Meet Tess

Meet Tess, or Tess the Tornado as I like to call her.

She is equal parts cute, sweet, and wild.  The first couple of days, she was still a little unsure of her new home.  Now, she runs the place.  Brooks is a little scared of her in the mornings when she's wild and he's still a little sleepy.  He gets over it pretty quickly, though.

Her favorite things to do are pee and poop in the floor, play tug of war with cords, follow Hank around, and jump on Brooks.

The biggest challenge has definitely been trying to keep up with her and Brooks outside because they love to go in opposite directions.  Luckily, she is usually following Hank so if I call him, she comes running too.  When we get our fence up, it will be a lot easier.

Hank is starting to warm up to her.  Last night she tried to snuggle up next to him on the couch and he actually waited about 1 minute before he got up.  He did come lay right next to her on the floor by my desk a few days ago, though.

She was definitely the cure for my baby fever, so I'm sure Clay is happy about that.

My favorite moment so far was when Clay introduced her to Brooks for the first time.  It was love at first sight, for both of them.

We love her so much already & can't wait to watch her grow!  She is the perfect addition to our family :)

Fresh in Fifteen

So, my favorite blogger, Kate @ The Small Things Blog, did a post about getting ready for the day in 15 minutes...well, at first it was 8 minutes, but that didn't turn out so well. She challenged her readers to participate in her #freshinfifteen challenge, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  The link to her post is here.  If you don't follow her blog, you should.

WARNING! The "before" shot is horrendous, so proceed with caution.

This challenge was appealing to me because as a mom to an almost 19 month old, being able to get ready quickly is a MUST.  Before having a baby, I could spend an hour taking my time getting ready, but now I have to get him fed & ready, make sure his diaper bag is packed, make sure everything is out of our dog's reach, etc.

The key to this challenge working for me is washing my hair the night before.  I don't typically do that, just because by the end of the next day my hair is greasy & impossible to do anything with.  But, if I just have plans in the morning, it works out fine.  So, I washed my hair last night & just let it air dry.  I threw it up in a bun right before I started my make up.    

It's amazing how much better I feel if I get ready for the day instead of just staying in my pajamas & no make-up all day.  I ran through my hair with a large-barrel curling iron.  That is the only part of the #freshinfifteen I kind of had to skimp on.  

Anyway, this was a fun challenge so I encourage all my friends to try it!  Tag your post on instagram with #freshinfifteen so Kate can see your transformation!  

xo,

Casey

Weekend Recap

This weekend the boys and I went to Heath Springs to visit Clay's family.  Brooks has so much fun visiting his nana and papa and playing with his cousin, Bailey.  Heath Springs is also Hank's favorite place to go.  He loves to run around....seriously, he doesn't stop running the entire time we're there. 

On Saturday, we went to Rock Hill for Clay's cousin Kayla's baby shower.  I am so excited for her and all the exciting times she has ahead of her with that sweet little boy!  

After the baby shower, we drove up to Matthews to celebrate one of my best friend from college son's 2nd birthday.  Grady has grown so much!  I love that his birthday party has become such a great occasion to catch up with my PC family.  It is so fun to see how our group picture has changed since last year.  We've added baby Maisy to the mix, and Brooks and Grady have changed SO much.  Clay and I quickly realized that Brooks is WILD.  He is so much louder and boisterous than the other boys that are around his age!  Grady is walking around so chill and calm & Brooks is throwing water on EVERYONE and throwing blow-up sharks at the other kids.  Oh boy.  We are going to have a time with that little guy, but he is so much fun to be around. 

On Sunday, we had a nice day out by the pool.  Brooks LOVES the water...as you can tell from the pictures below.  It is definitely the place where he is the happiest.  He could play in the water all day, every day.  

I am already looking forward to our next trip to SC.  It is so nice to get away every once in a while and be around all the people we love SO much.  Usually, we are really sad to leave on Sundays, but not this trip!  Anne Marie came back to spend the week with us :)  

These are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend!

xo,

Casey        

The water is where he's the happiest!

One of my favorite pictures of them

Worn out from the water

Just hanging out on the tractor

Sharing daddy's gatorade

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog, Ho Hum Hollow!  I thought my old blog, Down Home with the Johnsons needed a face lift, so I just created a new one!  You can still visit the old blog to read old posts, but come back here for updates on our life :)

Since I have a new little work space in our house and a computer that doesn't take two years to open up a webpage or picture, I hope to blog more often to give our friends and family little updates every now and then.  I also plan to use this blog to post my inspirations for making our new house a home.  So...if you love dogs, babies, pretty little things, home decor and decorating, and LOTS of pictures, this is the blog for you!

xo,
Casey