holden's newest obsession...

...the plastic dish drawer.

easter

yeah, yeah, yeah...so, it's been a while...a LONG while since i last posted.  things have been a little wild around here but they are all good things and i'm so grateful for them all.  i'll try to catch you up on all of the happenings post by post.

first, easter.  holden was such a trooper and even got to hunt his first easter eggs thanks to his aunt mandi who supplied him with a hunting ground that had several key features:

1. close proximity
2. even terrain
3. eggs filled with baby-friendly treats like puffs and yogurt melts

he was adorable, of course, and played the entire time with the first (and pretty much last) egg that he encountered.  so many facets of interest in an easter egg: the hard outer shell, the fact that it breaks in two, before it breaks into two pieces, it rattles, etc.  his attention span is fleeting but the eggs definitely kept his interest.  at least for about 6 minutes.

meet the new coffee table

i went to my go-to table guy, keith merry, and sketched out what i was hoping he could create for me.  he was game, as usual, and the table turned out perfectly.  i sort of merged the inset tray from willy rizzo's designs with the casual/functional property of reclaimed wood and topped the design off with a bit of "elegance" in the form of antique brass rivets.  so...there.  isn't she pretty?

i am already thinking of all the cool things i could put in the tray.  hmmm...

click here to learn more & purchase

holden's new obsession...

...our neighbor's cat.  if you merely mention the word kitty or kitty cat, he immediately heads for the front door in hopes that indie (our neighbor's cat) will be sitting at our front door.  to clarify, our next door neighbors actually lived in our house, walked next door to the newly built home during an open house, decided to buy it, and sold their house to us.  so, you can imagine that little indie gets confused as what was once her home, is now our home.  however, she has an admirer in holden.  he stands at one window...crawls to the other window flanking the front door...crawls back.  free entertainment is a good thing.

indie is actually one of the only cats i've ever liked in my life (just not a "cat person") and my neighbor even said she lets children pick her up by her tail.  i'm impressed.  she also meanders into our home if i ever leave the front door open while i'm getting holden out of the car.  i can't blame her...it's a great house.

on another note, as i strolled into the home after an errand, jim mentioned that there was an owl in our backyard and that the dogs were going nuts.  so, he put them in their kennel in the garage and proceeded to take a few photos.  he mentioned they were on my camera and i just didn't get a chance to actually look at them until now.  i imagined a baby owl had simply had a little trouble in the flight department but, as it turns out, this was no baby.  look at this bird!  amazing.

how lucky am i...

...to get to walk into this little scenario three times a day?  holden has made huge strides in the mobility department.  he's into everything and pulls up to a standing position as much as possible.  he's starting to cruise around things so i wouldn't be surprised if it's not too long before he's taking his first big boy steps.  nothing short of the world's most precious little man, holden is growing up way too fast.  i need to find a way to put the skids on, pronto!

dining room in progress

here are some shots of the dining room getting its wallpaper "outfit."  crazy thing to watch someone hang wallpaper.

wallpaper

wallpaper is a tricky little guy and can range from putrid to jaw-dropping.  so, it's a little scary committing to a particular paper but since i'm kind of a wallpaper nerd and have daydreamed about living amongst it, i'm taking the plunge.  i know it vacillates the line of cool every few years but i must say my love has never really faltered.  so, i'm making my first wallpaper commitment for our powder room and dining room.  drumroll please...

powder room

dining room

the powder room paper is by colefax & fowler and the dining room paper is by ralph lauren.  the image of the dining room paper doesn't really do it justice.  it's a really beautiful mustard/gold that will look so amazing with other pops of color like peacock blue or a bundle of hot pink peonies.  i'll post a photo when they're up and running.

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.