Little Sister's Nursery

We've finally put the finishing touches on our little girl's nursery. I had so much fun putting together a girlie room! We painted a few months ago, which included painting our main living area as well. It took a couple days and the nursery stayed empty for a long time afterward, but we are thrilled with the result. Ben + my brother Cody also scraped the popcorn ceiling off in the nursery. It's something we'd love to do to the entire house but would be quite the undertaking. So we started with that room since it's small and would be empty for painting anyway. I love the way it makes the room look instantly brighter and bigger.

Here are a few pictures of the room before it's transformation. It started out as Malakai's nursery when we moved here, he was 9 months old. We have 3 bedrooms in our teeny house, and the 3rd was a guest room until we transformed it into a play room and then a nursery for Desmond. Nearly a year ago we moved Malakai into that room with Desmond so we could remove all toys (distractions) from where they would be sleeping and have a dedicated "play room" in Malakai's previous room. When we found out we were expecting, naturally the playroom would become baby #3's nursery.

{just after we moved in, March 2010}

{after we moved the boys to share the 3rd bedroom and turned this one into a playroom}

When we found out we'd be welcoming a baby girl I thought we would leave it green and add dark pink accents. I loved this green in our previous home, but it was a much bigger room with 2 windows and wood floors. I didn't love it as much in this house; with less lighting it didn't look as cool and light. The more I looked around for inspiration I started to change my mind. I fell in love with the idea of a light grey nursery with coral and peach accents. Somewhere along the way I decided to include arrows to represent their meaning in Psalm 127. 

Once we got the crib and started putting some pieces together I got more and more excited about the color scheme. I had a hard time finding both coral and peach pieces but was able to acquire several things through our baby shower, gifts, and DIY projects.

The teething rail guard is a must right off the bat because of all the horrendous teething marks the boys left on the crib. I made this simple no-sew version from some peachy fleece Ben's mom bought for me. It matches the peach on the quilt she made as well. I wanted to make a crib skirt but couldn't find the perfect fabric, or the time. I ran into a queen sized bed skirt we had on our guest bed years ago tucked away in the linen closet and made it work by clipping it to the crib support underneath the mattress, making it adjustable as well! It's not perfect, but it works to make a nice hidden storage area under the crib for sheets and other things.

Much of the decor came from the decorations at my baby shower. The pom poms above the crib, the bunting and scripture above the changing table, the letter P on the floating shelf, even the curtains which my mom sewed up from the table runners. The basket that I have the diapers in held a gift from my friend Carina. 

Liz also painted the gorgeous peonies (which were on the invites she had made for my shower) and made the wooden arrow sign above the shelves.  Malakai made the decorations underneath. 

I love the simplicity of our little nursery and the way the bright coral and peach colors really pop in contrast to the neutral grey walls and dark espresso furniture. I'd still like to add some softer peach accents, and I may in the future or as our needs in this room change.

Our crib and changing table/dresser have lasted us since Malakai was born 5 years ago. They've got some cosmetic wear and tear but we still love them. The glider is new and was a gift from my parents, we love it so far and I can't wait to rock sweet little sister in it soon! 

40 bags in 40 days: a long overdue recap

During the 40 days leading up to Easter we chose to participate in a decluttering challenge called "40 Bags in 40 Days" lead by Ann Marie who blogs over at White House Black Shutters, one of my favorite blogs these days. It wasn't so much about getting to 40 bags as it was about being motivated to rid your space of clutter and be happy with your home and the belongings you choose to keep in it. I really enjoyed it and am so thankful for the continual motivation it has given me to keep our home free of "junk" that clutters our physical spaces.

In my initial post I shared our current pictures which will stand as the "before" pictures to the following "afters". Although, for us this is an on going challenge in some spaces more than others. If you'd like to check out the progress along the way, you can follow my instagram account or look up #bngblogdeclutters on instagram, twitter, and Facebook. 

Being pregnant made the decluttering even more challenging. Some days I was too sick, some days our entire family was too sick. Other days I was just tired, but I'm happy with our progress and how far we've come. 

