DIY- New Curtains

After moving to our new house, our child moved into her own room. It was sad to see her leave our room, but it was time and she transitioned like a champ! I guess some things are harder on the parent than on the child.

The one thing I was excited about with our child moving to her own room was that it meant I could really decorate her room for her! I have slowly been adding pieces in, like this custom DIY toy box my hubby and I made (with help from my husband's father). My next plan was to add in some curtains!

I wanted a very simple valance added to her bedroom so I started out looking for the perfect material. It took several stores, but I ended up with this:

Very simple! Next, came the work of making the curtain. I must tell you, I have no knowledge of sewing. I'm hoping to learn someday, but don't feel I have time right now for this hobby. Needless to say, I called my mother-in-law and she came in to help with this.

We used this blog post as a guide for how to create our curtains. This was so fast and simple, we were done start to finish within an hour. We couldn't be happier with the finished look.

 

What do you think?

Monday Came Twice This Week

Is it just our house or are we all wondering when Friday will get here? This hasn't been the best week for us. Yesterday, we had family pictures that ended in meltdowns, tears, and no good holiday card worthy pics. Our poor photographer. Seriously, she was a trooper despite 2 dogs yelping and trying to run off and an 18 month old who refused to smile. We are going for round 2 next week in hopes of a better shoot!

Last night, our toddler woke up at about 2am and then refused to go back to sleep until 5am (5:20 to be exact). I am definitely doing all I can to stay awake today. Lack of sleep has made everyone a little cranky! To top it off, one of our dogs got sick and I got to spend some time scrubbing carpet. Monday came twice this week at our house.

This week hasn't been all bad though. I continue to marvel at how fun life is for a toddler as she explores her world!

Is it Friday yet? Hope your week is going better than ours has!

What Moms Can't Do

When we first had our daughter, we were gifted tons of hand me down books from the family. To add to that huge pile of books, we also impulsively purchased a few boxes of someone else's book hand me downs. If you have followed this blog at all, you will have learned I love to read and hope my child does, too (play catch up here, here, and  see what's number 10 here).

Today, my daughter selected this book to read:

I was initially fascinated by the title of this book. My first words were, "there really isn't much that a mom can't do." The more I thought about this book and my own personal reaction to it, the more I realized there are actual limits to what I can do as a mother.

I put all that I have into everything I choose to do, yet sometimes I am left feeling like my pursuits still weren't my best work. As a mom, there are good days and bad days. I am still learning. If I had written the book on what mothers can't do, here are my top 5 points I would write to my daughter:

I can't stop thinking about you. Try as hard as I can, but thoughts of you always sneak their way in. Even when I am apart from you, like say on a kid-free date with the hubby, the conversation encompasses you.

I can't run the house like I used to. Chores look much different today than they used to. It's nearly impossible to fold a basket of laundry with you assisting. Baking gets a whole lot messier when you stir the bowl.

I can't hug you without kissing you, too. Despite my attempts to only hug you when I'm feeling ill, I can never not kiss you as well.

I can't seem to find balance. Okay, I have always struggled with making everything work perfectly. There seems to be a magnifying glass on me since having a child. There just is never enough time in the day for everything that needs done. I just have to live with that.

I can't fall asleep without running a mile long to-do list. A mom's mind is a fascinating thing. It's always thinking, planning, and working all while playing with our children, making meals, driving, and going through our day. It takes a long while for my mind to quiet down and let me fall asleep at night!

What would you say to your child that you can't do?

Planning to Get Sick

Most people don't want to get sick. I definitely don't like getting sick because long gone are the days of resting when ill. As a stay at home, work at home mom, life still resumes whether I am sick or not. My daily demands will still be there.

This week, our household is sick. We just have bad colds but we all feel like the wind has been kicked out of us. I almost always have preparations up my sleeve to help in these moments. Here are the pre-planned steps I have taken to help when our house is sick:

1. Freezer Meals

When sick, the last thing you want to do is cook. I try to always have premise meals in the freezer. This is perfect when I am sick or don't feel like cooking. These save our household money because otherwise we would be grabbing fast food.

So far for this week, I have pulled steak stir fry, tomato soup, and chicken noodle soup from our freezer for meals. I plan to restock the freezer again when I feel better.

2. Indoor Activities

Since we are all under the weather, the last thing we want is to spend all day outside. To keep my toddler entertained, I need some low key activities that haven't been overdone to hold her interest. I have a special coloring book and a tote of toys special for times like these. We pull these out and play the day away.

3. Short Periods of Time Outside

I find when I am sick, I still need periodic bursts of outside air to keep me from going stir-crazy. Although fall has just started here, I had previously pulled out our winter supplies. When sick, I feel that we should bundle up as much as possible to keep us from getting even worse. So, the stocking caps and heavy jackets come on. We also only go outside for short periods of time (10-20 minutes seems to be our normal) until we are fully recovered.

4. Medicine at Your Fingertips 

The last thing I want to do when sick is run to the store for medicine. I try to keep over the counter meds that we use when sick in stock at our house. This includes medicines like Tylenol and Ibuprofen for my child. 

As you can see, we really bunker down at our house when we get sick. This round of illness is just a reminder to me that winter (and more rounds of illnesses) is coming! How do you prepare forgetting sick?