Three Things Thursday, 7/10/14

 

Three Things Thursday is an exercise in gratitude that began over on Nerd In The Brain, another awesome blog.  Every Thursday I highlight three things from the week that I am grateful and/or made me happy.  It is a highlight of those little extra things in life that you don’t always have time to stop and enjoy.  A celebration of life’s gravy.  Feel free to steal this idea for yourself as well 🙂

This week I am thankful for

 

1. Unexpected nostalgia

A long time ago, in a town (not that) far away I was an emotionally turbulent high school student.  Back in those days I went through a lot of stages… thanks to an incredibly vibrant local music scene and a personal passion for music (band geek) most of those stages were based on what I perceived a fan of certain types of music should look and/or act like.  I recall the period I spent having a love affair with Tori Amos to be exceptionally angst-y… and yet when this song came on the radio (yes, I STILL listen to the radio) I turned it up and sang along.  I have such fond memories of hanging out with my friends and listening to Tori and being so excited when this CD came out.

 

2. Quiet moments on my back deck after Liam goes to bed

Yes, I adore my son.  But there are times when I just like to take five minutes to myself, and this is where I usually do it…. except never by myself really because the puppy brothers always tag along.  I love our back yard.  It is big, usually quiet(ish), and so peaceful.  I am a neighborhood type of girl, so I really don’t mind a little bit of noise.  I like having neighbors, and I am fond of the older gentleman who lives in the little ranch behind us and the conversations we have over the back fence.  I would be even fonder of him if the fence were higher, not see through, I only ever saw his eyes, and he was always there to spout words of wisdom when I need them.

3. Farmer’s Market Splurging

Yes, I went to the Farmer’s Market to get fruits, vegetables, berries, eggs, and whole milk yogurt… and then I saw the sunflowers.  Most of the time if I splurge on myself its an extra Starbucks coffee for the week, yesterday I decided to bring a little sunshine into my home.  I had planted sunflowers in the front yard this spring, but some animal (probably a skunk) decided to knock them all over and eat the heads off…. now I have headless sunflowers in the yard… they aren’t all that pretty.  Liam thought the flowers were a fantastic idea when I brought them home, so I let him explore them for a bit before putting them in the vase.  I think they held up pretty well to his handling.

 

What are you thankful for this week?

 

Three Things Thursday, 6/26/14

Three Things Thursday is an exercise in gratitude that began over on Nerd In The Brain, another awesome blog.  Every Thursday I highlight three things from the week that I am grateful and/or made me happy.  It is a highlight of those little extra things in life that you don’t always have time to stop and enjoy.  A celebration of life’s gravy.  Feel free to steal this idea for yourself as well 🙂

This week I am thankful for…

A beautiful surprise sunset on my way out of the grocery store.

Djodji’s cookies… Especially when they are a surprise that someone snuck into my bag. Djodji seriously makes the best cookies ever.

My Liam reading his book upside down while I make breakfast for him and the puppy brothers. His love of reading makes me so happy!

What are you thankful for this week?

Three Things Thursday, 6/12/14

Three Things Thursday is an exercise in gratitude that began over on Nerd In The Brain, another awesome blog.  Every Thursday I highlight three things from the week that I am grateful and/or made me happy.  It is a highlight of those little extra things in life that you don’t always have time to stop and enjoy.  A celebration of life’s gravy.  Feel free to steal this idea for yourself as well 🙂

Oh this week… this super busy week… I am goig to have to keep it short and simple.

1. This woman:

Aunty Moonshine, Liam, and a bunny… what does a rabbit say?

Aunty Moonshine, my partner in mommy-hood. My husband’s sister who lives down the street from is. The Beanster’s Momma.

We went on a childless adventure together this week and had an absolute blast. I can’t imagine having as much fun doing a 20’s themed photo shoot with anyone else. She cracks me up on an almost daily basis and I couldn’t swing the whole student, full time nurse, full time Momma gig without her.

2.  A little bit of beauty growing in my in-laws field on their farm.

Wildflower Beauty

3. Girls night out for pedicures and burgers (and beer!) with the bestie…

And now I will be rocking purple toenails for the next few weeks!

