Everett's nursery!

The nursery is FINALLY done! Oh my word, it took forever! Emersyn's nursery was completed a good 3 or 4 months before her arrival....we finished Everett's about a week or two before his. It just goes to show you how different things are the second time around. :)

As with Emersyn's nursery, the green color in her room is really hard to photograph. I feel like it looks a LOT brighter in pictures then it does in person. Yes, it is a bright green but it's no where near the neon color that sometimes shows through in pictures.

Remember this wall?

Now it looks like this!

I'm really happy with how the blue color turned out. It was SUPER easy to paint over the pink stripes and took probably an hour between priming and repainting. Initially Brett had thought about painting a solid blue wall but I reallllly wanted to keep the stripes. It's such a simple and cheap way to add a lot of flair in a small room.

I'm proud to say that with the exception of the bumper, all of Everett's bedding is hand made and partially by me! When I was pregnant with Emersyn I didn't attempt to get crafty in any way in her nursery. I was working very part time at Pottery Barn Kids and since my discount was so great, it was just easier to buy everything. Everett's nursery definitely has a lot more character and I love it.

We didn't have a changing table in Emersyn's nursery. We had a "hemnes" dresser from Ikea that we just put a changing pad on and it worked out REALLY well for us. Since Emersyn needed a dresser in her room, we let her have the hemnes dresser and bought this changing table for Everett for $40 off of Craigslist! I was happy with our second hand find and I also like that it takes up a lot less space then the dresser did. We obviously lost a lot of storage but we are using an old dresser of Brett's in the nursery closet for now.

We were able to find so many containers that coordinated with our theme! The green basket had a gift in it from Auntie Jenny and Uncle David (such a clever alternative to a gift bag!) and we found the navy basket at Walmart and the teal laundry basket at Target.

This mobile used to have birdies on it until SOME one tore each birdie off one by one during her nap when she was a baby. :) Since then it has been stored away, just waiting to be used again. I was originally going to make some owls out of felt to hang from it but then I decided to embrace the reality that I'm running out of time, patience and creativity and used the leftover pinwheels from my baby shower. Rachelle, did you have any idea your decorations would get THIS much use out of them?? :)

Another baby shower decoration reused. It's just darling, don't you agree?

I love the letter E (obviously). A friend of mine had read a tutorial about yarn wrapping letters as decorations. I thought this sounded fun and brilliant until I tried to do it on more then one letter. The navy E is wrapped in yarn and was fairly simple to do, except for the corners. I was going to get creative with wrapping the corners and in hindsight it might have been wise to use some spray adhesive first for just the corners and get the yarn to stay that way but since I had already completed it, I decided to just leave the corners bare and go for a more *rustic* look (which I've learned is a crafty person's way to say imperfect, ha!). For the yarn wrapped letter I loosely followed THIS tutorial.

The letters were a super inexpensive way to decorate too. All of them were purchased at JoAnn's Fabrics and most of them were bought with a coupon. The large E was $6 and I painted it with the paint we used on the walls. The white letters were $2/each with coupons, the yarn wrapped letter was $4, and the fabric letter was $3 and wrapped with scraps leftover from the bedding.

We got the wicker baskets from Homegoods that were relatively inexpensive ($15 for the set) and the teal baskets were in the dollar section of Target. I used them to hold utensils and napkins at Emersyn's birthday party too.

I made this fabric board using this tutorial but modified it a bit. I covered a cork bulletin board instead of particle board. In hindsight, this was not a good idea IF I wanted to put buttons or something at the ribbon cross sections (like pictured in the tutorial) but instead I was able to just pull the ribbon nice and tight and it's taut enough to display pictures and cards. This was another *rustic* project, ha!

This is the dresser in the closet. It's not white which is why it is hidden and we didn't want to paint it because we'll use it someday in Everett's big boy room where we mostly likely won't want white furniture for him. This was Brett's dresser as a teenager.

Still so surreal to see boy clothes hanging in this closet!!

We had to put a couple pictures of the big sister in Everett's room. How precious is this little face?

This was one of the first gifts I received after finding out that Everett was a boy. Rachelle made it and it's got crinkly paper in it so it will be a fun thing to play with, as well as a cute decoration. :)

I found this little love note in the stack after my baby shower. My friend Caitlin helped Ems right her own little love note to Everett while I was opening gifts and I think it's just darling.

