Harry and Jack's bigger boy room

For the billionth time, I totally cheaped out on Pottery Barn Kids.  I love their super hero stuff and had an online shopping cart full of Batman and Spiderman bedding and wall decals and didn't buy it.  I even saved a coupon from the latest catalog and planned to go there after IKEA and buy the stuff in person-- because I also wanted to check out lamps for the baby-- but then I saw a wall of $20 duvet covers and I thought of how much snot Harry and Jack get on their bedding, and the rest is history.

Not sure why it looks so dark in some shots, but here's their new room:

It was Ben's idea to replace their Lego table chairs with IKEA stool, and I love it-- way lower profile.

Those pictures are also an IKEA find-- I thought they were so cool

These letters are back on the wall because they are paper, so if they fall off and boink Harry on the head, he won't get hurt-- everything else seemed too heavy.

Found these super awesome vintage posters at a comic book store by the mall.

And Ben said the IKEA lamps were really hard to put together.  I looked at the 5 pages of instructions and quietly put them back in the box...

Harry and Jack made their own beds today without prompting.

I love all the stuffed animals-- reminds me that they are still little.

So does their sweet little train table that they still play with everyday and their toy box (ignore that locked cabinet.  It's the awkwardly placed electrical panel for our entire house).

This is the first room to be totally done.  Cooper's room and the baby's room still need all of the art on the walls, but stay tuned-- Ben's going to knock it out tomorrow morning.

No more shopping for me

We had a lovely little New Year's Eve.

Ben made a lovely spread of appetizers, and we rented the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie

Harry and Jack loved it.

Especially when we whipped out the confetti guns

And the streamers.

I am still vacuuming up confetti.

They both crashed around 9.  Ben and I were in bed before midnight.

Cooper slept great and didin't realize he'd missed a celebration.

Today, we went to IKEA, where the kids were angels, and we got a ridiculous amount of stuff in the van.

And had ice cream while Ben was loading it like a Tetris puzzle.

Cooper's all "Where's my ice cream?" and then he realized it was gone and lost his shit big time.

Harry was the first one done, even though he doesn't really like vanilla.

Pretty sure Cooper's shoes are on backwards, and there's definitely an applesauce massacre on his lap.

We are officially done buying stuff for 3 bedrooms.  I, in fact, am officially done buying anything for awhile-- that's how much stuff I have bought.  The thought of buying anything else makes me want to puke.  I have been intending to buy new boots all break, but I don't even want to shop for them or buy them.  TOO MUCH STUFF.  Crib!  Book shelves!  Dressers!  Nightstands!  Accessories!  Bedding!

But, oh, you guys, the rooms are adorable!  Baby girl stuff! (Well, not really baby except for the crib, but girl stuff!)  Crazy adorable bright colored big boy stuff for the big boys in a new room that is plenty big for their train table, their Lego table, and a toy box.  Cooper's room might be my favorite-- it is so bright and cheerful with a theme that can only be described as "Target." He has inherited all the old decor from H and J's room here and at our condo.  If Circo mass produced it on a canvas, lampshade, pillow, or sheet, it's in Cooper's room, along with a surprising amount of toys.  We also got more toy storage shelves for the toy room, which has freed up a lot of space in the family room, and there's an empty toy box and shelving unit in the baby's room, meaning BRING ON THE AMERICAN GIRL DOLLS and the pink retro PBK kitchen and Barbie's dream house. 

Someday you know, when I can stomach the thought of buying stuff again.

Happy New Year!

Finally lost that tooth!

See ya next year, Christmas!

Kitchen reno

Once  snow eater...

SO COLD

SO MUCH SNOW!

Pump It Up NYE party for the kiddos

They loved the balloon drop

And were very serious about pizza.

Because we are total idiots, we told the big boys they could stay up late tonight, which seriously hinders our Downton Abbey and decoupaging wooden nursery letters time.  But Ben made potato skins and buffalo wings and a killer fruit plate, along with veggies and dip and lots of crackers and cheeses, so that part sounds awesome.  And, thanks to bouncing, those two will be out in no time (**fingers crossed**).

Last year, I made some unkeepable resolutions.  This year, I am just going to enjoy myself-- the last time I'll be pregnant, the last time we'll have a newborn in the house, our little Jack going to kindergarten, another year with tons of little kids doing little kid things like losing teeth and learning to read.

2012 was a terrific little year.

Cooper started eating like a man. 

We made a mushroom cloud out of snow (Cooper's first foray into the snow, in fact).

Jack manned up and sat on the Easter Bunny's lap.

We hosted a holiday for our families.

Ben made his garage sale dreams come true while simultaneously helping Jack live his lemonade stand destiny.

Harry turned 6 and finished his first year of real school.

Cooper rode the merry-go-round!

We took the kids on a quintessential driving vacay and showed them the ocean.

A new baby on the way!  And our current baby turned 1!

WE MET THE FRESH BEAT BAND!!!!

