5 months!

Hello and happy Wednesday!  So, before another month passes and I miss someone's five month post, I figured I needed to pop in with an update :)

 This little girl is getting big too fast :).  She is so sweet, and smiley 90% of the time.  She wasn't too sure she wanted her picture taken though when I started her little photo shoot.

But she warmed up pretty quickly!  Her hair is getting so long, it actually flops in her eyes if I don't pin it back.  I'm not going to get it cut yet though, it's just too cute!  Plus this gives me an excuse to add to her bow stash, so there's that :)

Her new trick this month is rolling over.  And over.  And over!  She'll roll across the room if there's nothing in her way.  I caught her trying to pull her knees up under her yesterday and was like nooooooo!  Calm down little one, no crawling just yet :)

Fun facts:

Weight- 23lbs

Eating- just nursing for now.  But she's showing interest in our food!

Nicknames- countless!  Smiley Smu, Peabody, p-nut, miss mommy, the list goes on :)

Sleeping- still in our bed.  And she won't nap as long in the swing :-/ gotta get on this crib thing!

Clothes- size 12mos.  She's growing so fast that I'm constantly shopping for her.  Poor me ;P

Loves- peekaboo, grinning in the mirror, getting her diaper changed and whenever daddy smiles at her

Random- she plays with her hair when she's nursing and sleepy.  Oh and she likes to whack me while she nurses.  I call it 'the baby haymaker'.  Dano thinks it's hilarious :)

She's getting more interested in toys.  We have a little spinning gear thing, and she could sit and hit the button over and over.  Oh and she loves Gage's hot wheel cars.  Specifically chewing on them :). He doesn't mind.  Yet.

Her favorite activity though is getting in the bathtub with big brother.  He loves to make her laugh, and she giggles so hard when he splashes and jumps around!  Holding her upright is tricky though, slippery little wiggle :). She'll be sitting up on her own before long!

Ugh those cheeks!!  I sit around and smooch them all.day.long!  We juuuust finished her nursery, so the next adventure is to get her to actually sleep in her crib.  Fingers crossed it goes well!  Oh and of course, I'll be back with a post on her space soon :)

Paint all the things!

Hello friendlies!  How have you been?  Life's been busy.  Nothing crazy or exciting, but I feel like time is flying!  So I know I promised you a post on the playroom floor decision, and then life happened, and now it's been a month.  So let's get on that!

When it came to demoing the playroom, we knew the floor had to go.  Not only was it part horrible parquet, and part carpet squares, but the area under the raised seating was bare subfloor.  Originally we wanted to just have it carpeted.  But we got a quote on carpet and found out it was going to cost almost $500!  Eek!  We still want to get carpet one day. But knowing that this was going to primarily serve as a playroom, we wanted everything in here to be mess friendly.  And freaking out about every crumb or container of playdough that makes it's way in there doesn't work for my piece of mind.  So, for now, we decided to work with what we've got.  And what we've got is a concrete subfloor!  After searching the interwebz, we decided that painting the floor was the way to go.  Cheap, easy and low maintenance?  I'll take it!

Now for the process.  First, the floor needed to be cleaned.  All of the old carpet glue and overspray had to be scraped up.  We just doused the glue in lacquer thinner, let it sit with a trash bag on it, and after 10 min, it scraped right up!

There were also a few cracks and divots that needed to be filled in.  We just used wall filler, pressed it into the cracks, let it dry and sanded it down.

Then came paint!  We just got some bright white concrete paint from lowes.  I think it was about $24 for a gallon.  The cool thing about this stuff is you can have it tinted to match any color, so the possibilities are endless!

This is after the first coat.  It's crazy how quick and easy this was!  After spending over a month on the walls, we banged this out in a day!  

So easy a toddler can do it :)

Here it is after three coats!  A beautiful bright white.  And we still have a ton of paint left!

For added durability, we decided to add a protective topcoat.  I'd read that it makes the floors easier to clean.  Plus, it gives it a nice glossy sheen!

And you know I was dying to fill this space up and make it pretty :).  We brought the mattress in from the garage for seating.  I want to get a daybed eventually, so this can double as a guest room.  The bench under the window we've had for years, it's from ikea.  As are the curtains :). Eventually, we want to do built ins on either side of the window, with a window seat in between.

