new house tour {blaire's room}

Are you ready for a little peak inside my new house??  Come check out the nursery! 

I am really happy with the way my little Blaire's room turned out!  I was wanting something sweet and girly as I had a shared, gender neutral nursery before; but I didn't want to get too crazy with the budget since she is growing like a weed and won't most likely be in her crib all that much longer.  Something that would easily grow into her big girl bedroom was a must!

My mom crafted these adorable wooden letters to help her old nursery seem a bit more girly, and I love how well they work in her new room as well!

Fortunately, the previous owners of our home had really good taste, along with both a daughter and a son like us, so the paint colors in the entire upstairs have stayed the way they left them! Blaire's walls are mostly an aqua blue color with one accent wall a lime green.  This worked perfectly as my previous color scheme was green and I had all white furniture.  I brought that along and found ways to add pink for a girly pop!

Do you remember that pinterest project I made to hold Blaire's bows?  I think it makes a fantastic fashion statement as a piece of wall art in her room.....if only it came close to holding half her bows..... ;)

This aqua mirror is something I picked up at a thrift shop long ago (before I even had Blaire) to use in a photoshoot and I thought it worked perfectly with her color scheme.  My hubby convinced me to hang it low, at a toddler level so she can actually use it.  Someday I think it would work well above a little dresser to be an eclectic vanity.

To give myself a ton of flexibility, I ordered simple pink sheer curtains, and bought paper lanterns from hobby lobby to hang above her crib for three dimensional interest. Yes, I did want a sweet crystal chandelier (the $200 one from pottery barn), but that isn't in my current budget. I think the lanterns will do for now ;)

Some simple bedding accessories may have been my biggest splurge for the room, but this sweet personalized pillowcase from pottery barn kids will be a great accent piece for whatever bed she grows into, and since she is past the need for bumpers, I thought a really trendy patterned fitted sheet was a great way to spruce up the corner of the room her crib is in ;). Not sure how much longer chevron will be all the rage, but I think it is stinkin adorable!!

This whole carpet thing is pretty new to me as our old house was exclusively wood floors.  I try to protect patches with area rugs, but it seems impossible to keep such light colored carpet clean with a messy eating, crawling babe. Solutions??!

Lastly, my good friend, sarah dorn of mama peacock, created this awesome decorative piece that goes just perfectly in her room.  It is made from an old window and I adore the rustic, shabby chic feel it adds to her room!  There is something very feminine about it to me ;)

That's all for now!  Very girly and very pink.  I'm kind of jealous of her room, folks! Lol

lazy weekend mornings

i absolutely love lazy weekend mornings......the kind where we all end up piled in my bed for a while in the morning - snuggling, singing, shaking rattles for blaire, and watching shows for hendrix on the iPad.

i also love busy weekends - packed to the brim with family time, road trips, delicious meals, and lots of shutter snaps on my camera.

this weekend is going to be one of the busy ones.

before it gets started, i wanted to take a deep breathe and reflect on some of the lazy ones!  it seems to energize me ;)

love his fascination with her.  he is so sweet.

yesterday morning while i was in the bathroom, blaire woke up and it wasn't two seconds later before i heard a huge thump and a proud cheer.

hendrix had climbed up into her crib and was sprawled out practically on top of her shouting, 'good morning blaire, you has a good sleep?'

then when he saw me, he announced, 'mommy, i super super climbed, i is spiderman, a super baby spiderman.'

it was so sweet. 

(and a little bit scary, since they share a room.....)

hendrix has gymnastics class with daddy on saturday mornings, so blaire and i get to spend a little solo mommy and me time together.  i love getting to focus on her, and have used that time to snap some photos on occasion. 

i want to be sure and document these chubby little legs as much as possible....because i adore them.  i think they are so sweet.  i love to pinch them, and tickle them, and watch her giggle and giggle!  she is at the most perfectly fun stage right now....interacting, face lighting up, babbling back to you when you talk to her.

and constantly chewing on those fingers......

one would think that she has been teething for the past 6 weeks.  

nothing yet.

just an ear to ear gummy smile!  ;)

happy weekend to you, be it lazy or busy!  

bye bye diapers

i'm still a little bit too afraid to say that 'hendrix is potty trained'

but

he has not worn a diapers for the past ten days.  

