HELLO SAN ANTONIO

If you follow me on instagram, then you may know that we are not in California and are enjoying the Texas heat. Well, kind of enjoying. I think it takes a bit of time to get used to this heat and humidity, though we do like that the sun is pretty much out until well after 9pm over here. 

The trip here is kind of special because it marks the 10 year anniversary of Ben bringing me home to Texas. It was 10 years ago he first brought me and we had just officially become boyfriend and girlfriend. We made the long trek, with his little cousin in tow, so I could get to know his family and attend his annual family reunion. During that visit, and after seeing him interact with his family, I knew that I loved this man. Maybe that part should be left for the continuation of our love story, so I won't go into too much details. 

Here we are 10 years later, back in San Antonio to spend time with his family and to attend his annual family reunion. This year it will be on his cousin's ranch, so the girls are especially excited for the hay rides and horses. Actually, I am too. We haven't been to the reunion since that first time I came to Texas and things have changed a lot now that we are married and have four kids in tow. 

There are so many memories attached to this city and different phases of our relationship that it is always good to come back. I love seeing all the trees here (I don't understand why California doesn't have very many), love the Tex-Mex food (oh man, we never find really good Mexican food in California like they have here), and love spending time with family. Every time we are here, we call it "laughter-noon" because we are always laughing and having a good time. San Antonio definitely equals good times. 

Any of you from or live in San Antonio, Texas? 

on me: shirt and skirt, thrifted and altered. necklace, homako. shoes, c/o modcloth.

HUZZAH!

When I look up at the sky, I am reminded of how small I actually am, how great God is, and how the world is so much bigger than me and my wants and needs. If I had the ability to pan out, I would see that I was barely a dot compared to the grandness of the entire universe. Barely a dot, imagine that. When I need a reality check of life, I look up. 

Learned and links...

I really am bad at praying. Ugh! It's such a cycle. 

Soul has been using the potty these past couple days! Thanks to my MIL getting started on the potty training. 

True and Brave are growing in their responsibility. 

Family and friends are so important. I am thankful for all those God has brought into our lives.

I really like Tex-Mex food. Oh boy yummy!!!

Mosquitos like me too much. Though I sure don't like them! 

We are excited about this weekend as we have Ben's annual family reunion! It's on a ranch, so there will be hay rides and horses and I just know the girls will be superly duperly excited about that. Happy weekending friends!!! 

SUMMER DAYS

Running around the house playing games and making messes are what summer has been about so far. It's a good life for these girls. And for some reason I tolerate the messes a bit better on the wood floor. Strange, I know. It looks better on wood than carpet. Watching these girls definitely make me wish I was a kid again. One of my favorite makes about these messes is the paper drawn chess set they made using their my little ponies as pawns. So cute! Love the creativity and resourcefulness that kids come up!

What have your summer days been filled with?

HUZZAH!

This week was a semi-normal week. Baseboards are still not in and we haven't had the time to put the knobs in the kitchen, but there was home-cooking and lots of cleaning with playing and creating thrown in for good measure. Ben and I also realized we need to work on talking to the kids more during dinnertime because sometimes we get so caught up in catching each other up on our day that True is like, "How come no one is talking to the kids?!" Must work on that.

Ben has been spending evenings tending the garden and the girls go out with him. Then they come in and bring me tons of flowers! I border telling them to stop picking at all my flowers and just letting them have fun picking to their hearts' content. I guess I can't complain much because I am at the receiving end of their flower picking and it is always nice to have fresh flowers inside. I am totally working on taking a chill pill and just stopping more often to smell the roses. Life's fast and you just gotta enjoy it!

Learned and links...

Soul is getting more and more to be a tough kiddie. I am nervous for her teenage years...

Listening to True and Brave's conversations are funny.

Thankful for sisters that come over so I can do errands.

Definitely want to make this. So cool.

Salt on art sounds fun. Totally wanna try this too.

Always love this ladies emails and encouragement.

Trying this soon for sure.

Want these shorts.

I am already loving my new camera. It's been about 6 years, so it is about time I upgraded. Dear Nikon D40... you have been so good to me!

