Nursery Progress

Here is where we're at with Miller's nursery:

We still have a few things that need to be hung on the wall, need to finish making the mobile, a mirror along the floor bed, set up a changing station on top of the dresser, put the rest of the drawer pulls on the dresser in the closet, take out the ceiling light fixture and add a fan, touch up a little paint, build a few shelves in the closet, and we might paint a mural on the wall where the floor bed is similar to this one:

(only with blue birds)

The mobile is going to be like this:

 

In blue, grey, and yellow fabrics. My mother in law is making it so it will actually end up looking nice as opposed to the fabric blobs hot glued together and stuck on sticks that would happen if I tried to do it.

We went back and forth and back and forth about doing a nursery. First we were going to just put the baby in our room since we'll be cosleeping. If he ends up being like Marshall and needing his own space after a few months, our new house has room for us to put a bassinet or crib in our bedroom, or even in our closet. We planned on eventually putting the boys together in what is now Marshall's room. Then we decided we had so much fun making Marshall's first room that Miller deserved the same, even if it wouldn't get much use. We'd just try to do it on the cheap.

Just like with Marshall, we didn't want anything too "baby" or "theme-ish." I was going to buy fabric and make the curtains that are in the closet and window but decided to save some $ and just use some white linen ones we already had. Same with the bedding. We used a curtain rod we already had for the window, then an old shower curtain rod to hang the curtains in the closet. The crib is from Craigslist. We sanded and painted it. The bedding is from Marshall's nursery, as are all of the toys. We already had the rug, floor bedding, mirror, bird decals that are in the closet, and curtains. The only other things we bought for the room is the paint, crib mattress (Ikea), dresser (Craigslist), glider (consignment shop), the low white shelf (Ikea), floor bed (Ikea), floor bed base (Ikea).

Crib: $40
Crib Mattress: $70
Shelf: $60
Floor Mattress: $99
Mattress Slats: $20
Dresser: $25
Dresser Pulls: $10.50
Glider: $80
Paint: $40

Total:  $444.50

Which really isn't that much considering he'll use the mattresses, shelf and dresser for a long time. We'll do like we did with Marshall and re-sell the crib and glider as soon as we stop using them. Because the floor bed is a twin sized mattress, we can also use the space for an over night guest if we need to.

Like I said, there's still more to do but so far I'm very happy with the way it came out! Its cute and peaceful. In case you've forgotten, here is what it looked like when we bought the house:

Ugh, that color still drives me crazy! I'm just not a red bedroom person. Then here is what it looked like before we nurseryfied it:

As you can see we never really did anything with it, just put some spare furniture in there and talked about maybe making an office. I feel kind of bad that Jerad's dad spent a whole day painting over the red and we just painted over it....Then again there is no way I could have lived with that red for the 5 months we've been in the house.

Besides a few finishing touches, all we need is a sweet little baby to complete the room!

Beach Day

Today Marshall and I went to the beach. Apparently the nice Fall weather we had a few weeks ago was a fluke because its been Hades Hot lately. An escape to the coast was definitely in order.

Despite the beautiful weather at the beach, the water was coooooold and I wasn't sure how much he was going to love it. He got his toes in and stood watching for a few minutes.

 

 

Then sat down.

This is the face me makes if I ask him to smile apparently.

There were a few other other kids about the same age there who would cling to their mom's like there was no tomorrow as soon as a wave would come, or would run away.

Um, not my baby. I had to stop taking pictures at this point because he decided to run out past his waist and stay there betting pummeled by waves. Every few waves he'd get knocked down and tumbled around and thought it was hilarious. I wore a dress and ended up getting soaked trying to a) keep up with him and b) keep him from drowning.

We played in the water until his lips were purple and he was shaking so hard he could barely stand up, yet he still cried when I decided it was time to leave. Picture me, in all my 30 week pregnant glory, carrying all our stuff with a purple shaking toddler reaching over my shoulder towards the water crying "bye bye wa-wa" over and over.

