August in a Nutshell

Since it is the last day of September, I thought it would be appropriate to update you on our August happenings.

Yup.

I'm that far behind.

The eighth month of this year was a crazy one filled with trips, visits and baseball.  I was harboring our baby secret from many which wasn't easy (darn morning sickness!).  We did our best to keep our busy toddler occupied and I think we were successful.

Nationals Game
We treated Grandpa Q. to some tickets to the Nationals vs Phillies game for Father's Day this year and we decided to join him at the game.  This was James' first baseball game and I think he had a great time.  His favorite part?  The ice cream, of course.  He truly is his father's son.

Play Dates & Playgrounds
We took advantage of the beautiful August weather by spending lots of time outside.  Many playgrounds were visited including one with daycare buddy, Rafa.  The boys (and the parents) had a blast at the playground and at lunch that followed.

Dutch Wonderland

When I was a kid, my parents took us to Lancaster, PA on vacation a lot and we always had a great time.  We decided it was James' turn to experience this rural, Amish-filled locale and what is a trip to Lancaster without a visit to Dutch Wonderland!  Ed scoped out a really cute hotel called the Fulton Steamboat Inn which was a big hit with the little man.  Not only is the hotel shaped like a true steamboat, there was a great playground to play in and a huge pond filled with hungry ducks offering hours of endless entertainment.

We began day one of our weekend away with breakfast at the Red Caboose Motel.  Now, this is a place that is near and dear to Ed's heart.  When he was a kid, he and his family stayed at this unique motel where you literally sleep in a train car.  We decided to skip the overnight and settled for a yummy breakfast in their cafe car.

After our delicious breakfast we headed to the main attraction - Dutch Wonderland!!!  This place is the perfect place to take an active toddler who needs to burn off lots and lots of energy.  We hit the ground running and went on every ride that James was eligible to go on.  He loved anything that had to do with cars, the spinning panda bears and the log flume which he was able to ride with Mommy and Daddy.  Towards the end of our visit, we hit the water park and he LOVED it!!!

One of my favorite parts of the day was replicating a photo with James that I took with my sister back  in 1980-something.

It seems that the pretzel has moved and has been slightly updated, but it was still a fun moment to share with my little man.  Our day ended with an authentic meal at an Amish-run restaurant.  The food was great, but I think they judged our allowing James to watch Mother Goose Club on the iPad during dinner. :(

Day two brought us a lot more fun with a visit to the Strasburg Railroad Train Station where we took a trip on an old fashioned train thought the Lancaster country-side.  This was James' first real train ride and he loved it.   

A Visit from the North

The last weekend of August brought us some guests - Grandma M., Aunt Adriana and Uncle John!  It was a rainy weekend but we managed to make the best of it.  Thank goodness for Chibis!!

So there you have it...August in a nutshell.  I'm hoping that I will be able to update you on September by this Thanksgiving. :)

An Apple a Day...

The Mangiaracina's kicked off the fall season this past weekend with some good old fashioned apple picking at Hartland Orchards.  The orchard was beautiful as was the drive and even though James uttered the words "let's go home" the moment we arrived, he rallied and had some fun picking the apples.  He especially loved the picking stick.

I think my favorite moment of the trip was when he tried an apple right there in the middle of the orchard.  This kid is used to apples that have been peeled and cut and are sweet.  The yellow delicious he bit into was none of those things hence the face.

We have lots of fall activities planned, but this was a great way to kick off our favorite season.  Bring on the apple crisp!!

Here We Go Again...

Looks like James is going to be a big brother!!!!!  Yes, that's right. We are boarding this crazy ride again and we couldn't be more thrilled.  What's even more awesome - we already know that we are having a BOY!! It's still hard to believe that at 13 weeks we have this information, but thanks to technology (and my "advanced" age), we can now pull the bins from the attic and fill the drawers in the nursery.

James is not quite aware of what is going on but he does point to Mommy's belly and says "baby" so that is a start.

Lucy is less than thrilled.

I'm due in late March so stay tuned to all the pregnancy updates!

Big Kid Room: The Details

Woah - Thanks for all the love on the big kid room reveal!  I can't tell you how many notes I received asking where we sourced the items in James' new room, so I thought I would share some of the details with the masses.

