The Boys' Rooms

Both boys' rooms are finally done, and they are my favorite two rooms in the whole house!  One of my first thoughts when we found out that we were having another boy was, "Great, the nursery is already done!" On second thought though, we've spent a lot of time in that room over the past three years, and it needed a little sprucing up.  Plus I think when you're the second child with an older sibling of the same sex, it's easy to become the "hand me down" kid.  I wanted Jake's nursery to be unique to him and not just "Cooper's old room."  As we transitioned Cooper to his new big boy room, some pieces of furniture from his nursery went with him (the night stand which had been in the corner by his window and the two shelves), and we decided to paint the nursery a light blue to really freshen up the room since we would be using most of the same furniture and the same bedding (we did have to get a new bumper of the same pattern because Cooper had torn his bumper up through almost three years of loving use). We updated, changed, and bought a few things, and voila!  We have a "new" nursery for Jake!

Jake's Nursery

The view from the door

*When you walk in his room, this is the wall to the left.  I haven't put the sheets on the mattress yet or the bumper on since it'll just collect dust for the next several weeks until Baby Jake gets here.  

*Cooper had a nightstand/table where the bookshelf is now, and there was a shelf hanging on the wall above it.  

*The baskets on the floor are also new.  They have his stuffed animals, baby toys, and some board books in them.  The bookshelf holds several special trinkets including the poem "Why God Made Little Boys" from Karl's nursery, special gifts I got when I was pregnant with Cooper, a wonderful book called Let Me Hold You Longer, and a quilt one of my former student's mom made for Cooper.

*There was also a shelf above the glider when it was Cooper's room, but that shelf went to his new room too.  This one is a different style than the others were.

*The glider is the same.  It's not the most beautiful glider, but it sure is comfortable!  Karl and I have spent many, many, MANY hours rocking our firstborn in that chair, and I know it will serve us just as well with Baby #2!

Out of the all the changes, this is my favorite.  I love the box letters of his initials!  I wanted the J to stand out since he will go by part of his middle name, so I stood it up on two books.  A Light in the Attic was one of my favorite books as a little girl.  I remember the day I got it and how giddy I was as I read all the poems in one night.  I read them to my students, and when my boys are a little older, I'll read them to them too.

This is the wall to the right of the door when you come in.  His changing table is all ready for him, and his drawers are stocked full of his sweet little clothes and blankets.

The picture frames on the wall were also in need of a little update.  Cooper's frames had brown satin ribbon attached to the back.  I took that off and put burlap ribbon on them and got little knobs to "hang" them to the wall.  The pictures are actually mounted to the wall, but the knobs give it a nice little decorative look.  Cooper's newborn pictures are still in the frames because they're too cute to take out until I have some of Baby Jake.

An overall shot of the nursery from the doorway.

*Here is a link to see what Cooper's nursery looked like.*

We started planning for Cooper's big boy room back in April.  We knew our old guest room/playroom would be his new room.  After a lot of trips to Pottery Barn Kids and a lot of planning, we slowly but surely started to get his room ready.  I ordered his furniture at the end of April, and it was on backorder until June, which was fine because we had to get the old room, closet, and bathroom cleaned out before Coop could take over.  I also used those two months to make little purchases here and there so it wouldn't be so much at once.  By the middle of June, the furniture was delivered, and Cooper immediately was claiming the room as his.  He loved his big boy bed from the moment they came in with the box and never went back to his crib (which he loved).  I never imagined we would transition him the same day as when the furniture was delivered; I thought it would be gradual process.  Nope!  Little Man is a big boy, and this is a big boy's room!  The lighting in Cooper's room is terrible for taking pictures, so the pictures do not do the room justice.  It is absolutely precious!  I love his room, and more importantly, he loves his room!

Cooper's Big Boy Room

The view from the doorway.
I decided not to do a theme because little ones change their interests so fast, but I did get a train pillow and a little old fashioned train to put on his nightstand since he loves his choo-choos right now.  He also has a train picture frame that he colored on his nightstand.  I wish I had taken a close-up of his nightstand.  Anyway, I wanted an All-American boy room he could grow up in, and what better way to show that than with a rustic wooden flag?!

Another view from the doorway.  To the left of the door is his dresser (with the two shelves from his nursery) and closet door.  On the main wall is his nightstand (from his nursery) and his bed.  On the right wall is his bookshelf and bulletin board and window.  On the wall with the door to his room is a framed picture and his bathroom door.

