TODAY! On Zulily...
8:12 AM Posted In grizas , ilatch , zulily Edit This 2 Comments »You can shop from their website OR using the Zulily iPhone App!
You can shop from their website OR using the Zulily iPhone App!
Lately.... and some shopping.
5:40 AM Posted In love and logic , maternity clothes , projects , randomosity , zulily Edit This 4 Comments »
Lots going on around here lately and the blog is suffering, but here are the highlights:
I am ashamed to admit that I let my wild almost 3 year old son bring me to tears recently with his BAD behavior. His wildness is NOT from lack of trying on my part, it is truely a part of his personality, and he is immune apparently to spankings and time outs so I was feeling kind of hopeless on how to get through to him, when a friend RPK suggest I read this book Love & Logic. Can't say enough good things about this book and how well it is working for us. I also cut out as much sugar from his diet as I could without being a wackadoo and put him back on a STRICT schedule. I guess I really am that girl that has to learn over and over that kids need the structure of a good routine, ALL the time.
All he wants to do is play outside these days and side walk chalk and the plasma car are his go to toys, BUT we recently bought the pirate ship water table after all my mom friends on instagram were raving about it and boy does he love it! Day 1 bought me 2 hours of complete entertainment, and he did not ask me to get my 8 month pregnant but down on the ground to dig for worms! #winning
I am ashamed to admit that I let my wild almost 3 year old son bring me to tears recently with his BAD behavior. His wildness is NOT from lack of trying on my part, it is truely a part of his personality, and he is immune apparently to spankings and time outs so I was feeling kind of hopeless on how to get through to him, when a friend RPK suggest I read this book Love & Logic. Can't say enough good things about this book and how well it is working for us. I also cut out as much sugar from his diet as I could without being a wackadoo and put him back on a STRICT schedule. I guess I really am that girl that has to learn over and over that kids need the structure of a good routine, ALL the time.
Other lessons I have learned is that 3 really is worse than 2 !
We also have been having some issues with Fenn waking during the night and crying out, like a bad dream or something but it turned into a daily thing that we were going in there to calm him so we were all waking up several times a night ( YIKES).. after some deep thought and internet research, I decided that it was probably connected to our previous mentioned behavioral problems and lack of routine. So i moved his nap from " whenever we get back from wherever" to 12pm sharp and bedtime is between 7:30-8pm. He has been sleeping MUCH better since that little adjustment although it took a few days for it to take effect. Also it is said to be common in kids his age , especially when they have developmental leaps/changes. ( Which hello, potty training, big boy bed, learning to talk MUCH more, and getting a sister soon). He also talks in his sleep which is pretty entertaining
"Cupcake store momma, right right!" HA or " Oh no momma, I made a mess"
I recently got this portable high chair from my discount store for about $20. It folds up just like a tailgate chair and we have already used it just when we have friends over and it takes no room to store or travel with! Score! It will also be very handy for all those Titans Tailgates. Not sure how Fenn is gonna take to sharing his Flair High Chair with sister because he still really loves it!
I am soooo in love with instagram. I have zero use for facebook, and rarely twitter anymore and the blog is a struggle but I love me some instagram. Partly because I have always kept a tight lid on that one instead of adding anybody and everybody and also because I just love seeing pictures. Reading really wordy blogs is not my jam, but seeing pictures of your new handbag or your kid covered in dirt! Yesssss~
We are still loving the sandbox bubs built last year. He put a roof on it this year and we recovered it with Navy and white cabana fabric to match our new outdoor furniture.
Grizas will be featured on Zulily this month! I have not done any business updates on here lately because I feel like it bores people, but things are going well ( Steady) and I am excited about reaching a huge audience on Zulily! Please pray it does well if you are a prayer!
The beautiful and extremely talented Jgro of Grouthaus Design developed a long term plan for our backyard when we bought this house. ( You can hire her here)
We shall do it in phases as the budget allows, and right now I am in phase 1 of saving for the paver patio part. I have been having companies out to bid the job and the MOST OBNOXIOUS tool bag ever showed up this week. He was so unprofessional with his conversation, and came to my back door when he got here which creeped me out! He spent most of his time telling me about how awesome and sexy he is ( while wearing a shirt that was 5 sizes too small so as to accentuate his average muscles) and about how " the wife" sends him naked pictures to his phone... WHATEVER dude. I am 8 months pregnant, meaner than a monster, its 80 degrees and I am in a moo moo with no makeup, do you REALLY think I give 2 hoots about your self proclaimed awesomeness? Needless to say he will NOT be working here. .......
