Life with Kids

Friday, June 3, 2016

Fri-Yay!!! the one where I painted a wall

Happy Friday Y'all!! This has been some sort of week, let me tell you. The best part is that Thomas only had a two day work week so we got to have a mini vacation!! Not to mention the weather here in the PNW has been all sorts of amazing with super nice weather in the 70's+ and just yesterday there was a little bit of rain in our area...which I am not complaining about! Rain is so good for my garden and flowers.

I had all sorts of projects that I wanted to get done this week with the Hubster's home but it was just too darn hot to really get anything done...plus just being together is a blessing. I did get one thing done though.

Let's get into the back story first:

When we first moved into our home 8 years ago all the walls were still painted that builders white from 1989. I wanted to take advantage of the emptiness of the house and get the walls painted without having to worry about furniture...so we painted the ceiling white and the walls this awful color from McClendon's: Arizona Tan...which turned out to be a fleshy pink color!! We took it back and had them tint it as dark as possible but it really didn't help much. About a year later I found a beautiful green color to paint on the fireplace wall as an "accent" wall. I love the color and it changed with the lighting throughout the day. Then about 6 years ago I painted the rest of the house this beautiful neutral color: Potter Slip from the Martha Stewart line when she was at Lowes, it's not available anymore since she is at Home Depot and that color didn't transfer over there, so I have to keep a can for color matching when I need a new one. As my design style has changed over the years, I no longer wanted to have an accent wall, so I remedied that this weekend and now the fireplace wall is the same color as the rest!!

I had a super hard time finding a before picture (because I am a bad blogger and didn't plan ahead) so here are some choppy ones:

please try to look past my adorable little and see that wall in the back (also notice how cluttered that gallery wall was...)

It took two coats to cover that green but I can't believe the difference it makes in this room! I swear the room grew by 10x!! It seemed like it got about 3 feet wider and so much lighter and brighter in here. We are lacking in overhead lights in the living room (which is so strange that so many houses don't have living room lighting...we also put in the chandy 7 years ago and there was no overhead lighting there before...) I don't know why it took me so long, I just love it!!!

Since I had to take everything off the walls to paint I decided to simplify a little bit and really reduce the number of pictures in the gallery wall area and the decor on the mantle.

What do you think? So much "cleaner" looking, right? I am trying to decide if I should find something to go under our family canvas print (we will be replacing that soon with one that includes Finn)

and here is the mantle area, the little fishing pole is actually a lighter - so funny, and that bow was given to Ellie on our trip to Ireland in 2014, by a world class violinist we saw at a Pub. He serenaded Ellie and let her play his violin and when he needed to replace his bow he gave this one to Ellie!! So cool.

I mentioned earlier this week that we went up North to this quaint town called Snohomish which has a ton of antique stores. Finnley was a champ in the Ergo the whole time and Ellie found a fun little toy at one of the shops! She was just a crack up...but wasn't as good of a shopper like she used to be when she was little like Finnley...I know that with more practice she will get better again!

I saw this tee at one of the shops up there and thought it was so funny:

and finally at one of my favorite shops they have a new line of chalkpaint (which I've been wanting to try out) and I might just have to get this brand because of the name "Little Billy Goat" my love for goats runs deep!!

As you know Ellie turned 3 a couple weeks ago and I wanted to get a picture of her with her Birthday Peony (I call it that because the first year it ever bloomed was on her birth birthday!!) We had to take it a week early, because of the unusually warm weather we've had that has made everything bloom early, before the flowers were spent...I mean can you even handle this cuteness??

and then we needed a selfie (see old wall color in the background) and I just can't even express to y'all how much I love this age!!

Ellie is still in diapers part time (naps, nighttime, long car rides) so she gets to use the changetable in Finnley's room. She really likes to help put lotion on and always asks for it for her hands...but just look at that bellybutton!!!

