Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Andrew at 4 months!

I finally finished Andrew's 4 month photo board. It's about time. October was such fun! Andrew is getting a bit more interested in the world around him and this Mama has been feeling a bit braver about venturing out into the world with 3 kids in tow. We're starting to find a family groove. :) Perfect timing too because I so enjoy fall! We managed to sneak in a trip to a pumpkin patch, the cider mill, and our the Legoland Discovery Center here in KC before the month was over. I even tackled a mall with all 3 one weekend and nailed it. :)  It was a super eventful month compared to what we've been doing recently. I loved it. LOVED it. I can't emphasize enough how much I enjoyed getting everyone out of the house for family time.

Mama and Andrew at the pumpkin patch
Bubby's first time at a pumpkin patch!
Daddy and Andrew at the Cider Mill
Snuggling with the best sisters a dude could ask for!

 Here are a few of the recent happenings in month four
Man I love that thumbsucking, teething, ticklish, laughing little fella!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Andrew's Superhero Nursery

I know, superheroes are a bit of a fad right now.

 However, I've been dreaming about the day that I'd have a son for many years and I'm going to decorate his nursery in superheroes just like I imagined I would despite current trends.

There aren't many things that I remember from my childhood but  I do know that I LOVED Batman during my tiny years. I had the little footie pj's with the attached cape, watched the cartoon every day after naptime, collected the trading cards and named my first pets, two little kittens, Batman and Robin. You are jealous, I know.

I used to love playing heroes with the neighbor boys and thought that we kicked villian butt each day in the backyard until our parents called us in for supper.

I wasn't much of a girlie girl at that age huh?

Things have changed since then. I grew up, met and married my very best friend and we had two daughters. Somewhere along the way in that first pregnancy my girly girl meter skyrocketed out of control. Suddenly I was sighing over frilly pink things and teaching myself how to make hairbows. Luckily a bit of that wore off in the early parenting years and my children get out of the house most days without some monstrosity hair thing sticking out of their heads. They are a pretty girly crew though - Big Sis prefers dresses to any other clothing item and once went an entire year refusing to wear anything else, even on the worst winter days, while Little Sis has a thing for sparkly hats and fancy shoes. Dress-up outfits litter their bedroom floor. Every. Single. Day.

I love having girls. It's fabulous. However, I'm looking forward to seeing the flip side of that fun. I can't wait to find my son creating with Legos, at war with sister armed with nerf guns and yelling "duck!!" as paper planes whiz past my head. I've set up his room with that kind of play in mind. His room is currently the favorite hangout in our house. :)

Let me show you around!







When you first enter the room you come to the rocking chair along this wall with the little Batman hooks, shelf, steel magnet boards(man of steel, get it?), and the bat signal nightlight. Right beside my chair I have the brother print found here and a canvas of Andrew's mild mannered alter ego newborn portrait.


Everyone in our house favors different superheroes so we decided to have a hodge podge mix up of all kind of different heroes instead of going with just one or drawing lines between DC or Marvel. Even Mighty Mouse gets some star space on one of the magnet boards. "Here I come to save the day!" The little green lantern guy came from our favorite pizza place and the ring came from a Sonic kids meal. Decorate with what you have, people! :)

I love, Love, LOVE Andrew's string art name and paper plane mobile. Tutorials will be coming soon for both! The string art is funky and draws your eye in the small space. Andrew adores his mobile, especially if the ceiling fan is on low and it flutters overhead. Both were super easy and inexpensive ways to add some fun to his room.

The toy area. Admittedly our girls favorite zone in Andrew's room. His black totes serve as dresser space- storing clothes, blankets and bath items while the open shelves house favorite books and toys. Play things on the shelves move periodically as my 4 year old decides to rearrange but she's the one who created the hulk stacking tower and I love it so her arrangements don't bother me too much. We had to declare the bobble heads as no-touch items after extreme giggly use made Thor's head twist backwards but other than that I let them play with everything down to the piggy bank. Andrew's room serves as a play space anytime I'm in there feeding or changing our little guy.  I frequently hear "I'll save you from the Joker!" as either Batman or Superman are launched at a set up scene from across the room. :) He's going to have so much fun with his wild sisters as he gets bigger!




Finally, some of the wall art that ties everything together. My husband likes giraffes, because of that I have a tendency to purchase random giraffe things and then wonder what to do with them once I get them home. When I came across these superhero giraffe prints on Etsy, I knew they were a great way to bring giraffes in on the superhero theme. Now we have a purpose for that giant plush giraffe rug I bought 3 years ago! Yay! :) Giraffe prints can be purchased here. Today I will be my own superhero print can be purchased here.


I made the paper airplane wall art just before Andrew was born. The lines aren't perfect in every area but I am proud of it considering that my then 3 year old insisted upon sitting in my lap the entire time, having no qualms about the fact that lap space was already sparse with my very large tummy front and center. Gotta love tiny helpers! I also made the ombre canvas and the remaining prints in the room. My very favorite wall decoration is the lineup of hero pez dispensers. These were kindly donated to Andrew's room by Big Sis from her personal collection. They are such a fun addition to the room!

I think it turned out to be a wonderful little nursery. :)