If you’re a Facebook friend of mine, you know that I wanted to be spoiled for Mother’s Day.  It may sound self-righteous and bratty to you, but I’m just being honest.  The week leading up to Mother’s Day was emotional and weird.  On one hand, I’m incredibly thankful to be a mom of a gorgeous, amazing little girl.  But on the other hand, I suffered a lot of loss and had to work really hard to become a mom.  For many years I would dread Mother’s Day, especially church services where moms were honored, so the holiday just stirs up a lot of emotions for me.

Anyways, we started off the weekend like normal- with a soccer game.  And Aspen played great!

We had just gotten cleaned up after lunch when Aspen had a brilliant idea, “I want to go to a hotel and swim.”  I’m always up for a hotel stay so it was a no-brainer for me, but luckily Brad agreed   The Hilton Anatole was big, beautiful and had a fun vacation-y feel to it.  You know how Aspen can’t resist water, she had to dip her hands in the reflecting pool in the lobby.

We wasted no time getting to the pool after we got our room.  Aspen immediately jumped in and started playing with another little girl.  I was sitting on the edge of the pool, just thinking about how perfect everything was, when I noticed that Aspen was broken out in hives.  Red, raised hives from head to toe!  Fortunately, we were very close to Children’s Medical and rushed over to it.  Short version- she was fine, but definitely allergic to something in the hotel or the pool.  Here she is at the hospital waiting to be discharged.

We got her a cheeseburger on our way back to the hotel and she ate it in her very own room.  Yes folks, we got a hook up!  We’ve always heard stories of people getting upgrades at hotels but it’s never happened to us, so we were beyond excited.

It was late and Aspen was pooped, but we decided to risk going downstairs to a restaurant so that Brad and I could have a nice dinner.  It was worth it because Aspen fell asleep and we were able to enjoy a quiet meal.

After dinner, we put Aspen to bed and rented a movie.  The hotel package we purchased included a snack pack, so we called for it and were pleasantly surprised when it came.

Our room had a nice view of downtown and we were greeted in the morning by a beautiful sunrise.

It worked out perfectly that we got the sunrise and Aspen’s room was as dark as a cave.  She slept late which gave us a quiet, relaxing morning to drink coffee in bed and watch Friends.  It was awesome.  We headed back to the pool for a second chance at swimming….

….but it was cut short with Aspen starting to break out again.  We were so sad, but knew we needed to leave and get her out of the environment that wasn’t agreeing with her body.

My sister, Libby, hosted a family cookout at her new house and we had a great time.  Emily has more pictures from the day on her blog.  Here is my nephew, Carter, playing and singing for my Grandmother.

It was a great weekend, despite the scary trip to the Emergency Room, and I absolutely got the pampering I had wished for.

I finally got around to decorating Aspen’s room, after moving her to the guest bedroom two months ago.  Better late than never, I guess.  And it’s not like she cares, she only sleeps in there.  I bought 2 little floating shelves that were on clearance at Target, oh, about two years ago and finally put them to use.

I put a couple pictures of her up, her soccer trophy, a plant, and her Aspen, Co hat.  I also hung up the L-O-V-E art that Katy and I made for our first nursery 5 years ago.

Oh, and that’s Brad’s childhood dresser that we inherited recently.  Aspen’s room wasn’t the only space in our house getting attention though.  Remember when I got my grandparents’ buffet?  Well, my sister, Libby, has the matching dining table and recently moved into a new home that has the space for the set to be together.  So we took the buffet to her house and reunited the furniture.  They hugged and kissed, and look great together again.  But that left me with an empty wall and a bunch of stuff to find a new home.  The chalk board that was sitting on top of the buffet went to Aspen’s room, which I think is fitting.

I dispersed all the other stuff that was in the buffet into different closets and cabinets throughout the house.  So back to the empty wall.  I just put a chair, ottoman, and small table and made it a reading nook.  I really should call it “Mamo’s corner” since my mom is the only one that ever uses that chair and lamp to read.

That tiny shelf used to be in Aspen’s room and was just sitting in her closet staring at me, so I threw it on the wall and put some pictures on it.

At first I thought we might need another piece of furniture to fill up the space, but I actually like it being pretty bare.  I’m becoming more minimalist by the day.  And since I stole the lamp that was on the bar (I don’t know why I still call it a “bar” when it’s nothing of the sort), I filled it’s spot with…..you guessed it- pictures!

I feel like we are constantly playing the furniture shuffle game and re-arranging.  I guess it keeps life interesting.

