Snow Day

We didn't necessarily get the snow that was predicted, but we definitely got some. It started snowing at our house around 3:30 pm yesterday. It snowed for a few hours and then we got freezing rain starting around 6:30 pm. We seemed to get a mix of both overnight because there was probably a couple of inches of snow on the ground when we got up, but it was also very icy on top. We got a mix of everything throughout the day - often times it was rain. Then this afternoon we got some steady snow for a few hours.

I decided around 5 pm that we should try taking Carter out for a little bit. It took about as long to dress us all as we spent outside. Carter doesn't have any waterproof pants so he got to wear 2 regular pairs of pants. He also had a onesie, sweater, fleece, and jacket on. He was still able to move though :)

Carter was pretty excited when I first put him down to stand in the snow.


I love this cute face ...


Carter lost his balance and fell on his butt - he did not like having a cold bottom!


I had to pull out an old jacket from our Goodwill pile that was big enough to zip and long enough to cover the snow pants I was wearing that I couldn't zipper! My belly has really expanded these last few weeks!


Brian and Carter ...


Trying out standing in the snow again ...


Another cute face ...


Giving the Carter-sized snowman Brian and I rolled a pat ...


My lame attempt at giving the snowman some character ...


We were only outside probably 15 minutes, but at least we finally got Carter out in the snow!

Carter's New Room Layout?

Here's a potential layout for Carter's new room if we use the furniture from the last post. It's pretty much to scale. If you click on the drawing, you should get a bigger version that you can actually see.

Carter's New Furniture?

I spent last night trying to figure out what to do for furniture for Carter's new room. I want to get him a crib that converts to a toddler bed, but I see us only using it for a year or year and a half. We could then convert the toddler bed into a full bed, but the room we're moving Carter into is long and I think a twin bed would fit better in the room. Besides, I can't imagine such a little kid in a big full bed. I just like twin beds better for when kids are young. So, I basically don't want to spend a lot on a crib and crib mattress.

So, if I get a cheaper crib, should I buy other "cheap" furniture to finish the room? Or go ahead and get a good dresser and bookcase that we can then match a twin bed frame to when we're ready? I think I'm leaning towards getting a "long-term" dresser and bookcase. I also need a place to still change Carter's diapers and store all that stuff. So I either need a basic changing table or a dresser that's low enough and long enough for a changing pad and a basket for diapers, wipes, etc.

This is the furniture I'm currently thinking of buying ...

Graco Lauren Classic Convertible Crib in Espresso:


(This crib is no longer sold with the dropside so it's safe!) Target has this crib on sale for $139.99 and they are throwing in a free mattress if you buy it online (a Kolcraft Pediatric 1000 Crib Mattress). And they have free shipping. The mattress isn't amazing (it only costs $40.99) but it has good reviews. I checked it out at Target yesterday and it is softer than Carter's current mattress, but we're not worried about a soft mattress and SIDS anymore. And I don't really want to spend $100-$150 on a mattress that we're not going to use for long. Besides, if Carter hates it, it's free and we can always get a new mattress without feeling like we wasted money. When I was at Babies R Us yesterday getting diapers, I checked out the crib and I like how it looks. It's not as heavy looking as a lot of their cribs (but a lot of their cribs cost $400+), but it doesn't look too basic or cheap either. The crib is made in other colors, but it costs about $20 more and doesn't come with a free mattress. I think I like the dark color and I think it looks good with the paint we picked out for Carter's room. I'm finding this deal hard to pass up!

Target makes the bookcase that we currently have in Carter's room in an espresso stain as well. It's held up well so far (we actually have a few more of the same style of bookcase in other rooms in the house and they all still look great too). Here's a picture of it:


It costs $69.99, but Target always puts these bookcases on sale so if we wait, we should be able to get it for about $54.99.

Now, my big dilemma ... the dresser. Right now, I'm leaning towards this Canopy dresser from Walmart (it also has wood knobs you can use instead of the silver):


I'm usually not a fan of Walmart furniture, but we have the console table from this collection in our office and it is really well made. The drawers are all wood instead of having those flimsy particle board bottoms. I also think the style matches the crib well. And it's big enough. We could use the extra drawers for blankets and other storage. This would be our "splurge" as it costs $299.96. I've seen some other dressers that aren't bad and in the $200-$300 range, but most are either too tall and/or too narrow to use as a changing table. I'm going to continue looking at dressers a little more before buying this one, but it's my favorite so far.