and that is most definitely progress, and dare i even say, success?!?!  ;)

the potty journey started a long time ago, but i was very half-hearted about it at best.  he had shown some interest, along with a few signs of readiness like staying dry for long periods of time, and being capable of pulling his pants up and down.  

at that point in time i would just focus on it for  a couple hours at a time, and he would wear big boy underwear around the house, and when we would have to leave for work, errands, or whatever other distraction; i would put a diaper on him and we would pretty much lose any progress we may have made.  in fact, it got to the point where he would just hold it the whole time he had underwear on and wait until i put his diaper back on.  hmmmmm.

fast forward several months to the birth of our daughter and we had serious regression with desire to become potty trained.  he was even more capable, and even more communicative about it; but he was a tad bit jealous of the attention that blaire was getting, and wearing diapers was one way that he was just like her.  he liked to hide to poop, come tell us about it, and then climb up on the changing table himself to get changed.  he would even tell me which color diaper he wanted to wear next (as we cloth diaper so they are bold, bright colors).

i think i finally realized that it was less a capable thing, and more a stubbornness thing when we had a conversation that went like this:

"hendrix, do you want to wear underwear so you can be a big boy like gabe?" 

and he replied 

"mommy, i AM a big boy like gabe, but i want to wear diapers like blaire".  

hmmmmm. 

still, at this point i have a breastfeeding 3 month old that needs quite a bit of attention, and we spend most mornings attending fun activities (like library storytimes, gym playtime and playdates) before coming home for naptime, and then heading off in the car to pick up the kids and run them around to their activities for the rest of the afternoon/evening.  our schedule really didn't seem potty training friendly and i didn't want to battle about it.  i really just didn't.

but daddy had other plans.

similarly to how he decided hendrix was ready to move into his big boy carseat instead of the baby carrier or that he needed to transition to a big boy bed from the crib, daddy just decided we were going to do it one day (without my consultation) and there was no turning back.

i think he recognizes that there is a part of me that will always have a hard time letting go of things that make hendrix my sweet baby boy to let him grow into a strong and independant young boy. 

i will admit though, there was definitely a degree of frustration, maybe even a tiny bit of resentment, on my part that he likes to make changes that require most of the implementation from me (you know, since i am the one that is home with the kids all day monday through friday.....).  

okay, but he was right.

hendrix was ready.

it was time.

so last sunday, we had an ice storm that ruined all of our plans for the day, so it was a perfect opportunity to have all of mommy and daddy's attention and stay close to the potty all day.

per some reading, bud thought we would have the most success if we just put on big boy underwear, made the diaper no longer an option, and reinforced the concept in every fashion we possibly could.  we read books about using the potty, we played apps on the iPad that showed the steps of using the potty, we watched the pull-ups potty training dvd with various songs, games and stories about using the potty, we danced to the potty songs, we lived and breathed talking about feeling the urge and then sitting to wait.

despite spending hours sitting on the potty chair, we went through six pairs of underwear before we even had one successful piddle on the pot.  and that didn't happen until 6:30 p.m.  i was discouraged to say the least.  then we had a couple more little successes that evening followed up by him waking up in the middle of the night crying because he was wet.

i was ready to give up, but hubby said we had to try it for a full week before we knew if it wasn't going to work.  if we couldn't have a completely dry day by then, then he wasn't really ready.  oh brother. 

that second day he only had one accident and that was a poop accident, and then he started telling me when he needed to sit on the potty (in contrast to just setting the timer for 45 minutes and trying all day long).  and that night he stayed dry overnight.  breakthrough!!

the next two days we didn't have any accidents!

since then we have had a few accidents, but that is since we have added pant wearing back into the mix, and have actually left the house; we had to go back to work on day four, we have gone on playdates, and even went to a show at stephens auditorium; all while staying clean and dry!

we have progressed from rewarding for just sitting on the potty, to rewarding when he actually went on the potty, to now rewarding for going periods of time without accidents.  he is so proud of himself and loves telling everyone that he has mickey mouse underwear.  ;)

i still don't think that we have reached a point in which it is easier than him wearing diapers.  he doesn't have much advance warning, and sometimes i have to set blaire down mid-feed to help him.  we have to try before anytime we leave the house which increases my 'getting ready time'.  and i now have to see the inside of every public bathroom whenever we leave the house.  

