The Big Boy Bed

 

Several weeks ago Devin converted Collin’s crib to his toddler bed. I cried, but he was very excited about it.

That afternoon he took a nap in his crib

But went to bed in his Big Boy Toy Story Bed

 

He’s done REALLY well in it. He stays in bed until we come to get him. Even if he’s not ready for a nap (or he thinks he’s not ready rather…) once we leave the room he stays there and plays under the blanket or cries. When he wakes up from his naps or in the morning he still won’t get out, even after I moved toys into his room. He will lay in bed and say “uh, mama!” or “Daaaaada!”

Part of me wanted to keep him in the crib until he discovered he could climb out, but I just couldn’t lift him at all anymore. And when he does wake up, I’m surprised he doesn’t get out of bed and go play. Again, part of me wishes he would so that I could just relax and wake up myself a little bit first, but it’s all good. I’m happy with the way things are, and I think he really is too.

 

We didn’t have a video monitor before the twins’ shower so we have been taking advantage of it. It’s quite interesting to see what he’s up to when we aren’t in the room. (Which is why I know he doesn’t get out of bed even if he’s not happy about being there for a nap) He has a Toy Story blanket and when he hides under it just right, it looks like one of the aliens are in his bed. Being under the blanket is one of his favorite things to do, rather than sleep. Since we’ve had the video monitor I’ve sent Devin several picture that crack me up or are just too sweet not to show him. So here are some cute “sleeping” pictures of the monitor I spend a lot of time looking at now…

Before actually giving up and going to sleep

And a sweet sleeping little boy

 

This one cracks me up because his legs are hanging over the edge

THIS was the day I first put toys in his room. I thought I was going to have issues keeping him in bed. He was getting out to go play. So I used the  intercom feature (IT’S GREAT! Because we can tell him to lay back down without going upstairs) to tell him to get back into bed. He wasn’t happy about it, but get right back into bed. He cried for a little bit, but fell asleep and hasn’t gotten up since. 

Crafting Nursery Wall Art

I knew I wanted Justin and Lana’s initials on the wall somehow, but didn’t want to just buy them somewhere. So I thought, I have sample paint leftover from the windows. I’m not artist, but I’m crafty enough to be able to do something simple that I’ll like. So I went to work in Photoshop and designed something that I knew I could execute. When I was telling Angela about what I wanted to do, she suggested attaching wooden letters to the canvas. So I found exactly what I was looking for… and then some.

I sketched out the Photoshop design onto the 12x12 canvas

And went to work painting…

painting…

 

twice ;)

 

The isle the letters were on were these little cliché words that I had to have… but I had to paint them because they were horrible pinks, blues, and yellows. 

 

 

And you’ve already see the final product, hung with a black chord

I don’t think I’ve ever planned out an art project/craft that actually turned out the way I envisioned and really wanted it to, so I was pleasantly surprised with myself on these.

The Long Awaited Nursery Post

I probably should have done this last week when I posted these pictures to Facebook, but I’m going to use the whole tired and pregnant with twins excuse.

 

This was my original vision for the room. Teal walls and espresso furniture with white bedding. After purchasing two cribs and 4 drawer dresser, we realized we didn’t have a whole lot of room. That extra crib sure does take up a lot of room. But I’m really happy with the way it all turned out nonetheless.

(The pictures are taken on my phone and didn’t turn out all that great. Sorry about that)

 

The view from the door looking in

I know I know, it’s crooked, Lana’s bed (where they will both be initially) and the rocking chair

Justin’s Bed

What makes it “boy” and “girl”

Corner windows between their beds. My favorite lanterns and homemade curtains

  

Justin’s View, the rocking chair, and side table with my custom wall art :)

Lana’s View, The dresser/changing table

It’s a lot easier to organize a closet for one baby. Two take up a TON of space! And Justin/Collin have way more clothes at this point :)

 

All in all, it turned out pretty much how I envisioned it would. That’s definitely a first for me!

