Hardwood Floors ~ A Love/Hate Relationship

As some of you may or may not have noticed in the pictures I've posted of our house in the past..we have hardwood flooring.  Now..when we first moved here (and first looked at the house before we bought it)..I was totally ecstatic about the idea of having hardwood flooring everywhere.  The house we lived in before we moved here (before I began blogging) was a rental house.  And there was carpet. 

EVERYWHERE. 

Even the bathroom. 

Yuck. 

We ended up ripping it out a couple years before we moved out because you combine bathroom carpet with a toliet that overflows once and you get the picture.  No offense to anyone reading who may have carpet in the bathroom..its just not for us!! 

But anyways..lately I feel like I've had a love/hate relationship with our floors.  There are things I love about it (no steam cleaning like you have to do with carpets...plus its just plain pretty!)..and things I hate (mopping, sweeping, every piece of dirt showing up, plus you can't lay on the floor and watch tv like you can with soft carpet!). 

Anyone else go through this same problem?

Lately, I've gotten a very strong urge to redo our flooring in our master bath.  It has hardwood floors as well but not the same type as is in the majority of the house.  Its the lightest color of flooring you can buy (I've looked at Home Depot).  It shows dirt HORRIBLY well and I can't stand it.  Even after I've cleaned the floors in there, it still looks dirty.  This is a sample of what shade of flooring is currently in there.

(natural maple)

This is what I'd like to have.



(brazilian tigerwood)

~or~

(manchurian walnut)

~or~

(henna hickory)

You get the idea..something DARKER!  Damon tends to lean more towards something like this though...



(bronze random slate)

~or~

(tuscan stone bronze)

He likes the look of stone as you can see.  I like it too I must admit!  I don't know what we'll end up going with or when (hopefully sooner than later) because that floor in there now MUST go!  

What kind of flooring do you have in your bathroom and do you like it or wish you could change it?

2, 3 , and 4 Months Old!

I realized I haven't done any monthly posts of Makayla's birthdays since well..ever.  Bad blogger mommy!!  I actually started doing a 3 month one last month but never got around to posting it..so I'm just going to add to what I had started along with some pictures so you guys can see how much my little girl has grown!

My baby girl turned 3 months old last week!!  So exciting yet so hard to believe!  I remember when several of the other 'blog babies' as I like to call them, were turning 3 months and I hadn't even had Makayla yet!  Time is FLYING by but I love each stage that comes with it.  :-))  She's just started 'ooo-ing' and 'aaahh-ing' alot the past couple days.  She laughs but with no sound (if that makes sense), smiles ALL the time, loves bath time (especially if Daddy gets to give her one), is growing like a weed (11 pounds 11 ounces at her last doctor appointment), loves her bouncy chair, swing, slobbering, and is sleeping fairly decent most nights (though last night was an exception..hello 4:30 am!).  I am so proud and thankful each and every day for the gift that God has given me and Damon in Makayla.  I couldn't imagine life without her now and love her to pieces!  She is my sunshine!!

Makayla is NOW 4 months old (she turned 4 months on saturday) and she is such a joy as usual!  She regularly sleeps through the night now (a solid 7-9 hours I'd say) which I'm loving.  She's just started wearing 3/6 month clothing but not exclusively (she can still wear 0/3 month depending on the style) and can even wear a few 6 month onesies.  She's a long girl!!!  She started trying some rice cereal in her bottle at 3 1/2 months and loves it..has done fabulous with it!  And just in the past couple days we've experimented with baby food.  She seemed ready to give food a try to me cause she'd grab at my food..slobber when watching me eat (but not slobbering prior to)..and just seemed VERY interested.  Your talking about a baby who'd rather watch the Food Network than cartoons on most days!  A future chef??  She still loves bath time..laughing (I got a belly laugh out of her last night..a first!)..smiling..playing with her hands..talking..and much more.  She's just a happy baby.  This makes me a happy momma.  :-)  I can't imagine my life without her and she is just such a part of me I can't explain how happy she makes me.  I'm so happy I'm a mommy!!

Without further ado..here are some monthly shots of Makayla!

Makayla's Photo Book on Shutterfly

Thought I would share with you guys the photo book I recently made for Makayla!  It turned out great and I can't wait to get it in the mail!

Click here to view this photo book larger

What I've been up to..

