A Tour of the Unfinished Nursery

A couple of months ago my sister suggested that I should take pictures of the nursery and post them, since waiting until I FINISHED the nursery would probably be too long.

I, of course, was offended.

Now, 2+ months later, I am humble enough to share the unfinished pictures with you.

I repainted this rocking chair, and sewed the pillow.  I still need to do a larger cushion for the seat. {Fox put in carpet and base trim, and did the basic white paint, as well as putting in a new light fixture.}

I repainted the hook strip, frame, and shelf.  I also photoshopped the picture of the temple so that it would match the color scheme more.  I still need other things for the shelf...I want an {unbreakable} owl and otter.  The sign is from when Chick was first born.  I made the bracelets.  {They are still WAY too big}

I made this diaper stacker using an online tutorial, but the ruffle and front pintucks were my own ideas.  It hangs on a tension rod on one side of the closet...which works double duty by keeping the older kids out of the closet.

A framed picture of the babies.  I repainted the dresser, but you can't see it in this picture.  Next to this is a changing pad.

I modpodged paper onto letters, and hung them using velcro.  And I made a fabric flower.  It's about two feet in diameter.  It's still a little flopsy...you can see the pin that I added for stability "until I can sew it."  This grouping is over the dresser.

 

This is a picture grouping that will be next to the door (the little shelf and hooks are on the other side).  My sister Melinda gave me the letter hooks and they are perfect.  The pictures aren't final...I was just figuring out the frames.  The top left frame is a magnet board and I made a set of magnet pebbles.  I also made the crib sheet underneath.

 

And finally, my favorite part: the squiggly wall.  My sister Judy helped paint the stripes while my Mom watched the kids, and later I freehanded the squigglies while my sister Laura watched the kids.  Eventually I'll put up a large black and white print on canvas of the baby girls on this wall.

 

I still want to make curtains and bedding...the fabrics have been in a neat little pile in my room for months.

 

This post was typed one handed...please excuse any typos.  I have two sweet little girls sleeping on my lap. : )

Birthdays and Misc.

We had two birthdays at the end of November.



The first was my Foxy husband, who turned 40!  His birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, so we celebrated at my sister's house.  It was pretty relaxed, as far as birthdays go (and as far as 40th! birthdays go).  He didn't even get a cake-- he requested apple crisp instead.  Plus he'd cut his finger at work the day before (8 stitches...but he was back to work on Monday as if nothing happened...crazy guy) and was nursing that a bit.  But it was a lovely day anyhow.  Happy birthday, Love.

Next up was Monkey, who turned 4!! 

She requested a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting, in the shape of the number 4, pink, with butterflies on top : )  I loved her choice, because she wasn't afraid to ask for what she wanted and to be her own person.  Monkey is a little on the shy side, and I worry sometimes about her being overshadowed by some of her siblings (sometimes I worry about her being overshadowed by ALL of her siblings, for that matter)...so I love when she lets her personality shine.



For the cake I used this recipe, which was a little pickier to make than I usually do, but fantastic!  And this recipe for the frosting, which melted in your mouth and was very strawberry and very pink, despite being a small amount of strawberries (I used frozen strawberries rather than preserves).  Melted starburst candies for the butterflies.  Monkey loved it, and it was really delicious.

She got really awesome presents-- an Olivia doll and books from Fox and me, a doll house from Aunt Diana, a mermaid for the bathtub from Arizona, a matchbox car (red with stars; she's named it "Starry"...from Moose). And an umbrella and book from my parents who came to dinner (pizza, Monkey's choice).



(By the way, I did haircuts this weekend, and I'm happy to say that Monkey's hair is now LONGER than Moose's!)

She's been going through a phase...I guess since she was easy as a two-year-old it was her right to start being a little more "difficult" as a three-year-old...but anyhow, even with all that, she's still one of the sweetest little souls that I know.  She has a sweet little pixie face and aura.  (But I do hope that the phase will mellow out now that she's a four-year-old.)

She's always been the most naturally artistic of the kids, and now that she's learning her letters she LOVES to write them.  She does quite good, too.  She also loves screen time...starfall.com,  watching shows, playing games on the ipod, looking at people's pictures on their phones.... 
And she has a great sense of location.  I think because she's visual.  The other day we were driving somewhere and she told me five different things that we would get to if we turned on the streets that we were passing.  Some were places that we haven't been to for quite a while.

