a's nursery

I've been posting a few nursery update pictures on instagram and have gotten a few questions already. I love sharing so here's my obligatory (but because I really want to) nursery post!

(It's an Instagram iPhone pic so the quality is terrible and gets worse when emailed from my phone. It was shot in pano mode so while it looks like B has two heads, it's actually just one that he was moving around while I was shooting.) ;) 


If you checked out B's nursery tour, this probably looks sort of familiar to you. Details about the chair, crib and dresser can all be found over on his post.

Other details:

Paint: Walls: Elegant White (dutch boy). Green dresser:  Valspar Celtic. Green stripe: I used the paint from the dresser and added some white from the walls to tone it down. It ended up being close to Valspar Bahama (though I was going for more of a Valspar Pistachio.. it of course dried darker than I planned).

Flooring: Nebraska Furniture Mart

Crib sheet: Pottery Barn Kids (Did you know you can get these on sale for $9? That's cheaper than Walmart!)

Crib skirt: Target

Curtains: Amazon

Moroccan pouf: Amazon

Night stand: Made by R

Mobile: Amazon

Rug: Amazon (This isn't actually in the pic above yet but should be here this week… it's the WHITE one but not finding it on there right now.)

Knobs on dresser: Amazon (I can't recommend these. We paid $8 for the set so they were super cheap.. which should have been our first clue. They will likely all need to be glued back together as the glass ball comes off the actual knob part very easy. Bummer.) These are adorable but no way I am spending that much for knobs.

Afghan: grandma's

(Can you tell we use Amazon prime? We also got some Amazon gift cards for Christmas. Kind of the perfect gift card for us.) :)  Since we're so Amazon savvy I feel like I need to share this tip with you… start an Amazon cart and ask them to notify you of price drops. It's a guaranteed way to get everything on sale (if you're not in a hurry to get it). And once you order, it arrives in two days so if you are in a hurry, it's quick shipping! We are kind of big fans of their diaper and pantry orders too (on sale of course). 

I'll add details and pictures as we continue to work on it. We've been taking full advantage of R being home from school (and basketball) and he's gotten most of his work done in there already. My goal is to finish some DIY projects for the walls before I hit the exhausted stage again. I've had two weeks of feeling pretty good and we've been super productive during those weeks! (I felt like we had to be since I was miserable the first 25+ weeks.) That said, our house is still a disaster so maybe we haven't been that productive. ;)

To do list:

-Gallery wall/other diy art & pics
-Cover pillow and make monogram
-Find bird hooks for above chest (I saw the cutest ones at junk jubilee and of course am kicking myself for not buying them… I like this one but would spray paint it and no way would I pay that much…. this is an option too.. but I'm still looking)
-Possibly build a storage bench like B's in place of chest (I really wanted to use his old chest in there but the wood is almost identical to the floor so it is almost camouflaged. (Yes, I know I'm the queen of painting anything that doesn't move but I can't bring myself to paint his old chest.. I know I would regret it someday.) The size and function aren't as great as B's either so a matching bench to his would be nice. Maybe.
-Name banner
-Have B paint sticks
-Paint book racks
-Find a closet solution (we added one to the wish list here but we've already hit the nursery budget so looking for a cheaper solution- any ideas?)
-Crate on wheels or African knitting basket for storage
-And here's the bird on twigs mobile I would really love to DIY in fabrics that match her room but know I probably wont. Seriously, how cute though?!
-And whatever else I'm forgetting right now. I'm sure it's something. Or lots of somethings. ;) I THINK all we really have left that we need is to figure out the monitor situation (our old one just started acting crazy so while we had planned to just add a camera to what we had, we're thinking we may need to get something new), a closet solution, diapers and clothes. I'm sure there are lots of baby necessities I'm forgetting all about so please remind me. :)

To be continued….

Christmas '14

We're in the 'long winter's nap' portion of Christmas '14 and there was so much goodness this year I had to get to the blog before I forgot.

Three is the most magical age for Christmas and B has been saying all day (and last night), "This was the best Christmas ever!" Seeing Christmas through his eyes really is the best Christmas ever!

Highlights from our best Christmas ever….

Visiting Santa at Bass pro. B was mesmerized by the Christmas set up there. He froze when he saw Santa but managed to ask for 'Planes Fire & Rescue' movie. Once we explored the store, he had added several other wishes to the list (an ice fishing tent and four wheeler topped the list).

Working the clothes pantry. Our local clothing pantry does the wishing tree for local families and we were blessed to get to help out with it several days. For the first year, B really got the concept of meeting the needs of others and really got it when we went shopping for our wishing tree family. It was a huge improvement from even packing shoe boxes the month before. Having him actually put in the work before the shopping gave him a lot better idea of what was going on. He will randomly talk about it and say the sweetest things. His little (huge) heart just melts me every time.

Decorating gingerbread house and cookies. We had never done a gingerbread house but B kept asking for one this year so we (finally) got one. He was very meticulous in his decorating. Only putting on candy that made sense (donut holes for 'bushes,' a gumdrop for a 'ding bell,' green candy for 'grass,' etc.) and eating the rest. He definitely did more eating than decorating. I finally asked if he wanted to decorate it some more and he said, "Let's just eat it instead!" It wasn't long before even the roof was being eaten.  When it was time for the cookies, I took the advice of my friend Angie and bought the pre made/prerolled gingerbread cookie dough from Hy-Vee. Genius. Easiest cookie making ever (we used the leftover gingerbread house frosting). B made a couple gingerbread men then asked if he could make some angels instead so we ended up with mostly angels. Perfection.

