Just another day in the lives of...

Avery's 3rd Birthday Party

2012-02-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was Avery's birthday party. Being February, we never know if it's going to be raining or cold, so it's "iffy" to plan an outside party. But since we've been having such warm weather this year, we decided to chance it. Luckily it worked out in our favor- (more like lots and lots of silent prayers!).
She invited a handful of her friends and they all had a great time. The "theme" of her party was cupcakes. We set up some tables on the patio and when the kids first arrived, they got to paint a ceramic cupcake bank. They got to pick out what color apron they wanted to wear and then went to town painting.

After painting, the kids got their wiggles out in this:

Avery was so excited that morning when they came to set it up. She's been in bounce houses before, but to have one set up in your very own backyard? Even Zoe couldn't wait to get in on the action- she was giggling and laughing and having a grand old time.
Then the kids had a picnic lunch. It was so cute, they were all so good and just sat together and ate their lunch. This was so much easier than having them all sit on chairs and getting up and down a million times and wiggling around. And what kid doesn't like a picnic?

Then back into the bouncy:

I found this cute little pull string pinata in the shape of a cupcake. The kids took turns each pulling a string until the right one opened the bottom spilling all the treats for the kids to scramble for. However, our pinatas trap door was sealed so tight, the right pull string didn't release the door. The kids didn't know this, so we let them keep taking turns until all the strings were gone- it was hilarious! Then a couple of the dads ripped open the bottom and the kids were none the wiser.

Then we sang happy birthday to Avery and it was cupcake time!

It was a really fun party and I hope that she remembers some of it as she gets older. She had a smile on her face the whole time- it was adorable. Later that afternoon, Avery was still going strong while I passed out on the floor. That girl has some energy I tell you!
Today, I came across a baby photo of myself when I was 22 months old that made me laugh- I guess it's the pigtails.

Me at 22 months on the left, and Avery at 3 years on the right

Demo, demo and more demo to come

2012-02-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

Last week the contractor wanted to meet with mom to go over a few things about her house. This time I was able to be at the meeting, so now I have a better understanding of what is going on. They had started the demo and once they opened the walls, of course, there were a few things that weren't quite right.

The den is not original to the house, but it was already there when my parents bought the house. After a little digging down at the city permit department, it turns out the den was never permitted. And the contractor wanted to tell us that it also wasn't built structurally sound. So the entire den needs to be torn down and built to code.

Den- not up to code

The wall with the windows specifically, is not anchored into the ground (!). The ceiling beams aren't resting on the horizontal beam over the opening into the room (!). The way it was explained to us is that the city will allow the contractor to renovate the den, but the square footage of the den will now need to be taken into account since it wasn't previously. The city also has this little teeny, tiny rule about the size of the garage in relation to the size of the house. So, the entire front wall of the garage will need to be removed, and moved forward approximately 12". If the garage isn't fixed, then the city won't allow the den to be renovated. The insurance company is taking care of this "little problem as well.

The contractor also explained that they cannot simply replace the electrical wiring throughout the house due to some previous electrical work that was done. In the past, some new electrical work was tied into the old and this is no longer considered safe or up to code. So more walls will need to be removed inorder to gain access to remove all the old wiring.

They've also removed the entire kitchen. From what she's been told, it looks like she will most likely get a new kitchen as well, although the contractor is waiting on final approval from the insurance company before he says anything for sure.

The master bedroom will be getting two new windows due to some water damage to the walls under the windows.

And that is where things stand as of last week. Hopefully the workers are there this week moving things along. The scope of work looks large, but as the contractor explained, it's not that it's a "big" job necessarily. What's taking so much time is the demo and the discussions with the city as far as the unexpected issues that arise when walls are opened. Once all the issues are addressed, the rest of the work goes quickly. Time will tell.

Preschool

2012-02-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Avery's first day of preschool. She's going Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:00-12:45. King of Glory is right down the street from Franz's office- literally just a few hundred feet. We've ordered another car seat for Franz's car, so hopefully he'll be able to take her most days and I'll pick up. That will leave me with about 3 1/2 hours with Zoe to run errands, go to the park, have play dates with other kids her age or just stay at home and hang out.

First day of preschool

She was a little hesitant when we first got there, there were a lot of kids outside playing and I can see how it would have been intimidating for a three year old. Her room has a real bunny named Chloe. She is the sweetest little bunny, and Avery was really excited to get to pet her. Zoe and I said good-bye and as we were leaving Avery said, "bye mommy, have a good day!".

She had a great time because when I got there to pick her up she started crying and saying she didn't want to leave! Her teachers said she did great.

I was wondering how Zoe would do at home without her sister around. Sure enough, it was a long 3 1/2 hours. Poor Zoe didn't really know how to play by herself- even for a few minutes! But, she loved all the one on one attention she got.

It was weird how quiet the house was with just one kid. It has been so long since it was just Avery and I. All in all it was a good first day!

Week 1

2012-01-28T08:16:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures to update the progress at Mom's house this week. She says it looks like they have started working on re-wiring the kitchen.

Today we're going to go to Homegoods, Home Depot and Lowe's. We've got lots to do- pick flooring, paint colors and light fixtures.

Eat-in Kitchen

Den

Kitchen

Have a great weekend!

Mom's House

2012-01-24T14:10:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned here, my mom's house endured some "extreme" weather by California's standards. After weeks of meetings with the insurance company, the contractor and the City, work has officially started.

A little history on the house- it was built in 1925. In the 80's, my parents added a 3/4 bathroom for my sister and I. The kitchen was partially updated a few different times over the years, central air conditioning was added (after my sister and I moved out!), the roof was replaced a couple times, the exterior was painted a few times, and some electrical work was done as improvements were made. The house is a little over 1200 square feet, has original hardwood floors under the carpet and original trim/moulding.

Here is the list, so far, of the work that will be done:
*New roof on the house and detached garage
*New electrical wiring and switches throughout entire house to current code
*Upgraded electrical panel
*Scrape and remove all accoustical ceiling texture
*Remove accoustical dropped ceiling in kitchen, install drywall ceiling with recessed lights
*Install new insulation in attic space where water damage occurred
*Remove any/all wallpaper
*Repair any damaged wood flooring
*Paint the interior of the entire house, including doors, ceilings, trim and moulding
*Install new carpet and pad throughout entire house

There may be additional work that needs to be done in the kitchen, however, until the walls are opened up it is hard to tell the extent of the water damage. The insurance company is also giving her a small credit towards the furniture that was damaged beyond repair.

The movers came, packed up the house, moved everything to storage and my mom is now living in the Embassy Suites for 3 months while the work is being completed.

Here are some pictures of the house after the contractor had been through and marked up the walls with the notes as to what work was to be done in each room. Remember, some demolition has already begun because asbestos was found immediately after the initial water damage. The abatement company came and removed it properly.

Entry

Living Room

Dining Room

Dining Room and Den

Kitchen

Kitchen and Laundry

Hall looking into Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

MBR

MBR looking down hall towards Bedroom #2

MBR closet

Bedroom #2

BR #2

I am so excited for my mom as she gets to have her house practically re-built for her as a result of all the damage from the storm. It has been a rough past few years, so this is a nice "little" blessing in disguise. Sure, it's a pain to live in a hotel for that long, but coming home to a brand new house is a sweet reward.

Now it's time to start picking paint colors, carpet and wood flooring and new furniture!

Someone's Turning Three

2012-01-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I have an almost three year old!

*Avery talks in full sentences now- so much easier to understand her now.

*She still loves to play outside and dig in the dirt. She prefers kitchen measuring scoops rather than shovels!

*She loves to ride in the car and run errands with me.

*She is a great big sister to Zoe, they play so well together.

*She has weekly chores- helping me with the laundry, going to the grocery store, taking out the recycling cans and bottles. She also gets an allowance- four quarters a week. One quarter goes into the "save" bank, one goes into the "give to Jesus" bank, and two go into the "spend" bank. Once she has enough quarters in the spend bank, she can buy a dollar spot toy at Target.

*She enjoys stickers, but isn't so interested in coloring with crayons or markers. Give the girl some Playdoh though and she'll entertain herself for hours! Yesterday she was sitting next to me at the table and says, "look mom, a whale!":

(Just ignore the black sidewalk chalk on her chin)

*Starting February 2nd, she'll be going to preschool two mornings a week. We visited King of Glory preschool this week and think she will really enjoy it. The play yard is amazing- there are so many different activities set up for the kids to play with. Megablocks on one table, large zoo animals on another table, a dollhouse set out on a picnic blanket, two medium sized play structures with slides, a garden, lots of swings, a huge sand pit with tons of digging toys, bikes, etc. I was so impressed. Her class has six boys and two girls (Avery will be the third). There are two teachers and they were so nice to incorporate Avery into the classroom while the director was giving me the tour. Avery was so sad to leave!

*Edited~ Forgot to add, Avery is 100% potty trained during the days! Woo hoo!
She is having an official birthday party this year and inviting a few friends over. The theme is "cupcakes", and we've got some fun things for all the kids to do. I'll blog more after the party. Please pray it doesn't rain- that would be a total downer and I would probably cry. Seriously.

Switcharoo

2011-12-31T15:12:00.000-08:00

Phew! I can't believe a whole month has gone by since my last post. The whirlwind month of December flew right past me. We had a wonderful Christmas with my mom, grandma, Kim and Chad and their baby Paige. The kids had so much fun playing together. My sister and I are still cracking up at how the dollar spot necklaces and bracelets the kids found in their stockings were the big hit! They must have spent hours putting them on, taking them off, trying to get the bracelets onto their ankles, etc. It was hilarious to watch.

Two days before Christmas, I was looking at Avery's room when I realized that she is almost three and the alphabet cards I used for artwork were feeling a bit too juvenile for her now. It's been about a year and a half, so it was time for a quick change. Since I really didn't want to brave the stores or go shopping since it was so busy with last minute shoppers, I searched the house for anything I could find that would coordinate with the robins egg blue walls and the red frames. Once I found a couple of fabrics from my fabric stash, and a single piece of scrapbook paper, I was starting to get inspired. Lastly, I remembered two pieces of white poster board from the dollar store that I had underneath my cutting mat. Here's the final result:

I used the dollar store poster board to make a simple matt. At 50 cents per picture, you can't beat the price. Then I just taped the fabric to the back of the matt and called it a day. For the "A" picture, I found a font on the computer that I liked, enlarged it to fit the scrapbook paper, taped it to the monitor, traced it, cut it out and then taped it to the fabric. Done. An hour later and Avery's room has turned a little more sophisticated.

And yes, that is her mattress still on the floor. That girl is one crazy sleeper. When we check on her after she's fallen asleep, we find her all over that bed. Sometimes half on and half off. She loves her little cozy bed in the corner as is, so for now, we're going to keep it this way.

Another update, the green chaise has arrived. Franz's memory was 100% accurate. The chaise looks exactly like the one I posted with the exceptions I mentioned. It's a pretty cool style, I must admit. I'm on the hunt for a fabric that will do it justice, and when I find it, it will be off to the upholsterers. For anyone looking to ship a piece of furniture across the country, I have to give a huge shout out for Greyhound Shipping. I did not know they shipped freight. I got quotes from furniture movers, and they were anywhere from $325, all the way up to over $700. Greyhounds price: around $89.00. Yep, that chaise moved 3000 miles across the country for less than a hundred bucks. A huge thank you to Franz's dad for doing this for us.

Lastly, for those of you who think that us Californians don't really endure extreme weather conditions, let me show you a couple pictures:

Starting the clean-up process

After

This is my mom's house. A month ago, her area had some major winds blow through. They were strong enough to blow roof shingles off. A week later it rained. According to my mom, it was raining harder inside her house than it was outside. That's how much water was coming in. As you can see from the photos, the damage was extensive. The insurance company so far has been wonderful to her, and they are taking care of everything. In the coming months (yes, you read that right- months), as the contractors work to put her house back together for her, she will be picking new flooring, paint colors, furniture, etc. I thought it might be interesting to document the process here on my blog. I should probably ask her first if that's okay- mom, is it okay if I blog about your house? Let me know :)

In the meantime, Happy New Year! Welcome 2012!

"Projects"

2011-11-29T13:51:00.000-08:00

I'm a "project" person. Franz teases me about this all the time. We've had many laughs over my projects. Anyways, I thought I would show you a couple of "projects" that I have in the works right now.

This mid-century Danish modern rocking chair was $20 on Craigslist. I've researched the re-roping aspect and it's something I can do myself without too much difficulty (just time). I also plan on refinishing it.

Next up is a piece of furniture from Franz's childhood. Right now, it currently lives on the other side of the country. After many emails, I think we've finally got it figured out and it should be getting ready to make its way here sometime in the next few weeks. But here is the best part- I have no idea what this piece of furniture actually looks like! Franz seems to remember it being something along the lines of this:

Except instead of the wooden base, it has four wooden tapered legs. He remembers the fabric being really soft and a little more avocado green. This piece has great sentimental value, so I will post more about that later. In the meantime, I can't wait to see what this chaise really looks like once it gets here- should be a great surprise!

Remember these chairs:

Well, I took them apart, cleaned the aluminum frames, removed the existing fabric and foam, replaced with new foam, stripped and re-stained the chair backs a darker finish (although they don't really look that much different), and now I'm at the point of putting them back together. Here's one completed chair:

But guess what? After sitting in this chair for one meal, it got pushed aside and the original green chair was brought back. I love the look of the chairs with the table, it makes the whole dining nook feel more open and less heavy. However, we sit at the table a lot. And our green chairs are really comfortable for sitting in long periods of time. And believe me, they've seen better days...in an ideal world, I would have them re-upholstered in a deep turquoise/aqua crypton antiqued velvet. However, I can't seem to find such a thing, and I'm not sure it's the kind of monetary investment we want to make right now with two young children or for this house.

