Playroom Progress: Part One

Hope you all had a great weekend.  Even though yesterday was a little tiring with the time change, I'm looking forward to longer, sun filled days so it was a welcomed change. As I mentioned in my previous post our playroom renovation is in full swing.  I'm so excited!  I'm pretty sure I have figured out how I want the layout to be, which I scribbled down on a post-it and texted to my hubby.  Here are some before pictures, in all their glory - no judging;) and some shots of our progress so far... *Before my hubby moved most of the furniture out, I didn't get to take before pics...still sad about that so we're left with in-between-moving-furniture pictures*

Before:

Progress: Part One (Carpet removal, adhesive removal, building and framing staircase and dog suite)

I never really realized how treacherous the staircase was before we put that wall up and I'm so glad we did with little ones running around.  Our plan for the stairs is to sand and repaint them, then add a runner for extra comfort and stability on the stairs.  The "dog suite" will be underneath the stairs and will replace our dog's crate, which is rather large and I wanted more room for Olivia to play so my hubby came up with this idea.  Brilliant, right?!  She'll have her own little area and I'll probably install a soft light in there.  We're also making some sort of door for it as well.  On the wall with the window, I'll be creating a chalkboard area for Olivia and friends to draw with chalk and create little masterpieces ;) We also picked out paint, which is very similar to the color now but will make the room look fresh and clean.  The floor will be one of the last parts of the project as it's super messy with saw dust, paint, etc.  I can't wait to share more of our progress with you throughout the next few weeks! 

To see my playroom ideas and plans, view that post here.

Friday Favorites: Books, Easter Dress & Bundles

I'm so glad it's Friday! Our playroom renovation is in full swing and I cannot wait until its done.  My hubby has been hard at work ripping out carpet, removing adhesive on the floors, spackling, and building a new wall/staircase.  We picked out paint and let Olivia help...

"We" chose gray.  Orange just wasn't the look I was going for ;) There will be other touches of gray and yellow throughout the room.  I am going for a neutral palate so it doesn't look like a Crayola factory exploded after toys are added into the mix.  

I can't believe Easter is coming up so soon! I love Easter and with Olivia's love of all things bunny I know she will too! Last year she was close to turning one so she somewhat understood, but this year I can't wait to see how she'll react to her basket, egg hunting, etc.  I'm loving this dress from Carters and think it would look so cute on her.  She'll probably need a cardigan as well if the weather keeps up like this! {My motto: snow=no.}

{via: Carters}

I just bought this book and I can't wait to dive into it.  It's embarrassing how long it's been since I've even sat down to real an actual book.  I normally opt for home decor magazines or People magazine when I have a free min or two. I'm determined to make time to read it! As a mom and wife it's so hard to not feel guilt about taking some time to do something for yourself, but I know it makes you better for it. I'll share my thoughts along the way.

My last favorite for the week that I wanted to share was all about the Honest Company.  Pampers has always been my go to for Olivia and more so than ever I find myself wanting to buy more organic and natural products for her.  I'm anxiously waiting for the shampoo and body wash bundle that I purchased and seriously love the detangling hair spray for both her and I! Have you seen their diapers? They're so adorable and I love the different prints.  I'm trying them out for Olivia and will share how we're liking them.  If you'd like to try Honest products for your little one, they're currently running an amazing sale here: Diapers and Wipes Bundle. You can mix and match all the products that you want and can pick the delivery day.  You can also cancel anytime if you'd just like to try the products.  Also, you can add up to 3 extra products for 25% off to your bundle, which is what I did.  Seriously, buy the detangler...it's amazing and your child will smell like a creamsicle and get sick of you sniffing her hair;)  They also have other bundles available like the Essentials Bundle and Health and Wellness Bundle.  If you're on the fence like I was about purchasing different diapers, it's so worth it and such a great company. 

{Via: Honest}

Do you have favorites you'd like to share?  Have tried the Honest products and have a favorite? I'd love to hear.  

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, products may be gifted (shown with a c/o) or a small commission may be made via affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.

St. Patrick's Day Picks for Littles

Each day the sun is shining more and more and its leaving me eager for spring to arrive. I can't wait for fresh flowers & longer days filled with sunshine! With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I wanted to share some of my favorite items to make your day extra festive.

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What are some of your picks for adding a festive touch to your St. Patrick's day? Be sure to check out the shops above, some of my favorites!

Target for the win + e.l.f Makeup Deals!