Getting Emotional

 

As we get closer and closer to having two new babies around, I find myself crying more all the time. Not because I’m necessarily sad, mad, upset or even happy. Just, because I look and watch Collin and all the things that he does and says now, and I just wonder if I’ll really feel the same way about the twins as I do about him. Everyone says yes of course you will. And I guess I don’t really doubt that I will, but it’s just hard to sit and spend so much time with him the last two years and think that, not just one, but two, new babies are going to have space in my heart and my life like he does. As much as I’m ready for the twins to be here and not be pregnant anymore (I’m WAY beyond done being pregnant this time) I can’t help but think, these are the last days that I’m going to have just me and Collin.

He actually talks to me now and tells me what he wants and doesn't want. He interacts with Carly and the cats. He comforts me when I’m crying because I can’t believe our time is almost over. He gets excited to see me when I’ve been gone. He gets excited and recognizes things in books, on TV, and when we actually do get out. I watch him play and he’s using his imagination. He’s just one big ball of amazement to me and I just can’t seem to grasp the fact that “just us” is almost done. I’ve got two weeks at the most just us. And the worst part is, he doesn’t really understand what’s about to happen, and it is killing me.

 

 

Comforting me

 

Throwing his pall and playing catch

 

 

Enjoying some time in the sandbox

 

“Calling and talking” to Daddy

 

Look Who’s Getting Crafty!

TODAY! I did a project for our room! YAY! I bought a 12x14 canvas to paint and create a necklace holder, but that one will have to be for another day. Today was the Flower Hook (Also to hold necklaces). It was really easy, and super SUPER cheap, as in, practically free because I used stuff I already had in the house :)

 

First I picked two different 12x12 papers and cut them into four smaller pieces

Each of the quarter pieces got folded in half twice to make a smaller square and then on a diagonal

 

When it was folded on the diagonal I cut the petals for the flower out. (And forgot to take the picture…) Even though there are eight total pieces, I only used six. It just felt right to stop at six, haha. So I alternated the  paper patterns and placement and stapled them together.

 

Next, I folded the petals up so you can’t see the staple and “brought the flower to life” one later at a time

 

After I spent a whole $1.50 (only .75 after my 50% coupon! LOL) on the wooden circles, I realized I probably could have just used cardboard or something else laying around the house, but, oh well.

The hook is SO SIMPLE! It’s just a wire hanger… which I hate anyway and was happy to put it to good use. I had a white one, so I used it rather than having to paint the plain wire one. I hot glued the hanger (after I cut it with wire cutters and shaped it with pliers) to the wooden circle and then glued them to the back of the flower creating a (well, I did two, so two) flower hooks that will accompany my canvas necklace board later. I’m SO HAPPY with the way this turned out, I could just scream.

To hang it on the wall, I’m going to have to wait for Devin to drink two cans of the Mountain Dew that is in our refrigerator at the moment. I plan to glue the tab to the wooden circle and use it at the hook for the wall. :)

The Twins’ Shower

I seriously have the best group of friends ever on the face of the planet. Since I’m not getting out a whole lot, just me and Collin, anymore, I’ve had more people come to me and Collin :) Last week I asked Sarah, Brittany, and Ashley to bring the kids over for a play date and just get some adult conversation and interaction. Little did I know what they had been plotting.

I took them upstairs to see the wreck of a loft area and the twins unfinished nursery. Brittany saw boxes of clothes and said “OOH! Let’s have some fun and sort these!” If you don’t know Brittany, cleaning and organizing is her thing. A good comparison would be Monica from FRIENDS. She hosts a party at her house and when you ask to what you can do to help her, she says, “Are you kidding me? You had your party, now I get to have mine!” So these three lovely ladies took over my house last week. They organized my loft: separated things that needed to go into the attic, baby items, boxed and labeled Collin’s old clothes, toys, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed and just made the upstairs livable. Downstairs, Sarah cleaned out our refrigerator. (Talk about embarrassing!) When I say cleaned out, I mean took everything out and wiped the shelves and drawers and tossed what needed to be tossed and then did the dishes. Before they left I had a very clean house. And as they left, said, “we’ll finish when we come back next week.” NEXT WEEK?!

