Then and Now: Averie's Room Edition

We have been super busy at our house trying to get everything guest ready for Thanksgiving and I am happy to report that a TON of work has been completed! All the big stuff at least, which makes the place livable, which makes me pretty excited. The smaller stuff on our to-do lists can wait until we've got a little more cash to throw around. I am probably the most proud of Averie's room... let's check it out!



 

Here's her closet BEFORE

 

 

Here is her closet in PROGRESS. We still have to add a bi-fold door, and I have a little basket next to her closet to put all the extra hangers in... I'm thinking we may need to add a 3rd shelf... This girl has a TON of clothes.

 

 

Here is her main wall BEFORE

 

 

 

And her main wall AFTER! I am so proud of my bright stripe! I love that it ties in with her original bedding from her first room, and I love how her crib pops out against the grey walls! This is my favorite view of her room.

 

Here is the corner of windows BEFORE

 

The corner wall in PROGRESS! I still need to make custom curtains for her room and add some more artwork around her name. Her monthy picture bear loves all the space to chill.

 

Here is the only uninterrupted wall in her room...

 

 

 Here it is AFTER! I only classify this as after because the things on these shelves are forever moving.

 

Here's a close up of her nook:

She's got all her hair accessories (organized into hats and bows of course!), Dr Seuss books (my fave) a piggy bank bear/swear jar I made her, more blankets from loved ones, hygiene items, a muffin I made her so Mason can be a part of her room, and a gorgeous lamp that went with her original bedding. Of course we have Harbor the cat modeling how well the changing table works.

 

 The window wall from another angle BEFORE

 

The window AFTER! These things will also change out as time goes on, but I love all her little nooks. These are mostly gifts from Averie's loved ones...

 

Here's a close up of her nook shelf:

 

A picture frame, princess books, a customized piggy bank, Minnie ears, a lemur, tiny uggs, blankets from some special ladies, and TONS of hand me down books from her daddy's childhood. So much love and history on one shelf!

 

I'm pretty much obsessed, and I never thought I could embrace pink! Her room is so fun, I can be found in there re-arranging and playing around at any given time. I wish I could just design kids rooms for a living, that would be the best!

 

Stripes, Stripes, Stripes and.... More Stripes

Most of these projects have been done since before we actually moved in, but the last 2 were completed this week, one of them just a few hours ago. I could have posted the finished ones, but I thought it would be more fun to lump them all together, since they're all in the same family. Let's get right to it: I'm absolutely obsessed with stripes! My husband wasn't too sure about it when I initially let him in on my decorating plans, and it took lots of looks at my Pinterest boards to get him on board (pun intended) but he decided to trust me in the end, and it was a good move- because we both love the results. Let's do it in chronological order of completion...

Here is the inspiration for Averie's room: (Please forgive my phone screen shots- I have no idea how to use Photoshop)

 



We don't have vaulted ceilings, but I knew we planned to do dark hardwood and wanted something to brighten up the baby's room. I am also not a fan of orange (many years working at Home Depot will do that to you). You can tell these were done before we moved in because they still have the horrible brown carpet. (More on that later) Painting stripes is a lot easier than you would think...

 

 Basically, you measure the height of your wall and then divide by the # of stripes you want. I knew I needed an accent stripe to be surrounded by regular stripes so I made sure to pick an odd number. I marked the ones I intended to paint with tape, and added an extra piece to the one I wanted to be the accent stripe.

 

This photo shows why I decided to go a little bolder on the accent stripe. The 2nd one down is a lavender, but its too similar to the grey. So, I went back to the store and got inspired by an out of character color for me, and ended up with this:

 

I'm kinda obsessed with it! Normally I wouldn't pick pink willingly- but a lot of her bedding has a fuchsia-y purple to it, and it works out great with the grey. I liked it so much I decided to do this:

 



This is the wall directly opposite the striped wall. I know it's a little bold, but with all her chunky white furniture and some strategically picked art, I think it'll all balance out. Besides, kids rooms are supposed to be super fun and a little crazy right? I have big plans for curtains in this room...

I was going to post pics of our dining room- but it looks like my computer ate them... I'll have to re-take them and post them in the future... but guys... it's awesome! (Promise!!!!)

I bought a chevron stencil to use in the guest room. My original plan was to paint all the walls purple but do a grey, pink, purple variating chevron on the accent wall. The thing I failed to realize was how hard it would be to use a stencil on a textured wall. We think the guest room used to be a sun room that they converted into an extra bedroom. I didn't want to give up my dreams of a chevron striped accent wall so after a few weeks of living in our house I decided the best (and non-textured) spot would be our living room where we have French doors. It's such a focal point in that room, I thought it would make it extra special. So, on Sunday I handed the baby to my husband and got to work.

