boys boys boys.

well, it's no secret that i was a bit sad, last may, when i found out i was not having a girl.

and, well, it's no secret that it only took me a couple days to be stoked that i was having a boy.

and actually, now it's sort of a dream of mine to have all boys, or at least a bunch of them.

and since mr leif is gone to canada fishing this week, i waste lots of time late at night on the computer........and thus, i stumbled upon a couple confirmations,

HERE

and

HERE

of why, yes, i do want boys, boys, boys.

and speaking of the ashleyann. she's going to help me NO LONGER SNAP FROM THE GREEN SQUARE!! pumped.

so what's roman up to?

well guys, glad you asked!

the little dizzle turned 9 months on july 13th.

of course, as i mentioned in an earlier post, he rang in that glorious 9 month bday with a whopping double ear infection......but.......moving on.

2 days prior to his glorious appointment revealing that both of his ears were, in fact, massively "infected" i brought my little dude down to a quaint little artsy fartsy neighborhood, westport.

despite the fact that it was 100 degrees outside, and he had ear infections that i didn't know about yet.......he was a trooper, and totally took on westport in total domination.

roman can SO work the camera.

watch out GQ.

but let me not keep blabbering on.

here's the deets on my romy rome dizzle dog:

9 months = 22.6 pounds / 28.5 inches, ringing in at the 75th and 50th percentiles respectively.

i suppose i can relax now.

he's........what they call in the hospital when they're referring to newborns, "thriving".

good. whew. roman, you have survived 9 months of being on this crazy planet. with your crazy momma :)

so, what are your new tricks?

well.......let me dive in.

you spent your 8th month crawling like a man on a mission.

your eye caught something? BAM! and you're off to attack it (attack=lick or bite it)

but crawling isn't the only thing you've got up your sleeve.

you've added pulling up to the mix.

you stand at the book shelf, you stand at the couch,

you stand at the chairs, and when you fall i say ouch!

you stand at the pantry, you stand at the window,

you stand in your crib, and in our bed on the pillow!

(i totally just busted out a song for you there folks)

food is going better, although most of your 8th month was a struggle.

what i've realized is.......you like me to change it up once in a while.

i mean, you actually didn't like spaghetti 5 meals in a row with the same veggies and fruit.

i mean, you actually want to try different things once in a while.......

who woulda thought????

pshhhhhh.

so, now? you're into new foods.

you prefer something different at each meal.

i'm hoping to get into some sort of 7 or 8 day rotation, so there's a week in between eating the same thing again.......i'm hoping it seems "new" for you again :)

good news?

you loved broccoli today.

can i get a hip hip???

HOORAY!

roman, you're totally scared of little toddlers.

especially if they get up in ur grill.

and especially if they want to hug and kiss you (ahemmmmm cousin charlotte)

you'd rather be left alone

you'd rather watch toddlers from a distance

you'd rather not have to interact.

because.........

if you do?

you scream the most "i'm so scared, i'm so scared, help, help, help" cry EVER.

and,

it breaks my heart.

lately, i've been asking, "how did I, someone SO SOCIAL, end up with such a anxious kid when it comes to being with other children?!?!?!" it doesn't seem possible.

however, i'm embracing it.

i think it's just a phase.

but if not?

we'll raise little roman to be a strong, yet humble, quiet leader.

(who says he has to be the loudest one in the bunch, i mean, not all of my offspring have to resemble their mother.......a few of them CAN be like their father.......i guess.........hehe)

mr leif and i are already predicting our next child will be a boy, and will be the exact opposite. so basically, a little terror who isn't afraid of anything, thus we've already tentatively named him Rocco.

Roman, the humble, quiet, smart and strong one.......

Rocco, the crazy, wild, loud, and daring one......

wow, i just went off on an imaginary second child tangent.

where were we?

oh yes, roman, our only child, is 9 months.

9 months OLD!!!!!

which means his next milestone is 1 YEAR OLD!!!

mini seizure.

so roman is having some slight issues being around toddlers, unless they keep their distance or don't mess with him, but he seems to have no issues with big kids and babies, hmm?

oh well.

we love him like crazy.

our little dude pretty much always could use a haircut.

as soon as we cut it, it grows.

i sort of want the shag look, but it's awkward right now, so i am not sure i can wait it out.

we may hit up the barber again.

however, he still allows me to put hair products in it. amen.

but what he does NOT allow us to do is dress him.

he hates,

let me say it again, he HATES getting clothes on.

you might be in the other room and while he is getting dressed think that he just fell out of bed or something, yep, he screams that bad.

