Bathroom Reno. Day 1 & 2

Yes, you read that correctly. We have officially started our bathroom 

renovation on our upstairs loo. 

Three years ago, I started day dreaming about out upstairs bathroom. I devoured Pinterest, read every blog and tutorial, and watched way too many YouTube videos. 
Two weekends ago, we headed to our local Lowe's and bought $1,300 worth of supplies. 

These supplies include but are not limited to: 

Tile, Grout, Grout Sealant, Thin set, Hardi Backerboard, Special screws for said Backerboard, Fibratape for the Backerboard, Shower valves, Tub, Window

This past weekend we stripped everything down to its underpants studs. 

Oh, yes, the bathtub is in our backyard as we speak. We are those people. 

Here are some pictures and descriptions.

Step 1 was removing the old tile. The longest wall was the easiest because there was a lot of water damage. Which means tiles were already barely  hanging on. Which means the Backerboard behind it was water-damaged as well. It was quite the dirty job, but it was totally invigorating as well. I've been wanting to do that since we moved in 3 1/2 years ago. :) The two short walls were more difficult because there was no water damage. These were a bit tougher to pry remove from the wall. 

Step 2 was removing the insulation and bathtub. 

Step 3 includes cleaning everything up. This one I am not looking forward to. 

All of this was hard work. My hands are scratched up, my back hurts, and that room is currently filthy and drafty as all get-out (the insulation has been thrown out). However, I am so proud of it, it's ridiculous. We're actually renovating our bathroom ourselves. Can I get a hallelujah! Some good thoughts our way would be nice as well, as we tackle our pipes in the near future. Good thing my handy hubby knows what he's doing. :)

I am so proud of us, I can't even stand it.
No, seriously. I can't stand it. I wish it were just done already. Oh well, I guess those are the breaks when you DIY.:) 

Routines

Routines, who needs them? Me- I do. I need them very badly. I'm a mess without them. Anyone else?

FACT: I am a mom.I have two daughters. I wish I could give them everything I can. I fear, everyday, that I am making bad choices and mistakes that will affect them in the future. 

FICTION: I am a failure. Yes, I make mistakes, but I am not failing them as a mother. I provide them clean clothes, food to eat, a safe house to live in, and unconditional love. I read them books and help with homework. We paint finger nails and pictures to hang on our wall. I work hard to provide for them. I want them to look up to me. I want to be a good example for them. I want their answer, when asked who their hero is, to be me. Is that selfish? Maybe. But, I don’t care. I want to be someone they want to be. 

WISH: I wish I would stop beating myself up when I feel inadequate. Or feeling guilty when I have to yell at the kids to get them to listen to me. Because I’ve said something four times. Because they still ignore me. And then someone gets hurt because they didn’t listen to me. And falls off of the couch because they refuse to stop jumping on it. 
{Please tell me I’m not the only one}
I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to my husband crying asking if I’m a good mother. Every time he says I am. Every. Single. Time. So why do I doubt myself. Why can’t I see it the way he sees it?

TRUTH: A lot of things have been happening in my family.    <Both good and bad> 

We've had a family tragedy, grandparents have come to visit, I've accepted a new job, I've been late to work almost everyday this past month…and, well, life in general. I feel like we've been off our A-Game and it’s high time we get back on it. 

Quite frankly, not being on a routine is exhausting. 

I hope that from here on out, I can just keep calm and mother on. Take a deep breath, go on a walk, and/or eat a cupcake. 
Whatever it is that will help me get it together.

Pinterest Inspired: Bow Garland

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing. You can see and learn so many things. I find it to be inspiring. This past week, I catching up on a blog I personally adore, Dear Lizzy. She is so creative and her post on a DIY Garland was just the ticket I needed to get my creativity back. My goal now is to post at least once a week. I know, lofty.  :)

This project is so easy. If you have a Silhouette or Cameo machine, you just find the design you want, have the machine cut it for you, and then glue it all together. If you don't have one of these machines, find a template and cut it out by hand. Lord knows that's what I used to do before I got my Silhouette 5 years ago.

