Little Tikes Truck

When it comes to toys for Seth and soon Silas, Bryan and I tend to be minimalistic. We try to re-purpose items and let Seth play with things that wouldn't necessarily be considered conventional toys. When we do buy something, we try to find things used or we even like to make homemade gifts. When I spotted a Little Tikes pick-up truck on Amazon a while back I was very hesitant about actually purchasing it new for our little man. After an exhaustive search for a used version and then a significant price reduction, we opted to go ahead and make the big purchase. Not wanting to wait until his birthday or any other significant holiday, because we don't want those days to be about stuff, we ordered it last week and it arrived last night. After some secret assembly, we revealed the surprise. As soon as Seth spotted it he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him.

He inspected all the stickers and the horn.

He loved the truck bed and
I am sure lots of dirt, twigs, and rocks will soon fill it up.

He even shared his new truck with daddy, although he wouldn't quite fit.

I'm pretty sure this splurge on one big ol' piece of plastic
is going to provide several years of fun.

Playing in the Fountains

I think I must either be feeling guilty about being out of commission for the next few summer weeks or I am completely insane, because this afternoon we went to play in the fountains in the scorching hot weather. This was our second attempt to play in the fountains this year. Previously we tried playing in the fountains with a group of friends and Seth didn't want to have any part of the water. The sprinkler at home is fine, the kiddie pool is fine, the water park is fine, but not these fountains. So I wasn't sure if he would be willing to play at all.

At first he just watched all the other kids play.

Then he decided he would give touching the water a try.

As soon as he got wet he would grin really big and run away.

Then he would go and watch again and repeat the entire process over and over.

Until he decided he could be more adventurous.
I just loved how he would close his eyes way before he was about to touch the water.

We had a snack break...

and then he played and played.

I think it just might have been worth enduring the heat.

Fun with Water

In my attempt to not be a total slacker mom at the end of this pregnancy, I have tried to provide some water fun for Seth. We usually play outside later in the day when it doesn't seem quite so hot, but it is still plenty hot to have fun with water and even ice.

First, we made ice sailboats using water-filled disposable cups, straws, and paper for the sails. Once the water was frozen and we attached our triangle sails, we were ready to play.

The boats didn't last long before melting, but then Seth had fun splashing around.

Then he decided he needed to cool off from all that playing and before long he was completely wet...

Not to let any water go to waste, we watered all of our flowers before heading in for a bath.

Over the weekend, when Nana visited so that she could attend my baby shower, I asked if she could go with us to the water park. So Saturday evening we took advantage of the half-price dusk prices and went to swim. It was miserably hot for me because I refused to buy a maternity swimsuit for just a few times that I would have needed it this summer, but they had a great time.

Then probably the easiest, icy fun activity we have done involved some spoons, a few trucks, and a $1.59 bag of ice from Sonic.

Not only was the pebble ice fun to scoop and play with, it was also fun to eat.

Yay for water fun!!!

Ready

We are two weeks away from having our second child. In the future when I look back on these last few weeks leading up to the birth of our son, I am afraid a few things are going to dominate my memories. I think I will remember swollen feet, a feeling of complete slackerness, and the heat, oh the horrible heat. Maybe it's because I am older this time around, maybe it's because I have a toddler now, maybe I am exhibiting some MS symptoms, or maybe I am just more of a wimp during this pregnancy, but I know one thing is for sure, I am pretty much useless right now. Within the last week I have become increasingly more uncomfortable. Since I have just been taking it easy I have not really had pain so much, but I just have no energy. I am more than ready to not be as huge as a whale anymore. I am ready to not dread cooking in the kitchen because of the heat and the fear that it might be a mess if I actually go into labor. I am ready for my feet to not be so swollen it hurts to walk. I miss our family walks and can't wait to take them again, as a family of four instead of three. More than anything I am just ready to be holding our baby in my arms and not be pregnant any more. Just two more weeks...

Taking Pictures

The other day Seth found a small radio on the dining room table. Not knowing what it truly was he assumed it was a camera, because...

he put it up to his face and tried to do what he sees mommy and daddy do all the time.

When in doubt, take pictures!

Things that Make Me Smile

A huge bouquet of fresh flowers (that were bought on clearance, yay!) sitting in my living room.

Squeaky clean windows that my dad spent several hours washing for us a few weeks ago.

Our one and only tomato of the season, which made me smile, until it was snagged by a pesky squirrel the next day.

My view from the couch one afternoon last week.

A husband who spots and picks up vintage sewing machines off the side of the road just for me to see, because he knows that I love that kind of stuff.

