A Day in The Life: B edition

Kelly's SUYL is all about 'a day in the life' this week. I thought this would be a great addition to B's 2013 yearbook but following a toddler around with a camera all day is harder than it looks (even for a photographer!). Wait... let me rephrase that... following a toddler (whose care you are responsible for) with a camera all day is harder than it looks. I would love to hire a photographer to capture just a regular old day for us. You know... so deciding between dropping the camera and diving to catch the toddler jumping off the table or snapping the shot isn't a tough choice to make.... (Oh, don't worry! I dropped the camera!) It's tough to reach for the camera all day while staying engaged. I get that.
That being said, I think {cb}h will start offering 'a day in the life' services to help you capture your extra special ordinary day. Anyone want to be my guinea pig (at a special rate of course!)?

And just in case you were wondering.... I did manage to capture some of our day in between filling sippy cups, cleaning up messes and catching jumping toddlers. Following is a day in the life of B....

Updated... a friend just sent me this page and it's awful. I mean really, really bad. But I might have laughed just a little bit at a couple of them.... I guess I had it all wrong... I should have just kept shooting. ;)

RAKing with the Hickstionary #7

It's time for another week of Random Acts of Kindness!


Huge shout out to all you awesome Hickstionarians doing the dare with me!
1. Molly 2. Lisa C. 3. Kelsey L. 4. Deanna 5. Haley 6. Erin G. 7. Jamie 8. Jessica G. 9. Mindy C. 10. Jess R. 11. Bethany 12. Kari S. 13. Mary S. 14. Ashley 15. Alison K. 16. Donna 17. Teri B. 18. Mal H. 19. Heidi

My goal is to get 30 on board- would you join us?? (And if I missed you on the list, will you PLEASE let me know? I feel like I'm forgetting someone!)



Last week's challenge is in the books for us. I wrote a little note and stuck in a Starbucks card. (Confession: I got the gift card from the Favorite Things party. I LOVE Starbucks and love to do a Starbucks splurge once in awhile but I had the card laying there as I grabbed the blank note card and decided to gift it on to someone else. Then I made my generic make at home version of Spiced Caramel Cider to hold me over.) :)

How did you do last week?? Did you stick a note in the baby section for a new mom? Did you add anything to the note? Were you sneaky about it? Did you stick around to watch and see if anyone grabbed it? Do tell! Leave a comment below. If you blogged about it, please share the link with us too! 

RAK #7:

Leave an encouraging note and/or a treat (pack of gum, box of tea, candy bar) on someone's desk at work. (Because who wouldn't appreciate a pick me up in the middle of a work day!)

Try to be sneaky about it if you can so they don't know who it was from. If you work from home or don't have coworkers, consider leaving it on the desk of a place you visit (try to think of a place where you could be by the desk/counter without it being obvious you are leaving behind a treat- in our town we could do this at the bank, fitness center, library or even the post office). If that's not an option, put your spouse to work and have them take care of the drop off part for you.



Please join us (even if you didn't jump in last week- you can either catch up or just start where we are)! Check out this post for more info.

Happy RAKing!

hickstionary 365 week 8

19 (Tuesday)- We had a full day of visitors and B got to hang out with his aunt 'ill-uh-lee.'

20 (Wednesday)- Wednesday night is one of the few nights R is home before bedtime so it's always been bath night for B. He LOVES the bath but hates the wait to get in and when it's time to get out. :)

21 (Thursday)- B's aunt 'ill-uh-lee' was in town AGAIN today. It's the third time he's gotten to see her in the last week. We met her and Daniel at Hickory Park for lunch before the snow storm moved into town.

22 (Friday)- This day brought to us by an excessive amount of Tazo Awake Tea. Up high out of reach of little hands, of course. Not that he would have noticed it if it were sitting lower; he was too busy chasing the dog and yanking on his tail all day.

23 (Saturday)- We got to eat breakfast at one of my favorite places. It's a rare treat for us so it was a special outing. While there, the lovely hostess made my day (okay, my entire week) by telling me I'm awesome (well not in those exact words). Teaching is an amazing profession that isn't respected as much as it should be (or even as much as it used to be). Teachers really do make life long differences in students' lives; sometimes a teacher is the only adult a child has to turn to. I'm thankful for students that let their teachers know how much they mean to them. Have you thanked a teacher lately? Oh and the food was delish! :)

24 (Sunday)- I actually had time to get my R.A.K. done before leaving for church. (Okay, B slept till 9 am so we went to the 11:00 service instead. It was nice to not have the Sunday morning rush.)

25 (Monday)- R lost his keys (and so far still hasn't found them). When he asked B if he knew where they were he pointed to the register. I then proceeded to pull out of the register three children's ikea cups, five popsicle making sticks, a water bottle, sippy cup tops & straws and more. He may be on to something about the keys.....

Hope you're having a great week! I can't believe the next 365 will be into March already. I'll take it though- I'm definitely ready for spring! How about you??

Add A Video To Your Scrapbook.

Do you scrapbook? Or digiscrap? Or record your memories in another tangible way? I've always thought of myself as a scrapbooker but I've never really been great at finishing my scrapbooks so digiscrap it is for me. I'm currently working on finishing up B's first book. It will cover Nov '11-Dec '12 so I can start fresh with a family yearbook in '13. I'm so excited to be almost finished... with just some of November and December '12 to go!



The latest page?

B's first steps!!

I love adding 3D memorabilia to digiscrap books after they're home from the printer and now I can add a video to my book as well!

It's easy peasy but in case you haven't done it yet-


How to add a QR code to your scrapbook:

-Find a QR code generator. (I just googled one and used this one.)
-Enter the link you want to include in your album (could be a youtube video, a link to your blog, whatever!) I originally linked to my blog but thought YouTube might stand the test of time a little better than the Hickstionary?
-Save the image and resize it to fit your album or printing needs.
-Add it to your album and have a fun video attached to your scrapbook page!


I'm not sure how long QR codes will be around and found mixed info after asking 'Dr Google' but hopefully this scrapbook page won't be outdated before B is old enough to check it out for himself. :)

Happy memory recording!

cost of 'staying home' part one

Disclaimers:
-I'm hesitant to use the words 'staying home' in the title because what I really do is work from home. I work full time hours for my photography business and I work full time hours as a mom. When I'm being honest, it irritates me when people say, "Oh so you just stay home?" I want to say, "JUST?" I wonder why it's considered work for the daycare provider if I were to drop him off with them but it's not considered work when I do it myself. I wish moms- staying home, working from home, working outside the home, or otherwise, could just ban together and stop tearing each other down. But I suppose that's a post for another day.
-This post is real about feelings (obviously; see above) and finances. If that bothers you, you should turn away now.
-This post doesn't talk about the emotional costs of working outside the home vs. working from home. (That will come in part two.)
-This post is about what is working for us. It's not the answer for everyone or every situation. It's not meant to persuade you one way or the other or to judge you for choosing one way over another. It's only meant to give you my perspective and encourage you to look at all sides of the picture before making a the decision that's best for you and your family.



