Spring Decor

WHAT IS UP WITH THE SNOW??!! We definitely had a surprise snow in my area today. It was such a surprise that USA Today posted an article that I read earlier on my iPad about how big of a shocker it was. I am just ready for some warmth.

SO, in order to help the snow melt faster, I decided that it's time: time to get out the spring decorations! All three of them. :) I am not a fan of pastel colors, so I really haven't bought a lot of spring things in my life. I can deal with dark pastel colors, and I also like "spring green". I decided to run with what I had on hand (as usual) and not buy anything new. (I also had a lot of crafting time today with my daughter being gone at my mom's for the night - I got so much done!)


Simple, functional table top. Seriously, someone needs to give me a centerpiece lesson . . . Anyway, the placemats were $1 each at Michael's - score! I may change my table-top set-up soon if I can think of something else, but I like it for now. I prefer function over decoration when it comes to my table - the kids around here mess it up too quickly!


I added a "Spring Tree" to my mantel. You will notice it's the exact same "Thanksgiving Tree" from thanksgiving, minus the fall colors and with some spring leaves and spring ornaments.


And lastly, a pair of pennant banners. Can you believe I have never made one of these before??!! Seriously, it's like the one thing every crafty person makes at some point. It's probably the first thing everyone makes when they get a Cricut or Silhouette machine - which is probably why I haven't made one up until now. I just used good drafting tools and letter stickers. Also, some spring post-it notes. :)


A close-up. Aren't my photo-taking skills amazing?? . . . OK, stop laughing.

Getting the decor out worked folks - the snow is melting already!! ;)

Until next time . . .

Potty Training/Foot Rest

I almost titled this entry: Potty Training (and other "stools" of note.) I couldn't bring myself to do it though. EW. You're welcome.

Nora has started potty training. She's doing really well . . . but it has been exhausting for me! She doesn't like anything bathroom/diaper/potty-related, so it's hard to get her excited. I have to do everything I can to get her to even go IN the bathroom.

BUT - this week there have been two major successes. ONE - we were able to get her to sit on the potty again after she was flat out refusing for a week now. TWO - she went number two! YESSSSSSSSS!! That was something I definitely didn't expect to see for a few months yet . . . even though I am fairly sure based on her reaction to it that she will NEVER do that again. Luckily I don't expect my 18-month-old to conquer potty training in a day. She will get there when she gets there.

Anywho, even though I am dog-tired I would like to show you what I did with the other footstool. I just covered the original fabric and stuffing with new fabric, and Magic Eraser-ed off the rose decal on the front, so changing it took about 20 minutes total. Not a huge project, but I am changing it someday anyway. Plus I LOVE THIS FABRIC! I have been wanting to use it for something for awhile now.

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Simple. And I love it! The fabric is not the same shade as our red couches, but I threw it in the living room in front of our loveseat anyway. I may change the location, but I like it where it is for now.

That's about it folks! Now I am going to bed. Up next: Pottery Barn knock-off curtains . . . I hope. If I can get my sewing machine to work, and my daughter to like her potty just a VERY LITTLE BIT.

Until next time . . .

Mud Room Storage

This past weekend I went to Kidmania, a gigantic kid's yard sale. It is always a ZOO!! So this year, my MIL and I got VIP tickets. That meant that we got to go in an hour before the crowd and get first dibs. It. Was. Awesome. I got the best haul EVER:

*baby swing
*little tykes kids picnic table
*dollhouse with TONS of accessories
*fold-up easel with a stool
*babydoll carseat
*cabbage patch kid
*"cat house" (as opposed to a dog house) with 4 stuffed kitties in it (25 cents for it! Awesome!)
*2 sesame street toys
*bunny slippers
*kids lawn mower with little "gas can"
*John Deere rocking horse for my sister and her husband when the time comes
*table top high chair
*Skip Hop diaper bag

I paid about $100 for all that, and most of it looked new or barely used. IT ROCKED! "Buy used, save the difference!"