I can honestly say there is only 1 area that is still in need of some big decluttering, the kitchen. I decluttered the surfaces and a few small drawers during the challenge and a few more recently. However, due to the size of our kitchen it is a huge challenge to even have the floor or counter space to empty cupboards to declutter while entertaining children. So we are saving that project for a time when we are kid-free. It's not even something I could do on my own if Ben were to have the kids for example because I cannot safely reach the top shelves or lift some things that would need moved. All that to say, we will get to it in the future but it's not even messy enough (because it's too small to be) to be too worried about it. 

Here is a reminder of what our house layout looks like...

Our main living space in the back of the house is almost always free of clutter so there wasn't much to be done there. I have however, started a new rule for the kids both for decluttering reasons and for my own safety- all toys are to stay in the playroom or the hallway just outside of it (because it's wood floor where they like to race their cars). This minimizes clutter but also keeps the danger-zones down to a minimum. Last pregnancy I had a not-so-fun run in with a toy on the floor, so I've been extra careful about avoiding silly accidents like that.

This is what that space looked like after decluttering back in April. We have since updated our dining set, garbage can and paint in this room. I will post an update on that and the nursery when they are complete.

Currently the garage is in disarray yet again because it's our "catch-all" space when we've got big projects going on. Over the long weekend we painted the living room, hallway and the playroom that will be little sister's nursery. Furniture was displaced to the garage for the most part and the work station for paint supplies was set up out there. Pictured below is a before decluttering and after decluttering (before painting mess). Most of our work here was purging toys, clearing off the work bench and rearranging to make zones for things. Separate spaces for toys, tools, laundry, pantry items, overflow shoes, and craft supplies. We still have some organizing to do, which will mostly be taken care of once we get some shelving up. Ben is planning on building this shelf for the toy storage bins.

The boys' room got a big change when we got them bunk beds at Ikea in March. It was the ONLY way to fit 2 twin sized beds in their shared room. It's been a roller coaster of a transition, but they love it and the space it saves is amazing. We're also in the process of repurposing their closet which mostly holds Ben's music equipment by moving that out and making space for the extra chairs to our new dining room set, which are taking up too much room in the garage. Plus I don't like the idea of them being exposed to extreme temperatures and our projects as they go on out there. This room currently has no toys or books, it's just for sleeping and getting dressed because Desmond can't handle nap time if there are toys to be had. He can barely be kept from climbing all over the beds! This will change as he grows older and as we need to move the toys from the playroom/nursery to their room.

The playroom/nursery got a pretty major declutter, and now that it has been painted will be completely rearranged. This will involve taking the desk out and either selling it or storing it at my in-laws. The closet here houses all the kids' hanging clothes, baby stuff up on the shelf, baby blankets, and items that they have yet to grow into or have grown out of in a dresser. The dresser also doubles as child-proofing for the entrance to our crawl space which is in the floor of this closet.

{I'm already so much happier with this room just after painting and removing the textured ceiling!}

The front living area which we just call "the front room" is more of an adult space and a major blind spot from where we spend most of our time, so we have a baby gate up at the start of the hallway to this room to keep it limited access. Malakai can open the gate but he knows not to without permission. Here we have our desk and computer, a piano, a sitting area, my sewing/craft table, preschool supplies and more. The coat closet also houses craft supplies and gift wrapping in addition to the current seasons jackets, hats, scarves, etc.

The desk got a major overhaul when I finally went through our file system. I also put some little used files that we still need to keep around in a file cabinet in the garage that we acquired from my in-laws (thanks guys!) which made room in the drawers to actually access the files we need to use on a more regular basis. I purged a LOT of kids' artwork but also kept a lot, reorganizing it by school/church/etc. I also removed a lot of stuff from the top of the desk to give us more work space.

My craft cabinet got emptied out and rearranged. I do still have crafting supplies all over the place, mine and the kids' but they make more sense now rather than a little bit of this and that all over there are kid craft storage areas and then my craft and sewing storage based on material and need. Some of it is in bins underneath the oversized chair (which I love, but most people don't).

I boxed up a lot of books from the shelf, things we want to keep but don't need to display. I also got rid of some and did away with some knick knacks and picture frames. In doing so I tried to make this room a bit more kid friendly so as Desmond grows older he can come in here without being a hazard to himself or our stuff. This will also help if we need to move our preschool homeschooling back out here once the baby's room is in use for little sister.

