Nursery Makeover!

Growing up with an interior designer mother has been the BEST. Everything she touches turns to magic, so my house gets cuter and cuter with each visit from Mom :). She's taught me so many design tips throughout the years, and now that I have my own home it's been fun to implement some of them! We have different tastes but the rules of decorating stay pretty much the same.

Today I want to show you guys our boy & girl nursery! I am SO happy with how it turned out.

So first off, the before! 

BEFORE

I really disliked this wallpaper from the beginning. It was already there when we moved in and we were having a baby (Lydia!) a few weeks later and didn't want to mess with it. We added lots of homemade decorations which was cute but a little cluttered.

AFTER

Ta-da! Gender neutral! 

There's still quite a lot going on (actually more - I had to add an entire toddler bed!), but the room feels a lot less busy. 

BEFORE

Okay I know it's hard but don't be too jealous of my amazing postpartum bod two years ago with Lydia ;). LOL. I think my booty was bigger than J-Lo's and Beyonce's combined. Good times guys.

AFTER

A lot more cleaned up! 

So the first thing I did was pick a color scheme based off a fabric; that's what my mom always starts with. In this case I started with two: the black/white/mint cross quilt (made by my mother-in-law!) and the cloud sheets from Land of Nod.

After deciding on colors we immediately got to work fixing the wallpaper situation. I ordered this amazing self-adhesive brick wallpaper from Target - it's like a giant sticker roll! It took two straight days to lay everything correctly (and lots of Daniel Tiger for Lydia - oops), but it makes a huge difference.

Then after the new wallpaper was up everything else came together pretty easily! I was worried about adding an entire bed to an already tiny room, but somehow it all fits and doesn't feel too tight. We swapped the bookshelf for a small bin of books under the lamp and all the toys are just in one big basket instead of 3 small ones.

And then I just scoured the Target dollar section, DI and the Hobby Lobby clearance aisle for decor for the gallery walls and shelves. It's amazing what you can spruce up with a can of spray paint ;). 

So there you have it! I am by no means a decorator but I love walking into this room now, which is all that matters!

Wallpaper: Target

Crib & Dresser: Restoration Hardware

Rocking Chair: Pottery Barn

Toddler Bed: Amazon

Side Table: Overstock

Gold Pouf: Land of Nod

Fur Rug: IKEA

Stripe Throw & Pillow: IKEA

Fur Pillow: Target dollar section

Cross Quilt & Pillow: mother-in-law (thank you!!)

Cloud Sheets: Land of Nod

Mountain Pillows: boutique 

Changing Cover Pad: Amazon

Geometric Mobiles: handmade by Michael - they're actually straws!

Felt Ball Garland: Zurchers

C & L Letters: Hobby Lobby

White Shelves: Target

Mint Mirror: black Walmart mirror that I spray painted

Pink Piano: baby shower gift when I had Lydia!

Knick Knacks: Target, Hobby Lobby or DI

Lemon Pudding Chippers

Every time I go to make a dessert my first thought is chocolate. What can I say, it's my fave. But once in a while I want something lighter/different so I hit up pinterest! And these lemon cookies were a rare pinterest success story! Soooo yummy.

I like to make them bite-sized (Paradise Bakery chippers anyone?!) so people are more likely to grab a few :). Also don't be alarmed if the batter is suuuuuper thick and hard to stir! It was for me (broke my spatula?) so I was pretty doubtful but they turned out great. 

Lemon Pudding Chippers

Ingredients: 

- 1 c sugar

- 1/2 c softened butter

- 1 egg

- 2 T milk

- 1/3 c sour cream

- 1 small box lemon pudding mix

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 2 tsp lemon juice

- 2 c flour

- 1 (12 oz) bag white chocolate chips (mini might be better for chipper-sized!)

- zest from 1 lemon

- yellow food coloring (optional)

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 375* 

- Cream together sugar and butter

- Mix in egg and milk

- In separate bowl combine sour cream, pudding, salt, soda and lemon juice (warning: THICK!)

- Combine sour cream mixture with butter mixture and flour

- Mix everything until smooth

- Mix in white chocolate chips, zest and 1 drop yellow food coloring

- Place quarter-sized balls of dough on slipmat on cookie sheet

- Bake for 5-7 minutes, depending on oven (mine took 5 min and 45 sec)

- They should look gooey when you take them out! Smack down the cookie sheet and let them sit there for a minute, they will harden as they cool

- Transfer to a cooling rack or parchment paper

- Enjoy! :) 

Recipe slightly adapted from Butter with a Side of Bread ( here)

Lydi-isms

Pretty much overnight this girl has developed quite the personality!

She is funny. She is sassy. She is thoughtful. She is LOUD at home and SHY out and about. 

She has adjusted incredibly well to her new role as big sister, and maybe not quite as well to her newly discovered independence, ha.

A few favorite phrases: 

- shouting "Hey Michael!" hahahahaha. Guess she's heard me say this a time or two ;).

- "Lydia do it!" aka insists on brushing her own teeth, putting on her own clothes, changing her own diaper? 

- "Baby CAAAAAANONNNN!" every morning the second she wakes up.