Well, we're about a week or two away from welcoming Mr. Everett. We had a great weekend that I'll blog about tomorrow. Hopefully this weekend resulted in my little man dropping too. We'll see for sure on Thursday. :)

A glimpse

Today Emersyn and I went over to our friends house to hang out with one of our favorite little girls, Miss Sophia Rose. Since I knew that Sophia's mommy was headed to the opposite side of town from where I live, I offered to come over to her house and watch Sophia there. This turned out to be a great decision on my part because I had no choice but to sit and relax, versus if I were home I would have felt obligated to be productive.


The girls played SO well together and it made me SO excited to see Emersyn with her baby brother. If you had asked me the day before I took the positive pregnancy test that I took for this baby if I was ready for another child I would have laughed at you and said, NO! But the Lord's timing is incredible and even if I wasn't ready then, I am ready now and more importantly, I think Emersyn is really ready. It will be fun for her to have a little playmate.


Emersyn was very helpful and loving with Sophia and it gave me a little glimpse into my future. I'm excited to get to know Emersyn as a big sister and watch her learn and grow. I'm so excited to see my little boy but I'm also excited to see Emersyn in her new role in our family.

Ems decided to entertain Sophia with some of her favorite songs today. Here is a video of their fun times. I know these little girls are going to grow up before our eyes and it's fun to capture random moments on video. :)

P.S. The nursery is DONE!!!!!!! I'm SO stinkin' excited to take pictures and show you all but we had a crazy busy day today. I'm hoping to take some pics tomorrow or Sunday and get them posted. It turned out really cute and it makes everything so much more real. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, I know I know. :)

Thursday

I've been trying to upload pictures from Emersyn's birthday party but Blogger won't let me for some reason! I wonder if the files are too big? Anyways, the pictures are on FB so hopefully you can see them there. The party was great, just a low key bbq with friends and Emersyn had a great time. This was the first year that she was really into her party and I wasn't sure how she was going to react to the attention. She tends to be kinda shy and not a huge fan of being in the spot light. However, when it was time to sing "happy birthday", she sat and soaked up every word and when it came to us singing "happy birthday dear Emersyn" she totally giggled when she heard her name. Up until the minute her party started I was somewhat regretting having planned something so close to my due date but now I'm so glad we did it. It will be fun to celebrate her again on her actual birthday and hopefully her baby brother will have arrived by then!

Speaking of baby brother, Mr. Everett is still very happy and content in the womb. He hasn't dropped yet but I am 1.5cm dilated. If it weren't for the proximity of his due date and Emersyn's birthday I could care less when he came. But since I'm due the day after Emersyn's birthday, I'm really hoping that he comes early. My dr. has agreed to induce at 39 weeks IF my cervix is favorable and so far it is not. At this time when I was pregnant with Emersyn, I guess my cervix was favorable because I was able to schedule my induction 10 days ahead of time. That will not be the case this time. My next appointment is a week from today and hopefully by then he has dropped and we can schedule the induction. In the meantime, I'm drinking raspberry leaf tea, walking walking walking and trying to get this little man on the move. :)

Emersyn waiting patiently at the Dr.'s office!

In the meantime, we're having lots of fun in the sun waiting for brother to arrive. Yesterday we went to Rood Bridge Park in Hillsboro with some friends. We had lunch and walked around some of the trails along the creek that runs through the park. Ems loves hanging out with these kiddo's and it's cute to watch them interact being all different ages!

After the park I finished the last of my crafty projects for the nursery, a fabric covered memo board. I'm excited to put pictures and the "love notes" that were written to him at my baby shower up on this. We're going to hang it along with the "E" letters that we've made tonight hopefully. I keep saying that every night but then something comes up. I'm determined tonight. Unless something comes up of course. :) Ha!

The memo board isn't perfect but it's cute and it was made with love. I'm learning that practice makes perfect and I am not letting my tendency to INSIST that things be perfect discourage me from being crafty. I feel like I have gotten a LOT of use out of the 3.75 yards that I bought of this fabric. I think it's just so bright and fun and I really love it!

So remember how day one of soccer camp was great and day two wasn't? Well day three was GREAT! The weather wasn't too hot and Emersyn actually got out into the game and kicked the ball. The only thing was she would kick the ball and then be so pleased with herself that she'd run to me screaming with joy that she had kicked the ball. It was really cute.