Does anyone see any flaws in my logic here? Any suggestions on what's best to do? I've looked a little and think we'll be able to find a twin bed frame in the espresso color to match the other furniture when we need it. I'm going to try to draw out the room and layout of the furniture in Visio today to make sure everything will fit as I think it should. I'll try to post that later if I'm able to do it.

Playing with Cars

Carter has been enjoying playing with his MegaBloks car set this week. Here's a video I took of him today ...

He's getting better and better and putting the cars on the tracks.

Carter must of slept on his hands during his morning nap today because this is what he looked like when I went to get him ...


It took forever for those finger marks to fade!

Carter and I have had water issues the last few days. I gave Carter a bath yesterday morning because we ran out of time the night before. Carter and I went into the bathroom to see if the water was high enough and test the temperature. Carter likes to lean over to reach into the tub for his toys before he gets in. I had my hand on him as I was turned towards the faucet to turn off the water. Carter got his weight a little too far forward and I apparently didn't have a good enough hold on him because he dove right into the water in his pajamas. It scared both of us pretty good, but he was completely fine (other than being soaked).

Today's water issue was with Charlotte's water bowl. I was letting Charlotte in from outside and Carter decided to pick up Charlotte's full water bowl, dump it out, walk through the puddle, and do a painful looking split and fall onto the tile floor. I had a soaked and screaming kid again.

We are going to try to stay away from water tomorrow.

We have a winter storm warning for tomorrow and Saturday. The predictions are still changing, but the latest I've read on weather.com is 5 to 9 inches of snow. It'd be fun to get that much, but if we do, I hope it melts fast because Carter and I have spent a lot of time at home this week and might go crazy if we're stuck at home for too long!

I Love Target

I got another amazing toy deal at Target today. They had Radio Flyer Tricycles for 75% off. I got this really cool tricycle for only $14.37!


This may be a toy for Carter for Summer 2011, but I don't mind holding on to it for awhile when I got this good of a deal.

I haven't decided on bedding for the boys yet, but I got some Dwell Studio bumpers and crib skirts for 75% as well a couple weeks ago. Hopefully we'll decide on final colors this weekend and I can return any of it that won't work. But I couldn't pass up bumpers for $8.74 and crib skirts for $5.49. Carter's current bedding is Dwell Studio and it's super soft and has held up amazing well - no stains at all.

I also found beautiful silver frames for Carter's new room that were 50% off. And I got some really nice cardigans for 75% off which are great right now because I'm still too small for most maternity shirts but the only regular tops that fit me seem to be tanks. So cardigans are my best friends right now.

Target has been having some really great sales this month. I feel like I go there almost everyday because different departments put stuff on sale different days of the week. I think the employees may start recognizing me soon!

Silly Boy, Again

I was getting Carter changed for bed tonight and this is what he wanted to wear.




It's been a low key week for us with just some shopping and getting stuff done around the house. We made it to Baby Bookworms today at the library (first time in about a month). Carter did okay - no embarrassing tantrums, though I had to let him have his freedom. He sat in my lap for almost half the songs which is better than the last few times.

Our Little Man

Boys' Rooms

Brian and I have decided that we're going to move Carter to the extra bedroom at the end of the hall (the one that shares the jack and jill bathroom with his current room) and keep the nursery a nursery for the new baby.

We're hoping to give Carter a little more of a big boy room, though we don't think he'll be ready for a regular bed yet. So I think we'll get another convertible crib that will function as a crib and a toddler bed. He'll also need a wardrobe or dresser and a bookshelf. I think we're going to also get him a table with a couple of chairs (yes, the room is very large - 15.5 ft by 11 ft plus a 8 ft by 3 ft dormer).

I'm planning on getting Carter new bedding so we can start over with colors. I've been searching the internet for ideas the last few days because I don't want to have plain solid colored walls, but I also don't want to go too crazy and overwhelming with stripes or circles or something else. Here are a couple of pictures of a paint job I really love. It's a little modern, but I really like it. And I'm not against copying other people at all!



Who knows if this is what we'll actually do, but it's my favorite so far. We'd like to start painting in the next few weeks.

As far as the nursery goes, we'll probably also repaint it and do new bedding so it doesn't feel like Carter's room anymore. We'll keep all the furniture the same and in the same places though. We're currently leaning towards doing the paint something like this (similar colors too) ...


I'm going to continue to scour the internet for ideas for the rest of the week, but hopefully we'll make our final decisions soon!

There are only two other rooms then that haven't been painted since we moved in. The jack and jill bathroom between the boys' rooms and our guest bathroom. While looking for bedroom ideas, I came across this bathroom and I think we're going to copy it for our guest bathroom ...


