Fresh Updates

So with September right around the corner, I decided to designate it as project month. For most people around here when the season starts to change, we try to get all the little things we want done before the snow flies. So with fall knocking on our front door, I decided to be proactive and start now, instead of procrastinate as my husband would describe it. I don't know if you are like me in this department but I love magazines! It's like a little vacation for me without having to go anywhere. My husband always cringes when we get to part of our shopping trip that brings us to the checkout line. He knows that once that little piece of heaven called the magazine rack comes into view I'm gone. Like a dog chasing squirrels I forget how focused I am, or how strict to my schedule I'm sticking, and I'm gone for at least a few minutes scanning for the newest one. I totally have a "SQUIRREL" moment (for any of you who have seen 'UP') and am lost in admiration. Usually the cover photo grabs my attention first, and then I pick the one that has the best article titles. Subconsciously I always feel I have some chance of hope with titles like "Easy Updates," "50 of the most beautiful room," "Organization for every closet," "Mini-makeovers for every room," you get the idea. So I decided to give some motivation of my own for some easy fixes. 

FIRST : Put some cork on it! I grabbed this idea from a few different resources I've seen done over the past few years. I already had the cork, but never got a chance to use it at our last place, so you can bet I jumped right on the opportunity to use it here. First head down to your local "        -mart" store, and pick up the square cork tiles, some adhesive squares (just in case there isn't enough in the pack of cork) and some thumbtacks. 

Then choose the cabinet that you want to install the cork to the inside of it. I chose the cabinet to the right of our sink, because the one to the left was a bit narrower, and we use the one on the right most often.

Then just peel and stick them in place. Then you can tack up favorite recipes or notes you want to have at a glance. I also put up our kids night time routine for our/any babysitter, weekly meal plans, and anything else that I want to keep at a glance. My out come was this :

Second: Behind closed curtains. Our laundry room doubles as our playroom because of the size of the room that it is. So to separate the two spaces, and hide the washer & dryer from the kids and any guests we had over I decided to hang curtains in front of them to act as make-shift doors. So I headed down to my local "          -mart" store and picked up some black screw in hooks, to match the black curtain rod I already had. Then I measured (so my husband wouldn't pass out from uneven lengths and crookedness) and screwed in the hooks evenly apart from one another like so :

Once the hooks were securely in place I hung my curtain rod with curtains in place. I was pretty happy with the outcome, and more importantly not having to see the washer & dryer anymore. Take a look :

before

after

Makes me happy :)

Third : The old switcher-roo. For a fresh/new look I decided to swap out the buttons on a throw pillow I already had in our living room. I purchased the pillow from Ikea, you can find it here, so all I had to do was purchase the buttons. I headed down to JoAnn Fabrics to browse some button beauty. I picked out some brown shell type looking ones, and headed home to DIY. I popped off the existing buttons, and sewed on my new purty ones in less than a half hour. Check it out :

before

after

So, in a nutshell there are three ideas to change things up. Hope you enjoyed, and I will posting all month long on my list of projects to get done as summer wraps up! Happy changing everyone. 

-What projects are you dying to get started?

- Any DIY projects that you were especially pleased with?

- What area(s) are you wanting to bring a fresh new look too?

I love all your comments, and appreciate each and everyone that is left! Thanks for looking!

~BDD

Que hora es?

HA HA HA (that's me chuckling to myself about the title) Just a little high school spanish lesson coming out for you. But really "what time is it?" It's time to get a NEW watch! So I've pretty much been gushing over these white watches since spring time! And for anyone that lives in New England, and deals with the winter and snow like we do, when spring starts to bud up, we get 'wicked' excited about it around here :) So I was fresh on the hunt for some fun, new, bold accessory, when I stumbled across these beauties!

