Rain, Rain, Go Away

Well I finally mustered up the motivation to get on painting the girl’s dresser when as luck would have it, it’s pouring rain in my workshop…zee backyard.  Good thing it took me all week to gather my wits and make those painting plans for today.  Also a good thing that I put a little extra pep by way of an extra scoop of grinds in this morning’s joe because I’ve got all the energy in the world and a little bit of a shake to go with it.  Sorry sweet babe in my utero, that caffeine high you’re currently experiencing will wear off, I promise.  It probably doesn’t help that I ate some leftover chocolate lava cake for breakfast this morning with a side of a bagel and two eggs (which I waaay overcooked).  So, in a nutshell, chocolate, extra coffee kick, and a rainy day make me one nervous wreck.  The girls are fast asleep and I’m not sure what I’m going to do.  Our house is immaculate so there’s nothing to clean and Anthony is away at work so there’s nothing to pester him about.  Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, twiddle, twiddle, twiddle, shake, tap, twiddle, shake………….

I know, I’ll tell you of our living room plans because I know you all just love to see photo-shopped plans and not actual projects…

First, the fabrics involved:

1 – Dena Nadia Green Tea.  I found this on a random trip with both girls to JoAnn’s.  It was a newbie hanging on their “special order fabric” rack and it was just what I’ve been searching and hunting for for the coffee table going ottoman.  Anthony wanted something colorful and colorful it is.  (P.S.  It looks so much better in person than online.) 
The only drawback?  It was $50 a yard.  Too much for a cheapo like me.  Howev, this particular week all fabric was 50% off AND I had in my stash an extra 15% off coupon.  I needed 1.5 yards and with the sale + coupon, my price would be around $32.  Not fantastic but desperation and ending my months-long search got the best of me so I skipped to the check-out line where female employee #2 dashed my dreams and told me “We’re not taking any special orders because we’re moving the store.”  “It’s okay”, I thought and told her “Oh, okay, well I’ll just come back after you’ve moved.  When do you move?”  “The end of August”, said she.  This was the beginning of May.  Should I have been upset?  Their big move (down the street mind you) is four months away and they wouldn’t order 1.5 yards of this fabric for me?  What a joke.  Well guess what, I went home and hunted the net only to find the same exact fabric on eBay for $11 a yard.  I bought three yards and am planning a roman shade for the front door with it along with the ottoman.  I’ll keep my expletives in for JoAnn but she sure lost out.

2 – Unfortuntely I don’t have the designer, name, or anything on this fabric.  I can’t even find it online.  I got it over a year ago at Five Gold Monkeys on super clearance for $5 a yard.  It’s going to be sewn into pillow covers and, if there’s extra, maybe a pouf or two.

3 – This is a fabric napkin from Target that I found for 50 cents at Dirt Cheap a long while ago.  I have four and I’m planning on maybe making a pillow cover or two with them.

4 & 5 – These are samples of Robert Allen's Velvet Geo.  It’s up in too-expensive alley and until I can find it for cheaper (when and if), it’s just along for the ride.  The idea of making poufs out of this is enticing since it’s a nice, thick upholstery fabric.  Other ideas include recovering a couple of lounge chairs (which we don’t have but I love to add in the room as seating) or even just the seats of the loungers.  We’ll see.

Last, there’s this fabric I recently purchased from fabric.com in graphite (they don’t seem to have it in stock anymore!):

I love it because it’s bold and we need a little boldness up in here.  It’s going to cover a pillow or two as well.

In case you’re wondering about the in-depth details of this future ottoman I spoke of, here it is:
The plan is to paint the base white, remove the glass and replace it with wood, add some cushy padding, staple the aforementioned fabric to it, add some tufting by way of buttons, and put our feet up.  This pregnancy is going to thank me when we finally get it done.

The wall above the couch will be tweaked a little.  I really am dying to paint the frame around Greece (Italy?) white and then add some mirrors on each side to reflect more light around this room.  The living room is the darkest room in the house except in the morn when Sun Rise shines through, so adding mirrors to reflect more light will greatly add to my natural light loving attitude.
 

Then there’s the big, empty, peaked wall. 
 
