countdown!

I am in the home stretch of this pregnancy! It has FLOWN. I can't believe I'm about to have 2 kiddos.

I am 38 weeks TODAY.  14 DAYS to go! So thankful for another full term pregnancy. I went to the doctor today, and things are moving right along. I have a feeling this baby will make his/her debut before the 23rd. At least that's what I'm hoping!

We shall see. I am feeling great considering I'm 9+ months pregnant though! No major aches and pains, and I am sleeping pretty good. Still am able to walk a mile and do yoga. I so miss going to yoga class.{holidays, sickness, etc. has thrown that off.}

The nursery is as complete as it's going to get right now. The crib skirt still hasn't come in, paintings still need to be hung {friend is painting something for me, and I want to wait and see if it's a girl/boy to add more} and the changing table needs new fabric on it {it's a fabric covered table}, but I want to wait and see what it is to determine the fabric.

I have all the necessities which is all that really matters I've learned.

Bags are packed {ish}.

Freezer is stocked with food.

Baby clothes are clean and ironed.

Now it's just the waiting game. {which by the way is my LEAST favorite part!!}

I had a little celebration dinner last night with some of my sweet friends at Amsterdams. It was so fun! They are the sweetest friends. They hooked me up with A LOT of diapers. THANK YOU THANK YOU friends!! {and I definitely missed those that couldn't make it!}

not the best quality with our sci-fy eyes, and we are missing Kasi and Lauren. Sad!

I am so ready! SO ready to call this baby a name and not "IT".

Maybe next time I'm here I'll have a BABY!!!!! Either way it will be SOON!

simplifying: the playroom

This week I have been working towards simplifying my life/house. {the good Lord knows that's not happening right now.} I've been trying to do something each day to help me get to my goal. I have cleaned/organized the refrigerator, pantry and laundry room closet this week. {dare I say room... it is definitely a closet.} It is so nice when everything has a place!

Yesterday I worked on cleaning out old toys/ putting up toys/ cleaning the playroom. It's always a HUGE task!

I was in my cleaning zone all after noon, and was totally unaware of what was going on. {Don't worry, I knew exactly where Libby was... she was asking me to change barbie's outfit every 2.5 seconds.} I thought it was four o'clock and was wondering why Nolen was home from work so early... It was actually six o'clock. Oops.

Anyway...

I have also made a decision to do some minor design tweaks in the playroom too. Since it's the very first thing you see when walking in the front door, I thought I would try and tone down all the pink, and make it a little more neutral/pretty instead of all PINK. For example, I replaced the pink, blue and green storage baskets with woven baskets for toy storage. I went to World Market and Target yesterday, and probably spent an hour picking out basket. Yes, I'm indecisive when it comes to buying for my house. It's hard for me to commit to something. Because I want it to last me for a while.

I took out the storage unit with all the plastic bins too. It was looking too junky. I'm going to list it on craigslist or ebay this weekend. {hopefully along with some other stuff.} Holla if you want it! I'll give you a discount. I also put up the pink and lime green scout bin that had all of L's dress up clothes. I got a neutral woven basket and just picked a few dress up clothes to put in the basket. 

This brings me to another thing I am doing in order to help simplify. Toy rotations. I put up some of L's toys in her closet {and left some out for her to play with} and we will rotate the toys every few months. I'm hoping this will keep her toys "new" and it will be a nice change in toys without buying new ones.

OK-- You are probably bored to death... here are some pictures.

It definitely isn't finished, but everything is cleaned out and has a place. The artwork {one of my fave paintings} in between the bookcases I plan on moving to Libby's room maybe? I want to get a new rug to replace the pink shaggy rug. Someday all of this will happen! I feel it.

Here is my playroom board on pinterest. I love them all!  Libby will be in college before I get it all together! ;-)

have a nice rainy day!

Children's Artwork

I love children's artwork!

Especially Libby's. I'm a little biased though. :-)

I was reading Small Notebook and came across a post about how to keep and store children's art work. I've been wanting to get all of her artwork that she brings home from school organized and in a safe place.

I went to Target and got a big scrapbook binder with page protectors. It was around $12.

Then I put all of Libby's artwork from this year in the binder.

Such an easy project to do. Now I can't wait to have a lot more books like this for Libby to look through when she gets older.