I have moved up a size in maternity wear and had to purchase a few things right here at the end to get me through. I got these at Old Navy online and love them both! Especially the chambray one. I know lots of you are preggars right now so thought I would share. Use Promo code ONLADIES20 for 20% off!
Little Fenn.. 33 Months Old and Not Quite 3 Years!
10:39 AM Posted In 33 months , beach , fenn , potty training Edit This 0 Comments »
Recently thanks to a new app called TimeHop, I can see what I was doing on social media several years back ( on this day) and I really loved reading Fenn's updates. It is crazy how fast you forget. And it was great motivation for writing a new one.
So lets See... He is just shy of turning 3 years old. He is tons of fun, and bad to the bone!
Interests :
- He loves being outside and wants to ride his plasma car 24-7 or look for worms, beetles, and roly pollies. (sp?)
- He still likes painting and markers a good bit
- He loves to sing and will dance a pretty good bit too in the car to R&B music . He seems to prefer Little Wayne over everyone else. He sings row your boat, ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle and Itsy Bitsy Spider. He is very bossy about whether or not you are allowed to participate in singing and dancing.
- He likes the movie Finding Nemo, and still loves the cartoons Dora, Bubble Guppies, Super Why and Umi Zoomi. He also seems to love Barney and gets excited when it randomly comes on.
Talking:
He has really turned a corner in the communication department and I can not tell you what a relief it is. and I still can't say that it will ever get on my nerves. Even when he is telling me " doughnut " over and over and OVER again. Or whatever it may be. He started bringing home phrases he hears from others like " whoopsie" and saying stuff we say like " Hold on, I'll be right back" or calling for someone through out the house and saying " where aaaarrrreeee yooouu" and he almost always will ask you a question or if he just agrees with what you said he follows it with " Right Right" Which i think he has picked up from Dora, and from me and his teachers when he does something right, and we compliment him. HA
" Momma, Heeeeeelp, Beachy Ocean?" that means Momma take me to the beach again
" TT Potty Momma, right right" means he needs to go TT
He has also learned the roads around Brentwood now and when I turn onto the road that leads to our neighborhood, he generally will start telling me to turn around and will also scream and cry when I don't. I am kind of amazed that he knows the way home from places.
In the speech world, that is a biggie because that is an " action phrase". So now we are onto sentences, actions, spacial phrases, emotions.. all kind of stuff!
That is how he speaks and he has lots of things he says but over all i know what he is talking about what he wants.
Food :
We still struggle with food quite a bit but it has come a LONG way. He will eat lots of stuff for Mrs Jenny ( his occupational therapist) but not as much at home, although some of it does carry over.
His favorites are currently :
Apple Sauce, Peppered Turkey Slices, Buffalo Pretzel Chips, Greek yogurt with honey, Cheese slices, Nutrigrain bars, any kind of cookie or chocolate, sweet potato mash packs from Earth's Best.
He will eat some other things and has tried a lot of new foods lately that even though they are not healthy, or a "win" they are still positive because he has tried something unfamiliar. Like Lucky Charms, or Cheetos. ( everyone has fallen victim to my pathetic pregnancy cravings)
A big thanks to @mrsmfc for the nibble tray suggestion from Dr. Sears. ( Amazon $8) it is a great bento tray for toddlers with a detachable dipping section as well. I love seeing her pics on instagram of what she fixes for her toddler.
Discipline:
WHEW.. this has been wearing me down lately. Almost bringing me to tears on occasion. I am SO pregnant right now which makes chasing after him hard, and he is fully aware of that. He likes to run off from me in parking lots or run away when I am trying to get him dressed and such. By the time I drag all 40 lbs of him to his room for time out I have had about 6 contractions.
