On days when she just dresses herself

My diva.  She has a fashion sense that is totally her own.  Some mornings we completely bat heads over the wardrobe.  Many of you may think like my mother, why on Earth do I give her the choice.  Well let me just say.  She doesn't always get to choose.  Sometimes when we are going somewhere or on Sunday mornings, I choose for her and that is that.  She knows that and typically does not fight me on this.  As long as the outfit meets her very picky standards.  Most of time I let her pick between two things.  And others I let her have free reign.  I figure what does it really hurt if she gets to pick her clothes for the day.  I'll tell ya, not a damn thing.

  It has gotten easier since I have gotten to know what she likes and what she does not like and will refuse to wear.  Remember when I said I only bought pink things, I did that way I didn't' have a drawer full of clothes not being worn because they weren't Pepto Bismol pink.  I started buying clothes that meet her very high standards of 1)not being tight around her arms  2)not being empire waisted and being tight across her chest 3)not being tight on her waist  and 4)not containing too much frilly stuff....then we got to a place where we are good.  I hated wearing stuff I did not like as a child.  I'm changing that with my own children. Here are some examples...

She loved this one....didn't want to take it off.

She totally put this ensemble together....do you love the shirt hair?  Yes, a yellow shirt she wore all day on her head like hair.....ALL DAY.  To the grocery, McDonalds, Target....ALL DAY!

Dress up at the discovery center.  She loves dress up and totally gets into character when she does. 

More dress up...this is my recent favorite princess ansemble she has put together.  We typically always wear her green dress, with a crown, heels and a purse.  See her side picture for an example.  However today, she totally mixed it up and had on a blue dress with two or three tutus underneath it.  This totally broke her no tightness around the waist rule, oh well.  I guess rules were meant to be broken.  Oh and when we are in princess garb, we have to play the part and refer to her as princess Meredith.  Today she waited for her little prince to wake up from his nap so he could dance with her.....he didn't cooperate when he awoke.

I wanted you to see the multiple layers under that dress.  I like to encourage her creativity and decision making skills.  I love it!

The kitchen wasn't the only room to get a makeover...

The kitchen and living room weren't the only rooms in the house to get a face lift.  I also re-did the "much in need of a new look" play room.  The room was originally Meredith's nursery, which was super cute and super gender neutral, since we definitely weren't finding out. 

That lasted all of 17 weeks.

Then Noah came along and both of them were bumped upstairs and it was transformed into the play room, or the room of crap that we own way too much of!And since it is one of the most seen rooms in the house, aside from the gorgeous kitchen, it needed an overhaul.

So here is the before....

And here is the after.....

I have to say it is much improved.  I also got some new plantation shutters in the toy room as well as the bedrooms, I love these things.  Mom you were right.

My cute little "by order of the management" prints that I got from etsy.  As well as Meredith and Noah's ugly dolls I picked up in NYC.  Meredith was happy to put hers on the wall she thought it was special.  Noah was just happy the damn thing was out of his room.  He hates that ugly doll.  When I first brought it home he whined and threw him down the stairs.  I went and got it and brought it back up and he slapped me, screamed, grabbed it from me and threw it down the stairs again.  I got the message, but I love to aggravate him with it....I know cruel!  Anyway the first couple hours he wouldn't go in the playroom without screaming.  But fear not Internets, he got over his fear and now is back to destroying the play room in 2.4 seconds!

Close up of the signs, aren't they cute!

Come on in and see what a difference one's sanity makes...

Oh Internets!  You have stuck with me through this horrendous renovation.  You have patiently waited and some of you may even continue to check the blog occasionally in hopes that I have posted pictures of the fruits of my labor and many months of blood, sweat and tears.  Well I did, it took almost as long as the renovation. 

I have lost my sanity through this process, I am slowly gaining it back.  But come inside and see what happened.  Realize that the living room is finished, but I am awaiting additional furniture.  I will post more pictures when it all gets here.  My photography skills are not the best....deal with it.  I also swear that I took better before pictures, but for the life of me CANNOT find them on my computer.  My organizational skills went out the window the day they started with this....

But alas we are finished. Things were not done on schedule, I cleaned better than I did in my entire life due to some peoples inability to use visqueen. And low and behold I survived. I guess I am cut out for that kind of work.

So here is the before......

And the after.........

Again the before.....

And the after....

Looking into the kitchen before.....

Looking into the kitchen after.....

The new brick wall on the living room side.  That mirror isn't staying there, I just don't know what I will put there.

Looking from the kitchen into the living room.

Before......

After.......

Looking toward the stove/cook top with the old island and floors and without the wall.

Before.....

After.....

The breakfast area before.....

After...

(I need a closeup of my new table, it is made from on old door from a house in Nola)

And now just some details.

My new chandelier over the breakfast table....

The new brick floors, I love them.

The new island.  I have bookcases on each end.

My new kitchen faucet.  Sorry it is blurry, but I love it!

The cabinet I had built on the brick wall on the kitchen side.  I use it as a china cabinet.

So what do you think?  Anything I left out you want to see?  My new hardware wasn't installed yet in these pictures, it is now do you need to see that?  Do I need a close up of anything else?  Please humor me, say something!

Preschool Photo Shoot

Today Meredith started 3 year old preschool.  She could not wait!  We have been waiting for this day for weeks.  I thought she would get a little nervous and change her mind, but as you can see..... that did NOT happen! 

What a difference a year makes.

Ready to leave...."Can we go now?"  This was after three outfit changes and tears over what she could wear.

Her cheesy grin....it's what I get when I say smile....or say cheese!

When I told her to pose like a big 3 year old going to preschool, I got this....hmmm.

The obligatory preschool bricks shot, I think I got this last year too.

The I have had enough pictures....seriously mom....my friends are in this parking lot.

Her new classroom.

She jumped right in and played.   I even got a you can go now mom. 

Here she is with Mrs. K! I love her already. I wish Meredith would have taken the time to look, since this is the only picture I got with Mrs. K. Oh well. I have lots of others from today!

Because I love this picture

Recently, my two tikes have become the best of friends.  They finally have gotten to a stage where they will play together for long periods of time.  Inevitably they will fight, but I have lessened my reaction time and have started given them time to work it out amongst themselves.  Meredith is normally doing the working out, she has gotten to be a fantastic big sister.  Noah adores her and loves the attention and soaks it all up.  I know that this bond between them is just starting to form and will grow throughout the years. 

Just found these and had to share...

Remember that beach trip we took in June....yes the 2nd one we took. Well look what I found more pictures.....and I had to share....they were too cute!

Here we are about to ride go-carts This was by far Noah's high-light of the trip!

There was also ice cream on the trip.....all over a certain 19 month old.

but he made such a cute grin....remember I told you he was messy.

The girls enjoyed some too!

We also rode trains, swings, carousels, and a Ferris wheel....when I say "we" I mean everyone under the age of 4.

We played the longest round of miniature golf ever....

even the kids were tired of waiting....come on big people....play already!
Meredith actually made a hole in one on the last put!

And the other highlight riding the wagon to catch crabs...well at least Noah's highlight...he hated the beach....here we go!

the luxurious wagon ride.

Got our nets and lights ready!

My handsome boy and his spike!

Me and my girl.

The sunshine in my life.....my two tikes!