A Birthday and a Room Makeover

I can't believe I was allowed to upload this many photos into one post. Just to warn you....

We had a great weekend! We headed up to Storm Lake on Saturday morning to King's Pointe and met my parents and my siblings and all the cousins. We started off in the water park, of course!

It was a pretty cool place...just wish it had been a little warmer so we could have played in their super cool playground outside. I was able to go for a walk/run on the trail along the lake. It was freezing, but refreshing, yet painful.

Next came the party! My brother's little girl is 3 1/2 months older than Harper and it was impossible to get a picture of them together.

But we sure tried.

Okay, so as much as a try to be a good party-giver, I'm just not. I cut out letters for Harper's name in the car on the way there and totally forgot how to spell her name.

Classy, huh?

Then I decorated her cake in the room and it started falling apart and was a mess.

I was able to salvage it though, and she certainly didn't care!

Presents!

Henry picked out this tea set for her and he has loved playing with it ever since.

Harper really enjoyed the cake. She would take a bite, go play, take another bite, play some more. She didn't make a big mess, but had fun.

So it was a great time with our family. We ate lunch with everyone on Sunday and then headed back home. I think we're all caught up on sleep and ready for a really busy and fun week.

Now, I'm finally ready to reveal our bedroom makeover!

First up is the headboard. We've never really had a headboard and it was first on my wish list. I already had both of these frames. The larger one "came with the house" and I painted it green. The smaller one was from a garage sale a few years ago that I never used.

Total Cost = $1?

I've also always had a (very silly, completely unimportant) dream to have matching bedside lamps. I found these lamps on Craigslist for $2.50 a piece and I painted the bases. I found the shelves at Target and painted them white and glued some textured wallpaper to the top.

Total cost of lamps and shelves = $13

I took this mirror from downstairs and repainted it white. I got the little wreath at Hobby Lobby, and I already had the birds from an after Christmas clearance sale a few years ago.

Total cost = $3

The Look

We also switched around some rugs and put this one in our room.

I got matching bedside baskets for $3.50 at Target in the after Valentine's Day clearance and just took out the red lining.

p.s. you should totally sleep with a maglight next to your bed.

I like having a tv in our room because our little boy likes to wake up around 6:30 or so. I'm probably lazy, but I'm just not ready to start my day yet. So we put the little tv in the corner so he'd have a place to

 watch George.

Probably would make me a bad mom in some books and a genious mom in others.

(No, I have no idea why there are so many cords!)

And because I can't stand things that get too matchy, we had to keep the sweet orange chair in the room.

I'm not sure about the ribbon holding up the decorations, but I'm giving it a try for a bit.

The curtains were on sale at Target and all the decorations were from garage sales or things we already had and I just repainted them.

Cost of curtains and decor = $20

So there you go. 

It's fun to finally have a bedroom that is decorated.

 If I had an unlimited amount of money to completely redo my room it'd probably look totally different, but what's the fun in that?

(or so I tell myself...) 

I'm back!

Finally! Our computer is up and running. We thought it was going to be an expensive fix which made us consider just getting a new lap top, but ended up just being a $23 fix. Not too shabby.

And I'm happy to be back.

We've had so much fun the past 2 weeks playing with friends and painting, painting, painting. I can go months with no orders and suddenly my calendar gets filled up through April. It's been a lot of fun though....I'll try to post some photos another day.

Now, back to that Harper girl.

She turned 1 on Tuesday. I still can't believe it. My baby is 1!

So here's your special post, sweet girl.

Seriously, I could stare are your sweetness all day.

Your smile. Your laugh. Your wiggly-ness. Your cuddly-ness.

It's all pure sweet-ness.

Harper Bloom.

You've brought so much fun into our lives and fit right in. Maybe that's why this year has gone so quickly...it just feels like you've always been here.

You're goofy, mainly sweet, and have the perfect amount of fiesty-ness.

I love the joy on your face when you snatch Henry's little lego guys and dart across the room before we can take them away. You love those little lego guys.

You also, with help from me, are starting to love your baby dolls and will give them hugs.

I nearly cry.

It's just so cute.

You and your brother. Quite the pair! At the moment you 2 fight a lot over toys, but you also love each other so much and make each other laugh like no one else. 

 I can't wait for the day when you guys will be friends.

You and your daddy. Your favorite person!

You want me.......when he's not around.

When he's around.....you don't want me.

And that's okay.

Actually, I love that you love your daddy so much.

And so does he.

Such a sweet little thing. I love the stage you are in right now and love watching you grow.

You are truly a blessing.

I love you, Harper Bloomin' Onion!

1 yr Stats:

18 lbs (tiny little peanut!!)

30 inches long

The tiniest ears I've ever seen.

Size 6-12 month shoes are still perfect and there's even some room left at the toes. 

(you must not have your momma's big feet!)

I *think* you're a lefty.

Not walking.

(makes it easy on me!)

Happy birthday!

My super, sweet baby girl is 1 today. I can't believe it!! (i'll do a special post later)
we're going to celebrate by going on a big walk and dessert at smokey row. Her BIG party is this weekend. She's excited!

welp, i did it. I started my 5k training yesterday. It was harder than i thought it would be, but it felt good.

It cracks me up see henry run past my room to get to the bathroom in the morning, then shout, "ta-da! It worked!".

Have a great day, friends!

Seriously, people! I miss you.

