Pinspiring Updates

Feels as though I have had zero time to update the blog around here! I've missed it. And I've missed following others and keeping up with their blogs even more! January has proved to be a very busy month for us. Since Christmas though, I have been taking some time to update our house, even if the changes haven't made it to the blog yet. Remember this post? Well, I haven't quite accomplished all of the updates I was hoping to yet, but we have made some progress. Here are some of Pinterest inspired updates...

{New drapes, thank you Pottery Barn!}

 {The beginnings of a gallery wall!}

 

It's pathetic I know, but frames are EXPENSIVE! So, it's a work in progress. 

{New neautrals, pillows, and textures! And a more bookshelves!}

We've made a couple of other small changes too. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I have trouble letting kid stuff overtake my house. Well, maybe it's the addition of a second little one that has softened my heart, but we've made a few steps toward making our living room more kid friendly. 

{More toy storage}

{L's new art table}

And, the table matches our bookshelves, so it's a win win!

It's funny how adding a whole other person and all their goodies makes a house seem so much more full! Normally the extra clutter would drive me mad, but this full house is filling up my heart in a good way, so I'm loving it! There are many, many more ideas I have pinned to my home board on Pinterest, so look me up if you want to check them out!

Updating in 2012

I am getting ready to redo the living room...again. It's nothing major, you know, just the usual change the curtains, repaint a wall, add some furniture, design a wall gallery, etc... I am a little crazy when it comes to makeovers, and if I were keeping count I would realize that we've had 4 different sets of drapes and our couch in 3 different places in our living room, but I'm not...Anyway, Pinterest has been inspiring me once again and I am pretty excited about it. Here are some things things I have pinned recently to my home board that I will be using for inspiration...

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I really want to create a gallery wall, and while I am going for a bit of sophistication, I want lots of fun too! I have always been fairly uptight about keeping the living space an adult space. Maybe it is a second baby that has softened me, but I am now thinking that we need to liven our place up a little bit. I am thinking about incorporating some playful dogs and kid silhouettes into the mix, what do you think??

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And finally, I am thinking of incorporating some graphic art to the gallery wall. I LOVE this print I pinned this week. I think it is the perfect inspiration for me as we enter into the second semester of the school year!

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We'll see how the updates go around here in 2012. I'm trying not to be too crazy and get them all done overnight. I think it's going to take time to get it just right, and that is okay with me! In fact, one of my resolutions is to just slow down in general, so I think I'll just take the evolution one day at a time. Matt will like that. :)

Happy Monday!

Christmas around our house

I am always anxious to decorate for Christmas each year! I usually head straight for the cutesy Christmas stuff, all bows and ruffles, but I want something a little different this year. This picture is from our front door wreath from last year, which I still might just pop back on the front door anyway!

This year I wanted more of a rustic, homemade feel around our house. I went with a combo of paper crafts, pine cones and branches, and a little pop of red to change things up a bit. So far I am really happy with what we have come up with!

Our coffee table centerpiece is low fuss and in one of my all-time favorite goodwill finds!

 I love our three window wreaths, a Pinterest idea.

 These pillows were another Pinterest idea from a few weeks ago! They didn't turn out quite as well as I'd planned, but I am happy with the little linen pillows. I just used iron-on transfer paper to recreate this favorite pin!

 I picked this polar bear up at HomeGoods, and I love it! Polar bears are my favorite, and he brings a different little kick to things. 

Matt and I bought our stockings the year we spent living abroad in Edinburgh. When Laurelei was born we lucked out and found a similar 'old-school' stocking at Joseph Beth. Now, we are on the hunt for Abbott's perfect mismatch too! If you see any, let us know!

 Yet another Pinterest christmas project. I'm not overly excited about how this turned out either, but I'll take it! It adorns our farm house dining room table for now. 

This little ribbon tree is something I made last year, and I still really like it. It's a surprising little find on our living room bookshelf!

And of course, last but not least, our Christmas tree.

I've decided it's pretty much impossible to get a good picture of a Christmas tree. But you get the gist. This year we added letter garland and paper stars to our tree, alluding to the homemade feel around here. I really like it, even if it is a bit unorthodox!

