The House

Dustin and I have been busy getting things for the house and fixing it up. We got some really nice furniture for sale on President's Day because we ran out of storage space and are trying to get better organized and help the house not look so cluttered! Ok and I have to admit that I secretly get immense pleasure from re-arranging and doing anything that has to do with making the house look nice and different. I used to re-arrange my bedroom when I was bored all the time. I mean it....I truly do love it.

I have also joined Pinterest. I told myself not to do it, but once my friend Jenny did it I had to join. I had put it off long enough. But I have to say I'm SO glad I did. Despite the fact that Dustin might feel he loses his wife at times to Pinterest, I have found some great ideas for the house, projects, and even tried some new recipes! We're trying more that I've found this weekend so we'll see how it goes and I can't wait!!

This is a picture of an idea I got off of Pinterest. They taught you how to paint old clear glass vases and I knew I had a ton sitting around and so I thought I'd give it a try. I did and loved it so much I went out and bought a few more to paint. Here is the link for the how to:

http://www.sugarandcharmblog.com/2011/01/easy-and-beautiful-enamel-painted-vases.html

Oh and don't you worry, I have only gotten started! I know you are all excited I'm sure! But I also decided to paint our lamp shade. Notice in the pictures below of the shots of the whole living room how plain it looked! Well, again thanks Pinterest! Now this went from boring to looking like the chair with colors from the centerpiece and soon our pillows that I'm also sewing. Yeah, I'm on a roll here :)

Link for how to paint your lampshade:

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2011/03/stenciled-damask-lampshade-tutorial.html

Here is a picture of our new bed! We just had one of those cheap metal frames but again we needed the storage and I've always, and I mean ALWAYS wanted an iron bed, so we found both! Now we can store things under the bed and look fashionable! Now I just want to make a cute country style comforter....the crafts will never end :)

Seriously I really do love the frame

Here is our new front room with new desk, coffee table, TV stand and rug. I wish I had taken a picture of how it looked before!! But see, there is the lamp before I painted it and the chair I tried to paint it to look like. Now new couches some day...but I'm working on the pillows to match!

See all the storage that our coffee table has! We have our games and other things in there now, which looks so much better!

My favorite is the reading corner. This is Dustin and Conner's favorite place to sit in the morning with the birds eating from the feeder each morning. I love our cute house!!

I feel like an adult now that I've actually bought furniture for the first time ever and it is something that I actually like rather than the hodge podge of free/Craig's List furniture. It is weird that I actually feel like an adult :) And it has just gotten me started thinking of color schemes and painting walls once we finally own our own home and I can paint the walls and put in wainscoting, etc. Can you tell I love this stuff??

The Little Dude

Conner of course is growing and getting tons and tons of personality! He loves to laugh and play with you. He likes it when you hold him steady so he can stand up and have ALL your attention. He likes to know you're paying attention to him!

He also has made it clear that his favorite person is Grandpa Shepherd. If he's crying and no one else can calm him down all it takes is to pass him on to Grandpa. We were at stake conference recently and he was being a bit fussy, so off he went to Grandpa and the next thing we know he's fast asleep. It is adorable :)

Here he is in his swing which he tends to like most days. Of course he's happier if he has something to hold or else his hands are usually in his mouth, or whatever he's holding.

Being a good boy and being stilly blowing bubbles during Tummy Time.

"Oh you are paying attention to me now!"

That tongue still cracks me up every time.

Falling asleep after feeding one night. We were both exhausted!

Like I said, I can't get enough of his tongue sticking out!

Loving his new Bumbo. If he isn't happy in the swing or gets bored chilling on the floor, he'll almost always be happy here. He likes to see what's going on.

"What on earth is this thing??"

Reading with Daddy before he goes to work. Their little morning rituals are SO adorable! When I see them that is....I'm usually in bed :)

Conner has been laughing SO much lately and as the adoring parents I've tried multiple times to try and get it on film, but he looks looking at the camera like he's confused on what I'm doing. He was being super cute on night and laughing a ton when Dustin was getting him dressed for bed, but of course I forgot to hit record!! But here are two videos that we did get some of his laughs, but not his full on giggles. I'll keep trying!!

Four Generations

I love that Conner is so blessed to live near family here, I just wish that he could be around all of his family as much! However he is blessed to be able to get to know one if his Great Grandmas very well. She loves to hold this little guy and he loves her too!

Per his adoring Great Grandma's request we got a four generation picture, which I wish we'd thought of earlier! Here you see Conner's Great Grandma Shepherd, his Grandpa Shepherd and of course adoring mom and little boy.

I think this one if my favorite because Grandma is laughing and Conner is so done.

Nicki's Teeth

So for the past year I have had Invisalign which I think was so great! It is weird to not have the retainers in my mouth all the time, but such a relief to be done! For those of you who don't like to look at teeth...sorry! But I was just so excited and pleased with the results that I had to share! They weren't horrible, but they made me self conscious. And now I LOVE how they turned out!! 

Here is the before:

And the final product!!