Another unexpected gem that I picked up was a little white 3-drawer dresser for 5 bucks. (Aplogies for no "before" picture.) It was in moderate condition, and had obvioulsy been previously used for baby storage of some kind. It was cheaper than cheap and a little rickety, but as soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect for craft storage in our mud room.

So I picked it up, and my MIL and I loaded it into the truck (yes, truck. Did you see the above list??) It sat in my garage for a whole day before I started reinforcing it with nails, and painting it to match the mudroom.

TA-DA!




All it took was the paint and the same drawer pulls we have on the counter cabinet to make the thing look like it belonged. And it already has been a great organizational tool - I was able to get all my craft stuff officially OUT of the spare bedroom. :) More than half of it is downstairs, and the most used items (glue gun, stamps, photo cutters, etc.) are in this little dresser.

Good deals and simple fixes like this make me so happy. :)

Until next time . . .

Book Nook Seat

My Grandma gave my mom some thrift store stools not too long ago. My mom didn't have too much use for them, so she asked me if I wanted them.

Not really my style, but I have always wanted to re-upholster something. So I thought I would give it a try. Plus, Nora really enjoys sitting and climbing on them. :)

Since there were two stools, I thought I could use one in each child's room and match it to their individual book sling. Since I currently only have one child, only one got done this weekend! The other stool and the other book sling will get done later in life. Or I may upholster the other stool to match my living room for now, and then re-upholster it again in a few years for the next child. We shall see!


It was easier than I thought and harder than I thought. I wanted a huge cushion for it, so I used a cut-up garden mat from the dollar store AND also used foam padding. I just wrapped fabric around it, and stapled. I also made a foam-board covered interior to cover the staples, that I may do differently next time because I didn't quite cut it right. I also toyed with the idea of painting the wood, but I decided against it. The wood was in excellent condition, and matched Nora's furniture well.


All in all, it makes a cute little addition to her "reading nook". Nora likes that she can open and close it, and enjoys sitting on it. I like that it's totally cute and functional. YAY!!

Until next time . . .

Linked up at

Nora's First Haircut

Getting a haircut is not easy for me. I go through "hair remorse" like you wouldn't believe. It's one of the may ways I am crazy quirky. ;) And I found out recently that I am not much better about Nora's hair.

So when the time came to get Nora's first haircut, I thought it might be easier on all of us to try this place. It was a bit of a drive, but I heard a few good things about it and I thought it would be worth it (it was.)

The place is pretty neat. Nora got sit sit in an elevated Barbie Jeep and watch "Elmo in Grouchland". Watching a movie did not deter her from being wiggly, but she did OK.


She didn't cry at all (I didn't either, if you want to know) but she also did not want this lady to touch her and kept trying to move her head. The stylist was very worried that she wasn't cutting straight. In the end, it all worked out.

We got the "First Time Haircut" package, which included a picture and a cute picture frame. She wouldn't smile at the camera, but she was pretty happy to be done. :)


This is the best pic I could get of the cut today. Someone's not in a picture-taking mood. ;)
Until next time . . .

My Dream Date

This Saturday Cory and I found ourselves without Nora, and with a tax return check that we have been trying not to spend. So on the way to drop Nora off, Cory asks me: "What would you like to do tonight?" And, being me, I sighed and said in my dreamiest voice: . . . .

. . . "Fabric store."

In the town where I live, there are no fabric stores, unless you count Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has some good stuff, but it's usually not really what I am looking for. This is all OK because if I had the chance I would likely buy lots of fabric, and then just look at it. I have a frustratingly finicky sewing machine. My fabric projects involve glue and staples most of the time.

Anyway, I had been wanting fabric for various projects for awhile now, and we actually had time and money for it, so I thought I would just do my best with my crazy sewing machine . . . FABRIC STORE!

