Window Seat Re-Do

We FINALLY had those horrible, 80's-gone-wrong window seat cushions recovered!


Here is the fabric up close..


We also replaced that awful light fixture and got a new table for the space!


I said not too long ago that I was going in a different direction for the house, yet this table is about as Shabby Chic as it gets! I still think it works though.


I love walking in and seeing this little nook. It is definitely one of my favorite spaces in the house.




One bite at a time, we are making this place our own :)

Hallway Reveal (if you can call it that.)

A few days ago, I left all 5 of you hanging when I said we were doing something fun in our hallway.

The next day, we had horrible thunderstorms and lost internet for a few days. We're back now, so... drumroll please!

Before



After










The darker wall stripe is Taupe 3 and the lighter is Stone 2, both by Valspar.

In total, we transformed the hallway for about $15.00 We had the Taupe 3, leftover from Harper's room. The chandelier was given to us by my mother-in-law. All of the decor, we already had. The only thing we had to buy was a small can of Stone 2, which was about $15.00

At first, we were wondering if the colors were too similar and not noticeable. Once it all dried though, it turned out just the way we wanted. Subtle and not in-your-face as soon as you walk in. A lot our family members didn't even notice at Hollin's Dedication Day lunch!

There are lots of "whoops" areas where the paint dripped, or got onto the baseboards, but we weren't very careful on purpose. Unfortunately, ALL of the trim in the house has to be repainted because it is almost beige in some areas.

I would like to replace the cheap Wal-Mart mirror with some sort of sunburst mirror.


We are planning to replace the dark tile with something light and simple.


I'm looking forward to changing out the decor on the entry table as the holidays and seasons change.

Stay tuned for our office (semi) makeover!!

Spring into change

The gorgeous weather lately has had me all kinds of motivated. I've been motivated to do everything.

Cook.

Clean.

Try new activities with the kids.

Shop. (quite limited here :)

Get outside.

Make the house a home.

Party plan.

Craft.

It's fun to have motivation to do all of these things, but as we moms know, there just aren't enough hours in the day. So what do we do? We focus one what we can, when we can. One thing suffers so that we can get another thing done and so on and so on.

I convinced hubby to try something I've been wanting to do forever. Here's a hint. It's SO hard to figure out what we've done:)

(Blurry night photo. Best I've got.)


I'm so thrilled with the result and I will share pics as soon as I can take a daylight photo.

It seems like it takes three times as long to get a project done as it used to. I am busy trying to entertain/keep babies happy while Jimmy does most of the work. He can only work so much when he is always sleep deprived, so we do what we can. Our house is a complete wreck and I would be mortified if anyone came over, but we have a pretty hallway to show for it!

The babies have been pretty good the last few days. Hollin decided to have her worst meltdown ever today and I think it may be because she didn't feel well.

(You'd think I would've learned to remove my knee from baby photos.)

She cried for at least 30 minutes, if not more. I did let her cry it out. I picked her up after I couldn't take it anymore and she fell asleep. Oh and Harper was saying, "Mama outside, mama, mama, MAMA!!!" the whole time she was screaming. It was fun.


So, that is life right now. I feel like I am in a constant state of "overwhelmed" since Hollin was born, but things are constantly changing and babies keep growing. I try to adapt as best I can. Some days I think I rock at this whole mom-of-two thing and then some days, not so much. I'm trying to soak in all of these little moments. Even the screaming infant, the demanding preschooler, the dog that needs to be let out at the most inconvenient times and the teeny changes that we make to our home when we can find the time. Maybe even the balls of dog hair I can see under my bed and in corners of the house. Mixed with dried chunks of play-doh.

There are so many changes happening here and it's all (mostly) fun. My mom is moving here permanently next week. More on that here. I'm planning for Harper's 3rd birthday party, Easter, preparing for construction to begin and trying to make my house presentable for all of the above. I may even try to throw in a pool party some time this year. I wish I could invite every single one of you!

I'm not going to flatter myself with thinking that I have a ton of readers, but what are you changing/looking forward to?

Happy Friday,

Spring is in the air

The weather here is so nice, we took advantage of some outside time today. After preschool and lunch, Harper jumped on the trampoline he got for Christmas. We have been in the new house since Jan 10th, but we just put it back together this morning.

It's a GREAT way to get ants out of little boy pants.


Hollin enjoyed being outside today too.


There is a gorgeous tree (or bush?) growing in our backyard. I love these flowers, but I don't know what kind of plant it is.


A few nights ago, we tried Hollin on her first baby food. Bananas! She had already tried rice cereal a few nights before the baby food, but she didn't like it.

She made some funny faces, then daddy got her to smile.

Harper said he wanted to help.

