Sunshine

Here is an easy project for Harper's room!  Janis bought me some picture frames at a garage sale when she was in Columbia. First, I took the glass and backs off and found a good spray paint area. 

Next, I spray painted them all the accent color I wanted to use. (Bright yellow!)

After that, I cut out various pieces of scrapbook paper to fit inside the frames. 

Next, I used my cricut (thanks again, Shonn!) to cut the letters for "you are my sunshine". I adhered them to the scrapbook paper so the words "you are my" would each fit into their own frame and the letters in "sunshine" would each have their own. 

Finally, I put the paper back into the frames. 

All that is left is to hang them on the wall! 

EGG-citing!

Beckett and I decorated some eggs on Tuesday.  He loved it...and he loved the hard boiled eggs, too!

Bed Rest Week 2

I can't believe it's been two weeks of bed rest!  The first week seemed so long, but this week went by really quickly.  Monday, we had our doctors' appointment, and Tuesday my mom came over for part of the day and my dad came over for the other part.  Wednesday was the first time I was home alone in as long as I can remember, because Shonn took Beckett to the farm with him as he worked on the bookshelves with his grandpa.  Beckett had a blast at the farm and came home with all kinds of goodies.  Shonn sent me this video:

I got a lot done at home, but it was lonely. Thursday, Janis came down and took B to play group in the morning.  In the afternoon, I rested with Beckett and Janis fixed the baby's curtains by adding the yellow chevron to the pink polka dot blackout panels - they turned out so cute!


Today, I was home alone again, as Beckett went with Shonn to Mt. Pulaski and spent another day on the farm while Shonn met with a client.  They are on their way home now.  He had fun with Great-Grandma and Papa Hild!  Janis sent me these pictures:




The medicine has somewhat evened out this week, although I still get dizzy after taking it.  I am trying really hard to rest more.  Shonn has helped out a ton again this week, and he has been so sweet to me.  I have loved spending more time together!

I talked with my sub for work today and she is going to do a great job.  It relieves my mind a little to know that there will be more help for the rest of the office staff - it's a busy job and they have picked up my slack while I've been gone these weeks.  Knowing she will be there makes it easier for me to relax and enjoy my time with family while we wait for the little miss. :)

Little Miss is 34 and a half weeks now, and I can tell she is growing!  Even Janis noticed how much I've grown over the past week.  She's definitely taking up more room and I'm back to being out of breath.  We have an appointment on Monday and we get an ultrasound - yay!  I can't wait to see her!

Baby's Shelves

These pictures make me so happy I want to cry!  Shonn and his grandpa spent the whole day in Grandpa's shop, making shelves for the baby out of wood from the family farm.  It has obvious sentimental value, because Shonn is the fourth generation of Hilds who would farm that ground, and also because it's such special time between Shonn and his grandpa.  The shelves are also something Baby Girl will be able to keep forever.  Love.

Today is just another example of why my husband is so wonderful that I can't believe he picked me.  He is incredibly busy with work right now, but he took the whole day to go do this because he knew it would mean a lot to me.  I know he enjoyed the time with his Grandpa, but I also know he did it to make me happy.  He took Beckett with him to the farm, which is awesome because Beckett loves spending time with Papa Hild and rarely gets to see him.  (He obviously loves spending time with Mee Maw, too, but we're lucky enough to see her more regularly.)  That left me home alone for the first time in... I have no idea.  It's the first time I've been alone at all, anywhere, since I drove to the doctor's office last Monday, the 25th.  It was really quiet around the house, and kinda lonely!  

The guys are on their way home now. Look for future posts of the finished product in Baby Girl's room! 

Grandpa makes the initial design at his workbench.  He is an excellent woodworker.  He made Beckett's crib, a table for his room, all the cabinets for his house, and the wood floors, too, including planing the wood! He is so talented!  I really like this picture.

Measuring the wood from the family farm's trees.

Assembling one of the shelves.  This will be a special picture for Baby Girl's baby book.

Big Boy Bed!

On Monday morning, Shonn and I worked on moving a new bed into Beckett's room and the crib into Baby Girl's room. While that sounds like two simple moves, there were quite a few steps that went into the process.  Beckett loves climbing into his new bed...we'll see about sleeping in it! :)

Bunting Update

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished bunting, which is waaaaaay longer than I need, but I'm planning to use part in the bedroom and part in her bathroom on the shower curtain.  I really like how it turned out, and Shonn picked up the paint today!

Baby Girl Projects

Here are some of the fun things I've been doing for Baby Girl's arrival.

Fabric for bunting

Cutting out triangles to sew together for the bunting

Traced pencil lines for the cuts

This is the order I decided on with the fabrics.

This dresser will be in white with a changing table on top.  The people who made Beckett's furniture are making hers, too.

