picture of the kiddos

I know all everyone cares about seeing is pictures of the kids so here are a few...

Valentines Day.
We had a little party for Qui Que and his friends but unfortunately everyone left before I could take any pictures.  

Valentina and her dolly from Mimi.

We got about a foot of snow and instead of wanting to go out and play in the fresh powder Qui Que wanted to go blow bubbles.

Qui Que was excited for his package of Toms to come in the mail from Abuelita.

Tiny's favorite toy- the bottom of the oven.  Great.

The Enriques helping me make apple pie.

Living Room Revamp

About a year ago I decided I had had enough of my dark, red and gold so five years ago Living Room. I tried do different things to change it up.  I added curtains, then I added a trim on the curtains- I never liked the curtains in the first place so the trim didn't do much... took them down.  I changed my pillows and that helped but I needed something else.  I emailed my cousin, Kirsten who has an amazing interior design business and is a genius with designing a room even with the tight budget.  She gave me some suggestions which made all the difference.

Here are a few pictures of before and after.....

Living Room BEFORE
Dark and heavy, out of style, uninviting, cold and gross.

BEFORE
You might think I am crazy but I still love that zebra chair it just didn't fit in my new living room so I made a cover for it.  That way if I ever get the urge to bring it out again all I have to do is take off the cover.

AFTER
First thing I did was change up the pillows.  All these pillows are for sale in my Etsy shop.  I also got the idea from Kirsten to cover books with some fun paper.  I bought this paper from here .  I found that dragon from T.J Maxx and just had to have it.  It looks great with my Chiang Mai dragon pillow in the back!  I also got that flower from T. J Maxx

AFTER
Kirsten suggested we paint the walls cream.  I was hesitate since I thought it would take away from the cool woodwork we have in our 1920's bungalow.  We decided to do it anyway and it lightened up the room a lot.  She also suggested I needed artwork and told me where to get a calendar with bird prints which you see framed in the back.  One thing I added in this room that it didn't have before is a bookcase and a lamp.  I feel like that made the room feel more welcoming and warm.

AFTER
Kirsten suggested I needed some type of artwork over this bookshelf and mentioned doing some type of subway art.  I had this made on Etsy.  It is just a few of the places Enrique and I have lived.  I love how it turned out and how it adds a personal touch to our living room.  We also added those bamboo shades.  I love them.  I love that we still have privacy but I don't have to have curtains that cover up the wood work.  * Note: those bamboo shades were completely see through at night until I lined them.  If you ever buy them, get them lined!

AFTER
Just another view.
This is a $60 Ikea rug that I painted.  A rug this size would have cost me a fortune so for $60, you can't beat that!
Kristen also recommended I paint the black furniture I had in this room white.  I painted the coffee table and side table white and it lightened up the room a lot.  She also mentioned adding the mirror, glass vases and artwork in a white frame over the mantle.

AFTER
These silly little birds might be one of my favorite touches in the room.  I bought them at the dollar store and they were ugly yellow and brown.  I spray painted them white and I love them!

John Deere Pavilion

Enrique had the day off yesterday (Happy Martin Luther King Day!) so we headed out to Moline to see the John Deere Pavilion.  It's our second time, Qui Que loves it!

Qui Que was eating Wheat Thins in the car out to Moline.  He nibbled on this cracker and then told us it looked like the temple.  How creative!

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Valentina 7 months!

She can finally hold her own bottle.  Yeah!!

I was a little late making her Christmas dress this year but it finally got done.

The back of her dress.  I used some old buttons Adela gave me.  I think they added a nice touch.

7 months!

Christmas trip 2012

Unfortunately we didn't get to see my Dad near enough.  We took this the evening he gave his gifts to us. 

My mom and her step grandbaby, Sage and Adela with Valentina.

Lisa and I in one of the most beautiful places on earth- Sundance Utah!

Sundance.

Abuelita Adela and Tiny

Turns out with everyone else taking pictures on their i phones and i pads I kept forgetting to pull out my  vintage snap and shoot.  I didn't end up with near enough pictures but here are a few.

Fake Christmas and real Christmas

Since we were going to be in Utah for Christmas we had our own little Christmas a couple of weeks early.  This is our Christmas Eve.  I made the kids matching pajama pants.

Our "fake" Christmas morning.  Qui Que got a little shopping cart since it is his favorite thing to do at Hyvee.

Qui Que got pretty good at opening presents.  Here is is tearing into his shopping cart.

On the plane to Utah- Christmas Eve!

Christmas morning with Abuelita.

Valentiny's Christmas outfit.

Qui Que was really excited to take this picture.

Uncle Curtis was very generous with the presents this year.  Qui  Que adores him!

Qui Que opening presents with Mimi.

My mom had this great idea that we should all dress up at the Christmas story.  As you can see...it was a great idea.

Pa Pa and Enrique

First Snow Storm

Well, it has been a very mild winter (again) this year.  The only snow storm we have had this whole year happen to land on the exact day we were suppose to leave for Utah.  Our flight ended up getting cancelled and they were able to get us out 4 days later.  We arrived in Utah late Christmas Eve.

We figured we better make the best of it so we took the kids out in the snow.  Here are a few pictures from that day.