A whole bunch of afters

Tim for another link up with the wonderful Miss Mustard Seed!
Well, I've been completing a lot of projects lately and I wanted to throw them all out there to "show off" as it were. ;) I'm having so much fun with this new hobby of mine that it doesn't seem like work at all! And plus it's fun getting a little bit of money to use however I want (which usually means buying presents for our house).
Enjoy! And please let me know what you think!

This cutie was painted with ASCP Napoleon Blue and then before it completely dried I wiped off some of it to create a different look. It originally had six drawer pulls so I filled in four of them and only kept the necessary two, which I think looks better. I also spray painted the hardware black and I like that better too. This is really a great piece because it's so versatile. It will be listed for sale.






This precious little dresser was a fun and easy project. I gave it two coats of ASCP French Blue and then sanded it with my palm sander to smooth out the finish and really distress it nicely. I finished it out with some new wax (which I love!) and just popped the original hardware back on to finish it out. This has been a really popular piece and is also for sale.





This little desk was a really fun project! I picked it up off of CL for a steal and then realized it was over 50 years old! I sanded and then stained the top with Dark Walnut and painted the base ASCP Antibes Green. It sold in less than a week but I was a little sad to see it go.

Well, my little urchins are awake and needing me so I must dash. Enjoy!

Re-covered chair

Linking up with Miss Mustard Seed!!

Here's another chair that I recently snatched up to recover. I really loved the beautiful dark wood so I decided to leave it alone. No painting?! yes, it is true, I did not paint a piece of wood that came into my house. :)
The pattern gave me a few fits and at one point I definitely just went to bed to face it in the morning. It's a tad crooked but pretty hard to tell, especially if you're not looking too hard. :) I think next time I will definitely do the smart thing and take all the fabric off and cut the new fabric with it as a pattern.

Doesn't it look cozy?




I have another cute cane chair just waiting to be re-covered. Just waiting for inspiration to hit on that one but I'm leaning toward painting it white and covering it with burlap. Don't want too many patterns competing!
Here's the only good picture I could find of my next chair project. Look at those two cuties!!

Large dresser

Another Friday has come so I thought I would share another one of my recent projects over at Miss Mustard Seed's place. I've actually finished quite a few so that has been very fun and rewarding. I'm debating whether or not to sell this beauty, she is rather large which is nice for storing things but she also takes up a lot of room in our bedroom. Tim also has requested a different color paint so I'm leaning toward selling this one and keeping an eye out for a new one.
Either way, here is the before picture:




And a few afters.







Isn't she a beauty?!

The gentleman who sold her to me was very kind and helped me load her into my car, DANG is she heavy!!

The top was sanded down and stained with Dark Walnut (my fav!) and the base was painted in ASCP Paris Gray and lightly distressed. She came with a fitted glass topper so that's why the top looks so shiny although I did do three coats of polycrylic to make sure it was well protected.

I love it! What do you think?

China Cabinet

Linking up with the FABULOUS Miss Mustard Seed!!
Here is a craigs list china cabinet I painted with Annie Sloans Paris Gray and Old white. It really brought out the fun details on the piece and gave it a fresh look. Kept the old hardware because it just really fit it. Looks pretty with my china but I think I'll let someone else have this one so shoot me an email if you're interested and in the DFW area because it's for sale!
Love that chalk paint!!

My first chalk paint/reupholstery project!

Well, I've been bitten by the chalk paint bug! So I decided to link up with Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday party! Here goes nuthin'!

I started out with this $20 estatehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif sale beauty:


I then ripped out all the little metal bracket things that were covering up the staples.

Then I painted it in one coat of Napoleon Blue and then after that dried I dry-brushed on another coat of Old White. This was the fun part. I really played with it to see what would happen. This chair was pretty much a giant experiment that went really well! After painting I let it dry and then did a coat of clear wax and distressed it a bit. I did more in some areas and less in others, I just really played with it. Then I did a bit more waxing and buffed it off the next day.