We went out for breakfast the other day at one of my favorite places. It was a rare treat; I think it'd been five years since our last visit. These days going out to eat happens less and less and this time it almost didn't happen at all. On the way to breakfast I was opening the mail. We received a notice that the insurance (for just B & I- R not included) was going up to over $550 a month. Ouch. My first thought, as it often is these days, was that I needed to 'go back to work.' (Again, just so we are completely clear- I do work and would consider myself working even if I didn't have the full-time photography business. Am I sounding defensive yet?)  ;)
I do miss my old job. I miss my co-workers. I miss the students. I miss the classroom. I miss the feeling of changing lives. And when I'm being honest, I miss the paycheck. Somedays I miss work so much that it's all I can do to keep myself from moving back into my classroom. On those days, I take one look at B and remember why I'm not there. I'm quickly brought back to my reality (that I love).
But I'm getting ahead of myself.

As I was trying to make the decision to take a leave from teaching, I searched the web for a post just like this one. I couldn't find it anywhere so I hope it helps you if you find yourself in the position I was in. While I knew the costs for working from home and working outside the home would be different, I wasn't exactly sure of how that would translate. Here's what it looks like for us.


Costs if I were teaching:
-Individual insurance for B (both R & I would have ours covered through work)- approximately $270 (This is a guesstimate using R's +1 at work. I'm not sure what it would be through my school.)
-Daycare- approximately $575/month (this is the low end of our daycare options we looked at)
-Extra gas- $112 (I used the AAA fuel calculator to figure this but when I looked at my extra miles and our mpg, it comes out to the same.)


Financial costs if I work from home:
-Insurance for B & I- $550/month (This is a middle of the road plan that does not cover maternity costs. If we were wanting to have another child, I would need to move to a different plan before becoming pregnant. Which is why we absolutely cannot afford another child right now. Ugh.)*

As you can see, that's a $407 difference. For my purposes, I took my paycheck and subtracted the $407 from my take home pay to see what my 'new wages' would be. The remaining income was just $400/month more than what I make working from home.**

$400/month is not enough money for me to miss out on all of B's major milestones. I worked day care long enough to know that good daycare providers do not tell you that you missed your baby's first steps. I would easily pay $400/month to get those mid morning snuggles with B and to watch him learn how to build with blocks. When he said his first words after waking up from a nap one day, I was ecstatic to pay $400/month to be the one to pick him up out of that crib. $400/month to see him chase the dog and pull on his tail? You bet I'd pay that.


That being said, everyone's situation is different. Your costs are likely different and possibly include other things not listed here. I could have added in clothing costs (because if I were to need enough clothes to look presentable 6 days of the week instead of just a couple, I would have had to purchase all new clothes (twice) since B was born). We should also be setting money aside each month for me to take a future maternity leave. We aren't currently doing that but if we were, I would add that to a cost from working at home. If you were to run the heat more during the day if you were home (we don't), that could be an added cost. If you eat lunch out while you're working that's something to consider. My point- there are more factors to think about than 'just the basics.'


I will leave you with this.... when R & I were first married, I remember listening to a radio broadcast about marriage and raising a family (I think it may have been a family first broadcast though I'm not sure). He recommended that if you plan to stay home in the future with your children that it would be wise to not currently work outside of the home. His reasoning was that you will become accustomed to your dual incomes and upon having a baby would switch to a single income- leaving you with half as much money in the time of your life that you'll need more money than before. At the time I thought that was ridiculous. (And in retrospect, I'm glad I continued working until B was born- we were able to finish a lot of house projects and take some trips that we would not have been able to otherwise. We had money in savings so I was able to take somewhat of a maternity leave. I also cant imagine waiting four years to get pregnant and to not be working during that time. Yikes.) I still think it's a little far fetched that we would have gone that route but.... before B was born we did have a lot more income. R had a full-time job and two part-time jobs. I had two full-time jobs and a handful of part-time jobs (at one point I was literally getting paychecks from 6 different sources). When we got our taxes back this year, we found that we made $50,000 less this year than we did two years ago. While that's obviously more than $400/month, there is no way we would have the time to be parents and to continue working as many jobs as we once were. So while I am thankful I didn't completely stop working five years ago, I do think we could have worked less. Because a $50,000/year cut is a noticeable difference in this house.


But you know, I think I'd pay $50,000/year to be B's full-time mama anyway.




*If you continue to ask when B will be a big brother, I will request that you put money in our saving for future maternity costs and/or adoption fund. You've been warned. ;)

**That's a projection. Since I don't make hourly wage it's hard to predict how much I'll make a month. Through the winter when it's tough to book sessions, the difference is greater. Through the summer, it's less. We do our best to pay me a monthly check that is about the same each month and we trust that God will continue to provide and meet our basic needs. So far He's never let us down. :)

Saturday Morning Surfing

Are you surfing the web on a relaxing Saturday morning?

What? No one uses the phrase, "surfing the web" anymore?

My badness.*




I feel like I used every last second of my 'me' time on the interwebs this week. Here's some of my favorite finds:


I love this list of things Mary plans to do in her 30s.

I'm stealing her cell phone penalty box idea. Especially after the amount of time I spent on the webs this week. And after reading this post about getting off the dang phone and making more time for play. Convicted.


I don't remember how but I recently discovered the Rage Against the Minivan blog and I love her FAQ and Best Of pages. Funny stuff.


I'm currently trying to come up with a hack for this adorably happy cake topper. It'd be the perfect addition to my party supplies but you know I'm not shelling out $35 for it. It's SO cute though, right?!

This tulle skirt is also on my fictitious wish list. It looks so dreamy but I imagine I would look like a little girl playing dress up in it? Thinking someone else needs to get the outfit then let me take their pictures in it. Maybe in the mountains (Malory!) or on a horse (Jill!)???  :)

I think I found the next paint color for my kitchen chairs. And pantry door. Please advise.

This birth story was sweet. The first post I read of hers was the birth story of her second daughter. Tears.

Which made me want to revisit B's birth story and birth slideshow. Tears again.


What were your favorite finds on the webs this week? OH and have you done your RAK yet? I need to go do mine right now! I am signing off the computer until Monday (maybe?).

