Here comes the airplane!

One of the things that kept me busy this summer, besides taking care of Ethan, doing grad school work, keeping the house semi-clean, and napping, was planning for the new baby.  Even though we are expecting another boy, there was still a lot to do.  I definitely wanted to purge our baby gear and only keep what I knew we would use, and that required a bit of reorganizing in our garage, basement and in the nursery.  I also knew I wanted to redo the nursery for the new baby.  Even though the nursery was perfectly fine to use, I wanted to update it so that it didn't scream BABY room and felt more like a room that would still be nice for a bigger kid, since this baby will stay in this room forever.  The challenge for me was to not spend too much money redoing the room, since there was already a room perfectly fine to use and because I'm taking an extended (and unpaid leave) from school to be home with the baby.  Basically, a new room isn't exactly in the budget.  My plan to accomplish this was to sell any baby items we didn't need or would use, and then use that money for the baby room.

I did a lot of sewing to make this room happen within the budget.  I found shower curtains at Target for $15 a panel that I lined with blackout fabric from Joann Fabrics, shortened, and added back tabs to make curtains. This easily saved me at least $100 if I were to buy blackout curtains myself.  I also sewed the bunting that is hanging on the wall, and made a crib skirt that is pretty hard to see.  Sewing these items saved me another $40, approximately.

Another way I saved some money was on the gallery wall over the crib.  I bought some cheap frames from Michael's and just used my own computer to replicate the artwork I wanted.  I printed the files in color on nice paper at Staples and I think it turned out pretty nice.  On the left is the phonetic alphabet pilots use and the numbers on the right are the GPS coordinates to our house.  Once the baby arrives and we do some new family pictures there will be photos in the other three empty frames.

Between selling a bunch of baby stuff, clipping coupons from Pottery Barn Kids, expanding my sewing skills, following Pinterest DIYs, and reusing some of what I already had, I'm happy to say the new airplane themed nursery looks great.  Just in time, too, because this little guy is due to come out any day now.

Red Wings Game

A few weeks ago we took Ethan to Frontier Field for a Red Wings baseball game.  It was not his first time going, we went last year, but he wasn't really that into it.

This year, Ethan was really into the game.  He was enthralled by Spikes, the mascot for the Rochester Red Wings and had to give him a high five.  He was also so excited that he saw not one, not two, but three different trains during the game over the right field fence.  He was excited over the popcorn we bought, the ice cream that came in a little hat, the fact his grandparents and cousin Adam were there with him, doing the wave, and he loved the playhouse Uncle Scott and Aunt Andrea took him to play in when he needed to get up and stretch his legs.  The best part for Ethan were the fireworks, though.  He saw fireworks the first time on the Fourth of July, but he saw them from across the lake from a pretty far distance.  The fireworks at the Red Wings games are shot off from the field and are pretty loud and close - I wasn't sure how Ethan would do.  Fortunately, he loved them!!!!

Did I mention he was into the game?  Maybe next year.