I have to switch up my methods with him in order to get his attention and currently the most effective thing I am doing is making him sit on his bed with lights off and no dogs/toys etc for 10 minutes. Then I make him look me in the eye so we can discuss what he did wrong. He could really care less about a spanking right now but being made to sit still and bored is torture for him.
He is SO strong willed and hard headed like both his parents
We took him to Orange Beach in April and that is really his first time back at the beach since he was 9 months old. He loved it SO MUCH and still asks to go " to the beachy ocean".
This is what happened when it was time to leave, UNLESS he was hungry, then he would pack up all his sand toys no questions asked! ha
A big thanks to @mrsmfc for the nibble tray suggestion from Dr. Sears. ( Amazon $8) it is a great bento tray for toddlers with a detachable dipping section as well. I love seeing her pics on instagram of what she fixes for her toddler.
Discipline:
WHEW.. this has been wearing me down lately. Almost bringing me to tears on occasion. I am SO pregnant right now which makes chasing after him hard, and he is fully aware of that. He likes to run off from me in parking lots or run away when I am trying to get him dressed and such. By the time I drag all 40 lbs of him to his room for time out I have had about 6 contractions.
I have to switch up my methods with him in order to get his attention and currently the most effective thing I am doing is making him sit on his bed with lights off and no dogs/toys etc for 10 minutes. Then I make him look me in the eye so we can discuss what he did wrong. He could really care less about a spanking right now but being made to sit still and bored is torture for him.
He is SO strong willed and hard headed like both his parents
We took him to Orange Beach in April and that is really his first time back at the beach since he was 9 months old. He loved it SO MUCH and still asks to go " to the beachy ocean".
POTTY TRAINING
I feel like that subject totally deserves all caps and red font. I was so scared to death of this whole thing, and it really has not been that big of a deal. He has done great and I am so proud. I will do a post on this later with more detail. He is not completely trained yet , as we still wear a pull up at night time and he has accidents about 15% of the time.
Seeing him in those tacky cartoon underwears is about the funniest thing Ever!!
Other Random Info:
Height : 38 inches approx.
Weight : 38 lbs give or take some ounces.
Shoe Size : 10 working on 10.5
Clothes Size: 3T or 4T depending on the brand.
April Projects Completed: Nesting in Full Effect
6:46 AM Posted In brentwood house , decorating , DIY , gardening , projects Edit This 1 Comment »
Did a huge clean out of the playroom and also cleaned everything in there.
Got my master builder bubs to make this headboard I wanted in Ballards:
Finally finished Peebs curtains. The one on the right is the "Before". I added a red duck fabric top so that they would look cuter, hang better, and be long enough. ( remember the curtains are actually duvet covers from Target). It is hard to get a good picture of them in the day time because of the sun light, and I forget at night.
My super great find of the year probably was this outdoor couch at my discount store. It cost exactly half of what I sold our old patio furniture for on Craigslist! SCORE. so I made some cute throw pillows for it ( outdoor fabrics are 50% off at JoAnne's right now) and I am having the other 2 khaki pillows monogrammed.
Finally painted this powder room off our kitchen. It is " Oyster Bay" from Sherwin Williams. FYI it is like National painting week or something like that so SW paint is 40% off .
So we made some great progress but I still have a ton to do before this baby arrives. I explained to bubs that from my memory with peebs I will be spending lots of time sitting or sleeping with a newborn and breastfeeding for 1 million hours and I don't want to look around and be annoyed by unfinished projects that I will have neither the time or stamina to complete. It makes me anxious.
May Goals:- Touch up paint on dining room chairs
- Paint Master bedroom
- paint peebs nightstand
- recover the sandbox in outdoor fabric that co-ordinates with new couch
- have bubs make built ins for nursery closet.
- paint master bathroom
- sew shower curtain.
Bumpdate 30 Weeks : She finally has a NAME!
8:37 PM Posted In 2nd pregnancy , 30 weeks , bumpdate Edit This 6 Comments »
Mostly I still can not get over how different this pregnancy is from my 1st. I actually think it deserves it's own blog post so stay tuned for that.
Current cravings : Cheese Puffs & Reese Peanut Butter Eggs
Weight: up 7 lbs so over all I have gained almost 30lbs.
Symptoms : Both sleep and my pregnancy cold have been much better lately! Hoping that sticks around.
