I am so excited to finally be sharing pictures of Jack's Toddler Room!
He's still sleeping in his crib (that desperately needs to be lowered again) but everything else got an upgrade!
As you may remember way back from my nursery planning I put all my sewing and craft gear in his closet so he was left with only the four walls. Well I finally found a way to move all my craft gear out into the living room and part of the entry way closet so now he has the full room. And I couldn't be more happy.
After 2.5 years I finally feel like I am getting this house organized :).
I put his changing table and a cube organizer for clothes and such in his closet to free up play space.
I then took his old bookshelf turned armoire and turned that into a "ZOO". I drilled holes in the permanent shelf of the bookcase and hooked bungee cords to keep all the animals in their place. It works perfectly! He can take any stuffie as he pleases without an avalanche. The shelves above I use for books and nick nacks. And we still have a ton of space! Who knew!
Then the TV stand turned dresser is now turned into toy storage. I originally wanted to keep it filled with baskets to give it a clean look but I was worried that filling a large basket with heavy toys wouldn't end well. Sure enough he would grab the highest one and pull it out on himself. So I opted for a few baskets to hold smaller items like blocks and balls and left the larger toys out for easy use ;). We even still have some empty baskets! Where was all the storage space before!
We also bought him a rocking horse. I have been eyeing ones at target for a while now but every time we tested them out in the store he would cry and beg to get off so we always left it. But one wonderful day he started giggling and smiling and from then on I have been trying to decide which one to buy for him. I wanted a fun animal that most people don't have especially since his room is already safari themed. But I couldn't find one with good enough reviews or that was small enough for him to get off and on by himself. So after much stress I decided on this super cute horsefrom the B. Toys collection at Target (my favorite collection). He hasn't quite figured how to climb on it by himself yet but he knows how to get off and he's learning to rock by himself. He only uses his arms though so it's a bit fast and jerky but hilarious!
Then we bought a few new items which are by far mine and, more importantly, his favorite. We bought him an arm chair for him to read all of his books in. And not to mention a book organizer. We put them under his window where the changing table used to be and added a few new animal wall stickers for fun :). He loves to read, or at least flip through the pages. Most days and nights you can find him either on the floor surrounded by every book he owns or in his chair pointing at all the pictures.
He is as cute as a button and he loves his new room and so do we. Before we always had to have some one back there with him. There was just too many dangerous things he could get into. My sewing stuff was filled with pins, scissors, and needles. And his changing table had butt paste, wipes, and tiny nick nacks that he could chew on. While we tried to keep everything away from him it was a hard. But now everything has it's place and the room is his oyster. He runs back and forth and we don't worry about him....as much ;).
This whole process was so awesome but also a little sad. Having a baby was basically new territory for me. I don't remember being a baby and my younger brother as a baby is all a bit fuzzy. But a toddler. I remember my young friends from pre-school and I remember my brother as a toddler. We are venturing into the time frame of my own memories, and that's weird. But I'm also so excited I can hardly stand it.
I have been dying to go camping for years now but with being pregnant, then breastfeeding, AZ hot weather, and then an army crawler, it just never seemed to be a good time. Well now that Jack is finally walking I thought it was a perfect time to get out of the heat and house.
Now even though it's "fall" in most places, AZ is still in the dead of summer and will be for quite some time. So we still had to pick somewhere with a high enough elevation to get cool weather. But because it's also monsoon season the weather is pretty unpredictable. Flash floods, haboobs (dust storms), hail, rain, and other crazy weather patterns are all pretty much normal this time of year. And finding somewhere Max hasn't gone is damn near impossible (see Lesser Places). This all lead up to us (really Max) choosing Mt. Graham as our vacation destination.
And it was perfect.
It is a giant tall mountain in southeast Arizona, very close to the NM border. It's a hefty drive (4-5 hrs.) from our house which gave us some pause with a toddler and two dogs but we figured no amount of screaming, or panting for that matter, could last forever right? The drive, though long, went pretty smoothly. The only real "issue" we had is that Jack somehow figured out how to unscrew his snack cup and got granola trail mix all over him, the car seat, the dogs, and the back seat. It was truly impressive.
We reached the base of the mountain around 10:30AM. As you start to climb you can see the world change and that is by far the coolest thing about living here. You can go from desert floor with snakes and scorpions to pine trees, squirrels, and deer in a matter of a few hours. It's truly magical.
