DIY Growth Ruler

This past weekend, Adam and I actually got to work on a project together!  It was so much fun to work together and create something beautiful for our home.  The kids cooperated and we were able to finish up what Adam started a little while ago.  We now have a gorgeous growth ruler to keep track of Archer and Lyla's heights as they grow up.

When Archer and Lyla were born, Adam quickly realized he wouldn't have the time he used to have to work on projects.  At least not until they get a bit older and more self-sufficient.  You know, when they are teenagers and want nothing to do with us.

But until then, we settled on working on a project that wouldn't take a lot of time and could be something for the kids.  We decided to make a growth ruler to keep track of how much Archer and Lyla grow each year.

The first step was to find the perfect board to use as our ruler.  So back in November, we took the kids to Metro Hardwoods to pick out a board that would work for the project.  Adam loves this place because they have all kinds of wood, both generic and exotic.  He was very happy to introduce his babies to the wonderful world of lumber.

After perusing the store we ended up picking out a piece of hickory.  We chose it because it was less expensive than other boards since only two sides of it were finished.  The other two unfinished sides just gave the piece a little more rustic charm, which is what we were after.  It had some pretty knots and the grain pattern was nice.  We loaded the board up in our car and took it home.

When Adam had some free time, he sanded down the board to take down some of the roughness.  Then he planed the board with a bench plane to smooth it out even more.  The final step of preparing the board was a final sanding.

Once the board was prepared, Adam used a General Finishes Gel Stain in Nutmeg.  We wanted a finish that was a rich color and would let the wood grain shine through, yet be light enough for the ruler marks to show.  Nutmeg did the trick.  So Adam put one coat of the Nutmeg on and let it dry a nice long while, as in months, before moving onto the next step.

Adam researched several different methods for putting the ruler tick marks and numbers on the board.  One method involved taping off the parts you wanted tick marks and numbers and then spray painting it.  Or another method involved using a Sharpie or painting on the tick marks and numbers.  I vetoed the taping method because it looked like it would take forever.  And we both agreed using a Sharpie or paint wouldn't result in a very professional finish.  So we took the route of ordering a vinyl kit from a company called Little Acorns.  We chose the Traditional Style in Jumbo Numbers.

Once the kit arrived, we looked over the directions and things seemed to be pretty straightforward and simple.  The directions were very clear and helped you figure out where to start the measurements on your board while also keeping how high off the ground you will be hanging your ruler in mind.  Basically, you just peel off the paper backing, stick on the vinyl transfer paper, rub the paper with a credit card to get it to adhere and then peel off the transfer paper.  Simple as that!  

So we brought the board into the entryway to work on the project inside.  Adam put down a canvas drop cloth so we wouldn't have to worry about the floor or the board getting boogered up.  Of course Jazzy had to come scope out the project and make sure we were doing things up to her high standard.  

Once the board was inside, we worked on laying out the measurements so we would know exactly where to apply the vinyl.  The tick marks of the ruler came in foot-length sections.  This made it easier to work with the vinyl and keep things just so.  There was a little bit of eye-balling involved and Adam had a hard time with this idea, being the fan of precise measurements that he is.  But I managed to talk him through it, as I am a pro at eye-balling during projects. 

Once we had our measurements marked on the board, it was time to add the vinyl.  We laid everything out before we started to make sure it would all look right.  After all the vinyl was laid out, we noticed that our board was longer than the kit provided measurements and numbers for.  Bummer!  We threw around a few ideas.  We could of just cut off part of the top of the board, but that would involve restaining the portion that was cut and then waiting for it to try before hanging it up and all that jazz.  We talked about adding an "A & L" to the top, but vetoed that idea since we would have to paint it and didn't want the paint to look sloppy next to the clean lines of the vinyl.  So I happen to look at the website we ordered the kit from and noticed that we could just order another foot of tick marks and the number 7.  Sold!  So I ordered it and was happy we solved our problem so easily.  

In the meantime, we decided to add the vinyl that we did have and hang it up.  We didn't want it laying around in our entryway while we waited for the new order to arrive.  So we followed the directions to add the tick marks and numbers.

It was super satisfying to peel off the transfer paper to reveal the tick marks and numbers stuck to the board.  I was in charge of this portion of the project and loved it!  Adam kindly pointed out how the number 2 is ever so slightly crooked.  Good eye, Adam, good eye.  But the vinyl was not going any so, c'est la vie.  I told him it just adds to the charm. 

