Jazzy's 4th Gotcha Day

We recently celebrated Jazzy's 4th Gotcha Day.  It's crazy to think she's been with us for four years now, yet I can't really believe there was ever a time she wasn't a part of our family.  Jazzy truly rescued me when I needed rescuing most.  She has provided both Adam and I with so much love and comfort over these last four years.  She's truly a special dog.

 

Jazzy's Gotcha Day this year was a bit chaotic.  It happened to land in the middle of our kitchen tiling adventure.  So I wasn't able to fully devote all my attention to her, as she deserved.  But I definitely was able to give her some extra treats and snuggles.  My mom was in town and got to spoil her a bit, too.

I picked up a pig ear for Jazzy to enjoy.  I can't really understand why she enjoys those horribly-smelling things, but she does.  So she got one on her special day.  She certainly didn't savor it.  Jazzy gobbled the whole thing up in a matter of a few minutes.

My mom kindly took Jazzy for a walk while I kept an eye on how things were progressing in the kitchen.  I feel horribly guilty that Jazzy doesn't get to go on all the walks she used to get to go on before the babies arrived.  But as long as it's not pouring down rain or terribly cold, the kids and I try to take Jazzy for a walk each day.  And Adam still tries to take her on a run at night.  Jazzy is such a good girl and seems to understand that things are just different these days.

Jazzy continues to be a good big sister.  Her bond with Archer and Lyla seems to grow stronger as they share more food with her.  Both Lyla and Archer are quite generous with their graham crackers and Cheerios.  Jazzy will occasionally try to play with the kids, though none of them are quite sure how to play together just yet.  It's still pretty cute to watch them try to figure it out.

I love Jazzy more than ever.  There are so many moments during the day when Jazzy and I will share a glance when the kids are acting crazy.  She seems to say, "I don't know what you're looking at me for.  You brought these two wild animals into our home."  Jazzy has a pretty good sense of humor.

One of my favorite moments of the day is when I get into bed and Jazzy runs up to join me.  She'll turn around, lay down next to me, and scoot her little body towards me until we're touching.  I love her so much and she loves me.  I can't imagine Jazzy not being a part of our family.  I'm so happy we got her four years ago!   

Hello, Dolomite and Scallop Tiles!

It's official.  Our kitchen is downright gorgeous!  The new countertop and backsplash were installed last week and we are in love!  Even though we still have quite a few items to tackle on our to do list, we can already see just how amazing our kitchen will be by the end of our renovation.   

We settled on dolomite countertops, also known as "Super White."  It's a natural stone similar in looks to marble, but far more durable.  It's heat and pressure resistant.  The sealer that was put on it in the shop before it came to our home is good for 25 years and will help resist staining.  And it is stunning!  Adam might have caught me petting the countertops on more than one occasion.     

I was amazed at how quickly it took to install.  Two guys managed to muscle the pieces into our house.  There ended up being one seam next to the sink.  The fabricators did a nice job of lining up the pattern of the stone so you can barely even tell where it is.  Once everything was in place, they checked to make sure it was plumb and level.  They had to add a few shims and cut into the drywall a bit to make sure everything lined up just so.  Then they put some epoxy on the seam and attached some sort of machine to each side of the seam to help it adhere.  They also put in the sink.

We opted for a stainless steel finish because we felt it would be easy to keep clean, coordinate with the overall look of our kitchen, and was pretty economical.  We also chose a single basin after having a double basin for as long as we've owned the house.  We both love the single basin!  While not everyone loves a single basin, it works perfectly for us.  

It only took about 2 hours to get the countertops and sink installed.  The next step was having a plumber come hook up our new faucet.  While Adam has put in a few different bathroom faucets, he wanted to leave this install to a pro.  We would need to go from two drains to one since we were switching to a single basin.  So the plumber came later that afternoon.  He reworked the plumbing underneath the sink and even moved down the water shut-off valve so it was easier to reach.  The last part of his job was to hook up the new faucet.  I love the faucet we chose.  It's super sleek and functions really well, thought it's definitely taken a bit of getting used to.  We're not used to the built in sprayer and the angle of the on/off handle is different.  But it's definitely an exciting change!   

The following day, the tile installer got to work.  His name was Carlos and he was the sweetest, most hard-working guy!  His first task was to remove the old backsplash.  I was impressed with how quickly he got the old tile removed and with how tidy he was.  I was expecting lots of dust and tile flying around, but that wasn't the case.  He then had to add new sheet rock and joint compound in a few places so the tile would have a nice flat surface to rest on.  

