wednesday wish list

wednesday wishes...

hardwood floors. yes, we just had our carpets cleaned, and yes, there are already toddler boy stains in several places. someday. don't you just love this chevron floor?!

via

a new wallet. i haven't bought one since mine was stolen a few weeks ago, because maybe, just maybe, my honey will get me THIS one for my birthday coming up. i can wish!

kate spade...yes please!

to have naturally wavy hair again. something happened between getting married, having kids, and now, that made my hair decide to straighten out..not a curl in sight, ever. 

dang who's that tall dark and handsome hottie?!

more readers. i saw an article the other day about what makes a blog popular, and part of the criteria was having 19,000+ views a month. WHAAAA? ummm, totally too embarrassed to admit how many views i get in a month. i'll just say it's not even in the realm of 19,000. i do love to blog. but i know one must streamline their ideas and pick a topic and stick to it for readers to come back and stay. i'm too tired to think about that right now. check back in 5 years. maybe then. for now i've got two pretty important cuties that need my attention, not some computer screen. 

hahahaha. please don't be this lady. ever. 

happy humpday, y'all.

Here's to today, sweet baby boy

Today is the last week day (for this school year, anyway), that my little buddy will be home with me.

I have 2 long staff meetings today. And enough work to keep me busy till Sunday.

I also have people coming to clean our carpets.

Today is one of those days that I can overcome stress and frustration and choose to be calm, organized, and ok with chaos. Did I just say organized and chaos in the same sentence?

I will snuggle with my boy during my meetings. I might have to nurse my girl in one arm, hold him in the other, and type with my toes.

I will make him a yummy lunch and sit on a blanket outside and eat with him.

I will read him a few extra books before naptime.

I will play "hippo" (hide and seek) with him as long as he wants.

We will play with his sea animals in the bath and pretend he's swimming in the ocean.

I will peek in on him 3 or 4 times during his nap, just because I love his squishy sleeping face.

I will hold back any tears that try to come out and dance with him to the tune of our favorite pandora station.

I will thank God that I've had 2 and half years of crazy fun Asher-filled days, and that I will be able to do the same with my sweet daughter.

I will be grateful that I'm able to make a good living in my pajamas and still afford good care for him.

Here's to today, sweet baby boy!

what I did Wednesday

Today I....

got up before the sun

washed the same load of laundry for the third time... crazy how easy it is to forget the load you washed the night before. ugh

swept the floor 6.5 times. the other .5 is still there

ate a southwest fiesta salad for lunch for the 3rd day in a row. then ate 2 little debbies

searched the internet for an hour for dining room chairs. why are they all ugly or super expensive?

if I see ONE more stay-at-home-mom weekly chore list.......

did my teacher work thang

gave my boy 2 baths. one poopy mess, one peanut buttery mess

interviewed a babysitter

visited an in-come daycare in my neighborhood

talked to my husband on the phone about why I needed help with the kids so badly

spent an extra-long time reading books with my boy

nursed. all. day. long

pinned a bunch of projects to do someday

promised my baby girl to always make time for mommy-daughter dates, no matter how annoying she may be as a teenager

thought about cleaning the kitchen

found out my carpets will be clean on Friday

paused to take in the smiles, hugs, kisses, giggles, and cuddles that make this job so worth it

and now I will sit in my massage chair, drink water, watch a movie, and wait for my hubby to come home

my favorite things

1

This necklace seems to have gone viral. J Crew sells it for over $100. Some lovely person in China sells it for $11 on ebay. Don't judge...I ordered the teal one. Here's hoping it doesn't fall apart in the first week!

2 & 3 

My darling boy's way with words. And summer dresses on sale from Loft. 

This morning, after seeing me in a new white dress, he says "Momma's a dancing doll!" (His  iPhone ABC app has a "dancing doll" for the letter D). Oh, and if you have an Ann Taylor loft in your area- go! Sale items are 50% off. I got my white "doll" dress for $7.50. Even 5 months post-baby, I still have yet to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans. There's nothing like a nice soft loose dress to give a momma some freedom!

4

Cinnamon roll pancakes. Oh.my.word. So delish! Don't forget to mix together some powdered sugar and milk to make a frosting "syrup."

5

Organization pictures. One thing I love about pinterest is letting other people do all the work, then just copying it. :) When it comes to home organization, I'm not exactly making Martha Steward jealous. I know my hubby's got one of these annoying pant hangers in the back of his closet. Looks like I've found the perfect use for it! No more crazy ribbon spool mess in my office!

6

Packages from friends. There's nothing like hearing the doorbell and finding a lovely little package on your front steps!

