Backpack, Backpack!

(Yes, that was supposed to be sung to the tune of the backpack song from Dora the Explorer)

So now that I’m allowed to talk about it – my brother is getting married!!! In August! In UTAH! So if you’ve done the math, why yes, I will be flying with a toddler and a newborn across the country for my brother’s wedding weekend. I’m having an anxiety attack just thinking about it. However, we will be flying on the same flight as the rest of my family, and John will be able to take a day off to fly with us as well, so I will have plenty of help. AND both flights are non-stop. Hallelujah!

But in preparation for our trip, I made Nathan a little toddler backpack. I actually found a tutorial HERE through pinterest months ago, wanting to make one for him at some point, but this was the perfect excuse to get one done. I’m scrambling to finish all my project to-dos by the end of June, because really, July doesn’t really exist in terms of getting anything done. 

But anyway, I actually sort of ended up making the backpack twice. The first time I followed the pattern pretty closely, adding a few things so that it would be a good backpack to grow into. But I realized there were a few things about the pattern that I didn’t really like (like the placement of the straps on the back) and I totally messed up the side pockets that I had added. I also made the first one without stiff interfacing, and I decided I wanted something a little sturdier that would keep its shape.

So here’s my second attempt. I was able to pick out and reuse the lining, which saved me a lot of time the 2nd time around and I really loved the fabric that I had used, so I really wanted to use it for the final result. Ta-da!

If you went to the tutorial site, you’ll notice I added the front zippered pocket – it’s good to have extra space for extra cars and trains. ;)
I also added elastic pockets on both sides to hold sippy cups or water bottles. (on my first attempt, the elastic was not anchored well enough so the first time I stretched them out to put something in them, the elastic pulled free. And the pocket was not longer elastic. Boo)

On the back I put the straps up at the top rather than 4” down like the original pattern called for. When Nathan wore the first one, he had lots of excess backpack up behind his head and didn’t really like that as much. I also switched the way the straps fed into the strap adjusters so that the excess strap came out the bottom – which is how a normal backpack functions. I checked using mine. ;)

It’s fully lined and has one more little pocket on the inside!

I’m really glad I did it over again with the stiffer interfacing. I love the way it keeps its shape so much better and it’s easier to get things in and out of it that way. We’ve been taking it to church to carry his books and toys and it’s been awesome so far. So excited for him to have a little backpack when we travel!

34 Weeks!!

6 Weeks to go!! AHHH! I’m freaking out a little bit, starting to think about things like my hospital bag and arrangements for Nathan and wondering how things are going to go. Have I mentioned I’m terrified of having 2 children? Thinking about having a toddler and a newborn gets me a little overwhelmed to say the least. How am I going to keep Nathan from burning the apartment down when I’m nursing?! Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme, but seriously, I can totally see him pulling everything out of the fridge and eating his favorite things and pouring condiments all over the floor… ;)

Anyway, things have been about the same since my last update. Still feeling ginormous and wondering how I can possibly get any bigger, but I am still hoping that Spencer won’t be too much bigger than Nathan was when he was born. Fingers crossed! Spencer has been getting more hiccups these days and that has been fun. I remember Nathan got them almost every day from 28 weeks on, but this time around it’s once or twice a week, but it feels as funny as I remember from last time.

Spencer is also the most active around 11pm and 5:30am. Which makes for some very interesting sleeping. It totally feels like he’s flip-flopping around. He also seems to like to stretch he legs out as far as they can go, and it’s kind of painful! I have to push his feet back in to get him to stop. Crazy boy.

But other than that, things are just plugging along as usual. I’m still working on getting Spencer’s room all finished and decorated, so I’m hoping to have some pictures up soon. I basically have about a month left to finish up all my projects! Eek! Wish me luck!

32 Weeks!!

Okay, so I totally missed my 30 week mark – Oh well. I was kind of in the middle of throwing multiple birthday parties….so I’ve been a little busy ;)

Not too much has changed since the last bump update – feeling bigger and bigger and more uncomfortable. And seriously you guys, Spencer kicks hard! I don’t remember Nathan kicking this hard until the very end of my pregnancy, when he had pretty much completely run out of room. But this little guy kicks me so hard it hurts! And we’ve still got 8 weeks! (oof, it sounds really short when you say it that way…) Trying not to panic think about labor and delivery too much yet, but I had a trippy dream about it this past week, so it’s clearly on the brain.

