Itty Bitty: The Living Room

On to the living room!  Once again, the pictures make the home look a bit more spacious than it actually is.  The first few photos were taken with my back up against the front door.  No entry way here; just walk right in to the madness!  Of course, I snapped these shots just after cleaning the house, but on the average day you would walk into this room covered in toys.  Enter at your own risk :)  

As you can see, it is just one cozy living space with the family room opening right up to the dining area and kitchen.  

Our halls are decked for Christmas, but otherwise the mirror is really the only decor aside from the items on the bookcase.  I am starting to like the pared-down, simple aesthetic and I have a feeling I'll be getting rid of a lot of my decorative items once we get them out of storage.  There really isn't anything that I miss other than some of our framed photos and art work.  

I was originally worried about how we would fit a Christmas tree in this tiny space.  Then I just decided to spit in the face of our little home and get a big ole tree anyway!  The top is seriously one inch from the ceiling, and in person it looks like the tree is just bursting forth from the little corner we shoved it into.  I just love having a real, big Christmas tree and decided to go for it despite our small space!  

We moved the other chair out to the garage to accommodate the tree, so imagine a pair of chairs by the windows when it isn't the holidays.  

I didn't get a photo facing the armoire, but just to the right of that piece is the hallway to the bedrooms and bathroom.  

This is the wall just to the left of the archway into the kitchen.  We're rocking the felt kiddie tree a la Pinterest (which Riggins is totally uninterested in!), and our display of Christmas cards (Which is much more impressive now than when this photo was taken.  I think getting Christmas cards is one of my favorite things about this season!).

And here is the hallway back to the bedrooms.  You can kind of see that there is one small closet on the left, and then two sets of cabinets and drawers, one on each side.  We have totally maximized these spaces!  The hall closet holds coats, bags, the vacuum, and the typical hall closet stuff.  The cabinet and drawers on the left serve as the "pantry," "office," and "craft room."  The cabinets and drawer on the left store linens.      

That's it for living areas!  On to the bedrooms and bath next!  

Itty Bitty: The Kitchen

Now that I've told you about our itty bitty rental, I thought I'd finally get around to showing you some pictures of the place!  If you also live in a small or temporary space, you might be able to pick up a few ideas from our life in 800 square feet.

I'll start with the kitchen since it is my favorite room in the house and also the only room in which I have done any real decorating (i.e., hanging things on the walls).  Somehow these photos make the kitchen look larger than it is.  Rest assured that it gets very cozy in here!

Here is the view from the front door/living room, and a look at my best piece of organization/storage/decorating advice for small spaces.  Store stuff on the walls!  Sure, my collection of pewter platters looks decorative, but I really hung them up just to have a place to put them.  I have always been nervous to hang dishes on the walls and was so surprised by how easy it was.  I used spring loaded plate hangers from Lowe's and "gorilla hooks" that hold up to 50 pounds.  It was so easy that I was embarrassed it took me so long to do it; these would have looked so pretty in our Memphis kitchen!  

  

Here is the actual kitchen.  A nice, cozy little galley.  The cabinet space is just right for everything we need, and I have a bit of space in the garage for all of those kitchen things that I use less often (the blender, electric griddle, bundt pan, cookbooks, etc.).  

Now here is the big frustration with the kitchen that you probably didn't even notice.  If you look closely, you will see that the cabinets are very low.  So low that you cannot fit ANY appliance under them!  I can't even have my coffee pot out on the counter!  What is sad is that they could have easily mounted them to the ceiling, but since they centered them you can't really use the space above or below the cabinets.  Oh, and the landlord cheaped out on his kitchen renovation and opted for the "modern" look of going sans drawer or cabinet pulls; it may look nice and clean, but it sure is annoying!

The cabinets on the stove side are a smidge higher and can fit my Kitchenaid mixer, but of course there is no outlet on that wall!  Any time I want to bake I have to move the mixer across the kitchen, but I have to have pulled all of my ingredients out of the cabinet first because once the mixer is over there I can't open the cabinets without moving the mixer again!  I've found my groove for working with it now, but the first few attempts at cooking in here involved a bit of cursing ;)  

The kitchen was the only room in the house that did not have blinds.  We needed a window treatment for privacy, but I did not want to spend much since it is just a rental.  I opted to buy a couple of cute tablecloths from Target for about $16 each and used them to make curtains.  For the window behind the table I just cut one tablecloth in half lengthwise and hemmed it to form two panels that we mounted as curtains with clip rings.  

 Over the sink, I cut the tablecloth to the size of the window, hemmed it, and sewed a pocket in the top for a tension rod.  I then placed two more tension rods further down the window and draped the panel over them to form a faux Roman shade.  

