Dining Room Table Playhouse

HI Everyone! Happy Wednesday!

One of the kids' favorite things right now is this AMAZING dining room table playhouse their grandma made them for their birthday. She did an incredible job; it is a work of art. They have their own address over the door, windows with curtains and windowboxes filled with flowers, a mailbox, and ladybugs, which they are in love with at the moment. Every side has some special and meaningful detail...a teddy, a red truck, rubber duckies and more.

This is one of those things we are going to keep forever.

I would have LOVED something like this as a child...lucky kids...

Thanks, grandma! You are amazing!

XOXO

Dog-Dog as Superhero

My husband got the kids each a stuffed schnauzer a few months back.

("I don't want any fighting over whose turn it is for the stuffie," he said at the time.)

Both are named Dog-Dog, and are favorites around here.

For X-mas, my mother-in-law made superhero capes and eye masks for the kids--Luke's black and red with a big red "L" on the back, Zo's pink and orange with a "Z." She also made matching outfits for each Dog-Dog. With big "D"'s stitched onto the back.

Who knew our Dog-Dogs had secret identities?

Cutest. Thing. Ever.

Nursery Tour

Hi Everyone! 

I've been meaning to do a nursery tour forever...and today is finally the day!

My husband and I were both hugely involved in decorating this room, and because we both had things we wanted, we didn't end up with a particular theme...instead a mish-mash of things he wanted, things I wanted, budget items, small splurges, sentimental things, things we made, gifts, etc. Here is the finished room, which I love:

This used to be my husband's office, and the gray on the walls is his color, which he was adamant about not changing. I actually like the gray, although when we move I think I'd like to do a lighter, more pastel shade of it. We've just got one crib for now (from Target), a dresser with changing pad (dresser: American Furniture Warehouse; pad and cover: Land of Nod), and a rocker (vintage, from my mother-in-law):

We got tons of quilts/blankets as gifts and are using them all...you really can't have too many! The ones below: polka dots: a gift from a college friend (Nordstrom); multicolored paisley (on crib) and the animals (lower left of picture): hand-made by my BFF's mom (from fabric my fabulously stylish BFF picked out); patchwork quilts on the floor for tummy time: hand-made by my mom (with a little help from me). The white rug on the floor is from American Furniture Warehouse:

These giraffe mobiles were a gift from my aunt and uncle back east...so cute! (From Amazon.) And my husband wanted an alien in the room, and I found kind of a girly patchworky one on Etsy, so we were both happy:

The paisley curtains my mom and I made from fabric from Hobby Lobby...they were super easy. The dotted changing pad cover is something I splurged on. And this bunny is from a dear friend of my mom's...she's English and I so admired her style all the time I was growing up:

My husband and I changed out the plain silver knobs on the dresser...replaced them with some Anthropologie knobs that I'd used on cupboards in my bedroom in Santa Barbara and have been waiting for a chance to use ever since. The silver trash can fit our aesthetic much better than the diaper pails we saw (at least the reasonably priced ones). It works great as far as containing odor, by the way (from Bed, Bath and Beyond).

Love, love, love this vintage rocking chair that my mother-in-law refinished for us. And the leather footstool was a steal at Ross. Great for putting my feet up while rocking, or sitting on while selecting clothes out of the dresser:

Here's a detail view of the pillow in the rocker. When we originally put the room together, it felt too masculine to me, so I tried to add some girly touches like this. This is also something I had in Santa Barbara that I've been trying to find a home for ever since I left (from Land of Nod, although purchased years ago):

A few additional details that I love:

Above the rocking chair we have zoo pictures I got from Etsy:

And my BFF gave us this fabulous nightlight:

My husband has a thing about Ugly Dolls. Actually, it's really cute...when we were dating and in Seattle, we went for a walk in the Arboretum one day and passed by an open house and went inside...in one of the kid's rooms there was an Ugly Doll and my husband said, "If we ever have kids, we need one of those." So the Ugly Doll collection (each given to us as a gift) is kind of sentimental:

My husband's also all about the kids being smart, so he really wanted a periodic table in the nursery (this one's a gift from a woman I work with; from Land of Nod). I added the flower (which I used to wear around my neck some nights going out in San Francisco), again trying to keep the room from becoming too masculine. :)

So that's it! Hope you've enjoyed a peek into our happy little nursery! :)

Happy weekend, and thanks for stopping by.

