I will just come right out and admit this is kind of a brag post. I am super proud of myself for what I recently made:
It's not perfect, but it's very sturdy. The drawer sticks a bit, but hey, it was my first one I've ever made, and it DOES work, so...
I made it mainly out of scraps of wood we had lying around from all my other recent wood projects, plus I had to buy a few things - totaled around $7 or so. So yes, I made this adorable little nightstand and it cost me less than $10. If you include ALL the costs, it was probably around $15-$20. So inexpensive! I love it and I can't wait to make a couple more for my own bedroom! :)
Thanks Tim for lending me your Kreg Jig! It was super helpful!!
Edited to add: I have to give my husband credit - he helped me taper the legs and use the table saw for one or two other cuts. There is no way I could taper legs myself. *shudder*
Friday, September 14, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Four Months
I can't believe my little man is four months old already! Okay, actually I can believe it, but I think every mom starts out a blog post like this one that way, so I figured I better conform. ;) I'm actually super excited that he's getting older, because I have a lot more fun with older babies than newborns.
Overall temperament:
Ben is generally a very happy, smiley baby. It is adorable. I love getting him out of bed in the morning and seeing his HUGE smiles that take up his whole face! He does tend to go from happy to dying in about 2 seconds though, if you know what I mean. One second, happy and smiling. Next second, the world is ending right on top of him. I don't always get much warning. He also hates the car. I do think he's starting to grow out of it already though, which would be awesome. Overall though, he's a very happy, content baby.
Sleeping:
It started out terrible. He was up all night the first couple of months. Not just waking up to eat, but waking up to eat and then just be UP. Then after around 1 1/2 months or so, he slept a lot better. At 2 1/2 months, 8-11 hours was normal. I got used to that, let me tell you. Now he's up every 2-4 hours or so. *sigh* I don't do well on little sleep, so I am hoping he grows out of that sooner rather than later. I guess the 4-month sleep regression I always heard about isn't actually a myth...at least not with every baby.
Milestones:
That's my boy! He's a cutie and we love having him in our family!!
Overall temperament:
Ben is generally a very happy, smiley baby. It is adorable. I love getting him out of bed in the morning and seeing his HUGE smiles that take up his whole face! He does tend to go from happy to dying in about 2 seconds though, if you know what I mean. One second, happy and smiling. Next second, the world is ending right on top of him. I don't always get much warning. He also hates the car. I do think he's starting to grow out of it already though, which would be awesome. Overall though, he's a very happy, content baby.
Yup, this is what I get to wake up to every morning. Love it!
Sleeping:
It started out terrible. He was up all night the first couple of months. Not just waking up to eat, but waking up to eat and then just be UP. Then after around 1 1/2 months or so, he slept a lot better. At 2 1/2 months, 8-11 hours was normal. I got used to that, let me tell you. Now he's up every 2-4 hours or so. *sigh* I don't do well on little sleep, so I am hoping he grows out of that sooner rather than later. I guess the 4-month sleep regression I always heard about isn't actually a myth...at least not with every baby.
Milestones:
- He coos like nothing else. It's probably my favorite thing about him. We'll be walking through a store, and he'll just be talking away to who knows what! He also coos at me whenever I sing to him. I love it when he wakes up in the morning cooing instead off crying.
- He recently found his toes and is quite taken with them.
- When it comes to rolling over, he is just not that interested. He has a couple of times, but that's all! I thought he would because he rolled over a couple of times at only a week or two old, but nope.
- He LOVES sitting up. He can't do it on his own yet for more than a few seconds, but I don't think it'll be too long before he gets it.
- He kind of giggles. By kind of, I mean he holds his giggles in as much as possible until he can't anymore and they kind of come out like little cough/hacking sounds. Sometimes I wish I could have a baby that just giggles, but it's pretty funny anyway.
- He finally started pushing himself up on his elbows. He took a while to do this, because he absolutely positively HATED tummy time. I would put him on his tummy, and he would just put his head down and cry. Or sometimes go to sleep, when he was really little, before he fought sleep. I kept at it and tried to make it more fun for him, and he's really good at it now. He even enjoys it for a little while!
- Playing with toys...he's just starting to be more interested. He has always preferred looking at faces over toys, but lately he's getting better at holding onto them so they're a bit more fun.
That's my boy! He's a cutie and we love having him in our family!!