We have some fun plans this coming week, so we can hardly wait for the weekend to get started. Ben's off so that fact alone just makes me excited. I like being with him everyday, all day. Well, except when I'm mad at him, but that doesn't happen too often. Enjoy your weekend!!!

HUZZAH!

The BFF sent an email demanding to know why I was MIA? I told her the next post would be good and by golly, I think this little animated gif is pretty darn good. What do you think? Glow really makes our days brighter!

We're loving our floors and Glow loves crawling on it. Our weekend was spent putting our kitchen back together and gardening. The kitchen is almost done, but not quite as we still have to get knobs in. I am loving it already and I have a few more changes I would like to do to it (ahem, subway tile), but I would like a break from construction before we dive into another. Anyone have white/grey subway tile in their kitchen? I am particularly curious on how well is does on the backsplash of the stove because I am wondering if it is a pain to maintain the grout? We are cookers over here, so the kitchen will be used a lot and it will get dirty. If anyone has any tips or suggestions regarding subway tile, I would love to hear it! This and this picture is my inspiration. 

Learned and links...

Glow loves drinking water from a bottle! None of my girls ever liked the bottle though. 

Soul's is one spunky kid. She goes from happy to mad in 0.5 seconds.

True officially finished kinder. 

Brave is excited about starting kinder.

I am not well-versed in brand name sunglasses, but I like these from the Sunglasses Shop, which is a new sponsor.

Just got these pants and I have a feeling I will live in them all summer.

And I may or may not have ordered this too. Oye!

Announced the Limi Ricki winner on twitter. Follow me here. 

Biggest lesson learned... God is always better than basketball. I'm on the fence on who to go for... Miami or OKC?! Ugh. Not a fan of both.

Can Monday really already be over?!! I have a feeling this week will fly by and I am kind of excited because we have some fun plans ahead.

HERE'S THE STORY

And I may lose some readers over this...

{circa 2005. my family all rallied together to show the spurs some support. they won the championship a month before we got married}

Yes, I was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, but I was raised by a serious anti-Laker fan. When my dad moved here from the Philippines when he was only 7, the first basketball game he ever watched was a Lakers-Celtics game. His family decided to be Laker fans, my dad, at the very young age, defied his family and became a Boston Celtics fan. I was raised a Laker hater.

Well, as a little girl I wanted to be a Boston Celtics cheerleader and I remember saving my monies to buy my dad a Larry Bird book at the school book fair. Then as a I grew older, I vowed to not marry a sports loving man because I got tired of my dad hogging the television when the games were on. It all changed when I met Ben. Ben is from San Antonio, Texas transplanted in southern California and he introduced me to the Spurs. As I fell in love with Ben, I fell in love with Spurs and basketball. I enjoyed watching basketball games and it stuck. In college, I used to even log into Spurs Talk to read all the discussions in the forums. The Spurs are such a classy organization and they were easy to fall in love with.

The fact that I was raised by an anti-Laker was a dream come true for Ben. For someone who detests them, but moved to a city of Angelenos, he kinda lucked out that he ended up marrying a girl who was raised under an anti-Laker. We're kind of rare commodity here in southern California. If I had been a Laker fan, that may have been a deal breaker for him.

Here we are. The Spurs went out on game 6. What makes this even tougher is that San Antonio won 20 straight. It was an unexpected season. Then to lose 4 straight games, it was an unexpected ending. That's how God planned it though. God knows better, right? As game 6 began to unravel and my stress levels increased because of the sadness that seemed to be imminent, the thought that stood out to me was that I don't even feel this heavy for God's kingdom. God's using these losses as heart checks for me.

We're sad over here. We sat in the dark as the game ended. Stunned in disbelief. We were so hopeful. Then Ben asked to cuddle (he's cute!) and he told me stories of when he was little and a huge Spurs fan in the 80's and about how much he loved the Spurs even when they were losing and not so great of a team and watched them grow into the great team they are. We gotta give it to OKC. They put up a good fight and won.

The girls were in bed and Ben had to break the news to them. True came out of her room and said, "Papi, I'm sad that there's not going to be a parade." She really wanted to go and we might have just made it out there for one.