 That door goes to the garage, which is ironically not large enough to hold a car!  That's fine with us since we needed the space for storage anyway.  My washer and dryer are out there too, and I have to say that my motivation for doing laundry has been pretty low with this cold weather lately!  Thankful to have a washer and dryer though, so I'll count my blessings!  

Now that Rhett is eating solids (p.s. the babe finally decided to eat!  Hooray!), the high chair is in that chair at the head of the table, so you get to do a cute little shimmy between the wall and the high chair if you want to get to the garage :)  

And here's my fun little chalkboard which enjoyed a past life as an ugly print from Goodwill.  I typically use it to write Riggins' little memory verses from BSF so that we can practice them during meals, but right now it's just spreading some Christmas cheer!  

Photos of the rest of the house to come!  

Rhett is 8 Months Old!

December 5, 2012

Dear Rhett,

Apparently your eighth month was one for getting down to business, because you sure accomplished a lot over the last several weeks!  In the course of one month you started crawling, learned to pull up, and cut your first tooth!  The world is your oyster now, little man, and not much is stopping you from getting into things, much to the chagrin of your older brother.  Riggins is not quite sure what to do with this newly mobile creature who innocently grabs for his toys.  I had not planned on becoming a referee this early in your relationship, but the time has come!  Just wait, baby brother.  A day will come when you will hold your own with that big brother of yours!

At eight months old you are wearing size 9 and 12 month clothing and a size 3 diaper.  People often comment on how long you are, although you have some cute chub to balance out your length!  You nurse about five times a day and still think that solid food is worthless.  I can occasionally get you to try a few bites of something, but you consistently respond as though I am poisoning you.  Frustrating as it may be, it is quite entertaining to feed you and watch your full-body shudders and repulsed facial expressions.  We're trying to be relaxed yet persistent in trying; surely you will come around one of these days!

Your sleeping is improving a bit, but you are still a restless sleeper who has a hard time getting yourself back to sleep after you've awakened in the night or from an interrupted nap.  You typically take two one-hour naps and then go to bed early, sleeping from 7ish to 8:00is.  You usually wake for a quick feeding around 11p.m. and then sleep til 5:45 or 6 when I bring you to bed to eat and snooze until Riggs wakes at 8.  But there is often some sort of interruption in that 11-6 stretch where you have a hard time settling back down.  You are definitely an "escalator" when it comes to crying; once you really get going it usually only gets worse!

This month you enjoyed two road trips.  Daddy and I took you on a whirlwind trip through Texas, visiting cousin Nelson at Texas A&M and watching him in his role as Head Yell Leader.  You tagged along to the Midnight Yell Practice at the stadium and were a total trooper as we joined 30,000 fans at the stadium in the dead of night!  We then headed up to Waco where you met lots of our friends from our Baylor days.  The trip was capped off with a stop in Dallas where we got to meet your new friends Jude and Sloane.  Riggins spent the weekend with Mama Anne and Papa Tom, so we loved spending a whole weekend with just our Rhettaroo!  The next weekend we headed to Arkansas for your first Thanksgiving!  You did not partake in the feast since you think food is silly ;)

You love bath time, being outside, Weber's paws, riding in the grocery cart, the music table, and sitting in your high chair as I cook.  You do not like being groomed, being rocked (you prefer to stand and sway), reading before bedtime (put down the book and put me in bed, lady!), eating, or getting in your car seat.  Although you smile if someone merely looks your way, we have to work really hard to get you to laugh.  You are honestly the most content, easy-going, happy baby I've ever seen (minus the whole sleeping thing!).

When I think of you at 8 months old, I want to remember how you scrunch your nose when you smile, how you laugh like Beavis and Butthead, how you giggle when I pretend that you have stinky feet, how you open your mouth wide when you're excited, how you bounce your arms at your sides when you're happy, and how you can scream like a crazy Jekyll and Hyde monster in the night!

I love you, buddy boo.

Momma

It's Alright to Be Little Bitty: Living in Small Spaces

There are a lot of things in life that are relative.  The size of your home is one of them.  In a previous post I mentioned some advice given by an interior decorator at a MOPS meeting.  She said that your home is like your wedding ring.  There will always be someone with a bigger, nicer one than yours, and there will always be someone with a smaller, cheaper one than yours.  It is just a fact of life, and the sooner you can find contentment with exactly what you have, the happier you will be.  That said, I realize that some might read this post and shake their heads a bit, but I'm going to write it anyway.  

We live in a little bitty rental house right now.  When we moved last summer, we not only added a person to our family, but we also decreased our square footage.  Currently, our little family of four and our 65 pound energetic dog are living in approximately 800 square feet.  (There's the part where my NYC friends laugh because that probably sounds like a lot of space to you!)  