Once the vinyl was stuck on, it was time to hang the ruler on the wall.  Of course the place I wanted it to hang didn't have any studs to attach it to.  I wanted it to hang on this little sliver of wall on the opposite side of the dining room wall.  But Adam was able to attach it using some drywall anchors.   

He did his careful measuring to figure out the perfectly centered place for it to hang.  He held it in place while I drilled it into place.  We decided to just drill straight through the board into the wall.  It's pretty heavy and we didn't want to risk it falling, especially when the babies start pulling up on things.  The drywall anchors worked like a charm and that sucker isn't going anywhere!    

Once the board was up on the wall, I used a little black acrylic paint and a tiny paintbrush to paint the screws black.  The black screws look better with the black vinyl than the shiny chrome screws would have looked.

We worked on most of the project while Archer and Lyla were napping.  But when they woke up, they were happy to help Jazzy supervise.  

Once the extra foot of tick marks and number 7 arrived, I put them on the top of the ruler.  Now we are covered in case our kids grow to be 7 feet tall.  

The final step was to decide how to mark their heights on the board.  We opted to use an arrow with their name and the date.  It was a little scary writing down their birth heights!  I had to use a Sharpie and didn't want to botch our beautiful new project!  But luckily I had a steady hand and Adam held a ruler so I could get the arrows straight.  Our plan is to record their heights on their birthday each year.  

I love this project so much!  First of all, it means we have two beautiful babies whose heights we get to record each year.  Secondly, Adam and I got to work on a project together, which is something we love to do and haven't gotten the opportunity to do lately.  I think it turned out beautifully and definitely makes me smile whenever I pass by it in the hall.  

Keep on growing, Lyla and Archer! 

A Twin Mom Morning

Before I became a stay at home mom, I had this notion that things would be easy-going and relaxed.  I thought my babies would have a set sleeping schedule and I could plan my day around those times.  I thought I would leisurely enjoy my breakfast on the couch while my babies would play by themselves. Boy, did I have it wrong!

Being a stay at home mom to two babies has been the absolute hardest job I have ever done!  Mind you I have been in charge of the education and well-being of up to 25 kids for a year's time.  But these two little babies have kicked my butt!  It has quite literally been grueling!  It's mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting at times.

I think what makes it so hard is that I don't feel like I accomplish very much in a day's time.  As a teacher, I always felt productive.  Coming home after teaching, I felt productive at home by cleaning the house and cooking dinner.  Now sometimes the only thing I am able to accomplish is keeping the babies alive.  The biggest event of my day might be cutting their fingernails or Lyla pooping on my face (don't ask). 

BUT I am so in love with this job.  Although it's the toughest job, it's also the best job I have ever had.  I am so unbelievably lucky to get to stay home with my babies and spend their every waking (and sleeping) hour with them.

I thought it might be fun to capture a glimpse of what an average day is like for those who might be curious and for me to remember what things are like right now.  After typing out what our morning was like, I decided I couldn't keep this up all day.  So here's a glimpse of what a typical morning looks like for us right now:

1:30am- I randomly wake up and wonder why I haven't heard any babies.  So I get up, go to the nursery, and go put my finger in front of each baby's nose to make sure they are still breathing.  They are, in fact, alive.  So I go back to my bedroom.

1:32am- Upon returning to my bedroom, I find that Jazzy has stolen my spot in bed, so I curl up around her so as not to disturb her.  She puts up with a lot these days, so I decide she deserves a comfy spot in bed.  I eventually drift back off to sleep. 

3:02am- My boobs wake me up, so I go downstairs to pump.  I assemble my parts and get hooked up.

3:10am- As I'm pumping, I hear Lyla cry on the monitor.  It never fails that someone starts to cry as soon as I start pumping.  So I unhook my pump, but keep the parts on my boobs and go get her.  I have to carry her downstairs holding her out in front of me to avoid the pump parts.  I manage to get one of her bottles out of the fridge while holding her and not disturbing the pump parts.  I prop Lyla up on a pillow next to me and hold her bottle with one hand, while using the other hand to reconnect the pump and continue pumping.

3:20am- I finish pumping and Lyla finishes her bottle.  I disconnect the pump parts and take Lyla down to the diaper mat on the living room floor to change her diaper because she smells poopy.  Upon taking off her sleep sack, I find there is poop all up her back and all over her jammies.

