Music Monday - Kate Nash

I like her quirky song lyrics, her British accent and her retro inspired music. I think her videos are kinda funny too. 

Repurposed inspiration - Suitcases

Since our company is an eco friendly company that sells eco friendly products, we are very aware of Earth Day on April 22nd. In fact, James and I have to work at a booth at the San Diego Earth Fair this year. I am actually excited (not just for the overtime pay) because we usually go there every year anyway. It's really neat to see all the eco friendly products and ideas they have. I have been spotting some fun projects to do that are easy and help keeps products out of a landfill.
There are so many great ideas for repurposing that I decided to make multiple post.

Today - Vintage Suitcases

James and I find a lot of vintage suitcases are our local swap meet. We actually almost picked up one last time we were there. I think I might have to go ahead and get one or two or three next time we go. 

I would love to make a bed like this for Peanut. He's about the size of those kittens in the photos

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okay, so I really LOVE vintage suitcase furniture. They are stylish and great for extra storage.

 Sherri from the SalvageShack made the pieces below. Check out her Etsy store here. 

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A fun laptop stand. You can find this piece here.

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And a chic little nightstand made by the same person. This would be great in a guy or gal's bedroom

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Or what about this SUPER AWESOME BoomCase

A BoomCase is "The Self Powered Portable Suitcase Stereo system that works with your iPod/iPhone or any device with a headphone plug." as stated by the website.

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or how about an easy DIY filing cabinet?

She said she made this in about 5 minutes with an according file and Velcro tape. 

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There is also this interesting medicine cabinet made by T.O.M.T

(seriously, check out there site for all awesome things repurposed)

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well, that's enough vintage suitcase eye candy for now... Let's see what fun repurposed theme I can come up with tomorrow!

Belated Easter Pictures

We had 2 Easters this year, one with my family and one with James' dads side of the family. On Saturday our family went up to my parents house. We ate a yummy dinner, dyed eggs, played a long game of dice (also known as Farkle) had an egg hunt for Chloe and another one for the adults and played a crazy game of kickball/dodgeball with all the new bouncy balls Chloe got for Easter (like 5 balls, seriously). We even took turns pulling Chloe around the big yard in her wagon for about an hour.  My mom got Chloe this adorable pink Easter dress. I loved how it swooshed and bubbled out and it looked like a little bell moving side to side when she walked. Chloe actually "hunted" for eggs. We really just threw about 24 eggs out in the middle of the yard and made it really easy for her. She held her basket the whole time and would pick up each egg and place them in the basket. She would loose interest about every 3 eggs, then come back to it. Her egg hunt took a little while to finish and we all had to help bring her attention back to the eggs. It was fun spending time with my family.

My mom found this cool way to dye eggs for Easter. You actually dye the egg white, not the shell. 

On Sunday, we went to church, which was AWESOME. I needed it so much! Chloe had a big melt down at breakfast in Coffee Bean and I may have cried a little, so just being at church and feeling His presence really helped. We went to James' dads house after church and met up with all his siblings and there kids. They had another little Easter hunt for the babies, Chloe was definitely not into this time and just looked at the eggs, then walked away. They then had an adult egg hunt for all of the siblings. James dad is a master egg hider and it took all of us (8 total) over an hour to find all the eggs. We ate another big family dinner and then just relaxed the rest of the night. James' step mom brought down James' sisters toy stroller from when she was little. Chloe was in love. She pushed that stroller everywhere.  I can't wait until Chloe is a little older and I can hide her Easter basket and eggs around the house and she will really be into it!

All in all it was a great Easter surrounded with family and love. 

I haven't had time to really read any blogs lately, crazy hectic with work and life. But I hope everyone had a great Easter! I can't wait to get time to read through my fave blogs and read and see pics of how your holiday went!

p.s. I can't always blog, but I do find more time to update Instagram. 

So if you use it, you should find me!

username: Schmitzel 

Music Monday - Mae

I absolutely love mae! I even walked down the aisle at my wedding to one of there songs, The Sun and the Moon. I love piano and love how it is strong instrument used in every song. It is even better live because they mix it up a bit and add more random piano rifts that are just beautiful! Unfortunately, they went on haitus in 2010, but I still love thier music and wanted to share.

This is their live version of The Sun and The Moon, they never made an official video. This is the song I walked down to the aisle to. 

Website - Purchase CD

pre-baby blues?

I was reading this article about the differences between your first pregnancy and when your pregnant again with a toddler in tow.

