hallway to-do list!

this week i focused on the hallway.  fun-oh-fun!  not really.

hallway to-do:
1. clean out all five closets: linen (for linens, both bed and kitchen), towel, broom/cleaning, coat, old hot water heater home (aka waste of space)
2.  take down 'american' decor.  normally i leave it up for labor day, but it's had a long showing, it's time.
3.  re-do photo gallery.  i had taken it down prior to becca's shower (for some odd reason), it's time to bring it back!

i'm not going to bore you with the details of cleaning out and organizing five closets.  the shop vac and trash cans are full, that's all i'm going to say.

now on to the fun part, which i saved for last, because if i didn't i would never clean out those closets!

you can see my old photo wall and details here.  i went through basically the same process, this time adding post-its and perfectly measuring and marking nail holes.  i nailed through the paper, then took it down from left to right adding the corresponding pictures.  i have grand plans of changing out the actual pictures, but that is the super fun part.  i need to work on the not-so-fun parts of my to-do list first.  and maybe get this baby here so he/she can participate (in being in the pictures, not replacing them)!

all laid out

post-its instead of saying what the picture is
it was much easier this time!

traced and labeled craft paper
this tech worked so well last time
i measured and cut this last night

leveled on wall - lower this time, which i like
so does jack :)

done!
it only took me an hour.  that's not too shabby!

i added some notes, they are too small :(
the door keyhole plates are chicago finds from my trip in feb.
the 19 and G are from the alameda antiques fair.
i plan on painting the wood frame and replacing the pic.

before, as in wednesday morning:

blah, blah, boooooring.

aaaaaaand, before the green family moved in:

the walls were wood paneling wallpapered!
we replaced flooring throughout (except bedrooms $)
do you like the planter and basket thing-y?
we capped the planter with wood, that's what the flowers sit on.

this is the area you always see in my holiday decor pics.
we replaced windows and flooring.

cray-z weekend!

actually, it was a crazy 24 hours.  we went to a wedding (erin briggs and ryan smith) in lodi, getting home past midnight:

it was pretty and so erin!

i made myself a feather-faux-fascinator

our dumb tablemate's excellent photog skills
tim brown, albert lee, and pg

they moved too fast
this is all i got :(

go theta chi!
jeremy pine, pg, albert, ey

 then i woke up at 6am to meet kristin for the alameda antiques fair by the bay.  i forgot my camera in my car, but i got a couple great items!  after the fair, we went back to her house for a lunchtime bbq:

the kids played in the water for 5 hours!

it took me a while to get up-and-running on monday, even with this 2nd tri energy boost!

back to nesting posts tomorrow :)

jack's room to-do list

i am taking FULL advantage of the glorious time of pregnancy called the second trimester.  seriously, it's the BEST.  babies kick, sickness is gone-zo, and energy is through.the.roof!  yay!

last week i worked on jack's room:

jack's room:
1. take out changing table (see why this was an urgent matter below)
2. go through and take out old toys/clothes
3. paint and install closet doors
4. re-do never-say-die ikea dresser, have jack help
5. create organization in closet = no more toys all around the room

jack's been using his changing table as a dresser since potty-training was complete.  it's worked out well, as dressers go, until jack decided to use it as a BED during naptime:

funny jack

this was so not okay, so dangerous, so we needed to get it out asap.  i didn't think it would be a big deal, but jack was devastated when i mentioned taking it out.  i'm trying not to do a lot of these things (take away something from jack to give to baby), and especially not right before the little bean arrives.  it worked out perfecting that jack's room could be transformed into a 'big boy' room before he starts wanting to be a baby like the baby!

i did a sweep of updating toys and wardrobes and then got to work on the rest of the list!

i painted jack's closet doors white, like our trim, on top and magnet-board paint on one side with chalkboard paint on the other:

i used water to wipe some marks, kind of mad i didn't retake!

jack helped paint our ikea dresser.  i took it out of our room to put into his to replace changing table, but it totally needed a coat of paint and new knobs.  jack is an excellent dresser-painter:

removing the knobs

only before i can find right now!

counting to make sure we didn't lose any screws.

lastly, i moved jack's bed and reorganized the closet.  i wanted all of his toys to have a place - out of sight.  voila!

before door install

bed's new home

and because it is NEVER a to-do post without before pics:

green family before
no closet, toys everywhere

before we bought the house!
creeeeeepyyyyyyy.

his bed is now in this corner, desk is still there.

if you're keeping track, i've completed THREE rooms!  laundry, dining, jack. YES.

green valley farmers' market

on saturday, jack and i ventured to the new green valley farmers' market.  it's in a beautiful location and has fabulous - totally local - vendors.  i love living here!

dining room to-do

1. redo table (for the umpteenth time)
2. clean

this was another easy-to-do room that i completed in one day.  how you say?  with the BEST.PAINT.EVER.CREATED.  our old neighbor, tami of patina decorative finishes: site, blog, facebook, is a new stockist for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint: site, info (best, easy to digest info).  it is a life-changer for anyone who likes to paint furniture.

