The Kids' Rooms

This info is old news by now, but I still wanted to take some time to document changes to the kids' rooms. Henry was in his nursery until we found out we were expecting Annie. We knew we would have to transition him to a "big boy" room, so below are some pics from the project we started in mid March. He has done beautifully with the move!

Henry's new room used to be the guest room. It was an olive green color, had an outdated ceiling fan, and popcorn ceilings. We have slowly taken off the popcorn in each of the rooms in our house (a few rooms still remain), so we knew we would want to take them off in his room while it was empty. Here is Steven scraping the ceilings. You can kind of see the old paint color.

This is a picture of the messy job...you should see the floors during this whole process. And look at the wet walls....ugg. It's not a fun job, but the results sure are nice.

Henry was absolutely enthralled with the whole process. He loved just standing there in the doorway and watching Steven work (the floors were too messy for him to walk around in there).

Here are the ceilings after all being scraped and sanded before being painted white. Way to go, Steven! This project was all him...me being pregnant and still getting over pneumonia were good enough excuses for him to take the helm!

Look at Henry's smile...that is TRUE happiness. He was SO into the ladder and wanted to help daddy work so badly. We let him climb up there every night and "work" with some tools.

Another ladder shot...you can see the walls are painted a light gray and the ceilings are painted. They are putting in a nice new ceiling fan here.

This is in the middle of decorating it...Henry wanted to be in every shot. I wanted to keep the rocking chair in there as long as possible! I know it probably looks babyish, but as long as he doesn't know the difference we are good!

Here he is in his "big boy bed"....ahem. That is what he thinks anyway! Henry has never tried to climb out of his crib (even now at 2 and a half years old), so I am not about to transition him into a real bed until we have to. I like having him contained at night! This crib we borrowed from friends (thank you Hunter and Blakeley!!!) since we still needed the white one for the nursery. It felt bigger to Henry, and he was so proud of it!!

"Helping" organize his books on his bookshelf! The rug I got at TJ Maxx on clearance and the brown light blocking curtains were $4 a panel at dirt cheap-score! I didn't really have a theme in mind, but these neutral, boyish colors work well together.

Drumroll, please! Just this summer we have finally gotten some stuff up on the walls in the kids' rooms, so I feel like the are finally official (hence the blog post). We had this chest of drawers already in the guest room, and they will work for now. They are old and kind of rickety, so that is something I look to replace eventually. The picture is a framed poster from a gorgeous town we visited last summer in Switzerland...we figured the cows would work for a kids room!

The Scrabble tiles are from Hobby Lobby, and Steven and I both loved them when we saw them! I know if we had set time aside we could have made something similar, but there is something said for having it already done for you!! I have since put a frame around the "h" beside his bed. The frame is the same color as the crib and tiles, so it looks really good.

Here is his reading nook again-the 2 square pics were from his nursery. When Henry looked at them when I put them back up in this room, he said, "Baby Annie!!"...I had to tell him it was HIM as a baby, and at first he didn't believe me!  I'm really happy with the way this turned out! Eventually Henry may want something different, but right now he is thrilled with his room!

Next up? Annie's room! I originally thought I would be OK keeping the nursery exactly like it was for another baby. When we found out Annie was a girl, somehow the yellow and gray theme just seemed boyish. I still thought keeping it the same would be fine with me, but as her due date approached, I began to change my mind! With a second baby, there is just so much LESS prep. I didn't feel like we were READY for #2 because of that-we hadn't DONE anything much for her arrival! I think I was also still just a little bit skeptical that she was actually going to be a girl for some reason, too. I was also nervous about picking pink-there are so many shades and I didn't want anything too loud or overbearing. We decided to finally do it, though, sooo...being the good sport that he is, Steven transformed the nursery from neutral yellow to girly pink! I ended up loving the shade of pink we chose. My mom helped paint the trim one day, and I could have sworn I got a picture of her working, but I can't find it anywhere...guess that what happens when you post something 6 months post project!


After the painting and putting back of furniture, all the decorations had to go up on the wall! Henry was SO into all of this...he wanted to help so badly. Steven let him help hammer some shelves which he loved! He also loved sorting through the jar of nails. These pics were taken exactly a month before Annie was born!

