Favorite Things Friday

I love a good boob light update and this one with faceted crystals is super adorable.

I cannot wait to make these DIY wooden instruments with my little guys. I think that they will love them! I also think that these would be a great gift!

As we are approaching Gibson's first year I'm thinking of a creative way to compile some of my favorite Instagram images of the little guy. This canvas is amazing but at $450 too expensive! I'm up for trying to DIY something similar though

I made this Chicken Yakisoba for dinner a few weeks ago and it was AMAZING and easy!! I highly recommend!

How did I just learn that Nate Burkus has a fabric line at JoAnn Fabrics???

I'm interested in making a large subway art sign for the boy's room and this looks like a great tutorial

Gibson at 11 Months

How is it possible that we only have one more month in Gibson's first year????

This Month Gibson...

• Can pull himself all the way up. Will scoot to the nearest table and immediately goes into a standing position.
• Will start to take a few steps when holding our fingers
• Favorite foods are raspberries, avocado, and broccoli... seems to HATE bread (is this my child???)
• Climbs up the steps and instantly makes a beeline for Emma's room. He cannot get down steps yet so we are always right next to him

• Will crawl sometimes... mostly he still prefers to scoot.
• Had a play date with friends  

• Is now classified as thriving! We are so thankful for this one... for a while it was believed that he might have Williams Syndrome and we feel so blessed that  it no longer looks to be that. Gibson is gaining properly with the extra calories given and the thought is that he just has an extreme metabolism... and we can work with that! We will go to the metabolic specialist in April to find out next steps.
• Remains a champion sleeper. He is catching Zzzzzs from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m.
• He had a great little photo session in preparation for his first birthday and the photos came out amazing! Here is a sneak peak (I used this photo as a Save the Date for his first Birthday Party)

And a few more photos from the month

Now I need to have another BABY!

Really Banana Republic!!! My little guy turns 1 in exactly a MONTH and NOW is the time that you come out with a baby line that only goes up to 12 MONTHS!!!


They just introduced BR MINI!

The collection really is too cute for words and I am trying to practice some MAJOR self-control at the moment!!! I mean Gibson is still small for his age and could probably get 2-3 more months in 6-12 month clothes.... Something tells me that Matt Park would not approve of the splurge! GRRRR

Fingers crossed that this first line does well and they expand! 

The Merge: A Place to Lay their Heads

I have been drooling over the blue Jenny Lind bed from land of Nod for years... Always picturing it in a room for our boys but at $599 each I knew that it was never going to happen... Sad face here...

I mean spending $1200 for two bed frames not even counting mattresses and bedding... dude that is over my budget for the whole room!!!

So last week, on a whim, I decided to look at Target! BAM! They had a Teal Jenny Lind headboard!

With the current promotion and my Target Card discount it would come out to $280 for TWO!!! And FREE shipping! Even though Hunter will be the only one in a twin bed for now I want to go ahead and buy two so that we will have the exact match for Gibson once he is older.

With this option we would still need to purchase the metal twin frame to screw into the headboard and it doesn't come with a baseboard... which I'm okay with...

I also like that this goes with the fabrics that we currently have in that room..

I'm not looking to make too much of a change all at once!

I need to purchase some more of the diamond fabric (for a bed skirt) and I want to find a simple Ivory duvet with a Green blanket to fold over the bottom of the bed.  I think it would pull everything together nicely!

Gibson will stay in the round crib but the bedding will be switched back to Hunter's fabric. Here is a look back on what that looks like...

The headboards came in yesterday and now I need to get the twin mattress, frame and bedding.

The Merge: Inspiration

In preparation for the big Merge (putting Hunter and Gibson in The same room) I've been searching the Internet for inspiration and tips on how to keep the space functional and organized.

Here are some top things that caught my eye

I LOVE this closet organization for a little kiddo! Love that there is hanging space on both sides and that there are two levels! I also LOVE the shoe storage tucked down on the side.

This is just the perfect round-up of Kids room ideas! We will NOT be constructing this bunk house but what a fun idea!

This Bunk bed from Restoration Hardware would be amazing in our space! I love the industrial feel... It will be about 4 years before I'm going to feel comfortable with Hunter up in a top bunk AND this is WAY out of our budget at $2399! Maybe down the road this could be a DIY project that Matt could try to tackle.

I Love the photos above each of the beds in this adorable boys room.

I love a good Jenny Lind Bed

Love this Industrial Mood board for a boys room.

What a great quote about brotherhood.I could DIY this.

I want to make the bed skirt for Hunter's bed.

Playroom State Artwork

In APRIL of 2013 I purchased some artwork from an awesome etsy shop.... AND we just put them up in the playroom... Talk about getting something off the To-Do list FINALLY!

I wanted something colorful and fun for the basement playroom and I wanted it to represent our family.  The custom watercolors at the sweetest digs co  were perfect. I told the shop owner the states and colors that I wanted and when they arrived I was so happy... I had ordered them as 8x10 and in hindsight I wished that they were a little bigger so that they would POP more on the playroom walls...

Matt is from Michigan....

I am from Georgia...

Our Family is from Virginia!

Since the images were not as big and bright as I originally anticipated I decided to add a fun pop of color with the matting! This was sooo easy!

I bought the RIBBA frames from IKEA (on sale now for only $6.99) and they come with an off white mat to go around your 8x10 image... I broke out some yellow spray paint and BAM instant color!

I love them hanging above the fireplace in the basement playroom! I think that they add just the right pop of color and they are a great nod to our past and present!
 
And this is what happens while I'm taking pictures... 

 

The merge: Where we are now

So the time has come... I think that our guys need to be in the same room. We have done a few trips in the last month and had some visitors at out house which resulted in Hunter and Gibson sleeping in the same room,,, and I'm happy to report that they did GREAT! Our plan all along was that around one year we would complete THE MERGE.

I've decided that the two will share the space where Hunter currently is. The convenience of them having their own bathroom was the deciding factor...and I LOVE the wooden wall accent wall that Matt installed.

In the four years that we have lived here the room has had a number of transformations and I wanted to share the current state before I start moving furniture out.... About 2 months ago we put a full bed in there when we had guests over for a night... and well it just stayed in there...

Here is the evolution of the room...

Nursery 

Toddler Bed