365 Days of Everleigh - FIRST Birthday :)

Dear Sweet Baby Bear..

I can't believe you're one.  ONE!?!  I actually handled this day better than I thought I would.  In the days and even weeks leading up to now, I couldn't even look back at your old photos without getting sad about how quickly you were growing.  A giant knot would well up in my stomach as I feared I had missed something…or slept too much… or that I didn’t take enough of you in.  Growing and changing right before our very eyes, every day experiencing something new.  Not only you, but us as well.  Figuring out your quirks.  What you liked.  What you didn’t.  How you slept best.  It’s been a learning process for all of us.  A roller coaster of sorts.  But the good coaster kind.  The beginner ones.  The gentle ones that little kids go on first… the 4’ and under kind. ;)

You have honestly, truly been such an amazing baby.  I know I've said that before.. and I'm sure I sound like a broken record to some, but (and I know I can speak on behalf of your dad when I say this but) we've never felt luckier to have you.  You've taught us how to love unconditionally.  You've taught us patience....and pure joy.  You've taught us to live life for the moment...and to slow down and enjoy every second.  I know now how to focus.  To REALLY focus on the little things that mean the most.  And you mean the most to me.  You and your dad have been the most amazing blessings in my life.  Without him, I wouldn't have you.  And for that, I am thankful.  Extremely thankful for all the blessings in my life.  For all the family that support us.  And love us.  The friends that have watched you grow for the last year and the people in our lives who have been there for us every step of the way.  Thank you for being such an amazing baby.  I couldn't have imagined a better year for ALL of us!  

With Grandpa and Grandma Maldonado in town, and a small party planned for you this weekend... here are a few pictures we captured of your FIRST birthday photo session with our dear friend Shannon (who took your newborn and 6 month photos!) Her's will OBVIOUSLY be better...but here are the ones we captured while we all stood behind her trying to get your attention (with Iphones and cameras and even Logan with his DS!) 

 

 

NEW Kelley Digs :)

So before we get to the "AFTER" photos of what all we've done to try and make our NEW house OUR home, here are the listing pictures that brought this gem to our attention.  Although we fell in love right away with its open layout (perfect for entertaining), and the ridiculous amount of rooms and square footage (we got SUPER lucky with the size for the price)... we knew right away that making it our own would require a lot of painting.  A. LOT.  As in..damn near every single room!  And because we wanted to tackle as much as we could of the painting part before we brought in our furniture.. two weeks into owning this home, and we're BARELY starting to somewhat settle in, SLOOOOOOWWWLY taking stuff out of boxes and putting things away.

But without further ado... our NEW Kelley Digs!  Visit soon.  Visit Often.  :)  

Cowboy boot planter will be put up on Craigslist soon.  Claim it now if you want it.  ;)  

Even though this textured look works for a lot of people.. and wasn't actually BAD... it wasn't really our taste.  First order of business was to NEUTRALIZE the entire house with paint.  

We ended up painting the entry area / office, living room, hallways and kitchen:

Sherwin Williams, Pavillion Beige.  

Pretty for some.. but a little dated feeling to us.  

We painted over the red (under the chair rail) a crisp white (Sherwim Williams - Pure White)

The top portion a dark grey (Sherwin Williams - Backdrop) 

We also got an AWESOME new light fixture from West Elm for the dining room too that we can't wait to put up.  Oh and a new dining table too!!  Woo hoo for hosting more dinner parties :) :) 

FIRST FLOOR GUEST ROOM

They used this first floor room as their office.. we're going to use it as a guest room.  

Sherwin Williams - Pavillion Beige all around

MASTER BEDROOM - Hasn't been touched.  

We actually liked the color and didn't feel we needed to rush into painting it.. YET.  ;) 

Bought a new fan that still needs to be installed.  

MASTER BATH - To Do List

The border NEEDS to GO!!! ASAP.. 

Light Fixture needs to be replaced

Mirrors - gets a new frame

Cabinets need a new coat of paint.  They were painted in some crackle brown ugliness.  

Tub faucet fixture - changed out eventually.  