We really need a system for storing our modem and for stashing/hiding all the cords from the electronics loitering in the area so our idea is to install shelving to the left of the chimney just for this purpose.  A gallery wall of sorts is also in the works.  Also, if I ever find those lounge chairs mentioned above, they’d go here…the swings just aren’t cutting it and I’m tired of trying to get out of them once I’m in.  They’re just way to small for my liking.  ;)

Behind the sectional we have this little catch-all area which we’re thinking of turning into a little office space.  That plan’s not set in stone but something is going to be because right now it’s home to a laundry basket I call my “going to Goodwill” collection, a bookshelf the girls repeatedly ransack, and a few frames begging to be hung.  We need more function.
    
The hutch will stay where it is because that’s the only place it can go in this joint.

Other little things include finding some new lamps via thrifting and getting a new, bigger rug (thought I had one…plan fell through and now Rugs USA is on my bad list…another story for another day).

And that’s that.  Once I get this darned dresser painted (Oh look!  It stopped raining!), I’m on to whipping up an ottoman and some pillow covers with zippers (eek…a little nervous about the z word).  Here’s to hoping these boxes will all be checked before #3 comes.  :) 

The only other thing left to say is “Stay Tuned” or “I’ll be back”…you pick.

Oh, and have a great weekend!

Bean Sprouts: 10 Months

Before I dive into the last month of the twins’ lives, I just want to give a big hug and thank you to you all for your sweet words of congratulations on the upcoming number three!  It’s such a joy to be surrounded by people who love life rather than those like the dude in Wal-Mart who, after seeing the twins and asking if they were in fact “twins?”, told me “You better not have anymore!”  I got the pleasure of telling him that we were in fact expecting our third around Christmas to which he mumbled something and gave me a raise of the eyebrow.  I just gave him a smug smile and went about my merry, hands-full way.  :)

 

So, it’s been 10 months since the birth of the two we once thought was just one.  Actually, we’re coming up on 11 months and momma over here is a little late on her posts.  We’ll blame it on the lack ‘o motivation that is known in this household as first trimester laziness.


[In case you didn’t notice, the only ham in this house resides in the fridge.]

Both girls are crawling, crawling, crawling and are now more interested in any room other than the room where all of their colorful toys live…the rooms that have bookcases, drawers, and lots of other things that really aren’t “child-proof” yet.  We really, really have to get on that.  Can anyone recommend some child-proofing gadgets for drawers and doors by the way?  We haven’t the faintest idea.

Seraphia:
Her new thing is to point or just throw out an arm with an open hand just for kicks.  She did it this morning circa 4:30 when she just needed to be out of her crib and she does it at other random points throughout the day.  We haven’t the faintest clue what she means by it but it sure is funny bordering weird.  She learned how to say “mama” two days before Mothers’ Day which melted my heart into a little red puddle but has since forgotten…  Compared to her courageous sister she’s, as Anthony says, a “little wuss”.  She’ll pull herself up on her knees but to her feet she wouldn’t dare.  She’s very careful to keep herself safe at all costs, which I guess is good for me.  She’s very sensitive and if she’s in any sort of foul mood, Cecilia just touching her will set her off into a fit of tears.  She listens when I tell her “no no” and immediately seeks out some other form of entertainment than the forbidden but only after letting me know her feelings were hurt.  She’s still the runt of the two, with my narrow profile and crazy long legs.
   

Cecilia:
She celebrated her 10 month birthday by cutting her first tooth.  It’s still her only tooth to date.  She’s my little cuddler.  She loves to cuddle with mommy and she’s very much a momma’s girl.  She’s a wild child though with frequent outbursts of loud noises and a care-free attitude which leads her to crawl wherever she pleases.  It doesn’t matter how stable the object she’s holding to stand, she’s determined to pull herself up on it.  Once again, we really need to child-proof.  She sings/yells to the tune of Scuttle on The Little Mermaid.  Heard it?  It’s ear-wrenching but cute all at once.  We’re pretty sure baby tylenol has the same effect as a large dose of sugar on her because it sends her to the moon and back, giggling all the way.  She eats almost anything I try to put in her mouth except avocado.  Her and S have no taste for those healthy things.
 