That is it for me for this week! What are you grateful for?

Three Things Thursday, 6/5/2014

Three Things Thursday is an exercise in gratitude that began over on Nerd In The Brain, another awesome blog.  Every Thursday I highlight three things from the week that I am grateful and/or made me happy.  It is a highlight of those little extra things in life that you don’t always have time to stop and enjoy.  A celebration of life’s gravy.  Feel free to steal this idea for yourself as well 🙂 This week I am thankful for….   Grandparents.

Grampy F and Liam

Grammy D and Liam

Grampy D and Liam

Grammy F and Liam

Grammy and Grampy F, and Grammy and Grampy D who live close by have been lifesavers this week which turned out to be exceptionally busy.  From driving across the state to watch Liam while I worked this weekend and the hubs was out of town to taking Liam so the hubs and I could go out for a last minute business dinner with an out of town engineer the grandparents that are nearby have been lifesavers this week. Liam is also lucky enough to have another set of grandparents that live in Florida and give us an excuse to go on vacation in the winter (as well as sending cool mail, but these are things to be thankful of for a different day)

Next up is this AWESOME Bumkin insulated food tote:

 

Every month Liam gets a package of toys and stuff from a company that had also given us a gift card for his birthday… on a whim (because even the shipping was free for this item) we picked out this… the tote that I didn’t even know I needed.  It’s insulated, the food is out of the diaper bag so no longer is getting squished AND there is enough room for Momma to put a snack in for herself too.  Plus it has alligators on it.  It doesn’t get any cooler than that, unless of course you are a stuffed Boston Terrier wearing hot pink shades and a cool hat… that might win.

Last up for the week is…

This blanket.  Well, not really the blanket… its just a nice, warm blanket that is perfect for puppies to cuddle into on the couch.  It is the way the blanket cam to be in our living room that I am thankful for.  Yesterday, after getting up at the crack of dawn (literally) so I could get the entire house full of puppies and babies ready to bring Leroy in for his last post surgical vet visit we came home and Liam passed out… apparently he doesn’t appreciate being woken up early.  I was bouncing from the massive amounts of caffeine I had sucked down so I decided to clean out the basement.  You know, on a whim, because it seemed like the thing to do.  While I was down there I found a brand new set of queen sized sheets and this blanket that I did not know we had.  Both items were on the household shopping list, but I had yet to make it out to purchase them.  i feel like I just saved $50… which is awesome… do you know how much Starbucks that buys?

Well, that is it for this week for me..  What are you thankful for today?

Three Things Thursday, 5/22/14

Three Things Thursday is an exercise in gratitude that began over on Nerd In The Brain, another awesome blog.  Every Thursday I highlight three things from the week that I am grateful and/or made me happy.  It is a highlight of those little extra things in life that you don’t always have time to stop and enjoy.  A celebration of life’s gravy.  Feel free to steal this idea for yourself as well 🙂

 

My first thing this week is Lilacs

I love the smell of Lilacs.  It is the smell of spring here in New Hampshire (Fun Fact: They are also the state flower).  These pictures are from the trees in our yard and neighborhood (One of my elderly neighbors up the street has AMAZING gardens that I am seriously jealous of).

Next up is

Fenway with his “precious”, the best ball ever.

“Ball!”

Bruiser fetching

Leroy catching some rays

“see?” checking on the Ranunculus

Mornings on the deck with Liam and the puppy brothers.  Now that the weather is a little bit nicer we have been going out to play every day.  Liam and I check on and water the flowers, Leroy suns himself, and Fenway and The Bruise get some running time in with their balls (I totally consider throwing the balls to be my arm workout for the day).  Oh yeah, and I get to sip my coffee in the sun.  Life is good.

 

Last up is this awesome hat:

When Liam goes to sleep, I might dress up the stuffed dog with his accessories…

This is MY hat Momma, not the dogs.

Every kid needs a breakfast hat.

