Our New Floors

On Monday we got our new floors installed!

Aedan and I spent the day at my grandparent’s old house (which my parents use when they come visit) in Round Rock. It was great to have a place to go for the day! Aedan had a blast because my parents have made him a little room complete with fun toys and books (most of which my sister and I had growing up).  We even got to spend some time with my grandmother, who brought us lunch. All in all it was a fun day!

We came home after Aedan’s afternoon nap and finally got to check out the new floors. I have to say, I knew I would like them, but I love them!!

And the rug…it is perfect!

I looked everywhere for a rug that wasn’t too contemporary (not really my style), but still had a little black to go with our couches. I think I checked just about every online store possible, plus visiting actual stores like World Market, Target, Home Goods, Home Depot, etc…I finally found the perfect rug at Lowes. As soon as I saw it I was in love. It has a little bit of black to tie in the couch color, it had the teal blue that matches our accent wall and accessories and it has some green and a rust red color that I wanted to bring into the room.

Love it all! We still have to paint the trim and the shoe molding but you can’t really tell in the picture.

Oh and those sunburst pillows got returned. I like them but I don’t think they fit with the rug. So ignore those. I picked up some red ones that match the rug and look great!

We very happy with how it turned out and Aedan loves that his toy cars go so much faster on the floor.

-Lauren-

The Finished Dresser

Last weekend I painted my grandparent’s dresser for Aedan’s room. Then I spray painted the drawer pulls.  This weekend we were able to move it into Aedan’s room.

Before:

And after:

I love it! I don’t know what to do with all the drawers. At least 2 of the big drawers are totally empty.

When we moved the old dresser out, we also moved out his rocking chair. Now Aedan has so much more room to play. I spend the afternoon organizing his toys and decided he has way to many setting them up on his toy shelf.

The bins hold stuffed toys, wooden blocks, foam blocks and then random toys. We used to have a lot of toys in a basket in the living room, but now that he has more room to play, I wanted to move most of them to his bedroom.

Oh and speaking of blocks, Aedan totally into building with them. For a long time he was into knocking them down because I taught him how to do that when he was about 6 months old he is a boy. But now he really likes to build and I love to watch him.

Really I love to watch him play with any toys. I work really hard writing and planning programs designed to teach my clients how to play appropriately with toys, so to see Aedan just do it is pretty fun.

Our new floors get installed tomorrow! I am so excited!! I also found the perfect rug for our living room so I’ll post some before and after pictures soon!

-Lauren-

Dresser Drawer Pulls: Update

I decided to take my mom’s advice and try my hand at spray painting the original drawer pulls for 3 reasons.

1. I already had them so the project only set me back a can of spray paint.

2. The drawer pulls came with the dresser so they obviously fit unlike all the new ones at Home Depot.

3. And of course, because everyone knows that moms are always right. ;-)

So Aedan and I dropped by Home Depot again this morning. He didn’t wear his my sunglasses this time because it was actually raining! It rained for about 4 minutes and I actually had to think twice about how to turn on my windshield wipers.

Back in Home Depot, I picked up this little can of spray paint. I have to say, I am not usually big on the whole spray painting idea. It has been awhile since I have used it and when I did it was a MESS. All over my hands and I could never get an even coat. BUT I have heard great things about this stuff so I went for it.

Oh my goodness, this stuff is amazing! It took me all of 3 minutes to get the first coat on and my hands were totally clean. The paint went on even and looks great even after just one coat. I’m super excited!

 

 

Before:

Progress (I need to add at least one more coat before they are actually finished):

I think we are going to move the dresser into Aedan’s room this weekend so hopefully I will have some true after pictures soon!

I have been looking for some fun wrapping paper to put in the drawers but I am coming up empty handed. Any good store/sites I should check out? I thought about using scrapbook paper, but then I would have seams where the papers would have to line up…

-Lauren-

Painted Dresser

Back in the day, you know, before Aedan came around, I actually used to blog about crafts and DIY projects. For the past 17 months, I haven’t done too many projects. Shocking, I know.

BUT, this weekend I tackled a project and I thought I would share the details.

Last year, after my grandfather passed away, my grandmother moved to an independent living community. In doing so, she needed to get rid of a few pieces of furniture. One of them was the dresser she and my grandfather bought together in the 1950s.

