May 2016 - One

I have been T.I.R.E.D. lately and looking back on the month of May I can kind of see why.

We were busy!!

 

I'm going to have to break the month into a couple parts, but I wanted to note that Connor has become very into TV and tablets. If I need to keep him occupied for 10 minutes while I get dressed in the morning....YouTube Kids to the rescue!! Its my new favorite thing ever.

I used to use regular YouTube but the ads were annoying and often inappropriate for Connor

(like a violent video game when we were going to bed).

Recently I downloaded YouTube Kids.

There seem to be less adds AND they are all very kid friendly.

I also figured out how to set 'Guided Access' on my phone and its a game changer. I can just hit the home button three times and it prevents him from leaving the current App without entering a password. I just love technology!

 

We started out the month with some spins.

 

Connor must have partied too hard on the Sit & Spin because the next morning I had to wake him up.

Look at that sweet sleeping baby.

 

And those nugget feet. 

I took Noah to the doctor to look at some poison ivy he had on his face/arm.
Leslie thought it was fine, but I insisted. Well turns out she was right!
There was nothing we could do but just wait it out.
I still enjoyed my morning with my first baby boy. :)

 

I ordered a couple placemats from Shutterfly and I loved watching him look at the pictures.

It's no secret I love personalized things and I'm hoping these will help him learn our family member's names at dinner time. :)

 

 

First, we started with this one and we work on pointing to Mommy, Daddy and Connor.

He usually plays along.

(Noah said it was inappropriate because it says 'Play with your food')

hahahaha

 

I think soon he will be ready to move to onto the placemat with his extended family.

 

That evening I snuck in and got a picture of Connor before I went to bed.

I just loving seeing how sweet and peaceful he is while he sleeps. :) 

 

On Thursday, I picked Connor up from school and they told me he had just been bitten again :(

This was the worst one yet and now over a month later I can still see the mark on his back.

 

But at dinner time he was happy as can be to be eating some black beans and didn't seem

to be in any pain. After dinner at home (that Cecil had ready and waiting on us - sweet man)

we headed to watch our old neighbor play soccer.

 

Loo at the damage! Poor baby!

 

Thursday evening Noah and Zay stayed the night

and Friday morning Noah wanted to get in Connor's crib with him.

Connor was super excited by the surprise. :)

 

 

 

Zay showed me that he lost another tooth!!

 

 

After dropping all three boys off at school, I headed to Waco to meet by

Bestie, Michelle, for a girls day!!

We had fun checking out Magnolia Market and having some fun together. :)

It really was one of my favorite days of the year!!

 

When I came home Friday late afternoon I saw that my navy map print had arrived!

I ordered this print with some of my bday money from my parents and I put it in

this frame that I bought on super clearance from Hobby Lobby months ago.

Only the frame didn't come with backing or glass - my poor husband.

The print is still not hanging - weekend goals?

But it is up - just leaning against the wall (haha) and I love love love it. :)

 

Leslie, Noah and Zay were going to go to Austin's school play with us, but

Zay got in trouble at school so only Noah came.

He was the scarecrow in Wizard of Oz.

In my unbiased opinion - he was the star of the show. ;)

Connor really surprised us by watching the show the whole time!! :) 

 

After the show we played on the playground for awhile.

Noah is a monkey bar STAR.

Connor loved the slide. 

 

After that Connor chassed the geese in the parking lot and then it was off to dinner.

We took Nana out to dinner to celebrate Mother's Day and gave her our pictures that we had made of the boys for her.

Both these boys SERIOUSLY love their Nana.

 

Since it was a little late, Noah just stayed the night with us.

Connor was super happy to see his cousin Saturday morning.

 

Saturday afternoon we all went camping.

 

 And Sunday we came home, did laundry and rested.

I know Connor is super duper sleepy when he holds his chin up like this to watch TV.

 

And the next time I looked over - he was out at 4pm on the sofa. 

We decided that he felt a little warm and was probably sick.

Womp. Womp.

 

Monday Cecil stayed home with him.

 

 Tuesday I thought he was feeling better so I took him to school.

Almost immediately I got this dreaded text from Connor's teacher.

 

We headed to the doctor and they said he had a sinus infection.

 

Connor fell asleep on the way home so I went to the bank and got money for my Mexico trip.

I sent my girlfriends this picture showing what a tipping baller I was. LOL

 

We got home and Connor slowly stuffed his face full of popcorn for lunch.