Caroling. Confession: I missed out on it this year. In the past we've taken our niece and nephew and made goodie bags to go along with the caroling but we didn't get to that this year. We were in charge of planning this month's cg social so we planned on caroling at the nursing home followed by soup/dinner at our house. When it was time to leave, R admitted he had no idea how to finish the soup so he ended up taking B caroling and I stayed home to finish the soup. I heard B was adorable though. Of course. ;)

Tree Farm. It was our first visit to the tree farm and our first real tree. B is SO proud of his little tree he picked out and decorated himself. He loves showing it to everyone. It is definitely a tradition we'll add to the to do list.

North Pole Express. Or Polar Express? I'm not sure of the name anymore.. but we watched the movie then rode the train with B's cousins. He was SO excited about it. The boys looked adorable in their matching jammies and the dinner beforehand was delicious but B was a little disappointed he didn't actually get to get out and play at the North Pole. The movie had set his expectations up pretty high so we would have been better not to watch it. :) I thought it was great though because he was bummed and tired so he sat in my lap and snuggled the whole way back to the train station. I'll take all the snuggles I can get so that was probably the highlight of the trip for me. Since then, he talks about the train ride all the time so I think he really did love it, even if he was sad he didn't get to hang with Santa more.

Brunch with Santa. Our local orchard does all kinds of fun stuff during the Christmas season. We spent one Saturday morning there eating pancakes with Santa, taking a carriage ride through the farm, and visiting with Santa. B was thrilled to get to hang with Santa for a bit since the other two times he got to see him, Santa was pretty busy. We spent another morning there making Christmas ornaments with friends and I spent an evening there with mommy friends making our own Christmas crafts and eating dinner. So much fun stuff so close by. Definitely a must do if you're in the area.

Advent countdown. We joined our friends at the library and made the cutest advent tubes to hang up (we used last year's Advent stick to hang them from). We read 'Advent for the very young' and B totally gets it. He would wake up most mornings the month of December asking to 'talk about Jesus.' It really encouraged him to pray more too (and prayers other than 'thank you for my toys'). He can (mostly) accurately retell the story of Jesus' birth and loves finding all the different nativity scenes (aka 'baby Jesus barns' at everyone's homes.

Christmas Eve Candlelight. This didn't go as great as I had pictured in my mind but one sweet moment that I don't want to forget… when the candles were handed out and the kids lined up along the wall together, it got real quiet as they were getting ready to begin and B started (not so quietly) singing, "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. I whispered to him that it was quiet time and he said, "but we gotta blow out Jesus' birthday candles first!"

Waterpark Christmas. Again, not exactly as we pictured (a cancelled flight for R's sister changed some plans and we ended up with an impromptu- but fun- middle of the night airport run) but still super fun. B LOVES the water park and is a big fan of the pirate ship. He's also a big fan of his cousins and family so he of course had an all around blast. I love seeing him hang out with his cousin B (they are just months apart in age), they act like little old men together. One of my favorite quotes from eavesdropping on them was when B said to his cousin, "It's okay [BP], I like wearing diapers too." The stuff they say cracks me up. And if you follow us on instagram, you may have seen our lovely family picture from the night. It was clearly a wear your best pajamas party. I think R succeeded at that. B was spoiled with gifts at all Christmases this year and he got a super cool set of Magformers from grandma this night. If your kids (or you for that matter) don't have them, you should definitely look into them. Pretty sure these span the ages more than legos. So fun for the littles and big kids!

Christmas Eve at grandmas. Again, B loves playing with cousins so he had a blast. My favorite moments were watching him with his baby cousin Clara. He is a big fan of hers and is so sweet and gentle with her. He talks about her all the time and talks about how she and [sister] will be such good friends. The fact that he thinks ahead to stuff like that is so awesome. I think he'll be an awesome big brother. He got a super cool Plasma car at this Christmas but his favorite gift was nutcrackers. He opened the box and screamed, "NUTCRACKERS!!!!" They were the first 'toy' he went to this morning when we woke up and he talks about them all the time. (The story behind him getting them is that every time we've been to Target this winter, he asks to stop and see the nutcrackers. He plays with every single one of them each time we visit the store and asked for one every visit but never got one. He was so excited to get some of his own.)

Christmas day. I feel like this needs it's own blog post. The short story is he slept in late (yay) so I had time to make peppermint waffles (with whip cream and red/green gummy bears). When he woke up, I snuck into his room and said, "Merry Christmas, buddy." He said, "What?!?" He had no clue it was Christmas morning. He jumped out of bed and looked out the window and said, "It is! It snowed! It did! It is Christmas! Santa came!" (We aren't sure why he associates snow with Christmas but he does.) We headed out to the living room where he saw his new race car waiting for him and the look on his face was priceless. He was SO excited about it. He decided it was okay that Santa came to his house and was even impressed that Santa ate all his cookies (though the truth is that Dakota ate them instead). After soaking up the new car smell, we encouraged him to open his gifts. He gets one Santa gift, three gifts from mom and dad, and a stocking. He opened his three gifts and was SO excited and thankful for each one. He got 'Planes Fire & Rescue' and said, "It's just what I always wanted!!!" He got Frank the combine and a tractor for tipping (from the movie Cars) and was completely obsessed with them. He literally carried them around ALL Christmas day. He also got a Pigeon matching game. I wanted to start getting him some games or things he can do where he has to follow rules so this was a good start. (We played today and he has a little ways to go before mastering the rule following part.) ;) He dug through his stocking and LOVED everything in it. His favorites were a 'lazer gun,' a Chicago Cubs nutcracker ornament, super hero socks, a lego shirt & a flashlight (don't tell but that may have been re-gifted from one of R's students)… He's been playing with or wearing everything on that list today and keeps saying, "Oh mom thank you for…. (fill in the blank)." He was super excited for mommy and daddy to open their stockings. (He did the shopping this year and did an awesome job.) Then we had him open [sister's] stocking for her. He picked out her goodies at the store as well and 'showed' her each one as he told her about them (socks, a swaddling blanket, a toy car, booties & a teddy bear). He was very excited when I told her she loved everything he got for her. After presents, we ate breakfast (those peppermint waffles) and got ready for grandma's where we spent most of the day. On the car ride there, he was asking to see Jesus again (this started after we told him baby Avery went to live with Jesus) and closed his eyes real tight as he prayed. That will never get old to me. We had a nice laid back day at grandma's then headed home for naps before picking up from Christmas. It was almost bedtime before he had a chance to drive his race car so we pushed bedtime back and went for a late night cruise. B drove his car up and down the street while R & I walked behind (and Dakota too). It was the perfect end of Christmas day activity. At bedtime, he laid in bed and told Daddy, "This was the best Christmas ever!!" And since waking this morning, he's been saying it ever since.