before
grease-stained-weird-color table
i usually have a tablecloth over this mess

 les and i repainted this table, first black, then white, but i never sealed it.  i know, what was i thinking?  i was thinking that i HATE.SEALER!  it smells, is difficult to apply, has too shiney of a sheen, and darkens your paint.  when i heard that i could annie sloan this sucker, then wax it (!) to seal it, i was SOLD.  the paint is relatively oderless and the wax is easy to use.  the paint also dries super fast, so this previously days-long project was finished - FINISHED - in one day.  sealed with wax and everything!

after
it looks streaky-weird, but that was intentional

i watered-down the paint color ochre to 'wash' the table.  i wanted it to have streaks and imperfections to add a little character to the large white piece of furniture.  i kept the legs off-white for a little contrast.

dining room without a table cloth - YES!

decor

decor on buffet which houses our china/seasonal dishes

my fav chandelier - original to the house

and what you've all been waiting for {and i LOVE because it makes my so-so work look amazing}:

BEFORE.

this angle is actually the same as the angle showing the chandelier in the picture above.  as part of the remodeling, pete and i decided to take this wall out, leaving the very short walls you see as a 'frame' to the dining room.  it really makes the space feel so much bigger ('cause it's actually usable) and is perfect for entertaining and holidays!

telling the fam

pete's never been one to keep a secret, and the baby secret wasn't any different.  he told his parents right away, probably minutes after the positive test.  i wanted to share the news with my parents and siblings at the same time -- and it was so hard.

first of all, my parents were on a 3-week across-the-country driving trip to visit my pop pop when we got the great news!  that was nice because i didn't have to keep any face-to-face secrets.  we also pretty much avoided my siblings during that time, too.  {sorry, guys}  secondly, i wanted to share in a cute way, but my preggo-brain couldn't think of a thing. no birthdays, holidays, anythings for gifts were around this time to present everyone with baby#2 shirts or anything like that.  thirdly (word?), it's hard to get my family all together without someone thinking something is up.  and with laura and eric's recent wedding and baby news, all eyes would fall on me.  and how do you get a bunch of suspicious people together without too many questions asked?

sooooo, a few weeks after my parents returned, i insisted on dinner all together.  jack and i baked cupcakes and put creepy little babies on them with the plan of sharing the news after dinner:

creepy babies + letters spelling b-a-b-y

but, as i mentioned, pete's horrible at keeping secrets, so not even 5 minutes after we sat down for dinner, he announced that we're having another baby!  among the 'yays' and 'congrats' we hear my dad say, 'i knew it, jen's been acting weird' and jd say 'i can't believe you didn't tell us you're having a baby'.  jd still brings up my 'secret-keeping' and 'lack of full-disclosure' about pretty much anything:

me: i made keys for the realtors, sorry, i forgot to tell you guys.
jd:  just like you 'forgot' to tell us you're pregnant? 

me: oh, the she said they might write an offer!
jd: uh-huh.  keeping that from us too?

it was fun shelling out creepy-baby-desserts without having to explain them, though :).  and laura and i got to take our first preggo-pic together:

not flattering of either of us, but have to record it.
i look more pregnant.  nice.

laundry room before + after

with a little one on the way, i've created the longest to-do list ever.  i don't know if i'm already 'nesting' but whatever it is, i have an overwhelming feeling that i need to get things done around here!  i thought if i let you in on my list, and posted before and afters, that i may make more progress.  here's number one (and a totally unnecessary nonbaby related project):

laundry room:

1. paint (did this one a bit back) & touch up

2. paint doors, cabinets

3. put in new knobs

laundry room before

after!

we kept the kindergarten flooring and laminate sink area, for money and convenience sake.  i'm totally ok with it and used it to get my bright color scheme together.  {'cause laundry sucks, and sunshineyness doesn't.} the floor is blue, gold, and red, so i used these colors to draw the wall paint and accent pieces.  i used to have a total rooster kitchen in red and gold, so i used some of that decor along with pictures from a college pad.  i used a christmas yarn wreath, added felt flowers, and painted doors/cabinets white (they were a yellowy color) to make the trim in the rest of the house.  all-in-all, i only bought paint!  yay!  

ps. i also realized that i never really posted before and afters of inside the house (did i?), so you may see some before, before, after pics, especially for the baby's new room and jack's room.  

another baby greenbean!

we are so excited about the addition of another bundle to our family!  from the previous post, you can tell jack has already taken a liking to being a big brother :).  most of the time, he talks about a baby sister, though if y'all know me, we won't be finding out this time either.  he says girls take naps (?).

here's an (not.so.great) ultrasound pic at around 13 weeks:

at the 13 weeks ultrasound, i spent about half an hour watching our 2nd little one swim around, too cute!  the pictures might not show it to you, but i have the memory so clear in my head, i think the kiddos look the same!  here's jack at 20ish weeks:

obviously, there will be a million-and-a-half more posts about this little one, too, but some details as an fyi (will post more about some of these later):

may 12th: positive test!
june 2nd: told immediate family
june 10th: 1st ultrasound
july 11th: 2nd ultrasound
july 18th: jack sees baby for 1st time via ultrasound - he's creeped out!
august 16th: next ultrasound
august 30th: 20ish week ultrasound

due date: january 20th, 2012!!!