The kid's bedrooms

Last weekend we moved Zoe into Maeley's room so Chase could have his own. He really needs his space from his sisters, mainly Maeley.

I love how his car rug pulls all the colors in his room together. We found a the red trundle at Goodwill for only $15, I'm pretty sure if we ever needed to, it could fit under the girls bunk bed. Chase loves it. Zoe enjoys snuggling there too.

He loves his new bedroom. There have been many times he blocks Maeley from going in there. That's much better than him locking Maeley in her bedroom like he was doing before. He hasn't done that since he has his own room.

The girls have a lot of furniture but the colors really pull the room together.

Maeley enjoys having the kitchen in her room now.

Zoe's bed is to the left and Maeley's is to the right. Maeley has always had the top bunk, which she loves.

Zoe has been sleeping better than ever since we made the switch.

All about Zoe

A few weeks ago we had this tub in our room temporarily. Zoe soon found out how much fun it was.

She is such a goofball.

Last week the kids and I made cupcakes, chocolate of course and as you can see Zoe loved it.

Zoe makes this face all the time. She squints her eyes, scrunches her nose and shows her big teeth.

We love it! She is so silly and she knows it.

 

Here she was so excited to be on her new big girl bed, she giggled and threw the blanket over her head.

The bedding fits her personality very well.

I will be posting soon the pictures of the girls room and Chase's boy room.

And for the first time in 4 1/2 years we do not have the crib(toddler bed) up. Wahoo! It feels great!

Random

Currently this is my favorite picture of Zoe.

She is changing so much. This week when the kids and I go get the mail she walks all the way there and back. It's not terribly far but for her its quite the accomplishment, especially considering its not a flat surface.She wants to be just as big as Maeley and Chase. Sundays are proving to be very difficult and the end of April isn't coming soon enough. That's when she's old enough for nursery. Zoe gets super excited to see Dad when he comes home from work. When she's trying to catch up or "run" she walks really funny. Wish I had a video camera. It makes us laugh everytime. She still is as sweet as ever. During the day she has her moments where she just wants to be snuggled. I cherish those moments.

Chase is proving to be a big kid. He's refusing to take naps. He actually hasn't had a nap since Saturday. I have noticed though if he doesn't take a nap he sleeps in longer in the morning. So instead of sleeping 10 hours at night and a 2 hour nap, he's sleeping 12 hours at night. I really like him sleeping in. After I excepted the fact he's growing up it's really not bad without his nap. I think Maeley likes having Chase to play with in the afternoon too. I think Chase needs his own space from his sisters. This weekend we are going to put Zoe on the bottom bunk and room with Maeley and Chase will move into Zoe's room. He's thrilled about this. 

Maeley has been on the difficult side this week. She chooses not to listen to me. It's pretty much driving me crazy. I'm decoming more strict with timeouts for her. She loves to learn and enjoys "school time" together. She loves to pretend. Her doll she got for Christmas is becoming her best friend. She changes her clothes all the time. I think her doll is getting more attention than her beloved stuffed dog Dooley. Dooley she's carried around for over 2 years now.

Derek is really busy at work. He's looking forward to a scout campout next weekend. He really enjoys his church calling. We are both enjoying doing small projects around the house. I'm itching to do some Valentine's crafts. I haven't seen any that I'm crazy about so if anyone has any ideas let me know.

That pretty much sums up what we're doing.

Clock revamp

Derek and I really have had fun making changes to our stuff. I bought this clock when we were engaged at Ross for $4. Derek has always used it to hang his keys. We decided it needed color.

Before

cute but bland

After

now it pops and we love it

Derek even repainted the hooks to brown from the original chrome look to match more with our decor.

Oh and we found some fabric we liked for our cedar chest.

Derek did an excellent job reupholstering the seat.

Our kids love it!

We still need to redo the hardware and we're done.

Animal Names

On our way home from Gilbert last weekend Maeley wanted all of us to have animals names. This is what she came up with.

