The beach

Bishop just got back from his 4th trip to the beach. He is pretty lucky little guy! (Can you tell by the above picture that he is quite the fan of water?)

We went to Orange Beach this year instead of Destin and while I am still a huge fan of Destin,  Orange Beach was PERFECT for us.  We picked the most perfect week to go. It was a gamble considering we planned it during hurricane season!  September is just a wonderful time of year to go (assuming you miss the hurricanes) It is still plenty warm but it is not crowded at all so you have it all to yourself! It helps that it is a whole lot cheaper :)

It was actually just an all around better trip this year. It was by no means a BAD trip last year, but this year was just better to me. The boys actually had fun together and the momma's were much less stressed. The boys were on a better schedule (1 long nap instead of 2 or 3 short ones) and no one was nursing which meant a whole lot less planning and a whole lot more relaxation! It did help that we stayed 1 or 2 more days this time so we didn't feel like we needed to cram everything in in 3 days. 

Our days were pretty much breakfast-beach-pool-lunch which led to some pretty awesome 4 hour afternoon naps. We ate lots of food and took lots of pictures. Lots and lots and lots of pictures.

I do apologize that this post is kinda all over the place...I couldn't figure out a way to get 5 days worth of pictures into 1 little post! I'm sure I will have at least one more....eventually!

We spent most of our time.... 

In our cute little condo....

With our cute little boys, in their cute little diapers. 

Beachin' it up.....

Hanging out at the pool...

Late night after-pizza swim

And EATING!!....

The Hangout

Louisiana Lagniappe

Aren't those some good daddies?? Seriously, they are the best. 

And my FAVE, Shipp's Harbour Grill

My attempt at a picture like this one:

So, the picture was not all that successful either year, but whatever. They are cute and I love them and they are growing up way too fast. 

Oh, how I miss the beach!! 

Sewing Table

Handy Manny strikes again!

What is up with the two craft posts in a row? I am just so behind and the beach post is taking me forever to go through hundreds and hundreds of pictures, so I decided to do these first. 

During our basement re-do, we decided we would tear down the old random moldy shower to open up the space. I mean, it is not like we are ever going to take a shower in it...Um, GROSS. Why was it even ever there is the question? And, why mint green?

Once we got the shower down, he asked if I thought it would make a good table. At first I wasn't sure, but then I thought about my round sewing table and how much I would love to have a "craft" table so I figured I would let him give it a try. What harm could be done in trying?  Or, actually, to be quite honest, I figured the pile of wood would end up laying there for 3 years like the rest of our "ideas".

But, I was wrong. This guy was determined to get it done! At first I figured we could attach legs and then paint it white and distress it, but after he got all of the paint off, we couldn't bear to paint over it so we just ended up lightly staining it instead.

There were a few trial "designs" that we went through, but I'm pretty happy with the simple, rustic, table that it turned out to be. I really wouldn't change it at all! I would (and AM) however, changing the wall color.

In fact, the paint is just sitting in the corner begging to be put on the walls. 

I can't wait to get the walls painted and the chair redone and get things on the wall and all the shelves organized. BUT, I have to remind myself "baby steps, Amanda" So far I LOVE having such a big table to sew on (when I have time to sew these days). I have decided that IF we do decide to downsize our house and we don't have room for our DR table, then this is going to be my dining room table! It is so special to me!

Crafting

Things I have done lately....

Making a slipcover for my couch...

It doesn't look perfect but I was proud of it (and proud it was DONE!!) BTW, what was I thinking??

Leon actually painted the chalkboard paint on there...I just had the idea and got the canisters at the thrift store. 

I totally copied this from Pinterest. I love Pinterest. The only thing is, I spend so much time looking at great ideas that I don't actually have time to DO any of them. This was easy though.  And, it does't slap you in the face like my other one does. 

I didn't actually make this but I did make the pillows a while back. I bought the bench at the Hillbilly Mall and it is made out of a bed. I was actually looking for a bed to make one, and ran across this one that someone else had made and couldn't pass it up. 

I painted this old hutch that has been around for a while, I just have to get some pulls for it. I have some in my shopping cart from anthropology but I can't seem to buy them. The hutch is the perfect size for our tiny entry. Do you like how I was trying to conceal the thermostat? It doesn't look like it is working. It's not quite as obvious in "person". Maybe? Hopefully?

Leon actually made this picture frame out of a door that we found in the basement (the other half is our coffee table) and he painted the lamp (which we got for $3). I did make the burlap runner....it is not finished though. 

And I made this to go over our bed from a cork board that we had. I found this tutorial and thought it was perfect for that unused cork board. 

 I have no ideas of my own, but I love to make things that other people come up with!

