A Big Girl Bed For Little R

I just happened to be surfing the internet this morning and saw that there was an online sale for the bed I was planning on buying for Little R. The best part is, not only did I get it at 55% off the regular retail price, but I also got a $20 gift card for purchasing it, plus free shipping! How awesome is that!?

This super adorable bed is part of the At Home with Meijer Avery Collection. It looks very similar to the Anderson Bed from Pottery Barn Kids but is more than 5 times less expensive! 

 Here's a side by side comparison

                      Anderson                                                 Avery

Not too shabby, eh? I like that the Avery bed is more cottage styled and white rather than off-white. I think all-in-all I got the best deal possible... well, unless I could have gotten the bed for free.

"Moore" Paint Coming Soon

After narrowing 100+ blue Benjamin Moore paint swatches down to just three, I'm nearly ready to embark on another painting journey. It may be long and treacherous but in the end I know that it'll be worth it since it's for my girls. With so many choices I had to enlist some help. I grabbed one of every blue paint swatch from the local paint store and then asked Bran and Little R to pick out their very favorite. Bran chose Benjamin Moore's Bashful Blue (it looks paler in the room.) Little R chose Benjamin Moore's Blue Flower (it looks less green in the room.) I really liked both of their choices but chose Benjamin Moore's Ocean Breeze. I felt it was brighter and maybe more of a "kid" color, if there is such a thing. With the final three chosen, I put them up in the room for the week to see how they would look at different times of the day—on a sunny day, a cloudy day, morning, noon and night. I have to say, I still like them all. I was going to see what other people thought about them but then decided to ask the one person that mattered, Little R (seeing as how it will be her room.) When they're all together in the room they look similar. I wanted to see which of the colors she would choose. The results were unanimous... each time she chose Blue Flower. I was amazed! I set them in different parts of the room and in a different order each time. She's a girl who knows what she likes. So, the winner is Blue Flower. The blue walls are going to look great with the pink plaid bedding. I'll get started this next week... and judging from my current pace in Little G's room,  I should be posting pictures by January. Hopefully I can get done a little sooner.

* The color looks more like this.

* I want to thank my hubby for making the really cool paint blotches for me!
   Love you, honey.

Slowly But Surely

It's been almost a month since I started Little G's bedroom makeover. I began painting right away. Yes, it's taken me nearly a month (just painting!) to get as far as I have. Things are progressing much slower than I would like, but still, progress is progress. I've purchased the material for all of the things I'll be sewing and have (nearly) finished painting. I still have trim work to do. The trim is currently antique white and I'd like to paint it all crisp, bright white. Stay tuned as I race to finish before our next little one is here. Wish me luck.

Currently

 

Close up

A Room All His Own

Little G should consider himself lucky to be the only boy in the family. Living in a small, four-bedroom house means he'll never have to share a room. The girls (whether they like it or not) will. The extra room will be an office/craft room. I know, call me selfish! Anyhoo, I've been pondering on what to do in the little guy's room. I finally found some inspiration that I think satisfies my desire not to have an overly "themey" bedroom but one that is "kiddy" enough for a little boy.

I've already purchased paint and the cute little dino bank. Bran said he can come up with some art similar to the inspiration pieces. It sure is nice to have an artist/designer for a husband! The bedding and cool floor poufs I plan to make myself. The original bedding is a line from Serena and Lilly and as usual, way out of my budget. I found an awesome tutorial for floor poufs that I plan on using—Michael Miller Whimsy Dottie Grid fabric in kiwi and blue. I'm still unsure about sheeting... for both bedroom's for that matter. So, if anyone can come up with something, please, let me know.

'Mer'making Some Changes

So I thought I had it... and then I found a SALE! I was looking for ideas for Little G's room online and came across a bedding sale at Potterybarn kids. It also led me to an ebay purchase to complete the set. I was wooed. I purchased. The only (sort of) problem is that it isn't for Little G's room. It's lovely. It's beachy. And, it's pink! It will be perfect for the girl's mermaid bedroom. I'm so excited to put it all together!