Man oh man can I relate. I almost feel bad for the way I have been "neglecting" my unborn baby. What I mean by that is there is huge difference between the two pregnancies. I definitely don't talk to Emery as much as I did with Chloe. I don't put a flashlight to my belly and wonder if she can see it. I don't put headphones on my tummy playing our favorite songs as well as special lullabies we picked out for her. James doesn't kiss my belly every night like he did last time. I don't sit there and ponder what she will look like or dream of what she will become as I did with our first. I just don't have the time.

Sure, I love my unborn child, but I feel like the days of being in bliss over being with child are over. Instead I worry. I worry what it will be like to have a toddler who likes to throw tantrums and run around endlessly and a needy newborn at the same time. I worry how I am going to hold both of them in my arms at the same time with a huge diaper bag on my shoulder, while walking up and down the stairs to get to our door. I worry how Chloe will be with a baby, if she can be gentle enough. I worry how I am going to find the time to make Chloe still feel special. What about the time I need to bond with this little one all by herself without having to share it with her big sister?

It's crazy that in a moment where I am supposed to be on cloud 9 waiting for this bundle of joy to come, I feel exhausted, stressed, tired, cranky and sad. Sad to see our little family is already going to have to change when we just started getting in rhythm. I feel like I didn't get enough "alone time" with Chloe.

We have made more of an effort for quality family time within these last short months. We go to the park on Fridays, we stay at home wayyyyyy more often. We sit and play with Chloe when other things need to be done around the house. We snuggle with her every night until she falls asleep. Man, I am going to miss this. 

I know this is all in God's perfect timing and that has helped me cope with coming to terms that I will have 2 kids under the age of 1 and a half. I know it will be exhausting, but God will give me strength. He will help me persevere. I will find joy in the little things, a smile, a coo, a laugh, a snuggle. I know that Chloe will be loved and we have so many family members to help her still feel special when the baby comes. I know God will be with me every step of the way. I just need to give my anxiety up to Him and He will fill me with happiness and peace. It's always much easier said than done, am I right?

Now only if I can stop stressing of what might be and relish in the beautiful times we have now. I'm definitely working on that. Excuse me while I go love on my wonderful husband and delightful daughter. Have a great Easter!

Music Monday - Gungor

Gungor is one of my newest favorite bands, even thought they have been around for a while now and I just recently heard about them just a few months ago. I love this worship band! Their music makes my heart so happy and really helps me feel connected to God through worship. 

This video is an acoustic set in the forest. So simple and so perfect!

Another accoustic version:

Prayers Needed!

I went in earlier this week for a follow up ultrasound from my 20 week ultrasound appointment. The doctor had told me in the first ultrasound that my placenta was low, but that more than likely it would move up further along in the pregnancy. Unfortunately, the placenta hasn't moved at all. 

So I am diagnosed with Placenta Previa. 

I had a call from my doctor yesterday and she said that I need to schedule a c-section. I immediately started crying (that has been happening to me a lot lately, darn hormones!).  After talking with her for a while I let her know that I really don't want to have one and she agreed to do another ultrasound in 5 weeks at my 36 week mark. If the placenta has moved then I will be able to labor naturally. If it has not, I must do a C-section. 

Please ladies, keep me in your prayers these next 5 weeks that my placenta will move up. I know it's not the end of the world, but I really don't want to have a c-section. I am terrified of surgery and I really want the opportunity to try to labor and deliver naturally this time. Also, please pray for God's peace to wash over me as I am now starting to have anxiety about the delivery. 

I know our God is a healer and miracle worker and I am believing in this!

Fridays = Park Days

Every Friday after we pick up Chloe, we head to a new park for about an hour before we head home. I really look forward to our park days. We are very lucky to be living in San Diego where the weather is nice 99% of the time and we have lots of parks in the city. 

 I like doing our Friday Park Day for a couple reasons:

1. Parks are just plain fun and before we had Chloe we would go to parks all the time. It's nice to keep doing that. I also like to explore new parks and playgrounds. I really love playgrounds just as much as kids do. James and I use to play late night lava monster with our friends all the time. It was a blast. 

2. It kicks off the weekend. I like to do something fun on Fridays just to make it "official" that the weekend has started. 

3. It gets us outside and active. Nothing is better than being outside, I love it. And being active is super important to staying healthy.

4. I love the look on Chloe's face when we set her free in a park. She is so elated. She runs free, climbs on everything and shows her independence. It makes my heart melt and I love watching her explore her surroundings.

This video was taken back in January. Chloe (and my tummy) are much bigger now!

I'll have to try and take more pictures of her at the parks. If you all have time (and appropriate weather where you live), I would suggest checking out a park or two during the week. It is so refreshing and fun!

New Nursery Inspiration Board

I am definitely in hyper nesting mode. 

