Little Helper

ME: "Grace will you grab Adon a toy before we hit the road?" 

GRACE: "Sure Mom!" 

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Adon is starting to play, really play with toys. He's begun exploring everything! And I already mentioned our trip to the park and Adon's first time on the swings. We tried to move him to the 6 months+ pacifier and he totally didn't go for it. Different shape and size was not a winner. We'll have to keep looking for something that works. And he just got a sippy cup a few days ago with a built in straw. He's been loving drinking from a cup and grabs at any of them within reach when we're holding him near the table. I'm curious to see if he'll go for the straw and transition away from a bottle as easily as Grace did. 

Grace is putting on her sassy pants. Seriously, the last week, we've seen a whole new side of her personality. One where we have to try not to laugh as we discipline her and let her know intense fake crying, "nope, nope, nope" when asked to do something, and a general sassy attitude isn't going to work for any of us. Have you been there? With each new trick she pauses to see how we're responding. Obviously, testing the limits makes for a lot of amusing stories we'll have to share with her when she's older!

Other memorable moments:

We've had some really good times of fellowship with friends these last few weeks. I'm just so thankful for the many people we have and love in our lives.

I just received a super cute pair of TOMS as a late birthday gift and can't stop wearing them. So glad the company makes flats now. 

I took a class about blogging through AltSummit. It was great and if you're interested in learning more, do it! The classes are only $15 each right now--that's a steal. 

We are on the hunt for a larger vehicle. Any words of advice? Something used, with low miles, good mileage, and a decent price tag. C'mon, we're not asking for much! I think I may have won Beej over to the idea of a mini-van. So, it's not my dream car, but a couple friends have one, and I am sold on all the room, features, and price tag. We may try to look this weekend or next, so if you think of us, pray we find something that really works for our family. 

About two weeks ago I read "Kisses From Katie" by Katie J. Davis. She went on a short term mission trip to Uganda when she was in high school, then headed back for a year after graduation. Since then, she's adopted 14 girls, started a non-profit organization called AMAZIMA, and plans to live the rest of her life there loving and serving. I hope you take the time to read her story! 

I also just read Tim Kellar’s booklet “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness” and highly recommend it. It’s incredibly short, but packed full of truth. 

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

Dying Easter Eggs

Right after dinner we died 36 eggs. The dye was literally dripping in puddles off the table once Grace was finished. She finally sniffed her hands and started coughing really hard, “Ewww. Yucky!” Yes, the vinegar smell can get strong when there are 12 colors to choose from and you love to double, no triple dip your eggs.

I'm still not sure which is Grace's dominant hand, but if I had to bet, I'd say she's a lefty...just like my dad. 

Now we have a lot of hard-boiled eggs to eat! I can't tell you how much I love continuing traditions and making memories with Grace. It sounds a little cheesy, but to me, that's one of the coolest parts about being a parent--we totally get to shape our kids' little worlds. It's a lot of fun most of the time!

The Flu 2012

We were super sick last week. Lot's of chicken noodle soup and juice pops. Beej came home midday Monday with a fever. He slept and slept through Wednesday when I finally came down with the same thing. Horrible headache, fever, just the sickest I've ever been before. And we've never both been that sick at the same time. So, it was Baba to the rescue. 

My mom was beyond helpful. Wednesday, she took the kids at noon and then brought Adon back every three hours to eat until it was the kids' bedtimes. I would feed him and then go right back to sleep. It was miserable, but would have been so much worse if my mom wasn't such an amazing giver! For four days she pitched in and took the kids off our hands for a while each day so that we could rest. I can't thank her enough, seriously!! And she never got sick--praise the Lord!

Grace and Adon ran fevers Thursday night but never got quite as sick as Beej and I. That was another answer to our prayers. We are over the worst of it. Just tired now and battling some lingering, intense coughs. Ugh...here's hoping that's the only flu we catch this year. I think we've met our quota!

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Grace is singing her little heart out here. I got to be in her band as long as I strummed the pink bat and didn't try to steal her mic. This week she told me her favorite color is pink. She also likes to ask for "one more" to just about everything, especially singing "Old MacDonald had a horse..." at bedtime. 

Adon is now rolling over both ways all by himself! He’s been rolling over front to back for a long time and oh so close to making it back to front for weeks. He finally did it! Go Adon!! He can also pop his binky in and out of his mouth pretty regularly by himself. Unfortunately, he's waking up almost hourly at night. We are seriously hoping and working toward more sleep--for everyone! 