Little R Has "Mermaid" Her Decision

Little R has been sleeping on the couch for quite a while now. It's not that we don't have a bed for her or the space. She transitioned to the couch when Little G woke her up a few nights in a row and just never transitioned back. It would be great for her to feel like she has her own place to go to. My husband and I plan on moving our bedroom upstairs this spring so I'm excited that we'll soon have a room for her to go to. She's already picked a theme for her soon-to-be room. Mermaids!

I'm not really the "character theme" type so I was thinking something along these lines. I'm in love with these little cards and the picture (both by Sea Urchin Studio). The bedding, I found online at Posh Tots,  is wonderful but waaaaaay out of the budget. I'll be making the bedding... maybe a little less pink though. I'm thinking teal and pink, rather than all pink.

We Have A Love-Hate Relationship

My husband and I, that is. We've been married now for nearly four and a half years and we've come to a point in our marriage where no compromises can be made. As sad as it is for me to say, he disagrees with some recent choices I've made and will not back down.

What is it that makes up this wall of separation... pillows! Big, puffy, yellow rose pillows (only one pictured). Normally, I make all of the decor decisions for the home but a recent purchase has my husband, who normally is amenable regarding such things, completely noncompliant. I think they're awesome. Bran thinks they're awful.  I think they looked great with the blue ruffle pillow (a previous purchase). Bran, not so much.

 

I even showed him the photo of this beautiful rug combo by FLOR but still no budging. In fact, he hated the rug too.

I guess we can't/won't always agree on everything. I appreciate his honesty though.

Meet Mr. Cool

After two, what I would call, "safe" haircuts, I finally worked up the courage to go for the BIG snip. Little Baby G is now sporting a cool new 'do! In fact, I would have to say, it has earned Baby G a new nickname... Little Mr. Cool.

Before

After

Bloomin Lovely

I walked down to the farmers market a couple of weeks ago just for something to do. I was hoping to get some fresh veggies for cheap but I got distracted by these little beauties. I'm not one to buy anything that lacks any sort of lasting power. My husband knows to always buy a potted plant versus cut flowers. It just seems to make more sense to me financially. This may be the one and only time I will have ever purchased cut flowers... but look at them! They're gorgeous! Although they've already gone to that beautiful vase in the sky, I thought they were so lovely in their prime that they should be remembered. This post is for you flowers.

Introducing...

The newest member of our family made HER first appearance last Tuesday via ultrasound! She's developing beautifully and right on schedule. We're looking forward to her end of January - early February arrival. The actual c-section date has yet to be determined. We're all so excited to meet her face to face.

The Big Day!

Tuesday was Little R's first day of preschool. Daddy took a vacation day and Grammy even came along. Dressed in her cute little school girl jumper, she was so excited to go to school.

 

 

She has a good sized class of about 15.

 

After school Daddy treated her some ice cream Dibs (since the ice cream shop wasn't open yet.)

 

What a day!

Lookin' Cool For School

Little R is the eldest of our three (well, soon to be three) children. She's growing so quickly but when I look at her she's still my little baby. I'm sure she always will be. The book, Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, comes to mind. The repeated sentiment throughout the book is, "I'll love you forever, I'll you like for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be." 

Little R will be starting preschool soon. We have our very first parent-teacher orientation and open house tomorrow. She's really excited to start and especially excited to meet new friends. Along with new school clothes, Grampy and Grammy took her out and let her pick her very own (first) backpack. Our little R, soon to be our little school girl, is all set for the new adventure ahead of her. It is such a joy to see her grow.

On Our 4th Year Together...

I'm using this romantic occasion as a opportunity to re-light my blogging fire. I've been at a loss for anything share-worthy. I lie. There's been many momentous occations as of late that I could have, would have, should have reported... the most exciting being the anticipated arrival of our THIRD child in January 2011! But, alas, due to this development I've been down and out and am still struggling through this pregnancy, hence me falling off the blogging wagon.

In other news, I am happy to report Bran and I have (this Thursday, technically) been married for FOUR whole years. I know that's baby steps as far as married life goes, but we've made it through some tough times, the birth of two children, another on the way, we've purchased our first home, and are still going strong. Our lives have changed tremendously since our single days but all for the better. We have truly been blessed.