Dad = Crocodile Dad

Mom = Turtle Turtle Mom

Maeley = Polar Bear Maeley (that's her favorite animal)

Chase = Monkey Monkey Chase

Zoe = Baby Hippo Zoe

She Zoe's big front teeth with a gap? We started calling her Baby Hippo Zoe a couple weeks ago, that's why Maeley wanted all of us to have animal names.

Our kids sure are funny!

Bad day turned good

Today started off not so well. Chase and Zoe both woke up in a bad mood. By 9 this morning I was wondering how we were going to make it through the day.  I had a meeting at 12 and Derek had one at 12:45 both at the church building. Well apparently mine was canceled but I did not get that email. I found that out about 12:30 and by that point it was pointless to go home just to come right back.  Church was very difficult. The kids did not want to listen particularly Maeley. Chase and Zoe on the other hand were just tired. Derek got Zoe to fall asleep on him for about an hour which is a mircale. She hasn't fallen asleep at church in several months. Somehow we made it through church. Shortly after we got home I checked our blog and noticed a new post on one of my favorite blogs. Maybe you noticed but my last post I linked to a party on Shanty2Chic. They liked my photo display board and I won the pink hammer they were giving away. I don't think I've ever won anything before. I'm pretty proud of myself and super excited. I can't wait to start another project. Another blog I've recently run across was Knock off Wood. I'm drooling over some of the projects on there. This girl has made plans for brand name furnishings, mainly Pottery Barn. I'm really really missing having a garage. I would love to start some of these projects with Derek. I love the farmhouse bed.  

Not-So-Board Decor

Remember the stocking hanger I made last month. Well I love it so much that there was no way I was going to pack it away until next Christmas.

I decided to hang frames with snap shots of us. I scored at Kohls and got 5x7 frames on clearance for $1.59 each. I love a good deal.

I spray painted 3 frames chocolate brown and 2 heirloom white. Then applied Ralph Lauren faux glaze to the white frames just as I did to the board.  All in all I love how it turned out. And I did it all without the help of my husband! Go me!

(Sorry the lighting is a bit funny. This apartment has awful lighting.)

Maeley's growing up

Do you notice anything different?

She got her ears pierced! While we were in Casa Grande we asked her if she wanted to get her ears pierced. She wanted to buy some cute earrings but didn't want to get them pierced. So we weren't going to push her into it. Later in the day after we got home she really wanted them pierced so off to the mall we went. She picked out pink flower earrings. She was so happy and excited...until it actually happended. Then our smiley girl was crying and saying things like "I don't want them anymore" and "it hurt". She cried for a good 30 minutes. When we got home I put some antiseptic solution on her ears and that was the end of the crying. Now she is very happy and loves them.

Cedar chest project

I got a cedar chest for Christmas when I was about 16. I've liked having one but never loved the look of it.

I really don't like oak, brass hinges or the southwestern seat pad on the top (which obviously is not pictured).

Chase helping Dad take off the hardware.

Then we sanded the whole thing down.

We chose Rustoleaum Painters Touch Colonial Red color. This was after the first coat. I believe we did 2 maybe 3.

Then we sanded the edges a bit and added some stain to give it a distressed look.

We've been looking for some new fabric to reupolster the pad and trying to decide what to paint to hardware. Black or oil rubbed bronze, I'm leaning towards black.

I love it! Can't wait to have it completly finished though.

Having fun!

Derek had some nice time off during the holidays. I am sure missing him this week. Going back to the daily grind is no fun at all.

Each of the kids got a movie in their stockings so we've had our share of movie nights around here. Zoe couldn't be happier to have a sleeping bag of her own.

The week after Christmas we began organizing the apartment which was much needed. Unfortunately in order to organize that meant take down the Christmas decorations. I was not ready and to be honest I'd happily still have it up now. Our room which had became a storage room feels liveable again.  And I no longer fear something will jump out at me every time I open Zoe's closet. I love organizing I just hate the mess it takes to get organized.