7

A good night's sleep. I need to write this down NOW in case something changes later on. I want to remember the wonderful nights of sleep I've had since Hallie's been 5 weeks old. She now sleeps from 10 at night to 11 in the morning. And my toddler sleeps from 7:30 to 7:30. In the midst of all the other craziness going on in our lives, #7 is my most favorite thing right now. =)

this girl could win an Olympic gold medal for sleeping through the night!

Happy Friday!

Kiss it better..or not!

This is just one of the reasons being a mommy is a hoot, and a good reminder to not take life too seriously, and to remember to laugh in the middle of all the mess and stress.


Like any good mommy would do (I assume), I kiss my baby's boo boos. Asher has gotten used to "kiss it better" if he rams his head into a sharp corner, trips and falls and smashes his finger, etc. And yes, he recovers very quickly and isn't a whiner, so I will never discourage his displays of cuteness. So in typical Asher fashion, this morning when he had a particularly rough potty experience and let's just say is in need of some diaper cream in his nether region, he comes up to me, face scrunched in pain, and says, "Ouchie mama ouchie," pointing to the middle of his bum. Then he says, "Kisses mommy kisses." I kiss my hand and give him a little pat. He then proceeds to say, "No no...right DAY-ER," sticking his finger where the sun don't shine. Good grief. What an innocent little cutie pants.

That, and this. This is what makes being a mommy the best thing in the world.

laundry room reveal

I mentioned last week that one of my goals this weekend was to organize my laundry room, and that I did! I repainted it a lovely shade of pale aqua, bought a hamper-cart-on-wheels to stick in between the washer and dryer, recovered the top in some dwell studio fabric I had leftover from our bedroom roman shade, and voila! ...a place where I don't mind spending hours in!

I also seperated household cleaning supplies from bathroom supplies and stashed them in some metal baskets from Home Goods, so now I can tote around a basket without having to grab different cleaners from 6 different places around the house. The third basket holds all our light bulbs, batteries, and masking/packing tape.

One of the things that I've had tucked away in the back of my mind since we moved in a year ago is to organize contain the multitude of appliance/instruction manuals we've collected. I filed all those away in a lovely Ikea box, and paired it with another box full of household receipts (save plant receipts from Lowe's or HD- if they die, you take back and they replace!).

My one DIY project was hot-gluing clothespins to a chalkboard mirror I already had. We've got lots of little socks floating around in the Layton household. :)

This laundry room was my inspiration... so fresh, bright, and pretty! 

Please forgive the normal people pictures...I'm not blessed with mad photog skills or a nice camera like most of the blogosphere.

{Before}

{After}

The only free laundry stain guide I could find online wasn't exactly what I wanted, so I opened up Illustrator (yes, this former Microsoft Word user has converted, thank God!) and made my own. I copied the stain tips from the aforementioned find...click and you'll see why I re-did it...then double checked them with Martha Stewart's stain guide, so they're tried and true! Print and hang if you're so inclined. :)

Download here!

~Yay for loads of lovely laundry!~

Finally Friday...

Y'all, it's been one of those weeks. (Disclaimer: Lots of new things going on in the Layton household so it's not surprising it's taken a toll on us)


The kind where you see so many of your hairs all over the house (and i'm talking ALL over the house) that you have to double check in the mirror to make sure you still have any on your head (4 month post-baby hair loss, anyone?)


The kind where you wake up to a messy kitchen, and you go to bed with an even messier one. 4 days in a row.


The kind where you really have to check yourself when your 2 year old poops in his underwear and decides to fingerpaint his bedroom floor with it.


The kind where you want so badly to just get out of the house and to the mall, then realize the work it will take to get you, the baby, and the toddler ready, and it just seems easier to climb Mt. Everest, so you scrap the idea.


The kind where you plan on making dark chocolate raspberry banana bread but there's no way you're finding the time to do it so you chow down on the chocolate chips instead...


The kind where you get a bonus at work (praise God!) and want SO badly to buy new dining room chairs that you've been eyeing for 3 years but you know it's gotta go in savings, and you'll just have to deal with the less than ideal but very free chairs you already have.

aren't they just lovely?

The kind where on Monday you've carefully planned to organize several disastrous areas of the house and by Friday you are still tripping over blocks, firetrucks, and bowling pins to get to those areas that are now covered with dust.


The kind where on Friday at 3:06 you're gazing desperately and longingly at the clock...waiting for 5:30 when your husband will finally be home and plans to take you out to Cheesecake Factory and to Anthropologie and come home and clean the kitchen and let you take a long bubbly bath.

Weekend goals inspiration:

I bought the stinkin' ingredients for it last Sunday, so by golly it's gonna get made!

I'm LOVing maps right now and have a fun project in mind for the living room...

I am dying to organize the laundry room, and I just bought 3 wire baskets that will do the duty of those door shelves...can't wait to blog the reveal!

Here's to all the mamas out there who do their best and take things day by day. May we find peace, love, and joy in each and every moment of the day.