Dear Toby

This past week you turned one, Happy Birthday little man! I just wanted you to know that I absolutely adore you!  I love watching you walk/waddle around the house with your hands up in the air for balance, I love how you speed up when you see me and free fall into my legs or arms as soon as you are close enough, I love playing with those little curls you have on the back of your head, and kissing your cheeks and neck until you belly laugh, I love how you recline against me and cross your ankles when we give you a bottle, I love how you attack my face when you are tired and try to rub your face all over mine, I love that you think trash cans are the coolest thing, and how you constantly try to throw your toys away, I love how you SPLASH the water like it's your job when we give you a bath, I LOVE that little 4 tooth smile of yours, I love the face you make just after you've been hurt and you can't decide if you should cry, the one where you crinkle your nose and show all of your teeth, I love hearing you say HI!, and watching your floppy wave when you say goodby, I love they way you dance as soon as you hear music come on, I JUST LOVE YOU TOBY!  But probably my all time favorite thing you do, is when you lay your head on my shoulder and just hang out there! Sometimes I just stand by your crib and hold you for awhile before I put you down to sleep, soaking it up because I know someday you won't do that anymore. Don't grow up Toby!  ...I know you will, eventually, but even though you get bigger don't loose who you are, because the essence of you is 100% perfect!

<3 Mom

6 Talents I've Aquired Since Becoming a Mother

Becoming a mom for a second time has broadened my view, made me feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, again, and helped me chill out all at the same time! With one kid I still felt like I was competent and able to do most things, with two, I've stopped trying to be competent at most things and just decided to be fairly good at the essential things, the rest can figure itself out! That being said I have picked up few extra "talents" that I didn't know I needed to be a mom. However when you make room for new things sometimes other things get bumped... like how to be sociable, or how to look in the mirror before leaving the house, you know the non-essentials (;


1. Doing anything and everything with one hand.  From making supper or vacumming, to getting dressed, feeding other siblings or lets be honest, feeding yourself... the list could go on.  Every baby has those stages where they are just stuck to you, sometimes its just easier to hold the baby than listen to the crying or half tripping over them while they are clinging for dear life to your legs.

2. Juggling acrobat. We are getting ready to leave, and when we walk out the door I'm holding the baby in the baby carrier, the diaper bag, my purse, which may or may not be in the diaper bag, and holding my toddlers hand, all while trying to lock the door and get everything into the car at the same time. This does not include keeping a watch out for the littlest potentially kicking off one of his shoes while walking to the car or throwing out the toy he is holding, and hopefully I'm not forgetting my keys or my phone or the nuk.... (I don't even want to know how it is with 4 kids... maybe by then though they will be old enough to carry all your stuff for you, so you can walk like a normal human being?!)

3. Superhuman strength, but only in my left arm.  This one kinda goes hand in hand with #1. Because I'm holding the baby all the time and I'm right handed, I need my right hand to actually do the work. That means he's usually hanging out on my left hip.  After supporting a 20lb, wiggly human for any amount of time you build muscle pretty quickly.  As I was taking before pictures for my latest attempt to work off this baby weight, I realized my left arm looked in slightly better shape than my right.  Thanks Toby! Now to be ambidextrous so we can even things out!

4. The ability to overlook dirt and mess. I have to admit this one comes and goes, but lets face it, it's just inevitable that kids will be dirty, or make your house dirty, or eat, no, lick, dirt, food or who knows what off your floors.  Sometimes to keep my sanity I just pretend I didn't see it... after freaking out about it on more that one occasion I've come to the realization it really can't be helped.  You can work to clean up the house or try to keep your kids from licking the floor but lets face, they will mess up whatever you cleaned in .5 seconds, and they will still lick the floor just when you actually aren't looking!

6. Feeding 4 people simultaneously. Being a stay at home mom, feeding both my kids at the same time as myself is a pretty regular occurrence.  Even still it takes some skill and organization to make sure everyone has what they need to eat, including myself on any given occasion. My husband, the gracious man that he is, will often take over feeding one if not both of the kids at dinner time to give me a break, but on the somewhat rare occasion that he forgets to eat lunch or didn't have time to eat lunch I feel bad that he isn't eating as well, so I help get him food so he can grab bites while feeding Toby, while I give Piper some food, and also take a couple bites myself. :)




I jest, in some aspects, but really raising kids is no joke. I've always heard people say that but I obviously never got it!  I'm not sure you can until you are there.  That being said I LOVE being a mom, it truly is incredible. I have 2 great kids and a wonderful husband, wouldn't want it any other way, no make up, unwashed hair, snot on my shirt and all! 

