It Just "Felt" Right

As floral wreaths go, I feel I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I actually like them. What comes to mind, initially, are fake flowers, too much ribbon, and a funny moth ball smell. Something like this:

No good! I didn't want to post a link to the above photo because I'm sure there are people out there I'm going to offend. Sorry about that but it's just not my style. The point I'm trying to get to is that I've actually been working on a wreath with felt flowers! The one I'm making is a modification of a couple of wreaths. One from Nest of Posies and the other from NatSprat. What I came up with looks like this so far:

The color pallete I'm going for is turquoise, cocoa brown, mustard yellow, wine red, rusty orange, and possibly deep plum. There are so many flower tutorials I'm having a hard time choosing. Some of my favorites are Holidash's dahlia tutorial and cute little roses that From Will You? To I Do! blogged about. I'll post again after I've decided what other types of flowers to add.

April Showers

April showers bring May flowers but a shower in May brings me joy! 'Nuf said.

Before

 

After

 

Before

 After

 

Before

Progress

 After

Fine-ly Finished

Well, not quite yet, but that's who's helping us! After living in our little cape cod for almost two years, we're making some headway on our laundry-list of home improvement projects. When we first laid eyes on this place, we saw it for all it's potential. Now, since it's been a couple of years, it's a little more difficult to see our way past all of its flaws. This last week, however, we've made a significant step forward. I say "we" but really the glory goes to our friend, Mike (owner of Fine-ly Finished), who is doing most of the work. The bathroom that was once falling apart, is now coming together! We (Bran and I) will not be doing any of the work in the bathroom. I wish I could say that we were like so many other couples that have jumped on the DIY wagon, but alas we're more the "pay someone else to do the work and enjoy the ride" types. At least at the moment. Little R is still just that, little, and we have two more littler yet. No big DIY projects for us right now.

This was last Sunday (yucky shower!)

Monday (all gone but still yucky)

Thursday (ooooh, pretty new tile!)

We have another big step in the whole process coming tomorrow. The yellow tub is getting re-glazed! I'll post more as more gets finished. :)

Welcome Baby K

Baby K was born January 27, 2011 at 12:03pm weighing 6 pounds 15.5 ounces and measuring 19 inches in length.

*A special thanks to my friend Liz for the beautiful photos.

Birth Daze

The new year has brought lots to celebrate about. Birthday celebrations! Things have been pretty busy around here as of late. It began with both of my parents. My dad had his 50th on January 18, my mom's 47th on the 19th. My cute baby niece had her first birthday on January 24th. We welcomed our little Baby K into the world in January as well. I was hoping to go into labor and have a vbac but just like her siblings Baby K was born via cesarean section January 27th.

February has been equally exciting. My mother-in-law's birthday was February 4th. Last week was another birthday. Our little G turned 2! He had a wonderful Star Wars themed party at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. Very fun!

What does this all mean for Bran and I? ...We are now the very busy (birthday celebrating) parents of three kids, three and under!

Plotting and Scheming... Colors

I've finally decided the color scheme for the majority of the house. I still have to figure out the bathroom, the sun porch and the upstairs second bedroom. The colors below are the final choices for their appointed rooms. I'm going for beachy/earthy. Our bedroom is currently painted in Sherwin William's Sea Salt. I plan to keep it the same color when we head upstairs. Little G's room is done except for the trim. I have the paint for Little R and Baby K's room, it will be painted when we finally transition. I have painted the back entry and most of the hallway. I hope to finish the hallway in the next couple of days (I'll post pictures soon).

 

Speaking of the days to come... Baby K will be making her first appearance this Thursday! ... unless she decides to show sooner. So, lots to look forward to!

Sharing Spaces

Little R has been the proud owner of a big girl bed for a couple of weeks now. She loves it! We didn't have any problem transitioning her from her previous "bed" (the couch) to the new one. Notice the walls. Yep, she's in Little G's room... now their shared room. That change was made by necessity for the moment. We had an energy audit the week of Thanksgiving and found we have little, and in some areas, no insulation on the second floor. After talking out our options, we figured that the best solution would be room sharing until we can save up enough to properly insulate upstairs. So, as of this moment, we have baby K (due to arrive in less than three weeks) in our room and Little R and Little G in their shared room. Although it may be many months before the girls' mermaid room and little G's big boy room are realized, it is all working out for the time being.

Her first night in her big girl bed. (So cute!)