January: Diving into DIY...

There's something about January, the new year, the snow outside that ignites the DIY wannabe inside of me. It makes me want to tackle every project on my Pinterest boards and every project I've been creating in my mind. Dan and I both get overly excited about projects and so we normally start too many at once, but I guess that's part of the fun?

Here are a few of the projects I want to tackle this month to help get me closer to checking off another 30 by 30 ("completely designing 3 rooms exactly how I want them"). 

I think the little engineer in Jackson would love this latch board. 

Creating something like this custom art for the great room. 

I love these letters from one of my favorite blogs and they would be perfect for the playroom.

Speaking of the playroom, I want to create a reading nook for the babies, maybe one like this or this. 

And I can't forget getting ready for handsome butt's 3rd birthday, he has requested a construction theme. 

LIFE with jackson

I remember worrying a lot right before Audrey was born about how I would ever be able to maintain the level of fun and activities we did with Jackson once the baby arrived. Especially during the week when Dan was at work and I was alone and needing to tend to a newborn. But, almost four months later (and a lot of trial & error), I am so happy with the groove we have found. I think, if anything, the amount of activities, art projects and adventures has increased for Jackson since becoming a big brother. I have learned, that for us, the more I plan ahead and have ideas held in stock (thank you, pinterest), the easier it is to break out something fun for Jackson to do either on his own or with us, resulting in a little boy who is happy, engaged and learning which always equals a happier, less stressed mama.

Here are a few shots from life with Jackson over the weekend. PS: I love how Audrey studies Jackson now as he plays... sometimes wanting so badly to play too and other times probably happy to stay out of the chaos for a little longer!

Each morning we talk about the weather and Jackson decides which weather sign to hang up on the fridge. Saturday morning he decided "Sunny" was the best fit and wasn't too thrilled about how much the sun hurts his eyes...

Dried beans and rice. Who knew they could provide so much entertainment. Seriously, ALL Saturday morning he moved his stash around from container to container with different spoons and utensils. It gave Dan and I time to make even more progress on organizing our disaster of a basement. 

I'm pretty sure that 95% of the toys I buy for Jackson are Melissa and Doug- we LOVE them. They are long-lasting, wooden (a big plus for me, I'm not a fan of plastic toys) and teach so much. He played with these lacing beads for a long time this weekend, practicing hand/eye coordination, colors, patterns and counting. 

Another Melissa & Doug favorite, stamping letters. They may or may not be a favorite toy of mine to play with too...