Nursery ideas

Since circumstances haven't allowed me to put together the nursery, I created a Power Point presentation for visual purposes (yes, I am a geek)! However, I wanted to get all of my ideas posted onto the blog so that I will have them to look back at years down the road and to share with our daughter (if she cares).

Bedding

The theme in the nursery will probably be flowers and butterflies (not because this is something I have always wanted, but because it was the only thing I found that I liked in my colors).

Window Coverings

I debated between solid or patterned for the curtains and decided on a pattern. We will use the yellow, green, purple curtains with the sheer dots behind. I haven't been able to find a valance that I like so Barb is going to ask their neighbor to make me one to match the bedding (WOOHOO)!

Walls

I can't decide for sure what to do with the walls. I like the idea of fun, bright, colorful paintings, but also like the fun wall art Barb and I found at Babies R Us (just don't want to overdo it). Barb said Ed could cut the shapes for her (flowers and butterflies) and then she could paint to match the bedding. Decisions, decisions!

Wall Stencils

Ryan and I also like the idea of doing wall stencils in the room, but again, don't want to overdo it with stencils and then art. Not to mention finding the 'perfect' stencil has proven to be a bit difficult.

Wall Letters

On one wall we will put block letters (identical to what we did in Cael's room) spelling out whatever name we choose.

Area rug
I like the idea of a shaped rug (as opposed to rectangle, circle or square), but don't want it to over take the room and don't want there to be too much purple (not yet sure if there is anything as 'too much purple', but just in case). Currently, I am leaning towards the idea of three separate rugs in purple, pink and green (last picture).

Furniture
We will use Cael's furniture in the nursery, which includes the changing table system and crib (in espresso), however rather than using the chair we used with Cael, we are opting for a rocker/recliner. Also furniture will now include the addition of the side table.

Lighting

We never ended up buying a lamp for Cael's room and I regret it. It would have really come in handy on certain nights and especially now that we read to him before he goes to bed each night.

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa arrived at our house around 4:00 on Saturday evening. While Ryan and Ed unloaded the truck carrying all of Cael's furniture for his 'big boy' room, Barb and I did our best to keep Cael entertained. It wasn't too difficult once they pulled out the motorized four wheeler they brought for Cael to play with now that Nolan and Makenzi are too big to use it. At first he wasn't sure what to make of his new toy, but once Grandma started pushing him around the driveway, he was in little boy heaven.

And of course, a visit from family wouldn't be complete without watching a little Curious George.

Diaper bag

Shortly after I found out I was pregnant I started subscribing to the http://www.babysteals.com/ website. They sell one quality baby or maternity product every day at 50-80% off until it sells out. I get daily e-mails letting me know what the 'Steal of the Day' is and then I decide whether or not it is something that I just can't live without (or the baby)! I have actually never purchased anything from the site until yesterday when they were offering the Dwell Studio Diaper Tote for 65% off of suggested retail. I did some research and discovered that this is one of the best diaper bags on the market (with a MSRP of $170 - it should be) and couldn't find a bad review. They had already sold out in two of the patterns so I quickly placed an order for the only one remaining in stock. I also bought the accompanying travel case to keep smaller items (pacifiers, medicine, etc) from getting lost and to make them easier to access. I can't help myself, I am over the moon. I have no idea why little stuff like this makes me so happy, but I couldn't resist posting about it on the blog.

Features:
Coated canvas with painted leather handle
Waterproof lining on inside of tote
Hollow alloy hardware keeps tote light in weight
Two outer canvas zippered pockets
Includes coordinating patterned changing pad and wipes case
Contains five inside pockets; one of those five is zippered and two can be used for bottle storage
Can attach to stroller with two built in loops on inside of bag
Other Gio Aqua pieces available
Spot clean if necessary
Overall dimensions: 12" H x 16" W x 6" D

I think part of the reason I am so excited is that the diaper bag we used as our day-to-day bag (mainly to and from daycare) with Cael was one that we got for free from the hospital. I had registered for a large diaper bag (GREAT for traveling) and a smaller diaper bag (GREAT as Cael got older), but we didn't really think to buy a medium sized one. Anyway, looking back on it (and seeing other diaper bags out there), I think our lives would have been easier if we actually would have purchased a decent diaper bag (or at least that is my excuse). You live, you learn :)

TROUBLE

Ed and Barb got into town on Saturday afternoon and Barb and I decided to make a quick trip to the Carter's outlet on Sunday. It is getting harder and harder to resist all of the cute clothes they have out there for little girls. I have a hard enough time with Cael; I can't imagine what it is going to be like once our daughter is born (Ryan might be right in insisting I hand over my credit cards)! We bought a lot of cute stuff (I couldn't find pictures of all the stuff that we bought) and I wanted to share this dress we found that is going to be SOOOOO cute on our little girl. ADORABLE!!!!!!
*More posts to come on Grandma and Grandpa's visit, but I just had to write about the dress. I am so excited I can barely stand it :) GEEK!

