Jackson’s Nursery

I was going to wait until his nursery was 100% done but I think that will be another few weeks since I can’t move the dresser from Norah’s room to his room until her furniture comes in. Since that is the only piece missing, I decided to go ahead and show it off; it’s 99% done anyways.
When I was looking for inspiration for a boy’s room, I posted about them here. I really wanted to do something that was rustic buy not too western. I was calling it “rustic chic” but Jeff kept telling me not to use the word “chic” when describing something of his son’s lol. He married a designer, what do you expect??!! Anyways, I am a huge stickler on not spending a fortune on kid stuff since it will not be around for long and will probably get destroyed, but I also want a nicely decorated room for them. It’s a balance that I always try to maintain. I am so proud of the deals I found for this room and I think it could easily be a contender for the show “Design on a Dime!” Anyways, here’s a few pictures:
I painted the walls all white using Sherwin Williams “Snowbound” and did the stripes on the right wall in Sherwin Williams “Sand”. I love Snowbound and use it almost every time I need a white paint.
The cowhide rug I found for a steal at a store in Tomball. I was having trouble finding one this size for anything less than $300 but this one was only $150!! I was stoked!
The framed flag by the window is something that Jeff got in Fredericksburg. It is the very first Texas flag design. I found this site you can read a little history about it if you like that sort of thing.
Furniture is the same set I have used for all three kids so I am so glad I chose something neutral and versatile! The glider was the best investment I made. Moms and dads spend lots of time sitting here at night so a comfy chair is critical! I spent more on the glider than I did the crib and dresser combined! lol (ok ok the furniture was on sale, but still!)
I got the hamper at Target, along with the curtain rods and navy blue curtain panels.
OH! and the rocking horse was made by my dad when Avery was born!

I found these picture frames at Target on sale for $2 each! I spray painted them navy blue and put some of my animal photos in them. I had big plans to do a rustic piece of 3-dimensional art using slices of wood logs but I decided such a large heavy piece would not be wise to hang over a crib… boo. I like the animals, though. Brings in some other prints. The giraffe print Nap Nanny adds to the animal print theme. This was given to me by a friend when Norah was born and once again I love that it works in Jackson’s room too!! I just love it when things work out perfectly without planning!!

The star I had in the garage getting dusty. I never hung it anywhere because I couldn’t find a good spot for it outside. It was meant to be! I also got the navy throw blanket at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. I didn’t even know that they had blankets like this but I just happened to walk by it and grabbed it up!

Here is a better picture of the striped wall with the collage of picture frames and antlers. (Just imagine a dresser under this with a changing pad on it) The antlers were my dad’s and I rescued them from his barn. I bleached them white and nailed them to the wood plaques that Jeff’s dad had laying around (also spray painted navy blue). The one on the left was his first deer he ever shot; how special!! I hope we can preserve it for a long time! I got the cross hooks at Hobby Lobby for about $5 each (I had planned to get the star hooks but they didn’t have any in stock but I like the crosses now that they are hung) and the frames I got on their 50% off week. The tiny frames will have Jackson’s baby pictures in them one day.

The frames I filled with little song quotes or other quotes that I thought were cute. the “I love you forever” one comes from the book “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch; that book makes me cry every time I read it! The “Have good cheer little flock” one is from one of my favorite church hymns we sang a lot as a child. The other ones are just silly lol

I made these initials out of floral foam and wrapped them in twine then added navy blue ribbon to hang them with. Such a quick and simple little project that adds another element of texture to the room.

Overall I am very happy with the room. I think it turned out very cute while still being masculine and is rustic without being cheesy. Hope you like it too! 

Avery’s Third Birthday Party

We decided we wanted to go low key for Avery’s birthday this year. Since she isn’t in school or activities yet she really doesn’t have any friends so her family and cousins are the most important people around her. She really wanted a “Jessie” theme party since she loves Toy Story so we did a little decorating and just had the immediate family and invited just a couple of very close friends. Here are some pictures. (I really need to figure out how to transfer the pictures on my phone to my computer because I have thousands on there that I can’t do anything with except post on Facebook…. )
Jeff made pulled pork in his smoker. He is awesome at this; it is the best pulled pork we have ever had!!

The yummy cake

I found a Jessie piñata on Amazon. Avery was more upset that it was getting destroyed than excited about hitting it lol. She hid out on Nanna’s lap.

The piñata was being stubborn so the guys took some tries at it

Stanley took to liking Annie and they hung out most of the time. He even chased her around the yard lol

And a quick picture of the birthday girl

Megan Zavaleta Piece

I realized that last night I didn’t post a picture of the artwork we got in Fredericksburg. It was late (for me), sorry! Again, the pictures do not do it justice and do not come close to showing how much depth this piece really has. Nonetheless, I have to show it off!