Hopefully they'll be some pictures to post of our actual rooms soon! I worked on moving all the books out of the extra bedroom today. We had 2 large bookcases of books and I spent most of the day (when Carter let me) reorganizing all the bookcases in our house and purging what we don't need. We were supposed to have a playdate with Caitlyn today but poor thing has a cold so Amy had to cancel this morning. Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon so we can get together! Amy is also pregnant and about 8 weeks behind me.

Silly Boy

Zoo

It was a nice enough day here today (mid-50s) so Brian and I took Carter to the zoo. It's been awhile since Carter and I had been to the zoo (2-3 months) and he seemed to really enjoy it. He likes to walk around and explore about as much as looking at animals.

Baby Brother

I was just showing Carter my belly and telling him about how his baby brother is in there. I asked him if he was excited about his brother and he shook his head "yes". Then I asked him if he was going to help take care of his brother ... "yes". I asked if he was going to give him a bottle ... "yes". Then I asked him if he was going to give his baby brother a paci and Carter took the paci out of his mouth and put it on my belly. So sweet!

Random

Here are some random videos and pictures from the last couple of days ...

Carter making a basket ...

This is how Carter bowls ...

Carter in his wagon he got for Christmas (it's still upstairs and he loves to be pulled around in it even up there) ...


Carter with a mohawk during bathtime ...


Carter and I met Brian by his office yesterday for lunch. On our way home, we went through Maryville to go to the Target there. I noticed that a few new restaurants were being built out there and was super excited to see that we are finally getting my very favorite restaurant ... Cheddar's! There was one in Kingsport and one in Johnson City that we went to all the time when I lived up there. Here's why I LOVE Cheddar's ...

1. Spinach Dip - They have the yummiest cheesy spinach dip in the world. I could eat it everyday for the rest of my life and not get sick of it.
2. Atmosphere - Though the price is on the same level as a Chili's or Applebee's, the atmosphere is so much nicer.
   
3. Lunch Portions for Dinner - You can order the smaller and cheaper lunch portions all day. And the lunch portion is still plenty big for Brian or me.
4. Menu - Again, they are priced like Chili's or Applebee's, but the food choices are so much better. Lots of fish and tons of unique sides to choose from. They just have lots of food I love, not just a few things.
   

I can't wait for Cheddar's to open!!!

Gym Bugs

After walking this morning, Sarah and I took the kids to Gym Bugs. We met Erin and her son Cooper there. Cooper and Mary Grace are in the same preschool class and I actually work(ed) with Erin's husband.

Gym Bugs has an open play hour from 10:30 to 11:30 am Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They have a bunch of large toddler toys and some gymnastics equipment set up in a large room. I think Carter had fun exploring everything and watching everyone. He missed his morning nap so he was a little tired but not fussy at all. Carter was a little young for about half of the stuff there, but he still found a way to play with most of it in his own way.

For example, he liked walking back and forth next to the balance beam running is hand along it.


He also liked going back and forth between the parallel bars and running his hands on them.


Carter liked the tunnels ...


His favorite was the seesaw which he rode on with Cooper for several minutes. He was SO HAPPY!


Chilling in another tunnel ...


Cooper, Mary Grace, and Carter ...


Carter fell asleep quickly in the car. He's been asleep for about an hour and a half now and will probably be starving since he didn't have his morning snack or lunch yet and it's 1:15 pm!

Random Stuff

It was SO NICE here today. It got close to 60F! I decided to go for a jog with Carter after he got up from his afternoon nap. I haven't run in probably 4 months so I am very out of shape. Plus, being pregnant and pushing Carter who has gotten heavier made it a lot harder. I did the 2.25 mile loop around my neighborhood. Some of my jogging wasn't much faster than a walk but I didn't take a break until about 1.75 miles in. I was starting to cramp from all the uphills and decided I should probably take a break since I am pregnant. I walked about 1/4 mile and finish off jogging back to the house. It felt really good to get outside today. The rain comes in tonight but I think it's supposed to stay warm for a few more days. I'm hoping Carter and I can get out at least once more before it gets cold again. I'm already sore though so a day or two off isn't such a bad thing.

I'm 16 weeks and 1 day with baby boy #2 today. I'm up 5 lbs now to 124 lbs. I've been feeling a lot better the last week. I've stopped taking the anti-nausea medicine and I've had a little more energy (though not any where near as much as I'd like).

Here's a picture I took yesterday at 16 weeks ...


Just for comparison, here's the picture I posted at 13 weeks ...


Carter and I are addicted to clementines right now. I hadn't given Carter citrus until this weekend when he had his first clementine, and now he can't get enough. I think he'd eat them all day if I let him. I've been loving them too. I probably have at least five a day.

