Progress

Carly is around six weeks away from making her entrance into this family, and I am ready.  I will be 34 weeks tomorrow - hardly seems possible... 
But alas, I am fat and  uncomfortable, and mostly I am just ready to meet this new girl I have been waiting so patiently for.  In a lot of ways this has gone by so fast (much faster than with Hootie it seems) but I can't wait to get to know this tiny person who I have growing in my big, round, heavy belly.

I have been hard at work on her room, and here are some pictures to prove it.

All of her toys are waiting for her.

In the meantime, her sister is making good use of them while we wait.  (I am a little concerned because she keeps calling this a potty. I hope she doesn't act on that one.LOL) 

 And I just spent the last two days painting this mural over the bookshelf, and I feel like it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! :)

Just a few things left - Garrett is repainting a dresser, we need to go buy some bedding, a few little touches.  Other than that here we wait.

Hayden wants to know, "When are you coming, Carly Kate?"  :)

Hootie's Nest and a loose plan for using it....

We have lived in our house for a year now and we have never really done much in Hoot's room, aside from putting her furniture in there and grabbing laundry or something for her to wear from up there occasionally.  As you all know, she doesn't sleep up there and never has.  Naughty parents. But that all has to change before September 1st (or there abouts) when we gain a sister - unless I lose my mind and crate a "family bedroom" for all four of us like Garrett suggested....  I don't want it to come to that.  LOL

So we have started phasing Hayden's room into less of a receptacle for her clothes and more of a space for her to play and relax in. 

We took some toys up there and we decorated a little bit and now she is obsessed with going in there. She wants to spend all day in there.  She can go up an down the stairs now, which freaks me out and we keep it gated when we aren't watching like hawks.  While it is scary, it is a good thing that she can safely navigate the stairs, though, because she has snuck up there on occasion when we forget to re-gate the entryway...  :-/ Again, naughty parents. 

You all know how I hate to spend a ton of dough on things I have or can do myself, and I am proud to say that this little spruce-up cost all of $0 so far.  Go me!!  This is thanks to a combo of creative rearranging of things we had, some cute hand-me-downs and gifts - and of course that darling bookshelf from Grampa.  I still have some little ideas that need to be taken care of (which will no doubt change the $0 price tag, but not by too much) but for now I want to show you our Garden Girl's room.

This crib turns to a toddler bed for when she figures out how to climb out of it.  I am hoping that is when she is 10. LOL Okay, that won't happen, but for now, she has no clue. 

I also need to find some cherry frames for these pictures.  They were passed along to Hayden by my cousins Amy and Christina.  We were going to paint a tree on this wall (we may still someday) but when Amy and Christina brought these pictures over, they were perfect!!  I love Peter Rabbit, and we are aiming towards a Garden-ish, girly theme in here. :)  Thank you, Amy and Christina!!

These are the pom-poms from her birthday party...  I think we need some over the crib, too.  They are super easy and cheap to make and make an adorable statement.  (Look HERE to see how to do it yourself.)

The little (okay, huge) Piggy bank in the corner was something that Garrett's family had in their house when he was a kid.  We have had to sitting in the garage for a year, and every time we would come or go, Hootie would say hi and bye to it, stick her fingers in his nose, and kiss him.  We decided what better place for her friend than in her room.

These are Garrett's dishes from when he was a baby.  What a happy coincidence that they are also Peter Rabbit!!

 The famous dollhouse bookshelf, now housing toys and books.  She likes it. :)







































So, that is the (mostly) completed big-girl nest. 

Now the plan is to spend time up there playing and hanging out an next week start taking naps up there, followed by sleeping up there at night.  It is time.  She is not a tiny baby anymore and the pack and play isn't gonna cut it forever - and we are not having a "family bedroom" no matter what my husband tells you.  LOL  I am actually hopeful that someday in the future (maybe not until both kids are like 12 and think we are uncool losers because we are their parents, but someday) I will be able to sleep without a little person joining me in my bed to spend the remainder of the night kicking me in the kidneys, punching me in the eye, and yelling "MAMA!" three inches from my face in the dark of night. 

A mom can dream, can't she?



