Hunter 42 Weeks

Hunter Man turned 42 weeks last Wednesday!!!

Here is what he has been up to:

• Hunter LOVED watching the Fireworks at the Pentagon
• He REALLY enjoys going to the pool! His favorite thing is when someone swims underwater and pops up right in front of his face. 
• Hunter Man can stand unassisted for 10 seconds. 
• He has started to get REALLY unhappy when it is time to go down for his nap. It is almost like he now realizes that things are still going on around him and he doesn't want to miss out.
• Hit 20 lbs
• Likes to SKYPE with his Grandma Pammy! He always trues to grab the computer screen
• When you put him down the first thing that he will go for is the remote control
• Can climb up the three steps which separate our main level from the bedrooms (we have a spit-level house)
• If he is in our bedroom crawling around he will typically craw to Sophie's Kennel and try to get inside
• Hunter has gone poopy in the big boy potty three times! More on this later... 
• Still loves to eat. We are really into blueberries right now!

j

Porch: Fan Update

Do you want to see a sad picture???

Can you spot the droopy sad part??

The saddest looking / non functional fan... I'm guessing that this fan was not intended for outdoor use and that the particle board blades were not meant to withstand the elements/humidity.

I was originally going to buy a new fan and even purchased the below from Home Depot

 

When it arrived Hubby was NOT happy... See I had purchased it without clearing it with him first and there were two big issues that I had not considered.

1. It was an indoor light with the same particle board fan blades so in a year or two we were going to be stuck with sagging blades again.
2. With the light it would hang down too low and people would not be able to walk under it.

Opps...

So back to Home Depot it went and Matt came up with the SUPER economical recommendation to just replace the fan blades that were meant for the outdoors...

I purchased the Westinghouse White Outdoor Fan Blades from Home Depot for only $26.97

The blades came with pre-drilled holes...

But they didn't fit what we needed. So hubby drilled me some new holes (using the old fan blades as a template)

 

And here they are on the fan!

So excited! No more sad blades that don't work AND these are made from a thick resin so we will not need to worry about replacing in the future. 

This was such an easy and money saving update. Now our fan is actually functional and we didn't need to replace the entire thing!

Porch: Window Treatments

I'm back for the second day in our week of porch project reveals



I am SOOO excited to share with you our awesome window treatments!!! Surprise Surprise they are from IKEA....

I went to IKEA in search of the Vivan Curtains which are only $9.99 for a pair! Cannot beat that price...

But after much searching I couldn't find them in the store... I asked a sales associate who kindly informed me that they were discontinued... FAIL!

But back in the corner of the store a bright and bold pattern caught my eye.

There they were... the PERFECT curtains for my porch! They are the Janette Curtain and are a little more expensive at $24.99 for a pair (Still a great price). In fact they are so much nicer when compared to my original curtain pick. The heaver weight (almost like a canvas) and the fact that they are machine washable make them well worth the extra money!

So I forked over almost $100 for four pairs of curtains (I only hung 6 panels but kept the other two for other items)

I typically use curtain rods but for the screened in porch I decided that I would try something new.

I settled on the Dignitet Curtain Wire from IKEA. I liked that it looked so much lighter and less bulky compared to a traditional rod.

I purchased two packs as well as a few of the Dignitet Support/Corner fixtures. My total for the hardware came to only: $45.94

When I got home I measured, cut & hemmed the curtains to the perfect length. The curtains are originally 98" which I LOVE! Usually you have to pay so much more for curtains that long!

I did a double hem so that it would hang a little heavier on the bottom.

Now I have to admit that the Dignitet System was a PAIN it the booty to hang... there was cussing involved and at one point I thought that I had cut the wire down too small and I cried to Matt... He was amazing and immediately came out and fixed the issue for me. Such a nice hubby!

But I love that the system allowed for me to easily hang a panel in the corner and after I cussed my way through one section the others went up much easier. 

 

These bright panels really made a HUGE difference in the room and they were the perfect starting point for inspiration in the rest of the space... I mean just look at all of those fun colors!

I would  HIGHLY recommend looking at IKEA for economical window treatments!

Porch: Seating

I'm back to share some seating that we purchased for our newly decorated screened in porch!

I knew that I wanted some additional seating but I was on a budget! IKEA to the rescue with three GREAT chairs/stools!!

On a visit to IKEA in May I came across the super cute Agen Children's Chair

At only $19.99 I knew that I wanted this for my little Hunter Man but I was not digging the color... a little too plain for my porch. My best friend Miss Spray Paint came to the rescue and after three light coats I was left with the perfect chair... Little in size and BIG in personality!

During that same trip I also tackled my adult seating issues... I originally went to IKEA to purchase. the Byholma Chair

But fate had a different idea because they were out of stock... So I was SUPER bummed out! My thoughts were "at least I have a cute chair for Hunter and I will come back another day.."

Before checking out though I stopped by the GREAT damaged section and found THIS beautiful chair at 30% off because it had a few dings...

It is the Storsele Chair and retails for only $119.00... I had loved but considered over my price range. But I took this as fate and scooped up the damaged chair for only $83.30 and grabbed a second chair for the full retail price.

Here are a few photos that I snapped of the damaged chair when I got home... 

Nothing that couldn't be solved with a little flat black spray paint! After a light coat over the damaged areas we were good to go!

While at IKEA I also scooped up three of the Marius Stools in White... at only $5.99 a piece there was NO WAY that they were not coming home with me

When I got home they received a colorful makeover. Two of the stools received a Navy top with Lime green legs and the last stool received the reversed paint treatment... a Lime Green top and Navy legs. I did the spray painting before they were assembled which made the project SUPER simple.

I also love that we can unstack the stools for extra seating or leave them stacked and use them as a little table!

Here you can get a sneak peak of our seating... Things have changed from when this photo was taken so only look at the seats :-)

My total on seating from IKEA comes to $240.26... and for the makeovers I used spray paint that I already had on hand. SCORE!!!

Project Porch Living Week

I am so excited to share all of the fun details of our screened in porch! I'm looking forward to utilizing our new space!

Here is what you have to look forward to this week!

I'll be back around noon to share where we found some GREAT and AFFORDABLE seating.

Sneak Peak Porch Update

I figured it was about time for a screened in porch update. This is what the space looked like the last time I shared... BACK IN MAY...

This is what we are currently working with.

We are still not done but plan to take the weekend to finish up a few items and next week will be devoted to our new space which is truly beginning to feel like an extension of our home.

Cannot wait to share all of the details and I hope that you like the current sneak peek.

Hunter 41 Weeks

I'm a week behind in my Hunter posts. He was 41 weeks last Wednesday.

At 41 weeks Hunter:

• Was a grumpy man with a small fever, runny nose and a lot of eye gummies. End result.... OUR SECOND TOOTH also on the bottom.
• LOVES going to the pool!
• Still only says DADADADA
• Loves to cruse around and walk with his wagon.