Remember these chairs from this post? Reader Wolfie and the Sneak kindly referred me to this site and pointed out that those chairs could be worth a fair bit of cashola. Well, we kept the chairs in the family and they went to HandyMan's cousin (we simply have no more room here with Chloe's swing and bouncy chair and playmat and toys strewn about!) so I guess we'll never find out what they could have sold for. Too bad...we could have used the funds for another room renovation, haha!
I've spent the better part of the last three hours with a baby in my arms, rocking her to sleep. I needed it today just as much as she did. She, fighting an eye infection, forced to feed from a bottle when all she's known was the warmth of her mother's busom, missing her mommy...maybe...hopefully. Me, leaving my little one in the care of her Grandma, while I dive in the waters and start my new consulting business that will hopefully enable me to be a work-from-home mom when my maternity leave is up. I hate the thought of leaving her home when she's so young. I mean, just yesterday we had our first conversation, her and I taking turns speaking, neither one understanding the other, but connecting somewhere in the middle in a way that only mother's and baby's voices can. What other small miracles did I miss today? My heart breaks just a little.
My life is measured now in these brief moments... the months between her doctor's appointments when I can see how much she's gained and grown... the weeks that pass by, where the frenzy and unpredictability is replaced by calmness and routine... the days and nights of sleeplessness gracefully giving way to sleep and play ...the hours of laying beside her, feeding her, changing her, dancing singing reading to her, wondering what else I can do to keep this little creature happy and help her thrive... and the minutes where I hold her in my arms, waiting for her eyes to softly close and sleep to take hold, wanting those minutes to come quickly but wishing I could hold her like that forever.
Sleep baby, sleep.
With the new baby, not much renovating has been going on around Rambling Renovators. And the projects we do get to are taking soooo much longer to finish. I'm sure you parents out there can relate! So I'm really happy reveal something we managed to complete - the shelf in Chloe's room.
When I designed the whole built-in wardrobe / window seat area, I knew I wanted a shelf above the window. You can always use more storage in a kid's room and plus we didn't have anywhere to put the toys and books that Chloe would accumulate. HandyMan started by cutting a piece of plywood to fit the length of the window. By resting and screwing it into the top of the window frame, we'd have enough support along the length of the shelf for the baskets. The shelf was made 13" deep, deep enough for the baskets but not so deep that it would create a dark hole above the window and block off some of the sunlight. The variety in depth against the adjoining wardrobes also created a much more interesting design.
When I designed the whole built-in wardrobe / window seat area, I knew I wanted a shelf above the window. You can always use more storage in a kid's room and plus we didn't have anywhere to put the toys and books that Chloe would accumulate. HandyMan started by cutting a piece of plywood to fit the length of the window. By resting and screwing it into the top of the window frame, we'd have enough support along the length of the shelf for the baskets. The shelf was made 13" deep, deep enough for the baskets but not so deep that it would create a dark hole above the window and block off some of the sunlight. The variety in depth against the adjoining wardrobes also created a much more interesting design.
HandyMan added a 3" strip of plywood across the front to mimic the shaker details in the window seat. A small one inch strip was added underneath the left and right ends of the shelf to provide additional support. We found a nice chrome curtain rod at West Elm and mounted that directly to the face of the window frame. The curtains our seamstress made looked great hanging off the shiny rings. Now its the perfect inviting space. I can picture Chloe sitting there when she's older, reading her favourite book.
One little faux pas though... the curtains were made before we knew where the curtain rod would be hung and our measurements were wrong. Not a big deal, we'll just have to get them shortened. Just one more thing to add to the project list!
The Top 10 things that tell me Chloe is lucky to have HandyMan as her dad:
- He won't hesitate to change her diaper - no matter how messy it may get
- He rushes home every day just to see Chloe's smiling face
- He saved all his Dr. Seuss books knowing someday he would get to read them to his own little one - and now he does just that!
- He always puts mommy and baby first and makes sure we are healthy, loved, and safe.
- When mommy is breastfeeding, HandyMan will take care of whatever else needs to be done like cooking dinner, doing laundry, cleaning the house.
- He doesn't mind carrying Chloe up on his shoulder when she doesn't want to lie in her stroller.
- HandyMan put Chloe's nursery together, doing the painting, building the window seat, and assembling the wardrobes all by himself because mommy couldn't help with anything
- HandyMan is the "Chloe Whisperer". He can rock and shush Chloe to sleep in no time!
- When Chloe wakes for her 5am feed, HandyMan gets up too because he knows that's when Chloe's best giggles happen and he doesn't want to miss any of them
- Chloe is the first baby that HandyMan ever held in his arms. And now, that is Chloe's favourite place to fall asleep.
The best sound in the world to my mama ears!
Chloe isn't the only thing growing around the HandyLuster household. Our garden you could say, needs some attention. While HandyMan has been focused on clearing out all the boxes of hand-me-downs from Mama HandyMan, I've been trying to get dishes, laundry, and some blogging done in those brief moments when Chloe isn't asking to be fed/changed/held/rocked/played with.
So we've let Mother Nature do her thing. Apart from cutting the lawn, we haven't touched the garden since last fall! No weeds have been pulled nor bushes trimmed. And luckily, the garden hasn't died despite our black thumbs. You'll have to thank the previous owner Kiki for that. She was a master gardener so we a beautiful variety of flowers sprouting all summer long. Here's what's in bloom right now. I won't name names because beyond the roses and peonies, I have no clue what these lovely flowers are :-o
Yes, the giant rose bush is threatening to eat our car!
Chloe is two months old today. She's a fun little girl right now, full of smiles and bright-eyed wonder. Every day is a challenge and a surprise - I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next!
Here is the birth announcement I created and gave out to friends and family. Just one of a million photos I've taken of her :)
Here is the birth announcement I created and gave out to friends and family. Just one of a million photos I've taken of her :)
I'm loving...
...this curtain panel from Pier 1 (it would look so sweet in a nursery!) ...this party garland (via The Purl Bee)...and this little one.Have a good weekend!
There has been a lack of posting around these parts lately. HandyMan and I
have been tied up with the selling of Mama HandyMan's house. She lived in the
house for 40 years so you can imagine the amount of packing, purging, and
cleaning we've had to do
Luckily, the house sold in no time (we even had multiple offers in this
depressed market!), but closing was quick with only two weeks for us to clear
out the old homestead. Not an easy feat with a newborn and HandyMan busy at
his day job. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do though. The closing was yesterday
(yay!) but we're left exhausted and HandyMan and I have had to fight fevers
and chills over the past few days. It was all worth it though because we
managed to unearth some hidden treasures in the move.
This is one of my favourites. This doll bed and vanity was handmade by Great Grandpa HandyMan. Mama HandyMan used to play with it as a young girl and with a little bit of cleaning up, Chloe will play with it someday too!
I love the craftsmanship - the arched feet of the vanity, the hinged mirror,
the curved headboard. The bed features worn wallpaper appliques and can expand
to house two dolls. The vanity is sweet as can be; there is the same damask
wallpaper applique on the top and the drawers and mirror are all in working
order.
Don't you just love the crystal knobs :) We've never refinished furniture
before so this will be a fun little project. It'll be nice too for Chloe to
have a piece of family history.