Before and After Art for C's Room

So, I was at a local thrift shop this week and stumbled upon three framed and matted pictures.

Problem 1: they were Peter Rabbit themed. C has a jungle room.

Problem 2: weird reddish orange wood color.

The price was right though, ($1 for the set) and it's unusual to find 3 matching frames so I thought I'd see what I could do. First I decided to give the frames a coat of black paint. Big improvement. Next I decided to paint my own pictures. (gulp!)

They actually turned out pretty good! I only had card stock to paint on, which bubbled a little, but once I got them in the frames you don't even notice. Here's pre-frames:

It wasn't too tricky to replace the paintings already in the frames. The old prints were glued to the mats, but I just gently pried them apart and taped these to the mats instead. Easy peasy!

I ended up doing a zebra for the middle.

I decided to put them over C's changing table. I've been wanting something to go there for awhile, but wasn't sure what. I think These fit well!

A close up:

One more shot!

 

 

Linking up with Today's Creative Blog


Also linking up with the Thrifty Decor Chick

C is one!

Today is C's first birthday! It's hard to believe a whole year has gone so quickly. Last night as we were going to bed my hubby said, "This time last year we were in the hospital." Wow.

Tired mommy, proud daddy!

C has changed so much! Here are some of the things he's doing currently:

Playing "chase me." C crawls away from us and want's us to chase him (on our hands and knees) and grab his feet, at which point he dissolves into giggles. He'll look at us with a smile and tear across the room and then we know he wants to play.

Mimicking. Putting our old cell phones up to his ear, brushing his hair with a comb or brush, and copying mouth noises or clapping.

Eating. Lots. C likes all sorts of food. He's recently started doing more solid things that he wasn't ready for a few weeks ago. Peas, chopped carrot, graham crackers, animal crackers, and water melon. The weaning process is starting to go better now that he's eating more solids. He's down to 15 oz. of milk a day.

Sleeping through the night consistently bedtime is usually right around 8 and he sleeps till 6 or 7.

He's currently in a size 2T!


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Since this is a big milestone I also wanted to look back and relive some memories.

I remember.....when we got home from the hospital. It felt so safe and cozy to be here just our little family. I told Daddy I didn't want anything to change, I loved this feeling of being in our little cocoon with you.

I remember.... Daddy cheering me on as I pushed (for 3 1/2 hours!). "You can do this! I love you! You're strong!"

I remember....when you were born. It was the most beautiful moment I've ever experienced. I felt relief, joy, love (for Daddy and you), awe, disbelief that this beautiful baby had actually been inside me, and thankfulness. Then Daddy and I looked at each other and said "He's beautiful, he's perfect!" And we both cried. I'm crying right now. That moment really makes everything worth it.

I remember...... you were so content at the hospital, only crying when you were hungry.  You didn’t cry when your blood was drawn or when you were circumcised.

 Look at those chubby cheeks!

I remember....Daddy coming back with you from the nursery and saying, "At first I wasn't sure I would recognize him in there with all the other babies, but as soon as I got in there I heard his little raspy cry and picked him out of the others."

I remember....looking at you all the time. Daddy and I would just gaze at you when you were sleeping. You'd make all sorts of funny faces and stretch your hand up above your head.

I remember..... that when we swaddled you, you would always work to get one arm out and then you would fall asleep. 

Some things I learned:

They're only little babies for a short time. It seems like forever when you're trying to figure it all out and running on small amounts of sleep and you feel like the house is a disaster, but it really is important to take time to enjoy. I made sure to take time every day to just watch him sleep and hold him close. I probably could have done even more of that though.

This too will pass. The baby will start sleeping longer, nursing faster, (At first C took and hour to nurse, which meant I was spending at least 8 hours every day just nursing.) you will lose that weight, those projects will eventually get done, and you will be able to stay up past 7:30pm. Just enjoy what's happening right now.

Listen to other people. You don't know everything, despite the 10 million books you've read. Hubby was right on the money several times when I didn't know what to do. (And sometimes when I thought I did.) Older moms or grandmas can also be great resources.

Just when you love one stage (smiling, cooing, crawling) they're ready for the next one, and that's even more fun! Love where you're at!

I am so thankful for our little bundle of joy! He is truly our gift from God.

90 day challenge update 8/30

I realized due to vacation and other things I haven't posted an update for a couple weeks!