In our room (which I haven't taken progress pictures of yet) we started by clearing out everything underneath the bed. Clothing has been a big challenge because while pregnant I'm constantly reevaluating my wardrobe based on what no longer fits (so it needs stored), what does fit (so it's in the closet or dresser) and what will likely fit as baby + I grow (in an underbed box). It's an on going process, but I did get rid of a lot of non-maternity clothing that I hadn't worn in ages. Ben also got rid of a lot of clothing and shoes so that helped free up space in our closet. The shelf above the hanging area in our closet has always been difficult for me because I can barely reach it. I toss things up there (we had stored anything from bedding to sweaters there) and it just became a heaping mess. Ben cleaned it out and now half of it is for clothes I've "outgrown" and hooded sweatshirts/other things too large for the dresser or hanging and the other half is our bedding.

Our dresser has more space thanks to purging things and I cleaned up the area next to my bed where the yarn had been been taking over from half done crochet projects. I also have a vanity in this room which I use for some clothing storage but mostly cosmetics, hair products + accesories as well as belts, jewelry and a few keepsakes (my sad and dusty wedding bouquet being one). This needed major decluttering and dusting which took a while but it is so much more useful now that it's done. I do my hair and makeup here rather than our one tiny bathroom.

Speaking of, we did a lot of purging of items in the bathroom as well. Expired vitamins, medications, lotions and shampoos we weren't using, etc. It's not exciting enough to post pictures of, but it's nice to have the space. We also got a new shower curtain with a see-through panel at the top that lets more light in and makes the room feel a bit bigger.

So there is our progress in an attempt to declutter and simplify the way we live. It has been a much longer process than just the 40 days, but getting organized and serious about it over that time really created new habits in us that will help us to live with less clutter, which is essential in a house this size and our growing family!

Motivation to Declutter- 40 Bags in 40 Days

I came across Ann Marie Heasley's blog, White House Black Shutters last summer through Pinterest when she had started her "Summer Simplify" series. She shared inspiration for simplifying spaces around the home. I tackled quite a few areas and shared my success on Instagram along with her and other followers.

Now it's time for spring cleaning and our house (and garage!) could really use some decluttering and simplifying. Anne Marie came along again with 40 Bags in 40 Days and I was sold. Over the 40 days of lent you focus on areas that need to be decluttered and/or purged of the overflow. She even has a printable chart (see linked post above) to help you plan and keep track of your progress. I've got my whole house mapped out on one and am ready to start TOMORROW!

I chose fairly small areas and even broke some up into two days, for during the week. Saturdays are for bigger projects that Ben + I can take on together or one of us can spend time on while the other keeps track of the kiddos.

This is a layout of our teensie not even 900 square foot home to give you an idea of what we're working with here...

productivity

Being stuck at home has increased my motivation to get things done around the house. We've actually been doing a really good job at keeping up with the cleaning and such for having a newborn and a toddler. Since we've basically quarantined ourselves to avoid spreading this sickness or catching anything else, I've been getting even more done. Over the past week 1-3 loads of laundry per day (although I'm a little slower getting it put away after washing it), 1-2 loads of dishes, as well as keeping up with the clutter, sweeping, vacuuming, etc. All of these things I thought would go undone for a while longer as I transitioned to caring for my two boys. I even baked a loaf of pumpkin bread, a batch of cookies, and made two kinds of ice cream.

Today Ben got a bunch of childproofing done that became more of a necessity with my nursing Desmond and not being able to get to Kai in a hurry if he were to decide to get into or on to things. It's such a good feeling to have all of this stuff done, but I'm ready for us all to be healthy so we can visit with family and friends!








P.S. I'm attempting to blog every day this month as part of NaBloPoMo (I typed this out while nursing). It may be a few sentences, a regular post or possibly just a photo. We'll see if I can make it happen!

tile to laminate: our first big house project

On Saturday we accomplished our first big makeover on our home. Everything else we've done, like peel wall paper and paint has been fairly low-key in comparison. On Saturday Ben and 3 other guys tore up our tile flooring in the dining room + kitchen to replace it with laminate wood flooring to match the rest of our house. We've been wanting to do this since we bought the place 18 months ago.