The first thing Liam saw when we came downstairs this morning Liam immediately noticed the hat on the dog and took it off so he could wear it at breakfast (after breakfast it was then discarded to the floor because it was time to play, it is a breakfast hat not a playing hat).

Poor Stuffed Doggy 😦

Three Things Thursday, 5/15/14

Three Things Thursday is an exercise in gratitude that began over on Nerd In The Brain, another awesome blog.  Every Thursday I highlight three things from the week that I am grateful and/or made me happy.  It is a highlight of those little extra things in life that you don’t always have time to stop and enjoy.  A celebration of life’s gravy.  Feel free to steal this idea for yourself as well 🙂

This week my first thing is

Yes, that I the barely visible moon and a couple of stars… It was not quite dark yet when I took the picture, so you don’t get the full effect. This picture is mostly about location. I am thankful that although I live less than 5 minutes from Target (the most wonderful place on Earth) I also live in an area that allows us to enjoy a starry night out on the deck after the kiddo is tucked in for the night. Summer is coming 🙂

My second thing for this week is

Baby Ranunculus! I love ranunculus, they are up in my top three favorite flowers along with gerber daisies and hydrangeas. This particular plant is a project that Liam and I have going on the back deck. I am trying to train him young to water the flowers because I am awful at remembering to do it myself. I figure in a few years if Liam is trained correctly I can have all the gardens I want without worrying about death due to under-watering.

Last up this week is

The giant stuffed Boston Terrier Liam’s Aunty got him for his birthday. Now Liam can learn where the dogs eyes are and get all the ear tugging in that he wants without me worrying that today will be the day the dogs are no longer tolerant. Teaching The Bean to be gentle with the dogs was a piece of cake, Liam on the other hand is a bit more rough and we are still working hard to smooth out those edges.
As an added bonus, I have been having fun tricking the other puppy brothers with the fake Boston Terrier for a few days now… It might never get old.

That is it for this week!
Here is a bonus Liam picture for reading all the way to the end 🙂

Three Things Thursday, 5/8/14

Three Things Thursday is an exercise in gratitude… A shout out to the little things in life that make life awesome that originated on Nerd In The Brain, another awesome blog that you should all totally check out!

This week I am grateful for:

Spring, it’s May in NH and this spring has finally sprung! That means Liam, The Bean, Da, the puppy brothers, and I finally can go outside and play! Liam has overcome his fear of the outdoors and the park up the street is our new favorite hang out. I can’t wait until they get the water park part of it going 🙂

Watching Liam and The Bean race each other to climb up to the top of the slide and then head down like they are experts is something I could do every day if weather permitted and I had an extra set of arms 🙂

The second thing I am grateful for is…

Video baby monitors.
That’s right, the baby spy cam.
Some people though that getting a video baby monitor was a waste of money, but as someone who has one video and one sound only baby monitor I have to say I have a very strong preference for the video. I love this little Motorola monitor that I got from the motherland (Target) while it was on sale for less than $100. It is definitely high up there on my list of recommended baby items… It certainly beats peaking under the door to see if the kiddo is still in bed at nap time (it’s an old house).

Last up for this Thursday is…

Chalkboard paint!
It’s pretty cool and fairly inexpensive. This is our first venture into the world of chalkboard paint and we used it as a backdrop to Liam’s kitchen…. Once we get the kitchen put together 🙂

That is it for this week! Have a happy Thursday!

Three Things Thursday, 5/1/14, All About Liam

Three Things Thursday is an exercise in gratitude originating over at Nerd In The Brain (another awesome blog).

This week I am going to shake things up a bit, instead of three things we are going to get three aspects of one thing… Liam.  One year ago today after a long labor we finally got to meet our Liam.  This week we are going to celebrate his life and I will list three things that I am grateful for about Liam.

Yes, that’s right, we now officially have a toddler!  This week a year ago I was stuck at 3cm for a week straight before finally getting to meet our Liam for the first time.

He was 7 lbs 15 ounces with a full head of hair… the only baby I have ever personally known to have a faux-hawk within hours of birth. My husband and I were over joyed.

