Baby in a basket…

"Oooh I'm in a basket!"

"What can I find in here"

"OOOH a Q!"

what is the face???!!!!

This is our new basket for our living room.  It’s intended to hold on to our things like throw blankets, toys, remotes….but A’s way cuter in it than any of those things!

Master progress…

I need to get my butt in gear and complete the master bedroom so that I can sleep at night and not be thinking about it!  Really – the rest of the house needs completing too, but I don’t sleep in the rest of the house!

I already posted the nightstands…here are some of the photos I used for inspiration!

I also have this pretty little piece on its way home to me, which should help me in completing my room!

I know the photo is tiny, but I’ll have a real life photo very soon!

Lastly, I would LOVE this…

Also tiny, but it incorporates the grey and beige and white that I’m using and would really be perfect…I’d also need to win the lottery to get it though, so I’m sure I’ll be looking for a copy!

Next up, the search for art for the bedroom wall.

A’s decoration…

Auntie H, A and I spent the day together today.  We went shopping, we went to lunch, we obviously had to buy A a jacket and some shoes, H organized my house a little and the best part is that we finally got some decoration up on A’s walls!  Auntie H was there to document it all!

Mommy getting past her decorating block

Taking shape...

A helping!

finishing up

flower A complete!

Happy A!

New Windows

Our house has a lot of windows.  It has a lot of very big oversized windows.  This is great in many aspects, but when we realized that almost all of the windows needed to be replaced, it wasn’t only an expensive decision, it was a very very cold one too!

We got 4 quotes, 3 fell very close to one another, and 1 was ASTRONOMICAL.  It was an Anderson product, and I feel like I most definitely wasted 3 hours of my life with that salesman.  In the end we went with Medallion, who was recommended to us by Auntie S2 and Uncle B2.  Uncle B2 used to work for them.  They were very nice, gave us a very competitive price, the most comprehensive installation and were very professional.

When they arrived on the first day, I requested that they complete the nursery windows first so that I could get A in for a nap.  They obliged, but her nap was missed because it was a very long process, very cold, and very messy!

Here are some photos of A the week we had our windows replaced…she spent most of her days in PJs a coat and a hat!

Old single pane windows!

No window at all! I think it was about 25 degrees that day!

"Do I really have to stay in here in my coat and hat Mommy?!"

Warm in my fleece sleeper!

Finally…NEW WINDOWS!  These are the windows in A’s room.  She’s now warm and toasty!

These are some of our double hung windows…we also got some sliders, some casements and some picture windows too…pictures to follow!  We need to still paint the trim and the radiator & add the curtains and we’ll be done!

I’m officially a Hacker…

Our last major furniture purchase was back in our first apartment together.  We had a little 1 bedroom apartment and our bedroom had no closet.  Luckily we had 2 huge armoires that were able to hold lots of the husbands clothes and the tv, but when I moved in, the place had very little “style”.  I couldn’t handle the “dorm room” thrown together-ness and when I came in, we went to the great Ikea for solutions!

I know Ikea isn’t the most original, but it is pretty cheap and you get a lot of storage for your money in a decent style.  We went with the black-brown Malm nightstands and some dressers.  I hated those nightstands though!  They were perfect for what we needed…which is why they have been with us for the last 3 years, but I’ve been on the search for something better.

In our new bedroom there are a LOT of built-in cabinets with mirrors and a cherry wood frame in arches.  The floors are walnut colored.  The windows frames and baseboards are white.  We also have a guest room that we furnished with that old Malm stuff, so I found myself on the hunt for new nightstands again!  I couldn’t make up my mind…its a problem!  Everything I liked was VERY expensive.  Another problem!

I came across a post somewhere in blog world where someone “hacked” an ikea RAST dresser.  I thought…WHOA…I can make that work for my bedroom!!!!

Here’s where we started:

Rast undone...

Here’s where we ended up:

Rast A La LK

I stained the frame to match mostly to the built ins, and painted the drawers white to bring a more modern look to it.  Finally, I added some antique brass knobs to coordinate with the built ins without being too matchy-matchy.  Total damage to the house fund = $75 for 2 custom nightstands!  The next addition to the bedroom will be a headboard that we just purchased and hopefully I’ll find a rug I like too!

More projects to come!

Happy New Year!

Yea yea…its still 2011…even if it’s not Jan 1 🙂

We had Auntie E and Aunt D over for a Taco night & A tried to stay up wayyyy too late.  She’s really excited for 2011!  Plans include sleeping, eating more and more, playing, making new friends, having a kick ass 1st birthday party,  celebrating a lot of holidays with all her favorites, walking, running, dancing, jumping, swimming and way way more!

Here’s how we said good-bye to 2010!

Happy 2011 everyone 🙂

Ants are making me cry…

Tiny ants.  But a thousand of them.  I have successfully banished them from 2 bathrooms, my kitchen, my living room and A’s room.  All the while having a peaceful retreat in my own bedroom.  THEY HAVE INVADED MY BEDROOM.  So now I have to leave this gross Terro trap in the middle of my floor b/c their colony is living in my floor boards and they are coming up from the center of the room and I have to step over the ant pile every time I go in and out.  I have to sleep with Tyler on a leash so he can’t get out of bed in the middle of the night.  I have to wear shoes when I walk in my own room.  I have to turn on the light to check said shoes for ANTS.

I HATE ANTS.

Dear Ants,

Please get the HELL OUT.

kthxbye

Sincerely,

The LKs

On the move…

I went to open my camera to take some photos the other day and sadly, my daily use lens was broken!  Something happened to the part that attaches to the camera body.  So I’m left with my zoom lens.  Its a great lens…for sightseeing; for spying on people; for seeing up someone’s nose from 10 miles away!  Not so great for getting baby to stay in one place while you capture adorable moments because she won’t stop crawling to you!

"Where do you think you're going Mommy?!"

"Down the hall huh..."

"I think I'm going to come too!"

"Yup...made it down the hall....now where...?"

"Oooh I know..."

"Almost there..."

"Ahhh little long sleeves and my playroom!!!!"