Room makeovers

I am off to bed since it is way past my bed time but I promise to do an update on Norah and Jackson’s room redecorating. I am almost done with Jackson’s and I am just waiting on furniture to come in for Norah’s room. I am also about 1/2 way done with Norah’s bedding I mentioned. Hopefully I will be finishing everything up by the end of March!!
As far as the playroom, it is pretty much done so next time I clean it up, I will take some pictures and do the final before and after post

New Makeup Obsession

I have spent a ridiculous amount of money trying to find the right foundation and or powder over the past year. When I was in high school and college I was super tan and had beautiful clear skin so I hated wearing any kind of powder or foundation; I didn’t need to and I wish I could go back to those days. sigh…. For about 3 or 4 years I wore Bare Minerals powder foundation but recently I started to feel like it wasn’t giving me the coverage I needed and the colors never seemed to match that well. I think I tried about 4 different colors of just that one brand. So, I decided to try cheaper stuff down the drug store isle. No luck. Either it was too dry of a powder and would brush right off, or it left my skin feeling really oily. I had enough! I was told that MAC was awesome but dragging the girls to the mall is SUCH A PAIN so I kept putting it off. I finally had a break away and went by their booth and had them do my makeup and match my skin. Let me just tell you, when picking out makeup, let someone else match your skin and make sure to try it right there. It is a huge waste of money to do the whole “trial and error” method with makeup!! These are the products I ended up loving:
Pro Longwear Liquid Foundation

I actually ended up buying this one because they did not have my color in the Pro Longwear. I like it just fine but I liked the pump on the other one better.
Studio Fix Fluid

Apply the foundation with this brush. It gives you a great airbrush look and buffs the foundation beautifullly!
187 Duo Fibre Face Brush

I have also had my eye on this lipstick since my sister wore it in her wedding and so I went ahead and bought it while I was there. It is a great neutral that I like to wear as my every day lipstick. I am not big on wearing colored lipsticks so this one is perfect for me!

Mineralize Skinfinish Powder

Lipstick in “Cherish”

I really liked their primer but I did not get it cuz I have some right now. Hopefully getting it soon!

Prep and Prime Skin

I am totally obsessed with their makeup now and I highly recommend it to anyone!! It isn’t cheap but it also is not as much as I spent playing the trial and error game, either! It’s also not as much as other lines I looked at. Plus, this is your face that everyone looks at, treat it right!

Hello out there!

In my dreams I have a huge audience of readers that are sad that I have not blogged in a while…. and then reality hits lol. I know of only a handful of people that actually read this lol. Oh well. I thought I would get on and update what’s going on around our household.
Let’s start with our trip. Jeff and I took a much needed long weekend away to Fredericksburg, Tx. It was amazing and wonderful. Since Avery was born in February of 2010, we only had maybe 2 or 3 nights away from the kids and each time was for a wedding so we were gone for less than 24 hours. Needless to say, I told Jeff that before baby #3, Jackson Max, gets here I needed a “recharge” weekend. Little did I know that it would be a great rebonding for us. The day-to-day routine of dinner, baths, bedtime for the girls, and then me passing out reading a book while Jeff passes out on the sofa watching TV all by 9pm, was starting to wear on us. Not in a bad way, just in a “we need a date” sort of way. We are going to be young empty nesters in about 18 years so we think it is very important that we keep up our relationship!
Anyways, I tried to take lots of pictures, and I did the first day around town, but then I slacked off the rest of the trip. I always regret that! I hate being in pictures so unless we are doing something that lends itself to a good photo-op, the camera stays in the bag. I need to get better about this! Here’s a few of what I did take:
We stayed at a bed and breakfast right of of Main street so we were just walks from all of the shops and attractions. I took some pictures around the house. It was very cute and quiet but it was not the typical B&B where the owners greet you at the door and cook breakfast for you in the morning. There was a crew that came in and made breakfast every morning so it wasn’t as personable as I had hoped. We liked it but will probably try somewhere else next time.



We ate lots of yummy food. Hondo’s is a favorite there.

We also ate some not so yummy food. Jeff is a huge german food fan and since Fredericksburg is an old german town he wanted his fix. I, on the other hand, am not a fan and choked it down for him…

We drove out to Luckenbach just for the fun of it. It consists of a dance hall and an old post office. Pretty much just a tourist trap lol

And, the best part is the piece of art we got. The pictures don’t do it justice AT ALL but I fell in love with it because of it’s thick texture and shape. The artist is actually an engineer and home remodeler who started making her creations as backsplashes and parts of a home but evolved into free standing pieces. It is the focal point of our living room now and we LOVE it!! I wish I could tell the artist, Megan Zavaleta, how much we love it! You can see some more of her work here.
Thank you mom and dad, and hannah and daniel, for watching the girls and holding down the fort while we were gone. We really really appreciate it and are so thankful to have family close for these things. Avery still tells me how much fun she had with Nanna and Pappy while mommy and daddy went on their trip. Maybe we will have to go on another one