I guess it’s been awhile since I blogged last, which means life has been busy or I’ve just totally given my CCC readers the cold shoulder.  I’ve been busy, I swear! I would never turn my back on you sweet thangs.  Here are some pictures to prove it

Every Saturday morning is spent on the soccer fields.  Aspen has done really well this season and has even scored a goal!  Brad enjoys coaching and I enjoy watching him coach.

Last weekend, I wasn’t feeling good so I spent some time resting in bed.  When I got up to see what Brad and Aspen were up to, I was surprised to see a new flower bed.

They dug everything up, put a brick border down, and planted some new plants.  This doesn’t really explain why I’ve been busy, but they sure worked hard on it

Brad’s mom is our resident landscaper/gardener and has really helped us beautify the yard.  I will show more pictures and give more details in another post.

It seems that we have a birthday party to attend every weekend, and last weekend was no different.  First we went to an adorably-themed Lemonade Stand party at the park.  Aspen and Evan had a blast swinging round and round in the tire swing together.

I actually thought I broke my pinky when I was pushing them and it got stuck in one of the links and got bent backwards.  Yeah, that hurt.  Then we went to a Pirate party and played all kinds of fun treasure games.

Oh, and then Katy had her baby.  Here is Brad and Aspen meeting Nora for the first time.

I’ll save all the close up pics for Katy to show off herself, but I thought this one is hilarious.  The room was packed with admirers when Nora got her first bath.

Yep, we all adore her.

So other than that, I’ve been doing a lot of babysitting, hanging out with friends, and digging for worms with Aspen.  All very important stuff so I’m sure you can understand why I’ve been MIA.

We’ve done a lot of furniture switcharoo around here lately since my mother-in-law moved in with us.  We moved Aspen’s room into the guest room, which meant everything in the guest room needed a new home.  We gave away the bed and then cleaned out closets to stash away some other stuff.  I didn’t want to get rid of our shelf that Brad has had since college, so we made room for it in the living room.

Since it was in our immediate viewing area, being right next to the tv, I wanted to spruce it up a tad without having to paint the whole shelf.  So I ordered some contact shelf paper off Amazon that had the look I had in my head.

I look the two upper shelves out, gave it a quick wipe down, and put the paper up in two strips.  Yep, it was that easy and took me about 10 minutes.  Voila!

Cute, right?

Unless you live under a rock, or in another state, you know that the Cowtown marathon was last weekend in Fort Worth.  Brad and I ran the 5k with a team from his work, along with what felt like another 4 million people.  I guess I’m getting cranky in my old age because I was so annoyed with the crowd and the freezing temperatures.  I would have much rather stayed in my warm bed and slept another couple of hours.

As soon as we took off to begin, Brad starting darting around the walkers and slower runners, jumping on and off the curb.  Which is usually what I do too, but not this time.  I told him to go ahead, but I was just going to run slow and not play the pinball game.  I’m telling you guys, I was not in the mood.  I was also really sore from killing my legs in aerobics two days prior.  Not smart, Mel.

So my time was horrible, but I didn’t care.  I finished my 4th Cowtown 5k.  At least I think it was my 4th…have I lost track, Deanna?  All I could think about after finishing was how I wanted some hot coffee and breakfast.  I was seriously craving pancakes, so like any good husband that spoils his wife, Brad took me to get some.

Saturday night, we took Brad’s mom out to eat for her birthday.  We had heard about a sushi restaurant that was the real deal over a year ago and finally made a reservation to try it out.

It was like being at a friend’s house for dinner.  A Japanese friend who likes to make fresh sushi for you right before your eyes.

It.  Was.  Amazing.

Even the pasta dish we got for Aspen was delicious.  So that was definitely a treat for all of us and we had a great time.  I’d say that it was a pretty good Saturday

Did I leave you hanging?  At the first of the year, Brad and I painted our kitchen cabinets, including the small section next to our bedroom door.

I told you we were going to turn it into a dry bar, and I just realized that I never updated on it.  Well, we got the cabinets all painted with a fresh, clean white and left off the middle doors.  Then Brad installed a wine glass rack at the top, which left it looking like this.

A couple weeks later, we had a granite shelf fabricated and installed to make it look more finished and, you know…pretty.

Voila!  We have a bar.

I bought a wine bottle rack at Marshall’s to hold my “yucky juice”.  That was the code word for wine used back when my nephew was a young’n and it stuck.

So there’s my bar update.  Now go and enjoy your weekend!  It’s the last one in February, can you believe it?