Other than that I’ve been in a nesting mode the last week or so, I’m trying to have Spencer’s room all set up and organized and we’re just about done. He will be sleeping with us for the first little while, but I definitely needed to get all the stuff we were just storing in there out and into new homes. Just a few more things to take care of and his room will be all set! I’m pretty excited about it. I’m also trying to finish up as many craft projects as I can until the end of June because really, July doesn’t really exist for me in terms of getting anything done ;) I’ve managed to check off a few things, so that’s good. Things are really coming together! 

The Epic Train Birthday Present

So I mentioned a few posts back that there was quite the story around Nathan’s birthday present this year. And I wanted to record it, so here we are. ;)

I had really wanted to get something Thomas the Train related for him for his birthday, but have you seen the prices on that stuff? Thomas is seriously expensive.

Not to be deterred so easily, I started searching craigslist and other yard sale facebook groups to see if I could find something cheaper secondhand. The nice thing about having my parents live in another state is that I can check their craigslist too – and I found a HUGE lot of Thomas stuff being sold on their area’s craigslist.

But it was being sold for $375 – which is a little more than I wanted to pay for a birthday present. So talked to Nana and Grandma to see if they wanted to go in on it with me. And they did! We also managed to talk the seller down to $350 too, so that helped. It was still more than I’d typically spend on a birthday present, but there was so much stuff, that I’m pretty sure we’re set for Christmas and Birthdays for the next 2 years at least!

When we went down to my parent’s for the birthday party, I spent a good chunk of time going through allllll the Thomas stuff to determine what Nathan was going to get this year. I mean, look at all this!!!!

Once I’d laid it all out, I didn’t even know where to start! I mean, that’s got to be a couple hundred pieces of track right there. I ended up looking online for some set ideas to see if I could just pull out enough pieces to make a set that is already sold and then at least we’d had track for that. While I was searching, I found the retail prices of some of the things we got and I was completely blown away. When we’d first bought the lot, I thought we had maybe $500-$600 worth of stuff. Now I’m pretty sure we have at least $1000 worth of Thomas product right here, with a little bit of Brio and IKEA mixed in. You better believe I was doing the happy dance! You know I love me a good deal – it’s right up there with my family, ice cream, DIY and craft supplies ;)

I ended up finding a website that had diagrams of different track configurations and I downloaded a couple of patterns to work with. Most of them included special pieces that I didn’t have so it ended up taking me a good hour and a half to modify the patterns and put together a track with the stuff that I had AND have it all connect. It turned out pretty freakin’ awesome though:

And yeah, it took up most of the floor in the guest bedroom. I had to move the rug out of the way and everything. So for his birthday Nathan got all the pieces of this track and 10 trains. He loves them! The roundhouse/shed thing makes fun train noises and there was a cute birthday themed Thomas and railcar that I found to go in his 10 trains. And I still have about 50 more trains and some cool track pieces in my stash for Christmas, next year’s birthday, potty training prizes (if I can every work up the nerve to potty train…) and so on. Call me crazy (I’m pretty sure John and my Dad did… ;) ) but I’m pretty excited!

Nesting Projects

I think I’m going through a nesting phase because I really just want everything clean and organized right now.

One of my main projects was to get all of my framed photos and wall hangings out of Spencer’s room. Up until this point we had been storing all the photos in there until I had a chance to hang them up, as well as some old end tables and other odds and ends. With less than 2 months to my due date (eek!) I wanted to start getting everything non-baby related out of there so that I could have his room ready for when he makes his debut.

First up was a gallery wall for Nathan’s room. We’ve got a nautical theme going on in his room and I’d been scouring stores for something fun to add to the gallery wall but wasn’t finding anything that I really liked or that matched the colors in his room. Joann’s started selling summer décor and among the selection was this awesome (though kind of ugly colored) anchor!

I scored it for a pretty good deal with a sale and a coupon, but it definitely needed some love before it was ready to go into Nathan’s room. Nothing a little spray paint can’t fix! I gave it a couple of coats of blue and then it was ready to be added to my collection. It took me almost an hour to come up with an arrangement that I liked (which included a canvas that I painted over and redesigned for the millionth time), but I love what I ended up with. During one of Nathan’s naps I spread everything out on the floor. (The anchor was still kind of sticky, hence the cereal box…)

After Nathan woke up, he ‘helped’ me get everything hung up and a few days later I ordered some prints from Costco to fill up the frames. I LOVE the end result!