Have a great weekend!




*Name that movie. (No really, please do because I cant think of it.)

Family Picture Ideas

Kelly's Korner SUYL link up today is ideas for family and kid pictures. As a photographer, I LOVE the idea for this link up! If you have family pictures coming up, be sure to check out more of the ideas over on her blog!



In case you're new around here, let me introduce myself as Heidi from {captured by} heidi photography. Hi!! And thanks for stopping by!



My top tips for family/children picture ideas are:

1. Choose a photographer that works for your kids and your family! This is super important. Not every photographer is going to be a perfect fit for every family. Different families have different needs in a photographer and you need to find out what works best for YOU! If you anticipate your children needing extra time to warm up, choose a photographer that has a reputation for allowing that then DON'T schedule a session during a special when they don't have a lot of time to work with you. Make sure they know any special needs your family may have and that they are willing to work with you.

2. It's okay to bring ideas that you have for your session! In fact, discuss them ahead of time with your photographer. And (I can't believe I'm saying this...) it's even okay to be inspired by a photograph and want to do something similar. However, if you want to do that, take a good look at the photo and think about what it is you like about it. Do the subjects have beautiful hair, great outfits, pops of color throughout? Is it their clothing that is pleasing to the eye? Take a good look at the photo and see what exactly you love about it. If they are dressed like they stepped out of a J. Crew add but you show up in your favorite team's t-shirts and attempt the same pose, you will not achieve the same results.

3. Splurge on new outfits (and accessories) for the family. The clothes, shoes, and accessories will definitely enhance (or dull) your image. Be sure to pay attention to the details. I promise those scuffed up tennis shoes will be noticeable.
I use the word splurge kind of loosely here- R scored an awesome button down for family pictures last year at Goodwill for something like $3! I found him a tie in the same shopping trip for $1. Both looked brand new and were perfect for pictures (and the shirt is my favorite dress shirt that he has) but they cost very little. Plan ahead and shop the clearance racks and thrift stores. Borrow clothes from a friend. Ask your photographer for suggestions (they may even have things you can borrow- I've loaned out plenty of my husbands ties and dress shirts and several of my own scarves and cardigans to clients).

4. Bring personalized items to customize your session. Bring a favorite old quilt, the bench from your entryway, or even your living room couch! My husband (lovingly) built this pallet bed for our family pictures last fall. It was definitely worth the effort of shoving loading it into the car.
The balloons were a much easier prop to add in and they added the perfect pop of color. Does your child have a favorite toy or blankie? Capture an image with those!

5. Finally- relax, have fun, and seek session prep help from your photographer. Most photographers are more than willing (and want!) to help you plan your session. Just ask them! I have a welcome guide that I share with my clients to help ensure they know what to expect and how to plan for their session. When you choose the right photographer, you can trust that they will make sure you have a successful session with images you'll love to hang on your walls!


*pallet pictures above courtesy of Like A Fox Photography

Our Sippy Cup (that Doesn't) Runneth Over (and other toddler gear we love)

Confession: I originally titled this post "Our Sippy Cup (that doesn't) Runneth Over (and other baby gear we love)."


Agh. My little baby (I mean toddler) is growing up fast. His ever growing self, requires new stuff to go with him.


The last time I posted about B's favorite things and our baby gear was quite awhile back. The list has changed just a little bit since then. (And while I should go back and update the post itself, I'm happy to report that we LOVED all of the gear listed in the post and didn't have any problems with any of it. I'll soon get to the couple items that were still on our wish list at that point...)


I am a little crazy when it comes to researching products before deciding what I want- I literally spent the better part of a year deciding on a couch for our upstairs. So when it comes to baby gear that I know can make my life easier and my baby safer, you can bet I was a little research crazy. I'll save you the time and effort and share my recommendations here for you! :)

Convertible Carseat: Britax Boulevard. 
In looking for a carseat, I wanted something I could use for extended rear facing,* something with higher weight limits, a seat that exceded higher safety standards, and a seat that had good reviews on the child's comfort. A lot of the message boards I read about carseats had moms saying that all carseats have to meet the same safety standards so any choice is a good one. This is absolutely not true. Not all carseats are created equally and while it's true seats have to meet a basic level of safety standards, there are many seats that barely meet the standards while others easily exceed them.
While knowing we wanted to go Britax, we ultimately chose the Boulevard. I knew we could find a less expensive carseat but when it came to finding ways to save money, B's safety wasn't an area I wanted to skimp on. (That being said, we were blessed with several gift cards from family that we were able to use for B's carseat so it didn't cost us hardly anything.)

*If you aren't sure whether you'll want to do ERF or not, this article and this article might be helpful for you. (Thanks, Megan for sending me the link again!) :)  Also, while we are on the topic of carseats, read this article to make sure you are strapping your baby/toddler in correctly. Thanks. :)

Stroller: Baby Jogger City Mini.
I most often get asked about our stroller and I always recommend it to other moms. (Though as I was looking for a link to it, I found there is now a City Micro that looks just as nice!) Things I love about it: lightweight, swivel wheel which makes it super easy to navigate in tight spaces (you can even maneuver this thing in the Crazy 8 store!), you can easily fold it up and unfold it using just one hand, enough storage space for baby gear and shopping bags, comfort features for B, adjustable canopy that can be used several different ways. We opted to have this as our primary stroller from the start (we used a snap n go with his infant carrier in the very beginning) and have loved it! I was worried I would regret not having a full size or travel system stroller but I am so glad we went this route instead. It really is the easiest to push stroller I've ever used!
There is one con with this stroller though: it doesn't come with cup holders so you have to buy the parent console and child tray separately. That being said, we haven't yet used our child tray but the parent console is definitely an upgrade you'll want and the inconvenience of buying it separately is worth the hassle to have a stroller that makes your life easier. :)  (It might be easier for me to say that since B's stroller was gifted to him by his grandma so we didn't have the initial expense but I do think if I had to save my money to splurge on a baby item, this would be one I'd want to splurge on.)

Sippy Cup: Nuby Super Straw Easy Grip Cup.

