plus, i would never have been able to pick out what a butternut squash was prior to hunting it down for holden.  so, it's not all work and no play.  just one of the many, many new things you learn every single day as a first time mother.

i'll post a few photos of the handsome guy soon.