 

Liam and his exhausted parents…. one week

 

 

 

He was so tiny! When he was a newborn he fit so nicely in the crook of my arm, now he spills out over the edge of my lap. It’s been a pretty busy year of development and our big guy is now walking and saying a handful of words. After a year of sleeping in 2-4 hour stretches I am now starting to enjoy 5-8 hour stretches of sleep instead. (You really don’t appreciate the value of a good nights sleep until you experience the joys of parenthood.)

 

The first thing is his smile and sense of humor (yes I know that is really two things).

I like to take baby selfies at 6:30 am

Liam is one of those people who when he smiles it goes all the way to his eyes.  He really can light up a room, and his little laugh is infectious.  He also has a wicked sense of humor.  He loves it when you chase after him, and will wait for you to catch up and “almost” get him before taking off again.

 

The next thing I am thankful for is his curiosity.

See?

 

Last of all I am thankful for his determination… though I am sure I will call it stubbornness and be cranky about it when he is older.

Liam is determined to do everything himself and keep up with his big cousins (M and the Bean) who are 5 months older than him.  This peppered with a nice amount of curiosity certainly keep my husband and I on our toes!  It is so much fun to watch him learn!

 

As a closer this is what Liam and I were doing at 5:35 this morning, the moment he turned one…. my great sleeper unfortunately had a rough night of teething last night 😦

 

Three things Thursday, 4/24/14

A weekly exercise in gratitude that originated on Nerd In The Brain

This Thursday I am going to include a ton of pictures for my 3 things.

First up is my messy living room.

 

 

Over the last (almost year) of Liam’s life I have learned to appreciate a mess well made. This mess is the aftermath of last night’a dance party… Don’t ask how the beads ended up hanging from the wall art…
I also am thrilled that this is housekeeping Thursday and when I get home from work at 2am the mess will magically have disappeared. As I told Lisa, our cleaning angel, she is the reason that I stay sane despite my overfull plate.

Number 2 is mustache magnets purchased from Target. Babies with mustaches make my heart happy.

 

Lastly is my husbands first baby, Leroy, and the awesome vets over at Broadview Animal Hospital. We thought old man Leroy had reached the end of his long life this last weekend when he suddenly became very ill, but the folks at Broadview found a pretty bad double infection instead of something worse. After a week of antibiotics he is bouncing around like a middle age dog again… You can’t put a price on that kind of amazingness.

That is it for this week, I apologize for being unable to upload the fully edited and linked version yesterday… it was just one of those days.

Three Things Thursday, 4/17/14

Ahhh, it is Thursday once again, and once again its time for a short list of things I am grateful for and/or that make me happy.

 

First up is this picture of Lake Winnipesaukee

Lake Winnipesaukee

First off I would like to give credit to my 4th grade teacher for ingraining the spelling of Winnipesaukee (and many other ridiculously hard to spell NH locations, like Kancamagus, into my brain).

I am lucky enough to live in a wonderful location on the Seacoast of NH, and thoroughly appreciate the fact that the White Mountains and Lakes Region of this state (which are gorgeous) are only an hour or so away from us.  My long drive on Tuesday reminded me of how close summer is… I can’t wait to go hiking this year with my fancy new camera and inquisitive little boy 🙂

The next thing on my list is a song….

 

I seriously love this song, and so do the kids. It comes on and I am instantly happy, plus we then get to have a dance party which is always fun .

Last up….

This not so great picture of my son reading to himself in the corner . He grabbed a book, crawled away, and started reading out loud… Cutest thing ever… And I have no clue where he gets the hiding in corners to read habit from (cough* cough*)
I do absolutely love the fact that he can’t get enough of books already. Now if only he wouldn’t run away when I try to take a picture of him reading while yelling at me in baby-lish. I suspect the translation is “Leave me alone mom, I need my quite time to read this book. It’s about dinosaurs. Jeez. What’s a baby got to do to get a little peace and quiet around here?!?”

 

That’s it for me for this week…. Like Three Things Thursday?  Want to see MORE things??? head on over to Nerd In The Brain, the originator of the Three Things Thursday idea 🙂