ME LIKEY! But going back and forth with the cost I felt like I was riding on the teeter-totter (sp?). So I surrendered the notion of a new watch, especially given the fact that we just moved into our new house, and there where plenty of things we needed to get, and then of course there is always something to get for the kids, so mommy's needs wants usually take a back seat. Then somewhere in the beginning of summer my watch battery died! So the idea of just going out and getting a new one was totally justifiable :) But somehow I just never seemed to make it out to an actual store, never mind the mall, so the need want faded quickly. Then a few weeks ago, I traveled out to Portsmouth with a lovely group of ladies ( i.e. all my sisters, and my mom, and a family friend visiting from Holland, and her daughter, and my 2 kids ( poor Carter the first of many excursions of being the only boy in his tiny little world surrounded by women)). Anyways, we went to the boutique where they sell ridiculously expensive clothes, but their accessories were reasonably priced, and thus the watch 'love' came back into focus. They had exactly what I was looking for, and for a price tag of $34.95. Along with a bunch of other fun bracelets, and rings, and earring that I was drooling over. But I went in knowing I didn't have a dime to spare. So I OO'ed and Awe'd over the fun sparkly things that most girlies get excited over, and pushed my stroller onto the next destination. Then this past weekend, we went up to Burlington, VT. Which is like Porstmouth meets Faneuil Hall. We had a great evening out (kid free) taking a dinner cruise around Lake Champlain at sunset : (inserted quick photo here)

(Jesse & I)

Followed by the next morning of going out to breakfast with the company ( it was a work retreat for customer appreciation) and then some shopping down on church st. And if you have not been there then you are truly missing out on one of New England's spots to see. The weather was fabulous, the location was fantastic, and I was able to peruse about totally kid-free! And that's where I stumbled across my white watch!! YEP I found one. They had a display in the window of this fun jewelry store, with just about anything that would catch your eye. So knowing the previous prices I had come across I prepared my self for admiring ONLY. Until I noticed above this great display of watches, from every color in the crayon box, a little sign that said "$10 each" and I was just like 'NO WAY!' this can't be, and it was, so I bought 2! HA! Allow my to show you my fun 2 new pieces that have entered my ever-growing accessory tray! 

Yes, those are my things I also put in the display, just to show you "these are a few of my favorite things." I can give you a moment to hum the song, or go back and sing that line if you didn't pick up on it the first time :) Anyhow, there you have it, the watch obsession turned into favorite new accessory for just 10 bucks!

- SO what new item/accessory have you been gushing over, or can't wait to get your hands on?

- Just about finished with taking photos of the house, sorry for such the long delay, we've had quite a bit of transition going on over here. My goal is to have them up next week :)

-Check back soon, many project ideas coming your way!

~BDD

Kid Update

 Mr. Carter got a haircut (it's been about a month now, but this kid had some serious hair). I absolutely love his blonde surfer hair, but dad tends to think it gets a bit out of control, so to make sure that both parents get equal time of thinking their kid looks half decent, it was time to head to the chop shop. Usually I cut his hair at home, just because it's easier, cheaper, and I get to make sure they don't go to short. Well I couldn't help but notice a little sign when we were in town one day about a special for $5 kids cuts. I thought "WOW, that's a great deal, and I wouldn't have to clean up the mess, or deal with the squirming." So I called, and she was pretty much empty that afternoon so we headed on over after nap time. Well to make a long story short, he screamed the entire time, despite the cool chair and his own tv with movie selection included. Or the bookshelf of toys. Yep, he did not care. So I ended up having to put a cape on myself and sit in the chair, and strap him to my lap. (Meanwhile his sister is sitting completely content in her car seat wondering what the heck is going on.) Well the clippers kept buzzing, and Carter kept screaming, and then the lady exclaims " Wow, he has a lot of hair," "This is like cutting a grown man's head." And in my head I'm thinking, "Yeah, but it's still only 5 bucks right!" It was, we paid, I tipped big due to the screaming, and we left as quickly as I could get out of there, with the intent to never return. So here's the before and after. NOTE: there are no photos of the 'during' due to the excessive tears and boogers flying around.

Before

ohh this sweet face just melts me!

After

SO handsome!