BUT

it will get easier and better.  

he will get more independent about it.  

and he really IS a big boy now!

in the meantime, goodbye cute little jeans, and hello sweatpants!  lol

fluffy laundry times two

you might remember that we cloth diaper.  

we have used fuzzibunz diapers since hendrix was big enough to fit in them, and have never looked back.  

yes, it means a lot of laundry; and yes, they were kind of an expensive initial investment; but when i think about how much money we saved on disposables over the last two years, i am sold.  

not to mention that now we get to use them for baby #2.  

awesome

after blaire lost her umbilical cord stump, we have been able to put her in the smaller sized cloth diapers (we have two sets, which works out perfectly since hendrix is now still wearing the bigger size, and blaire gets the smaller size) and i think she looks super adorable in them!

  they go up practically to her armpits, and they really pad her little bum, but i love them.  

and she seems to also ;)

  

you know there are some things that you just forget about having a newborn around. as your child transitions into toddlerhood these changes seem to happen gradually....

quantity of daily diaper changes is one of those things.  

hendrix might go through 4 diapers a day right now.  

blaire about 12-14.

that has us doing diaper laundry nearly everyday.  

(not to mention regular laundry.....how can one little girl dirty so many burp cloths, blankets, towels, crib sheets, onesies, jammies, etc..?!?)

if you stop by my house unannounced, you will most likely see some stage of diaper folding happening on my couch.  

oh well.

at least they are clean!

36 weeks

though i am just now getting around to posting these 36 week belly photos, i will actually be 37 weeks here in just a couple days......

on saturday to be exact.....  

while i was trying to capture a couple images, my sweet little boy kept saying "belly" and "blaire" and "kisses", so though it is a little blurry and i am awkwardly bending down so he can reach me, i thought this photo was really precious!  he is going to be such a wonderful big brother ;)

i am really poking out there.  i have heard lots of funny and interesting comments about how i look ready to pop; and believe me, that is exactly how i feel.

i have very few shirts that seem long enough for my belly, and i have actually started feeling really uncomfortable in maternity pants.  none of them have panels that go up high enough, and there is nothing worse than wearing a waistband part-way up my belly.  in these shots i am actually resorting back to my pre-preg pants with a belly band.....

makes me feel pretty good about myself that i can still fit my butt into them!

sort of helps to soften the blow that i have now gained 20 pounds. 

that is 4 pounds more than i did with hendrix.

and, she could still wait another couple weeks to arrive.

wowzers.

i have really gone back and forth about how i am feeling.  over the weekend i had a couple rough days and was really thinking that she would be born very soon - but i am now thinking it might have been my body reacting to just having such a full plate.....and i am settling back into the role of patiently waiting mama.

she has definitely dropped, i can see that, feel that, and the doctor noted that at my appointment on tuesday. i am feeling a ton of pressure down low on my pubic bone, but that is giving me some relief up higher on my rib cage and lungs.  it isn't terribly uncommon to drop a couple weeks before you deliver from what i have read though.......it just makes sitting and walking a lot less comfortable.

i made it to the appointment where you get tested for strep this time (hendrix was born before that ;) and had my first cervix check in which the doctor found that i am 1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced.  she said those numbers are no prediction of anything to come and are in the very normal range for this point in time.  in contrast to my first and only cervix check with hendrix, which was the day before i delivered him, i was 1 centimeter dilated and 70% effaced.  my hubs is convinced that following in that pattern......today will be the day.  he thinks he is going to get a phone call that will pull him from work and change our family dynamics sometime today!

i did have some braxton hicks last night, and am randomly awake at 5:20 am (which is really not a normal scenario for me).  usually i try to sleep until the last minute possible - in fact, most mornings my toddler starts pounding on my shoulder saying "wake-up mommy" and then literally takes me by the hand and drags me out of bed......

it is so interesting to now be almost two weeks past when i delivered with hendrix.  while i am soooooo thankful and feeling so very blessed, i am emotionally unsure how to proceed with my schedule and plans.  i have a few things on the calendar for the next couple weeks, but most of them are easily "skippable" and i keep telling everyone that it all depends on blaire's arrival....

but honestly she could make me wait until the end of the month.

heck, she could make me wait until november.

i don't really want to think about that though......lol

the doctor said she is really happy with how far i have made it, and would consider it safe to have her anytime now.  yippee!  so i guess that really takes the fears and pressures away, and i can just relax and let it happen when she is ready.

here's to being all ready, and just patiently waiting!

blaire is going to look so sweet snuggled in her crib.....i really can't wait to meet my sweet lil babe ;)

