Jace’s Nursery… A Sneak Peek

I’m not quite ready to stand back and let you see the whole room together… we still have a few things to do to it. But I thought a little sneak preview couldn’t hurt. I am way too excited to wait any longer to show you what we have been working on for our little guy!

We chose a dark turquoise for the walls. I wanted something bold and fun, but relaxing at the same time. I think we definitely accomplished that. I am in love with the color! Because of the lighting it’s hard to get a picture that shows what the color looks like in person, but I think the picture above is pretty close.

We decided white would be a good contrast to the darker walls, and orange adds a fun accent. I got these letters at Hobby Lobby, spray painted them a glossy white, and hot glued the ribbon to the back.

I didn’t want to spend a fortune on wall décor, so I picked up a bunch of scrapbook paper in colors and patterns that look nice with the walls, and I also found this white scrapbook-sized frame. I used chipboard letters to trace and cut out the alphabet, and then glued them to a piece of white paper.

My mom, aunt, and I are working on making the crib mobile. I’ll unveil it once it’s done, but until then, here’s a little pillow I made using some felt scraps and our “test owl”.

It’s not a nursery without a closet full of little bitty clothes! I’ve been so lucky to get hand-me-downs and gifts from some great friends… Joe and I have only bought about an eighth of his wardrobe!

This owl sleep sack and hat were sent to me by a company called Corner Stork Baby Gifts. You all know I don’t do many reviews, but I could not pass this up… they have so many cute things and this was just the most adorable sleep sack I’ve ever seen, especially considering Jace’s room décor. It’s really well-made, and Corner Stork’s customer service is amazing. I’ll do a full review after Jace is here to actually use it, but I wanted to go ahead and share it with you because I love it!

And finally.. the crib.

Why, hello there!

I didn't realize how long it has been since I've blogged until I looked at the date of my last post last night. Things have been absolutely crazy around here, with moving and still remodeling, family functions, warm weather to enjoy, and the success of Dirt and Lace Shirts which has taken me by surprise and kept me pretty busy. But I am here now, determined to not let another 6 days go by before I post again!

Saturday, we worked outside almost all day. The exterior of this house, from the siding covered in green whatever the heck it is, to the gravel and underground roots where the landscaping will go, to the weed covered yard, the horrendous shed in the backyard, and porch with remnants of porch carpet and glue..... it's going to be a long process to get everything the way we want it. I mowed the grass and Joe weed-eated. We sprayed Weed-Be-Gone on the front yard. We used our power nozzle on the hose to spray the siding and get it as clean as it can be. We shoveled up rock and dug up roots. It's looking better already. Hopefully very soon we can get some things planted and fix up the porch.

We found a lovely surprise on the side of the house.

Yes, that is a huge Black Widow. It was dead already, but one black widow means more black widows. I think we may have to spray around the house. Ugh.

Yesterday was a really great day. We went to church to see my cousin Richard get confirmed. It was a great service. He did a great job! Summer and Camryn stayed in the nursery for the first time. They didn't mind at all when we left and seemed to have a great time! I hope that is a sign that preschool with be successful. After that we all went to my aunt Susan and uncle Paul's house for a party to celebrate the confirmation and also Rich's 8th grade graduation. We spent most of the day there, eating and having a great time outside. Susan had asked that all of the guests bring a quote, poem, song lyric, written advice, etc. that they wanted to share with Richard. She is going to put them all into a scrapbook for him. I put together a page of quotes for him, I'll share it here, because everyone can use some inspiration every once in awhile:

Richard,

HeRe aRe some quotes that Inspire me. Maybe they will mean something to you as well.

“Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” - William James

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” - Scott Adams

“God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.” - J.G. Holland

“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for.” - Oscar Wilde

“Everyone ought to worship God according to his own inclinations, and not to be constrained by force.” - Flavius Josephus

“Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values.” - Ayn Rand

“It's very dangerous to wave to someone you don't know because, what if they don't have a hand? They'll think you're cocky.” - Mitch Hedberg

Love, Steph

Today I plan on sorting through some boxes and cleaning the house a bit. I might paint some of the trim around the back door because it looks horrible. The girls are being very quiet, so I'd better go check on them. Have a great Monday!

Activity Overload

What a week!

I'll start with Thursday. As soon as Joe got off work, he and his dad loaded up their trucks and they and Joe's friend Kenny moved most of our stuff to the house. We stayed up till 5am, putting things away and getting everything organized.

living room/dining room

Summer and Camryn were really excited to sleep in their new room for the first time, although we hadn't put the bedroom doors back up after painting yet so I had a little trouble keeping them in their room.


Camryn finally passed out in the hallway.


Friday was mostly spent putting more things away and moving more stuff over here. We worked till 6, and then went to Joe's sister Jessica's HS graduation. It was a really nice ceremony, and we got to see Joe's sister Nicole and Xavier, who we hadn't seen for awhile. He has gotten so big!!

(You will notice in all the pictures from here on, Camryn has a cut on her nose. This is from Summer hitting her in the face with the bottom of an aerosol can. )

Nicole and Camryn

Joe's dad and Jessica

All three grandkids!

On Saturday, we got more stuff moved, and the girls played outside with the hose. It wasn't a planned activity, so I ended up stripping them down so they didn't have a 10 lb diaper/pull-up on. They loved it!