From there he started the very tedious process of installing the scallop tile.  He had to make so many cuts to make it fit the space and follow the pattern.  Adam and I knew this tile would be a challenge and we were assured Carlos could make it work.  And he sure did!  He's a true artist!  I kept peeking into the kitchen to watch his progress.

It took Carlos two full days to get the tile put up.  He was also really good at brainstorming some ideas on how to deal with a few tricky spots.  He built up the window sill so the dolomite slab would butt up to the trim around the window.  There was a small narrow area before that would have been darn near impossible to tile using the tile we selected.  He also suggested using white subway tile along the narrow spaces next to the window trim and cabinets.  I wasn't sure about that at first, but he put it up for me to see and I was sold.  It matched nicely with the white quarter-round tile on the corners and would go well with the white grout.  

He came back a third day to grout the tile.  Even that proved to be quite a job with all the tiny spaces between all the tiles.  At one point, I asked Carlos what the hardest tiling job was that he'd ever done and he told me it was this one.  I am so glad Adam and I didn't try to install it ourselves.  It certainly would not have turned out as beautifully as it did.  At the end of the project Carlos and I just stood in the kitchen admiring all his hard work.  That tile is exquisite and Carlos installed it expertly!    

We're currently thinking about what color to paint the walls and making plans to have the cabinets painted.  We know we want the cabinets to be a light gray color.  So we're trying to nail down the perfect wall color to tie everything together.  I'm thinking a gray with just a hint of greenish/blue.  I want it to be different enough from the cabinets, while also having some of the same tones from the backsplash tile.  But it also has to look good in the family room since the kitchen and family room share some walls.  I'll definitely be getting some paint samples and painting them all around the kitchen and family to pick the best color.  

Adam has also started adding some more trim work to our cabinets.  He added the corbels underneath the upper cabinets shown in the photo below.  I love how they finish off the cabinet and add a little more interest.  He's got some more plans and I'm excited to see how they turn out.   

Here's an update of our kitchen renovation to do list.  We've definitely made some major progress, but still have a ways to go!  

1. Get new countertops. 

2. Have a new backsplash installed. 

3. Paint the cabinets light gray. 

4. Make some minor modifications to the existing cabinets.

5. Paint the walls a lighter, cooler color. 

6. Find a new light fixture for our eat-in kitchen. 

7. Replace the cabinet handles and hinges. 

8. Replace the window treatments in the kitchen and eat-in kitchen. 

9. Replace the sink and faucet. 

Getting Things Cooking In The Kitchen

Our kitchen makeover is officially underway!  As I mentioned in my last post, we wanted to make our existing solid wood cabinets work better for us.  They are solid wood and still have a lot of life left in them, so it doesn't make sense for us to get rid of them.  But we could change them up a bit to make them the best they can be.  The first step in reworking the cabinets was to remove the gigantic microwave shelf and the appliance garage.  We hoped ditching these two things would open things up a bit and provide us with more countertop work space. 

So Adam and my dad got to work on tearing out the microwave shelf and appliance garage.  The appliance garage came out pretty easily after removing some trim around it.  The microwave shelf required a bit more muscle.  All the banging intrigued Archer and Lyla, while Jazzy didn't particularly care for it.  Adam and my dad took the bottom of the shelf off and then Adam managed to cut off the sides in a nice neat line.  Our plan is to possibly add some corbels and trim around the cut portions to help finish off the raw edge of the cut part.  And of course we'll be painting the cabinets, which will help it look more finished. 

Even with just tearing some things out of the kitchen, it already looks so much better!  It looks bigger and more spacious.  And there's more useable countertop space.  It's amazing how a simple change can make such a big difference!  Check out the before and after below: 

You might also notice we got our over the range microwave installed too!  And by we I mean Adam and my dad.  I did absolutely nothing to help.  My mom and I took the kids out to lunch and when we got back it was already installed!  They did have some electrical issues to figure out, but luckily my dad is an electrical engineer.  And Adam's gotten quite a bit of electrical experience under his belt from doing other projects around our house.