If you're like me and have put this off for a while, go get a big scrapbook. It will make you feel a lot better. {and things won't look as cluttered!}

Spring Cleaning

I've been a little behind on my spring cleaning this year. Today I finally got my act together and started with Libby's playroom. This child is no where near deprived of toys! She has so many! This afternoon {while she was not looking} I got a big trash bag and started tossing things that she hasn't touched in the last year. It felt great to reorganize and get rid of unused old toys. I took a bag to Goodwill and trashed the other bag of toys that weren't worth giving.

Now I'm much happier when I walk in my front door. Nice and clean playroom!

I then went through all of Libby's drawers in her room, and packed up what didn't fit anymore. You couldn't pay me enough money to give away Libby's clothes. I don't know why, but I feel like these clothes will be used again some day.

Then I tackled my closet. Finished packing up all my winter clothes and getting my spring/summer clothes out. {My favorite!}

Now that I've been reminded of how good it feels to have everything organized and cleaned out, maybe I can tackle my whole house!

List, List and more List

I am a list maker. At the start of my day I always make a list of things to do. It helps keep me on track, and it feel pretty good to check things off my list! :-)

Yesterday, I found these really cute printable list on Simply Seleta's blog. She found them here. I'm definitely going to print some of these off.

Happy list making! and Happy Signing Day

Organization- Project 1

I'm sure everybody has the same New Years Resolution has me... get organized! This seems to be an on going NYR for me. {And I'm sure it will continue to be.} I'm going to try and document my progress in trying to be a more organized person. I'm not going to set myself up for failure and say I'll share once a week, twice a week or every two weeks, but I'm going to try my best to keep it going. This will just help me keep accountable.

My first project was very simple, and I'm so embarrassed I haven't done it yet. Organize the DVDs.  We have cases and cds stacked in random places in the house.

I've decided to just do away with the cases and get a file for all the DVDs.

It has made such a difference. So when Libby asks if she can watch Tinkerbelle {or whatever} I'll know exactly where it is... right in my file!

Libby update coming soon! Just got to find the time...

Happy Tuesday!

The Closet: {Part 2}

Ok, I finally got my act together and took pictures of the "after" of our closet. I can't believe it took me so long to do this. I guess life just got in the way... (That tends to happen a lot... :-) I'm so happy the way our closet turned out. Makes me feel better that everything has a place! Getting dressed is a whole lot easier too. 


So... after about 5 trash bags to Goodwill, some clothes to Platos closet, and just throwing away stuff that we don't use, we can finally walk into our closet! Yay! Who knew that walking into a closet was such a challenge??


Ok some before pictures.... I'm cringing right now...

Just awful.... I have no words.

I wouldn't dare show these pictures unless I had a really good after. So here it is...

Behind the door...

And a little trick I learned, roll up magazines and stick them in your boots to make the stand up! So clever. You can also use water bottles.

And behind the door... I couldn't get the whole door in the picture.

And a little side by side comparison...

Such a transformation, and I'm so glad it's over!!

And thought I would share what Libby's lunch looked like today...

Mmmm, macaroni and cheese, grapes and sprinkles.

I had no idea she did this until after the fact. Now that she can open and close the pantry door she has easy access to everything on the lower part of the door. And of course the sprinkles were right where she could reach. 

At least the macaroni and cheese had carrot puree in it...

Happy weekend!

xoxo

The Closet: {Part 1}

I'll be tackling my closet  this weekend. {Woop Woop!!} It feels like I've cleaned out my closet every month lately, but this time is going to be different! I just know it is. I'm going to make it the best clean out of my closet EVER! I'm so tired of Nolen yelling from our room, "Addie, How am I supposed to get into our closet?!? You have WAY too many clothes! I've never seen so many clothes in my life." etc, etc.

So before this weekend is over {I got 1 more full day!} I'm going to make my sweet husband the happiest husband in Auburn, Alabama! I'm sure of it.

I got some of these huggable hangers. I hope there as amazing as I hear.

I also have some storage containers and baskets.

And this will be my inspiration:

Even though the outcome of my closet will look nothing like this, it will keep me motivated during the process.

Happy weekend! xoxo

Playroom Re-do: Part Two

I can officially say I am DONE with the playroom. After a little over a week of working on it, it is finally complete. (Except for a few minor details.)I think Lib and I deserve a trip to the pool! Wait, NO that would be total torture, because it's 100 degrees outside the pool and inside the pool.  We'll think of something to do in celebration! :-)

I didn't take any before pictures, unfortunately! I so wish I did just so I could see how different the change is.  I do have a "during" picture, and it makes me realize that something did change about it! And it really didn't turn out quite like my "inspiration" photos. I think it's still super cute though, considering I pretty much just worked with what I had. I didn't buy one thing for this playroom, well except for paint, ribbon, fabric and the rug from a yard sale.

