Frames Galore

I have finally updated my dining room frame wall. Alot of the frames are still empty, but I do have pictures, I just need to go get them developed so I can put them in the frames. Then I still have two spots on the wall that I haven't finished.

One is a plate that I am going to hang. So I will need to get one of these plate hangers.

Then I have one spot that I'm thinking I want an old antique key to hang - so I will be on the look out for one of those.

Overall I love how it came out and can't wait to get the other pieces to finish up my room! Here is a step by step with pictures on how I did it! Enjoy

Step 1:

This is the BEFORE picture

Step 2:

I started measuring the frames out of cardstock and hanging them where I thought they should go on the wall. I made sure I left a even space between each frame

Step 3:

Here is what it looked liked once I finished hanging all the frame sizes on the wall.

Step 4:

Here is the AFTER picture! The orange rectangle is where I want to hang the antique key and the yellow curved square is where that plate that is sitting on the hutch in the picture with the black "4" on it will go. The pictures currently hanging are of our wedding photos and then the empty frames will be of our family pictures that we had taken of us by Amanda at ( http://tibbedensonphotography.blogspot.com/2011/06/bryan-family-spring-tx-family.html ). Then I have a cross that my mother inlaw gave me from the San Antonio market hanging and the letter "B" for Bryan that use to be gold and I painted.

Mood Board:

And here is the mood board again for the room. We still need to make our Bench for the table, make the mirror, and buy the chandelier from IKEA. Can't wait!!!

A new dining room in progress

I feel like this whole house renovation thing will never be done. 1. you need money and 2. you need time to shop or DIY. We have done so much to this house. Remember when we bought it almost every room had wallpaper, there was no color to the house (all white walls - which isn't a bad thing necessarily), the flooring is mauve carpet, and the tile in the house is GROSS!, the kitchen and bathrooms are outdated, and lots of brass everywhere.

Connor's Room:

room completed except

-closet door needs to be painted

-new fan

-new blinds

Caden's Room:

room completed except

-new fan

-new blinds

Our Room:

room completed except

-caulk the crown moulding

-new fan

-need artwork for over the bed

-need one more night stand

-new blinds/curtains

Guest Bathroom:

room completed except

-repaint cabinets

-get new knobs and handles

-replace sinks

-new countertop

-new window

Master Bathroom: (hopefully 2014!)

needs everything redone

Piano Room:

-need a sleeper sofa

-adding a barn door to close off the room

-new fan

-new blinds/curtains

Foyer:

-new front door

-new light fixture

Hallway:

-new light fixture

Living Room:

room is completed except

-new fan

-new blinds/curtains

Kitchen: (hopefully 2013!)

needs to be totally redone

Utility:

-paint walls and get rid of wallpaper

-repaint storage cabinets

-new knobs and handles

The whole house also needs new flooring! (hopefully 2013!)

Then that leaves us with the Dining Room. I'm going to start tackling all the little projects in each room before I move to the next.

The Dining Room looked like this when we first moved in.

I took off the wallpaper on one wall, painted the white walls "Bagel" by Sherwin Williams and then striped the walls to make it look bigger with a glaze.

We moved our kitchen table into the dining room, my parents gave us a wine/wine glass cabinet and then my mother passed down her hutch to us which is from her family line.

Here is what we have left to do with the room:

-new blinds

-chandelier from IKEA - that I'm going to DIY

-mirror that resembles a Pottery Barn Eagan mirror - that I'm going to DIY

-Make a farmhouse bench for the side of the table between the table and hutch so there is more room

-finish our frame wall.

I started the frame wall today which will go around the hutch. It is only half way done because I've only made templates for the frames I have right now and then I will buy more and fill in the gaps and then hang everything.

Look for the finished product probably Halloween time - we are on a budget right now so I will only be able to do a little at a time.

Caden Glenn Bryan has arrived

Caden Glenn Bryan entered this world on April 11, 2011 at 9:05 pm. Wow what a long day! The story began as so.....

