Happiness.

I woke up this morning to a lovely e-mail from the buyers of our home. They are asking for 5 things. Sigh.

1.    Install sump pump by a license contractor and provide receipts of completed and paid work at closing.
2. In crawlspace there are wires that are exposed and need to be in a junction by a license contractor and provide receipt of completed and paid work at closing.
3. A/C unit should be on a level ground before appraisal.
4. Seller shall repaired sewer line by a license contractor and provide receipt of completed and paid work at closing.
5. Seller shall install the garage sensors before appraisal.

These things are all doable. EXCEPT number four. Oh, sweet number four. We think they may be trying to pull a fast one on us. We spoke with other neighbors who these same buyers had a contract on their home but it fell through and financing did not work out. On the inspection, no mention of anything sewer line related needs to be fixed or is broken. So, why do they have this? The property is lendable upon fixing all of the things, but surprisingly enough, the lender did not see anything about a sewer line because it is not in the inspection. So... here we go with this battle.

The scary thing is, we HAVE to close by May 30th or we cannot get a loan on our new home due to lovely student loans - thanks education.

I came across this lovely gem this morning on a friends page. I needed this. Really, really needed this.

I was eating my eggs and chai tea this morning when Aiden starts crying because he can't have cookies for breakfast, Luke was crying because he was tired. And all I wanted were some damn eggs! Some days I think of how much easier life would be if I had a nanny and could go to work, come home, and play with my lovely kids. Then I look at the mess on my coffee table masked with Cars drifters that I had to build in the ever so perfect way. The swaddle left over on the floor from when I picked my little cocoon up from his night of sleep, and the old Pampered Chef dish sitting in the sink from last nights dinner because they can't go in the dishwasher.

These fifteen things are things to give up to be happy.....

1. Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?”Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?

2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.

“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu

3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.

4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.

“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle

5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!

“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle

6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.

8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell

10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer

11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.

13. Give up the past. I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

14. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another,  attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.

15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves.  You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

This is what my happiness looks like: 

What does your happiness look like??

Long time coming...

Alright friends and family, near and far... the blog life has returned. The year 2012 was probably THE busiest year of our lives. We found out we were expecting in late March, had a terrible rough pregnancy through one of the hottest Colorado summer's on record, my brother got married, my sister in law got married, we had another (adorable) little boy, and have decided to sell our first home! Woah.

We L.O.V.E. our home. Like, we think it is the best house ever for a first home. With that being said, we are growing out of it. It is a beautiful 3 bedroom 3 bathroom house, but with 2 kids and a dog, we need and want more space. Because the housing market has been so hot lately, we decided to jump on the bandwagon and sell in order to upgrade to a bigger house, and closer to both grandparents - SCORE!

I can not even believe it has been almost three years since we welcomed our first baby into the world. He is not even a baby anymore and has quite the personality. He love Thomas the Train, Cars, the iPad, sports, swimming, and playing outside. He is growing into such a cute kid, and reminds me of it every day when he says "mom, hold me like a kid." And I am reminded of it every night when he crawls into a BED... I cannot even believe my baby is in a bed. Having him as my first baby taught me so much. Now, when I am waking up every three hours with the "Luke-man," I just stare at him beautiful face and cherish those night where I am the only one who gets him all to myself. Although, one night of continuous sleep would be nice, but oh well! I can't believe how much faster time flies by with a second baby. With Aiden, all I wanted was for him to crawl, then walk, then talk, then play sports, then wear bigger clothes. With Luke, time cannot seem to slow down. It is unreal how grown up my boys are already!

That is all for tonight... as of now our house is under contract. We are waiting for the new buyers to submit the inspection to their lender to figure out what we need to do! As for our new house, I cannot wait to share my decorating, crafting, thrifting, and growing babies with you all!

Kitchen Update.

We started painted our kitchen almost three weeks ago. The flu caught up with our family and we had to take a week break. But, this past weekend we were on a roll and got the cabinet doors back on and the hardware installed!

Currently we are working on the beadboard along the side where there used to be a wood colored laminate panel. The beadboard looks much better, and matches the white cabinets so much better! We chose a vinyl laminate, which was recommended by the guys at Home Depot because of the versatility in the kitchen setting!

