which would you choose?

We're currently debating artwork for the entryway.... which one (if any) would you choose?

I'm thinking that we'll paint the wall (or walls... also up for debate) Farrow and Ball's Down Pipe.  We have it on a wall in our bedroom and love it.  We need something that will pop... and that we won't get sick of (read... we can't have another situation where we put everything up and then I immediately hate it... which was the previous fate of the purple... yes purple... wallpaper that I willingly chose and Andrew and my Dad willingly put up there).

by designsbymariainc

by happydeliveries

by happydeliveries

by FreshWordsMarket

by FreshWordsMarket

I'm thinking the first or the last...

thoughts?

toddler friendly yet pretty entryway?

In just a few weeks operation daycare will be live... as in I will become the daycare provider + mom to twins and I am trying to cross things off of my list to get this house totally ready to house two more babies.  One area that has been needing a facelift for a long while is the entryway and although my past visions were a tad more adult I am still excited to do something there to transform the blah plain wall and dull mat into something a bit more fun and definitely more welcoming.  The catch... it needs to be toddler friendly.  What does that mean exactly... well it needs to have a place to easily store coats, a change of clothes and shoes... and preferably a place where each child has their own designated hook or spot.  This also means nothing sketchy... as in it can't be too pretty (read too breakable) that a curious toddler could do real damage to themselves or it.

What we have to work with is one 11 foot tall wall but very little space to work out from since the door closes right back onto this wall (no deep space for large shelves... cabinets... you get the picture)

Things I'm contemplating...

1) hanging canvas bags from low hooks and either attaching a polaroid of the child whose bag it is or using a chalkboard label to write their name on.
2) painting the full wall or part there of in chalkboard paint... fun element... too overdone or just asking for a mess?
3) artwork above the hooks... high enough for little hands not to reach

here's what I've found as far as ideas go...

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Ideas anyone?

disclaimer... this is still my house... so no I don't want coloured rubbermaid containers or primary colours... it needs to be pretty yet functional... please!

when was the last time you got six hours?

I've been in hiding... well not really (we were gone all of last week on our last summer vacation)... but honestly... the lack of sleep has just caught up with me... well us... and everything just seems a bit tougher to get done.  You see, we kind of had a large case of accidental parenting... and for those of you who don't know what that is... it's basically when something difficult comes up (um say one of your children wakes up multiples times a night crying and you just do the easier thing to get her to stop crying and go back to sleep... instead of the smarter thing that would help everyone in the long run).  That easier thing... feeding her, bringing her to sleep in our room in our bed.  For some this may seem like the perfect solution... for us... it just wasn't.  Maybe if we had a king sized bed it would have been better... likely not.  The point is she was never given the chance to learn to fall asleep on her own and yeah... that was our fault.

So we are now sleep training.  I laugh at myself for the post I wrote here about sleep training.  I mean I would never sleep train an infant!  But she isn't an infant anymore... she's a one year old (well just barely) and everyone in this house needs some quality shut-eye.

One day... hopefully one day soon... we will all get it and that my friends... will be the first time in two years... yes two years... that I will sleep for at least six consecutive hours.  I can't wait.

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Happy weekend!

a birthday

A couple of weeks ago we had a very important birthday, a first birthday in fact.

well two very important birthdays... just to be clear

and yes, they had cake... giant cupcakes in fact that took their poor Daddy a whole day to make.  In case you're planning on baking a giant cupcake or two don't bother trying to make it with a healthy baby cake recipe... it won't bake... like it will never bake all the way through.  Just buy the boxed mix, suck it up and face the fact that for one meal your child... or children will eat crap.

In some ways it felt like it took forever for them to be one.

In other ways it flew by way too fast.  You know when grown ups used to embarrass you by telling you how fast you grew up and you used to roll your eyes at them.... well I am that grown up and don't you dare roll your eyes at me... that shit is true.

we have one year olds now... one

yes... I spent more time decorating for this first birthday bash then likely any other previous birthday... what started out as... don't worry... I'll just make pinwheels... turned into... so there's this birthday package on etsy...  

but in all seriousness I loved how it turned out

and yeah... I made like 40 pinwheels before ordering that package... I mean... what else do I possibly need to do with my time....

The birthday morning was spent just the four of us

you bought your children a rug for their birthday... is what you are thinking.... so I will tell you this... this rug was love at first sight... at Ikea... how could I not buy it for them!

Everyone arrived just after their first nap (yeah... we don't deviate from the schedule... even on birthdays... schedule = sanity)

So I realized while going through these pictures that most of the party pictures are of Isla and I can explain... Isla is somewhat of a skeptic at the moment... a skeptic of humans and whether or not she should trust them... so she was always in someone's arms (only a select few arms to be precise).... Alice on the other hand... was on the move... constantly... so fast in fact that she successfully evaded the camera (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)... sneaky Alice

Post party and post second nap the girls had a chance to try out their new toys...

