Chelsea Salomone

Beckham is eight months old! Eight months old is a combination of really great and really challenging. 

The challenging part is, he has entered into the unending ear infection/teething combo that all of my boys go through. It's not easy! It's a lot of sleepless nights (A LOT of them!) and a very fussy baby much of the time. But, I know we'll eventually get through it just like we did with the other two. Beckham is also very partial to me (which I love!) and has really bad stranger anxiety right now. If we're at home, he wants me to carry him around wherever I go. When we have a baby-sitter, or I take him to the church nursery, they really earn their money with Beckham. It's sooo hard to leave him, but I know it's something he will have to work through.

The good definitely outweighs the bad. He is doing so many fun things right now. He smiles and laughs, and Logan and Everett have the best time competing to see who can make him laugh the most. He laughs at them and splashes right along with his big brothers in the bathtub. When I read him one of his two favorite books, he laughs and smiles, which I just love!

He wiggles and stretches out his arms when someone is holding him and he wants Nick or me. He will say, "Mama" and "Dada" (mostly when he's upset), and just today Logan got him to say "Bubba" a couple of times. [Side note: Bubba sounds very redneck to me. I'm not sure how it came to be that we're a family who uses that term on the reg. Anyway, moving right along.]

All of a sudden I've seen a huge jump in what he understands. I can tell he really knows what I'm talking about most of the time. If I say, "books," he will look at his basket of books. If I say "Lexi," he looks right at her, etc.

He's just started waving "bye bye," and giving big, sloppy open mouthed kisses on demand. Obviously we're all thrilled by both of these tricks and think he's brilliant and certainly bound for Harvard in the long run.

He is at the stage where he only wants to eat what we're having, and I've noticed a shift to where he's pretty much 50/50 food and milk. If one of us is eating something he can't have (like a chip), he will get so mad, grunting and wiggling and trying to grab it out of our hands. He basically eats everything we eat, with the exception of dairy which I try (kind of) to keep away from him because of his ear infections. 

He's good at putting himself to sleep, the issue is more of him staying asleep. He's down to two naps a day, around 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., and bedtime around 7:00 p.m., depending on our schedule. I try hard to plan things so he can get the sleep he needs, but it's not always possible with two other kids. 

When he isn't sick, he still gets up once around 9:30 or 10:00 to nurse and typically one other time in the night (Noooooo. Make it stop!!!) But when he's not feeling well (the last month), all bets are off. As much as I dislike his crazy nighttime sleep, I do really treasure how he falls asleep on me, and we just sit there together rocking for a little bit before I lay him back down. He's so sweet and snuggly, and I simply don't get enough time to just sit still and be with only him. Beckham is absolutely filled to the brim with joy when his brothers are around. I want to soak up every last ounce of his fleeting babyhood. 

Really, all of us do. We love Baby B more than words can say!

In normal situations, friends don't just show up at your front door. You actually have to get out and dust off your social skills, find common interests, navigate the awkward small talk, and go from there. That's how normal adult friendship works, except in the case of Jaymi and me. She likes to tell the story of how I literally showed up at her front door and we became friends.

I'm not sure exactly how it happened or why I felt so bold, but according to her, I just showed up on her doorstep one day with my tow headed toddler, and we've been friends ever since. I don't have much recollection of getting to know her except I had a little boy, she had a little boy, and we lived about ten steps apart. How could we not be friends?

From day one our friendship has just been easy. We have an unusual number of things in common, right down to our childhoods. We share many of the same interests and our sense of humor is oddly in sync. We have five boys between us. It also helps that Nick and Cody became fast friends. 

I have always admired Jaymi's strong faith, her sweet spirit, and her incredible gift of making things around her more beautiful. She is crazy talented when it comes to decorating and designing things. She puts Southern Living to shame with the things she decorates and designs, effortlessly. It makes my left brained head spin quite honestly. But I think she keeps me around because I help her organize her pantry and closet from time to time.

So about a month ago Jaymi started making leather earrings. I had seen them a couple of different places and happened to show Jaymi a pair I bought for Kimba. My default was: Oh! We should buy some of these! Of course Jaymi's default was: Oh! We could make some of these!

