Everything Trucks & Firecracker Pants

Did anyone make it out to Come-See-Me's Everything Trucks event last weekend?  We were there in full force.  At Everything Trucks, children were invited to climb aboard all different types of trucks, sit in the driver's seat, and honk the horn.  McCord has never been so enthralled!  We saw a firetruck, a cement mixer, a forklift, a UPS truck, a gigantic crane, a front loader, a moving truck, a Coke truck, and lots of other trucks that I can't even imagine what they do!  I couldn't resist posting these photos of McCord.  I hope to have some of these blown up to make a canvas collage wall in Mc's bedroom to accompany the tractor canvas.

Also, I've been doing a little bit of sewing for McCord.  I made the seersucker pants and onesie that he's wearing in these photos.  I forgot to get a good picture of him modeling them but you can kind of see how they fit here.  I found this free pattern online at Made - it's so hard to find a pair of pants that fit Mc properly, and this pattern does the trick.  Plus it's easy and I totally recommend it to any of you out there who are interested in making something for your 2-3 year old.  It's a great beginner pattern.  I'm seeing some madras print pants in Mc's future.

Here's the booty shot - I put a High Cotton tag on the back of the pants to keep them from looking so homemade.

Grilling out with friends before the final Come-See-Me festivities: band and fireworks at the lake.  What a lucky guy Mc is to be the only guy dining with these lovely ladies!  Gesticulating with honeydue on a fork  is one of his flirting tactics.   Not sure how effective it is though...

Bo and Chap and McCord and his Kindermusik buddy Winn.  Two tired babies!  We were trying to stretch them out to see the fireworks.    

 Since Mc wore these to see his first fireworks show, we've been calling them his "firecracker pants."

We are so thankful for our town's volunteers who put together the Come-See-Me festivities.  Here's a quick video I shot of Mc watching fireworks for the first time.  It was one of those simple moments - just the three of us watching the dramatic display.  Sheer amazement on Mc's face and excitement in Bo's voice.  It was like magic.

The Big Boy Bed

One of the things on our "to do" list before Baby #2 comes is transition Mc to a big boy bed.  We switched him over last weekend, so we're one week in, and thankfully it's been pretty uneventful.  We talked a lot about his big boy bed and read books about sleeping in a big bed before making the switch and I think that may have helped.  Right now McCord is sleeping peacefully upstairs, and we are so relieved that he likes his big boy bed.  We fully expect for him to regress when the baby comes, but for now, we're enjoying that he's sleeping through the night.

This has been a fun family project that we've worked on for the past few months.  Here's the before shot - I found the headboard at the Habitat ReSale store for $10.  The wood was split on the top and needed some major TLC.  My dad stripped it down, sanded it and repaired the split.

You can see that it has a removable insert.  As you know, I've got a thing for upholstered headboards (like this and this), so I was excited about finding this particular headboard at such a good price.  I stained it blue and added 2" foam wrapped in batting to the insert.  Then I used a staple gun to secure the linen fabric after adding an applique monogram for McCord's initials.  The applique fabric is the same used on the roman blinds I made for the room.  I hope to make some pillows out of this fabric too.

I found a simple white bed skirt and bed rails when I was out thrifting.  My dad assembled the whole thing (with McCord's help of course) last weekend.  

Here's a quick shot of the vintage quilt that's presently on his bed - it was given to me by a good family friend who was like a grandmother to me.  I think the fabrics used are from some of her clothes she wore growing up. The teddy bear was my dad's when he was young and can you see the embroidered pillow case?  That was a gift from my sister for Mc's first birthday.  

And Mc has found that his big boy bed is the perfect place to practice using his drill.

Like Father, Like Son

The other day McCord and I were at the Chic-fil-a playground and he was clearly having the time of his life.  I snapped this picture with my phone and sent it to Bo at work.

We couldn't help but notice how much he's favoring his daddy these days.  Remember this photo of young Bo I posted a few weeks ago?  First, check out their outfit.  Completely coincidental. Now, look at that smile!  True, genuine joy!

And in other news, the Robin who's been nesting on our front porch has hatched 3 babies!  We've had the best time watching her feed her tiny little birds and care for their every need.  She shelters and protects them. And I kind of feel a maternal bond with her.

McCord's Tractor Part II

Our son is "all boy."  Tractors, fire trucks, bugs and baseball are just a few of his favorite things.  A few posts ago I mentioned getting a picture stretched on canvas for McCord's room of him on a tractor.  It arrived last week and I thought I'd share the results in case any of you have thought about doing the same thing.  This is the second time I've worked with this company and it's super easy to upload a photo and it only takes about a week for your canvas to arrive.  They run specials often, so you'll have to check out their website.

Mc loved it so much, I had a hard time getting him to turn the canvas around so I could get a snapshot.

Bo's First Road Race

Bo and my dad ran in our town's annual 5K Road Race over the weekend and the route came right by our house twice.  We invited the whole family up to cheer them on.  Bo came in 84th overall and my dad came in the top 5 of his age group.   There were about 400 participants in the race.  We are so proud of our runners!

This is my dad's old running hat that he used to wear during his marathon days.  It was super helpful to pick him out of a crowd of runners.  