Determination

Lately, it seems as though words and pictures aren't enough to describe some of the things that Cael does and this next post is no exception. However, he was being SO cute that I had to at least make an attempt! Cael had finished dinner and was playing in our pantry. He managed to lug a liter of pop over to the table and when I asked him if it was for Mommy, he nodded his head. I put it on the table (mainly because I was afraid if he played with it too much it would explode everywhere) and he went back to the pantry at which point I told Ryan that he was probably going to clean out the pantry in his attempt to bring me additional 'gifts'. We have two huge jugs of unopened juice sitting on the floor in our pantry and Cael started trying to lift them (not nearly as easy as the liter of pop). He would try to lift one; get frustrated and move to the other until finally, he just started pushing them across the floor. He was so determined, which of course made it totally adorable. He started out pushing them both across the floor at the same time, but when one of them got stuck on a rug, he focused on just one and managed to push it all the way over to me. He was so proud of himself and kept signing for and saying 'more'. At that point, he could have literally brought me the whole pantry and I would have let him just to see that look on his face when he finally accomplished his task.

Ryan is taking pictures and I am trying to give Cael directions and encouragement!

Change

With September just around the corner, I have been thinking more and more about Cael and how is going to react to having a little sister. I worry that he will feel abandoned, left out, confused and neglected. I find myself wanting to protect him, to pull him into my arms and reassure him that he will always be my little boy, my little buddy and that I will ALWAYS love him. It is so hard not being able to explain to him what it all means. I feel like the inability to provide him with an explanation means he will be blindsided by the addition of another baby. I realize that Cael is not the first child to become a sibling and that I am probably making a mountain out of a molehill, but I can't help but worry. For almost two years, Cael has been the only child in our lives and soon all of that is going to change. I just want to make sure that he knows how very much he is loved and that having another baby won't change that.

I love these slides from scrapblog.com (click on the image to make it bigger)

Belly pics - 31w5d

So much for being better at taking pictures during this pregnancy than I was with Cael. Ooops! I think part of the reason I haven't taken as many pictures as I had originally intended is because a picture doesn't lie (the word puffy comes to mind). At this point, I really don't want to see the evidence of how much weight I have gained. Everyone keeps telling me how cute I am and that I don't look like I have really gained that much weight (thank you and please don't stop - even if you are lying through your teeth), but I can see it and I am doing my best to ignore it :) Hopefully I will look back on these pictures and smile with fondness as opposed to cringing with disgust! LOL, here's to memories (good and bad).

For comparison sake, I found a couple of pictures from when I was pregnant with Cael (I did take a few). I am approximately 38 weeks, 5 days. Yes, I am huge with this pregnancy and yes, I look ten years old in the pictures below. WOW, crazy how much can change in two short years (hey, at least my hair looks better now - well at least I think it does)!!!

New shoes

This weekend (and every other weekend for the last month) Ryan and I have been on a mad hunt to find a new pair of sneakers for Cael. Ryan bought a pair back in November that Cael has since outgrown (everytime we would put them on his feet, he would kick them off and at one point even started crying and limping). We looked at Walmart, Target, Nordstrom Rack, Babies R Us, Famous Footwear and finally Stride Rite. The toughest thing about finding a pair was that Cael is in between sizes with a 6 being too small and a 7 being too big. The clerk at Stride Rite measured Cael and said he would need a 7, but not just a regular size 7, a size 7 extra wide. Both Ryan and I laughed when she said this because his feet are like little loaves of bread. I found a pair that I really liked for $50 and we both agreed that was too much to spend on a pair of shoes for a 20 month old. Ryan really liked a pair of Nike's at Famous Footwear and when he mentioned this the clerk cautioned us that Nike typically only makes a regular width shoe. We opted to get a pair of shoes at Stride Rite and I had to laugh when she put them on. Cael is a big kid, but these shoes make him look like a little midget. He was running around the mall and all I could hear was the 'clomp, clomp' of his shoes. I had to snap a couple of pictures and post about it because the image was too hilarious not to share. My little big foot :)

The pictures don't really do the post justice, but hopefully you get an idea of how huge his shoes are!!

Animal sounds

Ryan and I have been trying to teach Cael about different animal sounds. It originally started with me teaching him the sound that a cow makes (mooooo) while we were watching Curious George. He picked it up right away and ever since Ryan has been working with him on the sounds that a dog, horse and cat make. At first, when asked what sound a dog makes, Cael would make a slight wuffing noise in imitation of a dog barking. However, as we introduced other sounds, it got hard for him to keep them all straight (i.e. barking when asked what sound a cow makes, etc.). At one point, Ryan asked Cael what sound a dog makes and rather than barking (or wuffing), Cael started panting. For those who know our dogs, you know that this is something they do ALL the time so it makes perfect sense that Cael would associate panting with dogs. Too cute!