So, here's a question for you all. Please comment and let me know your thoughts. I'm not completely thrilled with the look of the new chairs. I love the teal fabric on the seat, but not with the wood back. I'm thinking of painting the backs white, and then trying to sell them on Craigslist. I know this style of chair isn't for everyone, but maybe if I've already put the work into re-doing them, someone may want them. Would you leave them as they are, or would you paint the back white? Or maybe leave the frame wood and paint the caning white? Or leave them as is and just try to unload them?

Poor Zoe

2011-11-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

Zoe turned one this past Saturday! We cannot believe how fast this year has gone by compared to Avery's first year. Is it normal to compare them?
With my dad's passing a couple weeks ago, and all the traveling back and forth for his services, Zoe and I ended up with colds. We weren't planning on having a big party for her anyways, but we were hoping to at least have a few presents, some pictures and of course the requisite eating of her first cake.

We were both still too sick to really enjoy celebrating on Saturday, so we opted for Sunday instead. I managed to get out on Saturday afternoon for a few last minute gifts.

Sunday morning, still in our pajamas, the four of us gathered on the floor in the living room to open her presents. I grabbed my camera only to find that the battery needed charging. Since the presents were already out and on display, we had no choice but to move forward.

During her nap, I baked some cupcakes for later. Not realizing I accidentally grabbed jumbo sized cupcake liners for my regular sized baking pan, and refusing to go without them because I hate, absolutely hate cleaning cupcake pans, I figured it wouldn't be a problem to use the jumbo liners anyways. Wrong. It would have been okay if I had only filled the liners halfway, but of course I didn't do that.

Later that afternoon we took a drive and poor Zoe ended up throwing up all over herself when we got there. It was gross. I do not do well with throw up. I'm still traumatized from last year when Avery had the flu and threw up for five days straight.

Needless to say, it wasn't a great first birthday for poor little Zoe. She loves her new toys (a talking play phone, her very own baby doll and stroller just like her big sisters, and a pop-up floor activity thing). She's feeling better now, but it hasn't been a very fun past couple of weeks.

Oh yeah, the camera battery did end up charging just in time for me to take a picture of the cupcakes before they went into the trash:

Yes, I realize I could have probably tried to salvage them, especially since one year olds usually demolish cake pretty fast, but these ended up half still mushy and uncooked, and half so cooked that they disintegrated at the slightest touch. Weird.

Happy Birthday Zoe, we love you very much and can't wait to see what surprises you bring us this next year!

Before/After

2011-11-17T07:58:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting a much larger clock for the wall in our living room. This one, just wasn't cutting it, and it stopped working one day.

Um, I don't think so

One night I happened upon this $7.00 beauty in the clearance section of Homegoods:

Whoa. You should have seen the look on the check-out girls face as she was ringing me up.

That's a whole lotta gold, no wonder it was only $7.00. I figured no matter what I did to it, it couldn't get much worse. Franz teased me so much the next couple of weeks about my granny clock. I took it apart, sprayed the frame navy blue and broke the clock mechanism in the process. Youtube provided me with the information I needed to learn how to replace that little motorized box that comes on the back of most clocks. In the meantime, I found a pretty piece of decorative paper, cut it to size, adhered it, and waited until my new mechanism and hands arrived in the mail.

And now we have a much larger modern granny clock:

Love the navy and teal color combo

Much better.

Getting ready for Christmas

2011-11-16T14:53:00.000-08:00

I've decided to "do" Christmas this year. What I mean is that usually we skip the decorating, getting a tree, putting up lights, etc. because of some excuse- pregnant, toddler, pregnant, toddler seems to be the past years excuses- in that order. But Avery is totally aware of the approaching holiday because of various decorations and displays already up around town. And it's because of this, that I am starting to anticipate Christmas and the excitement it brings from a childs perspective.
Yep, we have a crawling, almost walking, almost one year old- and that doesn't excite me when it comes to putting up a tree. But, we will see what happens.

In the meantime, I figured I better get to work on some decorations. Our supply of Christmas decorations is severely lacking. I think we may own a tree skirt, a couple of glitter wreaths, a few boxes of ornaments, some white lights, and a few random other things. That's it.

We need four stockings. Okay, the price of store bought stockings is ridiculous. A few google searches later, and I found this tutorial. I went to my fabric stash and pulled a bunch of fabrics. Using only what I had (okay fine, I had to buy one fat quarter), I ended up with four really cute stockings. My only disappointment is that the finished size of the stockings is a little smaller than I was hoping. If I were to make these again, I would enlarge the pattern just a tiny bit.

All four stockings are made with a neutral linen, and I've quilted them with contrasting thread. If I had a huge stash of quilting weight fabrics, I probably wouldn't have chosen the linen, but it's what I had the most of on hand.

They were really fun to make and came together quickly. I think I made them over a few days during the kids naps.

Okay, funny story to wrap things up. A couple weekends ago, I was staring at our cherry blossom tree outside. It definitely needed a little pruning and I was eyeing a particular branch- thinking ahead about how we will hang our stockings without a fireplace mantle. Franz quickly came outside, cut the branch down and as he handed it to me he said, "happy anniversary!" We had been joking around all week about what gifts we were going to give each other for our five years together, since traditionally the gift for five years is wood.

Want to see the clock in the first picture in its "Before" state? I'll write that post up next.

What's the next step?

2011-11-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

photo taken by

So I think I can safely say Avery has mastered the hang of potty training during her waking hours! We've been practicing going on longer errands the past few days and she's been really good.

But, what about naptime and at night? I've tried letting her go without a diaper during naptime (with undies), but it ended up being a big mess. We've reduced her fluids starting around 3pm, so she's not really drinking that much right before bed. So what's the next step?

Want to see more Before/After photos?

2011-11-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Go read this. Wow. I've never seen side by side comparisons like this before. It really opened my eyes.

Thoughts on Halloween

2011-10-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

I don't have any pictures of my kids in Halloween costumes for you. That's because we haven't done Halloween yet. That's not to say that we won't ever, but for right now, it's not happening. I wanted to write my thoughts down so that years from now when Avery and Zoe ask me why there aren't any pictures of them dressed up when they were little, I can remember exactly why.

The months of November through February are pretty busy for us. Our anniversary is on the 4th of November, Zoe was born on the 19th, then there's Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and then Avery's birthday in February on the 9th. It's enough to make my head spin! Some years we were adjusting to life with a newborn, other years I was very pregnant, etc. So the past three to four years, these months have been a blur.

Avery was only 8 months old for her first Halloween. At that time, she was already in bed and fast asleep by 5:30 or 6:00.  Most activities for kids her age started right around 6pm, and we would have had to have driven somewhere (our neighborhood does not have streetlights or sidewalks, so we don't get trick-or-treaters).

The following year, Avery was 20 months. She was going to bed later and we definitely could have dressed her up and gone trick-or-treating. But I was eight months pregnant with Zoe. Honestly, I just didn't have it in me to be organized enough to get a costume for her.

This year, Avery is 2 years and 9 months, and Zoe is 11 months. So what's my excuse for this year you ask?

I guess I'm just not one of those people that need to have cute pictures of their kids dressed up in costumes when they're little.  I guess Halloween is just not high on my priority list of things to do. In all honesty, taking care of two little kids has been a pretty big adjustment for me. I don't have the energy to obtain costumes, candy, decorations and decorate my trunk for trunk or treat. I guess some people might think I'm lazy.

I stopped trick-or-treating when I entered junior high.  If my kids follow suit, they will have about 8 more Halloweens.  That's plenty of time in my book for pictures and costumes and trick-or-treating.  I am sure that next Halloween, Avery will have plenty of ideas for what she wants to dress up as, and I will be happy to oblige. But until then, tonight we will be the house with no pumpkins out front and the porch lights off.

On the other hand, Christmas is right around the corner.  I think this year I just might be ready to decorate a little. I finally feel like things are quieting down a bit for us as a family. I finally feel like I've got my head above water and can breathe again.  There's this great family owned Christmas tree farm just a few miles up the way. I think Avery would get a kick out of hiking up the hill and picking out the perfect tree for dad to cut down. I think our front door will look nice with a holiday wreath.  I'm looking forward to listening to Christmas music all month long on the radio. And since Christmas is still a couple months away, I just might be able to get myself organized enough in time this year!

Happy Halloween to all of you ghosts and goblins!

Don't mind us...

2011-10-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

we're still potty training. This is what I saw the other day when I passed by the bathroom to check on things:

I guess Avery got a little bored sitting there, so she decided to entertain herself. We are making progress though!

A year and half later

2011-10-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

Remember this post? Well, a year and a half later we finally had enough. Franz and I were waking up every single morning with stiff muscles and aching backs. I could no longer blame it on pregnancy (Zoe is 11 months today!) and yes, we're getting older, but we shouldn't be in such bad shape yet.

So after reading along with this series over the past year, we decided to bite the bullet. I still felt unprepared to make a decision, there are so many different kinds of mattresses available these days.  The one thing I did know for sure was that we were not going to be buying another innerspring mattress. That narrowed it down to either latex or foam.

Franz purchased a mattress from a tiny little hole in the wall store in Santa Monica when he moved to California about 10 years ago. To this day, he still talks about that mattress. He says it was the most comfortable mattress he ever owned, and he is so sad that we got rid of it. It was comfortable, I had to agree.  But neither of us could remember if it was an innerspring or a foam mattress. So we decided to go back to that little hole in the wall store to see if by any chance they still had that mattress.  You see, they don't just sell mattresses, they actually manufacture them right there in the store.

After sitting on various mattresses on the showroom floor, we knew they didn't have it. We asked them about it and after much discussion, they were 99% sure they knew what that mattress was and said they could special order it for us. Yikes! Were we actually really going to plunk down our credit card for a special order mattress that we had not seen, sat on or even laid down on? Yep.

A few days later the truck arrived, took away our old mattress and left us with our new one. That night as Franz and I climbed into bed, we wondered what we had done. The mattress was hard. Not soft at all. Very firm. Not anything like that old mattress in our memories. They were 99% sure they knew exactly what we were describing. And this mattress was 100% nothing like we were expecting.

We decided to give it a few weeks. Neither of us wake up stiff anymore. We don't have back aches. My hip has stopped hurting. We don't wake up hot, we sleep much cooler. We sleep more soundly and wake up feeling rested.

So what exactly did we end up getting? Actually, I'm not 100% sure. I do know that the mattress core is foam with a memory foam top layer.  There are no springs. The entire mattress is encased in a zip off washable cover. There was absolutely no smell (chemical or otherwise) when we got it. It has a 20 year warranty (ew gross, not sure we'd keep any mattress for 20 years!) against sagging or permanent indentations where you lay. If it ever starts to get those hills and valleys, they will replace it at no cost.

Do we think this mattress wil ever compare to the other mattress? It's hard to say. They are entirely two different types of mattresses. It would be like comparing apples and oranges. It's a different way of sleeping. Time will tell, but so far we're both pretty happy. And who knows, maybe if we had gotten that other mattress, we wouldn't have been as happy and comfortable.

An Exciting day

2011-10-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

This is the face of a very happy little girl- she FINALLY earned the purple slinky and pink playdoh we've been bribing her with. Keep your fingers crossed for us- potty training as officially begun!

Success

2011-09-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

This little girl, has been pacifier free for two weeks now! We originally started out with four pacifiers. I can tell you exactly where we lost each one- the car wash, Marshall's and the Botanical Gardens. We were down to one, and it seemed like a good time to 'pull the plug'.

Call us mean parents, but we've found a secret trick that seems to work for us whenever it comes to making "big" changes in our kids routines. Make any changes when they're sick. I know, sounds horrible. Don't you usually want to do everything possible to make your kids feel comforted when they're not feeling well? Well, for us this has worked when it came time to move Avery from her crib to her twin bed and now with weaning Zoe from the pacifier. I guess when they're sick, they're just so physically tired that they don't really have the energy to fight these changes. When they're stuffed up and congested and can't really breathe through their nose, then they're forced to spit out the pacifier anyways, so we just went with it.

How about you? When/how did you wean your kids from the pacifier?

Downward Dog

2011-09-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

Zoe was sitting on my lap the other day and was reaching forward for something on the ground. I looked down and realized, Zoe's doing yoga!

If you haven't been by now...

2011-09-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

don't waste your time. Today was the day the Missoni line made its appearance at Target. I figured I'd pack up the kids and go check out what all the fuss was about. We got there at 10am, and practically everything was sold out. I'm not kidding.

Scarves/Gloves- one left.
Bath Towels- gone.
Kitchen hand towels- one left.
Drinking cup- one left.
Cosmetic bag- one left.
Picture frames- gone.
Artwork- gone.
Women's tunic- two left, not my size.
Women's shoes- gone.
Throw pillows- gone.

I'm sure the Target employees love these designer launches. They must have stayed late last night setting up and organizing all the end caps with the Missoni posters, price codes/labels and inventory. And by 10am this morning they were taking them all down and re-stocking with regular inventory. I was hoping to pick up a few random items as I really love the zig zag designs, but I came away empty handed.

Pretty sure if I wanted something badly enough I could probably find it on ebay this afternoon...and pay twice as much.

Life with two girls

2011-09-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight after dinner:
Franz to Avery: "Your kitty cat helmet and your green tutu go great together!"

Jen to Franz: "Did I just hear what I think you just said?"

Summer is finally here!