3:21am- I sneak upstairs to the nursery to get clean jammies and a sleep sack without waking up Archer.  I'm successful!  Yay!

3:25am- I come back downstairs and give Lyla a modified bath by wiping her down with baby wipes.  I get her situated with a fresh diaper and her new jammies and sleep sack.

3:30am- I take Lyla back to the nursery and put her back in her crib, while crossing my fingers she goes back to sleep.

3:31am- I go back downstairs, put milk I just pumped away in the fridge, decide I'm starving and thirsty, eat some string cheese and chug some water.

3:35 -4:20am- I go back to bed, curl up around Jazzy and keep looking at clock, wondering why Archer hasn't woken up yet.

4:20am- I finally start to doze off to sleep.

4:24am- Archer starts to cry, so I go get him quickly in hopes that he doesn't wake up Lyla.

4:25am- I take Archer downstairs and give him a bottle.

4:35am- I contemplate putting Archer back in his crib, but decide against it because he seems wide awake.  Instead we snuggle on the couch.  I kiss his chubby little cheeks while he grins.  He touches my face with his sweet hands and grabs at my glasses.  I wipe away a tear or two while thinking about how lucky I am to have such a sweet boy.

5:02am- Archer seems to be getting sleepy, so I decide to take him upstairs and lay him down in his crib with his pacifier in his mouth.

5:03am- I go back to bed.

5:04am- I hear Archer cry, so I go get him and bring him back downstairs before he wakes up Lyla.

5:06am- Too late.  I hear Lyla babbling on the monitor, and decide to go get her.  If Archer and I are up, she might as well join the party.

5:07am- When I go to the nursery, I find Lyla is upside down (we prop up one side of her mattress) in her crib reaching for her nightlight through the crib slats.  I tickle her side and she smiles and I smile and forget about being exhausted.  I shed another tear or two because I'm so lucky to have such a sweet girl.

5:10am- I bring Lyla downstairs.  I put Archer and Lyla on blankets on the living room floor to play together.  They don't so much as play, but smack each other in the face and put their feet all over each other.  They both also want the same Baby Banana even though there are two exactly alike.  I manage to get Archer interested in some baby keys.

5:15am- I go to the kitchen to feed Jazzy, let her outside, and make some hot chocolate.

5:20am- I sit down to enjoy my hot chocolate, take two sips and then both babies start to cry.

5:21am- I go hang out on the floor with babies.

5:45am- Both babies start crying because they are tired.  (Lyla rubs her eyes when she's tired and Archer has his tired cry.)  I try to put them both in the Rock N Plays downstairs.  Neither one are having it and continue to cry.

5:46am- So I decide to put them in the exersaucers.

6:02am- It's time to feed Lyla, so I get her out of her exersaucer, get her a bottle and feed her.

6:03am- As soon as I start feeding Lyla, Archer gets crabby.  Adam comes downstairs and gives Archer his pacifier.

6:15am- After Lyla finishes her bottle, I get outfits for the babies from the nursery to wear for the day.  I come back downstairs and change Lyla's diaper and changer her clothes.

6:17am- I take Archer out of the exersaucer and dress him for the day.

6:18am- I put both babies on blankets on the living room floor.  They are being good, so I run upstairs to go to the bathroom and put in my contacts.

6:19am- I take a slug of my cold hot chocolate.

6:20am- I put Lyla in an exersaucer.

6:25am- Archer gets tired of the floor, so I entertain Archer on the couch.

6:26am- I decide the babies look too cute in their outfits to not take a picture, so we have an impromptu photo session.  I act like a fool to try to get them to smile, take about 20 pictures and only get one that is a keeper.

6:37am- I play on the floor with the babies for awhile.

7:03am- Archer starts to get fussy and I decide he isn't going to wait until 7:25 to eat (we are on a loose 3-hour feeding schedule), so I give him his bottle.

7:15am- I change Archer's diaper and put him in an exersaucer.

7:16am- Lyla gets tired of being on the floor, so I put her in the swing for a nap.

7:17am-  I realize I never ate breakfast, so I get some smoothie juice, string cheese and knock off Ho Hos from Aldi.  Breakfast of Champions.

7:19am- It's time to pump, so I get all my parts and get situated.

7:25am- Archer gets crabby, so I try to shake toys in Archer's face to get him to be happy while still pumping.  Eventually he eats a cloth book and is happy again.