Here is what our kitchen is looking like these days:

Happy Monday!

Master bedroom inspiration.

Our bedroom has been painted, the bedding has been bought, but no joke, it is the biggest room in the house, and it still looks so empty. We sort of have a timeline to get things 'together' looking before my little brothers' wedding on July 28th. I put together an inspiration board to try and get things rolling. Let me know what you think!

Diary of a sick kid.

The house projects have come to a drastic stop because our little one is sick. The sniffles started Friday morning, it was a full blown cold on Saturday, by Sunday he was having diarrhea, which caused us to leave the Superbowl Party early! (Go Giants - by the way!) On Sunday night my husband was reading to him before bed and screams downstairs to me to come help him, Aiden had just thrown up everywhere!

When he says everywhere, I mean everywhere. It was all over the rocking chair, covered the majority of the floor that was exposed, even hit the crib from across the room! YUCK.

I whipped out the shot spot and started to get to work. It also just so happened that Monday was my laundry day and he was wearing the last clean pair of pajamas that were clean. Luckily, I had put poopy pants in the wash along with some other things when we got home, so we only had to wait about twenty minutes for the jammies to dry! After giving him some water, cleaning the room, it was back to bed he went!

He slept through the night, but was still sick in the morning. It wasn't until nap time the true nastiness of a sick baby came out. He had a massive explosion. Need I not go into details. Needless to say, bumpers, quilt, blankets, sheets, mattress pad, and every stuffed animal had to go in the wash. I went to town with Green Works on his crib disinfecting everything, even the mattress. The window was open to air out the smell, a candle was lit, and it still smelled.

We were supposed to have out carpets cleaned last Friday, but due to the snow storm, they cancelled. THANK GOODNESS!

So, for those of you with little kids, getting them to eat the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) diet when you have a picky little eater is impossible. We chose to go the au natural route of Culturelle for Kids. It is an amazing probiotic to help get tummies back to normal!

All he wants are Oreo cookies and spaghettios. When I say no... this is what I get....

But, because I am a giant pushover for my sick little nugget, I say fine. Eat what you need to eat. And I get this...

Much better! At least even at his sickest, he can still smile! 

Kitchen start.

The kitchen revamp has begun! Back in November it looked like this... and now, it is going to be getting a makeover. Wood colored cabinets are so out. So, we are going WHITE! There are many different images that we have used to determine how we want our kitchen to look....

See! White is in! Yesterday we began by taking off all of the cabinets, taking out all of the hardware, and removing the child proof locks! 

Each of this little bags with a number in it belongs to these.... 

Then, we sanded all of the cabinets and the frames and then deglossed them... we are doing a two - tone look, it doesn't make sense to paint the insides of the cabinets when they are much more likely to get scratched because of the dishes and glasses! 

On the frames we have one coat of primer and one coat of paint! Tonight yields painting the first coat of primer on the backs of the cabinets in our garage! Tomorrow, the last and final coat of paint will be added to the frames, then those will be done!

We are using Benjamin Moore Advanced Paint in a satin finish (Cloud Cover) and the primer is Zissner Smart Prime! Both are low-voc and biodegradable! 

And... this is how Aiden helps! Stay tuned for more kitchen updates! We plan to be done on Tuesday! 

New Lens

I am happy to announce I found a new, amazing camera lens on Craig's List for my camera! It is a 35mm f/1.8 and I love it! :) I am so excited to get outside and shoot some pictures of Aiden! Here are some that have poor lighting, but you get the point!

Oh, how I love baby feet! Aiden has my husband's feet. We call them "shrimp toes!" 

See all of those nifty broken crayons! I have a neat little trick coming for all of you with kids/dogs/husbands that step on crayons! 

My wonderful husband also bought me a new computer! I got the new MacBook Pro! I am so excited! My other MacBook was just not cutting it anymore (I HATE YOU RAINBOW SPINNING WHEEL!) Now, my life is amazing!

I also just booked my trip to California to see my best friend! She is due February 5th! But right now she is 80% effaced and one centimeter dilated! I am so excited for her!