We have tried a TON of sippy cups. We've tried straws, no straws; handles, no handles; flip top lids, and not; etc, etc. We literally tried nearly every style of sippy cup there is. (We probably wouldn't have tried as many styles as we did but we had several hand me downs and gifts to test out so we tested them all in search of our favorite one.) For awhile, B struggled with holding the cup himself and tipping it back to drink from it. We attribute this to the fact that he had very, very few bottles and rarely needed to hold the bottle himself. An early favorite sippy cup was the straw cup with handles. The handles were great to help him grab ahold of the cup and the straw was great because he didn't have to tip the cup back for drinking. While this cup served it's purpose for quite awhile, it did leak (A LOT) and also as B got older, he would chuck the sippy cup down from his booster seat and across the kitchen floor so hard that the handles would break off. They weren't exactly B proof and we had a million sippy cups with sharp edges on them laying around the house. As he transitioned into the 'bigger kid' room at church, they served snack with a different style of sippy cup and B quickly learned to grab hold of the cup and drink. At that point we transitioned into the no handles cups and I randomly found the Nuby Super Straw cup while at TJ Maxx. They are by far our favorite sippy cup. They don't leak when left laying on the floor (or even when being shaken upside down!). They don't have any easily breakable parts (like handles) and there aren't a million parts to it which makes it easy to clean. I've asked several other moms about their favorite sippy cups and this one seems to be a common favorite!
Moving forward, we'll stick with the Nuby but I'd love to try out the WOW Kids Cup. (They also have adult versions!) :)

Video Monitor: Summer Infant Video.
Okay, this one isn't the exact one we have but ours is almost two years old now and the market of video monitors has grown a ton since then! There are a lot more choices now than when we purchased ours and if purchasing one today this isn't the one I would go with. That being said, we haven't had any problems with it and we absolutely love it. A video monitor is a must. I thought this when B was tiny and I wanted to make sure he was breathing (like every second of the night) without going in his room and waking him. I think this even more now that he is growing and pulling books off the shelf during nap time and stripping his clothes off and trying to climb out of his crib. Not too long ago he fell asleep sitting up during nap time and watching him sit swaying back and forth in his sleep was the funniest moment of R & I's day. So safety and convenience reasons aside, the video monitor is a must just for the entertainment value. ;)


Other Toddler Gear We Love.
-B still uses and loves his Aden & Anais swaddling blankets. We don't swaddle him anymore but they are his favorite blankies to snuggle up to.
-Amber teething necklace. Kelsey recently posted about these and if you're curious as to whether or not you want to try one, the general consensus is they cant hurt.
-Shoes that stay on his feet. He wore the boot version of these ALL winter long (to the point that we wont be able to hand them down to anyone). As it's getting warmer out, we've mixed it up with some hammy down Jordan's and Toms and I have these on my wish list for him. SO cute and the perfect mix of R & I's styles. :)
-We use (and wash often) this Munchkin Snack Trap bowl ALL the time. We have a few other snack cups but this one seems to be the easiest for him to use while creating the least amount of mess. I'd love to try this spill resistant bowl out though.
-B got this Fisher Price Healthy Care Booster seat as a gift from his grandma (we had previously been borrowing one that is supposed to be at my mom's house). While he could still use the high chairs we have, we love having him at the table with us and it has really improved his eating habits. A lot of language and learning happens at the table and since we spend A LOT of time there these days, it's great to have him sitting right there with us. (We remove the tray and scoot him right up to the actual table with us.)

Toddler gear I need help with:
-A potty chair. I've looked into them a little bit and think I want to go with this one but I'm not sure. Does it matter? Do you want one in each bathroom? Or at least on each level of the house? What are your recommendations here?
-Toddler bed. We have the kit that converts his crib so we're planning to do that but WHEN do you make the switch? Is there a magic age or do you wait until they are climbing out of their crib? (I think he could be close- yikes.)
-Head phones. I know they are only recommended for ages 2+ but is that because screen time is recommended for ages 2+? We are going to be doing a little traveling for spring break and I'd love to be able to let B watch some videos or read some iPad books on the airplane but I'm wondering if I should even bother with them. I'd love to get these headphones for him (I think?). Any thoughts?


What is your favorite baby (eh, I mean TODDLER) gear of the moment? Any recommendations for us?? 

A Double Dog Dare

Last week was Random Acts of Kindness Week. Did you do any random acts?
We did some (five actually) but I found it hard to actually do them and real easy to come up with excuses not to.

I thought about letting the lady at Target in front of me in line but I knew no one would think anything of it if I didn't. I wanted to buy the cupcake for the nice girl behind me in line at Scratch but I thought she might think that was weird.

I thought about doing a lot more than I did. But I didn't.

Then I thought it might be easier and make me more bold to act if I had some accountability. I thought this little corner of the interweb could provide that accountability for me. So I decided to blog about it.


My plan started easy enough. I would start blogging about RAK once a week the 30 weeks leading up to my 30th birthday. I got my calendar out and started counting back thirty weeks to see when this adventure would begin. Imagine my surprise when I realized I would be turning 3-0 in just 25 weeks.

MY TWENTIES END IN TWENTY FIVE WEEKS!


Ahem.

So in an effort to join the masses and complete 30 random acts of kindness for my 30th birthday, I'm going to count five acts from last week and forge ahead completing the next 25 in the upcoming weeks.

That's one random act of a kindness a week for the next 25 weeks and I double dog dare you* to join me!


My plan is to post one idea a week and report back the following week. I'd love for you to join in the fun and report back with me. I'll even add an extra fun random (okay not so random) act at the end of the journey to one of you that completes each week with me!
I hope to come up with ideas that can be completed no matter where you live and on a very low budget so the commitment isn't unreasonable for all of us. If there's an act that isn't possible for you to complete, you can improvise or come up with your own idea.

So whose going to join me?? Please don't make me insert the cricket sound here...... :)

Just to round off my list of thirty, here are the five we completed last week:
1. Let the gentlemen at Subway go ahead of us in line.
2. Take lunch to the hubby at work (I'm going to include 'not so random' random acts in here for people that you know and love).
3. Deliver a treat to a neighbor (or in our case, neighbors, R's coworkers, and everyone else we saw on Valentine's day).
4. Reach out to someone you haven't talked to in awhile.
5. Did a free photo session (I've been randomly and not so randomly doing this since the Olivia Act was first posted. Fun! Exhausting, but fun.)  :)



And starting with the weekly challenge:

RAKing at the Hickstionary # Six:**

Leave a note in the baby section letting a new mom know she's doing okay. (Stick it to a pack of small diapers, perhaps?)

Optional: Include a favorite verse or a quote or poem about motherhood and/or include a little gift card or treat for her.


I dare you to join me! (Please!) :) Then report back next week and let me know how it went!
I cant wait to hear about how it goes! Feel free to ask your friends to join us. I'd love to have a bunch of us spreading the love!


So will you take the dare? Leave a comment below to let me know you're all in (pretty please?!?).  :)





*I didn't want to commit a breach of etiquette and skip right to the triple dog dare! ;)

**Feel free to jumpstart your own list by completing five acts of your own. Feel free to borrow from my list above or these recommended ones.