Reasons we hated the tile:

• First, it was just plain ugly. 
• It was super unforgiving when it came to dropping dishes or little ones falling.
• It was installed incorrectly (which made removal easier) so it had many cracks.
• Grout is disgusting and annoying to clean. 
• It broke up the main living space of our already small home, making it look smaller.
• It was cold and uninviting.
• I could think of a thousand other reasons...

Needless to say I was a bit jealous that I didn't get to take a crack at it with a hammer along with the guys. Ben said they all had a lot of fun with the demolition. Malakai and I went to my parents' place to hang out for the day to stay out of the way and to avoid inhaling tile + saw dust. 

Thankfully it was also easy to get up, it only took an hour. Apparently the tile was heavily glued to the previous linoleum floor so it all came up together to reveal the subfloor.

Then came work on the underlayment and laminate flooring. 

{my husband hard at work}

The biggest reason this project has taken so long to get to (besides time + money) was finding the right floor to match the existing laminate that we have in the rest of our house. We found something REALLY close right away but I was determined to exhaust all our options for a perfect match before settling. We went back to the original match and it turned out great. 

While finishing up the trim Ben's dad and brother also replaced the door from the dining room to the garage. This happened to be our Christmas present from his parents last year, but we had to redo the flooring before it could work. Neither of these pictures show that, but it looks great!

{the finished product!}

After being out of the house since 7:30 that morning and only a 45 minute nap for Malakai after driving him to sleep, I got to come home at about 6pm and see the finished product. It was like walking into someone else's home. Really it was such a funny feeling to leave with the house fairly in tact and come back with it looking completely different. What a blessing to not have to worry about any of the construction and mess and just come home to something new and beautiful!

Here's a direct comparison. The angles of the photos aren't a perfect match, but you get the idea.

Thank you so much to my father-in-law, brother-in-law David, and our friends Brad and Jacob (and their wives) for giving up a significant portion of your Saturday to work on our house and make it more of a home for us as we prepare to welcome little brother! 

in preparation

Here is what we've done so far to prepare for little brother and family of 4 status (in no particular order)

• rearrange our bedroom to set up + attach the mini co-sleeper. this also involved us switching sides of the bed.
• transformation of our guest room into a play room, a few things still pending.
• rearrange and anchor furniture in Malakai's room. 
• sort through all of Kai's clothing, newborn-18 months. 
• wash and organize all newborn-6 month clothing
• repack all 9-18 month clothing into plastic storage containers and put away in garage.
• get out of storage: pump, bottles, bath, swing, etc.
• wash all new baby items: blankets, clothes, etc. and put away
• contact paper dresser drawers and organize toys, baby toilettries, and clothes into the dresser. 
• reorganize living room bookshelf to include all children's book (non-board books) that were in the dresser. 
• dust all surfaces, wash windows, and other deep cleaning
• clean and organize my vanity/dresser
• wash insane amounts of our laundry to catch up before baby gets here (ongoing)
• purchase a deep freeze
• clear out garden beds and harvest pumpkins + squash. 
• keep an eye on tomatoes that are still ripening.
• freeze 2 dozen tomatoes
• make 3 batches of salsa
• give away extras
• Keep up with general weeklies: laundry, dishes, meals, cleaning, diapers, nap time, appointments, birthdays, and more.
• purge all excess:
• garage sale
• donations
• repurposing
• garbage + recycle
• Reorganize + clean garage space. This was a huge job and almost entirely Ben's doing. I wish I had before + after photos to document the transformation. My husband is amazing!
• pack hospital bag (about 3/4 of the way done)
• clean out car + install infant car seat.
• purchase needed items off of baby registry: wash and put away
• a dozen other things I'm forgetting that we've already done.

Still on the to-do list (also not in order of importance)

• replace tile floors in kitchen/dining area with laminate flooring (to match the rest of the house) This is in progress and will happen TOMORROW!
• dust again (after breaking up the tile, the house will need it)
• vacuum, mop, steam carpets
• replace door to garage, also tomorrow. the current one is crooked and slides across the floor. 
• prepare + freeze meals for after little brother's arrival
• mow + fertilize lawn for the fall
• repaint kitchen chalkboard
• repaint baseboards in Kai's room (they're peeling!)
• clean out fridge
• get a replacement shelf for the empty spot in our kitchen cupboard that has been w/o one since we moved here.
• store more toys to make additional space in play room 
• replace front room blinds
• hang curtains + decor in playroom, secure furniture to walls
• finish packing hospital bag
• pre-register at hospital and complete birth plan
• choose birth announcments and finalize mailing list
• finish childproofing: install latches for cabinets in bathroom + kitchen
• put together bouncer
• clean off double strollers and store single stroller
• clean out desk
• clear all surfaces of clutter: mail, magazines, random items

I think that about sums it up. I obviously still have a lot to do, but aside from packing the hospital bag none of it is detrimental to little brother's arrival. Well, we are praying he doesn't choose to be born while our house is under construction tomorrow, that would prove to be interesting. 

I'm hoping to get most of these things done just so we don't have to worry about them once little brother is here. We know very well that even small chores can go overlooked for a long time when you have a newborn, let alone a toddler as well! Wish us luck!

Happy Friday!

what we've been up to...

As I mentioned last week I've been keeping myself busy with items on my to-do-before-baby list like just about anyone in their 8th month of pregnancy. It seems whenever I get some good momentum something keeps me from moving forward. Mostly it has been my own physical limitations. After going to the chiropractor last week I was careful to no re-injur myself but my rib ended up going back out yesterday. I'm not sure if it's still out and it flares up or how all that works, but it's likely I'll need to make another trip to the chiropractor very soon. Sitting down to update around here is because I've been mandated by my husband to take it easy today as to avoid any additional injuries. I'm so stubborn determined that it may not last long. It's not like I'm being irresponsible or doing anything dangerous, just every day activities like unloading the dishwasher and playing with my son and whoops, excruciating pain.

Aside from being very busy with baby related things, I've also been keeping busy with toddler and birthday related things. Of course Malakai keeps us busy all the time and I try to spend all his awake time giving him the attention he deserves. During the day we play out back or at the park when mama has the energy and when Kai cooperates long enough to let me get him dressed. In the evenings we have some quieter playtime in the ever transforming playroom.

{jealous of my outfit?}

 During nap time I've been working on birthday presents. There are 5 September birthdays in our immediate family and 8 when you include our extended family. After 3 attempts I finally finished my brother's present...

{jersey-knit rag rug}

And then there's our house that seems to be falling apart around us. Our a/c has gone out 4 different times this summer for different reasons. We ran it all summer last year, a much hotter summer, with no issues. We also happened to have had a free year of home warranty then. Now that we don't have the warranty in place, everything is dying. The a/c is still out as we wait for quotes on a particular part and Sunday night our electrical panel got very hot and smelled like something was burning up. More money out of our pockets.

Last night we finished purchasing the "must haves" from our registry with the discount code (I moved my due date up so we could get the coupon from Target before baby). It was a really frustrating process because the discount wouldn't come off of all the things that were on our registry because they "reset" the baby section recently which apparently changes product numbers so they don't match even though I scanned the exact item when we registered months ago...say what?! The customer service gal was super rude about the entire thing and it just about ruined our evening.

I've been hoping to update about a lot of different things: the progress of the playroom (formerly the guest room), our garden, baby prep and other household related things but the time if flying by and my head is already spinning. We'll see how the next few weeks go...

won't stay fixed...

Our a/c went out in early July and thankfully it was fairly cool so we weren't suffering too badly. Unfortunately it cost us $850 and that was with a generous discount on the service charge, but it was worth it. Then earlier this month it decided to go out again, for a different reason. The people who installed our system 10-15 years ago took a few too many little short cuts with things that didn't matter until now. Another $35 after a very generously discounted service call, plus Ben doing a little bit of work with the repairman on the phone, and we were set once again.