I have been wanting to get a new dresser for Aedan because I hate the one that came with his crib. We have been pretty happy with the crib, but the dresser is awful. The drawers fall apart all the time and it is just cheaply made.. We decided we would get him a new dresser when we move him to a big boy bed. But since my grandparent’s dresser became available I jumped at the chance to have it.

Growing up, I had my great grandparent’s bedroom furniture in my room and now Aedan gets to have his great grandparent’s furniture in his room, love it!

I decided I wanted to paint the dresser – hence the project post. Here is the dresser before.

Well, not exactly before, since I had already removed all the hardware and then remembered to take a picture, but you get the idea.

I love that it has so many drawers! I haven’t decided how I am going to organize it, but I will do a post on that soon.

Last Friday Aedan and I made a trip to Home Depot.

What? Doesn’t everyone wear oversized sunglasses inside Home Depot? Seriously, he wore these the entire time we were in the store. Clearly his shirt says it all. :)

I picked up some tinted primer (a must have), some black paint, foam brushes and a roller. Then we stopped to look at the hardware selection. Here is the drawer handles that came on the dresser…

In this picture they look black, but they are not. I think maybe they used to be a gold, but they are pretty weathered now. I thought it would be easy to pick out some new ones.

I was wrong (and this is quickly becoming the longest post ever!).

Apparently now most drawer/cabinet handles are either 3 inches or 5 inches long. Guess what mine are…4.5 inches. Lame. I haven’t decided if I am going to shop around and find something that fits or if I should just spray paint the ones I have…

Anyway, back to the project. So I started by priming.

Then I applied 3 coats of black. I totally could have gotten away with 2 coats, but I painted the second coat at night (you know, when it was only 99 degrees outside) under poor garage lighting so I missed a few spots.

 

Oh and here is a painting tip that I love. When you know you are going to have to paint multiple coats and hate washing brushes, just put them in a plastic bag and stick them in the refrigerator.

I am going to let everything dry for a full 48 hours, which is so hard for me. I haven’t decided if I want to leave it straight black or distress it and stain over it, but hopefully I will have some after pictures soon (which I will take with my nice camera and not my iphone). :)

Oh and I did sand it down before and after the priming stage to get it nice a smooth. while I am not going to paint the inside of the drawers, I am thinking of putting some fun paper in the bottom of them like this.

Have you ever painted furniture? Any tips? Any advice on where to find a large selection of drawer handles?

-Lauren-

Home Improvements and a Video

First, thank you all for your comments about Lasik. I think I have decided to go through with it…just not until next year. There are a few things we want to get done on the house and I can handle contacts for another year.

Which leads me to what we want to get done on the house…

First we are going to have laminate floor put down in our living room and hallways. It is something we have wanted to do for awhile. Our living room carpet is looking pretty pathetic thanks to Hiro and Aedan. We already picked out what we are going to put down and they came to measure this today. Maybe I will have before and after pictures next week!!

The second thing we want to add is a sprinkler system. This we will probably do in the fall because let’s face it, no matter how much we water, our grass is still going to look bad with an excessive amount of days over 100. Speaking of which, is it fall yet?!?!

So recently I made the mistake of showing Aedan videos of him on You Tube. He now thinks that anytime I am on my computer I am watching these videos. Sigh

How cute is that smile. :)

We have had a busy week around here, so I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend!

-Lauren-

I Wear My Sunglasses…

Yesterday, Aedan and I did a little shopping. I was picking him up some shorts at Children’s Place and saw that their sunglasses were on sale for $2. Not bad.

For a long time now, Aedan has loved to pull our sunglasses off and wave them around. Sometimes I put my sunglasses on him and he laughs and then takes them off. I wasn’t too sure he would wear sunglasses if I bought them, but for $2, I thought it was worth a try.

Um, he loves them. He wouldn’t wear them for very long inside but as soon as I took him outside and put them on, he totally got it. Then we went back inside and he didn’t want to take them off. He thinks he is pretty cool. :)

Sorry about the quality, but look at that face! Talk about attitude! haha!

-Lauren-

Clean House? Yes Please!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I got a groupon for a house cleaning. It was sooo nice to come home to a totally clean house!