Updated: I've had a few people ask how to leave a comment on the blog. All you have to do is click below the post where it says comments and type into the box. If you have Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus, you can leave your comment with that. If you don't, you can click on the diqus logo (the D) and use Disqus to leave your comment. Let me know if you need more help! Thanks!! 

RAK challenge

Want to join the Random Acts of Kindness challenge?

You can check out this post for more info and check the blog weekly (on Wednesdays) for new challenges.

Here's a list of challenges:


1. Let someone go ahead of you in line.
2. Take lunch to a friend.
3. Deliver a treat to a neighbor.
4. Reach out to someone you haven't talked to in awhile.
5. Use your talents to bless someone (in my case free photo sessions).
6. Leave a note to a new mom in the baby section.
7. Leave a treat (pack of gum, box of tea, candy bar) on someone's desk at work.
8. Do something nice for a neighbor.
9. Send a card in the mail to someone (not so random).
10. Volunteer your time.
11. Leave a surprise for a child.
12. Commit to praying for someone daily.
13. Take a meal to someone.
14. Donate items after spring cleaning.
15. Leave an outside toy (a ball, chalk, bubbles?) at the park for a child to find.
16. Do something kind for your spouse.
17. Pick up the tab for another person.
18. Help someone with a project.
19. Tell someone you appreciate them. Let them know why. Be specific.
20. Offer to babysit for someone.
21. Feed someone.
22. Be nice to the dad(s) in your life.
23. Help a friend clean.
24. Use your spiritual gifts to bless someone.
25. Smile at (and say hello to) strangers.
26. Donate items to your church nursery.
27. Make a meal for a neighbor.
28. Pay a bill (or give money towards a bill) for someone.

Still to come:
29. Stick a dollar near the dollar spot toys for a child to find.
30. Hand out balloons!

What He Wore Wednesday

Little Man looked dapper in the church nursery on Sunday. (And riding scooters later on in the day.)

Shirt: Joah Love
Jacket: Gap
Jeans: Old Navy
Shoes: Toms

You can get your own little one (or yourself!) some Toms on Zulily today! 

Bonus saving tip- did you know if you wear a size 8 (women's) or smaller, you can buy your Toms (and other shoes!) from the youth section? Just look for the cm size instead of US size to see what works for you. (Keep in mind shoe sizes vary by brand so this shoe size chart will be helpful but wont work for every brand/style. I'm an 8 1/2  or 9 women's and can wear a youth 7 in most brands but a youth 6 works in some brands too.)

365 week 7

12 (Tuesday)- B is getting really good at picking up his toys... but you wouldn't guess it by this picture.

13 (Wednesday)- Date night!

14 (Thursday)- Valentine's Day!

15 (Friday)- Mo came to stay with us and she and B had an awesome time swimming. (More on this day to come.)

16 (Saturday)- It's still too cold to be outside too much. We had big plans of going to the skating rink but their hours don't really work for B so Mo got to skate at the gym instead. B had fun chasing and throwing balls while Mo did a little of everything. (I know it looks like he shoved her down but I promise he didn't.) :)

17 (Sunday)- B always dresses dapper to go see his church friends. And apparently to ride scooters as well. :)

18 (Monday)- B was pretty worn out from the weekend and begged for nap time then begged for bed time. Poor buddy! 

Would You Rather?

Remember when I told you to check out Gloo? I hope you did and I hope you found some fun applets in there.

Here's the newest one we just started. Moments that Matter. It's perfect for if you are riding in the car or waiting on an oil change. Or even on a real live date (if you have time for that!). :)

Some are easy; some are really thought provoking. Definitely some good conversation starters for you to checkout. Happy dating! (even if date night is on the couch this week!)

just another manic monday

i wish it were sunday.

B and I are having a lazy morning Monday around here. I have about 1,376 emails to reply to, 8 discs to get in the mail, 2 sessions to edit and upload, and well... you get the idea. I also have about a million resources about baptism opened up right now (that post IS coming. for real this time). I haven't done laundry since... well I'm not sure when. The house is a mess. B and I are still in jammies. I'm starting to think about spring break. I'm wondering if I should buy baby headphones for B for the plane. I'm sorry I ever made fun of people that put their kids on leashes. I'm contemplating the kid leash for B for the airport. Does that make me one of those crazy parents too? No. But the million other crazy mom things I do probably does. So far today B and I have eaten. Twice. Played. And made two videos. He is in a jammie shirt. I am also still in pajamas. Neither of us have brushed our hair or teeth yet. Thankfully you cant smell our breath in the videos. The kid is pretty modest so even though he knows animal sounds for about 100 animals, he wont do them in front of people. Doesn't like showing off I suppose. He does do some in this video though. Before he gets bored that is. We made a second video where he finds some body parts. He doesn't know as many of those. I think he believes his feet are called boots. He does know penis. His dad taught him that. His dad is also teaching him the art of a layup. Almost everything has become a ball and/or hoop these days. B sits and watches basketball with his daddy when it's on tv but take him to the gym for a game and he'd much prefer running out on the court with the big boys. It doesn't work so great for me. The kid has mad dashing skills and I'm pretty sure he's faster than me. Probably because of the hot laps he does around the house each night before bed. Watching him run around the house is darling. Around the basketball court during a game and around a packed airport; not so much fun. Does anyone have one of those kid leashes I can borrow? :)

my funny [and slightly crabby] valentine

Once B was born, I decided I needed to learn how to bake cookies. It took me until last Valentine's day to feel confident enough to share my baked goods with the masses. This year when I mentioned my plans to do the same, R mentioned how it was now a Valentine's Day tradition. I like traditions. I loved the sound of it.


So on date night when we realized we were all out of butter and couldn't make cookies without it, we had to make a pit stop. And when I realized B's 15 month well baby check would keep me occupied in the morning I had to stay up late to bake the cookies. It was a tradition. :)

I stayed up late baking. I got B up early for his 15 month check. A 15 month check means shots. They also took some blood. B was not so happy about it. Our morning was off to a rough start. And the cookies I stayed up late to bake hadn't frosted themselves.

Enter a genius Heidi idea. (Are you keeping track? That's already the 2nd one this year.)

Time was short. I was bored with frosting cookies. Jars are cute. And anything you put in a jar automatically becomes cute by association.

And that's how the Hickstionary Decorate Your Own Cookies Kit in a jar came to be.

