Noe News is Good News

Our Playroom!!!

The playroom has been a work in progress since we moved here... not much has really changed, but I did put together an Alphabet wall and refinished the table and a few chairs (since Joselyn ruined the table with finger nail polish!) Whatever I did has seemed to work because the kids are always playing up there now and don't need me to constantly entertain them. It's the sweetest thing to hear them playing nicely upstairs together- making each other "food" and all that.

OK. So the Alphabet wall. I love the way an alphabet wall takes up so much space on a wall- makes it easy to fill up space. But I actually did this for more than aesthetic reasons. I was wanting to help Joselyn and Landen have better letter recognition and thought this would be a fun way. And it is! The whole thing cost me about $75- and I could have done it for cheaper if I hadn't been so anxious about getting it done! If you can wait for the right time, you can get a lot of letters for about 50% off at Hobby Lobby- which is where I got most of my letters. For variety, I also got a few at Michaels and Urban Outfitters. Other good sources are Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn and even Land of Nod. I then painted them, or modge podged scrapbook paper onto them and it was done!

I threw a bunch of pillows and beanbags together as a place to read. My kids were never much into books, but I've been trying to read them more with them and so they actually will sit through a whole book or 2 or 3 now! They will even look though and read themselves sometimes. Small steps!

On the other side of the playroom is just a wall to display pictures and drawings. I got the little clips for dirt cheap clearance at Land of Nod.







I am so eclectic in my design sometimes... which is why the chairs don't match even though the table came with matching chairs. I think the fact that the table is blue has encouraged the kids to use it more- I know that's a super strange idea but they suddenly want to use it all the time.

Landen, I so love you little buddy. You are so adorable.



Joselyn, you are always making me smile and I love you very much too!



I think I love Joselyn's play desserts more than she does. Just the cutest stuff ever!



I really love this little space and I'm so glad Joselyn and Landen like it too! I plan to spend lots more time in here playing with them! And gosh it feels so good to be organized in here and have a place for every little thing! You should see the closet- lots of little labeled bins. So perfect.

What do I do now?

Kids are at my in-laws and I am home "de-stressing".  Usually when I send my kids off it's because I have a photo shoot or something else pressing to do... but this time I feel like I'm cheating. I told myself I wasn't going to do anything, at least for today, that could be considered stress inducing. No work, no cleaning, no worrying about anything. So I get to do what I want today. Funny that I find myself in front of the computer. It could partly be the fact that Adam is home and he is in the office working so I wanted his company. But I also think it hints at what I *think* makes me happy, and it makes me laugh. Can anyone guess what I am doing online right now? It's an awful obsession... looking at cute valentines day stuff, cute kids clothes and rooms. I promise I won't be on long... and that I will take some time to read a favorite magazine or start a book. Or even watch a movie that I want to watch.

I Don't really feel like taking a nap, which is something a lot of people would recommend, I'm sure, but I went to bed at 9pm last night. That's SOOOO early for me and I ended up waking again at 3am to my side hurting again, my lymph nodes swollen and my back tingling. I got my iPad out and starting reading about shingles and came to the conclusion that I never had a pulled muscle. I think it was all shingles to start with. I read that sometimes the pain, depending on where it is, can be mistaken for pulled muscles or even heart attacks. It would explain why it was so so tender to the touch when Adam tried to massage it out. It would also explain why it is starting to tingle again. Everything I read started bothering me and I couldn't go back to sleep so I woke Adam up and he gave me a blessing. I seriously love that man. He was able to calm me down and help me feel better. I was then able to go back to sleep and wake up at 7:30am- which I consider sleeping in.

It's actually nice to start thinking about Valentines Day. I love the holiday that celebrates love and I love the combination of red and pink. Wanna see what has been making me happy today- and helping me de-stress?

The following bedding and clothes from Room Seven- a clothing line I stumbled on this morning. CUTE.

 



Martha Stewart

 









From here and there- can't remember where.

I started an anti-viral today that is supposed to help with the pain and hopefully heal things sooner. But that's another story in itself... we've had a little bit of bad luck with our new insurance coverage. Like, it doesn't exist. No stress today so I won't talk about it right now. I'd rather look at pretty things!

Fall Decorating :)

I was afraid for a day or two that fall was totally going to be overlooked this year. It's like it went from being 90 to cold and dreary with no beautiful cool crisp fall weather in between! But today is beautiful and I am starting to think that it's going to be here after all- and I am SO happy about that! There is something about fall that makes me want to be a better person. It's my favorite time of the year- a time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And it's not too hot or cold to go outside for some exercising either! Oh- and General Conference. In the spirit of improving things, I decided to spruce up our front porch with fall!

Yesterday I took the kids to Boyd Orchards to pick out some pumpkins- and just get away and enjoy them. I didn't even take my camera- mostly because I knew I'd be going back again! My favorite was my WHITE pumpkin and my yellowish one with green stripes! I then took them to Lowe's this morning and found some terra cotta pots for $9 that I thought were AWESOME and some mums. We also went to Kroger- because they have some beautiful mums right now too in the deep red I was looking for. We then went home, dug out all of our dead summer flowers and replaced them with the beautiful mums. Each of the kids had their own little shovel and enjoyed helping out- it was so cute. Too bad my hands were super dirty and I didn't want to handle my camera!! 

You can ask anyone- this is a MAJOR improvement from yesterday! But I'm really not finished... because I am planning on getting MORE pumpkins soon and doing a few things to those orange pumpkins with the kids. I found some fun ideas off a blog that I love by Amy Atlas (a party planner I adore!!!)

My favorites are the chalkboard and metallic orange pumpkins- I'm TOTALLY going out to get some orange metallic paint and chalkboard paint!!!

Our House: The Playroom

One of the reason's I fell in love with this house was the loft area at the top of the stairs. It's a perfect little area for a playroom. The playroom also still needs some work, but the kids love to play here!

I got the shelf at IKEA as well as the little table and chairs. I have a huge Canvas of Joselyn hanging above it, and plan to put one of Landen next to it- just waiting for the right picture. (it also acts as a sample to show my photography clients) I got the baskets from various places on sale or I already had them. I like the random look of the different baskets, and it helps me to keep toys organized!

On the opposite wall I have their reading area. I found some cheap bean bag chairs at Meijer and the kids LOVE them! I also started a gallery wall above the reading area for the kids' art projects. The little fishy was Joselyn's first art project at preschool!

Our House: Joselyn's Room

I'm not quite satisfied with Joselyn's room yet. There is a lot missing and a few projects I want to finish, but it's still pretty cute so I thought I'd share.

You may remember the picture I posted of Joselyn's bed from before... well things got changed around a little bit. Joselyn pulled some of the flower garland down and tore them up. It broke my heart... so I tried something different. I moved the bed and tied the flower garland back together and draped it over the curtains behind her bed. It's much simpler but I love it just as much. I also found a really cute "love" pillow at Home Goods I had to have... it was also another item I had my eye on for a while then happened upon it when it was on clearance. Yay!



The pink elephant, which you may remember, was a gift to Joselyn when she was born.

I wanted Joselyn's room to have a few bird things in there... I had purchased some cute bird cages from the flea market I wanted to use too (but I'm still trying to incorporate them in there). I did, however, make these little bird prints using scrapbook paper.





The tall chest next to her bed... well, don't know what I want to do with that. I don't really like the color, and I don't know if I even like it at all. I really want to find some cute side tables. But this is what I'm doing for now. I have a cute little Salt Lake temple print that I purchased from Persimmon and Pink's etsy shop that I really love hanging over the tall chest right now. I tell Joselyn that's where princesses get married :) She loves it too. I love her little clothes quilt that my friend Andrea made for me... just still not sure that's where I want it (on the wall). And her other wall is completely empty. So yeah, Joselyn's room still needs a little work.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

Our House: Landen's Room

Nothing is ever complete when it comes to decorating for me. I get tired of the same thing so I am always adding things, taking stuff away, moving things around... but I was thinking it's about time to share some pictures of the house. I am pretty happy with the kids' rooms and the playroom right now, so I thought I would start with them.

Landen's Room:

I did a lot of personal projects in both kids' rooms. I love the look of random letters spelling out words and names, so I decided to go with that for Landen's room above his crib- a little more modern and boyish, ya know? I got most of the letters at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.

I got that little gray rug at Target on clearance. It was funny because I had had my eye on it for a loooong time while it was full price. I thought the colors looked so good together and perfect for a boys room. (Turquoise-y blue, orange and grays) I decided green would go well too. I also have a loose elephant theme in his room because, well, I have a lot of elephant stuffed animals that people have given me!



I am in love with IKEA. I got most of the frames in my house from there, as well as the train set and road rug. The road rug was a steal at $14! I got the toy baskets at Land of Nod- a favorite online store of mine. I got the book shelf on sale at Target- as well as the fabric drawers. 

A few other art projects for Landen's room. I had seen a lot of shops on Etsy that took scriptures or sayings and turned them into word art and I really liked the modern look of them. So I designed my own using scriptures that I thought were "manly" and that would hopefully someday inspire Landen. I found the dresser on the side of the road near my in-laws house. I took it, painted it black and added some cute white knobs with blue polka dots.

 

The Elephant print was also a handmade art piece by me. Adam (kind of) and I worked on it together for date night on Friday. I got poster board, drew the shape of an elephant then started tearing up pages from old magazines. I love how it turned out!

Joselyn's new (big girl) bed!

Situations with sleeping arrangements around the Noe Household has been a little crazy the past few months. First Landen was in a pack n' play (since the day he was born) while Joselyn was in the crib. When we moved to our new house, it stayed that was for a week or two- then we took the small mattress out of the crib and laid it on the floor for Joselyn. THEN we put Landen in the crib and Joselyn in a pack n' play (her request plus we didn't have the mattress anymore or a bed to put her in). Yep, crazy.

Well, when she started climbing out of her pack n' play a few days ago, I decided it was about time to move her to the big girl bed finally. I already knew exactly what I wanted because I have been planning her room for months as well. So at the last minute yesterday, I dropped the kids off at Adam's parents and took the almost 2 hour drive to IKEA. I had never been there before... but have been drooling over their stuff for years! It was an awesome experience. Their showrooms were inspiring and even the food was good there! I want to decorate my whole house with their (inexpensive!!) stuff!

Anyway, I got a LOT of stuff at a little price and came home really excited to put Joselyn's room together! While I went to pick the kids up, Adam put the bed together (easy as can be!) and then we surprised Joselyn with the completed project. 

Her first night in her bed went very smoothly. But it didn't really surprise me because I have known for a long time that she was ready.

This morning, my sister Chelsea met up with me and we went to Home Goods in search of the perfect bedding for Joselyn. I had a very specific look in my head. I actually was starting to lean towards an all-white bed with colorful throw pillows and such. But when Chelsea pointed out  *this* bedding, I knew it was IT. It was whimsical and colorful which was perfect for her very light room- and her personality! AND it matched the flower garland I'd been wanting to use! IT's just perfect. And a very nice price tag too! I had looked EVERYWHERE- and even my beloved Target couldn't follow through!

I decided to get Joselyn a Queen Size bed for many reasons. A lot of people have asked so I will explain.

1. It will grow with her way beyond Teenage years if she wants to. If not I'll keep it for a guest bedroom :) I love it!

2. She is less likely to fall off because she'll have plenty of room!
3. It's easier to cuddle and talk with her at night when I am putting her to bed. I just lay down beside her and we talk about our day and I sing her some songs. It's wonderful.

She looks so tiny in it, but it's precious.

I finally decided on what to do with the Garland- I think. I might need to let it sit for a while. But I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Honest opinions anyone?? I still have a lot to do in her room before it's complete- lots of little projects and even more pillows on her bed! but now you have a little glimpse.

I'm glad this transition has gone smoothly because there are a few ahead in the recent future that won't be so easy and I am NOT looking forward to it!

Moving! Like, SOON!

After almost a year of being on the market our sweet little town home (always choatic and cluttered little town home too) finally SOLD! The buyer is a gal probably in her late twenties early thirties who apparently comes from a pretty wealthy family. Her dad bought her our home and is paying in CASH. This pretty much means that SHE gets to decide when to close on the house, and she decided that she wanted to have the keys in her hand NEXT WEEK. Yeah, I'm not sure if she really cared that we didn't have a lot of notice or a place to move into yet right away, or that we had two small children whose schedules were going to be knocked off crazy because of a quick move. I guess I'll forgive her... I AM kind of glad to finally be out!

As I was packing today in Joselyn's room, a rush of memories flooded through me and I kind of got a little sad. I was taking down the letters to her name above her crib that I had made for her...

 

thinking about how we put so much into making her nursery a comfortable sweet place to be... and I thought about our anticipation for our first little baby in the Noe household.

Yes, a little tinge of sadness comes with knowing that the walls will be painted over, the Pergo flooring we put so much effort into being torn out...  yes, there is that tinge of sadness. (and it's funny to think I used to make fun of all those home-owners on Moving Up for getting all upset about things being changed in their old house!)

But there is definite good that comes from all of this. A bigger house. A fenced in yard. A garage for both of our vehicles- and enough room for the kids to have their own rooms, a play room AND for me to have my own office. This house was a blessing for us to find, and I thought I'd share a few pictures from the internet:

Awww.... my backyard. I am so looking forward to spending my days back here with the kids! And you KNOW I can't wait to decorate!!

We can't move in to our new home until the beginning of June, so for the next few weeks we will be staying in the basement of my mother-in-laws home. I hope they can stand us!!

Landen's room

I'm also hoping Landen will get his own room soon, and have been dreaming up something for him as well! My inspiration comes from a rug I saw at Target although I can't find it on their website.  It's gray with orange, blue, and green squares.

His whole life he's slept in a pack-n'-play in our room. Terrible I know... but it's all we've had room for! When we get a larger place and Joselyn gets her big girl bed, Landen will be getting Joselyn's black crib.

Inspiration for his bedding comes from these sets from Land Of Nod... if I can find some solid toddler bedding, I would probably attempt something like this.





I love the ball throw pillows above... and it would be perfect for Landen because he LOVES balls!

My good friend Anna does some awesome artwork for children... I love her sports collections for Landen's room!

 

I have to include this one... I'm in love with it!

I'm honestly all about simplicity in boys' rooms so they wouldn't be much else. Maybe a small basketball hoop for him or something :)

Dreaming up a room for Joselyn

Time is getting close for the time to put Joselyn in a new big girls bed. She is just about ready. So I think this also deserves a room redesign... and you know I'm excited about that ;) I've found a few things already I'm pretty crazy about. Her room will pretty much be MY dream room... but it will be fit for the little girly girl that Joselyn is too!

I'll start off with white walls and this bed from IKEA ($89 for a full!!!) Maybe I'll spray paint it a rustic black/brown? I may keep it white though.

 

Then for the bedding I have a few choices... but since they are mostly more expensive than the bed, I may just have to get my mom to help me make a duvet cover using these as inspiration. (will you, mom? Would these be easy to recreate?)

Anthropologie:


Urban Outfitters:


West Elm I am leaning towards this one the most. I think the gray will look much better against the white.


Then there's this one that I discovered from a new place today- Restoration Hardware. Strange name for a place that carries such beautiful things! I love the dust ruffle.
 

Lots of pretty throw pillows of course (there are from pottery barn teen) :







I would also like to incorporate my aerie garland in somehow... although the walls will be white, I want there to be lots of colorful accents. I may hang some in rows behind her bed, or above her bed. Haven't decided. I also like the idea of using some of these blooms for a pillow.

 

And here are a few more pictures that I will draw inspiration from (wish I knew where I got the pictures-sorry!):