I love snapchat (@alifeonthefarm) ...because besides the built in filters you just have to show your real life. I remember when IG (@lifeonthefarm) used to be that way but with all the filter apps and changes they've made to it, it's not like it used to be and I feel like to get a good "following" your pictures have to be professionalesque and that's just not me. Anyways the face swap filter on Snapchat is always a little disturbing...this one especially. I wasn't going to share it but then I just can't help myself it's just the most horrific thing ever - me and Thomas!

I mentioned on IG and Snapchat that I was doing an IKEA hack on their dollhouse and here is the finished hack! I love how it turned out and it really doesn't even look like the original. I plan on doing a full post about it but basically I painted all the walls, put up some wallpaper, and added shingles to the roof - I think that was the cherry on top! Oh and I also added some windows with magazine gardens for the view ;) It's the perfect size for all of Ellie's MagicClip Disney Princesses

I'm hoping we will be able to complete another project this weekend...replacing and painting the baseboards!! We already have all the baseboards in our garage, all we have to do is paint them and then measure/cut/install!!! We shall see if we have the energy to do it!!

And basically that is all I have for you right now! Happy Weekend Y'all!!

♥ Ashley

linking up here

Thursday, June 2, 2016

{Travel Diaries} Disneyland February 2016 - Day 4

I can't believe it's time to recap our last day in Disneyland. These trips are so much fun and really let us forget about everything and just enjoy our time together.

For our last day we wore our personalized t-shirts we got from my friend Kendra and lucky for you she has an etsy shop so you can get your own too!

When we booked our stay at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel part of our package included a Breakfast with Characters at the hotel restaurant "PCH Grill" unfortunately the morning we had our reservations booked the kitchen was having some issues so the restaurant was closed...they were able to shift our reservations to one of the other resort's Character Breakfast so we chose to go to "Storytellers Cafe" at the Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.

We were greeted at the door by Koda from Brother Bear...I think Ellie was pretty excited.

Once we were seated at our table the Chipmunks and a few other characters were walking around the dining room and came to get photos with Ellie.

Here she is with Dale:

The breakfast was a buffet style and it was so great to have the opportunity for Ellie to try a bunch of different foods. She loved the bacon and watermelon. The other really cool thing was since Ellie was under three she still got to eat for free...I love Disney!!

Here is some other food offerings: bacon, sausage, eggs benedict, sticky french toast, mickey waffles, scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns. The bacon and sausage were super good (I mean you can't really screw that up) the french toast was yummy as was the waffle but as you can imagine buffet style eggs benedict doesn't quite work. Overall though the food was pretty good and it was so fun to see Ellie's excitement with the characters walking around.

Meeko, from Pocahontas stopped by:

And the Dale walked by again and Ellie just had to give him a hug.

After Breakfast we made our way over to Critter Country in Disneyland to go on Splash Mountain, since it was just opening up. We took Ellie on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh while we were waiting for the other to take their thrill ride.

We walked towards the New Orleans Square to check out the Disneyland Railroad (which is currently closed for refurbishment due to the addition of Star Wars Land being built) and they had one of the Engines available to walk around and check out. (plus you could walk across the tracks to check out the other side)

Ellie had the opportunity to pull the horn cord but she was too scared it was going to be "really loud".

Then off to Tomorrowland to the Star Wars Launch Bay to meet Kylo Ren!!

but first Boba Fett

Waiting in line for Kylo Ren and all Ellie wanted to do was hang on the bars...a gymnast in the making ;)

Finally it was our turn for Kylo Ren and Ellie was just smitten. He seriously might be one of my most favorite characters and his voice was on point!! He cracked me up and now all Ellie talks about is "Come to the Dark Side"...so there is that. I think I could go on and on about how much I loved him but I will stop right here: LOVE!!!!

To Fantasyland we go for a spin on the Tea Cups!!