We agree buddy, we agree.


I hope you and your family had a very blessed Christmas too.


We have so much to be thankful for.




(Pictures to come once I get them off the camera but you can check out some of the fun on instgram.)

the afghan

I study the colors of the afghan that for so many years covered the back of her chair. When I was younger, she let me snuggle up in the afghan on special occasion. As I grew, the afghan stayed in its safe place, protecting it from more wear and tear on its already intricately and carefully pieced together parts. As her body started to fail her, she asked me to wrap it around her. I gingerly did so in bittersweet servanthood. She was known for her beautiful quilting but for me, the old and worn afghan holds more memories. 
The colors would look lovely in my daughter's room, I decide. The first (and only) nursery decision to date. I think about raising a daughter and all the time she spent raising me. The secrets we shared and the many, many hours she spent teaching me about life. Growing up, it's likely I spent more time with her than any other single person. She very likely had the biggest influence on me. I can attribute much of me to her. 
My need for memory keeping included. 
One of our secrets was the hundred dollar bills she hid behind my pictures in the photo album she kept by her chair. She said I would be the one to find them as I was spent the most time going through old photos with her over and over again. We worked on family albums together. Meticulously sorting and labeling pictures and joyfully thumbing through the pages of our work. 
I thumb through those same pages today. Thankful for the days we shared but longing for just one more. I have so many questions, especially as I think about becoming a mom to a daughter. I wonder what she would think of all this mess. I feel fear and sadness creep in as the memories start to fade. And then I see her. And then the afghan. In picture after picture draped over chairs and couches, some of which I don't recognize. The earliest of the pictures (as far as I can tell) is nearly half a century old. If this well loved afghan can stand the test of time, surely grandma's lessons will. 

The above post was written several weeks back in the middle of the night. I couldn't sleep and was thumbing through those old albums on our closet floor thinking about grandma. Since then, we've chosen a name for our little girl- a nod towards grandma, and this week we made progress on her room where we hope to incorporate the meaning behind her name…. and the afghan.

(The above pic was taken at night with the iPhone… I'll get in there with the real camera during the daytime soon. Maybe.) ;)

tree farm

We visited the tree farm for the first time ever this year… and got our first ever real tree! Super exciting stuff! We had a great time picking out our (little) tree. (I wasn't brave enough for a big one yet… as it turns out, I'm not good at watering these things so the little tree with no lights is probably a good fit for our family….) B picked out the tree. Daddy cut it down. Mommy took pictures.. And B decorated it (several days later when we finally brought it inside and set it up for him). As a bonus, the tree farm has yummy drinks and snacks inside once you pick out your tree… AND a free ornament for your tree (though we managed to lose ours before we got home). Super fun experience. And a super cute tree to remember it by.

More pictures on the cbh blog… (and if I manage to get our Christmas cards out, there's more there too…) ;)

We may need to add this to the Christmas traditions list… along with gingerbread house decorating which B is currently requesting…. we shall see. :)

stream of consciousness

B is sleeping (in a bed he says he wants to trade in for a new one because 'this one always gets wet.' yes, we let him take a cup of water to bed). Dakota is sleeping. R is at basketball (shocking I know). My work computer is backed up with downloads and uploads so editing isn't an option (though maybe I shouldn't be stealing the internet bandwidth from those uploads right now…). And while my house is a disaster and in desperate need of a deep cleaning, I'm too exhausted to move right this minute.

Not zombie state exhausted (like I've been most of the last 25 weeks) because my thyroid has finally leveled off (hallelujah!), but still pretty flippin' tired. I started sleep training our littlest this week. Yes, I'm attempting to sleep train a fetus. You can totally laugh but I think (or maybe am wishfully hoping) that it's working. From weeks 20-24 she was up 8pm-midnight and 4am-8am (solid). Since we started 'sleep training' she's been all over the place but has at least been sleeping more than four hours at night. I'll take that for now.

My sleep training consists of trying my hardest to keep her awake during the day. I've been drinking way too much juice during this process. I've also been eating way too many Christmas goodies. Did I mention my glucose test is a very short couple weeks away? Right after Christmas. Isn't that great timing?

Speaking of Christmas, the resident three year old is BEYOND excited for it. He's slightly worried if there's no snow there will be no Christmas but we're working through that. He got a letter in the mail from Santa yesterday and read it no less than 50 times. Each time paraphrasing the letter and saying, "Dear [B], You have been very good. You are on the nice list. And your mommy is too!" One time or two he added in a, "I really like that mountain you made" cause he totally made a mountain pile out of the couch cushions and possibly thought that would get him in trouble. But if Santa approves, no foul, right? Smart thinking, kid. He's counting down the days with is Advent. There's something like 12 days left (is that even possible?).

