{This Moment}

{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment in time. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Our Kitchen

When we moved into our house, the kitchen had rose wallpaper in it.  It is a big kitchen but not our style. 

So, when we moved in, we painted all the doors, cabinets and trim white instead of the natural wood.  We painted the rest of our house in neutral colors so I wanted a fun color in the kitchen. I choose green. I thought it was fun and it made me smile for the first few months but after a while, I got REALLY tired of it. 

Its a fun green (I don't remember the color) but I really wanted something more neutral and that would reflect the light that we have coming through the windows. 

JJ & I spent about a month discussing colors and decided we wanted a gray. A true gray. No blue gray or beige gray. Well, we had a very hard time finding what we wanted. 

Everything looked pretty normal on the swatch but as soon as we got them on the wall, they become crazy colors! Like that Tucker Gray from Benjamin Moore (second from the left). That looked like a dark gray and then we get it in our kitchen and it is blue. I know that we are putting them on top of green, but you get the idea. 

After a long time of looking at and talking about colors we settled on Revere Pewter from Benjamin Moore. 

Saturday we primed the wall. JJ really didn't want to but I told him that putting gray on top of green would require a lot of coats if we didn't prime.  We primed in the morning and then spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching football (FSU won!). 

Sunday we had plans to go to church, go to my cousins birthday party and then paint afterwards. Well, the kids had other plans. Both kids woke up and decided that was the day they were going to act out. Then, JJ had an allergy attack and I thought that I had pinkeye. So... we ditched all of our plans and stayed home. To distract myself from the kids and keep my hands away from my eyes, we decided to paint the gray. 

I am so happy with the outcome. The kitchen feels brighter and bigger. After we finished painting is when JJ decided to let me know that he HATED the green the whole 4 years we had it on the walls. Why did he wait that long!!!!

Anyway... our kitchen is painted and we could not be happier. 

Now on to paint H's room white and our room Navy. 

Happy Wednesday!

Kelly

H-isms Part 2

H has his good days and his bad days but man, those good times make all the bad times totally worth it. 

When A was born, we decided for me to stay home with H because he was slightly delayed in speech and I could work with him all day long and give him that one-on-one attention that he couldn't get in daycare. It amazes me how much his speech his grown in the last 10 months. He was barely saying 1 word and now he is consistently putting 5-6 word sentences together.  Some of the stuff he says makes me laugh and just amazes me. 

Now that he is in school, he has grown by leaps and bounds. The other day, we were on our way to church and H told me (out of the blue) "new carpet at school." It had been 3 days since he had been to school and it amazed me that he remembered it and wanted to share with me. 

H is learning and discovering new stuff all the time and I don't want to forget any of it. 

Every day when I pick H up from school, I ask him what he did, did he make any new friends, what their names were, and if he had fun. H almost always responds with "No!" He does not seem to want to talk about school when he leaves. He has never mentioned any other kids other than to say that he played with kids. Yesterday, on the way to school, H asked "Harper school today?"  He has never spoken about another kid or even acknowledged that he has learned other kids names. I can't wait to share with Harper's mom that her daughter is the first kid that H learned the name of. 

I have also learned to watch what I say around H. Evidently, every time that JJ needed to take a shower after working in the yard, I would tell H that JJ was nasty.  So, now, every time anyone (me, JJ, NiNi or Poppa) go to take a shower, H gets this pained look on his face and says "Nasty... So & So is Nasty."

Our neighbor has put some Woodpecker boxes on their trees. It is great because Woodpeckers love them and you can hear the pecking all over the neighborhood. For some reason, H won't say "Woodpecker" so whenever he hears woodpeckers he shouts "Hookpecker!!!!!" Cracks me up every time. 

I hope you have a great Tuesday. 

Kelly

H's new bed!!

A few weeks ago JJ & I decided that H was just getting too old for his toddler bed. He just wasn't sleeping well in the toddler bed anymore. We chalked that up to a toddler/baby mattress and the fact that he just didn't feel comfortable in that bed anymore. 

Mom and Dad had one of my grandfathers, Gramps, old bunk beds. They gave one of the beds away so we only have 1 but JJ & I loved the idea of H's first big boy bed was slept in my the grandfather that he is named after. 

Bed bed was originally made by my great-grandfather in a natural wood. When my sister got it, it was painted white. 

