Waistline Wednesday- 37 weeks

Time to reveal some baby projects! I completed most if not all of these before the other projects I've been posting lately, but I wanted to wait until they were all in the room and I could do one big reveal. Well, here's the thing: we moved the furniture in and could not find an arrangement I was happy with. It's just too much furniture, feels too crowded and cluttered. Daniel reminded me that's how I felt with Maggie's room- hers is smaller than Will's and we had more furniture- so maybe I'll get used to it. We'll see. I wanted to at least reveal the baby projects I have completed since I promised those awhile back (I know, you're on pins & needles, ha!) Without further adieu:

Bibs & Burps

I finished the burp cloths first and made a few minor changes when I moved onto the bibs, but they match for the most part. This was my first time using minky fabric and sewing my own bibs as opposed to buying bibs & embroidering them. Sewing the bibs was fine but I definitely prefer terry cloth to minky because it moves less. We'll see how the absorbency is, but the minky sure is cute and soft!

Diaper bag

I followed the same basic premise for making this as I did for the other bags I've made, but adjusted the size. This time I added a little band across the middle, bringing the fabric from the inside out and added a little clasp. This doesn't offer complete closure like a zipper would, but still serves its purpose. I really like how it turned out, it's a good size and seems to be sturdy, but we'll see how it holds to the wear and tear of baby items. :)

Wall letters

I wanted to make these just like I did for Will & Maggie only I painted theirs and decided on scrapbook paper this time. After I finished, they needed something a little more, so I added ribbon & buttons from my stash and really like how the finished product looks!

Piggy Bank

I actually bought this piggy bank as one of Maggie's Christmas gifts with the intention to decorate it to match her ladybug room. Well, shortly after Christmas I found an actual ladybug bank at Target that was so cute and had to get it! It's perfect- pink with white flowers and resting on a little green leaf. I resolved to return this piggy I purchased and then found out I was pregnant. So I decided to save it for baby 3- fast forward 9 months and here it is! Simple but cute- just what a little baby boy needs. I added his name and dots in the room colors- green, yellow & blue. I thought about adding frogs, ducks and/or turtles but decided the dots would be really cute. I used vinyl for this (cut with my Cricut)....I am not a painter!

Well, that's it for now! Originally I wanted to sew his bedding, make a mobile and a few other things, but once we decided to keep the froggy room, there was no point. It's sweet that he'll have his older brother's stuff and economical as well. Maybe I'll make his own room when he's older. Also, I will probably sew some outfits for him, but that will have to wait as well because I don't have any newborn patterns. Just as well since babies grow so fast! That and we have plenty of hand-me-downs!! 

Botanical Gardens

Yesterday Will asked to go feed the fishies and turtles. I thought, why not, it's been awhile since we went to the Botanical Gardens and it's probably our last chance before the baby is born. We certainly won't be going anytime soon after that. While there, I took the opportunity to get some photos of the kids...after all, it's such a pretty environment. Well, they didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but I did get some cute ones. Sadly, the only pic of both looking at the camera at the same time is blurry. I don't even know how that's possible, but it happened. Enjoy!

 silly faces

 lil miss bossy? I don't recall her saying anything, but

it looks like she means business in this pic

 more silly faces

 can we please stop taking pictures?!!

Family room storage & decor

My MIL bought me a cube storage unit for my birthday and I was so excited to put it up! I've wanted one of these for several years, ever since I saw my cousin, Rachel's. But you know how it is, I just never got around to purchasing it plus something was always occupying the wall where I wanted it. Once we moved my computer into the craft room, I was able to put the play kitchen on the computer wall (where I originally wanted it) and that left room for the cube! I'm excited about this for a couple reasons: 1. I just like how it looks, 2. I knew the unit would allow for decorating and 3. The canvas bins that fit perfectly in the unit have so much room for storing toys! The kids' toys always make it downstairs and add up little by little so this is a great, quick clean-up solution. Not that I want them to be lazy, but this provides easy access to more toys and less complaints about picking up toys and bringing them "all the way" upstairs. Of course, plenty of big toys still make it down that have to make the long, mountain-like climb up the stairs, but for the most part this is perfect. Bet ya didn't think I could talk so much about a cube, huh? Well, I sure proved you wrong. :)

I would've liked to get orange, purple or red bins because those are the pops of color in this room, but Target didn't have those, so I bought the neutral color and they work nicely. I bought the B lamp a long time ago on sale at Kirkland's and knew I'd eventually have a place for it. I originally made the subway art, frame and candle for the hall shelf, but like them better here. Will found the bird's nest in my parents' yard while helping my mom with yard work and gave it to Daniel and I as a gift. 

When the idea for the hall shelf started coming together, I knew I wanted to frame subway art about home and family. So I got to work making it- they never look like much but deciding the font, direction and placement of all the words takes me some time. I made the art specifically for our family and printed it out. I found a dollar frame at Michael's- or maybe Walmart- and chose paper from my stash to decorate the frame. Then cut everything to size, adhered the paper with modge podge and wah-la!

The candle was even easier than the frame. I made one for a Christmas gift last year and have wanted one for myself since. For the gift, I bought a really nice, scented candle but I knew mine was strictly for decor, so  I bought it at the dollar store. Then I added a rub-on phrase from my scrapbook supplies and that's it! A typical candle turned pretty decor in moments.

