School Pictures

We have been bombarded by school and sport pictures over the last couple of weeks.  When we buy these pictures, they will stay on the kids' bulletin boards for a few months before ending up in a box.  In order to save a little money this season, we only bought Carter's baseball pictures.  Since Brian is coaching both soccer teams, he'll get a coach plaque at the end of the season with the team picture.

We also didn't buy the kids individual school pictures (we've always just bought the preschool class picture in the spring).  But I have the proofs to share!  We'll go to Cheekwood soon when the leaves start changing and get some good pictures of the boys then.

Carter's School Pictures:

Rylan's School Pictures (not sure who tried to brush his hair to the side in the front!!!):

Predators Game

Yesterday afternoon (after 2 soccer games and a baseball game), we went to a Nashville Predators game.  We got free preseason tickets again this year and chose to do a 3pm Saturday game (which was much better than rushing to get to the game after school and work).  We totally wiped out by the end of the day though!

The free tickets were general admission for anywhere in the 3rd level that wasn't a season ticket holder seat.  We found 4 seats together on a front row close to a corner.  It worked out great though because we all had more room then and the boys had no one blocking their view.

When packing up for the day yesterday morning, the only thing I forgot was the boys' sweatshirts (luckily I had brought pants at least!).  Personally I thought it felt awesome in there (I've been so hot lately).  There was very little complaining about being cold though so it was okay.

The boys always love to see the players skate out onto the ice through the Predator head before the game starts!

The Predators started off with an early goal and led the entire game until the Panthers finally put one in near the end of the third period.  Carter was obsessed with the Predator's goalie because his first name was also Carter.

The boys did amazing during the game.  They watched intently and didn't start getting antsy until the third period.  The game ended in in a 1-1 tie so it went into overtime (which was luckily a lot shorter than playoff overtime which is usually the only time a actually watch hockey on TV).  After a 5 minute overtime there was a shoot out.  The shoot out is best of three and the Predators made their first two and the Panthers missed their first two.  Carter was so excited when "Carter Goalie" made the blocks!

I'm so glad we were able to make it to the game.  The boys really enjoyed it and Rylan kept saying, "I love hockey games!"

Random picture ... I can actually see in this one how much Carter looks like Brian!

Spirit Week

Carter's school had Spirit Week last week as a celebration for the conclusion of the Invest Campaign (which is a 3 week campaign when they ask all families to donate money to the school - the goal was $22,000 this year).  All week the kids got to dress up to different themes and on Friday night, the school has a festival called Cloverfest.

Rockstar Monday

I gelled Carter's hair and put a bandana around his head.  I also painted his nails black.  Missy recently gave me some shirts that a friend gave her and she didn't want.  We aren't big fans of skulls either but this one worked well for Carter's rockstar look.  We rolled the sleeves up a little and added a pair of skinny jeans to complete the look.

Rylan also wanted to participate so I put a bandana on him and painted his nails as well.

Giddy Up Tuesday

Carter used part of a cowboy costume I bought after Halloween last year.  Plus the sheriff badge he got from Maddie's birthday party last year.

Every morning, after taking a picture of Carter, Rylan wanted a picture of himself and a second one of both the boys.

Wacky Wednesday

Carter wore his shirt from his Glow Galaxy birthday party (when he turned 4).  He wore the shirt and his shorts backwards and wore mismatched soccer socks.  I bought some blue hair color and sprayed spots on his hair.  It took a little convincing to get Carter to do the hair color but he loved it once it was done.

Team Thursday

We had to borrow a Titans shirt because all of Carter's team shirts are too small.  Carter's pose this time was him cheering for the Titans :)

Clovercroft Friday

All the kids were encouraged to wear their field trip shirts on Friday.  This made it nearly impossible to find your kid at Cloverfest that night!

Another fun pose from Rylan :)

Cloverfest

From 5-7 pm on Friday evening, the school had a festival that mainly included a ton of inflatable bounce houses and games.  There were also things like a cake walk and a game that popped water balloons over a teacher's head when you hit a target.  There were some food trucks and Chick-fil-A as well.  Everything was free (except the food) and the kids had a blast.