I love the black and white pictures of him in the raw wood frames.  To add in a little color, I got mats to match the colors in his quilt.  Of course, his Cooper Bear is on there too (Karl used this bear to tell me he was ready to have a baby when we started trying for Cooper)!

This is a view from Cooper's bathroom.

*I love having a bulletin board to display Cooper's precious work from MDO since our refrigerator isn't magnetic.  Last week they learned the letter A, and on Friday when I picked him up from school, he showed me the picture of the big A and said, "I color that A." And then, the part that got me crazy excited, he said, "/a/, /a/, apple."  Any kindergarten teacher out there knows how exciting that is! :)
*Cooper's bookshelf has two shelves.  The top shelf is full of his books, and the bottom shelf has his puzzles on it.  
*When he "graduated" from his nursery, we still had to move a few of his special baby things: his monogrammed elephant that I took his monthly picture with when he was a baby, his engraved picture frame with all his birth information, and his precious wooden block that also has all his birth information.  That wooden block has always been and will always be my most favorite baby gift.  We have had one made for so many of our friends and family members since Jennifer got it for Cooper.  Here is a link to the website where you can get one: http://www.craftefamily.com/baby_gifts/baby_block_personalized.asp.  

Cooper's bathroom is also pretty cute, but I didn't think to take a picture of it.  The boys' rooms are right across the hall from each other, which might pose a bit of a problem while Jake is very little and crying during the night, but I know in no time at all they'll be taking advantage of that short distance to yell to one another!

Maybe now that the boys' rooms are done, I can one day (after being married for 7 1/2 years) get around to finishing mine and Karl's room...

Summer Recap

We had quite a summer this year!  When I think back to the middle of May, it's hard to believe how much we accomplished and what all we did in three months!  We knew it was going to be a busy summer, and oh how we enjoyed it!

A quick recap some of the highlights of this sweet season (in no particular order)...

• We enjoyed three movies at the movie theatre (love the entertainment for him and air conditioning for me).
• We went to see my extended family in Georgia, Karl's extended family in Oklahoma, and made one last trip to the beach before Jake comes.
• Cooper potty trained!!!
• Cooper took swim lesson and actually learned how to swim!  Plus we had our fun Mommy and Me swim class together that I absolutely loved!
• Karl turned 32, I turned 30, and Little Man turned 3.
• Sadie got bit by a copperhead (not a highlight of the summer, but definitely memorable).
• We watched Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and Toy Story 3 more times than I would ever want to know!  It was a rainy summer...
• We redecorated the nursery and changed our guest room into Cooper's new room.
• Cooper moved to his new room and new bed.
• We enjoyed many get-togethers and cookouts with friends.
• We celebrated engagements, weddings, and babies with friends.
• We LOVED picking fruits and vegetables from our garden.  Cooper has always been a healthy eater, but the kid loves to pick bell peppers and try to eat them like apples now!
• Jake has grown a lot and is now only weeks away from his big arrival!
• Cooper started MDO at a new school!

We spent our days knocking off items on the endless "To-Do Before Jake Comes" list, organizing/rearranging/cleaning out the house, swimming, cooking out, playing outside, hunting pretend snakes (Cooper likes to copy everything Karl does, but hunting real snakes like Daddy has done since Sadie's bite is not an option!), and trying to soak up these precious last days of just having one child before we adjust to a new kind of precious day when Jake adds to our family.  As wonderful as this summer was, we are anxiously anticipating all the blessings of this next season...

First Day of School

My Super Cooper started Mother's Day Out on Wednesday!  We are at a different school this year, and we love it so far!  We knew this was where we eventually wanted him to go, and I am so thrilled they had a spot for him when I called earlier this summer.  He has two wonderful teachers, a fun, well decorated classroom, and mostly boys in his class.  We had Meet the Teacher last week, and I told Karl as we left that I was already dreading the end of the year!  His teachers are answered prayers and exactly what you hope your child's teachers will be like.  

I was so nervous about Cooper's separation anxiety, but he did great!  We went through the car rider line, he got out with a big smile and no tears, and apparently had a fantastic day.  He told me all about his day on the way home and was so excited and wound up that I didn't think I would ever get him down for his nap!  His teachers went above and beyond to make the first day as special as it could be.  This morning he told us he was "so excited" about going to school today, and sure enough, when I dropped him off, he was still all-smiles!  After hearing about his day on Wednesday, I don't blame him.  I get to pick him up in less than an hour, and I can't wait to hear about his day today!

