Finally playing together

After Xander was born, Mena would treat him like he has the plague or something.  He loves her so much and finally she is playing with him and I love it.  Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of times when she steals his toys and yells at him for playing with her things.  Her favorite thing to say is "my turn", because I always tell her to give him a turn.

Xander just loves Mena.  He follows her everywhere.  She'll run down the hall and he'll crawl after her.  My favorite thing was this past Sunday, I woke up to them laughing in their room.  She loves to make him laugh now.  She'll crouch down in her bed or around a corner and pop out at him and he'll laugh.

Xander has been trying to hard to pull up and stand, I think it's because he wants to chase after his sister.



He often falls a lot because of this.  He is a lot more brave than Mena was.  He tries to stand with everything and this usually causes him to fall and bonk his head.  He's getting better though, I swear he'll be walking by a year.  To me, that is amazing since Mena didn't start walking until she was 19 months.

Projects

I have been really using the Internet lately to learn how to do stuff.  The home we live in has a lot of walls...a lot.  I love photos, whether I took them or they are old family ones.  I embarked on a photo project. 

I wanted to do all white frames, with black and white photos inside, but I wanted to distress the frames.  Some I did crackle and added embellishments.  When I went to home depot, they didn't have the normal crackle paint I used, so I got the Martha Stewart one that sort of goes on like a putty.

The other frames I wanted that old wood look.  I've bought things that were distressed like this, put I never knew how it was done.  It is so easy!

First, I used paints that were also primer.  Behr has those types of paint.  I painted the frame in a blueish grey.  Once it was dry I took a candle stick and rubbed it on the frame, especially on the edges.  The wax is very important, it creates like a barrier.  I then painted the frame white and waited for it to dry.  Once is was dry I took fine sandpaper and rubbed the areas that I had rubbed with the candle.  Once you see the under color, stop sanding or you'll sand that part off too.  That's all there is to it.  If you want three colors showing, you would do the same process again with the candle and the sandpaper after the third coat was dry.

This is the wall thus far.  They are all family photos, from both Nick and my side.  I plan on adding more.  Also, I love those 3m sticky things for hanging photos.  I was afraid that I was going to have to make a ton of holes with nails, but I didn't have to.

Next project is making circle skirts and tutus, because Mena is always asking to wear a tutu.



Saying Goodbye

So our good friends Sarah and Jeff left for Ohio.  It was a sad day when we said goodbye, but it's not like they won't be coming back...all their family lives here (for the most part).  Also, thank goodness for Skype, I love it.

I think Sarah is going to miss my kids more than me, lol.  She has been there since they were born though.  I refer to them as Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jeff.  Our kids just love them to pieces.  Mena gets so excited when I tell her that Sarah is on the phone or Skype.

They are safe in Ohio and I'm excited for the adventure they are going on.  I'm not going to lie, I cried when she left, but this gives me an excuse to go visit in Ohio.