big boy bed.

so.... brady has officially been in his big boy bed for two weeks now. i've been afraid to post this because i don't want to jinx it.... but he's been doing really well. it seems to be a non-issue... and for that, i'm so grateful. it sounds so silly but ever since jeff and i decided when we were going to make the transition, i prayed about it almost daily.

a lot of the following is for MY documentation - so if you want to skip right to the pictures, go right ahead... you will not be quizzed on this information!

we talked about the 'big boy bed' A LOT before we actually made the change. he went to pottery barn with us to pick out his bedding... {we were choosing between choo-choo bedding and sports bedding. i wanted the choo-choo bedding at first, and so did brady, but jeff said it was too 'babyish' for brady. ironically, that is precisely the reason i liked it!} we had the bedding for about a month before we made transitioned so brady would show us all the time his 'baseball' bed. we made a huge deal of it... and he was so excited, or at least that's how it seemed to us....

we went back and forth about whether or not to take him somewhere and then change everything for when he comes back - or to let him be a part of the transition. we chose the latter... and he had so much fun.

the first night, we kept him up a bit later so we knew he was tired. we talked all day about how he was going to stay in his big boy bed and not get out without mommy or daddy. he seemed to understand - but we were going to have to put our money where our mouth was when it was time to go to sleep.

about 20 minutes into 'bed time' that first night, we heard a big thud {we had decided against the rails for the time being} and we ran up there - even though we didn't hear any crying. when we opened the door we saw him on the other side of his bed, pop up off the ground saying "uh-oh! uh-oh!" and he gave jeff a giant hug... i think he thought he was in trouble. i still don't know if he had fallen out or if his llama fell out and he was trying to get him or what. either way we put him back in bed and he said he'd stay in until morning.

around 2 a.m. we heard him crying really loud. we both jumped out of bed and ran upstairs to find him sitting in his reading chair with crocodile tears!! as soon as we opened the door, he ran to me and squeezed me really hard. we both asked him if he wanted to go back to sleep in his baseball bed and he very adamantly said "yeah! yeah!" so we laid him back down under the covers and that was that.

he hasn't gotten out {to our knowledge} since then. every morning i hear him reading to his llama and when i open the door, he immediately gets out of bed... but i've never caught him out of bed, knock on wood.

pictures from our last night in the crib:

the transition:

the morning after:

the mess:

***and because i absolutely love before & after pictures, i have to tell you that i have 1 or 2 more things to accomplish before an 'after' picture.... although it still won't officially be 'done' for a while!***

first day.

last year's first day:

this year's first day:


more pictures to come - although he didn't let me get too many.... he was too excited to go into his classroom. we were getting everything situated in his 'cubby' and before we knew it, he had already walked in to hand his lunch box to his teacher. such a big.boy.

the 'big' reveal.

so we 'finished' the laundry room transformation this weekend.

here's the before:

and the after:

i.love.it.

it's a totally different room.... and it's my very own space!

maybe i'll want to do laundry now??? {or is that just wishful thinking??}

much to the hubbs's dismay, i did all the painting my pregnant self - while b was napping. i spread it out over a few days so it wasn't terrible. i really wanted the satisfaction of 'doing it myself' - if that makes any sense at all. jeff made the desk for me and installed it so it could hold my sewing machine. he cut it out of some paneling we found at lowe's and hung it with two l-brackets. my goal is to paint it white - but for now, it works and i'm kind of sick of painting.

all the decor/shelves i had. i spray painted the white shelves - they were originally black. isn't spray paint a miracle worker???


the curtains we had in our old house and i LOVE them but we have nowhere to use them in our current house, so i cut them and made curtains for in here out of one panel.


and yes - i did paint that wall 'black'. {it's actually chalkboard paint!!!} the hubbs was super skeptical when it was just a painted wall - even saying that we'd have to keep the door closed... but now that he sees what it looks like with everything else, i think even he'd admit that it's very cool. i even had a little message in there from him today.

so here's the breakdown of the materials/cost:

green paint - already owned {leftover from charlotte's room}
chalkboard paint - $12.96 from lowe's
paint supplies - already owned
curtains - already owned, just cut in half
shelf & 2 l-brackets - about $36 from lowe's {you could make this a lot cheaper if you used a sheet of mdf... but since the hubbs treated me, he wanted to use this really pretty panel. it's in a special 'precut' section at lowe's. they'll trim it for you there, but jeff ended up using a circular saw and trimming after we got home...}
miscallenous decor - already owned
wood-look blinds - $16.99 from lowe's
white spray paint {for pre-owned shelves} - $4.12 from lowe's
rug - $14.99 from target
chair - already owned {from our kitchen table}
pillow - already owned

project total: $85.06

like i said - if you used mdf instead of the paneling it would end up being probably $20 cheaper. i only used a quart of chalkboard paint - and it's not cheap. but totally worth it... :)

i still have a few storage things that i'm going to collect over time and we want to eventually change that ugly light on the ceiling - but for now, it works like a dream!

it's my new happy place. i can't wait to break it in with all of the projects on my list!!