The cubes could hold a little more decor, but with little ones readily available and well aware this decorative piece holds their toys, I doubt I'll add any more. :)

Waistline Wednesday- 36 weeks

Good news! The dresser/changing table arrived on our doorstep today, finally!! Just in time, you say? Uhm, yea, baby is kinda gonna be here in 4 weeks. Now with this last piece of the puzzle, hopefully we can get the room finished and be all the way ready for baby boy Jake to arrive. At least in the home/nesting sense. Still not sure how I'm gonna handle the whole 3 kid thing, but I'm just gonna let God take care of that and give me what I need. Again I say, hopefully in the next few days I can post some nursery pics!! I'll also update a belly photo later.

Kid stuff

I thought I would write about some things the kids have been up to lately. Awhile back I cleaned out our closets and Will brought out the Halloween buckets. Ever since then, these two have wanted to play with these all the time and take them everywhere, especially Maggie. Here we are playing in the car just because.

watching the rain

holding hands

no drama here...

Will has been asking to camp out lately but he always manages to ask on the days it's raining. Finally one night I told him if we had wood we could build a fire and let him camp out in the living room. I'm really not sure if our tent could even fit in the backyard (which is where he wants to camp) so this is just as well. He had all greens on his chart for the day, so I ran to the store for marshmallows & chocolate to make s'mores while the boys built the fire. Then I set up his little tent and let him sleep by the fire, it was a good night for a little man. 

Tuesday was a big day for Maggie! I mentioned before that CRS approved a gait trainer and new AFO's for Maggie. Well, the AFO's were a very quick process but the gait trainer will take a couple months to order. So Ms. Katie found one we can borrow in the meantime! She had this ready for us on Tuesday and Mr. Bill from BioTech had Maggie's braces ready as well.

She's been going pretty strong in it at home too- I'm certain she loves the freedom, but we have plenty of work to do because she prefers going backwards and in circles to going forward. It's easier and she thinks it's the funniest thing. 

Will's Words:

8/13

W: this icing is good for my body. It gives me power.

M: if you say so

W: when I poop it out I will not have power. I will still have power but not as good

-while eating an oreo-

8/15

W: I waved to my dad, he saw me 'cause he went the front way not the back way

M: cool buddy

W: and he was only going a little fast then he went awesome fast!

W: Do you even like oatmeal Maggie?

Mag: Yea

W: 'cause it seems to me like you don't. You never eat it

8/17

D: Where's the water bottle? Don't want my chicken to burn

W: I wanna see. (pause) No! Not the chicken!

-there was a small grease fire on the grill-

We'll finish the baby room by next weekend- the furniture is finally coming and should be here this week.

Hall shelf

As with all the projects I've been talking about lately, this one has been on my list for a long time. We need a place to hang jackets, purse, diaper bag, etc. and since we never really had a hanging place, we piled them on top of a stool. Not good. Once my computer was moved out of the family room into the dining craft room, the time had come. Things were finally finding a home and my innate desire for organization coupled with pregnancy nesting syndrome came to a head and things had to happen. I've seen hooks and shelves at places like Kirklands and even unfinished wood ones at places like Michael's, but never found exactly what I wanted. For Christmas (yes, that long ago, and remember I was thinking/looking even before that...terrible) my sister-in-law bought me coat hooks that I knew I could incorporate somehow.

I thought of several different ideas again, but finally stumbled upon a white shelf for $2.50 the same day I found the frame for the behavior chart and wreath for the front door. Score!  After finding this and ensuring the LOVE hooks would fit in the space, we went to Lowe's and bought a large piece of wood for less than $4, I wanna say $3.89 or something like that, brought it home and cut it to size. This is what we started with:

I removed the bar but kept the finials 'cause I think they're cute. Then I spray painted and spray painted some more. I went ahead and put a coat or two on the shelf because even white can be different shades. After everything dried, Daniel screwed it all together and I added the LOVE hangers with gorilla glue.

The hallway before & after:

I love it! And it cost less than $7 (already had the spray paint & gorilla glue), so that makes me love it even more. :) I'm working on items to place on top of the shelf and will add them little by little, perhaps even reveal them here. I may have a couple to show you in a few days!

Maggie is 23 months!

Well, this is it. Maggie turned 23 months on Tuesday which means my little girl will be two in less than a month!! She'll no longer be my one-year-old baby girl. Ah, so bittersweet...time goes by so fast. I'm still trying to scrapbook her first year of life, meanwhile she's finishing up her second. Sheesh! Maggie is such a sweetheart- she loves giving kisses, especially to daddy when he's leaving for work and sometimes to strangers which is slightly unnerving. I've been saying for a couple months that her communication skills are improving and even though it's more difficult for me to notice 'cause I'm with her all day long- she seems to be more clear to other people. We saw family this past weekend and I noticed my mom understanding more things Maggie says. Her speech therapist always comments what a hard worker she is, so hopefully that coupled with the communication boards, she'll be able to really talk one day. Now for some cute pics!

walking with daddy

 playing at the dollhouse with her girl cousins

 working on puzzles

 praying

 pulling up in brother's room