graciousness

grateful I know Jesus.
grateful He changed me.
grateful for my husband.
grateful God changed him.
grateful for our baby.
grateful for our family and our friends.

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your love and mercy.

Remind me daily that just because this world is full of awfulness,
of sin,
of hurt,
of sickness...

that You are still here.

You are in control.

Help me to be more Christ-like daily.
Let Your will in my life be done.
Forgive me when I fall short.
And thank You for humbling me.

Amen.

lil bit of....a catch up

hello all!

Kie is currently down for his late afternoon nap--so I'm using this time not so wisely to catch up on my blogging.  Ah but it is so cathartic for me!

This past weekend we held a party for our friends and family.  It was a party JUST BECAUSE!  Mainly though we have been MIA all summer long working on the house.  So it was nice to finally see some good friends we haven't seen in nearly a year.  It's amazing how FAST life goes when you have a little one.

All my family was in town.  Including my older brother, my beautiful sister-in-law and their two precious babes.  Also my dad came over early Saturday morning to help me prep the food since Justin  had to work. 

I am so sad we didn't get ANY pictures of the party.  We had around 30 guest show up.  And we had a WONDERFUL menu.

We had ice cream pina colada punch (if you want the recipe for any of this message me and I'll gladly give it to you!)  homemade cold shrimp dip, shrimp-chicken-pineapples and veggies skewers, lemon creme pie bites, homemade hot lobster crab dip, spinach and artichoke dip and an array of other finger foods.

It was delicious! 

As for this week--we have been trying out different baby gyms for Kie to attend.  We went to My Little Gym and My Gym.  I am so pleased to watch Kie interact with all the many things there is to do.  He is already so athletic.  (He gets that from his mama and his dad).  His dad is a natural at everything he does.  And I'm pretty nimble myself.

Kie was able to do a couple of pull ups on the gym bar.  He did some handstands--AND he did a BACKHAND SPRING!  (assisted of course).  But he never is scared and he just does it!  He is a brave boy!

I am debating which class to put him in.  He's also pretty young so I may hold off until he's a year old--which is just a few months away.

Speaking of-I'm trying to gather thoughts/ideas for his f i r s t  b i r t h d a y .  I won't be going all out and spending thousands.  It will be a family affair.  But I will be making the gist of the party food and decorations.

Alright-I guess I need to wrap this up.  I have a house to clean and laundry to fold. 

But I'll leave you with some pictures from this week and some pictures of Kie's room (nursery) that I promised in the previous blog.  

If anyone wants to share some ideas for a first birthday theme--I'd love to hear them!  Thanks in advance!

Oh and also we are leaving this weekend for a getaway! We rented a cabin on Lake Buchanan at Willow Point Resort.  We're excited to go since we've never been!    Alright seriously wrapping this up now.  

Until next time,

-HK-

Ruth Elle, Kie and Granny Ruth on our evening cruise

lemon pie cake bites with lime zest

part of our spread at the party (minus the skewers)

blurry but J getting some air

sexy husband

stuck under the chair

Kie's nursery

the newspaper from the day Kie was born....yes I love the headline! And Kie's canvas.  And his pet "crab" that his daddy had to get him at the beach.  And my old teddy bear piggy bank when I was little. And his foot and hand print. 

Kie's book shelf--and his closet

I love his little personalized book shelf!  (From One Step Ahead) It's perfect height so Kie can "pick" out his favorite books to read.  And great storage for his puzzles and movies in the drawers.

changing station with white wicker basket and denim covers (that can be changed out in case next baby is a girl).

Kie's chair where we nurse every night and before nap time.  