"Go Uncle Bo," "Go Daddy," Go Doe Doe"

There's Daddy!  Go Daddy go!

 And other big news about the weekend:

We assembled Mc's big boy bed and Bo and I tucked him in about 2 hours ago for his first night trying it out. So far, so good.  We're keeping our fingers crossed.  I hope to post more about how we made the bed in a later post.

And, Bo & I had a date Saturday night to the Jr. League's black tie event.  Many thanks to my friend, Mimi who let me borrow her beautiful maternity gown.  We have about 6 weeks to go until we find out if Baby #2 is a boy or girl!

Easter: Butterfly Release and Egg Hunt

Our caterpillar became a butterfly!

A few days ago I blogged about the caterpillar that we've been raising with hopes to release it on Easter Sunday.  I was convinced I killed it after it spun its cocoon.  One day last week, Monkey was taking a nap and I noticed our cat was very interested in Harry the caterpillar's habitat we made for him.  Up until that point, our cats haven't wanted anything to do with it.  I walked over to the jar where we kept Harry, and at that moment the butterfly was shedding the cocoon.  A half an instant later, it spread its wings and flew for the first time!

I was so excited, I ran upstairs and woke Mc up from his nap so he could see Harry in his butterfly state for the first time.  I think Mc was as amazed as I was.

I can honestly say this is one of the neatest projects we've worked on together.  I have had the best time watching Mc take interest in the caterpillar and discover its amazing metamorphosis - not unlike the transformation he will take in a few short months as he becomes a big brother.

We were able to keep Harry alive for a few days on carnations and strawberries sprinkled in sugar water and joyfully released him in our church's memorial garden today with the other preschoolers who raised caterpillars.

As soon as Harry flew away, we asked McCord "where did Harry go?" and this was his response.  Shear amazement!

One of the butterflies liked Bo's seersucker jacket and Mc got to see it close up!

Another special Easter memory: McCord's first Easter egg hunt.

This special Easter basket was Bo's when he was a little boy.  It's seen many Easter egg hunts in its time. 

Here's little Bo on an Easter past putting the Easter basket to good use.  Who would have thought he'd have a son who would use this very same basket to collect Easter treasures? 

Check out the goodies!

And look what the Easter bunny brought McCord -- a big boy bed - a Habitat Restore treasure!  Before and after pictures to follow in another post.

Here's a picture of the headboard - my dad stripped it down and sanded it.  I stained it blue and upholstered it in foam and batting and did a monogram applique to coordinate with the kids' room.   We hope to get it assembled in Mc's room over the coming weekend.


And a short video for the grandparents of Mc's first egg hunt.

McCord's Tractor

A water line broke outside our house last week during routine maintenance, so the City sent a truckload of workers out to do the repair.  It took several days, and McCord couldn't have been happier about that.  For 3 straight days we had a parade of tractors to entertain us.

You'd never know it by his expression in these photos, but Mc was having the time of his life.  He carried his own excavator out onto the scene - you know, just in case.

I'm thinking about creating a canvas for his room of one of these photos.  He loves to look at these pictures!  He studies every angle.  There's a great deal on 8 x 10 canvases from this site if you have photo projects you're working on.

Sewing for New Baby

Bo and I need to get on it and talk about baby names!  Calling the baby "New Baby" and "Baby #2" is getting redundant.  We have 7 or so weeks left and have only chosen a girl's name (Anna Perrin) but no boy's name yet.  Yikes!  And I'm feeling like this is a boy (but what do I know?!!).

All that to say, I've been wanting to make something for New Baby for some time and finally found a few moments to sew up this "Modern Folksy Bunny" from a pattern by Gingercake.   Virginia, the owner and creator of Gingercake allows the purchaser to sell merchandise created from the pattern, so you might see this rabbit featured among High Cotton products when I get going with my business again.

The main fabric is a vintage piece that I found in my grandmother's attic.  I just love that I'll be able to pass something handmade onto our newborn from generations past.  I think my grandmother would have been proud of that too. 

Signs of Spring

• A robin nested on our front porch, and we've had the best time watching her build her nest and sit on her eggs.  

Decorating our "High Cotton" Easter tree

• Yesterday Bo was working in the yard and discovered 2 baby bunnies under a pile of daffodils!  One of them was so stunned, McCord and I were almost able to catch it - it was about the size of the palm of my hand, brown, and oh so soft!  

Dying Easter Eggs

• We're growing a caterpillar!  Our church's preschool program orders caterpillars for the children to take home and "raise" until they develop into butterflies.  On Easter Sunday, the preschool children release them into the Memorial Garden.  So far, Harry The Caterpiller has made his cocoon.  I hope we'll have a butterfly soon!

Here's Harry - he came with all the food he'll need until he becomes a butterfly (fingers crossed we haven't killed him yet in his cocoon state).  When we first got him, he was about 1 cm in length.  Right now he's hanging upside down in his cocoon and we transferred him to a big jar.

• My mom has decided to raise chickens!  She came up to visit us about 2 weeks ago and left with 6 baby hens from a local nursery!  

And I'll leave you with a close-up of this spunky little girl.  My nephew named her Captain America.   Doesn't she look rather patriotic?!