It really was a perfect day... 

a year ago

We've been working like dogs all weekend to get ready for the big first birthday party tomorrow.... yes the party that originally was going to be no fuss and which of course always is.  We have been baking, making pinwheels, putting together photo banners, cutting out one million decorations... yes that kind of weekend.  I am so excited for tomorrow.  Tomorrow is all about Isla and Alice... but I just sat down finally and realized that right now is about me and that I am going to take five minutes and think about me and what this year did for me.  When I think back to a year ago I get goose bumps because right now back then I was in labor, I was in the heat of it and I was so excited to meet these little ladies.  I can now say that I look back and I am so proud of myself, proud that I not only made it through this year but that I enjoyed much of each and every day that I've had with my daughters, that I have had a seemingly endless supply of energy and that these two little ladies seem smitten with me.  I have definitely never worked harder in one year than I have this past one but hardly any of it felt like work at all.  It's not work when it's your life and it's what you wanted for so long.  Yes there were nights that felt like years, feedings that would never end and one million firsts to get through and get over.  I do feel like I have given up parts of me in this constant race of a life this past year, and it will be an on going job for me to hang on to those parts and keep them going, but in exchange I've gotten everything.  So happy almost one year as a mother to me.

chaotic recap... without the pictures

In case you missed it, I executed a royal fail while camping and let our camera take a swim in a vat of coffee (or a diaper bag of coffee to be precise).  I think I am still in the denial phase... as in that couldn't have possibly really happened and it will work again.  We do have another camera... a smaller... point and shoot... much inferior camera but the battery needs charging and in my state of denial about our good (or formerly good) camera I don't think this camera needs charging because the other one is going to work again soon.  Okay enough of the rant... here's our week minus the photos.

Isla and Alice are going to be one on Monday so we've been in party prep mode.  Some how these things always manage to get bigger than one originally intends and that is the case here as well.  It seems so strange that they are almost one.  In a way it feels like they have always been here... that this past year was the longest one ever but in another way it feels like just yesterday that I was sucking down a blue freeze on our way to the hospital.

I've been taking the girls swimming a ton... well me + one which is often my parents and sometimes Andrew. They scream and laugh and clap for themselves in the pool.  Alice loves to walk up the stairs of the slide and Isla loves to jump in the shallow water.

We spent an afternoon at Ikea with my Sister and my Mom.  Ikea is an amazing place to take babies.  So so much for them to look at, one million mirrors and big wide isles.

Alice wakes up so much in the night.  I have been struggling with this.  Well struggling with... let's just let her do what she will do in the night and not get fussed about it because she is a baby and obviously just needs us in the night still and let's sleep train the ... out of her.  But I just can't be that person.  That person who let's her babies cry to train them when they are so little still... scratch that... I don't think it matters that they are little... they are crying and they are ours so I don't see my feelings changing on this.  I am debating their naps... as in they still take two of them... one at 9am and one at 1pm...  I've read that sleep begets sleep but maybe now that they are bigger that is no longer true?  Perhaps they are sleeping too much during the day??  Any thoughts on this?

We watched the first episode of Game of Thrones this week.  Andrew has all of the books on his kindle and is working his way through.  HBO always seems to do it up right and yeah it was graphic, violent and full of sex... but it was definitely entertaining.  We'll be watching the rest of the season for sure.

I am still chipping my way through Shadow of Night (the second books in the Discovery of Witches series).  It's good but hasn't pulled me in still... but I have neglected it this week to watch the olympics.

okay this whole lack of pictures thing is terrible...

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how was your week?

happy weekend!

house crush

I have a major change itch these days... major.  I just want to paint something, change up a room and of course rip out the still there front entrance-way tile.  I guess things are getting less chaotic with the girls since I am actually thinking about non-baby stuff for a change.  Of course I just jinxed myself in all likelihood.  So well I have the time and mental capacity to indulge in design thoughts here is one home that I am loving at the moment...

The designer was a close friend of the client's and I think that is why this place seems so inviting... I love this rug.  It's not pretentious and looks informal despite the strong print...  and of course the view isn't bad either!

Our table never has a tablecloth on it (well maybe it does on Christmas morning) and the reason for it is the thought of tablecloth makes me think of some tired looking rag that hangs awkwardly from a table.  This is no such rag... this has house transforming potential.  I'm not sure how I feel about the ubber stumpy legs on the table but I am loving the rest of the room.

umm wall colour... love it.  I am also loving how the books are just stacked there out in the open.  The article  profiling this house talked about how the family loved books and art and how pre-decorating it was largely lacking.  Well we love books here and aside from the big bookshelves our books are no where to be seen.  I think this has to change.

This transformation was done by Nancy Riesco and I think I might just have to dig around for more of her design goodness.  Photos are all from Style at Home

Are you currently harboring a design itch?  What do you think about tablecloths?

Happy Wednesday!