Splash Park

A few weeks ago we got to have a much overdue play date with Carsten and his sweet momma. It won't be long until we won't be able to go on these when baby girl Kent gets here...its hard enough to do it with 2! Since it was 100 degrees out, we took them to the splash park in tupelo and then had lunch at Chick fil a. We all had a great time! Always good to have some girl time...and the boys have fun too!

Why is it you never can get them to drink water from a cup, but they have no problem drinking it from a public water fountain? (or the bathtub or a water hose...)

17 Months

Dear Time, 

    Please STOP and keep my baby this sweet forever.  If you can't stop, could you at least slow down a little bit? 

Thanks, 

Amanda

I literally could kiss those cheeks every single minute of every day forever...if he'd allow it, of course!

He is quite the 17 month old. He is still such a sweet boy when he wants to be and NOT sweet when he wants to be.  Not much has really changed over the last month as far as "milestones" go, but I just have to say he gets more amazing every single day.  It is crazy what all he knows. Scary, actually...to think that I am helping to mold this child into the person that he will be. I somehow don't feel qualified, but I sure will give it my best shot.

He still loves his daddy (more than me), Mickey Mouse (more than me), trucks,  Abby, and reading books. He has his favorite books that he wants to read EVERY night...sometimes I hide them (is that wrong??). He likes Goodnight Moon "moon", Harry the Dirty Dog, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie "cookie, cookie", any peek-a-boo book "peekboo" and Brown Bear ("teacher"). He pretty much will listen to any book you read him as long as it isn't terribly wordy. He is so funny lately.  He tries to sweet talk us every time he gets "in trouble" and it seriously makes it near impossible to discipline him. Like, we usually end up in tears laughing at him. We try, we really do...he is just so stinking cute sometimes. He really does have a sense of humor.  He certainly has his moments where he is not sweet or funny at all, but those are less these days (unless he hasn't slept much or doesn't feel well).

I have so many posts to catch up on, so I made this one short and sweet..but next month...the big 18 month! Oh my, what next...prom, driver's license??

Sip and See

We finally got to meet sweet Fischer a few weeks ago at his sip and see. I'd like to once again thank Maggie for all of her awesome help with the paper products for the party. Which, BTW, you need to check out her Christmas cards...so cute!! You can bet I'll be snatching one up...and not just because she is my friend, but because they are awesome! Anyway, I'd like to thank her for not only coming up with perfect invites, cupcake toppers,  paper to make a pennant, and an awesome art print BUT for also keeping me sane. All I did was say some colors and a theme and voile...done!

Because I forgot to take pictures of the invites, I'll just redirect you to Maggie's website if you are interested in them. They are pretty cute I must say!

I also must add that being one of the event coordinators, AND photographer, AND 16 1/2 month old keeper upper does not lead to the best pictures...or not the pictures I had hoped for anyway.

I have a small obsession with tissue poofs. They are just so easy, so cheap,  and so festive. 

Terrible picture, but cute banner in person. 

More poofs. 

I saw this somewhere and decided it would be a good DIY project, which it was, just maybe not the night before the party?

Once again I failed to take a picture of the cupcake toppers. Why do I always do that? Maggie made ones to match all of the decoration (which you can see one example on her blog) and I made mini pom poms which were cute, but time consuming.  

I would also like to give a big shout out to the husband. Not only did he listen to me stress over minor details that no one else would EVER notice, he made the awesome flower arrangements for me. All I did was show him a picture I found on Pinterest and he did it. He's pretty awesome. Oh, he did other stuff also like cover giant pretzels with chocolate, run hundreds a few errands the morning of the party, kept the 16 1/2 month old out of my way, and helped me make cute last minute labels for the drinks.  Yes, I think he is a keeper. 

I think people may have been a little afraid of the mint tea because there was a lot left, but, let me tell you...it was DELICIOUS. I drank no less than 5 glasses of it. I was fine with taking it home with me. 

Now, on the the actual party. It was Mandy's close family and friends which is exactly how she wanted it to be. Even so, there were a lot of people there...and a lot of BOYS! There were six boys and no little girls! If any of us ever have a girl, she will be completely outnumbered. Poor thing won't stand a chance.

While Mandy opened all of the gifts, Fischer slept soundly through the whole thing.

Precious thing...

Grandmother got to come and share the fun of seeing baby Fischer with everyone. I know it made Mandy very happy for both of her Grandmothers to be able to come and share the joy with her. 

Everyone enjoyed some good food.

Like I said, while I did seem to be walking around with my camera all day, I did not get the photos I wanted. Also, we saved the group photos for last.....at the end of the day, after everyone had played outside, after bedtime.....

Yeah, that was fun....you live and learn I guess :) BTW, those were about as good as they got! I am hoping one of the other 3 cameras got better ones...hint, hint!

I did get one or two of my little man...