summery-yummery

Since the only thing I've grown recently is a big pot of fresh basil... here's our dish of choice, this summer:

Nothing better than caprese and a bottle of red on a summer night.

{The only downside? It makes me miss Italy!}

quality time

They say reading is good for the brain...

...and the teething child.

teething

the TO-DO list.

Just because we finally moved into our house doesn't mean we're finished with it. Our to-do list is about a mile long, and growing by the minute. Literally...

For example: This is a picture of the backyard. Although it's not the clearest... note the absence of grass, and the presence of weeds. I foresee a near future filled with shovels and rototillers...

{also pictured are two former co-workers, digging up a few plants for their own gardens. Jill and Kathy tell me that an avid gardener used to live here, but someone let the yard go downhill, and weeds took over quickly.}

I'll continue to document our home-improvement progress on this little blog. You can laugh along with us {or just be relieved that you haven't bought a fixer-upper, too}.

:)

:)

I tried my hand at making curtains for our big, sunny kitchen window.

My inspiration came from this post over at Making It Lovely {fantastic design blog, btw!}. I had a bit of trouble with the fabric {something I'm planning on asking my expert seamstress/friend to sort out for me--betcha can't wait, Monica!}, but for now, they'll do.

Also, they make the morning light look especially pretty. And pretty light--when you're running on five broken hours of sleep and making a second pot of coffee--is gold, my friends. So I'm keeping the silly curtains.

Glory be.

This may not look like much to you:


But {!!!} it means that air conditioning is being installed in my house. At this very moment. {Hence, the title of this post. With a billion exclamation points after it.}

easy {sort of} peasy

As a new parent, I'm always afraid of saying, "Things are getting easier." Because, you know, the second you think you've got things under control... your child decided to pee everywhere, during the two seconds you have his diaper off. {Sorry Uncle Luke...}

But, I have to admit that things are getting a little {little!!} bit easier, now that we have a 5-month-old instead of a newborn. Easier... as in,

(1) we no longer rock our infant to sleep for two hours every night.
(2) when baby cries, we {most of the time} know what he wants.
(3) we can take long walks with the stroller, and he {usually} is super happy to sit, suck on his pluggy, and watch the trees go by.
(4) he can be distracted with toys, spoons, flashing lights, or anything that's really chewable.
(5) he laughs at us. {bliss!}

Now, I don't want to hear it from any "veteran" parents who are all, "Oh, just wait until he's potty-training." Or, "Yeah? Well, he's not talking back yet," or, "Betcha can't wait until he throws his first tantrum in the grocery store." Pfssshh. Cut this momma some slack. I'm just happy my child is sleeping for a four-hour stretch every night.

A quick quip on a rainy Sunday evening

Believe it or not, I have taken pictures of things other than my baby in the last few months...


But I keep coming back to the Charlie pictures...


I apologize to any of my readers who just aren't into babies right now...


But I am very into babies right now...


Weddings and engagements and other good stuff will eventually pop up on this blog again...
but for now, Mr. Charlie rules the roost...


{unless it's bedtime. then, gosh darn it, mommy's in charge...}