Her Corner in Amityville

Oh, Amityville.

Considering I've never rented before, it's been relatively easy. Our landlord is great, and since our current house, Amityville, is about a bajillion years old, he's been quick to fix the many things that have cropped up over the past five months. Overall we can't complain, but I will say that it is hard making this place feel like home. Especially with a little girl growing up before our weary eyes.

In an effort to give Emma Vance a consistent spot to stash her toys (since her room is upstairs and we spend most of our daytime hours downstairs), I revamped a corner of our living room to be her little play space. It's not much, but my natural inclination to make my surroundings pretty was screaming at me daily, "Dear goodness, please do something about that giant leftover Christmas gift bag you're calling toy storage!" I had visions of coral and beige dancing around my internal styleboard, but I already owned a few yellow items that were needing a purpose, so practicality won out on this round. (Plus I really wanted these awesome floral bins I saw a Target to do something with because I thought they were so cute, so I figured "two birds, one excuse to buy them.")

Emma Vance has been in tiny tot heaven since first day that I set her down to play. (Truthfully it made me sad that it took me so long to get around to this project.) It's obvious that she loves having her own little space in our grown up world. She crawls over to her toys, dumps over the bins, peruses her books, pulls up on the shelves--all the while babbling to herself and her imaginary friends. It's the sweetest thing to watch her playing, and it's even sweeter to sit next to her and join in. I laugh to myself often, thinking of what must be going through her head as she explores--something about diapers or bottles or puppies or Sesame Street, I'm sure. I can't wait to hear every thought of hers come rushing out of those tiny lips one day. She inevitably makes a huge mess of her corner, and as I'm picking up her toys each night I'm keenly aware of her innocence and youth. Sigh.

Happy baby. Happy mom. Happy family.