That means it's been nearly a year since I last gave birth. I'm always reminded when I get my appointment overviews and they say multiparous pregnancy. There's always lots of reminders. Currently, it's the baby bangs growing in. They took about a year with B though I thought breastfeeding may have had something to do it with. Turns out I'm just a late bloomer (uh, bang grower?). I figure once these are in it will be time to start the process over again. Maybe a shaved style is the way to go instead?

I have no transition from talking about shaving my head….

So I made a nursery inspiration board. I had all the ideas floating around in my head for awhile but I finally put them together in a nursery casserole. There's potential there. I feel like it's taking a natural/whimsical theme if that could be a theme. This pic sums it up best I think. (Source.)

I hope to have B make some of these for his sister's room. His should turn out just like that I imagine. ;)

I plan to pull the colors from my grandma's afghan. There's a blog post written on that somewhere but I may have lost it in the inter webs.

As another nod to my grandma, I have high hopes of making a bird mobile. It may be slightly out of my crafting range but we'll see… I'm also loving 'bird' middle names. Wren was the front runner for me but R is a hard sell. I THINK we have decided on another middle name though. It's a name from one of my grandma's and one of his and a nod to another one of my grandma's. I sortofkindof mentioned it in front of his grandma and she'll totally know it was R who didn't want to use it now if we don't. No pressure though, hun. ;)

The first name is set and on a stocking, which is as good as the birth certificate in this house. B will tell you if you ask though no one has been able to decipher what it is his sweet little voice is saying. (Once you know it you will totally kick yourself that you couldn't figure out that's what he was saying.)

Speaking of things he's saying… he is cracking us up these days. Two is awesome but three isn't so bad. He's pretty much the funniest person I know (even more funny than his dad) (no offense, R). Today, R came home quick at lunch time and B said hold on… he pretended his hand was a phone and 'dialed' to make a call. He proceeded to have a conversation with the tickle monster whom he claims told him to tickle his daddy. Every since we called Santa he's been asking to call the tickle monster. I guess he found the number.

Okay, time to go check on the uploads and figure out something to feed the boys. These days we pretty much fend for ourselves. Basketball sack lunches for R, PB sandwiches (or whatever his current obsession is) for B, and whatever I can stomach. Nothing has been sounding good but usually once I start eating it's okay. It's just the figuring out what to try to eat that's rough.

Probably more salted caramel chocolates and juice in the name of sleep training. Wish me luck on that… and the glucose test. ;)

'twas twenty five nights before Christmas…

….and we started our official countdown. Which doesn't really mean much except every once in awhile I will realize the date and that there aren't very many days left till Christmas and will say, 'wow this year is going by fast!' That said… Here's our list of advent ideas from two years ago. We still pull a few from it now and then and will add to it too. Like the addition of pictures in Christmas jammies this year….

Christmas Fun (aka not losing my sanity as basketball season gets in full swing) : 

X 1. Visit Santa at Bass Pro

X 2. Pick out a new Christmas book (he actually got a new one from his cousin and a new one from his grandma already so they covered us there this year!) :)

X 3. Find Elf

4. Make paper snowflakes and snowballs (wadded up paper balls) and have a 'snowball fight')

X 5. Choose a friend from the local angel tree to shop for

6. Wrap presents 

7. Christmas movie night (with popcorn and green & red M&Ms)

8. Christmas with the OK family (make peppermint play doh)

9. Make Christmas craft (reindeer feet?)

X 10. Choose something from the 'serving friends' list to complete

11. Decorate cookies/make Christmas treats

12. Caroling (with cookies but maybe not so much singing)

13. Take a meal to someone

14. Sock snowball fight

15. Make Christmas ornaments

16. Christmas brunch with Santa

17. Craft time at Center Grove

18. Hot cocoa by the fire (straight from the 'north pole hot cocoa bar' of course)

X 19. Take Christmas pictures at the tree farm (bonus: get first real tree) 

20. Visit the library to read Christmas books

21. Take a treat to neighbors

22. Christmas at the cabins (updated to the water park)

23. Read the Christmas story

24. Christmas Eve church

25. 'camp out' under the Christmas tree (sleep in the living room)

BONUS:

X 26. Pictures in Christmas jammies

27. North Pole train ride 

Likely to get cut this year: 

Jolly Holiday Lights (B loved it last year and I think he would love it again but I'm not sure our schedules are going to work for it this year)

Things I'd love to add some year:

Festival of trees

Downtown walking 

Disney on Ice

Christmas Play at the Playhouse

Do a tree lighting

Sleigh ride at Jingle in the Junction

Living History Farms Family Christmas

What fun things do you do to celebrate the Christmas season?!?

One last word on TWOs

Only slightly overdue at 10 days past his birthday…. and I still haven't put a post together in my mind. I have no idea how to sum up two, my most favorite age, into a little blog post -and how to fully embrace three. I might get around to writing more on that later… but for now… TWO.

I've spent a lot of time working the two year old scene. It was always my favorite at the daycare and I've never met a two year old that isn't pure awesome. It's a pretty great year.

And for B, that was no exception. I can count on my fingers the number of days B experienced the 'terrible twos' and mostly, every other day of two was pretty flippin' fantastic. Seriously.

TWO brought…..

Crazy development in the language area. He's pretty much a jabber box. (We have no idea where he gets it….) ;) He carries on full conversations with complete strangers and most people can understand him pretty easily (even over the phone which has been a great thing for him).

More growth. He's over 40" tall (do you know I left his three year check and didn't even ask how tall he was when they measured him? They forgot to give me his sheet so when R asked his current stats… I had no idea) and around 37lbs (I don't actually remember that number either… bad mom).