Today, we traveled a couple hours away to my Nanaw and Papaw's (dad's parents) house at the lake for a Memorial Day family get-together. It was nice to get away and relax after all the running around and moving we have been doing. Seeing family + good food = good day.

My cousin Olivia and Camryn.

If you can't find my kids, check the snack table.

After a long day, Camryn fell asleep as soon as she layed down tonight.

When I went in to take that picture, Summer asked me to take one of her. Looks like she already had a case of bed hair!


A little while ago, Joe and Kenny finally brought our sectional over here. I just went in and looked at it in the living room. It takes up the entire room, so it looks like we'll be getting a new couch for sure.

***Just a reminder... if you want a chance to win a free Dirt and Lace t-shirt for your kid, or yourself, or to give as a gift, go to this post and leave a comment. The giveaway will last till tomorrow around noon, so you have till then to comment. Don't forget, mentioning the giveaway and linking to the shirt blog will get you an extra entry, and placing an order will get you two!***

Carpet!!!

I can't believe it. Our house is finally almost a house. The carpet was installed this morning. They did an excellent job and we love the color. It's dark enough to hide stains!



Joe has been hard at work putting the finishing touches on everything. An really nice electrician he works with offered to come over and help with some electrical problems we were having. They got everything running and Joe got the ceiling fans put in and the recessed lights in the kitchen put in. They look great.



Joe's dad came over to help and we all went up and picked out some blinds. We would have loved to have gotten wood panel blinds, but have you seen the price of those things?! We'll upgrade eventually, but for now, we chose some dark brown bamboo blinds. I love them!




The only problem with them is that when it's dark outside and there are lights on inside, you see right through them. So we will probably have to get curtains for the bedrooms, which I had planned on anyway.

Joe and his friend Kenny are still at the house finishing up some things but he'll probably head home soon since he has to work bright and early in the morning. Tomorrow after he gets off work we'll be attempting to move most of our big, important stuff over there. Plus, our cable and internet is scheduled to be installed tomorrow afternoon. So, looks like tomorrow at this time I may be laying in my bed in our new bedroom!


Here's our make-shift playroom in the basement. It gives Summer and Camryn a safe place to play while we're working on things.



Time for bed!

Progress

We've had a pretty productive week at the new house. We finally ordered our carpet a couple days ago. It will be installed at 9:30am on Wednesday!!! That means that we can move in Thursday or Friday!!! Next weekend will be hectic with a Memorial Day Party so we need to try to get everything done before the weekend.

Unfortunately there is no way the kitchen will be finished before we move in. Major lack of funds at this point. Your tax return and first-time home-buyer credit can only go so far with a house that has to be re-done from scratch. Joe has a few side jobs lined up and I'm attempting to find a kid or two to baby-sit full-time during the week, so hopefully it won't be long at all before we can get everything finished up. The only thing we really need is cabinets and counter tops, and we can live without those for a month I'm sure.

Yesterday was a good day. I headed over to the house with the girls around 3:30 to meet a couple and their 8-month-old son. They may want me to baby-sit him starting a few months from now. I'm really hoping it works out, he was precious and they were really nice.

My mom came over to see our progress and to get the girls so that they could go eat dinner at my parents' house. I'm normally pretty obsessed with making a balanced meal every evening for dinner, but having to go to the house every day after Joe gets off work has thrown me off a bit. I think I've eaten fast food every other day for the last month. My poor kids have eaten a bit too much junk for my liking as well, but luckily my mom takes them pretty often while we work and they eat good stuff there.

Anyway, I got the baseboards and door frames painted in the hallway yesterday. It's amazing how long it takes to paint a door frame. We also cleaned up a bit and got the girls' wall shelves put together.


Joe put up a new hall light fixture a few days ago. I really like it. It matches the light switch covers and it's going to match the door handles. Can you tell I'm loving oil-rubbed bronze?




Today we plan on cleaning up the floors some more to prepare them for the carpet. You save a lot of money in installation fees if you tear up old stuff and pull out padding staples yourself, so we've been trying to get that done. I'm also hoping to finish up painting the trim in the living room, and we also may go pick out our shower curtain. I love shower curtains. There are so many styles and colors, and whatever you choose can transform your bathroom in an instant. Hopefully we can find the perfect one.

Have a wonderful weekend!

House Remodel, Day 54

We did more work on the house this evening. Joe went straight over from work, because he had to meet the carpet guy. He measured the rooms so that he could get an exact quote. He said that Lowe's should call us tomorrow with the quote and once we go pay for it it will be about a week. Hopefully they will call us tomorrow.

I met Joe over there after I took the girls to my parents' house. I took a few pictures while we waited for the car to cool down. Can you tell I finally transferred the 947 pictures from my memory card to a disk? (Nope, not an exaggeration.)



Joe built shelves in our storage room a few days ago. Right now we have a bunch of stuff we're using to work on the house in there but once we move in it will be great to store holiday decorations, clothes, etc.


One of my favorite things about the house, now. We put this up today. Click on it to see it closer. It says, " The bond between sisters is sometimes tightly woven, sometimes loosely held but never broken."


I painted the front porch trim and boards on Saturday. We also put up new house numbers, a new porch light, new doorbell, and new door handle. I really like the green color so far, I can't wait till the outside is all done.