1.31.2011

Reader request - nursery for a girl

Annelies (a Belgian living in Germany), emailed me because she was looking for ideas for her daughter's nursery. She found an awesome vintage Eames rocker that she wants to incorporate in the room. The rocker is yellow - which I LOVE:


Once I got over my jealousy, I hunted through my stash of photos and came up with a bunch of rooms that have this shade of yellow in it (or close to). I think any of the colour schemes from the photos below would be beautiful for a baby girl's nursery and would be a great home for the gorgeous rocker which I want. Bad.

Good luck Annelies!

beckers

design public

dwell studio

kids factory

marie claire maison

MøbelPøbel

ohdeedoh

ohdeedoh

ohdeedoh

ohdeedoh

ohdeedoh

domino

spearmint baby

spearmint baby

style milk

1.30.2011

Today's projects

I had planned on making the bunting for the tree in Simon's room today but instead I reupholstered the faux leather ottoman in the basement. The top of the ottoman was full of large gashes and holes and we had put duct tape on all these problem areas. The result was a really ghetto looking ottoman. We have no money to replace it. We bought our ottoman at Bouclair Home a couple years ago for around $150 and it's definitely taken a beating by the kids. I went through my stash of fabric and found a turquoise tweed - nice and thick so I unscrewed the top of the ottoman and recovered it in the tweed fabric. I'm pretty pleased with this temporary solution:





Months and months ago, I bought some postcards from Ninainvorm's etsy store. I finally got around to framing them (their new home is across from the couch and ottoman in the photos above):



Also in the basement is the printer tray I got from my sister where we keep little figurines because I got tired of stepping on them:


1.29.2011

A whole bunch of reasons why I hate winter

  1. SNIRT - snow + dirt = messy shit that drives me bonkers
  2. being cold is not pleasant
  3. it is inhumane that I live in a city where temperatures get so cold that SNOW IS UNABLE TO FALL
  4. winter is too damn long and that makes summer that much shorter
  5. bundling up the kids to go anywhere is painful
  6. forgetting to warm up the car 10 minutes before we have to go somewhere is irritating
  7. my 50 minute commute in the morning is on public transportation where often the heat DOES NOT WORK
  8. my 50 minute commute in the afternoon is on public transportation where often the heat DOES NOT WORK
  9. constant nasal drip common among children and adults
  10. this winter the kids and I seem to have gotten sick every second week and for that winter REALLY sucks ass
  11. not being able to be outside as much as we are in the summer = TOTAL BUMMER
  12. shovelling is a good workout but I can think of better things to do with my limited free time
  13. freezing rain is scary
  14. getting your pants dirty from the knees down with salt stains and SNIRT = UNNECESSARY LAUNDRY (Sabrina - that one was for you!) 
  15. having to roll your pants up to your knees and risk embarrassing your kids so that you can make it through the slush without getting your pants filthy
  16. it gets dark before we've even had dinner
  17. the lightest of snowfalls makes everyone drive WAY TOO SLOW
  18. number 17 meant that it took Pablo and I two hours one morning to drive to an appointment at the hospital when it should only have taken 20 minutes MAX.
  19. you go outside to get some 'fresh air' and you breathe in through your nose and the air is so cold that it BURNS the insides of your nostrils. Good times.
  20. having to wear ugly-ass footwear in fear of slipping on ice and cracking your head open 
  21. when ice builds up on the INSIDE of the windows in the house 
  22. when ice builds up on the INSIDE of the car
  23. GREY. ALL THE TIME. Love it in decorating but not in overtaking the outside world. 
  24. it takes longer to get the kids ready to go outside than they actually spend outside
  25. and once you get them outside, they decide they have to go to the bathroom AND you asked them right before getting them dressed if they had to go
  26. DID I MENTION THE COLD?
I think this list will be a work in progress because I'm sure I've missed a few key hate points. Feel free to add what I've forgotten in the comments.

