Photos of What I've Been Doing

So now that I'm not pregnant anymore (thank goodness!!), I've got so much more energy! There are so many projects that I want to get done, most namely getting the house finally decorated. We've been here in Florida for almost three months now, and our entire front room (dining/living) is still filled with boxes of all my knick-knacks and decorations. So I'm just itching to get it done. Unfortunately, taking care of a 16-month-old and and newborn leaves me little time to actually do anything. I'm pretty much limited to about 2 hours a day, when Riley is napping, and hopefully Noah cooperates and is doing the same.

Anyway, I've got numerous projects that I'm trying to complete all at the same time. First is the family room. Here are some photos of what I've accomplished in there. I'm lucky to have some built-in shelves to accessorize- much easier and more "baby-proofed" than furniture. The whole bottom section is devoted to baskets for toys- I'm still getting used to having to work those into my decorating- primary colored plastic just doesn't necessarily fit my style!

Next are the two kid's rooms. I'm sort of working on both of them simultaneously. Riley is technically still sleeping in the nursery, so some of his stuff is still in there and some of it is now in his "big-boy" room. My first step for the rooms was to make curtains, then I'll decorate the rooms to match. I bought these two adorable fabrics online. The first are Riley's curtains, and have vintage nursery rhyme images on them. His walls are minty green on two walls and yellow on the other two. The second are Noah's curtains, and have vintage alphabet illustrations on them. His walls will be (haven't been painted yet) a light salmon-y orange and a country blue. I still plan to make a bedspread for Riley's toddler bed and to make a slipcover for Noah's crib bumper to match the curtains.

Then, I'm also trying to get back into doing some artwork. I need to get a book started for Noah, and also do some catching up in Riley's book. And Pam, I've still got your book to work in- I promise I'll get to it soon!! On a side note, I know that I haven't posted artwork here for so long. The reason is that most of the artwork I've done for the past six months or so is going to be in my book, so the publishers don't want me to show it. But now that I'm finished with the book, I'll be able to start showing it again- yay! I hate not showing my art, because it sort of messes with the continuity of my website, etc., since most of the art I do flows in a timeline. But, I digress... Anyway, yesterday I was able to begin Noah's book. I plan to do a two-page spread about his birth, and I got one of the two pages done (again, during Riley's two hour nap!). Here's a snippet of that page. Once I finish both, I'll show the whole spread.

And finally, of course the biggest project I've been working on is raising my two kids! That is going great so far. Riley's adjusted really well, and Noah is still proving to be a pretty good baby. We've been doing lots of things with my sister and her two kids, which is really nice because it gives Riley some other interaction during a time when he otherwise may be feeling a little neglected. So here are some photos of the two of them. It's amazing how few photos I've got of Noah compared to what I had of Riley at this age, but I guess that's the curse of being a second child. At least the one's I've got of him are cute!

Before signing off, I'd like to thank all of you for the support and wonderful comments and emails you leave for me. I'm sorry that I'm not the greatest at responding to them all, but please do know that they are very appreciated. I have a hard enough time responding to emails from my mother at this point, so I hope you can understand....!