Just for the full effect on how cool this room is... here's the before:



 Yes, this room is painted the same grey that is in the baby's room. I am really into this color, I like that in some lights it looks a little purple, but I really like that it's a neutral and it goes with everything. Ignore the unfinished wall to the left... that's a whole other blog! Do you like how my ladder in is every before shot?

And here is the fabulous after:

I poured some white paint into the leftover grey that was already on the wall. I could have just used the white for the stripes, but I wanted it to be a little softer and subtler. I am so happy with the outcome, I can be found at any given time just standing and staring at this wall.

I will be 100% honest and say that despite my absolute love for this wall, I will never attempt a chevron stripe again. It. Was. SO. Hard!!!! That's why I don't have any during pics, or any good tips on doing it. It was so hard! Even on a smooth wall, with lots of tape and a level it was impossible to get them perfectly straight. I had to go back and hand paint the edges to fix all the places it didn't line up perfectly. The stencil I used (from Etsy) wasn't very good- it didn't account for the stripe above it, and it would smudge the point above it. Ugh... it took way longer than normal stencils would. But... I LOVE IT!

Lastly, we have our small silly little staircase. 3 steps is all i had to work with, and it's such a funny space in our house I wanted to do something to make it special. When I saw this photo, I knew it was what I was looking for:

 

 Here is what it looked like when we pulled the carpeting off the stairs...

 

 AND... here it is now! I played around with only doing the top and bottom (to make it look like the inspiration pic) but I ended up deciding to just go for it and do it on all 3. If the landing looks like it's a different color than the rest, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. After we tile the kitchen we will carry the hardwood onto the landing. I am still deciding what color to paint the hallways... maybe my trusty grey... but I'm pretty happy with the outcome. And so is the hubby... which is always a good thing with interior decorating!

I know what you're thinking. My house must look like a fun house as you walk through with all these different stripes (and i even have more ideas for accents in other rooms) but because the layout of our house is pretty spaced out, and not super open they don't all smack you in the face as you walk around. In fact, you can't see one while looking at the other... so it doesn't feel crazy as a whole. It feels more like little surprises that make each space special as you go through the house. We are pretty stoked about it, and we can't wait to share more!

Before the Crazyness Sets In Photos

Everything I have learned so far about home renovations, I have learned from my favorite blog Young House Love. Not even 5 years working at Home Depot in the past taught me as much as those two! Justly- everything I have learned about home renovation blogging I have learned from them as well. We have made a lot of progress in the 3 short weeks we had between getting the house and moving in (something you are already familiar with if you follow me on instagram) but I think it's best if this post is all about the "before" photos and our plans to update our house. We live for this stuff. Seriously.

So lets start the house tour....

The Living Room

 

To Do List:

-Tear out all carpet

-Block off the doorway by the double door

-Paint

-Lay hardwood flooring

-New windows

-Add curtains

 

Dining Room

 

 

 



To Do List:

-Tear out carpet

-Paint

-Replace outlet covers (in this room they are painted over so many times you cant plug anything in)

 

 

Kitchen

 

 

 

 

To Do List:

This is the biggest task- all the cabinets are literally falling apart so they must go and the stove faces a weird direction, that's not something we can change because of the gas hookups so we are going to close the wall next to it and turn this space into an L shaped kitchen.

-Close Doorway to Living Room

-Paint fridge (until we can get a new one)

-Tear out all cabinets

-Install new cabinets/sink

-Get rid of portable dishwasher and install dishwasher into new cabinets

-Lay new flooring

-Install back splash

-Paint

-Encase fridge with a cabinet on top to make the side of the fridge usable space

 

 

Guest Room

 

 



To Do List:

This room is kind of odd with so many windows on every wall and a huge closet on one of them. There are literally no blank walls in here. Originally we thought we would use this as Averie's "big girl" room because it has its own bathroom. Now, we're thinking we'd rather keep it as an office/guest room and maybe build on another bedroom down the line. We are leaving the cork flooring because its brand new and I really like it.

-Paint all walls

-Maybe take out closet and add a new smaller one

-Add chevron stripe to wall with 1 window

-Add curtains

-New windows

 

 

Guest Bathroom

 

 



 

To Do List:

This is my favorite bathroom of the 2 (The layout is smart and spacious) and I LOVE the mirror and cabinets. The cork flooring from the guest room carries to the bathroom too so we won't be touching that either.

