A little refashion

From our bedroom window I could see that someone put out a small piece of pink furniture earlier this week. H and I took a walk and checked it out, then took Nathan to see and came home with this:



I decided with a little work it could become more boy friendly and look a little loved - not so worn. And, since the couch was free, I decided to make it as low cost as possible - I used a fun fabric that wouldn't show wear and tear, and something that was not so lovely that I would hate for it to look too worn.

I set out to take it apart (700 staples later...) and recover it. Although H was a little sad to see the 'girls' (Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty) go....

But, this is what we came up with:

A little loud, slightly gaudy, but FUN! Something I won't worry about getting dirty, and in 3 years when I might have another excess of child friendly upholstery fabric, I won't feel bad about covering it again!

And, the star was happy with it!

H found these glasses in the bottom drawer of his dresser. It made me think of the first time he wore them!

Go Rebels!

One thing that Oxford definitely does well is football! Stay out of town on football weekends if you don't want to get stuck in traffic (remember that this town only really has two main roads). Some of the music graduate students set up a few tents on "the Grove." This apparently is the place to be! Men in slacks, ladies in dresses and heels - wow! Everyone had tents set up, some people brought their own food, many people had grills, some had it catered, I even saw a few tents with chandeliers and huge flat screen TV's and satellites! This is all on the grassy area in the middle of campus.

So, we went today after H's nap and enjoyed the festivities.

We were saved by the fact that there was a ramp right next to our tent. We would have had a different (not fun) experience had there not been a ramp there... He loved running up and down it and waving to everyone through the bars.

All of the people were a little overwhelming!

We had to bring his little chair, and he loved sipping on decaf tea and eating a cookie - quite a treat for him!

A couple of changes

H and Leonard made a new friend!

When we were with Bubba and Honey last week, they gave H an Elmo doll. All the way home he wanted to hold 'Mummo.' The other night we realized that Leonard loves "Mummo' too!

When we moved into this house, one bathroom looked like this:

80's wallpaper border and white walls with red splotches. The other bathroom was the same but with black chicken scratch.

We decided that we just couldn't live with that!

A few weeks ago I painted most of the walls (minus where the border was), last weekend we took off the border, and this weekend Nathan finished painting.

When he was finished, we found that he had wiped a lot of blue paint on his face!

But, it was well wort it! Now this bathroom is Allegro Blue, and the other is Summer Ivy Green. Soooo much better!

Stolen peaches

H has discovered that whenever we come home from the store, there is always a treat in the bag - grapes, strawberries, nectarines... he has begun to look for them when we come home. Yesterday, it was almost lunch time when we got home, so I didn't want him to start eating one yet, so I tried to put the fruit away first. Then I was putting the rest of the groceries away and heard H saying 'mmmmm,' repeatedly. I looked over in the living room and found this:

He looks happy, doesn't he?

A couple pictures from this weekend:

We went to visit my aunt and uncle in Memphis this weekend. He just attached himself to 'Bubba.' Even if he knows the person, it usually takes him a few minutes to get comfortable with them, but he just went right to Bubba and sat and snuggled with him for the longest time! All weekend he would ask where Bubba was!

And, a little climbing - is it possible to keep kids from climbing on everything?

Wild things!

A 'cute thing' outside his new pediatrician's office.

dragonfly on our driveway

The area that we live in is somewhat hilly and somewhat woodsy. We love looking out our bedroom window in the morning and seeing the woods behind the house! This type of area brings certain creatures with it!

Last night on our walk, a deer crossed our path - very exciting! (There are also deer droppings in our front yard.)

This afternoon when H and I were playing in the font yard, a little snake went slithering by and into the bushes by the front door. yikes!

Then, tonight when we went out to play after supper,
a praying mantis was praying on top of H's bike!

I hope he was praying for safety for H as he grows up and tries new things!

While I was cooking supper tonight I heard H throwing all of the books out of his book basket and looked over and saw this 'wild thing' sitting in the now empty book basket reading upside-down!

Oxford square

On Saturday morning we went to storytime at Square Books Jr. in historic Oxford square. It was fun - there was a good story, with an adult and child reading, guitar playing, singing, dancing, and toy sharing. Quite an experience! We all had a good time!

Afterward, we took a little walk around the square. A lot of "1-2-3, weeeee!" (H has recently discovered the joy of this and picks his feet up every time N and I hold his hands). Trying to stay cool. Looking in windows, sampling cucumber mint water.




H simply had to try out every step, ledge, or curb that was about the right height for him.

He said 'hey' and waved to most passersby and unashamedly flirted with a 9 year old girl.


He also smelled every set of flowers that we walked by.

All in all we had a good morning!

Cloth diapering

We were having troubles with diaper rash and such due to what I assume was buildup in our cloth diapers. We went for such a long time with no problems and little to no maintenance on our diapers (other than regular washing). But, I guess as H has gotten older and is eating more variety, and is just a bigger boy, we had buildup (ammonia) that caused some nasty rashes. At one point we couldn't even go a week without the rash and would have to switch to disposable for a day or two until it went away. No fun for him, and for me I felt like it sort of defeated the purpose of using cloth. So... I just wanted to share with anyone out there about what we learned!

We have been using Rockin' Green (lavender mint scent). It smells great, leaves no residue, and I have done a couple soaks using it that has eliminated the buildup.
We have also been using the GroVia magic stick, which is all natural and mostly herbal (which I love). It is cloth diaper approved, leaves no white gunk on his diapers, smells nice.... We put it on H after most diaper changes and definately before nap and bedtime. This seems to help a lot!
We also just make sure to change his diaper regularly and frequently - especially in the hot and humid summer months.

With these changes, instead of the rash resurfacing before a week was over - we are now going on week 5 with no rash! Success!

So, I just had to share with anyone who might be interested.

Where did my chubby baby go???

A day in the life

The little guy

Whenever H wakes up, and several times throughout the day, he signs 'work.' Before he would ask where Daddy was (he would sign 'Daddy go?'). Now, he will say/sign work - like he is telling himself where Daddy is.

Signing 'work'

Has been enjoying some cooler weather and a few new outdoor toys! We did not really have the luxury of a yard in Louisiana, so here we are enjoying all of the space to play and the cooler weather. We have had to invest in a couple of outdoor toys.

Bucket and shovels;
He still doesn't know quite what to do with these.
I think we need a little sandbox...



And, courtesy of Pop and SweetHart...

A tricycle!

I think he likes it!

We put it together after he went to sleep last night and when he saw it this morning, he wouldn't look at it - he wasn't acknowledging something that he didn't know what it was. After his daddy took him for a little ride, he loved it!

Time to go in?