and he also strongly dislikes getting his diaper changed.

let's face it, romonster prefers to be completely nakey.

it seems as if he's pushed his bedtime back a bit, but we definitely don't have a night owl on our hands......

he's gone from the 7/7:30 bedtime, to now in the last couple weeks, more like 8/8:30

but don't fret.

roman is still rising regularly between 5-6am.

not only is he quite the sleep champ during the nights, but daily he prefers 3 naps.

i'm just waiting for him to drop a nap.........but the kid loves to sleep, and he loves his crib.

it's a win win.

and i know there will be days ahead where i'm fighting him so bad to get him to take a nap, so cherish these naps i will!

oh my, i'm going into major boring details, aren't i.

well, truth is, i'm using this blog as a rough draft to make his one year photo book on shutterfly, so i've got to document this silly stuff somewhere to remember it.

k?

k!

i've completely stopped nursing.

although it was weird to accept, i'm totally in a good place with it.

we made it 8 months.

and he's doing great on 5 bottles a day of enfamil gentlease :)

oh yah, puffs and yogurt melts?

devours them every time.

hmmm........anything else i'm missing???

oh yes,

roman......you are now a pro patty-caker, so-bigger, and waver.

you're practically a magician with those three tricks.

and you love books.

yay!

whooooofta.

that was long and random.

but all in all...........

i love this little guy like crazy.

and i know he loves me back because just this week he's reached stage 10 clinger.

we're talking, momma don't put me down, and momma don't you dare walk out of the room, and momma can't i just sit you you every 3 minutes between switching toys all day long?

yep, stage 10.

(but i don't mind)

if only i could get him to muster out a "maa-maa-maa", because ALL day long it's, "DAAA-DAAA-DAAAA" (to which i love to reply, daa-daa's at work, i'm momma!!!..........but he just snaps back with daa-daa........vicious cycle, folks.)

oh yeah.

one more thing.

he loves to stick his tongue out.

i proudly taught him that AND we practice it EVERY day.

because, i think it's cute.

a woman who fears the lord.

how do i become a woman who fears the lord? here's a start......

a little from proverbs 31......

First, a woman who fears the Lord is not anxious about the future. Look at verse 25. I love this line, and I praise all you women who are like this: "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come." Satan dangles in front of her the specter of tomorrow's troubles, but she glances up at the almighty God at her right hand and laughs at Satan's folly. (this is huge for me......i've been torn up for the past weeks with trying to control my future, as i begin another school year and all anxieties that come with being a working mom.......)

Second, the woman who fears the Lord has practical wisdom. Verse 26, "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." We've been taught from grade school on that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10), so it's no surprise that the woman who fears the Lord "opens her mouth with wisdom." (this is also huge for me.........is what comes from my tongue of value???)

Third, the woman who fears the Lord is strong. Verse 25, "Strength and dignity are her clothing." Verse 17, "She girds her loins with strength and makes her arms strong." She will be morally strong. Proverbs 23:17 says, "Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day." The woman who continues in the fear of the Lord will have power to resist all the allurements to envy, to desire what she shouldn't have. (another biggie.......jealousy. it's so ugly, yet so easy........)

Fourth, a woman who fears the Lord will live not for herself alone but for others, especially her husband, if she is married. Verses 11, 12, "The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm all the days of her life." A woman who fears the Lord will not squander the family's livelihood on frivolous purchases, but will have the complete trust of her husband because she is for him and not against him. (again, another hard one to swallow as i fight my daily struggle with control......)

i hope this inspired you, as it did me :)

livin' it up.

it's raining? don't let that get you down.........just play with the string that raises and lowers the blinds!! it's perfect to whip around in circles.......duh!!!

why sit around and play, when you can stand up with the support of anything in your path!!! duh!!! standing is totally the cool thing to do these days.

if there is anything in your reach, even if it's moms camera, cell phone, or especially the computer.......grab for it!!! as fast as you can, especially when mom's not looking!!!!

duh!! anything techy is better than my toys.

when it's hot out, like 100 degrees hot......go to the pool with momma!!
and then play in the fountains.
duh!!!! it's always better if you stick your face right into the water!!

after you're done swimming, a snack is the best thing ever!!

duh!! lounge in the stroller while mom pushes you home!!!

throw your carrots around everywhere!! duh!!! why would you want to eat them anyways??!!

lunch.

i have to constantly keep the trashcan clean,

because roman loves to lick it.

gross?

i know.

but he sees his reflection, gets all excited, crawls closer, and then licks......

yeah, it's gross, but i do wipe it down multiple times a day now :)

besides, while he's busy making out with the trash can,

i can make my lunch.

