baby grady's nook and our room

this past weekend was full of projects (honestly, the past month or so has been full of projects), but the most  important one was making a space for baby grady.  we have been moving things around, switching the two kiddo's from having separate bedrooms to sharing a room,  putting together a playroom (i promise i will post that next. just have a few final touches to do),  moving our "office" space from our bedroom closet to the hall closet and you name it just to make this tiny space a happy place for baby grady.  we have decided that keeping grady in our room for the first year will be the best for all of us.  i like to have my babies close.  yes, i am one of those moms who has to check at least two to three times a night to make sure her baby is still breathing.  i can't help it, it's just the way i am.  thankfully we have a large master bedroom with two closets and we thought the smaller one that used to be our "office"  was the perfect space for our baby nook.   here's what we did...

grady's baby nook

 the closet doors were already removed from when we first moved in, so our first step was to paint something bright,  cheerful and happy.  i chose (what else) but yellow and white stripes, of course.  

this globe broke awhile back and i have been saving it for the perfect spot.  i think i found it right here above grady's crib.  (please note it is securely fastened and will not fall on him) i love the extra uuumpf (i know that is not a word, but you know what i mean) it gives to the space and i love all the colors.  especially the aqua against the yellow.  love it!

we decided to keep the closet shelves intact.  originally i wanted to remove them and just have an open wall.  the mister suggested we keep them for extra storage and what not.  (again, all of the items are secure and will not fall on our precious little boy)   all of the items displayed are all things grady can use as he gets older except these cool vintage blocks i found at a thrift store.  first they are made from plastic which i am pretty sure is not BPA free and second a few of them are cracked.  but, again i love the color they bring to the space.

all of the toys displayed were garrett's and now that all he is into is hotwheels, scooters, bikes and skateboards i can use them for grady.  as much as i wish they were vintage they are not, they are replicas. 

 avery made (stuffed and sewed) the little snoopy dog for grady.

she also wanted to give him that little brown teddy bear that used to be hers.

(baby bump above)

everything in this nook is reused.  the crib, the comforter and sheets, toys and stuffed animals all reused from the other two.  (except a few of the blankets on the top shelf are new and handmade from grandma carole)

even the changing station is from the other two kiddo's.  the only thing that has changed is the color on the changing pad holder.  again i am loving the aqua with the yellow.

this is how close we will be.  you just turn around and there we are.  just the way i like it.  

 

the love sign above our bed is made from yellow rick-rack and i just used hot glue to attach it to the wall.  do you see the lamp by the bedside?  it used to have a plain white shade that was stained and horrible, so i jazzed it up a little with some twine from the hardware store and hot glue.  this could probably be a post in and of itself, but who knows when i will get to blog again.  at the rate i have been going i am lucky to get here twice a month.  so i will just tell you real quick what i did.  it's the easiest thing to do ever....

get your supplies.  shade, hot glue gun, twine,  ribbon, rick-rack, or whatever you want to attach, and scissors.

hot glue the end of the twine to the inside of the shade.  dab a little more glue on the outside at the top to secure it to the front of the shade and start to wrap around the shade.  

i put a dab of glue each time i came around to my starting point and did that all the way to the bottom of the shade.  

 it's finished!  

it looks a hundred times better than before.  i love the texture it adds to the room too.  

so, baby grady we know we still have 11 more weeks for your arrival, but we are ready for you! almost.

and coming soon a tour of the new and improved club house.  

we all have been working so hard around here!

once, twice, three times a mother

once - 2004

avery ann

twice - 2009

 

garrett arthur

three - 2012

grady everett

i can't even tell you how much i love being the mother to these three.  they are the best thing that has ever happened to me.  i can't imagine life without them.  sleepless nights and all,  i would never change a thing about it.  i look forward to meeting our new little grady boy and loving on him just as much as i do my other two.  happy mother's day to all of the mamas out there.   i hope all of you have a very blessed and special mother's day.  