-Replace toilet

-Add curtain to the window

-Change shower curtain to glass shower doors

-Add wainscoting to the lower half of bathroom

-Paint

-Change out fixtures

-Change light fixture

 

 

Hall Bathroom

 

 

 







To Do List:

I hate this bathroom. It's just a dark hole of a space and everything is so cramped. Everything in here is changing except the shower.

-Replace toilet

-Get rid of the 2 identical sinks and replace with one big double sink counter

-tear out the 2 medicine cabinets

-move large mirror from above toilet to above double counter and frame in

-remove towel bar and replace with artwork

-add overhead lighting with either a skylight or can lights

-get rid of extra vanity

-replace flooring

-PAINT (Ill never understand painting a bathroom the color of poop)

-Replace light fixture

-Reverse door swing since the light switches are behind the door

 

 

Our Room

 

 

 

To Do List:

The master doesn't have a bathroom... one day we will fix that or add on another master suite with a bigger walk in closet and a bathroom. For now, we have sort of an L shaped room and are having issues with how to furnish it. I'm thinking the nook by the window that shares a wall with the closet will be a beauty corner with a floor length leaning mirror and a vanity... but we'll see.

-Remove carpet

-Install hardwood floor

-Change door to closet

-Get rid of poop brown paint

-Add curtains

-New windows

 

 

Averie's Room

 

 

 

 

To Do List:

-Remove carpet

-Install hardwood

-Change or paint ceiling fan

-Install bi fold door on closet

-Add curtains

-New windows

-Paint

 

 

Laundry Room

 

 

 

To Do List:

This room is at the very back of the house (it leads out to the yard) but I am so excited! I've always wanted a laundry room!

-Washer and Dryer (obviously)

-Paint

-Change flooring

-Frame in washer/dryer with custom cabinets

 

 

Hallways

 

I know it's probably weird to include our hallways but I have big plans for them haha... so here they are and their orientation of the house... 

 

From the hall bathroom TO the front door. I am going to paint this a deep purple. I love a colored door. All this flooring is going to be replaced with hardwood as well. The 2 white cabinets to the left of the door are going to be removed once the kitchen remodel is done. There is not storage in there right now, so the previous tenants were using them as kitchen storage.

Same view from the hall bathroom to the front door, just a few steps back. These are our linen cabinets but the top left is useless because it holds a huge heater duct. It's closed off from the rest. We are going to make the one below it the cats litter box (they are super into hiding in cabinets anyway). I am going to remove all the handles, fill them and add moulding to give them the same look as our kitchen cabinets. They will get painted as well.

This is the cabinet in the middle of our stairs. They will get the same moulding face lift/paint job as the hall cabinets. The bottom will be used for games/toys and the top for cleaning products and laundry stuff until my custom laundry cabinets are built.

These are the stairs from the laundry room to the entry/kitchen/ Averie's room is to the left and our room is to the right. I am going to add a chevron pattern to the stairs and probably some kind of paneling to the walls of all the hallways. They'll get painted as well. Kev is working on removing all the carpeting from this area to replace it with hardwood.

This is the reverse view of the photo above- looking into the laundry room (just to show a different perspective of this hallway)

 

So there you have it, our new house and all the plans we have for it. Some are already done, some are still in progress. I'll try to share them as we complete them. As far as the outside goes, we don't have solid plans for any of it, so I'll wait to share those pics. We have lots of plans though, we just need to figure out what is actually do-able. We are learning our way through this, but loving every minute of it. I can't wait to show some killer before and after pics!

 















Pumping At Work

If you had told me two weeks into my breastfeeding journey that now, 7 months later, I no longer dread each and every bf'ing session... that I in fact LOVE breastfeeding and go through great lengths to continue my bf'ing relationship I would have laughed in your face. Actually, I was so sleep deprived and suffering from sore nipps I probably would have slapped you across the face for saying such dirty words.

In the beginning I kept telling myself "Just make it to two weeks and then we'll see" once I made it to 2 weeks I sad "Ok, just make it to a month" then "the magical 6 weeks everyone keeps talking about when everything is supposed to click". That's around the time I wrote this post on breast feeding Everything wasn't coming up roses at 6 weeks so once again, I gave myself another goal- 3 months. Somewhere around the 3 month mark everything clicked and I fell in love with bf'ing and now I can't imagine my life without it.