this has been my go-to lunch lately.

mmmmmm, cucumber/lettuce/red pepper/banana pepper/pickle/swiss cheese/red onion/red wine vinegar/oil sandwich.

crunch crunch.

wanna bite?

working on our guest room...

i've been trying to transform what is an over packed, awkwardly shaped storage room/guest room/office.........into a more organized and logical, quaint storage room/guest room/office.

here's a peek, for now.

and, remember this table that was redone a couple weeks ago?

it's in there too :)

i suppose i will post the finished room, once it's complete........ and, well.....that could be a while :)

double wubble what??

romy had a double ear infection :(

...

roman noodle doodle has now had three doses of his antibiotics.

he's a new kid i tell ya!

back to babbling all sorts of noises.

back to exploring.

back to smiling and giggling.

we're on the mend,

and i couldn't be more relieved :)

how did i not know we had an electric sander?

i'm a sucker for garage sales.

when thursday roles around during summer, street corners are filled with garage sale signs.

but, you've got to be picky.

so, i typically hit up the nice neighborhoods.

those are the houses that buy way too many clothes for their kids, thus resulting in none of them being very worn out, thus resulting in me buying them for romes.

babygap galore. because babygap is like the walmart for rich people when it comes to buying their kids' clothes. and it also happens to be my favorite style of boys clothes out there :)

(other than mini boden....but when i walk by that at nordstroms, my wallet instantly puts a padlock around itself, mr leif's orders)

however.

when you are looking for a fun furniture project?

don't go to them.

go the opposite direction.

you want something sort of old-looking, and you want to spend notverymuch money on it.

i bring you this end table.

it was being sold for $20, I got it for $10 :)

solid, not a scratch on it, sturdy, drawer works great!
but, it's been in my garage for a month now, because i've been dreading the sanding process.

so this weekend, on saturday,

i finally went out and bought some sort of spraypaint that claims there is no sanding or priming needed.

i get home, all pumped to attack this table......

and mr leif proudly declares, "we have an electric sander you could just use. it will only take a couple minutes to get the top layer off"

well heck, yah, mr leif!

i'm in.

turns out, i took out any frustrations of the day, errrrr, week on the sanding portion of the project and just sanded the crap outta this thing.

no top layer only for this girl.

i was sanding for a good 20 minutes or so :)

next up, i went to town with the spray paint.

i could have just painted it with regular paint and a brush, i suppose.

but....i already had bought the spray paint.

so that was step one on saturday.

sand, and wipe off = 30 minutes

paint = 15 minutes

...

sunday afternoon came.

and i was very pleased with how things were rolling along.

however, we were not pleased with our current drainage issue in the kitchen sink.

so, i was off to home depot to kill two birds, with one stone...how cliche, i know.

cute knobs, that mr leif said home depot sells, and drain stuff.

i wanted something colorful, but not too bright.

something that was in the blues/greens/yellows....

for the knobs.

drain stuff? check!

knobs? no. nothing other than plain nasty silver, gold, metallic, chromish ones at the depot.

hmmmph.

so.....it just happens to be that anthro is less then 10 minutes from my house.

needless to say, i took the "long way" home and quickly stopped there to pick up these cute knobbies :)

and.........wallah!

here it is!!

and last night, while i was rearranging our guest room, i came across this cute little guy that came with an etsy purchase i made almost two years ago.

so now our guests will have a nifty little table with a sweet little quote on top.

now.....don't all jump at once, but WHO WANTS TO COME VISIT, AND STAY IN OUR GUEST ROOM?!?!

this weekend is booked already :)

yep.

she's comin to town :)

a four step, DIY. (doesn't get easier then this, friends!)

when i first stumbled upon the cute idea below, i thought to myself, hmmmm, now that's something i can do, and i can do it fast.

i mean, i love projects......but when their steps out-number the amount of supplies you need, my adhd brain gets antsy.

this one was quick, painless, and quite easy.

(and my aunt joan was here, and she may or may not have done most of the glueing while i was playing DJ on pandora and serving everyone boulevard wheats with lemon)

for the deets:

supplies - canvas, fabric, hot glue gun, tissue paper

now, hobby lobby doesn't have the best selection of fabric and tissue paper, but i was pleased with my picks :)

1. cover your canvas with your fabric (and hot glue it down on the backside)

2. cut your tissue papers into about 4x4 inch squares, fold them in half, then in half again, and then make a little ice cream cone like thing and cut the edges into a round shaped half moon thingy. (didn't make sense? go here!)