 

I really love the snuggles, but I hate how exhausted and wiped out he seems when he is sick.

 

Look at this sweet face. He just wanted to lay on me all day. :(

 

Well, Tuesday night our power went out and I had to pack for M-E-X-I-C-O in the dark and pray my phone wouldn't die and my alarm would go off.

 

My girlfriends picked me up at 4:45 for our 7am flight. :)

I felt like I was leaving Cecil at the worst time -

Connor was sick and we had no power

Oh well!!! I was headed to Mexico! :)

 

 They decided to spend Wednesday night at Leslie's since power was still off and they didn't have an update. Leslie sent me this picture of Connor with Snapchat filters.

 

Meanwhile......my girls and I were having fun on the Mexican beach!

  

And at a pool foam party - it was a crazy fun trip! :)

  

Apparently the power came on sometime on Tuesday and I got this picture Tuesday evening.

 

Friday Cecil got off work early and took Connor to the park in his new wagon.

 

 

I know it is hard to see, but I immediately could tell Connor was crying/pouting here.

Cecil said he didn't want to pose for a picture. LOL

Its hard being one.

 

I always put Cecil to sleep so I was happy to have Cecil report that Connor went

to bed just fine without me. :)

 

Then Cecil sent me my favorite picture of the week.

Aren't my boys the cutest??

Love them.

 

I'll be back later to recap the rest of May.

My trip to The Magnolia Market

Today I'm going to recap my trip to the Magnolia Market.

I was pretty excited.

 

 My sweet sweet friend Michelle and I met up in Waco, Texas on a Friday for a

kid-free girls day. :)

I had looked forward to this day for weeks.

 

 

Our first stop: MAGNOLIA MARKET

 

Now it is safe to say that I had watched Fixer Upper more than Michelle,

but I think our little visit got her more hooked!

 

I had read a few blogs about Magnolia Market before our trip and had noted that

it gets crazy busy and there can even be a line to get into the store!

 

I was lucky enough to get there first and had some time to drive around looking for a parking spot.

Lots of people were parking along the streets, but I was able to just drive around twice and found a spot right by the silos. Please try not to be jealous of my 8 year old Altima.

 

There was one parking lot that was charging $10 for parking.

Now, I'm not sure if the Gaines own the lot or not, but I would

guess that it was just a lucky land owner that is taking full advantage

of the Gaines's booming businesses.

 

I simply walked across the street and this was the cute little store front of the Market.

I really like how they simplified the letters from the old store front.

 

This is a picture in front of the old store. 

We never got to go inside the old store, but we took this picture last year when we were driving home from Austin. The store was closed  so we just got a picture outside.

womp. womp.

 

There was this sign out front of the store showing that they received

the Business of the Month award.

I think that sign should say Business of the Year(s). 

Magnolia has brought new life to Waco.

Especially in light of the most recent news, Magnolia is the most

exciting thing happening in Waco right now.

 

Now, when I first heard of 'The Silo Project' as the Gaines refer to it, I

had thought that the store would be inside the silos.

Not the case.

The store is opposite of the silos and they are building up lots of other exciting things all

over the grounds.

 

Upon entering I saw this cute lemonade stand set up.

The attendant was on a break, but I immediately fell in love with the

combination of the bright colors and black & white stripes.

 

I was waiting on Michelle to arrive, so I wondered around the grounds

for a bit and took some pictures.

This is the view in front of the silos.

It was set up sort of like a stage, but for now just had picnic tables on it.

Can we all agree those planters are beautiful and the greenery is luscious?

Did you notice the old style of lettering?

 

On the other side of the silos sat this

precious bench.  Isn't it the sweetest?

 

I wandered around The Garden area. There is a little shop with that is almost open. In fact I saw Joanna post an instagram picture this weekend of her & her sister working on it.

 

This is the picture that I took while we were there.

 

And the best picture I could get of the goodies on the inside of the Seed & Supply Store.

 

Outside the Seed & Supply store were the most beautiful raised gardens

 

 

 

Look at this sweet little fairy garden. Michelle said her oldest daughter would LOVE it.

I guess its the new thing. ;)

 

In the corner was an adorable teepee with the cutest

little mushroom seats you ever did see.

 

 

Across from the garden area are these picnic tables with those gorgeous

black & white striped coverings.