I love the finished product! We kept all the bedding the same, as well as the rocker, rug, and bookshelf. I just added a few feminine touches like the change from a square mirror to this shabby chic looking one we found at an antique store. I also added a throw pillow that Steven actually gave me when we were dating that is made from a quilt square. My German doll that mom kept is sitting on the floor (don't worry Annie-I hated it and don't mind if you do, too. I don't know why Manar kept that one!). And the girl bin from Aunt Mae to hold extra books.

The pink minky dot blanket thrown over the crib is just like Henry's yellow one made by Grandma. I don't know if she will love hers like he loves his, but at least she has one to try! She also has a pink Angel dear hippo lovie with her name on it in there just like Henry's special bunny one. The vintage floral prints above the crib are ones I had before that work perfectly in her room! I had collected them from thrift stores and antique stores.

We had seen some cute handkerchief name banners at Alter'd State that I wanted to buy for a girl, but with Annie having a double n, it just looked funny with two of the same handkerchiefs right next to each other. SO, I got the idea that I could make something similar that I liked. I already had several hankies, so I found a few more that the antique store that were floral, then painted the letters of her name in gray. That's were my talent ended, however. I passed it off to Grandma to fold and sew all together. I was happy with how it turned out!

Melanie made Annie this cute wreath which I put on the outside of her closet door. To the right is the button initial decoration that Heather made for Henry with yellow buttons. We switched out the yellow for pink and re-did the initial from H to A!

The changing table is pretty much the same as with Henry. I just changed the pad cover to the that soft minky dot pink one. Above on the shelves are a couple more vintage pictures. The one with the dog actually was from a60's Baptist Sunday School curriculum  (it said on the back) that must have been teaching about responsibility or something. So cute-I think I got it from a yard sale. To the left of that is a book that was mine as a kid called "Love is a Special Way of Feeling" by Joan Walsh Anglund. The words and illustrations in it are just precious. Since it was pink, I figured I could display it in Annie's room! The dress was actually my niece Emma's-she wore it to our wedding! I love Annie's room, and I hope she does, too.

 

September 2014

We had a wonderful September! We wrapped up the summer with lots of activities and time together. See below for some of it!

We were actually home on Labor day for once and didn't have any plans. We had a great day together. We swam at a friend's neighborhood pool all morning, then after nap we played putt-putt. Henry LOVED it!

Henry always wants to hold Annie after nap. I can usually talk him into just putting sitting her beside him. So sweet!

Annie's shirt says "pucker up" and was cousin Layna's, so we had to do a photo op to show her!

I happened to have on a shirt that matched hers, so I had to get at pic with my girl!

Another after nap picture....you can tell because Henry has his blankie wrapped around his legs to "get cozy". They wore big bro/big sis shirts this day!

One day we met the Busches at the park and played all morning, then had Sonic in the back of my car afterward!

Henry was very proud of the acorn wreath we made. He loves to glue, so this was right up his alley! He also loved taking a walk around the neighborhood to collect acorns (we do this all the time anyway, but this time we had a special project in mind as we collected!)

This cute shirt was Henry's. It was a gift from our high school principal and his wife, so it holds special meaning!

It is actually a watercolor painting that has been transferred onto screen print-so cute!

We went to Tim's Ford lake with small group (minus the Wayes who were at the beach) the weekend of Sept 5th. We had lots of porch time which is where these pics were taken. I failed to get a group shot, but it was the Rollins, the Burns (minus Chloe), and us.

We did well overall juggling both kids there:)

Enjoying the water...it was a great temp and Henry and Connor thoroughly enjoyed jumping in over and over.

Ezra and Annie having some serious conversation.

Henry and Steven heading up after Henry's first fishing experience. He and Steven caught a few tiny ones together as you can see below!

More Bumbo time on the porch for Annie.

Poor baby gets loved on a lot by her big bro:)

As you can see she loves the interaction...he is her favorite thing to watch.

The following weekend the guys from small group went on their annual golf trip to Atlanta, so I went to TN from Saturday through Monday night. I met up with mom on Saturday and we drove to Murfreesboro to visit my aunt Brenda. She had been in remission from breast cancer, but it is back and has spread, so they are not treating her. She has a great attitude, and we loved seeing her. She just ate the kids up! She let Henry organize all of her dachshund figurines and she had a huge jar of M&M's set out that she gave him free reign over...yikes! She knows how to win over a 2 year old! And she held Annie the whole time and just kept talking about what a good baby she was. 