Pour some sprinkles in a jar. Carefully (or in my case, not so carefully) place the cookies on top of the sprinkles. Fill a zip lock bag with Wilton Buttercream Frosting. (Do NOT use any other kind. It just wont work. I promise.) Carefully fold the zip lock bag over so the zipper is hidden. Gently lay the bag on top of the cookies. Stick a clever note in saying it's a cookie decorating kit. (Leave out the part about how you're too lazy to decorate the cookies yourself.) Attach a picture of your funny Valentine. Take a picture of your funny Valentine holding on to the jar and looking cute. (Unless they just had shots then you should probably just save yourself the torture and skip that part.) Be too lazy to actually deliver the jars so hand them out to the neighbor kids as they get off the school bus and eat the rest of the cookies yourself. Okay, that part is optional but the rest of the directions are totally necessary.

Cute, right?

And yes- I did actually frost a few cookies. We took bags/boxes of cookies to every place we visited that day. In total, we delivered (or ate) 77 cookies (at last count). B's favorite stop was daddy's school. He LOVES running in the gym and he LOVES seeing his daddy so it might have been the happiest moment of his day. As soon as he properly greeted his daddy though, he spotted a neighbor girl (he is incredibly gifted at spotting the neighbor girls in a crowd and chasing them down). He ran after her as she was leaving class and made it out the door behind her. I tried to get a shot of him giving her a hug but by the time I grabbed my camera, he was off to check out something else. Probably another Valentine. ;)


Hope you had a happy and funny (not crabby) Valentine's Day!

Date With A Purpose

Do you have Gloo?

It's a handy little app with all kinds of little apps within. Or something like that.

We are just finishing the Date With A Purpose Challenge.

The challenge was to do one date a week for four weeks. Each week the app offers conversation topics. Many of the topics weren't things we would normally talk about and it was great for us to learn even more about each other.

Most of our weekly dates for the challenge were on the couch after B went to bed (hello, Yahtzee tournament) but we ended the challenge with an actual night out (thanks to B's grandma who came to hang out with him!).

Our favorite date night activity? Progressive dinner.

Since we don't get out much we love hitting up as many places as we can while we're out. For progressive dinner we do appetizers, dinner, desserts and often drinks all at different locations.

This date night included High Life bacon wrapped tots, Waterfront Sushi (and double cheeseburger for the mister), and Scratch cupcakes. We had plans of drinks at Chilis but the butter incident took priority and we ran out of time.

What is your favorite date night activity?

Do you have a date coming up? (like oh I don't know... For Valentines Day!)

If you do, check out Gloo for some date ideas and conversation topics.

are you?

I woke up around 3 am. I'm still awake. I cant sleep and one thing keeps playing through my mind.

I messed up last night.



Ugh. I hate that feeling.

I love being given a task and I love the feeling of successfully scratching it off my neat and tidy 'to do' list. (Okay fine. If we're being completely honest tonight, there are multiple to do lists. They are anything but neat and tidy and sometimes I add things I've already done to them just so I have more things to cross off. But I digress.)

I love being given a task, so on Sunday when Pastor Troy gave us a homework assignment, I was up for the challenge.

It seemed easy enough upon first hearing it; ask one person this week if they are going to heaven or hell.

But then he asked us to think of someone rightthereonthespot and write their name down.

I froze.


I wasn't sure.

I ran through the short list of people I would actually have interaction with this week. I was pretty confident all of them were believers and would answer with confidence that they are going to heaven. I know pretty sure isn't completely sure, but I was sure enough that none of them made the list (sorry friends I'm seeing this week- if you aren't sure if you are going to heaven, will you please let me know!?!).


So I prayed. I asked God to put someone in my path this week and make it clear to me that I was supposed to minister to them. I knew it was a long shot because I didn't have a whole lot of plans of leaving the house this week and the act might take God actually sending someone to knock on my door. The thought of Him doing something like that was a long shot. Laughable really. (You see where this is going, right?)




Fast forward to last night. It was date night. R & I set off on our monthly adventure while the little man had adventures of his own with grandma. I had (admittedly) forgotten about the homework assignment and was excited for a basketball free night out with the husband. The night went great (more on that later. ha) and even though we were running late getting back, we decided to make a quick stop at Wal-Mart to grab the last minute missing ingredient for my Valentines treats. I don't know why we chose Wal-Mart. I swore off ever going to the Ankeny Wal-Mart again when I was 9 months pregnant with B. I'm not a Wal-Mart hater, I just don't like that one. So when it was my idea to stop there for butter (when we had plenty of other butter buying options), I should have known something was up.

We bought our butter (and okay, a couple other things) and headed out the door. We had made it in and out of store #892 with no major snags. Success!

And then I saw the cop cars.

They were parked around the front of the store and I just knew one of them was there to talk to us. I did a quick memory scan trying to think of anything or any reason why they might be there for us. Did we mess something up at self-checkout? Had I put my cell phone in my pocket and they thought I was stealing something? (Am I the only one that thinks of this crazy thing!?!) Okay the idea was crazy for even me. I shook it off and got in the car ready to go see our little Valentine at home.

It took forever to get out of the parking spot. We sat there for quite awhile. And sat. and sat. and sat.

Until....

You guessed it.


Someone knocked on the car door.


"Excuse me. I'm not trying to bother you guys but do you have any money? I'm homeless. I live in a tent." 


Uhhhh.... I look at R and wait for him to respond. He looks at me waiting for me to respond.

And we freeze.




Now here's the thing. When we are on vacation we like to explore the city we are visiting. Doing so often leaves us in questionable areas where requests like this are common and frequent. We purposefully carry small bills around so we are prepared to 'pay them off' so they leave us alone and we can be on our way.

But here. In the parking lot of store #892, we're caught off guard.

 I finally respond.


"Well sir, sure. Let's go over to McDonalds and get you a meal."


He replies, "I just really want to go in and get some hamburgers and buns for $8.89."

And R replies, "Sorry, sir we don't have any cash."


Pause.


Right there. That's when I messed up.


I could have suggested we go in and grocery shop with him. We could have used that time to talk to him and get to know him. After talking to him, we could have easily asked him if he was going to heaven. If he knew for sure. How he knew? I could have easily crossed that homework assignment off my neat and tidy to do list.

But I didn't.

I watched as the man walked away.


I wasn't sure what to say.

So I didn't.



Before I realized what was going on, another man was knocking on our door. This time it was a police officer. He was questioning us about the man. They had received complaints about him and wanted to know what our interaction with him entailed.

I should have spoke up. I should have said he was hungry and we didn't feed him. I should have said you know what, we'll take him inside and get him some food so he can leave well fed and not 'bother' anyone else tonight. I should have.

But I didn't.



