Long time coming - Maisys bedroom

I have finally finished Maisys bedroom furniture! Its taken longer than planned but now its done I love it.

Sanding and priming

Farrow and Balls Skimming Stone adds a soft tone to the room

All thats left is to move the wall decal!

First project of 2014

Maisys bedroom

Moving back to England means a new house, and English style bedrooms = no fitted wardrobes. Whilst she is currently using Myles' old wardrobe (which was a project 4 years ago) its well travelled and well worn, and her change unit is becoming surplus to requirement and not giving the storage we actually need.
Looking around at new furniture that would all match, I realised just how expensive it was going to be, and whilst I would have no objection if I knew this furniture was going to last a good 10 years, we are renting and cannot be certain anything would fit into a new house if / when we move.
Becoming a little stalker like I watched gumtree everyday (the local version of craigslist) waiting for something to come up. Finally after a lot of rubbish was being sold, a matching pine wardrobe and chest of drawers came up at a bargain price.
We already have a nightstand so im looking to colour match the paint and make everything coordinate. Its not quite the same working in the garage in February here in England as it was in California but Im loving it nonetheless!

Chest of drawers before

Being primed, to cover the knots in the wood

 

 

Finished chest

New Year, New Country, New Things

Wow a year has past since I last posted something... That's pretty awful!

It was a crazy, busy, exciting year. We were blessed with the arrival of Maisy Rose Lake, visited Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Honolulu, oh and move back to England.
The learning curve of juggling two small children was let's say entertaining, but we have survived (nearly) the first year, now there appears to be a light approaching that says we got this, we can travel / move country, make new friends, and not end up in a padded cell.

2014 looks to be a calm, non eventful year and we cannot wait, although I guess from history you never know what will come up.

I have begun doing projects again and it's brilliant. I'm hoping to start blogging more regularly just to  keep track of what I'm doing, and throw in a few snippets of family life.

Expecting Bubble (written months ago but forgot to post)!

So as most of you are probably aware we are expecting baby number 2, known as bubble.  We are so excited to be expecting a little girl, although I still don’t quite believe the Dr and I am being very cautious at buying anything girly.

We have been very fortunate that friends with older babies are passing their clothes to us. It is funny with Myles we had 95% of things brand new, even though people tell you how little you will use things. This time we are so happy to receive hand me downs, the new born clothes are barely used and as I am discovering, it is much better to save the expense until they are older and wear their clothes out with all the running and park time.  

We have begun the process of choosing names, with one standing out to us. It has been on our list since we had Myles, but with so many friends having babies we are waiting and hoping that the name is still ‘available’.

This pregnancy has been quite different then with Myles. Firstly, this time I had the dreaded morning sickness, although it seemed to last all day and I frequently had to get into bed in the afternoons. I am so lucky that our son is chilled and happy to play and spend time with mummy!

The other difference is having a two year old to run around after! Quite often, now the sickness has passed, I forget that I am pregnant. We have told Myles he is going to be a big brother and there is a baby in my belly. The first time he heard this he laughed as if we were completely crazy, as time goes on he seems more accepting of the idea but I think its fair that he still finds it a little odd!

My brain is slowly leaving me, I cannot retain information for long and I am sure my poor husband hears the same conversations at least twice a day as I forget what I have said! 

We are now in the last trimester and time is passing so quickly. My next main challenge is an 11 hour flight back to the UK at 7.5 months pregnant, in economy… with a Myles! It will be our last trip until baby is born in late February.

Fingers crossed that the rest of the pregnancy continues as text book and in just over 3 months we have a loud, manic household. 

It seems here in California they automatically give you some 3d scan pictures. Pete and I personally find these a little weird but it is very clever,  bubble didnt want to play and hid so we only got this one! 

A 3d image ... kinda freaky! 

Update: I survived the flight although would NOT recommend it to anyone in late pregnancy! Only 26 days to go until due date.
Myles is now referring to himself as a big boy and seems happy there is a baby in my belly... Poor thing will get a shock when she's here and demanding attention! 

New year, new adventures

Happy new year! Yes it's a little belated, to be honest I'm not sure where the time has disappeared.

We spent the end of 2012 in England. It was a wonderful trip, Myles was a star on both flights and with jet lag. Catching up with all our friends was lovely, it didn't really feel like we had been gone for 10 months. The weather left a lot to be desired, hats off to all of you that have survived a year of it. 

One thing that was a shock was that as much as I hated saying goodbye to people I wasn't sad to arrive back to California and our home. Myles slotted back, asking to go to school and see his friends and I was happy to be home. It's a weird feeling of having two homes, I guess we are in a little limbo at the moment. 

Since being back we haven't stopped. Myles has had birthday parties, school and baseball. Petes getting busier at work and I've been nesting! I started with continuously moving the furniture around (well instructing Pete to move it), we've now progressed to the more normal scrubbing the house and washing of baby clothes. 

I also seem to have begun a 'playgroup'! Not quite what it means in England, but I put feelers out for other mums due around the same time as me and had such a response on the moms club I had to set up a group to keep track and begin organising meets. We had our first coffee meet last week and it was great. Fingers crossed enthusiasm remains and bubble and I make some new friends.  

I can't quite believe we only have 26 days until bubbles intended arrival eeek! I cannot begin to imagine the chaos and challenges we will face but I do know I'm ready for it and looking forward to our new addition.

I want to say a big thank you to those friends that have lent us equipment and clothes, this is one spoilt baby already. 

I hope this post finds everyone well. I shall be sharing some more baking posts soon, and hopefully some new bubble pics in the not so distant future :-)

Xoxo