MY BLOG IS FULL!!!!

After nearly 5 years and 500 posts of our family's growth, 1sts and new activites.... our blog is full so I am retiring as a blogger!!!

Just Kidding... (well maybe.) I am still figuring out what I am going to do. In the mean time, here are some of the MOST adorable pictures from last weekend in Tyler visiting Blake's family.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE TYLER IN OCTOBER and seeing ADDIE and CARSON together all weekend made the unusually long 7 hour drive, though Austin and to Tyler, WORTH IT!!!!

See the 2 COUSINS HERE!

They Suddenly Look Older To Me.

Everytime I looked at them this past weekend, I kept thinking how big they are getting so quickly. Especially since this.

Part 4: Addie's BIG GIRL Room!

It has taken me 2 weeks to post these because I have been waiting for 2 final details... the turquoise curtains for her closet and the 2 Zebra Euro pillow shams for her bed. Maybe if I go ahead and post her room's final pictures, they will show up tomorrow at the front door!

I wanted to take an opportunity to display all the people that Addie loves in her room so I found this metal string with magnets to display all her friends and family.

I think Addie's hat collection at 2 years old is fun so I hung 9 silver hooks to use them as decoration (there are 3 more over her door.)

I found black and white zebra door knobs for her bookshelf toy drawers.

The highlight of her new room is her very own Reading and Play corner. I remember as a young child loving to make tents so I devised a way for Addie to have one all the time. These 2 white sheer panels close all the way to give her a special place to relax and is plenty big enough to have her brother in there reading with her every night.

I love this "floating bookshelf" I found to hold some of her favorite books and it can also double as a night stand next to her bed.

Where's Addie... there she is!

We love spending time in Addie's new room and know she does to... over the last 2 weeks, it has become the central head quarters for the household! ;) I couldn't be happier (unless I had those shams and curtains!!!)

Part 3: Her Reaction!

Nearly 3 weeks ago, Addie's BIG GIRL BED ARRIVED and it was time for her to see it. In anticipation for the big event we had been talking about for a couple of weeks, she had stayed dry at night for an ENTIRE WEEK for the very first time!

She took a second to take it all in...

Then the smiles came...

She wanted to curl up with her babies and wanted them all by her side!

Knock on wood, Addie has done superbly in her new bed for the 3 weeks. She hasn't gotten out of bed once... let's hope that continues. Soon Addie got to show her BFF her brand new BIG GIRL BED.... I love this picture!

Part 2: Labor of Love!

So when Blake said, "Let's Do It!" I quickly became obsessed with every single detail down to the new knobs on her book shelf drawers. I was spending hours on the Internet until 2AM a couple of nights making final decisions while at the same time trying to sell a ton of stuff in her nursery to break even on this little upgrade! 

For the record, I am not crazy to think that Addie even cares about her room and I know she will think I am crazy when she finds out how much thought, energy and planning went into her room at 2 years of age, when she is a mom one day. But it is one of the things in life like the kids birthday parties and such that I absolutely love and couldn't think of doing half way. Blake and I have an awesome habit of having extremely elaborate things that we do ourselves every time when decorating for the kids and we had fun reminiscing all the painting we have done together in our home the last 5 years. He gives me a hard time that I can't just choose a normal paint color instead every time it is some kind of faux finish or extreme design.

The bed is a $49 dollar unfinished bed from IKEA that I hand painted silver and then crackle painted in turquoise and the silver shows through. I bought about 8 different quilts and duvets and finally found the perfect duo.

We opted to get her a memory foam mattress because she sleeps SO WELL on our Temperpedic but NO WAY is hers a TEMPERPEDIC... I am not that crazy! But what was crazy, was how the mattress showed up at our door...

This is how it unpacked and looked normal all within 90 seconds...

 

The gorgeous sage green chandelier was repainted by Blake at 10 PM at night... now talk about dedication right!?!?!? He knew how obsessed I was with the room and was happy to help me in the evenings.

I am glad we know all our neighbors or they would have thought we were NUTS!!!



The diamonds were one of the many finishing touches and took me about 3 evenings to complete. I would rush home at 5PM and try to get a coat done before Blake would get home with the kids.

I couldn't be happier with the way all the final touches came together and was so excited to show Addie her BIG GIRL BED!!!

Part 1 of 4: Addie's LAST Night In Her Nursery!

At 26-27 months, we were confident Addie was ready for the move to the BIG GIRL bed after sleeping in a regular one dozens of nights all summer while we were traveling. About a month ago, she suddenly started consistently waking up crying in the middle of the night for no reason and Blake was actually the one that said, "let's do it!" He thought she was ready. I put my reservations of her new found freedom and ability to climb out of her bed every night to be suddenly woken up with a 2 year old right in front of my face aside and said OK! So on September 8, 2010 at 27.5 months of age, this beautiful girl spent her very last night in her beautiful crib!

Too bad I wasn't thinking after bath that night when she choose her own pajamas which make the pictures themselves memorable... her brother's Spiderman PJ top and his CARS bottoms!

It was fun looking back tonight on Carter's 2 transitions right when he was 26 months and 29 months into his big boy bed and just pray that it works out just as well for her! :)

NOT APPROPRIATE FOR THE BLOG

Last week, this picture, had only been sent to family and a couple of close friends with the email title of NOT APPROPRIATE FOR THE BLOG... but the feedback and amount of laughs received, I decided it had to have it's place in our 2010 Blog Book for future reference when we are looking for some great pictures for Addie's rehearsal dinner slide show in 25 years...

The background story is what makes this funny: The kids had just gotten out of the bath and I was trimming Carter's nails in his room while Addie was supposed to be in her room getting panties and her PJ's on. And above is how she returned. I was just snapping a pic of the outfit since I thought that was funny in itself and I said, "OK ADDIE 1, 2, 3... STRIKE A POSE!" And this is the result of the 1 picture I took.  I seriously do NOT know where she got this pose striking knowledge except maybe from way back here!