Hopefully will be up and running by the end of the week. In the meantime, i've got some mad one-finger typing skillz.

Lately

Lately i've been a painting fool. I'll have spent 11 hours on a nursery since friday, after tonight. (and it's been fun!)

Lately our laptop busted. Naturally, since we just put our big computer away. I'm using rj's touch and we're trying to figure out what to do.

Lately we've had a ton of fun with friends. 2 more playdates to go!

Lately henry argues with me all day long and we're working on fixing that. Slow,but steady progress.

Hopefully I'll be able to write more later....

Almost Here....

I can't believe the day is almost here...a 1st birthday!

We've been making plans and getting excited (and a little sad).

I wanted to get her a special birthday outfit, but didn't want to spend too much money on it. I looked around the mall last night and then decided to try a consignment store and looky what I found:

Hellooooo, perfect!

It was $10, which is a little more than I usually spend, but would you have been able to resist?

It's also a size 0-6 month. No, I'm not in denial, but I do own some "onsie extenders" so thought it'd work out just fine. Plus it looked a little on the big side.

And see how much she loves it??

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Life

We've finally had a healthy week!

With being sick we had to stay home a lot more and it was good for me. I have a hard time being content just staying here so it was good practice.

We are putting away the big computer and going over to using only our laptop, which means I haven't figured out how to get pictures on here yet, which explains the boring posts. 

I finally googled what <3 means. I was always a little scared to ask in case it was something bad. 

 Kids these days. Where do they come up with this stuff? 

And I can proudly say I've never used the term "LOL". 

(and that doesn't count)

Seriously, are you bored yet?

My little Harper is just the sweetest little girl, but her spicy-ness is coming through more and more everyday. I have a feeling she's going to keep us on our toes.

Henry is an all-star at using the potty. He could probably have done it sooner, but it was so much easier to wait until he was really, really ready.

RJ's bringing home pizza tonight.

Ina Garten

I have a slight obsession with Ina Garten, aka Barefoot Contessa.

She lives in the Hamptons in my dream home.

Her and her husband are so cute together.

And she's an amazing cook and baker.

She makes it all look so easy and delicious, and if you've ever tried her recipes you know it's true!

Yesterday I tried her sour cream coffee cake.

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the streusel:

*after reading the reviews, I doubled this part. :)

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional *I left out

For the glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup *Instead I used 1 tbl milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp almond

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.

Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

*I just used a 10x13 and adjusted the baking time to 45ish minutes. Obviously this is something you wouldn't make every day, but it was SOOO good. Next time I might try switching out a lot of the butter for applesauce and maybe yogurt instead of sour cream, but I wanted to give it a try full force first.
Oh me. Oh my! I'd say it was worth it.
**********************************************************************************

I also made some baked oatmeal over the weekend for a family brunch we had. Yummy!

Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar *I just used 1/2 cup
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter *I used 2 tbls butter and 1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries *I used raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

*I also made some fresh whipped cream for the top.

So I guess if you were looking for some healthy recipes....you should probably go here. (she's amazing!)

Super Why

A sign that Henry has seen one too many Super Why shows....

Me: "Henry, please don't climb on that."

Henry: "But I have to, it's in my story. See?"

Then he says, while pointing, "Henry climbs the tower."

Wednesday

So I'm a little into collages right now. It's just so fast and fun!

I was so pumped when I woke up this morning. I slept well and felt 90% better! I must have over done it though because my face is throbbing again. I'd rather go through Harper's labor again than have a sinus infection. My husband would like that too. It was over with way quicker and I wasn't near as crabby.
We ran some errands this morning and stopped by one of my favorite stores:
Hobby Lobby
Seriously, that place is full of too many ideas for my brain. 
Maybe that's what made my sinuses act up again!

I'd say Henry is 90% potty trained. He insists on wearing underwear for naps. Insists on going upstairs and using his potty all by himself.  Made it during our errands without an accident. And wakes up mostly dry in the morning! He did have a #2 accident yesterday, but he was on his way up so was at least trying to get there. If only this house had a bathroom on the first floor...

I've been such a bad mom for the last 7 days. Henry has watched way too much tv and had lots of "picnics". Thankfully they are both great at playing by themselves so I can take 'er easy. I'm ready to get back to normal and start getting things done around the house and having fun with the kids!

Happy Wednesday! 

I'll confess that I get a little too excited about getting Harper ready for church on Sundays.

I mean, wouldn't you if you had a dress like this?

 

I can't believe it's March....which means she'll turn 1 this month.

Crazy!

 I finally got some shots of the nursery at church. There is one more tree that I did, but the picture didn't turn out. It was a lot of fun and feels so Spring-y.

 

  

  And it inspired me to start one in my own house. 

Here's the sneak peak.

 

Too bad I don't finish projects before I start a new one though. 

My poor bedroom....

We started up with potty training again this weekend and it's going pretty well. He had a couple of accidents the first day and has been successful ever since, but getting him to actually sit on the potty is pretty painful. I think I'll make a sticker chart today to make it fun. He did get a little present from my stash when he went potty the first time....a Mr. Potato Head from the Halloween clearance at Target. It's always good to have stuff like that on hand!

We've got an exciting week to look forward to despite my never ending sinus problems. I'm going to get some Congaplex today. Sounds fancy, huh? Anyone tried it? Please tell me it works quickly. I just want to feel normal again!!

Happy Monday!