Life Update

I had high intentions of a decent blog post today with a few new cool things that are working for us but none of that is happening.  

1.  Grady got sick at Ms. Becky's yesterday (and then again on Mills last night).  And on Wednesday I was told at Physical Therapy that he's behind on some important things.  And basically I've lost my mind a couple days in a row.  Like lost my mind.  And this is after him having croup for the last 10 days and dodging the flu and stomach bug at Becky's at the end of last week.  I have never done so much laundry in my life.  And here we sit with him still getting it but likely unrelated.  Yeah.  Poor buddy.  Not fun.

2.  Work has had some not great things happening in the last few weeks that I haven't been thrilled about and I'm busier than ever with projects.  And I just don't know what to do about all of that.  The working mom guilt is something FIERCE right now and every day I don't know if I'm making the right decision.  I'm just going through a rough patch and I know it'll get better.  It's not even that rough of a patch, it's more like when it rains it pours kind of thing.  

3.  I had some pretty awful feedback on the two posts of my children's rooms this week and for that, well tough.  Sorry you don't think my children's rooms are cute or decorated to a tee by an interior designer because I'm here to tell ya, 99.9999999999% of children do not have a room decorated by an interior designer no matter how nice their house is.  And guess what?  I have bigger fish to fry than my children having the perfect windows, curtains or furniture.  I care a lot more that they are happy, thriving and good people.  Unlike the people that feel the need to message me that the scale in their room is off.  Also, Kevin and I can figure out how to spend our own money.  K, thanks, bye.  My blog ain't for you, it's for me.  

4.  I don't think I ever mentioned it on here but Kevin was working 8 of the last 12 months on selling one of his businesses.  It took A LOT of work and it was happening when Grady was a newborn, Molly Anne was potty training and when she started at a new school.  The deal finally closed a few weeks ago and we are both so thankful.  It's hard to describe how thankful I am. 

5.  I'm in a bible study with some friends and have really gotten a lot out of it.  I did a study with the same group in the Fall and it was wonderful.  It's an hour of my week that is really precious to me and I'm thankful to my friend Ashley for putting it on with her friend Sarah.

6.  Tuesday night I went out with some mom's from Molly Anne's class and had a really good time.  Those girls are very nice people and I enjoy our Mom talk!

7.  Really loving my Peloton.  Friend me if yall are on there!  My username is #ncstate16  Don't judge my performance.  I'm just lucky to get on it a couple of times a week!  Makes me sane!  Anyone else on the Peloton train?

Okay that's all I've got.  I'm writing this post on Thursday night so Friday is a new day.  I've gotta get my boy back to health and keep his hydration in check.  And I want to keep my children in a box and never let them out haha!  CHEERS friends!

Grady’s Room

Yep, sorry for the nighttime pictures again. So these are the curtains that I mentioned yesterday.  They work perfectly in Grady's room!  His walls are painted SW Agreeable Gray just like Molly Anne's baby room at our old house!  It's the perfect color if you aren't finding out the gender of your baby.  For Molly Anne, we added coral to the navy and gray.  For Grady, I think we'll add some green as he grows out of needing a crib and changing table in his room. 

I got the painting above his bookshelf at Home Goods and it was in Molly Anne's room when she was born!  Dad made the bookshelf and cradle!

Same PBK Crib that was Molly Anne's.  Same chair as Molly Anne's when she was a baby.  All four of my parent's grandchildren have been rocked for hours in this chair.  They bought it for my brother and SIL when Anna Kate was born!  I had it recovered before Molly Anne arrived.  

I'm not a huge fan of putting artwork above the crib for a couple of reasons - I'm afraid it will fall on them and I'm not interested in them trying to get it once they can stand in the crib.  Yes, I realize you lower the crib but just deal with me and my crazy haha!

The ole trusty Jenny Lind changing table.  A no brainer for the price and the quality is great. I could put this thing together in my sleep.  I recently did two new ones before Grady was born.  It's solid and a perfect temporary solution for changing diapers for a couple of years.  Grady is likely getting close to the weight limit I bet..hmmm hahaha!  And no artwork above the changing table either...these babies become wild!


The tiny white cabinet has since been replaced with the dresser of drawers my Dad used when he was a boy.  It's super cute in his room and I love the history behind it!


A co-worker gave us the Tiffany and Co piggy bank and it was the sweetest gift.  The other silver pieces are incredibly special as well.  I really should show these up close because they are amazing.  And the frame.  All baby gifts when Grady was born and all precious to us.  


So yep, nothing too fancy but gets the job done!  Once we get the crib and changing table out of there, I may make better decor decisions but it feels temporary right now until it's more of a big boy room.  I don't think Grady really cares what his room looks like mmmkay?!  It's comfortable, clean and nice though!

Molly Anne’s Room

Thought it'd be fun to share pictures of Molly Anne's room and how it looks these days!  It's been a hot minute since these two pictures...

