Snooze Batter Batter

Our biggest little boy, C, moved into his big boy room a few months before our littlest lady, Q, arrived.  We began planning his room with a baseball theme, particularly the Detroit Tigers. My first thought was to go vintage baseball, I found amazing bedding etc. but of course it broke the bank. So we marched forward with just the general theme. Picking paint colors and painting and then...... not much happened.  Q came, and still not too much changed. We finally decided on furniture, which is really basic but meets our needs, finding a great deal from the big box super store of lovely Walmart.  I lucked into awesome bedding at TJ Maxx on clearance, navy white and bright orange strips, sounds like the Tigers to me! This also worked great because I didn't want to get too literal with the theme with baseballs and the same old team logo garb everywhere, so my find was quite perfect. It was also VERY budget friendly at a mere $25 bones for the comforter and sham! SCORE!!!!

My initial plan to finish the room was to buy some baseball pennants a few vintage feeling ones and a few more graphic and modern. I love ordering things online but I just couldn't pull the trigger. This is most likely for two reasons, I am cheap and ordering online is a final purchase. Returning is too much of a hassle for me. So from Christmas (his bed was a gift) until now, nothing much changed. MAJOR inspiration hit and I changed directions thanks to an awesome birthday banner purchased for C's 2nd bday bash.  The banner included stickers with all 30 of the major league baseball team logos! This seemed like fate to me! So for the $5.99 banner we also got some awesome art out of the deal!

I bought 12x12 unfinished frames and card stock from Hobby Lobby (love that store).  I tried white paint first and did not love, so I used the same gray paint we used for majority of the walls in C's room. This works perfectly because we hung the frames on the navy accent wall. The project cost approx $30!! The frames and baseball logo art really complete the room, it's unique, fun and incorporates the theme without being too generic!

Sometimes it takes just ONE great FIND to pull it all together!

Whoot to the WOOOOOO!!!

That's my Shiny -

J

Those 30 Seconds

There are no greater moments than when a family can enjoy God's creation together! Our little family was able to experience many wonderful parts of this beautiful earth while on our vacation. Experiencing all of these things with our children made EVERYTHING feel exciting and new for G and I!

We even had to figure out how to "vacation" again.  It was quite a shock the first few days to get readjusted to the new meaning of "vacation" from pre-kiddos to post. I have to admit that we had quite a moment of realization our first time on the beach with both of them. We just looked at each with blank stares thinking, okay now what? Once we adjusted oh THE WORK IT TOOK ....but the FUN, oh the FUN!!! We had so many giggly moments of excitement and joy! C, our two year old, has been telling everyone "God made ocean" and "scooby doo at acareieum" (he means scuba diver at aquarium), "swim in cool" (swim in pool) and all sorts of memories he is carrying with him. Our baby girl Q, was a sweet little swimming fish!

After this experience I can REALLY see how easy it would be to NOT take vacations or road trips or fly or experience things as your family grows. Traveling with children takes astronomical amounts of work and it isn't free, but it is PRICELESS! Just think of all that fun that would be missed! Not to mention the opportunity to show your children the world while growing closer as a family as you do it! Granted many of those amazing moments may only be 30 seconds followed by 2 hours of crying and hysteria but in my opinion those 30 seconds ARE EVERYTHING! As a parent it can be IMPOSSIBLE to forget about the hysteria and REALLY hard to focus on the 30 seconds of shear and utter MAGIC we see in our childrens' faces, but isn't that what we MUST do at all costs for our children and for our family?! Because no matter what the experience on the other side we come out as a stronger unit.

That's My Shiny -

J



2040 Miles

We survived our first family road trip, with 2040 plus miles added to the odometer and 32 plus hours of driving over our 10 day trip, we completed and thoroughly enjoyed our Tour De' South! The first leg of the trip was visiting my Sister and her Hubby in Kentucky, then we went on to South Carolina to visit my Sister-in-Law and then on to Myrtle Beach!

What a fantastic time! The kiddos did great in the car! Our 2 year old, C, did AMAZING and this is quite an accomplishment considering this was WITHOUT A DVD player for the first 30 hours in the car, YIKES! We did have a minor hysterical crying incident 20 miles before our hotel stop on the way home. What we thought was the game WINNING decision of "here have a chocolate donut, because you have been so good" quickly became apparent as a game LOSING decision when we saw the reappearance of that donut. Our 5 month old, Q, also did great! She played with her feet and slept and didn't do much crying either. G (the Hubs) did all the driving and I did all the snack distribution, Binky finding, book fishing, bottle giving, etc. To really top it all off we got to see some of the most amazing mountains and countryside I believe the U.S. has to offer! (I say this without having been further West than Des Monies, Iowa. This fact will be changing as this family will be taking many future road trips)

Here are some of the realizations we had while on our road trip. I, as the Momma, will most likely NEVER be able to contribute to the driving again. As a breast feeding Momma having a good pump is CRUCIAL, along with a cardigan that can easily be worn backwards for concealing your good work. Always pack a bag of tricks for the car, including toys, snacks, a good selection of library books and books from home, comfort items, etc. Having a good dance party every now and then keeps the energy up. Stopping every two to three hours is inevitable. Check to make sure your DVD player is working before leaving the house. Install a mirror to see your baby if you have a little one in a rear facing seat. Pack gum and fire balls (thanks for this tip sis), gum for the mountains and fire balls for fatigue. Lastly, NEVER NEVER EVER give your toddler a chocolate donut after three hours in the mountains and seven in the car!

What are some of your game winning or losing vacation / road trip discoveries?

That's my Shiny -

J