Yeah, I know this isn't a basketball blog, but it's part of our family. The girls know all the players and we all get into it together. It's all part of creating memories together as a family. Now, we might need to move out of state to ensure that the girls don't marry Laker fans. That's gonna be a tough one though. What are the chances that all four girls marry anti-Laker fans? Hmm... not sure about that.

Now we wait to see who OKC will play. If you have been following this story, then you know who we will be rooting for. We don't like the Heat. We don't really want OKC to win because frankly, we don't care for Derek Fisher, so, come on Boston... let's do this! And now the basketball coverage will continue on with baby sister because she loves the Celtics just as much as we love the Spurs.

Good job Spurs! We still love you!!! #gospursgo

HUZZAH!

White. I just want white, but why is it so hard to decide which white for kitchen cabinets?! Ugh! There's dove white, ultra white, pale bloom, whisper white, swiss coffee, and the list goes on. The above was swiss coffee, which I was thinking wasn't white enough for me that I wanted to switch to dove white, but dove white looked pretty much the same. It took me 5 hours to figure that out. Though I did decide to change from satin finish to semi-gloss. The satin just looked too dull and I am thinking a bit more shine will reflect more light and be brighter. I like brighter. I hate the fact that I get completely obsessed with these details. Anyhow, let's hope life can now go on. There are much more important things after all. 

Last week was a blur. We moved back in, still don't have baseboards, and they started working on the kitchen. On top of that, I got mastitis and Ben had to call out of work to stay home and take care of the girls because I was in a lot of pain. Here we are with a brand new week. It hasn't been normal here for so long that I am forgetting what normal was like. 

Learned and links...

Can't wait for a bright kitchen like this. 

This stripe is calling my name.

Melody is so good. When it comes to house details, I like to bug her because she is an architect and has a good eye.

The San Antonio Spurs have me really stressed right now. They gotta win tonight's game. 

Love the design of this chair.

Don't forget to enter this giveaway.

Ben and I are working on praying more together. We are much too prideful about our self reliance. 

Happy Monday! True has one day of school left, but there will be Bratcher summer school going on for sure.

HUZZAH!

It's good to be back home and it feels really good to have wood floors and my floors are so pretty!!! I was in awe the moment I walked in the door. All the furniture comes back in the house on Monday and I can't wait.

We just spent the week at my parents' house while the downstairs floors were being sanded, stained, and sealed. All the girls aren't home yet because they are off at Disneyland with the grandparents, but I get to clean and prep the house for the girls' arrival. The floors are done and baseboards go in on Sunday. Next week, the kitchen cabinets get painted white and then all the house fixing up dust should settle for a bit. 

This week's learned and links...

Soul's getting even more sassier. I think this might spell trouble later.

Glow is eating baby food... carrots and peas!!!

True has one cavity and got it filled sans any numbing. Dang. Kids are tough. 

I like my mom making pancakes and waffles in the morning!

Finally watched the season finale of Fringe. So good. I am such a sci-fi mystery geek. I'm sad next season is their last. 

Lime Ricki sent me these and I love them. They will be perfect under my shorts for tomorrow's foam fest run. 

I barely worked out this week, so I am nervous about the 8' and 12' walls I have to climb tomorrow, but if I eat it, I will have more to laugh about. 

Off to get some cleaning done. It's a long weekend over here with Memorial Day on Monday, so not sure if I will be back in this space until Tuesday. I have a feeling I will be busy decorating. Happy weekending friends!!!

GLOW'S HYPNOBIRTHING STORY

Beware. This post is long, but if you want to learn more about my HypnoBirthing story then read on, and if you don't care because women have been birthing naturally for many centuries, then just skip this...

I delivered our last littlest love at exactly 39 weeks. That is the latest I have ever delivered because with the previous three, I have went somewhere in my 38th week, so you can imagine that I was pretty ancy my whole 38th week. Every night I would get those consistent surges (in HypnoBirthing a contraction is called a surge), but every morning I would wake up to the same old same old and start the day all over again. Everyday that whole week felt like Groundhog Day. We even watched the movie one evening to commemorate the feeling! Then, the next morning it was Groundhog Day all over again.