It's so funny to think back on when I was pregnant and I knew nothing about bf'ing but I knew seeing other people doing it meant I would giggle and look a little too long. I was super immature because I didn't really understand how important it was. I also got weirded out thinking of this little person looking up at me while bf'ing. Now, those are my favorite moments. I kept telling everyone who was trying to shove bf'ing on me "I'll only do it for 3 months, longer than that is just weird." Boy was I wrong! I'm not afraid to admit, I was ignorant to the subject and I flat out had no idea how I would feel now.

The goal is to keep it up for a year, like the medical community recommends, but we will see how it goes. I've heard of many babies weaning themselves before the year mark. I can say with certainty I won't nurse past 18 months because for me, that's an appropriate time to stop. I will say though, the day Averie wants to stop bf'ing my heart will be broken into a million pieces.

I now understand why so many moms stop bf'ing when they go back to work. It's extremely difficult to continue the bf'ing relationship once you have to add work into your life balancing act. I'm lucky because I live in a state that has my back but that doesn't mean my pumping life is easy. I have to pump every 2-3 hours in order to keep up the supply my daughter is used to. That means I have to get up extra early to make sure I can get ready for work before it's time for her morning feeding. I have to time our feeds so it's right before I leave the house.

Every day when I get to work I get to have the fun uncomfortable conversations with each of my co-workers to try and negotiate a time when no one else will be using the break room so I can make sure I don't piss any of them off while simultaneously making sure to stay within my 2-3 hour window. Every day I go home for lunch so I can feed the baby. I am fortunate enough to work within 10 minutes of my home, when we move I won't be so lucky and I'll have to add another pumping session during my lunch. When I get back to work I get to go through juggling everyone's breaks and schedules to make sure I get in my afternoon pumping session.

Despite the law being on my side, my co-workers are somewhat selfish people and don't always make my pumping life easy. The room I pump in, is the only one without cameras which happens to be our common lunch room. There is a door, but everyone has access to it. Despite me putting a large DO NOT DISTURB sign on the handle, I have been walked in on twice, interrupted for frivolous things countless times and have even had some of my pump parts go missing on me. The real kicker is that we are short staffed, which means I have to spend my pumping sessions worrying that someone is going to interrupt me to come help (which happens ALL THE TIME), watch the cameras for the same thing, and keep a cover close in case someone decides to ignore the sign and walk in on me again. My sessions are supposed to be relaxing so I can produce more milk, but I have yet to experience this kind of pumping session.

I'm not trying to say that they're all idiots (granted, some of them are haha) but they just don't understand. Not one person in my office has ever been in my shoes, so when they interrupt my session because they 'want a glass of water' (despite the fact that I walk around 5 mins before each session to remind people to get what they need out of the kitchen to avoid this) or they have a question or they just ignore the sign... it's really discouraging and every day I contemplate quitting this whole charade to make my life easier. In the end I tell myself "maybe tomorrow will be better", it never is but it  helps me keep going.

There have been times where I completely forgot my pump at home, or a part that I cleaned the day before and left in the strainer... there were even times I remembered all my pump pieces but I didn't bring anything to pump it into. Luckily, there has been someone home to bring it to me, but I also work next to a baby store so I've been able to get things on the fly. What I've really found to help is having an extra pump. One stays at home and one stays in my car. That way I only have to remember to switch pieces after I clean them. With insurance paying for one of them, I didn't mind the expense for a battery powered one. True, they aren't as powerful so you may spend some extra time pumping (or just turning it to full power) but it's what is working for me.

My work wardrobe has proven to be interesting too. At my job we have to wear 'business casual' and it's super cute but a lot of it isn't really wip-out-a-boob friendly so I started bringing a small blanket with me to sit on in case I have to hike up the bottom of my dress. I get cold easy too, so it's nice to wrap around my shoulders while I pump too. Warmth helps the flow of milk, so it's a win/win.

I tried a few milk producing products when I first returned to work because I was convinced that I wouldn't produce enough but nothing worked as well as keeping hydrated. I drink so much water in a day I feel like I'm always in the ladies room, but it's worth it when I get 6oz in a 10 min pumping session. I've also come to realize that I will always pump more milk during my first session, than in my last.

I don't know if I'm the only nursing mom to realize this, but I know which boob is my 'power boob' so I try to plan my actual feedings with the baby on the opposite side so I can pump with my power boob and get more milk. I haven't had any issues with leaking or engorgement, but I also have a regular work schedule.

Despite all the things I find annoying, pump pieces being stolen and all the extra work it takes at night to make sure I am ready for the next day, I am happy to do it because it means I get to keep nursing. My daughter doesn't have any issues anymore with latching after a bottle feed, so it's smooth sailing when I'm with her and I get to enjoy our bonding time. I could change everything and make my life easier, but in reality I wouldn't change a thing because it makes my life better.

