It's been a heck of a week with two sick babies home from school most of the week and a busy work week for both Mommy and Daddy. Seems like March is a month where the kids always have something!! Until I can get my act together and catch up, here is some older pictures of the little Foofy, in honor of his upcoming Birthday!!

Just like his big sissy, the little man is getting bigger by the day. I can't believe he is going to be two years old in a matter of days.

And yes, my kids do have an odd fascination and desire to wear sunglasses pretty much all hours of the day. Notice Jack wearing his big sister's sunglasses, upside down of course.

Mine Emma Kathryn

Sometimes I can't believe how big my Emma Kathryn is getting. She amazes me every day with the things she learns and knows and comes home from school with. I knew she was getting to be a true "kid" and not a toddler anymore when she started talking about poop all the time. :) She now thinks its really funny to talk about poop and how yucky it is. And don't fear, Jack hops right on that band wagon and thinks its hilarious. Yup, he is going to be that kid teaching all his school buddies about poop.

Emma Kathryn cracks me up. For example, here a little snip-it of a conversation we had a few weeks ago...
       
          Mommy: "Emma, don't forget to brush your teeth this morning."

          Emma: "I won't Mommy. I haven't done my teeth yet this morning."

          Mommy: "I know sweetheart, that's why Mommy was reminding you."

          Emma: "I haven't done my morning toots either yet Mommy!!"

She is my princess. My morning toot, poop loving princess. :)

To My Emma & My Jackson...

To my Emma Kathryn and my Jackson Douglas,

No, I'm not using your middle names because you are in trouble. At least not yet you little stinkers.

Growing up, my grandfather always called me by my first and middle name, Laura Michele. I was always Laura Michele. Sometimes I find myself following suit with you. Mommy and Daddy gave you those middle names for a reason. They mean something to us, and eventually, they will mean something to you as well.

Sometimes when I can't sleep, I think about what you will be like in the future. Will you be kind? Will you be happy? Will you still be best friends? I certainly hope so, and it's my job as your Mommy, to do what I can to make sure that happens. A while back, when you, my Emma Kathryn were just about two and a half, and you, my Jackson Douglas were only nine months old, I wrote you a letter. A letter about what I hoped for you in your future. I stumbled upon that letter a little while ago and it got me thinking again about your future and what kind of advice I should give you as you grow up. I started to think about it more and more, and finally decided to write you another letter, that someday you will understand.

I originally planned on writing a letter with the top ten pieces of advice that I would want you to follow as you grew up. I quickly realized that since I am your mom, I have WAY MORE then ten things I want you to to follow as you become young adults. I know, go figure. Feel free to roll your eyes right now. So, the top ten list quickly flew out the window and in no particular order, here is a list of some of the advice I can only hope you take to heart one day.

1. Jackson Douglas, always be a gentleman. Hold doors open for ladies. Always treat women with respect. They are your equal, and should be treated that way.
2. Emma Kathryn, always be a lady. Don't hesitate to hold your own. Be strong. Be independent. Be respectful. But always be a lady.
3. Know your worth and your potential. Don't ever let anyone treat you in a way that makes you question your worth.
4. Learn the value of money. You don't need to be rich to be happy, but you do need to be smart about how you use your money. Save it when you are young, because you're going to need it someday. Never live beyond your means.
5. Jackson Douglas, when you put the seat up, put it back down. I can't stress that enough. Consider that invaluable advice that will help your future wife.
6. Do not fear. I will introduce you to the dishwasher, oven, washing machine, iron, vacuum and broom. Please use them.
7. Play a sport. It will teach you how to win honorably, lose gracefully, respect authority,... work with others, manage your time and stay out of trouble. And maybe even throw or catch.
8. Chose your own religion. I know your Mimi and your Nanny will have my head for this one, but if Catholic isn't your bag baby, chose your own adventure.  
9. Don't ever be a bully or ever start a fight. Defend yourself or your loved ones, but don't ever throw the first punch. Stick up for those that are bullied. Be their advocate.
10. You'll understand everything I ever did or said when you are a parent.
11. Don't ever take your knowledge and education for granted. That is something that nobody can take away from you. Pay attention to your education, it's important. I promise.
12. Take pride in your appearance. Jackson Douglas, don't you ever wear your pants low enough so someone can see your undies. If you want people to see your undies, I'll take all your pants away and then they will REALLY see your undies. Emma Kathryn, keep it covered and classy. Again, know your worth.
13. Be strong and tender at the same time.
14. Always respect your elders. Say please, and thank you and yes ma'am and no sir. A simple polite remark can go a long way.
15. Peer pressure is a scary thing, at least to your parents it is. Be a good leader and stand up for yourself if someone asks you to do something that you don't want to do. Even if you are afraid it won't keep you "cool". Others who are afraid to stand up for themselves will follow you.
16. Jackson Douglas, bringing her flowers for no reason is always a good idea.
17. Be kind.  
18. Keep your sense of humor. It goes a long way in the healing process.
19. Please choose your respective spouses wisely. Jackson, my daughter-in-law will be the gatekeeper for me spending time with you and my grandchildren. Emma, my son-in-law better treat you like the princess that you are. A strong, independent, intelligent princess.
20. Remember to call your Mommy because I might be missing you.
21. Don't forget to share.
22. Try everything once. Except bad stuff, like drugs. Try that, and I’ll still ground you no matter what age you are.
23. Stand up for what you believe in. If it's not right, don't tolerate it. But do it in a smart and respectful way.  
24. Get your heart broken, and I know you both will. It won't feel like it at the time, but you will be better off for it.  
25. Make mistakes. Make lots of them. Lord knows your Daddy and I did growing up. The important thing is to learn from them.  
26. Never get obsessed with your appearance. Nobody likes that.
27. Never compromise your personal safety. Be smart. Make smart decisions when it comes to your safety.  
28. Never give less than your best in everything that you do. You won't always meet your goals, and it sounds cliche, but if you do your best, that's all you can do.
29. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up. Enjoy being a kid, because you only get to do it once.  
30. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you are not good enough.
31. There is nothing you can't do.
32. Your mother is always right. 
33. No matter what, always call your parents. Whether you drank to much and don't want to drive home. Whether you know we will be mad or disappointed. Whether you are angry at us. No matter what you need to say. No matter what you think we do or don't want to hear. Call us when you need us.
34. Don't ever forget that you are brother and sister. No matter what happens in your lives, no matter how big the fights are that you will get in (and yes, you will). Always remember you are blood.
35. Be good to me and your Daddy when we get old. We are going to spend the rest of our lives giving you everything we have, so put us in a nice home when we get senile.