Quite the site.

After that we had a picnic lunch in the park. I asked Marshall if he wanted some chicken and while he was eating it he kept making chicken sounds then saying "mmmm" which was both adorable and traumatizing all at the same time.

He also got a kick out of "driving" the pirate ship:

Tonight when I was giving him a bath he kept saying "ball" and "water" then "bird" and "weee" which is what he calls slides and I realized he was talking about the beach! So cute.

30 Weeks

So sorry... I get really awkward taking pictures of myself. I feel about the same way I did with Marshall at this stage. Like there is no way I can possibly get bigger in the next 10 weeks. That was before I learned I could grow and stretch to the size of Texas.

Besides being Large, I feel great. Lots of energy, sleeping well, blah blah blah. The only thing really different this time around is I am having braxton hicks contractions like crazy. I did last time too, just not until the last few weeks. Now if I do anything they start up. Like walking up the stairs, vacuuming, picking up Marshall. Pretty much anything even slightly physical and my stomach gets hard like a rock. I don't mind though, they aren't painful... just annoying. And it kind of makes me feel buff... like its all muscle or something. Hopefully all these practice contractions now will get my uterus nice and toned for labor.

Steer Clear

Good Lord I'm in an awful mood today. Seriously, I've just been quietly fuming at my desk all day. I'm in such a bad mood that I almost think its funny. No reason for the grump, its just one of those days I guess. I also feel huge and uncomfortable and just BLAH which isn't helping.

The light at the end of the tunnel is that I'm off in 3 minutes and today is my Friday. I am picking up Marshall and I have a midwife apt this evening and hot plans of In 'n Out for dinner (aka no cooking for this grump).

Jerad left at 6:30 am for a job in Santa Barbara and will be back tomorrow night. Tomorrow I think I'll take Marshall to the beach or at the least the Children's Museum to blow off some steam. This weekend we are going to finish up a few projects around the house because the next weekend we are finally having our Housewarming Party!

Marshall's new Montessori Bedroom

We finally decided to spiff up Marshall's room a bit. When we bought the house we threw his room together quickly and never went back and really put it together.

This is what it looked like 4 months ago when we bought the house:

And this is what it looked like after we moved in:

The only new thing we bought was the toddler bed, everything else we already had from his room at our old house. Since he had been sleeping on the twin sized floor bed since 7 months old, we thought he would do fine moving into a toddler bed at 1 year, which he did. So far he hasn't fallen out.
We decided since the room was big enough (it seems so huge after his last room!) we'd keep the floor bed as well. It makes a nice place for us to snuggle as a family to read books, or for Jerad or I to hang out on when we're playing with Marshall in his room. For some reason Marshall usually elects to sleep on the floor bed for his first nap, but the toddler bed for his second nap and overnight.

While the room was functional... it wasn't very aesthetically pleasing. You know me, I usually like to have a theme or some sort of cohesive design and this room was just something that we schlepped together in 30 minutes.

After going back and forth about a theme or design, and being determined to follow our "only if we have the cash" rule for home improvements, we decided to get creative with stuff we already had. This meant reusing Jerad's John Deere stuff from our old office/music room circa 2008/2009. We also added a bookcase that we already had (that really needs to be refinished some day when I'm not feeling so lazy slash pregnant). The only things I purchased for the room re-do was a set of sheets from Target that were on sale for $14.78, a body pillow for $9.99, and a pillow cover on sale for $4.98. So the whole room cost about $30.

The entire room is baby/child proofed, and everything is at his level so he can easily see everything and chose what to play with.

MichaelOlaf.net puts it perfectly:

"Every child follows a unique timetable of learning to crawl to those things he has been looking at, so that he may finally handle them. This visual, followed by tactile, exploration is very important for many aspects of human development. If we provide a floor bed or mattress on the floor in a completely safe room—rather than a crib or playpen with bars—the child has a clear view of the surroundings and freedom to explore.