This chest will also be in white, and it will be in the closet.

I covered a canvas and strung ribbon to make a bow holder.

It turned out pretty cute! (With her bows so far.)

This is the bedding from PBK.  Hint on the name! :)

Mom got this quilt, which is so perfect. As you can see, I'm having a hard time finalizing paint options.

Accent pillow for the rocker.  Tutu from Rachael in the background. :)

Terrible picture of the ribbon mobile.  It turned out super-cute!

Cookie Exchange

Last Sunday, I hosted my second cookie exchange. This year was just as fun as last year, plus we had a special addition of SANTA visiting!  It was a wonderful time to catch up with friends, snack on some goodies, and let the kiddos play.  This is a tradition I really enjoy!

A place for the kids to play...and Santa to visit!

Trays ready for guests and their cookies!

Drinks - we also had hot apple cider with mulling spices.

Elfie hanging out.  (We haven't named him yet...)

Some guests start to arrive, including Hadleigh in her adorable outfit!  The light on my camera was weird for most of these pics. :(

Friends say hi and give hugs!

Kids start to play with toys!

More toys!

And more toys!

...AND MORE TOYS!

Beckett greets Baby Josh

A sneak peek of Santa! (More pics later)

Here are the cookies the guests brought:
Jenny - Sugar Santas
Allison - Reindeer Pops
Ingrid - Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies
Emily - Gingerbread Men & Snowmen
Rachel - Chocolate Chip Stockings
Heather - Holiday Monster Cookies
Carly - Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dorothy - Sugar Sprinkle Bites
Mom - Fingerprint Jammies and Russian Tea Cakes
Kristin - Rolo Snickerdoodles
Treva - Peanut Butter Cups
Jayme - Nutter Butter Reindeer
Janis - Sugar Kisses
Lindsey - Peanut Butter Crumbles
Hannah - Sugar Cookies
Julie - Mint Brownies

Lindsey also served as photographer when Santa arrived and some of the pictures were just precious.  I left the cd at work, so I will have to add them later.  It was a lot of fun!

Beckett's Playroom

We needed a place for Beckett's toys and games to live and a place for him to play.  Happily, the conversion from Sunroom to Playroom is almost complete!  Here are some pictures, and I will update again as I finish the details. (Art project above bookshelves, curtains on map wall windows, etc.)  It has been a lot of fun collecting and repurposing things for him to have a space he can enjoy - and destroy! :)

This is the "Before"

Same wall: "After" I made the PLAY signs out of plywood Shonn bought at Home Depot. I painted colorful designs on each and then painted chalkboard paint on top of that.  I figured with chalk lettering, it could change with the seasons and if Beckett wants something else up there, it would be an easy switch. The wicker chair was in the room in the other corner before.

I saw a pennant I really liked in Pottery Barn, but it was ridiculously expensive, so I made this one.  The PB version was 8 pennants for $40 - this whole project was $8 and I really like the colors.  I also plan to make holiday-themed pennants that I can change with the seasons - it was really easy!

 I found this cute little basket combo at BJ Antiques in town.  The puppy painting was done by my Granny Brown, (love it!), the abbacus was a fifty-cent garage sale find, and the racquets on the table are potential wall art items... Mom and I found them at Third Sunday Market for $3!

This mobile is of fish. I love it and so does Beckett. He points up and says, "Fish!"  Fifty cents, garage sale!

These windows still need curtains, but I'm waiting for next month's household items' budget to get them.  The curtains, by the way, are $10 black-out panels I hung with tension rods and ribbon.  The map, above, is doubling as a roller shade. It also has a world map underneath the US map and you can see what it looks like rolled up in the next picture.

Shonn made these awesome bookshelves again.  The basket is a fisherman's basket full of Dr. Seuss books, and the artwork is a BEckett original.

I found these neat old flashcards at BJ Antiques - a full set for $3.  The frames are actually plastic from IKEA, for $1 each. Beckett now recognizes A regularly, and says "BOO" for b. Not sure if he's referencing the color blue, guessing at the letter, or just happens to say it on occasion.

The treasure chest is full of beanie babies. This desk was a brand-new, in-the-box garage sale find.  It was multi-colored, so I painted it red. It has an art paper roll that ist attached on the other side. (You can kind of see it underneath.) The cool truck puzzle was a gift from Grandma. The cups are filled with crayons, markers, and chalk, and they are from IKEA.

 The CD player in the lower right is a great story. I can now say, "Beckett, can you please put on your music?" And he will walk to the player, push play, and start dancing.  SO CUTE.  Plus, today, he changed the cd for me. :)

I took this shot so you could see that I made a matching pennant for Beckett's playground clubhouse outside. (It's Sunbrella fabric, except the gingham.)