After I was done painting I was ready for the scary part. I have painted stuff before but I have never done any reupholstering. I was terrified. I didn't rip all of the old fabric off because I was hoping to just cover it with my new stuff. And I was mostly except for the back. That darn back! Well, here are some pics to show you.











This is my first experience with re-covering a chair and it really wasn't too terrifying! I was fully expecting to waste the fabric and have to do something else but with a powerful staple gun, much is possible. ;) I just stapled and then pulled and stretched and stapled a bit more until it looked how I wanted and then I filled that sucker with staples, I did not want the fabric to go anywhere! Then I covered it up with Miss Mustard Seed's favorite trim and it really framed it out well, I think! I'm pretty much in love with it.

My next chair is a bit more of a project so I'm going to do a little more painting and thinking before I tackle it. :)

Woo-hoo

After much begging and cajoling by his friends and siblings my brother finally started a blog! It's funny and random so I hope you enjoy!

Nate's Blog

POTTY-TIME!!!

*Warning, there is some potty-talk in this post, don't read if you're squeamish about that sort of thing* :)


Well, we've been at it for a week now and I would call it hugely successful! I went by the "Potty-Train in a Day" book without actually reading the book. My SIL has done that with two daughters and has seen great results. So she told me all about it, because she actually read the book, and I used the tips and methods given in it. (The ironic thing is that I gave her the book since she had an older child, but I didn't have to read it.)

Anyway, so Saturday morning, March 19th, Libby and I camped out in the bathroom with books, toys, my phone and my computer. Oh and also lots of liquids for her to drink and candies for rewards. After waking up I took off her diaper and dressed her with panties on for the day. And then I put her on the potty for about 15 minutes at a time hoping to catch her going so that she would get a feel for what she was trying to accomplish. No bueno. We did this for a good two hours with nary a sprinkle. Then she was playing on the floor and she looked at me with a desparate look in her eyes and said "MOMMY! I go potty!!" So I jerked off her pants and stuck her on there and she went! She was thrilled, I was thrilled, and then she was even more thrilled with the candy reward. The rest of that day went really well. I asked her a lot and made her sit on it but she still told us a couple of times when she had to go. The next day I was home alone but it wasn't bad at all. I knew she needed to do some #2 and kept rushing to the potty every 15 minutes or so until I was in the kitchen and she was in the bedroom. I heard her scream "MOMMY!! I GO POTTY!!!" so I ran into the bathroom where she was literally hovering over the potty with a freaked out look on her face. I figured she hadn't made it but she had! She went all by herself! She was pretty freaked out so I gave her a huge treat of icecream to reward her and let her know how happy I was.
Since that first weekend she's done a great job!! She pooped once in her pants but the rest of the time has made it to the potty in time. We've gone to Bible study and the gym and she went at Bible study but not at the gym. She's gone a few times in public places but she's also been freaked out by those automatically flushing toilets. I think she felt like pretty big stuff because yesterday she had me take her four times to the bathroom at Pappasitos. I won't ever refuse to take her though because that would potentially be pretty traumatizing if she went in her pants because of my laziness. We also went straight to panties because I wanted a clean break from diapers. I didn't want her to think it was okay to sometimes go in her pants and sometimes not.
At night and at nap-time we still put her in diapers, usually cloth during nap-time. And a lot of the time, even at night, she's woken up dry! We put her in the diaper right before putting her down but a couple of times after she has her diaper on she still tells us when she needs to go.
She's very proud of her big-girl panties and loves the candies she gets. We've also given her ice-cream at times and took her out to eat last night to celebrate. The ladies at Bible Study even commented on how she seemed to have more confidence with panties on. I was so proud. :)
She still has an accident every day at least but that's why I have 18 pairs of panties and plenty of pull-on pants. :) She'll only get better at it and I'm so excited not to have to buy so many diapers!! I really can't believe how big she's gotten! Seems like yesterday she was my baby but now she loves trying on my make-up and is wearing panties! YIKES!

