safety gear

Now that Ollie is a riding/biking/sleeping machine (yes, the kid that never sleeps decides to sleep on his daddy duo jogging and biking trips) we realized --duh -- that our most precious cargo probably needs a helmet to wear on his adventures. Can you tell we grew up in the bike helmet/schmelmet days? We talked to the Easter Bunny and decided that a new helmet would be a great gift for Ollie's basket this year.

This was the first choice (haha) ... too bad its out of stock:


This one is coming in at a close second:


I hope the XS small fits okay. The reviews are great and it should last until he is around 5yrs old which makes the price tag a little less frightful. Here's hoping he actually keeps the thing on his head.

Acrylic print

  Acrylic Print

Shutterfly has modern graduation announcements and photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

I am a huge Shutterfly fan. This is where I save all my pictures online. I love the custom path photo books -- I just got Ollie's first year book this week and it turned out great! I am a sucker for a coupon code and I just happened to have two coupons plus found the sale at shutterfly. I finally bit the bullet and ordered my favorite picture of Oliver. It is a large format (20x30) acrylic print. I am so excited to get it next week. I am always daydreaming about buying art for the house and what better art to have at home than your own photography piece (featuring the cutest baby in the world)? Regular price this product runs $159. With my coupon codes, the sale and free shipping my total came to $112. woohoo.

baby adventures

First, let me exclaim my love for DST! It was a little hard waking up this morning and driving halfway into town in the dark but the payoff will be worth it. Nothing like getting a few extra hours of sun in the evenings to make you feel like a functioning person outside of work.

The weather is starting to get very spring-like, not that we had a terribly cold winter, but the warm up continues. We spent most of the day outside yesterday and soaked in some vitamin d. Jake hooked up his new dandy bike trailer that he got for his birthday and took Oliver for a spin. What you can't see in this picture is the cute little orange caution flag that hangs off the back. I would look out the kitchen window and see the boys just a biking down the road, that little orange flag just a bouncing. Oliver seemed to love his new ride.

so excited he got blurry hands.

House renovations have resumed. I have a feeling I might go postal on Jake in the near future. I forgot how awful renovations can be. Our floors are dirty, there are tools all over the house, Oliver tried to eat sheetrock bits. Its awful. Please pray that I can get through the last of this mess over the next few months. We ended up going to my sisters all day Saturday. It was a nice visit. I'm sure they will see more of us as the bathroom remodel continues.

Oliver cut two more teeth last week (March 8th). He now has 10 total and has a very sweet gappy tooth grin. Adventures in baby dining continue to happen. My once picky eater (adverse to touching anything remotely textured, sticky or wet) now wants to smoosh food in his hands, slap yogurt on his face and thinks it is hilarious to throw food on the floor. um. yeah. my patience is lacking most nights of the week. I hear the crunch of cheerios and graham crackers underfoot taunting me while I sleep - ha ha!

shiny



shiny shoes

 I bought these last week. I needed something that met the following requirements: comfy, not flip flops, not uggs, weekend wear. Can I help my love of shiny objects? No, I cannot. Besides the soles being a tad bit slippery (I found out the hard way) I love my new kicks.

in action. casual Friday.



fancy

Jake and I had the opportunity to get fancy this past weekend and attend a gala event (our first). It was fun to get dressed up and drink lots of champagne! Jake looked so handsome in his tuxedo. He wore a suit in our wedding so that was the first time I had seen him dressed up like that. We decided to stay the night in Raleigh and I am so glad we did. I had a meeting all morning Saturday and then I got to relax all afternoon by myself (much needed). I may or may not have indulged myself at the Benefit counter. Jake met me later that afternoon. Karen (my MIL) sent us updates and pictures of Ollie having fun, so I don't even think he knew we were gone.

This was such a nice way to get out of our "box." We have a tendency to get/stay home bound. Date nights turn into Jake watching a redbox movie while I clean/wash dishes/fold clothes. Doesn't that sound so steamy? ha! Jake (my cheap husband) got a little crazy and starting bidding on silent auction items. We walked away with a night at Great Wolf Lodge. He loves a water park!