Layla's Big Girl Room Is Ready!

I feel like this has been a work in progress for a year. I had a vision in my head and it has just come together in the last month or so. With the new baby coming, we've had plenty of motivation to get our butts in gear!

I honestly think it turned out better than I could have imagined. Every "oops" that I encountered (Ex- I ordered the wrong size pics for her frames) turned into something better than the original idea (added a small pink stripe to the outside of the pic and it just POPS).

So here it is, L's big girl room (sob):

And a few of the details:

That vanity wall looks a little plain right? Well I still have 1 piece of artwork to order, frame and hang above her vanity:

I have to give a big shout out and THANK YOU (!!!!!!!) to my Grandma Lucky for doing the quilt and pillows. It all started with those 5 in circles (poor Grandma). And also my Mother-in-Law, Janet, for doing the window treatment and bed skirt (I was going to attempt this and she saved me from a total disaster).

Breaking the curse

In an effort to break this terrible toddler bed curse, we finally got Layla's bed frame done and put together! It looks great and her room is slowly coming together (yaaaay!!).

Layla decided that she hated the rail we put on the bed. After sleeping on the floor for a few days, she got used to not feeling like she was in a crib and the rail didn't allow her to get in and out by herself. Because I was scared she'd fall out (even though she barely moves when she's sleeping) I grabbed anything soft that I could find in her room and put them on the floor. This includes a few pillows, quilt and a HUGE stuffed monkey (thanks Dad and Cindy!).

It has been a few days and she hasn't fallen out, but she does get out of bed. On Sunday night I went in to check on her and I couldn't open the door...sure enough she was laying up against it. LOL. But as long as she doesn't leave her room, I don't really care where she sleeps.

Yesterday during nap, I decided to get a quick shot of L sleeping...something I've never been able to easily do. Ever since she was a baby she'd wake up as soon as I got the first picture in. So this time I decided to crack her door open and take the picture from in the hallway.

 Look how sweet and innocent she looks! And in case you are wondering, yes...that is a toddler sleep sack she is wearing. LOL. Her body temp has to be at least 230 degrees or she won't sleep...so when I put her to bed she is normally in a long sleeved shirt and pants, socks and a sleep sack. On top of that she MUST be covered with at least 3 small blankets. D-I-V-A. But only during the day, at night she sleeps fine in just normal PJs. Silly girl.

Anyway...so I got that top picture in and as soon as the shutter closed her eyes open. I jumped back into the hallway thinking "if she doesn't see me, maybe she'll go back to sleep". HA! I should know her better by now...I peeked around the corner and she's staring at the door like "What the HECK?!". I can't believe she even heard the camera, she sleeps with a sound spa on high...it sounds like there is a waterfall at the foot of her bed. 

What I didn't get a picture/video of was the screaming that took place after I took the picture above. I decided to just walk into her room (camera still around my neck) and lay down with her for a second. As soon as I stepped foot into the room she put her hand out and screamed "NOOOOOOO CAMIIIIIIII" that means "no camera" or "no pictures please" in Layla's language. This is crazy to me. It takes me at LEAST 20 minutes to wake up from a slumber, it takes Layla 20 milla seconds to wake up and gain enough composure to tell me not to take any more pictures of me...this must be Bryan's fault somehow. Haha.

And for the record, this will be the last picture you probably ever see of L sleeping because I will NOT risk waking her up an hour early from nap or bedtime EVER AGAIN. ;o)

Toddler Bed Curse

Enough of the screaming, enough of the crying...we are ready for a big girl bed. Layla has been HORRIBLE at nap time for the past 2 months. I can count the number of times on my fingers that she's actually taken a nap since we started potty training.

I'm fine with her not taking a nap, but she's not getting any down time. I've tried EVERYTHING and this week I decided enough was enough, I was throwing her mattress on the floor and calling it a "big girl bed". Sure enough, she started staying on the mattress and seemed really excited about her "Simba bed". Whatever works right?!

This is one of the last pictures I took of Layla's crib. Please note all the books (3), pillow (1), babies (3), blankets (4) and "lovies" (3)...and their is one McDonald's toy Smurf ("Mousie") in there too.

 

Bryan's parents came for a visit last week and actually brought the bunk bed's that Bryan and his brother shared. We are using one of them as Layla's big girl bed but we had to sand, prime and paint it. It is still a work in progress...only 1 coat left, then some drying time and Layla will officially have her big girl bed (sob). 

But having that little crib mattress on the floor looked so weird so we decided to let her take a test drive on her mattress. And this is where the curse begins. Yesterday we took the crib down and put all the "baby stuff" away, including the rocker that was in her room. We brought up the new twin mattress, laid it on the floor and I made the bed. The whole time we were making a big HUGE deal about it and Layla seemed really excited. 

