Busy Month ahead!

Hello peeps! Having a good week? Are you freezing to death like us? I think Rocco wants to go back to Arizona poor guy. He is constantly hiding under blankets to keep warm. This is the last weekend for a month where we will be home so I am going to try and take advantage of the time I have to get some more house projects done!

I have been wanting to do an industrial room for Mason for awhile now. He is obsessed with cars, coloring, and "man" stuff so I'm excited to make a boy room special for him. I found two rooms on Pinterest I fell in love with and can't wait to use it for inspiration! I am going to make a bright room with a white planked wall, passive gray paint, and a bunch of bright colors. I found an old school desk 6 months ago that I am refinishing to put in there as well. I am hoping to find a lot of industrial looking lighting to make it a special place for him! I also found a fake deer head I painted white to put above his bed. I think it'll be super cute when it's all done! 

Next weekend Brandon and I will be going to Grand Rapids to visit friends with Dinner and a comedy show. I am so excited for a couples night! I love spending time with Mason but it's so important to have adult time. March 15th Mason and I are heading to Florida to visit my grandma Joy. I am so excited to see her! Mason and I are looking forward to going to the beach and to spend quality time with my grandma. The weekend after that is my papa Hauenstein's 102nd birthday party. I can't believe Mason has a great-great-grandpa! I am looking forward to seeing the Hauenstein side and for Brandon to finally meet my papa. I will post pics of Mason's room construction soon. Have a great week. Muah! <3

Sometimes life isn't easy!

Yesterday was one of those days where reality set in that life has definitely changed for us since my mom has passed. My mom was a SAHM and spent most of her days at home caring for the animals and taking care of the household. With my step dad being a truck driver, he spends 75% or more of his time on the road. He would hire an older lady to drive to his home to care for the cats but often times he would come home to cat urine on his floors and the animals not taken care of. He called me many time upset over this so I decided to do something about it.

My sister has a large dog and I remember my mom saying our cat Pookie would not be a fit over there because of her age. Brandon is very allergic to cats and I know Mason and Rocco would terrorize an older cat so here was not an option either. After calling around I finally decided to contact one of my mom's best friends. She rescues dogs and knows a large community of people in Midland who rescue and foster.

I met a wonderful lady named Sarah who was willing to take both Pookie and Cuddles. She thinks Pookie will end up living out the rest of her life with her (Pookie is 20!) so that made me feel great. Cuddles is young and gorgeous and she said she should be adopted very soon.

Yesterday I drove up to Tom's house to take the cats to Sarah. It was not a good experience let me tell ya. There were a lot of tears from everybody and it was just another loss for our family. Sometimes it's very frustrating having to make these family decisions at such a young age. I have to remember that right thing to do is sometimes the hardest thing to do. These experiences have definitely made me stronger though that is for sure. On a happy note I got to spend time with Mandi, Kyle, Landon, Tom and his mom which was great! I love that I am able to help out more now. Here is a picture of the kitties! I will let you know any updates I hear on them once they are adopted. Have a great week everyone!

 "Pookie" She is 20 years old I can't believe it! Adopted her when I was in 5th grade.

 This is "Cuddles" and she is 4. My mom and Tom said she would sleep between them every night hence the name. She is a beauty.

Adjusting

When we first moved into our new town of Hartland I didn't think I would ever meet people. Our neighbors are older and it's a quiet community so I was nervous Mason and I would become home bodies and lose interaction with the world. Luckily I have FINALLY met some people in this town and I'm  feeling a little more like myself. I think I am way too social to be that mom that sits at home all day! I love being active and having Mason interact with tons of kids. 

Mason and I have been keeping really busy. We have library group twice a week, I take him to gymnastics on Wednesday and Saturdays, and we have been meeting up with some moms and kids during the week. It's nice to be busy and see Mason blossom! He is so much more social now and not as clingy to me when we go out. 

I have noticed a little change in myself since being a mom and it's interesting to see how friendships with people can change over time. I notice that I don't hear as much from my single and kid-less friends and that makes me sad! I remember a mom telling me "Just wait until you have kids, you won't be hearing much from anyone." Being in your late 20's early 30's is definitely a strange time. You start to focus on family rather than building and maintaining friendships. Why can't both be done? I am going to try and break this cycle and make a big effort to meet up with those I've lost touch with this year. I wonder if any other mom's feel this way? (or dads!) 

