a lunch date with grammy & papaw.

have i mentioned how happy i am to be living in colorado & right up the street from my sweet family? family is everything to me. they just make life better, and quite honestly just plain bearable some days!
last week we were lucky enough to spend a whole day shopping with grammy, & then meet up for lunch at the olive garden with papaw & auntie! man, abel loves them. it's so sweet to see your parents loving on your baby. it just makes your heart so indescribably happy. he's one lucky dude to have so many people loving on him, and i am one lucky mama to call him my baby. i wouldn't mind having a whole lot more of days just like this one.

^^^oh... and someone's found their hands & is quite fond of them...^^^

reminders.

i saw a post over on a beautiful mess… (man is that place packed with fun) where they talked about reminder foods! i loved it, & it got me thinking about reminders...

 i have a crazy good memory. like elephant good. this serves us well around here because husband doesn’t. not only do i remember any and everything, but i also relate things to smells, songs, tastes, years, people, etc.

for instance… when chris wears a certain cologne, i’ll say “oooo, you smell like 2004” … he laughs, recalls that year & is like, oh my gosh you’re right, and weird. but he loves it.

anyhow. i LOVE memories & reminiscing. i myself, am made up of 75% nostalgia (the other 25% is probably peanut butter… or dessert, but we’ll just stick with peanut butter for now).

i love that cookie dough reminds me of my friend abby, and oreos remind me of emma. peanut butter is the common thread in my friendship with gaby, & cupcakes make me think of margaret.

i will never not think of the romeos when opening bottles with fizz. coke in a can takes me back to high school. brisk iced tea & kit kats were the main components of my diet during the ashtonkalachelseahillary days (i run the names into one, because we were pretty much never NOT together), vanilla sugar wafers remind me of visiting chris in college & well waffles... remind me of every other day for the past 3 years of our lives.

what about you? do you have any food triggers that remind you of something fun or wonderful? foods are fun. maybe next time we’ll do smells!

*sidenote, i realize it sounds like my diet only consists of foods that would lead me down a sure path towards obesity… however, i’d like to state that i do eat foods other than sugar & lots of fruits & veggies too! they just don’t remind me of anything… :)

a little before & a little after.

so this project is one i’ve been working on since i was still about to pop pregnant. i started it on a random day, at a random time, with every intention of finishing it that day, but you know.

it sat half painted for about a week & then abel joined us on the outside of my belly, so it stayed half painted for a couple more weeks. & then i finished painting it & it sat without knobs for a couple MORE weeks. but you guys. three months later, & it is now one color & officially has mismatch knobs just the way i imagined. it still needs the dark “wash” i planned on doing to it, but i’ve been sitting on this post & this project for far too long, so i’m counting it as good as done & sharing! maybe i’ll get to that in a couple more weeks… ;)

enjoy!

^^^before^^^

after…

oh abel, my heart.

there's really not much to say other than this little bubble blower has stolen my heart. it's crazy how big your heart gets when you have a baby. this little perfect person that you made from scratch! gah, it's a wonderful thing.
have a million if you can. 
i intend to! or maybe just 4... but you know what i mean.
xoxo

hard at work.

me & this little cue ball have been hard at work over here!
i had been busy having a baby & things like that, & really just couldn't focus on anything but being pregnant & the little person i was so excited to meet! then i had my surgery & wasn't able to do much but lay around & heal from that, we moved, abel came early... you know. life stuff.
my point... project love sort of got thrown to the wayside, or came to a screeching halt... whichever you prefer. we are hard at work now though, & hoping to release new goodies late spring/early summer!
some old designs will be discontinued, favorites may be re-vamped or offered in new colors or styles... plus we will release brand spankin' designs AND a baby/kids line! you can already preview some of the kids line over at the Abel housewife shop! i am so excited about all of this. i feel like creativity has been waiting to get out, & with a whole new inspiration, it could end up being my favorite line yet. thank you guys SO much for sticking around & continuing to support us & project love during this hiatus! get excited for new designs, scarf up on any old ones that might not be coming back & start spreading the word!
xoxo

the RED table.

over the weekend, our little family tried out a new(to us) cafe here in old town called 
the red table.
so cute. & so good.
i had been eyeing it for a little while, simply because it had a cute name. so when husband mentioned that he wanted to try it, i was all over that. we went for lunch, though i did see the cutest little chalkboard sign in the window advertising their waffles... next time... but back to lunch. we went half-sies on two different sandwiches, the coliseum & the yay! turkey. both were so very good. served with kettle chips & a coke in a can. abel slept until the food came, naturally, and then joined us for some lap sitting & smiles. i knew my days of hands free eating were over the day he was born, & i couldn't be happier about it.
if you're looking for good food, good prices, & a cute to boot atmosphere in old town, the red table has my recommendation! can't wait to go again, maybe for breakfast!
happy tuesday! xoxo

me.

