My Yellow Bed

I am not going to lie, I have made some unfortunate Ikea purchases in my time. (An awful bright red and white rug and a dresser where the drawers didn't shut come to mind.) However, when we purchased Vern, my parents gave us money for a bed, and I picked out a yellow Hemnes canopy bed. I have been smitten with that bed since we put it's 500 pieces together (only to take it apart in the move, and then put it back together in new house.)

As it turns out, it looks good everywhere...

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Ah, good investment Lindsey.

Baby Harvard Nursery...The Sequel

Woody wasn't even out of utero and I was dreaming of doing a nursery again. (Told you.) I can't help it. I have five rooms in my house in desperate need of decorating and TLC, but I love thinking of New Baby's (aka Sparky's) nursery.

And in the Harvard house, we believe in reducing, reusing, and recycling, so Sparky is inheriting Woody's crib, bedding, glider, and window treatments. (Don't fear, Woody is updating to a cool big boy room. He gets to keep his pie safe and gilver dresser.) However, I don't want to recreate Woody's exact nursery (despite how much I loved it.)

What can I change? The wall color. Here are some of my favorites...

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Trying to convince Husband that dark walls are a DO for the nursery. Justification? Woody's walls were light and he was the worst sleeper as a baby. Plus, our bedroom walls are dark, and we have no insomnia.Yes? Yes.

Bah! Can't find a source. I love this nursery so much. But let's get real, my kid can't have nicer wallpaper than me. Nor a mantle.

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Then there is this juicy goodness...

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The bedding is a gold and gray ikat, so I am using this pillow as inspiration to tie in the dark walls in.

So what do you think? Dark walls? Or keep it neutral?

Woody- 15 Months

It seems unreal. He is becoming a little boy, and is creeping out of the baby stage. (I can't bear to say he is out of it.) And no, I haven't done a 12,13, or 14 month update, but let's start up with a 15 month.

This is his cousin, Jake's, shirt. I think he is so cute in it!

We took Woody to his first Braves game? Recap: Ate the first inning, sat (somewhat) for the second inning, walked around for the third, went home during the fourth.

Why do I laugh and take pictures during temper tantrums? Bad mom.

Getting ready for church

One Friday night we went to eat at Chick-fil-a. Since there weren't any kids in the Play Place, I decided to let Woody play on the end of the slide while Brooks finished his meal. Mistake. He climbed up the the slide (the wrong way) and wouldn't come down. I tried to get a little girl to coax him down, but no. Oh, and there was no way my pregnant self was going up the thing. I made Brooks climb up there and get him.

He is obsessed with any type of chair. He was in Heaven when Brooks brought in the car seat from his truck for my mom to use while he was gone.

So, I know this seems so small, but this was his first craft! I screamed when I saw it at church. Look how smart he is- he colored the rain blue. Genius. 

On our way home!

One day, I met Jessica and Burke at Catch Air. Woody was acting funny at first, but then he loved it! (Turns out, he was sick, and we had to stay home the next day. Apologies to those who he infected.) 

(And yes, I am obsessed with overalls.)

The next day with the kid who never cuddles. I had to document it.

His daddy bought him that shirt. In case you can't see, it has a yak on it. Seriously.

Woody Facts

• 23 lbs and 31(or 32) inches tall. He is in the 50-75th percentile for both.
• He wears a 5.5-6 double wide shoe and 12-18 month clothes
• Eats at regular meal times, plus some snacks :)
• He eats most things. He really likes lasagna and Ms. B's (the lady who keeps him) hamburger casserole. (I'm glad he gets home cooking from somewhere.)
• At a year, we completely dropped nursing, and he has been doing well drinking whole milk from a cup...too well.
• Sleep has improved drastically. He takes a long nap as Ms. B's (usually 2.5-3.5 hours.) He goes to bed at 7:00 and normally wakes between 5:30-6:30. He likes to sleep with his lovie, blanket, and Mater truck. However, when we go in to get him in the mornings, he has thrown lovie and Mater out. Blanket is definitely his favorite. He would take it everywhere if we let him.
• He has a mouth full of teeth. I should probably count them at sometime. And he likes to brush his teeth.
• At around 13 months, we moved his car seat to face the front. He seems to like it better.
• Woody still has terribly dry skin. We have tried many things, and have resulted in keeping him on an antibiotic ointment as well as an oral treatment for two weeks. I hope he grows out of this!
• Seriously, goes non-stop. Even my mother and Ms. B. (I use them as references since they have experienced other children) cannot believe how busy he is at all times. Climbing on everything is a favorite. Oh well, keeps me active.
• He has the best facial expressions. The stink-eye and pig face are two classics.
• Temper tantrums. Yep, they have started. Right now I find them funny. Ask me again in six months. When he starts rolling everywhere on the floor is when I usually break out the camera.
• Super Why, Sid the Science Kid, and Mickey Mouse's Playhouse are his favorite TV shows.
• We play outside when I get home. I love that time because it is so fun to watch him explore. 
• Going back to work full-time has been hard for this momma. It sparks such a debate with people, and they tend to have very strong feelings on the subject. It is what it is though, and even though it is not easy, I know I have a job to do at school and want to do my best at it. It makes me appreciate Woody to such a whole new level, as well as our time together. Love, love, love my little man.

Beach Trip

At the end of September, we took a mini vacation to my parents' beach place in Sea Grove, FL. We realized this past summer that the last vacation we had taken was to the mountains the weekend we found out we were expecting Woody... in 2011. We were in need for a vacay.

Awesome. I didn't bring the good camera, so these are iPhone pictures. The weather was as perfect as could be. It was warm enough to get in the water, but not so hot that it was unbearable. I was nervous how Woody would do, but he loved it. He could have played in the sand all day and night. He was a little nervous about the water, but warmed up to it.

My Old Navy dress served as a perfect muumuu cover-up for the beach.

The only bummer was the realization that a 14 month old does not handle your favorite beach restaurants very well. Wha-wha. We ate take-out every night from the comfort of our sofa.

Thank you so much Mom and Dad for letting us use your place! 

Hall Make-Over

When we closed on the house at the end of June, we were busy little worker bees. All of the cosmetic projects were to be completed by the end of summer. Ha...hahaha. We were able to work really hard for a week and got the den, dining room, bedroom, and Woody's room painted. Then Brooks left for a week, and I finished painting the kitchen. Two days after he got back I took a little pregnancy test and became a zombie who falls asleep at 7:30 every night. True Life.

We still have so much to do on the inside of the house- both bathrooms are PINK and the kitchen cabinets need to be done. Sigh. But this weekend, I kicked it into high gear and got the hallway, trim, and most of the interior doors painted.

Before

The door at the end of the hall wasn't too bad. The previous owners had recently remodeled the bathrooms (including their doors.) However, the doors on the side of the hall were a nice 70s wood (with a three inch gap where the shag carpeting use to be.) The hall was recently painted, but the "neutral" color they went with had gross yellowish undertones with matching trim.

After!

Where most of the time I am a paint snob, I went with cheap paint for the hall. It is Valspar's Woodrow Wilson Putty in eggshell. I am obsessed with the color. It is the perfect greige in my book. The doors are a semi-gloss black paint (something by Behr) and the trim is Benjamin Moore White Dove that I purchased this summer.And keeping it real, if you notice the third door on the left is still brown. That is Woody's room, and I painted the doors during his nap/bedtime. Whom-whom.