My Creative Outlet.

Most of you probably don't know that I have a little Etsy shop, Free & Found Design Company. I set it up in 2013 mostly as a way to give myself something creative to do. Sometimes I have these random ideas for a cute print or set of note cards. Sometimes a friend asks me to design a birthday invitation for them. I figured, why not share them with other people?! It's a fun little hobby that I've really come to enjoy!

Here are a few of my latest creations.

Personalized Texas Note Cards

Love Notes Note Cards (Set of 4)

I have been obsessed with black and white prints lately, so I created a whole collection of them. I love the simplicity! These are my favs.

Choose Joy. Always.

 She Believed. This one hangs next to my desk as a constant reminder to simply believe and work hard.

I'll Eat You Up. Because who doesn't love Where The Wild Things Are?

You can see the rest of the Black+White Collection here. So there you go. Now it's out there for the whole wide world! Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Merry Christmas and a Snowy New Year

First and foremost, here are a few pictures from Christmas. Mostly because I just came across them and realized I had never posted them. We had a great Christmas! It was so fun with Knox this year because he really kind of gets the whole Christmas thing now. He, of course, loved opening presents. But what was the very best was listening to him talk about baby Jesus. He would tell us all about how much he loved him and how he lives in his heart. Talk about melt my heart moments!

Knox got a "choo choo train table," a "bicycle" (tricycle) and "mine own John Deere tractor" for Christmas and he is equally obsessed with all three! Clayton surprised me with a new Kindle because mine broke a few months ago. He definitely knows the way to my heart!

It was a great Christmas and we are looking forward to Christmas with two sweet boys this year.

 

This is possibly my favorite family photo ever. It sums us up perfectly.

Right after Christmas we ventured to Taos, NM with Clayton's family for a little getaway. I won't lie, I was a little concerned about traveling 15 hours in the car at almost six months pregnant. But I survived!

Clayton has been dying to go on a ski trip as long as we've been together and we've just never made it happen. He and his brothers spent a few days skiing and for the most part we all just relaxed, which was a much welcomed break from reality.

Knox had such a great time in the snow (or the "no" as he calls it) and loves to tell everyone about how he went "kiing" like Daddy. (He went tubing, but we just go with it.)

I really enjoyed visiting the actual town of Taos. It is such a quaint little place and the people are all so nice. It may just be because I'm pregnant, but I swear to you the food was exceptionally delicious! I loved all the little art galleries with work from local artists. I got an original print by Allegra Sleep that I am totally obsessed with!

Here are a few pictures from our vacation. Enjoy!

 

Clayton got all dressed up for the new year.

We had such a great time and it was so nice to get away for a week. Reality definitely hit hard when we got back!

Dreaming of a Remodel.

Clayton and I have talked a lot lately about moving (houses, not towns). We've talked about a million different options...building, fixer upper, move-in ready, etc etc etc. We have varying opinions on what is the best option. Clayton dreams of a move-in ready house that needs, at most, a coat of paint here and there. I, on the other hand, spend hours upon days dreaming of a house that needs a complete overhaul. It's in my blood. I can't help it. We have yet to come to a conclusion, but here are a few things I'm currently pining over.

First and foremost, I DREAM of having a ginormous playroom. Knox's toys have completely taken over our living room AND his bedroom. I want it to have big giant sliding barn doors so that I can close it off when we have company over. These are a few of my favorites:

 

via Pinterest (original source unknown.)

 

via Pinterest (original source unknown.)

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I want cute bathrooms. Priorities, right? Seriously though, I could spend hours looking at bathrooms on Pinterest. I'm obsessed with pocket doors, and I love the thought of painting them a bright color. I want stripes in one bathroom. I don't know why, but I love the thought of big stripes in a bathroom! A couple of my favorite bathroom ideas:

 

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I want a homey, cozy living room that feels inviting and like you can actually sit on the furniture. I'm not really one for formal, well, anything.  I love color and comfy furniture and big fireplaces. Some of my favorites:

 

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I want a house that I can go into and tear down walls, take out counter tops, redo floors and paint EVERYTHING. I'm sure you're asking yourself why I sound like a crazy person and why we don't just build. I have this crazy need to make old things new again. (Mirror mirror on the wall, I am my mother after all.) I love refurbishing furniture and I get such a thrill out of transforming something old into something new of my own. I have super eclectic taste and I enjoy the challenge of mixing old things with new. I'm sure to most of you I sound like a total nut job. Clayton would agree. 

One of my very favorite elements of design is paint. Most people have no idea how much a coat of paint can transform a room. As I'm sure most of you know, my sweet momma has her own line of vintage finish paint (find it here). I love it for painting furniture and I'm obsessed with her color palette (which I'm sure has nothing to do that most of the colors were hand picked by yours truly). I have always gravitated toward cooler wall colors, so these are my current color obsessions:

 

I guess that's all I've got for today! So now I'll go back to feeding my house remodel Pinterest addiction...

