A New Year, A New Ladd!

2011 was an emotional ride for sure! 

My sweet Papa went to be with God,

I found out I was pregnant!

I threw up every day for 20 weeks,

our friends had miscarriages, some friends got pregnant and others were not able to,

some friendships ended, new friendships were started,

my beautiful Crewbie was born,

there were promotions, bad medical diagnoses,

tears, giggles,

and never a dull moment! 

2011 will always be a special year to me

because it is the year that my brought me my

 sweet baby boy

and I cannot believe he is 10 weeks old today!!! 

Time does fly by!  

I realized that I never posted his newborn pictures 

so I am starting off this year showing off the New Ladd! 

These are a few of the photos that were taken

by a new dear friend, Emily Lavender...

Emily is so very talented and captured my sweet baby so perfectly!!! 

We were pretty surprised considering that this was

back in the early days before we found out

that he was not getting enough to eat so he was

very fussy:( 

Crew was just 13 days old

when we took these photos...

it is truly amazing how much he has changed in such a short time!

About a Boy

It has been a while since my last post because for the past 10 months I have been very busy.  February 17th B and I found out that we were expecting our first child together.  It was a bittersweet day for me as I also received a call that morning that my sweet Papa had passed away.  My Papa lead a life you could "hang your hat on"... he was a Navy man with 7 kids, he devoted his life to being a servant of God, and to me he summed up love.  The way he loved my Grammy, the way he loved his family... he used to say that "Every man shoul be so blessed" but in reality it was his family that was so blessed to have him as our leader.

B and I had always said we would name our firstborn son after my Papa (Franklin) so it was all too perfect when we found out the first of June that we were having a boy!  Franklin Crew Ladd was due October 27th but ended up coming 4 days early, on October 23rd at 4:21am which was so special because April 21st was my Papa's birthday:)  My labor was fast... my water broke at home at 8:50pm on the 22nd, we were at the hospital at 9:20pm, I had an epidural at 10:45pm and Crew was out at 4:21am.  B counted and I pushed 18 times for a total of 30 minutes... all-in-all 7 and 1/2 hours of labor is not so bad.  They say that the next one is usually half the time so we will probably sleep in the hospital parking lot once we get close:)

We call him Crew...well I call him Bobo but everyone else calls him Crew.  He was 7lb 2oz and 20 and 1/4 inches long.  He is perfect!  He looks like my family and Buddy all smushed into one with his big sister's mouth.  He had some trouble gaining weight at first so we had to start supplementing with formula and he is bulking up just fine!  I often look at him and make mental notes to remember these moments when he is a teenager:)  I decided to take back to blogging so that family can see pictures and get updates (as if we dont talk all the time:)).  So here is the first of the pictures... 

The first time we saw each other

Our Family

Our Baby Crew

With his Daddy

 

Donuts!!!

I found a recipe on a blog a while back (that I now cannot find to give credit to)

for homemade donuts. 

We live near a Dunkin Donuts and it is not

uncommon for us to drive through on

Saturday mornings when Pretty is in town...

so I thought this would be PERFECT!

Not only would we satisfy our donut craving... but Pretty and I

could make them together!  She loves getting to help out in the kitchen.

How did they turn out??? DELICIOUS!!!!  And the best part...

they were easy to make! 

(sorry, I forgot to take a picture with my camera, so this is from
my Blackberry)

We used refrigerated biscuits (not flaky) and cut holes in the middle

(remember to save your holes for donut holes!)

Heat oil in a skillet (enough to cover half the donut)

and once hot put the donuts in.

Wait until the donut is golden brown and then flip

until the other side is golden brown.

Once done put them on a paper towel lined plate.

Repeat the same for the holes.

For the glaze I mixed 2Tbs of butter and 2Tbs of milk

and put in the microwave until melted. 

Then I added 1 cup of powdered sugar until it made a glaze.

I divided the glaze into 2 cups and put 1/4tsp vanilla extract in one

and cocoa powder in the other.

Then I poured the glaze over the donuts.

For the holes I put them in a paper sack with powdered sugar

and shook it up... Pretty added the sprinkles:)

Chalkboard Paint

I thought I would quickly share my new-found

love and obsession

with

CHALKBOARD PAINT

It is so easy and amazing how it transforms

a boring utility holder or glass jar.

I even made a cute chalkboard for Pretty's cousin

using chalkboard paint and a frame

from the thrift store that I painted

I added some painted letters that spelled his name

for that special touch...total cost?  $15!

The Chalkboard for Pretty's cousin (you can also see
the unsuspecting utensil crock that got a makeover to the side:))

The chalkboard in our house...welcoming friends for the Superbowl party

An empty spaghetti sauce jar that I added a little chalkboard paint to!



Faux Granite Countertops!

When we bought this house
I did not love the countertops
but I thought I could look past them...
a thousand stains later
I could no longer look past them. 

Unfortunately B was not interested in giving me the money to replace them so I bought a
DIY kit from Giani Granite. 

My Most Talented Mother came into town
a few weekends ago and we decided this would be our
weekend project.

The outcome... I no longer have to look past anything...

I just get to love my kitchen! 

I am so pleased and the total cost????  $50!!!! 

Now I am going to start working on
painting the cabinets:)

Before: The stains I could not get up...

Before: White

My Talented Mother taping off...

Getting ready for the transformation...

Primed 

Sponging... that's right sponging!

Before sealing

The finished product! 

Please excuse the mess on the table:(

The bar that goes into the living room was my favorite part! 

 

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With Strings...

...these are a few of my favorite things!!!  I am not sure how to categorize my style... it's a little Pottery Barn meets Restoration Hardware meets my Mother.  And below are some inspiration pieces that I dream about.

Oh how I love framed maps...

these 2 are also HUGE which makes them even BETTER

Don't you love how clean and relaxing this looks... and the lamps are to die for!

Huge mirror... don't mind if I do!  And the chandelier can come too!

 This my bedroom inspiration... so nice and calming...

and I love the hat rack above the bed!

Love this headboard... I am currently trying to figure out how to make one:)

And If B would let me cut out walls and add floor to ceiling windows

I would so do it!!!

These wood floors would make my footsies so happy...
I just love the rustic look to them!

When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad!

I am my Mother's Daughter... and Now I Don't Have Cabinet Doors!

Growing up, my brothers and I never knew what house we might wake up in...  we would go to sleep and when we woke up furniture was moved, walls were repainted, and once there was a hole in a wall that later turned into a walk-through.  

We grew up with an amazingly talented mother who never left things as they were.  Her compulsion was passed down to my brothers and I and it is this trait that led me to removing my cabinet doors.  

I have seen cabinets without doors all over blog land and while sitting on our couch the other night I thought it would be just the ticket for my over-sized dinner plates (which I LOVE) that do not allow my cabinet doors to shut all the way.  

I am not sure I like the contrast of the white and the blonde cabinets... so I am thinking about redoing my cabinets next! (don't tell B though:)).