 

Carter playing a game against Charlie, one of the boys in his class.

Luckily they shut it all down at 7 pm so we could pull the kids away and walk home!

Talk Like a Pirate

Yesterday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Again this year, Krispy Kreme gave away a dozen donuts to anyone that dressed like a pirate.  We couldn't pass up free donuts so we squeezed in a trip to Krispy Kreme between picking up Carter from school and going to Cloverfest.

 We also met up with Suzy, Christy, and Auburn and all their kiddos.

Carter ate 3 donuts before I cut him off.  He tried to convince me he needed another one before bed too!

Rylan got through 1/2 of one - he prefers powdered sugar donuts - but at least he gave it a try!

32 Weeks Appointment

I had my 32 week checkup on Friday.  Both baby boy and I are doing good!  My blood pressure was 104/54 and my weight is up to 154 lbs (29 lbs gained so far).

The baby is still measuring a week early (based on measuring my belly).  My doctor plans to do an ultrasound at 37 weeks to confirm the size so we can start discussing if a c-section would be a better option (my doctor seems to prefer VBACs).

The only other thing she did was check my leg again to make sure my crazy veins are doing okay.  My leg still throbs and is extremely swollen but there are still no signs of blood clots.  Maybe I'll get Brian to take a picture of it to share (and gross everyone out).  Until then, here is a belly picture from last week.

Every time I go out I get comments that I must be having this baby any day now.  Lots of people try to tell me I must be wrong about my due date.  Honestly, I'll still pretty small compared to the 39th week with Rylan!

Great Game

Carter got his second game ball of season tonight.  I think Coach Jeff has finally given out one game ball to all the boys on the team.  The one Carter got was actually the second one of the night because he REALLY deserved one.

The boys played 3 innings tonight.  Carter played right field the first inning.  He backed up the first baseman and fielded two missed hits.  He ran those to first but just missed the runners both times.

The second inning Carter played first base.  No balls were hit to him.  And all the throws to him were after the runners had already gotten to first.

Up until this point, it was a pretty slow game for Carter.

But then he played third base the last inning and almost every ball was hit to him.  He fielded the first hit (which he knocked down with his shin) and threw it to first.  It was a great throw but the runner easily beat the throw.  Then Carter fielded the second hit and threw it to second.  Again, a perfect throw but no one was covering second.  Then he got three outs in a row at third when the ball was hit to him three more times.  The last one of that set was a doozy though!  He attempted to catch a flyball (it was in between a pop up and line drive).  Carter knocked the hit down with his chest (before it hit the ground!) and made the play at third.  One more player hit the ball to Carter in the third inning and he got a fourth out at third.

In addition, all of Carter's hits were base hits that no one got out on.  His first hit was a line drive that landed in the baseline between second and third before rolling to the outfield.

Carter has amazing hustle in the field and a great understanding of the game (he almost always knows exactly where to go with the ball when he fields it).  However, the one thing Carter needs to work on the most right now is hitting.  He's only had to hit off the tee a couple of times but most of his hits aren't very solid and don't got all that far.  But we just haven't had the time to really work on hitting at home - maybe I'll try to get it in this week!

Carter was SO EXCITED to get another game ball!

And here is the mark on Carter's chest 15 minutes after he got nailed by the ball at third.  He's one tough kid that LOVES baseball!

Rylan's Room

Rylan's room has changed a lot!  He finally got out of his crib converted to a toddler bed a few months ago.  We got him a full bed and have been using pool noodles to make sure he doesn't roll out of bed (he did that twice the first week - once with the noodles!).  All of Rylan's furniture is new because we moved all of the stuff he was using to the nursery (it was all Carter's originally).

A view from the doorway ...

And looking back towards the door from the window ...

As you enter Rylan's room, I still have this picture of Rylan and Brian from his first trip to the beach.  I still love this one!

And I kept Rylan's birth stats print but moved it next to his closet.

Like Carter, I got Rylan a beanbag chair from Target to use for a little reading spot.  The bookshelf is new and from Target (yes, we really do get everything there) - it's the same one we have in Carter's room and a few other places in the house.