Other memorable moments from this week:

We got to visit with some very dear friends from out of town, and I only wish we could have spent more time with them!

Beej took me out Friday afternoon to see The Hunger Games movie. I thought they did a good job of keeping the story straight and the violence not too graphic. I loved the book series and kept wondering how the movie would come off. Have you seen it? What'd you think?

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Tiny TOMS

Guess who just got some Tiny TOMS today?


I don't check the mail everyday. Sometimes it's a good while before I get around to it. I'm sure our post office personnel love us. All too often, when I finally go to check our tiny p.o. box, the mail falls out the other end because it's stuffed so full.


But today there was a wonderful surprise waiting for Grace. The cutest pair of Purple Butterfly TOMS arrived for her. Thanks Auntie Brown!


I think I've mentioned it before, but Grace's feet are a bit on the, um, chubby side. All last year, she wore a pair of jellies. When those got way too tight, she graduated to a pair of blue crocs. Right now she has one pair of shoes that fit because they're more of a canvas mary-jane style that don't pinch the tops of her feet. So, yes, it's been tricky to find shoes that fit her well. I've ordered her another pair of jellies and crocs for this summer. I used to laugh at another friend's little boy because he could only wear water shoes until he was over two years old. His cute, chubby, "marshmallow" feet just wouldn't squish into anything else. Guess it's somebody else's turn to laugh about it now! 

Anyway, she loves them and they fit her! Double bonus! I've mentioned how much I love TOMS mission before. Jump on board and order yourself a pair today. You'll get to sport some cute shoes and know you're doing good for someone else out there. Double bonus for you!

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Adon is now five months old. Five months! Where has the time gone? I feel like his first birthday is right around the corner. Time just seems to be going by that quickly!  And he's in sixth month clothing now. I've been in denial for a while--I always hate to admit that my kids are getting bigger. It's already time to sort and box up clothes again. He's loving his exersaucer and hanging onto things more. He's also watching us like a hawk whenever we eat. I can't wait to try some baby food next month. 

Grace has been having a great time squirting everything in the yard. And there’s also been a lot of dancing, and playing like she’s a puppy. She's just so much fun right now. She's also obsessed with "owies". My little brother broke his foot in three places on Christmas Eve. He came over last night with a special gift for Grace, and she got to show him how she too has a "boot" on her foot, shoving it into her Melissa & Doug fake cookie roll and hobbling around on it. She's creative like that. It was hilarious!


Some of the more memorable moments lately have been: 


A really fun date with Beej before he left for three days to be in his friends wedding. It is always good to get out just the two of us. And I really felt the Lord bless his time away. He had fun, and I actually felt like my time alone with the kids went really well. 


"Ow. Hurt my eyes"--I heard this several times until I looked over to see Grace shining an intensely bright flashlight over and over in her face. "You can stop doing that honey". "Oh." Silly kid!


Grace is remembering some of the bible stories from her Jesus Storybook Bible. She has a Little People Nativity Set and has been really into making Mary ride around on a horse. And then she ran up to me a few days ago saying, "Baby in my tummy" only to unwrap her shirt and show me Baby Jesus in a manger from the same set. It took me a few days to put it all together, but she's just acting out the story I've been reading her most often lately.


I finished a book Beej surprised me with a few weeks ago: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Crazy title, but a good read. If you give it a go, let me know what you think!


That's it folks. I hope you enjoy your weekend and give lots of hugs and kisses to the ones you love!

The Big Girl Bed

How adorable are these photos of my still sleepy Grace?! She took a nap in her big girl bed for the first time and was extremely proud of herself when she woke up. Beej and I were then treated to many reenactments of the big event throughout the rest of the day. However, she has not wanted to sleep in it since! I figure we'll get there eventually.

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My two favorite kiddos in all the world.

Adon just had his four month checkup and weighs in at 15 lbs. 13 oz. and 25.5 inches long. He's the exact same size that Grace was at five months. And of course, his head is HUGE. I don't even remember how many centimeters, but around the 90th percentile for his age group. The doctor showed us the stats, looked at me, then turned to Beej and asked him if he ever has trouble finding hats that fit. Ha! Poor Beej. Remember when a similar thing happened with Grace? He's been battling a cold, again. Little guy has already had three in his short life.