Getting rid of our microwave shelf meant we needed to find a new home for our microwave.  We didn't want to use precious countertop space, so we opted for an over the range model.  I was slightly worried it would impede on the stove top, but the low profile model we chose still allows plenty of space.  It doesn't take up any more space than the hood did.  It works perfectly for our kitchen. 

The next step in our kitchen remodel process was to nail down the countertops and backsplash tile.  We are happily hiring out these two tasks and both should be completed by mid-December.  We decided on a very pretty gray and white dolomite for the countertops and a gorgeous blueish/greenish/grayish scallop tile for the backsplash. 

Getting the backsplash tile proved to be quite the scavenger hunt.  I originally saw the tile at Home Depot.  The company that is installing our countertops and backsplash said they could order the same tile directly from the distributor.  Luckily the designer working with us thought to order a sample of the tile to make sure it's the same as the tile I saw at Home Depot.  It turns out that it is similar but not quite the same.  The original tile we saw is more even in the color tones.  The sample tile that was ordered had a little more variance with the colors.  So if we wanted the original tile, we would need to get it from Home Depot. 

Of course our local Home Depot didn't have enough sheets of the tile.  We looked online at several other Home Depots and one about 45 minutes from was supposed to have 80 sheets.  We figured that would be our best bet at getting enough of the tiles in the finish we liked best.  Well, it turns out there was a combination of the two styles of tiles at that store.  They were very similar, but you could tell they were different when they were side by side.  Adam and I decided that since we were paying so much money for this project, we wanted it to be done right.  So we went to several other Home Depots and rounded up all of the tiles available in the Kansas City area.  Then we sorted them into the two different types in our family room.  We were able to get enough of the original tile we liked.  So we returned the other set of tile.  Whoever ends up buying that tile really owes us for rounding up all of it in one place! 

Whew!  Luckily, getting our sink and faucet were far less complicated.  We just ordered both online from Home Depot and they were delivered right to our house.  We decided to get a single basin, stainless steel sink with an offset drain.  After reading some reviews of single basin sinks, we noticed a lot of people talking about issues with water not draining properly.  Hopefully getting a drain that is offset to one side will allow more of a slope for the water to run down.

I love the faucet we ordered!  It's very sleek and it has a matte black finish.  It was significantly less expensive than some of the other ones I was looking at because the brand is not as well known as some of the others out there.  But after doing some research, I found this model had good reviews and the brand itself seemed to have good reviews overall.

The sink, faucet, and backsplash tile are waiting in our basement for mid-December when it will all get installed!  I'm super excited for that step!  In the meantime, Adam is going to work on adding some trim detail to our cabinets.  Things are certainly moving along!   

It's Time for a Kitchen Makeover!

I am so very excited about what's about to go down in our kitchen!  Adam and I have plans to make some updates to our kitchen to make it a little more us.  We don't have the budget to completely redo everything, but we do have some money set aside to make some updates that will completely change the feel of the kitchen.  Here's a little glimpse of the look we're going for:

But before I talk about where we're headed, let's take a look back at where our kitchen started.  When we moved into our house, the kitchen was definitely dated.  There was pink backsplash tile, some very cheap-looking laminate wood flooring, and grimy white walls.  There were also a lot of gigantic features that made our tiny kitchen look even smaller.  There was a huge florescent light box in the center of the kitchen ceiling, a rather large light fixture above the sink, and the biggest microwave I've ever seen in my life.  Here's a blurry picture of our old kitchen in all its glory.  I don't even think a non-blurry picture would have made it look any better.

To continue to big theme, there was also a grand swagged chandelier in our little eat-in kitchen area.   

Adam and I didn't waste any time getting rid of some of that ugliness in our kitchen.  I wrestled that gigantic microwave into the garage on the first day we had possession of the house.  Adam ripped up the old flooring.  We tackled taking down the florescent light and getting rid of the pink backsplash together.  

Next, we turned our attention towards making the kitchen livable for us.  We had hardwood flooring installed throughout our entryway, dining room and kitchen to help unify all the spaces.  We moved the large light fixture above the sink to our entryway and replaced it with a smaller, more appropriate-sized one.  

We added a mosaic tile backsplash, which tested our young marriage in ways we had never experienced before.  I spray-painted the 80's brass cabinet handles and hinges with brushed nickle spray paint.  Finally, we put up a fresh coat of paint.  

Given our budget and limited DIY skills, we were very happy with the result.