Nick and I knew I was going to be induced today, but we had to call in at 5am to make sure there was a bed waiting for me. Yay there was and we were to report to the hospital at 7:15am. We got to the hospital and they got be all set up in my room and my IVs and fluids started. I got my pitocin at 8:15am and labor started. I was already 2.7 cm dilated so they told me that for me to get to 3-5 would be longest part of the day. I had no pain so I did not get my epidural until Noon because he was available to do it at that time and if I wanted an epidural I should get it then. Of course before the anesthesiologist came in my doctor decided she wanted to break my water. When I had Connor I had an awful delivery of 18 hours and I do not really remember the feeling of getting an epidural or having my water broken. Probably because I already was in labor and in so much pain - how could it be worse. Well with Caden I was not in any pain at all - so both of these procedures were not my favorite. So as my epidural is kicking in and my water has been broken they expected my labor to pick up speed. Obviously Caden wasn't ready to pick up speed because I sat at 3cm for a couple of hours and then 4-6 cm happened about every hour after. By the time I got to 6cm which was already 12 hours later Caden started to give us problems. I was completely numb and had been sleeping all day. They eventually had to start flip-flopping me and putting me in all these positions to see if they could relieve whatever was going on in my stomach. I had oxygen on and they thought that Caden's cord was causing problems with him. Well nothing changed and his heart rate started acting crazy - the next thing happens I'm told I'm having a c-section and then the room was filled with nurses and people prepping me - who by the way is shaking on all fours in a hospital bed and crying because I'm nervous. Yes I did say all fours - that was the last position they had me in. Nick was nervous as well because he wasn't sure of the procedures on this - such as if he would be able to come with me, etc. The nurses were wonderful and made sure he had his camera and got him prepped to go. He looked so handsome in his blue scrubs. Anywho....I get rushed to ER for surgery and we are waiting on our doctor to arrive. The nurses or getting me ready and the anesthesiologist is numbing me liking crazy. Music is going in the background and the room is bright white and chilly!!! They got me on the operation bed - arms spread out like Jesus and naked as a jay bird ready for surgery. Nick is holding my hands and they put the drape up in front of us so we can not see the surgery. Probably a good idea!!! All I remember is that the surgery took about 10 minutes - Rihanna S&M was playing in the background - doctors are having a good ole conversation - and then Caden's beautiful cry of arrival. Caden was a whopping 9lbs and 15oz. My doctor was like wow were you stuffing twinkies in your mouth those last couple of weeks - this kid is a biggie! No twinkies, but she was way off on calculations and I would of had a c-section no matter what because of his size. Caden was born Monday night and we were out of the hospital by Wednesday.

7 weeks later:

Recovery was painful but I did it with a newborn and a 2 year. I give myself props =) My body is obviously not where I want it right now, but I am blessed to have such a wonderful and healthy baby. He has been a challenge right from the start - major diaper rash, tummy problems, possibly colic, and then not being able to find a formula that fit him. Well I can say today all that is pretty much cleared and he is beginning to sleep great and becoming such a happy baby (full of smiles).

Connor is obsessed (literally) with Caden and we all started working out on Saturday - so that will be my goal this summer (to get back into shape). Caden will be going to the doctor soon for his 2 month checkup and will probably be about 13 pounds. And for those wondering - we heart the cloth diapers. I will be posting an update on those soon.

Cloth Diapering 411 - Part I

When Baby C arrives my hubby and I are taking on a new challenge of cloth diapering. We did not do this with our first child because of the typical response "GROSS". Well once your a parent and have changed diapers for 2+ years - it still may be gross, but its tolerable and no big deal anymore.

So one day I was at work and just reading around and decided this would be something that would be excellent to do with our family situation. My hubby still has not been able to get a teaching job and we were unsure about my job for awhile. So our finances are of course not where we want them at this time, but next year we will have to pay for two childcare fees and I thought we need to start saving money in areas that we can control. For instance, we got rid of cable - saves us a $100/month. We lowered our house phone line down to the minimum just so we could keep our security system - saves us $20/month. And now from researching many sites and talking to many people we are going to stop using disposable diapers - except for the eldest who is pretty much potty training right now so we don't go through as many. This will save us about $1200 a year in diapers. WOW!!!

I will be perfectly honest I did not research brands of cloth diapers because I got so many recommendations to use Bum Genius cloth diapers. So I just thought since so many people love them then thats what I will use. I'm a big blog reader and one of the blogs I read frequently is Young House Love and they are big on being eco-friendly. Well as nice as ec0-friendly is I was going for my economical reasons, but anywho they use Bum Genius diapers with their daughter Clara and here is the article I read on their blog about their experience with cloth diapers. CLICK HERE

Now I would say since Young House Love started using cloth diapers Bum Genius has expanded their line of diapers to ones with prints and to a One Size Elemental 4.0 diaper. The reason being I've been told is the 3.0 leaked on some babies depending on their size. The other cool thing they have added is there are cloth diapers with pocket inserts and ones without. I've been told to get the pocket inserts because it adds extra absorbency. So I finally made a decision to use the Bum Genius One Size 4.0 Snap Cloth Diapers - pocket inserts. They not only come with one liner to fit all sizes, they come with a newborn one as well for the first couple of months. I was so excited about that because I could start using them ASAP with Baby C at home.

