A nursery in the making

A couple of weekends ago, I called in all the troops for a day of painting. I had planned to paint the nursery, Leyton's bedroom, and our bedroom...all in one day. Let's just say I was a little off. After about 12 hours of painting, with a few breaks for eating, we were able to get the nursery and our room painted. We decided to leave Leyton's room for another day so he didn't have to sleep in the middle of the hallway while we were invading his room for the night. The paint cans are still sitting outside his room waiting. I decided to go with the yellows in the nursery. I couldn't find a green that matched the fabric well enough and didn't look like vomit, so yellow it is. Sister rolled on the first of the 'school bus' yellow paint. This is only on the wall behind the crib. The rest of the walls are 'butterfly bush' yellow...so sister has named the nursery 'butterfly bus'.

After we finished painting Saturday, sister and I got to work in art class. I painted the letters of Jada's name to hang above her crib, and sister began painting the wall art.

These projects took a little longer than expected as well. I was able to get the letters finshed before bed, but sister was only able to get part of one of the wall paintings finished before she had to leave. Luckily, I still had 3 of my 7 days off from work[!] left, so I was able to finish them by Monday evening.

Leyton painted his own project on Monday to keep me company. It's possible he painted the table as well, but luckily it was an easy clean up.

And, just in case you were wondering, mom and Jeni came to town as well. They were great at keeping Leyton entertained outside while we were busy filling the house with paint fumes.

This is a somewhat-finished product of our painting. The white stripe between the two walls will be painted the lighter of the two yellows, but we were unable to tape off the darker yellow wall due to the paint not being dry quite yet. Almost 2 weeks later, the white stripe is still there. Hopefully I'll remember to paint it before October arrives!

Random Ramblings

[1] We have a cat. Well, we don't technically have a cat, but there has been a cat in our yard every morning for the past few weeks. Leyton spotted him [?] one morning and I thought he was just making stuff up until I looked out the window to see for myself. The next morning, Leyton was so excited to see him again. I still thought he was making it up until I looked for myself, and sure enough, he was back. We haven't named him, except for Leyton referring to him as 'my cat'. I snapped a picture of Leyton staring at him the other morning. I don't mind looking from a distance, but I'm not a fan of having one in the house. We'll just stick with the neighbor's cat visiting for now.[2] My friends from work came up for a visit yesterday. We had planned a day at the Splash House [the water park in Marion...yes, we have one!]. They brought their kiddos and nephew for a day of fun...in the freezing cold. Who would have thought a month ago when we planned this that it would be barely 70 degrees on June 30th? C'mon Mother Nature. Anyway, we had a good time anyway. We lined the kiddos up on the couch for a group picture. Trying to get kids from the ages of 11 months to 6 to be happy, much less look at the camera at the same time, is a joke.

Roll call: Diane's nephew Thomas [6], Season's daughter Georgia [11 mos], Shanielle's son Brady [22 mos], Aubrey's daughter Meriah [18 mos], Leyton [26 mos], and Diane's son Jaden [4]

[3] Leyton and Brady "played together" at the Splash House. It cracks me up how 2 year olds play together. Took a look for yourself.

[4] Jada is growing! I'm 26 weeks today. I feel great, besides the fact that I think I totally ripped my round ligament the other day. I'm really not sure if that is possible, but it feels like it is. I picked Leyton up Sunday night and felt the burn. Now, it burns whenever I move the slightest bit. Otherwise, things are progressing well. My next doctor's appointment is July 10. It's hard to fathom having 2 kiddos, but I guess I better get ready! :)

Time to get creative!

Well, I've decided I'm going to attempt making my own crib bedding for baby Jada. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?! I've been looking online for different sewing patterns, and I've found some that make it seem pretty easy. I'm going to start by making the dust ruffle [in the striped pattern]--I think it'll be the easiest--and then move on to the bumper pads [in the dot pattern]. Only problem is- I got rid of my sewing machine a few years ago. Maybe I should've realized this before I bought the fabric. :) I'll find one though. Maybe Josh's grandma will let me borrow hers for awhile. I'm excited to get started! Here's the fabric I've bought so far. I LOVE it! I've also picked out a couple of paint samples to match with the fabric. I'm thinking I like the yellow better than the green at this point. I'm thinking of painting the darkest yellow just on the wall behind the crib and then one of the lighter yellows on the rest of the walls. [You can't really tell in the picture, but the yellows are different.] What do you think?