As we were driving home, R knew I was beating myself up about it. He told me I couldn't do that. We tried to make excuses for our behavior; 'if he was really hungry, he would have taken the offer for a McDonald's meal, right?' 'well he didn't want the meal so he must just have wanted the money for who knows what.' 'if he really lives in a tent what would he need with hamburgers? where would he cook them?' and on and on.

(Oh and for the record- R kindly pointed out to me that he could in fact have a grill for his hamburgers. Doh.)


But in the end our excuses weren't cutting it and the truth remains.


I messed up.


I didn't listen to the Holy Spirit. I didn't act on the opportunity. I didn't complete my homework.



I had prayed for God to put someone in my path. He did so in a very clear way yet I chose to ignore it.


Have you ever prayed for something then when given the opportunity for it, not grasped hold?

If you've ever prayed for patience, maybe you know what I'm talking about. :)


Life isn't a neat and tidy to do list. It's not about completing tasks just to cross them off the list but only if they don't require me to step out of my comfort zone.


Tonight I'm praying for forgiveness. I'm praying for grace. I'm praying for courage. I'm praying for another chance.

And I'm praying that I'll trust God this time around.




Finally, I promise I wont use this as my easy out to crossing off an item on my to do list... but what about you? Are you going to heaven or hell? I'd love to hear your answer and I'd love to hear your 'why.' Come knock on my door so we can chat. Or you know, shoot me an email. :)


Hold Fast, friends!

And Happy Valentine's Day! :)

15 months

Dear Beckett,

You are FIFTEEN months young today! It is hard to believe that it's almost time for another well baby checkup. Your checkup isn't until Thursday but from a recent appointment we know that you are about 26 lbs and at 12 months, you were 35 inches tall. The handy dandy 'be a good mommy' chart says you should be 29-33 inches at 15 months so once again, I'm sure they will tell us what a TALL boy you are tomorrow.

You definitely are tall, little guy. You're also sweet and funny and fierce and loving and ALL boy. You run and jump and climb and holler. You cuddle and snuggle and kiss and hug. You talk and sign and follow directions well. You have favorite books, favorite shows, favorite toys, favorite animals and favorite foods. It's so fun to see the little person you are becoming.


Some fun things about you at 15 months:


Your language. Daddy and I LOVE listening to you talk. You are always saying new words and starting to put words together. You will copy just about everything we ask you to say but more often than not these days, you are saying new words on your own and we are left trying to figure them out. Just this morning daddy brought in a new suitcase that had been in the car and you went to investigate it and said to daddy, "What's this?" Once we answer your questions, you often just say, "OH." When we ask you questions you often answer with, 'dis, dat, es, no' (this, that, yes, no) or a shoulder shrug. You request 'moo moo' when you wake up (it took me awhile to figure out what you wanted when you said it. I tried offering you your book about cows but you motioned for me to follow you to the fridge instead where you pointed to the picture of the cow on the milk carton). You often get compliments from other people about how nice your manners are when you sign 'please' and 'thank you' but what they don't know is that you really only do them when you want food. :) While you are saying a lot of new words these days, my favorite (besides mama, of course) is still 'uh odah' (Dakota).


Food has been a major motivator in getting you to speak and sign and since we spend a LOT of time at the kitchen table, you get to practice those skills often. Typically you want to eat when you wake up then about every two hours after that. You generally eat small amounts at a time but other times you eat just as much as I do. Thankfully you (so far) haven't been too picky in your foods and you'll eat about everything we offer you. You love fruits, veggies, meats, breads and you've recently discovered sweets (yikes). I was trying to sneak an m&m one day and you caught me. You've known where we stash the goods ever since. Now we have to wait until you are in bed before we sneak treats. (Thankfully you wont be old enough to read this for awhile so I don't have to give up my secret just yet).



Your sleep. We can talk about this without jinxing it (I hope) because you are currently in a transition phase. From August-January you slept from 7 pm to 8 am and 11 am to 2 pm 99% of the days we were at home with no visitors. It was quite a nice schedule you gave me for quite a long time and I enjoyed the consistent work hours each afternoon. (Thanks buddy!) However... these days we are transitioning into keeping you up a little later at night and having a little less of a nap during the day. You've always required more sleep than the charts say (just like mama) but since we've been giving you iron supplements, we feel like you are doing better at staying awake longer periods now.
Our bedtime routine consists of reading books (sometimes you request the read alongs on the iPad instead of actual books) and snuggling. You rub mommy's back when you are tired and tell me, 'Shh shhh.' You give Dakota hugs and wave 'nigh nigh' and then usually lay down on the floor and pretend to snore. You sure aren't subtle about letting us know it's bed time. :) I used to hold you as we stood by your crib and sang 'Jesus Loves Me' but these days you've been diving out of my arms and into the crib so I stand near you as we get you tucked in just right and you settle in. You MUST have your blankies just right and as much as we were sure you wouldn't attach to a lovey, it seems that blankie may just be your thing. A week ago, you took it to Sunday school where your favorite teacher said you didn't let go of it the entire time you were there.




Speaking of Sunday school. You love going to play with your church friends. On Sunday morning if someone mentions you get to go see them, you deliver shoes to everyone that's currently in socks then you go sit beside the door. You CANT WAIT to go to church. You're also good at helping to get ready to leave in general. You can say 'boots' and you attempt to put them on (though you are a ways off from being able to). In the radiology waiting room, someone's nice grandma told you she liked your boots. You looked at them and pointed to them and smiled and she couldn't believe what a smart little boy you were to know the word boots. It made your mama happy because most strangers guess your age around 2 and think you should be talking more than what you are. :)
Playtime is always fun. You have quite the imagination and are SO good at playing with other people. You've always been the entertainer and are good at doing things for a laugh.



You enjoy other kids. Most children your own age though prefer parallel play so I asked daddy the other night if he thinks you bug your church friends trying to get them to play with you all morning. :)


Your favorite toys have been changing a lot lately but currently it's your builders you got from Aunt Mal for Christmas. Most mornings you get that tub out first and dump it out all over the floor. You're good at dumping things on the floor and pulling things out.


Thankfully you've been getting better at picking toys up. Just tonight you successfully cleaned up the basement (mostly) on your own. You know that things have a place and that they should be there. Earlier today I was looking for your boots under the couch and asked you to do the same (because I was sure one got kicked under there- I was right) and once I found it, I couldn't find you. I went to your room and you had pushed a chair up to your dresser drawer where we keep your boots. You had the drawer open and had been looking in it for your boots. That story shows two of your qualities- how smart you are and how much you LOVE to climb.




