It’s been a while since I’ve done a little Friday Features post but today felt like a good day for one. I occasionally like to do these posts with the little things that have happened lately that haven’t warranted a full blog post but I still want to talk about – some of the small tweaks that have happened around the home, a couple projects I’m planning, and a few personal family things. It’s basically a little round-up of life lately!
Thrifted Side Table
Back in 2020 when we renovated our office, I thrifted a vintage yellow chair that was love at first sight. I envisioned a little round side table with some character tucked up next to it, but all I had at the time was a small square table we picked up in the early days of our marriage. I decided to put the square table there as a placeholder while I searched for the perfect round table. While I haven’t necessarily been diligently searching this entire time, I have been keeping my eye out online, at yard sales, and in thrift stores ever since. I squealed when I finally saw this $30 table posted a couple weeks ago in a Facebook yard sale group. I asked my sister if she would be willing to pick it up (it was for sale in her town – 500 miles from me!) and she brought it out last weekend. The long search paid off: this is just what I envisioned for the space and I love it so much!
Wallpaper in the Kids Room
A few weeks ago I made some upgrades to the kids’ shared bedroom including new beds, bedding, and artwork. I mentioned that I have some other plans up my sleeve and one of them is…wallpaper! I am going to take this wall behind the dresser and add a fun wallpaper to bring some playfulness to the space. I selected one of the four options shown above and it is scheduled to arrive in the next two weeks. I’m excited!
Window Treatments
Another change happening in the kids room is with their window treatments. I ordered blackout blinds for each window and installed them (myself!) a few days ago. I decided to just take the curtains down to see how it looked without, and I think it reaffirmed the need for curtains, but I need to find different ones. The ones I had previously were only 84″ and the curtain rod wasn’t extendable so they were really limited – I think something I can hang high and wide will really help the space. I think I found some that will work so it’s just a matter of waiting for them to arrive and see!
In-Law Visit
My in-laws came to visit this past week! We haven’t seen them in person since Christmas so it was great to get lots of quality time together. The kids loved getting to play lots of games, show them all their toys, and have them be part of their daily lives. It was a great visit and we’re feeling thankful! I was especially thankful that the extra hands meant I had some help with the kids and could start working on my sister’s nursery dresser while they played with the kids š
Pandemic Reflections
Speaking of my sister’s nursery dresser, this week I’ve been reflecting a lot on the last nursery dresser I made back in March 2020. Yep, you read that right. March 2020. I was working on a nursery dresser for my brother and sister-in-law when the pandemic began. My in-laws were visiting at the time. We watched on TV as everything shut down – no March Madness, no sports at all, nothing. Our travel plans for the following week were cancelled. It was a pretty confusing and scary time! And now here I was, the exact same weekend two years later. Working on a nursery dresser with my in-laws in town. Except this time, we were two years into a global pandemic. It was surreal to say the least.
Google Photos has been showing me lots of photos from two years ago and I have to say, it’s a bit triggering. Looking back on what life was like, knowing what was to come and we just had no idea . . . it’s a lot to process. I think most days, I’m looking forward instead of looking backwards. In the little people years, the heavy demand of life with two small children means I am often just trying to do the best I can each day, getting through one day at a time. But the days are long and the years truly are short, and milestones like this cause me to pause and look back. On the one hand, I cannot believe it’s been two years of a pandemic, and on the other, it feels like we’ve been doing this forever. Two years of navigating the ever-changing public health recommendations, two years of sifting through information to try and make the best decisions for my family, two years of weighing risk before deciding on activities (masks, indoor vs. outdoor, size of gatherings, number of cases in the area, ability to distance, etc.) A missed Thanksgiving due to testing positive. Easter over Zoom with my extended family. Tears of relief when I walked in to finally get my vaccination. Learning what an N95 is and how to give myself an at-home COVID-19 test. Every runny nose and slight cough has become something to monitor closely in my kids. And seeing pictures of my kids just before the pandemic hit makes me really realize how much of their young lives have been encompassed by this. They haven’t experienced many things I thought they would in these little years – beginner sport activities and playdates with new friends and library story time and trips to the science museum and traveling to new places in the world. There are so many things that they don’t think are strange but just a part of normal life: people wearing masks, stickers for where to stand six feet apart, dividers separating us from the cashiers at the grocery store, etc. I think I don’t always process something as I’m living it, but taking a moment to stop and think about it does bring me a little shock.
There are so many things to be grateful for. I’m grateful for our health and that when we did test positive last year, our symptoms were all mild and short-lived. I’m grateful for the ability to work from home. I’m thankful for our home and the safe place to live and stay during this wild time. But it’s also been a really stressful, anxiety-inducing, scary, and sad two years filled with political bickering, misinformation, confusion, and the tragic loss of many many lives. The pandemic years have changed our lives and the world we live in in so many ways and I know this whole experience will continue to be something I have to process for many years to come.
Baby #3 Reveal!
And to end on a more uplifting note, we had our gender reveal while my in-laws were out here! While we didn’t find out in advance for the first two kids, since this is more than likely our last pregnancy, we decided to find out this time. Justin and I found out first and then decided to have a small reveal so we asked my parents to come out while his parents were here too. We kept things very small and low-key and had the kids open a box with colored balloons inside. It was fun and we are all very excited! I’m hoping to share that news here soon so stay tuned. š
simplify the chaos 
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