Nolee is 18 months old

Nolee is now 18 months old

How in the heck did that time fly by so fast!?!

Thought it might be neat to list how/where she is at

for the grandparents

for her...you know when she can eventually read and blogs have went the way of VCR tapes

for us when we look at our "big girl" so we can rememeber when

so without further adue...

Nolee 18 month old stats:

Weight:  26 lbs

Height:  32 inches

HC:  19 3/4 inches

You are very very close to being potty trained

and only wear diapers (size 3) when you take a nap and at bedtime

Your favorite word is probably a toss up between potty & Charlie

You cheer for Lilly, Mommy & Daddy when we go potty

You are starting to be able to say your name

"Noooh Lee"

You tell your sister, Mommy, Daddy and even our dog Charlie

"No, no"

and shake your finger at us

Your wiggling butt dance has to be one of the cutest things I've ever seen

You say "Bye Bye" for goodbyes & hellos

(kind of like aloha)

You still sleep in a crib as you are all over the place at night

You are eating by yourself and occasionally use your fork/spoon

as more than just a prop

You are walking/running all over the place

and if we take our eyes off for your for a second

you are gone

but we can usually find you

in the bathroom

playing in the water

...in the toilet

You sleep through the night and take one nap a day

You are really starting to love books

especially the naming/words ones

You have 4 top teeth & 4 bottom teeth

and have 2 molars popping through

with 2 more close behind

You have such a fun and easy going temperment

unless your sister is picking at you

because in that case you scream

very loudly

You have the ability to make us laugh & smile every day

You make us so proud and we only wish

you would stop growing up so quickly



3 Days Ago

It has been a total of 3 whole days

(okay not even)

since my darling hubby painted our entire dining room

and hallway

and I still can't get used to the color

He hates when I even bring up the subject

and I don't blame him

I know that once we get things back up on the wall

it will help tone it down

and I should wait until then to

make a final decision

(even though I did agree to keep it up for 5 years

so someone has a very valid argument

that there is no final decision to be made here)

But...on lunch I went and looked

just looked mind you

at pricing for possibly doing board and batten

because these pictures make me drool

 Found at: Our Subarbuan Cottage

Found at:  Frugal Home Designs

Found at:  Garden Web

In attempt to correct this in the least expensive way
I found lattice trim for 38 cents/linear foot (the vertical pieces)
and chair rail for 54 cents/linear foot (the horizontal pieces)

I also stopped at the Habitat Restore

and found the following

The swatches are from Home Depot

Behr Premium Plus

Misty Morn on the right

Urban Mist on the left

This is a full can of Benjaminn Moore paint

in Billowly Down

it is very much between the two swatches I have

and $5 for the gallon

This is a semi full can of paint for $2

(can't rmember the brand...but I think it may have been Behr)

in a minty greenish blue

So tonight I need to sit down with the hubby

admit I was wrong

and that he was right

and see where we go from here

re-paint, tone it down with board & batten, or (gulp) live with it

and completely assure him that whatever solution we come up with

he is NOT picking up a paint brush

or roller

Ever wish you had a time machine to go back to the

paint store 3 days ago?

How do you sleep?

If your Lilly

it's half on the bed half off

I assure you she is completely asleep in this picture

although I am completely surprised

our giggling didn't wake her up

If you are Nolee

it is butt up

I love it when babies sleep like this



The paint is up

So while I worked yesterday

my AWESOME hubby

painted the entire dining room

in the behr premium (paint & primer in one) gold plated

he was supposed to leave me the edging

but surprised me by only leaving me the touch ups

he worked ALL day on this

and is feeling the pains and aches from it today

I REALLY do appreciate it honey!

Another thing he might appreciate

is the fact that he may be right

(notice how I'm not completely committing to that last comment)

the color (I insisted on)

is a bit bold

I'm hoping once we put things back on the walls

it will help tone it down a bit...

although this morning

the words board & batten popped into my head

in white and at least 1/2 way up the wall

if not higher...

but I have promised to live with it like this for awhile

and I will

It definitely makes a statement

I'm just not sure what it is saying yet :).

