William is 11 Months!

Yea!  WBA is 11 Months Old on March 11th!

His likes: food, walking holding your fingers or hand, pushing carts or walkers, sitting up and playing with blocks or things that make noise, shakers, bobbing his head, hitting his hands on the table, having Lydia make him laugh, rolling over in his crib, taking his socks off, being outside, wearing hats, watching Harley or any dog, bathtime, playing in the water, people watching

His dislikes: teething, not being able to walk all the time, dry itchy skin, not eating, extra long car rides over 2 hours, not being on a nap schedule (as well as his Momma)

He has really grown up this past month.  He's rolling all over in his crib and getting on all fours.  He's not crawling but he is standing up and pushing carts on his own.  He is scooting around in a circle on his bum to get to toys.  He's reaching as far as he can to get what he wants or rolls over to get what he wants.  We think he will skip crawling and go straight to walking since he likes it so much.  He can walk holding on one hand and has pretty good balance.  He could walk all day if our backs didn't hurt so much holding his hands.

He's also making different noises and sounds with his mouth.  He can say Momma and DaDa when asked about us.  I think he says Ya Ya for Lydia and when we ask where Harley is, he looks right at her.  He is waving and blowing kisses but hasn't clapped yet.  We are working on the clapping.  He likes to clap objects/toys together though.  He smiles a lot and gets really excited and jumps or bobs his head.  He's still such a joy to be around and always seems happy (when his teeth don't hurt).  We all love our William Blair!

I've Become a Minimalist...Yes, that's right

So my New Year's resolution is to clean out and get organized and de-stress.  I started reading books about minimizing my "stuff" and it got a little deeper than I ever thought.  It has been eye-opening for me and truly has de-stressed my mind and life.  I've loved cleaning out the house of all the things I just don't use and was either holding on to for "emergencies", "someday", "maybe I'll use it..." or "I've used it once before and might need it again."
It's amazing how much stuff I have accumulated through the years and how much stuff I haven't used in years.  I've kept everything that brings me joy, that I use often, that I absolutely need and that my family needs.  Everything else I've donated, given away, recycled and as a last resort, thrown away.  I've tried very hard not to throw away anything unless I can't find another way to get rid of it.  Many items are very useful and will be used by someone else instead of being stuck in the corner of a closet or on the top of a shelf not being used by me.  They might as well be given to someone who will use it for what it should be used for.
The hardest part is figuring out what to do with mementos or items that are from my childhood that don't really do anything for me anymore.  What will I do with all my girl scout badges?  With my trophies?  With my items that have been boxed away with no where to go buy another box? With my stuffed animals?  With my blankets?  With the stuff I can't let my own children use, I've taken pictures of it and put the pictures in a binder and then said a quick thank you to the items and good-bye and gotten rid of them.

I have a new vision of gift giving, receiving, clothes purchasing, knick-knack buying, souvenir searching, book displaying, item keeping, etc.  If it doesn't give you joy or have a special purpose that is a "need", then I don't need it.  Having clear counters and empty drawers and less furniture and clean and organized cabinets really does make me happy and stress-free.  I like that feeling a lot!  Everything has a place and purpose now.  It's been easier to clean, find things, put things away and even organize.  Even after the bathroom remodel, it was so much easier moving back into our room since I had minimized everything in the house before we started the work.

The books I've been reading about becoming a minimalist have said it takes a good 6 months to really clean out your life and you only have to do it once because then it's easier to keep up with then it is to mess up.  So far I'm almost 1/2 through the 6 months and I feel really good about it, especially since I went through a remodel in the middle of it all.

Here's the picture of my girl scout badges and memorabilia:
Really - what was I going to do with this now?  Where would I put this?  After I go, what would my kids do with it?  Then what?  It was always be in a box in the garage or attic or in the back of a closet.  But now that I have a picture of it and it's posted, I'll always be able to revert back to it here and easily!

New Master Bath!!!!

Yes, after 7 years we are finally getting a beautiful new master bathroom.  Many might remember my dream of a new master bathroom and my dedication to start the remodel and my powerpoint presentation to Blair with animation and everything a few years back.  I dropped it after losing the battle and didn't mention it again.  Blair is the one that mentioned it this time and I happily jumped right on board with what I wanted it to look like and the design and feel I wanted it to have.  It was a 2 week project going on 4.5 weeks as we speak.  I'm hoping today is the last day with the glass shower install and the marble re-work (yes, re-work).  But it was all worth the 3 weeks sleeping on the couch.  It's gorgeous and a huge transformation.  Night and day!

Before:

After: