{where do I start?}

So many updates to share...

Both of the boys have learned how to wave! I guess only a parent can understand how amazing it is to see those little brains figure out these things. Ben's wave is seriously perfect, while Landon is doing the wave at myself thing which is adorable. Ben also learned how to shake his head. Not really sure when that started, but now it is to the point that you can just say his name and he will do it. Yesterday he did a simultaneous head shake + wave which was hilarious.

Pic of Ben waving...not nearly as good as the real thing. :)


Landon has also started in the past week or so flicking his fingers over his lips and making noises...not sure how else to describe it but hopefully you get what I mean. It is so stinking cute. The funniest thing is when he goes from his newly learned wave right into the lip flicking. When he does that I just want to grab him up and kiss him all over.

We got Direct TV installed over the weekend and so far we really love it. Pausing live TV and having DVR = awesome.

Got a few more things done around the house. Not nearly as much as I would have liked, but progress is progress, right?! Dan mowed the yard for the first time and it looks so nice. It is so exciting to have a wonderful yard to enjoy. Mother-in-law and I were outside looking at all of the plants we have and there are so many...lilac bushes, peonies (can't wait to see what color they are), lots of hostas, tulips, iris...the previous owners did a great job landscaping. There is even a concrete birdbath with a squirrel on it...now if that isn't perfect for me I don't know what is!

Here are a few pics of the back yard that I took yesterday and of our view out the living room windows. It is so peaceful. I can't wait until the trees are all in bloom.








And on a personal note I'm feeling much more settled in the house and not missing the old house nearly as much. The convenience of the new house is really making up for the things I missed about the old house. I'm glad that first week is over!

And I'm much more rested today after a weekend of good sleep! After weeks and weeks of sleepless nights up with Ben, we decided to try letting him "cry it out" this weekend. I was nervous about this...it is so hard to listen to your baby cry like that. But I'm happy to report that night #1 included only about 10 minutes of crying followed by a couple middle of the night pacifier retrievals. And last night was about the same. I think Ben is learning that we aren't going to spoil him anymore. Smart boy. :)

Speaking of sleep...here are our bedrooms in progress. I need to hand all of our artwork and decorate, but the main things are in place. It is hard to photograph Ben's room because of the size, but you get the idea. I can't wait for his curtain fabric to come in!

Ben's room: He got one of the dressers we used to have in our master bedroom. And his Ben Harper poster is sitting in the corner waiting to be hung...





Landon's room - almost a carbon copy of their old nursery. The curtains were a perfect fit on the new windows and I had to use the same paint color...just love it too much.

The bookcase was my grandparents. I'm thinking of painting it white or a fun color and putting patterned paper in the background.


And of course the cute cabinet looks right at home...



And the master: we "stole" the boys' IKEA dresser for our room since we had to downsize to one dresser and it holds a lot more. I love how our curtains were a perfect fit and I can't wait to get the artwork hung over the bed. The tree print is from Walmart of all places!





Still a lot of random things to be put away...


Whew! That was quite an update. Hope everyone had a great weekend and your Monday is off to a great start!