Week/Weekend Recap

{Warning: tons of pictures!}

Instead of chatting about everything else we did with my parents in town last week, I figured just a visual post would be more fun. 

During their stay, we enjoyed some indoor fun...

Derek surprised me with tickets to see one of our faves, Ron Pope, at Christmas. It worked out perfectly with free babysitters, but it would have been nice to enjoy a real beer and not stand for 2.5 hours.... (and bonus points if you know who that is! It seems most people don't and we've listened to him for years!)

Drew practiced basketball with Gramma almost every evening...

He also sat in the dentist chair by himself for the first time and was a champ thanks to having grandparents there...

We enjoyed some Chuck E. Cheese time...

(And for the record, I beat my father three times at skeeball)

 We yelled at the snow flurries daily that kept us inside during their stay...

Drew took plenty of good naps. Those grandparents sure are tiring...

 And we all enjoyed ice cream on our last night before they left town...

Thanks again for coming to visit Gramma and Poppa!! See you in a few months!

One Thousand

This is officially my 1000th post.

Really, it's not a huge thing to celebrate, other than the fact that you don't really do things 1000+ times in life. Pee?
Check FB or IG?
Kiss your husband and kids?
Sure, but other than those and possibly a few more things, doing something 1,000 times is a LOT.

When I started this blog, blogger was just a baby. The templates were plain, options were limited to what you could do and pictures were hard to format nicely. It's changed so much over the past 6 years and I can't imagine what else will change within this crazy world in the next 6! But the one thing that I'm most proud of is what hasn't changed. I set out to create an online journal for my family that I would update 2-4 times a week and to this day that's still what this space is for. I don't sell ads, I don't sell sponsorship space and I don't accept any money for reviews/giveaways. To each their own, but when my children read this blog one day, I want it to be just a journal of our lives and nothing more!

So cheers to the next 1,000 posts and thanks to all of readers for being on this journey with me! Your words, thoughts and jokes are what make my day and I appreciate the love!

Grandma & Poppa

Each time family comes into town, Drew counts down the weeks and then days each morning. And then when they arrive, he wants nothing to do with mom and dad.... it's all about the grandparents.

And I love it.

Why not enjoy some extra free time while they play with him or read to him at bedtime. My dad even got up with him early on Sunday morning to wipe his tush after he went #2 so we could keep sleeping. (We might or might not have been faking that we were still asleep but he'll never know). And let's not forget the free babysitting. Tonight is a concert that Derek surprised me with tickets for and I'll post later this week on that!

For now, we're spending time flying in Drew's airplane:

Building legos:

Enjoying sweet treats:

Playing our favorite board games:

And, as always, putting my father to work:

Sesame Street Live

Drew's Mimi and Grandpa gave us tickets to the show for his birthday and I've been so excited to go all week. Drew still isn't terribly interested in the TV, but he'll watch Sesame Street from time to time and knows the main characters. His favorite by far? Definitely Elmo. When Elmo would leave the scene, he would ask where he went and then when he came back on stage his face would light up.

The show was only 90 minutes long with an intermission so it was perfect for toddlers. And the loud music, continuous on stage dancing and singing as well as the lights and colors made for a perfect show that no kid could resist.

We bought him some souvenirs and a program, got a huge pretzel and drinks and found our seats. Being only about 25 rows back from the stage in the middle section was awesome and Drew could see all of the action!

Can't wait to go back again next year! Thanks again Mimi and Grandpa for the perfect gift!

Kitchen Backsplash!

I've never been a dark granite type person. I have no clue why, but I just prefer lighter grays and beige tones when selecting granite. When we moved in, however, the house already had a dark (not fully black, however) granite. Pics below are from the second time we visited the house when it was up on the market...

Our cabinets are gorgeous and we both knew that we wanted tile backsplash. But before that, after doing some googling, I convinced Derek to pull off the 4 inch granite backsplash strip in order to minimize the darkness. It turned out to be a quite easy (and fun) project which left only a few small holes to fill in and sand!