Jaymi knows my crafting skills are about a two on a 1-10 scale, but occasionally she does drag me into some crafting project she cooks up. So, true to form, Jaymi started making leather earrings. And they were beautiful!! So much more intricate and well made than anything else I'd seen. She was making them just for fun, and I mentioned she should start selling them.

Just to be a good friend (and because I really loved the earrings), I started posting some things on Facebook for her and telling a few of my friends about them. Everyone else seemed to like them too! And before we knew it, Jaymi had sold ten pair, then fifteen... and more and more people started asking how they could order. The earrings are unique, they're pretty, and they're so lightweight! I suggested she should bring them to my MOPS meeting to sell, and she in turn, suggested we make this an official thing and go into business together.

I was hesitant at first, but the more I thought about it, the more excited I became. We had a family meeting last Sunday night with Nick and Cody. Cody owns a business, and Nick's job is to evaluate businesses, so they really had some valuable insight we were clearly lacking. We sat around our kitchen table while Beckham ate Puffs in his high chair and made a rough framework for our business. And before Jaymi and Cody left, we were officially business partners, 50/50 on this deal.

Monday I started working on paperwork to make us an official corporation, and we set up a joint bank account for our business. 

Once things calm down (right now, we're just trying to stay above water with sales and fumble our way through the financial parts), Jaymi will handle the design and purchasing, and I'll handle the business aspect. My job will primarily focus on our money, our orders, marketing, shipping and whatever else needs to be done. 

This first week has been a blast, but it has been such a whirlwind. We are literally selling earrings faster than we can make them. It's been insane! It's been equal parts exciting and overwhelming. Neither one of us expected such fast success, but we sure are grateful for it!

Jaymi has been cutting leather like nobody's business, and I've been shipping them, working on business cards, labels, Etsy, setting up our money stuff, running back and forth to her house, etc. 

Mostly, like this ^ with a monkey on my lap

We took the earrings to my MOPS meeting on Wednesday, with the goal of selling five pair. We sold all of our inventory, plus the pair in my ears!!

In addition, I also reached out to a few boutiques. We have earrings in one already, and are in the process of having them in a second (and maybe a third) in the next couple of weeks. Exciting!!

We took this picture on Saturday, just joking around. These shirts were in one of the boutiques we met with, so we had to take this picture to send to Nick and Cody. 

Leather shopping afterwards

Here are a couple of our designs that I had on my phone. You can check out more on our Etsy store, CLEVER BEAR LEATHERS. (Please keep in mind, this is a really rough design right now. We still need to go in and fix up our pictures and add more detail to our listing. But I would love for you to see what we have so far!)

I would also love if you liked us at Clever Bear Leathers on Facebook, HERE. 

Oh! And did I mention this little gem??? The production staff at CNN (can you spot Lisa Ling??) got their hands on our earrings while filming a documentary and loved them!!! WHAT??

It's been quite a week- I think I've felt every emotion possible; excited beyond belief, grateful, energized to have something that's "mine," surprised, stressed, overwhelmed, wondering if we're crazy for taking this on.. it's been a wild ride in such a short time. I'm beyond appreciative of the friends, family and new customers who have shown us such awesome support, and I'm excited to see where this road takes us!

We are normally pretty solid dinner + a movie type of date nighters. Or: sit in the hot tub, watch Parenthood, and hurry! quick! fall asleep before the baby wakes up again-ers. 

This past weekend we had the opportunity to do two fun date nights. On Friday we took a cooking class at Central Market. 

The theme was a bacon inspired menu. We started with a pork belly and chipotle aioli appetizer. Then moved onto steaks with caramelized onions, bacon & lobster pasta, and peanut butter chocolate pie with bacon crumbles. So good/so much bacon.  

The peanut butter chocolate pie was my very favorite! Let me just be honest, I did some cooking, but I did more wine drinking and eating chocolate flavored peanut butter straight out of the jar with the sample spoons. I don't regret that.

Then, Sunday night my mom took the older boys to spend the night at her house. These days one kid basically feels like no kids. Nick and I had a meeting for my newest business venture [more on that soon!] and then had a massage therapist come to the house and Door Dash deliver dinner. Legit!!

Monday morning I woke up slowly. Granted, Beckham had been up twice during the night, but he typically sleeps a little later in the mornings. I had some tea, did a few things around the house, fixed myself breakfast... I even did a short workout video while Beckham watched. 