As soon as I got the bed made she jumped in and wanted covered up. Awesome! She loves it! She just laid there and looked at us like she was really thinking about something...and then we realized she was PEEING. This kid hasn't had an accident in the house in I don't know how long but apparently she felt the need to mark her territory. So I take the bed apart and wash ALL the sheets, blankets...etc. 

She did great last night, slept all night in her bed and called me when it was time to get up. I was so proud of her! Apparently things like potty training and "big girl" beds come naturally to Layla, but eating is an issue?! LOL. Anyway, she went down for nap like a champ and even SLEPT! Holy cow...it's a miracle! 

I laid down with her for a few minutes to play after nap. How amazing it was to just lay in the same bed and play as she woke up. All of a sudden I smelt pee but I just thought her diaper was full from actually napping. Nope...I was sitting in a pile of pee. Apparently her diaper had come off during nap and she peed all over. Great...sheets off, blankets and such BACK in the wash and Layla got a bath at 3:30 in the afternoon. 

We all know Bryan and I practice top parenting skills everyday. Today, we let Layla jump on her bed. I know we are going to pay greatly for this...but I'm going to go ahead and blame this one on Bryan. Anyway, here is a video of Layla jumping on her mattress and reason #3 (starting at about minute 1:15) why we might need to hire a priest and get some holy water up in here:

The look she gives me at the end is priceless and I really wish it would have been in focus! But it is a good thing it wasn't...it's kind of like the movie "The Ring". If you look directly at it, the curse might come to your house! LOL

Layla's room...making progress

I am freaking out about all the stuff we want to do to our house...inside and out. We have already done so much and we haven't even lived here 7 months. See here for a refresher. I know that when the house is done, I will wish I hadn't rushed things. But I just have so many ideas and want to get started!

The first room I want 100% D.O.N.E. is L's room. My initial inspiration (mostly for color) was this room:

I just love the idea of putting blue on a little girl's wall. And it is SO Layla.

My Grandma worked her tail off to do Layla's big girl quilt and a few pillows (she threw those in as a surprise!) and gave them to us at Christmas. It made my day! :) You can find the tutorial for the quilt here and pillows here.

After getting the quilt, looking for accessories and making sure I'm 100% OK with this paint color and pallet...I started to hesitate. Let's take a look at the paint chips (all Benj Moore) below and you guess why I'm a little freaked.  

How in the WORLD did that red get in there?! This was not my intention...I don't want my 2 year old having a red, white and blue room (Oh say can you see, By the dawn's early light! ugh...). So in an effort to make me feel better about this, I have spent hours...and I mean hours on Pinterest. Now I'll be honest, I get side tracked and if I would have just focused, I could have found this in 2 minutes. But in my effort to make myself feel better, I found this gem:

Those pics are a little yellow, but I believe the reds she used are more of a super dark pinkish orangish color (these are all very technical terms of course). Now I feel better about the red and I have redesigned L's alphabet art work to reflect and incorporate the red to make it look like I did this on purpose. Take a look:

 

I'm feeling better about things now. Whew! I was scared my Grandma was going to have to make another quilt (LOL...just kidding Grandma!). Now for our "to do" list to finish L's room:

1. Paint (the thought of holding a paintbrush for even 5 minutes after painting the entire house this summer makes me shudder)

2. Figure out shelves for and where to put her reading nook (the pillows in this post are going on the floor in that corner)

3. Order and hang artwork (picture above, pictures from this blog and frames, maybe more shelves for accessories?!)

4. Figure out window treatments...which will be the death of me

5. Hang mirror, wall hooks and find a cute basket for her dress up area

6. Hang chandler in front of closet 

7. Maybe find rug if we have any money left...doubtful LOL

I'm feeling pretty accomplished now that I've written this post. That's why I love writing blogs...I get great ideas from people, can put my to-do list out there and HAVE to stick to it, and this is really the only way Bryan and I communicate ideas. Haha, hope you are reading this at work BB...you have some shelves to build! :)

House update and sneak peek!

Since buying this house I have done nothing but try to save money on improvements. So far we've saved a ton by using coupons and rebates on the exterior paint job and gutter supplies. We did the painting ourselves, Grandpa did the gutters (talk about cheap labor...that just cost us a root beer float) and Bryan and I have torn out all our landscaping. We've made a huge impact on the outside but it now that it's cold...it's time to move the renovations indoors!