This project took me a total of 3 days. Projects don't happen over night. I can't seem to get a project done in one day to save my life. This was good though, because I had help and input from my two helpers. This would've gone a lot quicker had I been doing it by myself. But, isn't it more fun when you have cutie pies like this helping? OK, OK, let's be honest-  that's debatable. Even though I have girls, they sure can fight with each other with the best of them. This project, while easy, was not made without blood, sweat, and tears.            

I ended up cutting a lot more than I probably needed to, but I'll use the extras for other things. Kaitlyn might get one in her room, or I'll keep them around for gifts or cards. They're 3D, so they're kinda extra fancy.

DIY Scarf Corral

I got this beauty in the Target Dollar Spot. It was originally marked $3.00 but was on sale for $0.90. They were having an awesome sale where things with a black dot were 90% off. It is an Over-The-Door hanger thing and it was already yellow, so I knew I wouldn’t have to tweak that and spray paint it- which I probably would’ve done.

I saw this just laying in the bin- lonely and sad, envisioned the beautiful potential, and viciously threw put it in my cart. It was like a swan story that played out in my mind over the course of 10 seconds.

Fast forward 1 ½ months. I got my husband to cut off the bits that are supposed to hang over the door. It is now a flat, swirly, wonderful scarf corral. If you have been following for awhile, you will remember this post of the His and Her messy dresser picture. A lot of that mess on my side were scarves. I was waiting for something magnificent to come along to put them on display. These scarves are literally my pretties. I am obsessed with them and would like to add to my collection ten-fold. No, I am not kidding. 

Until then, this works perfectly. Right now, I have it hanging on some 3M Command Hooks. I will probably move it when I figure out the rest of my room. For now, this is a perfect spot for it. I love it. And my  husband loves that my side of the dresser is a little bit cleaner.

A Quiz for My Daughter

So, I've mentioned how much I appreciate keeping a journal (if you missed that, you can find it here). I have one for me, one for Emma, and one for Kaitlyn. I don't write in them very much consistently, but today was an exception.  I wrote these questions down awhile ago and thought I'd share today. I love asking Emma questions and hearing the answers-- I'll do the same with Kaitlyn. Their unsolicited, very innocent answers are something that I appreciate. Sometimes they make me laugh and sometimes they leave me scratching my head. Since when do I dress up?

It was a lot of fun doing this with my first born and hearing what she thought about me and her perceptions to things around her. 

Here we go...

1.What is something mom always says to you? 
I love you. 

2. What makes mom happy? 
Being good.

3. What makes mom sad? 
Being bad. 

4. How does your mom make you laugh? 
Tickle me and make funny jokes. 

5. What was your mom like as a child? 
Good. 

6. How old is your mom? 
50 hundred 60 thousand

7. How tall is your mom? 
Motioning with her hands...this big. 

8. What is her favorite thing to do? 
Dress up

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? 
Do the dishes. 

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? 
Dancing. And singing while your dancing. 

11. What is your mom really good at? 
Singing.

12. What does your mom do for a job? 
Snowbird. 

13.What is your mom's favorite food? 
Steak.

14. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? 
Abby Cadabby on Sesame Street. 

15. What do you and your mom do together? 

Clean up and make cookies. 

16. How are you and your mom the same? 

Because we both have Emma names. 

17. How are you and your mom different? 

Because we don't look the same. 

18. How do you know that your mom loves you? 

 Because you always tell me and you give me kisses and hugs. 

19. What does your mom like most about your dad? 

*silence* I don't know. Doing the laundry. 

20. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? 

Ikea.