Barcelona chair (creme leather-so comfy!) with his quilt and a PB pillow.

the only pictures Justin has of him and his father when he was little.

sorry for messy bed he just got out of it!  Pottery Barn Kids bedding

my funky painting I did for his room
(we didn't want a theme but I loved all the primary colors--the beach and the stars)

close up of the other shelf---
Tony Romo helmet (signed by Tony), a picture from my old nursery "Train up a child in the way they should go.",  baby picture when we found out it was a BOY, special stuffed animals from family, a maternity shot, a Blue Angel jet from our first family vacation, his first baby photo books, his name from our friend Sarah Carter and a plate that says "Home is where Mom is."

also you may notice the very colorful wakeboard suspended over the window.  Daddy J has high hopes Kie will fall in love with his favorite sport!

some pictures are a lot alike! Sorry for repeats.
Anyway that's it! Hope you enjoyed :)
Sorry for the picture overload.

-HK-

Lord guide me....

sooooo much to say!!!!

And I need to be reminded how I'm a Christian woman.

I want to say some MEAN MEAN THINGS.

I want to stand up for my marriage and tell people HOW IT IS!

But what am I to do?

What good is it if I really say how I feel?  Does that really get you anywhere?  If I let myself go uncensored.  (Yes I DO censor because I don't curse).  But what if I really said what I wanted to say?

Even on my own blog I feel the need to be censored.

ARGH.

I need some advice right now.

So ladies, let's say you want to stand up for your marriage because other's try to tamper it.  Be it jealous ex wives, ex girlfriends, family, in laws, OUT LAWS, friends, family?

What do you do?

Do you tell it like it is?

Do you hold it in and be lady-like?

Are you being Christ-like?

I know Christ got mad when He was a man, but I don't think he'd waste one second on stuff like this.

Lord Jesus, be with me.  Hold my tongue.  Calm my anger.  Calm my heart.  Be with me.  Hold me.  Love me and show me to love like You.

I feel I'll be praying for awhile tonight.

-HK-

Living Room Remodel REVEAL!!

So our living room has been officially redone for over a week or so--BUT I'm just NOW POSTING.

I hope you enjoy!! It was a lot of hard work, sweat, time and love! And I'm very pleased with the outcome!
It's functional, fun, comfortable and a bit funky.  I'm posting the awful, brown BEFORE pictures....and the after---are down below.

brown, brown and MORE brown

it was like a bear's den

oh yes and the ceiling...

baby things galore

check out the carpet

.....

AND 

NOW 

THE 

A F T E R

 P H O T O S ! ! ! 

those yellow and red cushioned ottomans can be pulled out and used for additional seating

on our ottoman...Old key and a WWII book.  That would be my German husband's.  

b&w framed art work that represents both our loves--
mine being all things France/Europe--
his being all things mechanical (the WWII plane)
and then a cariacture drawing we got at Kaitlin's wedding that represents us both!

Love these pillows--the one of the far left I ordered at the Etsy shop JolieMarche
She's got some great stuff and can customize some of her designs like mine.
"K" Est. 2010 (wedding date)

the pillow in the middle is also from JolieMarche on Etsy.

I painted this piece.

I love little details-these are the knobs on the doors.
They are of an ancient map of the world.

we also added this backsplash of tile to our bar and extended it to have a little breakfast/bar area

comfy and cozy...and inviting. 
Perfect for reading, watching movies or blogging.

breakfast/bar area

I love the exposed beams and wood floors.

seating pillows tossed on the floors for extra seats for friends--and for Kie to crawl over.

That is it, friends and family! I'm very pleased with the everything.
The living room before was big and had no function and a lot of wasted space.  And not to mention everything was BROWN--and the lovely brown shag carpet.  But now it's cozy-light, airy and filled with our favorite things.  I cannot tell you HOW happy this room has made me and our family.  I also have to give credit-where credit is due.  My wonderful handy husband put in all the hardwood floors, tile, helped paint and put in all the baseboards, new blinds, new doors, new bar and fixtures. Also my brilliant aunt helped me out a lot in the layout and design.  She has GREAT taste and a great eye!  Additionally, I have another 3 areas I want to show on the next blog.  Our front porch/yard got a facelift--our back patio and Kie's nursery!

I've been so busy with life lately I haven't blogged in awhile.  But I'll bring everyone up to speed soon!

Until next time!!


-HK-