Well, Jon just got a raise (he has been working so hard and I am so proud of him!) and he said I could look for someone to clean our house on a regular basis. Our house is s.m.a.l.l. so I had a budget in mind and was firm that I wouldn’t pay someone an arm and a leg to clean it!

I checked with a couple of companies and it was pretty clear that, in my opinion, they were going to charge way too much. I really just wanted to find a person vs. a company anyway.

The day I was writing this post instead of working, I also decided to check out listings on craigslist. I found a ad that seemed promising so I gave the number a call. The lady on the other end was super nice and had a very reasonable rate (less than my self designated budget and my budget was pretty small). She was also available on the day of the week I wanted someone to come. I thought it would be best if it was on a day when Aedan was at his sitter’s house because we all know how much he loves the vacuum.

She came by on Wednesday so we could meet in person and I felt like she was going to be perfect. She came Thursday and cleaned the house top to bottom. It looks great!! Most definitely worth it!

Today, instead of cleaning the house, I got to catch up on a little work, run some errands and just enjoy playing with Aedan. Perfect!

-Lauren-

All Out Of and What To Eat

When we were at my parent’s house last week, I walked passed the refrigerator and did a double take. What was that on refrigerator door, I asked myself? I stopped and looked. It was this handy pad of paper. Um, it was love at first sights. Can you fall in love it a pad of paper? Apparently you can, or I can anyway.

When Jon and I first got married we would make weekly trips to the grocery store. We always enjoyed running errands together, and we still do. But get this, we never made a meal plan or a grocery list. I know, I know, my mom is shaking her head at this right now, because she always makes a meal plan and a grocery list.
But we didn’t. Occasionally we would make a note if we were out of something, but for the most part we would wonder through the store and drop items into the cart that we normally would buy. Oh the insanity.
Fast forward a few years and now I have another grocery partner. We prefer to go to the grocery store during the week to avoid shopping with everyone who shares our zip code. Since Jon is working in the middle of the week, Aedan and I tend to head to the store on Tuesday mornings.
Around the time Aedan was born, I decided it was high time I make a meal plan for the week as well as grocery list that goes along with it. I know, genius right? So Sunday or Monday night, I figure out a few meals for the week and make my list. Then I have to add to my list the items that we have jotted down throughout the week as we run out. I try to group everything together based on where it is in the store to make my trip faster.
Really it is not that time consuming, but how great that grocery list? It hangs on the refrigerator and we can check off things we think of during the week, then I can add to it when I make my meal plan. I love that everything is organized and already grouped together. Love it! I found it here, and while I was looking around I also found this, love it too!

Can you believe you just read a whole post on grocery lists? I’ll have to think of something more entertaining next time. :)
-Lauren-

Clean House

A few weeks ago I bought a Groupon for a good deal on a house cleaning. I called and scheduled for them to come out yesterday. Seriously, it is a little ridiculous how much I had been looking forward to them coming out.

I am a neat freak, maybe a little too much so if you ask Jon. But having a clean house puts me in the best mood. With work, Aedan and a dog that seems to shed more an more everyday, it is hard to keep the house clean.

So yesterday morning, I got Aedan up and after breakfast we heading out to Town Lake to walk, so we would be out of the way when they came to clean (Jon worked from home yesterday so he was here to let them in).

Usually I go walking with a friend once or twice a week, but she was out of town this week so it was just me an Aedan.

It was perfect. It got pretty hot yesterday (high 90s already…we are in for it this summer!) but in the morning it was pretty cloudy and breezy so it was comfortable. Aedan feel asleep for most of the walk so I just enjoyed the quiet time outside.

On our way back home, we stopped at the grocery store and bought food for the week. I like grocery shopping…is that strange? The only thing I dislike is the amount I spend every week. I have tried to get on board with coupons, but I just can’t seem to do it. Plus usually half of my cart is full of produce which rarely has coupons. If you coupon, how did you get started?? I need help!

Aedan and I made it back home just as the cleaning crew was finishing up. We had lunch and then I put him down for an early nap and enjoyed my clean house. Love it! Now if I could afford to have them come out every week, I’d be good to go…

And since no post is complete without a picture…

Gotta love the bear crawl with chalky hands and feet.

-Lauren-

Our Garden: Part One

We have wanted to build a garden in our backyard ever since we moved in 4 1/2 years ago…go us for being on the ball on that one. Oh well, life happens.