Friday, September 7, 2012
Kaylee's Room
This is kind of a long time coming...I finished this before Ben was born, but, you know, then he was born...and I never found {made} the time. It's not super creative or anything, but here is Kaylee's room now:
I made the quilt on her bed and the bed skirt. The curtains I bought from Target, but I cut them in half and sewed the raw ends because 84" curtains would look a little ridiculous on our tiny windows. Will and I built the shelf for under $30, including all the supplies, primer and paint. It turned out even better than I was hoping! And of course I painted the letters and added the ribbon.
So, nothing super special, but I think it's cute.
PS Stay tuned for an update on the basement room...should be up in about two weeks! I can't wait to show the difference!!
I made the quilt on her bed and the bed skirt. The curtains I bought from Target, but I cut them in half and sewed the raw ends because 84" curtains would look a little ridiculous on our tiny windows. Will and I built the shelf for under $30, including all the supplies, primer and paint. It turned out even better than I was hoping! And of course I painted the letters and added the ribbon.
So, nothing super special, but I think it's cute.
PS Stay tuned for an update on the basement room...should be up in about two weeks! I can't wait to show the difference!!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
The Life of a Stay-at-home Mom
I thought it would be fun to write a very detailed list of EVERYTHING I did one day. So the other day...this is what I did. It was quite a busy day, because Ben was so cooperative and took GREAT naps. Some days I sit and rock him all day because he's being a pain. The times are random because I couldn't remember them all.
1:30(am) - Ben wakes up
Get up to get bottle
Come back to bed
Ben is asleep, put bottle in fridge
Go back to bed, Ben wakes up
Go to fridge, get bottle
Get back to room, Ben is asleep (sigh, what I hate most about bottle feeding)
6:30 - get up
Feed Ben
Change diaper
Play with Ben and surf the internet
7:30 - Put Ben down for nap
Go in basement and paint trim
8:00 - Kaylee wakes up
Feed Kaylee breakfast and eat
Feed cats
Change Kaylee’s diaper and get her dressed
Clean up her room, make her bed
Clean up our room, make our bed
Clean toaster, oven, stove, stove hood, spice rack, KitchenAid, counter tops, microwave
9:30 - Ben wakes up
Go out to garage with both kids, Ben in bouncy seat
Clean up garage
Pull up Kaylee’s pants about every 2 minutes
Start to sweep
10:20 - Put Ben down for a nap
Go back out, wash plastic containers and buckets
Finish sweeping and organizing
11:00 - Come in for lunch
Ben wakes up
Go get Ben, put him in toy jumper
Make lunch
Ben cries - pick him up and finish making lunch
Scrape cheerios off Kaylee’s high chair tray
Sit down to eat, holding Ben, take only one bite...
Kaylee spills her lemonade
Put Ben down, rinse off tray, get more lemonade for Kaylee
Go get (now screaming) Ben and finish eating
Feed Ben
Put Ben in bouncer and clean up breakfast and lunch dishes
Put away dishes
Fold and put away load of towels
Put rags in washing machine
12:00 - Ben starts whining, sit and play with him and Kaylee
12:30 - Wipe out fridge
Put two cookies in the oven for Kaylee and myself (I make little cookie dough balls and freeze them for this purpose :)
Rock Ben for 15 minutes, put him in bed
Get out (burned) cookies, put in new ones...oops
Sweep kitchen floor and prep to wash
Eat cookies
Wash floor
Wash cookie dishes and put away
Wipe down chairs
1:30 - Clean up back yard
Push Kaylee in swing
1:50 Take shower
Get Ben and feed him
Get Kaylee a drink
Change Ben’s diaper
2:30 - Move rags to dryer
Organize junk drawer
Do hair and makeup
3:10 Run errands
Console Ben after being in the dreaded car seat for a half hour
Put away rags
Get chicken out for dinner
4:00 - Feed Ben and put down for nap
Start making dinner
Feed Ben
Change diaper
Play with Ben and surf the internet
7:30 - Put Ben down for nap
Go in basement and paint trim
8:00 - Kaylee wakes up
Feed Kaylee breakfast and eat
Feed cats
Change Kaylee’s diaper and get her dressed
Clean up her room, make her bed
Clean up our room, make our bed
Clean toaster, oven, stove, stove hood, spice rack, KitchenAid, counter tops, microwave
9:30 - Ben wakes up
Go out to garage with both kids, Ben in bouncy seat
Clean up garage
Pull up Kaylee’s pants about every 2 minutes
Start to sweep
10:20 - Put Ben down for a nap
Go back out, wash plastic containers and buckets
Finish sweeping and organizing
11:00 - Come in for lunch
Ben wakes up
Go get Ben, put him in toy jumper
Make lunch
Ben cries - pick him up and finish making lunch
Scrape cheerios off Kaylee’s high chair tray
Sit down to eat, holding Ben, take only one bite...