XOXO

A Knitting Mishap (And Why it Doesn't Matter)

So I'm really still just learning how to knit, but I wanted to make baby sweaters for our babies to wear home from the hospital...you know, something special and handmade, so my babies would know how much they were loved.

I found a cute pattern, made one for our boy that turned out super cute, although I figured out about halfway through I was using the wrong needles. But I did calculations to make it the right size and it turned out fine. So I made one in pink for our girl, which also turned out super cute.

And then I washed them.

Carefully.

By hand.

And my cute little sweaters, they expanded to be way, way bigger...now they are all stretched out and there is no way newborns are going to fit into them. (And I've since checked with the local knit shop. There's no way to fix them.)

My husband saw me on the verge of tears, hugged me and said, "So if you knew you made the first one wrong, why did you make the second one the same?"

"Because the first one turned out cute."

"But you didn't wash it before you made the second one?"

"No. I had no idea they would do this."

Love that man, but sometimes he is just too dang logical.

Sigh.

I wanted to cry...all that time knitting...all the money for the yarn...and it's too late to make new sweaters for the babies.

But.

Babies don't need sweaters to go home from the hospital.

Just becasue they don't have them, doesn't mean I'm a bad mom.

And as long as our babies are alive and healthy, that's all that really matters. Been thinking about this especially in light of the scare with our babies last week, and because of a friend IRL and a good bloggy friend who lost their unborn babies this week...my heart is breaking for them...

Ruined sweaters really don't matter. That's one thing about having lived through crappy things (and here I'm talking about myself, not these other women)...it's a lot easier to see what's important and what's not...what's worth crying over and what's not.

XOXO

The Nursery, Episode 5: Quilts From My Mom

Hi Everyone!

First off, thanks for all your sweet comments on yesterday's post. I'm actually feeling really positive today and not scared...just really trusting that everything is going to be OK, which is so unlike me! :) But a really good place to be.

Anyway, today wanted to share with you the quilts my mom made for our babies (I helped a little, but the vast majority of the work was done by her).

Here is the one for our boy:

And our girl:

My mom gave them to me at my baby shower last weekend, and my friend's 15-year-old niece who was there said that the girl's looked like watermelon and the boy's looked like snow, which I though were really sweet and apt descriptions. 

We have been VERY blessed in the handmade quilt department, with additional quilts coming from my mother-in-law, a lovely friend in Boulder (whose kids I used to babysit for when I was in college), and my BFF's mom. I'll be doing additional quilt posts in the future...the quilts are all so cute and TOTALLY different. Thank goodness we've been told you can never have too many quilts!

Anyway, I think the quilts my mom made are the cutest things I've ever seen. Can't wait until they're wrapped around real, live babies!

Thanks, Mom! :)

XOXO

The Nursery, Episode 4: Curtains

The Nursery, Episode 3: Wall Art

The Nursery, Episode #2: Receiving Blankets

The Nursery, Episode #1: Furniture

Baby Sweater

Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!

Here's a picture of the sweater I recently finished for our boy. It's from a pattern in a book called Essential Baby, except with their sweater, the weave is much tighter/smaller...I'm not that experienced a knitter and by the time I figured out I wasn't making it "right" it was too late to turn back.

I like how it turned out, though, although it definitely looks handmade. My husband calls the things I make that don't look perfect "made with love," as in: "That pie you made tastes awesome, but as far as looks...well, let's just say it was made with love." This sweater definitely falls into that category, but I am totally OK with that.

I'm making an identical sweater in bubble gum pink for our girl. They'll be part of their going-home outfits...can't wait. :)

XOXO

The Nursery, Episode #4: Curtains

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

So a few weeks ago, my mom and I made curtains for the nursery. Very simple, just hemmed rectangles...we're using metal clips up top to hang...and I didn't want to line them as I've heard you want to get the babies used to day and night, so no blacked out rooms during that day.

As I've mentioned, this room (the nursery) was already painted gray and we've decided not to change it, so I'm working within that parameter. I love the fabric here, though...felt like it helps to lighten the gray up and make the room more fun and child-like. What do you all think?