I am pretty happy with all of our changes around here this year. If you are interested in what we did for Christmas last year, here is last years post.You can check out my Pinterest holiday board to see where I got a lot of my ideas this year!

Happy Holiday Decorating!!

Baby Abbott's Nursery!

I finally get to share what we've been up to in the 'little' room in our house. I don't have a lot to say about it, mostly because I used up all my energy writing the post for Lemon Tree Creations about it, so I'll just leave you with my favorite pictures. You can see ALL of the details over on LTC today here. Hope you will check it out!

 

 

This is unofficially 'officially' the final product. It still feels a little empty, but even just adding the little shower gifts we got the other day has made it feel a little more warm and inviting. I think I'm just waiting for it to actually be lived in, and then I am sure it will feel completely finished :).

Lately...

I was on a blogging hot streak there for awhile, and now it's been a couple of days since I've even sat down at the computer. That's not to say that there hasn't been a lot going on though! We've had a very full week as far as bed rest goes, so here are a few of the things I've been up too.

first. I spent way to much time at school this week. I mean in real life I probably would have spent TWICE as much time at school getting ready for the new year, but considering I've been on bed rest for nearly 9 weeks, I broke a lot of rules this week. I ended up caving in for both back to school orientations and went into my classroom 3 different times. Sheesh! If I didn't know my limits before, I learned them this week. In nearly two weeks since my last doctors appointment I've only had to stop contractions 3 times (yay!) Unfortunately, ALL of them were this week (boo!) We see the doctor tomorrow, and I am probably going a good talking too. After this next week I am pretty sure there will be no more work for me. This means, I am going to need A LOT of sick days to get me through. We are praying really hard that everything just all comes together and works out!

second. I haven't had much time to sit down and write in the past couple of days, but I have had fun updating the blog a little. Some new features? Tabs at the top, did you notice them? Also, I added a couple of pages to the tabs. One is of my favorite Lemon Tree Creations DIY blog posts. I figured it's time to bring the two blogs together just a little bit more! The other one is of the rooms in our house. I have too much fun decorating and redecorating the rooms in our house on a rotating basis. I figured you could try to keep up with me :).

 third. I joined Pinterest! I know, I know, it's about time. A friend told me to do it a long time ago, and I just finally spent the time this week to sit down and figure it out. I am hooked! I spend a few minutes each night before I go to bed just 'exploring' and I swear it's been making my dreams more beautiful! SO much inspiration to be found there. Click the button on the sidebar or in the tab at the top to check it out! If you don't already pin, you will be instantly hooked I am sure. And let me just say, I am obsessed with their iPhone app, definitely my new favorite.

fourth. Yesterday Matt and I took L to sit by the pool at my grandparent's house. We had a great time. Matt and L just played and played and I just sat and sat. That is no surprise I guess, but sitting in the sun was SUPER refreshing. I can't believe pool season, and summer for that matter are nearing the end. Guess that just makes us that much closer to little baby Abbott, yay!

 fifth. Speaking of baby Abbott, my sister-in-law and mother-in-law threw me the sweetest little shower. The details were all just so perfect and so many sweet family members came to shower little Abbott. (L even got a few special presents herself, and she definitely appreciated the attention!) It has been weird not stepping foot in a baby store this pregnancy, and Matt and I were so grateful for all of the help getting us ready for a new little one. I didn't get to take any pictures while I was there, but I'm sure someone will send some my way soon. Here are a couple of pictures as we were unpacking the sweet goodies! Thanks everyone!

 (Matt's excited about this gift and what it implies!)

 (We got the quilt to complete Abbott's bedding set and a sweet, sweet bunny I've been eying too!)

sixth. Abbott's room is finished! Woo hoo! I will be sharing the final reveal on Lemon Tree Creations on Wednesday. I'll be sure to link to it here too then!

 seventh.  L goes back to her baby sitters this week. My sister-in-law has been so generous, as always, and had been helping watch L all summer long. Tomorrow though, we send her back on the way to her routine. I would be remiss if I didn't say it makes me a little sad to send her off! She is pretty excited though, and keeps asking when she gets to see her friends again. She does LOVE playing with her friends at mimi's for sure! And speaking of sweet little L, this picture is just quintessential "morning Laurelei." I love looking at it!