So here is the inspiration board I created for Chloe & Emery's shared room. We changed the colors to make them more modern and fresh (not to mention I am obsessed with green right now). I absolutely love it! It is clean, fun and reminds me of spring time. 

The room is practically done, all we need to do is repaint the diaper changing table and put together the closet! I will take pictures when it is officially done. :)

1. We already use tissue poms above the crib for Chloe, so we just changed some of the colors out. You can make them yourself with this Martha Stewart tutorial, or take the easy way out and purchase them from Etsy like we did we got ours through Fiesta Pom Pom. I LOVE tissue poms. They are so cute and fun and remind me of giant blooming flowers. 

2. We are going to use our existing changing table and just paint dark brown and white it to match the rest of the furniture. We will be keeping her bright green knobs on it as well. I love Anthropology knobs, but they are way too expensive for a changing table. We found some great knobs from Pier One and World Market, where you can get a 4 pack of pretty knobs for as little as $10. 

3. Yarn Ball garland. We made Yarn balls for Chloe's birthday party. It was super easy with this yarn pom maker. I just re-used the red ones from her party and strung them up on fishing line for the new room. Adds a touch of whimsy.

4. We are thinking of taking this duvet set from Ikea and using the fabric to make curtains for the room. I like the pattern and the color works great for what we are going with. 

5. We ended up getting Chloe a new convertible crib. We loved her old Jenny Lind Crib, but we had painted it teal before and to be honest, it was SO much work. We definitely wouldn't have the time or space to repaint the crib again. Not to mention we bought it used and it is the recalled version of the crib. We weren't sure if it would survive the wear and tear of a toddler and a baby and a big move. The new crib goes beautifully with the rest of the room and we liked the wavy design on the sides. Once Emery is old enough to move into her own crib (after we move in August), we will be getting Chloe a matching toddler bed and Emery will be getting the crib. 

6. This fabric from Ikea is the basis for our whole room design. James mom used this fabric to make a beautiful blanket for Chloe. I got more of this fabric and cut it up to put in embroidery hoops to decorate her wall with. It really ties everything in together. 

7. This Ikea rug is fun and comfy and added so much to the room. Not to mention it was only $50 and covers a ton of area. Score! Chloe loves playing in it. And peanut likes to play on it too. 

8. I love this Fox print from Sass & Peril. We ended up getting her discounted print with the seconds sale she offers. The print is the same, it just has a blemish on it that you really don't notice all that much. Especially when put in a nice frame and hung up. Instead of hanging all the prints we got, we framed them and put them layered on each other on a thin rail shelf. 

9. I love Green Nest art on Etsy. Her shop has been a favorite of mine for a couple of years now. We ended up getting the cute deer and squirrel prints. She is having a buy 2 get one free sale, so we also got this 2 owl print in the girls nursery colors (I like to thing it is a big sister little sister print). 

10. We got this toy organizer from Walmart. It was the only one I could find that didn't have all these multicolored buckets. That way we can use it no matter how many times we change the colors in the room and it won't clash. 

11. This is the matching book rack to the toy organizer. It works really well for Chloe because she can actually reach all of her books now. And it holds a good amount of books too. The first day she pulled out every single one of her books because she was so excited. Then she helped me put them back like a good little girl. 

12. Chloe got this Poang Ikea chair as a gift from my grandmother for her birthday. She loves it because it is just her size, she can easily get in and out of it on her own. She likes to sit in it and eat her snacks and read her books. 

13. We use the actual closet in the room for storage of all the big baby gear (walkers, Boppy, stroller, car seat, etc...) and for my crafts. So we needed a wardrobe closet to put all the girls clothes in and other necessities that we need to be able to get to easily. In comes the Aspelund wardrobe from Ikea. It has 3 doors and the middle one actually comes with a mirrored door. The wardrobe is the perfect size, not too big but big enough for everything and I can separate the girls clothes since easily. 

So there you have it. I can't wait to show the official pictures when we are all done and set up. 

Wednesday Date Night

James and I try to have a date night twice a month on Wednesdays when Chloe goes to Grandpa & Grandmas. 

Most of the time date night usually flops through and we just spend the night getting errands done and things that we need to do around the house. Tonight, however, we are making sure we have a date night. We are going to go see The Hunger Games. That's right, we are joining the craze. My sister and her boyfriend along with many of our friends have read the books and claim they are amazing. They are definitely next on my reading list. (right now I am reading Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, which is a great book and I highly recommend it!) From the reviews the Hunger Games movie is very very similar to the book, so I am very excited! 

anyway, in my excitement for tonight, I wanted to share this video. I LOVE the Civil Wars and Taylor Swift as you should well know by now. So I am so excited they got together to make this song. 

The song and video is lovely. 

Enjoy!