I won't necessarily say that our house is too small, because we are definitely making it work.  Somehow the home managed to carve out three tiny bedrooms, so having a small space for each of us seems to help the feel of things.  We also have a garage and attic for storage and a large back yard.  Upon moving in, we promptly put the majority of our seasonal, sentimental, decorative, and otherwise non-essential items in the attic and garage.  I haven't done a whole lot of decorating in this place, partially because we will probably only live here for about a year and partially because the place is so small that there are only so many places to put things!  

If everything is in its place and the children are both asleep, all is well, but anyone who has ever been around a small child knows that a wee one can spin a tornado of stuff through a house in no time flat.  It is in those moments when I literally cannot walk through my home without stepping on something, or when a new item comes into the house and there is literally no where to put it, that I begin to struggle with frustration and contentment.  

There are quite a few perks to our little bitty space.  I can clean it in no time.  I can hear my children (or notice their silence, which is always concerning!) in any room of the house and usually guess what they are up to and whether or not I am needed.  The rent is super affordable.  Jonathan has a two minute commute.  I have a better idea of what things are essential in my home (I'm sure I will be doing a massive purge when we move again and go through all of those things that have been in storage!).  I know I will miss this simple time in our lives.   

But the biggest blessing of this little bitty home?  God has been revealing how much I have idolized the idea of a pretty home in a pretty neighborhood with pretty things.  In this Pinterest-crazed world, it is easy for my standard of normalcy to get nudged upward bit by bit, ever so subtly.  Contentment is conversely shoved downward and suddenly my expectations are distorted so beyond reality that I can hardly see straight.  Those entitlements and the grumblings of my heart against unmet expectations are sin, straight up, and they say that what God has provided for me in his grace is not good enough, big enough, pretty enough, cushy enough for my needs.  Yuck.  

Lord willing, we will someday buy a bigger home with space for two growing boys and their rowdy dog.  But God has been pressing on my heart that if I can't be content in this little space with his abundant blessings then I will not be content anywhere.  The choice to be content, and to go beyond contentment to gratitude and praise, can often be an hourly struggle for me.  But I am so thankful for the gut check brought by our time in this little house, and for a God who reveals the ugly areas of our hearts that we have failed to surrender, changing us through his power for his glory.   

I have a few practical tips that I have learned from living in a small space and downsizing our belongings by almost half.  I'll write a follow-up post on that soon, and will try to take some pictures to go along with it.  

Time is On My Side

I learned a new parenting trick recently.  It is one of those tricks that I'm sure many of you have already been smart enough to figure out, but it was groundbreaking for me and has been so helpful.  

I was at the playground recently and noticed another mom with her older children.  Suddenly, I heard that mom's phone ring.  She immediately held it up, called to her two boys, and said, "Ok guys, it's 3:30!  Time to go pick up your sister!"  They both stopped playing, ran to her, and they all proceeded to leave together without protest.  

I watched in awe.  

Setting your cell phone alarm for the time when you need to leave and then letting your phone be the bad guy, deferring any frustration away from you?  Genius!  Life with small children is all about choosing your battles, and I am totally fine with allowing a piece of technology win the occasional battle on my behalf.

Right then, I tried it.  Setting my alarm for 4:00, I called Riggins over to me and showed him my phone.  I told him that when the bell on Mommy's phone rang that it would be time to go bye-bye.  I even dubbed it the "Bye-Bye Bell."  He was free to play, but when it was about ten minutes until four I started giving him reminders every few minutes: "Riggins, when the bye bye bell rings it will be time to leave the playground and go home!"  "Riggins, just a few more minutes until the bye-bye bell!"  

When it rang, I held up the phone and announced to Riggs that the bye-bye bell was ringing.  I let it ring long enough to be sure that he actually heard the ring.  Then I started saying bye bye to everything at the playground as we usually do, and he immediately joined me in the farewells and followed me out of the playground without a fuss!  

I have used the "Bye Bye Bell" several times since then and it always works like a charm!  It is also good for me to avoid losing track of time and staying out too long (You know, so long that both kids fall asleep on the way home and then won't go back down when you get home?  Yeah, hate it when that happens!).  Just this morning we got to the zoo at 10 and I immediately set my alarm for 11:30.  We got home and fed just in time for both boys to go down without a fight.  

I'm sure I'll be finding lots of new ways to use my timer now that I know how well my child responds to it.  Do you have any tricks like that to share?  

(P.S. Regarding the title of this post... does anyone else immediately think of that creepy Denzel Washington movie "Fallen" when you hear that song?  You know, the one with the demon-possessed serial killer?  Haven't seen the film in years, and yet I still think of it and get freaked out every time I hear that song!)