Potty training. He pretty much started the process on his own right before he even turned two. He had a setback in there but was completely out of diapers by the beginning of this year (except for bedtime), then stopped making messes in those diapers this summer (I wasn't sure that part would ever come… ugh). Currently, he will go into a public restroom, lock the door, use the restroom, pull his pants back up, come out, and wash his hands… all without his mama's help. It wasn't a big deal when he was doing this at home in sweat pants but he started doing it in public in jeans (those are hard to get up, right?) and it about did me in. He should not be that big.

Social growth. He loves spending time with his friends and he talks about them all the time. He has favorite buddies, favorite neighbors, favorite babysitters, favorite babies at Ms Kelli's, etc. He talks about all these people and his cousins and other family all the time. He often asks to FaceTime and/or text different people. He has gotten so much better at sharing- he's totally becoming empathetic and I love seeing that trait in him. He already loves his sister fiercely and it warms my heart so much. He is a total little lover. He randomly will say, 'Hey mommy. (Pause for me to say, yes.) I love you.' It pretty much melts my heart ever time. He's started saying it to other people too and it's so fun to hear him tell people he loves them (out of the blue, without prompting). Even if I wasn't super biased, I would tell you he's the sweetest/loviest little boy I've ever met.

Cognitive. Two is obviously a sponge age and was no different for B. He soaks up seriously every thing around him. He spends more than 90% of his time with me and he still randomly tells me about things I have no idea where he learned them. Awhile back we were throwing our stuff away at the BBQ place and B saw the recycling logo. He told us that bin was just for recyclables and explained that whole thing to us. One of my favorite things is asking him to recount his days or to tell me about what he learned at Sunday School or what he did while he was with someone else (babysitter, grandma, cousins, etc). He tells the best stories and doesn't leave out many details. I would guess about 90% of his stories are pretty accurate. Sometimes… the 10% that's not? When he gets caught or wants to do something naughty and tries to get away with it. Not long ago he put his hands/arm into a gun shape and was pretending to 'shoot up' everybody in the house. His dad said we don't point guns or pretend guns at people. He said, 'Uh huh aunt Kerry said I can do it.' When we texted her for the rest of the story and told him her response he totally knew he had been caught. The look on his face when he said, 'whoops..' was priceless. He 'reads' several books from memorization right now. And can 'read' several baby board books (he reads them to his sister… awwww…). He knows all of his colors and numbers and usually all of his letters (if we don't keep working on those often, he forgets them pretty quick). He can count as high as he wants (ha)… Typically that number is 0. But if you give him an incentive to count for something he can count to the teens. (I'm also told he counts for other people when his mama isn't around. Of course.) You can tell his mama is a teacher as he gets his teacher voice out with his toys, dog, friends and even me. I'll ask him a question which he'll follow up with a question for me (cause I totally do that to him all the time).

More chores. We added to his chore list and it now includes more cleaning, putting dishes away out of the dish washer, taking Dakota out and feeding Dakota. He can do SO much around the house now, it's almost sad because he's so big to be doing all of that. He LOVES to help out and is always asking for things to do. He worked in the local clothing pantry all last week and was quite the little worker guy. He had a couple jobs down really well. He also loves to cook in the kitchen. He has his favorite smoothie recipes memorized and will gather all the ingredients up and get everything ready.


Highlights of the year….

13-14 Basketball season… this is fresh on my mind as we start a new year of it. Last year he sat through entire games and did awesome! This year (so far) hasn't proved to be as great. Hopefully he gets back into the grove of that soon.

Kansas City Christmas. Not long after his birthday last year, we met up with family in Kansas City for a super fun weekend. Not long after that, we stayed at a water park with the other side of the family and this might be where his hotel obsession began (he got to stay at several throughout the year).

Lots of weddings. Aunt Mal, Uncle Trav, Papa Kevin, Zach C. He even got to be a ring bearer for a couple of them! At Zach's wedding, he partied all night long. He would have made it to midnight but his mama tapped out about a quarter till. The following week he told us he was a 'party animal.' He has another wedding to go to next spring and he's already asking about it.

Too many visits to the hospital. B himself only had two Dr visits his entire year of two (and he requested both of them). He somehow managed to stay super healthy that year (praying for more of the same this year!). Lots of people he loves though spent too much time in the hospital and he became pretty familiar with a couple of the area hospitals. He can spot them a mile away now and if you pull into a parking ramp he assumes you're at a hospital.

Another flight to Aunt Mal's in Arizona (for the wedding). He loves flying and every time he sees a plane or sees people flying on tv he asks if he can go to Aunt Mal's.

A summer vacation. We road tripped with grandma to Chicago, Indiana Dunes, and Michigan. He became OBSESSED with hotels on this trip (we did stay in some pretty nice ones!). That was in July and there literally hasn't been a full week since that he hasn't asked to go to a hotel.

100 Parks! He became a playground legend. It was pretty much the best idea ever. (Thanks, Molly!) Story times at the library (his fave), lots of free music classes (we try to hit up every demo class that's offered in the area), and super fun play dates (he has the best friends). We didn't make it to the zoo as many times as the previous year (we won't likely buy a pass this coming year). We tried to get to the orchard as often but got a little and only made it a handful of times (still super fun though). He rode Thomas the Train. He visited a Children's Museum. He went to some baseball games (Chicago Cubs, I Cubs, and whichever spring training game it was we went to in Phoenix…). He did his first NBA game (much to his daddy's delight), a pre-season Golden State Warriors game here at Wells. Completed his first official Easter egg hunt. Competed in his first official race (the turkey trot), Rode his first tractor (with grandpa). Ate his first dutch letter while on his first Pella visit. Dressed up like Buzz a hundred times. A super hero about as many times. Finally started (kind of) posing for pictures for me. Got upset watching mommy and daddy zipline (I don't blame him!). Loved every trip he took to Ledges state park. Started memorizing and making up dances to all his favorite songs. Attended his first Slater 4th of July festivities (our little family at the fireworks was one of my most favorite memories of the year). Explored down town Des Moines. Loved visiting the sculpture park (a few times). Had his first Snookies ice cream cone (mine too). Started praying without prompt. Gained an amazing Jesus story. Discovered Jester Park. Had a blast at the Iowa State Fair. Discovered amusement park rides. Went to not enough (in his eyes) ISU football games. Rode another pony. Started sleeping in a big boy bed! Dressed up as Tic Toc Croc for Halloween. Then Max the following day (because he was tired of being mistaken for a dragon…).

