Two updates to our home!

So both of these updates were long over due and the materials sat around for far too long.  Pretty sure that by the end of this post there will be a lesson learned!  The first one Brian and I did a month or two ago and I forgot to post pics.  I had been wanting to do some uppercase living since I first heard about it when we lived in Spokane, but neither house felt right since I knew they were not "long term" homes for us.  Last Mother's Day Brian got me a gift cert. to get whatever I wanted from UL.  I picked a saying for the girls' bathroom mirror "Yes, you are fairest of them all."  "Bon Appetit" for the kitchen.  and for the living room "A double with "FAMILY" large underneath and "where life begins and love never ends" on top.  We got the bathroom and kitchen ones up right away, but the "family" one just sat there taunting me...it seemed like such a daunting task since we worked together to put up Bon Appetit and it was about 18" long.  The family one is over 3 feet long...I wasn't sure how it was going to go!

Lots of nerve racking time spent wishing it was up, but too scared to just buckle down and do it!

Finally one Saturday we decided we better get it up now or never.  It was actually really easy to put up and the largeness just meant a little more to peel and moving the ladder down to remove the backing.

 Before...see it was around Christmas time :-)

 Brian adhering the second layer to the first...this part was making me nervous

Tada!  Doesn't it look great?

I love how it turned out and am sooo happy that we finally took the time to get it up!

The second project was a bit more expensive and time consuming, but I think it looks wonderful completed. :-)  Again this took a substantial amount of time to get up on the wall.  We had family photos taken back at the end of Oct.  This was by the RIDICULOUSLY expensive lady we found through living social...didn't end up being much of a deal, but she took fabulous pics and how were we to say no to some sweet pics of our girls?  So after spending a small fortune on pics, another small one of the frames, hours of arranging them until I found the perfect configuration, (or at least one that didn't say "oh"or "ho"....haha.  Brian pointed out that the H and oval frame were spelling oh and ho in a few of my configurations.  Whoops!!!) and then sometime yesterday...they are up and look GREAT!!!

before a blank canvas!

 Template configuration

 Brian hammering the nails...No I don't need help hammering, this was just his contribution to the project :)

 All done, view from landing/hallway What do you think of the "H" I am not sure if I am a fan of the gold or not....thoughts?

 View from front door. 

I love that these two projects add so much of  "us" to our home.  While there are still about 8 million things I want to do with our house, these little things help me bide my time until I can get the big guns out and do an actual remodel...Oh, I can't wait for that day!!  Stay tuned for the dining room reveal one more thing is needed before I will be ready to unveil that baby! 

***Lesson Learned***  Procrastination stinks....just do it already!

No more diapers for Kelti!!

Yay!  Such a joyous occasion!  Kelti is potty trained, I put off posting on this as long as I could because I wanted to make sure that she really was potty trained and this wasn't some fluke.  I really started working with her on Feb 22.  A few weeks before that she picked out a princess potty seat at the store and it was golden from there.  Since we took a trip down to see Brian's parents (looong drive) I didn't want to really start the potty training before that, have to switch to diapers for the drive and all that nonsense. 

It is so weird to me that two kiddos can be sooo different...I know that this is what everyone says, but I mean come on. Ashlyn first went number 1 and 2 on the potty at 13 1/2 months old, and she went pretty consistently from there.  Actually I take all some of that back.  I was just thinking over Kelti's journey and realized that last Feb. When she was 13 1/2 months old she was actually going on the potty multiple times a day and had dry diapers when waking from her naps.  This lasted for a couple months and then she had no desire until recently.  I didn't want to deal with Ashlyn having accidents while being pregnant with Kelti and her pediatrician thought it would be best for Ashlyn to get used to having a baby sister before going hard core on the potty training.  So she ended up being completely potty trained at 24 months.  We didn't want to "push" either kiddo, but let them guide the process so they were ready...I mean who really wants to fight about poop???...Not stuff I am willing to go to battle over!  So it took Kelti a little longer to be motivated, but at 26 months old she is fully potty trained and doing just fabulous.

 Discovering that you get two m's for going number 2!

 I love this little laughing smile, such a happy sweet girl! You also might be noticing that this is a different seat, we had to get another to make the most of our house layout so this one is Elmo!

 So proud of going on the potty, this is one of her first times and you can even see her princess seat!

I think this one is sooo funny!  Love this girl and I am so proud of her!!

For those of you familiar with Ashlyn and her potty dance, yes we have taught it to Kelti, and hers is cute too (note Ashlyn was doing a "potty dance" WAAAY before the pull up one) :)  Hers was also for going potty and getting a jelly bean. 

Here's to no more diapers in our house!

Valentine's and a Valentine Pinterest party!!

Valentine's day was a huge hit in our household this year.  The girls are very aware of holidays and the joy that they can bring not to mention the gifts that come with too! :-)  

I was excited to make some new decor since I had about three no make that four things total!

I made this conversation heart ball to put on top of my mercury glass candle holder.  I think that it turned out sooo cute...both girlies loved watching me hot glue each heart one...thankfully it went pretty quickly!

Real Deals wood decor find 50% off too!!! :)

Old Real Deals blocks (this is one of the four original decorations I owned)

I love these frames that I constantly get to change to match the ever changing seasons! 

Love sign for door

Heart garland that I made with the girls, they had a great time watching our garland grow :-)

another RD find 50% off!! :-)   I later got another set of blocks from RD that are larger and spell LOVE.  They were 75% off!!!!  I love a good deal!!

For Kelti's room

A little out of order, but this is jello painting at Ashlyn's preschool party.  It still smells delicious, look at how well Ashlyn can stay in the lines...she does this great coloring too!

Family conversation hearts....I didn't want to go with the normal colors that conversation hearts are though.  It says kisses between Bri and me and hugs between Kelti and Ashlyn

Painted clothes pins in Valentine colors. 

Another shot of the clothes pins...I love how this simple project turned out!

Ashlyn holding the paper heart wreath that we made

peek a boo I see you!!

Here it is on the door...sadly it didn't hold up that great outside, I caught it before it was ruined, but it started to warp with all the wet weather!

These are my version of chocolate croissants.  they are actually really good!!!

YUMMM

The girls enjoying a Valentine snack

I was amazed by how well Kelti was able to bead her bracelet and she picked nice coordinating colors for hers, she seriously did a wonderful job, then considering that she is two and the other kids are 3-4...I was just blown away!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

These are the super cute frames and ABC I love you pics we gave to Ashlyn and Kelti's teachers!

I also hosted my first pinterest party at the end of January.  We made some of the things I showed and had a ton of fun eating, drinking, and crafting... sadly I have realized that I have become horrible at taking pics during any type of event....sooo I have no actual pics from that evening, but I am going to try and be better with the camera, especially since we just got it back and fixed....better not poop out on me again!

WIWW

So I am not sure how to do all the linking up right now, but I want to get in on the fun of What I Wore Wednesday...I know it is Thursday, but bare with me! 

I love this outfit and how it turned out.  I thought it was fitting what I was told by a friend's husband that my outfit should be "pinned" if it wasn't already :)

Boots (Nordstrom), boot socks (Christmas gift, Macy's), tights (Christmas gift, jcpenny), skirt (Abercrombie), belt (surf shop, seaside, OR), long sleeve black top (Nordstrom), pattern blouse (Nordstrom), scarf (Target) necklace (Lulu's Jewels)

Hopefully next week I will be better at this!