Flash-forward 6 years and we're ready to make some changes.  We feel pretty confident in the direction we'd like to take our kitchen after living with it for a good chunk of time.  There are a few things we want to make sure we address.  We feel like the wood cabinets and the hardwood flooring are too similar in color.  There's not a lot of difference between the two so our kitchen feels very heavy and dark.  We aren't in love with our Corian countertops and we especially hate the white Corian sink.  The backsplash tiling job looks pretty amateurish and we don't love the tiny mosaic look anymore.  

So, we have been working on a plan to makeover our kitchen!  Here are the major components we'd like to accomplish: 

1.  Get new countertops.  We've been looking mainly at quartz since they are easy to care for, but also saw a pretty sweet slab of dolomite that just might change our minds.  

2.  Have a new backsplash installed.  Adam and I have decided tile work is just not in our skill set, so we'll definitely be hiring someone else to do this job.  We're leaning towards picking a bright blue-ish color in a fun shape.  We've seen some fun scallop and hex tiles we like so far, but aren't sold on one in particular.  

3.  Paint the cabinets light gray.  We like the idea of differentiating the cabinets from the hardwood flooring and think paint will do the trick.  We are planning on using chalk paint since you don't have to sand the cabinets before painting and it's non-toxic and virtually odorless.  While I love the idea of white, after seeing little graham cracker hand prints all over our house, I think gray might be a better option.   

4.  Make some minor modifications to the existing cabinets.  The shelf that previously held the world's largest microwave takes up a ton of wall space.  So we bought a low profile microwave/hood combination to put over our stove.  This will allow us to remove the microwave shelf and allow for more open space.  It's hard to use the countertop above the current microwave shelf because it comes down so low and juts out so much.  Removing it will open things up visually, but also allow us to better utilize the countertop below.  We also decided to remove the appliance garage.  After visiting the last countertop showroom, the designer there convinced us it would open things up and give us more counter space.  Adam also wants to rework the woodwork above the sink.  The wavy design drives him crazy and he'd love to showcase some of his woodworking skills in that spot.  He also wants to add some trim pieces to the ends of the cabinets and the peninsula to add a little more visual interest.

5.  Paint the walls a lighter, cooler color.  Neither Adam nor I enjoy the creamsicle color of our kitchen and family room.  When we picked it our, we were trying to find a color that would go with the chocolate brown color of our living room and the cream color of the hallways.  We've since decided a light gray or blue is more our speed and will still coordinate with the other rooms visible from the kitchen.  

6.  Find a new light fixture for our eat-in kitchen.  We still have the light fixture that came with the house.  It's too big and heavy for the space, so we'd like to find something better suited for our small area with standard-height ceilings.  Since we have a smaller table in that area, there's also no need for it to be swagged, so we're looking for a fixture that can hang straight down.  We've found a few we like, we just have to narrow it down.  

7.  Replace the cabinet handles and hinges.  I tried to convince Adam I could just spray paint the existing handles and hinges again, but I couldn't talk him into it.  The hinges have definitely not held the spray paint well.  The handles have held up well, but Adam feels like we need something a little more our style.  I can agree with him there.  I definitely wouldn't pick the handles we have now given the choice.  

8.  Replace the window treatments in the kitchen and eat-in kitchen.  While I still adore the roman shade I made from our old faux-wood blinds, it won't quite jive with the rest of the kitchen.  So I'll likely make another one using fabric that coordinates with our new kitchen.  We've also decided to replace the faux-wood blinds in the eat-in kitchen with some bamboo shades.  We love the look of the one we added to our half bathroom, so we'll get some more for the eat-in kitchen.  I like that you can open them all the way up to let in lots of light and keep exploring hands off of the shades.  

9.  Replace the sink and faucet.  Since the Corian sink and countertops are all one piece, we'll have to replace it along with the countertops.  We are going to go with a single basin in a stainless steel finish.  While we're at it, we'd also like a new faucet.  We're trying to find the perfect matte black faucet that doesn't cost a fortune.  

I'm so excited to get the ball rolling and can't wait to share the progress along the way!

Universal Parenting Advice

I wasn't quite sure which direction my blog would take once Archer and Lyla arrived.  So much of this blog has centered around dealing with infertility and I wasn't sure what would happen once I was lucky enough to have my babies.  I thought maybe I would be able to start writing some blog posts with advice for other parents.  And then I became a parent.

