speaking of home projects....

My friend, Haley, had a great idea!! She was in need of a new headboard, but didn't want to splurge on one... so, she made her own! She got a great deal on some fabric and went to work! I have really been dying to do this for Miss LK's room, but wasn't sure of the time and cost involved. But according to H, it was super easy and relatively inexpensive! (around $50 for the entire project!) So... looks like i'm making a headboard now! Thanks H! Here are pictures of her project.. hopefully soon i'll post some of my own! :)

LOOKS GREAT!!!

Sproost.com... LOVE it!

Ok, so on one of my days of mindless internet searching (i have WAAAYY to much time on my hands some days!! ha!), I came across the coolest website! It is sproost.com. It really is an interior design website.. but i love the quiz on the homepage! It shows you a series of pictures of different rooms in a house and you rate them... hate it, love it, it's ok.. etc. When you're finished it breaks down what type of style you like the best! And i mean REALLY breaks it down... like with percentages! Then it'll tell you all about that particular style and show you pics of room you would possibly like. Let me tell you... i think they pegged me right on! It'll then let you scroll through home accents and make a "room" of your own and you can add everything that you like. It's sort of like creating a "wish list" for your house! I LLOOOOVVVEEE it! Chris HHHAAAATTTEESSS it! haha! Here's what Sproost said about me...

Your personal style is a mix of 3 specific styles:
75% Nantucket Style
13% Cottage Chic
12% Classic

Nantucket Style
Oh how you love the beach! Who doesn't, right? And so your dream home is either perched in your favorite beach town, or you've brought that favorite beach town into your house.
Your art and accessories speak directly to the activities that are found at the beach. Pieces of driftwood you found here, pictures or paintings of the amazing views there. Things that remind you of the coast - surf boards or fishing boats - are found throughout the house. The feeling of the seaside is both abstract and literal in the design of your space. The fabrics are natural, cottons and linens and are light in color and touch. Much of the furniture is wood or wood framed (the lighter the better, think driftwood!) and wicker, when done right, is a must.
And since your true inspiration is the sea, the colors and textures in your home are the same that you would find at your favorite beach: white, light beiges and grays of the sand and driftwood, a variety of blues for the ocean and sky, and greens and vibrant blues of the sea glass� but the key is white! Your space should feel light and airy and give off the mood one has when at the beach: laid back!
Your furniture is comfortable and the layout is cozy. The more it reminds you of actually sitting on the warm sand, the better! And what do you do at the beach? Hang out with family and friends - and your home is just an extension of this play place. And though the space is filled with large white furniture, it somehow manages to feel both durable and casual

Although my rooms aren't focused on the beach... there's definitely alot of wicker, linen and natural colors! And i happen to think it's pretty darn cozy! :) (LOVE white furniture too!!) Here's pictures of my house (and NO it's never this clean!)... what do you think?! Were they right??

*new yellow linen drapes coming soon!!! i can't wait!! :)*

*please ignore the hall rug pushed all the way to the front door.... for some unknown reason a certain 1.5 yr old likes to run and slide on it as though it's home plate!!!*

*and... edit out the awful dining chairs!! i bought the table and bench but haven't decided which chairs i want yet! well, really i know... i want a few leather ones and a few sea grass ones (like the big ottoman)... but haven't convinced chris to splurge for those just yet! ha! :) So, we're using the chairs from our old kitchen table set! Hey, it works for now!*

So.. go check out the website!! Design a room and redecorate! :) There's still TONS i want to do to our house... more painting, more projects... maybe some white bead board somewhere?! Sites like these give me soo many ideas (exactly why my husband hates them! ha!)! HAVE FUN!!

Sibling Love!

A typical day in our home! I promise that they do love each other! :)

Spring is finally here!!

We are LOVING this warmer weather at the Stickles house! Last Tuesday it was about 75 degrees outside and Daddy was off work.. WOOHOO! So, we decided to pack the kids up and head to the zoo! Great idea, right?! WRONG! Halfway there we remembered that it was Tuesday/Free Day at the zoo.. which means crowds! On top of that, it was Spring Break for Mem and SC schools! Let me just tell you that we couldn't even get close to the zoo before being stuck in a horribly long line. It took us 45 min just to turn around! By this time the kids were hot and upset that they couldnt go to the zoo. So.. we headed back to G'town and went to the park! Even though it wasn't the zoo, I think they still had fun! Later we found out that close to 5000 people had the same great idea we did! Next time, we're planning a zoo trip on a random Thursday morning!!

We also celebrated Noni's birthday!! The kids pulled out their paint brushes and made her a special surprise! I must admit... it was hard for me to give them up... i wanted them for myself! :)

Finished Products!

And this is what happens IMMEDIATELY after a 1.5 yr old plays with paint!!!

And she's back... life is good!

My camera (you know, my little piece of heaven) mysteriously stopped working a few weeks back! OH NO!!! Life stopped in the Stickles house! No one was allowed to do anything even remotely cute or picture worthy until it was fixed! Luckily, it was still under warranty!! HOORAY! So, it was sent off, repaired and yesterday... she came home! Things are back to normal and life can go on! So... yesterday i had to "catch up"! ... oh my poor children! :)

what about Ethan?!

I know i've kinda been reminiscing and posting alot of pictures of Lilly Kate lately....well, what about Ethan.... i thought i'd give you all a little laugh today.....

Our Son.... We're SO proud!!!

haha! Lord, please just love him for who he is!

Such a BIG GIRL!!

