Crazy Blessed - Month in Review

Whew! What a month it's been! I don't even know where to start....

The blessed part... our house sold after 5 1/2 months on the market. The crazy part... we had 3, yes 3, competing offers. We received the first offer the day before T was born (Sunday), the second offer on Monday and the third offer on Monday night. We were using the dry erase board in my hospital room to compare all the offers and decide which one to accept. We close on October 26!!

We were released from the hospital on Thursday, and we started looking at homes on Saturday. Pretty pleased with myself since I'm recovering from a C-section! We looked at what felt like a billion homes and put in an offer on a short sale (pre-foreclosure). There's nothing short about a short sale, so we might be moving into an apartment for a month or 2. We're just waiting to hear if the bank accepted our offer and praying that they make a decision soon. We could potentially move in at the end of October if they would hurry it up!

The new house (yes, it is in desperate need of some landscaping!)


Miss T is growing, growing, growing!

1 week old - 6 pounds 11 ounces

2 weeks old - 6 pounds 13 ounces

3 weeks old

1 month old! 7 pounds 15 ounces

Sisters in matching dresses!

And we celebrated P's 2nd birthday! (recap post coming soon)

Feedback

from the showing last night....

My Clients enjoyed your home & wanted to know if you currently have any Offers working on this property ??? Please Advise & Thankyou for the opportunity to show your property. Tae

WTH does that mean? I have a call in to our realtor, but I realize it's past 8 and I doubt she'll call me back tonight. I DON'T want to get my hopes up, but that has to be good, right?

It's Official!!

The house is now on MLS! Bring on the buyers! Here are a few pictures the realtor took on Sunday.... the house is completely de-personalized, but I know it's a necessary evil... I think people will be able to see their "stuff" in our home.

Lifesavers!

Our realtor is coming tomorrow to photograph the house, take measurements, and have us officially sign the papers to list our home.

LC and I still had a ton of stuff to do, so my dear, sweet, lifesaving parents offered to take P to their house for the afternoon. I seriously have the best parents in the world! We're so blessed to have them close and WILLING to take P!

In less than 3 hours, the yard has been scalped (LC found a crew in our neighborhood to do it today!), the carpets have been cleaned, toys have been organized, laundry has been started and our shower has been recaulked.

Aside from a few accessorizing issues I'm having, we're ready for photos!! Elaine, Mr Fix-It, and the kiddos are stopping by tomorrow before pictures to see what solutions they can offer. If you live in our area and want to stop by to offer your opinion, please do so! I don't want to spend any money, so I'm shopping our house and trying different things in different places. The problem is I don't like what I'm coming up with... I think I'm too close to the issue!

Merry Christmas to Me,

but I don't think these should count as my Christmas present (our washer and dryer set is 5 years old and the washer doesn't like to spin all the water out so you end up doing at least 3 dryer cycles). Yes, they were expensive, but it's not like we can function without a washer and dryer. Kinda like getting a blender for your birthday... only a super duper, teched out blender... times 100.
washer

dryer

I am excited that they're being delivered on Friday... just don't tell Lane.

Just Let It Go!

Y'all all know how I'm trying to be more patient with all aspects of my life ... I'm sure every momma has lost their patience and then has the guilt associated with not exuding extreme patience all the time. Aren't we suppose to be saints or something ;)

I keep telling myself to just let.it.go... and I'm slowly getting better with it. It's so much easier to give the advise to all my mommy friends, but it's hard pill to swallow.

Tonight, my living room looked like this (I made the mistake of trying to organize P's new toy box with her in the room with me, and yes, that is a nekky baby you see).

Instead of losing it and getting frustrated with the mess, the fact that Lane wasn't coming home until late, and a clingy baby girl, all I could think about was "this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." I need to start looking at the chaos and the whining baby who only wants me to hold her as a blessing, not a burden. God gave me this day and this life to rejoice in. So, in the midst of this huge mess/incomplete project, I sat on the floor with Payton in my lap and her Little Drummer Boy book, and we sang our hearts out (she's especially good at the pa-rum pum pum pum part).

New Hue=New House

I've come a long way on the mistreatments since this post in just a few weeks! We (Lane) decided we should take the house off the market and I figured as long as we were staying, I'd change a few things to make me happy!

Here's the family room... You can't tell in the picture, but the rod is all the way up to the ceiling and the panels graze the floor. The material on the bottom third of the panels is what we're using to upholster the ottoman. We already had the rod, just moved it up a bit; some ring clips, hot glue, fabric and trim, and voila! Once the ottoman is finished, I'll post pics of the entire room.

This beauty is in the breakfast nook. Since the windows in both rooms are basically one big wall, I wanted them to compliment each other but still show separation between the two rooms. I decided to use the same fabric and trim, but change the technique. Pleats are tacked to the wall with upholstery tacks. I love that it still has some "looseness" to the bottom like the topper in the family room.

The downstairs bathroom was an easy fix! I changed the shower curtain and hung the little nest tassel over the towels. It's amazing how a simple switch completely transforms a room.

PS - I'm available for hire for a nominal fee ;)

Update: Window Mistreatments

Fusible webbing ironed on the salvage edge

"hemmed" edge

I didn't take pictures as I was folding the Roman shade.



Using upholstery tacks, I tacked the top where the wall meets the ceiling to make the windows seem extra long, and then hot glued cream fringe to finish off the raw edge.

Material - 3 yds @ $5/yd =$15
Trim - 1 1/2 yds @ $2.5/yd =$3.75

Total cost is less than $20 for 3 windows!!

Window Mistreatments

We (really I) decided to turn our formal dining room into a playroom/office. I took down the champagne panels and the room looked completely naked and devoid of color.