The more time I've spent as a parent, the more I realize how crazy parenting really is!  Most days I feel like I am just winging this whole being a mom thing.  What works one day most likely won't work the next.  And so much of figuring out what works best depends on each kid.  So while I might be able to give wonderful advice on how to deal with Lyla when she's screeching at Aldi while other shoppers whip their heads in our direction to make sure I'm not abusing my kid, that advice won't necessarily hold true for any other kid.  So much of parenting is just learning your own kid and responding uniquely to them.  So needless to say, I don't have a wealth of tips to share that will help everyone out.

But there are two bits of wisdom I'll share that apply to all parents.  No matter your kids' personalities or your parenting style, these ideas ring true.

Take lots of pictures and videos!  

We are so lucky to live in a day and age where it's so easy to take pictures and videos of our kids.  We all pretty much have a phone within arm's reach at any moment of any day.  Use it to take lots of pictures and videos!  It's no joke how fast kids grow up.  I still can't fully grasp that my babies can walk and talk now.  I am so lucky that my husband and I took so many pictures and videos of Lyla and Archer during their first year.

Adam was especially good about taking videos.  We watched a bunch of them together not too long ago.  I literally had no recollection of any of them!  That first year was such a blur that I have very little memory of specific moments.  Having all those sweet videos to look back at are such treasures!

I was especially good about taking pictures.  I probably took pictures of one or both babies at least once a day for their first year.  That's a lot of memories to look back on.  One thing I wasn't very good about was deleting all the outtakes.  So I would highly suggest looking back at the pictures you take immediately after taking them to delete all the crummy ones.  Or else you'll spend hours deleting thousands of blurry pictures when you decide to make a photo book a year later.

Read to your kids, even before they are born!  

This is so incredibly important!  Early literacy is one of the biggest predictors for success in school and even later in life.  There are copious amounts of research out there to back this up.  Read to babies while they are still in their mommas' bellies.  Read to babies when they can't even hold their heads up.  Read to them when your toddlers bring you one of their favorite books to read for the millionth time (I'm looking at you Moo, Baa, La La La!)  Read to kids when they're in elementary school and can read by themselves.  Heck, read to them when they're in middle school if they'll still let you!  There's no such thing as reading to your kids too much. 

Having taught both elementary and middle school, I have seen what can happen when kids don't get a strong reading foundation in their early years.  It can be detrimental.  Unfortunately, sometimes there are instances (reading disabilities, dyslexia, etc.) that can make reading hard or boring for kids even when their parents have built a strong reading foundation for them.  But reading to your kids will never be considered a waste of time.  (Can you tell I taught reading prior to being at home with Archer and Lyla yet?)

Adam and I have done everything we can to set Lyla and Archer up for reading success in their futures.  We started reading them a bedtime story each night while they were still in my belly. 

I can already tell Archer and Lyla have a deep love for reading and books.  One of their favorite activities is looking at the baskets and baskets of books they own.  We are lucky enough to have books everywhere in our house.  We got tons of books as baby gifts and my mom bought a bunch for us at secondhand stores and garage sales.  While we haven't checked out any books from our local public library yet (both Lyla and Archer still enjoy chewing on the corners of their books in addition to reading them), we fully intend to check out lots as soon as we're sure they won't damage any books.

Lyla and Archer like to flip through the pages on their own and also be read to.  My heart swells each time they bring me a book of their own choosing to read to them.  And Adam and I always read our kiddos a few books as part of our bedtime routine.  Aside from the educational values of reading, it's a great way to bond with your babies.  You get to snuggle up close together and smell their baby-shampoo smelling hair and smoosh your cheek against theirs.  It's good stuff, I tell you!

So take too many pictures and indulge your kids in every book they want to read with you!  I can say with absolute certainty that every parent should do these two things! 

This Is What I've Been Waiting For

In years past, I remember looking at everyone's pictures on Facebook during this time of year.  Everyone and their kids were doing all sorts of fun fall activities, like apple-picking and hayrides and corn mazes.  And it broke my heart.

I was so devastated that we didn't have our own kids.  But this year is different.  This year we get to experience new adventures with Lyla and Archer.  Adam and I decided to take our babies, I mean toddlers, to Weston, MO, for a little day trip.  We planned to go to Red Barn Farm to pick apples and then to Weston's downtown area for lunch somewhere. 