Kaylee spills her lemonade
Put Ben down, rinse off tray, get more lemonade for Kaylee
Go get (now screaming) Ben and finish eating
Feed Ben
Put Ben in bouncer and clean up breakfast and lunch dishes
Put away dishes
Fold and put away load of towels
Put rags in washing machine
12:00 - Ben starts whining, sit and play with him and Kaylee
12:30 - Wipe out fridge
Put two cookies in the oven for Kaylee and myself (I make little cookie dough balls and freeze them for this purpose :)
Rock Ben for 15 minutes, put him in bed
Get out (burned) cookies, put in new ones...oops
Sweep kitchen floor and prep to wash
Eat cookies
Wash floor
Wash cookie dishes and put away
Wipe down chairs
1:30 - Clean up back yard
Push Kaylee in swing
1:50 Take shower
Get Ben and feed him
Get Kaylee a drink
Change Ben’s diaper
2:30 - Move rags to dryer
Organize junk drawer
Do hair and makeup
3:10 Run errands
Console Ben after being in the dreaded car seat for a half hour
Put away rags
Get chicken out for dinner
4:00 - Feed Ben and put down for nap
Start making dinner
4:30 - DADDY COMES HOME!!!! Hopefully he will never wonder why I'm tired at the end of the day.
I love days like this. It makes me feel productive!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Latest house project...
House projects around here have really slowed down, a lot. Our main living areas are decent now, and so I've tried to restrain myself from doing much right now so we can pay off our furnace and a/c. Even though there is SO MUCH I want to do, I can be patient. Sort of. I was getting a terrible itch to start another project, so I decided why not work on a basement room? My sister is coming to visit in a month or so for a couple of weeks, and I want her to have a room to stay in that is clean, fresh, and...well, just not completely gross. Right now, I'm sorry to say, the room she will be in is completely gross. I think I can make a HUGE difference in it with just some paint and a lot of elbow grease. Of course, that probably won't get rid of the spiders, but it might help at least a little bit...
Some of the previous owners decided that the fake wood paneling in one of the basement bedrooms was just too light, I guess, so they did a lovely nearly-black varnish type stain on it. It was super, super shiny, so nothing we could just paint right over. So, I put on my trusty dust mask and got to sanding.
I must admit I was not expecting to get that dirty. I thought it would be like...well, sanding. You know. You get a bit dusty. This was beyond that and so gross. Comparable to sanding our living room ceiling, actually, except at least that dust was white and fluffy, not dark brown and sticky. Can I just say I'm glad I was wearing a mask? Although, after I got about 3 layers of dust on it, I don't know how helpful it was.
Later, we washed the walls three times, but it's STILL a bit dirty so I think I'll have to do it just one more time and then I'll be ready to fill the holes, reattach the pieces of paneling that are loose, prime it and then paint it. Can't wait!
Some of the previous owners decided that the fake wood paneling in one of the basement bedrooms was just too light, I guess, so they did a lovely nearly-black varnish type stain on it. It was super, super shiny, so nothing we could just paint right over. So, I put on my trusty dust mask and got to sanding.
I must admit I was not expecting to get that dirty. I thought it would be like...well, sanding. You know. You get a bit dusty. This was beyond that and so gross. Comparable to sanding our living room ceiling, actually, except at least that dust was white and fluffy, not dark brown and sticky. Can I just say I'm glad I was wearing a mask? Although, after I got about 3 layers of dust on it, I don't know how helpful it was.
Later, we washed the walls three times, but it's STILL a bit dirty so I think I'll have to do it just one more time and then I'll be ready to fill the holes, reattach the pieces of paneling that are loose, prime it and then paint it. Can't wait!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Happy Birthday, Kaylee!!
My little Kaylee is two years old today. She is so grown up for a two-year-old. The thing that really amazes me is how much help she is with Ben. Yesterday I was in the other room, and Ben started crying. She climbed up on our bed to reach his bassinet and found his pacifier, and gave it to him. She even remembered to take her shoes off before climbing on our bed. She loves giving him the pacifier and does it whenever she thinks it's necessary (and it often is exactly what he wants at the time). When I do the dishes, she sometimes looks around the house and brings me any bottles or dishes that were left out anywhere and puts them on the counter for me. One time I said Ben needed a diaper change. She looked in the diaper bag and when she saw that there were no diapers left in it, she went into our room, found the package, and brought it out to me. Yesterday, Will and I decided to play a little trick on her and see what she did. We pretended we were going to the store with her, and leaving Ben alone in his swing. We barely got out the door before she was saying "Ben? BEN!!!!" She loves her little brother so much.
