(almost) 2 going on 17.

This past weekend was Gap, Old Navy & Banana Republic's Give and Get weekend- which meant 30% your entire purchase at these stores! We took advantage and really stocked up on some fall and winter wear for Cameron. Old Navy is definitely one of our go-to stores for inexpensive and fun play clothes, but since the sale included BabyGap, I wanted to check them out too.
One of my favorite purchases from the weekend was this Varsity jacket from Gap. I've had my eye on it for some time, but I couldn't bring myself to spend full price on this jacket he can only wear for 1-2 seasons.


One of the things that initially drew me to the jacket was the letter "G" on the front; since our last name begins with G, it looks like his very own little letter jacket! I know it will only be a matter of time before he's sporting a real high-school letter jacket. He looks like a little football player, I think. =)

A question: nutrition guides on menus?

A few days a go, we went to lunch at Jason's Deli. I always get the same thing there, so I don't even look at the menu- but I wanted to check out the kids menu this time for Cameron. It's been awhile since I had been to Jason's, so I hadn't noticed that they were now putting calories, fat and saturated fat content under each menu item.

I know that in New York, all restaurants and places that serve food drinks must put this information on their menus. I thought it was a neat idea and a helpful step for those wanting to make better eating choices- but I had never seen it on menus here in Kansas.

Anyway, I was going to get Cameron a grilled cheese sandwich (a no fail lunch for him) until I realized that it had 26 grams of fat. I don't recall the calorie count or amount of sodium, but it instantly steered me away and I ended up ordering him a turkey sandwich, which only had 11 grams of fat (with the fat mostly coming from the cheese, I'll bet). In that moment I definitely knew that I would make better choices for my family and myself when it comes to eating out if this information were mandatory on all menus.

Would you make better choices seeing fat and calorie content on menus? What if you were deciding between two items- would this push you to pick the item that might be better for you? Would it even affect you at all? I'm interested to know!

Tying up the score.

Well, we had our big ultrasound... and it looks like I won't be the only girl in the house! =) Cameron is getting a little SISTER (or, "titter" as he calls her)! We're so excited and I have the wicked urge to go out start buying all the girly stuff I've drooled over for the past few years. I think Jon felt a hole start to burn through his wallet the minute the ultrasound tech said there was "nothing between those legs". Everything looked good and she looks very healthy!
Everything is starting to feel real now, despite the pregnancy symptoms which have been non-existent thus far. I'm just ready for these next few months to fly by so we can meet the baby girl who will complete our little family! =)

Little mamma's boy.

Yesterday, Jon walked Cameron down the street to his cousin's house to play. On their way back, Cameron spotted some little yellow wildflowers in someone's yard, and he ran to pick them. "Mama! Mama!" Jon said that he yelled. My sweet little boy picks flowers for me! When they walked in the house, Cameron again yelled "Mama! Mama?" trying to find me. I greet him at the door and he hands me the flowers. Such imperfect little flowers, yet so perfect.

Most kids I know go through phases on which parent they prefer over the other. Right now, that's definitely me! I'm really trying to soak it all- I'll admit that I tend to get a little sad knowing Cameron won't be my "one and only" in a few months. Jon has been working long days and hours lately (which is great) and it leaves us spending a lot of time together. There are days (like 6 out of the 7) where I'm exhausted beyond belief and I can't wait to put him down for the evening so I can sit down and enjoy a little bit of free time. A lot of times though, I want to get him right back up and play with him and love on him some more. I love this boy with all my being!
He is really going through a word explosion right now- he talks non stop. Anytime we get in the car to go somewhere, it's constantly "car! truck! bus! mail man! airplane!", over and over and over.
In other exciting news, we find out what we're having this Friday! I'm so excited; some days I want another boy, and other days I really want a girl. Either way, I'm ready to know! =) I know I've been terrible at updating lately, but I'll be back as soon as I find out!

Out with the crib, in with the toddler bed!

Cameron's new big boy bed is finally finished! If you remember me mentioning, I had no plans to move him out of his crib until late fall- that is, until he climbed out and decided he no longer wanted to stay put. I wanted to build him a bed, so I really had to kick it into gear and get this bed made quickly, since his crib wasn't going to do much longer.
Originally, I wanted to build a twin sized bed; I thought toddler beds were somewhat of a waste (and I still do, to some degree) but since Cameron and the new baby will be sharing a very small room, a twin bed was out of the question, unfortunately. A toddler bed just made so much more sense in our situation. I found these* plans from Knock off Wood, and in just 5 hours on a Friday night, I had it completely built (though not assembled)! In a sense, it was easier than the picnic table I built; there were no angles and essentially no leveling. It also could be because I'm getting faster at this building stuff! =)

What took us so long to finish the bed, was the staining process. Jon did two coats of stain, which needed about 3-4 days in between coats to dry. The humidity this summer is no joke! He also applied two coats of a poly finish, taking about a day to dry each coat.





So here it is- I am SO proud of this bed! I just can't get over how cute it is! I built it with no assistance, but since I can't really be around strong fumes, Jon did the beautiful staining. The total cost of lumber for this bed was about $45 dollars. I spent a few bucks on sand paper, and we already had the supplies (nails/screws, etc) and the stain. So we spent less than $50 total! What do you think? I hope I didn't build too much anticipation up for this bed on this blog- it definitely isn't perfect but it's so cute! I love it so much. I'm going to get him some new bedding, but I'm going to wait until we find out if Cameron's new sib is a boy or girl (likely in a few weeks!) until I decide where I'm going with the shared room.

The bookcase I started building (before the bed) is not finished yet, I seem to have lost a little motivation in the heat of the summer. I definitely need to get it done soon, and I'll likely show it when I get the whole room done and put together.

In other news, I ordered this beautiful pin-tuck duvet cover from West Elm the other day, taking advantage of the free shipping they had on all bedding. I got it in the sea spray color (instead of the charcoal, below) since our bedroom furniture is black.
I can't wait for it to get here, even though I'm going to wait until it cools down a bit before I put the new duvet and down comforter back on our bed.

*in case there's anyone interested in building this bed, let me know, as quite a few modifications need to be made from the original directions.