Project Kids' Room

Since we are adding one more to the family soon, we needed to get the kids moved downstairs to make room.  We only have two bedrooms upstairs - our master and the tiniest room in the house.  Lucy and Sammy have been sharing that room and it got quite crowded. So we decided it was time to move them downstairs.

 

There is a bedroom right at the bottom of the stairs that has served as my craft room/office/where-should-we-put-this-throw-it-in-the-craft-room room.

 

We spent 3 days over Christmas break organizing, cleaning out, and emptying the room.

 

We should have taken a "before" picture! It was bad, let's just say that!

 

We took a little break and then got back to it in February.

 

We added casing around the door and the closet, added a new doorknob, painted the door, cleaned the carpets, and built shelves in the closet.

 

The shelves were our biggest project and we spent pretty much every weekend for a month working on them.  But I love how they turned out!

With the shelves we don't have to get another dresser and it's a much more efficient use of space. I also used my Silhouette to cut out some shapes and letters so the kids can be more independent with their clothes.  My favorite are the little undies on the baskets at the bottom. :)  I fold the clothes now and the kids put them away.

 

We moved the kiddos downstairs at the beginning of spring break, decorated, created a "gallery wall" for their art, and I sewed some curtains for the closet and the window.  This is a little reading corner for them.

 

I love the way the gallery wall turned out.  I found some old frames in my stash and a couple at DI. Then I spray painted them in bright colors and added cork board to one and decorated clothespins to the others.  The kids have a place now to hang their art.

 

They have done great downstairs and it's so nice to have so much more room for them and and their things.

Sammy 3 years old

Our little man turned 3 last week!

It's hard to believe he is so big already. At his well child check up (no shots! Yay!), he measured 32 lbs (56%) and 37.5 inches tall (52%) so basically, he's average!

He has turned into such a chatterbox lately too, which is so fun to watch.  The other day in the car, it was just him and me and he told me he was reading a book.  With his hands in a book shape, he then told me the story he was reading.  It was adorable.

He is pretty friendly with other people - not usually shy - and gets along with kids really well.  He loves that he is 3 now and will tell anyone about it.  He is also starting to make connections, even if they aren't actually correct.  For example, the other day he told me that boys go to nursery and girls go to primary.  Pretty cute.  It's fun to watch him grasp language and the world around him.

He only has minimal interest in the potty right now but we are hoping to conquer that this summer.

He still has an intense love of trains. He also loves cars, tools, balls, and books. He can ride the balance bike he got last year really well and he loves to run around and play. In fact, he's often so absorbed in whatever he's doing, that it's hard to get him to focus on what you need to tell him! In other words, he's a pretty normal, healthy little boy! :)

Sammy's Golden Birthday!

 Sammy's golden birthday was last Friday.  He turned 3 on May 3rd.

 

A couple of days before his birthday, Grandpa and Nana Mac and Aunt Haley came over for dinner and brought him  bunch of new Thomas and Friends trains and tracks.  They also brought over cowbells and the kiddos, Grandpa, and Spencer went out on the deck and cheered for the bike racers out on the driving course behind our house.  They had a great time.  Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten I have a camera lately and this is the only photo I got!

 

 On his actual birthday, Grandma and Grandpa Great Mac stopped by and visited in the afternoon and then Nana Manwill, Grandma Van Hoose, Aunt Julie, Uncle Aaron, and their kiddos came over to celebrate over dinner and cake. Check out the cool "3" train shirt I made him for his birthday.  :)

 

 Months ago while at Costco, Sammy saw a cake decorated with a dinosaur on it.  He decided then that that was the kind of cake he wanted for his birthday.  I found the idea for this version while searching on Pinterest.  I'm super happy with how it turned out!

 

 Sammy liked it too. :)

 

 I love this expression he made while we were singing "Happy Birthday" to him.

 

 He needed a little assist to get the candles out but he got them out.

 

He got clothes, lincoln logs, and swimming lessons from Nana Manwill, birthday money from Grandma Van Hoose and Grandma & Grandpa Great, and some fun sandbox toys from his cousins.  We gave him a couple of boy dress-ups and his own tool set.  He was one happy boy!