You are a climber! You are definitely all boy. You climb on everything. You think everything can be used as a ball and most things can be used as a hoop. And you like to yell. A lot. :) This morning as I was putting breakfast dishes away you got really quiet and didn't answer when I asked where you were. As I came around the corner, I saw you up on the dining room table where you were using the pinecones as balls and the light fixture as a hoop. When I said, "Oh Beckett we don't climb on chairs and tables, we sit on chairs." You said, "OV!" (That's LOVE! in B talk. Which is short for 'I love you.') Again tonight before bed as I said I love you, you screamed back "OV!" Generally your "OV!" is accompanied by a running jump and hug. A FULL SPEED running jump and hug. Keeping you sitting still at basketball games is a challenge as you would rather be running on the court or smoozing the crowd.


I don't blame you though. :)


Oh, B! It's so fun to be your mom. Life with you is never boring. I still cant believe I get to be your mama. Your daddy and I love you oh so much! Happy 15 months, B-Meister!

What I Want To Wear Wednesday

Confession: I'm currently wearing yoga pants. As I type this (on a Monday), it's cold and windy and I have no plans of leaving the house today so B and I are having a sweat pants kind of day.

 Bigger confession: That has been happening a lot lately.

 I know I said I wouldn't be a 'hang out in sweatpants all day kind of WAHM,' but it's happened. I tried to fight it but getting up and wasting a perfectly cute outfit on a stay home kinda day was getting old. I'm not a wasteful person so I didn't see any reason to continue. And here I sit. In my sweat pants. Which brings me to What I (Want to) Wear Wednesday. Because 'What I (actually) Wore' wouldn't be as pretty.  :)


Here's what I would be wearing today (in anticipation of date night) if I had enough money to buy cute outfits with no worries of wasting cute outfits on stay at home days. :)



As we were running in for a 'quick' Target trip, these shoes spotted me from across the aisle. They looked into my eyes and begged me to buy them. I resisted. (Rather R talked me out of them.) (I'm still trying to resist them but have you ever dreamt about a pair of shoes that needed to come home with you? Uhhhh... yeah, me either. I was just asking for a friend...)


Since I didn't get to bring them home with me, I did what any normal person would do; I built an imaginary outfit around my imaginary shoes. Ahem.


The top. The sweater. The denim. Thee shoes.

I tried to stick to Tar-jay (because it's really the only place I seem to make it to these days) but as much as I love me some Tar-jay deals, I cant bring myself to love the Tar-jay denim. So I headed over to the Gap (online of course) and found these beauties.

And when I hopped over to Gappity Gap and found those beauties, I also found this adorable outfit all ready to go. That would have been much quicker, eh?

Ah well. Happy shopping today (pretend or real)!

splish splash

I'm really good at saying 'more on that later' when I think I'll whip out a post about something. I'm also really good about never getting back to the 'more' once it's 'later.' Good thing you guys are really good at reminding me. :)

By request- the rest of the guest bath. It's the room I spend the least amount of time in. Other than making sure the door is shut each morning (so B doesn't wander in), I pretty much forget this room is even there. Since I'm rarely in this space, it gets majorly neglected. 

When we moved in, we used the same bathroom stuff that we had in our apartment circa 2005. Is it just me or is that a long lifetime for a shower curtain?? Fast forward 8ish years and it was time for the shower curtain to go. (You know it's bad when R throws it out without being asked.) So with a starting budget of $0, I set off to redo the guest (and client) bathroom. 

Knowing we needed a new shower curtain, I knew the $0 budget wouldn't cut it. I thought about turning an old sheet into shower curtain but sitting down and getting anything done at the sewing machine is next to impossible these days. (Have you ever played the 'don't sew the toddler's fingers' game as the 1yo investigates the needle while you sew? It's even less fun than it sounds.) 

So I saved my 'fun money'* and headed out to Target. This bathroom is tiny and there is no natural light so I knew I wanted something light. White wouldn't work since all the fixtures are cream so I was worried my options would be limited. They were- there was only one cream shower curtain in the place. Thankfully, it was (almost, basically) exactly what I was looking for. I liked that it was completely off-white (with no pattern/color) but loved the little detail at the bottom. Shower curtain: Check. 

Next on the list- new towels. I know that doesn't fit the $0 budget either but for the last two years, I've turned the Christmas hand towels around in there and used them year round. Obviously, it was time for a change. I went to the cheapest section of towels and found the perfect color: hot coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker but I think coffee is black whether is it hot or not. These towels are not. They are more like a mix between slate and brown. Hot coffee with cream and sugar maybe? Towels: Check.

Once I put up the new shower curtain and towels, it was obvious our old artwork** and print wouldn't work. I didn't have anymore 'fun money' I was willing to part with for the project and I was too impatient to make anything artsy. I shopped the house instead, searching for off-white anything that might work. I had two major nail holes I wanted to hang something over so two items were on my 'shopping list.' I found the off-white 5x7s in the kitchen and snagged them. However, they were holding pictures of my niece and nephews cooking in the kitchen. Not exactly bathroom art. Fresh off my 'they see me rollin' art, I ran off to the computer to whip out another printable. 'Splish.' 'Splash.' And matching the towels and shower curtain perfectly? Perfect! I also stole another Lollywood Frame from the {cb}h studio. It held a picture of B but with the muted colors in the rest of the space, his bright picture wasn't cutting it. Back to the computer, this time on a hunt for picture of B splishing and splashing. I ran a 'hot coffee' action on it (yep, I just made that up) so it too matched the other colors perfectly and the art cost a total of $0. 

Finally, I wanted to have a few clean wash cloths. As I mentioned, it's the client restroom and I wanted to give clients the option of not having to share my husband's hand towel (which you can see I didn't take the time to fold up nicely again before pictures...oops). With literally no counter space or shelves, the back of the toilet was my next option. My MIL gifted me this cute little drawer at Christmas time so I grabbed it and stuck some wash cloths and lotion in for clients and other guests to use. Ta-da! There's our complete bathroom redo for almost $0 (other than that shower curtain and towels of course). ;) 

*My 'fun money' is not a real part of our budget. It comes from client tips [and my awesome hubby that sells his body (he donates plasma)]. So big shout out to my big tippers last month that helped me finally redo the bathroom! :)

**Our old artwork was a print with Galatians 5:22-23 on it. We've had it as long as the old shower curtain (approximately 8 years) and during that time I noticed at least 3,298 other people I know have that same verse in their bathroom. Is that strange to anyone else besides me?

I wish I had a before picture for you but if you've ever been to our house, you know this is a huge improvement for the little effort it took.  Have you been working on any home projects lately?