9/20/2012

Master bedroom Makeover. The beginning.

It's no secret that our master bedroom leaves much to be desired. It's a small room with a small walk-in closet and we share the bathroom with the rest of the upper level of our house. Neither of us mind sharing the bathroom although we both admit we'd love to have a master bathroom, but the closet and room size really fit the word "quaint" a little too well.

When we got our king-size bed, hubby planned on building a bed frame that would match our taste more. It was and is important to us because so many pieces of furniture in our house were given to us or found super cheap so they don't necessarily fit our tastes but definitely work for function-ability. We'd love to incorporate more of our style and thought that him making a one-of-a-kind bed frame would really help. This seems like a great dream, right? Because of course, as life goes, he has had no time to even remotely start this project. His business has been doing great and he's left with little to no time and a to-do list that keeps growing. Our bed frame project is close to the bottom of that list, so we figured we needed something in the meantime. It's been over a year since we got the bed, after all. It's time.

So hubby picked up a cheap metal frame from Menards and put it together last night (after Josie went to bed right across the hall. We're smart like that). We also took the opportunity to rearrange our room a little completely and see if there was a better way to cram fit in all of our very necessary furniture. Why didn't I take before pictures?? I never remember to do that. 

Previously, the bedroom layout was similar to this.


See? Crowded, awkward, wasted space (although not much since there just isn't that much space). We have always had our bed right there, it's just gotten bigger. It didn't look so crowded when we had a tiny little full-size bed, but come on. King-size is worth the floor space take over.

Here is what it looks like now.




Yes, we still have some homeless items (see the hallway? and the closet dresser? Full of "stuff" that needs homes). But did you see how much more room there is right when you walk in? It's wonderful! I'm thinking we'll put the bassinet in front of the dresser with the mirror. We don't use that dresser as much as the other one, so it won't be a big deal if some of the drawers are blocked off temporarily. I won't have much room to get into bed, but there will be just enough to slip by, and baby girl will be close enough that I shouldn't have to completely get up out of bed to grab her. We'll see... hopefully I'll remember to post pictures of that too.


Mostly I just want to remember this "before" picture because I want to dress it up a bunch more and make it more personal. This room has always been plain Jane since hardly anyone sees it and I have never felt any inspiration for it. What do you put on the big side walls?? I can imagine putting pictures on either side of the windows, but those side walls are huge and bare (except for our engagement pictures which will be moved).

Feel free to share your thoughts if you have any inspiration from the poorly taken photos above. 

Work in progress... always in progress and never finished!


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9/19/2012

What we've been up to

1. We moved our furniture around in our bedroom now that we finally got a bed frame. Hubby wants to make one, but there is no time so bought a cheap one that will lift up the bed off the ground and called it good. The new layout means I'll definitely need to redecorate the walls. Sister - I'm calling out for your help!! 

2. I'm dreading moving the bassinet in to our bedroom because it looks bigger and more roomy now but will look crowded and awkward when baby girl joins us. At least it's temporary...

3. I had surgery to remove some skin around a few moles that were removed. The results had come back "abnormal" which is scary but thankfully not cancerous at this point. I'm going to start going to a dermatologist soon which will hopefully reassure me.

4. I decided not to fill my prescription for the pain meds after the surgery and surprisingly the pain isn't as bad as I was expecting. Yes I'm still uncomfortable with three huge incisions (two on my upper stomach and one on my left thigh) but I was expecting it to hurt a lot more. Granted, I am still limping around awkwardly and grimacing when I bend over, but what 33 week pregnant lady doesn't?

5. Josie cut another tooth this week and was all over the place dealing with the pain. She's up to six teeth now and her smile is so different now that you can see those pretty little pearly whites.

6. I've been working on my cupcake techniques and had made a "practice batch" today to share with my in-laws since they've helped out a lot lately with watching Josie as I am am constantly at the doctor (or so it seems). I spent all of Jo's nap making them and was walking out the door with them pleased that they turned out great when the cover flipped off causing me to drop all 12 cupcakes frosting side down. Let's just say that I threw the pan down and just stood there with my mouth open for too long while Jo tried to figure out what had just happened. It was not pretty. I'm glad that happened on the "practice batch".

7. I thought that I was not addicted to evening TV but there are a lot of shows I'm excited about this Fall. Grey's Anatomy (sucked me back in at the end of last season), Parenthood, Go On, Scandal, Dancing with the Stars, Private Practice... and there is more but I am blanking out. Thankfully I'm not addicted like "can't leave my house" addicted, so I think I'll be okay.

