the watkins are back!

Attention:Attention: THE WATKINS ARE HOME!  Our best best friends Chris and Emily Watkins and their sweet baby girl Ella (aka Lucas's future wife) are home and all feels right in the world!  

They have been living in north Africa for the past 3 years and are home for 6 months.  And we are pumped.  They were able to come home last year for only a few weeks, but that is when we got to first meet their sweet Ella face to face.  To catch up on that trip, look here and here and here.  (Man, our babies have grown!)

So they are home and living in Durham for the next 6 months.  Lucas and Ella were reunited and he is already taking her by the hand and showing her the ropes of a new environment.  Ella is precious and shy, but it has been so fun to see her watch my crazy boy and follow right after him.  Here are a few pictures of their first play dates!

We are so glad to have them home for this time.  We have plans to hang out as much as possible and will sneak in a little trip to Mexico in October.  Welcome home, guys!

labor day beach trip.

We headed back to the beach with Brandon's parents for our annual Labor Day beach trip.  Remember last year's Labor Day trip?  If not, check it out here and here.  I can't believe how much Lucas has changed in a year!  I remember sitting by the pool last year saying to Brandon's mom, "just think how different it will be next year when we are chasing a toddler around."  Earlier this summer, we went to the beach with the Hudson clan and Lucas, so we knew how crazy our boy is at the beach and this trip would be just as fun.  As we all know, our child has no fear of the water (or much of anything, so help me Lord).  And in typical Lucas fashion, he hit the ground running!

This was the first year we have utilized the kiddy pool.  It was fantastic.  There were buckets of water that dumped on your head and plenty of places to run and play.

And there was a slide for the big kids.  You had to be at least 42" tall to go down the slide...unless you are way cute and sweet talk the life guard into letting your baby boy go down with you as he pleads "sliiiiiiide daddy!  sliiiiiiiiiide!"  How can you say no?  She couldn't.  

I haven ever been one to wake up early at the beach...until now.  But this kid and this view proves the perks of waking up to see the sun rise.

 We enjoyed picnic lunches by the pool.

Lucas and his MiMi.

The whole gang!

Thanks, MiMi and PawPaw, we had so much fun!

18 months.

Lucas.

A year and a half.  Which means that after this day, you are closer to 2 than you are to 1.  How on earth?!  Little boy, you are such a sweet mess.  I took you to the pediatrician today and you blew them away by your rambunctious nature and growing vocabulary.  Except, it was kind of funny because you couldn't really talk today.  Your voice was very hoarse, almost to the point of being gone.  So you would try to say something and it would come out quiet and squeaky, so we were practicing whispering and that was so funny.  We suspect that it was just your little vocal chords being strained because you had another night terror the night before last.  Those are so sad, little buddy, and very unlike you.  I know you can't help it and thank goodness you don't remember them, but know that we try to comfort you and hold you during those tough 15 or so minutes.  Your doctor seems to think that your little voice will be just fine in a few days, so we'll lay low and be lazy and quiet together.

You weighed in at 25 pounds 9 ounces and were 33 inches tall.  You are still a big boy!  Keep growing so big and strong.  You got shots again today, including your flu shot, but you were super tough and only cried for a second.  It's pretty hard being a nurse and a mom, I tell you.  I can give shots to other kids all day long, but you?  Your alligator tears break my heart!

You are talking up a storm now and running and playing.  You are so funny, loving to tickle and put on shoes and chase Lexi.  You have become quite attached to your paci and blankie, but you are only allowed to have them at night time and naps.  Sorry buddy, I know that's hard.  You love to read books and play outside.  You love your mommy and daddy, and whenever someone isn't around you ask where they are and then answer the question by saying "work!"  You love Nana and Poppy and MiMi and PawPaw and bring me the phone to FaceTime with them often. You love pretty much anything, except sitting still long enough to eat.  You are hit or miss on what and when you will eat, but your height and weight proves that you're getting just what you need, so I try not to worry about it. You love cars and trains and firetrucks.  You pick up bugs and play in the dirt and sometimes get sad when it's time to come inside.  All of these things make you YOU and we love you to the moon and back for them.

We pray with you and for you every night and have an immeasurable amount of thanks for you.

I went through the tons of pictures I have of you on my phone to try to sum you up these days, here you go:

annie sloan chalk paint: kitchen cabinets [part 2]

Remember that time we painted our kitchen cabinets?  Well, I just realized we never posted the "after" pictures.  For review of part 1: see here.  Our cabinets were originally the same oak wood as our floors, so it was a lot of yellow wood on a lot of floor and a lot of cabinets.  So we decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and give our kitchen cabinets a makeover! [Excuse the terrible lighting in the pictures. One day I'll quit taking pics with my iPhone and start using my expensive camera...maybe.]

For the cabinets, we used ASCP Old White:

And our island we used ASCP French Linen:

And we LOVE it.  We didn't use wax overtop, instead we used ASCP Lacquer.  It was easier to apply and quicker, so it made for the perfect solution to our tons of cabinets.

It was a lot of work, but mainly because we couldn't knock it out by taking all of the doors off and painting them in a big assembly line.  Can you imagine living in a kitchen with no cabinet doors with a toddler?  Yeah.  No.  Would we tackle this project again?  Absolutely.  I may be slightly obsessed with all things Annie Sloan and now look for old pieces of furniture to paint during nap time.