Being the dork that I am, I actually created a mood board to get all my ideas together.  It is a mix of things I saw on Pinterest matched with my own personal likes.  The starting point was the Brody Sheet Set I saw on the Pottery Barn Kids website.  Once I saw them, I knew we found our theme.
 

Paint Color
I knew I wanted to go with a bold green from the start.  Most of the house is very neutral so I thought this would be a great room to have fun with color.  Ed was skeptical when he saw the swatches on the wall, but trusted that I would make the right choice.  Thank goodness I did (phew!).  We went with Glidden's New Grass Green matched to Benjamin Moore paint and couldn't be happier.

Bedding & Pillows

I initially saw this rugby style bedding at Pottery Barn Kids, but at $89.00 for a duvet cover I knew I needed to find a wallet-friendly alternative.  Enter Target.  I found this puppy on the website and at $29.99 for a comforter, I was sold.  As for the pillows, I scored the fire truck at Home Goods on one of my many excursions and the "J" pillow is from POSH365 on Etsy.

School Desk

I got the idea to put a vintage school desk in James' room from a blog called coos & ahhs.  It looked so perfect in a big kid room so I began Operation: Find Vintage Desk.  It took a while to find.  A loooooonnnngggg while.  There was lots of scouring of Craigslist and Etsy and local antique stores and not so local antique stores.  Finally, one day the clouds parted and I found this puppy on Craigslist.  I think I paid $40 for both the desk and the chair.  Can you say SCORE! 

Lighting

When I saw this lamp on Pinterst, I knew that I wanted to do it in James' room.  I sourced the lamp at Target and slowly filled it up with cars and trucks collected throughout the summer.  I am in love with how it turned out!  As for the Fisherman's Lamp, I splurged and picked it up at Pottery Barn Kids.  I figured it is such a classic that it will get lots of longevity as he grows up.  We also replaced the ceiling fan which turned out to be quite a task, but superhero Ed was up to the challenge.

Shelving

The awesome airplane shelf is from Pottery Barn Kids.  The price was pretty steep - especially for a shelf, but I decided to go for it since I was saving money on other items.  I'm sorry to say that it is no longer available on the PBK site, but there are a few new, really cute alternative options.  As for the shelves over the desk, those were sourced in Aunt Adriana and Uncle John's house in NY!  They have this guy hanging in their half bath and when we were visiting, I saw it and knew it was exactly what we needed.  The good news was that it was still available at Home Depot.  The better news was that they were only $28 each. 

Wall Hangings

This was a fun part of the big kid room creation because it was sky's the limit.  I found the framed transportation artwork on Etsy.  The colors were perfect so they are a great addition to the room.  It's hard to see, but the framed image above the tall dresser actually says "James' Garage" which I thought was adorable.

The items in the wall collage were collected from various locations.  The circular police car was a Target find (and it was on clearance!).  I grabbed "Love You More" sign at Kirklands.  The "Auto Laundry" sign was a Land of Nod find and the vintage VA license plate was sourced on Ebay.  I think it was the first transaction I made on Ebay in close to 11 years!!  We have a few more items to hang on the walls including a mirror over the short dresser, the custom print that is currently in the nursery and possibly a road wall decal on the long wall that the bed it on.  Like I said, the sky's the limit!

And the most important piece of art in the room is the custom made "James" sign from Ms. Alison Hunt.  Alison is one of Ed's oldest friends and is one of the most talented artists we know.  She created this A-MAZE-ING piece of art for James and it is the perfect addition to his new room. Thank you Alison!!!!

Miscellaneous Decor

Most of the small items in the room were things that we already had in the house.  James received the little Mobil Oil Gas Pump Clock from a friend of Grandpa's and it worked perfectly in this room.  Aunt Alyson Seigal provided the adorable transportation bank and we pulled some great car, truck and train books to act as a base for the Volkswagen Bug found at a specialty toy store in Bethany.  The bins and rug were Home Goods finds and the retro radio is from Target.  The Green Toys fire truck and airplane were Christmas gifts from Uncle Joe and the fireman helmet is courtesy of Firehouse Subs!

So there you go. As I mentioned earlier this week, we couldn't be happier with the results of this room transformation. James is a BIG fan of playing his new room and exploring all the cool stuff.  We are still working on him getting used to sleeping in it.  It's been an uphill battle but hopefully he will soon start to feel comfy, cozy in here - and sleep 12 straight hours!