They also offer velcro instead of snap, but in my lifetime experience of velcro - when you wash velcro they just don't seem to last over time and they curl. So it just seemed that I would be wasting my money if I didn't get the snaps. So for the next couple of years we will be using these diapers. They work from 7-35 lbs. Our eldest is at 33lbs right now and almost 2 1/2 yrs old. So give or take 3 years of not buying diapers - $1200x3 = $3600 savings - A-mazing.

Questions I've gotten:

1. Aren't they expensive? Well yes each diaper is about $17-20 dollars. When our eldest child was a baby he went through 8-10 diapers a day and then eventually it has gone down to 3-5 diapers a day. So I figured in my head I would need 12 cloth diapers total. 18 might be the ideal just to have extras, but if I see that needed I will go get more. My initial cost up front for diapers are anywhere from $200-$250 bucks. I am all about spending that up front if I'm saving $3600 over a three year time span.

2. How do you clean them? The directions say to clean them every other day with a certain type of detergent. I am using the bumgenius detergent and you get 66 loads out a small box - so I know it will last me for awhile. You should bleach them once a month and you can either dry them in your dryer or hang them out to dry in the sun. I've been told hanging them to dry in the sun keeps the color fresh and the sun bleaches them for you. One thing we invested in is a diaper sprayer for our toilet. If Baby C just has a wet diaper there is no reason to use the diaper sprayer. But if Baby C has a dirty diaper you just take the diaper to the toilet and spray it off in the toilet. I have two trash can containers in Baby C's room - one for wet and one for dirty. This is where the liners also make it easier because you can just take out the liner and clean it and put a new liner in - unless your baby has a blow-out, which does happen then you might need a new diaper.

3. What do you do when your out and about? I've invested in two wet bags, one for the sitter's house and one for the diaper bag. Basically you just put the diaper in the wet bag and seal it up and then when you get home you clean it with the diaper sprayer if needed or just put them in your trash can pails and they wait for cleaning time. If their poop is solid you can just dump the poop in the toilet. Seems pretty simple to me. Now if we are going on long trips I would definitely get disposable diapers for the long trip because of the time you are in the car vs. out of the car. (i.e. - vacation road trips). So my hopes when he goes to the sitter is that she just dumps solid poop out - changes liners if needed and put dirty/wet liners and cloth diapers in the wet bag each day for me to pick up and wash and return the bag the following day. Yes it will be a routine we will both have to get use to but I'm all for it again if I'm saving $3600!!!!

Websites:

Bum Genius - cloth diaper brand that we are using

Cottonbabies - for all cloth diapering

BabiesRUs - they sell a few

Cloth Diapering 101 - article on cloth diapering

If you have any questions please comment below - I will try to answer them all. Part II will consist of pictures and my actual experience of using them once Baby C gets here.

40 week mark!

I am 40 weeks pregnant and started my maternity leave this week. I can only pray and hope that Baby C decides to make his appearance on time, since apparently he doesn't want to come early. But hey my Connor came on his due date and I came on my due date, so maybe we are starting a trend in the family. I am feeling really good right now and still super active, which I was absolutely not with Connor at this time. Tomorrow I head to the doctor to see whats going on and to get my membranes stripped to hopefully (50%/50%) put me into labor within 24-36 hours - which would be on my due date (this Friday April 8). If things done work out and we go past my due date - I believe she has scheduled me for induction on Monday April 11 (my daddy's birthday).

This week has been an awesome week so far though. Of course I'm done with work for right now. But here is why its been great:

1. my Connor has let me sleep in till between 8-9am. How sweet of a child I have. Even if he is awake at his normal time of 7:30 when I'm not going to work he has played quietly in his room till he just cant tolerate it anymore and then the banging on the door begins - Mommy where are you!?

2. I've washed everything for Baby C - including bottles. I will not be breastfeeding this time around, because it did not work with Connor. I had a breast reduction in 2003 and I was told that there might be a possibility that it would not work and of course it doesn't. My ducts never repaired back correctly - which is common in women who have breast reductions or implants. Therefore milk is really hard to come out and mastitis is more common - which I got in both breast with Connor and had to go to the ER with a 105 fever - NO FUN!

3. Connor and I have spent most days in our PJs and when we haven't been in our PJs - we've gotten icecream at Sonic, cupcakes at Frost Bakery (had a lemon cupcake - read here why.... ), had a picnic lunch in the front yard, and went to Nick's softball game. (Connor is obsessed with sports - so he loves going).

The only task I really have left this week is I really want to get my front two rooms cleaned up in the house - but they store alot of stuff that we just don't have a place for right now or a task I don't feel like accomplishing right now. A. Random stack of books B. Files for the filing cabinet C. Nick's baseball cards D. Things that my parents will be picking up with they come down. I am also painting a canvas for Baby C's room (then it will be complete), but I haven't been able to finish it yet.

