Baby Baby Ooh!

No Bieber Fever in the house, but we do have a new baby in the family. I waited 4 hours after I got the phone call that Valerie, my sister, was in labor to pack up the car and make the trip to see Oscar's new cousin, Victoria.

On the way to St. Cloud, I came to the realization that Oscar is no longer the baby. Where did this year go and what happened to our baby?

Oscar's Cousin Caraline. Thought bubble: "Crap!"

It didn't take her long to warm up.

 

We are looking forward to getting to know this little peanut and Oscar looks forward to protecting her from her bossy big sister, who told Oscar, while in the throws of teething to "stop with the attitude." Good luck Victoria, good luck!

Meet our new puppy

Everybody knows it's easier to take care of a puppy than a baby, so who can blame us for teaching Oscar how to behave a little more like Stella.

Yes, we feed our dogs people food! Don't judge us!

Begging. check. Sitting. check. Next we are going to work on teaching Oscar how to lay in the shade and nap all day!

Living Space Reveal

Are you wondering where I have been? Turns out staying at home with the Little Dude is a full time job, the best kind of full time job, not the kind where you sit at a computer all day and blog and check Facebook. 

Our new living space is finished. I have been working on the pillows and they are done, so it is done.

Before

 Inspiration

After

 I downloaded these pinwheels from The Handmade Home, I love her style.

 I am a true believer that if the pillows are cute, they are cute even when they are messy.

 My first pom pom pillow!

 Just when the Little Dude is getting impatient, I point the camera at him and he poses.

This dainty valance came from Target.

 I just can't shake this guy!

Exhausted. Hello blog!

The space turned out to be exactly what we needed- right off the kitchen and perfect for snuggling, playing and bird watching!

I guess I will see ya when I see ya!

I shared my room reveal on Home Stories A2Z and Tip Junkie
and WhipperBerry 

Give Me A Break!

A summer break that is! Like Vicki would say from the Real Housewives of the OC, "WooHoo!" I have volunteered to go from a 12 month to a 10 month appointment at work. Clearly, I'm a team player.

This is officially my second day of summer vacation and Oscar and I have just been hanging around. We go on walks, pester Stella, eat and nap and pester Stella!

Only after kicking of the weekend with a family gathering that we plan each summer in lieu of Christmas gifts.

This year we spent the weekend at Uncle Casey's. Oscar's Cousin Layla is far too big to pester.

 Oscar's first winery visit, a success.

and as always, the rest of the photos are with Oscar's best pal, his Cousin Caraline.

Caraline is nearly 3 and Oscar is just one month short of 1- who cares if they wear the same size pajamas! 

 

They dropped Oscar's new teether, I mean Caraline's lipstick, the wine cork.

I swear there were more family members present, but these little pumpkins always steal the show!

Happy Summer Break- to me!

make a STATEment

Last night I was looking for some free art online for our new family room and I ran across some free printable art that I think is certainly worth sharing.


You can make prints of your home state, your favorite vacation destination, or a place you dream of visiting. All for free.


The Vintage Lemon is offering free downloads all of the states...


Mr. Lovely is from Oregon:

Mrs. Lovely is from Minnesota:

and to mix it up Q.A. Designs has the states and some countries for the taking. 


Mr. Lovely studied abroad in Chile:

and Mrs. Lovey is kicking herself for not studying abroad, but is sure proud to be an American:

Sweet, huh? I am not sure what I am going to do with these awesome freebies, but I will probably think of something. Enjoy.

Fabrics for the Family Room

The room off the kitchen that once looked like this...

Currently looks like this...

We comment daily (well, I do) about what a good idea it was to change the rooms around (which was actually my friend, Janette's idea. Now we can see this mess from the kitchen instead of our dining table which functions mostly as a junk collector, until now, of course.

See those pillows? Focus. Eyes off the cute boys.
I am going to tie those suckers into the room decor with some of these sweet fabrics...

and there might be some poms poms involved (and I am not talking about the Rah-Rah kind). The fabric is by Blake Riley from the Fly a Kite Collection and it has been ordered. Now I am on the hunt for a sweet blanket. The cookie monster blanket is much better suited for the dreary months, plus it's a cheerio trap. Time to grease up my sewing machine. 

Cart it to the Back

When we moved into our house, 18 months ago, the gals I work with bought me this old grocery cart.

They are the sweetest!


I have been rolling it around our house ever since. It has stored table linens, blankets, toys, miscellaneous crap, etc. etc. etc. This weekend I found the perfect home for our grocery cart.

I figure grocery carts spend a lot of time in those cart corrals, so I think it will weather nicely.

Plus, Henry said "that is the best use you have found for this cart so far."

We spend a lot of time in our backyard talking about all the possibilities. Can you imagine a twisty slide coming down from the top deck? Do you think that's safe? We are also patiently  waiting for our neighbor to sell his house, because he said I can have his wicker furniture!! Yay! Fingers crossed there is a SOLD sign up when I get home.