Conner's New Tricks

So Conner of course has been up to all sorts of things lately. It seriously seems like he's super aware of what's going around and wants to take it all in. This guy loves to be with people and know what is going on. He loves to grab onto things, especially cloth and just feel things, like textured fabrics and such. When I hold him he'll just rub his hand up and down his blanket or my sleeve or anything that is soft and feels neat. So he now holds this little bear, that is a blanket and really does love the thing. He gets excited and grabs it and then shoves it in his mouth. SO cute!

He is also chewing on his tongue a lot, or sticking it out. Blowing bubbles and slobbering all over everything is also an hourly occurrence. He loves to stand and laugh and smile with you and he likes it just when you talk to him. We have been reading books and his favorite right now is "Brown Bear Brown Bear" by Eric Carle. I think it is because of the brightly colored animals. He likes to look at the pictures for sure. It calms him down.

He is also very cuddly lately. He has started sitting in his Bumbo lately and also likes it so he can see what is going on. He is sleeping well. Usually waking up once a night, along with a dream feed, and ready to go for the day around 7:30. He is certainly a morning person. Dustin's favorite thing is to go get him out of bed because he's so happy to see you!

The other night I heard this thumping and knew Conner was awake. For sure a few moments later he was making noises to let us know he was ready to eat. I walk in and since we swaddle him when he sleeps his legs are free and so he lifts his legs up completely vertical and then slams them down on the mattress. He's full of energy for sure!! Can you tell we still worship this little dude??

Here is he playing "Angry Birds" with Uncle David.

We were waiting to meet up with family and my boys fell asleep on the couch.

Conner is also trying to mimic some of the things we do. Dustin was placing his forehead on Conner's and so Conner tried to do it back.

But he is still working on his coordination...

And ended up eating Dad's nose.

Which apparently doesn't taste very good!!

Conner has also picked up reading. He is currently working on "War and Peace" and we have long discussions about it.

Thinking about what to read next....

He is also picking up computer skills with Daddy. He already loves to look at the screen and see all the bright colors.

Here he is playing with his bear, tongue out.

We found out he prefers this bear to the other one. I think it is because of the textures with the satin.

Dustin usually get's Conner out of bed in the morning and he'll happily sit on Daddy's lap while he reads and just look around so they get their bonding time while mommy usually gets in a bit more sleep.

He's getting so grown up already! We can't believe he's 3 months. There have been good days, amazing days, but also tired and hard days, but I can see why being a parent is so amazing. And this is only the beginning!!

Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day was so great. I totally remember hating Valentine's Day growing up....until two years ago when Dustin and I celebrated our first "day of love" together. MUCH more fun. I did however hear about some families that focus on love for ALL people, not just romantic love and heard some ideas about serving or showing your love for your family, friends, etc and we think we'll try to implement this when Conner is older. Who doesn't need more love in their life??

But this year I was excited to make Dustin a special dinner, recipes provided by my friends awesome website

http://www.jannapatterson.com/2012/02/valentines-day-menu-stromboli-by.html

So we had stromboli, salad and coconut/banana cream pie. So easy but so good!! Dustin surprised me with flowers, and earrings!! Ok, shout out to my wonderful husband. Two years ago he got me earrings to match my engagement ring and I LOVED them, but was crushed when I lost them. I've looked for them everywhere. Anyways, Dustin knew how sad I was, because not only did I love them (I have an obsession with big dangly earrings) but they represented us to me. Well....he found them!! Ok not the exact pair, but he bought me an identical pair! I was SO excited!! Trust me when I say I will NOT be losing them this time. I'm keeping close tabs on those babies!

Then of course I got him a BYU sweatshirt :) So romantic I know! But I figured we should actually own things from the school we both actually graduated from, rather than a school neither of us have gone to. But hey, you can't hate on the Ohio State!

Here are pictures of the flowers he got me. Dustin knew I like color, and happy flowers, and not roses for Valentine's Day (they are too typical) But I'll take roses any other day of the year :) I'm lucky he puts up with me!!

The remains of our little feast.

See the earrings!!!

Dustin seriously LOVED this. I keep pizza dough and pizza sauce from when I make it in the freezer all the time so it was SO fast and easy to make and good! I mean good! The secret seriously is in the deli pepperoni. LOVE Wegmans!

Conner sported red for Valentine's Day and was good to chill in the swing while Dustin and I ate.

And the pie! Yum!! This was from www.melskitchencafe.com which is another food blog I love. I just added sliced bananas. If anything it is just nice to make a special meal for my special man! I am so blessed!!

Compliments of Melanie

So for those of you who have not met my sister-in-law Melanie, this post is for her :) She has frequently been responsible for the amazing clothing all three family members own and if we look good, you can thank Melanie for it. Conner and I were sporting the shirts she had provided so we had to take a picture. Unfortunately we didn't get the best picture of Conner's but you've seen it before....the Superman shirt! She also provided the Batman shirt you've also seen in a previous post. This is the shirt I got a Maurice's and wanted her to see a picture of me in it. Dustin also has many a clothes she helped provide or pick out! Thanks Melanie for being so helpful and wonderful and thinking of us! We sure appreciate you helping us dress well!!