Recently Jon was over at our neighbor’s house and they happen to have a super nice garden. He decided it was high time we get our rolling. Um…have I mentioned that the only plant I have had luck with is my indoor ivy? I’m pretty sure this thing could live in a closet and be fine. Hopefully we will have better luck with our garden than I have had with plants in the past.

After checking out our neighbor’s garden, Jon decided he wanted to build a similar type fence around ours. Have you seen my husband’s handy work? He build this without plans. Like just had the idea in his head, bought the wood and build it. I was/am impressed. So, I knew he would have no trouble building our garden fence.

Friday night we went to Home Depot to check out supplies. We are the “window shop and then come home and talk before making purchases” kind of people. Aedan had a blast at Home Depot. Now that he is walking, I decided to let him walk with us down the isles. He loved the idea of walking, but the idea of walking next to us not so much. Mr. Stubborn…

Saturday morning, Jon got started clearing away our garden area. I didn’t take a before picture, but basically it was just grass. By then end of the day, he had the spot cleared and holes dug for the posts. We headed back to Home Depot to get the wood.

Today he has been out working on the fence and is just about done. with the first step. We Jon is going to fill in the frames with wire and then put a ledge to finish off the top. Once that is done, we will make some boxes for the planting area and filling in a pathway with our leftover crushed granite. We are hoping to get it finished up next weekend and start planting soon after that so stay tuned for more pictures.

While Jon worked on the fence, Aedan and I thought it would be a perfect day for some sidewalk chalk, bubbles and bare feet.

Love this spring weather!

-Lauren-

It’s Nice to Be Home

We came home from the hospital Monday afternoon and it has been great to be back!

Jon has 2 full weeks off work and my parents have been in town all week. My mom has been so helpful by running errands for us and doing lots of cooking (our freezer is stocked)!

Aedan is doing really well. We went to the doctor on Tuesday and they said he looked great. He weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz so he had lost 13oz since birth. We go back on Friday for a weigh in to make sure he is gaining it back. My milk came in last night so hopefully he will start gaining weight now.

Jon has been great and he and Aedan are so cute together. We are just having fun hanging out at home as our little family.

-Lauren-

Moving right along.

I had my 37 week appointment today and my doctor asked if I wanted her to check me. I told her I didn’t really have a preference (I was convinced that Aedan was going to be late and I would go past my due date so I wasn’t sure there was a need for her to check me). My doctor decided to check anyway and I think she and I were both pretty surprised when she found out I am 80% effaced and 3 cm dilated! My Dr said I shouldn’t worry about going past my due date. :)

-Lauren-

Back Home

We are back from our last little road trip before Aedan arrives. We headed to Plano for the weekend for a baby shower.

A couple of my close friends and a couple of my mom’s close friends threw me a beautiful shower. It was a blast and we got tons of stuff (so much that it all didn’t make it back to Austin). Luckily my parents are coming down in a few weeks so they are going to bring the things that won’t fit in our car. I have some great pictures from the shower (thanks Alison), but I forgot to transfer them off my mom’s camera to my computer so I will have to add pictures later.

Right now Aedan’s room looks like baby stuff exploded everywhere. My goal is to get things washed and put away this week. I have a few appointments with some pedestrians this week, hopefully I will be able to make a decision by the end of the week.  We are getting close, only 40 more days!

-Lauren-

Something to make your feet a little warmer

Last week I decided to break out the sewing machine I bought over the summer…you know the one I have used soooo much since buying it in August. Opps. I’m going to to blame it on having horrible morning all day sickness for about 15 weeks and then being busy with school. 

I decided to make some rice filled toe warmers for Jon and I. I got the instructions here. She breaks everything down and has great pictures so it made it pretty easy.

Here is my final product

I thought the fabric was cute and it matches our bedroom and living room so it looks cute wherever I leave it. I just heat it up for a couple of minutes in the microwave and it is great a warming cold toes or relieving sore backs (which is happening more and more often with me).

My photography class was great on Thursday night. I learned a lot in just one night, I can’t wait to see what I learn as the class goes on. He gives us assignments each week, which is perfect because it will force me to practice and hopefully that will help the information sink in.