We made it to Red Barn Farm and were all just plain giddy walking up to the farm from the parking lot.  Lyla and Archer were looking around and squealing with delight at their new surroundings.  Adam was smiling and I was trying really hard not to cry happy tears. 

We walked around and checked out the farm animals.  They both enjoyed most of the animals, aside from the scary sheep that said, "Baaa."  Archer flipped out when the sheep he had been looking at for a little while decided to "baaa."  I'm not quite sure what freaked him out so much about it, but Adam and I had to pull ourselves together from laughing to comfort him.  

While waiting for the hayride, we enjoyed a doughnut and apple slush snack.  I can already tell Lyla and Archer are going to be the kids who announce how hungry they are whenever we go anywhere.  

After our snack, we headed towards the hayride departure area.  Lyla and Archer had a blast walking around, trying to eat rocks, picking up pieces of hay, and playing in the dirt.  

It still catches me off guard when I see them walking around.  Look how old Archer looks in this picture Adam snapped!  Where did my little baby go?!  

Once the tractor arrived, we hopped on board.  Archer and Lyla loved the hayride!  They mainly loved the hay part, but they enjoyed the ride too.  They probably didn't have quite as much fun as Adam and I did. 

After our hayride, we decided to forego apple-picking this year.  We took the easy way out and just bought some apples that had already been picked.  It was getting close to lunchtime and we wanted to keep Archer and Lyla happy.  So we headed into Weston's cute little downtown area and ate lunch at Tin Kitchen, which is a delicious BBQ joint. 

After our bellies were full, we headed home.  Between all the food and dirt, Lyla and Archer definitely had tons of fun.  Adam and I had so much fun, too.  Adventures like this is what I've been waiting for.  It's definitely not lost on me just how lucky I am that I get to go on adventures with these two cuties.  

A Little Tour of Lyla & Archer's Rooms

The older Lyla and Archer have gotten, the more stuff they have accumulated.  So their rooms look a little more lived in than they did when I first showed off their rooms.  I thought we'd take a little tour of their current sleeping and playing situations.

The biggest addition to Lyla's room is the kitchen Adam and I got the babies for their first birthday.  They love to open and close all the doors and put the play food into the pots and pans.  It's been nice to have another area where we can play besides the living room.  Whenever they start getting crabby, usually if we just go to a different room in the house, they're more content. 

I also made a few other small tweaks.  I rehung her artwork.  Even as I was hanging it when we first split up the babies, I knew I didn't like where I was hanging it.  But I was just trying to get it done before someone had a meltdown so I just went with it.  So I rehung it gallery wall style instead of sprinkled throughout the room. 

Lyla loves her room.  She adores digging through her big bin of books.  She'll pull out her favorites and stare intently at them for good chunks of time.  She also loves her crib.  She's happy to just roll around in it with her blanket even if she's not tired.  And when she wakes up, I'll hear her happily chatting to herself before I come get her.  She also enjoys gnawing on the top side rail of the crib.  There are some pretty hefty teeth marks.  Good thing Adam made us get the cribs with non-toxic finishes! 

We still have the changing table in Lyla's room.  I can count on one hand how many times we've actually used it to change diapers.  But it still works as good storage.  We keep all of the babies' extra sheets and blankets stored in there, along with extra wipes, diaper cream, etc.  We'll probably replace it with bookshelves one day, but it works for now. 

Another change was moving Archer's clothes to his room.  I kept all the clothes in one closet, which made it easier to put away laundry.  But thanks to generous hand-me-downs from my cousin (Thanks, Becky!) and friends (Thanks, Emily & Libby!), Lyla needed more space for her cute clothes.  Poor thing, she doesn't have anything to wear. 

I keep a garment bag (that white bag on the top right shelf) in each baby's closet to put sentimental clothing and accessories in as they outgrow them.  I've also turned that round laundry bin on the floor into the "too small bin."  As soon as they outgrow an outfit, I just throw it in there and then when it gets full, I transfer them to bins in the basement.  

Archer's closet is certainly less full, but he will by no means go naked.  Since we don't have a dresser in the closet like we do in Lyla's room, I put some hanging organizers in there to keep track of things like pants, jammies, socks, and shoes.  I definitely keep the closet doors closed so I don't have any "help" taking all the clothes out of the hanging organizers like Lyla's doing below.  