We finally got to the top and picked out our campsite. Now for the big test; Jack vs. Nature. He loves to be outside, no matter how hot it is but he doesn't like to touch it. However here, he was going to have to touch it. I got him out of his car seat and let him go for it. He walked around timidly with his arms up so as not to accidentally brush a blade of grass. He was getting his nature legs.
Sure enough pretty soon he fell down and there it was, nature was all over him. He threw his arms up and started whining looking around for anyone to save him. I picked him up a few times and each time was a little easier and eventually he put his hands and head down in the grass and stood up on his own. He started running all around the campsite. Bending down and looking at grass, weeds, flowers, and bark. Pebbles and rocks were his favorite.
Jack conquered nature.
We spent the rest of Friday enjoying the cool weather and chasing after Jack. He was the happiest little camper.
That night was a bit rough, our camping neighbors were a bit loud and crazy and Jack never sleeps well in new places.
We had also placed our tent on what we thought was flat ground only to find out after Jack had gone to sleep that it was sloped. Luckily it was sloped left to right and not head to feet so blood wasn't rushing to our heads but stopping yourself from rolling over your husband, two dogs and into a pack & play all night led to some soreness the next day. But o'well it kept us entertained during our wake hours with Jack.
The next morning Jack got us up around 5:30AM which sucked but wasn't surprising. We ate some delicious oatmeal and headed out to our hike of the day. Max didn't tell me anything about the hike except that there was a waterfall at the end.
I was in.
I was wrong.
Because we are on a giant mountain the trails either have to go up or down.
Physics.
This trail went down... a lot. Then flat for a while. Then down more. Not so bad. I could do this all day. I basically just fell down the side of a mountain. Who can't do that? But then you look behind you and you remember you can't fall up.
You know in CA when there are rock slides and they put up those giant signs "Beware rock slide area. Boulders could crush you" and you see a tiny orange wood barricade holding up gigantic boulders and all you can think is "No way, who in their right mind goes near that!"... yeah that's what I was thinking when I turned around. There was nothing but a sheer wall of rocks and boulders that I had basically just stepped over to get down this far. I wish I could fall up.
We never made it to the falls. The trail got harder to follow, narrow, and with low lying branches Jack was getting pretty beaten up on Max's back. We also didn't bring lunch so we had to be back at camp around noon. We decided to turn around. Now for the hard part. I basically had to climb up a rock slide.
Now I'm sure over at Lesser Places Max is saying that it was an easy day hike and he enjoyed the mild exercise.
He's wrong.
As I climbed higher and I felt my heart and lungs exploding and I knew the end was near, we stopped for a drink and I looked down to see this little heart leaf growing in the side of the mountain. It was adorable.
Now I guess I can admit it wasn't the hardest climb but it was not easy. And to someone who has gone on like 5 hikes in the last 2-3 years this was pretty hard. The fact I survived is a win for me. Even Jack was mad when we got back to the car.
But we made it.
We went back to camp and had some lunch and snacks and watched Jack play some more.
Considering that he slept for a lot of the hike we weren't too optimistic for nap time.
And after trying for about an hour we gave up. Just as we were climbing out of the tent from the failed nap attempt it started to sprinkle. It was on and off for a while but then what seemed out of no where it started to down pour and I mean pour. It even started to hail.
Max and I made the call to pack it up early. We were planning on heading home Sunday morning but with only another hard night with little sleep and more rain to look forward to we didn't see much point in staying. Max rushed us into the tent and he stayed outside packing up. Jack, me and the dogs packed up the insides of the tent safe and dry...mostly.
Once there was a break in the storm we made a run for the car so Max could break down the tent. He threw the last few things in the car and were out of there. The drive down the mountain in the rough weather wasn't easy but we made it.
We were sad to leave so soon, the trip was more fun than either of us expected. We were so proud of Jack and how well he did. We can't wait to go on another trip.
We looked back for a final look at our dream vacation and the entire mountain was engulfed in a hell storm. We made the right call. But that didn't make it any easier.
Way back in May for Mother's Day Max (and Jack) gave me sewing lessons! I have been a self taught sewer ever since I got my Nana's sewing machine 3 years ago. I loved it as soon as I started. My mom has been my main source of information as well as youtube and trial by fire. But nothing I made ever made it to the next level; it never had the umph I was looking for. So being the wonderful husband that he is Max found a place that gave lessons and signed me up.
I felt like a kid. I was nervous about all the other people liking me, I didn't know my teacher, and I had no idea where I was going or what to do.