3. glue the tips of your flower stems onto your canvas to make your letter! cool! or maybe you're making a number?! cool too.

"L" for LEIF, get it?!!!

ok, one more picture.

happiness.

i think it comes and goes in this life, happiness that is.

we have seasons of sadness, jealousy, anxiety, worry,

but then it comes,

the seasons of happiness. of joy. of rest.

i'm in that season right now, the happiness one.

i wake up to my son. my happy son, standing up in his crib.

i feed him, we play, he naps...sometimes i nap with him.

we go on walks, we have snacks, we snuggle, we giggle.

he falls and bumps his head, i scoop him up with hugs and kisses.

i stick out my tongue, he sticks his out, back at me.

we count down until daddy gets home, and greet him with hugs and laughter.

we're in such a good place.

i've longed for a simple life, for a while.....

i spent a year with mr leif working in a different city.

during that year, i was pregnant.

we had roman.

and then i went back to work last semester, it was brutal.

new infant,

working outside the home,

finishing grad school.

.........i thought there was no end.

but there was. i can breathe.

there's hard times, and then there's rest.

in seasons of distress and grief,

my soul has often found relief

and oft escaped the tempter's snare

by they return, sweet hour of prayer.

yes, prayer has gotten me through,

and although i'm tempted to skip that part of my routine now,

you know, now that things are good,

i've enjoy praying in thankfulness.

my prayers aren't being offered up by a tired, worn-out new momma.

nope, they've been full of thankfulness, of joy.

yes, we did get stranded in a paddle boat.

they say nebraska is the "good life"

well, it's true.

a couple weeks ago, we made the trek north.

to a place we still call home.

to a place that makes us wonder, "will this be our home again someday?"

to a place where our family greets us with open arms.

to a place where our friends live. friends we'll have for a lifetime.

we didn't waste anytime upon waking up that first morning.

romedizzle was off...... exploring grammy abbi's house.

matter of fact, he was exploring so hard,

he very quickly needed a nap.....but not before having the typical silly stint in his crib, first. duh?! gigglehead.

he woke to grammy's puppy.

of whom he fell deeply in love with.

a puppy? really?

to say the least, mr leif and i aren't really big animal fans......

moving on...

we wasted no time.

we were off to soak up the country living.....outside we go.

we were off to the trampoline.

why is it that these moments,

the simplest ones,

are the best ones?

being a mother is beautiful. so is being a wife.

i love our little family.

although we still want lots of kids....someday.....

if i could freeze time right now, i would.

i would, just us three. i would.

after our time bouncing, (yes, the romester spit up a few times.....)

we walked down to the pond.

someone was quite excited,

can you guess who?

we hopped in the paddle boat,

and we had our own little tour guide!

and, if you look close, you'll notice romy's face.

it's a slight hint at the direction our little adventure took, and quick.

you see, while nebraska is definitely the "good life", it could likewise be nicknamed, the

"windy life"

and for those of you who have paddled your way around a pond in a paddle boat, you'll know that wind is not necessarily your bff.

and in this case?

the wind and our boat? totally on the verge of a huge breakup.

because, well.....

we couldn't get back to the dock.

we tried.

mr leif and i were peddling as HARD. AS. WE. COULD. peddle.

my legs were burning.

but we couldn't make it back....

so, here we are.

stranded on the other side of the pond.

with a baby who i just knew would poop his pants or something to that sort.

but he never did.

nope.

so, we tied up the boat.

and made the long trek back home.

romes in tow.

he was a trooper.

it was fun.

good clean fun, folks!

but after a jaunt through the field on a hot nebraska summer day.

one must cool off.

CANNON BALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

splash.

thanks for the floaty grammy!

and a trip back home to see family wouldn't be complete without a little cookout :)

my mom and bother came out to visit us (or was it just for roman?! hehe)

little roman sure does love his uncle donavan :)

and while bud was on baby duty?

i took in the sunset.

the calm nebraska country air.

and the beauty of my love, and his little brother hitting up the pavement, basketball style.

while it's been years since i've watched mr leif tear it up on the court.....

it seemed like just yesterday i was in the bleachers cheering my crush on :)

and you know what? he's still got it.

and the next morning?

they took their game to the pool.

wet n wild style.

with their number one fan, off to the side, not to miss a moment of the action :)

hi mom.

can i have a snack?

this is fun!

i'm havin' a blast!

can we stay forever?!

i know romes, this is as good as it gets, little love :)

thanks for a fun time uncle colton!

and you too grammy abbi :)

MOM!!!! i'm nakey!!!! you can't put this on your blog!!!!