I am extremely tired of the paint in H's room so I want to paint his room white. Since I want to paint his room white, I don't want the bed to also be white. So, we decided to paint it Navy (Naval by Sherwin Williams by be exact). 

I like the way that it turned! I love the anchor detail on the headboard. Since the room is white and the bed is navy, we might do a naval theme at some point. 

We bought animal sheets and a comforter from Target. We put H in the bed a couple of weeks ago and only had one little incident. The first night, H woke up scared. I chalked it up to to waking up to a new surrounding and not having the security of the sides of the bed. 

See.... we need to paint his room

We plan for JJ to build another bed so that we will have a twin set. The bed is pretty simply designed so I think that my handyman husband will be able to build a great bed. 

It was a shock for me to put my first born in a real bed... a bed that he will sleep in for years!! It scares me how fast he is growing up but I love to watch him grow up and see the joy he gets on his face to call that bed his. 

{This Moment}

{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment in time. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Happy Friday!

Kelly

So... I dropped off the face of the earth after labor day. Our life has been extremely normal. There isn't much going on but I am going to do my best to get back on this blogging train ASAP.

Thank you for your patience. 

Verily Magazine

The other day Verily Magazine arrived in my mailbox. I had never heard of this magazine but was very excited to read it just based on the article titles on the cover. 

Turns out that JJ had heard about it from a tweet by Samantha Ponder and decided that it would be a nice surprise for me. And it was!

Verily features articles that are made to "uplift women" and help women "be the best they can be". I think that it was founded by some catholic women but the articles didn't appear to be faith based or overly catholic (of which I am not). 

I have only received 1 issue but love the format and the styling of the magazine. The magazine is broken up into different sections. They have style, relationships, lifestyle, culture and also a feature article. 

One of the things that I really like about the magazine is at the beginning of each section there is a noteworthy page where they just do a little blurb about a few things that are in style or are making their way to being in vogue in that section. In the noteworthy page of the Culture section, I learned about the new BBC show Hollow Crown that is going to start in September. I can not wait for it! I do not think that I would have heard about a BBC show in Cosmo or Vogue. 

All of the articles are insightful and really speak to every day life. The models don't appear to be too touched up or wearing clothes are so ridiculously expensive that I couldn't afford it even if I saved for a year. I really enjoyed the style article on mixing patterns and how to best do that with what you have.  I have actually already created an outfit based off what I read in the article. 

I was pleasantly surprised by this and can't wait for the next issue. There are 6 issues a year so it will be a while till the next one comes but luckily I have quite a few articles to read until it does. 

Have you ever heard of or read Verily Magazine?  If not, check out the link. 

KK

**** I was in no way compensated for this feature. I just received the magazine as a surprise from my husband and liked it so much that I wanted to share it! ****

{This Moment} & a Favorite

{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment in time. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

I recently stumbled upon this video by Sara Bareilles and I love the song and the video. I used to "Kelly Dance" in high school to embarass my sister and this reminds me of that dancing. 

I leave you with this video to start your weekend. Enjoy!



Kelly

College Football season officially starts today!!!

 

Actually, it starts today!!! We will pause while you try to contain your excitement like me....

This is my favorite day of the year!  College football is something I wait for with bated breath since the last season ended. 

Now, I will admit that I am also a girl who can't wait for season to end.  About half way through the season, my beloved Seminoles will break my heart. They will lose a game they had in their hands, they will make some awful play calls, or they just won't play up to their potential. At this point, I will be tired of my whole weekend revolving around what game came on when. I will be tired of not being able to talk about anything else.

But, until that time comes, I am jumping out of my skin waiting for 6 pm when UNC takes on South Carolina. 

Here are 5 reasons that I love College Football Season.

1. The Enthusiasm:
These boys don't (technically) play for money. They play for love of the game and put their heart and soul into these games. They get so excited when they make a big play.

2. The Colors.
Ok, so clearly I am a little partial to my Garnet & Gold but there are other great team colors. I love Carolina Blue or Michigans Blue & Maize. I am such a college football fan, that I pretty much associate colors with teams and colleges. 

3. The Boys
Oh, the boys. I know that they are about 10 years younger than me by now but man, there are some attractive boys that make watching the game a little more enjoyable. 

4. The tailgates 
I don't even think I need to explain the fun of drinking and eating with 50,000 of your closest friends right before your team plays. 

5. Sheer pleasure I get from watching.
I love watching the hard hits. It goes against everything I feel as a mother, but man, I love to watch a guy lay another guy out. I know kinda understand the attraction of the gladiators in Rome. 