Beach Bummed

We decided to close out our super busy and adventurous summer with one last trip as a family of three! We took a long weekend trip to Gulf Shores to get a little sun and just not feel tied to a to-do list like when we're at home.  When we got there Thursday, we quickly unloaded the car and then headed out to see the beach.  Cooper referred to it as "my beach" the whole time, and loved "my new house" (aka our condo).  

We danced in the water some and cherished that beautiful feeling of the waves running over our feet!

We also used this time for some picture taking!  I am so glad we did because this ended up being the nicest weather of the whole trip!  We apparently packed the rain with us because it was very overcast and rained all day Friday and all day Saturday.  I couldn't believe it!  When we got home, our neighbors bragged about how perfect the weather had been that weekend after it has rained almost every day this summer!  I couldn't believe that not only did they get such nice weather while we were gone but that we didn't get any!

Cooper loved the sand. He ran in it, made sand angels, threw it, and just couldn't get enough of it!  Friday morning Cooper had gotten up early, as usual, so I took him out to the beach for a walk so Karl could sleep in some.  What a special little time with him!  We walked and collected seashells and played.  We talked about what we saw and followed our footprints back to the pier.  He loved picking out our footprints in the sand, and I loved the way that Cooper's were never in a straight line-you could tell he was everywhere!  Later that day, I laid down with him for a nap, and as we were snuggled nice and tight, he said, "Mommy, I yuv you footpins (footprints)."  This boy sure does know how to pull my heartstrings!

I love your footprints too, Buddy!

After a good dinner on Thursday, we went to the "dive in movie" at the clubhouse pool and watched The Lorax.  That was one of the highlights of the trip for me!  I loved watching the movie in the pool at night, and then snuggling in our towels and eating popcorn!

Friday started out slow.  After Cooper and I took a walk, we went and got breakfast, and then came back to our room to change into our swimsuits.  Only it was pouring outside, so we went to the indoor pool!  After lunch and naps, the rain had stopped, so we went to the beach despite the yucky clouds.

After some good play time, Niecee and Pappy (Karl's parents) arrived to spend the remainder of the weekend with us, and we took lots of pictures!

This next picture is especially close to my heart.  I have a special necklace I had made before Cooper was born.  I still wear it all the time and am about to order my charm with Jake's name to add to it.  Cooper has always loved playing with this necklace, but he hasn't done it in a really long time.  For whatever reason when Karl was about to take this picture, he started playing with it...

...just like he did when he was 9 months old at this very same place.  

After dinner, the clouds had broken up, and we saw a beautiful sunset...

...and a beautiful rainbow!

Saturday we woke up to the same weather as Friday: cloudy and rainy.  But just like Friday, it stopped raining after nap, so we headed to the beach!

We closed out our day by ordering pizza and taking it back to the beach for a picnic dinner.  We all agreed that might have been our favorite part of the whole trip!  It was just quiet and relaxing and peaceful.  

Sunday we enjoyed another delicious buffet breakfast at the clubhouse, and although it was cloudy, it wasn't raining!  We packed the cars, cleaned up, and put on our swimsuits!  

Karl's parents left around 12:30, and we decided we would just leave when we felt like it.  After Karl and Coop played in the ocean a little more, Cooper wanted his mommy to "hoffle" (hold) him.  I put him in my lap with a towel around him, and he was asleep within minutes!  I love holding my sleeping child any time, but by the water with my feet in the sand, well that's just life at its highest!  Karl took a quick nap in the sand, and then I felt something...and then I felt it again...and then there were more.  Raindrops.  When I looked to my left I saw that a big storm was quickly moving our way!  I grabbed Cooper, and Karl grabbed all our gear, and we booked it to the clubhouse!  We ate lunch while it rained, but then the sun started to peek through.  And it got sunnier and sunnier and sunnier!!!  Karl said we needed to head home, but Coop and I weren't ready, and this was the first time we had actually seen the sun since Thursday afternoon.  We convinced Karl that we could linger a little longer, and Coop and I played in the pool some more.  Around 3:30, we decided that we really should get on our way, but I was so glad we stayed the extra time!

It would have been great to have sunny weather the whole time, but nevertheless, it was a wonderful final vacation as a family of three!  This was the first place we came for vacation as a family of three, and we're already planning on coming here for our first trip as a family of four!