Our little helper even had fun doing some sanding. And yes, those are exposed outlets, which is why we didn't leave his side and fully supervised him.

A couple weekends ago, a new neighborhood friend who has done tile-work before and Derek rented the tile saw and got to work!

We splurged on a travertine tile that has tons of texture and different colors.  It's gorgeous and I love how it looks great with both the cabinets and the dark granite. Plus the undermount lighting looks even better on the tile than it did the wall!

Here's where our anal-retentiveness comes into play...

Where we removed the original granite backsplash on the main wall, we had to mud it out a bit as it was really sunken back. Apparently we didn't do that enough as there was 8 tiles which we REALLY felt sat back farther. The undermount lighting only made them look even worse. Soooooo.... we pulled them out and re-did those.

Yeah I know, anal, but we really felt that we would stare at those tiles forever and hate how they looked. In the end it added like an extra 2 hours to the entire project and we are SO glad we did. See how you can tell they were sunken back (left) and look amazing now (right)?

Our painter comes next week to paint the walls, but I was excited to finally get this post up now. I'm absolutely in LOVE with how the kitchen looks now and I feel as though the tile reflects against the granite making it look a smidge lighter!

A Boy's Mom

Now that it's sunk in that our world won't be just trains, trucks and sports, I'm relishing in these last few months where I'm solely a mother of a boy. I've gotten quite good at building lego mansions, constructing intricate train tracks and turning anything into swords. I can name a ridiculous amount of the Thomas engines and have become accustomed quite well to dirt. Everywhere.

When the word "mommy" comes out of his mouth, or when he bats his big blue eyes at me, I melt. I've learned how to kiss his boo boos while teaching him to be strong at the same time. He trusts me and I trust him. He knows I'm always here for him and I pray that never goes away.

We dance. A lot. Mostly it's when daddy isn't around, but it's our special time. Sometimes he puts his little feet on mine while I move us around, but mostly we just hold hands and giggle as we spin around. Our bond is like nothing I could have dreamed of, yet it's everything I could have ever wanted. 

I was his first kiss and his first love. For the next few months I will be sucking up every minute of our time together. My fears about him thinking I'm spending too much time with a newborn are real. I'm terrified that he'll think I love him less but someday I'll explain that he made me a mother. There will be other children in the picture, but he started this journey as a parent for me. For that, he's special. 

Soon there will be dolls and pink and bows, but not yet.

For now it's balls and fire engines and planes.

For now I'm mommy to a boy.

St. Patrick's Day Stud

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Just had to post a few pics of my stud modeling two hairdos. My friend Hannah sent me this adorable bow tie and I just realized it's the first one he's ever worn. I officially want to put him in a bow tie every day.

Drew's Reading Nook

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, brought to you by CushionPros.com. 

All opinions, however, are 100% mine! 

I'll be revealing the entire playroom soon, but for now, I'm excited to finally post some pictures of Drew's finished reading nook!

This under-the-stairs area was something we found awkward when we moved in (right). It wasn't the best area for storage and wasn't the most efficient for holding toys. It was too low for decor and picture frames and we had no clue what to do with it.

Once this area became his playroom, however, we quickly noticed Drew taking books and reading them up there and logically decided it would be an adorable reading nook. I'm in love the mini shelves, bench cushion and perfect sized area for him to read. We've also added a motion light up top in case he ever wants to sit in there in the dark and read.

Wanted to also take a second and tell you about a special that Cushion Pros is doing for Our Journey readers. This is where I got that awesome red bench cushion above and you need to go check them out. They are offering 5% off on any orders placed starting today by using the code JOURNEY.

Do you have outside patio furniture that you'd like new cushions for? How about a bay window? What about an awkward sized seating area that you've not been able to find something for?

Cushion Pros is your answer. They can create any shape with hundreds of fabric options or you can even supply your own. Oh and you know I shopped around to find the best deal! Their prices were far better than other similar sites and they ship super fast. I'm impressed with the quality workmanship and sturdy feeling of our cushion.