I love watching a good play over and over again. No matter the team, it amazes me the things these young guys can do. They are very athletically talented. 

Also, I really watching the underdog win. To feel their amazement and joy at what they just pulled off and to watch them celebrate as a team is great!

No matter what team you are routing for this season, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!

What team are you routing for or excited to see play?

Happy College Football season!

KK

A is 10 months old!!

A Cakes is 10 months old! She has grown by leaps and bounds this month and it close to walking. This blows my mind because H crawled for 2-3 months before even making attempts to pull himself up or walk. 

H started school this past week which has been great for A & I. We actually get to spend a few house just the 2 of us on a consistent basis. I am really treasuring this time because I was not home with H while he was young so I was not the one to work with him on crawling and talking during the week. I am really just enjoying getting to know the day to day of her personality and watching that change. 

Weight: 17 lbs and 1 oz so she has gained a few ounces this past month.

Sleep: She continues to sleep through the night! She is a great sleeper. The other day I put her down to sleep and she wasn't tired. I stood outside her door for a few minutes and watched her crawl around the crib, stand up and try to reach things. It amazed me that she wasn't crying. She entertained herself until she was ready for bed. H is almost 3 and still cries every night. 

Talking: The usual Mama and Dada but I don't see it directed at either JJ or I purposefully yet. 

Teeth: No new teeth. I think another top tooth is starting to make its way down because she is drooling a lot but it hasn't shown itself yet. 

Eating: She still prefers the stage 2 baby food. I have been pretty lazy and the only solid food I have given her is bread. I plan on working on that this month.   

Right or Left handed: Pretty much only uses her right hand. 

Eye Color: Still blue. Pretty sure they are staying a deep blue with some hazel around the pupil. 

Crawling: Last weekend she started to finally crawl off her stomach and within a day was pulling herself up and walking along couches and tables. My mom says that I didn't crawl long and I can see A walking soon because she does not like to be left out. 

Nicknames: A Cakes, Baby (thanks to H), and Anns BaDans (thanks to my neice C) and now Strahan Jr because of the Strahan like gap between her front teeth

Bestfriends: She still idolizes H. If he thinks that something is funny she is laughing right along with him.  Darby (our dog) is also her favorite. Oh man, if Darby comes anywhere near her, she gets the biggest smile and laughs. 

Darby & H are definitely going to be the first things that she really walks to.

She and H have started to play together more and I love watching him actually pay attention to her and have fun with her. I think that they will be good friends. 

Personality: She is very particular. I have watched her look through a whole box of legos just to get one specific lego. It blows my mind that at 10 months she knows what she is looking for and will look until she finds it. 

She is becoming very specific with the toys she plays with. 

She is starting to love music. Any song that is played she moves her feet and when it ends she will try to sing. She has discovered a recorder and loves to play it. 

She is my little love bug and I can't wait to spend more time with her. 

I hope you have a great Wednesday!

KK

{This Moment}

{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment in time. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

First Day of School: The Aftermath

Ok. So the Aftermath sounded a little extreme. 

H had a fantastic first day at school! I knew he would be OK since he would be going to my Moms preschool so if he got too upset, she would be there to make sure that he was OK and comforted. 

I didn't realize how much I would miss him. We had orientation after dropping him off so I only had about an hour and a half to kill between the end of orientation and when I had to pick him up.  A and I just came home and kinda walked around in a daze. Pick up time is noon for the 2 year old program.  I was so excited to see H and hear about his day that I left the house at 11:30 and was one of the first 10 cars. I was so giddy to see him and hear all that happened to him in the 3 hours since I had left him. 

As soon as I saw his smiling face I knew it was going to be a good year. They put him in the car in the pick up circle and then we go back to buckle the kids in. I am a little proud of this but the first thing that H said was "buckle. buckle. buckle!" He was so freaked out that he was not buckled in. It was really kinda cute. 

On the way home when I asked about his day, he let me know that he played on the playground with a dump truck but one of the wheels was broken. I told him that I would mention it to NiNi and maybe she could fix it. He just shook his head and said "No. Broken."

The 2 year old program also eat lunch at 11 so that when you pick them up they aren't cranky. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that I had packed H's lunch for the first time on Tuesday night. So, one of the first things I asked is if he enjoyed eating his lunch out of a lunchbox. He let me know that he had to eat his grapes with his hands. Evidently this really offended him because he next proclaimed "pack fork!" So, I am to pack forks for his grapes.... talk about high maintenance. 