For the most part, people know how to say his name now. It's pretty funny to hear all the variations people have tried though. My favorite story was one my mom passed onto us. She mentioned "Little Adon" to a coworker. "Huh? They named him Aladin?!"

He loves to suck on his hands, be outdoors, watch Grace zip about playing, be held facing outward--he likes to see what's going on, and he just discovered his feet this last week.


Grace is bursting out of her 2T clothing and wears a size 6 shoe, but only certain shoes because her cute feet are too chubby on top to fit into all the new size 5 shoes we bought for her. Oh well.

She absolutely loves to play outside and visiting the fish hatchery is still one of her favorite places to walk to. She is talking like crazy now, and really is very helpful around the house. She asks all the time, "Mom, help?"

A really sweet moment happened a few days ago when after I swept the bathroom, she came up and patted my back "Good job Mom!".

She has done pretty well with Adon so far. She likes to lay down by him or sit by him on the couch. She's great about showing him how to do things. She's also great at telling him, "NO Adon!". I think she's got the bossy big sister role down! And I find myself saying often, "No Grace, you can't put that box of wipes/drive that toy car/balance that book/you name it on Adon's head".

36" Helium Balloons

It's so much fun taking pictures with ginormous props! When Grace turned one, I ordered one GIANT balloon and we had fun taking pictures of her with it. This year, of course, we ordered two GIANT balloons and headed to the park to carry on the tradition. We have the usual cake and presents, but I love that we've incorporated something else that's special about her birthday. We did this the day after her party. It's amazing to me how much she's changed since then--just two months ago! I want to do this with each of my children until they hit five years old, at which point, five balloons may lift them off the ground. These things really are that big! 


Do you have any fun birthday traditions you practice with your children?

The Nursery: Curtains

Grace's curtains are just one more DIY project I really enjoyed working on. I am naturally more drawn to neutrals, and I love white, so it was a fun stretch to incorporate a lot more color into her room. One way I did that was to make her curtains myself. 

I have always liked the style of Pottery Barn's Ribbon-Tie Curtains. And one perk of this curtain style is that it required less fabric than full length panels would have. Each panel is 36 inches wide and 63 inches long.

Does anyone else out there love Amy Butler's fabric designs? I picked out this fabric for Grace's room months before I had her and then ordered it long after she was born and we'd moved into our new place. I just loved that there was grey and green with just a hint of pink. Call me old lady, but I do love floral prints, at least the more modern, large designs.

The pink ties were kind of a happy accident. When I measured to order the fabric, I only thought about the front ties, not realizing until after I'd cut everything out that I would need to sew four fabric strips for each window panel. Measure twice, cut once is a lesson learned!! But I do like how they turned out and the pink is just an added bonus, some cheap fabric I'd had on hand.

The rod was a $2 find from Ross that I spray painted.

And I really have to give credit to my mom, because this is just one of a couple projects she helped me with as I put Grace's room together. I'd been having a lot of trouble with my sewing machine just before making these and I was fearful of ruining the fabric somehow. I did not want to have to spend more, so it was Mom to the rescue. She loaned me her old one, and stayed for a couple hours to make sure I didn't have any other problems getting things going. I am still such a beginning sewer! And her sewing advice over the phone to me is like my computer advice over the phone to her--it's just so much easier to explain and show someone things in person!

The Nursery: Reading Corner

A few of my favorite things are all tucked into this one little corner of Grace's room.

One of the reasons putting her room together was so much fun for me was because I got to learn some new skills and practice some old ones along the way: re-do quite a bit of furniture, sew some stuff, and build with a saw. Maybe you can relate...I am always seeing things and thinking, "I think I could make that for cheaper...if I only knew how". And I am telling you, if I can do it, then so can you!!


This time around, I enlisted the help of my mom who has a talent for working with wood. When we were kids she was often out in the garage, working on her saw, making creative stuff, and hosting bazaars to showcase and sell all that she made by hand...but it had been a long time (something like 15 years) since she'd made anything new. It was a fun for me to spend an afternoon learning from her.


My inspiration were these adorable, but expensive shelves from Pottery Barn Kids. They're originally anywhere from $34 to $59 dollars--each!

We sketched out a template for the sides, figured out all the measurements and then hit the local lumber supply store to get what we needed. Mom fired up the scroll saw, and we set to work. 

I realized even in writing this that you could easily get some scrap lumber for a project like this, it just didn't cross my mind at the time to ask around for some. But even after purchasing all the supplies we needed, each shelf cost just under $12 to make. 

