A bed for Kylie & a finished basement tour!

Just days after I posted Kylie's 2 year update, she was climbing in and out of her crib like a pro. Nothing would stop her- not discipline and not even turning her crib around (so the highest part was in the front), so I knew it was time to get her a big girl bed.

When I posted the finished pictures of her room, I mentioned that I wanted to get her a white iron daybed when the day would come, so I've casually been keeping my eye open for the perfect one for her. Well, I found it, and she loves it! She has transitioned really well (only getting out of bed the very first night a few times) and thinks it's great that she's got a big bed.

I found her sheets at PB Teen and the comforter at Target. I think they are such a perfect match to her existing colors and decor! I love this room so much- it's easily my favorite in the house. 

Now, onto the basement! We finished it up right after Thanksgiving, and I honestly can't remember what it was like not to have this space finished. We hang out so much down here. 

When you come down the stairs, to the left is the bar area. It's really nice to have this space for secondary kitchen storage- things like off season dinnerware, wine glasses and serving platters all have a home here.

This undermount sink is a dream. If and when we replace countertops in our kitchen my sink WILL be an undermount! (hear that, Jen?)

{Floors: Crossville Buenos Aires Tango (polished); Counters: Travertine (durango, honed); Lights: Lowe's Allen + Roth; Cabinets: Local (not sure of brand), Cabinet pulls: Lowe's.}

The living room is the view from the bar. If the TV looks crooked, your eyes do not deceive you. I've mentioned it to the husband a few hundred times, but alas, it's still crooked. 

The space to the left of the bar will probably house a pinball machine or foosball table someday soon. (maybe even a dartboard?) 

The kids love having the train table here. To the right you can see part of my craft closet, and the kids play area is underneath the stairs there. 

I haven't done much with my craft room (in terms of organizing) but I'm glad to have all my stuff out of the linen closets upstairs! I can walk into the closet a bit (to the right) so I've got my wrapping paper, gift bags and fabric remnants on shelving there. 

The kids love having their own, designated (small) play place! It's also nice to have an area to throw toys into for a quick basement clean-up.  

In this hallway are the two bedrooms and bathroom.

I have plans for this room but for now, it's just functional enough for sitters who stay the night. 

The office.

This year my goal is to inject some personality and color into the basement! I have a giant abstract canvas print on backorder from Zgallerie for over the couch, but aside from that I'll probably start finding pictures I've taken over the years to hang down here (since they're essentially free!). I hope you enjoyed the tour- if you have any questions, feel free to ask! =)

Kylie is 2!

My sweet baby girl is 2 today! There has been a lot of building excitement around the house this week- because when it's someone's birthday, it's a week-long celebration.  Kylie is still a little young to understand what exactly is taking place, but she is certainly playing along getting a bit of royal treatment!

We tried to take pictures of her this week and it was an absolute fail! No smiles, and in over half of the pictures she was not even facing my camera. This was the best we could do! 

Kylie is a much more independent version of her brother. She's definitely sassier and has a bit more attitude. I definitely try to soak up the quiet, gentle spirit in her when it shows- those are rare moments for her! I do believe that I may have created a monster in her early on, because she wants lotion, bows, and nail polish every day. I love that, though- my hope is that I can be the one to show her beauty from the inside and out. She's still rocking golden curls and has bright blue eyes- something I never would have thought to have come from me! She is pretty smart and has become quite good at counting from Cameron's love of numbers. 

I love this girl so much- I can't imagine her not being a part of this family!  

 

A little bit of Christmas!

Its crazy to me how fast Christmas day is approaching. When I was younger, the period from when I started school in the fall until we were out for Christmas break always seemed like lightyears- and now, I feel like I hardly have time to catch my breath in the same amount of time. I have always loved Christmas so much, and I'm getting a little giddy over a nice possibility that we will see some snow on Christmas!
Today I want to share with you a bit of our Christmas decor. I've always been pretty minimalist when it comes to decorating and its no different when I break out my holiday gear. This has become even more true in recent years, as I find the less I have out, the less I have to say "NO DON'T TOUCH THAT!"


The wall shelves I built when we moved in got holiday treatment with a few live pine sprigs and some ball ornaments. As a side note, I get so, so many compliments on these custom wall shelves- and people are always impressed that they were made for so little money and time. If you have an empty wall in your house I highly recommend taking a few hours and whipping a few out!

The little bird that we brought back from Hilton Head even got a santa hat!

Cameron and I have been busy little bees the past few weeks, baking and crafting our afternoons away.

The other day I cut some Christmas trees out of foam, glued them onto some wood blocks I had in the garage, and instantly we had ourselves a stamp. 

Originally I wanted them so we could stamp on brown craft paper to wrap gifts, but we've found many other ways to use these! I can definitely see us making stamps like this all year. Those foam stickers/letters they sell everywhere? Those would make perfect stamps.

Cameron stamped up his Christmas countdown! 

I have never in my life had a real Christmas tree, but this year I made a real wreath and got live garland for the mantle. While I LOVE the real pine on the mantle, I don't know if I could do a real tree. It has made SUCH a mess dropping needles everywhere.

And finally, our Christmas tree. It actually started off pretty bare but Cameron has been producing ornaments left and right!

My shopping is done (but the wrapping is not), so we're just enjoying a quiet week together before the holiday! I hope you all have a merry Christmas! 

Four.

One. Two. Three.