Today was day 4 and it was similar to day 2, as in a FAIL, ha! It was kinda hot though and that affects things I think. It affects how into I am but I'm 9 months pregnant so that's a good excuse I think. :) Today Emersyn and Emery were hilarious though. They were extra lovey dovey and kept hugging each other during the games. There was one point where they were hugging and then Emersyn looked at Emery very concerned and said, "are you wearing sunscreen??". Then later during the soccer game, Emery asked Emersyn if she wanted to go swing and Emersyn told me they'd be right back and they took off for the playground. They were SO over it today, ha ha. We totally got our money's worth though and it was a great experience.


After soccer, Caitlin decided that we should take the girls to Baja Fresh to celebrate. It was a fun lunch date!

Miscellany Monday

{1} First of all, how do you like the new layout??! My amazingly creative and talented friend LeAnna always helps me out with blog design and I am SO thankful for her willingness to bless me in an area where I have NO idea what I'm doing. Thank you thank you THANK YOU friend!!!

{2} Do you know how strange and REAL it is to see my two children's names on the blog title?? Holy.Cow. I am hoping to be induced TWO weeks from today. I had an u/s last week and they think Everett is going to be a big boy. I was dilated to a one and not quite dropped yet. My dr. said walk walk walk and get this boy to drop. I've been walking my heart out, let me tell you!!! It's hard with your second child when you already have had an experience with labor and delivery, an in my case, I had a WONDERFUL experience delivering Emersyn. I feel like I have set myself up with those same expectations and I need to understand that it might not be the case with Everett. Yes, mind over matter is important but recreating the exact same situation as I had with Emersyn is unlikely. We'll just have to wait and see.

{3} Emersyn's birthday party was on Saturday and it went fantastic. A family friend who is an amazing photographer took pictures for us so once I get them, you know I'll post them as fast as I possibly can. :)

{4} Yesterday Brett and I had a date afternoon and it was magical. (No Rachelle, not that kind of magical, ha ha). It was really fun to have a date in the daytime. Brett's parents took Emersyn home from church with them and we were on our own. We came home, I cleaned up a bit (which would be considered a date FAIL but I was actually in the mood to clean and we were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do). I really really really wanted to see a movie and there were a couple comedies out that sounded hilarious based solely on their plot. But then after reading reviews and being totally grossed out and offended at what we saw, it seemed like a movie wasn't in the cards for us and I was kind of bummed. But then we saw a preview for "Crazy Stupid Love" with Steve Carrell and it was only PG-13 and looked cute. And guess what? It was SUPER cute and just what we needed. We ran a couple errands before the movie, then went to dinner afterwards at a quaint little restaurant in downtown Hillsboro called "The Venetian" and we were so happy with the food and the service. Plus, we had a Groupon to use there so dinner was half off essentially and we got dessert too. :) Yay for a great date!!!

The Venetian

{5} Today we went to the mall and Brett was playing with Emersyn and wasn't looking in front of him and took this giant leap to get away from Emersyn and nearly landed on top of this 17 year old girl who also wasn't paying attention and was texting on her phone. I saw the whole thing happen and nearly passed out from laughing, all the while maintaining my distance as not to be seen with him initially after the incident. Maybe you had to be there but it was hilarious.

{6} We ordered a stroller for Everett that I am JAZZED about. We are going to sell our Uppa. It turns out that fancy strollers aren't life changing and I had a few specific complaints about this stroller in general. I enjoyed it while it lasted but learned that strollers, much like purses, don't need to be expensive to be enjoyable. We got the stroller for more then half off and it had great reviews and best of all, it was inexpensive!! I wanted something lighter weight for taking out and something that Emersyn could push because let's be honest, that is something she is going to insist on doing from time to time. :)

{7} Remember how day one of soccer camp was amazing?? Well, day two....not so much, ha ha!

This is the face of a very overwhelmed child. Her and one of her besties had their first nervous breakdown together and her mom and I couldn't help but laugh. The girls really mastered the individual soccer skills. But once they had to play a game, Em and Em took off screaming in fear at the other kids running towards them. I think that soccer may have been too young at this age. In every other situation, I tell Emersyn to NOT take balls from other kids but now I tell her to go kick it away? I think it confuses her. :( Plus, a kid ran into her and she didn't understand that it was part of the game so she shoved him away and I worried it would turn into a toddler brawl. Oy. Two more sessions left....we'll see how they go. One of the things that I think wasn't great was the coach decided to do the game indoors because it was so hot (and by hot I mean 80 degrees, don't laugh southern friends of mine) and I think the fast pace of the ball on the smooth service was a little chaotic for Emersyn.