Will be showing pictures of the entire nursery in February, once we're finished. I have to say, it's been really nice to put it together little by little, especially since we're making a number of things. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for spending some time here this week. :)

XOXO

Fabric source: Hobby Lobby.

The Nursery, Episode 3: Wall Art

The Nursery, Episode #2: Receiving Blankets

The Nursery, Episode #1: Furniture

The Nursery, Episode #2: Receiving Blankets

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

Blankets for our girl...

So over the past week or so, my mom and I made a bunch of flannel receiving blankets. This is my kind of sewing...they are essentially three-foot-by-three-foot squares with the edges hemmed...super easy. We'll use these to swaddle the babies when they are first born, and then as regular blankets (for example, to lay on the floor for them to play on, to keep them warm in the stroller) after. My mom made blankets like these for her three kids...so cool to get to do it together for mine. :)

...and for our boy.

Love the fun flannel prints! And that I'm getting to make some things for our babies...

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Thanks so much for spending some time here this week.

XO

The Nursery, Episode #1: Furniture

Baby Stuff: The Preliminary List

I love this ottoman and can totally see it in our nursery. I'm picturing lots and lots of color...

Hi Everyone! 

So I have to laugh, because my husband and I have been talking and talking about how we don't want to get/don't think it's necessary to have a lot of stuff for the babies, and yet, when I make my preliminary list of what I think we need it seems sooooooooo long.

Basically, we're trying to:

1) Keep our lives as clutter-free as possible (may be totally unrealistic with two babies, I know), and

2) Get the baby stuff on a budget (we've got a few Visa gift cards, a few hundred dollars worth of change we've been saving up, a few hundred dollars that we've been setting aside little by little from our weekly budget for a while now)...so we have some cash, but don't want to go crazy. (Well, let me rephrase that...I would love to go to Land of Nod or Pottery Barn Kids and buy everything in sight, but my husband is so much more responsible about money than I am...and it works out great for our family, so I am not complaining...but to be perfectly honest it's really him that's keeping this whole thing from getting out of control, lol.)

Anyway, below is my preliminary list of what I think we need (and/or I really, really want):

Baby "Necessities"

• 2 cribs (probably used, or from some place like Target or IKEA)
• 2 crib mattresses
• Crib sheets...maybe 4?
• 2 quilts (I think I'm going to try and make these myself...not really in love with anything I've seen)
• 2 Moses baskets (so the babies have a portable place to sleep when they're very small)
• Curtains for the nursery (I'll make these)
• Receiving blankets (my mom and I will make these...not sure how many we'll need)
• Onesies (again not sure how many we'll need)
• Burp cloths
• Diapers
• Diaper pail
• Ottoman/footrest for rocker (we already have the rocker...it was my grandma's...my dad and his brothers were rocked in it...love that)
• Cushion for rocker (I'll make)
• Dresser (plan to get one cheap secondhand and repaint/put on these cool Anthropologie knobs I have)
• Changing pad for top of dresser
• 2 slings/baby carriers
• Double stroller (this might be where we splurge...I have my eye on a really nice one and my husband hasn't said no)
• 2 car seats
• Nursery decor (pictures for walls, mobile, nightlight, etc)
• Diaper accessories (wipes, rash cream, etc)
• Bottles etc? (I really want to breast feed 100%...but I know that might not work out and I'm not opposed to pumping and having some milk in the fridge so my husband and I can get out of the house on our own at some point)

What do you all think? Am I missing something important? Is something here totally unnecessary? Would love to hear your opinions...

Oh, and on a somewhat unrelated note, I keep thinking I feel the babies move, but only when I'm walking up the stairs. Could this be true, or am I totally imagining things?

XOXO

Image credit: BERBERCOOP (ETSY Shop) via Lay Baby Lay.

My First Baby Project!

Going to be making a sweater for our little baby...

I was going to wait until the first trimester was over to do anything baby-related, but my husband's been pushing me to trust that all will be well. We had such a nice day yesterday, he and I, just an errand-y kind of day, we looked at a family-sized (used) Jeep to replace my little Wrangler, and after, the sun was out and we walked downtown and shared gelato cones sitting on a bench and then went into our cute local knitting shop and I bought a book with baby projects. And yarn. Above is the test square I knit yesterday to check the gauge...I'm going to make a pretty little gender-neutral hooded sweater. Fun!

