Dax's Nursery

I know this is pretty late, but better late than never.

The whole thing started with my obsession with a plaid wall.  I finally found a pattern I liked and Darin & I created an argyle wall.  That whole process can be seen here: How To Test a Marriage.

Originally I had planned on doing a golf themed room for our little man, but changed my mind when I couldn't think of anything as cute and fun as the animal theme I ended up with.  So, without further ado, here it is!  I absolutely LOVE it.

Standing in the doorway
Bedding by Karen Jensen, my mom's friend.  SO CUTE!

Bedskirt is grey chevron with an orange band on the bottom
Blanket is grey polka dot on one side and grey chevron on the other
with orange banding

Barrel of monkeys and barrel of elephants mobile
Spray painted charcoal grey, blue, red, orange and yellow

prints from Etsy--found by Kasi
lamp from IKEA

Frames and animal from Hobby Lobby--spray painted charcoal and white, respectively
yellow and orange poster board behind them (fabulous idea by mi mama)

A Family of Four

We welcomed our son, Dax, into the world on May 22...and not a moment too soon!  This lady was getting pretty sick of being pregnant and more importantly, getting pretty sick of looking like the Marshmallow Man.  The swelling was just getting ridiculous.

As it did with Evie, my water broke to get the show on the road.  Unlike with Evie, he was born less than 12 hours later, whew!  He came out crying, but has been doing pretty good at controlling those vocal cords since then!

Here were his stats at birth:

Weight: 7lbs 4oz
Length: 17.75"

He is not nearly that short, however.  At his appointment in the pediatrician's office 4 days later, he was remeasured and came in at 19".  Apparently measuring a curled up, screaming baby by yourself is not that easy...and that's how it's done in the hospital.  In the office the nurse has the parent's help.

Since then, he has gained 4oz.   He knows how to eat!

He's doing great and is a pretty good baby, so far.  My only complaint is he really wants to be held at night.  And while I love holding him, sleeping in a chair for 2 hour increments isn't really my cup of tea. He's getting slightly better at staying asleep in his crib though, so I know it will be short-lived...as all phases with newborns are.

I have to say, I am loving having a baby in the house again.  Don't get me wrong, this will be the last baby in this house since they don't stay babies and become a lot more work, but it's sure fun!  I am much more relaxed this time around.  I'm sure most people feel this way, but I'm surprised at how easy this transition to two kids has been for me.  It's like he has been with us for months already.

The transition for Evie has been a little more difficult.  If I'm not feeding him, she's great.  She's sweet (for an 18 month old), she's interested and she's pretty normal.  As soon as I start feeding him, it's like a switch is flipped and she turns into Chucky.  Her aggression is directed at me, thank God, but it's still extremely frustrating.  I completely understand why she's acting out, what I don't understand is what to do about it.  Where did I put that manual she came with....  As I write this though, I am thinking back to today when she was actually really good when I was feeding him.  I know that this too is just a phase, but I prefer this one to end immediately as a newborn with bruises is not a good thing.  Evie's behavior has absolutely been the most difficult aspect of this transition to a family of four.

Here are a few pictures of our new and improved family of four:

A picture where both Dax and I are cleaned up!

Big sis meets little bro

Going home day

The new family of four.

One week old

Darin was making the bed and she hopped right in!
"Ni-ni!"

I think she looks like me, but when she smiles like this, I see so much of Darin.
Which is weird, because he's not known for his huge smiles...!
Love you!

Yogurt is good for the hair, right?

"Oh no, baby!"  As soon as he starts crying that's what she
says.  Pretty funny and cute!

This is her cooperating for a picture of the front of her shirt...

A little bath before hitting the town for Evie's Toddler Sense class!
He loves his baths.  Really hasn't cried at all.

Two weeks old and 18.5 months

How could I not love being these cute kids' mom?!?

The "Big Girl" Bed Experience

I recently posted a video of Evie getting her big girl bed.  If you didn't see it, here it is again.  She was very, very excited about this new bed.

Well, here's what happened after the video.

You can't really tell, but that blob in the middle of the floor is Evie.
She decided to lay on her rug instead of in her bed.

The aftermath the next morning.
Needless to say, the books were outta there the next day.

Her first nap.
The red bar on the side means she's screaming at the top of her lungs.

She finally decided to actually take a nap.
In her chair.
After she piled everything in her room on it.

Eventually her chair got a bit uncomfortable, so she rolled over.
And I almost had a panic attack because she had her head in the corner.
But, I checked on her and she was breathing (duh) and sound asleep, so I just
let it go.

Yet another nap when she decided everything on her bed needed to
be on the floor instead.

And that's where she slept!

And her last day in the chair.  It was moved out of there after we determined
she wasn't grasping the idea that the bed is for sleeping, not jumping, and the
chair is for stories, not sleeping.  

And this is how she slept that night.  Nothing says "comfy" like a rug,
changing pad, two books, two stuffed animals, two blankets and a pillow!

She does sleep in her bed now, but still falls out.  Instead of
dragging everything out of her bed though, she just calls it
a night on the floor and usually stays there until the morning.
It's adorable.  Kinda sad, but I'm pretty sure we've all been
there and none of us are worse for wear.

Evie did great with the transition to her big girl bed.  After we figured out that literally nothing can be in her room besides the necessities, she did even better.  Now before every nap and every night we move her rug, changing pad and all her diapering "accessories" into the closet.  Her books are all in her baskets in the hallway.  She gets to keep her two bedtime books in her room because she entertains herself in the morning by "reading".  And of course, Kitty and Ducky are always by her side.  She has recently added her baby to the mix too so when story time is over and I'm leaving the room, all I see is this little mound of stuffed animals connected to a body!  This girl cracks me up.  

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was a lot of fun this year.  Saturday we decided to head to The Woodlands and take some pictures with the bluebonnets.  They were in full bloom and although they're a weed, they were very pretty.

After picture time, was a little play time.  

I will get up here by myself!  And she did.

I will blow you a kiss, but please don't think about joining
me on my bench.  Really.  I'm a big girl now.

Easter Sunday began with a visit by the Easter bunny, of course.  That Easter bunny is a smart little guy.  He knew that mama Coble is ready to hit the beach and decided to get Evie pumped up for it as well!  However, Evie was more excited about her new books and the chalk than anything else in the basket.  She must not remember how much fun we had last year on the beach!  Weird.  

After the Easter bunny madness, we ate breakfast, headed off to church and then drove down to Galveston for a buffet brunch and Easter activities at Moody Gardens.  

So, the brunch wasn't good.  Really at all.  But...we were seated next to a window that had tons of seagulls flying around and Evie was very entertained.  As a result, Darin and I actually got to eat without picking her cup, fork, plate, etc. up off the floor repeatedly.  Overall, we call that a win these days.  My, how your standards change when having a kid!  

Chasing sea gulls.

After brunch began the "Easter activities" which included visiting the Easter bunny, going to the petting zoo and then the big Easter egg "hunt", among other activities Evie was too young to participate in.  

So brave when the Easter bunny was 10ft. away.

No so brave when he's 10in. away.

After the petting zoo it was 2:10pm.  The Easter egg "hunt", which consisted off a bunch of eggs put out on an open field, was at 3:00pm.  It was 80 degrees.  Needless to say, little Miss Evie did not participate.  Instead, we went to the Moody Gardens Aquarium, which was a lot of fun...and air conditioned.  

sea lions

penguins

It was a very fun weekend spent together.  Which, honestly, makes most weekends pretty darn fun.