Tired

TGIF....I've got next to zero energy but the day's not over yet. Hoping Bird will surprise me with rays of sunshine after waking from nap - wouldn't be typical! I'd love a glass of wine and a nap myself. I forgot to get a present for the birthday party we're going to tomorrow. Griffin is sleeping on my chest. There are birds singing in our orange tree. There's 17 bean stew and a ham bone simmering in the crock pot. I'm wearing my favorite skirt that Bird thinks is hers. I got my Cintiq tablet set up inside the house (holy crazy cables!) because it's too hard to get out to the studio. I have no motivation today to fire it up. That's what's floating around my brain. How are you on this lovely Friday? Plans for the weekend ?

Hugs, Devon

Spring planting

It's 87 degrees today! Sooo lovely! I'm thrilled I didn't take the advice of many and went ahead and planted my tomatoes (and everything else) back in early April. I really only did so because I had a window of time...then got lucky we were done with cold nights. So much time in the ground so far means I'll have tomatoes by July instead of August (and cherry tomatoes much sooner).

Last weekend I put in corn, sugar snaps, a french melon, and lots of herbs like an especially beautiful pineapple sage - yum!

This past week I read a super inspiring post on Apartment Therapy that featured Amy Butler's home. She mentioned gardening is as much a passion for her as her design work. I happily feel the same way and am grateful for that since it's much easier these days to spend moments outside pulling weeds and planting heucheras than it is to hole up in my studio with my laptop and tablet. That time will come again...

Speaking of time - I have run out of it :o)

hugs, Devon

Bird's room WIP

I posted earlier that we've been working on Bird's room to prep for Griffin to share the space with her in a few months. If she could have it her way it would have been yesterday! Bird is convinced Griffin is her own personal baby.

I took a whirlwind trip to ikea with Grif in my ergo carrier (and Bird at home, whew!) and picked up a bookcase, art table and extra chair, and a few accessories like a clip on light and boxes for markers and crayons.



While I've really enjoyed the lilac/red/pink/orange color scheme of the room I've been fairly over it for last year. And it's pretty girly - I think a little too girly for a boygirl shared room. In my crazy schemes where I imagine I have hours and hours of time and very few responsibilities I would paint the room a light airy aqua shade and paint over certain parts of the mural - phasing out the lavender and bringing in more red, orange, and shades of aqua and celadon. We'll see what kind of baby Griffin turns out to be...maybe he'll be content to watch me paint? Ha...not getting my hopes up.



See that second piece of molding up there? Above the picture rail molding Jared mounted a train track and actually got his HO scale train to run on it! It's awesome and runs around the entire room.



Toys toys toys - Craig's List find (ikea piece) to hold it all.



Our new favorite place to do "everything" - the oilcloth is working out like a dream.



Windsee for Griffin that Bird immediately stole.

Hope you enjoyed the photo tour of Bird's space...this may be the final version of her room before it changes again in a few months. If there was nothing to alter, redo, tweak, etc - life would be boring :o)

Hugs, Devon

Shifting

Bird's new activity table

Lots of things are happening around here...I can hardly keep up with everyone's needs and demands. I keep telling myself that this crazy chaotic time will pass and be a faded memory with mostly positive things coming to mind when we think back. For now it's moments of insanity - temper tantrums, keeping on top of nursing for Griffin and potty times for Bird - followed by moments of total quiet where Jared and I nearly forget we have an almost 3yr old and a 5 week old.

Over the weekend we started a spruce up of Bird's room (someday to be Griffin's room too). Out went the sofa, in went the crib (in sofa style). In came a bookcase (yes - storage!) and a nifty new activity table that I covered in polka dot oilcloth. We moved Bird's bed to a better spot. It's still a little awkward in there but it's a small space so compromise is a must. Next to come is painting over the lilac wall color with the same light aqua from our bedroom. I'm debating whether to paint the aqua around the mural, or just paint something new. I would love to paint a gorgeous and huge goldfish on the wall. Odd?

stickers

Bird loves her room and we're so excited seeing it come together. I've been learning what little people need in their spaces. Surfaces to do things on is imperative! And having a bookcase to hold items (especially books of course) on both the kid's level and also the parents' level. A cozy place to sit is also really nice - usually the bed works great for this but it's fun to have other options too.

naptime funsies

I found some great little containers at ikea (where just about everything else came from). They're perfect for crayons, markers, stickers, etc. They're fairly difficult to open which is comforting to me - this girl tends to get in lots of trouble at nap and bedtime. Note the green belly button.

hugs, Devon
:o)

Easter

Happy (belated) Easter to you! Hope yours was filled with chocolate bunnies and eggs and if you are a Christian a lovely reminder of Jesus' sacrifice for us. We didn't make it to church this year but found time to squeeze in some egg dyeing and after nap egg hunting. Gigi (my mom as called by Bird) sent some treats from Germany including the beautifully printed cardboard egg.

gold bunny

Bird has had WAY too much sugar for the past week and it's been showing in her behavior (or maybe it's that plus a delayed reaction to her baby brother??). In any case, we need to go cold turkey off the white stuff (myself included...).

this one took a little time to find

I hid eggs throughout the back yard and Bird totally enjoyed herself finding them all. I think I need to organize a real scavenger hunt with friends one of these days. They love it!