I'll keep you updated with pictures as I get started. Gotta find a sewing machine first! :)

Meet Jada Layne!

How cool is that? A 4D picture of Jada's little face! Her arm is up by her face as well, and you can see the umbilical cord in there. Pretty amazing the things we can do with technology these days. She's beautiful, isn't she?! :)

This is a look directly at her face. It's kind of hard to make anything out in particular besides the shape of her head and eye sockets, but she's in there and doing well!

Another profile view with her full bully in the shot this time. We think her ultrasound pictures look a lot like Leyton's. What do you think?

This was Leyton when I was 19 weeks pregnant with him. I think they have the same little button nose.

And lastly, here's a quick 4D glimpse of Jada's profile. Amazing, if you ask me. :)

I'm pretty sure I'm in love.

I love this kid!

Leyton and I spent some time outside today to play in the sunshine and the sprinkler. I maloves to play in the water! He's found many times throughout the day standing on his step stool in the bathroom "washing his hands"--as he likes to put it. I think I made all his little dreams come true when I dressed him in his swim trunks and turned the water on just for him. I have to admit, I loved watching him run through the water and scream when it hit him. He had tons of fun!

Tiptoe through the Tulips

I spent the last few days with sister, momma, and Leyton in Holland, MI for the TulipTime festival. We went up on Thursday [after a drive that seemed to take FOR-EV-ER] and came home yesterday afternoon. If you've not been to see the tulips, you should. They seriously line the streets of downtown Holland...

...and there are fields of them in the most random places.

It's pretty amazing.

We spent a few hours on the beach of Lake Michigan. Poor Leyton was strapped into a car seat or stroller for the majority of our visit, so he needed to break free for some time in the sand.

We visited Veldheer's Tulip Farm where there are literally 500,000+ tulips planted to walk through and choose your favorites. After seeing all the choices, we ordered some that will be shipped in October for planting. This is just one of the bunch that I ordered. Isn't it pretty?

Unfortunately, Saturday night ended with a trip to the Urgent Care Center. Leyton was wheezing so badly, he could hardly talk. After a breathing treatment and a chest x-ray, it was determined that he was having an asthma attack [even though he's never technically been diagnosed with asthma...yet]. We were sent home with some prednisone and an albuterol inhaler. He's been doing better, but still coughing and wheezing a lot. The poor kid doesn't know how to slow down enough to catch his breath!

So, now we're beginning a new week. What joys will this week bring?

Happy belated Mother's Day!

My baby is TWO!

Leyton's 2nd birthday was yesterday. It's hard to believe that it was 2 years ago that I was awaiting the arrival of such a sweet little boy. It seems like just yesterday but then again, it's hard to think of what life was like before he was here. I can't imagine life without him now.

We had a fun-filled last few days. Friday, we went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate with my immediate family. Leyton had a great time climbing on all the toys and Pa even took him down the slide a few times! He sure loves his Pa!

On Sunday, Josh and I took Leyton to the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo. [Which, might I add, is much better for little kids than the Indianapolis Zoo.] Leyton walked throughout the entire zoo like a big boy. He wasn't about to miss out on something by riding in his stroller! He rode a pony, pet a little chick and a rabbit, and got to see all kinds of other animals up close and personal. We had a really fun day! I would definitely recommend a trip to Ft. Wayne to check out the zoo. I'd be glad to join you as well! :)

Then, yesterday, as a final birthday celebration, we had dinner at Uncle Phil and Aunt Stephie's house with cake and ice cream afterwards. Leyton had a sudden fever after dinner, so he wasn't feeling the greatest by the time we had cake. We sang Happy Birthday, quickly ate some cake and came home for bed. Poor little guy. Can you tell he wasn't feeling well?

So, two years have come and gone. What a fun two years they have been! I can't wait to see what it's going to be like with 2 little ones running around!! Happy birthday, Leyton! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!!