Summer is coming up and you know you've always wanted to put some cushions on those hard patio chairs of yours or replace the 1970's floral pad on your chaise! And check out some of their adorable patterns. (They have around 1300 options online)

I'd suggest you hop on here, 'build' your cushion and see how reasonable they are for a custom piece. And when you're done, use the code JOURNEY for 5% off your total price!

Just look how much happier he is with some comfy cushioning now....

Andrewman The Superhero

He came up with the name.
And the cape-wearing is a daily occurrence now.
All boy right there.

Andrewman Stats:
Age: 3
Height: 3'3"
Weight: 35 lbs
Eyes: blue
Hair: light brown
Aliases: turkey, buggie, Drewdlebug
Occupation: Crime fighter and Dog Annoyer
Powers: eating, counting in spanish, building train tracks and lego castles
Weapons: guns (as in his arms) and a smile that will kill
Sidekick: panda the ferocious stuffed animal
Hobbies: flying around the house and sweeping 

Thanks again for the cape Uncle Matt. Pretty sure he's going to wear it until he's 27.

Drew's First Movie

We did it. We jumped on the Frozen bandwagon as Drew's first movie and, just like everyone warned me, that d@mn song is completely stuck in my head. I guess that's par for the course with Disney movies though.

Back to my point of this post. Drew is SUCH a good kid, but he is a talker... like constant chatterbox. During shows at home he narrates and likes to discuss everything that's going on. This is the only reason we hadn't been to a real movie yet. I was hoping that since Frozen had been out forever there wouldn't be many people still attending meaning less people to piss off if he jabbered through the entire thing. Wrong. It was a fairly full theater, but thankfully he did pretty well!

And in case you're thinking of taking your toddler to a movie, here are my tips for a successful trip:

  - Make sure the toddler is well rested. We went right after nap when he was still a bit sleepy and calm.

  - Get a gynormous popcorn. Like, the biggest they offer. This will keep your toddler from talking.

  - Sit in the back. This way you're toddler isn't too close to other people the screen.

  - Bribe the kid to pee right before the movie starts to give yourself a nice window.

  - Practice whispering for an entire week in advance, but understand you'll still shush them 79 times.

All in all, it went really well for us and I'm excited to see more with our little guy!

Sicky Sick

I made the mistake of saying out loud last week that we had escaped one of the worst winters ever without sickness in our house. Not even 24 hours later, I got a call from Drew's school that he needed to be picked up due to his temperature. #fail

He stayed home from school for a couple of days and we fought the sickness with every ounce of our energy. Resting, fluids, soup, meds, inhaler, humidifier and TONS of hugs and kisses.

Apparently, sometimes you can beat the bug and by day 2 at home, he really wasn't even that bad! I, on the other hand, didn't escape so luckily. I've been under the weather for a few days and it's quite annoying how minimal you can take while pregnant. I had Derek stop and pick me up 6 huge oranges and have been gargling with salt water every few hours. Thankfully, it's now down to just a deep cough and runny nose, but fingers crossed it goes away soon!

But instead of leaving this post as pretty pointless and riddled with sickness, here's a cute video of Drew singing his favorite song. Sure he might be off from the words and the sun makes his face hard to see, but it's still so adorable.

Have a great weekend!!

Throw Back Thursday - Maui Style

Forget looking at another snowy or cold post and let your eyes feast on sun and warmth!

Maui is one of my most favorite places on earth. With our Europe trip being at the top of my list, Maui would be tied for a close second with Costa Rica. I first went in 2003 with my family as a college graduation gift for me and a high school graduation gift for my brother. Then, in 2005 and 2008 we went with Derek's family. Over the years, I've pretty much done all luau's and excursions, eaten at most of the big restaurants and seen all of the best sights. Each time was unique and amazing, though, and I would enjoy going back 20 more times!

In case you know anyone going anytime soon, here are some of my faves:
Road to Hana day trip
Mama's Fish House restaurant
Banyan Tree in Lahaina
Teralani Sailing
Haleakala - See the sunrise and then bike down!
Old Lahaina Laua

These pictures are from 2008...

I think it's about time to go back!