- Monica

Toby update! (8-9months)

Gosh this little man is growing fast! Can't believe he's already 9 months, well almost 10 actually! I figured I better quick get caught up before he turns 10 months old, only 9 days to spare!  Note to self: when you are waiting for your baby to get over a cold to take pictures so he doesn't have snot hanging out his nose, don't, just take the pictures! I think I've been waiting 2 weeks, and I'm pretty sure he just picked up one cold after the other... it's never ending snot at our house these days!


Well, I feel like a lot has happened since I last posted.  Toby has been a busy man!  He is cruising all over the house, I call him my little speed crawler.  I guess he kinda has to be fast though in order to keep up with Piper.  She doesn't always seem to appreciate the attention!  He's pulling himself up and walking around furniture.  We have a little walking toy that he pushes around the house too!  If I let go of him he will stand by himself for a couple seconds. Climbing stairs is one of his favorite pastimes so we finally got a gate so I don't have to worry about it! We had been using kitchen chairs but when he pulled one down on himself we decided it was time get a gate!

 He finally has two little teeth poking through on the bottom!  I haven't checked but I thought I saw a third one coming through today.  He's been eating table food along with baby food, although we keep the bites really small, he seems to choke on everything still.

If there is a toy that moves or makes a loud noise, you can pretty much bet that's what he's going for.  Also if Piper is playing with a toy that also makes it the most desirable object in the house. Lets just say we've been talking a lot about sharing these days and how its not nice to kick, hit, or push over your little brother.  *sigh* I get exhausted just thinking about it...

I so enjoy this stage!  Toby is so much more cuddly than Piper was at this age which melts my heart. He's got this cheesy smile that is just too much to handle, and he is super ticklish which is fun! He's a solid little guy, weighs 20lbs, but I just love squeezing his little body. 

Oh, he's knows what the word no is too!  Probably because I'm saying it all the time between the two of them getting into stuff!  If I'm saying it to him though, he just looks at me with those big blue eyes and then smiles and shakes his head! So cute :)

Oh, Toby, we love you so much little man! 


Here's some more pictures to enjoy!

These two are blurry cause he just crawls too fast and loves to grab my camera, but they are two of his signature faces!  I couldn't not post them :)

Lititz Suites on Main: Unit G

I had the privilege of pairing up with Laureen again for the design of our second apartment for the Lititz Suites on Main vacation rentals. If you remember last year I showed you the first apartment we designed together here. 

We finished up this second apartment just in time for our first guests this past Christmas!  Both suites are now up and fully running, if you have an interest in booking either of them for a short stay check out the Lititz Suites on Main website!

Our design started out with a navy and burnt orange color scheme, and took off from there!  I really enjoyed this design, it took on a more rustic and homey feel.  We made a point this time to put a lot more of Lititz into the decor. One of my favorite things is the large map of historic Lititz we got framed to hang over the couch in the living room! 

Laureen and I both collaborated again in the main living areas, and then each took a bedroom and bathroom to decorate individually!  Matthew Tennison did a wonderful job photographing our work, hope you enjoy his images, please come out and visit the space sometime!

Laureen designed this next bathroom and bedroom

This is the bedroom and bathroom I designed!

Just wanted to say a big thanks to Laureen for all of the work she did on this apartment.  With having two small kids it wasn't as easy to get out and do all the shopping I did with the last apartment so she really took on the bulk of it!  She was really great to work with and obviously she has great design!  Go here to check out more of her work!

Kitchen Remodel

This house had definitely become quite a project, but its amazing to see how far we've come.  Our latest big project was getting the kitchen remodeled, and this is our last big project for the house!  Can I get a hallelujah?!  Don't get me wrong I love a good remodel, but when life has been a bit upside down for the better part of a year, its nice to finally get all the major projects checked off the list!

If you want to get a good look at the before pictures quick jump over here and check them out!  Its hard to believe that our house ever looked like that!

This is what its looked like just before tear out commenced!

Our good friend Dan did most of the install who is one of Piper's favorite people!  She would just sit and watch him work, and ask him "whats this?"

