taking care of a little this and that...

There has been no time to blog lately. I have been too busy juggling all my hats!

Teagan turned 3 months last week. I can't believe how fast she is growing. Check out what she has been working on!

 

:)

Most maternity leaves end after 2-3 months. Well... up until a few weeks ago I had been telling Mark that I was on maternity leave. I have been working hard on getting the books up to date and I am proud to report my receipts folder JUST about empty!

I also worked on created two displays for items that we donated to a very special foundation's benefit auction a few weeks ago.

Sometimes I think I missed my calling by not going into graphic design. I absolutely love playing on Photoshop and creating. Luckily I get to play while making marketing material for our businesses.

I also did some fun work around the house. I finally decorated for summer a couple weeks ago. I got all my sand and shell vase fillers out for the first time in 2 years. Didn't seem right to display these while we were living in the mountains!

But lately most of my time has been spent doing this...

That is right, I am packing like crazy to prepare our family for our summer in Colorado. Did you see the Space Saver Bags. You pack them and the suck all the air out with your vacuum so they take up much less space. They are awesome! Gavin and I had fun seeing our bags shrink away! And yes, those are sweaters you may have spotted in my pile of chaos. I actually had to purchase a bunch of cold weather clothes for little Teagan. After searching in stores around here to no avail (it has been in the 90's here!) I hit the jackpot on the Carter's website. 70% off sale with free shipping! I know she needs it though. I heard from a friend that it snowed there last week! One of the ski areas, A-Basin, is going to be open for the Fourth!!

Speaking of the Fourth... We are taking the day off tomorrow. Our plan is to hang by the pool all day, dinner with the family and then fireworks on the beach with friends. Can't wait! I did drop the hat on preparing for the holiday though. This is the only decoration we have up in our house.

Just couldn't do it when we are leaving for Colorado in 6 days. Yikes!!! Can't do it all, but the day will go on and I will relax by the pool. :)

Hope you Independence Day is a blast!!!

gavin's room...

Finally... pictures of the sweet boy's room. He still LOVES it and I like how it turned out too!

We kept the baseball theme for his room so I re-used the photos of the baseball stadiums and his name in the Red Sox font that you saw here. I found really cute madras print shams at Potterybarn Kids that matched a quilt that was passed down in my family. I love the bright colors.

 Gavin LOVES his truck sheets. I hear him sometimes counting the excavators and dump trucks when he is supposed to be sleeping! These sheets were on sale at Potterybarn Kids and were a Christmas gift, just like the madras shams.

 Gavin's red chair was a Christmas gift from Santa, again from Potterybarn Kids. Boy I wish I still worked for Potterybarn and got my discount!!

 He also likes his new bookshelf and toy bucket shelf. Mark's mom found the bucket shelf at a garage sale and the bookshelf came from Ikea.

 I love his artwork cable that I actually, badly, snuck onto Teagan's registry to receive 10% off. But how cute is it and it holds all his wonderful creative creations!

 I do need to work on two things... the first is I have got to do something about a laundry bag. This is the one he is using now! Does it look familiar to anyone??!!

 I also need to figure out a way to cover these french doors, there are actually two to make a double french door. We started having a problem with Gavin peeking out behind the coverings when he was supposed to be in bed sleeping, the little pickle. Now I have them covered completely with paper taped to the window panes which is not to attractive. Any suggestions?

 Thanks!

a sneak peek...

I continue to be pregnant!! I went to Target this morning and then Gavin and I went to the park. I am hoping to make shamrock cookies with him this afternoon!

I wanted to give you a sneak peek of the nursery. I am not ready for the big reveal yet because there are a few finishing touches, but here is a little peek...

I am so excited! I am hoping to show you Gavin's room tomorrow. I really love how it turned out, but I haven't had a chance to take pictures when he is not sleeping!

so happy to be... busy...

I never in my life thought I would be so happy to do household chores, but it feels SO good. Since Sunday I have fixed a shower curtain, picked up a TON of random items from EVERYWHERE, cooked, Swiffered and dusted, ran errands, did laundry, organized Gavin's books, rotated his toys, re-arranged the nursery closet, started to put together the baby swing and even made beds every day! It feels good to have my house back in order, somewhat! I even completed an easy project that I have had my heart set on for so long.

I bought these Adirondack chairs with some birthday money I have been saving and added some springy flowers to the front of the house.