(If you haven't read my first post about starting a 90 day health challenge, you can read about it here )

Things are still going very well. I haven't lost any more weight, but I feel good about where I'm at and I can tell I'm really toning up. Especially in my stomach, which is where I really wanted to target after having a baby. :)

I'm feeling a lot better about how I look in my clothes and I've started wearing belts at my waist again. I'm back in all my old clothes, some that I didn't even fit in before I had C!. That's a great feeling. I've gone down a size since I started my challenge.

Here's to another great week!

Bridal shower

One of my cousins is getting married next week. He and I have always been really close. For awhile when we were growing up he told me we were going to get married, but I told him that that's not done. When he hit the ripe old age of 10 he decided he wasn't going to get married at all and for that matter didn't really like girls..... So, yeah.

My mom and aunt hosted a shower for my cousin's fiancee a recently and it was lovely. We had the shower at my parents church, a cute little  country church that's over 100 years old!

The whole shower was very sweet, simple and county-ish. It was lovely. Here are a few photos;

 The food table. These are my favorite types of shower foods. Fruits, veggies, and a few sweets.

Flowers from my mom's flower gardens. (I plan on doing a blog post with some pictures of my mom's lovely gardens soon.)

 Chocolate revel bars.

The hostesses.

One of the games was a competition between 2 teams to see who could create a better dress. The one on the left was voted the winner. (That darling young lady is also my cousin's fiancee.)

C. even got to go, but I didn't take any pictures of him because I was chasing him all over and trying to keep him out of people's food.

Birthday Recap

I had a birthday yesterday and it was lovely. I mentioned to Hubby that it would be great if he got up with C (who usually gets up around 6) and feed him his breakfast. My sweet husband did this and also unloaded the dishwasher and made me breakfast.

Birthday flowers

I decided to get perfume for my birthday. 

It's one of those things that makes me feel pretty and feminine and I haven't had any for awhile.

 

It even came in a cute pink box. I love the scent!

Hubby took me to a Greek restaurant for dinner and it was so fun! We got to sit on a patio and since we came a little early for dinner we had it all to ourselves.

 

Here's a few shots of the Greek food we ate. (So yummy!)

 Flaming cheese appetizer. (they actually light it on fire!)

 Hubby got this Gyro meat platter.

 I got this sampler that had several different Greek specialties. One of them is called Dolmathes. (Rice and hamburger wrapped in a grape leaf and cooked.)

It was a fun memory because I grew up next to a Greek Orthodox couple and I remember seeing her out in the ditches hunting for the perfect size grape leaves. We had a vine in our yard too and sometimes she would come over and pick leaves, showing us which ones were the right size. Aparently, the woman who makes these has been making them at this restaurant for 20 years. Sheesh!

 Tiramisu. The last time I had this was in Italy, and although this was good it really didn't compare. :)

Baklava. When our waiter found out it was my birthday he said that I would get a free piece of baklava on the house. He also told me he picked the largest piece in the pan. It was scrumptious!

It was a fabulous birthday! My hubby is really sweet about doing it up on my birthdays and makes me feel like a princess. :)

Freezing Sweet Corn

Since we live in the heart of the mid west this is the season of sweet corn. We have some friends that have a large garden and they had an over abundance of sweet corn. They asked if we wanted any, and of course we said, "Yes!"

The only problem was we had nearly 2 bushels of corn (nearly 150 ears) and Hubby was working. I was going to have to tackle it by myself. Not a problem, except for the fact that I have a very active almost 1 year old who loves to be under foot in the kitchen.

My solution: a barricade

 This worked well for a little while, but then C. realized he could push the chairs.

Take two. Doubling up.

I don't know how he did it, but he still got through!

Thinking face. How can I get through here?.....

Finally resigned to his fate and decided to play with his fire truck.

I shucked the corn and then boiled it for 5 minutes.

Cut off the corn and measure it in to freezer ziplocs.

The finished product!

Super easy and it will be fun to pull out come winter!

Summer Vacation!

You may have noticed things have been a little quiet around here.... That's because we took a 5 day vacation up to a lake in MN. We had a great time! My grandpa and his 9 (!) siblings own a small lake resort that my family has gone to every year since I can remember.

It's so neat because I get to see my great aunts and uncles and second cousins every year and have been able to maintain those relationships. Lot's of work to do to get caught up now that we're home (I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel with laundry!), but it was definitely fun to get away.

Here are a few snap shots from our time:

 Eating leaves. Almost C's favorite thing at the lake.

 Water swing. C's favorite thing at the lake.

 Cute town where we did some shopping.

 Playing at the beach.

 As Hubby says, "He doesn't miss many meals."

 Milk break with Dad.

 

 Boat ride

 Being ornery.

                                                  A few of the family as we were leaving.

Have a great week!