Thankfully the tear out went really well!  We weren't sure what we would find behind the cabinets, but there were no big surprises!  The morning the cabinets came literally felt like Christmas!

My favorite part was watching the tile go up!  Probably because that meant we were almost finished and I could have my kitchen back! :)

Originally we were a little bummed with the color of the cabinets.  I initially wanted to go with white cabinets I really love that look, but my sister, who cleans houses, talked me out of it especially with small kids she mentioned they mark up pretty easily.  We ended up going with a khakie color, still light but not white.  When they first put them in, and especially at night when we are using lights, it looked a little green which I wasn't thrilled with.  But I really like how it looks in daylight and now that everything is in I don't really think about it anymore!

So here's the new finished kitchen!  Drumroll please.....

I can't tell you how happy I am to have a new kitchen!  The old one was definitely usable, but once the new one was in there was no looking back that's for sure!  I have a beautiful white very deep sink, lovely drawers that you can pull the whole way out without them falling out, more cabinet space, and a dishwasher!!! Not sure how I did it without a dishwasher! I did feel like I was washing dishes all the time, but not anymore!

With the past year being primarily focused on moving in, finishing up projects around the house, and adjusting to life with two kids, I'm excited to start getting things decorated and finished now.  Its actually one of my goals for the new year.  Pretty much all of our boxes of decor have still not been unpacked so I'm anxious to open those boxes up and start getting things hung up and make my home feel more like home!  I'll definitely share some of these project with you along the way! 

Let me know what you think!  Are you working on any home projects yourself? I love seeing before and after pics so feel free to share them if you have them!

Piper turns 2 & Toby turns 7 months old!

Are they not the cutest kids you've ever seen?!  Maybe you don't think so but I most certainly do! Within a week of each other we celebrated Piper's second birthday and Toby turning 7 months old!  Pretty proud mama over here! I think they are tuning out pretty well :)  ... most days that is! haha



Piper:
She is repeating and imitating everything we do and say!  She is picking up new words and phrases everyday, it's so amazing to watch.

She has started talking in full sentences. The majority of the time I have no idea what she is saying though. I feel bad that I have to have her repeat it 3 or 4 times before I actually get what she is asking me for!

She can sing twinkle twinkle little star, or should i saw quinkle quinkle :)  I've been trying to catch it on video, with not much success. I was so proud of myself the other day because I was being so discreet and I thought I got it, but then realized I never pushed the record button.  : /

She works out with me in the mornings, its so hilarious watching her try to do some of the exercises!

She always wants to drink out of "big girl cups" which usually ends up with her choking and spewing out water because she lifted the cup up to fast.  Not to mention the spills and outfit changes, but she is getting better at it!

She loves talking to her grandma's on the phone, she thinks that's who I'm talking to every time someone calls :) She gets a big grin on her face when I turn on the speaker phone and talks very shyly, she gives grandma hugs and kisses by literally hugging and kissing the phone!


Toby:
He figured out he could make really loud noises so he's started yelling!  Its happy yells which is nice, I guess!

He can get himself up on his hands and knees and he will rock front to back, occasionally throwing in a little downward dog to go with it, or face planting because he rocked forward to hard!  No forward progress yet though.

He started clapping as well!  Its the cutest thing to watch, he always gets so excited!

We have no teeth yet, but he does clench is gums together, crinkle his nose, and give big cheesy grins! My absolute favorite!

He's been eating baby food 3 times a day now, along with his bottle.

Most nights he will sleep 10 hours straight, on occasion he will throw in a 12 hour night like he did last night! :)  If he wakes up before 10 hours we've been trying to get him back to sleep without feeding, which usually means Matt trying to give him some water, or just letting him cry a bit and hoping that he will go back to sleep.  Both strategies have not really worked that well, the other night he chugged 8 oz of water, went to sleep but then woke up an hour later and was mad and hungry.  It looks like he is on his way to sleeping 12 hours consistently though so we are hoping this comes soon!


Life has definitely gotten back to normal, I'm actually at the point where I can say I really enjoy being with both kids!  I don't dread getting both of them out of the house as much anymore.  It's still a lot of work to go somewhere with both of them by myself but it feels much more doable than it had previously! I'm really looking forward to this summer when we can all be outside playing, and there is warm weather!