My biggest worry; however was that I wasn't good enough. I am an accountant after all, and we aren't known for our creativity (and if we are it's probably not a good thing). I thought everyone there would be working on grand ball gowns, detailed quilts, or super fancy embroidery and I'd be there like "hey can I make a skirt, that's only two pieces right?".
Max proceeded to make fun of me and tell me that only I would worry about not being good enough for lessons. I guess I'm still a 12 year old girl at heart.
I walked in and tried not to be shy or embarrassed that I had a sewing machine from 1950 while everyone else had newer fancier ones. I set up and tried to ignore my own thoughts. I distracted myself by looking around the shop and listening in to the general hum of conversations. To start off the shop is small but super cute. It has plenty of notions and fabric and one long table for machines and three cutting tables. It's actually pretty perfect and it makes me long for the days of my craft room.
Once class started the instructor / owner, Erica, was quick to get me set up and introduced, which I greatly appreciated. I brought a pattern along because frankly I wasn't sure what to bring and that seemed like a good place to start :).
(I'm doing view B. I can't wait to see it finished!)
I told her I haven't really sewn anything post pregnancy so getting measured was priority #1. Shen then told me to use a pattern like 2 sizes larger than I thought! I wasn't upset by being bigger, I had a baby who cares. I was more shocked that I was so far off base. I guess that's why I'm there.
She then told me the single greatest piece of advise I had ever received. IRON THE PATTERN PIECES. Ok for those that don't sew, patterns are printed on super super super thin tissue paper and it's folded like a billion ways to Sunday and un-folding it takes a pure act of God. This is the main reason I gave up on patterns and started making my own things. Also ironing a thin piece of paper seemed like a fire hazard, but she assured me I wouldn't burn down her adorable shop. And of course she was right. I now had perfectly flat pattern pieces. I would pay for lessons all over again just for that.
I spent the rest of the night pinning, cutting and sewing a few pieces together.
And of course Max was right too. I made friends and no one hated me or seemed to judge me. We swapped stories and gossiped the night away. I have to say I'm super excited for my next lesson this week!
And I can't wait to share the beautiful dress I am sure to have by the end of this ;).
This is Jack's second 4th of July, obviously, but he was just shy of 3 months old for the first one so we treated this one as if it was his first. It's so different now that he's walking and sorta talking.
Every year we have a tradition of going to our friend Matt's house with the Thursday crew. We watch Independence Day with the usual drinking game and eat some really good BBQ. But since the holiday was on Monday we decided to get together on Sunday so everyone had a day with family, and let's be honest a day to recover, before heading back to work. This meant we got to celebrate with family and friends this year and make a big splash out of it all. Literally.
Sunday was a lot of fun. We had the usual crowd plus a few new faces; including a little 6 month old who was just too adorable for words. I forgot how small new babies can be. I barely remember Jack being that little :'( . Well we were all standing around in the kitchen anxiously awaiting the delicious BBQ food when I turn around to see that Jack has snagged a cookie from the platter! Now I did have him perched on the counter with my arm around him but apparently my "eyes in the back of my head" sense failed again. But who could stay mad at that for too long?
We topped off the evening with card games and some more drinks. I'm so glad Jack has solidified his place as an honorary Thursday Crew Member. But I think the jury is still out on whether or not it's better than a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Member? I think Mickey might be winning.
Yesterday we went over to Max's parent's house and met up with the Great Grandparents. Jack and I were the only ones to dress up for the occasion but that's not surprising as I am secretly a toddler myself.
We ate more super delicious BBQ and then took a dip in the pool. No we didn't wait an hour, we're rebels. Dare to be different! But nothing beats an evening swim in Phoenix. The sun is down far enough not to burn, the temp is still in the 90s, and the pool is just right. Since we have been doing swim lessons for a year now he has learned to LOVE the water. He's getting so good and he really listens to what I'm saying. He waits until I tell him to jump in and he even floats if he makes it back to the surface before I grab him.
He isn't always gentle with his jumps though. And one got me pretty good :)
He always makes up for it though with a great smile and some kisses....sorta ;)
After drying off and lounging around the house a little it was time for fireworks. We usually never get to do them so I made sure this year we did a few. Jack isn't big enough / Mom isn't brave enough to have Jack hold his own sparkler but I think he got a kick out of seeing them. I also forgot that they kind burn! My arms are still a little burny and singed lol :)
It was such a fun holiday and a great long weekend. I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!