I was playing around with my camera this morning and since Aedan is not here yet, this little big guy will have to suffer through being my subject for awhile. :)

 

As you can see he is thrilled.

We are going to lunch with Jon’s family today and then hopefully picked out a color to paint the nursery! I’m going to get Jon to take a 30 week belly picture today…I can’t believe I am already that far along! We have got to get busy!

-Lauren-

Home Sweet Home

I flew back home this morning and it is great to be back. I had a great time with my parents and sister, but I missed my boys! I didn’t get to hang out with everyone I wanted to while in Plano, but I had a great time with my family. It’s hard to believe I will only be going back to Plano one more time before Aedan comes!

When I got home Jon opened his Christmas gifts from my parents. He got some good stuff, including a new pedal for his electric guitar and some juggling size soccer balls so he and Hiro can play soccer in the house (sigh).

After I got everything unpacked we decided to take down the Christmas decorations. It went pretty fast and now our living room feels huge! We ran some errands this afternoon and then just napped the afternoon away.

Now we are home in our usual spots on the couch (including Hiro) and watching the first season of Better Off Ted.

I have to work for a few hours tomorrow morning and then I’m off again until Monday!

-Lauren-

Show Us Where You Live – Master Bedroom

It’s time for Show Us Where You Live! This week’s feature room is master bedrooms. I didn’t link up last week because I didn’t have a cool bonus room to show. This week, I’m back with pictures from our master bedroom. :)

Welcome to our master bedroom. This is the view from the hallway, going into our room. The door on the right goes to the closet.

Here is the view from the doorway:

From the other side of the room:

And looking towards the door:

So that’s the main stuff, now for some close-ups. Here is a close up of our dresser. The picture frame above it is a Goodwill find for $10! It has some of our favorite engagement pictures. Hopefully one day it will hold pictures of some kiddos. :)

This is a little dish that I picked up at Charming Charlie’s. I have a jewelry box, but I use this dish for items that I wear pretty often. The second picture is a quote frame that I made a few months ago. I wanted something chunky to take up space and I didn’t want to spend any money so I reused an old frame.

This is a close up of my nightstand and the quote above our bed. There is always a book on my nightstand, reading before bed is something I have done almost every night since I was pretty little.

This is our little nook, where Hiro sleeps. The door leads out to the patio. We rarely use the door so I am thinking about making a little reading area out of this nook. Maybe a comfy chair, small table and a lamp…perfect!

That’s our master bedroom. I forgot to get a picture of the mistreatments that I made for the room…you can see pictures and how I did it here. Thanks for stopping by!!

-Lauren-

Show Us Where You Live - bathrooms

It’s that time again…this week’s feature room is bathrooms!

Our house is only 1200 sq ft and not much of that space is given to our 2 bathrooms, but we make it work. We haven’t done much in either bathroom besides paint, but we have some big plans.

First, here is what they look like right now.

This is our master bathroom…yup, it’s that small.

Here’s the bathroom from another angle, I picked up the bamboo soap and toothbrush holder from Home Goods on our quick trip to San Antonio.

I used to just have our extra towels folded on top of the cabinet, but then I decided to use an old basket (it’s actually for DVDs) to hold a few of them. I think it really cleans up the area.

Even though our bathroom is small, we have a pretty good sized window. I carried the same mistreatments in here as I used in the bedroom.

Here’s the guest bathroom.

Um, yes…it’s bigger than the master bath, but we have an oversize tub in the master so that takes up the extra space.

Here it is from another angle. I use this bathroom to dry my hair and put on make-up, since I am usually getting ready while Jon is still sleeping. We hung up mirror near the door that is great when I straighten the back of my hair. :)

I snagged this soap and lotion pair at Home Goods. I picked a set with clear soap and white lotion so I can refill them easily without replacing them…sneaky, sneaky.

A little artwork.

So that’s the bathrooms as they are now, but here is what we want to do…

Replace the cabinets/sinks with something like this

Replace the mirrors with something like this or a mirror with a cool frame.

Then in the master bathroom, I want to take out the over-the-toilet cabinet and use something like this above a towel bar. We would have to get creative with storage, but I would love to use glass jars and baskets to fill these shelves.

Thanks for checking out our space! I love to make new blog friends, so let me know you dropped by!

Go check out more bathrooms over at Kelly’s Korner!

-Lauren-