The Davolts

Another weekend, another house project.  Somehow I decided it was the perfect weekend to paint our formal living room, or the library as we like to call it.  I knew I wanted to paint it sometime soon, but also knew that time would be running out.  The Christmas tree would be going in this room and that would make it awfully hard to paint until after the holiday season and so this weekend was it.   As you can see in the before pics the room was painted a light brown almost gold color.  The trim and ceiling were also a darker color which was the biggest reason to paint.  I had already painted the ceiling and crown molding in our dining room and was so pleased with the results that I knew I wanted to paint this as well.   Just going from the not quite white yellow to a bright white really make the molding pop and stand out so much more.   While I did not have a definite vision for what the room was going to look like, Erin sure did.  I ...

I think Nathan and Andrew look very similar and I've said so over and over since Andrew was born. It will be interesting to see how that stays the same or changes through the years. So, what do you think? Is it obvious they are brothers? Nathan ~ 2 months Andrew ~ 7 weeks

  As previously mentioned, days before the doctor announced his opinion that our second little one would be a boy, I had the distinct sense it would be so. When confirmed, I was excited about the prospect of Nathan having a little brother. Of course, photos like these are completely staged (blame Dad this time), but one of my greatest hopes is that as they grow, they will really find friends within each other. In the meantime, I'm sure both Jeff and I will find excuses to recreate similar pictures through the years.  All my boys = love

Two great things you can give your children: one is roots, the other is wings. ~Hodding Carter I came across this quote recently and it has floated around my brain for several days now. I suppose I've been thinking more frequently about our long term commitment to raising our two amazing boys. Throughout this recent pregnancy, even, I spent more time examining both Jeff's and my own upbringing, sibling relationships, values we want to instill in our children and the dreams we both have for our family. In reflection, I can see examples of roots and wings in both my family as well as Jeff's and we can certainly look to our own roots for guidance. Update December 17, 2013: After searching Etsy for a print that used the above quote, I decided that I would attempt to create an image. We already had the canvas, left by the previous home owners. So a trip to Michael's for paint and a little time resulted in the work pictured below. I won't claim to love it, and unlik...

One Month! I can hardly believe Andrew is already one month old; where does the time go?  Our days are pretty mellow, while our nights are a little busier. Andrew is content to eat, sleep and snuggle each day away. I wish I could say I am following the "sleep when baby sleeps" rule but honestly, it's hard to nap at the times Andrew sleeps. So, I window shop on the internet, check my email too often to see anything new and watch Law & Order until I doze off for twenty minutes or so. We tried to take advantage of the beautiful weather October graced us with and went for walks around the neighborhood. Andrew is up more frequently at night still, but we've made small progress towards longer sleep windows. I have to admit, I get a little frustrated and impatient when he's crying in the middle of the night. Once I'm out of bed, though, my heart reminds my tired brain that Andrew is relying on me almost exclusively to meet his needs right now.  1 wee...