Any other ideas on how to tone it down?

Happy Eaters

Some very good reading

Go here Creative Escapes- slow down

and read this post

it rang so true for me

so true that I felt the need to make 2 new signs

1 for work

1 for home

not fancy or crafty signs

but meaningful read me everyday signs

Stop

Smile

Enjoy today

For tomorrow it will only be a memory

Enjoy the smiles

the laughter

the tears

and all the in-betweens

because you can’t go back

Clean less

imagine and pretend more

build forts

listen to tall tales

giggle & be silly

play hide & seek

& always go to bed tired

So I will always remember to slow down

and enjoy
because somedays I forget

Bedtime Routines & Giggles

So we have pretty set bedtime routines for our kids

Bath, brush our teeth and hair

read a couple of books, and sing a song

then we lay them down to fall asleep on their own

I was going through the routine with Nolee

the other night and as we were singing our song

"Hush Little Baby"

she picks her head off my shoulder and looks right into my eyes

and starts giggling

this cute little uncontrollable giggle

that was very catching

she'd giggle

I'd giggle

It is very hard to sing a song while giggling by the way

So after we finished our giggles and song

I laid her down in her bed

and she very decidedly looks up at me

and points to me

then points forcefully towards to the wall separating our bedrooms

I know sometimes it's hard to have a conversation with an 18 month old

but I'm pretty darn sure mine just told me to go to bed...

I so love ending the nights with laughs & smiles

Decisions & Congestion

Ugh.

So for the past 5 days

at least someone in our house has been sick

First it was the Influenza A that has been going around

Then it's the lingering congestion

and upper respiratory infection

that we just got over and is now back

Then to top it all of

we rushed to urgent care on Friday

with a horrible ear infection

that had my 3 year old in tears

Let me just say that one of the worst thing

in the world to see your kids

sick and not be able to just take the pain away

Luckily I have not gotten it as worse

as everyone else

but have been busy doling out medicine

doing laundry, wiping noses

and wishing my kisses worked magic

I have however made a decision

on the color for the dining room walls

Let's just say that it is not the safest choice

and I had to promise my husband

it was staying that color for the next 5 years

which means if I change my mind

I'm re-painting it myself...

One of my daughter's favorite movies

is The Bridge to Teribithia

(great movie by the way...but kind of sad)

in that movie there is a scene

where they paint a room this awesome

goldish yellow color

and when the sun strikes it

it just lights up

That is what I'm aiming for in the dining room

I'm hoping since the sniffles have finally subsided

(or at least under control)

that we can start painting tonight

after the girls go to bed

I'm excited...and a little nervous

I would totally hate to admit the hubby was right...

Heads & Melons

More Anatomy According to Lilly

So I was getting Lilly's PJ's on the other day

and as we were taking off her t-shirt

it got stuck on her head

Lilly:  Mommy I think this shirt is too small for me

Me:  I think your head is just growing

and getting bigger every day

Lilly:  Yeah I know - it's where all my melons are

Me: (while laughing) No honey that's where your brains are

Lilly: (as she leans her forehead on my forehead)

Mommy, when is my melon going to be as big as your melon?

Man I love this kid!

Chair Color Decisions

Okay so I have been working on the chairs for the dining room

and I have come to a fork in the road

I keep going back and forth on color

White, Blue, Lt Blue, Yellow...and so on

Do I do one color?

Do I do a mixture of 2?

Or more?

Here is what we have so far

any thoughts?

(and by the way - the walls will not be green for much longer)

The Buffet Is Finished!

The buffet is finished

and I am in love!

