Before and After: Harper's Striped Nursery

One of my favorite bloggers, Thrifty Décor Chick, is hosting an October Before and After party, and I thought I'd play along.  Disclaimer: this before/after did not happen in October.  It happened well over a year ago... in a house we don't even live in anymore. So technically, I'm a link-up party cheater, but whatev.  It's not like I'm doing major renovation projects in the apartment. 

I posted all the details about Harper's Striped Nursery last year.  You can go here to check it out. I still miss that room so much.  We just didn't get enough time together, me and those crisp stripes.  I am torn with what to do with Harper's room in the next house.  We will be reusing these same colors and furnishings, but the rest is undecided.  As much as I love the stripes, I don't know if I want to do the exact same thing again.  Big decisions, people.  Big. 

 

 

P.S.  The people who bought our house were anxious to get in and paint some rooms.  Umm, if I find out this room was on the repaint list, I will cut someone.  Not really.  I will however need about 7 days to mourn my stripes.  Okay, maybe just 2 days, a cookie, and a pumpkin spice latte.  Yes, that sounds about right.

 

 

Have yourselves a Happy Monday, friends!

Five on Friday

I have enjoyed following Natasha over at Hello! Happiness and her fellow bloggers who participate in the Five on Friday link-up.  I keep saying I will write a post and link up, but I just never get around to it.  I'm giving it a try today - hopefully it sticks.  Here goes...

ONE -  In addition to Diet Coke, I have been enjoying my morning coffee around here.  I haven't always been a coffee drinker, but there is something about having two littles in your grill all day that just make it a necessity.  I recently picked up some Chai Latte K-cups to try, and they are amaze.  I have become slightly addicted and crave the cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg spices.  So perfect for fall!

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TWO -  I just pulled the trigger on these items at Gap.  I bought a pair of ivory legging cords last fall, and they are so comfy.  I'm loving that wine color!  The boyfriend jeans are new territory for me.  I figured Gap was a safe place to test the waters since I can easily return them if they turn into a mom-jean disaster.  And the striped tee?  Perfect when you gotta throw something on fast and lug some kids around.  I might even throw on a scarf with it if I'm feeling fancy.

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THREE -  We have cabinets!  Seeing actual cabinets in the house might be the most exciting part of this whole house-building process for me so far.  They have changed the look of everything and really defined the rooms - duh.  It's just starting to look like a real home, and that makes me so happy because let's face it, this apartment is dead to me.  So. Over. It.

One of these days, I will remember to bring the actual camera to the house so I can get some decent pictures.  Well, maybe...


View of the kitchen from the living room



This might be the most exciting part - a place to put shoes and bags.  For the love, all the bags... 



A wine fridge will go in that empty space.  Why the wine fridge?  Let me remind you...kids in my grill. ;) 



Laundry Room

FOUR -  I know I'm late to the party on this one, but I finally purchased a Clarisonic Mia, and I think I love it.  It's too early to tell if this is a game changer or not, but it definitely leaves my face feeling super clean and just the right amount of tingly.  I've just been using my standard Purpose cleanser (Umm, best stuff ever - $5 at Target, doesn't cause break-outs, and it's actually what my dermatologist recommended.  Winner!) with it, and it's working great. 

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FIVE -  My girls were so sweet yesterday.  Izzy wasn't feeling well, and Harper woke up from her nap kind of clingy, so we were all piled on the couch watching Doc McStuffins.  I had my arm around Izzy, and she had her arm around Harper.  It was all kinds of precious.  I looked down at them, and they both had their hands on Harper's head, softly stroking her hair.  I died. 

Stomach Bugs and Gladiators

On most days, I'm fairly confident that my girls hold a morning meeting to negotiate who is going to nap that day and who is going to be in mama's grill during naptime.  Harper is usually the napper, but on the rare occasion that Izzy decides to nap...it never fails that Harper will not sleep. 

I'm currently experiencing the rarest of all moments - both girls are napping at the same time.  I picked Izzy up from school early today because she got sick.  The director called me and said my girl was throwing up and white as a ghost.  :(  When I got there, she had a low-grade fever, was resting on a napmat, and she was trembling.  Poor baby.  She has been resting since we got home, and seems to be doing much better.  On the way home, I asked her how she felt.  She said, "I don't want to throw up again.  I just want to rest."  Bless her heart. 