Whew. I'm sure I'm forgetting a whole lot in there… but two- you sure were awesome.

B- I had such a great year with you little buddy. I LOVE watching you grow and learn and I love seeing more of your little personality shine through all of the time. You have such a tender heart and you are so sweet and loving. You're a little wild man too though. Your silly antics keep me laughing all day, every day. You kind of think you're funny too… You have the BEST giggle that turns into the best deep belly laugh. You smile with your whole self (you have since you were a tiny baby). You give the best bear hugs and you're definitely my best boy. (You always like to remind me daddy is my best boy too.) :) I love that your favorite color is green 'because mommy's favorite color is green' but I know you'll start developing your own ideas about how mommy is not all that cool all too soon. It might be a little hard on mama but I'm mostly okay with that. I love watching you become the little man you are becoming. I am so blessed I get to be your mama on this journey. You are so very loved sweet boy!

'tis the season…. for basketball

Top two signs that basketball season is in full swing (and that B is already missing daddy)…..

1. As we're walking into the high school B says, "My daddy lives here!" 

2. B managed to sneak into the huddle tonight. (At least he was nodding in agreement to everything Coach Daddy was saying and not protesting his play ideas..)

Decorating on the Cheap.

Emphasis on the cheap.

I hate spending money on home decor. Especially since I typically get bored with it but can't justify switching it out if I've spent any money on it.

I've never taken the time to figure out what exactly in our house we've spent money on but I do know it's not much. I can count the pieces of furniture we've purchased on one hand. I've been known to pull furniture off of curbs as close as next door neighbors. No shame.

Nearly everything in our house is someone else's junk (and some of it literally from the dump) so I always (always) laugh when someone says our house looks cute. I laugh extra hard when they ask for help decorating.

I would be horrible at helping you decorate.

To prove that point, here are my biggest decorating tips:

1.) Stay alert while driving. 

Yes, it's important to stay alert to watch for deer and other crazy drivers but I'm actually talking about keeping your eyes peeled to the curb. Some of my favorite pieces are off other people's curbs. I get slightly nervous when someone new (usually a photog client I don't know very well) compliments a curb piece as I'm hoping it wasn't off their curb. When I met my SIL's SIL and she told me where she lived I about died of embarrassment because I had recently snagged a couple end tables off her curb. Since getting over that incident, I've taken on a little Garth Brook's attitude (Shameless…) and will go right up to the neighbor's house and grab their good junk before trash day. One neighbor was in our house and complimented a piece I had snagged off her curb. She didn't even recognize it anymore. No shame.

2.) Gladly accept junk with gratitude.

My uncle is a trash man (among other titles he carries in my small hometown). Once in awhile he will bring my mom straight up trash. I questioned her reasoning behind accepting all of it and she said you never turn down the true junk because they might stop bringing you the good stuff. Words to live by my friends. When people know you love junk, people love to unload their junk on you. Sometimes, it might actually be junk. A few times I've gladly accepted pieces I thought I could work with only to have them sit in project purgatory with no plan working out for them. They ended up on my curb. But you never turn down the junk (even if it really is junk) cause they might stop giving you the good stuff. Along those same lines, I've accepted pieces I had no clue what to do with and those have ended up being some of my fave projects. (Some friends gave us some HUGE windows when they replaced theirs. I had no clue what to do with them so they sat in our basement for years. When I finally had an idea to use them, I was so glad I hadn't gotten rid of them!) We've been blessed with the best junk from people!! I swear nearly everything we get a compliment on in our house is a hand me down from someone else! (Thanks junk suppliers- you're the best!!) :)

3.) Hoard craft supplies.

Some of mine is 10+ years old but still works great. Save those little scraps. Save the ribbons off cute packages (especially the Lisa Leonard ones). Heck, I even save the brown packing paper that comes in the mail. You can use all of it! I swear! (Even though it may take a decade or so to come up with a plan for it.) ;)

4.) Know your limits and stick to 'em.

I have lots of rules on how much I'll spend (or rather, won't spend) on items. My favorite price is free. My second favorite is clearance. I'm not likely to spend more than that unless it's something I really want. If I'm on the hunt for something I come up with a price in my mind that I'm willing to spend on it and I won't go over that price. (That is if I've absolutely exhausted all my sources for finding it free.)

5.) If possible, marry a patient man and move to a house with plenty of storage.

Okay, this one might be too late for some of you but my biggest assets in DIYing on the fly are having a (very) patient man and a (very patient) storage room. DIYing with junk takes time and patience. Time to find the right pieces, time to figure out what the heck the plan is, time to finish (or you know, start) the projects. Time. And lots of it. I wasn't kidding when I said finding the mini trees was like winning a treasure hunt for me. I've been searching for them literally two years. I'm currently on the hunt for Christmassy scarves. If you have some you want to unload and want to save me the two year hunt, I'll gladly accept them with gratitude. ;)

So those are my best decorating tips. Maybe not what you were expecting but definitely rules to live by if you don't mind living in a house full of other people's trash discarded treasures. :)

decking the halls

It's currently in the single digit(s?) here and we have a whole lotta white stuff in the yard. I've heard rumors it's supposed to be cold pretty much forever (or at least until the end of March). Which seems like a long time to hate the cold and snow. We never (seriously, ever… except last year) decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving but the gentle snow fall last Saturday made it pretty hard not to! (Other factors… R has basketball pretty much every day for the rest of our lives…. Or at least it feels like it! And once I took B's birthday party decor down, I wasn't going to put fall decor out again for just a couple weeks.)