Carter's afternoon nap has gotten interesting. If I put him down later (3 pm or later), he usually takes a longer nap (up to 2 hours). However, he usually wakes up very grumpy and stays that way the rest of the evening. If I put him down earlier (closer to 2 pm), he naps for only an hour though is much happier when he wakes up. I really enjoy the longer nap because I can get so much more done during it, but Carter doesn't seem to be liking it for some reason. I'm going to have to keep working on finding the ideal time that makes us both happy!

Sock Monkey

I'm not crafty at all. I can hem a pair of pants or fix a ripped seam but that's about all I usually take on as far as sewing goes.

I found instructions for making a sock monkey and thought I'd give it a try. I really like the idea of making things like that for Carter. I spent a couple of naps and evenings this weekend working on my first sock monkey and I think it turned out pretty good.

UT vs Ole Miss

We took Carter to the UT vs Ole Miss game this afternoon. Our tickets weren't the best (Sect 330, Row 17, Seats 1-3) but we had the end of a row which was very nice. And having to buy a ticket for Carter worked out nice because we had extra room for all our stuff.

The game started at 1:30 pm so we were overlapping with Carter's normal afternoon naptime. We got there a little earlier than we had anticipated and Carter did really well for the 20 minutes before the game.

Here he is chilling on Brian's lap and watching the court ...


Announcing the UT players ...


Carter got really squirmy as soon as the game started. He wasn't terrible, but it was hard to watch the game. With the cheap tickets we bought, we got vouchers for free food. So near the end of the first half, we loaded up on nachos, a soft pretzel, and a drink. Carter LOVED the pretzel and ate about half of it (we did wipe off all the salt from his part). It kept him content for halftime and some of the second half.


UT was losing the majority of the game though always kept it within reach. It's been a rough few weeks for UT sports with 4 basketball players being suspended or dismissed for drug and gun charges and then the football coach suddenly leaving a few days ago.

Anyway, we decided to leave at the 8 minute TV timeout because Carter was tired and we had to take a shuttle to the Ag Campus where we'd parked. We didn't want to have to wait forever in line for a bus in an enormous crowd in the cold with Carter. We got back to the car in time to listen to the last few minutes of regulation and overtime and hear UT win!

Target Toy Sale

I found out by reading some other people's blogs that Target has an amazing 75% off toy sale a couple of times a year. They seem to have it once in January to get rid of extra Christmas stock and make room for the spring and summer toys and then again in July to get rid of those toys and make room for their Christmas stock.

Anyway, the blog world seemed to think the sale was going to be yesterday. I went to Target when it opened and was disappointed to find that toys were still only 30-50% off. Sarah and I had plans to walk this morning at 9 am. Since Carter and I were ready early, I decided to go to Target again in case they had marked down their toys. And they had. I bought way too much. I even went to another Target this afternoon to see if they had anything really good left.

I got Carter toys for the rest of the year and some things for next year even. I even got some stuff for the new baby. Everything I got was 75% off and all good brands. I spent a total of $98.94 including tax.

For the new baby ...

Fisher-Price Songs 'n Smiles Silly Town - $9.98


Fisher-Price Sing Along Stage - $11.24


Playskool Wheel Pals - $2.48
Parents Fun Cubed - $5.94
Infantino Wall Mounted Mobile and Mirror - $3.74


For Carter ...

(Actually, some of these things will probably be presents for friends because some are similar and Carter doesn't need all this stuff!)

Little Tikes TotSports Drive and Putt Golf Set - $6.44
Little Tikes Easy Hit Golf Set - $6.44


Playskool Clipo Creativity Table - $8.24
Playskool Clipo Basic Figure Set - $2.98


Playskool Handy Manny Picture Find Game - $2.48
Eric Carle From Head to Toe Game - $2.48


Parents Bristle Blocks Acrobats - $6.24


Parents Bristle Blocks Swing - $4.98


Fisher-Price Mr. Bump Medical Kit - $4.98


Little Tikes Big Rockers Guitar - $4.98


Little First Act Discovery My First Harmonica - $1.98
Little First Act Discovery My First Recorder - $1.98


Fisher-Price Sesame Street Silly Sounds Giggle Remote - $2.98


I felt a little crazy buying a cart full of toys this morning (I was not the only one and I had less than a lot of other people). But I think I got really awesome stuff for the new baby. And I'm not planning to give all the other toys to Carter immediately, and I don't feel like I was buying stuff just because it was cheap. I think he'll like all these toys throughout the next year and some will make really good gifts.