summer thus far

Reese and I usually fill our summer days with errand running and leisurely Target trips.  This summer is shaping up a little differently.  Although, we did brave Target after my doctor's appointment Friday morning.  I needed to pick up a prescription {sinus infection-- my 5th this pregnancy... i am not at all joking when I say all I want is wine and Allegra D post-surgery} and Reese had earned some Lego's for being super awesome.

Here's a peak into our days...

Breakfast and cartoons in bed.  I cook a roll of cinnamon rolls once a week and leave them un-iced.  He eats them throughout the week with fruit and yogurt.  Lofton and I struggle with finding things this kiddo will eat at breakfast time-- especially things that would hold him until his lunchtime at school.  This works so we are still rolling with it.

Lego building for hours every day.  The obsession is real.  They are covering my table {and ugh the floor}, but it's preferable to TV watching or computer playing.  We are getting a healthy dose of Wild Krats everyday.  He learns some serious science/animal info from that show. Thanks, PBS.

I think pregnancy has worn this guy out.  House projects and work, plus doing most of the things I usually do.  That and he, like our child, enjoy being as close as possible to me.  I promise, personal space is non existent in my life.

Snapped this Saturday morning before I walked around Home Depot and almost died.  Thirty seven weeks measuring forty looks big, friends.  It just does.  That belly is no joke.  I've given up on worrying about my shirts being long enough. #overthis 

And the result of no nap weekends.  And yes, he STILL naps.  Almost everyday.  Can he roll without one?  Sure. But we are all much happier come dinnertime if he's slept for an hour {or two and a half} in the afternoon.  And no, going to bed later doesn't make him sleep longer in the morning which in turn would mean he wouldn't need a nap.  The later he goes to bed the EARLIER he gets up.  It's the craziest thing.  We are sticking with our 7:30 bedtime because that means he sleeps until almost 6:00.  Except we are scheduled for a few 7:00 baseball games this summer.  I guess it won't matter because I'll be up with a baby anyway?!?!

reese's room

One night in the Spring we were all in the nursery watching Lofton work.  Reese mentioned he might like a new room, too.  Lofton and I are NOT all about giving Reese a big present because he's becoming a big brother, but a new room seemed like a reasonable request given his room at that time was decorated entirely by me.  {I looked for a picture but couldn't find one.}

When we moved into this house three years ago I had Lofton paint the walls BRIGHT pool blue.  Super bright.  I bought matching twin duvet covers from Land of Nod that had orange {Reese's favorite color}, lime green, blue, and gray guitars on them.  We never really moved beyond that.  The beds had mismatched sheets, a few inexpensive throw pillows, and some gray fleece blankets I picked up from Target.  Not bad by any means, but not great.

Reese's room is really big and faces the front of the house.  It was originally 2 rooms that at some point were combined into one.  There are four giant windows that let in a lot of light.  He has two closets-- one for clothes and one for toys.  He also has his own full bathroom that will eventually be shared with his little brother.

I knew with some bedding changes, a paint color change, and a little reorganization I could make his room more "him" and also make it fit more with our house.  The bright blue had to go!

First up was choosing bedding.  I wanted new duvet covers, but something more neutral than what we had currently.  My preference was a gray buffalo check duvet from Ikea, but when we went in March Reese saw a gray and white stripe he liked more.  Done. The duvets aren't actually used by my little hotbox unless it's the dead of winter so I found two white coverlets at Target on super clearance.  Like $12 a piece.  Then it came time for sheets.  Oh the sheets. While he lacked a preference in most areas, he REALLY cared about his sheets.  We finally settled on some from Pottery Barn Kids.  Expensive?  Yes.  But the duvet covers were cheap, the coverlets were on clearance, and I really wanted him to have what he wanted.  So there's that :)

The only other hurdle was the paint color.  Obviously his first choice was orange.  I shot that down quickly and he moved on to green.  I stupidly thought I could steer his green choice in a neutral green direction.  Maybe a toned down olive green?  Or a green-gray?  We went to Benjamin Moore and got four samples, all of which Reese will tell you looked like baby poop.  He hated all of them and I did, too.  {Lofton doesn't get a vote because he's color blind.}  Reese kept insisting he wanted "a green that was in the crayon box."  I looked through my paint deck, tried briefly to reconcile another bright wall color in my mind, and then just told him we couldn't do it.  I offered up the laundry room color-- quietude by Sherwin Williams.  He, surprisingly, said okay.  We actually went one shade darker on that paint strip-- halcyon green.  It's more green than blue, but balanced by a hefty dose of gray.

Now that it's done-- painted and put back together-- we love it.  Reese is pumped to have a "big boy"room, I love that it turned out so closely to how I envisioned it, and Lofton is just happy to have it done. One more project off the list!

A couple of final notes:  

• The wall color probably photographed the truest in the last photo.
• The bulletin board was made by Lofton and is a totally brilliant use of dead space.  He used a piece of sound board {which is basically compressed paper and really lightweight} covered in a drop cloth {cheap and looks like linen!}.  I wanted a bulletin board above Reese's dresser but Lofton pointed out that he wouldn't be able to reach it and suggested this plan instead.  
• Ideally we would have blinds on the windows to match the rest of the blinds in the house but Reese LOVES his blackout shades.  Seeing as how he barely sleeps as it is, I'm willing to compromise.