Of course I chose pink in honor of a sweet little girl who has decided to be patient now! I wanted to get plastic ones so we could easily carry them for some front yard play. They were already used this afternoon for a game of t-ball!!

milestones...

I have always felt milestones in Gavin's life with both happiness and pride AND tender sadness. When he was first born everyone, even strangers, told us how fast he would grow and now I tell new parents this same thing. Time really flies!! We are getting ready to embark on a new milestone, moving Gavin from his crib to a big bed. I can't believe it! Even though he is not attempting to climb out of his crib I think it is about time. He looks pretty big on his little mattress. And yes, we have to get it ready for his little sister! My mom and Mark painted his new room this weekend. and I am slowly setting everything up. Today, when I put Gavin down for a nap, he actually got upset and said he wanted to get in his new bed. I better finish things!! In my eyes he is still my little baby, but I think he is ready to become a big boy.

I can't believe it was a little over two years ago we were preparing this room for our sweet Gavin's arrival.

Luckily our renters did not paint the walls and we were able to set his room back the way it was. I will admit, it was the one room I had such a hard time packing. I cried! I am glad Gavin got to enjoy it after we moved back.

 We did a baseball theme for Gavin's room. The joke was that we chose sky blue and baseball diamond dirt orange for the walls. I was able to download of the Internet the same font the Boston Red Sox use and printed Gavin's name in it.

 I painted a plain white table cloth with a baseball, grass and ants.

 I also printed out pictures from the Internet of our favorite and most famous baseball stadiums. Fenway, the old Yankee, Wrigley, the old Tiger stadium and Coors Field are all included.

 Luckily this couch is white and Fenway green striped to fit into the design scheme. If anyone is not a Red Sox fan this color green is sacred to fans! You can actually find out the panetone number of this color!

I actually was glad to get some pictures for his baby book. I admit, things were too crazy when he was first born that I never took pictures before we moved!!

I will definitely share some pictures when his new room is completed... hopefully soon! I know Gavin is ready!

whistle while you work...

I have to admit, I am writing this post while my family is busily working and I am... resting... well, working on baking baby! Thank goodness for families! I thought I would take this time to share with you the bathroom that Mark and I did finish this past week. I think it turned out pretty good. We still have to finish a few last details, but here is the overall product.

This fabric for the shower curtain was my inspiration for the whole design. I bought it years ago when Mark and I remodeled and flipped a condo in downtown Atlanta. I found the fabric at HomeGoods and Mark's grandma artfully sewed the curtain for us to stage the condo to sell. I have been saving it hoping to use it since!

 Notice Mark's great beadboard work!

I added some of the extra plaid fabric to two existing curtains. Please, if you ever come to my house DO NOT look closely at the sewing job!

 This is our guest bathroom, but it is also the bathroom for one current and one future kiddo so I wanted to make some kid friendly art. I bought some fun patterned paper at the craft store and made four collages of whales.

Now, like I said, everyone is busy working on new projects. Mark, my dad and uncle are working on a new speaker system and my mom is painting this room getting it ready to be worthy for a sweet little boy. Yes, Gavin is moving out of his crib this week!

our house...

Oh the joys of being a homeowner! Before October we had been renters for the past 18 months. I have to say I did enjoy not having to worry about working on a house. It is so different being a home owner. But I do LOVE to decorate, so a part of me is glad to be back in OUR house decorating it the way we see fit. Mark and I have been busy since we moved back in. We of course had to clean, fix and replace things when we first moved in and we are still working on that, but we are also updating and redecorating too.

I finally made the curtain I always wanted in my kitchen window.

yes, that is my rock collection. I know, I collect rocks from different places we visit.

 I am by NO means an expert sewer. I actually first sewed the sides of this curtain all crooked and then realized I forgot to put the foot down on the machine! Shows my skill level! I did successfully finish it though! I also made a bulletin board to match. I would love to have a refrigerator like one in a model home... free of clutter, but I love my clutter. The problem was we had too much clutter.

I took an old cork board I have had since college and staple gunned to the back matching fabric to the shade. Now I have two places for my beloved clutter!!

Our current big project is our guest/kids bathroom. Our renters painted the bottom half of the wall eggplant. Not really my taste. Thanks to my sweet husband, who puts up with my decorating plans, The bathroom now has bead board up and primed.

Mark is planning to paint it this weekend and I am going to place all of this stuff I have been creating and collecting.

I will have to show you the end result. I have to finish sewing some drapes for the bathroom so wish me luck! I will definitely remember to put the foot down this time!!