Dramatic BW

I have not entered the I Heart Faces challenge in a while and I have missed it! This week's challenge is dramatic black and white. This photo is dramatic to me for two reasons, first is I think the contrast in it turned out pretty well, but the main reason it is dramatic is personal....it was the last weekend my husband and I took our little one to the park before he left for overseas. Her expression represents exactly how I was feeling that weekend!

Letter for Daddy #1

So since daddy is away, SL and I have decided to write him a weekly post to let him know what happens each week!

Dear Daddy,
This first week that you have been gone actually flew by. Mommy and I were very surprised because it didn't seemed like we got a lot accomplished. This week I decided that rain boots were a necessary accessory, because they just complete the look, you know! Every morning while mommy was fixing breakfast I put them on...they look so good with my ducky pjs!






I also decided to try them with out any pjs...we will send you the pictures in an email (I know you wouldn't want the world to see me in all my glory, ha!)

This week went we to Ellie's house to play on a couple of different days. Mommy forgot her camera the first time and I was mad because I wanted to show you how we all sat on the sofa under the blanket, drinking strawberry milk and eating chocolate chips (that's right just plain chocolate chips! Ellie's mom is way cool, she lets me do all sorts of things that mommy won't let me do at home!)
The next day mommy was going to take me to the park to play but when we got into the car we realized it was dinner time, so we took some Happy Meals over to share with Ellie and Collin.
Here we all are sitting at the picnic table under the swingset.


Here I am telling Collin a very funny secret!


Apparently he is like ALL boys and was more interested in his nuggets, but I thought it was funny!


After we ate Ellie and I decided we needed to swing to work off that Happy meal!





Mommy and I also did a little bit of Totschool this week. I got to paint with something called water colors. I did a little bit, but it is not as much fun as paint-with-water. I had hard time remembering to dip the brush in the paint after the water. The other ones are more logical, all you have to do is dip the brush in the water and then on the page the color magically appears (makes more sense don't you think, daddy?). Well here is mine and mommy's painting:



This week mommy brought out something called a workbook (I am not sure I like the name of it, but so far it seems ok!) We talked about the pretty shapes that were on the front. I knew most of the them but kept calling some of them by the wrong name. She kept saying the moon was a crescent and the tall circle was an oval...you really must talk to her about that daddy, because it was frustrating! As you can see I decided that a shirt was not necessary for totschool (neither were pants).


Well that's all the pictures for this week daddy, we will try to do better for next! I helped mommy put together a special package for you, I hope you like it! We love you and stay safe! Miss you bunches, SL and mommy!

Its a whole new world.

So I have been dreading this day for months. The day my sweet hubby leaves. This morning bright and early (5:30) he left. Alone, with just my babe for 4 months. I feel so bad at times for even writing this post when I know that other families experience this for much longer, some as much as 18 months. But this is kinda of my first time. We were apart 7 years ago when he went into the academy and that was for 13 weeks but we did see each other for a couple of times. This time no weekend visits and where he is going is very scary. But I know many have done this before me so I can too!  This will be my prayer for Jay while he is gone:

Psalm 91

 ¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
       will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
 ² I will say  of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
       my God, in whom I trust."
 ³ Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
       and from the deadly pestilence.
 ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
       and under his wings you will find refuge;
       his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
 ⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
       nor the arrow that flies by day,
 ⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
       nor the plague that destroys at midday.
 ⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
       ten thousand at your right hand,
       but it will not come near you.
 ⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
       and see the punishment of the wicked.
 ⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling—
       even the LORD, who is my refuge-
 ¹⁰ then no harm will befall you,
       no disaster will come near your tent.

 ¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
       to guard you in all your ways;

 ¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
       so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
 ¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
       you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
 ¹⁴ "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
       I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
 ¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
       I will be with him in trouble,
       I will deliver him and honor him.
 ¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him
       and show him my salvation."

I highlighted the two verses that I will repeat over and over til he comes home!  I love you baby!

Nursey to Little Girl Room

For some time I have been wanting change SL's room from a nursery to a little girl's room. I have poured over PB catalogs looking for inspiration. I think the reason their furniture and other items look so amazing is because of the rooms they are in. I don't know if they build them as sets but I would LOVE to have a home with walls and ceilings like the ones in their catalog!
After finally deciding on what I wanted, I knew my hubby and I had better get started (he is leaving Monday for overseas...which is a whole other post). So after SL took her last nap in her crib we decided to start.

This picture makes me sad and happy. I love her expression in it, but little did she know it was her last time sleeping it!


