Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Some August Thoughts

Every single time I say I'm going to be a good, faithful blogger it's all lies, y'all. So, I'll just give you some (random) thoughts on the second Tuesday in August.

1. Jonah is at his Grandparent's house. Simultaneously I miss him, and I'm breathing a sign of relief because I forgot how easy having one kid was. Whew.

2. One month until pre-school starts. He's ready. I'm ready. And he's upset he's not going to school five days per week. Go figure! I have a social butterfly.

3. Jeremy and I went on our first date in probably a year- to see John Mayer (MY FAVE) and had the BEST time together.

4. We are half-way into 2017. Which means Sutton turns 6 months old this month. Life isn't fair in terms of the way time flies. It totally does. And I'm 99% sure she's our last little baby, so. JUST SLOW DOWN TIME for me. Someone. Anyone? Help.

5. Jeremy and I are in a weird season of life. We are both really evaluating our life, and re-evaluating our priorities. But not for today- our priorities for five or six years from now. We will both be 40. FORTY. I can't even. And it has brought around a lot of questions about what we want to put our efforts into, and direct our finances for the next five/six years. We're calling it the six-year plan jokingly around here.

But not really joking. I'll talk more about it later. Still turning it over in our minds, thinking it over.

Have you ever taken big steps away from the direction everyone else's life around you is going? Going AGAINST the so called "American Dream" of bigger houses, SUV's and materialistic things??

I think we are :)

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Patriotic Potatoes

Today Jonah asked if we could do "a craft" about twenty five times. So I made something up on the fly- a potato stamped table runner. I thought it would be fun to share here in case anyone else needs an easy and fun (kid friendly!!) craft for these long summer days.

We had a back of russet potatoes in the patry (any potato will do, in my opinion) and I cut a couple in half and then started cutting stars with a paring knife...obviously the making of the stamps will be an adult only task- Jonah stood and supervised letting me know that my cuts didn't LOOK like stars to him...
 

(I'm a rookie potato stamp maker and didn't remember that I should cut the "S" opposite so when stamped it is going in the right direction!! Pshhh.)

Then grab some kraft paper, or whatever you have on hand, washable paint and start STAMPIN' those patriotic potatoes!!



After we covered the runner in stamps I grabbed two small paint brushes and we drew on the paper. This project kept Jonah busy for over an hour and was a cinch. He loved it!!



^^^ Jonah's "usa" at the bottom right of the photo above. Priceless!!!!



And, our finished table runner is now dry and the cutest addition to a patriotic situation we have going on in the breakfast area!!


Thursday, June 8, 2017

Hello, it's me

I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet.

Just kidding. It hasn't been years. But seriously- a LIFETIME has come and gone since I last blogged. I sort of gave up blogging to keep my sanity while I was working full-time, momming full-time and also pregnant.

BUT. I think maybe I'm back. I have tons of projects I want to work on and share and also something else happened...

I'M OFFICIALLY A STAY AT HOME MOM.

So, yeah. There's that. And I'm planning Jonah's fifth (hold me!!!) birthday party in two weeks and I have a few fun crafts I want to write about.  I'll be back soon. I want to use this as a creative outlet.

Friday, March 10, 2017

California Disneyland Adventure

We completely surprised Jonah with a trip to DISNEYLAND in California for his very first “big school”
Spring Break. It was an epic surprise- and an amazing trip!! We had the most fun together!! 

We explored LA, ate delicious food, put our feet into the Pacific and spent a day at Disneyland in Anaheim. 































We were  only at Disneyland for one day but it was so full- and fun. Definitely gave us the Disney  “bug”! I was really astounded how clean the park was. It was just so magical and a trip we won’t soon forget!! 



Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Sutton's Nursery: Part II

After many months of gathering and DIY'ing Sutton's nursery is almost complete. Here's where we left off after Part I. The pink gingham accent wall. Can you even deal?! I cannot. This is officially my favorite room in our house (and I think it may be all of our favorite room right now because we keep walking in, and talking about our girl together!!).

