Hold still and stop crying, Mommy wants a photo.

With our anniversary and Casey's birthday only a week apart every year, the challenge always becomes how to adequately celebrate both. 

One of the many ways we're a good fit is that neither of us are really hot for birthdays.  We kinda just skip them - a nice card, a nice meal, a happy birthday, now let us never speak of this aging thing again.  Except, this one was THE BIG ONE for Casey.  His first "official," grown up birthday. 

And so I planned a little trip.

Five (and also four) years ago, we got married in Vail, which is one of the most astoundingly, breath-takingly beautiful places on Earth to visit in the fall, and it seemed only natural that we celebrate our two milestones here.  

It didn't disappoint. 

I wish I could bottle the emotions that are evoked for me in this particular place.  The first year we were there, newlyweds of only a handful of hours, I remember taking it all in and thinking: I need better words. The smell of that crisp mountain air, tinged with the richness of the falling leaves, a hint of some far-off fire warding off the chill and something delectable cooking in one of any dozen mind-blowing restaurants; you guys, it's heaven on Earth.

And the colors.  Oooooh, the colors.

Pictures just don't do it justice.  The bright golds.  Dazzling reds.  Deep greens.  Sigh.  I could wrap up and swim in their warmth and grace.  

Of course, reality, however well disguised or even suspended, always returns.  Once you're a parent, reality is never very far away, and there are always a few reminders of the intervening years that have past since we were glowy newlyweds.  

For example...

...I just wanted a picture of my darling, beloved littles crossing this bridge.  Because I was pretty sure that if I could get it, it would be good.  Like really, really good.

But reality.  Darn you, reality.

So... that happened.  So much for my lovely, sweet happy-siblings-on-a-bridge picture.  Eat your heart out, Norman Rockwell.  Or rollover in your grave, whichever comes first.

  We even tried again the next night: 

I call it: "Everybody scream while I try to do something nice for the family."  Classic.

That face right there pretty much sums up Logan's feelings about the trip.

Poor kid.  Life is rough when you're Logan.  People kept asking me what's wrong? and is he sick? and how can we help? and the answer is... well... he's just Logan. Life's either hilarious and awesome or completely abysmal.  A trip to Vail was obviously the latter.

I got a few good ones of Leah:

 She only melted a few times, a nice balance to Brother's complete 24/7 teary freak out (usually to fill the silence during his few happy periods, but who's keeping track?).

Despite all of this, we had a lovely time.  The scenery was fabulous, and even though there were definitely moments where we struggled, we just adore these two.  It was a wonderful time out from our regular life.  Even when the baby pooped on the floor.  Yep.

One year Housiversary tour

Hello friends!

I am so excited today to be able to give you a little tour of all the work we've been doing here in our little corner of the universe.  Grab a cup of coffee and a comfy spot on the couch, because here we go...

Welcome to our home!!!!!  We mowed the lawn just for you!!

If you're new around here, the story on our sweet little home is that we closed on the same day we came home from the hospital with our second baby.  And, because we're masochists, to say that it wasn't "move-in ready" would be like saying Kim Kardashian put on a little weight during her pregnancy.  Um... can we say understatement?  It had nothing but giant messes and long to-do lists from floor to ceiling, in ever single nook and cranny.

To give you some perspective, Casey spent the first two weeks of our new son's life installing floors to even make it livable, because our new house didn't have any.

Believe me when I tell you: It was baaaaaddd.  

So when you see the following photos, please remember how far we've come!  We're only one year in, and because of a really tough delivery and the fact that newborns demand a lot of love, care and attention (darn them!), we didn't even get started with any fixing up projects until January. 

First up: The Entry

All the wood throughout the house was original and in terrible shape.  The entry boasted a gigantic mirror - like 10 feet tall - that created a trippy who's that in front of me? effect when you walked in the front door.  This was the first room we started our home remodel.  

Today:

All the moldings got a fresh coat of white, as did the railings.  We pulled off the baseboards throughout the house; we haven't exactly gotten around to putting them back yet.  

So much better than a 10x8 mirror!

A little Logan photo bomb before we move on.  He was very helpful to the picture taking process, in case you're wondering.  I have such helpful children.

Someone had cut all the blinds, so they would go down but fall apart after that.  We've replaced blinds on every single window throughout the house.  Yowza.

And today:

There were a lot of colors happening in this room before - a yellow/beige, a dark brown, and then blue in the dining room.  You can get a little taste for how all that intersected.  And, the paint was shiny.  Not sheen shiny, it actually had glitter in it.  Little, sparkly nuggets, like a Stephanie Meyer vampire.  Ick.

Then:

Now:

As you can see, we haven't yet pulled out the big ladder to address the really high stuff.  Once that happens, this room will get some high molding to cover the seam and the color from the dining room will come across that partial wall all the way to the ceiling.  

And today:

After:

Our favorite room in the house!  You can read all about this transformation here and here.

That grey fireplace, dark wood, wooden mantel.  And, of course, who could do without the sparkly yellow/beige paint?  What a great room! 

Today:

First step was painting that mantel, and taking out the hearth underneath That sucker had to go in the name of avoiding bumps and cuts by small children who don't pay attention to where they put their feet.

It looks like we haven't done a ton of work in this room, but honestly there's been a lot of work to even get it into fighting shape. A lighter color on the walls, new blinds, new entertainment system... now we can layer in all the other stuff that will take it to the next level.

Casey installed those lights, and lights around the entertainment system, because this room was in complete darkness.

Moving upstairs...

The purple room!  Floor to ceiling - including the ceiling! - purple.  Of course, the first thing I did was to spill paint on our brand new carpet while painting the ceiling.  Go figure.

Today:

I have to admit that I'm not overly thrilled with how this room turned out.  It was the very first room we did, because I wanted Logan to be able to move into a completed room when he was about 3 months old.  I think I needed to live with the space before trying to decorate it, but cest la vie.

Notice it's still not quite done?  Yeah... Logan will be moving out sometime in the next 6-9 months, so it seemed silly to invest a ton of time in this space.  We'll see what happens with it when we get around to #3.

Leah's room doesn't really have any befores... more like durings.

Ahhh, good times.  Like 8 days postpartum.  

Now:

Again, this space will likely be changing in the next year, because Leah has decided that she wants to live with Logan.  Stay tuned... I see a bunk bed in our future.  

Last and totally least, my least favorite room in the house:

The pink room.  Shudder. 

Today:

Ahhh, that's better!

We haven't even touched the master bedroom; it's currently the home of anything and everything junk-related that didn't have another place to live.  Including several boxes that are only partially unpacked - a year later.  Being on top of things is really important to us here in our house.

So there it is!  Our home, and a year's worth of fixing up.  There is certainly more work to do, but we love the way our home is coming along!  We'll post some additional information in a while, but please feel free to let us know if you have any questions in the mean time.

Thanks for checking us out!