More ikea love!  These expedition bookshelves are awesome.  We used this as a tv console at our old house, but we have built ins in this living room!  So the book shelf is great storage now.  When we do the built ins in here, this will move up to either the office or P's room.  

Love these bright, fun curtains!  They were the color inspiration for this room :). I pulled the light teal blue color from the curtains for the walls, and plan to use the bright green and navy as accents in the room.

So there's the playroom for now!  It needs baseboards, lighting, a rug, some furniture.  Plus, I have some ideas for the walls and of course the built ins need to happen.  But for now, we finally have a functional, huge space for the kiddos to play in!  And no more plaster dust flying though the house!! Yay!

Hope you are having a fantastic week!

4 months

I blinked, and my sweet little baby girl is now four months old!  This month has been such a fun one with her.  She has really gone from 'infant' to 'baby' this month.  She's much more aware of her surroundings, and is developing a sweet little personality.

Persephone is really easy going, which I've been especially appreciative while Gage works through some toddlerness :)  She is an incredibly smiley girl, and those dimples are always on display!  

Once we finished the playroom, we brought out the jumper for P.  At first she wasn't quite sure what to think, but now she is a huge fan!  She'll bounce and chew on her fist, watching her brother spin in the living room.  

We've also been getting in a lot of tummy time, and someone is thisclose to rolling over!  She gets about 3/4 of the way there and stops, normally because she can now see the tv or grab her toy :). P definitely seems to prefer being on her tummy to her back, and will arch and complain if left on her back too long.

Naps are still happening in the swing, and bed time she's still with us.  I was trying to transition her AND potty train with Gage, but decided one thing at a time.  There's only so much chaos I can take :). Gage is doing well with the potty, so hopefully Persephone will be making the change here in the next week or so!

P has gotten much better about the car seat, and travels really well now!  She even naps and hangs out happily in her seat when we go shopping.  She loves the shower and bath tub, and I can't wait to introduce her to a pool!  

Oh, and my absolute favorite, she's giggling now!!  Not quite a belly laugh, but she'll 'huh huh huh' with a big smile on her face.  I get the most laughter when I raspberry her belly, chew on her toes or wipe her butt during a diaper change :)

I love her oh so very much!  I'm trying to soak up all her sweet baby-ness while it lasts.  I know all too well how quickly they grow :)

Biting off a serious mouthful: playroom update

You guys!  How the heck are you?  Hope all the mommas out there had a lovely Mother's Day :) It's been a minute, and we've gotten a TON accomplished around the house.  I'm actually typing this while sitting in the finished playroom :). So, there's lots to update you on! 

But why the delay?  Well, this playroom project was far more than we ever imagined it would be.  It's still not 100% finished!  It took for.ev.er, and I think throwing all our time and energy into it burnt us out a bit.  This was not an instant gratification thing.  In the future, I think we'll do bits and pieces of different projects and jump around a little more, just so we don't burn out.  Also, we've been potty learning with Gage, and just came off of a week of terrible twoness that you wouldn't BELIEVE!!

I've sat down to try and write this post maybe 5 times, but just couldn't do it.  I was that burnt out lol! And I just didn't feel like I could do justice to the time and effort we put in.  But after letting it be for a while, I can say it was well worth the effort.  It's a completely transformed space, and a room that is actually functional for us!  But let's get down to the nitty gritty :)

Before we could even get to those walls, there was a bit of demo that needed to happen.  The bar area and raised seating had to be torn down.

And then the flooring had to be pulled up.

How do you like my cutie little helper?!  He really enjoyed tearing things apart :) only with supervision by daddy of course!

Once we moved furniture and wood out, we were finally left with a blank-ish slate

You can see in the two above photos that we were left with tons of holes, several different paint colors, chair rail and some damage from the structures in the room.  So this was when the nightmare started.  I think I pulled 50 nails out of the walls, all different shapes and sizes.  And the caulking on the chair rail was pretty mean.  It did a fantastic job of ripping drywall paper off the walls :( Meaning we had even more areas that had to be patched.  We debated leaving the chair rail, but it was only on 1.5 of the walls, so we decided to do away with it rather than patch in new pieces.

