Smile And Wave

The First Layer of Ruby's Room Facelift with Walls Need Love Decals

As a house-renter that has lived in nine different spaces in the last fourteen years, I'm well-versed in the ways to make your home feel as much a reflection of your style as you can within the usual renter restrictions. I'd been hearing people talk about the removable wallpaper and vinyl decals that were on the market over the last few years but never felt that urge to investigate further. After working with Walls Need Love to help add some magic to Ruby's seriously neglected room, I'm a new believer in the power of pattern on your walls! 

I'm working on a full before-and-after room makeover post but wanted to show you how uninspiring things were feeling in her room up until last week. Our rental was fully refurbished by the landlord and the designer that picked the paint colors chose a warm light gray (not sure the exact color/brand) to compliment the warmth of the original wood floors and moulding. It's not the worst but it can feel like it's always overcast outside and left me feeling a little unsure about how to make the most of things.

I can't begin to list the many little room challenges I ran into when trying to make the best of what we had to also fit the design of the room because I'm so thankful we get to live in a rental with this much charm! However, a few of those design roadblocks, a busy workload, and a shoestring budget were all keeping this room from feeling enjoyable for anyone to spend time in. Warm and spacious, yes. Pretty, nope. 

While browsing through the Walls Need Love design packs, I instantly knew this was the one I wanted in her space. Originally I thought I'd use them inside the little cubby hole above her bunk bed to help make it feel extra special on the inside but I realized it could really transform the whole look of her space if I used them on that entire wall. I did test the wall decals on our paint because I've pulled some texture off in other places with washi tape and was thrilled that you couldn't tell they'd been attached at all. 

I then measured out 3" from the edge of the cubby wall and 3" from the corner of the wall to help me get a feel for how the design would fill the space. The two stars were 16" apart from the centers so then I found the center between the two stars and measured 16" vertically from there to create my diamond shape. I continued measuring 16" down from each star and marking with chalk. This not only made the job of marking the pattern faster, it helped me get a visual of whether things were looking spread out enough and lining up well before taking the time to place all of the decals. 

The pattern felt big enough to complement the size of the room without feeling too busy and I love that the stars are metallic. It has a little bit of a whimsical, vintage vibe. 

I think I used one-and-a-half design packs to fill this space so it's not only a great option for renters it's a really affordable way to make a big impact! 

I've already shared a teaser photo from the Pom-Pom Wall Hanging tutorial but I'll be sure to share the full effect of adding these stars to the wall and making a few inexpensive changes to this corner of the house! I'm so thrilled with it but knowing Ruby is thrilled with it is all that matters to this mama. 

I'll be back soon with a few more projects and a full before-and-after! If you'd like to see some Walls Need Love removable wallpaper in action check out the first photo in our Christmas House Tour. It's a game changer, folks!

-Rachel

P.S. I was compensated for sharing this post in partnership with Walls Need Love to get the word out about how fantastic their products are but all opinions are my own. I'm so thankful to get the chance to share products I love in this space and for all the ways these opportunities help me continue to do what I love over here. 

Ruby is Six! Say What?

We celebrated six years with our sweet Ruby a few weeks ago and never before have I felt like she's actually looked and acted so much older than this time. Suddenly those legs are so long, her bangs have finally grown out, her baby teeth are coming out two at-a-time, and I see flashes of her teen years with certain head-tilts and sassy looks. I love watching her grow into herself with each new year. 

We decorated our dining room a little for our family party on her actual birthday and she helped me make her cake. She's all about decorations and treats so it was extra thrilling for her to help with her own party prep. Stacie Bloomfield of Gingiber sent over some of her beautifully illustrated wrapping papers the week before her birthday and they were perfect for her animal and nature-loving gifts. We also pulled out some white butcher paper from IKEA and she crawled up on the dining room table to design her own wrapping paper for the rest of her gifts. 

We celebrated the next afternoon with friends at a bounce house. It was the kind of generic party I never thought I'd throw my daughter but the complete joy on all of those little faces over pizza and cupcakes and fruit punch was worth it. The party room came with a host and hostess and getting to enjoy our company and finish conversations was my second favorite part. 