My little boy is growing up so fast! Not sure what it is about having a 1.5 yr old but I have been getting the "When are you going to have another baby?" a lot lately. My good friend Amber said I will just know when the time is right. So I am sticking with that motto for now. I predict a 2015 baby for sure though! 

Here is a typical Mason morning activity. Playing with his matchbox cars and cheesing for the camera. 

Mason and Landon unite!

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great weekend. Anyone do anything fun? We had a great weekend with Mandi and Landon. Kyle went on a fishing trip so the two of them spent Saturday and Sunday with us. We took the boys to bounce on Saturday morning then Mandi and I got a little girly time away and played some keno. Later that night we took the boys out to dinner then watched movies all night. It was so fun!

Mason and Landon were so cute together. I don't think I've seen Mason smile that much in a long time. When Landon left to go home Mason started crying and sadly waved goodbye through the front window. I love how they are together! They both bounce well off each other because they have such different little personalities. Landon is brave and Mason is a little more reserved and shy. They are a perfect duo!

I took a nap today for the first time in 2 years! I loved keeping up with the boys but man it can be exhausting. I feel for all my friends out there with twins you guys are my heroes! The next few weeks we are going to be relaxing a little bit. We are hoping to get a lot of house projects done so when Spring and Summer roll around we can do more outside and less in the house. I am looking forward to doing some painting next weekend! Here are some highlights from the weekend. Have a great week everyone.

LOVE

With Valentines Day fast approaching I decided I wanted to chat a little bit today about the word Love and how the word has changed for me since my mom passed. 

Every day my mom would end the conversation with "Love you hunny." Most times I would say I love you back or a quick you too bye. Looking back I want to kick myself for not being the first one to say Love you but I guess a part of me loved knowing she way the starter. 

Brandon says I love you to me everyday and after awhile it becomes a part of your daily vocabulary without giving it much thought. I think it is until the words are taken out of your daily life that you truly realize the meaning and how important they are to you. I am so thankful to have these words from him everyday and love his guts but wish I could hear them from my mom as well. She was one of the only family members growing up who would say these words to my sister, brother and I and I know they are missing it as well. 

Point of the story is remember to tell those around you that you love them. When someone says I love you to you think of it as something more powerful than just an everyday phrase. Think in your mind what you would do if that person was gone the next day and what you would want them to know. 

I made myself a little reminder this week that my mom is somewhere thinking this. Doing the dishes makes me smile a little more now!

I think Mason will be able to tell by this picture she loved his guts too

Last picture with my mom. Notice the quote in the background? "cherish every memory, Love every moment, embrace every possibility"
XOXO
Christi

18.5 months

I can't believe my baby is a year and a half. It feels like yesterday that he was my tiny little baby! Mason recently had his 18 month appointment and it went very well! he is 97% in height at 35in and 80% in weight at 28lbs. I have been having shoulder and back pain on my right side and I think I can see why now. I laugh because I was born 5lbs and was petite almost my whole life. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have a blue eyed, blonde haired, tank of a boy. 

Mason has also been making some "big boy" transitions. We have him practicing on his potty which he enjoys. We also turned his crib into a toddler bed! He is sleeping SOOOOO much better! I was worried it was too early but he is feeling a lot more secure and safe now knowing he can climb down if he needs to. I am so happy we did it. It's funny how every kid is so different. I told Brandon our next one will probably want nothing to do with us and sleep like a champ in their crib. My goal as a mom is to always make him feel safe so I'm hoping I accomplished that. 

In other news, Brandon and I have been brainstorming some more projects we want to do around the house. Our end goal in this house is to redo the kitchen, make an open concept floor plan between kitchen and family room, and redo the master bathroom. Although I would love to do it all financially we are going to focus on just the master bathroom this year. I am excited because it needs a lot of help! I will post pictures of that later ha. I am also going to start painting our dining room next month once our table is done. I am thinking a white on white room which is kinda gutsy but I think it'll be fun! I would love thoughts on that whether I'm crazy or not for doing that! There's something so fun about a white bright room. I've always wanted one! Here are some pictures I took this week!

