Your new room

For about 2 months now I had trying to convince Joe that we needed to turn our breakfast nook into 

Collin's new playroom.  He fought me on it.. and by fight I mean just did not agree with me.

Then we went to Clemson where our friends had a little designated area for their little girl to play in,

after this Joe was sold.  

We loved our breakfast nook but the reality was we had a dinning room table that we could use for every day eating.  

My parents agreed to help store the furniture as I know someday we will move and need it, these were also the first pieces I bought myself when I lived up in Baltimore so I have a little sentimental attachment.  

Picture of our old sunroom...

Collin helping mommy move everything out..

So I started to look for options because I wanted a playroom but not a playroom.

I wanted it to look nice but also be functional and if you know me I am a minimalist and do not like things out in the open.  

I looked at Pottery Barn Kids but the price tag was just too much.  

So on the day Collin was suffering from his first cold, Joe and I headed to Ikea 

and after 40 minutes in the store left with the Versa Storage system.

It is actually three pieces placed together and then a glass top applied on top to make them look like one.  It took Joe less than 1 hour to put together and this is one of the best decisions we made.

Let me start by stating this was the smartest thing we have done-
SERIOUSLY- AMAZING!!!!

This morning when he woke up early and I was not ready to function,
I sat in the chair that we moved in to the playroom for the Christmas season to make room for the tree, and reflected on how much I love our playroom.

I love our playroom because for the most part it has made my life easier....

1) It is a confined space that I can let him be free and he can do no damage to anything

2) The cabinet that we purchased from IKEA has drawers which let him open and close, keeping him out of the kitchen.

3) It is a space that I can let him mess up and it does not affect the rest of the house- I am really loving this.  We use to let him play in our living room and I hated it because it is the first thing you see when you walk up to the main level in our house.  The playroom is off the kitchen and a little more out of the way.

Goodbye To a Friend

Last Sunday marked a special day that I will always remember-

Sending my hospital grade pump back to the hospital.

I had it rented for 9 months and I was ready for it to go.

It was a sign that my time pumping was coming soon.  

Thanks to some advice from some friends and also lactation consultants that I work with,

I went home from the hospital with a pump

and it was the smartest thing I did.  

After being admitted to the ICU and then going thru a difficult two weeks

with Collin not wanting to nurse and just wanting a bottle, 

I was so happy to have this.

It was because of this pump that up to this point Collin

has received nothing but breastmilk when it comes to his

liquid intake.

Yes I could have extended the pump to keep me going for the whole first year,

but I have a Ameda portable pump that I use at work that I received thru 

my insurance which has worked great.

Now that I am only pumping 3-4 times a day, it did not seem necessary, 

especially since I hope to be done pumping by the end of January/Beginning of Feburary.  

I have about a months worth of breast milk saved and I will be transitioning him to whole milk a week or two before his first birthday as we are going on a trip and do not want to worry about carrying breast milk with us.  

Goodbye Breast Pump...

It has been nice knowing you....

NOT!!!

I had to get some pictures so that I can show Collin when he is acting up to remind him of all that I did for him =0)