And then we braved the line for the Storybook Land Canal Boats. I think we waited over 30 minutes which is about 20 minutes past what I like to wait for lines....but it was so much fun and we got to ride on the Peter Pan boat. Plus Nanny and Papa joined us for this ride and Ellie can never get enough of them!

Back to the hotel Ellie went for a nap...what a tired girl. Thank you Nanny for taking one for the team. This is the text I received barely 5 minutes after they got into the room...

Meanwhile we made our way to DCA and the line for California Screamin' was decent so we hopped into the Single Rider line and managed to get in the same coaster!

We then headed back to the room for a little break and the babes was still just in a deep sleep:

that face!!

Once the pumpkin woke up, Nanny and Papa made their way into the park for a few rides and we got Ellie in her swimsuit to go to the pool! She was pretty excited and probably would have stayed there the rest of the afternoon! (I have the cutest video of her running down the hallway to the elevator to go to the pool and she is saying all sorts of adorable stuff)

Some other kids who were in the pool brought some pool toys with them and were super kind to share with Ellie!

After the pool we changed back into our custom shirts and got in line to meet some more of the characters. We found Donald and he had a pretty short line! The same as Daisy from the day before - all Ellie wanted was to get all up in his beak.

Then a picture with Walt and Mickey is a must and I love that we are all in our shirts!!

One of the things we talked about for this trip was to try and do things we hadn't done before (or in a really long time) And shows were on the list. We finally made it to Mickey and the Magical Map in Disneyland and it was so cute!! Ellie got a little restless towards the end but I'm so glad we got to see it.

We finished off our last night in DCA at Cars Land with a ride on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, this time just the two of us while Ellie went with Nanny and Papa.

When the ride was over we had just enough time to walk down to Luigi's for DJ's Dance and Drive.

It's where DJ from Cars drives into the intersection and then there is a dance party. All the kids get to go up close and dance around. Ellie had a blast and even got one of the cast members to dance with her...but that wasn't enough she needed Nanny too!!

It was a night to remember!!

The next morning it was time to pack up and go on the airplane to head back home.

and Ellie did what she does best on the plane....sleep!

Disney done right!!

Thank you so much for sticking around to see how our latest trip to Disney went. We are so looking forward to our next trip and it's coming up!! We're heading back in November as a family of FOUR!! I can't wait to take Finnley for her first trip to Disneyland and Ellie is so excited to share it with her.

♥ Ashley

Other Disney Trips:
February 2016: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
September 2015: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4
February 2015: Days 1/2, Day 3, Day 4

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

The Wednesday Weekly - Week 7

This week has gone by in a flash but then I have to remind myself that it's only Wednesday (I seriously thought that it was Friday...) What a week we've had and it's been extra special because Thomas only has a 2 day work week, thanks to built in snow days that didn't get used!! We have been living it up with Dada home and our schedule has been a little off - but I wouldn't want it any other way because family time is always the most important!!

Week 7

I seriously still have to pinch myself that Finnley is already 7 weeks old, but also that she is only 7 weeks old! Weird how that works.

Eats: same old formula. We've been using the Dr. Browns bottles forever and I love them, even though washing all the parts is kind of a pain...but lately we've been having an issue with the nipples. I am not really sure what the problem is but they seem to be getting clogged up and nothing is coming out so we are having to squeeze them to try and "pop" out whatever it is that's creating the blockage? At first we thought it was from our Brita filter because there would be little black flecks in the water, but when we stopped using it and just went with straight tap water we are still having the same problem. We are using the same formula but maybe it's because sometimes the temperature of the water isn't room temp? But when we use warm/"hot" water it blocks up then too. Any ideas?? Thankfully Finnley doesn't get too upset (like at all) when this happens and she just waits for us to figure it out. For the formula we have been mostly using the Similac Sensitive (which is what we used with Ellie) and I love that it comes in a non-GMO option! (and you can find it at Costco) but we have also tried the Similac for Spit Up and that has been a good option as well.

