The Room of Two Stooges

[This post title could mean Georgi and Margot's bedroom, but I'm talking the boys' combined/compiled bedroom.]

It's been about 3 months now that Oliver and Winston have been in the same bedroom (there's a peek when the room was just Winston's here. Oliver was on the landing area. I'm not totally proud of all my past design choices...but they're there) The boys are 7 years apart, Oliver will be 10 at the end of the month and Winnie will be 3 next week, so I wasn't sure how it would go. So far it's been fun to see them bond as brothers, not just a baby and a big boy. Little Winnie in that bed...looks like one of the seven dwarves crossed into Jack and the Beanstalk's story and took a nap in the giant's bed. P. S. he has only fallen out once.

{there's a light dusting of Christmas spread through these photos, like the beads across the window.}
Okay, I gave the curtains to the boys (remember my attachment? I re-dyed my old DIY panel in my bedroom and said see ya on the other floor to this pair). This curtain rod is some sort of pipe from Home Depot that was black already, hung by some wooden brackets that I spray painted. The beds. I saw them at the Habitat ReStore on a Saturday and bought one for a boy's (not mine) bedroom redesign I was doing. I didn't love it in the space, but I loved the beds so much I wanted them for my very own...but I only had one. Do you know how difficult it is on Sunday to wait for Wednesday when ReStore will be open?! Time stood still, friends. Alas, the twin of the twin bed was still resting comfortably at the store 4 days later! Sconce lights are from our favorite vendor at our favorite east coast flea market (I feel like I can say that because we actually did go to a few). The nightstand was a $7 garage sale find. I got one army blanket at a flea market and one from Ebay (is that gross? I didn't think it was until I wrote it..) The rest of the bedding is from Ikea.

That glorious vintage orange faux leather (too many oxymorons?) ottoman was also from Habitat. I am certainly not an expert at styling photos (I can't be an expert at everything, and I'm already pretty spectacular at iPhotography) plus I'm always trying to hustle before a kid streaks through the shot or throws something into it, so I notice annoying things in the pictures as I'm putting them on the blog. Like woof, wish I would have ditched that pillow or decluttered those shelves a little... But that's all treasure. That giant Chewbacca Pez dispenser? Treasure. Copper faced bread box? Filled with magical treasure. There's also a small collection of found things that I maybe talked about in Winnie's bedroom post. When we were remodeling our house we found lots of funny little cars maybe from the 50's, a baby-sized pipe (?), a little clock, some marbles, an airplane hood ornament from an old car. The horseshoes were in our barn. I also see Oliver's favorite children's book series on the shelf- Imagination Station from Adventures in Odyssey. I wish I would've taken a close up of the silver snowman..do you see him in front of the wooden trees (irony)? Oliver made that when he was so little- from 3 Styrofoam balls coated in glue and glitter, thin cardboard formed a hat, small screws for eyes, the lead of an orange colored pencil for his nose, maybe wire for his arms? The yellow frame has a picture of my dad when he was little. Obviously we're also featuring the O's little league baseball team.

Oh this poor ceiling fixture! There were two of these girls in the house when we bought it, but only enough unbroken glass shades to complete one fixture. I rewired it (!) and painted it and loved it. Then one day when my brother was so kindly getting Winnie out of his crib...he overestimated the distance between Win's head and the light. I don't think the baby dude felt it as much as the antique glass.

I didn't know how much I loved the new wall color until I looked back at the old. I can't remember what that wretched tan was called, but I never liked it. I painted it when I was 8.5 mos. pregnant with Winston- Christmas Eve 2013. The new paint is 'Moonshine' by Benjamin Moore. I've used it on a few bedrooms including my own. 

Oh my. My skillz pay the billz. General Mills called- they want their grain back. This is an attempt to feature the boys' built in closet and drawer situation. I took these photos a while ago intending to write a post about small space storage solutions. I know I'll win you with these cunningly professional pics. 

When we realized we couldn't do a conventional swinging door because of a light switch on one side of the doorway and closet on the other, Andrew built and installed  this sliding door. I had him do a vertical ship lap.

My other dynamic duo (Mo and Larry...I mean Georgi and Marg) will have a bedroom feature next week.

Winnie the Pooh

"As soon as I saw you I knew an adventure was going to happen."  A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

My wrinkled and worried little troll, moments after we met, 1-13-14.

One year later, 1-13-15.  

With Grandbobby, his birthday buddy.

After tasting the frosting, boy's excited about cake.  Proud mommy moment.  (big sister's photobombing snoot looks pretty proud, too.)

Just before Humpty Dumpty's great fall...