2011-09-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

The exclamation point in the title was sarcasm. Why does summer always show up in September for us Californians? When school is back in session, and the rest of the country is talking about fall and pulling out their sweaters and jackets. We've had spotty weather the past three months. Some days were warm, others were breezy and relatively cool, so I really shouldn't complain- it's been a nice summer. But it always gets unbearably hot starting in September.

I've got projects to do that require me being outside...sanding, staining, stapling, upholstering. But I can't do any of them in this heat unless I want to pass out!

On a side not, extreme heat always causes me to lose my appetite. Anyone else get this way?

Craigslist Finds

2011-08-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

If you've never given Craigslist a try, you are missing out! I've been searching CL a lot lately, and thought it would be fun to share with you some of the things I would buy if a) I had a place to put it the item and b) if I had more time to paint/refinish some of the items- ha! and 3) an unlimited budget!

First up, this amazing corner desk. It's four separate pieces of furniture- a closed bookshelf, a three drawer unit, a corner desk, and another desk with three more drawers. Mint condition, solid wood made in the 1960's. $50 for all four pieces!!!

What I like about it is the infinite possibilites because the pieces are separate. You could use the closed bookshelf as a credenza with a tv mounted on the wall above, or as a foyer/hall/entry table to throw your purse and keys onto. The little three drawer unit could easily sit beside a bed as a nightstand, and the desk could stand alone in a kids room. Or I can see this entire grouping set up in a craft/sewing room.

If the wood was in great condition (as the listing states), I'd probably just clean the wood and hardware to bring back the luster and line the drawers and shelves with some retro/modern contact paper.

Next up is this sweet vintage twin bed. Finished in a french blue, the listing also states that it could be used as a daybed since the headboard and footboard are identical. This type of bed is really popular all over the internet right now. Would look great in a little girls or boys room if you're going for that mid-century or vintage/eclectic look. $100.00.

To go along with the twin bed above, this solid wood dresser would look great painted. Add some new drawer pulls and you've got the start to a great new room. Only $25.00!

This little bamboo side table would make a great little bar set-up in a small apartment. I can see it painted glossy black with a large serving type tray on top to hold your vodka, gin and whiskey. $80.00.

This is a great vintage bamboo display case. The inside has a light and a glass shelf. I would paint this piece something fun and make it a focal point in the room. Turquoise for a living room, fuschia for a little girls room, kelly green for a dining room? The possibilites are endless. $200.00.

Have you found anything you couldn't pass up on Craigslist lately? Share a link! Or if Craigslist isn't really your thing, check out my friend Amanda's blog- she goes garage saling every weekend, yes that's right, every weekend. Today she's featured her favorite finds!

A little progress

2011-08-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

I really would like to know how DIY bloggers get anything done if they have kids? Forget about starting and finishing a project at one sitting. For me it's one seam stitched during today's nap, one chair frame partially sanded during tomorrow's nap, and one picture hung during the day after that nap. Weekends? Not happening either.

We've had a lot going on the past month, so the living room has been kind of pushed to the back burner. But, I have changed it up a little bit. Last week the UPS truck rumbled down our street and stopped in front of our house. I wasn't expecting anything, but was delighted to see him jump off his truck with a long skinny roll- my Trina Turk Peacock fabric arrived a whole month earlier than expected!

I've managed to sew one pillow cover and it turned out pretty nice- considering this was my first time sewing a zippered pillow cover with a welt. It's pretty tricky and I got to be good friends with my seam ripper. Finally got it right on the third attempt.

Here's a close-up of the welt. I used the cheater way to make my welt- it is so much easier than fussing with sewing.

Found some lamp shades with a navy trim on clearance for $4.98 at Target last week, and they fit perfectly on our existing brushed nickel floor lamps. And popped my beachcombing artwork into some Ikea Ribba frames and things are starting to look much better already.

When Avery woke up the next morning and saw the new pillow, she immediately walked over to it and said, "peacock!" Franz and I were totally blown away that she was able to see the resemblance. Maybe we're just biased (aren't all parents?), but we think she's pretty smart :)

I might try and tackle that other pillow cover tonight, but now that the new season of Jersey Shore has started, it's pretty difficult to get much done on Thursday nights anymore! Yes, Jersey Shore is still my fix while trying to adjust to life with two kids. That, and Storage Wars. Don't you just love Barry? His comments always have me laughing.

What? A recipe from me?

2011-08-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know me well, the running joke is that if I ever got married, my husband would starve. I do not like to cook. Why should I be ashamed of that? It is what it is. I do try my best though to make healthy, fresh dishes for my family- most of the time. This is a recipe I found in Real Simple, and we've had it a few times now. It is so easy to prepare, and so tasty, that I thought I would share. Franz asks for this once a week now, and I'm happy to oblige.

Basil Spaghetti with Cheesy Broiled Tomatoes

via

Ingredients:

12 ounces Spaghetti

3 Large Beefsteak tomatoes (Better if they're firm)

3 Tbs Olive Oil, plus a little more for the baking sheet (or broiler pan)

Salt (I like to use Sea Salt) and Black Pepper

8 oz. Fresh grated mozarella

1/4 C grated parmesan

2 Cloves Garlic

1/4 to 1/2 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper

3/4 C fresh torn basil leaves

Directions:
1. Heat broiler. Cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain and return it to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, arrange the tomato slices in a single layer on a lightly oiled rimmed baking sheet. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Dividing evenly, sprinkle the slices with the mozzarella and Parmesan (mix cheeses together in a bowl first). Broil until the cheese is bubbly and golden, 3 to 5 minutes.

3.In a small saucepan, warm the oil with the garlic and red pepper over medium heat until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

4.Add the garlic oil, basil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper to the pasta and toss to combine. Serve topped with the tomatoes, additional basil, and shaved Parmesan.

Yummy! I've adapted the recipe to include more garlic (about 4 cloves), 4 tbs of olive oil, and we find that a pinch more than 1/4 tsp is just right for the crushed red pepper. I don't use a full 12 ounces (or one package) of spaghetti. A little more than 1/2 of the package is just right for the two of us. Firmer tomatoes hold up better in the broiler and don't become as soggy.

What are you having for dinner tonight?

Before/After- A different kind of project

2011-08-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

Now you see it:

Before

Now you don't:

After

Our humble little ranch abode was literally being overtaken by an ash tree. I'm not sure what genius planted the tree, how long ago it was planted, or why they planted it so close to the house. But I did know it had to go. In hindsight, we should have had it removed a long time ago.

Two guys:

This tree was huge- the stump dwarfed the two workers.

Seven days of near constant chain-sawing, jack-hammering, sledge-hammering and digging.

Making progress.

And it's finally gone.

You would never know a tree dominated this space just one week ago.

The lead guy said that this tree was still very young. I can only imagine how much bigger it could have gotten had we let it. It did provide us with some great shade in the backyard, and we can already feel the difference without it. But removing it was the right thing to do.

Bits and Pieces

2011-08-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

When I was working, I could design an entire space pretty quickly. But for some reason, when it's my own space, I think about it too much. And research, and google too much, and stalk Craigslist night and day waiting for the perfect piece to turn up.

I have made some progress though. The living room pretty much looks the same today as the before photos, but I have been busy putting the design together and ordering things.

Have you seen the new Trina Turk indoor/outdoor fabrics? Hand to forehead, ~faint~. I love them...each and every single one of them in the collection. I'm a sucker for geometric prints, and these are fabulous. Anyways, this particular fabric jumped out at me and Franz liked it too:

And the name of it? Peacock print- how fitting considering my inspiration for this room is this peacock paiting. I'm thinking throw pillows for the sofa:

via

However, there is no stock and it is backordered until September! So, it will be awhile before I get my hands on it.

These three photographs arrived on Saturday:

quercusdesign

Quercusdesign is a great little shop on Etsy. Jenn also has a blog, where she writes about her beachcombing adventures in Maine. I love that all these random objects were found on the beach- and the way she arranges them in such a simple way highlights the beauty of these things. I will definitely look at items washed up on the beach differently now.

How about these chairs?

I think one of my friends had these chairs in their house in the 80's! I bought these on Criagslist from a sweet old widow who was downsizing from her very large, beautiful house. She walked all the way out to my car to see them on their way. I'm pretty sure she and her husband used to sit in these chairs together in the morning and drink their coffee while reading the paper. On one hand I felt bad for taking them from her, on the other, I know they will enjoy a second life here with us.

They are in pristine condition. After googling the label underneath, I discovered that these chairs were made in the USA by a furniture manufacturer that was in business for over 50 years. The quality is superb. So far I've removed the seats and stripped off the old fabric and foam, and cleaned the aluminum frame. I think with a little update they will look fabulous! Now just trying to decide on a fabric...

Check back later this week for what we had going on last week- another Before/After project of a different kind.

8 months already

2011-07-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

Wow, the time really flies by with the second child. Zoe is already 8 months old and sporting two teeth. She has been eating solid foods since 4 1/2 months and loves fresh fruit and avocados. She is a super easy, very relaxed and laid back child. She goes to bed at 7:45 and wakes up after 7am. She loves her big sister and can't wait until she's able to play with her. So far she's not interested in crawling, she's content to just sit and play. She's a mamas girl for sure and this week "mama" was her first word!

Inspiration

2011-07-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

When I design a space, I like to find something to start with as my inspiration. Whether it's a piece of art, a fabric, a color scheme, something. Then I build from there.

Franz's mom was an artist. She painted. We got to see lots of her pieces when we took a trip back east before we were married. Each of the relatives has something she painted. We are lucky enough to have this gorgeous peacock piece:

It's about 14" wide by 48" high and painted in deep saturated shades of cobalt, turquoise, aqua and yellow on a piece of dark wood. I love the texture and depth that it gives the piece. We have it hanging in the entry, it's one of the first things you see when you come inside our house. There is a wall sconce above it and at night when the light shines on it, the colors become really vibrant. Designing a space around something that has so much personal sentiment and history behind it, makes it so much more meaningful.

Now that I have my inspiration piece, I can start looking at the rest of the room. Franz and I both prefer a cool color palette over a warm one. We really like blues and greens, and we both love the beach and ocean. Another reason to keep our existing drapes, carpet and wall color- they remind us of a warm sandy beach and provide a good neutral background so I can integrate some bold blues and greens into the room.

Here are some pictures of rooms that I've ripped out of magazines because I loved them so much. With this first picture, I love the chunky wood table. The wood grain is amazing, the large colored vases, the natural elements (bamboo curtain rods, linen looking drapes, twigs in the vase, large clam shell bowl).

Better Homes and Garden August 2010

In this kitchen I love the walnut floating shelves against the white walls.

Coastal Living June 2011

This house. Oh my, where do I begin. There's so much I love. The vaulted wood paneled ceilings in bright white, the capiz chandelier, the cushy sofa, the bright pillows, that rug, the celadon kitchen tile, the VIEW.

Coastal Living, not sure what month or year

Sigh....how I love this last house. It was designed by Heidi Bonesteel and Michele Trout from the design firm, Bonesteel Trout Hall. There are more images from this house on their website and they're all droolworthy. In the past year, twice I've found myself flipping through a magazine staring at the images of the interiors in awe. Both times when I re-read the articles more closely, I discovered the homes were designed by Bonesteel Trout Hall. This home is absolutely beautiful. It doesn't hurt that it's more than 5000 square feet and located in the hills of Laguna Beach and has a view that's to die for. I could move in tomorrow and feel right at home.

Okay, back to reality. Here's the floorplan:

The sofa needs to stay where it is. We actually have a great view out the sliding doors. This year we simultaneously watched four different fireworks shows across town from our patio. The dining table will stay where it is as well.

The major project I would like to accomplish is the tv wall. As a reminder, here's what it currently looks like:

Aaaaack! I can't believe this is my living room. Franz and I had to do some serious baby proofing when Avery started crawling- she was into everything. ~~Most~~ All of our personal items got packed into boxes and put in storage. We don't have anywhere to put picture frames, vases, books, etc. So I would love to find a way for us to bring some of our "stuff" back into the house, yet away from little hands. Here's idea #1:

I'd like to find some kind of credenza for concealed toy storage. I'd also like to add some floating shelves- perfect for displaying some of the things mentioned above.

Idea #2:

Again, some kind of concealed storage below the tv and a wall of picture frames and objects surrounding the tv. I originally got this idea from this magazine picture:

Family Circle January 2011

I love, love, love how the tv blends in with the artwork. This could be fun and a lot easier to do than hanging those floating shelves. I also love the low credenza, but I'm looking for CONCEALED toy storage.

I've spent the weekend stalking Craigslist for some kind of credenza but didn't have much luck. I think I may have found some dining chairs though...I'll keep you posted.

For those of you with kids, do you have concealed toy storage in the living room? Does it help reduce the clutter? Which do you like better for our space- option #1 with the shelves, or option #2 with the picture gallery? Either way, I'm just really excited and looking forward to making this a space that all four of us can enjoy.

The Living Room

2011-07-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

As I sit here typing this post, looking at my living room, my eyes hurt from all the primary colors taking up residence in every inch of space. The toys are overwhelming. The Ikea Expedit is overflowing. In the meantime, I know the bookshelves in Avery's room are currently totally empty...I think I see the problem.

As a designer, I'm embarrassed by our living room. It's awful. It's crying out for some love and attention. Kids just have a way of making you give up and throw in the towel when it comes to keeping anything looking relatively organized. I love a good design challenge, so I think I'm ready to tackle this space. Want to see it in it's current state?

Zoe's face says it all...."do something quick mom."

Why is Avery's hamper in the living room? And where are all the dirty clothes that were in it?

Dining area with carpet + kids = not priceless.

{{{{Shivers}}}}

I'm going to work with some existing things, and incorporate a few new things as needed.

