2 Months In...

So it's been almost 2 months since Hudson has joined our family and it's definitely created a new dynamic around here. The most surprising has been Aiden and Ava's reactions to him. We were expecting for them both, although Ava more so than Aiden, to act out or become jealous - but it's been the complete opposite. They can't get enough of this little guy!

We're still getting into a routine, and it'll take some time I'm sure to really get where we'd like to. But for now, we've got a (possibly) colicky baby who requires most of our attention. On another note, Aiden has started Pre-K 5 and loves it...
 

Aiden's 1st Day

 Ava and I have also started "school" - a once a week Parent-Tot class that she absolutely adores.
 

Ava's 1st Day (why does she look so old?!?)

 Aiden has a big milestone coming up in a few weeks, but I refuse to let it happen....

He's turning 5!

I know I'm way behind on my posts lately (and considering I'm currently typing while holding Hudson, takes some skill, let me tell you) it may be awhile before I come back again on a semi-regular basis. But I promise I will at least update with the big things; ie. Aiden's birthday. We're having 2 parties for him this year - one for family and one for friends... I'll let you know how that turns out!

For now - I'll leave you with some shots of what's been happening around here lately! Enjoy!

Hudson's Room

 

After waiting and waiting for what seemed like forever (at least to us), Hudson Jude Miller is here!  He was born this morning at 5:50 am, weighing 7lbs 15 oz, 20.5 inches long.

When we were trying to come up with ideas on how to decorate his room, I found the perfect fabric that we based pretty much everything around. For those of you who know us, New York is a very special place to Jacob and I and we wanted to include it somehow into this room. As you'll see in the pictures below, because the fabric is so vibrant and colorful, it was easy to find things to coordinate. Before we got to the decorating stage, however, Jacob had a lot of work to do in there first (I'm not even going to pretend I did much of anything in there, besides keep him company).

As I previously mentioned in this post about Aiden's room, we had decided to install hardwood floors in the baby's room first since there was no one to re-locate during construction. In addition to the floors, and of course paint and moulding, he also built shelves framing the window to create the look of built-ins that we loved so much in our old house.

As for decorating, we pretty much took the colors from the fabric and went from there. We found the main rug from Home Depot's website, the others from Aiden's old room. The canvases above the crib, reading "New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of" was made using my cricut for the letters and a wall decal we found at Target. Instead of using the decal however, I traced it and then cut out different colors of construction paper to make the buildings. This way, we could tailor it to the right colors of the room.
*As a bonus, can you figure out which song those lyrics on the canvas came from? The answer is below...*

Take a look at the before and afters and tell me what you think!

When we first moved in, in 2010

As our "guest room", ie. junk room

Aiden helping Jacob with the paint... apparently, this was a cow

After the construction was done

You can see the fabric a little here, New York themed, of course

"Empire State of Mind" lyric canvases (Alicia Keys, Jay-Z)

Aiden's Room Upgrade

When Jacob and I were discussing decorating for the baby's room, we decided (with a lot of convincing for me) to install hardwood floors in the bedroom. Once it was in, it looked so nice (photos to be posted soon!) that we wanted to do the rest of the bedrooms upstairs, eventually. Well, eventually turned out to be 2 months later. For Aiden's room at least. It made the most sense to install the floors now, before the baby came, so Aiden had somewhere to sleep while his room was under construction.

This is a very old picture of Aiden's room... from when we first moved in

Again, very very old

As the carpet was being taken out... 

So with the help of Jacob's parents, they were able to get them installed in one day, and what a difference! Aiden always had sneezing/coughing attacks in his room at night, and I wonder if the carpet was the culprit. While all the furniture was out, Jacob also painted the room Aiden's favorite color; blue!

Aiden was also able to tell us where he wanted all his pictures hung up, and furniture placed, so he really loves it in there now! Just look at that proud boy!

Entry Bench

Like us, you've probably seen a million pins on Pintrest where someone takes a headboard and turns it into a bench and think, that looks so easy! Well, I'm here to tell you... it is! At least according to Jacob (he's the one that did the following project). We've been on the lookout for headboard/foot-boards from estate sales for the past year or so and haven't been able to find any that we thought would work. But a few months ago, Jacob found once sale that had 3 possibilities... In the end, we finally settled on this one:

Not the nicest, but we knew it had potential. After cutting the foot boards down to size for the arms, he was able to fasten them to the headboard. He was also able to use the side support pieces from the bed frame for the front and center braces. Once he had the frame built, he used plywood as the seat, and spray painted the whole thing black.

I also bought a 2in foam piece from JoAnn's and was able to make a cushion using fabric I already had in my stash (you may remember it from this project). I did have to buy fabric for the coordinating pillows, but the pillows themselves were from around the house that we weren't using... We always seem to have extra throw pillows lying around the house.

We previously had a small bench in the entry for people to take their shoes off when they come over, but it just wasn't cutting it. It was too small and would tip if you sat on it... which pretty much defeated the whole purpose. Now this bench can support our family of 4 (for a +/- a few weeks at least) and then some. The kids like it, so I suppose that's all that matters!

What a Difference 3 Years Makes

When we first looked for a house in this area 3 years ago, there was one that popped up down the street that we really wanted (let me re-phrase that, Jacob wanted it, I thought he was crazy - this neighborhood was way too nice), but due to the bank/listing issues (it was a foreclosure), we couldn't get in to see it. Then another one became available on the same street shortly after... but because of the same issues, we couldn't see it. Then ours came on the market... Let me tell you, based on this picture, I think we were crazy....

All the work we had to put into it... what were we thinking? Maybe the fact that we were paying rent in our old house to the new owners until we found a place had something to do with it... Well it only took us 3 years (so far) to really get things the way we wanted. And the most recent major upgrade? New siding and windows in the back... Seeing the before and afters, maybe we weren't so crazy after all... What do you think?

Working on the backyard, putting the play-set in this past May

We've gotten so many compliments on how everything looks from neighbors walking by; we've even had a few people driving by who slow to almost a complete stop, looking at the changes. I'd call that a success!

Busy Month

May was a pretty busy month for us; we went to see Thomas the Tank Engine, & we switched Ava to her big girl bed. We also went to the Detroit Zoo and in the same day, Aiden and I went to a fire station for a field trip. Also in May? Aiden's Pre-K 4 graduation and we built a swing set for the kids!

Here are some pictures from the zoo and the field trip...

By the Penguinarium

Watching the penguins

 

"CHEEEESSSE!"

 

 

Larry the Monkey had arthritis, so he pretty much sat there all day

 

Under the Polar Bear and Seal area

 

Waiting for the train

 

At the fire station, they learned about fire safety and were taken out into a simulated house so they could practice how to exit through a window during a fire. The Firefighters had them in a trailer that filled with "smoke" and had them exit through the window using the ladder. Aiden was the last kid out (I think he was more interested in watching all his friends go through) and did pretty well. They were also able to sit in an ambulance and learned about what they are used for. Finally, they were each allowed to put out their own "fires" by using the big hose from the truck. He LOVED that part!

Waiting for his turn to get out of the simulated fire

 

Learning about fire trucks

Putting out a "fire"