Other than that I am waiting patiently to meet my sweet new baby and nesting as much as possible.

To come.....411 on Cloth Diapering - we will be doing this with Baby C.

Rock and Roll Bride Debut

One of my very good friends that I've known most of my life recently got married on March 5th. I have been working with Jess since the fall on getting her Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations made to fit her budget and so she could get exactly what she wanted.

If you don't know already I have done several wedding invitations for friends, including my own and I truly believe you save so much more money than ordering them through a company. The average woman spends 10% of her budget on invitations, which is ALOT. I was one of those, but I also had a very elaborate invitation.

I began just asking Jess what she was looking for: color, style, theme, look, etc. Then I started looking around for ideas and inspirations - as did Jess too. I'm no expert when it comes to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator but that is where I like to design most of my invitations and cards because there is so much freedom and neat things that you can do and accomplish. I use to own the programs until my PC crashed and I solely just use my MAC now. My Adobe products were PC only, so I have to use them at work when I can until one day when I can afford them again.

Designing invitations can take awhile and alot of trial and error and test runs. In the end Jess and Brian were happy and I was happy with the final products.

Recently Jess and Brian's wedding was featured in Rock and Roll Bride - and Jess gave a shout out to our company - Oh Me! Boutique for designing them. (thanks!!!) I thought it would be neat to show you their wedding and how unique and beautiful it was. Also I have pictures of her invitations and Save the dates. The pictures aren't wonderful, because I'm not good a photographing, but hey I tried. ENJOY!!!!

http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2011/03/jess-ross-backyard-holga-wedding/

Waiting patiently

I am 36 weeks pregnant and 4 more weeks till due date. Will I go to due date or not - we will see. I went to the doctor yesterday and will start going weekly until Caden is here. Doctor appointment went well and I found out I am 1/2 cm dilated already. I know that doesn't mean much, but it is earlier than I was with Connor so we shall see. Next week is my final U/S to see if baby is in position and what size baby is.

All I can say is I am ready. Exhaustion is kicking in and teaching 180 high school students and taking care of a husband, a 2 yr old, and three dogs is wearing me down. I overslept for the first time this school year on Monday - an hour! overslept. And today I'm still exhausted. Luckily I don't have much to do this week or this weekend. But I do have many paintings to finish up for customers and myself before I settle in to full feet propped up mode everyday after work.

My first painting I am working on is a mural for a friend's play room for her girls and it is turning out super cute. I can't wait to show pictures. I am going tonight to work on it and then hopefully one more time and I will be done. The second painting is a painting I have completed for a past co-worker before, but her sister would like one now too. So I will be finishing that painting up this week and getting it to her this weekend. The final piece of artwork I have to work on is for Caden's room. This one I would love to get done before Caden is here so I plan on starting it over Spring Break and getting it done before April 1st. Then all other painting projects will have to wait till this summer when I have more time and energy.

Other than that I had my baby shower for Caden this past weekend and got some really good gifts (pictures soon). So I have been putting away and organizing all the wonderful items. I still need to get a few things such as:

-More BumGenius cloth diapers (I need 10-12 more)
-Inchbug labels for Caden's bottles/cups
-carseat adapter for my double BOB stroller
-Cloth diaper sprayer for the toilet
-maybe some pacifiers

I am also going to be a consignor for the JBF Champion Forest Sale at the end of March. So this spring break I will be organizing all the things I need to sale and then having a garage sale to sell all the things I have in my garage. Nick's goal this spring/summer is to get the garage organized and work on cleaning up the backyard so we can enjoy it with the boys.

Organization has been the key to my life this year, because the chaos of all the little things in the house are driving me nuts. And I believe everything should have a place and thats where they should be kept - does my husband believe that same thing or my son? absolutely not so its a super challenge that I plan to conquer. My mom is coming down for Spring Break to help me finish organizing my laundry room, dining room (she is bringing me a family heirloom - dining hutch), and get Connor's closet organized.

After reading this many people might think -SLOW DOWN and rest, but I can't and never have been able to. I'm a go-girl - meaning I always need a project and need to be working on something. Sitting on my butt watching TV is not my thing and really hard for me to do. Of course I have shows I love to watch, but I'm three weeks behind on most of those. I would love to just get to that point where my house is super organized, and I can enjoy just being me and being with my family and not worrying about getting a task completed. Like I said goal for this year!!!!

Wish me luck - the clock is ticking at the Bryan household and we can not wait to meet this precious child and the experience of being parents of two children - TWO BOYS who I know will be the best of friends.