The kids have been loving all their new toys and have been sharing very well too.

Maeley baking with her new doll which she named Rebecca.

We went up to Gilbert for two things. To orgainze our stuff in my parents garage and to visit with Derek's friend Jason's family who was in town for a wedding. So Thursday was spent organizing and hanging out with my family. My nephew Boston was spending the night at my parents so Maeley tought that was so much fun. Derek, my mom and I were watching DIY network and HGTV until about 11 when it was reruns from earlier in the evening. So off to bed we went. I could honestly careless that we didn't stay up to greet the new year.

Derek assembling a tricycle that Chase got for Christmas. He had been begging to ride it for days.

Chase patiently waiting for his trike to be put together. Maeley being so cute.

Zoe enjoying every bite of her cookie.

He's so happy. He still needs to get the hang of pedaling though.

And they are off.

Zoe loved sitting in these little chairs. We would have done a fire New Years Eve however it was a no burn day. I forget how many no burn days Maricopa County has.

The following day we met up with our friends walked around the San Tan Mall had some lunch then back to my parents so the little kids could take a nap. It was great to see them. We made it to their wedding 3 years ago and since then they've had two kids we had never met before.

Jason and his son Brady

Emma

Chase was so cute towards Emma. He said that she was his best friend and gave her a hug.

A funny story about Maeley: Jacob and Devan took their scooters and went to the park at the end of my parents street. They weren't supposed to be gone long. Maeley was concerned and got Laurel and together went to find them. They didn't see them the first time and came back. That wasn't good enough for Maeley. So off they were again to find them. This time they found them and Maeley got upset with them. She gave them a talking to and said things like "you had me worried" and "don't do that again". My sister said it was pretty funny and she just let Maeley give it to them. To make it up to her the boys invited Maeley and Chase over to their place to watch a movie while Derek and I got a date night.

My mom kept Zoe so she could get to bed on time. This was the first time Zoe had ever been without Maeley, Chase, Derek or I. My mom said she did well while she was eating but then after that she realized we were all gone. She did not like it. So Zoe cried off and on. Then at 7:30 grabbed her blanket, dog and walked to the room where her bed was. So my mom put her to bed. Silly girl.

Originally we were planning on coming home Friday night but we decided to leave Saturday morning. That was a good idea. We stopped in Casa Grande to see if a movie was playing soon. Lucky for us Princess and the Frog was. We stopped by Target to grab snacks for Zoe and back to watch the movie. About an hour into the movie we decided to leave because Zoe wasn't going to sit any longer. They gave us tickets to come back so luckily it wasn't a waste of money. Then we walked around a bit before heading home. It was a nice break and we had a great time.

Capes

For Christmas this year my mom made the kids capes. She knew if she made Super Hero capes for Chase then Maeley and Zoe would want some of their own. So she made princess capes for the girls. They have been a huge hit around here and its so freaking cute to watch Zoe get excited to wear them.

You can't tell in this picture but they are holding hands.

Derek had a fun time too!

Ward Christmas Party

I realize I am back tracting here but I don't want to forget this.

Our ward Christmas Party was December 19th. I had told the kids that Santa was going to there so they were beyond excited. Santa was set up in the Relief Society room. When we walked in Maeley really hesitated and did not want to see him. I was pretty shocked by this. Chase and Zoe got their pictures with Santa but Maeley wouldn't come close to him until as a family we got our picture taken. She told us later in the day that that was not Santa. She told us that someone dressed up like him. We then explained to her that the real Santa couldn't make it as he was busy at the North Pole and it was okay that someone else dressed up like him. We were completely taken back that our 4 year old figured that out. I hope she continues to believe for at least a few more years.

I love how Zoe is just trying to figure him out.

Zoe was not happy.

(This was taken before the family picture)

 Chase was thrilled to see Santa again.