As a surprise anniversary gift, my thoughtful husband got me a special gift from one of my favorite photographers, Maleah Matthews: a photo pendant necklace of a beautiful sparrow. As I was doing the bills, I (accidentally) came across the purchase information for the necklace, so unfortunately the surprise was blown. But when it came in the mail, I was still touched by the gesture. My husband explained that he had chosen the sparrow to remind me that I am never forgotten. He quoted the scripture from Luke 12, where Christ teaches his followers that even sparrows that fall to the ground are not forgotten by Heavenly Father. Although I may, in the busyness of mommyhood and regular life, forget (sometimes) that Heavenly Father takes notice of me, how my husband remembers me is a sure sign that God does watch over me.

Pottery Barn Bedding

We've been accruing points on our credit card for about a year and it's finally paid off! I just scored some new bedding from Pottery Barn that I didn't have to pay for (it was FREE!, well almost free)! I just had to pay for shipping and taxes. But still... hooray!

I've been eying it for about a month now. It's such a fun pattern! I just happened to look online tonight because my gift card came in the mail and it was not just on sale but FINAL SALE! ...which means it was the lowest it was ever going to be. Notice the styling of the room too. This is the direction I'm headed with the house. I just love the fun, artsy cottage vibe. The bench at the end of the bed looks a lot like the chair my friend gifted me about a month ago. And I just might be able to convince my husband to take a trip out to Detroit to pick up a bed with a similar look but without the Pottery Barn price tag (the bed in the picture is no longer available, but I found one that is comparable). We need a queen, so that would be a difference of 550 smackers!

New 'Do

Baby G and I were both in desperate need of a haircut... Well, his was still pretty, beautiful baby hair; it was just getting long. Mine, on the other hand, was becoming a scraggly mess. Think, the girl from The Ring. Yeah, it was pretty gross. I didn't get a before of myself. I hadn't thought of it until I realized what a difference it would be to take so much off. Oh, well. You'll just have to trust me when I say, it's waaaaay shorter. Although I'm still getting used to our new 'do's I think they turned out pretty darn cute.

Before

  

After

After

Maleah Matthews Prints, Oh My!

Beautiful aren't they!? I just love them. I've been stalking Maleah Matthews' blog and Etsy site for quite a while, waiting for the glorious day I could buy some of her amazing work. I got three prints in all and she even included an extra 4x6 because I'm a fan on facebook. Yay! Now, to get them on the wall!

Keeping Busy

We're going on two months of passing the crud back and forth. Is there such a thing as a "sick bug" bomb? You know, like a fogger thingy that'll kill it all for good? I wish! Every time I get stuck in the house I get the other bug... the "decorating bug." Here are a couple of things I've been working on.

The trim around the front window is now white, instead of cream

 I scored some new white swiss dot, ruffle curtains! Simply Shabby Chic from Target. They were originally $30 per panel, I got them for $13 per panel. The art on the wall and pillows are still another thing I've been working at. You can also see a glimpse of something else I've been working on...

...My friend Lori came by one day and helped me paint the entry way blue! It looks wonderful in the morning but in the evening it's a bit Florida blue. I'm not sure if I'll keep it this color but for now it adds a punch of color to my mostly beige living room. Oh yeah, I also painted the front door white.

 
As you can see there's a lot going on around the Miltgen living room. The next couple of projects I plan on tackling... ripping up the carpet and painting all of the trim white... stay tuned!

Beached

Life has really been doling out the punches, as of late. Rather than bring others down by going into details, I'll just say the last few weeks have been challenging. I was determined to get the family out of the house today and enjoy the sunshine, despite any afflictions... and I am happy to report, we did! That's what this blog is all about... finding the bright spots amidst the grey.

Without further adieu, I present to you some pleasant pictures from our little outing.

My Very Own Fern Arable

 

Little R has been sporting this 'do now that her hair has grown long enought to pull up. She reminds me of Fern Arable. In case some of you are scratching your heads wondering, Fern Arable is the little girl from EB White's,  Charlotte's Web. I remember watching the 1973 cartoon adaptation. I just loved Fern's adorable pigtails. Personally, I think my version of Fern is the cutest.