Adoptive family needs help!

Please read this family's story and help them out if you feel led. They're giving away some great prizes to help raise money for the costs of adopting a baby boy with Down Syndrome. I donated!!
http://ourlivesworksinprogress.blogspot.com/2011/02/our-super-big-adoption-fundraising.html#comment-form

Night away!

Two weeks ago Tim and I had a night in Dallas while my mom watched the girls. It was so much fun!
Mom drove in Saturday and we had a very exciting morning which I will hopefully go into more detail about at a later date. Try not to die of curiosity in the next few weeks. ;)
Anyway, that afternoon we drove down to downtown Dallas to this amazing hotel. Unfortunately I didn't take my nice camera so I just have some camera phone photos.

Heading out the door!

We decided to get steak and went to a highly rated restaurant that was a little more expensive then we initially realized. But we decided to stay and enjoy it and we were very glad we did!
After we ordered the waiter brought out mini lobster and shrimp corndogs. They were sooo good!

Next we split a arugula, goat cheese, and pear salad. Again, YUM!!!

Finally I got a filet mignon and Tim got a NY strip steak and they were both excellent! We shared polenta and brussel sprouts.

We decided to forgo dessert but I got a little bag of delicious cookies anyway, courtesy of the chief (all the ladies in the restaurant did).
We had so much fun eating at a gourmet restaurant but we were not as "at home" as many of the other patrons. One of our favorite things to do is people watch and there were some interesting people to watch! If you know anything about Dallas you know that there is a lot of "plastic" around there and it was fun trying to guess who was wearing the nose (and other parts) they were born with. It was quite entertaining. :)

We weren't ready to go to bed yet but we also didn't want to go to a noisy bar so we just went to the hotel bar and each got a drink. Mine was super yummy!

The next day we just laid around most of the morning in the super comfy bed watching an awesome flat-screen tv.

More photos of the hotel.



We ended out or mini-vacay by going to the mall to shop for jeans for Tim. We found him some jeans and I also found these adorable boots way on clearance! What a perfect way to end a fabulous night away!

Thanks so much for watching the girls, mom! We're hoping to make this a bi-annual tradition and might even stay in the same hotel next time.

Update on our little family

Cecily is still doing really well sleeping. Sometimes she wakes up but usually is able to get herself back to sleep. Sometimes she wakes up around 5am so I pump one side and feed her the other in order to keep my supply stocked.
She is still scooting all over the place and easily gets up on all fours but hasn't figured out the crawling motions yet. I know it's just around the corner though!
We've started a few solids and she loves them so far! She's had: banana, apple, sweet potato, avocado and oatmeal. She just has a few bites here and there but it's fun for experimenting!
Libby is doing well in her big girl bed, she loves it and is really looking forward to Cecily moving into her room with her. I'm putting that off because I haven't wanted to disrupt Libby or Cecily's routines. Now I put Cecily down around 7:30 and have Libby go play quietly in her room until I'm done. Then I go in and read or play with Libby for a while then we sing songs, read more books, pray and then finally turn out the light. If we put them together I'll have to do that in our room or something so that would work. I'm just putting it off. :)
Libby is also on the verge of pottytraining. My SIL had great success with "Potty-Training in a Day" so I'm going to read that book and give it a shot if I feel like it will work for us. We're going to try it on a Saturday when Tim is home and can help with Cecily. It'll be nice not to have to wash diapers (we CD some) or buy diapes (I'm a Pampers snob!). I don't want to push her but she has shown a lot of interest so that will probably be soon.
We are also planning on removing Libby's pacifier. It's getting bad even though we've limited it to the bed or car. She is super-duper addicted. Hopefully that won't be too traumatic!
I'm not sure what order to do these three major things. I guess there's always a new, big change going on at this age but it is not easy! Diapers are so easy, giving her a paci is easy, keeping the girls separate is easy. But it will be nice not to have to buy or wash diapers, I don't want to cause horrible dental damage, and I think putting the girls together with give them a stronger bond. I know I need to do all these things but it will be difficult going through them.
Tim has been working a.lot. A LOT. A LOT. It really stinks! I'm so tired of this project he's been working on. I'll just say this: I hope that all you i-stuff people really appreciate how well the track pads work! :)
Tim and I had a little night away last week and it was sooo fun! I'll make a whole post about it! We spent the night in downtown Dallas and rested and ate a lot, it was really fun! Pictures to come. :)

HALLELUJAH!!!!