Bird actually loves hard boiled eggs :o)



The prize was the big gold bunny (lindt milk chocolate - yum!). We all (except Griffin who was sleeping soundly on the sofa) plunked down next to the wine barrel planters and shared pieces of it. Bird claimed the ears.

Hugs and Happy Easter!
Devon

Egg hunting young love

My daughter has been fascinated with this little guy since she first laid eyes on him (maybe 2mths old?). I thought she'd be heartbroken when he started walking and could get away from her but he doesn't seem to mind the adoration and she's still (obviously) just as smitten.







Yep, I said I had things to accomplish but couldn't resist sharing. Now I'm really going - I'm just so excited to clean up around here (yes sarcasm...). Toodles :o) Devon

When everything seems crazy just have a party

We celebrated Jared's birthday yesterday with a few friends and as low key a set up we could muster. Ordered yummy Mexican food, set out bags of chips rather than platters, and truly just used what we had on hand and could grab easily. The cake however was a few day's effort - I picked up supplies last Sunday, baked the cake Monday morning, made the buttercream Tuesday morning, then assembled it right before guests arrived. I was super thrilled with it. When it's tough to escape to the studio at least I can be creative in the kitchen.

hamburger cake!

I followed this tutorial for the cake with the exception of using a brownie mix for the "meat" layer and I didn't go crazy with the gourmet aspects (as in, there was no ganache). But it was tasty and oh so cute and Jared loved it :o)

More pics from the day...

the birthday boy, with Griffin, looking a wee bit tired

bubbles: birthday party necessity

Both kids are napping - time to get a few things accomplished.
Hugs, Devon
:o)

Moment to moment

Living moment to moment here...some have been tough and I'm embarrassed by my lack of patience with Bird and her antics (patience proportionate to lack of sleep?). Then I remind myself that she's not even yet 3 and as my friend told me, "just keep swimming"...we'll get through. There are also totally lovely moments - our little Griffy is a doll and we are loving him to pieces. When two kids are crying simultaneously it's not such fun. When Bird is chipper and laughing and demanding to kiss her brother and he's putting up with it nicely then life is really good :o)

Spring is springing here...I got my tomato plants in, along with 3 hot pepper varieties for Jared. Plus some hopefully gorgeous zinnias and some new strawberry plants (yum!). Our deciduous trees are swinging with full lush leaves and the apricot and cherry trees are dotted with tiny fruits. If patience is proportionate to lack of sleep then happiness is proportionate to abundance of sunshine. That's how things balance out around here I guess :o)

yes, we did take griffin to the beach at 2wks - babies are portable!

So, for now, there is no "new normal" - there's just getting by. I figure we'll have a routine in a few weeks. Some things we've done to help are (from my friend's suggestion) doing meal planning and prep for the week on Sunday (as in, all the chopping, browning, etc.), and swearing off any new projects for a little while (hard for us!). Jared and his dad constructed an amazing new driveway gate when his folks were here (w/ automatic opener - swoon!) and we still have to get it all sanded and sealed. I'm dreaming of how to gussy up our driveway now and soften all the concrete and pebble. If woolly pockets were a little more affordable...or if I could figure out how to make our own? Wait, is that a project?

Jared's birthday was yesterday. I feel somewhat bad it was overshadowed with an all day offsite meeting (including dinner which meant I was on my own with these two through the evening) and then coming home to a somewhat cranky emotionally spent person. Making up for it this weekend with a get together with friends and mexican food (that I'm not cooking) and cake (that has taken me 3 mornings to put together - now that's a reality check).

Wishing you a happy rest of the week and weekend. Hope it's lovely where you are and you're getting out to enjoy some sunshine. My midwife reminded me of something I apparently told her a few weeks ago (no, I don't remember saying it, but I don't remember a lot of things right now). When things are difficult it's important to remember to just be nice to each other. So that's my advice to offer today - just try and be nice to each other - it makes a really big difference.

hugs, Devon

ps: check out the beautiful mail love we received my lovely friend Klay!!

quilted pillow by kleja

a most intriguing rattle inside