The Peanut Shell

Over the past few weekends, Stephen and I have been working on getting Peanut's room ready for him. Having another boy is so exciting, but it does make things a bit more difficult in terms of design. I had all these great ideas for Miles' room, so I had to do a lot of thinking to make sure Peanut's room was just as unique.

We love the ship-lap wall we did for Miles, so for Peanut, we decided to do an accent wall as well. I found some cool ideas online and drafted a design for his room. Let the project begin!

Miles was very interested in "helping"

Stephen and I are pretty good at doing projects together. We come up with a game plan and go for it. We're strategic and time efficient. We figured this wall project would take a day to pull together - it's not that hard right? Well... this is our first big project with Miles and we ran into a few obstacles we did not allot for.

1. Nail guns and toddlers DO NOT mix. Thus, Miles couldn't be in the room while the air compressor was on. Leaving Stephen in there working alone with me popping in a out while Miles played.
2. Nail guns and naps DO NOT mix. So, we solved issue #1 by having a chance to work together without Miles. But ran into another issue of not being able to hang anything because it would wake up Miles. So we did what we could while we was sleeping.

Needless to say, this project took more than a day. After day #1, this was our progress:

Helping Dad find studs

After we learned some lessons from day 1, we had a better idea of how to be efficient on day 2. We pre-cut as many pieces as we could, nailed them when Miles wasn't sleeping and when he went down for nap, taped them to the wall so we could pre-cut more pieces, etc. etc. We were finally making headway.

Peanut's furniture was coming in and our goal was to get everything painted before then. That way we weren't having to maneuver around bulky furniture pieces.

Helping dad paint

He wasn't too interested in the painting and found that the ladder is an awesome climbing toy, car toy, banging toy and more!

Miles: *All done* painting
So, outside we went

Painting was done and we were feeling good. That was until it dried. It was darker than I was hoping. It looked muddy and I wasn't happy with the color. After much back and forth, I decided to re-paint. Call me crazy. It's okay. I know I am, but it's easier to re-paint now than after everything is installed.

It set us back a bit, but the outcome what much MUCH better. Definitely happy with the change.

Furniture came as planned and lucky for us, so did the crib! I was excited to see it all put together.

With the big projects done, now it's time for design. I had done some thinking about how to make Peanut's room just as unique and decided to commission some paintings from some very talented, renowned artists. We were not disappointed!

Artist:  Lillia Gates - Age 7
Description:  "This is me and Mimi playing with the new baby. I am so exited to meet him!"

Artist:  Erin Gate - Age 5
Description:  "This is Bob-o, Mimi, Miles and the baby jumping on a trampoline together. They are happy."

Artist:  Halle Gates - Age 5
Description:  "This is mostly a colorful design but there is a black bird and a paw print in there too."

Thanks so much girls!! We love them all and they are perfect in Peanut's room. I decided to commission one more painting as well. You may recognize this artist as well :)

Artist:  Miles - Age 18 Months
Description:  To Baby aka "Beebee" Love, your big brother
- Funny thing is, he has only said "baby" one time. This was that one time -

And without further ado, the final reveal!

To answer the burning question after seeing this photo:
Yes, Peanut has a name.
No, we are not trying to fool you. It will start with "C"
Are we sharing? Sorry yall! You'll have to wait until this little guy makes his debut!

We are very happy with the outcome. Super cute, different from Miles but the two rooms still coordinate and full of fun, special features.

Miles has really enjoyed the room too. He runs in there, rolls around on the carpet and almost always pulls out the books.

Photo cred to Becky for capturing this adorable moment

18 Months Old!

.... 2 weeks late ...

Hey - not my fault this time! It was the weather. I was trying to find the right time for photos but it's been so rainy. Better late than never though!

Nonetheless, Miles is 18 months old! I can't believe it. Time is just flying...

[ Side Note:  Miles got his hair cut. To say the least, I'm not super happy about it. I told the lady to give it a trim but to leave his curls and keep the overall style. She chopped it. Uneven I might add. But, it doesn't stop this cutie! ] 

To see all basket photos, go here.

This one was hard to choose the "official" so here is a super close second. Cheesy vs. real.... cheesy vs. real?? I DONT KNOW! They're both so cute. But Stephen and I decided the cheesy was just too "him" not to choose.  :)

This shoot was fun because all I needed Miles to do was play. We all know he's great at that. And we ALL know he LOVES balls. 