Finally, in the wee hours of Monday morning, September 12th, I woke up at around 3am to some nice surges, but not nice enough. I started timing them anyways and they were 7 minutes apart. I knew they were still too nice and I just put myself in hypnosis to get relax enough to go back to sleep. The morning came and I still felt my nice surges, so I made a solo run to Target to get some necessities and hope the walking around would help a bit. Surges were still there and consistent, but still nice, though I did call my mom that afternoon to let her know it might be coming soon. I had been saying that all week, but this time felt a bit more real. Dinnertime came and went, surges were getting stronger, but were still nice, so we watched a movie and then called it a night. All day long they were consistently about 5-7 minutes apart, getting stronger as the day progressed, but this is my 4th, so I know the magnitude they need to be before we go to the hospital and they were still far too nice to warrant the trip.

We went to bed around 10pm, Ben says he fell asleep around 11pm. I knock out fairly quickly because it was combination of putting myself in hypnosis and part having the ability to fall asleep easily.

In the middle of the night, came the surge I have been waiting for all the other previous nights, the one that was finally a bit meaner to wake me up from my peaceful slumber. I woke up because I got the surge that made me go, "Oookayy...." and I looked at the clock and it was right after midnight. I started timing them and they were about 3 minutes apart and they did take some work to go through. They weren't so nice anymore and I started putting myself in hypnosis to get through them. I woke Ben up not too long after and then he called my family to let them know.

My family got here at around 1:30am, we gave my dad instructions on what to do with the girls in the morning, then Ben, my mom, my baby sister, and I head off to the hospital. This was quite different from the last time we all made the early morning trek to the hospital for Soul. Last time, the moment they walked in the door, I was crying and wincing every time a surge came, but this time around, I was cool, calm, and collected and happily listening to my relaxing music when I needed to.

As we made our way to the hospital, I tried to get comfortable but it was hard because I couldn't really get my legs up and that is the position I needed to let my body go limp, but I managed and we made it to the hospital without any tears. This was such a contrast to the drive to the hospital when I was about to give birth to Soul. During that drive, I was yelling explicatives down the freeway because I swore she was going to pop out of me and I continued yelling for drugs as soon as I was admitted. There was none of that this time around. There was pressure, but still a whole lot of calm (and smiling). So amazing! I even had my sister take a polaroid of me right when we got to the hospital and I was smiling!

We got to the triage and I think they doubted that I was really in labor because I was smiling, but they checked me and sure enough I was at 5cm and I got to stay. The worst thing is getting sent home from the hospital for false labor. All routine things were taken care of and the pressure continued. I finally got into my delivery room at about 3am and the nurse took my birth plan, they got my antibiotics administered (I always carry strep B), and I continued going to my happy place any time the pressure started.

Ben was so good because he would gently touch my arms during every surge to create goosebumps that helped release hormones to help my body relax. This too is very different compared to my other 3 labors when I used to yell at him not to touch me! It was so nice to actually be working together with Ben this time around. My mom and baby sister got the easy job since they were both passed out on the chair on my other side while Ben and I were going through all of it.

The entire time I sat propped up in my hospital bed, listening to my music, that took me to my happy place, which is a very serene song called Lake Yarina by Josh Garrels. Ben would be so amazed because he would watch the monitors and see my surges spike like crazy, but then watch my heart monitor at the same time and my heart rate would get so low from being relaxed that it would drop off the chart. Crazy right?!! All this was happening during a surge. This continued on from about 3:30am to 9:30am.

I would also go pee when I needed to and was fed ice chips when I wanted them, I even got to snack on a banana nut muffin and was chatting with Ben between some surges. When my mom and sister finally woke up, I was happily chatting with them too. It was all such a different experience compared to my other three labors.

Around 9:30am my midwife came in to check me and I was at 8cm and my water bag was blocking the hole, so they gave me an option to break it or just let things progress naturally. After a bit of a discussion, we thought it best to let it break naturally since natural seemed to be the theme of the day. I will say that after that things started to get slightly more difficult. I was feeling intense pressure and it was starting to feel like I had to go poop, but I know I really didn't, it was just the baby. As intense as things were getting, I was still able to put myself in hypnosis, but it definitely was taking more work and more concentration.