HALLELUJAH! CECILY IS SLEEPING ALL NIGHT!!!! Praise the Lord and pass the late night movies! Hahaha. Well, not quite but I now feel amazing and well-rested! Except like on nights like tonight when I'm staying up a bit late. :-)

I put her down about 8pm and she sleeps until 7-8. I've heard her wake up a few times, not every night, but she usually just gets herself back to sleep. I'm not a big fan of "crying it out" but I don't mind letting her fuss for a bit to settle herself back down. She doesn't wail for 2 hours or anything like that. And the funny thing is that almost every morning when I go and get her she has squirmed all around but she still has her blankie and paci! It really is wonderful to go all night without having to get up and I'm really enjoying it.

We haven't started many solids yet with our baby girl because I haven't felt like she was ready. But recently I've been giving her tastes of banana and avocado and she LOVES it! It's really cute to see her go to town on a piece of something. She makes a huge mess and probably only eats a small amount but she has fun with it. :) I'll probably start introducing her to some oatmeal or something soon. I just don't want to rush anything right now. Refer to this great site for any questions about delayed solids.

I am waking up at 6 am though to pump because (and here's another great part) I am able to pump about NINE ounces every morning!! Crazy, huh? I guess that's about how much she was eating through the night. I've been chugging water all evening and then I'll usually drink about 32 oz. after waking and before she wakes up. When Cecily wakes up I usually am able to feed her enough to keep her satisfied but sometimes I have to give her some of the pumped milk. I'm really trying hard to train my body to produce more so I can store up the pumped milk. I had a hard time always producing enough for Libby and I don't want to run into that problem again. Also, if we ever have more space maybe I'll be able to store up enough so that if she weans early I can give her breastmilk. For now we're just storing it in our little freezer. Here, I'll show off my little stash. :)

Yes, I know it's not ideal to store it in the door but that's the only option we have at present.
Anyway, there's my breastfeeding update. I'm so happy that things are still going well!!

What to do?

What is a mama to do when her two babies have a rough time getting along?
I tried to take pictures of the girls again today just trying to get one good one of them both looking at the camera. Maybe with a touch of a smile but I wasn't too hopeful.



Ok a smile would be nice, and minus the paci, Cece Jane, sorry my dear!

How sweet! ok, at least she's being nice!


After this it all went to pot. This is the last decent picture I got of them together.


Libby starts out by being sweet and gently strokes Cecily's head but then she gets rough all of a sudden and pushes her over, snatches her toy, or growls at her. Yes, she growls. And it freaks poor Cecily out! She gets the most terrified look on her face and just bursts into tears and starts sobbing. This of course makes Libby gleefully happy, wouldn't it you?
So I'm really at my wits end. I only wanted a sweet, simple picture of two sisters together and I've been trying to get one for MONTHS. Yes, I said months. I bought a groupon last year for a discounted price on a 16x20 canvas thinking I would easily be able to get a good picture of the girls together. Uh, no, think again! So the deadline to order the canvas is in a couple of days and I don't really want one that big of just one of the girls. SO I think I'm going to order a print of Tim and I from our wedding day. Thoughts? Suggestions? Here are a couple contenders:





Thoughts? I have my favorite but I want to see what you think. :)

I guess I'll have to wait a while before I can get a good picture of my girlies. When do they learn to sit still and smile sweetly? Although I can get a few good ones of them individually...





Now I just need to get really, really good at photoshopping...