Now, keep in mind we are by no means professionals, and there may be a much more scientific means of repairing walls.  We were actually concerned at this point that they'd never look right, and we'd have to put up all new dry wall.  But we pushed through, figuring we could always take it down if it was that bad.

The first part of the process?  Filler!  Get a tub, and start slapping it in those holes.

Everything that wasn't smooth got a coat (sometimes two) which we had to let dry.  We patched holes and rough spots over the course of ten days.  Yea, it was that bad.  And here I thought the whole thing would be finished in 2 weeks!  The DIY gods are laughing at me, I tell ya!

Once that was dry, everything had to be sanded.  Since this is a decent sized room (12'x13'), and there was SO MUCH sanding to do, Dano suggested we use the electric sander.  This was both awesome and awful at the same time.  I think we would have spent a solid month just sanding if we did it by hand, so the time saving factor was huge!  But the dust.  Oh man, the dust.  Ev.er.y.where!! We shut the door, and went to town.  And it looked like we had dusted the house with cocaine!  And every time someone walked from the playroom to another part of the house, they tracked white footprints!  Just when I think I've wiped every surface, I find it lingering somewhere else.  Enter more cackling from the DIY gods.

Since we have the distinct pleasure of having textured walls (sarcasm, anyone?) we knew all these smooth surfaces would need to have some sort of texture put back on them, so they'd blend into the rest of the wall.  We watched some tutorials, and debated different methods, but couldn't pick a direction.  Then, while perusing Lowes one day, we came across this:

The DIY gods threw us a bone!  This stuff was the bomb dot com!  It comes in several different textures, and it's just like using spray paint!

Spray it on your smoothed areas, feathering out into your already textured wall, let it dry and boom!  You are ready to prime!

A coat of primer (a couple areas with darker paint got two coats) and two coats of Sherwin Williams Rainwashed left us with this:

Like a breath of fresh air!  It's light and pretty, and really opens up the space :). The walls aren't perfect.  But they are 95% better than what we started with! and we were able to repair them very inexpensively.  Sometimes it was hard to see the finish line, but I'm so glad we reached it!  

Oh and that picture gives you a sneak peek of the floors, which I'm super excited about!  Can't wait to share with you!

3 months!

This past Saturday, P hit the three month mark.  Has it really been three months already?!  Wow.  This little cutie is getting too big.  I feel like, since having Persephone, life has been on warp speed!  Weeks pass in the blink of an eye.  I wake up on Mondays like 'wow, is it really Monday again?  Already?!'.  I mean, it's going to be Easter this weekend!!

But before this moment speeds away too, let me give you a quick update on our little girl!  I feel like she has started to morph from newborn to baby this month, and it's been so.much.fun.  She's giving us lots more smiles now!  

She loves to watch her brother bounce around the room.  I can't wait until she starts giggling :). She is also quite the little talker!  We had a whole 5 minute conversation the other day.  It was very reminiscent of Dory trying to speak whale, and I loved every second of it :)

Physically, she is growing out of control!  Like we are in 9 month clothes now.  9 month!! Her hair is getting longer, and those roots are pretty blonde.  Speaking of hair, I've started putting bows in it and I can't.handle.the.CUTENESS! 

 She can hold her head up for quite a long time when resting on her tummy.  But, she doesn't stay happy on her tummy for long.  She'd much rather be laying on her back, grinning at the ceiling fan.  Is it wrong that I'm a little jealous of an inanimate object?  The smiles she wastes on that fan, it's really not fair :). 

She's still sleeping with us at night, and napping in the swing or on the go during the day.  We are trying to work on more of a sleep routine now, since we've been having some issues at night.  The habit she's developed this month that I'm not a huge fan of?  Screaming for at least an hour before bed almost every night.  Talk about a rough way to end the day!  Everything that I've read says it's pretty common, and can be caused by the fact that she's not getting enough sleep during the day.  So, we are working on more scheduled naps.  Starting with trying to get her nursery into sleep ready mode!

Wait, you didn't know the nursery STILL wasn't finished?!  Yea.  It's been hovering at about 80% for the last month.  But since she's been sleeping with us, we weren't in a huge hurry.  This coming from the girl who almost had a panic attack at 7 months pregnant with Gage when the nursery wasn't complete.  Somebody has definitely mellowed out ;P  We've been busy putting some final touches on the nursery this weekend (like a mattress and bedding).  Can't wait to show you the final product!