35.5 Weeks, Three Weeks to Go

I just can't believe that we are three weeks away from having another baby. I go from thinking one minute that I have everything ready to the next running around wondering what I still need to do. My nesting urges have helped us successfully clear out a lot of stuff from the basement and it is looking more and more organized each day. The other day when I had some very painful contractions, which thankfully stopped since I have been taking it very easy lately, I just kept thinking, I can't leave the house with dirty dishes in the sink if I have to go to the hospital. So my mission each day has been to have the house in decent looking shape in case little Silas decides to come before the planned c-section. I still don't have a bag packed and we aren't pre-registering at the hospital until Thursday, but at least the drain on the bathtub has been cleaned (an urge that hit me yesterday).
One of the things on my recent to-do list was to take some pregnancy photos since this will be my last pregnancy, and I really had not documented the growth of my belly very well this time around. So after two evenings of sweltering heat, we came up with a few photos...

35.5 Weeks

Bye, Bye Motorcycle

A guy walked up to our front door this evening to ask Bryan if he was willing to sell his motorcycle. This same guy, who used to live down the street, had also asked last year and Bryan decided he didn't want to give it up then. Today was a different story. After doing some quick research on the Internet to learn the appropriate value, some negotiating, and notarizing we were no longer motorcycle owners. Maybe it's a sign that we are getting old, maybe it's God's perfect timing, maybe it was just a spontaneous experience. I'm not sure, but it was definitely weird and unexpected. So as Seth would say, "bye, bye ya-yas (22 month old pronunciation of motorcycle)."

Pinterest-Inspired Summer Fun

We have been enjoying lots of summer frugal fun these last few weeks. A few of the ideas that we have tried have been inspired by Pinterest. Have you heard of it? It is a wonderful resource* to catalog all kinds of ideas you find on the Internet. There are so many neat ideas that you can find on there. You can check out the boards that I have created here.

Here's what we have been up to lately...

We have bowled using coke bottles that we filled with colored water. We tried empty bottles at first and they kept falling over easily, so the water definitely helps.

We played baseball with balloons and water noodles.
FYI: Balloons pop very easily on grass.
We've eaten lots of watermelon.

When it's been too hot to play outside during the day, we have enjoyed playing with blocks inside.

During the one of the cooler evenings we set up our marble run using a water noodle, a cardboard box, and marbles. This worked great on the deck steps, but it is also just as fun inside.

This might be the best idea that we have tried!

We can't wait to try more!!!

*For me personally, there is a fine line between bookmarking good ideas on Pinterest and getting sucked into an envious feeding addiction, but so far I think it has been very useful and provided some great fun for our family.

The Nursery: Silas Style

We are one month away from the big day! I feel ready in a lot of ways but anxious and nervous about learning how to be a family of four. This past week I finished getting the nursery ready. I didn't change a whole lot, but it's different enough for me to feel satisfied that Silas is going to have his room decorated especially for him.

Here's a view from the doorway. The Pottery Barn Kids quilt (no longer available) was still the inspiration for the room. I changed out the blue curtains that were previously in the nursery for red ones. We also installed blackout shades in the windows when Seth had his days and nights reversed when he was a wee little one. They help the room stay extra dark even during day time naps. Since we moved the bookcase into Seth's big boy room, we purchased a small table to go by the glider rocker. Just by taking out that big piece of furniture, it made the small room feel a lot larger. The table has a shelf near the bottom and that is where we are going to be keeping books for Seth to read while I am nursing and for any family story times we do in the nursery, although those have mostly been moved into Seth's room.
When you enter the room, to the right is the bed which has a new striped sheet. On the wall I hung two puzzles by some ribbon. I like for art to be functional, so why not use puzzles for decor? I put a small dab of hot glue on each piece to make sure the pieces wouldn't fall off, but they can easily be used in the future by just snapping the pieces free.

I have been on the lookout for an abacus to hang in this spot, but just haven't found the perfect one yet so the puzzles will stay until I do.

For some odd reason I have never really wanted anything above the bed. So it remains free of any art or decor. We tried out a mobile with Seth but sold it on Craigslist after having it for just a few months.
In the changing area we have all of our cloth diapers in the blue baskets. Above the changing pad, we still have the frame with all of our favorite people for the kids to learn. This has really been helpful since Seth and (soon Silas) don't get to see our family members as often as we would like. We go over who everyone is every single day.
To the right of the frame, I painted two small canvases in hopes to put Silas' hand print and footprint on them the day he comes home from the hospital. That might be a bit ambitious, but we are going to try.
To make a special spot for Seth, we got a small rocker from a local consignment store especially for him. Bryan painted it a bright blue and he loves sitting in it already.

Above the glider rocker, the crayon shadowbox remains.
Silas' teddy bear that we made for him at Build-a-Bear is sitting in his crib for now.

I bought a small blue clock to sit on the table so that I can keep track of all those late night feedings. (Seth has the same clock in orange in his room.)
Then above the doorway, similar to Seth's, I wrapped chipboard letters with yarn to spell out Silas' name.
All the clothes are washed, sorted, and put away. The blankets and burp cloths are ready. Now all we need is one sweet, little baby to arrive. We hope he feels right at home in his "new" room.