The other day it made Will and me laugh because we were at Red Robin and Kaylee had chocolate milk. She drank it all and wanted more. I said she shouldn't have any more, but when the waitress came, she held up her cup and said "Mmm?" It was so cute that I couldn't resist letting her have more. She didn't say it that time, but she's also getting pretty good at saying please and thank you. It actually sounds like "Peesh" and "Dip-doo!" though. She says "bless you" whenever someone sneezes. However, she says "Meh-neh." I have no idea how she came up with that one.
She's quite self-sufficient. She hates being alone, but if Will and I need to have some time to talk all I need to do is tell her that it's Mommy and Daddy time and she'll happily go play by herself for at least a couple of hours. One of the mornings soon after having Ben, I slept in a little bit with him and she got up by herself. I found her on the living room floor, eating cereal and drinking water out of her water bottle. If I let her play outside with some water and water toys, she's literally happy for hours. I really never have to entertain her, which makes it much easier to care for a baby. I said before Ben was born that she would be a great big sister, and boy was I right!
We did a photoshoot for her birthday today. She is so girly it's funny. We did her hair, painted her nails, and put her in a tutu and she absolutely loved doing all that. I know it might be a little pathetic but I have never made a tutu for her before. She got so excited about it. It was hilarious. Anyway, here are some pictures:
As always, it was a very exercising endeavor. I think I got some good ones though, and we had fun, so that's what counts, right?
Of course, she IS still two. She still has plenty of tantrums, and she gets into everything. A few days ago I found her covered in diaper rash cream, along with the coffee table and Will's school laptop. It was quite the mess, that stuff does not wash off easily. And taking family pictures a few weeks ago was difficult. She was not exactly cooperative.
It's really quite funny looking back on these pictures. I can't wait till she's a little older and I can torture her with them. :)
PS Thank goodness for my sister-in-law Tiffany, she managed to get a few smiles out of Kaylee so we got some decent pictures. She has skills!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
One of those days...
WHY yes, I did just lock both of my children in their rooms. And then go out and proceed to eat a bowl of ice cream for lunch.
Yes, I did.
Was it a good idea?
Eh, probably not. But I think I needed it.
The last couple of days have not been much fun for me. I have an absolutely horrible cold. Not the kind of cold that you sort of have a stuffy nose and feel a bit out of it for a few days, and maybe a cough. No...the kind where my head feels like it's going to explode. My nose is so stuffed I can only breathe out of one side for days, no matter what I do, and constantly runs. I might as well stuff tissues up my nose and call it good. (My husband finds that super attractive...) I can't sleep, during the precious times at night when Ben IS actually sleeping, because breathing through my mouth hurts my throat, and obviously I can't breathe through my nose. I have this weird cough that is really deep and makes me feel like gagging every time I need to cough.
Now, I do know this is just a regular old cold, because Kaylee just had it. And SHE had the kind that was just a little runny nose, and a bit of a cough. She didn't really seem to notice it.
*sigh*
I should probably go get the kids out of their rooms, as I just heard Kaylee start screaming again, and a little thump. She's probably stuck in one of her toys. Sometimes she's in her shopping cart, sometimes the doll house...
4.5 hours till bedtime. Not that I'm counting.
Yes, I did.
Was it a good idea?
Eh, probably not. But I think I needed it.
The last couple of days have not been much fun for me. I have an absolutely horrible cold. Not the kind of cold that you sort of have a stuffy nose and feel a bit out of it for a few days, and maybe a cough. No...the kind where my head feels like it's going to explode. My nose is so stuffed I can only breathe out of one side for days, no matter what I do, and constantly runs. I might as well stuff tissues up my nose and call it good. (My husband finds that super attractive...) I can't sleep, during the precious times at night when Ben IS actually sleeping, because breathing through my mouth hurts my throat, and obviously I can't breathe through my nose. I have this weird cough that is really deep and makes me feel like gagging every time I need to cough.
Now, I do know this is just a regular old cold, because Kaylee just had it. And SHE had the kind that was just a little runny nose, and a bit of a cough. She didn't really seem to notice it.
*sigh*
I should probably go get the kids out of their rooms, as I just heard Kaylee start screaming again, and a little thump. She's probably stuck in one of her toys. Sometimes she's in her shopping cart, sometimes the doll house...
4.5 hours till bedtime. Not that I'm counting.
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