I really, really, REALLY enjoyed Monday morning. There was only one person's diaper to change, one person (plus myself) to feed, the house wasn't destroyed in five minutes, the volume was nice and quiet, I could form cohesive thoughts... in fact, I started to feel guilty about how much I enjoyed it.

I obviously love each one of our boys more than anything and wouldn't trade the chaos for all the calm in the world (most days).. but gosh three little kids is a lot. And Beckham isn't even mobile or verbal! 

Often, being a stay-at-home mom with three kids feels like playing Whack-A-Mole of Needs. Someone needs to eat! Someone needs a diaper! Someone is crying! Someone needs a nap! Someone just hammered a nail into his window sill (totally hypothetical of course)! Someone is asking me five questions at once! Someone is whining! Someone needs something opened! Someone else is crying! Someone needs help dressing! Someone is ALWAYS awake when we all should be sleeping. The dryer is buzzing! The clean dishes need to be emptied! No, I am not the keeper of the things- I don't know where the blue ball you got at the birthday party in November is. BLEH!!  I wonder if this is just life with three kids or if this is life with three young kids, and it will get better as they get older.

Thank you mom, for giving me a breather on Monday morning. The boys and I enjoyed it equally. 

Flashback to Valentine's Day last week... 

Nick and I aren't big Valentine people. We exchanged cards, said Happy Valentine's Day and that was about the extent of it. Both boys had parties at school. Logan had to bring a decorated bag or box. About a week before his party I showed him a few options and asked if he wanted to decorate a box. He was adamant he only wanted a bag with pictures of monster trucks glued on it, and I sighed a secret sigh of relief. Fancy Valentine boxes just aren't in my wheelhouse at the moment. This was his bag in all its glory. 

He showed me the pictures he wanted on Google, then he cut them out, glued them (with entirely too much glue- my kindergarten teacher self was twitching, but I kept my mouth shut) and I embellished the bag with some beautiful, very ornate hearts. Done and DONE!

Everett's party was in the morning. I'll tell you the secret to success for a three year old Valentine party: a dad with a leg for jumping over. Then everyone's happy!

The kids jumped back and forth over Floyd's leg for almost the entire party. I got the cutest video of it! Forget the cute stickers and crafts, leg jumping wins every time.

Then it was ice cream!!

Everett and his best buddy Lincoln

Logan's party was later in the afternoon and slightly more involved. The kids played "friend bingo" with adorable bingo cards with all the kids' faces on it that one of the moms had made. Somehow I got elected to be the official bingo caller and slightly panicked at the thought I might not remember all the names on the spot, but thankfully I did. Bingo was followed by ice cream sundaes.

My sweet boy's last preschool party!

Just taking it all in!

That night Andrea and Chris had the five of us, plus Al & Teri and my mom over for dinner. We picked up Papa Murphy's pizzas and salad, and had an easy + festive heart day dinner. 

A few other highlights lately...

Saturday I had to run an errand in Arlington while Logan and Nick were at a t-ball team picture. We stopped by one of my favorite stores, and Everett and Beckham were such good sports while I took a quick look-see. Training those future husbands right!! Afterwards, we had lunch with my mom. 

Scat was sure to fill us in on all the latest retirement community drama, which had us all laughing. Scat was recently named Queen of the whole retirement home [see photographic evidence below]

Isn't she pretty??

Let me just say- junior high drama has nothing on the retirement home!! I need to ask Scat, maybe she'll let me write about some of her stories sometime. They are HILARIOUS!

Two randoms of my peeps-

Hanging out, sprouting some teeth

We have firm rules that Lexi is never, ever allowed on the furniture.

See how much she cares?? Seriously, when did she just stop caring about EVERYTHING? Maybe when she stole the entire loaf of bread out of the pantry, or the box of Girl Scout Cookies, or how she now steals food from the boys on a daily basis. She doesn't even try to be sneaky or act ashamed anymore. We might as well be living in a retirement home, because Lexi is our little old lady queen and she doesn't care what anyone thinks of it.

I couldn't be more proud of our three boys. They are such sweet, kind (and often rowdy) little people. It's never a dull moment, and they sure keep me laughing (and sometimes wanting to pull my hair out)!

