who knew....

...that watching a ceiling fan could be so much fun....

AND so exhausting!!!

the faces of william webb

outside projects

now that it's summer (i know...it's been summer for a while, but i was busy growing and birthing a human), we have a ton of outdoor projects we want to tackle. we haven't really done much to the outside since we moved in, so our house is totally the trashy one on the block.  we bought some flowers for the steps and got awesome deck furniture from my aunt dee dee, but we will be the first to admit...this place looks rough.

the first order of business was to remove the huge rhododendron. it was absolutely beautiful when it was in bloom, but the inspector said it was compromising the foundation of the porch...it had to go.

we are also in the process of removing the shrubs/bushes/weeds (?) from the side of the house. new landscaping will hopefully start soon, at least to the front.  however, this big bush overtaking the side of the porch is staying for a while.  it's a BLACKBERRY bush and is LOADED. i think it might have to stay indefinitely!

check out our awesome downspout drainage pipes (see what i mean? our neighbors must cringe every time they drive by).  my dad whipped these up when we first moved in just to get the water away from the foundation...a quick fix.  we have major water problems we need to deal with. the downspouts were just cut off at the bottom which created HUGE holes right next to the foundation.... as in, holes that i could get my whole leg down in.  yikes!

brian spent a whole day removing the rhododendron and a bush on the side of the house.  one broken mattock later, the front of the house is noticeably more bare...

and surprise!...the bush was hiding a nice crack in the brick. we need to fill in the mortar in that crack and all of the cracks in the column going up the steps....ivy was the culprit there.

so...we have a LOT of work to do.....our to-do list...

wash the porch
rip out rhododendron
rip out plants and ivy on side of house (or prune?)
fix mortar in cracks
till front yard to even-out crappy work by the city and replant grass
till sides of house and regrade
landscape front of house
fill cracks in porch steps
paint porch steps so they don't look like poop
paint porch railing
paint ugly board above door (or better yet, replace with a door that FITS!!!)
paint the house...bye bye red!
flash chimney
relocate family of squirrels living in our soffit  :-)



did i make it through a whole post without a picture of my boy!!!???

6 & 7 weeks

this baby is getting big...and long...and more handsome by the day!....if i can be so bold!

the 6th week was a rough one. we ran head first into the 6th week growth spurt, and this mama was a regular milk cow the whole week. at least, we think all the fussiness was a growth spurt...isn't it hard to know?!

looking at these pictures, i'm pretty convinced of it.  this child is definitely longer. we still have him in newborn onesies, but i think we are going to need to retire them pretty soon. that is sad and exciting all at the same time.

 

  

my cousin beth took some awesome pictures of the little guy while we hung out at the pool. Will is starting to smile more and more revealing a mama's worst nightmare together with those baby blues (during the teenage years at least)....DIMPLES!

our first trip!

Will finally lost his umbilical cord...after 4 weeks & 3 days (yes, i'm a little behind on these milestones)! woo!

i was so excited to give him his first official bath.  Good news...he's not a gremlin!!!...but he was totally stinkin cute and LOVED his first bath....

Will turned 5 weeks old....and is finally trying to stretch out those little breech legs!

we also got to spend a little time in poca. it was our first official trip in the car (at 2 hours) and Will did great.  we tried a few outings to target and the mall while we were there.  we're still getting the hang of this having-a-kid thing...we ended up leaving two hours later than we thought for each outing. yikes!  the visit was a nice change of pace with lots of rocking sessions from nana and popaw...

And Will got to meet his great grandparents, Vic and Immogene...this was pretty special...not many little boys can say they have great grandparents.  He and Vic were buds from the start...

i just can't get enough of this face! excuse me while i go smooch those cheeks off!

Happy Father's Day

I have some pretty fantastic men to salute this Father's Day....

To my Dad...Now that I'm older, I often wonder how the Lord decided that Trey and I got to be your kids. So many kids grow up with crappy fathers or no fathers at all, you know this better than anyone. It doesn't seem fair that we got such an amazing Dad. And now that I have a child, I finally understand a little bit of how much you love us. I love you so much!

To my father-in-law Ed...Thank you for raising such a wonderful son. I'm so thankful that, in many ways, he's a chip off the ol'block. And how blessed am I to not only have one amazing Dad, but two?! You would do anything for us, and we can never thank you enough. Brian, Will, and I love you!

To Brian...Happy First Father's Day! In the midst of diaper changes and feedings, I didn't get to do as much as I wanted to for you. Even in these first five weeks, I've gotten a glimpse of what a great Dad you already are (you've changed WAY more diapers than me) and what a great Dad you're going to be. You are so loving, patient, and eager to participate in this little guy's life. I am so glad you are the father of my kid...Will is so blessed to have you as a Dad! There is no way I could do this without you! We love you more than can be described! Feel free to take a nice long nap today! ;-)

the most satisfying yawn of all time

unrelated to my cute child....i read an article one time about how filming vertically (like i have here) with your iphone was annoying because all of our screens are oriented horizontally.  at the time, i thought that was silly, but watching this video, i totally see that guy's point...lesson learned