7:40am- I take another drink of my cold hot chocolate and decide to give up on it.  I go in the kitchen to put the milk I just pumped away and dump my cold hot chocolate down the sink.  I notice Lyla is awake in swing, trying to reach the animals on her mobile.  So I duck down behind the counter and sit on kitchen floor to put away the milk so she won't see me and want to be picked up.  I manage to stay hidden.

7:45am- I put Archer in a Rock N Play and he finally goes to sleep without a fight.

7:46am- I sneakily check on Lyla and see she's asleep.

7:47-8:16am- I decide it would be a good idea to write a blog post about what my days are like.  While I'm typing, I realize I didn't finish my smoothie drink, so I finish it.  I decide I can't keep up with this all day long, so I'll just give a snippet of my day in this blog post.  I realize I should have taken a shower or brushed my teeth instead of working on this post.  I also wonder if it's too early to eat lunch.

8:17am- Archer is stirring in his Rock N Play...

Shout out to all the stay at home moms!  It's not easy work, but it sure is important!  And shout out to the working moms!  I can't imagine the song and dance that has to happen each morning to make it out the front door.  Keep on keeping on, moms!

Family Photos

Well, this post is only 3 months behind.  That seems to be a recurring theme around the blog these days.  I blame Archer and Lyla. :)

Back in October, we had family photos taken by the incredibly talented Jaime of Anthem Photography.  Jaime took our wedding photos, along with another friend Matthew.  We adored our wedding photos and knew Jaime would do a beautiful job with family photos, as well.

Back before Archer and Lyla were born, I had planned to have a newborn photo session.  But then my babes arrived and time proceeded to move at warp-speed.  So we didn't get around to scheduling a photo session until October.  Allow me to remind you that Archer and Lyla were born at the beginning of August.  Whoops!

But it actually worked out better this way.  The babies were a little bit older and had a little more personality.  Jaime was kind enough to come to our house for a lifestyle photo session.  The thought of having to get to another location with all the crap we would need was a task too daunting for us at the time.  Being in our own home with everything we could possibly need took away a ton of the stress involved in taking family photos.

And Jaime was perfect!  She was so patient with us and the babies.  She even included Jazzy in several photos.  She was flexible and accommodating to our wishes, but also offered up some excellent ideas that we would have never thought to do.  We ended up with the perfect mix of candid and intentional portraits.

I feel a bit vain talking about how great pictures of me turned out, but they truly turned out beautifully!  It's hard to make a mom who is two and a half months postpartum think she looks good in photos, but that's just what Jaime did.

On that particular day, Lyla brought her A-game.  She was full of smiles and showed off her dimple!

Archer was a bit on the cranky side and did a lot of crying.  Despite being Mr. Crankypants, Jaime was able to capture some quiet moments which perfectly show off his typically mellow side.  

Jaime also captured some really sweet moments with Adam and Archer.  And I never would have thought to use that blank gray wall in our guest bedroom as a backdrop for photos.  I'm going to have to remember that for futures photos that I'll attempt to take but won't be nearly as gorgeous as Jaime's.    

When two little babies are your subjects, it's rather tricky to get both looking at the camera and not crying...at the same time.  But check out this sweet winner.  This photo made its way to our Christmas card and on our fireplace mantle.  It makes me smile whenever I see it.  

There were also some darling family shots.  It's once again tricky when you have two babies, but then add the height difference between Adam and I and you've got yet another challenge.  I love this photo because it's in front of our vacation gallery wall.  All of the traveling Adam and I have done together brings back such wonderful memories.  We both can't wait to add more photos of family travels down the line.  Having scenes like this from our home be our backdrop made the photo shoot that much more special.  Once again, this was Jaime's idea and I love it!  

I'm not generally a fan of photos with lots of PDA, but I'll make an exception for this sweet shot.  After all, it was Adam and I's love that created Lyla and Archer.  Well, our love, a chunk of money and a little science.  

Perhaps my favorite shot of all is this one with Jazzy front and center.  While the center of our lives has expanded a bit to include Archer and Lyla, Jazzy is still very much a central feature.  

We're so happy that our family photos can now include two sweet babies, in addition to our sweet fur baby.  We'll treasure these photos forever.   

All photo credits in this post belong to Jaime of Anthem Photography.  We can't recommend her enough if you are in need of a photographer in the Kansas City area!