I haven't knit in a couple months because I haven't wanted to start something that's not baby. Going to be fun to start again. :)

Wrapped Gifts Last Night...

Last night I listened to my favorite holiday album, Merry Mixmas, and wrapped gifts.

I really love plain brown wrapping paper lately. Saw it recently with a gray bow on Creature Comforts. Here's my interpretation...thanks, Creature Comforts!:

Trying to get gifts wrapped and delivered before leaving on vacation!

I had fun with the tags too, like little pom poms cut out of stiff red and pink paper with patterned scissors. The letters come from a stamp set I've had forever, from Anthropologie.

Love the font of these letter stamps.

And I ran out of regular tape, but love the way masking tape looks:

Used patterned scissors on the tape, too, to give it a cool edge.

Love gift wrapping. Almost done for the year. It's starting to feel like Christmas! :)

Striped Baby Blanket

A blanket for little Uma.

A very dear friend of mine from Seattle days is having a little girl. She lives in Florida and her colors for the baby's room are pistachio and robin's egg blue. I knit her this blanket with multiple stripes up and down the length...it was so fun to knit, even though it didn't turn out exactly as expected...the blue stripes shrunk in the wash. I'm still a beginning knitter...I'll learn. Anyway, as my husband says of things that are homemade and aren't perfect: it's a blanket made with love.

DIY: Laundry Bag

Love, love, love the fabric.

Made a little laundry bag today to take with me when I travel. It turned out so cute and this may be my first sewing project ever that was smooth from start to finish. Happy. :)

Feeling Crafty

Work has slowed down a bit for the first time in forever and I'm feeling crafty. And I just discovered this AMAZING blog called Creature Comforts and their magazine called Gifted which has a bazillion holiday ideas. Some I want to try:

Thanksgiving Decorations at My Brother's

There'll be about 20 people and I'm in charge of table decor. I'm thinking some combination of the candles (minus the mushrooms), the fabric tree, similar ribbons of fabric tied around the napkins with some sort of place card (ribbon threaded through, like gift tags), and single stems of flowers (eg freseias) in old bottles.

Candles

Fabric Tree

Something Festive for the Holidays

We're going to Europe over the holidays (our long-awaited honeymoon!) and so won't be doing a lot of holiday decorating this year. I thought this might be nice to hang above our bed for the winter:

Snowflake Mobile

Gifts

Last year my husband and I baked and sent out gifts--so fun. Maybe we'll make these cookies this year.

Cookies

Image Credits: Candles, Snowflake Mobile, Cookies: Gifted Magazine. Fabric Tree: Found on Creature Comforts; image by Marcus Lawett and SY - Sincerely Textiles. 

Fiscally Responsible Indulgences

Way beyond my knitting abilities at the moment, but the clothes are amazing!

So last week my husband and I were at the bookstore and I browsed across this book of knitting patterns. 

“That dress is great,” my husband said. “Why don’t you get the book?”

“Maybe,” I said, but I left without it. Later, I got a lecture about not denying myself things that I want, because I need some treats in my life.

“You can afford that book,” he said. “It’s all about fiscally responsible indulgences.”

I went back and bought the book because I know he’s right. But it wasn’t just about denying myself things; another part of the reason I didn’t initially get the book is I am such a beginning knitter, and most if not all of the patterns are beyond my current abilities. But now that I have it I really want to make these clothes, so I’ve spent most of the day knitting--not something from the book yet, but something harder than I’ve done before. I’m making my husband a hat, charcoal grey with a knit/purl pattern, the first pattern I’ve attempted.

It took two or three tries to get the round knitted and joined together. It took a couple tries to figure out how to go from knit to purl and back in one row. And then my circular knitting needle broke, and so I lost all my work (four rows, but still.) I went and got a new needle and am ready to start again, although other things need to be attended to so it will have to be tomorrow.

Bottom line: I learn a lot, and am a heck of a lot closer to fabulous vintage-looking knitwear than I was when I started. A good Saturday.