27 weeks

my 27 week belly.

i am absolutely loving dresses this pregnancy!  i happened to receive several really cute and trendy dresses as gifts from all the stylish gals in my life for my birthday.....and have been finding them far cooler and more comfortable than shorts.  thanks ladies ;)  there is something about them that makes me think my belly is far more endearing than it is just plain huge and frumpy......

miss blaire is weighing in at almost two pounds now; no wonder i am starting to get more and more uncomfortable as each day passes.  in fact, i actually have a sneaking suspicion that she has done some rotating from her 'head sideways' position, to more of a 'head down' position.  the biggest clue for me was the other night i felt her hiccuping for the first time.....and those hiccups were super low....like almost beneath my belly.  it seems like the kicks are higher than they used to be too, which would kind of make sense if she rotated around.  

 all the same, it seems like she is riding much lower than hendrix was.....i don't feel nearly as much pressure in my rib cage, and a lot more of it it my lower back.

oh, and my 'button' is really popped now.  you can even see it through my clothes.  

how. attractive.

my lap is getting smaller and smaller which makes me sad for hendrix, but in the last two weeks he has adopted some super cute habits about my belly, including saying 'i love you, blaire' when he kisses my tummy, and also in pointing out her bed in his room.  he likes to remind me that he has the big boy bed, and the baby crib is for blaire (which sounds a bit more like bear, but whatev....he is trying!)

here's to my third trimester....

i am ready!

big boy bed

for as worried as i was about transitioning hendrix from his crib to his big boy bed, it was really super uneventful.  

it had been sitting in our garage for a few weeks (thanks to the donation from one of one good friends), and daddy decided to get it out while mommy was gone for an afternoon last weekend.  

when i got home hendrix was so excited to show it to me and call it his "bed" that i couldn't say no, so we decided to give it a shot.

he ended up going down for bed that night and everytime after that just as normally and easily as when we put him in his crib.  we still follow our routine of a couple stories and a couple songs, and then we tuck him in and say goodnight.  

and he stays there.  

all night.

well, i guess he has been getting up earlier than usual (like 5 am pretty consistently) but then we bring him into our room to snuggle with us while we are still waking up.

he hasn't figured out how to get his bedroom door open yet, so each morning we are awakened to the sound of a few pitter-patter feet, and then the shaking of the doorknob.

i don't imagine it will be long though and he will get that mastered......

i can't get over how grown up he looks in his bed.

he doesn't understand the covers thing yet though, and just kicks them off.  he loves to sleep with his blankie (he has since he was born), but he uses it to snuggle more than to cover himself up.

and just in case you are curious about how the crib and the bed fit into the little bitty nursery, here is a shot where you can see both. ;)  blaire and hendrix are going to have to learn to deal with each other's sleep patterns, as that is just the way of it in this old house.  it really isn't as cramped as i thought it was going to be, and i think it will work fine.

i love this big boy!  

goodbye morning nap

our little peanut has crossed yet another milestone that pushes him farther and farther away from baby-hood and closer and closer to toddler-hood.  

actually, the other day while i watched him sitting on the couch, holding onto his elmo movie case, totally engrossed in his show; i thought i almost saw a glimpse of the toddler-hood slipping into boy-hood.  

he is growing up.

very. 

quickly.

despite my attempts to keep his schedule sacred, he has officially given up his morning nap.  for four days in a row nowhe has only had an afternoon nap.  

while there are moments (a few of them even extreme) during the morning when i know he is grumpy just because he is tired, this whole schedule shift is reinforcing a longer afternoon nap and seems to be giving him the energy to enjoy his evenings right up until bedtime.  this is so important since those are the few precious hours that daddy gets to see him during the week.

he is still really attached to this blankie......and he needs his paci to sleep too.  we have started keeping those two items sacred for sleeping time only; leaving them in the crib when he wakes up.  this seems to be fine with him, and seems to help solidify the sleep routine as he is excited to go get his blankie and paci at night-night time. 

i can't believe how much he fills up his crib in comparison to how tiny he used to look in there. 

September 2010 - 2 weeks old

and i really can't believe that for as much of a monkey-boy as he is everywhere else in the house, he hasn't attempted to climb out of it yet.  (knock on wood)

but i love how sweet and angelic and even baby-like he looks when he sleeps.

he is still my sweet baby boy.

he always will be. ;)