Knox Turns TWO!

My, oh my. Where has the time gone? Is my precious boy really TWO? I really can't believe it. It seems like yesterday and a lifetime ago that he changed our lives. He is hard headed, stubborn, strong willed and the lovingest boy I've ever met. Reality is starting to sink in that he won't be my "baby" anymore (even though secretly he will ALWAYS be my baby) and that he will be a big brother in just a few short months. EEK! But that's for another day. Today, I can't wait to share his second birthday party with you!

This boy is obsessed with cowboys, tractors, heavy machinery and all things man. One of his very first words was "excavator." (No, I'm not kidding.)We talked for a couple of months about his birthday party and every time I asked him what kind of party he wanted he said very matter of factly, "John Deere tractor party." Unfortunately for my child, he will probably never have your basic good ol' John Deere green birthday party. So we settled for a more vintagey theme with tractors/farm animals.

For his first birthday I went ALL out. I always swore I wouldn't. But, of course, I did. I just couldn't help myself. I promised myself (and Clayton's wallet) that I would reign it in a little bit a lot for his second birthday.  Clayton's parents have a barn on their property, so I thought that would be the perfect setting for his party. Pretty much everything was DIY, so I Clayton was pretty thrilled with how little $$ I ended up spending.

I always do his invitations myself, but this year they ended up going out via text and email because, well, let's face it, I just couldn't get my act together with Christmas and his birthday being four days apart.

We had his party all planned out for Saturday December 21st since his actual birthday fell on a Saturday this year. We had talked all about it and he was SO excited. And then the weather decided it didn't care so much about my plans and we were told to prepare for the worst. And it was pretty terrible. Outdoor birthday party+terrible horrible no good very bad weather....well yeah, that just doesn't work out so well. So, like the fly by the seat of your pants parents that we are, we rescheduled for Sunday. It was still chilly, but it worked out for the best. We had snacks, a bonfire, a hayride, quite a few tractor rides and a "watering hole" to keep the adults sane.

So there you have it, the easy peasy details of Knox's second birthday party. He loved every second of it and I loved that it didn't take me six months to plan! And here are a few more pictures of the day for your viewing pleasure!

Baby P Bumpdate.

Well, I guess it's probably time I start keeping track of this pregnancy so this baby doesn't feel left out. I kept up with my pregnancy with Knox almost weekly. This one, not so much! So here is my first attempt...here at 16 weeks. Oops?

It's so funny: I was not overly anxious when I was pregnant with Knox, but this one has been so much different. I really haven't worried too much about anything. As in, Clayton had to remind me around eight weeks to call and make a doctor's appointment. I know it's not my first rodeo, but it still makes me laugh. We've always joked that if you are less cautious with your second and so on, our second will be near neglected because we never worried about anything with Knox!

This pregnancy has been the complete and total opposite of Knox's. My first pregnancy was SO easy. Almost too easy. I was never sick, had no complications, nothing. Take a 180 degree turn, and that's where we are with this one. I was so so SO sick for the first few weeks. It was absolutely miserable and I now feel sorry for all of you with morning sickness that I silently judged because I really just thought you were being a wuss. Please accept my heartfelt, sincere apology. Seriously. This ain't no joke. My sickness is mostly gone at this point, but making myself eat is a different story. I know I'm not eating enough, but I do my best to strategically pick foods to eat that are going to benefit baby/me the most. You know, like potato chips and ice cream. To say it's been a rough ride so far is an understatement. I really do try not to complain, though. I have a healthy, growing baby and there isn't much more I could ask for.

How far along? 16 weeks today!
Maternity clothes? Ha. I wish. With all the weight I've lost from sickness, they are all still way too big! I actually had to go buy SMALLER pants recently. Craziness.
Sleep: I've had a hard time sleeping ever since I was pregnant with Knox. Even with my exhaustion, I still wake up a lot during the night! I'm still able to sleep on my stomach, so that helps. I imagine as this baby grows and I can't sleep like that anymore, sleep will go out the window!
Missing anything? I would give my right arm for a margarita!
Food Cravings: I will crave things randomly, but there isn't anything I've craved a lot of. I have loved some dill pickles. Oh, and fried chicken. What the heck? I don't even LIKE chicken!
Gender: Hopefully we will find out within the next month!

Movement? I have just started feeling the baby "flutters" this week! Love it!
Mood: I feel like I should just constantly apologize to everyone around me. I don't think I've really been moody, but I just feel useless and out of it all the time because I've felt so bad!
Looking forward to: Finding out what Baby P is so that he/she can have a name!

I know this picture is dark, but it was the best I could do for today! I'm sure if you notice the head poking in at the bottom of the picture you'll understand why!