There are food trucks to the right (west) of this photo.

 

Between the picnic tables and the grass area are these swings. Its all very industrial looking.

 

 

The big grass area is definitely the heart of the grounds.

It was right in the center

I was having a major inspiration moment with the bright green and black & white stripes.

 

Here is another view of the big green grassy area directly in front of the silos.

 

Michelle got there soon after me and we took a #selfie

in front of those silos.

 

We decided we were ready to venture into the store.

We did not have a line at all, but there were lots of people in the store.

I imagine it gets even more crowded on Saturday.

 

Outside the shop is an old mailbox and I thought it was too cute not to snap a picture of.

 

Right when you walk in there is this beautiful display by the door.

  

We decided that we loved how everything in the store was simple, but beautiful.

Industrial, but soft.

Rustic, but modern.

 

One display had egg crates cut up, painted, and hung in lines.

It was really simple, but the result was quite pretty.

 I took these pictures to show how crowded the store was.

There were people all around, but you could still move and not bump into anyone.

However, Michelle and I agreed, we could not imagine taking a stroller or a toddler in there.

 

 

My favorite product in the Market was the florals.

I didn't buy any tulips in particular, but I did buy a couple stems of greenery and I LOVE them.

They are much better quality than anything I could find at Hobby Lobby.

They were a little pricey, but I think totally worth it.

I am going to do another post on the items I bought at Magnolia.

  

This was Chip's corner.

I love that bright green, black & white combo again.

To the left of Chip's corner there were steps that led you down to another showroom.

 

I spoke to an employee and she said there are six sections of the store

and there are 1-3 employees for each section.

Their sole responsibility is to restock their section continually.

 

From the lower showroom I could peek into 'the back' of the store.

You can see the door is open and something is being delivered. :)

These things M.O.V.E.

 

Michelle talked me out of buying a $95 wreath.

We stopped ourselves from buying a $26 candle.

All in all, I think we both spent between $100 - $150 and really love everything we got.

I think there were some things that were overpriced, but some things that were very reasonable.

 

We went back to the front showroom and saw this sweet display.

Again, simple and beautiful.

 

Right by the checkout area was this table with a few marble trays.

Right there I decided I wanted to do my next project

(kitchen, nursery, party, anything) in

Green and black & white stripes.

Gorgeous, right?

 

I didn't buy the marble tray because it doesn't match anything I have,

so I'm just going to have to adore it from afar for now.

 

Michelle and I checked out and went outside to sit on those adorable chairs.

We watched kids play yard games and snacked on a couple crapes from a food truck.

Most importantly, we were able to talk and catch up.

We spent at least an hour just relaxing and enjoying the nice weather.

 

When our shade started disappearing we decided to head out, but first I went back

inside the store to get Cecil a hat (because I knew he was sad I went without him).

When I was walking out I saw Joanna's mom coming in to work. :)

I love that they have kept it a family business.

 

  

Our second stop: HARP DESIGN CO 

Michelle loaded up in my car and we headed to Harp Design Co.

I had actually wanted to pick up a Vine & Branches sign and I had heard they were sold there.

Unfortunately, they were not selling them at the time. :(

 

Clint Harp is the carpenter that is featured on Fixer Upper.

His pieces look BEAUTIFUL.

He has a little store on the front of his shop.

And next door.....is his house that was on Fixer Upper.

Now I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I'm going to guess The Harps already owned this property and we didn't really need to go through looking at 3 houses on their episode.

 

 

 In the store, there were lots of cute things. It was similar to the style of items sold at Magnolia, but less industrial and more modern, maybe. (maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about)

 

 I saw this sweet basket that was carved from a log and wanted to show Cecil.

 

Also we saw these photo displays and we though we could make them with

kiddos this summer for a little craft. The twin was literally just stapled to the back.

 

  

Our third stop: HOMESTEAD CAFE

 

After I dropped Michelle back off at her car we both headed to Homestead Café for lunch.

There was a little line and we just sat out on the patio and talked.

I really needed a day with my best friend.

It was really nice outside and I definitely think we will do this little Waco meet up again.

 

We ate a delicious lunch, had some dessert, and then went to visit The Homestead Market - spoiler alert: it is literally just a grocery store. LOL

We stopped at the feed store and cheese place before loading up and heading home to our babies.

 

It was such a fun day and one I hope we can press repeat on in a couple months!! :)

Seriously.