Now the kitchen is where we've spent the majority of our sweat and man hours.  WHEW!! Boy oh boy!!.. Let's just say that at first glance, we knew IMMEDIATELY that we would NOT be able to live with the color of the cabinets for very long.  Not even a SLIGHT chance.. in hell.  Knowing full well how much of a process this was going to be... we researched a head of time and tackled this bad boy FIRST.  What a production!  We took every single cabinet door down.. took off the hinges, sanded everything down and stained each one... letting each side dry for at least 24 hours.  27 cabinet doors and 10 drawers later.. and these orange cabinets have been TRANSFORMED!!

They look AMAZING now.. can't wait to show you the difference!!  

(Quite possibly in the next post.. I've yet to take pictures of them all hung up and pretty).  

All that faux-ness has been painted over and that fixture above the sink has been replaced with a REALLY cool Edison bulb pendant light :)  

Still need to figure out what the heck we are going to do about that box light overhead.  YUCK!

Still looking for a new kitchen pendant light for above our kitchen table.. 

ORANGE YUCKINESS!!  Ahhhhh!!

Living room got a cool new fan .. not that four light mess that seemed to hang too low in the room.. 

We bought new fans for every room that will be replaced soon as well.. 

UPSTAIRS BEDROOM #1 - Everleigh's Room :)

Initially, I had a hard time deciding which room Everleigh would get.  This one has a slightly smaller walk-in closet but cute vaulted ceilings... so, it won.  :)  And of course, it got a painting overhaul too.  

Yellow and Red NO MORE!  :)  

UPSTAIRS BEDROOM #2 - TURNED KELLEY GYM

Hasn't been touched... is now our gym.  Or at least that's where we parked our elliptical.  ;) 

You know the thing that hasn't been touched since this whole house moving process started... yeah, that one.  

UPSTAIRS BEDROOM #3 

UPSTAIRS GAME ROOM 

While they used this room as a theater room, we had different plans for using this space...  

game room for Everleigh of course!!  And while the DARK maroon appealed to my Aggie heart, I knew it had to go.  This is another transformation worth seeing.  It went from a dark, dungeon-like space to light, bright and airy!  :)  DARK NO MORE!!  (Pictures coming soon!)

OUR BACKYARD 

Macie's dream come true!!  I think Chad and I were both more excited for Macie and Everleigh having a place to run than anything else. lol.. 

Hope ya'll enjoyed our new house tour..  

Come visit us soon :)  

Everleigh's 6th Month Photo Book

This may be a bit early to show.. (it's headed down south for Mother's Day as we speak and will be given to Chad's mom when she comes here in a few weeks so...ssshhhh DON'T tell Chad's mom or my mom to check our blog!!) but here's a little looksie at the 6 month photo book I created on Shutterfly for Everleigh.  :)

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterfly's award-winning photo books. Try it today.

Baptismal Blessings for our Sweet Bear Everleigh

When it came time to plan Everleigh's baptism, a few things were certain.  

1. We were going to have it in the valley with a private service in Brownsville 

2.  My brother Omar and sister in law Christi were going to be Everleigh's Godparents

3. Because I'm Addie's Godmother, I wanted Everleigh to wear Addie's baptismal dress 

(blog post on Addie's baptism HERE)

4.  and lastly I wanted to work our trip around Addie's birthday weekend so we could ensure Chad would be able to join in on the fun as well.  ;)  

The day couldn't have gone more smoothly.  Aside from the church being RIDICULOUSLY hot when we first arrived... It was a beautiful ceremony...short and sweet....with a family priest friend presiding over her baptism.  Everleigh cooperated, not a whimper, not a peep...just sheer curiosity about the events happening around her.  She was a perfect angel.  So proud of my bear.. :)

Everleigh, with her Godparents, Omar and Christi

And cousins, Addie and Andrew

Everleigh with my parents.. :)

With my Grandma Nana

With a longtime family friend Sister Gloria and Nana

Everleigh with Christi's parents 

(I love how no one mentioned the BURP CLOTH on my shoulder!! lol..)