- "Bye! Papa & Nana's." "Bye! Grammy's." as she opens and closes are front door pretending to leave. 

- Said while running to him: "Buddy! Buddy! Buddy!" anytime Cannon cries. 

"Baby Cannon did big poops and Lydia did big poops." True Lyd. There's a lot of poop around here.

- "Easter Bunny!!!" by FAR her favorite holiday to date. We talk about him and the eggs and the candy at least 3 times a day.

And of course the long stories she tells me when she's deep in thought and clearly trying to convey a very important message, and I usually have no clue what she's saying, haha. 

I sure do love this fireball. 

Outfit: Zara

Shoes: Target

Bedtime!

UPDATE: GIVEAWAY CLOSED! 

I'm so excited to be teaming up with JORD Watches (see them  here!) to show you guys our bedtime routine. And one lucky reader will win a $100 E Gift Code to JORD!

I (like a lot of moms) am a HUGE schedule person; I thrive off to-do lists, and seriously nothing makes me more energized than writing down all my plans for the week and referencing my notebook about 23 times a day. Hence I'm really struggling to get on board with electronic calendars - I want something I can cross off! 

I'm also extremely time sensitive. I have this terribly annoying habit of showing up 5 minutes early to everything since I always think places are farther away than my phone directions tell me. So maybe I just have trust issues ;). Haha who knows. 

Anyways, bedtime is pretty much a nightly sprint triathlon. (Anyone else?) They both are exhausted at the same time - around 7:30pm - and Michael's gone. So it's a loco juggling act for half an hour but then suddenly they're both in bed and everything's silent and I CAN BREATHE.

First I feed Cannon as much as his little tummy will allow! Lydia is typically climbing on my back (accurate pic), jumping on the couch or trying on every necklace she owns.

When Cannon is full I burp him and read books with my girl! Lately she's been obsessing over like 5 books; we read them constantly for a week until I get sick of them, and then I hide them and she's forced to find new ones ;).

Then I lay Cannon on his belly for tummy time and we brush teeth. Lydia thinks she's super big and wants to do it herself. 

Next up, clean diapers for everyone! 

Speaking of diapers, Lydia has been taking hers off lately??? Yikes. I realllllly didn't want to start potty training for a few more months but we might have to. 

Aaaaand more books. I'm so happy this girl loves to read! But it's hard on nights when I really just need her to go to bed quickly. MORE BOOKS MAMA. 

Pretty soon all three of us will not be fitting on this rocking chair.

We pray, sing a song and give lots of kisses to everyone and everything - Baby Cannon, Teddy Bear, binkies - no one is exempt!

Then after she's in bed I quietly swaddle Cannon and lay him in the pack n play in our room! In the next few weeks I want to transition him to the crib in Lydia's room, we'll see how ambitious I'm feeling ;).

And finally I tiptoe out, tell myself how awesome I am, and pray for the best!! ;)

Now the fun part! 

JORD Wood Watches is giving away tons of E Gift Codes to my readers, all you have to do is follow the link  here and enter! 

Every single person that enters gets a $25 E Gift Code, no matter what! I'm all for freebies, so take two seconds and enter your name in the  link to get some automatic store credit. SCORE!

And one lucky entrant will win the $100 E Gift Code! So you can treat yourself to a fancy mothers day/graduation/just because present. Or snag one for your husband! I really love the look of their men's watches ( here). 

Good luck! Both for the giveaway and for bedtimes, ha ;).

Tee: Madewell on sale  here

Denim: Madewell  here

Watch: c/o JORD  here

Bracelets: Alex and Ani  here

Rings: vintage

DATE NIGHT what what?!?

I can't remember the last time Michael and I snuck out, just the two of us, for more than like 20 minutes. But last Friday we FINALLY took this darling mom and daughter up on their offer to babysit, and it pretty much made my month!

We got salads at Aubergine and then went to a (free!) Utes baseball game and talked about nothing important. Which was SO nice compared to our usual rushed right-before-bed conversations about schedules and school and errands and kids.

And whyyyyyy have I not picked up on the secret that is BABYSITTERS until now?! When we got home both kids were asleep, our dishes were done, they even folded our laundry! Can I have a babysitter every night?? I must've told Michael at least 8 times that our new life goal (when we have an income) is to be able to have date nights once a week. LIFE CHANGING.

Plus when the kids woke up the next morning at 4am and 6am I was actually excited to kiss their little faces off! So really just wins all the way around.

Except for the Utes. They totally lost the baseball game.

I sure do love this guy of mine!

Shirt: Madewell  here

Denim: DI score! similar  here

Bandana: Madewell  here

Shoes: old Coach, similar  here

Bag: old Coach

I Got Dressed {Springish Feels}

Yesterday I got to teach our Relief Society women's meeting at church, and I loved the topic. It was based on Sister Burton's recent Conference talk Certain Women (here!), and basically she told stories to illustrate the attributes of women of Christ. 

I wanted to hear stories from the women in my own ward about these attributes (confident, firm, positive, dependable, etc)! And I was so impressed with the powerful stories I heard.