Remember that whirlwind Thanksgiving weekend?

Chrismukkah was pretty much the best ever.

Cheers to 2013.

Notes from break

 Jack came with me to the OB yesterday because he wanted to hear the baby's heartbeat.  He was impressed with the waiting room reading material.  Which is good because when we walked in, the first thing we saw was a giant whiteboard telling me my doctor was running 20 minutes behind. 

We found out that I gained 7 pounds in the last 6 weeks (!) for a grand total of 17 pounds in 28 weeks, which would be totally fine and normal and puts me on track to gain the 30 pounds I always do EXCEPT I started this pregnancy 10 pounds heavier than normal, and I really only wanted to gain 20.  But, alas.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas.  You know.

Speaking of weight gain, Panera has grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Jack and I approve (he only eats a strawberry smoothie, chicken noodle soup, a baguette, a bagel, and a random bakery item at Panera with NO DEVIATION but he approves of how much I like the grilled cheese and tomato soup because that means MOAR PANERA)

 This kitchen was Santa's greatest hit of the season FOR SURE.  He also enjoys the cart and loves to ram it at full speed into the kitchen cabinets and/or our shins and calves.  SO FUN.  He also mimics the way we use the kitchen and shoves his cabinets full of random crap until they burst open.

The only problem with the kitchen is we don't have a space for it besides the middle of the main room.  We are hoping to put it in his new big boy room (along with a train table and a giant fire station), but that entails, you know, finishing his big boy room, which is a process.

 One of these things is not like the other:

 Room shuffle progress! We have cleaned out the guest room closet and the storage room and relocated the TV (adding a cable connection and wasting a whole day waiting on the cable guy to come do it) and elliptical.  We also went to a furniture store last night and bought a dresser and a nightstand for Cooper and a dresser and a nightstand for the baby.  We have big plans to head to IKEA and Pottery Barn Kids next week, but first, we have to dismantle the guest room bed and desk and well as Cooper's dresser and get them all out of the house.  We also have to dismantle and move the big boys' entire room.  I say we, but I mean Ben.

 Harry has been hard at work on his Geo Trax.

 Cooper hates the snow.

 Harry made a Sponge Bob out of a sponge and some bendy straws.

 He is kind of a wimp about pulling out loose teeth.  Hes been walking around with this one twisted sideways for hours, and he just can't quite bring himself to yank it out.

 I was delighted to find 19 bottles of OPI nail polish in my stocking, and Harry and Jack both demanded a pedicure when I was doing my own today.  Harry's are gold with gold sparkles.  Jack's are red with gold sparkles, and I went with mint green with gold sparkles.

Ben and I are counting down the minutes until the last kid is in bed, so we can resume our new Downton Abbey addiction.  We both thought the first episode was kind of boring, but by the second one, we were fully hooked.  Also, Apple TV is like magic.

Chrismukkah!

This is Toofy's best work of the season, wouldn't you say?

We attended a lovely Santa breakfast on the 22nd-- at a local coffee shop, with waffles, face painting, and, of course, Santa.

Harry was her first customer, and he insisted we get a business card for his birthday party needs.

Jack wanted to be Rudolph.  He was not messing around.

Cooper was cool with everything once we gave him unlimited whipped cream and a fork.

After breakfast, we hopped in the car and went straight to my parents' house.

How can you not take this guy seriously?

Especially when he's balanced on a bowling ball covered in marbles.

Cooper pretty much lost it during presents, but he had some pizza and rebounded until a very, very, very early bedtime.  The rest of us had an awesome time!  (Jack got a Taylor Swift poster, just a day after telling me in Target that he wanted to sit in the front row at her concert so he could touch her legs and maybe put her in a bag to take home with him.  Um.)

He cried for awhile.

Not your imagination.  Jon is wearing footie pajamas. So's Cooper.

 

We spent Christmas Eve at home, and it was really low key.  New PJ's and Arthur Christmas from Toofy, reading Night Before Christmas, cookies and snacks for Santa and the reindeer.  The cute kids' service at the Unitarian church we like was smack in the middle of nap, so we passed on that, and our favorite pizza place was closed, so we headed to our favorite local sports bar instead-- really fun and a Christmas Eve tradition we;d love to keep for the next 30 years.  We saw lots of families with grown up kids getting sloshed on craft beer.  Looked fun.

Kids decorated the sugar cookies, but the creepy ginger was all me

Santa had his shit together this year, and we were tucked in bed before 10, which was good because we had a pre-6 am wake up call and a full, full day.  Here are the highlights:

Today, we spent the whole day-- seriously, just finished at 10:35 pm-- cleaning out our storage room and the guest room closet and purging a few toys.  Tomorrow, the cable guy comes to put an outlet in storage, so we can move our elliptical there.  Then, we're headed dresser shopping.  AND we're on our way to IKEA in a few days for a new crib and more shelves.  The great room shuffle is underway!