I'm working on my first set of mistreatments a la Nester! I've taken her directions and modified them a bit for my Type A personality. I keep repeating her mantra as I'm tacking these into the wall... It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful! I love the idea of mistreatments... no sew, easy, hot glue gun, and looks great. I couldn't just throw fabric on the window and make it work.... well I could, but it would drive me nuts. Nester just folds and clips and poof, it looks great. Yesterday, I got out the iron and some fusible webbing and "hemmed" the sides so I would know the edges were straight. I think it gives the fabric some stability too. I have to hot glue the trim and then I'll post pics of the finished product.

Seeing how easy this really is, I'm ready to mistreat all the windows in my house! If only I had less expensive taste... all the fabric I love is $30-$40 a yard. I'm thinking a trip to Harry Hines might be in order to get great fabric at great prices.

Ready, Set, Decorate!

*Edited to add: Blogger's formatting is outsmarting me on this post*

Since finding the Nester's blog, I've been inspired to change the color scheme of our house. I am greened out! This is what I do. In college, I went through about 5 bedding ensembles and 8 shower curtains. I would love to do it now since I'm all about instant gratification, but I will hold off until we buy the new house. Plus, I would be sad to leave new window treatments.

I'm envisioning a warm, camel color on the walls with white/cream moldings. Accessories and window treatments will be in shades of robin's egg blue and cream. I've started picking up things as I see them. It always seems that once I need something, it can't be found. An added bonus is that it doesn't all hit the pocket book at once.

The first purchase was this tassel from the Nester's etsy shop.

I found placemats like these (in blue) at Ross for $4/4 (Got to love that!). I'm wondering if it's getting to be too much blue and if I should exchange them for cream or taupe.

I'm telling you, it's dangerous to look at Nester's shop! I saw this and had to have it! I love how it incorporates so many different elements.

I always need to have a large "project". First it was buying this house and decorating, then planning the wedding, then getting pregnant, then preparing for baby, getting ready to put the house on the market and now redecorating a house we don't even have! I love looking for ideas and filing them away for future use. If I could go back to school, I think I'd major in interior design instead of fashion merchandising.

We have a formal dining room with a full set of furniture that we've used once in the 3 and a half years we've lived here. I despise having to pull up chairs to our kitchen table when we have people over for dinner. For starters, the table only seats 4 and the legs are not easy to maneuver another chair around. I'm thinking about selling both sets when we move and buying one BIG table.

Maybe a long farmhouse table or something that seats 6 and has a leaf to accommodate 8 or more. I like the square tables that seat 8, but I'm worried about how quickly it will go out of style.

(not this exact one... not so much my style)

I also love the intimacy a round table creates, but it'd have to be huge and I'm not sure if it would fit.

Decisions, decisions... If yall have any advice, I'm open to it (places to shop, opinions on the table, etc)! Luckily, I've got time on my side to figure out what I want to do before we move.

Visual Tour

The visual tour is up for the house in case anyone is interested.... and no, our blinds aren't warped, it's something with the way the pictures are put together.

Let's hope we have some activity soon.

To Market, To Market

Well, our house is on the market! I'm excited, nervous and scared all at the same time. We're hoping it will sell quickly and we can get into a larger home that has all the features on our list (a playroom for Miss Priss, a bigger yard for P and Scout, a media room for LC, and a larger living room/kitchen for me, etc...).

If you know of anyone who's looking for a starter home* (under $175K), send them our way! The house is great and we have fabulous neighbors.

*Pics should be up tomorrow

Finished!

Closets and cabinets are done!! And I didn't sit up last night thinking about the next thing to organize!!! It's such a feeling of accomplishment even though Lane know says he won't be able to find anything. I think he'll be able to find it, but won't put it back in the right place.

Tomorrow's to do list:
- returns to BRU, Nordstrom, JCP, Barnes and Noble (buy Baby 411), and Walmart
- Lone Star Baby to look for a cute shopping cart cover (let me know if you have any online recs for a cute, girly one)
-complete last day of week 1 C25K

Who am I kidding? I seriously doubt we'll get to all those places since Miss P HATES her carseat so we only have a limited radius we can travel unless I want to deal with a complete meltdown. And since she hates her carrier, I have to carry her or use the Baby Bjorn.

Look at these super cute "mom" shoes I bought today after church. I think they'll be perfect for spring with jeans or capris.

Organization Gone Wild!

Not sure whats gotten in to me the last few days, but I am in a throwing away mood. Not that I'm a hoarder, but there's just been piles of stuff piling up since P was born. I think it also has something to do with wanting to put the house on the market and 1. not wanting to move extra crap and 2. wanting the house to look as good as it can.

Yesterday I cleaned out and shredded the outdated stuff in our filing cabinet (lease from my last apartment anyone?). Then laying in bed until about 2:30 am, I mentally organized the hall closet, the kitchen cabinets, and the closet under the stairs. I've already tackled the hall closet this morning and once my wonderful husband gets home from playing golf and can take the kiddo, I'm going after the cabinets. I think the label maker might go into overdrive!

Now if you know me at all, you know most people would look at my house and say it's totally organized, but in my anal retentive mind it's in complete disarray. Lane loves this side of me ;)

Payton's room

Payton's room is finished! We decided not to paint since we're not entirely sure how much longer we'll be in this house and I had no idea what color to even paint the walls since there's so much color going on in everything else!

view from the doorway


close up of the wall hanging... my favorite part of the room... besides the rocker!


the onesie on the changing pad is embroidered in pink "Miss September"... hopefully it will fit her so she can wear it coming home from the hospital.


close up of the Pottery Barn Kids bumper Lane picked out


Payton's already overflowing closet... the sad part is she has a 6 drawer dresser that's just as full

And for fun... me today... at 34 weeks 3 days... I feel like a freaking house, but why does my belly look smaller than last week??