Ronald McDonald House

My friend Chelsea and I drove down to New Orleans today to deliver some paper products that my Mom's Club collected last month. Chelsea's daughter, Molly, and Theo enjoyed touring the house and playing in the toy room :) If you have a local RMH, they are always in need of clorox wipes, paper plates/napkins/toilet paper, etc since they have so many different families staying there for varying lengths of time. Consider dropping off a few supplies to help out a worthy cause!

Theo's big boy room!

We've been hard at work all weekend transforming Theo's room from a nursery to a big boy room. The crib has been converted to a full bed (we really only kept the headboard of the crib) and Theo got new bedding. He has train sheets and a madras print comforter. We rearranged a couple of things but mostly left the furniture in the old spots. Dave put up hold backs for the black out curtains and it really lets the light in. Theo has been doing really well in his new bed but we have woken up to him roaming the house screaming. Hopefully he'll settle in and get used to his new room and those episodes will cease ;)

Here is an updated picture of the boys' bathroom since it was painted and repaired. Not much different, just a couple shades darker.

Staying warm

It's cold out and we're staying warm inside! Jack's writing is really coming along and it makes me so proud :) He loves, loves, loves workbooks and is doing simple addition and subtraction really well. Gigi and Dada gave the boys "Highlights" magazine and we've been enjoying hunting for hidden items and reading the stories.

Jack also discovered that his battle balls will open on the fridge so that has opened up new possibilities of play. Even Theo got in on the fun :)

Prep work

Today is the big day! Chad the painter will be here shortly to paint Theo's room and repair the bathroom (our towel rack broke and left a huge hole in the wall. He's going to paint the bath the same color as Theo's room, a light blue, like it is now). I can't wait to tell the ugly yellow "bye bye". We're going to transform Theo's crib to a headboard for a full-size bed. Pictures will follow!!

Here is Jack's trundle mattress on the floor for Theo to sleep on while the paint dries. So cute :)

Cleaning up

Now that the boys sit together at meal time I sure have a lot of cleaning up to do on the floor beneath them. I like to call Theo "dropcloth" since he's such a messy eater. The swiffer vac just wasn't cutting it anymore and lugging out my regular vacuum was too much of a chore. Now I just pull out the swivel sweeper and let it collect the hunks of food on the ground. Problem solved!

All snuggly

My friend Dawn and I scoured Boston for Snuggies and came up empty handed. In a city with lows in the teens..... weird, I know. So I went and got one for her, myself, Dave and then Jack wanted one too. I think Theo is a bit small for one so maybe we'll get him the pet snuggie :)

Boston trip

I'm in Boston right now visiting my friend Dawn and having so much fun! Dave was nice enough to stay behind with the boys over New Year's so I could make my very first trip up to the Northeast! Dawn lives just outside of the city so she took me around exploring one day. It was pretty cold though, lots of wind, so we stayed mostly indoors. Dawn has two boys of her own, Peter James (PJ) and Kellan, and they are almost exactly Jack and Theo's ages. It snowed yesterday and we all went out and played in the fresh powder. It stuck overnight so the boys went out sledding today. It's much "warmer" feeling out now that the wind has died down. That was rough! I fly back home tomorrow and will definitely miss the snow (and my fun hosts!). I made black eyed peas for Dawn and her husband today to usher in the new year. They had never had them before and had never really even heard of them! I learned it's a Southern thing for sure. But I made them just the same and they had second helpings for a prosperous new year!!!