So Decking the Halls '14 began!

Our upstairs is mostly finished… I added several crafty projects and moved some stuff around so it looks quite a bit different than it has in years past but the grand total spent on the changes: $2.50! (I bought some mini trees for the table/mantel at Overflow Thrift Store.) We haven't touched the basement yet and we've only added one tree outside (because the tin it's in appropriately says, 'baby it's cold outside!)* so we still have a ways to go but the upstairs is putting us all in the Christmas cheer! (We've had hot cocoa or egg nog every night since and B even busted out his new Christmas jammies from Aunt Kerry tonight!)

My fave Christmas decorating tool this year is the Silhouette! I had a bunch of vinyl on hand so it didn't cost me anything to add a whole ton of Christmas goodness to stuff around the house. Some of my faves:

The 'Happy Holidays' sign (middle picture) was a gift from Ali at What's Your Sign Designs. She has the CUTEST Christmas stuff in her shop if you aren't feeling crafty this year! If you are feeling crafty, you should totally buy a share to the community silhouette and come craft with me! :)

Other crafting: a few book page trees (Once Was and Junk Refunkery had the cutest ones at Junk Jubilee this year so I tried to make my own version of those) and I added those thrift store trees to the mix (total treasure hunt score- I've looked for them the last two Christmases and never lucked out). We stuck our wedding tree in a tin (I think it came from my mom's house? Or my uncle found it in the trash? Or something like that?) and stuck a whole bunch of pallet boards around the house. Quite a bit of change for a total of $2.50!

So what about your house? Have you busted out the Christmas music and twinkle lights yet?!

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DAYS!

*R may have also put the lights up and turned them on. It was kind of a joke with him and one of the neighbors and I'm pretty sure he thought I would protest but B loves it so who am I to be a scrooge? :)

Interview with a three year old

My friend Molly interviews her girls each year and I've been so anxious to get to do this with B! We tried last year but as far as we got was his favorite color was blue. Most of the questions below are hers. I added/edited a few to fit B. Here's what he came up with. (Answers word for word, my added commentary in parenthesis.) :) 

1. What is your favorite color? Green and my mommy likes green too and my daddy likes red!

2. What is your favorite food? Cookies! (He told the Dr it was cheese at his check up so that was a slight improvement… he also really loves Smoothies and PB sandwiches) 

3. What is your favorite drink? Water?

4. What do you want to be when you grow up? Just like daddy and I wanna go to college! (Awww)

5. What is your favorite toy? A dump truck just like this one (full disclosure- he rarely plays with the dump truck but happened to be playing with it during the interview. He spends most of his time playing with trains and tractors!)

6. What is your favorite game to play? hide n seek!

7. What is your favorite movie? Dinosaurs (Land Before Time- but he also loves the Lego movie, Cars and Airplanes… too much tv?)

8. What is your favorite type of ice cream? Yellow! (Vanilla)

9. Where is your favorite place to be? The ice cream place we went to last night (more like a week ago-- we went to the ice cream capital of the world)

10. What is your favorite book? My baby books for my baby sister! (He reads to her all the time!)

11. What is your favorite TV show? Toy Story Ghost Oooooohhhhh (Toy Story of Terror)

12. Who is your best friend? Grandma 

13. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play trucks

14. What is your favorite thing to wear? Pants, underwear, shirt (which is funny because he usually just asks if he can nakey around) :)

15. What is your favorite thing to do with mommy? play dance songs

16. What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? play toys with daddy

17. What is your favorite chore? feed Dakota

18. What is your favorite thing to do on vacation? stay at the hotel

19. What is your favorite song? bout that bass bout that bass

20. Where is your favorite place to go? park! (we made it to 100 this year… another idea I got from Molly!)

An Airplane Party Fit For An (Almost) Three Year Old

As of today, I still have a two year old (thank goodness!) but Mr. B had a big celebration today cause he's getting super excited to turn THREE soon… (tear… ). 

He chose an airplane theme- which I was super excited for since it was his original choice last year before switching to trucks and also because his room is filled with great plan decor. It made party prep super easy. Other than food, we spent $1 on paper straws and $2 on scrapbook paper. His own airplane garb made up the rest of the party scene. We asked him what he wanted for food… cake, cookies and alligator (gatorade). He couldn't decide on food so we went with pizza again cause we're super lazy resourceful. He called Uncle Doyle this week and asked for ice cream and Uncle Doyle obliged. Once again making it super easy party prep for this little guy. He picked out his cake mix (blue suede… it was supposed to taste like blueberries?) and did nearly all the work on the cake- He gathered ingredients, ran the mixer (with help) and poured batter into pans. He mixed up the frosting (with help) and taste tested it as it was going on the cake.* He helped cut clouds out of fondant and stuck everything together (full disclosure, his clouds actually ended up looking better than mine but I had already stuck mine to the front.. bummer). 

As I looked at our wonky, leaning creation, I wondered if he would ever look back at party pictures and wonder why all his friends had store bought wedding birthday cakes for their parties while he didn't. But I kinda love the memories we make working in the kitchen together too so I'm hoping he'll be cool with that instead. He will. Right? (Right?!) (For the record… no judgement from me on the fancy cakes. I think they're awesome. I'm just too cheap to pay someone to make a cake for me!) ;)

*Funny story…. I told him no more licks cause he would get a tummy ache. He stole two more licks before grinning at me and said, "As it turns out, I DIDN'T get a tummy ache." I was laughing too hard to care about the stolen frosting. I love this age!

