Book Cover DIY

I don't claim to be much of a DIY-er. I can't sew, I'm not artistic, and finances are tight with me staying at home, so my DIY capabilities are fairly limited. Looking around our home this week I have wanted to add new decor or repurpose our decor somehow. Alexis and I took a trip to the local thrift store for inspiration, and I am so cheap that I wasn't willing to spend $7.50 on a used frame or $5.50 on a used vase (this is why I prefer garage sales). Anyhow, I came home, pulled out my scrapbook paper and started thinking of ways I could use it with items already in our home. This is what I came up with (I may have seen this on Pinterest, but I didn't have it pinned, just a disclaimer that I am in no way claiming that this was my brilliant, original idea.

Greg and I have a lot of books, but about half of them are in boxes. I dug through them to find hardback books of different sizes that I knew we wouldn't be reading (old textbooks, gift books, etc).

Then I laid out an assortment of 12X12 scrapbooking paper.

Next, I placed the book on the paper to measure where to fold the top and bottom edges... this took me back to middle school when we had to put protective covers on every single text book. Anyone else remember those days?

I used regular Scotch tape to secure the paper to the book

I found that the 12X12 paper was not the correct size to cover the entire book, but that wouldn't be a problem since only one side/angle of the book would be showing.

Finished product...

I liked the finished product so much that I created another book stack for Alexis' room... but now I think I may steal it for my room!

Hope this inspired some of you if you've been looking to spruce up some decor in your home! It seriously took me less than an hour and that's with a 9 month old around me the whole time. Have a great week!

Puerto Vallarta

Our family vacationed to Puerto Vallarta with my parents, sister, brother, and niece. I had so been looking forward to this vacation - warm weather, beach, sand, ocean, yummy drinks... unfortunately it didn't end up being all that I had hoped for. Missed our flight out of Portland, I was sick and throwing up for two days, I slipped and fell leaving me immobile for another day and a half. Despite all of that it was still nice to be with family and get away for a while.

To start our trip we got to PDX at 3:30am for our 5:45am flight. To make a long story short, we were unaware of an international tax for Alexis and Macie and were not helped by anyone from the United Airline staff for 90mins. By the time someone actually helped us we had missed our flight. The only flight we could get out on was later that night into Phoenix. We had to stay the night there and leave for Puerto Vallarta the next morning, missing a full day of our vacation (I don't want to complain too much, total first world problems, but when traveling with two little ones under the age of two it was frustrating to say the least).

Dad and Britt waiting "patiently" for our rerouted flight information.

Our exhausted group waiting for answers... and hoping for a nap

Even though they had their moments, these little girls were troopers during our first few days of travel

Finally in the pool!

Greg taking a nap on the beach and trying not to get sunburned lol

Tequila!

 Thanks to my parents for taking us all on such a fun vacation! I'm glad you like hanging out with us enough to let us tag along with you :)

Our Month of June

On June 9th, Alexis and I road tripped it back to Oregon with my inlaws. I worked/coached at basketball camps for two weeks while staying with my family. It was great to earn some money, spend time with my family, and also see Alexis interact with her cousin Macie.

 

I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly Alexis warmed up to her Grandma and Grandpa Teune. After being home with me 24/7 and Daddy in the evenings for a month straight without anyone else interacting with her, I wasn't sure what to expect. By the first of June we were having warm, summer weather in the 80's. We decided to grab some lunch and eat down by the river.

 

The river was still super cold, I don't know how why Greg and Kevin got into the water, but boys will be boys I guess. They ended up dunking each other into the water, but I had a baby in my hands and was unable to capture that particular moment on camera.

Bright and early on Sunday morning, Kevin, Tina, Alexis, and I loaded up the truck and headed back to Oregon. I was so proud of Lex and the great traveler she was. We only made two pit stops and they were just to use the bathroom and for me to nurse. The drive home was so beautiful, Idaho has it's beauty, but no matter where I have lived or visited I always think that Oregon's natural beauty is unbeatable (even if the rain gets me down sometimes...) I was particularly excited to spend time with my niece Macie on this visit. She is 21 months old now and is talkative, curious, and fun. She could say our names very well "Mayden" and "Wexi".

 My first week of camp was exhausting. I wore Alexis in the front pack most of the time while I coached my little campers. Every evening after camp was over I did not want to move or even think. Thank goodness Grandma and Grandpa were around to help me.

 

We were in Oregon for Father's Day and for a special gift for my dad we put Alexis and Macie in their Captain America shirts (my dad's favorite) to take pictures of them to frame. Of course, it didn't work out like we had planned. The second picture is the best we got...

These little girls had so much fun together on our visit. I enjoyed watching them interact and to see Alexis playing and trying to communicate with Macie. What fun it will be once she has a sibling (that is not a subtle way of announcing anything...SOMEDAY, a sibling will be great for her).

9 Months Old

Alexis at 9 months: I can't believe Alexis has been in this world the same amount of time that she was growing inside of me. I also can't believe we are only three months away from her birthday! She has been changing so much lately and I think this next month will bring some even bigger changes. This past month of her life she traveled a lot. We road tripped from Idaho back to Oregon, flew in an airplane to Puerto Vallarta and also flew home to Idaho just the two of us. She doesn't have any teeth yet so we still stick to purees and super soft foods (I think yogurt is still her favorite). She is getting much closer to crawling, she gets up on her knees and sits in the position until she falls over. Her "sniffing face" or "bitter beer face" as we sometimes call it has been making an appearance a lot lately. I think she realizes that it gets our attention and cause people to laugh. She has quite the personality and it's so much fun seeing her change and grow everyday.