YAY for office shelves!

It took a while and a few trips to Ikea (which Emmy kept calling "Idea" when we visited this week), but we FINALLY purchased and installed shelves in our office. 

We went with dark brown to match the dark brown table tops and were hoping to go with this configuration from Ikea:

EKBY JÄRPEN/ EKBY BJÄRNUM from Ikea

Alas, the studs didn't line up in the right spots and my in-house handyman and anchoring/bolts expert did not recommend putting anything heavier than an apple on the shelves if we went with those brackets, so we improvised. The hubs headed out to Home Depot and got new brackets that we were able to anchor into the studs very easily - those shelves will NOT be coming down. EVER.

Here's the end result:

Although the brackets aren't what we had originally envisioned, we're happy with the end result. The shelves definitely help make the room feel close to finished and fill the giant white void that was there previously. 

I love me a shelf to display some cute things like a Lego piggy bank and these fun tupperware bins!

A clock is an essential piece of equipment in an office so you know if you're on schedule or not (I'm usually NOT) and who doesn't need an oversized pencil that actually writes with a giant piece of lead!??!!!

This guy is on the Hubby's side of the room. 

It feels great to have another room in the house close to complete. That said, we've definitely slowed down now that living here is the norm and every day commitments/appointments/needs/trials and tribulations have taken over instead of our main focus being decorating the house, as it was when we first moved here.

Slowly but surely though, this plain jane house with no personality is really becoming "ours" and we LOVE it.

Cheap but cheerful organizing!

It's been a busy week and a bit filled with lots of adventure (day trips and Play Place trips), a few injuries (me at bootcamp) and one nasty cough (poor little Emmy), hence the lull in blogging on my behalf.

I did, however, manage to tackle an itty bitty bathroom organizing project. I made a trip to the Dollar Store and pick up a few drawer containers to help turn my mess of a vanity drawer into an organized delight! My grand total expenditure was $5 and my bag of Dollarama goodies included a dip tray from the home decor aisle along with clear containers in different shapes from the organizing aisle.

(Side Note: Am I the only one that gets a weird thrill out of repurposing an item for a something other than it was intended? Organizational dork here!!)

I really should have taken a "before" shot, but picture all of these items rolling around loosely in the drawer. It was madness.

I kept the organizing simple - like items got grouped together (e.g. lipsticks with lip glosses) for easy product selection. This little project is already saving me time (and reducing frustration and time wasted looking for something specific in the giant pile of products)!

Countdown to Three

For the most part, I feel that we escaped the "Terrible Two's". Don't get me wrong, Emmy had some pretty horrible meltdown moments of defiance and attitude and I've had to put her in "time-out" more times than I care to admit, but overall, I'd say that the last 340-ish days have been pretty wonderful. She's been a sweet, loving little two-year-old for the majority of the time.

That, however, has left us a little unprepared for what Grama refers to as "The Terrible Three's".

As we get closer and closer to Emmy's 3rd Birthday (on the 28th of this month), the more sass and attitude she seems to be pulling out, although I will say that the "bad" behaviour seems to come and go in waves. There will be a few weeks where she listens very well and shares without even being asked to and it's heavenly. Then we'll have a few weeks of Little Miss Sasspot who screams and fusses at the smallest thing (e.g. she can't get her toy to do what she wants, her shoe won't velcro properly, she drops something and can't pick it up).

I'm what I refer to as a "mean Mum" and I don't stand for the sassy behaviour and will reprimand her when appropriate (e.g. she knowingly did something that we've taught her is "bad" or not in line with how we expect her to act). Daddy doesn't stand for "bad girl" behaviour either. Or Grama. Or the teachers at school. Grampa is a big softie and Emmy has him wrapped around her finger and then some, so she gets away with a bit more with him.

I think we all need to up our game for the next 365 days however, to combat these "Terrible" Three's. Not to say that there won't be amazing moments, because there will be since overall, she's an AMAZING little creature who is figuring out who she is, and that's such an adventure. The things that come out of her mouth lately have us rolling on the floor in laughter, but I think those moments will be contrasted by even more heightened moments of defiance, tantrums and sass.

Bring it on Emmy - I can't wait to see how she grows while she's a three-year-old and we can't have amazing "ups" if we don't have "downs", so I'm ready for anything.