So here it is... The new and improved playroom!

Minor details that need to be fixed. Add the top shelf to the right bookcase (I had to paint it separately). and move the painting down in between the bookcases.

What do you think?? I thought it turned out cute. Now the trick is... keeping it this way! I think it will be much easier to keep up since I eliminated a TON of her toys. It's amazing how much a little paint will do! All those hours in the garage sweating like a pig paid off! Oh yeah, these pictures really make me appreciate the outcome even more.

Whew! Makes me tired looking at this mess.

And this is totally unrelated, but I seriously cannot believe that Libby turned 3 4 months ago today! I just know 4 is approaching too fast! Makes me sad... 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Ours is going to be filled with no time in the garage painting, and I'm so excited about that!

Ohh- Did I fix the commenting thing this time?? I don't know what's been going on with it. I've just gotten several emails and FB messages saying that people can't comment. Let me know!

Headboard Makeover

If you are feeling that your room needs a face lift, and don't want to spend a lot of $$, then making a headboard is your best bet. (I think!) I've made 2, and they have really spiced up the room. I spent a total of around $40. Which is NOTHING compared to ones you can buy already made.

The first headboard I made for our room I just did a very simple off-white fabric. Since then I have switched around our bedding. (I'm so indecisive!) Now our bedding is all white. So it was a little boring with the white sheets, pillow and comforter. I notice that the fabric store down the street from us was having a BIG sale. So, Libby and I went and checked it out. Basically I couldn't walk out of that store without some fabric in my hands... It was that good of a deal! So Libby and I decided on a fabric, brought it home and made this in about 20 minutes...

All I did was strip off the white fabric I had on before, and just re-covered it with this fabric. I thought it turned out cute, considering I spend 20 minutes on it! Now I just need to frame some pictures to go over the bed since the painting doesn't match it anymore.

Playroom Re-do: Part One (The projects)

I feel like I've been in a sauna and covered in paint for the past 2 days. That's probably because I have been in a sauna (my garage) painting furniture for Libby's "new" playroom. I got a lot of inspiration from the Pottery Barn kids website, like I posted earlier. And I also found several blogs that have such cute ideas for decorating on a tight budget. I think it's so fun to brainstorm on how you can create the same look for less! It's a challenge, but it can be done! (I've slowly figured that out).

OK- These are the things I've been working on so far-

#1 Paint wooden bookcases. The "after" is after one coat of paint. I can't believe how good it looks! I did a second coat and put Wipe on Poly on it. Which is so easy to use! I have one more bookcase just like this that I haven't painted yet. I'm waiting on Nolen to help me move it out to the "sauna".

#2  Paint Libby's chairs and table. The "after" is just after I primed it. There is no paint on it. I didn't get around to taking a picture of the real "after". I was in the garage until almost 9:15 last night finished the table and chairs. I asked Nolen to join me, but it didn't last too long. :-) I thought this Alabama heat would be better at night, but it was still pretty steamy! A little better though.

The chairs- This is just after one coat of paint.

#3 Bulletin Board. I got this cute idea from Little Green Notebook. I already had a plain cork board from Target that I've had forever, and just didn't know what to do with it. I thought it needed a little makeover before hanging it somewhere. So I found the perfect idea (for almost no money at all).

I spray painted the edges of the cork board a bright yellow. I'm going to do another coat too. This is as far as I've gotten. I still need to find some cute fabric. Then all you do is pick out a cute fabric and thin ribbon. Cover the cork part with the cute fabric, then use the thin ribbon to outline the fabric. It is sooo cute!! I'm hoping to complete this project today. If I get a chance to go to the fabric store.

#4 Fabric covered letters.

Inspiration: Pottery Barn Kids

My version. Not finished yet. I've only done the "L". This was so inexpensive too. I think the letters were around a dollar each. And the fabric was like $3 a yard. Pretty good I thought! Better than paying $15 for just one letter. There on sale for $9 right now, but that can add up if you get 5 letters! That's $ 45 dollars just for a cardboard letter wrapped in fabric. And I paid under $10 for everything! Amazing. And of course those letters don't come with a cute little assistant either. ;-) She loved spelling her name with the letters.

I can't wait to see the finished outcome of her new and improved playroom!

Happy Thursday!