After lunch Malakai grabbed me by the hand to drag me into his playroom. One of my favorite things that he does. On the way over I walked by a vent and the air blowing out was a bit stuffy. I poked my head outside to listen for the pump running, and it wasn't. These were the same indicators that something was wrong the last 2 times. So I called Ben and after a meeting he'll be heading home to see if it's something he can fix.

Meanwhile Kai and I found relief in the kiddie pool out back (more so me than him really) and now we're waiting for daddy to save the day. Sadly for him he has to climb up into the very hot attic to assess the situation. It's highly likely that it's upwards of 120 degrees in there. Pray for him, that he doesn't get too hot or have to be up there long, and that he can figure it out so we don't have to call on our repairman as I'm thinking we've probably run out of favors.

Stay cool + happy weekend,

it's not easy, being green.

On Saturday morning Ben + I took Malakai to visit my in-laws while we got some work done on our home. Ben's goal for the next few hours was to get the new kitchen faucet in place. Mine was to prime + paint all the patched holes in the dining room and living room.

Ben did some prep work and then had his dad come over to help him remove the old faucet. The removal alone took 3 hours. Something about a corroded washer and the right wrench. The actual work to get the new fixtures in took only 20 minutes!

Meanwhile, I washed the walls, primed the nail holes and patched a few others. These nail holes have been ugly white dots on our walls since we moved in. Something we have just gotten used to. While the primer was drying I scrubbed the baseboards and lower half of the walls in our living room, dining room and hallway.

Then Ben asked that I touch up some spots on an edge where two paint colors meet. Our once lavendar living room became a lovely shade of tan called "fresh linen" the night before we moved in. Because it was such a rush job, there were a few errors here and there. One that really bothered my husband was where the tan bled over to the green on a corner in the hallway.

We had asked the homeowner's to leave all the paint in the garage and they obliged. Over half of the house was painted in a lovely sagey green color that we left because we liked it and it actually matched some of our throw rugs perfectly. There was only 1 quart of this green paint in the garage, from 2002. I mixed it up anyway and began to touch up the corner for Ben. As it went on it looked great. I finished the corner and moved on to the dining room and living room {which is basically one "big" room}.

As I was painting I said to Ben + his dad, "Well this looks perfect, there's no doubt that this is the right color of green!" and continued on my way.

As the touch-ups dried I went to remove the taped edge from the corner and it tore off the tan paint! I mean, we were using some fancy painter's tape which is made specifically not to do this. There was a huge lavender splotch underneath and I panicked because we had nothing leftover of this color. So, I called up Ben's mom to say I was going to be late picking up Kai and ran to the nearby hardware store to pick up a quart of Dutch Boy's Fresh Linen.

When I walked in the door, I  saw this...

Now, both Ben + my father-in-law are colorblind and when I called them out from under the sink to look at this, they were both stunned. We have been living in this house for SIX MONTHS and had no idea until this mishap that these two walls were different shades of green. 

I could list all sorts of explanations as to how we didn't notice until now, but after the work that ensued, I don't have the energy for excuses. This disaster was obviously bigger than that of the small purple spot on the other side of the house. I began checking all my patch work and only 2 walls were this lighter shade of green. This one, and the one on the end of the hall that I had just painted the entire edge from floor to ceiling. 

Needless to say I was distraught. This whole project was supposed to take 3-4 hours so we could pick up Malakai and put him down for a nap, then move on to other smaller projects. 

Oddly enough Ben and I had just been talking about painting this very wall a dark shade of grey some day in the future. So I figured rather than ordering a whole gallon of this dark green we might as well paint it the color we wanted. I grabbed all my paint samples and magazine pages and we chatted about shades of grey. I also tore off a piece of wall where we already had this lovely eye-sore to match the light green for the end of the hallway.

The faucet turned out to be faster than the painting after all and I'm so happy with how it turned out. 

By 2pm we finally picked up Malakai and he crashed immediately. Ben stayed home with him and I ran to Home Depot {my least favorite store of all time, but we had store credit there}. This post is getting long, so I'll spare you the exhausting details of the issues I had with the employees in the paint department. I grabbed a patch repair kit for the gaping hole in the wall, a quart of the custom light green, and a gallon of Glidden "seal" grey.  

