Going Home Time

Gosh - I am looking at the pictures in this post and am so amazed at how much Jack has changed in the last two weeks!  That's right - how do I have a two week old already?!  OK - back to the post...I wanted to do a post dedicated to going home from the hospital - it is a big deal (at least in my mind)!  I had intended on staying in the hospital the full amount of time, but since I was doing so well, I thought it might be good for us all to be at home (especially for Katie).  And we all know that the hospital really is not the most restful place.  So we went ahead and left on Monday to head home.  

Here is Jack dressed all cute in his going home outfit!

Another picture - and with his monkey blanket and a burpcloth (obviously).  And I wanted to comment that monkeys must be a really popular theme for boys - we got tons of monkey stuff from folks...and it is all so cute!

My nurse took our picture - so cute!

And then Brad loaded Jack up in his carseat!

"Momma - I'm ready to go see my house!"

He was so serious! :) And so cute.

When I went home with Katie, I was wheeled out in a wheelchair holding the carrier.  They didn't do that this time - I walked my own self out to the car!  I am sure I could have asked to be wheeled out if I was hurting, but I felt good enough to do it for sure.  And then the ride home was uneventful!  When we got home, Sadie was super excited to see us.  Katie was playing with Nanny for the day, so she wasn't home yet.

Me with my little guy!

My neighbor put a blue bow on our mailbox!  That was something else different - we didn't get a sign for the yard.  I assume they don't do that anymore for safety reasons (as in - so folks won't know you have a wee one and try to take them ... sick, sick people).

And Daddy-o with his boy!

And I wanted a picture of us by front door with the wreath that had been hanging on the hospital door.  It is still on our front door now!

And we had presents for each of the kids from the other - Katie picked out things for Baby Jack (in the blue bag), and then Jack had a present for Katie.  We had the things at the hospital, but there wasn't a good time to do it, so we saved them for at home.

After Brad went to pick Katie up and they got home, Katie got to dig in to her bag of goodies.  Jack waited to open his this past week!

She loved her Rapunzel doll!  She still runs around with it all over the house!

And she got two Tangled books and a tracing ABC's book.  She loves them all!

And she wanted to sit together and read the book together.  I think she was super excited that I was home form the hospital.  And she was only slightly interested in Jack at that point!

And that is all from the whole Jack-was-born experience!  I, of course, have lots of cute pictures from the last two weeks...and pictures of what Big Sis has been doing too!  So stay tuned! :)

Katie's and Jack's Rooms

I've been meaning to do a post showing Katie's room since we put her curtains up (and by we, I mean Brad) and figured I'd wait and link up at Kelly's Korner!  I love how the kids' rooms have turned out, though there are 2 corners in Katie's room that need some help.  Maybe you can offer some suggestions!  Anyway - here are the tours of the kids rooms!

This is Katie's vanity area - each of the kids has their own sink and then they share the tub/toilet area.

 When you walk into Katie's room, this is what you see...

 Once you enter it all the way - I love it :)

 Her bed!

 Her dresser with her letters of her name over it (it was over her crib which was on this wall before we switched it into a big girl bed).

 Her bookcase and the door to her closet!

 One of the corners I need help with.  I keep all her stuffed animals in this little crib but it looks naked.  I thought about making a mobile to hang in that corner.  I made one for Jack's room for decoration - let me know what you think about doing one for Katie's room in her colors for this area...

 Some of the details of Katie's room!  She has a memo board that holds all her bows between her two windows.  And then I have a towel hook on her closet to hang all her purses on.  And then the sunshine canvas - love the colors and font and happiness factor it brings to her room!  I did have it in her bathroom but traded the headband holder and sunshine canvas!

 And an up close of her curtains!  Of course they have dots :)  But they go with her room so well!  And that little rocking chair was mine when I was little.  Do you think anything else needs to go in that corner?  A mobile could also work there.  I can't decide!  And just to put it into perspective, her bookcase is just to the left of that chair looking at the picture.

Katie loves her room and her big girl bed and wants to show it to anyone and everyone that will look.  I think we have succeeded in creating a space she loves!

And here is Jack's room - I know I did a post about his nursery once it was complete, but I thought I'd share it again.  I love how it turned out!  This is the view from the doorway.

 And I painted these letters for over Jack's crib (I thought scrapbook paper and embellishments like Katie's letters was a little much for a boy's room).

 And the little bookcase area - I love the colored bins and the boy definition canvas!

 And the glider corner and a view of the wall with the etsy prints we found!

 And a view of the dresser/hutch and the area where you walk into his sink/vanity area.

 A closer view of that area.  That door right there goes to the tub/toilet area but we have it closed and locked right now so that Katie doesn't run all over creation.

And a close up of the glider area - my mom knit that blanket for Jack and I love it on the glider!  And Katie has that same pillow on her bed (in case you hadn't noticed) but in girly colors.  It has the sweetest prayer on it.

