lunch break

...building a dream

...I married a guy named Ken, so that means I get a dream house, right?

I love houses. I love being home. So to have the chance to make our home just right? Well, it's a dream.

I took this picture last week looking up from where our front door is going to be and can't explain how happy it makes me:

I dream of a little Cape Cod in the woods that is warm and inviting...

I dream of a front door that makes you want to come inside. And maybe, someday, a golden retriever waiting for us at that door...

(from here)

I dream of wide, warm, wood floors...

(from here)

I dream of screened doors that slam in the summer and screened porches for family meals...

(from here)

(from here)

I dream of a fireplace where our kids will wait for Santa Claus...

(from here)

I dream of a wall where fun mail, school projects, and calendars can hang...

I dream of a mudroom, with a place for everything and the dirt that comes with life (and children. and husbands)...

(from here)

I dream of a pretty laundry room that's not a dingy part of an old basement...

(from here)

I dream of clean, white bathrooms (that my children as teenagers will absolutely keep clean, right?)...

(from here)

I dream of a room where my children can play and I can hide all.that.stuff. that comes with them...

I dream of a bright, white kitchen that's a central part of the house, big enough for me to want to cook again...

(from here)

...and I dream of walk-in closets, bathtubs, big pantrys, a window seat for my baby girl, and laundry on the second floor (this is not final, but close enough):

I realized early on in this process how overwhelming all these decisions would be. I also realized while having a house to build is a nice distraction from all things baby and toddler, that if I were to make all these decisions myself in my current sleep-deprived state, I could very well end up with pink backsplashes and a heart-shaped mirror on the master bedroom ceiling (no offense to anyone who has these). So we have some help, in the form of the awesome Heidi. You can see her Pinterest boards here, which include the boards she is putting together for our house (and a lot of the images from above).

As our builder said, they should start "making noise" at the lot tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to start building our home sweet home.

...dear charlie, should you ever doubt that I love you

...please remember that cold October night when I put on a bathing suit (10 weeks after having a baby) and took you swimming:

...handmade

...that photo of Charlie keeps cracking me up. Belly button milk is very, very nutritious. And future blackmail pictures are very, very handy.

Today is the reveal of Studio Calico's newest kit, Handmade!

These are "cover pages" I made for C&C's albums:

Makes me nostalgic for our backyard. Or any backyard for that matter:

And this picture just makes my heart hurt a teeny, tiny bit:

...just when you think they aren't paying attention

...you realize they are watching EVERYTHING you do. Captured this on the sly today:

...my new perspective

...I was in the car by myself several times this weekend (I know, huge milestone right there). There's one road near our house that crotch rocket riders love. I'm not sure why. But I had one go through me and another car (not past, through) at approximately 120 mph doing this move:

(You have no idea what I had to google to find that picture. Thankfully the guy who went by me was wearing pants and a shirt).

Anyway, as he zoomed past me doing this ridiculous move, where one day I would have just thought how stupid he was, today, my perspective has changed, and I thought to myself, "You have a MOTHER somewhere!"

...studio calico sneaks

...it's a scrapbooking kind of day, what can I say? Studio Calico's October Kit, Handmade:

...elle's studio/october

...some of my new favorite pages, made for Elle's Studio October gallery. I love being a part of this team. There's something about her products that remind me so much of office products with a little bit o' funk and WHO DOESN'T LOVE OFFICE PRODUCTS? Sorry to shout. I love office products.

...52 weeks of Mail - Week 2

...this week's mail were a few letters sent to my "baby" cousin Devin, who turned 21 today. As if I hadn't already gotten the message that I am, in fact, old.

I told Devin in her card, "The best really is yet to come, but enjoy these days as you really will look back at them as some of your best."

The top card is from her biggest admirer, Charlie. And yes, he wrote her name himself. With a lot of assistance from momma's guiding hand.

...in case you didn't know I had a baby

...I thought I would share Clara's birth announcement. I started looking for one the day we found out she was a she, but never found one that felt quite right. I had seen a few letterpress announcements with calligraphy that I loved, but I didn't want to spend Clara's college tuition on her birth announcements, so I made my own with the help of calligraphy from Angelique Ink and a tiny little heart from my friend Katie at Designer Digitals.

(Front and back):

(Pardon the awful photography - and yes, that's a  place mat).

Corresponding thank-you card:

Some close ups:

After I showed my mom the announcements, she said, "But doesn't everyone pretty much know she was born?" Ha. Yes, everyone pretty much knows, mom, but to a paper lover, that doesn't matter one bit.

...charlie would like you to meet the latest addition to our family

...two acres of land in a small town on Maryland's eastern shore, where as of today we will be building our next home.