In other news...

Where does the time go?! Seriously... I'm starting to get a little anxious about the small amount of time that we have left until our little family of 3 becomes a family of FOUR. I suppose to start with, I owe you this little update:

That's right folks! Apparently we breed boys over here at Diapers & Divas. A funny thing happens when your second kid is on the way... You don't do much to prepare. I've done some random things around the house like go through our stock of baby clothes to see what we might need:

My the looks of it, we aren't hurting for clothes for our newest little guy. This is all just for newborn to 9 months. But I organized it all nicely into space bags, the ones where you suck the air out with a vacuum, so that I can just grab the bag with the clothes we'll need for that stage. When he's starting to grow out of that stash, it's time to grab the next back, throw it in the washer, and bam! we are good to go!

I also came across a few new things, or new-to-us things, after having loaned out Will's baby clothes to a friend or two. I got our clothes back, and then some! What a nice surprise! A couple of my favorites:

A little velour Paul Frank sweat suit?! Are you kidding me?! And check out the little monkey ears on the hood. I die. It's just so cute.
And a little old man cardigan! There really is nothing cuter than a little dude rockin' an old man sweater and some dark jeans, and maybe a pair of chucks.

Will was eager to help me that afternoon, so I put him to work:

The kid loves to use the vacuum wand. So instead of him running away with the attachments and using them like they're swords, how about we do something a little more productive... ;) He's a pro. He's definitely going to make a great big brother.

There are a few other things on our To Do list to prep for this little dude's arrival, like:

• Re-organize Will's closet. I'm thinking something along the lines of what Jen over at I Heart Organizing did for her boys:

And another great inspiration pic by another blogger:

• Our Master Bedroom will be getting a little makeover, too. Wittle Bird will be bunking in our room for a while so as to hopefully not totally turn Will's life completely upside down all at once. The first step in taking care of that is that all of this has to go:

Scary, right? The desk is going into storage, the shelves on the wall are coming down (maybe re-purposed in the closet re-do you saw above), and the bags in the corner need to go to Goodwill. Our dresser and TV will be going into this lovely little niche. Wittle Bird's crib and changing table/dresser will be going on the wall where the dresser currently is. Do you follow? Don't worry, I'll be sure to do a post about the whole crazy process. I'm also thinking about a stenciled wall where the crib is going. Just to kind of define it as it's own little space. Here are a few fun things I'm thinking:

[stencil from Royal Design Studio Stencils]


[pinterest]

[or maybe a fun ombre wall]

[and I love how bright and cheery this space is]

Decisions decisions...

So that is where we are at: Thinking about, thinking about prepping for some rearranging and some reorganizing. Do you have any tips or tricks for housing two boys' in a 2 bedroom condo? I'm all about finding ways to make the most out of our small space. Did you totally lag on preparing for the arrival of your second kiddo? Please tell me I'm not the only one... ;)

DIY Chore Chart

Santa started quite the Skylanders craze in our house. Will couldn’t be happier, and is now addicted to these things! Seriously, he talks in his sleep about Skylanders.
Since Hubby & I are just a smidge smarter than a 3 year old, we decided that maybe we should use his Skylanders addiction to our advantage. Thus the Kiddo Chore Chart was born!

I cruised Pinterest for some inspiration, but I couldn’t find anything that quite fit the bill. Hubby & I agreed that it needed to be colorful, fun, and needed to have some kind of moving component.

Here’s what I used:

• Magnetic White Board (I had this over my desk & wasn’t using it.) – $8.94
• Metal Spiderman Bucket (from the $1 bin) – $1
• 3M Command Hook & Velcro Strip (I always have these around the house) – $3.94 for 2 pack
• Square Glass Magnets from Staples – $1 for each 6 pack, need 2 packs
• Pack of Dry Erase Markers – $7
• Mod Podge

I had everything except the magnets & dry erase markers on hand, so I spent $10 out of pocket. If you needed to buy everything, you’re barely over $20. Not too shabby!

First I used the velcro strip thingys and the hook to hang the board & bucket on the wall. I made sure to do it at 3-year-old height, since Will would be the one moving the magnets.

I am on a gold spray kick, so I taped off the inside of the Spiderman bucket and took it outside for a makeover…

After a few light coats of primer and gold spray paint, we were in business. I also sprayed the base of my hurricane while I was at it. I was tired of it being black… the gold is FAB!


Next, it was time to work on the magnets.

We brainstormed for quite a while for some “chores” Will could do. The key is to keep it simple. He’s only 3. So part of the strategy of this Chore Chart is for Will to willingly do everyday tasks without incident.

• Brush Your Teeth
• Get Dressed
• Help Clean Up The House – This is just what ever I ask him to help me with. Put the utensils away from the dishwasher, help sort the laundry & load it in the washer, etc.
• Clean Up Your Room
• Learning – more on this in a minute.

