On The Home Front

My current project is to alter Jackson's bedroom so that it becomes more little boyish and less baby boyish. This photo of his nursery was taken before he was born, so naturally we have moved a bit of furniture around and please ignore the skimpy window treatment, that was completed after this photo was taken in July 2008.

What I have decided to do was eliminate all the yellow in the room and replace it with orange. I still have to swap out the wooden stars with something else orange... I am thinking I will paint a few photo frames and put up some 5x7s of him.

I had a very difficult time finding an orange fitted crib sheet. I had to scrap the idea because I wasn't willing to spend $20 on one crib sheet. So, I decided to change the bed skirt instead. I found some orange blocked patterned fabric at Hancocks Fabric Store marked 40% off. To save more money, I only replaced the two exposing sides of the skirt with the new fabric. The crib will always be in the corner of the room to allow for the more utilized space, so I just left the old material attached that faces both walls.

Next, I painted over the yellow on this lamp with orange. I had initially purchased this plain white lamp and white shade separately and painted on the accenting detail with acrylic paint to match the decor of the nursery.

Then onto the window treatment. Because the yellowish theme carried over into the valance, I covered over just the yellow stars with cutout pieces of orange fabric. I used the left over fabric from the bed skirt. The remaining colors of the valance, still fit my color theme so I didn't change anymore than that. I had also added a border of this orange fabric to the bottom of the window curtains. These thick panelled curtains were purchased from Walmart on the clearance stand for $7 when Jackson was 4 months old. At that point, he started waking from his naps after only 45 mins and would not go back to sleep. I thought it would help to darken his room for naptime (the honeycomb fabric blinds did block out the light, but the room was still lightly casted with sunlight). And the curtains actually did wonders for his sleeptime. So, they never left :P

I also was looking for a way to condense the diaperbag. Figuring when this little girl comes along, I will be needing to pack a LOT more essential items again (wasn't that a great day when you were able to lighten your load with the toddler??). So I created a organizer insert that I roll up and stick right into the diaperbag. I love it and I can see EVERYTHING when I open the bag!

And Jax's (mandatory) sippy cups fits nice and snug in the middle of the rolled up insert! I have seen other woman with these for their purse - but I needed a larger one for the diaper bag materials. And to organize my wallet, check book and cell phone - I created a small pocket that I can easily take out of the bag when I need to leave the bag with the kids. How cool is that?!?

And lastly, I made a few belts for Jax! They were so simple to make, took about 5 mins and he seems to be quite fond of it! These shorts for summer - are just so long and slide right off his little butt! Can you believe those shorts he is wearing in the photo are 6-9 months? Crazy I KNOW! Sonoma brand.

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Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers for my Grandma. We are thrilled to report that by the grace of God, she pulled through the serious complications of her operation and had her breathing tube removed earlier this week. Within a day, she no longer was hooked up to any machines and was moved out of ICU. Today, she was released into my mom's care where she will continue her recovery process from home. We are so very thankful that she fought through it and that her body is gaining its strength back.

We ask that you continue your prayers as she will soon begin to evaluate what treatment plan is best for her from here on out.