Things to keep:
~Chocolate brown microsuede sofa and chaise. Custom made and has held up beautifully for five years. Cleans really easily which is mandatory with young kids.
~Curtains and rod.  We like privacy at night since there are houses below us that can see in. I'll be re-working these and losing the tab tops. The style is Lenda in light beige. They look like linen and have a subtle stripe.
~Paint.  It's called Sailcloth by Dunn Edwards and reminds me of warm sandy beaches.
~TV location.  I'm lazy and do not want to have to patch the million holes we drilled trying to find studs.
~Carpet.  With Zoe getting ready to start crawling and walking, it's softer on the knees.  The color also reminds me of sandy beaches.
~Dining Table. Maybe.
~Dining chairs. Maybe. We'll see.

Next post I'll share the piece of artwork that will be my inspiration.

Still Here

2011-07-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

Yep, still here, haven't fallen off the face of the earth. June is always a very busy month for our family, and this one was no exception. Just to give you an idea, we celebrate my birthday on the 17th, my dad and grandma celebrate their birthdays on the 19th, and of course Father's Day is in there as well. This year was a little more exciting because my grandma turned 100. Yes, you read that right, 100 years old.

Grandma, my sister and Paige, Zoe and me, my mom and Avery

Avery loves cupcakes!

Oh my gosh this next picture cracks me up! I think her eyes are going to pop right out of her head!

My grandma getting a birthday kiss from Kate!

I didn't have much time this month for sewing or home projects. Truth be told, we've been entertaining the idea of moving. With the interest rates being so low and with home prices dropping left and right, it makes sense. We're keeping our eyes out for the right opportunity, but who knows when that will come along.

So in the meantime, I think the next project I'll tackle is our living/dining room. It's pretty much been the same since we got married almost five years ago. But the kids toys have completely taken over, my once beautiful custom made dining chairs have been ruined by sticky fingers, and the space feels sad to me. It's time for an update. Check back for a post with the before pictures (scary!) and some ideas and inspiration pictures as well.

Hope everyone is enjoying the long holiday weekend!

Wow

2011-06-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

Have a great weekend!

The Sisters

2011-05-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had Zoe on my lap while Avery was playing nearby. I needed to put our lunch in the oven, so I put Zoe on the bean bag and left them alone in the room for two minutes. When I came back, I saw this:

Where's Zoe?

Avery was so proud of herself, she said, "ta daaa" when I walked back into the room. Zoe thought it was so great that her big sister was playing with her, she had the biggest smile on her face and was laughing. Priceless!

Oh what the heck, here's one more

2011-05-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

Geesh, I'm a roll this week. This will be my last rant post for awhile, I promise. I guess when you are so busy taking care of two small children and every minute needs to count, sometimes it's the small things in life that really annoy you.

My pet peeve: packaging that requires so much effort to get into.

Examples:
Foil pull tops- Why do they have to make the pull tab so stinking small? I don't have large hands, but I can barely grab enough of that little tiny piece of foil to remove it. Guilty: Coffee-Mate creamer, Gerber baby foods, Similac powdered formula, Lawry's marinades.

Re-sealable foods- You know the kind, where you tear the red strip off the top of the bag (like a ziploc). Great concept, except if they place that stupid red strip too far down. You tear off too much and then it's virtually impossible to open the package again because there's nothing to grab onto. Guilty: Lucerne cheese snacker cuts, Chips Ahoy small bites, Trader Joe's meunster cheese.

Okay, enough said. Do you have any pet peeves of this nature?

While I'm at it...

2011-05-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Another thing I've been contemplating lately is window treatments. Specifically when you buy or sell a house. I've never understood why you would want to buy a house with the prior inhabitants window treatments. Isn't design/decor taste subjective? It's so personal and unique to each individual, so this trend totally baffles me.

As a seller, I've always assumed that I would take my window treatments with me, or remove them at the very least prior to moving. So why do some real estate listings and agents proclaim, "includes all window treatments" like it's a good thing?

Just a random thought.

Design Trends

2011-05-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest design trends I've been seeing for awhile now making it's way across blogland is chalkboard paint. Do-It-Yourselfers have been painting everything from kitchen cabinets, to refrigerators, walls, kids rooms, etc. Have you all seen what I'm talking about?

Well, is it just me or does anyone else just not understand the hype. I can't help but feel that chalkboards are dusty and messy. Why would you want that in your home? Especially if you have kids?

Had to get that off my chest- it's been bugging me for awhile now. What are your pet peeves when it comes to design trends?

Giveaway!!!

2011-04-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

It's been far too long since my last giveaway, so I thought it was time. For a chance to win any one item in my Etsy shop (yes- even a handbag!)- go to Obsessively Stitching and play "What's in Your Purse?"

Have fun and Good Luck!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! Phew, we're pooped- today was a busy day for us. Here's a re-cap for the extended family that we didn't get to see today.

It started with an egg hunt for the kids between church services:

I LOVED Avery's Easter dress and matching jacket!

And of course, this was Avery waiting for the egg hunt to begin:

Ha! Check out that look Zoe is giving her big sister!

Can you believe Zoe is 5 months old already and this is the first family picture we've taken of the four of us? It's so hard to get pictures of all of us together.

Then we went for a quick visit to grandma and grandpas house. Avery had another egg hunt (no pictures- we both had our hands full the whole time!).

And lastly, we stopped by Avery's friend Nate's house for another egg hunt:

And she stole his bike and took it for a spin around the patio:

All in all it was a fun day! Both kids held up really well considering all the traveling and hardly any napping. Avery was old enough this year to understand the concept of egg hunting, and she really enjoyed herself- she got a TON of eggs. And now that the kids are in bed, I'm enjoying her candy :) She can't possibly eat all of it by herself right?

House Call

2011-04-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

I think this is a hilarious photo and thought you all could use a good laugh on Monday morning. I've mentioned to Franz that my night vision isn't as clear as it used to be. I've also mentioned that I need to get in and see him for an eye exam since the last time I had one was before we had kids. But if you have kids, then you know how hard it is to schedule doctor visits for yourself. So today he brought the exam to me- at home :) Isn't he a sweet guy?

This is the old fashioned way for checking your prescription, but it works just the same. Turns out I was right. My vision has changed enough to warrant a new prescription- which means new glasses for driving (and no, the "glasses" I'm wearing below aren't "available"!).

Happy Monday!

What's This? What's This? What's This? What's This?

2011-04-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

I hear this about a million times a day now. I think it must be Avery's favorite thing to say. She's like a sponge. Her vocabulary is growing so fast and she retains so much information. It's exhausting most days trying to keep up with her constant "what's this's", but I figure every time I answer her, she's learning something.

She loves puzzles. Large floor puzzles that require my help. And we do them multiple times a day. Starting the moment she wakes up every morning.

Big Bird

Elmo
(Thankfully, Cookie Monster lives at Grandma and Grandpa's house)

Lastly, here's one final picture that I just find so sweet. The other day, Avery was playing in the backyard and found a dandelion. She didn't know I was snapping photos from inside the house. It was so sweet watching her discover the dandelion, picking it, and then watching it as it dissolved in the wind.

I would love to know what was going on in her little mind at this exact moment. So precious!

Spring is Here!

2011-04-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

How can I tell? I have this uncontrollable urge to throw things out, de-clutter every single cupboard, closet and drawer in the house. Good thing tomorrow is trash day!

Anyone else got the spring cleaning bug? What are you throwing away, donating or getting rid of?

What I've been up to

2011-03-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

Besides taking care of these two cutie pies,

I've been doing a TON of sewing. The Moms Club chapter I belong to held a "Marketplace" yesterday. A lot of us have businesses on the side and this was a way for us to promote our business and make some sales. The event was advertised in the local paper and the other local Moms Club chapters. I committed to having a table at the event about three weeks ago. At that time, I had four handbags and six zippered pouches made up. I knew I needed to have a lot more than that if I didn't want my table to look empty and sad.

Three weeks later, I made six new handbags (brand new design and fabrics!) and a few more zippered pouches:

Just a few more:

Did I say a few more?

Make that 20 more:

And here's my table at the Marketplace:

And a close-up:

How did I do at the Marketplace? Here's what my table looked like at the end of the sale:

You're thinking it looks pretty much the same as when I started...that would be a correct assumption.

What I learned after my first "craft fair":

1. Time of year is key. I think if this was a holiday sale and had taken place before Christmas, a lot more people would have shown up to buy gifts.

2. A Saturday as opposed to a mid-week day would probably yield more customers.

3. No one carries a check-book anymore these days. For those of us that can't accept credit cards at events like this, we're missing out on sales.

It was a fun experience and I am glad that I chose to participate. If another event like this should happen, I now know what all is involved. And I did make a few sales, so I can't count the morning as a total loss.

On a positive note, I had been wanting to design a new handbag style, but never could find the time. This show gave me the perfect opportunity to find the time. And now I have TONS of inventory for my Etsy shop :)

Dress-up

2011-03-24T17:24:00.000-07:00

It seemed as if the day Avery turned two, she discovered playing dress-up. Here are a few pictures I've snapped over the past month. She received no coaching- this was all on her own.

Dad's shoes #1

Dad's shoes #2

Tutu and Pj's always go together

Mom's had #1

Mom's hat #2

Colander hat

"Boots"

What are these?

Hamper backpack

Hamper hat

We wonder what she'll come up with next?!?

Avery: Then and Now

2011-03-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

Avery 4 months:

Avery 2 years:

She's a bit jealous of all of Zoe's "new" toys.

My Lucky Day

2011-03-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

Last week at MOPS, the speaker talked about finances- not always the most fun subject, but he gave us lots to think about. He also reminded us to check the website of our state controller to see if we had any unclaimed money that we didn't know about. I've checked this website before and came up empty handed. But this time, I won! And now there is a $211 refund check on its way to me from an old auto insurance policy.

Check out the link below and if you scroll down to the bottom, it has a link for each state. If you find any unclaimed money, come back and leave a comment! Don't forget to check under your maiden name as well as your married name. Good Luck!

http://www.betterbudgeting.com/unclaimedmoney.htm

Making Lemonade

2011-02-25T05:17:00.000-08:00

If you're stopping by from Kelly's Korner, hello and welcome! After spending just a little time looking around my blog, you'll quickly realize that I love to sew bags. When I left my job as an interior designer two years ago to be a stay at home mom, what I missed most was all the fabric I was surrounded by everyday. Silly, I know- but I'm pretty sure some of you can identify with having a fabric obsession. So it didn't really surprise me when I purchased a sewing machine and started sewing simple handbags to satisfy my longing to work with fabric again.

Now that you know the background for how I got started sewing, I thought it would be fun to share with you the story of how 2 yards of SHOCKING YELLOW fabric unexpectedly became the best selling item in my Etsy shop. When I decided to make the Amy Butler Weekender bag this past summer, I knew I wanted to incorporate this fabric somehow:

Problem was, I had never seen it in person- just online. My store location didn't have any stock, but one of my super nice readers said she would pick some up for me and mail it to me. Imagine my surprise when I opened up the package and saw how IN YOUR FACE BRIGHT yellow this fabric was. Oh dear. There was no way I could use this fabric for my Weekender. And so the fabric sat for awhile on my shelf.

Not wanting to see the fabric go to waste (or hurt the feelings of my sweet reader after all the trouble she went through for me), one day I started playing around with it. Just for fun, I paired it with this lime green geometric fabric and put it in the shop. I thought it was cute, but didn't really expect it to sell.

Guess what? It sold. I listed it again. Another one sold. And another one, and another one. At some point, a sweet bride-to-be contacted me to see if I would make four custom zippered pouches for her bridesmaids. She wanted this color combination:

I finished her order and sent them on their way. In the meantime, I listed it in the shop as well, just to see what would happen. Again, this BRIGHT YELLOW fabric got lots of views and hearts. And thanks to that bride-to-be, this color combination has become my number one selling item. Since then, I've worked with lots of other brides-to-be on their own custom color combinations. I love working with these ladies because they are all so excited and "into" the planning of their weddings and I get to be a part of it.

And that's my story of making lemonade when you've got a bucket of lemons, or in my case, 2 yards of SHOCKING YELLOW fabric :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Random tid-bits

2011-02-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

Want a peek into my life right now? Here are some random tid-bits. I know, very exciting. You better make sure you're sitting down.

-Yesterday I took both girls to the doctor. Avery had her 2 year check-up, and it went very well. She's doing excellent. Now if only I could get her to stop screaming on the car rides home from any activity she doesn't want to leave. Zoe was there for a couple of vaccines. Zoe has been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks now. And when I say through the night, I mean like 11 hours straight! Go Zoe!

-You know your life is too busy when you have to order new bras on Amazon.com because it's impossible to get out and do any shopping with two kids. At least there's no sales tax and my purchases qualified me for free Super Saver shipping- whee!

-Trying to juggle life with two kids has been an adjustment. In order to make myself feel better about my crazy life, I've started watching Jersey Shore. I know, it's the lowest of the lows when it comes to trashy tv. I look forward to Thursday night because that's when the new episodes air. Is it sad that I know all their names and I cried last week when Ronnie and Sammi were breaking up? Not because I thought they were a good couple, but because of how horrible they treated each other during the break-up.

-Here's what a 72 yard roll of jute upholstery webbing looks like:

-I've started re-building my wardrobe. When I was pregnant with Zoe, I decided to get rid of everything that I owned prior to my pregnancy with Avery. I hadn't worn any of it for almost 3 years, and I figured everything would be pretty outdated by the time I got around to fitting into it again. My current wardrobe of jeans + t-shirts = B.O.R.I.N.G. So I made the resolution to start buying things that would make me feel better about myself and would require a little bit of thought when getting dressed in the morning. More layering of pieces to create an outfit (isn't that what Stacey and Clinton are always saying?). But after looking at what I've bought so far, I think I need to widen my perspective and move to the other side of the color spectrum.

