Auld Lang Syne

2010 has been quite the year; in the past twelve months I've become a mother, quit my job, started working from home, contemplated an international move, spent a total of about a month and a half with my husband, bought my first DSLR, got serious about blogging, moved a ton of furniture, put a gajillion miles on my car (rough estimate), and said goodbye to my cantankerous but beloved cat, Tricia.  There have been plenty of ups and downs but overall I think 2010 was pretty good to me and my family--2011 has some large shoes to fill if it wants to come close to comparing to this year.  Best wishes from me and Sammy (who is enjoying his role as the unofficial New Year baby)--see you all next year!

Sammy's top 10 of 2010

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These are my top ten favorite photos of Sammy; I've been taking photos of Sammy nearly every day since he was born six months ago so it was hard narrowing it down to only ten (I know, I'm totally one of those parents).  These are a few of my favorites:

10. I took this photo of Sammy on Christmas Day--I love how happy he looks.
(twenty six weeks old)

9. This photo marked Sammy's first foray into eating solid foods.
(twenty weeks old)

8. I was trying to get some cute photos of Sammy in front of the Christmas tree, but some "business" interrupted the photo shoot.  This face just cracks me up every time.
(twenty five weeks old)

7. Here's Sammy blowing spit bubbles while sitting in his bumbo and playing with his roly poly chime ball.
(twelve weeks old)

6.  Sammy rocked one of the craziest cowlicks for the longest time; this is probably one of the best photos of it in all of its glory.
(nine weeks old)

5.  This is Captain Husband and Sammy meeting for the very first time; I love how intently they're looking at each other.
(one week old)

4. This photo was taken at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, DC, in October; my brother was playing with him and Sammy was just eating it up.
(eighteen weeks old)

3. I took this photo of Sammy playing in his new room; he's really turning into a little boy.
(twenty six weeks old)

2. Sammy used to (and still does) stick his tongue out whenever he was happy--it was around this time that Sammy's happy-go-lucky personality really began to make itself known.
(nine weeks old)

1. This is a photo that I took of Sammy when he was one-day old.  While I've taken hundreds more since then, it's still my very favorite.

Under construction

My house is a disaster.  Between clearing out the guest room and converting it to Sammy's room and making room in the office for the daybed that I bought last month and the influx of Christmas presents, it looks as though a bomb has gone off--there's a bed in my living room for pete's sake! It's driving me crazy--I can handle a little bit of clutter here and there, but this is beyond my limits. My mom is staying for one more day to help me try and get a handle on things, but I have a feeling that I'm going to be staying up late well into the new year getting everything sorted out and put away.  Where are those magical housecleaning fairies when you need them?

Baby buddies

My mom, Sammy and I made a pit stop at my friends Tim and Julianne's house in Frederick, Maryland, the other night on our way back to Virginia from Pennsylvania.  On the agenda was a baby playdate and a night out on the town while my mom and Julianne's mom, Judy, watched their respective grandkids.  Sammy hadn't visited with Lillian since October and it's amazing how much more the two are capable of these days.  The two kiddos played together nicely and Lillian gave Sammy some pointers on how to style his hair.

The three of us got dressed up and ready for a night out on the town while the babies put on their pajamas and prepared to be cuddled by their grandmothers (seriously, my mom and Judy look like they could be sisters).

We posed for one quick photo in our evening finery and then we were off to paint the town red; I'm going to be honest and say that I straight up hate how I've been looking in photos lately but Tim and Julianne looked pretty smoking so I had to share (plus it's proof that I actually do manage to get out of my yoga pants and hoodies from time to time).

We went and had a drink before dinner at The Cellar Door and then headed over to Olives for dinner; I had the gnocchi verdi and a pear, goat cheese and glazed walnut salad and it was delicious.  We then stopped in the Tasting Room for a couple of after dinner drinks (Tim was very sweet and offered to be the DD so Julianne and I could have a moms' night out).  It was a great evening and apparently both kids behaved very well for their grandmothers.  I think we're might have to make a habit out of these get-togethers.  And just for fun, here's a photo that Judy took of Sammy and Lillian wearing tiny top hats (okay, they're technically wearing stacking cups on their heads, but you get the idea).

Six-month update

Last Thursday I took Sammy in for his six-month well baby check up; I expected him to be around 17 pounds but I was rather surprised to hear that he now weighs 19 pounds, 1 ounce, which is more than double his birth weight.  He's also measuring a little over 27"; Sammy's in the 86th percentile for weight and the 82nd percentile for length.  With any luck, Sammy may very well be the first male from Captain Husband's side of the family to break six feet in height (CH will owe me big time if that ever happens since Sammy obviously gets all of his awesome genes from me).  Although he's drooling like crazy, there's still no sign of any teeth in that mouth of his.  As far as solid foods go, Sammy has mastered bananas, pears, apples and carrots--peas are on the menu next.

Sammy is now comfortably wearing 12-month clothing and is on pace to outgrow his beloved bumper jumper in just a matter of a few weeks (he's practically maxed out its weight allowance); as such, I've been trying to teach him how to use a rocker--he did pretty well at first until he got too excited and bucked himself right off over the back.  We've got some more work to do in that department.

I'm trying to teach him to hold his own bottle with a little success here and there, usually only when there's something really interesting on the television, like Law & Order.