When we first moved into this neighborhood, we were a little bummed at the age gap - we are by far the youngest (like surrounded by 70-year-olds). And even though we've found some younger families, it's really just our perspective that's changed. These old people are AWESOME! They have the greatest faith and hearts of gold. I especially have felt that during these last two months when we've received so much service. We don't want to leave! 

Ha this sounds like a goodbye letter. We're here! Don't worry neighbors! We have two more years here and then off to the next adventure - residency. 

And ya sometimes I make my kids match. And sometimes I match my kids. Whoops. But most days it's unintentional! It's like, Oh Lydia let's put on this navy shirt. And then Cannon only has clean navy pants. And then subconsciously I grab a navy sweater and BAM we're the same. 

But today was clearly not so accidental ;). Gotta make 'em match while I can right? Stars for the win. 

My Top: Jolley's Boutique 

Denim: Madewell

Bracelet: J.Crew

Shoes: Nordstrom Rack, old

Lydia & Cannon's outfits: Target

Lydia & Cannon's shoes: Freshly Picked

My World.

Poor guy is going to be smothered his whole life. With a potentially overbearing mom (oops) and a completely overprotective big sister, he's doomed. Ha! Sorry buddy ;).

STOP IT WITH THAT LITTLE GRIN. 

These last few days have been SO busy with church responsibilities and house issues and family projects - and these two have been total troopers through it all! (Including happily hanging out at the church building with me for 3.5 hours on Saturday - miracle.)

Now we have another busy week getting ready to leave for AZ and CA! The kids and I are flying down by ourselves to give Michael some study space, and we'll be gone for almost a month! Howwww do I pack for three people for that long?! How do I even fly with two kids?! 

PSA don't fly from Salt Lake to Phoenix next weekend cuz you do NOT want to sit next to our hot mess ;). Should be lovely I'm sure.

Sweatshirt: H&M old

Bandana: Madewell

Thorns and Roses (and the zoo!)

Last Thursday morning I got a call from Michael - which actually kind of freaked me out. He NEVER calls during the day. Well turns out he just wanted to take a break, ha! So we ditched our to-do list and roamed the zoo for an hour!

And Lydia was stoked. Let's be real, Daddy's her favorite. He comes home from school and they immediately jump on the bed and wrestle and tickle and I'm just like, "Sheesh sorry I'm so boring all day Lydia!" ;)

ALSO THE SEA LION WAS TOTALLY SHOWING OFF FOR US!

Moms kind of get the stinky end of the deal when it comes to discipline! Because when I'm home all day I have to be the one to say No we can't step on baby brother's head and Stop we don't smear banana into the window and If you keep whining you're going to Time Out! 

Speaking of Time Out, I remember reading (long before I had kids) about its alternative - where instead of making the child stay by themselves, the parent took the child to a special corner for Time In, and the two of them cuddled and bonded and talked about what went wrong and what behavior to change. And I totally vowed to my pre-parent self to never use lame Time Out and always cuddle and bond with Time In. HA! Joke's on me! Time In is clearly for those with a higher tolerance for whining and/or less than two kids. Sooo we're re-instating regular Time Out and hoping it starts working pretty soon ;).

My last Thorns and Roses was back when Cannon was just a couple weeks old, see it  here! Can't believe I already have a two-month-old. Pretty soon he'll be crawling and I'll be baby hungry again. 

(Kidding!)

Thorns: 

- You know your yard looks terrible when 3 people (including the mailman) stop and make comments, and ward friends start offering to come mow your lawn. SORRY EVERYONE! So embarrassing. 

- K this is medium creepy but at the zoo we went to the ape exhibit for the first time, which in and of itself is pretty surreal since we look so similar - hello 98% same DNA! The ginormous ape is staring right at us, we're both checking each other out, then he gets up and starts heading towards us, and then BLAH just throws up and starts picking through it and eating it!!! Grossest/weirdest moment of my life. 

- OH and Lydia's started taking off her diapers. So that's fun.

Roses: 

- Cannon is such a champ!! (Not to be confused with chimp, ew.) Literally he is a whole new baby. I think God at first was like, "Annika you can handle a hard baby!" and then after watching me struggle for a few weeks he thought, "Just kidding, you can't!" and totally took it all back. Cannon is pretty much a dream. He smiles all day and puts up with Lydia's constant desire to take out and re-insert his binky.

- Working out in the basement with two kids is hilarious, so I'm tacking it under Roses because I'm sure I'll look back and laugh. Lydia thinks my heavy breathing equates to hurt, so she keeps running over to give me kisses - HA! And then she tries to feed me plastic food in between lunges and demands to only listen to Frozen music, which clearly makes for a very hard core workout.

- And although the med students are crazy busy (and all us wives are dying at their insane schedules), the countdown is on baby!! Less than a month until we get an ENTIRE 10 DAYS with no school! We cannot wait. 

Tee: Nordstrom, similar  here

Denim: Madewell  here (favorite jeans I've ever owned!)

Sweater: Free People, similar  here

Hat: Piper & Scoot, similar  here

Shoes: boutique, similar  here

Stroller cover: Covered Goods  here