Funny

Canada is separate from the United States because Canadians like to be alone.

        - classroom scene from Stuart Little 2. Now that shit is funny.

1.27.2011

The damn crib is back!

It was painful for Pablo to get Simon down for his naps in the afternoons. Usually Simon would have his nap at 12:30. It was taking Pablo till past 3 to get him to settle down and stay in his bed. SO, the crib is back. BLEH. We'll try again in a couple months...

1.25.2011

Update on the homefront

Simon has been sleeping in his toddler bed ever since I redid his room this past weekend. His afternoon naps take forever for him to settle down. Doesn't help that Isabella is home from school and tires to be the mom and put him to bed herself. Nights are pretty good. Last night he only woke up once and just babbled while sitting up in bed. I told him to lay back down and he was back asleep right away.

I went with Pablo to his appointment at the chronic pain clinic this morning and I'm glad I went. The doctor we saw was just awesome. Irish and funny and down to earth and didn't use big medical terms that I wouldn't remember. He told us that there was no abnormalities in the EEG that Pablo had done recently. YAY! We're very happy about this because Pablo had some 'strange' things happen to him a few times lately that we thought might have been seizures. The EEG showed no seizure activity. This doctor wants Pablo to do exercises everyday for about 20 minutes to start to build up his energy levels. Fatigue is a big thing that drives Pablo crazy and the doctor said that after the 2 months of radiation treatments that Pablo had on his brain, it could take up to 12 months to 'get back to normal' and get over all the fatigue. The doctor was very willing to help Pablo get long term disability. He believes that Pablo just needs to work on being able to function day to day - expecting to get well enough to work full-time is an unrealistic goal for the near future. He was shocked that we've managed so well over the last 9 months while raising a two and four year old. This made us feel really good.

(I might have written about this before but I can't remember) I've noticed a big change in Pablo the last couple of weeks. He seems to have had more good days than bad and it used to be 1 good day for every 5 or 6 bad days. This change had happened since he started taking the Vitamin B6. This vitamin helps to fight against fatigue. AND IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING. AMEN. 

Ongoing issues with Pablo that require more medical appointments:
  1. Pablo has really bad vision in his left eye. He has an appointment with an opthamologist in February.
  2. Pablo has issues with his left ear (he feels like there is water in it all the time). Waiting for an appointment with an ear/nose and throat specialist.
  3. Pablo's sleeping patterns/habits are the pits. He is going to be seen by a sleep psychologist or by a sleep clinic. Again. (He already spent the night at a sleep clinic in July and heard nothing back from them)
  4. Pablo has an appointment with his urologist in February regarding his peeing issues.
  5. Pablo has a follow-up appointment with the chronic pain clinic in February.
  6. Pablo's short term memory is pretty bad. Not sure what can be done to help that...
  7. February is going to be a busy month and my parents are gone the whole month to Mexico (SO jealous).

1.24.2011

Another dream home

I found yet another house of my dreams - again from Hus & Hem. Posting it here for future reference because I love it so...













1.23.2011

Simon's new room - WIP

I painted Simon's room Benjamin Moore's light khaki. I love it (photo #2 is the best for seeing the actual wall colour without it appearing yellowish - like the old wall colour was). Right now he is having a nap in his bed. His very first time sleeping somewhere other than his crib. He didn't even try to get out of his bed once - I lay him down and I left his room before he fell asleep. Such a good boy. Not sure yet if we'll try him in his bed overnight tonight. His crib is in Isabella's room while we ponder this big decision...

Anyway, I put the tolix chair in the corner till we can afford something else - ideally an Eames rocker but we'll see. Kim picked up a black sheepskin from Homesense for the floor next to the bed yesterday (have to get it this week). The red buffalo plaid on his bed is a piece of fleece that I am going to use to make bunting for his tree (next weekend). The tree is so bare right now. I love how his room turned out. I'll take more pictures when the tree is done. Next project is our bedroom...