tatum's nursery.

Real quick, let's remember where this room started out. Because it really has come a long way since the day we moved in! Mint green, super shiny walls. Drab gray curtains. Carpet that our cats destroyed. And a ton of holes in the walls from old artwork...

Decorating a room for a girl was a lot of fun. And I think it's mostly done. We didn't paint the dresser like I had noted on her inspiration board, but that can still be done at some point if we decide to do so. After the ceiling was painted, I had originally bought solid coral curtains. I hung them up for about a week before I decided they were just too much and went with these fun striped curtains. The boys actually have the gray version in their room, so it's kind of fun that they have something similar.

I only made one thing for this nursery and crafted one more. Which is the complete opposite of what I normally do. But I'm ok with that this time around. Maybe it'll leave me with plenty of creative juice to actually make some clothes – like little dresses!

We can't wait for Tatum to get here and start using her room. Here's to hoping it'll be sooner rather than later.
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graham... counting?

Once upon a time we used to post videos of our kids in this space. And at some point we stopped. But this little video that Jeremy captured of Graham counting to ten was completely worthy of being shared. From the out of order numbers, to him telling me to stop helping him... we were in tears watching it again. For the most part though? He does a fairly good job with just a little help. He's also fairly good with his ABCs. We won't discuss colors though. Cause right now? Everything is "bue."

tatum's nursery: fabric banner.

Things are definitely coming along in the nursery! So much so that I'm actually starting to add things to the walls that we wrapped up painting a couple of weeks ago. And that usually takes me forever to do. Y'all, girly things are so much fun! I went to Joanns a couple of weeks ago and picked up some fabric to make a banner to hang over Tatum's crib. It was so much fun to mix and match new fabric with some pieces that I already had at home. After I'd picked out all my fabric, I realized I wanted something with a little bling to it. A quick trip to Hobby Lobby scored me some white ribbon with little gold polka dots on it (and a few other things, but we won't discuss that!).

There are tutorials all over the interwebs on how to make one of these cute little banners, so I won't go into details. I will tell you that I cut my strips two inches wide and left them the width of the fabric – so anywhere from 40" to 45" long. Then I cut my ribbons the same length. I did make sure to use some Fray Check on the end of the ribbons so they don't start unraveling, but left the fabric pieces super-raw so that they would start fraying. I cut the piece of twine I used about the width of the crib, knowing that I wanted to inset it just a bit so it would sway perfectly over the crib. I did all of this sitting on the couch, in our air conditioning on a Saturday afternoon. Perfect little afternoon craft!

little men.

Once upon a time, these three little men looked a lot alike. A lot. Like sometimes? We can't tell Sawyer and Graham apart in baby photos. Even they can't tell each other apart. But as they've grown into their own little selves, they most definitely no longer look alike to us. Sure, they still favor each other and you can tell they're brothers, but that's about it. And I'm ok with that. Also with the new haircuts? I can't even...

fourth of july, 2016.

It's worked out for the past seven (maybe eight?) years that we've been able to head to my parents house for the Fourth of July. It's a fun little tradition that usually involved grilling out, sparklers, setting off our own fireworks and exclaiming over larger fireworks that someone always seems to be setting off. Nice little family evening!

This year we added a small pool (because Alabama is hotter than Mordor right now) and water balloons. My mom even got in on a little water gun action... and quickly realized that she wasn't wearing the proper clothing and would soon be soaked. The men grilled us up some delicious hamburgers and hot dogs – Graham enjoyed a small burger patty AND two hot dogs. How is he still so small?

We headed back outside after dinner for the littles to enjoy some sparklers. They aren't all necessarily clear on the safety of fire yet, so it was a lot of yelling of names and telling people to move. No one ended up with a burn though, so we'll call it a win! As the sun went down we moved our party to the road and watched a few fireworks from the driveway. Fireworks are really beautiful. Every year I think I'm in awe of them. Sawyer kept yelling, "This is the best day ever!!!" at the top of his lungs, so I think it's safe to say that he really got into the holiday spirit this year. Watching their faces is most definitely part of the fun for me.

tatum's nursery: painted.

The nursery is painted! There are few spots on the ceiling that need to be touched up, but otherwise, we're calling the walls and ceiling done. We won't get started on how badly the trim work all needs a new coat of paint (hint: it's pretty terrible), and the more I look at photos of our old home (like Graham's old nursery), I'm pretty convinced that we might end up giving all of our interior doors a pretty coat of paint too. I forgot how much I liked the gray doors!

Anyway, step one is complete for the nursery! Graham has been mostly transitioned to the big boys' room; he only naps in the nursery still. I have a feeling that the naps might continue in there until Cayden and Sawyer go back to school this fall, or until we put the side of the crib back on. Sawyer still naps daily (I have no idea what we'll do this fall with full-time school starting), and Cayden has at least an hour of quiet time to read/rest/whatever he needs as long as he's quiet. Night time sleeping with three of them in one room has been no problem; I can't imagine all three of them in a room in the middle of the day together though. Perhaps it's time to try?

But back to the nursery! The ceiling paint is Sherwin Williams Charisma at 75%. I found some drapes at Target that are in the same color family that are blackout curtains that I think we'll try to hang this weekend. I've been collecting pieces of artwork from (mostly) Hobby Lobby that will be fun to arrange. And I have a little fabric project to work on for above her crib.

Just a couple of things left. Ha! Guess it's time to get this party started!