• Making Shutterfly photo books (one for my pregnancy..one for Makayla)
• Decorating for fall
• Taking stroller walks w/my girl
• Pictures, pictures, and more pictures
• Enjoying the fall weather that seems to of come upon us
• Talking w/friends
• Being w/family
• Using my new pots and pans Damon bought me over the weekend
• Listening to my girl oooh and ahhh
• Cleaning (funny how having a baby can get you behind on that chore)
• Feeding my baby girl, cleaning diapers, loving on her.  Repeat

A Random Post...

My mind lately seems to be scattered between so many things that has been going on.  Thus a "random post" is in order. 

I've been starting to get my fall decorations up since the weekend.  Its coming..slowly but surely.  I can't help but think that this time last year I had just found out I was pregnant and was taking an easy while getting up my fall decor.  Now I have my little girl here with me.  So unreal to think about. 

Anyways, my kitchen theme for the fall is "amish".  If you know me at all, you know how much me and my hubby LOVE amish country in Ohio and the amish in general.  We even have a couple of amish friends we visit each time we are in that area.  I came to find out last week, that the lady (her name is Mary) learned she has cancer.  I don't know what type she has or any other details other than she has cancer.  Its odd, because (we do anyways) we think of the Amish as very healthy people.  If you've ever seen amish people before, you know what I mean.  They stay very active, can their own produce, live frugally, are very God-oriented.  So to learn that Mary has cancer was quite a shock.  I guess it goes to show you that cancer is not a respector of persons.  I pray that Mary has a good outcome, one that brings her many more years with her many family members and friends.

Speaking of 'respector of persons'..aren't you glad that God loves us..just as we are?  No matter our skin color, age, height, weight, what language we speak, or anything else, He loves us.  I am so glad that despite my flaws, God still cares about me..even when I may feel alone in this big world.  I'm glad I can go to Him anytime.  Every time my daughter smiles at me, I'm reminded of His love.  Its purely genuine.

Back to fall decorating.  As I've been making my way through our house to get up my decorations, I've realized just how dirty my house is!!  AHH!  I normally do spring cleaning every year (and I'm talking washing down walls, the whole nine yards) and since I was 7 + months preggo this past spring, it didn't get done for good reason.  I am now seeing how dirty my house can get without it being done!  So..along with putting up my decor, I've been trying to do some light cleaning too.  Purging of some junk.  ALOT of junk. 

Which brings me to my next topic (I know..this post is crazy)...I admit it...I am a magazine-aholic.  Like bad.  REALLY bad.  I had 3 totes and 2 garbage balls full of magazines that I threw out last night. 

*Ducks my head in shame*

I was up so late last night doing the cleaning and reorganizing, when I got up this morning and fed Makayla..I got myself a bowl of cereal afterwards.  I poured chocolate milk in it by accident.

And back to bed I went.

Where were you at 10 years ago today?

Funny how this question is asked so often when referring to 9/11 and almost anyone can tell you exactly where they were and exactly what they were doing..but not on any other date in 'history'.  I was a happy- go-lucky newlywed (we were married for 1 whole month) with not a care in the world when 9/11 happened. 

I had no idea what was going on until I talked to my mom on the phone and she had such concern in her voice and said, "Don't you know whats happening in NYC?"..I said, "No" and she said, "Turn on the tv, Mel".

I couldnt believe what I was seeing, and what was happening to our country.  The severity of it didn't really hit me until a few days later and it became very real to me.  Our country.."my" country..had been attacked. 

I will never forget.



Our Labor Day!

Our Labor Day weekend was a really fun one!  We made plans beforehand and went up in the northern part of WV.  We stayed at this resort I'd seen 10 years ago when we went in this area for our first vacation (right after we were married)..I fell in love with it when I saw it and always wanted to stay there ever since!  Well it didnt disappoint let me tell you!  The room was huge with a cathedral ceiling, fireplace, private deck, HUGE jacuzzi bathtub (I want to redo our master bath now!), king bed and couch!  Nice!!  We visted Blackwater Falls, Canaan Valley, Cass Railroad, and Seneca Rocks while we were in the area and had a blast!  Makayla did extremely well considering the time being in the car was longer than when we went to Amish Country in Ohio (I'm very thankful we rented a car for this trip..we put 700-800 miles on it..no kidding!).  When we came back home..we made a detour north and went into Maryland (it was just a couple miles out of the way)..just so we could say we'd been in the state! Here are some pics of our trip..enjoy!!

I'm being featured!

To those who are still following my blog..wanted to let y'all know I'm being featured today over at Callie's blog, Through Clouded Glass in her Moms and Babies feature!  Thanks for thinking of me Callie!!