Our first indoor project was tearing out the drop ceiling and carpet in the basement bedroom. Free demo- check! And now it is time to move on to Layla's bedroom. I can't even describe how tickled with myself I am about my latest savings. Layla's room will, again, be done with lots of love (aka...hours of sewing) from her Grandmas. Her bedding, pillows, window treatments and most likely lampshades will all be custom made just for her. All at the cost of just materials, Layla gets away with paying her wonderful Grandma's in kisses and hugs. Can someone say spoiled?!I wonder if that will work for me when I need curtains in the office... ;o)

I have ideas for all of those things and the fabric has been purchases...but I hit a rough patch this week when it comes to her artwork. I have been searching Pinterest, Etsy, Google...everything for ideas on how to fill her walls. After finding a ton of inspiration, I created these:

 

Pretty cool huh? I used all free fonts I found from the web, the flower template was free via theinknest.com and put my own twist on borders and colors. I'll print them as 11x14s and 8x10s (haven't decided size or placement yet) on fine art paper, pop them into a mounted frame, stick those babies on the walls and bask in the glory that is DIY. Total cost savings should be almost $100 depending on what size I decide to print them.

I'd like to do one more to use as a smaller print but I need to find some inspiration. ;o) Sounds like a nap time project for next week!

Layla's Nursery - revisited

I have been spending a lot of time looking at ideas for Layla's big girl room lately. I feel like I have some kind of standard to live up to since her nursery was absolutely to die for. I give a ton of credit to my Mom-in Law, Janet. She did all the bedding, curtains, lamp shades...basically everything that made the room.

Anyway, the reason for this random post is that while looking at ideas for Layla's big girl room I ran across this and my heart just skipped a beat. It is something I haven't seen since right after we found out we were having a girl:

This was the inspiration for her baby room. What are the odds that I would run across this while looking for ideas on the next room?! Her new color scheme is completely different...how in the world did this end up in my search results?! It was fate. I've decided this means that I need to say "good bye" to the nursery/baby stuff and "hello" to a big girl room. I've been waiting for a sign and this is it.

Now, before I sit in the corner and sob quietly for 30 minutes I wanted to repost her "old" room pictures just ooooooone more time because I can't help myself.

My only regret is not being able to paint the room because we wanted to make it easier to sell (rolling my eyes at this now). But never fear...we don't have to hold back this time. I just can't wait to get started and after my crazy/frenzied internet searches today for new ideas, I think I know what we are getting Layla for Christmas. Is a 2 year old too young for a vanity in their room? LOL

My sewing adventures

Yes friends, it has happened. I am becoming a domestic housewife and it is SICK-EN-ING. It has been almost a year since I stopped working and became a stay at home mom. I have had so many changes this year but if someone looked me in the eye last year and said "you are going to learn how to sew" I would have laughed. Hysterically laughed. And here I am, one year later asking my Grandma to teach me how to sew. Really I want to learn because I know I can save a ton of money once I learn how to hem and take in Layla's pants (that girl is so tall and skinny!) and I have a lot of house projects to do!

So Grandma brought her sewing machine for their visit. I'm starting to plan Layla's big girl room (*sob*) and Grandma is going to make a quilt for her bed. We all know I can't make a decision to save my life and although I've had a cupcakes and candy theme picked out for her toddler room since she was born, I have now fallen in love with this:

So in fear that I would change my mind once again, we went to the quilting store here in Midland and picked out the fabric for Layla's room. I apologize for the HORRIBLE lighting but you get the point:

This will be the fabric Grandma will use for the quilt and inspiration for the rest of the room. I'm painting it the same color as the room I love (Benj Moore- Jet Stream) but I wanted it to look a little more cottage-y/vintage-y than modern.

We bought some extra fabric so I could practice on Grandma's sewing machine and figure out if I really wanted to sew or if this was just a stay at home mom crisis that I have everyone once in awhile (in addition to starting the photography business which is going GREAT I have also decided to take up crocheting which was a disaster, cooking, coupon cutting and pretty much every other awful stay at home wife/mom hobby).

I have to give Grandma credit because she is an excellent teacher (and photographer because she took these) but here is what I came out with:

Layla's big girl pillow and pillowcase! And I did it (almost) all by myself! I am seriously so proud and it was a lot easier than I thought. I know my Grandmas, mother in law and a few great grandmas "upstairs" that are very proud of my skills! ;o) Don't worry Janet, I still need your talents for the window treatments, other pillows, lamp shades...and a few more things. LOL

 
So after taking on the pillow case I decide it was time to take on a bigger and better project. A new "taggie" for Layla. So it was off to the fabric store again and Grandma and I worked all afternoon on Layla's new blankie. Layla LOVES it (you know this when she digs her face into it that she loves it).