{8} Do you see this smile in the picture above? She's actually laughing.Can you guess what is making her laugh this hard? It involves a certain cartoon character burping. I had to do a lot of driving the other day so I let Ems watch a movie in the van and whenever Shrek burps, she nearly hyperventilates from laughing and asks me to rewind it. Oh dear. I guess she is going to do just fine with a baby brother. :)

Wee Bit Wednesday

{ONE} What was one thing you valued when you were a kid?
I loved that my parents idea of family time was a day on our boat exploring the river or the lake. I loved getting to sit in the back of the truck with my brother back when that was legal and head down the freeway to the Willamette river. I loved my mom's sub sandwiches that she'd make for our days out on the boat that were AMAZING and I still love them!! Family days on the boat are something I will always treasure.

{TWO} What was your favorite (& least favorite) subject in school?
Hated math. Loved english and actually I loved human anatomy & physiology in high school.

{THREE} Do you remember your first love?
Yup. I wake up next to him every morning!

{FOUR} What one pet would you love to have?
We'd love a little dog, maybe a Yorkie. Brett would get one today if I'd let him but I think we need to wait until Everett gets a little older. I think this time next year would be fun to get a dog!

{FIVE} Would you rather live in the country or the city?
I feel like I do live in the country sometimes. If you go a 1/4 mile south of my house there are tons of farms including a llama farm that I honk at each time I drive by to the delight of my daughter. I'm also a 1/4 mile from a Target. Go figure. It's a cool area *sorta*. :)

{SIX} What do you love about blogging?
Going back and re-reading posts from when I was pregnant with Ems and when she was first born and all the memories we've created. I also love the community.

{SEVEN} What is the first website you visit everyday?
GMAIL

{EIGHT} Will you or have you joined Google +?
I have joined it but I don't really get it and am not really looking to either.

{NINE} What is your favorite scent of candle/air freshener?
Fresh laundry. :)

{TEN} How would you describe your style?

Umm....non-existent? :) Ha!

Ramblings & Soccer Camp!

Have you ever written a blog post and then re-read it and thought to yourself, I sound like a total downer? Yeah, me neither. :) I wrote out a post and decided that some thoughts are better left unsaid in the blog world and better said in my prayer journal. It's funny how social media has turned our society into one that is constantly seeking recognition and approval from others and sometimes I think that I tend to whine about issues that I want people to tell me isn't my fault or that I'm still a *good* person. But seeking that approval is what gets me into trouble in the first place. So instead I will pray. And instead I will blog about the highlight of my day......SOCCER CAMP!!!!! :)










I saw this class in the local parks and rec guide online and I just HAD to sign Ems up. If I wasn't so pregnant already I would have signed her up for a couple more but we're just about out of time for summer classes. The camp is 4/30 minute sessions at a local park and it was a BLAST! Emersyn had a great time and did really great. She is very goal oriented (no pun intended, ha!) but she totally grasped the point of kicking the ball into the net. My favorite part was where we had to put on jerseys and the parents were on a *team* and the kid was on another *team* and we had to try to get the ball away from each other. Emersyn was laughing hysterically as she tried to keep me away from the ball and it was so so fun. Emersyn's buddy Emery did the class with us too and everything's always more fun when you're with a friend, right? :)

Emersyn tried a dance class probably about 6 months ago that she didn't really love and I was hoping to put her in it again but I think I might try to find something more athletic for her, even like tumbling. I just don't see her doing dance but maybe that could change as she gets older. Most of the programs are so expensive for kids and since she's still so young, I don't want to be too eager to sign her up for things when going to the park is just as fun. This soccer camp was only $16 which is totally in my price range. Plus, it gave me good ideas of how to play soccer with her in a way that makes sense to her. I'm excited to see what they cover in the other three classes.

Brett went into work late today so that he could go to her first day and that meant a lot to me. He really wanted to be there, I didn't even ask him to. I'm so thankful for the flexibility in his job versus jobs he has had previously. He can't be at everything but he can at some things and that's a wonderful thing!