Braxton Hicks have been much better and I have been making a strong effort to rest more and drink more water. I have them in back now as well though and that is painful!
I am in major nesting mode now cleaning like crazy and trying to get all the things done I have on my "BB Bucket List " ( Before Baby).
and... I think we have finally settled on a name!
Anna Clarke
and we will call her " Anna Clarke"
Anna is my maternal grandmothers first name and Clark is my paternal grandmother's maiden name, as well as one of my best girlfriends from college middle name!
29 Weeks :
this was 29 Weeks with Peebs:
30 week ultrasound pics:
So far she is juicy, with no hairs, big lips and long limbs! Not sure of estimated weight yet.
Big Brother:
He has been quite the terror lately! I keep having to be reminded that sometimes, as ridiculous as it seems to "bargain" with your child, it totally helps to approach things differently.
Our current trick is to offer him 2 choices both of which are OK with us, instead of just telling him straight up what he needs to do.
For Example " Come over here and put your clothes on" = running from me and screaming) is now " Would you like to put on your shirt or your pants first?" = happily answers with which one and starts getting dressed calmly . It is the craziest trick EVER and totally works so take that little nugget and stick it in your pocket ! you're welcome.
We are working on potty training. He seems interested and has sporadically been using the potty since Dec. 2nd so we are going all in this week and will see what happens. Seeing him wearing cartoon big boy underwears is the funniest thing EVER. I wish I had known that they only come in a handful of characters because apparently that is an important thing to get excited over, but he does not know who "Angry Birds" , Super heroes or "Cars/Toy Story" is so we don't have that bargaining chip.
I have been going back and reading old pregnancy posts from Fenn and they are kind of hilarious. BOY has life changed since then. Here is a link to my 31 Week Bumpdate with him
http://www.grizaland.com/2010/06/pregnancy-update-week-31.html
Master Bedroom Makeover : DIY Upholstered Headboard
10:50 AM Posted In ballards design knock off , DIY , projects , upholstered headboard Edit This 2 Comments »
Before we started this makeover I planned out what I could do on my budget that I set up for this room. As usual lots of things I wanted to do and not enough money to do it all exactly, so I had to figure out a few ways to cut corners. The Headboard was definitely an easy area to cut costs.
This is the "Kate Upholstered Headboard" that I liked in Ballards in " Linen Spa that was about $953 with tax and shipping for a King Sized Head Board.
This is the "Kate Upholstered Headboard" that I liked in Ballards in " Linen Spa that was about $953 with tax and shipping for a King Sized Head Board.
Here is our DIY version:
** It is just propped up on our bed for show of size. We have not finished the headboard as we are bolting it to a metal bed frame**
Not an exact replica but close enough. I was skerred to get to drama tic with the cut outs. Total Cost was $ 235.01
That number can be tweaked based on fabric choice and if you have coupons for the foam which was the majority of the cost. I included chart cost because I was really curious about this when I was cruising the internet for tutorials.
Other Helpful Info:
- Get some coupons before buying that foam at Jo-Anne's. They do not consider the foam or the batting to be "fabric" so any 40% one yard of fabric coupons will not apply. Also you will need one coupon for each yard. I think it is about $32 a yard YIPES
- Some tutorials talk about buying foam at Home Depot. They do have foam for about 1/2 the price maybe cheaper, BUT it is more like styrofoam and not soft cushion foam so keep that in mind. I wanted our headboard to be soft but if this was for a guest room I might have cut that corner.
- We did lots of piecing with the foam since I did not buy quite enough and it worked and saved some $ but wish I had bought longer pieces.
- Design Sponge does a really great video tutorial on you tube. You can watch that HERE
- I used some paper off my sons art easel to make the stencil for the design of the headboard. That took lots of thinking and planning to try and get the proportions done properly for a king sized headboard. If you ever see the style you want out somewhere, study it and measure it before copying it.
- I wanted our headboard to be big and tall so it would show up well when pillows were in place and make a statement. This one measures 78" Long and 48 " High at its tallest point. We will put legs on it so that it hits the bead just right.
My Fabric Choice is a Linen in Celadon. It is very hard to capture the true color on camera but it is a blue grey shade. LIKE THIS