When I was pregnant with SL I painted her room in an animal theme. I thought it would be hard to paint over it but surprisingly it wasn't.


Here is SL "turning" the screws to her crib. She kept saying turn, turn because..........

That is what daddy was doing, taking down the crib.

I love this pic and had to throw it in.


Here she is playing on the nursery's matching toy box. I hate to take it out of the room because it was good storage but it just won't go. My hubby wanted me to paint over it, but I couldn't. It went with all the bedding and if we have another baby I would like to be able to use it again.


Here is what our guest room looked like after we took everything out of the nursery.... what a mess!

The Next Step was to sand over the mural.


More sanding.


Be sure to lay down sheets because it makes a MESS! *Tip, I just used sand paper, but if you have a mural that is painted on really thick you may need a power sander.


The Fabrics going in the new room.


I am bummed because this is the only pic I have of my sweet friend, Amanda who came to help me paint.

Amanda had the great idea to give SL a brush (she was laughing because she knew it was something I would have NEVER done, but I am sooooo glad she did!)


Look at those sweet brush marks.


After we painted it was time for my hubby to get to work framing my "board and batten" wall that was inpired by PB. I decided I wanted fabric in my grid so we had to mark it off before we put the rest of the wood up.


Getting closer.


Go here to read about this mishap!


The wall with the base coat on it. ( I knew unfinished wood would take a lot of paint but WOW, it took 4 coats of paint) This could have been due to the fact the we used Behr paint and primer in one, for this project I think a separate primer would have worked better.


Finally done painting! When I decided to do this wall I didn't realize how popular the were in Blogland (ha!) As I have been working on her room, several of the blogs I follow have done posts on the them. You can go here, here, and here to read more about them and see some great ideas!


Now on to the lighting!
I had my hubby take down the horrible light that was in the room ( you know the ones that look like boobs, ha!)

I found this great chandelier at Home Depot. I was going to try and find one that I could paint so as not to spend more than $40, but when my mom saw this she said she would send me some $$ for it because she thought it was perfect!!! Thanks mom!!!



I think it is too!!


Now for the BIG reveal:


( I got the toddler bed on Craigs List for cheap! Her crib is supposed to convert to a toddler bed but I felt like it sat to high on the floor.)




My mom had made these great curtains for my sister's daughter's room. It had a huge window in it, which SL's room doesn't so I was able to use one set for the closet which by taking down the doors made the room feel larger.

The other half of the curtains on the window.

(The white Flower light is from IKEA.)

I think she likes!!!


Ahhh, All ready to sleep!!



So the room is not completely finished. I am planning a "princess reading nook, a dress up area, and couple of the projects which are all already in the works. But I will save those for another post but here is a little sneak peek at one of the projects:

Nail Gun Near Disaster

So here is a little update. We are redoing our daughter's nursery into a little girl room! I can't wait to show the finished room, but for now I will tell you what NOT to do with a nail gun..........staple your finger to the wall!

Ok, so my hubby didn't really, but it was CLOSE. I was downstairs and I hear the nail gun then I hear: ARGGGGGGGG! I think I about passed out and threw up all at once. I ran up the stairs and by the time I got there he realized it wasn't so bad. The nail went thru the first layer of skin and split his fingernail but that was all. WHEW! I will post pictures of the finger and her finished room tomorrow hopefully!

Just Us Gals!

It was mommy - daughter day for me and SL on Monday. We had a great time. We went to the mall and had lunch. After lunch we went shopping for new hairbows and a bracelet for SL and a cheap sweater for mommy. Aeropostle had select items marked down 70% off and I bought a cute pink sweater for $10, score!!


SL loves her juice boxes!


So I love reading blogs and spend more time reading others than I do updating my own. I am trying to get better about this. One of the things I see fellow bloggers doing is taking pics of themselves in the mirror and it always cracks me up. So I thought I would join the trend and since we were in the family restroom I could do it with no one watching, Ha!


After shopping we went to the Buzzy Playpark in the mall. SL had a blast, she kept running by me saying, "This is Fun!"



After the mall we went to Maggie Moo's for some yummy ice cream, didn't get any pics, too busy eating our delicious (as SL said) ice cream.
We then headed over to Borders (or the "library") as SL calls it. Right when we walked in they had a huge display of gray bunnies and SL just HAD to have one, ha! So of course mommy just HAD to buy it. I think the child must own about 10 bunnies.





What a great day and she was a perfect angel the whole time! We absolutely have to do this again!