Then 10:30 came and they checked me again and I had barely dialated and was pretty much still at 8cm. The bag still hadn't broken and mentally I got frustrated because transition is supposed to be the fastest part of labor (and this is my fourth), but everything was happening so slowly. The nurse suggested I try to walk around to help get my water to break, so I did that. The only problem was that when a surge would come, I couldn't let my body go limp while standing, so if I couldn't relax then the pressure was experienced a bit differently. I tried to sit on a chair, but still my legs couldn't relax and I would have some freak out moments because I swear I had to go poop, but no one was letting me. I had a few yelps and my surges were so erratic that the special breathing technique to do right before a surge comes to help with relaxing couldn't be done.

The last hour and a half got tougher with my body being stuck at 8cm. All I wanted was my mom and I wanted my mom to just make this poop come out, but it really wasn't poop that wanted to come out, it was just the intense pressure of the baby and the bag. I tried different positions to help my body progress, but it seems nothing was working. Now, looking back and after speaking with my clinical hypnotherapist, I probably should have had the water broken because that would have made a difference in easing some of the added discomfort. Despite this super intense pressure I was experiencing, I never once did ask or consider the epidural (not that it's wrong to, I was determined to have my last birthing experience different from my previous three).

Finally, and after what felt like an eternity, my midwife checked me to see how much I had left to go when my water bag broke and in 30 seconds I went from 8cm to 10cm! Hallelujah! You can imagine my relief!

Then we we finally got in position to let this baby come out! I was so excited that I started pushing, but they had to remind me to calm down and take a deep breath and relax. I remember Ben holding my hand and my mom and sister nearby watching. Then with the next strong surge, I gave a nice, long, grunting push. Oh man! I was feeling things down there that I had never felt before. All I was thinking is... this burns!!! Nevertheless, with the next surge, I pushed again and the burning continued as little Glow made her way out. Tada! She was out! Hooray!!!

They immediately put her in my arms and I got to see this little wiggly thing that had been growing inside of me. I could see my mom, sister and Ben crying, and I vividly remember all my emotions. I was so happy she was here. Amazed that I actually did it without drugs. And dumbfounded because it still burned down there! HA! I guess with the epidural that was one sensation I had never felt.

Glow was so beautifully sweet and we were immediately in love. I couldn't believe we had another little bundle to love. I fell in love six times (one of them is with Jesus). It's wonderful! 

My midwife was the only other person who knew we were having a girl (Ben and I knew, but we kept it a secret from everyone else), so she had us make the official announcement. Then, we announced her name. Everyone was ooh-ing and ahh-ing, but at this point, we know our choice of names are different (ridiculous to some, but whatever), so we really couldn't shock anyone anymore.

I have to say that I am still in disbelief that I was able to do it without the drugs. I am such a chicken when it comes to pain, so I am completely amazed and in awe of HypnoBirthing. What I felt was not pain, but really intense pressure. The pressure increased as I opened up, but it was amazing because I also remember what labor felt like before I knew the techniques of HypnoBirthing and it is dramatically different. I got to 8cm without feeling any pain. I really can't believe it. Being stuck at 8cm made me extremely frustrated that it got tougher to relax, but nevertheless it was nothing short of amazing.

I have had my first three girls with the epidural and they are fine and I am fine after it, but I really wanted to do my last labor different. Now, if I were for some reason going to have another, I would definitely do HypnoBirthing again. I don't think women who do it without the drugs are superior to those who use it. I think you have to do what is best for you and your situation. If having a baby naturally means a lot to you, go for HypnoBirthing, I completely believe in it. Though if you do go that route, you will have to put the time in learning the techniques, practicing everyday and even investing in classes. In my opinion it is better to learn it from a professional instead of just reading it.

Almost nine months later, it is still so fresh in my mind and still feels amazing. If I can have a baby sans drugs, you can too! I really am such a big chicken! Heck! Needles scare me! So if you ask me if I recommend HypnoBirthing? My answer is YES!