{So excited Target has Easter stuff out, Olivia's dream = bunny themed everything!}

Yesterday, Olivia and I met up with two of my friends and their kids for a Starbucks date and some Target shopping.  Basically, fueling up before toddler wrangling through the store. We all found great clearance deals on pillows, poufs and more!  Our husbands will probably not let us meet up again.   Pretty sure I embarrassed myself when I ran towards yet another pouf that was on clearance! (As if there was a line of people stalking them.) That being said, my hubby didn't notice the new pillows or lampshade in the living room.  Or second pouf that I am storing on top of the first pouf that was bought... We're in the process of turning our basement into a playroom so while that's being ripped apart I'm basically like a squirrel at this point.  A few pillows here, a few poufs there...all the while my hubby puts blinders on as I tell him it's all part of my plan.  To see our playroom plans, click here.  We're planning on putting a couch down there and when I bought the first pouf he wanted to know what it was for.  I replied that if he had a few friends over, there will be the couch and someone can sit on the pouf.  His reply of "which one of my friends do you think will sit on a pouf??" still has me laughing.  Apparently men don't sit on decorative poufs. Now that we have two poufs I'm sure he'll be thrilled.  I seriously could not pass it up.  Practically free when it was marked down to $15!!! With the three of us, four babies, two strollers and a cart it was too hilarious to not take a picture.  Babies on top of pillows on top of babies on top of poufs.  #HowMomsShopAtTarget

(Pst, that's one of my poufs...in love)

Moving on, I have to share that one of Olivia's favorite things to do is to play with my makeup.  Most mornings, I get ready with her in the bathroom and she watches me do my makeup.  She loves to use the brushes and recently found my eyeshadow, as you can tell from the pictures.  I let her use one of my e.l.f eyeshadow compacts and she was overjoyed.  She delicately used the brushes and her fingers to apply stripes to her cheeks then smiled at herself in the mirror.  It was too adorable!  Side note: um...hopefully she doesn't think I look like that! 

My favorite e.l.f. eyeshadows are so inexpensive and there's a big sale going on here:  Save 50% on The Classic Glamour Kit. No code necessary. Offer valid 2/20- 2/22/15.  Love it! Here are a few more promotions going on as well (hint: run before it's over!)

Mystery Monday! Get a Free Mystery Bag with any $25 Purchase. Enter code MYSTERY at checkout. Offer valid 2/23/15 only!

50% Off Top Rated Products when You Spend $30 or More! Enter code TOPRATED at checkout. Offer valid 2/24 - 3/2/15. 

Free Shipping on orders $35 or more. No promo code necessary. US only.

I'd love to hear what you think about the products!  I also love their tinted moisturizer and can't wait to try the HD blush.  Hope you all have a great weekend! 

This post contains affiliate links.  

Inspiration Board || Playroom Edition

I am so excited that we are re-doing our basement and transforming it into a playroom!  Currently, it is my hubby's "man cave" and the dog's room...aka I hate hate hate it.  I rarely spend time down there, with the exception of some nights while I'm trying to be a ninja creeping around post bedtime avoiding making any noise so I can watch some Real Housewives.  I basically told Rob that we were turning the basement into a playroom so I was pleasantly surprised when he didn't argue.  I think he's secretly excited about this, princess tent and all.  I'm trying to keep it neutral with pops of color so it can be enjoyed by everyone.  Except the dog.  Bye bye to sleeping on the couch, Harper.  Is that mean?  Nah...  Dog hair drives me up the wall! We're planning on buying this couch from Ikea. We're going with the white slipcover and before you think I'm crazy, here's why... 1. The slipcover can be washed  2. In the case of dirt, crayons, play doh, cookie crumbs, etc this can be bleached 3. Because I love white and it's gotten so many great reviews I think it's worth a try  4.  Its affordable, yet Pottery Barn inspired.  I'm also planning on purchasing an extra slipcover to use while one is being washed.  In the clearance section of Ikea I found multiple slipcovers in all different colors, being sold for as little as $10!  Gotta love Ikea clearance section.  For extra seating, I found this pouf from Target marked down to $18 on clearance!  It's more of a mustard color than shown and I think it'll be a fun addition to the room. Seriously, bargain shopping makes my day. 

I also found this rug from Ikea as well, marked down to $29 for a 5 x 7...I couldn't pass it up!  It's darker in the picture but it's a nice gray with hints of white.  It's also indoor/outdoor so it'll be easy to keep clean. 

The basement is the only room in the house with carpet, so we're choosing to take that out and use this vinyl plank flooring from Lowes.  Due to the fact that this is a basement, we went with these after doing some research.  It was between laminate and vinyl flooring and our local Lowe's recommended the vinyl, which is better for moisture prone areas.  After browsing through Pinterest, I'm shocked by how real these floors looked.  We went with Antique Woodland Oak to add a rustic, hand scraped look.  

The chalkboard print is from the Caravan Shoppe, which I'm obsessed with for prints!  I had this printed at Staples in engineer size for about $4! I added wood to the top and bottom to create a finished look that I can't wait to show you.