We also went out to eat at a great steak place, and attempted to see a movie too, FYI. I am not a total dud on a Saturday night. :)

While shopping for fabric I saw some that instantly reminded me of Nora, and I picked up a yard. It was white flannel with different colored kitties all over it. I had no idea what I was going to make her with this fabric, but later I decided to make her a couple of kitty throw pillows.

. . . Which turned into ONE kitty pillow. My sewing machine frustrated me to the point where I made a lot of mistakes and some of the fabric got ruined. I used an entire yard of fabric for one small pillow:


You can't see it in the picture, but the stitching is not good. There was also supposed to be contrast stitching, and two small baby kitty pillows in my original plan. Instead there is just this. She likes it anyway, but it's not really what I wanted to do for her.

I think it's time to call in the sewing machine repair folks. Anyone know of a place that does it?

Until next time . . .

Nora - 18 Months!

My my my my MY how time absolutely flies!

Well, our little 18 month old is definitely in full fledged TODDLER MODE! She fake cries, changes her mood in an instant, but is still totally soothed by a cup of milk. Well, when she feels like it!

New this month is her interest in cleaning. She loves to "help" do the laundry now that the mud room is safe for her to be in, and she also carries around this broom that her daddy made out of one of our old brooms:

She uses it to pretend to sweep, which is really funny since her idea of sweeping is running with the broom dragging behind her. She is also intentionally making messes so she can help clean them up - banging her milk cup on the floor so she can get a towel and clean it up, or dumping out her ball pit so mommy will help her pick up. It's both frustrating and cute.

Her attention span is unusually long for her age, and as a result she is continuing to be very smart. She officially knows all her capitol letters, is working on the letter sounds, can spell her name, and can identify her name. We are also doing a few sight words like "cat", "mommy", "daddy", etc. People are usually very shocked at how much she knows, letter-wise. She also knows her numbers from 1-9.

We are also working on colors. She can identify blue and red and yellow (sometimes purple), and that's about it. She's come a long way since we started, especially since we don't work on colors very much.



Physically, she is doing great! I went ahead and moved her up to 24 month clothes, because when I came back from El Salvador I noticed she was too long for her 18 month jammies, and her 18 month pants were almost short. Funny thing was, I went to clean out her closet and see what 24 month clothes she has already . . . and nearly the entire closet was 24 month short-sleeved shirts! WHOA! I knew she had a lot, but I was kind of shocked to see how much she had. I had to move he pajama drawer to make room for them all! She also has a lot of skirts, but only one pair of shorts. :) When I put a short-sleeved shirt on her the other day, she kept trying to pull down the sleeves. Wait until she gets some sandals on again . . . :)

At the doctor this month she weighed in at 25 pounds, 13.5 oz. This is the 75th percentile for her age. Her height is . . . 33.5 inches! HO-LEE FRIJOLES!! lol She's in the 90th-95th percentile for height still. Everyone always asks if she is two - and when we went to visit at KinderCare last week, she was definitely the same height as the 2-year-olds!! It's crazy!

She still loves to dance. One of her new favorite shows is the "Fresh Beat Band". She used to watch it every once in awhile, but lately since her daddy has been working overtime she has been watching it everyday while I make dinner. The final song is always the same, and she tries to do the choreographed dance that goes along with it every day! It's really cute. As soon as it starts, she starts rolling her hands in a circle . . .



OK, now time of the biggest two pieces of news for the month. The first is . . . teeth are finally coming in! I can actually feel two molars on the bottom, which is awesome! :) I thought some may be coming in when I asked her the other day to show me her teeth and she did not point to the two she already has, but a random spot on her gums. Sure enough - that was one of them! Still none on top, but the doc says not to worry about it just yet.

The second piece of big news is that Nora peed on the potty already!! I couldn't believe it either. She started waking up dry from naps, so we started sitting her on the potty. And she DID IT! Three times in a row! It. Was. Awesome!!! I am over the moon about it. She continues to do it at least three times daily, which is great.

And that's all the news for our little girl. Happy 18 months Noranator!! :)

Until next time . . .