When we got home Emersyn went down for a nap and I relaxed for a bit and then got to work in Everett's room. I got the first load of clothes washed, folded and put away. I had to get out all of the newborn things and put the rest away for now. We have limited storage in his room right now and with things being SO tiny, I don't have the ability to hang things up like I was planning on doing. I think even the three month size stuff will hang up but the newborn stuff is soooo tiny. I have gotten so many great hand me downs from friends and I can't wait to see my boy in things that I have seen my friends boys in. :) I packed my diaper bag with a few outfits for Everett at the hospital. Want to know something funny though? I have totally forgotten what even goes in a hospital bag! I know I don't need to bring diapers and wipes and stuff, although I remember a friend of mine brought her own wipes because she didn't like the things that they used at the hospital. I guess I'll bring a binky, his clothes....I need to pack a bag for myself to but again, totally blanking on what goes in there. I'll look it up online, no need to write out a list for me. ;)

I'm reusing the pinwheels that were used for decoration at my baby shower to make a mobile for Everett. I was going to make some felt owls but I am running out of time, energy, creativity, and motivation. I LOVE the colors of the pinwheels and am really excited to see how it turns out! I'm alllllmost ready to post pictures of the finished nursery. Just a few final touches and a few things left to buy, like the autograph mat that we did for the visitors at the hospital when Ems was born.

We went to Babies'R'Us tonight to buy some final things too, like a changing pad cover, some binkies, and a couple other things. I am slowly starting to feel more and more prepared. :) Putting away the clothes today was pretty surreal...we are having another baby and he is a boy. I was telling Brett last night that thinking back on being pregnant with Emersyn seems like such a fog and is so hard to remember in a way even though it was only three years ago! I feel like I've changed a lot as a person since I was pregnant with her and in a good way and I wonder if that is why. I don't know if changed is even the right word, it's probably a combination of changing and growing up a bit. Still though, it just seems like SUCH a long time ago. I do remember that putting together a nursery was a LOT easier when you didn't have a toddler behind you, taking things out as quickly as you can put them away. :)

How can you be mad at a face like that though? :) By the way, that is the bear that we made for Everett the other day. Ems is just keeping him company until her brother gets here. She thought it was hilarious to sit in the crib. :)

Miscellany Monday

{1} I'm a big fan of cinnamon LIFE cereal. It pretty much always sounds good to me, morning or night.

{2} At least 3-4 times a week my husband tells me of an incredible invention idea that he has. I am super supportive and excited for him. And then usually within a couple hours of sharing his big idea, he finds it on the internet, already invented and I pretend to mourn the loss of his idea and the potential for our early retirement together. I can tell he appreciates my support. And I think he's adorable for continually coming up with ideas.

{3} I saw this number candle at Winco and asked Ems if we should get it for her party. She studied it and really debated. She decided to keep it and then a minute later put it back on a shelf and said, "we shouldn't get this...it's not on sale". I assured her that it actually was on sale and she seemed pleased and agreed to let me spend the $.68. I seriously think her dad is programming her behind my back to keep an eye on my spending, ha ha.


{4} One of my best friends moved away about 7 years ago and I haven't gotten to see her very much since then. Thankfully, her and her sweet family just moved back into town and I've LOVED getting to hang out with her. Thank you Lord for low maintenance friends. I always feel so refreshed hanging out with her and I'm so so thankful that our kids get to grow up together now!

{5} Yesterday after church we took Emersyn to pick out a "Build-a-Bear" for Everett as a gift from her. After much deliberation she decided to get a bear that was on the smaller size which is perfect and best of all, it was the cheapest bear there, ha! I had said that she could pick any bear but she liked this one the best. We also had a $5 off coupon so the bear cost us a whopping $5. I think Everett is going to like it. We named him "Brother Bear".








{6} After Build-a-Bear we went to check out the last day of the Nordstrom sale. Brett wanted some slip on Jack Purcells that were on sale and he needs casual shoes so we agreed he should get some. Then while we were waiting to try them on, I glanced over and saw the same shoes in the women's section (since Jack Purcells are gender neutral). Yes, it's true. We now have matching shoes and I love it. Now to complete our yuppy family fashion statement we need to find some for Ems. :)