Our House....

My friend Danielle Oakey came to Baton Rouge for a few days to help me accessorize and put together my house. I can't even tell you what an amazing job she did. I would never in a million years would have been able to do it without her. She has such an eye for design and placement of things.

We spent our days running from store to store buying everything that jumped out at us. She did have to tell me a few times that what I picked out was not okay. I seriously needed the help! We accomplished in a few days what it would have taken me a year to do, and not as well. Thank you Danielle for coming to help me. I love you and can't believe how talented you are.

XOXOXO

Here are just a few pictures of what we did.

Front entry way

Book case in the living room

Living room

Master Bed Room

My favorite accessory, Danny the Moose

The wall color will be changing soon. We just need to find the right grey.

Antique Shopping

We took a trip to Denham Springs to do a little antique shopping. I don't have the patience or eye for this kind of shopping so I just followed Danielle around the stores and let her find what she needed. I am really horrible at this stuff!!

New Orleans

We have had such an amazing week. We flew out one of my good friends, and amazing designer, Danielle Oakey. She came to help me make some sense of accessorizing my house and making it look great. We had such a great time shopping, eating, exploring and doing late night projects. I would advise not to start DIY projects at midnight...

We took a trip to New Orleans to show Danielle around. It was a perfectly overcast day so not too hot and made for great exploring.

Jackson Square is so beautiful. The people watching there is amazing.

Danielle getting a shot of the square from across the street

Riding the street cars is a must when Benjamin comes along. He could ride the car for hours and never get tired of it.

No trip to New Orleans is complete without a trip to Cafe du Monde. Everyone has to have a beignet and hot chocolate! The outdoor cafe is awesome and the street performers outside make for an experience!

The Mississippi River

The French Quarter

Climbing Trees

The south has the most amazing trees. They are so huge and beautiful. The branches grow out and then onto the ground and they head back up into the sky. They make for perfect climbing trees. Im not going to lie, I have been on them a few times! We love playing on them at our favorite park. Just Beautiful.

Ben is at the trunk of this tree, you can hardly see him.

Baton Rouge Zoo

I took Benjamin and his friend, James to the Baton Rouge Zoo. The BR zoo is so charming. The animals are really close, you feel like you can reach out and touch them. There is the most darling train that Benjamin goes nuts for and there are never any people. We need to go more often!

Primary

I don't know how it happened, or where the time has gone, but Benjamin is now in primary. When I realized that it was time for him to go I got a little teary. I am such a baby when it comes to this boy. He is such a little stud and did so well on his first day.

And yes, I am one of those parents who takes a picture at church...

New Years Eve 2011

We spent New Years eve with our friends the Lawrence's. We had a lot of great food and tons of fun with all of the kids. When it came time to do fire works Ben camped himself on the couch with the door firmly shut so he didn't have to hear the loud sounds. This kid is a funny one!

Christmas

We took a trip to visit Mimi and Papa in Texas for Christmas. We feel lucky to have some family close, living in Baton Rouge is so far from what we are use to.

Train tracks run parallel to the road for a long stretch of the trip. Trains are Benjamin's favorite thing in the world, so when we saw this train coming we had to pull over and watch it pass. It is only natural that he would plug his ears the entire time...this boy is sensitive to sound, smells and basically any other sensory thing you could think of.

Looking at Christmas lights with Mimi

Getting milk and cookies ready for Santa

Playing with one of his christmas toys.

We took a trip to the Houston Childrens museum the day after christmas. I can't even tell you how amazing this museum is. It is a child's paradise. There was so much to see and do that we didn't even get to all of it. Ben was so happy to have two extra friends to spend the day with. Thanks Mimi and Papa for a wonderful Christmas!

Two handsome men...

Checking out at the grocery store with Mimi

and Papa

Ben and Mimi climbed this disc/ rope thing all the way up and then back down again. It went three stories up and was really cool. When they got to the bottom we saw a sign that said you had to be 5 to go in it. Whoops...

Building a parachute to put in the wind tunnel

Sending his lego car down the ramp with Daddy

My dad even found things that intrigued him. I couldn't get his attention until I went up to him and tapped his shoulder.

We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas with my parents, Lauren and lots of Missionaries. Ben is already gearing up for next year.