I remember celebrating her fifth birthday like it was last month. We'd only just moved into this house after a major cross-country move and career change and were still up to our eyeballs in boxes. I'm so thankful for these kids that go with the flow and have helped us establish so many special layers of memories this year. 

Ruby, you're my special middle child with all of the sunshine and silly-ness we so often need in our day-to-day lives. Thank you for being ours and for playing such an important role in life already. You're my best girl. 

Love,

Mama
 

Lady Date with Ruby

When your daughter asks to go on a date with just her and no brothers, you make it happen. Lucky for us, we live within walking distance of one of Springfield's finest donut establishments.

I did warn her I was bringing my camera because it's seen a lot of tutorial time and not a lot of memory making time. 

We wandered to the donut place where we thoroughly enjoyed our sugar intake and then wandered around downtown a bit. I found myself wanting to keep things moving along and hurrying to the next thing and realized I've been needing to slow down and just enjoy the moment a little more. Kids are good at that. 

Here's to more daughter dates, saying yes when you'd rather say no, stopping to pause no matter what else needs your attention, and making memories with people we love. 

-Rachel

Clay Phases of the Moon DIY for ABM

I'm sharing a phases of the moon garland made from oven bake clay over at A Beautiful Mess. It's a fun way to add a little more of that hippy vibe to your space (no pun intended) and perfect for your pint-sized space enthusiast's room. 

There are literally a million ways you can use oven bake clay to make something cute for your home. It may or may not be my personal mission to see how many other things I can come up with. Head over to A Beautiful Mess for the details and step-by-steps to make your own!

-Rachel

4th of July Birthday Decor

Our 4th of July celebrations are always doubly special because we also celebrate Sebastian's birthday. It's insane to me that we're doing this again already! WE JUST CELEBRATED HIS EIGHTH! 

I decorated the dining room the night before because he's always the first one up and I wanted him to start his day with a little ping of excitement, even if no one else was up to share in it! Ruby is our night owl so she colored him a card while I hung the fans and arranged the balloons.

Sugar Confetti Shop so generously sent us some decorations that I picked out from their online shop. I knew I wanted some huge balloons but I had NO IDEA they were THIS BIG! I sent Brett to Party City to get them filled with helium the night before and he almost didn't get them all in the car. I got a text as I was putting Smith down that he didn't think they'd all fit and I thought I was going to have to wake Sebastian up and haul all three sleepy kids into the night in order to squeeze one of the giant balloons into our second car but he finally texted back that he'd figured it out. SUCCESS! I know there's some sort of analogy about square pegs and round holes here...or round balloons and rectangular cars.

Sebastian got some really fun gifts from family members and was especially thrilled about a new bike that doesn't leave him hunched over. It was time to upgrade from the one he got when he was four! 

After opening presents and having breakfast, Brett took the big kids to see the movie, Inside Out, and I finished making the cake. I'd done the base layers the night before and wrapped them in saran wrap so no curious early risers would get into them but my birthday boy thought they were brownies for some reason and dug in. It wasn't a total lost cause and who can be mad at the birthday boy for having his own cake? I mixed up a little extra cream cheese frosting and filled that hole with extra love.

It was funny watching Smith dig in. He looked like he still remembered how this worked from his birthday a few months ago. I am glad I remembered to take his shirt off before handing him some cake.

"Can we do this every month, Mom?"

We finished off the afternoon with pizza and S'Mores around a bonfire per Sebastian's request. What really happened was I took Smith on a walk downtown while Brett and the kids made S'Mores and got eaten alive by mosquitos. Toddlers and bonfires aren't my favorite mix right now so we resorted to the trusty divide and conquer method of parenting. We then piled into the car and drove to the top of a downtown car park for a quieter view of the fireworks. We could see them spread out in different neighborhoods all over the horizon and got to avoid a crying baby that doesn't quite understand what's going on. Despite everyone being over tired, full of sugar, and cranky at the end of the night, it was a successful day of celebrating both our country and our son!

Last year was celebrated in Colorado Springs at Memorial Park with thousands of people and a terrified baby. The year before that we'd just sent Brett off to Kuwait and I found out the same day I was pregnant with Smith! Oh, how quickly time passes.

I hope you had a lovely 4th of July weekend (if you're in the States), too. Mosquitos and all.

-Rachel

Details: Honeycomb, fans, plates, cups, balloons, and candles c/o Sugar Confetti Shop.

Going On Walks with Kids

Summer is finally here to stay in Springfield, MO and we've been making the most of those warm summer nights by taking daily walks downtown. I load up all three kids and between the Ergo baby carrier and our jogging stroller, I get plenty of exercise and the older kids get to run off their extra energy. We sometimes sneak out in the morning before it gets too warm, too.

It's been one of my new ways of coping with life in general lately. I've been enjoying the exercise and endorphins and am so thankful we are this close to some fun downtown joints. Not everyone gets to walk three blocks to the library, a cupcake shop, a donut shop, three hole-in-the-wall burger joints, four coffee shops, all while meandering down colorful alleys with plenty of bike riding room without fear of getting run over. It's been such a perk of living here.

Also, when you walk to the donut shop, it almost cancels out the donut.

Have you been rediscovering anything about your town this summer?

-Rachel

 

 

Everybody Loves A Good Train Set

It's been years since we've had a train set in our house. Sebastian's set was his favorite thing for a solid two years as he went through the Thomas phase but then it got traded out for Transformers and donated to a family that lost everything in a fire one Christmas. Ruby never expressed much interest in wanting one so it never made any of the gift lists when birthdays rolled around.  

This train set, however, was a game changer. It has animals and cute trapeze girls that can ride on the horse or do tricks on the balance beam and so many pieces that allow little minds to create all kinds of stories. As you can see, this horse is stuck on the tracks because it got up on the balance beam and it can't get down. Things are not looking good for the horse.

It gets a little tricky to enjoy your train set when there are babies running amock. They like to throw the trapeze artists and chew on the elephant. Someday they'll figure out trains aren't for eating but for now the horse on the tracks has an even bigger problem. So does Ruby. 

Thankfully we are learning to enjoy this train set in shifts. Ruby can play with it when Smith is napping and Smith can play with it when she's at school. Even though this set is suggested for ages 3-8, it's nice to know they can both enjoy it (under mama's watchful eye) and that we'll get many more years of use out of this beautiful set. 

I am a big fan of wooden toys for our kids because they last longer and just feel better in their hands. With three children, we're bound to have kids' toys scattered throughout the house but when they're this well designed and attractive, I don't mind having them semi-permanently taking up one corner of our dining room. It's a great way to get some weaving time in while Smith occupies himself and I love watching Ruby make up stories about the animals. 

If you're in the Springfield, MO area, Jellybeans has an incredible in store selection of Janod and Plan wooden toys as well as so many other exceptional gifts for babies, kids, and tweens. Their online shop has some special items as well if you're looking for a baby shower gift and they carry brands like Joah Love and Paper Wings if you're on the hunt for summer clothes for the kids. Also, I'm loving this for Smith. Is it too early to start a Christmas list? 

It's really fun having a local shop that carries so many items that usually can only be found online (in a town this size) and their store is gorgeous. It's like when you walk into Anthropologie and all of your senses start getting overwhelmed with so many beautiful things to look at and suddenly you need to touch all the dresses and smell all of the candles!

That but for kids. And moms that like to shop for kids. 

You can follow them on Instagram under @shopjellybeans to see what they offer in store and online as well as for sales and events. Also, if you're in town, go visit their shop at Farmers Park and then go next door to eat at Metropolitan Farmer or The Aviary. You can thank me later. 

-Rachel

Note: Jellybeans kindly offered this train set for us to review and enjoy but all opinions of their fab shop and store and this darling set are my own. I'm so happy to share some love for local companies and all they have to offer!

Thoughts on Expectations and Mother's Day

Mother's Day is fast approaching (May 10th in case you needed a reminder) and with it the annual battle against expectations of how Mother's Day should unfold. It's often between my longing for that ideal opportunity to be relieved of all motherly duties so I can spend some time solely focused on myself without any threat of self-imposed guilt, and the reality of running a household and caring for three young kids. 

It's not a unique battle, I'm sure. It's so tempting to host thoughts of handmade cards delivered with breakfast in bed after a full nine hours of sleep, followed by an afternoon lounging by a pool before treating myself to some shopping and a movie all by myself. It's tempting to wish for one day I wasn't needed and every treat I could imagine was lavished upon me as a reward for all of the sacrifices made the rest of the year for working so hard to be a good mama. It would all be well received and we are all (mamas in all forms) so deserving. 

However, most nights I get an interrupted seven hours of sleep and wake to someone having spilled the milk trying to get their own cereal. Brett will make me coffee but then I'll have to heat it back up two hours later once my youngest stops trying to scale our wingback chair and goes back down for a nap. I'll sit down with a magazine only to have two energetic kids race through the house to go outside, slamming the back door and subsequently waking the baby early enough that the rest of our afternoon continues to be pretty loud. I see some understanding nods. 

Every year I tell myself it's just another day of being a mother and that I'll enjoy an indulging day to myself when they're older and less needy. Then I will inevitably sabotage those noble thoughts with feelings of self-pity when someone throws a fit at lunch. Even though it's just another day with young kids, it all feels harder and less fair on those elevated days of honor. 

That's the problem with expectations. They almost always leave us wanting.

Yes, our house is loud because it is full of voices and bodies that I get to call mine. Yes, they forget to flush the toilet 95% of the time but that is their greatest fault. They forget to flush the toilet. I should thank my lucky stars that all I worry about with my kids right now is germy hands. Yes, I have regular dark circles under my eyes but I get to wake up to care for a baby we longed for and didn't think we'd get to enjoy. He, too, will someday forget to flush the toilet 95% of the time but I'll get the privilege of reminding him. 

This Mother's Day I'm refocusing my lens and my heart. I'm going to honor this day myself by working towards being the kind of mom that takes a breath and pauses when I'd rather groan in frustration. I'm going to allow myself to see how beautiful my job is as a caretaker and guide to these three growing humans. I'm going to do my best to stare straight into their eyes and wait for them to notice how loved they are in that moment. 

I'm going to ask for coffee in the morning and enjoy reheating it two hours later because I get to be among the ranks of so many hard working, lovely, worn out, resplendent, and aspiring hearts that tend to those that need them.

I have the privilege of sowing seeds of love, kindness, and courage that will take root and bring beauty. I get to share in their curiosity, creativity, and wide open possibilities. I get to bring more good things into this world through their little lives.

It's hard but it's beautiful. 

This year on Mother's Day I am ditching my internal eye rolls for intentional moments together. I'm hoping we get to spend a little more time getting our hands dirty, beautifying our front porch using this beautiful wooden potting bench c/o Ace Hardware, and making some solid memories. Ruby has laid claim to one special purple plant, named it Violet (it's a Petunia), and made a literal bed for it in her room complete with a cozy towel to rest on but the rest are safe and sound outside. 

No matter how you get to spend this Mother's Day, I hope your heart meets your circumstances with peace and love. And maybe some flowers. 

-Rachel

P.S. Thank you, Ace Hardware for the opportunity to make these memories. 

What She Wore: Zimmerman Shoes

Sometimes little girls get a little fussy about their clothes. Sometimes mamas do, too. My grandmother took Ruby, Smith, and myself to the mall a few weeks ago to do some spring clothes shopping. We used to do that together when I was a kid every time my family would get to visit them and it's always been a fun way to spend time together and make some memories. Also, new clothes! Yay! 

I remember my mom telling me I was particular about what I wore when I was Ruby's age and it needed to be comfortable and stretchy or I wasn't wearing it. No jeans, no corduroys, and mostly it needed to be purple. Well, it seems Ruby is carrying on the tradition of having strong opinions about what she will and will not wear. 

My grandmother and I spent a good twenty minutes walking in circles in the Old Navy little girls department trying to coordinate an Easter day ensemble that we all thought looked nice. I'd suggest a colorful buffalo plaid cotton and she'd turn up her nose. I'd then show her a bright drop waist that she liked but they didn't have her size. She LOVED the white cotton sundress but then I told her we couldn't get white because we always attract all the stains before we even leave the house. 

After going in circles trying to coordinate the one colorful dress she liked with a pair of leggings that would match with a sweater that she'd probably need because it is ALWAYS cold on Easter morning except the sweater didn't feel good and SHE DIDN'T WANT A SWEATER, I almost had an internal hissy fit myself. I then realized this is probably a familiar feeling to my own mother, and maybe even one my Grandmother had had a time or two on our own shopping trips. 

Finally, Grandmother suggested that we get the white cotton dress as well as a bottle of Oxi-Clean just in case we needed it. Problem solved.

Grandmothers know lots of things.

Also, I appreciate the reminder that what is most important to me isn't necessarily important to my self-aware, strongly opinionated, creative, happy, five-year-old daughter and that while I want to guide her through the tricky waters of dressing appropriately for certain occasions and certain weather, I certainly enjoy that she knows what she likes. Some people spend their whole adult lives not knowing that much.

-Rachel

Outfit Details: White cotton dress, Old Navy. Jean leggings, Target. Milo boot c/o Zimmerman Shoes.

Smith's First Birthday

It's only JUST April so I'm not too late sharing Smith's birthday, right? We didn't throw a big party but we did get him some big balloons and let him enjoy his very own smash cake. Brett was recovering from the flu and the kids had a snow day so even though it fell on a weekday, we were all able to be together all day to give our littlest Denbow some extra love. 

Ruby helped me mix the cake but I separated some batter for a smash cake and then separated the remaining batter into three pans without realizing I needed to let it bake a little less than usual. I got busy cleaning and keeping Smith off the top of the step ladder and then pulled out a lovely smash cake and three pans of something that resembled the texture of cookies and broke off in chunks when I tried to remove them.

We were needing to let it all cool and frost before his next nap so I didn't have time to make another one so I improvised and just told the kids that ugly cake still tasted good! More on that later.

Smith's smash cake is the shape of one of my Pyrex bowls because I didn't have a large enough aluminum can to use as a mold. My heart was set on letting him have his own, though, so I did what I always do when I don't have what I need and found the next best thing. I am nothing if not resourceful these days!

As you can see, he started out slowly and then realized sugar tastes amazing and that he needed it all over his face. This last photo above is actually right when we took it off his tray so we could let him open presents. He was not happy with us.

We let the kids pick out what they wanted to give Smith and since he mostly sticks things in his mouth or bangs them on hard surfaces, we all decided little Beanie Babies from the flea market would be a good choice. Also, a ball and some Hot Wheels because duh. He was happy enough just having his big brother indulge him in a game of drop it from the highchair and have it retrieved for you. 

After presents I carved out the softest parts from the cake pans and layered them up with cream cheese frosting and told the kids that we were getting our own smash cakes. They got to add their own sprinkles and in the end it tasted just as good because cream cheese frosting covers a multitude of baking mistakes.

This boy was such a gift after a few years of wondering if we'd be able to add a third to our family and he loves his brother and sister like they hung the moon. I love being able to see how their relationships are already unique to each of them but real and true and thankfully mostly loving since he's not quite broken any of their stuff at this point.

The most special part of the day was when we were able to Face Time with three sets of family members and he took his first step, second step, and third step while we were on the phone with each of them. I kind of jumped the gun claiming he'd be walking by his first birthday but he helped me save face by technically attempting to all on his own. Thanks, buddy. 

I have never been more sleepy in my life but I've never been more aware of the sweetness the love of a child can offer as with my third. He's always wanting to be held but he's also always grabbing my face to offer a kiss. He still wakes me up a few times a night but he's got the brightest eyes for me each morning. He's teaching me so much about paying attention even though I can see how quickly this time flies in the form of my eight-year-old that towers above him. Weren't we just doing this for the first time?

I can't wait for all of the birthdays to come with this crew. SO many cakes in our future! My chances of getting it right one of these days is pretty good.

-Rachel

P.S. I recently posted about how this man almost came into this world at a school meeting the night he was born. Read about that here.