for as long as i can remember, i have always been a huge admirer of people.

this has served me well for the most part. i generally give people the benefit of the doubt, see the best in them (some say, almost to a fault), and all around love most people i encounter. this to me is a great quality to have. loving people is important. it’s the Lord’s work. & loving people & trying to see them with His eyes, is pleasing to Him, so i’m good with that.

this all being said, i found that my admiration for people (especially when it came to this internet world & knowing people from afar) occasionally turned into me wanting to be just like them instead of just like me... their life. their talents. their look. their body. their successes. and on & on…

truthfully, as much as i don’t like to admit it, much of my youth wasted way too much time entertaining this idea.

just recently i realized something wonderful though.

for the first time, in possibly my entire life i don’t want to be anybody but me. i don’t want anyone else’s something. i am really loving me. my life. my relationships. my family. my successes. my creativity. my beauty both inside & out.

it’s truly the most amazing feeling, and it caught me by surprise.

i found myself creating without looking to others ideas for inspiration. reading blogs & looking on instagram and not feeling like “less” than whoever i was seeing. seeing other clothing companies & enjoying their creations without comparing to mine. ahhhhhh, such a weight lifted. to love ME. to be fully in my own skin.

i thank abel.
i thank God for blessing me with motherhood.

who freakin’ knew that becoming a mama was going to change THIS much for the BETTER! i mean, i thought it would be wonderful. i KNEW i’d love the heck out of my little baby. i didn’t know what confidence it would give me as a woman though. seeing myself with different eyes, being confident in the person & mother that i am, not feeling insecure about this or that… (i’m no saint… just saying it’s much better:)) praise You Jesus!

the thought that the life, face, body, talent, opportunity, family, spirit, etc. that God gave you isn’t the best one He could have given, because from the outside someone else’s life seems more exciting, their blog has more followers, they take better pictures, they’ve gotten this opportunity and so on… well, it’s a silly silly thought, and one that we should not accept into our hearts & minds. i finally feel free of this, and my hope is that some of you reading this who struggle with the same thing can begin to be freed as well!

on that note, i’m off to do some mommying & housewifery for the day!

**ps, did y'all notice that ombre is back around here! or 'mombre'... as i now like to call it :)

xoxo

ladies & gentlemen... we have a three month old.

gosh. he is the light of my life.

truly.

he lights up the faces of strangers.
light.
it’s the best word i can think of to describe him. you can already tell that he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. such a gentle soul.

he is growing fast. the other day as i rocked him, i sat there crying because he is growing so fast & it’s breaking my heart. i’m happy that he is healthy, getting bigger, & reaching milestones & all that… i know it’s a good thing & i am thankful.

but time slow down! this journey of life is so beautiful & wonderful & also heartbreaking at times. i’ve never experienced that more than i do now as a mother. watching him grow. imagining the day he walks & talks. the day he starts school, or even further down the road when he moves out of the house, or when he gets married & starts his own family! i want his life to be joyful & wonderful & full of all of those things!… but for time to just move slower, so that i can savor every moment & bottle it up on that little shelf we’ve talked about.

i already can’t remember what it felt like to be pregnant. & then the feeling of holding his little newborn body in my arms. so fragile & small. every day he seems cuter, & more talkative & smilier than the last. i am in love with this mama thing. it’s the greatest experience i have had in my entire life. & though right now abel is my world & i can’t imagine loving anything or anyone more… i pray that God blesses us with a few more littles to love on, because i’ve got this loving my family thing down.
it is what i live for.

here & there.

when the snow starts fallin’, pizza & a night in always sounds like a good idea.

my heart.

polka dots & a pretty rug.

“work”

weekend eats.

my favorite parking spot in all of old town.

you know…

& then some crepe making the next morning.

my favorite kind of mail…

baby feet perfection.

mom feet that could use a pedicure.

apples. a staple around here.

look who’s all big now…

atleast his favorite place is still my arms… for now.

a little family starbucks run.

a boy on his tummy.

sunday evening view from our porch…

monday morning… (it snowed allll dayyyy loonnnggg. & then some. & as i write this on wednesday afternoon… it’s still snowing! merry christmas weather if you as me!)

thanks for stopping by!