Anyhow, I'm so grateful for that spunky, sweet little girl!! 

Other news:
Owl and Otter got their ears pierced (a separate blog post to come).  Monkey was going to do it too, but chickened out (fine by me).

This was taken a week or two before the piercing.  Owl, Otter.

The baby girls are also are batting at toys and rolling over like pros.  Otter was first (within days of their five-month birthday), and Owl was about a week after that.  Monkey started crawling at five months (she was my earliest...the others were within a month after that), so it's kinda weird to have these girls be so different from their older siblings.  But adjusted for being early, they are 3.5 months, which is right on track for rolling over.  They are still very small, so people think that they are just super strong newborns : )  It's nice for me, since carrying two babies is a challenge enough...I don't want them to be too heavy!

Moose is coming into his own lately.  He's talking in more complex sentences, and is able to express his ideas now.  And of course, this is the age when the kids start to really crack me up.  He's hilarious.

A little while ago I was in the kitchen and he was in the living room with Mr. Fox.  He was standing on a stepstool and fell down.  I heard him start to cry-- the kind of cry that says, "I have suffered an injustice or indignity, and I want it acknowledged, but I'm not actually hurt."  So he comes in to me, and says in a cry sort of voice,
"Mama, I fell down... (throws himself to the ground dramatically)...like that!"

Another time the babies were crying and he came to me to say,
"The babies are crying.  Waaaaa (in a falsetto).  Like that."

He's switched from clinging to my leg as I drag him to nursery class at church, to bounding in on his own without a backward glance.  And at the ward Christmas party this past weekend he was Mr. Social going around to say hi and give hugs to all of the people he knows.

Chick is improving by LEAPS AND BOUNDS on her reading.  She has matured a lot since the babies were born, and she likes to help with them.  She still pretty headstrong...but that probably will never change.  She's been like that since birth.

Me.  Hmm.  I've finished my Christmas shopping, but still have things to sew and make. 

I got all of the Christmas decorations up, except for lights in the yard and a few more strands in the house. 

I spend a lot of my time sitting on the couch.  It's just easiest, since I have to feed babies fairly frequently, and if one or both of them are crying then I can't get anything else done anyhow.  But I need to find some new solutions because I've gained a couple of pounds lately. 

Anyhow, during feedings I've been watching Dr. Who.  I started with season 2, and am almost done with season 5.  I'm still mourning the regeneration...I really really liked David Tennant as the Doctor.  But it's still fun to watch, and the kids love it too.

Celebrating Autumn

I get super grumpy when Fox works overtime on Saturdays. 
Which he's done a few times lately.

To combat it one week we had some friends over to make wax-dipped leaves. 

It was just the thing to turn my mood around.

Dipping leaves in wax is strangely addictive, and definitely helps you stop and appreciate how truly beautiful nature is.  And how each leaf is different.  And how vibrant the colors are.
Loved it.



Kendra took this picture, and I love it!

We had hot cocoa and cookies.

And I felt like a rockstar Mom for doing a fun activity, rather than just planning to do it someday. yay me.

Family Pictures 2012

In October we had our family pictures taken. 
We swapped with our friends the Streadbecks... Heidi took our pictures, and I took their pictures. 

We went to the University of Washington for the photoshoot.  I loved the setting, and plan to go back there for more pictures sometime.  Everytime we passed a doorway I thought, "Oh!  Look at that one!"

At any rate, we were short on time, and it was cold and windy (but not rainy, so that was nice), and we had a million kids (8), so it was a bit rushed.  But I'm still happy with how they turned out.

I kinda need a creative outlet...so that day-to-day mothering doesn't wear me out. 
Planning the outfits for these pics was a happy diversion.

 

Nothing like a family photo to remind me how adorable I think my kids are!
(but seriously, look at them! they melt my heart!)

Love that each child posed differently (on their own)

One of my absolute faves...especially of Mr. Foxy and Me.

Another fave.  I bought the glasses at the thrift store (except mine, which were my great-grandma's)
Getting out the books and glasses seemed like too much worksince all were tired, cold, and hungry...but I'm really glad we did it now.The books were...
Fox: Creating Wealth By Investing in Real Estate
Me: These Is My Words
Chick: Cinderella
Monkey: Fancy Nancy
Moose: Dumpy the Dumptruck (which he threw aside because I'd brought the wrong book)
Owl: The Real Mother Goose
Otter: Eloise

 

Thank you, Heidi!