Jayden's 2nd 2 year old party

 

We had 2 parties for little Jay since the house is not capable of holding the entire family at this point...come on springtime!  Jay was in high spirits at his second party.  He would periodically grab a family member's hand and lead them in to the playroom to play!  It was super adorable.

I also tried a new recipe as I was inspired by my gal, cinnabun cookies (pictured in the photo collage) fyi they are pretty darn tasty.

During party #1 I had numerous requests for my meatball recipe...so here it is I made it up on the fly for our recent family dinner with hubby's mama's side:

1/2 c milk

1 egg

1/2 c oats

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 Tbsp parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 lb lean ground beef

1 lb sausage

Mix it all up by hand and shape into 1 1/2 inch balls, place in lightly greased 13x9 pan and pour sauce over balls.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Enjoy!

Jayden turns 2!

I can't believe my little baby is 2 years old!  Jayden is such a sweet little boy.  but...He is learning to stand up for himself when it comes to his big brother.  He can count to twenty (with a little help in the later teens) and sings the most adorable songs.  He loves trucks/trains/tractors, farm animals (especially horses), and Barney.  He most definitely loves his mommy.  He just started getting into trouble as he loves to climb.  He scales the kitchen table, toys- even his new farmer's market, rocking chairs, coffee tables, you name it.  Jay loves the water and is constantly climbing into the bath tub.  He also doesn't mind getting dirty...he eats applesauce, yogurt, etc with his hands and in the summer and spring time loves to sit in mud puddles playing with his toy trucks.

We are having 2 parties for this 2 year old since we are in the midst of remodeling.  Party #1 was this past Saturday...

but today was his actual birthday...just a low-key day at home with Mom and Toby playing around!

Jay loves his new toys, thanks Diane!

My Girly Bathroom!

I love my half bath!  It was so nice to actually finish a bathroom too!  We re-purposed the shelf --it was bright lime green and in the nursery at the old house in its former life.

 We spent $30 at Ace Hardware on a mirror and had them cut it to fit an existing frame!

The hanging light fixture used to be brass...

Check out my new BB&B accessories!  

Thank you to Linda, Megs and Aunt Cathy & Uncle John for the gift cards.

busy, busy, busy

Wow have we been busy!

Where to start?  Bathroom madness maybe...

Things are slowly progressing with the master bath.  The shower stall is up and the tile is grouted.

 detail around shower stall (the shower had to be raised due to plumbing issues)

floor

The vanity has been ordered and we hope will be in sometime this week or next...we are having communication issues with the freight company.


I began pirate-izing the playroom and have sketched out a mural on one wall that looks like a treasure map.

my inspiration...

I also have completed the sketch above the changing table to create sails above it as well as the crow's nest.  I also found adorable pirates but am having a hell of a time sketching them so I am seriously thinking about tracing them and laminating them.  That way the boys can play with the pirates on the treasure map and ship.


To refresh your memory...here is a pic of the changing table (I decided NOT to change it into the stagecoach because I am too lazy).




In between all of this I got a bug up my butt to re-do the half bath on the main floor.  It was too freakin' white...seriously the only hint of color in the bathroom was the vanity.  Check out the before pics...

 Boring...

I painted the bathroom with Ace's Your Highness which is a grayish purple (more on the purple side).  Today the boys and I went to BB&B and got accessories...

The towel color maybe too close to the paint color when it is hanging on the wall...we'll have to see...but the rug is a keeper!


I have also been scrambling to find decorations for Jayden's Barney birthday party.  I pretty much had to make everything...the Barney selection sucks!  Also, the Raven's fans bought out all the purple plates and napkins so our colors are purple, green and orange.  All I need to get at this point is a helium tank and a few food items.

poster

cupcake topper (thanks for the info Megs)

As I look out my window it is snowing now...I sure hope the roads are decent for tomorrow.  But here is a good memory of our last snow fall less than a week ago.

 

A change of heart...

We finally ordered a vanity.  I found a company out of California that makes small double vanities, they are called Silkroad and they had a nice selection of under 58" double vanities.  Unfortunately they don't sell directly to the public but many online companies carry their products and I found the cheapest was on ebay.  Hubby actually was worried about the cost and instituted a budget because he was feeling anxious about how expensive vanities are...  this is why I offered to just refinish the existing vanity!  I am secretly celebrating this because I have definitely rubbed off on him!  I have had to give up a lot with this darn bathroom since we are DIY-ing it.  I had to choose a lighter grout because the lines are not perfect and the dark grout would have highlighted any imperfections.  I also had to give up the dark cherry finish for a vanity too...boo!  The one we choose has a light cherry finish but I was willing to give up my dark finish since doors and drawers are important to me.  We decided to go with the double vanity verses the his and hers separate ones because of counter space and storage. 

 

I could have gotten one with a dark mahogany finish but the doors were split down the middle and I think that would have pissed me off because they are not very large to begin with and it had a much more antique look with spindled legs that was too frilly for me.

So here is Andy and AJ's progress thus far with the bathroom...

this is the spot where the vanity will go (in-between the window wall and the shower).  As you can see there really isn't too much room to do the his and hers style anyways unless we used pedestals but this girl needs room for stuff and pedestals look pretty but just aren't functional for me!

the raised shower (this had to be done due to water issues)...

the tub with new tile surround.  I want to get a new faucet and knobs for the soaking tub to match the vanity.


I can't wait to see this bathroom grouted all up!


Special thanks to my grandmother who cleaned the horribly dirty tile floor...how embarrassing!

P.S. Totally thinking about changing the playroom theme to pirate instead of cowboy...that changing table seems like too much work to change!