- finish baby's room (check!)

Baby #2 is coming soon! In about 4 weeks! Here is a photo of me on Friday - 36 weeks pregnant. This was before I left for work, but had to change because I spilled on my belly. Again.

Another project is checked off the list! Baby #2's room is done! I wanted this baby to have a fun and stylish room, but I didn't want to use any of the same colors, themes or techniques that we used in Gabby's room. I also didn't want to paint the walls, replace the rug or curtains, or do much work. So we were limited:)

Here's what we did:

• Stencil the wall (bought stencil online at etsy.com, it took Mylee and me a good 5 hours!)
• Bought crib sheets on etsy
• Bought mid-century dresser on craigslist
• Spray painted a few things teal (including oval from from Ikea and $20 mirrors above crib from Target)
• Bought some cheap art at the MCAD Art Sale and had it framed at Michaels (which was not cheap - boo)
• Bought a few fun accessories

Fortunately, with baby #2 being a girl, we're set. We didn't need much!

Gabs - 21 months!

Here' s a sneak peek from our photo shoot! I wanted to get one last  shoot taken before #2 arrives!

craigslist

Craigslist has it's ups and downs. The major down being having to meet people you don't know. But the good usually outweighs the bad!

Two weeks ago our dryer quit. After some investigating we learned that it was made in 1989 and the problem was a bad circuit board. Major props to Mike for the diagnosis! The part was $180 to replace and we decided to buy a new dryer.

We headed over to Sears and learned that there are loads of dryers to choose from, and they're not cheap! That night we had Mike's parents over for dinner and his Dad suggested checkout out craigslist. We were both hesitant, but ended up finding a great dryer for only $200. We picked it up the next night and it's been working great ever since!

I think we're done in here.....

BEFORE

This kitchen was a lot to look at. Our plan was to make it livable for a few years and then go for a full renovation. At the beginning of January we tackled our last project in here. We took down the old backsplash (it was corian) and put up marble subway tiles. We chose a marble mosaic for behind the stove. Before we started the tiling we brought in an electrician to install under cabinet lighting, along with a few small changes we needed to make (single circuit for microwave, adding a few outlets to make the room up to current code, moving a hidden junction box just to name a few).

The tiling took a couple weeks because the electrician took time to do his work and even though tile can be an easy project, it takes time for mortar to dry, grout to dry, etc. 

DURING

Eew, such a mess. And we had to eat out a lot too! You would think it would be fun, but it gets annoying after a week or two. And Gabs doesn't behave in restaurants right now!

And now, the finished product...

Sneak peek at Baby Girl's room!

I will put up a few more photos tonight! Over the weekend Mylee and I worked on stenciling one of the walls in the baby's room. It didn't turn our 100% the way I'd like, but I think it will be better after we hang some things on the wall. Stenciling isn't that easy. It takes time and patience. We bought this one from Cutting Edge Stencils. It took about 6 hours from start to finish.

It's almost done! I can't believe Baby Girl will be here in 7 weeks.

What we're working with...

Before!

This is the only before photo I have of the "office". It's from way before. Before we moved in the house.  We used it as an office too and it actually wasn't that different. We kept the brown paint color and had put a rug, curtains and new light fixture in there. The red light that you see above the desk here actually hung down to 4 feet off the ground. It was a hazard!

We're excited about baby#2 joining our family in the end of March! It's going to be another girl! I was excited to tackle another "non babyish" nursery, but didn't want to make too many drastic changes. So the wall color, rug and curtains are staying the same. That means teal is now a girl color. Here's what we're working with.

And then there was light...

I took just about a one year break from blogging. Yikes! A lot has progressed in the family room and I'll start up where I left off.

We bought an awesome light fixture. Mike actually found it at a local store, but we wrote down the model number, googled it and found it for about $50 cheaper online. I think it was about $600, but totally worth it. Everyone comments on the light when they come into the room. And I love looking at it:)

Once the light was ordered, it took about 7 weeks to arrive. And it came in about 100 pieces. The crystals all had to be attached manually. First I had to take them out of individual baggies. Then I laid them out and we both attached them to the light. Big project for sure!