oliver...go to your room.
By the time is Oliver is born, we'll only have about 4 months left in Virginia. With that in mind we made a conscious choice as we hunted for a short term rental house back in the fall. It's a three bedroom house that is already packed to the gills. We took the upstairs larger room and made it storage, Charlotte has a room and we have a room. So do the math with me...1+1+1=3. Yep, no room for Oliver, but we planned it that way. For those of you that have ever had a newborn, they tend to sleep a lot during the day and night time can be hit or miss between feedings and adjusting to their life on the "outside". Consequently, we decided that Oliver could just share our room. I mean, even if it goes horribly bad, it's only four months, right? So here you go. We took our modest bedroom closet and made it Oliver's room. I like it. So does Charlotte. She even asks to go into Oliver's room already. Charlotte and I put the crib together and the rest is Melissa's handiwork. Oliver's quilt, an old string of lights, some aviation themed objects and a little bunting and bam, one room for a newborn boy. Check it our for yourself.
We found some fabric baskets that will act as storage. If you look close you can see a cute little plaid shirt on the right poking out that's waiting for Oliver's arrival.
These planes and clouds are my favorite. In a boring white closet they add a soft touch and something fun for Oliver to stare at as he dozes off to sleep...fingers crossed.
A closer look at one plane. I love the simplicity and the detail. Living by an airport her whole life, Charlotte knows planes. She knows what they sound like and what they do. Before we hung these up Charlotte was buzzing them around our room making her best jet sounds.
Well I would show you more of Oliver's room, but that's all she wrote. We also have the string of lights on a dimmer switch so we can have just the right amount of light for late night diaper changes and feedings.
Charlotte and I were shopping at Sam's Club the other day. We needed some size 4 diapers for her and while we were in the baby aisle my eye caught a box of diapers marked not with a number, but with a letter N. N for newborn. It seems like yesterday that we were buying our first box of newborn diapers for Charlotte. In a few months we will celebrate her 2nd birthday. With a little more experience and confidence under my belt I'm so excited to see Oliver for the first time. There is nothing better than being a husband and father...
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
proverbs 127:3-5
-jay
ready or not...here comes oliver
Sometimes babies come before their due date. Charlotte came 10 days after her due date. With a scheduled c-seciton this time around we have an exact date. Now we all know that Oliver may decide to show up earlier, but at least this time we have an absolute last possible date. So that does that mean? It means we need to start getting ready a bit. Charlotte has no idea that her world is about to change here pretty soon, so these trips to our neighborhood park a even more special because she won't be an only child much longer.
Melissa had a snow day at school on Friday and Monday was a holiday, so all of a sudden we had a four day weekend on our hands. When we moved to our temporary house we were sure to leave all of the baby stuff in a a pretty accessible part of the house. We packed Charlotte a mess of toys, snacks and other fun things and headed upstairs to dig out all of the baby stuff. Melissa is pretty organized when it comes to most things, so we were able to find what we needed fairly quickly. We sifted through some of Charlotte's newborn and 0-3 month clothes to see if we had anything neutral in color. We found the bottles, baby bath and other things like the swing. Charlotte has been cozying up each night and rocking a bit. Hard to believe, just two years ago, she barely took up half of that thing. Can you say wedding day slide show pic?
Melissa has also been working hard on Oliver's quilt and joking that Oliver can't arrive until the quilt is done. I commented that if he comes early we'll just have to bring her sewing machine to the hospital so she can finish it before we come home. We picked out the fabric a few weeks ago and used the same design as Charlotte's quilt. When Melissa was pregnant with Charlotte she finished her quilt in November. Can you say second child? The four day weekend allowed us to get a lot of things finished and Sunday night the quilt was complete. Here are a couple shots of the quilt, Charlotte and the dogs. When I have the camera out I just can't resist. Stay tuned for more Oliver centric decorations. Since we'll only be in Virginia for a few more months (that sounds weird), Oliver will be living in our bedroom closet, which we are calling his room. It is small, but it will be decorated, so check back for pictures so you can see his "crib". Ok, I'll stop now.
The chevron fabric on the back will be fun for a baby's eyes.
This fabric reminds me of Charlotte and Oliver playing a few years down the road.
Another shot of the back.
Please excuse Charlotte or maybe her parents. She slept with her hair things in. Also, yes those are her zebra print pajamas, with a fleece hoodie overtop.
Jack's nose.
He's a good looking boy.
Abby is only 8, but she's starting to show her age a bit. Thanks for stopping by!
-jay
winter break
This year's winter break for us has been a little bit different than in past years. The county that I work for does not go back into session until tomorrow, so it seems we have been out for a very long time. We also have a thriving (to say the least) toddler that we have nicknamed Abu (yes, the mischievous monkey from Aladdin) and that has also made the break a little longer! Here is a recap of our winter break, we really have had a good time, got a lot accomplished and have all stayed alive through the process.
Christmas through a kids perspective sure does change things!
Riding the horse at the cabin with her new "pack" that holds all her "schnacks."
Enjoying a spirited bike ride with Daddy on Christmas morning!
Playing trains with the boys.
Enjoying some snow in Ohio!
Cuddles with Grandpa and Tiki while watching Sprout!
Enjoying some time at the Chilren's Museum of Richmond with her bff, Penelope.
Fabrics for Oliver's quilt!
One of her favorite places in the world, the bath, now improved with new toys!
Self entertaining time as mommy and daddy try to figure out how to get a license to teach in Ohio.
Jack and watching baby videos on youtube=bliss.
Just wanted to make sure she saw it!
Putting together Oliver's crib with Daddy!
I know that once school starts up again it is going to be a whirlwind until Oliver is with us, so we have worked pretty hard this past week to get a bunch completed. Including Oliver's crib, his quilt (more pictures to come), Charlotte's birthday party completely planned and many items already bought and of course hours of applications and resume's submitted for our upcoming move to Ohio!
Hope everyone is ready for this new year, because it appears it is already here, ready or not!
-melissa
I hope santa comes to your house tonight...
There will be many things we will miss about Richmond...mainly people and places, but in this case it's both. We love the Santa at the Bass Pro Shop and Charlotte loves the Bass Pro Shop. Here are last year's pictures. This year went well. Charlotte wasn't afraid of Santa like some other almost two years old might be, but she wasn't all smiles quite like last year. She just sat for her complimentary picture and got off his lap. What came next was her favorite part. A mini candy cane and the sights and sounds of the Bass Pro Shop and no, they didn't sponsor this post, haha.
Here she is pointing at one of the many birds and wildlife that scatter the ceiling there.
Posing for a picture in front of the wonderful scenery.
Can you say mini candy cane?
"Nice work Santa, it was great working with you!!!"
"Catch you on the flip side."