 

eighth. We have made it past 30 weeks with Abbott. I feel so blessed. 8 weeks ago when I posted the heart breaking news we'd received at the doctors I never knew how far we'd make it. Each week is just such a blessing, and also a reminder of how God has provided for our family. I am well on my way to delivering miracle baby #2, and I couldn't feel more blessed about that! (You can catch up on Abbott's story here.)

{linking up with lowercase letters for miscellany monday}

Recent Thoughts

 {I'm linking last weeks thoughts up to Miscellany Monday over at lowercase letters for the first time. Thanks for stopping by!}

...I cannot believe school starts back in 3 weeks. I mean, are they serious about that? I must plan, I must plan, I must plan...

...L has some facial expressions that I am fairly certain could kill.

{exhibit A}

 

{exhibit B}

...if we can't get pregnant again now, what should I do with all of L's sweet clothes? How many are too many to keep, just for 'nostalgia' and 'heirlooms' sake?

...when we found out we were having a boy, Matt said, "Wow, life is about to get a lot dirtier around here and I like it!" I am wondering how soon I should begin to adjust my a-type personality to that realization?

...I like our new living room set up a lot better right now. It feels more spacious and open. I think we are all just wondering how long that is going to last? I am thinking at least until the Christmas season, since I have already been scouting ideal tree locations in our new arrangement.

 

...speaking our new arrangement, I spend entirely too much time in this chair. I will say though that it definitely counts a good investment now, when less than 6 months ago I thought we might have overspent on it.

 

 ...L is a lot like me in some ways, and a lot more like Matt is others. Matt would probably say that she  inherited my affinity to be slightly 'princess-ish," love of shoes and sweet tooth. I would say that she got her ability to play non-stop, never ending energy, her love for being outside no matter what the temperature is, her smile, the tendency to role her eyes at me, her love of books, a fascination of golf balls, etc, etc, etc... from him. I guess it's a fair combination I guess. :)

...the mild summer has officially passed. L is still wanting to spend long hours on the great swing set Matt's parents got her, but I am not lasting too long in the heat!

 

...though I am fairly certain I won't, I am starting to feel that my belly might just pop at any second. Is it possible that I was this big with L and just have no recollection of it? In the past couple of days I have had at least 4 different people comment on how 'huge' my belly is. That's quite a feat since I am at home on bedrest!

{black is slimming, :)}

 

...I take too many pictures. Not necessarily pictures of too many events, more like too many pictures of the same exact thing. I think I need to get better at just knowing how to take a good picture, and less just shooting over and over again until I 'luck' into the right shot.

...I just don't think I will ever catch onto twitter, but I think it says something about our culture that I sometimes think in hashtags even though I don't tweet. Hmmm...#toomuchtimeontheinternet, #needtorejoincivilization, #sonotcoolenoughtodothis...

...we have got to break L of this band-aid obsession soon. I know for a fact that Mimi the babysitter will not understand.

 

"the blues"

Due to some recent, unexpected, circumstances I have had the 'luxury' of laying around the house for the past few days. In this time, I have realized a few things.

1) It is nearly impossible to sit still and relax in your own home. When I lay on the couch all I can think is, "look how messy that coat closet is!" or, "wouldn't some bolder drapes look better there?" or, "wow, I really should mop!." Does this mean I have a problem?

2) I will NEVER be done decorating and re-decorating my house. Is it impossible to be satisfied, or do my interests just change that quickly? Hmm...

3) I do not like to be alone. The more time I spend alone, the more my mind wanders to things like, "wouldn't some bolder drapes look better there?" Clearly not a healthy thought for me, given my pension for spending way to much on 'bargain' drapes that end up being replaced next month.

4) My house has "the blues." That's right. We are almost entirely blue, floor to ceiling, side to side, front to back. I believe whole heartily that blues are extremely soothing, but there is the potential that I have gone overboard....

Would you care to be the judge?

Even the kitchen and bathroom have caught the fever!



Any suggestions??