When I got home we ate a super late lunch and got right to work. Ben patched the hole while I started cutting in with the dark grey. He rolled the rest of the wall while I painted the edge down the hall for the second time. I tested a small patch and let it start to dry before doing the whole thing. It looked great, so I continued to repaint and then came back in to help Ben with the dining room. 

When we looked at the hall again...it wasn't such a great match after all. 

I wanted to die. We were both so exhausted from the morning project turned entire-weekend life sucker. With our house in disarray and too much toddler-height wet paint, we went to my parents' place for dinner to let things dry until Malakai's bedtime. 

At 9pm we put the 2nd coat on the entire wall, and the first coat on the patched hole. We had also decided to paint the entire end of the hall in the dark green to cover up all the mistakes. I painted that stinkin' edge for the 3rd time that day as I grumbled about having 4 shades of green {including Kai's room} on our walls at that moment. 

Sunday after church we put the 2nd coat on the patched part of the grey wall and I meticulously fixed the  edges {another painter's tape fail} and we called it "good enough". 

{yes, I painted with a toothpick}

Here is the semi-final product of our new dining room wall {awaiting decor of course}. 

I really love how it turned out {despite my worries the entire time that it somehow looked purple}. My favorite part is how the red + black decor contrast with it. I can't wait to put something bold and red up on the wall!

Now...on to more projects in preparation for our housewarming in T-minus 5 days!

packed

As I mentioned before, September is busy for us and we aren't even directly effected by all that is "back-to-school"!  Despite our already busy schedule, we're making things a bit busier. In addition to all the birthday madness going on, one or both of us serves at church every Sunday this month, plus Ben has worship practice on Tuesdays, I'm meeting up with a college friend I haven't seen in THREE YEARS tomorrow, we're packing up and going to the lake next weekend, and we're also trying to plan dinner or a playdate with three separate families. Pluuuus,  need to finish babyproofing and unpacking/cleaning for some house guests by October 1st because...

Exhibit A:

{yes, that is blue painter's tape keeping Malakai out of our pantry}

Exhibit B:

haha, see the roll of tape? It became a toy.






{this is what the living room + dining room looked like while I attempted to make muffins}

And where's Malakai you may ask?


Certainly not napping....

{where else, but underneath the table/chairs}

It's been a bit crazy as we try to pack as much as we can into the last weeks of moderate weather.

What do you have planned before the sunny days are gone?

Happy Weekend!

sitting for a minute

We surely had a busy weekend as I referenced in Friday's post. My siblings actually came over and helped Ben do some yard work. I'm so thankful for them picking up all the tree debris that was in the flower beds. We have an enormous maple tree in the front yard that had dropped a ton of seeds (you know the ones that spin down like helicopter propellers) before we even moved here. It was so bad that there were actually little saplings shooting up all over the yard! I wish I had a before and after picture, but they made the yard look so much better. We also happen to have an equally gigantic maple tree in the back that had dropped leaves everywhere that never got cleaned up while the house sat for sale from September until March. Sadly the once lovely lawn now has a ton of dead patches from the leaves. I'm not sure we'll get a chance to remedy this until next spring.

Meanwhile, I got some unpacking done while my sister-in-law played with Malakai. I'm going to try to finish a couple rooms today and clean up the kitchen. I'll be watching Henry at our house today for the first time, hopefully that goes well!

Now that's it's Monday and we didn't get a chance to go grocery shopping I'm eating a rather healthy breakfast of oatmeal (chocolate chip cookies).

keeping it clean

This new home has consumed our lives. Every time I turn around there is something new that needs attention. The biggest job has simply been getting it clean. Those who've been following for a while may remember that we were given the keys to our new home only 18 hours before we were scheduled to move in.

I thought I could get the major things cleaned in that amount of time. Scraping the dreadful wallpaper off of the walls in the tiny bathroom took 5 hours, with two people. We accomplished an impressive amount of painting and I was able to spray the oven with cleaner so it could sit overnight (later I noticed that said oven was actually self cleaning-whoops!). We finally left the house that night at midnight to go pick up Malakai who was having trouble sleeping at Grandma's.