8. I have an appointment tomorrow so I'll have a baby #2 update after. Time's flying by now...



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9/17/2012

Flying time and some weekend updates

I had a "take my breath away" moment (or ten) this weekend and whoa. not ready. I can no longer claim that  baby girl #2 will be here in two months because it's less than that. No no no how did this happen so fast? On one hand I'm so excited and it's getting so real but on the other hand, we're going to have two kids, another newborn with a ton of needs and a crazy schedule, and a totally different lifestyle to get used to

I've slowly (so so slowly) been prepping here and there. I sorted Jo's old clothes (mentioned in a previous post) and finally put them away. I've ordered a car seat cover for those cold winter months which I cannot wait to show you because it's adorable. We've started trying out the tentative name we've settled on. I've even been trying to get Jo to say it and have been mildly successful. The biggest thing though? I've been trying to imagine how life will change.

Part of my problem is that I just picture another Josie. I know that isn't accurate but it's hard for my brain to imagine anything different. Yet I know she'll be so unique and probably nothing like Jo... I still tend to picture the same little baby that we had 15 months ago. And then I picture Jo now running around like a mad woman all the time and start to panic. How will I do this mother-of-two thing? 

I have so many more thoughts on this, but for now let's focus on some proof that I've been productive.

Ok well, my mom and hubby have been productive... 

Mom and Dad came to keep me company last Thursday night while hubby finished up a job out of town, and they helped me get some little but huge jobs for me done like cleaning out the veggies that were ripe from the garden. It's not all of them, but aren't they pretty? I'm currently roasting the tomatoes in the oven to freeze for this winter. Smells delicious.


We went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch on Friday and met up with hubby who had just got back in town. Can we just discuss briefly how amazing Chinese food is? We haven't had it since Father's Day and I quite frankly enjoyed myself. So did Jo since she was able to people watch to her heart's content.



Then, THEN, my hubby forced me to watch the show DC Cupcakes. Bad news, let me tell you. I now have a desperate desire to work (or own?) a cupcake shop because it looks so!much!fun! and I want to master the signature swirl. 

With this new inspiration, I made cupcakes with good friend/cousin-in-law Missy, and they tasted wonderful. Lookwise? They'd have been thrown out of Georgetown Cupcakes for sure. I probably would have gotten a stern talking to also. We have some work to do before they are perfected, but I'm excited to keep trying. Now I just need an excuse to make so many cupcakes since just making them and then eating them is not so good for this sugar-induced practically all the time preggo lady. 




I was desperate to entertain Jo this morning because she was happy and I didn't want to lose that, so Buckley had to deal with it and this is what I came up with. 


Why was I so desperate? She had a fever and was miserable all day yesterday, not eating, but sleeping a ton as the day dragged on. I felt so bad for her, but thankfully it was short lived (and pretty obviously teething related only) so life goes on as normal today.




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9/15/2012

Shoe woes

Toddlers must not be meant to wear shoes.

Is it so strange that my 14 month old needs some hard-soled shoes? I didn't think so, but apparently everyone else does. 

I was all about shopping online, until I realized I had no idea what size she currently is. I thought to myself, "Oh I'll just run to the mall and try some on, maybe even buy some in store (a phenomenon 'round here) and be done with it". Silly me, didn't know what I was asking for.

I did figure out what size she was by trying on some boys high top Nike's. (excuse me no way am I putting my girly girl in those). Then every store proceeded to tell me that they don't carry shoes that small. At all.

What?!

So back to online shopping once I got home, and the discouragement set in. Everything I found new was at least $40 and everything used was overpriced just because they were name brand. I was about to admit defeat and just pay more for the shoes I wanted, when I found a wonderful, fabulous, amazing promo code. 40% off!! I didn't think it could be true, but all of a sudden I went from paying $40 to only $28 with shipping. Much easier to stomach knowing that she's only going to wear them for a few months. Thankfully, I know that these shoes can be worn by both girls, so they'll go farther.

Here is what I ordered.

Drift Cat IV Diamonds Kids, black-puma silver-white 

Are you dying right now? I have been since I pushed "Confirm Payment". I cannot wait for these to come. If your remember, I got hubby some black and white Pumas for his birthday last year and they are still practically new so these two are going to be all matchy matchy soon and my heart can hardly take it.

It's so much more acceptable for a baby to be matchy matchy with daddy than it is with mommy. I'm okay with it. 


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