Weekend Catch-Up

This past week was a whirlwind, to put it lightly. Not only did our peanut experience her first ear infection (make that a double one), but Ryan came down with a sinus infection AND ear infection. When I wasn't washing germ items, handing out medicine, making soup like a boss, and working, I was chugging coffee to keep up with it and wine to wind down from it all.

I was really bummed waking up on Saturday because I wanted to sleep in, but my internal alarm clock had me up at 6:45. I then noticed that it was raining outside meaning we couldn't paint our front door. I have been eyeballing the paint swatches tape on our door ALL week. Looks like next weekend it can hopefully happened.

I desperately needed a weekend project though to help me unwind from the crazy week. I decided to work on a entryway organizer. We had a cube shelf, but it was a hot mess and I really just didn't like the look of it in our living room. All the organizer's that I looked around at were just not what I wanted. I wanted something wooden, but didn't have a glossy finish to it. I decided it was time to make my own!

My mini me and I made a trip to Michael's Saturday morning while Ryan "rested" (aka watched football). We bought 3 wooden crates which ended up being about $10 a piece after coupons.

We then headed over to Home Depot to pick out some stain. The other stain I had at home was a little too light for what I wanted. I really wanted to take my time and look at stains, but due to it being lunch time I knew I had less than 2 minutes (barely) to pick it out. I went with Minwax Wood Finish in Provincial 211.

Stay tuned as they dry (2 coats so far) and are assembled!

Taylor 

Love is...

Back in July I applied for a job to be a preschool teacher. I saw the listing, sat down that evening (secretly), and applied for it. After I pressed submit I started to have instant mommy guilt. I had been staying home with our bug for the past year and had enjoyed every moment, but some small part of me was saying it was time.

I also had instant wife regret. Things had been so smooth with me staying home. There was never "We'll do it this weekend." or "There's no time to do it during the day." because I was home and could get it all done somehow. I told Ryan that I applied for a preschool job thinking he was going to wonder why we didn't talk about it first. Instead his reaction was "Sweet, I'm sure you'll get an interview." That's exactly why I love this man. Never once did he question or make me doubt my decision, instead he built me up to make me be proud of my decision. This is the type of man I saw my dad be to my mom and how I want Clari's future spouse to be.

Now I know it's not rocket science working and having a family. People do it every day, but when you go from leisurely getting dressed in the morning (maybe even afternoon) to waking up to an alarm, it's a big change. Four weeks later - Things can be hectic and busy, but I'm enjoying getting back into teaching, Clari loves her school (as she calls it), and Ryan has been an unbelievable support system along the way.

Taylor

Two

Two snuck up on us quick. There are still times I look at her and think I have to warm a bottle or swaddle her to sleep, but she quickly reminds me that she's not a "baby" anymore. Little does she know that she will always be my sweet little baby.

We've been meaning to get her two year old pictures done ALL summer, but between moving, scheduled trips, and lets be real, life in general...it was tough to make it happen. We woke up this morning and were talking about how big she always looks after a night of sleep. My husband always seems to go along with my crazy ideas and never says no (why I love him) so when I said "Hey, lets go take pictures of her today!" and he said yes! Now, I don't claim to be a professional or expert, but I know enough about my camera to make it work. Pretty impressed with my camera skills and Ryan's ability to keep her focused from over my shoulder.

Taylor 

Weekend Catch-up

This weekend we hosted our first cookout at our home with our local friends. We will get to host all of our out of town family next month for a birthday party, but we wanted to celebrate our new move with our friends. It was exciting, fun, yet so exhausting. We also had a college friend of Ryan's here for the weekend. We spent Saturday cooking and prepping the house. We spent Sunday showing our company around downtown Detroit. I am now spending my Sunday evening with a blanket on the couch, a late night bowl of mac-and-cheese, and a toddler snuggled up against because she just needed mama snuggles to get to bed tonight.

I have spent most of the past few weeks just trying to get us settled and use to the house. Now it's time to start actual projects which has me very excited. My dear husband who literally never questions anything I do hopped in the car tonight to go pick-up a leather oversized chair and ottoman that I bought from someone. My rockstar <3 Mind you it was pouring rain while he was attempting to load and unload it. The area of the house it's going in is the fireplace room, as I call it. That's our project for the end of the month. My most recent project is our front living room which is mainly a sitting room. It's a work in progress, but I'm loving the look of it so far! Due to my bed calling my name, here's a sneak peek. Details later!

Taylor

A Light Green Thumb

One of first things I wanted to do when we moved in was add curb appeal. I will openly admit that I knew NOTHING about gardening. I bought a hanging plant last year when we first moved to MI and it died after two days. I may or may not have forgotten to water it. I definitely don't have a green thumb (quite yet), I told Ryan I prefer to refer to mine as light green...very light green.

I knew between unpacking and settling in the house that it would be impossible to gut the whole yard and start from a blank canvas, plus Ryan had blank stares at me when I jokingly mentioned that. I also didn't want to embark too much on putting plants in the ground because A) like I said above I knew nothing about gardening and B) I didn't want the embarrassment of digging up my yard all weekend for the plants to just die. I decided that planting in pots this year would be the way to go. If I can keep it alive in a pot then (maybe) I can keep it alive in the ground, we'll see about that.

After a few trips to Home Depot and lots of awkward googling on my phone in the Garden Center, I won't say I'm an expert, but I'm pretty impressed with myself. I even embarked on some herbs that have stayed alive!

 Side note: Easy labels for your plants - paint stirrers from Home Depot (or any paint supplier really). Paint them and write the name of the plant on them, stick it your pot, and you've got yourself an easy (and free) label!

I had to put him to work a little bit.

Stay tuned for some backyard action!

Taylor 

Stop and Smell the Roses (or just color...)

Today as we were rearranging furniture Clari needed some sort of distraction. Not that her help isn't wonderful (at times), but lets be real furniture plus a toddler just isn't a good idea. I remembered that I still had MALA Drawing Paper Roll from IKEA in a box somewhere and that it had Clari's name written all over it. Granted it took me 15 minutes of digging through boxes in our "office" AKA the room that gets every box or item that doesn't have a home yet. The entire time I was looking Clari is at the top of the basement stairs yelling "Hello! Mommy!" 

I almost gave up looking, but then remembered that the 15 minutes of searching would be at least 30+ minutes of smiles and happiness. 

It did give us 30 minutes of her coloring while we moved furniture around the for what seemed like the billionth time. But it ended up giving us even more. After dinner, clean-up, bath time, and evening call to her Nene and Papa, I found all 3 of us surrounded around the paper roll coloring and laughing. It was probably the first time since we moved in (unfortunately) that we were relaxing and not talking about the house, but enjoying our sweet little one and each other. From Ryan trying to show off his drawing skills from years ago, tracing each other's hands, reading through all 64 crayons and talking about our favorites to Clari deciding that sitting on Ryan's shoulder while coloring was the only way to go, it was pure happiness. It quickly reminded me that sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses or in the case of our family, stop and just color. 

Taylor

New Home

It has been 3 weeks since our house officially became ours and 2 weeks since we actually moved. As the moving boxes slowly get emptied and broken down it finally feels like a home. The stress is overwhelming when it comes to unpacking, settling, decorating, house projects, etc...

But really it's one of the best feelings ever. Now you can find the Capps on Connecticut. 

Stay tuned for what's next!

Taylor