Artprize is for Lovers

This weekend was full of beautiful works of art, love and happiness. If only every weekend could be this wonderful.

Saturday afternoon, I was invited to join Sarah's family as they celebrated Asa's first birthday! Brody and Asa were only born two months apart, so it really was an eye opener to see Asa walking around and already one year old. Crazy how fast time flies.

After the birthday party, I accompanied my parents to Artprize since they had never been there before. We managed to check out seven of the top ten and spent most of the day walking around downtown. I'm not much of a city girl, but I love how alive Grand Rapids becomes this time of year.

My parents are super adorable, just saying.

I absolutely loved the "Polar Expressed" piece by Anni Crouter. Beautiful.

Mama and Papa Z celebrated their anniversary back in June, but my dad has been holding onto this incredible diamond ring all summer waiting for just the right opportunity. He summoned his inner romantic and got down on one knee down by the river and gave my mom this amazing rock.

Thirty-two years later and more in love than ever. xoxo

Speaking of lovers, congratulations to my cousin Laura on her engagement to Steve! They met us downtown on Saturday to share the wonderful news... I'm so thrilled for the both of them. Looks like this upcoming summer is going to be packed with wedding festivities between my sister and Laura getting ready for their nuptials.

Photo credit: Tieka of Selective Potential and Eric MJ Ellis

Photo credit: Tieka of Selective Potential and Eric MJ Ellis

Sunshine Friday

Sometimes... life is a little rough. Those days where it's a struggle to climb out of that debilitating funk and refocus attention towards the positive. We've all had 'em. As a working mom, I know I have less than 7 miles to tune out all the negativity from whatever may have happened earlier that day and get into happy mommy mode. Even though Brody is my own little ball of sunshine and always capable of bringing a smile to my face, my Friday posts are now dedicated to recapping all the moments during the week that made my life a little brighter...

1. Last weekend, Brody, Zora and I spent some time in Muskegon with Mama and Papa Z. Took all 3 of us to control Wild Thing during church. He apparently thought it was hilarious to stand up on our laps and yell out over the congregation. The people around us got a good chuckle. Afterwards, we went to B-Dubs for dinner. Since there were plenty of TVs to offer up a distraction, Brody did very well. (Yes, we like sticking odds and ends in his helmet...)

2. I've been plugging away at Brody's birthday present and party details. His gift is almost done, theme has been selected, menu almost thought through and the pennant/banner making has begun. Yes, I'm well aware his birthday isn't for another two months. Just roll with it...  

3. Watching Lil Man torment Zora in his walker is downright hilarious. She frantically runs away from him and he just giggles and screams right after her. I secretly think Zora likes it because she'll be all safe up on the her couch and as soon as I put Brody in the walker, she'll run right over to him. Sneaky girl.

4. Can we say BEAUTIFUL weather this week!? Not a huge fan of the chilly mornings, but oh that sunshine by lunchtime... xoxo

5. A huge thank you to Mama and Papa Z for all the help getting my basement up and running. Between the three of us, we've scrubbed the carpet six times over the last week. Yeah, six. After moving some furniture, it was very apparent where a certain messy Mountain Dew drinking, junk food junkie gamer preferred to park his carcass. After some rearranging and setting up Brody's play area, the kids have a lot of running room. 

6. Mister, where are your pants?

7. I'm totally in awe of the super cool furniture upcycle projects on Pinterest. Especially the ones where DIYers take old dressers and turn them into TV stands. I found a free dresser on Craigslist today. It looks a bit pathetic now and who knows, maybe I won't be able to do anything with it... but it'll be a fun project to work on. 

8. Happy 1st Birthday (yesterday) to my fellow co-worker's little boy, Asa! It seems like just yesterday we were a couple fatties waddling down the hallway at work. I'm looking forward to celebrating on Saturday.

9. Went and saw a podiatrist yesterday. Yes, I'm having killer toe problems... again. Decided to set up an appointment in a couple weeks to have half of both big toenails permanently removed. I'm so tired of having problems with my toes. It's getting ridiculous. So I'm super excited to get this taken care of.

10. Saving the best, happiest news for last... my bestie Sarah is moving back to the mitten from Florida next month!!! I haven't seen her in way too long and miss her terribly. Congrats Moose on the new job and I wish you and your family the best of luck with moving and readjusting to Michigan winters. Can't wait to come visit. :)  

Sunshine Friday

Sometimes... life is a little rough. Those days where it's a struggle to climb out of that debilitating funk and refocus attention towards the positive. We've all had 'em. As a working mom, I know I have less than 7 miles to tune out all the negativity from whatever may have happened earlier that day and get into happy mommy mode. Even though Brody is my own little ball of sunshine and always capable of bringing a smile to my face, my Friday posts are now dedicated to recapping all the moments during the week that made my life a little brighter...

1. Brody had his 9-month appointment this week. He measured 30.5 inches (100th percentile), weighed 22 lbs 6 oz  (85th percentile) and had a head circumference of 46 cm (70th percentile). Thankfully no shots this time around. Doctor gave him a clean bill of health.

2. Mama Z and I have been stockpiling homemade baby food. As long as it's puréed, Lil Man seems to eat everything. (He has texture issues like his mama.) We even gave avocados another go this week. Since I used my emulsion blender rather than a food processor, they were a lot smoother and he seemed to really like them. I don't think I've ever seen him open his mouth that wide. Doctor also told us to start him on the same things I'm eating. Mama Z made some chicken noodle casserole purée for him, but anyone have some other ideas for me to try with him? I'm stumped.