Sammy is a champion raspberry blower.  Seriously, this kid spends the better part of the day blowing raspberries.  Fortunately everyone seems to think it's hilarious (like the poor people who had the misfortune of sitting in front of him at his cousin's baptism on Sunday).

Sammy is becoming quite the animal lover.  Whenever he sees Sandy he squeals with delight and starts waving his hands in anticipation of petting her.  Here's a video of him giving Sandy an earful and blowing raspberries at her to get her attention:



Sammy has totally mastered rolling over from his back to his tummy but shows absolutely no interest at all in rolling from his tummy to his back.  He pretty much can't stand tummy time, especially now that he can sit up on his own and play.  I have a feeling that Sammy's going to be one of those kids who forgoes crawling in favor of pulling himself up into a standing position, since he's already able to stand on his own as long as he can hold onto something with one hand.  What can I say?  The kid prefers to be vertical.

Sammy's first Christmas

Sammy and I spent Christmas with my family in western Pennsylvania; one of my family's holiday traditions is that we all get together on Christmas Eve and open presents before we head over to my uncle's house to spend time with my dad's side of the family. I'm pretty sure Sammy's favorite part of the whole thing was playing with/trying to eat the wrapping paper.

We then headed over to my Uncle Chris's house where we had a delicious dinner and Sammy enjoyed hanging out with my cousins Sarah and Andrew and playing with the silverware.

The next morning we awoke to a white Christmas and skyped with Captain Husband and then it was time for Sammy to open his presents.  Sammy's favorite part of the morning: wrapping paper.

My family then headed over to my aunt's house to spend the rest of Christmas with my mom's side of the family; Sammy got to meet my cousin, Tim, for the first time.

Sammy definitely seemed to enjoy his first Christmas; just look at this face!

Santa Baby

(In case you hadn't guessed, this is the photo that comes with one reserved spot in hell; I think it's cute and I'm really looking forward to sharing this gem with Sammy when he's a surly teenager.  Have a Merry Christmas everyone!)

Drum roll, please

After four days of working non-stop, Sammy now has a room of his own. Woo hoo!

The valance was my mom's first "no-sew" project and an Ikea hack to boot; I bought an inexpensive fleece throw for its cool scalloped and pierced edging and my mom used heat-n-bond to hem it and then added GIANT rickrack trimming.  I don't think it could have turned out any better.  The pompom mobile hanging over the changing table is a little something I made using wire hangers and decorations leftover from my wedding.

I found the vintage crib mobile on Etsy; most of the art work is by friends and artists that I met when I lived in Philadelphia several years ago.

My mom saw the owl lamp at Target and couldn't resist--it's a great addition to the room (especially since I haven't finished spray painting the vintage sconces that are going to hang on either side of the mirror).

The raccoon is a vintage wooden lawn ornament that I found in Manassas.  He was just too cute to pass up.

I took the doors off of the closet and replaced them with no-sew fabric panels that I made using Ikea fabric (no doors=more floor and wall space).  I found the rocker on a trip home to Pennsylvania about four years ago for $25 (!).

A detail shot of some of the toys on the shelves--I love me some vintage Fisher Price and can't wait until Sammy is old enough to play with them.

And last, but certainly not least, the lockers.  They were a gift from my parents; my dad salvaged them from a building being renovated a couple of years ago.  The child's cat-and-dogs coat rack is vintage as is the "How Tall am I" measuring stick hanging to the left of the lockers (I've been stocking up for a kid's room long before Sammy was a glimmer in Captain Husband's eyes).

Here's the nitty gritty in case anyone is interested:

Paint:
Pelican by Valspar (on the walls)
Petrol Blue by Valspar (on the changing table)

Textiles:
Valance- Polarvide throw by Ikea
Closet curtains- Fredrika fabric by Ikea
Crib bedding, pillow and changing cover- Owls by Dwell Studio

Furniture:
Crib- Craigslist
Changing table- found in my friend's basement (free!); See the before and after here
Lockers- vintage salvage
Rocker- Route 19 Antiques, Canonsburg
Mission shelves- Finials Antiques
Wall shelves- Ekby Jarpen/Ekby Bjarnum by Ikea

Artwork:
Samantha Simpson
Andrew Jeffrey Wright
Michael W. Hall

Accessories:
Lamp- Target
Nightlight- Spoka by Ikea
Vintage crib mobile- SweetLilyStudio on Etsy
Vintage mirror- On a Whim Antiques
Vintage raccoon- Iron Horse Antiques

Everything else: Local thrift shops and/or my personal collection of random awesomeness (I totally went "shopping" in my house)

Almost there...

We finally got all of the furniture moved into Sammy's room; now all that's left to do is some touch-up painting, putting up the curtains, and hanging up some shelves and artwork.  I am super tired and I'm pretty sure my mom is, too.  But I think that we'll have the room all wrapped up today--hopefully the rest of the room will pass Sandy's careful inspection (she's in charge of quality control).

Sammy's room: During

Man, I'm beat.  The past two days have been a whirlwind of playing furniture tetris and going up and down a lot of stairs.  Oh, and painting--my mom and I managed to get two coats on the walls and Sandy and Sammy even helped out a little bit.

The big reveal should take place tomorrow if everything goes as planned.  Can you feel the excitement?