-Lastly, here's a look at my sewing table. See that grey handbag near my machine? Yep. It's been sitting there untouched since last week. All I have to do is sew on the handles and it will be finished and ready for the shop. Anyone know where I can find 5 minutes so I can finish it?

That's all I've got for you for now. Hope you enjoyed this sneak peak. Anyone want to share something totally random from their life right now?

Birthday #2

2011-02-13T22:12:00.000-08:00

This past week Avery turned 2! She surprised us this week by saying a few new words- horse, moon, toes. She can whip through the house like a tornado and leave a mess in her wake faster than you can blink an eye. I love seeing her discover something new or figure out a new way to play with her toys. She understands FAR MORE of what we say than we give her credit. She loves watching Sesame Street, Curious George, Dinosaur Train, Clifford, just to name a few. And she loves reading her books. Especially books with animals in them. Her absolute favorite thing to read is a kids magazine called Wild Animal Baby. I can't even tell you how many times we've read these to her. Seriously, if you've got a child under the age of 5, you should subscribe to this magazine.

Happy Birthday Avery, we love you!!!

Pictures of the kiddos

2011-01-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

Per requests from my mom and aunt, here are some random pictures of Avery and Zoe:

Avery's new bike- weeeeeee!

She is happiest when she's outside playing in the dirt!

Zoe at 2 months

Chubby cheeks

Crazy hair

Have a nice weekend!

Found 'em

2011-01-23T20:17:00.000-08:00

Yep. Found my pants. I have a box in a closet that I use for items to be donated. When the box is full, I drop if off at the Salvation Army. A couple weeks ago, I pulled the last remaining maternity item out of my closet and set it on the bed. This jacket was navy blue, the same color as my lounge pants. I must have grabbed the jacket without realizing the pants were directly under it.  So glad I didn't donate my new pants by accident!

Thanks everyone for your comments on poor Avery this past week. She was still throwing up on Friday evening, so Franz took her to urgent care. Can you believe they were the only ones there during cold and flu season?  I was so grateful she was seen right away and had the full attention of the staff. We're waiting for some test results to rule out some of the more unlikely causes, but most likely she just had a very, very bad stomach virus. By the time Franz and I went to bed that night it was midnight.

I woke up at 1:30. Yep- my worst fear was happening. I spent the rest of the night in the bathroom every 30 minutes. By morning I had a fever and could barely move. Franz took care of the kids and held down the fort all day while I stayed in bed.  My fever broke last night and I started feeling better. Today I am much better and almost back to feeling 100%.

My advice for those of you with kids:  seal up your doors and windows and don't leave your house until spring!

Am I losing my mind?

2011-01-21T12:23:00.000-08:00

It's finally Friday. It's been one he!!uva week, that's for sure. Thank you for all your well wishes for Avery. I really hope we're on the backside of this and she'll be back to her normal energetic 2 year old self very soon.

In the meantime, I think I might be losing my mind. I've lost a pair of pants. Let me back up.

When Franz and I were first married and I moved into this house, I lost a pair of jeans. One morning I was getting ready for work and specifically wanted to wear that pair of jeans. They couldn't be found anywhere. I searched high and low. They were just gone.

As a Type A, I have a place for everything, and as a result, I never lose anything. I know exactly how many pairs of jeans I own, and they hang in my closet in a certain order (from least comfy to most comfy). I don't own a huge wardrobe and I do all the laundry every week. That said, how could I lose a pair of jeans?

Well, a few days later I was getting ready for work and that lost pair of jeans was hanging in my closet, exactly where they should have been.  That incident totally messed with my mind. I couldn't wrap my brain around what had happened.  Not one to normally believe in such things, I actually wondered if we had a ghost living in the house.

Fast forward four years, and yesterday as I was putting laundry away, I realized I was missing a pair of lounge pants. I've searched the house high and low, and cannot find them anywhere.  All the laundry is washed and put away.

So, will I open my drawer tomorrow and find my missing pants? Or is this just a result of a very emotionally exhausting, physically draining week? Who knows.

Really?

2011-01-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

Four days of cleaning up puke. I am so done with this. I guess the one ~positive~ thing about this is that I didn't give Avery food poisoning after all. Apparently she's got the flu. The only question left is whether it's the 48 hour flu or the 72 hour flu. Considering she just puked again, I'd say she's got the 72 hour variety.

This has been by far the most difficult week I've had since Avery was born. And the constant fear of waiting to see if Franz, myself or Zoe gets this is overwhelming.

Yuck.

Oatmeal, chicken and cheese, oh my!

2011-01-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's what I saw yesterday when poor Avery woke up from her nap lying in a puddle, and I mean a big puddle of puke. She has never thrown up before, this was a first, so she was more than scared at what had just happened.

She kept puking the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. She finally fell asleep on the floor in the living room around 9:00 or 10:00. I layed on the couch all night long and watched her breathe.

She's still not feeling back to her normal self this morning. She's puked a few more times. She's sleeping now, so hopefully she'll feel a little better when she wakes up. At noon it will have been 24 hours since she ate lunch yesterday- which is the only thing I can think of that would have made her sick.

I feel like a horrible mother giving my child food poisoning. Pray that she recovers this afternoon and can start to tolerate liquids/food again. Franz and I are way past the point of exhaustion and need a "decent" night of sleep- however that translates when you also have a 2 month old that wakes a couple of times during the night.

I hear barfy smelling laundry calling my name. Bye for now :)

A Simple Fix

2011-01-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

I know I'm not the only person out there that has this problem:

Puckering- yuck!

Now granted I did just have a baby less than two months ago, but I don't need a daily reminder that I've still got a few pounds to shed. Buying a size larger is not the answer, because then the sweater would be too big everywhere else. Here's my quick 5 minute solution.

Grab your supplies:
Stitch Witchery
Scissors
Iron

With your sweater buttoned, put it around the narrow end of the ironing board so only the front of the sweater is actually on the ironing board.

Cut a piece of Stitch Witchery the length between buttons:

Tuck it in between:

Iron it shut for 10-15 seconds:

And you're ready to go!

So much better!

Have a great weekend!

Exciting news!!!

2011-01-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to share with you all some very happy news for our family! My sister and her husband have adopted a beautiful little girl!!! She was born just before Christmas and is a very happy baby- as you can tell from her smile! How cute is this picture?

We can already tell Paige and Zoe are going to get along great:

Welcome baby Paige! We love you!

Before/After- Master Bedroom

2011-01-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

Finished!

I didn't intend to wait so long to post this, but Zoe's arrival and the holidays snuck up on me! I can't even remember when I started working on this room, but I know it was forever ago. This room needed a TON of work before it was going to be ready for us to move back into (Zoe moved into Avery's old nursery, Avery moved into our old bedroom, and we had to move back into the master bedroom that we were using as an overflow/catch-all room).