3. Both of my children REFUSE to play with their own toys. Zora chewed up/put teeth marks in a few of Brody's things this week and I can't keep Lil Man out of the dog toy basket. Oooooh kids.

4. We had quite an eventual week in the evenings. Monday night we did some exploring. I really haven't gotten out much to take advantage of Holland's great bike paths, so we took a ride down the West Ottawa HS and then back through the Harbor Lights athletic fields. It got a little chilly towards the end, but it was a wonderful evening. 

Lots of playtime downstairs and in the tub made for a very sleepy boy Wednesday night. Around 7:00, he decided he was done for the day and wanted to sleep. Of course that meant his Thursday morning wake up time was going to be 4:45 AM. Although that's mighty early to be starting the day, waking up to that little voice calling "maaaaaaaaamaaaaaa" is pretty adorable.

5. Over the weekend, I hauled up every craft supply I own from the basement, cleared out the guest bedroom and set up my makeshift craft room. One very frightening fact was reaffirmed as I cleaned and organized...... 

My name is Andrea and I am a paper hoarder.

6. Weighed in this week only 5 pounds away from my pre-baby starting weight! Woot! Now I just have to pray that those last 5 pounds are the reason none of my dress pants fit yet rather than face the horrible truth that my hips just may be substantially wider thanks to Lil Man. Buuuuut, in the meantime, weight-loss happy dance.

7. I also tried squash for the first time in my adult life this week. After making some butternut and yellow squash for Brody last week, my co-workers suggested I prepare some butternut squash with butter and brown sugar and try it myself. The consensus... meh. Granted, I probably didn't add enough of something, but not my fave.

Zora also is unsure about how she feels towards squash. I dropped a chunk on the floor and it entertained the silly pup for 20 minutes. She put it in her mouth, spit it out, back in, then out, licked it, pushed it around, back in her mouth, kinda bit in, back out on the floor..... 20 minutes of this before she actually ate it.

8. Worked on Brody's birthday gift all of last weekend as well. I CANNOT WAIT to reveal it when it's all done. Stay tuned...

9. My mom is also incredibly awesome. In addition to cleaning my house for me, she has spent hours down my basement this week scrubbing the world's most stubborn stains out of my carpet. We're on like round 27, but eventually the stains will be gone... hopefully. Thanks Mom. ♥

10. Last but not least, Zora survived yet another week crate-less. Yay good girl!

Sunshine Friday

Sometimes... life is a little rough. Those days where it's a struggle to climb out of that debilitating funk and refocus attention towards the positive. We've all had 'em. As a working mom, I know I have less than 7 miles to tune out all the negativity from whatever may have happened earlier that day and get into happy mommy mode. Even though Brody is my own little ball of sunshine and always capable of bringing a smile to my face, my Friday posts are now dedicated to recapping all the moments during the week that made my life a little brighter...  

1. This face! Now that those pesky front teeth have poked through (thank God), my Lil Man is back to his happy, giggly self again.

2. I love an Indian Summer! This remarkable weather all week has given Brody, Zora and I an opportunity to get outside and soak up the last bit of sunshine. After a nudie stroll one evening, Brody played in the bathtub for almost 45 minutes. He sure does love the water. He apparently thought I needed to cool down too AND clean the bathroom because there was water eevvveerrryyywwhhherreee. 

3. If you've ever held Lil Man, you know that he prefers to face outwards and refuses to be still. Even though he's the wiggliest little kid I've ever met, we had two specific awesome moments this week. While on the phone with my dad one evening, Brody sat on my lap... perfectly still... for 19 whole minutes! This kid doesn't sit still for 19 seconds let alone an entire phone conversation! It was so wonderful to be able to sit and rock him without being bashed in the face by his helmet. Brody also gave me his first hug on Wednesday. I picked him up, facing me, and he wrapped his arms around my neck and hung on for almost an entire minute. I may or may not have teared up.

4. Speaking of helmets, Mary Free Bed informed us the Brody's latest head scan indicated that he was finally in the "normal" range. Because he measured on the high-side of normal, that means there's still room for improvement. Since his helmet still fits, there's room for improvement and he's a wild child who runs into everything, we opted to keep the helmet on for at least another month. 

5. I finally got his 9 month pictures taken. Took an army of people and 3 different days, but we finally got at least a few shots of him looking our way. Photographing mobile children is on my list of Life's Most Difficult Tasks. See more of his photos here.

6. Finally got around to powerwashing my disgusting deck. Between the grill grease and green slime from my rainforest backyard, it was pretty gross. 

7. Of course I had a ton of trouble getting the powerwasher going. Thankfully, Grandpa was able to give me a quick lesson on different kinds of motor oil and after some additional troubleshooting, I was able to get the damn thing started. High five, me!

8. My parents and grandparents all came over Saturday and Sunday last weekend to help me do my Fall deep cleaning and clean up the yard. I have the most wonderful family ever. Words cannot even begin to describe how blessed I am to have them in my life. xoxo

9. Colored my hair. It needed it. Badly.

10. Miss Zora deserves the gold star for the week! My usually mischievous fur child spent the ENTIRE WEEK crate-less! I'm so proud of her! I've tried to leave her out on her own several times before. (We all remember this not so awesome experience...) Even with her gated out of the living room and bedrooms, she still found rugs to chew up and door stoppers to rip out of the wall. She's still quarantined to the dining room/kitchen/hallway area, but she has done remarkably!