Her room is painted Sherwin Williams White Dogwood at 50%. 

We used the same Pottery Barn curtains that she had in her room at our old house.  She had two windows in the old house so we used two of those panels in her new room and two in Grady's new room!  I love when I have a brain and buy good classic things!  The humongous flamingo - from my Brother and SIL.  It's Melissa and Doug!

Sorry I had to take these pictures at night.  #work

I ordered these frames from IKEA's website because who has time to go to IKEA and run in and out for $7.99 frames?  Maybe one day I'll go there and browse but it won't be any time soon ha!  On this side of her windows, I printed a few family pictures from mpix's app (which is easy to use by the way).  The quality of mpix can't be beat for the price they are!

And on this side, I framed some of the artwork she had done at Ms. Becky's!

I'd like to get a really pretty abstract painting for this wall!  I know what I want, I just need to find something reasonable for a child's room! ;)

She painted those pretty works of art above her bookshelf!  I love them!  

She has my dresser of drawers I had in college!  

See, aren't they precious?  The gold glitter adds a touch that makes them masterpieces!!

Her bed is mine from when I was growing up!  Someday I'll take off her bed railing but she fell out one time when it wasn't on properly so yeah.  

So there's her room!  She thinks it's pretty special and I do too!  It's perfect for our girl!

Room Mom

Yes, I'm room mom for Molly Anne's class!  I secretly LOVE doing this sort of thing!  I talked with a few moms that have (or had) children at her school prior to the start of the school year to get a feel for what was involved! 

The first thing I did was have the teachers fill out a fun little sheet about things they like!  Then I sent an email to all of the other moms from the class to introduce myself and share the sheet!  

Molly Anne is in the daycare side of her school so all of the other Moms work too.  My goal was to keep things EASY for everyone!  In the email, I suggested a collection of $75/family for teacher gifts throughout the year.  This way, I wouldn't have to collect it multiple times, it was a one time collection and done.  And I take care of all gifts!  Not all families participated which was totally fine and understandable but 13 out of 15 did!

We have two main teachers and two part time teachers/assistants.  Here how I came up with the $75.  $10/main teacher for each holiday (Birthday/Christmas/End of Year) = $60.  Then the other $15 goes towards a pot to use for the part time teachers/assistants. 

The other thing I did in the initial email was set a date for a Mom's Night Out that I hosted in September.  I thought this was a good way for us all to get to know each other.  We all ended up having so much fun that we've gotten together monthly ever since.  And since we all know each other pretty well now, I asked some of them what they really thought about the $75 and they were like, "best thing ever!  Totally reasonable and now we don't have to do anything!"  That was good!

So far, I've coordinated the Christmas gifts, a birthday gift, Christmas party and planned the Valentine's Day party.  My friend group with the other moms is awesome and always help out!  They are the best.  I seriously think we have so much parent/Mama involvement because of the first Mom's Night Out, and because we're all in the same boat with working and trying to run a household of young children!  It's been really fun to be involved with Molly Anne's class!

Oh Teacher Appreciation week - evidently our school doesn't celebrate it.  We won't do anything financial (ie gift cards!) but I think I can round up most of the Moms to make hand written cards to each teacher showing appreciation and I hope to have a few delivered each day!  I think that sounds nice, right?!  

That's my Room Mom gig!

Weekend Home

We had a very boring weekend thankfully!

My in-laws kept Grady for us on Friday which was a big treat.  Ms. Becky was closed due to the flu at her house so we have stayed away since last Wednesday and won't go back until tomorrow.  Thankfully we were spared! 

That meant we got a special date with just the three of us for dinner on Friday night at our club with some neighborhood friends.  Molly Anne was such a big girl and so much fun to go out with.  She had a nap that day! ;)  

Grady boy in Molly Anne's pajamas!  

Saturday after nap, Molly Anne and I went to Hobby Lobby to get some crafts to do this weekend.  She loved doing that with me.  I probably need to take her to shops more often now that she is older and follows directions!  And no stroller, what a dream!  

Saturday night after I put Grady to bed, I blew her hair dry and then we curled it.  She felt so fancy and loved going to show Daddy!

Yesterday I didn't change out of pajamas until 3pm when we decided to have some friends over for a very low key and last minute dinner.  Aka pulled out a bunch of things from the fridge and had mexican night!  

Today I have both children home with me while I attempt to work at the same time.  Always glorious! 

Pouch, First teeth, Mills, Frame

I'll spare you all the details of what's gone on this week in our household but all is well, mostly.

1.  Molly Annie loves quiet mornings when she doesn't have to rush rush rush to get ready in the morning. 

2.  Anyone else tried these Once upon a Farm pouches?  They are good for incorporating a little veggie in and it's homemade food basically.  I am not a huge fan of mixing veggies and fruits but this one is doable and Grady loved it.  I think we will use these for when we go out to dinner which is very rare these days.  I got these at Harris Teeter but I think some Targets have them too...in the refrigerated section.