I think that's a pretty good start, so I'll stop at thirty five. Although I think there is probably hundreds more that I could tell you. I'll keep those in my back pocket for now. If I didn't, what else would I nag you about for the rest of your life?

I love you more than life itself.

Love always,
Mommy

Project Playroom - Phase 2

In the beginning of December, I got that urge to do some painting and decided to tackle the Playroom. I wasn't really sure when we were going to actually start on it, but that was when I started to gather ideas. Fast forward to the week of Christmas. My intention was to work most of the week between Christmas and New Year's, but as soon as I came to work one day that week and realized that I only saw ONE other person all day, yeah, not.so.much. With my new found freedom from work for a few days, I decided to get things started. Before we get to see the results our Project Playroom - Phase 2, let's take a step back.

Beware, some of these pictures are pretty cringe worthy. :)

We moved into our home in 2005, just a few months before our wedding. I don't know what possessed me to do this, but one of the first rooms we painted was the living room. I decided to go bold and chose a dark green. Yup, didn't take me long to hate that color. :) I introduce to you, Living Room - Phase 1.

::: shutter :::

We then hired a painter to paint our kitchen, stairway and upstairs hallway since we have an open foyer and weren't about to shimmy up 16 feet in the air. We figured it was a good time to get rid of that awful green. Because I am a creature of habit, I had it painted the same color as everything else (although our family room wasn't painted at the time). Enter Living Room - Phase 2. Which also brought along with it some AWFUL curtains. Hey Laura, 1972 called and wants it's curtains back. 

Then came the babies. The living room wasn't going to last long so away it went, especially when we went from sending Emma to school to have both kids at home. We gave away the couches and eventually sold my piano (sob) to make room. Enter Playroom - Phase 1.

The extent of decorating we did in here was the six pictures you see below and the removal of the curtains. The room quickly filled up with toys and baby "stuff". It usually looked like this....

Here and there we would attempt to add more storage, so we bought a third bookcase from Ikea and then I sprung for a new rug from Overstock when it was on sale around the holidays. So this is pretty much what it looked like before we got started. Of course the spackling on the wall wasn't there quite yet, but I forgot to take a picture before I took down the pictures and patched the holes.

Another shot of the other side of the room, yup, pretty bland, nothing exciting so far.

Then, The Squishy stripped down to his skivvies and got to work.

Ugh, finally. It was about time he started pulling his weight around here.

Just kidding.

Emma did most of it.

I know. I know. I'm hilarious.

Don't quit your day job Mama.

Enter Playroom - Phase 2

Even after having three swatches of gray paint on the wall for a week, my "gray" turned out more light blue than anything, but I still like it. The funny part is, is that I have no idea what color it is. I got three samples from Home Depot, but they didn't add the name to the samples, just the color breakdown. So its something, from Behr. :) Although its "blue-er" then I originally wanted, the idea is to repaint all the other old beige/tan an actual light gray. So I think this color would blend pretty good.

Don't be fooled. The minute I let those little naughties back in the room, it took all of a half of a second to look like this....

Since Christmas we haven't done too much else outside of re-hang the pictures and we did buy our new Expedit Bookcase made bench. Just need to add a cushion to the top and we will be moving right along. So far, I've been sticking to my inspiration board (aka PowerPoint chart) but I think I'll make a few adjustments along the way. I'm rethinking the colors and may be leaving out the orange. This is usually where I get really stuck with a redecorating project because, well, I don't know how to decorate. :)

Stay tuned for Playroom - Phase 3...you know, in the year 2015.