See how simple her thoughts can be? What makes your mom happy? When I'm good. Love that. I try to do things with her ever so often. It's fun to see how her perceptions change and her answers vary. Fun things I also quiz her on are the essentials that, I think, are fun for her to look back on when she's older. Like, favorite color, food, song, etc. It's fun to see things change, but sometimes stay the same. One constant for her is her favorite song-- which is "Somewhere, Over the Rainbow." It's the song that she always requests for bedtime, or when she's scared or not feeling well. I love that this is something we'll be able to look back on and remember all of the good times. i.e. not when she tried to flush the diaper down the toilet or write on our walls with permanent marker. :)

A Wall of Hearts

I am slightly obsessed with stickers. So is my eldest child. This was the perfect Saturday afternoon project to do with her. I used to joke that my favorite color was polka dots. While this isn't entirely true, I've never met a polka dot I didn't like. There's just something happy about them. I didn't use polka dots this time, but that doesn't mean someone else couldn't. 

This project could be used with any craft punch. I chose hearts because I want Emma to see all of the hearts, all over her room, and be reminded how much her momma loves her. Love that girl to the moon and back. 

Anywho, circles, stars, whatever you fancy. I originally saw something like this on The Hunted Interior website a couple of weeks ago. Once I saw how cute it was in her little girl's room, I knew I could replicate it in the cheapest/easiest way possible. Self-adhesive vinyl and a heart-shaped craft punch. You can see my inspiration here.

Here are some awesome pictures of me doing my thang. Step 1. Punch out your shapes into the vinyl. I found by cutting my roll in 2-inch sections did the trick. I did 8 hearts down one side and 8 down the other. No wasting here. 

 I know a very special, smart, beautiful little girl was enamored with how it turned out. And she helped me every step of the way. That's the other thing, if you're severely OCD, you might need to measure things out to make sure they all line up. We just went for it. There was no rhyme or rhythm here. Just put the hearts where they looked good and put them on as straight as possible. I did move a few to space them out a bit more. Hey, no one said I didn't have a little OCD in me. Just a little. I absolutely love when we do a project from start to finish and both of us are happy with the results and each other in the end. Her little friends were happy too. 

See all their smiling faces :)

This might be the happiest room in the house right now. As I type this I'm thinking of all the possibilities with these two little things. I could do polka dots with a gold vinyl or a glitter vinyl... or triangles. You can find craft stamps at any hobby shop. I got mine awhile ago with a coupon. There's always some coupon, somewhere. I know I refuse to buy anything at full price, so it works well for me. Same goes for the vinyl. From Hobby Lobby, it was $7.99- with a 40% off coupon, it ended up costing $4.49. And, I still have a ton left over. I didn't even use half of it for this one wall. 

And I love left overs. No matter what it's from. 

Real Life Reveal: Day 3

My youngest daughter is 19 months now. She started sleeping through the night at around 4 months. Lately, she has been getting up again. And by lately, I mean for the last 11 nights (but who’s counting).

This is part of the reason my house is a bit chaotic. Once bedtime comes and goes for my kids, I am on the couch in my own PJs watching something just for me. Most recently, this includes Scandal. Love me some Kerry Washington. 

Anyways, I am one tired momma these days. I need a minimum of 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep. When that does not happen, you’ll know.
 I'll tell you what gets me through it. Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. Sometimes 3 cups of coffee. Sometimes more. It’s what got me through my school years- when I was going to school full time, while working a full-time job, while having a 1 year old keeping me up all night, every night, while trying to have something left over for my husband. It was the hardest 2 years of my life...but SO worth it.

Back to the point. Was there ever a point? Yes, there was.

Case in point.  I am tired. My house is a mess.

Here is a picture of what my closet looks like. You only get a picture of the one side because our closet door was knocked off its track by one or two of my children and we have not had the time or energy to put it back on.

I see pictures of beautiful closets. I drool over said pictures. It’s still not motivation enough for me to even finish painting my closet. That’s right folks. My bedroom was the first room we painted, over 2 years ago, and the closet is still unpainted.*Duly noted* I am aware how pathetic that looks.  Whatevs.