*follow up* to 'zero dollars' post

i've gotten a few emails about my little craft project that i posted yesterday.

to go into a little bit more detail:

1. i used the cardstock weight scrapbook paper - just because it's what i had. i think that the normal paper weight might be manipulated better.

2. i 'painted' each 'leg' of the star with some modpodge, as well as the back of the paper i had already cut into strips. i was not afraid to use the scissors after it was modpodged... needless to say, my scissors are kind of sticky now.

3. i folded some excess paper -at the very least - underneath the edges of the star. i kind of had to hold it there for a second or two before moving on. *you can not be afraid to get your hands messy in this crafty goodness!*

4. the final touch - which i forgot to mention yesterday - was coating the entire thing with a layer {or two} of modpodge after the paper was placed on the star. my modpodge was gloss finish - again, it's just what i had. but it might be interesting with the matte finish or i think they even have a finish that is sparkly! :)

hope this helps! let me know if you have any other questions!

zero dollars.

last week, my friend - and college roommate - Amber, posted a 'home tour' of her bedroom and bathroom. {isn't her house super cute, by the way?!}

anyway, she took an up close picture of the window and stars above her bed - which she said were modpodged with scrapbook paper. AHA! what a great idea, amber!!!! what was even greater was that i had plenty of iron stars and plenty of scrapbook paper. so making these {for my super new craft room} would cost me - ZERO DOLLARS!!!!

you just need some scrapbook paper {and scissors}


mod podge {and a brush}

some stars {any size - but mine were on the medium-ish side}

i just cut a few strips at a time from the paper, painted the backs with mod podge and tried to manipulate it onto the star. no pattern in mind - and the random paper turned out much better than the stripes.... because you can't really tell that it's 'piece-milled' together. either way - they're both cute... and look great in my new room!!

thanks for sharing, amber!!!!

giddy.

so, a few days before our vacation, my cute friend terri, posted this on her blog.

{someday i'm going to do a special post on terri.... i think she may be my other half, living hundreds of miles away.... }

needless to say that was all the inspiration i needed.

the thing was that i already have a little 'office' spot in our living room. an antique desk that was darlene's {my m-i-l} first piece of furniture she bought. it's beautiful and functional and after roaming around in different rooms of our house, it's found the perfect home in our living room. {it also gets a.lot of use that way}.

anyway - so i needed something a bit different. i've mentioned SEVERAL times before that i love to get started on projects - sewing, crafting, etc. - but i don't like the mess that they leave in my dining room. especially with a two-year old, you must have the option of working on it for several days, right?

the bottom line was that i was in need of a craft 'space'. in the worst way, really... but i never thought it would be possible. jeff and i had actually talked about putting up one of those long card tables in the garage but that would only work in spring and fall because it's so dang hot out there right now... and not sure how all of my 'materials' would last in the humidity.

after seeing terri's post i was determined to find a location. we emailed back & forth about and she told me she just knew there was a closet i could use. but there wasn't. all of our closets had permanent shelving in there that didn't leave any space for a chair to fit under & what not.

but after much exploration, i finally did. a small, but totally under-utilized space called the laundry room.

here's the before picture: {unedited so the transformation is even more dramatic....}


i mean, really - look at how ugly it is. which no one really cares because, hey - it's the laundry room. not anymore!!!!!

i immediately got to work - painting with the leftover paint from charlotte's room.

then we went on vacation, so i had to put the project 'down' so to speak and come back at a later date - much to my creative dismay.

last night, however, i got a special treat. jeff took me to lowe's and we picked out some wood and he made me a worksurface!!!!!! i was so giddy last night i couldn't even sleep. it looks like it was made for this space - and even though he was extremely doubtful that i could pull it off without looking piece-milled together - he had to admit that it is perfect!

all this to say, it's 9 a.m. on saturday morning and the house is quiet. jeff is running 'boy' errands with the bug and i'm supposed to be sleeping. but i'm going to get started on 'decorating' my new craft room now.... yipppeeee......

i can't wait for the reveal..... can you?!

barbershop.

last weekend when we first saw b after having been gone a week, we knew it was time for a real haircut.

i've been trimming it around the edges for a while, but this summer, it has grown a.lot. and after not having seen him for a week, it was shocking at how long and bed-headed it was!

so first thing saturday morning, we went to get donuts and then off to a 'real' barbershop.

b did so good sitting in his daddy's lap. we kept the wrapper on the sucker as long as we could - trying to bribe him. {isn't that totally anti-baby wise?} but he didn't really need it. he was super still and did great. not scared at all.

this barbershop was awesome. everyone there made such a big deal about it being his first haircut. brady felt so special {and momma did too}. i knew in my heart that this would be the last time i'd see him get his haircut. it's such a male bonding thing... i almost felt like i was intruding... but we needed pictures!

destin: let's eat.

one of the things i was looking most forward to on our vacation was dinner!

we tried a few new restaurants this year - and we weren't disappointed.

lots of seafood. and a few hush puppies here and there. one virgin pina colada.

my kind of restaurant: