We finally feel like it's a bedroom!

We have lived in our house for 5 years and never once had a headboard on our bed. Part, was because our bed was first a queen size bed, then a queen with a bonus twin next to it (Will had a nickname for that monstrous bed which shall remain our secret) and finally we have a king size bed. After many different configurations, depending on how many children we had and how many were in our bed, we are settled now with the king and no extra children sleeping regularly in our bed. We felt it was high time to have a headboard. I was tired of parading people through our room, which has the patio door to the backyard in it, and feeling like I was always explaining our current sleeping situation. Will and I decided that all the kids had their big kid beds and we wanted one too. So, I did some research and we decided of course to do a DIY headboard, using a solid wood door. We painted it a fabulous red to add a pop of color to our room. A little research on how to hang it and we were golden. The headboard cost us a total of $23, door $0 (salvaged before it headed to the landfill in a local town), paint $8, and french cleat $15. Can you believe it? I think that is pretty good and we love the finished product. What's even better is that I have found my sense of decorating style, making old things new again! I love to salvage and repurpose and anytime I can do that I will. Check out our new headboard....seriously my picture doesn't do it justice.

Repurposed projects!

So, I have been repurposing old items. I love antique items and love to find new uses for them. We used antique levels and added coat hooks to make our entryway simple and functional.

We needed a new key hook. We were at an antique store and I thought, what about a cribbage board? Then we stumbled upon a really pretty maple one. We added bronze hooks and here is what we ended up with. I love repurposing.

Fun letter play with Giggles!

Here is what I did with Giggles and Sunshine one morning for at least an hour. I can't wait to print these and frame them! Giggles was so proud....we even took a pic of one for our best buddy and texted it to him. It was a nice birthday treat for our buddy. We did one for all of the kids. I posted Daddy's.

2011 A year in review!

I have been meaning to start blogging again but it seems there is rarely anytime. I have also been meaning to recap 2011 and here we are 3 months into 2012 and I am finally getting to it.

2011 proved to be an extremely crazy roller coaster for us. However, it was sort of like the month of March...it came in like a lion and out like a lamb. By the end of the year Will and I finally felt like we were in control of our own lives again.

January:

Will & Jenn turn 33 & 34 respectively, seriously are we that old.

We celebrate Speedy's 5th birthday!

We wait and wait in hopes to hear we can head back to Ethiopia to bring Sunshine home.

February:

More waiting and watching our adoptive friends receive word they can travel back to bring their babies home....so happy for them but so hard for us.

March:

After a long month of Tuesday after Tuesday going by we finally received word on March 30 that we had a VISA appointment. We were to leave for Ethiopia on April 13th!!!! Oh the joy & relief we finally felt but still I didn't let my guard down. Too many things had been going wrong this time around.

April:

Talk of government shutdown threw Will and I into a tizzy and we wondered what would happen if the government shutdown. We decided we would go to Ethiopia anyhow, at least we would be there once the government re-opened.

Lucky for us the government didn't shutdown but we watched every political website on the night of April 8th until we were certain the shutdown had been avoided. I think we finally had a glass of champagne in honor of our trip that night.

April 13, we leave for Ethiopia to bring home our baby girl and boy oh boy that day couldn't have been any sweeter.

April 22, we came home with baby girl in our arms....it was a happy day!

April 24, we had to call in some help. Despite our best efforts Will and I were quickly falling behind and the house was deep in dishes, laundry and other chores our jetlagged selves just couldn't handle. In our attempts to keep all 3 kids happy we were drowning...seriously. Will's mom came down to help because she had the time available and she did what needed to get done so I could focus on the kids.

May:Home 1 month and it was quite a transition for all of us...we are of course still transitioning.

June: Summer is starting soon and it will be a full summer with all 5 of us home. We can't wait but know we still need to focus on attachment and bonding since little Sunshine has barely been home a month. Eli learned to ride a two wheeler!! It took him 5 days...seriously that was it....I know it took me a lot longer.

July: We have spent lots of time at the pool and you can tell because the boys have become little fish. We went from not wanting to stick our heads in to swimming under the water, jumping in and attempting actual strokes. Sunshine is a daddy's girl but is slowly coming around to momma too. She is our little ray of sunshine. Sunshine attended her first 4th of July parade.

August: More pool time, a little camping, and all the summer activities we can think of in the greater Madison area! Uncle Josh came to visit and meet Sunshine! We had so much fun and they all missed him when he left.

September:

Speedy starts kindergarten and Giggles starts preschool. Little Sunshine just holds her own and they all have now transitioned to their family niche and are getting along as any siblings would.

October:

Sunshine's first Halloween and she kept up with those boys trick-or-treating. We thought she would be more reserved during our night time trick-or-treat ritual but she literally ran behind the boys almost the whole way. She insisted on going up to every door and at the house where they let her pick what she wanted she chose a regular sized snicker bar. Loved this Halloween...it was by far our best one yet. The boys had the cutest costumes, made by their Nana, and had such a great time.

November:

17th-Sunshine turns 2! We were going to do a big party but decided she wasn't ready for it so we opted for the usual family party. That was just her speed and even that was a little much for her.

Thanksgiving-Sunshine meets Uncle Ben.

December:

3rd-Giggles turns 4! We had a Packer party during the Packer game...it was like heaven to Giggles...seriously he loved it.

24th-Sunshine's 1st Christmas with the Nana & Papa.

25th-Sunshine's 1st Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa!

Such a fun Christmas with all 3 kids.

That's our year in review....it was seriously in like a lion and out like a lamb. 2011 we will never forget it!