I also rehung the artwork in Archer's room.  I think I've learned my lesson to not just slap something together.  In the future, I'll wait until I have the time to do it right the first time so I don't end up doing things more than once!    

We added some bookshelves to Archer's room to house some books and toys.  We also keep the baby monitor and his sound machine on top of it.  These bookshelves hold a special place in my heart.  My dad actually made them for me and were in my childhood room when I was growing up.  I love that they're now a part of Archer's room.  I found some round bins on clearance at Hobby Lobby and stuck those on the shelves to help corral some of the books and toys.  I don't have much of an organization system going on (as you can tell by the photo below), but can definitely implement a system when the kids get older.  

For the babies' first birthday, we also got them this fun rug and some cars from IKEA.  They haven't quite grasped that the streets on the rug are roads for the cars to follow, but they do enjoy flopping around on the rug.  I think they'll have more fun with it as they get older.  

Archer likes to hang out in his room, too.  He likes to pull all the toys and books off the shelves and run around in circles.  He also likes to pull his loveys and pacifiers through the crib slats.  I tend to keep his blankets and pacifiers in his room, so he's all about any chance he gets to hang onto them.  

It's been fun to watch the babies' rooms grow with them.  I'm sure Archer and Lyla's rooms will have many different reincarnations as they continue to grow up.  I like the challenge of creating spaces that are fun for Archer and Lyla, functional for housing all their stuff, and cute enough for me to want to spend time in too. 

An Easy Fall Wreath

It's been a little while since I've had the time to do any crafts, so I thought I would remedy that by making a wreath for our front door.  It took me the time span of a few naps, but overall it went pretty quickly.  I wanted to make a wreath that didn't scream fall, unlike this one that I adore, but like to put out closer to Halloween.  So I decided to use cozy textures to give a subtle nod to the season.

I had a small foam wreath I bought at an estate sale a long time ago, and decided to use it for this project.  I wanted to wrap it in some yarn, which seems very cozy and fall-like to me.  So Lyla, Archer and I ventured out to a craft store to get some yarn.  I picked a dark gray color.  By the time we made it to the check-out counter, it was rather soggy from Lyla chewing on it.  But she also didn't scream once during the trip, so who cares about some soggy yarn?  

Once Lyla and Archer were down for their nap, I started to wrap the yarn around the wreath.  I tied the end of the yarn around a straight pin and stuck in the foam wreath to anchor down the starting point.  Then I just wrapped and wrapped and wrapped the yarn around.  This part took a bit longer than I bargained for, but was able to get it all wrapped up in two naps.  When I got back to the starting point, I simply tied the end of the yarn around the straight pin that held the starting point of the yarn.  (If you to make a wreath of your own and don't want to bother with all the yarn wrapping, you could also just get a grapevine wreath.)   

Next came the fun part!  While we were at the craft store, I also picked up some felt which I would turn into flowers.  I picked out some purples, light pink, goldenrod, cream and teals.  I just held up different felt sheets until I had a group of colors that looked good together.  

Once the wreath was wrapped in yarn, I cut the felt sheets into smaller square-ish shapes.  I didn't measure anything or worry about cutting too neatly.  The more imperfect, the better the flowers turn out.  After I cut out the squares, I rounded off the corners.  Then I cut a each rounded square into a spiral, like the photo below shows.  

After that, I started with the outer part of the spiral and just rolled it up until there was nothing left to roll.  I was left with a pretty flower.  I repeated this process using different sized squares in different colors.  I ended up using 10 flowers on my wreath.  (You can use as many or a few flowers as you want.  I just laid out the flowers on the wreath until I had an arrangement I was happy with.)

When I had all my flowers rolled up, I plugged in my hot glue gun.  I put some hot glue on the bottom of the flower and stuck the end over the hot glue, like so.  

From there I cut out some leaves and hot glued those to the backs of the flowers. 

Once I had a good group of flowers with leaves all glued together, I started to play around with the placement on the wreath.  I ended up using 10 flowers, in 2 clumps of 5.  As soon as I was happy with the arrangement, I hot glued the flowers onto the wreath.  

The final step was to attach some twine to the back so I could hang it up on our front door.   I just tied some twine around another straight pin and stuck it into the back of the wreath.  Then I tied the ends into a little bow.  

I love how it turned out!  All the cozy textures reminds me of fall.  And the flowers seem so welcoming and cheery, which is exactly how I want all my guests to feel when they come to our home.