Today, my baby turns four years old! I hear and read a lot of the time, that parents "can't believe" that their kid is turning a year older when their birthday rolls around. That would certainly be the case for Kylie, who turns 2 in January. But not so for this guy, who is CONSTANTLY talking about being 4, 5, 10, etc, that to me, it didn't seem possible that was still 3 until today. After all, when asked his age by a stranger, it's not uncommon for him to answer "64!",  a response guaranteed with a giggle from the stranger.


In some ways, it seems like SO long ago that we brought Cameron home, a 9lb, 8oz baby who was two weeks late. Yet certain memories while in labor (watching the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion show, two weeks late, contracting while making no progress can make you feel like stabbing someone) seem quite fresh as if it were only yesterday.

This boy, so smart and so sweet is equally a mama's boy and a daddy's boy. He has become my favorite shopping partner, but would do anything to go riding on the four-wheeler with his dad. I love to spoil him, not (just) with gifts but with love, ultimately teaching him the unconditional love that Christ has for us. He loves spiderman, our 10 year old neighbor-girl Morgan (eeek!), and helping me cook and wash dishes (though he does not like to clean his room). I can't express into words how awesome and silly he is, he's just such a joy and I'm so happy he is my son!

 

Snippets

Almost a month ago, Jon and I were able to sneak in a little vacation, just ourselves, to Las Vegas. It was a much needed relaxing trip for both of us! We both enjoy Las Vegas because we're able to pack in a lot of activity in 3 days. 

We stayed at the Aria this time, and while it was nice, I personally loved The Encore much more. We had such a great time, but it's so nice to come home to our kids. 

Cameron has been a major sweetheart lately. We had a rough couple of weeks dealing with disobedience at the end of summer- and that wasn't fun for anyone. It makes all the difference when he's loving and kind to his sister. They even ask me to take their picture when they are being sweet and affectionate towards each other. 

I am fighting a major, major urge to put up the Christmas tree. Last year, I had it up a few days before Thanksgiving- and I will likely wait at least until then this year too. Partly, because its still pretty warm here- tomorrow is supposed to be almost 80 degrees!

And on that note, I will be royally ticked if we don't get any snow this year. We didn't get any last year, at all. In all my years of living in Kansas, I can't remember a winter where we didn't get any snow. Cameron was pretty sad to get snow boots and not be able to use them. This year, all Im asking for is one, giant snowstorm that brings several feet of snow. 

We are just a couple of weeks away from having our basement completely, totally finished (for real this time!). Last weekend, we had someone come build shelves (something I am completely and totally capable of doing myself, but I digress) in all of the closets and this weekend, we have someone coming to stain all the shelves, the bar top, and all of the trim. The carpet has been ordered and is ready when the stain and finish are done. We already have a movie line-up going for movie nights in the basement! 

I cannot wait for this space- my own little craft closet/office. Plenty of shelves, and a little desk for my sewing machine and laptop. My craft supplies have been taking over the linen closets for far too long! 

Kylie's Room

We've been at our new house a little over a year now, and I'm starting to make a little progress decorating it. All the blank walls used to bother me- especially after living here for quite some time- but I'm someone who has difficulty going shopping for things just to fill a void. I really have to stumble on a piece, unexpectedly almost. I'm finally at the point where I'm ok not having a beautifully, fully decorated house just yet. In other words: I'm content with slow progress. =)

 That's been the case with Kylie's (now finished!) room. Our kids shared a room at our old house, so the only thing Kylie started out with in her own space was her crib and rocking chair. I shopped quite a bit right off the bat for necessities like curtains and a dresser, but the decor and wall hangings have been slowly added in as I have made or come across them. As a result, I think her room looks "collected", a look that I love.


 Without a doubt, my most favorite piece would be the bookshelf that I almost gave up on. I'm going to be honest here and say, that if I were to do it again, I'd rather just gouge my eyes out buy the $400 Pottery Barn kids version. All that to say how proud I feel to have built and finished it, as long as it took. I hope that someday I have grandchildren that will enjoy this!

 

I love how the framed gallery has taken shape over the dresser. I've switched out the artwork inside the frames quite a bit- and I'm still not 100% sure I'm set on what's there, but I'm happy with the arrangement. Most of the artwork is mine, even the yellow flower picture (on the window wall) that I painted in High school that i dug out of my parents basement. (thanks for saving that, mom!)




 
 I splurged big time on the curtains for her room. Since she has a west facing room, and the window is over 10 feet tall, you can imagine how hot it gets in there in the summer (and, how cold in the winter months). I went with white panels from PBK with blackout lining- which helps quiet street noise and keeps the outside temperature from taking over her room. I searched a long time for curtains for her room (I even had cheap Target ones up for a bit- but they didn't keep intense heat out) and I'm really happy with the quality of these ones.



I drew the artwork over her crib after seeing this Etsy version (which was no longer available) and it's also one of my favorite pieces in her room. I think it's so cute! Kylie loves flamingos- one of her favorite stuffed toys is a flamingo named "Squawk".



 In the coming months, we'll switch Kylie out of her crib and into a twin bed. No fancy crib bedding here- just a plain ol' crib sheet. I'm currently searching for the perfect white iron daybed for her. I think it will go great in there, and a daybed is truly the option that makes the most sense in her tiny bedroom.

Lastly, we picked up this sweet chandelier at Lowe's the other day, and I feel that it really just completes the room! Jon totally agrees. It's funny how my husband who, being so "manly" and all is the one who often initiates purchases that involve pink, sparkle and princess. =) I love how special this room feels, and I think it's just right for her to grow into over the next several years!


I hope you enjoyed her room as much as we do! =)