confessions on the blog - what goes on here during the week

i have to confess that for the last few weeks i have been trying to get my house and life in order in preparation for our new little grady boy.  i have been reorganizing rooms, closets, toys and pretty much every space that we occupy.  the funny thing is that i never feel like anything is getting done.  with all of the other stuff that we have going on around here it seems as though i take one step forward and two steps backward.  it just feels like i am shuffling things from one room to the next, but in reality i think i am making progress.  i'm also trying to reorganize my schedule and make some better habits for myself in hopes that when our precious boy arrives, i won't feel so stressed and overwhelmed.   in addition to all these life changes our life still does go on.  here's a few of things that went on around here this past week...

school:  we started our handicrafts for the handicraft fair that will be taking place at the end of this month.  we are super excited to take part in this fun event that another home school group in our area puts on twice a year.  all of the kiddo's craft there own merchandise and then set up booths to sell their goods to one another.  it's really cute to see what each child has made, and how they price, bargain and negotiate with their peers.  (garrett planted tomatoes for his craft and avery is making some kind of robot creation)

outdoors:  we have been spending a lot of time tending to our garden.  we used our compost for the first time to spread through out the garden, so we have had a lot of random growth.  (meaning lots of cucumber plants sprouting up all over the place).  but, we did plant radishes and they are always the first to come up.  of course,  my little fella is eager to pick everything even the veggies that aren't quite ready.

organizing: i came across garrett's old shoes, so i decided to throw them in the wash and save them for grady.  it got me thinking of what this little boy is going to be like.  i remember when garrett got his first pair of converse and off he went.  i wonder if grady will be the same.  i know it seems like a while until he will use these, but i know the time is going to fly by.  

additions:  the clubhouse went from a single-wide to a double-wide this week.  the clubhouse was originally designed for the front yard of our one bedroom apartment, but now that we have more space we decided to upgrade.

it's in the process of getting a new coat of paint and we are going to add on a patio/play structure.  (more pics to come as we the mister completes the project. ) 

nutrition?:  i made up this concoction of "fruit cocktail"  to entice my kiddo's to eat more fruit this week.  the maraschino cherries sealed the deal for sure.  my kiddo's will do anything for those things.  ideally,  fresh fruit would've been better, but i was working with what i had and it worked.  they loved it.

nature:  we enjoyed a lovely day in nature with friends at the bolsa chica wetlands.  we had an extra long hike (we were looking for the famous dolphin that has been residing there for the past week).  along the way my girl collected wild flowers, wild mustard, sage, buckwheat and radish.  she shared and traded with friends, identified what she was collecting with her field guides and then came home to make some perfume with all of their sweet fragrances.  (oh and we did finally see the dolphin).

friendship:  i love that these two are friends.  they really are.  of course, they have their moments just like any other brother and sister, but for the most part they get along and enjoy each other.

especially when there is ice cream involved.

expression:  this little fella is not afraid to express his feelings.  this is his latest expression.  isn't it lovely?  to add to it,  he also loves to say the word "stupid" and will call you a "stinker"  if you make him upset.  yes i know, lovely.  trust me, i'm working on it.  though nothing is really working.  

at work:  the mister was busy all week getting these three pieces of  eye candy ready for thalia surfshop in laguna.  

baking:  i was craving these yummy banana chocolate chip muffins, so i whipped up a batch yesterday morning.  they are were delicious.   they never last more than a day in our home.  i think i have shared the recipe here before,  but if not i will soon.  

relaxation:  i have been doing a lot of prenatal yoga lately because it just makes me feel a whole lot better.  but, there is really nothing more relaxing then spending the day at the beach with my family.

we flew kites because it was a perfectly, windy, kite flying kind of day.

this one collected a bunch of seaweed and examined each piece.  

you can't leave the beach without digging a big hole

or sand surfing on a body board.

and of course,  i couldn't leave without taking the cutest darn pictures of these two little kiddo's.

wow, my life is good and i am so very thankful for it and this little family of mine means the world to me.  thanks for stopping by friends.