This series of pictures was hilarious. I'll do my best to caption the "Miles talk"

"BA!"

*Tongue out*  "BA aAaAa!"

*Spit lips*

"mmm ... ah! Ba? Ba? Ba? ... BA!"

*Takes ball, gives me curious grin, and runs away*

He proceeded to check out every ball in the basket. 

OMG *melt* He looks so big

All about Miles:
- Has 20+ signs and uses them all properly. Still working on expanding his signing vocabulary
- Has 16+ "words". Sounds like "Moo", "Choo choo" or similar sounds correlating with things count as words for his age.
- Loves balls/throwing things, cars, trains, being outside, clapping, fish, books and being read to, climbing on everything & push toys
- Is "talking" A LOT and has this face like he expects you to know what he's saying
- A ball of energy but can play well by himself
- All giggles and happy 98% of the time. His laugh is infectious! Being chased around the island, funny animal noises, BOO! around the corner and "Where's Miles?"  makes him laugh most.
- Loves school and the sad drop offs are a thing of the past. Teachers say he tries everything at least once, even if just for a second.
- Is getting more into art. Before, he'd put a blot of color on the paper and be done. But now he seems to be more curious about it
- Is pushing the limits of the rules. Working on 'feet on floor' and 'food in mouth'- Waving Hi and Bye, points at things and gives high fives
- Is a pretty easy eater but goes through phases. Still hates avocados
- Wearing 18 months at Target (fitting best) and 24 months in Carters (a little big)
- Still a champ at sleeping 
- Has almost all his teeth (not including his 2 year molars). Missing one canine.
- Makes car noises and says Choo choo when playing with cars/trains
- Working on identifying body parts. Knows belly, feet and mouth, then points at his head for nose, eyes and ears ha!
- Working on animal noises. Knows dog, monkey, lion, snake, fish and bee
- When asking him where something is, he does 'where is it' with his hands and looks around
- Comprehending really well and understand almost everything we ask him
- Playing putt putt with balls and any object he can use to hit the ball with
- Operating on a duel schedule: school days vs. non school days
- Will grab anything at his reach. Our water line keeps increasing...
- Him and Lucy are still in a love/hate relationship haha
- Does things to be funny. Pokes his head out from behind a wall/piece of furniture and laughs
- He's sweet, energetic, tolerant, flexible, independent, curious with caution at times, likes to experiment, super smiley and happy

18 Month Stats:
Height:  26 pounds (73rd %)
Weight:  33.5" (82nd %)

For my future reference and for those interested, this is our current schedule:

Non school days:
8am:  awake and milk
9/9:30am:  breakfast
10/10:30am:  down for nap, but typically takes awhile to go to sleep. In the morning he sleeps 95% of the time and ranges from 1.5-3 hour naps. Generally speaking, about 2 hours
12:30am:  Awake
1/1:30pm:  Lunch
2:30/3pm: Down for rest - we're 50/50% if he naps on non school days
4:30pm:  if not sleeping, out of bed and snack time
5:30pm:  if sleeping, Latest we'll let him go
6pm:  Dinner
7/7:30pm:  Start bedtime routine - We are doing baths every other night instead of every night now
7:30/8pm:  In bed

School days:
7:45am:  awake and milk
8:15am:  breakfast and get ready for the day
8:45am:  leave for school
9am-2pm:  School!     
They nap from 12-2pm
2:30pm:  Home from school and snack
4ish:  Down for rest - barely ever sleeps in the afternoon on school days, but has a chance to rest
5pm:  up from rest and snack
6pm:  Dinner
7/7:30pm:  Start bedtime routine - We are doing baths every other night instead of every night now
7:30/8pm:  In bed 

After I was confident we got the official photo, we let Lucy out to come play. She and Miles do great outside together.

Lucy was also very interested in the balls lol

Me:  "Miles! Throw the ball for Lucy!"

His reaction immediately after he throws and Lucy runs after it. SO CUTE

Man oh man. This kid. He's makes us smile/laugh everyday. I forget, but life must have been so lame before him  :P

Car

Miles and I went to Target yesterday to get a few things for peanut. I figured with the rain, he would enjoy some time out. As we were making our way through the store, we stopped by the toy aisle to see if they had anything new. Naturally, I start in the car section.

All down the aisle, he's saying "Ca! Ca! Caaaaa!" and pointing. Ladies and Gentlemen - we have more words! Car! I tried to get in on video but this kid really doesn't like performing on command. But, this morning, I captured it! Enjoy