Second Re-fashioned Skirt and More Pictures of a STILL Uncooperative Model

Okay - Tshirt Re-fashion #2 came from here - and this one was pretty easy and fun to make.  and i did it in black (because it is what I had laying around) and it is so cute.  It looks like a little dance skirt with a yoga style waist and flippy fabric.

And, best of all, for your amusement, my model was not any less silly and crazy than she was earlier today.  I have a feeling that America's Next Top Model doesn't live here.

Oh geez...  what a girl.  LOL

A Dollhouse Bookshelf for Miss Hootie

My dad made this awesome book shelf for Hayden's room a couple of weeks ago, and Garrett finally got a minute to paint it for me this weekend.  Is it not the most adorable thing you've ever seen? 

We saw the exact same thing in a Pottery Barn catalog a long time ago, and they wanted around $350 for it!!  I chalked it up to something that I would never pay that much for, until my dad said he could probably figure out how to build one like it. 

I ran into THIS website, and she just happened to have the plans for how to make one!! (By the way, this website has fast become an obsession for me.  If Appleseed is a boy, I want him to have one of these in his room! Adorable, right?  I could spend all day browing and daydreaming! We need this.  And this.  And this. And this, this and this. And a million other things that Miss Ana White is planning for us!  Hope that my dad is eating his Wheaties. LOL)

Next on the agenda for Hoot's room is we are going topaint a tree that hangs over her bed.  I feel like we should spruce her room up before a brother or sister joins the pack and we set to work on that bedroom. 

Maybe one day, she'll sleep up there.  But that's a different blog post.  ;)

a trendy and chic (but mostly frugal) wreath

When we moved into this house in April, we nearly tripled our living space.  We also tripled our utilities and our work load, too…    Decorating this place is an ongoing process, as the furniture and belongings we moved over here with looked a little like bachelor furniture in their new surroundings. 

We have bought new dining room furniture, a new couch and a new mattress/box spring set and that has helped, but unfortunately decorating can be a rather expensive project and due to the previously mentioned higher utilizes and whatnot, it is also a slow moving one.  Sometimes i just donothing becasue it feels overwhelming.  I was thinking about this the other day and I realized that that is just silly.

I am the daughter of a farmer.  I am nothing if I am not resourceful.  And I am crafty and creative too.

Enter my guilty pleasure – craft blogs.  I love them.  Craft blogs and the projects I get from them give me a bit of a rush.   Sitting on the couch at night, browsing tutorials and plans is my idea of a good time - and the only thing I like more than that is the crafting itself.   

I call it “glue-gun therapy” – and back in my previous life, I could seriously dwindle away an entire day crafting my heart out.  Now, my time is more limited - to nap time (which is limited because as you know, my child is not the best napper), after bedtime (I like this one because in my craft room, wine is always served after hours), Sunday afternoons when Garrett is home to occupy Hoot and brief moments where Hoot plays with toys next to me in my craft room before she gets into something or loses her patience.  In some ways, it makes the little times when I do get to make something even better.  I am happiest when my hands are busy.

The other day, I ran across some instructions to make a wreath out of the pages of a paperback book.  What a great idea!  I called Garrett over and said, “Look at this.  I have to go to the craft store right now and get some things to make this totally trendy and chic project.”  He made fun of me for saying “trendy and chic” but he totally agreed that the wreath was cool.  I have this little corner in my dining room that is in need of something fab.  And cheap would be nice too.

So, I got to work and a couple  of hours, around $5, 2 ½ Nora Roberts novels, and a zillion hot glue burns later, here is what I came up with:

I am so pleased with it and I am working on two more to give as Christmas gifts next week. 

I like it so much, it actually led me on a chase for other trendy and chic yet frugal projects to complete.   This wreath was actually inspired by some that were once in Pottery Barn.  I love the style of Pottery Barn, but the sticker shock I feel when I see how much they want for things is too much to handle. I guess I am not the only one who feels this way because when you Google “Pottery Barn knock-off crafts” you get enough DIY action to keep you busy forever. 

I already have a few more ideas up my sleeve, and I will share them as I go, but for now, visit Living With Lindsay and make a wreath like mine.

 Or, if you would rather, I will make one for you and you can pay me Pottery Barn’s asking price for it.  ;)