It looks sooooo good with the dresser! And I cannot for the life of me get those top frames to sit straight. Oh well…

And since we’re here, I’ll show you the rest of my projects in his room. Across the corner from his dresser he has a large wall that houses his play kitchen, and I was at a loss for quite some time as to what to put up on that big blank space. Then I got an email from one of the daily deal sites that I follow and they were selling nautical-themed bunting for $8! I almost considered making my own, but between getting all the fabric and the time and work it would take to do it myself, $8 was a steal. So I ordered one and it came in the mail at the end of April. And it fit perfectly on that wall without being too overwhelming next to the gallery wall. I lurrrrve it.
 

Here are the two walls together. So adorable, right?!

This was one of the first projects I did in his room, but I just haven’t taken a good picture of it to put up here, but the room has more closet space than I knew what to do with (which never happens) so I turned one of his closets into a reading nook and added some fun vinyl to the wall.

And Nathan being super helpful. ;)

And I think I‘m finally finished with his room! I’m really happy with it.

But to get the majority of my pictures up on the walls I decided to go with those picture ledges I’ve been seeing everywhere on Pinterest. IKEA sells some, but it was much cheaper to make some of my own (I think my total cost was about $15 for all three) and it was super easy – I made them when we were down at my parent’s house for Nathan’s birthday party last weekend. They came together really quickly and I was able to get them made and painted in a day (a day that included getting a million other things ready for the party). Then I just screwed them into the studs in our dining room wall and Ta-da! Threw all my pictures up there and I was done!

(It was very difficult to get a photo without the fan.) I added the “Love” letters almost as an afterthought – that space underneath that shelf was looking a little bare. I’d already purchased the “O” and the “E” from when I spelled the word “ONE” for Nathan’s birthday photos last year. So the “N” went into Nathan’s room and I just needed an “L” and a “V” and sprayed them all gold and it filled up the space perfectly!

There were a few other random frames that I found homes for on other walls, and that took care of all my frames and pictures! I love our new set up. And it cleared up lots of space in Spencer’s room. I have plans for a gallery wall similar to Nathan’s in there and we’ve got a few more odds and ends to take care of before his room is all ready! It’s so exciting!

On the Go 2nd Birthday Parties

Once again Little Man got not one, but TWO birthday parties this year. And I’m exhausted. ;) It’s been so fun though.

I went with a transportation themed party this year, not only because he loves all things cars, trucks and trains, but because it suits his personality – he’s always on the go!!

I found a really cute clipart package on Etsy that fit perfectly with the theme so I used those images to create an invitation and based the rest of the party on that.

We had our first party last weekend at Nana and Papa’s house and just like last year, Nana rented a bouncy house and it was a wild success with the kids that came. Nathan tried it out before the party and wasn’t too sure about it – he probably doesn’t remember it from last year. But we added a raingutter regatta this year and he really enjoyed playing in the water.

I had a very fun time putting together the food table. I made another cake this year, and some sugar cookies and oreo truffles, and we served café rio pork salad for dinner.

He was so excited about the cookies. The train ones were his favorites.
“Choo-Choos”

After lots of time to play in the water and run around on the lawn we sang Happy Birthday, cut the cake, and opened presents! I did manage to get him to try the cake, but he ate one bite and didn’t want anymore. His favorite was the cookies ;) And he got lots of fun presents!

On his actual birthday this year (yesterday) we got to do a few fun things to celebrate. We went to Target to pick out a new hot wheels car, then met John at his office for birthday lunch. We had his favorite dinner of pasta with tomato cream sauce and finished the night off with brownies (his favorite dessert) and I let him watch the whole Frozen movie. He’d only seen the first half when we gave him a haircut a few weeks ago. He LOVED it. I don’t really think he understands the movie, but he loves the music and he’d get this big grin on his face when the songs came on. It was adorable. The three of us snuggled on the couch for our first family movie night. It was so fun. It was also the first thing he demanded this morning when he woke up. Sorry, buddy. We’re not watching “Let it Go” every single day. Yet. ;)

Today we had his party here at home with some friends. The nice thing is that I can reuse most of my decorations from last weekend and it came together pretty quickly. We had it at the same park we went to last year and it worked out really well again this year. There’s a playground and a huge sand box for the kids to play in and we set out blankets for everyone to sit on to eat. The weather was a little warm today, but we had a little bit of a breeze and a small patch of shade and it was great!

My mom came up for the day (I had a baby shower this morning that she came to as well, so it was a day of parties today!) and Nathan loved having Nana at his party this afternoon.
This kid had THREE brownies this afternoon. Oof.
Definitely starting to get that whole present thing down ;)

We ate, chatted, and had a lovely time with our friends.We finally got everything cleaned up, put away and the birthday boy in bed. I’m pooped!

But we had so much fun! Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate our Little Man this year!