I just used some cute clipart I found on Word and online. I sized them up so they were a tad smaller than the magnets and printed them out on our regular ol’ inkjet printer, on regular ol’ printer paper.

Now that they’re all cut, I placed them on the magnet squares and used a little paint brush to brush on some Mod Podge.

I made sure to Mod Podge the edges well because if a little edge is lifted, someone’s little fingers will find it and peel it. It dries clear, so there’s no need to worry about it looking a little messy.

While the Mod Podge dried, it was time to jazz up the dry erase board:

Now we are in business:

Once it was all installed & ready to go, Hubby sat down and explained how this system works. Will was just a little excited.
 
Here’s how it works:

Every day Will brushes his teeth (or Mom or Dad brush his teeth), and it is a nice & easy experience, Will gets to move his magnet up one square. The same goes for Will getting dressed by himself and cleaning up the toys in his room. Of course, there’s still drama while doing these chores, but typically, he gets one warning like “if you don’t do this nicely, you don’t get to move your magnet”. Sometimes that is a nice reminder and he changes his attitude, and sometimes he doesn’t. It’s a bummer when he doesn’t get to move the magnet up, but that’s life. We don’t make a big deal about it or yell about it. We just remind him that that’s not how you behave, you don’t get to move it, so you’ll have to try and do better next time.

The “Helping Around the House” and “Learning” magnets work a little differently. Those aren’t necessarily on an everyday basis, but maybe every other day or so.
He has happily helped put away the utensils from the dishwasher:
I’ve also had him help me separate the laundry, put the clothes in the basket, and load it into the washer. He also helps put his clean clothes away in his drawers. My favorite part of this particular task is that he’s asked “Mom, are there any chores I can help you with?”. Be still my heart.

The “Learning” magnet is exactly that. He’ll be 4 in a few short weeks, so we figured we needed to work on some pre-kindergarten basics. We’ve worked on writing and recognizing letters:
Since Will isn’t much of a color-er, we vary the learning to other things like puzzles, counting & organizing coins or berries, and other hand-eye coordination skills. It’s also a tv-off, quality time activity, too. Bonus points all around.

Once he’s moved the chore magnet to the top, he can take a Skylander magnet out of the bucket and put it in the spikey bubble. 5 Skylanders in the spikey bubbles = a new Skylander!
The Skylander magnets are just Skylander stickers that came with some of the Skylanders he got for Christmas. Major bonus that they were just the right size for these magnets.

I make sure to put the Chore Chart in a prime location:

After a about a week and a half of hard work, Will earned his first reward:
I think he’s excited…

Do you have a Chore Chart for your munchkin? Do you have any ideas for other types of chores a 3 or 4 year old can do? I’d love to hear, and maybe even use them to evolve our Chore Chart. It’s always good to mix things up!

Vroom Room

This is just a little quickie quick update to what I've been doing in the boys room.  The last time I talked about this we were moving Hunter into Jagger's room and converting everyone into a toddler bed.  Well after a spontaneous trip to home goods, I walked out with a theme and a better understanding of what I want going on in there.  It all started with this beauty I found

If you at all know me, you know I'm terrified of hanging things on the wall.  TERRIFIED.  So actually buying a piece of "art" and hanging it was a big step.  I have a feeling once more things start happening in this room this canvas might get moved to the striped wall...but for now it's amazing that it's just UP.

I also decided to bring the boys car rug and bean bag chairs up into their room, regardless of the protests of my husband.  I TOTALLY get that we have a big ol' basement that they can use for their playroom so why clutter their room with toys and such.  The answer is simple....because we adults also deserve some space in this house.  I find it unfair that we have a teeny space for our computer, I sew at the kitchen table, and we use the ENTIRE basement purely for mass amounts of toys.  NO MORE!!  Time to SHARE the house....after all....we stress sharing all the time.  Why not start with us.  So bean bags UPSTAIRS.  Besides, it really does make a nice little reading nook and it's great to be able for them to play while I do the laundry or whatever and not have to worry about being 2 floors away from them, fearing that one is poking the other's eye out.  It has happened.  The poking of the eye...not the actually "out" part....

I also got them some little auto and train throw pillows for their beds.  I'm DYING to get 2 twin size big boy beds in here...but see those cribs?  Yes they are the convertible kind that you can use as a headboard and foot board and all that jazz.  Which is FANTASTIC...but not for someone like me who changes their mind every 2 years.  So husband is determined to use them...and I keep stressing that we will store them and in the next house, when they have their own rooms, we will upgrade those twins that I want to full size for them and all will be good so peace be with you.  That man takes alot of convincing, and I'm still not there.  Not to mention, 2 full size beds will NOT fit in this room.  Anyway...I also have to figure out what to do with that center curtain in the car pattern...nix it? Add a panel to the bottom? Maybe switch it with the panels that are above the bean bags? Who knows....but you know it will be 8 months before I get to it.  #lazytiredmom.