After she showed me how not to lose any fingers, it was my turn to give it a shot. I got to learn how to use a scroll saw and a drill press. I am honestly really excited about this--it was a lot of fun, and something I have wanted to do for a long time. I think it's the idea that you really can hurt yourself with this kind of equipment that kind of scares me, so I was really appreciative that my mom was there to step-by-step show me how to work both machines. Now I feel like I know what to do and can tackle other projects all myself if I want to.

Then came all the gritty details: filling holes with wood putty and cracks with wood glue, sanding, priming and painting.

After a friend saw the shelves, she told me she found a template on Anna White's website for something similar. So, if you like this look and want to make some similar shelves, but need step by step instructions, let me send you over there for help.

The shelves are now filled with her daddy's old kid books, special stuffed animals from Baba (my mom), baby books, and an adorable hand sewn teddy bear we got from our dear friend Shelly. 

Another favorite piece in this corner is the homemade lion face artwork. Grace's Auntie Lola created it for her as a gift (for Christmas, I think!?). The other frames are all clearance/second hand finds I spray painted and then filled.

On the chair is one of my all time favorite baby gifts--it's the vintage looking handmade quilt from my best friend's mom, Holly. Brown picked out all the fabric and couldn't have shown me more just how well she knows me and my likes. I adore it, even though it really belongs to Grace....

The fish pillow is another newer favorite because I took Grace to pick out some fabric for a little pillow I wanted to cover for her. As soon as she saw this in the store, she literally would not let go of the bolt of fabric and carried it all by herself to the counter. She LOVES fish.

And the touch lamp was a $15 clearance score from Target. I didn't even realize it had three settings until just before I had Grace, but man has it come in handy! All those first few weeks of nursing at night--I couldn't do it without a light. Believe me, I felt like we were both slow learners, but eventually we got the hang of it and this light with it's super low first setting was very helpful to have. 

We've spent a lot of time in this corner, nursing and reading and whiling away lots of close time. It's one of my favorite spots in the whole house. 

I am linking up this week with The Shabby Nest  so scoot on over there to get more home/decor inspiration!

The Nursery: Changing Table

I found this adorable dresser while wandering through a bunch of craft booths one afternoon with my mom in Arcata. Coated in chippy oil based paint, it was a beauty with a lot of potential. I think I fell in love with it's curvy top drawer and legs. It just spoke femininity to me, and I wanted it for Grace's room. It was the first big thing I bought for her once we'd found out I was pregnant with a little girl.


I had to called the owner many times to see if it was even available. It took awhile, but eventually I was able to track her down and get what I thought was a good deal for it. She was asking $85, but sold it to me for $65. I was so excited to begin planning something for Baby Grace that I would've paid the full price if she'd really stood firm. Lucky for me, she didn't!

My mom diligently sanded it down for me. Then I primed and painted it Benjamin Moore's Chantilly Lace, fixed it up with some knobs (never really finished the pulls!) a friend had recycled to me and that was that. 

Grace's sweet little changing table looked like this, sadly, until this last April. Even though she's so big now that I don't change her on it anymore (the dresser top is only a little over 30 inches long--I had to order a shorter than average changing pad to use on it), I really wanted to finish the project. And I know I'll use it a lot more once The Mister arrives. Don't despair if you have a lot of unfinished projects--just keep plugging away until they get done. It took me 18 months to complete this. Hope that makes you feel better!

I kept looking at a large green rug for Grace's room. I really loved the idea of having a plush 8x10 rug covering the old wood floor and giving her a soft place to play. I just didn't like the price tag! The rug I kept going back to was around $500, and even though that's a great deal for a rug that size, it was still WAY out of our budget.


So, I decided to paint her changing table green instead. I popped by the hardware store and picked up a quart of Benjamin Moore's Olive Tree, came home and painted the piece that afternoon in my bedroom. Three coats later, I had a beautiful green dresser and my desire for the green rug was gone.

I found the old window frame at our local city-wide yard sale last summer. It was in bad condition--which was perfect for the look I wanted. After a little sanding, scraping, pink spray paint, and more distressing, it was done. I love how it turned out.

I added the brackets and eyelets to attach the ribbon to. The letters are actually little books from an alphabet set I picked up at Costco.

The tiered basket holds the wipe warmer (which I mainly used when Grace was teeny-tiny), diaper liners, diaper cream, regular wipes and anything else she decides to stick in there.