In other news, the season premier of Scandal comes on tonight, and I'm pretty pumped about it.  Netflix has been our main source of tv watching lately, and we got into Scandal a few months back and finished up season 2 a couple weeks ago.  Can't wait to see what Olivia Pope has in store for us this season.  Get your Gladiator on people. 

And a few pictures before I go to satisfy the grandparents.  Sidenote - I may just have the two cutest babies ever. 

Lighting Selections



I gotta admit...this is one I didn't see coming.  I knew I would obsess over the floor plan, paint colors, countertops, etc. with the house building process.  But I very naively thought that lighting selections would be pretty simple.  Wrong.  So wrong.  I have spent more hours scouring Pinterest and Houzz than I care to admit, and one thing I know is true.  Lighting can make or break your room.  Oh, the pressure.  There may or may not even be a lighting spreadsheet floating around on this laptop.  I mean, that's just dumb.  The hubs and I are hitting up lighting stores on Friday, and I'm so excited to check out some of the lovelies I've been stalking online.  Nothing has been decided for sure, but these are the lights I am currently loving, and I'm fairly confident that at least two of them will definitely make an appearance in the new casa.  

 

Foyer
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Dining Room
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Kitchen Island
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Breakfast Room
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Master Bath
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What do you think?  Any favorites?  And by all means, if there is a light I need to see, please help a sister out!

A Home Built on The Word

I love the idea of filling your home with scripture.  I've seen on Pinterest and other blogs where people write bible verses on the studs of their homes as they are being built, so I knew that was something I definitely wanted to do when we decided to build. 

I actually spent quite a lot of time choosing a verse that I thought really fit the room - especially for the girls' rooms.  I know these words are already long covered up, but our family knows they are there, and of course, God knows they are there.  I hope we'll think of these words often as we enjoy our new home. 

Front Door

Office

Dining Room

Living Room

Kitchen

Breakfast Room

Master Bedroom

Guest Room

Izzy's Room

Izzy's Bathroom

Of course she had to leave her mark.

Harper's Room

Harper's Bathroom

House Progress



The last picture I posted of the new house was pre-foundation, so I thought I would post some pics of the progress.  It's coming along, and so far, so good.  Everyone has horror stories to share from their building process, but we've been really pleased.  There are a LOT of decisions to make along the way, which I think are fun, but hubs does not share that feeling.  We have a third (and hopefully final) meeting tomorrow to nail down our tile options.  Brick/rock should go up soon, cabinets have been designed, plumbing fixtures and appliances have been selected, and countertops have been chosen (not the exact slabs yet, but the colors).  Next on the list is selecting paint colors and shopping for lighting fixtures.  Again...fun for me, beat down for hubs. I've got lots of ideas in mind, so hopefully these selections will be somewhat easy.  Now for some pics.  The first two are from several weeks ago, and the rest are from last week.

 

G drove out bright and early to check out the slab being poured.  The truck is right in front of our back porch.

 

 

 

View from the front door.  To the left is an office, and the right, a dining room. 

 

Dining room windows

Living room.  Photobomb by Harper.

The kitchen is off to the right of the living room.  It will have a bank of cabinets across the back and right walls, and a big island in the center.  This is probably the room I'm most excited about.

My crazy girls dancing in the breakfast room.

 

There she is.  The front porch will look different once it's bricked.  Those openings won't be so tall and squared - they will come down quite a bit and be arched at the top.  It's fun to see it take shape.

Back to School

My big girl started back to her last year of preschool this week.  I can't even believe she will be in kindergarten next year.  Doesn't seem possible.  She is loving school, and Harper is loving the extra attention she is getting without big sister around.  If I could just figure out a nap schedule that works for Harper, we would be all set.  She usually goes down for a nap around 1, and now we have to leave to pick up Izzy at 1:30.  Preschool hours were not set with baby brothers and sisters in mind, unfortunately.  I suppose the world will go on despite my naptime delimma.

Now for the obligatory first day of school pictures.  What you don't see from these sweet pics is Griff crouched down and sweating behind the camera  (it's still a million degrees before 8:00 am - that's just stupid) and me shouting a million commands to "smile," "look at the camera," "take a few steps back," "get your hands off of your face," "it's just a fly - it's not going to hurt you," etc, while juggling Harper.  Good thing photos don't come with soundtracks.  Can I get an amen?




I swear she looks 10 in this picture.  I can't even...
 

Walking in like she owns the place.