While we were in town we also ran by Abby's. We waited too late and didn't get to stay as long as we'd have liked, but we got in a short "hello" and got to see her folks, too. At about 1:30 Henry broke down and started begging to go night night. Poor guy-he is a creature of habit and has to get his sleep. I thought I could push him, but I thought wrong. What 2 yr old begs to go to sleep?

Back at Mom and Dad's, Henry had a ball with Mary Ellen since she was spending the night, too. They were playing a game here where they were sneaking up on the the puppy. They must have run around in the grass together for an hr, THEN they went swimming!!And it was kinda chilly out!

Sunday we attended mom and dad's tiny church-I had to escape quickly with both kids after the singing. I darted out what I thought was another room, but it ended up being just the choir room right next to the pulpit....sheesh!! My heart sank until I saw an escape door to who knows where. Luckily it was to right outside!!! Score!! Henry had a ball on the play set out back!

Pretty baby swinging on the porch swing with Manar after church.

It was a gorgeous day.

We got to see all the cousins on Sunday, plus Lee and Marie. Here's mom with her 3 granddaughters.

The 3 girl cousins!

All the girls...where is Marie?? I think she was down at the barn! Not sure why we didn't get her in one.

Three generations!

And finally, all 5 of the grand kids. Can you tell I was determined to get a photo op in!? The kids are done  by this pt!:)

On Monday morning, we drove to Nashville to spend some time with Grandma.

Grandma had been taking care of Layna and Kaia while Heather was in NYC. Grandma with her 3 granddaughters!

Heather had been going through her kids' closets and guess what she found-a full suit complete with tails that Camden wore when he was 3!! She passed it off to us along with a tan suit that we will certainly find use for...so funny Henry was a great sport to try it ALL on. It has lots of pieces! After just a minute, he asked, "Can I take it off??" Ha!

Back at home...sweet siblings.

We went to the Gardens one day with the Busches. The boys had so much fun together.

These two are the essence of curiosity, aren't they!!??

So much fun!

The babies were content in their stroller!

Hmmm...where is his mommy? Taking pictures rather than taking charge...:)

We found the turtles in the butterfly house.

Great friends. We are so sad the Busches are moving.

And speaking of...we hosted a going away party for the Busches the next weekend (9/27). We had more gorgeous weather and it was a great time!

I didn't do the best with pictures,  but I managed to get a few! Here are Mack, Ethan, and Savannah playing out back. I love how that Mississippi State boy is holding a Vols football!:)

The cake I made for the party...we had lots of delicious Mexican food, too!

And here is a picture of most of the kids (Ethan and Liliana had already left). From L to R: Mack, Marley, Georgia holding Annie, Savannah holding Judd, Bennett holding Clayton, and a VERY tired Hank.

Annie is all smiles these days!

She is loving to stand, too. Here she is one Sunday after church. This dress was from Aunt Mae...she almost didn't get to wear it with the changing of the season!

Brother wanted his picture with the pretty girl, too!

Annie is also content on her tummy for quite a while. Sometimes I think she prefers her tummy to her back. She still hasn't rolled over, but I don't think it will be long!

We spent some time at Dublin park one day.

Another day we met up with my friend Jessica and her 3 kids at the Gardens.

Another day just we went to the Gardens. They were changing out summer/fall decor, and when we walked through the first thing we noticed was...who else, but Pooh bear! And Henry just so happened to be wearing his Pooh shirt, so we had to get a picture. Henry looked up at him and said, "Hi, Pooh! See my shirt?"

 Enjoying the weather out back while we can!!

 We still put Annie in this tub in the sink for her baths, but we tried them together one night just for fun. They did well!

This is a video of Steven's bday...I'm not sure if it will show here or not. Anyway, we celebrated with him on Sept. 20th by going out for Mexican as a family, then coming home for cake and presents afterward. 

 Henry has been SO into his art supplies lately, and he loves to glue pieces of paper together. I set Annie up there and she is thoroughly entertained. I think this pic is funny because it looks like they are really having a serious talk about the glue stick involved.:)

We went with Daddy one afternoon to the driving range.We are quite the audience!:)

We've gone a couple times to Shakalaka. The first time Hank was a little unsure, but this time he was all about it and was SO brave! 

He crawled up the middle gray part all by himself, then slid down over and over! Lots of fun.