As a reminder, here is a before photo:

~~~Cringe~~~

The first thing we had to address was the closet. You can read about that transformation here. After living with the closet for a few months now, I have to say it holds a lot. We have so much space now to store our clothes- and we love having everything in one place rather than a separate closet and dresser.

Before

After

After the closet was completed, I moved on to address the corner of the room which would become my sewing niche. I scored when I found these two bookshelves on Craigslist- it was only because of them that I was able to keep my long sewing table.

Before- Yikes!

After- Yippee!

Before

After!

Then I moved on and made this DIY upholstered headboard.

Another lucky find on Craigslist were the two nightstands. They were the perfect size and each had two drawers and an open shelf- for $40 each! Since the nightstands had to be so small, wall mounted lamps were the best solution to free up space on the tops of them.

Sewed a couple of new pillow covers:

Yellow zig zag!

Now the window needed something, so I made two mock roman shades that used one yard of fabric per shade. I hung them close to the ceiling to allow as much light as possible into the room since this room gets darker as the day progresses.

Next up was some artwork over the bed. Using a photo from our trip to the Turks and Caicos islands and a photo editing program, I just cropped it into two and enlarged each picture. I also played around with the intensity of the colors to bring out the turquoise in the water and sky. Shutterfly sent the two images to me a few days later. We had two frames that were the perfect size, which I spray painted yellow. Now we have artwork that is meaningful to both of us every time we look at it.

Ahhh, beautiful Turks and Caicos.

And that's our new Master Bedroom. I can't tell you all how much I was dreading moving back into this room. We used to sleep in this room when we had a queen size bed, and it felt so cramped and tiny. Now we have an eastern king bed, so I knew it was going to be even more cramped. Removing the closet doors was key to opening up this tiny room. We don't mind having our closet exposed because the room is so small. Keeping it open works for us. Now I actually look forward to going to sleep in this room!

Handmade gifts

2011-01-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well, this Christmas I had a very good excuse for not sewing very many gifts. But, I did manage to squeeze in a few things.

These elephants were so much fun to make:

The pattern came from the Funky Friends Factory shop on Etsy. I added the tails and heart appliques to dress them up a bit.

I also made this baby blanket and taggy:

This gift set went to a special little baby girl which I hope to tell you about soon :)

After taking a break from my Etsy shop I'm ready to start sewing bags again! I've listed some wristlets and zippered pouches to ease back into things. My New Years Resolution is to sew more for fun rather than the demands of a shop. We'll see if I can keep it that way, those sales are quite the adrenaline rush!

Just some random photos

2010-12-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some current pictures of Avery and Zoe:

Decorating a gingerbread man!

Avery calls her sippy cup a "bopple"

Finally enough hair for a clip

Look at all that crazy hair!!!

Happy New Year!

Jeans

2010-12-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

So. I forgot to mention two things in my previous post asking for jean recommendations. I spent 9 months gaining weight, so I shouldn't expect to lose it overnight. It's going to be awhile before I reach my pre-pregnancy weight, which means I will be buying a few different jean sizes along the way. While I love the Gap, I just can't justify spending that much money on jeans that I hopefully won't be wearing for very long. When I do reach my goal weight, I will have no problem spending more.

Is there such a thing as cheap jeans that still look good? I say yes. I've done a ton of research and tried on a lot of styles in the past couple of weeks. What I found surprised me, so I thought I would give you a quick rundown.

First up: Riders by Lee
I'm sure you've all seen the ads- they're everywhere. They're carried in Wal-mart, Kohl's, Kmart, and JCPenney's. Each store carries different styles. The style that I liked happened to be at Wal-mart.

Image via here

Pros: These jeans are well made. The denim material is a lighter weight and it's soft. I loved the trouser style hem (similar to the Long and Lean at the Gap) and that they came in short, medium and long lengths. The flap pocket detail was a nice feature as well as the $18.00 price tag.

Cons: The long length isn't stocked at Wal-mart, which means you have to order it online. They also have a higher rise, so they sit on your waist- aka "mom jeans".

Kohl's has some Riders that are only available online that look promising. I might consider them in the future since I was pretty happy with the quality of the ones I found at Wal-mart. Overall, I think Lee has done a great job at marketing their Riders brand and they've made a good product at an ever better price point.

Next up: Merona by Target

Have you seen the new line of Merona jeans that Target is carrying? There are 6 different fits, and each fit comes in a few different colors/washes. I tried on three of the fits, and found that Fit 1 suited my shape the best.

Pros: Nice quality denim, lightweight and soft. The medium and dark wash look really nice. There is a smaller hem than the Riders, but still more of a trouser hem than regular jeans. Target stocks them in short, medium and tall lengths. The price is $19.99.

Cons: The denim stretches out after a few hours and loses its shape. Best to buy a size smaller than normal. The long length inseam is about 34"- which to some isn't really considered tall/long. The rise sits at your waist, so also can be considered "mom jeans" by the younger crowd.

So what did I end up buying? The Merona by Target and here's why. The long length was available in the store- which meant I could try them on and take them home the same day. I don't mind ordering online, but I needed some jeans now and didn't want to wait. They were also on sale for $15.00, so I bought two pairs- one in the dark wash shown above and the other in the medium wash. I don't mind spending $30 on two pairs of jeans that I won't feel bad about ditching when I drop down another size.

Let's talk about "mom jeans". Most people assume mom jeans are dorky because they're high waisted, have an unflattering shape/cut, and are baggy. This is so not the case! Just because they may have a higher rise, doesn't mean that they don't come in fashionable styles. Riders and Merona both carry bootcut and straight leg styles. I've come to the conclusion that for me personally, I can't wear low rise/hip-hugger jeans. They just aren't comfortable. The rise is too short for my long torso, so I'm always having to pull them up to keep my butt covered. If I get them so they're tight enough to not fall down, then I'm creating the muffin top that I'm not a fan of either. It's a lose lose situation. That being said, mom jeans are great for post-baby bodies :) They hold you in in all the right places- and like the Riders slogan says, "they're instantly slimming". Besides, no one has to know they're mom jeans because your shirt covers the top part of the jeans anyways. And this is where having a long torso helps- higher rise pants don't come up as high on me as they would for someone who has a short torso. Do I want to wear mom jeans forever? No. There are some mid-rise jeans that split the difference between low rise/hip-huggers and mom jeans- and I hope to be able to wear them again someday soon. But until then, I'll take the Merona's or Riders please.

One of these things...

2010-12-14T13:40:00.000-08:00

...just doesn't belong. Can you guess which one?

1. Month: December
2. Season: Winter
3. Temperature outside: 80 degrees give or take

Thanks for all your suggestions on jeans. I'm going to try and sneak out one evening this week and see what I can find. I have always been a fan of Gap jeans- I currently own both the Long and Lean and Curvy styles. Although none of them fit me right now- hence, the need for some new jeans in the interim. I'll let you know what I find!

Need Recommendations

2010-12-10T13:01:00.000-08:00

I need some new jeans- here's what I'm looking for:
1. Must come in a Long length
2. Higher in the back, lower in the front (I say no to crack and muffin tops)
3. No skinny jeans
4. Must have some stretch so they don't get saggy throughout the day

If you've found the perfect pair of jeans, leave me a comment with the link so I too can have the perfect pair of jeans.

Have a great weekend!

Mini Me

2010-12-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

Avery used to love it when I vacuumed. It would even lull her to sleep. In the early days, our house got vacuumed frequently, almost on a daily basis, sometimes even more than once (no, I'm not that crazy about my house being clean, but when you're kid cries non-stop all day, you'll do whatever it takes). Fast forward a year, and all of a sudden she hates the vacuum. That being said, I haven't vacuumed when she's around for a long time.

The week Zoe was born, we brought out the vacuum numerous times (Franz couldn't take Avery's crumbs all over the place). She got used to it and was no longer bothered by the end of the week. This week I did a quick vacuum of the house. Avery is at the age where she likes to mimic what we're doing. She doesn't have a play vacuum, so she grabbed the next closest thing.

This video cracks me up! I love how Avery noticed that I vacuum all the way up to the wall as close as I can get. Her interpretation of this is to crash her stroller into the wall, hilarious :) I think this is one of the first times I've seen her imagination at work. It's fascinating to me that she was able to look at mommy's vacuum and make the connection that her stroller also can move back and forth in a similar way. Just incredible for such a tiny person!

PS- Yes, that is Top Ramen on the kitchen counter- don't judge. We're not above Ramen, especially when we're feeling under the weather.

One Week

2010-11-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone for your kind words and comments on Zoe's birth. This past week has been really good- Zoe is a great sleeper, especially during the day. We started to work on that yesterday, and last night she was only up two times!

Avery loves her new sister, but is still trying to understand the "rules"- no touching the baby's face, no poking the baby- be gentle when you touch her, and no touching the baby's bottle. She has loved having her dad home this whole week (and so have I!) and has gotten lots of time outside to play.

Franz and I laugh about how different things are the second time around. No detailed records of when she ate, how much, when she pooped, etc. Sometimes we forget Zoe is even in the room with us- she doesn't require much from us yet. Franz goes back to work on Monday. I am going to miss having him around during the day- it's been really nice being able to spend this week together. He has been so great about giving Avery extra attention, changing diapers, getting up at night, etc. I am very lucky and thankful to have such a nice guy :)

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and are enjoying lots of yummy leftovers! I'll leave you with this picture of me and my girls:

Have a great weekend!

Monday Update

2010-11-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

This morning I was supposed to be at the hospital at 7:15 to be induced, but instead we were at home with:

Meet Zoe Marie Michel!

After my OB visit on Friday morning, I spent the rest of the day with more cramping. I thought it would be fun to share the timeline for how the rest of the evening unfolded.

3:45- The teenager next door came over for her usual Friday afternoon playdate with Avery, and I was able to get out of the house and run some errands. I wanted to treat myself to one last little luxury before the baby came, so I stopped in for a pedicure.

Pretty Toes!

4:30-5:30 Pedicure- As I was sitting there, my cramps got stronger, so I started watching the clock. I didn't realize it at the time, but these cramps were really contractions, and I had between four and five of them during my hour long pedicure. I had two more on my drive home.

5:45-7:45 Home- Said good-bye to the neighbor and Franz got home from work. Made a couple of phone calls, made a quick dinner, and then realized how painful and fast these "cramps" were coming. I no longer wanted to sit down, it was more comfortable standing. Franz ran out to pick up some milk and then gave Avery a bath.

7:45- The "cramping" was getting more painful, so I jumped in the shower while Franz put Avery to bed. I was having between five to eight of these an hour now, but they still weren't following any type of pattern, so I ruled out them being real contractions and just figured I would see how long I could live with these "cramps" before I decided to go to the hospital.

8:15-8:30 A friend stopped by the house and took one look at me and said, "Jen, you guys need to get to the hospital right away. I'll stay with Avery, you just need to go- now!" I finished getting dressed, packed a few last minute items, and got in the car.

8:50- Arrived at the hospital admitting and gave them my paperwork. It was about 2 minutes later that my water broke. They hurried me upstairs and got me into a room. A quick check determined I was 7-8 cm. dialated. I was shocked, how could I be that dialated when I wasn't even having any contractions?

9:30- Anxiously awaiting the anesthesiologist, I told Franz to "go find her and give her $50, I can't wait any longer". She arrived shortly after (no tip involved!) and within a few minutes I was feeling much better.

The next hour was spent making phone calls, laughing about how the day had unfolded, and realizing that we were about ready to become a family of four. My OB arrived and determined I was 9 cm, and the room was prepped for delivery.

After 10 minutes of pushing, Zoe Marie entered the world at 11:06 pm. She weighed 6 lbs. 15 ozs and was 19" long. She was born 11 days before her due date, but came on her own- no induction was needed :)

Barely two hours after arriving at the hospital!

Proud Dad

We're not sure whose nose that is

Leaving the hospital on Sunday afternoon

First car ride!

I am SO glad she decided to come early- I was pretty miserable the past week or so. It boggles my mind that I'm technically still not due until the 30th, and instead we're home with our two little girls :)

Now, to figure out how to adjust from one to two- that is my job over the coming days.

Friday Update

2010-11-19T14:49:00.000-08:00

Well I thought I'd be able to post Before/After pictures of the master bedroom, but the weather finally decided to cool down. It's pretty dark and overcast, with spots of rain, so not the greatest for taking pictures where you need the natural light.

But more importantly, I'm 2 cm dialated and have been cramping since last night. I did not sleep at all as there were between 2-4 of these cramps/contractions per hour. Of course Franz snoozed right through it all (ladies, how do they do that?) My induction is still scheduled for Monday morning, but at this rate I'm not sure this baby girl is going to wait until then. And if she doesn't, I'm not sure I can- who wants to have cramps for 3 days and 3 nights without any pain relief? Not me :)

I'll keep you all posted! Until then, have a great weekend :)

Nursery- Finished!

2010-11-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

My approach to the nursery this time around was so different than last time.  We found that Avery never actually played in her nursery- she wanted to be with us in the living room.  All she really did was sleep in in her room. This worked well for us when she was really small because we were able to keep our eye on her while she was playing, and keep up with household stuff at the same time.

That being said, when I started working on the nursery for this one, I knew that all she would be doing in this room was sleeping. Once she's old enough to scoot around the house, she'll be in the living room and Avery's room.  So, I kept the room to the bare bones so to speak.  Remember also that we are planning on the girls sharing a room, so this room is only temporary until they are ready for that.

This room is about 9' x 9', not including the closet. It's tiny.  Another reason for keeping things streamlined and not a whole lot of stuff.

View into the room from the door

Moved our dresser and mirror into the nursery

Close-up of the pelmet- added burgundy ribbon to give it some detail

The frame is for her footprints- they do this at the hospital right after she's born

Same crib, same mobile

There are a few things missing from these photos, like a night light (which I still need to get), the Fisher-Price crib aquarium (which needs new batteries), and some other random items. We will not be using a diaper pail/genie/whatever you want to call it. All stinky diapers go directly outside into the garbage!

To wrap it up, here is a list of the DIY projects:
-Dyed changing pad cover orange
-Made pelmet for window
-Sewed new cushion cover for rocking chair
-Crib skirt (stitch witchery is my new BFF)
-Artwork
-Mobile
-Baby Blanket
-Mats for footprint frame (I used two different scrapbooking papers and made my own mats)

Hope to have Master Bedroom pictures up tomorrow!

The Big Day

2010-11-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

I'm going to the hospital on Monday to deliver this baby, and Monday can't come soon enough. I will be 39 weeks when I deliver. This pregnancy has been similar in many ways than my last, but different in many ways as well.

Similarities:
No morning sickness.
Having a long torso makes being pregnant fairly comfortable until the last month or so.
The heartburn has only showed up occassionally, and usually Maalox does the trick.
Hip pain (this time not as severe, but still pretty painful).
Hot ALL THE TIME.

Differences:
Lower energy levels.
Carpal Tunnel in both hands.
Really sore feet.

I am emotionally drained. My body is strained to its max as well. I just need to hold it together for a few more days. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

A quick baby blanket

2010-11-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with Avery, I didn't own a sewing machine. I also wasn't very confident in my sewing skills, so I turned to Etsy. I bought her baby blanket- a simple blanket made up of two rectangles, sewn together.

Fast forward a year and a half and a lot has changed. This past Saturday I was out running errands and popped into Joann's. Didn't really need anything or have any projects in mind, but I like going there and browsing when I'm without Avery. They were having a sale on flannel and minky fabric. I bought a yard of each and this past week made baby #2 her own baby blanket.

I loved the preppy vibe of the flannel!

I had a few scrap pieces of the Amy Butler orange dot fabric leftover (used elsewhere in the nursery), so I added a bias binding.

Super soft pale green minky fabric on the reverse side.

Yes, I machine sewed the binding on. I know all you quilters out there are squirming in your seats, but I just really hate handsewing. I definitely need to work on mitering corners as these are far from perfect. Anyone have any tips or links to good tutorials on mitering corners using bias?