Get to know him-

• was born on Grandpa K's birthday, 55 years later.
• has a tall head (full of smarts).
• is the sweetest baby ever.  Oh but changing his diaper.. that's like the steer wrestling competition at the county fair.
• his favorite things are blankie, thumb, and smiling.
• he's not even close to walking.
• has the appetite of a high school athlete.
• has 10 teeth, arranged much like Oliver's and Marg's.
• sometimes called Winnie the Pooh, or Winnie the Poopy Berry by Marg (affectionately, obviously). 

Summer Livin' & Lovin' - in words

I know it's not classy to start every post with a 'sorry I haven't blogged in pert near a decade..'  Unfortunately it's usually appropriate.

Here's a list of major life events since last I wrote:

• FIRE.  My parents had a very serious house fire that started in or near the chimney (a hot topic between insurance companies, pun totally intended).  My dad is a think-on-his-feet kinda guy, so as soon as one of my brothers came down from his bedroom asking why it smelled like someone was roasting marshmallows, Dad was up there with both guns blazin'..uhh, I mean fire extinguishers extinguishing.  Thankfully the fire department (a small town volunteer crew) arrived quickly on the scene and working brilliantly, despite the wild west wind, settled the flames.  Praise Jesus my little brothers were not in their beds, as the chimney runs up the wall between their rooms-- so thankful to have them both I can't find enough words of gratitude and relief and joy and relief...  The house did not fair so well after 4 inches of smoke water poured through it.  And now- the process of rebuilding after tearing apart is finally underway!  My dad and many other talented family members had put so much thought and work into this house in the first place, and it was nearly done!... so if we dwell on the fact that they're starting over, it gets pretty discouraging.  Instead we lift our heads and our hearts to Jesus, thanking him for the safety of our family and a chance to redesign the house. ;)
• GEORGIANNA.  This sweet pea turned 4 in May.  Holy buckets!  In honor of that, one of my all time favorite G quotes/questions to ponder: "Mom, do bad guys brush their teeth?"  Deep.  And no, I didn't know what to say.  A tender-hearted little person, with more facial expressions and poses for the camera than a circus, this girl has me smiling and scratching my head on the daily.  She sings and dances and changes dresses and brushes her teeth in the morning and pretends to read her Bible and rides her bike and draws and loves food...sounds a lot like me.
• WEDDING.  Earlier this summer I did the flowers for another beautiful bride.  We arranged flowers right at Market Flowers, a part of the Farmer's Market in Minneapolis.  It was such a fantastic experience, and through it I was able to book another wedding for this fall (my sister was my PR department, scribbling my contact info on a bunch of post-it notes and handing them out to curious passers-by.  Overhead?  None.).  I also had the privilege of spending the wedding morning with the bridal party as they primped and prepped and I did hair.  God is so good to bring these opportunities my way.  I love to push beauty to its full potential, and flower arranging and hair doing are just that- as if God gives me a canvas that he has created and says, 'Here, let's finish this together.'      
• THIRTY.  The number I turned on my birthday this year.  Waw.  Andrew had a day trip planned- when I got out to Goldie, under my seat were the clues for the day.  A crossword book (meaning we'd be in the car a while), a box of hot tamales (yumm), and a flea market magazine!  We were headed to a flea market in Wadena.  The day was a dream, bumming with my besties (Andrew, Oliver, G, Marg, and Winner), then ending in Red Wing for cupcakes with my parents and majority of my sibs.  And now I have gray hair.
• WINSTON.  Little homey had his half birthday last month!  He's such a noodle.  Jumps nearly to the moon in his Johnny Jump Up, loves rice cereal (or as my dad calls it 'pablum'.  Is that even a thing?), has 2 teeth, and aside from some teething sadness, is a pretty jolly little dude.  With rosy cheeks and a round tummy.  Like living with Santa.  What a blessing.
• GARAGE SALES.  You guys.  I have hit a couple of home runs this summer.  Lamps, art, furniture.  There will be a post with pictures soon ('soon' is a relative term here at MHM, meaning sometime within this season...or next).
• GENEVIEVE JEAN.  Or as the kids call her, 'Peanut'.  Vivi was born to Anna and Luke on July 9th.  She is beautiful.  Her skin is like a night on the sea.  She screams like a girl and loves to eat.  Again, sounds like me.  
• CAITLYN SMITH.  Anna and Luke are related to this lovely and talented country singer that swept us all up at a backyard concert last week (formally dubbed #potluckshow).  Her voice is amazing and her personality rivals it.  Georgi was so enthralled at the chance to meet her afterward, that on the way home she said (with a glint in her voice), "Now she knows my name!" 