Happy Thursday y'all!

Boys bedroom progress

The last I left you all with the progress of the boys sharing a room I left you with this:

Super exciting, I know.  Well, I’m proud to say that we’ve made a little bit of progress.  Yes, only a little.  Hey, remember that I started working!!  But surprisingly, with less time around the house, more things seem to be getting done because we don’t have “time later” to do it.  It’s actually a bit refreshing!  Anyway, the day before I officially started working, Craig and I knew we had to get some ish done with their room and got right on it.  We moved all of Hunter’s furniture into their room, and all of Jagger’s furniture will become some of my office stuff.  Hunter’s furniture is WAY better quality, and we would rather have the boys try and beat the crud out of the good stuff and have it hold up.

Alright, alright…..do NOT judge the tidiness of this space.  We had just moved everything in there and the boys were taking a bath as I was taking these pics, so it had to be quick.  A few things are changing right off the bat:

• The light between the beds will be replaced with a table and lamp.  I’ll be honest…any light fixture within reach of the little hands makes me nervous, but they need light!
• The changing table will move to my new office/sewing room/craft space
• Decorate, decorate, decorate.  With all the people coming in and out of our house in the first 6 months of Jagger’s life the furthest we got with decorating was paint!  But no more!

I have to say that I am notorious in this house for starting a project and never finishing.  I am terrified of hanging things on walls. I second guess every design decision I ever make, and I consult Heather about 85 times a day.  Although the consulting Heather part will probably never change, I am determined to push past my comfort zone and not just stop because I’m scared of doing something “wrong.”  So moving the furniture was just one little step to really get the ball rolling, but changes will be, and ARE as we speak, happening!!  I’m excited! 

Two become One

I don’t really understand how I don’t have pictures of my kids rooms.  Most people…most NORMAL people…take such pride in their kids nurseries and take a gazillion pics.  How do I have NONE???  I don’t really get it.  Well…this is what I could find in the ways of Hunter’s nursery..

 

I know I know….horrible right???  But you can kinda see the paint job, that we have a crib, a highboy dresser next to it, and a shelf/changing table piece.  I am awful!!!  Wednesday resolution…take better before pictures.  And how the heck aam I that skinny at 6 months out with Hunter but still a chubbo 2 years out with Jagger?  Another Wednesday resolution…start getting in shape…it’s about damn time woman.

So we’ve now decided that it’s about time our boys shared a room and that Hunter’s room become an office/guest room.  Right now I do all my sewing on the kitchen table…which is just annoying and awful, and Craig has a teeny tiny corner in the basement for his desk.  It’s pretty inefficient and awful.  Oh and when guests come we have to bunk the boys together anyway.  So when my parents came just recently and we had to bunk the boys…we decided to just move Hunter’s bed into Jagger’s room…and never move it back!  And yes…I don’t have a before picture of Jagger’s room either.  WHAT KIND OF A MOTHER AM I!!!!!!  jeez…

And I didn’t really realize what a task this would be….

 

Notice how close the crib comes to the walls?  That’s because we didn’t realize how HUGE this crib was.  It was put together in the room and we haven’t moved it for 4 years….so…again…bigger task than we thought…

Best course of action…take the door off Jaggers room!

This turned out to be simpler than we thought.  Bang a few pins out of the hinges and voila!!  But the thing you have to always remind Sonny….DON’T FORCE IT.  When we went to take it out it got just a little stuck…and my husband thinks that forcing things a little always gets the job done.  I had visions in my head of him ripping out the hinge from the frame, or bending it so that we couldn’t get the door back on.  So while these pics were being snapped there was a lot of verbal snapping as well…

Door off, crib slid in…and now we are in limbo!  Ha!  We are currently in the process of switching out furniture (Hunter’s is 100% nicer than Jagger’s so we are going to use Jagger’s in the office or in other places in the house), creating more closet space, and making this room truly THEIRS.  I’m excited!  I eventually want them to have 2 twin beds, but being that Jagger hasn’t tried once to crawl out of his crib, I have no intentions of forcing him into a bed he can easily get out of.  So we are going to attempt to have 2 cribs/toddler beds in this room for now…then upgrade it down the road.  But I have big plans for this room.  I want to make bedding, do new curtains, organize their closet…I’ll have to come up with a to do list and I’ll share that on here with you all.

New projects are a flurry in this house!!  I’m going to snap some “now” pics today so that I can really show you guys the room and we can all see how it transforms!