Turn down the heat please!

2010-11-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Warm Front,

Good grief, I never thought you'd still be hanging around burning us up with 90+ degrees in November- especially since I am 9 months pregnant. I cannot believe I am about to say this, but please go away. I would gladly welcome the cooler weather- I'm not sure how much more of this heat I can tolerate. Help a miserable girl out, I'm just so tired of being hot all the time.

Your friend (most of the time!),
Jen

Four years

2010-11-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things about meeting each other online, is that we can look back at our profiles and read through the emails we sent to each other before we even met in person. It's interesting to see how much we've changed and how some things have stayed the same.

These were the "first impression" photos we saw of each other. I remember thinking, wow, this guy is super cute! Then I read his profile and said to myself, wow, this guy sounds too good to be true- I hope I get the opportunity to meet him!

Franz said his first impression after looking at my photo was, wow, she's hot. I bet she gets hit on all the time. He read my profile and said, I'm going to respond to this one, what do I have to lose?

Today is our 4 year anniversary. I love you Franz more than ever and still feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have met you. You bring so much joy and laughter to my life. You are devoted and hardworking and always looking out for my best interest. What more could a girl ask for? I'm so glad you decided to take a risk and email me :)

Happy Anniversary~

Love, Jen

Sorry Jonathan

2010-10-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

If you follow the trends in the design field, you already know who Jonathan Adler is. A little while ago I showed you a sneak peak of the new nursery. Using a couple pages from his 2011 calendar, I made some quick artwork and found my inspiration for the room- clean and simple.

There were still 10 more months of pages left in the calendar, so I figured I would utilize them in some way. Then I remembered I needed to update the mobile over the crib. A quick google search for free black and white clipart and a few minutes later I had a plan.

First, cut out twenty circles from the leftover calendar pages- sorry Jonathan.

Then cut out twenty clipart images.

Use spray adhesive to glue everything together, then hang!

It's 99% finished, and I hope to have photos of the whole room up later this week.

You're kidding right?

2010-10-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else watch Project Runway this season? Oh wow, I'm so disappointed that Gretchen won. Seriously? I just have to rant a bit here, but come on. There's no way I would buy ANY of the pieces in her collection. When her looks started down the runway, I couldn't help but think, boring, ugly, and every single piece was a different shade of brown. Isn't that why they sent Michael C. home last week? Here are a few of her looks:

Granny panties anyone?

Ummm....no thank you.

More granny panties? No, no no way!

I agreed with the judges that Mondo's looks were a little juvenile and lacked sophistication. His style is out there and I couldn't pull off wearing so many prints in one outfit, but, Heidi was right- you could take any of his individual pieces and pair them with something classic and you would have a great outfit. For example, this shirt would look great with a classic black pencil skirt. Or the shorts with a solid shirt:

I would pair this skirt with a plain black top and keep the yellow belt as is. The top would look great with a pair of black trousers:

Then there was Andy. Out of the three finalists, I liked his collection the best. His pieces were sophisticated, the fabrics were expensive and clearly he can sew. I don't see myself wearing his looks, but my lifestyle is all about chasing kids around. Here are a few of my favorites:

The judges had a tough decision to make- do they choose a collection that's over the top and gave a good runway show (Mondo), or do they choose a collection that's ready-to-wear (Gretchen)? Ready-to-wear won. And if what the judges said is true, that Gretchen's collection is "on trend" and what the future of fashion holds- I guess I won't be shopping retail until it passes!

So, what did you think?

If you want to see all the collections, you can check them out here.

Fun with Avery

2010-10-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun random photos from this past month- her personality has really started to show itself- sometimes in the funniest ways, and other times not so much. We are entering the "terrific twos"!

Playing the piano at Grandma and Grandpa's

I LOVE my new room!

Avery enjoying a visit with her Great Aunt Gail from New York

Thanks for the visit- come back anytime!

Hiking with Dad

Where's Avery? Has anyone seen Avery?

I think I can...

Okay, maybe I can't.

What? A cavity already?

And a shiner too?
Nope, you just like eating your crayons when I'm not looking and that shiner is from earlier in the morning when you hit your head on a door jamb during one of your tantrums.
Awwww........the joys of the terrific two's!

Avery's Big Girl Room

2010-10-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Avery has made the transition into her new room amazingly well. She LOVES having another whole room to play in- and so do we! Before, she was only able to spread out in the living room, so she was ALWAYS underfoot and I got the feeling she was super bored.

The second bedroom is where we used to sleep. It's on the back side of the house so it's much quieter than the master which has to deal with street noise. It has one small closet, one small window and is already painted a light colored aqua/robin's egg blue. I love the wall color, so I wanted to find a color palette that would work with it as is.

When I found the shower curtain that would be used for her giant rollie pollie beanbag, I headed to Ikea where I found some picture frames in a fabulous shade of red to showcase some fun alphabet cards I had been holding onto. Then the rest of the room just fell into place.

From the door looking left

Another View

Just ignore the ugly black fan on top of the bookshelf. That fan is a lifesaver- otherwise, we wouldn't be able to make any noise while she is sleeping. I hung the three alphabet photo collages at her level. This has been so much fun for her. She loves to look at the different cards. So far she's learned elephant, frog, dog, penguin, lion, giraffe and turtle and points them out to us.

Her books are on the lower shelf so she can pull them out and sit on her rollie pollie to look at them.

The frame over her bookshelves used to look like this in her nursery:

Originally it was fuschia pink and we hung all the birth announcements we received her first year on it. For her new room I just spray painted it red and now we use it to display her artwork.

We chose to put a twin size mattress directly on the floor. We'll get her a bed when she stops rolling off the mattress onto the floor in the middle of the night!

DIY Pelmet

And here's where I used the bottom half of the shower curtain! This little window treatment was so easy- you could do it in an hour during naptime. I used the tutorial found here.

You may have noticed the letter "A" in the nursery photo- I just used some velcro to stick it to the wall. Then I collected the rest of the letters whenever I was at a Joann's, Michael's, Homegoods or TJ Maxx. The "V" I mod podged with green fabric scraps leftover from my bags, and the "R" is just simply painted an aqua for now. I would like to mod podge a map onto the front, so that's on my to-do list.

Close-Up

We moved her dresser over from the nursery and strapped it to the wall. There's no way this will tip over onto her if she decides to try and climb it. Her "newborn footprints" picture was also taken from her nursery. The giant flower over the dresser is actually a large fabric swatch.

So this is Avery's new room. I think she likes it for a variety of reasons- from using familiar items from her nursery that she's seen her whole life, a cheerful and bright color palette, placing items at her level, and of course adding a few new toys didn't hurt either!

4 weeks

2010-10-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

As of today, we have 4 weeks left until Baby Michel #2 arrives. My mind is racing from all that I still need to do. This weekend I went through all the storage bins of stuff we saved from Avery. It felt good to sort through it- and get rid of the things we won't be using this time around (spit up stained clothes? yuck!). I washed everything else and put it away. Now I have a better idea of what we need to stock up on.

As for me, I'm doing okay. I should be very thankful- I've felt pretty good up until this last month. My right hip is hurting at night, but not nearly as bad as it did with Avery. However, this is back again, oh the joys. But I have narrowed it down and I believe these little guys may have something to do with it.

Image found here

It's not the peanut butter that's causing the problem because I can eat peanut butter just fine. So it must be the milk chocolate. Thank goodness I only have to give up chocolate for one month.

We still don't have a name picked out- no surprise there. We have a list of possible contenders, but we haven't agreed on any one particular name.

I have made some good progress in the "minimalistic designed" nursery. Just need to hit Joann's for a few more supplies to finish some things and then I can post pictures. But I can show you a little peek as to what I worked on today:

Avery's changing pad cover was pastel pink. Not exactly fitting in with the new color palette. I looked into buying a new one, but they're almost $20! I figured I would try some dye on it first. The process was super easy, and it's definitely orange now :)

And totally off topic, did anyone else catch Oprah today? Avery blessed me with a super long nap, so I had a chance to relax a bit. Oh my gosh, the first segment had me balling my eyes out. If you didn't see it, you can click here to see what I'm talking about.

I'm off to edit some photos- hopefully I'll have a new post a day this week!

Window Shopping Inspiration

2010-10-07T23:56:00.000-07:00

The other day while ~~chasing Avery~~ leisurely strolling through the mall, I saw this tote bag in a store window:

Image found here

I wasn't looking for a tote bag, I certainly don't need any more tote bags- it just happened to catch my eye. The size was perfect and I liked the grommets and casualness of it. But the pattern was a little too young/surfer chick for me. Then I started thinking- this would be pretty easy to make.

After a quick search through my fabric stash, I found this gray dandelion fabric from Ikea that I LOVE, and a deep turquoise solid canvas for the interior. I stole the grommets from some drapes I made last year and then I remembered I had even pilfered the nylon straps from the freebie diaper bag the hospital sent me home with when Avery was born! A quick trip to the fabric store to pick up a yellow fat quarter for the bias trim and I was all set to go.

On the inside, there is a large pocket to hold my calendar/daily planner, and on the other side are two more pockets for stashing more stuff.

I LOVE the grey and yellow color combination for fall/winter and the turquoise interior is a nice complement as well. The only thing I'm not happy with is the bias trim. I thought making my own out of quilting weight cotton would look better than pre-made store bought. Next time, I will go with the pre-made. It's easier to work with and would have looked better in my opinion. Overall this was a pretty quick bag to make. I liked working with three different fabrics and the grommets. It was also fun to make something using materials I already had on hand.

Have a great weekend!

Interesting Observation

2010-10-06T22:36:00.000-07:00

Today Avery wanted to color and use her foam stickers. She has a big bowl of these stickers, and will sift through them and pick out which ones she wants to use. Then she'll hand them to me one by one so I can peel off the backing for her. Anyways, after she had been busy at her drawing for awhile, I had to stop for a double take. I did not help her at all with this, but I think it's interesting that she chose these colors- look at her outfit! There were orange and yellow stickers in the bowl as well, but she specifically avoided them. I have no idea if she was purposely duplicating what she was seeing on her shirt, or if this was subconscious- either way, it's totally fascinating to me!

Round 2

2010-10-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

Now that Avery has officially moved to her new room (and taken quite fondly to!), I feel like I can start working on the nursery. In our experience, Avery only used this room for a year and half, so it made the most sense to use as many of her things as possible for this next baby- of course with some changes though. We will be using the same crib, rocking chair, ceiling light, Ribba picture frames, curtains at the closet, and the wall paint will stay pear green. Here are a few photos of what Avery's nursery originally looked like to refresh your memory.

I'm definitely going for a "less is more" theme this time around- geesh, would you look at all that pink?!?! I found this 2011 Jonathan Adler wall calendar and thought a couple of the images would be a perfect starting point:

No, not the mustache, tie or the undies- the pear and the apple! These fit in the square Ikea Ribba frames perfectly.

Then at Cost Plus World Market, I picked up one wine colored velvet curtain panel on sale for $23 to make a new cushion cover for the rocking chair.

Here's a sneak peak at what we've got so far:

Clean and simple, just how I want it this time around :)

Found: Browsing through Etsy

2010-10-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

How cute would this fabric be for a nursery or kids room if it was stretched over a frame and hung on the wall? If you've got the wall space (this is 56" wide x 52" tall), it would be adorable!

Found in imaginefabric shop on Etsy

Tutorial: How to make an Upholstered Headboard

2010-10-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

There are tons of tutorials out there on how to make your own upholstered headboard- they all vary depending on the shape of the headboard, whether you want tufting or not, how to attach it to your bedframe, etc. So I'm going to show you how I decided to make it, using different techniques from various tutorials and combining them to get exactly what we wanted.

Step 1: Gather your supplies. To make this King size headboard you will need:

*A piece of 3/4" thick plywood, 24" x 72 (you will have to buy a whole piece, which is 4' x 8'- just have Home Depot or Lowe's cut it down to the right size for you and you'll have some extra pieces to take home)- $26.47

*2" thick High Density foam, 24" x 72" (use a 50% off coupon or wait until it goes on sale at Joann's)- $28.98
*A Package of quilt batting (I purchased a twin size 72" x 90")- $11.99
*Spray adhesive- $0, already owned
*Staple Gun, $0, already owned
*Button kit (Joann's)- $3.87
*3 washers- $.29
*upholstery needle (long)- $4.39
*heavy duty string/thread- $0, already owned (used toptitching thread)
*fabric (at least 36" x 84")- $19.99
*French cleat (found at Home Depot or Lowe's)- $14.97
*Jig saw- $0, borrowed
*Power drill- $0, already owned

Step 2: Determine what shape you want your headboard to be. Mark with a thick line so you'll know where to cut and then grab your jig saw. Since this bedroom is all about playing tricks on your eye to make it appear larger, I cut out the top two corners to make the headboard look narrower than it really is.

Step 3: Pre-drill the holes for the tufting. Use a 1/8"- 1/4" drill bit, you'll thank me later. You want these holes to be large enough for an upholstery needle to fit through. Also, it will be easier to find the hole from the front side when you're attaching the buttons since you can't see the hole once the foam and batting is attached.

For this headboard, I used 3 buttons. I wanted the buttons to line up with the design on my fabric, so I had a little more of a challenge figuring out where to space them. For your headboard, you may just want to evenly space them.

Step 4: Attach the foam using spray adhesive. Start on one side and spray a section of the wood, lay the foam down and press to adhere. Keep moving in small sections until you've finished.

Step 5: Cut the foam from the corners. I used a fairly sharp serrated knife, but if you have an electric knife they work great.

Step 6: Wrap with the batting. On a clean surface, spread out the batting and put the foam side down. You'll want to trim around the headboard to get rid of some of the excess batting. I left about 6" all the way around. Starting in the middle on of the long sides, place a few staples to secure. Move over to the opposite side and staple. Then do each of the short sides like this. Lastly, go all the way around all four sides and finish stapling. Do your best to make the corners neat and tidy.

Step 7: Wrap with your fabric. For my fabric, I used a 60" x 84" tablecloth by Dwell Studio for Target:

I wanted to center three of the medallions, with a tuft in the middle of each one. Normally this is the step where you would staple your fabric to the headboard in the same way as the batting and then tuft. However, since I wanted my medallions to be centered with a tuft in the middle, I decided to tuft first before stapling. This gave me more flexibility to make sure those medallions were centered over the pre-drilled holes.

Place your fabric wrong side up and lay your headboard batting side down. Cut the excess, leaving about 6" all around. Using your long upholstery needle and heavy duty thread, start from the back side and poke your needle through to the front side. Once I found the middle of the medallion, I threaded on one of my fabric covered buttons and then pushed the needle back down to the back side again. On the back side, pull your tuft as tight as you want it and then using a small washer, tie it off.

Once I got all three of the medallions tufted, I went ahead and stapled the fabric around the headboard.

Now it's time to hang it. Have you ever seen these at your home improvement store?

It's a French Cleat, and they're used all the time in the hotel interior design industry, but for some reason they're often overlooked by DIY'ers. If I didn't know what they were, I'd probably overlook them myself, but once you use one, you'll see why they're so great. The one we used was made to hold something that weighs 200 pounds, and this headboard weighs far less than that.

A French Cleat has two parts- one that attaches to the wall, and one that attaches to the back of whatever you're hanging. The piece that is on the back of your headboard, slips onto the piece attached to the wall. If you're trying to imagine how this works, this image reminds me of the basic concept:

Imagine the bottom hand as the piece that's attached to the wall, and imagine the left hand locking down over it. It's a funny image to use, but it really does a good job at visually explaining how a French cleat works.

Here's the piece attached to the back of the headboard (we centered it and placed it towards the top of the headboard):

And here's the piece attached to the wall (we were able to get 2 screws into the studs):

And a side view:

See how the top is angled outward? Then the headboard sits down on top so the two pieces interlock.

Here are a couple more space-saving tricks we used:

-Because this headboard does not have legs, and since we hung the headboard just a tad higher than the mattress, we were able to push our mattress all the way to the wall and therefore save probably close to 6 inches or so.

-We also do not use a metal bed frame, and instead put the box springs directly on the floor. This also eliminates a lot of movement if one of us rolls over at night, we sleep so much better because we don't feel every toss and turn the other person makes.

-Our Eastern King mattress is really approximately 76"-78" wide. I purposely made the headboard 72" wide so the bottom corners would not stick out on the sides of the mattress. This way it looks like it's upholstered all the way to the floor.

-We used a black fitted sheet to cover the box springs, and at a quick glance it appears to be a platform bed.

So who's ready to try making one yourself?

Night #4

2010-09-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

This will be the last post on this subject matter, thank you for sticking with me. This blog is not only where I share my crafty/creative projects, but I also use it to document Avery's progress and milestones etc. My plan is to print out the blog every couple of years so that she can look back at it and see what her crazy mom was up to.

So yesterday's nap went pretty well- 1 1/2 hours :)

Night #4:
Last night Franz ran to the grocery store while I put her to sleep.

8:12- Tucked into bed. Followed me to the door and cried (the complaining variety) for 2 minutes.

8:14- Asleep :)

This morning we heard her get up around 6:30ish and come open her door. Then she went back to sleep until 7:15!

It's now naptime, and she is sleeping on her new twin mattress for the first time.

Every kid is different but here's what I would suggest if you're thinking/planning on transitioning your kid out of their crib:
1. Wait until they are sick to do it! I know, it sounds mean- but when they are physically exhausted, they just don't have the energy in them to "fight" with you. Sleep wins in the end :)
2. Use a gate at the bedroom door. Seriously, I can't even begin to imagine how many times Avery would have gotten out of her bed and come into the living room. I did not want to have to play that game. The gate keeps her in her room and she knows that's her boundary.
3. Put a towel over the top of the door. This way they can't accidentally shut the door all the way. They will see a sliver of light and won't feel like they're being punished or isolated like a closed door might make them feel.
4. We used 15 minute increments. The first night she cried really hard for a solid 15 minutes before we went to check on her.  We then waited another 15 minutes and so on. If you notice the crying starting to slow down as you get closer to the 15 minute mark, wait an additional 5 minutes.
5. Start with the crib mattress on the floor for a night or two since they are familiar with it already. But the sooner you can switch to a twin mattress the better. We found Avery sleeping on the floor numerous times over the past few days because she slipped off her mattress (which seems so tiny now!). A twin will give them more room to move around before they slip off. You could also try the bumper guards they sell, but we figured we'd try it without first.

***Disclaimer:  We are by no means professionals when it comes to raising kids- this is just what worked for us :) I was so scared to try this because of all the horror stories you hear from well intentioned friends, etc. But, you've got to do it sometime, so hopefully our experience will help squelch some of your fears.

Night #3

2010-09-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Is anyone still with me? I promise to have a more exciting post (upholstered headboard tutorial) later this week :)

So yesterday morning Avery slept until 7:15- woo hoo!!! She woke up in a good mood and continued to stay that way for the rest of the day.

1:00- Naptime.  She saw me putting the gate up in the doorway and came over to help me- ha! Then she cried* for 5 minutes or so and then fell asleep.

2:30- Woke up from her nap. This was about the normal length of her naps, so she's adjusting to her new routine pretty quickly :)

Last night, we were running a little behind schedule, so bedtime was pushed back just a few minutes.

8:10- Hugs and kisses and then into bed. Crying* for 2 minutes.

8:12- Asleep!

12:30am- She woke up to the sound of the air conditioner compressor coming on which is located right behind her bedroom. I held her for a few minutes and rubbed her back, and then she fell back asleep.

6:45- woke up and came to the door. Called out a few times, but we ignored her (we always give her 15 minutes before we go get her). After about 2 or 3 minutes she went back to bed and fell back asleep until 7:30 :)

Here we are at naptime for today:
1:00- down for her nap. Crying* for 10 minutes.
1:15- Asleep :) We'll see how long she sleeps today.

*This is not loud/angry/mad crying. It's more of a tired/consoling type of cry while she gets comfortable. It's not the unbearable sounding crying that breaks your heart and makes you want to run in there and pick her up.

We feel very, very lucky with how well this transition has gone. Will it only continue to get easier and easier? Or will there be some regression at some point?  We're not sure. But for now, we're pretty thankful. I credit Franz for this- Avery must have gotten his flexible/easy going/okay with change personality trait. I'm not usually a big fan of change- unless it involves moving the furniture :)

Night #2

2010-09-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

So last night went pretty well- I really can't complain. Once she fell asleep, she stayed asleep through the night. We woke up to her crying/whining at the gate in her door at 6:30. We let her cry for 15 minutes and then Franz got up with her so I could sleep a little later (he got to sleep in on Saturday). Normally she sleeps until 7:00 or 7:30ish, so she did wake up earlier than usual.

She was a happy kid all morning- hardly any whining or complaining like we're used to. We stayed home from church today since she has a cold, so we went about the morning as if it was any other Saturday morning. Let's talk about naptime :)

1:00- put her down for her normal nap. Crying immediately as we leave the room.
1:20- she fell asleep.
2:00- woke up from her nap and cried at the gate until I went and got her.

Not a great nap by any means. She's used to sleeping for 1 1/2- 2 hours. Although she did really well for the rest of the afternoon- again, hardly any whining or complaining like we're used to with her. Wonder if this new "freedom" has anything to do with that?

Okay, now we're back to Night #2.

8:00- say good night and kisses, then put her down and leave the room. Crying immediately.
8:21- Asleep!

She's got to be exhausted from the lack of sleep and her cold, so fingers crossed that she sleeps in tomorrow morning to catch up :)

I'm curious, when did you all transition your kids out of their cribs?

Night #1

2010-09-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight we moved Avery to her new room- without her crib. She is sleeping on her crib mattress which sits on the carpeted floor. She has been able to play in her new room for the past two days to get used to it. We got her some new toys for her new room which she loves and has been playing with non-stop since we brought them home.

8:00pm- Bedtime. We both say good night to her and make sure she's settled in on her mattress with her stuffed animals.

8:15- She's been standing at the door crying for 15 minutes (there is a gate to keep her in, but we put a hand towel over the top of the door so it can't latch shut. Neither one of us wanted to just close the door and leave her alone in the dark, so the gate is our compromise to keep her in, but not have it be so scary and isolating for her). I go in and lead her back to bed, rub her back for a few minutes and she calms down a bit. Then I say good night and leave. More crying.

8:30- The crying has started to slow down, and there are longer stretches between crying and silence. She's exhausted, so we wait it out a few more minutes.

8:40- No more crying.

9:00- We go and check on her. She's asleep on her mattress with all her stuffed animals surrounding her.

9:01- Franz and I breathe a sigh of relief.

If all continues to go well, we'll swap the crib mattress for a twin later in the week. We have her new twin (it's super comfy, Franz and I are jealous!), but figured we'd start with what she was already familiar with.

Will Night #2 go as smoothly? Keep us in your prayers :)

Another funny story...

2010-09-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

Last night Franz was on bath duty with Avery while I got a little break. All of a sudden I hear him say, "oh no, I think Avery has a cavity." My first instinct was there was no way that could happen- she doesn't eat enough sugar for that to happen. I asked him why he thought that, how could he tell? He said, "look, her bottom molar has a huge dark spot in it."

That's when I remembered earlier in the afternoon Avery had taken a bite out of her brown crayon! I knew she had chewed a few pieces and figured "oh well, you can't catch everything".

We were both relieved to know that Avery's teeth are just fine, and got a big laugh too :)

Funny Story for a Friday

2010-09-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Avery and I were sitting side by side on the sofa enjoying an afternoon snack. She looked over at me, lifted up my shirt and pointed to my stomach and said, "BB". (sidenote: she has always called her belly button "bb", so I think she was just trying to point to mine). I took the opportunity and said "yes, that is where your BABY sister is". She looked at me as if trying to understanding what I had just said, raised on eyebrow, and then promptly pulled my shirt down and said "bye-bye".

Avery's Rollie Pollie

2010-09-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Using this pattern from MADE, I whipped up a giant rollie pollie for Avery's new room.

The fabric is actually a shower curtain that I found at Marshall's (it's an actual fabric shower curtain, not a plastic/vinyl). Well, actually two shower curtains- the bottom half of the shower curtain has the sweetest flowering vine pattern and I want to use it somewhere else in the room- so I bought two. The top and bottom are a solid turquoise and there is a handle on the top for Avery to drag it around. There is also a zipper so the cover can be removed and washed :)

I'm loving how her room is turning out :) Next up, what to do with the rest of this fabric?

Some New Artwork for Avery

2010-09-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

Avery's moving into a new bedroom, so I wanted to make the new space interesting and inviting for her so she would enjoy her new room. Which means lots of projects for me to work on!

Artwork was first on the agenda, and I remembered some fun Alphabet Cards I've been saving to use since before she was even born:

I love the graphics of Jenn Ski's Actopus to Zelephant flash cards, not to mention the sophisticated color palette.

Then I bought three of these cheap frames in red:

These frames are not only cheap, but I believe they're the only frames at Ikea that come with plexiglass instead of real glass. And since I'll be using these in a kids room, and we live in southern California where we have earthquakes, it was a perfect match.

I wrapped the original cardboard backing that came with the frame with some $3.99/yard linen looking fabric from Joann's:

The fun thing about these alphabet cards is that on the back they have interesting facts about the animal on the opposite side. Right now, Avery is too young for this, but she will be ready in a few years. I used removeable sticky tape dots (found in the scrapbook section), so hopefully I can put them in a photo album with clear plastic sleeves so she can flip through and learn some cool things.

I just love this one:

And this one:

This was a quick and inexpensive little project, but it will have lots of impact in her new room. I'm thinking I'm going to hang them down low at her level so she can look at them up close whenever she wants. I hope she likes them!

I'd Like to Spend a Year In Bed

2010-09-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

A few of you have asked me what bed we ultimately ended up purchasing after this post. After a lot of research (online only), a lot of discussion (you want to spend how much on a mattress?), and finding out that I was pregnant, we have decided to wait a bit. I couldn't say for sure whether the mattress was uncomfortable because I was pregnant. And why buy a new mattress when probably no matter what we chose would end up uncomfortable the bigger I got?

This morning I came across this article on Apartment Therapy and did a little happy dance! I'm definitely going to be following along this year. The author will be trying out/testing as many different kinds of beds during the upcoming year, and then reviewing them.

The first bed up for review is a Hastens Excelsior II, for a mere $13,650 you too can own one of these beds. Next up will be the Ikea Sultan for $400.

Hopefully in a year I'll feel more educated and a little more prepared to take the plunge and make a purchase.

Before/After Project #21- Bookcases

2010-08-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

I heart Craigslist. People are always getting rid of something that doesn't work for them anymore, or because they got tired of it, or a million other reasons. Plus, you can find some really good deals, and I love a good deal!

Back to our master bedroom, I wanted to find a couple of bookcases so that Franz and I could each have a place to stash stuff- his for books and cd's, and mine for fabrics and miscellaneous other belongings. I was also working with a very limited amount of space on one side of our room. My original plan called for new Billy bookcases from Ikea- one 15" wide and $34.99, the other 31" wide and $59.99. Both would be 79 1/2" tall. This also meant that I would have to get rid of my practically new sewing table which is 79" long- the perfect length for my sewing machine and large cutting mat. I was going to replace the top with a smaller one that was 47" wide and would barely give me enough room for my sewing machine alone. I was totally sad, and not just because I was losing my sewing space, I didn't want to spend $100 for new bookcases!

So I began searching Craigslist for other possible options. After a few weeks, a listing came up that seemed like it could work. A few days later I brought these home:

I know, ewww gross, right? They each came with three adjustable shelves (not shown in the photo), the middle shelf is fixed, and a lot of dirt and grime. Oh yeah, and that ~fabulous~ (cough, cough) fake wood detail on the front. I saw their potential right away- they were each 27" wide, only 8" deep (see how that one will fit perfectly in the corner behind the door!) and a foot shorter than the Ikea Billy's. They were the perfect scale for our tiny bedroom, which meant they wouldn't dominate the space like the Billy's would have.

And $20 each.

Yeah, you heard that right, twenty bucks each- woo hoo! I pulled out my floorplan and started measuring and drawing. As luck would have it, I was able to fit one behind the door, with my long (!) sewing table next to it, and the other bookcase on the wall just to the right!

Now, what to do about that awful fake wood detail. I wanted a quick and easy way to cover it up. Remember, we're thinking this area is only temporary until both girls can share a room in a year or so, and then we will have the nursery back for an office/sewing room. The book cases are white plastic laminate/particle board, nothing special, so painting those awful fake wood tone edges would be more trouble than it's worth. It was time to get creative. I had a crazy idea.

Did you know that Duck Tape came in so many fun colors? And they're only $3.99 each roll.

After some major clean-up and a few short hours, I now had this:

And for those of you who want a close-up of the Duck Tape:

So, what do you think? Cheesy? Tacky? Have you found any good deals on Craigslist recently?

Product Review- Tupplur Roller Shades

2010-08-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm back with a review of the Tupplur roller shades from Ikea.

If you are looking for a room darkening solution, you've got to give these shades a try. We now have them on all our bedroom windows. We've tried the cheapo Levolor spring action roller shades that you can get from Home Depot or Lowe's, only to have the spring mechanism give out after only a few months of everyday use.

The Tupplur shades raise and lower by a continuous chain. You can decide how high or low you want to raise the shade with a simple pull of the cord. There is a plastic bracket at the bottom of the cord that attaches the cord to the wall to prevent strangulation hazards if you have children.

The shades are sizable, all you need is a hack saw and some muscles. We mounted our shades inside the window frame for maximum black-out coverage. I will say the closer you can mount the shades to the window, the more coverage you will get.

I love that when these shades are up, they practically disappear- it's a very non-fussy/simple window treatment. And the price is completely reasonable! They also come in your choice of white, gray or black.

If you're someone who likes your room to be very dark when you're sleeping, these shades will definitely do the trick. This shade has been my best friend when it comes to a good afternoon nap for Avery, especially since the sun is shining full force through her bedroom window at that time of day.

I will never buy another cheapo Levolor shade again after finding these!

Slow progress

2010-08-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

I know you all must be thinking, "Jen sure does like to talk about a lot of projects, but does she ever actually accomplish any of them?"

With an 18 month old constantly underfoot and a husband who despises "house projects", let's just say progress is slow around here. Painfully slow for someone who likes to think of an idea and implement it right away. I've learned a great deal about patience, not that I've mastered it in any way, but I have learned to be better at it.

Here's a rundown of what we've been up to ~and accomplished~ for the master bedroom switcheroo so far:
1. Installed black-out roller shade. More info later and a review of this product.
2. Finished the upholstered headboard! Tutorial in the works :)
3. New nightstands purchased from Craigslist.
4. My sewing niche inspiration board got a facelift with a fresh coat of paint.
5. The closet niche got some robe hooks and a full length mirror.

Here's what we have left to do:

1. Actually move the bed into the room so we can install the headboard.
2. Install the wall lamps above each nightstand.
3. Move the dresser across the hall into another bedroom.
4. Figure out some kind of drapery treatment for above the window (I've got an idea brewing).
5. Condense my sewing niche down to 1/2 the size (sniffle, sniffle, sniffle).
6. DIY some artwork, and then hang it.
7. Get a larger book case.
8. Sew two decorative pillow covers when the fabric arrives.

And what's a post without any pictures? Here are some sneak peaks:

Hope you all have a great weekend- I'm hoping mine will be productive!