Yesterday morning I overheard Logan tell Everett, "I'll be thinking of you today at Museum School." And then Everett said, "Oooh, thanks Bubba! I hope you get to learn about snakes today." And then Logan came downstairs to leave. This earnest little exchange between the two of them just about did me in!

Last week was parent teacher conferences for Logan and Everett. I felt so proud by the wonderful things their teachers had to say, I could have burst. Being their mom is the biggest privilege of my life. You always wonder if you're getting it right, and it's so reassuring to hear their teachers say such nice things.

A few weeks ago Cherie Strader took some pictures for us, and she has such a gift of capturing the boys' personalities. Logan- reserved, curious and a little mischievous. Everett- funny, exuberant and full of life. Beckham- so sweet and just taking it all in. 

It rained right in the middle of our session, two somebodies (one big and one small) weren't cooperating, and yet I still love what she got! I look at these pictures and think, wow! This is all so much more than I could have imagined for myself. I feel incredibly grateful. 

Here are some of my favorites:

Raising these three little souls with Nick is a privilege indeed. 

Two best friends just doing best friend things

After our speakers finish each week, I always go up to the front and ask them a few generic questions. These are just fun things I came up with- same questions for every speaker- that help us get to know them on a more personal level and sometimes lighten the mood if they've talked about a weighty topic. (I still get the sweats thinking back to the time I asked our pastor what his guilty pleasure is. THANKFULLY he said something totally normal, like ice cream. I was so nervous I can't even remember his actual answer, but I do recall I was relieved with what he said.) Anyway, one of the questions is: What is your biggest pet peeve? 

Apparently Melissa's huge pet peeve is when people stand up from a table and don't push in their chairs. She went into this whole (funny) diatribe about it, how you're standing behind them and the chair is now in the way, do you push it in for them, do you walk around it, blah, blah, blah... well as she's talking, I hear laughter erupting from the girls who sit at my table and look over to see them laughing at me and pointing at my chair. *NATURALLY* when I went up to introduce Melissa, I stood up from the table without pushing in my chair, and she had literally been sitting at an empty table catty- corner to where I was sitting. In other words, there was no way she didn't come in contact with my chair on her way up to the podium. Nothing like making best friends only to lose them. 

Obviously, Melissa had no clue and wasn't being malicious in the least, just speaking off the cuff. But the whole situation was just funny/ironic/cringeworthy. Melissa was delightful in person and it was such a pleasure to hear about the wonderful things she's doing firsthand. I'm hoping to find a way to get involved with The Net in the next couple of months because they are doing some amazing things. And if I happen to see Melissa, you better believe I'll be pushing in my chair.

Beckham has really been giving us a run for our money lately. So happy by day...

This view right here is what I'll probably remember most about the boys being preschool aged. Never were toys more loved than their two Power Wheels. 

We decided to all take one car, which meant Layne got stuck in the back with all the bags and the stroller. Nothing like the comfort and luxury of third row seating.

Lunch, in a picture:

And of course, then they slept. Three for three on the car ride home.

A game of Pie Face, sans whipped cream, sufficed for day drinking instead.

Friday night we took the boys to hang out with their second family. Emilee was in town for her sister Bailee's basketball playoff game. It's been a long time since I went to a high school sporting event- we had so much fun cheering her on! 

Everett alternated sitting with Emilee's two brothers and her parents, and Beckham and Logan sat together on Emilee's lap for most of the game. We left before the game ended, but ultimately the Lady Lions were victorious. 

Finally, just a plug for my friend Jaymi... if you're in the market for some awesome and unique earrings, you've got to check out her Etsy site CLEVER BEAR LEATHERS. She is constantly updating it with new stuff and does custom designs as well.

Jaymi started making these adorable leather earrings just for fun and then a local shop started carrying them and word started spreading. Now, she is literally selling them faster than she can make them. The other day a lady bought the pair right out of her ears!! They are lightweight and really, really cute in person. Here are a few of my favorite designs:

Gold tear drop ^^ most popular

Thank you for the extremely kind and heartfelt comments on my last post. I fully intended to go back and respond to each one individually but that hasn't happened. I did want you to know that I read every single one (probably three times) and it was much appreciated. I'm still in the same spot I was a week and a half ago, but when I don't blog for a while I sure do miss it.

Have a great week, friends!