Finally Updating!

Wow! It has been almost 2 months since my last blog. On one hand I can't believe it, but on the other it is not surprising at all. My life has been SO HECTIC since going back to work at the end of July- plus add in all the other things life has been throwing me lately and you have one very busy, and very tired mommy! I also have a hard time blogging when I am keeping a secret. I never want to lie to my readers. You heard me correctly... I had a secret for the last few months and now I can finally talk about it- so here we are!

Where to start? Going back to work and pumping. It is hard. It is REALLY hard. I don't know how I get through each day with all my pumping sessions and milk to bring home for my daughter each day, but I do... so I start all over again the next day and then give myself a pat on the back for another hard day down. It's also really tough to be away from Averie for long periods of time, but I know why I'm there and I know what I need to do to provide for my daughter (and my baby-clothes shopping addiction). I feel like I have learned enough to write a blog about, but that may have to wait until I have the time to actually sit and put all my findings into a comprehensible thought.

A few weeks ago I thought I was pregnant. I still haven't gotten my period since having my daughter (I'm told my breast feeding and frequent pumping sessions are the cause- yay!) and I know that while I may not get my period, that doesn't mean I am not ovulating. My husband and I have not gotten back to the 'alone time' quota we once had (did I mention working and having a baby is hard?) but we do alright. Well, a few days after one of our date nights I started to feel some cramping.. but it didn't go away. Then I started to feel sick pretty regularly. I had to re-research when you can take a test (because there is literally no room in my brain for old information) and saw that I still had to wait a few days. Have you met me?

Those days were complete torture! Again, we weren't planning on having another baby but we also weren't taking any precautionary measures. When it finally came time, I took the test and it was negative. I felt sad but I had so much going on in my personal life at the time I was ok with a negative test. BUT... the symptoms didn't go away so I thought maybe I had taken the test too early. So I waited. Again. Torture. One week later I took another test and it came back negative again. I am still confused as to why I am currently feeling the aches and pains of pregnancy that I have come to (not)love but hopefully I can make an appointment and check with my doctor to see why I am feeling nauseous and achy constantly.

Let's get in to the big secret... WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! We are finally moving!!! 1.to be closer to my in-laws side of the family 2. I can eventually stay home with the baby (we still need to get out of some debt) and 3. the cost of living is WAY lower than the expensive bay area! So, hopefully by the middle of next month we will be all moved in! Here we are in front of our new house!

The coolest thing about our house is that our neighbors are my husband's parents! The lot is about 3 acres and there are 3 houses on the lot. Our in-laws house has the largest square footage of 2100sq/ft but is 1br/2ba our house is 1900sq/ft and is 3br/2ba There is also a bungalow on the back of the property that grandma will be moving into eventually. I'll post more pics once we get a chance to take them. When we initially toured the house it still had all of the old tenant's things in it- we are still waiting on the current residents to move out and then we will go and take tons of pics and plan out the renovations and redecorating. It's a bit of a fixer-upper but not too bad- there are mainly layout issues.

I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am to move in and make this house our own. It will be the last time we move for a very long time! This will be our 6th move in 5 years... we are ready to stay in one spot! We had been looking for months while simultaneously getting my in-laws house ready to sell. It was a lot of work- my husband even had to spend his 'CA baby bonding time' getting their house ready- so it was more like "grandma bonding time while daddy worked like a mad man time" but in the end their house sold on the first weekend of showings and we got the 1st house we had looked at and fallen for. All is right with the world on our end.

I have loved blogging about our life on the road to becoming parents, and the struggles we have shared have taught me so much about myself, and about the kindness of others. I'm sure I will continue to write about my amazing daughter- who turned 6 MONTHS the other day!!! But, this blog has always been about the post happily ever after life I lead and all the things that accompany that, and we are standing at the beginning of a new journey in our lives so it seems appropriate to warn all my readers that my blog may take on a different theme: home ownership and home renovation! All of our family and friends are interested in the work we are going to be putting into our new home so it may get a little Young House Love-ly around here, but I know I won't be able to stop myself from writing about our daughter and my quest to be a stay at home mom.

Speaking of, we really need to get our budget set and pay off some of our medical expenses (Before insurance- Averie and my stay at the hospital combined reached 81K!!! Thank God we only owe around 6K!!!) if anyone has any tips on family budgeting please send them my way! Hopefully I'll be back soon with pics of the new house and our wish list to fix it up ;)