She's become more of a fan of her car seat this month.  She loves to bat at the toys strung across the front of it.  Just yesterday I caught her trying to pull the lion into her mouth :). And she's been drooling and chewing on her fist a lot.  Wonder if teeth are on the way already?  Oh, speaking of her mouth, baby girl has become a spitter, just like her brother was!  There are burp cloths all over the house now, and I constantly smell like sour milk :). 

That's our Persephone!  She's amazing, adorable and I just wanna squishthosecheeksallday!!

She went to Sherwin!

Thats right kids, Sherwin Williams semi annual sale started today!  And guess who was bouncing around like a kid headed to Disney World this morning??  This loser awesome person :D

So once Dano got home, P woke up from her morning nap, and we got ready to go, we all piled into the car and set out on my FIRST EVER trip to Sherwin Williams!  I could barely control my excitement, or bladder.  Cut me some slack, I've had two kids.  All the mommas out there feel me on that one.  Anywho, we got about two blocks from home, and as Dan rounded a corner he said 'I think the car is about to die'.  What?!?!  But I'm going to Disney World Sherwin Williams!  And they are having a SALE! We had no choice but to limp home.  The alternator breathed it's last just as we pulled into the driveway /sadtrombone.

There is, however, a happy ending to this over-dramatized story!  So did I mention Sherwin Williams is only about 5 blocks from my house?!  Yea, anyone else smell the danger THAT presents?  And we have a second vehicle :). But since said vehicle is a mustang, I was going to be flying solo on this great paint adventure.  We unpacked the kids, I grabbed my purse, hopped in 'the race car' (Gage's adorable nickname for the 'stang) and resumed my quest!  As I write this I'm thinking 'wow, talk about priorities Robyn!  The car is dead but who cares? Give me paint!'.  However, my live in mechanic is currently fixing the alternator.  Love that man :)

Back to the paint!  So my local store is awesome.  As I walked in, Manny introduced himself and asked if I needed any help (hi Manny!).  I explained my projects, and the fact that the previous owner was a little over zealous with holes in the wall :). He recommended their Harmony paint, so I got a gallon of that mixed up.  It's zero VOC and odorless, plus it will help fill minor imperfections on the wall.  Then I told him I needed some rollers and some paint for the floor.  Unfortunately his store doesn't carry the specific paint I was looking for, so I'll have to hit a different SW this weekend (darn ;)).  BUT, he told me if I call earlier in the week, they can have things delivered from a different store, for me to pick up here!  Love it!  Manny patiently listened to all my questions, discussed options  and even offered to carry everything to the car for me, all while the store was pretty busy!  I will definitely be back :)

'But wait Robyn, did you say paint for the FLOOR?'  I knew I couldn't get anything past you ;)  That's right friendlies, we are going to paint the concrete subfloor!  I've done some research, and looked at tons of pics.  I'm pretty psyched about it!  Fingers crossed it happens this weekend, so I can tell you all about it next week!

So how did you celebrate paint week?  Anyone planning a trip to SW to take advantage of the sales?  Click here for a coupon to help you save even more!

 

 

National Paint Week

Hello friendlies!  How was your weekend?  Mine was too short, as always :)



So I'm just popping in today with a quick post, wishing you a happy National Painting Week!  That's right kids, my favorite DIY project has its own week in this great nation of ours :)  And why shouldn't it?  You can do soooooo much with paint!  With a couple hours, a gallon of paint and some foam rollers, you can completely transform a room in your home.  Or a piece of furniture.  Or your kitchen cabinets.  The possibilities are endless! 

Sherwin Williams is celebrating this week by highlighting a different color each day.  And then this weekend, they are having a awesome sale, discounting paint by 30-40%!  So its the perfect time to refresh your spaces.  I've actually never been in a Sherwin Williams, but I hear great things!  And you know I can't pass up a sale, so I will be all over that this weekend :)  Can't wait to share my loot and experiences with ya!

What have you been painting lately?  I have quite a few projects that come to mind :)  And a new-to-me idea that I'm looking forward to trying in our playroom!  So what are you waiting for?  Grab a paintbrush and celebrate!

* Sherwin Williams has no idea who I am.  I just wanted to share the upcoming sale with you guys, and hopefully inspire you to get painting!