Rylan has a theme of jungle animals with the colors green and blue in his room.  Above his beanbag chair, I hung these rhino and elephant hooks from Target for all of Rylan's medals.

Above that are a couple of framed animal prints Rylan had in his room before.  These are photos I had taken at the Knoxville Zoo before the kids were born.

Above Rylan's bookcase is my favorite thing in his room - a cardboard elephant head.

This came as a bunch of pieces of cardboard that I had to pop out and fit together.  It's huge and really cool.

I found Rylan's bedspread at TJ Maxx.  I got the headboard from Target (again).

I also painted three canvases for above Rylan's bed.  I used paint that I also used for the letters on the opposite wall (picture below).

I kept the ballpit in Rylan's room because the boys actually still use it a lot.  I also hung Rylan's bulletin board that used to be in the playroom in his room.  I reused white frames that used to be above Rylan's crib around his window and put in prints from our trip to the mountains last year.

I hung a set of Nate Berkus for Target curtain panels which are mainly white with subtle silver circles on them.

The other corner next to Rylan's window ...

When we ordered the cube shelving units for our bonus room (the new playroom) from IKEA, we also got this cube storage unit in a shiny blue for Rylan's room.  The brown bins are from Walmart and fit perfect.  I really like having a fun pop of color in Rylan's room (like Carter's gold desk).

I got Rylan a new dresser too.  It's from Walmart and is the same Canopy brand and style as Carter's dresser (Carter's has held up so well and still looks brand new so we went with another piece from the series).

When we moved into this house, I had bought wooden letters for Rylan's room and painted them to match the crib sheets we used.  I ended up repainting the letters in two shades of blue and two shade of green (and keeping the white ones white).

Again, I let the boys paint the first letter of their names.

I got a black wire cube shelving unit (from Target) for Rylan's closet and put all our games in it.

I also really like Rylan's room but if there is one thing I'd change, it would be his comforter.  But he loves it (and picked it out) so I'm keeping it!

Carter's Room

I started working on changing the boys' rooms to bigger boy rooms several months ago.  They've been close to done for awhile now but after a few more additions, I feel like they are both finally 95% done.

Carter's main request for his room was a desk.  And our inspiration was this octopus from Target that he and I saw one day and both really liked.

View of Carter's doorway ...

View back toward the door from the window ...

I kept the same dresser we had gotten for Carter when he originally moved out of the nursery when Rylan was born (along with a mirror to go above it).

Next to the dresser there are bins for Carter's stuffed animals and all our Playmobil stuff.

Carter's favorite color is still gold.  So when I saw this desk at Target, I knew it would fit him perfectly.  Plus he wanted drawers to store paper and art supplies in so it fit that criteria.  I added an inexpensive grey and metal chair from Target and a desk lamp we've had for several years.  I also hung a new basic cork board above the desk so Carter could hang up his artwork.

Next to Carter's desk is a little reading corner with a new corduroy bean bag chair (also from Target).

I hung curtains from the Nate Berkus for Target collection that I love and now wish I'd used in our master instead!

I got new frames from Home Goods and found this shark print on Etsy.  Carter has a loose ocean theme in his room to match the octopus art we started with.

Carter's headboard is from his crib and I got the bedding awhile ago at Target (he's been using it since he got his full bed).

I purchased three 12"x12" canvases and painted them like I had done with the elephants in Carter's old room.  I used the paint from his room at our last house (these are the colors I used for the stripes).  Again, I stuck with the ocean theme.

I reframed Carter's birth stats in another frame from Home Goods that matches the one I used for the shark print.  The colors of the birth stats print match the paint I used for the canvases over Carter's bed.

I reused Carter's old bookcase and got two more frames from Home Goods that are made from a distressed wood.

Between Carter's closet and his bookcase are some of his awards.  I got a distressed wood set of hooks from Marshalls to hang all of Carter's metals.  Right now his Most Improved award is sitting on top of the hooks but it falls down from the breeze created every time we close Carter's closet door.

Carter also has a bunch of trophies, game balls, and ribbons on top of his bookcase.

I got a six-cube wire unit (from Target) to store all the Legos in Carter's closet.

I love Carter's room - it feels so comfortable.  I think he loves it too!