So I failed! I have not blogged once since Kennedy started Mothers Day Out. Instead I have have been dealing with a sick baby, we are on our 4th ear infection.  Kennedy has also been going through a sleep regression do you know why...  Because she has been working on this little number.

Yeap! I have a walker. She started walking a couple of weeks ago. My husband, our neighbors and I made bets if she would walk for her first birthday.  That night she walked! But Kennedy walking early came with a price, she went through and awful sleep regression.  We didn’t sleep well for almost two months. 

Kennedy at Nursery School/ Mother's Day Out

During the Christmas holiday when Kennedy just turned 7 months she started crawling a lot.  It only took her one day to get really fast!  Two days later she stood up and started “cruising” (walking using the furniture for balance).  Ever since, my world has not been the same!  I thought I was busy before, HA!  I can’t even blink my eyes now without this little girl getting into something.  MT and I decided that it’s time for Kennedy to go to a nursery school.  As a teacher, I know that children learn best from their peers.  It was time for her to start socializing without mama. Kennedy and I are already very active in “Mommy and Me” programs but it was time for my little 8 month old to spread her wings. 

We were lucky to find an opening mid year at a Mother’s Day Out program at a local church where we can take Kennedy two days a week.  Last week was Kennedy’s first week and it was so tough on me.  When I dropped her off I felt like I was giving her up for adoption.  I felt so bad because I thought maybe she doesn’t get it and she thought I was leaving her forever.  It took all of me not to cry, but I knew that if I cried, then Kennedy would get scared.  I left her for 2 hours!  The longest 2 hours of my life.  The second day, I left her the whole time and when I came to pick her both times she was playing and happy.

I’m glad I found this program because we both need it.  Now I can finally go to my doctor appointments on time, hairdresser, run errands, and of course get back to blogging. I have missed you guys.  Below is picture of baby Kennedy at nursery school. 

Kenned's First Christmas

I really wanted to make Kennedy’s first Christmas very special.  As an adult, I haven’t celebrated Christmas, so I had no idea that I needed to start planning and collecting Christmas items before December.  I started to understand I was a bit behind in my Christmas planning in November when I couldn’t find a photographer to take our Christmas pictures. Just about every photographer was booked. I had to beg one to come to Houston from a neighboring suburb on a weekday and take the pictures outside my husband’s office. That was the start of a frantic holiday season full of excitement, late nights and a dash of anxiety!  In the end it all magically came together.  My mother flew in from Florida and we hosted a family Christmas Eve dinner for my in-laws.  After Christmas Eve dinner we went to Midnight Mass.  Christmas morning we opened presents and later that day we had dinner at my inlaws. It was a fantastic... Some of our Christmas photos are below.  

Making Ornaments

Ornaments 

Christmas Cards

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! 

Breakfast/Kitchen Nook!

Look what came over the holiday weekend.

I love it! 

Thanks for all your help!

*I think this will be my last post on decorating because my camera is not doing a good job at picking up the colors. My house does not have such a yellow tint. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

From our  family to yours...

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S DAY!

Breakfast Nook: Upholstery

I heard you guys... I need color…and after some soul searching and some night sweats, I'm officially over my color phobia :)

My next project is the breakfast nook and it will be full of color.  I have an open concept floor plan, so the colorless family room is attached to the kitchen and breakfast nook.  If I add color to the breakfast nook, I will automatically be adding a bit of color to the family room. 

This is a before picture of the nook.

Then I worked with a cabinet-maker to make these lovely benches that came in this week.

Now all we need is some colorful upholstery!  So baby K, MT and I went fabric shopping. 

I had all shorts of ideas in my head, but there were so many choices, so my ideas kept changing.  

Below is the first color combination for the breakfast nook cushions…

 Then I changed my mind and here is the second color combination for the breakfast nook cushions…

Then I changed my mind again and the winner is... 

I’m so excited!  The upholstery team picked up the fabrics today and I will not see the finished work for another two weeks.  

As for adding color to the family room, I will add it after my cushions arrive. Once the cushions are in the space, I will see what color will compliment the cushions. I will then decide how these colors will appear in my family room i.e. paintings, pillows, lamps etc. 

Family Room

I have always thought of myself as a creative person. I have BA in Theater for goodness sake and you would think that would give me an edge when it comes to decorating our new home, however, this project has been very difficult.  Apparently, years of living in small New York City apartments has made decorating our modest home seem like an overwhelming task.  I can’t seem to make up my mind on any one piece of furniture let alone imagine it in a room with other pieces of furniture must coexist.  My husband is refusing to continue to sit on folding chairs and furniture that is falling apart, so it's time to go shopping.  Here goes nothing!

Below is one of our first rooms… we have started to work on… the family room!

Before 

Now:

Things we need to work on next in this room:

T.V. stand- We got a great deal on a closed T.V. stand during the holiday weekend. I can't wait till it arrives because Kennedy is growing and moving fast. As you can see, by looking at the corners of our coffee table we have started baby proofing.  But our whole TV stand has to go. I can just see  Kennedy pulling herself up on those glass shelves. 

We still have to purchase:

-Rug

-Window treatments

-Art work for the walls

If you have any ideas on what styles will look good in this room and where I can get good deals for items above please let me know?