3.  If you haven't made this quiche, you should.  It's so good.  I skipped the crust this week and it's equally as good and no carbs. 

4.  Ready for school!

5.  As of this morning, Grady has a couple white spots on that bottom gum.  His left one is a little more pronounced than the other one but they're both there!

6.  I forgot to share this silhouette that I had done of Molly Anne for my Mom last Mother's Day.  It was so beautiful that I had to have one too.  Here is the place I got the silhouette and here is the frame (amazon)!  I replaced the matting to be white instead of the ivory that came with the frame.  

Millsy didn't want us to leave this morning.  He jumped in my car when I was loading it up for the day.  Crazy boy!

Dad's Special Projects

Let me just go ahead and brag on my Dad for a little bit!  He is an amazing woodworker!  He has made some wonderful pieces over the years in their basement.  Basically if you tell him you want something built, no matter how complicated, he could do it.  I'm serious.

For my college graduation, he made me a fancy box and included his dad's slide rule in it.  So special.  It has sat on my dresser ever since and would be one of the first things I grabbed if I had to run out of here in a fire.

It has my name and "engineer" under it and the date of graduation.  He is an engineer and I think he thinks it's cool that I am too!  Or so he says!  Haha

Years ago he made my SIL and I dressers!  It did not feature a chewed bottom corner when he gave it to me.  Thank you 6 month old Mills! ;)

And he made Molly Anne a learning tower!  This is puts her up at counter level so she can help me with things at the kitchen island or counter.  It's also adjustable and I need to move it down for her now that she's taller!


The cradle.  Oh the cradle.  This is absolutely precious to me.  I have so many pictures of my children as babies in this cradle.  Molly Anne....

Grady....

He also made Molly Anne a fancy stool to use in our powder room so she could wash her hands.  It's stained the same as our hardwoods and has the trim color on the sides, to match our stairs.

When Molly Anne was born he told me he was making her a bookshelf.  I was so excited when he brought it down here.  It's beautiful.  That one moved to our new house but her wall in this house was a little too short for it.  Not terrible by any means, but Grady has a longer wall.  So Grady got Molly Anne's and Dad made another one and now that's in Molly Anne's room.  It's confusing but basically he made both of my children their own bookshelf!  Of course, it's painted in our trim color that we used throughout the house.  

I took these pictures while they were here over Christmas and they're really special to me.

Easter Baskets and Bookshelves!

I had this ah ha moment last night and was like DUH, you need to order Grady an Easter basket!  He was born last May 9th right after Easter and since I didn't know if he was a boy or girl, I didn't order him one!  

So, I hopped on my computer and grabbed one because it's on sale right now with free shipping and they always sell out.  So if you need one, grab it now.  Molly Anne has this one in size Large and I got Grady this one in size Large.  These will be their Easter baskets foreverrrrrr so I like that they're timeless and not too baby-fied!  

I got the gingham liner (pink for MA and navy for G) and Christine always monograms them.  She does a better job than PBK and 'Molly Anne' is too many characters for PBK monogramming.  And I want Grady's name to match Molly Anne's exactly! ;)  

Would ya look at Baby Molly Anne?!  Yall think Grady will fit in his basket this year?  I better order him the biggest one that has ever existed!!!

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Oh my - bookshelves!  Look, I'm no designer.  My goodness, I work in the construction world.  But, I know what I like and don't like.  After you build your own house, you will too, ha!  

They've sat for the last year not done and a humbled jumbled mess but over Christmas it was a big thing that I really wanted to get finished!  Mom and I went to a couple of local shops in Charlotte - Creative by Nature in Blakeney and Charlotte's in Myers Park - and picked out a few new things.

We also used to have four shelves and we messed with those and ended up taking one out.  The spacing is a little odd because we are somewhat restricted with the speakers but we made it work.  

So, here are the before and afters!

Before:
         


After:

The top left piece is one of my new things and it has a gorgeous, huge boxwood ball in it!  The Mallard duck brings back the Maryland roots.  I love love love the picture of Kevin and Molly Anne out on my brother's boat a couple of years ago.  I'd like to get a clear holder for the gray and gold tray instead of the black one.

The silver piece on the bottom against the back of the bookshelf is our marriage invitation engraved.  A special gift from my Matron of Honor!

The silver tray was a wedding gift!

Lots of special items in this picture and so many to name.  

A huge improvement right?!  They'll always be a work in progress as I see things out and about that I like.  Or something that means a lot to us that will go up there.  That's one of the beauties of your home never being completely finished right?!  Someday maybe we'll put some pretty blue grasscloth wallpaper up there but that's pretty committal and makes me semi-nervous!  But what a statement that would make!