In addition to the chalkboard print, I'm also making a chalkboard wall for Olivia to draw and have fun with.  I love chalkboard walls so I can't wait to see it finished.  We're planning on wall mounting our tv and repurposing a bookcase that we bought years ago from Ikea into an entertainment/storage area.  I'll be using a mix of baskets to hide away some toys and other various items.  Also, as you can see in the inspiration board I included a tree stump side table.  Isn't that fun?  I'm keeping my eyes out during my next HomeGoods trip.  I'm so excited to start the process of turning our basement into a playroom!  You can follow along with our progress on Instagram (@thebirdsnestblog) if you'd like, and as always I'll be posting updates on here as well.  I hope you all have a great day! 

Our Week || Dip, Flowers & No Sleep Ninjas

Part of me can't believe it's Friday already and part of me was counting down the minutes.  We had a busy week with snow, errands, and a toddler who seems to be mixing up her days and nights.  For some reason, Olivia keeps waking up during the night crying/screaming. She has a cold so that may be adding to it, but boy I am not a person who can function on little sleep.  I'm so thankful for my hubby who tends to be much better with getting less sleep than I am.  Hoping our no sleep ninja decides to turn things around ;) I hope its not an ear infection, poor baby!

Superbowl Sunday was held at my sister's house and there was tons of yummy food.  I made artichoke dip using this recipe and also made the beer bread to go with it.  It was so good! Pretty sure I'll make two next time, as it was gone within minutes.

My mind has been turning about Olivia's birthday in April.  I'll be hosting a big giveaway with lots of fun shops and products and I cannot wait to share it with you!  Last year, we had a bigger party with lots of family to celebrate her first birthday - I cannot believe she'll be two!! This year, we'll be having a very small get together with family for her birthday.  Even though we are keeping it very small, I still want it to be really pretty and perfect for her.  I've been loving the look of crepe paper flowers and one of our friends had a book of all different flower templates.  I couldn't wait to try it myself so I headed to AC Moore and picked up a few different packages of crepe paper and tried to make a few.  I really love how they came out and I can't wait to make some for her birthday. 

My sister and I headed to the salon for a girls day and I couldn't be happier for a day out.  Sometimes you just need to do something for yourself to make you feel pretty and refresh yourself as a mom and wife.  I know when I have a little time to myself I can put my best self forward and it really shows. One of our best friends is a hair stylist at our favorite salon, where Carrie Underwood just walked right in from the elevator one day - um, amazing. I couldn't wait to get a haircut and highlights.  It had been since the day before Olivia's last birthday party!  After Teresa did my foils, she told us she had a surprise and that my hubby booked us for manicures.  Wasn't that the sweetest?  He really is so thoughtful and it makes me proud that he is.  It was such a nice surprise and so nice to be pampered.  While we were gone, he had both Olivia and her cousin Brynn and he made cookies with them.  One of my favorite pictures ever, so sweet...

We had such a great day and it was so nice to catch up on some gossip girl time, and relax while enjoying ourselves.  How do you take time for yourself?  Do you schedule in some "me" time or is it months before you realize you could use a little?  It's so worth it!  I'll leave you with my first ever selfie, which I'm still smiling about because clearly one of us has had some practice ;)

Nibble Tray || A Fun + Easy Toddler Lunch

Lunch is always the hardest meal for me.  We don't tend to have many leftovers and I'm not a huge fan of lunch myself so its pretty much a daily challenge.  I tend to make Olivia deconstructed sandwiches or cheese, crackers, and some sort of fruit or vegetable.  She loves deli meat but I try to limit that to once or twice a week.  Sandwiches are not my thing, unless I'm pregnant and craving a forbidden deli turkey sandwich morning, noon, and night.  My husband on the other hand could eat a sandwich for lunch every day of his life and not have a complaint, unless we're out of bread...and deli meat...and mustard.  Clearly I can't get my meal planning act together ;)  Anyway, I've been seeing muffin tin meals pop up all over Pinterest and I wanted to try it for Olivia.  I felt that a muffin tin was a bit too big and I didn't want to overwhelm her with too many choices so I opted for my favorite porcelain egg carton.  (Bought at HomeGoods)  Here is what I put in her nibble tray...

Cubed cheese, avocado, teddy grahams, carrot sticks, blueberries, and chocolate covered mini pretzel sticks.  I decided it would be fun to have a picnic so I sat her on our bed and when she saw the tray she exclaimed, "Oh dis?!" which is toddler speak for all this!! Super excited and she loved everything.  The carrot sticks were her least favorite though, so she decided to feed a few to her bunny Penelope.

This was a great little lunch for her.  It was a new, colorful way to eat lunch, which I think helped her to be so interested in it.  Lately, she's been picky and "no way!" is the answer to pretty much anything in the fridge.  Except butter.  The child can eat butter happily everyday all day.  For example, last night when I asked her if she wanted to eat chicken the response was "no way, yes."  Toddlers can be so fickle sometimes, can't they ;) What are some ways you get your kids to enjoy their food?  Have you tried making a nibble tray?  I'd love to hear from you!