DIY Crib Skirt

After I decided that the main color of our daughter's nursery would be lavender, I started on my hunt for the perfect bedding. I fell absolutely in love with the lavender Harper bedding from Pottery Barn Kids.

But, I bought PBK bedding for Tyson's room and while it is beautiful and I still love it, as a second-time mom I know crib bedding actually gets very little use. Tyson's beautiful crib skirt had to be removed as soon as we lowered his crib for the first time. It was a big expense for something that we only ended up using for a few months.

When I read the crib skirt tutorial on Young House Love, I knew I could make a knock-off Harper bedskirt myself. I already had the white fabric. It was from grommet curtains that rusted the first time I washed them. FAIL. At least the rust allowed me to salvage some of the fabric.

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 2 kinds of ribbon and 2 rolls of Heat & Bond tape. After about 2 hours of measuring, cutting and ironing, I had my crib skirt. Not bad for about $9! Now I won't mind as much when I have to remove it to lower her crib. But, I can always change the length of the fabric too! Total win.

Tyson's 2nd Birthday Party!

I wanted to keep Tyson's birthday party festive and fun, but also keep it simple for me since at the time, I was nearly 38 weeks pregnant. I decided to go with a balloon theme because he loves balloons right now. I also knew it would be something I could easily find and stick with a color scheme -- red, orange, yellow, green and blue.

First up, the decorations!  I made this balloon wreath after seeing it on this blog.  I bought a #2 at Hobby Lobby, spray painted it red, covered it with glitter and hung it from the center of the wreath using fishing line.

I sewed this fabric party garland using the tutorial from The Purl Bee. We also bought one of those party helium tanks and Ryan blew up lots of balloons.

My mama helped me make the birthday banner using her Cricut and cardstock.

My friend Christie designed the cupcake and fruit skewer toppers.

Uncle Reggie helping to celebrate!

Ryan was mixing up some mint juleps--it was Derby Day. 

I ordered a 1/4 sheet cake and 2 dozen cupcakes from Kroger.  Best decision ever.  I was planning to make the cupacakes myself, but I decided to make it easy and just order them.  They were delicious! 

The birthday boy!

Time to open presents:

Birthday Boy!

Ryan and I went in his room together when he woke up on the morning of his birthday. Love his sweet bedhead!

Blurry, but cute smile :)

Then, we went downstairs to show him his big birthday present...a new roadster tricycle! 

He was a bit unsure of it at first.

But he warmed up and got a closer look.  Checking out the tires...

Playing with the bell.

And attempting to take it for a spin around the living room.  He's still a bit short for it, but I'm guessing that won't be for long! 

After he played with his tricycle for a while, Daddy made him a special birthday breakfast of pancakes.  He refused to eat them.  Silly boy! 

Tyson is TWO!

Somehow in the blink of an eye, our little man turned TWO!  We can hardly believe it's been that long since this 8lb 6oz bundle arrived and changed our lives in an instant. 

Day one:

Day 730:

I'm stealing this format from my mama friends for his monthly updates.  Thanks ladies!

Age:  2 years

Weight: 32.4 lbs (90th percentile!).  It was his first time being weighed on the big boy scale.  No more infant scale for us.

Height: 35.5 inches (also 90th percentile)

Size: 2T clothes, size 6 or 7 shoe, size 5 diaper

Hair: Had his third haircut about a month ago.

Teeth:  At least 16, maybe 20.  It's virtually impossible for me to see inside his little mouth to see if his 2 year molars have popped through yet. 

Sleeping: He's still a rockstar when it comes to sleep.  We can count on him to take a 2 hour nap, usually starting somewhere between 12 and 1pm and sleeps on average 11-12 hours each night (8pm - 7-8am).  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue once baby sister comes home!

Eating:  Eh.  You wouldn't know it by his weight, but he goes back and forth on how much he eats and what he will eat.  We can almost always get him to eat fruit (of any kind), yogurt, applesauce, cheese, cereal or crackers/pretzels.  We cannot get him to eat a single veggie, despite all efforts.  He drinks 3 cups of 2% milk each day and as much water as he wants.

Movement: He loves to run, jump, kick a ball, and play. 

Milestones:  Walking up the stairs without holding on to anything!  Can walk down the stairs upright as long as he has something to hold on to, no more shuffling down on his belly or his bum.  Continuing to put words together, counting (knows 1, 2, 3, skips 4, knows 5, 6, skips 7, knows 8, 9, 10), knows many of the letters of the alphabet by sight, starts to sing "Moon River".  We also switched his carseat to forward facing the day after his second birthday.

Favorite toys/activities:  Thomas the Train, toy cars/trucks, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters.  He loves to be outside more than anything!  Loving his new swingset, likes to walk to a nearby pond and see the ducks, excited to see any kind of truck, especially the trash trucks on Wednesday mornings.  Still loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but not too interested in much else on television.       
Dislikes: Coming inside or not being able to go outside, getting settled down for a nap, washing his hands before eating (he used to like it).   
Words:  Too many to count!  Putting more and more words together, repeating everything we say, talking constantly. 

Tyson's 2 Year and Family/Maternity Professional Pics

We had pictures taken a few weeks ago for Tyson's second birthday and a few family and maternity pics. They were taken by my friend, Jacquie Carman, http://www.jacquiecphotography.com/.

I thought she did a great job capturing him just as we see him on a regular basis--laughing, running, jumping and playing. She certainly had a challenge with photographing him, but I love them all. Thanks Jacquie!