What have we learned from this experience, that despite the squirming, and having to clean up, mom is still going to cut his hair at home :( oh well.

Here are a couple other photos of the kids together. As summer wraps up, we've been going to the park about 3x a week (which they LOVE) and just hanging out around the house so mom (aka ME) can do house projects :)

Love her sweet little face!

2 Peas in a Pod. He is so attentive and protective of  her. Such a good big brother!

Carter : 2yrs   Dannika : 7mths

Just look at that sweet little smile :)

He just loves her so much. They get along so well, and enjoy being together. They often have 'secret' chats together, and I would just love to be able to translate what they say to each other!

Well that's about it for now, but will post updates as they come along :) Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed!

~BDD

~ It's Raining, It's Pouring the old man is Snoring ~

Well it's raining here today.. as well as with the rest of New England, so I figured today was a good day to get lots of tidying up done around the house. Yeah! Which means lots more photos coming soon for all of you. SO bare with me as I continue to get things in order, and finish taking photos of our new house (soon to be showcased here Langford House), and will post some new photos soon of all these little projects I have been up too in my forever battle to bring peace and organization into our home :) 


~BDD

Meet the Kids

So allow me to introduce our kids! I mean what parent doesn't want to gush about their kids. Especially a stay at home mom, whose children or child she is with day in and day out.. ALL day long :) I have only been a mom for a short amount of time, but there is no doubt in my mind it's in my dna. I have learned so much from these little peanuts, about life, myself, newborns, babies - in general-, and toddlers. Everyday there is something new! Either something they learn, or a new phase they grow into, or a phase the grow out of. Their tiny little brains are constantly soaking up new information to process. I don't know how anyone could think staying home with their children, or any child for that matter is boring. Just watching them accomplish something new is exciting in itself. So without further adieu, let me introduce you to these two that keep me so entertained! 


First, we had our son. Carter Bryce Doucette! 

After much anticipation and nerves and excitement and everything else that's wrapped into having your first born, and being 2 1/2 weeks late! He arrives after 7 hours (or so) of labor weighing in at 9lbs. 14 oz.! YEP my big boy, delivered the old fashioned way, quite breezy for my first I might add, sparing any gross details for those of you who haven't been through a delivery room process, or want to forget the one you did experience. So they we were no longer just the two of us, now there were three, and a whole new meaning to word family.

We were so in love, and had no clue how much that love was going to grow as this little guy did!

Second, we had our daughter, Dannika Hadley Doucette!

21 months later we were at round 2! She arrived quite quickly, and 3 short pushes later she made her debut weighing in at 8lbs. 7 oz. I was so relieved, fearing the worst after the size of Carter, that she didn't come in over 10 lbs. Especially since big babies tend to run on both sides of the family. She was 2 days early ( a slight make-up for Carter's tardiness) and just as peaceful as could be.

So now there are Four!

We are so blessed to have the children that we do. The fill our lives and hearts with more love than could be described, and challenge us in their own little ways to be better people. Each of them bring their own unique God-given gifts to our family, and we couldn't imagine life with out either of them!

I am one proud mama of my two little peanuts!

Most people ask us if we done, naturally because we have a boy and a girl, in that order. "What a perfect little family," they usually say, "You have one of each," "Four is a nice even number, why go on," And if it were up to my husband, he would have no problem 'ending on a good note,' as he likes to put it. But only time will tell. Things are great right now, and I am especially enjoying my time with both of them. Whether we have more biological children, or God puts children in our path that need a home, who knows, are hearts are open and willing to whatever God's will is for our family down the road! Keep checking back, because there is always something to update you on with these two!

~BDD

Here we Go!

Well,  Here we GO!
My first blog, still trying to figure everything out, but wanted to create a space to share my design likes, ideas, decorating, recipes, my family life, and basically everything that we are up too. Bare with me as I fumble through all of this, but hope to soon have a successful blog running. I enjoy feedback, so please feel free to leave a comment on something you like, love, or peaked your interest. Check back for more updates as I get this thing off and running!


~BDD