For more information visit here or call Dr. Anna Lynne, which is the hypnotherapist who I took classes with to help make this birthing experience possible. We did 5 online sessions via skype (read about the sessions here and I practiced going into hypnosis nightly) and it really made the world of a difference. Also, I continue to use self-hypnosis when I'm at the dentist or just need to relax. It is just a good technique to learn to help calm down and de-stress. I am sure this sounds strange to some of you, so if you have any questions for me regarding this, leave them here and I will either answer in the comments or if I get enough questions, will do another post for it.

p.s. if you are wondering what i was hooked up to? it was iv and antibiotics.

GLOW AND HER PINK CHAIR

eight months.

By golly, she's cute! I'm biased of course. I am her mother. She sounds like she says, "Mama" but I doubt it. She is finally getting rice cereal. I know. Don't judge. She's my last one and I didn't want her poop to change. She has the softest skin and we like to do skin to skin. Then the other girls want to get in on it and you have all of us girls cuddling Glow skin to skin. It's sweet, really. Nine months is right around the corner...

See 6 and 7 months here, and 5 down to 1 here.

*inspired by nicole from making it lovely. 

THE BABIES

I want these moments to freeze. To keep them little just a while longer, but time moves on. Things keep changing and they keep growing. It is sweet and sad because they will never be the teeny babies they once were, but we're full of excitement as they continue to grow into themselves. I think I am especially feeling this time much more because, as far as our plans, we are done with four. I try to cuddle Glow longer, hug her tighter because she will be the last of babies in this house. 

Soul's funny. She is finally starting to use sentences, but she sounds like a little ewok and she is getting sneakier. We catch her playing with the water and soap, which she tried to eat but then said it was spicy, and coloring on the walls. She's got one feisty temper and she always dresses herself in the morning. Lately, this dress has been her fave. She is always wearing it (see here). 

Glow is sweetness. That's all I can say to sum her up. There is no mischief coming out of her yet, but it will come. It always does. 

I really like having little ones in my house.

disclaimer: they drive me crazy too! 

SO THANKFUL

Ben and I are so fortunate to have grown under the care and love of self-less and loving mothers. They helped shape (and continue to shape) who we are today and we are so thankful. 

I like Stephanie's post about Mother's Day. I would definitely prefer it to be called Mothering Day because there are definitely a ton women out there who aren't officially mothers, but still do a lot of mothering. My girls have definitely more than one mother in their life and I am so thankful for the other influences they have. 

I hope your Mothering Day was full of joy and love! 

HUZZAH!

Yes, we are a vintage lovin', handmade supportin', own clothes makin' family, but we also still like crocs. We are so normal. Or abnormal if you abhor those rubbery things. She styled herself. I think she rocks crocs! 

This week's learned and links...

We're making memories living upstairs, but it's getting kind of old now. I can't wait to be back to normal. one. more. week. hopefully.

Glow's got two bottom teeth coming in. The other 3 girls got their first tooth after they turned one, this one is making herself stand out (and her mama hurt).

I want one of these banners asap.

We are in love with Karmin. They are so cute that they are engaged and love that they rap with pretty safe lyrics. They are so talented and that Amy makes me want to rap. Ben says I just sound like an ewok when I try. We spend our mornings watching their videos on youtube. In fact, Brave has been rocking her hair of late. 

True's giant bow is from Much love, Illy. So girly!

These are pretty. Shoes are my weakness.

This weekend is Mother's Day and I have a few requests, but they are mostly simple things that have to do with house stuff. Of course, I am also anticipating the traditional breakfast in bed. I ain't gonna lie... I love Mother's Day!!! 

We have a few giveaways this weekend to celebrate Mother's Day, so check back...

THEY DANCED AND WE HAD DONUTS

The big girls had dance class, so the babies and I went on a donut date. Soul's got the sweetest tooth of all, so you can imagine her excitement when we walked in and all these pretty donuts were at her eye level. We got a dozen donut holes for $1.50, which I think is a darn good deal, but then again, I haven't bought donuts in about 10 years, so maybe that's normal. And I must say those were the best donut holes I have ever had. Again, maybe any donut will taste good to me at this point, which now makes me curious to go to other donut shops just to compare. 