On Saturday March 27th I found myself moving into a very dirty house. I never noticed how dirty it was until I got on my hands and knees and adorned those yellow rubber gloves. The previous owner had actually passed away and the home was in the care of her heirs. It made me sad that it looked as though nobody had helped her out with the cleaning as it had to have taken quite a while for the grime to build up the way it had it places that people don't think to clean when selling a house.

My sister helped me get started with the kitchen, which was by far the dirtiest of all. She scrubbed the oven as well as cupboards and drawers while I took on the fridge and freezer. I will spare those of you who may be eating while reading and not describe the filth in detail.

Over the next couple weeks I scrubbed the kitchen and swept the floors during Malakai's naps. My mom came over a couple times to help out as well. The kitchen is now totally moved in, but *GASP* it isn't totally clean yet. We still need to get underneath the fridge and the oven. These jobs I've designated to my wonderful husband as I'm sure they will be quite gross and I did the rest of the kitchen. Thanks in advance Ben!

For cleaning supplies I started to use cheap bleach cleaners from the Dollar Tree and they worked just fine. I wiped everything down with hot water afterward to make sure to not leave any residue that would linger on us and eventually transfer to Malakai. 

I also discovered that white vinegar and baking soda make a great natural cleaner. It took out the musty smell in the dishwasher that had been sitting unused for way too long. I also happened to have a giant container of really cheap vodka left over from a going away party three years ago. Ben and I obviously don't drink a lot of hard alcohol. It works great as a cleaner and really makes things shine without leaving behind any of those strong smells. 

For the floors my in laws purchased a Shark steam mop for their own floors but let us try it out first. All it uses is water. I loved this concept as I am reluctant to use any chemicals on the floors now that Kai is scooting and crawling all over them. It worked fairly well but left water streaks on the wood laminate flooring. I'm not too picky, so I'd probably use it again!

This past weekend I scrubbed down a bunch of the doors and light switches. My favorite tool to use on projects like this is an old toothbrush. I also used a toothbrush to scrub the nooks & crannies of the refrigerator. It's amazing the places that old food will find to hide. 

We are far from being done and keep finding new things to add to our list, but it's nice to finally be in a position where I feel like most of the house is clean and we can move forward with settling in. 

owning it

Alright lovelies, here are some photos of our place-  mess and all!

These are NOT "before & after" photos. They are "in progress" photos as we are very far away from the "after"!

So our front living space was this dreadful lavender as some of you may recall

On Friday afternoon we chose a paint color for this room and the master in about 10 seconds and went to work. It's hard to tell from the photos, but it's a tan color by Dutch Boy called Fresh Linen and we're very happy with the result.

Our bedroom is right off of this front room and was an odd blue color. The before pictures aren't that great. The second one is kind of funny because you can see the blue, purple, and greens that this house had all in one space. While painting someone likened it to Easter eggs.

We decided to go with the same color as the living room. (nevermind Ben's desert scene pillow case, haha)

Next door, down the hall is Malakai's room. It was very VERY pink!

Ben and my father-in-law tore down the border and FIL did the first coat. Later my mom and aunt did the finish work to paint it the same color as his old room. This is a custom color that I had done when his room at the rental was just a guest room. 

Now if only we could figure out how to fit all his furniture in a room almost half the size of his previous one!

We also have a guest bedroom now. We didn't paint it, but it's become a sort of "catch all" at the moment. 

The bathroom was the worst when it came to painting because it had been badly wallpapered. Getting the paper down alone took 5 hours. Ben's dad painted the first coat while the truck was getting unloaded on moving day, and I did the finish work after everyone had gone and I needed  a break from the kitchen.

We haven't put up our shower curtain yet or the switchplates and towel bars. Also, Ben broke a vanity bulb during scraping. We plan to add a shelf/cupboard above the toilet.

The living room/dining area in the back of the house is where we've spent most of our time. It's also the messiest. We didn't paint in this room because we liked the green.

A closer look at my happy boy.

Eventually we'd like to replace the tile in the dining room/kitchen and extend the laminate flooring. This before picture looks MUCH cleaner than it was close up. It's taking the longest and driving me crazy!

There you have it. 

I best get back to cleaning and unpacking!