Yesterday morning, my first baby had her first surgery! Talk about a nervous Mommy!! I was a wreck.. she was completely unfazed! She went in to have tubes put in both her ears. So, hopefully Bye, Bye Ear Infections!!! She went in and got to pick out her gown, her "booties" (you know the hospital issued socks with rubber on the soles... so attractive!) and her gas flavor. Of course she picked bubble gum. The nurse didn't even have to finish the options! For those of you that have had any procedure done at LeBonheur or LeBonheur East (we were at East yesterday), you know about the Bunny Room. Well, the Bunny Room still exists! And what did Miss Lilly pick?! Why, pink pom poms, of course!! Should i be worried?! She already costs me enough money!! It was at the Bunny Room that we said our goodbyes. Mommy wanted to cry!! Lilly... still unfazed! She left in the nurses arms with her bunny room toy and her "get-well" monkey from Noni and Papa! (she got to go to Build-A-Bear and make a "bear" for her surgery day... spoiled?! a little!!) No more than 6 min later, the doctor was finished and out talking to us! He told us everything went really great! And surprise to us... both ears were infected .... AGAIN! I tell you, LK is such a little trooper. She had not complained of her ears one bit! Neither Chris nor I had any idea that her ears were infected! He told us that she was hard to get under the anesthesia. She fought it and fought it! Just when he thought she was finally under, he moved his hand toward her ear and all of a sudden her little hand came up and grabbed his arm!! Like a warning... "I dont think so buddy!!" He laughed telling us. This is completely not surprising of LK! She's been a fighter from the very beginning! Within a few minutes, we got to go back to recovery and she was just waking up. She was crying a little for Mommy (made my day!), but she was fine! They had to monitor her heart rate for a bit b/c she didn't want to wake up from the anesthesia, but she quickly bounced back! She immediately called her Goo-Goo and asked for some McDonald's! Of course... Goo-Goo came running and Memaw was soon to follow with flowers and balloons. I mean... you wouldn't have known it was only a 5 min procedure! You would have thought she'd been in the hospital for days!! By the time we got home she was back to her old self! Bouncing off the walls and ready to see her brother! ... and eat McDonald's!

Looks like we may be headed back to the good ole LB sooner than we'd hope though.... Ethan is next for tubes! Something is telling me his surgery day wont go so smoothly though!! He's like his mommy... he'll be a cryer!

For those of you with little ones... i HIGHLY recommend Dr. Thompson at UT Medical Group. He's the head of the Peds ENT Dept and unbelievably nice! Also.. every nurse at LeBonheur East was so great to work with and great with the kids!

I am SOOO proud of my Lilly Kate!!

Our little ladybug!

So.. after my last blog post several people replied saying how much they enjoyed seeing Lilly Kate's baby pictures. You see.. when Lilly was born, she was the first baby in my group of friends. So she sort of became everyone's baby. They all loved her and pretty much treated her as though she were their own! So... it's kinda sad for them too that she's so grown up. They've all pretty much have had they're own children since LK was born, but i think she'll always hold a special little place in everyone's hearts. So, "Momma's" here's a few more for you...

Babies don't keep

Lately, I've been noticing that my sweet babies just aren't babies anymore. Still as sweet as ever.. just growing oh to fast.

Lilly Kate just recently turned 5 years old and for those of you who know LK, you know that she's been going on 15 since birth. She entered this world making her own plans and forcing everyone she knew to follow along with her. She's strong-willed and vivacious! She was never a "child", just a miniature grown-up! It saddens me that all her tiny baby curls are no more. She's becoming more and more independent by the minute. I miss the days of just she and I. We were a perfect little pair. God blessed us. She will always hold my heart and be "mine"........... because she was for so long. (ok, in case you're wondering... yes, tears are falling as I type!)

Some of my favorite "Lilly Moments" (so hard to just pick a few!)

And now...



Ethan is my sweet one. (not that his sister isn't) I'll be honest, he's way too beautiful to be a boy.. but a boy he definitely is! He is the epitome of all things "boyish". He was our untimely little surprise. Life was not ready for Ethan, but he somehow eased his way into it. He's easy-going and carefree. There's not an ounce of fear in his little body. I say little, but he is far from it! He was going on 9 lbs when he was born and hasn't slowed down since. He is currently the size of a child a year older than him.... I sure hope he likes football! He's my bashful baby.. he has such quiet and innocent eyes. He will break your heart in a second!! (trust me!) He's a pleaser and a cuddler. I tell him that he's my soul. Lilly has my heart and he fills up my soul with all things good in the world! Lately, he's been looking more and more like a boy and not so much a baby anymore. He still has those sweet cheeks and mischievous eyes though.. i hope he never loses those! (girls will fall for him like crazy!) :) There's nothing better than seeing his toothy little grin to make a bad day better! I will miss cuddling with my little guy, as those quiet moments are few and far between these days!



My Sweet E..



Lately...





I guess it was this last picture of Ethan that got that "empty nest" feeling within me. He just looked so grown up. Then i read an incredible blog (post below) about how another mom is feeling the same way as me. She wrote about how she still longs to hold her little boy and quoted from the book Love You Forever.

It's about a Momma who picks up her baby while he sleeps and rocks him

back and forth,

back and forth

back and forth

And she would sing,

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living,
my baby you'll be.

Incredibly sweet, right?! Yes... more tears... oh geez!

Well, then i came across this poem... and i really started to feel the tug on the heart strings!!

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.




So true.... babies don't keep.... enjoy them while they last!

Maybe it's time for Baby Stickles #3?! ...... well, maybe not yet.... :)

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14