I actually did get it done by the time

the hubby got home on Friday

and boy was he impressed

It looks so nice in it's creamy white goodness

and I still have to run a hand over the

super smooth top every time I walk by

I don't think I could be happier witht he way it turned out

so....here's some pictures

This is what I started with

It had good lines

was sturdy as all get out

and had oh so much potential

I always forget to take the in between pictures

so we'll just go ahead and skip to the almost done ones :)

here it is with the glossy top just painted

I used Rust-oleum kono brown spray paint in gloss

I am so in love with the top it's not funny

It's smooth, it's shiny, it's perfect

and one of the best things I found out

is you don't have to wait for the spray paint to cure

for 30 days (or whatever the ridiculously long time it

is with regular latex paint)

to put accessories on top!

I waited a total of 2 days and I'm not

even sure if I needed to wait that long

After painting it a creamy white

I distressed a little and added just a touch of glaze

I kept the original hardware

and just brought it up to date with some

Rust-oleum oil rubbed bronze spray paint

(this stuff is awesome!)

I love how they now pop against the white

The inside of the drawers were nasty

no amount of cleaning made me want to

place my clean silverware in them...

so I added some aqua blue spray paint

and they look clean, fresh & new

I added a stencil in the corners on the top

just for a little girly touch

I took out the shelves in the side cabinets

and painted them to match the top

I think it helps pull everything together

Is it wrong to be in love with a piece of furniture?

I am linking to the following

   

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/2011/03/scotts-antique-finds-and-wow-us.html

Patience

I will readily admit that there is not

one patient bone in this body

If there is a quicker way to get things done

I'm all over it

Guarenteed instant results

sign me up

So with that said

I lasted until about 12:30 yesterday

then I ran to the store on lunch

and got a can of kono brown

rustoleum spray paint

Now take a look at

some of the instant gratification

I had last night

(that does not sound right...)

This picture is the most true to color

I told myself I needed the spray paint

so I could get that glossy finish I was aiming for

but that is probably only 50% true

the other 50% is because it took

me a total of 10 min

to achieve the look I wanted

and that included taping off the bottom

So the buffet is so close to being done

I have a few more details I need to take care of

but hopefully it will be done by

the time the hubby gets home on Friday so I can

surprise him!

Purple top?!?

Since we have bought our dining table/chairs and buffet

I have been hard at work every night

after the girls go to bed

The buffet is almost done

and less than a week after we got it!

The top is laminate and unfortunately not stainable

I really wanted the white/cream bottom

with a dark stained top

So I figured I would try painting it instead

I've seen this a few places and it actually looks pretty nice

I have used rustoleum spray paint

on most all my projects

but I have never tried their brushable latex paints

but when I saw this I thought it was the perfect glossy brown

so I figured I'd give it a shot

After one coat this is what it looks like

a very nice purplish color 

I wasn't aiming for purple

I'm not sure if the can had the wrong color in it

or if this is how one coat of this is supposed to look

to me it looks very thin for a first coat as well

Has anyone else ever run into this problem with this paint?

I'm thinking of trying to return it

I'm going to try the second coat tonight and hope that I see

a big difference as I was not going for the purple look

One good thing was that it dried very quickly

so if I must do numerous coats it

shouldn't take too terribly long



Friday Nights

I remember when I was younger

and didn't have kids

we used to whoop it up on the weekends

We'd have people over, go to the bar

stay up until 3 in the morning

and feel like crap by Sunday

Now this is what my Friday evenings look like

My 1 glass of wine

An old picture frame mat and craft paint

Some yummy cheese cake to go with the wine

Hey it's in the cheese family!

Some scrapbook paper

and my absolute favorite Winnie the Pooh quote

(Well actually it's Christopher Robin who said it)

Put them together and I have a new piece of "art" for Nolee's room

And I felt great the next morning at 6:30

when I woke up to Lilly's face 2 inches from mine

and she asked me if it was morning yet

How can you not smile when you are woke up like that :).

Don't miss those old days at all!