He also learned that you do not play on the elevated, stage area. One boy went up there and H just could not understand why he would do that when they told the kids not to. 

As soon as we got home, he crashed and slept for 2 hours. He woke up and was still tired. All he wanted to do was lay on the floor and watch Toy Story. I try not to let him watch too much TV but I knew how stimulating this morning was for him so I figured resting was a good thing. 

I am very excited for what the year has to bring for my little man. I am excited to see the friends he makes. I am excited to show him how wonderful his art creations are and I am excited to see how he grows. Clearly, I am on cloud 9 right now with how the day went. No one cried and everyone had fun. Win-Win.

His backpack is almost as big as he is but he loves it!!

OK. Gushing done. Did your kids start school? Did they have a great day?  

I am off to have a girls night. Margaritas and Mexican food to celebrate my first back to school as a stay at home mom! I hope your Thursday is as good as my Wednesday!

KK

H First Day of Preschool

Oh man, Oh man. My first born has started Preschool and could not be more excited about it. 

We went yesterday to meet his teacher. All morning long H kept asking "Meet teacher? Meet teacher?" As soon as we walked into the classroom, H just left my side and I didn't see him again until it was time to leave an hour later. 

H goes to the 2 year old class Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There are 18 kids in the class. 13 boys and 5 girls. I pray for the teacher and the 2 aids. That class is going to be crazy. 

H already knows a few of the kids from Sunday School but didn't seem to really recognize them in the new setting.  He didn't care. He was having a ball. 

Today was his first day of school. I don't know who was more excited, me or H!

Clearly, H dressed himself. I was going to switch his shirt around but I loved that his collar was popped and the shirt was on backwards. I knew that JJ & I would treasure this picture of the real H at this moment than the one that I put together. 

I only stayed in the room for 15 minutes to socialize with the other parents and make sure that he remembered where the bathroom was. H was too cool for me. He immediately put a baby in a shopping cart (I am assuming like I do with A) and went about his business. 

After he had the shopping cart and baby in order he went and sat down to "breakfast" with some new friends.  I love the freedom that kids have. There didn't seem to be any worries of whether someone would like them. All 4 of these kids just plopped themselves down at the table and pretended to eat together. 

As soon as I saw this, I knew that he was OK and A & I left to start our own adventure. 

So far it has been a quiet morning. A keeps crawling around the living room playing with whatever toy she wanted and laughing. I think that she was really enjoying being an only child for a few hours. I know that once this gets more routine she will miss him more but right now she is loving not having her toys taken away from her and I am enjoying a few minutes of quiet. 

As much as A and I are enjoying ourselves, I will admit that I can't wait to pick up my little man and hear about all his day had to offer for him. 

We have entered a new era and I think we are all going to enjoy it!

I hope that your Wednesday is as good as mine (and H's)!

KK

On my mind today

H was a holy terror yesterday. I blame it on the end of summer and his desperate need to start school ASAP (which happens tomorrow). 

He started the day whining for his new toy rotation box to be taken out. I let him know that the new toys would be out after quiet time. That answer did not satisfy him so he went into our bedroom and asked JJ to get the toys out! That is the first time that he has done that and it blew. my. mind.  Next he wanted to take a walk. I let him know that we would go out after A woke up from her morning nap. So, he proceeded to close all the doors in the house, very loudly, and then yell down the hall about what he was doing in the bathroom. Amazingly enough, this didn't wake A up so he decided to cry and call out for Daddy until she finally did wake up. Then, he proceeded to spend the whole morning keeping all toys away from A. He would take toys out of her hand and at one point he took her hands out from under her to keep her from getting to a toy he wanted to play with.

Right before lunch he asked me to take the top off his water bottle so he could drink it like a big boy. I took it off and turn around 2 seconds later and he has spilled water all over the table (books, my phone, the laptop, etc) in his attempt to immediately put the top back on.  At this point, I flipped my lid. 

My patience was shot from dealing with his antics all morning that I could not handle it. I yelled at him and made him get a towel to clean it up and took his cup away. I didn't comfort him as he cried. I just hardened my heart and went about getting lunch together. In an effort to calm down, I opened Bloglovin to catch up on my blogs and saw this:

This was a slap in the face/heart. It completely spoke to me at the exact moment that I needed it. I don't know which blog posted this (for some reason I couldn't find it again) but this was what I needed. 