The next installment will include photos- promise!

Spring things

Long time no blog, eh?  Here's a peek into this spring with the Toftnesses:

Here is my beautiful sister, Anna G.  Last month Winnie and I flew to Utah to visit her and her family- our wings were so tired when we got there (angel wings, obv).  Two pieces of good news regarding the sweet Gaalswyks: they're having a BABY GIRL IN JULY.  Also, two weeks after my trip out there, they found out Anna's husband Luke could voluntarily leave the Air Force early (now vs. August), and they're back in Minnie after 7 years away-- just like that!  So much to celebrate!

Andrew & co. (aka Traditional Cabinetry), have been busy building the cabinets for a lake cabin.  This is the kitchen after install, before appliances and clean up.  Hopefully we will get on the ball and put some finished photos up on the website (we're tech-savvy-nots).  There are also a couple of sweet benches and bath vanities to photograph.

A little look at what's going on in Winston's nursery.  It's not complete, but dear little Pooh is still in his mini crib in the LR, so he doesn't even know he has a bedroom all his own.  Shhhh.

Most of the treasures in his hutch are found items from around the farm.  An airplane hood ornament from a car, a pile of play cars, a mini pipe (was Almonzo smoking, or what?!  Farmer boys, sheesh.), a wooden spool, marbles, tiny dishes, horseshoes...a sound machine.  J/k, I found that at Bed Bath and Beyond.

The art is a duet painting Oliver and George did for baby brother before he was born. 

The 4 horsemen today.  

Oliver took these pictures of Win this morning- I can't get over how lovely the light was!

Winston Robert's debut

Here is the post you've all (two of you), been waiting for!  The story of our precious Winsy's timely entrance.

First of all, I'm the girl who wants the baby to come as absolutely soon as safely possible.  With Margot I drank a tablespoon of castor oil at 37 weeks, 5 days gestation because I just couldn't be stuffed full of baby any longer.  She was born approximately 4 hours later.  [Looking back at this scenario, I realize it was pretty selfish/risky of me to act on the impulse of not wanting to be pregnant anymore.  Shame on me.]  With Winston, the whole bed rest thing had me thinking 'any day now' since Thanksgiving.  Imagine my delight to wake up every morning still stuffed with baby boy while trying to maintain a ready-to-drop-everything-and-go household.  Right around Christmas time I was 35 weeks and given the okay to move about at will.  Not that I was willing to move about a whole ton (there's a pun there because that's roughly how much I weighed), but it just felt good knowing the risk factor was now low.  There were certain dates that I thought would make good birthdays- 1.1.14 or 1.7.14- so I got wound up those days, only to roll myself back into be each night like a barrel full of monkey.  At my last appointment before dude was born I was dilated to 5.  Five!  My doctor told me she was confident I'd have that baby within the week.  That was a Thursday, Winston came Monday- the perfect birth date- 1.13.14.  Not only is it a great number to jot for the rest of his life, but it's my dad's birthday, too!  Well, dad's last number is a 59.  ;)

Enough with the prequel.  Here's what happened.

Irony-- around 1:15 PM Monday I was at the computer typing out a note to a gal who was also due to have a baby any day, when my water broke.  I've not had this happen at home before, but for some reason I was really in tune to the possibility this time.  I had a slight panic, called Andrew, and frenzied around the house a little trying to get things in order.  My in-laws live next door and had been so graciously on call for these last couple of months, so when Andrew's mom saw him drive in she came to see if this was it- yes!

At the hospital-- I still wasn't having any painful contractions, so I was nervous about it being a false alarm.  (That happened with Margot by way of false labor- total buzzkill.)  But this time the nurse said I was at a 7/8 and not going home.  Cue hallelujah chorus.  I told that sweet nurse I wanted an epidural STAT, so they started some fluids and I got the blessed meds.

The doctor-- my OB doctor's husband is also an OB doctor, and he was on call while she was working at a different clinic 45 minutes away.  Mister Dr. (or is it Doctor. Mr.?), was my man through all laboring and checking and IVing.  When I thought it seemed like time to rock and roll, he said his wife just arrived and would scrub in.  She walked in the room, he tied on her gown, and said, "I'll go get the kids."  What a team.  Seriously they were both so fantastic.  (And punctual- Winston was in my arms minutes after she got there!)
Winston--  7lb. 7oz., 19", 5:25 PM.  Eating like pro, pooping like a pro, and sleeping like a pro.  He's only 1.5 weeks old, so plenty of time to get messed up in all of those categories.  I'm definitely tired, but still enjoying this limp little bundle of baby love.