 And a few details of his room - the top left picture is a small side table that I modge podged some cute scrapbook paper on.  And then the up close of the boy definition canvas that I had done for the nursery.  I also had that memo board done with burlap and navy ribbon.  I love how it looks and can't wait to put some pictures on it!  And there's the mobile - it turned out great!  That is what I was thinking of doing for one of the corners of Katie's room but obviously in coordinating colors.  

Thanks for touring the kids' rooms!  I can't wait to get some other decorating and organizing ideas from everybody else!  Happy Friday!

Before and After: Breakfront and SUYL: Dining Room

One of my projects I wanted to mark off the long to do list before Baby Jack was re-doing the breakfront in the dining room.  We don't really use the dining room at this point because we don't have a nice dining room table and chairs - but that is on the "to buy" list for sometime soon.  

We had a mixture of things on display in the breakfront - some pictures, some wedding memorabilia, some figurines...

 And my mom came over and helped me!  And boy, oh boy, does it look better. It looks like it belongs in a dining room!  My grandmother gave me the 12 place setting that had belonged to my great-grandmother, so we used that china to put on display.  I love the colors and the look of the china - the pattern is Blue Tree by Lenox!  And then my grandmother on my dad's side of the family gave me some glassware that they got as wedding gifts that we put out on display as well!  And then we left a few wedding-related items as well.  I think it looks SO good...and it makes me want to really get that dining room table so that the room is one that we could use to host family gatherings, etc!

While I am posting about the main focal point of our dining room, I thought I'd go ahead and do the link up with Kelly's Korner about dining rooms.  The rest of the room is nothing special at all.  A dining room set keeps getting shoved down on the infamous "house list" - hopefully one day soon!  Anyway, here are a few pictures of the rest of the room...

This is the view as you walk in the front door and look to the right.  And this is real life - a mess!

 And as you walk into the foyer and look, you get a better view of the room as a whole...

 And here are some of the pieces of art/pictures hanging in the room.  This first one was clearly on our wedding day!

 Us with our grandparents on our wedding day.  I love this picture.

 My mom is an artist and she did this piece - I think it is a great dining room piece!

 A family friend made this for us as a wedding gift - so special!

 And this was the matte our guests signed at our wedding reception with another wedding picture in it!

 This console table (still covered in the wrapping paper from Katie's birthday party almost 2 months ago with all of the party details - oops) clearly does not belong in the dining room.  We are going to try to sell it on craigslist or give it to Goodwill or something soon.  We just don't have a use for it anymore since our TV is hanging on the wall over the mantle.  And, well, the baby gate is if we need to keep Katie and any other little folks off the stairs :)

 And we have this shelf in the corner of the room - I have NO IDEA what to put on it!  I have some neat (but breakable) items I could put on there, but I don't want Katie to get curious (or any of her friends, or Jack when he gets older).  So right now, there is that small lamp, a small framed picture my mom painted, and the tray with candles and ornaments (that just look like balls) on it right now.  What else would you recommend I put on there?  Maybe my cookbooks?  But then it is a pain to walk in there to go through them rather than if I kept them in the kitchen.  Hm.  Ideas welcome! 

I can't wait to have a nice, formal dining room - we want to paint it and put window treatments up and obviously get a dining room set!  And then I will feel better about trying to host family events (which I can't wait to be able to do)!  Until then, the bartop table with stools and slipcovered wingback chair and breakfront and console table will just have to do!

Linking up with Kelly's Korner SUYL: Dining Rooms!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Welcome, Wednesday!  It's that time again...here's what I'm loving today!

I'm LOVING my beautiful roses that Brad and Katie got me for our anniversary this past Sunday!  I also got another fabulous gift, but that will be a separate post :)

I'm LOVING this quote.  I think I might print it and frame it for Katie's room somewhere - afterall, it IS her favorite color!

I'm LOVING this fun list of things to do this summer.  I know I keep posting these things, but I think they have such fun ideas!  Now we just need to decide which ones we want to do!

I'm LOVING this idea to make a patriotic wreath - and on the cheap, too!  I bet the Dollar Store has cheap red, white, and blue flip flops (or the dollar spot at Target) to make this wreath...may have to try this - next year :)

I'm LOVING how easy this looks to be - I found this idea for salt dough handprints and the recipe from a blog on last week's WILW (here is the link) - and apparently, all it takes is 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 cup of water...and then you make the print and bake at 200 degrees for 3 hours!  I assume you can add some food coloring or something to add some color.  Or paint or something afterwards.  Anyways, I want to do this for both Jack and Katie - I think it'd be cute to display/frame together somewhere!

I'm LOVING this sweet boy.  Look at that smile!  Is it not the cutest thing ever? Ok, ok...I'll stop that now...

What are YOU loving today?? Link up HERE!