While H had spent the morning wearing down my patience, I had spent the morning breaking my son when I didn't respond with understanding or compassion. 

H is only 2 years old. Every thing and every day is an adventure. Every thing is a game. Very rarely is he intentionally bad or mean. This morning, he was annoying most of the time but only mean once. And yet, I treated him like he was purposefully mean and being bad. He doesn't always understand why I am mad so when I react the ways that I was, it was slowly breaking and hurting my gentle-hearted little boy. 

Just realizing that (and typing it now) makes me cry. I love his adventuresome spirit and loving heart but I was not celebrating it when I was yelling at him. I was potentially hardening his heart and I don't want to do that. 

So, I have printed out the above image and put it on my bathroom mirror. I have decided to start my day reading it. It is good for me to remember that "Sorry" doesn't always fix everything. 

So, that is where my head is at today. Is this a reminder that you need? Did this help you in anyway?

I hope that you have a great Tuesday!

KK

Currently Coveting (School Edition)

School is starting back for us on Wendesday. This is my first year with a kid in school (preschool) and I was super excited to get him his first backpack and lunchbox. 

I looked around for backpacks and wanted something that would last him a few years (durability) and that he wouldn't get tired of (not liking spiderman, etc). We decided on the Pottery Barn Fairfax backpack stripped in green & blue (his favorite colors). I opted not to get a patch on it because I figure that he will outgrow and change his mind on the patch.  JJ & I also opted not to get it monogrammed. We are totally those people who think that our children are super cool and attractive and assume that other people would want them. We feel that if H doesn't have his name on his backpack it will be harder for them to steal him. 

I got his the above lunchbox. This goes against my whole "not outgrowing thing" but it was so cute how could I pass it up. H loves Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and bulldozers so I know that he will be pretty excited to carry his lunch in this.  I am super pumped to give it to him. 

Now, I like to dress him preppy. I am sure that he will hate it someday but while I have control over it, I am going to make him as preppy as I think JJ can handle. J Crew kids is one of my favorites. I rarely buy their clothes because H is one messy kid and I think that $50 for a pair of jeans that he will most likely ruin by snack time isn't worth it yet. But, that being said, now that he is in school I am going to splurge every once in a while. 

J Crew Boys - Back to School by kellykeitzer featuring polo shirts

Polo shirt
factory.jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' slub pocket tee
jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' Stanton short in garment-dyed chino
jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' stripe cotton cardigan
jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' long-sleeve slub pocket tee
jcrew.com

J.Crew Kids' Sperry Top-Sider® for crewcuts Authentic Original...
jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' vintage cord in straight fit
jcrew.com




These are the things that I am loving and can't wait to use.

What are you excited to have your kids use at school this year? Anything that I missed that you think H needs?

KK

{This Moment}

{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment in time. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Happy Friday y'all!

KK

It's {almost} Fall Y'all!!!!

Ok. So, it really isn't almost fall in Florida. It is hot as Hades (93 degrees in the morning) but a girl can dream. 

I do stand in the shade and think "you can almost smell fall in the air". JJ thinks that I am crazy and has asked once or twice how much I have had to drink.  But, I swear, at certain times of the day, if the breeze is blowing and you stand in the shade, you can tell that fall is coming. Some of our trees are already changing color and dropping their leaves! As soon as I see that I start to think that the weather is going to get cooler. 

Fall is the best season! Hands down, bar-none, cross my heart, fall would be crowned king if there was royalty in seasons. Fall means outdoor fires, chill in the air, and college football (14 days sucka!!!). 

Nothing warms my heart than college football. FSU football to be more specific but I will watch almost any game. One of JJ & my first days (during round 2) was to an FSU game so we love watching football together. H has started saying "Go Noles" to everything! He wants to cheers with his milk and when you do he says "Go Noles!". Warms my little heat when he does that. 

Now, along with football season comes boiled peanuts and seasonal beer. Sam Adams Octoberfest is by far my favorite seasonal beer. I am clearly not alone because as soon as Publix gets it in, it sells out.  They put it on the shelves on Monday morning and by Wednesday morning (when I went to get it) there was only 1 case left. You had better believe that I snatched that right up. 

Another good thing about fall? Clothes just make everyone look better. A cute sweater and a pair of jeans with boots? I will take that over shorts and a tank top any day. 

So, what are you looking forward to about fall?

KK