So, back to where we left off- I decided to go BIG and order the palm leaf fabric for the window rather than use it as an accent pillow. Bold move? Yes. But I love bold colors and pattern mixing. I've been wanting to use the palm leaf pattern in the house for awhile now and decided this was the perfect spot for it.



Soon after hanging the palm print, I knew that I wanted to incorporate Jonah's crib and French provincial dresser. The dark walnut stain of the crib and dresser top totally grounded the space. There is a LOT of color going on in here. Originally I wanted a green Jenny Lind and thought about painting Jonah's, but after Jeremy put it together (with Jonah's help, of course) and we moved it in- it just worked. It doesn't compete with the wall and bright window panels.

On my original inspiration board there was a pretty watercolor floral fabric that I found on Etsy. I debated back and forth about it for awhile, but decided to order the crib sheet and see how I liked it in the space. I knew if I ordered the floral (this would be the third bold pattern in the space) I would need to tone down the other crib bedding.

I bought the gold tassel crib skirt that was on my inspiration board from Pottery Barn and tried it on the crib. I hated it!! It really needed something soft and more girly in here with all the bold color. So, back it went and I came home with this new light pink pom pom crib set. (I was kind of nervous at this point because I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted, didn't want to order custom bedding and hate it. So I purchased from PB. It totally worked out through trial and error! The staff at Pottery Barn was super kind and helpful, too. I think you need to see crib bedding in your own space to really know if you like it or not. Stressful much.)

I love how the bumper and crib skirt turned out! It works with the floral bedding and the wall/windows but doesn't compete. The perfect accent! (We have the crib on the highest/infant setting right now in preparation for our girl, otherwise their skirts touch the ground, which I really prefer.)

(Do you see the tiny baby in the left corner of the photo? Jonah went with his Grandparents to the dollar store to get a few prizes for himself and came home with that for Sutton. I seriously thought that was so cute that he thought about her!! He carefully put the doll in her crib to "keep her company in case she's scared". Can't wait to see him become a big brother!!)

So, at this point we are about finished with it! Jeremy hung the picture ledges for me this past weekend (thanks babe!) and now that the left wall is complete, the room feels more cozy and almost done. I really think the finished result is preppy, southern and girly. Exactly what I wanted for my sweet girl--




My Mom saved my Raggedy Ann doll, and also several of my Cabbage Patch dolls + accessories and handed them down to me for Sutton's room. Jonah picked out the white furry heart pillow at Target because he thought it matched Shep and went well in Sister's room. I agree! 


I covered the plain white pineapple lamp shade with some of the left over palm fabric. I think it turned out so cute! Still trying to decide which bins/boxes I want for this Ikea shelf that will eventually hold Sutton's toys. Right now I just made do with a few little things we had around the house. Oh! And I still haven't quite decided on a color for the monogram. Still debating that... I think I will probably go light pink. Something as neutral as possible.

I love the mix of the palm, the floral and the sweet pom pom crib bedding!

(Funny story- I put Jonah's "Shep" in Sutton's nursery and added the grosgrain bow. When Jonah spotted it after school he was SO MAD at his Momma!!! It was so comical and funny. He put his fists on his hips and furrowed that brow, "NOW HE'S A GRILL"... He says grill instead of girl and it's literally the last thing he pronounces incorrectly and I loooove it. He was so hot mad that I made Shep into a girl. But I kinda love it, and thankfully Jonah Knox decided he's too big for Shep so he will "show Sutton how to ride it"....) 

How cute is the monogrammed bow holder? Bows on bows over here!! The blankets are all vintage- my Mom saved them and passed them on to me. Love that I get to use things for Sutton that she used when I was a baby! 


I added the hooks for the future so we can hang Sutton's dress up clothes right here. Love that she has a place to display her pretty tutu's and costumes!


I am so proud of and pleased with how my girl's nursery turned out! Lots of love went into this little room. I'll be back with more photos and updates as we get closer to Sutton's arrival (8 weeks!!)...