He's so funny after his naps! Wild hair and big bug eyes

Have a great week to you all! Mason and I will have lots of fun posts about our visit with his cousin and aunt Mandi next week. I also have a fun recipe I'll be posting that was AMAZING! xoxo
Christi

Projects

Happy Thursday! This is the first week since moving back that I don't have a million things on my to do list. I forgot how much of a pain it was to move! With this "extra" time during Mason's naps I am continuing my job hunt but have been feeling a little discouraged. I have applied for close to 25 jobs and haven't heard anything back. Keep in mind that teaching jobs aren't really open this time of year so most of the jobs I have applied for relate more to sales and training. I was hoping my realtor experience in AZ would help me out but apparently not. I feel like I am in my young 20's again wondering what I should do! I asked Brandon the other day "What are my skills?" and he just laughed at me and said like a good husband "Honey you are great at everything you pick up and do". Although encouraging words, I still find myself a little lost. Right now I am soaking up this amazing time as a mom and wondering how the heck we are going to manage when we have two!(someday that is)

So now I am on a mission to figure out what would be good for me part time. I LOVED real estate but it's hard to explain to people that its not something you can just jump into and be successful at right away. I am learning the area, meeting people, and hopefully can get relicensed in the future and build a client basis. I also started designing a photo website that I was excited to share with my realtor friends so I could take pictures of their listings! I am hoping I can combine the two in the future but we shall see.

For now, I am working on making our house a home and teaching myself some photo stuff on youtube! Brandon has also been keeping busy. We were having a hard time finding a dining room table that was long enough for our dining room so we decided to build one. I found some plans online and the tables has turned out awesome and was so cheap to build. I found some fun chairs at homegoods that I can't wait to add to it!

Brandon has done a great job! He is going to build a bench on one side. I think Mason will love having a fun bench to sit on and color with his future siblings and friends :)

I am SOOOOOO excited to have my sister and nephew here next weekend! I plan on taking a million pictures of Mason with his cousin and doing lots of fun crafts and activities with Mandi. Words can't even describe how nice it is having her in the same state. We have so much fun together and it's nice we get to share stories of my mom together. 

I wanted to share a few photos of Mace face that I took over the week. I updated lightroom 4 to 5 and have really liked the program. I am hoping to get better and better with my camera! Have a great week everyone.

They do Love each other it's just hard to see sometimes!

Is it Spring yet?

I can't believe we have already been living in Michigan for 4 months! I have been going a little stir crazy inside and I think I know why. Arizona's "winter" is from May until about September. Mason and I spent most of our Summer inside away from the crazy heat. We moved just as things were starting to cool down so here we are indoor again...yikes! If I had a dollar for every time someone told us we're crazy for moving here I'd be rich! 

To keep Mason "busy" I have been looking to Pinterest and my old teaching bins. I finally found some activities that have not only kept him occupied but he's begging to go downstairs to use them! I would highly suggest some of these if you have a toddler driving you slightly crazy. Or maybe I'm the only one with a toddler who needs to be entertained every 5 min? ha.

Here are some of the activities we made! Everything was from the dollar tree and I only spent $23! 

Hair gel and numbers...the weird thing is it made the whole basement smell good! lol

noodles, beans and snakes! Awesomeness

By far Mason's favorite! In the kid toy section at Dollar Tree they have these mini beads for an "experiment". When put in water they turn into bouncy marbles! He tried to eat one but after that now he just enjoys the squishiness of it all!

Rice,bugs and random toys around the basement. Kitty litter scoop was fun for him

We have to hide this one sometimes because he gets a little obsessed

Dino vs. cricket

 Found some posters from my teaching bin! Come over this summer friends to raid them I have too much stuff I will never use!! :) Let me know if you need anything for your kiddos to work on and I probably have it!

I hope everyone is having a great week! If anyone has a fun indoor activity for their kids I would love to hear about it. I am running out of things to do in here!