A bed should be one which the baby can get in and out of on his own as soon as he is ready to crawl. The first choice is an adult twin bed mattress on the floor. Besides being an aid to development, this arrangement does a lot to prevent the common problem of crying because of boredom or exhaustion.


It helps to think of this as a whole-room playpen with a baby gate at the doorway and to examine every nook and cranny for interest and safety. If the newborn is going to share a room with parents or siblings we can still provide a large, safe, and interesting environment.


Eventually he will explore the whole room with a gate at the door and then gradually move out into the baby-proofed and baby-interesting remainder of the house.


These are the beginning stages of independence, concentration, movement, self-esteem, decision-making, and balanced, healthful development of body, mind, and spirit."

Opting for a child centered environment instead of the typical nursery has definitely done all of those things. Marshall is SO independent. He will easily play by himself for over an hour. Its really neat watching his decision making as well. Sometimes he will work on a puzzle every day for a week, then all of a sudden he masters that one and decides to focus on a stacking toy. Sometimes he wants to play and wind off some steam before putting himself to sleep and sometimes he happily crawls to his room, grabs his blanket, picks a bed and goes right to sleep. Sometimes when he wakes in the morning he calls out for "daddy" or "mommy" until one of us comes and cuddles in bed with him, and sometimes he wakes up and quietly plays for 45 minutes until he decides its breakfast time. I think one of the reasons he is so calm and independent is because he has control over a lot of his environment and we're removed a lot of frustrations. Having only a few toys out at a time also keeps him from being overwhelmed or over stimulated. As he grows tired of the things in his room, I rotate them out with other toys.

Although we LOVE the Montessori Philosophy and concept, we are going to do a crib for Miller at least until he starts crawling. That way we have somewhere "safe" to put him that Marshall can't get to. I'll post pictures of Miller's nursery soon!

Weekend recap

We had an AWESOME weekend. It was one of those weekends where everything just clicked, we were super productive, and managed to squeeze in some family fun each day as well. My favorite kind of weekend!

Thursday after work (I work a shorter 7-8 hour shift on Thursdays) I picked up Marshall and took him to the Children's museum until it closed. We ended up getting a 3 month membership and have been going 1-3 times a week. He loves it and knows where everything is now.

Jerad has been trying to work 4 ten hour shifts (like I do) so that we can have Friday's off as a family. For the last few weeks he's ended up having to go in the office for a few hours but has pretty much been home the whole day. It's great! Friday morning I left the boys home and went and hung out with Beth for some girl time. Later Jerad, Marshall and I spent some time at the park, then managed to put a bunch of finishing touches on the nursery (pictures to follow eventually). Besides a few odds and ends all it really needs is a little baby Miller to fill it up! Marshall is obsessed with the crib. He hasn't been in a crib since he was 8 months old and we moved him to a floor bed so he thinks its some sort of toy. I put him inside it and he holds onto the rails and jumps up and down. Hilarious.

Saturday we went to the Pioneer Day Parade. Last year Marshall was little and wasn't totally into it. This year he was fascinated with all of the tractors, horses, bands, and heavy equipment.

I just went to find the blog of last year's parade and it looks like last year we spent the weekend doing basically the exact same thing we did this weekend. Park, Pioneer Parade, house projects, and pumpkin patch. How funny. 

Sunday we went to the San Marcos Pumpkin Farm. It was so much fun! There was a bounce house:

Animals:

And the whole place just looked like a park. This is exactly the kind of place Jerad and I wanted to get married in and couldn't find, however I still don't think it beats Yosemite:)

Besides basically finishing the nursery, we also finished the covered dog area in the back yard, came up with a plan of how to renovate and revamp the upstairs kid's bathroom, organized our closet, planned a housewarming party, walked the dogs every day, cleaned almost all the blinds and went to bed Sunday night on clean sheets with all the bathrooms shining, kitchen cleaned, and floors vacuumed and mopped. The Perfect Way to start a new week!

Oh, and the best part; I put away all the laundry and have kept the fireplace laundry free for the last 4 days:)