Girls' Room Redo

This is the post of a long overdue update on the girls' room.

When we first moved in, I really was bummed that the walls were all white.  And now, slowly, I've grown to love the fact that everything is white and I can add pops of color wherever I want.  I'm a white convert! (though I still prefer a good colored wall :)

Elise's big girl bed (which she is not yet in and still won't be for a little bit longer) also doubles as our guest bed.  So far that is working out great!  Nora will be moved in to the crib and E will eventually be in her bed and this will be their shared room.

I'm in love with that map that was gifted to me (thanks, Steph!) and obviously I went a little crazy with the washi tape :)  It probably doesn't look like it, but there is enough room to open the drawers on Nora's dresser.  This room is spacious enough, though awkwardly shaped, so we had to get creative with the room layout.

Speaking of washi tape, I made this (super easy) little banner to hang above their handprints and footprints from when they were both a week old.  Nora's are on the left and Elise's on the right.

I also found these prints at IKEA and I'm in love with them.  Colorful, fun, and cute...nothing better.

These shelves are filled up with various baby items, books, toys, etc.  (Can you tell that this room is about 95% IKEA...if only there were good thrift stores around here...there are practically none!)

Next up, Nora's crib, which once was Elise's (still currently is)...

Obviously we have a few stuffed animals :)

Then there's Elise's future big girl bed/guest bed.  I was quite excited to find a colorful polka dotted duvet for her bed.  The pillows were made by my talented mama.

So, there you have it...our colorful big girl/little girl/guest room.  I kinda love it :)

Catching Up With Some Videos

Lately I've been thinking there are two things I'd like to do more of with the girls...
1) Take more video.  We've really slacked off on this (or rather, never been great at it in the first place)
and
2) Get in more pictures with the girls.  A lot of times we just take pics OF them, but we need to be IN them too!  So Operation Get In The Picture has commenced :)

Below is some fun, random footage of Elise being her little cute self (and a clip of Nora too!).  Nothing special, per say, just plain and simple toddler cuteness.



A few fun notes on the video above:
- The girl LOVES Mother Goose Club videos these days and can sing along with many of them.
- At the end of this one she says a few words/phrases we love to hear her say (Geraldine is from the book 'Geraldine's Blanket', "awfus"/awesome is my most favorite thing she says, and "dobry den" means good day in Slovak)



A few notes on the video above:
- She was totally NOT in to saying any words for me...haha
- Notice the hair.  Just notice the hair.
- There's a lot of tiny tushie footage at the beginning of this one ;)



A few notes on the video above:
- She's a little obsessed with the WASH (the spider out) part...hahaha.
- I have a ridiculously crazy cackle when I laugh.  Oh gee.

And with that we'll be taking more video because she makes us laugh and all too soon her baby sister will be making us laugh too!

Just Missing My Grandma

My mama has been in town now for the past week or so and today we snapped a few three generation pics.

(Please note Nora's face...the hilariousness!  And having E eat a snack is probably the best way to keep her toddler self semi focused for a mini photo shoot...)

There's a chance I may be a little biased (I mean, I am their mama ;) but those are two seriously cute little girls.  Tee hee.

We're just missing my grandmother...if she were here it'd be a four generation pic!  But I'm hoping and praying we can make that happen in the future...love and miss her.

(In other news, isn't that a fun and colorful bedspread!?  Thank you, IKEA.  Girls' room update coming soon...I know the suspense is killer ;)

Some Post-Baby Thoughts

I thought for posterity's sake I would write out a few of my most recent post-baby thoughts.  Maybe if for nothing else I can remember it for the future...or just to have it written down to remember how I was feeling during these days.

Whatever it is, here goes...

- Having a baby the second time around somehow feels easier.  I had heard this was true, but I'm realizing that I don't seem to worry about every little thing like I did the first time.  I'm super thankful for this (though admittedly I'm still a worry-wart, I'll call it like it is).

- That whole thing about losing weight gets harder with the more babies you have...yeah, it's true (at least for me).  It's ok, though, it's just ok.

- I still don't love getting up in the middle of the night (really, who does?), but I am trying hard to soak up every moment with the babe as I remember just how quickly it goes...

- I've learned so much about grace.  Serious God-given grace.  I'm reminded daily that I'm a sinner who fails and lo and behold, our children copy, glean, and learn things they see in us (Elise is my little mirror these days!).  That's scary.  Really scary.  But thankfully, there's hope for me and for them.  Gosh, I need that hope.  So do they.

- I can't do it on my own.  I'm thankful for my hubs who is truly a great dad, and for friends and family who are willing to travel cross-country to help, or send an encouraging email to give words of affirmation, or tell you that you look pretty even when they've seen you wear your hair in a braid for the millionth time :)

- Speaking of hair, I'm not kidding, today was the first day I "fixed" my hair in well over a month...and that's because my mama's in town.  Haha!  It's no joke the whole "you don't have time to yourself" thing post-baby...especially no time to worry about stinkin' fixing your hair :)  Oh well.  Braids will just have to do!

- Finally, I've realized I'm selfish.  I want an hour to just go sit and read a book.  Or I want an hour to just take a long shower and shave my legs (yep, I said it).  Or I want an hour to just SLEEP!  I'm selfish.  My girls will be selfish.  But I hope and pray they will see more than my selfishness in me and know that I'll take the sleeplessness and the unread books because they're worth it.

And I don't normally post pics of just me on here (for some reason it feels strange to me)...but it just seems right with this post :)

Photo credit: hubs.  Hair credit:  two totally awesome babes :)

Signing out,
This mama who has SO much more to learn.

How She Does It

I don't know how it's done at your house, but around here this is how we eat our croissants...

And by "we" I really mean "E" :)