I'm hoping that the weather will stay spring-like now, even though we haven't had much of a winter.

I love all seasons, but spring is one of my favorites. I'm so excited about all of the fun things coming up!

Happy Monday,

High maintenance and crying it out

After nearly 4 1/2 months of watching my sweet girl, I've come to realize that she is high maintenance. She is a SWEET baby, but loves attention. All. The. Time.

She is a big ham and will smile at anyone. She is so outgoing and in true girly fashion, wants to be in the middle of whatever is going on.

Harper was never like that. He was a calm, easy-going, content baby, but usually very serious. He could entertain himself right from the start.


He still does!

Hubby and I spent between 5 and 6 hours cleaning out and re-organizing our garage today. Hollin just wouldn't stand for it unless she was blissfully asleep. When she was awake, watching from her sleeper just wasn't enough. She wanted to be held. When I tried to lay her down on her play mat, she wailed and wailed until someone would pick her up.

I'm nearly to the point where I am willing to let her cry it out. I know there are so many opinions about this, but I am not exaggerating when I say I can't get anything done unless she is asleep. She is still only sleeping for about 45 minutes at a time.

I'm so torn about letting her cry it out. I never had to do this with Harper, so it's the first time I'm having to think about it. I know that it won't damage her for the rest of her life, I'm just worried about how long I can stand to hear her cry.

We'll get it figured out. One way or another. It's getting from here to there that's hard.

Prayers welcomed :)

Supergirl

Jimmy used to sing the "Superman" anthem to Harper and fly him through the air when he was a baby.

Hollin seems to enjoy it as well :)







Yesterday, I went to Michael's and picked up a few things. I wanted to try and make Hollin a few cute headbands. I ended up making 5 and this one is one of my favorites.


Jimmy and I getting close to finishing our office re-do. I picked a very different color and I am SO excited about it. We just need to finish up the trim, do one more coat on the ceiling and then put all the furniture back. I am definitely on the lookout for a different light fixture, curtains and a rug. I also need something for the walls, but I just haven't decided which way to go. Do I want pics of the family or just landscape-type pics? I don't know yet.

Can't wait to show you all!

Happy Tuesday,

I might be out of my mind

This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 8th. Harper's 3rd (wow) birthday is April 5th.

Jimmy and I talked it over and decided that we will celebrate his birthday on Saturday, April 7th and then of course Easter (and all corresponding activities) will be the next day.

This year's birthday party theme is..............


John Deere Tractors!

Truth be told, Harper could care less what KIND of tractor he's looking at, but working with the green and yellow should be fun!

Part of me wants to go all out because I feel like my little boy deserves it.

He really deserves it after learning to say, "If you touch my Sissy, I'll beat you up!"

I'm excited to make our new digs all festive. On the flip side, however, I have to be realistic. How much can I really do in one weekend? I know I can squeeze in a lot, so I just might do that. It's all part of the fun I suppose.

I LOVE preparing for this time of year and especially planning my first baby's party.

Let the fun begin!

Fun messes

I think I may have found something that Harper likes better than the ipad.

Play-doh!

He received 4 containers for Christmas and I have been very apprehensive about letting him play with it. Not because of the mess, but because I was afraid he might try to eat it or feed it to the dog.

He has had a GREAT time with it! Today, he wanted popcorn and crackers after he got home from Preschool, so I let him snack and play. Mommy accidentally knocked over the popcorn, but he was so entertained by it, I had to snap a pic.


We have a little bit of dog hair, some play-doh, crackers and popcorn all over the floor. But, it's all in the name of a good time.

I have discovered that Hollin really enjoys watching TV. I know there are many moms out there who feel strongly about not letting the TV babysit for their babies, but honestly, if it buys me 15 minutes to clean up the above mess, I will do it.

She really likes Dora the Explorer!



That's all that's poppin' in the Cushing home these days. I do have a few projects that I'm working on, so stay tuned!



:)

Today

Today has been a WONDERFUL day! So wonderful that I get all giddy just thinking about it and hoping it continues.

My day started around 6am when Hollin woke up hungry. She must have woken Harper because he came barrelling down the hallway and jumped in our bed. Maya just so happened to be there, so I caught a few sweet moments with my babies and baby-like dog.


(Spit-up queen.)

I sat down at breakfast this morning and wrote a schedule out for us to follow. We were doing really well until Harper decided he didn't want to take a nap today. Even still, it's been a good one.

He's been so helpful!

And so funny. Here is he telling one of the Preschool girls that he loves her on his kitchen phone... Oh dear.

I asked him if he was cooking her dinner and he said yes.


I'm sure she won't be too interested after mommy shows her what Harper likes to do when no one's looking.


Mommy will be saving these photos :)

Happy Thursday!