Sleeps: we have been so blessed with a good sleeper this time around. I honestly thought that Ellie was a pretty good sleeper but Finnley has proven me wrong...I just hope this continues. We get a pretty decent stretch out of her at nighttime. She has generally slept from about 9:30/10:00 pm to around 5:00 am and it is glorious! She does have the occasional wake up around 2:30 but mostly just sleeps through. We have been swaddling her and love our Halo Sleepsack Swaddle (similar) I love it because of the zipper but it's a newborn size and starting to get a bit small for our big girl! We also have a few of the Summer Infant Swaddleme and these are great too, they were a must with Ellie and I love how light they are, perfect for warm summer nights.

Goes: we finally made it up to Snohomish, which is a quaint little town a couple hours North of where we live and it is full of Antique shops. Nearby is this amazing nursery called Flower World and seriously I want to buy all the flowers...I may have an addiction. I know this because I don't really think twice about spening $100 on plants but have the hardest time spending more than $12 on a curling iron...see I have problems, or maybe it's just my priorities? Anyways, I have been dreaming of going up there for a few weeks and we finally made the trip. Finnley was the best little traveler, I wore her in my Ergo and she just slept practically the whole time. I got a new Ergo with the infant insert and OMG it is so much better than the old one I had for Ellie!! Even though it is a navy blue one if I keep a headband on Finnley I don't seem to get asked if she is a boy, which is always nice! Other places we went were to Thomas' brother's house for our niece's birthday, to Nanny and Papa's a few times and then out to IKEA for some more frames, my favorite.

Loves: we traded out the swing (because we just weren't using it) for the Infant Seat with vibration and it has been used way more! We can easily move it around to different parts of our house (or outside) and it keeps Finnley in a more upright position so she can see what's going on. She also loves to look at her hands - not sure if she knows they're attached to her or not but she just gets mesmerized watching them move around. She is a huge fan of the bath (so different than Ellie was) but has taken more baths with her sister than alone...which Ellie loves, not sure if Finnley really cares ;) Like I mentioned she did so well in the Ergo that I have to mention it here too. And our Carseat Cover (similar) has been so awesome in helping the babe to sleep and stay calm in there, we didn't have one for Ellie and I am wondering why!!!

Does: holds her head up, waves her hands for entertainment, grunts...a lot!, rolls over from tummy to back and back to side, smiles, and hiccups on the daily. She doesn't spit up as much so that's been nice this week.

Of Note: she can fit into 6 month size sleepers and likes to kick her socks off. We have an appointment to get her Passport later today and hopefully we will get it in the mail in a few weeks! Girlfriend (and family) is planning on going to Mexico but we need her passport!! The little "ledge" on her head is becoming less noticeable and thankfully she still has her white spot! Her hair is starting to grow in more and I just can't wait!!

Mama: being the Mama to these two girls is seriously the best thing. I love seeing their relationship grow and to witness how much Ellie loves her sister! Not only that but having the chance to see Finnley in the clothes that Ellie wore is the best. I am so thankful that I get to have these memories made in time and that Thomas has been here this week to create even more! Just sitting in our house (or driving in the car) and looking at my daughters is unbelievable. This is something that I have dreamed of and yearned for so long that sometimes I have to pinch myself, to make sure that this is actually happening!!

Sister: I should probably start tallying how many times Ellie just randomly says "I love Finnley so much!" because I am pretty sure it would be more than 100. She just always has to give Finnley a kiss, know where Finnley is, or make sure she is okay! She also gets so incredibly excited when Finnley wakes up from one of her naps, I can't even describe the excitement in her voice when she says "Finnley awake?!!?!?!?!" Everyday I just can't believe how good she is at being a big sister and every night I pray that they will grow to have the bond of best friends. I know that there will be sibling rivalry and they won't always like each other, but I just hope that I an raise them to be sisters who want to be friends...and right now I think we are headed in that direction.