Next week meant the shower! I have to admit, that the girls in our Sunday School class somehow manage to outdo themselves each time another shower is thrown. (A little unspoken friendly competition perhaps???? ;) ) I didn’t think that Brittany and Ashley could top what they did for me at Collin’s shower, but they did. With the help of Sarah and Angela this time.  Ashley and Angela made some awesome food, Sarah’s cup cakes ~adorable!!!~ and Brittany and Sarah’s decorations, too cute for words. The shower was at my house after church on Sunday afternoon. But I wasn’t allowed to be at my own house for several hours? Yeah, they kicked me, Devin, Collin and my mom and brother out of the house for a little more than two hours between the time we got back from church and the time the shower started at 3:00.

Bradley took Collin to his house for the afternoon and a nap, well, what turned out to be a 20 minute power nap for the car ride. (Sorry about that Brudder!) I really don’t have words to describe how I felt that afternoon, other than blessed and loved. All these ladies bringing us diapers, clothes, and all kinds of baby goodies for a second/third time. After all the fun and shenanigans were over and most everyone had left the girls went into attack mode. You never would have known there was a party of 20+ ladies at my house. And you would really never know that any gifts were involved. In addition to cleaning everything up, again, they took all the loot upstairs to the babies’ room and helped unload and organize it. Tags came off clothes and were ready to be washed. “Necessities” were placed in drawers and the closet and drawers organized as best as could be at that time. (I promise in the next few days I’ll get a post of the nursery. It’s SO CLOSE to being complete it’s scary!)

At the time of the shower it was 32 weeks and counting…

My Mommy and Me

My Lovely Hostesses

And the traditional shower picture, with a little something “extra”

 

Thank you ladies for ALL your hard work! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

31 Weeks

Baby's now the size of a squash!
Baby's going through major brain and nerve development these days. His irises now react to light, and all five senses are in working order. (He won't pick up anything from his nose until after birth, though -- smell is transferred through air, not amniotic fluid.)

 

Except, I have TWO squashes! Justin doesn’t usually cooperate during ultrasounds so I haven’t gotten a good picture of him in several months. Tuesday I only got a good picture of him :) This week (July 5) we found out both Justin and Lana are head down. I feel like there isn’t much room for them to turn anymore, but I’ve got this streak of being proven wrong, so in 4 weeks they’ll be in some other position, I’m sure. Justin weighed approximately 3lb and Lana was 3lb 2oz. When Collin was born, at 39 weeks, we was only 7lb 4oz. Guess there is a reason I feel like I’m more than 31 weeks now.

I haven’t been anywhere, just me and Collin, in more than three weeks. (With the exception of Wednesday, we went to a friends house. Where i sat or laid on her couch the whole time. And someone even changed Collin’s diaper for me. I’m telling you, my friends are the best!) But even going out with Devin and Collin is exhausting and I feel like I need to lay down after just thirty minutes to an hour. One night week I went to Publix with my mom and Collin. I didn’t even push the cart, but I was done. The next day all I could do was lay on the couch. Luckily, I think Collin can tell when I’m not feeling well and was really pretty good all day. He laid with me for a little bit and watched Toy Story 3 and went right down for his nap and told me “night night” as I was half way down the stairs. It put a big smile on my face as I went straight to my bed a slept for two hours :) We’ll see what the next few weeks and my appointment on Wednesday bring.

Justin’s profile :) 30-ish weeks

Looking right at us :)

Lana’s profile at 26-ish weeks (June 10th)

Cute Video Friday

Our upstairs AC has been on the fritz lately. As a result, Collin, for the first time ever, slept in be with me last night. (Devin was in Arizona for work.) Needless to say, neither of us slept very well, and he was up at 6 AM. That’s an hour and a half earlier than normal. We had a play date the same day. After everyone left he ate a few grapes and almost fell off the couch watching TV. It was only about 20 minutes before his normal naptime. Poor guy just couldn’t make it any longer… neither could mama.