Other party prep included B calling everyone he knows and making sure they were coming to his party. He called one grandma several times to check and even asked if we could call the tickle monster to make sure he could make it. He helped me make the birthday banner (anyone having a plane party and want it?) and helped gather plane garb. He then was the official greeter and hugger of the day and had a blast playing with everyone. ….And he also enjoyed eating cake and ice cream and opening presents too…  ;) 

Big thanks to everyone that loves on our little guy. He is super spoiled by all of you and we are thankful for each and every one of you guys! I think all the toys he got today should keep him busy for the next 16 years. :)

P.S. Be sure to check out one of my fave pics below… the cousins on the couch pic. It's a tradition so we're probably gonna have to keep the couch forever. Just kidding. Kind of.

 

Turkey Trot '14

B's Birthday Party was today! (More on that in a little bit…) We started the morning out with a brisk (umm... 30/40s and WINDY) little run. By 'we' I mean B and the Carson cousins. (The adults were too turkey to run in the cold…)

B & Brenny P were both in the two year old race. B was a little excited and took off as soon as daddy set him on the line. Unfortunately, after he got scolded and set back to the starting line he was a little gun shy for the real race and wasn't sure if he should go or not. He eventually ended up chasing BP and giggling the whole way. Neither of our boys won but they looked like they thought it was awesome anyway. :)

Colson won his age group.. he kinda smoked the other kids… and won a turkey out of the deal! They also drew names for more turkeys at the end and he and R both waited patiently while they called out the raffle numbers. Eventually they made their way back to the car with three more turkeys.. that's FOUR turkeys for our four runners. Four free turkeys… Not bad a bad way to start the holiday season. :)

(One more that I borrowed from my friend's Facebook page.) :) 

thinking about making a to do list

Almost everyday over the last week or so, at least one person a day has asked me if we just about have everything ready to go for baby. The first couple times it was all I could do to not laugh- cause I totally thought they were joking. They weren't.

A list of what we have ready for baby:

-A storage room full of B's baby gear to sort through then clean and reassemble. (Maybe this doesn't go on the 'ready' list.) ;) Everything (except clothes) is gender neutral so I can't think of any big items we'll need.

-A bedroom with potential to be turned into a nursery. It currently doesn't have any flooring in it (long story short we ripped the carpet up a long time ago and never got around to replacing it). It needs painted (badly). And curtains. And a closet organizer (yep- doesn't even have a closet rod). But the space is there. ;)

-A Christmas stocking for her first Christmas (WAY ahead of the game on this so that gets me points somewhere, right? don't worry about the fact that we only buy Christmas stockings to solidify the name choice. you say it's dumb, i say it's tradition).

-A going home outfit. I ended up at Baby Gap to exchange a pair of shoes for B. They don't sell him in his size so I had some store credit to use and very carefully approached the baby girl clearance rack. I found one outfit and got out while I still could. Entering the girl section should not be taken lightly and without a plan. One clearance outfit later, I chalked my first (and only) girl section venture as a success.

-A 3-pack of bandana bibs. B never used bibs but the ones I did have for him were ones I made and the button snaps didn't last one washing. Swell Shop for Baby was one of the stops on DMMB Mom's Night Out and I couldn't resist taking advantage of their awesome sale for the moms that night (thus the bib purchase). Also, they were super awesome with their giveaways and I felt like we all needed to support them so I was just doing my part. (P.S. I WON a pack of their blankets so my tiny investment totally ended up being worth it. I also won a baby seat thinger(?)- I don't know… we didn't have this stuff with B.) ;)


So overall. No. We haven't done much of anything to prepare for baby but I think that's okay? Maybe? I don't feel like our list should be long but maybe that's cause I haven't given it much thought yet. We (mostly R) keep thinking that 2nd trimester energy thing will kick in this time but so far no luck. (My thyroid is completely out of whack so most days I can't hold my head up straight and other days I'm up til midnight blogging random thoughts.. ahem.)

If I were to make a to do list… here's what it would look like:

-Convince R to paint baby's room, dresser (we're using the one from B's nursery) and book shelves. Talk him into laying flooring, installing a closet and hanging curtains.

-Convince R to help me dig out B's baby gear from the storage room and clean it.

-Dig through my friends' hand me downs. Buy hangers to put it all on.

-Purchase (online of course because you know I don't have the time or energy to face an actual store these days) a working video monitor, and a few things I want her to have all of her own (amber necklace, aden and anais swaddling blankets (like these) oh and diapers- those are probably good to have new, right?). ;)  We're also thinking she'll need her own iPod dock (anyone have an old iPod we could buy?)- B still uses his daily/nightly. I also need to find out if my insurance covers a new pump. If not, I need to buy some parts for the old one (and make sure it still works).

-Round up every baby thing we've loaned out over the last couple years. (I take back what I said about that storage room full of baby stuff… most of it isn't actually in our storage room… oops.)

-If I'm feeling really crafty…. make her a mobile and have B help make some other decor items I have in mind for her room.

-Then avoid window shopping online because gah! the little girl stuff is so stinkin' cute and somehow since B was born a mere three years ago, they've come out with a million more awesome baby things. I need to avoid it all like the plague. Like this portable baby nest, these adorable headbands, these shoes I've always crushed on, and a million other super adorable girl and baby things.


Did you feel like you had much prep to do with baby #2? Am I going to be in a huge surprise when I realize maybe we do need to start doing something?! ;)