Both girls are now eating almost anything, which means that our lives are so much easier in the feeding department because they can eat minced versions of whatever we’re eating and on top of that, they’ve learned to pick up their own bits of food and feed themselves.  I’m still nursing them three times a day and we’ve starting supplementing with formula at night due to the depletion of milk the bean in the oven has brought on.  Cloth diapering has saved us roughly $900 to date (and that’s based on the price of Target generics)…holy wow…and I haven’t the faintest how much making our own baby food has saved us but it’s probably not quite that much.

If you stopped by, this is what our living room would probably look like these days:

and last week both girls wreaked havoc in our closet among my shoes, belts, and purging pile:

I have yet to clean up from their little excursion.


[Quick!  Look the other way and maybe she won’t know we did that.]

Speaking of things I still have to do, the dresser is going two-tone as soon as I can build up some energy and spend a nap time not napping with the tots.  Also on the list are the coffee table going ottoman, two gallery walls, and a ton of pillow covers that need to be sewn for the living room.  Here’s to hoping that “nesting” thing kicks in soonish.

Surprise, Surprise…

…for you and us.

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We’re well on our way to owning a bus.

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With one in the womb, three it will be;

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a lady or gent for S and C.

 

What will we do with three under two?  Racking our brains, we have not a clue.  It’s sure to be fun and maybe a little (or a lot) crazy but ready or not, in December we’ll have ourselves a new little bebe!

 

God is so good!  :)

What I Wore Sunday – Choosing Sides

   I bought this shirt from Goodwill many suns ago and finally got around to fitting it to me this past weekend, just in time to wear it to Mass yesterday.  I loved the colors, the fact that it was reversible, and the super-nice fabric.  I wasn’t in love with how beeeg it was:

So, I took out one of my fave fitted tops, traced it onto my blue/green number, put a straight stitch along the dotted line and a zig zag next to that for extra stability, and cut off the extra fabric with a pinking shears.

Unfortunately, I had to rob it of it’s reversible quality because I’m simply not good enough to know how to take it in to keep it that way.  So, since I already had the above green top, blue it was. 

Here’s how I wore it yesterday:

[Just call me Squints Under Cloudy Sky]
My photographer told me I’m an awkward picture taker…touche.  He also batted away my idea to picture-take with the fence as the background suggesting our vehicles would be a much better backdrop (also meaning he had to take less steps to humor his crazy wife by taking her picture to put on the www)… 

Top:  Goodwill $2
Necklace:  Ebay $8!!!!! (search “statement necklace” and China will come to your beck ‘n call)
Skinnies:  Target $7
Peep Wedges:  Consignment Store $5
A whole outfit for $22…not bad, not bad at all.

Putting up my link over at Fine Linen and Purple.  Lots more over there!

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I’ll be back later this week with a 10 month update on two little crazies and a two-tone dresser…and maybe something else…you’ll just have to come see.  :)

Two-Tone or No-Tone

Hey everybody!  I need your opinion!  I’ve mentioned before that I’d really like to do something to the dresser/buffet in the girls’ room but that I couldn’t decide what – paint it?  sand and re-stain it? ? ? ?  Well, then one day a month ago I came across this Pinteresting picture of a two-tone dresser and a big light bulb went off upstairs:
 
(Image originally from here.)

So my question is, should I or shouldn’t I?

Anthony thinks it would be too much white (it’s a running theme with him) but I think if I whipped up a colorful changing pad cover and maybe added more color to the lampshade, it’d be just smashing.  I’m not a huge fan of the scroll work on the dresser doors anyway so I think it’d be a great way to disguise that a little too.  What do you think??!!  Take some white paint to the doors and drawers or trash the idea and think of something else? 

To help you decided, here’s a couple of pixlr-ed mock-ups:
 
I know it’s not the best photomagic, but if you really squint, I think you’ll get the idea.  >:)

So then while I was digitally outlining the drawers to be colored in, I accidentally ran into this idea – just painting a thin white stripe around the perimeter of the doors/drawers.  Adding another option to the list…
 

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Please!  I need your opinion!  Leave it in the comments below, on our Facebook page, or on the Instagram post (username:  beaninlove) that I’m posting this very second!!  The dresser’s fate is up to you!