It was a nice day out of the house since we have been pretty much cooped upstairs due to the flooring changing going on downstairs. The big girls danced, the little girls had donuts (okay, Glow got hers in a donut milkshake), and that made for a good morning. 

on me: shirt, thrifted. belt, thrifted. fit to newsprint skirt, c/o modcloth. pansy flat c/o modcloth. 

on soul: dress, misha lulu. flip flops, target.

on glow: she's been wearing that for two days. really. 

OVER AT BLOG MILK

I am over at Blog Milk today for a little interview series Ana is doing for Mother's Day. I love her designs so much and everything over there is always eye candy, so I am honored Ana asked me! Read the interview here. 

A REAL ROOM TOUR

Dose of reality. Yes, you may have seen our previous kid room tours (here, here, and here), but this is more of reality. The not styled, very much played in, kid decorated room of True and Brave. I told them to clean it up and this was the result. Looks a lot different from when I clean up, but hey, I guess it was clean. Sort of.

If you read blogs and get frustrated about your own state of messiness, thinking that you can never get things as neat as the homes you see online. I am here to tell you, that at least for me, my home is never as clean as my home tours that circulate. I try to keep it as tidy as I can, but life happens everyday. 

I speak for myself, but I think as a blogger, you can get easily caught up in how you want your life portrayed online. Or as a blog reader, which I am also, you get caught up in the wanting that and wanting this and thinking those things will make you happy. I love reading blogs and I think there is a wealth of inspiration and learning that comes from some of them, but make sure to keep your heart in check. Always be content (and thankful) with what you already have and be honest. I read something from Proverbs this morning that stood out to me, "A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot." Oh man. I don't want my bones to rot.

Happy Monday! Be wise and discerning in your blog reading today.

p.s. don't you love how brave laid out her clothes on her bed? hilarious!

HUZZAH!

Holla! That's just what I feel like saying every time I see the wood floors in my house. It's almost completely installed in the entire downstairs, upstairs will have to wait for another year, but we still have a long way to go until we are done. By the way, when it comes to house stuff like this, we aren't DIYers, so we are working with some people to get the job done. After this weekend, next up will be the sanding, staining, and sealing of the floors. We're gonna be brave and go with what we love and are doing white stained wood. I am pee in my pants excited, not to be confused with pee in my pants nervous, but maybe I am feeling some of that too. Eeks!

This week's learned and links...

It was Ben's first week back at work and it was a tough one with him not being home. 

Glow is starting to sit up now. She falls down real fast though.

We got some organic pest control to get rid of ants. Be gone ants, we don't like you.

Once my house is back to normal making these peach cobbler muffins. 

Loving this necklace from Homako. She might be my favorite jewelry designer yet! 

Obsessed with hanging chairs and hammocks, see my houzz ideabook for proof. After the wood is done, one of those will be going up inside the house.

Giveaway winners announced here, here, and here. Follow on twitter, to see if you won! 

Got this black bathing suit from modcloth, but thinking about exchanging it for this. Ben says he likes black better though.

I love hearing Ben speaking spanish (he's not fluent, just conversational). Makes me think of when he read a Pablo Neruda poem to me and whoa baby... hot, hot! Baby #5 here we come! Kidding. Well, only about that baby 5 part. 

House stuff pervades our weekend over here. What do you have going on where you're at?! HOLLA!

GLOW AND HER PINK CHAIR

Six months.

Seven months.

My littlest love. She is so good. I almost feel bad because she rarely cries, so she rarely gets carried. This littlest one is also kind of a string bean. She is really thinning out a lot and stretching. I think she will be the tallest one yet! She's got the army crawl down and it sounds like she says "mama", though I really think it is just murmurs that sound like it. At this rate, she will be speaking full sentences before Soul! And lately, for some reason, every time I put her in her pink chair, she cries. Maybe pink's just not her color.

See the rest of the series here.

*inspired by nicole from making it lovely. 

DONE

The color run was amazing, but that post will have to wait for another day because this mama is beat. The kids are in bed, I am pouring myself a glass of wine and calling it a night. Hope your weekend was just as colorful!